those two issues are what we face in the world. >> as someone who has argued all along that any military action should be based on the resolution of the united nations, i except that the situation today is difficult. but will the prime minister, despite obvious about reservations, about no ground troops, recognize that, in the country at large, but it the view there is great anxiety that we could be dragged nevertheless into a war, to escalation, the third war in nine years? would the prime minister make sure that there and our lease regular calls to avoid the situation of a third war. processing he puts the point extremely well. first of all, updating the house regularly, i think there should be regular statements.

a vicious circle of a debate on monday, on a substantive motion so that members can come and debate that. we will be putting down the substantive motion later today. the appointments of illegality is absolutely vital. we have a legal basis for the world governing body to make come together and make that clear. we need to make clear that is proportionate and right. to to a people with us, will have to make both the argument that it is wrong to stand aside and is in our national interest because we do not want this state on our borders. the point he makes about no ground troops and no occupying forces is vital. is there in the resolution. it is the reassurance that we can give to people that is not part of our aims, but part of

what the u.n. wants or with the arab league wants, and not what the u.k. wants. it is absolutely right and people will be reassured by it. >> british prime minister david cameron felt it questions -- fills questions in parliament on wednesday mornings. this wednesday, you will see it at 8:00 a.m. eastern time live on c-span 2. next, road to the white house with herman cain. later, the pentagon briefing. at 11:00 p.m., q&a with catherine wild with the partnership for new york city. monday night on c-span 3, white house summit of bullying, featuring remarks from first lady michelle obama and president obama, who discusses his own experiences with bling

as a child. >> we all remember what it was like to see kids picked on in the hallways or in the schoolyard. with big ears and the name that i had, i was not immune. i did not emerge unscathed. but because of something that happens a lot, something that has always been around, sometimes we have turned a blind eye to the problem. >> watched the bullying summit on c-span 3. today, c-span interview herman cain on why he is likely to enter the gop presidential race. this is about 45 minutes. >> why are you thinking about running for president? >> i am thinking about running for president for several reasons. my parents were able to achieve their dreams. they wanted to own a house and cahoot turn it into a home.

my parents just could not afford to buy an entire home. that was one of their dreams, and they achieved that. they wanted to see their two sons get a better start in life and did. i graduated from morehouse college in 1967, and my brother, he eventually graduated from morris brown college, so we were able to achieve our american dream based on our own individual aspirations and determination. and for my grand kids, i do not believe they're going to have that opportunity because of the changes that are happening in this country. >> such as? >> such as too much legislation shoved down the throats of the american people.

too much regulation. the regulations of the environmental protection agency. there is the development of energy from our own resources in this country. and too much taxation. we need to pay taxes in order to pay for the things that the federal government ought to do it, but we are paying too much in taxes, because the tax code is being manipulated by some of the politicians to select winners and losers. i believe consumers should make those choices, and, ultimately, what i would like to see is to replace the tax code with the fair tax, which is a national consumption tax, so all of these constraints on our lives, businesses, and individuals, are making it much more difficult for my grandchildren, your kids and grandkids come to achieve their american dream.

i was just over at the heritage foundation, and they shared with me the economic freedom index report of 2011. i was startled when they showed me that in 2009, the united states of america was no. 6 in the world, not even one, but we were six, and in 2010, we dropped to eight. and in 2011, we dropped to ninth. because of the attack of all of the regulatory and tax stuff and being opposed to businesses and individuals, and i think that is going to strangle the ability of our children and their grandchildren to pursue their dreams, and i believe in that old adage that we all have to use our individual powers to do what we can do to try to make things right.

>> when someone talks about your candidacy, if you go back in history, from abraham lincoln through today, only two presidents did not hold elective office. military generals. grant and eisenhower. >> yes. i will be the third one to have not held office and the first one to have not held office and to have not been in the military, but i respond to that and say to the people, most of the people in washington, d.c., have held political office. how is that working for you? the many town hall meetings that i have been at. they really do not care that i have not held public office. what they see in me is a problem solver and not a politician. when i put that on the table when i am talking to groups, and i do this constantly, to get my name out there people at the

grassroots level, i say, "i have never held public office," and i get applause, because they really are sick and tired of people who have held public office thinking that that is the primary requirement. the political landscape and the political dynamics have changed in the last few years be i happen to believe we are going to see it begin in november 2012, and it is because of the changing dynamics and give someone like me a chance to get the nomination and become president. >> you did run for office and came in second in the georgia senate race. >> yes. >> what did you learn from losing? >> i did not lose. it was an impressive second, coming within points against a standing congressman, and there are two big lessons that i learned. if i were to run for office

again, i would start earlier, hire good people earlier, a representative succeeded primarily because his campaign had been effective as a whole year before i could get my off of the ground. i had to go through three campaign managers before i found one i had confidence in a. so i was a year behind. i finally got a campaign manager and finally got the campaign going. the representative was getting commitments in terms of money from a lot of people, commitments from organizations. his name identification was already pretty high, so in a short period of time, i was able to get my name out there from 0% to 50%, so if i had started earlier, knows how that would have turned out. >> a field with a lot of former officials, mitt romney, others.

>> the ground game that we have developed over the past couple of years, and i was developing this on purpose for the purpose of running for president, and what i mean for that, let me give you a football analogy. teams can have a teams can have a strong running game, but maybe they do not have something else. a strong passing game. a running game. we are developing a strong ground game, as i call it, because of the natural affiliation i have had with national organizations for years. i am the former ceo of the

national restaurant association, a former chairman of the board. i have worked extensively with americans for prosperity. i am very well known with the tea party movement going on in this country. i have worked with the fair tax organization for over 10 years. with the number of other organizations, and as part of my business career, i have been a keynote speaker at many conferences and conventions, all over this country, and even in different parts of the world, where people know herbert cain as a business leader who knows about leadership. my ground game had already started, and now, we are simply building that. i believe that a successful ground game, a successful grass-roots awareness has been a lot easier to get media attention. let me just give you one piece

of compelling information, we think. the tea party patriots held a national policy summit in phoenix about three weeks ago. there were about 2500 attending. they put all of the likely candidates, 90 or 20 of them, whether they had announced or officially had exposure or not, herbert cain came in first. the next person that was closest was six percentage points behind. that was the actual data. my awareness with people on the ground is a lot greater than the visibility i have had. >> so what role will the tea party activist, what role will they play in determining the nominee? does that make 2012 different from 20008, 1992, 1981?

>> absolutely. the answer to your second question is yes. the impact of the citizens' movement is great. the tea party movement, the tea party patriots, the tea party express. all of these organizations in this country, all of the conservative organizations, they have mobilized their membership, so more of them are being acted. more of them are getting information about what is going on, what is happening, and what makes this different in 2012 is that more and more folks who have not been active at all, or any sort of political event, they are much more active. when i was doing my radio show for the last couple of years, occasionally, i would take my show on the road as part of a take back to work. i would invite businesses to come up to a location that we

would have selected, and we would get large audiences, and i would always ask the question, how many of you have never been to sort of a political event before, and 50% of the people consistently raised their hands. so the difference is going to be, number one, more people are active, and this is one to be the second thing that has changed. information. 10 to 15 years ago, people did not have access to accurate, correct information about what they were sometimes being told period. now, they of the power of the internet and the power of conservative talk radio. they have got blogs. redstate.com is one of the ones that i think about.

>> between you and somebody else. they have a track record. i know where they stand. you do not. what do you tell them? somebody looking at you and somebody taking your track record into account. >> those mentioned as possible nominees, look for leadership. which of the candidates present the greatest leadership based upon the record, based upon business experience, because leadership in the biggest, toughest jobs in the world is going to require somebody who really has a grasp on problem solving, which i have used, successful business people have used, to make sure that you set

the right priorities, make sure that you surround yourself with the right people, strong people around you, and make sure that if you do about that you can then execute any entity or business or the united states of america, but if you do those four things, engage the people, and yet. >> and yet, as you know, running a business is very different from running the government. >> yes, but it has one thing in common. when my associates knew what we

were trying to do, and there was the strategy, they were much more likely to execute it effectively. taking that same analogy to the american people, i hear every day from people. they feel left out of the process. what is going on in washington, d.c., is in the people's best interest, and this is why, when i do those first things effectively, i will be a president of the people, by the people, and for the people, making sure that we are engaged in solutions. members of congress. >> that is my next question. how do you deal with a divided

congress, like we are seeing now? the tax crisis, george w. bush. clinton. changing the tone of washington. they admitted that they failed in those areas. >> well, with all due respect, i think that they both did a good job and a lot of respect, but my energy to connect with people -- i think there was a former senator who said they will see the light. this is how you bring this congress together. and there have been recent examples that have demonstrated that. when the united states house of representatives passed the cap and trade bill, one representative said that by the time it zipped through congress, and democrats were getting ready to send it over to the senate, but everything was going on, she was asked on a television show what happened, and she said that the party line

melted when she was asked about on television. the citizens' movement that i have been talking about, to show that legislation down the throats of the american people, like president obama shoved obama care down the throats of the american people. steve, you know the house and the senate could not agree on a compromise. they could not even agree. democrats were in control of the senate. democrats were in control of the house. so what did the president do? he used the power of the president to get members of the house of representatives to have the plan and vote on the senate bill. many of them paid for it on november 2. >> is barack obama a good leader?

>> no. he is a politician. but he is not a leader. and here are some examples as to what he is not a leader. number one, no leadership model on the planet says surround yourself with 36 czars all along with the heads you inherited as president. how are you going to manage that? his leadership model was flawed from the very beginning. secondly, leaders surround themselves with people that know more about certain subjects than they do. to complement your areas of weakness, if you want to call them that. the president appointed people that did not have as much business experience as he had, and he had none. 7% of the president's appointees, 7%. the lowest in recent history. those surround themselves with

a lot of people, even if it were only 50%, 50%, that would have been better. so this is why they have proposed, try to pass, and implement policies that did not work. one of my guiding principles, steve, and one of my guiding principles as president of the united states, go to the people closest to the problem, and they will more than likely have a better solution on how to fix the problem. >> finish this sentence. the state of union today is -- >> in free fall. >> in free fall. >> yes.

the state of the union is in a freefall. the country is stalled. people are not clear what the foreign policy strategy is with what is going on in the middle east. they cannot pass a fiscal year budget, and we're almost done with the fiscal year. and the attention is being shifted constantly to social issues, a lack of sound fiscal stimulus policy, and the focus is on passing legislation that we do not need or want on the part of democrats who are in control of the senate and the white house. the state of this union is in freefall. >> what about the house? >> the republicans in the house of representatives have slowed the process down. they cannot turn the ship

without having control of the senate and control of the white house. they have slowed it down. but they know they can push, but they cannot stop it. radical socialization. >> how be reduced a $15 trillion debt? >> you do a couple of things. financial stimuli that is correct. making tax rates per minute. extensions for two years is two years of uncertainty. nearly $1 trillion can come back. it has been generated by

corporations. provide a real payroll tax holiday, all of it, and 6.2% 4 employers. all of it. they differ for spending and that they are direct, not in direct stimulus, and phase two would be to totally replace the tax code with the fair tax. it has been calculated that if we continue to grow at this rate, the chinese will have a gdp as big as big as ours in 15 or so years. we have got to get this going. we have got to get this going. then we start doing things to

dramatically bring down the national debt consistently. there is an entitlement mentality. unfunded mandates, we would change the rules. unfunded mandates. we must empower the states. we must empower businesses by improving and simplifying the regulatory environment. one of the reasons we do not have any effective energy independence strategy in this

country is because of the regulatory environment. in power businesses. we will be creating careers because we still have a lot of advantages that other countries do not have. we still have a great structure. we still have a great transportation in the world. we still have some of the smartest and brightest people. these are some of the greatest entrepreneurs. so we are, in fact, in a position. we simply need to get government out of the way. >> who in the republican party has been a guiding force for herman cain?

>> jack kemp, who was also aw congressman from new york. secretary kemp, he stirred what i call the american spirit. despite challenges that we face. despite the snail pace at which change takes place in washington. and the american people are hungry for stirring that spirit of america while we face our problems. abraham lincoln. abraham lincoln took over this nation. he was not afraid of the challenge. he knew that he needed to keep this nation together.

he had people fighting and working against him, lincoln had the ability to appeal to the american spirit. in order to keep this nation together. not everyone agreed with releasing the slaves. he knew it was the right thing to do. "we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal." but they put the bar where they knew it had to be. that kind of stuff fuels the american spirit. >> you are a minority of the republican party. the vast majority of african- americans.

they are democrats. >> yes. >> yes. >> so have you been in braced by the gop? by the gop? they're pretty well now to pursue the limit -- to republican nomination. but this new political dynamic that i told you about, the amount of factual information out there, is also causing a lot of african-americans, a lot of black people, to look at not the republican party first, but look at this guy herman cain who is a self-prescribed american black conservative. an abc. >> a hypothetical -- 9 >> yes.

>> herman cain and barack obama debating next fall. >> that would say that most people in this country have gotten past color and it would be about content and character. that is what it would say about the state of america. not all, but the majority. >> how did you go from working in the naval department to running restaurants? >> after rising up as a diaz government silver service worker, i got bored after achieving one my goals of becoming ages 39 petition because i had a financial goal very early in my career. . .

>> having an impact on tm around me. when i went to godfather's pizza in 1986 it was going bankrupt. peop that look at the financials say maybe it's another company that should go bankrupt. i saw 12 thousand people's jobs at stakes. as a result of being the president and ceo, i saw that achievement why would someone choose that verses another brand? what's the in the psyche of the american public? >> consistency of the brand. um... quality of the brand and

are they price competitive if you have a superior quality product. then you can command slightly higher premium price but don't go crazy. they have a limit in which the consume ler say you have a better product but i don't want to pay this much. american corporations spent much time evaluating strength of that brand and whether or not they can command the premium price. similar if you look for someone to be the president of the united states of america. >> you knew my next question. hugh new you knew my next question. people openly have to look at all. the candidate is going to be president barack obama. that's just not the history of either one of the major political parties so when you look at the field of potential

nominees of the republican party. people in their own psychic look in the way of the brand that each individual presents. and in this case, it's does this person project confident or make sense, are they offering some realistic ideas and more importantly, do they feels an if they can trust this individual. because people ultimately want to follow a leader that they can belie in. so that's what they going to be looking for as they make the decision process over the next signal. >> married with how many grandchildren? >> maryd for 42 years. 32 year old son. be 33 next week. three grandkids. 12, 7, and 16 months. >> how did you meet yourwife? >> through a mutual friend. young lady that i'm - i went to

high school with. attended a different church than i attended but we went to the same high school, and so this good friend o of mine named ruth. she was a class mate and we didn't live that far from each other and so ruth, for about two years, kept saying to me, herman. i want you to meet my little sister. i said, ruth, thank you but blind dates have not worked out for me very well. time goes by. herman, i want you to meet my lists little sister. so one day she through a party and i was a freshman in college and little sister had graduated from high school on her way to college. she introduced me at the pay.

herman, this is the little sister i've been trying to get you to meet for a long time and i go, i this the little sister? i been running away from? [laughs] i met one of the smartest, most attractive young ladies. i think it was love at first site. >> how you stay married for 42 year? >> don't try to change each other. this is what i tell young people all the time. know who your marrying and know who they are. ow the things that you love about them, understand the things you don't like about them. but don't try to change them. that's when couples get in trouble. >> you had a bought with cancer. when your die nosed and how you feel today? >> i diagnosed with stage four

caer which meant i had in my colon and liver. when it's stage four that means it already went to other parts of body. in 2006. stage four cancer as first surgeon i consulted wh said that's as bad as it can get. that didn't make me feel good but is it what it was. my treatment was chemo therapy. double surgery to remove the affected parts and in my case as my surgeon said, he said your lucky with your cancer. i said how do you get lucky with cancer and he said, all my tumors were isolated to a certain portion of my liver so they can remove that and cultivate the main part of it to grow back. that was five years ago. i did more chemo therapy. five years of totally cancer free. feel great with only a 30 percent chance of having made

it. i knew god was smiling down on me and his message was quite simply. herman, not yet. >> you have a routine now with your doctor. some sort of treatment five years out? >> no treatment. tiss. now i'm on once a year. get a catscan. all of the blood tests and they do some sophisticated tests with cancer. x-rays i do that now on an annual basis. right after my initial treatment we - i with u doing through a battery of tests and itas so consistently good that my oncologist said we don't need to do it every six months. now that i'm coming up on my five year anniversary it's continuing to be once a year to make se it has not reoccurred and it has not. >> where do you go for ideas and information and what do you read and who do you talk so >>i read the bible for ideas.

i have a few very close friends we'll talk verynformally about things. as most people, i have some confidants i can talk to them about anything under the sun. you have to have a few people you can trust totally to be able to have those kind of conversations. i enjoy reading thomas sole. people that put in it in common sense language in terms of here's ideas we ought to look at and pursue. i read a lot of the papers published by the heritage foundation. i happen to think, and i'm not on their board and they don't pay me. they happen to be one of the greatest sources of accurate analysis, policy and information we have in this country. there's some others but i got to tell you, i've known ed since the early 1990's when we is

served on a commission chaired by him. he has built a tremendous organization with a tremendous track record of solid, policy analysis and information that a lot of pple turn to when they want good guidance. >> would you - what ideas do you green from the bible? >> first, do what's right. unfortunately too many people in washington d.c. consider the political consequences first. that sometimes can lead them to doing things that may not be right if you start with do what's right, treat people right, you probably going to end up with a correct result in the end. but if you start out with, what are the political coequences? no. what's the right thing to do?

it wasn't right to shove obama care down the throats of the majority of the american people. polls had zone before he signed it a majority of the people did not want that solution to the problem he and the democrats supposedly were trying to solve. they wanted patient-centered, market driven ideas and they were right there in, hr 3400 but a lot of people never heard of that. do what's right. >> what do your wife and kids think about this potential run. >> my wife thinks i'm nuts but she said, you've been nuts before when you decided to do something that seemed against the odds. and she and i were talking about it. my wife thanked the lord has always been very supportive of all my endeavors because, we just always have had that

relationship. she's been that kind of a supportive wife. she's done thing in her life and career but always been supportive of my career. we had an understand i would be the primary breadwinner and we were talking about this whole president biand i ask her, i said gloria, what scare use the most? i know this is somhing that i never even considered this going growing up. three years ago never considered possibly running for president. she said, the thing that scares her the most is that i might win. because she has seen me turn odds against the odds. turn a region of burger king. take a low project at pills bury when i was vice president of information technology. i took a project behind schedule and over budget and we finished

the property ahead of schedule below budget. she has been apart of my life, been apart of the challenges i have faced and so her biggest fear is i might win. my children, they too, are used to dad taking on some incredible challenges. and to quote my daughter. when she was asked by a reporter. many, many, many years ago. i think she was still a teenager. she happened to be in a room when i was doing an interview and the reporter turned to my daughter and said, what do you think about your dad with all this publicity and all this notoriety. this is when i'm with the godfather and my daughter said, he's just dad. as long as i can just be dad and just be papa to my grandkids, life is good. >> let me conclude by asking about your potenal rivals in a

word or phrase, describe your view of them. romney? >> formidable. businessman. but will have to wrestle with what has become labeled as romney care. >> polenti. >> an accomplished politician. and accomplished governor. articulate. - but, some people have said not very inspiring. >> hayley barber. >> dangerous? in a good way. [laughs] hayley basher is one of

the smartest governors and one of the smartest office holders. yes, he's a politician but he's dangerous the good way because he has been in washington. he said, his goal was to go back to mississippi and became governor and he did. he's very competent and capable. i have the great aes amount of respect for him and have known him for many, many years and so he could be, he could b a force if he were to decide to run because of the depth of his contacts, as well as really understanding the process and able to connect with people. >> couple more. newt gingrich, your friend? >> formidable. one of the most intellectually sound thinks on the planet. period. not just politics. >> his personal life a factor

in this race? >> i don't think so. i think people look at your personal life history more previously than thedo today. over the last several years while i was on the radio, steve, noced that the terminal coming from listeners, where many of them had gone fromeing concerned about the future of america, to being fearful about the future of america. and in that regard, they want somebody that can help us get us back on th right track. >> sarah palin? >> very popular. tells it like it is and she inspires a lot of people. >> two final points. mentioned radio a couple of times. when and how long? >> i was on e radio for five years, two years doing a weekend show, the herman cane show and then three years up until the

most reenforcemently. five night as week onw sv out of at lan tax georgia. >> what's the hermanator? >> a nickname given to me by member of the restaurant association when i was chairman of the boardack in the early 1990's when we were fighting hillary care. as an officer of the national restaurant association, i becam one of the primary spokesperson against hillary care. and so, a gentlemen by the name of lry maccarthy helped us to develop some of the commercials that we used to tell people to the truth to wake peoplep about hillary care. larry tells the story about how one night he was watching t.v. and the commercial he had done with me in. representing the views of small businessmen had just run on his t.v. set. and then he was flipping the

channels and he saw the movie, the herman - terminator. he got the idea. so he was excited about it and told the staff at the national restaurant association about this new nickname and it stuck. >> finally, what is your process in actually decided whether you will run? sounds like you are running? >> put my to in the water. now it's up to my neck and the feedback we've gotten from people across this country. tens of thousands who are willing to volunteer. the response we've gotten from people in terms of funding. the response that i have gotten from my many visits to texas. south carolina. new hampshire as well as iowa in terms of people connecting with my message. common sense solutions as i cl it. those are the things that over the next several weeks we'll

take a good hard look at to make sure we make the final decision to go forward. so it'll be within the next several weeks. several, could be five or six or less. >> herman cane. thank you very much for joining us. >> it's been my pleasure. "washington journal" continues. host: our sunday r >> now a reporter's roundtable from "washington journal." >> we want to thank you from coming back to c-span. and michael shearer, and begin with the news of the days, for raised on gaddafi forces.

>> that's the short-term objective to prevent a kind of hum humanitarian crisis and for us to join in if colonel gaddafi to stop that. and the broader question, the united states and the rest of the world has called for colonel gaddafi to leave and step down from power. and for obama not to want this to extend every the weeks and

months and how does that square to get mr. gaddafi out of power if he doesn't want to go. and that's the challenge, as we have seen air campaigns to go on for a long time. >> and as we have seen, that for him to stay in power is a possibility. >> yes, and who are these folks, that's a big unknown. and in terms of objectives and at least from the obama administration standpoint, get in and out and move on. and say that we didn't let another crisis go by. >> and let us look at what he said for using forces on libya, this is primarily air strikes, this is muammar gaddafi. >> you are enemies.

you are criminals, your people are against you. everywhere in europe and in america your people do not agree with it. the people are against you, your government and regime will fall down. >> we haven't seen the pictures from libya and how is this playing out in the arab world? >> what is interesting, this assault launched on something like the eighth anniversary of the invasion of iraq. >> to the day. >> to the day. the difference though and what is striking about this, there is support for this among parts of the arab world. the arab world voted to encourage the creation of a

no-fly zone and there are partners in it. at we have seen e isrs after the assault, that we do not see a lot of evidence of that participation. you see french and american bombers. you do not see any evidence of the participation of the arab countries in the bombing. clearly, gaddafi had not only become uprise again to the western world, but he was a pariah in the arab world. host: some of our viewers are saying why not yemen? why libya? guest: what you see from this administration is that there is a place where they need to fight their battles. but they said -- there is a political consequence to all of

this. they need to go to places where there is a positive political upside. with bahrain, it relates to saudi arabia. it is a much tougher place. guest: there is a pragmatism played out in president obama's foreign-policy, where they pick and choose but not in an arbitrary political way, but also a cold calculation about where the united states interest are best aligned with the protesters, the rebels, the opposition, and where they are best aligned with the folks in power. guest: the bigger issue for the president is how this is playing here in washington. you have the anti-war caucus that has come out against the president on this. as they did with george bush.

and then you have the conservatives talking about dithering, and passivity, new gingrich and other of these candidates. you are getting it from both sides. this seems to be much more of a political problem for him back home. host: walt bachus on your daily blog. sarah palin is in india this weekend. guest: if you remember during the 2008 campaign, sarah palin was criticized for lack of the world view, her knowledge about the world and what goes on outside. since then she has taken a couple of these trips abroad, which it is anyone's guess how they are intended to repair that image. it seems likely that she does for president, she will need to have a better perspective on the world and a sense of that. she has gone to india.

it is actually a paid speech, she is a member of the washington speakers bureau, and they arrange this for her. she will be going after the speech to israel, which is not a paid gate. she will be assessing the situation from israel and having dinner with prime minister netanyahu there as well as other israeli officials. and then come back to the united states. if he does run for president, and it is anyone's guess, this will be an important piece in getting folks a sense that she has a better knowledge and grasp of the world. host: david brody, have you sat down with mitt romney or sarah palin? guest: sarah palin i have. mitt romney, not yet, but there isn't a wall aspect with him. you can see him in a couple places, but this is a calculated

decision. clearly they need to figure out with health care what the exact target will be. as a release to sarah palin, i did sit down with her about a month ago. we talked about egypt where she made some news as to what she would do over there, or her assessment of the situation. we will see. there are a lot more interviews to come hopefully. host: you sat down with tim pawlenty. >> in evangelical christians, that is our personal faith perspective and journey. i am happy to share that, because people take the measure of you in terms of running for office or any other thing. they want to know what your values system is based on, who argue, what do you believe, why do you believe that? and our faith in forms what we put our priorities for, what we turn to for help, what we believe in terms of our values.

it is a measure of the person and part of how they think and what they buy you and what they believe. host: based on this interview, who was the targeted audience? guest: evangelicals clearly what tim pawlenty. he is already making a major player. everyone who says that the 2012 race has not gotten under way, it has gotten underway, no doubt about it. he is playing to the evangelical audience and gingrich will. how can he play with three marriages, but there is a resume for him as well, as well as it relates to sharia law and wahhabi as some and how radical islam plays within the evangelical orbit. even the evangelicals on the ground in an iowa and south carolina, it is not just abortion and moral fiscal

crisis issues. radical islam plays a key component in how evangelical see the world and the candidates. guest: i agree with that. the other person i would add would be mike huckabee, if he decides to run, who has his own issues with conservatives on a financial and fiscal side. but when it comes to the evangelical crowd in iowa, he is a proven vote-getter. host: a story that you wrote last week, michael bennet joined by 32 republicans and 32 democrats, and what is their message? guest: do something about the debt. their message is do not run away from the entitlement programs just because they are top. the current debate that you talked about in your last segment is on the current fiscal

year budget. that will and that some point. it has to. sometime this year, they will have to confront the question of getting control of the nation's soaring debt. the thing that will force them to confront them is raising the debt ceiling, which a lot of conservatives and tea party members opposed. what the 64 senators are hoping is that they can use the pressure from that vote, that potential vote, to squeeze everyone in this debate to, ok, we will raise the debt ceiling but only if there are long term fix is on these big problems. host: you're talking about medicare, medicaid, social security, and taxes. guest: there are three democrats and republicans at the core of that larger group. they had been negotiating privately. the hope is that -- it had built

sought the president's tax commission -- but if you can find a comprehensive agreement on those things, how to control the soaring cost of health care, how you can adjust social security to keep it solvent for longer, and then how you can make some changes to the tax code, do all that together and it helps the long-term fiscal crisis but the country, and then if everyone can see you are confronting those things, then people will be worked well into confronting. host: let me turn to politics. a defining issue for obama is a $250,000 limit. guest: that will be a micro issue in this macro lens. and the macro lens is leadership. you sing gingrich talk about

this, the spectator in chief comment. the president, according to many of these candidates, it is developing a resin made -- resume of sitting on the sidelines. whether libya, where he did not act fast enough, you can go down the line. entitlement reform. republicans will come out and early april with their budget. ready and willing to take the political hit for it. they say. guest: chris christie has exactly the same message, disappointment in the president, saying he has not stood up to confront these problems. recently,istie's said you wonder at this point in american history if the political cost may not be as bad as a lot of people think when it comes to touching the third rail of entitlements. or some of these other economic issues, because of the situation we face.

host: is debt commission suggesting that for terminates goes up to 69. it is not an immediate, but over 5 to 10 years. guest: there are all sorts of ways in which you might adjust these things and have less of an impact in the short run but morgan impact in the long run. host: michael shear and david brody. tony is joining us from denver. welcome. caller: my question is around foreign-policy. when obama ran, he really ran on diplomacy and the need for coalition when you are using force. now here we are three years later. after being elected, his first major speech is in egypt and he speaks to the young people and their aspirations for democracy, and that he accepts the nobel prize, and talks about using

force with coalitions. now it is three years later, it looks like he is just what telling how he ran when he ran for president. using power when needed, but with support in coalition, maybe like president bush i, and a lot like feedback on that. is he not filling how he ran? host: one comment from our bureau. -- and viewers. guest: he is absolutely right. this is what the president ran on in 2008. this is his governing philosophy. we are starting to see this. in essence, president obama is a constitutional law professor at harvard. he is in a harvard or yale

classroom, pick your id league school classroom. he is having an interesting debate about all this. on the one hand, on the other hand, and look of what happened in afghanistan. that went on because there were different viewpoints in the room. and republicans will deem him on this issue and they have. guest: the white house will argue that the president has done what he said. he is pulling out of iraq, slowly and responsibly, and he has reached its focus on afghanistan, which he said was the war that america needed to be engaged in. and now interestingly on this libya situation, there was a real tension and back-and-forth within the administration. you had secretary of state hillary clinton, samantha power is, susan rice, all on this side of intervening for humanitarian reasons.

on the other side, robert gates, the secretary of defense, the national security advisor, all worried about drawing in this something that will go on for a long time, difficult to get out of. secretary of state clinton won out this time. but as we have said before, it is a case by case basis. it is a pragmatic approach this as we do not h >> now an update from henry gortney, this is about 20 minutes.

>> good afternoon, all. thank you for being here. we have for you today to provide an operational update on our operations in libya. the director of the joint staff, mr. gortney. >> good afternoon. everyone and thanks for being here today. i want to take a few minutes to update you on the military operations in libya and then i would be happy to take your questions. as you know we began our enforcement of united nations resolution yesterday and with air command controlled air structure. and i report that there were 110 launches from ships and

submarines and that rose to 124 in the hours after i briefed you. we judged the strikes to be effective and degrading the regimes ability including their ability to launch their sa-5, the long ranged missiles and the sa-3, and sa-2. the initial strikes they briefed yesterday are highlighted in yellow. and the strikes after i briefed you are in red. >> we are not ruling out further such missile strikes against valid targets need arises.

in the past 24 hours we constructed from a field. next slide. these strikes were carried out last night east coast time by two bombers from the air force basis with attack mission. and the photo to the left is a use and this is dual use for civilian and commercial traffic. you can see the area -- let me point it out to you. in green, here is the center area. is where the commercial part is. and the military harden aircraft shelter for the fighter aircraft are the triangular shape in the corner. we targeted only those areas

outside of the box, the civilian part to support fighter aircraft. next slide, please. here is a depiction of one of the targets, the triangular part. and you see the scar-damage from the hardened aircraft shelter, one that we have blown up here that is actually flattened. next slide. in addition to the b-2 strikes and attacks to the forces of gadhafi. 15 u.s. marine forces participated in this attack and as well as france. and full battle reports from the

strikes are still coming in but we judge them to be successful from the ground movement in this region. the highlighted box are still shots from the weapon system video. we believe that gadhafi's forces are suffering from isolation and confusion. next slide please, you can see here a basic lay-down of how we see the battle space today with regimes with less maneuver with forces. and we have the capability of controlling the air space over libya, and as was reported this morning, the no-flight zone is in place. let me conclude what i said yesterday, this is an international effort and since i spoke to you last, we are joined

by forces from spain, belgium and gutter. we do not know when we are ready to do that and don't know what that structure will beilook lik and working hard to define it. and maintaining for partners to implement the no-fly zone. with that, i will happy to take your questions. >> yesterday you were hesitant to talk about whether colonel gadhafi and the target? >> we are forcing the no-flight zone that is command structure

of the system, and the regime targets that may be moving on to the libyan people. >> you are not going after gadhafi? >> we are not. >> you mentioned a target and why is that part of the mission. if the mission overall is for a mission for no-flight zone and why going after infantry elements? >> they were recognized admissions and advancing on bangazi. >> so this is his mission? >> if they are moving and advancing to opposition forces

to libya, yes, we will take them under attack. >> what is the difference of protecting the libya people and flying forces for the people, is seems like that is what you are doing. >> i couldn't say close air support for opposition forces. we knew that these elements were moving into bengazi with armored equipment and took them under attack. >> what do they do to stop the attacks? what do the libyans have to do to stop the attack? >> if they no longer advance on bengazi, that's a good sign. >> do they have to just stop advancing the attacks? >> i am not ready to answer that

particular question, sir. >> hang on, one at a time. >> are the troops advancing anywhere? >> i don't have that at this time. >> do you (inaudible) this cease-fire from gadhafi? >> i don't believe anything from him and neither this cease-fire. >> do you have an assessment or number of ground forces you have hit? >> no, the bha has not come in yet, the bomb assessment. >> you have no idea of whether dozen or hundreds? >> i would say dozens. >> we have no indications of

civilian casualties. >> are relying on these forces at this time? >> no, we are not. >> they are expressing about operations and tempo, is that a factor as you consider future? >> just shortly before i came in, the air league endorsed our no-fly zone. >> are there strikes in the operation? >> we are in the process of getting them and transporting them and getting them into the theater. >> which arab countries? >> the one country we announced is gatar, and we are assisting in the movement of those forces. >> to help support the no-fly zone. >> (inaudible) to the right to the rate? >> i am not going to discuss specific basing but they came out of europe.

>> and the ashircraft and emissions loft? >> loft? >> shut down. >> no, all the air crew has returned to their home bases. >> so there is still danger to this air crew, there are still people firing into the air, and maybe not missiles but people firing guns at them. can you describe what they are flying into? >> well, at this point the fixed surface missiles, sa 2, 3 and 5, and the early warning radars that would target, that would tell them where to point have been taken down and we don't see those to emit. and there are missiles, sa 6 and 8, and a large number of held-hand man pads, sa-7 type

and there are quite of few of those. and to deal with the radar guided sites, we have airplanes designed to attack those targets. and then we use against the hand-held we use self-defense measures. and speed and maneuver. >> on the back. >> (inaudible) join operations (inaudible). >> i am sorry? >> (inaudible) coalition? >> i have not received that they have officially asked for us to announce that or still under consideration. >> is there explosions being heard from weapons in tripli, are those mobile systems? >> we haven't -- the surface air guns, the aaa, we haven't targeted those fixed sites or

mobile sites so they can be either one of those. >> sir, you are saying that the -- that gadhafi's forces have to stop advanceing and that will stop the attacks. and if they stop and then the rebel forces move in their area. are you saying they are not allowed to engage the rebel forces under any circumstances? and they have to lay their arms down? or they have to stop forward movement? >> at that point i am not ready to specify the messages we have put out there. >> (inaudible) fly helicopters? >> yes, even in all the no-fly zones we have set up over the years, we have never fully prevented airplanes from flying. at some point it's a vast amount of air space. so if he chose to, he might be able to get something up.

i wouldn't rule out that nothing will fly. but i tell you that anything that flies that he detect, we will engage. >> (inaudible) fixed mobile airline flights yet, why not? >> we have attacked the mix radar site but not the mobile/surface to air sites. the aaa sites whether fixed or mobile, there are so many of them that it's better to avoid them than it is to try to attack each individually. >> so you would move those to populated areas. have you seen evidence of that? >> we haven't seen evidence of that but we couldn't rule that probability out. >> the numbers and you said that the two rounds fired off (inaudible) when did that barrage end, 124 and have any

others been fired off? >> we talked 16:30 and it was probably 21-22:00 eastern standard time last night and shot more. >> have anymore been shot off today? >> that i am not aware of. >> which nations now are actively controlling the no-fly zone? >> you are going to see united states, united kingdom, france, at this particular point. and as nations you have seen fly their airplanes in and canada arrive, they get there and set up their infrastructure and basing requirements and air crew, and we work them into the next day's flying cycle and each day you will see more nations. >> do you have those who will

enforce? >> i won't talk about that at this time. >> is (inaudible) there? >> no, we are in the process of locating them. >> and there was a watch over b bengazi? >> it's a part of the no-fly zone and we want to watch that for 24 hours a day. >> have you expanded that? >> the no-fly zone will encompass all the way from tripli to bengazi, and south i don't guess but that's a good rule of thumb. >> how much territory westward of bengazi you feel is safe enough to fly the controls?

>> we are enforcing, when you see us strike in tripli, and all the way to south of bengazi, that's where we are enforcing the no-fly zone. >> how much to be involved in the air strike? >> it's difficult to tell at this time, and we are on the leading edge of the coalition, and we will transition. and it's too difficult to predict and as countries come in and they take over the mission. >> days or weeks? >> i am not going to drive it to a timeline at this time. >> when you say transition to the rest of the coalition, what exactly does that mean? from one country or several? >> a coalition.

our intent is to be a part of the coalition throughout. transfer the command to a coalition command. and start using more capabilities that the coalitions don't provide, and shift the effort. that's tankers and electronic support and aircraft and isr, and things of that nature. i would not rule out that we may continue some portion of the fighter mission as well. but not the preponderance of it. >> and you mentioned the growlers and hawk-eyes and specify? >> many nations will put their awaks, and you will see things of that nature. the speciality electronic airplanes and sensors and awaks, and tankers will be in that

regard. and logistic flight, there will be a great bit of logistics to enable this activity. >> f-22? >> we have not specify the types of airplanes. >> any search and rescue? >> we have search and rescue afloat at this time. >> right here in the corner. >> can you estimate the cost for the operation and how that cost is split between the coalition? >> i am not able to estimate at this time. >> and the estimates of the no-fly zone will cost 100 million? >> our focus is to set up and enforce the no-fly zone and that's what we are doing. and we will look at the cost at another time. >> how many aircraft in total will it take to enforce no-fly zone? >> we will take as many coalitions partners that want to

do this with us. >> have any coalition partners set up on the ground? >> at this point we are set up for the no-fly zone and it doesn't include boot to ground. >> (inaudible). >> we have many nations waiting to announce themselves, but will have united kingdom, france, canada, belgium and gutar. >> sir, and the messages (inaudible). >> we are putting up all of our -- specialized aircraft of that nature. and i am not able to talk about the messages. >> next question. >> (inaudible)? >> no, sir. >> sir, do you have overflight allowances from neighboring countries, are neighboring

countries allowing you to base maintenance and crews and if so how many of them? >> clearly we have overflight and basing arrangements with many nations and we won't discuss that, we will let them announce that. >> there are breaking reports of plumi pluming reports for gadhafi. >> at this point i can confirm he's not on a target list. the rest of that is that he happens to be in a place and inspecting a site, and have no idea he's there. no, we are not targeting his residence and there to set the

united nations countering solutions. that's what we are doing. > have you used (inaudible)? >> we are not going to mention any nation we are using for basing or overflights, we will let those countries make those announcements. . .

not that everything we read every morning was something you would want to talk to the family about, but you do miss not knowing. >> secretary tom ridge and jan