to 75% of investment for new equipment and hardware. so now we are observing the process of accelerated formation and foundation for manufacturing weapons systems. we now have young people going into defense companies. we broke >> and the average age in r and d and design industry, we have 46.5%, and in r and d, 41.5% -- oh, no, not percent, years of course. next year we have a targeted recruitment of 50,500 students ra tie-breaker in a specialty that are required to be in the industry. we will be paying bonuses to the best and most accomplished

engineers. in recent, 5,358,000 children were born. the annual increment was $35,000 children. one of the best telling indicators is average life expectancy. today it is 69 years. in 2005 it was 65 years. so between 2005 and 2010, a very good increase, four years. at the same time, the results -- who is getting free apartments. please carefully follow the process. it is a pretty good growth. at the same time, the results of the census demonstrated how fragile and unstable this demographic balance is.

it is evident for us that active policy in the demography is changing. well do everything to support positive trends and families with children. all aspects are important. creating jocks, a flexible tax policy, housing issues, and development of a stable health care system. the government initiated introduction of tax deductions for children -- families with children. i will have to go back to the address of the president last year. it was not by accident he was focusing on the protection of maternal health, child health and improving democrat

demography. this is our strategy. we started a second phase. between 2011 and 2015 we expect projects will receive about 1.5 trillion roubles. what we are trying to achieve in 2015, the first indicator would be the increase of life expectancy up to 71 years, and compared to 2006, birth rate increasing by 25% to 30%, and the death rate would be lower. looking at the trend we have now, it is achieve. the makeup thing is to keep up the pace. demographic indicators show the

different sectors. russian beurocrat's is often criticized and quite justified. we are talking about substantial improvement and reorpting government apparatus to meet the interests of the citizens. we are talking about fighting corruption, trying to make bureaucrats responsible and eliminate any preconditions for bribery. we need to clean our regulations and laws and eliminate loopholes and vague areas. the new law on licensing lowers by half licensing activitying. and licenses will have no expiration date. starting in 2012, a lot of licensing procedures already put into electronic format.

now a little bit about certification. this is an important aspect. it seems mundane, but it is where we have the source of all evil. quite recently, up to 78% of all goods and services had to be certified. now it is only 46%. we will further lower this bar. in many cases producers will self proclaim compliance to standards of quality. producers will have to guarantee the interests of consumers. while give a short reference. in the past two years, more than 600,000 small and medium businesses were launched in the wake of the crisis. this is very serious growth. i think the regional and local

authorities in supporting entrepreneurship should be more open and effective. we should have rankings of effectiveness in the russian federation. despite the post crisis measures, we are going to support small businesses involved in innovation technology, in the defense industry and for those entrepreneurs who are working in social spheres. we also will assist small businesses with financing through the national bank. shortly we will be providing services of government at the local and regional level in electronic format. we are talking about e-government, an integrated communications channel and data

banks. from june of 2011, all necessary coordination and inquiries will be done by agencies themselves and not to use citizens as messageers. those citizens who would prefer a traditional form of receiving government services in person, it will be done, but it should not be too burdenen some. the initial centers that were -- were created in 2007. in two years we will have 800 of them, and they will be working for the interests of the citizens and municipalities should be able to receive services based on the service of the single window. by june of 2012 there will be a fee schedule for government services, and fees will be charged only based on the tax

code and schedule approved by the government. so demands for additional payments above those schedules would be illegal. in the shortest time, the government, as initiator of legislation, will suggest a new initiative. we would like to have the citizens to be involved in the governing process. so, dear colleagues,-week-old like to arrange for public hearings of all socially significant bills and drafts of laws. this could be done involving the widest range of experts. recently i was talking about the need of health care, and we talk a lot bit it everywhere. i row sently visited a medical facility, and i realized the

people don't know about what is being done. so i think that we shouldn't just lay out the drafts and put them up on the website so people can look at it, but also have public deliberation of it and maybe using a system of electronic voting so the people can decide which is is more appropriate and important for them. a lot of leading countries now incorporate more and more the system of open government that would involve the citizenry in the decision-making process. is we need to encourage active civil engagement and take into account those recommendations and advice given by ibt experts . but of course it will be more difficult, and sometimes well lose on speed, but the quality will be improvement. dear colleagues, please allow me to conclude with saying that

practically three years ago here in this chamber we laid out a new program for development by the gofrlt of our federation. yes, we had more challenges than anticipated, but we had to move forward and protect the citizenry from the crisis and defend every accomplishment in the sphere of education and health care, and step by step restore, recover and increase the potential for growth. i can say with full responsibility this was a successful dash force. now we are making a large scale plan for economic growth. the government will do everything possible to make sure the economy is following positive growth and the well-being of russian families will grow.

we will be guided by principle and listen to people. we are not willing to step away from this general principle line. support of citizens always helped us, and we have used it as a support in making very important decisions, and well do everything to earn this trust. thank you very much for your patience and attention. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> thank you.

recent political events both in our country and in the world proofed that the internet plays an important role in mobile miesing people. today on the internet you have the opportunity for wide, informle a and free communication. the user are not afraid to express mayor ideas about the upcoming and presidential campaigns in russian. that can lead to a crackdown in this issue, and the evidence is in the recent statement by security services on the possibility of blocking ack to interpret sites. our faction is convinced that this is impermissible. we don't want to go back to 1937, and we believe that these actions will lead to discontent in the interpret and destabilize the situation. we would like to hear the principle position of the government in censorship of the

internet, and if possible, we would like to hear your personal opinion. >> well, i don't recall that they had the internet in 1937. well, you know, that was a joke. what is the difference between the central committee of the communist party and the secret police? we are not planning to clip anything. the internet is just a tool. it is a tool for solving important economic and social problems. it is a tool for communication and self expression, also a tool for improving quality of life and getting information. but the main internet resources are owned not by us. they are across the pond. they are owned overseas, and

therefore, it cause concern among our security services. the potential of using these important resources for purposes that go against the interests of our society and our country. but it is their concern. as far as i am concerned, i don't believe there is a need to restrict anything. >> the wave that rolled across the muslim and arab world, various upheave else, mute nissan and things affected the wormed economy. but the question is what does the government do? it is no secret that we had large contracts with these countries. our companies were working

there and the re-distribution of financial flows and the migration flows now put at risk many things. the right wings have come to power, and they want to restore the borders in the european. what does the government do to be least affected by those revolutions that are happening and probably will happen in the near future? >> the main guarantee to avoid social upheave always is social economic policy in the interest of the russian people. with mandatory positive results in our joint work. if people see that we are working defending their sfws,

and we yield positive results, they're living standards are improving, i assure you there will be no problems that have to do with maintaining civil accords in our country. but of course there will be always isolated elements that would be attempting to destabilize anything. in any healthy body, there are some harmful bacteria that are there, but they are suppressed by immunity if the immunity is high. if the immunity is weakening, this influenza presents itself. so if we maintain high immunity in our country, no

quasi-political flunes will present itself. as far as our economic losses, in the course of turbulent events in north africa and other countries, yes, we have this problem. we have multi-billion-dollar contracts in defense, and of course they are now up in the air. in some areas we have already provided services, and the work has been done, and it is not paid for. so it has been suspended. in some parts of the world we had plans to supply a weapons system. it is a huge problem because our companies proceed, according to the contracts,

large amounts of weapon systems, but there's nobody to take it. what do we do with this inventory? it was not requested or commissioned by our military. though don't need it but the resources were spent, and i guess we need to somehow support these companies. we will find ways to do it, but it will require additional resources from us, maybe direct support from the budget. it is not pleasant, but it is not terminal. we will solve these issues. >> in a couple of minutes, road to the white house with former new mexico governor gary johnson. and later on "q & a," mike daisey on his latest production, the agony and the ecstasy of steve jobs. >> monday on use, the commission on war time contracting is holding a

commission on wartime contracting. the department of defense inspector general and the former chairman of a federal commission on army acquisition reform. that's live at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span-2. >> may 1st, in depth, your questions for chapman university professor and co-founder of reason magazine, tibor, machan. he has written several books. and he will take your calls, e-mails and tweets, sunday on book tv. in tonight's road to the white house, gary johnson declares his candidacy for president in 2012. he served as republican governor from 1995 to 2003, advocating among other things, the legalization of mayor want.

this is almost half an hour. i ai hope will be the next president of the united states. gary is a former to tm governor from new mexico. ring that time, he cast more vetoes than any other governor in the country. he was not willing to compromise on core principles like taxes. he is more than just an ax governor. he's a former businessman and employed over a thousand people. he has climbed many high altitude peaks, including mount everest. he's a new type of leader we need in the united states. he maintains core republican principles like smaller government but also believes in personal responsibility and personal freedom.

it gives me a great pleasure to support someone for president who i can say is not the lesser of two evils or not as bad as the other guy. i hope he will be the next president of the united states, gary johnson. [applause] >> this is the first time i get to say this. am running for president of the united states [applause] . to do that, i think you have to have a certain resume and i like to think i do have that. i have been an entrepreneur my entire life. ever since i was 13 years old, throwing newspapers, mowing and lawns, i have paid for everything i have had in my life since i was 17 years old.

when i was a junior in college, i started a one-man handyman business in albuquerque. 20 years later, i employed a thousand people. american dream come true. naively, when i was elected governor of mexico, being in business was not a plus. we were not getting the work we should have. in 1999, i sold the business. nobody lost their job and that businesses doing better than ever. i ran for gernor of new mexico. i had nevereen involved in politics prior to running for governor. i introduced myself to the republican party, much like i am doing right now. i introduced myself a couple of weeks before i announced.

the chairman of the republican party in new mexico's said i like you, the republican party is going to love you, we are an open party, so it's going to be an open process and it will go on statewide i am thinking this was all i could ever ask for. then, he says i think you're great, but you need to know you wi never get elected. it is not possible to come from completely outside politics and the elected governor in a state that is two-one democrat. i got elected, and i would like to think it is based on what i had to say. everything should be a cost- benefit anasis. what are we spending moneyn and what are we getting in return? i was very outspoken regarding

school choice. i believe in free markets and i believe bringing educational entrepreneurs to bear would it make a difference. i did that in mexico. it may be a bit of an embellishmt, but i may have vetoed more bills when you consider the line items i vetoed, i'd have vetoed more legislation than the other 49 governors in the country combined. it was not just saying no, it was looking at what we were spending money on and what we're getting for the money. i really believe in smaller government. i believe there is a consequence for the legislation gets passed and maybe it is not in our best interest to pass all of the legislation repass. that it layers of bureaucracy on the traactions that are not

made any safer by you or i. and in that making it so much more cumbersome and burdensome and and that adding a lot of money as opposed to the notion of liberty and freedom and personal responsibility that goes along with it. i raised a dialogue regarding the war on drugs. it was an extension of everything i did as governor of new mexico, which is what are we spending our money on and what are we getting for the money we're spending? i am outraged over the fact that this country is bankrupt. how did we get ourselves into this position? my entire life, i've wched government spend more money than it takes in. i always thought there be a day

of reckoning with regard to spendingnd i think that day is here. it needs to be fixed. who is responsible? one week ago, i was asked should president obama's health care plan be repealed? yes, i think the health care plan should be repealed because we simply cannot afford it. but what i said then and what i will say now, i think republicans would gain a lot of credibility in the argument if republicans would offer a repeal of the prescription health-care benefits they passed when they controlled both houses of congress and ran up record deficits. that spending pales in comparison to today but both parties can share in where we have gotten to right now. i think ware on the verge of a

financial collapse in this country. the writing is on the wall. this is not fear mongering. this is we are going to enunter a financial collapse because quite simply, we cannot repave 14 trillion dollars in debt when we are racking up 1.65 trillion dollars in debt going forward. it is just not going to happen. i am advocating balancing the budget tomorrow. i do not have a 20-year plan. the plan for balcing the budget is tomorrow. that is $1.6 trillion in reduced federal spending. the debate and discussion regarding government-reduced spending was we need to be cutting government spending by 43 cents.

it was about less than one penny. after some analysis, it was less than one one-hundredth of a penny. we need to play out what happened in washington a couple of weeks ago hundreds of more times if we are actually going to bring this to bear. when you talk about balancing the bget, it is important to talk about medicaid, medicare, soal security, it is really about making social security solvent, and it is a defense spending. i think the federal government could block grant the states a fixed amount of money which would be 43% less than we're spending and do away with the strings and mandates and give states the ability to get health care to the poor and those over

65. that would be 50 laboratories of innovation. i will be talking about this the whole time running for president. this is about 50 states. we have 50 laboratories of innovation all out in the notion of best practices which gets emulated. there will be failure, but the notion washington knows best has us in the position we're in right now which is bankrupt. when it comes to social security, social security is pale in comparison to medicare. medicare is going to engulf the entire federal budget and a short time if it is not brought under control. social security needs to take in more money than it is paying out. you could raise the retirement

age, have means testing and change the escalator from the wage index to the inflaon dex, the third item would make social security solvent into the future. when it comes to defense spending, can we cut 43% of the defense budget and maintain a strong national defense? i believe we can and we have an obligation t do that and provide ourselves with a strong national defense. i think strong national defense is way different than we are currently engaged in which is nation-building all across the world, when we have our own nati to build. i would have been opposed to iraq at the get go. i thought we had the military rveillance capability to see

iraq rollout any weapons of mass destruction. if they would have done that, i felt we could have militarily addressed that situation. i thought if we would go into iraq, we would findurselves in a civil war to which there would be no end. i thought afghanistan was totally warranted initially. we were attacked and we attack back. we are at war with osama bin laden and al qaeda and we should remain vigilant to terrorist threats. but after being in afghanistan for six months, we would have affectively taken out al qaeda. that was 10 years ago. we are building roads, schools, bridges in afghanistan and borrowing 43 cents of every dollar to do that. in my opinion, that is crazy. we should get out of iraq and afghanistan tomorrow. [applause]

for all of the debate and discussion we will have over that issue, all of which will be warranted, i suggest to you we will have that same debate and discussion 25 years from now if that is when we finly decide to get out. in the meantime, we will continue to spend more money we do not have and a lot more men and women will end up losing their lives. libya -- in the environment i am in right now, i have to issue an opinion on everything right away, so libya, i am opposed to what happened in libya, starting out with where was the constitutional authority? where was theongress check off on that? where is it in the constitution

ife don't like a foreign leader, we should topple the foreign leader? who are the rebels in libya? have we not injected ourselves into a civil war? are there not five countries that would qualify for the same military intervention we have implemented in libya? under the umbrella of a no-fly zone, saddam hussein existed for 12 years. under a no-fly zone, the atrocities in bosnia occurred. when do ground troops become committed? i think we've already seen that. the unintended consequence of government and its actions -- we take out saddam hussein, and there goes the check for iran, which may be a threat -- which may in fact be a security threat

to the united states. i do notelieve it exists at all, but we should remain vigilant toward. it goes on and on and on. i believe in free markets. what i am going to embark on, the debate will be over government, government regulation, and free-market. i am always the one that will defend free markets. when free markets are talked about in terms of here are the root of our evils, i would point out that it is there reason we don't have free markets is the result of the problems we end up having. it is a government and the unintended consequences of government picking winners and losers when it comes to

business, picking the winners and losers when it comes to foreign governments, the unintended consequence. having been the governor of new mexico and the telling 750 pieces of legislation, i tried to put myself in the position of what is going to be the unintended consequence of this legislation? was it going to make a difference in anyone's life or were we just going to end up spending more money? looking at health care in this country, believing in a free- market and the government uld provide solutions by just eliminating impediments for health-care entrepreneurs to ter into the health carepace to deliver better products and services at lower prices. health care in this country is about as far removed from free- market as it possibly could be,

but always in this process in this upcoming discussion which i relish, i am going to be the one that takes on the defense of the free market system and how if it were applied, it would make a difference. immigration right now is a hot- button issue. it is discussio that should take place. i happen to think immigration is a good thi. i think this country is based on immigration. i view immigration as a job creator, not a situation that takes away jobs. because of our cvoluted immigration policies, kids from abroad are coming and getting educated but because of our policies, we are sending them back to their countries of origin where they will ultimately employ tens of

millions of indians as oppos to tens of millions of americans with businesses that would have been nurtured here in this country. i advocate elimination of the corporate income tax, recognizing it is a double tax and by eliminating the corporate income tax, that would create tens of llions of jobs in this country. this would be the place to start up, build, nurture businesses that are currently taking place in other countries. this corporate income tax started as zero in this country. get back to that and we will really see some job creation. immigration should be about work, not welfare. we have issues in this country regarding welfare. immigrants coming across the

border and taking entry-level jobs for americans? absolutely not. we as americans can sit at home and collect a welfare check that is the same amount of money for doing nothing. i think we should make it as easy as possible for emigrants to get a work visa. i'm not talking about citizenship or a green card. i am talking about a work visa which would entail a background check so that applicable taxes would get paid. regarding the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country right now, this is one of those unintended consequences. government has made it impossible for those who want to work to come in and get a work permit. if they get across the border, they know they can get a job because they have hundreds of friendand families and they

can come across and get that same job. when ron reagan set up amnesty in the 1980's, he coupled it was putting the government in charge of quotas. do not get the government in charge of quotas. let business determine whether or not there is a need for labor. if not, emigrants will go back to their coury of origin. there needs to be a time when the illegal aliens can get a legal work visa, background check, social security card, so taxes get paid. the notion of building a fence across 2,000 miles of border and putting that national guard across the border would be a lot of money spent with very little,

if any benefit whatsoever. regarding drug policy, legalize marijuana. legalize marijuana and arguably 70% of the border violence with mexico goes away because that is the estimate of the drug carl activity engaged in the trade of marijuana. 28,000 deaths -- if we cannot connect the dots between violence and prohibition, i don't know if we ever will be able to. these are disputes being played out with guns rather than in the court. let's take a new look at these issues and now backo my announcement here i am seeking the republican nomination for president of the united states and i look forward to the debate and discussion that will take place. this is a great country. we went to the moon.

we can solve these problems we have right now which first and foremost is insolvency. i would not be here right now if what i was saying was being said. the idea here -- what i am posing here is to take part in a contest to be the spokesperson for the republican party. if the republican party does not have options, perhaps the republican party checks off a name that is not all that representative of what republics might believe. i happen to believe i speak on behalf of the majority of republicans. i look forward to the debate and discussion that will follow and if i did not say it earlier, i had a mr. smith goes to washington experience as governor of new mexico.

i recognize there are a lot of mr. smith's they go to washington, but i was one of them and i felt like i made a difference and feel i could make a difference in this process. thank you. [applause] i will take some questions, comments, insults' -- describe my approach in new hampshire? i have been to 34 states and one of the places i enjoy more than anywhere is new hampshire, which is good because new hampshire is key in this whole process. i want to do really well in new hampshire,o i'm going to spend a lot of te in new hampshire,

where you c go from obscurity to prominence overnight. i'm going to go out on a limb and say i will not be out worked when it comes to going to new hampshire and talking to people. >> it is a key to the equation to do well in the early primary states where you can go from obscity to being in a place where the lights don't shine any brighter. i love retail politics. i love the fact that it is a one-on-one discussion and debate. i love the fact that -- what do you think about nit romney for president?

i'm having him over for dinner on thursday night, but i need to meet the mall. i like that. i ran to campaigns for governor were i did not mention my opponent. the idea was to present ideas and give people a choice as opposed to the lesser of two evils. when it comes to comparing myself tothers, i'm not the person to talk to. i will let you draw those conclusions. >> [applause] >> bypass the exploratory committee? i'm committed to doing this, so why have the exploratory committee. fund-raising is part of this. we intend to have a very aggressive online fund-raising

campaign that the websiteould have gone up 20 minutes ago. when it comes to gun control, i support the second amendment. as governor of new mexico in 1995, concealed carry was being hotly debated. i saw that as an issue that would lead to less gun violence. in mexico, i would have been able to sign legislation believing it would lead to less overall gun violence. i think we have seen that play out since so many states have passed it.

>> how can you compete in a market that takes so much money? we believe we will raise enough money to be competitive and to raise enough money to be competitive, that is going to involve a lot of work and a lot of entrepreneurship are part to do things in a more effective way. i have no complaints about the process. having run for governor of new mexico -- i have no complaints. the rules are what they are and

i accept that. i expect to do well in this process. how do i feel about unions? i just have one issue. that is that let's use it to hypothetical numbers of the union. of those two hypothetical numbers, one is the worst worker i've ever seen in my ente life. the other is the best worker i have ever encountered in my entire life. cannot reward the best and i cannot fire the wst. i have to accept them both as equal and i don't think that works. thank you very much.

>> that's live at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span 2. may 1 indepth your university professor, tibor machan, and will take your e-mails and tweets, live sunday, may 1 on

c-span 2 tv. on today's "washington journal," a political discussion on the state of economy in egypt. this is about 40 minutes. contin. host: we're pleased to welcome to the table two egyptian women here on fellowships. they were in egypt and during the tahrir square uprising. we want to talk about their experience and what they see for the future of egypt. we'reoing to start by introducing you to mirette bahgat. she is with the atlas corps as is may kosba. may, what are you doing in washington? guest: we e on scholarship with the atlas corps. we are serving with the public policy organization.

host: what are you learning? guest: we're learning whatever we can get our hands on. i have a chance to share my experience in my field with the organization i am serving with. i have been learning about policy-making, advocacy lobbying, networking. a big thing in this city is networking, meeting people, discussions. host: are you finding that what you are learning here will translate back ingypt or is similar to the way business is done in egypt? guest: it is not the same way. there are many differences here. i like the approach. there are things we may not replicate it should inspire us to create a subtle network in the country.

host: mirette bahgat, what are you working on? guest: i am working on civic enterprises. i am focusing on educational public policies and international service. i am learning a lot. i was working also on education back in egypt. for me,t is useful to be working on t educational policies here in the u.s. i am learning a lot. it is quite different from egypt in the way civil society is cooperating with the government. this was not the case in egypt. i hope this will be the case in the future. host: what surprised you the most about your experience in washington? i know you have only been here about a month. guest: part of my experience here is about my professional career. another part is i am personally

interested in the culture. whenever i go to any country, i am very much focused on the culture. i have been learning a lot about thamerican culture since i came here. we had so many stereotypes before i came. the stereotypes are being -- host: what is one stereotype that seems true? guest: that seems true -- americans are about action, not talking too much. host: what about you? what stereotypes have you found to be true? guest: i would have to agree with that. i came here in 2009. my first impression was that i kept looking for excitement. you expect hollywood erywhere. i kept looking for that. when i came here the second time, i realized that was not

the case. people are very hard-working and focused on what they are going to do. host: we will put the numbers on the screen. if you like to dial in and talk to our two guests from egypt, we will learn where they were during the tahrir square uprising began on january 25. where were you on january 25? guest: was onlin cairo with facebook and twitter. i am not really a demonstrative tight. -- type. no one ever believed this many people would be on the streets. in the beginning, it was very interesting. the videos have people protesting. they were uncivilized and in wer in. -- they worked civilized in the

videos were civilized and empowering. host: how was youronnection question and did you lose your internet connection? guest: on the 29th, the internet connection was cut off. american friends recommended building up proxy servers to work through. the connection was dead completely. we stayed like that for a few days. host: was that a scary feeling? guest: it was not just the internet. he was everything except for the land line phones. host: president mubarak was probably president for your entire life. were you ever a supporter of his? are you a supporter of his? guest: never. i can give you a good example. after graduation -- i have

studied accounting. i thought the best thing to do was to work for the tax department. i decided not to do that anymore. i did not support the government. i would never work in a government entity. three years later, i joined the non-profit sector because of my feelings about the government. host: where were you on january 25? guest: i was at work with a nonprofit organization. on january 25, i did not have much faith in the protests. i did not believe they would escalate. we had protests before in the streets. they would end up only having tens of people. they would be caught by the police and jailed. on the 25th, i did not believe the protests would be this large

in number and escalate this quickly. host: did you go down to tahrir square? guest: i went in the second week. the first week, i was in trauma because of what was happening. all of the events were escalating very fast. i felt traumatized. i did not know if this was for the good or bad of the country in the first week. thatbecause of the fothugs came around in different neighborhoods in cairo. for us, it was very frightening to go in the streets for the first week. host: there was an article in the thursday "washington post" saying some egyptians fear withe lifting of emergency law. he was talking about the christians and muslim brotherhood and other groups

that are fearful of the emergency law being lifted because of potential anarchy. guest: me and may were having this conversation yesterday. we come from very different the cross. she is muslim and i am christian. it is interesting to hear both sides of the issue specifically. we were talking about criminalizing all kinds of strikes because they stopped the government from doing his work. i did not agree with this law because sometimes strikes lead to chaos in the country, but it the same time it is the only way nnel their to challe thei voices. you will not consider the issue unless people are able to go into the streets and talk freely

about the issue. guest: i believe that banning strikes and demonstrations is disastrous. wead been calling to lift the emergency law because they could literally stop people in the streets, jail them, and kill them. i believe this should be an emergency situation and it should be lifted. i am optimistic about the approach. they have been listening to the people and communicating with th. i believe it should be lifted. host: may kosba and mirette bahgat are our guests. they're both from cairo. we've been talking about what they're doing on january 25.

if you would like to talk to them, we will put the phone numbers on the screen. we begin with butch from jackson, wyoming. caller: hello, ladies. i would like to know what advantage to this revolution has given to women in the political system. are you going to have a voice? when are you people going to realize that religion is going to drag you down to secure a drug anybody else down? host: women and religion. mirette? guest: concerning the voice of women and whether they played a role in the revolution, this was the first time in egypt where you could find women in the front lines during the

rising. usually you would find women in the back because men would not allow them to be in the front lines. this was the first protest in the streets where you would find women on the front lines facing all the gun shots. host: i think his question was going to now that this happened, are women going to have a larr role? i think that is where the caller was going. guest: women have been working hard in the past decade and even before the revolution they have been speaking out for different mediums. it was not just on line. it was offline as well. the revolution is a catalyst for everyone. we have freedom of speech. i believe this is a turning point in egyptian history for everyone, not just women. i believe women are smart enoug in the country to make the best use of the situation.

tahrir square had a great spirit between men and women. i think women have a lot of work to do in the next few years. i am not sure about religion yet. host: the caller basically said, when are countries such as egypt -- i think he was referring to muslim countries, that is my guess. he said that religion is going to drag you down. that is what he said. guest: egypt is a very religious country since the pharoahs. it is hard to let go of tradition. people are discussing the separation of church and state. is it. for the country and this generation?

-- is a good for the country and this generation? this is a debate where i am not clear yet. i have not made up my mind about the separation of state and religion were not. host: may, your a muslim. mirette, you are a christian. guest: we are a religious country. it is not just on the muslim side. it is on the christian side. we had some christians who were afraid of having a different country. people are asking for real democracy. with leave the choice r the majority of people. -- we would leave the choice for the majority people. we would not say we have decracy and then force people to a secular country while the majority of egyptians are religious.

we are asking for now is real democracy. later on, people will decide how they want the country to be. host: our next call comes from the dearborn heights, michigan. bob is on the republican line. caller: young ladies, congratulations. i hope this turns out well for egypt and the greater middle east. what can you tell me about the worries you may have regarding al qda? tired of hearing about al qaeda and the threat to the world. i wondered what you may have heard and what you may cents. congratulations. guest: this is something everyone has been talking about.

i am not a fortune teller. i cannot tell how things will be in egypt. i said before and will say it now. acada.ll afraid of i know they give us a bad name -- we're all afraid of al qaeda. i know they give us a that may run the world. that is for any terrorist organization. it is pointless to keep thinking about that. if you keep thinking of them as a threat it gives it energy. they're going to get stronger just thinking of them. we have changes on the ground now.

we have to keep making gains as much as possible for the democracy that we all aspire to achieve in the future. host: may kosba, what are one of the stereotypes that did not prove true when you came to the united states? guest: it is hard to tell. this is my second visit. one of the things on my list is another is a lot of misunderstanding about what it means to be an arab, moslem, middle eastern, north african. i am an egyptian. i am a north african. i am a muslim, but it does not mean i am an arab. in arab does not mean you are muslim. -- being arab does not mean you are muslim. i hope i will have the chance to talk to as my people as possible to help their

misunderstanding about being a muslim. it is funny. we need to be more engaged. i would like to see myself portrayed better. arabs like movies here. we would like to see ourselves in better shape. host: the next call is from florida. caller: good morning, ladies and gentleman. we have been regaled over time with stories of discrimination against coptic christians during the revolution in the square. we have heard nt-setic slurs -- anti-semitic slurs. we witnessed laura logan being

sexually attacked. within moments of the revolution, w saw an iranian gunboat floating through the suez canal on the way to syria. there are questions about lifting the blockade with gossip. host: what would you like our guests to respond to? caller: i would like them to address the fact we saw an iranian revolution in 1979 and 1980 that turned into an islamist state. we're seeing turkey turning into an islamic state. i would like to know what they feel is the prospect for egypt remaining in democratic, secular society as well as government. guest: i am going to answer the about theof th discrimination to the coptic christians during the tahrir square protest. this was not the case during the protests.

what we have seen for the first time in the egyptian streets is that priests were in the streets. they were singing national songs. people were behind them. currently, there are protests in upper egypt because of the appointment of a christian vernor. we have seen many muslims that oppose the appointment. this is one of the problems in egypt that we need to address. of course there is discrimination. i would not say this goes all over egypt. in cairo, we see people standing hand in hand. we have seen this image of what in tahrir square. the problem of discrimination more in upper egyp because this area it is ignored by the government.

people there are close from other communities. these protests have pointed out a real problem that needs to be addressed now. guest: he brought up too many points. they were interesting. at this point, we cannot tell what will happen in the future. i can assure you that egypt is not iran or syria or anybody else. we have our history. the concept is different. people have been calling for civil rights and justice. we have chronic unemployment. i hope we will be different from iran. we're working on this. everybody has been working on this. we note the scenarios are here and there. -- we know that these scenarios are here and there. on the sexual harassment of the u.s. reporter, [unintelligible]

we realize we still have issues. we're working on the issues. it is not over yet. host: what is your biggest fear for the future? guest: that we do not get democracy. guest: the elections are so soon. people who ignited the revolution are not yet politically ready. we are afraid of having the more experienced, the religious groups dominated the parliament. host: what has happened to the state media in egypt? guest: i have been disconnected from the state media since i came here. during the revolution, we had a bad rformance. they're not telling the news the way it should be. -- they were not telling the news the way it should be.

the listing of people demonstrating were actually spies. -- they were saying people demonstrating were actually spies. they were same people outside were helping the government. i took training on advocacy and awareness. i think the media it should be it.king on hos host: you both speak beautiful english. it is not your first language is it? guest: thank you. it is not my first language. was taught in the private schools. my father is a dentist. guest: my father is a journalist. he works in saudi arabia. host: the next call is from san francisco. caller: the previous caller alluded to the ignorance in this country regarding arabs, moslems, the islamic state.

the fear is palpable. i hope you do educate my fellow citizens. do you trust the egyptian military to honor what i hope as a representative democracy? do you trust they will give up power? what do you want from the united states government in supporting your burgeoning democracy? guest: regarding the stereotypes against islam, a kind of forget the question again. host: he was hoping that you do get out and educate americans about muslims. then he asked about the military. guest: that is right. i have to trust the military at some point. the military has been trying to get stability on the streets.

we would like them to help us through this process. i hope they stick to that part. i believe they will do that. i do not know what will happen in the future. so far, they are trying to guide us through the process. as far as what we need from the u.s., i believe we need since thursday. need sincerity. we need people to not befraid of change in the country. the u. has helped us a lot in the past decades with money, social assistance, wisdom, and everything. the kind of relationship we would like to have with the u.s. is that we want a people relationship. in the past, it was only politicians. one of the reasons the

revolution started is because egyptians had been humiliated across the universe. we want to change that. we want to correct that. we want you to understand how important changes inhe country. we want you to not be afraid. we want your assistance, not st financially. we want investments. we want investments in the youth. we want contrcultural exchange programs for youth to learn about the cultures. guest: concerning the military, i feel they're trying to get everything stable and then get back to allow for elections to have democracy. i agree very much with the callerbout the way -- the

perceptions about muslims and islam. we have the same problem in egypt. we have communities isolated from each other. the christian community is very much isolated from the muslim community. we have stereotypes about each other. we are in the same boat now. we have the same requests to have some channels of communication, at least to understand each other and stop saying these are the enemies and they persecute us. eventually, we are all egyptians. host the next call is from michigan. brian is a republican. caller: good morning. i spent some brief time in saudi arabia and bahrain years ago. if we were to put big pressure

on saudi arabi for women's rights, would there be a domino effect? how would that help you in egypt? the only pressure we seem to be able to put in the middle east seems to be with money, with oil obviously. we do not speakoo harshly about saudi arabia. we hope therere things behind the scenes. is it time to bring it out into the open about the lousy women's rights in saud arabia? host: we got the point. may kosba? guest: i do not read much about saudi arabia and bahrain. it is one of those countries where nobody knows what is going on. as for saudi arabia, i believe there is a movement.

there was a book written by a saudi girl. it was translated into english. i go to saudi. i have been going there for 20 years. i read the book. i was struck by the amount of things i never knew even though i go there every year. this book was an eye opening experience. people are speaking out. the girl was put in trouble for publishing the book. she is not allowed to enter saudi arabia. this morning, i checked the news. women in saudi arabia are pushing for voting. they want to vote. that is a good step. what happened in egypt and tunisia is now taking over the

middle east. i hope to u.s. addresses -- you talked about oil. we have to balance that and help people to speak out and get ready to be. host: may, did you change your parents when you went to saudi arabia? did you cover up? guest: it depends on where you are. it has become more liberated than in the past. they have the black dress that covers them from the shoulders of. it depends on where you are going. i see many americans working. i have never been to other parts except mac debt and medina -- mecca and medina. they are very tolerant there. host: the next call comes from dallas. scott is on the independent line.

caller: you said we are a people of action. we are not. we just voted for president obama who was supposed to change things. he has the same policies as bush. we have no control over our country. y'all did rise of. you put your lives on the line. we have yet to do it. we are dominated by our military, too. we cannot change the military budget even though we're talking about cutting social security and all of this stuff. i do not know that weave much to offer you. we have a bigger pie, but we're just as corrupt and out of control. host: we got that point. how is president obama perceived in egypt? guest: the problem is that during the revolution, america was not accepted by the majority of egyptians.

host: with the perceived our position to be? -- what did you perceive our position to be? guest: it was not clear to me. at one point, there was support for the mubarak regime. at the of the time, there was no support. for me, it was not clear. host: how was former president bush perceived? you are laughing. guest: the war in iraq and afghanistan, i believe president perspective ofs president bush was not as good as obama. when president obama came to power, people in my region were hopeful. right now there is little disappointment. things have not quite changed. it is not so different.

i heard a comment from somebody that now we miss president bush. president bush made sure that democracy was growing. the current administration is not giving much attention to that. there was an article about that the year ago or something. president obama has not given much attention to democracy. this was proven during the revolution. the state department's statements were not very supportive. he was like they wanted to be on our side but did not want to lose an ally. for people on the street, if you have to support western are peof action. even though our political process does not reflect that you sort of touched on

-- the reason i called is a wantedo complement these women on their command of the english language. i only wish that our foreign diplomatic corps, the active people, not the translators -- i wish hillary clinton had a command of arabic similar to these young people's command of the english language. incidently, i think you are doing a splendid job moderating this conversation. the gentleman from texas that decried america's actions, so to speak -- i agree with the young women. i think americans are people of acon. even though our political process does not reflect that particularly -- we are being sold a bill of goods by obama. politics aside, i just wanted to tell these young women that they

are very educational to us. thank you. ho: thank you for that nice call for our guests, mirette bahgat and may kosba. john from cincinnati is the republican line. caller: i had a question about how they feel about israel. i know mubarak was instrumental in brokering peace plans. he was concerned about the security of israel. how do they feel the new government will implement security forsrael? these are close neighbors. host: may, we will start with you. guest: when you talk a lot israel, you have to be careful what you say. israel right now, i believe the existing government in cairo is

smart enough to take care of the situation. egyptians have not been concerned -- we're not going to touch the tree, basically. my main concern is that we have is great right to stay peaceful with israel. since the revolution started, they have been worried about that. they keep bringing it up since the revolution started. there's no point to doing that. we're not focused on anything except having a democratic government. i believe military and interim government are smart. they're dealing witthe situation well, i think. guest: security in the middle east will affect security in israel. it is very important to kee the security. at the same time, egypt has been always seen as responsible for

advocating for palestinian rights. this is also a very important issue that i hope the new government will focus on. host: where were you on february 11, t day president mubarak resigned? guest: i was at home. to tell you the truth, i did not have the same happy feelings as other ople. i had feelings of relief, but i was al worried. i did not know where we were going. after, i felt more ppr when the prime minister resigned. he was appointed by mubarak. at this time, i felt we were really moving towards hearing people's voices. we were afraid so much of having the military ruling the country.

i did not know at this time how the military would be acting, whether it would be achieving what the revolutn was asking for. when the prime minister resigned and the military appointed the prime minister chosen by the people, the new prime minister was in tahrir square during the revolution. at is point, i felt even more happier than when mubarak resigned. guest: i was at home. i was tweeting and facebooking. i saw them onv for few minutes announcing it. i wondered if it was true. i did not believe it. president mubarak gave three speeches before that. when he aired it, i thought it was not happening. i got phone calls from my cousin, my friends to celebrate.

we celebrated on the streets. that was really exciting. it was not over. we knew he was in the government. it didwe wanted him to step down because it did not make sense for mubarak to step down and for him to not. i believe he should be on trial right now. for decades, we were humiliated. a lot of people died. people can talk about sayid and others. they are not the only ones. other people were in prison, tortured, killed for no reason. there are other social issues.

thousands of egyptians have died because of the system being so dysfunctional. it did not value the lives of the people. people have lived in decades under poverty and unemployment. i have friends who literally told me they did not want to the egyptian anymore. they said if they could get another passport, they would tear the egyptian passport apart. he should be ch

if he is proven guilty for killing people in tahrir square -- host: >> tomorrow on "washington journal," mark zandi, and celinda lake, and next lynn stanton joins c-span on the neutrality and the government's role on live regulation. that's tomorrow on c-span. coming up on "q & a," mike daisey, and then russian prime