rates, deregulation and more apprenticeships. this is a government who are pro-enterprise, pro-jobs and pro-manufacturing and who are going to dig us out of the mess the last lot left. >> does not the nightmare of fukushima mean that the planned renaissance of nuclear power will be stillborn? should not the prime minister be planning for a future that will be free of the cost, fear and anxiety of nuclear power, and rich in renewables that are british, that are green, and that are inexhaustible and safe? >> of course we have to learn the lessons from fukushima but, as i have said before, that is a different reactor design in a different part of the world with different pressures. the british nuclear industry has a good safety record, but, clearly, it has to go on proving that, and doing so in the light of the new evidence, such as it

is, that comes out of japan. that is what must happen, and the head of the nuclear inspectorate will do exactly that. >> the prime minister is a vociferous opponent of the alternative vote system and reserves special disdain for the idea that someone might win after coming second in an early round. will he therefore stand aside in favour of the right hon. member for haltemprice and howden, who beat him to the post in 2005? >> i seem to remember that my leadership contest ended up with the two of us touring the country and it was a popular vote. i am pleased to say that, unlike in some parties around here, the person who won actually won. >> given that our recovery has, in effect, stalled since he became prime minister, does the right hon. gentleman stand by

what he said to this house after his first budget last june, which was that unemployment will fall "every year" in this parliament? >> i was quoting the office for budget responsibility, but the fact is that 390,000 more people are in private sector jobs than there were a year ago. i would have thought with the economy growing, with exports up, with manufacturing up and with more people in work, the right hon. gentleman should be welcoming that, instead of joining the doom-mongers on his front bench, who can only talk the economy down. >> will the prime minister join me in calling for an independent nternational review following the un report into the crimes committed by the sri lankan government against the tamil people? >> my hon. friend raises an important point. there are still unanswered questions from that period, and i will look closely at what he says and write to him. >> the service of our armed

forces in afghanistan and elsewhere deserves to be recognised at the highest level and all the time, as the prime minister has often said. why on earth, therefore, have the royal irish regiment and the irish guards been denied a homecoming parade in belfast? will the prime minister intervene and talk to colleagues to ensure that this process of recognition for our troops and appreciation by the citizens of northern ireland can rightly take place as soon as possible? >> first, let me thank the right hon. gentleman for raising this issue, because the bravery of the royal irish regiment and the irish guards in afghanistan has been outstanding and, sadly, both regiments have suffered loss of life during their recent deployments. as i understand it, a number of homecoming events will be taking place across northern ireland. we are discussing with belfast city council and others how we can give recognition to their tremendous bravery. no decision has yet been made and i will make sure he is fully involved in those discussions. it is also worth noting that because they are actually stationed in north shropshire, they have already had a very successful homecoming parade in market drayton, and i am sure that they will have many others besides.

>> will the prime minister join me in congratulating crawley borough council on freezing its council tax this year? can he say how many other local authorities across the country have frozen their council tax, against the advice of the labour party, which described that policy as a "gimmick"? >> i am pleased to announce that in spite of the fact that labour dismissed it as a "gimmick" and that the leader of the labour party said that councils ought to be able to charge more, every single council in the country has given their hard-pressed council tax payers a council tax freeze. we all remember what happened over the last 10 years when council tax doubled. it was the tax of choice of the labour party, taking money out of people's pockets. we are freezing that council tax to give people a break, and they deserve it. >> order.

>> each week that the house of commons is in session, we err the prime minister's questions live on c-span 2. at c-span.org, you can find the video archive of past prime ministers questions. >> next, all less security secretary janet napolitano and others visit alabama. then q&a with author carol guzy. and again the british prime minister's questions with david cameron. >> we will be simulcasting coverage by the canadian broadcasting corporation which will provide election results

and analysis and help explain the makeup of the next canadian government. that is live monday night beginning at 10:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. now available, c-span's congressional directory, a complete guide to the first session of the 112th congress. returning house and senate members with contact information, including twitter addresses. >> whole less security secretary janet napolitano and other members of the obama administration toward alabama and mississippi today. they went to view the damage of the tornadoes last week. and to ensure the support of the federal government. afterwards, she spoke to the news media. we'll also hear from alabama senator jeff sessions, fema ugate, andeff q gq

others.

>> it is amazing year. the loss.

[unintelligible] >> this is our neighbor. i must say, i appreciate it. i do not know who made what found them.t we've [unintelligible] we are thankful. we noted your job. but we are grateful that you -- we know that it is your job.

but we're grateful that you came out here. you can see everything and let everybody know. thank you. thank you. my name is stephanie anderson. this is my friend. [aircraft noise] >> nice to me to all. >> you all take care. >> on behalf of all of the citizens and of birmingham and the jefferson county area, i want to thank the secretaries for being here, led by secretary napolitano of the homelands agree administration. we also have secretary donovan of hud.

we also have administrator kneels of the sba. i apologize for not remembering everybody's name, but i want to express my appreciation for their being here. this is an effort of all of our elected officials and representatives nearby. senator sessions, our congressional delegation, and congressman bacchus. we want to thank them for being johnny on the spot from the very beginning. i want to stress my sincere appreciation to secretary of potano for helping -- secretary napolitano for helping. you could not get phone service that year, but somehow, they managed to get through. i want to thank fema. we have fema present taking applications and finding ways to

get people temporary lodging and financial assistance. under terrible circumstances, but it has brought us all together, regardless of affiliations. we appreciate the hard work of everyone. we'd like to bring up here secretary sessions. >> thank you very much, mayor. let me just say that birmingham is a great city. we respect the challenges that you face. we know that you will have a tremendous challenge. all of us are prepared to work with you. let me tell you how much i appreciate president obama coming to tuscaloosa. he handled himself in a very impressive boy, i think. he made a commitment to alabama and to the nation -- he handled ly, ilf very impressive l

think. he made a commitment to alabama and to the nation. madam secretary, thank you for the work you do on so many challenges facing america. and thank you for being here in alabama, in this neighborhood, and meeting with the good people here who suffered such great loss. >> i am janet napolitano. i am here with a group of members of the obama administration. one person who will speak after fugate who isew the administrator of fema. we also have the head of the national office of the american red cross, the entire american red cross. she is here because we rely so much on that linkage, the linkage with cities, mayor -- mayor, you have been follow --

pleaded with the state and with nonprofits, churches, faith- based communities, and, of course, the red cross. i have had an opportunity to walk a few of the streets. i do not think that words can fairly express the level of devastation here. i am not particulate enough to express what i saw. but what i felt was a tremendous sense of community resilience. people were cleaning up their homes, even though their home will ultimately probably have to be torn down. and that the daughters of a woman who was killed in the storm. they were here finding her things. the plan is to bring this area that the overtime. that is why it is so important that we have members of the

cabinet from here. they're here to assist the city and of the state who, of course, will have the lead. but this is a tornado unlike any other tornado we have seen in many recent memory. it is one that was so wide, one that was so far -- it was just like a bulldozer blade up through alabama from tuscaloosa to birmingham. the damage here has been very, very significant. like i said, by words are not enough to express the extent of the damage, but i can appreciate what the people of alabama are doing right now. we will stand with them all of the way. but we just pause a moment here. we're here in alabama today, the state that suffered the worst damage. point of fact, we had a number of states that suffered tornadoes and deaths over the last two days. we will go to mississippi later today. we also agree with our neighbors

in tennessee and kentucky and georgia and virginia, all of whom have had tornado-related deaths this week. we will work with those states as well and those communities as well to help them recover from this spring of storms. let me, if i might, turn the microphone over to craig, the head of fema. his people have been doing a phenomenal job. they have been here since the beginning hours. craig. >> hi, everybody. i want to get one thing clear. everyone wants the federal government to look to fema when we see things like this. i want you to look at people standing on the street. your fire department, your police department, your first responders -- many of whom have lost their homes, many of whom, in the middle of the storm, were out there helping their neighbors. that is the most important.

our role at fema is to support the governor and this response. that is the first thing. the second thing is to respect the survivors. it is a tendency, when we talk about people, we forget that they will have to live and rebuild and recover from this. give them the respect that they are a survivor, not a victim. there are funerals taking place. that takes time. but for the folks who survived to this and will rebuild this committee, honor them by recognizing their survival. the last thing, under the leadership of the secretary, obama declared a national disaster. he activated the emergency program. people have had losses due to these storms in the areas declared should call 1-800-621- fema and start that registration

process so that we can get them the assistance they will lead as they go through the recovery. with that, i would like to turn it over to secretary donovan. he is also one of the strong partners who helpless with housing and other issues with hud. >> thank you. i particularly want to recognize that this is a joint effort. we are here surrounded by partners. this long-term recovery that we are undertaking, it only works if we are joined arm and arm with their partners at the state level, senator sessions -- i also want to thank the two congress people who are with us. mr. mayer, your team has been remarkable thus far. we have set up, led by the state, a housing task force that is leading the effort to help people recover.

obviously, housing will be perhaps the single most critical part of the recovery. we have a number of efforts under way already that i want to touch on. our first priority was reaching the most vulnerable. seniors, people with disabilities -- we have identified almost 500 units, 484 units and thus far that have been either destroyed or nearly destroyed, where we have relocations under way. we're also working very closely with homeowners. one of the innovations we have learned in working closely with secretary of paula taney -- secretary napolitano is that, oftentimes, where there is damage, we can help people get back in their home quickly. we set up a rapid response effort to do short-term temporary repair much more quickly than we had in past disasters. this is one of the first times we will be using that. we also have longer term assistance for homeowners. we declared a 90-day moratorium

before any fha-insured property. we can help someone rebuild long term with the help they need. finally, perhaps most importantly, whether someone is fha-insured, whether they are living in hud housing, we will need to help many folks find places to live. we have been impressed by the way the community has come together. we have only about 700 families in shelters around the state. but we know that there are hundreds and hundreds more a matter with relatives and family. the sense of neighborliness, the community has come together to house people on a temporary basis. we will have many more than need long-term assistance. we have begun that process already at work with the mud to ensure that we have those -- that help in place. we have a new innovation that we

put together, the national housing locator service. we already identified over 400 rental properties insisted, over 1000 homes across alabama in the fha portfolio to put toward that read locator service. that will prep -- that we locator service -- that relocator service. that is perhaps the single most important part. we will do everything we can to cut red tape. we have $80 million in grants that go to communities across the state. we will do anything we can to cut the red tape to help you direct that. if it is infrastructure rebuilding, whatever you need, we're standing by you to help. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon. i am the secretary of agriculture. somewhere in this great state,

among this horrific devastation, there are farm families who are deeply concerned about what happens next. i am here today to outline for you precisely what the usda can do to provide help and assistance. fortunately for us, we have offices in virtually every county in alabama. we have folks that are looking forward to working with their friends and neighbors to get back on track. first and foremost, their farm fields that are scattered with a degree. there is assistance to the office for debris removal if it is blocking a waterway or water system. there are programs through the nrcs that can be obtained to provide the resources. we have already allocated $600,000 to the state for that purpose. we also know that there have been devastating losses in terms of poultry. we have a series of insurance programs available to reimburse for those losses. the livestock indemnity program

is the principal program. we have been working with commissioner macmillan and others to make sure that they are fully aware of those programs and how they can be accessed. for those who have lost crops or their crops have been compromised, we have crop insurance programs through our rma program. if it does not cover a particular crop, if they have applied for nape, a program for non-insured crops, which can also help. the state requests a secretarial designation. this would be in addition to the presidential declaration. he will make available a program, and additional disaster relief program. i would encourage the state to consider that. we also have assistance and help for small towns. as i know you know, you're infrastructure has been affected. that is true of small

communities. they may have already made an arrangement with the rural development for water waste treatment. they may be worried about how they will be able to make payments now that there is such devastation we will work with our state office to make sure those loans are rescheduled. and redesign, reallocated, and payments deferred so these communities are not put in a difficult circumstance. we are also working, as our sister agency, on housing. on tuesday, there will be meeting to identified units that we have within usda-supported rental housing that can be made available for folks who have lost their homes in rural areas. we also have a voucher program that will be easier for people to access quality housing. the food needs of your community and across the state will be met. the usda is making food available. we will also be working with those families who need food

assistance under our snap program occurred we suggest that the state request an activation of the d-snap program that will accelerate the process so that we can get them in decent housing and get them food on the table. we know that this has been devastating for the people of alabama. but i am confident in your local leadership. friends and neighbors will pull together. birmingham and the state of alabama will rise from this tragedy and from the rubble stronger and better prepare for the future and we will be their right with them. another partner that we have been working with in terms of businesses who have been impacted is the sba. i want to ask karen willis to come to the microphone now. >> thank you very much.

it was quite an impact to walk the streets and to see those folks who really have been impacted here. the survivors, as fema has just called them. my job here is to tell you what we will be able to do across the administration and at the sba to help homeowners and small business owners. right now, we are coordinated across the federal government, which is, i know, what you will want to have. you have one number to call. if you call fema, you will be connected to the small business administration. you will be able to help with homeowner loans, long term, low- interest loans, up to two hundred thousand dollars for repairs and rebuilding. also, $40,000 loans for renters for personal property and equipment and things that were lost. if you have been infected as a

small business, we are able to help with loans up to 30 years for two million dollars. but only if your business was affected physically by the storm, if you're serving a neighborhood like this and it will take awhile to get back on your feet, we are able to do economic injury loans. we will deal to give cash flow to some small businesses that might see their revenue decline because of dislocation. if you come to somebody who is wearing a jacket like this at a feeble location or you want to apply online, we can turn your applications around in 10 days. so this is pretty fast. we urge you, right now, to go online or get a call to the customer service center. it is a two-page application. we will cut through the red tape. our job is to stay here until this community gets back on your feet and get money into the hands of those homeowners and small-business owners who

need it so that we can get the recovery in the way right here. we very much look forward to doing that. we will be here as long as it takes to get you back on your feet. we see the spirit and resilience of this community and this state. we are also operating across all the states that are hit by tornadoes and we will be on the ground. we have 30 people on the ground here. we are deploying as we speak in all the other hard-hit communities as well. one of our partners in this is also the red cross. gail mcgovern is here to tell you how they are helping. >> gail mcgovern and i am the president and ceo of the american red cross. on behalf of everyone in the red cross family, i want to express our heartfelt concern and tell you that our thoughts and prayers are with every single person in the state of alabama. i got to see the devastation as my colleagues have said. it is almost impossible to get

your head around it. our hearts go to the people who have lost everything. some have lost loved ones. we are here to help in any way we possibly can. i have to say that, as a u.s. citizen, it does make be proud to hear how government is helping the state of alabama at the local, state, and federal level. it warms my heart to hear how my colleagues will be hoping to recover. i am also proud of our volunteers at the american red cross. we have 1400 of them deployed throughout the state. we have serve 300,000 meals since the storms occurred. we have the emergency response vehicles. we are fanning out into the community to give out clean-up kits, comfort kits, serve meals, to do what it takes to help. we are also working closely with our partners in the faith-based community, the national baptist convention, the southern baptist

convention, and also the salvation army and the naacp to ensure that we have enough arms and legs to deal with this terrible disaster. i also would like to thank the american public. i am always stunned by the generosity of my fellow countrymen. they always come out in times of need. every donation helps. we could not help the people of alabama without the help of the american public and we are grateful for every single donation. >> now a political roundtable on the 2012 presidential campaign. this is 45 minutes. the next 45 minutes we'll talk 2012 can michael and matt. talk to us about the strength of president barack obama as we look towar 2012 >> he ces in with about 45

percent approval that's not greato be honest with you. by historical standards you've seen presidents with these numbers at this point elects a se them lose if you look back to reagan he was about 40%. obama is right in the middle right now. shaky economy. slow recovery. a 50/50 chance at re-election. maybe better than that. >> numbers speak for themselves. lot of poling. i point you to the pole that showed 57 percent. i believe america is to be wrong track. i believe through a specific numbers, there's going to be really important for the 2012 election. right track. wrong track is obviously the job approval. those four numbers will tel us whether the president gets

re-elected. host: to the front runners in the republican party and is there one person y think is going to burst out of the scene in very short order? >> very hard to say. it's the most wide open. and wide open republican primary in a generation. i would say there's probably a pack of three setting them self as part and i'll leave a fourth for a wild card. the three are mitt romney who is in some ways the front runner from having run last time. the former governor. tim from minnesota and i think governor mitch dams no, maniels indiana. it could be mike heck abbey. heck abbey. we're also excited about the

opportity to beat president obama. host: mike, does the white house favor running against any particular republican or is the strategy or are they going with a general strategy as apposed to something specific targeted towards what they think is the front runer? >> i think right now they worry about their own message. look at the field and see folks they would be more than happy to run against. michelle and a sarah palin and donald trump as all people ty likely would be easily defeatable. with the res of the crowd, you know i think to be honest i probably would put the height houses chances at under 50% if there were a stronger field of republicans. somebody strong may emerge. we're not seeing anybody with particular strong strength. host: presidential politics. that's what we're talking today.

republican strategist. founder of the potomac strategist group. give us a call. (202) 737-0002 for democrats. republicans, (202) 737-0001. independents. (202) 628-0205. you can also send us messages via e-mail. cspan.org. reminder we're having problems with twitter this morning so if you want to send a message electronically send it to our mail address. michael, do you consider right now with the that this being may of 2011, that we're late in the campaign for candidate to get started late running for - if there's anyone that thinks about running in the democratic party or republicans for that matter. late or is this about right time

for them to get? >> think the republican field is slow to get settled. i think last cycle we saw you didn't need to get in quite that early and certainly needed to raise money but at the end of the day. when a republican emerges they're not going to have problems r raising money. certainly you want to put your organization together and planning it out. host: matt is now the time to get in the fight? >> it's getting there. the first thing is the pole in august if you want to make a real run in iowa you have to be in the straw pole and can't get in that just a week before. you have to be organized. all 99 counties those folks expect you to be out there. we're getting to the point if you're not starting to do the things in terms of hiring

consultants and donors to your team you're making your challenge more difficult in likely a field of 8-10 candy dates. is there a possibility you could have a late entry in the primary. septemr, october. somebody like a chris, cristy or paul ryan? sure it's possible but you have issues regarding ballot access because your missing deadlines. you know, i think if you're going to run a good organized campaign and want to try to compete in the early states and primaries across the country overtime get in here quick i think. host: first call from sheryl on the line for independents? caller: good morning. i have a question for the republican strategist. i was wondering with all we're seeing on t.v. lately why he didn't mention donald trump on the republican ticket. he made it clear that's how he would run and he can beat president obama.

that's my question. thank you. host: matt? guest: he's not only a not serious he'll never be the republican nominee or the president of the united states. you know, polls right now are about ne i.d.. donald trump is not a serious individual in terms of public policy in leading this country. i think he's filling the void right now. loof candidates are not fully in. still exploring and keeping their heads down organizing raising money. but at the end of the day i hope he does not run and he may choose to for his own ego but he not a serious candidate. i know of no serious republican that would like him to be o nominee. host: akron, ohio. caller: i'd like to make a comment about donald trump running.

a lot of people are saying that - you know - he's goofy and crazy and no one will ever vote for him. but i think one of the things we're really missing here is the true spirit of what he's doing. i think that here is a guy that doesn't need to be president and doesn't want to be president. he wants to help the country. he wants to give up four years of a very successful enjoyable life to be president because he doesn't like what he sees. i think the problem that we have here is that this government has failed more and more with the more of the advent of professional politicians. we have people that have really never had jobs, they have only been congressman and senators and what we need more of - i believe - is people like donald

trump. although it may not be him, but people that are willing to step u and sacrifice four years to beacon congress man and senators and get rid of the professional politician. host: larry in ohio. michael, does the presence, let's say of donald trump, is that opening the doors you think if not his candidacy, other people that want to model themselves after what trump has been saying politically? philosophically? >> i say there's an onn politics and perhaps in presential politics for somebody with a strong business record. i don't think donald trump is that person. he bankrupted his own business so i don't think it's him. i think what he's trying to do is jump on the moment. i don't think he's really a berther. i think he's looking for away to

get an extra headle in politics to see if he can take off. not sure what his ideology is. i hoped matt would say he was one of the front runners. it would be helpful. host: back to the phone calls. next call comes from california. mark on our line for democrats. go ahead. caller: it's eureka, california. good morning, america. wanted to always say that. what i'd like toee about the field of field of candidates for the republican party. republican party thinks that the rich should pay less taxes. and i think that personally the people know that it's got to be shared sacrifice, not onhe

back of the low income and middle income which is about gone, and i just wanted to say also that you forgot one budget. the people's budget. host: mark in eureka, california. we'll leave it there. matt? talk to us about march perception. >> tax the rich is a poll lar economic message. one that some people called for at different times in history. ultimately what you want is for the economy to grow. and so we're not seeing the level of economic growth today we should be seeing. we pointed to two specific things. g.d.p down to 3.1 percent. we're not seeing the kind of growth coming out of a recession we've seen in history. i would point all the viewers to

an opportunity-op-ed. that looks at all the historical information and the avege growth for american coming out of a recent. this economy is absolutely under performed in that sense. we're 8.4 percent. many states are in here in 10%. i don't understand if you raise taxes on the rich which includes a large number of individuals that file business as individuals. i don't see how raising taxes on employers a particular small business employers where 70 percent of jobs are created will help our economy grow. host: we're talng about the 20 president sweepstakes. next up the new york on the line for independents. jared? caller: hello. i'm in new york. i'm an independent.

member of the independent party in new york. i just want to sa i don't feel like i have any candidate in this - coming up. i mean obama is really a terrible disappointment, and on the other hand. republicans are total fraud. i think they're just bought and paid for by corporate. democrats are just rented. nobody is coming up with the obvious solutions to some of the issues. i mean - give me one? i work from outside a hospital for 25 years in patient as counts and five years for other hospitals and i'm on veteran's healthcare. it's pretty good. and it's cap tated services. it's not insurance. you don't get health insunce. at lst in007 it was 68

percent per person costf medicare and it was 60 percent of the per person cost of medicaid in new york state. more speciaperspective actuallyw york. but you get preppy comprehensive. if only with medicaid. start and tell the states you want medicaid. fine. government will even pick up the larger share of it but you have to offer services. host: michael, is there anybody you see on the horizon that speaks to his concerns? >> veteran's care. with regard. the republican budget plan. the ryan plan takes us in the opposite plan. move as way from head care and s toward as system that gives a voucher on a private insurance. it's not going to do anything to

hold down costs. the private sector does not have a history of holding down the cost of healthcare. healthcare costs are rising and we're not doing anything to keep them in check. veterans care is how you might be able to do that. the move away from medicare and toward as system of private vouchers takes us in the private vouchers way. we'll see the average senior citizen picking up the costs. host: in the baltimore sun. the headline. palin is seen everywhere but iowa. e has almost no (in the swushl area. is this assign she'll not be a declared candidate for the presidency in 2012. >> has a very big decision to make. has a somewhat ancillary team that doesn't share they're thinking with a wide range of

folks. i think she can get in as late as september or october and still be in the strong position. she has a tremendou support of evangelicals and home schoolers. she has to decide is the life she has an a king makeer in the republican party someone that's been able to success financially the way she had not in previous life is that life worth giving up for presidency. that you talk to 8-10 candidates d do you have a chance to realistically beat president barack obama. on the scale of republicans running. although i do like governor palin. i think she's more towards the bottom but at the top when it cos to the primary. ho host calls the potomac strategy group and said, matt should i get in the race? what would you tell her? >> there's a move on the right if you g back to the three

candidates that set themselves apart. i ten enforcem don't think any themselves apart. there's an opportunity for her. we need to put forward the strongest candidate to win the general election. they need to be fiscal and social security conservative. and so i believe all of our candidates are. it's a very personal decision. >> absolute yes for me. one way or other we would like her to be part of the campaign. republican candidates seeking her endorsement. host: we want to show our viewers a poll done in april by the university of new hampshire. 2012 hypothetical match-ups. they show former governor mitt

romney. 50-43 percent for president barack obama. 46, 42 with president barack obama out scoring heck abuckabh. back to the phones. carole on ltto carolltton, texas. caller: herman cane. you guys haven't talked toabout him and in term of taxing the rich for the democrats i was going to urge anybody listening to seasoned they're money to the department of treasury. they'll take your money and an apply it to the public debt. there you go. host: matt, talk to us about herman cane? >> he is a dynamic individual

and should create excitement at some level. whenever he speaks people are very impressed. he's had a very serious business career. was ceo of godfather's pizza and leader of the national staurants association. he'someone in the conservative community recognized auzion bold leader and dominant individual. he could find success in a place like iowa but he'll need like a slingshot to get to the second or first tear. y tier. you need to raise money to be active in states. money raising would be a question for him. host: lot of discussion in the previous weeks and months regarding the president and his berth certificate and how much information is released to the public and how much information the public is entitled to know and whether orot he's a le gate mate united states citizen.

he talked about this at last night's white house correspondence dinner. let's look at what he said and then we'll get response from our o panelists. >> as some of you heard. the state of hawaii released my official, long form, birth certificate. hopefully, this puts all doubt to rest. but just int case there are an lingering questions, tonight, i'm prepared to go a step further. tonight, for the first time, i'm releasing my official rt bibirt video. now - i warn you - no one has

seen this footage in 50 years. not even me. but let's take a look. ♪ [applause] oh, well. back to square one.

i want to make clear to the fox news table, that was a joke. that was not my real birth video. that was a children's cartoon. they have the original long form version. host: mike. democratic strategist. obviouslying on theue obviously, how far duh! that go to put this to rest as far as president is concerned. >> this is great todayer for comedians but the serious thing is, honestly, if every republican is not willing to sit up and say this is not legitimate topic it's shameless. you should not be considered

serious unless your saying this is not to be discussed it's absurd. host: he knows that the president is american citizen. romney. what about the other two front runner west talked about earlier and how much of a discussion topic do you think this will be as republicans move forward towards 2012. >> i agree with mike. this is a side show. it's a joke. if you look at it with any seriousness and honesty you know the president was born in the united states. i think what trump has done has been tremendously damaging to the brand of the republican party and our view of the independence. i agree with you. if you're serious candidate you need to say with absolute no question that you believe he is a u.s. citizen and is the right full president of the united states. i wrote an article three days ago explaining how i think it's very dage together the party.

not just with independents but any minute we're spending about this we're not talking about jobs and spending and the economy. so, i do think the issuwill reseed a bit. i don't under why the president waited essentially three years to release this. there's no doubthat trump has reached the mainstream media with his celebrity status. but any ways i am just praying that we're noting that we had to get to serious issues. host: tim from texas you're on the "washington journal". caller: good morning. two quick questions. do you believe, now this is for both of your guests there that any of the potential republican candidates will embrace the paul ryan plan that the dismantling of medicare and taxes for the rich. what does the embrace of donald

trump, laely on the birth issue and then secondly on the issue of calling for the president's grades and he said, many occasions that the president i guess didn't deserve to get in harvard and did not get good grades despite all the evidence to the contrary. i wonder if the media has taken an i guess - i soft - had not interviewed him vigorously about his assertions that he sent people to hawaii knowing. when did he send them and where's he getting the evidence that the president didn't get the grades? host: tim. matt address the first half. i'd rather spend time. talking about serious proposal and less about something that blow hard donald trump says. the budget. the path of prosperity is a

serious proposal. you've not seen them propose a seris proposal. second cut at the budt proposal for president barack obama is lower spending over 12 years the ryan plan does six or seven over the first 10-years. you know, i think we have to be specific with our language. first of all medicare is not a voucher but a support payment. there's a distinction. reality here is as currently as it stands. medicare will not exist as it does uess we do something. the choices are not between what we have today and what the big bad republicans are proposing but between the program that will bankrupt our country that will have to change or can we act now in a smart way without impacting people5.2people afr-re

not trying to displanisma mantl care. the avage person puts $150,000 into that program in their lifetime and take out $hoo thousand in their own lifetime. that not a sustainable path. host: gregory on the washington urin journal. caller: republican individuals responsible for the mortgages given to people and the banks that failed when you look at the

edodg heads of. when you look at enron situation. they were republicans. and now, all of the off-shore loopholes and lack of the legal consequences. if ceo's and the moneys that they are being paid. the housing bubble and the fact that their busted and the major players and people responsible were republicans. .

>> the headlines were the republicans were blocking wall street reform at a time when goldman sachs executives were in front of congress saying they were telling clients the opposite of how they were behaving themselves. the republican plan to return meryl streep reform to let the banks be unregulated and go after a predatory practice towards home ownership and lending, i think that will part of the campaign. i think that is important. going back to the rise in budget, i believe this is a critical topic of discussion. the democrats want to get rid of the tax cut for those earning $250,000. we are talking about real choices.

the republican choice is to take medicare and turn it into a system where people are given a dollar figure and told to go deal with the insurance companies. copyright national cable satellite corp 2010] host: our next call comes from charlotte, north carolina. caller: i there any chance the governor will run for president? guest: i think the question is one of denomination. in terms of running, he has been forthright saying he doesn't believe he's gite -- quite yet prepared to run for president. it is nice to see someone say that. i think if barack obama had been honest he would have admitted he

was not either prepared to be president. we were talking about outsiders with business leadership, et cetera, and not career politicians, with onef the callers earlier. people are interested in harg the truth, even if it is unpleasant. a number of our states are facing serious budget deficits. governor chris christy has led the way. the governor has shown a lot of bold leadership in new jersey. do i think he could within -- win a primary? yes, i do. i think it would take a draft movement because he's been specific about not wting to run for president in this cycle. it remains to be seen. host: any chance that a democratic is going to challenge the president for 2012? guest: it seems highly unlikely. there are no signs of it yet.

there is no claring among the democratic -- among democrats right now. there are lower level support for a primary against obama than there was against clinton at this time in his re-election cycle. so i think not. as you mentioned, by the way, to the earlier point, you mentioned preparedness to be president, i don't think so, unless birthrights preparedness for president, if you want to ta about george w. bush. >> i think gas prices are $3.0. it is going to go well above $4 this summer. democrats proposing to end subsidies to the good -- big oil companies is an entirely liberal proposal of the past. we need to increase our domestic

oil production. if you increase taxes, the more you tax something, the less of it you get. increasing taxes will include less production which leads to more foreign imports. you talk about off-shore oil companies in the gulf. increasing taxes is not going to increase production. it will not help anyone pay lower price at the pump. >> miami, florida, carl on the line for democrats. you are on "washington journal." go ahead. caller: good morning. thanks to c-span. michael and matt, let's get real. the fact is, let's go back to the goldwater and bring it up t date to the present republican

party. do you think with the devastations of all of these -- the tornados and various devastations in this country and how it affects the economy and then to see how it was presented to the republican party, and then age-wise, you take the stats, you say, ok, you guys from the rockfeller goldwater era, 50 years old up to the present, 70 years old, how are you going to convince you are a strategist? how are you going to convince them to go with negativity because i think the young people in the republican party see the time of day and republican party

staffers. is it going to be the press, you need the press to assi you in what we call prop gantt gandia, because it is a done deal that -- sol done deal that obama is going to win. quite naturally you have the support. you have to go to your republican party and present games to the public. host: carl, we will leave it there. matt? guest: what can you say to that? i don't know where to begin. he did say president obama would win re-election. i don't know anyone believes it is a certainty that he will win re-election. as i said, i believe there are four numbers that will be absolutely indicative of what his potential successors would be. and you would agree with me on these. right track, wrong track, approval number, the average price of a gallon of gas. these numbers -- and the

national employment rate. so those numbers will tell us a lot. you will have a vibrant republican primary that will last quite a while, i think, that will go well beyond the early states. while it will start in the summer, it will start to set after labor day as it normally does. >> in our "news makers" program we have the republican party in new hampshire and iowa talking about what's going to be happening in their states coming up in the days and weeks ahead, and also on iowa and new hampshire's attempt to maintain their first in the nation caucus and this includes other states that want to move their primaries and caucusses earlier in the year as well. we will get response.

how soon could it be? could we see an iowa walkous -- caucus sooner? >> we don't want to be wrapping christmas gifts and taking knocks at the door. >> i hold the chairman at his word that he is working with the consequences. the father of three kids are constantly reminding us of their ac. that's something we need to remind them of as well.

>> new hampshire, florida, south carolina? >> it matters in the presidential candidates who have been thinking about where they are strong and where their path is to the nomination. i would agree with chairman strong from iowa, the the matter is not up for debate. trying to get a bigger piece of the action. those four states will be the first four states. our states will decide whether they are strong. host: does it matter to the democrats? do you read anythi into this little in-fighting that's happening? guest: it actually matters a whole lot. those states are different in the way they look. you go 10 or 12 rnds in the primary, people get to know each other and sit through the caucusses, they have to be willing to sit there for hours

and hours. it is a state based on organizing. nehampshire is a very independent-minded state where not unaffiliated members can vote on either side. sometimes you get the idea that new hampshire voters can say, it is your choice here. in south carolina, on the democratic side, you have a high african-american population there, so you have a completely different electorate on the republican side. so the order in which these states play matter a lot in terms of who is likely to win those eay victories, which are not always determanitve but matter a lot. host: a reminder to our viewers and listeners that you can see the entire interview for "newsmakers" following this program on c-span at 10:00 a.m. and also at 6:00 p.m. caller, you are on the line.

caller: quite frankly, i am one of those people that believes we desperately need a third party. i don't believe that either one is representing the solid middle class. engineers like myself, accountants, small business owners. to the democrats i say, acknowledge the failures of the stimulus package. i wrote senators, congressmen, the white house. you want to spend $78 -- $787 billion, build infrastcture. i heard on this program a democratic senator, congresswoman, saying every billion dollars is 33,000 jobs. if you do the math, that would have been 21 million jobs we would have created. instead all we got was aid to cities and towns which has pushed off the problem that we're havi locally for a couple years.

guest: look we were on a downward trend for economy when president obama first got there. sometimes it can be hard to measure. sometimes it can be hard to measure when you are losing 100,00 jobs a month. it is hard to claim victoryn that. the reality is that is around the beginning of the improvement of an economy. >> our last call for our panel comefrom lake charles, louisiana. kerry on our line for republicans. caller: i have a question. everybody has been bashing trump and saying, you know, you think he's a joke. i tell you what, he has some good ideas. nobody, the republican party nor the democratic party has talked about china.

china is teering -- tearing us up. we lost 13,000 on the oil rigs. we haven't started redrilling that. obama hasn't done anything. he said well, you know, get green. host: matt, mr. trump has been talking a lot abo china. guest: that's obviously the emerging bilateral relationship that's going to have the most impact on the future. the chinese economy overtakes the u.s. economy in the world. slam slapping an import on chinese products is a threat. i don't think it is likely to happen. there is no doubt the devaluation of their currency impacts trade and our economy. don't think the chinese respond well to threats. certainly not from someone like

donald trump. you mention he's filed bankruptcy three times. i suppose in our current economic state facing record-breaking deficits his personal experience with bankruptcy may be useful. apart from that, i don't think donald trump has good ideas. he's talked about seizing libyan oil. these are not ideas people should take seriously. host: in 2012 will we see a different congress? will it be the congress we saw before? guest: i think republicans are in a good place to benefit from redistricting in terms of the states where there is growth. we haven'teen final maps in the states where the growth. you can't make a prediction on the house. democrats must win 25 seats. i suspect i would be a five or 10-seat gain. i think it is unlikely they will take the house back in the senate. republicans that have to pick up

four seats. because of the math, i think republicans are likely to take the senate. host: michael same questn to you. different congress, same congress? guest: on the senate side the map looks better for republicans. democrats want to recruit strong candidates and they have and they have run strong camigns to hold onto the senate. the house, i think the natural movement would be a slight increase in the house, but i think redistricting mid gates that. many republicans control most of the maps where there are likely to be changes. i think democrats will pick up seats in the house, just looking at current trends,ut not as many as you would think were we >> now, a quick look at the situation in libya. this is from today's "washington journal."

host: we are going to take a break on this discussion to check in with simon, a "washington post" correspondent, reporting from libya this morning to talk to us about the lead story from "the washington post." "nato airstrike kills son of gaddafi." what is the latest? caller -- caller: we were taken back to the house that was struck, people filing, members of the public filing through the ruins. we just had a crowd of women chanting pro-gaddafi slogans.

all kinds of things. we were just in the kitchen. meals that were being prepared last night. pasta, rice, fish. the clock stopped at 8:09 p.m. it appeared to be a residential house. if there was a duel usage, we do not know. dare is no evidence of that host: was there any evidence that gaddafi himself was there? caller: there was none. i have to say that that is something you have to take in. he was supposed to have been there and supposed to have escaped completely unscathed. one of the buildings is

completely destroyed. two buildings are a jason leigh damaged. something that definitely remains -- adjacently damaged. something that definitely remains. host: you reported that u.s. intelligence agencies had not been able to confirm the report, while nato said that it had carried out a precision strike against unknown command and control building. is there any kind of update from nato? did they know that this was a civilian domiciled? closely monitoring all of the communications coming out.

i would imagine that they would have intersected some kind of signal coming from the building. . the government says they must have had intelligence that gaddafi was there. whether or not it was satellite tracking. clearly, that is a mystery, why they chose this house. nato perhaps picked up some radio signals -- signals. host: what kind of neighborhood is the home in? have you had a chance to talk to the people lived close by? caller: not yet. to be are just literally being taken back. it is a residential neighborhood.

clearly, there are the houses of rich people. this is not a military neighborhood. everything that we have seen suggests that this is a residential property. host: are there any neighbors or anything walking around the streets today? caller: we are walking around to see if we can find some neighbors. there are 3 e missiles that apparently struck that may have been unexploded or designed not to cause shrapnel. there were explosions from the hotel that we felt, as well as

heard. host: i understand that he is the youngest son of muammar gaddafi. caller: that has been corrected by the government, he is the second youngest. he is not very high profile. he was caught up in a scandal in germany when he got into a fight outside of a nightclub, the bouncer tried to throw out the woman he was dancing with. the libyan embassy tried to cover that up and became a wrangle between libya and germany. probably a bigger story than it actually was. other than that, a bit of a party here. but not someone who has had a high-profile regime, as his older brothers have.

host: has anything been seen or heard from muammar gaddafi in the past 24 hours? caller: there has not. we are expecting that he may make some kind of public appearance. whether or not it will be something in state television remains to be seeing. -- remains to be seen. his names have not yet been released by the family. hopefully they will release them later today. host: simon denyer, republicans going overseas and

getting in everybodies business. >> we're going to take another break from our discussion regarding the federal budget and who's best to fix it to talk about the big party that was held here in washington d.c. last night. the white house correspondent's dinner. association dinner. it's a fundraiser but also a chance for the political set to hob-knob with the hollywood set and on the phone to tell us a litt more about some of the hob-knobing that went on last night is christina will beingy of the hill. were you there last night? caller: i was. preparety. at the dner and a few after parties. host: you're just getting in this morning. caller: it was not the earliest

night of my life. host: what was the big highlight. caller: the big highlight could be summed up as the chastening of dald trump. the first time since mr. trump has begun making noises about running for president and certainly taking on the president, himself, in various media thatrump seems to control. and forms this about the birth issue that came to ahead as the president revealed his birth certificate and trump took credit. last time, las night he was absolutely skewered between host seth myers that a funny comedian and then the president's speech itself. trump was out of his comfort zone. didn't seem to think the jokes were funny but they were. host: there's an on ed piece

this morning by kate sernke. the endless debat and paranoid stul style of american politics. given what you heard from the president d "saturday night live"'s seth myers you think the jabs poked at donald trump are going to end this debe regarding president's birth status or is this merely adding fuel to the fire? >> i think washington journalists could - well they really took a lot of fire out of the phenomenon that is donald trump and reminded us when he's on the turf of some of the people h seems to be attacking, he doesn't have very much fuel and the president is you know very bright and dynamic in sort of taking donald trump apart. and as he arrived at the dinner he walked the red carpet and

asked him if he expected the president and he sort of said, oh, no and had no idea what was coming. host: we're showing for those watching live or on our website. we're showing video from last night's a rival top red carpet and there was a mixed groupf celebrities. some folks that we see in hollywood. we just had a shot of wolf blit ser who i guess is a celebrity in some circles. tell us about some of the folks you saw. who knocked you out the most? caller: we saw everyone from amy poler. and sean pennn. paul rudd. gail king. senator scott prawn who is a bit of a star in washington circles. john parker. we saw a couple of professional

athletes. we saw steve bush semii the actor. host: sorry. christina, for those that may be watching the white house correspondent dinner the first time. plain high there are so many a.p.p list hollywood and new york type celebrities at a dinner put on by the white house press corporation? caller: because the tables at dinner are not taken entirely by people you see, outlets you tradition see in the white house briefing room. "people" magazine purchases a few and vanity fair and really the goal, as it has evolved among media is a little bit competitive to see who can bring the most interesting or the shiniestovie stars to washington and a lot of stars

have causes that they want to go for. global warming. maternal health. they often use the opportunity to speak to the press and speak to lawmakers about the causes that they feel are important. host: who was at the hill's table last night? caller: we had the kentucky basketball star. john lamm. the room was filled. very much black tie. tuxes and gowns and the entire series of cocktail parties all held within the complex of the washington area. >> what was the hardest actor party ticket to get a hold of last night. who was the toughest room to get into and who seemed to have the most fun from the actor parties you attended? caller: tradition it's the

vanity fair and bloomberg after party held at the french ambassador's residence. beautiful house. the person i saw having the most fun i think was sarah palin. she attended both garden brunch during the day. didn't attend the dinner itself was intesting. her daughter bristol did. but she was the first to arrive at this very exclusive vanity fair party. couple of folk from congress will angling for invitations and she went on to attend other actor parties and she was in top form. host: who did you have a chance to hob-knob with. caller: i want to the msnbc. palin arrived between 12:45 and 1:00. the crowd went wild and their host was bar tending and people were excited to see her.

host: alright. christina, you can read her articles at the hill.com and if you want to find out more about last night's height house correspondence dinner you can go to our website. white house corresponondence >> next "q & a" with pulitzer winner, carol guzy. >> alabama congressman, of the service committee discusses the regulation law at a conference inas