then daniel green from the washington institute for near east policy discusses al qaeda leadership. and later retired general former commander of the joint task force on katrina talks about the mississippi floods and the response from the army corps of engineers. "washington journal" is next. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] . .

long european tour that will begin with a stop in dublin, ireland, and on to london, with a final stop in poland before returning for next weekend. there is a lot of speculation that mitch daniels is saying no to a presidential bid. e-mails were sent to friends and supporters last night, citing family as part of his decision. this after hermine came announcing that he will run for president. we want to get your reaction to these political developments this morning. tell us what you think. tell us what you think. we have new phone numbers this morning. 202-64-11114 democrats.

202-64-11154 republicans. 202-624-07604 independents. mitch daniels, after much speculation, announcing that he will not run for president. he says that in the end he was able to resolve every consideration but one. the wishes of his family being most important. we want to get your reaction coming up in just a moment. the outlook section of "the washington post" as a piece, "is anyone ready for primetime"? this includes the announcement of newt gingrich and that donald trump is not running. trump is not running.

host: that is his perspective on the 2012 race. first, a preview of what the president will be doing this week. the conference get underway -- gets underway at 10:30 eastern time. scott has this had lyme, -- headline --

ant: there's also a map with indication of where the president will be going. going on to london, the g-8 conference taking place in northern france and a stop in poland before returning to washington, d.c.. the question this morning, herman kane is in, mitch daniels is out. we will have live coverage of remarks from franklin, new hampshire. getting under way at 4:30, a typical new hampshire house party. we will have a chance to listen in on his consideration to run

for a gop nomination. ron, ariz., good morning. caller: do you think that senator mccain will run for president again? host: i do not. caller: one more question. host: next we will go to eileen. caller: good morning. herman kane, i would say so. host: what about him? caller: yesterday but he was talking about? he was very down-to-earth. getting in to talking about realistic things. you know? about what is going on in the world? a lot of people are here that are not even supposed to be here and they need to go back to

their own country, ok? there are a lot of immigrants here when of that, you know, they should not even be here. that is why there is no jobs out there. host: here is the front page this morning of "the new york times." host: next is john joining us from atlanta. good morning. caller: how are you?

host: fine, thank you. caller: i actually lived in indiana for a short time. even though i voted for president obama, i did vote for mitch daniels because of the changes that he made in the state. one change that he made that i did not like was the high waves. i did not like that. i think it was an issue for him. i did not know about the issue with his wife. i am sort of concerned as to the hypocrisy of the family values ticket of the republican side. it is such a major concern right now. now. host: thank you for the call.

you can join the conversation on twitter at twitter.com/c-spanwj. host: steve is joining us from haymarket, virginia. good morning. steve? good morning. we will go next to loren in indianapolis. caller: i am thrilled. as the previous caller said, mitch daniels has done a lot of stuff. he has saved the state some money, but he has done a lot of stuff, a lot of cuts that he has not let out. it probably would come out if

you ran for president. i did not know that about his wife either. eight years, nobody knew this about his wife. host: he spoke to the indiana gop. is available on our website, c- span.org. some of the headlines -- "the houston chronicle." host: from "the boston globe," there is a preview to the president's trip to ireland. host: and look at just some of the coverage coming ahead of his trip to dublin. in louisiana, "agonizing wait."

flooding in mississippi continues. newt gingrich is making waves above the fold of "the los angeles times." from "the advantage journal constitution," "new gingrich network boosted." good morning. caller: you never mentioned the bill that make daniels just signed that restricts abortion. not just abortion, but women's rights. you people put such an emphasis on who is running in the gop, but if you look at the people that are running, god help this country if these people ever got a elected. you and the establishment in

washington keep promoting the republican's. just like when obama got bin laden. suddenly all that you heard from the gop was how torture worked. taking credit for what obama did. the news media and c-span went right along with this. . states like wisconsin, ohio, michigan, florida, i do not know how they ever became a republican. the only way that i could think that this happened is voter fraud. god help us if any of these republicans are nominated. host: thank you for the call. i would disagree with you on our approach to all of this. we provide a forum for people like you to weigh in and we are a reflection of what people are talking about in the news. mitch daniels, not running for

president, it was the one network worry could watch herman kane live. thank you for your call and comment, but i would disagree with you on your premise. as always, we appreciate it. lou, good morning. caller: i have to disagree with the last caller. i believe this c-span is extremely fair and presents both sides of the issues. but here is my comment. the republican party hats to stop acting like a religion. for example, this abortion issue, look at the polls across the country. most people want the right to have an abortion, if they want it or need it. 20% of the people in america want abortion eliminated.

secondly, the tell me one thing -- these republicans the call- up, how does allowing extremely rich people to get tax cuts help america? it surprises me that people could be that stupid to think of someone making a couple of someone making a couple of million dollars per year, giving them a tax cut is going to help america in create jobs? i cannot understand that. host: thank you for the call. another comment from twitter. host: john, detroit, good morning. caller: how you doing? host: fine, thank you. ah, kane is just

another donald trump, waiting to lose. that is all that i wanted to say. host: diane, good to hear from you. caller: i was going to say, i only see you on the weekend and on sundays. host: i will be on tomorrow. tune in. caller: i will do that. herman kane, several things about him. i did watch this debate in south carolina. host: the fox news debate. i know what you're talking about. go ahead. caller: he seems like a fine man. he actually seems to have the common sense and knowledge of how to run a government. he should be ready for a huge fight.

january, 2010, the supreme court ruling on citizens united and where these the nations are coming from, foreign or domestic, you have to raise a lot of money to even think that you can beat obama. the thing is, they need to really, really know that they will have real defense on the fact that someone is going to talk about not letting anyone ridicule you. i think that this man, herman i think that this man, herman ckane, has the guts to do that. but what is his age? host: he is 65. caller: he looks like he is ready to go.

i think he is stand-up and i hope that the gop nominates him as one of their candidates. host: thank you for getting up early. what part of the state are you in? caller: san diego county, up in the mountains. 4,500 feet, a little historical site. it was a gold rush town over 100 years ago. host: thank you. another potential candidate review this morning. jon huntsman, former ambassador to china, pointed out in this article.

host: a reminder, we will have live coverage of jon huntsman this afternoon at 4:30 as he meets with supporters in new hampshire. wrapping up his five day visit tomorrow. meanwhile, herman cain announces that he is in the race, taking aim at the president in u.s.- israeli relations, issues going back to those 1967 borders. brought up again yesterday by a republican candidate herman kane. >> most of us have appreciated the relationship with israel for decades. but the doctrine to the world

would simply be that if you mess with arab-israel, you are messing with the united states of america. do not mess with us. do not mess with us. is that clear? is that clear? that is what i mean by really clear foreign policy. know who your friends are. host: entering the 2012 race at the same time that mitch daniels announced overnight that after weeks and months of speculation, he will not run for president. one of our viewers says -- host: you can join the conversation, at twitter.com/c- spanwj. you can also send us an e-mail,

journal@c-span.org. a reminder, we are using a new set of phone number is. 202-624-1111. that is the line for democrats. the cover of "the weekly standard" is brand call. dennis, good morning. caller: i wanted to do a rejoinder to the man they called complaining about abortion. it is a central issue to this campaign. 54 million abortions since 1970. an entire generation that was eliminated, they were the entire tax base. we need to keep this country strong, but they are gone and they will never be back.

the estimated cost is $40 trillion. i have been researching this since 1992. the impact on this country is incredible. the other interesting thing is that it has become a democratic issue, although richard nixon was the one that paved the way for abortion in this country. issuing a top-secret report advocating population control for the world. also, the appointment of black men to the supreme court. here we are, this many years later, the democrats are the ones defending abortion, defending a policy inaugurated by nixon. host: thank you for the call.

another viewer -- yesterday we announced herman kane is running for president. videoall part of c-span's library. we have a look at mitt romney. this is from "the national review." host: he goes on to write in detail about his speech, concluding with these words. host: robert is the joining us

from henderson, ky. what do you think? mitch daniels is out, herminan kane is in. caller: he sounds great or torelli, but the man seems to be pandering to white folks. he does not want to say anything possibly related to black people that would hurt his candidacy, even though he is black. i do not believe he has the chance in the gop. the gop does not want a black president. they never have. they only want black people that will kalikow and behaved like modern-day slaves. they are not getting it from president obama. michael steele was their poster

child. child. now herman ca kane is the poster child. the gentleman, i do not believe that he has a chance and i believe that he is just making speeches. that is what i have to say. thank you very much. host: "meet new gingrich, political opinion of." -- piniata." host: next is herald, joining us from westwood, new jersey. caller: good morning.

this legalizing abortion issue and all of this, how could anyone do to a baby what they would never do to a puppy or a kitten? torture. you just had a program on regarding torture. we torture the babies. we cut off their hands and their feet for the convenience of the abortionist, to make it easier to remove the dead or almost dead baby from the mother. host: is this an issue in the republican primary? caller: obviously. for example, republicans, what would you say? they would like to have it both ways. but you cannot do it. even regarding health.

pregnancy is not a disease. cancer should be cut out. baby should not. host: mark murray and jonathan allen will be joining us for a round table in about 20 minutes, including voters in upstate new york going to the polls on tuesday. a seat previously held by chris lee, a congressman who resigned last february. in the race, two leading candidates and a third-party candidate, viewed as the tea party candidate. what effect will this have on the race? carmen is joining us from hamilton, montana. mitch daniels is out, herman cain is in. what do you think?

caller: steve, it has been a long time since i talk to you. i believe that my brother from kentucky is right. i think it we are seeing the dissolution of the republican party before our very eyes. maybe he is there barack obama? a black man? once the republican party and tea party finds out that he is a ceo, godfather's pizza is going to lose a lot of business. i wanted to talk to you about the ideology of corporations and rich people paying taxes. in a combat that, from vietnam. i helped the stable veterans.

i hate to see america stand by and lose all of their money, people spending trillions of dollars in iraq. i am asking america, when you turn your back, does anyone want all of this oil for free? we have watched them run up the prices the $4.50 dollars. we should have cut charged oil companies $52 trillion just to enter the country. america, ask yourself, why are you letting your children's heads get blown off and kill them losing your treasure for a party that does not even want to help poor people? i do not see republicans helping in the real americans. they only want to help corporations and the rich.

what that does to our country, we are just about to be bought and taken over. ever since richard nixon gave away our steel industry, it was the beginning of the chinese resurgence into the most powerful nation in the world. host: front page of "the new york times."

host: that story is in "the new york times" this morning. mitch daniels is out of the race, sending an e-mail to supporters early this morning. tomorrow, tim pawlenty will officially enter the race in the morning, i what. later in the week, michelle bachman. friday we are hearing that mitt romney will be in south carolina as he looks into a likely presidential bid. pat, cleveland, democratic line. caller: regarding mr. kane, it is terrifying that anyone would be running for president without any foreign affairs experience. he does not know anything about foreign affairs. foreign affairs are very relevant today.

relevant today. with his unstable personal relationship, you cannot do this job. it is not like it used to be six years ago. you need a very strong person. every day is a new problem. generally, the gop terrifies me. they are dragging us to hades by the hair. none of these people running for president are qualified. the ideology does not work, they do not respect the facts or the truth. all they do is complain about president obama. i am very disappointed with the gop.

host: thank you for the call. again, new phone numbers this morning. 202-624-1111 is for democrats. 202-624-1115 is for republicans. 202-624-1115 is for republicans. 202-624-0760 is for independent scholars. friday we sat down with [unintelligible] and talk to him about the challenges facing the administration and the republican alternatives put forth by paul ryan in his budget plan. here is an excerpt from that interview. >> you have talked about your view of long-term. we do not know what will happen in the future. how confident are you in those

long-term plans that are put out there, that they will not result in nothing? >> i am 100% confident in success. i know that this will work. we have a crisis. we are all in the same boat and it is time to come together. i see that happening. i really do. there are wrinkles, debates, but we are on track and i have confidence that we will get to the right place in this country. maybe not in one year, but it will happen in my lifetime. >> if you could flip the switch to make the system work better? >> the one thing i would do is the tempo. make it go faster. the pace. my whole sense of readiness is

that we know what to do in this country. we know what prevention looks like. we know how to listen to a patient. maybe it is my metabolism, but i say, let's do it. host: that was our conversation with dr. donald her wits. likely to stay in the obama administration appointed position. even watch the entire interview tonight. as with everything, it is available on our website, c- span.org. stan, the question is, mitch daniels, announcing that he is not running for president. herman kane is in the race. what do you think dan? caller: i love herman kane.

he is the right man for the right time to bring us back into solvency. what we need is a businessman. he was also chairman of the federal reserve regionally. he understands monetary policy as well. the knock against him that he has not held office is one of the main reasons why i want him in there. we do not need any more politicians to screw things up as badly as they have, basing the fiscal crisis that we are facing over the next few years. i could not be more happy. he is articulate, self-made, likable, a nice person. i will say that it is a good thing that he is black. i have always maintained that the real racists are on the left because they do not believe that

you can be a black person and have a different ideology than the liberal ideology. that is a racist view. the so-called black leaders that actually keep the majority of the black people trapped. host: thank you for the call. a look at the president's nominees for the judiciary, slowly tipping the balance on the bench. the president has created a more diverse and liberal judiciary. nominated to serve on the ninth circuit court of appeals, failing to get the 60 votes necessary, the attempt by harry reid and his chief supporters to get him on the bench. the son of taiwanese immigrants. the story is in "congressional

quarterly weekly" this morning. talking about unqualified candidates, we have a twitter message. alan, good morning? we will have to move on to the augusta, georgia. caller: good morning. i really like it when you are on c-span. you do an outstanding job. kane, i would compare him to enter jackson back in the day, he does not have a chance of winning. listening to some of the black republicans, they are usually in their 60's.

i watched the program the other day called the freedom riders. that program literally almost made me cry. when i see these republicans, these black republicans in their 60's, they know. i am not a prejudiced man by any means. but kane? i do not understand it. like michael steele. do you think that the republicans are going to let another black represent them? they threw michael steele under the bus. host: we are covering in the event this evening at 6:00, looking at the 50th anniversary of the freedom riders. do you have c-span 3? tune in at 6:00 tonight in you

will have a chance to see that, part of our patriot programming. are you still there? caller: yes. let me tell you this. please do not, steve, he has the smile, no doubt about it. michael steele had a smile. all they need are the [unintelligible] that is it. host: tom, burlington is next. kentucky. caller: i have a couple of comments. i have been a registered republican for over 40 years. i cannot vote for another republican. they have turned against the middle class. people are really misinformed about abortions. all abortions are not for birth control. there are health issues to the mothers. people overlook that fact. another thing with herman cain, i have not heard him say anything about doing anything

for the working people. that is where we are going on in this country. republicans have turned their back on the working class people. they want to take away the entitlements. the entitlements that to pay in two or something the to pay into on a weekly or monthly basis. when you start taking that away from people and taking interest, you are destroying that middle- class. that is the safety net for the middle class. republicans only seem to want to take away everything, balancing the budget without raising taxes, and you cannot do that. host: thank you for the call. a nous cnn contributor an expert on the louisiana coast is going to join us at 9:00 p.m. to talk about the flooding taking place along the mississippi. he also has a new book about how to protect yourself.

from "the baltimore sun," more on new being rich. c-span radio does carry all of the sunday morning programs beginning at noon eastern. a response to the earlier twitter comment about qualifications and why obama was qualified. host: welcome to the conversation. caller: that is a good question, talking about qualifications. is the senate qualification to be president? the republicans have not put out a candidate that is electable. michele bodman, unelectable. sarah palin, unelectable. it is not about race, abortion, or ideological arguments. or ideological arguments. is about what is best for the

american people. republicans just do not have anyone out there that could attract an obama supporter. he will get reelected because the republicans have not produced any one that can challenge him. host: in 1992 people were often saying the same thing about bill clinton, and he did succeed george herbert walker bush. the republicans will have a nominee. whoever it is. so, they will have someone to challenge the president. and next year may look different than this year. caller: a very good question. the point that i would make is that the only reason republicans have the chance, george bush in

1992 broke his basic promise to the american people and he lost his base. remember, he was riding high after the first gulf war. his approval numbers were through the roof and everything. the only way that republicans can defeat president obama in 2012 it is if he loses his base. which he has lost a significant portion of. let's face, obama has moved towards the center since he took office and since he pushed through obama-care. that is the only chance the republicans have to put someone out there that does not have this conceded, ideological argument. they need something that appeals to the broad base of the american people. but right now, i do not see it.

host: last caller on this topic is kim, detroit. go ahead. caller: good morning. how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: thank you for having me on. i would like to say that i do not think that anyone in this whole nation is going to win this election. because mr. obama is the best candidate that we have out there. i think that this is a ploy to put this other black man by a front of the gop party to see if he can get more votes than obama. obama. i am not a good speaker, but i know one thing. this man whose name kane, he will be a flunky for the gop party. host: thank you for the call their from detroit.

we want to turn the attention to afghanistan with laura king, on the phone with us from afghanistan kabul. caller: thank you for calling me. host: we saw another story over the weekend about insurgents. what has been happening? caller: [shuffling] host: are you there? color code you cut out briefly. you wanted to know about the attacks yesterday? host: yes, please. caller: insurgents have made this their trademark over the last few weeks. overrunning things with a large- scale attack, like today, or getting a suicide bomber into a sensitive area. it has been a pattern that we

have been seeing since spring fighting got under way. host: will we see more of this? who is behind it? caller: the taliban claimed responsibility for yesterday. it seems to be critical. -- credible. these seem to be the tactics they are facing. nato forces question whether insurgent groups have the ability to launch large conventional attacks against troops and softer targets. host: coming at the same time that the administration in general david petraeus are providing an overview on what those troops will look like after july 11. what impact will this have on the administration's decision making process? caller: from the viewpoint of ordinary afghans, they are looking at the situation as

increasingly insecure. certainly something that is playing into the political equation. host: as you traveled around the country this morning, what are you hearing? what are people telling you about the turmoil on the ground? caller: people here tend to be fatalistic about the danger, but certainly yesterday happened right in the middle of town in a closely guarded area. a diplomatic compound. if insurgents want to get into a certain area, they can. host: i know that you were one of the few that wrote about the obama administration having

dialogue with the taliban. with whom? caller: many people have come forward claiming to represent the taliban, claiming to have the authority to speak for senior leadership. there is a lot of behind-the- scenes contacts taking place. where it will be does not clear at this point. host: as a reporter, how do you insure your own personal safety? caller: generally, most import -- most reporters feel it is important to be able to speak with people from our position and know what they're thinking, so there is a certain degree of inherent risk. host: thank you very much, laura.

caller: thank you for having me. host: turning our attention to politics, joining us in a couple of minutes, jonathan elie -- jonathan allen and mark murray. later, the broader questions on the middle east. the flooding of the mississippi and what it means for the louisiana and mississippi in particular. topics that are still to come on sunday morning. looking at the issues that make up the other sunday shows, nancy is keeping track of all of that. >> on the sunday shows, topics include budget debates on capitol hill and the deficit. the 2012 presidential election. of course, the situation in the middle east. first, david gregory on "meet the press" welcomes paul ryan and chris van pollan.

at 1:00 here "this week from abc." there -- you can hear aaron david miller. "fox news sunday clothes " rears at 2:00 p.m. eastern with mitch mcconnell and herman kane. 3:00 p.m., "the state of the union" from cnn. mike rogers, [unintelligible] , and the israeli ambassador to the u.s.. finally, 4:00 p.m. eastern, "face the nation" from cbs and bob schieffer. speaking with newt gingrich. these five talk shows are brought to you as a public service from the networks and c- span.

listen to them all on c-span radio, 90.1 fm in the washington, d.c. area, nationwide on satellite xm radio, download as and ia phonepp, or listen anywhere on c-span radio.org. >> you must be willing to lean on others, listen to others, and love others. >> watch 2011 commencement speeches on the memorial day weekend. listen to best speeches online at the peabody award winning c- span video library, where you can search, watch, click, and share, every event we have covered from 1987 through today. >> this weekend, american history television on c-span 3.

regina williams on the music of duke ellington. a look at the efforts to preserve the jefferson bible. in the 50th anniversary of the freedom riots, when 15 men and women boarded two buses bound for new orleans. press the c-span alert button to get the schedule e-mail sent to you. the c-span local content vehicles kickoff their tour this weekend in tampa. including interviews with authors. plus a look at the book industry with local booksellers. plus, american history events on c-span 3. the first scheduled commercial

aircraft. the hidden history of englewood. the history of 750 former slaves and indians that fought two wars against america in the early 1800's. watch it on c-span 2 m three. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our sunday morning roundtable, welcome to mark murphy and jonathan allen. thank you for being with us. guest: congratulations on surviving the apocalypse, [laughter] host: an e-mail from its daniels to his supporters -- he is not running. your reaction? caller: -- guest: he cited personal reasons. often when politicians cite often when politicians cite personal reasons, there is usually more to the story.

for mitch daniels it was the biggest obstacle for him. his wife and daughters did not want the scrutiny. a few days -- a few days ago sarah palin said that she had a fire in the belly, but the fire in the belly was definitely lacking from its daniels on whether or not he had the stomach to want to run. running for president is not easy. it takes a tremendous amount of time. there are many big highs and lows in his decision was not surprising. host: coming the same week as donald trump announced he was not running for president. michele bodman -- michelle bachman, plus stops in new hampshire. guest: it would appear that the entire state of minnesota is running.

they are taking advantage of mitch daniels not being in the race. people that might want to get in, contingents that were thought to be behind the daniels' campaign. he was a bush guy in washington, within the administration. there is an opportunity for a lot of folks. at the same time, i cannot imagine that we will not have a pretty good idea within the next few weeks. host: michelle obama, her first real campaign appearance at the hyatt hotel with democratic party activists. a fund raiser for 2012. here is what the first lady had to say about the upcoming race. >> the simple truth is that today, four years later, we are here because of all of you. i am not just talking about

winning an election. i am talking about what we have been doing every day in the white house since that time to keep on fighting for the folks that we've met and the values that we share. talking about what barack has been doing to help us all for the future. the future. host: the headline from "the washington post," "frustrated with democrats." guest: this has been the complaint of organized labor, saying that senate leaders and congressional democrats have not backed organized labor in those pitched battles when it comes to collective bargaining in states in the midwest. one thing that is always on in the presidential year, the face of the dilemma of organized labor. do you want a democratic

president or a republican president m. for the employee's service union, the question is usually backing the democratic candidate. where they will really be allocating resources is in the state's. certainly, when it comes to the president's reelection campaign he will not have to worry about where he is getting his money. host: this is from "the washington post." contributions to candidates. guest: the people that have to be worried are the members of congress seeking reelection of the democratic side, the campaign committees where they have republicans and challengers. the president will get plenty of cash and support. teh sciu will also be there this

time. there is no question about that. really, it is those down ballot races where the democrats have to worry about where the unions are going. it happened in 1994. republicans said the state -- unions said that they would all- out and they did host: rochester, n.y., a special election. one of the headlines this past week is that they hate special elections in new york. what is going on in that race? guest: there are two things going on in that race. even though he is a former democrat, a lot of support is being drawn away from the republican candidate. and then there are the television advertisements that have been playing tell all of it about the paul ryan budget and whether or not medicare should

be phased out. those stories are in play right now. whichever is the biggest, it is probably jack davis. the democratic candidate winning with 45% of the vote? hard to say that this was an overwhelming victory. certainly it is an indictment on the republicans. host: what do you say about this race? guest: it will be very close. jack davis, by the way, ran as a democrat repeatedly in upstate, new york. often i think that support for the third candidates really falls off at the end. of course, if [unintelligible] win this race, let's hope they do not go the way of eric mess ua.

[laughter] host: what does that tell the republicans? guest: that they are able to hold on to reliably republican seat. this is the former seat of jack kemp, something they shall always be able to win. it does not tell us much about 2012, but it does tell us about the organization and infrastructure. even in 2010, when republicans certainly had a great year, they were not able to win some of these special elections and who can create a campaign quickly. and they might get some of their mojo back. host: if the democratic candidate wins, what does that tell the committee and the media following that? guest: i think the you will see

republicans trying to make medicare the issue in every race. they say that their best hope lies the issue, fight it to a draw, but that is not the territory they would like to be fighting on. host: the editorial of "the weekly standard" wrote -- the democrats are looking to turn this into a political issue. guest: this will last to the guest: this will last to the next 20 or 25 years.

it has a huge strain on the system. [inaudible] democrats say, we think medicare, there should be some scalpels taken to it. there should be some cuts. to be able to increase taxes or bring in extra revenue, so we can keep medicare as we know it, by making changes to deal with the democrat system of all of these baby boomers retiring. host: this has been a two million-dollar race in upstate new york. >> you have earned it. work your whole life for it. unfortunately, jack davis said social security benefits may have to be adjusted down. and he supports a budget that since medicare. instead of balancing the budget

the right way, he wants tax breaks for corporations while cutting benefits for seniors. we just cannot afford jack davis or jane corwin. >> meet jack davis. he claims he had a hand in creating the democrat majority with nancy pelosi. >> she has done a great job for this country. >> great job? jack and kathy cannot fight for us. they come with strings attached. host: what is going on here? guest: folks are wanting to put two candidates as the negative.

jack davis on one side. it is an interesting race. i am sure the new york voters are tired of hearing about it. it is a very republican district. district. host: those were congressional at. here are some for jane corwin. >> cafe is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. and -- kathy is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. >> im jane curtin.

i will not cut medicare or social security. >> look for yourself. >> look for yourself. kathy hochul.caf >> i am kathy hochul and i approve this message. guest: this is all about medicare. in the first ad from jane corwin, she is trying to distance herself a little. corwin did say she supported the brien budget and medicare overhaul. the republicans quickly voted -- it happened so quickly and

without four republicans decided to vote against it. it was almost as if a lot of republicans did not look at the political consequences they were taking. we are seeing it played out in these tv ads. we will not know quite how effective this is until the next elections. it may be more effective if republicans use it against democrats. it is a controversial issue that did not make it into law. members have to vote on it. host: we have a new set of phone numbers on this sunday morning. here they are. we still have the same e-mail address.

address. you can visit us online at twitter. wolf as through congress this week. what are you keeping an eye -- walk us through congress this week. what are you keeping an eye on? guest: some items are somewhat controversial. there has been a deal between the speaker of the house and harry reid. whether members are ready to go along with that is another question. anything in terms of a motion on the deficit or the debt ceiling -- something from the gang of fiveng of five. of

host: you're traveling overseas with the president. guest: they are big stories. washington, d.c. on wednesday. the daniels announcement late last night provides a lot of the backdrop. we have our field. we will see if michelle kaufman decides to get later in this week as well. we will follow a lot of political news. host: what about the impact it would have on mitt romney? guest: mike huckabee had a real chance to lock up a lot of

voters in western iowa. his message resonates there. it was an opportunity for him. i think that is what is going on there. it is an opportunity for medtronic to connect with some of those people -- mitt romney to connect with some of those people. guest: it makes i will wide open. is michele bock when the favorite? one story not to ignore is that mitt romney could end up making a push. mike huckabee caught fire.

it will be interesting to see if ms. romney tries to make a place in iowa. if he does and it goes on to win new hampshire -- he could do well. well. host: your reaction to one person's candidacy? guest: he will keep the conversation likely. he will push other republican candidates into debate and take positions that they may not want to take during the general election. at the end of the day, he will not be president of the united states. host: he spoke about foreign policy issues. here is john mccain from yesterday. >> -- cane from yesterday.

>> -- cane from yesterday. -- herman cain form yesterday. -- from yesterday. >> do not mess with us. is that real clear? is that real clear? that is what i mean by real clear foreign policy. know who your friends are. host: the president will be talking about that today at the apec conference. guest: he is a talk radio host. republicans are after the fox news debate, they like herman cain. it is tailored to the constituency group of core conservatives. he is not a former member of

congress or governor. he can be a vehicle for a lot of protests, especially if some republicans do not catch afire. he took some flak if whether the borders for any type of compromise on middle east peace should be debates on the 1967 borders. a tough problem for the president. almost 80% of jewish voters voted for president obama. he has a lot of circuits to keep his message and make the argument that he is trying to be a fair broker in this divisive development. [unintelligible] she was always a good fund raiser. penny his top fund-raiser is

jewish. there is a lot of ability for him to go into the jewish community and get money. this issue pops up. the president will have to pull each person aside to reassure them on this. it will be interesting to see his reaction from apac. it makes up about 20% of the jewish community that did not vote for the president in the 2008 election. host: we will have live reaction at 10:30 eastern time here on c- span. let us go to the phone line. good morning. caller: i want to thank c-span for allowing me to speak. i listened to the lady in ohio saying republicans do not respect anybody. i am a registered republican.

for a long time, i was told as a black man, you are supposed to go democrat. i live in detroit, buffalo, new york, not far from east cleveland, ohio, and gary indiana, east st. louis, all of these places have been made by democrats. these people have rain of these cities into the ground with high taxation. it is a crying shame that we have to think that in order to have a vibrant economy democrats have to lead the way. they have ruined these cities and states with a crest of taxation. black children are not being

educated in these schools. host: who is your candidate? caller: i like herman cain. they may call him a puppet. give me a break. president obama is a puppet. host: when a viewer calls mitt romney a brilliant conservative. guest: he probably named all of the cities hardest hit by the economy right now. there is very little in the way of solutions coming forward as far as the unemployment problem is concerned.

some people have stopped looking. it will be a top issue in the campaign. the low point for unemployment is 5%. now we are talking about maybe 11%. that will be a huge issue for any of the candidates, certainly president obama and anyone who wants to challenge him. host: herman cain with the shades sounding like he wants to pick a fight. guest: he is a bit more ideological. he tells the conservative exactly what they want to be able to hear. he will be a factor. it remains to be seen how big of one. one. the last time that there was

someone who was not an elected to win the presidency was dwight eisenhower. those that end up becoming president are former governors. herman cain it does not have the political experience. he will try to use it as an asset. host: these bids have impacted the race. democrats line. to be: mr. kaine's seems getting some air play. -- cain seems to be getting some airplay. there is a big ally going on in this country. maybe you should direct heat -- lie going on in this country.

maybe you should direct your attention to it. after not being able to reduce the democratic rules by jailing 2 million people, in many states, they are putting in these identification cards that are disenfranchising l.a., poor, students, those that do not pay bills. -- elderly, poor, students, those that do not pay bills. many are americans that do not have a voice in this government. they are being robbed of their voice for the next 40 years. i think you need to pursue this, unless it is only important to talk about the day after the 2012 elections. guest: the more herman cain is out there, the more he will be asked questions.

he will get attention based upon how he does in the polls. i think those questions are legitimate to ask. legitimate to ask. host: there has never been a president be elected since fdr when unemployment was over 8%. why would a 12 be an exception? guest: the economy is going to play a bigger role. the direction of the economy. if you look over the last two years and every month going into the president's reelection campaign, the economy was adding 200,000 new jobs. an unemployment rate that hit 10% is going down.

it goes down to 8.5 by the end of this year. perhaps 8.1% by november 2012. the direction of the economy, that it continues to grow, it plays an important role. the president's approval vote -- rating is still 47%. it is more good economic news. it shows how president obama can have a re-election path, because the news gets better. host: was there one number that surprised you? guest: it was the economy. we look at the economic data that suggest that the economy is proving. the down, more than 12,000. the monthly job creation. it looks at the handling of the

economy by the president. it goes to show how much of an impact gas prices are having right now. host: atlanta, good morning. caller: i think both parties -- i am an independent. [unintelligible] it is hurting the american people. i go to the political side quite frequently along with nbc. i wish you would do a better job of seeking and exposing the truth. both of you seem to have a liberal bent. that is especially msnbc.com.

tell the truth about what these politics are doing to the people of america. of america. host: to you want to respond? guest: it is a situation in terms of the democratic and republican parties where a lot of people are frustrated. i do not know i would call every one [unintelligible] there is frustration out there. there is frustration out there. the democrats won by a big majority. there is some frustration from the american public. they are trying to determine if the news they are getting is accurate. they wonder if the stories stand on their own.

host: as journalists, we tried to be as fair as possible. sometimes we are seen as conservative, because we are owned by our parent company. sometimes we are liberal or more conservative. as journalists, we tried to be as fair as possible. we try to make sense of what is happening out there. one of our viewers talks about the tea party and the popularity of ron paul. guest: he was the godfather of the tea party movement. we missed it in the 2008 election, where he was getting a lot of support. people were coming to his rallies. he finished fifth in the new hampshire primary. he was raising a lot of money.

we saw how -- the beginning of the tea party. we do not know how it will play out. out. sometimes these movements often do not have lasting power. it will be interesting to see what kind of influences the tea party is having now. i do not have any idea as far as the election goes. every time you put ron paul in a headline [unintelligible] what was hard to see was the translation from that to what appeared to be a generated movement in the tea party.

the organic tea party movement -- the progression of that was there to be seen. we did not want to miss it. host: we are looking at the newton gingrich fund-raising effort. here is the headline from the "washington post. well -- ." guest: his presidential rollout may have been the worst in american day politics. his campaign let us know through in e-mail that he is attracting 150 people through all of his stops this week. when you are talking about republicans who attended the

iowa caucuses, 150 is a pretty good turnout. if they are coming out to see a train wreck or because he is a political personality, that is one thing. there is the potential for him to have better days. we have a long time to go especially with the campaign. host: his first political appearance, joe biden, on behalf of the president, this wednesday. some speculation with newt gingrich -- after the interview, do you know the impact of what he said would have on a republican? guest: he was endorsing an

individual mandate on health care. he was talking about endorsing a type of mandate. i think we thought it would be the big story. when you look back -- he does not necessarily disagree with paul ryan, but it was the language he used. that angered so many conservatives. later on he said, it is a jump too far. had he stayed there, we would not have seen the blow back. it created a backlash. guest: the issue is that they do

not mind if you distance yourself. newt gingrich held this position in 1995. what we see right now is it was not going to play particularly well. jane corwin is a victim of it. we will see what happens with the special election. there is no way the race would be close without the issue. be close without the issue. there is social security debate. so security is the one that

blows up your campaign. this does not affect a lot of republican or independent voters. you have to message as well. and has to go beyond and medicare. we will have to see what happens, but do not expected this issue to go anywhere anytime soon. host: there is a piece that begins like this. capt. joins us from pennsylvania. -- kevin joins us from

pennsylvania. caller: i have a question regarding the republican party. herman cain is like an insider to the federal reserve system. some are drafting to herman cain as a new figure to idolize. guest: some say he is a profit of politics. but for the mainstream, i do not think it will happen. host: louisiana, and democrats line. caller: i am a nurse and obama supporter. anybody that believes that you can and do away with medicaid has never worked in a hospital or nursing home.

people do not have enough money to take care of this. some do not have families. there is a lot of waste. there are many things that can be changed. if you are a millionaire, why should you get medicare and social security? it does not make sense. some things are so simple. nurses, we see the waste every single day. there is not a lot you can do about it. guest: the issue of health care coming up in the primary. coming up in the primary. guest: people do not like their

rights taken away. even if this will not impact people younger than 55 years old, some maybe 53 or 54 and say, -- it shows that republicans did better with seniors bant what they have done in a long time. if that seniors accord goes down, we see how the democrats can be able to hold onto the white house, make house gains. guest: they are trying to pay for the new obama health care plans.

they are borrowing subsidies for insurers. it is important for republicans on the campaign trail. many analysts are saying, why would you win on that and then turn around and make yourself vulnerable. we spend so much money on and of life care on items that do not need to be done for people, that there has to be some sort of a solution. there are many solutions out there. the real question is who is paying for homwhom? if you eliminate at the upper end of the scale, they will

organize politically against them. there are a pot -- if you were to test that only the wealthy were paying for, they would pull out of those programs. host: one person says he would host: one person says he would not have used military troops in libya. he said, we cannot afford it. here is a tweet. guest: we are seeing right now

that he is making a presidential bid to make some critiques on foreign policy with the president. many hoped the libya situation would have been taking care of before. we will find out in the weeks and months ahead as to what is happening with muammar gaddafi and libya. it could end up being a bigot track on the president. it remains to be seen. the president and the white house have a lot of balls in the air that republicans will try to criticize him on. criticize him on. host: next caller from massachusetts. caller: it is frustrating here in america. [inaudible]

it is almost like picking a football team. you have to vote and put someone in office that is going to tell the truth. bush and obama lie. we need to pray -- do not depend on politico or nbc. look for yourself. the only voice we can go for right now is ron paul. guest: there is something -- it does not give them the options they like.

the president did not come to congress for permission to go to war in bolivia. he has asked for a revolution to be drafted. they are circulating it. they are circulating it. many wanted the president to go by the basic rules and feel that he has not done that. the question of will that affect people on the right and left and divide at different places -- we have to see how it plays out in the 2012 election. it is just like iraq and

afghanistan. we are still there. host: what about the obama reaction? caller: there was a small bump in the polls. some showed him with a bigger bump into some with a smaller. the best way for us to look at the osama bin laden news is more in the long term. the moment really solidifies the commanders -- the presidents commander in chief credentials. the economy is better, and it will be harder for mr. romney and others to attack the president on national security. they cannot say that he is weak and will not go after terrorists. the president has had its own problems. there is a two front attack on the president and national security.

the osama bin laden strengthens the president's national security hand. host: what does he need to do today? guest: put it away. get away from the question of paul ryan as fast as possible. i am sure he will be asked about that. he must find it the ability to move forward. host: a television producer says of this. guest: mitt romney is lacking some of the excitement. people are not fired up about him. people want to build with someone they are comfortable

with seeing on their television set for the next quarter years. he does not able to do so in iowa and new hampshire in 2008. the more time he spent in those states, his poll numbers went down. whether he can connect with voters remains to be seen. he certainly looked the part. host: when it to you think congress will vote on the debt ceiling issue? guest: [unintelligible] i think they will back it up. i think they will back it up. we may see congress take action

in august. [inaudible] host:jonathan allen covers politics for politico. and the editor of the daily rundown on nbc is a political director. thank you for being with us. we will have live coverage of the president, a a at thepac conference -- at the apac conference. he will head to ireland with pomp and circumstance with queen elizabeth. he will stop over in france for the g-8 summit and then poland.

we turn our attention to al qaeda and the leadership of that movement. later, we will talk about the situation along side the mississippi river and the flooding going there. take a look at some of the news as a scene for the leading cartoonists around the country.

>> this is june on "in depth." rorke questions for author eric pau's star. -- posner.

he will take your calls, emailed , intweets. -- and tweets. >> and no one succeeds in live by themselves. you must be willing to lean on others, listen to others, and love on others. >> search more than 800 pass commencement addresses -- past commencement addresses on line on the peabody award winning c- span video library. you can watch every event we have covered from 1987 until today. it is washington your way. "washington journal" continues. host: we welcome a a fellow from the washington institute. [inaudible]

what does the organization look like today? guest: al qaeda has operated as a committee. they consult each other. they just elected an interim leader. we are always trying to learn more about al qaeda. it seems as if initially a small group of people have selected this new interim leader on a temporary basis. host: we hear about new information as cia operatives search through the file. does it surprise you that he had some much material there and he

thought he would not be caught? guest: osama bin laden had grown accustomed to be in a safe location that he -- i think he got lazy. he never expected this day to come. it was to our benefit. [unintelligible] there are various people at the highest level that sympathized with their agenda. an example is in saudi arabia. some agree at a very basic level. very simple robberies in the shakedowns. there are a number of sources.

criminal enterprises to fund their efforts. there are a variety of sources. host: we heard this week from defense secretary gates the essentially telling government officials to shut up. they are talking about what they learned. guest: success has a thousand fathers. everyone wants a few moments in the spotlight. people are trying to understand the situation. some talk about how dramatic the raid was. people want to understand everything they can. this fight has not ended. it will continue for a while. [inaudible]

it is nice secretary gates wants to come out like that. part of debt is there is some confusion in war. it takes time to get their assessment. it is a political environment. people want to get ahead of the game. i am hoping that people are responsible. host: we will get to your calls and comments in just a moment. you can call us or send us an e- mail. friday afternoon, the president traveling to cia headquarters in virginia as part of his thank- you towarur.

>> make no mistake, this is not over. because we not only to cut the simple and operational leader of al qaeda and walked away with his files, the largest treasure ever seized of terrorist leaders. today, every terrorist in the al qaeda network should be watching their backs, because we are going to review every video, examine every photo, read every one of those millions of pages and pursue every lead. we will go wherever it takes to finish the job. we will defeat al qaeda. host: what is next?

what does the obama administration need to do and the intelligence community need to do? guest: we need to exploit whatever intelligence we gathered from the bin laden compound. we need to uncover any current plots and track down and mob -- map out in greater detail al qaeda networks. one thing we have to be careful about is to think that al qaeda is finished with the death of osama bin laden. you have to pursue the leadership of terrorist organizations, and eliminate the physical safe haven and areas they used to rest. [inaudible]

various affiliates in al qaeda. there is an al qaeda group in so malia and various other countries. -- so malia and various other countries. -- somalia and various other countries. host: here is a comment. guest: i cannot speak to how large al qaeda is in general. in yemen, the rule of thumb is that the members are around 100. many pass of the support al qaeda and provided them mining

or homes to stay in for the evening. that is the challenge we are in. but you have to address the underlying factors that lead to passably supporting them. al qaeda is very pragmatic in what it needs to get power and a station different communities. it slaughtered numerous iraqi. in the yemen, they are very cognizant who has authority. they are very sensitive to that. host: in the corporate world, there is a mission or business plan. is there a plan of business for al qaeda? guest: the overarching goals have not shifted that much since it began.

they would love to get rid of these apostate governments as they look within the middle east that they feel are in power because the united states has affected them. the saudi family, some governments in the middle east. they refer to them as the near enemy and the far enemy is the united states. they think if they want the united states through 9/11 and other attacks, it will prompt us to withdraw some of our support from government in the middle east. east. the goal is far off. host: what is the role of saudia

arabia in all of this? guest: they made this deal early on between one families and a religious revival group. they adopted a fundamentalist vision of islam, which was reformist years ago. they have this agreement. saudis have often funded certain items around the world for social and richmond. they also recruit places and have converted a lot of people. they have made their vision of islam more appealing to a larger number of people. they are not totally responsible for that. the government of iran -- it

gave al qaeda members a sense that you could establish a religion -- religious government. host: a former -- daniel green is a fellow at the washington institute for middle east policy. and on the phone, massachusetts. good morning. caller: hello. i want to say that al qaeda gets all of the money from certain deals. [unintelligible] [unintelligible] host: i apologize for that.

sometimes people get through with profanity. this is not the place for that kind of language. go elsewhere with that. next is st. petersburg, florida. caller: good morning. we talk about ellicott all of the time. i think it is overblown in the american press. throughout the world, it is not as prevalent. we are so quick to blame iran. saudi arabia is way more fundamentalist. they are just as grimy so to speak. they do not treat their women well and all of that other kind of stuff.

like any other caller said, when the taliban was in charge prior to 9/11, there was not as much heroin production in united states. guest: the taliban and the year- end production, when they took over -- hear when production, -- heroin production -- there was too much popping when they took over. poppy when they took over. they wanted to moderate the price so they could get more revenues from it. that is what they told afghan farmers.

they were trying to regulate that market and then check the price up more. that is why they did that when the taliban came in. different people see different things. al qaeda has tried to stay in power with some car -- plane bombings that did not work out. there was a car bomb in times square that did not go off. host: in the next five or six weeks, we will learn more about the plans of the administration in the afghan area. here is a comment from a bird watcher page.

will it be? >> there are many people that would like it to be. the obama administration would like to find a way to reduce the u.s. presence in afghanistan. the withdrawal is based more on a political time frame set in washington, d.c. versus on the ground. instead of looking at it as a rush -- in many ways, we should look at it as a reason to double down in afghanistan. we have started to shift the momentum against the taliban and al qaeda. they have been given some sort of moral support. there are different ways you can lead. you can lead because you are winning. i think you need to double down

and commit additional resources and get out in a way that is victory prevailing. victory prevailing. host: in pakistan, you are not talking about a single strong leader of the red, but a lot of troubles. many are in different parts of the country that may or may not want to work with you. guest: exactly. there are large parts of their territory where they do not control things. the challenge is they have a number of options from general microscope. i think they went through a middle range. i think it would have been more fruitful to go on a larger toward around 80,000 or so.

it is a labor-intensive process. no one wants to be there longer than we should. it depends on what strategy for success is necessary. guest: there are parts of the country that have received additional troops as far as the surge. there are other parts that have not received any troops. they're certain ports that have not received any and their -- and you really have to vote enough resources in areas to protect the population from the insurgency and separate them from the people physically and psychologically. they have to give them the sense that their future lies with the afghan government. it is a question of resources it correctly and we are on the way

there. the deadline has really complicated things. we need more resources. host: website is washington institute.org and sheila is china's from delaware, good morning. caller: my question might be quite naive but i am wondering why americans as a country, why aren't we clearing out the other countries? i know there are innocent people there who are not part of the taliban but if we don't get them all out, i'm talking about the world, let's go over there and build a mosque and put an american flag there. american flag there. guest: she wants us to pull out afghanistan t?

pulling out is the easy part and prevailing is the hard part. we have to address the underlying challenges of afghanistan in a real way. we pulled out of afghanistan in 1980 time and 1992 once the soviets withdrew. that was the realistic view on afghanistan. it was no longer a strategic interest. someone will fill that vacuum and i hope it will be someone more favorable to us. when we pulled out in 1992, that beckham was killed by the taliban -- that vacuum was filled by the taliban. i think we should do this the right way. we don't do it correctly now, we will return to afghanistan in some form or fashion down the road. no one wants to be there longer than we have to be the lead to resources correctly. then we will withdraw based on

conditions on the battlefield, not political time lines pri. host: hundreds of u.s. military bases are on foreign -- foreign soil. do they help or hurt relations? guest: each country has to be taken in their own context and on their own terms. for germany, our troops were there to protect western europe from soviet aggression. from soviet aggression. you have to do this in a sensible way. each type of troop presence there is different. we have no interest in having permanent bases in afghanistan. we will have an enduring relationship with the afghan government and people. we will be their training and equipping a working with their security forces well beyond any sort of large troop presence. host: we have been in south korea for 60 years. >guest: if north korea were to

invade, our troops are there and they will do everything they can to prevent that. through that trip wire, that prompted us to intervene on this -- on the part of south korea. it would be nice to have a universal approach to all these problems. the reality is more complex so we have to take each case individually . host: miami, florida. caller: it seems to me that the past few years we have become almost the police of the world. in my opinion, is it not affecting us in the long run if we don't start pulling troops out? the war on terror -- isn't terror more of a tactic? if we continue to create these relationships with people who

have their own issues and problems, what it creates more problems for us? guest: i think what the caller hits on really well is the sense of exhaustion among some americans that we have been been at war for at least 10 years in afghanistan and iraq as well. there is a sense that maybe sometimes direct u.s. intervention is not the only strategy but it is one of a number of strategies. for example, in libya, the greater emphasis there is working with nato. we are in afghanistan with a number of countries through nato and other non-nato partners. it is a coalition effort and we absolutely shoulder clients share of that. you have to be careful that sometimes the blow back concern sometimes the blow back concern is through our efforts, other

actions will come out that will affect us adversely. it is a balancing act we are drawing down in iraq. in libya, it seems -- we seem to have limited our role there. look at yemen. we are definitely trying to make sure that we don't intervene directly and we work with whatever government might replace their government soon. replace their government soon. crops hosthost: the president ig with all of these issues. there is an excerpt from his remarks. >> even before his death, al- qaeda was losing its struggle for relevance. as the overwhelming majority of people sought that the slaughter of innocents does not add to their cries for a better life. by the time we found bin laden, the al qaeda image -- agenda of king to be seen as a dead-end and the people of the middle

east and north africa had taken their future into their own hands. host: based and what the president said thursday and this headline -- can you exclaim? guest: there is a view that people try to make a distinction between al qaeda and the taliban. they have some different goals but also share many common goals. we have to step back for a second and not focus of what they say but look at it from a pragmatic strategy of survival. again and again, al-qaeda has demonstrated its ability to hook its strategic goals to the interest of local communities and in doing so, garner support . it has happened numerous times. it is an intellectual distinction to say that the al-

qaeda and the taliban are different but they are symbiotic and support each other. they benefit from each other. it is absolutely an excellent thing that osa -- osama bin laden has been killed but it does not do much to stop terrorism. guest: when we withdrew from afghanistan and stopped our support for the mujahedin, we have a minimalist perspective that this was no longer in our strategic interest. this power vacuum, this society that was racked by war for many years was eventually filled by this young youth movement of its time, the taliban. they fill this vacuum and have an ideology that was much opposed to democracy and human rights. that provided an internal safe

haven for al-qaeda and other islamic radicals. what we try to do and afghanistan is try to establish a type of government that makes enough of the interests of the people that they feel it is their government that will provide people a positive future that will not allow some sort of islamic radicalism regime to return. we have seen that already in the early 1990's when the television came to power. people say there are moderate taliban and more extreme taliban. we allow the taliban to comeback, be prepared for many more afghans committing reprisal killings. host: michigan, good morning. caller: good morning.

i spent some time in saudi arabia and bahrain years ago i was once asked by a rare admiral 9 quist -- nyquist my personal thoughts. i stated that i thought we would be at war in that region within 15 years and this is going back to the 1980's. he asked why. i said until the women are allowed to raise their sons as they see fit, these tensions will always be there. to that end, if i concentrate on saudi arabia and most of the moslems in the world look to saudi arabia for guidance, your thoughts on that. how would we be dealing with saudi arabia if it wasn't for their sweet crude oil?

that seems to be what we cannot do without. guest: when the founder of modern day saudi arabia took over and many millions of americans -- many millions of moslems do the haj and that affected what constituted islam. many of these ideas of the whabas has spread. saudi arabia has taken advantage of that. they do not live in a bubble. as much as their views are conservative, they are buffeted by the winds of change. i think the al-qaeda challenge prompted some internal reforms. it is not enough from our perspective but in terms of

women's rights, absolutely, we have to pursue women's rights but it goes back to the issue of blow back. we can do as much as we can directed that these societies will change on their own terms and education is fundamental. we have an initiative along we have an initiative along those lines where we try to work with different voices. social change takes time. the best routes are when it comes out of the country itself and not from abroad. host: it is the washington institute from near east policy. good morning. caller: good morning to both of you. i want to comment on what i call the fictional relationship between the taliban and al qaeda. if you read the former ambassador to pakistan, in his

biography, he states that the taliban has little or minimal or no relationship with al qaeda. as a matter of fact, the taliban are willing to hand over bin laden to an independent court if any evidence was provided by the united states. this overplayed relationship between the taliban and al- qaeda is really not generating any results as to ending the war in afghanistan. the second thing is the taliban pastuns tribaltribal that don't have any fanatical goals. they are more looking toward pastun ruled in al qaeda. guest: i read that book and you are absolutely right.

he was a former taliban official and he has an incentive to stress the few links, if any, the taliban had with al qaeda. he said the taliban are interested in turning over osama bin laden. that had opportunity to do so. you don't see the taliban turning over any al qaeda and they are not informing on them. in terms of the taliban, the thing about the challenge we are in against radicalism is it comes in many different forms. al qaeda is the one we know most prominently. it deals with local regimes that support al qaeda and their goals and ambitions. the pragmatism that of canada has a working with the regime's -- the pragmatism that al-qaeda has in working with these regimes, you have to address the taliban in somalia and other

countries. do we have to set up stable governments? host: fla., good morning. callare you with us? good morning. caller: i am here. i would like to inject a couple of facts into this situation. al qaeda has the strength of a boy scout troop and cannot in any way, shape, or form heard america. worked -- or implies symmetry. war implies symmetry. war implies symmetry. it is an occupation. afghanistan and iraq will be occupied by america for the rest

of the century and well beyond. this is how many americans have died since 9/11. one american has died due to terrorism. the lame bomb attacks are used as an excuse. those are excuses to allow this to go on. osama bin laden is dead and it is well past time to leave afghanistan. we're only there to kill civilians. guest: i am not into propaganda. the reality is thousands of americans have died. , not only on 9/11. your opponent is not necessarily measured on how many people there are but we have had a number of examples recently. there was the underwear bomber who tried to block a plant near denver.

you have the package bombings. he may not be interested in war but war is interested in you. that is the reality. that is the reality. is al qaeda trying to take advantage of the air of spring? guest: there is a view out there that the arabs bring, this spontaneous movement by the people in the middle east to turn against these regimes that have been long in power, is evidence that al qaeda's vision and goals have been repudiated by the people. there is some truth to that. al qaeda has hitched its course to this effort if only to be on the side that wins. al qaeda does well in places that are unstable. my thought is they are likely to exploit the unsettled nature of many of these countries to

partner with groups that might be inclined toward their believes or have a common enemy. they will take advantage of these places to get political power where they can. i think we should keep an eye out for that. this will be an evolving process over the next few years. host: we have been talking about the future of al-qaeda. thank you for being with us. a link your web site is available and c-span.org. lieutenant general ross honore biz the author of this book. he is the former commander of the joint task force of could trim and a former commander general of the first u.s. army and he will join us from shreveport, louisiana and a couple of minutes to talk about the situation in louisiana and mississippi as the flooding continues. there is controlled flooding and what it means for residents. let's look at the guestimate topics making news on sunday morning.

all the shows can be heard beginning at noon eastern on cspan radio. good morning, at noon eastern time, here replays of the five talk shows. topics include budget debates and to capitol hill, the deficit, the 2012 presidential election, and the situation in the middle east for a beginning at noon, meet the press. will have paul ryan. congressman chris van hollen will be there as well. at 1:00 eastern time, r time,e-bears and christiane amanpour will talk with the king of jordan. fox news sunday re-airs at 2:00 p.m. eastern and chris wallace talks with mitch mcconnell and republican presidential candidate her cain.l at 3:00 p.m., state of the

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host: joining us from shreveport, louisiana is the former commanding general of the first u.s. army, appointed to head up the joint task force on hurricane katrina. is also a member of the stevenson disaster institute. is the author of a new book ," survival." thank you for being with us. guest: good morning, cspan. host: let me begin with your own words about what is happening along the louisiana/mississippi border. you say the best defense is to go on offense. we continue to see flooding over the next week or 10 days. are we doing that? are we doing that? guest: absolutely. the system -- the flood control system along the mississippi river operated by the great corps of engineers is doing what it is supposed to do which is to release water to prevent the flooding like we had in 1927.

after that flood, the flood act gave the court permission to work with the states to create a system to prevent major flooding of our major cities. and protect our farm land host: let me ask you about themz morgan'sa flood way. how does it work? guest: it was part of the design after the flood of 1927 to control the waters where the mississippi river, and the old river converge. the concept was to be able to relieve the pressure on the mississippi river at that point at the morganza spillway, it is open to rain and some of it is used for farming, to allow water to go toward the river basin and go out to morgan city for it

would relieve the pressure on the mississippi river which flows through bat and rouge and toward new orleans. host: i had seen a couple of stories that the first time this had opened since 1973 and the amount of water being released can fill up the superdome in louisiana in under one minute. guest: absolutely, the flow of morganza ing out of morez could feed niagara falls. the system it's doing its job as designed by our engineers. host: we have one telephone line set aside for those of you who live anywhere from mississippi and louisiana up number 2 iowa or along the mississippi river which impact 31 states.

202-737-2579. let's look at some of the past floods this region of the country has seen over the years. you mentioned 1927, another one a decade letter in 1937, 1973 along the mississippi, and then two more recently and 1993, the upper mississippi river, and another one in 2008. how does what we see today compared to some of these past incidents that guest: after each one of these incidents, significant action and decisions were made to improve the levee system and put control measures that would allow the army corps to release water into the spillway is particularly down in louisiana. in 1927, the mississippi river was 80 miles wide in mississippi and louisiana. it was 60 miles wide in arkansas.

progressively, as 1927 and in 1937, decisions were made to continually improve that system to help control the water and release it at certain times and operates as a system, not as an individual. host: explain what potentially could have happened to bachelor's and louisiana in the lower mouth of the mississippi river had this not taken place. guest: at morganza, which is near my home town, that perished problem would have fallen -- probably would have flooded. probably would have flooded. that leads into port allen and we could have lost much of what goes on at the deep water port in beverage -- in baton rouge and there is the second-largest oil refinery in the united states there.

we have 13 refineries between baton rouge and new orleans. some of them represent some 15% of the refining capability in the nation. as we know, the city of new orleans which is a great port city where 42% of our exports for this nation is exported through the mouth of the mississippi river. host: what impact does this have for those relying on shipping as a business and for those of us expecting product to come in for the mississippi? guest: the port in baton rouge which is the deepest in the united states, it affects the out shipping of grain and other materials that we export to other nations to sell for which will. money to our barge traffic is disrupted and have a five-mile stretch around baton rouge that remains closed as a result of a grain barge we had the other day that tapped into the old bridge.

as the water continues to crest and starts to recede, we should see river boat traffic going back to normal in the next three weeks, i would imagine. host: our guest is lieutenant general ross honore and you can join the conversation. we have a new set of numbers. for those impacted by the flooding along the mississippi river , a202-737-2579. before our first call, let's get some background on the mississippi river which includes 2,300 miles and feeds into the gulf of mexico and begins in minnesota and touches all or parts of 31 states. guest: and the whole system of

controlling and dealing with that river, our predecessors made some wise decisions years ago to put one commander in charge. right now that is general walsh in vicksburg, menace -- miss a beat. he and his commission focus on working with the mississippi river and its tributaries. they do a great job. he has districts along the mississippi river. one is down in new orleans that deals with the spring flooding and hurricane season, they did s with theurge water that comes from the coast that has the capability to fled new orleans. that is one of the most demanding army corps engineer jobs in the nation. for that reason, we have general walsh who commands that and acts as the commissioner, the head of the commission for the mississippi river valley control

system. host: this is the headline this morning from "the new york post." guest: i would say that is true. along with a lot of collaboration, inside the state of louisiana and mississippi, the states have stood up and both governors have been active as well as tennessee along with the national guard and state agencies. when you go around louisiana, you would think we are at war with this water. their national troops going up and down the levee 24-7. there are fish and wildlife people looking for wildlife that work run out of the spillway. we have the red cross who have set up canteen's to support those who are fighting this water and are prepared to set a shelter for people when needed.

i flew over their last wednesday in a helicopter and that entire area is focused on one thing and that is defending itself against that water. it is a war against the water working with nature and we have been lucky in one regard. we have not gotten a lot of rain in south louisiana in recent weeks. that has helped us in one way and has not saturated the levees with rainwater. host: 0 kelli, fla., welcome to the conversation very. caller: i am originally from tennessee. i have been in florida for about a year and a half. i am very familiar with what the tennessee river, the mississippi river, and all the tributaries can do. i have been for memphis sunday times and in the mississippi out of its banks.

first of all, i want to say my heart goes out to all the people in the areas that are having these problems, especially in tuscaloosa, alabama with the tornadoes and the kind of stuff it is now the mississippi. i have withstood any thing from hurricanes to floods repora wano say to the people in that part of a country that my heart goes out to you and thank you very much for spending your brown. that's all i have to set host: thank you for the call. will go next to karen from winter haven, florida. caller: nice to talk to. you you.

i have been working on water issues for the last 10 years and one thing we have tried to stress is that when we have these rapid innovations of water that we try and find a way to store this water somehow. that is what the spillways to basically is spread the water out over the land because we need to hold as much water on the land as we can. host: thank you. guest: in the case we faced in florida with the availability of fresh which has gone on from some time between florida and alabama and georgia with the chattahoochee with is a great source of fresh water going into florida. as far as the mississippi river, i don't know of a program other than some areas in north louisiana or they plan to try to store watert. he aquafer is at risk.

that is something we need to think about. i participated in two wars and both of them had something to do with oil. i think we need to take a serious look at fresh water supplies in this nation because i think the next war could be over water. it is not about the water we are losing out of the mississippi river but what we are doing to the water we have and what is going into that water in the mississippi river that is influencing what is going on in the gulf. that is another story. we need to pay close attention as to how we can clean the water in the united states and make sure the clean water act is being enforced host: these are some of the more remarkable pictures we have been sitting back and this is from "the washington post." this is the scene in vicksburg, mississippi. some high-priced farms are being protected by levees.

power these holding up? guest: these levees are at a point where they are tested every hour. they were designed to control the river but we are writing history here. we have never seen this amount of water a press these levees for this long. thank god the army corps of engineers built them to strength. since then, as the flood has happened, in mississippi, you see a whole squadron and the italians of people working to protect their home and property. each year, our nation moves closer and closer to the water. remember, the name of the mississippi river is taken from the chippewa indians and it means the father of the water. s.

if you live near the father of the water, you need to be prepared that the flooding could happen. when we build levees at any point in time, it could be overmatched by mother nature. host: our guest is lieutenant general ross honore who headed up the task force looking at hurricane katrina and is an author of a new book called," survival." richmond, va., good morning. caller: thank you for having me on. my practical question is regarding the upper mississippi valley, mainly dealing with the mississippi delta. although the mississippi river did not come over the levee, the black water has always been an issue for those in the delta fropm the yazoo. many family members i have in

the area never received any type of up to date and where never mentioned in the broadcast i have seen. i wonder how the levee is holding up regarding the backwater from that yazoo. guest: that is a good question. one of the problems we have with the mississippi river system is that when the river overflows, those tributaries back up and they back into low lying areas. many of those areas over time have been built in since 1927. that is something that local building codes and inside the cabin parishes that people and r to re-look at.

i feel very sorry for those who have lost their homes, a couple of thousand mississippi have been evacuated as a result of this flooding. host: here's another question -- guest: that is the great thing about america abroad sometimes we get to do what we want to do where we want to do it. it goes back to the control measures that the levy boards working with the local parishes and officials and allow building to happen after we have had a flood. hopefully, in each state and county and paris, people will be able to reassess if they want to go back into the flood plain. we have not had a flood of this significance since 1993 and the flood of 1974. then there was the flood of 1937

so we have gone a long time without having this level of challenge. host: you are also a contributor to cnn. caller: good morning. i want to thank you for your service to our country. service to our country. we always see america being the first online to help different countries whether it is 80, japan, different countries with poverty and hunger and natural disasters, the sinns and that is a great thing it seems like when america has worked as an disasters and floods like we see, we never hear or at least the regular guys like us never hear about other countries stepping forward and donating the weather is bulldozers or aid or food or technicians and equipment to be hands-on in american help a country that helps everybody else. it is either not being reported

or it is not happening and i fear is not happening. i want to speak to that issue. have you heard of many countries offering major contributions to america and if so, who are they and why do you think not? guest: in this particular case, while the threat is big, the corps of engineers are working with local officials and the national guard, we have this under control and our governors have been active and have the entire state involved. i think we have this under control. going back to katrina, the entire world put their arms out to help us. we had teams from mexico. we had water teams coming in from holland. we had teams coming in from germany with palms to help us pump out the orleans parish. we have the canadians send an

aircraft and ships. there was a lot of outside support that was offered. we had the french sent in meals ready to eat. we had an enormous amount of support for t. much of it we did not need at the time, but it was most appreciative when it arrived. host: this is from john in north carolina -- is that the case? guest: that is the case when we had a failure of the levee system, when we have a break in the levee, the levee system was designed to help keep the mississippi inside of its banks. every year, what would have happened is that there would have been a lot of flooding based on the amount of rainfall

and snowpack up north. the levee system was designed to keep the river inside the banks. by and large, it has been successful. that has given us an opportunity to be able to form a rich delta land all these years as well as take advantage of the transportation system and the industrial base that was built along the mississippi river. there are some places that local and state leaders, it is up to them to make those decisions, whether people will rebuild and be able to go back andre- occupied. there has probably been too much systems put inside the spillway. that is stuff that has been built between the levee and the rebar. there are casinos in louisiana and mississippi and they are built on the river. the decision to put them there was based on a whole different set of matrix which is people

did not want the casinos on land. they are a great economic impact to both of those states but as soon as the river goes up, most of those casinos closed and i think some 11,000 people are out of jobs right now because we put the casinos on the water as opposed to putting them on land. that is a local decision that people made. host: where talking to lieutenant general russell honore. he headed up the effort after hurricane katrina. ron paul says he opposes flood insurance and fema's role in all of this. >> i have opposed flood insurance ever since i have been in congress for 30 years. i have a coastal district.

i don't supportfema. i get more compliant aboutfema than support. because of government levies and because of the flood and no natural result in taking care of this flood, they have a decision to make. should they fled innocent farmers? this would not happen in a society that did not expect the government to solve all our problems. to expect the government and people who are not benefiting to pay for me to live on the beach, that is not morally correct and it is not in the constitution. host: how would you respond to those comments? guest: that is a pretty inflammatory comments. i would expect the rep would take that up with his colleagues in the senate.

the idea about what fema does is the execution of relieving the suffering of the people. in his observation that there are people getting assistance from fema that don't need it, that is something he and his team of leaders in washington should pick up. after katrina, we put about $140 billion along the coast to try to make things right after we had the flooding of the city of new orleans and the destruction that happened along the mississippi coast. he may not like fema, but it is the organization and they have gone a long way to improve since katrina. it is not perfect but you don't like something, he needs to take that up between him and his colleagues who find that organization as opposed to saying that any assistance for poor people -- the stafford act

was supposed to help those who could not help themselves after a disaster -- if he sees something else going on, i know that fema spent a lot of money in cyprus to make that place right after katrina. they are spending money and h along withud and other organizations in new orleans to build hospitals back and try to put the infrastructure back so that people can live and create commerce and live the american dream. i totally disagree with them. i don't know what article read that put him off on this tirade of those organizations, he needs to take up with his colleagues. here on the ground where the rubber meets the road and people are living in shelters and need food and water and need a place to stay, those organizations perform that function host: peers in other, and --

here is another comment. thomas joining us from iowa with his comments. good morning a caller: good morning. i'm curious as to why they built a wall of water along the mississippi above all iowa and all of a sudden, they are dumping it instead of closing these dams which were put in there to prevent floods. they are using them to create floods. they are dumping the mississippi river. why don't they close these dams and prevent the water from going down the river. they did the same thing when they flooded us out here in cedar rapids. i don't know who the hell they are but these people need to be taken off their jobs and put somebody in there to close the dam's off to stop the flooding. i will bet to a $10 bill that they had the downs closed and

southern mississippi to create this flood because they want to steal the land or whatever. guest: i don't have facts to back that up. each levee system in each state and in the counties and the parish's have levee board members that are appointed or elected by the local officials that interact with the mississippi system that make decisions as to what should happen. that being said, a lot of them have been put in that create electrical power. those were local decisions that were made up forever. i don't have enough specific information to respond directly but i can tell you that the poor people that are being affected by this flood, they are the victims here. host: new york city, good morning. caller: i want to thank you for

all the work you did in katrina. i saw you on a 60 minute special with the mayor of new orleans and the talked about how great you were there. i want to thank you for all the work you have done for this country. i have yet to see leaders in uniform that perform the way you have done. you perform admirably and a respect to a lot. i believe if you're out there helping in iraq and afghanistan or libya, you would do a great job with great leadership and great strength. thank you for your time, sir, and your service. guest: thank you. host: here are some tweaks -- are you interested in running for public self -- public office? guest: i probably would not win. my platform is too radical. host: what about running for host: what about running for governor or mayor? guest: i could not do that because my number one priority would be education.

we have to do a better job in louisiana of supporting louisiana of supporting education and for more money into education. we have a program that gives some kids free college. i would discontinue that and eliminate about 1/3 of the parishes of louisiana. parishes of louisiana. .e are over-governed t with a platform like that, i won't win. host: gonzales, louisiana, go ahead. caller: good morning. caller: good morning. in general, he do you think fema will be as low as this as they were on katrina because there were very, very slow. ? fell lot has changed in

fema and there is a new leader that has taken on leaning forward. we are also building the requirement that everyone in america knows you have to be prepared to be your own first responder for the concept of resiliency. a lot has changed at fema. after the tornadoes, there were there the day after and now in the flooding, they are totally embedded and supporting the states and what they need in terms of response and dealing with people. the artist's work is yet to come as we go into recovery. -- the hardest work is yet to come as we go into recovery. we will see what happens at the we will see what happens at the this flooding that fema is well positioned and had given every request and assistance the state have asked for in terms of responding based on what they can do. host: akron, ohio, good morning. caller: hello general, i have

heard from members that work with you that you are an extraordinary leader. i hope you consider running for president because we need radical change. i have worked on katrina just after the hurricane down there. one of the interesting things i was told was that they were worried about the tornadoes that were bringing up a lot of the what re that would-impact the southern portion that to the hurricanes hit because the mississippi had originally been changed and they were worried about it re-affecting millions of people. i like to comment on that. given that our military is some of the most extraordinary and we have the largest military equipment, the c-5, if we are running a pipeline from alaska to the rest of the country for oil, why can't we do the same as far as picking up water from

snow and using it out in the west and charging it so that the west, utah, arizona, and those states who typically do not have enough water can get water and we can also benefit from it? i believe the gentleman from iowa was correct. what i saw going down katrina, there were a record lot of really great people on the ground to the hard work. unfortunately, there were all lot of self is leadership that were affecting negatively the great work done by the people on the ground. your comments? ourt: i don't think -- problem is distribution of water and where our population has settled in the nation. to have enough fresh water to deal with that. i think there has been an outcry from people for years that we need to look at infrastructure

because of our population continues to grow but we have a limited amount of water. much of the water we have is a dirty. it is agricultural run off. agriculture is the base of our economy. we need industrial run off. that being said, we have to figure out how we will clean the water that we are dirtying and have a distribution of water into those western states where we have a significant problem. the other thing we faces the threat a to thequafers. in each state, there is a disaster about to happen when it comes to water. i think we need a national conversation on it. we need to have some national leadership. if water is not on the next presidential election campaign, we have a problem because people are not listening. we can live with less of everything but we cannot live with less water.

we'll have to figure out how we can manage it in this nation and how we can prevent international waters from breaking out because we cannot manage the water because the population continued to grow. we have a lead -- limited amount of clean water. but what we have we must clean. as far as katrina, we put in the floodgates in new orleans to prevent the surge water from getting into the city. i hope that helps address your question. we are not paying enough attention because to each generation, there is a requirement that we leave this good earth and this great nation ready for the next generation. right now, if we think the debt is the problem, look at how we are managing water and you will start scratching your head host: our last caller is join us from portland, ore., good morning. caller: i was wondering if you

could elaborate on the system we have set up, the levee system. i like to imagine where and when and why it first began. what would be the -- what with the water be like if there were no dams. people just want to live and farm there? but the mississippi stretched out and did its thing? -- what if the mississippi stretched out and did its thing? guest: that is a great question. over the years, from the flood of 1912 forward, the center of our nation, much of our cities and small towns, when there were built, there were built along the river system. the river system was our first highway.

this is how the nation developed. this is how we were able to take the bountiful grain from the midwest and the products that were produced and developed the country. we continue to develop as we expand west. as cities grow along the rivers, more and more, we expanded industrial capacity and port capacity inside the flood zone. then came the inclusion of housing and homes getting closer to the flood zone. by and large, the levee system was built so we did not have the flooding disaster occur every two or three years. in 1927, in arkansas, it was 60 miles wide and in louisiana and mississippi, you could've gone from jackson, mississippi to lafayette, louisiana in a boat. that stopped commerce, disrupted

that stopped commerce, disrupted our economy, and the flood control act of 1928 said bystanders to keep the mississippi river within its banks. host: we will conclude on that note. the lieutenant general has a new book called," survival." thank you very much for being with us on c-span and we hope you'll come back again. guest: good day. host: tomorrow morning, we will continue the issue on flood insurance on "washington journal.' coming up at the bottom of the hour of the president's comments at the gatt apa ofc. that is 10:30 eastern time on cspan and cspan radio. the president will be in dublin, ireland tomorrow which is part of a five-day trip thug