are not anti all of the things you mentioned. you have to take a stand for life. it means tt you oppose abortion. you have to take a stance for marriage, which means you opposed cohabitation ended the bourse and many things that are part of today's culture. and many things that are part of today's culture. when houston to personalw -- hen en you stoop to personal attacks, you bring the argument down to a level that is very destructive to arguments in this country. it is very productive to have

conversations like we are having today. it is counterproductive to have personal attacks on people whose views differ. if we will have a society with major respect, we have to treat each other with mutual respect for our persol views that differ from many people. we take very strong stances on abortion and for mriage and a strong stances for the family. the family breakdown has been so destructive and detrimental to our children in this nation. you probably agree with me on those issues. host: janice crouse is with concerned women for america. let's take a look at aeport from "politi."

political murder to natural disaster calling the event last week a wake-up call from above. she is not the first public figure to call the hurricane a message from the almighty. others suggest that new orleans may have triggered hurricane katrina with theiray pride parade. it is not aainstay -- mainstream view. guest: that is an extreme way of putting things. everybody says natural disasters are a wake-up call. we have to recognize that these kinds of things happen. we have to be prepared for them. it is a wake-up call for us to get our house in order and do the things that we need to do that so often we neglect to do. that part of the statement i would agree with. troubles me that people make

su a big deal about extreme statements like that. particularlyhen it comes from conservative figures. i have heard many from the left that do not get that ch attention. i bristle at that. those are personal opinions that have been stated. there is an element of truth in them. we have to view them as a wake- up calls. to attribute it as anct of god is very questionable. i have heard equally questionable use from the left as well. host: republican, a canton, ohio. caller: i have a brief comments and then a question. my comment on family values, [unintelligible] assad in syria has

family volumes. but it is not as productive -- values. but they may not be as productive as others in society. history has taught us that the former british empire of the 19th century and the soviet union both were enmeshed in a quagmire in afghanistan. anyone with any sense when not have jumped into the war the way he did -- guest: the democratic congress agreed that it was a valid and imperative effort. there you go. let me qualify. we are a pro-family organization. the term family values has so much associated with its that i do not really use that term anymore.

it has a drug through so many different pathways. we are very pro-family. the thg that distinguishes america from other nations is the fact that we have valued the family. our laws and our whole social structure has been to strengthen the family. as a married mom and d with their natural born or adopted children. that has been the building block of our society. that is whahas made as so unique. at the grass-roots level, we have had very committed people willing to build this nation and provide for this nation and a sacrifice for this nation to send their sons to fight for our freedom. that has been a very unique part of american culture. that is what we would like to preserve. the strong family unit that is a central part of our democratic

society. host: a poll in may looking at same-sex marriage. 53% report it. -- supported. -- support it. 45% oppose it. guest: many say it is shifting. some conservative organizations have publicly said we have lost that battle. i would like to think they are wrong. i'd like to think that mainstream america will prevail. the truth of the matter is that there are many families that have homosexual members. people are hesitant to speak out on that issue because of that. they care very deeply about people in their own families and their neighbors families. we speak out, because we care very deeply about children.

every single study says very clearly that aarried mom and dad family is what is best for children. even the urban institute, which is not conservative by any streh of the imagination, has done extensive research. all o the research is clear, whether it comes from the left or right and every made -- major university across the nation. children need a mom and a dad. same-sex marriage, we usually refer to it in quotation marks, because it is not marriage. marriage has been defied set -- defined since the beginning of civilization as a man and a woman. i would hate to think that the united states of america would be at e forefront of change in an institution that is provided so much stability across so many years of history. and so many nations. we are the first civilization that has instituted something

that is so contrary to human nature and to the strength of a nation. i hope we have not lost that battle. concerned women of america will continue to fight that battle right until we win it. host: y talked about some of the studies you have done. this from the science section of time magazine. it looked at how children feared that are raised by same-sex female couples and it talks about how they not only score similar to children of header social parents -- heterosexual parents. children in lesbian holmes scored higher than at some heterosexual couples.

that is strictly propaganda. when you look at studies done in mainstream universities, you see a completely different story. i hate to see isolated studies like that. when you have overwhelming research from america's major universities and research institutes that contradict that kind of thing -- how dare they put that out and use it as an overwhelming scientific finding. i do not know what you are referring to there. there are some flaws in that methodology. it does not conform to the basic research that is out there that is approved by theajor researchers in this country. host: our guests a beverly let hayes senior fellow. the website is here.

she i >> a look inside the white house briefing room, where in a couple of minutes, white house press secretary jay carney is expected to to brief reporters. he is expected to discuss the selection of the new chairman of the council of economic advisor, alan. the winehouse briefing was that -- the white house briefing was scheduled to start at 2:00. we will have live coverage when it begins on c-span. right now, your phone calls on the hurricane from today's "washington journal."

estimates of its bluster destructive quake left 21 dead and 4.5 million without electricity.

what you think about how things can doubt and what the respo tht what the response was. this piece says, "mostly praise for the mayor. michael bloomberg told urban dwellers that they had to take the threat of the dangerous weather seriously. he was a decisive crisis manager, demanding that 370,000 people evacuate their homes along with the first raindrops fell." kansas city, missouri, mike, what do you think? caller: i think all the people who suffer damage should be able to get low-interest loans that are easy to qualify for that help employment and get the economy moving.

that's it. thank you. host: looking at "the washington times," "officials began assessing damage sunday from the retain. officials it attributed the lack of damage and relatively low loss of life to teamwork between the government and federal emergency management agency. no longer a political punching bag, fema received bipartisan praise from governors." new jersey, democrats' line, good morning. caller: good morning guest: host: did you experience the reins and storms? caller: yes, i did. electric went out, and it did until 9:00 a.m.. host: what did you think of

governor christie? caller: i was surprised he got in touch with obama to help out, and i was very happy that obama, our president, took action way before everything started. host: this is in nebraskan caller. robin on the republicans' line. caller: that report is wrong. [unintelligible] host: is that what you're hearing? we're getting off the ap wire it that it is at least 21. we may learn about more. linda, jackson, michigan. caller: i was commenting earlier -- this is in regards to a man who called earlier yesterday or something, and he blamed obama for the damage of hurricane irene. that's all i have to say.

host: why are you calling? does that upset you? caller: no, because if this guy blames obama, he is kind of putting obama up there with a god. host: what do you think about that? caller: well, i don't. host: looking at "the wall street journal," politicians push to stay out in front of events. "god is, mayors and barack obama they were seen driving disaster preparations. they were spurred not only money to ensure public ticket bought by the lessons of -- not only by the need to ensure public safety but by the lessons of her can katrina." >> if they need something, i want to know about it. we are going to keep it up as long as hurricane season

continues. host: we had one caller from new jersey this morning, saying he was out of town during the last winter's blizzard just like mayor bloomberg of new york. some say that governor christie missed an opportunity to show is command of operations and skill as a communicator. "mr. christy told reporters late sunday that his response to one ofane katrina was ' the things i it had been thinking about. we all remember those images, and i did not want to leave resources on the table and people on the southern part of our state where they could end up losing their lives. my first job is to make sure

they don't.'" good morning. caller: i'm wondering how many people want less government and its allies and don't want the federal government to be funded are going to be going for her -- for hurricane relief when this is all said and done. i want to thank obama for the work he is doing try to get us out of this right wing dark age we are in. host: "ron paul blasts fema.

what do you think, sue? democratic caller in milwaukee. caller: i guess i am a little upset, because hurricane graded down to a one. all i saw on tv all weekend was coverage of this hurricane. what we have a flooding in the midwest, nobody covered it morning, noon and night. that was a very serious time a couple of years ago. i am thinking, maybe i need to live in the northeast and, of course, new york, because that seems to be the only city that got this may are out there. i guess i was a little upset with it. i feel bad for the people, and i know they are having a hard time, but come on.

even when they have an earthquake in california it is not covered like this. i know that obama is trying to do his job, but it was a little overkill, i thought, as far as the reporting and stuff went. host: joe, republican in new orleans. caller: americans are complaining, complaining, complaining. this time the nation is really prepared, and the government in new jersey -- they i trying to make a political thing out of disasters like that. quit complaining. host: how are you doing in six years after katrina? caller: i am doing well. it was a real rough time. it took me six years with the money from my house, and there are a lot of other

inconveniences. i had to stay in hotels, spent all my money. one thing i would like to tell everybody, when and they said evacuate, evacuate. i lost my brother before katrina, then my father six months later. i feel flashbacks, it you know, because of that experience. it is not nice. prepare yourself and know where you are going. i will probably have a flash? until i die, ok? -- flashbacks until i die, ok? host: do you think this response was approved because of

what happened where you live years ago? caller: you mean, right now? it was -- the american people are not really prepared for disasters. we have been see "washington journal" every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. here is white house spokesman jay carney. >> welcome. this is your daily briefing. for those of you on vacation, will come back. that includes me. before i take questions on other issues, i have with me the administrator of the federal emergency management agency, craig fugate.

he was appointed by it then- governor and jeb bush, then reported by governor bridge's successor, charlie crist. he held that position until president obama asked him to lead fema. he is here to answer questions and give you an update on hurricane irene. what we have mr. -- why don't we have mr. fugate questions on irene and then i will take your questions on other issues. >> condolences to the families who lost loved ones. irene was a deadly storm. about 21, and we know that there are several people still missing. one of the things about these types of storms -- the death toll may go up in their corporate face. -- may go up during the recovery phase.

use common sense, be cautious, don't drive flu flooded area -- through flooded areas. to the families who have lost loved ones, our condolences. tropical storm irene dissipated and moved into canada, but in its path as a hurricane, we started out in puerto rico but most of the damages in puerto rico -- are providing assistance there. prior to the arrival of hurricane irene, we had an incident management team, federal employees of fema who are trained to go in and bulink up with the state. we are prepared to support them in the preparation phase and the immediate response face. 18 of those teams deployed across the east coast.

as we saw the track of the storm ji just, we became concerned about possible impacts. we provided water, food, tarps and generators and other supplies. we were sitting ready to activate our search and rescue teams. the teams are activated and on standby and support in new york and vermont based on the flooding of there. a lot of the operations are being conducted by state and local officials, national guard, coast guard and rescue officials in those other areas. we are still supporting in notes north carolina requests for assistance. a lot of power outages, damage on the eastern part of the state.

the ate you are aware of number power outages. we went from over 6 million down to 5 million, and those numbers will continue to come down. some areas will have some time to get the power back up. the real story is that as irene was exiting and people were focused on the coast, we got reports of coastal storm surge but not to the degree we are concerned about. heavy rain did occur on the interior parts of the path. that is the concern we had as the storm moved north. we saw record flooding in vermont, record flooding in new york. some of these rivers may not crest for two or three days.

to give you some idea of how fast this occurred, the rivers and the flooding were so intense that the vermont state emergency operations center had to evacuate last night and relocate. we had only been working disasters in vermont -- we had a joint field office that day and were able to relocate to. they were able to continue operations after moving. they did experience in damages and are working to get the center back up. again, from a strong that, a lot of folks on the coastal areas showed that the heavy rains produced damages and are continuing to produce damages. we are working with governors now has they to begin the assessment. the question i've been getting a lot is how much damage? we don't know. we are researching a lot of the states. as you move north -- in vermont and new york, they are actively engaged in response operations, as well as massachusetts and new jersey.

with that, i am open for questions. attach to the damage yet? any idea how much the storm will cost? >> i don't like to give estimates, because one of the things you are looking at with a lot of power outages, you see damages that are not going to be covered g. some on the numbers you get from insurance industry projections are what their exposure will be. we do formal damage assessments and look at things that will be the responsibility of state and local government. with a primarily -- we look primarily at the uninsured losses. you'll get lots of impact and you will also have a significant agricultural impact in north carolina and other states. usda will be working with the state commissioners as they compiled those costs.

what we report will be the damages that will be eligible if there were a presidential disaster declaration. >> what is the total number without power? >> this number is fluctuating, but coming down. on the conference call, it it was reporting a little over 5 million, coming down from a number a little over 6 million. we are working with states and utilities and putting that number together as it changes to the days. [inaudible] we do they were in the area of heavy rainfall. this is one thing that the director was trying to get people to focus, not just on the center circulation or on the coast. the heavy rainfall, particularly with this storm and a lot of rain ahead of it, has been moving ashore and the concern was where we could expect rainfall b.

they were putting out forecasts of these types of measures that we could see as far as rainfall. it is something we were expecting, but the reality is flash flooding -- most of this occurred very quickly brought in many of these rivers in vermont, they of our to got back down. -- they have already gone back down and now we're looking at the damages. [unintelligible] i don't have any specifics right now. >> we've talked about some lessons of hurricane katrina. can you speak about some of the things we've learned that help you to be better prepared for irene? >> you have to give credit to promise, which passed the act that clarified and gave clarity to fema's mission, but also cleared up certain issues. should we wait until the

governor has use all resources to ask for federal assistance, or are we able to get things going earlier and not wait for the declaration without waiting for the state to be overwhelmed to get ready? this is one of the key things we now, that when we know there is a disaster that could occur, not to wait until the state says we're going to need help. get our teams into those states -- the car parts with the governor's team working early. not only are we there in case they need help, we have a better idea of what to anticipate and we build the team so that if we do have the impact, we can get right to work. that gives us the ability to pre-position resources and move them into areas before the formal request. a lot of the r -- a lot of this was mechanics we learned from katrina. we really had to look at things and how you better integrate the volunteers and the ngo's and

their capabilities, as well as the private sector. when you get to the point we find ourselves setting up distribution points in the parking lot and up a grocery store because they think brought a generator in and got their store opened but you were not talking, i could have probably gone where there is a greater need. one of the things we have done in this administration is we brought the private sector into fema's headquarters. we work as a team. we are getting reports of stores opening. we look at the big box stores there were able to get open. a lot of things we were concerned about, the private sector was able to get up and running so we could focus on the areas that were flooded. >> six years ago today, katrina came to the shore, and fema's reputation was not enhanced by the operation. is there one single lesson from

katrina that has reshaped fema and a response to this? >> we cannot wait to know how bad it is before we get ready. we have to go fast, we have to base it on the potential impacts. that is why we look at the forecasts and wheat board to the hurricane center and make decisions based upon what the potential impacts could be. if you wait until you know how bad it is, it is harder to change the outcome. >> how good was the forecast? do you expect -- did you expect hurricane irene to be when she turned out to be? >> the track of the forecast -- the national hurricane center will give you what they saw, but it was only about 10 miles off of where they thought it was going to come ashore. i will be honest with you, folks, of all the things we know about hurricanes, we have seen responses will be approved in my career is to where -- if this

had been years ago, florida would have to evacuate on this track. you saw how close it was to the state of florida? we would not have been able to not evacuate. where we now have a lot of work to do is intensity forecast, which goes up and down. remember hurricane charlie in florida? it became category four in less than 24 hours. we saw lots of storms where the smaller storms -- we see storms that weaken. it is a skill we need to work on, but based upon the forecast, that is what we neeprepare for . >> does vermont need more federal resources? >> we have a conference call each day with the directors that are impacted. the state directors reported they have what they need and are beginning to look at damage assessment and it is likely we will be doing assessments with

them to determine if they need more assistance to recover. they advised us that they have what they needed and appreciated that we have resources standing by. >> since you worked on katrina six years ago and this hurricane, where to use the differences? -- where do you see the differences? >> you talk about the processes and the mechanics behind it, in this administration, from the earliest events when i came on board, supporting usaid in haiti, the floods in tennessee, and obviously, this, the one thing in pressed upon me by the president is that we go as a federal team and we bring all our resources together. i think there is a lot of things that, where we do it as a team and we understand that you cannot have -- local government, state government, federal,

volunteers and private sector as distinct entities and be successful. you have got to look at it as a team. one thing to press upon me, and that we have learned and tried to practice here, is that we are not part of a team. we have to bring all of our resources together, we have to work as a team. we have to be focused on the survivors, and the emphasis on speed, to get there, get stabilize, figure out what the next steps are without waiting to ask all the questions -- how bad is it, what do you need? we know generally in these types of events what most likely is going to be required. let's get moving. if you don't need it, you can turn it off. you don't get time back in a disaster. look at what was happening in katrina in the first 72 hours. once you got past that point, there's not much you can do to change the outcome, and things were cast getting on top of each other. >> [unintelligible] >> i think there were a lot of things at the federal level that congress addressed in the reform

act that made it easier to work in the team environment. >> [unintelligible] >> not today. earlier in the week. we are around -- we had gone below $1 billion, at and i'm not sure what today's figure is, but that was why we implemented immediate needs funding. a lot of people thought, well, the people that been impacted by the tornadoes and floods, we will take money away from them. the survivors eligible for assistance are still getting funds. individual assistance programs were not affected by this, nor were any protective measures or any project that had already been improved. the only thing we have postponed its new projects that are permanent work that had not been started when we go into immediate needs funding. that is the concern, is to still have the funds to meet the of

previous disasters as well as hurricane irene. >> [unintelligible] >> for the individuals helping with the cleanup and emergency costs, we are continuing at, but for any projects that have not come in for approval, we will not be able to find those at this point. -- not be able to fund those at this point. >> bill. >> to follow up on the money question, we have had earthquakes, we've had tornadoes, now we have this hurricane. is there any risk -- do you have a pool of money for state assistance, or do you run out? >> well, that is when we went to immediate needs funding. there was too much i known about -- unknown about irene at how states were going to be

impacted. we knew that at the end of the fiscal year we would have to look at immediate needs funding at some point and had to respond to disasters and maintain an effort reserves for any new disasters. irene was obviously something -- we felt it was prudent. we were not out of money, but we wanted to make sure we had enough money available to support survivors of past disasters as well as the response to irene. >> a billion, and after that you are done? >> no, the disaster relief fund is at a preparation week and also something that because of all the disasters that closeout we put money back in. when we get to about $1 billion, we want to make sure we can continue supporting the survivors for all the old disasters as well as any new responses going into september being the peak part of hurricane season, and with irene, we did not want to get to the point where we would not have the funds to support previous impacted survivors as well as

respond to the next disaster. >> ok, thank you all very much. appreciate it. now, let's go to other issues. >> could you talk about alan krueger's appointment to date? a previous member of the administration who seems to be viewed as a continuity takpick. >> i think he take to dr. -- he picked dr. kreuger because he is an excellent economist whose particular skills are more relevant than ever in the environment we find ourselves in great he brings experience to the table as an academic answer his service to the treasury department, this administration, the labor department in the clinton administration. his expertise in the labor

market is up particularly relevant as we focus on the need to grow the economy and increased job creation. he looked for the best possible choice and found him in dr. krueger. >> do you believe he will bring new ideas to the table? >> i believe he is an excellent economist and dynamic economist with a lot of experience and will be an important member of the economic team. >> on the president's job speech, he shared with us that it will be next week. what date will it be? >> we do not have a date to announce. i will repeat what the president said, that you can expect it next week. i don't have a date or location to give to you today. >> what is the reason for not telling us what is going to be? >> it could be that we have not finally decided. when we have an announcement, we will make it. >> debate? >> no debate. figuring out the best time and

location. >> you don't know when -- >> actually, the decision has not been finally made. >> jay, does the white house at any more information or ideas on -- [unintelligible] >> we have no indication he has left libya. we are obviously working with thae tnc and our nato partners on that, but if we knew where he was, we would pass that information along to the opposition forces. >> well the white house and united states government asked the rebels -- >> exhibition issues are something you should at -- extradition issues are something you should --

that the president will propose, as he has set in the past, initiatives that will have a direct impact on economic growth and job creation, a substantial impact, as measured by middle- of-the-road, unaffiliated, nonpartisan economists. they will be measures that should have bipartisan support, and that he expects will have bipartisan support, because everyone's focus in washington, whether they are a member of congress or this administration, ought to be on getting this economy moving and faster and higher and the need to hire more people faster. it what a measurable impact. -- it will have the measurable impact. and if the entirety of his proposals are passed by congress and signed into law, that impact would be very beneficial to the economy and employment. >> given the bipartisan nature

of the proposals, has he consulted with the republican members of congress as they developed these ideas? >> i don't have specific conversations or meetings to reach out to you. the president has consulted widely, out beyond the administration. he has spoken to you about specific ideas that he has that you can assume will be part of this. but there will be other ideas that will be new to you as part of this package. >> finally, given the administration's statement about the intransigence of republicans in congress, is this in any way a measure that the white house expects to be dead on arrival and is essentially a political -- >> it is not a political package, because, actually, precisely the opposite of it. we're talking about september 2011, more than a year before the next election.

this package will be focused precisely and job creation and economic growth. it will be made up of components that should have, based on historical experience, bipartisan support. to the extent that politics is involved, and we hope involved in a helpful way, it will be in the sense of immediate urgency that members of congress have on returning from their districts, having heard from their constituents the amount of frustration that is so palpable out in america with the partisan posturing and political bickering that is taking place here that is getting at it away of -- getting in the way of, obstructing our ability to get things done. we saw this and the deficit-debt negotiations, the deficit crisis. -- the debt ceiling crisis. there is an enormous opportunity to accomplish big things that the american people want accomplished, and they can be done in a bipartisan way. those include a job creation

measures, economic growth measures, this will sound -- fiscal soundness measures. our hope and expectation is that the members of congress and both parties will come back with a heightened sense of urgency to put the american people ahead of party, ahead of politics, and to do something right for the economy. >> what will the president focus on the areas hit by the hurricane? >> i don't have a schedule announcement for you at this point. >> he put out a statement on katrina six years later. does he feel that the federal government is significantly better in its reaction now than it was six years ago? >> i think administrator fugate addressed that, and addressed it from firsthand experience to his answer was yes, basically -- >> but president obama in particular -- does he feel on

his watch that -- does he feel that the federal government is in a keener position? >> he thinks his administration has from day one tried to be proactively response is in the case of national -- natural disasters like hurricane, floods, tornadoes, and that that posture has been the right one to take. others will judge whether or not fema's response, the federal government's response, has been adequate. the president is making sure all resources are available, all aspects of the federal family are focused on this, and that might administrator -- led by administrator fugate. assessments will be made by others. we have heard some positive ones, but as the president said yesterday an administrator

fugate said today, this is not over. there's a lot of work are free to be done -- there's a lot of recovery to be done. >> the president has given at least half a dozen jobs speeches this year. what is different about this speech? >> you make a good point in that the focus on jobs has been unbroken in this administration since the day he was sworn into office, i am not with the american economy experienced more than 700 -- in a month with the american economy expands more than 700,000 jobs lost. the first quarter of 2009, the economy contracted at i believe over 8%. an incredible amount of shrinkage. this has been the primary focus of this president and administration since we came in

january 2009. we're constantly looking at ways to continue to grow the economy and grow jobs, and we obviously, for a variety of reasons -- the economy slowed an experienced head winds and we have not been chipping away at unemployment at the rate we need to be. the president feels passionately that we need to take new measures to make sure that jobs are created and the economy grows. your point is well made in the this has been a consistent focus, but that will not diminish at all. >> i was not making a point, but the focus has been unbroken on jobs, and get unemployment is up 25%. what is his record on creating jobs? >> i understand you are not making a point, norah -- ->> with this new speech --

>> the president proposes to enhance hiring. i cannot let the premise go uncommented on when you talk about the amount of job loss in a time since the president was sworn into office. i don't think anybody, except the most fervid partisan, would suggest that the 8 million jobs lost because of the recession were lost because of actions this president to commit those jobs were lost in the months to his swearing in an aberration and a month thereafter. since this president's economic policies had a chance to take effect, there acted more than 2 million private sector jobs created. the economy has grown, albeit not at a pace that satisfies him or anybody in the

administration. that is a matter of absolute record in fact, indisputable. we inherited a terrible situation, a terrible economy, and an economy that threatens to become far worse than it did become because of the actions this administration took in congress in 2009. and since then and given measures that have been taken, as well as and including december of last year. >> when did it become his economy? >> he is responsible every day for this economy. he is responsible for working directly and with congress to take every measure possible to improve the economic situation this country and increase job creation. what has to be clear when you phrase the question like that in the way that you did, it has to be clear that the situation -- the whole we and climbing out of as a country, democrats,

independents, republicans, americans have all been climbing out of because of the terrible great recession that this country has endured. he is on the job and responsible every day, and to go back to your first question, that is why he is coming forward in the coming days with new proposals to further job creation and economic growth. >> the deputy secretary -- [unintelligible] >> i am not aware of that. >> national commander said "insult of the highest magnitude closed but that they are not getting a first-tier speaker from the administration. >> i don't have a specific

response to that. >> is there a political dimension here, because rick perry is addressing the same convention? >> we make and scheduling decisions like this in advance, and no. >> given that dr. krueger has been part of the administration before, how confident are you that he will be confirmed? >> it is absolutely essential that congress confirms dr. krueger, because of the need to take measures to grow the economy and take jobs. we expect that congress will do that and act quickly. it is also true that he has been confirmed in the past, within the last few years, as a member of this administration. we are optimistic that his confirmation will be speedy. >> to you know -- do you know how soon he will be made available to do interviews? >> as a matter of normal course,

nominees to not take questions from the press or give interviews during the process that they are being nominated. in fact, the president signaled his intent to nominate. the formal nomination takes place when congress comes back. >> the president was working on this while i'm at martha's vineyard. is he finished with his jobs plan? >> he is still having conversations and meetings as he works to finalize his plan. so the answer is no. he is not complete with that process. the process continues, and aspects of it need to be decided. >> [unintelligible] cropland period transition? >> not that i'm aware of. it is a bit administration, so i don't now -- did you have

anybody in mind? >> as the thinking about riding on anyone? >well, -- is he thinking about running on any what? >> well, he announced any member of his economic team, but i don't have any announcements. >> people who have a positive view of the federal government is 17%, an all-time low. i'm wondering what the administration's reaction is to that. >> i think this is a measure of the frustration the american people feel about the gridlock and the partisanship that they it is when they pay attention to what is going on in washington. it is something the president understands and has talked about it a lot recently, including his trip to the midwest, the week before last. that number should send a message to everyone who is chosen by their constituents to

represent them in washington to get things done it to do it what their constituents want them to do, to represent them and get things done. we of a divided government -- we have a divided government, one party in control of one house of congress, the other in control of the other. we need to work together to get things done. we don't have the luxury -- at least the american people polled think we have the luxury of spending a lot of time bickering and posturing when there are obvious and subtle things we can do to grow the economy and create jobs. that is what the president is focused on and what he will put forward next week, and he expects the coming back from their recess, members of congress will feel that sense of urgency as well. >> will the white house request any additional funds for -- >> we are still in the process,

as administrator fugate said, of getting the calculation of what the overall costs and damage is, hurricane/tropical storm irene. we don't know yet, to be honest. >> has the president talked about the concerns of the economic impact it would have, and also, about what effect it will have on the recovery? >> the president's focus and the last week as we knew the storm was coming and marshaled our resources to respond to it, and dealt with it off the coast, has been on the need to respond effectively, individual americans, the risk to them,

though lives and their property, and it needed to begin the process of recovery. i have not heard him express a concern related directly to the overall economic impact. probably something that will be assessed once we know the cost is. his focus is on the emergency response and making sure that americans are safe. >> [unintelligible] >> jay, can you privy the american legion speech tomorrow? >> i cannot. >> can you send it to me? >> i could. but i won't. >> what is the subject matter in general, though? >> i am sure he will talk about issues relevant to the american legion, but i don't have -- [laughter]

i think there will be obviously a large national security component to it. one more, and that is all i have for you. >> did the house action this summer, coming in for the pro forma session, preempt any plans by the president to make any recess appointments? >> no. yes? >> kreuger said that raising the minimum wage is good for employment. >> again, without getting into elements of what may or may not be, and what the president has set himself already, the president's economic policy, an economist worth his or her salt has written extensively on a number of issues, had given proposals, had different ideas. there is not one or the other expressed by dr. kroger that the president is adopting over any other.

he will be an important member of the economic team going forward if he is confirmed. >> is the president interested in raising the minimum -- >> i have not heard anybody in the administration discuss that at all. again, the important point to make is that the president's economic policy, he makes decisions, and he believes that dr. krueger will be an excellent member of the economic team. >> a question about irene. when the president was on his -- trip before the hurricane now that irene has happened and fema was widely praised as for the response, will he use that hurricane irene expressed to bolster his argument about the role of government? >> i have not had that conversation with him. i don't know if he will or not

. i think that government does a lot of things that are important to the american people, whether it is disaster relief, keeping our country safe through our military, various other things that are important services -- we are focused on the storm itself, responding to the storm, recovering from the storm. i don't have -- i cannot anticipate that at this point. >> last week, an associated press report revealed that a federal grand wintu and iowa group to undo same-sex marriage -- went to an iowa group to undo same-sex marriage. >> i was not aware of that. >> does the administration see -- [inaudible]

>> could you restate that? >> does the administration see valued in [inaudible] >> you are asking a hypothetical about an executive order -- >> [inaudible] a senator bernie sanders said it -- one of the reasons the president has moved so far to the right is that there is no primary opposition to him. my question is why is the administration sure hillary won't run against him? [laughter] >> it you win the award for originality today. the president is not focused on any election. he is focused on growing the economy and creating jobs and ensuring that americans who are in the path of this hurricane --

>> i understand but can you guarantee -- are you sure she is not going to run? >> we are fairly confident that we need to focus on the task at hand. >> in terms of a jobs package, can you say how much might be worth? tens of billions of dollars or hundreds of billions of dollars? >> i don't have specifics i will give you today on what the president will propose. you have heard some of the ideas that are likely to be part of it and there'll be other ideas you have not heard. i anticipate that. i don't have figures for you and i'm not going to preempt the president by putting that forward. >> can the new cea have any role

in the jobs deliberation before the nomination? >> up until now, he has been at princeton university since he left the treasury department. my understanding is the way this process works is that he will not have all roll until he is confirmed. that is my understanding. >> is in new orleans a special case or is it still a city with challenges? >> new orleans is a unique city in many ways. separate and apart from what happened to new orleans because of hurricane katrina. i am not sure what specifically your question goes to. it was a historically terrible hurricane with historical the disastrous aftereffects. that is how it is viewed by this

administration, even as many years after. >> last week's earthquake, you never got word about whether anything happened. could you give us a readout on the earthquakes affect here at the white house? >> i was not here. i did get a phone call in the middle of the night. my understanding is, those who were here, i have friends in washington, you could definitely feel it here but i believe the -- there was an evacuation, assessments were made that everything was fine and people came back. >> did anything structurally happen to the building? >> not that i'm aware of. >> are those new glasses? >> they are. [inaudible] >> do we look any better or worse? >> people seem to of gotten -- as the ravages of age have taken their toll, i needed a new

prescription. so i had new frames as well. i thought they were sort of retro and nerdy. [laughter] >> you look like clark kent. >> within a couple of minutes of the announcement this morning, the rnc was printing out talking points portraying alan as a wild eyed liberal leaning toward lenin. why would you think the republicans in the senate would be wanting to confirm him, particularly considering how much gridlock there already is? >> one reason might be the assessment of the former chair of the council of economic advisers under president george w. bush, he said is an excellent choice.

and he endorsed the forthcoming announcement as an excellent choice by president obama. another endorsement came from president reagan's chair, martin feldstein. he said his experience will give him a running start in his new job. he is an expert. numerous others have weighed in with similar assessments, that he's an excellent economist, an experienced one, whose background is particularly suited to the current economic environment. his advice will be very welcome. thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> it over on c-span2 tonight at 8:00 eastern -- the challenge of securing the u.s. digital infrastructure in the final part of our series on cyber security. several guests are scheduled. that is at 8:00 eastern. following that, you can see book tv in primetime. henry kissinger talked about his book "on china." after that, the first world war and the debate in england between pacifists and those supporting the war. then at 10:40, microsoft co- founder, paul allen on his recent book. .hat's all this week on c-span2

♪

>> had the associated press is reporting that family members of former libyan leader, moammar gadhafi, have entered into neighboring algeria. his whereabouts are still unknown following his ouster by rebel forces last week. on friday, libyan weapons, including is shoulder 5 error -- shoulder-fired weapons are showing up in somalia. he spoke at a family -- and a discussion on libya and the nato alliance. this is one hour and 15 minutes. >> gaddafi has not been captured and fighting will continue in the weeks to come. his regime is crumbling.

it is by no means too early to assess the implications of the toppling of yet another arab dictator. the name of the event today boroughs in a play on words. however, the revolution, libya is no game in his demise comes at the hands of libyans rather than u.s. marines. the collapse of their regime after six months of conflict is a historic event and a pivotal and in the arab awakening. it seems that east -- that each august, when policy makers take a break from the grind, the world events just will not cooperate. earthquakes and hurricanes notwithstanding, this august is no different as well seen until recently as a stalemate in north africa is rapidly turning into the reality of the post-gadhafi libya. some of the council believes what is unfolding in the middle east and north africa is the fourth greatest challenge to the trans-atlantic community since world war two. does the world or to itself, the

cold war, the cold war aftermath, the collapse of the soviet union leading to the enlargement of nato and european union, and a transformation in the middle east and north africa. now more than ever, the atlantic community's response cannot be the united states alone. europe, despite facing its own economic crisis, has more at stake and more proximity and must be engaged. today's discussion hits at the nexus of the work of the atlantic council and three of our flagship programs -- a center for the middle east, the international security program, and the africa center. at a time of dramatic change across the region, the atlantic cod -- atlantic council launched its program for the middle east focusing on the links between political and economic change and developing concrete policy for this transformational change in the region. named for the slain prime minister, it reflects rising

above sectarianism, promoting innovative policies for political liberalization, sustainable conflict resolution and promoting regional and international integration. the aim of the center, through its analysis and projects is to more closely bind together the middle east, europe, russia and north america. furthermore, the council's international security program has long been the leading center for analysis on nato and transatlantic security. this program will involve into brent scowcroft center next spring as we deepen our expertise into working with europe to address global security challenges, including in the middle east. finally, the africa center aims to transform u.s. and european policy approaches to africa by emphasizing the building of strong geopolitical partnerships with african states and strengthening economic growth and prosperity on the continent. the distinguished leaders of

each of these programs are participating in our discussion today. today's discussion is in two parts -- first, we will consider the implications for libya itself and the arab awakening more broadly. them will turn to our second panel for the discussions on the implications for nato and the transatlantic community. we have assembled a remarkably talented group of individuals with varying perspectives. the director of the center for the middle east will moderate this conversation. she is a former white house and state department official who brings to the counseling rich understanding of the washington policy-making process, but also the forces driving the arab awakening. during her time at the carnegie endowment, she was co-chair of the working group on egypt, she is recognized the change and their implications in the region of long before mubarak fell in egypt. the arnold kanter chair at counsel and director of its

international victory program will moderate the second program on nato. he has played a leadership roles in the development of a broad range of national security strategies across the past three administrations, including serving at the white house as special assistant to the president and senior director for defense policy and strategy on the national security staff and having many senior pentagon positions. i am delighted to welcome to our discussion to atlantic council board directors. one is american, franklin miller, one european, we are delighted to have you join us. let me turn this over to michele to kick off the conversation. >> thank you to all of you for being with us this morning. in the first panel, we're going to try to cover what's going on in libya and some scenarios for how things might move forward in libya. we are going to look at the

regional implications in the arab and african regions of what is unfolding in libya and we will start to also address some issues in terms of the international community and what its rolls might be in inside libya going forward. we are at a really interesting moment right now in libya where the rebels made this very surprising breakthrough in tripoli over the last week. it is not so surprising if you have been watching carefully because the military advantage turned to the rebels weeks ago. i did just not make the international media. -- i think it did not make the international media. the transitional council and rebel leadership is largely in control of tripoli, although as you have seen over the last 24 hours and today, there is still fighting in tripoli and are troubling reports emerging in terms of the casualties there

and the nature of violence there. also, attention is turning to the south, particularly to the home town of at libyan leader gadhafi and there may well be more fighting there because the rebels are not in control of the city. one of the questions i think will be interesting to discuss this morning is gadhafi himself and how important his capture is to this situation in libya as we move ahead and as the rebels spread control throughout the country. the issues of the release of assets on the part of the united states and others to the transitional council and whether the plans the transitional council had in place before they entered libya to secure tripoli and establish security

throughout the country and move into a political transition, how well those kinds of plans will survive contact with reality. we will also talk about the implications in the region. i think there will be a significant impact on syria. what is happening in libya is creating a different model for change. a more difficult models for change, but a very different from what happened in tunisia and egypt where there were peaceful uprisings and frankly, the military decided with the uprisings rather than with the leader and therefore the leader was forced to step down with a minimum of violence. there certainly were casualties in both of those countries but not very large scale.

in libya, we have seen a completely different model, where what started as a peaceful rebellion met with a lot of resistance on the part of the gadhafi, his military fractured. much of it stuck with him but some of that broke away and went to the rebels. we saw an armed rebellion with international support. that has ultimately won out. for other countries like syria and yemen and perhaps others, this creates a different way. there is more than one way that these authoritarian leaders may go in arab countries. we will also be discussing the africa dimension because we saw a real range of positions that the various countries with him libya had close relations in the arab world and africa took toward the struggle in libya.

those will have implications for libya's foreign relations going forward. i am joined by this panel by three distinguished speakers. first, we are going to hear from a professor at johns hopkins here in washington and also in bologna, italy. he's a senior fellow at a middle east policy council. also, a professor and scholar at the middle east institute and my colleague, the director of the africa center here at the atlantic council. i want to hear about your evaluation.

how important or not important is what happened to moammar gadhafi himself and what are your thoughts on scenarios? where might libya be going from here? >> it's very hard to say when this might be over. i think we are at the end of it. [audio difficulties] what we have seen in tripoli is the defections of important parts of his troops have caused easy access into the city. the troops betrayed them right away.

they started shooting, so you see the massacres happen because there was no clear-cut division of rule. they will be taking care of. it is important day -- it is important that they clean up is conducted and -- [audio difficulties]

[audio difficulties] once that has been obtained by the rebels, we have seen a rapid advance from the eastern part. that is true. there is a group of better- disciplined troops that responds to a hierarchy, but along with them, they're all lot of voluntary, courageous people who go and left their houses to fight, but they are disorganized. the problem of seen in tripoli is exactly that. there are groups who enter the city from the mountains and all over that have been trained and prepared and one of the cases, the capture of the first son of gadhafi, he gave himself up to

the rebels and was kept in a place by a group and people went to the house where he was captured, pretending to beat rebels and wanting to free him and bring him to headquarters, so they freedom. they did not know each other. there was no communication, no hierarchy, nothing. this has led to various problems like the massacre in tripoli. i was watching a report this morning and see the city full of bodies left in the streets. people were blindfolded, handcuffed, executed, signs of torture, this is because of the sudden collapse of the resistance and lack of order on the part of most of the rebels. the problem, another issue is it

is a hierarchy and the people are people known and it is confused. they don't talk with one voice. that is what we have. criticizing now is it too easy. we should not have the standard too high. he has not been seen for a couple of days in two months. the whole draft is different, but that will be solved. the legitimacy will be

increased. there is one problem regarding them and that -- everybody is quick to dismiss the islamists. there are no islamists and they are conservatives at the most. they are very few and very limited. be conservatism of the people has increased in the last two or three or four years at a higher rate -- at a high speed rate. the people, the former minister of defense, there are two factions of islamist groups, so

that is an issue we should consider. where are we now? on the ground, there may be three or four scenarios. first, what is going to happen once they announced the formation of the government? the people will say they are not represented or they say we carry the burden of the fight and we need three minutes more than you, what will happen in that moment. what will happen when they tried to resolve the factions and they refuse it? that's -- that could lead to an enormous quantity of weapons for

what somebody called the somalia effect. hopefully that will not happen. another scenario is that someone emerges. we have not seen the military commander yet. there is no soldier that has emerged. nobody has that i lead the army. if the commander of the largest italian says there is too much fighting and i will take care in this situation, then we are back to a semi dictatorship, different than before but it is a possible scenario. a strong man is very present in libya and someone talked about a figure to take an emergent and

leader because of the lack of charisma. the third scenario is nothing has happened and you remain stuck in a transition there is no agreement and we remain -- >> fourth is the author -- the opportunistic situation where the population will not allow for this to become a failure. people will be ready to give up their arms and start all over again. i want to finish with just one thing. the fact that libya should be left to the libyans, etc. it is important that the

countries remain on our side. libyans do not look, despite their effort, do not look at the west as negative as some may be. this war has been one thanks to the support of european countries. i don't think they will look badly. [unintelligible] >> thank you. let me just ask you a brief, to follow up questions. you talk about the bloodshed occurring in tripoli. occurring in tripoli.