consumer financial protection rules. brad woodhouse and sean spicer will discuss rick santorum's drop from the presidential race. also, military analysts, of beibing west. .

host: rick santorum has suspended his fight for the republican nomination. we would like to hear from you all this morning. call on your respective phone lines. you can also send us your e- mails. and we are on twitter. we can share that on the air. and we are on facebook. look for c-span and join the conversation? . "usa today" is covering this story. obama vs romney.

it w to get more on this story, let's go to chris moody with yahoo! news, he is a reporter there. >> good morning. great to be. >> thanks for joining us. tell us how things evolve yesterday. when did we get a sense rick

santorum was planning to suspend his campaign? >> we had an idea last week. it was based on a number of scenarios. we knew that he was going into his home state of pennsylvania? that is served in congress 16 years. it was a state that he could not lose. and so, he had made it this far after he was at the back of the polls in 2011. that was in an eyesight. if he had lost, it would a been a big embarrassment. romney was gaining momentum in the state of pennsylvania. on tuesday morning, rumors began to swirl that he had decided to drop out and that he had called mitt romney and conceded the race. surely before he made the announcement on tuesday afternoon, we found out about it. >> host: you start your story by saying that he called mitt romney and conceded in a phone

call. he did not mention romney by name yesterday. guest: it was curious. he does not use notes or teleprompter, so it may have been an oversight. i think what they would like to have is another conversation where romney specifically asks for his endorsement and looked to have a public event where he publicly endorses romney. are not sure that is going to happen, but we are pretty confident he will do whatever if the can to help the republicans beat obama in november. we also have to remember that tensions are high between the two camps and there was a lot of rhetoric over the past couple months. it may take a couple days for things to cool off. i am pretty confident that centaur will be an ally of romney going into november. host: what is the significance

of the phone call that he may to romney? guest: mitt romney will be the nominee. gingrich and ron paul are still in the race. until romney reaches 1144 delegates, gingrich will still be in there and i'm sure ron paul will be traveling around. romney is the nominee and it will be obama vs romney in november. host: you have been traveling with central's campaign. what have the last couple weeks? been weeks guest: quite a lot of fun. he went up to wisconsin and he went bowling every day. he played montee ball -- botchi ball. and he went around to breweries. it was a light-hearted rick santorum. he gave one speech in milwaukee a couple days ago where reporters had been traveling

with him for months said they had never seen rick santorum so relaxed. it almost seemed like a bit of relief. he might have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. he really enjoyed himself. host: others are speculating as to what this sets up rick santorum for the future. he did mention looking ahead. we are talking about a suspension of a campaign rather than quitting, so he can continue to raise funds. guest: the reason they say they are suspending their campaign is because they have to close their debts with the federal election commission. he is obviously not. going to be campaigning not. right after he said he was suspending its campaign, he sent out a fund-raising letter saying that i still need your financial help and we still have to pay for the debts we incurred during the campaign. you will still see him out there. it will be mostly in the background. if he will be making a lot of phone calls an.

i think that he has a bright future. this presidential campaign for him was positive. it raised his image with the republican party. a lot more people know who rick santorum is now. he may go back to fox news where he had a contract. he may go back to a think tank where he was as well. he has a lot more options now. it will be interesting to see where he ends. host: chris moody has been traveling with the central campaign. thanks so much. guest: thanks for having me. host: we're talking about santorum announcing yesterday that he is suspending his campaign and what you think this means as far as mitt romney gathering support and where you think conservatives werwill go and what this means for the rest of the field and is the race over for the other nominees? a santorum supporter is joining us on the phone from kansas.

good morning. caller: >> i actually met rick santorum when he came to kansas. i am kind of disappointed. i am a strong conservative. i am disappointed that he would drop out of the race or suspend the race. i am not going to vote for romney. i don't see there's any difference between him and barack obama, so i think is going to lose a lot of conservatives. he will have a hard time trying to get the. conservative the that is where i am. host: patrick, what will it take for one of the other candidates to win your support? caller: newt gingrich would have a better chance than mitt romney. he is too moderate. there's no difference between him and barack obama. i think a lot of conservatives

are going to feel the same way. host: an newt gingrich supporter from oklahoma, pat. good morning. caller: >> good morning. i really did like rick santorum, but my main backing was for newt gingrich. i do think he is a very intelligent individual. i also think that he has had experience in the troubles and trials we are going through right now in our country. and i am basically praying that the delegates for rick santorum and his supporters will get behind newt, because, basically, the votes for rick santorum were against mitt romney. host: let's look at what newt gingrich had to say after the news of santorum suspending his campaign. he says, "i humbly ask --

mr. gingrich restated his commitment to staying in the race all the way to florida. let's hear from bobby in brooklyn, new york. caller: good morning. it is disgraceful, these choices we have. nobody in the press is saying anything about this. it is disgraceful. host: you called on the romney line. it does not like you are a supporter of anyone in the field. caller: >> they are all crap. the sound bite entertainments thing. host: let's hear from a ron paul supporter, brian in eagle, missouri. caller: hi, i was just wondering, because we have seen it is going to be romney versus

obama, i really want to know, what does this mean for the future of the drug war? we have seen a pretty stale policy that involves billions of dollars spent on this and people are going to keep smoking. . i don't i feel completely defeated on this. -- i don't know. host: ron paul said yesterday congratulations to the senator on running such a spirited campaign -- here are comments coming into us on facebook regarding rick santorum's decision.

gina joins us from mississippi. you are an newt gingrich supporter? caller: yes, i am. host: what happens next for your candid it? caller: i hope a miracle will occur and all romney supporters will take a second look at gingrich, because i feel like he is the best debater of all of them. i feel like he has the knowledge and he is a very smart man. i feel like he would be the best debater against obama. i am hoping that all of the a african-americans will take a second look at the candidates. i would just like to say to the african americans that if you are truly a patriot, if you are truly american, you will drop the african part of your name,

because either you are an american or you are an african. i think they need to make up their mind which one they are. host: let's look at the question a couple of folks have raised, what happens to rick santorum's delegates? this is from the washington post.

so we will be watching that as we head to florida this summer. alexandria, virginia, george is joining us pass a rick santorum supporter. caller: it is a tough call. i really did not like mitt romney's position on many of the fronts. i think he lacks integrity. it is going to be hard as a republican to vote for mitt romney. i am hoping that there's another alternative out there. i just cannot see voting for him. host: what does that mean for the presidential contest overall? caller: that is a tough one. i really think the beauty of the party system is we do have two sides of the equation. whereas it the candidates tried to get as many votes as they

can and they mold their character or their position based upon votes, it is really sad to see a guy like rick santorum with all the integrity to say this is what i stand for, to leave the race. with not much options. host: the contrast between santorum and romney --

portsmouth, rhode island, and jerry is a mitt romney supporter. how should be proceeded? caller: i think mitt romney would do a good job. up in massachusetts. the state was having a lot of problems and then romney came in and used his business acumen to get things going. i think a lot of people are getting the wrong opinion of

romney. i watched santorum in the debates and i did not think he had much substance. he talked about his religion. i am a roman catholic, and i think i would leave that out of a campaign if i was running for office. the whole thing is we need substance and we need somebody who can turn this country around. i think romney is capable of doing it with his business background. we have to forget about how much money he has. this is all just superficial. we have to get a candidate and i think he can do it, that is going to turn this country around if and put it on the right track. host: what advice can you give the candidates if you could have a talk with him as he goes forward? we just heard a story saying he has to assist to make about the message he has, how much it tries to attract conservative voters or keep more of a middle line? caller: i would rather have a more conservative candidate.

this country has to get its act together and we need somebody that is going to be -- he is ok as a moderate. we don't want a racist in government, we don't want people that don't have an education, don't understand different cultures, people from different countries. we need a moderate person then has a business mentality that can start creating jobs from the bottom up. that's my philosophy. host: and this in the washington post --

tony, a santorum reporter in florida, good morning. you are on the program. caller: hi. i think we have another four years of president obama. [unintelligible] i am a conservative. i'm not a republican. i am a registered republican because it is the only two choices i have. i cannot support mitt romney. i cannot see him winning the presidency. thanks for newt gingrich's narcissism and refusal to realize your campaign is over. i think president obama owes you a great debt. gingrichhe's blaming for rick santorum's inability to gather enough support.

a member of santorum's campaign staff did as well, talking about how the team could not win with accountexas' delegate votes and because of gingrich staying in the race. let's hear from bryan, a ron paul supporter in illinois. caller: good morning. i have seen you taking so many calls, santorum people and romney people. they messed up. these guys are nothing guysfakes. ron paul is the only one really has a chance to change this country. --these guys are fakes. ron paul is the true conservative. i don't know when people are going to wake up and see that. host: are you still with us? caller: i. have i. -- i have no comment.

host: let's go to another caller. caller: as a conservative party, we need to pull together. gingrich, santorum, ron paul, romney, are not going to win the presidency from obama. if we don't pull together, we will have four more years of of obama. it's time to come together and do this. the other candidates that are against mitt romney, competing with mitt romney, they just don't have it. let's be realistic. we are conservative, so that means we are realistic. we look at the bottom line. this is just ridiculous. let's move forward and get through this. this is not a religious thing. this is an economical thing. mitt romney is clearly a leader that will help pull this country out of this economic pickle that we are in.

host: a few of our callers who supported rick santorum for support newt gingrich say they're not interested in mitt romney. what do you suggest he do to bring them into the fold and are you concerned about romney not getting enough support as the challenges president obama? caller: i don't think that's a point to happen. obama is having to run against his record. i think when the general election comes in the fall, the numbers are going to speak for itself. as far as newt gingrich and rick santorum supporters not willing to support romney, well, if you don't vote for romney, you do vote for president obama. those are your choices. it's pretty simple. host: let's look at a comment on twitter, clinton says -- let's hear a comment that mitt romney made yesterday. this is on the heels of the news

that rick santorum was suspending his campaign. >> senator santorum has decided not to proceed with his campaign and i had the chance to speak with him this morning. we exchanged our thoughts about going forward. we both have a great deal of interest in seeing the country take a very different path. he has made an important contribution to the political process, has brought forward issues that he cares very deeply about and has been able to gather a great deal of public support and interest in those issues and in himself. he will continue to have a major role in the republican party. i look forward to his work in helping assure victories for republicans across the country and in november. we have to get that job done. host: mitt romney speaking yesterday. let's hear from charles in new jersey. you are a santorum supporter. caller: good morning. i am a santorum supporter and i

support them financially. the people that say i am not going to vote at all does not make sense to me. the president has a terrible record. i'm not sure where romney stands on things, but we should at least give him a chance. thank you. host: do you think people will mobilize, do you think republicans will do as you are asking them to do? caller: if they are smart, they will. we cannot have another four years of this stale presidency. host: the campaign manager of president obama's reelection effort in chicago released a statement after senator santorum suspended his campaign. here's what it says. you can read that on your screen -- next is massachusetts, mike is

on the line. hi. caller: how are you doing? i cannot see why the other candidates -- sen storm and gingrich -- will not just rally behind romney -- rick santorum and newt gingrich, why they will not rally behind romney. gingrich has just about as much in morality as clinton had way back when. p see the people standing u behind him. i guess it does not matter if it is your guy out front. so people want to check their morality before they make too judgment on whether some guy is a mormon or whatever else. because this guy does have the knowledge to run the country. he is very, very smart. i think he has been given a bad

deal. he is going to be president of the united states. host: lisa is a santorum sacramento,n california. caller: good morning. i don't know what is wrong with these people. romney is the devil. he's not going to win and that's the bottom line. host: why do you say that? caller: he's a businessman. a businessman cannot run the country. economic wants to cut everything for the middle class and the poor people. all he wants to do is keep the rich richer. that is not going to work. and the women hate him because of the birth control issue. he's not going to get them back. they will remember that in november. host: the women's vote and how the obama camp and the mitt

romney camp are going after the support of women, let's look at a few more headlines on how the newspapers are covering the news today. and the new york times has this headline -- centaur clear is a path -- rick santorum clears a path. you can see in blue, mitt romney's support, and at in red is rick santorum.

the washington post looked at what happens to those delegates now that mitt romney head towards winning the delegate count. he has 661 now according to the new york times. tina is joining us from louisiana on the ron paul line. caller: good morning at. i want to congratulate rick santorum for running a grass- roots campaign and at least bringing some conversation to the conservative message. yesterday there was a gallup poll that has not been mentioned on any of the other stations where they put ron paul and mitt romney against barack obama and ron paul does pretty well. california last week, he drew a crowd of 8000 people and the media is not covering this. i wish people in the media would give ron paul a chance and

report on some of these things. host: let's look at a comment on twitter -- baltimore, maryland, nat is on our newt gingrich line. caller: newt is without a doubt the smartest one in the race. i worked with him in the 1980's. [unintelligible] as i have seen what's been happening to this country in the last three and a half years, i probably would have defected to south america rather than go fight for this country. . it . newt gingrich is good. romney is not quite as good. host:paul stays in the saddle in texas. focusing onch is porp

the convention. let's go to j.c. in brookfield, missouri. good morning. caller: good morning. how are your? -- you? host: mitt romney supporter, what do you think? romney can beat obama if he would ask two questions.

the illinois he was the senator and the governor went to prison for selling obama's senate seats and the other guy bought the senate seat to take obama's place, yet the guy is still in washington and the governor is in prison in illinois. i believe that obama bought his . senate his host: let's look at this matchup between president obama, former governor mitt romney as well. this is a registered voters support or lean toward whom. looking at other stores in the news, a trial has been set to

start for former vice presidential nominee john edwards. the former senator, jury selection will begin on thursday in federal court in greensboro, north carolina. and we have two different stories with different tones to them about gas prices. "usa today" has this headline -- whereas the "washington times has this headline -- small businesses are less upbeat, but jobs are open. higher energy prices have stung u.s. small business owners,

diming their outlook on the economy for the first time in six months. the u.s. labor force faces a slowdown. this is from the washington post. and a story we have been looking at on a washington journal, social media privacy laws. in maryland, one of them has passed. the general assembly passed legislation permitting employers in the state from asking current and prospective employees for their user names and passwords to web sites such as facebook and twitter. at the baltimore sun. that paper also looks at the candidates for the world bank and has a piece looking at three of the men -- or people, including one woman up for the world bank leadership role.

in international news, john mccain and lieberman calling for force in syria. syrian troops defied a u.n.- brokered peace drama as kofi annan pleaded for calm. the data and u.s. senators said that weapons were needed to end the slaughter of civilians. that's the republican senator from arizona and independent senator joe lieberman of connecticut. looking at news in politics elsewhere in the country, indiana, mary beth at joins us from the indianapolis star. she is a political reporter, setting up the race between dick lugar and richard murdock, the two facing off tonight in their only debate before the may 8 republican primary. good morning, mary beth. guest: good morning. host: tell us about the scene.

dick lugar has never faced a talent like this from within his own party. guest: never, not in any race he has ever had. he was first elected to the senate in 1976. six years ago when he ran again, he did not even have a democrat running, much less a republican primary opponent. things have really started to change for him about three years ago, the growing department, a much more conservative republican party, and there were signs then that he would face a challenge. so he had some time to try to get ready for it, but i'm not sure they were anticipating the strength of this, because it is not just the tea party. he is being hit from all sides. host: it's making national headlines. the "washington times" reported yesterday that he is in peril. tell us more about who richard

murdock is getting support from? guest: big support from the national rifle association. senator lugar had voted in the past for such things as the assault weapons ban. our other congressman who had left for a while has just won re-election a couple years ago. he had voted for that too. the nra opposed him as well, but they did not come out with the force that they have against dick lugar. are putting money behind ads and mailings saying that he has a failing grade. in addition, he is being hit from fiscal conservatives, a group that also went out against bob bennett in utah and supported marc rubio in florida have also come out against dick lugar and also to put money into mailings. the group is run by a former indiana congressman. it really has dick lugar being

attacked from all sides. host: what is the tone for the moonlight? sometimes incumbents don't get as much vocal support and someone who is an upstart can get a lot of lawn signs and people generating buzz. do you think it's gone to translate into votes? guest: i definitely think it will translate into votes. the question is who comes out to vote. it's true. i have seen far more yard signs right now for richard murdock. his supporters are very much energized and engaged. dick lugar gets a lot of support for more independent people who are not as active all the time in politics and view him as a statesman, somebody they are used to supporting dancing on the national stage. but will they come out? there have not been that many

poles. one of the recent ones show dick lugar --it was done with depaul university by two respected pollsters, a democrat and republican, they showed a 42-35, is getting below 50% for an incumbent senator. 35 shows that richard murdock has not yet made the sale. dick lugar is also getting hit by personal issues. he is 80 years old, sold his house in 1977. he did not actually own a home here although he does own a farm in indiana. he spent an entire month fighting these issues for the state election commission and

the county election board and then eventually in court just for the right to vote in his own primary. host: so his primary residence has been in virginia all these years. guest: and while he had statements from three different attorneys general going back over the years saying that it was proper for him to continue to use as his voting address the home he had lived in, in 1976, a party line vote, two democrats and republicans -- and one republican on the county board, had said that was not proper and that he was not properly registered to vote. then it went to court and they decided to let him vote because of his farm. but he does not live on the farm. host: there's a story that says the senator's chances of winning epend greatly on whether - independence show up to vote for him on may 8.

-- independents. are you expecting folks? to come out folks? are you expecting folks to come out to vote? guest: i think a lot of people that supported rick santorum will also support richard murdock, so i think that has hurt richard murdock a little. but richard murdock has a very strong following of his own. if this is a premier race and i think a lot of people will come out to vote. you just wish you had more information about dick lugar's supporters and how solid they are. host: mary beth schneider joining us from indianapolis. thanks so much. the indiana debate commission has a debate tonight. it is the only debate between the two republican p senatorial candidates in indiana

before they go to the polls. c-span will be sharing that with you tonight live a 7:00 eastern time. we will hear from senator richard lugar and the indiana state treasurer richard murdock. we will also have that on c-span radio. you can find more at our website, look for the campaign 2012 on c-span.org. we're talking about rick santorum was a decision to suspend his campaign for the presidency. let's hear from another caller from alabama, ricky, a santorum supporter. good morning. caller: if you will give me a minute or two, i supported a bunch of losers. these moderate liberals such as ford, dole, and then the last one and i would not have voted

for him if it had not been for sarah palin. but this time i will sit at home. you're not going to vote. i will not vote for another moderate liberal. there's a lot of history about these romneys. if you go back to his daddy who was born in mexico. i don't know how he could run for president, but he did. he had to drop out finally because of insulting the marines. not only that, it came up that in the mormon religion back at that time they had in the book of mormon that black people could not go to heaven. they only had a little over 300 black. members at that black so he got a lot of flak from the media --

they only had over 300 members at that time. the revised "the book of mormon to allow black people to go to have been since then. host: this comment on facebook -- jack rights on twitter -- richard, a ron paul supporter in florida. caller: good morning, libby. ron paul, i believe, is the only conservative. i know that he's a libertarian. he will actually give the power back to the people. romney, i don't think, can win. he's not a conservative. he has been a supporter of gun control, abortion, cap-and-

trade, and his health care model that obama used for obamacare. the international global socialist george soros says there will be very little difference between romney and obama. all of those conservatives out there that thinks romney is a conservative, they better look at his record. he is not a conservative. he is an establishment republican. host: a comment on twitter -- and from st. paul -- two different opinions there on mitt romney as we watched his

campaign moves forward in the coming weeks and months. on c-span this evening, the supreme court historical society freedom forum has a special events celebrating the 30th anniversary of sandra day o'connor's appointment to the supreme court. that is alive today on c-span 2 starting at 6:30 eastern. the panel include sandra day o'connor as well as a provider ginsberg and sonya sotomayor, elena kagan. it will be moderated and a discussion of memories as well as reflections on saturday o'connor's appointment to. the supreme to coming up next, we will look at regulations regarding mortgage service companies and we will be right back with a reporter to talk with us about that.

>> april 15, 1912, nearly 1500 perished on the ship called unsinkable. >> once the lookout bells were sounded, they cited an iceberg head that struck the bells three times, which is a warning saying that there's some object ahead. it does not say what kind. of kind what the look out and then did was he went to a telephone message and called it down to the officer on the bridge to tell them what it is that they saw. and when the phone was finally answered, the entire conversation was what do you see? the response was iceberg right ahead. the response from the officer was thank you. >> the truths and myths about that night, sunday at 4:00 p.m.

eastern this weekend on c-span 3. >> martin luther king is a man of all the people i have met and talked with and spent time with over the years, he is the american individual that i admire most of all -- of all of them. he is my personal hero. why? because martin luther king put his money where his mouth was. [applause] >> his career spanned over 60 years. cbs's mike wallace died this weekend at age 93. what any of his almost 50 appearances in the c-span video library, including his interviews with iranian president spare the c-span video library, ever c-span program since 1987. >> washington journal

continues. host: derek kravitz is with the associated press. the consumer financial protection bureau's new rules proposal that would deal with mortgage servicers. tellus the distances between a mortgage servicer and a mortgage lender. guest: the lender usually owns the loan. the servicer handles the collections and pavements and all the day-to-day stuff that most homeowners associated with paying down a mortgage. they are the ones really on the frontlines. the lender is the o one that is awns owns it and they can sell t and packaged it to investors as much as they want. your servicer can change 3 or four different times and you have no say over it. host: let's say you go out and buy a home and successfully get along and then close the sale,

how much information wh to you information wo controls your mortgage? guest: not very much. most lenders do send notices to their borrowers saying you have a new servicer, but a lot of folks have no idea who their servicer is until it's time to request a fix to a payment or to know an error in their account. so it is a major issue. host: derek kravitz is our guest and has the story this week -- that's not done right now. guest: no.

yesterday the consumer financial protection bureau director, richard cordray, he noted that a lot of this seems basic to most people. they would expect to get a notice if your insurance changes or you have an adjustable-rate mortgage and/or interest rates will go up. but right now that's not done. so this would be the first time you would actually get a notice saying you have a new interest rate for new insurance. host: here are the numbers to call about the new rules proposed for mortgage servicers, on your screen -- let's listen to richard cordray on these proposed rules. >> we want to make sure that at all times consumers know how much they owe, but they are paying, and how their payments are being applied. if consumers fall behind on their mortgage, we want them to know what their options are to make the best of a difficult

situation. unfortunately, many consumers today don't have the right information at the right time. our rules will change that by requiring servicers to send every customer clear monthly mortgage statement setting out the key terms like the amount of and to date for the next payment, a principal payment, a recent transaction activity included ionization of fees and charges. host: that was the director of the consumer financial protection bureau, richard cordray. what kind of problems are homeowners getting into that the director identifies that he thinks the changes could help? guest: these problems go back 10 years or more. some folks have been having problems 20 years, so these are not new problems. a lot of folks are having problems with errors. they make a payment and a servicer does not apply that payment to their account in a timely way. they will go ahead and maybe get a foreclosure notice even though they of florida made their payment or the servicer will

say, we are already processing or foreclosure, even though they are completely up-to-date on all of their insurance and all their interest rate adjustments, because of poor record-keeping on the part of the servicer. a lot of it is just basic record keeping and mathematics on the part of the servicer. host: is the goal really to help individuals or as their larger goal to help the housing market and to keep so many foreclosures from happening? guest: better recordkeeping and better safeguarding of home loans will help. the help. undoubtedly, if you have a lot of foreclosures and a lot of the faults, it is going to bring down home prices in neighborhoods. if your neighbor gets a foreclosure, to bring down your home's value. so this is a way to stabilize oil prices as well. i think that is what richard cordray is thinking this might help. host: has there been pushed back against these proposals? guest: if you remember, richard

cordray was a resess appointment by the obama administration, so there was a little push back from republicans about the congressional oversight of this agency and if they would need to report to their new rules to any type of congressional body. they really don't. you really have an agency that exists on its own, has its own independent authority and can also give out really hefty enforcement actions, civil fines against certain banks and non- banks. host: the mortgage bankers association responded to these proposals. it was not negative, it was not necessarily a pushback. it basically says national standards would apply to all residential loans -- the code that for us.

guest: basically, they are saying the consumer financial protection bureau looks at large market participants, so it really does not have a whole lot of reporting on smaller firms. and so, they are basically saying this is not going to stop our members from being able to do business. the good thing about, from their aspect, is before these will go has to go to a small-business panel and say these are the new rules, do you sign off on them, is this going to work for your business? they will be able to tweak things and that will make a less strict on the lenders. host: della is an independent in new jersey, good morning. caller: good morning. very quickly, i would like to make two points. i was recently solicited by my mortgage company to refinance.

they said it was an easy three- step, no-fee refinance. i subsequently received a good- faith estimate and then finally the hudd one in the closing package. $1,000 worth of fees were listed. they said several different times that this was a no-fee, yet it listed $1,000 worth of fees, a document which i was supposed to sign and the mortgage processor again said to me you don't have to pay the fees. there is an enormous amount of confusion and continually when i listen to c-span, when i see what is going on, it reminds me

of the old adage about the five blind men who are trying to describe the elephant. things have gotten so big and interconnected, i continually question anyone's really substantive knowledge on anything. this, to me, should be the focus of every discussion it. host: did you go through with the refinance? caller: absolutely not. in addition, they send me a 60- page closing kit with about 55 pages of complex information. there's no way that i could never go through with this refinance without consulting an attorney. host: let's get a response. from response guest: that the home affordable refinance

program. it is one of two major administration efforts to tackle the foreclosure crisis. it has had some problems. problems its bid had a problem getting folks signed up. the lot of folks have expressed interest in refinancing through the government program. they have gotten as far as a trial modification. but once they actually started to convert over into a, permanent loan a they have fallen through the cracks, essentially. there are problems with the paperwork. and a lot of lenders and servicers are blaming consumers, saying that they are not giving them the needed paperwork and are not doing the needed steps to follow through. the government has actually placed restrictions on several lenders, basically, you are given an incentive if you are lender, to go ahead and help folks refinance. so they are saying that these lenders are not doing their job. so, yes, there's a lot of

confusion. it sounds like your case in particular, a fee of $1,000, is a bit of confusion and probably would be rectified if you contacted a consumer financial protection bureau agent. host: let's go to michigan, kathy on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. i wish i could get some assistance or direction somewhere. i can relate to the caller before me. i think my mortgage is unique because we went through national city, first franklin. they went bankrupt. we made our payments to them and then in october 2010, the homeowner people send me one paper and said they were our new lender servicer and that we had to go into the hamp program.

i sent the qualified written request to them six times to them since 2010. they have seen how much i owe on my loan and how much my payments were. host: let's get a response from derek kravitz. guest: so you have hamp which is loan modification and modification is supposed to be a tougher program in that it changes your loan. you can possibly get principal forgiveness, which reduces your underlying mortgage amount. hamp and harp have both had issues with getting people signed up and converted correctly. but a lot of folks that are pushed into hamp have been finding difficulty and

understanding what their new payments are. and getting the appropriate paperwork from their lender. so it is an issue of when and where they can find this a corporate point of contact. with the consumer financial protection bureau, one of the things they are doing is even though the rules have not gone into place until 2013, they do provide an on-site hotline, plao provide an on-site hot line, if you will. for a lot of people, that does not do a lot. you called, and they do not have the appropriate paperwork, you are left hanging. until the government finds a good way to reach those people and be able to provide them with the right information, it will be difficult.

host: we are talking about proposed new rules the consumer financial protection bureau is putting forth. here are some rules. host: let's look at a couple more. tell us about the idea of forced priced -- forced place the insurance. >> if you did not have hazardous insurance, it could require that you have that insurance. a lot of folks do not know that when a servicer does require insurance, it is higher than the market would charge you. if you want on your own, it would be less expensive. host: you end up paying more? guest: right. this rule would notify you of

the change and allow you to find a cheaper insurance option. host: a comment on twitter. interest rates will essentially go up. in order to keep them at very low, to boost the economy -- for the foreseeable future, rates will be very low. they are near historical averages. so, for right now it is fine. once those rates go up, it will be difficult, especially those with low credit scores, weak credit histories, or unstable job situations. conrad, -- host: conrad, an independent colored. caller: good morning. i have a lot of questions

towards bank foreclosures. thank you for having c-span. i am known as a c-span junkie in my neighborhood. i watched the show religiously. what i'm going through right now is we are processing a short sale. i am sure you are familiar with that term. it seems the government is starting to foreclosed properties again on sub-prime financing, and there is a new surge. the people better in the business of doing the processing for the banks, and i presume that is outsourced, do not hire more people. they do not hire qualified people. the processing has grown from 6- to-eight weeks. i am one in my 10th week. i am the procurement agent. i have no idea who the contact person the other agent is

contacting is. we are just falling behind. the buyer is getting discouraged through the whole transaction, and in the meantime the property values are still falling. my question is, who is responsible? it used to be in 2007 that the seller had to get a 1099 from the government to pay the differences. who was responsible for the processing fees incurred during the short sell? host: conrad, since you have been a homeowner, have you experienced problems like the type we are talking about, without -- like not getting information, not knowing what they were doing, or being surprised when they changed your rates? caller: i am actually a broker. i have been a broker for 37 years. i am not privy to that

information, to tell you the truth, because i have not experienced it. there are a lot of regulations in place, and changing and improving regulations are great, but then they have to train the people doing the processing. host: let's get a response from derek kravitz. guest: he mentioned a short sale. host: remind us of what that is prepared -- is. guest: sure. you have homes that are near foreclosure, may be overdue. a lot of times a lender will agree to sell a home before foreclosure for less than what is owed on a mortgage. that pre-empts a foreclosure, and that is called a short sale. host: you sell at a loss? guest: you sell at a loss. he is describing two issues. the shorts sell processing is

taking a very long time. he mentioned 10 weeks. the average time has gone up from a few weeks, to in some cases more than a year in certain states. there was a backlog's 8 $25 million settlement was agreed to about two months ago. in short, the short sales our backlog. they're slow to process, and in a lot of cases, even the lenders want these homes off of their books, there becomes a haggled between who pays the processing fees and the closing fees -- should it be the seller, the buyer, or the lender? host: does it surprise you that our caller, as a broker, does not know much about what happens after the mortgage goes through? guest: it is a convoluted

process. a short sale existed before the crisis, but it was not used the same way. a lot of times, folks, when they need to get out of a underwater home, a home they owe more on their mortgage on them the home is worth, they would simply do a transfer where they would basically give the home back to the lender. that was commonplace in the 1940's, the 1950's, the 19 sixties, and then in the 1970's, the 1980's, and the 1990's, it was a boom for home ownership, and you had options. foreclosures were minuscule compared to what they are not. host: derek kravitz, talking a lot new proposed rules for the mortgage industry. here are more details. it would call for early information and options.

host: derek kravitz, that sounds basic. is that not done now? when we hear from richard cordray, what is the issue now? guest: is not done uniform way. it is not watched by a government agency. now, there will be someone to take calls and look at issues as they come up, and if there is a specific issue found, they can impose fines. the idea is the government has sharp teeth, an enforcement action mechanism, and they can go ahead and basically force a

lot of these banks and nonbanks, all different types of services, to fall in line and avoid the sloppy paperwork that had major effects on the whole industry for years. host: it is also calling for errors to be corrected quickly. i am reading this from "forecast." here is a question from a sell- off on twitter. should these regulations not have been covered by dodd-frank? take us back through that. guest: dodd-frank was made in the white of the 2008 financial crisis in order to create a new set -- in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to create a new standard of customer service, collection, to stop errors, to basically cold institutions accountable for many of the problems that started the financial crisis. dodd-frank actually imposed five of the eight rules that the

consumer financial protection bureau is instituting. so, in effect, this is dodd- frank at its finest, but there are three rules the bureau is creating beyond that that dodd- frank allows them to do, but they have discretion. that is creating a single point of contact, you call up, you know who you're talking to. it also involves making sure there are no errors, and as soon as you note an error, they will notify you and say we found your air. it is like a credit report. the government allows you to get a free credit report once a year from the three major agencies. when you dispute something i'm your credit report, they are required to get back with -- to you within 30 days. host: lisa, jacksonville, florida. republican caller. caller: basically, i bought a

house three years ago. [unintelligible] i rode it through, naca helped the town. [unintelligible] everyone in my circle of friends went there for help. my bank does not have the agreement with them. i started my process at the end of october, early-november. host: we are having top -- trouble hearing you. how did it all resolved? caller: they helped me as far as how to articulate a letter. they give you support, but they

do not have an agreement with wells fargo -- with the banks. host: we will have to lead you -- leave it there, because it is hard to hear, but she brought up the national assistance corporation of america. how did they assist? guest: there are a lot of groups tried to help people, either by foreclosure prevention, giving them options for avoiding a foreclosure, or in some cases providing subsidies, edge will financial assistance to help people. it is said it actually finance -- actually providing financial assistance to help people. there is a large portion of the country, about one in four, so these help, but they help a small portion.

host: democratic line. michigan. caller: the miami disabled better in. -- i am a disabled veteran. they did this about five years ago, and the other was to bank of america. i am getting a lot of calls. i am borrowing money from credit cards. i am not getting help. i am staying current, but i'm doing it with credits cards. they will not budge at all. host: thank you for sharing. guest: that is a common complaint. folks are really trying hard to

stay current on their mortgage payments. if they do so, they feel like they can arrange a foreclosure protection program to stem off a foreclosure. in a lot of cases, they are actually wrong. this is an interesting new once in the debate over the foreclosure crisis. for all water programs, government programs, -- a lot of programs, government programs, private lenders require that you be a little bit late, and 90 days or more, before they can go and offer some type of assistance either by refinancing, a loan modifications, or principal for did this. it is easy to -- it is weird. if you're trying hard to make a payment, there are some options,

but there are more options if you are late. some people are strategically defaulting. host: some mike garrett, trying to juggle payments, which is to reject someone like derek, trying to juggle. -- someone like beirut, trying to juggle payments, where does he go for help? guest: they have a team dedicated to the financial foreclosure programs. there is someone supposed to take calls and say if you are behind on your mortgage payment, these are the options available. there is also a ton of private housing counselors and nonprofits that are supposed to help. for a lot of people it is hard to figure out where do i go and who do i talk to? this agency only came into existence in january.

it has been three and a half months. a lot of people do not know where to go to. host: the consumer financial protection bureau has proposed new rules that would directly affect companies that service mortgages. what happens next? the proposals are on deck, but how soon can they go into place and will there be congressional push back? guest: the short answer is there will not be congressional push back. the bureau is its own agency, so they can do what they like, but this is the first phase in the roll-making process. they published them and let them be known to the world. this summer, they will take the rules to with small-business panel and allow it to be available for public comment. that process will take another six, seven months, then next january, january 21, they expect

the rules to be in place, and then they could actually in force fines. they are allowed to supervise the servicers at this point, but in a year they will have sharp teeth to that legislation. host: richmond, virginia, sherlund, an independent line. caller: i would like to make a statement about these rules and regulations. i have a friend that is going through a foreclosure crisis with her home. it seems to me a problem with a lot of these rules is it is left up to the mortgage companies to determine how they will implement them. i think that is what the problem is. we've seen so many cases across the country were mortgage companies have been doing deceptive practices. we need an agency to step in and to set a standard, and then hold

these mortgage companies accountable to meeting those standards that are set forth, and not relying on the mortgage companies to police themselves. guest: that is a fair point. essentially, a lot of these companies have not had federal oversight ever. so, really, a lot of these new rules will provide specific guidelines for a number of things, but it will not police everything. that is why a lot of folks have filed civil class-action suits when their lenders have engaged in deceptive practices. a lot of those practices are known as robo-signing, sloppy record-keeping, or signing off on a foreclosure without looking at the signatures. it happens. it was widespread, especially in

communities of color, were predatory lending was rampant. these rules will have an impact, but the question is will they be able to police everything? probably not is the quick answer. host: get -- derek kravitz covers the national economy, mortgage giants, unemployment, the federal reserve, commerce, treasury, and global economic trends with the associated press. let's hear from nelson in florida on our republican line. caller: first of all, i would like to say it is a shame that millions of people are suffering because of this financial mortgage crisis but for our solutions. -- there are solutions. these solutions the government

has put forth are only like band-aids. it does not get to the root of it. they are using the wrong tool. it was the derivatives market that cost a lot of this mess. i think it is time for this country to have its first covered bond bank, which holds its mortgage, does not get money on the derivatives market, and is therefore responsible for it. excuse me, i am nervous. the other thing is to use the mortgage the way it currently is is not ideal. if we had in place something that was based on a straight line, simple interest mortgage, and in the age of the computer, that can be utilized to have templates were you can move anywhere on there because the principle is always the same. it opens up so many doors.

if government had put those aspects in place of the beginning of this crisis, we would have saved billions of dollars, not have the type of headaches we have now, and it would have been any easing -- easy system to utilize. host: thank you for overcoming your nerves. guest: the last issue he was talking about is how mortgage loans are initiated by lenders, and it is a difficult process to have fixed rate loans, adjustable-rate loans, and when interest rates rise, your adjustable interest rates rise on your loans, so that causes folks that got locked in a great rate to begin with to experience extra charges later on. he brought up an interesting point on how loans are originated. in nordic countries, when a home

value increases or decreases, the lender shares in a lot of the interest rate burden that the borrower is incurring. a lot of economists like that model and have called for a similar model in the united states. robert shiller is one of them. it is very difficult to change an industry that has been promoting homeownership and bringing up homeownership in this country since world war two from somewhere below 50%, to near-70%. now, people are becoming renters, and what constitutes home ownership is changing. host: jimmy wright's on twitter. guest: that is a good question. it has not been long -- around long enough to answer that

question. the short answer is we will see. the main three areas they will police are pay lenders, student lenders, and mortgage servicers. they have a big job ahead of them. they are looking at debt collectors, pre-paid cards, and other types of businesses that were not really regulated by anything, especially the federal government. they have a large job on their plate, but it is not clear whether they will pass muster if and be able to recoup the funds they are spending. host: lauren, a republican in naples, florida. caller: good morning. i was able to get a loan modifications on our home. we have never been behind, and we still have credit to this day. we went through hell. it took me nine months from the beginning of the process to where i finally got it, and i

almost gave up. i am extremely persistent. i am educated. i knew what to do. i had consumer seven is, not to sound like -- steadiness, not to sound like i'm bragging, i'm sorry. the people that i spoke to you could tell were not educated. they would hang up. they want you to go away. i learned putting letter together, address it to someone in charge, said it certified mail. i learned this from bankruptcy attorneys and foreclosure defense attorneys because i was told banks will send their attorneys to court and why all day under oath. the burden of proof is on the consumer. guest: she makes an interesting point. richard cordray, talking about the new rules yesterday, was

saying basically every customer service nightmare you could think of -- calling up, talking about an error, and an error not been fixed, payments going on noticed, or, you know, just terrible customer service -- not listening to your complaints, now working out options -- -- not working out options with you -- those things have been persistent four years. just now, they are trying to figure out how can we tackle this? how can create -- how can we create a system of standards these servicers have to abide by? what number of days they have to notify you in getting receipt of a payment? talking to the housing counselor in how to avoid foreclosure. this is the first time that has happened. yes, everyone that has had a

home mortgage and dealt with a foreclosure issue has complained about the nightmare customer service. host: james shares his opinion on twitter and says more meddling in the market will not fix anything. guest: well, that is a very common opinion. they are saying that may be more regulation will not do anything, and he essentially these bank and nonbank lenders need to clean up their own act. when you look at robo-signing, which was this very large issue that arose and for 16 months all 50 u.s. states negotiated with five of the biggest lenders in the country to work out a 25 in dollar agreement. they found widespread abuse, the $25 billion agreement, and they found widespread abuse -- $25

billion agreement. they found widespread abuse. it is not clear whether the new rules will help. host: richard cordray says in a "new york times" story -- host: what incentives do the insurance companies have to keep customers in good standing? guest: is good business practice to keep your customers happy. foreclosures are expensive. the average for closure could cost $40,000 to the lender. it is not necessarily the smartest idea from a business perspective. sometimes it is a lot more cost effective to have them short sell, sell the property at a loss, and have a moderate loss instead of a big one, or to have them reduced payments were made

from the payments in the future to keep the client and not have a home sit in the market auto. that is one aspect. -- ago. that is one aspect. the new rules also have the enforcement mechanisms. the fines go from $5,000 a day for enforcement negligence, and up to $1 million a day if there knowingly doing something wrong. those are pretty hefty fines. host: derek kravitz, economics writer for the associated press. thank you for coming in this morning. guest: thank you. host: coming up next, we will talk about campaign 2012 with representatives from both the democratic and republican national committees, but first this update from c-span radio. >> more on rick santorum suspending his presidential campaign from a virginia republican governor bob mcdonnell. in remarks earlier on cds, he

says republicans should now focus on what he calls the big prize, winning the presidency. when asked about the vice- presidential nomination, he says ultimately that is up to the nominee. i am perfectly happy being the governor of virginia. turning to international issues, the top u.s. military to master in the pacific says north launch a rocket is a provocative move that would threaten regional security and be a direct violation of international obligations and u.n. security council resolutions. north korea says it is putting a satellite into orbit, but the admiral says the real objective appears to be a ballistic missile test. the launch seems to be happening between tomorrow and next monday. an update on spending in las vegas. the house transportation

committee chairman says a high- ranking official with the agency spent an extra night in las vegas after the conference at taxpayer defense -- expense. the congressman said the extra cost, which cost more than $1,000 a night, was apparently charged to the taxpayer. the committee is investigating the nevada conference. those are some the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> april 15, 1912, nearly 1500 perished on the ship called on sapporo. >> -- not unsinkable. >> they struck the bells three times, which means there is an object a it does not say what kind of option. they went to a telephone and

called down to the officer on the bridge to tell them when it is they saw, and when the phone was finally answered, the entire conversation was what do you see, and the response was icebergs red head. the response from the officer was thank you. >> samuel halpern on the troops and myths from that night, this weekend, on c-span 3. "washington journal" continues. host: brad woodhouse is communications director for the democratic national committee, and sean spicer is the communications director for the republican national committee. rick santorum suspended his campaign. sean spicer, what does it mean? guest: it brings us closer down the path to getting a nominee.

host: we heard the president talk about the campaign, but he did not mention either rick santorum or mitt romney by name when he was out doing a public event. what is he looking at right now? guest: what the president is looking at is what he has been doing what he has been in office. we're getting to the end of the republican process. he is doing relatively little campaigning, trying to move the country forward. he worked with congress, and they did come to some agreement on the jobs at, but we're getting into election mode for sure. host: brad woodhouse, give us the strongest positive message president obama has to offer, and what is the biggest attack he will lobby against the other side? guest: the president has to offer a vision for the middle class. this is a country that, you know, since our founding has

been forged-looking, and the president is looking forward to job creation, investment in research and development, and bring in the country to broad- based prosperity. i would say that the other side wants to go back to the things that were narrowly focused on the wealthiest americans, narrowly-focused on tax cuts to corporate america, deregulating wall street, pollution standards, and allowing businesses to write their own rules again. their theory is is businesses do well and the rich do well, it will all trickle down, but it has been tried repeatedly and not worked. host: what is the message the presumptive nominee mitt romney has and what attack could he live? guest: this president campaigned on hope and change, and instead he is ushered in failed promises from solyndra to the gsa nvidia we are now familiar with. he is talked about -- video we

are all familiar with. he is talk about jobs, but it is had failed promises. he is dead delivering speeches, but he is not good on -- he is good at delivering speeches, but is not the downfall winter to many americans are out of work. -- but he is not following through. to many americans are out of work. this is not accepted being. our nominee will focus on a laser -- like a laser. host: we got it chichi. brad woodhouse, how you define the president? -- defended the president? guest: where the republicans are going to run into a problem is the american people can read, and they understand history, and they know when this president took office they were bleeding -- we were bleeding jobs of seven arctic 50,000 a month.

the republicans like to say we only created when and 20,000 jobs last month. we have switched 120,000 jobs last month. we have seen steady jobs. everyone wants to do more. part of the reasons we're not creating the jobs we want to is republicans have set on their hands and refuse to make investments congress in both parties have traditionally made, investments in police, firefighters, teachers. they would rather see the economy slow and win a presidential election. host: sean spicer, the counter attack? guest: i agree that americans can read. the end of the national debt has gone up, they know it was 7.8% unemployment when president obama took office. it is now 8.2%. they know they paid $1.84 for a gallon of gas when he took

office, and it is approaching $4. they know he promised comprehensive energy policy. he has not delivered. he promised to cut the debt in half. he has not delivered. all we are hearing is a bunch of excuses, not solutions. that is the problem that we are going to talk about. frankly, the only thing we need to focus on in this election from our side is saying this is what this president said he would do. did he deliver? this does not involve much more on this is what the president said and promising. here is the reality. host: we're talking about a minute -- host: we're talking with conditions directors from the republican and democratic national committee sped west from the president. [video clip] >> a lot of folks are peddling these trickle-down theories. that includes candidates that

should not be named. they are doubling down on these old series. instead of same day did not work and we almost had a second great depression, and maybe we should try something different. host: "the washington. -- "the washington post called had a piece that said president obama holds an edge on personal issues, but there are certain issues he remains vulnerable. host: brad woodhouse, does that concern you? guest: what concerns me is what you just heard from sean spicer. it was a startling admission that sean spicer just said we do

not have a program, a positive message, say what we would do with our nominee became president. all we have to do is attack the president. let me answer your question as it relates to polling. they have had this line for a year. mitt romney, all republicans running, reince priebus, did use the same lines against the present for the past year, and it is not working -- president for the past year, and it is not working. the president has a 15-point lead with independences right now. the republicans have fallen off the face of the map with every constituency that will decide this election. they have the weakest presumptive nominee probably in the history of american politics going into the general election because they have had a narrow focus on going back to the same failed policies that got us into

the financial crisis to begin with. host: let's hear from mitt romney talking about women and the economy. [video clip] >> the real war on women has been waged by the obama administration's failure on the economy. [applause] >> do you know what percentage of the job losses in the obama years has been casualties of women losing jobs as opposed to men? 92.3% of the job losses during the obama years has been women who lost those jobs. the real war on women has been the job losses as a result of the obama economy, and if we're going to get women back to work and help women with the issues

women care about, good jobs, good wages, a bright future for themselves and their kids, we will have to elect a president that understands how the economy works, and i do. host: mitt romney is polling lower among women than president obama is. why? guest: we've gone through a primary process. as this goes to the general, the governor will focus on the comments made yesterday, going after a broader message to specific groups in defining this election. i am not worried about where we are going. when it comes to women, in 2010 we were successful as republicans in taking back the house of representatives because we focused on the economy, pocketbook issues, and what the governor said was right, the impact this administration has had on women, whether they are small business owners,

employees, heads of households dealing with kids or putting food on the table, wind understand the time be allowed more than men and a real basis -- women understand the economy a lot more than men on a real basis. we will talk about that and how it impacts women and families. the number of women unemployed has gone up. the number of women leaving the work force has gone up. this administration does frankie had bigger economic problems when it comes to women, and it is something we will be talking about more. host: we will talk about this issue of women voters. let's go to north carolina. democrats line. caller: 1 mitt romney left massachusetts, massachusetts was number 47 out of 50 states in job creation. their only three states that were worse than massachusetts at creating jobs, and that is supposed to be his strong point. he had 30% approval rating in

massachusetts, and that is why he did not run for governor again. also, that is why he never talks about his role as governor. a final point is that mitt romney always tells untruths care i hate to save lives, but that is what it is. he will tell a lie, and then you can obviously see what the law was. -- lie was. host: brad woodhouse? guest: signed her up. she is a great server did. one of the fundamental arguments -- surrogate. problems the republicans have with mitt romney is that his central theme of his candidacy, the reason for him to be running

for president has no basis in reality. this was a guy who ran as a mr. fix-it, and he finished 47 out of 50 in creating jobs. he is lucky her came katrina happened in louisiana, or he finished -- hurricane katrina happened in louisiana, where he would of finished last. he was a failure at jobs. as a private sector record where he laid off employers to enrich himself and collars. host: hour, thinks he is playing down his time as governor -- our caller thinks he is playing down his time as governor. guest: until governor romney is the nominee, i am careful about defending one nominee or another, but the governor has a strong record, whether it is this all like the olympics, or

bain capital. he knows what works or what does not work. he could look at the federal government and say that agency is not working? -- working. that is what we need in the government, someone that could come in, and say i know how to fix something, and get rid of the bad, and focus on the good. that is what most americans want from the president. as someone who grew up in rhode island, next to massachusetts, and watching it through the michael dukakis years, i will tell you mitt romney brought a strong business climate to that state, and a turnaround was drastic. he did a great job as governor. when it comes to this president, i think you have to look at the numbers and said the president said we needed a stimulus to get house -- get us out of this. we are nowhere close to it.

he has said we would cut the deficit in half. he has doubled it. he talked about a comprehensive energy policy. he put his eggs in all of these companies and is gone wasted. when it comes to summon that understands business, the economy, where works, and does not, i can tell you we're not going in the right direction now. host: we see competing headlines in terms of gas prices. some say we are seen the end, and some sable get worse. guest: most americans did not -- no that presents to not set gasoline prices. they are set as a result of the price of crude oil, which is set on the world market. if you listen to republicans argue about gasoline prices, the

record high happened in july, 2008. they never go to that benchmark. they talk about what the price of gasoline was one president obama took office. to get back to that level, we would have to get to another global recession president -- recession. president bush led us into a global recession, where the demand for oil and gas fell, and gasoline prices fell. that is not a solution, but that would be there. because that is the benchmark they use. host: brad woodhouse, communications director for the dnc. sean spicer, communications director for the rnc. here is a headline. host: let's hear from chris in florida. republicans line. good morning.

caller: the morning. you know, and a longtime republican, -- good morning. you know, i am a longtime republican. i of woken up to the allies, the smoke and mirrors that -- i have woken up to the allies, the smoke and mirrors that represents both parties. we have the welfare state that represents the left, and the warfare state that promotes -- represents the right. we will never get this country back to what it should be, a constitutional republican -- republic. host: what to do with that feeling. will you vote for? guest: my -- caller: my candidate is ron paul. guest: if we are still in the process. i would hope she would look at

all of our candidates. we will offer an alternative. the big focus on the republican side is tackling the issues americans care about most, getting this economy turned around, putting people back to work, tackling the national debt. this is not just a number. we're talking about the debt we are passing on to our kids come a livelihood they will have, the freedom they will enjoy -- addressing these big issues and putting solutions in place are what we are here to offer. hitchcock can the president will ron paul supporters -- host: can the president woo ron paul supporters? by default i think you could see ron paul support -- guest: i think you could see ron paul supporters go any way. she brings up the issue about the national debt. it would be all well and good if

the republicans were serious about reducing national debt or the deficit, but remember most of these came as a result for tax cuts they did not pay for, wars they did not pay for, and they're also not offering any solutions. if you look to paul ryan budget that governor mitt romney has endorsed, it has $4.60 trillion in tax cuts out into the future. that is not reducing the national debt governor romney is saying if we cannot afford to do it, let's not bar money from china. governor romney and paul ryan want to borrow money from china and maintain tax breaks for big oil. that is not a solution. guest: can i respond? if you want to talk about solutions, brad woodhouse admitted it reported budget on

the table that passed the house of representatives. let's look at the president's budget. 0-97. when it was introduced this year, it went down 0-114. the republicans have put a plant on the table that address the deficit. guest: it does not. it does not address the deficit or the debt. has been guest: it is not done a single vote in either chamber. guest: you just balance yours with tax cuts for the rich, and the president has a more balanced approach. that is the difference. host: let's get to the cause. we will keep the conversation going. virginia. robert. independent line. caller: a lot of people here in

the country to not have a high- school education, but they could see the writing on the wall, that all the money being spent now is a start of the bush and administration, starting wars that were not paid for. we are not going back to that. on this stuff about our grandkids paying the bills. they're not going to have money pay anything with because republicans did not want to regulate wall street or these oil companies. i hope things do not turn out like the elections did for bush. he stole it. the higher court put him in there. host: sean spicer, president george w. bush did speak yesterday. it is the first time you heard from him in a while publicly, and he talked about the tax cuts

and said he wished they were not associate with his name. what legacy does he leave, and what role he played in 2012? guest: he leaves a great legacy in job creation and what he did for the war on terror. last night, i was trying to do my taxes, and i thought the so- called bush tax cuts are expiring, and how much more i will have to pay next year because of that. i think a lot of people are looking back saying george w. bush had a strong vision for this country, and there are bumper stickers saying missing him yet? compared to what we have now, that was probably much better. the democrats had a problem when unemployment was at 4.9%,

saying bush is not tackling the economy, and now it is at 8.2%, and they're talking about how great the president is doing. host: i am so glad -- guest: i am so glad the republicans embraced the fall of 2008. that is what we got, the biggest financial collapse since the great depression. the rnc embrace that as an example to go forward. host: this from "the l.a. times ." he says he wishes the bush tax cuts did not bear his name. larry, republican. good morning. caller: been hearing in massachusetts, i voted for --

been here in massachusetts, i voted for governor romney. i regret that vote. i do not think he did much here on the bed at his residence to run for national office. a couple of points, can you imagine if the banking situation went under and we did not do anything, housing, we did not do anything -- president obama did not do anything -- president obama, could you imagine where we would be if he did not do anything? these things must be dealt with. the man be dealt with issues. host: we will leave it there.

sean spicer, our caller brought up governor romney put the record in massachusetts, and president obama dealing with the economic hand he was belt. guest: i would argue that the economic hand was one thing, but the solution he offered was not the right solution. the record speaks for himself. the accountability. there is no question about it. part of this comes down to what he said his policies were going to do. he said if you go with me, here is going to be the result, and i cannot think of one that has the right. host: in question from twitter. guest: he was just saying what is obviously true. they are in a transition from one president to another in russia. we are in the middle of a presidential election here.

there is a congress in the middle of a congressional election. there is no possibility to negotiate this in that type of environment when you have the potential of a change in government here, a change in leadership there. he was just speaking the truth. his call a special -- a question for you, -- host: question for . guest: i give brad woodhouse credit for getting the think a talking point out there. i am not here to be a governor mitt romney surrogate. when it comes to the record of creating an environment that allowed jobs to flourish, he did it. he turned around the salt lake a olympics. when it comes to his private sector experience, he has a proven record of figure it out

where problems are, turning companies around, shedding the bad part of things. guest: sharing -- shedding the bad part was workers. guest: the problem in washington is they just keep throwing money at problems and they never get fixed. we need someone to look at a problem and say something is not working. let's figure out what the goal is. let's focus on the good parts, making it work, and get rid of the bed. guest: can i address that? the salt lake city olympics -- good money after bad, the taxpayers paid for the salt lake city olympics. let's not keep throwing this issue out about who is asking for money to fix things. he took $1.3 billion.

his companies had bain capital also took bailouts from local and state governments. so, i am sure the republicans just tuning in would like to know that governor romney took $1.3 billion for the olympics. guest: the question is does he have a record of turning around? solyndra did not get turned around. that money is completely gone. the u.s. hosting the olympics -- it was a source of great national pride and it turned out fantastic. we were on the world stage and presented the united states in a fantastic way. host: larry, mississippi. democrats line. caller: the republicans have

declared war on women, the middle class, and the war, and they will defend the rich at any cost. that is effect. that is my statement. host: sean spicer? guest: i think that is kind of crazy. as i mentioned earlier, we won in 2010 from the state houses to the house of representatives because women were so committed to the republican party and thus turning around the economy. we clearly understand the importance of women. we are proud to have tremendous female leaders in the republican party from our governors, to our members of congress, to our senator. there is a point where you have to go that is just crazy pat hos -- crazy. host: this tweet --

it could you think the battle over contraceptive issues has helped or hurt the republican party and make a difference? guest: at some point, local politicians are sometimes responding to constituents, the state of the local government, and that is where they will decide whether that is positive or negative. host: there is a piece in "the washington post" today by ruth marcus. host: how'd you attract women

and people who care about families? guest: i take issue with that. has everyy's wife right to be an adviser to him. this is not about war and it should not be about war on women or about the war on middle class. an who tweeting was wrong on the facts. they have gone after a planned parenthood. it has hurt the republicans. guest: you played a clip with

the governor -- i am not here to defend governor romney. governor romney was talking about the importance of the economy and women and his concern for them in the workplace. i take issue with the assessment on this. he clearly is talking about this. rommney is annann asset that should be used -- ann romney. a family of a politician wants to be engaged, and is fine. -- that is fine. to say they want you to have the family out there -- i would rather have a family member talk

about personal attributes that we may not know rather than some wants to, d.c., circuit that is talking about talking points. host: you are the communication directors for the dnc and rnc. sean spicer from the republican national committee and brad woodhouse from the democratic national committee. [video clip] >> the real war on women -- a failure of the obama administration on the economy. do you know what% of the job losses in the obama years have been casualties of women losing jobs as opposed to men? what% of the job losses were women -- what percent were

women? 92% have been women that of lost those jobs. job losses as a result of the obama administration. a bright future for themselves, we have to elect a president who understands how the economy works, and i do. host: presidential candidate mitt romney. here's a story from yahoo! news . host: let's hear from bill in

kentucky. caller: good morning. i have been listing two presidents since harry truman and i've been teaching graduate .ath and graduate physics conditions of this country cannot be resolved by anyone president in the next few years. where we are is where we are going to stay probably for least the next 18 years. i have graduate students who cannot articulate what $1 trillion is. what makes you think anybody understands what $1 trillion is. the problem is big government. you cannot put big programs in place. it cannot put massive

intolerance in place and think there will be working the same way 40 years after you set them up. look at the population of this country. this country is too big for any one man. we have to get the private sector to start working again. then we can fund the underclass with programs. guest: this president has put a plan out there to deal with the deficit. a percentage of overall population and gdp, a low point since the 1950's. the issue of entitlements -- have not had in place the same intolerance since fdr. ronald reagan and tip o'neill

sat down and figured out a way to extend the life of social security. the president tried to do several things this summer. we do need to do with entitlements and in a balanced way. the republican approach is to cut entitlements. everybody needs to sacrifice, just seniors and not just the middle class. host: $110 million raised by the rnc. compare that to the dnc. $137 million. not terribly much more than the rnc on hand.

guest: is that number right, hand?soon guest: i will take her on that. host: i will double check those numbers. the rnc was able to turn the money situation around. guest: we had a bad couple of years. we brought in a new chairman. ande looked at our spending said what do we need and what we need to focus on. what we need to do to do the best job possible. get rid of everything that doesn't help us win the

election. talk to the donors. getwe're going to do it them on board. we have a record number of donors back into the fold. you see record numbers of donors to the rnc. what you're seeing is not just how much we are raising but how much we are putting in the bag -- bank. that is what really matters. ensure that it isa there. we've been out there in the battle ground states and we're putting social applications in place to give us the tools we need to win in november.

host: the rnc has been freed up by super pac's. they are able to do some of the front line work, to gather money together. is is changing the game? guest: the president and democrats -- we did not think that was decided directly. more robust disclosure for these groups. it could be 20 or 25 to one, the amount of spending of super pac s. i think it will help the rnc. there was a start that must have sent shock waves to the romney camp.

have to put $10 million, -- they have to put in $10 million, $50 million to senate house races that would rather be spent on the presidential. guest: the focus is, is the plan beyond the dollar ground states? -- on the battleground states. we do have a plan. host: we were talking about cash on hand. opensecret.org has those numbers. the number is more towards $21 million. you both have an equivalent amount of cash on hand.

what is the big focus right now ? you don't have to look at pennsylvania right now. hitting the president hard, spend the money and not thinking about the candidates. guest: we have been building the operation and working on voter registration and voter i.d. pennsylvania will be a big part of our operation. that focused on doing voter registration on 15 states, bringing folks together and create a volunteer network that will allow us to go door-to-door in november. we have new applications and things through facebook and twitter. getting people activated online.

there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes in getting ready for november. host: brad woodhouse. guest: we've made investments in infrastructure that they have had to delay until now. we have lower cash on hand but we're investing in social media and in our state parties. we need to have robust stay party operations to get the president reelected. we pride ourselves in believing that this campaign will be won with boots on the ground as well as ads in the air. caller: good morning. he said that the president was

distorting to campaign. democrats must think people in the country are stupid and that he has been creating jobs. it is amazing to me when i hear you represent the democratic party. you guys are going to be in for a big surprise because people are not nearly as dumb as you think we are. guest: he is just wrong. the president has not held a single campaign rally. he is doing fund-raising. republicans would love it if he did that to fundraising. of karl rove -- have karl rove spending half a billion dollars to try to defeat this president

and he is wrong on jobs. 4.1 million private-sector jobs have been created. this president is committed every single day. primary job is to try to move this country forward and has done very little campaigning. guest: the president has done 115 fundraisers as of this week. some days the entire presidential calendar is with fund-raisers. they love to talk about president bush. president bush did it 97 in his entire term. is is laughable. the speech in florida yesterday was a campaign.

host: we have a comment on twitter. supporters say that they are not motivated to vote because he is not speaking to me. guest: i did not agree with that. some people said, i might ron paul guy or i'm a nuking rich guy -- i make ron paul guy or i am a newbie to gingrich guy. guest: this is been a pathetic turn now. compton was down 28% -- wisconsin has been down 285 there is not any enthusiasm for this candidate -- wisconsin is

down 28%. guest: if you talk about enthusiasm, the president is on the ballot and he is not been president clinton where he was in a similar place in 1996 i don't think once. the voter registration is up. the republican voter registration is up. theirs is down. they want a republican back in the white house. host: how do you get people out to vote? ?ow'd you motivate people guest: i think people are motivated.

we inherited a tremendous challenges. we'll put in place in number of things to help americans. they do not believe in equal pay for equal work. we have health care reforms that are helping seniors and young people. we're happy or things are. we're leading the national polls. host: we have to leave that there. sean spicer, brad woodhouse, thank you for being here. coming up next, our wednesday spotlight on magazine series. we'll be right back.

[video clip] >> we will meet with a seventh grader. your documentary was on women's suffrage. why did you choose this topic ? >> it was important to my grandmother's mother. she was able to live through that amendment. it was still very much there in the family and in the house felt that it lived in. >> you covered some of the history. what did that help you understand about this movement? >> that help me to see what the woman had to go through and to be able to earn the right that they did.

it was that important for them back then and that they did not want that to go unnoticed. they wanted all the same rights and to be as equal as man and everybody. >> what did you learn about some of the early leaders? >> they were part of writing this amendment and they did not want to give up on that. they always kept going after their dreams, which was to be able to create a world or a country where men and women were equal. >> you mentioned your grandmother. how did your interview with her deepen your understanding on the issue? >> in me feel like i can relate -- i could help relate to her a

little more. it made me feel like i was part of where she was from, like she could not vote or mother could not vote. it may be feel like i was there and what they had to go through and how important to her and her mother it was to be able to have this right to vote. >> o was your favorite part of this process? >> i think it was interesting to learn about this amendment, and i think it was fun to see how all of my information that i put together and i created this video. it was fun to see how it came together in a video off of more than an hour worth of footage that i had. >> would like people to learn --

what would you like people to learn? >> coding is unjust ever privilege -- voting isn't just a privilege. people should learn that what the women had to go through to be able to get this right is not just going to ask somebody to allow them to vote. they had to go through many years of suffering and hard work to get to where they got to. >> thank you for talking with us today. here's a brief portion of his documentary. >> i am a citizen of this country and this culture. participate fully by voting. i feel it is my right and my

responsibility to vote. >> the amendment was drafted and was first introduced in 1878. 1919, congress submitted the amendment to the states for ratification. it was ratified a year later. >> the 19th amendment was ratified with the 36 states, which happen to beat tennessee. there were 48 states at the time. tennessee was on the spot and gave women the right to vote. >> you can watch all winning videos at studentcam.org and continue the conversation on our facebook and twitter pages. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: in recent piece in "national review" magazine, a piece about john allen. good morning and thank you for being here. does this mean that john allen is the last field commander? guest: president obama has said we will be out combat in 2014. that might come even quicker. general allen will be the last commander to make decisions in the field. host: president obama has promised to withdraw troops by 2014. isn't john allen -- what is in john allen's mind?

general allen is a troop leader. he said, i'm not above americans fighting this war anymore. i am about turning this war over to the afghans. he is focused on turning the war over to the afghan security forces. host: here is what our guest writes -- host: tell us more about who general allen is.

he is not as known as general petraeus and other leaders. guest: john allen is a marine troop commander who came from april school and was looking to go to princeton but decided he would go to the naval academy. the marines always seem to be in the thick of battle. his father and teachers fought in world war ii with great distinction. he decided he wanted to be a marine. he got caught up in leading troops and he loved it. he is intellectual. he studies problems and listens very carefully and he has no pride of authorship. he will take an idea and he

could say, we will go with your idea. is courteous -- he is courteous unless the bureaucracy take care of what a bureaucracy will take care of. he focuses on what the commander is supposed to do. he has about eight hours a week when he speaks to nobody. those hours where he is pondering these problems so he is not always getting pushed around by the staff. i have compared how he spends time at all other chief officers spent their time, it is pretty similar. he spends about half his time out in the field with his troops. the other half of time he spends

with the boards of trustees -- the congress, the president. but the difference is that insistency it is he has a little bit of time and he is thinking about the problems. host: bing west is a military analyst and served during the reagan administration. it's been a vice president of the hudson institute and joins us from providence, rhode island. .uest: basically i'm a marine a marine grunt. host: let's go to the lines. we're talking about general john allen. our guest has a piece called "

the last military commander." what does he see in terms of the parallels of american history? guest: he looks mostly at the civil war leaders and the leaders during world war ii when they did not control completely the outcome. he understands that how afghanistan turns out depends on the afghans and no longer depends upon the americans. all he can do is try to set them up. he looks to leaders in the past who had an experience where they have been trying to tell people, you can do woit. allen cannot do it with his own

troops for them. .e're not totally leaving them "can you inject into other is a feeling that they can handle the job?" host: julie from milwaukee. caller: hi. we should not be in afghanistan. host: what we do about that now? caller: it is none of our business what they do. i think we should pull out. guest: julie, we are. i get what julie is saying. i get it. we're there because we were attacked -- in new york city and

3000 americans were murdered. that's why we went to afghanistan, to get this people that are killing us. president obama said there is a limit to this. i agree with you, julie. in our first call, if i had told you or any of the listeners in 2001 that we would not be attacked again in the peanut is states of america for the next decade, none of us would have believe that -- we would not be attacked in the united states of america. we have al qaeda on the defense. we can get out most of our forces from afghanistan. we have been successful in what

we wanted to do as a country and that is to protect ourselves. host: susan writes in on twitter. line.get to that last how does general allen viewing giving control to the afghans? guest: he said there are four vectors that are going to determine the outcome. the first is the political will of the united states. afghanistan is going to need $5 billion to tender in dollars a year after 2014 -- $10 billion. then he said pakistan. pakistan is 5,000 miles along the border with afghanistan and

it is a century for the taliban. the only thing he can control is whether afghanistan has and ahmet beckham stand up and secure the country. -- whether afghanistan has a border that can stand up and secure the country. if the afghan army does not hold together, and nothing else will hold together. caller: sir, being disingenuous. -- you are being disingenuous. people were forced into war so they can bankrupt the people. that is basically what is happening right now. now we have the patriot act.

donald fagan -- these guys have been planning this for a long time. guest: well, if they can begin planning in 1920 and we are now in 2012, they are pretty old. host: rick from new york, republican. caller: i almost thought the -- but now bush czyns had orders to go in to afghanistan on september 10, the day before 9/11. bring the troops home and secure the borders here. host: ron paul has called for more of a domestic best center

policy in bringing troops home. guest: i'm not a political commentator. i have no concept of that. i spend my time on the battlefields. everybody can say, let's go home. if you're a global power and you have a global economy, no sensible person will say, let's go back home and see what happens. that would be like saying, take your economy and just have it in the united states of america. that's not how the world this. the odds of that happening is zero. host: john allen was speaking about the transition that is taking place in getting the afghan security forces up and ready.

[video clip] >> i meant what i said about transition being the linchpin of our success. the first of these was to keep up the pressure on the enemy and we have done that. missing were sharply on our efforts to grow and to develop the capabilities. better than we thought there would be at this point. the bravery and skill which they demonstrated when they attempted to quell the violence, bravery the cost them two lives and more than 60 wounded. they conduct alongside troops and often in the lead every month as we go forward.

afghan security forces on their own arrested more than 50 and killed half a dozen insurgents. over more than 20 operations, they have captured several cah ches of explosives. the police, too, have been contributing to the security in the cities and towns. host: general john allen talking about the transition. what do you make of his comments? guest: i do not know. i do not think any reasonable person knows how afghanistan is going to turn out because it depends on what happens after we

are not there. while we're there, it will be relatively stable. the ansf, afghan national security forces, are getting better. the real test is when they have to clash with the taliban without us being with them. there's a trouble dynamic that no american can understand because we're not part of those tribes. the tribe between pakistan and afghanistan and they are the taliban. they believed they should be the dominant tribe in afghanistan and they are about 30% of the population. then you have other tribes.

they are mounted into the army. a question will come -- will afghanistan go back to travel arrangements or will the army have a cohesiveness to it that causes the army would different tribes to remain in one area where the fight is against the taliban? i say we will not know until happens. the army is getting better. will it be good enough in another two years? he believes it will. host: let's hear from richard. won in hoswhat have we vietnam and in afghanistan? i think the only people that

have won anything are the defense contractors. we spend $160 million per aircraft. guest: you have covered several different subjects. defense contracting -- i do not know. i fought in vietnam as a marine. i understand quite a bit about the fighting there. vietnam was 30 years ago -- 40 years ago. you cannot coinjoin vietnam, iraq, and afghanistan. iraq -- i think we walked away too quickly from iraq.

why did two different presidents -- president obama did not want these wars the way they were fought in iraq. he said it was the good war in afghanistan. if you go back and remember how this started. it started because we were attacked. we have nothing to apologize for in defending ourselves. it is resemble that we can seem to hunt down al qaeda terrorists who want to kill us. "the there's a story in washington post" today.

host: how much to someone like general allen think about histories per trail of what happened in the war and what his obligation is to the president and to the men and women who serve over ther e? guest: secretary of defense mcnamara against the war -- i think that is a disgrace. if you did not want to stay there, do not stay as secretary of defense. i think general allen would

associate with the end of the statement, his obligation to his troops. i was asking him -- or you on this -- where are you on this? "i have a solemn obligation when i tell my commander in chief to believe that i can achieve it or come back and telling what need in order to achieve it." i think he is dead serious about that. he is not trying to achieve victory? he is trying to achieve heading off the war to the afghans. the moment of crunch will be at the end of this year, general allen said he will sit down with the white house and he will put forth his plan for how they go

forward and the president will review the option and will now in about a year from now what president obama is thinking how he will wrap this up. in the end, the president is the commander and chief of all our forces. it is not general allen. host: ron is a republican in california. caller: good morning. assuming the plan goes as planned and we do pull out of afghanistan, what are the chances that the pakistanis will support that 1500-mile border that they have? will they support what is going on with the united nations or the u.s. effort?

that is my question. thank you. guest: ron, it is extremely complex -- pakistan is playing a double game and we know it and they know it. in the end, they are not going to clean out the centaurus in the mountains on the west of the country and on the east of afghanistan. it would be too difficult to do. i did nothing their heart is into doing it. pakistan will remain amber, if you will. it will not be your friend or your enemy. the afghans have to reach some sort of the settlements that will not be able to understand

those settlements that the make among themselves. point.t's not our main our main point -- the terrorists who want to kill us. even after 2014, i think we have built up a terrific special operations force. i think the cia has done a good job in terms of the spy system. supposedly al qaeda has said no members of al qaeda can go to outside house in pakistan. they are afraid of us being able to see them from overhead and striking them. i think we will continue to be on the offense against those who are most dangerous to us even

when we continue to have a mess in afghanistan and pakistan. there are limits to our power. i think we're doing a good job and will continue to, the one pakistan remains not quite our friend or enemy. host: we have a comment on twitter. our guest is bing west, military analyst perry he was the assistant defense secretary in the reagan administration. he was vice president of the hudson institute. we're talking about a story in "national review," looking at general john allen. he talked about advisers and the key role that advisers are

playing are going to play in afghanistan. you write this -- guest: yeah. i've made about six dozen trips to iraq and afghanistan -- about two dozen trips. i did not spend time in headquarters. i was an adviser in vietnam in a small village with a dozen

marines. the biggest issue is that the americans bring cunning battlefield. there. pretty clever out bring fire support, medical evacuation, a willingness to fight. afghans, they are fighters. what we do not have control of are the leaders of the afghan army. we're over there fighting but we cannot say who should be promoted in their army and who should be fired for being an incumbent officer. it is all mixed up. he did not have direct authority to say, you have to get rid of that leader because he is not a good leader.

things are getting better. i believe that's after 2014, we will need 4,000 advisers in the field. when people say we're getting out of combat, the president has not define that yeah. they believe we will keep a residual force to be anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 troops after 2014 and some of them will still be in combat. host: let's hear from chris. caller: i want to thank you for your service to our country. we appreciate what you've done with your life. we say we attacked afghanistan

because they attacked us. that is not true. george w. bush is a war among mongerer. lead to put the squirrelly on george w. bush -- we need to put this squarely on george w. bush. host: what would you prefer have happened? caller: we could get used military strikes against al qaeda. we did not have to go into afghanistan to achieve our goals. guest: ok, chris, but you would have attacked al qaeda, way or another. i have not been kind enough books to president bush for different reasons.

president bush was quite sure years ago. president obama has been the president for four years. he stayed and he increased the number of troops. transcends democrats and republicans. common sense tells us that if this were not a republican in the white house, he would be getting much more criticism than president obama is from the democratic party. we are in this together, a democrat anan gether.cand to gath graduate get out over the next two years --gradually get out over the next two years. general allen is the right man

to do this. host: let's let us some numbers from operations in during freedom. these are the deaths and casualties. 100 host: how much do these numbers of fact or inspire at general allen? guest: i think i've seen him do a couple of things that i thought were terrific in terms of going back and looking at records that others have overlooked and recommend the people, including recommending a captain for the medal of honor that was richly deserved when he had been overlooked for two years. allen watches out for its

troops. it really gets to me. i get to know these men and .omen when i'm out there i see them killed or amputated. i want out of there as fast as possible and of the afghans fight their own fight. we have to do this in a prudent way. we cannot get too hung up the defects of maliki or karzai and the afghan politics. we have to keep a larger perspective that those who have died did not die in vain. if i had said to anybody in 2001 that 10 years later there would not have been another attack on the united states, most of you

would say that you're wrong. we did take the war on offensively to al qaeda. we are safer today than we were in 2001 and we're on our way to crushing al qaeda. i think overall that would have done a successful job with our military. host: you talk about how general allen is not talking in terms of winning a war. is magic for success is a little different -- is metric for success -- his metric for success is a little different. what will be the signs that it worked? guest: if it did not work, you have a radical government come to power again in afghanistan,

in kabul and support al qaeda the way the taliban did in 2001. i would give that a low probability. could you have continued chaos -- be like colombia in south america where they have been battling for 30 years and continue to battle, then yes. i will not be here 20 or 25 years from now. if i got wrong, i got it wrong. what do we care? there is fighting all around the world. can we live with different tribes in afghanistan fighting each other? sure.

i don't know what it looks like 20 or 25 years from now so i will cite it will probably be shooting each other. but as long as we are not i'm willing for them to shoot each other. host: we have a comment on twitter. respond in terms of what we're leaving behind. walk us through that. guest: we still have some troops in germany. we have troops in japan. we have embassies in 144 countries. the measure cannot be whether or not you still have some troops somewhere. a global power will have troops

in different places. question is the stability and that they are not involved in combat day after day. i believe the residual force in 2015 will still be involved in combat. i do not know when that will end. there is some misperceptions about whether we have worn out our force. in 2006, with the bottom in terms of wearing out are forced. we have many more volunteers than there are spaces. i can imagine you would have anywhere from 10,000 to 3000 americans left in afghanistan after 2014 -- 10,000 to 30,000

americans. host: 1 final tweet. it talks about how general allen is talking about the long-range in afghanistan. guest: well, we have not been defeated. wherever we go, first units that are pulling out is down in helmand. marie is when there and said -- the marines went in there and said nobody can do anything with helmand. they have wrapped up the mission. we can do those kind of things. wherever we go, we dominate in afghanistan today. afghanistan today.