the social good. it is cultural. college interns learn from the students. it is difficult, intentional. you learn from the journal. it gives you an opportunity to share the dream. >> some of them are becoming better writers along the way. >> offered to help us out in

the beginning stages of moving out. prime movers, we would not be where we are today. >> what is the responsibility of journalism and explain the role of super packs. >> it has changed politics in this country in ways we have yet to figure out. >> prime movers is a fantastic program that gives us the chance to connect with talented promising students and ask them how many want to work in journalism. almost all of them raise their hands. >> it helps them understand what it means to be a citizen and what it means to have the right of the first amendment, what freedom of the press means. these are life-changing experiences. >> so many of these kids are at a k-rod rhodes between progress and danger. >> growing up in d.c., it is

hard growing up here. down the street and everywhere you could go is a bad choice. school is a good chase. when you are in there and the righters teaching you and having your -- the right teachers teaching you and having your back. that is when you are going to do well. >> hi! >> hi! >> come on in. >> without prime movers, i wouldn't be here right now. hats off to the program. >> it is important that kids have access to programs like this. this is a program that really works, and it really has a big impact on a student's life. >> it was inspiring to see someone not that much older than me sitting behind a desk at the white house and doing what they want and love to do. >> oh, my goodness. we were really close to the

oval office, and there was just a guy standing between me and that door. >> maybe one dayic work in the white house, or just be a journalism. >> the leader of the free world is literally 150 feet from this point. this is the west wing, the heartbeat not just of this nation, but the world. >> so often our paths don't cross with people who live a few miles from us. prime movers media gives us a chance to learn from each other and be inspired by each other. everyone wins. >> many kids in this program are faced with tough choices. we want them to make the right choice. prime movers media helps them make the right choice. [applause] >> please join me in welcoming david gregory, host of nbc's

"meet the press." >> i will straddle. good evening, everyone. it is great to see you. it is hard to see what an incident dinner this is. it is an honor to present the awards. the edgar a. powe awards honors articles.

an award of $25,000 was established. the 2012 winners are correspondents from the associated press. [applause] >> again, i am not going to move it. the smith memorial award for excellence in presidential news

coverage under deadline pressure, originated in 1970 in memory of mearm smith -- merriman smith. that is getting into bill plant territory. the award for 2012 in the print category goes to glen t-plush, khary, manu and john of "politico". [applause]

>> and the $2500 award in the broadcast category goes to jake topper of abc news. [cheers and applause]

>> are we ready? the aldo beckman award. it recognizes the corporate who personifies the journalistic qualities of aldo beckman, correspondent for the "chicago tribune". the award was established in 1981 and will give a prize of $1,000. this year the award goes to scott wilson of the "washington post." [applause]

>> thank you, david. and congratulations to the winners of the 2012 white house correspondents association awards. [applause] >> this year marks the 98th anniversary of the white house correspondents' association. this dinner is known for its red carpet, movie stars and high profile news makers. but it is the journalists who

cover the white house day in and day out who are at the core of the correspondents' association, and i would like to take a minute to recognize their hard work. with social media and blogging, the white house beat has become a 24/7 operation like never before. reporters, photographers and producers log long hours in pool advance, in the briefing room and on the road with the president. they are fulfilling an important mission. please give them a big round of applause. [applause] now, ladies and gentlemen, before i introduce the president, i would like to make a few acknowledgements. i would like to think reuters for giving me the incredible privilege of covering the white house and being a part of the 2008 campaign team.

[applause] i'm so glad my family is here, and i would like to thank them for all of their support. [applause] and i would like to recognize the journalists up here on this stage who serve on the white house correspondents' association board with me. you have done fabulous work on behalf of our members, and i have been so proud to work alongside you. [applause] finally, i would like to thank a woman whose professionalism and grace under pressure are the reasons for this dinner's success. this is julia's 20th year as executive director of the correspondents' association. [cheers and applause] she brings warmth and finesse to an incredibly difficult job,

and i have learned so much from her. please give julia a big round of applause. [applause] it has been a tradition of the correspondents' association to offer a toast to the president of the united states. i would like to include first lady michelle obama in this toast. [applause] the president is a busy man. last year on the weekend of the correspondents' dinner, he was especially busy. [cheers and applause]

but he still found time to come to our dinner. so we appreciate his presence here tonight, and we appreciate the first lady making time to be here, too. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please raise a glass to president barack obama and first lady michelle obama. [cheers and applause] thank you.

>> could someone back there please turn off the president's milk dq mic. >> great, i have got to get warmed up. i'm so in love -- god, i totally had that. seriously, guys, what am i doing here? i am the president of the united states, and i am opening for jimmy kimmel? i have the nuclear codes? why am i telling knock-knock jokes to kim kardashian? why is she famous anyway? that's it. next year we send mike. no, you are right. that is way too risky. wow, look at my hair. i really went gray. do you think anybody would notice if i just went a little darker? right now i am like a five on the just for men scale.

i could make it go to six and nobody would notice. is the teleprompter working? are you kidding? what do you expect me to do out there? i literally have no idea what i am saying tonight. man, i could really use a cigarette right now. ok, ok, i'm going god forbid we keep chuck todd and the chast of "glee" waiting. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of the united states. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. good evening, everybody. good evening. i could not be more thrilled to be here tonight at the white house correspondents' dinner.

[laughter] this is a great crowd. they are already laughing. terrific. chuck todd, love you, brother. [laughter] i am delighted to see some of the cast members of "glee" are here, and jimmy kimmel. it's and honor, man. [laughter] what's so funny? fellow americans, we gather during an historic anniversary. last year at this time, in fact on this very weekend we finally delivered justice to one of the world's most notorious individuals. [cheers and applause]

>> now this year we gather in the midst of a heated election season. and i am told i should never miss a chance to reintroduce myself to the american people. so tonight this is how i would like to begin. my name is barack obama. my mother was born in kansas. my father was born in kenya, and i was born of course in hawaii. [applause] in 2009 i took office in the face of some enormous challenges. now some have said i blame too many problems on my

predecessor. let's not forget that was a practice initiated by george w. bush. [laughter] since then, congress and i have certainly had our differences, and i have tried to be civil, to not take any cheap shots. and that's why i want to especially thank all the members who took a break from their exhausting schedule of not passing any laws to be here tonight. [applause] [laughter] >> despite many obstacles, much has changed during my time in office. four years ago i was locked in a brutal primary battle with hillary clinton. four years later she won't stop

drunk texting me from cartegena . [laughter] >> four years ago i was a washington outsider. four years later, i am at this dinner. four years ago, i looked like this. today i look like this. [laughter] and four years from now, i will look like this. [laughter] that is not even funny. [laughter]

anyway, it is great to be here this evening in the vast magnificent hilton ballroom, or what mitt romney would call a little fixer-upper. [laughter] i mean look at this party. we have men in tuxes, women in gowns, fine wine, first place entertainment. i was relieved to learn this was not a g.s.a. conference. [laughter] not even a mind reader knew what they were thinking. [laughter] of course the white house correspondents' dinner is known

as the prom of washington, d.c., a term coined by political reporters who clearly never had the chance to go to a national prom. [applause] our chaperone for the evening is jimmy kimmel. [cheers and applause] who is perfect for the job since most of tonight's audience is in his key dempster graphic, people who fall asleep during night line. [laughter] >> jimmy got his start years ago on the man show. in washington that is what we call a congressional hearing on contraception. [cheers and applause]

plenty of journalists are here tonight. i would be remiss if i didn't congratulate the "huffington post" on their pulitzer prize. you deserved it. there is no one else out there linking to the kind of hard-hitting journalism that huff-po is linking to every day. give them a round of applause. it is a great business model. you don't pay for it. [laughter] even sarah palin is getting back into the game, guest hosting on the today show. which reminds me of an old saying. what is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? a pit bull is delicious. [laughter]

now, i know at this point many of you are expecting me to go after my likely opponent, newt gingrich. [laughter] >> newt, there's still time, man. [laughter] but i'm not going to do that. i am not going to attack any of the republican candidates. take mitt romney. he and i actually have a lot in common. we think of our wives as our better halves, and polls show to an alarmingly insulting

extent the american people agree. [laughter] we also both have degrees from harvard. i have one. he has two. what a snob. [laughter] of course we have also had our differences. recently his campaign criticized me for slow-jamming the news with jimmy fallon. in fact, i understand governor romney was so incensed, he asked his staff if he could get some equal time on the merv griffin inshow. [laughter]

still i guess governor romney is feeling pretty good about things, because he took a few hours off the other day to see "the hunger games." some of you have seen it. it's a movie about people who court wealthy sponsors and then brutally savage each other until only one is left standing. i am sure that was a great change of pace for him. [laughter] i have not seen the hunger games. not enough class warfare for me. [laughter] of course i know everybody is predicting a nasty election, and thankfully we have all agreed that families are off limits. dogs, however, are i apparently fair game. [laughter] >> and while both campaigns have had some fun with this, the other day i saw a new ad

from one of these outside groups that frankly i think crossed the line. i know governor romney says he has no control over what his super packs do. can we show the ad real quick? >> back in 1983 you took your irish setter on a 12 hoyer road trip. >> he climbed up there regularly and enjoyed himself. he liked it a lot better in his kennel than he would have liked it inside. >> finally, a candidate ready to fight for a dog's right to feel the wind in his fur? what about barack obama? under his leadership, man's best frept has been forced into control-controled automobiles. just think about the animal socialism he has planned for the next four years. more government hand outs. a life of government

dependency. indoctrinating our children. a left-wing social agenda, leading from behind. ♪ >> america's dogs can't afford four more years of obama. for them that is 28 years. our dogs need leadership now. this guy. and that's why we need to join mitt romney in sending a message this november. i am an american, and dog gonnit, i ride outside. [laughter] >> that are is it pretty rough. [laughter] but i can take it. my stepfather always told me it is a boy-eat-dog world out

there. [laughter] now, if i do win a second term as president, let me just say something to all the -- let me say something to all of my conspiracy-oriented friend on the right who think i am planning to unleash some secret agenda. you're absolutely right. [laughter] allow me to close with a quick preview of the secret agenda you can expect in a second obama administration. in my first term i sangal green. there my second time -- term i am going with young jeezy. michelle said yeah. i sing that to her sometimes. [laughter]

in my first term we ended the war in iraq. in my second term, i will win the war on christmas. [laughter] in my first term we repealed the policy nope as don't ask, don't tell. [applause] wait, though. in my second term we will replace it with a policy known as it's raining men. [laughter] in my first term we passed health care reform. in my second term, i guess i will pass it again. [laughter]

i do want to end tonight on a slightly more serious note. whoever takes the oath of office next january will face some great challenges. but he will also inherit traditions that make us greater than the challenges we face. one of those traditions is represented here tonight. a free press that isn't afraid to ask questions, to examine and to criticize. and in service to that mission, all of you make sacrifices. tonight we remember journalists such as anthony shadid, and marie colgan. [applause] who made the ultimate sacrifice. they sought to shine a light on some of the most important stories of our time. whether you are a blogger or a broadcaster, whether you take on powerful interests here at home or put yourself in harm's

way overseas, i have the greatest respect and admiration for what you do. i know sometimes you like to give me a hard time, and i certainly like to return the favor. but i never forget that our country depends on you. you help protect our freedom, our democracy, and our way of life. and just to set the record straight, i really don't -- really do enjoy attending these dinners. i had a lot more prepared, but i have to get the secret service home in time for their new curfew. thank you very much, everybody. [applause]

>> hi, i'm jimmy kimmel. thank you. before i begin my presentation tonight, i have put something special together. this is something i do on my show every week. we pitch in by helping the f.c.c. keep things squeaky clean. please enjoy a special white house correspondents association dinner version of this week in unnecessary censorship. >> good afternoon. . i have told leaders of both parties that they must come up with a fair compromise in the next new days that can pat, and a [beep] that i can [beep]. >> president obama says it is [beep] kicking time. >> it is sort of line children

trying to beem unicorns. >> i have [beep] with homosexuals since 168. >> i am a regular guy. >> i like being able to [beep] services. >> are you not getting enough [beep], you and the administration? >> look, these are gigantic packages. >> i understand what pork barrel politics is all about. i [beep], your [beep], you [beep] mine. >> that was a great interview. >> even though you touched [beep]. >> she is not the only person i have [beep]. i have [beep] a lot of people. yes, she happened to be female. >> i promise you the president has a big [beep]. i promise you. >> the irish prime minister he was crazy. he was introducing the president. >> we campaigned the whole day. when i saw him, i asked are you [beep] up. i said i am ready to go.

here is the thing. after about a minute or two, i am starting to feel kind of [beep] up. [applause] >> and now, i would like to introduce a comedian who i think will be a particular hit with the journalists in this room. jimmy kimmel is known in the world of comedy not only for his sense of humor bus for his work ethic and tenacity. for those of us familiar with the ups and downs of the media business, what's not to like about a guy who has been fired from four radio stations. [laughter] ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce jimmy kimmel, host of abc's "jimmy kimmel live." [cheers and applause]

>> well, thank you, good evening ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, mr. president, shalom. it is wonderful to be here. they told me this would be a very high profile event with some of the most powerful people in the world. they did not tell me i would be looking directly into ersan ilyasova -- sofia's cleavage. this is what people look like in colombia. what do you expect the secret service to do. mr. president, i know you won't be able to laugh at any of my jokes about the secret service, so cover your ears for that is physically possible. [laughter] i do have a lot of jokes about the secret service. i told them for $800 i wouldn't tell them, but they only offered $30.

[laughter] i am happy to see that congress is taking this very seriously. david vitter went so far as to fly down to colombia to investigate this personally. [laughter] >> i will tell you what, i know the administration has been cracking down. if this had happened on president clinton's watch, you can bet the agents would have been disciplined with a serious high five. palmts would be beat red. if anybody has tickets for the g.s.a. after party, the plane is leaving for dubai on the dot. don't be late or you will miss out on your complimentary white tiger cub. president obama wanted to move the dinner to the kennedy center this year, but the republicans wanted to keep it at the hilton. so they compromised, and here

we are at the hilton. [laughter] >> i am staying at the hotel, and i will be honest. it isn't great. i had to change rooms last night because there was a huge leak in the room above me. i guess peter left his mouth on. he told me you guys would like that one. he told me a lot of stuff. [laughter] but it is and honor to be here. if you told me as a kid i would be sitting on the same stage as president barack obama, i would have said the president's anytime is barack obama? mr. president remember when the country rallied around you in homes of a better tomorrow? that was hilarious. that was your best one yet. [laughter] but honestly it is a thrill for me to be here with the president, a man who i think has done his best to guide us

through some very difficult times and paid a heavy price for it. there is a term for guys like president obama, probably not two terms, but there is. [laughter] even some of your fellow democrats think you are a push over, mr. president. they would like to see you stick to your guns, and if you don't have any guns, they would like eric holder to get some foe you. jay wrote that. it is kind of hard to be funny with the president of the united states sitting right next to you looking. and yet day in and day out joe biden mansion to do it. [laughter] i wish he was here. i wish he was here so he could sit behind me and fake clap like he does during the state of the union address. are you enjoying this? is this fun for you? this is the first meal he has

had in months. you are very skinny. i felt weird about eating dessert. i left it untouched. the real reason people thought you were from kenya had nothing to do with your birth certificate. it is because you lot so much weight, we thought you were the guy who won the boston marathon. this is how you know our country is in bad shape. our president is starving. north korea is sending him food aid. i had the opportunity to sit next to the first lady tonight. she is very, very nice. no matter what side of the fence you are on, you have to admit she has done a lot of good work. she just wants us to be healthy. ms. obama, i thank you for that. look, it is chris cristie, get him! [laughter] you know, they say that inside

every american governor is a president struggling to get out. in chris mckendryity's case, he is the only one where you can still hear him screaming. you may be misunderstanding the slate slogan. it is not the olive garden state. the first lady is right. you can tell how out of shape we are by how we protest. we used to march. now we occupy. a quick congratulations to the occupy protestors. it took months and months of oil and hacky sack, but finally, wall street isn't greedy anymore. congratulations. white house press secretary jay carney is here. he is not only press secretary, you also know him as the white guy from every lens crafter's

commercials. for those of you who aren't familiar with this story, ken, lindsey, et cetera, hillary rosen is the person who said they never worked. her name appeared on the white house visitor log 35 times. so when reporters asked jay why her name showed up 35 times, this is where it gets hilarious. he said he wasn't sure it was the same hillary rosen. he said i personally know three hillary rosens. he knows three? [laughter] where did all of these hillary rosens come from? did you pick them in the hillary rosen garden? [laughter] i bet you $10,000 you don't

know three hillary rosens, but i am not running for president. three hillary's. that sound like president clinton's worst nightmare. is that slut rush limbaugh here. there is a reason mr. limbaugh said what he said, and that reason is percoset. [laughter] and by the way, just to clear things up for the extreme right-wingers. here is the difference between bill maher and rush limbaugh. the people who watch bill maher know he is an ass-hole. [laughter] this is my first time here. every news organization has its own table. scripts is here, thank god, in case a spelling bee breeks out. we have numerous members of the print media in attendance. what is black, white and red

all over? nothing anymore. [laughter] really. the christie jokes are ok, but no? [laughter] >> where are the c.n.n. stibles? are they real tables or virtual tables. they have the magic wall this year. they had the hologram four years ago. with all their technical wizardry, they still haven't figured out a way to make james carville look less like a hairless boiled cat. chris matthews of msnbc wrote an autobiography. i actually have my own theory about lincoln's death. i don't think it was an

assassination. i believe that abraham lincoln had a vision about what the republican party would become in 150 years, and he shot himself. [laughter] >> is the fox table laughing, or did are you period of time murdock hack into all my jokes already? some people think rupert murdock was trying to look confused. the man is 81 years old. he paid $580 million for myspace. clearly he knows nothing about technology. [laughter] knox news is the grumpy old man of cable. loud, stubborn, a little bit out of touch with reality, just had a mole removed. is the fox mole here by the way? i would like to take a moment to salute the fox mole. were it not for his brave sacrifice, the world may never

have known that the fox bathrooms wereover to. as a result of all the success fox news has had, msnbc has moved a bit to the left of hugo chavez lately. msnbc has a very big star in rachel maddow. she still manages to find time to cut her own hair. [laughter] the rachel was a very different hair style when others had it. women, nag, nag, nag. you know. they are -- there are a lot of big celebrities here.

uggie is a dog. he can roll over on command. he is a democrat. [laughter] i have some viciedo. if mitt romney ever invites you to go for a ride, call shotgun. and if the president tries butter you, run. we learn that the president's two favorite steaks are ribeye and seeing eye. you don't have to reveal everything in an auto biography. when you go to a dog park, is it the same as when we look at a tang full of lobsters? the president was candid in an interview in the atlantic a couple of weeks ago when he called kanye west a jackass. which, no offense, sir, i think you got the wrong west. i think you meant allen. clooney clooney is here tonight. tomorrow he is set to appear before allen west.

george is hosting a fundraiser event for the obama campaign. for $3 you can enter a raffle, and the winner gets to have dinner with the president at george clooney's house. i have always dreamed of eating a hot pocket with the president and batman. you can win dinner with george himself if you are a 6'1" blonde with a perfect body. where is sully sullen berger. would you do us a favor? would you mind driving lindsey lohan home? make sure you don't run into a goose, especially a grey goose. [laughter] >> george stepanek -- george is riding -- well, high maybe isn't the word.

let's say he is very pleased. 16 years is a long time. 16 years ago there was no facebook, no google, and a tweet was something barbara walters gave her dog. [laughter] this is really incredible. what a collection of people. here in one room we have members of the media, politicians, corporate execities, advertisers, lobby his and celebrities. everything that is wrong with america is here in this room tonight. [laughter] unfortunately, the specker of the house, john boener, isn't. apparently yours aren't the only dinner invitations he declines. he is afraid someone will ask him to pass the salt and he wouldn't have the votes. this boehner feud fascinates me. as most of you know, it started during the debt ceiling negotiations when they couldn't agree on the wording of the ran some note, and it went downhill

from there. the reason speaker boehner smokes so many cigarettes is he tears keep putting them out. minority leader nancy pelosi is not here. she believes in lipstick the same way she believes in government. too much is never enough. jay also wrote that one. i have been having a lot of fun here in washington. it is a great city with all the history and monuments. i was at the lincoln memorial last night. i was standing there in awe a saying wow back in the 60's on this very spot, forest gump reunited with jenny. the people are interesting, too. it is fun to have conversations with people who are so passionate about politics. i talked to a guy who was a huge supporter of obama care and a guy who says it is a disaster and should be killed immediately. it was interesting because i had never met mitt romney

before. mitt romney he is the inevitable republican candidate for president. they picked him out of a land's end catalog. some people say mitt romney won't be elected president because he is mormon. this country is more open-minded than that. we elected an african-american president. we would absolutely elect a mormon president, just not mitt romney. stevie wonder just said we elected an african-american president? we heard eric compare the romney campaign to a etch a sketch. i think rooster. one foot on red, the other on blue and both hands on green. you can't have a beer with him because he doesn't drink. you can't have a cup of coffee with him because he can't have caffeine. you can't play monopoly with him because he keeps trying to put the dog on the car.

if you are a republican, there isn't much of a choice. rick santorum is out. it wasn't rick's year. rick's year is 1954. [laughter] it is one thing to oppose gay marriage. it is another all together to do it in a sweater vest. [laughter] >> in the end, rick santorum may not have won the nomination, but he succeeded in getting his message out to people all a-flat the world. ron paul looks like the guy who gets unhooded at the end of every scooby-doo episode. [laughter] it's great to see the gingriches here tonight because i guess that means the check cleared. [laughter] newt, i have a question. how can you be against gay

marriage when you yourself are the son of two gay parents? the michigan lin man and the stay puff marshmallow man. when you think about it, aren't all marriages gay? as a man you are saying i will never touch another woman as long as i live. now let's put jewelry on each other and dance. not that it is any of my business, mr. gingrich, but why are you waiting until tuesday to get out. it is time to mitt or get off the pot. the president agreed to a super pack, which initially vice president biden was excited about until he found out it wasn't chips. let's get rid of super committees. they are to committees what super cuts is to cuts. it is time for the fun part of

the evening. i would like everyone to look under your seats. under each one, you will find a copy of keith keith olbermann's resume. is he there? limo wouldn't pick him up? the thing about keith is he is so likable. al gore launched current tv in 2005, and it took off like a north korean rocket. i didn't even know current tv was still on the air, but then again i don't get channel a million. keith olbermann burned more bridges and the arsonnists of madison county. he has more pink slips than marcus ibakaman. too soon? [laughter] if you are not familiar, he place cameron on the show mad earn family. where are you marcus? oh, there he is. [cheers and applause]

>> i do have one question for you, mr. president. what is with the marijuana crack down? what is the concern? we will deplete the nation's fun yum supply. >> pot smoker vote, too. sometimes a week after the election, but they vote. let's take a quick poll. i would like everyone in this room to raise your hand if you have never smoked pot. [laughter] there you go. look at britt huhm. he is high right now. he is on his fourth almond macarroon. the fact that you believe speaker boehner when he tells you he still has control of his party leads me to believe you have been smoking some crazy weed yourself. last year at this dinner, president obama had his team on the way to kill osama bin laden. so who will it be this year?

[laughter] if you are looking for the biggest threat to america right now, she is right there. her name is kim kardashian. she was captured by greta and brought right to your doorstep. when you took office, the kardashians had one reality show. now they have four. this is not a good trend. right now navy seal team six is outside the kardashian compound in beverly hills disguised as the denver nuggets so they could sneak in undetected. [laughter] i have a question. who are these people who think it would be a good idea to attack iran? i hear people say bomb them, nuke them, do it now. they are a bunch of yahoo as. and netanyahus. there is only one way to have peace for them. instead of focusing on their

differences, they should focus on the things they have in common. he is funny, athletic, has a beautiful singing voice. he is devoted to his family. even with all of his responsibilities, he still find time to go to his kid's soccer games and move the goal posts, and i think that is commendable. he wants everyone in america to have health care whether we want it or not. i think i figured it out. you are not from kenya. it's enworse. you are from canada. this health care reform thing has a lot of people angry. there seems to be a lot of anger in general. ladies and gentlemen, if i can get so serious for a moment, i believe if we are going to overcome our problems, we have to do it together. this is a land of liberty and justice for all. it doesn't matter if you are black while president obama, or white like president obama, or

red like president obama's agenda, or orange like speaker boehner, america is and will always be as a great man once put it, a place where a man is judged not by the color of his skin but rather by the number of his twitter followers. it has been an honor for me to be here before so many members of the washington and national media. you are here tonight because as journalists you care about freedom, free speech, a free press and most importantly, free dinner. [laughter] some people say journalism is in deadline. they have say you have become too politicized, too focused on sensationalism, that you no longer inform americans. i don't have a joke for this. i am just letting you know what some people say. [laughter] it really has been an honor to be here tonight. i want to thank caren for inviting me and jay no writing

the jokes you didn't like. i want to thank my high school history team who said i would never amount to anything if i kept screwing around in class. mr. mills, i am about to high- five the president of the united states. thank you, everybody. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce the next president of the white house correspondents association, ed henry of fox news.

[applause] >> thank you, everyone. i know i am standing between the president getting home and all of you getting to the parties, so i will be brief even though i am the vice president of this organization. just kidding. i respect the vice president, i respect the president. people always ask me what is the relationship like now that you are at fox with the president? i say it is great except that one time a couple of months ago. i got really excited around christmas when the holiday card came from the first family. i looked at the envelope, and it said, to whom it may concern. [laughter] i said really? but seriously all i want to say is thank you, mr. president, for showing our profession respect of being here. i want to thank the first lady for being here as well. you have honored us here with your presence every year the president has been in office. i want to thank two other lady.

julie, who is also celebrating a birthday this week. [applause] my first lady, shirley, who is here. [applause] and finally, this dinner would be nothing without caren bohan. [applause] >> who is not just a wonderful journalist, but a wonderful human being. i am honored to follow her. i have a gavel to give you. [applause] >> ed will escort the president and mrs. obama off stage. please remain in your seats until the president and first lady have departed. thank you for coming and have a great evening. [applause] [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> on news makers, the post master general discusses options for restructuring the national mail system, which is

losing $20 million a day. he needs to cut $22 billion in operating costs by 2016. news makers, sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> here we go. welcome aboard, everybody. beautiful downtown oklahoma city. my name is captain rookie. i love in oklahoma. >> we complore the history and literary culture of oklahoma city, including the works of gal lea. >> the most important part of the book was on motion. the pope was angry that galileo had broken his promise to treat it hypothetically. the result was his trial. this is a copy that contains his own handwriting. so this is like being able to look over his shoulder in the

months leading up to his trial. all next weekend, the local content vehicles in oklahoma city on c-span-2's "book tv" and american history tv. >> one event held the same weekend as the correspondents' dibber is the correspondents' garden brunch. it is a fundraiser for two charities, cure epilepsy and the white ribbon alliance. this year it was held at the home of businessman and philanthropist mark ian in georgetown. this is about 20 minutes.

>> hello, steve. >> how many dinners have attended so far? >> four or five. >> do you like them? >> yes, they are fun. you get to catch up with people. >> is this year going to be different for you because of your own celebrity star power is different this yearlast year? >> i don't know that i have any. take your pick.

>> good morning, everybody. welcome. >> how are you? >> i am perfect. [inaudible] >> good morning. >> how are you? >> do you want to do some photoos? >> hi, how are you?

good to see you. >> ok. >> hi. >> are you cold? >> a little bit. i have a jacket. [inaudible]

>> what do you think this weekend means for washington? >> there are lot of people here. there are a lot of kids that are helped. >> have you done a bunch of these in the past? >> no. actually this is relatively flew for me. i have a youth town hall meeting. [inaudible]

>> hi, there, christina wilson. have you been to these before? >> we have been to a correspondents' dinner before. >> c-span. >> did you see my date? >> "politico." >> one of the most important men in washington.

>> not true, but thank you. >> hi there, . i am christina wilson. >> nice to meet you. >> you have been to this dinner

before? >> i have been to this. this is one of my favorite weekends. >> so you like coming to d.c.? >> this is my other home and way from home. >> is this like your fourth or fifth dinner? >> i love to come out. it might be my fourth or fifth, yeah. >> were you a part of things last night? >> i was. this doesn't compare. >> thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> this is for l.a. and for washington.

>> we are not used to celebrities here.

[inaudible] >> what is this weekend about to you? >> we have spent the last two days traipsing around the hill and the white house talking about the arts, particularly the national council on the arts. >> has it been going well? >> it has been going surprisingly well. i think if nothing else, we have successfully confused any sort of partisanship in

supporting the arts. >> how are you? >> look at you. you look really great. >> let's get a photo. >> ok.

>> we would like to talk to you for a minute. we are live and streaming. >> this is an inside job. i should be on the other side of the camera. ask me a question. >> all right. this is what, your 10th dinner? >> you don't want to know how many dinners i have been to. i guess you do. i have been to like every one since the beginning of time. how do i keep them fresh? i was realizing today that we are busy. everybody is busy working. people who are here work pretty hard, and they don't get to see each other much, and they don't talk to each other on the phone anymore because nobody does. at best they e-mail, tweet or whatever. it sound paradoxical and easy to dismiss, but you actually

have a chance to spend five minutes in real personal non-political conversation with them. >> well, yes and no. you put the politics aside. you can take the temperature of what the world refers to as things here. there is business that goes on in terms of lobbying and sort of industry image projection. last night google had a party, and i don't know that google or any of the other big red players have done that before. i don't think so. they helped introduce that party. that is a statement by eric schmidt of google and probably the other big internet players who are of course in a gigantic

battle with hollywood, the music industry and everybody over copyright protection on the internet. so there are those kind of agendas that are underneath some of the parties that are happening. >> thank you. >> your welcome. >> i would like to tell you guys, especially in the back, a story. i would like to tell you a story about a mom who 30 years ago took her newborn baby home. their first child, a girl with a smile and eyes like her mom. after this mom embraced the child for seven months, the child had a seizure, and another seizure, and they did not stop. and the doctors said well, there is nothing that can be done. and the seizures went on for 20 years. that is the pain of a parent,

and i can't imagine a greater one. there's a disease in this country that kills as many people as breast cancer. there's a disease that affects as many people as alzheimer's, and muscular dystrophy, and cerebral palsy combined, and we don't talk about it much. it sits silently without a lot of support. i said at first that a lot of us are indistinguishable here, but in a wonderful way some of us are not. some of us are braver, stronger and have bigger engines in their hearts. one mom, the one we are talking about today, said the world didn't have to be this way. out of her sorrow, she lifted herself up and said this is going to change. and so they got some parent like herself around a kitchen table and started an organization called cure,

citizens united for research in epilepsy. what started there has become a powerful force that has transformed research in epilepsy, has raised the level of awareness and support and what is being done now. 2/3 of the people who are afflicted with epilepsy now here do now find relief. >> we get to vote.

>> tomorrow on "washington journal," retired currently cedric, a cyber security consultant talks about the security beal bill that passed the house. then the role and effective of the united nations is discussed. and thomas neil looks at the role of the 12th amendment in creating the electoral college which lengths the president of the united states every four years. "washington journal," life at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> born in a north korean world camp, it is the only world he has ever known. he is also the only one to ever escape from camp 14. >> his first memory at the age of around 4 was going with his mom to a place near where he grew up in the camp to watch somebody get shot. public executions in the camp

were held every few weeks, and they were a way of punishing people who violated camp rules and of terrorizing the 20,000 to 40,000 people who lived in the camp to obey the rules from then on. >> sunday, author blaine harden on "q & a." and may 6, look for our "q & a" interview with robert caro. >> on wednesday congress paid tribute to the late representative donald payne. congressman payne passed away march 6 at 77 from colon cancer. he represented new jersey for more than two decades.

he dedicated his life to serving others without expecting anything in return. this is just over an hour.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. good morning and welcome to the old hall of the house. i want to thank all of you for joining us to celebrate the life of the honorable donald m. payne, representative of the state of new jersey. with us today are members of representative payne's family as well as clieges and friend, all gathered just steps from the chamber where he served with great distinction. just as the body -- the house is the body that is closest to the people, it is the body of people who are close-knit. the loss of one is felt by all. this is particularly true in the case of this distinguished gentleman from new jersey. this morning we will hear of a man who grew up in humble

circumstances and devoted himself to lifting up others. whether they lived just down the block or thousands of miles away. we will hear of a believer who rewrote the book on what it means to be a public servant. don payne never settled for being a sympathetic ear or a helping hand. he immersed himself in the plight of those he sought to help, glimpsed of a better future and gave it all through it all. we will hear of a teacher who passed on this passion with such commitment that the great john lewis would say that don's heart was big enough to serve all mine kind. through donald payne's story we see how much we are capable of, and how much we have left to do. so we are again drawn to that

line in luke. to whom much is given, much is expected. each of us has been changed pie his example, and we must be expected to honor it with service and sacrifice. god bless his family, and god bless all of you for being here with us today. at this time the invocation will be given by the reverend patrick conroy, the chaplain of the house of representatives. >> let us pray. god of heaven and earth, the work of your hands is made known in your bountyful creation and in the lives of those who faithfully live their lives in service and in your grace. today we especially remember the life and work of our

departed brother, donald payne, trusting your promise of eternal and ever lasting life and love. we remember his 30 years of service in elected office. in his 12th term of congress, you called him to yourself. his voice on behalf of the millions who suffer on the continent of africa, and for so many here at home, will be sorely missed. may his example give courage to those of us who continue on to similarly dedicate our lives and our energies for the service of so many in need of a champion. comfort those who mourn, most especially his family, but also his life-long friends and the many people who remember donald

as a man of stature and position, who never lost sight of his call to service of others. donald's baptist congregation of newark, and seton hall university can both be proud of this faithful son who answered the call of his master to serve others and now interseeds for us all in god's presence. eternal rest grant unto him, oh, lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. amen. >> our first series of tributes , we will hear from some of donald payne's colleagues in the house, starting with the delegate, donna christian son

from the virgin island, ee mental cleveland of missouri, the representative from california, and chris smith, the deeven of the new jersey delegation. >> good morning. it is hard getting used to donald payne not being around. we may never get used to it, and i hope we don't. no more hey girl, where have you been? or hey girl, what have you been up to, as only donald could ask. what will always be with us is what donald, always the teacher, taught us through his life and service. teaching was obviously his first love, and he never left it even when he came to washington. from his work to close education gaps on the committee of education in the work force to the many young people from all over our country and the world that he mentored in and outside of his office, on street corners or in

classrooms, to his commitment to the interns and fellows training the next generation of leaders as he led the c.d.c. foundation to under this was its important core mission. as much as he was involved in the life of africa, trusted to council rebels as much as to president's, he was still never far from his district, to which he also gave his all and where he was so much loved. his commitment to global health had its beginning in those major health events he held in newark. i would always join the new jersey and new york folks, and it was wonderful to see donald in his element and to be part of helping him bring health care information and services to the thousands who came. he believed in and respected this institution and its rules and traditions and taught all of us who served with him to do the same or else. and he was a loyal and loving

friend who was also there when you called, and even when you didn't. but he also didn't mind ripping into you to keep you on the straight and narrow. i was privileged as well as burdenened, but gladly so to be one of the few that donald told you was illness. he did so well that even eye were lulled into thinking he would beat that illness, and he did for a long time. through ups and downs, therapies and adverse reactions, he kept going like an ener jieser bunny. here and abroad. i just don't know how he did it. so what did donald payne, congressman donald payne, teach us? that you can and have an obligation to do it all, that we must serve all of humanity even beyond the best of our ability and capacity. and we must do so with courage and humanity, quiet when

people, but also go now arc as air chair termed it when the situation demand. to never let anyone or anything stand in your way of living life to the fullest and giving all until you had nothing more to give. donald payne gave all to his family, who will always be in our thoughts and prayers. his friend, colleagues country, the contnnt of africa, the caribbean and the world. so he will always be with us in that special part of himself he shared with ooch of us so self-lessly, and we can each say here today thank you, donald payne, my colleague, my teacher and my friend. [applause] >> it falls to me as chair of the congressional black caucus

to speak a few words about our friend and colleague, donald payne. he was intelligent with his family, intolerant toward injustice, invisible during credit-taking time, incorruptible in a city of contagion, and indistinguishable as a human spirit who is much loved. now i am compelled to utter something that is perhaps counterintuitive. washington, d.c. is a city of heroes. yes, i challenge the late-night comedians and the mid-day commentators. washington, d.c. is a city of heroes. this is the city of washington, lincoln, jefferson, roosevelt,

kennedy, ragan. this is a city where leaders have gathered since 1790 to create the most democratic republic in the history of the planet. this is the city that attracted courageous leaders who slammed slavery into the junk pile of days gone by. the leaders of washington suffered from and eventually stabilized the stairiest economic downturn in world history in 1929. it was from this city that the political will was harvested to win not one, but two world wars . it was in this city, with civil rights leaders in the lead, that jim crowe laws were lick dated. donald payne sewed seeds of civility, and thus enjoyed a pointful harvest of good will from all sides this. is the city where in 1983

ronald reagan and tip o'neal came together and added two decades to the sol valencia of social security. the forceful but civil words of donald payne spoke in the hallowed hards in congress, were short to speak, but their echoes are endless. heroes in washington, d.c. are made by the men and women, who win or lose and at no small risk to themselves, place their name on ballots for a place in the people's house. donald payne was a hero. he defeated a hero to get here. and once here, he remained true to his ideals and beliefs. donald payne was a hero because he never landed on the evening news because of some caustic comment. he is a hero because he forced congressional attention on africa. he became a hero because in a

town filled with hot air, he taught us to say nothing often. he is a hero because he won more washington battles with his ears than his mouth. he is a hero because his life is measured not by its duration, but by its donation. i am a united methodist, and john wesley, who laid the foundation to what we call today methodism, said our people die well. donald payne is a hero because he died well. blessed are the dead which die in the lord. they rest from their labor, and their works do follow them. let me conclude by just telling you that i was really impressed when i saw the funeral of brezz

nephew, the former soviet leader. his widow without the knowledge of the leaders of the party or the k.g.b. stood by his casilla kehl after all were seated. and just before they pulled the lid down, she did the unthinkable in the soviet union. she put her hand over in the casket on her husband's chest, and she made the sign of the cross. in the citadel of the war on religion, she made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. so i know that we are not supposed to do religious stuff in congress. but taking a cue from her, donald, there is no need to go newark anymore.

you're in the right place now. [applause] >> i am truly honored to be here today to pay tribute to a man i loved and respected, a friend for life and a mentor. to his family we say thank you for sharing your father, your father in law, your dad, your brother, your grandpa, and your great grandpa. you shared him with us and with the world. he was a busy legislator, in d.c., in his district and around the world. but nobody meant more to donald payne than his family.

he was so proud of all of you. some have said that donald payne was greeted in heaven by martin luther king, jr., but i believe he was greeted by his sweet mother and his beautiful wife, two women who left him far too early in his life. now i believe donald payne is in a better place. when i came to congress, i couldn't have asked for a better mentor. a public school teacher, someone kind and smart. we served on committees together where i benefited from his wisdom and experience because he was a man who knew what public service is. he described himself as a mild- mannered man, but we know he was also tenacious and dedicated. no one, and i mean no one,

worked harder to bring peace and democracy around the world. he knew, however, that he could not have been successful without the great support he got from his staff and his family, and he knew his staff was the best. nor could he have achieved the reputation of a true statesman and humanitarian without the constant energizer bunny drive and determination that stayed with him through the diagnosis of his illness and until the very end. nobody has fought harder with an iron will and physical strength not to give in because he had, he believed, so much more to do. in his absence, it's up to us to do it for him, to follow his lead, to continue the work that mattered so much to him.

that is our promise to you, donald, because we love you, we miss you, and we thank you for making this world a better place just by being in it. thank you. [applause] >> in the weeks since his passing, i and others keep expecting to hear his voice admonishing us to do more for those in poverty or trapped in disease. he was an extraordinary man who dedicated his entire life to public service. a man who made a significant difference in the world and his constituency in new jersey. many people that he touched

remember his legacy as a treasure. donald payne worked across party lines to combat the h.i.v./aids pandemic and combat the loss of life and morbidity from tush close and malaria on africa. he worked tirelessly to end the genocide in south sudan and darfur. i know how much he cared and how hard he worked for peace and reconciliation in war-ravaged nations. he served as ranking member of the african subcommittee when he chaired it, and more recently until his passing, he served as mine. he never shied away from asking the tough stets, but always did so in a way that demonstrated his earnest desire to find solutions for vexing problems.

he was a joy to work with. at his funeral, dozens of family members, friend and political leaders extoled don payne he is goodness and accomplishments. the outpouring was, in a word, overwhelming. president palin ton was there and talked about donald payne as a peacemaker and said better to reconcile than to recent. governor chris cristie said as we celebrate his life today and as we say goodbye, we thank him for his gentle grace. his niese, laurent, said i can go to any part of the world, and he would be known there. i think it is wonderful, just amazing. and his son, don jr., reminded everyone and i quote, just think of all the things he did for us without ever asking for anything back. donald payne's ability to care and to do for others while expecting nothing whatsoever in return is indeed rare, and it's

a precious virtue. his example of life-longhorn selfless generosity inspires us all to be doers of good deeds without any recognition or reward. the house has lost a distinguished friend and colleague, the gentleman from new jersey. on behalf of our delegation, i say to the family we deeply miss him. on behalf of areas from the foreign affairs committee, we deeply miss him. on behalf of the entire congress, he is missed. [applause] >> for our musical selection, we are fortunate to have the soloist anthony harrison, and

he will be performing "the wind beneath my wings." ♪ if it must have been cold there in my shadow to never have sunlight on your face ♪ you were content to let me shine that's your way ♪ you always walked a step behind ♪

♪ now i was the one with all the glory and you were the one with all he strength ♪ ♪ a beautiful face without a name for so long ♪ i never once heard you complain ♪ ♪ did you ever know that you're my hero you're everything i would like to be ♪

i can fly higher than an eagle if you are the wind beneath my wings ♪ ♪ ♪ it might appear to go unnoticed but i've got it all right in my heart ♪ ♪ i want you to know i know the truth yes i know it ♪ i would be nothing without you ♪

♪ did you ever know that ou're my hero ♪ ♪ you're everything i would like to be ♪ ♪ i could fly higher than an eagle ♪ ♪ you are the wind beneath my wings ♪ ♪ did you ever know that you're my hero ♪ ♪ you're everything i would like to be ♪ ♪ i can fly higher than an

eagle ♪ ♪ you are the wind beneath my wings ♪ ♪ if you are the wind beneath y wings ♪ ♪ if you are the wind beneath y wings ♪ >> congressman payne, today the world salutes you. [applause]

>> members of representative payne's family will now share some of their reflections, starting with his son, councilman don payne, jr., followed by his grandson, jack payne, and his brother, william payne. >> thank you and good morning. to the assembled guests, the vice president, speaker, senator, speaker pelosi, mr. smith and all.

there is joy and pain today. the joy is in the assembled number of people in this hall to pay respect for my father, for his work around the world. the pain is that he is not here for us to tell him how much we appreciated him. there has been just an overwhelming month or so. at his passing i was in a very good place and reflecting on what he had done for me and my family over the course of my life. but as time has gone on and i have had time to stop and think, it has become very hard

not to be emotional any time i think of even calling his name, whether it be congressman donald payne, daddy, or whatever. it has been a very emotional time. but as it was stated, and i stated, he never asked for anything. he did things. he told me, and he referred me -- i have a family nickname. he would say chop, i do the things i do because i can. people need help all-around the world. and wherever there is injustice, he felt it was important to step in. yes, africa was his passion, but people finding themselves in situations where their civil and human rights were being violated became his fight. the one thing i want to leave

you with is that he never asked for anything. but he would really, really appreciate what you've done here to honor his memory today. thank you very much. [applause] >> new 10thment reading, john chapter 14, verse 1-3. let not your heart be troubled. you believe in god. believe also in me. in my father's house there are many mansions, if it were not so, i would have told you. i go to prepare a place for you. and if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come again and receive you to myself. therefore where i am, you may be also. to many of you here today, you

knew my grandfather as congressman donald payne. some of you knew him as mr. payne, some of you knew jimenez as donald or don. my brother, my sister and myself, we knew him at pipaw. i just want to say pipaw, we love you and miss you. may you rest in peace. [applause] >> good afternoon. he walked with kings, and he never lost the common touch. i don't say that just to be poetic. i say it because it was true. i was left to be with him when he met with royalty in bahrain, where we went to discuss the eric snow spring. i was with him when he traveled the dusty rhodes in the congo

and visited with people in their huts. he talked about their health care. i was with him as he touched and lifted children in the refugee camps that we visited where his heart was. my brother was obviously one who cared about the world. there are those who knew that we were very close. there is a story about the course can brothers. some of you may know it. twins who were very close to each other. if they were separated, they felt the feelings of the other one no matter where he was. the two brothers, there was the nice guy and there was the other one. can guess who was the other one. [laughter] he was great. he gave his all. as a matter of fact, he was concerned about his fellows. when he went to egypt, and

checked on secretary lahood's son. he was sick and ill. before he went i told donald -- but he said when i get there, i will rest. but i have to go, and he went. he passed on march 6, which was the same day that my father passed. they were the same age when they passed. there is a great reunion, no question about it. a great reunion up there where my brother, my father, and my mother and his wife and all those are together. someone wrote me a letter not long ago talking about greatness. you don't recognize greatness when you are walking with it. donald was a great man. i think everyone would agree with that. his passing hurts. they say time heals, but the

time has not yet come. it still hurts. thank you. [applause]

. .

we pointed out that an international discussion was needed to develop policy in this arena. i would note that in the months since the recommendations were released, there has been a flurry of meetings to discuss the risks and benefits of this experiment. the research is now commonly known and being debated. this conversation is important for the scientific and endeavor and for our security. in march 2012, the government passed nsabb. this was coupled with a face to face meetings of the board could hear from the investigators about their research. the board received information about their risks and benefits from the public health community as well as from the united states government intelligence

community. in a briefing from council and counter-terrorism center representatives, the border and assessments of the global ramifications associated with these papers. the details of these briefings are classified but many of the board that was left impression it did not increase publication and there is a high likelihood of an undesirable consequences to not publishing. the u.s. government has issued new guidelines targeting a consequence durc and the seven categories of special consideration and high consequence passengers. it is in this context that they arrived at different recommendations. one paper was recommended for fall publication of the other was recommended by a split vote

of " 26. balancing the risks against the benefits in the context of additional information and policy, the board shifted its position. the split vote is significant and signals the board believes there is potential for misuse of information generated by these experiments. the majority of the board members voted for publication but they were troubled by this research and its potential to be misused. it is fair to say that the board -- these issues are not fully settled. we have on the ticket the can down the road and we will deal with it again in the future. it is crucial we have a policy that monitors potential durc research in order to protect it from misuse but also to free it from onerous regulations.

we must not destroy enterprise as we try to protect against misuse of research. >> thank you, doctor keim. what did you mean when you said undesirable political consequences? crisis was in a classified briefing. we cannot talk about it in details but there are many projects going on in public to try to predict and understand the pandemic. many of those are fragile and i think it is fair to say that not releasing this information was seen as having a detrimental affect. >> understood. doctor thomas, chief executive officer, center for by a security, university of pittsburgh, will come back.

back.lcolcome >> i have seen many people with influenza die despite excellent medical care in hospitals. my colleagues and i have been studying clue in the public of taxes and need to be taken to protect us from those challenges. like all of you, i am concerned that h5n1 is a public threat. i have been opposed to the publication of the manuscript. that is making it transmissible. just as well -- this fire is also kills serifs the same way. there is no evidence that i have seen that this -- were it to

cause a human infection, it could acquire new properties. if it led to a human infection following its use, we cannot roll up the chance that we agreed to fatalities' which would be difficult to stop. as you noted, there are others in the communities who share this concern. i appreciate the delivered of a process that has taken place. the majority of nsabb members have decided this work should be published. i'm concerned about this but i recognize the decision has been made. now it is time to look ahead and anticipate the h5n1 research. here are some thoughts on benefits and risks of pursuing this line of research. will further engineering of h5n1 (surveillance? in my view it is unlikely.

genetic mutation data is not why the collected, very few sequences are analyzed, and even if we could identify mutations in birds, the response would still be the same. regardless of the mutations of the virus. until we have a system in place a collects more sequence in time frames that are meaningful and have a value sufficient to lead to action, this research seems unlikely to improve surveillance. nor is this research necessary to make h5n1 vaccines for reasons i explained. what could go wrong with 1 million transmissible h5n1? could accident occurred? accidents are not common in most pathogens have little capacity for societal spread. but this could result in catastrophe. although it is not common,

accidents do happen. h5n1 caused a mini-endemic. there were three incidents where researchers in singapore accidentally infected themselves. i am not meaning to single out mistakes by professionals, doctors, rocket scientists, all of us. we are human. that is calculated into the risk of the research. and we're sure this will not be misused? we cannot. we can hope no adversary will have the intention to pursue this. but we cannot predict the chance this will be replicated by malevolent to scientist in the world for a terrorist group or nation state. what happens if h5n1 stars to spread? as much as a billion people or

more are affected. the fatality rate is nearly 60%. if a strain of h5n1 or engineer to spread like seasonal flu, hundreds of millions people's lives would be at risk. even mr. in 100 times would be less data would place millions of people's lives at risk. which should be done about h5n1 going forward? i would extend the moratorium that doctor fauci discussed. those reasons are valid. we should have more confidence this will lead to benefits and we should look for other ways to not require engineering transmissible strains. if this work is allowed to continue, we should limit it to a small number of labs. the u.k. and canada have indicated their concern by saying it can only be performed in certain labs. we should have this in an open and transparent white. let's decide if there are lines that should not be crossed.

should it be made into transmissible strains? should other strains be engineered? should transmissible h5n1 been engineered to make them immune? we should decide now. the u.s. should strengthen exports prepared this effort. carter should include the capacity to manufacture on alar scare, universal vaccines, new antiviral, and federal care of inflected fox. -- flocks. this policy is a good step addressing the kinds of issues raised by the controversy. the success will depend on how it is implemented. i have recommendations and i will highlight four of them. implement at a local level. scientists will be critical to

the success of this policy. training and education will be key. they will need new resources. learn from experience. this process will need to evolve as we learned. i understand that the review of the portfolio from the 10 experiments [inaudible] it would be valuable to understand these cases. our risks mitigated? this could be done in a way to protect scientists. we should also learn as much as we can from the risk management process. how are conflicts of interest managed? how residents for judgments were considered? going forward, the success of the durc woes depend on these issues. this policy will be navigated by the scientific community. representative to make sure we do not impose such a burden that

scientists cannot continue their work. i would recommend a man asking the national academy to examine the effects of regular burdens on scientists. last, reaffirm the role of nsabb. it does are a lot of credit. members have done substantial service. they provide guidelines and spend energy and time on this h5n1 debate. a strong nsabb should have an important role in durc policy going forward. i hope it will rarely be in the position of being invited after manuscripts have been submitted. we all agree that the risk assessment should happen early in the process. scientists who researched diseases are working to improve our understanding of biology and to better the world. the u.s. needs to promote the scientists with the best ideas. we need to acknowledge there are

situations where the misuse is so serious the special processes are needed. this new policy is a step in that direction. >> help us because many people, when we hear about accidental escape of pathogens, we get alarmed. talk about that. does that normally happen? the infection of workers and personnel? >> yes, in all of the cases, that is typically the way that and affection which escaped a lab. usually when they are infected, they do not spread it to anybody else. the risk is to the person working in the laboratory. it is rare for them to pose a risk outside bell labs. >> i assume the regulations

before and after were and attempts on limiting the possibility of exposure to personnel. >> definitely. in general, definitely, and specifically in the cases that were discussed as prototypes here today, the laboratories in wisconsin and erasmus were highly qualified and inspected multiple times. they were given a rating of the meeting or exceeding the standards for the protection we are talking about. >> let me ask you about the laboratories that were the subject of this concern. to the extent you can, why was the decision, unanimous in wisconsin? >> the science in the approach they took for these experiments was different. they get lumped together.

one of the approaches was viewed as having a greater biological control of the risks. it is one of the aspects we have instituted across-the-board by a 60 experiments, to try to do these experiments in a context that would be less dangerous. for example, if we do an experiment where we are going to add the gene to something, we like to do that with a pathogen that has been disarmed. distinguishing the groups in their approaches, that was the biggest difference. it worked in a platform that was viewed as less risky. and not as a virulent as the other one. it was taking raw material and changing the transmits ability on that platform. >> if i understand that their friends had more to do with the scientific decisions of each team as opposed to differing

levels of safety standards they were operating under in their respective institutions or countries. >> as doctor fauci pointed out, both were reviewed and exceeded the requirements for biological safety we have in place for these experiments. >> ok. doctor keim and fauci, i want to give you an opportunity to respond to the dissent in the letter which was a confidential letter and and that was leaked from michael in his criticism of the nsabb decisions. and to some extent, not reflected by doctor inglesby.

he expressed some concern about the a decision. >> first off, on the committee, we are a board of 25 highly qualified individuals and we rarely agree upon every -- anything. >> this house and congress. [laughter] although we -- it sounds like congress. [laughter] although we may not be highly qualified. >> we cherish the different members and their opinions. it is true for this example as well. this was a letter that was meant for an internal type of process for us to understand what we had done and what we had come through. as such, i view it as a constructive type of communication. it was unfortunate that it became part of the public dialogue. that makes it harder to having a proactive type of conversation.

many of the things he said are worth examining. one point he makes in the letter is that there was a bias in the witness list. i think that is true. the primary witnesses we brought in for this hearing were investigators themselves. they are inherently biased. they wanted their work published. we brought in a second investigator on using disinformation for surveillance purposes. somebody who would like to see their work published and sees the benefits clearer than the risks. i do not think this is of concern, mr. chairman. we look at scientistic data and we can be critical of that. the bias is in those types of witnesses was not a problem for us. we dealt with that very well and are able to ask tough questions

of the investigators over a series of time. the doctor was in front of us with two hours with a lot of questions and answers. i think those biases or something the board could deal with. one part that was not, independent of all of the other aspects, was the intelligence briefing. this was set up by the u.s. government community. we came into that as scientists and took this on faith that what we were hearing were fact. that was an environment where the board is perhaps a little bit naive. we do not have the capability to look behind these assessments. the briefing was held at the secret level. we could only ask so many questions. they were confident. that briefing suggested that there -- damasks were minimal

and the political consequences were great. i thank that had a great affect on the board. that is one aspect of his letter that i think is an attribute of the process itself. this was never set up as a point, counterpoint. we did not have the time to have ever betty in the world there. the most important witnesses were inherently biased. >> interesting. if you had to do it over again, would you -- >> i would do many things different. i would make sure a lot of work was being done before it came to the board. we brought to these papers under a tight timeline in october. in retrospect, the amount of time it took and the timeline

was too tight. the process and the hours we review these papers was massive. it is clear that the new policy identifying durc is going to be critical. >> that is an important point. i agree with you that the descent to some extent, the bias, -- dissent to some extent, the baez, is not of concern. from a security point of view, which are concerned about the impact. am i right, you are providing assurances that information is not going to be released in the studies, particularly in the fauci study that would increase the risk of deliberate or accidental release? >> the border was confident in

the case of the paper and was unanimous. it was a split vote, a 12-6. there were strong feelings on both sides. i would say that in this type of a process, each of us had to weigh the evidence. there were uncertainties in this research. a small number of animals were used in these experiments. understanding the property of the virus is not 100% certain. we do not know everything there is to know about these. these board members had to weigh the evidence as best they could. you will not find a better group of people to do this. the board is able to do this and work hard and understanding of the benefits and came to a split vote on the paper. >> doctor fauci, you want to respond to the complaints? >> sure.

with regard to the letter, as you probably know, i am sure your staff for you have a copy, there were several issues there. i have to say i agree with many of the things that doctor keim said. this is a strong board. we have worked with them for a long time. i do not think they're going to be influenced my -- by what they might perceive as a bias. if you have an issue with something, you bring it up. the letter was sent to the executive secretary of the nsabb, doctor patterson. we have responded to everything in the letter. we would be more than happy to make that response available to you so that you could see the

discussion. again, there were important issues about looking forward. there were several things in there that i disagree with. one of which was the concern about the security briefing. i have a great deal of trust that the director will tell us what we need to know. that is one example. the idea about picking up people who would -- we did not give any indication of people that he wanted to see that were not there. rather than go tit-for-tat, i have a general principles that were brought up, i agree with. i have to say that i disagree with many of the things in his letter. >> i appreciate that to directness and i thank you for it. do you have a reaction to doctor

inglesby's suggestion that the moratorium should be extended? >> i agree with him about an extension. the critical issue is for how long. this is a voluntary moratorium and that is something that the public needs to understand. i had discussions with the influenza scientists and encouraged them and they, to their credit, this was something they agreed upon. exactly when, we need to see how we can have, and we are actively involved in pushing forward and the implementation of the march 29 durc policy. that will have an impact on when we can feel comfortable. so long as people understand the

implementation mechanisms of how your address durc -- several of the labs understand that now. and definitely agree with that. i want to make one point of minor disagreement with my std -- esteems colleague, doctor inglesby. if we only looked at short term, we would not do a lot of research data nih. we have a situation where you build into something that becomes important. although i understand the point, if you look at what the benefit will have right now, you can say that there is not a lot of surveillance capabilities of high sequencing but the incremental accumulation of knowledge is one of the fundamental principles that the research agenda is built upon.

i think there is disagreement on that. >> a response? >> i completely agree with what you said. i agree that a fundamental research and understanding principles is critical and part of the mission. i think this is one specific and rare example where i think the bar for whether to proceed with this line of research should be beyond a deeper understanding of biology. in general, i completely agree that the test for basic science should not be for if it has practical science. a lot of proponents have been arguing for urgent benefits and in my view i have not seen a compelling case. >> this leads me to ask you

doctor, in some sense it is a question at the margins, when considering research that was seen as a research of concern, can you imagine instances in which you would conclude that research should not been undertaken? >> i do. i think it would be hubris for scientists to say we can do anything we want to do for the curiosity of the. i do think there are some experiments that would better not be done. i think that would be a rare situation, particularly, you can fantasize about dangerous experiments. in the realm of trying to keep up with something that is a clear and present danger of it

happening, that is what we're dealing with. that is why we agree so much. we all know this is a delicate issue. if you are doing something in an experimental fashion that you might be pushing the envelope of creating something that would give you information, but it is not addressing any dangers, i think that is ill-advice to go there. when you have a situation where nature itself is already doing some of the things that you're trying to stay ahead of, and that is when you have to consider it. the short answer, the principles of the new policy that we put out on march 29 actually put that into the consideration. when you look at the number of experiments you can do, there are now seven classic experiments that you have to decide, do you have mitigation

for that particular result for experiment? one of the mitigation may well be, do not do the experiment. it falls nicely into the answer to your question. it is built into the new policy that is an option. >> i presume this is not an area where you can draw a critic -- clear red line, which you have described is the standards adopted in the policy and that in a given case, the decision makers might decide that, in the interest of mitigation, the research should not be conducted. >> it is an evaluation of risk benefit. you take each case and you look at it and if the rest and our

ability is says that is not worth doing. >> doctor gerstein, talk to us about this and whether you think there are to be clearer redlines or whether this is an area where inquiry is impossible to state a red line unless you see if in a proposal for concern. >> i agree with what the doctor said. i think there are some experiments should not be done. that is the intent looking out at nsabb experiments on the pathogens we looked at in character analysis. we looked at these hard and make sure that all of them are needed, we make sure we are

doing them in the safest ways with the appropriate facilities. at the end of the day, we recognize that, and security needs to look at some of these different capabilities and assess what threats they pose. we are doing them in the highest containment. we do most of our work in our facilities, so we are very keen on that. >> we have talked so far about the u.s. government response to this challenge of durc. scientific research is global and one team in wisconsin and another in the netherlands. help me to understand, what is the state of discussion of

standards internationally? are there international bodies litter looking to adopt the policy, are there national standards being adopted in individual countries? what is happening? obviously we're talking about a fear of a global pandemic. if something wrong happens in a laboratory around the world, it could affect the lives of people in the u.s. >> let me take a shot of that. it is interesting because this gets into what we've referred to as the culture of responsibility. back in the 1970's when the revolution took place globally but here in the united states, scientists got together and

tried to develop -- similar to the challenges we are facing now, they came up with what we have right now, the advisory committee. although that only pertains when you talk about government-funded research and united states, the fundamental principles, the codes of conduct, the culture responsibility that was engendered by the discussions back in the 1970's, without any capability of enforcing it, it permeated the global approach toward recombinant dna technology. although we did not have any enforcement capability, it became something that was shared throughout the world. other countries are addressing it in a serious manner, how

they're going to approach this. there is also going on in the u.k. in places like that, what we hope and vision is that as a result of this, there will be a culture of responsibility that even though we do not have funding, these kinds of principles will be put in throughout the world. i have confidence that it will. >> i know people are developing ongoing relations with homeland's security departments , is there a discussion of this concern in those meetings? >> senator, there is. we have a number of bilateral. we have 12 nations we do discussions with and we have had

these discussions. the nation still similar to us but there is not all good news as far as this is concerned. i will take you back to the biological weapons convention serious there is a london research training and information center. in one analysis they did, they discovered that very few nations even had laws or definitions. they did not have laws against stockpiling biological material. the news does not get better when you talk about control measures. we may be working hard in this country to put in place the -- especially into some of the countries that may not have the same sense of the live science issue that we do.

>> for stalock, i finca -- first h5n1 has oneink the cap good consequence in awakening many places which were not paying attention. at a science meeting two weeks ago, when this question came up, there was concern that private foundations would not follow the lead of the government. a representative said let me make clear that we intend to follow it ourselves. i imagine that others will. the third point of news was an article published in nature magazine yesterday which is said that the u.s. is taking an important leadership on this policy. there are some indications that this will move in a direction

where people are doing similar things. >> that is encouraging. let me go to a different aspect of the policy which interested me, it requires departments and agencies to report to the white house national security staff in the next several months under current durc projects and risk mitigation measures. the concern i want to express as that given -- the national security staff is larger than most people think headed still relatively small -- small for the responsibilities it is given, particularly those on the staff network run by a terrorism issues. i wonder if you have a sense -- sense and how they will use

oversight of such research and whether any of you expect your agencies or the nsabb will be asked to support the oversize fenty white house staff is charged with carrying out. i will start with you, doctor gerstein. >> that would be speculative. i would like you -- we have used to the deliberations to better understand what has gone on with the papers. we have been briefed on the science and the policies, the issues. what has come out is a good first to start. we expect this will continue. this is not an end point. we will try to ensure that our policies with regard to durc are

as good as they can be. but also homeland's security as well as insuring scientific work goes on unfettered. in that regard, we are hopeful. it is a reporting requirement. all departments and agencies are submitting to that. we have not come up with the next step in trying to finalize the policy. this has generated incredible discursions across the engine -- agency. we have received several phone calls to see how we were dealing with our university grant program and the language we have inserted that provides us a stopgap measure, should it be necessary to ensure that publication of certain materials would not proceed. this has been a positive outcome

across the government. >> to you anticipate that nsabb may be asked to help the white house? >> we do whatever the administration asks us to do. we do not do anything they don't. >> did you want to comment on that? >> i agree with what doctor gerstein said. 60 days to give an inventory, 90 days to determine how you're going to do risk mitigation, that was the first cut at making sure we know what is going on right now. this will be an evolving process. we will try to make sure when you get down to the local level, a lot of the monitoring that will be done will be automatic by well-trained people. >> i agree. let me ask this question, in your testimony doctor fauci, you

discuss up for is to develop a universal influenza vaccine. -- the potential to develop a universal influenza vaccine. i wonder if the findings will lead nih and other organizations to increase the priority you are placing on these kinds of research efforts. >> the answer is a resounding yes. this situation, there are a couple of ways of getting rid of this problem. doctor inglesby mentioned in his testimony, the chickens that have h5n1. that is difficult to do because you do not have other reasons. the other thing is to have available countermeasures. the idea of getting a universal

vaccine is not only going to be important for seasonal influences, so we do not have to match the right combination, but also it is a major, major countermeasure against the emergence of a pandemic. we are putting a considerable amount of effort and we have had encouraging, scientific advances over the past year and a half to two years on understanding that type of immune response that you need to induce an individual to cover all strains. we are not there yet but this is something we see the light at the end of the tunnel. it is risky to predict when you're going to get a vaccine but unlike it was a few years ago, we now have the scientific mechanisms and wherewithal that we are on the road to developing a universal flu vaccine. >> that is encouraging and

exactly the kind of work and i hope will find adequate funds for. d you want to comment on that, doctor? >> i would say it is encouraging and exciting. if we had a universal vaccine, it would change the risk equation. i would serve a larger -- and strongly support the efforts. >> i have a final question, the kind of question that my friends and colleagues would normally ask. witches, -- which is, -- overall i am reassured by the policies that have been put into effect. even at the far end, we have a process that considers and values risk mitigation and it

may be that it will be a decision their research should not proceed because it is impossible to mitigate risks. if you were a member of the committee, well, no, assume you have the knowledge you have, is there anything more that we, with our concern about, and security, ought to be asking the government to do or doing ourselves, by way of encouraging regulation or some kind of legislation? doctor inglesby, why don't you start first? >> i do not see any legislative or regulatory proposal that would improve the situation. i think it is useful to have oversight like this on the development of the policy because there are a lot of

things it will be challenging. i think, for example, understanding the criteria for risk assessment is going to be important. i think composition or responsibilities will be important. asking questions, reasonable questions about how this is working is very important. i think inattention to the specific case of h5n1. of the decision has been made to move on with this, the next issue is going to come up soon unless there is a change in course. i think you have to pay attention to that. >> i would reiterate what tom said that the new policy on how it is implemented will be key. one thing that was an important role that bp nsabb plate is that we are -- the nsabb played is

that we are an independent body. there are inherent conflicts of interests between the funding agencies and the investigators. what was a unique role was that we were outside the small research community and we were independent of the funding agencies and we are able to look at this in a way that is unique. that is an important part of what needs to happen. >> i go back to the original remarks i made that it is a complex issue that requires balancing outcomes. we do not want to do something that is going to have a deleterious effect. on the other hand, we have an important mission in homeland's security that we must ensure is well served. we have to avoid red lines

because the minute you do that, someone is going to figure out a way to cross it. the best way is judgmental bodies leica nsabb which has -- liek thke the nsabb. it comes down to a matter of judgment. on the question, do we need legislation? i would say the executive has a lot of work to do to work through the policies. the march policy is a first step. we are continuing those deliberations. we are learning from each other. we think we have a lot of good policies that we have implemented and we are sharing them to the maximum extent possible. i would like to say that later after we have had time, we come

and consult with congress on this critical issue. >> i hope we will do that. doctor fauci. >> i do not see any immediate issue that would be appropriate but i think when you asked if i were on the committee what would i do, what you did today was an important thing. it was very beneficial to this difficult process we're going through, particularly with the new policy. the fact that an important committee, like this committee, are actually interested in the subject, looking at us, we know we will come back to you at some time to give you follow up about how we are progressing on the implementation. q. how party done something that is volleyball because -- you have already done something that is valuable because people are

where the senate is interested in this problem. >> i appreciate your saying that. that is our intention. we will keep in touch. we want the benefits of scientific inquiry. we need them. we also need to mitigate risk. the policy we have now is aimed at doing exactly that. we will follow it to see how it is going and do one more hearing toward the end of the year. thank you for the work you did on your prepared testimony and for that testimony this morning. we're going to leave a record open for 15 days for any additional questions or statements. with that, the hearing is adjourned.

>> the postmaster general discusses options for restructuring the mail system, which is losing $20 million a day. his plan calls for ending overnight mail and closing post offices. he needs to cut $22 billion by 2016. "newsmakers," today at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> a beautiful day. i live in oklahoma.

>> this weekend, our local content vehicle exploiters oklahoma city. including the works of galileo at oklahoma university. >> the most important part of the book was on motion. when it was published, the pope was angry galileo had broken his promise to treat it theoretically. this also is a copy that contains his own handwriting. this is like being able to look over his shoulder in the months leading up to his trial. >> on next weekend, oklahoma city, on c-span2's book tv. >> the annual correspondents' dinner was held. celebrities were invited to attend. president obama made some

remarks in the entertainment was provided by jimmy kimmel. we will assure you there remarks after some of the guests arriving for dinner.

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