after that, we will talk about the ongoing investigation into last year's consulate attack in benghazi, libya and the latest on the situation in syria. calls and the days latest news. then a look at the strategies by both parties in congress as they debate the future of the health ♪are [indiscernible] good morning, all eyes on the senate this week as the chamber takes up the measure to keep the government running past september 30. the house is likely to return midweek as the debate over spending, health care, and the nation's debt intensifies. it is sunday morning, september 20 second. the president is attending memorial services late afternoon today for the use of the shooting at the navy yard. the way,ervice, by will be held at the marine barracks i am washington, d.c. tomorrow the president and the first lady had to new york for

the start of the u general assembly meeting. -- u.n. general assembly meeting. we want to begin with a piece that is the cover story of the "the weeklyard -- standard." oh -- two decades of discontent." suit -- youes, 20 can also join diane rejigged cash join in on the conversation on our facebook page, or you can send us a tweet, http://twitter.com/cspanwj. miserable decades, then and now, that is the cover story. "nestled within the comfortable battling of keys, growth, and

civility, every happy time is unhappy in its own way." that is from "the weekly standard," with the picture of richard nixon, former president jimmy carter, and the situation i in munich during the sun rejigged -- summer 1972 olympic games. inwill get to your calls just a moment. the president last night addressed the congressional black caucus, outlining his agenda as lawmakers began the debate in the senate on whether or not to keep the federal government running. t debbie rejigged -- two key

votes last night. [video clip] >> we are seeing extreme factions of these folks threatening to shut down the government if we do not shut down the affordable care act. some of them are actually willing to see the united states the fault on its obligations and plunge this country back into a recession if they cannot deny the basic security of health care to millions of americans. that this is an interesting thing to ponder, that your top agenda is making sure that 20 million people do not have health insurance. defaultd be willing to for the first time in the andory of the united states you are going to make sure --

because you do not want to make sure that everyone has affordable health care. let me say it as clearly as i can, it is not going to happen. we have come too far. [applause] overll not negotiate whether or not america will keep its word and meet its obligations. numeral not allow anyone to inflict pain on millions of people just to make an ideological point. we have been waiting 50 years for the self-care. the president last night at the congressional black caucus. weighing eyelready and on our facebook -- weighing in on our facebook page. we have linked to the

piece from "the weekly standard." you can get there on www.c- span.org. host: again, we are dividing the phone lines. yes or no? good morning. colorcode there are major reasons to be discontent -- caller: we are discontent because the congress have been bought out, the wealthy on wall street have gotten away with massive fraud without .onsequence when we have a situation where someone and those

people do not follow the wishes of the people, they just follow the wishes of the rich. i recommend that people find out what is really happening in the world today. this message comes from dean. headline that we want to share with you from quote new york times -- from new york times -- from the new york , let me read to you from the body of the story.

glenn is joining us from lake land, florida. you are saying that this is not the decade of discontent? reason i am saying that is because if you look at 2010 as far as the decade if you consider the fact of what happened last decade, the results of what happened last decade are cleaner than the 2000 period. this is the cleanup decade. decade, the results of what in the worlday that you will clean it to the point where people are going to be satisfied.

if you consider the fact that we had nine/11, everything that , everythinger that that was unnecessary in a rack, we are still in it now, then the .inancial crisis up to 2010 that was the worst. this country, we probably would have been in a depression if things had gone the way they were going. trying to change the mess up from the last administration and republicans and democrats need to work together. republicans are purposely not working with the president. it is messed up. you for the call. kevin, you say that this is not the decade of discontent. why? guess? --caller: obama has made

things completely worse. he has given money to clean energy companies that go bankrupt and bust. people are working hard on main street and watching that money go down the toilet. him throwne to see out of office and someone in there who can get the economic engine going, unemployment down very low. i want to see folks back to work. i am tired of obamanomics. host: another kevin sent this tweet -- host: i am going to go back to "the weekly standard." which. was worse? -- which period was worse?

host: is this the decade of discontent? the question is posed by "the weekly standard." candace, new york. i think that the last 10 decade of the discontent. 12 years after 1929 we will back -- we were back. of course, there was world war roman too. hopefully we are not using afghanistan, iran, syria as that jumping point, but i think that people are now looking at ways to get people back to work and to get the economy going again. you for the call.

jonathan is the author of the piece this morning, this is what it looks like i and the -- in the print version. jimmy carter, t dub rejigged -- two miserable decades. "theuestion is posed by weekly standard." ramon, corpus christi, texas, what is your answer to this question? caller: we are going to have a very bad series, the government default it because they did not make the rules right. we have companies out of this country making more money and we are paying the tax on them. making the rules as they go along and they get away with it because no one opposes them. we willget the default, be going deeper into the hole and we will not get out. the government?

they are going to do what? spend the money like they did? that stuff from this time last year? the stock market? where is our money? ok, ramon. thank you very much for the call. there is a piece in the website for "the boston globe." it was posted earlier this year by the sentiment continues, "is this any way to run a country"? how many voters, republicans or

democrats, vote along strict ideological lines? if washington is broken, it broke on its own, voters have great power to instill the fear of being fired in those who dare to think about acting against the greater good." if you want to check out the entire essay, it was posted earlier this year and is that the website for "the boston -- boston quote globe." no, it isam saying the decades plural, this has been going on since ronald reagan. it has taken over our politicians. to the massachusetts caller, this is why obama has not gotten anything done, because of the tea party and the fighting and resistance that they get. we need to get the average

worker back to work again. thank you. you for the call. if you are just tuning i and -- tuning in, is this the decade of yes,ntent echo if you say 202 -- 585 -- 3880, if you say 585-3881. the likely effect on the larger economy? what happens when so many people income,"s, work, and

is one of a number of essays we found this morning on the health-care law. then there is this piece, "reignited battle." a presidential event this week in new york with former president bill clinton with a health care speech by the president in maryland -- from dave is joining us delaware. is this the decade of discontent echo caller: i do not want to just segue with the other caller , but this has been going on for several years. i think that the symptom here is that the people in power are beginning to dismantle and

unravel the role of the federal government. so, i think that is basically a theme that has been going on for 30 years. thank you for taking my call. you. thank bill, lagrange, georgia, your thoughts? caller: thank you, i enjoy your program. i do not think the president of the united states is causing this discontent in the world. it is the so-called tea party republicans. if they worked with the president, we could get things done. one, things get continue to go to the rich. the congress has insurance. why other people cannot have complain echo they because they make $172,000 --

insurance? they complain because they make 100 72,000 dollars. they treat this president like the worst president in the world and god knows he is a human being. thank you. host: this tweet coming from jack in texas -- also a reference to halliburton. from the weekly summary from john washington examiner," " boehner is trapped between the establishment and the tea party ." north dakota, you say that this is not the decade of discontent? personally, i think it is complex and we have the same underlying problems we have had for a long time in this country. most of it stems from the people

in power trying to preserve the status quo. i think that people use a lot of language to try to make people believe that they are going one way or the other, but it is not really the truth. for the call.u this is from "cq weekly."

is oureve scalese --," on "newsmakers, go this morning. he discussed the current debate over the continuing resolution and the president's health-care law. here is a portion. [video clip] >> do you agree with that fundamental principle? that the debt ceiling is something that he needs and you have the leverage echo >> we have a rejigged -- leverage? >> we have a number of leverage points. all of these things are going to be coming up in the next few weeks.

a two only looking at week or three week gap during the fiscal year. so, we are going to use every legislative tool available. there should not just be a plan to have this done in one bill. that is not the end of this battle, we are at the beginning and there are a lot of things that we can do to ultimately goal.e our host go --host: that was the chair of the republican study committee. writing for "the hill" newspaper , "after running the roller coaster through the debt fight and fiscal cliff, they find themselves in a familiar place again with policymakers throwing up robot -- roadblocks to the economy, ramping up calls for washington to do something, anything, to help the economy

rather than hurt it. instead businesses are watching washington barreling towards a debt default and wondering why policymakers keep laying politics while the economy teeters. business groups are wrapping up their efforts to push congress toward some kind of resolution, increasingly year it hated by this latest round of déjà vu." naomi is joining us from oklahoma. asking ourn we are is this the decade of discontent? your answer? caller: i think that it is. the reason i think that it is is because the health-care law that ,s dragging the economy down of what is coming down the road, 3000 pages, who

knows how many roadblocks there are going to be in that? tw oh -- tworking part-time jobs, this is just unheard of. that is our routine. now they cannot work any hours? yes, i really fear for this country with this thing going through. host: thank you very much for the call. five years after the financial meltdown, the front page story of "the l.a. times." the bill class families. after this, this headline " killer kills at least 309i and -- in kenyan mall." least 39 in kenyan mall."

than 3000 handshakes and a look at me oral politics in the city of boston -- may oral mayoral politics in the city of boston. and from "the sunday star- ledger," in new jersey, "the ."rbara bohn no you don't know a new poll finds that most view the act unfavorably, but like some of the elements. common goal standards quietly altering state education man state -- landscape despite consent." georgia, is this the decade of discontent? good morning, carol. steve, the thing is, that this is a question and it is the kind of question that

someone would ask at this time, -- rightko rejigged gecko i have never seen -- right? we are fighting against ourselves to listen to people tell us that we do not need health insurance. you have got people funding people who tell us that we do not need health insurance. you only have people who are politicians. people that you feel are important, right gecko -- right? that their representatives are going, trying to stop health care, because the thing is, they have health insurance. does that make any sense? that wemake any sense have voted in people that have

stopped us from getting jobs? i am from georgia. out of the whole state of jobs.a, we lost 40,000 think about it. out of all of these jobs, centerstate banks rude, carpet factory, why bc, closed down. what are my people thinking about gecko we should be out in the streets. we let people like the ones that you all cover on the shows talk us out of our own best interests. see, they are fighting in syria and these other places for their freedom, right? freedom,pposed to have but you see the people lining up to buy a telephone?

not in line to vote? we have a problem, right? forum ist is what this all about, we are hearing from all voices. we continue to listen to your comments on our facebook page. thank you for doing so. this is what the story looks like inside "the weekly standard." "tw oh miserable decades -- to miserable decades." gowo miserable decades here -- miserable decades." whether or not you think this is a decade of discontent, decade is joining us -- debbie is joining us from bristol, connecticut. caller calm i heart goes out to that woman who just called from georgia, it is so true. i believe it has been a mess for

long time and things are coming to a head. one of the major problems is we need to rethink how we do business in washington. when the government came to be, our representatives represented the people, but they do not anymore, now they represent the business and the decisions that are made are for big is this and not for us anymore. we need to take a stand. first of all, we need to make congress accountable. when they are not doing their job, we get -- we give them three warnings and then they are out. they are fired. things have becoming worse for the middle-class. i retired from a job and went on health care. our wages are decreasing. since the 1970s they have been going down. if you are in health care, by now you make less than minimum wage because of the laws here. i can legally make four dollars

per hour legally. try living on that standard of today on four dollars per hour. a keep finding loopholes whereby the normal person does not get their fair wages or insurance. i think that obama is wonderful. he has really made effort to try to represent the people, but the rest of the politicians are sabotaging him. it is going to hurt people because of business loopholes, insurance providers are now providing less work per person. so, again we pay. the efforts are there, but he keeps getting sabotaged. i could go on and on, i will not, but we the people need to take our country back again, get rid of the politicians, get rid of the lobbyists, because whatever they want its voted in. host: thank you for the call from rizal, connecticut. john will be joining us for our

bristol,undtable -- connecticut. john will be joining us for our sunday, roundtable -- sunday roundtable. the debte discussing limit. some of you are weighing in on our facebook page. let me share some of those comments. this is from danny --

host: clifton will join us next. agree with the last few callers who have called him, it is just one of the points, that the question was subjective because it seems itsy decade, every time has own discontent or even its worst time. i remember my 60s, into the 70s, 80s, you would have the same articles, pictures on the front page of the papers. i was an army brat. i was all over the world area there were terrorist attacks. i think the question is probably subjective in that they depend on the time frame of the person. my grandfather died on my mothers side i and world war i.an one -- world war

his generation went through world war roman one, world war -- world war i, world the korean war, the vietnam war, perspectives are different from generation to generation. it is tough. you vote the right people in the tax laws have to be changed, even we the people do not want the tax changes, we have our own loopholes. it depends on the person who is living when and at what time. out of thesere

next two wars, you know? host: john has this point, from north carolina. if the tea party is responsible from joy in philadelphia.

next call is robert from jonesboro, arkansas. i agree with the last several callers including the two from connecticut and georgia. also with john as well. all of them make a couple of excellent points there in what they are saying. seriousthis has been a decade of discontent. we have a number of problems we need to resolve. in my view, the tea party is the problem. we need to start working to ,esolve those as soon as we can especially to avert a shutdown of the government. pressfrom "the associated

, , rand paul. milton is joining us from san jose california.

i disagree with the discontent thing. i am younger and 28, so maybe i am naive. i think we have had a wonderful decade. i think our music has been incredible. a lot of our cultural statements have been great. we have had a lot of coming over obamarecisely and sometimes in opposition to obama. i think it is great that people who are involved in the tea party are reading the constitution and feeling inspired to get involved in politics and vote and think for a critically about what they want the government to do. i disagree with them, but it is not like i am disagreeing in whole. i think it is a wonderful thing. this notion of discontent seems to me a waste of our time. there are a lot of things to be optimistic and positive about. if we want to sit around and gripe and listen to our political leaders tell us how we are supposed to be upset, it seems like a waste of our time. thanks for the call.

one of our regulatory years and this is the autumn of our discontent. discontent is a product of the conditions when they will of the minority is temporarily imposed on the majority. our next call is andrew joining us from new jersey. you say yes this is a decade of discontent? caller: yes, good morning steve. first of all, to coin a phrase decade of discontent, this has been going on for a long time. we have to hold our leaders accountable. the betrayal of american

democracy. i work for the federal government and i got caught up in a government shutdown. this is nothing new. isn't it interesting that members of congress keep their health care, keep their paychecks and continue enjoying lavish parties in georgetown when most people by trying to pay their bills lose their jobs, have high credit card debts that they are using just to make ends and they arecases beholden to the credit card companies who lavish millions of dollars on members of congress. the tea party goes, this is nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing. of the tea party says it will never take money from corporate america. guess what? where did michele bachmann get it from? she got it from corporate america.

wake up, people. we have to take our country back the looming shutdown feels old already.

among the policy issues at the president is focusing on, guns came up. as he addressed the congressional black caucus here in washington, jennifer epstein writes. andrew is joining us from greenville, north carolina. you're saying no, this is not the decade of our discontent? that's right.

it is only two and a half years in. as a historian, you go back to the american revolution and all through the 1800s, there was a debacle in any of those. not until franklin delano roosevelt came in. i'm going to give a little history here. this may be indicative of what we can do in congress now. bob dutton was the chairman of the house ways and means committee. you don't get any bigger than he house ways and means and worked with president roosevelt to get some of his projects done. eventually, social security was passed. it took some fine tuning and i think the same will happen here.

i don't think so. int: there was a piece what wel journal.com" face in the 1960s with medicare and medicaid. is brownstein space available online. this from our facebook page, patricia meredith points out that the discontent is caused by the failures of the previous decade. alan from orlando, florida. yes, this is the decade of discontent. i agree with the last caller. history has shown that we have had a lot of problems in this country and we have overcome a lot of them. and now we have leadership that i don't think is looking out for our country. we have a divider in chief as president. he is saying with a one percent

against the 99 he has got us going where he has not met with boehner one time this year on .he debt budget he is supposed to be the leader of the country. he does not want to realize our potential as a country. look what we have done this week with the epa. we have a situation where everybody is the small guy. all the utilities are going to go up. no gas, no coal. how will we get our electric? we have big business and we have government trying to control the people. now the people are pushing back a little bit for the first time .n years with the tea party so what have they done? they feel are nice and demonize the tea party. people are supposed to push back a little against the government. if we don't, the government will tell us exactly what to do, when

to do it, how to do it, where to go to church, who we believe in, what we do as far as schools, what we do and what we learn. we have to push back. the tea party is the only thing that is pushing back right now. otherwise the government controls every little thing in our lives including healthcare. we have to push back one way or another. two lines i wanted to share with you from "inside the washington post. go just a few mouse from capitol hill. this is the headline. there will be a memorial service it will be taking place at 5:00 eastern time. we will have live coverage on the c-span networks. another headline from inside "the washington post."

a scenario of six or seven things to look for in the days ahead. we are asking the question from the weekly standard, which is also available online. they ask if this is the decade of discontent. debbie is joining us. she is next from gainesville, florida. to >> ow wonderful caller: thank you so much for allowing me to speak. brian is still here and he is on q and a tonight. please go ahead. caller: anyway, what i would like to say, you will remember me. i used to live in mexico beach. the problem that we're having is, able are chasing the symptoms rather than the disease. understand that you can give painkillers and that is not going to make the problem go away.

the problem we have in washington is the corporate lobbyists. they more than quadrupled since 2000. when we reverse it the glass- steagall act, they have stuck their straws into washington and suck every bit of our tax dollars away. the cure is public financing of elections. true public financing of elections. so happy in switzerland and denmark? that is because they have public financing of elections. that is the disease. until we go after that, i agree with the previous choleric performing said that you have to push back very you need to push back about how we fund our campaigns. you can't fire these senators thecongress people because corporations have put them there. the special interests have put them there. we have to have true of the financing of elections. we have to get wall street.

they own washington. the people don't own it. that is the cure. thank you, steve. i am watching you. you thet me share with comments of jonathan last from "the weekly standard." he writes. thanks for your calls and comments. coming up in just a moment, we will turn our attention to washington this week. the senate convenes to talk about raising the debt limit.

more immediately, acr vote expected early this week. lawmakers returning midweek. we will be joining with our .oundtable later, cheryl atkinson from cbs news will talk to us about a round of hearings about benghazi. to be learn anything new? -- did we learn anything new? good morning. >> on today's sunday tv talk shows, the talkie -- the topics include gun control and funding the government. nbc's meet the press. today's guests include republican senator mike lee, a member of the joint economic committee and arms services committee. jamieemocratic senator

club shargh. appropriations committee member congressman republican tom graves. news sunday with republican senator ted cruz of texas and missouri democratic senator claire mccaskill. housecrowley talking with leader nancy pelosi. bob schieffer sits down with west virginia democratic senator joe manchin. -- oklahoma republican senator tom coburn. again, the rebroadcast begin at noon eastern with nbc's "meet the press. "fox news sunday" 3 p.m. eastern. the nation" from cbs.

you can listen to them all on c- span radio. country on xm satellite radio, channel 119. download our free app for your smart phone or listen online at c-span radio.org. >> we are in prospect garden in princeton new jersey. when alan wilson was in the white house, she brings a white house garden back here to this garden at prospect house. she says to the white house that's re-create the row section of this garden at the white house. of course this becomes the famous rose garden at the white house. allen tragically does not live to see the rose garden completed, however. she is dying in the summer of 1914. she is wheeled out into the face outside in her wheelchair. she doesn't live to see the completion of this vision she had four roses blooming at the

white house. >> meet the first and second wife of resident woodrow wilson at c-spannight, live eastern. also on c-span radio and c- span.org. c-span's student videocam contest is accepting submissions. entries should show varying points of view. for more information, go to student cam.org. >> washington journal continues. republican strategist eehery. walk us through

what we can expect tomorrow and tuesday. >> i think you can expect senator reid to go to the floor monday and file cloture. that will ripen on thursday. he will probably move to block any and all amendments. that will be successful. he will get the 60 votes and then we will spend up to 30 hours of debate post-cloture on the so-called filibuster. we will wrap up either on friday or on the weekend. again, successfully sending the with thed to the house so-called obamacare language stripped out. as you know, steve, this is an interesting situation. it highlights how much of a joke this debate is. to so-ho are opposed called obamacare are going to be in the unique position of

filibustering the motion to proceed to a bill that actually strips out the obamacare language. i can't wait for this. this is the headline from the "washington examiner." what is different today under his leadership? seen: i think what we have is this rise of outside groups that are now raising money on .actical strategy the freedom works, the club for growth, the conservatives fund, they are basically going on fox news and other outlets, and this nbc, whatever, advertising against republicans and raising money. that is made much more difficult for john boehner to have any sort of death -- any sort of discipline. i think you have these tea party republicans that don't really identify at all with the republican leadership, but they have their own power centers. i think you could say that the

outfall from mccain-feingold really limited the role of political parties and gave outside groups much more ability to raise money and participate in the political process. that might be good in some ways, but it is really hard for needed to get disciplined as a result. this is from senator rand paul who is speaking over the weekend. headline from the associated press saying that we probably can't get rid of obamacare. he spoke to reporters earlier in the day and said it is unlikely come about starting with our position, by not funding it may be we get a position where we make obamacare less bad. that. becauseo he says that while house republicans voted to defund. i think what rand paul

and ted cruz need to refine their strategy. they have gone in with the meat cleaver and are running these ads, basically saying that we promise you we will defund obamacare when they knew darn well that that was going to be impossible. we have here is we have a president who signed the law, who the law is named after, was never going to sign repeal. fix it, that is one thing. i think there's a lot to be fixed out of it. but completely getting rid of it is unrealistic when he have a sender can fall by the democrats and a president who actually signed the law initially. this is the problem. this is the debate within the republican party that is still happening today. i wouldn't be doing my job if i didn't point out that after that ap story ran last afternoon that he and the staff reminded everybody that they did not

support the repeal of obamacare. he try to manage it is best to seek can. again, it just shows that there are about 40 or 50 house republicans now that are living in some sort of alternative reality, prepare to vote against anything, especially if it had to do the president. worse, i guess for worse, actually, there are more senate republicans that feel the same way. in principle, i'm not sure he has voted for one bill yet in the united states senate in his nine months or so that he has been here so far. these folks are just living in an alternative reality and this debate about cr just highlights that. the fact of the matter is, republicans have artie lost on this debate. they can do it the easy way or the hard way, but they are going

to lose on the cr and the debt limit debate as well. share with you on last friday's morning joe on nbc. we dids this week what is we came out with a strategy that we are going to vote to defund obamacare. give ted cruz and others what they wanted. several hours later he sent out a press release while we are on the floor voting saying that we can't really hold the senate, we are not going to filibuster or fight. the house has told. you should have been on the .loor there is so much anger and frustration. we have been abused by these guys for so long. what i see happening now is people coming out and calling them out for the hypocrisy of the date of conservatives who know how to fight but will never get in the ring. they can hold a filibuster in the senate if they want, but

they can hold conservatives together. they can hold the senate and have this fight as long as they want, but they're not willing to do it. today, krista liz a of "the washington post." >> going on here? i was just speaking with my friend. you have cruz who deserve some credit for highlighting that. i think his tactics are kind of silly. we should be focused completely on obamacare and not try to threaten the shutdown of the government over it. is very unpopular. it was jammed down the throats of the american people in a partisan way. the popularity is sinking even

more. the more they see their insurance premiums going up more they're worried about it. there's got to be a way to fix it. i think fixing it is something that is possible. repealing it with this president is almost impossible. host: this fight will move to the senate where it belongs. i expect my senate colleagues to be up for the battle. a couple of things, what he is saying is put up or shut up to senator cruz and senator leahy and some others. they are going to be filibustering a bill that does exactly what they want to do and that is stripped out obamacare. do you know what is funny about all of this? look, i am more than willing to concede that the administration has had a tough couple of months when it comes to syria for

and the larry summers nomination. things got a little rocky there, but the fact of the matter is that one of the best things they have going for them right now is this republican on republican violence. the only thing that is going to happen coming out of this is that democrats are going to stand united with the president and take it on the republicans because all the proposals are wildly out of the mainstream and vastly unpopular with the american people. i think the republicans are much more lockstep in their attitude towards obamacare. he made some mistakes by not focusing how to fix it. it's not ready for prime time. the president acknowledged that when he delayed the implementation of a business -- for a year.r i think we should probably do the same thing for the rest of the american people.

people want less spending from washington dc. they don't want their taxes to go up. -- there is some some rhetoric and it gets over here it -- it gets overheated. i think that republicans are actually going to do well this next election because they are really where the people are, especially in their districts. if want to see guest: broke up -- republicans lost some seats in 1998 and lost a lot of momentum coming from the contract with america. on the other hand, they got welfare reform signed into law and they balance budget and economic policies were pretty successful because they were

able to get not only a balanced budget the surplus because you cut spending and had tax cuts. they lost the public relations war but i don't think they lost the policy war. guest: president clinton was elected in a landslide after said shutdown. how out ofhlights step and out of reality these folks are and the revision of history that is going around shutdowns were6 not disastrous for the republicans. i don't have the faintest idea what they are talking about and it shows how delusional they are. host: with you two sentences from their piece this morning.

guest: the only way you can really govern in a divided government is through crisis. it is not ready or nice or fun and we have this " perils of on ine" miniseries going congress where they are hanging off the cliff all the time but that's how you cut deals. whatever you learned when you were in middle school when you had to put off the term paper to the last possible moment, congress has taken that with them. >> but they are not cutting deals, that is the issue. i don't agree with much of what he just said. democrats --r 50 40 or 50 republicans in the house that are not prepared to accept anything.

toy have come to town to try take that building down and tear it apart, prepare to vote no on everything, compromise is a dirty word to them. as you know, i worked for senator kennedy for 12 years. one of the highlights of his hisre was his belief and willingness to try to cut deals and try to reach compromise, recognizing he may get half a loaf now but further in the future, you can continue to build on that. for many of these guys in the house and increasingly in the senate, that is not hardly work. it is my way or the highway. you have many little dictators like ted cruz running around or last week trying to dictate how the united states senate will run and that's not how the process is set up. that: david fitter said congress should take the same responsibility under obamacare

as the rest of the country. that's the mainstream. law will pass some stupid -- that the american people want congress to abide by. the democrats are doing a slime campaign which is outrageous because they have a law they put on the american people. this is the problem. there has been some compromises. we got some stuff done with the 98% of the bush tax cuts that were enacted into law and we agreed on a process to get spending under control. it is not everything and there has been some hiccups along the way put i don't think they will shut the government down or default on the debt. tom delay conviction was overturned, your former boss, what is your reaction? times" and new york "the washington post" editorialized in favor of tom delay. the prosecution against him was

idiotic and so political. it's about time that justice was done. host: our guests are two veterans of capitol hill. your calls and comments and you can also send us an e-mail or send us a tweet. jim from greenville, south carolina, republican, what's on your mind? caller: i have two quick points for mr. manley. the last time we lost the election in 1997 -- 1998, bill clinton and that congress repealed glass-steagall and they did a whole revamping of the financial bill which led to the near catastrophe in the housing market and the banking sector. you mentioned the republicans are the far right are not living in reality but it is also the far left not reliving in reality. i watched c-span all the time and there is always left people

from the house saying that everyone should have mental health care and everybody should receive that. there is not enough mental health counselors qualified to even give everyone in this country unlimited health care for mental needs. what you guys would do and what the far left wants to do is basically tell the people who it -- the people that can afford it that you get to only go for half an hour instead of an hour in counseling because we will ratify healthcare. on point number one, agreed, that was the result of president clinton's time in office. on point number two, i am more than willing to agree that things on capitol

hill are becoming dominated by hyper artisanship on the left and the right. the left certainly is feeling their oats, if you will, after the summer's nomination. wellea party is alive and in the united states house of representatives. guest: first of all, i would make the observation that larry summers did not get the fed chairmanship because of this backlash on glass-steagall repeal. anger toward this those folks who did that in 1998 comes from. the second point on mental health -- there is a real mental health crisis in this country. it is like a cancer. this is not something we've got to come to grips with it -- maybe not everyone should be mandated. it is very expensive but we should treat mental health as the real crisis it is and not ignore it. the house voted on friday

afternoon to defund the president's health care law tied in with the cr that keeps the government running through december. even if that did not pass, we would still be doing this in a couple of months but the president traveled to a ford motor plant in kansas and talked about his legislative accomplishments a mastic way, obamacare. [video clip] unfortunately, there is a faction in the republican party, not everybody but it is a big faction who convinced their leadership to threaten a government shutdown and potentially threaten to not raise the debt ceiling if they cannot shut off the affordable care act, also known as obamacare. think about this -- they are not talking now about spending cuts or entitlement reforms. now they are talking about something that has nothing to do with the budget, right?

they are actually willing to plunge america into default if we cannot defund the affordable care act. let's put this in perspective -- the affordable care act has been in the law for 3.5 years after it passed both houses of congress and the supreme court ruled a constitutional and it was an issue in laster's election. the guide was running against me said he would repeal it and we won. president last friday at a ford motor plant as he traveled and talked about jobs, the economy, and healthcare. i want to share with you what kathleen harker who is a supporter of the president talked about dealing obamacare --

what to you say to a supporter that says to delay this? guest: i categorically reject that suggestion. we have a healthcare system that changes need to occur. and i saw itttempt all play out, to do the best job we could to put together the --st health care proposal we with no help from republicans. with all due respect to kathleen, she may have heard deeply held views, but what i think is going on here is that republicans, similar to what they did with social security in 1990 -- in 2005 when they try to privatize it, democrats stood up and said ts ew deal.

this is nothing more than attack on the president's signature domestic policy initiative. the bottom line is that president obama is for it and they are against it. much onpending way too healthcare right now. doing nothing is not an alternative. let's get this thing up and running. let's modify it where we can. we would like to try to do it on the hill but republicans will not take any offer to try to modify it. they just want to repeal it. host: one of our viewers says -- guest: i don't think that's the case. the biggest fear is that it will push up dramatically the premiums and ends of the 40 hour workweek. president obama's biggest supporter is big labor and they

aren't desperately afraid of think it because they will and the 40 hour workweek. they want to delay it and they have written letters and done rallies. kathleen parker is more moderate. she's not really a supporter of the president but she nails it. she has been more supportive of the president over the last five years. guest: think it will and the 40 hour workweek. anyway, labor has been overwhelmingly supporter of the present and they do not like this bill. they are panicked about it because it will hurt working people. let's delay this for one year. let's give it a chance to get these exchanges up. this is right around the corner and this is not ready for prime time. host: we will hear from congressman eric cantor in a moment but let's go to michigan, republican -- good morning. i want tood morning,

thank you for addressing mental health as it relates to having healthcare coverage print you kind of spoke out of your mouth both ways when you said delay it. you cannot delay mental health for a person, it does not work. in terms of big labor, as a child of a victory worker, my father, he would have supported the affordable care act. he is deceased. my brother still works for gm and does supported. - it. perhaps some people are afraid to lose those high-quality benefits and that's wrong. as far as mr. cantor, he has been in one of the most beautiful late -- places in the world. his he doesn't see is waters are polluted and have been for decades. host: senator rand paul was in mackinac island in michigan, not

eric cantor. guest: it's beautiful up there. worriedright, labor is about losing their benefits. there is a lot of people losing benefits. they are in fear of healthcare at higher costs. this law is a disaster. pew ratings are going down and that's why republicans are right about obamacare. they just picked the wrong strategy on how to get it altered. host: we will go to susan joining us next from boston, independent. caller: thank you, c-span. i have a couple of questions. we have 12 mayoral candidates running on tuesday in boston. i regret we are a one- party town, to a person, they are the most passionate, articulate, creative -- they

have great ideas. i think our city will be a great laboratory for innovation and cost effective but results oriented governing in the next decade or multiple decades. i have hope with the states and the cities. washington sold out in both houses. the far left, the far right and everybody in between has sold out to global business interests whose loyalties are not with our nation. they are financial robber barons of the world. they do not care about the american public. i think the repeal of glass- steagall as well as the congressional redistricting which allow these crazy fringe, non-compromising, non- statesmanlike people to take over the halls of congress has been a disgrace. am not a liberal, i

would agree with the wonderful --bute to senator kennedy like-minded great legislators of the past -- senator dole, these people have compromised. of o'neill -- i can think hundreds of republicans that represent this you those of taking half the low. with regard to healthcare, let's start it and let it lumber along. if we keep delaying it, we will never iron out the kinks. host: the front-page story of "the boston globe" -- a look at tuesday's mayoral primary. guest: i have more than a passing familiarity with that race because of former colleague from my time with my work was senator kennedy is one of those currently on the city council. he is one of those running in that race. did you want to respond to her other points?

the only other thing i's would say to that is john worked with someone who is willing to compromise when he worked with former congressman bob michael. guest: the leader, bob michael, a great american, worked closely with tip o'neill. they disagreed passionately on issues but they were able to get together and hammer out things. the guy who invented the phrase take half a loaf is ronald reagan. folks that say ronald reagan was a non-compromiser is not true. he worked for the betterment of the nation. what the caller was pointing to was this populist discontent with the financial system as it is with globalization and with this idea that the world has destroyed jobs with exporting these jobs.

there the is probably an elemenf truth to that. we do need to focus on jobs and i think one of the worst aspects of this administration is the complete lack of focus on jobs. he is all over the place and is not talking about jobs. host: friday in washington after the house had voted on the continuing resolution and the health-care law, republican leaders spoke to reporters at an event sponsored by house speaker john boehner and among those speaking was eric cantor of virginia. [video clip] >> the house has been fighting to stop obamacare since 2009 and and we have said over and over increasethis law will the cost for the working middle class families of this country and we are now seeing it. we have said from the beginning that this law will harm our economy and we are seeing our economy turned from a full-time job economy into a part-time job economy. that is why we are doing our job

and now it is up to senate democrats to show some responsibility and follow the houses lead. [applause] many senate republicans have ron must to leave no stone unturned fighting this bill and all of us here support that effort. the 43rds is what vote? guest: the republicans don't like obamacare, i don't know if you know this. they are working hard anyway they can to pass that message on to their constituents. the problem is the senate is controlled by senator reed, jim's old boss, and that resident still has the veto pen so you can attack as many of but whatngs as we want the divided government, you will not get much done. republicans need to pivot to a

progrowth strategy because that's what the voters want. host: the next vote is raising the debt limit. guest: i could not agree more. well said -- as far as i am aware, we are the only major industrialized country that requires such a vote on the debt limit. that existsaly nowhere else. i also agreed that it should be common routine vote but in recent years, it is not. is, onceof the matter we get the path to cr, these guys will attach everything and the kitchen sink to the debt limit vote.

i want to be very clear -- we just saw a bunch of republicans rally,g, having a cheering that they will shut down the government. if that's not incredibly cynical, i don't know what is. guest: they were not cheering that's -- factwere cheering that the that they pass this to the senate and the upper body will get a chance to do what it will. this is the issue here. find a way tod to reach common ground but the only way you can do that is when you have these types of crises. the debt limit is a speed bump. we have to slow down when we go over ace bead bump and find out where we are going as a nation. we are going bankrupt. the president says he will not negotiate over the debt limit. that is not -- we have to have a conversation about how we are not going to pass a $13 more

onto our grandchildren. this is a debate that needs to happen and the only way you have that debate is by having a vote on the debt limit. i think it is an important vote and i hope we can have a bigger discussion not only about increasing the debt limit but also having a debate about how we will cut spending in the future. host: let's go to edward from georgia, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. i appreciate you taking my call. i got one question -- there are so many things wrong with this government. the main thing i want to know is -- why, if the obamacare is so good for everybody else, why exempt anybody? if it is not good for everybody, it should not be good at all. it,verybody has to go on the government, the unions, and everybody else then tell

everybody they are covered. we should not have it otherwise. i would like to know why it is not good for everyone. on the line and we will get a response and if you're not satisfied, you can follow up. guest: what can i say? as a strong proponent of single- payer, i could not agree with the caller more. i don't think that is necessarily what he means. let's be clear, single-payer healthcare were everyone is covered is the only way to go. the political reality was -- i was there -- we had to do whatever we could to put together a bill that eventually passed. i don't think there is anything wrong with compromises and tweaks if something is not

working right to try to make it better. republicans are the ones that prevented us from doing universal healthcare, so- called single-payer. we have cobbled together a bill that by all estimates will cover at least one 2 million more additional americans. big business already has their exemption. big labor wants their exemption and now congress is really furious because they say congress should not get an exemption. you are absolutely right, if you're going to have a law like this, you cannot do special favors to your friends. it does not work at way. host: did that answer your question? say,r: yes, like i everybody under it or nobody under it. president will have a legacy -- the only thing i can see he has accomplished is he

have moved jimmy carter up from the worst president to next to the worst president. thank you for taking my call. host: thank you. host: this is for you -- probably 44. at some point in time, republicans will have to accept the reality that the president will not sign or appeal so they have to embark on a strategy to fix it. they have been loathe to do that because of, care is not fixable in their minds. there are many things that could

be fixed. tweet -- the government provides essential services. it is not necessarily supposed to be a for-profit organization but i think there needs to be at how the money goes out. taxpayer money is wasted on a lot of different things. , pennsylvania, democrats line, welcome to the program. caller: array to the lady of massachusetts who has the most sense of anyone who calls. you have to be more specific when you talk about things like redistricting. had nineolina republicans elected and only four democrats elected to the house and those for democrats

had 81,000 more votes than those nine republicans. it's amazing how democracy works when you're totally unfair? it's impossible to a wide in the long run. we have no democracy anymore. let's get real here. are we in a retarded democracy? thank you very much. host: tied into that is this tweet -- based on his: this point, let me go back to something you said earlier. what about working on compromise? guest: that's a good question and i think what has happened and tends to happen in divided government is that you only get compromise when you have to make compromise per you only reach a deal when it is essential to reach a deal. the president has not done much work on the hill. he does not kind of to the real

hard work of getting congress in a room and working together. i think you deserve some blame but the redistricting is a big part of it. you have extremes on both sides. america aeen with while and comes and goes and is a little worse now than it has been. the 2010 election was a real rejection of president obama and with it swept and a lot of state legislatures that gave a lot of republicans the ability to draw maps as they see fit. compromise is hard and the other truth here is that we have a big country and there is a wide gap expectationss and between more urban areas and the more rural areas. sometimes reaching agreement on the best way forward for the country is not that easy. host: you spent most of your government service on capitol hill on the house side than on

the senate side, why? a love of politics, love of policy and the chance to work with people that were going to affect change for the better. host: but you never worked on the house side? guest: i had a chance over the 21 years and the senate to start of working for then majority leader george mitchell as a press assistant and his office where i was the guy that did the clips. then i spent 12 years with senator kennedy as his press , education, health and labor pensions committee where i saw him do numerous deals with then congressman john on no child left behind, pension reform and other legislation and i had a chance to work for the democratic leader, harry reid for six years, serving as senior communications advisor.

i got extraordinarily lucky. it was not just because of smarts but a willingness to work hard and get the job done. i just never felt the need to go to the house. i thank the lord above that i got lucky working for the three people that i did. guest: you never went to the senate, you just stayed in the house. toot: the upper chamber is noisy toy the four may. i have a bipartisan marriage. i span 15 years in the house and and for michael, tom delay i had great bosses, all three of them had different strengths and i learned a lot from all of them. you kind of gain expertise and after my 15 years on the house side, i think i did my government service. i moved on. strengths.as its the senate is a more diffuse

body. they tend to do more debating over there and we kind of get stuff done. i like places where they get stuff done. if you could put a percentage, what is the likelihood we would see a government shut down october 1? guest: i think it's about 30%. it would be a short-term government shut down unlike when therked for tom delay and if leadership, this leadership understands that shutting down the government is not really in their best strategic interest. i don't think it will happen. i think they will find a way to reach agreement to keep the government open even if it is a short term scenario. host: that -- if the house is presented with a clean cr as senator reed takes out the funding measure, what will happen? guest: the leadership will then be stuck with the question of and liveo accept that

to fight another day on the debt limit or if they will make some modifications and set it back -- and send it back to the senate days before the october 1 deadline and try to " jam the senate." they might take away health care coverage for congressional staff members, for instance. i need to get this off my chest -- as got is my witness, i don't understand how we got in the situation where republicans are citing a bill to provide health care for 20 million americans as an excuse to take away health care for congressional staff and members. members want to opt out, that's fine but many large employers in this country offer health care. there is no reason the united states should not offer it as well. anyways, sorry to go off on a tangent. i think that's what will happen. the question is whether they will try to send it back to the senate one more time or whether

they live to fight another day at the debt limit and try to load that up with everything but the kitchen sank. host: let me draw our audience's attention to the story inside "the new york times" -- the president leadership, this leadership understands that shutting down the will talk abot this week with former president clinton in a speech thursday. members of his cabinet will stand out. the overarching goal is to persuade many of today's 48 million uninsured to sign up for insurance on these new exchanges. guest: i think the president has a big job. a recent poll showed that most people thought the law -- a substantial number of people thought the law would be repealed. another part of the electorate thought it had been an active and have been implemented. a lot of this information and no

information for many voters out there -- they have a big sales job. he reason we have this cr fight is because the congress did not get its work done on appropriation bills. they did not get their work done because they could not reach an agreement on the budget numbers. the house had lower numbers than the senate. that if you show don't get your basic work done, you create crises. the goes to show why congressional approval ratings are about teen percent. the american people expect congress to get the work done. if any members of the congress -- this is the house and the senate -- the senate did not pass any appropriations bill on the senate floor -- the house passed about 10, i think -- you really need to do the hard work.

host: this is the front-page story of "the atlanta constitution journal" showing that most view the act unfavorably but some like elements of the health-care law. from go next to steve indiana, democrats line, good morning. caller: obamacare should go through and the problem i have is the republican party lies about all this stuff that is going on. 1,you wait until october when they put this into effect, they will see lower prices.

there are going to be more people on. party, whenlican they put out all these things, trying to stop it, it is ridiculous. if they would let it go through don't do stupid things, the republican party has been doing nothing since they had the house. they don't to nothing except office orme a post try to get rid of obamacare. host: thanks for the call. a lot of people's premiums if you have health care now, they will go up. people have already seen their premiums go up because of obamacare. you have a lot of people who are worried that they cannot find

jobs or a 40 hour a week job because they see this as an assault on the 40 hour workweek and big labor is worried about losing their health care benefits. this is a big policy change. the throatsd down of the american people on a partisan vote. it is unpopular and the republicans have a good reason to be against it. host: guest: what can i say? last i checked, there is an election in 2012 and obama won. itwas constitutional and passed the house and the senate, this law. the quicker the so-called tea party types accept that, the

better off we will be. also, that may have been elected by their constituents but they dictators, they are part of a political process in compromise is required because gridlock is a lousy alternative. host: another headline on the health-care law from "the washington post" -- this is one of a series of industries that are affected by

the health-care law and the story outlines with hospitals are facing. guest: change is never easy. this is a sweeping overhaul. like to have seen more. it is a good down payment on the need to try to address the rising health care costs in this country. host: chattanooga, tennessee, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. unfortunately, this is the new norm. the republican party will never win another national election. the demographics are not there. as a party, they are done. that's a pretty strong statement to say never. guest: the demographics in the country, if you look at the last election, if they don't include a more diverse constituent, they will never win a national election.

tea party guys, they will not win a national election. tent.as to be a bigger i think the republicans have to broaden their base. i think it is better for the body politic if you have a diverse party facing off against a diverse party. i think there is plenty of room for conservatives and moderates to join the republican party. last election, we saw an unpopular president, not that unpopular, but not that popular easily won reelection. against a candidate that should have done better and made some mistakes. every election is a binary choice but we have to do a better job of attracting different voices and not be just a single issue party.

single issue parties don't succeed politically. host: next call is from louisiana, good morning. caller: good morning, gentlemen. thise been watching argument aret. i voted for obama on defense issues. i later regretted it but it seems the republican party represents corporate america and the globalists. they are really trying to destroy this democracy, i feel. all, they want to call it a republic, not a democracy. secondly, they suppressed the vote. they redistrict so the government is broken and is no -- it no longer represents the

view of the american people. guest: i guess it's my turn again. think there are so many things to talk about here -- the republican party represents a wide swath. it has become increasingly populist. if you look at it, they don't really listen to corporate america anymore. corporate america does not -- supports most part -- both parties mostly and you see that with what happened with glass- steagall. that was something the democrats pushed through.

what you seewhat you see with ty is they are populist and anticorporate. i would like to see closer cooperation between the business community and the republican party. host: i want to conclude with a question we asked our audience early today and it is the cover story of " the weekly standard." i want to share two excerpts from what they write. your thoughts? guest: what am i supposed to say?? i spent 21 years in the senate and have never seen a political process that is so broken. i was lucky enough when i first

started to see some real tightness on the senate floor day in and day out by taking responsibility seriously, legislating, believing in compromise. now that is not the case. something has to give. i'm not so sure what it is but all i know is the current path is unsustainable. we have mounting pressures from the left and right to try to foist their agenda onto the common sense middle. like i said, something has to give. host: the headline from "the washington post"-- is this comparable to the 1970s? or it compares to the 1930s. if you have persistent unemployment and people dropping out of the workforce, you have

increased disability claims, security is ready to go broke quicker because of this pressure from disability claims. you have an economy that is not working for all the people. it is hard to say that when you had richard nixon presiding in office, probably than the worst president, jimmy carter, that is a low point but we have assistant problems in america that seem to be getting worse. our deficit is one of them. pressure from disability claims. you have an economy that is not working for all the people. getting better but the debt is worsen economic growth is stagnant, unemployment is persistent, and underemployment is a real problem. i think there's an increasing gap between the rich and the poor. these are things you need to be concerned about. each decade has its own challenges. sometimes you have stars that rise up out of them and sometimes -- we have been through the financial crisis and

going back to 9/11, the shaking of america's confidence. -- i woulderage rather live in america than anywhere else print we have our issues but we are still the best place in the world to live. gentlemen, thank you both for being with us. come back again. when we come back, cheryl atkinson of cbs news will join us to focus on benghazi. you are watching "washington getting better journal," sunday morning september 22, we are back in a moment. ♪ ♪ ♪

since 1998, c-span-2's book tv has shown 30 hours of -- 30,000 hours of programming. >> we were going to do the book after he died but he preempted that. i was horrified. i was then delighted. >> i always felt people are more alike than they are different. rose to that may occasion that if i can create something that is so moving and madepermits distance he from what is painful, then people will understand. understanding is basically was fundamental. >> the point is that no argument is given to that effect. are of the relevant facts considered and this is regarded as one of the half-dozen cases

where theory entails the use of military force was legitimate. >> we are the only national television network devoted -- devoted exclusively to nonfiction books. we are marking 15 years of tv on c-span two. host: all this weekend on book tv, we travel 50 miles from our nations capital to fredericksburg, virginia. among the locations, a visit to kenmore plantation which was the home to george washington's sister. there is a preview of the programming later today. >> we are standing in the dining room at kenmore which is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful colonial era interiors still remaining in the united states. this room sort of up at him as is everything that kenmore was intended to be when fielding and

betty else's house, this was going to to be there showplace, their crowning achievement, their statement to all of society that they had arrived and work hard and built themselves up and this was what they were capable of doing. unfortunately, kenmore never got to live up to that dream. it was sort of a tragic story. they moved into kenmore in the fall of 1775, right on the eve of the revolution. toh of what was supposed happen at kenmore, the parties, the dinners, the balls, the formal affairs never really took place. in the dining room with its glorious plasterwork ceiling and its fine wallpaper and expensive paints on the trim, all of those things were met to impress lots of visitors that would be coming here. this room was never used as it was intended. allssertive a monument to that could have been but never was.

all weekend long on c-span two and c-span three. the history and literary life of fredericksburg, virginia. on c-span two, we continue from the national book festival on the mall here in washington, dc of cbs news,on thanks for coming back. guest: thanks for having me. host: we want to focus on the benghazi attacks and another round of questions by the government oversight committee led by darrell issa. here is an exchange between he pickering that looked into what happened in benghazi when you're ago. [video clip] >> obviously, this was not a goptcha panel. >> with great respect, i would say we gave for names to the secretary of state that we

believed were failing in their senior leadership and management responsibilities. >> your testimony today that something should have happened, they should not be on the job having lost it days pay. thate made recommendations two of those people should have been removed. >> people have not been fired that should have been fired. >> that is a different set of circumstances. >> so accountability -- wouldn't you agree there is no accountability? >> there was accountability. host: the tone of that hearing that took place last week -- did we learn anything new? guest: we did get some answers i think but we also got answers that raised further questions, things such as no permission was asked for for clearance over libyan airspace for potential rescue. i guess it was presumed one could not be mounted ahead of time. there were questions about why over 100 witnesses were not put under oath and why secretary of

state hillary clinton was passed over as well as her top deputies. they explained that the co- authors of this report but not all the explanations were fully responsive as far as the critics and republicans were concerned and they still have continuing questions. host: you sent out this tweet -- guest: the statute says that the secretary of state nominates most of the panel but there in also raises the question as to how independent they are. these members have associations with people at the state ofartment and i think one the things that raise my eyebrows was co-author admiral mullen discussed that he had given a heads up to hillary clinton after interviewing waslene lamb who

implicated in the security that he notified secretary of state hillary clinton's office outside that sheinvestigation would not be a good witness before congressional investigators on the oversight committee on behalf of the state department. if you aren is, independently investigating, why are you separately advising her on who will make the best witness for the state department before congress? his answer was that that is separate from the board and i have managed big agencies and provide the what -- the best witness is congress and he was trying to help her out. i asked ambassador pickering in an interview whether he thought that was appropriate for mullen to have done. he said i left it up to mullen but he said i do not think i would have done the same thing. host: let me direct your attention to a story we found at darrellournal.com,

issa reportedly traveling to benghazi today. he did not invite democrats along on the trip but it was whoaled by elijah cummings said he found out about the journey only via a copy of the itinerary on friday. congressman cummings is calling on darrell issa to postpone the trip so democrats can come along. he is reportedly in libya today were traveling there today and coming back midway. guest: that's interesting, i did not know that. i know that some journalists have traveled to benghazi. it is apparently very dangers there but they have spoken to at least one of the indicted suspects in the terrorist attacks. government not. attempted to question this person or arrested him if he has been and that -- indicted and the government has said we know where he is and we are watching but it is a dangerous situation and it is not the right time. they say we don't have the right things in place and they say being a journalist and

interviewing a suspect in benghazi is different than being the fbi or law enforcement and going in and capturing them. are there a lot of unanswered questions or did this report and these hearings answer most of the questions? guest: i think we have slowly gotten a lot of answers over the last year but i think there are still some very outstanding questions or if if you don't care, you don't care. i tend to want to know what it is they don't want us to know. my freedom of information requests have been denied, i think improperly, because there has been some public information they have not provided. theink the question of what president did that night is important. as commander-in-chief, if there was no controversy to be found there, they would have told us his actions that night were given a general timeline. one main outstanding question that is important is how did the youtube video become so much a

theme in those early days and weeks by government officials who seemed to want to steer the public attention away from a terrorist attack even though the evidence now shows they knew better at the time? was there a meeting where this was discussed and how this -- how did this become the basic storyline that would be put forth in the early days? host: guest: in the bigger picture, freedom of and formation, the law has been used instead of facilitating public information request which is what is supposed to do. federal agencies have used to -- use it to obstruct federal information. i think that is what is happening here. it can be argued that there is

some information, at least some e-mail documents or transcripts that would be deemed public that are not classified and a part of an investigation. they are simply withholding ally page saying it is exemptions. if you wanted to withhold, you could say there is an ongoing investigation about virtually everything. i just got a freedom of information response a couple of weeks ago from request i made back in 2003. that shows you how this process works these days. host: we will get your calls and comments. here is this question -- guest: i think that's the question. there isl, even when information with health is controversial i have found federal agencies tend to covet

the information a cousin belongs to them -- because they think it belongs to them and not us. questionsust too many they have avoided giving any information on. we don't know what we don't know but it makes me think there is something we should know. host: this will be turned into a movie. will create the untold story of the attack and benghazi. guest: interesting. let's go to cottage grove, oregon, good morning. caller: good morning, i was wondering if you could rack up grace and comments in that hearing because i think he nailed exactly what happened. as far as these attacks that happened in egypt, that happened also in a few other countries. they were going on protest. it was not just in egypt. he was not in a consulate. grace and comments in that

he was in an underground house that had no huge walls. frankly, the libyans ran away from that problem. i don't get why he wanted to go there because that was a really dangerous place. host: let's get a response. it was very dangerous. she mentions the egyptian attacks. thought ofmething i this week. not only were we unable, according to administration officials, to get a single military plane off the ground in that eight hour. in which americans were under threat in benghazi but remember, as the caller points out, there had been eruptions in egypt several hours before. looking atey started options when the egyptian outbreak happened, there were protesters climbing the walls of the embassy there -- that means it took more than eight hours if you extend the timeline. he was in an undergroundwe coul0 hours that we were unable to either decide or not to mount

any sort of military response from outside. host: dc delegate eleanor nelms horton was part of the committee. good bang -- [video clip] i have to ask if you received any evidence that led you to believe the secretary should be interviewed. what is it about your investigation that led you to believe she should not be interviewed although her name appears in the report a fair number of times? >> your statement in the question was essentially what we found. no evidence to believe we had a need to interview the secretary of state.

>> why was that? respect tosions with the security issues were made at lower levels in which we found responsibility. host: sharyl attkisson, still a lot of questions about hillary clinton as she looks to a 2016 presidential bid. guest: i was not appointed to investigate them. i am it a law-enforcement body. havejournalist, i would wanted to interview the head of of statey, secretary hillary clinton, just to get her story and how things went down and the timeline. i would have interviewed everyone i needed to and i would have interviewed her one last time.

skipped thehave opportunity to talk to her and her deputies even if i thought -- saidrlings said her the security decisions never made it up as high as her. i asked if they interview president obama. they said no. i asked if he could put together president of what the did that night and he said no. i understand some content might be classified. people surrounding the president might have been interviewed. i am not sure why that information is being clip -- kept from the public. host: the republican line with sharyl attkisson. good morning. you usingy aren't

your platform to show a andlight on building seven during 9-11 and what brought it down. host: we have gotten this question before. respond if you want. guest: i have no expertise in that area. host: this benghazi attack happened on 9/11. guest: we had nobody on a short jets on the and no

runway. if that is true, it is pretty incredible to think about the lack of repaired nets. administration officials said to me that we never had another attack since 9-11 on 9-11. they were thinking there was no reason to be on heightened alert . in retrospect, it looks like we should have been better prepared. host: if you had a chance to sit down with the president and hillary clinton, what would you ask them? to go i would like through the timeline of what they were told and what decisions they made. preferably, minute by minute. if that cannot be done, just the general timeline. what military options were available for the potential rescue. conflicting information from sources. this is why i continue to pick on the administration about the lack of rescue. i have sources who believe there

was more that could be done. there were decisions not to send certain teams and not to let people go to certain places. the administration argues that would not have mattered. i am not sure we know all of that. i would also like to know from the president and hillary clinton at what meeting was the video discussed. according to the victim's families, they were told when the bodies came back from benghazi, they were directed to be focused on the youtube video rather than the terrorist attack. someplies to me there was decision-making process that is a black hole for us. host: we have talked about this in the past with hillary clinton . she changed from her initial comments to what she said when the bodies came to andrews air force base.

if you parse the words, she was trying to infer, but not directly, draw the collection. -- the connection. -- : guest: the president referred to it as a terrorist attack the next day. i think they left themselves a little bit of wiggle room. they knew it was a terrorist attack and they were intentionally diverging attention from the evidence from the susan rice talk shows and things secretary clinton said to victim's families. public videos that were going to appear around the world condemning the video. the evidence shows they never really thought this was about a video. caller.kes for waiting,

thatr: this is something really disturbs me. why is it that at a president toss -- presidential press nobody asked him why he was in las vegas when americans were being murdered in benghazi? guest: i am not sure he has not been asked that question. i have asked in writing and i have asked administration officials. i certainly would ask the question until it was answered. i would ask every chance i got your and accounting on what happened. host: are there parallels from past operations? can we learn from this? and conversations i have had from administration -- had withoubled

administration officials, they want to arrest the people responsible for the terrorist attacks in benghazi. even if they know where they are, they do not want to be caught in a situation where americans are sent in a rescue it could start some sort of conflict. there is a great deal of hesitation to jump in and do what many americans would like to see done. they are thinking of the replicator -- the repercussions. news withmade some your own computer, which you thought might have been hacked. what happened? anything new? guest: it was hacked. my computers have had illegal intrusions into him -- into them. we have had technicians

confirmed this. am working with investigators. there is nothing public we want to say today. as i have said previously, it is an outrage and it is unacceptable. any illegal intrusion on a private citizen -- i am outraged by it. sourceithout knowing the or sources, how did you know it happened and what were the first size? how does it affect the job you you know ithow did had happened and what were the signs? guest: i had people warning me of coming to me as a result reporting i was doing in benghazi. theorizing saying, you are being surveilled. i had excellent sources able to tip me off. --were able to confirm a

confirm much of this with our own technicians. a lot of people are concerned with what is going on in some corners of government and what is going on with reporters. i really would not know if i hadn't had some help. host: as you go about your business looking for answers, since we are so internet- dependent, how do you do it? guest: whether it is your whether it is someone who can hack into it, i always have that spinning in the back of my head. been cognizant to tell sensitive sources that they may be surveilled when they call me or monitored. any of them tell me they think they are being surveilled, so it is not a surprise to them. i have made an effort to find different ways of communicating

just in case there is something we need to talk about that we do not want anyone else hearing. host: my next call is from david. good morning. caller: it was a terrible thing that our diplomats were killed. i do not believe there was a rescue mission that was possible. of those embassies are protected by the host countries. that's me pose this country to you. if the russian embassy was -- let me pose this country to you. if the russian embassy was attacked here, could the russians come in here and attack? kooksnnot send a bunch of in their to save people without -- in there to save people without causing a war. what do you think of that?

guest: it is a slightly different situation because libya is so chaotic. they are not fully protected as the embassies are in this country. it was not really an embassy. it was a u.s. mission in unofficial embassy capacity. weh the proper preparation, could have done so. we simply did not ask. you are right. the host country is responsible for security. that is how the state department works things in foreign countries. in this case, the libyans might have tried. there were some devoted libyans who appreciated the u.s. presence there. some had to gather and run. there was a force that was supposed to protect them and they did not. host: have you had a chance to talk to ambassador stevens' family?

have. i his mother does not want to talk about it much. devoted supporters of secretary clinton and president obama, as was ambassador stevens. his death toant become a political football. they do not want to be on television criticizing lack of answers that some other family members have. deluged by an andouring of well-wishers muslims around the world. tens of thousands of letters and e-mails have been gathered saying how much they loved christopher stevens or how much they appreciated the fact that he was there and the acts of these terrorists were not the acts of ordinary muslims. she is touched by that. host: another exchange from the hearing we covered this week.

spans available in the c- video library. here is that exchange. [video clip] >> the department was asleep on 9/11. found systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two state department bureaus. no state department personnel have been fired or disciplined. no one has missed a paycheck. accountability can be painful. those making bad decisions may have long and otherwise good records. have aartment cannot culture of accountability, which is what any well-functioning organization needs, and which is essential to protecting its

personnel, if no one is held accountable for the mismanagement and poor arb identified. when does this become a thoughtful, thorough investigation and when does it become a political football? is probably a little of both these days. congress is picking up on the story. sometimes it is democrats. sometimes it is the publicans. one party gets behind a others aat gives chance to say, this is political. covered up and hidden among the politics because it is dismissed to easily because there is politics going on.

i wish there was a way to let information i cannot get. they can subpoena and they can get documents. i wish there was a way to keep them out of it in the sense that it does not become a democrat versus republican thing. republican line. thanks for bringing some light to this terrible event. it is appalling that you have family members pleading for answers. you have president obama saying this is a phony scandal. that is pathetic in my opinion. please comment on the non- disclosure agreements. sayers of the bureaucracy nda issues.o but there are non-disclosure

agreements being put in front of them. if there is no issue to be looked at, why are we having these musical chairs with this issue? guest: i have not found anyone who had to sign a non-- disclosure agreement. where that there -- i am aware that there are. when you ask questions of andral officials administration officials, you have to watch the word used. if you ask them if they are -- if there are non-disclosure there was not non-disclosure at the top of the paper, they can say no. the same with the standdown order. they may be absolutely correct in saying that no standdown orders were given. when i heard a military official

testifying and giving this part down, he said someone was told not to go. it was not a standdown order. a standdown order may be something specific to military people. particular order was not given, they can say no one was ordered to stand down. but people were told not to go or not to do certain things they wanted to do that night. enough when ioad ask my questions so that i am notring verbiage that may be actually used. host: we are talking to sharyl attkisson, who began her career in florida. cnn and spento the last 20 years at cbs news. us fromjoining wisconsin. good morning. caller: you probably do not hear enough of this. thank you for doing what you are doing.

in are the voice of clarity the lying and god knows what is going on. yesterday thank you. so nice of -- guest: thank you. so nice of you. caller: in your investigation, have you ever taken the time to talk to members of congress to find out why they are defunding all of the security upgrades of at least dirty embassies and consulates. have been part of the problem for years and years -- at least 30 embassies and consulates. this has been a problem for years and years and congress ignores it in terms of fudge it requirement -- in terms of requirements. people think marine security guards are there to protect.

they are there to protect classified documents. you should clarify that. thank you very much. probably right. she may know more than i do about the marine mission. they are there to protect the building of the property, but not the people. if it is under attack, they would help out to the degree that they could. there were a number of security guards, according to testimony, missions when there is something like 230. they would have had marines there, but they did not have enough. what was the other thing? talked about the congressional investigation. there have been three house hearings this past week. congressman darrell isa is expected to be in benghazi early this week.

she wanted to know if congress is asking the right questions. guest: one of the things i miss man issa did last week -- congressman issa did last week was issued subpoenas to begin to answer the questions of the rescue attempt. out oras may be going the state department may make these people available and we may learn something there. the caller mentioned the funding. there is a funding question. said two point 3 million -- $2.3 billion is needed. finances are an issue and we have reported some of that. of the things that happened on 9/11 were not related to budget and finance. theexample, sending home

16-man military team that christopher stevens wanted to help with counterterrorism. that was at no cost to the state department. they could have had that team for free. there were other things that were not budget-dependent that were deceived -- that were security decisions made. host: sharyl attkisson of cbs news. your work available online at cbs.com. we are going to take a short break. when we come back, we will turn our attention to syria. new deadlines loom for the syrian government. we will talk with a representative of the syrian opposition coalition. first, we want to turn our attention to the other sunday programs, all of which can be heard on c-span radio starting at eastern time. good morning, nancy.

shows, the's tv talk topics do include syria. you can hear re-broadcasts beginning at noon eastern. guests include republican senator mike leigh. he is a member of the armed services -- senator mike lee. on klobuchar is appearing many of today's shows. at 1:00 p.m., the budget committee ranking member, congressman chris van hollen and congressman tom graves. at 2:00 p.m., it is fox news senator ted cruz of texas. cnn's state of the union follows with nancy pelosi. at 4:00 p.m. eastern, face the

nation. joe manchinlcomes and former secretary of state henry kissinger. the sunday network tv talk shows are on c-span radio and are brought to you by the networks and c-span. the re-broadcast of the shows begin at noon. 2 p.m. eastern, fox news sunday. on 90.1. c-span radio appcan download our free -r your smart phoneat c-span phone.your smart had public opinion

polls back then, with the possible exception of teddy --sevelt and andrew jackson, andrew jackson might have been president ever. he was one of the most intriguing if not the most intrigue and people in american -- intriguing people in american history. it is hard to imagine someone like him being elected today. thendrew jackson was not most conventional president. learn more later today at 7:30 3's eastern on c-span american history tv.

host: joining us now is bassel korkor with the syrian opposition coalition. according to secretary of state john kerry, the u.s. is encouraged by the inventory of what the syrian government has divided in terms of information. you you trust that syria will abide by any agreement worked out between the u.s. and russia? guest: first we have to see what comes out of the un security council resolution. welcomed the security council to adopt a resolution that included that framework and that it be serious and that it be done under chapter seven and that the regime gets the message that these weapons are illegal and unreceptive ball and that

the international community is going to put a stop to the use of them one way or another. this is the way to do it right now. it is difficult to trust a regime that has been hiding these weapons for years and has actually used them. we trust the international process and the diplomacy involved and other countries involved in the monitoring and implementation of the security council negotiations and that they will reach an effective framework. it is not political. assuring that these weapons are contained and destroyed. to do that through a diplomatic and a u.n. process is fine. they are serious weapons and they will not be tolerated by the international community. host: is this a civil war or is this a religious or proxy war inside syria?

guest: let's take a step back and thinking about how to label this conflict. can --gime had been into and control for decades. they had ruled with an iron fist. it was ruled through a joint effort by aged -- a small political elite and a security service that was pervasive. were very few freedoms. there was very little economic reform. there was an economic monopoly by government over a small portion of the government -- the ruling family -- over the resources in syria. what the people started asking for in march of 2011, and by the -- inspired

freedoms that others have to -- they wereld asking for reform, economic reforms, lyrical reforms. -- economict reforms, political reforms. at that point, the government had an obligation to act in a way that turned it into a reform process that was equal. they brought in tanks. they shot protesters. they arrested and tortured even .hildren who were protesting that is the genesis of this. militarized, it was natural for military officers to reject these orders to shoot into civilian crowds. they began forming elements of a free syrian army. that point, the international

community had not taken a managerial role in this conflict. they were watching to see how it develops. how it developed was quite poorly. from variousin sources, untraceable and unofficial. some of these took on a religious tone. foreign fighters. their numbers have been exaggerated. generally, their impact is quite significant. whichderate opposition, is syrian people choosing a nationalistic approach for democracy and freedom and reform they had been calling for, was a little bit squeezed. it was hard for them to organize any kind of serious international support. it was because of the conditions on the ground. they were hunted and it was because the wartime conditions

accommodate moderates generally. they have organized. they have formed a coalition that represents the broadest spectrum of syrian opposition that calls for democratic reform, a civil state, and freedoms. that is where they are now. it is a question for the international community. you have all of these parties fighting in syria. let's look at what each one stands for and what each one does. let's pick what we think serves the best interest of the syrian people. u.s. perspective of security. is bassel korkor . he is joining us from cleveland. he is part of the syrian

opposition coalition. the syrian government providing its initial declaration for michael weapons. met the first deadline for the syrian compliance set down by the framework between the u.s. and russia. other diplomats are debating the terms of the un security council resolution. that is expected to be front and center this week as the u.n. general assembly gets underway. kerryary of state john responding to all of this late last week at the state department. [video clip] must beecurity council prepared to act next week. it is vital for the international community to stand up and speak out -- speak out in the smallest -- strongest possible terms to rid the world of syria' chemical weapons. time is short.

let's not spend time debating what we already know. to recognize that the world is watching to see whether we can avert military action and achieve through peaceful means even more than what those military strikes promise. syria'slete removal of chemical weapons is possible here through peaceful means. that will be determined by the resolve of the united nations to follow through on the agreement that russia and the united states reached in geneva. thisgreement clearly says must be enforceable. it must be done as soon as possible. it must be real. secretary of state john kerry at the state department. if syria does not meet the theshold worked out between u.s. and russia, what happens?

guest: the answer to that will be hashed out in the security council negotiations. president obama and vladimir putin have emphasized the containing and storing these weapons based on the damage they are capable of causing. we support the position that the u.s., the u.k., and france have taken so far. there must be a chapter seven reference in this resolution to make it something the government takes seriously. this tweet from a viewer. if the syrian war turned into a war of attrition, how long will it last? guest: you hate to think about it. there are over 100,000 who have lost their lives as a result of the conflict in syria already. that is a conservative estimate

and it is a little bit old already. there are 2 million refugees. one million of them are children. terms of lengthening and making the reconciliation , oness more difficult million children that have missed one or two years of education. they are growing up and refugee camps because of the military action. internally displaced people. are talking about 2 million in refugee camps. ondreds of thousands more registered in other countries. 100,000 dead. in any war ofm attrition is the population. it is not acceptable for the letrnational community to

this go. host: what do you want to see achieved and when? am the legal advisor for the opposition offices. ,hat they want to see ultimately, is a resolution to the conflict that results in transition to a democratic government and a pluralistic society. the opposition has been calling for months for the adoption of the geneva communiqué. it really lays out the process for transition to a transitional governing body that is composed of members of the government and members of the opposition by atual consent, meaning transitional government that has full executive authority. includesa communiqué the military and security sectors. that is the source of dominance

by the regime. issuesn to a dress the of a constitutional referendum, some members of the opposition have suggested returning to the 1950 constitution, which is a constitution already adopted by the syrian people before the put in power. we conducted an analysis of it. it has elements that are blatantly lacking in the current constitution, including freedoms and checks and balances between separationagencies, of powers, independent judiciary. syrianre things the people have already expressed that they want. i have talked to people who support the revolution and those who do not. there iset down to it, a lot of disagreement about what the problems in syria are.

to see a peaceful, democratic country where people live together the way they always have dreamed of, with freedom and opportunity and with a voice in how the country is run. , ultimately, what the opposition wants. in order to get their, we can disagree. it does not go into the other areas, which are required to be addressed, which are negotiations and the formation of a transition government. host: we welcome our listeners on c-span radio. our guest is bassel korkor, who is joining us from cleveland. he serves as an attorney in ohio and is the counsel for the security and -- the syrian opposition coalition.

from dallasing us warn you on the republican line. good morning. fromry is joining us california on the republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. with all due respect, you have no idea what the opposition wants. you do not know them. you do not know who they are. a lot of them are al qaeda- affiliated. for you to sit there and say you know what they want -- you do not know what they want. you have no clue what they want. on the line. we will give him a chance to respond. guest: fairpoint. i am not ruminating. what theking as to opposition has said many times, including recently in a letter

to the security council. they welcome the geneva agreement, the political transition. .hey have had conferences they are going for a democratic, civil state. there is a false dichotomy that this is the government against the opposition. there are multiple parties. the extremists. the terrorists. it is a false dichotomy to say that they are. if you try to draw this economy essay is the government against the opposition, -- dichotomy and say it is the government against it is a narrow band. the government is supported by hasbro law and by iran on the ground. -- by hezbollah and by iran on the ground. if you draw the line that there

are two parties, you can group all of the people into the opposition. pro-democracy opposition figures and people on the ground. a communicate with people on the ground. they deliver massive amounts of humanitarian aid. the enemies of these groups are , but alsohe regime the terrorists and the extremists, the al qaeda-linked groups. it has been publicized a little more recently. they have been attacking the moderate elements. they have attacked leaders of the moderate opposition. is not simply a matter of opposition versus government. the government is not just the government. it is iran and hezbollah. they are as much against the

opposition as they are against the government. the moderate opposition as -- is as much against the government as the extremists groups. up?t: did you want to follow- caller: i never said there was an either-or situation. are a lot of al qaeda- affiliated groups fighting against the government. i want to say one other thing, which is what i initially called in about. syria has been an intimate of the united states and israel for decades. terrorism.upported they have been an enemy of ours. i see no reason why we should speak -- stick our nose and if our enemy is killing each other off. again, i agree.

the al qaeda presence, the extremist presence on the ground is a problem. they are not part of the opposition. they are a problem for the opposition. there is a national unification and reunification -- national reunification process. there are parties that oppose international intervention in the conflict. they are the qaeda extremist groups on the -- they are the al qaeda extremist groups on the other side. the you has -- the u.s. has considered syria a state -- state--- -- a state-ed terrorist -- a terrorist

country. absolutely this is not a friendly government to the u.s. to continue does not result in a war of attrition of our enemies. it strengthens our enemies. to not get involved strengthens al syrian government, iran, qaeda and the other groups located in syria. areonly people it weekends the moderate opposition and the displaced and refugees. amy's not hurting our in by allowing this to continue. bow -- ig our enemies allowing this to continue. covering somebe of the key speeches. franklin from wisconsin, thanks

for waiting. myler: thank you for taking call. i would like to make two statements. assad should be arrested and tried for war crimes at the hague. the united nations cannot be trusted. on their security council, it only takes one vote to vote against the deal. host: what about the issue of war crimes and a potential tribunal for president assad? is right. caller syria is not a signatory to the treaty. with a security council referral, the situation can go to the international criminal court.

that is not a referral of specific individuals. when it is referred to the international criminal court, the position of the international coalition is that they condemn crimes against humanity and crimes omitted by any party to the conflict. that would be up to the processes of the criminal court. evidence must be presented. thate must be convinced under the appropriate legal standard somebody guilty of a other courtsough or special court set up for syria.

think there is a specific path where it needs to go. absolutely, it is important. it will result in part of the healing process. it has to be accompanied by a massive effort. it cannot simply be a court system. sure people on the local level have appropriate mechanism for expressing their grievances. it has been done in other countries to varying degrees of success. that has to be part of the transitional justice equation. host: a lot of tweets on this topic. c-span, why do you think so many countries are rioting around the planet. take a wild guess.

specifically? there are a lot of countries part of the arab spring. think you said that tweet was about riots throughout the world. i am not sure that is an appropriate characterization. i will not ruminate about what is going on around the world. weree arab spring, there factors that showed the people s that therestreet was a better alternative. they did not need to be ruled by military dictatorships, deprived of their rights and freedoms. technology,wth of the increasing exchange of information, there is greater awareness and they would welcome the opportunities that would be

available to them if they would just become what the people really wanted them to become in those countries, democracies, open societies, free societies. dictatorships evolve over time. want freedom and democracy, people -- things people in the united states have chairs for over two centuries. it was a long process over which we built what we have today. they want a free and democratic society. host: bassel korkor is the acting deputy representative of the syrian opposition coalition. on the phone from minnesota. good morning. caller: i am not an expert on this.

it seems that the connection between president assad and chemical weapons is alleged and not proven. we have to be careful given our record of iraq and everything in the past that led us to spend over $3 trillion. we instill democracy. we ousted the taliban government in afghanistan and now they are ready to regain control in afghanistan after trillions of dollars in u.s. tax money. .e do not instill democracy i feel we are lacking in evidence as to the connection between president assad and the use of chemical weapons. is there to buy my representative in minnesota. by my representative in

minnesota. host: here is john kerry. [video clip] was used. sarin killed. the world can decide if the regime had the rockets and the weapons or whether the opposition went to fire rockets they do not have containing kill they do not have to their own people and without being noticed, they packed up and got out of damascus, which is controlled by assad. this is not complicated. when we said we know what is true, we meant it. definitive u.n. report

strengthening the case and solidifying our resolve. secretary of state john kerry last week in washington. bassel korkor, your response to this? guest: i do not think there is in ambiguity between the -- the link between the assad regime and the use of chemical weapons. the regime has admitted to having massive stockpiles of chemical weapons. there was the use of chemical weapons against civilians outside of damascus and there was some alleged ambiguity between various actors who used those chemical weapons. ry andk secretary ker president obama made the point better than i can here. --ncourage you to reach the

read the classified report. please watch secretary kerry's speech from the 30th on the evidence the u.s. has, a convincing case. the evidence is indisputable that the regime used those weapons on july 21. even if you look at the u.n. , it was issue to come up with the evidence and put that evidence before the international community. even with that report, there are many suggestions, more suggestions and evidence, that the weapons must have been used by the regime. -- type of artillery the that was used was used by the regime.

thee was a map of on theiry that is website. the high concentration of sarin in the weapons that were used -uggests that it was ever meant grade, military-grade weapons. the sarinext with suggests this was launched i a -- launched from a military facility. even statements by the united secretary-general, , says that the issue should be referred to the icc.

the point made about instilling democracy, nobody wants the u.s. to instill democracy in syria. the syrian people want to install democracy. they want to install a democratic ross says. the international community support because of beenthe country has through. there will be a lot of international help. a professor at northwestern university in evanston illinois has a piece today in the washington post on health care workers and an accompanying photo of what life is like in a town with the hardest damage. told the heroes inside syria. we have time for one more quick all.

cliff from maryland, go ahead. have watched the arab spring with fascination and hope. to say you will leave it up the syrian people to install democracy. the way the egyptians did it? the way they did it in the west bank? the idea that democracy is panacea for everything. i am afraid democracy is not going to work. guest: democracy will not look the same everywhere. the opposition coalition, moderates within syria and outside syria have spent a lot now coming upears with a framework. is what syria had

before the assad regime took control of the country. 1950 revisedion of for separation of powers. it will not look exactly like american democracy. it is the syrian version of democracy. the prime minister of that time was a member of a minority community. evidence that this is not just something that must be imposed on syria, but something the syrians want. regime, the way they have ruled, they fancied themselves a republic. they did not describe themselves as a dig tater ship. -- dictatorship.

finally, democracy is not just about voting. you cannot have elections and call it a democracy. the amount -- democracy must hold people accountable through the elect an independent judicial process. -- through the electoral process and the judicial process. it is not going to be easy. it was not easy in any of the countries that caller mentioned. we should not have any expectations that this will happen overnight. it is something worth investing in now. the situation on the ground is on acceptable from a moral perspective and from a humanitarian perspective and from the perspective of the international community and

security across the world. , we willsel korkor conclude on that note. thank you for joining us from cleveland, ohio. we will have live coverage from thoseesident as he honors 12 employees killed six days ago at the washington navy yard, a short distance from capitol hill. and will be at 5:00 eastern at 2:00 p.m. on the west coast. " is everyn journal day at 7:00 a.m.. \ on theress battles budget and the continuing resolution and raising the debt october, we will continue our series on the affordable care act.

and we will be looking at how for congress spend to travel outside the u.s. our guests tomorrow, monday, on "washington journal post quote -- "washington journal. quote [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> today on c-span, "newsmakers" steve scalise with followed by ben bernanke on the economy and the government bond buying program. later, jack lew discusses fiscal challenges