>> they know. sean: it really brings the reality out. coming up, we have the results of our poll. 20% of you said you do not care about the olympics in chicago. that is all the time we have. as always, let not your heart be troubled. greta van susteren is next, standing by to go on the record. greta: the public option dies in the senate health-care bill because of democrats. former house speaker newt gingrich is here, and the stakes are life and death. president obama must make a decision. more troops in afghanistan or pull out? senator lindsey graham talked to the top generals. we have him in minutes. and a french feud, president nicolas sarkozy apparently furious with president obama.

why? we have that story. and senator rick santorum is coming up. but first, a push for the public option was killed because democrats voted against it. are the democrats fighting each other now? former house speaker newt gingrich joins us live. they owned the white house, they own the senate, -- they own the white house. >> they have been overreaching. they have been trying to impose on the american citizens something they do not want. i think that they just cannot help itself, the party, so when they got to the senate markup, they had the proposal by senator rockefeller, which was defeated decisively, and there was an amazing number of democrats that voted no, and i think it gave a clear signal to house democrats

that unless you are suicidal, you will drop this. why would a moderate member vote for a government option in the house knowing that it is absolutely dead in the senate? greta: some have said they will not vote for a bill that does not contain the public option. suddenly, they have thrown in the towel and gone, "oops, never mind." >> this is their chance. i think henry waxman has been there 37 years. finally, he has a good majority, a democratic president, a big economic crisis, and he thinks that the time for socialism has finally arrived. let's get a big government health program. there was a story in a newspaper today that said that socialism is in defeat in europe, and the german socialist party just had

its worst results since the 1950's on sunday, and maybe there is a message here for the democratic party. greta: there may be a message, but speaker pelosi, she has people who will not vote for it without the public option, and she has some who are moderate or conservative, and she still has to get it to pass. >> here is what could happen in the future if this continues. they have a slight number of people in in the minority in the house to are on the left, -- people in the minority in the house who are on the left. if he cannot get the left wing of the party because he cannot get a government program, is he willing to reach out to republicans to try to get republicans and moderate democrats to get the majority? when i was a junior member, we had the reagan tax program, and

democrats had a majority, and enough democrats voted with us that you had a bipartisan party beat the left-wing democrats. greta: let's say that the government option is off of the table and that some watered-down bill does pass. do they lose? or do they still say, "look, we did still get some health-care reform in this country." but have they put all of their eggs in this basket? >> first of all, they have a put a huge number of eggs in this basket. it was said that medicare senior citizens would lose 50% of their benefits under the baucus plan, and that is a staggering number. greta: which explains that -- if that happens, you will lose the

seat in florida. there is a huge political cost for many of these people. >> so presuming for a minute that the american system works and that the people are actually elected by the people and in the end, after a lot of kicking and screaming, do listen to people, the president, when he gets back, and they sit in a room and decides, "all right. we cannot pass a left-wing bill. and we cannot pass a left-wing built on the democrats." greta: plus, they will have anchored people -- angered people abandoning them. >> it was astounding how many democrats voted no on the government option. greta: gtmo was a big deal to a lot of democrats, and now, gtmo

is not going to be closed in january, so there is a lot a stunning -- >> and afghanistan. the president is getting almost as much heat. greta: the iranians are talking about not putting their nuclear weapons program on the table. what are they talking? the tourist trade? >> two points about iran. the first is is very clear that the americans, the french, and the british -- the first is is that it is very clear that the americans, the french, and the british new and advance. the president does not talk about it in his speech -- and the british new in nantes -- knew in advance. they wander off to pittsburgh.

what would you got off to pittsburgh? -- what would you -- why would you go off to pittsburgh? greta: what was the point? why did it take so long? >> faced with the objective fact that the iranians had been running a secret program and lying about it, faced with a deadline in iran, faced with 9.7% unemployment, where is the president? he is in copenhagen on behalf of mayor daley, trying to get the olympics. greta: let me ask you about this meeting coming up with the security council plus germany about iran. the whole point of it as i understood it was to discuss iran's nuclear weapons program, which they have denied but we know exists. it is non-negotiable. can you tell me the point of

this meeting? >> i think unless the united states is prepared to cut off gasoline supplies to iran and basically force the regime into a crisis, there is nothing we are going to do that matters. greta: can we solo on that, or do we need china and russia? >> we can solo on that. if we say there will be no gasoline tankers going into iran -- greta: that is rather provocative. >> that is what john f. kennedy did. greta: it was also a provocative but iran did with firing the missiles on monday. -- it was also provocative what iran did. >> u.s. of a. problem in iran that will only be fixed with a new regime -- you have a problem in iran that will only be fixed with a new regime. it is dedicated to terrorism.

it is doing everything it can to humiliate you and to show that it despises you, and any diplomatic game will make you a squeaker and give them more time to strengthen their position. -- make you look weaker and give them more time to strengthen their position. greta: what about this talk coming up? >> it will not be good. unless they are prepared to disrupt the gasoline supplies, there is nothing they can do to the iranians that has any real meaning. greta: all right, i want to switch gears to honduras, this neck of the woods. is that a big deal or not? >> i think it is a very big deal, because you know as a lawyer, the honduras supreme court followed the honduran constitution.

zelaya was trying to become a strong man in the hugo chavez tradition. they blocked that from happening and said that if he tried to extend his term, he automatically would have to resign. they voted 15-0, with a majority coming from his party. the poierson appointed in the interim pronounced he would not run. there'll be elections coming up that would be more honest than iran or venezuela. greta: so why has the united states backed zelaya, who is hiding out in the brazilian embassy, if it is as you say? >> the fact is zelaya is the castro-hugo chavez candidate. in nicaragua, they are trying to change the constitution, and you

are seeing the re-d ictatorship of latin america. greta: mr. speaker, stand by. there is a new documentary, part two. plus, we are not talking about health care this time but afghanistan. president obama needs to make a very important decision. senator lindsey graham was in afghanistan and talked to the top general. that center is also coming up. oh-oh. it looks like the president of france is upset with president obama -- the senator is also coming up. [screeching] [dejectedly] oh. [screeching] [barks]

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captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- [captioning made possible by fox news channel] greta: former speaker of the

house newt gingrich's back, along with his wife -- newt gingrich is back, along with his wife calista. >> in 16 07, chief first permanent english settlers -- in 1607, the first permanent english settlers in virginia. >> that is a revolution. religious. that is the sense people have of their own power. it is profound. greta: mr. speaker, calista, always nice to have you here, and it is always nice to have c

alista here, because she is a cheesehead, too. >> it focuses on religion in early america, so we look at jamestown to the very end of the civil war, and we focus on the deep faith that motivated and sustained our country's great leaders and the belief of religious freedom in this nation. greta: why did you do this? >> well, our original had a great response. it is a book and a movie. and a lot of people ask for us to provide more information about god in america, so we have. greta: you taught history. i saw this as not so much a religious peace but almost a historic documentary. >> -- not so much a religious piece but almost a historic

documentary. >> yes, it is not a theological, and is not ideological. -- it is not a theological, and it is not ideological. -- it is not a theotheological. people like to learn things they never knew. >> one of the interesting things is that when the english settlers first landed at cape henry, before they did anything else, they erected a cross and gave thanks and then proceeded to jamestown. that is something you do not often hear about in our school system. greta: the historian is in your talking about this. >> we tried to go to exports. i am really proud of dave and kevin -- we tried to go to

experts. williamsburg, jamestown -- they consistently got the best people to define what happens. -- to explain what happened. i was surprised with the depth of passion that the early colonists felt. one person pointed out that they went to church 14 times a week. >> without choice. >> that was a requirement. it was a totally different world than the one you and i live in. there was a very interesting section on quaker's -- a very different world than the one you and i lived i in. there was a very interesting section on quakers. greta: did they coexist well

together? there seems to be a lot of divide in this world. >> yes, and there came intolerance, and that is what they had to learn. >> we really moved into a different period. all of the founding fathers and of the people up through 1963 -- and all of the people up through 1963, wanted us to have freedom of religion. starting with school prayer. we have increasingly been in a cycle where there are continuing attacks against religion and where religion itself is under constant pressure, but historically, where they tolerated each other -- for example, at the continental congress in 1774, they decide they have to have a prayer, and yet, here they come from all sorts of different backgrounds, and they have a catholic prayer, a puritan prayer, an anglican prayer, and they literally

worked out having people pray every day, a tradition we still have in the house and senate but which has been blocked by the supreme court. greta: how are you distributing this? >> you ca go to the movie website or our personal website. it is 60 minutes and shot in high-definition. greta: do you have another movie on the horizon? >> we do have another movie in the horizon -- on the horizon. it is about nine days that changed the world, looking at the historic visit of june 1979 when the pope went back to poland and how that trip was the beginning of the end of communism there. greta: thank you. up next, some are wondering what is taking the president's so

long. why has the president's not announced -- what is taking the president so long. why has the president not announced his plans? and we have an inside story about a big spat, coming up. ♪

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greta: well, the news out of afghanistan is bleak. general stanley mcchrystal in afghanistan, once as many as 40,000 more troops to fight this war -- general stanley mcchrystal in afghanistan wants as many as 40,000 more troops. senator lindsey graham was in afghanistan and joins us live. i guess there is no dispute it is getting worse. >> it is getting worse. the troops combined with the nato forces, according to general mcchrystal, are not enough to regain momentum, and i am going to side with general mcchrystal. we need civilian help, too, but in the short term, we need more combat power. greta: when did he come up with

this plan, and when did he send it up the totem pole? >> our soldiers would not only train the afghans but live and fight with them. that is how to make an army better. you just cannot let them go on their own, so it has been in the works for a long time. he has been ready to send it to be president for a long time, -- to the president for a long time. i would urge the president to act quickly, because to get more troops and, we have to start now to get them in by next year. greta: i was looking at the numbers of people, and this year, the number of military deaths in afghanistan is 218 this year, already 40% more than 2008, so we need to do something. >> yes, and general mcchrystal

has thought long and hard about what that something is, and that something is to regain lost ground, and to take the 40,000 additional troops and deploy them where a the taliban have reemerged. we learned in afghanistan and iraq -- deploy them where the taliban have reemerged. this will and the population over to our side, and if we do not act quickly -- this will win the population over to our side. the situation needs to change, one way or another, and i think more troops is the way to change. greta: the general on the ground, what general mcchrystal says needs to be done? >> i worked really hard for senator mccain. this is not president obama's war. i want him to be successful. i want to help him.

if he ignores the general's advice, and we do not send those troops, i do not see how we win. they understand what they are asking. the people who are going to afghanistan will come from iraq, so i would urge the president to listen to his military commanders. they turned iraq around. they can turn afghanistan around. every day we wait, it makes it harder for those in afghanistan, so it tomorrow said to the nation that he knows it is not popular, but we need more trips, which more tourists, i would not do to president obama -- but we need more troops, i would not do to president obama what they did to president bush. we cannot lose in afghanistan. losing afghanistan is a problem. it will be the end of nato. greta: is president obama going

to follow but his general on the ground is telling him? >> he is very worried about sending people into combat, as he should be, but those who suggest a different strategy, a counterterrorism strategy, where you use less troops, we tried that. greta: is this like the military light thing? >> yes, we did it from a distance. in battle, they folded. only when we put more american troops in iraq, living with the iraqi army, fighting with iraqi army did they get where they are today, and we need the same thing in afghanistan. greta: of august 2003, at john mccain said we needed more boots on the ground -- in august 2003,

john mccain said we needed more boots on the ground. has anyone called john mccain and said, "what do you think?" >> we are about to do what we did in iraq, not have enough power. i think we have forgotten the lessons of iraq very quickly. i hope the president will listen to the commander. these are the commanders that turned iraq around, and if we do not act quickly, we will lose more ground. actress are more at risk. -- our troops are more at risk. the general says if we do not reinforce afghanistan, we will lose the insurgency within one year. greta: what is taking him so long? >> i am sure he is worried what will happen with the governing

party. if we send a bunch of troops in, will that affect the government's problem? there is the situation that the karzai government has failed. i have got doubts about the karzai government, but without better security, no government can function, so i would say to get a better security in our image, and then we will push karzai, and others will hold his feet to the fire -- get a better security environment. if we did not have a surge in iraq, we would have lost. we are at the same place in afghanistan in 2009 to as we were in iraq in 2007. -- in 2009 as the war in iraq in 2007. -- as we were in iraq in 2007. a longer we wait, the worse it gets.

-- the longer rebates, the worse it gets. -- the longer we wait. greta: thank you. senator rick santorum is next. and a youtube war. did the mayor really put the comic on a no-fly list at the airport? still tired of morning coming in the middle of the night? rooster crow.

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greta: president obama is facing very serious international problems. afghanistan, iran, and iraq, and that is just a starter. those involved life and death, but he has some ruffled feathers with france. french president nicolas sarkozy is apparently furious with our president. why? president obama, prisons sarkozy, and british prime minister gordon brown stood together -- president sarkozy,

and british prime minister gordon brown stood together to denounce iran. good evening. what is this spat between the french president and our president? >> hello, greta. it is always nice to talk to a fellow badger. sarkozy was just furious with the president for not bearding the lion, not disclosing iran's cottier cheating at the u.n. general assembly. both he and gordon brown thought that was the wrong thing to do -- not disclosing iran's nuclear cheating. the president's advisers prevailed on him not to interrupt the president's

fantasy about a global disarmament by bringing up the fact that the iranians were cheating. greta: why does the president think it was a great idea to wait until friday to out the iranians, in essence, on something that the americans have known quite a time, he even going back to the bush administration? why did it matter that it was frida any in pittsburgh and not thursday at the u.n.? >> they passed the resolution, talking about working toward the elimination of nuclear weapons at the u.n., and the administration felt that it would rain on the parade if they talked about iranian cheating, so they insisted that the french and british not mention it either, and that is what it got

pushed to friday, and i think if it would have been up to the president, he would not even have brought it there is the fact -- he would not even have brought it up then. it was not even possible to pretend it did not exist. greta: prior to this issue in pittsburgh and before that at the general assembly at the u. n, which was president sarkozy' -- what was present sarkozy's -- president sarkozy's view of president obama? >> there are people who bedstead that sarkozy -- who have said that sarkozy is incredibly naive

and grossly egotistical, so egotistical that no one can dent his naivete, and he is very worried about what that means for the west, because the president of the united states is the leader of the free world, and if the president of the free world is not going to need it, and it is not going to be led -- is not going to lead anit. >> the last point that jack made, i m&a pittsburgh -- i am a pittsburgher myself, but the point he made at the end was really troubling. the international community has not on the become aware that he is naïve but that his ego gets in the way of him learning anything about why he is wrong on these things, and that is a

very dangerous combination, to not know anything and to think you know everything. greta: the thing i think is peculiar from the outside, because being on the inside is very different, but everything seems to be choreographed, which is sort of weird, that you could not discuss it on thursday. it had to be on friday in pittsburgh, and we are of sending our allies. when we are busy choreographing -- and we are offending our allies. it is a little bit bazaar. -- bizarre. >> you have a situation in iran where a couple of weeks ago, there were street protests. there was the idea of a popular revolution in iran, and that occurred 20 years before. greta: there was one about four

or five years ago, too. >> this was the real deal, and barack obama, we now know, knew about this other nuclear facility, which in all likelihood is developing a nuclear weapon, and stood on the sidelines and allowed the people who were rising up to get actually no support from the people from the united states, to stand on the sideline and allow them to be captured and killed, to potentially take them away, when this week they fired a missile that could potentially reach israel and parts of europe, and they are looking for even longer range missiles, and at the same time they are doing that, he is pulling out a missile defense shield from europe, from poland and check of slovakia, inciting further anger -- from polish and czech of

slovakia -- poland and czechoslovakia. somehow, his persona and his aura will convince people to do something that is not in their history of doing, and this is scaring our allies a way to and making our allies look like we are feeble and week. greta: it is when they use the word "naïve," i think to myself that there may be different strategies to achieve some goal, but if you are naïve, that is far more troubling, and i am hoping he has a strategy. i am hoping it is not naivety. >> i think his strategy, that

jack talked about, his arrogance. his opening at the u.n. speech is that the world has great expectations for me. >greta: the "i" "me" business. >> yes, and this is where the arrogance, that is so concerning. as newt gingrich talked about earlier, we are looking at the 1930's again. somebody consistently is looking at problems and saying we can get a piece of paper that can take care of this problem, and we are going to sign a peace treaty, and you are not going to build a nuclear weapon, and then, of course, we will not abide by those treaties and go ahead and create a more dangerous world. greta: what does this mean for iranians in geneva this week, when they say they are not going to discuss nuclear weapons? >> greta, they have been saying all along they were not going to

discuss nuclear weapons. greta: they are discussing sanctions, iran is just looking there like the cat that swallowed the canary. >> they are going to build a nuclear weapon, and they're going to cause an arms race in the middle east and potentially a bigger disaster than that. greta: thank you. there could be dancing on the streets of california. wait until you hear what governor schwarzenegger may do. steve moore is next. and cunnane o'brien smashes his head badly. -- conan o'brien smashes his head badly.

greta: there is much more "on the record" ahead, but first, we go to our new york newsroom with ainsley earhardt. >> america samoa has been declared a major disaster area, an aide is on the way after a tsunami that was triggered by an 8.3 earthquake. neighboring samak was also hit hard, at least 39 people dead -- neighboring samoa also hit hard. toyota has the largest u.s. recall in company history. it was prompted by accidents

like the one in san diego that left four people dead. the driver reported his accelerator was struck. a form that interfered with the gas pedal. the recall covers a number of models -- a format -- a floormat interfered with the gas pedal. now, back to greta and "on the record." greta: do you think the california state government is impossible to fix? they have a plan to bring it back from the break. what is in the report, and will it work? the for joining us is a senior writer for "the wall street journal" editorial page, steve moore. what is it? >> california, if it was a separate country, would be the eighth biggest country in the world, so this is an important state.

it is hard for the u.s. economy to succeed if california is not succeeding, so this commission that governor schwarzenegger pointed -- appointed was talking about pushing down the tax rates. california has the highest income tax rates in the country. that is driving up businesses and jobs. even hollywood is moving out of california because taxes alre so high -- that is driving out businesses and jobs. greta: as i understand it, this commission, too, was not only assembled by schwarzenegger but also the democratic legislature, sort of an all hands on deck, everybody working on it. >> not all of them voted for it. it passed, i think, 9-5, and it

was about equally divided. dianne feinstein, a democrat in the senate, the former mayor of san francisco, it was basically said that this has to be done, and even gray davis, the former governor, said this has to be done, because this state is just awash in debt. greta: when you talk about massive debt or any sort of bad situation, it is all numbers. you can see that the graphs look like they are all going down, and when they are doing this, i am thinking it is great, and i am glad that there are looking at ideas and not just fighting among each other, but i am thinking, what took them so long? the numbers did not show up today. california has been on a downward slide. people have been moving out because they do not want to pay

the taxes. >> california is said to be somewhat of a test case for obamanomics. they passed the cap and trade bill. they have a much more government-run health-care system. the train has come off of the rails there. why would we want to do this in washington when we see it has built in california? and now, they are beginning to see that they have got to fix this thing, that they have to bring the taxes down. there is what is going on with nevada. there are so many businesses now located in nevada and texas that used to be located in california but just could not afford the high taxes. greta: in some way, i am not very empathetic with california, though i am with the people, because they saw this coming. it is very difficult to keep the business moving -- going when

you can move a few miles away into another state. the worst unemployment rate in the country -- >> what happened with nevada is that they were just overbuild. -- overbuilt. but california is my favorite state. greta: terrible traffic, terrible smog. >> it is just a result of liberal policy run amok, and the real challenge would be whether this would be sort of the swan song for arnold schwarzenegger. can he get this done? i do not know. it is a question whether or not the democrats who run that system, very liberal, will go for something that moves towards a flat tax. it is a model for the nation. greta: whoever has got a good

idea, step up. >> is a disaster there. -- it is a disaster there. greta: steve, thank you. up next, a war with the mayor. in a youtube controversy. we will explain. -- and a youtube controversy.

greta: well, you have seen our top stories, but here is the book. mayor cory booker is going to war with conan o'brien, and he is using youtube. >> we were in newark, new jersey, and last week, conan o'brien took a swing at our city, talking about a citywide program. the health-care reform would consist of a bus ticket out of the area. cunnane, we are one of the fastest-growing cities in the northeast -- conan. we have record reductions in violent crime. we have a city on the rise. i want you to see what the people think of you and your joke. >> who is conan o'brien?

>> you do not mess with us like that. >> not only am i the mayor of the nation's largest city -- so now, according to the powers invested in me, i am especially putting you on the newark, new jersey, airport no-fly list. dry jfk, buddy -- tried jfk, buddy. -- try jfk. greta: and have you ever heard of this? clothing made of money? they use a special thread made from recycled dollar bills all the way up to $100 bills. go to the website to check it out. and look up in the sky. it is a bird, a plane, a birthday gift for communist china? sort of. the empire state building will light up to mark the 60th

anniversary of communist china. the lights are up on special occasions. it was green for st. patrick's day, but the chinese birthday gift is causing controversy. critics say it should not honor a communist country. well, what do you think? go to gretawire.com and post your comments right now. and finally, the berkeley college of music in boston with an international superstar who wants his diploma. he made the big announcement speaking at the congressional black caucus. good for him. and now you have it, the best of the rest. but still ahead, last call. cunnane o'brien gets hit on the head so hard he ends up in the hospital -- conan o'brien. i sh. doing more for my high cholesterol. what was i thinking? but now i trust my heart to lipitor.

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greta: 11:00 is almost here. flash the studio lights. it is here, last call. conan o'brien is not known for physical comedy, at least not until now. he had this going on with teri hatcher. >> set your vcr to record. >> set your vcr to record.

f >> folks, i have to be honest with you. i get my head so hard that i actually understood the plot of "lost." it is good, very good, and now, it is gone. when i got injured, i was doing a stunt with teri hatcher, and i cannot help but notice i got a lot of media attention for it everywhere. tomorrow, he pushes me down an elevator shaft. greta: well, wait to use your head, conan. that is your last call, and we are closing down shop. we will see you again tomorrow. do not forget, gretawire.com to do not forget, gretawire.com to block, and