tv The O Reilly Factor FOX News October 22, 2010 11:00pm-12:00am EDT
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>> jeff, you dirty [bleep]. thank you for being with us tonight. we will see you all again monday. make sure you check out our facebook fan page. >> >> juan: hi, i'm juan williams. in tonight for bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us. we have a lot going on this evening, including a special talking points memo on the npr situation that i have for you in the next segment. but we begin tonight with what is what is one of the most contentious political seasons we can remember.
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president obama has a lot riding on the outcome of the upcoming midterm election and he is hitting the road hard on behalf of his party the president is trying to woo back female voters, a continues he once had solidly in his pocket but with whom he hastedtly lost ground. joining us from washington is chris wallace, the anchor of "fox news sunday." chris, thank you so much for coming in. when you look back on all the election data coming from the 2008 election race, it's pretty clear president obama was winning the female vote. today, if you look at the same data, the same data that had him 12 percentage points ahead with american women, now it says 47-44. only a 3 point advantage for democrats. what happened? >> well, you are exactly right. i mean, it's gone from a 12-point advantage in the exit polls, how people actually voted in 2008 to basically dead even now. and there is another poll out of bloomberg poll that indicate that 60% of women who voted for
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obama have either less support for him or no support at all. so, 60% have lost faith and have moved away from some degree from obama. the reason democrats generally win the gender gap when it comes to women is because of the economy. women oftentimes, they're the ones running the household. they are the mothers. they are the ones out shopping. they are the ones who pate bills. so i think they feel economic hardship more. it may be one of the reensz why they voted so overwhelmingly for obama last time because they were fed up with the republicans and george w. bush. clearly they don't feel that this president has fixed the economy, job one, and so they feel very disaffected towards him and towards the democrats. >> juan: now, chris, what strikes me and the reason i wanted to do this segment tonight is that the president is out in california. he has been in washington state. he is paying particular attention to patty murray's race, to barbara boxer's race. both democrats running for the
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senate. and he is talking endlessly about his daughter. he has his wife with him. he is talking about female children that have come to the white house winning science contests and the like. there is a clear emphasis here on women voters. if you look at his approval rating among women, it's 50%. but then, chris, you look at the enthusiasm rate and there is a tremendous gap because right now republican women are about 44% of them saying they are very enthusiastic about voting. only 28% of democratic women. something is in the air, something has happened, chris. and i can't quite put my finger on it, but i think the president knows it and that's why he is speaking to female voters exclusively as we approach the election day. >> well, i don't know that i would say exclusively. but largely he is addressing them. look, he is trying to energize the democratic base. is he trying to energize young people. that he was why he is on college campuses. he is trying to energize minorities.
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is he trying to energize labor unions but yes as i said by a 12 point margin women voted for the democrats last time. interestingly enough the white house put out a big economic report this week that talks about all the economic benefits specifically to women since barack obama came out. robert gibbs, the press secretary said no, no. this has nothing to do with the election. but valerie jarrett and mellowed barnes said sure, it's part of the election strategy. we want to tell our message and get it out. again, it's all about the economy. women are disappointed. they don't feel this president and the democrats have kept their promise to turn the economy around and make their daily lives better. >> juan: this is really interesting point. i'm glad you raised it look, if we talk about past cycles, we have gone from soccer moms. we have gone from blue collar moms. we have gone to now mortgage moms. people who are concerned principally about the economy. we are saying here in the stretch run, we have got just over a week to go before election day that the white house and president obama, they
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have been working the college campuses. they have been working the big cities on the minorities. but right now they are focused on women. he did a backyard event. recently that was just for women, chris. president obama and women only in a backyard outside of seattle. i think that's a clear indication of where the political strategy is right now for the democrats in the home stretch. >> listen, midterm elections, as you well know, not as many people vote as vote in presidential elections. so it's all about turnout. it's all about you getting more of your ways to vote than the other side gets of their base to show up and vote. women have been-the cement, the real bases of the democratic party for decades since ronald reagan back in the 1980s. if you don't have a gender gap for democrats they are in serious trouble come november 2nd. >> juan: i think in part because women play such an important
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part in independent swing voters. president's approval going down with independents right now. they are losing touch with these female voters. that's why i keep coming back to it that's the focus. that's the energy. you think about it too, chris. look at all the republican women who have emerged in this cycle. clearly we had palin in 2008. in this cuyahoga county -- cycle. you are talking about nikki haley in south carolina. women are playing a bigger role on the republican side. could that be what is drawing some of the female enthusiasm away from president obama and the democrats. >> yeah. but i think again in the end as we have seen in the past. i don't think women are going to vote for women because of their gender. they have to look at it in a clear headedway and say that woman is going to benefit me. look at their policies. where they're right now in washington and california. the president is campaigning for women like patty murray in washington. like barbara boxer in california
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so in that particular case it's a woman in washington state and a woman vs. a woman in the senate race in california. that may be part of it. again, i come back to the economy and i think women take a hard headed look as men do at who is going to benefit them. who is going to make their lives better and they are just plain disappointed because they don't think the democrats have kept their promises over the last two years. >> juan: chris, there we go. thank you for spending this time with us. my getting the boot from npr trying to have an honest discussion post 9/11 america. we have hear from a prominent liberal about that we will hear from a muslim advocacy group who wanted me published and another muslim american who has a different take on getting a dialogue started. please, stay with us. i'm done with airline credit cards
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up with a yuan in the impact segment tonight my thoughts on the npr situation. character assassination and intolerance at national radio. that's the subject of this evening's talking points memo. as many of you know after 10 years of being a loyal employee, npr fired me for expressing the fear i now feel after 9/11 when i see people in muslim garb getting on an airplane: this
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controversy is now front and center in the national discussion. >> firing fallout. juan williams says he was just telling the truth about his fear of flying with muslims, a confession that got him fired from npr. >> good morning, making waves are "national public radio" under fire for canning news analyst juan williams. he says he was fired for telling the truth. did npr overreact? this morning we will hear from both sides. >> static on the airwaves, "national public radio" comes under heavy criticism after it fires juan williams for comments he made about muslims on airplanes. >> juan: my comments about my feelings supposedly crossed this line. some line somewhere. that crossed a line? but, let me tell you what you can say on "national public radio" without losing your job. nina totenberg wished that senator jesse helms and his grandchildren would get aids. i said would get aids. she is still working there.
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a so-called miewm humorous on mpr said the world would be a better place if 4 million christians evaporated. hilarious. calling millions of members of the tea party movement a sexual pejorative, tea baggers won't get you in hot water either. so it seems some opinions are more equal than others at npr. laura ingraham pointed out last night on this show that any minority, but especially a black person, is not allowed to be anything but a liberal. if they stray off the farm, they are demonized, their skills are trashed. i used to think the left wing was the home of tolerance, open-mindedness, respect for all viewpoints but now i have learned the truth the hard way. you see, npr didn't just fire me. its ceo vivian schiller also leveled a vicious smear against me yesterday. >> juan feels the way he feels,
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that is not for me to judge -- to pass judgment on. that is really his feelings that he expressed on fox news are really between him and his, you know, psychiatrist or his publicist or take your pick. but it is not compatible with a news analyst with the role avenues analyst on npr's air. >> juan: have you no shame, madam? you and your far-left mob fired me. wasn't that enough for you? you have to try to assassinate my character, too? for the record, ms. schiller issued a so-called apology to the press. not a word to me. and that probably tells you everything you need to know about her. and that's the memo. now for reaction. joining us from washington, democratic strategist lanny davis who worked in the clinton white house. lanny, thanks for coming in. now, lanny davis, when i hear this kind of rhetoric from vivian schiller that as a personal attack, that it's not enough that they fire me but somehow now they have got to ruin my reputation, somehow
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suggest that i'm unstable, that i'm psychotic, i think to myself what is going on? the minute that you vary at all from any kind of liberal orthodoxy, you are then fair game for any kind of smear personal attack? lanny, what is going on? >> well, first of all, i'm pretty sad. i lover "national public radio." i think it's a great institution. i am a liberal democrat, liberal on every issue you can possibly think of. and i would like to stick to the facts about what you said. you expressed an emotion of what you feel when you feel somebody who is an arab on an airplane who a muslim on an airplane because you associate with that with the 9/11 people who were muslims. but then when bill suggested possibly extrapolating that to all muslims you said no, bill, it's not all muslims. it's just the ones that were involved in terrorism. and that these were rabbis all involved in 9/11.
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we saw rabbi on airplane there may be people who feel emotion of fear. that doesn't make them bigots or make you bigots. the actual sentence that you said in full context wasn't even slightly bigoted. i don't know what ms. schiller is talking about other than taking what you said which was a genuine feeling and emotion out of context and therefore, inaccurate. >> juan: what the suggestion is now that somehow i can't do my job, i can't be an analyst because i have been forth coming, i have been honest with people in saying my honest feeling reaction at the sight of people dressed in muslim garb. i'm not talking about a businessman who is muslim getting on a plane dressed like -- how why know? but what i'm saying to you, lanny, is it looks like you have got some kind of liberal issue here where people are not allowed to simply be open-minded to state their point of view. if you say something that they don't like, then it means that you are just fair game.
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they can attack you in any way. they can go after you in ways that i am going to tell you something, i was personally hurt, offended. i think it's just wrong, lanny. >> well, i am very proud of liberalism because of its tolerance focuses on fact because it doesn't do guilt by association. last night i'm going to mention the show on the rachel maddow show i saw a bunch of clips where there were bigoted statements made and they happened to be guest on fox where they would make generalized comments saying it's all about hating muslims or all muslims are terrorists and they would put together those clips and they matched that with what you said which was the opposite. you denied that you were making a generalization about all muslims. so, you have been mischaracterized and distorted by guilt by association and innuendo which is contrary to what you just said. the principle of liberalism is tolerance. and i think ms. schiller now today either misunderstood what
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you said or deeply regrets not being a liberal in sounding as if she is using innuendo as a way of convicting you for something you did not say. >> juan: lanny, i think you have had experience with this yourself where at times lanny davis, let me just tell you, people that don't know you, that lanny davis has been working hard in democratic councils for years, for decades, that lanny davis is a convicted liberal in american society. but, lanny, tell people what happened when you had an opinion that strayed from the orthodox point of view on the liberal side. >> well, as someone who is pro gay rights, against don't ask, don't tell, anti-iraq war, pro-national health care, with a public option. you name it i'm pretty left wing. i supported somebody named joe lieberman who is god gather of my son, who voted with democrats 90% of time in the united states senate and he is called a republican by the so-called left because they disagree with him on the war, which i did as well.
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and having supported joe lieberman and looking at the big picture that he votes with democrats 90% of the time, i was then labeled as a conservative, as some terrible person, and attacked on the blogosphere. demonize people that disagree with it. >> juan: they demonize you. they question your sanity? because they did it to me? lanny, you don't have to answer. lanny, look this is ridiculous. >> demonization is demonization. who cares? i focus on issues and facts, juan. >> juan: yeah, but they don't, lanny. they don't. that's the problem. they don't want to hear the facts and they will take things out of context and use it and attack you. >> it's too bad. >> juan: lanny, i'm going to stop before i get out -- thanks, lanny. up next, a muslim civil rights group which wasn't happy with my comments and a muslim doctor who wants to have an open dialogue, real conversation in america. and, later, bill clinton hits the campaign trail to help struggling democrats. is it a hail mary or will he be
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wrawn. >> juan: in the unresolved problem segment tonight the council on american islamic relations wanted me punished for speaking honestly how i feel when i see people in muslim garb at the airport. megyn kelly spoke to a leader of their group yesterday. >> everyone is recognizing now that perhaps it wasn't a good fit between the network and mr. williams. >> why is that? because you are not allowed to express your honest opinions? >> no. because he had views on a number of issues that that didn't reflect the viewpoint of the station. >> is it more of a service to this nation if you allow honest, non-bigoted men like juan williams to express their concerns and then have an open
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dialogue about how we can get past that or is it better to stifle that free speech and opinion by firing him? >> we can have an open dialogue and that's exactly what a dialogue is. it's give and take. he said something. we react to it. you seem to think that only he should be able to say something and we shouldn't react to. is that your definition of a dialogue? >> juan: seems to me mr. hooper was actually looking to shut down the dialogue. some american muslims want us to be sincere about our feelings so we can have an honest discussion and joining us now, dr. gentleman'ser, -- jasser, wu hear this rhetoric we have a right to respond to juan williams and they have a right to fire him, doesn't that say we are shutting down the dialogue. >> all i can tell is you welcome to our world in that you are collateral damage in a war of ideas where groups like cair
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that come out of the ideology of political islam are all about diversionary tactics, about avoiding the real problem that we have in our ideology of political transnational movement that includes groups like the brotherhood that many of these groups were hatched from. they are all about diverting it talking about islamaphobia. talking about bigotry when, in fact, they are wanting to divert it from, you know, the issue of fear that you so appropriately brought up is just the first layer of the discussion because deeper within that is the root cause of terrorism, which is an ideology that feeds that and groups like cair don't want to talk about reform. they don't want to acknowledge that, you know, he in this interview with megyn continue to talk about muslim concern that he represents. well, we are a diverse community that's represented by, i think, most american muslims that aren't victim mongers that take seriously our responsibility for reform and are going to listen to your entire interview and realize that the vast majority of what you said acknowledges
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that muslims have equal rights but also acknowledge a reality of fear that needs a deeper treatment. >> juan: you know what was striking to me was listening to him say that somehow anybody who has different views should not be allowed on npr because npr should represent only one slice of the spectrum. i wonder if this isn't some kind of islamic law. is that what he is saying that it should be that you must represent a specific point of view. you can't have a full-throated, full-hearted dialogue that includes all point of view and he says i shouldn't be on npr if i diverge from their perspective. >> exactly. i mean, this is the issue is that constantly they don't make statements about the limitation of free speech when muslims are a majority that happens in iran or saudi arabia and elsewhere. an interesting thing is how he kept saying how he -- you diverted, juan, from the npr ideology. interestingly though, their ideology internally is about
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antifeminism. antigay rights and other issues that i just can't understand how the left at npr even toler rates with groups like cair because they are not looking into the depth of how they treat internally, which within the house of islam that many of us want to reform. by focusing just on minority issues and islamophobia, we are not even getting past the gates in the reform we have to have within the community. >> juan: well now dr. jasser, here is the thing. these folks are celebrating. these folks are having a party tonight because they say they got rid of juan williams at npr. npr danced their tune they won. i'm going to ask you. this now, is this the way that you think that the islamic community in the united states feels good? that they are somehow advancing their cause of the american people by limiting a sincere, serious discussion about terrorism and its links to the
quote
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muslim community, specifically radical extremist muslims? >> juan, i can't tell you how important this issue that you just asked is. because they may be danci they don't represent the american muslim community that i know. we are a diverse community. the vast majority of us realize that this is destroying american opinion about muslims and how relevant americans feel we are to the solution. most of us realize that this is a muslim problem that needs a muslim solution. it's not the islam i practice. it's not the islam most muslims i know practice. but it is an islamic problem that only we can fix. i will remind you of nidal hasan. he was ignored by most of his colleagues not because he didn't have any signs of radicalization that his fellow officers feared but because they were worried that the same thing would happen to them that happened to you. and most of us muslims are horrified and we don't have our head in the sand like cair. we're not trying to divert and avoid the real reforms.
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i will tell you, there are many other muslims like myself, reform american islamic leadership coalition of other collisions that don't toe the line of the muslim brotherhood. >> juan: one last quick question for you. when you look at the kind of rhetoric that was coming from the times square bomber where he talks about a muslim war, the first drop of blood, doesn't cair have any response to that? they get me fired but where is their response to a man who is trying to blow up times square? >> they don't have a response. why? because it involves them deconstructing their whole mode dison per operandi. mixes the islamic state with government where this society to him -- we have to separate mosque and state and go through an enlightenment process that dewill he -- delegitimize their
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entire -- >> juan: you are in the good fight. we don't hear enough about people like you taking the fight to the bad guys. thank you very much what you are doing. keep it up. >> absolutely. thank you for waking up america, juan. >> juan: plenty more ahead as the factor foofs along this evening. geraldo rivera on the ground in afghanistan. we have a report from geraldo about america's war with islamic extremism. can bill clinton save the democratic party? we hope you stay tuned for thosa
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>> juan: in the second impact segment tonight, with less than two weeks to go we are in the home stretch of the 2010 campaign and the democratic party is hoping bill clinton, bill clinton might be able to mitigate the potential damage. >> to hear the republicans tell it, from the second president obama took his hand off the bible taking the oath of office, everything that happened after that was his fault. >> yeah. >> right? i would like to see any of you get behind a locomotive going straight down heil hill going 200 miles per hour and stop it in second 10 seconds. >> juan: joining us now is leslie marshall and hayes. is bill clinton the cure for all that ailes the democrats. >> i don't think he is a cure for all the ails the democrats. a couple weeks before the
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election they should have had him pounding the pavement months ago. i think he can help. one of the ways he can help is people are listening to him a lot more than me, yuan, i have been saying forever. the democrats need to have more backbone and talk about what they voted for with pride and not be afraid of what they believed in and not be afraid to push forward an economic package that they not only voted for but believe in. this president has president of the united states is backing. >> juan: steve, when i look at the polls, here is what i am seeing 61% of americans view president clinton favorably. it's about 45%, 52% for president obama. 45% for former president bush. is bill clinton the secret weapon? that's what i'm asking? >> in fact, i think republican candidates across the country should stop campaigning at this point. whether you have bill clinton out.
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>> oh, you're bad. >> come on, this is a campaign, i think not to the benefit of democrats right now. this is a campaign that's being fought over issues. this is a policy-heavy campaign based on the performance of president obama in 20 months in office. and the record isn't good. unemployment is high. we can go through the litany. but president clinton, going back to somebody who hasn't been in office for 11 years and asking him to come out and make a defense of a guy who can't even be seen on the stump in most of these places because he is such a negative, i don't think that changes the equation much. >> juan: what about voter turnout? what finance f. it's the case bill clinton is town. bill clinton is getting me energized? they have got to turn out that base. if you look at voter enthusiasm, it favors the republicans. >> so let me ask you this seriously. do you think people -- somebody who is going to show up at a bill clinton rally and be excited and be energized would otherwise just not go to the polls? do you really think that people who go to see bill clinton who make a trip out to see bill
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clinton speak would have otherwise just stayed home? because i certainly don't. look, he is not going to hurt the democrats right now. is he making an argument that other people aren't and he is connecting with democrats that president obama has a difficult time connecting with. including some of the very same democrats who president clinton's wife connected with so effectively in the primaries. he is not going to sway the election. it's just immaterial. >> juan: wait a minute, you are contradicting yourself. you say he connects with people who might not connect with president obama. don't you see a contradiction. >> there he can't do any damage. he can connect with those people that obama can't. it's not going to get those people to pick up and go to the polls in a way that would actually change an election. i just don't see it happening. >> juan: leslie, what do you say? >> i have to say i'm not sure like a couple weeks before this could necessarily change an entire election. but i disagree with steve on this. there are people and i know, this they call my radio program. who will go to some kind of a rally, especially if the speaker is the draw and bill clinton is certainly a name that draws. there are independents, there
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are undecided that may vote that felt apathetic yesterday and that bill clinton inspired them with that charisma and that energizing that will get them to the polls. disagree with there. >> juan: if bill clinton comes to town, bill clinton is in the newspapers. bill clinton is getting coverage on the local news. he is raising awareness of the campaign and of the candidates that are standing by him. leslie hear is another point for you do you think people are so stupid that they forget the division between bill clinton and president obama during the campaign? do people just have amnesia. >> juan, i have got to tell you, the president talked about a locomotive. i joked around here it took me 10 months to have a baby and two years to lose the weight. we as americans forget what we had for lunch last week. i think they do forget that they forget what got us into the economic mess. i'm not blaming george w. bush. i'm saying all the factors that did and that certainly could not be repaired in this period of time by any president.
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>> juan: when you look at the divisions among the democrats, what are you seeing. >> that's a really tough argument for democrats and liberals like leslie to make because the white house has failed by its own standards. he campaigned in the last month, especially the last two weeks on his stimulus package it was going to turn the economy around. it was going to keep unemployment under 8%. he said that before he was even elected president, then he had his economic advisors draw up a series of very advanced and very sophisticated studies that told us exactly the same thing. it turns out it was not only wrong but it was wrong in a serious way. so, how do you run against that record when your own promises have not been fulfilled? >> juan: let me say this to you, steve. would it be better if hillary clinton was hitting the campaign trail? i guess it's inappropriate for the secretary of state but would she do better than bill? >> you know, she might. i mean, it would be clearly inappropriate for the secretary of state to be out campaigning. she was better at, i think,
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connecting with these same voters and she has more relevance. she had been a senator from new york. she has been active in the government now. i think on the margins it would be better to have her out than her husband. but the overall point remains. this isn't going to change the election. if it gets a few voters that call leslie's show out, fine. it's not going to make a difference in race -- on a race by race basis. >> juan: leslie, what do you think? would hillary clinton be the bell ringer if she was out on there on the campaign trail for the democrats. >> it would help but not a bell ringer. that's closer. some people polarized voted for obama and against her but favor bill clinton over her. it depends on the audience. yes for some and no for others. >> juan: coming up, geraldo rivera is with the troops in afghanistan. he will have a report on the fight against muslim extremists. then senator come to burn doesn't want american taxpayers forced to give another dime to
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about the situation. >> how will you know if we have won? >> well, first of all, we have always pointed out that this is not the kind of war in which you take that hill, plant a flag, and say we have won and go home to a victory parade. this will be presumably more like the situation in iraq where winning is making progress. we do now think we are starting to make progress. there clearly are areas that we have got to do a good bit more in again without question, the gains that have been achieved aren't solidified. this is not just about the conduct of anti-counter terrorist force operations if you will that kill or capture bad guys. it's also about population centric operations. >> juan: geraldo rivera joins us now from ford operating base blessing in afghanistan. geraldo, thanks for coming. i guess you are getting up there in the middle of the night. this is just tremendous. we appreciate it. geraldo, first of all, who is
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all around you? >> well, these are the men of the first battalion, first brigade of the legendary 101st airborne, juan. this is lt. joe ryan, he is the battalion commander. we are up here in the hills where they are taking the fight to the enemy. the old days pre-surge where the enemy had safe havens up here no longer exist and later on in this hit i'm going to ask colonel ryan to describe bull dog by the. these are the bull dog battalion. they just went out and bit the enemy right on the tail, juan. let me just stay in a personal note that i'm glad that you didn't go over to the dark side. then i realized you and i are the dark side. at least up here we are boycotting public radio. "national public radio." because i know you get scared when you see me on the plane there too, buddy. [ laughter ] put that aside, seriously, for these guys to let the nation know that, you know, general
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petraeus is very diplomatic, he is very measured in his comments, but i have to say that in the time i have been here on this my ninth trip to afghanistan, i really see the momentum shifting from the bad guys, juan, to our side. and our afghan allies. they may be dysfunction in the government up in kabul but down here these guys are fighting the good fight and the enemy knows it, juan. >> juan: geraldo, let me ask you about the strategy, general petraeus' strategy of trying to build some kind of society there that would act as an alternative to the taliban and the fact that the increased the number of drone attacks over in pakistan. how is it playing out on the ground for our good and loyal troops? >> well, that's an interesting question, juan. because just as bull dog bite. tell me about bull dog bite. tell me militarily what you did. >> it was a large battalion operation. it was probably the largest one we have run since we have been
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here. really, the intent for the operation was to disrupt the enemy where he lives. he spent a lot of the summer disrupting us and the people of afghanistan, the people of this province, kunar province where we live and where those people live. and we decided to bull dog bite. now it's too to get the enemy where he lives. >> tell me about the nationding. what are you doing to convince them to come over to the good guys? >> well, it's an ongoing process. without security -- you have got to start with security first. that's what bull dog bite was all about. you have got to provide that security for the people so they feel safe in doing other things with you. we work through the government with everything. we have got to empower the afghan government to do these things for their own people. they will never trust it long term if we do it. so we have got to teach and mentor the afghan government to do it. >> do you think that you have sensed, you have been here half a year now. have you sensed the swing? >> you know, recently we have. i mean the summer fighting
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season is the normal fighting season around here. and with some recent offensive operations i think we have sensed a swing. we can tell, based on reporting from the recent offensive operations that it's going real well. >> juan, i also want to add and i think this is very important, that july 2011 withdrawal date. >> yeah. >> that thing is written on the charts that say conditions on the ground. i have already met the replacements for these guys coming in six months from now so that's all lined up, juan. so i suspect that july 2011 date is a date when they will assess what the situation is but certainly not begin any meaningful withdraw. >> i have got 60 seconds. i want to ask you very quickly. we know about increased terror alerts especially in europe. we know about the increased drone attacks in pakistan. how is that impacting what the shoulders are doing in -- soldiers are doing in afghanistan? >> i have to say without asking them opinions about the drone
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attacks, i am a huge fan of the drone attacks, pakistan is just a couple of miles from here. it's so easy for them to come, commit mayhem and murder and retreat back to their pakistani sanction areas, the drones with the help of some elements of the pakistani security forces are denying them or beginning to deny them safe haven. that's what his boss, colonel andrew popus of the first bragd of the 101st is letting the world know. there will no longer be safe havens for the taliban enemy. we are going to drive them by hook or by crook to the negotiating table because that's the only way our forces are ever going to get out of these mountains. >> juan: so the drone attacks are working and helping in this situation and we should be supporting them here at home? >> well, i certainly support them 100% there are aspects of american foreign policy that i'm not crazy about. but the drone attacks are not one of them. i'm unequivocal about that. they are crucial to accomplishing the mission.
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you cannot allow an enemy to kill you and then retreat home and then go to the drive-in movies. >> please give the troops our heart felt thanks. should americans be forced to give their hard earned money to public broadcasting. senator tom coburn doesn't think so. he will be right here. npr has anti-fox bias. it's been evident for years. we will play for you legendary confrontation between bill confrontation between bill o'reilly and npr host terry etfs? exchange traded funds? don't give me just ten or twenty to choose from. come on. td ameritrade introduces commission-free etfs with a difference-- more choice. over a hundred etfs.... ...chosen by the unbiased experts at morningstar associates. let me pick what works for me. for me. for me. the etf market center at td ameritrade. before investing, carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. contact td ameritrade for a prospectus containing this and other information. read it carefully before investing.
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fraction of sourcing funding frm government sources. maybe they don't need it at all. some think it's time for npr to pay its own way. one of those senator tom coburn from oklahoma joins us. senator coburn, thanks for coming in. >> juan, i'm glad to be with you. >> juan: senator, how would it happen in the congress that there would be a movement to take this money away from npr? how could it actually happen? because we have heard this talk before but it never ever happens. >> i think the bigger issue is should we have -- should we fund $400 million a year to the corporation for public broadcasting which npr ultimately gets about $3.3 million a year. if my data is right. they got a $1.8 billion from george soros. they don't need any money from us. and the question is, is there not enough choice and selection in the media both radio and television today that the
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federal government, that has $13.6 trillion worth of debt ought to continue to spend half a billion dollars a year on government subsidized medias? >> juan: what you are going to hear, i can anticipate this for you, senator, you are going to hear from every local station around the country because npr has member stations and everybody in that district is going to call up and say don't defund public radio. it's as if public radio would disappear if it wasn't for public funding. i don't know that it would disappear so the question is though, how do you respond when you start to get that pressure from npr constituencies? >> well, i think you respond by looking at what the constitution says, juan. where is it in the constitution that says the federal government is supposed to be funding competition for private networks with a public television or public radio in any way? you know, it would be different if we had the luxury of not having trillion-dollar deficits. but, you know, the real factor is is one of the reasons our
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country is in trouble is because we have not paid attention to the rule book that says here's the limited role for the federal government. in its day, was it maybe a good idea to get options out there in terms of the media? yeah, but we are way past that both logically but we're also past it financially because we can't afford it. and so, let's talk about your controversy for a minute. your controversy isn't because you said something about your feelings. the controversy is is that you were not following the political correctness line that is dictated by a public -- "national public radio," even though their why quasiindependent. the debate isn't about you being able to say your feelings and you being a commentator and a very good one at that, it's about you didn't follow the political correct line and here is the government with its hands reaching down to npr with 3.3 million and with the
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corporation for public broadcasting 400 million. why should we have any federal money going there? >> juan: this is an interesting point what you are making. what you are saying is essentially then the federal government is acting to censor people who mighten politically unattractive to them it could be that you have democrats controlling this pot of money at the moment and that they have some say about the editorial content as a result. >> that's exactly right. and it would be just as bad as if conservatives had some and they had some say about the content of the political result. the fact is, is there is no room and no business for the federal government to be in any way, shape, or form in the business of media manipulation. and what see saw in your example -- >> juan: if you make that case on the senate floor, is it going to carry the day with republicans and democrats? do you see this really happening, senator? >> i don't know. but i will guarantee you i will be offering an amendment on the appropriation process to de-fund it. and we will see. i will tell you who it is going to carry the day with the american people. and if the congress doesn't
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start listening to the american people in this country, the congress is going to change. we are seeing that in the election cycle this year. >> we are. senator, thanks so much. this is an interesting conversation. we will follow up on it thanks again. >> all right. good to see you. >> in a moment, we will play you the tape of what happens when bill o'reilly went on terry gross' npr show. please stay with us. ñnvw]7>çgo[ñn:[wntñ hey, guys, i know i've been bad at this in the past, so i've come up with some mnemonic devices to help me learn your nas. hello, a "penny" saved a "penny" earned.
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book segment, npr has been taking potshots at fox news channel for years. some think they fired me because they don't like the fair and balanced presentation on this network. in 2003 bill o'reilly was promoting his book. instead of talking about the best seller, the host got contentious with mr. o'reilly. here's what bill had to say to miss gross. >> we've spent now 50 minutes of me being defending defamation against me in every possible way. while you gave al franken a complete pass on his defamatory book. if you think that's fair terry need to get in another business, i'll tell you that right now. and i'll tell your listeners if you have the courage to put this on the air. this is an unfair interview, designed to try to trap me into saying something that
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