churlish. thank you for watching us tonight. i'm bill o'reilly. remember the spin stops right here, because we are definitely looking out for definitely looking out for you. captioned by closed captioning services, inc ♪ ♪ >> sean: hours ago, president obama's own deficit reduction commission dropped a bombshell on the administration. now if you thought obamacare was controversial or stimulus or tarp or the auto bail-out, wait until you hear what the government is considering now. at a press conference today, washington, commission unveiled its plan to show us how we're going to slash the nation's deficit. take a look. >> every member of a commission today, when we were thought this was a mysterious plan. nobody i think likes

everything in it or dislikes everything in it. what we need to do is debate it and try to come up with the reasonable compromises and modify those things that need to be modified and change those things that need to be changed but this is a really strong starting point. >> sean: what exactly is the so-called starting point? let's take a look at some of the recommendations. first, they want to increase the federal gas tax for a starting in 2013 by 15 cents per gallon. next they propose increasing the social security retirement age. third, the commission is calling for cuts in both social security and medicare benefits. they want to end tax breaks like the mortgage interest deduction. that so many americans rely on. and over $200 billion in discretionary spending cuts. by the way, half have been proposed and half of those come from slashing the pentagon's budget. that's the game plan that was announced today. now the question is will president obama take his own advice of his own commission? here in studio to help break down all of this former white house communications director

author of x-rated brand new book "18 acres," nicole wallace is with us and sandra smith from the fox business network. >> the we get an "r"? >> all right. draw me up off the "new york times" best seller list. >> sean: the first female president whose husband is having an affair with a reporter. >> it's a pg-rated affair. >> sean: okay. you heard that. now that is clintonesque as anything i've heard. i got to tell you. i'm looking at this. i have mean this. people thought the stimulus, tarp and the auto bail-outs were bad, we have a deficit commission. they want to gut the pentagon. raise taxes. and i don't hear, i don't hear anything about economic growth in this. >> that is the biggest problem. there is nothing showing, promoting economic growth, job growth anything that corporations will look at this and say this is going to make things better in the future. yeah, it talks about the tax hikes, spending cuts. most of the spending cuts come from -- >> sean: pentagon! they don't realize there is a

war! this is what is infuriating. they don't realize there is a war. >> first, this is going to go nowhere. this is going nowhere. 18 members of the commission, 14 of them have to approve the recommendations. one of them has already said he won't vote for it. another said he doesn't like any of the ideas in here. so really, this is just a menu for everybody to look at and everybody to hate, because nobody likes what is in this. >> well, let's remember why we're talking about deficits. we have at many points in this councilmemb country government operated with deficit but they didn't create the anxiety that they are. >> sean: we never had a president create more debt from washington to reagan in three years. >> anxiety coupled with the deficit because nothing is happening in the economy giving corporate america, the people who hire people confidence. and if these proposals don't increase the confidence in the american economy we need to add jobs, then there will be no political will.

the only reason there is pressure on washington to do something about the deficit is because we're in dire straights with the economy. >> sean: we have to deal with the entitlements. i don't have a problem dealing with entitlements. >> but the last president that tried to do it, george w. bush -- >> sean: it didn't work. >> he grabbed the third rail and put his arms around it and hugged it tight. he thought it was in the interest of the program's long-term ability to continue to exist for your kids, for my kids. it went nowhere. not the political courage -- >> sean: if you are going to say to the american people after they squandered our social security trust fund and never put in a lock box and they bankrupted a country and say bay the way, we'll give you social security the day before you die if you're lucky. we will means test it. if you paid your life, we'll confiscate it. >> they will take away your benefit more after you reach the age of 68.

and then 69 once they up the age more. >> sean: they have to do all of that. let me opt out now. if that means i get old and squander my money, let me eat dog food. leave me alone. i'll pay my whole life and people will not see a penny of benefit. >> nobody is going to like what we have to do to lower the deficit in the country. this is just a menu of things. the thing i was talking to nicole about there is nothing in here, sean, that says we're sacrificing the first born here. there is nothing in here to show they're targeting the deficit we have. i'll tell you to the credit of one idea is they talk about lowering the corporate tax rate. >> sean: wait, but they give on the one hand and take it away on the other. >> that is the problem. >> you're laughing at all my notes here, looking through this today. they're talking about lowering the corporate taxes. >> sean: taking it back. >> with all the tax deductions they take out of there and all the -- >> sean: it's a net tax increase. >> it raises the corporate taxes $700 billion.

>> sean: good point. >> that is the opposite direction we need to go to inspire confidence of the business community to hire. >> sean: isn't the answer we repeal healthcare, lower taxes, stimulate economic growth, let the private sector create jobs and increase revenue to government? >> they should have given you a seat on the committee. >> sean: they would have gotten an earful today and i would have come out immediately after the recommendations. i have know these things are more symbolic. and i know that we talk about earmarks. it's a very small part of the budget. it's not going to balance the budget. john boehner did something that i am encouraged about, because it shows that the republicans have gotten it. he is going to return nancy pelosi's gulf stream and fly commercial. the republicans in the house said they are saying no earmarks. jim demint trying to get the senate to do the same thing. small, but symbolic and important message. >> actionable. things like this from the obama deficit commission is

something that looks good on paper. john boehner, he is doing something that we are all going to be able to see, something he is actually going to do. she committing himself to it. people like to see this. this really means they're taking it for real. >> sean: if they want entitlement reform, they have to provide the american people choices. if they pull this away from young people and cut benefits and raise the retirement age and means test it when it's said and done, why don't they give us a choice? it's not part of the solution. >> i think you have to trust the public to make smart and wise decision about their future. the reality is we're not going to have social security. it won't be around anyway. >> sean: we pay all our life. are they going to steal it? >> they already are. >> it's insol vent and won't be there. >> sean: they look to demonize the corporation. what if a corporation did this? >> i'd be hauled up. >> yeah. >> obama would tax them and take away their bonus. >> sean: they would be in jail. that's how criminal this is. rick perry got in trouble

saying it was a ponzi scheme. he's right. >> we're printing money on a regular basis now. talk about $600 billion that the fed is willing to buy back our own debt. we're watching our dollar go down every day and the deficit continues to rise. it's a mess. this isn't providing a solution. >> sean: so your book, the first female president whose husband has a report with a reporter. you want it "r" rated? >> i'm sure she is for deficit reform. more reason -- >> sean: a conservative who stabbed in the back by her liberal husband. >> it's not "x" rated. retract that. >> sean: it's r-plus. text to vote time. which federal benefits and programs would you support cuts to? text us -- 36288. and h1, social security. h2, medicare. and h-3, federal salaries. we have the results at the end

of the program. straight ahead, more "hannity." >> as the international tour continues, the anointed one rips israel in the muslim world. still no answers on the mystery objects spotted off the coast of california. but we have a new theory of our own. >> thank you joining -- thank you -- >> they never let me do it. >> plus outtakes from my >> plus outtakes from my interview it's our honeymoon.

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>> sean: the anointed one may be a great speaker, but not many people are tuning in to his weekly addresses. since may, most of the addresses on youtube got only 20,000 views, to put it in context his first youtube address got more than 1.2 million views. that is a decline of well over a million people. if the midterms didn't send the president a clear enough message, maybe that will. when we come back, long before a hemi engine powered a ram truck.. it was born up here. tested down here. and proven beyond a doubt, out here. and is only available in a pickup, under here. the ram 5 year 100,000 mile warranty covers you everywhere.

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talk to your doctor and go to isitlowt.com to find out more. >> sean: president obama wasted no time fleeing the country. i have can't say i blame him. he's now in south carolina site of the g-20 summit. before arriving there, he was in indonesia, a country he lived in for several years as a child. yesterday in jakarta, he visited indonesia's largest mosque. the president made headlines on the trip for all the wrong reasons. most recently by attacking our

this is day 7, better betters around the world from there, going to japan, wrap up the trip there over the weekend then come home. so yesterday he was in indonesia where he grew up as a child. and ripped israel's plan to build and was concerned there. today, went to south korea, met with troops earlier in honor of veteran's day. u.s. army war memorial there. met with those troops. saying if they continue on the same path, it's a pursuit of nuclear weapons. they will find themselves in isolation and less security this, is the bilateral meeting. i believe we're getting english translation now. all right. producer is telling me we should be getting that momentarily. what you're looking at is president obama in south korea,

meeting with the president of south korea president li this, is a joint news conference coming after a meeting between these two leaders expected some type of a trade deal was a major topic of conversation hoping to stimulate the economy here in the u.s. this, is president obama's third stop during his 10 day trip to asia. they're meeting now and... the blue house which is the presidential compound in south seoul. it's where the president holds meetings and lives. this is a bilateral meeting today. and the g 20 summit starts tomorrow. it's day eight. and president paying tribute for progress since korean war. he met with troops and had interesting statements sent to north korea. and said he said today the korean peninsula provides the

world's clearest contrast between the society open, and one that is closed. between a nation that is dynamic and growing and a government that would rather starve people than change. he went on to say it's a contrast so stark you can see it from space. the brilliant lights of seoul give way to utter darkness in the north. and the president said this is just no accident in history but rather a direct result of the path of confrontation taken by north korea. he said it's the pursuit of nuclear weapons and it's a tack on south korean ships in march could lead to isolation and less security. he says in the wake of the aggression the united states will never waiver in the commitment to the security of the republic of core reyachl he spoke to troops today there were 62 u.s.-korean war vets. they stood up to be recognized. president obama laid a wreath

at the base. presentation of arms took place. an army team did a 21 gun salute. so again if you're just joining us we're watching a news conference held with south korean president. the president is speaking now. we'll listen. >> i can assure you sentiments you expressed are shared by american people, especially by veterans and service members that have served here. it's wonderful to be back in seoul. we're here for the g 20. i want to thank president le skpe. people for the republic of corea for hospitality. i want to congratulations -- congratulate you for hosting a g 20 summit. this is another example of global korea, playing an increasingly active and leading role in the world. a role the united states sup skports wants to encourage. any time we meet, it's an

opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable lines between our two countries. this, however, is a special occasion. it's the united states veterans day. we celebrate veterans on this day. this year, it's also the 60th anniversary of the start of the korean war. i just had a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to our american troops serving here, but to pay tribute to our veterans of the korean war, americans and koreans. their service through six decades is a powerful reminder security, democracy, and prosperity reinforce each other. as president l. i said security allowed this count troy become a great democracy. and in turn, prosperity that is shared makes us safer and more security. the share of prosperity and

security was the focus of our meetings today. as president li just noted we discussed the need to keep moving toward towards a free trade agreement. we believe that such an agreement, if done right can be a win sh win for our people. it could be a win for the united states. it would increase the export of american goods by $10 billion and billions more in services. could be a win for south korea, with more access to the american economy which would support jobs, raise living standards and offer more choices for consumers. and it could be a win for the over all economic partnership between our two countries bringing us closer together allowing to us benefit from each other's innovations and ensuring strong protections for workers rights and environment. so we have asked our teams to work tirelessly incoming days and weeks to get this completed and we're confident we'll do so.

and president lee in, fact asked his team to come to washington to continue these discussions. so i appreciate all of the efforts he's making on this issue. to advance our share of security, president lee and i discussed our ongoing efforts to strengthen and modernize our alliance. and i said it, we can never say it never -- again, the united states can never waiver to its commitment to the republic of korea. north korea must address south korea's concerns and end it's behavior. likewise, north korea needs to fulfill obligations to eliminate its nuclear weapons program. only by meeting its responsibilities and not threatening others will north korea find real security and respect. i want to reiterate along with our south korean and international partners the

united states is prepared to provide economic assistance to north korea and help integrate into the international community. provided north korea meets its obligations. finally since this is global korea, we discuss aid range of issues before us, the need to create an approach where all of our economies developed and emerging can help achieve global growth that is balanced and sustained. we discussed common security challenges, and i told president lee we're looking forward to south korea hosting the next nuclear security summit in two years, yet another example of south korean leadership and a step towards our goal of securing materials around the world. again, i want to thank my good friend, president lee for hospitality and leadership. we mark the 60th anniversary of the war that turned us into strong allies i want to salute

president lee and people of south korea for extraordinary progress you've made. a strong, prosperus democracy is an example to others in this region and around the world. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> so if you're joining us, you're watching a press conference in south korea with president lee and with our president, president obama. both of them are having an opportunity to speak, we're being told they're each going to speak twice and then take questions. while president lee is making a statement and its not in english we're going to go to our white house correspondent who is there in the room. wendel what is your take? what is your impression and what's happening there so far? >> well, i hate to correct you. i'm not in the room with the president. i'm in a nearby filing center

but the news here as is often the case, is what didn't happen. president obama, failed to reach an agreement on a pretrade agreement and resolve differences over the free trade agreement reached during the bush administration in 2007. now, democratic senators had objected and felt would it freeze out u.s. autos and safety and mileage standards and kept u.s. automobiles to less than 1% of the market here in south korea. and they also objected to pro visions they said were unfair to us us cattlemen and throws out u.s. beef in south korean market. months ago the new president ordered trade ministers to intensify negotiations here. the president talked on the telephone last week agreed to try to reach and finalize the agreement at this summit. the ministers left it in their

hands to one on one talks and the president conceding they failed to resolve differences and they told the ministers to go back to the drawing board, if you will, to keep moving forward for the free trade agreement and try to resolve knit coming weeks. back to the news conference. i believe we've got the president speaking. >> you'll see a broad-based agreement from all countries including germany that we need to ensure balance and sustainable growth. it's my expectation that the communications will begin to put in place mechanisms that help us track and encourage sustainable growth and and the most important thing is that united states can do for the world economy is to grow.

because we continue to be the world's largest market and a huge engine for all other countries to grow. countries like germany that export heavily. and benefit from our open markets. and us buying their goods. it's true for every g 20 member. and so, the point that we've consistently made is that in a prudent, stable way, we want to make sure that we're moving growth rates at home as well as abroad. it's difficult to do that. if we start seeing that huge imbalances redevelop that helped to contribute to the crisis we just went through i don't think there is a controversial proposition. in fact, we set up a framework back in pittsburgh that

discussed this. and... this is just a follow onto the work we've done. now, you know as i've said, i think when i was first asked in india, it's not our habit to comment on actions by the federal reserve. but... as president of the united states, i can tell you that my instructions to my team including secretary gitner is the focus every day on how we can grow our economy, and how we can increase exports, and how we can make sure that even as we're buying goods from places like south korea we're also selling goods to places like south korea. ta is part of the reason why we think that getting this freed trade agreement done is so important. and you know, president lee and i discussed this and our instructions are that we don't

want months to pass before we get this done. we want this to be done in a matter of weeks. so... bottom line is that i think that when you see the final commune day, i will reflect a broad-based consensus about the direction we need to go there. may be at any given moment disagreements between countries in terms of particular strategies. that is not surprising because each country has unique problems and finds itself in different positions, countries like germany are historically sensitive to issues like inflation. but i don't think you'll get any occasion to thei their -- objection to their belief if the u.s. isn't growing that is not good for the rest of the world. it also doesn't negate the fact that if we, in

f.individual countries are engaging in practices that are purposely designed to boost their exports and expense of others, that that can contribute to problems as opposed to solving them. >> president lee on this same subject? president lee? >> going back to our white house correspondent there, traveling with the president. our president had harsh words for north korea earlier today when visiting with troops at the memorial. do we have wendel? wendel, he had harsh words... for north korea? >> yes. the president -- he did. and this summit points to as an example of the problems of the closed society the president saying that it

reinforces each other. have you to realize on 50 years ago when the korean war began, north and south korea were virtually equivalent in terms of the size of their economies. now you have south korea country the group of one of the 20 most prosperus nations on earth and north korea totally backward. the president noting space, you can see the difference. south korea lit up brightly. north korea a land of darkness untibl feed its people. the president in his remarks just a moment ago reverenced a failure to reach the free trade agreement for the united states. it's about providing jobs. mr. obama is in elections this month for not producing them fast enough. thinking is that the free trade agreement would provide in the neighborhood of 70,000 jobs. the president saying that he

and south korean oordered their ministers to try to reach some kind of agreement in a matter of weeks. there is added urgency. south korea has pen aid free trade agreement with the european union. the u.s. does not want that to go into the force. and the u.s. starting to lose market shares to europeans before they can reach a deal getting the freed trade agreement passed in 2007 actually through the senate and ratified. >> good deal what. can we expect later on? i know tomorrow the g 20 summit. i'm being told we're going to go back to the president. he's speaking. >> the talks are launching in 2003 to resolve the north koreain nuclear issue. but it remains an issue of serious concern. is there -- give us reports about, you know, north korea

having, you know, similar nuclear bombs already. so, so do you have an idea we plan to move the nuclear process forward? thank you. >> the talks provided a valuable forum to engage north korea and encourages them to move towards more responsible behavior. and in 2005 we began to see positive movement. and there is back sliding. since that time, what we've seen is talks for the sake of talking instead of talks for the sake of actually implementing changes that would resolve detentions on

the peninsula. president lee and i have been moving in complete agreement over the last couple of years in sending a message to the north koreans that they have a choice available to them. they can continue on a path of beligerence towards their neighbors, unwillingness to denuclearize, engaging in provocative acts. that will ensure their continued its slaigs from the world community. it will prevent them from developing. it will result in hardship for their people. and it will continue to create tensions in the region.

the preferred choice is for north koreans to say we're going to meet our previous commitments. we're going to engage in a irreversible path towards denuclear saigs fchl they're willing to take those steps, then you will see a south korea, a united states and international community that can give them substantial assistance to help develop their countries and improve their security over the long term. now, president lee had -- and i have discussed this extensively. our belief is that there will be a appropriate time and place to reenter into six-party talks but we have to see a seriousness of purpose by the north koreans. in order to spend the

extraordinary time and energy involved in these talks. we're not interested in just going through the motions. with the same results. and i think that the north koreans understand that. so... our expectation is that we'll continue to engage and look for signals from the north koreans with this series. and at the point where it appears they are in fact prepared to move forward on the kind of path all of us want to see. we're going to be there, ready to negotiate with them. >> what you're watching now is president lee and president obama speaking, having this press conference in south korea. they just met. president obama said the purpose was to advance security and prosperity between america and between the republic of core rea. he

said the u.s. and korean free trade agreement would be a win-win for both skpidz create jobs and stimulate both economies. now, we're not taking this south korean president's comments because we zront a translator. there was not an english translation. and wendel is there following the president. wendel, i know you're there. you're going to be with us for the rest of the weekend. he's going to japan after this? after the g-20 summit? >> after g-20 he goes for the asian pacific cooperation. it's a 21 member trade group including many nations gathered here. he's the -- it's the place where ordinarily the president would be halted on trade agreements but of course, his goal here was to reach some

kind of deal that would basically open markets of south korea and u.s. and one another. the president has been talking about a trade here as well with the g-20 hoping to find a type of formula in the communique that these leaders -- let's go back to the rez. i believe he's talking now. >> and there is trying to round up 14 votes for certain aspects and i want to make sure there is room to do so. i set thup commission because i'm prepared to make tough decisions. i can't make them alone. i'm going to need congress to work with me. there was a lot of talk during a course of this campaign season about debt and deficits. and... unfortunately, a lot of the talk didn't match up with reality. if we're concerned about debt

and deficits, then we're going have to take actions that are difficult and we're going to have to tell the truth to the american people. you know? i'm someone who is big on eliminating earmarks in congress. but earmarks alone won't balance the budget. i think that we can root out more waste in and abuse in federal spending but even the most optimistic estimates about the amount of waste and abuse that can be eliminated leaves a huge deficit and a substantial debt. so as you said, jonathan, we're going have to to make tough choices. only way to make those tough choices historically has been if both party are willing to move forward together. and so before anyone starts

shooting down proposals i think we need to listen and maybe gather facts. i think we have to be straight with the american people. you know, if people are in fact concerned about spending, debt, deficits, and the future of our country, then, they're going to need to be armed with the information about the kinds of choices that are going to be involved. we can't just engage in political rhetoric there. is one last point i want to make about debt and deficit. that is that the single most important thing we can do to reduce our debt and deficits is to grow. so we increase our economic growth by 1 percentage point. over time that, can have as much as an impact as completely eliminating bush

tax cuts. it makes a huge difference. if we're growing an extra 1% or extra 1.5 prgs. part of the discussion we have to have is n.addition to getting serious about spending and making sure that money coming in matches up with money going out is what steps do we have to take to make sure we're growing? i'm not going to be favorable bli disposed towards recommendations for moves by congress that don't take into account the needs for us to grow long term. just for respect of the free trade agreement, again, i think that president lee is banting -- wanting to get this done. any mi goal is a trade that is a win, win for both countries. i think that can be achieved.

what you're al you'ding to is a popular concern in the united states of america. that is why president lee and i agreed we need to make sure that over the next several weeks we are crossing ts, dotting is and being able to make the case to both the korean people and united states population that this is good for both countries. and if we rush something, then that can't garner popular support, it's going to be a problem. we think we can make the case. we want to make sure that case is air tight. >> all right. we weren't able to get the english translation for president lee's statement but we do have wendel traveling with the president there and its been great community indicating with us as to what's happening over there. do you want to wrap this up and tell whaus to suspect for the rest of the trip?

>> well, this trip is all about increasing u.s. exports and increasing u.s. trade to be able to create jobs back in the united states. and that has been the focus at every stop, less in indonesia. but it was focus in india and in south korea. it will be the focus in japan on the weekend. the president saying that they want to get the freed trade agreement with south korea done. and it needs to be something they can spell to the people of both countries, democrats are concerned if u.s. auto makers who are in trouble can't increase exports to south korea so... the president of -- the president of both countries instructed their trade ministers to find work out the differences this coming week. what we will see in the next summit is an attempt to reach

some kind of formula whereby countries like china that have trade surpluses are encouraged to reduce those so that other countries can increase their exports. the president saying u.s. cannot bail the world out of the global economic recession. it's facing now a slow down, i should call it. that the best thing for the world economy would be for the u.s. economy to resume growing again. we're fact the answer to global growth. ainsley? >> i did, ways reading about this. simon johnson former chief economist for international monetary fund said this week's deliberations are going to be quote largely a waste of time. what are your thoughts? do you agree on that? >> well, i -- i won't venture an opinion if it's not for me to do. and it's quite often easy to

poke from afar. the leaders here believe that what they did with this forum began two years ago in washington when facing a possible global recession, really kept slow down from being worse than -- from getting worse than it did. we're facing a depression at that time, hemorrhaging jobs. 500 and 60000,000 per month. if we'd gone over the edge things would have been doifl rescue. now, you find it difficult for leaders because we're back from the brink. now, it's a matter of sharing pain. it's difficult to get groups to share the pain when they're not looking into the abyss. so i won't call it a waste of time. these leaders will look for a way to find a formula.

they'll look for it. >> thank you very much. you'll be following the president and keeping us posted throughout the weekend. and thank you, thank you for watching. i'm ainsley earhardt in new york. we now return to "hannity" already in progress. thanks for watching the fox news channel. have a good night. >> sean: tonight on our great, great, great american panel, we have the national campaign manager for howard dean's presidential campaign. peter johnson junior. joe trippi is back. and fox news con trainor andrea tantaros. good to see you. thank you for being here. >> good to see you. >> sean: i went to crawford, texas, and i did an interview with george bush that aired last night. while that was airing last night, we taped the studio audience show with the president. peter, you were there. >> great. tremendous show. >> sean: this was an amazing

hour. we're going to air it next monday night on the fox news channel. we had people from the administration that were there. the firefighter who was with him when he held up the bull horn and many other people. i don't want to give away all the surprises but we had one minute, one second, one moment where i messed up. became of moment of humor. >> joining us -- joining -- let me do it again. >> they never let me do it, you know. [ laughter ] [ applause [ applause ] >> it would have been under mast itted. >> this is all included -- >> it's strategy not strat strategery, c'mon! >> this is what people miss about him, how sharp he is. he didn't get enough credit

for his sense of humor. >> i know you and your liberal friends beat up the president. i got to tell you something. do you know how many people miss him? through history we learned in two years we'll take him back. >> i have a lot of disagreements with him but he had a sense of humor. he would look at himself and be self-deprecating. a big thing in the president. bill clinton had that as well. like to see more of it in obama. >> it was funny, dramatic and interesting. one of the intest interview i have seen of any president. i was blown away by it. he speaks clearly, we understand what he's saying. the motives are pure and he talks about america and the importance of america's strength in the world. and what he had to do after 9/11. >> sean: i really like this book and i'll tell you why. i wanted him to tell his story. he is in the white house.

it's after 9/11. he's got to make decisions on his own that will impact the safety and security of the country. we talked about how some democrats made the case for w.m.d.s and when it became hot potato, they ran. we have another clip here. this isn't aired. when i asked him about waterboarding here is what he he said. >> i make it clear that we were careful about the law. and we adhere to the law, but also we gained a lot of information that protected lives. >> what you said that information of detainees in the c.i.a. program reveal constituted more than half of what the c.i.a. knew about al-qaeda. >> yeah, that's right. >> sean: i have a hard time listening to this. >> eme, too. i understand. my job was to protect the country. we did so in a legal way. i can understand -- if there is a distortion of what was going on, nobody likes to think their government is breaking the law.

we weren't breaking the law. >> sean: peter, when you bring it down to the personal side of enhanced interrogation it's a different issue. >> he said there were two other modes of interrogation that the c.i.a. and justice department found the be legal. he found distasteful and wrong and wouldn't sanction. he said we had lawyers look at it. as a result of what happened, plots were stopped and thousands of lives were saved. what i liked about the show. i have won't give it away, you have dramatic reunions with heros in the show. incredible. it was amazing. >> sean: what i don't understand about the left. we got more intelligence according to george tenet than all our intelligence communities combined.

more from enhanced interrogation. liberal oppose it. i don't know why. >> the president writes about it in the book and talks about how you have to give things time. we'll find out whether it's true and -- >> sean: if you take a terrorist head and slam it in the water and doctors standing by in case he gets distressed and he gives up information to save lives. is that not the right thing to do? >> i think -- >> sean: you're not answering. >> i think it's going to be clear as history moves on what the president said. >> it will be clear when it's too late, when we had a criminal in our possession, we tried him with a civil trial instead of military trial and we missed something. then everyone will say bush is right. maybe there was something to that. >> sean: why didn't we? >> exactly. >> sean: at that point he will be blamed and is responsible. >> and god for bid lives are taken. >> sean: clear, save lives. no contradiction to that. it's not matter of time. >> i was saying -- >> sean: we have to take a break here. >> it's the law. it's question whether it was or wasn't. i don't know the answer to

that. >> sean: we have more on the great american panel straight ahead. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply, unlock the doors, and turn on the hazards. or get a car that does it for you. ♪ but my allergies put me in a fog. so now, i'm claritin clear! claritin works great on all my allergies like dust, mold, pollen, or pets without making me drowsy, cause i want to be alert around this big guy. live claritin clear. indoors and out.

>> sean: it is time to reveal the result of the text voting poll. we ask which federal program and benefit would you support making cuts to? 95% said federal salaries. 3% said social security. and 2% said medicare. thanks to everyone who voted. we continue with the great american panel. "usa today" article average federal salary $150,000. not quite. the public sector not keeping up there. >> no, it's gone up in the last five years that number. that's when it's really escalated. when the democrats had control. >> another study i saw that showed the average americans going down. as the federal employees. public employees went up.

>> sean: peter, does the american -- do the american people have appetite to deal with entitlement reform and cut koeshl security and medicare? >> -- cut social security and medicare? >> in the end they have to. this is a matter of education. this is tough news for all americans. but if we're going to come to terms with it and we're going to be true to our principles and true to the majority the we've seen in this election, i think we have to do it. there is no other. >> sean: if we will means test it and raise eligibility ability, people who paid their wol life if they're successful, the government legally confiscates the money they paid all the years? >> i'm not suggesting it and recommend it. >> sean: but would it not be -- if it's means tested, okay, you have enough money. we keep your money. >> we have to decide where we'll go and how to cut and can we reduce taxes while cutting? s>> >> the first part of the

question, i agree with employment and what people are paid. but if we knock it down, it wouldn't do much to deficit. >> it's entitlement. >> right. that is one thing that both parties have to get. the tea party, everybody talks about the tea party to the right. no. that may be true. but it was a rebellion against spending. we have to tighten our belt and do something. there are democrats and progressives that feel the same way. >> sean: who? >> there are. >> sean: who? >> c'mon. . >> boehner said i don't need the airplane i'll fly commercial. jim demint says do the same in the senate. this is not a big part of the budget. this is small, it's $100 million here and there. symbolic. symbolism matters now. >> exactly. even if you talk about cutting npr funding, $1 million.

the liberals are howling. what is $1 million? that's where we're at. it doesn't mean anything anymore. >> a guy who is now governor in california, jerry brown. started his first governorship getting rid of the limo and the jet and the mansion. realized that that -- >> earmarks are -- >> do it again. >> sean: last thing. the interior department inspector genera the white house edited a drilling safety report in a way that made it falsely appear that scientists and experts support the idea of the moratorium on drilling. i'll be more blunt. they purposefully distorted the document and lied to the american people. >> should someone be in jail for this? this is a serious issue. i'm glessing the white house is excite -- guessing the white house is excited this came out after the election so it will get buried. this is not the first time they've done it. last month, the commission he put together accused the white house of delaying a report showing where the