today on our t. t. minus six months left in president obama's first term his list of campaign promises remains woefully incomplete will grade the president on his performance and left the games began the olympic torch is making its way to the stadium in london to officially kick off the of that coming up i'll ask the author of the book dream team if this battle will be an epic battle between the east and the west and china will rise up to the task. and get ready for a food fight of epic proportions chica larry is being fried up and served on a silver platter by gay rights groups and now cities like boston and chicago are telling the food chain to stay away the details ahead.

it's thursday july twenty sixth five pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wahl and you're watching our. well campaign season is in full swing and president obama now has six months to fulfill his election promises and he made a lot of up let's take a look at some of the big ones and how he scored on his report card well by malia and sasha a dog he got an a for that credit card bill of rights he also did fared pretty well to remove the troops from iraq he also scored in a but more of an a minus because he announced the end to the war but military contractors are still there. moving on now from to help get the health care reform we gave him a c. because he tried but didn't get all the bells and whistles in that he promised to get unemployment is below four percent i mean unemployment he has promised was to make a four percent but it's actually more around double that he's getting a d.

he also wanted to stabilize the economy we gave him an incomplete because i guess by just kind of speaks for itself he also vowed to get renewable energy to ten percent by two thousand and twelve he gets an f. there because not only is that nowhere close to being a reality that whole slew cylinder debacle didn't help his grade and then another thing he vowed to do close guantanamo bay we give him enough because not only is guantanamo bay still open but as we've reported the government is investing millions into keeping the secret prison up and running he did however our he didn't revoke reverse the bush tax cuts so we gave him a failing grade there so. didn't get very far in many of his campaign promises and in this divisive political climate obama's opponents are quick to pounce on him for promises unfulfilled much of it is highlighted in the

book the amateurs there you see it takes an in-depth behind the scenes look at president obama and his administration it's sort of the top of the new york times bestseller list and is also generating quite a bit of controversy and i was joined by the author of the book edward klein i asked him what grade he would give president obama take a look. i think i give him a deal isn't that i think i'm being generous with the d. why do you say that a lot of people would be less generous than i would give them an ask and flunking out of three. jobs all right you got this new buck it's called the avatar referring to president obama why given that title i call him an amateur. because you know i did two hundred interviews for this book i interviewed people both in and out of the administration i interviewed people who covered the president in the white house the white house press corps republicans and democrats in congress and

to a person they all said the same thing that this president is temperamentally unsuited for the job he loves to be out in front of large groups ten twenty thirty thousand people when it comes to dealing with congress and dealing with chicks so the day to day basis he is clueless he doesn't have the executive skills to do the job and that's why i call him the amateur now ok i hear what you're saying but a lot of people point to the climate right now i mean we have one of the most divisive congress says i mean arguably that is being dubbed one of the most divisive congresses a in u.s. history and president obama is placing the because not shy to place the blame on congress so what do you think about that said don't say a plan to the bigger picture here. i don't buy into this. mainstream media myth that it's the congress who which has been obstructionist i think for instance

of lyndon johnson in one thousand nine hundred sixty four he had a senate that was controlled by southern racist democratic chairman committee chairman and despite that he was able to get the first major civil rights act passed through congress and how did he do it he did it because he was skilled in the use of political. challenge he had the challenge he understood the weak points of the strong points of these people and how to get them to come along and do what he wants to do president obama doesn't have those talents all right edward i want to play this clap from presidential candidate mitt romney we asked him the same question what grade he would gather president obama here at center spots. it's president obama in your view done anything well.

sure yes i appreciate for just the decision he made to go after osama bin laden and to make sure he was it was executed what grade would you give president obama so i have no question about that across the board across the board even despite the killing of osama bin laden rove when i look at what's happening in the middle east the arab spring has become the year of winter so that's hardly a success and of course domestically it's hard to call what now thirty to forty months of unemployment above eight percent a success when even he said by now it would be right there in the six percent range and by now it is not it's over eight. so there he is giving president obama failing grade give him a little bit more credit than you did but you know what president obama is going to tallaght are you know he killed osama bin ladin that was a promise that he made he fulfilled that. so what do you think i mean

doesn't he have some victories in there that he can kind of tout. well i wish i could point to something less but i can't i mean i agree with mitt romney that if you look at the middle east we have iran moving into iraq where we spent ten years lost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars and we've deployed to iraq to the not so tender mercies of iran syria is going down the tubes the iran is getting closer and closer to a nuclear weapon the middle east is to miss and we're not in the middle east using america's influence and power the way we should but that is true also in eastern europe where we removed our anti-ballistic missiles in the far east where china is resurgent there'd been foreign affairs certainly this administration has been leading from behind its leading as it were at all domestically i think the

recession speaks for itself eight point two percent unemployment millions and millions of people either out of work or can't find a job or it's just dropped out it's really a very sad story and a story that. the president has very hard time trying to do support when he's running for reelection so rather than run on his record he's running by running down to the other candidates but what about the fact that home bubble capture and you know he did caliph alabama lot in something that the previous administration had vowed to dan was unable to accomplish. and that a victory at least that's why we cannot expect but definitely a victory and we have to give him credit for that and i do. this. campaign to get osama bin laden was started under george w. bush and continued under president obama and.

i think any president in his shoes given the information that he had from the cia about the whereabouts of osama bin laden you know bought a bad stand would have done what he did but that doesn't take away from the fact that it was a successful raid and we did kill the most wanted man in the world and so yes that's a positive but this one ties it of out of hundreds of negatives and what about his promise i he ended the war in iraq well he ended the war in iraq by. not doing what any see a president would have done which is to keep some of our troops there after we drew in order to maintain a presence and make sure that iran was not going to move in and become the leading foreign influence on iraq which it has since become so i don't think that was a success at all now your book out right is coming out at

a very convenient time i mean it's kind of being crunch time six months lasted until six months left and the president saying i mean what kind of feedback are you getting i am from big al pain. i'm assuming it's making them pretty happy right the book has been number one on the new york times best seller list for six weeks straight which i guess speaks for how successful it's been and very gratified that so many people have found the book both informational and entertaining obviously the democrats don't like the book as i expected they wouldn't but. independents are buying this book the amateur republicans are buying it i've been asked to speak at many places i think it's important this book is important because it does for iraq obama what the mainstream media the endeavor did which was is to invest

in so early and carefully and explain why he's been so ineffective as president i would say it's no doubt that this book is successful you know top the new york times best bestseller last but there is a lot of controversy surrounding the box many critics say that the details are now a lot of them just simply aren't true what do you say about. well first of all they do say that and then they don't point to anything that they can prove is untrue as you know i had a three hour tape recorded interview with the reverend jeremiah wright. that's foreign minister which i released to the press and no one no no nobody in the history media is addicted of the criticism of the book it's been against me personally not about the sex in the book because the facts that are incontrovertibly i spoke to obama's position for twenty years i've spoken to his colleagues at the university of chicago law school i spoke

to people in it is that ministration nobody has come forward and said you misquoted me i didn't say that the book is so. and i was ever declining our times best selling author. well the olympics so it's a kick off in london traditionally the olympic games are a platform where the world superpowers compete for the gold decades ago it was the u.s. versus the soviet union but today the u.s. is up against another world power that has proven to be a force to be reckoned with china showed up the u.s. and the rest of the world when they dominated the medal count and the last games back and beijing and this time around it looks like they're gearing up once again to prove they are a superpower to stay but will that be the case will discuss now with someone that has seen it all from the inside jeff mcmullen very he is the author of the book you see their dream team. jack welcome so it looks like china is proving their

superpower proud west the olympic stage now. you know no question about it it came suddenly and when it came as was the case with most about china it came with a force and i think really here they're there even talking more about obviously great britain has a strong team there hosting the game there even start of talking more about hey let's try to beat australia and let's try to beat the united states and i think there's a you know there is kind of a concession that china could win and i think the united states could give them a run for their money overall looks like a way of the it'll definitely at least be neck and neck you know as was the u.s. versus the soviet union now how it appears that the rivalry is between the u.s. and china is that what it appears today probably but i don't think there's just something about the sporting culture that doesn't you know allow that as much we

had such a long historical build up to the relationship with the soviet union and it was sort of so represented to paradigms you know east versus west and communism versus capitalism and all this kind of thing i just don't it doesn't feel the same with china because we're still trying to figure out culturally and historically exactly what we mean to each other you know so it's almost like you know we united states wants to be china they want to have the most medals but it's not it doesn't feel like that con a mano a mano thing that it was with the soviet union for so many years i guess we'll see how it plays out it seems like maybe the tented a as there may be it's building but you know it back often times the olympics often serve as a platform for countries to show off their their pride and nationalism so when countries take the gold it's really more than just about the sport that they are

great they're. sure i mean everybody you know from the beginning when the modern game started eight hundred ninety six i mean supposedly politics was going to be out of it. it never in fact was i mean as far back as those first modern games in eighty ninety six there were you know skullduggery and cheating and everything else in the name of getting your nation to be first so i don't think the way we do it now is probably any worse than they did it you know we're doing it one hundred years ago it's just that there's kind of so much more coverage about it but it's always you know you're going to see the opening ceremonies tomorrow night i mean there's going to be every some political leaders weren't allowed to come and others are going to be in the box with david cameron so of course it's a political battles much as well as it is anything else and i do want to talk a little bit about your book there the dream team and you know it takes a close look at this legendary basketball team back in one thousand nine hundred

terror there were the pride and glory are there but since then i mean a it just hasn't really been the same i mean having really seen this all from the inside how does it feel for you to kind of see this gradual i guess the client. well i i think those of us who covered the team in ninety two were and were close to it and those that were around the team and the team itself you sort of knew that this was a singular phenomenon you kind of knew that you know there was this perfect storm of that was the first time it happened your of was kind of ready to accept a new game these guys were the biggest stars in sport not just basketball it couldn't those factors couldn't be replicated again and i think the united states than the average fan doesn't understand how hard it how much more difficult it is for these guys in two thousand and twelve to win the medal i mean if they don't

beat spain for the gold medal they're going to be considered a massive disappointment however the team that they're playing in spain this time they're made up of five n.b.a. players i mean they may not be as good as our team kobe bryant you know le bron james kevin durant's but they're a much much much better team than the one that dream team play twenty years ago and i'm saying that having just you know rich written a book on the dream team has said the i think the u.s. will ever have a dream team and a false sense of that word i got. no i just don't think that it can happen that way in fact what's going on there is a movement now in the united states to kind of change the paradigm a little bit that after this the lympics that we're going to go back to spending you know sort of an under twenty three team and we're going to try to create a world cup basketball sort of like soccer so the olympics would no longer be kind

of the pinnacle of our international basketball representation that hasn't been fully worked out yet but i think in a way people are looking at two thousand and twelve as the real kind of and of this professional basketball era that started with the dream team in ninety two the end of an era you know jeff we are living in this more globalized world than we're now seeing this increase in foreign players we did a story not too long ago about a lot of our limpy and many of them were not born and raised here but kind of took them on as our own because of their their a limp back to their athletic capabilities i mean is that surprising to you to see that trend. well it started back know it because i've been looking at it for so long i mean i think people don't don't understand how long for example our colleges

have been populated the top division one colleges particularly in running events things like that you know we have given we have always been one i mean i suppose the anti immigration person would say isn't this terrible the patriot in my opinion would say we've always been a country of immigrants that's what we've done we've given opportunity to people and then evidently in sports when we still like anything else when we start to give opportunities to people from outside of our borders people who might be more hungry to get to the top inevitably that's going to squeeze out some of you know the natives certainly that's been happening for a long time in running sports around here a lot of our olympic runners are probably people that came to college from other nations are basketball players by and large the ones on that team are american born that's still a sport that at the top level we dominate but in

a lot of other sports it's been happening for a long time and you know i for one really don't don't see any problem with it very interesting and timely what the game's just about to kick off jack thank you so much for coming on the show that was jack mccallum author of the experience. also had on our team if you can't take the heat get out of the proverbial kitchen are in this case the city leaders in boston and chicago are taking on chick fil a for the c.e.o.'s pants and gay comments but in this economy should really be the nine business over ideological differences that story i had.

what drives the world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions to break through it's already been made can you cross no one. with the global reach where we had a state controlled capital school sessions when nobody dares to ask we do our tea question more. the fast food joint chick fil a facing huge backlash this after the c.e.o. professed as anti gay marriage views now mayor rahm emanuel from chicago says these views aren't consistent with the views of the city and now there's a similar backlash in boston government leaders want to block the fast food joint from expanding in these cities but wait a minute isn't this

a government decision government leaders should shouldn't make but instead the or the individual should be making this decision not government leaders i mean that's up for debate we're going to get into it now with mike riggs he's an associate editor for reason dot mike welcome so i mean what do you think should a government officials be able to block businesses from opening and expanding just because they disagree with their political views. absolutely not the licensing boards and the zoning boards and chicago and boston and let's be clear that's what that meant rahm emanuel and then you know in boston they're talking about using zoning restrictions to keep chick foot out those do not exist to tests as. to institute political let miss test for business owners they are there they're used quite frequently i mean this is just a very public example of how those boards are abuse but they're supposed to be

there for safety you know zoning boards are supposed to exist licensing boards are supposed to exist to make sure that restaurants are healthy food or or that their kitchens are dirty and rat infested and that you know buildings are safe they do not exist to make sure that business owners have political views that are copacetic with the use of any given away to official i mean it's sort of crazy if we were to look back to you know jim crow time in the south. this same thing was going on first you know african-americans are being discriminated against gays or it didn't discriminate against the south and nobody thought you know that's a bad example is supposed to work we're supposed to be moving away from that and i while i do find that your views you know dan cathy i don't agree with him but i think there's another way to sort of for consumers to show their feelings and that's to vote with their their wallets and their checkbooks not pocketbooks and

it's not shop at chick fil a don't buy from chick fil a few know what they're saying it's not to keep people from doing business so it sounds like you think the government is overstepping their bounds. absolutely one hundred percent and i mean just to be clear i think that your crass regulator why they do this a lot it is very if you look at yields in which people have to have a state or a simple license to do business there are a lot of great examples people being punished for being antagonistic towards government officials for having used that you know are sort of. in this case i mean it's sort of great to be anti-gay is now considered outside the mainstream but there are just a lot of examples the government overstepping their bounds you know if you complain about the way you know somebody had a licensing board does their job they can punish you they can find you can make it more difficult to they can reject forms that you've submitted so yeah this is

a this is a really clear cut really highly publicized case of government overstepping its bounds but zoning and licensure are used all the time so punish people so you know this isn't really exceptional it's just exceptional public and aaa i mean i've never eaten there myself but my producer of deadly air today apparently it's so delicious that they just left me with these empty empty bags so never tried it but apparently some people say it's really delicious but as far as we know it they haven't discriminated in terms of their their hiring practices are serving their customers right. the only form of discrimination that i've seen reported on is that they don't offer. benefits for all its u.t.m. poi's who are in committed relationships and people of the same sex so you know there's obviously room for chick fil a pro on that and i definitely think again

like you know if if consumers have a problem. donating money donating money to places like family research council which i highly doubt i don't like the research council and if you have a problem with them not getting benefits so that tells you to employees. you know there's another way to express that state sort of strong arm them and fly in that it's again just don't shop at chick fil a oh and i was even thinking to know when i'm like you know we've got a lot of time thinking about how do we punish people who disagree with it and i've got to wondering tonight you know is there another way i mean could you instead of having a boycott to play could you have some. sort of you know a group of gay people who are insured saying case. should play or something i don't know to buy their lunch there at mass or something i mean. you know you are alienating people who enjoy your food you know in their own ways never such trying to punish them with the state because that works both ways the state as you know

for a long time honest case punished african-americans partial absence of mind or party and. a way to right goes wrong not to decrease freedom to people like david that the of the mayors of you know both boston and chicago are facing political pressure to make these decisions you think their decisions are politically motivated. a little bit of a cynic so i actually think that neither. you or me you know boss i don't think either one of them have any intention of following through and keep chick fil a out . me a lot of big city mayors well sort of push back against chains and their cities you know d.c. has been sort of locked into the wall martin but i think more than anything this is sort of a rallying the troops thing you know one of the ways to sort of to get people amped up before an election culture war issues work really well class war issues work

really well so i just wouldn't be surprised if this was a way of sort of rallying the troops and it isn't about some people are calling this an attack on free speech would you go as far as to call it that. absolutely whether or not you re with citizens united. or with large campaign slash issue expenditures that aren't affected by the citizens united ruling the fact of the matter is the money that the kathy family which i'm sure clay has spent on political issues is legal that's legal in the supreme court has ruled that a cow is a speech so regardless of whether or not. agree with the last four actually. is the first. right mike we're going to have to leave it out there thanks so much for coming on the show that was mike riggs associate editor for reason dot com. will be alone a show that's coming up in just a half an hour let's check in with linda to see what is on today's agenda

a lot of what are you working on over their lives we've got a great show for you tonight we have some really great guests in studio and from the young turks one of our favorites is actually here in washington so we just speak about the student loan debt crisis that we have going on in this country especially after a new report says that student loan debt might be a lot more tied to the subprime mortgage market and bringing down the economy than you think and also have lawrence wilkerson colin powell's former chief of staff to talk about a number of foreign policy stories all right a lot to look forward to and that's coming up in just a half an hour thanks alina that's going to do it now for the news for more of the stories we cover check out our you tube channel youtube dot com slash artsy america you can also check out our web site that's our t.v. dot com slash usa and you can also follow me on twitter as wall will be right back here at seven we'll see that.