captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> hello, i'm llewellyn king, host of "white house chronicle," which is coming right up, but first, a few thoughts of my own. in britain, next year, we are going to have a royal wedding. and you know what? the country is going to go crazy. i have a history with a royal weddings. tiny familiarity. in 1960, i covered -- along with

probably 2000 other journalists -- princess margaret and prince antony armstrong jones, who became lord snowden. i was on a ferry going across the thames, running to a phone box on this side and that side, long before there was any other way to communicate, and we had people paid to stand and pretend to be on the phone so when you got there, you could use the fund. i got into the daily express. the euphoria, the sense of this was fabulous. it was the beginning of the end of some of the royal magic. margaret herself was a rather troubled person. her marriage did not last. she became a drunk and other things, not very attractive for

a royal personage. the royal family and imploded. it was dysfunctional. gradually it has worked its way back, largely because of the extraordinary person of the queen herself. team may not be the greatest intellectual or britain, but boy, she has worked hard. when she went on the television in 1992 and talked about her horrible year and her family embarrassing her, suddenly the brits decided, oh, she is one of us. the prestige of the royal family has begun to crime -- climb. also prince william and his brother growing up. attractive young men without the carquinez of their father. -- quirkiness of their father. we look forward to another great

show, our royal wedding in england, won the whole country seems to have a kind of hatchery otic -- patriotism. watch on television. you do not want to be there in person, i assure you. >> "white house chronicle" is produced in collaboration with whut howard university television. and now, the program host, nationally syndicated columnist llewellyn king, and co-host, linda gasparello. >> hello again. thank you for coming along. i will take a moment to thank our sponsor for this program, arizona public service, a wonderful utility company out there in arizona. they are a very progressive company. they have a huge solar

installation near building, the largest in the world. they have nuclear power. the of wind, hydro. they have a bit of everything. i have here with me four of the most exciting names in journalism. here they are. joe matthews, the host of sirius xm radio, which also carries this program on saturdays, a wonderful broadcaster and a good friend of this program. i am glad to say, joe has me on his program every friday somewhere around 2:00 or we try to wrap up -- >> one of the highlights of our week. >> when the weeks get more complicated. and andrew belmar also, a contributor to sirius xm radio.

>> plan to be back with you. >> i am also glad to have a reporter from reuters and general top of the line journalist for reuters. and back by popular demand, jamie weinstein. >> that is what my mom called me. >> that was your mother, was it? jamie weinstein, who works for the daily caller, an internet newspaper. i do not know what you call them anymore. a site? >> yes. >> what do you type in? >> thedailycaller.com. >> even technologically people -- technologically-challenge people like me can do that. >> we designed it with you in mind.

we have unique offices on capitol hill. >> joe matthews, the president has been here, there, asia, he is back. he is off to portugal, the nato summit. is he trying to do too much and getting too little accomplished? >> he should be getting a bit tired of the road. we are walking into the holidays and he will have a lot of reflecting to do. it is a precarious time as he tries to accomplish things through the continuing lame-duck session and the continuing a session of congress in january where the republicans have the house. it is a big game of chicken. what is going to happen with the tax cuts, the start treaty. this is going to set a precedent for the relationship between the white house and the republican majority. he has to be cautious. if you upset the liberal base, move to the center, to the right

a bit, as you suggested in a news conference after the election, we are trying to wait and see how it will turn now. >> steve, what do you think? " i think the white house is still coming to grips with what happened in the election. they are not sure where they have common ground with republicans. they are still studying what happened and trying to come to grips with that. >> do you think he can regain public confidence? there's a sense he is not connected to anything at the moment. he is a helium balloon floating over the capital. >> we will have to see what happens with tax cuts. the first meeting is coming up next week. >> do you think they can -- jamie, do you think they can work together? or is the blood so that on both sides -- >> i think they can, and i think they have to find areas where they can work together. one of the areas to start with is extending the bush tax cuts.

i think there is a compromise to be made. maybe a temporary extension for two years. the republicans want a permanent extension. they could do a temporary extension for two years, not raising taxes on any one during a recession, and that would be a step forward. >> there is in taxing what i call "a sweet spots." where you can get enough revenue without damaging the entrepreneurial spirit. do americans have this in mind? >> this is the question here the idea where you lower taxes and increase revenue. but last occurred at this point, and then it turns this way where you get this revenue. no one knows where that point is. >> slight pricing -- you know, in pricing? when does the additional money

stop flowing because the price is too high, or do you cut it and sell more and cover the price cut? >> i think the president caught a break this week in having a formal meeting, a bicameral, bipartisan meeting with the leaders in congress. they called for it. it fell apart. there was political finger- pointing. but i do not think the white house was truly ready for it. we talked about the compromise on tax cuts with the politics not being figure out. they are not ready to make this deal. i think there is a lot more that needs to be said. i do not see a lot of work in the future. >> what prevents and nancy pelosi from running for office again? normally when you lose an

election, you fall on your sword and you go to harvard school and teach politics. >> she wants to grasp onto that last thread of power. it is bewildering. i would never have guessed she would have stayed. i would have thought she would have retired. there were advertisements running against nancy pelosi, even democrats running against their own speaker. she feels that she has a more progressive caucus now. she feels representative of -- >> the traditional left? >> a lot more left wing. a lot of the democrats who left were conservative democrats. a lot of those people were decimated. now we have a more left-wing caucus. >> she really feels like she can leave the loyal opposition for the next two years. him knows? maybe in 2012, the president

will sweep of and to democrats back into the house. >> i completely agree. >> i am sorry, adam. i think we are at a point where everybody wants to see new faces. they are tired of the people who have largely failed, failed to solve the economic problem. they want to see new faces in the white house staff. they are not really seeing them. politically, it was a bad move for her to run again. >> politically, she felt protected them. she ushered through help perform, one of the largest pieces of comprehensive legislation we have seen in a generation. even cap and trade that never got to the senate got through the house. nancy pelosi want to show up and protect the effort, protect against the effort to repeal some of these moves. frankly, it is easier to be minority leader and speaker. she may enjoy it a couple years of playing the role that john boehner played over the last

couple of years. >> but is in the party paying a price for keeping her around? >> that could be argued. >> i am trying to get inside her head. i do not know how likely is she will get that gavel back in 2012, but i think she wants to fend off the assault of legislation. >> can i speak of for someone? i feel bad for steny hoyer. he has been waiting in line for his term. here comes nancy pelosi saying, no, no. not quite yet, steny. this is like gordon brown itching to become prime minister and tony blair will not leave. >> that was the worst political deal in history, the deal between tony blair and gordon brown. >> i do not feel bad for steny hoyer. i feel bad for jim clyburn. there was a very large number of

representatives in the caucus who wanted him to be next in line. the cdc is really upset about how this all happened. but steny hoyer raise a lot of money and had it coming to him when it is argued that jim clyburn is a more effective communicator. >> as you say you want to see changes in the white house staff. i think we will see those. i am not sure what will happen with robert gibbs, will he move up to the role of david axelrod as he moves up to chicago? >> i think talking of robert gibbs we need a new press secretary. >> i could not agree more. there is absolutely no utility in keeping what has become a pretty contentious relationship with the press going with him. he has a lot of value and the president's ear. he probably belongs in the west wing where he can do more good

and usher in a new era of communication. this administration is having one huge communication problem after another. he is flying home to see grandma this week. you know about another. >> let's pause for station added vacation. we are for our listeners on sirius xm radio. you are listening to me, llewellyn king. i am joined by steve holland, a reporter as reuters and longtime white house correspondent, and ginnie once seen. you can watch this program on the internet at whchron icle.com, and you can also read my columns there if you have the fortitude. you were saying, sir? >> i think with regard to --

>> at your modesty is false. >> i would never say that. it is inevitable that robert gibbs will move into the oval office. >> usually, we thought that's mike mccurry was close to clinton. that worked. but being close to obama has not given gives authority. >> you remember when mike came in, it was after the elections. with these new faces, mike was part of the state department. they did reach out to get him. there is a danger. you wonder if the president will stick with the insiders or go outside. there is a danger being too insular, just having yes people around you. we've not seen that unfold yet.

>> p.j. crowley would be a very effective candidate for that job. he is speaking for the secretary of state right now. those briefings are very efficient. >> i think there are other women in this administration in communications roles, one in particular i am thinking of -- another served a spokesperson for the dnc. if they can get her to join the administration. there is great talent out there. they need to infuse energy and credibility. >> sometimes, jamie, the press secretary does not have to be someone with a lot of press experience. dana perino comes to mind. i think she was a much better press secretary that a commentator or calmness.

that is another story. >> i have to agree with that. >> you will have difficulty holding a job. >> sometimes you have to think outside the box. tony snow came from the press. maybe someone with a long experience from the press. season, a national presence. i do not know your politics, but trust -- >> the problem is not my politics. the problem is my arrest record. just sitting there, venting into the microphone. i must say, steve, that i think television people look at a camera with two minutes to say what they think the president is going to say when he walks in there, that takes some skill, don't you think? >> of course it does. i always watch -- love watching them dance when they get the two-minute warning for the

president. >> is always great when the president comes in early and they are still talking. >> there are noises, steve, from the palin camp, intimations she may run for president. because she is such great copy, every journalist in the country is speculating. would you like to speculate? >> there is a division of opinion about whether she will run. i think she desperately wants to run. why else would she give an hour- long interview to the new york times sunday magazine? she is a book tour starting again peerage is talk to usa today. she's talking to the mainstream media. this sounds like she is planning to run. >> you are a conservative. what do you think of that? >> a publication that is handling e-mail and gives us an exclusive sometimes. >> nothing personal. >> we actually had a great story

on this on the possibility of her running last week, by john ward, a great white house correspondent. he talked to a lot of people at rallies, conservative rallies over the last several months. and they say, no, we love palin, but we do not know if we want her to be a presidential candidate. there are a lot of people out there who like palin a lot, think she has been attacked unfairly, but that does not translate into "i want her to be our nominee for president." >> is anyone lusting for her to run? >> i think it makes a lot of good sense. there are a lot of crosscurrents here. it is difficult to speculate. i do think sarah palin is laying the groundwork, should she run. be honest. a lot of people are expecting this to happen. she is making a lot of money, having a lot of fun, and it is a lot easier to accept the

electoral process, the campaign trail, from outside where she is now, then to be in the midst of that. i do not think she has a lot of fun at debate or contentious campaign events. it may be easier for her to keep doing what she is doing. the tv show, the book, writing on facebook. everybody is talking about you. >> she does not actually come from that background, steve. >> she has the luxury of time. well we're seeing met ronnie tore around iowa and other states -- mitt romney tour around the other states, but she is having fun. we might not hear her announced. meanwhile there is the first debate in california. will she be there? probably not. >> we forget that she did resign as governor of alaska saying

there were too many critics. running for president is to -- is even harsher. will she quit on you? >> there is something else. if people do not have a lot of general knowledge that they have acquired brother lives, it is like there is a whole they can never fill in. she clearly has a problem with general knowledge, things that most people in politics know. especially international events. i think she is terribly vulnerable as a candidate. >> i am not sure we have seen her take the step to gain this knowledge, to take foreign trips, to be immersed in briefing material. she likes to be on tv every day. i do not know if she is studying up, perhaps, as someone with.

>> she has traveled a few places. i agree to an extent, but who was saying this about john edwards when he was considered a serious presidential candidate? we know from his wife, this is a guy whose wife supposedly joked about burning the book, who never read anything before. sarah palin -- i agree to an extent, but it is not fairly applied to other candidates as well. >> it was not as conspicuous with edwards. he covered a better. i think he did cover it. we did not know a lot about him and did not do a good job of finding out as a journalist, i don't think. >> i think that we are having this conversation reminds us all there is an empty bench for republican candidates at the moment. i do not know there is a clear path for anybody. i am much more concerned about the conversations with michael

bloomberg, the $3 billion he is prepared to spend. >> he has $3 billion. >> my goodness. >> i am not worried about bloomberg. they are watching him carefully. >> people who know him tell me that he is a little child like. "how am i doing?" and " what did you think of that?" which is all right, but it is not what you think of as presidential. but he has been a very effective mayor of new york. >> i know we say this every four years. this could be an opening for a real independent candidate. >> to do what? to explore the election? >> to explore the election possibly for a republican or a democrat. >> the game has changed. you can possibly for the first

time in history -- and i knew john anderson quite well way back -- for the first time you may be able to contemplate seriously a third party, if a candidate has enough of his or her own money and experience. >> ross perot got 19% in 1992. i do not remember the exact number. >> he has been in both parties. he could resume membership in one or the other with a big effect. people want something new. general motors. it strikes me that the government pulled it off. or a steve rattner pulled off. this would be the third, that i'm counting, intervention by the government that worked. >> investing in america was not

such a bad idea. >> lockheed, harley-davidson, protected by high tariffs, and now general motors. this extraordinary turnaround. >> we've gone through a remarkably difficult time since 2008. this recession unprecedented in some ways. i know we draw parallels to the great depression. but we have a completely globalized economy now. i would say the bold move taken to hold this country together was proven to be correct at the end of our republican administration and the courage barack obama showed at the beginning of his administration. in the media is going to find fault with itself when a good stock is done about how the reporting happened in this horse race of who is up, who is down, could it work, could not? >> old dogmas do not work anymore.

joe? >> i want to aim high and go completely off the reservation. you may have heard or not heard that american scientists have discovered the first planet that was created outside of our galaxy, which i think ino one p. it is worth reading if you have not seen it. it reminds us there are other worlds in washington you should be talking about. >> i am consumed by italy. the collection of antimatter in the accelerator in europe. >> the administration is going to take it on the chin hard for this controversy surrounding the new screen. it has not been explained or rolled out well. americans will not stand for. privacy has been destroyed by a lack of credibility in the tsa. >> the medal of honor ceremony

the president presided over -- usually these awards are presented posthumously. this fellow survive. told his story. it was a wonderful story. >> the low point was the president being kicked all over the world on his international exposition. the high point was the young congressman elected in florida two weeks ago, marco rubio. >> i am not sure what you just said means. >> he is exceptional. why this country is so attractive to the world. >> i have the immigrants view myself. i will tell you about it later. that is our program for today. we are so glad you came along. you can look at this program on our website, which is pbs.org -- whchronicle.com.

we will see you next week. meanwhile, have a lovely time. cheers. >> "white house chronicle" is produced in collaboration with whut howard university television. from washington, d.c., this has been "white house chronicle" -- a weekly analysis of the news with insight and a sense of humor, featuring llewellyn king, linda gasparello, and guests. this program may be seen on pbs stations and cable access channels.

to see the program online, visit us at whitehousechronicle.com. visit us at whitehousechronicle.com.