for more than one year now i have been -- senator obama, now president obama -- i want to know what presidentbama will do about slave descendants reparations. that debate was just in the house and senate. a couple of things were done as far as apologies. i can give you an example that the media has protected him from that issue. right now i will tell you that this guy is a can-kicker. the gay issues, he kicks the can down the road. those folks, the slave reparations issue, is kicking that can down the road. we need to hear from this president to go on a microphone and tell us if there will be reparations. what we will do about it, how will be done if we were to do. and enough is enough. all these people, these folks, you made promises to -- we knew about the promises down cell during the campaign about reparations and now you are hiding from that. enough is enough. -- you are hiding down south during the campaign talking about reparations and now you're hiding from them. host: here is a piece concerning this president and the previous two in office concerning their first period of time in off

obama. as a french president shows up the american, his instinct in a crisis is turning out to be prescient. hear from "the washington post" -- we understand the reluctance to sound a tougher nut. however the crisis ends in may require rethinking of the ministrations strategy for iran. last couple of calls from an independent. caller: we had some very contentious calls that had to go all the way to the supreme court. i cannot imagine a foreign power getting involved in by- elections. we have a history weiran and we have installed the brutal dictator, the shah on those people. but we did not stop there. we gave iraq biological and chemical weapons to drop on iran, and they did, they used them. so why iran want our input -- and we probably have the cia working behind the scenes now. wish to leave people alone and let the mark up their own government and of their own way of life -- we should leave people alone. host: belasco as from the republican line in virginia. caller: this reminds me of th

i was with obama the whole time. this is somewhere else. >> host: this is just 24 hours before the polls opened. one of the early morning even senator clinton was conducting. here is what happened. >> it's not easy and i couldn't do passionately believe it was the right thing to do. you know, i have so many opportunities from this country adjust don't see -- want to see us fall backwards. you know? [applause] this is very personal for me. it's not just political, it's not just public. i see what's happening and we have to reverse it and some people think elections are a game and it's like who is up or who is down. it's about our country and our kids futures and all of us together. some of us put ourselves out there and do this against some pretty difficult odds and we do need each one of us because we care about our country. but some of us are right and some of us are wrong. some of us are ready and some are not. some of us know what we will do on day one and some of us haven't thought that through enough. >> guest:

obama won more than he lost. but when he was losing, the coverage was bad, it was painful, it was negative. and that negative period lasted a very long time. host: his speech in philadelphia on march 18 as a result of the reverend jeremiah wright was what led to him giving that address. guest: he always wanted to do a race speech. this is something he thought about a lot. his campaign advisers never thought it was the right time. they never wanted him to touch it. but when wright came along with those sermons, which should not have been unexpected, really, when that came along that was his moment. and, by the reason it should not have been unexpected, the sermnls came up at the beginning of the campaign. and canned t candidate at the time told his staffer go research those sermons. tell me what you can, let's see if there's anything that's more controversial. that work was never done. it was a huge mistake. and they were very lucky it had only emerged when it did after he had won a bunch of primaries. so it domin

what about the profile of michelle obama? well, we get a quote from david axelrod a list of political campaigning through and a longtime family friend and that mrs. obama is quote, very very smart and sensitive. we're told that when she speaks at a rally, the audience roars with delight and that her primary role is imam in chief. mark helprin, time magazine who was absolutely a mainstream journalist, not some right wing anybody, he said at the profile of a michelle obama was a front-page endorsement of what a great person michelle obama is. here is why this is important -- just a few weeks earlier executive editor of the new york times bill keller was that the conference and media conference in new york city and he was asks about what did you do when it mccain protest to "the new york times" about your coverage? and the questionnaire was referring to the page one story in the new york times earlier in the campaign about mccain hinting, i want to be fair, alleging, hinting in suggesting is the best word, suggesting that john m

obama made a joke, west people voted for him. usually in humor -- i found this to my personal life as well as other places and also you said the press coverage was large about sarah palin. that was short lived before they started attacking her and i know brian williams even asked for her medical records and of yet i don't think mr. obama as medical records, educational records, birth certificate, etc., there's a lot of things missing we haven't seen and i guess my third point and my question is in the press conference, there was no question about the economy and the plane. it was supposed to be for publicity. what was it for? >> host: are you talking about air force one in new york? >> caller: i am. >> host: which goes to the issue of the biggest mistake this for. can you point to anything big or small that -- >> guest: in the presidency so far? >> host: either the candidacy or the presidency. >> guest: let's deal with the presidency so far. i think that tom daschle situation -- let's not say the pig, but the way that developed a

obama did not write a word.ut every time he would be asked a question, he would draw a straight line through a piece of paper. after the debate, one of bob's keepers assistance ran on stayeged and took the paper fora souvenir. it was just a white sheet of paper with just a few straight lines. that is an example of a man with great composure and calm. when you attack a politician, usually they call you and tell you what a complete loser you are. with the obama people, if i write something critical of the president, i will get a call the next morning and they will say david, we like you and appreciate your work. it's so sad that your a complete and total loser. so they are very nice about it, and it makes you feel so good. he also has a trait of self confidence. he is a very self confident guy. that has created some pluses and some minuses. he has surrounded himself with very, very smart people. there is a traffic jam of brains in this administration. half his staff comes from harvard and the other half comes from

i think it is very unfair that iit is obama, obama, obama. host: let's go on to the next caller. caller: i don't think there is a love affair with obama. he is basically what is news. the media is going to chase wherever the story is going to get them the most attention from the most people. most people are paying the most attention to obama. his most famous present we have had in 12 years. what was shocking to america and the world to see the presidential seat for so long taking a couple of elections -- all the terrible things that occurred as a result of the republicans running the entire country. as a result of so many bad decisions for so many years so many republicans left their own party. now when you put the republicans on it sounds like angry, bitter people who have not informed or educated themselves. byatt perhaps trying of the media there are those who could inform them more clearly about the extreme contrasts that the worlrest of the world is observing and thank god, most of the nation is observing as well. host: we will talk in a couple of minutes about regime change

of the media was clearly period obama and perhaps continues to be pro obama. do you think that has been part of the problem. terry, did you want to -- i wasn't referring to the weekly standard. [laughter] >> ebitda pos some of the writers of the standard. anyway, i would say this, when i published the media journal for for this some years ago i had someone look at this question and coming back to 1936, every presidential reelection since then and this was through '96, all the surveys that had been done of journalists in terms of voting preferences or presidential elections or political preferences where you stand on this issue or that had revealed the same bottom line which is to say that journalists, and these are journalists at the highest levels, they say the laws that cover national politics sometimes a would be surveys of the bureau chiefs in washington, etc., etc.. they would fall in the democratic liberal side by a wide margin sometimes even huge margins, sometimes narrow depending on back-and-forth. i don't think that changed. i think if you get data o

let me ask you about obama. you've met him, and you've talked to him and interviewed him. how do you compare him -- i know it's not been the same kind of close relationship, but how do you compare him with the way that bill clinton acted as president? [laughter] >> well, as you know we have a lot of mutual friends who have served for both of them. >> right. >> they have, they have great similarities and great differences. both men have very high intelligence. i guess i could argue without knowing that clinton probably has a more creative intelligence and is able to -- knew more coming into the office about policy, about people than obama did just based on his network of relationships at the top levels of american government for more than 20 years before he became president. they -- i think there's no question that obama is a more -- well, let me think of one other similarity first. and they both take great pride and i think are quite skilled at making their opponents both feel like they've been heard and also driving their opponents crazy at exactly the same time. [laughte

bush and barack obama but something that i see that is continuing is president obama's covert war in the eastern tribal areas of pakistan. and how that's affecting the war on terrorism right now because the front -- it really is moving from iraq to afghanistan but with -- i mean, with what the soviet union tried to do in the 1980s and really not being able to stop the mujahedeen and the supplies coming in from pakistan and alongside with unfriendly iran to the west with a porous border and them supplying the -- you know, the insurgents there too along with the drug problems within afghanistan. so what could president obama do besides continuing what president bush did. we can't allow afghanistan to fall again. >> yeah. no, i agree. i think you have to go back and look at the very significant differences between the way the soviets attempted to pacify, to defeat the sovereign satisfying government and the way we tried to liberate the country both in terms of method of operation and also the difference in objective. based on what i read in the news which is my source is this it looks l

host: we have read about the latest economic plan by president obama. it would give more power to the fed. is that a good idea? guest: it is a good idea to have a systemic supervisor. the real question is can the supervisor see what is going to happen? the banks bundled the sub-prime mortgages into bonds and not sell the mall. they put them into offshore entered -- offshore entities. there is nothing unusual about those things. i can show you textbooks on how to do it. there is nothing unorthodox about this. no one including henry paulson who was treasury secretary at the times of any particular problem with that. we were told that those accounts would not come back to haunt the balance sheet of the bank there was a struggle. but they did. we have a massive financial crisis because we failed to see the threat in banks and doing what is ordinary things that turn out to be extraordinary after the fact. asking them to be clairvoyant. it is simply not that. the notion of resolution according -- the fed is emphasizing this at citigroup. it's essentially owns

if i had any way that obama could get by with it, i would send obama -- we need to seek cheney and bush building a sand castle over there. they need to take care of business over there on their own since they got it started. guest: sounds good to me. i think obama is doing the best job he can, i will agree with you. he is trying to pass a lot of things, and keep a lot of people happy said that he can keep moving. i think it is a job of progressives to make our argument. this allows him to choose between the three. it progresses are sitting there and saying what ever you want. -- he has not heard from us. we have to have the space for hand to do progressive things. the way we do these things is to making -- is to make the progress of argument. i think we need to do that, and i think that actually helps him. host: how are you getting the message across to other progressives? guest: we had really son together as a network that could come together and support the republican party, but until the web came around liberals did not have that network that it really allow people to come together a

but listen to this line from obama's on speech last week. he said any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. in other words, if we want to succeed, we have to stop believing and acting as though america is in fact the best nation on earth. compromise is the new currency, including on issues that are critical to our national interest. president obama will stand above it all because he represents not just american interests but global interests. but here is the truth. effective diplomacy is not about triangulation. the president is not an international arbitrator. the purpose of diplomacy is not to be liked, and the purpose of foreign policy is not to get applause in foreign capitals. the purpose of having a commander in chief and of pursuing america's national security policy is to defend america's interests aggressively, effectively, and unapologetically. if the american president does not do this, then who will? one man who did do this was ronald reagan. i want you to listen to this contra

at 6:15, president obama and angela merkel. then at 7:00 a.m., "washington journal". >> this week, judge sonia sotomayor was in washington in advance of her confirmation hearings. >> i would like people to say this is the best hearing we have ever had. >> she is a very human person of great legal mind, and i think that is the right person to be on the supreme court. >> watch her with senate leadership and members of the judiciary committee on c-span's "america and the courts "today at 7:00 p.m. eastern. >> today campaign for america's future. this included john podesta and clust discussed ways to advance the progressive movement with the obama administration. this is an hour. >> good morning. my name is roger hickey. this is the take back america conference. in this last historic election we did take back america. we took it back from the edge of disaster. so the people in this room deserve a lot of credit. i'd like you all to give yourselves and president barack obama a big round of applause. [applause] >> for progress siffs t

indian relations in the age of obama, and president obama to my mind hasn't spoken very much about the relationship with india. he certainly hasn't used a very pipelined rhetoric that we have all been, become used to from president clinton and president bush. but in my mind, to my mind there is every evidence that president obama is perfectly in accord with everything that has happened up until now. and he accepts this relationship as it exists now as a given. and furthermore, given obama's stress on partnership and on coalitions and his interest, his stated interest in making progress on global problems, such as energy and climate change, ending the economic crisis, nonproliferation. it's perfectly reasonable, i think, to expect president obama to put less stress on achieving the special relationship because we are already there and more emphasis on using it to some and. and i think we got a pretty good clear picture from secretary clinton last week in her address to the u.s.-india business council because she said, and michael, my hope in president obama's hope is that the next aid i

[president obama's speaking in korean] >> thank you. >> the first lady michelle obama is delighted to host your wife. the south korea is one of our closest allies. a friendship forged through a history of self sacrifice and anchored in our shared democratic values. mr. president, i am pleased that the french between our countries has grown stronger under your leadership. -- the friendship between our countries has grown. north korea has abandoned its own commitments and violated international law. its nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose a great threat to peace and security of asia and to the world. in the face of these threats and provocations, the people of the republic of korea have shown a steadiness and resolve that has earned the respect of the united states and of the world. today president lee and i reiterated our shared commitment to the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. we have reaffirmed the endurance of our alliance and america's commitment to the defense of the republic of korea. we discussed the measures that we are taking with our partners in the region,

and that was not where he excelled or as obama is good and all of us. what is the story he told sanitarian that he has a good gift? gives meaning to give to persuasion he thinks he can talk his way in and out of anything i suppose. he could become as some point to be seen to be glib out there in the country and also can seem to be, come to be seen as to moralizing about some things. when he starts to call people, state certain things are shameful like the bonuses and so forth. maybe they are but we do -- do we want a president been in school all the time. it will be interesting how that plays over time and, of course, holzmann we have to see the a fax of these policies. if we're looking at a 2.10% inflation from a staggering economy that is not kind to be in very good recommendation for the democrats either in the midterm when next time around if there is a second term effort too. >> terry, you raise a question and i'm not sure you answered in your initial comments about whether or not bush and cheney overplayed their hand in some sense the detriment of

look, the economy went south well before president obama thought office. -- president obama took office is not clear when it will bounce back. a vast amount of money has been spent to try to get back on track. i do not know if you can accuse him of flip-floping because the economy is not back on track yet. any president would want the economy to recover. on taxes, look, he said that he would have a tax cut for 95% of working americans. he did that. you might disagree with how big it is, but he did it. host: he wins the caucus of my thursday, traveling to new hampshire on friday. it was the first time in modern history that there was such a short time between iowa and new hampshire. what happened? >> it was a ridiculously short amount of time. -- guest: it was a ridiculously short amount of time. in short, they got cocky. for instance, issues of choice, the clinton campaign had a very effective ground operation where they were saying that obama had had a 100% pro-choice voting record in the senate but he was weak on that. they thought they had this momentum, then they got suckered into t

like he has 100 obamas, a very self-confident person would have 80 obamas, less self-confident, 20 obamas. he's a very self-confident guy. and that's created some pluses and some minuses. some of the pluses is he's surrounded himself with very, very, very smart people. and a sort of traffic jam of brains in this administration. he's got half his faculty, half his staff comes from harvard. the other half comes from yale. and i often say if we're attacked by terrorists during the harvard yale game we're screwed because they will be up there in new haven. but he's got -- as a result a very smart staff. filled with people who really argue and will argue in front of them. he had this decision a few weeks ago where he had to decide whether to release these torture memos. he gathered people in the office of his chief of staff, rahm emanuel. and they literally had a debate. he listened to the debate for an hour and made the decision right there on the spot. that's an impressive level of substance. and this chief of staff, rahm emanuel, from chicago. he's sort of a competitive, aggressive guy. he'

to the fear barack obama? --do they fear barack obama? >> i think this is a case of about off protest too much. -- of thou dost protest too much. it is almost like is delegating the hard work out their. he did not do that because congress has some great power. he did it because he does that is the way to get passed quickly. the hill would pick it over for months and there was not being -- and there would not be a stimulus bill. everyone thinks of it as his bill, let those guys fill in the details. >> will he do that for health care? >> it to a degree, he will have to because he wants to get it passed, but it will be his bill in the end. he is someone who does not have to have every dotted i and crossed party -- crossed t. he wants something that will be his bill. >> adding he is a student of the presidency and as an offer from inside his administration what went wrong with health care back in the clinton administration. it is that it was all engineered by a secret task force at the white house. the only people allowed in that room from co

he set the stage for president obama's trip to the summit of the americas. he got the peace process back on track in the balkans. domestically obama credits his vice-president with winning the votes needed to pass the american recovery and reinvestment act. then, biden took on a thankless job of implementing it. he has gotten one $50 billion out the door quickly and with no waste. cabinet members tell me that his leadership is making this massive programmer. his task force on middle-class working families is making sure that average families are not forgotten when policy is made. so, what you think about vice- president joe biden's performance so far? you can send us tweets at cspanwj. cedar falls, go ahead. caller: yes, the constitution says the job is to be president when the president cannot be. so far, president obama has been able to be president every minute of his time. biden has been healthy, so he has done his job perfectly so far. i did have a comment about the previous thing. one of the comments that john lott kept saying is that there is competit

why not give obama a chance? god put obama in their, young white america. young, white america was touched by the blood. they put obama in there. they want change. host: the president outlined a plan for lower drug prices yesterday. the photograph that included a picture of senator max baucus and the head of a arpey and chris dodd who is taking -- and the head of the aarp. robert points out that the lobby for drug companies, the thomas senecal research at manufacturers association had pledged $80 billion -- the pharmaceutical research and manufacturers association pledged $60 billion. further into the story of drug company lobbyists say that the $80 billion reflected a total savings to the health care system and included unspecified future concessions. some of the money reflects savings to the government, summer flex savings to older americans, but all of the savings would go to beneficiaries. -- some of the savings reflects savings to older americans. we're going to be in your town next week. caller: good. host: what is the situation like? caller: i would

many women wrote to say that they are praying for the obama's, the safety, well-being of the obama'sayer is very important and they want to michelle to know we pray for you, we will continue to pray for youxd and your safety. although no one mentions the word of assassination in terms of president obama. lc @&cb@ expressed as well precut we talk about the ancestors. the historical rhodes that we have played to have the ancestors looking down on the obama's smiling because now they walk into the front door of the white house that was built by the slaves who could only come in through the back door. themes that resonate within the letters and poems are ones we can identify with, black women told about their stories, their own families and the family's history as a way to connect. both peggy and i have letters in this book and my letter is about my father and my father's struggle throughout his life to care for a large family, all the jobs he had, a talented men who only had a sixth grade formal education but he was a minister and worked very hard in a plant everyday got up at 4:00 a.m.

problem for ed obama. that is not the case politically speaking, it is a problem for the gop that they are stuck on the critical issues, losing to obama and having very little trust from the american public on these critical issues. it poses a major problem going into these future elections. host: myrtle beach, south carolina, go ahead. caller:mr. shakir, i would hope that you would find yourself embarrassed. people like you are the only ones we have to rely on. the media is totally in the tank with this president on every level. why didn't abc bring things up people like me who was getting ready to retire and have the common knowledge of the average american about so security and health care? i believe that congress is exempt from the health-care plan that they are trying to give us. they have about the help -- the best health care plan on a world. when i have freedom of choice come, and i sent unto their stacks -- up to theirs? how many people do you think will start getting medicare the next seven years

president obama did talk about this in his speech yesterday. there are a lot of christian minorities. throughout islamic history, the jews played a very important part in muslim culture and civilization that tends to be discarded. especially when we talk about israel and palestine. all we hear within that discourse is that muslims hate jews and judeo-christian heritage forces muslim heritage. the reality of it is much more complex than that. the reality is that is long, at various point in history, was a lot more accommodating to jews than christianity was, certainly in the 19th and the 20th century in europe, given the holocaust that actually took place there. host: our guest is the washington bureau chief for al jazeera arabic, abderrahim foukara. he also worked for wgbh in boston. thought want to share with you one of the many editorials. this one is from "the wall street journal. a one of the points is that hanging over all of this, the question of iran and how to deal with it. then this point that if mr. obama is serious about stopping to

why not give obama a chance. god put obama in there. young, white america -- young white america was touched by the of blood. they put a bomb in there. they want a change. host: the president outlined a new plan for lowering drug prices. a photograph from the diplomatic reception room. the picture of senator max baucus, also the head of aarp and senator christopher dodd who is taking over for senator ted kennedy in supervising as chairman of the house committee hearings continue this week. it points out the lobby for drug companies, pharmaceutical research manufacturing organization said it pledged $80 billion of 10 years to help reform are troubled health-care system. the commitment came in a deal with the white house and senator max baucus, democrat of montana and chairman of the finance committee. but further in the story, senate aides and drug company lobbyists say the $80 billion reflected total projected savings to the health care system and included unspecified future concessions, besides the drug discounts and the coverage gap.

obama has blown it. he had a mandate and retreated on every major issue that that matter to democrats. guest: it is to opaque for me, a lot of this stuff. i think it is unnecessarily complex. all of the stuff going on right now with health care, single payer taken off of the table, talking about coming up with coke-ops --co-op's, forcing people to buy insurance. it is very complicated. under clinton, the system got more and more complex and most people could not figure out what was going on. i think there is a huge disappointment that is starting to well up among the people who were the core of barack obama us constituency. he remains immensely personally popular. we are kind of waiting for something to happen, and it is not there. some of us have been waiting for things for a generation. the fact that they are not even getting a hearing is disappointing. host: north carolina on the republican line. good morning. caller: i watch c-span regularly. i worked in health care for 35 years. i have two medical l

has he talked to the obama administration? guest: the obama administration is most comfortable with those of a great with him. host: detroit on the independent line. guest: i have been invited several times over the last six months to testify on the hill and have had an opportunity to relate my views. caller: i watch a lot of these shows and i am glad i got on with you. i live in michigan and have a small business. all of a sudden, i got a form from my bank that said they are cutting my credit card for my business. a $20,000 limit. i have never missed payments. we have not used it in a couple of months. we are doing well, and all of a sudden, they are cutting it out of nowhere. the reason was that we have not used it in a few months. thank you for your business but we will have to close your account. no other reason. we had no problems at all. i ask my friend who was a cpa and he said it is happening across the board. i am a clinical psychologist, so i see this in a hold from buy. nothing really can get done weather republican

a thing barack obama has the right approach.ust take it easy, to get soft. -- what will that gain us? just putting them on made up lists those not achieve anything. host: back to a piece about this issue, putting korea back on the terrorism list. the u.s. waste steps for intercepting shipments. mr. obama has decided who will not offer north korean new incentives to dismantle the nuclear complex that the north had previously promised to abandon. good morning to roger on our independent line from dallas. caller: this is a failure of foreign policy by obama. when president bush was in office the democrats blamed all of our troubles with north korea on him. president obama suggested that he would be able to get along with troublesome countries better than bush did, but he has not. the north koreans are being very disrespectful to the united states. they are testing nuclear weapons, firing missiles. now the have kidnapped reporters. they are really challenging obama and making him look weak. host: on the nuclear issue here is a story

obama is absolutely right. host: 4 canadian facing emergency surgery, the right on the learjet is cheaper than the actual operation in the u.s. hospital. canada's health care system will pay for urgent medical care outside the country, but a canadian rate of about $360 per day for a hospital stay. before stepping across the border the first thing that a canadian thinks about a supplemental health insurance said a spokesman for the canadian snowbird association which represents about 80,000 migratory citizens. no wonder president obama's plan to expand american healthcare coverage of the uninsured has become such a hot topic north of the border. if he succeeds, the u.s. could draw even more canadian doctors and nurses to the u.s., exacerbating the shortage of medical professionals said the canadian health care critic and former head of the canadian medical association. if obama fails, perhaps canada could open a system to medical tourism from the u.s. about 500,000 americans annually travel to other countries fo

obama as we are above that now. we are not just provoke deal, we are not just chauvinistic or provincial. we stand for something. i mean, in a way obama is standing above the country and above the world. he is sort of god. we will come back to the god part in a minute. i know it's stunning and difficult to set aside but let's look for a minute the rest of what evan thomas said. he said president obama standing above the country, the world, he's telling the stuff president reagan did to protect the country no matter where he went is according to evan thomas, provincial, perlo keel and chauvinistic. we are better and more sophisticated than that, he seems to think. if this was just "newsweek" making this point we could ignore it. but now listen to this line from president obama's speech last week. he said, quote, in the world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. in other words, if we want to succeed, we have to stop believing in acting as though america is in fact the be

guest: it is in serious conditions but the statements of the obama administration. it will take a long time to clean up the mess he inherited. not all the issues that got us into this mess have been adequately addressed. i expected the american economy to grow at a sub standard level for the next few years. we will pull out, but we will not be growing at our potential. we will be growing at 2.5% as opposed to 3.5%. that is significant. the labor force grows at a percentage point a year. productivity rose at 2% each year. if we do not grow at 3% a year, unemployment goes up. we are facing a long time of high unemployment in the united states. we have not corrected the fundamental structural problems because in this mess. the banking system is not being adequately addressed. the obama bank regulation program says either we continue as we did or take this package that the treasury's separate -- treasury secretary has come up with. he is destroying one agency in creating two new ones. it is problematic in that regard. he is not addressing the compensation issue on wall

"the washington times," "obama gives the bush speech." here is part of a the president said yesterday with regard to those territories and recognizing israel's right to exist alongside the palestinian people. >> now is the time for palestinians to focus on what they can build. the palestinian authority must develop its capacity to govern with institutions that serve the needs of its people. hamas does have support among some palestinians, but they also have to recognize they have responsibilities to play a role in fulfilling palestinian aspirations, to unify the palestinian people. hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize israel's right to exist. at the same time, israelis must acknowledge that as it is real's right to exist cannot be denied, so must palestine's. [applause] this construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. it is time for these settlements to stoppe. host: part of the president's 55-minute speech yesterday in cairo. the tour is on the democrats' line from

and they had a great influence in bringing in obama, as well.er mind that it was as clear as the noesz on your face who obama was attached to, nothing seemedo matter. it was amazing to me how the media and the young generation were taken in by obama's false haloistic presence. and all his attachments to all the wrong people, ayres, wright, olin ski didn't matter one iota. obama as a candidate portrayed himself as a moderate but turned out to be wildly radical. the way he played his deception is interesting. but his campaign was meticulously thought through, well organized and their techniques of outreach to gather support and funds through the internet written knowvative and their hollywood savvy and the use of media was masterful. all their strategies should be carefully looked at to see if we might mimic them in a positive legal way. my most pressing concern at this hour is the safety of israel. i think obama has no idea that israel was built on the blood and sweat of the jewish people. every blade of grass, every tree has been a successful ef

i think that obama is a pragmatist. he needs to do like george bush, obama will deal with them the way that they are. it is funny how the state of israel quickly jumped up and made a statement that they were basically glad that the election had turned out this way because they want an enemy, because they want to do what they want to do, which is bomb them. they were quick to bump -- jump on the situation. iran threw a monkey wrench in the plans, they should have had a fair election. host: this is from "the washington times." the world reacts cautiously to the ahmadinejad election. "it world weary of iran's nuclear program reacted cautiously saturday to hard-line leader mahmoud ahmadinejad's hotly disputed re-election. some expressed hope that the islamic republic's president will soften his defiance and warm cheap recent u.s. overtures. for the volatile middle east and the west alike, the stakes are high. allies fear that iran is trying to build an atomic weapon." barbara, texas, republican line. you are on "washington

obama's plan would actually work in the u.s.ecause right now as it stands it would be cheaper for me to take each member of my family to the doctor once per month than what it costs me to pay for the health plan where we do not even go to the doctor that much. so, i definitely support the public health plan. i do hope they come up with something networks. and i definitely support president obama on this issue. -- and i hope the come up with something that works. host: next, a call from baltimore. caller: i support the public health care option for the simple fact that it is another option. if we let things go on the way they have, it will only get worse. these insurance companies need some competition, a little more competition. i have a better idea. if we start giving money back to the farmers and get away from a lot of this genetically-modified food that has made people sick that might be another option as well. people need to get off their behind and go out and exercise and take better care of their health. everyone needs to

obama has not even allowed that to be discussed. -- it is a shame. i understand from the meeting last week it was supposed to be discussed. back in 2003 obama said he was a proponent of single-payer and it was the only way to go, but that we had a long road to get there. he said first we needed to take back the white house and in congress. guess what? we have all those things, yet we're not even talking about it is too big to do with and people will not stand up to the establishment. the status quo will stay the same until you get a new third party. i encourage people to call in and talk about the single-payer system and it to do some research to get through all the propaganda out there. host: ohio is next. caller: i believe we should have a single-payer universal health care program for health care and medicare. i think all the propaganda that we are hearing from various people, the newt gingrich comment about decisions about whether not the government or for-profit companies are going to decide who gets what care and such -- i think that is nonsens

president obama who started as a community organizer in chicago clearly understands this.that every president, every successful president needs the outside citizen movements in order to make big changes. let's just listen the two what he told us that take back america on his most recent visit >> and all of you, activists from all across the country, we will take our country back. take back to america, this is our time, our time to make our mark on history, our time to write new chapters in american story because there are a few obstacles that withstand the millions of voices, not from the top down but the bottom of. that is how we brought an end to discourage of slavery and brought an end to jim crow, that is how women got the right to vote, how we brought an end to the viet nam war, how we will bring an end to the iraq war and exactly how you and i will change this country. [applause] >> he gets it, he understands and during a speech to amazingly successful first 100 days he stayed true to that vision and working together led by people like heather both who is. the audien

the obama administration is avoiding debt. it is a very pragmatic, not a very emotionally-satisfying response at times. you want to stand up and shout, and the republicans demand that. this administration sits back and says it might be easier to do that in the short term, but in the long term we need to be pragmatic. this government is very important and we have to deal with it. host: john on the independent line is joining us from rockport, new york. caller: hello. my comment is this, there seems to be a trend ofiran developing nuclear weapons, on the other hand, israel has 200-300 of their own nuclear devices. secondly, there seems to be a great deal of credibility put into the tweets and twitter which was rolled out only two months before all this happen. also myspace -- myspace is owned by rupert murdoch who also owns fox news -- i'm sorry, but i cannot put much credibility in anything i see on myspace, the same for twitter. there is no credibility in twitter. 97% of the input from twitter is coming in the former re-tweets

obama or the obama administration, the president as a passive free trader and his point was that thepresident was willing to intervene against the most egregious potential or actual island he upgrade protection or progression and trade, but not really to date at that time, and i think this is true today, willing to take leadership. yet on specific issues or either large questions, doha, or other questions about the existing trade agenda. i should have said at a footnote before i started, and that is it seems as if the obama administration, with all that's going on the economic crisis, with iran, he had been in office for years, but i must remind myself in you that it's only been five months to go anything i say about trade policy or other policies have to be tentative. they are just getting in place. so let me say that before going on. but for my short term, short time i have here, there are two things i want to point out about what we know so far. one, it seems to me, and this is not just in trade but in other areas, but it's particularly dangerous and a concern, and trade in the pr

president obama said he will try to finish the job. i hope some of these two are critical of president obama and his position will not make a political issue out of guantanamo if president george w. bush and obama agree it should be closed it's pretty clear to me at the highest level of government there is a bipartisan consensus. our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are criticizing president obama when it comes to guantanamo but the fact is they have no plan but to leave the facility open and continue to see it being used around the world against the united states as a recruiting tool for terrorists. i urge my republican colleagues to join with general colin powell and joined those on their side of the aisle who understand the closing guantanamo will make america safer. madam president, i yield the floor. >> the senator from delaware. >> i ask unanimous consent to proceed as if mourning business and time to count against cloture. >> without objection. >> madame president, today i'm introducing along with senator brown the educ

a lot of the same process goes on in obama's mind. he can caress people into going along in doing what is right. i don't think that will happen. i think he ever met -- underestimated the forces lined up against him. host: we have a piece called obama's slip is showing. he is personally more popular than his policies. that's a question is unsustainable. something has to give. the first law of politics as you must eventually get an instant. guest: i would largely agree with that. a lot of his policies are too complex. he has not grabbed the narrative. what he needs to do was to grab that narrative and say what happened and what was going to happen. back in the new deal before fdr came in office, democrats got control of office called up these people from wall street, and wall street said, what brought on the stock market and the depression? then he knew for the progressive ideas for this is not been done. they are trying to play down the trauma. 100 days was vital. he needed to grab the time. , established the name -- narrative and go w

, then-candidate obama said, i thought that was pretty tough. warren said, let's go through some tough questions, tough ones, now the most and then-candidate obama said that was pretty tough. pastor warren said, that was a freebie. that's a gim me. let's deal with abortion. 40 million abortions since roe v. wade. as a pastor i've had to deal with this all the time. all the pain and all the conflicts and i know this is a very complex issue. 40 million abortions, at what point does a baby get human rights in your view? then candidate obama said, well, you know, i think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade. pastor warren, have you -- then-candidate obama, but let me speak more generally about the issue of abortion. shs something obviously this country wrestles with. one thing i'm absolutely convinced is there's a moral and ethical element to this issue. . i think anyone who tries to not grasp the graphity of the abortion issue is no

host: president obama meets today with the president of columbia. it's as the uribe faces a more wary u.s. the white house ceremony in january -- at this ceremony, president george w. bush awarded the colombian president the presidential medal of freedom and praised him for his immense personal courage for taking on his country's fight against marxist guerrillas. this time uribe will encounter an administration pushing to expand its alliances in latin america and an increasingly worried about colombia's abysmal record for human rights. one more call regarding detainee policy, this one from michigan. caller: good morning, i have been listening to these people calling in saying that these detainees are some some kind of super-humans cannot be kept safely in an american prison, if in fact they're guilty of anything. the person who called and claimed we did not try the nazis until 20 years later for war crimes does not have the right. nuremberg happen very shortly after the war. and for the very

now that obama is in office, all they can do is criticize him. help get this stuff straightened out. host: what do you do in flint? caller: i work for a water pollution plant. people are struggling. people in the car industry. everybody i know is unemployed. eight years ago, people were working and still building cars and doing well. now people are struggling. it is due to the poor management of the last president. host: we will be back shortly. we will be looking at the status of health care reform next. we will be right back. them every weekend booktv has the latest nonfiction books and authors on the cspan2. saturday on afterwards, writers and artists from the garden of eden to today. the history of the world through a collection of 600 short stories. afterwards also airs sunday night at 9 eastern. books on the economy, a former investment banker exposes the mess of the recession and what it will take to recover. and why capitalism is the way to ease poverty.