c-span: in what year did you get your ph.d.? >> guest: 1960. c-span: what then? >> guest: i went to the university of new orleans and began teaching and writing. c-span: why did you pick unl? >> guest: because in my junior year in college at christmas vacation time i hitchhiked down to new orleans with my roommate dick lamm, who later went on to great fame as governor of colorado, and when we left madison it was 40 degrees below zero. i'm not talking wind chill; i'm talking the real thing. we got down to new orleans, and it was just gorgeous. i thought, gee, they let people live here? and, plus, new orleans is new orleans, and i'm a small-town boy from the midwest. you walk down bourbon street, and it makes an impression on you. so from the beginning i wanted to get a job in new orleans. i had fallen in love with the city, and i'm still in love with it, hopelessly, lo these many years later. c-span: how big is the school, by the way? >> guest: twenty-five thousand. c-span: is it a state school? >> guest: yes. it's part of the lsu system. c-span: i counted in the front of your book 1

thank you to c-span. without it i don't know if we would be so informed. secondly, to governor tim pawlenty, i am an african- americans in the mother. i have two boys. my young guest son just graduated from a minnesota college. they are thriving there. minnesota should be the model of how a state should be run. but i am not a republican. i have to say though that it is a class act the way that you run the state and the city. could you explain to us as a 5- rolled what you do concerning the immigration status in los angeles. i know what you do for the country, but we're struggling now. i am afraid that politicians from both parties in california are afraid to say what should really be done. guest: i cannot speak to the los angeles situation relative to anything unique fare. i know immigration is a huge issue there. -- to anything unique there. i can speak to my situation in minnesota. several cities have adopted sanctuary notices. they prohibit law enforcement and others from even asking about someone's immigration status in the course of their duties. from

c-span: jihad training camp? >> guest: not -- not the best place in the world to be outed as a jew. c-span: who outed you? >> guest: omar bakhri, bin laden's man in great britain, as he used to call himself until september the 11th. c-span: you mean, he did actually pin that on himself before the september 11th... >> guest: and then on september the 12th, he phoned me up and said, "why is everybody calling me bin laden's man in great britain?" i said, "omar." anyway, i've spent a year with omar, and it culminated in him inviting me to his jihad training camp. this was in about 1997, i think. and it turned out to be in a place called crowley, which is a very incongruous location for a jihad training camp. it's kind of near gatwick airport. so we were driven there... c-span: near london. >> guest: yeah, near london. we were driven there, and it was -- it turned out to be a scout hut in a forestry center, with maybe 40 or 50 young jihad trainees beating punch bags, and so on. still -- i mean, no guns, but still not -- not the most comfortable place to be. and omar suddenly hushed the crowd and said, "look at

who was never one to overstate things, sent a telegram of congratulations on the graduation, and said, "i'm sorry i couldn't have been with you, but i had some other things to do." c-span: there is a story that you have in a footnote, "if we should meet an officer who ranks above me but below you" -- do you want to tell it? >> guest: john was just out of west point. he was very rank-conscious, and they were walking down the streets of london. john said, "dad, if we meet an officer who ranks below you but above me, what do we do? who salutes first?" ike scoffed and said, "john, there is not an officer in this theater who doesn't rank below me and above you." c-span: why did he decide to fly his son, who was a brand-new second lieutenant, all the way over to europe just to spend three weeks over there? >> guest: he didn't. general marshall did. john showed up as a surprise to his dad. marshall arranged that john should have his furlough after his graduation in europe with his dad. it was typical of marshall to have that kind of thoughtfulness. c-span: "the atlantic wall" -- these are your words -- "must therefore be regarded as one of the greatest blunders in military hi

if you follow us on twitter go to c-span wj if you want to send us a dweet that way. epublican line first. go ahead. caller: i'm calling in. first-time caller to c-span. thank you for your coverage. i want to thank congress and mr. obama for doing this, and the fda. it's about time. it's probably 30 years too late but thank god they've done it. host: buffalo, new york on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i don't know if you've ever been a smoker. i have. many other listeners this morning who have been smokers in the past have found it a living hell to attempt to give up cigarettes after they've been smoking them. the reason for that, as you know, is the addictive drug which many scientists say is ever bit as strong as heroin. my question is this. i assume congress will pass this and mr. obama will soon sign this giving this the fda authority to regulate the context. my question is this, this is the real $64 question americans should pay attention to. will obama direct the fda to regular the amount of nick owe teen in cigarettes. if that nicotine was reduced, ame

i would suggest you turn to c- span. i think rupert murdoch should know. host: thank you for calling. this is a picture of william jefferson. they are entering district court on tuesday. the federal bribery trial opens. they say he used his office to carry out bribery schemes. one of the most powerful officials, a member of the u.s. house was using his public office for private gain. the assistant u.s. attorney told jurors that mr. jefferson is facing 16 criminal cases of racketeering, bribery, and obstruction of justice for receiving bribes. he has pleaded not guilty. you can see the write up in "the wall street journal." caller: i always like your disposition. the callers are not paying attention. it will be private health care paid for with public money. i happen to be a marine corps veteran. we have socialized medicine in the marine corps. it seems to work well. it's still private health care. i'm calling about iran. you can watch democrac ynow.org. you may want to look in your own american history. there was a guy who thought health care was important.

to get going. thank you, c-span. host: in other news this morning, a californian republican has picked to be the ranking republican on armed services committee. he will give up his present position. some conservatives are wary of giving a ranking member slot topetri or castle who are considered a centrist. that is in the newspaper from this morning. plano, texas on that our democrats' line. caller: thank you. i would give him probably a b-. i know he does not have direct control over the fdic but with regard to issue a bear and a buyback of any mac -- there's a huge risk. you have to give credit for that. but as far as credit card fees, as far as not getting more pressure on him to use the money [unintelligible] he needs to be more forceful. working with german-born frank in senator baucus, because that is the whole reason we got into this mess in the first place -- working with chairman of barney frank and senator baucus. he is not letting the banks run roughshod interest rates fees. every caller says that their inte

to david. thank you for c-span. today, i listened to the entire speech. i listened to the whole speech from the beginning to the end. the reason i want to call today is i feel very close to the palestinian issue. i was born a year after 1948. we were moved from a major palestinian cities. they were moved in a sense -- removed in a systematic way. most of us ended up in refugee camps. some of my family came back with the help of the red cross. i was born in 1950. the city overnight turned into a jewish city. yesterday, the president -- which i'm very proud of -- he alluded to the issue of the palestinians by saying that we have a just cause. he said that we were misplaced. i would like you to talk about it. guest: he used the word displacement. i think there is no question that as the historians go over the 1948 war, this has probably been one of the most hotly contested issues, the refugee crisis and its origins. historians tend to say that the caller is right partly. some of the arabs at the time were displaced. a lot of that displacement -- i do not kno

and thank you for c-span. i just wanted to offer some words of encouragement for you to keep up the fight. i think it's absolutely abhorrent that we have allowed ourselves to basically create a second class of citizens in our gay and lesbian community. and i think california is one of the worst offenders. i happen to live in a count that passed prop 8 overwhelmingly and i just don't understand. as far as the marriage issue goes, my thoughts are this. why not make all marriage just a civil union between two people? heterosexual and homo sexual? and then if you want to sanction fi it with some kind of church ceremony afterwards, fine. take the church out of the institution of marriage to start with and let it be jst between two human beings. host: lin, we're going to leave it there. guest: first of all, as to california, the positive sign the trend is with us. the earlier proposition on marriage passed by 60-some% of the vote. and now it was 52%. so the trend is in our direction. and fairly soon the numbers will favor us. and th

to washington journal. caller: thank you for c-span. i have two questions for mr. allen. f you are accused of a crime and you are threatened to pull out your fingernails and toe nails, would you speak up? the other question is when i go to gas up, he can get my pin number and whatever he wants. guest: thank you. my father is a dentist. i don't think he's taken anyone's credit card information while they are in the chair. again, if i understood your question correctly. you were alluding to the fact that when you for tur anyone, you are twoing to get them to say or interpret anything you want them to say. democrats are saying that essentially. there's another issue here in the 9/11s in a story this morning that president obama is looking into administration that would allow for prosecutors toñr take guilty pleas rather than have

to all people. this max senator sanders, thank you for coming back to c-span. >> guest: three nice to be with you. now in discussion on this health care and ever is to compare the effectiveness of various treatments and medical procedures. the speakers include senate finance committee chairman max baucus and white house budget director peter orszag. from the brookings institution this is about an hour. >> [inaudible conversations] >> good morning everyone, i would like to welcome new to this brookings institute this morning, im mark mcclellan, director of the engelberg center for health care reform at brookings and on behalf of bob and the hamilton project we would like to welcome you to today's events on one of the key issues of health care reform. implementing comparative effectiveness research here and we're delighted to have such distinguished participants to discuss this issue and that, of course, includes all of you here, in the overflow room and i know we have a lot of participants, as well. comparative effectiveness research has vaulted to the front lines of the health care reform debate a

to maggie on the phone. caller: thank you for c-span to the reason i am falling mr. frost is basically i've been trying to call this morning regarding governor sanford in his relation, the situation he is in and how he is being disgraced, and how nixon was disgraced. i am very concerned for governor sanford. it seems that he has lost everything, and he obviously loves that woman. i wish the papers and the people would leave him alone for a little while. guest: interesting, yes. there is a perpetual debate, and we come on it from time to time about what is the public's business and what is not. for instance, the doings of governance and so on, those obviously valid. but then, i mean, obviously with the stories of children about 15 or something, they are not running for office. a politician has not cashed in on them. there is no reason why that intrusion should take place, i think. i think it is a question of where you draw the line. there is a case of an mp in england, he had not cashed in on his marriage when it was already over. he had never done that. you look back

you want to help? your little friends helped. do you want to tell us if something bad happened? what, said the children. well, you know something bad happened. and the child doesn't know. c-span: are they doing this, by the way, alone, just the two of them? >> guest: just the two of them. c-span: so is there... >> guest: and... c-span: ... a transcript being created? >> guest: that's right. you see, they're so certain of their virtue and the rectitude of their cause that they let the tape recorders take this down. and they learned better later. they stopped recording these interviews. and they would hold up a spoon, say, show us where kelly molested you, did something bad to you? the child has no idea what's going on, but the child takes the spoon and hits the doll here. where else? child hits the shoulder. where else? because it's very clear to the child by now that her answers are insufficient. she's not giving the questioner what they want. there are "where elses" and "where elses" and "where elses" until the child comes to the sex organ, hits the sex organ with the spoon. all the questions stop. now more "where elses." the questioner has got what she wanted and what he wa

c- span's "q&a." listen to c-span radio or satellite radio. you can also download the c-span podcast. >> the special envoy on climate change said that the talks with china did not achieve any breakthroughs. he did say the two countries would continue to discuss the issues leading up to a climate change summit in copenhagen, denmark later this year. his remarks will be followed by the daily briefing with spokesman philip crowley. he talks about efforts to resettle a group of chinese muslims known as the uyghers. >> he served in the white house from 1983 to 1999 where he worked on these kinds of issues, issues of climate change. also from 1999 to 2001, he advised the secretary of treasury. the policy and politics of broader range -- of a broader range of economic issues. he was a senior fellow at a center -- at the center for american progress. again, i want to welcome mr. stern. he will make some introductory marks and take questions. >> thanks very much. welcome, everybody. i thought i would give you a little background on the trip to china. i thi

caller: i am glad to see that you are with c-span. i saw you on cnn monday. i thought you went over to cnn. host: we were promoting in our interview with the president. he talked about health care issues in the interview we did with him two weeks ago. caller: i am glad to see that you are still there. this is a wonderful subject. i am so thankful to god that i got through this morning. i am so excited. i do not even know what to say or how to say it. i am a diabetic. i am a long-time diabetic. i have been diabetic for over 30 years. it was so hard for me to get my shivers down. i tried for 30 years. -- it was so hard for me to get my sugars done. i tried for 30 years. i met a man from italy who has been here about 30 years. we're going to have to get more aggressivprogressive. i have already emails barack obama about this same subject. i got my sugars down. my a1c was 15 at one time. everybody in america wanted to be at least six or seven. i almost died. with insulin and the chemical medications combined, i started taking some herbal products. we have to get w

to get hold of those nuclear weapons in iran. host: ted, democratic line. good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. think that this is going to be a case of natural evolution. we do not know yet halthat the ayatollahs will not seize control in a hardline wave. if not this week, next week, maybe even next year, but people change in iran like i feel that would have changed in iraq. this is almost a statement of how mistaken our former president and defense secretary were when they undertook the war in iraq. ultimately, iran will go in a way that will be more humane. i hope that it not -- it does not take 20 years. host: this front page of "the new york times" photograph is from tehran. we have been monitoring video on youtube, some of it over the weekend. we are not absolutely certain of the dates. we will show you some of the pictures as we listen to john from maryland. caller: that democrat that just spoke, his analysis of the situation is totally wrong. i think that the iranians, if they are able to overthrow the regime, a huge amount of credit should be given to george bush. he would have complete

you. it's a real pleasure to talk to you, senator coburn. i called c-span, trying to get in three, four times a year, talking about the tax code and how it asktsz our country. and will rogers in the 1930's made a speech that said our tax code in the states will turn our nation into a nation of liar and cheats. and a nation of liars and cheats ultimately we can't stand. a couple of months ago i called in and got senator conrad. mentioned this to him. he was talking. i didn't get the chance to finish about w him, but he said, well, i'm supporting the fair tax which you're familiar with. and i said to him, you know -- and now he's talking about a vat tax and all of this stuff. actually, everything, health care, all of this stuff, will never, ever get taken care of until we change the tax code. now the reason i mention that is this. they talk about lobbyists. and a lot of americans don't understand that a lobbyist gets paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on k street. the corporation that pay them, then write that off against their tax liability which ends up

can't wait to see that. >> don't worry, c-span heard you. you're covered. see you, patrick. >> it's true that it's going to be -- this thing other i'm surprised the torture this bigger than the war. >> but it's not though advantage of the obama administration to have this debate. it sucks all the air out of the white house. they need to move forward. it's great tv. >> i don't want our enemies to see nothing happen. >> on book matters, did you see that in the book i adopted your washington read discussion right up front? no index in the book so a chris matthews can't -- how. >> how do you go to a library doubt were. >> you can't take a look on what page -- i gave you credit. >> they mentioned me and they take a shot at me i get bat. if they don't mention me i get angrier. i don't know which makes me angrier. >> i'm going do introduce you do my wife. come here. >> i'm not embarrassed bat it. come here. >> meet my very good friend. kitty kelley. >> how are you? i'm mike smerconish. how are you? >> yeah. [laughter] marvelous. >> thank you, cheers. >> wait, chris

you can watch it on c-span 3 and also online at c-span.org and we plan to show it to you here ahead of the house coming back in if we are able. we'll show all of the president's comments upcoming in our schedule on c-span, here on c-span and of course on the c-span networks and again you can watch it online as well at c-span.org. but the u.s. house waiting for them to come back in to resume debate on the 2010 spending bill for the departments of commerce and justice asle as science programs. we spoke earlier to a capitol hill reporter about that bill. republicans arguing about over this commerce, justice and science spending bill? >> well, the not really about the substance of the bill but rather how the process is going to unfold for appropriations bills and how many amendments are going to be allowed and when they can be offered. >> the majority leader yesterday was quoted as saying he wants to proceed in a fashion that is reasonable, that provides opportunities for amendments. republicans don't see eye-to-eye with that? >> well, this started because the democrats had a requirement t

. >> a couple of live showings to tell you about on c-span 3. a subcommittee will hold a hearing on the oversight of the insurance industry, and the members will look at ways to keep insurance companies from pursuing policies that will threaten the financial system. and then the nominations for the federal communications commission. >> president obama met with the italian prime minister late on monday afternoon. the remarks to reporters are 40 minutes. >> i want to welcome the prime minister, he has been a great friend of the united states and we have gotten to know each other, we are now in the process of the summit that italy will be hosting. we're emphasizing the connections between the united states and italy and i am grateful to be his friend. >> [speaking italian] >> a couple of things that we specifically discussed, first, i thank the prime minister for his support of the policy of closing guantanamo. italy has agreed to accept three detainee's, and he has been part of the leadership in europe, that announced a frame work with the european

to free settlements. host: david, on our line for republicans reporting from white lake new york. good morning. caller: good morning, and thank you for c-span. i would like to discuss with you american-jewish voting behavior and how it harms israel. the american-jewish community spurred on by such rags as you work for and that other broad sheet published in new york is top-heavy democrat. yet the democrat party has harmed israel, always. every time a democrat administration is in office, israel is harmed. host: give me a specific example of how democrats are harming israel? caller: president obama's speech in israel misstates history. he compares the palestinian problem. it was caused by arabs in 1948 when they attacked israel. they could have had a palestinian state. they attacked israel. the arab armies and palestinian irregulars. host: mr. guttman, your response? guest: the elections, president obama got a large percentage of the jewish vote, which is higher than any other faith group. however, when you look at polls, when you ask jewish voters when they base their decision on, they find it to be number six or number seven. jewish americ

c-span.org. you can also watch a house hearing on regulating executive pay a publicly traded companies. that is coming up at 12:30 eastern time on c-span to repair it right now on c-span 2, you can see a live discussion on u.s.-india relations from the american enterprise institution. later on today, admiral timothy teaching speaking at the atlantic council. this will include north korea's most recent missile testing. live coverage of that will be at 5:30 eastern, here on c-span. now all look at some of this morning's washington journal. >> faiz shakir is the editor of a local newspaper. we're talking about congress wrapping up and the influence of media on politics. there's a front-page story in the on the roll call pokey about the gop and their plans of the fourth of july recess. how effective are parties at getting their message through to the public, particularly through july 4 recess? guest: it requires gas -- grassroots work. people need to amplify your message. if your focus on a d.c. message, advertising in "roll- call" or "the washington post," many of these groups are hoping their messages are bombarding both the lawmakers and t

he wanted to make sure we had a place for that in modern society. >> sunday "q&a" on the wilderness warrior, roosevelt. sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. you can listen to it on radio or on the computer. our web site is c-span.org. >> how is c-span funded? >> publicly funded. >> donations. >> government? >> c-span gets funding through the taxes. >> federal funding. >> i do not know. >> how is c-span funded? 30 years ago america's cable companies created c-span as a public service, a private business initiative, no government mandate or money. >> this weeks, and addresses also focused on the energy bill. president obama followed by john gainor. >> we have seen our reliance on fossil fuels jeopardize our national security. it pollutes the air we breathe and dangers our planet. we have seen countries realize the critical truth. the nation that leaves in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation's leader of the 21st century global economy. now america must realize this as well. we must lead at this time. the energy bill passed at the house will spark a clean energy transformation in our economy. it will spur the development of

to find out more about the organization, you can go to their website glaa.org. as we show you, we will take another call. carl on our line for republicans. go ahead. caller: good morning. thanks for c-span. i just wanted to say, rick, i commend you guys for standing up what you believe in. i just have an issue with your comparison when it comes to gay rights and civil rights. i think there's a big difference. one, you make a choice. the other one, you know, there was a situation where you were placed in slavery because of the color of your skin. if you were gay and you were white, you were not a slave. so i think when you use the comparisons of civil rights and gay rights, i think there is a big difference there, because like i said, i commend you guys for standing up, but i think your comparisons shouldn't be put where there is a situation, where there is a color and comparative choice. i hear that often, and i think that folks should have the right to live their life that they want to live as long as they're not hurting anybody else. but i think we should make honest and true comparisons when it comes to situations like gay rights and civil rights. caller: well, i appreciate that unde

to our next call. jason, silver spring, maryland. caller: good morning, c-span. thanks for everything you are doing. i just wanted to mention that it is really not one federal reserve chairman. the whole history of the federal reserve is not a bright one. it is pretty murky. it has been around less than 100 years, and it was brought about to avoid the things that we are going through right now, this economic major downturn crisis. i just wanted to, you know, -- i do not believe the fed represents the people of's interest. it is a conglomeration of banks, and i am really happy to see that congress is finally starting to do something positive by looking into the federal reserve. i mean, that is the first thing i have seen in a long time, that they are representing the people's interest. we have a big problem in this country with the welfare and warfare state. we are spending way too much money on things we do not need, and i guess i would just like to ask the audience to look into the federal reserve. they are not subject to audits. they do not have to disclose their information. they have probably tri

caller: thank you to your balanced response to the questions coming your way. as a person who watches c-span consistently, it is a pleasure to hear you cannot avoid questions posed to you. my question to you as a reporter for "the washington post" regarding john mccain and lindsey gramm attacking the president's response to the situation iniran, do you s a writer for net to be out of hand on their part and only politically motivated? do you think -- what are we supposed to do in response, technically, to what is happening andiran? should we sit back, observe, and be the third party like the rest of the world was to our own the elections? be thankful that there was a process seat that the people are responding to change? guest: it is a good question. on being out of hand i do not think so. i think the debate taking place captures the two wings of foreign policy thought. republic hawks believe and voke ronald reagan and the cold war has been unambiguous in their criticism of authoritarian government. the they are calling for obama to say clearly, we do not want this government in iran to be in

to the independence of the federal courts. are you all, you know, just too abashed here on c-span to say, you feel federal judges ought to be paid more. i'm not -- i think federal judges ought to be paid a good deal more, but -- >> everybody knows we ought to be paid more. >> do you not perceive as a dimension as the organized judiciary has put out to the country? >> well, i didn't address that focused because we've been able to fill some of our judgeships but i do have some of the statistics on that. since 1990, 119 judges have left the bench. 89 retired. 30 of that 119 left before senior status. what that means is normally if you've served 15 years and you're 65 years you can retire from your bench on your full salary, if you don't make it you're eligible for social security benefits but you get no portion of your salary. so 30 judges left before that time. 71 entered private practice, which includes private dispute resolution. 24 others did other employment to the government, academic, not-for-profit, so 87% left went to other positions. that is a loss of wisdom in the courts. we've had more people retire during this time per

to you. caller: good morning, peter. thank you and everyone of your callers @ c-span poor providing america -- for providing america with the truth. to get to the point because i know there are other people waiting to talk to you, we need to literally hold both the democrats and republican representatives that were voted in accountable. they need to be held responsible for the actions that they take behind closed doors. as they said in the old- fashioned way, this is a heck of a way to run air railroad, running the deficit into the ground with his lavish spending, rhetoric that we are going to change things, we are going to do this and that, and then they turn around and take care of defense contractors and they are spending money on projects that bring votes back home. i am directing this both at the democrats and republicans. i am independent and proud of it, sir. i want to tell you democrats and republicans out there, there's going to be a change and there will be a third-party rising from the ranks because everyone that i have spoken to, sir, and i am going to wrap this up because i know you are on a time thing -- bu

to us. >> excellent. but you still have to buy it, come on, dude, and don't say it on c-span. >> so look, the question is to what degree do you think that sort of the intensity, the professionalization, i would say of parenting and particularly motherhood is about all these chicks like you and me, we're middle class, upper middle class, we went to good schools, we got degrees, and at some point a lot of women decided they would rather stay home and raise children, and i feel like the intensity that people are bringing that is sort of the intensity of what you didn't do with your harvard degree, that you just have to be the best and most competitive at it. it's the newest form of misogyny among women. >> that's interesting. i just want to point out, mom, it's totally your fault. she wants to know how this is all my mother's fault, and i am about to explain. [laughter] this is all my mother's fault because my mother raised you like i'm sure your mother raised you in the '70s and '80st. she raised me to believe that i could have everything and i should have everything, and she prepared me very well to have a

so i want to tell you that to the books, this is such an incredible year for reading and for books and i am happy to have the chance to talk about this on c-span because i think c-span doesn't bring an affliction to you -- fiction to you and i think fiction can be more true than books about policy or history. my to themes this year our immigration and south asia. i am not going to talk about three paperbacks that are so popular on their own they really don't need me to support them, but i will tell you what they are -- one is never land which has received all kinds of awards by joseph o'neill. he is part dutch in part irish and it is a book that takes place in new york because of 9/11. the second book is -- i0 is done over the name, the currency literary and potato peel by a society which is an epistolary book about the i'll guernsey during world war ii and it is a real delightful book about some women who get together and try to think of ways of sabotaging the germans who are on the island who occupy the island because it is part of britain and the germans nazis actually occupy the island. and the third boat which really does not need me to p

you mr. chairman. >> opening statement on an oversight hearing in the house about the insurance companies to cancel or deny health insurance. we hope to show you more of this letter -- you can see it on c-span 2 board. now back to the senate as senators remain in a quorum call. if i had a short recess. and they are officially still in session and we return to our live coverage of the senate here on c-span 2.

to get the come -- the country moving? >> michigan on the democrats' line. caller: you have some really smart people out there in america. maybe congress needs to listen and pay attention to c-span in the morning. that coal mining is horrifying that he was talking about in west virginia. the fact that we are still dealing with greed and corruption is -- as the other caller said, now i am telling you that the fact that there are some representatives that will not allow us to have service without profit is world -- is horrible for us. i think max baucus needs to be stripped of his personal insurance. anyone at that what set against the public for their best interest to cover, and give the people of america what they deserve, with their own taxpayer money, by the way, with our own choice, needs to be booted out of congress. thank you. host: north carolina is next on the independent line. caller: i would like to just make an opinion about the two- party system we have here in america. to me, it does not seem like the republican party or the republican party have america's best interests at heart. it just means that, if i can make up but, that is what i will do. or if we have to cut

those candidates planning news conferences today and we plan to bring those events to you live on c-span. when they take place, we cover those events live on c-span. c-span.org describes the supreme court opinion. we have that on our web site. more briefings for you tonight with the head of the multinational forces in iraq. he spoke with reporters earlier. we have that press conference in its entirety where at 8:00 p.m. eastern on our companion network, you can join us on c-span2 for books tv. gretchen peters will talk about the taliban, harry stein and his book, ethics and other liabilities, and lily burana on her life as the wife of a military intelligence officer. that starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> this holiday weekend, discover an unfamiliar sight. historian and author john firming on the ascent of george washington. join our 3 our conversation on in that. is part of the 3 day holiday weekend. >> how is c-span funded? >> publicly funded. >> i have no idea. >> government? >> c-span3 gets its funding through taxes. >> federal funding. >> public funding. >> how is c-span funded? 30 ye

to tell you about the books. i think this is just such an incredible year for reading and for books, and i'm happy to have the chance to talk about this on c-span because i think c-span doesn't bring enough fiction to you, and i think fiction can often be more true than books about policy or history. the -- my two themes this year are immigration and south asia. i'm not going to talk about three paperbacks that are so popular on their own they really don't need me to support them, but i'll tell you what they are. one is netherland which has received all kinds of awards by joseph o'neill who's part dutch and part irish, and he has -- it's a book that takes place in new york post-9/11. the second book is the guernsey literary, and i always have to stumble over the name, the gurns si literary and potato peel society which is a book about the guernsey during world war ii and is a really delightful book about some women who get together and try to think of ways of sab tablging the germans who are on the island, who occupy the island, and it's part of britain, and the germans actually the nazis occupy the island. and the third book which really doesn

you heard a pretty good reputation of both sides of the debate. host: let's go to the democratic lonine. kay from minneapolis, minnesota. caller: thank you for c-span. i want to agree totally and fundamentally with the person who just called in. i am really getting upset by the extent to which republicans who have been opposed to any kind of government reform or change for ever and ever are denying the extent to which doing something that needs to be done by government and creating responsible government rather than making government be the boogeyman have got us into such terrible, terrible trouble that is growing and growing and growing. you talk about we cannot afford it? well, i mean, look at all the people that are suffering so terribly in this economic crisis after we could not have regulation, we could not have reform, we could not do anything about energy or health care or controlling the financial sector that has brought the world down to its knees in this economic crisis. it really is time for the republicans to stop, stop, stop attacking all progressive change in this country. we are in trouble. guest: well, i think she has bought hook, l

to re-enter it. host: john shaw joined us this hour. . caller? caller: thank you for c-span. ould give obama and a, he jumped right in as soon as he took office. the tarp as i understand was passed before his administration came into effect. but i wanted to address the issue of the bank interest. it seems to me that they're charging outrageous abuse three fees to all of america -- usury fees to all americans and by that way the incomes of americans is being diminished. it is largely because of these interest rates. for years there were limits passed by states that said 9% or 10% was the maximum amount that you could charge. then all of a sudden i think there was a case in minnesota where a national bank was allowed to charge a higher rate and in the whole thing went crazy. that is a major problem. it also affects industry. if you have a choice of where you put your money you do not put back into industry. industry does not make 30%, 35%. i think that the whole thing is out of whack. host: on the opt-ed pages of "the wall street journal" this economist writes about how higher t

you joining us on c-span. jon meachem from "newsweek." we want to introduce you to a 15-year-old high school student who also serves as political editor of children's press line geared miles miller is in washington to win an award for as work and one of his reasons for is focused on fellow bronx, the metaphor sonia sotomayor. >> no honeymoon period -- republicans crying foul over comments made over the federal appeals court judge tapped by the president to be the successor to david souter. vat do university back in 2005 she made comments about the federal court of appeals, and that is what this parking lot of controversy. >> they are looking for people with court of appeals experience because the court of appeals is where policy is made, and i know this is on tape and i should never say that, because we do not make the law, i know. >> those seemingly joking, republicans have taken it and run with it. >> equal justice under law or under attack? america deserves better. >> back in the old neighborhood, supporters are saying, republicans just need to s

[laughter] >> guest: you have to talk to the folks on the hill that c-span talks to a lot. you know, we were ready to make the jump, frankly, two years ago. we made a lot of investment. we started two years ago creating our four digital channels. we've been broadcasting 24/7 on all of our digital channels since february 1st. and so we've been ready to go. our thing here because we do broadcast to all of our citizens but also to the hill is to show them how multicast can work, especially for our public service broadcaster, local public service broadcaster, so we've been ready to go, but, of course, as you know fcc, obama and everyone wanted to wait until june 12th. so we thought we'd take as long as necessary to inform the public of the change. >> host: as far as your viewers, how important do you think they are? [laughter] >> guest: you know, we've been broadcasting, again, digital forever. we've been doing all of the spots for fcc times ten, so we've been telling everyone what they needed to do to get ready. now, we're public television. we have an older audience, and this

to david simon. [applause] >> thank you. i do not know if it is going to be clear on the c-span channel, but i managed to get some salad dressing on my shirt. i had been out of the profession since 1995, but i felt if i could leave a little of much where it could be seen, whether which chinese food, it would be perfect. this is for you. right here. [laughter] think you for inviting me. i am flattered. it is funny. i feel better knowing now that journalists are not invited to do this. the body part about my critique of journalism, such as it is, when you are an expert in this country, meaning when you are in the game, dealing with it every day, living and breathing in, you are not an expert. when you are away for a few years and you have a television show, i am an expert in television production now but all this and i'm an expert in the media. there is in the strange about that. burns, my partner, asking him about education, he was a former schoolteacher in baltimore, he said the same thing. when i wasn't -- when i was an expert and teaching, no 11 in my opinion. and now have all the opinions in the world and a run wants to hear

you can watch reaction to following the supreme court's decision on the c-span network. re about the nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to the supreme court go to c-span.org. you can watch the president's announcement of her nomination, reaction from members of congress and interest groups. also, senate floor statements from a 1998 appeals court nomination. >> you are watching c-span, and public service provided by the nation's cable companies. next, house debate on the climate change bill. then, defense secretary robert gates on iran posing nuclear- weapons program and the situations in iraq and afghanistan. later, a joint news conference with president obama and german chancellor merkel. . .

to michael on the independent line. are you there? caller: thank you for c-span for taking the call. my question to you, could you, when we talk about economic stimulus by governments -- my understanding is that to pay for the stimulus, the u.s. government is in essence borrowed a tremendous amount of money from china. and my question is, when you talk about stimulus, whether from the european economy, where are these governments who are endeavoring to stimulate their economy -- i understand even china is trying to stimulate its economy, where are big giving resources, the capital to dump all this money into the economy? guest: at a very good question. we are, in fact, although deeply indebted to the chinese from overly indebted and will continue to be in some time, we are in fact the most recent month barring more and more from the american people. the american people have begun to save at a level they have not in decades. so there is more money for the u.s. government to bar from the americans -- host: treasury bonds? guest: things of that nature. the chinese government is borrowing

. >> host: welcome to c-span cahill welcome to washington. >> guest: think you so much. >> host: thisess," and the subtitle, one phyllis teacher, her sixth grade class and the election that changed their lives forever. let me ask the obvious question. ms. cahill, how does a divorced mother with three children, no house, two bedrooms, one bath, how did you figure that out, apartment, two or three jobs, one cocktail waitress and where you sometimes get helm or galt home mabey 2:00, 4:00, who's counting, in the morning, extra curricular activities for students -- how does such a woman beside to run for of all things congress? not the school board or the city council but the congress? >> guest: right. well, actually, the students asked me to run for president first but i wasn't old enough. so, then we had to look for something else. >> host: you could have went down to senator. >> guest: we did. we marched through. we talk to the supreme court because i couldn't run for that and then they wanted segment protect and speaker of the house and they marched right on down. yes, they did. >> hos

full hearing tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span. >> every weekend the latest nonfiction books and authors on the c-span'2 book tv. saturday on after words how to you run for congress with $7,000 your >> i don't know where the money comes from. >> contributions from donors. >> how is c-span funded? thirty years ago. america's cable companies created c-span as a public service. no government mandate, no government money. >> to a house hearing on a single-payer health care where the government would pay for health services. witnesses included michigan congressman john conyers has authored a bill on single payer health care. rob andrews of new jersey chairs this hour 40 minute hearing of the education and labor subcommittee on health. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning, ladies and gentleman. welcome to the subcommittee. having determined we would proceed we would like to welcome our colleagues who are present this morning. ladies and gentlemen who would be witnesses and the members of the public and the press. it is great to have you with us. the united states is spending more of our national wealth, more of our business firms i ncome, more of

myself but and read and so i want to tell you this is such an incredible year for reading and four books. i am happy to have a chance to talk about this on the c-span because it does not bring enough action to you and i think fiction can also be more true than books about policy were history. my two themes and this year our immigration and south asia. i will not talk about three paper books that are so popular on their own they really do not need me to support them but i will tell you what they are, one is motherland which has received all kinds of awards by joseph o'neill, he is part dutch and part irish and is a book that takes place in the new york with 9/11. the second book the currency literary and potato peel society which is a book about world war ii and is a delight will block the -- book and women to get together and think of ways twos sabotages the germans to occupy the island because it is part of britain and said journey -- not seize occupy the island. the other book is unaccustomed to earth. that segues and in fact, it represents both genres that i want to introduce today. one is a novel about immigration. if this with a constantly rea

to be proud of and can share. thank you very much and it is a pleasure to be with you. [applause] >> this week, on c-span is newsmakers, senate minority whip john kyl assesses the senate agenda. >> i was reading last night. there is a lot of reading involved. i was reading some troubling things last night about her views towards international law. in effect, she said you can interpret the united states constitution by looking to see what public opinion is in europe. public opinion in europe has nothing to do with what our constitution means. if that is her point of view, that is very troubling. i could not vote for a judge who believed that. she said that on several occasions. when people talk about a filibuster, republicans probably could not filibuster this nomination on our own. there are not enough of us. none of us are talking about filibuster. it is all in response to questions from media. we are not proposing this. it would be difficult for us to pull off. >> centre jon kyl at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> and now, the federal communications commission holds a conference on the digital televisi

going to regulate the private companies and the public plan will meet the same regulations so when you go to the exchange if for some reason you don't have insurance, through the benefit of c-span who inform the public so well, you'll have the choice to go into the exchange and pick a plan. pick a private plan if you like it or pick a public plan. i'm sure there will be several private plans. >> i'd like to follow up on the public plan question a little bit this gets talked about a lot, as you know, republicans seem pretty firmly lined up against it. they've been vocal about how they can't imagine voting for something with it in there. but there's also concern about opposition to something resembling what is in the draft bill you and your clearing -- colleagues put out on friday, are you confident at the end of this process that your bill will attract a majority or really all of house democrats in spite of the concerns expressed by some of the more conservative members of the party about the public plan? >> there have been concerned expressed by the more liberal group of the party who might like to have single payer. there are concerns, i suppose by the christian scientists who