so it's a nature and a nurture. >> was it hard, helen, to talk about it, initially?y, yes, it was very difficult to talk about. i think i'm to a point now, where -- >> you're here. >> exactly. i'm here. and i've accepted it. and, you know, my biggest thing that i would like to say, mr. king, is that people like me, like us, we're not contagious. you can't catch ocd from us. we're human. >> people treat you like they can? >> yes. >> really? >> it's really not a funny disease. it's really lonely. >> laura? >> well -- >> you're out. >> yeah. i guess what i would like to say is that it's -- it is important to erase the stigma. much i had stigma against myself, even. and in my lowest point, i felt that i was simply existing. i wasn't living anymore. i was here, i was alive, but i wasn't existing, and i knew i needed help, and i just had hope that somebody could help me and i saw the opportunity to get therapy, and now i just want to spread compassion for people. >> howie, can you laugh at it? >> yeah, laughter as i said before -- it's my bridge. if i don't laugh at it, i'

. >> larry: before we get our panels' thoughts, reporter helen thomas grilled robert gibbs about theeeming paradox of a war president accepts a nobel piece prize. here is a little of mr. gibbs' response. >> the president will address the notion that last beak he authorized a 30,000 person increase in our commitment to afghanistan and this week accepts a prize for peace. i will say, helen, that the president understands and will recognize he doesn't belong in the same discussion as mandela and mother teresa. >> larry: penn jillette, what do you think of the award? >> if you look at what they wanted for the peace prize, it's fairly short. a lot of people don't fit in the category and obama will be doing the right thing and will be humbled and smart. and irony is a great subject for the speech. i think the timing is really, really odd. i don't think obama has a choice. he's not going to turn it down. >> larry: good pnt. ben? >> i was puzzled when he was awarded the nobel peace prize. but i think moving troops to afghanistan is the best pro peace gesture so far. and they could use it for

helens, the eruption of it.s eery to look at all these photographs from all the downed timber from the eruption of st. helens and it was because of those winds. those 70 miles an hour winds that came -- essentially blew down so much of the forest so i spent a lot of time here in montana researching the archives here. a lot of time in all the forest districts around where the fire happened because the forest service did a marvelous thing. they kept these records called early memories of the forest service. early days, thank you, i'm glad you're here again. early days of the forest service and i would go into one of the forest districts and ask them for early days and someone would have a stapled bound or recommendation recollection of the early days. i spent a lot of times in the national archives in d.c. and that was to research roosevelt and pinchot and look at their diaries. and fourth, this was very well documented. it was the first time that we had really reported on a fire. i mean, it was front page news no

helen worked at is an artist for a while and art administrator, consulting for another organization like the los angeles county museum of art and other states organizations in california. here's another one of my favorite images. and this is another good tennessee state student, katherine brooks. she was originally from birmingham. but she was a student here in the early 60's, unlike rip, very much involved in the sit-in movement. non-violence is the key to the civil rights movement and most of the people who were involved understood the idea and readily embraced it even though for some people it was a struggle. and catherine like several of the black southern freedom riders i interviewed talked about getting her start as a protester almost instinctively as a child and just sort of acting out and just sort of natural and i want to read an excerpt from our interview in the book. it might have been around fifth or sixth grade when i began to protest the way things were. i refuse to step aside walking downtown when a white person would approach me. in high school we've road city buses to sc

next call is michit(jy good morning to helen on republican line. you're on, helen.agree it shouldn't be passed but disagree. everybody dullfies the r'surance companies. they're the lowest people j)q profit. they make like a 2-5 percent profit and they'reville guying these people and we,ville guy all these people. the car companies all of them and it mean it's going to come down to this country making villains of each other. it's going to be person to person from soon. my husband is on medicare ceramic and we've received a notice they're not funding vantage so he's already lost his medicare ceramic part because the government said they're defunding it and it's only december 16th. any way or 17th. i'm not áu)e what day it is host: 17th helen. thanks for your call. "wall street journal"'s editorial paper takes on text taxes and healthcare bills. they said if your family earned less than $250,000 you will not see your taxes increase a single dime. president barack obama at his first address in february. congressional addresses are raising taxes on the middle taxes by st

but, helen, i think if you -- you ask the afghan government whether they want us to be there right now helping train their national security force and helping to root out the insurgesency in the taliban, yes, they approve of us being there quite clearly. i think what's important is understanding -- they understand we are not going to be there forever, that they are going to change their behavior in order to take ultimate responsibility for their country because our commitment is not open-ended. >> why do they have to demand a sovereign country what they do? >> again, helen, there is an authorization that allows us to do the military activities from a congressional standpoint and, again, i think if you ask president karzai and others whether we're there and they like us to be there, the answer to that is yes. what we want them to understand is there can't be a permanent dependence on us being there, that we are going to incentivize, again, through changes in governance and in training putting on to them the responsibility of both running a government that meets the needs of the people a

helen. >> why didn't the president get a firm commitment from the banks? he got, i assume, smiles and, yes, we agree -- when he gave all this taxpayer money to them? and why did he have to identify the problem on the small loans? >> helen, again, the tarp plan, the piece of legislation, is something that -- the requirements of that legislation this president is bound by, passed in a different time. the president believes -- i think clearly, and as i've restated here -- that banks have an obligation to take responsibility for what was caused for their role in that, and to step up to the plate now and be part of positive economic reform and positive economic recovery. >> well, why aren't they giving these loans? i mean, what is their problem? paperwork -- that doesn't -- >> well, again, that's what the president wanted to push on. that's why the president had them down, and i think that's why you see when they come out and talk about taking different -- taking more looks at these loans, some banks lending out -- and not just bank of america, but others in pr

it is my honor to introduce helen chaitman, the author of of a global what, lender liability." she is one of a number of people who lost assets in the ponzi scheme and has a view of the issue and has been helpful to me and many others in understanding the nature of what was wrong and what should be done to resolve it. miss chaitman. >> thank you, congressman klein. chairman kanjorski, thank you for having me here. distinguished representatives, i thank you as well. it was just about a year ago that i learned that i have off my life savings and my grandson's college fund and mr. madoff's limited liability company. and it took me a little bit of time to get over the shock and devastation. and when i did, i realize that i was one of the lucky ones because i am still working and able to support myself. i devoted myself to the next six months to working completely on a pro bono basis helping hundreds of destitute madoff investors and their 70's, 80's, and 90's who had been hit by financial tsunami from which they can never recover. this committee has dealt with that financial tsunam

helen joining us from california. caller: 2009 has been wup of the best years i have experienced.d states has had a historic year of -- has had a history of slavery, and finally we elected a president of color. i think that is wufment i think has a big step toward a better future. unfortunately, obama is stillñr pretty much the same old stuff. i believed he was going to get us out of war, and i believe he escalated it. i think what people will look at when they look at 2009 they won't look at the election of obama being a watershed year, but more they will look at the tea party movement, this grassroots movement. it is going to be a momentous year in our history. finally people are rebelling against the elitist, power elitists in washington, d.c. we are no longer going to accept that a few people in our country know what's best to -- best for everyone. i think that is what will mark 2009 as a historic year. i think also what will go down as a footnote in history is the global warming theories and and -- host: thanks for the call. tune into our conversation with joe barton about th

it is my honor to introduce helen chaitman, an investor in the limited liability partnership in new york. she is the author of the book. she is counsel to the madoff coalition for investor protection, a combination of a number of investors who lost assets in a ponzi scheme. she has been someone who has had a fairly good view of the issue and it unhelpful to many others in understanding the nature of what went wrong and what should be done to resolve it. miss chaitman. >> thank you, congressman climb. congressman kanjorski, thank you for having me here. this time this representatives, i think you as well. it was a year ago that i learned that i have lost my life savings and my grandson's college fund in mr. madoff's limit liability fund. it took me a little bit of time to get over the shock and devastation. when i did, i realized that i was one of the lucky ones. i am still working and able to support myself. i devoted myself to the next six months to working completely on a pro bono basis helping hundreds of destitute madoff investors and their 70's, 80's, and 90's, who had been hit by f

it is my honor to introduce helen chaitman, an investor in the limited liability partnership in new york. she is the author of the book. she is counsel to the madoff coalition for investor protection, a combination of a number of investors who lost assets in a ponzi scheme. she has been someone who has had a fairly good view of the issue and it unhelpful to many others in understanding the nature of what went wrong and what should be done to resolve it. miss chaitman. >> thank you, congressman climb. congressman kanjorski, thank you for having me here. this time this representatives, i think you as well. it was a year ago that i learned that i have lost my life savings and my grandson's college fund in mr. madoff's limit liability fund. it took me a little bit of time to get over the shock and devastation. when i did, i realized that i was one of the lucky ones. i am still working and able to support myself. i devoted myself to the next six months to working completely on a pro bono basis helping hundreds of destitute madoff investors and their 70's, 80's, and 90's, who had been hit by f

i will say, helen, that the president understands and again will also recognize that he doesn't belongin the same discretion as mandela and mother teresa. but i think what the president is proud of is the steps that is an administration has taken to really engage the world, that through the dree engagement we see some of that for the engagement is to bring increased peace and stability to this big planet and is proud that the committee recognized that this nation has once again reemerged in engaging the world in greater pursued. >> we are going to war, accepting a peace prize. >> something again he will address directly in the speech tomorrow. >> obviously it is a historic trip for the president. has the president shared any thoughts that he shared sentiments with the former vice president who also is a recipient of the same price? >> i think if the discussion that was had with vice president al gore dealt with upcoming meetings on climate change in copenhagen. >> can you give a bit of a preview? >> let me get those guys to send stuff around. obviously the president and first lady as i

it is my honor to introduce helen chaitman, an investor in the limited liability partnership in new york. she is the author of the book. she is counsel to the madoff coalition for investor protection, a combination of a number of investors who lost assets in a ponzi scheme. she has been someone who has had a fairly good view of the issue and it unhelpful to many others in understanding the nature of what went wrong and what should be done to resolve it. miss chaitman. >> thank you, congressman climb. congressman kanjorski, thank you for having me here. this time this representatives, i think you as well. it was a year ago that i learned that i have lost my life savings and my grandson's college fund in mr. madoff's limit liability fund. it took me a little bit of time to get over the shock and devastation. when i did, i realized that i was one of the lucky ones. i am still working and able to support myself. i devoted myself to the next six months to working completely on a pro bono basis helping hundreds of destitute madoff investors and their 70's, 80's, and 90's, who had been hit by f

helens and volcanoes. --and co2 is not a pollutant, like you said, but too much and you drowne.guest: co2, the amount of co2 in the atmosphere is affected by volcanoes. it is one of the -- one of the interesting things is that if you look at the really long history of climate, there were times when volcanoes were particularly active and when they were -- by shrewd say that the amount of co2 in the atmosphere is determined by the source, which is volcanoes, and the sink, which is the weathering process that takes the co2 out of the atmosphere and deposits it on the ocean floor. but there have been times -- and the amount of co2 from volcanoes depends on continental drift. when there are continent moving through ocean regions that have a lot of carbon that on the ocean floor, then we get more co2 in the atmosphere. there was a time 50 million years ago when india was moving to the indian ocean and spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that there was so much co2 in the atmosphere that it was much warmer than now. -- there was no ice on the planet. natural changes like that can

i will say, helen, that the president understands and again will also recognize that he doesn't belong same discussion as mandela and mother teresa. but i think what the president is proud of is the steps that this administration has taken to reengage the -- reengage the world, that through that reengagement we see -- some of that reengagement is to bring increased peace and stability to this big planet and is proud that the committee recognized that this nation has once again reemerged in engaging the world in greater pursuits. >> we're going to war and he's accepting a peace prize. >> that's something he will, again, address directly in the speech tomorrow. yes? >> obviously it's historic trip for the president. has the president shared any of the thoughts he shared, sentiments, with the former vice president who also is a recipient of the same prize? >> i think most of the discussion that was had with vice president gore was -- dealt with upcoming meetings on climate change in copenhagen. >> a preview of the -- [inaudible] >> let me get those guys to send stuff around. obviously the

helen o'rourke wrote to me last tuesday about her friends who live in nevada, a town on the shores of lake tahoe. the family's two-year-old daughter has cancer of the eye that could cost her vision or her life. her parents don't have health insurance and are counting on friends to help pay for their doubter's mounting, mounting medical bills. they are also counting on us to hroert cost of health care so they can -- lower the cost of health care so they can afford their own. they work hard and want health insurance but can't get it. another letter i got was from elizabeth parsons. she teaches music and volunteers after school at a dance and drama theater in town. she is 60 years old and wants to retire at the end of the school year. but, as she wrote me last thursday, "unfortunately that plan has been postponed indefinitely for one reason: i can't afford to retire because of the skyrocketing increases in my health insurance." ms. parsons has done a lot for her community. and now her country's leaders should do something for her. we should be sure that her retirement doesn't hinge on ho

helens and volcanoes. --and co2 is not a pollutant, like you said, but too much and you drowne.guest: co2, the amount of co2 in the atmosphere is affected by volcanoes. it is one of the -- one of the interesting things is that if you look at the really long history of climate, there were times when volcanoes were particularly active and when they were -- by shrewd say that the amount of co2 in the atmosphere is determined by the source, which is volcanoes, and the sink, which is the weathering process that takes the co2 out of the atmosphere and deposits it on the ocean floor. but there have been times -- and the amount of co2 from volcanoes depends on continental drift. when there are continent moving through ocean regions that have a lot of carbon that on the ocean floor, then we get more co2 in the atmosphere. there was a time 50 million years ago when india was moving to the indian ocean and spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that there was so much co2 in the atmosphere that it was much warmer than now. -- there was no ice on the planet. natural changes like that can