host: robin harding, thanks so much for being here. coming up next, we will speak with jason right after this. ♪ ♪ >> i am not for changing the system, just so that we can feel good. they have about 97% in australia. it does not mean very much in terms of democracy. some of the most ambitious dictators in the world get voter turnout of 95-99%, when they have elections. >> voting is a responsible act. i should not be coerced to make a decision, which is like and the debt -- death for many people. >> tomorrow on c-span, ralph nader, and a series of debates looking at controversial topics. monday, the pros and cons of mandatory voting. tuesday, professors from georgetown and the university of massachusetts on taxing, stock trades, derivatives. this is today and tuesday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> the motion to concur the house amendment to senate bill 365 is agreed to. >> with the debt ceiling bill signed into law, watch the debate on the house and senate los bridgett floors, to say what they said. there is video of every session.

economic senator robin harding looks at the impact of the credit rating downgrade on asian and europeanarkets and how wall street will react. human events editor jason mattera discusses the 2012 presidential race and offers a perspective on the debt ceiling. robin wright talks about her latest book, "rock the casbah: rage and rebellion across the islamic world," and we begin a week of talks with jane oates who talks about work force training and government initialtive programs. "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> i'm not for changing the system just so we can feel good by having voter turnout which may ultimately approximate what they have in australia, which is about 97%. the fact is, voter turnout per se doesn't mean much in terms of the health of the democracy. some of the most vicious dictatorships in the world get voter turnout of 95% to 99% when they hold elections. >> voting is a responsible act and if for whatever reason i'm uninformed or haven't had the time, i shouldn't be forced to make a decision that is life and death for many people. >> monday and

economics editor robin harding looks at the impact of the u.s. credit rating downgrade onation and european markets and how wall street will react. human events editor discusses the 2012 presidential race and offers a conservative perspective on the debt ceiling and economy. author robin wright talks about her latest book. and we begin a week long look at jobs in america with jane oats labor department assistant secretary of employment and training. she talks about workforce training and government initiative programs. "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. . .

host: robin harding is u.s. economics editor at "the financial times" and the website is ft.com.ost: jack writes on twitter -- jim writes -- i wanted to ask you about the g-7 -- from bloomberg. what is going on there? guest: the group of seven leading industrial countries had a conference call on sunday evening where they discussed all the things that are going on. principally, i'm told they discussed europe, as opposed to the s&p downgrade. they agreed it was very nasty of s&p and ratings agencies are horrible people. the g-7 statement was classic. it was sort of -- we reaffirm that we will deal with instability and losses and long sentences. they are trying to prepare people and they are also preparing so that there were to be another real financial crisis like we saw in 2008, that central bank governors and finance ministriesre geared up to make a policy response to that. another interesting point about this is that it is the g-7 that meant. these days, the g-20, includes china and the other premiere countrie is meant to be the group. it turns out that they never want anything

host: robin harding is u.s. economics editor at "the financial times." good morning. guest: good morning. host: you have a story in today's paper looking at the decision of the s&p to downgrade the u.s. credit rating, but there's a complication because the white house has accused it of making a $2 trillion mistake. how did this happen? guest: this is a remarkable story. on friday, s&p came to the treasury and said they were going to do this downgrade. the treasury economist looked at this and said we think there was an error in your numbers. s&p agreed that the numbers were not the most appropriate ones to use. the administration uses harsher terms than that. they decided to go through with the downgrade anyway. what's really hard is to actually say how substantial it is. was it really important. looking at the s&p rating criteria, it seems like it would potentially affect a rating decision. on the other hand, the way the markets are responding, and the with the people in the markets are responding, is they say they've known the fiscal problem has been going on for ye

the hard part is keeping it up, don't you think, robin. right here. stay with us. t or would you spend it? mellody hobson has the answer right here. stay with us. finally, there's a choice for my patients with an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem. today we have pradaxa to reduce the risk of a stroke e used by a clot. in a clinical trial, pradaxa 150 mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa there's no need for those regugur blood tests. pradaxa is progress. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual l uising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older have kidney problems or a bleeding condition, like stomach ulcers. or if you take aspirin products nsaids, or blood thinners. tell your doctor about all medicines you take any planned medical or dental procedures and don't stop taking pradaxa without y

robin and george? >> three in one weekend. >> hard to take. >>> let's get to the other stories developing right now. bianna golodryga in for josh. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. >>> developing news in that high-profile sexual assault case here in new york. dominique strauss-kahn could be on his way back home to france as early as tonight. some say that prosecutors will drop all charges against international banker accused of assaulting a hotel maid. she spoke in an exclusive interview with our robin roberts. >> i have made some mistakes in my life, but that doesn't mean, doesn't mean this man tried to rape me. he tried to rape me. >> what do you want? >> i want justice. i want him to go to jail. i want him to know that there are some places that you can't use your money, you can't use your power when you do something like thi >> diallo is scheduled to meet with prosecutors ahead of his hearing today. >>> in other news, casey anthony is back in florida. her defense team decided to bring her back to orange county in case she had to serve probation for check fraud. her lawyer won't reveal her

hard core climbers up there for two weeks, you can figure it out. >> we can do the math, okay. great to see you, bill. >> good to see you, robind. we've got the hard hat heartthrob coming up. >>> crews are cleaning up a big mess this morning in the marin county town of belvedere where a water maine break damaged more than a dozen parked cars. pipe next to a fire hydrant burst around maybridge road around 3:00 a.m. shooting water high in air with landscaping rocks and gravel. residents say it was like a hailstorm. rocks flew out one car's back window. other vehicles received dimble-size dents from rocks and gravel all over the street. no injuries reported. >>> hope drivers are staying safe on the roadway. sue? >> we have a significant caltrain delay, 227 out of gilroy has broken down in morgan hill. it is running 40 minutes behind. ace train number five, few behind schedule. southbound 680 at vargas, two left lanes blocked with accident there. fire and ambulance crews on site. >> thank you. switching to progressive could mean hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. cal

robin? [ laughter ] what's in his hand? >> jimmy: oh, i know what it is! >> president? [ buzzer ] >> jimmy: can i guess? harry potter? >> it's a hardjimmy: very good. all right, good. i liked that. it was good. >> i think -- >> no, it is a good harry potter. >> sorry, lisa. >> jimmy: ready? audience? [ audience yells ] [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: okay. this is a person. this is a person. [ laughter ] okay, ready? >> all right. it's a girl. with long blond hair. betty boop. [ laughter ] it's a musician. betty boop. marilyn monroe. >> jimmy: marilyn monroe, no. close. [ laughter ] [ buzzer ] what do you mean, "hell no"? gosh. lady gaga. [ laughter ] >> oh. >> that was a good drawing. >> jimmy: i don't know. i didn't -- hard to do. i'm sorry. >> it looked like the grammy -- her grammy -- >> jimmy: all right. ready? here. now we do a showdown? all right. here we go. now you guys go up. same clue. [ cheers and applause ] don't let them get to you. all right. good guess. >> you guess. >> jimmy: now -- yeah, we guess. the first person to guess wins the whole thing. >> oh, my god. >> jimmy: all right. lisa, you can choose. >> am i al

robin is enjoying a day off. good to be with you. >>> a story that is hard to believe.r through his seven-year-old boy overboard on a sightseeing cruise boat. passengers gasp and call 911. we will hear those calls and the father's explanation for what he says happened. >> he says he was just playing around and his girlfriend is actually defending him on that. >>> big news on "dancing with the stars." more news. derek hough, has gotten the trophy three different times, coming back to the ballroom for this season. we'll reveal live -- >> he's got the winning touch. >> all that coming up on "dancing with the stars" in just a little bit. >>> but we do begin with exclusive new reporting on robyn gardner's disappearance in aruba. hearing more about her lifestyle and some pretty shocking claims from her own friends and family. ashleigh banfield traveled to aruba and joins us with the latest. good morning, ashleigh. >> reporter: good morning, george. this could be a very big day for gary giordano. he could find out later if his month-long stay on this island paradise is going t

it is very hard to find anyone with anything nice to say about gadhafi or his family. robin, george? >> i'm sure that's not the last we've learned. >>> another fatal grizzly attack in yellowstone national park. he mauled a hiker and neal karlinsky has the story. >> reporter: in this incredible video taken just two weeks ago at yellowstone people are just feet from a grizzly bear trying to cross the road. how people and bears often mingle dangerously close. >> don't move. >> reporter: now another close encounter not far from here has turned deadly. rangers say 59-year-old john wallace was hiking along the mary mountain trail when he was mauled by a grizizy. hikers found his body alone and surrounded by bear tracks. >> we're trying to piece it together from the evidence that's on site, you know, in terms of what were the circumstances that led to the attack. >> reporter: wallace's relatives say he was an experienced camper but he was hiking alone so rangers don't know exactly what happened. in his pack, no bear spray and the only food he had on him was left untouched by the be