this election was not that. i think the president came out of this election thinking he had a moment. he came out of it with a more muscular rhetoric. think of the inaugural address. it was a much more robust inaugural address that he had given four years earlier and i think he thought he might be able to work his will more effectively on capitol hill but he has not been able to do that and it's in part because of this red and blue divide in because with republicans having a power base in the house they are able to block and thwart and youth he can get done what he wants and they can get done what they want. i don't know the answer to this. my friend roger simon is here and we talked about this over the weekend. he said you have written a very gloomy book and i said well i don't know about that but i mean i felt all the way through this campaign certainly in the last four or five months, i just felt that we were going going to end in the campaign without having resolved the argument that republicans and democrat

the day before the '08 presidential election, the morning of the day before the election, presidential candidate barack obama that day got a phone call in the morning telling him that his grandmother had just died. she had died at the apartment in hawaii where he had lived with her for a time when he was a boy. he had been raised partially by his grandparents, by his mother's parents. he was very close to his grandparents. very close to his grandmother. this was the day before the presidential election in 2008 when she died. president obama took time that day to grieve on his own, then that night he came to north carolina just hours before the polls were due to open across the country. president obama did one last rally. a huge one. 25,000 people in the rain at the university of north carolina in charlotte. he talked about his grandmother that night. he said, she's gone home. she died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side. he said, i'm not going to talk about her too long, because it is hard for me to talk about. so with hours to go until election day, presidential candida

. >> and a -- election day in zimbabwe. polls have been closing as monitors give the votes the thumbs up. >> it's one of the wildcards ahead of the september's elections in germany -- a row over a failed project to develop surveillance drones that wasted hundreds of millions of euros. >> today, the man at the center of it all had to appear before a parliamentary committee to explain himself, but he stuck to his guns and said he will not resign over the matter. >> the opposition says he knew more about problems at an earlier state than he is letting on, and they say that should cost him his job. >> the stakes are high because he is a close ally of chancellor merkel, and she is standing by him. >> he has denied the accusations against him. he says he knew about problems regarding the euro hop drums, but his aides told him they were not insurmountable. when that group wrong, he put an end to the project. >> i think it is important to note that at the time i took office around 85% of the total sum had already been paid or had t

another thing i think another aspect of this election that looks to the future. is the changing demographics of this country and you can look at politics from the inside out and you can also look at it from outside in and there were several big forces that in two thousand and twelve i think asserted themselves in a significant way one is the changing demographics which at this point unless the republicans can find a different way of going about it gives a slight wind at the back of the other democrats in presidential elections the other thomas this red blue divide that we talk about it's almost become a cliche in this country we talk about red and blue america and yet i think in this election it showed that red got a little redder and blue got a little bluer and it's one of the reasons we continue to have this kind of paralysis that we see in washington there is you mentioned super pacs working for candidates and you mentioned the obama campaign running a very very sophisticated get out the vote organization. get out the vote is kind of the last part of it i real

>> dan from next year's elections. the high court in bangladesh -- banned from next year's elections. the high court in bangladesh rules against jamaat-e-islami. you are watching al jazeera, live from doha. also ahead, thousands killed during july. iraq's sectarian war passes another grim milestone. the man trying to unseat the president of zimbabwe says the elections were a farce. monument -- and .n ancient monument destroyed court in bangladesh has ruled against the jamaat-e- islami party, declaring illegal its registration with the election committee. that means that the country's third most popular political group cannot contest elections next january. the judge has accepted the petition which said jamaat was a religion-based party that does not believe in the sovereignty of bangladesh. we have this report. >> when the court -- what the court verdict means is that the jamaat party cannot participate in the election. it does not mean that jamaat as a political party is banned. the significant implication is that jam

particularly local das, most of them are elected. right in they run in partisan elections. and no matter who they prosecute for voter fraud, they're going to upset half of the electorate because of the party that they're members of. so it's often hard to get prosecution of these cases. >> something that's a little more off the wall, i had heard a little bit about in the past the federal government stopping -- and others -- stopping people from checking photo id at voter stations. that, obviously, hasn't been a whole lot on the news. i've mostly heard about it through more, quote-unquote, underground channels, if you will. how much of that happens, if you know anything about that? >> well, the holder justice department has been running a campaign now for the last five years to stop voter id laws. i mean, that's why, for example, when south carolina passed a photo id law, the justice department objected to it. south carolina had to go to court. they spent $3.5 million fighting the holder justice department, and in the end they won. so the photo id law is now in place. but the

>> we have to win elections. we have to win elections. are and whocymakers is in power in making those decisions. and we are living in the aftermath of the 2010 elections. this is insidious. party, right-wing, conservative, republicans are -- they are invading the rest of the republican party, quite frankly. they have decided this is their moment and they are going to healthay at reproductive care. and women's healthcare in general. we are not just talking about planned parenthood. we're talking about cancer screenings and birth control. serious family issues. economic issues. thinks that birth control is a social issue clearly has never bought birth control. or has not bought diapers. [laughter] but they will. we are in a very dangerous time right now. state-by-state, we see things we have never seen before. it is really willing things backwards. what we just saw in texas -- it was outrageous, but the state had already passed the invasive vaginal ultrasound bill. that was before we even heard about it in virginia. i have to of the day, t

a big normal election on a big normal election day. tuesday in november. but the u.s.enate seat election between cory booker and the former mayor is going to be held on a different day, less than three weeks before the normal election day on a wednesday. why? because on that tuesday in november, real election day, new jersey governors chris christie, is on the ballot. he's running for re-election as new jersey governor, and as he is making the state of new jersey spend an extra $12 million to hold a whole separate election for this senate seat, less than three weeks before there's going to be an election anyway. amazing. presumably he is going this because he does not want to be on the same ballot with a democrat as popular as cory booker. there is basically no one in politics who thinks that chris christie is at any risk of not being re-elected in november. he's really popular. he's not only way out ahead in polling in the governor's race for november, he's doing better than great in the national polling right now, too. the last quinnipiac poll on favorability ratings

the international community demanded an election be held to transfer power to a legitimately elected government. that was done last sunday. now the results are out. newans are hoping for a president to take the country out of its current predicament. security is a problem for the country. talked to told us the main expectations is to take them out of poverty, provide infrastructure, and take care of security. is a priority. there has been an agreement with the rebel force in the north. the focus is a new government to tackle poverty and infrastructure in the country. for that breaking news. we have results for the mali presidential election. i do have the numbers from the interior ministry. this is according to the interior ministry. there will be a runoff election in mali. the head of the african union in zimbabwe defended this week's election. he told al jazeera the poll was fairly fair. he appears to be heading into a seventh term in office. his opponent has called the vote a farce alleging the rigging was widespread. we have put some complaints to the former nigerian president wh

the election has been judged a success by observers.lleged war criminals have died before facing trial. time now for the business. future. with the >> lots of talk over what will happen with this automaker. but barry says that the board will consider strategic alternatives including potential sales of this country. & up in the united states. they look at what the future could hold for blackberry. >> the agent was at the height of its game, the value of 90 billion euros. revolutionized the smart fund industry. by barry tried to follow that lead and introduced a touch-free tablet. he powered ahead for the 500 million worth of blackberry playbooks left unsold. they will try to sell the company or enter a partnership. it will be forming a strategic partnership. the decision was made public. stay with smart phones next, apple unveiling new versions of their fellow next month on the tenth of september to be specific. as well informed when it comes to these matters. the iphoneknown as 6. there is also ip talk of alsohone 5c, a ch the -- talk o

. >>> jonathan alter reports on the 2012 presidential election and president obama's re-election team unit losed analytics. this event from the commonwealth club of california in san francisco is about an hour and fifteen minutes. you can find us on the internet at commonwealth club.org or download the iphone or android app for program and schedule information and pod cast of past programs. how is that for a lit ration. now it's my pleasure to intro-- introduce our speaker, columnist, and writer. jonathan alter. a writer and a contributor to the bloomberg. author of the new book we'll talk about "the center holds: obama and his enemies." as i he's an analyst and contributing correspondent. you've seen him on nbc and msnbc. he worked for almost thirty years writing more than fifty cover story. me wrote for "the new york times," the wall street, vanity fair, and the new republican. he's the author of other books fkd -- he is a, in my judgment, probably one of the preimminent experts in this country on president obama. we are pleased and honored to have him here tonight to speak about hi

these were to regularize the election process. voter closer to the election d day.same day re registration, like new york does not have same day registration. north carolina is allowing the same number of days. student i.d. or young people, picture i.d.es are not controlled by anyone. you should have a lot of different kinds of -- a case john paul stevens indiana's voter i.d. you can't burden people's ability to vote but you can make elections clean. >> government manipulating rules to infringe. we want government of, by and for the people, these laws shape who turns up to vote. we have talked about statewide laws, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. local voters look the resources to sue and important because often ignores. you have local officials trying to keep power. >> to the argument there should be what the rules are. >> supporting all these imposed restrictions. i don't think uniform federal election laws it has nothing to do with the integrity of the vote. >> it happens more often with absentees. but it does happen. >> still to come, we'lly take a loo

because of the 2010 elections. the republican party is not willing to claim victory. >> let me give you an illustration of what i'm talking about. it's from the garden state. there's a lack of quality control in the republican party when it comes to candidates. just look at new jersey, a state that republicans have eyed for a long time. this is the candidate that primary voters have chosen to run against cory booker in the state's special election for senate. his name is steve lona gichlt n. here's what he stands for. he opposes marriage equality. he's against gun control. he's anti-abortion. even in cases of rape and incest. he wants to dismantle the irs. he's a hard liner on immigration and wants to make english the official language. and he rejects climate change. matter of fact, a recent buzz feed of lonegan summarized it like this. he called social security a ponzi scheme. denounces spanish advertisement. as racial profile marketing. and describes cory booker his pony in the new jersey senate election as a soc

over a year before the next election, statewide election in florida, i assume that any effort to purgevoter rolls is better done this far advance of an election rather than as close as the last effort. do you expect this one will turn out differently? >> i do believe so. i do believe there were some election officials last time that trusted tallahassee. i don't think you'll find one of them in florida this year that's going to trust them. >> the argument about voter integrity has been fought over nationally with some aggression over the last couple of years and with a lot of disingenuous argument about whether or not the voting rolls actually do have integrity or whether there's a real problem with elections being stolen. what do you feel about the overall integrity of that argument and how we are arguing about this as a country. >> you may have noticed that argument went away after the presidential election, but, boy, you couldn't fling a cat without hitting it before the presidential election. i think it was just a smoke screen, a partisan smoke screen. >> lori edwards, the superviso

an elected official don't get to constitute your recall election.he people decide that. that's a constitutional fundamental right as upheld by a judge in denver court. we live in a representative system where our elected officials go and they represent the interests of their district. you know, in deference to dave, this isn't just a recall election driven by a small group of people. he mentioned 5,000 people. there were over 16,000 people in the area that signed a petition for recall just for senator john morse. that was more votes than he got when he first got elected to the position. 10,000 or more of those got certified. and now we're in a recall situation. but, look, that district's very interesting. a third republican. a third democrat, a third unaffiliated. the interesting thing about this is it's really not a party battle. more independents and democrats combined signed the petition for recall than republicans did in that district. that shows you the people of colorado are independent thinkers. it's a state of rugged individualism where peop

recent tradition of having election month. because and as i've said before on your show because if you have vote too early you don't get to see the presidential debates the circumstances can change and it creates more opportunities for fraud same day registration isn't it is a terrible idea that allows people to bypass a lot of the normal charges and prosecuted as a result of the last decade there have been as i don't know as good as a result of that but there really is one hundred oh my god we've what do you suppose i want remarkable to me if you can find six people that say they can't show up on election day that's proof of voter suppression i find one hundred and two hundred thousand two hundred people where two hundred last election south carolina do not have the i.d. necessary last satisfy that's not that's not even if you don't have an idea i don't even see how you can function in an american city and i don't want to hear is that was used to get health assistance without it so we've been there to do it the lady that requ

that's the election in zimbabwe was largely peaceful. -- the election in zimbabwe was largely peaceful, but today the opposition says it wasn't fair. power says there was no vote rigging. in.he first results are days before an official announcement, the president's party is confident of victory. the officials say their party has failed in both parliamentary and presidential polls. mugabe's opposition says there is clear evidence of vote rigging. video of people voting illegally in one part of the capital. today, the ndc declared the election a fix. >> this is a huge farce. the credibility of this election has been marred by the violations. this is a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people. >> in the main domestic election monitor, they have challenged the fairness of the election. million that up to a voters have been turned away ndc polling stations in strongholds. of thecredibility elections is seriously compromised by a systematic effort to disenfranchise urban persons. >> it is hard to be sure what the truth he is. and other african monitors have said that they a

an election was held and the first african american mayor was elected. in charleston county, south carolina, after african-american candidates won a majority on the school board for the first time ever in 2003, county leaders attempted to resurrect voting procedures nearly identical to those that had been found to violate the voting rights act. once again, the department of justice was able to stop the change. in 2007 the texas legislature amended the eligibility requirements for supervisors of water district so that only landowners could serve. the department of justice blocked enforcement of the new rules, noting they were -- they would disqualify a number of incumbent hispanic supervisors and there was a significant us wordy -- disparity in rates between eight and minorities. -- disparity in land ownership rates between whites and minorities. unless the hole open up by the ruling is fixed, future cases will end very differently. citizens will be victimized by the law and disenfranchised and that progress toward a more perfect union will go backwards i

i feel this election is all about personality. in terms of the content, the platform, the two major parties are putting out there, they are looking increasingly similar with angela merkel making this decisive shift towards the center, even towards the left, many people say, over the summer. so is it really all about merkel versus steinbruck? >> well, it feels like a bit like that. especially because merkel has really picked a lot of the social democrat's topics to combine it very warmly into her party program as well, such as at least partly minimum wages and as well cap on rental rates and so on and so that is what social democrats are saying. she's taking all our topics but she probably won't deliver on them. that's the second sentence what they are saying all over. but you are very much right. it's all about personalilities while angela merkel presents herself as a motherly figure to the germans and she promises calm and stability. steinbruck is more or less as well, his character is actually not fitting to the composition. as

that was a whole presidential election ago. everyone is allowed a mulligan and matthews made up for that by completely nailing his prediction for who would win the republican primaries in 2012. >> you watch bachmann. she's got the action this time. she stands for something -- she's going all the way. she's going to win this thing. >> really? >> i tell you right now. i predict she beats trump. >> john: it's what he does for a living. (laughter) is he a psychic or a time traveler? either way, we must burn him as a witch. chris matthews doesn't just routinely have egg on his face, he has a chicken cop ago squat over his face, laying an egg between his eyes, (bleep)ing on that egg, punting the egg and then rubbing it all over his face. (applause) look, america, america, look at me. our elections do not need to take as long as they currently do. there is another way. and the proof of that have is right under your feet-- through several layers across the mud, australia. >> prime minister kevin rudd has put an end to weeks of speculat

>> they will create elections that are a facade. >> the old mubarak elections. >> a facade and they willate a camouflage over the fact that they're controlling all the leverage of society and they control most of the economy and they will protect their equities and egypt will continued to be a failed place for aspiring young people, men and women who want a different egypt. they will block all of that. >> we look at the '80s and '90s before social media and we talk about revolutions in social media and is it possible for the military to rule egypt the way mubarak did a generation ago in the year 2013 and beyond? >> these revolutions about the relationship between citizen and state everywhere and being completely broken. and part of the reason that the brotherhood failed isn't just because they did as a bad job as morsi did a bad job as president. they just took power and they just took charge of the leverage of power. never in terms of governed and governorers. the military still able to try civilians and all the things people were protesting fundamentally against egypt, still there. wit

and how did that affect the twenty twelve presidential election and what role in future. a little worse for the little things. like how superman. a minute. because you've never seen anything like this i'm told. is it possible to navigate the economy with all the details of his diction misinformation and media hype will keep you up to date by decoding the mainstream status if in your mind. welcome back to the big picture i'm tom arbonne coming up in this half hour election two thousand and twelve gave us lots of lasting memories from ten thousand dollars bets to convenience store cookies and a forgetful rick perry one of the real takeaways from two thousand and twelve and what does the future look like for elections in america especially in two thousand and sixteen and the scientists are wrong the end of life on planet earth could be a lot sooner than we all think i'll tell you why inside still. in the best of the rest of the news we may be eleven hundred seventy six days away from the twenty sixteen elections. but we are already beginning to get a glimpse at what the two

>> we have to win elections. we have to win elections. who the policymakers are and who is in power are making those decisions and we are living in the aftermath of the 010 elections. and this is insidious. the tea party right wing conservative republican arm, which is sort of invading rest of the republican party, quite frankly, has decided that this is their moment and they are going to chip away at reproductive health care and women's health care in general. we're talking about planned parenthood clinics, we're talking about cancer screenings here and birth control. this is really serious family issues. these are economic issues. anybody who tells you birth control is a social issue clearly hasn't stocked birth control. economic issues here. >> or diapers. > but they will. and so we are in a very dangerous time right now. because state by state we've seen things that we've never seen before. i mean, it is really rolling things backwardses and what we just saw in texas -- it was outrageous but already -- the state had already passed the

>> we've got to win elections. we have to win elections. who the policy makers are and who's in power are making those decisions. and we are living in the aftermath of the 2010 elections in states all over the country. and this is insidious. they -- the tea party right wing conservative republican arm which is sort of invading the rest of the republican party, quite frankly, has decided that this is their moment and they are going to chip away at reproductive health care. and women's health care in general. with ear talking about planned parenthood clinics, cancer screening and birth control. this is really serious family issues. these are economic issues. anybody tells me birth control is a social issue hadn't bought birth control. this is astronomic birth control. >> or they haven't bought diapers. >> but they will. and so we are in a very dangerous time right now. state-by-state, we've seen things that we've never seen before. it is really rolling things backwards. what we just saw in texas. it was outrageous, but it already -- the state

at 89, zimbabwe's president has been he elected for five more years. he crushed his rival with 61% of the vote, compared to only 34% for morgan tsvangirai. the international community is starting to react on these results. the e.u., great britain and the u.s. have all voiced their concern. john kerry says they are not credible, plus the electoral process was flawed, she says. >> the opposition leader believes it's the beginning of a period of national mourning. the electoral commission confirmed the victory that president robert mugabe had already claimed the day before. the 89-year-old's power uninterrupted and overwhelmingly won another five-year term. the party now holds a 2/3 majority in particlements. this will allow the push-ahead of constitutional changes. the movement for democratic change says his party has evidence of massive vote-rigging, urging a peaceful response to the alleged fraud. he promised to fight the results. >> they are determined to pursue peaceful, legal and diplomatic remedies to resolve this current crisis. once all remedies

would it be just good enough to allow president obama to win re-election or bad enough to deny re-electionter anger. which direction would it go? a third was the deep red/blue divide and how that shaped attitudes beyond what other people might say. and lastly, the shifting demographics in this country, which have moved against the republican party over a number of years and which they realized in a more significant way when mitt romney got only 27% of the hispanic vote last year. they have a problem on their hands on that front and they have to figure out how to deal with it. >> are they in a "who's turn is it" mood like they have been in the past? it was reagan's turn and then george, sr.'s turn and then george jr.'s turn and then mccain's turn and then romney's turn. are they in a "who's turn is it" mood? or are they into something more revolutionary this time? based upon selection. >> it doesn't seem like they're in a who's turn is it? because if you look at the people who ran in 2012 and who may run again, rick perry governor of texas, rick santorum, the former pennsylvania senator. th

yes two elections. -- yes to elections. mark thompson reports. >> fireworks and flags in the tunisian capital. thousands gather in support of what they call the governments right to govern. >> we are free to dress however we want and go out and pray. we are free to go to mosques and cover up and wear the veil. what ever you like, not like before. >> ruling islamist party organized a rally in the face of demonstrations following the murders are two key opposition figures. a prominent secular leader was assassinated in february. since the murder, anti-regime protesters have been listed for us in their calls for the government to step down. tunisian prime minister held talks with political groups on both sides saturday to try and quell the protests. >> we support the preservation of the constituent assembly. considering that without it, we would be walking towards the unknown. >> the government would not step down and tell it has fulfilled its mandate and has called for elections to be held in december. >> flash floods and pak

one of the things we've seen election by election by election is the quite share of the electorate inresidential election has gone down steadily as the country has become more diverse. and the romney campaign, i think, believed-- or wanted to believe that that might be at least reversed or even held steady, and in fact, the obama campaign-- i mean, i sat down with jim mussina the campaign manager in the spring and he said, "here's the demographics on election day." and he was exactly right. >> ifill: dan, you've covered a lot of elections -- not time you or date you in any way-- but this dthis one feel different for you in terms of how it will set the stage for elections to come? >> it felt different. i don't think i've seen-- everything changes from one psyche toll another. i don't think i've seen as many changes in one cycle as we saw between 2008 and 2012. i mean, we've talked about technology, and particularly the rise of social media, and specifically, the importance of twitter in the way it affects communications in politics. the role of the debates. descrbz always been importan

his article, "a butler well served by this election," was published in the aftermath of the election,escribes mr. allen. quote, president truman called him gene. president ford liked to talk golf with him. he saw eight presidential administrations come and go, often working six days a week. he was there while america's racial history was being remade, brown versus the board of education, the little rock school crises, the 1963 march on washington, the city's burning, the civil rights bills, the assassinations. when he started at the white house in 1952 he couldn't even use the public restrooms when he ventured back to his native virginia. the writer of that article, wil haygood joins us now. he's also the author of the new book "the butler: a witness to history." ronald reagan knew eugene allen from his father's white house years. wil, i remember that tremendous column you wrote. i think we all do. how did you first get on to the story? >> i had wanted to find somebody who worked in the white house during the era of segregation because i thought that then senator obama was going to wi

the election itself may be less important compared to what happens after the election. how much power the mayor will even have when there is an emergency manager with sweeping authority. there is also houston. a democratic mayor is running a republicanerm opponent. she was elected mayor of houston, it became the largest american city with an openly gay mayor. you wouldy necessarily stereotype houston, texas. texas, it is worth keeping an eye on what happens there. if you cover politics and policy in this era of budget -- >> you cover politics and policy. what can mayor is expected from washington regarding infant -- regarding infrastructure, the nuts and bolts. >> you talk to mirrors over the country -- you talk to mi ayors and they are fed up with how little support they get from washington. certainty.ally no stimulusof ways, the that a lot of folks credit with helping give the economy a jolt back in 2009, it just deferred the fiscal problems for mayors for a couple of years. the green taxis or the supersized drinks in new york city that mayor bloomberg wanted to ban,

the argument is is get elected first get elected say what you have to say bring people together you know do whatever's necessary to get elected because if you don't get elected you can't do any good so i don't buy into that i think you have to believe in something and just getting elected if you don't believe anything you'll end up having a government like we have today that's what they do all the time as soon as they are elected they're worried about the next election so i want people to believe in something and i want to people who know what it is and then have a fair and square election over it what is the wrong paul channel. well this is something we're doing on the internet it's an outgrowth of what i've been doing and over the years i've always had some vehicle as far back as one thousand nine hundred four in and out of politics but you know during the campaign we had tremendous support coming from young people who were very savvy with the internet a lot more so than i they would raise money and organize spontaneously because they like the message and that excited me and the excite

>> we should win elections. we have to win elections. who the policymakers are and who is in power are making those decisions and we are living in the aftermath of the 2010 election. this is insidious. the tea party -- right wing -- conservative -- public and are much as in dating the rest of the quite frankly, has decided that this is their moment and they are going to chip away at reproductive health care and women's health care in general. we are about planned parenthood, we are talking about cancer screenings, and birth control. this is serious family issues. these are economic issues. anybody who tells me birth control is a social issue clearly has not what birth control. it is an economic issue. all they know about his diapers. [laughter] they will know about them. we are in a very dangerous time right now. we have seen things we have never seen before. it is really rolling things backwards. what we just saw in the state of texas, the state is already passing the invasive ultrasound bill. is a case where at the end of the day, the

the results of the election has not been announced. african observer missions have given a cautious backing to the way the election was run despite claims by the opposition that there was massive voter fraud. it was business as usual. for the capital and country as a whole, there is uneasiness. final results from the election are not in yet. 's appears to have won by large margin. the fact that some people were turned away from the voting booths thomas whether that affects the overall election -- booths, whether that affects the overall election, that remains to be seen. >> it is in the rural heartland of this country that the movement for democratic change alleged the rigging started, with village elders being used .o intimidate villagers this too is at the heart of their claims, the voting register, which the claim has was finallyated handed over in hard copy, not electronic on the day of elections. one mdc candidate showed me evidence of what he said were .rregularities >> they were nowhere to be seen. >>hese have never been collect