i do think a people barack obama was going to be a mover in washington. chris: he's got these rules, no lobbyist, nobody can become a lobbyist. he's still sticking to some of this, right? >> yeah. his campaign hacks are going to play more. he's going to be a lot less capable because this is an election year to do a lot of the things of that he set out to do. >> one traction is whether the obama army turn out the in the midterms the way they did in virginia and new jersey last year. chris: before we break, let's go to "saturday night live" and how they prospered these last years by portraying democrats wimps or worse. here's jimmy carter giving advice to michael dukakis in his 1988 campaign for president. >> i'm about to lose as bad as you did. maybe worse. how did you deal with it afterward? >> i accept the fact that i was a downer. a liberal downer. malaise liberal downer. >> jimmy, believe me, i understand. chris: the democrats, that's just one image. for al gore it was his nerdyness. >> now i want to pick up where we left off in our economic's textbook

barack obama new year's resolution could include some fixes to his image. in our first segment we talked about how he's giving his critics evidence that he's a lefty and that maybe he's not really a change agent. let's look at the storylines that are a bit more personal. politico expressed it, here he's giving his critics with two lines of attack. in love with the man in the mirror. the president carrying a copy of "gentlemans quarterly" with him on the cover. too much mr. spock? here's what marine dod wrote about this one. helene, can this guy show more of his personality than that just cool, logical professor? >> if i was on the cover of "g.q." i would want to read it too. but he's definitely coming across as very cool. we were very curious during the' hood massacre late last year about how obama -- this is his first real role as the comforter in chief and how he would do with that. president clinton did very well. he was able to empathy and sympathy. and george bush was able to do that very well after 9/11. president obama gave a very good speech at' hoo

out early for barack obama. so he actually said this during an interview for this book. now that, of course, got his advisors totally off guard. this leaked out late friday night about midnight. he spent all day yesterday, it was confirmed this morning, he made 35 different phone calls mainly to african-americans leaders trying to apologize and get himself out of this mess. >> schieffer: he did apologize to the president. that was accepted. >> that's right. i mean the president said, you know, let's just move on. i've accepted your apology. the question now is though whether or not everybody else is going to move on. obviously we saw congressman hoekstra say this is a democratic problem and a personal problem. that's the best thing that the republicans can do right now. when you have somebody exploding you don't want to become collateral damage yourself. >> schieffer: stepping in front of a firing squad. >> right. what does this mean for harry reid who is on life support in nevada. this could pull the plug on hi

we talked about barack obama's report card. barack obama has been in office for 50 years.bout his report card. please share it with us. >> i am loath to give him a great because that unfairly categorizes him and i know he is working hard and has good intentions. it works, we will give him an a and it doesn't work, we will give bush an f. why should i give the man of great? bill: today, he signed the earmarked bill. he did it in private because he knows -- you have to take it a little bit away from that, right? >> my man loves to spend. i am glad we did not have the right and are hitting us. i love the fact that we are getting preached personal discipline by someone who cannot quit smoking. he should start lighting up at press conferences and when they say, how many zeros in 780 billion, just -- [laughter] bill: i was impressed, and i bet you were. he tries to stay in shape. nancy pelosi, a are aerobic power. up and down come in and out. >> ♪ get physical, physical ♪ >> that toy for christmas is called the hack lined a box. when she was sitting down, i thought she was some

host: here is a story -- barack obama, jimmy carter and an "-" between the two of them. er says that obama is battling the perception that he is a wimp on national security. guest: i don't think that is the problem. he handled himself exceptionally well this week on the issue of the terrorist attacks. this is one of his real strengths. as the journalist put it, that essentially his restraint and ability to look at things dispassionately work for him exceptionally well this week. the biggest problem -- and we see this in our focus groups -- when you ask people to talk about barack obama's backbone they're not certain what it is. there's a time in every presidency when an individual is tested. at that stage we reach another conclusion. for ronald reagan i think it was a nine month in when he handled the air traffic controllers' strike. for john kennedy obviously it was the cuban missile crisis. in every presidency and for barack obama that moment has not arrived. the article in the newly times" is trying to do with that. -- indiana "the new york times" is trying to do that.

but even barack obama, and barack obama's autobiography, dreams from my father he expresses admiration for malcolm x. he says he admired mulken's self determination and ability to recreate himself. so when we think about malcolm x. he is the quintessential self-made african-american man of the post war period. >> host: and embraced regardless where you lie on the ideological spectrum. i am reminded that justice clarence thomas also embraced malcolm x and haditha collected recordings of malcolm x and felt something important in malcolm x's herraiz himself. discuss absolutely. i think the conservatives admire his notion of bootstrap plan. pull yourself up by your bootstraps political self-determination and this notion that malcolm would also say that black people had to do for themselves. malcolm and the nation of islam in their parliament refused handouts from the white man and parliaments. so conservatives would definitely find that something that was a great attribute. >> host: another important figure in your book, and duty coach considerable chapters to stokely carmichael. >> guest:

on the other hand-- >> imagine how embraced the spirit of a freedom fighter to look up and see barack obamath this pig, it's unbelievable to me. you know, barack it appears that he does have some part of it is a bully, but he likes to people who bully, but who bully bullies. i don't understand why he would want to be in a photo op with this player from the sopranos. >> bill: what if you were the president, god help us, and this guy walked over with this dopey look in front of the cameras, what would you have done, hit him with the book? what would you have done? >> listen, i would have said, if this guy tries to get anywhere near me with a book, i want him tackled. i want to duck and cover like the old bomb shelter thing. >> first you duck, then cover. >> spain, what say you? >> i find it funny that they subpoenaed, they're thinking of subpoenaing alberto gonzalez as if they had some proprietary sense and going over benicio del toro and cheech marin and quick draw mcgraw. >> and the fact is none of these guys are going to go down there, if that was any more of a kangaroo court, the judge wo

let's talk about you mentioned in your book with some of the media coverage with barack obama and somes views and speeches to have not been as sharp coverage as it should have then. how do you think obama's as the first african-american a president has been covered? >> guest: in a unique and interesting way. in terms of politics of race, race is always shadowing and contrary specifically what i talk about in the book in which the way the president has tried to talk and address waste how the media has really read the speeches differently than i would have. there is the naacp speech the president gave last year 2009 celebrating the 100th anniversary of the civil-rights organization. in that speech he does a couple of things. he critiques african-americans who aren't doing the right thing and people who were not taking care of their kids are promoting education but also to acknowledge is racism is a huge part of the united states. he does say litton eight or a roll call of civil-rights activists but talks about criminal-justice system and racial disparities and it is a well-balanced speec

almost a stranglehold on the advice -- who have almost a stranglehold on the advice that is to barack obamahelle obama, would occasionally say when things were going badly that there needs to be a broader circle of advisers. there is a stage late in the process when it is clear that barack obama will probably be hillary clinton but will lead into the general election, where he decides to change course and he has a conference call that is not run by one of the three suits but i needed done, who goes on to be department -- but anita dunn, who goes on to be the communications director. some said that the portrait is written by the winners so it is not as full as others. host: when he decides to bring anita dunn into the fold, the strategy she takes up running his fund -- the exchange there, the strategy she comes up with it for e-mail addresses. guest: in the early 2006, the 2005 period, there was a pac called hope fund, and obama interviewed and eventually hired anita dun to run that pac. even when he was still a candidate for the senate in 2004, he was able to raise money for democratic sena

believe, about what happened in the white house meeting george bush held with john mccain and barack obama, hardly been mentioned in the coverage of it is very interesting but it showed how unprepared john mccain was, how well prepared obama was. as you listen to obama take over the meeting, it seems that if you close your eyes, you would believe that this is the president of the united states, not george bush or john mccain. we have a very interesting story about david geffen and maureen dowd and a devastating column that maureen dowd wrote in the early part of the nomination, how that came to be, how this hollywood mogul and this "new york times" columnist bill is one of the first blows to -- dealt one of the first blows to hillary clinton's inevitability. host: she was trying to write that column before she got him to agree to do it. guest: an interesting case of two not only prominent people, but iconic people, it the most prominent "new york times" column is about time -- it columnist of our time, and david geffen, this incredibly influential hollywood figure. he was the head out atf

senator barack obama wins the iowa democratic caucus while former arkansas governor mike huckabee winshe state's republican caucus and obama goes on to beat rival hillary clinton in eight consecutive contests and win the party's presidential nomination after the winning the republican nomination, john mccain picks sarah palin as his running mate and the first for ticket for the white house. and the housing bubble bursts and the story reaches the climb ma max when barack obama is the first. >> a good human story, it mattered, america has truly gone in a different direction sincen you know, you can say some of it was overly emotional and gullible, nobody couldn't say it's not a phenomenal story. >> jon: we talked about how the press got on the obama band wagon early. has that changed? >> somewhat, let me just return to something quickly. i grew up in segregated washington and remember when the newspapers of that day in the history had black pages, they had news, black news, it was very difficult for an african-american, a negro as they were called in the media then, to get the kind of co

they're going to need to reconnect with the middle xlaps i think barack obama next year will give uscause of disasters of the bills the health bill, cap and trade bill that will destroy our economy, barack obama will be forced to admit that he's going to break his promise to the middle class and he's not going to be able to hold taxes down for them, all of us are going pay more, the government's going to in be in our pocket more and more and seal e if the republic and rev language that. >> mark? >> i disagree with everything he says. >> always does. >> i share your pessimism. i think that barack obama has expended so much political capital on health care and the health care bill that we've gotten is so -- all of the teeth have been taken out of it. i'm not optimistic where that's going to go. it's going to pass but a very watered down bill with no public option. >> people will be mad. >> reference what -- sorry. >> no, i was going to say, people will be very much mad at least on the left. but what you'll see is moderate democrats scramble away from barack obama particularly because i

so in a way when we think about black power and barack obama, obama really reflects a kind of moderateand pragmatic strain of that movement. but you cover this in the book. >> suarez: isn't there sort of a central argument that goes all the way back to the 19th century when you're talking about booker t. washington or w.e.b.dubois or marcus garvey or malcolm x and martin luther king, whether black americans ask for their freedom or whether they seize it and make it theirs. and where does barack obama fit in that age-old debate? >> i think he has one foot in both camps which is what makes him so interesting and so unique. on one level it's whole rhetorical embrace of democracy during the campaign is firmly rooted in this notion of acceptance and waiting and patience. but on another level being a junior senator from illinois and saying you're going to throw your hat in the ring and aggressively pursue the presidency is rooted in that other really much more ambitious self-determination camp to try and just really take the american dream and claim it and own it and utilize the power of the

there was a tectonic shift in russian in terms of the arab world view of the united states of barack obama. obama's initiative to close guantanamo and drawdown the presence in iraq resulted in a surge of the approval rating across the arab world. in such different come these countries as syria qatar and egypt where approval ratings had fell in single digits public opinion polls showed a marked increase in approval of that 15% and syria, 22% qatar, a 25% egypt. these are not a huge approval ratings but when you deal in double digits that response is a positive trend. the most dramatic of approval came in north africa in about syria and to be sure when they were up by 22% eight zogby poll found more support for the administration and saudi arabia, united arab emirates more than 50 percent of respondents claimed to have a more positive view of the usa since the election of barack obama between the gallup poll and the sabia but obama's still clearly faces a real area of distressed when he went to cairo. only the united arab emirates tallied the outright majority view of the united states when

you make reference to the media coverage of president barack obama and some of his views and speeches about race he said it not has been a sharp, as precise as it should be. tell me how you think obama as the first african-american president has been covered? >> guest: i think he has been covered any unique and interesting ways. in terms of the politics of race, race is always shadowing in contouring this presidency. specifically what i talk about in the book and i tried to write about is the way in which the president is trying to talk and address race as a president of the united states, how the media has really read the speeches in ways differently than i would have. for instance, there is an naacp speech that the president gave last year in 2009 celebrating the hundredth anniversary of that civil rights organization. in that speech he really does a couple of things. one, he critiques african americans who aren't doing the right thing, people who are taking care of their kids, who aren't, you know, promoting education for their kids, but he also acknowledges that racism is still a

. >>> tonight senator harry reid racial remarks about barack obama calling him light-skinned with no negro dialect unless he wanted to have one. >> i apologized to the president. i could have used a better choice of words. >> this is a good man on the right side of history. >> will the majority leader keep his job? plus, more from an explosive new book. which gop insider called sarah palin a reckless choice as john mccain's running mate? why elizabeth edwards whipped off her blouse in a rage. how bill clinton broke down over media coverage of hillary. >> i'm not playing your games today. >> the so-called conspiracy that led to barack obama's candidacy. blowing the lid off backroom politics next on "larry king live." >>> good evening. welcome, everybody. i'm soledad o'brien sitting in for larry tonight. let's look at the excerpt from "game changer" that ignited the political firestorm around senate majority leader harry reid. here's what it said in part. >> joining us tonight to discuss the comments, his apology and all of the fallout is jeff johnson from b.e.t., james carville tonigh

situation, they are fighting barack obama because who he is.oint, do you think that sarah palin will run in 2012? guest: i am not going to try to get inside of her head, but i think it's possible and i think she's got a base, it wouldn't surprise me at all. host: we have oscar joining us from tennessee. caller: good morning, i was listening to a couple of the most recent callers. the lady that mentioned from brentwood that mentioned the fact she didn't want to be considered a racist. being african-american who supported during the primaries, hillary clinton, i definitely would not, you know see anything against her support of hillary clinton. hillary clinton had a lot of african-american supporters. i don't think that would be an issue. but the one thing i want to ask the author, this whole phenomena of last callers pointing out that women can't win, itnus doesn't look like as long as we have this notion that because of gender there is something wrong with their candidacy. there is going to be something wrong. and it's kind of disheartening bec

as for kenya, we also expected that he should also come and also build our economy a little. >> barack obama is pushing our president and other officials to clear corruption in kenya, so that we can get a peaceful country. >> our leaders could learn much more from obama. and the first one is the determination when he was campaigning-- yes, we can! and that faith that we can... because, in any case, what's troubling africa, these problems are problems that can be solved by ourselves. if you want, we can say the way he said-- "yes, we can solve these problems." >> lehrer: again, the major developments of the day: pleas for quick action grew ever more urgent in haiti, one week after the earthquake hit. more u.s. soldiers and marines arrived in port-au-prince, but relief agencies reported lack of security is holding up distribution of aid. and two more american troops were killed in afghanistan. the newshour is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari. >> sreenivasan: we'll be tracking the massachusetts senate race tonight. you'll find updates, links to cover

believe, about what happened in the white house meeting george bush held with john mccain and barack obamaeresting but it showed how unprepared john mccain was, how well prepared obama was. as you listen to obama take over the meeting, it seems that if you close your eyes, you would believe that this is the president of the united states, not george bush or john mccain. we have a very interesting story about david geffen and maureen dowd and a devastating column that maureen dowd wrote in the early part of the nomination, how that came to be, how this hollywood mogul and this "new york times" columnist bill is one of the first blows to -- dealt one of the first blows to hillary clinton's inevitability. host: she was trying to write that column before she got him to agree to do it. guest: an interesting case of two not only prominent people, but iconic people, it the most prominent "new york times" column is about time -- it columnist of our time, and david geffen, this incredibly influential hollywood figure. he was the head out atf dreamworks and he had turned against the clintons but he

actually one year when barack obama was inaugurated. very popular with so much popularity behind him. the thought was to get it passed relatively quickly. it's gone on and on and on and now exactly one year later, democrats lose in massachusetts, in new jersey, in virginia, the statewide contests and it looks different, the political environment now than it did exactly one year ago. >> larry: wolf blitzer, thank you for yoman-like worm all night long. when we come back we meet our panel of pundits and experts. don't go away. approximate >> larry: let's meet our first political panel. in washington andrew card. he was white house chief of staff to president george w. bush. he voted for brown. here in los angeles tanya acker. back in washington our man david gergen, cnn's senior political analyst and adviser to presidents nixon, ford, reagan and clinton. scott brown took a popular stance during his campaign, very much an it's against us big, bad washington theme. he sounded that theme in his victory speech. >> i will remember while the ho

it's easy to forget just a day before that she was in a debate in new hampshire and barack obama said to her there's a question about her personality and her likability and president senator bayh obama said you are likable enough. he was joking of course and some of the women in new hampshire felt that was very decisive. in the choking lot moment occurred there was a lot of media criticism of her. there was a lot of saying she was finished. it's over. this is her ed muskie moment and there is a sense there was an uprising among the women of new hampshire and some of the people can draw out of state like the caller to say we are not going to stand for this reader was one of the offers moments in the campaign she wasn't just hillary clinton former first lady running for president, she was a woman being dismissed and female voters are not going to stand for it. >> host: for anne kornblut for richmond independent good morning. >> caller: good morning. i just had a question for the guest. it seems to me during the campaign primaries the main difference between ferc president obama and hill

que se reunió con zelaya y le dijo que lo que tenÍa que hacer, zelayh@univisi@ >> debe enfrentar barack obamaama ya estÁ enfrentada a hugo chÁvez y el alba. >> seÑ castaÑeda usted cree lo mismo? debe el gobierno enfrentarse en gobiernos como el de venezuela, bolivia, argentina? >> de enfrentarlo por supuesto que sÍ. pero no militarmente. sino llevando el debate polÍtico. del debate diplomÁtico en la arena pÚblica para mostrar que las posturas de venezuela, bolivia, ecuador, nicaragua no son positivas. no le sirven a amÉrica latina el problema es que los estados unidos esto no lo puede hacer sÓlo si lo empieza a ser sólo va a resultar nuevamente un ejemplo de imposiciÓn norteamericana, de unilaterales o norteamericano lo que tenÍa que hacer obama es convencer a sus aliados naturales en amÉrica latina como mÉxico, colombia, chile ahora con un nuevo presidente. perÚ, quizÁs el caso de brasil un poco mÁs adelante tal vez cambiarÁ de presidente brasil a fin de aÑo, actuar con sus aliados, insisto no por la vÍa militar. por la vÍa de el debate, la confrontaciÓn ideológica para mostrar los avances d

>> this is in the early 2006, late 2005 period, barack obama, like all politicians in washington had .c., called hope fund. obama invited -- interviewed and eventually hired anita dunn to run that p.a.c. he was an unusual candidate in this respect. even before he was elected to national office, when he was still a candidate for the senate in 2004, he was able to raise money for other democratic senators. it was clear that he was going to win by a landslide, he was out doing fundraising events for people like tom daschle, who were sitting senators. immediately on arriving in washington, he was an unprecedented fundraising draw. he could go around the united states and turn out huge crowds. mark and i, at the time we were following this, we knew obama was traveling around and raising money, but i don't think, until we reported the book, that we had a clear sense -- we talked to people like claire mccaskill, he would come to new york for her and they had to get an overflow room, not only did they need the room for the ,000 or 3,000 paying a lot of money but the separate froorm 10,000 to

president barack obama who is pursued what i consider half hearted. not to say half baked efforts at diplomatic outreach is given the region a bad name. the obama administration has not pursued engagement aimed a the kind of realignment of relationships between the united states and islamic republic as what president nixon did. obama has made some nice statements and he's offered some interesting or favorable rhetoric, rhetorical formulations in addressing iranian leaders but put no proposals on the table that would address key iranian strategic needs and he's not laid forward a road map for realigning relationships for the two countries. until we do that we in the united states have not been serious about engaging iran. it's unfortunate the half hearted a tempts the obama administration made in this last year are taken as litmus test that engagement with iran won't work. i think strategic engagement with iran is absolutely needed and for us to adopt regime change for the islamic republic. what i think was a very bad decision. host: good morning republ

barack obama tried to reframe his presidency, remind people that he was not just this lefty big government man but in terms of substance there was very little change. and i think that really says a lot about obama very different from bill clinton. >> woodruff: cynthia tucker, not a different president? >> by no means. this is the president that we saw in the campaign in 2008. he reiterate misdemeanor of the things that he ran on. he was... he projected an aura of confidence and resolve, determination, and i think he accomplished what he needed to accomplish. he reminded americans that he understands their economic anguish. he needed to, as ronald reagan did, remind americans how we got in the mess that we were in. and he needed as well to raledly base, to tell them he wasn't running away from the promises he'd made in 2008. and so i thought he did all of those things. the speech was a little long, but i think it was a good speech under the circumstances. >> warner: reihan salam, he accomplished all that he needed to do? >> i think michael made a very, very good point. when you look at pres

i really want barack obama to do well. i think other presidents as we have seen them have a greater sense of strategic payoffs and the downsides. >> let's come home before we turn to the audience, go to will and maybe think about his remarks and those of professor steele. will, you observed a lot of ambition and the president's domestic agenda, but more words than accomplishments so far. let's assume that we get to the state of the union on february 1 and health care reform that has changed the entire structure of the american health insurance market has been enacted, and he is coming forward to celebrate what he will regard as an historic achievement and social policy. at that stage, does dr. steele's criticism that he does not have the toughness, the vision, the sense of direction that roosevelt had changed, in your view? does the ratio of words to accomplishments suddenly change? what do you think would be reasonable to expect of this president? >> i tried to say the same things, in a gentler way. i think this president

and barack obama is one of the most talented and far-seeing people we've elected president in quite ae. who knows what's going to happen but it is a stormy sea. >> lehrer: all right, speaking of the stormy sea, dan, how do you read the simple fact, at least according to the polls, the critics coming after barack obama are coming on very strongly from the left and very strongly from the right at the same time. is that to be expected or is there something unusual you see there that you can explain to us? >> i think it's two different phenomena, jim. going back to the point about jimmy carter, i think that the challenge that barack obama has faced and continues to face is one that was part of the narrative of the campaign that he had to overcome, which was this question was did someone with the limited amount of experience he had , was he going to be able to govern in a very dangerous world and would he have the strength to be a strong commander in chief? he passed that threshold, obviously, in the campaign. that's different than passing it as president. i think there will always be some

and i think in some ways he overestimated the power of barack obama. i think he had sort of grown accustomed to in his political life, in his short political life seeing people respond to him and see people respond to his words in the united states. obviously in the election, in a way we expect to see it in the world, but we haven't seen it when we spent the first year with him. >> bret: charles? >> it was an international affairs this resreset, the idea he was going to remake the world has not worked. he has had an unfortunate first year. one hope he is will learn from it. give you an example of the outreach, and the efact it's had. copenhagen in underreported story he arrives late and he wants an agreement with the chinese premier. but he makes a strong statement on arrival that the chinese have to allow inspections. the chinese are insulted as the meetings he scheduled with the chinese prime minister. the prime minister doesn't show up. he sends a deputy to the first meeting. then an even lower level associate to a second. same with iran, where obam

i think barack obama is very intelligent. he has a mind to change this country in line with the previous progressive thinkers and phases of liberalism over the course of the 20th century. i take that very seriously. our job, i think, is rather than merely quoting a founder here and there, which is unfortunately what a lot of people do, is to think seriously about these principles and how they play in our politics. because we have got to be smarter every means ean to defed these things. i think we've got a lot of work ahead of us. >> i understand that, you know, we are at that pivotal point in american history, but you have to wonder that barack obama was elected by the people. this is a democracy. democracies are run by the majority of the people. so it looks like, to me, he might be the type of candidate that the people wanted. perhaps, we need to look into wind they e l e cted barack obama. are we really tired as american people of the old system? >> i think that is a great question. i would actually suggest that has not be

i really want barack obama to do well. think other presidents have a greater sense of strategic payoffs if they invest in down sides. >> let's come home before return to the audience into will and maybe think about the implications of between his remarks and those of professor steele. will, you observed a lot of ambition in the president's domestic agenda but more words than accomplishment so far. let's assume we get to the state of the union on february 1 and health care reform dead husks -- that has changed the structure of the insurance argument has been enacted and he is coming forward to celebrate what he will regard as a historic achievement in social policy. at that stage, does dr. steele's criticism that he does not have the toughness, the sense of vision, the sense of direction of roosevelt havd change in your view? what do you think would be reasonable to expect of this president? >> i tried to say the same thing in maybe a slightly gentler way. i think this presidency has ceded too much authority to congress to

a new book called game change quotes reid as saying, barack obama could win the white house because he light skinned and had no negro dialect unless he wanted to have one. president obama said he accepts reid's apology. dana bash reports reid is reaching out to members of congress, including julian bond, wade henderson and jim clyburn. >>> in federal court in new york today, a not guilty plea from a suspected collaborator in an alleged terror plot last september. the muslim immigrant from bosnia is accused of getting training from al qaeda, also an alleged associate of najibullah zazi. >>> the suicide bomber who killed seven cia officers was real really a double agent for the taliban. >> reporter: speaking in arabic and english, al awawi leaves no doubt. we can't confirm his claims, this much is clear, he told the jordanians he was going to pakistan for medical training and to help them target al qaeda leaders. but all along, his plan was to attack u.s. targets. >> i came to them and i told them everything, and we arranged together this attack. >> reporter: for this veteran of middle e

that during the campaign last year senate majority harry reid was telling people privately that barack obama's campaign would be helped because he was, quote, a light-skinned african- american with no negro dialect unless he wanted to have one." reed spent all day yesterday

> one of the things that i found interesting in your piece was that a lot of the policies that barack obama is following now were actually policies he adopted from the bush administration on terrorism. during the campaign he sort of ran against the first-term bush but as those policies were moderated, he has now adopted many of those that bush adopted in the second term. >> right. by the time president bush left office he had already shaved off some of the most, you know, extremely radical parts of the first-term counterterrorism policy. president obama kept a lot of it. he didn't give up the right to have renditions. he still has people being detained without trial. >> schieffer: it's a fascinating piece. i highly recommend it. we're out of time. we'll be back in a moment. employees everywhere are sending out an sos.

and he, barack obama, is not against every war.the opening lines of his antiwar speech in chicago. he said i'm not against all wars. i'm just against dumb wars. shows you what intelligence will get you. the formula should tell you this. without pressure from the left, the center will move right. pay no attention, for the attention to the details of obama. pay attention to what does it take to wake us up, to put more progressive pressure on the government on health care regulation of wall street, clean energy, get out of afghanistan, if that's your agenda, and others. even if he agrees with you, he might encourage you covertly. he will not do anything if you're not there making him do it. i don't know if that is cynical, but makes me feel -- [applause] >> makes me feel it's a practical guide, citizens guide, to the obama era. he needs a new left. just like john kennedy needed a new left. [inaudible] >> they will give him more time for a while, but i think the time is up. the polls are going the other way. is got to be alarmed. got t

i'm going with jones. >> barack obama.have to start getting a little bit ugly. >> i mean, hey. van? you're always right here, baby. always right here. >> you talked to a lot of sound bites on the show this year. which has we used the most this year? >> most used sound bite on the show? got to be van jones. van jones. got to be. give them the wealth. give them the wealth. >> no more broken treaty. no more broken treaties. give them the wealth. give them the wealth. >> the fundamentally transform america, we're -- what was it? five days away from fundamentally transforming america. >> we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the united states of america. >> the problem with the constitution -- right? yeah. didn't go for the redistribution of wealth. crazy constitution without that! >> one of the i think the tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement because so court-focussed, i think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities

that's it in your face barack obama is this, this and this. hat casual subtle stuff like maybe showing a republican ad that shows obama with a photo of children behind him, about a sex ed, some concept of a sex ed that went on in the election. and in cnn ran an actual ad. the republican party had a right to put out, i don't believe cnn or any of the other networks had a right. it's not responsible journalism. that add -- that bad to me showed obama looking like a pedophile. he stand there like this, there's children behind them and its barack obama, wants to teach children about sex education. well, fine. show that. if you're the republican party. by cnn, msnbc, fox, no, don't show that. and i think that was very damaging. >> you self published this book what was that process like? >> i had to self publish it because the idea came to me from watching gore debate george bush actually. previously. and i watched the debate and it always think, well, george bush didn't do well. gore won that debate. he was very informative. and so at the end of the

>> i am very happy that barack obama ran for president but i have enjoyed working with them. has been tremendous, a terrific, my heart has been warmed from the response i have gotten around the country. whether it is julian bond, or coming here today, eric holder, the attorney general of the united states. he said that anyone he could do, he would do that. we have a lot to do. over the last couple of weeks, i have spent hours on the telephone with the president and others working through health care. i spent a long time with him yesterday and will continue to do this. we have a lot of work to do and will continue to do my best for the people of the state of nevada and this country. >> some have suggested that your comments were uncomfortable. how do you feel about that? >> i really appreciate people writing nice things about me. there was a wonderful editorial "the los angeles today. i am proud of the fact -- i could still remember the meeting that took place in my office with senator barack obama, telling him that i think he will be elected president. i am sure there were ot

but get on to president barack obama -- let's get onto barack obama. he had a young face when a first ran for office. but now it is a combination of gravity and gravitas have worked their toll on his face. you only need to see pictures of any president and their faces age at an exponential rate. a first will drop barack obama from a profile to give you some idea of what i am looking -- i first will draw barack obama for my profile. the eriars. the sunlight hits him here. it casts a heavy shadow on his eyes. can see someone from a distance. they tend to be small. his nose is quite small. he has a strong upper lip. you can see his face start to appear in front of you. one of the things in drawing him, the style of his portrait, i noticed something. he was born in hawaii. the more i look at him, the more i think he was not born in hawaii. i think he was born on easter island. i think fed is more of what he looks like. so we have obama. -- i think that is more of what he looks like. but get this frame in the back. you can have a look at the drawing in the

and that's what barack obama came to washington to change, and he's losing independence.e lost them in virginia, he lost them in new jersey and he just lost them amazingly in massachusetts, because the way he's governing and the democrats in washington are governing is so out of sync from what democrats were hoping for when they elected barack obama. bad candidates who are democrats can still easily win in massachusetts. this is the national mood that has swaummped the democratic pay there and it risks swamping in other places. one final point. i'm also told the six states where democrats have incumbents up for reelection, six close states, republicans are up in nevada, arkansas, colorado, delaware, pennsylvania and north dakota in all the republican polk polling in those states. this has huge national implications. >> larry: we'll get the comments of others when we come back. don't go away. [ panting ] ♪ ♪ all alone all day ♪ on and off and counting sheep ♪ while i was building my friendships, my family, while i was building my life, my high cholesterol was contributing

it was absurd. 7100 words poured about how she was barack obama's brain, you know -- essentially the karl rove figure in the obama administration. it talked about the role that she played in ensuring that obama remains authentic. and what they meant by that was his racial authenticity because she shares sort of a similar background as he does of being, you know, multiracial and she's there as a check and a balance on him, apparently. but it didn't talk about all these chicago connections. and the way that she had made money and the failures of her and richard daley's vision. and then this whole history came up again during the olympics debacle because, of course, it was the likes of valerie jarrett and the chicago cronies and richard daley who had pushed very hard for barack obama and michelle to go to bat for the 2016 olympics bid so that entire chicago contingent traveled abroad to make a that pitch. and it was a huge failure. and i think a turning point in people realizing the extent of the chicago way on the potomac. >> this is c-span's book tv. wanted c-span booktv. this is our "

with no knowledge of president barack obama or a senator barack obama. and his jurn knee.n't lessen what he has done and what this country has done to bring him to where he is. >> how much of the princess is you? i'm told the princess left-handed because you're left-handed. how much of it is a piece of you? >> i think it's very strongly a piece of me. she's the character to whom i'm most like, most similar. i am thrilled with her. i am thrilled with her. we had long conversations about what we wanted her to look like. i didn't want her to be cookie cutter. i didn't want her to be something that we've seen before and just been given aruba in a tuba. they were so receptive and excited to jump on that. i wanted her to be distinctly who she is. >> finally, what's next for you? obviously you're going to ride this wave, but what do you want to do career wise. i don't mean the next movie, the next -- but what's next for you? >> i would like to produce. i would like to produce. ultimately at some point, i think i will probably direct, but i have some more watching to do before tha

and the president, then candidate presidential candidate barack obama and joe biden, senator joe biden, talked at that time and smoothed it out. but you have to remember that this administration still tries to stay above the fray. for president obama to come out and make a statement on his own, he's saying, you know, he's dealing with this, it is done. they don't want to amplify the issue of race. >> let me read that statement from the white house from the president directly here. harry reid called me and apologized. i accepted his apology without question because i've known him for years. goes on to say i have seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and i know what's in his heart. as far as i'm concerned, the book is closed. why is it so important here to close this book, april? >> the issue of race in this country, no matter what side of the circle or square you stand in it a very hypersensitive issue. and it is something that cannot be just dealt with in a matter of a statement or just hashing out in a couple of hours after it is found you said somethin

i hope -- and this i don't know about him because i don't know barack obama personally.on't know the balance between ideology and practicality. i worked for ronald reagan, and ronald reagan is often described as highly ideological, very right wing. ronald reagan was one of the most practical people i ever met and had an understanding that if you can get half a loaf it's better than getting nothing. if you can get 60% or 70%, you probably won. you rarely get 100%. i hope barack obama has that same -- that same capacity to readjust himself in having gone what i regard as too far to the left. >> larry: one other thing, rudy, how do you regard your old foe senator clinton as secretary of state? >> well, i admire the job she's doing. it's a very difficult job. secretary -- particularly for somebody who's been -- who's run for president, run against barack obama. i think she's doing a, from what i can tell -- now, i don't know the internals of what goes on there. i think she's doing a good job. and i've disagreed with hillary clinton quite often, but i have tremendous respect

he know he needs to keep support on the independent voters, the very same vote that's gave barack obama hayes large margin 14 months ago and gave scott brown the improbable victory last night. he opposes the president's health care plan as it stands. he knows she from an independent minded state. and he can't be a senator from south carolina. south carolina republicans are different than massachusetts republicans. it will be fascinating to watch his first trip to d.c. tomorrow. >> larry: the president said he doesn't want anything concrete to happen until he is seated. was the brown camp surprised at that? >> they think the president is correctly reading the results. part of what independent voters are saying, remember, for all he said on the economy and health care and iraq and afghanistan, president obama, his promise was i'm going to make washington get alone. we are going to be grown-ups and talk to each other and get things done. voters don't like party politics. it's just the democrats on health care. just the obama and pelosi and rooid working on things. the calculation the presi