it became " bla blair's house, d then simply blair house. the house his offer to an incoming president just before their inauguration. they would stay here for an evening before the inauguration. " this is the story of a house on pennsylvania avenue, usually eclipsed by its famous neighbor, polite housebreaker guesthouse for foreign leaders, home to presidential advisors, respite for presidents, temporary quarters for president elects. all these describe blair house. >> now you of entered the old as part of this facility. if you have been there in 1850, you have been among the wedding party of the couple who was married here. " it's amazing is that everything is still here. the decorations may have changed, the colors may have been different. bucks they are the same walls and floors the engine jackson and lincoln and everybody in between walt on. -- walked on. in the 19th century, the blair's or politically active. mostly behind the scene. almost all of our political figures. and daniel webster. henry clay was entertained here in this house.

lee was invited by both montgomery blair and his father, francis preston blair, to dinner at blair house and either over dinner at the blair dining room table and probably continuing into the study with the cigars and the madera, at lincoln's request, francis preston senior and his sons present offered the command of the union army to robert e. lee in blair house, in that study. so that is testimony to the blair family influence and power. >> in the center of the wall is a large engraving depicting president lincoln and his cabinet. the oldest blair son, montgomery blair, served in lincoln's cabinet. montgomery is standing on the far right in that image. he was the postmaster general. at that time that was a full cabinet post, which it is not today. under that is a very rare matthew brady photograph of general sherman and his senior advisors. another blair son, frank blair jr., is in that photograph. he was one of the senior advisors. what's phenomenal about this photograph -- and remember, this is civil war photography. matthew brady has superimposed him into the image. frank blair was

lee was invited by both montgomery blair and his father, francis preston blair, to dinner at blair houseer dinner at the blair dining room table and probably continuing into the study with the cigars and the madera, at lincoln's request, francis preston senior and his sons present offered the command of the union army to robert e. lee in blair house, in that study. so that is testimony to the blair family influence and power. >> in the center of the wall is a large engraving depicting president lincoln and his cabinet. the oldest blair son, montgomery blair, served in lincoln's cabinet. montgomery is standing on the far right in that image. he was the postmaster general. at that time that was a full cabinet post, which it is not today. under that is a very rare matthew brady photograph of general sherman and his senior advisors. another blair son, frank blair jr., is in that photograph. he was one of the senior advisors. what's phenomenal about this photograph -- and remember, this is civil war photography. matthew brady has superimposed him into the image. frank blair was not present th

he told tony blair and others that is what he was going to do.ttrition, where one defensive position after another directive by the vice- president office had be overcome to get resolution 1441. >>Ñi at this point, even if it Ñionly lasted five minutes, in november,ÑiÑi 2002, british and american policy have come together with support from the security council, in favor of putting this back into it. >> they had already agreed before 1441 -- >> under pressure, and the resolution that watches it. -- and the resolution watches it. were the british and american governments aiming for the same target through those inspections? you talk about this war of attrition in washington. were that americans aiming for regime change and the british for the disarmament of saddam hussein? >> the americans acknowledged that if saddam hussein were to have a conversion and reveal and agree to all sorts of comprehensive measures, that in effect, even with him still there, you would have had a kind of a regime change. there was an acknowledgement in london, and tony bl

it became " bla blair's house, d then simply blair house. the house his offer to an incoming president just before their inauguration. they would stay here for an evening before the inauguration. " this is the story of a house on pennsylvania avenue, usually eclipsed by its famous neighbor, polite housebreaker guesthouse for foreign leaders, home to presidential advisors, respite for presidents, temporary quarters for president elects. all these describe blair house. >> now you of entered the old as part of this facility. if you have been there in 1850, you have been among the wedding party of the couple who was married here. " it's amazing is that everything is still here. the decorations may have changed, the colors may have been different. bucks they are the same walls and floors the engine jackson and lincoln and everybody in between walt on. -- walked on. in the 19th century, the blair's or politically active. mostly behind the scene. almost all of our political figures. and daniel webster. henry clay was entertained here in this house.

i think it could have revealed a rather large split between blair and bush. that was the high point of british influence. no sooner had the statement, demanding the early withdrawal of idea forces from west bank, that a major political operation was launched to reverse the nature of the call. colin powell had been sent to the region. when he came back, he was of the view that he had been consistently undermined by his enemies while he was away in the administration, and the u.s. congress, and by someone who is now the israeli prime minister, coming to washington and working against -- >> we got some progress on the middle east, but not nearly enough. >> the definitive american statement was one made in june, which rode back a long way and effectively said that we will leave the middle east, and we will not do anything until the palestinians get rid of yessir arafat. they didn't do that until he died. >> going through the un was another condition, going 48 resolution, -- for a security council resolution, during the british policy towards britishsaddam hussein

and it was run by francis blair of the famous blair family. >> it is at the blair house family? >> blair house, and lincoln had in his cabinet a blair, and they were blair's from missouri, actually. and polk was afraid that if he kept blair in there at the globe that blair really was more in favor of thomas hart benton and martin van buren than polk, and that that was going to be a disaster for him. so he had to maneuver to get the globe out of there so he could create the daily union. the problem was that his great mentor and the man that he revered, andrew jackson, loved blair. and jackson just could not understand why his two great protegees and friends and people that he loved so much couldn't get along. but polk pulled it off and got blair out of there and created his own newspaper, the daily union. >> so what's the difference between donald graham and the blairs? >> well, i think that today's journalism is very, very different because there's at least a significant pretense and a desire to reach for objectivity in our newspapers. we don't always live-up to that as successf

it was run by france's blair -- francis blair. there blares from missouri, actually. polk was afraid that if the cat will air in their, blair was more in favor of benton and martin van buren than polk. that was going to be a disaster for him. he had to maneuver to get the "global" out of there so he could create the "daily union." but a man that he revered, and you jackson, love the blair. jackson could not understand why his two great proteges and friends and people that he loved so much could not get along. the poll pulled off and got blair added there to create his own newspaper, "the daily union." >> what is the difference between the editor of the post today and the blairs? >> it is different because there's a significant pretense and desire to reach for object to it -- objectivity and our newspapers. we do not always live up to that successfully, but that is the rule that we try to follow. don graham is up that tradition, not a partisan press. >> you went to the university of washington and also columbia, that master's degree. you wrote for the "national observe

for example, tony blair moving seamlessly from bush-blair, and that's how he's perceived in national politics. but the other factor, if we want to globalize this argument at the moment, is that we are at the end of an era where people played political assumptions fundamentally that, the market was good, that the market could sort out a lot of the problems which the world might have faced. now following their banking collapse and the rest of it, there is a realization that what we call a state -- let's not get confused, that the government has a bigger role, but precisely a time when the government can't actually find the money to do something to occupy that big a role, and, therefore, has to go back to relying on individual responsibility. and it seems to me that's the question in all of these elections, we've been talking about that balance between private enterprise and between the role of the central states. it's what's going to be argued out. >> i suspect that will be a key debating point in elections coming up. i'd like to ask you a little built about the quality of the discours

our guest is blair levin who's leading up the initiative at the fcc. >> host: well, blair levin is back at the federal communications commission, this time as the omnibus broadband initiative executive directer, and he is our guest this week on "the communicators." amy schatz of "the wall street journal" is joining us, joining in the questioning of mr. levin. we're about 50-odd days away from the national broadband plan being presented to congress, could you give us a status update on that report? >> guest: sure. we have been giving status updates all along. in september we laid out for the fcc kind of what we thought the state of broadband was in the united states. in november we laid out what are the most significant problems we need to deal with, a couple weeks ago we laid out how to think about how to address those problems. and right now we're in the situation where over the holidays we are busy trying to kind of write up our best view of what's in a very, very extensive record, literally tens of of thousands of pages have come in. we've had over 30 workshops where these issues hav

a blair in his cabinet.m was his great mentor, and derrick jackson, lovrew jackson, loved balir. what is the difference between donald graham danand blair? >> there is set lisa significant pretense and desire to reach for opt activity in the newspapers. we do not always live up to that successfully, but that is the rule that we try to follow. donald gramm is of that tradition. >> you went to the university of washington and the university of columbia. you grope for something called -- you wrote for something called "the national observer." it was a weekly newspaper. >> most people thought the writing was sparkling. i loved working for it. on the last date of june, 1977, the chairman of dow jones took a helicopter down from new york to tell us they were closing it down. >> what did you do after that? >> i ended up congressional quarterly as managing editor. i spent 2.5 years at that job and seven years as executive editor in 12 years as ceo and president and turned cheap at congressional quarterly. >> it was

our guest is blair levin, leading up the initiative at the fcc. could you give us a status update on the report? >> sure. we have been doing status updates all along. september we laid out for the fcc kind of what we thought the state of broadband was in the united states. in november, we laid out the most significant problems. a couple of weeks ago, we laid out how to address those problems. now we are in a situation where we are busy trying to ride up our best view. we have had 30 workshops, a number of public notices were we ask orrin questions, and we are now in the process of taking that information income -- in, trying to make recommendations, putting our country in the right path towards a healthy broadbent ecosystem over the next 10 years. >> what is the most important thing in developing this broadband the plan? >> a number of things. first, we have to make sure we connect all americans. second, we have to make sure there is a plan for having broadband be affordable. we have to have a plan to make sure that broadband is used to solve publ

one -- there's an example of tony blair moving from clinton blair to bush blair. and i think that -- that is how people see it. but the other plateau which, if you like, if we want to globalize this argument at the hometown is -- moment is that we are at the end of an era where people made political assumptions that the market was good and the market could sort out -- a lot of the problems which the world faced. now i think following the banking collapse and the rest of it, there is a realization that what we call the state, let's not get confused where you probably would -- talk about the government has got a bigger role but precisely the time when the government can't actually find the money to did something -- do something to occupy that role and has to go pack to relying on individual responsibility. that's the question in all of these elections that we have been talking about that balance between the individual and between, private enterprise and between the role of -- of the central state. is -- it is what going to be argued now. >> i suspect that will be a

tony blair is a viciously unpopular in britain. there is no section of society where you mention his name and people don't -- people almost spit at the mention of his name. it is not surprising he spent so much time abroad. >> there are other reasons for that. >> what most people want for christmas is they would love the -- they would love tony blair to be convicted. it is expressing itself in [inaudible] >> in this blessed world we live and you are describing a situation where it is probably news that tony blair is so unpopular in britain. [unintelligible] >> obama was certainly more popular abroad. >> president obama is still much more popular abroad and his popularity has not rubbed off abroad to the extent it has in this country. the reputations don't travel as quickly as you might think others travel. cracks it is because of democracy. if you have rival party is going -- international politics, there is a bunch of leaders in office. it does not matter where they come from ideologically. the other factor is that we are at the e

our guest is blair levin, leading up the initiative at the fcc.ld you give us a status update on the report? >> sure. we have been doing status updates all along. september we laid out for the fcc kind of what we thought the state of broadband was in the united states. in november, we laid out the most significant problems. a couple of weeks ago, we laid out how to address those problems. now we are in a situation where we are busy trying to ride up our best view. we have had 30 workshops, a number of public notices were we ask orrin questions, and we are now in the process of taking that information income -- in, trying to make recommendations, putting our country in the right path towards a healthy broadbent ecosystem over the next 10 years. >> what is the most important thing in developing this broadband the plan? >> a number of things. first, we have to make sure we connect all americans. second, we have to make sure there is a plan for having broadband be affordable. we have to have a plan to make sure that broadband is used to solve public p

for example, tony blair moving seamlessly from bush-blair, and that's how he's perceived in national politics. but the other factor, if we want to globalize this argument at the moment, is that we are at the end of an era where people played political assumptions fundamentally that, the market was good, that the market could sort out a lot of the problems which the world might have faced. now following their banking collapse and the rest of it, there is a realization that what we call a state -- let's not get confused, that the government has a bigger role, but precisely a time when the government can't actually find the money to do something to occupy that big a role, and, therefore, has to go back to relying on individual responsibility. and it seems to me that's the question in all of these elections, we've been talking about that balance between private enterprise and between the role of the central states. it's what's going to be argued out. >> i suspect that will be a key debating point in elections coming up. i'd like to ask you a little built about the quality of the discours

one -- there's an example of tony blair moving from clinton blair to bush blair. and i think that -- that is how people see it. but the other plateau which, if you like, if we want to globalize this argument at the hometown is -- moment is that we are at the end of an era where people made political assumptions that the market was good and the market could sort out -- a lot of the problems which the world faced. now i think following the banking collapse and the rest of it, there is a realization that what we call the state, let's not get confused where you probably would -- talk about the government has got a bigger role but precisely the time when the government can't actually find the money to did something -- do something to occupy that role and has to go pack to relying on individual responsibility. that's the question in all of these elections that we have been talking about that balance between the individual and between, private enterprise and between the role of -- of the central state. is -- it is what going to be argued now. >> i suspect that will be a

blair jobe operated on 76-year-old erwin schmidt last april.ancerous lining of the esophagus and inserted a sleeve of e.c.m. instead of forming a scar that would block his esophagus, doctors believe the e.c.m. instructed his cells to regrow a new lining. today, schmidt is cancer-free. >> erwin schmidt: i'm eating real good, i feel terrific, and i'm starting to put weight on. no pain, no nothing. >> dr. blair jobe: that's great. >> safer: so, essentially, you gave him a new esophagus. >> jobe: we're very excited by this. and i think, you know, in my heart, i feel that this will change the way we do things, ultimately. but i think, right now, it's... it's too early to claim victory. >> safer: you look like you're claiming victory already, though. >> schmidt: i feel fantastically good. >> safer: based on that success, dr. jobe and his colleagues hope to start a full clinical trial soon. and then there's the military. the pentagon has invested $250 million in regenerative research aimed at helping soldiers with severe battle injuries, regrowing mus

for example, tony blair moving seamlessly from bush-blair, and that's how he's perceived in nationalolitics. but the other factor, if we want to globalize this argument at the moment, is that we are at the end of an era where people played political assumptions fundamentally that, the market was good, that the market could sort out a lot of the problems which the world might have faced. now following their banking collapse and the rest of it, there is a realization that what we call a state -- let's not get confused, that the government has a bigger role, but precisely a time when the government can't actually find the money to do something to occupy that big a role, and, therefore, has to go back to relying on individual responsibility. and it seems to me that's the question in all of these elections, we've been talking about that balance between private enterprise and between the role of the central states. it's what's going to be argued out. >> i suspect that will be a key debating point in elections coming up. i'd like to ask you a little built about the quality of the discourse

the memoirs of tony blair's press secretary, alistair campbell, noted that in private tony blair acknowledged that there really was no basic moral difference between the two sides, they were essentially the same. and in parliamentary hearings after the 1999 war, the british minister of defense, lord george robertson, stated that up until shortly before the nato bombing, up until january 1999, quote, the kla were responsible for more deaths in kosovo than the serb authorities had been. so the image of this is a simple conflict in which it was, you know, the serbs were doing all of the aggression, and the albanians were the victims simply is not accurate, okay? and there's very little doubt, i should add, that one of the objectives of the kla was to ethnically cleanse the serbs something they ultimately achieved, to a significant degree, once they won the war. there was an uptick in fighting in 1997, or i should add shortly after 1997, because of a breakdown in civil order in neighboring republic of albanian. it meant that the arms supplies were open, and there was an enormous supply of weapons

>> one of those discussions is when tony blair came to washington in january 31st, 2003. and he was seeking to lay lay -- delay and it was time for the second security council resolution that did not look unachievable. i remember sending a telegram the night before saying come on these two points you have not won the argument yet to prepare you have to say to the president, 90 day delay and a security council resolution. he got the americans to make it an attempt for the resolution but again the americans were pressed by a it thy burlesque on a, and how were down in austria and there was a delay but it is not because we argued for but the american military said we cannot do this yet to actually until march 20. but strategically speaking it did not matter of it was january or march. if you believe, as i do, it should have been wrapped into a coherent literal diplomatic strategy, he would have gone for the autumn. >> just to complete this, in the way he got the worst of the both worlds that a return to the security council but without the time to work it through with the co

remember for example by tony blair moving from clinton/blair to bush/blair.nd that's how people see international politics. and the other factor if we want to globalize this argument, is that we are at the end of an era where people made political assumptions that the market was good and could sort out a lot of problems that the world faced. and following the banking collapse and the rest of it, there is g7da realization and n to get confused where the government has a bigger role. and at a time where the government can't find the money to do something to occupy that bigger role. and therefore has to rely on individual responsibilities. and that's the question in all of these elections, we are talking about that balance between private enterprise and the role of the central state, it will be argued out. >> and i suspect that will be a key debating point in elections coming up. i want to ask about the quality of discourse that you expect to see in the year ahead. you will have to moderate some of this. first of all, how do you think it's been in the past. what

national cable satellite corp. 2009] cheer clear next, broadband expansion in the united states and blairis back at the federal communications commission, this time as the omnibus broadband initiative executive director, and he is our guest this week on "the communictors." amy schotts of the wall street journal is joining in on the questioning. mr. levine, we're about 50-odd days away from the national broadband plan being presented to congress. can you give us a status update on that report? >> sure. as we set out in july, we have been getting status updates all along. in september, we laid out for the f.c.c. where we thought the state of broad broadband was in the united states. in november, we looked at the problems we needed to deal with. a couple weeks ago we looked at how to address those problems and right now, we're in the situation where over the holidays we are busy trying to write up our best view of what is in a very, very extensive record, literally tens of thousands of pages have come in. we have had over 30 workshops where these issues have been debated. we have had a numbe

. >> toronto's police chief, bill blair, the toronto 18 is the new and growing threat of terror. >> ite thing to keep a threat outside your borders. it is another to realize that threat can germinate and grow inside your borders and inside your own communities. >> what prevented catastrophe three years ago was inside information allowing shaikh to penetrate the group actually going on these training missions. this undercover tape the group practices guerilla war tactics. also caught on tape purchases what the would-be terrorists thought were large quantities of ammonium nitrate. this police demonstration was to show a jury how powerful those bombs would have been. >> you doemt don't say that lightly. they could have killed thousands. obtain the chemicals, all of the chemicals that they were trying to obtain, had they been able to detonate that in the city of toronto, thousands of citizens would have been killed. >> and this is your city. >> it is. it is. born and raised. homegrown. >> reporter: it's fair to say it could have happened. had mobin sheikh not intervened. >> i was the eyes

later, our look inside blair house.n the mid 1990's, "newsweek" named omar wasow one of the people to watch in cyberspace. he helped found a charter school in brooklyn. sunday, he talks about his career studies at harvard and what is ahead. and now, first lady michelle obama and the ceo of toys for tots. the first lady

confidence in nominating me for this position as well as to the director of national intelligence dennis blair for his support in my nomination. if confirmed by the senate i pledge to work closely with this committee as it plays a vital role in the oversight in the intelligence community. madam chairman, inr has been a treasured source of information and analysis for policymakers for more than 60 years. inr is also a deeply respected voice within the intelligence community. inr's success has not been based on size or budget. rather, it has been based on the extraordinary experience, judgment, and analytical skill of its personnel. inr is earned reputation for insight and professionalism is based on a mix of civil and foreign service personnel. a combination of those who spend years and often decades on an issue buttressed by those with recent experience in our embassies overseas. if confirmed i will work to enhance the ability of these fine professionals to do their jobs through training, academic opportunities and service overseas. and i will work to recruit the finest people available. i wil

oh, blair gavin over the net and it is over. virginia wins their sixth college cup championship.e. >>> back to basketball. a couple of other acc games this afternoon. wake forest had no probable with elan while clemson blew out fuhrman. >>> tune into "the final score" comes at you although 10:30 on most of these regional sports network. we have a good one going on as the rams of rhode island lead boston college at the half 33-25 the score. send it back out to chestnut hill after the break. enjoy the rest of the game. we'll see you for "the final score" tonight. oh! blue! time! time out. i touched it. i touched the ball before it went out, coach. come on, alex, the ref did not call that! you gotta be kidding me, alex! it's the championship game! talk to him, coach. i touched, it's their ball. don't foul them when they inbound. team on 'three.' one, two, three. nice going, alex. sorry coach. alex! good call. >>> the rhode island rams lead boston college 33-25. and akeem richmond, a perfect 3 for 3 from downtown with nine points to lead the way. more of the acura halftime report com

day, the british are currently conducting an iraq war in korea, and are expecting to hear from tony blair and others. what do you hope to learn from that? >> i think the british decision is very important, to go forward. it is something we need to do in this country, and the efforts of president obama describing it to look forward has been translated into not taking seriously the accountability of the violations of u.s., domestic, and international law that may have occurred. the coalition's in afghanistan, there are uncanny and unfortunate soleri's to the coalition around iraq where we documented -- similarities to the coalition around the iraq war. this time around, we heard president obama's say in his west point speech, when he spoke about the escalation, he talked about a coalition of 43 nations participating with us. he did not identify them. the nation of georgia has one soldier in afghanistan. iceland has two. ireland has four. jordan has seven. bosnia, 10. there are three or four countries, the u.k., australia, can live up -- canada, and italy, with syria's troops. the rest of th

there'll be a forum on the 2010 political landscape and later, a look inside blair house, the president'sal guest house. coming up in 30 minutes, general ga

national cable satellite corp. 2009] cheer clear next, broadband expansion in the united states and blair levine is back at the federal communications commission, this time as the omnibus broadband initiative executive director, and he is our guest this week on "the communictors." amy schotts of the wall street journal is joining in on the questioning. mr. levine, we're about 50-odd days away from the national broadband plan being presented to congress. can you give us a status update on that report? >> sure. as we set out in july, we have been getting status updates all along. in september, we laid out for the f.c.c. where we thought the state of broad broadband was in the united states. in november, we looked at the problems we needed to deal with. a couple weeks ago we looked at how to address those problems and right now, we're in the situation where over the holidays we are busy trying to write up our best view of what is in a very, very extensive record, literally tens of thousands of pages have come in. we have had over 30 workshops where these issues have been debated. we have had

we've seen a real struggle between the director of national intelligence admiral denny blair who oversees the terrorism center and leonard panetta, director of the cia. there's been lots of friction and it's not a secret. it's sort of an open wound here in washington. boy, the american people are right and congress i think is going to be right to be frustrated if those sorts of personal turf battles between two agencies impede them getting their jobs done. >> okay. 15 seconds each. magic wand. first thing the president does. >> first thing he does is he forces an answer out of this. he's got to figure out who made the mistake not just on the front end but all the way up the chain. chief of station back at langley, why wasn't this spread? what's the standard? who dropped the ball? somebody clearly did that. >> the president was angry. we have to get to the bottom and understand where did the ball get dropped so we can fix it. >> serious stuff. thank you all so much. >> thank you. >>> at least one member of congress is calling for the homeland security secretary's resignation. it's dan burt

and later, a special presentation of our documentary "the blair house, the president's guest house."tonight on "america and the courts," presentations from c-span supreme court week special. supreme court journalists on covering the court. former u.s. slol general and appellate attorney on arguing before the court. that's tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> in the mid-1990's, wasow was one of the most influential people to watch in cyber space. helped found a charter school in brooklyn and explained new technologies on "oprah." sunday night he talks about his current studies at harvard and what's ahead. >> former cia analyst bruce riedel chaired president obama's initial policy review of afghanistan and pakistan. he now gives a historical perspective of the past eight years of america's presence in the region, the president's decision to send additional troops and the prospects for defeating the insurgency. this hour-long talk came at a recent conference hosted by the jamestown foundation. [ >> i have been referred to the architect of obama's afghan strategy. bruce well s

later, our look inside blair house.n the mid 1990's, "newsweek" named omar wasow one of the people to watch in cyberspace. he helped found a charter school in brooklyn. sunday, he talks about his career studies at harvard and what is ahead. and now, first lady michelle obama and the ceo of toys for tots. the first lady thanked his staff who decorated the white

we've seen a real struggle between the director of national intelligence, denny blair, who oversees the national center and director leon panetta. there's lots of friction. it's an open wound here in washington. you know, boy, the american people are right and congress is right to be frustrated if those sorts of personal turf battles between two agencies impede them getting their jobs done. >> okay. 15 seconds each. magic wand. first thing the president does? >> first thing he does is he forces an answer out of this. he has to figure out who made the mistake on the front end and all the way up the chain. chief of station back at langley, why wasn't this spread? who dropped the ball? somebody clearly did that. >> the president was angry today. we have to get to the bottom and understand why the ball got dropped so we can fix it. >> serious stuff. thank you all so much. >>> at least one member of congress is calling for the homeland security secretary's resignation. it's dan burton, and he's here. our primetime exclusive in 60 seconds. while i was building my life, my high cholesterol was

the chief of the fsis, the deputy director-general of mi5, stephen land had to stay behind to brief blair, and also the director of gchq which just about everybody here knows is nsa and they were quist strayed off two langle four extensive and pretty fraught discussions. so far as mi5 and sis is concerned follicly to my surprise i was allowed to include some statistics in the book. if there is anywhere in the world the foreign intelligence service had a domestic security service which nowadays in the 21st century consoles more frequently and with more positive results, i am not aware of what those two agencies might be. beared ben plan viewpoints in the past for which that was not sure but there was a statistical analysis which i quoted in 2001 and i am happy to leave you with those statistics. >> i was wondering if you could comment on how you approach the project. you noted there was a tremendous number of files and the agency has been at work for 100 years. how did you start thinking about attacking this amount of stuff and a subsidiary question, did you and fact of personal-- or did y

. >> my view on the war in afghanistan is, tony blair took us into a war on lies.we send our troops who ain't even got a flak jacket, don't even got proper boots, to war. let the politicians go out there and do exactly what our soldiers have got to with the equipment, and see how quick they'd run and do it. >> warner: another special factor in the debate here is a widespread view that british troops were sent to war without the protective armor and helicopters they needed. >> there is a strong cause for concern about the way in which our troops have been equipped. its been a national shame in many ways. >> warner: retired army col. richard kemp, who commanded british forces in afghanistan in 2003 says the government badly under-funded the army's equipment budget, until recently. without conceding the point, secretary milliband says the government is investing more now. >> as the number of forces has risen and as the job has changed because the insurgency adopted new tactics, we've had to change and upgrade our equipment. >> warner: but kemp says the upgrades aren't

. >> my view on the war in afghanistan is, to blair took into a war on lies.we send our troops who ain even got a flak cket, don't even got proper boots, to wa let the liticians go out there and do exaly what our soldiers have got to with thequal factor in the dete here is a widespread view that british troops were nt to war without the protective armornd helicopterthey needed. >> there is a strong cse for concern about the way in whi our troops have been equippe its been a natiol shame in many ways. >> warner: retiredrmy col. richarkemp, who commanded british rces in afghanistan in 03 says the government badly under-funded the ay's equipment buet, until recent. without nceding the point, secretary milliband says the government is inveing more now. >>s the number of forces has risen and ashe job has chang because the insurgcy adopted new tactics, we've had to chge and upgrade our equipmt. >> warner: but kemp ys the upgrades an't coming fast enough. >> it's taken the british med forces a good six monthsr more to deploy a handful of mern helicopters fr iraq into

the memoirs of tony blair's press secretary, alistar cam basketball acknowledged there was no basic difference between the two sides. they were basically the same. in parliamentary hearings, the british minister of defense louder george robinson stated up until shortly before the nato bombing, quote, the kla were responsible for more deaths in kosovo than the yugoslavia serb authorities had been. so the image of this is a simple conflict in which it was, you know, the serbs were doing all of the aggression and the albanians were the victims simply is not accurate. okay? and there's very little doubt, i should add, one of the objectives of the kla was to ethically clean the serbs once they had won the war. there was an uptick in fighting in 1997 or i should add shortly after 1997 because there was a breakdown in civil order and the neighboring republic of albania meant the arms supplies was open and there was an enormous supply of weapons of kosovo which enabled the kla to begin a major insurgency and by 1998 full scale civil war had commenced. and the kla attacked serbs and policemen and there

he started by spinning tribal political capital on a completely misconceived plant to make tony blairsident of europe, and ended with britain having none of the economic. indeed, the government became so dysfunctional that at one stage peter mandelson tried to land himself a job of high representative. friends of the prime minister -- he shakes his head. did he try to get the job? is there anybody in there? he was frantically hitting the post appear that the rat was trying to leave the sinking ship but he is still on board. friends of lord mandelson, said he thought the whole thing, he thought the whole thing had been budge. those were his words but isn't that the right description for the prime minister's whole handling of this affair? on financial services, cross-border cooperation is clearly by the. however, will the prime minister confirm that britain's effectively given up its on blocking regulatory decisions in times of crisis when there's a disagreement over whether there are financial consequences for the taxpayer? you didn't mention it in your state and. perhaps he can answer

. >> our guest this week in blair levin, the omnibus executive director who previously served as chief of staff to the sec chairman. our guest reporter is from the "wall street journal." >> one issue is because of the study, which the sec asked for. you say there is no support on the hill, but there was arguably not much support for net neutrality on some parts of the hill, either. >> it is -- >> it depends on the party. but when you talk about issues like this, it sounds like you're basically saying that from your perspective, open access is not an issue you think should be going down. >> that is not what i said. we asked for studies and gave complete and total editorial freedom. we simply ask for input. we thought it was an important foundation for having a data- driven analytic record. they did a lot of things that are helpful to understanding what is going on, but it is fundamentally backwards looking. and we asked the columbia folks to be more forward-looking. on bundling, it covers eight wide spectrum of things. the court threw out certain kinds of things, but there are still som

he started by spinning tribal political capital on a completely misconceived plant to make tony blair president of europe, and ended with britain having none of the economic. indeed, the government became so dysfunctional that at one stage peter mandelson tried to land himself a job of high representative. friends of the prime minister -- he shakes his head. did he try to get the job? is there anybody in there? he was frantically hitting the post appear that the rat was trying to leave the sinking ship but he is still on board. friends of lord mandelson, said he thought the whole thing, he thought the whole thing had been budge. those were his words but isn't that the right description for the prime minister's whole handling of this affair? on financial services, cross-border cooperation is clearly by the. however, will the prime minister confirm that britain's effectively given up its on blocking regulatory decisions in times of crisis when there's a disagreement over whether there are financial consequences for the taxpayer? you didn't mention it in your state and. perhaps he can an

look at britain which arguably the most advanced, we had tony blair arguing for 10 years that britain should get behind climate change policies. and when they came into power in 1997, the labour party labour party, and he affirmed that britain was going to cut their emissions by another 50%. and they have, we have seen an increase of about 3%. it is a very, very hard thing to do. the second part, the cherry-picking, i would definitely say these are not the only four problems. [inaudible] >> i didn't get to my second part. the one question i'll frame it into one. it seems it is not the fact that climate change has caused a greater destruction of the food cycle, and the water cycle, both of which are much more dire concern for humanity and animal survival then before that you chose. are those not being disrupted on a grander scale? >> well, i'm very happy i get the chance for those two things. the food cycle actually, no, it is true, and i'm sorry, i'm just going to point to the slight. there's a lot of things i don't show in this particular talk, but if you take a look at the food prod

i do not know if it is a huge issue blair 128 incurred to that is my responsibility to put the best foot forward. >> finally, one of the responses you made to the committee's questions, u.s said the rules of the assistant secretary to share the diplomatic and four policy positions represented in the formulation of intelligence policy. can you explain what that means. >> mr. vice chairman we have a responsibility to assure that is at least one consideration and the region no secretaries they have they've voice but that is not enough to as we have a responsibility to the intelligence community and we want to make sure that the intelligence flow but there is one consideration but it is in within the councils and one of many factors taken into account with the ic. >> policy positions would affect intelligence operations? >> no sir. i did not express it well. it is a risk/reward issue. to point* out the possible downside that is known up front before something could occur before it would be taken into account at that time. >> eight use mr. vice chairman. senator white house? >> think you. cou

. >> blair levin, executive director for the f.c.c. f.c.c. and we hope you will come back after february 17 and give us a live update. thank you both. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> coming up here on c-span, a senate judiciary committee hearing on the backlog of d.n.a. evidence collected for unsolved rape cases. then at 12:20 p.m. eastern, a former c.i.a. tell intelligence officer on policy in afghanistan and later scholars and former presidential advisors discuss u.s. foreign policy. in the mid '90's, newsweek named omar wasow as the one to watch for cyberspace. he has explained new technologies on oprah. sunday night he talks about his current studies at harvard and what's ahead on c-span's "q&a". tomorrow on "news makers" national institutes of health director dr. francis collins on the latest developments in stem cell research, the future of genome technology and how nih may be affected by the healthcare bill making its way through congress.

there'll be a forum on the 2010 political landscape and later, a look inside blair house, the president'sal guest house. coming up in 30 minutes, general gary patton with training afghanistan's military police. later, we will discuss the deployment of u.s. troops a round the world and we will take your phone calls on your favorite non-books and books of 2009. -- non-pitching books of 2009. . -- nonfiction books of 2009. . >> make sure you turn down your television or radio when you call in this morning, and if you would like to reach us on twitter or e-mail, those are on the screen. favorite political story of the year. we will get to your calls momentarily. the major story for any folks -- for many folks as the health care debate about 24 hours ago. newspapers across the country "telco kristansen @" is the headline in the denver post. also the headlines in the a "los angeles *" they tried that with passage, the two houses will now negotiate a compromise legislation. and the local tallahassee newspaper, "a health-care bill passes in the senate." this is a story of how the senators voted t

s at the time, an seeing tony blair, the british public wasn't there at all. certainly not on iraq and not even on afghanistan as much. so you're seeing that. the notion of the nato alliance and maybe it's going to pledge 7,000 additional troops, you know, it's nice to have a coalition of the willing, but this is america's war. we're going to have 100,000 troops there. we own this thing. and the british, frankly, they've been there, seen it and said, no, thanks. but i mean, there's a view -- i'm not saying that they haven't been in afghanistan, but you're seeing more what you described, which is we just don't want to have a sustained commitment there. >> and i think oddly enough americans don't see the british as european. you ask someone, are these -- they don't, they don't. [laughter] >> let's go to the questions from the audience, who would like to ask? >> right here. >> yes. wait for the microphone to come. >> oh, there's people here. [laughter] >> yes, could you say who you are. >> first of all, my name is ezra matthias. gregory david raised the point abo

scales and everything from accidents of biography, i need genius all the way down to carboniferous blair of coal deposits sitting and your society. my hunch is and i've only applied this approach and a couple of case studies but my hunch is when we have periods of brick fresen this is certainly true in the case of cholera in 1854, in a sense all of those layers are stacking up in the lining in some way so you do have the great genius. you have priestly, you have john snowe can you do have the right moment in technological history when priestly needed the tools who is using. if we hadn't had an air pump, if an air pump hadn't been invented 100 years ago he would have been able to do what he was doing. giffi had had carboniferous later fueling unfunded its innovations you would have had a hard time doing what he was doing so it is not the the great man, the great genius and the great women are irrelevant. i hope it is one of the things that comes across in the book that priestly is just an amazing guy, but it is also more than that so does not to discount the genius but to say there these

he started by spinning tribal political capital on a completely misconceived plant to make tony blairesident of europe, and ended with britain having none of the economic. indeed, the government became so dysfunctional that at one stage peter mandelson tried to land himself a job of high representative. friends of the prime minister -- he shakes his head. did he try to get the job? is there anybody in there? he was frantically hitting the post appear that the rat was trying to leave the sinking ship but he is still on board. friends of lord mandelson, said he thought the whole thing, he thought the whole thing had been budge. those were his words but isn't that the right description for the prime minister's whole handling of this affair? on financial services, cross-border cooperation is clearly by the. however, will the prime minister confirm that britain's effectively given up its on blocking regulatory decisions in times of crisis when there's a disagreement over whether there are financial consequences for the taxpayer? you didn't mention it in your state and. perhaps he can answe

day, the british are currently conducting an iraq war in korea, and are expecting to hear from tony blairt do you hope to learn from that? >> i think the british decision is very important, to go forward. it is something we need to do in this country, and the efforts of president obama describing it to look forward has been translated into not taking seriously the accountability of the violations of u.s., domestic, and international law that may have occurred. the coalition's in afghanistan, there are uncanny and unfortunate soleri's to the coalition around iraq where we documented -- similarities to the coalition around the iraq war. this time around, we heard president obama's say in his west point speech, when he spoke about the escalation, he talked about a coalition of 43 nations participating with us. he did not identify them. the nation of georgia has one soldier in afghanistan. iceland has two. ireland has four. jordan has seven. bosnia, 10. there are three or four countries, the u.k., australia, can live up -- canada, and italy, with syria's troops. the rest of there for politica