and who will president obama choose to replace blair? james clapper. he's the pentagon's top official. >>> they now know what sparked a cockpit fire. the plane made an emergency landing at dulles as it headed from new york to los angeles and window heating equipment is being blamed for the fire. passengers say that they could see the flames when the pilot opened the the door. >>> federal agents took a gun before he boarded a flight in boston last night. investigators say they confronted the pilot after he threatened to, quote, harm himself in a spectacular fashion. the pilot was taken to the hospital for evaluation and charged with illegal possession of a firearm suggesting he might be a member of the federal flight deck officer program. >>> next here at 6, landing a new job in a tough economy. a trump dishes out what you can do to get hired.  >> more people in our area are working, according to new economic numbers. take a look. the unemployment rate approved the last month n. maryland, the first drop since december 2007, when the reces

and we think that admiral blair did a great job. >> reporter: blair's resignation takes effect next friday. his top deputy will take over until president obama picks the next person responsible for coordinating intelligence. kathryn brown for cbs news, washington. >> one of the leading candidates to replace blair is james clapper, a pentagon official who heads up the military intelligence gathering operations. >>> more information about the removal of a jet blue pilot from his flight. after confusion about whether the pilot had a medical issue or was a threat to himself and others. mary is live in the news room with what is being said. >> reporter: vick, investigators said the pilot was due to a medical emergency. later a police source said a flight attendant would used to date the pilot had received an email indicating he was distraught. investigators say the pilot had threatened to harm himself in a spectacular fashion. prior to the flight a weapon was taken to the pilot. police did not charge the still unnamed pilot with illegal possession of a firearm. action suggests he may be part of

and blair was just coming in oft at that time. and both were people, politicians who were center-left politics. and this relationship was a time and place in history where it came together. they formed this relationship. which was personal as as well as political. tavis: yeah, i was about to ask how many of their relationship was about these two countries? because one gets the impression of reading about them in office, they had an interesting and special relationship with each other as individuals. >> right, the term special relationship goes back a ways. great britain and united states have had that relationship before. with churchill and roosevelt in particular. blair took clinton's play-book to win the election in britain. they had problems in the relationship along the way but they got a lot of things done together. tavis: michael sheen, i was honored to have him here and he played tony blair, your first time with clinton on the krescr. >> yeah, my first time. tavis: michael sheen had you on the number of times. >> yeah, i al

interestingly, earlier this week president obama sought blair's resignation but blair pushed back, sayingen. on thursday afternoon, president obama called admiral blair and the resignation should come as soon as friday. jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >>> supreme court nominee elena kagan meets with three democratic senators on capitol hill today. pennsylvania's bob casey, montana's max baucus, and virginia's mark warner. kagan is making courtesy calls in advance of her confirmation hearing, which is now set for june 28th. meanwhile, the national archives is rushing to clear over 160,000 pages of documents from her work in the clinton white house. >>> now to the new chemical concerns in the gulf. they involve the dispersant that bp has been using to break up oil slicks. the epa says it's too dangerous to use and must be discontinued. 700,000 gallons of it have been used so far. bp says it's used the chemical because it's been the only kind that's been available in large supplies. >> any living organism that contacts this stuff, particularly the mixture of dispersant and oil, has a

jayson blair was troubled. and he acknowledged that he had mental, emotional difficulties. and that all played out at the "new york times." but the fact that he was black led some people to assume that gerald, an african-american man, who promoted diversity in the newsroom was in some way aiding and abetting this journalistic criminal when that was not the case. and, in fact, you know, jason did not like gerald as he wrote in his own book because he could not get the support that he needed from gerald so gerald didn't higher jayson. he didn't supervise him directly and he certainly did not mentor him but the assume was that there was a connection between the two. and i think that affected gerald's tenure, the end of his tenure quite significant. >> your husband died in 2006. >> yes. >> four years later you're publishing a book with his name on it and an introduction by you. >> well, i did the afterword. "my times in black and white" is gerald's book. after he left the time, he wrote a draft -- he wrote two drafts actually. the first one was 800 and some odd pages and i reme

we're told president obama lost confidence in blair because of his inability to share intelligence in a comprehensive way. including the recent failed times square bomb plot. >>> rand paul is scrambling to clarify what some are calling a racial remark. paul is backed by the tea party. in tuesday's primary, he defeated another republican who was backed by the gop establishment. now, he's explaining his stand on civil rights. it came into focus in interviews this week, including one on msnbc. >> do you think that a private business has a right to say we don't serve black people? >> i'm not in favor of any discrimination of any form. what about freedom of speech? should we limit speech from people we find abhorrent? should we limit racists from speaking? >> paul issued a written statement yesterday saying, i believe we should work to end all racism in american society and staunchly defend the inherent rights of every person. paul will speak about the controversy for the first time later in a "good morning america" exclusive. >>> well, another attempt at stopping the oil spill in the gulf

>> i didn't know blair was that much of a player in that.s a big advocate in the administration for the panetta c.i.a. view. my sense is he was struggling with leon panetta over various issues, lost bureaucratic fights. it's a weak job. the job doesn't work very well. bill may be right inside the counsel of the administration he may have been tighting for one side versus another. it will be interesting to see who now gets the job. >> chris: meanwhile, the obama administration is playing up a new set of sanctions against iran that it is apparently agreed to with china and russia. secretary of state clinton is over in asia and talking about the fact that there has to be a tough international response to the apparent north korean sinking of the south korean warship. how seriously do you take either of those? >> i think the iran sanctions actually was surprisingly good news. there was a moment at which it could have all fallen apart. when you have brazil and turkey suddenly making a great deal with iran, that it was going to ship out some of the

counter-terrorism center, which admiral blair is the supervisor of. ultimately, this was a long time coming. he has lost turf battles when it comes to the cia. he has not emerged as the face of leading the charge on reforming intelligence. it came to a head today. >> one of the issues that was supposed to change after 9/11 was the sharing of information. it was going to be seamless between the agencies and the intelligence community. there was an admission from dennis blair that that still is not happening. why? >> these are 16 entrenched bureaucracies, each of them with their own players and sources and each of them battling within the political world. without question, according to officials, things have gotten better than they were on 9/11, but they are not where they need to be. admiral blair admitted that in a statement he issued earlier this week. things are still not working as he wants them to. so there is going to be a new leader of the national intelligence organization. >> you wrote in your exclusive story that the meeting that took place b

dennis blair is resigning possibly as early as tomorrow.hank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> of next, a house panel holds a hearing on toyota's unintended acceleration problems and subsequent recalls. after that, the head of the sec talks about the market dropped two weeks ago. later, president obama on the senate finance regulations bill. tomorrow, the regulation bill that passed the senate. after that, former house speaker newt gingrich, whose new book is "to save america." also, jonathan alter on his book on the first year of the obama administration. that is at 7:00 a.m. eastern. later, a discussion on national security focusing on the u.s. president. the u.s. presence and the world's oceans. live coverage starts at 10:00 eastern. >> on june 28, supreme court justice nominee elena kagan testified before the senate judiciary committee. find all the moments from and in scalea to sonia sotomayor online at the c-span video library. every video since 1987, washington your way. now the house hearing on the toyota automobile recalls. what

dennis blair stepping down amid pressure from the white house. during his 16 months in the position blair dealt with various security lapses and had some spats with the cia. >>> track work will mean 30 minute delays on metro's green, orange and red lines. the nationals have home games today, tomorrow and sunday and the chili cookoff is tomorrow at rfk stadium. >> megan mcgrath has been talking about those bikes. >> reporter: look at all the activity we have here now. lots of folks biking to work. we got a number of bike companies. they are helping people out in terms of check out their bikes. make being sure they are in good shape. a lot of folks bike to work every day but this is an added fun event for them. others are trying it for the very first time. you're in the former category. you bike to work every day. how far do you go? >> nine miles every day, the i don't do that i don't do anything else. it's my only exercise every day. >> how long does it take? how far is it for you sore it pretty easy >> it was hard when i sfartsd. but now pretty r

. >> of merrill dennis blair has resigned -- admiral dennis blair has resigned. am joined by our count -- the security correspondent. >> there are a few things going on here. there were some security lapses that were important. in particular, the christmas day attempted bombing. and the analysts failure to follow up information. people wonder why they have not win a whole new institution have been created beneath him. why was it not working? that is one cause for his resignation. but also, clashing with the white house. put those together and it becomes untenable. the white house decided they wanted someone new. of course you are talking about the problems with the cia -- >> you are talking about the problems with the cia. is this the biggest issue they have to deal with? >> president obama has to be seen to have a grip on national security, particularly in recent events. it is vital that he is not seen as weak or having failed to protect his country. there are these clashes with the cia. the director of the cia used to be the head of the intelligence community.

. >>> under pressure from the white house, national intelligence director dennis blair is resigning. the retired navy admiral's 16-month tenure has been marked by intelligence failures and spy agency turf wars. sources say the president had clearly lost confidence in blair and had several replacement candidates already been interviewed. the national intelligence director, a position created in response to the september 11th terrorist attacks, oversees the nation's 16 intelligence agencies. >>> and now here's a look at some of the other stories making news "early today" in america. in california, officials are investigating the cause of a fire which gutted a school bus carrying third graders on an l.a. highway. look at this. passing motorists stopped to help evacuate approximately two dozen kids and chaperones. two children were treated for minor smoke inhalation and released. >>> in ohio, a woman suffering from a seizure lost control of her car and crashed into a medical building. luckily for her, dozens of doctors and nurses who were in a conference room next to the crash site rushe

he's dennis blair, director of national intelligence. bill plante has more. >> reporter: blair leaves after a series of intelligence failures and serious doubts about whether the job itself has any real relevance. in a written statement, president obama said of blair during his tenure, has performed admirably and effectively at a time of great challenges. but still blair's resignation was not a surprise. u.s. intelligence failed to identify the terrorist ties of army major nidal hasan who killed or wounded more than 40 people at ft. hood. and then there was the christmas day airline bombing attempt. there were 14 separate int intelligence failures. the agency has been under increased scrutiny in that the ranking member of the senate intelligence committee said of blair's resignation it must have been challenging to be forced on the sidelines by the attorney general but still catch all the blame for the failings. counterterrorism analyst philip mudd says the post of director of national intelligence needs to enter defined. >> he's leaving

. >>> the obama administration's intelligence director, dennis blair, is resigning. blair, a retired navy admiral, was criticized after failing to prevent the attempted jetliner bombing on christmas day. sources say he learned at the white house yesterday he no longer has the president's confidence. >>> now to iran where the mothers of those three american hikers are remaining in hopes they can convince the tehran regime to free their children from prison. they enjoyed a reunion yesterday. elizabeth palmer has the report >> reporter: proof at last that after 9 1/2 months wait, their children are alive and apparently well. iranian state television filmed the emotional reunion for broadcasts around the world. this visit was always going to be a public spectacle. and the mothers, aware of the stakes, stayed firmly on message. >> gratitude is the biggest word. gratitude to the iranian authorities for allowing us to come and visit our children. >> reporter: at a press conference, the young american hikers brought from their cells to a luxury hotel spoke about their impris

brooks or -- >> dennis blair was a victim, i think. i think he is an enormously talented man and a great patriot. he is somebody who rose to a position of preeminence that he did in the navy, solely on ability. he's not a schmoozer,. >> he is a tough guy. >> he is a tough guy and he's not a guy who has touched all the right bases socially in that sense. and i think that this is a job. david's absolutely right, with an awful lot of responsibility and minimal authority. and are you right. we get into a fight with the cia. they have vast resources, great press relations and enormous information, resources that everybody is interested in. and i think he would have a tough battle with leon panetta early on, which was a mistake. first of all, not only the cia but leon panetta is a-- is a gifted, experienced former omb director, former white house chief of staff, one term member of congress, house chairman, you know, leon panetta knows, not simply where the bodys are but where they are buried and who buried them. i think it was tough. and the

blair's 16-month tenure has been marked by intelligence failures. in a statement, blair says his last day will be next friday. >>> jetblue airlines disputing a report that one. its copilots was arrested for threatening to crash his plane. the airline said the pilot was removed for health reasons, not for making that threat. apparently, he sent his girlfriend an e-mail saying if they did not make up, he would crash the plane. the fbi questioned the pilot cho is now getting a psychiatric evaluation at a boston hospital. >>> there is word this morning of a major scientific breakthrough as scientists have created artificial life. they're sin they had i go cells. researcher says they are the first species on the planet whose parent happens to be a computer. microbiologists say these cells can help in a variety of areas. but this also opens up an ethical debate as those cells could be theoretically used for unethical purposes. >>> they are the same hungry couple that seems to find their way back into the spotlight. >> we are talking about the salahis. the

blair several times. i spoke to people like rumsfeld, and a.i.d., and the state department. >> i became frustrated by the bush administration later on. very quickly i realized that they were going to go into iraq. everyone there thought the same, once they start preparing for iraq, the eyes are off afghanistan completely, and that's what happened. i used to come to america to attend conferences, and they would call you in pro forma, but they weren't going to carry out in your suggestions because you knew the funding, resources, the troops, everything was for iraq. >> the best announcement i have been able to read is as a country we have spent 300 trillion -- billion in afghanistan. have we gotten our money's worth? >> no, not at all. i think if that had been a concentration on afghanistan. i remember two or three experts and friends of mine in the states, on the back of an envelope we worked out what the u.s. needs to do is give about $5 billion a year for five years for the development of the country and

dennis blair is stepping down amid pressure from the white house.uring his 16 months in that position, blair has dealt with security lapses and spats with the cia. in a statement, president obama said the intelligence community has "performed admirably and effectively under blair despite many challenges to the nation's security." there's still a large plume of oil and gas spewing into the gulf of mexico despite efforts to contain it. bp released more real-time video showing the oil leak and have live webcam of the flow. the company now agrees that what experts have been saying, the daily flow exceeds 5,000 barrels per day. it's siphoning that amount right now from the oil well but more continues to leak into the open ocean. lawmakers are upset. >> lost all credibility, now the decisions will have to be made by others, because it's clear that they have been hiding the actual consequence. >> the obama administration is demanding bp make public all of its information on the spill while the epa insists they use a less toxic chemical to disperse the oil.

retired admiral dennis blair resigned the post under pressure, yesterday, after just 16 months. he'd been criticized over the airliner bombing attempt over detroit last christmas and the times square bomb plot in new york. presidential spokesman robert gibbs. >> there is no doubt that we continue to have as a result, and we saw this, that the president identified on the attempted christmas day bombing. there are still coordination issues that we have to work through. the president simply believed that it was time to transition to a different director of national intelligence. >> sreenivasan: gibbs also commended blair for his service in overseeing the nation's 16 intelligence agencies. big rigs and other work trucks in the u.s. will have to start meeting gas mileage and emissions standards. president obama signed a directive today, ordering federal agencies to develop the standards. they'd be phased in over four years, starting in 2014. cars and light trucks are already under a mandate to increase gas mileage nearly ten miles a gallon by 2016. those are some of the day's major s

but the president rejected blair's last-minute attempt to save his job. there were months of conflicts that he had with months of intelligence leaders. blair lost key backing on the hill this week after a devastating senate report came out about the christmas bomber got all the way to detroit before being caught blaming blair's agencies. officials tell me cia director leon panetta has told the white house he does not want blair's job. the leading candidate now is general james clapper, he heads the intelligence at the pentagon. the bigger problem is that the post-9/11 reorganization that reated this whole new intelligence apparatus just has not worked but no one has a plan on how to fix it. >> andrea mitchell in washington, thanks so much. >>> the mothers of those american hikers jailed in iran received another encouraging sign today. nbc's ali eruzzi is tehran. is this going to be better than expected? >> reporter: this morning the three detained students get a chance to spend a little more time with their mothers in a tehran hotel room fueling hopes for

and blair pushed back, asking the president to reconsider. hoping he could appeal to white house chief of staff, rahm emanuel. that did not work. and the president spoke with him yesterday afternoon. and blair offered his letter of resignation, which will arrive as soon as today. i'm hearing from washington officials that a leading candidate to replace blair is the undersecretary for defense intelligence, retired air force general, james klabbard. chuck hagel has been considered. jake steinberg. it seems right now clapper is the leading candidate. >> somebody had to take the fall for the near-misses on the terrorist strikes. you'll have a lot more on "this week" this sunday. >>> we'll have more analysis of what's going on in the markets and the economy, and the impact that bill may have. we're turning to art cashin, the director for ubs financial services. art, we've seen over the last month, has been described as a slow-motion crash in the markets. since late april, more than 1,000 points. what do you think is behind it? >> if greece is goin

when george bush first visits england to solicit the partnership of than tony blair and the war of iraq there of course was a protest that took place. and so the british rostow and built a huge wooden box over the entire statute about 6 inches thick because they were afraid that it might get defaced during the protests that were going on in the days that bush was in london with tony blair. i wish i could've gotten a photograph of it but i didn't. anyway this is the famous saint-gaudens statue that appears in the parliament square. we saw that last year. we were their last year. next, please. that is the original st. famous lincoln statue in chicago lincoln park. vv with a little bit differently than they do in london england. what i'm not so sure that is defacing lincoln as much as a cultural statement of potheads. the next pleased with the more modern sculptors coming out in the last few years of course in keeping with us and our advanced way of thinking and our interactive, they want you to go up and shake hands with him and say hi, how're you. [laughter] here is a good friend of mine

going with this one when george bush first visited england to solicit the partnership of then tony blairthe war in iraq so the british rushed out and built a huge wooden box about 6 inches thick because they were afraid it might be defaced with the protest going blind the to-- bush was in london with tony blair probation could have gotten a photograph but i didn't. this is the famous statue that appears in the london parliament square. be saw that last year. that is the original gardens of famous lincoln statue and chicago, lincoln park. they view it a little bit different there in the london england to. but i am not so sure that is defacing link and other than a cultural statement o the hot heads. [laughter] the more modern sculptors coming out in the last few years in keeping with us and our advanced way of thinking they want us to shake hands with them and say how were you? there is a good friend of mine in westfield new york this statue was put up the little girl who wrote the letter that said if you grow a beard because your face is so thin and narrow they would vote for you and the

blair announced his resignation on thursday. >>> today secretary of state hillary clinton said northorea must face consequences for sinking a south korean ship in march that killed 46 sailors. south korea's president held an emergency meeting this morning to weigh possibly sanctions against the north which threaten to retaliate with military action. >>> bp now concedes that the oil leak in the gulf of mexico is larger than its original estimate of 5,000 barrels a day. on thursday, the obama administration sent a stern letter to the oil giant calling for all information on the leak to be made public. >>> another emotional reunion today in tehran between three american hikers and their moms. the hikers have denied charges they were spying when they crossed the border from iraq into iran some ten months ago. >>> police in greeley, colorado have confirmed that a body found in an irrigation ditch wednesday is that of missing sixth-grader kayleah wilson. her death was ruled a homicide. wilson disappeared nearly two months ago on her way to a birthday party. >>> now to a murder in a small s

he served as tony blair's chancellor of the injector. he took over as labour leader and prime minister. here is his farewell speech. >> as you know, that general election left no party the ability to command a majority in the house of commons. . oesn't prohibit the states from defending themselves against invasion. i would hope the attorney general would understand that principle. there's -- but that's -- i address that because there's only two places in the constitution that address immigration. and the other place, and i think that i've handled that issue so it's essentially not rebuttable. then the other point is article 1 section 8 of the constitution, the other place where immigration is dealt with, where it says that the congress shall have the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. uniform rule of naturalization. well, what can that be? that means that congress sets the legal immigration laws with regard to how people come into this country and become citizens. we do that. we've set those standards. but there's nothi

. >> dennis blair, director of national intelligence -- why did the president lose faith in him, nina? >> by the time we appoint another one, there will let if you are directors of national intelligence over five years. -- there will have been four directors of national intelligence over five years. within i/11 commission recommended this, they envisioned a small, lean and mean operation. a few hundred people, not 1500 or something like that. the commission does not have but the purse strings. you cannot run at this in the intelligence committee if you do not have power of the purse. >> it is a perfect example of why in financial regulations you are dealing with on known -- unknowns. everybody thought at the time that he would have this great theoretical structure, and the dots would connect in the real world, that is not how it worked out. it is an extra layer of bureaucracy that did not have authority. the cia was in the struggle with dni and in the end with a wind. it created unbelievable publications. in the same way that homeland security was going to solve our problems and it ha

it is about tony blair, 9-11, all about cash.nd we are hearing about politicians that have to choose. now someone has to get it and lose it. at times we all have to lose it, and the big question hanging over today is can it last for five years? there is a sense it could crumble for in a minute. -- crumble any minute. >> thank you for those thoughts. thank you for joining us today. can i say parliament is back in business hamas -- back in business? the coalition will not get under way in implementing an ambitious legislative program. . pa

the "washington times" reports the show's executive producer told blair to, quote, come and put someave a real life. that is enticing. those are the things we thought you should know. >>> crossing the line? you tell me. a 10-year-old is pulled from class because of his spiky hair cut. that's what happened a few weeks ago as dylan ancil who attends a magnate school in fort pierce, florida. the school complained he was not complying with the dress code. i spoke with dylan and his mom jessica a short time ago and asked her how she responded to the news that dylan had gotten into some trouble because of his hair. >> i actually got a phone call from the school, the assistant principal. i was very irate. i asked her why he was pulled from class. i don't feel the hair has anything to do with his learning. and why he was pulled from the learning process due to this. and i found out later on that he was put into the clinic until after she had gotten off the phone with my mother and i. and i was not happy about that. >> whose idea was it for him to wear the hair style? it's kind of slicked on

blair winning with only just over 35% of the vote. 64-seat majority for him. down the staircase the various performances of labour leaders and if mr. brown look away how has he done? well, the answer today in the general election 29%. so that's below all the other leaders we just mentioned. in all the other elections we just mentioned. where do we go to a labour leader that performed that badly we could go to 1992. never became prime minister. neil lost that election 35.2% of the vote. still above what gordon brown got. the obvious comparison, i think, probably actually is this one, a very painful one for mr. brown. michael foote, 1983, 28.3% of the vote. and it's something that, of course, hasn't been discussed too much yet because we've been busy with so many other things. but gordon brown's performance in terms of percentage share of the vote is very low in this election. and it's one of the reasons the argument is made that he cannot stay at number 10. david? >> jeremy, thanks very much indeed. now, let's go back down to college green and join under neil.

his knowledge at tony blair who was immensely popular when he came to power.he's kind of a little bit smooth, she was a public relations man, he's been possibly ruled by one of those guys are not men, you know, the tv series. >> so is there anything at all similar about his team or message to barack obama? anything at all? >> he's young, sure. but i don't think you got anything like that kind of enthusiasm that would make people listen to barack obama won something up for the campaign. he's doing well, but i think he's doing very well because he's not one of the old two. he keeps talking about the old party, the implications of these new young he's young. heaven knows we need in this country. >> tonight live on c-span the five democratic candidates running for u.s. senate in kentucky. >> earlier today bp ceo tony hayward met with senior obama administration officials to discuss the gulf of mexico oil spill. white house press secretary robert gibbs said the company will be paying for the cleanup. this daily press briefing is about 15 minutes. >> almost got a ta

. >> dennis blair, chair of national intelligence -- why did the president lose faith in him, nina? >> by the time to appoint another one, there will have been four directors of national intelligence in five years. when the 9/11 commission recommended it, it envisioned a small, lean and mean operation to oversee things. a few hundred people, not 1000 or 1500. the position does not have budget purse strings. you cannot run and oversee an order priorities in the intelligence community if you do not have the power of the purse. this is a position, i think, that does not work very well. >> it is a perfect example of why in financial regulation you are dealing with announced. everybody imagined at the time that we are going to have this great theoretical structure -- dni will be in charge of 16 agencies and the dots will connect to it in the real world, that is not how it works out, because the extra layer of bureaucracy that did not have authority. the cia was in a struggle with dni at in the end they wind. created complications, in the same way that homeland security was going to solve

the move comes after admiral dennis blair announced he's resigning. he had lost the confidence of the president. kathryn brown has the latest from washington. >> po

guess where she was yesterday, at blair house. >> i was. >> why?as a wonderful program they put together called a face of mexico where ambassador marshall and ambassador from mexico and his wife got together a group of people and a group of youth to share a little bit of the richness of our culture and our food and cooking in those kitchens, jc, fabulous. >> i bet so. >> what are you fixing. >> something easy and quick. an avocado soup. i have some onions. you can see the difference in color. this is ronyons. a little oil and some butter. and i decided cilantro but i let the onion cook for 15 minutes on a really low eat so it would render all of the the flavor in to the oil and butter. we will add it in here. so that's done. it is finished. and the onions have caramelized and are nutty and a little bit sweet. >> you have how much avocado. >> two avocados in there. and this is so simple. you have the ripe avocados. do you know how to choose an avocado? >> no. huh? >> grab it. so it is nice and soft. if you want to hold it and grab it and it is hard,

i think director and blair -- director blair the questar government on counter-terrorism and radicalization-- director blair focused our government on counter-terrorism. he focus on afghanistan and southeast asia and in pursuing terrorists that seek to and our country harm. the president believes that at this point a transition is best for the country. >> you say you think admirable blair did a great job. why is it time for a transition? >> some of the challenges that we continue to have to take gone, the president believes it is time to make a change. >> do you give it any collaboration on why -- any collaboration on why? you just think it is time for change. >> the president simply believes that where we are and what we have to do moving forward that it is time to make a change. >> people have said he has lost confidence. >> the president decided to make the change. i will let that speak for itself. i do not have a number in front of me. i do not know the answer to that. >> a number people have said that this is a sign that the government is in disarray. >> who said that? >> an op-ed piec

. >> reporter: the man who inherited tony blair's mantle in 2007 is seeking the people's mandate forron, leader of the opposition conservatives, and three months ago, comfortably ahead in most polls. >> do we want five more years of gordon brown? or do we want change with the conservatives, who have got the energy really to keep this country moving? >> reporter: inspired by the republicans' 1994 "contract with america", he signed a "contract" with britain's voters, promising to lead the country out of recession, clean up politics soiled by malfeasance in parliament, and protect public services like britain's government-run health care system. but the traditional two-party battle between labour and the conservatives that has dominated the political landscape in britain for nearly a century has been rocked by the performance of the liberal democrats, and in particular, the televised performance of their leader, nick clegg. >> tonight, who do you want to be your next prime minister? >> reporter: mr. clegg has been catapulted to prominence by three american-style tv debates, the first in

he forced tony blair out to become prime minister. he's never won an election as a leader.did have an opportunity a few months later, which he famously bottled out on -- he famously didn't take -- >> he should have run -- >> he should have run when he could have -- i think it was october 2007, i can't remember right but i think that was right -- so he will have -- and he will have lost, and he will therefore go down in history without a doubt -- despite having done some remarkable things -- as a failure. from mr. cameron's point of view, here he was, the bright, fair hope of a nacent conservatism out of power 13 years not to get a pretty good victory, and if he finds it in terms of votes, actually a share of the votes, the liberal dems are quite close to him that means that the conservatives just aren't back -- they aren't back. they have lost quite fundamentally. so i would say, then, he too is lost. the winners, if this is the outcome would unquestionably be the liberal democrats. >> charlie: they really have a future, then? pth to be a broker? >> if they end up with the