. >>> now the daughter of former vice president dick cheney, lynne cheney hosted by the clare boothe luce policy institute in washington. this is just over 30 minutes. >> each year at the seminar we present the conservative leadership award to one woman who's shown exceptional leadership and commitment to promoting conservative values. we are honored this year to present the award to elizabeth cheney, who goes by liz. liz cheney is the left's worst nightmare. smart, articulate and a conservative woman and she is one of the few leaders in this country who is not afraid to stand up to the obama administration on critical issues like our national security. mrs. cheney is an attorney and specialist in u.s. middle east policy and recently served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for them at least affairs. in this capacity she was the second ranking state department official responsible for u.s. policy in the middle east. she practiced law and the international of international product finance and served on assignment with international finance corporation where she provided

this concerns dick cheney during the u.s. troop pullout. he says he hopes that troops can deal with. he says he would not want to see the u.s. waste the tremendous sacrifice that has gotten us to this point. we want to share with you one of the moment we were able to obtain from inside iraq overnight. the iraqi government is calling this the national day of jubilation. ♪ host: u.s. and iraqi troops marching side by side in baghdad. jane arraf joins us from inside iraq. she is a reporter for christian science monitor. thank you for being with us

cheney, the daughter of former vice president dick cheney. this is posted by the clair b t boothe policy institute. >> we present our conservative leadership award to one woman who has show exceptionally is to that commitment to promoting conservative values. we are honored to present the war to elizabeth cheney. liz cheney is the left's worst nightmare, she is smart, and conservative woman and she is one of the few leaders in this country who is not afraid to stand up to the obama administration on critical issues like our national security. she is an attorney and a specialist in u.s. middle east policy and she recently served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs. in this capacity she was the second ranking state department official responsible for u.s. policy in the middle east. she practiced law in the area of finance for 3 years and served on assignment with the international finance corporation where she provided legal advice on investments in the middle east and central asia. from 1989 to 1993 she se

what you think the role of the outspoken dick cheney is it now. is at the beginning of the pendulum turning the other way towards a more empirical congress perhaps? >> a more whites? >> >a more w -- a more what? >> a more empirical congress. >> he is making the argument for the need of the president -- go ahead. >> since we have gotten to this stage with the release of olc memos there's been a discussion about the kind of legal approval that might have been given, that was given, for these enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. i think what he wants to do is to get the evidence out. he is saying that he knows there is evidence. there is evidence that spells out the impact and the effects. he wants to show what energy the executive did to put in terms -- did for the public. apparently the reason, the only reason, that the documents were not released is that they're involved in current cases. they're not going to be released right now. maybe they will be released later ron later on. -- later on. they would get the job of looking

cheney had a fairly simple message. the reason we have guantanemo is we have people at guantanemo who are dangerous. they are called terrorists. we call them terrorists because they want to kill us. it is good to not have them anywhere near us because it makes it harder for them to kill us. now, the average american could hear that simple, declare tiff sentence and say to themselves, "okay, there's the terrorists are ok gang and there's the terrorists in guantanemo gang." okay, i got it. i'm with the terrorists stay in guantanemo gang. well, the president who had aim possible position -- it was once said of lincoln and douglas that lincoln was the best lawyer in illinois with a good case and douglas was the best lawyer in illinois with a bad case. i'm beginning to think president obama is in the douglas tradition. the president whose a remarkably wonderful other tore said we are here in a deeply meaningful moment in which we are going to in a meaningful way engage in discussing a problem so complex and difficult that on

i don't think the public opinion is going to change on the subject or dick cheney any time in the near future and certainly republicans i talked to this week would rather see any face on their television screen and i think it speaks to the vacuum and party right now that there isn't public faces or republican party the party is looking for one that dick cheney is certainly a lightning rod to galvanizes the core republican base but isn't exactly a growth instrument for it and democrats are delighted by this turn of defense. >> as he moved the obama white house though blacks are they reacting? >> i think that, no, i don't think the decision yesterday had anything -- i think that was a foregone kirker -- conclusion and as we have discussed i think that president obama is a pretty cautious person in this whole realm and i don't think that he is coming to -- >> the folks at the pentagon and the cia -- >> the main story is he's getting too much to the military ground on this right now. >> okay. >> let me say i am incredibly curious what is in the memos. i really want to see i hesitate to pre

some people like me think that dick cheney did that in the past. he is not politically correct in his speaking because he is too honest. that is probably why i really like him. other than that, i think obama is one of the smartest politicians to come along and he did pick him. host: next up is destin, fla. on our independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. joe biden disturbs me. i think he has a foot-in-mouth disease. the only thing that sets him up good is it judge sotomayor who is roman catholic, does not believe in abortion -- i think that will help. as far as health care, social security is going broke. medicare is going broke. where is the money going to come from? i would love for someone to answer that question. as far as taxes go, hold on to your wallet, everybody. host: linda, i wonder response to more of what this historian writes. comparing the vice president to the basketball player who does a bunch of things that do not show up on the stat sheet, obama has chosen someone who suits the current mold of an activist vice-presid

it would be interesting to know how much bush and cheney made off of this war. as a nation, we still don't understand why we went into iraq. has nasty as saddam hussein was, he did keep out al qaeda and others because he knew they would oust him. i don't know whether it is because daddy was threatened or the oil or because cheney and that they gave him this sweet stuff and be turned on it, i think we need a huge commission to get this out in the oceans so that we can get over it as a nation because it is destroying us. >> guest: the authority to go to iraq was voted on by the congress, it was a democratic process that we went through. not everybody voted to do that. >> host: my take away from your book is you were critical of president bush for building public support and explaining the reasons for the war effectively. >> guest: for not doing that. president bush was caught between trying to find a diplomatic answer to the iraq issue. at the same time, preparing for potentially war. you have to be careful because if you remember, there was a lot of work done wit

as dick cheney on monday expressing concern that the pending pullout of u.s. troops from iraq cities could reverse the military progress made by american and iraqi force there since the george w. bush administration and the 2007 surge. a quote from the former vice president saying that i hope the iraqis can deal with it. also this morning from inside "usa today" is iraqis celebrate the u.s. troop pullback. one of the details is that the iraqi government has declared today a national day of sovereignty, six years after the u.s.-led invasion that toppled saddam hussein, and the story can be found below the fold of "the washington post," six years and three months after the march 2003 invasion, the u.s. will withdraw its remaining combat troops from iraq cities and turn over security. however, "the washington post" pointing out that while there is still more than 130,000 u.s. troops remaining in the country, patrols by heavily-armed soldiers in hulking vehicles will largely disappear from baghdad, mosul, and other iraq urban centers. more from dick cheney yesterd

we have faced the question of how to approach the vice- president see after vice- president cheney's controversial tenure in office. we have focused on a couple of major things. the first is transparency. some of those things are small things. every night we put out guidance on where the vice president is going to be the next day. there are no undisclosed locations in vice-president biden's office. he has all his meetings in public. all the meetings are on the record. minstar all this close and posted on the white house blog. we make an effort to have a standard of transparency in the office that hopefully sets the right agenda and tone. the other is accountability. we are working very hard to make sure the vice-president and president's staff will pull together as part of an integrated whole and server, agenda. -- serve a common agenda. while we talk about relations with congress, and the vice president gives a lot of time on spending -- spends a lot of time and giving the history. it is an exciting time to be in washington and in the executive branch, but is also an exciting time o

host: this story concerning dick cheney is felt in several places. this is what he had to say. >> i emigrate believer in the leader and i think he is one of the most of the people i have ever worked with all my years in the business. what he says concerns me, that there is still a continuing problem. he is doing what needs to be done in keeping the u.s. commitment to get out of the cities, but it will look like, one might speculate that the insurgents are winning and will launch more tax incentives to get an opportunity. i hope not. i certainly hope the iraqis can do with it. -- and will launch more attacks when they get the opportunity. guest: the general has certainly done a great job. he is the second in command and is no overall command. i think that general odierno is correct when he expresses concern about possible instability and is concerned about whether iraqi troops can secure the area on their own. well over 100,000 -- 100,000 troops will remain there for some time. we have some safety nets in place as increasingly they assume full soverei

it dick cheney, his daughter, and all the neocons want to keep the invasion's going forever let them put on the uniforms and go

. >> host: did you get a chance to interview former vice president cheney? >> guest: i talked to and toys about rumsfeld. in not surprisingly, cheney still defends the line he used about rumsfeld at the farewell ceremony in december 2006 were cheney told rumsfeld the best secretary of defense ever. he thinks rumsfeld is hard charging style at the pentagon was just what was needed to bring about change. >> host: here are a couple of more calls. murphysboro tennessee, michael on the republican line. >> caller: i was just going to ask your guest if he had never heard-- i'm going to back to march of 2003 when the war began where cantor you had inspectors on the ground like we dad-- did they ever start a war like this? i remember well for one, where they shot the austrian guy and the austrians demanded to go to serbia to look for the killers are the conspirators and that was the reason austria started the war because serbia would not let them go in to look for the assassin of the student. >> host: michael, we'll get a response. >> guest: well, they generally beli

of course that relationship goes back years because rumsfeld brought cheney into the executive branch in the early days of the nixon administration when rumsfeld hundred cheney to be the chief of staff of economic opportunity so they worked close and had a long time relationship but their plight and in the bush administration, rumsfeld had very few the bases of support either within the administration or congress or the senior military ranks. >> host: why did the president wait until after the elections to accept his resignation? >> guest: everything i was told by the top people the president was adamant about waiting even though he seemed to have made up his mind that rumsfeld needed to be replaced made up before the election and sent in motion planning for how the resignation would be announced and so on. bush was insistent that the news not come until after the election because he didn't want to seem like it was being politically motivated by he was trying to help republican candidates. there were a lot of republican candidates after the fact they were quite upset bush hadn't moved

cheney's assessment that somehow it was crippled after the nixon and ford administrations. the question should be well congress and the people demand restoration of balance of power between the branches as the founders intended? i think the answer to that will have to await another symposium as we look further at this presidency down the road but for now and this we can assume the democratic congress is content to defer and acquiesce in most of the policies proposed by their party's activist president. if he succeeds they succeed and they know it. if he does not succeed they will reassert their independence as a coequal branch sometime in the future. thank you. him i thank you very much. i would like to leave the panelists open to questions following on not note aaron >> and question following on don's conclusion there, the assumption is often made in a political science literature that the presidency has been advantaged in the media age that the television camera, for example can focus more readily on a single individual as opposed to complex institution flight progress an

i remember when cheney and bush got up and said, these things don't matter. like the deficit and the trade imbalance, because 2% of our gross gdp, so it doesn't matter. now that they ruined this country, this country was falling apart since 2004 and nobody said a thing. they destroyed the stock market. the stuff that obama brought up the other day, it will continue to be ruined. host: republican from maine. caller: i am worried about inflation also. it will attack anyone. we have to first understand what it is. they blame it on bill clinton or george bush or newt gingrich for the congress. inflation, by definition the increase in the amount of money in circulation not backed by monetary standards, you are attacking the wrong problem. if you are going to put a face on who caused the inflation, it is the federal reserve. the face on this is alan greenspan and his successor, ben bernanke. they are inflating the money supply. we have not seen all of the consequences of that yet, but it will destroy our currency. people in america should at least try to understand

tjust like cheney and bush, that was theirs to start it. if i had any way that obama could get by with it, i would send obama -- we need to seek cheney and bush building a sand castle over there. they need to take care of business over there on their own since they got it started. guest: sounds good to me. i think obama is doing the best job he can, i will agree with you. he is trying to pass a lot of things, and keep a lot of people happy said that he can keep moving. i think it is a job of progressives to make our argument. this allows him to choose between the three. it progresses are sitting there and saying what ever you want. -- he has not heard from us. we have to have the space for hand to do progressive things. the way we do these things is to making -- is to make the progress of argument. i think we need to do that, and i think that actually helps him. host: how are you getting the message across to other progressives? guest: we had really son together as a network that could come together and support the republican party, but unt

. >> must be vice president cheney.ter] >> implement the presidents policy and helping them move the president policy review of afghanistan and iraq. but i think, but aside from the specific responsibilities the general rule of providing advice and experience and some insights as the administration makes these decisions. of course, vice president biden's case also a lot of that is a 36 year track record in the united states senate and a lot of relationships on capitol hill with working and try to help pass the president's agenda by talking with his former colleagues and staying in close touch with them and trying to help move that agenda along. we have faced the question of how to approach the vice presidency after vice president cheney's controversial tenure in the office. and i think we really focus on a couple of major things. the first is transparency, and some of those things are small things. things. that we do every night but out of over the vice president is going to be the next day. there are no undisclosed loc

i put dick cheney and nancy pelosi on blast. i'm tired that every time i call into c-span, something happens with my credit card account. i want to thanchingt f.b.i. >> we'll move 0 on to daffen important, go ahead. hello. this is the first time i have ever gotten through. i was really glad to hear the lady from ethiopia call. she mae a very important statement. it is too bad that the people in this country haven't gone through what she's gone through so that they can see what she says is the purpose mr. owe bomba >> my thoughts about how the information came out are, i'm not 100% sure -- it goes back to where we are everyday right now. no matter what is said on the democratic side, we have a fight on the republican side. should it ever come out, no. should it be public? probably not. how many countries do we have that discuss their trobgations? >> you raised the question before about sackses and others who have shared their thoughts on the hearings. there are really two issues here. one is do they face any punishment from the c

cheney "smells blood in the water on the issue of national security." caller: i only have one problem with the taxing the health care benefits. it seems i have heard that the uaw will be exempt from that tax. host: is that it? thank you. go ahead. caller: people have bounced around it. i am retired. i paid into my medicare and social security since the 1970's. now they have reduced my medicare benefits. host: is that your provider, medicare? caller: no, i am retired from the post office. i have a better plan now. i had prostate cancer before i turn 65. now, whenever i go to have a psa test i get a form from medicare saying it may not pay for that procedure, it's like i'm going -- blue cross pays for it anyway. government health care -- look at the va. if that doesn't scare you, i don't know what will. what they need to do, is the government should susets of, hae and fsa for all employees. host: those are savings accounts? caller: right. mccain brought it up. but have the government match 2%. it would be a payroll deduction, and the person would get thei

it was dick cheney who gave 40% of his income for charitable contributions. . . pis also guilty ofbeing too. he gave $800,000 taxable income, less than 1% of that. i will connect the dots. they all accused republicans of being greedy and not caring for people. it was dick cheney who gave 40% of his income for charitable contributions. . . p driven by a religious coo-coos, in my opinion. and the problem is that you're used as a distraction by arabs to keep the minds of the peoples busy so they don't look at their own problems. but my question on israeli settlements is when he pulled these guys back, because i'm not for it. host: the president talked about a freeze on jewish settlements when he made his speech. is there any chance of this happening or how will the prime minister address this in his speech, do you think? guest: we should make a distinction between the sentiments, which is any jewish sentiment beyond the 1967 border. or the smaller settlements, which are what most israelis believe would be the settlement that would be r

caller: i'd like to know how much did cheney and bush made of this war. host: thank you. it is the center for the new american security. as always, the links are available on our site, c- span.org. the front page of politico -- the energy bill aftershocks. and also, some of the behind- the-scenes negotiations and arm twisting. byron is on the phone from indiana. good morning. what is on your mind? caller: good morning. i have a comment to make about government health care. these plans that are under consideration. the point of want to make is about the differences between private insurance and the government bureaucracy, or the potential bureaucracy. controlling health-care costs seems to be one of the most important to long-term stability of any insurance system. private insurance controls cost generally by verifying eligibility and claim politicallvalidity, sometimes te extreme. on the other hand, it seems government medicare talks the talk but does not walk the walk. my wife and i are both on medicare. medicare claimed to be interested in fraud or mistaken claims, but

it was donald rumsfeld who brought dick cheney and back in the nixon administration. they were close and had a long- term relationship. but by the end in the bush administration donald rumsfeld had very few voices of support either within the administration, congress, or the senior military ranks. host: why did the president wait until after the elections to accept his resignation? guest: the president was adamant about waiting even though he seems to have made up his mind about the replacement. that was before the election. they set into motion some planning as to how the resignation would be announced. bush was insistent that the news not come until after the election because he did not want it to seem like he was being politically motivated, to help republican candidates. there were many republican candidates after the fact who were quite upset that bush had not moved sooner because republicans felt the departure might have helped save some republican candidates. host: bradley graham is our guest. this is his book. good morning on the democrats' line. caller: congr

dick cheney is making his will alone. as far as sarah palin, first of all, she motivated me to become a nra lifetime member of this year. i'd really like her. i think she has a good record. she is a popular governor. when the mainstream media people like amy walter say she needs to bring something to the table -- what did barack obama bring to the table when he was running? i did not see any plethora of experience or anything that he brought. the pendulum will swing. democrats were in the wilderness just a few years ago. we will get over it. thank you, c-span. host: this e-mail from john from tennessee. host: more from last night's dinner with the former speaker of the house, the keynote address by newt gingrich. >> i think our goals should be to reach out to the american people in every possible way, to make sure that john boehner becomes the speaker of the house in january of 2011. [applause] that mitch mcconnell becomes the senate majority leader. [applause] and that this is a one-term presidency in the jimmy carter tr

george bush and dick cheney greatly expanded the power of the executive at the expense of congress. they expanded war powers and executive privilege along with the use of task forces, wireless tapping, and surveillance. we're told that has inspired a push back from the democratic congress. is this deja vu all over again? american history is replete of charges of presidential overreach followed by congressional reaction. during the early 1970's, legislate force in scholars condemned the imperial presidency under lyndon johnson and richard nixon, premised on the vietnam war. in the 1980's and 1990's, the shoe was on the other foot. some leveled charges against an imperial congress under democratic speaker jimw wri ght and the republican speaker, newt gingrich. there was the so-called dictatorship of abraham lincoln . then there was what some dubbed "congressional government." is this pendulum swing built into the constitution? is it an invitation to struggle? does the constitutional separation of powers in power and bumbhumble presidents and congress? we found the anti-federalist oppo

there's this case about withholding vice-president cheney's testimony to patrick fitzgerald that came up as a question. tell us about the role of the office of legal policy in driving information policy in particular and how would you access the new administration's efforts -- assess the administration's efforts to open up the government for people? >> i have to say that it is good to be here and see so many old friends. i have been on some panels at past conventions and that has been an honor. what i have enjoyed is the time between sessions when we get to have a one-on-one conversations and there are so many friends who are here and the relationships that we have built over the short history of acs. as i have continued on, many of you have given me advice and insight and support and i certainly appreciate it. for if some of you are part of the administration. many of you will join it over the course of the next four or eight years. if there is something i would say, it would be please stay engaged. we need your ideas and talent. we need your energy. you really do sustain us. thank y

i suggested calling dick cheney. i said he has made a couple of speeches here. apparently, he has decided he wants to begin staking out positions now which is rare for someone who has just left the vice presidency. i called him and he said sure, he would love to do. it is a good example of what i tell young journalists. never assume someone to answer when you ask. that begins with calling people and is simply asking if they want to be on. i called don rumsfeld the other day and asked him and he said not right now. that is what journalism is all about. stain on the phone, staying in touch with people. when dick cheney came on the broadcast, when i asked him that question that got so much play, when i said colin powell said rush limbaugh is hurting the republican party, but rush limbaugh says the powell ought to get out of the party, how do you come down, mr. vice president? in all honesty my guess was that he was not going to answer that question. i thought he might give it an amusing dodge, might be artfully side-stepping. without blinking an eye he said, when i

so anyway, dick cheney and i were out flyfishing. [laughter] >> and he kind of taken aback by this and i said you were so great, mr. vice president. we run for president one day? let's bring up right now richard russo. he has written a wonderful book that old cape magic. and i would just turn it over to him. he has some great dick cheney stores as well. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you. not having a morning show of my own i had to write mine down. i hope you don't mind. that old cape magic, my new novel, was supposed to be a short story. otherwise, i wouldn't have even begun it. my previous novel, bridge of sighs, had left me drained. the needle on my creative gas tank bouncing off the empty. somehow i had to know you could write a book about despair without feeling just a little bit of that particular emotion yourself. i had imagined that lucy lynch, my protagonist was a haunted one. he, not i., would have to make his solitary journey halfway across his own personal bridge. nothing but darkness and loss awaiting him on the other s

in january of this year vice president dick cheney, the purported architect of the made a prediction,uote, the obama administration isn't likely to cede authority back to the congress. i think they will find given the challenge they face they will need all the effort to they can muster yet under speaker nancy pelosi and majority leader harry reid the pendulum swinging back toward congress. both democratic congressional leaders made clear after all they do not work for president obama. so the question remains do we have an imperial presidency or in periled presidency? imperial congress or in peril converse? to resolve this conundrum and it probably is a conundrum in the literal sense we have were able individuals who observed and participated in the separation of powers minuet for many years and we are going to go in alphabetical order starting on the end of the table. terry eastland is publisher of opinion magazine and author of numerous books on politics and all including energy and executive and freedom of expression in the supreme court. shalem ra currently congressional correspond

: basically by the time he stepped down about his only major supporter and the administration was cheney. of course that relationship goes back many years. it was rumsfeld who brought cheney into the executive branch into the nixon administration when rumsfeld hired janney to be the chief of staff of economic opportunity so they were close and had a long-term relationship but there by the end in the bush administration, rumsfeld had very few places of support either within the administration or congress or the senior military ranks. >> host: why did the president wait until after the elections that year to accept his resignation? >> guest: for everything i was told by his top people, the president was very adamant about waiting even though he seems to have made up his mind rumsfeld need to be replaced. >> host: made up his mind before -- >> guest: before the election. they will set up in motion the plan for how the resignation would be announced and so on. bush was insistent that the news not come until after the election because he didn't want it to seem like it was being politically mo

. >> you had a recent interview with former vice president dick cheney that made news, particularly on his assertion that talk-show host rush limbaugh was the better republican and former secretary of state colin powell. your reaction to the response of that exchange. >> well, it was an amazing response and when i give lectures to journalism classes, i always say the greatest mistake that young reporters make is, they assume they know what somebody is going to answer when they ask them a question and a lot of times they won't ask the question because they say, i know what he is going to say. i don't need to ask that question. that is a reporters worst enemy, assumption. you never assumed. i would not in my wildest dreams have imagined that former vice president cheney would say that he would pick rush limbaugh over colin powell when it came to republicans, but that is what he said and that is where the news was. so, you know i always tell young reporters, there are no bad questions. there are just that answers. a lot of young reporters assume, they feel like well if i ask that question

the results are on the front page this morning. 13% of those responded said rush limbaugh, 10% dick cheney, 6% equally divided between john mccain and newt gingrich. 1% for michael steele what dot results say about your party? guest: it says that they lack one effective coherent leader. that's what it says. number two is it shows you the power of the press in terms of labeling people. you know, newt gingrich is a great idea man. had a lot of problems with him in the house as far as leadership but one of the smartest people there are in the country. rush limbaugh does not speak for the republican party. he speaks for a conservative thought. i don't listen to rush limbaugh. but he has a viewpoint that a lot of americans follow. dick cheney is probably up there now because of what he's been saying about the war on terror and defending past administration's actions. so i think you can manipulate that all you want. to get kind of the outcome based on what's been in the news cycle. the fact is there's a lot of people who really love this country, who believe the government can be a lot better, a

i feel karl rove and dick cheney are giving rush limbaugh the talking points. host: we'll have to leave it there. linda on our republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i feel like they are going to have to change anyway. women already have the right to do many things over there. even if ahmadinejad descends, there will be changes. what the people on his side don't want are these underground raised drinking clubs and where children are nightclubbing and partying. they don't want that over there. it's not going to happen over there. they will rise up against that. host: do you think if he does win a secretary term, what do you think it means as far as our discussions and concerns about iran and the nuclear program and other issues the united ç has with iran? caller: i think somebody with a good head on his shoulders like obama, that ahmadinejad will be able to deal. i think they will talk. i think a lot of what we hear is the fact that iran and north korea -- these countries don't want us acting like a bully. if we talk to them in a level headed manner an

when i ran for office, bush, cheney, dennis hastert, rumsfeld, all came to my state to fight. all politics is local. the gentleman who beat me in the democratic district became president of the freshman class. there's certainly a level of reward involving those in the political system. now, i will highlight this case because of the numerous and inconceivable outcomes and rulings that defy any logic, and more so any rule of law. and again, i'm talking about my father's case. sure, it's dare to my heart, but there's some very concise and clear things that we must understand. it's inconceivable to me that we would wait. the department of justice would not move immediately. first of all, as in the siegelman case, there was no crime. there was no crime. what started off as a political search for corruption and kwid pro quo ended up being an investigation of my father's personal businesses. how did it get started? my father beat out the current governor of georgia sonny purdue, his friend for the senate majority position. he switched parties, and it is documented, because my father

caller: when cheney made his debut he made it at the heritage foundation. i feel a lot safer with barack obama then i would with mccain in office. host: florida on our democrats line. caller: i would like to let the people know and i am sure you are aware of this, that bush gave billions of dollars to someone through -- to develop and flu virus several years ago. then they give them another $3 million to develop a vaccine for it. we are developing these weapons here in this country through our military. i think that is scary. you are saying how we have to be careful of all of this. we are the ones developing all of this stuff. we developed all of this stuff. guest: i am not aware of that accusation. i think 10 million people died from the spanish influence of in 1918. the accusation regarding u.s. developing a vaccine, some pathogens are capped live with the ability to develop vaccines. i am not aware of anyone developing bioweapons. the military has a vaccine for anthrax, for -- as an example. host: on the idea of developing nuclear weapons, in the wall st

that just allows the democrats to say, ok, it is dick cheney or new to gingrich. it is about ideas about getting organized at the local and state level. one thing about covering politics is that you just never know. obama could be a one-term president, or a two-term president that handle -- hands the white house over to michele. you just don't know. >> look at the house democrats that fought against the budget. those of the districts that they are worried about. in virginia, that is where the fault line is. if republicans can figure out how to communicate with those voters and take back the districts, that is a powerful signal. rahm emanuel will notice it. that is where the battle is right now. it is about that center ground of the population, that is enormously supportive of the president right now. >> i would add to that, i agree that probably 2010 and 2012 look like quite a pill for the republican party. they will have to develop their proposals and ideas out of areas that have become weaknesses for the president and the democratic party. one of those could end

host: did you get a chance to interview former vice-president dick cheney about this book?guest: i did interview him twice about donald rumsfeld. not surprisingly big jenny still defends the line he gave about rumsfled end the farewell sermon. he calls in the best secretary of defense ever and thinks his hard-charging style was just what what was needed to bring about change. host: here are a couple more calls. this is the republican lead. caller: thank you. i wanted to ask your guest if he has ever heard of the situation -- march 2003 when the war began -- where it a country with inspectors on the ground could go off to iraq not signing anything, have they ever started a war like that? i remember in the first world war for the shot the austrian die and the the austrians demanded to go into serbia to look for the conspirators. that was the reason austria began the war because serbia would not let them go in. guest: well, they genuinely believe there would be weapons of mass destruction i don't think there were inventing that rationale. one of donald rumsfeld's more embarras

i think the only title-7 interest vice president dick cheney -- >> we're not suggesting that unqualified people be hired. the city is not suggesting that. there is a difference between where you score on the test and how many openings you have an to the effect and if -- the extent there is an adverse impact on one group or another so that this first seven who will be hired only because of the vagrancies of the vacancies of that moment, not because you are unqualified. the pass rate is the pass rate. but if your test is going to always put a certain group at the bottom of the pass rate so they are never going to be promoted, and there is a fair test that could be devised that measures knowledge in a more substantive way, then why should not the city have an opportunity to try to look and see if they could develop that? >> because they already developed it. >> it assumes the answer which is spent the test is valid because we say it is valid. >> they had evidence that that test was job-related invalid for use under title 7. >> you did not present an alternative. >> there are plenty of alter