there are thousands of political prisoners in cuba. as amnesty international admit nd one of its published reports, the dictatorships uses sents for so-called crimes for contempt against authority and dangerousness, criminal charges to deny, hide the political status of prisoners of conscience. fact, various pro-democracy leaders and political prisoners are on hunger strikes as we speak in cuba. most well known is the hunger strike being carried by the peaceful pro-democracy leader, a psychologist and journalists who demands the release of the most grateful ill prisoners to their homes. but there are others engaged in hunger strikes and their efforts need to be know as well. a former political prisoner is on a hunger strike and the following prisoners are engaged in hunger strikes at this moment , morales, avila and soeno. . fact, there are many prisoners that are grateful ill that are not on a list. [speaking spanish] >> this is a great leadeand one of my heroes. before being released from prison, he spent 17 years as a political pris

. >> i am told that the chinese are drilling off the coast of cuba, which means they are drilling off the coast of florida. do any of you have any reason to believe that the chinese companies are any safer than the u.s. companies? >> i cannot speak for those companies. i am sure they are committed to state operations. >> have they done anything more pnnovative than the united states oil companies have? have they led the way in any >> i am not aware of that.? >> ok. last question. we have heard a lot in the scientific community about new ideas to -- once you have an oil spill, to insert organisms hat biodegrade it and turn it into non harmful substances. would any of you, -- we want to prevent this bill. -- prevent the spell. if we cannot prevent it, we want to stop it. do any of you know about these organisms? >> i would only comment that, in -peffect, that is part of what e dispersant action does is to reduce the oil to very small then the naturalvthat organisms in the marine water are able to break down quickly. these have been tested and are less toxic than a detergent soap which y

how the loss of mico and cuba will be resolved under international -- the lawsuits of mexico and cuba will be resolved under international law is going to have some impact on bp, but our enough to weahere dependence on oil is impacted in any way. exxon and bp have a special relationship with all the governments of the world because they provide oil and oil runs the world. host: the caller mentioned canada. "the globe and mail," which calls itself canada's nacional newspaper, as a story on offshore drilling. drilling will continue off newfoundland at record that spirit as the bp disaster grows, canada's -- at record depths. as the disaster grows, canada's oil drilling faces scrutiny. independent line. good morning, caller. are you there? caller: yes, i am. it has taken this fine gentleman 21 years to figure out roof of what we all knew -- proof of what we all knew would be the sult of the major oil spill. the damage caused by it will never be redressed. we will live with it forever. two, there will be no justice served by this fascist government of ours. our only salvation right now is

we have been granted access five times in cuba to the detainee.e continue to ask that he be released immediately on humanitarian grounds and he be allowed to return to his family. our next round of russian adoption talks are scheduled for june 14 through 16 here in washington. we are still awaiting final confrontation from russia on those dates. finally, regarding georgia's municipal elections from the weekend, we congratulate the people of georgia on the conduct of municipal elections on may 30. there were if i would from international monitors and a marked progress -- we did observe some irregularities in individual precincts and those concerns were noted by the group regulating. we are encouraged by the central election commission's efforts to increase transparency and responsiveness to electoral concerns. we also agree with the group that significant shortcomings need to be addressed. >> you said earlier that the human-rights council passed a pretty strong resolution condemning the flotilla incident. i'm wondering if this is the kind of thing

how the loss of mexico and cuba will be resolved under international -- the lawsuits of mexico and cubaill be resolved under international law is going to have some impact on bp, but our enough to weahere dependence on oil is impacted in any way. exxon and bp have a special relationship with all the governments of the world because they provide oil and o runs the world. host: the caller mentioned canada. "the globe and mail," which calls itself canada's nacional newspaper, as a story on offshore drilling. drilling will continue off newfoundland at recd that spirit as the bp disaster grows, canada's - at record depths. as the disaster grows, canada's oil drilling faces scrutiny. independent line. good morning, caller are you there? caller: yes, i am. it has taken this fine gentleman 21 years to figure out roof of what we l knew -- proof of what we all knew would be the result of the major oil spill. the damage caused by it will never be redressed. we will live with it forever. two, there will be no justice served by this fascist government of ours. our only salvation right now is to stop

the loss of mexico and cuba ll be resolved under -- the lawsuits of mexico and cuba will be resolved law is goingtional have some impact on bp, but r weahere t n oil is impacted in any way. exxon and bp have a special retionship with all t govements of the world they provide oil and oil runs the world. mentioned caller canada. "the globe and mail," which itself canada's nacional as a story on offshore drilling. drilling will continue off record thatt disaster grows, -- at record depths. as the disaster grows, canada's oil drilling faces scrutiny. independent line. good morning, caller are you there? caller: yes, i am. gentlemanen this fine roof of to figure out proof ofll knew -- we all knew would be the of the major oil spill. the damage caused by it will be redressed. live with it forever. two, there will be no justice this fascist ours.ment of salvation right now is spill. the this still could be stopped and it could be stopped by our military. is a nine-inch diameter hol in it solid rocket that hole included -- nine-inch- diameter hole in solid bed rock. that hole to bemploded an

we have been access -- we been granted access to palin grows in cuba five years -- five times, the most recent consular access being on may 25, and we continue to ask that mr. gross be released immediately on humanitarian grounds and be allowed to return to his family. also our next round of russian adoption talks are scheduled for june 14-16 here in washington. we are still awaiting final confirmation from russia on those dates. and finally, regarding george of's municipal elections from the weekend, we congratulate the people of georgia on the conduct of municipal elections on may 30. there were evaluated by international monitors from the osce and they monitor progress toward meeting the osce and council of europe standards for democratic elections. there were technical improvements in the administration of these elections. we did observe some irregularities in individual precincts and those concerns were noted by the osce regarding vote counted and tabulation processes in some precinct and districts. we're encouraged by the signal -- the central election commission's efforts to incr

how the loss of mexico and cuba will be resolved under international -- the lawsuits of mexico and cuba will be resolved under international law is going to have some impact on bp, but our enough to weahere dependence on oil is impacted in any way. exxon and bp have a special relationship with all the governments of the world because they provide oil and oil runs the world. host: the caller mentioned canada. "the globe and mail," which calls itself canada's nacional newspaper, as a story on offshore drilling. drilling will continue off newfoundland at record that spirit as the bp disaster grows, canada's -- at record depths. as the disaster grows, canada's oil drilling faces scrutiny. independent line. good morning, caller. are you there? caller: yes, i am. it has taken this fine gentleman 21 years to figure out roof of what we all knew -- proof of what we all knew would be the result of the major oil spill. the damage caused by it will never be redressed. we will live with it forever. two, there will be no justice served by this fascist government of ours. our only salvation right now

more than 75,000 square miles of ocean stretching nearly to cuba. at an afternoon speech in pittsburgh, president obama refocused on possible criminal wrongdoing, leading up to the spill. >> the catastrophe unfolding in the gulf right now may prove to be a result of human error. or of corporations taking dangerous shorted cuts to compromise safety. but we have to conditional that-- acknowledge that there are inherent risks to drilling four miles beneath the surface of the earth. >> lehrer: today, federal officials approved a permit for a new offshore well in the gulf in shallow water about 50 miles off louisiana. a moratorium on deep water drilling remains in effect. >> ifill: jit zeit and anger is spreading along with the oil. the coastal beachs and marshes of louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida. joining frus new orleans with an update on the situation is the head of the national occasionic and atmospheric administration. welcome jane lubchenco. you were with us about two weeks ago and you said you thought the oil was nine to 12 days away.

in the past you had john kennedy announcing a quarantine of cuba. and last night, the president seemed much more passive, much more input-oriented, he announced a czar. he announced a commission. when i was -- you know in the white house, we viewed these things as fairly weak policy inputs. you always want to push back, do something more active, more executive oriented as far as action are concerned. i thought proot had a pretty bad day yesterday, although actually a pretty good day today. i think the b.p. announcement was a good follow-up to the speech, but the speech itself was quite weak. >> when you were working for president bush you were the author of the speech delivered during katrina which was also widely-- how shall i say-- not embraced? how do the two compare from the inside and the outside? >> well, they compare-- i think in a lot of ways. the reality is, during that process, for example, we had people within the bureaucracy proposing a commission to study the problem. i pushed back hard against that. presidents don't go on national tele

and then they began to hij airports, particularly to cuba, but some oer locations as well, and pretty sn they started screing passengers to make sure they didn't have a weap when they got on, and the reens has become more intensive and more intrusive and nowada, of course the chalnges of screening are pretty substantial. all of us have wched a 6-year-old child being wanded at an art somlace or a catholic nun being intensively scened, you know, so you watch e things an you just shake your head. on the other hand, we understand we want to get on anirple that is fre of weapons and tha is not likely toe commandeered or hacked or threatened, so there is this issue of inconvenience. screening is an inconvenience. the queson is howmuch, and cane d the job necessary for screening and proteche americ peoplend protect the traveling public while reducing the inconvenience to thextent possible. and as senator rocfeller indicated, we traditionally otect ait the last attack and the last mode of attack. you know, we found out that you could put a bomb in a se and so we start taking off our shoes. no

the georgia governor, sonny perdue, republican, is heading for cuba on a trade mission. he actually did it yesterday. met with officials from cuba's chamber of commerce, part of a two-day visit to explore his states trade and tourism possibilities. they point out that the schedule did not include a meeting with fidel castro or his brother. also and "the washington times, what just below the fold, u.s., no peacenik. "the washington times" there. one last call from mike from atlanta, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm 65 years old. i have been around a long time. hopefully you can hear me ok. i has been getting a terrible echo. host: we are good. caller: i served in -- back in the 1970's and 1960's and shocked to find 40 employees under me, i could do the mission with five. i think the problem we got is a totally bloated government, and starting with congress. congress used to have only a few employees supporting a congressman and today they have hundreds. i think that is where we ought to start. cut back everybody to some formal level, say, 1996 or 1986 a

. >> on cuba, any reactions, or what reaction does the u.s. have to cuba's transfers of political prisoners to prisons closer to their families, conditions that they have been negotiated by the catholic church? >> let me just broaden that point slightly. we continue to hope that prisoners of conscience will be released rather than just relocated, and as soon as possible. >> thank you. >> wait. hold on. hold -- >> let me follow up on jill's question on iran, the iranian resolution. could you be a bit more specific with regards to the timeline, when you, approximately, hope to introduce it for the vote? are we talking about a week? two weeks? >> well, again, the president said he'd like to see this done by the end of spring? is that june 20 or 21? >> twenty-one. >> [laughter] so sometime between now and then. >> do you have any update on the status of this american lawyer who was arrested in rwanda? there are some reports that he tried to kill himself in prison this morning. >> i can't say. >> and apparently, his wife or his family is trying to

china, the philippines, cuba, el salvador, cuba, the domincan republic also more likely than average to have more children. this also require a more degree of social services tend to live in a house that has a low enough assessed value to not pay much into local municipal value to fund public schools. all three are vying for a top as someone who is trying to be a close observer of american culture under threat from people who speak languages of people other threats seem over blown keep an ear open depending on which coast you are the crowded streets of baltimore and cleveland. the news stands are bursting another one for socialist and union members the grandchildren of the children who run those streets are some of the same people worrying openly from all the data, my best advice is, don't worry what do you hear? every couple of minutes, adds for night schools cd rom languages. no one is developing these products, paying for the adds or buying the courses for kicks no families that doubt the acquisition ofen lish for themselves 7% said it is possible to get ahead in america only spea

through two world wars, the containment of communism, the specter of missiles in cuba or genocide inbosnia. democratic leadership has answered the threats that endangered america's security and the world's security. today i want to discuss how we can build on that tradition and continue to keep our nation and its people safe. it is a strategy that rests on the use of four crucial tools. strength, development, democracy, and fiscal discipline. first, democrats, as i said, have aggressively stepped up the fight against terrorists. we have strengthened america's military by finding real equipment after years of war, and we have put new and better weapons and to the battlefield. including the mine resistance ambushed protected vehicles that our troops need. as well, of course, as an increase in aerial drones. under president obama, the u.s. has killed or captured hundreds of terrorist leaders, including much of the top leadership of al qaeda and the taliban. disrupting their ability to plot an attack on our country. the attempted christmas day bombing and the attempted bombing of times w

we have been granted access to alan gross in cuba five times.nt access was on may 25th and we continue to ask that he be released immediately on humanitarian grounds and be allowed to return to his family. also, our next round of russian talks are scheduled for june 14th-16th here in washington. finally, regarding georgia's municipal elections from the weekend, gradually the people conducting these and are monitored by the -- they will be looking to meet the standards for democratic elections. there were improvements in the administration of these elections although we did observe some irregularities in individual precincts. those concerns were noted. we are encouraged by the central election commission's efforts to increase transparency and responsiveness but we also agree that there are significant shortcomings and need to be addressed. >> the u.n. human rights council passed a strong resolution about the flotilla incident. among the items in this resolution is the creation of an independent fact-finding mission to investigate violations of in

. >> [inaudible] you detainee in cuba. thursday is going to be the six- month anniversary of his arrest. >> we have had a couple of consular visits. i will check and see when the last one was. it has not been a few weeks. we continue to communicate at every opportunity that he should be released. >> the foreign minister called and the turkish ambassador and the iranian ambassador to complain about continued bombardment of the northern region of iraq. is that something you would raise with turkey? >> i cannot speak to that meeting. we are equally concerned with the attack that turkey has suffered in the last few days from the pkk, and this is a subject that i believe iraq and turkey are involved in high- level discussions about. >> thank you. >> this is a live picture of the newest effort by bp to stop the oil spill in the gulf of mexico. the attorney general is in the gulf coast region today. his department is preparing to take criminal action against bp if evidence warrants that. now, a discussion on space programs in man

guest: there are leases off the coast of cuba.e do have a joint operations in the gulf of mexico with other foreign nationals. bp for example is a british company. part of the reason we're in the deep water is we have not been allowed to go and shallower -- in shallower areas around the united states. we do need the resources moving people were. we really do. we have more in california, but i am not sure how many. in the gulf of mexico over 5000 altogether. operations on federal and private. host: what percent of the oil to be produced domestically? guest: we produce 40% of the nation's oil. we import 60%. the estimates show we could displace as much as 17% of our imports and domestically if you include the possibilities with partnering with canada, they give 21% of our imports. i think a lot of people do not realize that. we have a lot of opportunities moving forward with them to up that amount. we do not have to be nearly as dependent as we sometimes feel. we do have opportunities to partner in this hemisphere as well. host: who

this approach has been a failure in the past, notably with cuba, where our unyielding, aggressive sanctions policy, if anything, has propped up a regime that would have fallen into the dust bin of history years ago. they didn't stop north korea from nuclear weapons. the sanctions policy against iraq produced suffering for the people but made no difference to saddam hussein. most recently, years of harsh sanctions in gaza, much easier to enforce than against iran, did not topple hamas, but strengthened it. while it created a very difficult humanitarian situation. this legislation will, undoubtedly, pass. while it makes some people feel better to seem like they're doing something, i strongly suspect it will have little constructive result on iranian behavior, perhaps undercut support of the iranian people for the united states and our principles, and is setting a precedent for congress seeking to direct the conduct of american foreign policy. this goes beyond republicans and democrats, beyond the obama administration. it's a path think a think we should all be reluctant to take and it is why

through two world wars, the containment of communism, the specter of missiles in cuba or genocide inosnia. democratic leadership has answered the threats that endangered america's security and the world's security. today i want to discuss how we can build on that tradition and continue to keep our nation and its people safe. it is a strategy that rests on the use of four crucial tools. strength, development, democracy, and fiscal discipline. first, democrats, as i said, have aggressively stepped up the fight against terrorists. we have strengthened america's military by finding real equipment after years of war, and we have put new and better weapons and to the battlefield. including the mine resistance ambushed protected vehicles that our troops need. as well, of course, as an increase in aerial drones. under president obama, the u.s. has killed or captured hundreds of terrorist leaders, including much of the top leadership of al qaeda and the taliban. disrupting their ability to plot an attack on our country. the attempted christmas day bombing and the attempted bombing of times wh

countries of foreign born americans was by a tremendous margin, mexico, china, the philippines, india, cuba, vietnam, all salvadoran, correa, the dominican republic, and canada. no european countries in the top 10 in 2000. three of countries of foreign birth in every census from 1850-1980. now it is not even in the top 10. the first nine on the list of developing countries only canada has an advanced industrialized economy and a middle-class majority. of the 10, only 1 cents caucasian immigrants to the united states. we get a tremendous advantage from many of these immigrants of highly educated people with much saw after skills. in many cases, they are who they were 150 years ago. pour, poorly educated, agrarian, at an incredibly hard working. they are also younger than other americans sell more likely to pay into old age support schemes like social security. they're also more likely to have more children. on the one hand, they reinvigorate neighborhoods that declined in postwar decades. but they also require a higher degree of input from social services, more likely to use public schools,

who believe that our embargo of cuba is essential to take down the castro government. during the clinton administration we tried to allow more humanitarian business, more remittances to go back, to allow people to go and visit were steady in an effort to help the cuban people understand there was a wider world. that everything caster was telling them was not true. the bush administration closed that capability. president obama tried to open it more, but right now we have an embargo that is part of law, was said during the clinton administration with legislation from the congress. host: our next guest is from tucson, arizona. caller: good morning. i wanted you to say -- the biggest thing i see concerning north korea and south korea, turkey, israel, america -- any country anywhere, it is that peace takes courage. when there is miscommunication and disrespect among leaders, you have all these problems. you will have people not wanting to talk in not understanding each other's point of view. i work with politicians here in tucson who have changed the party to an opinion be

we were able to save cuba to bleed over $4 million on -- just -- we were able to save kunitz of lead for million- dollar just on and it. how do we get solar? if you look at a solar cell, 15% efficient. every scientist i have seen -- if we only get 30% efficient, we could change the game. that is what i think it is a good investment. host: when you look at some been like wind, what do you make of that? guest: from a business perspective, wind, since inception, has cut the cost in half by perfecting the turbines, knowing how to place it and making the right decision. we believe wind it is one area where the research money should be spent. i believe there is a potential to cut costs in half again. then all of a sudden you are starting to become competitive with traditional energy sources. host: i want to read something lamar alexander wrote this morning, he has an editorial, and up dead in "the wall street journal" about win. stop pretending it has anything to do with -- you disagree? guest: my fellow tennesseean, i think he made the case of what we were talking about yesterday. if we c

great news in guantanamo bay, cuba. the five detainees charged with coordinating the september 11 attacks told a military judge on monday that they wanted to confess in full and a move that seemed to challenge the government to put them to death. well, that's great news, because we have this article on sunday saying the attorney general and this administration can't decide what to do about the trials great news, they're going to plead guilty. another quote from the article said at the start what has been listed as routine proceedings said they had written a statement from the five men charged or dated that they stop filing legal motions and %% announce our confessions to plead in full. great news. they're agreeing to plead guilty to confess everything. awesome news. awesome news. the date of this "new york times"' story was decemmer 9, 2008. the 9/11 plotters agreed to plead guilty to the atrocities regarding 9/11. ttey were not going to file any more pleadings. they were throwing in the towel. they were ready to be sen

if you look at the area between cuba and the straits of florida, there's it's a radius or perimeter. anything that could fall in that area should prompt action. we're concerned about the vessels, when you get above igget -- eight foot seas they aren't effective. >> we noticed something had changed, the containment camp had been removed. do these units bump into the assembly snauven >> we've had two issues with r.o.v.'s. there are an unbelievable amount of r.o.v.'s down there it's our only eyes and ears for the relief well the vertical riser packages being installed, other installations. we were putting the riser insertion tube in it became dislodged and had -- and had to be put back in. it was dislodged by an r.o.v. that was tending to another tsk task. we have simultaneous operations, simops, the fact that we've had two bumps with some consequence associated with them in a 60-plus day response is a pretty good record. it's never going to be risk free out there, we need to watch it very closely. >> you say you were notified immediately when it happened. >> i was. >> the operator of t

then in april of 2007, moody's releases a report projecting cuba to the losses of six to 8% for loans back in 2006, subprime rmbss, and again both the blue and the red line go up. finally, come in july 2007, moody's and s&p downgrade hundreds of rmbss, totaling 5.3 billion insideand plced cdos back by rmbss on watch for possible downgrade. my question is, and mr. witt, you say you needed research, re research to better understand the environment in which the ratings were being offered. it seemso me as if your own organization was issuing sharp warning sinals. why was this research and adequate? and whs it not apparently taken into account >> i was wanted the same thing. i left in september '05, a year before this graph starts. >> so that explains your -- what about those who re ere? what did those of you, mr. weill,r. siegel, what did you do with this information? >> should i take the question? over the course of 2007, we had a lot of dialogue with a lot of economies, including moodyseconomy.com. the discussn of the te was t on a crash, but was more primary on the ending. the actual p

my party through two world wars, the content of the spread of communism, the specter of missiles in cubaor genocide in bosnia. democratic leadership has answered the threats that endangered america's security and the world. today, i want to discuss how we can build on that tradition and continue to keep our nation and its people safe. it is a strategy that rests on the use of four crucial tools -- strength, development, democracy, and fiscal discipline. first, democrats, as i said, has aggressively step up the fight against terrorists. we have strengthened america's military by funding its the equipment after years of war, and we have put new and better weapons into the battlefield, including the body army and mine-resistant and bush vehicles our troops need, as well, of course, as an increase in aerial drones. under president obama, the united states has killed or captured hundreds of terrorist leaders, including much of the top leadership of al qaeda and the taliban, disrupting their ability to fly and attack our country. the attended christmas day bombing and the attended bombing of t

this approach has been a failur% in the past, notably with cuba, where our unyielding, aggressive sanctions policy, f anything, has propped up a regime that would have fallen into the dust bin of history years ago. they didn't stop north korea from nuclear weapons. the sanctions policy against iraq produced suffering for the people but made no difference to saddam hussein. most recently, years of harsh sanctions in gaza, much easier to enforce than against iran, did not topple hamas, but strengthened it. while it created a very difficult humanitarian situation. this legislation will, undoubtedly, pass. while it makes some people feel better to seem like they're doing something, i strongly suspect it will have little constructive result on iranian behavior, perhaps undercut support of the iranian people for the united states and our principles, and is setting a precedent for congress seeking to direct the conduct of american foreign policy. this goes beyond republicans and democrats, beyond the obama administration. it's a path think a think we should all be reluctant to take and it is why i

to meet our programs requirement to dismantle all the retired warheads currently in the dismantling cuba in 2020. nothing in this treaty imposes any restrictions on this work. third, the treaty provides the exclusive right of both parties to determine the composition and structure of their nuclear forces within the treaty's overall limits. further, the new start treaty contains no limitation that could constrain our warhead life extension program options or work to assess and correct any future warhead issue. as it was made clear, the nuclear posture review, this administration is committed to starting all options available for future life extension programs, including reuse, refurbishment, and replacement on a case by case basis. we are committed to fully funding the ongoing life extension program for the w76 submarine based warhead for completion in 2017. and for the full study for the b61 bomb to insure first production begins in 2017. we will also be displayed in the nuclear-weapons council on the study of the lep options for the w78 icbm warhead. the new start treaty does not place

we were able to save cuba to blee over $4 million on -- just -- we were able to save kunitz of lead for mlion- dollar just on and it. how do we get solar? if youook at a solar cell, 15% efficit. every scien i have seen -- if we only get 30% efficnt, we could ange the ge. that is what think it is a good investment. host: when you look at some been like wind, what do you makof that? perspective, wind, since inception, has cut the cost in half by perfecti the turbines, knowing how to placet and making the right decisn. we believe win is one area wherehe research money should be spent. i believere is a potential to cut costsn half again. th a of suddenou are starting to become mpetitive wi traditi eney sources. host: i want to read sometng lamar alexander wrote this mornin he has an etorial, and up dead in "the wall street journal" about win. stop pretending it has anything to do with -- you disagree? guest: my fellow tenneee i think he me the se of what we were talkinabout yesrday. if we can't take wind downo a different cost plan, we hav -- he has a good poin iupport som subsidies -- and

. >> i have heard that the chinese oil company service are drilling off the coast of cuba, which means they are drilling off the coast of florida. do either of you have any reason to believe that the chinese oil companies are more concerned about safety than u.s. oil companies? anybody? >> i can't speak to those companies. >> have they done anything that's more innovative than united states oil companies? have they done anything that you're aware of? >> i'm not aware of anything. >> last question, we have heard a lot in the scientific community about new ideas to once you have an oil spill to insert natural organisms that biodegrade and turn it into nonharmful services. we p -- want to prevent the spill. if we can't prevent it, we want to stop it. is there a hope that you will have organisms that biodegrade the organisms quickly so that it doesn't hurt the environment? anybody? >> i would only comment that in effect that's part of what the disbursement action does is reduce the oil to very small droplets and then the natural micro organisms that live in the environment are able to brea