(applause) >> stephen: evan thomas, the book is ike's bluff. be right back. >> stephen: that's it for the report, everybody. good night. (cheers a

evan thomas. followed by british prime minister david cameron. later, new mexico governor susanna martinez campaigns for mitch romney in nevada. -- mitt romney in nevada. >> this week, evan thomas discusses his narrative, "ike's bluff." >> evan thomas, author of "ike's bluff." discussion throughout the entire book, ike's health. why? >> he had a stroke. he had a stomach operation. he was old. he was at the time the oldest president ever. he smoked four packs a day up until 1949. his health was not great. he was a robust man, but an old man with serious health issues. they got to him. >> dr. snyder. >> he was his personal doctor. he seemed to be at the white house 24-7. he kept a diary. they feared if ike got to tents and to worry, he would have another heart attack. he said, mr. president, you have to relax. he would say, what you think this job is? of course he was worried. that was a constant theme. >> who was howard snyder? >> he was his personal doctor, older, an army surgeon. it was happenstance he became a doctor. he was not properly traine

(applause) >> stephen: evan thomas, the book is ike's bluff.ll be right back. >> stephen: that's it for the report, everybody. good night. (cheers a captioning sponsored by comedy central captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org [motorcycle whining]

please welcome evan thomas. (cheers and applause) >> hey, thank you so much. sir, thank you for coming on here. you've got a new book. it's called ike bluff president eisenhower's secret battle to save the world. now i got a beef with ike that i didn't know i had. because i like ike, you like ike, everybody likes ike. turns out ike was a huge approximates ussy. (laughter) >> no, he wasn't. >> stephen: he was. he was. he was afraid of going toe-to-toe with the russskies in nuclear annihilation. >> he was not, he was brave, he was a brave soldier. but he didn't want to fight wars. he wanted to bluff the russians. 1950s. communism was on the march and he didn't want to fight a nuclear war. he didn't want to fight any kind of war but he bluffed with nuclear weapons. >> stephen: he was the ally. he knew that we won world war ii with nuclear bombs, did that escape his attention. >> he didn't want it to do hiroshima or nagasaki at home or in russia. he saw what nuclear bomb kos do and didn't want to use them. >> stephen: but you say he was unwilling to do first strik

(applause) >> stephen: evan thomas, the book is ike's bluff. be right back. >> stephen: that's it for the report, everybody. good night. (cheers a captioning sponsored by comedy central captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause ) >> jon: welcome to the daily show. thank you. my name is jon stewart. our guest tonight, very exciting, j.k. rowling will be joining

tonight, a talk about president eisenhower with his biographer evan thomas. >> scholars have known for 30 years that eisnehower was a pretty crafty guy. fred greenstein sign of princeton, there are books on campbell craig, a scholar from yale, some scholars have known this for a long time but the general public have not. it is only reason in recent years and really this year in a way that people have started looking at him again and saying, oh that is not quite the guy i thought he was. >> rose: we conclude this evening with isadore scharff canadian businessman who found add very successful four seasons hotel and resort chain. >> and the employees are the key, because if we are going to have a customer service focus had to have an employee focus. because it is through them they deliver the product. >> rose: they are the interface. >> they are. they are literally the pride, their approach to their work ethics and their passion for their job. so it was a concept of, you know, we held out, you know, many years later of what i thought we had a company could do and what i could do best whic

. >> "i welcome the cliff," by evan thomas. >> evan always thinks that if it gets bad, at the problem will solve itself. wrong. >> i respect the ceo's paid i wonder where they were when we were trying to work out a debt ceiling arrangement. i wonder where is they were when it mitt romney's encore promise, 20% across-the-board tax cut. how you are going to achieve any kind of sanity on the debt and deficit without that is beyond my comprehension. >> maybe he doesn't believe that either. >> if they are going to get a deal, it probably is going to be better with barack obama as president that mitt romney. he is so dug into his position -- he does flipper from time to time, but he is so dug into his position that i don't see how he could get an agreement. >> on mitt romney's behalf, doesn't the fact that he does move around work to his advantage? >> you could have a democratic senate, republican house, wishy washy president, and that could be the ingredients of a deal. >> is not that if you don't ever president if the -- don't have a president who was willing to lean on his own party. oba

and my guest evan thomas has a new book that says dwight d eisenhower was the father of modern nuclear that we know of. the inventor of the cardboard bike says it will change the world. provided that change includes never raining again. this is "the colbert report." >> stephen: welcome to the report, everybody, good to have you with us. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. >> stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! (cheers and applause) >> stephen: thank you, ladies and geem

and my guest evan thomas has a new book that says dwight d eisenhower was the father of modern nuclear policy. that we know of. the inventor of the cardboard bike says it will change the world. provided that change includes never raining again. this is "the colbert report."

. >>>> direct your e-mail to evan thomas, not to any of us. [laughter] i think it is simple.the same effect on women in the first debate as he did on men. obama hadd spent $150 million n on negative ads as the guy who wants to -- a guy who was completely indifferent when the wife of a steelworker he laid f dies of canr and it would work looks in the camera and says, "mitt romney does not care about my wife or anyone at." to hearhis, and then you have romney stand up and, ass nina indicated, showed he is a reasonable guy not a guy who is completely harmless, and all that advertising, which affecteded men and women together -- that is why you got this change. i don' think i.t. has a great mystery -- >> i tnk the case could be made that romney essentially cameut r affirmativive action when he said t's go looking for women. that, as i u understand it, is the bane of conservatives. this is what mitt romneyaid, let's go find some women. >> you need to servrve in his cabinet. >> exactly y. sendly romney is i am mad dash to the middle with contraceptio unirsally available. immigratio

." >> direct your e-mails to evan thomas, not to any of us. [laughter] romney had the same effect on women in the first debate as he did on manned. obama had spent $150 million on negative ads as a guy who wants to -- a guy he was completely indifferent when the wife of a steelworker he led off the dies canr anthe odmo looks in the camera and says, "mitt romney does not care about my wife or anyone." romney stands out, as nina indicated, and shows that he is a reasonable guy, not completely harmless, and all that advertising, which affected men and women together -- that is why you had this change. i don't think it is a great mystery -- >> let me hear from mark. >> the case to be made that romney essentially came out for afrmate action and said it "let's go looking for women at." that is the bane of conservatives' existence -- that is what mitt romney said, "let's go find some women." secondly, i would point out this -- romney is in a mad dash to the middle. contraception, universally available. immigration, no roundups. add to that is affirma

by evan thomas. how would he handle the situation like this one? >> based on his presidency, he would have done everything he possibly could to avoid a war. but he would have been aggressive, used the cia and technology to stop iran from getting a bomb. and, this is important, he would have drawn the line somewhere and have been serious about it. he was an all-or-nothing guy could no half-mohrs. if you are going to fight a war, all the way. >> which, ironically, is what the israelis are asking obama to draw the line -- you had the biggest power in the world -- that is the only thing, netanyahu said at the u.s. this week, that could possibly change the course. but i just want to respond to my liberal palace over here. i cannot believe you guys are covering for the administration on the susan rice thing when they themselves said five days later it was obviously a terror attack, everybody could see it. why with the administration pretend it was the demonstration? >> it would not be a good plan -- >> it is a good plan because the longer you draw it out

. >> next sunday, evan thomas on "ike's bluff." >> said the vice presidential debate thursday night live on c- span. next, remarks by british labor party leader. after that, a look at the tax proposals of president obama and mitt romney. another chance to see q &a. >> after being in office, we were sitting in the oval office and larry summers said, mr. president, looking at this year's budget come at you are going to have a trillion dollar deficit. i have not done anything yet, he said. >> we cannot keep looking our children in the high knowing that we are going to give them a diminished future because we are spending their money today. it is a very simple idea. mitt romney and i are going to bring it to washington. we've got to stop spending money we do not have. we must cut spending, we must get this balanced budget. >> next thursday night, paul brian and joe biden will face off in their only critic paul brian and joe biden will face off in their only debate. you can watch and engage with c- span with our live debate preview starting at 7:00. your reactions at 10:30. a follow our live

. >> direct your e-mail to evan thomas, not to any of us. [laughter] i think i.t. is very simple. romney at the same effect on women in the first debate as he did on men. obama had spent $150 million on negative ads as a guy who is completely different when the wife of a steelworker he laid off dies of cancer and the widow were looks in the camera and says, "mitt romney does not care about my wife or anyone." and then romney stands up, as nina indicated, and shows that he is a reasonable guy, not a guy who was completely heartless, and all of that advertising, which affected men and women together -- that is why you got this change. >> i think the case could be made that romney essentially came out for affirmative-action when he said let's go looking for women in. that is the bane of conservatives' existence, it just bothers them so much. this is what mitt romney said,. > -- let's go find some women. >> you mean to serve in his cabinet. >> secondly, romney is in a mad dash to the middle. contraception, universally available. immigration, no roundup. add to that affirmative action,

. >> evan thomas, sunday at 8:00 on c-span. >> president obama spoke in ohio yesterday at a campaign event on the campus of ohio state university in columbus. a recent cnn poll finds the president has a 51% lead over mitt romney would likely voters in ohio. this is a half-hour. >> hello, buckeyes! [cheers and applause] everyone please give sonya a round of applause for that great introduction? [cheers and applause] it's great to see my friend and one of the finest u.s. senators we have today, sherrod brown in the house. [cheers and applause] and your mayor michael coleman is here. your next congresswoman is here , joyce. will.i.am is in the house, a man who sometimes looks like he's been to outer space. [laughter] i'm so grateful. he's been such a great friend for a long time. we also have a man who's actually been to outer space. john glenn is in the house. [cheers and applause] before i begin, i've got a question for. are you registered to vote? >> yes. >> if not, today is the last day you can register. it's easy to procrastinate in college. i procrastinated a lot. but we have made

. >> "i will elcome the cff" by at the thomas. >> evan always thinks that if it gets really bad, the problem will solve itself. wrong. it has just gotten worse. >> i respect the ceo's. i wonder where they were when we were trying to work out a debt ceiling arrangement i wonder where they were when mitt romney's 1 or promise, 20% across-the-board tax cut, and how you achieve any kind of sanity o debt and deficit without that is beyond my comprehension. >> maybe he doesn't believe that, either. >> mark made excellent put on this, that if we get this solved, it would be better with barack obama as president and mitt romney. he is so dug into his position. he is so dug into his position that i not see how he could get an agreement. behalf,tt romney's don't li thaimusroun ve to -- doesn't the fact that he does move are out work to his advantage? >> democratic senate, republican house, which he washy president, it i -- wishy washy and, it could be the makings of a deal. >> not if you have a president who is not willing to lean on his own party. obama has been willing to do that. the questi

. >> evan thomas on ike's bluff, sunday on q&a at a 8 on c-span. >> today the new america foundation hosts a discussion on the arab spring and political transitions in egypt and libya and the civil war in syria. live starting at 2 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> c-span's campaign 2012 bus spent time in ohio visiting colleges and universities to speak with students about c-span's programming. here's a little of what they had to say via tout, a video-based social media service. >> i would say the person that has most influenced my political views would be my dad. we both like to talk a lot about politics and watch the debates together and talk through them. >> the most important issue to me in this election is supreme court justice nominees because if mitt romney gets elected, he will appoint justices like scalia and thomas. >> my history teacher my senior year of high school influenced my political views the most. i learned a lot because he was a very relatable guy, and i felt really inspired by him. >> student issues like if there's something that's omitted to help us with our loans, and

. >> evan thomas on "ike's bluff." >> washington journal continues.t: leonard steinhorn is a key indications professor at american university. they give birth coming in. there is a recent peace with ais headline, "you're not citizen, but you still could tilt the election." guest: it's a quirk of the constitution. the way the electra colleges determined is through the senses. in the constitution, the census says to count all the people. that means they're not discounting citizens but all the non-citizens, legal and authorized immigrants in this country. the number of electoral college votes certain states get because california has a very large number of immigrants and non- citizens, they get extra electoral college votes. there are five states that benefit. california, texas, florida, washington, and new york. that is over what it would be if we were counting citizens only. 10 states do not benefit. recalculating it would change the calculus. >> how does this work out? how does this play out? it could appear you were talking about non-citizens actuall

. >> evan thomas on "ike's bluff" sunday on q&a.at eight on c-span. >> a report commissioned by senator bob casey and former senator chris dodd found disparities in the well being of children in the u.s. the groups first focus and save the children hosted senators casey and dodd yesterday for the release of the report. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> thank you all for coming here today. joining first focus and save the children to discuss america's report card 2012. i'm bruce leslie, president first focus. we are a national bipartisan advocacy group dedicated to making children's health a priority in federal policy and budget decisions. i want to thank senator chris dodd and senator bob casey for joining us today. they were the inspiration for this effort. they've also been tireless champion of have our nation's children for years and years to senator dodd in his 36 years on the hill, and i'll talk a little bit about, more about him in a minute, but also them have been great champions for children over the years. i also want to t

. >> evan thomas on ikes bluff. new york city mayor michael bloomberg and news corporation executive rupert murdoch recently traveled to boston to give advice to the romney campaign about immigration policy. mayor bloomberg has a more of an earlier that day in chicago to advise the obama campaign. up next, the boston event with the two cochairs of the group partnership for a new american economy which supports immigration change as an economic issue. wall street journal executive jarosite moderates the discussion. you will hear from boston mayor thomas bonino. this is about an hour. [applause] >> so the council, needless to say, is very pleased to host a very special discussion on one of the most vexing issues of public policy facing our nation. how to develop and implement there, sensible, and forcible immigration policy. it is a topic that often is addressed with more heat than like. the partnership for a new american economy is working to change that tendency and to promote serious, intelligent, rational, and res

. >> evan thomas on "ike's bluff." >> on thursday, a vice president joe biden and republican vice- presidential candidates paul ryan that in their only debate at center college in kentucky. the moderator was martha radditz. this is just over 1.5 hours. ba>> good evening and welcome to the first and only vice- presidential debate of 2012. i am martha raddatz. i am honored to moderate this debate between the two men who have dedicated much of their lives to public service. it is divided between domestic and foreign policy issues. i will move back and forth between foreign and domestic. we will have nine different segments. at the beginning of each segment, i will ask both candidates a question and they will each have two minutes to answer. i will encourage discussion between the candidate with follow-up question. it has been determined that the vice president biden will be first to answer the opening question. we have a wonderful audience here at centre college. right now, we welcome vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan. [applause] >> good evening, gentlemen. it is an honor to be he

. >> evan thomas on "ike's bluff." >> and this government has promised and maintain the closest surveillanceof the soviet's military buildup on the island of cuba. within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. the purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the western hemisphere. >> do you denied the u.s.s.r. has placed, medium and intermediate range missiles in cuba? yes or no? do not wait for the translation. >> 13 days in october 1962. historians, scholars, the filmmakers, and journalists, on the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis. on c-span 3 american history tv. >> now discussion on the presidential campaign with david corn who helped release the video of mitt romney referring to 47% in america. he was a guest this week on "washington journal." >> we are joined now by david corn out with a new book, and made the comment on the 47%. i want to show a little bit of the video and get your reaction to what he is saying no

. >> evan thomas on ike's bluff sunday on "q&a" @ 8:00 p.m.mac and democratic challenger raul ruiz faced off for california's 36 district. this is about an hour. >> welcome to this special 2012 congressional debate between married by now mack -- by mary bono mack and raul ruiz. i will be acting as your moderator. on the panel is a political correspondent for "the desert sun." there will be asking tough questions tonight while i try to keep the candidates under control and our debate on time. the rules of the debate are simple. the candidates agree to answer questions and debate one another on issues related to domestic and foreign policy. the candidate and answering the question first will have two minutes to reply. the other candidate will have one minute to respond. candidates are not allowed to address each other with questions directly and there is no audience inside the studio tonight. the candidates are allowed to take notes. each candidate will have three minutes to make an opening statement. we will wrap things up by providing the cand

evans. [applause] last year the award went to none other than cal thomas -- [applause] and well deserved itring in more than 500 newspapers nationwide, the most widely-read conservative commentator in america. frequent guest on television shows and a regular panelist on the fox news watch, great show. cal has also won the cable ace award, the george foster peabody award as well as awards from the associated press and united press international, although i'm guessing that those might have been a while ago. so to pass the baton and present the 2012 william f. buckley award for media excellence, it is an honor to present to you a man that i'm proud to call my friend, cal thomas. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you very much, chris. those of you who do not live in washington and don't have the privilege of listening to chris' talk show from 9:05 a.m. to noon, just before rush comes on, i want to highly recommend it to you. 630 wmal. ity chris is one of the -- [applause] i think chris is one of the best talk show hosts in the country, on a par with rush. he's amazing. he's funny, he's accurate, and if you haven'

evans. [applause] last year the award went to another than cal thomas, and well deserved it was.ppearing in more than 500 newspapers nationwide, the most widely read conservative commtator in america. frequent guest on television shows and a regular panelist on the fox news watch, great show. cal has also won the cable ace award, the george foster peabody award as well as awards from the associated press and united press international ally am guessing those might have been a while ago. so, to pass the baton and present the 2012 william f. buckley award for media excellence, it is an honor to present to you a man i am proud to call my friend, cal thomas. ♪ thank you very much, chris. those of you that don't live in washington and have the privilege of listening to press's talk show from 5 a.m. until noon just before rush limbaugh comes on i would highly recommend it to you. 6:30 waml. chris is one of the best talk show hosts in the country. on a par with rush he is amazing, he's funny, he's accurate, and if you haven't discovered him yet, i hope you will. he paid me

. >> evan thomas on "ike's bluff." this month as the presidential candidates meet for debate, we are asking haskell students to send a message to the president. in a short video, students will answer the question, what is the most important issue that the president should consider in 2013 for a cnce to win the grand prize of $5,000? there is $50,000 in total prize is available. for complete details and rules, go online to studentcam.org. >> is great to be here. centre college has been fantastic. the most fun i had was the rehearsal with students. we had stand-in's for vice- president biden and congressman ryan. we also had young martha. that was not me. it was fantastic. i am not going to really repeat these things about turning off your cell phone. i want to give you a warning. i was once in a white house briefing, and my phone went off. my son, who is here somewhere tonight, had put in "ridin' dirty" as my ring town. that broke up that. i have never had myself and go off anywhere ever again. i am very honored to be h