so frances perkins is very aware. part of that discussion she's a major lever officials of those years, and that is -- and the english at that point they are leading away what unemployment compensation. she actually goes to england in the 1920's to learn how the english do their unemployment compensation system. she sees workers climbing on letters and using shoeboxes and she said that's not going to work in america. ibm help us. [applause] you're watching book tv on c-span2. 48 hours of nonfiction authors and books every weekend. >>> let me preface my talk about kurt vonnegut by reading the first page of a prolonged and that will serve as a springboard for what i have to say to you about his life and his work and the relationship i have with him, our friendship. this is from the prologue out of print and scared to death and it starts like this. kurt vonnegut planned to give this teaching job at the university of iowa his best shot. as he zoomed across the midwest and early september, 1965 and his son's new volkswagen

to regenerate the goals and that french polynesia is proud to be part of what france will become in week that is to say imagine uclear palmer. but to me that is disgusting. and more than hmong was imposed on us don't go off it in the mud in fact she makes us give it to him yeah for we are victims but we are also responsible for what's happening to us and for what might happen if france were to use its nuclear weapons. and i find that on forgivable and. behind this image of paradise lies the secret that surrounds attesting and rips apart the people of french polynesia here economy is dependent on france and the subject of nuclear testing remains taboo but this doesn't stop maria. bristow mood right now. because i'm thinking of my children's future. not so much. a tiny territory a tiny country before but we have a high percentage of people suffering from thyroid long and bladder cancer. and it's frightening to know all that. with the help of her husband it's a haitian teacher and mother of two uses the internet to broadcast an image of her country one that is rather different from those in

also the killing of a to lose government uncovers a bigger problem in france's experts highlight the dangerously widespread social exclusion of minorities despite decades of attracting immigrants. and punishment for bad behavior by a promise to north korea if it goes ahead with its controversial satellite launch. back in half an hour's time with the news in full here on r t moscow next though we meet the people who devoted their lives to saying no to nukes in the front line quest against nuclear arms. the nuclear age is the first sixty years oh. i can describe exactly how an underground test was. the re one zero or more you couldn't hear anything about their was no noise at all of the the ground lifted up. we live under the threat of increasingly sophisticated weapons. in two thousand one hundred eighty eight states british through the one proliferation treaty. signed on to a statement correcting for an unequivocal undertaking to the total elimination of nuclear weapons it has been set back but principally the united states but not alone russia france china the u.k. all have their sh

war has not yet been declared between britain and france. and yet, there is fighting in north america that's already begun. the british government makes the decision to send two regiments of troops totaling nearly 2,000 men to north america to join in the conflict there. even though britain and france are not yet at war in europe, but the british government is thinking that north america is sufficiently important that we have to stop the french possession and capture of the ohio country. we cannot tolerate that. it's strategically important to us to be involved here. and the man who was appointed the head of the two british regiments was a veteran soldier, a veteran general, general

around france and. i. write this is the last chance for france is to qualify for the upcoming summer. and the women's fly. and all russians appear really manage to defend the twenty levon title but took the time to overcome a chinese opponent afterwards she was pleased with the win but said a lot more needed to be done prior to the olympics. my trainer and i were pleased with the performance i put in today but a lot still needs to be done in preparation for the olympics especially psychologically as there's the most difficult aspect in the men's final rushes nicholai qabala of managed to get france's julianne clear in a hard fought about the win brought the cup back into russian hands once again after france's from hungary and south korea claimed victory in twenty ten and twenty eleven respectively but today's victory doesn't mean i'm in some super form right now and still a few months left until the olympic games so any such form could vanish by then so for me this event is simply just another phase in ou

france can only be strong if there is national yunt. we owe it to the victims of the cold blooded assassination. we owe it to our country. >> and, remember this is all taking place against back drop of imminent presidential election. already marine la penn, who is the daughter of the nationalist leader, the former nationalist leader has said that france should, quote, declare war on islamic fundamentalism. sarkozy has good reason to appeal for calm here. >> shepard: we will go back to our correspondent live on scene as news develops. jonathan, thank you. some unprecedented action in a national football league scandal today the commissioner of the nfl handed down the most severe penalty in the 92-year history of america's most popular spectator sport. punishment for the new orleans saints player bounty controversy. paying players who injure their opponents. take them out of the game. the league suggestion suspended without pay the head coach sean peyton for the entirety of the 2012 football season. that's effective may 1st. never in nfl

war has not yet been declared between britain and france. and yet, there is fighting in north america that's already

clear incentive there is no cloud between russia and france who are really too corporate. where they're from virginia proclaims it we knew it was our main good going to. see together so he was able to our international trade so important we exist on the international scenery but perhaps france should focus more on its domestic problems than on the war in libya and the situation in syria after north korea after major crises. before and after and after that it's a problem because i'm not sure they're you know the journalist ins or french media say to your screen you're playing are you sure the in asia so young girl who you know industry for good was trading for more democracy and he's more happy today so she was few moments ago am neutral issues it is a reverse thirds of points the last time you told r.t. that the euro was not threatened have each of its new vision was yours marys. well it's still there it's still there but should we get ready for another recession we have to find groups consigning gotten we are we need new strategic new l.a. and sees if you cesar work today

i think it's the fourth biggest jewish community in france. basically they've been dropping the kids off at school. and right now, more than 63 soldiers are looking at this lone gunman on this scooter right now. he clearly is not too scared, because each time in broad daylight, there were witnesses wearing a helmet. >> and before today's attack, do you know whether the police were assuming this is someone working on their own or as part of a wider group? >> yeah, very much. they think someone is working on their own, because each time it's been one lone gunman who shot three soldiers in front of a cash machine outside their barracks at 2:00 in the afternoon. the other time it was someone, a soldier who wanted to sell his own motor bike, and he had a rendezvous with this man, and he shot him in toulouse in daylight as well, and this, of course, is in front of parents. you can probably hear the helicopter above necessity now. this shooting happened in the city center. it's pretty easy to flee. but this man clearly doesn't mind it. >> that was a

. >> and it is no joy as jermaine was to france in a warm-up euro 2012 -- germany loses to france in a warm-up your 2012. the indicted nations human rights council has condemned syria for what it is calling the brutal actions of the assad regime, but again, china and russia are not on board. >> they voted against the resolution despite reports that assad's assault on the city of homs is intensifying. >> the united nations' new envoy to syria says the killing must stop. it is a message he now wants to take to damascus. >> syrian artillery has been pounding the city of damascus for days. reports said the army has launched a ground effective to flush out the rebels. the humanitarian situation is catastrophic. kofi annan could travel to the middle east as early as friday for meetings with top arab league officials. he says he wants to meet as quickly as possible with president assad. the former united nations secretary general said that he will urge assad to find a peaceful solution through dialogue. >> time will tell. we will plead with him that he should engage not only with me but wit

this sort of horrible crime happening in france. but on a local level, i tell thaw people here behind me here, the french-speaking community behind me here at this funeral, many of them have said this morning that this is another sign that anti-semitism is still very prevalent in france, and, in fact, the former chief rabbi of toulouse is here, and he said it shows that the only safe place for jews is here in israel. >> rupert, thanks very much indeed. >> some other news now -- fresh evidence has emerged that aspirin can help protect against cancer. a series of papers in the lancet medical journal drawing on data from more than 50 different studies suggest a daily dose cuts cancer death and reduces the risk of the disease spreading. joining me from oxford is the report's lead author, professor peter rothwell. it's a bit of a wonder drug we've always felt in any case, but what does this latest finding tell you? >> the main finding is that aspirin seems to reduce the spread of cancer, where cancer cells spread to other parts of the bo

the point is that today but place it in the broad international context through an examination of france, the u.k. and germany as well. >> why did you choose those and the subtitle refers to the atlantic democracy but why did you choose those nations? >> several reasons. i'm a european by training, political scientist and i've lived in europe for six or seven years, so i know the country's, and of the languages and the culture and it's important to be able to immerse yourself in a different culture in crafting a book like this, but i think the main reason has to do with the fact that these are leading scientific powers that have been on the cutting edge of the science, the technology as well as the ethical debates around these issues and it's in these countries the you see in the political systems take up the questions in the most systematic fashion. >> wind the history of embryo politics began? >> from 1968, a year of course that is familiar to us as one of great social unrest but i suspect historians looking back will note it for another reason and that is the first time in human histo

its abortion which france -- which represents a frame of reference, and that immersed gradually. so the issue of embryo research, stem cell research with embryos, is grafted on to of very polarized abortion debate in this country. there for religious conservatives against scientists. germany and france the abortion issue was never settled, but sort of compromise was reached early on in the 1970's were by abortion was recognized as a serious moral concern, the taking of innocent human life, but legislators made the decision not to prosecute women or doctors. that kind of pragmatic compromise took a portion of the table so that the issue of embryo research, still sell research his friend but different legacies, and in germany the most important legacy is eugenics, the experience for human experimentation during the nazi era, something the residence in france as well, and so there is generally more cautious about science and technology and pressing some of the limits that americans aren't more willing to bush and the scientific side and more skeptical of a religious side. >> profess

in 1713, after a war between britain and france, france ceded or surrendered acadia to the british. the british will rename that province nova scotia. the french, however, were still in the region. first of all, most of the colonists, the great, great majority in acadia, were french. second of all, the french retained, according to the peace treaty, this island, which is cape breton island today. it's hard to see that it's an island on the map, but it is. there's a narrow channel between it and the rest of nova scotia or acadia. so the french did retain this island and also this island off the coast of acadia. besides that, this region was also part of french canada. the point is this. 1713, going back to an earlier french/british war, after all, this was an era of french/british conflict and the seven years war that we talk about today is the culmination of this really in the colonial period. in 1713, when the british gained governance of nova scotia or acadia, the colonists were french. so what did the british say to the french then? they basically wanted them to remove. they want

six weeks until elections in france.will be taking an in-depth look at the mood in the country ahead of those presidential elections. that is coming up later. >> a special u.n. arab league team has arrived in syria for talks on implementing a ceasefire. this is after three days of violence, including a double car bombing in the capital that damascus blamed on the opposition. syria opposes state news agency said the latest fighting broke out between security forces and rebels in an upscale damascus neighborhood. >> there was heavy fighting in the upscale damascus neighborhood of mazzeh overnight between government security forces and rebels. the violence reportedly began after midnight when rebels went on the offensive. >> the people who live here have guns. they went on a rampage in the building and tried to enter all the houses. it took a mess security forces and soldiers. >> the uprising against the assad regime is inching closer to the center of power. but this middle east expert believes the opposition does not cause

france and the u.s. as the u.k. possibly faces a possible petrol supply strike let's discuss this now with a political analyst. in birmingham thank you very much for coming on our team today what do you make of the possible timing of this what could be an emergency oil release. obvious that this is not a political overtone with the up and coming elections in the next twelve months on either side one what as to what one has to understand is that the reason why the price of oil has gone through the roof is because of the ongoing conflicts that you know of late obama and netanyahu with threatening action against iran that all came to nothing basically this put the price up which i think was the intention anyway put the price through the roof and now to try and recover the damage done by the hike in the fuel which affects all commodity prices and these austerity measures that are throughout the world it's quite obviously for the don't do something drastic and within a short period of time it's going to run up against th

while the french citizen twenty his family came to france a very long time ago so. obviously this kind of terrorism. from inside friends of society it's not just something that is imported from the middle east. and you cannot. take away french nationality from a french nationals this is not allowed under the french constitution and then there's marine le pen the far right national front party candidate having long pushed a more radical anti immigration line called for the revival of the death penalty for child killers and the deportation of any foreigner who goes on a suspicious trip to places like afghanistan how many mohamed merah was in the quotes and planes and rife in france full of immigrants. mohamed merah is perhaps only the tip of the iceberg it's time to wage war in this fundamentalist political religious groups i kill him now when children who threaten was slimy fundamentalism has been underestimated. and i think all that's been announced after these tragic events are proposals put forward soley for the election it goes to the one who proposes the most ra

>> france was never enthusiastic, but they went along with britain. >> who was ballford? >> he was the british form secretary. it came in the letter of the lord rothschild, and he said her majesty's government look with favor upon the establishment of a jewish homeland in palestine, and that i think weitzman who was one of the leaders of the world zionist movement and for a lot of the supporters of the jewish presence in palestine, that was really a promise of a state. and they knew it. they knew that a jewish homeland had the potential to grow into a state, and i think for a lot of the -- a lot of the jews in europe and indeed now for some american jews this was the beginning of a return to the homeland and the possibility of a jewish state where jews would be the majority and be safe. the british i think foolishly didn't recognize some of the difficulties they would get into and they had also at the same time promised arab leaders that if they rose up against the on themans ottomans, there would be an independent arab state or states. what the british are doing a promis

first he will be meeting with investigators in toulouse, france. katie marzullo, abc7 news. >>> 4:32. new this morning, developing stories out of berkeley east bay mud crews are capping a water main break. the break happened this morning at 7th and addison streets it caused water to bubble out of the street surface forcing shutdown the intersection. no homes were flooded no word on a cause. >>> this is the first full day that san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi is off the job, suspended by the mayor following his guilty flee a domestic violence case. now the mayor begins the protest -- the process to try to remove him from office. do we know what mirkarimi is saying about this? >> reporter: this is like watching a giant chess match here at city hall. ross mirkarimi made a bold move yesterday and the mayor responded with a big statement of his own. it started late in the afternoon when ross mirkarimi said that he refuses to resign as mayor. about -- as sheriff. about an hour later the mayor ed lee, held his own news conference and said he was us is

france is budget deficit was lower than expected france's. russia's falling europe into the black this. just we. should have the first quarter in twenty years and crude gains are supporting energy stocks like produce the noble take is on the rise it's net profit rose seventy six percent last year in russian accounting standards and russia's biggest lenders also gaining. growth is this year's net profit. twenty levels to record results oil is all poor briss biggest decline in a week on reports us in ventris of the euro is high against the dollar of that e.u. bailout fund increase you've been talking about and the ruble is gaining against the dollar but losing to be curios global i.p.o. activity is something almost seventy percent in the first quarter year old year olds the young report says fourteen billion dollars is the lowest in two years over euro zone and global uncertainty emerging markets are still the i.p.o. leaders with china topping the list and you're up to date most always on the web site all to dot com slash was this all right i k

i think the eu depends on france and germany and france and germany depend on the eu continuing. >> the issues you're talking about is hollande is proposing first a very, very large role for the state than france has? >> yes. >> 75% tax rates. and also proposing that the french get out of the business of this partnership with germany in forcing discipline on southern europe? >> yes. >> you think that they will have to continuing doing that but you're worried the germans won't be able to continue to do that? >> yes. the real concern is that germany decides it doesn't want to play the central role it has played in the eu, which has been the banker and the country that often makes sacrifices for greater political union and german voters are tired. it's in germany's economic interest to do that but politically, that's not as sure a thing as it has been. >> bruce, you do a lot of modeling for the cia, for the state department, for other governments. if you were to try to construct a model, do you think that -- about whether the euro is going to survive or collapse through this period of cris

diana magnay in toulouse, france. are some signs, some signs of improvement. >> some, some, she says, with a high voice. >> please, please. is it real this time? >> i was watching this yesterday and i thought, oh -- >> in 2008 people said we're at the bottom of the housing market. no. 2010 we have this home buyer tax credit. now this is the bottom of the housing market. no. it's 2012 and people are saying it's stabilizing. the howing market is stabilizing. i hope they're right. have you heard this phrase green shoots? >> no. >> when a seed comes out of the ground and it starts to sprout? it doesn't mean it's healthy and vibrant but it's stable and there's a green shoot coming out. existing home sales are actually up. people are buying more homes this year than they did the same month last year and home prices stopped falling year over year. the median price of an existing home, $156,000, $600, i think that's well off where it was in 2007. it's not falling, at least, year over year. there's also this big argument that

what the french citizen any east family came from france a very long time ago so.obviously this kind of terrorism comes from inside french society it's not just something that is important for. the middle east and you cannot. take away french nationality from a french nation or this is not allowed under the french constitution and then there's marine le pen the far right national front party candidate having long pushed a more radical and the immigration line calls for the revival of the death penalty for child killers and the deportation of any foreigner who goes into suspicious trip to places like afghanistan how many mohamed merah has in the boats and planes that rifle in france for him and. and how much is perhaps only the tip of the ice dark it's time to wage war in this fundamentalist political religious groups high kill in which children the threat i was taught me fundamentalism has been underestimated it's going to be pretty careful i think although it's been announced after these tragic events and proposals put forward slowly for the election it goes to th

life in france probably disappointed him.probably faced a certain degree of racism in a society that still has trouble recognizing muslims as part of itself and he found meaning and strength in this idea of jihad and radical islam. and it's not, unfortunately, an uncommon story. what's uncommon is that he's taken it to such a great extent to terrorize a big city in france and to deliver a tremendous blow both to the army and also to the jewish community of france. i mean, france has the largest number of jews in western europe but also the largest number of muslims also. so intercommunity relations are very important and muslims leer very concerned that they will again be stigmatized because of the actions of this... of the apparent actions of this young man. >> warner: as we heard from that one young man in the taped piece. so this comes in the midst of a heated presidential campaign and immigration, i gather, has been one of the issues. how has this... what have been the reverberations of this politically? >> well, i think

well there has been a very big impact of course that was the intent behind this it's france during this general strike for the workers those who felt neglected under the current spanish government and some of its policies are seriously measures to have its say and to voice its anger that is something we've seen occurring throughout the course of the day here in central madrid there have been minor clashes between individuals and police and protests. there have been detainments made arrests made as well now as central madrid well the majority of the people out in the streets have been quite young every knows who really been affected by this crisis so far saying in particular is facing an unemployment crisis biggest say it's about twenty three percent of the population at present that's particularly affecting the younger the working age the twenty five and younger with them it's about fifty percent of that cross-section of society that we are expecting tens of thousands of people to be out here in just a very short amount of time again voicing some of the uproar and anger not just against

the reports are saying this is tulus, in the south of france. all we can confirm is it's being reported that three people have been killed in a shooting at a jewish school in france. we'll work on getting you more details as soon as we get them here at cnn. nina. >> we certainly will. >>> coming back to british news. george osbourne is considering a tax cut for the country's richest people. the u.k.'s top tax rate pay about 50% of their tax rate on their incomes. that could be cut to 45% when george osbourne delivers the national budget on wednesday. they're committed to deep service cuts and civil service lieoffs. these measures are on the side of the u.s. debt crisis, and as you can imagine, for growth across the country. we look at the country's gdp, it shrank in the fourth quarter. when you have two successive quarters of falling out, that is technically the definition of a recession. but george osbourne is expected to argue that the tax rate has failed to improve the country's finances. and that a countdown on tax avoidance by the wealthy w

with a man suspected of killing seven people in the city of toulouse and a military base nearby france's top prosecutor says the government may surrender tonight live analysis of that story shortly here on r.t. . a mornings that oil shortages will lead to skyrocketing prices as tensions in the middle east put iranian crude supplies in jeopardy threatening to destabilize the world economy our top stories this hour. international news and comment live from moscow this is twenty four hours a day so the u.n. security council has agreed on syria adopting a nonbinding statement appealing for a cease fire a move which endorsers special envoy kofi annan peace plan also calls for secure humanitarian access to the country but the u.s. and its allies are still backing the opposition which isn't as harmless as washington likes to think he's put a sneer explains. in a publication by human rights watch they reinforced the position that moscow has been holding since the middle of last year and that is that there are elements within the opposition in syria who are not peaceful at all in fact they are cl

all of this comes as oil prices are record high not only in britain but also in france and america and what that means is unhappy voters and with elections just around the corner in france and america they need to do something quick to pacify the voters and so what france is now doing are joining us america and britain in discussing the option of the emergency release strategic release of emergency or oil supplies to try and drive down those prices now this is a move normally reserved only when there is actually a physical disruption of the oil supply which isn't actually the case here because of the oil prices. increasing is really a problem of their own making one of the main reasons for all prices escalating is the sanctions imposed on iran a key or producing nation by america britain and france which is hitting the oil exports hard and this is why countries like germany and italy are refusing to back move to release emergency supplies even ahead of the i.a.e.a. the international energy agency which has to authorize any such move has said the there hasn't been a destruction signific

how is security right now in france? is there fear, especially now that you're where this has happened now more than once? >> yes, there is definitely. the streets are pretty quiet. it is, of course, a monday but the streets are quiet except for around the school where obviously there are a lot of police. i've just been talking to someone at the jewish community from the school who's been there most of the day supporting the families who have lost their children. he was devastated, you know. he said this is monstrous, how can someone gun down children in front of their classmates. president sarkozy has lifted the security level. it was pretty high anyway because this is a region where there are a lot of paratroopers based in southwestern france but it's been raised to the scarlet level. since the shootings of the three soldiers in fact, soldiers have been warned not to leave their barracks wearing uniforms while this gunman, this serial killer is still on the loose, erin. >> it's pretty amazing what has happened. and her