if you follow us on twitter go to c-span wj if you want to send us a dweet that way. epublican line first. go ahead. caller: i'm calling in. first-time caller to c-span. thank you for your coverage. i want to thank congress and mr. obama for doing this, and the fda. it's about time. it's probably 30 years too late but thank god they've done it. host: buffalo, new york on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i don't know if you've ever been a smoker. i have. many other listeners this morning who have been smokers in the past have found it a living hell to attempt to give up cigarettes after they've been smoking them. the reason for that, as you know, is the addictive drug which many scientists say is ever bit as strong as heroin. my question is this. i assume congress will pass this and mr. obama will soon sign this giving this the fda authority to regulate the context. my question is this, this is the real $64 question americans should pay attention to. will obama direct the fda to regular the amount of nick owe teen in cigarettes. if that nicotine was reduced, ame

c-span: that chapter, as you can see here, it's greatly underlined ... >> guest: it was great fun writing that chapter. c-span: let's go back to that. "the official nazi news agency" -- it looks like "trans-ocean" -- "was the first to announce the invasion." >> guest: yes. c-span: what was the premise of this chapter? what did you try to do with this chapter? >> guest: i just wanted to know the answer to what happened around the world as the news came, and i just walked my way around the world. new york, of course, was a magnet to me because you got so much coverage. you got the times. they did a great editorial that began on june 7, "this is the moment for which we were born." you had the new yorker, and the new yorker had a wonderful "talk of the town" the week after d-day. and there was so much going on in new york in world war ii. it was really the world capital, even more so than it was to be after the war. i went to little towns in ohio and little towns in virginia and cities like chicago or columbus, ohio. i just wanted to see what happened in those cities. and then i started going around the world. in rome there was al

touched the pacific because i'm an eisenhower man, and it's too big a war to be an expert on the whole of it. c-span: where did you go to college? >> guest: the university of wisconsin. c-span: when do you remember first getting interested? you say you were a civil war historian. >> guest: i first got interested in military history and history in general as a sophomore. i was a pre-med. i was going to follow in my father's footsteps. then i went into a course in american history that the university required you to take, which i thought was -- you know, i wanted to take biology and anatomy and embryology. but they forced you to take a history course, so i just willy-nilly signed up for one. i walked in, and the professor -- his name was william b. hesseltine -- had been talking about three minutes, and i wasn't a pre-med anymore. i was a history major. after that lecture i went up to him, and i said, "i want to do what you do for a living. how do i go about doing that?" c-span: why did he impress you? >> guest: oh, he was a great lecturer. he was a great teacher of writing. he was not really a very good writer himself

escaped during the pogroms, and he was on his way to new york, but he ran out of money in cardiff and that's how i ended up being welsh. c-span: where'd you go after 17 years? >> guest: i moved to london. c-span: why? >> guest: it was the place to be. cardiff was a dead kind of town, and london was -- london was -- was london. c-span: what'd you do when you got there? >> guest: i did -- i did a year at college in london and flunked out. and then, as we say in england, university life met. c-span: and then what? that'd be about 18 or 19, then. >> guest: yeah. i moved up to manchester, in the north of england, and started writing for little newspapers and working with pop groups, none of whom made it. in fact, i played keyboards with a -- with a -- with a man who wore a huge papier -- a giant papier mache head. his name was frank sidebottom. we once supported the teen group ross wembley, which was our -- our finest moment. but we got bustled off stage after about 10 minutes. c-span: why? >> guest: well, we weren't very good, essentially. he wore a huge papier mache head, and he talked like this, and we'd do cover versions of pop hits very cove

c-span. for more information, go to c-span.org. at the top of the home page, click on c-span series for prime minister's questions, british parliament and legislatures around the world. you can also watch recent video including programs dealing with other international issues. >> now a hearing on healthcare legislation being crafted in the house. witnesses at this hearing include union and business leaders and healthcare industry experts. it begins with testimony from the head of families usa, a healthcare advocacy group. this is 2 1/2 hours. >> mr. chairman, i want to thank you and particularly you and congressman wrangle, congressman waxman for coming up a bill. for those who have been around in other iterations in healthcare reform it's rather unusual to have a uniformed bill and we thank you very much for doing that. we at families usa strongly endorse the house bill that's been introduced because we think it significantly deals with the key values that consumers are really looking for as part of healthcare reform. it provides c

to find out more on the author please go to ft.com. >> the c-span civics buses traveling the country,visiting libraries, bookstores, festivals and authors. here are some of the people and places we visited. >> we are here with susan levine at the university of illinois, chicago to talk about her book, "school lunch politics" the surprising history of america's favorite welfare program. susan, why did you think it was important to expose the behind-the-scenes scene of the school lunches? >> well, i think that everybody who goes to school in america eats a school lunch and at some point in their life, and it is a very important program for child nutrition and it is a very important program for poor children in this country. >> when and why did we start providing school lunches to children? >> that is a good question and it is a long story. , economists provided school lunches for children in the early part of the 20th-century and an effort to teach immigrant children how to become american in the depression of the 1930's. many more poor children were showing up in schools and teachers b

[applause] >> i don't know if it is going to be clear on the c-span channel, but i managed to get some solid dressing on my shirt. i felt that i could leave a little bit of lunch where it could be seen, whether it was chinese food, it would be perfect. this is for you, right here. thank you very much for inviting me. i am flattered. ito better knowing now that journalists are not invited to do this. the funny part about my critique in journalism, such as it is, when you are an expert in this country, when you are in the game killing with it every day, when you are living and breathing it, you are not an expert. you get a few years away, you have a television show -- i am an expert in a television production, and all of a sudden, i am an expert in media. my partner and asking him about education, because he was a former schoolteacher in baltimore, he said the same thing. when he was an expert, no one wanted to hear from me. now that he has a television show, everybody wants to hear his opinions. i am a little suspicious of my own voice on this. i do care about where newspapers have gone

i do not know if it is going to be clear on the c-span channel, but i managed to get some salad dressing on my shirt. i had been out of the profession since 1995, but i felt if i could leave a little of much where it could be seen, whether which chinese food, it would be perfect. this is for you. right here. [laughter] think you for inviting me. i am flattered. it is funny. i feel better knowing now that journalists are not invited to do this. the body part about my critique of journalism, such as it is, when you are an expert in this country, meaning when you are in the game, dealing with it every day, living and breathing in, you are not an expert. when you are away for a few years and you have a television show, i am an expert in television production now but all this and i'm an expert in the media. there is in the strange about that. burns, my partner, asking him about education, he was a former schoolteacher in baltimore, he said the same thing. when i wasn't -- when i was an expert and teaching, no 11 in my opinion. and now have all the opinions in the world and a run wants to hear

to get going. thank you, c-span. host: in other news this morning, a californian republican has picked to be the ranking republican on armed services committee. he will give up his present position. some conservatives are wary of giving a ranking member slot topetri or castle who are considered a centrist. that is in the newspaper from this morning. plano, texas on that our democrats' line. caller: thank you. i would give him probably a b-. i know he does not have direct control over the fdic but with regard to issue a bear and a buyback of any mac -- there's a huge risk. you have to give credit for that. but as far as credit card fees, as far as not getting more pressure on him to use the money [unintelligible] he needs to be more forceful. working with german-born frank in senator baucus, because that is the whole reason we got into this mess in the first place -- working with chairman of barney frank and senator baucus. he is not letting the banks run roughshod interest rates fees. every caller says that their inte

to ask mark, i don't know. probably online or on the pelican island site. c-span should go to pelican island, because there is a board walk, and each refuge with a plank. and goes out with this view. if you do a family vacation in florida, go to pelican island, and this has a rare patch in florida. >> where is it in florida? >> when i stay there, i stay in vero beach, between st. augustine and palm beach. and dean darling, a young cartoonist that roosevelt adopted for conservation. and he was spectacular. and roosevelt created the national forest in florida that links the atlantic to the gulf. if you look on the map, you see a green swatch of national forest and that's an area he reserved. >> i have been interviewing you, and how do you know about all of this? >> i love history, and you know brian, i have micromemory. >> photographic? >> i don't know if it's that, but my enthusiasm is high, and i incorporate that. this opened my eyes and i wrote the book to the parks, and not thinking of the back story of how we got the system. we are looking for good news in america, i wil

go to the democratic lonine. kay from minneapolis, minnesota. caller: thank you for c-span. i want to agree totally and fundamentally with the person who just called in. i am really getting upset by the extent to which republicans who have been opposed to any kind of government reform or change for ever and ever are denying the extent to which doing something that needs to be done by government and creating responsible government rather than making government be the boogeyman have got us into such terrible, terrible trouble that is growing and growing and growing. you talk about we cannot afford it? well, i mean, look at all the people that are suffering so terribly in this economic crisis after we could not have regulation, we could not have reform, we could not do anything about energy or health care or controlling the financial sector that has brought the world down to its knees in this economic crisis. it really is time for the republicans to stop, stop, stop attacking all progressive change in this country. we are in trouble. guest: well, i think she has bought hook, lin

we are going to the white house the 27 of march, we just have another contributor come in, we're all going to the white house. we don't know when. but we are going you heard us and you on c-span, you heard us. somebody tell michele. [laughter] because we want to go. >> i have to tell you the black women's network is something because black women talk to one another "go, tell michelle" blogsño bought.com, facebook, and people who are writing us to say what is this a facebook thing? you know, it is a thing. we say go for itxd because if peggy brooks-bertram can do it to anybody will do it. they went to our web page "uncrowned queens".com but we still did not understand or appreciate the brat and the scope of their network. beginning with the black churches and we just left today publishers say it is listed it will take two monthsxd before you can get a read the -- weedy nor presentation set up. don't believe it because when one black woman calls the minister of her church, you have got to read it. and you have a reading saturday morning and if you go to a black church on sunday you have the reading money and tuesday and wednesday and it is fantastic because we're working and se

i don't know of five going to be clear on the c-span channel but i managed to get some salad dressing on my shirt. i did it because my credentials as a journalist now suspect. i have been out of the profession since 95 but i felt if i could leave a little of my lunch for is to be seen, you know, would that it was chinese food and had my feet up on the rewrite desk it would be perfect. [laughter] this is for you right here. thank you very much for inviting me. i am flattered, it is funny. i feel better knowing now that journalists are not invited to do this. because of the funny part about my critique of journalism such as it is is that when you are an expert in this country meaning when you are in the game, when you're dealing with it every day, when is, when you are living and breathing and you are not an expert but to get a few years away and you have a television show -- i am an expert in television production but all the sudden i'm an expert in the media so there's something strange about that. people keep telling them, ed burns who is my partner and television writer, asked about

go to our next call. jason, silver spring, maryland. caller: good morning, c-span. thanks for everything you are doing. i just wanted to mention that it is really not one federal reserve chairman. the whole history of the federal reserve is not a bright one. it is pretty murky. it has been around less than 100 years, and it was brought about to avoid the things that we are going through right now, this economic major downturn crisis. i just wanted to, you know, -- i do not believe the fed represents the people of's interest. it is a conglomeration of banks, and i am really happy to see that congress is finally starting to do something positive by looking into the federal reserve. i mean, that is the first thing i have seen in a long time, that they are representing the people's interest. we have a big problem in this country with the welfare and warfare state. we are spending way too much money on things we do not need, and i guess i would just like to ask the audience to look into the federal reserve. they are not subject to audits. they do not have to disclose their information. they have probably tri

to find out more on the author please go to f t.com. the c-span 2 booktv civics bus is visiting libraries, bookstores, festivals and authors. here are some of the people and places we visited. >> we are with mark bauerlein, author of a "the dumbest generation". you also have a a title that says or don't trust anyone under 30. you put a lot of statistics in your book. a pull out the one statistic you like the most when you have to talk to groups about this particular book. >> i think one thing that happened was the speech i gave at the university of maryland a few years ago, there were about to and 50 students in the audience and i cited a statistic for them that came out of a civic knowledge of young adults and the statistic was that roughly 18 to 26 year olds were six times more likely to know who the american -- the latest "american idol" winner was then there were to know who the speaker of the house was just 2 miles away from the university of maryland. and what i can add to that statistic is that a young woman in the back yelled out, it is mo

to ask mark. i don't know. it is probably a minor when something with the pelican island site. c-span should go to pelaton island some time. u.s. fish and wildlife has built an incredible boardwalk down there with each refuge set up like a plant. it goes out with an incredible view. if you do in a family vacation over the summer in florida, take the time to go to pelaton island to the center there. because it's really worth it for kids. you're guaranteed to see a piece of wild florida. >> it's close to vero beach. i would stay in vero beach which is in between st. augustine and palm beach on the atlantic coast. also, the darling national wildlife refuge, he was a cartoonist, but the national wildlife refuge is spectacular. roosevelt created the national forest in florida that links the atlantic to the gulf. if you look on a map you will see the big green swath of natural forest. that is a heavy manatee area he preserved. >> i've been interviewing you 15 years. how do you remember all this? >> i love history. you know that about me. i have a good memory, i guess, for things when i get into somet

host: if we have time we were short excerpt, but let's go to maggie on the phone. caller: thank you for c-span to the reason i am falling mr. frost is basically i've been trying to call this morning regarding governor sanford in his relation, the situation he is in and how he is being disgraced, and how nixon was disgraced. i am very concerned for governor sanford. it seems that he has lost everything, and he obviously loves that woman. i wish the papers and the people would leave him alone for a little while. guest: interesting, yes. there is a perpetual debate, and we come on it from time to time about what is the public's business and what is not. for instance, the doings of governance and so on, those obviously valid. but then, i mean, obviously with the stories of children about 15 or something, they are not running for office. a politician has not cashed in on them. there is no reason why that intrusion should take place, i think. i think it is a question of where you draw the line. there is a case of an mp in england, he had not cashed in on his marriage when it was already over. he had

to ask mark here. i don't know. i think probably online or something with the pelican island site. c-span should go to pelican island sometime, because u.s. fish & wildlife has built this incredible boardwalk down there with each refuge gets like a plank and goes out with this incredible view. so if you're doing family vacations over the summer to florida, take the time to go to pelican island to this center there, because it's really worth it for kids. you're guaranteed to see a rare patch of wild florida. where are where -- >> where is it in florida? >> when i would stay there, i would stay in between st. augustine, if you like, and palm beach, on that atlantic coast. but also, ding darling, who roosevelt adopted for preservation. roosevelt also created the national forest in florida that links the atlantic to the gulf. if you look on map, you'll see the big green swatch of national forests. that's a heavy manatee area that he preserved also. >> i've been interviewing you for 15 years at a minimum. how do you remember all this? >> i love history. you know that, brian, about me. i just love it. i

host: you will be able to see the entire interview with senator jon kyl later on this morning after this program, at 10:00 a.m. on c-span. we are going to continue our discussion of spending by the obama administration, especially with regards to health and other areas right after this break. we will be right back. ♪ >> the government funding of direct aid to colleges and students is aid late 1960's thing that has grown rapidly since then. >> today, not even government- backed student loans at hillside cut -- hillsdale college are accepted. >> we have a lawyer in town that tries to keep the government from giving us money. he said there would be no use in trying to read the paper work. >> tonight, at 8:00, on c-span's "q&a." >> more nonfiction books with author's later today on c-span 2's "book tv." joel rosenberg takes you inside the revolution. this is followed by a look at what is next for the economy. a discussion on taxes and the end of prosperity. later, "foreclosure nation." housing and where it is headed. afterwards, how do you run for congress with only $7,000 in your sixth grade student is running the campaign? sherry cahil

are going to regulate the private companies and the public plan will meet the same regulations so when you go to the exchange if for some reason you don't have insurance, through the benefit of c-span who inform the public so well, you'll have the choice to go into the exchange and pick a plan. pick a private plan if you like it or pick a public plan. i'm sure there will be several private plans. >> i'd like to follow up on the public plan question a little bit this gets talked about a lot, as you know, republicans seem pretty firmly lined up against it. they've been vocal about how they can't imagine voting for something with it in there. but there's also concern about opposition to something resembling what is in the draft bill you and your clearing -- colleagues put out on friday, are you confident at the end of this process that your bill will attract a majority or really all of house democrats in spite of the concerns expressed by some of the more conservative members of the party about the public plan? >> there have been concerned expressed by the more liberal group of the party who might like to have single payer. there are concerns, i suppose by the christian scientists who

to following the supreme court's decision on the c-span network. for more about the nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to the supreme court go to c-span.org. n watch the president's announcement of her nomination, reaction from members of congress and interest groups. also, senate floor statements from a 1998 appeals court nomination. >> you are watching c-span, and public service provided by the nation's cable companies. next, house debate on the climate change bill. then, defense secretary robert gates on iran posing nuclear- weapons program and the situations in iraq and afghanistan. later, a joint news conference with president obama and german chancellor merkel. . .

to see that. >> don't worry, c-span heard you. you're covered. see you, patrick. >> it's true that it's going to be -- this thing other i'm surprised the torture this bigger than the war. >> but it's not though advantage of the obama administration to have this debate. it sucks all the air out of the white house. they need to move forward. it's great tv. >> i don't want our enemies to see nothing happen. >> on book matters, did you see that in the book i adopted your washington read discussion right up front? no index in the book so a chris matthews can't -- how. >> how do you go to a library doubt were. >> you can't take a look on what page -- i gave you credit. >> they mentioned me and they take a shot at me i get bat. if they don't mention me i get angrier. i don't know which makes me angrier. >> i'm going do introduce you do my wife. come here. >> i'm not embarrassed bat it. come here. >> meet my very good friend. kitty kelley. >> how are you? i'm mike smerconish. how are you? >> yeah. [laughter] marvelous. >> thank you, cheers. >> wait, chris. right here. right here. woody,

to get hold of those nuclear weapons in iran. host: ted, democratic line. good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. i think that this is goingo be a case of natural evolution. we do not know yet halthat the ayatollahs will not seize control in a hardline wave. if not this week, next week, maybe even next year, but people change in iran like i feel that would have changed in iraq. this is almost a statement of how mistaken our former president and defense secretary were when they undertook the war in iraq. ultimately, iran will go in a way that will be more humane. i hope that it not -- it does not take 20 years. host: this front page of "the new york times" photograph is from tehran. we have been monitoring video on youtube, some of it over the weekend. we are not absolutely certain of the dates. we will show you some of the pictures as we listen to john from maryland. caller: that democrat that just spoke, his analysis of the situation is totally wrong. i think that the iranians, if they are able to overthrow the regime, a huge amount of credit should be given to george bush. he would have completely transformed the region.

used to tell me that the readers on shorter stories, the readers want really localize news, the readers want this, the readers want that, they want punchlines. i can't on c-span. [laughter] i was going there but i am on c-span. >> it is cable. >> not my cable. [laughter] but in no way i have come to believe and i came to believe as i was a journalist i don't ride for those people if they exist. i wanted to write people for the stories if they have intimate knowledge of what i was writing about they would say that dicot so if it was a detective and i am -- i was a homicide detective not just in baltimore and out that he would like everything in would be mad about stuff and would like it when i rent on a cop who i thought deserve to be ranked on, but i didn't want him to say this jump dozen of my job. i figured if i've got to read for him and was able to get to the story and not be disgusted, then the raiders would follow and i have sort of proceeded on that basis since i began writing like water articles. at some point that became what i actually thought newspapers should do. again, i really against generalist's so the idea is to cover something well enough to explain to the mythical

to c- span nationwide. please, help me welcome judge uw clemmon. [applause] >> i'm going to take a drink of water. it's my privilege to be here this morning. since i made a change of career, i don't have to drive all night to get to washington and i am taking full opportunity full exercise of my newly found first amendment rights, and actually, i wasn't invited by the judiciary committee to come. i invited thoem to subpoena me but without them doing that i couldn't come without violating some of the ethical constraints. earlier on in my life i was an eyewitness to the sometimes tragic results of unwarranted prosecuti prosecutions. then the prosecutions arose out of police brutality cases in the birmingham area. outlaws in blue uniforms would often cloak their lawlessness in charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. it was out of this milieu that led me to law school, and my first legal career as a civil rights lawyer, often defending victims in unwarranted prosecutions. so i came to the federal bench in 1980, fully aware of and reflective of my background. i believe, with every fiber in

c-span networks. for more information on judge sotomayor, go to our website c-span.org. you will see more of her visits to capitol hill, reaction to the nomination, an even a look at the official senate questionnaire that she's required to fill out. that's at c-span.org. >> iran's interior ministry is claiming that mahmoud ahmadinejad is heading for a land lied victory but his main challenger says he is the winner and accusing the government of voter fraud. on "washington journal" we talked to a journalist in tehran about the situation. "the counterpoint to a landslide victory, his opponent is saying it amounts to treason and a statement from his opponent urges supporters to resist a governance of lies and detick tatership. -- dictatorship. the ministry said ahmadinejad had 63.3% of the vote and suvari had 44%, and based on ministry figures, around 75% of the country's 46.2 million eligible voters went to the polls. we are going to get more input from anna klinefield who works for the financial times and is their middle east correspondent. usually the votes take a long t

going down. i believe in freedom of choice and individual decision making, but i want to go to a health- care provider that i want to choose. i urge you strongly -- i watch you on c-span and it is very informative, but did in, fight, and make sure this bill does not get passed through. i do not care about political capital and all that stuff. make sure americans are protected and do the right thing. thank you. guest: you are absolutely right. the idea of rushing this through, and the call is from the democratic majority in the president to have the bill passed in the house and senate by the august recess, by august 1. we're talking less than six weeks, maybe six or seven weeks. the president wants something he can sign in september. there is no reason for the rush other than a political reason. the president certainly enjoys robust approval ratings at this time. and he knows to strike while the iron is hot, if you will. but to do it in a unilateral way, without republican input, without trying to join together on the things that we can agree with, is a huge mistake. now, we are talking about a system that currently and absorbs 17% of our gross domestic product. by the

for a complete schedule of this weekend's schedule, fox online to booktv.org -- go on line. >> how is c-span funded? >> i do not know. >> from public television? >> i do not know where the money comes from. >> contributions from donors? >> how is c-span funded? 30 years ago, america's cable companies created c-span as a public service. no government mandate, no government money. >> earlier today, president obama had a meeting with german represented angela merkel. here is the schedule. he has stops in france tomorrow in paris and normandy, where he will celebrate the 65th anniversary of d-day. his speech in cairo, egypt, continues to generate attention. we will show it again on sunday here on c-span. now, craig newmark, creator of craigslist. this is about 55 minutes. >> craig new2mark probably does not need much introduction, but because we will be on c-span, maybe more. it was created in 1995 and has grown to an online communities spanning almost 600 cities in 60 countries. craig continues to serve as a customer-service representative for craigslist. you should also note that he is a suppo

so they're going to have a tough time winning these cases in a way that sticks in the supreme court and the reality is, i mean, i don't know if you're supposed to say this publicly on c-span, there's not a whole lot of intentional discrimination going out there. think about the jurisdictions that are affected. i forget the number rick gave but it was like 31% to 45% of represented democrats in the south are black. you think that efor must constituency group is going to let their white compatriots get away with shenanigans? i view it as an implausible hypothetical. these southern legislatures have changed. they've changed dramatically. that's not to say of course in local communities, at the county level, but that's not what you were talking about. that's not what kept the section 5 people busy. i think they hardly ever sue at that level anymore, so in terms of congressional or straight redistrictings, you're going to see what we saw in 2000, which was hardly any elections after bowlinger two and the one case they brought was georgia v. ashcroft, they won in the georgia supreme court and at the lost in the supremes. >> i want to respond to that a little because it raises t

passed it >> we will leave this morning's "washington journal" to go to the white house briefing which is just beginning, live, on c- span. [laughter] >> re, sometimes those things that happen in bubble boxes come out of my mouth. >> and a question -- michael jackson from friday to today and then the letter over the weekend -- >> i do not understand. >> friday, when you're at the podium, you told us he was anticipating the question about michael jackson. >> i was surprised that nobody asked one. i do not think you were there friday. >> i was. >> with chancellor markell? -- merkel? >> no. >> i did not expect you to ask a question because you were not there. >> anyway, then your statement -- your stigman use said -- you said you did not lead us into believing -- and sunday we find out there is a letter. all the information from friday and saturday, the question was asked today, why not make the statement? >> i did not see anyone ask the question today. i think he expressed his thoughts on the thoughts of michael -- on the death of michael jackson. the president often writes private letters of condolence that, based on thei

to know, there's a camera back here. they're from c-span, they're filming, they've assured me we're going to go on about 4:30 a.m. pacific time about eight weeks from now. so you might want to tune in. come on over to the mic so they can film us. you guys can walk on up here. >> i'd like to ask cotton, how did he deal with his anger, because i did all the same things he did to make money and stuff while i was in the joint too because i took care of my se, i wouldn't ask nobody for nothing and i wanted to know how he deal with his anger, because like, i mean, brother, i got a lot of anger in me. i got a lot of anger in me and like you, i didn't take no stuff. i mean, i was -- [inaudible] i mean, i put my foot in him, you know what i'm saying, and they started putting me he on medication, because i was so violent, because like the reason why they got gates up, all through prison, because three officers go jump on me, say they're going to whip my [beep] and shoot me up with thorazene and they're going to start talking [beep] to me and i started doing pushups, to get my present back and they give me a shot. i beat th

c-span. if you like more information, you can go to our web site at closeup.org. let us go to one of our students right now. hello, and welcome. >> i am from texas. it is the most memorable person you have met with during this program? >> i think frank has asked joe earlier about meeting the president. brian has talked about this to groups. when you need a president, or head of state, it does not matter what your politics are. there is something almost sacred in american politics regarding american democracy. it is always an interesting moment. no matter what your situation is

c-span. >> this weekend on c-span2's book tv, live the midwest largest literary event. the "chicago tribune" printer row litfest. >> for a complete schedule of this weekend's programs and times, go online to booktv.org. >> our party needs, obviously, a lot of work. >> sunday, on c-span's q & a. indiana republican governor mitch daniels on revitaling the gop. >> it needs to look inwardly and think about how it can speak more meaningfully to the problems of today and to the -- and to the americans of today, to the young people of the day specifically. maybe i can be a little part of that. you don't have to be a candidate to do that. >> q & a with governor mitch daniels sunday night on c-span. also on xm radio or download the c-span podcast. >> how is c-span funded? >> private donations. >> taxpayers? >> i don't really know. >> from public television. >> donations. >> i don't know where the money comes from. >> federally. >> contributions from donors. >> how is c-span funded? 30 years ago america's cable companies created c-span as a public service, a private business initiative, no government mandate, no government money. >> now margaret hamberg the head of the food and drug administration

to go first. the house returns live on monday here on c-span. >> here is our present policy. are we really anxious and eager to stop the bombing as we are to stop the war? >> telephone conversations from the final months of the johnson

facebook and you are not going to a bookstore, if you spend all their time reading about britney and not watching c-span and seeing what is going on in the senate floor and elsewhere, then you are piling up heavy opportunity cost for yourself because when you are 30 years old and you work all day and go home, you have a couple of kids, make dinner, do the laundry, get them to bed, you are not going to say now i'm going to get back to federalist paper number 43. no, you are tired. you don't have the time and energy to have that kind of intellectual development. so the more young people spend their hours out of class crafting their myspace page or piling up cellphone minutes, the last time they are studying a foreign language, practicing a musical instrument, learning about the nature of our government -- one quick statistic to end on that with. the national school board association calculated nine hours a week of social networking for teenagers. last. that has gone up since then. the high school survey of student engagement found that we do represent a high school students to one hour or less reading and

i'm going to give you short opening remarks remarks remarksy of time for questions i would like to thank the folks at c-span for being here today and filming us. i just returned from an economics conference in italy. one of the sessions was a mock trial in which the economists of the world were put on trial, accused of completely missing the warning signs of the current crisis, not predicting it, doing nothing to prevent it, and thus far, doing little to help enact smart reforms to end it. i had to give a talk on my book at the same time as the mock trial across town in italy, but i didn't want to miss it so i sent roberto, the chief prosecutor of the child, and himself a top economist, the following memo. it was entitled, witness for the prosecution, and it read as follows: roberto. i see you are speaking at noon today as the prosecutor asking whether economists are to blame for the current financial crisis. i wanted to attend but i'm speaking across town on my in the book. i wish you success in your prosecution, and although i am generally against the death penalty, i think i would make an exception in th

to talk about this on c-span because i think c-span. i think it to the themes of this year our immigration and south asia. i am not going to talk about three paperbacks that are so popular on their own and they really don't need me to support them, but i will tell you what they are. one is another land which is received all kinds of awards. it is by joseph o'neill who is part of dutch and part irish. is a book that takes place in new york post 9/11. the second book is the currency literary and i always have to stumble over the name, the currency literary and the potato peel society which is in epistolary book about alan currency in during world war ii and it's a very delightful book about some women who get together and try to think of ways of sabotaging the germans or on the island, who occupy the island. because it is part of britain and the germans essentially occupied the island. and the third book which really doesn't need me to promote it is unaccustomed earth. and that's the way is into the both, in fact, it represents both the genres that i want to introduce today. one is novels about immigration not. what i fin

c-span. this bill was going to cost only a postage stamp. look at the paper this morning, gasoline will only go 2 cents a gallon. i hope they are true but don't think they are going to be true. we had amendments as a safety valve in case it does go up. the c.b.o. and american petroleum institute says that gas prices are going to go up 77 cents a gallon. diesel price, 88 cents a gallon. some energy costs could go up by 40% to 50%. we had amendments that said, hey, if gasoline goes up to five bucks a gallon, we'll take off this cap and trade f electricity price goes up more than 10%, we'll take off cap and trade f unemployment reaches 15%, it's almost there already in michigan, we'll take off this job killing provision. were those amendments allowed? no. then we got the whole issue of india and china, jobs going someplace else. that consumed a couple hours of debate i think in full committee, yet no amendment at all allowed on the house floor. mr. speaker -- madam speaker, my folks want to work and pay taxes, yet they are going to find themsel

c span. [laughter] >> i was going there but i'm on c-span. >> that's cable. >> it's not my cable. >> but in a way, you know, i've come to believe and i came to believe as i was a journalist that i don't write for those people. if they exist. i wanted to write stories for the people who if they had intimate knowledge of what i was writing about, they would say, "yeah, that guy caught it." so if it was a detective and i'm doing -- you know, i wanted a homicide detective not just in baltimore. and not that he would like everything and he would be mad about stuff and he wouldn't like it when i ranked on a cop who i thought deserved to be ranked on. but that i didn't want him to say, "this chump doesn't know my job." and i figured if i got it right for him, and if he was able to get through the story and not be disgusted, then readers would follow. and i sort of proceeded on that basis since i began writing like longer articles. at some point that became what i actually thought newspapers should do. again, i'm really against generalists. the idea you can cover something well enough to explain it to the mythical 7th grade-educated reader? that's t

go to their website glaa.org. as we show you, we will take another call. carl on our line for republicans. go ahead. caller: good morning. thanks for c-span. i just wanted to say, rick, i commend you guys for standing up what you believe in. i just have an issue with your comparison when it comes to gay rights and civil rights. i think there's a big difference. one, you make a choice. the other one, you know, there was a situation where you were placed in slavery because of the color of your skin. if you were gay and you were white, you were not a slave. so i think when you use the comparisons of civil rights and gay rights, i think there is a big difference there, because like i said, i commend you guys for standing up, but i think your comparisons shouldn't be put where there is a situation, where there is a color and comparative choice. i hear that often, and i think that folks should have the right to live their life that they want to live as long as they're not hurting anybody else. but i think we should make honest and true comparisons when it comes to situations like gay rights and civil rights. caller: well, i appreciate that underl

host: let's go to sugar land, texas, on our democratic line. caller: in the last two years on c-span, it was brought out that the oil companies, the republicans say we need to build these refineries. the oil companies -- congress had the five top oil company executives come in and they said they did not want to build any new refineries. in india or some other country, they are building some type of super-super refinery that would provide gas to many different countries. maybe some of your people know about that. remember, on the prescription drug benefit bill, congress was forbidden to get the best prices for air medicare para thank you very much. host: drilling and refining domestically? guest: they want to produce more energy within our borders. i do not think drilling for more oil is the key component in that energy legislation. republicans want to explore that as well as offshore drilling. that is because of what she said -- they are worried about other countries doing just that. host: governor mark sanford last week it was the revelation of the affair of his woman -- of a woman

going to allow us to prevail. to sum it up, encouraging signs but a long, long way to go. thank you all very much. thank you very much. >> next, on c-span "new york times" columnist david brooks talks about the obama administration. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius testifies about her department's annual budget. and federal reserve chairman ben bernanke discusses the economy at a house hearing.

to ask. i couldn't get my:. host: thank you for bringing that up. san diego is next. caller: good morning. c-span. not to change the topic or anything. we have a horrible thing going on here. the census bureau has reported that murder is up 1600% and only in the minority group, the black people. it is down 10% in the white people. it will not reported. you will not see it in the news media. i suggest people go -- is very disturbing. go to the census bureau and ask them. they will give you the information. that acorn? totally corrupt organization. i know firsthand by the way they're handling things here. host: let's move over to new york on the democrats' line. caller: my question was for the previous guest. it was a wonderful conversation there. i wanted to ask him if there was a rift between the rural and urban population in iran. it seemed like there were people that were doing all kinds of sophisticated stuff. i thought maybe it was the rural vote that went for ahmadinejad. i am bringing it up because i'm living in a rural area. i find it to be quite different from an urban area. host: ok. burke but, new york, is on the line. -- bert plan -- brooklyn, new york.

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 committee? the democrats are in charge. they can remove people or go through the process of removing people from the committee if they feel like they violated the rules. again, we

anyway, i remember the tremendous energies so i'm going to be feeding off of that tonight except starting with c-span. there these lights in my eyes i can see your faces so well, says and that energy down here. this is the last up on the tour but it is the one i have been looking forward to. this is such a great book city and its library, one of the most of libraries in the world. [laughter] also one of the loveliest and most fascinating i would say. iae have seen it from the outside for goys is that a quick to or from the inside. in 1980,-- 1983 estate across te street in the pacific botelle, that little. tell on the corner and and the carnegie library was in this location i was working that time. "blue highways" my first but it does come out and i was working on this story for "the atlantic monthly," called a glass of-- it was about the burgeoning microbrew movement, and is probably all of you know, seattle was at the heart of that and northern kelly-- and to some extent new york state. but it was here reporting on that and we were staying across the street and meekham over to the carnegie library