it wasn't a liberal activist court that decided the presidential race between president bush and al gore. >> if i could ask a question. jeff sessions, the top republican on the committee, has been critical owea kagen's position against gays when she was dean at harvard and tried to link that saying she was hip crlcal but by not criticizing harvard from accepting money from members of the saudi royal family. what do you make of that? >> first, it it wasn't vell as co. if i i was on the board of overseers of harvard, i'm not sure i would be that eager to accept saudi money even though i think the idea of having real studies of islamic life islamic religion, islamic society is a good one to be having in this country. but that wasn't a decision that she made. i think that's a bit of a stretch. are they going to ask questions about recruiting? sure. they've all talked about that. in my mind, that's a tempest in a teapot. people, military would recruit on the harvard campus all the time. that she was the dean. there were, it was under one condition prior to the supreme court decision. under on

in it the gores said it was a mutual and mutually supportive decision. the gores have been married for 40 years. those are some of the day's major stories. now back to jim. >> lehrer: still to come on the newshour tonight, battling the bulge in china and celebrating 30 at cnn but first our look at the impact. oil spill on the gulf waters and on bp. newshour correspondent spencer michels begins with a report from the louisiana coast. >> reporter: a diamond-tipped saw blade started the first of two major cuts today on the pipe that's been spewing oil for 43 days. and late this morning, a giant plume began gushing from disabled blow-out preventer where robot-craft had been doing the cutting. the intricate operation was performed a mile down by remote control. it was part of the latest effort by bp to stem the gusher that's blown at least 20 million gallons of oil into the gulf and possibly more than 40 million. the next move will be to lower a tight-fitting cap called the lower marine riser package and then begin siphoning the oil to the surface. bp's opera

not by al gore. starring al gore. it's by davis guggenheim. and "good night and good luck." those were the two key partners that came onboard. to the participant's credit, they've put together a website that people can investigate to explore the issue of money and politics in a way that i think is very helpful. that outreach aspect of this enterprise is very interesting to me. >> you mentioned guggenheim, is that the charlie guggenheim family? >> yes, i believe it is. >> and you also mentioned mark cuban. i saw your documentary at his theater here, theelandmark theaters in washington, and he's got theaters as you know in over 15 cities in the united states. if he wasn't in this business and if he wasn't financing something like this, would you stilllbe doing documentaries? would there still be places in this country to go see these things? >> i think there would bee but i'm glad he's out there. i think he's doing a great job. i also like the landmark theater chain. it's a good, healthy outlet for independent films. he's not the only one doing it, but he's an important force.

at the signing, president clinton and vice president gore talked about the information superhighway. everybody knew, the legislators knew, thaa advanced services was the way things were going. they were hoping that they would get more local competition. they were replacing anti-trust restrictions on the bell ccmpanies with regulatory provisions that would promote competition. the fact remains todayy that in most markets around the u.s., we monopoly, although some are, for march typically a duopoly -- but more typically a duopoly for wireless internet access. >> in 1934 the government decided to regulate the telephone industry. it said to the telephone industry, you shall have a monopoly. in return for that, you shall not have competition, but you shall have regulation. later, congress said, you shall no longer have a monopoly, but you will be freed froo regulation since there will be competition. that has resulted in enormous consumer choice. 95% is covered in america with broadband ccess. no company in the industry has 3 our entire industry has only a 43% share internet access marke

but i tell you, one time, we were in california, i flew out with vice president gore and senator f.b.i. stine, because california had this huge flood, and the water had surround this had one town, and they had volunteers coming from everywhere. and we land on this highway, and we start walking up to where all the volunteers were and where they were putting sandbags on this levee, and they had this big ditch, and so we were almost up there, and one of the reporters came over to me and said, director, could you get the vice president down in that ditch and throw some sandbags with those guys for a photo op? i said, yeah, i think so. so we get up there, and i said, sir, they'd like you to get down in the ditch and throw some of those sandbags to these guys for a photo op, and he said ok. he walks up there, and he said, hey, guys, i'm going to help you. he goes in in that ditch, secret service goes crazy. one of them hangs his toe on a sandbag and flips, nearly breaks his leg. and the vice president gore is down there throwing sandbags to these guys, and they're up there taking pictures. h

and it was not a liberal activist court decided the presidential race between president bush and al gore. >> i want to ask a question that jeff sessions has been critical of elena kagan's position regarding military recruitment relating to discrimination against gays when she was dean of harvard, and saying she was being hypocritical by criticizing that policy but not criticizing harvard from mexican money from members of the saudi royal family for a center. what do you think of that? >> if i was on the board of overseers of harvard, i am not sure i would be that eager to except saudi money, even though i think the idea of having real studies of islamic life, islamic religion, islamic society is a good one to have in this country. that was not a decision she made. i think that is a bit of stretch. are they going to ask questions about recruiting? sure, we have all talked about that, but in my mind that is a tempest in a teapot. the military is able to recruit on the harvard campus all the time when she was the dean. it was under one condition prior to the supreme court decision, under an

many republicans seem to suggest that vice president gore come and build an igloo on the white house. well, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration has released information that says we have the warmest january to april ever, the warmest january to april ever since they started collecting data in 1880. and what do we get from our republican colleagues? more drilling, more drilling, not safeguards but more drilling. they go out and hold a press conference and ask for more offshore drilling. rather than that, they should call for more solar investment, rebates for americans to have solar technology and get us away from fossil fuels that are ruining the gulf and causing the greatest disaster in the gulf and the worst ecological disaster we've known on this earth. what we can do to prevent future catastrophes is clear. we need to get away from fossil fuels. but republicans are only interested in lining the pockets of oil companies and making sure that they have the opportunity to drill, drill, drill, spill, spill, spill. we need to stop it and we need to have a policy that wor

he campaigned in tennessee a long time ago for albert gore sr.ho was running for the senate, who also played the fiddle. senator byrd played the fiddle on the grand ole opry in nashville, came back to nashville in 2008 and sank along with a group of fiddlers. a few days later i came to him on the senate floor and talked to him about an old mountain song called "wreck on the highway" made famous in the 1940's, i guess, 1930's. and senator byrd began to sing the song. he knew all the words -- so loudly -- that the staff was afraid the galleries would all tice it. we will miss his loveeof the united states history, but traditional american history. he was the superior o sponsor oe teaching american history program which is part of the elementary and secondary education act. he has provided nearly $600 million to school districts to imriewft professional development of american history teachers. he and the late-senato kennedy and i were work on a piece of legislation which we introduced consolidating all the federal programs that support the teaching

what if the constitution says the supreme court decides who's president in bush verses gore? >> the constitution says the judicial you her will be held by a supreme court and the judicial power resolved disputes and that was a dispute. there's no question under the constitution the supreme court could exercise the authority and the other branches recognize it even the their unhappy. certainly some although i'd say probably half the member of congress were unhappy they decide to intervene. perhaps the other with this were pleased. >> in his column the bush and gore question be asked of elena kagan. you think they'll ask that question? guest: iraqi think i think it . i don't think you'll hear republican senators recite it and i don't think she'll say much about it other than the fact that the court issueed the decision and it stressed that it was limited the facts at and that happen to be that election as apposed to spreading a broader constitution. >> christian scientist monitor this month or week asked should the court look more like america? as a long article on whether or n

ever since al gore, they say lost the 2000 election because of his stance on gun control, lost his homeennessee, no democrat has had the guts to come out. another issue where we do not have to back policies. two parties and one policies. we loved guns. >> larry: why do we love guns? >> having said that, i have again and i am not giving up. there are too many other nuts out there with guns. that is the thing. that is understandable. is a case of no going back. we are such a gun culture and so many people already have guns that you do not want to be in your home if somebody breaks and then they have guns. >> larry: i interviewed an inspector once and he could not believe that anybody would have guns. it was beyond his sense of belief. >> but in england which is to be no guns is becoming americanized. >> larry: this guy in chicago was a street guy who he did stuff that obama used to do. he wanted a gun because he lives in a neighborhood where he is scared. that is the case that 1 pair>> the idea that you can take this in public, where we can have a wherever we go because in case there is a

and ever since al gore they say lost the 2000 election because of his stance on gun control, lost hise of tennessee, no democrat has had the guts to come out. again, another issue, larry, where we do not have two policies, we have two parties and one policy. we love guns, we can't get enough guns. lart question is why do we love guns? >> yes, having said that i have a gun and i'm not going to give up my gun. >> larry: why do we love guns? >> because there is too many other nuts out there with guns, larry. that is the thing. people out there are very understandable, sort of a case of no going back. we are such a gun culture and so many people already have guns that you don't want to be in your home if somebody breaks in and they have guns. >> larry: i interviewed an inspector from scotland yard once with and he couldn't believe that anybody could have a gun. >> right. >> larry: it was beyond his sense of belief. >> but england, which with used to be completely a nongun culture is becoming more americanized in every way. >> larry: people feel the need. this guy in chicago, who is a stre

[applause] >> a reminder that we will have copies. >> i think bush versus gore was rightly decided. >> who else has questions? >> i am interested in knowing a little bit more about the role of the courtroom news artist and how that might help bring visuals to the public and better inform the public of what people act like and how they are in this visual world we are in. >> i am sorry. say it again? >> the courtroom sketch artist certainly is a useful thing, for people to have a picture of the court, since there are no cameras. generally, i think the depictions can be pretty good. i do not think it is a major issue in court room dynamics. >> the supreme court is very hospitable to sketch artists, but the other day i was down at the d.c. circuit court. the court was hearing a case on the war on terrorism. ray randolph was one of the judges, a senior judge randolph. there was a courtroom sketch artist, bill tennessee, who was there. just as randolph sent a note down that he did not want to tennessee to be sketching in the court. so bill took his large sketch pad at out and deposited it i

and well, i mean, look at how much the former vice president of the united states, al gore, has made like in the european union. i yield back. mr. gohmert: i'm going to mention the former vice president gore, he has a global warming problem of his own now, so i'll leave reference to him out of it entirely. apparently his planet is warming. but it is interesting, too, when i heard the president talking previously about this cozy relationship between regulators and the big oil, here it is back again to the cynicism and all those days as a judge, you know, it hit me. and i asked my office to check and sure enough, they found a press release from the department of interior dated june 18, 2009. and i'm glad my friend was enlightened as i was to find out just how cozy british petroleum and the white house and the global warming advocates here on capitol hill and at the white house have been. there is apparently a very cozy relationship, which obviously, made it difficult for him to condemn b.p. because they are the oil company that was jumping out there saying we support this global warmin

during her white house years the nominee was the central figure in the clinton-gore effort to restrict gun rights and as a dramatic 5-4 decision today in the mcdonald case shows the personal right of every american who own a gun hangs by a single vote on the supreme court. miss kagan was also the point person for the clinton administration's effort to bl k block -- abortions. perhaps she was the key person who convinced president obama to cha who convinced president clinton to change his mind on that precedure.clinton to change his mind on that precedure. her actions punished the military and defeened our soldiers as they fought in two wars over seas. as someone who feels the burden of sending young men and women into harm's way, to ensure military resucruiters were tread fairly, i can't take this issue lightly. dean kagan also joined with three over law school deans to write a letter in opposition to senator graham's legislation for determining who was an enemy combatant for the war on terror. she most recently, the nominee served as solicitor general for little over a year. but her s

oregon investigated sex accusation against gore. this was broken apparently by "the national enquirer" about 24 hours ago but it is now all over the political news cycle. let us go back to calls. we are talking to you about president obama's decision yesterday to accept the resignation of general much -- general mcchrystal and put david petreaus in charge of afghanistan. harold is on our republican line. caller: how are you doing? host: what are your thoughts on this decision? caller: i am an army reservist, commissioned officer. what needs to be known here is as a commissioned officer for the united states military, we take an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the united states, which is a living document, and to obey and support our president. what the general did was -- it was insubordinate and it was disrespectful, and thanks to "the rolling stone" it was exposed, and the citizens of the united states can see that. and on polished general with no media savvy -- unpolished general. i hope we can move forward in the n

wh if the constitution says the supreme court decides who's president in bush verses gore?>> the constitution ys the judicial you her will be held by a supreme court and the judicial power resolved disputes and that was a dispute. there's no question under the constitution the supreme court could exercise the authority and the other branches recognize it even the their unhappy. certainlyome although i'd say probably half the member of congress were unhappy they decide to intervene. perhaps the other with this were pleased. >> in his column the bush and do you think anyone will ask that question? guest: iraqi think i think it . i don't think you'll hear republican senators recite it and ion't think she'll say much about it other than the fact that the court issueed the decision and it stressed that it was limited the facts at and that happen to be that election as apposed to spreading a broader constitution. >> christian scientist monitor this month or week asked should the court look more like america? as a long article on whether or not the courthould hook more like americ

during her white house years the nominee w the central figure in the clinton-gore effort to restrict gun rights and as a dramatic 5-4 decision today in the mcdonald case shows the personal right of every american who own a gun hangs by a single vote on the supreme court. miss kagan was also the point person for the clinton administration's effort to bl k block -- abortions. perhaps she was the key person who convinced president obama to c who convinced president clinton to change his mind on that precedure.clinton to change his mind on that pcedure. her actions punished the military and defeened our soldiers as they fought in two wars over seas. as someone w feels the burden of sending young men and women into harm's way, to ensure military resucruiters were tread fairly, i can't take this issue lightly. dean kagan also joined with three over law school deans to write a letter in opposition to senator graham's legislation for determining who was an enemy combatant for the war on terror. she most recently, the nominee served as solicitor general for little over a year. but her shorten

i voted for al gore over bush but then voted for bush over john kerry. appreciate moderates like blanche lincoln. i think she is presidential. i ever cuccinelli and from the cincinnati area. we haven't conversely done an outstanding job. the hamilton county senator is dusty rhodes. i am a very independent and i look at their character. i did not care what the race or religion or sex. when i see as sleazy campaign like a gubernatorial campaign with their present governor strickland attacking cases, i'd vote against that. >> thank you. brian sandoval getting 56% over given to is mired in his own personal scandal. c-span is the only place where you concede the speeches in their entirety. we are awaiting word from other candidates declaring victory. more of your phone calls and reaction to these primaries. 12 states holding elections. calling from california, could morning. -- good evening. >> i think jerry brown sounds like it better candidate. and i did not like her speech today. i thought it was really fake. i thought -- i trust democrats more than republ

well, nafta was actually -- al gore took full credit for that, sending jobs overseas.t: we will leave it there and getta response. guest: in my earlier answer, i said that was one thing that the clinton administration did that was the wrong thing to do. apparently the gentleman did not hhar that answer. host: next call, democratic line. caller: there is a fundamental issue thatti think a very large part of the american people do not understand. our country is run on a capitalist system, which means the government, the corporations, it is just basic economics. there is a lack of education. people do noo understand that money is king in it is, it will be, until we change some of our laws, some of the way that the government interacts with the company's. president obama is a very intelligent person who understands the bigger picture, and unfortunately we have many people in this country who only can see past next week and that is about it. host: given what the viewer just said, can i ask you, what is the first law you would change to address her concerns about money and c

. >> you made a calt gore call statement with regard to saudi arabia. >> based on the media reporting, this individual was in saudi arabia and the question is, did the united states kidnap him from saudi arabia, the answer is no. >> the question is, did the u.s. kidnap him at all? >> no. [inaudible question] >> i'm not going to comment further. i personally don't know where he is. >> talks in geneva and security in the caucuses and assist secretary gordon is there and met with the assistant foreign deputy. and secretary, the secretary met with the president of american chamber of commerce in russia. presumably they discussed economics and trade. do you have something on that? >> i'm not equipped to answer either one of those. we'll take both those questions. >> iran sanctions in the security council, can you confirm on the record there is pretty much a clear shot at a vote tomorrow with no veto and that u.s. has a view on it or is on board with it? >> we expect that there will be a vote in the u.n. security council tomorrow. >> can i follow up on that? >> you may. ahmadinejad is on th

he's been dubed the al gore of the g.o.p. and made environmental changes voted for tar , which angered a lot of conservatives. voted against the surge in iraq. he's really stuck himself out there as far as the votes he's takin' in congress andy advocating names like joe wilson and bob -- reminds folks he is a republican. >> and it is such a well-established conservative -- it's considered the most conservative university in the united states. it is a pretty big institution in the district. it's been split in the sense that bob taylor, one of the senior administrators at the school, has backed gowdy. he backed him during the primary. so there's a real split going with the incumbent that they know or going with trey gowdy who is billing himself as a true, blue conservative. >> what happens over testimony weekend leading up to tuesday's runoff? >> well, both candidates have busy schedules. they will be meeting three times, together tonight for a debate on a conservative radio shation. -- radio station. saturday they will be at t

guest: it was split along political lines the same way that gore v. bush was split along political lines. political lines. host:ext call, robert, a republican line. caller: good morning. everybody this morning? want too issues, but i previous comment. the two -- the centrists, i would interted to know who he the three centrist but not split between centrists and rightists. between rightists progressives, and want centrist -- one centers to seems toogo one way or the other. with respect to the o is bill eampai -- the oil skill, on th that is central as losses,tion for the creating the losses, is not the government bearing a astn amount of culpability well, since they had in place a theyto print the oil and available -- burn oil and they had no boons available. not best for the is bettert, but it than the disrsants. th respect to the government takeover of the industry, how do that under the constitution? can you talk about of the rising to federal government opposed goverent -- federalinth o thenment as opposed t state government to do anything? d more

regardless of how few dollars there may be, gore won always goes to safety. -- dollar number one always goes to safety. i do nothing that anybody in the room would conclude that an economically fragile and systemically unprofitable industry is a benefit to safety. that cannot be good. there is no way that anybody could suggest that that is a good thing for safety and security. the more economically robust that the new company can be, the more resources we can dedicate to everything that is important to all of our constituents including safety. we have a relationship with our regional carrier -- regional carriers. we share best practices and we conduct safety audits and we hold them to a high standard to revalue the fact that they appreciate that we have available to them and united a standard of safety that is a benefit to them. we're in a position to be able to do that and we will do that even more so as a new company. >> one other question. this is a global industry for major carriers. we face a a very -- we face a very robust industry because of government support of. could you discu

we have to give people an opportunity to buy into the old system or gore for a new system where you have your own health care. they have their own retirement savings account which is affordable and goes with them from job to job. those of us that are entering the work force right now have come on to a new system. >> the system doosn't even look like the one that was created. it intended to be a true safety net for the downtrodden in america. your question about should we chase -- change the age? yes. we have a couple of other things. years ago, for every one person paying out, we have to 0.5 people playing in for one person paying now. he changed the age, you probably have the courage to talk about means testing. my parents don't need social security. we engage in a conversation about changing that over time, and we build private savings and requirement. you can get away without raising payroll taxes, and you can create a sustainable system. people aren't paying their money and is being saved. i take this to my parents can retire. we're going to have to get back to understanding that. >>

goldman saction has a financial interest in it, al gore, franklin rains bought four different patents to be used. so that the money can be redistributed to the emerald cities. which is a joe rogers organization. now, i know this sounds conconspiracyy. host: in the interest of time, if you had a specific question. caller: isn't it very interesting that people are begging to help out down there and they get absolutely no response? guest: it's very similar to the exxon valdez where the state officials were on top aad really angry and wanted action fast and the federal officials and the oil industry took a long time to get ramped up and to deal with that. but one of the problems that you have to recognize is that there's this crisis situation down there. they're not prepared. they've got to find offices, they've got to get set up. and then you've got all these inventors, some of them probably have good ideas, most whom have crazy ideas. the time to sift through the inventions was before the oil spill happened. once you're in the middle of a crisis, you can't take the time to decide, figur

he campaigned in tennessee a long time ago for albert gore sr.who was running for the senate, who also played the fiddle. senator byrd played the fiddle on the grand ole opry in nashville, came back to nashville in 2008 and sank along with a group of fiddlers. a few days later i came to him on the senate floor and talked to him about an old mountain song called "wreck on the highway" made famous in the 1940's, i guess, 1930's. and senator byrd began to sing the song. he knew all the words -- so loudly -- that the staff was afraid the galleries would all tice it. we will miss his loveeof the united states history, but traditional american history. he was the superior o sponsor oe teaching american history program which is part of the elementary and secondary education act. he has provided nearly $600 million to school districts to imriewft professional development of american history teachers. he and the late-senato kennedy and i were work on a piece of legislation which we introduced consolidating all the federal programs that support the teachin

this committee skilled lawyer, was vice president chief of staff -- chief of staff to vice president gore, also, i believe, who's known you for a number of years said this about you -- elena kagan is clearly a legal progressive. i think elena is someone who comes from the progressive side of the spectrum. she clerked for judge mick, clerked for justice marshall, worked in the clinton administration, the obama administration. i don't think there's any mystery to the fact that she is. as i said, more progressive role than not, close quote. do you agree with that? >> senator sessions, it's absolutely the case that i have served in two democratic administrations. and i think -- >> i'm asking, do you agree with the characterization that you're a legal progressive. >> senator sessions, i honestly don't know what that label means. i work in two democratic administrations. snarlt graham suggested yesterday and i think you're right that you can tell something about me and my political views from that. but as i suggested to you, that my political views are one thing -- >> i agree with you, exactly,

about the speed at which of or should get out of dick cheney's house, but these were people -- al gored get out of dick cheney's house, but these were peoole who told me they have not done this before. these were people who were able to get on-line and organize. i do think that is even more important than economics. something like a tea party movement and the economy not been as bad. the polls tell us 40% of americans are conservative, so the subset of that has been hard to add -- to activate, except on a social issues like immigration, where passions are very high. until to the of nine to get people to organize, but they found the tools. -- until 2009, it was hard to get people to organize, but they found the tools. people now who feel like they can buy and to something spend time and donate online or show up to something, get involved, they can shift the debate. right now it is conservative. if we had this panel two years ago it would have been why republicans are hopeless. three years from now it could be why these are such a problem. taking the long view, it is so much easier to or

goldman sactionas a fincial interest in it, al gore, franklin rains bought four different patents to b used. so that the money can be redistbuted to the emerald citis. which a joe rogers ganization. now, i know this sounds concspiracyy. ho: in the interest ofime, if you had a specific question. caller: isn't it very interesting that people are begging to help out down there and they get absolutely no response? guest: it's very similar to the exxon valdez where thetate officials weren p aad really angry and wantedction fast and the federal officials and the oil industry took a long time to get ramped up and to deal with that. but one of the problems that you have to recognize is that there's thi crisis situation do there. they're not prepared. ey've got to fd offices they've got to get set up. and thenou've got a these inventors, some of them probably have good ideas, mo whom have crazy ideas. the te to sift through the inventions was before the oil spill happened. once you're in the middle of a crisis, you can't take theime to decide, figure out what's going to work and work all that

i flew out with vice-president gore and senator feinstein. the water surrounded one town. they had volunteers coming from everywhere. we landed on this highway. we started walking up to the volunteers who were piling up sandbags on the levey. there was a big ditch. we were almost up there. one of the reporters came over and said, director, could you get a vice president down in that ditch and throw some sandbags for a photo op? i said, sir, they would like you to get down there and throw some sandbags. he said, ok. he said, i'm going to help you. t-bills doffed -- he bails off ditch.he san the secret security guys were going crazy. he said, what was the matter with the secret service? i said, well, i just found out all those guys are convicts down in the ditch. [laughter] guyaid, that's why that asked me for a pardon. [laughter] it was so funny. there was a lot of times like that, that humor helped you get through some of those tough times. we had a lot of those moments. i cannot ever thank president clinton enough for what he did for us and our family. i have to tell you