it is called by hanoi a war of liberation. it does not seem so to the hundreds of anti-communist leaders, teachers and their wives and children who are visited in the night by vietcong persuasion squads. this is the prize the communists are after. south vietnam, rich in rice, and standing at the gateway to the rice-rich nations of cambodia, laos, thailand, burma and east pakistan. the asian communists have said, a grain of rice is worth a drop of blood. there are also natural resources. coal, phosphate, zinc, manganese, the raw materials on which to base industrialization or feed a war machine. natural rubber, south vietnam has this, too. and the latex processing facilities which make of raw rubber, the vitally important material it is in today's world. this then is another aspect of the south vietnam which the north covets. a nation moving toward greater industrialization. a rich prize indeed in the eyes of communist strategists. at gettysburg college in 1959, president eisenhower clearly recognizes the danger. >> we have lea

during the time we spent in preparation and in hanoi, i got to know the secretary a bit. i found him engaging. sometimes more witty than i might have imagined. his legendary energy put me, a much younger person, not in bad shape to shame. his enthusiasm and commitment to the task was admirable. typically, i suspect, the schedule he set in hanoi left absolutely no time free for sight-seeing or anything of such a frivolous nature. it was all work. luckily, the first day we were there, the vietnamese government and mcnamara and the top people in our delegation got into a spat about how much cnn could cover of the conference of those of us who were flunkies, got a wonderful day and a half to see a lot of a fascinating city. mcnamara himself significantly, i thought at the time, seemed to have little interest in learning more about the nation, and the people who had had such an influence on his life. i was also troubled by his view of history, what seemed to me a rather mechanistic ideas that lessons could be extracted. that could be applied with some level of exactitude and p

the communists are driven out of hanoi in the initial fighting. and then the communists withdraw into the mountainous region north of hanoi. in october of 1947, the french launched an extremely large operation called "operation lea." and they're trying to clean the communists out of this area. they hammer the communists really hard, but they have bases to fall back on and they have in some respects sanctuaries in china certainly to draw support from. in february of 1950, the head of the vietnamese communist military force, general jiap, he begins converting the guerrilla army they had built into a regular army. they begin mounting a series of successful attacks against bases and so on particularly along the china/vietnam border. there's a french offensive in late '51 and another in '52 and they fail. and the french effort famously culminate in the battle of den bien ffu. the north vietnamese, they fight with the french, they move from being a guerrilla army, a light, small guerrilla force to being a conventional force that's able to defeat a great

officials in washington and hanoi deny that the drills are for military purposes. analysts say the two former adversaries are strengthening their ties to counter china's growing maritime power. >>> we now turn to me yyanmarmy. discord is drawing between the ruling government and pro democracy opposition. myanmar has gone through a year of reforms but this change has hit a wall. aung san suu kyi and other newly elected lawmakers for the national league for democracy are trying to break -- patchari raksawong is part of our team in southeast asia covering the story from bangkok. >> in myanmar political negotiations are heating up between the ruling government and the opposition, pro democracy leader aung san suu kyi is postponing her historic debut in parliament. the recently elected lawmaker didn't attend the opening session of parliament on monday. we have more from jun kobayashi in yangon. >> reporter: aung san suu kyi and 40 members of the national league for democracy didn't attend the opening session of partic parliament on monday. the lawmakers object to the wo

washington -- i think just before we were inaugurated or sworn in, i should say, the carpet bombing of hanoi took place. >> christmas party. >> and carpet bombing. >> and i decided that i would not go into the white house and shake the president's hand after that. and i didn't. >> you worked for john lindsay, did you? what did you do for john lindsay? >> i worked as one of his assistance. there was a job assistant to the mayor and my job was to bely ly ace son and then i worked on development for mayor lindsay. actually, when i was in congress, it was a very much more bipartisan endeavor than it has deteriorated into in subsequent decades. democrats and republicans tried to work together on many issues. i mean, of course you didn't have the hostility and the emnity and the name calling and the ranker that exists today and that's wrong. that's bad. we worked -- i think it was very important that we had a bipartisan result on the impeachment and it won't have been successful otherwise. maybe richard nixon would have finished his term. >> so you wouldn't date the beginning of the rankerous -- >

he decided he would appease hanoi. this didn't work out very well. the communists basically turned his country into a war zone as a result of it. and they eventually went to supporting the khmer rouge the home grown camera boed fighting against cianouk. yan communist. it becomes critical for communist supply efforts in south vietnam. now, in 1970, a general -- cambodian general overthrows cianouk and starts fighting the communists. his new government -- his new government demanded that the communists leave in three days. they didn't. and here you have the intervention of the communists -- really a significant intervention of the north vietnamese communists in cambodia. you provoke a civil war in cambodia that becomes pretty messy and lays the foundation for some disasters afterward. now, the nixon administration at this point decides also to take the war to cambodia and hit the vc base areas here, which is very effective. and messes up a lot of the north vietnamese plans and delays some of their operations for a year. but for the north, the real war

think just as we -- just before we were inaugurated or sworn in, i should say, the carpet bombing of hanoi took place. >> christmas bombing. >> christmas pomg and carpet bombing. and i decided that i would not go to the white house and shake the president's hand after that. and i didn't. >> you worked for john lindsey, didn't you? what did you do for him? >> i worked as one of his assistant assistants. assistant to the mayor. my job was to be liaison to the parks cultural affairs recreation department, and then i did work on economic development for mayor lindsey. you know, actually, when i was in congress it was a very much more bipartisan endeavor than it has deteriorated into in subsequent decades. democrats and republicans were trying to work together on many issues. i mean, of course there were disagreements but you didn't have the hostility and the enmity and the name calling and the rancor that exists today. and that's wrong. it's bad. we worked -- i mean, i think it was very important that we had a bipartisan result on the impeachment. i don't think it would have been successful ot

[laughter] i had a crewcut and a t-shirt that said bomb hanoi. [laughter] since then the two of us have answered the siren call of human freedom and have devoted our careers to the defense of it on the bench of the superior court of new york city court room he has done so on television. most why does he have 19? because he is honest and steadfast and on top of his game. i was at princeton the day he compared the presidency of wilson and james madison. you can imagine which one he favored the. [laughter] then a lady pokes be in the ribs every time it praises madison. she said you should tell stossel he should come here to do a show at princeton. there be 1,000 students screaming. really? review where students here maybe you were the only two libertarians. i am thinking is she a net job? i said my name is santa napolitano. she said yes. i am sure the tillman the president of princeton university. [laughter] there is your invitation. one day i was getting carried away on the air and used a phrase i know there are arguments on the other side but it a

country in a foreign land, organizing demonstrations against it when young men are held prisoner in hanoi or kids out of the ghetto were drafted. some say, well, you're a little old-fashioned. maybe i am, but i just don't think that's right. now, whether it's character or judgment, whatever it is, i have a big difference here on this issue. and so we'll just have to see how it plays out.

and then when i was in hanoi last year, a vietnamese compost said to me you americans thought of vietnam was a war, it was our country. and i thought in my mind it in ignorance and arrogance assuming vietnam was never ours. >> [inaudible] in 1954 the french war finally driven out of southeast asia, and at that point, we took over. we became in the view of the north vietnamese the occupying force, so it seemed like a good place and then 75 of course is when we had that ignominious retreat from saigon. >> your book talks a lot about people. and you've got a lot of pictures in your book. and combat to the early days of vietnam, we have a picture of dwight eisenhower and john f. kennedy explain the transition between those two presidential administrations and the status of vietnam. >> well, at that point, kennedy had won with a very narrow electoral -- welcome a large electoral victory but a very narrow popular victory. really about one-third of which could turn out to be in this election. so he's aware that he needed legitimacy and he appointed a number of republicans to his cabinet. when h

i was wearing a t-shirt that said bomb hanoi. [laughter] since then -- [applause] since then the two of us have answered that siren call of human freedom, and have devoted our careers to the defense of it. had the privilege of doing so on the bench in the superior court in new jersey, and in new jersey and new york city court rooms, john has done so on television, like no other person has. john, as you know, is the recipient of 19 enemies. most of my colleagues would kill to have one. contest 19. why does he have 19? because he is intellectually honest. utterly steadfast, and always on top of his game. i will give you an example. the other day i was at princeton university this into a speech, he was comparing the presidencies of two princetonians who became president, woodrow wilson and james madison. you can imagine which one he favored, thank goodness. seated next to me as a woman that keeps poking in the ribs every time he says something that blasts wilson or praises madison. at the end of the speech he says to me, you should

sandusky faces more than 50 counts involving sexual acts with hanoi's invading all the way back to 1994ndusky has pleaded not guilty and it does remain under house arrest. >>darya: let's look at this is in 2012. ron paul is one to hold a town hall meeting at uc- berkeley today and also there's corn to be a fund- raiser in san francisco. here is a video of all at ucla, inviting students to support his message of peace, prosperity and individual liberty. he has yet to win a primary but his anti-war message often resonates with students. in the meantime, the question remains this morning, will rick santorum drop out of the republican presidential race? he says he is constantly being asked about when he will get out of the race as says mitt romney only when the last contest by a handful of points. >> to me, the story is why is he not just blowing the doors off. people want someone that they can be excited about, that they can cross, that is authentic. >> the next primary could be a knockout blow for santorum. five states as of the 31 delegates up for grabs. >>mark: another down day on the m

before that in 65, tom traveled to hanoi to promote peace talks. before that in 64 as a community organizer in newark. before that in the early 60s was a freedom writer beat in rural georgia and mississippi for direct action civil rights work and before that, in 1962, 50 years ago, tom drafted the port huron statement. that seems like this is the right time and right place to sit thank you, tom hayden. [applause] our format is 10 minutes from each speaker in the first round. >> thanks, john. nice to see all of you. but me just briefly tried to cover some ground here. it's startling to me that this was 50 years ago, especially if you read the september 17 occupy wall street manifesto that calls for a direct participatory democracy. so it is a concept that is detached from its authors, but 50 of us who gathered in port huron. this seems to arise when institutions are unrepresentative enough and burdens are crashing enough that people take matters into their own hands, organize and take action and participatory democracy in my view of the very long fu

this casting was announced, a lot of conservatives were upset because they still see jane fonda as hanoiiberal members of hollywood. to have her play the fortunatelier first lady in the upcoming film "the butler" it has them up in arms. "showbiz tonight" caught up with her last night and she says the critics should just simmer down a little. let's watch what she told us. >> i am, and i intend to be very respectful. >> some conservatives are probably scratching their heads. >> well, i can understand that but they have nothing to worry about. >> well, there you have it from jane herself. one thing to remember here is this is acting. you know, actors should want to take on roles opposite of themselves that make them stretch, and i'm actually really interested to see how this all plays out because, by the way, the role is not a starring role in the film. it's a supporting part, but you know people will definitely be watching this. >> she seemed pretty gracious. said i can understand their concerns. who sells involved in the movie? >> oprah is going to be in it and forest whitaker will be pla

wipers of a moving bus but the -- because the bus driver wanted to avoid a ticket, this happened in hanoied the bus to pull over but the driver reportedly didn't want to show his paperwork, so he just drove off! the officer then jumps on to the front of the bus and off they go, zooming in the streets for half a mile before the bus driver finally pulled over. the officer we're told is doing just fine. jenna: what kind of ticket do you think you get for that! jon: i think you get life! something like that. that's crazy. wow! flush thank you for joining us today. jenna: thanks everybody, "america live" starts right now. megy f

a major parachuted into hanoi, selecting forces for operations against the japanese. in a province in 2004, sunni looked at alternatives to war. these meetings sought an alternative to al qaeda @ in iraq. the marines who made this out reach where civil of fair group marines. names no one here would ever know. they were exceptionally creative. they believed people wanted a lifestyle better for themselves and a better future for their children and fundamentally that poor men want to get rich and richmond want to get richer and richer in and war in their back yard does not bring that to an end. ask yourself who was awakened, us or them? in closing, let's discuss some fundamentals in dealing with al qaeda. the blunt, decisive, brutal, separate religion from their cause, and take advantage of opportunities. leave no doubt what you say and what you will do, and then do it. when you do it, be decisive and brutal is the only way. some have lost the sight that war is cruelty, there's no use trying to reform it, and the crueler is, the sooner it will be over. this remains true