that is the job of joe biden.control over -- nuclear fuel, and what is called nuclear lock down. there will be a summit with heads of state in the spring, that joe biden will preside over that will try to shape the new global regulation and also promote national legislation in the different countries to make certain that nuclear fuel does not escape, and does not become available to global terrorists or to rogue states. >> next is huntington, new york. >> thank you very much. i have two things. as far as these trials compared to military tribunals, this is a war that we have no way of ending. , don't we and up giving extra legal powers to the government that we would not have constitutionally-given so we lose the deficit -- the essence of what we are fighting for, democracy and the rule of law,? secondly as far as hamid karzai is concerned we need to genuinely threatened pulling down of nato. he is blocking power control of afghanistan. we are better off without him. guest: two things. your point about how we dama

joe biden is an important voice.ost: your piece came out a few weeks before the president announced a troop increase to afghanistan. do you have a sense of what role he played in that final decision? guest: i would distinguish between the contribution he made in the course of those many weeks, and the outcome. he had a role in forcing people to me examine the three options that general stanley mcchrystal had given mr. obama. they were convinced that it was inadequate, so in effect, they tasked jim jones to find a new set of options. not only that, but finding a new set of options that were the valuable. -- were valuable. mcchrystal gave the three scenarios. he knew that we could send 80,000 troops, which he would walnot happen. he really wanted 40,000 troops. it was from that that the delivered of process began. by and played a key role in insisting that we rethink all of the assumptions that the basis of policy. for example, we said we would train 250,000 afghan security -- could we actually do that? we talked about

analytically -- >> i think that's why we've seen joe biden on so many covers because joe biden has in spades that which barack obama is lacking, and the common touch that the white house -- >> there are o cages -- but the problems that the last time we've really seen himer moting like that was the race speech in philadelphia. that's probably why that speech was effective. chris: tell me something i don't know. be right back. chris: welcome back. katty, tell me something i don't know about 2010. >> chris, this is going to be a really violent period in afghanistan. but i think that we're going to get the end of this year, and there is going to be a picture that we are coming home. chris: oh. that's news. >> dan? >> well, sticking to the afghanistan theme, one of the things to look for in this year is whether the opponents of america's mission and the nato mission there whether they are able to knock down helicopters and six-wing aircraft. iran has the kind of missile which would allow them to do that. the thing to look for this year is whether they can knock down a large transport plane

joe biden is an important voice.ost: your piece came out a few weeks before the president announced a troop increase to afghanistan. do you have a sense of what role he played in that final decision? guest: i would distinguish between the contribution he made in the course of those many weeks, and the outcome. he had a role in forcing people to me examine the three options that general stanley mcchrystal had given mr. obama. they were convinced that it was inadequate, so in effect, they tasked jim jones to find a new set of options. not only that, but finding a new not only that, but finding a new set of options that were the valuable. -- were valuable. mcchrystal gave the three scenarios. he knew that we could send 80,000 troops, which he would walnot happen. he really wanted 40,000 troops. it was from that that the delivered of process began. by and played a key role in insisting that we rethink all of the assumptions that the basis of policy. for example, we said we would train 250,000 afghan security -- could we

and the president, then candidate presidential candidate barack obama and joe biden, senator joe biden, talked at that time and smoothed it out. but you have to remember that this administration still tries to stay above the fray. for president obama to come out and make a statement on his own, he's saying, you know, he's dealing with this, it is done. they don't want to amplify the issue of race. >> let me read that statement from the white house from the president directly here. harry reid called me and apologized. i accepted his apology without question because i've known him for years. goes on to say i have seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and i know what's in his heart. as far as i'm concerned, the book is closed. why is it so important here to close this book, april? >> the issue of race in this country, no matter what side of the circle or square you stand in it a very hypersensitive issue. and it is something that cannot be just dealt with in a matter of a statement or just hashing out in a couple of hours after it is found you said somethin

she was married for 61 years before joe biden sr. died in 2002. >>> 24 degrees outside, so we will answer your pet questions. >> a look at the designation of sheila dixon and a scramble to become the next city council president. >> the cold air keeps pumping into the area. we will check out when it might warm u >> all clear here with plenty of sunshine and a few scattered clouds. off to the north west we have some lake effect snow lingering in pennsylvania and new york. the biggest lake effect snow is lake michigan and indiana, but it reaches down into tennessee. unusually strong winds coming across lake michigan. it is blowing dust snow flurries to the national area -- blowing knows snow flurries. this is all just closed air -- just cold air. there is the sun shine. 26 at the airport in the inner harbor at 27. it makes the 20 possibility teeens. when we make it to 30 it will feel like the upper teens. the barometer is high at 3015. it is showing a rise. the record snow for this date was four 0.1 inches on january 9. -- for this date

there is some speculation as to whether charlie crist will be in attendance along with joe biden. in fact, he will be there. part of this plan is $8 billion for high-speed rail. it will connect orlando with tampa. there are seven other locations that will get some of these earmarks. is this a jobs program? >> it sure is. it will put people to work. this is the kind of program that puts people to work. it does not redress the fundamental imbalances between the u.s. and the rest of the world which makes it necessary for a 4.1 trillion dollar deficit. the other side of the budget deficit is the trade deficit. we have these huge trade deficits. in order to have domestic demand, we have to import more than we produce. the ceo's have been talking to the president ad nauseam about this. they have been telling him that they have to export more and do something about trade. this will be necessary to balance the budget. if you do something about that, you change one of the most critical statistics that the president carries on his back. the u.s. economy has not operated a single private sec

. >>> vice president joe biden said he's lost the woman at the center of his family. his mother, jean biden, died yesterday at the family's home in delaware. she was surrounded by loved ones. the vice president said in a statement, "she believed in us, and because of that, we believed in ourselves." jean biden was 92. >>> you may know the name art cloaky, but i bet you know his work. cloaky created the pop culture phenomenon gumby. the artist died yesterday at his home in california. cloaky invented gumby as part of a student project when he was add usc. gumby and his horse friend pokey were eventually featured on "the howdy doody show." and in the '80s, portrayed on "saturday night live" as a cigar-chomping, show business prima donna, and he enjoyed that act. >>> bank failures are still turning up in 2010. horizon bank in bellingham, washington, was the first bank to fail this year. all of its assets will be taken over by the washington federal loan association of seattle. that means the fdic will have to cover more than half a billion dollars in insurance costs. 140

james traub on joe biden and john neumann, an author, discusses kennedy's handling of vietnam and compares it to policy in afghanistan. live, at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c- span. . . but this is what it looked like number 21st 1989 -- the speaker. this was the first televised session for the british house of commons. joining us by telephone to talk about this is the comptroller of the bbc pollard -- the comptroller of the bbc tv. what do you see looking back at this 20 years? >> we now regard the decision to televise this as a matter of inevitability. very few look back and think they did something remarkable. at that time, it was a momentous decision. it had been turned down many times, until eventually the decision was taken to go for it. >> the leadership at that time -- what was its position? emma margaret thatcher was >> margaret thatcher was against televising the house of commons. they thought it would turn it into something quite different. the vote was taken, despite her influence. >> there was an 18 month trial period. >> there was a long period after the vote before televising actua

i don't believe there's a guy named joe biden.iden hallucinates himself. >> it's time to press the reset button. >> bill: the bremer haven zoo in germany imported four female penguins from sweden who are supposedly allegedly gay because the bremin zoo wants to see if they can persuade them to go straight. what say you? >> hard to believe the germans aren't flexible about this, because over the years you know, they're an open tent over there. i don't know much about penguins, i'll say this, but if a couple of gay ones want to swap beak in germany, i could care less. >> bill: i can't figure out how they know the penguins are gay. how would you come to that conclusion, do they wear tight t-shirts. how do you know? i don't know. what's the barometer here. >> a couple of things, their sex is very formal, the gay penguins. >> there's a mysterious ritual that dates back thousands of years. >> they wear the black and white tuxedos. >> yes, and also when they do have an egg, it's already pre-colored which that sets off an alarm. >> if the

. >> the beer summit with sergeant crowly and joe biden and obama, on tv, john.reat theater. >> and gates and biden looks good? >> i think biden, i agree with monica. biden looks very, very good. he had a rough first half. he's doing fine. >> eleanor. >> year started in january. so i'm going with blagojevich, he was impeached in january and went on to a whole saga of reality shows and it's great political theater, too, because you got the feeling he was somehow enjoying it along the way. >> monica. >> the town hall demonstrations this summer. those demonstrations are exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when their representatives got out of control, the people rose up. >> sarah palin's book tour, she had a lot of support. catapulted not only the number one on theamazon list, but the leading candidate for presidency. >> sarah, power house. best political theater, south carolina's republican governor. mark sanford was reported missing over the summer. his staff said he was backpacking. in reality, he was having a tryst with a lady. okay, worst political th

was not focused or engaged during preparations and he says she kept referring to her opponent as joe o bidench led aides to come up with her famous question, can i call you joe? documents released by the administration thursday regarding intelligence failures prior to the unsuccessful christmas day airplane bombing had two glaring mistakes of their own. national intelligence director dennis blair wrote that the suspect, quote, boarded northwest flight 153 for detroit. but it was flight 253. and the summary of the white house review said the suspect's father met with the u.s. embassy officials in nigeria on november 18. but it was actually the 19th. and as the u.s. and other countries attempt to implement heightened security measures at various airports as we just saw, our neighbors to the north are focusing on another issue. the canadian transportation agency rule that had air canada must create a special buffer zone on flights for people who are allergic to nuts. they should be considered disabled and accommodated with a separate seating section. air canada stopped offering a peanuts to pas

he and vice president joe biden unveiled $8 billion in grants for high speed rail, part of their new focus on jobs creation the president said again he understands what americans are going through. >> last night i've spoken about where we need to go and i've said these are difficult times, these challenging times for our country. in the last two years, we've gone through the deepest recession since great depression. think about that. a big chunk of the people here, certainly the younger people here, have never even seen a recession. they don't even... it doesn't register on their minds. this is by far the toughest thing that the country's gone through economically since the 1930s. >> warner: the president also repeated his tune i don't know plea for the two parties to work together. >> on every one of these issues, my door remains open to good ideas from both parties. i want the republicans off the sidelines. i want them working with us to solve problems facing working families. not to score points. i want a partnership. what we can't do, though... here's what i'm not open to. i don'

. >> if joe biden had done it he'd be center ice on "saturday night live," too. >> jon: all right, timeor another break, more on the coverage of the top stories of this decade. >> the press focused on firsts, nancy pelosi becomes the speaker, sarah palin gets the g.o.p. nod, and barack obama makes history. plus, a big tragedy in virginia, a big ripoff, and a big scandal at walter reed all next on news watch.  >> let's begin this segment with a look at the top five stories of 2007. nancy pelosi becomes the first woman ever elected speaker of the house of representatives. a federal jury convicts i lewis scooter l scooter libby, former chief of staff. a shooter at virginia tech kills 32 people. a highway bridge over the miss misriver collapses during rush hour. the top media story of the year at walter reed army medical center after "the washington post" launches an investigation into the mishandling of reports of soldiers injured in iraq and afghanistan had received poor treatment there. that story was such a surprise, judy. i mean, people like to think that our sol

efforts to provide food and after that, we'll hear from vice president joe biden and homeland security secretary janet napolitano on rebuilding haiti. tomorrow on "washington journal," a discussion on the obama administration's policies on jobs and the economy with democratic strategist karen finney and republican strategist kevin madden and a look at how poorly equipped haiti is for natural disasters. following that, a discussion on the special election in massachusetts to fill the late senator edward kennedy's seat with senator paul kirk. "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. now former cbs and nbc news anchor and correspondent marvin kalb talks about journalism ethics and allowing c-span cameras into conference committees. this is just over 50 minutes. >> it's my pleasure to introduce an old friend and a friendly competitor from many years when i was at abc and he was at cbs, marvin kalb is the james clark welling presidential fellow at george washington university here. marvin is also the edward rmurrow prouf emeritus from the kennedy school of government.

they get more press because they're more entertaining than watching joe biden rearranging his hair orng. you know what i mean? >> it's possible the best last laugh will go to the president, however, despite setbacks, his health care bill, all 2,000 pages, is still on the table. >> i imagine the health care bill in one form or another will pass and there will be a government control over a huge amount of health care provision. and that scares me to death. i don't want a government bureaucrat telling me what kind of health care i can get. >> sonia sotomayor, elected to the supreme court. worst photo opt, could give it to air force one buzzing new york or the beard summit. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> but the award goes to the party crashers. never have two people looked so good making white house security look so bad. >>> it proved a remarkably good year for other political players. best power couple, returning champions, hillary and bill clinton. >> hillary clinton looks like a rock star, very bipartisan looking, very pro-american and very high marks from both republicans

james traub his article on joe biden. newman discusses his handling of vietnam and obama's policy on afghanistan. that is live at 7:00 a.m. on c- span. >> now available, the book "abraham lincoln," is a great read for any history buff with a unique, contemporary perspective from columnists, journals, and writers from his early years to his life in the white house and his relativity today. now it is in digital audio to listen to any time available wherever digital audio download are sold. learn more at c- span.org/lincolnbook. >> up next, filmmakers lesley and andrew cockburn

. >> if joe biden had done it he'd be center ice on "saturday night live," too. >> jon: all right, timeor another break, more on the coverage of the top stories of this decade. >> the press focused on firsts, nancy pelosi becomes the speaker, sarah palin gets the g.o.p. nod, and barack obama makes history. plus, a big tragedy in virginia, a big ripoff, and a big scandal at walter r r r r (announcer) where are people with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis going? ey're discovering the first lf-injectable ra medicine you take just once a month. it's simponi,™ and taken with methotrexate, it helps relieve the pain, stiffness, and swelling of ra with one dose a month. visit 4simponi.com to see if you qualify for a full year of cost support. simponi™ can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious and sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, cancer in children and adults, heart failure, nervous system disorders, liver or blood problems, and allergic reactions. before starting simponi,™ your doctor should test you for tb and assess your risk of in

and that's why michelle has joined with joe biden to fornl a national commitment to support military -- forge a national commitment to support military families. even as we prosecute two wars, we're also confronting perhaps the greatest danger to the american people, the threat of nuclear weapons. i've embraced the vision of john f. kennedy and ronald reagan through a strategy that reverses the spread of these weapons and seeks a world without them. to reduce our stockpiles and launchers, while ensuring our deterrent, the united states and russia are completing negotiations on the farthest reachings arms control treaty in nearly two decades. and at april's nuclear security summit, we will bring 44 nations here together here in washington, d.c., behind a clear goal, securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists. now these diplomatic efforts have also strengthened our hand in dealing with those nations that insist on violating international agreements in pursuit of nuclear weapons. that's why north korea no

. >>> vice president joe biden's mother died yesterday at the home in delaware surrounded by loved ones. in a statement, the vice president said of his mother, quote, she believed in us and because of that, we believed in ourselves. gene biden was 92. >>> elvis fans are all shook up. the king of rock in roll would have celebrated a big birthday yesterday. his legend en durs even though he's been gone for decades. > >>>what he did was a facial injustice to the over 10,000 people >> the man who allegedly caused the shutdown at the terminal of newark's busy airport was arrested last night. why he did it and what charges he'll face. >> it would be animal neglect if we decided to stay in the house and not take care of them. >>> the big freeze may have brought activities to a grinding halt. farmers have to face the bone-chilling cold to make sure the livestock survives. >>> the university of alabama worked all year to win the bcs championship game. today the school will share the trophy with the fans in an unusual place where the sign that says roll tide may get mixed in with the ones that sa

i do not believe there is a guy named joe biden. himself. >> time to press the reset button. bill: a zoo in germany has imported four female penguins from sweden who are allegedly gay. the zoo wants to see if they can persuade them to go straight. >> hard to believe the germans are not flexible about this. over the years -- i do not know much about penguins. if a couple of gay 'guins want to swap a little beak in germany, that is ok. bill: how do you know the penguins are gay? do they wear tight t-shirt? how do you know? what is the barometer? >> there sex is very formal, the gaping when -- their sex is very formal, the gay penguin. they wear black and white. when they do have an egg, it is already pre colored. bill: if the penguin is gay, leave it alone. god made the penguin that way. >> ♪ that is doing the penguin ♪ bill: more of "miller time" is# >> here is dennis -- bill: here is dennis miller's take on the airplane controversy and pelosi. >> if they have a plan that can be cross country, i will take that plan. bill: air pelosi

and that's why michelle has joined with joe biden to fornl a national commitment to support military -- forge a national commitment to support military families. even as we prosecute two wars, we're also confronting perhaps the greatest danger to the american people, the threat of nuclear weapons. i've embraced the vision of john f. kennedy and ronald reagan through a strategy that reverses the spread of these weapons and seeks a world without them. to reduce our stockpiles and launchers, while ensuring our deterrent, the united states and russia are completing negotiations on the farthest reachings arms control treaty in nearly two decades. and at april's nuclear security summit, we will bring 44 nations here together here in washington, d.c., behind a clear goal, securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists. now these diplomatic efforts have also strengthened our hand in dealing with those nations that insist on violating international agreements in pursuit of nuclear weapons. that's why north korea no

. >>> vice president joe biden is mourning the death of his mother.biden died friday in delaware sur proumded by family and friends after falling seriously ill. she was 92. biden appraised his mother as a defender and teacher of american values. >>> it's only been open for a week, but the new tallest building in the world is already the site of a new world record. two base jumpers leaped off the burj dubai yesterday setting a new record for the highest ever base jump from a manmade structure, just over 2,000 feet. the building, which opened on monday, is more than 2625 feet tall. >>> and those are the headlines that the hour. now let's go to lonnie with the weather. how is it outside? >>> we're dealing with some good cold out here. you guys are doing all right, though, i'll tell you. i applaud you for being here because kind of tough to be outside on the eastern half of the country. let's go to the big map and show you what's going on out there. all this cold canadian air where there's a big trough in the jet stream, it is filling in and it filters as

joe biden lost his mother today. she was 92. today, a king would have been 75.f elvis presley, the king, gathering at graceland today and around the world to celebrate the late singer's birthday. presley died in 1977 at the young age of 42. the glenn beck program returns in a moment but first bret baier has a preview of what is on "special report." >> hey, uma. coming up, the administration still tries to explain why it did not know al-qaeda in yemen was a real and serious threat. job numbers and how both sides of the aisle are reading them. join me at the top of the hour for "special report." >> oh, what a week we have all just endured. while the democrats were rewriting the federal take-over of healthcare behind closed doors, the public face of the federal government was fixated on denying and then explaining all the gaps in its intelligence gathering. the obama administration has been finger pointing over who in the government let a murderous thug on a plane in amsterdam that he tried to explode over detroit. first, the government said that the system worked.

president obama and vice-president joe biden sat down in the roads garden with harvard university professornd the cop who arrested him. sergeant james crowley whom the president said acted stupidly during a confrontation with gates, actually said that about the cambridge police department in general. the president later backed off calling it a teachable moment. charles, what about the beer summit. >> class obama style. here he starts out by making a mistake, accusing cops of acting stupidly, sort of instinctive, sort of prejudice against the cops in favor of a professor. if you're a professor like him, if you live in academia like him, sort after instinct actual response, he realizes immediately it's a mistake and what he does is, he tries to act the philosopher king and rises above and says now we're going to teach the nation whereas he was the one who made the mistake. it's the same way with the philadelphia speech, discovered of course in the campaign that he'd had a gaff of 20 years by being in the church of a raving racist, jeremiah wright and gives a speech which essentially scolds ev

lee is seen in photographs with al gore, hillary clinton and joe biden. liza miller says she was once a believer, too. >> when i found dahn i felt like this is it. >> reporter: now liza is one of the 27 former employees filing a lawsuit claiming dahn yoga is a cult. >> i feel it is my duty to come forward and to share my story so people are aware of the truth about the organization. because having been in the organization, you know, and people that are still in believe something completely different. they are being deceived. >> reporter: the attorney for mr. lee says the only deception involved is on the part of the former employees who have filed the lawsuit. they are all disgruntled. he insists all they want is money. the next legal step in this case comes toward the end of the month when the attorney for those former employees has to file a response in federal court aposing dahn yoga's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. >> you struck a nerve. there has been an outpouring about this story on the internet, on the cnn.com and on our blog. >> i talked to you

vice-president joe biden's mother has passed away. the vice-president says she died in wilmington, delaware yesterday and surrounded by family and loved ones and jean biden a mother to a daughter and two other sons and leaves behind ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. she was 92 years old. those are your top stories right now. brian, back to you. >> brian: thanks, caroline. today in yemen, anti-terrorist combat forces staged training exercises this as a heightened security alert is underway in the country. fox "news radio's" courtney keeley joins us from stream box with more, there's a little delay here, but courtney, what can you tell us about today's exercises? >> brian, it was really a show of show of force, and demonstration by the press for the department of the to show that they are going after al-qaeda. now, what you saw was, you saw yemini special forces, you didn't see the u.s. special forces that do train them and fund them. you saw them go after a nest of militants, adults that with live fire and then go after a

the vice president, joe biden is right. we need a global counterterrorism strategy. as we fix the specific problem that allowed a 23-year-old nigerian kid to board a plane with well hidden explosives and a visa to board a u.s. plane, let's have a layered system that anticipates new problems. finally, there's a home grown terror problem in the united states. we have to understand it. we have to work against it more adroitly. as we do that, i think it is past time for the president to stand up, the privacy and civil liberties board that the four of us put in the 2004 intelligence reform act, that civil liberties board is responsible for doing something we must do, which is to factor in the protection of our constitution as we develop new and harder hitting policies against the bad guys trying to attack us domestically and internationally. >> let me ask congressman hoekstra about something else that senator lieberman said. the pace of the al qaeda operational tempo in year accelerating and missed signals already this year. in the little rock recruiting office. muhammad

we're told by senior officials in those deliberations haven't joe biden in particular argued when you look at it on a piece of paper, the billions and billions that the u.s. has been giving in aid to help afghanistan in recent years around the war but also rebuilding efforts, that is far, far more than what we have given pakistan. it's just a fraction of what's gone to pakistan. part of this effort is not just send more troops to afghanistan but to send more aid to pakistan, where we believe a lot of these al qaeda leaders, like osama bin laden, may actually be hiding out. so what you're seeing from this administration is a bit of a shift to make sure that pakistan is part of the focus as well, brooke. >> mr. navez, just want to get you to react on that real quickly here. do you think additional aid, additional troops, additional funding is it, is a solution here? >> i think additional aid most definitely but not just the united states but training from nato and other allies is very critical. what's very important is to strengthen the civilian component in this because it's not solely

a bipartisan effort -- when i was in the senate, working with sam brownback; my vice president, joe biden -- passing a second chance act that helps to fund programs that help the reintegration of ex-felons. it's smart for us to do. you know, sometimes people say, well, that's just coddling people. no; you reduce the recidivism rate, they pay taxes, it ends up being smart for taxpayers to do. i don't know, jerome, what particular programs may exist in this county, but i promise you i'll find out. and we'll see if we can get you hooked up with one of them. all right? okay, right here. yes. no, no, no. right here. yes. go ahead. >> mr. president, i started a great lakes truck driving school in 2008 in lorain county. >> i'm sorry, what kind of school? >> great lakes truck driving school. >> cross driving school? oh, truck driving school, i'm sorry. >> great lakes truck driving school. started in 2008. our first year we trained 287 people and we placed over 70 percent of those people into jobs. at that time there was enough money, through the workforce investment board, to train those people.

. >>> funeral arrangements are being made for the mother of vice president joe biden who died yesterday after a brief illness. catherine y catherine passed away at her home in greenville, delaware weather family by her side. more of our top stories in just 20 minutes. >>> health care reform by next month, maybe? could be ready for president obama's signature if he gets his way. >> what still needs to happen, though, a big question there. our deputy political director paul stain haw paul stein hauser is taking a look at that. >>> betty and t.j., working on two different health care reform bills merging into one. president obama talked with the top four democrats in congress this wast past week. in the next few days he meets with the entire house democratic delegation, so expect the white house to stay very involved in the health care talks. congressional democrats would love to have a finished and approved bill by the time the president gives his state of the union address early next month. that could be you have tough be two bills have a lot of important differences to overcome. rather

senate seat vice-president joe biden held for 36 years is up for grabs. but democratic attorney general joseph "beau" biden-- the vice- president's son-- announced this week he will not run to succeed his father. and the odds immediately shifted to favor republican mike castle, an eight-term congressman who also served as the state's governor from 1985 to 1993. and in illinois, a strong republican challenge is taking shape for the seat mr. obama vacated when he became president. a new "chicago tribune" poll has five-term congressman mark kirk holding a strong lead in the republican primary contest, and state treasurer alexi giannoulias holding a narrower edge on the democratic side. illinois primary voters go to the polls next tuesday. here to explain the choices those voters will face, are stuart rothenberg, editor and publisher of "the rothenberg political report". he tracks congressional races across the nation; michael mezey, professor of political science at depaul university in chicago; and joseph pika, interim associate dean of the college of arts

. >>> vice president joe biden's mother has died. catherine you gina finegan died yesterday.she was 92. >>> it was a short stint for president obama as the model for the weather-proof garment company. have you heard this story? there was a big billboard, an ad, put up at times square, there it is. this is the weather-proof garment company. this was their advertisement. it was up earlier this week. the company licensed the photo of the president, who was wearing one of their jackets. they got the pi dprshgs the ap and planned to leave the ad up for some months along with the second one many midtown manhattan. but yesterday a spokesman said after a cordial chat with the white house counsel the ads will be removed in, quote, expeditious manner. nothing like a chat with the white house counsel. >> a cordial chat. apparently that's the way you get it done, and quickly, right? yeah. i'd like to have heard that phone call. >>> well, for three years we've been proud to introduce you to cnn heroes, everyday people making a world of difference. our first cnn hero in 2010 is a trucker t

of course, there is the violence against women act that was written by joe biden and introduced, passedaxa in 1994 bit but i don't know that women have been part of the, in terms of the hate crimes. >> when you look at the countries that are in advance of ours in terms of their policies and predicament of women, is it me or is it legislative? is it health driven? what is it that you see as a big distinction between those countries and the u.s.? all of them? anyone that stands out? >> that's a wonderful question. well, i've often felt that sexism is america's default setting, and i think that we have worked very, very hard in this country to push back against that. i do know that that's true of so much in other countries. and i think we would have to delve into the history of america as opposed to the history of other countries like norway, sweden, finland, the philippines to bed and we do. many, many countries do better than we do, but i would say that is probably a mix of many issues, the media, the employment situation. health care is hugely complicated. but it is a lot that it would

. >>> vice president joe biden's mom has died. jean biden fell ill in recent days but died in delaware surrounded by the vice president and the rest of her family at the age of 92. >>> and governor arnold schwarzenegger has declared a budget emergency in california. the golden state not so golden now. it has a $19.9 billion budget deficit. >>> coming up, did the president move fast enough after news of the attempted christmas day attack broke? if his detractors are right, how could it hurt his administration? we'll talk it over with my boys, pat buchanan and peter fenn, after this. >>> plus, the wild ride caught on camera. the guy who drove his car while sticking his head out of a sun roof at blazingly fast speeds. yep, we're going to have it. walgreens invites you to stay well this new year. ♪ with the centers for disease control and prevention saying... that vaccination is still your best protection, walgreens and take care clinics... now offer h1n1 flu vaccinations... every day at our more than 7000 locations nationwide... for

joe biden's seat i delaware. especially if his son doesn't run, he hasn't announced t.ron dorgan retirement has people worried that beau biden will say if he's having second thoughts maybe i will. colorado, michael bennett, not gone well. illinois they don't have an "a" list democrat running in that primary. it's going to be a messy primary. so you put all of those together and you see why republicans think they can pick four or five seats up. the problem republicans have, though, they have their own retirements. they had kit bon, they haveudd gregg so they have their own vulnerabilities. so having huge gains seems out of the realm. >> you saw what happened in new york state in that congressional district. which republican party do they belong to? which republican shows up. arnold schwarzenegger more than anyone shows you the different kind of republican who doesn't want the partisanship, who isn't willing to just attack barack obama on any given question, who would point out that on intelligence and the war on terror that he's doing the best that he can. >> that kind o

vice-president joe biden's mother, jean biden, died today in wilmington, delaware. she had been seriously ill in recent days. then-senator biden paid tribute to his mother at the democratic national convention in 2008 as she looked on. >> you know, my mom taught her children-- all the children who flocked to our house-- that you are defined by your sense of honor, and you are redeemed by your loyalty. she believes that bravery lives in every heart, and her expectation is that it will be summoned. >> sreenivasan: jean biden was 92 years old. the vice-president's father passed away in 2002. the university of alabama celebrated today after winning college football's national championship last night. the crimson tide beat the texas longhorns at the rose bowl in pasadena, california. the star quarterback for texas, colt mccoy, was knocked out of the game early. after that, alabama dominated the first half, and then staved off a late rally by texas to win 37-21. it was alabama's first title since 1992. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of t

. >>> joe biden's mother has died. gene bide n had fallen ill in recent days. she was 92. >>> and governor arnold schwarzenegger declared a budget emergency in california. the golden state has a $19.9 billion budget deficit. >>> the man who caused thousands of passengers to be stranded for hours is arrested and released. you'll find out why ahead. >>> the wild ride caught on camera. the guy who drove his car while sticking his head out of the sunroof at top speed. no kidding. we'll show you on msnbc saturday. male announcer ] let's talk about putting our best square foot forward. then let's do more than talk about it. let's turn picturing it into planning it, thinking it over into making it happen. let's say out with the old and in with the new. let's create some wall-to-wall "wow." [ man ] ♪ oh! [ male announcer ] more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, get any carpet installed for just 97 bucks -- any brand, any style, any number of rooms. announcer: you could buy 300 bottles of water. or just one brita filter. ( drop plinks )

vice-president joe biden, what's your resolution for him. >> stop speaking out publicly, every time hebama white houses uses it to make the president look goodbye comparison and causes people to wonder why biden got picked in the first place. >> that's a good resolution. >> speaker of the house nancy pelosi, your resolution for her? >> start treating those pet blue dogs better or else she'll lose votes. we're in election year, a lot of them will say i can't vote for a san francisco liberal and survive back home. and elections. janet napolitano secretary of homeland security. what should we do? >> resolve to be reassuring, how unnerving for her to go out and say the system worked on sunday, when on friday the system had clearly broken down. >> senate majority leader harry reid, a resolution for you as well. >> enjoy your last term in the united states senate, the only way he's going to win is if nevada republicans bust each other up so badly he can eradiate whoever dominates. his numbers in nevada are dreadful and deservedly so. >> and bell nelson as well. >> desiree rogers, perhaps the

he will be joined by vice president joe biden. then he will be joined by charlie crist. after that, he will go to new hampshire. what did you think of this speech? caller: i thought that he gave an excellent presentation. i like the other state of the unions with president bush even with gov. mcdonald. he was very precise. when he mentioned the jobs and income and employment and housing and security, he mentioned he was very precise and open. you have to look at the point. he said he had two wars, he had a fiasco in wall street, he almost had a collapse of the economy. this is like going and purchasing a house that just burned down and he has to rebuild it. i think he is a very good leader and i think that if he continues, we should have a country. >> was there a phrase or something in this speech that struck a chord with you? >> well, i like the idea that about generations. even in a time of success or failure, you can still get ahead in america. we are at a time now that americans are disillusioned with the the leadership. i think that they are trying to solve his prob

. >> sreenivasan: vice president joe biden has arrived in baghdad, hoping to ease a dispute that threatens plans for march elections in iraq. it centers on blacklisting more than 500 candidates for suspected links to saddam hussein's regime. sunni muslims were dominant under saddam, and they say the purge is too broad. biden flew in this evening for a two-day visit. but an iraqi spokesman warned "nobody can interfere in iraqi affairs, biden or others." britain today raised its terror threat level from "substantial" to "severe". that's the second highest level on the british scale. the country's home secretary provided no details on what prompted the change. instead, he said an attack is "highly likely", but there's no indication that one is imminent. airports across india went on high alert today on word militants linked to al qaeda might hijack planes. there were more armed guards outside airports, and passengers had to go through extra security screenings once inside. in addition, extra sky marshals were placed on planes. the home ministry said the focus was on air india and indian airli