welcome to our program, tonight we continue our look at president obama and his presidency with john harris, editor-in-chief of politico. >> his great success in 2008 was he transcended the internal divide in the democratic party. these questions that most democratic presidents, presidential candidates get. hey, are you a new democrat, a so-called d.l.c. democrat, or are you more traditional old-line liberal? he said those questions are irrelevant. i'm barack obama. he united the party around his personal story and, of course, around the democratic party's disdain for president bush and that was enough. he never defined himself in a philosophical or ideological way. that was great in the campaign. i think it doesn't work as effect ily in governance.

joining me now from washington is john harris. he is editor-in-chief of politico. i'm pleased to have him back on this program, especially after an election night. welcome. >> hi, charlie. >> rose: john, tell me, what did these election results tell us? >> well, they told us... and i think this was probably the most significant primary night we've had in several months. this was a big one. in particular this primary battle in colorado where the incumbent, michael bennett, the person appointed senator, was in a tough intraparty battle. president barack obama had clearly picked sides and was backing bennett over his challenger andrew romanoff. and it looked like this place was pretty close. in the end it turned out not to be so close. i think it was eight points by which bennett won. if he hadn't won, it would have been a real embarrassment. the white house knew it. they were primed for it. i was talking just yesterday with a senior obama political radded advisor who was very nervous and if they knew bennett had stumbled it would have been not just his defeat but seen

we will get analysis from john harris of politico and karen tumulty of "the washington post." then, final thoughts on melvin laird, the long-ago secretary of defense who is worried about the all-volunteer army he created and where we are in afghanistan. but first, american politics on "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs "face the nation" with cbs news chief washington correspondent bob schieffer. and now from washington, bob schieffer. >> schieffer: good morning, again. well, it is not often that a president pleases people on both sides of the political spectrum. but it is fair to say, when president obama said muslims have a right to build a mosque near ground zero where the twin towers fell, it pleased many on the liberal left; and it is also fair to say that it just delighted many on the republican right, because they feel it is an issue they can use against him, not only in the coming elections but all the way into 2012. so i want to start there, and i'm going to poll the delegation this morning. governor rendell, did the president say the right thing, and was i

jim and john harris and the gang and mike have really made it so. but you could go to huffington.com. you can go to the daily beast. i've actually done a couple of pieces for the daily beast. don't be put off by the name. or you can go to kos. or you can go up and down the line. so there is so much infmation out there. the question is to determine where you think you find your calling. >> and the other question is, and it's on politico and elsewhere, is the role of the bloggers, because not only are there more places to get information, there are more people putting in information. bloggers have increased the number of voices in our national political debate and dialogue. they're questioning the political reporting by traditional media. one blogger we spoke to, beth perry, posed a question for our panel. >> how does the concept of a postracial america affect your day-to-day reporting? and for those of us who have lived experiences that prove that we might not be there yet, how do you plan to address that? >> sam? >> that's a good question. i mean, i

we have of paris, jane, larry harris, john bringinbarabrini. we wanted to make sure that we recognize those people that on our updated a basis that are making sure this cable car is up and running. thank you. [applause] >> if we can get everyone to participate. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [applause] well done. the inaugural journey. you guys have had >> and they will want to thank them for the lumir willingness. i want to recognize that we also have a very diverse group of individuals serving on a diverse group of boards and bodies. have the pleasure of reappointing someone who has a connection that goes back generations, larry mazzola, sr. i'm pleased that subject to approval, p.j. johnson will serve again. president of the arts commission, who has been doing an outstanding job, really raising the bar in terms of public art and our commitment to neighborhood arts. i want to thank lisa gruwell for her willingness to serve on the civil service commission that sets my salary. i wish you luck and independence from whoever is serving as mayor. i

we have of paris, jane, larry harris, john bringinbarabrini. we wanted to make sure that we recognize those people that on our updated a basis that are making sure this cable car is up and running. thank you. [applause] >> if we can get everyone to participate. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [applause] well done. the inaugural journey. you guys have had >>> it's a great honor to be here. my name is debby dirsh, san francisco native. i'd like to welcome you to the annual cable car bell ringing contest. i would like to introduce mr. ford. >> welcome to the 47th annual cable car bell ringing competition. this is one of a kind. this is a comptation -- competition for the world championship and thank you for coming. i also have to thank our cable car grip men and conductors. every day they help move people around our city, they're great ambassadors and do a great job entertaining visitors to our fine city. we have two members from the mta board, bruce oka and malcolm hideke here today. i'd like to thank our judges. we have judges representing a lot

senators diane fine 69 of california, and harry reid and john en sign of nevada are among those attendingal tahoe summit. the focus this year is on developing new ways to protect lake tahoe and its surrounding forest while trying to revive the region's economy. >>> time for us to talk about our local weather. it seemed to be a little nicer in the city today. >> yeah. i think today is probably one of the nicest days of the month. get ready for the cooling trend. once again, the five-day forecast, especially by the weekend. tomorrow minor changes. the maps i can show you this. mostly clear skies over a good portion of the bay area. the fog bank to the west and already a few patches approaching right around point reyes and the cloud deck on the increase overnight. as far as a look outside right now, we can show you this looking towards san francisco bay and a few patches of fog already doing their thing and developing. and temperatures right now at least right around the bay mainly in the upper 50s at 59 degrees. temperatures from today, we warmed up coast side, also for san francisco, but w

in the senate he left it to john kerry and harry reid to try to find the votes. no one knew who was trying to get the votes or who was in charge of that bill or the creation of that bill and getting the 06 votes on that bill. there was a lot of finger pointing saying you're responsible, no, you're responsible. it was quite clear everyone was shrugging their shoulders and saying i don't know who is responsible. president obama invited senators into the white house and tried to figure out what they wanted and where the middle ground was. but he never really, you know, shrugged shoulders or twisted arms and really tried to get the 60 votes that were needed to pass this bill. >> warner: eric, you spent a lot of time reporting this. how did you see the way the white house handled this? >> well, people in the white house told me early in the obama administration that they were proceeding with what they called a stealth strategy where they would work mostly behind the scenes. the president would talk about it, say, maybe on a tuesday afternoon when he was visiting a sol

john blackstone, cbs news, carmel california. >> smith: for katie couric, i'm harry smith.see you in the morning. captioning sponsored b ing >>> your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. comments@captioncolorado.com >>> good evening, i'm allen martin. >> i'm dana king. we want to get straight to this breaking news. you are looking at live pictures of a fire in contra costa county. it could be on the verge of being out of hand, exploding. it comes on a day when bay area temperatures are breaking records as you well know. the fire about burning close to clayton and blackhawk near curry canyon road. cal fire says structures near the road are threatened but homes in clayton and blackhawk are not. so far the flames have burned 125 acres. crews are expecting the fire may grow much larger than. that just got off the phone with cal fire battalion chief jim crawford. >> the fire is heading actually into a more rural area or more -- an area where there aren't homes at, further

starting to spread to some adults like newt and others i saw john boehner made a comment as well and it's unfair and even today i saw harry reid has come out against it so it's now spreading to some of because of his tight race i presume in nevada so people think they could make some short term partisan gain by coming out against muslims and muslim americans when it's really in the long term not good for our country interest really attacking all of us what i don't understand is i feel also like the g.o.p. has been alienating a lot of people you know i mean the african-american vote is no longer there is the hispanic vote is overwhelmingly now democratic even though socially hispanics are my much more conservative right and so now if they alien i can excuse me there's this muslim portion of the population i mean can you even be a party if you only have the white people supporting you and that's why i think it's just sad it's sad because wrong and it's just going against the first i'm in the constitution that we would uphold religious freedom but it's also just not to teach it just as you said because you not only will alie

john hamm. next to stephen moyer will be anna paquin, who will present together. check out our own joel mchale positioned behind neal patrick harris. on to the after party. >> the theme is celestial. >> we have a summer vegetable salad with fava beans and fresh peas. for the main course rack of lamb with a dried fruit crumble. for dessert a chewy fudge browny. >> stars can choose between champagne, wine or grey goose rtini. >> is there anything you are nervous about? >> a few things. i have thrown up a few times, but that is more to lose weight. >> the live broadcast begins at 5:00 p.m. if you miss the show catch our rebroadcast at 8:00 p.m. and stay tuned for nbc bay area news at 11:00. >>> some local celebrities were bagging groceries for charity today. tom sinkovitz joined several local broadcasters at the safeway store, the ballpark store next to at&t park. funds raised benefit the muscular distrophy association. we have rea teramina checking out the forecast. we had three days of sun. finally. >> did it get warm enough for you to go swimming? >> it did. >> here is a live look over the golden gate bridge. the sun did come out

john hilton. good morning to you both. >> good morning, harry. >> good morning. >> amy, you have a smile on your facegh. this guy -- you're asleep. this guy breaks in. he's armed. how afraid for your life were you? >> i was very afraid, honestly. it's a pretty terrifying experience. >> and he made you show him around the house to see what was valuable? >> yes. he had me through the house at gunpoint to pull out all of my valuables, which i was happy to provide to him in exchange for not hurting me. >> wow. so, at what point, then, does he tie you up? >> we had fought initially when he first came into my bedroom. and i figured his intentions were the worst. so, is trying to get the gun from him. so i think he knew that i was maybe going to be a little bit of a fighter. so, he had me -- after we went through the house and i provided all the valuables i could, that's when he took me back up to my room and tied me to the bed. he stayed for still another 40 minutes or so and came back periodically to ask me various questions for codes, et cetera. >> oh, my goodness. your tied up. he takes off with your ca

. >> i'm harry reid and i approve this message. >> house republican leader john painter called on president obama to fire his economic team during remarks tuesday at the city club in cleveland. he also called on the president to leave the expiring tax bush cuts in place and says uncertainty on among business owners about the new health care law is keeping them from hiring new workers. here's a portion. it is just under 10 minutes. >> the president should announce that he will not carry out his plan to impose job killing tax hikes on families and small businesses. unless congress acts, virtually every american will see their taxes go on january 1. president obama stated he wants to stop some tax hikes and not others. once again putting government in the position of picking winners and losers pitting taxpayer against taxpayer. according to an analysis by the nonpartisan joint congressional -- joint tax committee, the official scorekeeper for all tax policy in our country, have a small business income in america would face higher taxes under the president's plan. of course, as if on cue, the s

. >> john dickerson, thank you very much for your expertise this morning. we appreciate it. >> thanks, harry. >>> thanks. between want to turn to the mining miracle in chile. it took 17 days to find the 33 miners trapped by a cave-in. during that time the miners had two spoons of tuna fish and half a business cut each over 48 hours. they are now receiving food and medication. >> reporter: rescues are now lowering rehydration tablets, glucose and oxygen to the miners to help with that a second small hole that has been drilled and just reached the miners. still those in charge of the rescue operation say it is likely to be months before a hole can be drilled that's large enough to pull the miners to safety. carrying mining equipment are cheered like heroes. at chileans hope the tools could bring freedom for the 33 miners trapped underground. but even with high-tech tools, getting to them safely, won't be easy. the mine looks like a giant cork screw. spiraling roughly 4 1/2 miles down. when part of it collapsed the 33 miners took shelter below in a so-called refuge chamber. a room that's about

harry. >> all right. thanks very much, erica. we are joined here in jackson square by chef john besh who has not one, not two but six restaurants herell, i love new orleans. what a gorgeous morning. >> you grew up in slidell. >> about 30 minutes outside of the city here, what used to be the country, now slowly engulfed in new orleans. cooking up some shrimp and grits today. >> you know what -- >> perfect brunch dish. >> before the storm, if you came to new orleans and engaged in conversation with a local, it only took about 22 seconds before it always came to food. >> it takes that long? >> maybe it's five seconds. >> we're passionate about our food, our music. look, i'm burning this dish here. beautiful, wild louisiana shrimp. yes, you can eat the shrimp. they are incredible. >> the shrimp season is open again. >> beautiful fresh white shrimp. in season. they are gorgeous. harry, if you wouldn't mind grab the pepper right there. pepper mill. go ahead and give me a nice little douse of it. excellent. we're going to saute this with andoulle sausage. tastes great. cayenne pepper. add a little shallot to it. >> nice. >> some boosted re

john blackstone, cbs news, san francisco. >> joining us now from washington is george washington university law proper feszor jonathan turley. good morning, sir. >> hi, harry. >> why will the judge leave -- open the window and say okay, we are going to close the window until next wednesday? >> he's doing a very standard and responsible thing. when he's doing is he's giving the court of appeals a short period of time to review his decision and decide whether they want to impose a stay. most federal judges will do that. in fact, if he didn't do that, it would be viewed as a little bit odd, if not aggressive, towards the court of appeals. what he is saying look, i'm one judge. this is a controversial decision. and for the people on the other side of this debate, they should be entitled to make their argument to the court of appeal. so weather and what is the lookly had of the court of appeals would get involved in this by wednesday? >> well, they are going to have to. they have to take a look at whether they want to impose a stay. it is going to be tempting for some of the judges, you know. this did overturn a majority of people who voted on the proposition a

john mcardle of cq politics will be with us. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ >> senator, not a bad desk. daniel webster is used to use it. >> harryhe did this movie. at the time, harry truman was seen as a senator from the pentagon as missing in kansas city -- looking at him as with the political machine back home. "q&a." night on c-span's >> based on review of hundreds of hours, they are not conspiratorial. they really do not know what is calling on. >> this week marks the anniversary of the 1974 resignation from president nixon. almost 40 years later, watergate still resonates in american history. look back on the c-span video library, all free. it is history your way. >> "washington journal" continues. host: john mcardle covers house and senate races for cq politics. let me show "the denver post" front page. what happened here? guest: it was down to the wire, people thought, that andrew romanoff would give michael bennett a tough run. both were trying to position themselves as the washington outsider. michael bennett ran advertisements for months that he had only been there for less than a year and he was not really part of th