well, for more we are joined tonight from washington by john walsh. he is a senior associate on drug policy for the washington office on latin america, which describes itself as a think tank advocacy group promoting human rights and democracy in latin america. welcome to the program. first, tell us more about what these new laws in mexico are. >> well, essentially they decriminalize possession for personal consumption across a range of elicit substances, whether it's marijuana or cocaine, and the mexican law, while new for mexico, is not necessarily new for latin america. there are similar decriminalization statutes up and down the continent, and it's a growing movement with recent argentine court decisions opening the door to a similar reform in that country. >> what's behind the decision to decriminalize drugs? >> i think in latin america, including mexico, there's a fatigue with a model of zero tolerance that insists on criminal sanctions for even the smallest levels of use, including in private, and that it's a diversion of resources that could be

john walsh and i were driving this thing, walsh more than i, and kennedy was holding it up in committeewe had a conversation. we said, "look. we respect you and your belief system, even though we disagree with you, but this is hurting the kids, and you about 24 hours to get this out there, or is going to being full bore -- it is going to be full bore." so he said, "you are right. we need to get the kids protected," and he kicked it out of committee. >> abortion rights. as christians, catholics, people of good conscience -- bill: if you were an angel, it would be an interesting conversation between st. peter and ted kennedy. i have always wondered that, because kennedy was a committed roman catholic. >> i am not going to judge that. bill: absolutely not, we cannot. >> the thing i think we have to be careful of is overstating the political accomplishments of ted kennedy. he definitely pushed a lot of liberal ideas and some successfully, but was the country moved to the left in the way he wanted it to be, even with the election of barack obama, and i would submit no. bill: no. laura ingrah

>>> we're back with john walsh and tony langley for more of the politics fix. the white house completed today this perfect execution on the confirmation of sonia sotomayor. how can this same operation that handled that so beautifully, they were told by republicans, do not try to get her confirmed that fast. we will get in the way, they said. they just steam rolled right past them and confirmed her fast. how can that same team be so bogged down on health care reform? >> you know, they got bogged down a little in the beginning about the issues of her speeches and the wise latina remark, lawrence, but in the end she turned out to be -- she is one person. she had a record of some speeches. she certainly had a judicial record, but she was finite. you know, you could examine everything she stood for and you could say, yes, she's qualified, or, no, she isn't and they decided she was qualified. i understand why this is harder. i just think as i said before obama now needs to step up and really define some of the issues he has left undefined because he is losing the mom

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john wash-sa walsh said that wh you were on the air in 1993. he talked at how when his son was kidnapped he was questioned he lost his job, they went broke. you seem a solid character. you seem like you will fulfill your responsibilities. >> exactly. i didn't lose my job or go broke but the two are right hanging in there. you keep ongoing. i just did it. >> winter in san francisco you are on the air. >> hi, karl, i have a question for you in regards to the situation that has happened. my brar -- prayers and blessings go to your family. me being a new mother of a daughter, i was curious as to how technology has progressed in the last few decades since all of this has happened. what have you done to actually utilize the technology to progress in her search? >> that would be the police that did that. i am not looking for her. >> she is found. >> the fact that this guy had a gps bracelet on to me is infuriating. someone says at the end he had a bracelet on nobody was checking it. >> nashville you will be up next. what about the children what about

. >> join me a joan walsh and john than.other day rush limbaugh said i had done something he would have got in trouble for. please explain. i said that last year ted kennedy passed the torch of the kennedy brotherhood to barack obama making him the next kennedy, and it was so clear to everybody that's what was going on. he said if he had said something like that he would have been accused of making an ethnic slur because i used the word brother. i point out -- i said it at the time. not in an ethnic sense, not in a richelle sense, brother in the sense of sibling brother, actual brother. he jumped up and made himself into a victim again. what is the matter with these people? can't they take a week off? just take a week off. it's a funeral. take a week off from politics. >> if ted kennedy is one of the great senators of our time, rush limbaugh takes the crown as the great blowhard of our time. there's nobody who would have criticized rush limbaugh if he had talked about a brother because there's so many other things to critici

fourth quarter, third stringer john beck in at quarterback finds jason foster who turns this into a 64-yard gain. ravens scored on the next play. 23-0 the final. sara walshoutside the redskins locker room. she's got more. hey, sara. >> reporter: hey, brett. it may be pre-season, but whether it counts or not, nobody likes to get blanked. this team knows they're far from being where they need to be. >> preseason is all about preparing yourself for the regular season. and you try to find the rhythm, you try to get back to gain speed. because practice you can't demonstrate game speed in practice. >> it's a hard feeling to know that there is 0 up on the board. and still even -- and i'm telling you the truth, i feel like every time we go out there, we're going to score. >> we didn't get any points tonight. that's a huge concern. we had opportunities. we had a few turnovers. and we didn't capitalize. they came out and played well. >> reporter: here is some teanus fnumbers for you, jason campbe. three of six for 38 yards. your rusher heart wright. top receiver d.j. hackett. kelly just behind him with 25. >> reporter: sayre remarks thanks very much. that's it on

john vause, cnn, beijing. >>> all right. north korea's top nuclear negotiator met clinton's plane when it arrived. that's raising some questions about whether or not the nuclear issue is on the agenda as well. jim walsh, an expert on international security at m.i.t., joining us now. jim, good to see you. before we get to the nuclear issue, first of all, do you agree with what a lot of people say that there's no way bill clinton would have taken off and gone that far had he not gotten something already close to a guarantee that he would be bringing these two americans back with him? >> t.j., i agree with that take. mike chinoy explained the logic of it in your last report and i think it's true. bill clinton may be retired, but he's still a politician. he likes to take risks, but he also like to have everything buttoned down, a little cautious. so, i think it's highly unlikely that he would go there without some signal from the north koreans in advance that this trip was going to be successful. it doesn't mean every little detail is locked down and things could not go wrong, but he wouldn't have gone if there wasn't some chance of success. >> that's the major goal, the first and foremost to get the two