joining me on the phone from kabul is john wendell, a photographer and time magazine correspondent. how significant is this announcement? >> caller: hi. thanks for having me. i think secretary clinton's use of the word symbol is the keyword here. the enduring partnership was signed on may 2nd between the u.s. and afghanistan. the major non-nato ally announcement was part of that. the announcement, i think, is not so significant when it comes to the day-to-day of the war. what i think it is doing is helping lay the fears of afghanistan's elite that will be abandoned ahead of the 2014 u.s. withdrawal of nato forces and part of an effort to push the taliban back. i think the main reason for the announcement was so the u.s. can point to a concrete move showing its commitment ahead of the tokyo conference you mentioned tomorrow. as part of an effort to increase foreign governments and encouraging them to pledge billions of dollars needed as u.s. and europe draw down aid because of the financial crisis and mostly because of a true political commitment. >> what does this mean? what does th

>> john: wendell goler at the white house. thanks.utface from the romney campaign today. in contrast to a senior advisor earlier this week. mitt romney himself said that the president's individual healthcare mandate is a tax. shows that the president has broke an promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. >> i said i agreed with the dissent. the dissent made it clear that they felt it was unconstitutional. it's in the minority. so now the supreme court has spoken. wile i agreed with the dissent, that is taken over by the fact that the majority of the courts said it's a tax. therefore, it is a tax. >> earlier in week, romney's senior advisor said the candidate insisted he believed the mandate was a penalty, not a tax. president obama insisted in an interview in 2009 with george stephanopoulos of abc that the mandate was not a tax. >>> a man wearing afghan army uniform shot and wounded coalition troops in eastern afghanistan today. it's a reminder while we are flipping burgers today, our forces are still engaged in a very dangerous

. >> john: wendell goler at the state department tonight.t tally stands, mexico's next president is member that held party through 20th century, through corruption and patronage. what do we expect? william la jeunesse puts the presumed leader in perspectiv perspective. >> they woke up to the 19th president. he is a former governor with record of tax reform and public works. politically he is a centrist, pragmatist and politician who plans to open the national oil company to u.s. exploration and supports comprehensive immigration reform for mexicans illegally in the u.s. the incoming president is married to soap opera star and overcame allegations of fathering a child out of wedlock and an affair. >> the prove he is different. if he succeeds, i think a lot of people will show their loyalty to him. >> he defeated the leftist abradore and mota, mexico's first female presidential candidate. jarring defeat by the party. with which ruled mexico for 71 years through corruption, cronyism and vote rigging, a history the new president promises not to

john evers who is the former new york state assembly historian and also from beverly gage, history professor at yale university about the fdr/al smith relationship. landon he supported in 1936 and wendell willky in 1940, he supported over fdr. in fact, here is al smith on the radio talking about his support for wendell wilkin. >> i'd just like to make a little observation. i'd like to know what could be going through the mind of the 16 million men that are in the draft. i wonder if they're not saying to themselves, if this becomes serious, if it becomes necessary that we have to face an enemy, who would you soon to be behind, the third-term candidate or a wilke? in my opinion, we only hope for the people whose the election of wendell wilke who believes -- who believes in the constitution of the united states and the principles upon which it was founded. when he is chosen to guide this nation, then and then only will the stars and stripes again wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.

john mccain. the romney camp hopes just reducing the advantage will help change the outcome in november. brett? >> bret: wendell goler, thank you. the opening ceremony for the summer olympics is going on right now in london. more than 10,000 athletes from 200 countries will compete in 34 venues. attendance is expected to approach 9 million. the games are said to be 101% over their original budget already. tonight senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot explains whether hosting the olympics will be a golden experience to the british economy. >> the olympics are in london, including so thousand 500 athlete, millions of visitors and with the reregulation, the u.k. hopes for business. >> the economy is bumping along the b. we need all the stimulus we can get. >> some claim it will set records. boosting spending by $1.2 billion. creating 50,000 temporary jobs. 80% of companies in one survey expect more demand. this hotel is within shotput distance of the east london olympic site. holiday inn's john wagner says -- >> our business really just peaks up and skyrockets. >> the hard rock cafe in central is hoping

chief of staff, jack lew, the chief of counterterrorism, his advisor, john brennan and the white house advisor, valerie jarrett. our wendeller is live at the white house with more. what more do we know about the president's response, wendell? >> reporter: that group the president is meeting with now is the same group that woke him up early this morning with a conference call to the hotel in palm beach where he spent the night and told him of the terrible events in aurora, colorado, which the president phoned the mayor of aurora and the governor of colorado. mr. obama and mitt romney can sell their campaign events for the day. the president returned to the white house a few minutes ago after telling a disappointed crowd in fort myers, florida, there will be other days in politics. this is a day for prayer and reflex. >> even as we learn how this happened and who's responsible, we may never understand what leads anybody to terrorize their fellow human beings like this. such violence, such evil, is senseless. it's beyond reason. but while we will never know fully what causes somebody to take the life of another, we do know wh

wendell homes. >> formejustice? >> the former justice who served so many years on the supreme court, is sort of a -- an icon of modern liberalism. john duey is another one. there are many that could be named. but i would not presume to say what liberals read these days. but those are the books that have been out there for a long time representing liberalism. >> now, a couple of books that we've spent a ttle time with lately on "booknotes". one ofhem is "he road to surfdom, and "free to choose." why are they -- would they be on your side? >> oh, yes. i mention both of them very favorably. hyak had a profound impact on me in my thinking. i read the road to surfdom very early in the mid 50's. >> why is it so important? >> because it is such a succinct and persuasive and powerful statement of what is wrong with collectivism, with sociasm, with any form of authoritarian government. why such governments are -- don't work ecnomically and also destructive of personal liberty. and there is a marvelous chapter called why, the worst get on top. this is someone who had experienced and seen the totallitarians in europe. and then he wrote another

wendell wilkie. he would become an ally to fdr. fat >> the capitol historical society hosted an event honoring the 196 anniversary of the senate foreign relations committee. chuck hagel was introduced by john kerry and duke lugo. they are sponsored an evening tribute to a house committee annually for seven to in years. this is one hour and 15 mets. -- one hour and 15 of minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, if i could have your attention. we will start our program. i think is so great when we can have an even when everybody is interested in visiting with each other that it is a great success when that happens. we do want to get going. i do appreciate your attention and i am sure the gentleman will also appreciate that. i am the share of the u.s. capitol historical society and a former member of congress from the state of missouri. i have the honor of introducing three gentlemen that actually need no introduction because i know you people are very much aware of the highlights of their career and quite knowledgeable of the senate and the congress. each one of them have leadership positions and then to our nation's foreign policy as members of the senate foreign relations committee and those cont