really important to the project. >> and we've been talking with university of maryland professor julie greeneout her book, "the canal builders: making america's empire at the panama canal." it's published by penguin, and professor greene is a professor of history here at the university of maryland. >> thanks very much. >> you're watching 48 hours of nonfiction authors and books on c-span2's booktv. >> so, the idea of this book actually had a sort of born out of frustration. and the idea crystallized for me that the first and only time that it's on air force one, i had taken this job for the "washington post" why been working for a while where it was my assignment to write sort of more personal intimate stories about the presidency and what the president's life is like. and detroit took me like maybe a week of doing that job to realize that the president doesn't really have personal intimate moment, sort and none that i was going to get access to. everything about his life is outsourced initially crazy way. he has 94 butler's inmates in the white house. six calligraphers right if anyone's writ

really important to the project. >> and we've been talking with university of maryland professor julie greeneout her book, "the canal builders: making america's empire at the panama canal." it's published by penguin, and photographer greene is a professor of -- professor greene is

the name of the book and come the author is university of maryland professor julie green. professor the idea of building a canal come about? >> the idea was an old one in american history. at least in the u.s. from the mid 19th century onward but even before that, europeans had turned it for centuries. >> always through panel all? >> there was a lot of talk of going in and through nicaragua or mexico, but for a lot of reasons the french seized on the idea of a panel and the united states debated about going to nicaragua but some earthquakes and the fact the french had dons some construction work in panels ;s;ç that a better approach.;ç;s >> when did the french get started, how far did they get and white and a complete? >> the french construction project was a very traumatic. they faced a lot of problems that was in the early 1880s and went through much of that decade. they faced a lot of problems the united states just because the united states project cleared a few decades later the united states was able to overcome some of the problems the french had faced read >> such

really important to the project. >> and we've been talking with university of maryland professor julie greene about her book, "the canal builders: making america's empire at the panama canal." it's published by penguin, and photographer greene is a professor of -- professor greene is a professor of history here at the university of maryland. >> thanks very much. >> up next on booktv, "after words," an hourlong program where we invite guest hosts to interview authors. this week robert guest and his latest book, "borderless economics." he argues that cheap travel and internet communication make it easy for immigrants to stay in touch with their home countries, a connection he maintains creates networks that foster economic growth worldwide. the business editor of the economist magazine talks about this phenomenon with washington post technology reporter cecilia kang. finish -- >> host: robert guest, thanks so much for joining us today. >> guest: my pleasure. >> host: this is a fascinating topic and a fascinating book, "borderless economics," and i love the subtitle, chinese sea turtles and the

julie? >> reporter: liz, well green monday is one of the biggest shopping days for online retailers. it is the single biggest shipping day for fedex. and as it turns out, the two are directly related. how much of your holiday shopping have you done online this year? >> i would say 85-90%. >> a majority of all of my shopping is online shopping. >> reporter: holiday cyber sales are up 15% totaling more than $25 billion so far and experts say that is the reason fedex is expected to make 17 million deliveries today alone, making it the busiest day in the company's 40-year history. >> consumers are spending more, but fedex having the biggest day ever has more to do with a big increase in online shopping than anything else. >> reporter: and today, green money, is expected to kick off the biggest cyber shopping week of the season. but consumer psychologist kate yarrow said some may wish they haven't waited. >> retailers that trimmed inventory are running out of products and so there are going to be instances where people aren't going to be able to find exactly what they want. >> reporter: a

julie? >> reporter: hi there, dana. that is right. green monday, it is one of the biggest shopping days for online retailers, but it is also the single biggest shipping day for fedex. and as it turns out, the two are directly related. >> how much of your holiday shopping have you done on line? >> i would say 85-90%. >> a majority of my shopping is online shopping. >> reporter: holiday cyber sales are up 15%, totaling more than $25 billion so far. and experts say that's the primary reason fedex is expected to make 17 million deliveries today alone. making it the busiest day in the company's 40-year history. >> consumers are spending more, but fedex having the biggest day ever has more to do with a big increase in online shopping than anything else. >> reporter: and today, green monday, is expected to kick off the biggest cyber shopping week of the season. but consumer psychologist kate yarrow said it might leave some wishing they would wait. >> researchers who trimmed inventory to match previous consumer spending are running out of products

until she died. >> that one was 16-year-old wendy coughfield, the first victim found in the green river on julyh, 1982. ridgway claims not to recognize the faces of his victims. didn't know their names. in fact, he never wanted to know. >> i learned a lesson, never to kill from the front. i just didn't like looking them in their face and the pain they were having in their face. >> the 16-year-old girl, she was looking in your face, it's not the way you want it? >> no, it isn't. the way she was looking at me and begging for her life, i wanted the back of their head so i couldn't see their face. >> so ridgway worked on his killing style. he hunted for prostitutes on the strip. most of them were just teenagers. once he got them into his truck, he took them either "into the woods" or to his house. on the wall in his bedroom, this mural, a depiction of trees, like the forested dump sites for which his victims were destined. he was divorced from his second wife at this point, and saw his son only on alternate weekends. if the prostitutes were reluctant, he convinced them to get into the canopied bark

earlier this week we had green monday and we're not done yet. on the consumerwatch, julie watts explains there is yet another shopping holiday. oh, boy. >> reporter: we're not done yet. free shipping friday. another holiday manufactured by retailers. tomorrow thousands of them are offering free shipping with pre- christmas delivery and added discounts. but not everyone is happy about the latest extension of the holiday shopping season. >> enough's enough. >> enough is never enough. >> reporter: opinions are mixed when it comes to the seemingly endless addition of shopping holidays. >> it's an industry like any other so they will do whatever they can to get people to spend. >> reporter: but according to new research from the price tracking website the newest holidays are paying off. black friday shoppers saved an average of 34% while online shoppers this week are saving more with an average markdown of 42%, plus free shipping. >> we tailers realize that they need to offer some form of free shipping if they want to capture shoppers' attention. >> reporter: and consumer advis

julie: thanks to have you here in person in new york city. rare opportunity. >> i love the green. and gregg have a new thing going. julie: i have to say i'm wearing this because gregg made me. green is not my favorite color but i do try to coordinate with him. it is hard because his color of tie choices are off the charts. >> i don't know that there is a color that would go badly with you. julie: thank you. wasn't talking to you, gregg. gregg: he looks like a christmas tree, doesn't she. julie: or the grinch. gregg: this, i knew that one was coming. this christmas is a tough time for pakistan's three million christians. the country's muslim majority often accuse them of siding with the united states as tensions between american and pakistan continue to grow. so do the discrimination and alienation. coner powell is live in islamabad with more. conner in? >> reporter: gregg, pakistan is increasing becoming a difficult place to live for all of its citizens but particularly the christian community. in one of pakistan's poorest neighborhoods christmas lights are going up. decorations ar

no, we're here to make us great again, you know, as i said i'm not a green eyeshade, i'm a fourth of july guy, so contract which dones do you thi mitt romney could me that. >> i don't think so. i think if i were advisin romney i would say torrow, simpson bowles is may plan. my plan is the president's plan. the one that president obama reached out. >> that is what i would do. that would be an interesting campaign, i'm running on your -- >> what do you think -- >> one of the paralyzing things for the administration in term of simpson bowles, in terms of seriousdeficit reduction in changing the polls, is this promise they made in the first campaign not to raise tax on anyone making less than 2 -- 250,000 a year. when you combine that with the success the republicans had as casting them as big government, old big government liberals, they feel they're in this box in which if they adopt simpson bowles or any serious deficit solution, any serious deficit solution involves taxes on people making less than $2 50u-- $50,000 or you have to get arid of medicare. and so they feel like they're in this

july 4th. between now and then, a $58 million cruise ship terminal has to be built on pier 27. that leaves a small window for opposition groups to voice their concerns before the plan gets the green light. if the environmental impact report is certified today, it will go to the full board of supervisors in january for approval. >>> i think we can all agree it was very cold early this morning. >> painfully cold. >> here is meteorologist rob mayeda. >> here is proof of how cold it was. by allen rock, you can see, that's ice on those cars out there. anything that was condensation quickly changed over to ice this morning. 61 in santa rosa. earlier this morning it was 28. that's a pretty impreive temperature swing because we're starting to see the north winds mixing down some relatively warm air higher up into santa rosa. it's taking longer for us to warm up today. this pattern will reset itself, heading into tonight. breezy. for the inland valley, for the north bay and east bay, we'll see patchy frost. lunchtime, we should see the numbers slowly climbing into the 50s and 60s. high temperatures, upper 50s to low 60s this afternoon as you're going to be seeing pretty nice temperatures

july. doug hutchinson and kathy studdard made the list for the second time. you remember doug is a 51-year-old character actor. perhaps you've seen him in "the greene" or "lost." i have no memory of him. his 16-year-old bride is courtney. you might have seen her relaxing on the beach wearing the american flag or perhaps sitting in a boat with a dog that matches her bikini. ♪ when i go shopping ♪ i've been popping ♪ when i'm walking >> yeah, she's 16. kids today. so yes, there is a 35-year age difference and, no, courtney hasn't graduated from high school yet. and many have criticized their union. but the happy couple were on "good morning america" today explaining their relationship and putting all skepticism to rest. it's a classic love story. 51-year-old boy meets 16-year-old girl online thus setting into motion a courtship. it sounds like every episode of "to catch a predator" but that's where you're wrong. this was beautiful and unique. >> there's a really beautiful and unique way to get to know someone because we didn't have the distraction of -- >> mm-hmm the physicality. >> the physicality. i know what you're thinking where were this girl's

julie: nasa releasing an image of a wreath nebula. it looks like a ring. it's barred barnard3. i see some red and green.sense. it's a mass of sashage winds blast a sphwriet star 1,000 slight the -- it's a blast of winds from a star 1,000 miles away. key rulings on immigration and healthcare could come down right in the middle of the campaign. former prosecutor arthur. >> i gallon is here as is mark eiglarsh. thanks very much for being here. it occurred to me you spent so much time talking about the candidates. the justices will generate just as much attention. >> they decided to take on some cases that affect all of us, especially the healthcare one. can congress tell us we have to buy health insurance? that's a huge one. the immigration laws that are being challenges in four different states, when police seize somebody for the most trivial arrest they have to look into their immigration status. they are looking into a big case in texas which could alter the balance of power in congress. at the very least, they are going to have an impact on the conversations going forward in the next year. rick: smart

green products especially instead of plastic. one good example disposable utensils that go in the compost pile. sounds like a great idea. >> but environmentalists say the knives and spoons and forks don't cut it. julithis outdoor cafe like more than the food. they also like the cutlery. >> it's great. >> a nicer texture. doesn't taste as plasticy j even better the sign says it's compostible. >> this is what happens after going through a composting process. >> reporter: san francisco zero waste coordinator jack macy says these pieces of utensils were fished out of a finished compost pile at this facility. >> they are basically intact. >> reporter: he says they not the only green utensils not living up to consumer expectations. >> it's very frustrating. consumers are be duped. they are nationally confused there's so much mislabeling. >> reporter: macy takes issue with the word of biodegradable. >> if it's labeled that, those words are meaningless. >> reporter: because environmentalists say everything is biodegradable, given enough time. some call that kind of labeling green washing. >> you're making your product look green when it really is not green. >> the consumer believes there is an environmenta