kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> 38 pelicans have been released back into the wild. 192 brown pelicans have been taken from the louisiana coast coated with oil. 80% of those rescued can be saved and reintroduced into the wild. the hope is that the texas habitat will be a safe haven from them from the spill. millions of process raw sewage seeped away into the biscayne bay saturday morning. people were warned to stay out of the water. test results should confirm the severity of the contamination. >> kids are notoriously picky eaters. marketing and commercials can be influencing their tastes. a study found that children overwhelmingly would choose a product if packaging featured a licensed cartoon character, like the explorer.xplora that brings us to our watercooler question of the day. do you think limits should be placed on cartoon characters to market junk food? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. again, that is watercooler@wbaltv.com. that study does not surprise me. ate wheaties.d 8 wheatie a decathlon winner was on the box. >> i remember bruce jenner. >> coming up, the m

. >> the lady in the center -- is that kate? hi, kate. >> hi. kate martin from the center for national security studies. i wanted to thank you, general, for your commitment to protecting civil liberties and privacy and your recognition of the importance of oversight by the court and the congress. and acknowledge that the problem protecting national security classified information is very difficult and important in this field. i ask you whether -- during the last administration, i think lots of members of congress as well as those investing in the civil liberties community concluded that in fact the intelligence capabilities were illegally trained on u.s. citizens. so the question becomes despite those oversight mechanisms, how do prevent that from happening again, and whether or not you can undertake that initiative to look at the possibility of a greater public transparency given the necessity for national security servicing in this field in order to help build the public confidence. >> that's an easy question. i'm going to turn it over to -- n

hi, kate. >> hi, kate martin for the center for the national security studies. i wanted to thank you, general, for your commitment to protecting civil liberties and privacy and your recognition of the importance of oversight by the court and the congress. and acknowledge the problem of protecting national security information is very important in this field. but ask you whether -- nevertheless, in the last administration i think lots of members of congress as well as those of us in the civil liberties unit conclude thad in fact the intelligence capabilities were illegally trained on u.s. citizens and so the question become dees spite those oversight mechanisms, how to prevent that from happening again and whether or not you plan to undertake an initiative to look at the possibilitt of greater public transparency given the succession of national secrecy in this field in order to help build the public confidence that you referred. >> that's an easy question. i'm going to turn it over to -- no. first, you made some statements i don't 100% agree with so i will put i

hi, kate. >> hi, kate martin for the center for strategic and international studies. want to thank you for your commitment to protecting civil liberties and privacy in iraq makes an -- and your recognition by oversight of the courts and congress and the knowledge of theeproblem of

of course, i miss my favorite contestant, kate gosselin. yes, exactly.o me it was all about the night she did her dance to lady gaga's paparazzi. so she comes out and then they have like two mock-ups of tabloids and was dancing like a frickin' linebacker. >> larry: the irrepressible kathy griffin. has some unusual fans. some even send her gifts. you brought an example with you. give us the back story. >> i hope you're ready for this. >> larry: this is a terrific painting. i liked it. >> i was at my house, because when you first look at it, you're thinking, oh, she's one of those people that has a portrayed of herself. but then take a closer look at the artist. >> larry: the artist is eric menendez. >> ring a bell, larry? >> larry: one of the menendez brothers. >> yes. >> larry: convicted to life in prison for killing his parents. >> well, i don't know the details of the case. i would say it's not going -- i don't think the reloading helped. but i don't know if it's for life. you never know. >> larry: he may get out. >> and he did a very nice portrait. >>

of course, i missed my favorite contestant, kate gosselin, exactly, yes, come on. to me it was all about the night she did her dance to lady gaga's "paparazzi." so she comes out, and then they have two mock-ups of tabloids and was dancing like a freakin' linebacker. >> larry: the irrepressible kathy griffin. like that? >> thank you, yes. >> larry: has some unusual fans. some even send her gifts. you brought an example with you. give us the back story. >> i hope you're ready for this. >> larry: it's a terrific painting. i saw it and liked it. it's a great likeness. >> i have this in my house. because when you first look at it you think oh, boy, she is one of those people that has a portrait of herself. but then take a closer look at the artist. >> larry: the artist is eric menendez. >> ring a bell, larry? >> larry: one of the menendez brothers. >> yes. >> larry: convicted for life in prison for killing his parents. >> well, you know, i don't know the details of the case. >> larry: they shot their parents. >> i would say -- well, i don't think the reloading helped. b

they were coming off rita and kate na, coming off the worst economy that this country has seen since the great depression. and this season was going to be the season where they were going to be bouncing back. not only that, but this happened from their perspective at the worst possible time because they are making their entire income for the year in the three or four months during which folks can take their boats out, people are coming down for tourism. and so i emphasize to the chairman that when he is talking to shareholders, when he is in meetings in his board room, to keeping keep in mind those individuals. that they are desperate. that some of them, if they don't get relief quickly, may lose businesses that have been in their families for two or three generations. and the chairman assured me that he would keep them in mind. s that going to be the standard by which i measure bp's responsiveness. i think today was a good start and it should provide some assurance to some of the small business owners and individuals down in the gulf who i was visiting with that bp is going to meet

she lost her wife, kate fleming -- and charlene is here along with kate's mom, who said on behalf of all mothers, thank you. because we think it's the right thing to do. [applause] in addition, i've issued an as many partnership benefits to gay and lesbian federal employees as possible under current law. and i'm going to continue to fight to change the law: to guarantee gay federal employees straight employees - including access to health insurance and retirement plans. [applause] and in an announcement today, the department of labor made clear that under the family and medical leave act, same-sex couples - as well as others raising children - are to be treated like the caretakers that they are. [applause] because i believe in committed -- i believe that committed gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country, i have called for congress to repeal the so-called defense of marriage act. [applause] we are pushing hard to pass an inclusive employee non- discrimination bill. [applause] no one in america should be fired

but i mean past administrations have slow kateed a strong dollar, and i don't always understand the debate on weak verses strong dollar and high we should have one or the other. i haven't followed it that closely but weaker dollar would help boost exports and stronger dollar, probably helps us pay our debt easier. i think those are the true debates and i'm not sure. it's always something positive and negative for on both sides. hard to figure which one is better. host: another tweet if the big banks would buy back all the toxic assets it sold to freddie and fanny they could then dismantle them. any response? guest: well, i mean, i don't think the big banks really sold all the toxic assets to fanny and freddy. they bought mortgages from all the banks in the country, including the thousands and thousands. we have 8,000 community banks as well as small mortgage lenders that are not even banks, not even regulated u like banks so it's not as simple as the big bank that's sold them toxic assets and most of the toxic mortgages and those that have gone bad in the last five years, is really started

but i mean past administrations have slow kateed a strong dollar, and i don't always understand the debateeak verses strong dollar and high we should have one or the other. i haven't followed it that closely but weaker dollar would help boost exports and stronger dollar, probably helps us pay our debt easier. i think those are the true debates and i'm not sure. it's always something positive and negative for on both sides. hard to figure which one is better. host: another tweet if the big banks would buy back all the toxic assets it sold to freddie and fanny they could then dismantle them. any response? guest: well, i mean, i don't think the big banks really sold all the toxic assets to fanny and freddy. they bought mortgages from all the banks in the country, including the thousands and thousands. we have 8,000 community banks as well as small mortgage lenders that are not even banks, not even regulated u like banks so it's not as simple as the big bank that's sold them toxic assets and most of the toxic mortgages and those that have gone bad in the last five years, is really started goin

but i mean past administrations have slow kateed a strong dollar, and i don't always understand the debate on weak verses strong dollar and high we should have one or the other. i haven't followed it that closely but weaker dollar would help boost exports and stronger dollar, probably helps us pay our debt easier. i think those are the true debates and i'm not sure. it's always something positive and negative for on both sides. hard to figure which one is better. host: another tweet if the big banks would buy back all the toxic assets it sold to freddie and fanny they could then dismantle them. any response? guest: well, i mean, i don't think the big banks really sold all the toxic assets to fanny and freddy. they bought mortgages from all the banks in the country, including the thousands and thousands. we have 8,000 community banks as well as small mortgage lenders that are not even banks, not even regulated u like banks so it's not as simple as the big bank that's sold them toxic assets and most of the toxic mortgages and those that have gone bad in the last five years, is really started

kate. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i guess my question is, well, first i want to say i agree, i first i want to say i agree, i don't think that financially we can hurt bp. obviously, $87 million in fines wasn't enough to do it. but don't you think that by removing their charter to practice business in the united states might not be a good place to start? guest: well, that is certainly the kind of thing that would have a dramatic and severe impact on a company like bp. and when the exxon valdez happened in alaska, the people in the community said can't we just get rid of exxon? can't we get them out of prince william sound? and that was viewed to be impossible or to be much too large of a task. and all they did was get that -- congress actually passed the law saying that ship couldn't come in any longer. one of the things that i believe is that when we bring control of these issues down to local people, they really should have the ability to decide who comes in and works in their waters, who drills in their waters. nati

the party in control now and the house, with clean energy, think of all those strategies compared to kate toring big oil, big banks, wall street, making certain the biggest amongst russ taken care of. i contrast that with all the work being done in my district in the 21st congressional district in new york, it's always had a spirit f pioneer, it's in our d.n.a. we have within the confines of that district, an energy revolution of sorts, it's the birth place of electricity. we're continuing on with a global center for renewable energy as g.e.: nano science in the district, the semiconductor energy, superconductive cable, talking about advanced battery manufacturing. when we looked at the recovery act, how the president banted to bring us into the new age, allow for transitioning, a transformation of the energy economy, that's what this is all about. what we have had expressed in this recovery act are opportunities to grow new opportunities with advanced battery manufacturing. the battery looked at by g.e. not only provides a concept of an alternative generrtion not only for generation of e

how well are they able to adjuste kate disputes between afghans. this is how the taliban came to power originally in the 1990s is they were able to exploit the fact that the afghan government at the time was unable to have judicial processes to adjudicate disputes. and the taliban would come in and sort of say, well, the land dispute, here's the border. and so i think when we read stories like that one, that's the real story that's going to tell us going forward whether we can be successful in afghanistan. it's not so much the level of violence but how commited are the afghan government at large. host: of those questions that you just posed, how would you answer them after visiting there? guest: it's mixed. for sure. i think one -- my reaction coming back, i went in with a healthy dose of skepticism and i came out with that as well. general mcchrystalal and icon bri and our guys there are doing a great job. i really think that they are the best people that we could have on the ground. but the challenges are just immenls. you're trying to take a soc

after a year and a half of kate and discussion, although not perfect, i think we struck the right balance here and i'm proud to support this bill. it is god for america, it is good for new york city, it is good for the people of staten island and brooklyn who sent me here to represent them. in particular i applaud the effort to bring greater transparency, accountability, and oversight to our derivatives market. this bill makes sure the regulators and private sector understand outstanding swap exposures for individual companies will never be allowed again to bring about a situation like what happened with a.i.g. but this legislation also recognizes the important role that derivatives play in actually reducing systemic risk and increasing the flow of credit throughout our economy. whether it's an airplane, farm, hedging against currency risk, commercial real estate company or life insurance annuity hedging against interest rate fluctuation derivatives are vital tools to keep consumer prices low and help manage company budgets. these end user companies pose little or no systemic risk to our

kate. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i guess my qution is, well, first i wa to say i agree, i first i wa to say i agree, i don'think that financially we can hurt bp. obously, $87 million in fin wasn't enough to do it. but don't you think that by removing theirharter to practice business in the unite states mhtot be a good place to start? guest: wl,hat is certainly the kind othing that would have a dramatic and seve impact on a company like bp. d when the exxon valdez happened inlaska, the people the community said can't we ju get rid of exxon? can't we get them out o princ william sound? and that w viewed to be impossible or to be much too large of a tk. and a they did was get that -- congress actually passed the law saying that ship couldn't come in any longer. one of the things that i believe ishat control of these issuesown to l people, they really should have the bility to decide who comes in and works in their waters, who drills in their waters. natially, we feel bad about the oil sll, but we're going to move on. 'r

but i mean past administrations have slow kateed a strong dollar, and i don't always understand the debate on weak verses strong dollar and high we should have one or the other. i haven't followed it that closely but weaker dollar would help boost exports and stronger dollar, probably helps us pay our debt easier. i think those are the true debates and i'm not sure. it's always something positive and negative for on both sides. hard to figure which one is bett. host: another tweet if the big banks would buy back all the toxic assets it sold to freddie and fanny ty could then dismantle them. anyresponse? guest: well, i mean, i don't think the big banks really sold all the toxic assets to fanny and freddy. they bought mortgages from all the banks in the country, including the thousands and thousands. we have 8,000 community banks as well as small mortgage lenders that are not even banks, not even regulated u like banks so it's not as simple as the big bank that's sold them toxic assets and most of the toxic mortgages and those that have gone bad in the last five years, is really started goin