larsen. >> i agree with that. but i do think we have leverage with russia, not in pntr. >> and all i'm saying is i think that in the context of considering pntr, it is the time to have a plan for tackling these other issues and to make sure that we are aligned between the congress and the administration. >> right, and i think russia why did russia join the wto? well, they want to join the wto. because it wants to be part of the community and it'll help russia's economy if it's part of wto. but russia's already going to be part of wto, irrespective of what the united states does here. irrespective of what the united states does here. the question is once united states joined wto, do we grant pntr? or hurt ourselves? at the same time, i believe russia very much, many in russia, not all. many in russia do want to address all the concerns we've been talking about. for example, more independent -- for a more independent judiciary, several ways. one is to have a transcript, have a transcript of pro

larsen to answer the latter question. >> thank you senator mendez. what i have requested is that on the occasion of congressional consideration of pntr, that the administration should present a plan for tackling some of these corruption issues. one making sure that russia adheres to its obligations under the oecb anti-bribery convention which its just joined, two that there be serious cooperative effort to tackle the issue of corruption in customs and tax administration and the jew dash area and three that there be scope for civil society organizations to report on instances of suspected corruption. i think all of that is part of creating a strong rule of law framework for business. i also believe that the expansion is part of that rule of law frame work, but i think we should do both. >> i appreciate your leadership in this effort. i think we are all on our committee sympathetic to the russian federation and we held hearings recently on the subject of human rights and democracy here in russia. we're sort of talking past each other a little bit here.

kaj larsen travels to the front lines of a war few people know about. >>> twisted justice? >> i just saw him up with the bat and he started to swing and that's when i reached for the gun. >> this new york city cop says he fired to save his father's life. >> i was convicted of second degree murder. >> but he would walk free after that conviction was overturned. so how did he end up back in prison? >> you must have been crush when they told you that you had to go back. >> revealing investigations. fascinating characters. stories with impact. this is "cnn presents" with your host tonight brooke baldwin and dr. sanjay gupta. >> good evening. the bloody drug war in mexico has dripped the world's attention. >> but way off the radar south of mexico is a region that's even more violent. >> the commander of the u.s. southern command called it the deadliest place in the world outside of active war zones. >> the homicide rate in honduras alones that doubled in five years. cnn's kaj larsen journeyed to the heart of the violence. >> reporter: in the past year, over 17,000 people have be

nobody will be able to tell me, you stayed quiet. >> and kaj larsen joins us now.ain, good to see you safe and sound. you keep doing stories like this. i mean, what compels you to report from one of the most violent states in mexico? >> well, i think on a personal level with this story, i feel a lot of solidarity with these journalists. i've covered the drug war in colombia, honduras, guatemala, and frankly, i just couldn't do it if it wasn't for the help of some of these local journalists. so they've become my friends. but in a bigger sense, i think there's also this extraordinary danger of silencing the press. and you're seeing over and over again that the mexican media has basically abdicated covering the drug war. and we don't even know what the consequences are, because we can't get ground truth on what's happening. >> did you feel like you were in danger, shooting this story? >> i mean, mexico is a violent place right now. almost 50,000 people have been killed since the beginning of calderon's war on drugs. but whatever concerns i had are nothing compared to

nobody will be able to tell me, you stayed quiet. >> and kaj larsen joins us now.d to see you safe and sound. you keep doing stories like this. i mean, what compels you to report from one of the most violent states in mexico? >> well, i think on a personal level with this story, i feel a lot of solidarity with these journalists. i've covered the drug war in colombia, honduras, guatemala, and frankly, i just couldn't do it if it wasn't for the help of some of these local journalists. so they've become my friends. but in a bigger sense, i think there's also this extraordinary danger of silencing the press. and you're seeing over and over again that the mexican media has basically abdicated covering the drug war. and we don't even know what the consequences are, because we can't get ground truth on what's happening. >> did you feel like you were in danger, shooting this story? >> i mean, mexico is a violent place right now. almost 50,000 people have been killed since the beginning of calderon's war on drugs. but whatever concerns i had are nothing compared to what the

larsen. some american businessmen tell me they don't want to do business in russia. don't even try because of corruption. it's just not worth it. in fact i think i saw a study somewhere where an international organization ranked countries according to political corruption, not at the bottom, but way down near the bottom. so i would like to ask any of you who wish to respond, what should be done about that from the u.s. perspective and as granted pntr help or hurt in that effort. mr. allen? >> from our perspective we have had a -- there's no doubt it exists but there's corruption in a number of countries and it's the company and its business conduct that is the important part of this. and when we go to these countries, countries like russia, we establish strong conduct guidelines and we assure that our operations run themselves that way and we think that ends up being a promoter of improved conduct in the entire business community. i can tell you that when you establish a reputation there that way, you can be affected. the plant that you visited was built in nine mont

larsen to answer the latter question i -- >> thank you, senator menendez. what i have recommended is that on the occasion of congressional consideration of pntr that the administration should present a plan for tackling some of these corruption issues. one, making sure that russia adheres to its obligations under the oecd anti-bribery convention, which has just joined. two, that there by serious cooperative effort to tackle the issue of corruption in customs and tax administration and the judiciary. and three, that there be scope for civil society organizations to report on instances of suspected corruption. >> i think all of that is part of creating a strong rule of law framework for business. i also believe that the extension of pntr and repeal of jackson vannic is part of that rule of law framework. that also will assist. i think we should do both. >> mr. chairman, thank you. i want to thank you for your statement. i thought you hit the nail on the head. and i appreciate your

larsen. i am the director of the seafarers of america. we represent unlicensed merchant mariners in a variety of capacities in both the domestic and international trades, including the cruise industry. on behalf of the siu and all of our member, we want to thank you for conducting this hearing and for all of your continued support of the united states merchant marine. the costa concordia accident has highlighted the critical need for qualified mariners and well-trained crewmembers on board cruise ships. it's especially important given that the vast majority of staff are hospitality staff, not mariners, that all crewmembers are well-trained. in situations where every second counts, training makes all the difference. training has been a key benefit to siu membership since our founding in 1938. our training center, the paul hall center for maritime training and education has been training mariners for almost half a century. and since its founding, the center has trained over 185,000 students and issue in order than 250,000 safety and continu

larsen to answer the latter question i -- >> thank you, senator menendez. what i have recommended is that on the occasion of congressional consideration of pntr that the administration should present a plan for tackling some of these corruption issues. one, making sure that russia adheres to its obligations under the oecd anti-bribery convention, which has just joined. two, that there by serious cooperative effort to tackle the issue of corruption in customs and tax administration and the judiciary. and three, that there be scope for civil society organizations to report on instances of suspected corruption. >> i think all of that is part of creating a

no one will be able to tell me, you stayed quiet. >> and kaj larsen joins us.o see you safe and sound. you keep doing stories like this. what compels you to report from one of the most vie lent states in mexico? >> i think on a personal level with this story, i feel a lot of solidarity with these journalists. i've covered the drug war in guatemala. and frankly, i couldn't do it if it wasn't for the help of some of these local journalists. they've become my friends. in a bigger sense, i think there's also this extraordinary danger of silencing the press. and you're seeing over and over again that the mexican media has basically abdicated covering the drug war. and we don't even know what the consequences are because we can't get ground truth on what's happening. >> did you feel like you were in danger shooting this story? >> i mean, mexico is a violent place right now. almost 50,000 people have been killed since the beginning of calderon's war on drugs. but whatever concerns i had are nothing compared to what these guys face every single day as they're just goin

with siku around the clock, is frank vigh-larsen, director of the scandinavian wildlife park here. >>d be looking for his mother. this is the stage where he would start to learn what the world is all about. but another day or two and he'll be running all over the place. >> reporter: these grainy images show the day siku was born here in late november. within hours, it was clear there was a problem. siku's mother had lost two previous cubs because she couldn't produce milk. this time, park staff were ready. they tranquilized ilka and removed a frightened polar bear from her den. it was simply a mission to save the baby bear. but when these staggeringly sweet pictures landed on the internet, siku became an overnight celebrity around the world. did you know he was going to become so famous so fast? >> it surprised us a lot that he became such a media darling. >> reporter: not surprising at all. remember knut? >> knut. >> knut. >> reporter: another celebrity baby bear, born in berlin in 2006. he was rejected by his mother and raised by zoo keepers. knut mania spanned the globe. toys, and

. >> and al larsen, chairman of the conspiracy international usa. a joint meeting of the direction of the transparency of russia in moscow. very compelling story to tell why she's back in russia and didn't stay over in brussels. but thank you all very much for coming today and the usual practice i'm sure you're aware is to have you submit your statements for the record and speak about five minutes and urge you to be just very direct, forthcoming, candid, tell it like it is. mr. allen, you're first. >> thank you, chairman backus. senator kyle, distinguished members of the committee, my name is sam allen, chairman and ceo of john deere and company. thank you for allows to provide -- u.s. business community. granting pntr is crucial for u.s. manufacturers, service providers and agricultural producers to receive the full benefits of russia's wto accession. it is essential to enable us to compete on a level playing field for russian customs. the reasons are clear, first pntr will assure equal treatment for u.s. companies doing business in russia. russia

larsen. i'd like to ask, do you per steve ability of russia to eliminate the pervasive delauppings seems to affect all aspects of russian life, many companies have seen contracts broken and agreements altered by heavy-handed bureaucracy. will this solve all those problems? i'd like to get to those, quickly if we can, because i have about a minute left. >> my quick part, i would say at first, most people realize that or recognize india as a large democracy. we deal with every bit of corruption in india as in russia. so i think we certainly want to see that corruption changed. but the culture and continued movement forward is going to be a long process. it won't be an event-driven process. and on the -- >> and on the first part of my question, do you not see the nexus on the actions russia takes, the effect on your company? >> yes. i do see those actions. there is a timing issue that's also -- the part that i keep trying to reinforce is they are going to move into the wto, and we are going to l

chairman, ranking member larsen and members of the subcommittee, my name is george wright. i'm the senior vice president for marine operations for princess cruises. which is a subsidiary of the carnival corporation. on behalf of the entire carnival family, i want to say first of all that we are all deeply saddened by this tragic accident involving the costa concordia. our thoughts and our hearts are with the passengers, the crew, and their families. the safety of our passengers and crew are our top priority. and every day we strive to achieve high levels of safety, and we are committed to intensifying this effort as much as we can. prior to joining princess cruises, i served in the coast guard for 27 years. retiring in the rank of captain. my last assignment was the coast guard captain of the port los angeles/long beach. and we were responsible for all coast guard operations in southern california. my duties varied widely from field operations to headquarters, including serving as a member on the u.s. delegation to the international maritime organization where we were commi

larsen. >> mr. chairman, thank you and as well, allow me to express my prayers and thoughts to the women and men of the u.s. coast guard and families of the coast guard's men who passed or are missing in the recent, recent accident. i want to thank you for scheduling the morning's hearing to delve into safety of cruise vessels in light of the grounding of the costa concordia off the coast of italy. before i begin my remarks i would like to extend my condolences of the family and crewmembers that died because of extreme tragedy and for seven families where of the loved ones remain unaccounted. i want to welcome two passengers aboard the cost at that concordia who traveled from massachusetts on short notice to be with us today as well. mr. chairman, the sea is a beautiful and most often benign, nevertheless it remains relentless and ever present threat to those who travel over its depths at times. the coast at that concordia incident reminds us we can not be complacent while at sea. the ocean remains

and here's how that questioning unfolded with congressman rick larsen, a democrat from washington state to general allen who is overseeing operations in afghanistan. >> general allen, i'm not asking this next question to get too much into the weeds on sergeant bales incident because that's going to be adjudicated elsewhere, but with regards to the investigation related to command in afghanistan, the situation on the ground that he was operating in, but the command structure in afghanistan, are there separate investigations going on from the criminal case in afghanistan? >> yes, an administrative investigation as well as a criminal investigation. >> can you explain what that is? >> it will look at the entire command and control process. how he was assigned, why he was assigned. it will look at the command relationships associated with his involvement in that combat outpost. >> has that been assigned then? is someone assigned to do that? >> it's being assigned to u.s. forces afghanistan. >> thank you. >> and then finally, general also then, can you discuss the attrition rate? it didn't so

record the testimony of dennis young, which was placed into the record i believe by my colleague larsen that really focuses on making sure that there are hiring very qualified and trained longshore workers to perform the kind of handling of operations and loading and unloading operations, that they are particularly trained for since this entire hearing is about safety. i'd also like to note, mr. chairman, that while our testifiers unfortunately are not able to respond to the specific sets of questions that i have, suffice to say also that the cruise industry does have major protections that limit recovery. they are able to put into their contracts things that are called forum clauses that the u.s. supreme court has said are okay. and this has led to the cruise industry placing all kinds of other limitations on who people can sue, where they can sue, how much recovery, what they are entitled to recover. and that is very unlike many other industries where the larger panoply of remedies are available to them. thank you for allowing me to ask my questions. i yield back. >> mr. cummings? >>

larsen. >> i just noted that mr.young, in the future when he is a ranking member, i will be sure he is on a timer. >> let me take this opportunity to thank the u.s. coast guard for not just the work that you do in florida but throughout the country. we are giving you a tremendous amount of responsibility and you all have come up to the challenge. every time i get a chance to thank publicly for how you are responding after 9/11, i have to, because you were the first branch that was their peace and protecting our country right after that tragedy. so thank you. this is no doubt, this accident in italy was a tragedy. my hearts go out to those who were killed and injured, and we must take every chance necessary to protect the safety of the passengers. cannot vilify the entire industry because of the reckless action of one rogue employee who failed to follow the policy and protocol of his own company. as a member from the state of florida and a representative of the port of jacksonville, i am particularly interested in the

. >> moderating our second panel is the honorable allen larsen whose biography you have in the event booklet. i'm sure all of you in the room and certainly we at the national u.s.-arab chamber remember his days in economics and his many years in the aba bureau where he was a champion for u.s. trade and international fair treatment for u.s. companies. so it's a particul call on ambassador larson to moderate this panel. >> thank you very much, good afternoon everyone. we're looking forward very much to this panel. we're going to be considering a set of challenges that perhaps paradoxically are just as difficult and daunting in many ways as those of the economies in transition which we just heard discussed in the previous panel. experience around the world has shown sadly that ample endowments of match rl resources which should be a blessing for national economic development can, on occasion, be a curse. nations that are rich in natural resources need to figure out ways how to translate that potential wealth under the ground into enduring forms of wealth above ground that can create hig

and speak with enda pendent a journalist a lars schall lars welcome to the kaiser report i makes ok larsen all you have just published an investigation into end sinar training in relation to the attacks of nine eleven first tell us about the original mainstream media reports and what have they said at the time about the suspicious training well there was a lot of reports in bare rooms in the wall street journal and other populations which said that insiders of the road tax could have profited from those terror attacks by speculative traits put options call options and such things but then in october november december it went on but there was abruptly over with is reporting so how much have a put option volume increase prior to the attacks and then watch errors specifically yes sometimes six fold for example related to racing on the producer of tomahawk. missiles that were used then in the war on terror but also this was a call options and then there were also put options banks that were placed in the w g c and also reinsurance community and swiss re but also arcs. yeah these were put optio

with siku around the clock is frank vigh-larsen, director of the scandinavian wildlife park here in northernenmark where siku lives. >> this is the stage you start to learn what the world is all about. >> reporter: these images so when he was born. within hours there was a problem. siku's mother, iika, had lost two previous cubs because she couldn't produce milk. [ crying ] this time, park staff were ready. they tranquilized iika and removed a frightened, hungry little polar bear from her den. it was simply a mission to save the baby bear, but when these staggeringly sweet pictures landed on the internet, siku became an overnight celebrity around the world. polar bears are the first species to become endangered because of global warming. >> they catch all their food from the sea ice. if the sea ice disappears, they are unable to feed. >> reporter: sika seems oblivious. for now, he sleeps with his keepers and his stuffed polar bear. >> and before we leave siku, we've got some breaking news. the day after we visited with him. siku got up on his feet and took his first steps in the snow. >> i'm

but if we just move another half mile away, almost everyone will survive. >> larsen says that is if theyin place. he says the instinct is to look out the window to see what happened and then try to evacuate. he he says that's wrong. the best thing to do, get to a basement or garage and stay there for at least seven hours. >> why seven hours? >> despite what we've been taught, 90% of the radiation is gone after about seven hours. about you st two days, 99% of the radiation will clear away. shelter in place, go to garage. >> and in the garage, the radiation won't get in? >> if you're not in that hot zone. if you're in the hot zone like where the white house was, within a half mile of there, everything is gone including the garage areas. if you're outside of that half mile radius, you have a good shot. >> thanks very much. let's go back to jack for the cafferty file. >> kind of a depressing story, wouldn't you agree? >> very. >> the question this hour is speaking about depressing stories, if you were mitt romney, under what circumstances would you ask rick santorum to be your running mate?

here's coz larsen for the story. >> reporter: in 2010, he got some great news. >> i was jumping up andi'm out of here, i'm out of here. >> reporter: he was being released from prison after serving 17 years for a crime he didn't commit. was it hard to transition to the outside? >> yeah, absolutely. i had a really hard time with that. and i still do. >> reporter: what did they give you when you got out? >> nothing. >> reporter: he walked out of prison with just the money he had been sent by family and the earnings from his 42 cent-an-hour prison skbrjob, a little over $2,000. but he also got something else. >> yeah, i got hit with a child support bill of $11,000. >> reporter: how were you expected to pay that? >> good question. i just looked at it and went, really? >> there was a gut reaction that this was a horrible injustice. >> reporter: the innocence project lawyer, laura zirosky, worked pho free him. now she's working on a legislation to give him and other exonerated prisoners compensation for their time wrongfully spent in prison. >> under my bill, they would get $50,000 of each ye

larsen. >> i just noted that mr. yong, in the future when he is a ranking member, i will be sure he is on a toddler. -- i will be sure he is on a timer pickwick let me take this opportunity to thank the u.s. coast guard for not just the work that you do in florida but throughout the country. we are giving you a tremendous amount of responsibility and you all have come up to the challenge. every time i get a chance to thank publicly for how you are responding after 9/11, i have to, because you were the first branch that was their peace and protecting our country right after that tragedy. so thank you. this is no doubt, this accident in italy was a tragedy. my hearts go out to those who were killed and injured, and we must take every chance necessary to protect the safety of the passengers. cannot vilify the entire industry because of the reckless action of one rogue employee who failed to follow the policy and protocol of his own company. as a member from the state of florida and a representative of the port of jackso

that has been done once by a guy named don larsen. people your age to realize how good he was.tball began with michael jordan and larry bird and magic johnson hall haag's >>darya: d.c. the prince fielder thing? he hit a 611 ft. home run in spring training. >>gary: i have never heard of that. >>darya: they did not subtracted the role which was over to defeat. he feels warm no thought hi. we're sprding the word out new honey buncheof oats uit blends and theirunique tast. like peach/raspberry. with one fvor in the granola nch and one on the flake. two flors. in harmony. honey buncheofats. make your day bunches better. the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. tha's at they do wi great grains cereal. they steam and bake thacal wholerain while the other guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole wholgrain cereal. now with amazing tools like the hd ation. share your pictures, stream hd videos and movies. all on your tv. even seamlessly video chat. all powered by the 4g lte droid razr. droid razr by motorola, just $199.99. get twice the data

larsen. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. larsen: thank you, mr. speaker. -- mr. larson: thank you, mr. speaker. let me rise and thank mr. van hollen and the budget committee and rise in full support of their balanced and fair document that emphasizes shared sacrifice. let me say to my republican colleagues that this appears to us much like that great philosopher, said, deja vu all over again. franklin delano roosevelt in another difficult period of our history said that we need to prevail upon this country to come together and find the warm courage of national unity that comes from shared sacrifice. that would again demonstrate to the american people, especially the most frail amongst us, and those in the middle class and are impacted the most, that we have national unity because we have garne -- guaranteed that no longer will they be in a position where they have to suffer while others who would use government in a way to prosper and grow at the expense of the middle class. there isn't a member of this chamber who doesn't have friends or family w

larsen? >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr.r in that chair in that position i was seeing down here at the time in 2002 and 2003 military at that time stilling as in afghanistan we need to train 70,000 folks in afghanistan and deutsch and thousand year for seven years or 7,000 a year for ten years or something on those lines. those increases to 52,000 what can you tell me is going to ensure in july you aren't going to come back or even say after may in chicago to say we net 400,000. what we met was 450,000 security forces needed to train. >> mr. larsen there is pretty in-depth analysis behind the number three injured 52 zealous. i can't tell you that it shouldn't be 351 or 353,000, but very good analysis in terms of the requirement for the afghan police and of course it is also about the afghan local police and other elements that could provide security. i guess i would turn it around and say that if we had a recommendation from the general allan if we had analysis showing the number should be different i would want to hear that

joining me now, leslie marshal, and lars larsen a syndicated talk show host with calm pass video met works. lars, i think people will be outraged over this. you tell me. >> i think they should be outraged over it. god bless kennedy and alito for where they are going with this. hanoi jane has no business playing mrs. reagan. mrs. reagan and her late husband are revered figures for conservatives. the idea that hollywood thinks that this young lady who called returning pow's liars and hypocrites and american leaders war criminals as you said is absolutely outrageous. hollywood should be ashamed of what they are doing. megyn: why would they choose her, leslie? >> well, quite frankly, what lars forgets is that she is an actress. i mean whether you like what she did in her personal life, and she did apologize, she is now a born again christian. last time i checked most born again christians are conservatives and christianity is based on the element of forgiveness. i think everybody forgets the for giving. what we need to remember, jane fond today, whether you like what she's done personall

joining me now to discuss it, leslie marshall, she's a syndicated radio talk show host, and lars larsen, also a syndicated radio host with compass media networks. so jay carney was trying to say the president only said no to the pipeline when he said no because he was being forced to give a decision prematurely. he didn't want to issue a decision until more review, and he was forced so he said if i have to do it now, the answer's no. but the implication of the white house all along is he's been open-minded on this. now, lars, he seems to be lobbying directly to senate democrats saying don't vote yes on this pipeline today. is that a contradiction? >> yeah, i think it's a contradiction. i think the excuse of hillary made me do it is not going to fly with the american public. you know, megyn, it's sad, but this president is guilty of petro phobia. he's simply afraid of allowing americans to have the oil, the diesel, the gasoline they need to make the country run. this is a sad thing when we see the intolerance of petrophobia practiced from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. the president needs to

we had a chance to speak with with sill yeah larsen the democratic leader.tituents are mystified by the state of events, she thinks it should be more focused on the economy. here is what she believes will happen as women start to pay attention to this. >> it is beginning to feel like there is a war on women right now, and i think women across the state are waking up. >> reporter: now it's unclear exactly where the new hampshire governor stands on this. we had a chance to speak with a legal expert that had something pretty interesting to say about this. he believes that the federal mandate will trump any of the state exclusions put in here in new hampshire. it will be interesting to see how this ultimately plays out. the prove from u.n. h says this is largely a symbolic gesture on the part of republicans. bill: we'll watch it from new hampshire. molly line, thank you. patti ann: newt gingrich says talk of a two-man race is hogwash. >> i think we have a long stretch ahead of us. we also have nonsouthern places like wisconsin, delaware, pennsylvania, maryland,