host: mark potok, co-head -- go ahead. guest: first of all, i would say there is not a lot of an extreme left. that said, we do cover and have covered a bit of the extreme left that really does exist, that is the so-called ego- terrorists. these may not be the best descriptions, but i'm talking about the animal liberation front. we ever been a lot about those groups. those groups increasingly engaged in a violent actions and they will without a doubt kill somebody one of these days. members of those groups or followers of that ideology have done things like firebomb houses in which supposedly lived so- called animal oppressors and so on. all of that said, the says a small part of the extremist groups in the united states. there are also anarchist groups. with regard to the anti- immigrant groups, what we really focus on are not groups that are simply opposed to high levels of immigration or advocating for lower levels or enforcement of border law, what we focus our energy on is those groups that personally confront and har

mark potok, go ahead. >> guest: there isn't much of an extreme left. our focus has been on the radical right. really around the 14th amendment, and equality and for the law. that said, we do cover and have covered the -- a bit of the extreme left that does exist. that is the ecoterrorist. that may not be the best description. i'm talking about the animal liberation, earth liberation front. we've written a lot about those groups. those groups increasingly engage with violent action and they will kill somebody one of these days. members of groups are followers of ideology, have doing things in fire bomb houses in so-called animal oppressors and so on. all of that said, it's a very smart part of the extremist in the united states. there are tiny anarchist groups here and there. it's tiny. the anti-immigrant and minutemen, what we focus on are not groups of high levels of immigration or enforcement of border law and so on. what we focus is those groups that go out and confront and harass individuals who they suspect are undocumented immigrants or people tr

you have the last call for mark potok. go ahead. >> caller: good morning. thanks for giving me the last call. people like chris matthews and yourself when democracies were voting against president obama, they were considered racist. you know, it's not against the law to be antigovernment. we're allowed to. i guess your partisan. but, you know, daily 24 hour domestic terrorism is happening in black neighborhood with the crypts, environmental terrorist, black panthers, that's a racial group, why don't you ever discuss these? and you've only had 75 incidents between now and 95. that i call loan wolf. these people are killing their own people daily. why not go after them domestic terrorist? >> host: mark, go ahead. >> guest: because they are not domestic terrorist. we're not a law enforcement agency. so i absolutely agree. obviously gang violence in the cities and elsewhere is responsible for far more criminality and numbers of deaths than people who blow up federal buildings. there's no doubt about that. but, you know, the crypts and the bloods and the mexican

host: we're talking about militias and extremist groups with mark potok. if you want to get involved, give us a call. host: we want to show you of the to bit of what senator joseph lieberman of connecticut had to set on the subject. then, we'll get your calls. threat has definitely escalated. all the conditions that you mentioned are there to encourage people. i would have a word of caution to my colleagues in the political parties and the media, the level of discourse about our politics are so extreme and incendiary, but if you are dealing with people that may not be clicking on all cylinders and may have all rebels -- and may have of all abilities, there is a danger. i would not overstate this threat. it is not as confident as the global threat of islamic extremism, but it is real. i want to ensure the american people that your government is taking this militia threat very seriously. the fbi is on top of this. that is why they stopped in this group before they had a chance to do what they wanted to do, which was to attack law enforcement officers. host:

with mark potok of the southern poverty law center. if you want to get involved it is a call at (202)737-0001 republicans, (202)737-0002 independence, (202)728-0205. we want to show you a little bit about what senator joseph lieberman of connecticut had to say about the subject and then will go to your calls and more with mark potok. >> the threat is definitely escalated and all the conditions you mentioned are there to encourage people. i would say a word of question to my colleagues in political parties and frankly in the media, the level of discourse about our politics and our country are so extreme and so incendiary that if you're dealing with people who may not be clicking on all cylinders with and may have all the abilities personally, there's a danger that they're going to do this group of the list a plan to do this week, i would not overstate

and we are talking with mark potok from there. our next crop -- call comes from charlotte, john on the independent line, go ahead. host: i think your organization is one of the most corrupt and propaganda based organizations in this country. militias, by the way, are not unconstitutional. host: mr. potok? guest: and not quite sure -- i do not think we are spreading racism at all. i can't recall it as we see it. -- i think we call it as we see it. i would note that because anger of the caller is also directed at the department of homeland security. whatever one thinks of our analysis, it is clearly shared -- certainly, in its broad outlines, by virtually all of the law enforcement agencies in this country. i think we have seen an enormous amount of violence or planned violence associated with the rise to power of obama. let's not forget that since obama became an nominee, if we have seen two racist skinheads plots to assassinate him. we have seen a man in maine found building a dirty borum with radioactive elements that he planned

with marked potok third we will also check with joe and lublin of the "wall street journal" about a survey taken nuncio's about pay and perks. tuesday, a discussion on federal oversight of car safety standards with former administrators of the national highway traffic safety administration. along with the president and ceo of the alliance of automobile manufacturers. viewers can also call in or tweaked their questions. that is why 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span, c-span.org, and c-span radio. >> c-span -- our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online. you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube. sign up for schedule alert e- mails at c-span.org. >> several experts in u.s. security talk about president obama's trip to prague later this week to sign an arms reduction treaty. that will also discuss the summit here in washington. this is hosted by the center for strategic and international studies and is about 55 minutes. >> this will be on the itunes university. my colleagues are some of the top experts in the world in this region. they have got

with mark potok and also chat with joanne lublin. live at 7:00 eastern, "washington journal." wednesday, live from the white house, first lady michelle obama who has made fighting childhood obesity one of her priorities will sit down with matthew shimura. his documentary was submitted in this year's competition. joining him will be other student filmmakers from around the country. that's live wednesday here on c-span. >> all this month, see the winners of c-span's studentcam video documentary competition. middle and high school students from 45 states submits what are our country's greatest strengths or challenges. just before "washington journal" and at 8:30 during the program, meet the students who made them. for a preview of all the win ers visit studentcam.org. >> now several experts discuss the nuclear summit between washington and the middle east. this is an hour and 30 minutes. >> good afternoon and welcome to the washington institution for near east policy. my name is simon henderson. i'm the director of the energy policy program here. it is one of those curious occasi

. >> mark potok, we need to have you back to get more in depth to some of the numbers you're seeing andite some time. some sobering news to hear on this anniversary. good to see you, mark. we'll talk to you soon, all right? >> thankses for having me. >> nuclear fears in a small town when prime real estate for a couple of new reactors, but at what cost? stay with us. ♪ my subaru saved my life. i won't ever forget that. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. >>> making headlines today, they won't fight the fine but toyota motors is denying the government's accusation that it tried to hide a safety problem with its sticking gas pedals. today, toyota accepting a record 16.4 million dollar fine for toyota's failure to promptly report the issue. toyota will have 30 days to pay up. pope benedict celebrating his five-year anniversary at the helm of the catholic church. his tenure has been blemished with the ongoing sex scandal. a quick break. we'll be right back. sthma. and that's what it sounded like when my symptoms came back. i'd get this tightness in my chest. like i was breathing throug

ron brownstein, congressman kendrick meek, former congressman mickey edwards, bradley buckles, mark potok and mike waldman and jamie gorelick. i must tell you, that's the first time i've seen that film and i have, as has been said, continuously gone back to oklahoma city. continuously going back to oklahoma city. i am going back in a few days, they are having a week-long observation for the 15th anniversar anniversary. even now it seems real as if it happened yesterday. there was a story in "the new york times" by a reporter who has been positively, and i say that in a positive way, positively interested in this. drawing parallels to the time running up to oklahoma city, and a lot of the political discord that exists in our country today. that's a legitimate thing to do. and it's important before we overdo that, to put this in the context of what happened and to try to understand what it meant for america and what it means for all of us in the way we exercise our citizenship. before the bombing occurred there was a sort of fever in america. in the early 1990's. first it was a time like no

host: you have the last call for mark potok. go ahead. caller: people like chris matthews and yourself, when democrats were voting against obama, they were considered racist. it is not against the law to be anti-government. we are allowed to. daly, 24 hour domestic terrorism is happening in black neighborhoods with the christmas -- the crypts. you have only had 75 incidences of [unintelligible] these people are killing them daily. when i go after these domestic terrorists? guest: because they are not domestic terrorists and we are not a law-enforcement agency. i absolutely agree, violence in the cities and elsewhere is responsible for far more criminality and numbers of deaths than people who blow up federal buildings. there is no doubt about that. but the gangs and the mexican mafia and the aryan brotherhood, these are fundamentally criminal enterprises. the are not seeking to -- they are not seeking to impose some sort of ideology. we also do cover hate groups of all kinds. the new dock panther party, which is utterly unlike end -- the