mr. tony blair and mr. christopher hitchins. [cheers and applause] [applause] tony blair was the prime minister of the united kingdom from 1997 until 2007. among his many international roles today, he is a representative in the middle east, working with the u.n., the u.s., russia, and the eu to try to secure a lasting peace in the region. after leaving politics, mr blair converted to catholicism and launched a global initiative, a foundation, to promote respect and understanding among the world's great religions. many of us in this room have read his recent best-selling memoir, "a journey of my political life." kirsten hithins is an author, journalist, an atheist. his regular "vanity fair and" riding is central reading for anyone and anyone concerned about global affairs. christopher has a number of best-selling books, too. obviously, "god is not great." in his recently published memoir. he was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and as such, we are doubly grateful that he and his family are here tonight. >> let me briefly

mr. tony blair and mr. christopher chens. [applause] >> tony blair was the prime minister of united kingdom from 1997-2007. among his many international roles today, he is the quartet representative in the middle east working with the un, the u.s., russia, and the use to try to secure a lasting peace in the region. after leaving politics, mr. blair converted to catholicism and eight launched the tony blair quake foundation, a global initiative to promote respect and understanding among the world's major religions. many of us in this room have read his recent best-selling memoir, "a journey, my political life." christopher it is a british-born american, author, journalist, and atheist. his regular vanity fair column is prolific, speeches and essays, are essential reading for anyone and everyone concerned about global affairs. christopher has a number of best-selling books, too. " god is not a great" as one of them and his recently published memoir. christopher was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and we are doubly grat

mr. tony blair and mr. christopher hitchens. [applause] >> tony blair was prime minister of the united kingdom until 2007. among his international roles today, he is the quartet representative in the middle east, working with the u.n., the u.s., russia, and the e.u. to try to secure a lasting peace in the region. after leaving politics, mr. blair converted to catholicism. he launched the tony blair faced foundation, a global initiative to promote respect and understanding among the world's major religions. many of us in this room have read his recent best-selling memoir, "a journeycolon my political life." christopher hitchens is a british born american author, journalist, and atheist. his regular "vanity fair" column, his prolific speeches, and essays are central reading for anyone and everyone concerned about global affairs. christopher has a number of best-selling books. obviously, "god is not great" and his recently published memoir "hitch 22." he was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer. we're doubly grateful that he an

mr blair, the question is for you, and it's about something that many people posted about sothing you said once about the interplay of religion and politics, and to quote you directly, you said: "what faith can do is not tell you what is right, but give you the strength to do it". the question being: what role did faith play in your most important decision as prime minister, the invasion of iraq? >> i think we can nail this one pretty easily. it was not about religious faith. you know, one of the things that i sometimes say to people is, look, the thing about religion and rigious faith is if you are a person of faith, it's part of your character, it defines you in many ways as a human being. it doesn't do the policy answers, i am afraid. so as i used to say to people, you don't go into church and look heaven ward and say to god, right, next year, the minimum wage, is it £6.50 or 7? unfortunately, he doesn't tell you the answer. and even on the major decisions that are to do with war and peace that i've taken, they were decisions based on policy, and so they should be, and you may disa

>> the truth is that over 50% of the membership was put there by mr. blair and mr. brown. the place is physically not big enough for them now. >> don't i remember that when we started covering the parliament that there were something like 1200 members? >> yes. but there were a lot of hereditary pairs who most of them didn't turn up. of the 750 or so hereditary pairs, only about 125 ever came regularly. the others might possibly come one day a year just so they can mark the books up and said they'd been. >> so there are no more? >> there were 100 left who were put in at the time of the legislation as a bit of a compromise but they are in effect life payers. i think the reform that all of us agree is that probably when they go, we should not have any more. under the legislation they have elections amongst themselves but that will have to change, i think. >> what does a lord make every year? >> he doesn't get a penny piece in salary. not a penny piece in salary but he does get expenses which are not unreasonable but i guess -- i guess that a member of the house of lords could

mr. blair explained that though a memoir by its very nature is retrospect, his book is also an attempt to inform future and current thinking. in this behind the scenes account of his years in office and beyond, mr. blair describes his role in shaping our recent history, turning the ups and downs and addressing the issues and complexities of our global world. today we have an opportunity to listen as mr. blair engages in a conversation about these and many other issues with his friend and colleague, former president of the united states and chairman of the national constitution center, bill clinton. on behalf of the constitution center, it is an honor to present these to international leaders who have shared the world stage during key events in each of their political lives. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming tony blair and bill clinton. [applause] [applause] >> now, i promise to keep any comments and questions brief because we have so many issues to cover the last hour, beginning

tony had that view. >> you had have a few debates with mrs. blair. >> yeah, one on the death penalty. probably lost. i made it clear. he was objecting to my position when i was governor of texas supporting the death penalty, and as president for that matter. i happen to believe if justice is fair and swift, the death penalty saves lives. she didn't agree. >> you were reelected with the majority of the vote in the first time in 16 years that a presidential nominee got a majority of the popular vote. you had political capital. you went in on the social security issue first and only later in 2006 pushed for changes in the immigration laws. those were not successful. what have you learned? >> if i had to do it over again, i probably would have ran the immigration plan first. and then i -- but i didn't. so i -- i pushed social security hard. the truth of the matter the congress didn't want to reform social security. and there's an issue i feel in all do respect to my friends from congress where congress is more reactive than proactive on the issue. i thi

mr. blair explained that though a memoir by its very nature is retrospect, his book is also an attempt to inform future and current thinking. in this behind the scenes account of his years in office and beyond, mr. blair describes his role in shaping our recent history, turning the ups and downs and addressing the issues and complexities of our global world. today we have an opportunity to listen as mr. blair engages in a conversation about these and many other issues with his friend and colleague, former president of the united states and chairman of the national constitution center, bill clinton. on behalf of the constitution center, it is an honor to present these to international leaders who have shared the world stage during key events in each of their political lives. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming tony blair and bill clinton. [applause] [applause] >> now, i promise to keep any comments and questions brief because we have so many issues to cover the last hour, beginning

can i ask everyone to join with me in thanking mr. blair? [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] caller[captions copyright natiol cable satellite corp. 2010] >> next, q &a. >> this week, we continue our interviews from london. dan reed is director and producer of the documentary film "terror in mumbai." the film is about the 2008 terror attacks in mumbai, india, that killed over 175 people. >> dan reed, how would you describe what you do for a living? >> i am a freelance documentary director and producer. i also direct, am a bit of a gun for hire, but i tend to make films that go behind a big news story or go behind something that has made headlines and try to show the more complex side of it and to try and kind of unpack the hidden truths. >> who pays you to do this? >> i am hired by channel 4, hbo, pbs frontline right now, the bbc. i have worked for the u.k. broadcasters for the last 20 years. >> how many documentaries have you done? >> about 25 or 30, i have lost count. >> we asked you here to talk about "terro

brown and mr. blair are criticized today. there is no legal constraint. if they have the nerve to do it, they can do it. >> how long is the appointment as a lord? >> for life. the two categories of people in the house of lords that in my time had been on a limited tenure have been the church leaders, the bishops. they have to give up when they cease to be bishops. and the judges because our supreme court was part of the house of lords up until two years ago and they have moved out now and they no longer sit as members of the house of lords themds. >> we have an independent appointments board. they are appointed by an advisory committee of people which of the senior judges have a good say. >> is there any way a -- the public can get rid of a judge by impeachment and united states? >> i've never heard of it. technically, i can't tell you. i am sure there must be a way that it has never happened in my lifetime. the lord chancellor or the head of the judiciary, the senior judge in the supreme court whose schedules the appearances would make sure he did not ge

mr. tony blair talks about developing issues andçw international aid for africa. mr. lair created the africa governance initiative which aims at reducing poverty through improving governance in sierra leone, rwanda and liberia. it's about an hour. >> good morning. it's my pleasure to welcome you to this very special event on behalf of the tony blair africa governance initiative. it's my pleasure to introduce you to nancy, president, founding president of the center for global development. as many of you know net is well known for her research and writing on a wide variety of developing issues and in particular for her to assistance that the policies and practices of the rich countries the emerging powers, the international institutions can make huge difference for good, or for ill, and the lives of poor people in the developing world. it's that vision that motivates our center, and i know it's the belief that we share with today's guest speaker. please welcome nancy. [applause] >> thank you very much, lawrence, forcing such good things about me ,-comcome and mourn part

brown and mr. blair are criticized today. but there are no legal constraints. they can have -- if they have the nerve to do it, they can do it. >> how long is your assignment as a lord? >> for life. >> the two categories of the people in the house of lords in my time have been on a limited tenure, the church leaders. the bishops have to give up when they cease to be bishops. the judges as well. our supreme court was a part of the house of lords of to -- house of lords up to two years ago. >> how is the supreme court justice appointed? " we have an independent appointments board -- >> we have an independent appointments board. they are appointed by an advisory committee of people, of which the senior judges have a pretty good say. >> is there any good with that the public can get rid of a judge by impeaching, like here in the united states? >> i have never heard of it. i cannot tell you. i am sure there must be away. but it has never happened in my lifetime. i think the lord chancellor or the head of the judiciary, who schedules the appearances, would make sure

over 50% of the membership of the house of lords was put there by mr. blair and mr. brown. the place is physically not big enough for them. >> when we started covering the parliament, there were 1200 members? >> most of them did not turn out. but the 750 or so, only about 125 ever came regularly. the others might possibly come one day eight years so they could mark the books. >> there are 100 let that were put in at the time of the legislation. it was a bit of a compromise when they ran into difficulties. the reform that all of us agree , when they go, we should not have any more. that will have to change. >> what does a lord make every year in money? >> 8 does not get a penny apiece in salary, but he does get expenses. i guess a member of the house of lords could turn in all of his expenses and pains, maybe $50,000 a year. that sort of figure. >> a member of the senate or any member of the house cannot do outside work. what is the role here? >> unless you are a member of the government, you can do outside work. the house of lords is designed to encourage you to do so becau

the truth is that over 50% of the membership of the house of lords was put there by mr. blair and mr. brown. the place is not big enough for them now. >> don't i remember that when we started covering the parliament that there were something like 1,200 members. but a lot of them did not turn up. of the 750 or so, only about 125 ever came regularly. there are 100 left put in at the time of the legislation as a bit of a compromise when it ran into difficulties but they are in effect lifers. the reform that all of us agree is that probably when they all go we shouldn't have any more. >> what does a lord make? >> not a penny in salary. but he does get expenses, which are not unrecently but i guess that a member of the house of lords could turn in, including all of his expenses, maybe $50,000 a year, that sort of figure. >> in the united states a member of the senate or house by in large can't do any outside work. what is the rule here? >> what the vule here that you can do outside work unless you are a member of the government. if you are just a back bencher like i am you can do o

we heard from the former british prime minister tony blair called mr. holbrooke are remarkable man who had done lots of work for a more peaceful world. >> what sort of legacy will he leave amongst the political community in washington? >> i think we heard the statement by mrs. clinton in particular. the legacy of his historic role that he played. she describe id the peace accors that ended the war in bosnia. he managed to bring warring leaders to the table. more recently, there was his role as president obama's envoy in afghanistan and pakistan. many will be asking the question who is to succeed him in the time when the u.s. is pushing to stabilize the situation in afghanistan and perhaps a transfer of more afghan troops forces involved in the fighting. >> i spoke earlier to the pakistani ambassador to the united states to was a close friend of richard holbrooke and met with him a few days ago. >> we had breakfast on thursday. the day before he was admitted to hospital. we were very close. we spoke frequently. i will remember him as a great diplomat who

mr. tony blair on the role of religion. radio host garrison killer talks but humor in public life. and sandra day o'connor and david souter discussed life on the high court. listen to historic supreme court cases on c-span reappeared saturday, the constitutionality of displaying christmas decorations on town property. >> with the possible exception of the cross, the nativity scene is one of the most powerful religious symbols and the country and most certainly one of the most powerful christian religious symbols in this country. >> listen to argument on c-span radio, in washington, d.c., 90.1 fm, nationwide xm satellite 132 and nationwide at c-span radio.org. >> health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius announced this week new rules on health insurance premium increases. health care law passed last year says insurance companies have to justify so-called on reasonable rates increases. the regulations announced in this event define the term and reasonable. this is about 40 minutes. >> thank you for joining us. i want to first introduced the folks you will be hearing from

mr. tony blair. [applause] [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> this sunday on c-span, in her first televised interview, the newest supreme court justice elena kagan on the confirmation process. her adjustment to the court and her relationship with chief justice john roberts. an unprecedented on the record conversation sunday at 6:30 and 9:30 pm on c-span. >> on this friday, the u.s. senate is about to gavel in. lawmakers will continue the debate on the u.s./russian treaty known as s.t.a.r.t. president obama and medvedev signed that. senators may consider a short-term funding bill for the federal government now that a more comprehensive measure has been withdrawn and now to live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. how glorious you are o god! how majestic are your works. you make your judgments known from heaven and no earthly power can withstand you

mr. obama walked to blair house today to talk with execs.n businesses are sitting on a record $2 trillion in cash and are reluctant to spend. >> this morning, i hope to illicit ideas to these business leaders to help us seize the promise of this moment. ideas about tax reform. ideas about a balanced approach to regulation that will promote rather than undermine growth. ideas to help businesses invest in america and american jobs at a time when they're holding nearly $2 trillion on their book. i want to discuss the shared mission of building a strong economy. >>> across the coup tri, people are coping with bitter cold. just about everywhere. here's what some are saying. >> it's 14 degrees here in atlanta. chill factor of 1. here in the deep south, we're no big fan of this kind of weather, so everyone's staying indoors, deep under cover. give you an example of what i'm talking about, here in front of emory university, in front of everybody's pizza, a favorite water fountain is now turned to this. >> good morning, everybody. it's brandon in orc

blair is the special envoy for the quartet on the middle east. he's in the united states to address the 2010 forum hosted by the brookings institution. mr. prime minister, it goes on and on. now the obama administration has made a decision to step back from trying to persuade israel to freeze settlement expansion. you have called that sensible. why? >> because i think we need to find a way forward now that gives both parties confidence that we can have a negotiation that actually succeeds. and in the meantime, we've got to push ahead and create the change on the ground that's going to make a real difference in the lives of palestinians and also provide the israelis with the assurances they require on security. so you know, we've hit an impasse. it's a problem, but we've got to find a way through. >> larry: but that decision, where does it leave efforts for peace talks? it sounds status quo again. >> well, i think that there's still a lot that's going to go on. one of the interesting things that's happening in the middle east right now and in the israel/palestine situation, the leadership of the prime minister, with the full authority of

mr. prime minister. great pleasure having you with us. >> thanks very much, larry. all the best to you. >> larry: former prime minister tony blairspecial envoy for the quartet on the middle east. when we come back, we'll meet solomon faihad and ehud barak, the former prime minister of israel. three. two. one. ♪ don't cha wish your work phone was hot like me?... ♪ the droid pro by motorola knows you need business on the go. with its powerful 1 gigahertz processor... ♪ da da da don't cha... ♪ its globetrotting wi-fi hotspotting swagger... it knows you want a rich web experience with adobe flash and access to over 100,000 android apps. finally a work phone worth taking home. >> larry: by the way i want to thank haim saban for putting together this special edition of "larry king live." solomon fayad and ehud barak, his former prime minister. a rare opportunity to have top statesmen on both sides of this to take part in the forum for the saban forum and to be with us on this show. all right. plm prime minister fayad, the united states has agreed to stop trying to press israel on the freedom expansion. where does that leave us now? >>

mr. prime minister. great pleasure having you with us. >> thanks very much, larry. all the best to you. >> larry: former prime minister tony blairspecial envoy for the quartet on the middle east. when we come back, we'll meet salam fayyad and ehud barak, the former prime minister of israel. >> larry: by the way i want to thank haim saban for helping to put together this special evening, this special edition of "larry king live." salam fayyad and ehud barak, is former prime minister. a rare opportunity to have top statesmen on both sides of this to take part in the forum for the saban forum and to be with us on this show. all right. prime minister fayad, the united states has agreed to stop trying to press israel on the freedom expansion. where does that leave us now? >> we listened to a policy statement by secretary of state in washington. based on that, my understanding is that the administration intends now with a view to try to identify positions on the core shoves permanent status. be on the palestinian side have done so and it is important to get a definition as to those core issues beginning with an understanding of what i

mr. prime minister, tony blair. thanks for joining us today. we're all looking forward very much to your remarks. >> global development was and now the center that's become a world leader in the development space. thanks for the remarks on my name and my time. i actually remember when we first set up for international development and we did set it up as an independent department, but my goodness, it was. which is maybe why some of the other leaders find it a little hard. but alone just from time-to-time, it was let's say challenging and often rightly. it's very independent and i did allow it to be groundbreaking in a way i don't think it would have been otherwise. i'll tell you more about that when i get into my remarks. what i'm going to do is speak for roughly 20 minutes and then we're going to do 20 minute question and answer and to describe it and set it in the context of where i think the development debate is in the world today. this is absolutely the right moment for a debate about development and there's no organization better to be doi

mr. president, on the eighth day of november of this year, i along with senator hagan of north carolina, the senator from louisiana, sent a letter to chairman bernanke, chairman blair, mary shapiro at the f.c.c., mr. demarko at the federal housing agency and secretary donvan at h.u.d., asking them to look at the 941-b requirements at the todd -- of the dodd bill and asked them to complete their work through the amendment the three of us sponsored to create the exception for risk retention requirements by the definition of a qualified mortgage. and i rise today on one of the final days we're here together in congress to raise the importance of this issue, because the current fragile condition of the housing. pass the national reform bill. mr. president, rain a business for 22 years in residential housing in atlanta. during those 22 years the average default rate or -- or delinquent rate was 3% on all mortgages, foreclosures rates were less than 1 1/2. things have changed dramatically in the last few years because of sloppy underwriting, because of no credit, because of no documentation. and we've seen some unbelievable new numbers. according to the fdic the total mo

mr. assange may be a candidate for the cover? >> that's exactly correct. >> rose: thank you for coming. >> rose: we continue now where w a different perspective from admiral dennis blair. he's a retired four-star admiral and was until may of this year the director of national intelligence. he offers some idea as to what might be done now by the u.s. government in light of what has happened. i am pleased to have him back at this table. welcome. >> thank you, charlie. >> rose: so when you saw this stuff, just tell me what you... what was your reaction? >> well, my heart sank to see that. we protect secrets for different reasons in the armed forces primarily to save lives and protect soldiers. in the intelligence services it's to protect sources and methods so we continue to inform people taking action in the u.s. government and in diplomacy they're protecting relationships because what they're trying to do is work with other countries. and so to have all of that information laid bare in such detail will just make the job of all of those who don't do the hard work and the national security organizations in the united states that much harder. so it was a blow. >> rose: so