mrs. bideninly onerous today with your presence. -- honor us today with your presence. we deeply appreciate the commitment to america's veterans that you have exhibited throughout your remarkable public service career. mrs. biden, we're so grateful that you and our first lady are doing such tremendous work for our military families. thank you very much. [applause] power banks to you, tom brokaw. what a marvelous -- our thanks to you, tom brokaw. what a marvelous job you have done as a master of ceremonies. and for all you have done to shine a light on the greatest generation. thank you all for your beautiful tribute to my husband and for all that you did to make this day possible. god bless each of you for what you have done. now, ladies and gentlemen, when secretary salazar asked me to introduce bob dole. i was tempted to talk about his many accomplishments and each of his remarkable qualities. i am resisting that temptation for two reasons. first, such an endeavor would keep us here until suns

. ♪ ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] ♪ >> the first lady mrs. bidentravel around the country to visit companies that support military families. >> than a few moments, secateurs a state clinton. washington journal is live at 7:00 eastern. we will talk about the federal budget than the programs designed to help military families. >> a couple of live events to tell you about today on our companion network c-span 3. a hearing on the rights of crime victims at 10:00 eastern. president obama will talk about his fiscal policy in a speech a george washington university. that is a little after 1:30 p.m. eastern. throughout the month of april, we will feature the winners of the studentcam competition. students submitted documentaries on the theme of, "washington d.c. through my lands." watch the video is just before "washington journal." meet the students who greeted them. stream all of the videos any time on line. >> next, secretary of state hillary clinton at the islamic world forum. it includes leaders of the u.s. and more than 30 muslim countries. it meets

mrs. bidenth your presence. your participation makes this wonderful morning even more special and memorable. we deeply appreciate the commitment to america's veterans that you have exhibited throughout your remarkable public service career. mrs. biden, we are so grateful that you and our first lady are doing such tremendous work for our military families. thank you so very much. [applause] thank you, tom brokaw, what a wonderful job you do as a master of ceremonies. a key for all you have done to shine a light on the courage, character, and contributions -- thank you for all you have done to shine a light on the courage, character, and contributions the in of athlete named as "the greatest generation." senators, donna shalala, thank you for your beautiful tribute to my husband and for all that he did to make this day possible. god bless each of you for what you have done. when secretary salazar asked me to introduce bob dole, i was tempted to talk about his many accomplishments and remarkable qu

and mrs. bidenwe're grateful you think -- that you and your first lady are doing such good work for our military families. thank you so much. [applause] our thanks to you, tom brokaw, what a marvelous job you do as the master of ceremonies. and for all you have done to sign a light on the courage and character and contribution of those you have so aptly named the greatest generation. secretary salazar, secretary kempthorne, secretary shalala, secretary in no way, --senate term inouye and others, thank you for making this day possible. god bless each of you for what you have done. ladies and gentlemen, when secretary salazar ask me to introduce bob dole, i was tempted to talk about his many accomplishments in each of his remarkable qualities. and what i am resisting that temptation for two reasons. first, such an endeavor would keep us here until sunset. and second, if i did so, i would only be repeating what you already know. you know the remarkable courage bob exhibited when he wore the uniform of

. >> the first lady and mrs. biden were never in any real danger, is that correct? >> that's right, there was no danger of an inflight collision. the planes were three miles apart. there were a couple of potential problems we should point out. when two jets get too close together the wake turbulence can cause controllability for the second one and that's why mrs. obama's plane was supposed to be five miles behind. the pilots handled all of this by the book, did the go around, a relatively common and safe procedure. >> let's talk about the air traffic controllers for just a second. they are under the microscope. all of these problems that we're being made aware of. is this an unfortunate string of problems or are the problems a little more systemic? >> we have to say these are clearly red flags. controller fatigue has been pointed out but maybe complacency is another. controllers work every day in a safe system, most do a very good job and not very many problems. they can never let their guard down and take safety for granted. that's why now the faa is looking at the

biden. [laughter] >> utter questions. yes. >> i have a question for mr. wittman on the u.s. saudi relations, where you stand on mubarak and bahrain. how do you see that happening now? and also in the long run being more assertive in this region to keep up this assertiveness. >> this does appear to be one of those rare times in a relationship of it. unbeknownst to me, i wasn't aware of it, apparently the saudis were extremely unhappy at a speech secretary clinton gave in doha in february about the corrupt era of leadership, which they fought pointed at them. we got really down in deep in the weeds apparently in his last days of the state department spokesman, peter jay crowley was making a statement about the region in which he said the united states believes governments in the region have to respond to and accommodate sentiments of the people including saudi arabia. a gratuitous addendum to the sentence as the saudis so the mubarak thing i don't think they believe the united states could or should have saved the mubarak presidency. what did they want us to do any more than w

biden. [laughter] >> other questions? yes, other there. >> hi, i have a question for mr. lippman, u.s.udi relations and the view of how u.s. stands over mubarak, how do you see that spanning out? also, how do you see the saudi in the longer run being more assertive in this region or keep up this assertiveness? >> this appears to be a down time between the united states and saudi arabia. i heard various explanations for it. unbeknownst to me, i wasn't aware of it. apparently the saudis were extremely unhappy at a speech that secretary clinton gave in february about our corrupt arab leaderships which they thought pointed at them. we got down deep in the weeds of this. apparently, in his last days of state department spokesman, p.j. crowley, made a statement that governments in the region have to respond to and accommodate sentimentses of the people including saudi arabia. i mean, a gray gratuitous addendum as the saudis saw it. i don't think the saudis believed that the united states could saved mubarak presidency. i mean, what did they want us to do anymore than we could have saved the

biden and mrs. obama have come together in this initiative called joining forces and it really is to support our military families and one of the things they do, they just give this great voice and back to this connection piece. i'm encouraged by that. and it's focused on the needs of our families and raising the awareness and the opportunity to reach out to them. they are a wonderfully military independent group and won't ask for help and it's heart of what allows them to be as long as they are and yet there are -- we live in a time that has been particularly stressful, 10th year of war, multiple deployments. my wife deborah sees spouses who have post-traumatic stress symptoms, kids, children, who are exhibiting the same kind of thing. and again it's back to this connection. so i do applaud the effort. there has been a lot of work that's gone into it. and i'm thankful that the president and mrs. obama and vice president and dr. biden have taken this on. it really is a big deal. >> let's turn to the

mrs. obama and the vice president and dr. biden have taken this on. it's really a big deal. >> let's turn to the top of the news here. we've just learned that leon panetta and david petraeus will be cia director. you've worked with both. you're not going to comment of the nominations before they're made by the president. but hypothetically -- [laughter] >> are there tea leaves to be read in the appointment of a military man to head the cia at this particular point in time? >> actually, even hypothetically i can't even answer that question. [laughter] >> again, you said it very well. i mean, obviously, the policy is anything before anything official is announced, i really can't comment on it. suffice it to say, that i've worked very closely with leon panetta as well as with dave petraeus. in dave's case in 2004, and i have a great admiration to both men, who are wonderful public servants and their service in their current positions have been extraordinary, and then we'll see what happens. >> okay. i won't ask my second question on that. [laughter] >> l

mrs. obama and the vice president and dr. biden have taken this on. it's really a big deal. >> let's turn to the top of the news here. we've just learned that leon panetta and david petraeus will be cia director. you've worked with both. you're not going to comment of the nominations before they're made by the president. but hypothetically -- [laughter] >> are there tea leaves to be read in the appointment of a military man to head the cia at this particular point in time? >> actually, even hypothetically i can't even answer that question. [laughter] >> again, you said it very well. i mean, obviously, the policy is anything before anything official is announced, i really can't comment on it. suffice it to say, that i've worked very closely with leon panetta as well as with dave petraeus. in dave's case in 2004, and i have a great admiration to both men, who are wonderful public servants and their service in their current positions have been extraordinary, and then we'll see what happens. >> okay. i won't ask my second question on that. [laughter] >> l

mrs. obama and the vice president and dr. biden have taken this on. it's really a big deal. >> let's turn to the top of the news here. we've just learned that leon panetta and david petraeus will be cia director. you've worked with both. you're not going to comment of the nominations before they're made by the president. but hypothetically -- [laughter] >> are there tea leaves to be read in the appointment of a military man to head the cia at this particular point in time? >> actually, even hypothetically i can't even answer that question. [laughter] >> again, you said it very well. i mean, obviously, the policy is anything before anything official is announced, i really can't comment on it. suffice it to say, that i've worked very closely with leon panetta as well as with dave petraeus. in dave's case in 2004, and i have a great admiration to both men, who are wonderful pubc servants and their service in their current positions have been extraordinary, and then we'll see what happens. >> okay. i won't ask my second question on that. [laughter] >> let

mrs. obama and the vice president and dr. biden has taken this on. really is a big deal. >> let's turn to the top of the news here. we've just learned that leon panetta will succeed secretary gates and general david petraeus will be cia director. you've worked with both closely. i understand that your policy is not to comment on nominations before they are made by the president. but hypothetically -- [laughter] >> -- are there tea leaves to be read in the appointment of the a military man to head the cia in the particular point in time. >> actually, even hypothetically, i can't answer that question. again, you said it very well. obviously the policy is before anything official is announced, i really can't comment on it. suffice it to say i've worked very closely with leon panetta as well as with david petraeus. in dave's case, since 2004, i have great admiration for both men who are wonderful public serve haven'ts. and their service in their current position has been extraordinary. we'll see what happens. >> okay. i won't ask my second question on th

biden and his wife. the change follows an incident monday when a plane carries mrs. obama and the vice president's wife had to abort a landing after it got too close to a military cargo plane. the faa has fired two air traffic controllers for sleeping on the job, in the meantime. >>> it is 6:12. deal or no deal? san pablo offers to help people affected by recent landslides. why homeowners are now thinking twice. plus, rent movies just two months after they hit the theaters? the price you would pay and the fight against that new service. coming up. >>> and it is slick in spots for the start of our morning commute. but check out this beautiful shot of traffic heading across the golden gate bridge. a full look at your morning commute coming up. ,,,,,,,,,,,, ♪ i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪ fundraising stop in san francisco this mor >>> back now at 6:16? >> here's a look at some of the top stories today. president obama has one more fundraiser stop here in

biden agrees. that is the vice president, mr. don't know for sure if he was really asleep but we know that the treasury secretary timothy geithner wasn't doing anything to really correct the situation. >> how about the lady behind him, right. >>> former senator rick santorum is taking the first step towards a run for the white house. the pennsylvania conservative has formed a fund-raising committee. he says he would like to see if the money is there for a bid for a republican presidential nomination. he's been making frequent trips to new hampshire, iowa, and south carolina. all early nominating states. >> here we go. >> here we go. >>> let's take a look at your weather now. stormy again today in the pacific northwest over onto denver. a chance of severe storms from kansas city down to oklahoma. mild weather in the northeast. and warm along the gulf coast. a mix of sun and clouds in orlando. >> just 51 in seattle. portland and salt lake city, 50 in billings and colorado springs. 66 in albuquerque. 71 in l.a. and kansas city. 53 d

biden. [laughter] >> other questions. >> i have a question for mr. wittman. u.s.i relations stance on mubarak and bahrain. how do you see that panning out? and also whether you see the saudis in the long run being more assertive to keep up with the assertiveness. >> this does appear to be one of those relatively down times in the relationship between the united states and saudi air arabia. i've heard various explanations for it. unbeknownst to me i wasn't aware that apparently the saudis were extremely unhappy at a speech that secretary clinton gave an doha up the corrective leadership they thought pointed at them. we got down deep in the weeds of this. apparently in his last days at the state department spokesman, peter jay crowley was making a statement about the region in which he said the united states believes that governments in the region have to respond to and accommodate sentiments of the people including saudi arabia. i mean, a gratuitous addendum to the sentence as the saudis saw. the mubarak thing i don't think the saudis believe that the united states

mrs. obama's plane had to abort its landing and then circle the airport to give that military jet time to land first. by the way, vice president joe biden's wife, jill biden, was also on that plane. the f.a.a. says that she and the first lady were never in any real danger but the incident is under investigation. >>> well, if you feel like it's anin dignity to be an airline passenger these days, uncle sam is trying to help. ktvu's allison burns is in our washington d.c. newsroom with the new passenger protections being announced today. allison. >> reporter: pam, the new rules demand airlines treat you much better including full disclosure of fees. when you buy your ticket, you'll be told up front about every penny you're going to have to pay for bags, meals, pillows, whatever. airlines have to limit tarmac delays on international flights to four hours. domestic flights are already limited to three hours. and they have to significantly increase how much you're compensated if you're bumped to another flight. passenger rights groups called the new rules a miracle. we talked about the changes with transportation secretary. >> we just think thi

flights carrying michelle obama or joe biden will be handled by an air traffic supervisor rather than a controller. a controller's error earlier this week put mrswhere the president has 19 million friends. people who follow him. it was an hour-long, unedited dialogue that didn't cost anything and didn't trigger any requirement for a republican response. the questions came from facebook employees and from people who submitted them on his facebook page. many focused on the president's efforts to counterpunch the republican budget cuts with a plan of his own. >> if we don't have a serious plan to tackle the debt and the deficit that could actually end up being a bigger drag on the economy than anything else. >> reporter: with the president's re-election campaign under way, it's clear it's a strategy to go after young people like this woman. >> i think it's a very progressive thing because it's the future definitely. that's a new way to communicate. >> reporter: however, points out, facebook also reaches older generation as well. >> the majority of the people on facebook are now 50 and above so you get both -- both parts of the demographics and it'

mr. secretary, one soldier gathers around you and then you are talking to a bunch and the guys in the back and the general yells, biden, senator, john jones, i won't mention his name, john jones, i saw you here last time. 61 years old. they're not all young. the fact is only 1% of the families have served in those wars. yet 100% of american families have an obligation to commit to that 1%. and just show one single act of kindness to a deployed veteran's family. as jill has declared many times as second lady, helping to muster the strength and to remind the neighbors and everyone in america has a duty to fulfill that sacred obligation i mentioned. jill knows how important it is for our troops and for their families. she knows also that how far just a little bit of support can go. my wife i'm about to introduce feels it in her bones and has become part of who she is and that blue star is branded on her heart. and it's come in our family among our friends that has defined her in a sense. ladies and gentlemen, i'm honored to present to you the second lady of the united states, a blue star mom, my wife jill biden. [applaus