the most significant break the obama administration has made away from bush administration policy. agree with david. the supreme court has decided they should get some rights. holding criminal trials for these enemy combatants is something that historically the united states has never done. in world war ii we had the german saboteurs come ing into this country fdr ordered them tried by a secret military tribunal. they were executed month layer. we've decided, this administration has decided, that we're going to give them a full range of constitutional and procedural protections and allow them to be treated as ordinary criminal defendants. that's going to be a major issue picking up on what bob said of how we're going to kind of have this tension between the rule of law and rights for these people while we're also waging war. we're going to be holding them, giving them these full range of constitutional rights while we're stepping up drone attacks and trying to kill their counterparts. >> schieffer: david martin, the one thing we haven't gotten to so far is afghanistan. we're gettin

i want to bring our attention back to the bam -- obama administration. a few things. let's continue focusing on the actions of the administration in response to all the year's events. paul? >> maybe can i segue into that from what i was going to say in response to some of the most recent comments. the labels, metaphors, whether it's ma it's at that sism, they do more harm than good. al qaeda is a name. does more harm than good in making us understand that because there is this tendency to think of one unified organization. that's not the case. the shane piece this morning in the times is a corrective to that. on the domestic infans that occurred, i agree -- instance that occurred, i agree with clark, what we are seeing are individuals basically self-radicalized individuals who are the ones taking the initiative to seek out groups, to seek out training, to seek out help. that was true of the northern virginia five. it was true of hasan. so that puts the lie in my view to the concept that the main thing we are wore roying about here is a group that is the c

the obama administration appears to have a blind spot when it comes to the war on terrorism, and becausef that blindness, this administration cannot see a foreign terrorist even when he stands right in front of them, fresh from an attempt to blow a plane out of the sky on christmasÑi day. there is no other way to explain the irresponsible and dangerous decision on the interrogation. there's no other way to explain the inconceivable treatment of him as if he were a common criminal.

why is the obama administration so reluctant to talk tough on terror? that that become a political problem. if his policies are similar to the bush administration and he is aware of the fact that there is a new thriving al qaeda threat out of yemen, why are americans only finding this out now? i think politically it would help the administration to talk more about these problems and what the administration is doing to mitigate them and it would better position them to face republican attacks in the aftermath of an event like this. >> it was a very harsh attack by dick cheney over the past week and a lot of democrats suggest that it was way beyond the pale given that the situation is still developing, and also that cheney seemed to suggest some things that were simply not true. the issue of dick cheney and his criticism of the obama administration came up this morning on "meet the press" with john brennan and david gregory asking the question. let's roll that and i'll get your reaction. >> i'm very disappointed in the vice president's comments. i'm neithe

and 7 during the obama administration. in all, the bush administration transferred 532 gitmo detainees, 42 of them have been moved out during the obama administration. >>> two senate democrats announce this week they were calling it quits. and now their party is more afraid than ever about losing a hard-won advantage over republicans. i'll ask james carville if he's rethinking his prediction that democrats could hold power for another 40 years. host: does charlie daniels play a mean fiddle? ♪ fiddle music charlie:hat's how you do it son. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. we decide to turn in early. we just know. announcer: finding the moment that's right for you both can take some time. that's why cialis gives men with erectile dysfunction options: 36-hour cialis or cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if y

the obama administration has been very aware for quite some time that yemen was a problem. i disagree a little bit about mark in saying that they didn't succeed. clearly, the nation now is much more -- is concerned once again with terror, and our air flights, international air travel. so in that way you don't have to have a plane explode to have this great national tension come in. so we've had and drone attacks in yemen. the administration is still trying to figure out a way to deal with yemen in a way that doesn't alienate the yemenese people who the u.s. is trying to win over. there's a very delicate balancing act we're going to see unfold perhaps in the next day. if the u.s. does any kind of retaliatory action while still trying to reach out to the yemenese people and try and not have them more alienated against the united states. when you deal with drone attacks, by the way, as you probably both know and your viewers can surmise, this is very, very difficult because if a drone hits the wrong -- hits a civilian it doesn't -- it creates a terrible backlash for the united

the obama administration the degree they carry that is under state. but generally people don't realize president obama has intensified the effort to go after al qaeda central and afghanistan and pakistan. the strikes are intensified under the tenure. famously after much deliberation he's increasing the number of troops had placed on afghanistan and the lamborn objectives for doing so he says is to prevent afghanistan from again becoming a base for terrorism against the denied its seats. there's also a law enforcement aspect and commendably seems the obama administration has continued the bush administration's strategy of moving law enforcement agencies in general and fpi in particular away from its primary focus making cases that can stand up in court at the expense of waiting plods even if at the end of the day he can't make a very effective criminal case. i think that the isasi case, the dallas case in springfield, illinois case were examples of this. where the bush administration didn't focus is where i said the obama administration focused commenda

he came out and he obviously the obama administration is feeling the heat. third attack, third terrorist attack in six months. so they're feeling the heat. why would he go into that territory, we got to be together, we can't have partisanship. why would he go there? >> i tracked this on my web site at rove.com. he has a straw monday arguments, like during the debate on the stimulus package. when we had a battle on health care, he said the opponents of health care reform don't want health care reform. they want a reform, they want to reform a different way. a cover real of that mind set is question the motives by suggesting that they're being unpatriotic and that the real thing is to come together in a moment of unity. look, i understand there are moments when that's required. but in a disagreement over the handling of this christmas bomber was -- is a legitimate matter. >> no doubt it's legitimate. no clear minded or fair minded person couldn't say they're fair minded debates. they absolutely are. but president obama now finds himself in a very, very tough p

the year of living dangerously for the obama administration. steve grunman, lauren thompson, pierre thomas and fred downy welcome to the show. >> so for years the impression has been the defense spending is finally going to level off. it was going to go flat at 534 billion, add inflation and $50 billion, and so everybody's expectation that acquisition spending will come under sharp pressure. but the obama administration decided to add $100 billion to the budget that will be submitted to congress next month. that is a heck of a lot of money. there is stimulus obviously affecting their focussing on the industrial base, lauren, how do you manage to do this with the rising deficit. where does it go? >> when you consider the fact that this is the candidate who got the nomination by pledging to pull out of iraq we're headed for an amazingly high level of defense spending. we'll be in the next fiscal year, 2011, will be somewhere around $550 billion in the regular defense budget and somewhere around $150 billion for overseas contingencies. $700 billio

and the obama administration, the degree to which they've continue the aspect really has understated. generally people don't realize that president obama has really intensified the effort to go after al qaeda central in afghanistan, in pakistan, the drone strikes have really intensified. he famously after much deliberation is increasing the number of troops in afghanistan. the number one objective is to prevent afghanistan from again becoming a base for terrorism against the united states. there's also law enforcement. and commendably, it seems to me the obama administration has continued the bush administration strategy of moving law enforcement agency in general and the fbi in particular away from the primary focus on making cases that can stand up in court at the expense of foiling plots and fulling the emphasis on foiling plots. i think the zazi indicates, the dallas case and springfield, illinois case were all examples of that. where the bush administration didn't focus is where, as i said, the obama administration has focused. that is -- this is what priscilla is talking about i

journal," michael saw your discusses the alleged terrorist attack on flight 253 and what the obama administration should do to protect the u.s. from homegrown and foreign terrorists. . . >> joining us on this sunday "newsmakers" program is tim starks, intelligence reporter with cts.com and pamela hess and we want to talk about the fox news and the closure of the u.s. embassy in yemen and why for this shut down? >> there is an incredible threat and the u.s. embagsy was attacked twice, with one american died and 17 yemenians died, outside of the perimeter. and with the attacks in december the u.s. apparently participated in and the stepped-up counter terror aid that is provided to yemen and the special forces, it's creating a situation that is not the safest for a diplomat. >> on fox and cnn and abc, what news came out of this? >> i thought there was a few different items and not an official saying on the record that they were still interested in sending guantanamo detainees on yemen. and there were officials under fire, the u.s. secretary and i thought he had a little trouble explaining why the we

the obama administration has not pursued engagement aimed a the kind of realignment of relationships tween the united states and islamic republic as what president nixon did. obama has made some nice statements and he's offered some interesting or favorable rhetoric, rhetorical formulations in addressing iranian leaders but put no proposals on the table that would address key iranian strategic needs and he's not laid forward a road map for realigning relationships for the two countries. until we do that we in the united states have not been serious about engaging iran. it's unfortunate the half hearted a tempts the obama administration made in this last year are taken as litmus test that engagement with iran won't work. i think strategic engagement with iran is absolutely needed and for us to adopt regime change for the islamic republic. what i think was a very bad decision. caller: good morning. what a refreshing change it is to see this gentleman on instead of the neo-liberal talking heads we always get with their blathering for war. iran poses no threat to this country. i do not se

>> bret: even though the obama administration hinted it may be open to a plea deal for abdulmutallab, the chief federal prosecutor says her team is getting ready. >> there is a lot of work to be done to make sure that the case is prepared properly. we are preparing as if it's going to trial. >> bret: the idea of a trial doesn't sit well with group of 22 u.s. senators all republicans who signed a letter on the way to president obama asking him to reconsider giving abdulmutallab his day or days in court. bret? >> bret: steve brown, live in detroit. steve, thank you. the obama administration is coming under new criticism for failing to see the danger posed by the terror group said to be behind that plot. senior white house correspondent major garrett reports the critics said the government should have been aware of the potential for trouble. >> president obama began a week-long refocus on the ailing u.s. economy even as his top advisors say they were shocked to learn of al-qaeda's lethal operational strength in yemen and its ability to recruit a lone attacker. >> al-qaeda in arabian peni

words about how she was barack obama is brains, is essentially the karl rove figure in the obama administration hot it talked about the role that she played to be sure that obama remains authentic with his racial authenticity because she shares a similar background of being will to ratio and she is there with a check and balance apparently. but it did not talk about the chicago connections and the way she has made money and the failures of her and richard daley initially. then the whole history came up again during the olympics debacle because it was the likes of valerie jarrett and the chicago cronies and richard daley who pushed very hard for both barack and michelle obama to go to bat for the olympics bid. bad entire chicago contingent traveled abroad to make that pitch. and it was a huge failure. i think a turning point* of people realizing the extent of the chicago ways on the potomac. >> host: this is a c-span booktv our monthly program featuring what author and his or her body of work. this month's guest is michelle malkin. booktv c-span.org is or e-mail address to ruder.com/ booktv the

." ♪ the obama administration tries to plug the holes in the security system that allowed a would-beomber on board a u.s. airliner. with americans asking: are we safe? what can be done to prevent future attacks? we'll get the latest from john brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. and kit bond, top republican on the senate intelligence committee. plus, our sunday panel looks ahead with a new year in politics, the economy, sports and entertainment. all right now on "fox news sunday." hello again and happy new year from fox news in washington. citing ongoing threats, the u.s. government today has closed its embassy in yemen. meanwhile, the president and top advisors are reviewing what mr. obama calls "the systemic failures" that allowed a would-be bomber on board that plane christmas day. we're joined now by the white house official leading that review. john brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. and mr. brennan, welcome to "fox news sunday." >> thank you very much, chris. >> chris: we said, the u.s. toda

the obama administration is confronted with them.k some of the attacks have been very swift, far out of line. so no, i don't think so. senator demint has his own vulnerability. he voted against dhs vulnerabilities. i think he has questions to answer, too. >> rich, let me ask you, obviously this intelligence apparatus was put in place by a republican administration. can president obama really be blamed for the failures after less than a year in office? >> i don't know that anybody is blaming obama -- president obama for the failure. as he properly said, it was a systematic failure. for those of us, but michael can't agree with this, in the green room he might, for those of us who watch this closely, it wasn't what happened. that stuff happens, just too much going on to stop everything. but i think what got everybody's attention was the reaction of the administration after the event from secretary napolitano to the fact that the president didn't come out for three days. that's got everybody's antenna up saying why can't they get this o

involved -- i don't know if there's another administration that has taken this kind of interest in america's infrastructure and america's transportation than president obama has. we have never had $8 billion for passenger rail. i don't know of another administration that listened as carefully as we did to all of you a year ago about the idea that you need the new starts money and it shouldn't take 100 years to get it. and that's a little exaggeration but you know what we're getting at. we listened to you on that. and now we're developing a new program where you can submit an application and a lot of the different other criteria will be used that will be helpful to all of you. and i think my point about the president being for a strong robust, comprehensive authorization bill is true. and the proof of that is the $48 billion that we're spending out now as a result of the economic recovery and the fact that the president is pushing congress on another jobs bill of which we will receive an enormous amount of money. these dollars put people to work and help the infrastructure of america. because we have people like president obama, vice president biden and ot

and the obama administration now obviously. criticized the bush administration for reopening up a visa plan to give visas to student pilots after september 11. this sounds like an onion parody. were getting more student hyla visas, hello? wakeup. in terms of discriminating against immigrants, i understand what she's saying, and i'm very concerned. it was one of the motivating factors of writing "invasion" that we are punishing people who want to come here to do good. and what we need to do is reward people who follow the laws and who are getting in line and doing it the right way. and punish people are doing it the wrong way. and that means cracking down on these over stayers. this is sort of a hidden component of our immigration lapses, that we have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people that we cannot find. and so instead of overloading the system with a massive amount of illegal immigrants who would be amnestied blanket through these proposals that the democrats have now, we have to be showing up and clearing the backlo

the obama administration has not pursued engagement aimed a the kind of realignment of relationships between the united states and islamic republic as what president nixon did. obama has made some nice statements and he's offered some interesting or favorable rhetoric, rhetorical formulations in addressing iranian leaders but put no proposals on the table that would address key iranian strategic needs and he's not laid forward a road map for realigning relationships for the two countries. until we do that we in the united states have not been serious about engaging iran. it's unfortunate the half hearted a tempts the obama administration made in this last year are taken as litmus test that engagement with iran won't work. i think strategic engagement with iran is absolutely needed and for us to adopt regime change for the islamic republic. what i think was a very bad decision. host: good morning republican line. caller: like to say what a refreshing change it is to see this gentlemen on instead of the normal talking head liberals on this point. the proisrael crowd with the blaterring

we would have hoped could have been knitted together. >> do you have any confidence in the obama administration that they are, in fact, going to deal with this? >> oh, yes, i do. >> this is something the bush administration dealt with. clearly it does not look like they are getting a passing grade. >> quite clearly i do have hope that the obama administration takes this seriously. we saw the president's reaction immediately, taking responsibility, looking for accountability, all of which is a seat change from what we saw in the last administration, quite frankly. the ability to effect these changes is certainly no easy task as we have seen. but i think the determination is there. they have very good people there. and i think where the will is not lacking, but is obvious, that we will see some results. >> do you think anyone should lose their job over this? >> let's see what the facts are and then make that determination. >> finally, the 9/11 commission had said among the recommendations that the united states should attack terrorists and their organizations, root out sanctuaries utilizing every

meantime democrats in the obama administration are on the defensive following al qaeda's attempted attack on christmas day. now president obama is calling for an end to partisan finger pointing, but is it realistic to expect the blame game to stop now. eleanor cliff a contributing editor for "newsweek" magazine. start with the news as far as the u.s. and british embassies being closed in yemen. what does that do to the partisan warfare in washington. >> i suppose that it gives the critics more ammunition that al qaeda has america on the run when you can't even keep your embassy open. that's probably a wise choice to make. i imagine they are facing a significant threat. i would hope that it doesn't mean that the embassies are closed for the foreseeable future, that this is a moment while passions are running high. but, you know, democrats are always on the defensive when it comes to national security and the american people, at least immediately, seem to want a more muscular reaction when we feel our country is under attack. and yet, if you look back over the last eight years, the war in i

the obama administration has said that they consider him a very high priority target.it has been years since the u.s. has had any real intelligence on him. host: next call, good morning. caller: i notice that you are more unique and the average correspondent -- than the average corresponded. i think that when the media jumps the gun on obama, i think eventually it your type of operation comes in with the actual truth. therefore, the negative groups from the usa that are against obama, the religious right and those of that caliber, and even some of the middle- class are taken in by things. how do we know bthat the suicide bomber richard reid and his nigerian were actually travel agents -- were actually triple agents? guest: well, i guess the question would be triple agents for whom? the question about the media and obama -- obviously, there were setbacks in the obama administration, including the failure is leading up to the christmas day bombing attempt, that the media has covered, and covered like they did when they happened during the bush administration. it is somet

the obama administration has a more serious problem. this was a massive skew-up as the president said. a there is no accountability here. secondly this has emphasized the fact that the democratic party is historically weak on national security and the war on terror now has a president who is perceived as weak on national security. i think the president's been hurt. they've been deceived behind the curve. john, all of these guys going on vacation over christmas the day this bombing occurred, i think it's a real blow to the administration. >> eleanor? >> people generally do go on vacation over christmas, and you're right, that it took them 72 hours, basically, to get their act together and for the president to show the sternness and the determination that he evidently does feel when this country is attacked. secondly, this was a system that was put in place during the bush administration, and we are very lucky that this was a wake-up call and we now see where the flaws are. presidents deserve commendation for owning up to the lapses and f

i think that's what the obama administration has begun to do. after we made the announcement about the afghan escalation nato put in 7,000 troops. that shows some work had been done at that point. i also keep thinking that somehow what we really missed in the beginning of this decade on the war on terror, what would have happened right after september 11th if president bush had called for independents, a manhattan project for middle eastern oil. what if he called for more people to join the army, we wouldn't have had the same soldiers going back three and four times. what if we had a tax increase as we have done in every other war, we wouldn't be facing the deficits now. so i think even though it's a different war, the need to mobilize the spirit and the energy of the american people so it's not just our soldiers fighting those wars alone over there is still relevant in history's ferms. >> what is the leadership's test now in president obama. you talked about the test that faced president bush. this is a young presidency with a new chapter in th

yet. >> obama administration >> ifill: obama administration officials plan to meet with midwest governors next month about the carp issue. >> woodruff: finally tonight , a coming together of journalism and music around the world. one example comes from russia where the most popular political song since the fall of the soviet union is called "a man like putin." the song is about the country's prime minister and former president. the story of the producers and the performers who made it happen is told in a new pbs program. here's an excerpt. the reporter is alexis bloom. >> in putin's russia moscow is a city of bright lights and glamor. however heavy-handed putin may be, he has presided over an era of relative stability and prosperity. and he remains very popular . >> in moscow's glittering night, it's all about enjoying the moment. the karaoke clubs are packed. and they're still playing that same old tune .-x- 7 ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ . >> reporter: this night was a reunion. yana and irenea promised to take the stage for us and sing the song that made them famous. >> practically the song of a generation.

i think that the obama administration's response or lack of response to the fort hood shooting and allhe discoveries we've made about muslim jihadist infiltration into the united states is going to prove to be the biggest story of 2009 and frankly, obama's term in office. >> jon: judy. >> i think that the phenomenon of home grown radicalization will be certainly the national security story of 2009. i have to agree with you, jim. >> jon: all right. you're jumping a little bit ahead of us because we're going to get into that. ellis, your take on president obama and his year just completed. >> well, it reminds you that a really huge story one year can produce an almost as huge story the second year. you know, we're finding this out. it's too soon to have real perspective on it, but you do have to say from the noble to the war issues to the health care issue all of that goes back to january 2 and back to november as well. >> jon: cal? >> well, look, the expectations levels were so high coming in, i think he's coming down to earth. people are realizing even in the media he's a human being w

the obama administration wants to push them into a civilian court. >> we have an array of tools thate will use, and we want to make sure we want to -- we maintain flexibility. let's get the facts on the table. he was arrested on u.s. soil, on a playing in detroit airport. he was talking to people who were detaining him. there were people who were arrested during the previous administration, richard reid, the issue bomber, -- the shoe bomber, all of which were tried in criminal court and sentenced. just because a person is born to be put into the criminal legal process, it does not mean that we have -- we do not have other opportunities to get information from them. >> after he loitered up, did he stopped talking? >>-- after he lawyered up, did he stop talking? >> we got information. as you talk with the lawyers and individuals, as they recognize what they are facing as the charges, conviction and possible sentence, there are opportunities to talk about it. the fbi has some of the best interrogators in the world. i am confident it -- confident we can work the system to cut his miranda

>> you referred to the bush and the obama administration. do you think that the obama administration and the democrats have spent too much of their political capital passing the health care and stimulus package to get another ground-breaking reform true when it comes to -- through with it comes to climate change? >> that's certainly the big argument out there, is whether the till is empty now and it's just not going to happen. i mean, i don't know the answer to that, you know. with effective leadership, you know, if the economy ticks back up, you can make all kinds arguments on both sides of that issue and i think a lot of it is going to depend on leadership from the white house and i think if the president is determined and also willing to make changes needed to get something through the senate, which is going to take some serious changes, you know, and i think the group that's gotten together, senator lieberman, senator lindsay graham, and senator john kerry have really fundamentally shifted the debate in the senate and given it more hope

and it wouldn't have happened absent policies of the obama administration and federal reserve board. let me turn to the housing market. as you know an important cause of the crisis we are in was a bubble in the housing markets. the administration has taken several actions to address housing market problems. one approach is to lower mortgage rates and increase access to credit. this involves continued control of the gse of fannie mae and freddie mac providing access to the sustainable mortgages through the fha federal housing administration. treasury as well as federal reserve board purchases of mortgage backed securities and a program, part of the making home affordable program which increased flexibility for home refinancing. and all of this has led to lower interest rates as well as three high volume of refinancing activity. second, the administration has sought to make it affordable for people to stay in their homes. the research suggests that for someone to walk away from home you need to things, one for the house to be underwater and secondly the payme

the reality is the obama administration certainly dropped the ball here. there's no doubt about that. president obama was courageous enough today to step up and say, look, there were enormous intelligence gaps. we had enough information to stop this from happening and we failed. should someone lose their job? perhaps. president obama is doing something wise by being deliberative and not reactionary. my concern with president obama with regard to yemen and iran, iraq and afghanistan, if we continue to engage in militaristic policies that galvanize terrorists and engage in language that's anti-muslim rather than anti-terrorist, we're going to continue to radic radicalize and recruit more terrorists. >> larry: in a serngs bay, he's saying we create the terrorists. >> he makes an excellent point. go over there to iraq, have a war, aggravate people and it ends up creating more terrorists than we kill. at the same time, when there's an act of war against this country and our commander in chief does not respond to something more than soft words, we are in trouble.

cheney said president obama reversal of the bush administration policies on guantanamo bay and terroruspect interrogations made the u.s. more vulnerable to attack. it was the first of several public statements and comments cheney made last year, critical of the new administration. charles, was dick cheney really the point man for criticism when it came to the republican side? >> he was. and i think it was remarkable how successful he was. given the history and how the media and others have treated him. he actually -- there was a dueling speeches. the cheney speech and then obama spoke within a few hours of each other and cheney was the winner on that. i think the effect he had was that "a," he legitimized criticism of what obama was doing, which i think was rather lax. but secondly, i think it actually inhibited obama. he's kept some of the policies that the bush administration had in place, detention without trial rendition, he's tried to do the guantanamo, which he committed himself to the most egregious thing he did of course was the putting of sheikh mohammed, giving him a trial i

open-" the obama administration has promised -- "the obama administration has promised to rollout new ideas for fannie and freddie this year. a liberal think tank with ties to the administration has proposed new entities called charter mortgage-backed securities, a privately owned firms that would package mortgages into securities and sell them with an explicit federal guaranteed. securitization fees would go into an insurance fund to protect taxpayers against defaults." this is a editorial this morning from "the washington post." open-" this proposal grapples with the fundamental problem -- "this proposal grapples with the fundamental problem of the old fannie and freddie -- an immediate an implicit government guarantee permitted, then cheap access to bar of funds, which they gambled in pursuit of maximum returns to shareholders. it also wisely emphasizes that the new organization's was held rebalance federal support between rental housing and single-family homes. this seems not only risky, but redundant given the federal housing administration's support for home buyers of modest mea

mike, any word this morning from the obama administration or is this all simply the state department in terms of the closure of the u.s. embassy in yemen? >> actually, the white house homeland security adviser here at the white house john brennan is making the rounds, appearing on "meet the press" first and foremost, saying there is a threat from al qaeda that has resulted in the temporary closure of the american embassy in yemen. the capital there sana, we learned that british embassy is being closed. a nonspecific threat, but out of an abundance of caution, embassy employees are being told to stay in their home. all told, there are about 500 employees of the u.s. embassy there. this comes after a number of developments over the weekend. of course, david, you mentioned, that the president specifically confirmed what many had suspected yesterday in his radio and internet address, he said that it was an al qaeda connection. aqap, they call it. al qaeda on the arabian peninsula where the suspect in the detroit bombing had spent time. he received training and had contact with al qaeda m

because it's apparent now that the obama administration wants to preserve bagram as an option and its redemption strategies in the same way the bush administration attempted to do them. >> time for your questions. are there any? >> i'm a photographer. i photographed there extensively over the last three years. it's interesting hearing your stories 'cause in the media we're probably the only other group of people who go down there other than people in the government and the military. and i'm wondering if the detainees ever ask like where are these people coming in and taking photographs of us because some of us want to talk to us and we're not allowed to talk to them and we're not allowed to say who we are and some are like, hey, don't take our photographs, or, hey, please take our photographs. one guy was joking, you know, put me in fhm magazine and kidding around. we just couldn't respond so i'm wondering if any of your clients ever asked about the media and -- is the media covering our story? and if any of that ever happened? >> i mean, i think despite the best efforts of the prison

as the obama administration articulated a grand strategy that is responsive to the challenges? my answer is i think so. the key task, which i believe obama seems to be articulating, is for the u.s. to put itself in the midst of building frameworks of sustained partnership and collective action on that. the challenges that might come to us in the years ahead, i get the sense that this is obama'visions -- owes -- this is a bomb's -- this is obama's vision. it seems to me that he is a moderate internationally. he is liberal in his orientation towards engagement. he is a realist in his power of restraint and accommodation and looking for ways for russia and china to work pragmatically, despite differences. in this sense, it puts obama in the mainstream of postwar presidents. emphasizing alliances and partnerships with great power and a democratic community. i argue that there are two ways that he has made strategic moves. first, he has articulated a clear and coherent vision of the u.s. security environment. as i read his speeches and actions, i see an emphasis on what he argues is

the obama administration considers taxing big banks to recoup some of the federal rescue money. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, judy woodruff gets two views on what should be done to hold financial institutions accountable. >> lehrer: then, the state of state budgets. we hear from six pbs correspondents around the country. >> brown: three auto-related stories: a report from detroit, where manufacturers hope their new models will lure back customers after a very rough year. >> this is a second chance, and i'm personally grateful for this. i know all the employees at gm are grateful for the opportunity. we will not disappoint. >> lehrer: gwen ifill looks at automakers expanding into new markets, including china, now the world's largest. >> brown: and a conversation with a one-time auto worker, who became a pulitzer prize-winning poet. >> lehrer: plus, a look at sports and drugs, after home run king mark mcgwire admitted using steroids. that's all ahead on tonight's pbs newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> and by the bill and melinda gate

anything short of that, i guess the obama administration will declare a success.crats in the souse house and to a certain extent in the senate are maxed out. they control many seats that probably nay neutral political year which 2006 and 2008 were not. places in southern alabama, northern mississippi, idaho. these are not suddenly democratic areas. the pendulum is clearly going to swing back towards republicans in 2010. the question is how far? >> ifill: thank you both very much. >> lehrer: now, for the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. hari. >> sreenivasan: a federal grand jury in detroit indicted a nigerian man today in the failed airliner bombing plot. umar farouk abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up northwest airlines flight 253 over detroit on christmas day. the charges include attempted murder, and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. a white house spokesman said today an initial review of what went wrong will be made public tomorrow. two more u.s. drone strikes in pakistan have killed at least 13 people. pak