tonight we look at the president at a crossroads, with peter baker of "the new york times," carrie budoff brown of "politico," michael crowley of "time" magazine, and christi parsons of "tribune" newspapers. >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens, live from our nation's capitol, this is "washington week" have gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we went out and asked people a simple question -- how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90's, and that's a great thing. even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed, the official retirement age. the question is, how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years? >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing, brigham and women's hospital. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to pbs stations from viewers

the print winner is peter baker of the new york times. news. [applause] the next award recognizes coverage of news or national and regional significance. the judges chose to winners this year. oney at reuters. [applause] and the center for public and brian ross of abc news. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, we have one more award. we normally just award those three, but as part of the centennial of our association, i am happy to announce that we have created the president's award. it is an honor for exceptional service to the members and groups of the white house correspondents association and i am delighted to announce that this first recipient will be george condon junior. [applause] >> thank you. i want to talk for a minute about the video we are going to show. over the years, we have had a lot of very funny videos. they have all been a lot of fun. our centennial, i made a different choice. i wanted to have a video about us, the white house correspondents. unfortunately, i had a grand vision to do a lot and i found i was going to be --

i did was read the front page new york times article i think it was a week ago last sunday that peter baker had reported that obama had given up on are putin, turn russia into a pariah state, but john you remember containment was the foreign policy of the united states during the 45-year cold war. i'm saying that's a declaration of cold war. i'm saying no one is pushing back in the united states but in a few rare exceptions, on your broadcast since you've had me on a few times, we are not having a debate on this. how can we go in such a historic transformation without debating it and there is not much of a debate in this country. >> you think the sanctions are included in this cold war? >> well, from the american point of view they are. the question you should ask me is, do i think they will change putin's policy? and the answer is no. >> you can ask and answer the questions on this program, too. >> i'm not well-based john. but i feel strongly about this and the argument now is that what putin said today about moving the troops and about being against this local referendum which the west do

but peter baker got an award. >> peter did. we love peter. we congratulate him. we don't go.i think it's morphed into this extravaganza of two dozen preparties and afterparties. what we celebrating? >> kathleen parker wrote it's the cocktail of self-love and self-loathing. >> exactly. >> i have been going now for 30 years. and, i sense another turn in the dinner. it kind of had this, a big rise where all of washington and hollywood are coming together. the last couple of years, it does seem there's a little more pushback to going to -- to recalibrate toward the old days. >> i would hope so. my book is about disconnect. disconnect between how the country views washington and how washington views itself. and this is a classic case of the bubble world and the unself-awareness of spending millions of dollars over a number of days to celebrate ourselves. and again, you ask, why? >> sara, you brought up the roast humor sometimes gets -- >> i'm not a big roast person. i'm a good natured sense of humor. i found myself squirming most of the time. i did get a few laughs. i love joel mc

. >> let's bring in brianna keilar and peter baker, also the author of his own book which comes out in're going to the bookstore to buy hillary's book, stop by peter's i'll. it's a natural combination. breen ybrianna, what is your read? is there anything interesting in this latest excerpt? >> i would say it's cautious. there's no bombshells here. it's cautious and this is the author's note about why she is writing this book. if the book is anything like the author's note, i don't think we're expecting a lot of stones to be thrown. one of the only ones that she really does is talking about how washington -- the followers of washington's long-running soap opera and she said i didn't write this book for them. it's sort of distancing herself from washington and that's not -- >> peter, she says she caused the raid on bin laden's compound as crisp and display of leadership as i've ever seen. risky. but isn't it true, if she does run, she's going to have to distant herself from some of obama's policies and decisions? >> look, in some ways she's running as a vice president, much like george w.

. >> peter baker discusses president obama's foreign and defense policy goals. the second rector of the treatment advocacy center talks about the recent calls for the overhaul of the nation's medical system in the wake of last week in california shooting spree. climate change initiative which and he would miss ration is set to talk about on monday. you could join the conversation on facebook or twitter. washington journal, live at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. about an hour and a half ago, president obama made a public statement in the rose garden about the release of u.s. soldier in afghanistan. the sergeant had been at had -- held captive by the taliban since 2009 become the only known soldier to be missing during the afghan war. the president was accompanied by the parents who both spoke. >> good afternoon, everybody. and morning, i called bob jenny and told him that after nearly five years in act -- an activity, their son is coming home. the sergeant has missed birthdays and holidays and the simple moments with families and friends which all of us take for grant

the only reason we know about his health concerns is because peter baker wrote a book about it. >> right. that's all you need to know. if you are going to question hillary clinton's health, look at vice president chainey's health. >> jonathan cap capehart and glen, thanks, gentlemen. >>> after the break, as more countries join the effort to rescue the nearly 300 girls kidnapped by boko haram, does it spell the end? that's next on "now." when folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. dog: what's this? mattress discounters' what's this? mattress discounters' memorial day sale ending? but mattress discounters has the largest selection of memor

peter baker says the sanctions have limited impact. he makes a point that many issues involving russia's economy predates sanctions and even pretty the annexation of crimea. guest: the piece makes two points. one is that the russian economy was slowing to begin with. it was in pretty bad shape. a lot of the impact of the huge amount of capital flight, the drop in the stock market and the value of the ruble, while it might predates sanctions, it began at the time of the crimea crisis because people were expecting sanctions. the market had already factored in the crisis. if you stay at the current level of sanctions, i would suppose people would say it was bad but not as bad as we thought and we might want to go back in. that is the argument for why you cannot stay where you are you will have to ratchet it up to drive more people out or prevent people from going back in. host: why sanctions, why are they used? guest: this is the ultimate example, what else are you going to do against the russians? they have nuclear weapons, you're not go

peter baker says the sanctions have limited impact. he makes a point that many issues involving russia's economy predates sanctions and even pretty the annexation of crimea. guest: the piece makes two points. one is that the russian economy was slowing to begin with. it was in pretty bad shape. a lot of the impact of the huge amount of capital flight, the drop in the stock market and the value of the ruble while it might predates sanctions, it began at the time of the crimea crisis because people were expecting sanctions. the market had already factored in the crisis. if you stay at the current level of sanctions, i would suppose people would say it was bad but not as bad as we thought and we might want to go back in. that is the argument for why you cannot stay where you are you will have to ratchet it up to drive more people out or prevent people from going back in./ host: why sanctions, why are they used? guest: this is the ultimate example, what else are you going to do against the russians? they have nuclear weapons, you're not go

the print winner is peter baker of "the new york times". >> our very own brianna keilar got her awardere clapping. >> that wasn't the video that we were talking about, by the way, the big video. that video is coming up. so we're back now, and back now with all my guests. ben stein is in los angeles. joining me here on set is michelle collins, michael torpey, and brett larson. you were saying there, mr. stein, before we were so rudely interrupted by the folks at the white house correspondents' dinner, why aren't you there? >> well, they didn't invite me. i'm not cool enough. i've been in the past, but i'm not cool enough anymore. i'm just uncool. i'm a nerdy, uncool person. part of the uncool crowd. >> i don't like to hear you talk about yourself that way, ben. i really don't. >> well, thank you. i wish i were cool. i would give almost anything to be cool. >> i was in l.a. -- >> i think i -- >> i think i need a cooler car. >> like a chevy impala. how cool -- >> or like an electric tesla car. what are we talking here, ben? >> i don't know, i think the bentley convertible. usually the pe