in her portrait by the way hangs in the east room on wall opposite of the podium that the president uses at his press conferences as he answers reporters' questions he can stare over their ugly faces and be inspired by her beauty on the opposite wall. if you ever see him you will know why. another great thing the monroes durham the second trip to paris to save the life of a family from destitution. the french revolution had left him bankrupt. james monroe convinced the british bank to accept some land in the american wilderness as collateral and advanced lafayette enough cash to recover financially. james monroe became america's fifth president, two years after the end of the war of 1812. in which the british invasion left the public buildings of our capital gutted by fire. americans call the war of 1812 madison's war because james madison and his incompetent cabinet urged him to declare war on britain and invade canada instead of waiting for a peace treaty to arrive from england. in doing so madison and his war secretary left the city of washington on defended. when he realized his mist

>> if you know that i don't believe in podiums, and that i don't believe in speeches, because the american people want to see your eyes. we don't trust anything anymore. by a show of hands how many of you trust washington, basically to do the right thing? if you trust washington, raise your hands if you trust washington. we have got one individual in the entire room they trust washington. hello mrs. bush, how are you? .. >> they don't depend on it. things are tough right now. the economy. the international situation. jobs, taxes, energy, the environment, health care. and we don't seem to be able to talk to each other anymore. the fact that you are willing to make this interactive, but the fact that you are listening to me for three minutes. you know what the town halls have been like. why can't b we if civil. why can't we listen to people we don't agree with. many of you know me. how many of watch fox news? raise your hands? i love you. [laughter] >> how many of you watch cnn. i knew there's be a new people left. how many watch msnbc, the only network that has more letters in the name than

but if i stepped off of this podium and grabbed one of you and try to throw you against the wall, there would be a lot of molecules rearrange him. would respond strategically. that's what game theory is about. game theory is about working about the strategic responses of people, anticipating what they will do, and choosing your best moves given what you think others will do. my game theory makes a few very simple assumptions about people. and sometimes people have problems with these assumptions, so i want to be clear about what they do and don't mean. game theory assumes people are rational. i rational, all that is meant is that people try to do what they believe is in their best interest. now, let's be careful here rationality does not mean having perfect foresight, doesn't even necessarily mean having good foresight. rationality does not mean looking at all of the various options that a person has and choosing the best one. indeed, if you choose to look at everything you could do, you're probably behaving irrationally because the cost of continuing to surge eventually is going to exc

. >> i don't believe in podiums and i don't believe in speeches because the american people want to see your eyes. we don't trust anything anymore. by show of hands how many of you trust washington basically to do the right thing? if you trust washington, raise your hands if you trust washington. one individual in the entire room who would trust washington. hello, mr. bush. how are you? it doesn't stop there. how many of you trust washing? raise your hands. you are not even related to enron. we have lost faith and confidence in the institution. in the people who govern us. it is a tragedy. we used to be the most optimistic country on the face of the globe. we thought things -- the son will come out tomorrow. now when a politician says that we don't believe them. we don't put trust republicans or democrats or anyone because they make promises to us that they cannot keep. you are one of the youngest people in here. social security -- i don't want to upset him or anything. remember the words social security and don't depend on it. things are tough right now. the economy. the international

i put myself in front of this podium for the simple fact that i would love for more celebrities to do the exact same thing that i am doing. not just for celebrities, but for everyone. that is why i put myself in this position. even after all the criticism i have gotten over the past 10 years. at the like i am taking on the responsibility. even though these things have happened, i am not afraid to be in front of you and tackle any of the hard issues with the things that i have done. i feel like there are other celebrities that have not been through half as much stuff as i have been through and they can put themselves in the same position. >> we will get back to the controversy. >> i am sure we will, npc. >> do you plan to expand your efforts outside of atlanta, or is the foundation only geared toward youth and individuals in the city of that data? >> which of already expended our reach outside of d.c. from feeding the homeless in miami, from going to hospitals and rehabilitation centers in new york city, from working with maxine waters and going to underprivileged facilities, dealing w

with a group of visitors to say the president walked down this aisle, he goes around to the first podiumpy of his address, gives that to the speaker and to the vice- president. this place is recognized all over the world. [gavel] >> this is a working building and this chamber is a working chamber, but there is so much that you cannot see on television. when you visit the chamber, it opens your eyes. it is very much like the experience written on a page, and then seeing it come to life like a play or at a museum. it is a wonderful example of how the day to day activities that are so important to the governing of the nation and the furthering of our goals as a nation are held up by the decorations, some of the decorations that we cannot even begin to describe how important they are. they are symbols and images that support what we do. ♪ >> i want to measure and take a look at this and see what is going on. but it the measurements. >> when i walk into the house chamber to check on art, the first thing i noticed are the symbols that are in there. the symbols that are there are very important

with a group of visitors to say the president walked down this aisle, he goes around to the first podiuma copy of his address, gives that to the speaker and to the vice- president. this place is recognized all over the world. [gavel] >> this is a working building and this chamber is a working chamber, but there is so much that you cannot see on television. when you visit the chamber, it opens your eyes. it is very much like the experience written on a page, and then seeing it come to life like a play or at a museum. it is a wonderful example of how the day to day activities that are so important to the governing of the nation and the furthering of our goals as a nation are held up by the decorations, some of the decorations that we cannot even begin to describe how important they are. they are symbols and images that support what we do. ♪ >> i want to measure and take a look at this and see what is going on. but it the measurements. >> when i walk into the house chamber to check on art, the first thing i noticed are the symbols that are in there. the symbols that are there are very impor

skipping over the podium. angela, reporter for bloomberg news. know, vice chair of the n.p.c. speaker's committee and the person who organized today's event. bernard, prince albert of monaco foundation. mickey, columnist for the yains column of "washington examiner." kelly wright for the fox news channel. press secretary for the national resources defense council. and finally, todd perdhom national editor of "vanity fair" magazine. [applause] >> our guest today is the ruler of the world's second smallest country yet this royal is the most recognized head of state. prince albert ii heads the house of grimaldi only son of prince rainier iii and princess grace. you may recognize his voice, which has blanketted us air waves on the classic movie channel. his highness the prince moon lights in a a book about his mother, grace kelly. but, it his work as the champion of the environment that brings him to the national press club today. prince albert arrives from a summit where he delivered the key note speech for the 50th anniversary of the ant artic trea

skipping over the podium. melissa of news hook media and vice their of the speechers committee. skipping over our guest for just a moment. andrea stone, senior washington correspondent for a a ol sphere.com and the speakers committee member who organizized today's event. thank you very much. jeremy bernhard, white house liaison, and director of congressional affairs. and finally bob keefe, washington correspondent, and journalist for the constitution. [applause] our guest today says he's convinced that the arts and humanities are important in troubled times. as head of the grant making agency supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities, the national endowment for the humanities chairman jim leach has made it his top goal to bridge cultural divides. telling his staff in a town hall meeting that our era is one where, quote, declining statement, increasingly hallmarks domestic politics and where anarchy has taken root in many parts of the world. and he should know a thing or two about declining stability and politics. he spent 30 years on cap

reports coming out of the european commission and now out of -- the tally about the height of this podium, and they come to one single compelling conclusion, and that is that the feed-in tariff instrument has created more renewable energy at lower costs than any other single policy initiative tried anywhere else in the world. and we ought to go through the federal power act and take away those burdens and barriers that some utilities say prevent those states that desire to go forward from doing so. our balkanized way of planning and permitting, licensing of our transmission system is not suitable for the 21st century, and yet proposals to give the federal government a greater level of authority are met with the predictable knee-jerk resistance from local authorities. and we have a proud tradition of local control land-use decisions in our country. but i would ask each of my former colleagues in the state regulatory community which one of you has been unfairly diminished by the decision made by congress several decades ago to create a national licensing system for our natural gas pipelines

think of it, you will see that if one of those lanes of the bench as far as we could lean and the podiumeaned toward us, we could almost shaking hands. that is a very important thing. that means when the argument take place, you are physically and psychologically close and up to each other so that there is a possibility for real engagement proposal. it is a grand room in which a very intimate process takes place. it is the kernel of a very grand building which has very intimate results for every american. >> the aura of the place is always present. this is a chamber in which to be case was decided. presidential power was decided in that room by human beings sitting on that bench after and having listened to arguments by others. >> most cases have an hour per case. when utility people, the thing, is that all? >> you really does stand up and slide over a few inches. >> they held that sons cannot share in the award given by the jury -- >> we have to give a few seconds. you will start getting questions within the first minute or two. but each of the justices had their own unique style about

one after another, republican congressman would stand at the podium and object and not let anyone speak. they did that for a good 45 minutes. >> you are talking about mobilizing the bases and how the french gets rewarded for saying extreme things -- and how the freninge gets rewarded for sayig extreme things. is there a future for the independent voter? >> in virginia, the independence drove that election. i think that candidates will have to continue to talk in language that independents want to hear. it is the job of the consultants to frame their message to independent voters and turnout the strong partisans on either side. >> [unintelligible] >> you do not need a microphone. just call it out and i will repeat it. >> [unintelligible] >> sure, it is significant. again, there are some big issues where people just disagree, where you will like the two parties together on some fundamentally different things. unless leaders from each party sit down and try on the big issues to do something in the nature of a consensus, it will never have been. >> there is a headway in the back. yes, sir.

but please welcome to the podium, mary and james. [applause] >> well, our role here is only to welcome our friends and we're here as neworleanans. we're not on any panels and our friends from national politics saw the title "taking the poison out of bipartisan." we did not jump to their minds. let's just say i always operate under the statement that one man's poison is another man's kool-aid. i want to say how incredible this panel and all the consultants are. james and i both worked with all of them for the last however many years and for the past 30 or 40, four decades, charlie. this is the leader, these are the leaders in national politics and state politics and local politics. there's no race. there's nothing that you haven't seen. and you're in all of our adult lifetimes that these people haven't been here. and for them to come and participate at this time is is is -- we are very grateful for it. and we want you to have a great time in this wonderful place. and to our friends from washington, you're always going to meet while yo

on please welcome to the podium at mary and james. [applause] >> well, our role here is to welcome our friends. we are not on any panels. when our friends saw the title, we did not jump to their minds. i want to say to our friends how incredible this panel and all of the consultants are. james and i worked with all of them for the last however many years and for the past 30 or 40 for decades. these are the leaders in national politics and state politics and local politics. there is nothing that you had seen in all of our adult lifetimes that people have not been involved with the intent bu. it is a great emerging. you will learn something from the washington site on how to get things done on the ground without killing each other pentode this is a bipartisan issue, coastal restoration. it is bipartisan. you will hear about this. thank you so much for coming and for providing this forum. one man's poison is another man's kool-aid, honey. quest >> justice stewart said he could not define pornography but he knows it when he sees it. i can

think of it, you will see that if one of those lanes of the bench as far as we could lean and the podiumeaned toward us, we could almost shaking hands. that is a very important thing. that means when the argument take place, you are physically and psychologically close and up to each other so that there is a possibility for real engagement proposal. it is a grand room in which a very intimate process takes place. it is the kernel of a very grand building which has very intimate results for every american. >> the aura of the place is always present. this is a chamber in which to be case was decided. presidential power was decided in that room by human beings sitting on that bench after and having listened to arguments by others. >> most cases have an hour per case. when utility people, the thing, is that all? >> you really does stand up and slide over a few inches. >> they held that sons cannot share in the award given by the jury -- >> we have to give a few seconds. you will start getting questions within the first minute or two. but each of the justices had their own unique style about

on the podium here, ray has a question. >> yeah, i do.my question gets the at the length between the national campaigns and the local parties. with all this money coming down , all these people, this infusion of young people, what gets left behind in terms of an infrastructure for the future? i mean, does the party gain anything from the national campaign or the act that comes in there in terms of voter files, in terms of new technologies, in terms of new models of getting out the vote. >> i'm not sure, but one of the -- one of the consequences of act with their tremendous registration was the election of the first african-american mayor in subsequent cycle of elections. i think because we have registered so many african-american voters, that vote was available, he was creative. it wasn't a party activity, but he was able as a candidate to reach to that vote and win the election. i think it does leave a vacuum -- i think left all these registered voters left town, no organizational structure. i think that's partially true with the obama c

worked on both sides of the media, on the broadcast cited abc and cnn as well as standing behind the podium at the white house. he just got back from a chart with president clinton to europe. mark mckenna, and he has worked for george w. bush, john mccain and in richards. he is the -- the only person who has done that -- and work for anne richards. steve schmidt has worked from coast to coast and for john mccain. and david winston, a longtime republican consultant who has worked in house and senate races and advised the house and senate leadership. he has been involved in a rare fact -- he worked with house republicans in 2002 to get their approval ratings over 50%, which almost never happens in congress. they could use you now, both sides could use you now. i think it is the perfect time to be holding this discussion because we still have last year's presidential campaign fresh in our minds and we can see the next one right around the corner. let's talk about those. what is the most significant change that you have seen it in the last three presidential campaigns, beginning with 2000 throu

more or less, as soon as he left the podium, it was explained that he did not agree.arzkopf led him fly on the grounds of the bridges were down. our response should have been we let him fly helicopters under false pretenses. instead, we did nothing about it. it is a false issue in my view to say we did not want to go to baghdad. i agree with that, but there are many issues in front of us. we did not have to give the territory back we were sitting on. schwarzkopf told baker when he said let's try the demilitarized zone, he said there is no military value, which is nonsense. here was a triumph in general and i think he did not want -- a triumphant general, and i think the military said let's not get into mission creep. the mission was to get iraq out of kuwait. it was to end saddam as a threat to the gulf, our mission is done, let's go home. let's not make the mistake macarthur made. reasonable arguments, i think or wrong, but there were reasonable. -- i think they were wrong, but they were reasonable. what i do know, and it's important not just for the historical recor

>> last time i came to this podium i said frankly that my experience on these issues, and i as a very junior officer i lived through the lyndon johnson decision making process in 1965 and when i was in saigon, and in 1968 when i was an assistant to the deputy secretary of state. i've seen a lot of these things. this is the most thorough, the most sustained, the most thoughtful process i have ever seen. and over the long source of it, we have seen, we have all learned a great deal from each other and in a way which i think is exactly the way decisions should be made. i'm not going to get into public debate. i'm not going to go in that direction. i just feel that what you've seen is a very serious debate and that's really all i want to say about it. but i'm honored to have been a small part of it. >> since you talked about corruption and said you're very concerned about it and considering you had a minister accused of taking over $1 million in bribes, how does that affect relations with the government? and president karzai talked about a loya jurga type of effort. does this undermine th

please welcome to the podium marion james. -- married and james. -- mary and james. >> our role is only to welcome our friends. we're not on any panel. we have our friends, we're taking the poison out a partnership. we, the cave and john gazan -- kate and jon gosselin of politics, are going to take the poison out. but i do want to support our friends in new orleans. how incredible this panel and all the consultants are. james and i both work with all of them for the last how many years and for the past -- for decades, charlie -- these are the leaders and politics. there is no race and nothing you have not seen it all of our adult lifetimes that these people have not been involved. for them to come and participate at this time, we are very grateful for. we want you to have a great time in this wonderful place. and to our friends from washington, you will meet them here and at our home, some of the best activists in the country. i don't even know what their politics are. i do know that in addition to -- you already heard about the roles in merging the two federal and local assets -- we wo

worked on both sides of the media, on the broadcast cited abc and cnn as well as standing behind the podium at the white house. he just got back from a chart with president clinton to europe. mark mckenna, and he has worked for george w. bush, john mccain and in richards. he is the -- the only person who has done that -- and work for anne richards. steve schmidt has worked from coast to coast and for john mccain. and david winston, a longtime republican consultant who has worked in house and senate races and advised the house and senate leadership. he has been involved in a rare fact -- he worked with house republicans in 2002 to get their approval ratings over 50%, which almost never happens in congress. they could use you now, both sides could use you now. i think it is the perfect time to be holding this discussion because we still have last year's presidential campaign fresh in our minds and we can see the next one right around the corner. let's talk about those. what is the most significant change that you have seen it in the last three presidential campaigns, beginning with 2000 throu

so without further ado, let's get ross garnaut up to the podium. >> it's good to be with you again. in the abc meeting on china. the brookings and china -- and the brookings version of that book will be out soon which is not on you for the occasion. this year. we're meeting at an unusually interesting time in china's place in the world and in china-u.s. relations they're always interesting but a number of things are coming together right now. most importantly, the two issues we're discussing today. the after math of the great crash of 2008 which left a legacy continued growth moment numb and confidence in china. and concerns about the growth outlook in the united states economy. a very difficult budget situation far into the future as we can see. so one of the things that the great crash has done is accelerated a tectonic shift that we've all been aware of for a long time. a shift in the increasing weight in world affairs of the big asian developing countries, first of all, china but also india and indonesia. and the relative decline in weight in world affairs of the old industrial

worked on both sides of the media, on the broadcast cited abc and cnn as well as standing behind the podium at the white house. he just got back from a chart with president clinton to europe. mark mckenna, and he has worked for george w. bush, john mccain and in richards. he is the -- the only person who has done that -- and work for anne richards. steve schmidt has worked from coast to coast and for john mccain. and david winston, a longtime republican consultant who has worked in house and senate races and advised the house and senate leadership. he has been involved in a rare fact -- he worked with house republicans in 2002 to get their approval ratings over 50%, which almost never happens in congress. they could use you now, both sides could use you now. i think it is the perfect time to be holding this discussion because we still have last year's presidential campaign fresh in our minds and we can see the next one right around the corner. let's talk about those. what is the most significant change that you have seen it in the last three presidential campaigns, beginning with 2000 throu

>> you know, the last time i was at this podium i said very frankly that my experience on these issues -- and as a very junior officer i list through the lyndon johnson decision making process in 1965 and when i was in saigon. in 1968, when i was the assistant to the deputy secretary of state. as i've seen a lot of these things, this is the most thorough, the most sustained, most thoughtful process i have ever seen. and over the long course of it we have seen -- we have all learned a great deal from each other in a way which i think is exactly the way decisions should be made. i'm not going to get into public debate. i'm not going to go in that direction. i just feel that what you've seen is a very serious debate. and that's really all i want to say about it. but i'm honored to have been a small part of it. >> nbc television. you talked about corruption and said you were very concerned about it. considering you had the minister accused of taking bribes, would that administration -- [inaudible] on the reconciliation issue, president karzai talked about meeting. they have been very negat