>> john decker is a washington correspondent for reuters.g, again. >> good morning again to you, alex. >> how damaging do you think an attack like this is? did the president's actions leave him vulnerable on this issue? >> well, it left him vulnerable among those americans for whom national security, homeland security is a very important issue. certainly with the folks like rudy giuliani who is critical of the president and his reaction to what happened on december 25th, and over the past two week, it tapped into those concerns that he's had. but i think that overall the president is moving forward. he's been in front of the camera six times over the past two weeks since the christmas day incident, talking about this, his language has gotten to the point where it sounds very much like former president george w. bush when he said we are at war, we are at war against al qaeda. i think that certainly nullifies those people who want to hear that type of language from president obama. >> do you think it mollifies people because in part of the abs

those just coming in to us from reuters. been told by eyewitnesses that there are bodies in the street and still people in the rubble, and those pictures unfortunately confirm the worst of everyone's fears i'm afraid. still daytilight there when the pictures were shot just before the dinner hour, just before 5:00 p.m. local in haiti. we're talking about a country of some 9 million people, the city of port-au-prince with 2 million people in it. it's hard to know, because there's so many slums throughout the city. it's impossible to really get a fix on the population there. we will, of course, bring you any more video that we get in as we're now starting to get it from some of the agencies and some of the people now getting there on the ground. well, haiti is certainly no stranger to disaster, no stranger to tragedy, both man hated and natural. tom forman looks at the people and geography of the one of the world's poorest countries. >> if you travel from the united states down southeast here past the bahamas and cuba, you come

reuters reported it cost the state national fund health service providing free health care there $2.7 -- 2.7 pounds a year. quite a collective hangover. one taxpayers are paying for. brings up an interesting point. when it comes to health care costs a premium for reckless behavior? >> as extended to wreck lis eating. you know? some people say, you should be charged extra if you're eating habits cause you to have certainly illnesses opinion i don't know where the line is but i think there's a line and people should pay for wreck lds behavior. >> unenforceable. if you had two glasses you're okay. we'll pay for it. if you had six? >> two glasses of wine, you don't end up in the e.r. >> are you blowing the breathalyzer on the way into the hospital? >> if you're so drunk you go to the hospital, it's pretty clear you're so drunk. >> maybe when the airlines were thinking of charges people obese, lapsed into an extra seat -- that's discrimination. you're a woman, i'm black, can't control those things opinion you can control. every says that's discrimination and nobody wants the person sitting

>> jon dekker is washington correspondent for reuters. good morning. good to see you. >> good to see you, alex. >> what do you think of this commercial? in the wake of everything, what i heard most after the president's statements on thursday was, okay, look what he got done in two weeks. >> it's an effective commercial in the sense that certainly the new season of "24" is starting a week or so from today. it's good promotion for that program. it's an effective commercial, alex, in the sense there are those americans out there for whom this is a major issue, national security, homeland security. this has always been the achilles heel for barack obama, when he was running for president, there was that 3:00 phone call commercial hillary clinton put out questioning whether he could be the commander in chief and here it is back again after this incident on christmas day questioning whether president obama now is ready to be in situations like this one, the commander in chief, if he handled the situation correctly. of course, this group, which is headed by

and felix salmon ithe finance blogger fothomson reuters. previous he worked for roubini global economics. gentmen, thank you both for being with us. bert ely, to you first. what is your understanng of what form any tax oree would take? >> well, thiis all very big at this pot in time, but it could be eitr a tax on financial ansactions. it could be a tax on high level execive pay. it may be a profiturtax or some combination treof. this point in time we simply d't know the spifics of these proposals. >> woodrf: in terms of whom it would be levied on. i would presume it will be levied on lae financial institutions, bas, both commercial ban as well as investment banks. a big question is whe would the linee drawn between large ansmall and that would be one of the controversial aspectof this proposal. who gets paid... who h to pay and who doesn't. >> woodrf: felix salmon, what's your understanding what they're talkingbout? >> well, like rt, it's still ve unclear. i haven't lked to anyone who knows what exactlys being planned. bert, i do think that

troops pulled another man ale out of the rubble, two eks after the earthquake struck, accoing to reuters. hundreds othousands of suivors still find themselves campg on the streets of the capital,ort-au-prince. today, haian president rene preval asked the internatial community to provide 200,0 tentto shelter some of the one llion haitians left homeless by the qua. separately, a state departnt spokesman said the u.s. deat toll in the quake nonumbers ose to 100. and lieutent general ken keen, the u.s. comnder on the ground, said amerin troops ll stay as long as they're needed. that effort incles rebuilding iti's now-shattered health care sysm. ray suarez repts from port-au- prince on the long road ahd. >> suarez: when thbuildings came cshing down, the patients came rushi in. and two weeks , the living are scattered in hostals on both sideof the haitian-dominican border. many have badly damaged boes, manyn hospital beds have nowhere else to go. but aftethe initial trauma, haiti is now turning corner. >> the major challge now is post-op careand what we would call in the medical professi, disc

after the watch riots king would not and does about black nationalists and reuters he would disavow their deeds and hold all the better way but one of his most powerful moments at mount zion baptist church not long after the riots and king looks about and says i know the temptation, and king had this sigh, and this sigh -- and some sigh was his substitute for whooping. he could use it as an accent mark to do anything. it could be pathos, it could be in the presence of the divine, it has a power. in this case it was pathos. oh i know the temptation to become bitter against the white man. i know it. it comes to all of us. and here, the "us" is a black "us," not universal "us." king is putting himself in the community of black bitterness and he had gone through a phase of hating white people and had taken him years to get over his hatred of white people just as it had taken daddy king years to get over his hatred of white people so when king who was seen as this cheap turning fellow by more militant blacks and white society they didn't understand king's vision was tough minded. i know it's h

and felix salmon is the finance blogger for thomson reuters. previously he worked for roubini global economics. gentlemen, thank you both for being with us. bert ely, to you first. what is your understanding of what form any tax or fee would take? >> well, this is all very big at this point in time, but it could be either a tax on financial transactions. it could be a tax on high level executive pay. it may be a profit surtax or some combination thereof. at this point in time we simply don't know the specifics of these proposals. >> woodruff: in terms of whom it would be levied on. >> i would presume it will be levied on large financial institutions, banks, both commercial banks as well as investment banks. a big question is where would the line be drawn between large and small and that would be one of the controversial aspects of this proposal. who gets paid... who has to pay and who doesn't. >> woodruff: felix salmon, what's your understanding of what they're talking about? >> well, like bert, it's still very unclear. i haven't talked to anyo

. >> the next question is from reuters. i would like to ask you about this integration and reconciliation process. the government has invited the taliban to take part kinney in the meeting they're planning to half. does the u.s. supported this invitation and do you think that this should include top taliban leadership? does the u.s. have any plans to contribute funds beyond the military funds he has mentioned? do you feel that this reconciliation process we're talking about represents the first point in a real road map towards ending the conflict? >> i think the starting premise is that you don't make peace with your friends you have to be willing to engage with your enemies if you expect it to create a situation bedpans and insurgency or so marginalizes the remaining insurgence that it doesn't pose a threat is the stability of the country. when the president announced he would be holding the afghan and mechanism for trying to reconcile competing views and reach decisions to take, it was natural for him to say that if you a

. >> the next question is from north dakota: -- andy quinn of reuters. >> the government has invitedhe taliban to take part in the planned this year. does the u.s. support this invitation, and you think the invitation could or should include top taliban leadership, if they renounce ties to al qaeda? does the u.s. have any plans to contribute funds beyond military funds you have mentioned to the reintegration fun of the japanese are helping to establish? do you feel this reconciliation process represents the first. in a real road map toward ending the conflict in afghanistan? -- does represent the first point? >> is starting premise is you do not make peace with your friends. you have to be willing to engage with your enemies if you expect to create a situation that ends in insurgency or so marginalizes the remaining insurgents that it does not pose a threat to the security of the people. president karzai announced he would be holding a traditional afghan mechanism for trying to reconcile competing views and reach decisions to take. it was natural for him to say that if you're going t

host: reuters is reporting that the pentagon is laying the ground for the repeal of the don't ask don'tell policy. also, "politico" is reporting this morning that president obama will skip the alfalfa dinner, which e-- the author of a club exists mainly for the purpose -- the alfalfa club exists mainly for the purpose of holding the dinner. he is missing this year's dinner. "it will not be the first time he skipped out on an a-list event. he missed the first gridiron club dinner of the presidency last year." phil, you are the last phone call on this. caller: what people are missing about this whole thing is that there is a socialist attack against our system. president obama is showing no respect for the system of the supreme court. it seems to me that that is just a continuing theme in this whole administration. every socialist tool, every socialist in the world, has always attacked the independent judiciary and tried to put them in lockstep with their liberal agenda. this is a continuing effort by these socialist -- people of the socialist ilk to do that to our supreme court and court

>> andy sullivan with reuters news. they're similar proposals on the hill right now and the white house is looking at putting together a task force. both of those efforts plan to put out a report by the end of the year. the levy time frame when you would do it, and is there any guarantee that these recommendations that you come up with, they will actually be acted on? thank you. >> yes, we have a timeframe. we want our report by the end of this year, sometime in that window. it is not clear what will happen to these various commissions that are being discussed. if an official commission moves ahead, we will be very happy to be the stalking horse, one group that illustrates that their work can be done. if it does not happen, we will do it anyway. that is where we are. >> i would like to say one other thing that i did not say. you know, i believe that we're going ask the american people to sacrifice. we do not ask them that very often. we do not ask our leaders to ask the american people to sacrifice. that is because if w

>> i am andy sullivan with reuters news.al is being kicked around on the hill and the white house is looking into putting together a task force. both of those efforts plan to put out a report by the end of the year. you have a time frame? is there any guarantee that these recommendations which come up with which would be our pleasance, that they would be acted upon by your former colleagues in the senate? >> yes, we have a time frame. we want to report by the end of this year but after the election. sometime in that window. it is not clear what will happen to these various commissions that are being discussed. if an official commission moves ahead, we will be very happy to be this stalking horse and one group that illustrates that it can be done. if it does not happen, then we will do it anyway. so that is where we are. >> i would like to say one other thing. i believe we are quite to ask the american people to sacrifice. we do not ask them that very often, and we are. ask our leaders to ask americans to sacrifice. that is b

paul of reuters news agency.it's going to be become a lot of this in this room feel old but the summit is ten years past and basically the sunshine policy and the large flow successor are going on a decade. what sort of political and there has been a lot of that money appears to have gone in a black hole, there were family reunions, things got done that same time was political capital -- was anything useful of lasting importance achieved by the south koreans and north korea with fat and in parallel somewhat related with official relationships we of and for all relationships between north and south and i'm thinking the christian activity. what role do you think the christian movements that are so active in northern china and even into north korea what role are they going to play in the society when things change? >> great question. i was at a talk that done kirk gave yesterday about how hard you betrayed korea with the 5,500,000,000 that allegedly supposedly went to north korea. certainly i think it is fair to say

equipped with legal tools to do with much of what has transpired until the ensuing five years. , reuter have passed legislation in 2002 dealing with predatory loans. along with the equity protection act of 1994. unfortunately unlike the counterpart the limits on balloon payments and prepayment penalties on the negative amortization loans apply to such a small subset of the highest cost loans proved to be a little deterrent. pushing ever more exotic products with introductory rates those tipped their products beyond the coverage of such laws. colorado was only one of two states that did not regulate mortgage loan originators for awhile now have licensing of individual brokers we're one of the few states that does not regulate the mortgage lending activities of nine depository vendors. with respect to the laws we did have been placed in 2005, we were largely powerless to enforce those laws against national banks with the lending affiliate's due to the aggressive stance regulators took to pre-empt a lot even with respect to discriminatory lending and a deceptive advertising. i a encourage

. >> primm minister from reuters, president obama proposed a propriety trading where banks take gambles with their own funds on markets last week the conservatives back to it. do you think there is now a case for a global ban on proprietary trading? >> i'm not sure when i read the script of the party -- it's like many other things it is a bit unclear. if you look at the issues related to the bank's -- first of all will we recoup the money we have had to use to save the banks is the first question to the president obama said of his measures to do it. we are doing it. we will request the money the banks have been given to help through the crisis and we will in fact make a profit on this by the end of the period. second, will we deal with bonus issues that has been raised in america and issue around the world and we put a 50% tax, i think we've gone further than other countries. the third question is how do you deal with the risk the bank's pos to the economy as a whole and i think in the american circumstances where you have five financial institutions that engage not just in proprietary

. >> i am with reuters. >> yes. >> you mentioned traveling to japan in two weeks' time. can you tell us when you will be going and who you will be meeting with? >> the first day or two of february, and the hope is we'll be meeting with senior interlocketers, both within the government and the prime minister's office, in ministry of foreign affairs, ministry of defense. also it's important to meet with key members that are playing such an important role in thinking about these issues. also with the excellent u.s. team. also be going to south korea as well and looking forward to with my interlocketers in foreign trade, the blues house, also within the legislaturele as well. and we'll also be meeting with some nonprofit groups. of course, our strong embassy team when i'm there as well. >> japan and south korea will be the only location? any other countries? >> i think for now that's where we're planning toe go. yes, sir. >> [inaudible] about the u.s. presence in japan. in japan, some 40 policy experts and ruling party politicians share the re-beleaf that japan will be unpr

. >> the next question is from reuters. >> i want ask about the reconciliation process. the afghan government has invited the taliban to take part in what they're having his -- this year. does the u.s. condoned this invitation -- pin down this invitation? does the u.s. have a plan to contribute funds to the reintegration find that the japanese are helping to establish? more broadly, do you feel this reconciliation process that we're talking about today represents the first point in a real road map toward ending the conflict in afghanistan? >> andy, i think the startin g premise is you don't make peace with your friends. you have to be willing to engage with your enemies if you expect to create a situation that and insurgency or marginalizes the remaining insurgencies that don't pose a threat to the stability and security of the people. when president karzai announced he would be holding a traditional afghan mechanism for trying to reconcile competing views and to reach -- it was natural to say that the people that are not already an agreement with he might actually come

. >> i am with reuters. this is a question for bruce wright del. -- reidel. it is especially for him. for anyone who wants to comment. are you concerned that this recent focus on yemen will result in dwindling support for the war in afghanistan, especially on capitol hill? it's good to hear how you assess the threat in yemen and what you think, it is some kind of direct -- is some kind of direct u.s. military intervention thinkable there? >> anyone who wants direct u.s. military intervention in yemen need status of their heads examined -- needs to have their head examined. we have enough on our plate. we do not need a third war in the middle east. the experience of foreign armies in humans, most recently the ibsen, ought to caution anyone that there is a made in america solution to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. it has become a more powerful and more dangerous foe in the last year. at the direction of osama bin laden, the al qaeda cells and arabia, which had been badly request -- repressed, merged with the cells in yemen and they -- and proved to be quite

. >> penny with reuters. what happened with the trade agreement which is between afghanistan and pakistan, which is demoving high valued products to india, and how much success have you had in convincing farmers to switch from poppies. >> the trade transit agreement, which has been undernegotiation for 44 years. longer than some people have been alive, including in this administration -- [laughing] >> started in 1965, i think. down to about two remaining issues. mary beth goodman is work only this very actively. secretary clinton and i talk about it this morning. we're in touch with pakistan. you're quite right about the agriculture components here, and it was rather interesting to us that about three weeks ago, with great fanfare in afghanistan, the ministry of agriculture air-shipped 12-tons of apples ao india. and that was interesting. your second question was about crop substitution. we -- when we phased out support of poppy crop eradication, although individual governors of afghanistan may continue to do

>> reuters.could you comment on consumer sentiment and how regulatory reform efforts are impacted if at all? >> we didn't specifically talk about regulatory reform efforts affecting consumer sentiment. i think we all agreed consumer sentiment is still quite restrained and that if we do have some private sector job growth, that helps a little by all means on the margin. as we've said the unemployment rate is still painfully high. and that is one of the reasons we talked about, at the beginning that consumer spending will be a force for recovery, but, not a rapid recovery. in fact consumer spending, forecasted to grow less rapidly than the economy over all. so consumers are contributing to, but i wouldn't say leading this economic recovery and in part because the sentiment is still being restrained by house prices that are down and even with the rally in stock market or other invests, still concerns about jobs and, so we looked at consumers, sort of a balanced picture. certainly not going on any sp