finally richard reid who probably needs no introduction to any of you. is a senior lecturer at usc. he is probably best known for his presidential biographies of john kennedy, richard nixon and ronald reagan. his latest book however, was a biography of artist rutherford in which he repeated the extent to which led to generally accepted picture of the adam. that he described as a labor of love designed to show his fellow engineering graduates that he was not as dumb as they thought he was. [laughter] >> so to begin, i want to invite each of our panelists to offer some hoping thoughts, and sort out we start with the question, you know, we're here today to talk about biography. i would've each of you talk about some of the challenges of telling history through the development of characters. paul, you are the award were, do you want to be first up? >> thanks a lot. i think the greatest challenge, it took me a long time to write this book, and for many reasons. of course, lots of research and lost two with the fact that you have to have a full-time job as well as writing. but also i had t

which deals with the richard reid problem your bottom line, a lot harder to get here from europe thatsed to be. what about canada? after all this is the world's longest undefended border as people on that side said. canada which i know quite well, and were up in vancouver though i am an american by birth the mechanic is even more ethnically diverse country than the u.s. and sadly and number of radical groups and in a hidden have found canada hospitable for organizing and fund-raising. 9/11 hijackers didn't come from canada as still some believe and canadian officials it having to address this question twice a week, but there are others who have tried to get in the intent is to block the los angeles airport as a so-called millennium bombing and was stopped at the border on the west coast where i grew up so what have we done with canada? writer after 9/11 we pretty much shut down the border and for several weeks there were 15 our lineup is backing up into windsor and other places. there's an extraordinary volume of commercial and passenger traffic that goes back and forth across that bo

police headquarters, richard reid. >> thank you. maryland governor martin o'malley is looking at more budget cuts. o'malley says his secretary recommended cutting $250 million in state and local government aide. police say community colleges and highway funds. o'malley is scheduled to propose more cuts later this month and the famed watergate hotel may soon have a new owner. one says it's lined up at least six potential buyers. the company tried to auction off -- the first buyer to present a check will get the hotel which has now been closed for five years. well, tonight thousands of firefighters are battling wildfires in california. nearly a dozen firefighters have united all across the state. the flames have score. ed eight scare miles and the fires are still burning out of control. more on this developing story. >> fears are rides rising that strong winds could ignite more wildfires in parts of parched california. >> we could see flames and see it spreading so quickly because the wind was howling. >> this is scare qui because of

he is serving a life sentenceç in colorado is -- remember they shoe bomber, richard reid?iew. that means he is back in the general population. that means he is now allowed to receive phone calls. it sounds like the attorney- general willie has a good grasp on what it takes to keep this country safe. -- really has a good grasp. all right, members of the obamamania media continued to flock to their leader. the 13th journalist to join the obama administration. television reporter roberta baskin has decided to own up to her true political situation joining the health and human services in august. she worked for is a cliche 20/20 -- "20/20." many are now represented in the obama administration. by the way, when is my job offer coming? and just last week, president obama invited some of the country's most successful ceo's at the white house. now, oddly, they were asked to provide their credit-card numbers before they arise. as it turns out, they were billed for their mead @ll with the commander in chief -- before they arrived. that was really classy. i do not think that isç wha

that has nothing to do with richard reid, the shoe bomber.you wonder why any minute of the fact that you can't carry liquids on planes, the fact that you can't, you have to take your shoes off, use a. that's all going to be unfolded in this story. and a spiritual icon of the cell in new york responsible for both the trade center bombing in 93 and 9/11 was shaikh omar reichmann, the blind shake. he is the out islamic spiritual leader but he is also responsible for the 1993 -- excuse me, for what was called the day of the terror plot. the embassy bombings in 1988, he was considered one of the spiritual icons and motivators of that plot, even though he was in jail by 1993 himself. when bin laden issued his famous hotwire prior to the cold binder to act as a go to the spilling of blood for your shake. this is how important shaikh reichmann is. literally within days of the 9/11 attack, the taliban offered to exchange blind shake for some christian missionaries that they were holding captive. this is how the blind shake works through the story like

one is ramsi youssef, richard reid, the shoe bomber, and mo can't say moussai. this is the very same attack for which ghalani is being prosecuted. four men were prosecute to life without parole in the var same court where ghalan zi being tried. the argue thamt we cannot prosecute him in that court, the argument that it's somehow unsafe to the people of new york city for him to be incarcerated while he's being tried really defies history. susan hirsch an american citizen lost her husband in kenya at the embassy bombing. she testified in the hearing for the four suspects coin victimed. she supports the decision to prosecute ghalani. she said, and i quote, i'm 'leaved we're finally moving forward. it's really, really important to me anyone we have in custody accused of acts that led to the death of my husband and others be held accountable for what they've done. ms. hirsch supports the shutting down ofguantanamo. she believes it's safe to try ghalani in the united states. she says, quote, i trust the new york police department. listen to what she said about the cri

reid. >> the discussion now and u.s. strategy in afghanistan and pakistan with special represented richard holbrooke. topics include the upcoming presidential election. this is about an hour and a half. >> good morning everyone. i am the president of the center for american progress. thank you for joining us this morning. the center is honored to have ambassador richard holbrooke and his really spectacular team here today who you see in friday. we have more members in the front row. this region of the world is a primary national security concern for the united states, one that was reaffirmed by the president back in march when he made the case for a stronger, smarter, comprehensive commitment. one who is here today. ambassador holbrooke has assembled an impressive team. there is the multidisciplinary interagency nature of secretary clinton and investor who were's approach to afghanistan and pakistan which tendons on the -- which hinges on military assets. to the best of my knowledge, this is a first. drawing all these resources under together under one roof and umbrella and insuring that it will be d