robert kagan. at 9:00 p.m., british prime minister david cameron. and at 9:40 president obama. also israeli president shimon peres speaking at apac earlier today. . almost entirely by american power and influence after world war ii. it is different then proceeded. if the united states decline, we will have a different world order again. >> it takes a lot time to write a book and get it published. when did you started? >> this is pretty quick. i started it in the spring of 2010 or spring of 2011. i submitted to the publisher in november of 2011. they turned it around quickly. >> the first time we heard anything about it i think was in this new magazine. you are the cover. there are lots of pages devoted to its. how did it get into this before? >> your friends i have been talking to him for a while. he wanted to run with it in the new republic before the book came out. i was happy to do its. it turned out to be a good idea. >> why did he wanted? is in the liberal? the liberal? >> i do not know what to make of these any more. what the u.s. should be doing, i do not find distinctio

robert kagan was featured last week on this network. his review this morning in "the washington post." joining me from washing, d.c. good morning. caller: i do not believe we are in decline. it is relative in the sense that our country is about to catch up. it is also education. if we reinvest in education, we will be ok. right now, we do get the most nobel prizes. countries like singapore and taiwan, they like our ships. they like our presence there. we invest in ourselves and our technology, our human resources. try not to fight. i think we are not in a decline. host: thank you for the call. we're checking with many of you are saying on our twitter page as well. you can also join us on facebook. this is from one of our viewers about why the u.s. is in very terrible space, but less-worse than any other the words of we go back to clarence page from "the chicago tribune" website. is america in decline? no way, says president obama. but some grim news reports on our educational gap. some surprising good news/bad news. the gap between whit

. >> this week, author and historian robert kagan discusses his latest book. "the world america made." robert kagan, where do you get that title? >> iskandariyah in the middle of the night. i was looking for a title to describe this book and i was having a hard time. it is basically the world order we live in today was created almost entirely by america. after world war ii. it is a different kind of order that preceded the united states. if the u.s. declines will have a different world order again. >> it takes a long time to write a book and to get it published. when did you get this book? >> this was pretty quick. i probably started in spring 2010. 2011. i submitted it to the publisher in november. and they turned it around quickly. >> the first time we heard anything i think was in this new -- this is not that actual magazine. it is the cover. there are lots of pages devoted to it. how did it get into "there public? >> i had been talking to him about the book for a while. he wanted to run with it as a cereal before the book came out. i was happy to do it. it

this book: "the world america made," by robert kagan.kagan's a well-known figure inside the beltway, that matrix of think tanks, policy intellectuals, and research centers that have so long and faithfully served to uphold the empire. in it, kagan dismisses what he calls "the myth of american decline," and compares the united states to jimmy stewart's character in the frank capra movie "it's a wonderful life." america is to the world, kagan contends, what stewart was to the town of bedford falls. >> to my big brother george, the richest man in town. >> which without him would have fallen into unseemly hands and disrepute, as the world would have without america. to think otherwise, he writes, is "wishful thinking." not surprising that president obama, according to "the new york times," has "brandished mr. kagan's analysis in arguing that the nation's power has waxed rather than waned. and just who is robert kagan? well, he served in the state department when reagan was president. he advised john mccain in 2008 and these days is special ad

. >> brookings institution fellow robert kagan is not only an adviser to the romney campaign, but also serves on secretary of state clinton's foreign policy advisory board. >> what i've been writing for years actually is that there is a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, more than we expect. a lot of consent, a lot of broad consensus. and i think what you're seeing here is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community, and probably there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more with robert kagan on foreign policy and his latest, the world america made, sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. >>> interior secretary ken salazar discussed the department's 2013 budget requests before the senate energy and natural resources committee tuesday. president obama has requested $11.4 billion for the department. salazar says it's a gad budget, but it also requires the agency to do more with less given the tough fiscal times. this is just under two hours. >> okay. why don't we get started. this morning the committee's reviewing the president's propos

. >> robert kagan is not only an advisor to the romney campaign, but serves on secretary clinton's advisory board. >> what i've been writing for years, actually, is that there's a lot of continuity in american foreign policy. more than we expect. a lot of broad consensus. and i think what you're seeing here is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community and probably there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more with robert kagan on foreign policy and his latest the world america made sunday night at 8:00 eastern on cspan's q&a. >> all weekend long, american history tv joins our comcast cable partners in sri pohrevepo louisiana. shreveport, founded in 1836, has a population of about 200,000 people and is located about 250 miles northwest of baton rouge. you're watching american history tv on c-span3. >> we are standing in oakland cemetery, which was the original city cemetery that dates back to 1847. and it was the primary city cemetery until about 1895 or so. one of the reasons that 1873 is so important to this region and to this city is that the great yel

. >> brookings institute fellow robert kagan, only an adviser to the romney campaign but serves on secretarynton's advisory board. >> what you've been writing for a year

after that "q&a" with robert kagan. and we discuss the future of aviation security tomorrow on c- span 2. >> this crazy world of ours we have adam and bonds. and now the question is not how to use -- now we have atom bombs. the question is not how to use them but how to restrain from using them. >> as part of the campaign for president we look back at 14 men who run for office and lost. span.org to find a list of contenders. >> shouldn't your candidate be an example to our children and young people of this country? so did his wife make a role model for your future children and not -- shouldn't his life maker role model for future children? >> now president obama addresses the annual policy conference here in washington. he said his policy of iran was not of containment of preventing the development of a nuclear weapon he speaks for about 35 minutes. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪ >> thank you. please have a seat. thank you. good morning.

i want robert kagan to respond to the continuity of foreign policy argument. the point of view is that post- world war two, to the present day, for much of that time the differences on american foreign policy were, sort of, easily described as hawks and doves, or terms of that sort. that tended to be more a reflection of party affiliation. that, at some point, and i am not sure where, nor whether this thesis is right, but at some point that has shifted, and we are not so much in hawks against dogs anymore, but perspectives -- dove's anymore, but perspectives about kinetic positions taken by this government have more to do with the ins and outs. >> are you asking bob if he agrees with that? >> i am asking if that is an accurate perspective. in kosovo, clinton wanted to do it, and the republicans were against it. some of the same situation pertained in libya. my first question is is that remotely accurate, and if it is, what has made that transition, and how does that augur for the likelihood of continuity moving forward? >> well, i think that it generally has b

. >> more with robert kagan on foreign policy and his latest, the world america made. sunday night 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. >> history book shelf features popular american history writers of the past decade and airs on american history tv every saturday at noon eastern. this week on history book shelf martha ackmann discusses her book "the mercury 13" women and the dream of spaceflight. the book is an bt of women pilots who attempted to become the first female astronauts in the 1960s. the women passed the same tests as the mercury 7 astronauts yet they were not selected for any missions. this program is 40 minutes. >> you're looking at the cover of the atlantic's special commemorative issue on the civil war. this issue contained 50 pieces of reporting essays poetry, fiction from the 345g sewn's archives, also contemporary works including an introduction by president obama. the magazine cover is the run up to the civil war, the war itself, and the after war period. as you can see some of the writer's features include some of the greats, mark twain, nathaniel hawtho

. >> more with robert kagan an foreign policy and his latest, "the world america made" that's sunday night at 8:00 eastern. >>> survivors of the costa concordia ship wreck today testified that the crew on board told passengers to go back to their cabins more than an hour after the ship ran aground off the coast. the death toll from the accident now stands at 25. the house transportation subcommittee on maritime transportation held a hearing on cruise ship safety that also included witnesses from the coast guard and the cruise ship industry. >> i want to thank the witnesses for appearing today. and we want to note on behalf of the subcommittee that we understand very clearly that there's an ongoing investigation and as such, we understand that the witnesses today may not be able to answer all of the questions we have about what happened, and clearly due to the nature of investigation and legalities that are involved with this. we'll continue to monitor the investigation. and look forward to a full accounting of what happened when the investigation is complete and that information beco

. >> brookings fellow robert kagan is not only an advising to the romney campaign but also serves on secretary of state's clinton's foreign policy board. >> what i've been writing for years is that there's a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, more than we expect, a lot of broad consensus. i think what you're seeing here is the kind of consensus that is exists com in the foreign policy community and probably there is a lot of overlap. >> more on the latest, the world america made sunday night at 8:00 eastern. >> welcome back to "washington today." another day of testimony by the fed chairman ben bernanke. yesterday he testified before a house committee. and again today, he reiterated his concern that chronic long-term unemployment does threaten to reduce the nation's supply of skilled workers. ben bernanke also said he's woersds that more than 40% of america's unemployed, 5.5 million people have been out of work for more than six months. he said if that problem persists, more of the long-term unemployed will lose jobs skills and it will be tough for them t >> here's more fr

. >> robert kagan is an advisor to the romney campaign but also serves on and clinton's advisory board. >> i have been writing that there is a lot of continuity in foreign policy. a lot of a broad consensus. what you're seeing is the kind of consensus in the community and a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more with robert kagan and his latest, world american made," on q&a. >> williams perry and sam nunn took part in a forum on nuclear threats of the 21st century. much of the concern focused on iran. the event was opened by the commonwealth club of california and ran just over one hour. >> welcome to tonight's meeting of the commonwealth club of california. i am president and ceo of the club and a chair for tonight's program. we also welcome our listeners on radio and television, our online viewers, and invite everyone to visit us on the internet. we are very pleased to hold this program together with stanford university's center for security and cooperation, and the freemans institute for international studies. as we debate about a recovery of the u.s. economy and follow the

. >> robert kagan serves on secretary of state clinton's foreign policy advisory board. >> what i've been writing for years, actually, is that there is a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, more than we expect. a broad consensus. i think what you are seeing here is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community, and probably from -- probably there is a lot of overlap. >> more from robert kagan and his latest book, "the world america made." >> "game change" will -- the book title is "game change, obama and the clintons, mccain and palin, the race of a lifetime. it is just under an >> none of these middle-age white guys are game changers. >> from the new hbo movie booked -- based on the book "game change" john heilmann and mark halperin, they say, the plan was to shock the world. mccain's core conviction was that mccain's v.p. choice had to be a game changer. mark halperin, let me begin with you. why four years later are people still writing and talking about the 2008 campaign and now your book turned into an hbo film? >> i think in a way because it was, as

morph robert -- more with robert kagan tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a."washington journal" continues. host: we want to edit -- we want to welcome andrew baumann. what can we expect? guest: i think the one thing, it will be a continuation of what we saw last week. it will put its stamp on newt gingrich that he is not only on the side, he is not really in this race. it to a comes down to a two person race. focusing on irani, one who -- focusing on romney, he is beginning to roll up some enthusiasm. centaur, why think he will do rather well in some states. -- santorum, who i think will do rather well in some states. the one thing i have always said is he could have me on the ballot versus barack obama and what this group of voters, the republican voters, they would be enthusiastic because i am not barack obama. that is where the enthusiasm will come in this campaign. that is where it traditionally becomes. it wasn't that ronald reagan was generating a great deal of enthusiasm. what he was doing is taking a campaign to jimmy carter. host: on the front page of

. >> robert kagan is an adviser to the romney campaign and serves on clinton's foreign-policy advisory board. >> i have been writing that there is a lot of continuity in foreign policy. a lot of a broad consensus. what you are seeing here is the kind of consensus in the foreign-policy community and there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more on foreign policy and his latest book sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. >> this morning, sudeep reddy discusses factors that could slow the economy. then jim h

. >> brookings institute robert kagan is not only an advisor to the romney campaign but also serves on -- >> a lot of -- a broad consensus, and i think what you're seeing here is the kind of consensus that exists in the community and there's probably a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more on robert kagan and that's sunday night 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's "q&a." >> even a person who is a senator, even ea person now who is president of the united states faces a predicament when they talk about race. they all sorts -- they face all sorts of things. they face the fact that a much larger portion of the american pop will you explain wants to deny the realities of race even now. >> sunday, harvard law professor and former law clerk to justice thurgood marshall on racism, politics and the bow bama administration. the road scholar is a thur of five boofpblgts he'll take your calls and tweets on book tv on c-span 2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: and on this friday morning we're pleased to welcome back to our table senator james inhofe. he is the ranking committee member

. >> more with robert kagan sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c- span's q&a. >> george shultz, william perry, and sam nunn took part in a forum on nuclear threats. much of their concern was ark -- on iran. this was hosted by the commonwealth club of california and ran a just over one hour. >> welcome to tonight's meeting of the commonwealth club of california. i am president and ceo of the club and a chair for tonight's program. we also welcome our listeners on radio and television, our online viewers, and invite everyone to visit us on the internet. we are very pleased to hold this program together with stanford university's center for security and cooperation, and the freemans institute for international studies. as we debate about a recovery of the u.s. economy and follow the presidential primary race, it is easy to forget that the greatest danger facing humankind is still the present of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. and the continuing quest by countries like north korea and iran and terrorist groups to obtain atomic weapons. with the end of the cold war, a nuclear arms fade

. >> more with robert kagan on foreign policy tonight at 8:00 eastern on cspan's "q &a." >> a political

i want robert kagan to respond to the continuity of foreign policy argument. point of view is that post- world war two, to the present day, for much of that time the differences on american foreign policy were, sort of, easily described as hawks and doves, or terms of that sort. that tended to be more a reflection of party affiliation. that, at some point, and i am not sure where, nor whether this thesis is right, but at some point that has shifted, and we are not so much in hawks against dogs anymore, but perspectives -- dove's anymore, but perspectives about kinetic positions taken by this government have more to do with the ins and outs. >> are you asking bob if he agrees with that? >> i am asking if that is an accurate perspective. in kosovo, clinton wanted to do it, and the republicans were against it. some of the same situation pertained in libya. my first question is is that remotely accurate, and if it is, what has made that transition, and how does that augur for the likelihood of continuity moving forward? >> well, i think that it generally has been

. >> brookings institution fellow robert kagan is not only an advisor to the romney campaign but also serves on secretary of state clinton's foreign policy advisory board. >> what i've been writing for years, actually, is that there's a lot of continuity in american foreign policy and i think what you're seeing is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community and probably there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. more with robert kagan on foreign policy and his latest, the world america made sunday night 8:00 eastern on c-span's q & a. >> next an agenda with vice president joe biden and he discussed jobs and the economy. and he was joined by agricultural secretary tom vilsack. this portion is an hour. >> the president and i just held a conference at the white house on in-sourcing where the ceos of some of the largest companies in the world, the ceos came to sit down with us. the ceos of the dupont company, the ford motor company, siemens and master lock and they told us why they are coming home. they are not just building factories de novo here in the unit

there is a lot of opportunity. >> more with robert kagan sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c- span's "q&a". >> a movie on the 2008 presidential campaign titled "the game change clothes "will premiere on hbo. we spoke with mark halperin and john heilemann, co-authors of the book. the full title is "game change: obama and the clintons, mccain and palin, and the race of a lifetime." the interview is just under an hour. >> it is the right thing to do but the wrong way to whewin. >> to try to vet bloomberg. who can we win with? >> none of them. obama just change the entire dynamic. >> we desperately need a game changer pick. none of these middle-aged white guys are game changers. >> from the new hbo movie based on the book "game change: obama and the clintons, mccain and palin, and the race of a lifetime." the book written by john heilemann and mark halperin. they say the plan was always our mccain to shock the world with his eyes but the dental picks. john heilemann and mark halperin are joining us from new york. thank you for being with us on c-span. >> if it is great to be with you, steve

i want robert kagan to respond to the continuity of foreign policy argument. the point of view is that post- world war two, to the present day, for much of that time the differences on american foreign policy were, sort of, easily described as hawks and doves, or terms of that sort. that tended to be more a reflection of party affiliation. that, at some point, and i am not sure where, nor whether this thesis is right, but at some point that has shifted, and we are not so much in hawks against dogs anymore, but perspectives -- dove's anymore, but perspectives about kinetic positions taken by this government have more to do with the ins and outs. >> are you asking bob if he agrees with that? >> i am asking if that is an accurate perspective. in kosovo, clinton wanted to do it, and the republicans were against it. some of the same situation pertained in libya. my first question is is that remotely accurate, and if it is, what has made that transition, and how does that augur for the likelihood of continuity moving forward? >> well, i think that it generally has b

. >> robert kagan is not only an adviser to the romney campaign, but also serves on secretary of state board. >> there is a lot of continuity in foreign policy, more than we expect, a lot of broad consensus. i think where you see here is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign-policy community. there is a lot of vocal lobby -- a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. >> on wednesday, federal reserve chairman ben bernanke said the economy is doing better than expected and that the fed is not planning on taking additional measures to stimulate the economy. he testified before the house financial services committee in one of two yearly appearances that he makes about the state of the u.s. economy. the portion of the hearing you are about to see is one hour 20 minutes. it begins with the chairman's opening statement. >> limited information available for 2012 is consistent with growth proceeding in coming quarters at a pace close to or somewhat above the pace that was registered during the second half of last year. we have seen some

. >> brookings institution fellow robert kagan is not only an adviser to the romney campaign, but serves on secretary of state clinton's advisory board. >> there is a lot of continuity in a foreign policy, more than we expect, in on a broad consensus. what you are seeing here is a consensus that exists in the foreign policy community and overlap between the two parties. >> more for robert kagan and his latest, sunday at 8:00 on "q&a." >> bobby jindal is set to for thehis budget state, more than $9 million in the red. you are listening to shreveport 's news and weather station. >> this weekend, booktv and american history tv explore the culture of should -- of shreveport, louisiana. "one damn blunder from beginning to end." then, to look at the 2000 books of the john smith novell collection. then a tour with neil johnson. sunday at 5:00 p.m. eastern, from barksdale air force base, look at the base's role in 9/11 and the history of the b-52 bomber. and from the pioneer heritage center, medical treatment and medicine during the civil war. shreveport, louisiana, this weekend on c-span2 and 3

. >> brookings institution fellow robert kagan is not only an advisor to the romney campaign, but also serves on secretary of state clinton's foreign policy advisory board. >> what i've been writing for years actually is that there's a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, more than we expect, a lot of consent, a lot of broad consensus. i think what you're seeing here is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community and probably there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more with robert kagan on foreign policy and his latest, "the world america made," sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." >> "washington journal" continues. host: sudeep reddy joins us. there have been reports about ben bernanke's appearance on the hill, and it highlights the mood that he communicated to those he was testifying in front of. was there a difference in mood this time around as far as the economy is concerned? guest: it's interesting to look at his mood, because a lot of people are trying to gauge how chairman bernanke feels about the economy. what we saw thi

. >> brookings institution fellow robert kagan is not only an adviser to the mitt romney campaign but also serves on secretary clayton's for an advisory policy board. >> what i have been writing for years is that there is a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, more than we expect, a broad consensus. i think what you are seeing is the kind of consensus in the foreign-policy community. probably, there is a lot of overlap between the two policies. >> more on foreign policy and his latest, "the world america made." >> survivors of the costa concordia shipwreck testified that the crew on board was telling passengers to go back to their cabins more than an hour after the ship ran aground off of the italian coast. the death toll from the accident now stands at 25. a house transportation maritime subcommittee held a hearing today on cruise ship safety that also included witnesses from the u.s. coast guard and the cruise ship industry. this is just under three hours. >> this activity generated more than $37 billion for the u.s. economy and sustain more than 37,000 american jobs. the c

. >> robert kagan serves on secretary clinton's advisory board. >> there is a lot of continuity.d consensus. what you are seeing is the kind of consensus in the foreign policy community. there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. for more on robert kagan, tune in sunday night at 8:00 eastern. >> now, a senate foreign relations hearing on political unrest and violence in syria. the united nations estimates more than seven dozen people have been killed since the start of the uprising. this is a little more than an hour and a half. >> this hearing will come to order. thank you. i apologize for being late. i was a little delayed their. senator casey will chair this morning. which, i will have to do that. we appreciate everyone's coming here to discuss the ongoing situation in syria. as we all know, serious it's in the heart of the middle east, straddling its ethnic and sectarian a fault lines, and all of the region's important powers have a direct interest in what is happening in syria, as to non-state actors like hezzbollah and hamas and others. the taliban appears to be try

those questions are posed in the book "the world america made" by robert kagan who's an adviser to the romney campaign. he joined others to discuss the afghanistan war, whether america should get involved militarily in syria and the impact of defense spending cuts. this is about 90 minutes. >> get started. okay. welcome, everybody. i'm tom donnelly, i work here at aei as a resident fellow and director of our center for defense studies. again, i'm just here to welcome everybody, at least for the moment, not only on behalf of aei, but my partners in crime from the new america foundation, and from the center for a new american security. this is a joint project and multiplying think tank bureaucracies adds geometrical levels of complexities, but we've been working at three now for a while and very pleased to kick off what is a series of events examining the core issues of foreign and national security policy in this presidential year. the three of us are, obviously, institutions with somewhat different policy perspectives. what's brought us together in this case is a shared belief that thi

. >> robert kagan is not only an adviser to the romney campaign but also serves on secretary clinton pose foreign-policy advisers aboard. >> what i have been writing for years is that there's a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, a lot of a broad consensus. i think what you are seeing is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign-policy community and there's a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more with him on foreign policy and his latest book sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span "s "q&a". washington journal continues. host: joining us from our new york studer is the co-founder of ben & jerry's and a political activist. mr. ben cohen. what is your most recent political project that you are getting involved with? guest: i am working with the movement resource group.org. that organization is raising money to help support a lot of the work that's being done in the occupied and 99% movement around the country. host: why are you supporting those movements? guest: i have been working for economic and social justice for decades. it seems to me that the thing that

. >> robert kagan serves on secretary of state clinton's for an advisory board. >> there was a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, a broad consensus. what you're seeing here is a consensus that exists in the foreign policy committee, and there is an lot of overlap with the two parties. >> more sunday night at 8:00 eastern. >> ben bernanke called on congress to avoid tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in 2013. he testified before the senate banking committee, and the prospects for the u.s. economy and monetary policy. this is an hour and 45 minutes. >> i call this hearing to order. today i welcome chairman bernanke back to this committee to deserve the semiannual monetary report to congress. there is reason to be optimistic about our nation's economic recovery. the economy has expanded for 10 straight quarters and private sector employment has increased for 23 straight months. private employers added 2.1 million jobs last year, the most since 2005. there are also reasons to be concerned. the european debt crisis and the continuing track of the housing market o

. >> robert kagan is not only an adviser to the romney campaign but on secretary clinton's advisory board. >> what i have been writing for years is there is a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, a lot of broad consensus and what you are seeing here is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community and there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more on foreign policy and his latest "the world america made" sunday night at 8:00. prior to the senate's procedural vote on the blunt amendment, house minority leader nancy pelosi said republican efforts to repeal president obama's mandate is a sweeping overreach into women's health at her weekly legislative briefing said congress should focus on jobs instead. >> good morning, my heart goes out to the families in the midwest and extend our support. and i want to mention it has affected families in illinois and missouri and tennessee. thoughts and prayers are with those families. we are in budget season. hearings will be beginning soon and here we are, republican ideas that have already been rejected by the a

let's listen to an exchange about just that topic right now between justice elena kagan and attorney robert long. >> either buy insurance or pay a penalty... or pay a fee. but that's not the way the statute reads. congress, it must be supposed, you know, made a decision that that shouldn't be the way the statute reads, that it should instead be a regulatory command and a penalty attached to that command. >> i would not argue that this statute is a perfect model of clarity. but i do think the most reasonable way to read the entire statute is that it does impose a single obl sgags... obligation to pay a penalty if you are an applicable individual and you're not subject to an exemption. >> ifill: not a perfect model of clarity. even justice scalia was making that same point in this argument. how much does that affect what we're actually arguing about, the fact that everybody seemed to be muddling through the definitions. >> justice scalia pointed out that the court interprets very narrowly jurisdictional statutes, statutes that take away their power to review. he said it has to be clear in the

and robert jackson, it seems strange to us. since elena kagan came on the court it is no longer true but levying up to the nomination we had a supreme court all of whose members were a federal appeals court judge. the framers would find that remarkable pace of the supreme court drawn from the heart of political life. last that held herself out was justice o'connor who was majority leader of that arizona state senate. heard jurisprudence was unique on the court at that time and it had to do with a pragmatic cents of getting down to it to get things done she was nurtured by the fact she was an elected office holder. there is a change in religion. it is quite remarkable when justice stevens retired, we now have a court six catholics, three jews. of the framers were probably rollover in their graves. it is a testament to religion has gotten celly in the current campaign but geography for a long time was the case the senate agreed there should be a geographic balance. at has fallen away it is more of a homogenous country. right now we have a court pe

kagan and justice sotomayer. thomas alito and scalia, strike down. roberts and kennedy, not on the mandate but receiverability, if the mandate is struck down will they strike down the entire 2700 page bill. it's impossible to predict. we did hear them say they wanted to seek judicial modesty. they don't know the answer to that. is it more modest to start a clean slate, strike down the entire thing and give it back to congress or more modest for the supreme court to go through 2700 pages and analyze what is constitutional and what is not. >> sanjay, can i ask how disruptive this is in the medical profession for watching and waiting, waiting game what's going to happen. doctors and hospitals i talk to are already implementing things to try to get ahead of new health care reform and what this health care regime is going to look like. now there's a huge question mark on everything. >> it's been sort of an approach with a fair amount of caution. some of the things really spch to hospitals in terms of improving medical records, for example, reducing errors, starti

roberts, too. because there's something a little queasy making about having the four liberal justices which would be breyer, kagan, sotomayor and ginsburg, plus kennedy voting in one direction as a bloc because that makes it look too partisan. and so chief justice roberts who cares a great deal about the court not looking too partisan may choose to join that majority. also, chris, i would point out that when the chief justice is in the majority, he gets to assign who writes the opinion. so he might well vote in the majority simply to be able to assign the opinion to himself to write a relatively narrow opinion as opposed to sweeping opinion. >> professor, it's fascinating stuff. thanks to you. i want to bring in a little bit about the politics of this health care law. yesterday rick santorum talked outside of the supreme court. he took direct aim at front-runner mitt romney. >> there's one candidate who is uniquely disqualified to make the case. that's the reason i am here and he's not. >> let's bring in politico senior congressional reporter jonathan allen and huffington post senior political reporter amanda ter