tonight, president obama will address the american public on the u.s. aims and commitments there. oes president obama have a tough sell to the american public? >> usually the sell comes before military action for the united states. he is going to try to explain both why he went in and how long is going to last. that seems to be foremost on the white house's mine today. the hope to keep it short. >> what do we know about how the american public stance? >> it is about two to one against. most americans believe it is a problem best left to others. chiefly because they do not understand what america's interests in libya are. this is a speech, as far as we can tell, that is just going to be about libya tonight. >> the secretary of defense saying it is not in america's vital interests. not surprising that the american public is confused as well. >> i think secretary clint suggested it was and then mr. gates said it was the region we are concerned about. >> i think they will try to avoid the use of the work work. >> they will not try to make about a larger doctrine. -- the use of the word

other case, kosovo in 1999, bosnia at various times and yes it drives congress crazy, drives the american public crazy because who's in charge? a french general is leading american troops? that's happened since the revolutionary war, but never mind. and you end up with a committee of 28 different countries trying to decide the policy. it's very aggravating. >> but that's the difference between, welcome to the return of multilateralism. during the bush administration, he got a lot of grief about cowboy diplomacy, he went off and unilaterally, america did things on its own, president obama has made it a point from the time he came into office to say, i'm going to consult with the rest of the world, well, when you con cult -- consult with the rest of the world, you're very, very happy. >> they called it the coalition of the willing. now that same coalition is called foreign entities by john boehner in his letter to the president. >> absolutely. >> democrats do tend to care more about getting the u.n. security council or nato, the traditional institutions, so, yeah, there is a difference there. wher

i think where we both agree is the idea that you've got to lay the case out to the american public. y speaker boehner laid out a letter that has a lot of good questions that democrats, liberals, republicans want the answers and we haven't seen them so far. so we have committed american troops, i believe for good purposes. i think the president's doing the right thing. they are performing admirably with others within the international community. but there's no clarity here. when you're asked to put lines on the line you have to put the case to the american public and this president hasn't done this in this instance. >> lehrer: are you saying he should not act until he has done certain... in other words you're not saying he did the wrong thing, you're saying he got there through a prong wrote says? >> because in 2007 he said the president shouldn't be committing... utilizing force unless there was imminent threat to america. i think he was wrong in 2007. i think he was right when he stepped in for humanitarian purposes to stop slaughtering benghazi. however the process i'm talking abou

three-quarters of the american public thinks this is a problem that should be left to someone else. it's not clear what happens next after bombing the tanks. and the last two no-fly zones we had in bosnia, three years, in iraq, 12 years. we always managed this would be done by easter. when it comes to no-fly zones, it takes longer. chris: but the language of the resolution is by all means necessary to protect civilians. was the president wrong initially to say, qaddafi must go, getting so far ahead of everybody? >> i don't think so it's wrong for a president of the united states to issue an opinion about a mad man like qaddafi. i do think that the american public might have been consulted before the united states goes to war. i mean, you know, the president tells people after the fact? you know, we go into a middle eastern country, we don't know the consequences. it's been hatched by hillary and mccain. what could go wrong? when you think about it. i'm just -- i don't know why anybody voted for obama in the primaries. this initiative, this no-fly zone, it's war, essentially, is a hil

despite this accomplishment, the tarp remains deeply despised by the american public. most of the anger is understandable. it did much more for wall street than it did for everyday americans. it is only fair to note that some of the bun popularity is due to misunderstandings about its track record. -- about the unpopularity is due to misunderstandings about its tractor -- about its track record. only 33% believe that most of the money will be recovered. many of the greatest skeptics recall the frightening price tag first assisted with the program, $700 billion, the amount that the treasury requested and congress approved to bail out the financial system. what they do not know is that the congressional office estimates it will lose $25 billion. but maybe clear. $25 billion is a vast sum of money. yet it is far less than anyone expected the tarp to cross when it was initiated. the news is not all good. it has fallen far short to help homeowners stay in their homes. the panel estimates that it will prevent fewer than 8000. it is no wonder that many americans view the progr

remains deeply despised by the american public. most of the anger is understandable, as the program is viewed for having done far more than -- for wall street than average americans. some of the unpopularity is due to misunderstandings about its track record. a recent bloomberg poll hits the point in terms of anecdotal evidence. 60% of americans believe most of the t.a.r.p. money provided by banks will be lost. 33% believe most of the money will be recovered. many of t.a.r.p.'s greatest spectacle -- skeptics first were shocked at the price tag, $700 billion. the amount congress approved a bailout the financial system. what they may not know is that the congressional budget office today estimates that t.a.r.p. will lose $25 billion. best, that is a sum of money, but it is far less than anyone expected. the news is not all good. most starkly, the t.a.r.p. has fallen short of its efforts to help home owners stay in their homes. the president first announced the goals of t.a.r.p. to prevent 3 million foreclosures. it is no wonder then t

it probably is i mean the most interesting thing is i don't think the american public in the case of libya i don't think the american public wants to have anything to do with getting involved in any kind of nation building operation there same holds true for egypt so while the president is being criticized in washington he's probably doing just fine with voting public which doesn't you know having gone through two nation building exercises in iraq and afghanistan has basically said enough is enough we don't want to do that anymore why have you bring that out that's right if we look at the recent rasmussen polls that show that think the seven percent of the u.s. doesn't think that we should get involved especially with the situation in libya here so if obama is going to be a good leader and a good president is new supposed to listen to his people or just a few neo cons that basically want to bomb everyone and everything here in d.c. . well i think he has two obligations one is he can't get too far out ahead of where. the electorate is if the electorate doesn't want him to do this or th

the food and drug administration, and believe strongly in keeping the commitment to not only the american public but growing jobs and the economy. and that the failure to fund those agencies to the full extent both jeopardize is the support responsibilities they have as well as threatens -- the last detail i saw from dr. collins at nih, for every dollar in research grants, $7 is generated and the local community. it has an enormous ripple effect when research grants are put out across this country, as well as the life-saving care possibilities that result. >> it proposes over a billion dollars in cuts to the nih budget. it appears the majority will come from a small percent of the budget for new nih grants. that would mean thousands fewer nih awards this year. the cuts at nih would be devastating on cutting edge research into new cures and treatments for diseases. if he could comment on that briefly. -- if you could comment on that briefly. >> the nih budget had a dramatic increase in funding, thanks to the investment and recovery act. scientific investment was a major innovation effort for the

agent we have to balance every day, and it boils down to having a very active dialogue with the american public. we use a variety of ways to do that incoming, you know -- including, you know, pretty rebust dialogue on the internet. we have an award winning blog where we encourage the american people to have that discussion with them about why it is we are doing what it is we do every day, and we want to make sure that the traveling public is able to navigate our screening process. >> out of time, but i wanted to ask you this. when the heard the representative earlier testify ring one of the things she talk about is training, and there seemed to be, you know, i think part of trust too is that people feel that they are treated with respect, that they may be going through a difficulty, but somebody hears them, understands them, somebody has empathy. i think that goes a long ways towards trust also, and i just comment and my time is up. >> yes, sir, i couldn'tgree with you more on that. we imp size the -- emphasize to the officers, wh are some of the most trained and tested of any profession out th

if you took away that insurance policy there's no private insurance that is going to insure the american public against any sort of nuclear accident it's written into our insurance policies that's why the price anderson is there because you can't get private insurance if you live near and there's no there's no guarantee if the price anderson act is they're going to be activated after an accident was not after tonight and there is no there's no help for the american public it's my understanding the insurance that the industry itself asked for basically only against financial disasters and there was just a backstop them with the banks thank you linda cindy thank you both so much for being with us and so much appreciate it or i'll have more on the dire situation in japan and what it means for the united states internet still eighty. it's good that out of the very very excruciating we are to a first because senator kirsten gillibrand as for a job or has more and more americans disapprove of the afghanistan war childred is holding the white house's feet to the fire over their plans to withdraw troop

to be activated after an accident was not after tonight and there is no there's no help for the american public it's my understanding the insurance that the industry itself just created basically only against financial disasters and there was just a backstop them with the banks thank you linda sunny thank you both so much for being with us this so much appreciate it i will have more on the dire situation in japan and what it means for the united states internet still take. it's the good the bad of the very very excruciating we are the way first the good senator kirsten gillibrand as for job or as more and more americans disapprove of the afghanistan war jill brown is holding the white house's feet to the fire over their plans to withdraw troops in twenty fourteen using the promise that america cannot afford and most war children are introduced legislation to require the white house present a clear strategy for withdrawal to congress by july thirty first the new a.b.c. washington post poll showing a record high sixty four percent of americans disapproving of the war senator joe lieberman is list

agent we have to balance every day, and it boils down to having a very active dialogue with the american public. we use a variety of ways to do that incoming, you know -- including, you know, pretty rebust dialogue on the internet. we have an award winning blog where we encourage the american people to have that discussion with them about why it is we are doing what it is we do every day, and we want to make sure that the traveling public is able to navigate our screening process. >> out of time, but i wanted to ask you this. when the heard the representative earlier testify ring one of the things she talk about is training, and there seemed to be, you know, i think part of trust too is that people feel that they are treated with respect, that they may be going through a difficulty, but somebody hears them, understands them, somebody has empathy. i think that goes a long ways towards trust also, and i just comment and my time is up. >> yes, sir, i couldn't agree with you more on that. we imp size to the -- emphasize to the officers, who are some of the most trained and tested of any profession

. >> reporter: many conservative no longer believe that public broadcasting represents the whole of the american >> i would be surprised if there was a con seven active kris kran gun owner inside of npr. in the taxpayer dollars, a small percentage of the budget but a big deal for the local stations. >>> when we come back, what is the secret to a longer life? opportunity can start anywhere. and go everywhere. to help revitalize a neighborhood in massachusetts, restore a historic landmark in harlem, fund a local business in chicago, expand green energy initiatives in seattle. because when you're giving, lending and investing in more communities across the country, more opportunities happen. >>> in 1921, the psychologist lewis turman launched a stud toy did i to track children their entire lives. some of the subjects lived longer than others. but why? did certain traits seem to add or subtract to their live spans? here's john donvan. >> reporter: what do sisters get to be when they're born within 15 minutes of each other? and then spend their childhoods in each other's company. and then reach a rar

what is the american public saying about the possibility another battle could be fought in north africa? >> americans are very sympathetic towards the fight for freedom but more than six out of 10 americans don't want to see any american soldiers in libya. that is why obama made it very clear. he will not deploy any ground troops. he will not go beyond the goal of helping civilians in libya. the americans don't intend to use military force to have a regime change. >> we thank you very much. yemen has declared a state of emergency after 46 protesters were killed in the capital. witnesses say security forces fired live rounds with thousands in a demonstration following friday prayers. police also used teargas to disperse crowds. world leaders including nicholas sarkozy have condemned the crackdown. 10,000 shiite muslims in iraq have protested bahrain protests. heavy machinery was brought into teardown a symbolic statute in the capital. it was a focal point of anti- government protests. the protesters are calling for increased civil rights. an unconfirmed reports say four protesters have b

and let's look at the labor movement today that we've all said that union membership has dropped significantly but american girls are going to be seeing a huge war on unions to the publicsecurity which shouldn't exist anymore it's constant in wisconsin but you can't say that there is. this intimidation campaign from the story that i did earlier in the show we found out that from indiana they were suggesting to scott walker the bacon assassination attempt we know that's not why we're is now going after a professor who works in wisconsin and trying to open his e-mails just because he wrote an op ed supporting laboring that's not why i listen to him it's intimidation he's doing it because the guy was writing fake sick notes to people who are striking you're not going to destroy that's why he's going out and how many other doctors in the state did that well they should go out for all of them do you think though this is clearly clearly an intimidation campaign well i mean i think walker's scared i mean the polling shows that two to one wisconsinites oppose what he's doing that's waiting campaign and that's why i came here without talking about political says that's false an

[laughter] what i am saying is, the american school of public system -- the american public school system, the lower income population is not playing the role they should play. we are not adequately educating these children. the classrooms are too crowded -- that is allov

[laughter] what i am saying is, the american school of public system -- the american public school system, the lower income population is not playing the role they should play. we are not adequately educating these children. the classrooms are too crowded -- that is all over the tv in new york. they blame it all on teachers. i think the youth deserve better. that is what i think. [applause] we have to start not when they are a teenager, but pre-k. [applause] >> you have said what families need to do. as a person in school, we know how much of our children's time is spent in school. we are often the surrogate parents for a length of time, so we have a particular responsibility in schools to get some of this truth out. i just want to throw this out for black history month. we need to ask ourselves, what information is being shared that is worthwhile, that will help young african-americans, and others, understand the nature of the society we live in? many useless activities are engaged in in black history month. i am sorry to say. it is still early. we have a chance to review. but i want to

[laughter] what i am saying is, the american school of public system -- the american public school system, the lower income population is not playing the population is not playing the role they should play.

the americ public know what that is. and i fully agree that if we need to also show the assets, so be it. but right now the american public is on the hook for the debt, we're not necessarily going to be able to obtain access to the assets. it is going to be very interesting to see how congress moves forward to deal with this. another question just shifting subjects for a minute is do you believe an explicit inflation target would help promote the credibility of the federal reserve by being explicit about its subjectives and help it to anchor inflation expectations? >> well, i supported this idea for many, many years. and the subtlety is helping everyone understand that by giving a number, which would help clarify what the fed is trying to achieve and would help, we hope, anchor expectations more firmly, that we wld not be abandoning in any sense the other part of the congressional mandate to maximum deployment. we have moved part way in that direction in that we provide information in our projections about what the committee individually thinks is the best long run inflation goal -- inflation outcome and that curre

hasn't had a piece of that part and the idea is to convince continue to convince the american public that genocide is happening in libya which is absolute nonsense and therefore we need to take it you know the all powerful right american role is to go out there and save somebody that needs saving and actually were involved in the killing because we're i believe we're supporting the rebels in libya i love a genocide only one of politically convenient i guess and after the problem journalists i mean have you seen have you seen any sort of a change in terms of maybe your reports being that they're finding more home market for your reports and more of an interest in alternative sources of media. the story that i wrote about libya has been picked up and read a lot because there's nobody out there who's really getting into the details behind it propaganda so many americans even the left wing leftists or progress in four alternative media depending on how you define him are pumping out some version of the propaganda this week released by the state department which is today i think committed

so we're and you know there is increasing pressure from lawmakers in washington as well as the american public for president obama to be more specific in the strategy for libya there's also increasing cost and a debate with many layers about whether the u.s. should have gone in in the first place so let's go now to austin texas to speak now to radio host alex jones all right alex if they allowed in and tallies have the cost that's part about five hundred fifty million dollars but there are indeed people who say the americans nato they saved my family what do you say about this. well i mean this is classic propaganda when the united nations is going along with the blustering that happened in rwanda back in the early ninety's you know nobody cared when saddam hussein was a us puppet and virtually repressed his people and used us nerve gas on the kurds it was a great act of patriotism when al qaida was used to start the war with the serbs in kosovo they were the great allies of freedom and then of course when they were busy using al qaida the mujahideen to start a war with russia that was a great

public transit, we need to be expanding the amount of public transit in america. which brings us here to washington. we want to speak with the congress about expanding the travel opportunities for americans are about making sure that communities have the right kind of bus service, the right kind of rail service, the right kind of public transit service for the size of their communities. but, you know, it's a very difficult budget year in washington and that's what you're going to hear everywhere you go. every office you visit. you know that the congress has yet to be able to finish its work on even the appropriations for the current year, the school year 2011. they are already five months later. and you know that in house of representatives house of representatives with a bill they passed a couple weeks ago, it would cut funding for public transportation, cut funding for high speed and intercity rail. and this is just at a time when america needs more public transportation. so we don't understand that, and that's what we need to get with our congressional representatives, our senators and congresspeople to explain just how important investment in public transportation is. that congress i

we have done a great job to speak here and talk with the american public and the world and tell them these are not muslim bashing hearings. these are hearings that i, as a moslem and all the muslim- americans, somali-americans, will benefit to have a voice and speak up. nobody is a mystery may. is mistreating me. thank you. >> [unintelligible] >> they are telling the african- american youth that they are not appreciated in america of. they say they want to reach out to you. that is what the use to recruit african-american youths. i have family members who are moslem and have been for over 30 years. many worship and study islam. they are not radicalized. they are hardworking citizens and i embrace that. thank you. >> is that it? any more? we'll have more hearings over the next year-and-a-half as long as i am chairman. the nice one should be several months from now. it would probably be on radicalization of the american prison system. our staff is exhausted and i want to thank the staff did a phenomenal job interviewing witnesses and flying around the country, going through transcripts

money paying congress making sure congress has the money to do what it needs to do to serve the american publicbut how do i also do you feel me that in this revolving door we constantly talk about so many people right they go straight from washington to wall street and here we have them going from washington to g.e. and then helping them even their taxes absolutely it's disgraceful i mean we in america we are all benefit beneficiaries of a society that relies on tax revenue to provide basic services nine months one hospitals teachers all these things and spending all that money to evade paying your taxes it's unacceptable it's morally wrong and they need to be doing a better job to serve the american public that does pay their fair share both in congress and in the companies that are important for making our economy go round you think we hear the president say more about this right because the president is after all trying to cozy up to business in fact the chief executive of g.e. is his chief guy to get obama to be closer to the business community he's talking about reducing the corporate tax

public defenders, and more broadly, criminal defense attorneys? >> no, thank you. [laughter] >> absolutely yes. i think for the most part, there is the lack of understanding on the part of the americanpublic on more critical role of the public defender. it is laid down in our sixth amendment. we do not teach it properly in primary school education. the public learned of it through the news media and come to some extent, through the entertainment media. most of my colleagues, and it with a bias that is predisposed against the criminal defendant and criminal defense attorney there for. i do not think there are aware of this bias for the most part, but i'm speaking from my own anecdotal experience. my reason t get into the business is to counter that bias. i came from a car rear as a criminal defense attorney. the bis filters into the programming, reporting, coverage of cases. most of the cases do not have a camera present. even when the camera is present, it cannot entirely help to filter of bias. how many of you can sit at home and watch the robert blake trial from gavel-to-gavel, even if it is televised? when the camera is not present, you must rely on the boarding -- the reporting.