it's so narrowed down to the middle east. but meanwhile, in searching for a commander in central commend after a lot of due diligence in the pentagon in one story that i do like to tell when my name was mentioned to the chairman of the joint chiefs, he didn't know me and said he'd like to meet me. i went over on a sunday morning and his secretary was there in his office and i told her i was here to see the chairman and she said, well, he's over in the white house. i said, well, how long is he going to be there? she said, well, i really don't know. why? do you have a problem? i said, quite frankly, i do. she said would you mind telling me what it is? i said, not really, i promised by granddaughter i was going to take her to see snow white and the seven dwarfs and by golly, i'm going to take her. the chairman thought that was rather humorous. with the commander officer actually -- company in a unit that was stationed, aidan is a center, or was a center element to a middle east oil. and the facility was actually a royal marine fa

it is all about the middle class at the end of the day. elections are won by the candidate that collects best with moderates and the middle class. the problem is the middle class has beenet going squeezed not just through this recession but for decades. >> i think seized is too kind a word. >> make it more valid. the point is the forgotten middle class and reality has been getting less out of their paycheck and even after the bush tax cuts for a long time and the fault lines of this whole election are centered on the middle class and set that in terms of the debate in kansas saying he was the candidate that could strengthen and grow the middle class and you heard him say it is how recoveries go and candidate romney, governor romney saying, look, i will be fighting for the middle class. that's what he made the statement about. >> let's listen. >> the president came here yesterday and railed against arguments no one is making. and criticized policies no one is proposing, and one of his favorite strategies and setting up to distract us from h

the middle east is much more chaotic. it lacks infrastructure. many of the pilars of our influence have been rattled by the events of the arab spring. one senses that the united states wants to pull back from the middle east. in fact, sometimes i wonder if the so-called pivot to asia is because the middle east is too hard. we can't afford to pull back from that middle east that is so hard. it's fashionable to talk about insulating ourselves by an energy policy that finally frees us of dependence on middle eastern oil. we should do that any way, we should do everything we can to build north american platforms from oil and gas to transportation to new technologies, we should build north american platforms for energy security. but we know that we will not be insulated from the middle east. one way or another, the malignancies of the middle east as they did on 9/11 will come back to haunt us. and so, we need to move from what has been a series of tactical responses since 2009, to a more strategic view of how we want the middle east to unfold. without

ground under our feet and in size really take one percenters are threatening to destroy america and the middle classes and you know on by a thread how can we eliminate the threat from f.d.r.'s economic royalists and restore the american dream. of them. there is the news we all just lived through the hottest march in the history of our nation across the country more than fifteen thousand high temperature records were set as you can see in this video showing exactly where and when the records were broken over the month making it the hottest march ever recorded in the one hundred seventeen years since the national oceanic and atmospheric association began keeping records climate change is no longer something to fear in the future happening right now we see it in strings of massive tornadoes that tear across the american midwest we see enormous wildfires burning up the east coast and we see it in freak hail storms drive bowling ball sized chunks of ice on the ground all of this is caused by the endless dumping of toxic greenhouse gases into the environment from burning fossil fuels and we let the

those jobs are being hollowed out in the middle. jobs that are left are non-routine manual like collecting the garbage, chopping up onions or the non-routine jobs at the very top like slicing and dicing securities. >> slicing dicing onions, or slicing and dicing securities. so you have unique skills at the very top or the very bottom. >> yes. those are the jobs that are left, but what it means is the middle class is being hollowed out. all of the jobs in the middle that really created the america we think of in the 50s and 60s, those are being eroded. as this technology has emerged we also have the impact of globalization which mean those jobs in the middle, now thatry disappearing for that reason as well. >> that's right. if a machine isn't taking it away maybe a lower-paid worker in china is. this polar iedzation of jobs happens in sharp bursts, and those sharp bursts are recessions. so if people feel like the recover isn't doing it for them that's because this is one of those moments. >> that to me was one of the fascinating point

but given the intensity of multiple crises in the middle east and the uncertainty and the threats to our oil supply, these are not limited to the current crisis with iran. as incomprehensible as it to me that the president has rejected approval of the keystone xl pipeline. few national security decisions in were more clearly at odds with core united states interests than the president's pipeline delay. the prospect that iran could obstruct oil flowing from the straits of hormuz for even a relatively short period underscores the importance of having safe and secure fuel supplies for the united states. the iranian threat is intensify by its growing alliance with the chavez regime in venezuela, which could choose to support tehran with its own oil supply disruption during a conflict. our government should explicitly warn venezuela the united states would regard such a disruption as a threat to the united states security interests. today's high oil prices are difficult for american families and american businesses. yet without action, the worst is likely to be months or years down the ro

or world navy operations in the middle east. going back to central command, that started out really as a worldwide command and the first thing that struck me was the fact that there was no central facility, no focus on middle east. it was worldwide, but it wasn't in the middle east and that was at the time when the middle east was really starting to flare up as you may recall. with that said, when we started to do our planning for the middle east, we realized that we're talking about an 8,000 mile zone between u.s. facilities and the middle east, 8,000 miles where the airplanes had to go and ships had to go and this was a tremendous demand on oil. because that was the only option we, in fact, did have. when we started to do our planning, we realized that this was a bigger problem that just having a small litter force for the middle east. so, that's when we started the wheels were in motion for the european commander rather than central command and that's what started the history of central command. was the fact that we had no uni

however my question is basically about you stating the middle east and north african region the islamic state -- middle east and north african region prima to imploding or predicted to implode and you stated that the u.s. would be a casualty in. >> if we are not careful. >> i wonder if you could give an explanation how the u.s. would be the casualty and in combination with that could you identify how some future officials should approach this situation? >> very good question. in my last chapter which is called house of cards:how islam is imploding it is always by expanding. islam is expanding in europe now. bringing the most radical elements in europe, in america. we have a growing population, many of their leadership calling for sharia. we have to look at all of this from history. islam when it went to india. when it went to chechnya or part of russia or eastern europe, very benign at the beginning. with islam became strong it had great power and became much stronger. throughout history when islam is strong jihad increases. when islam is week -- with the islamic minority, what do they

new help from people who wake up in the middle of the night. >>> and star search. walmart ready to pay for your new invention. will this make it to their shelves? >> you the man! >> from abc news, this is abc "world news" with diane sawyer. >>> good evening. we begin with the frightening morning for passengers on that plane flying at 30,000 feet when suddenly, they were hit by such turbulence so extreme it forced the united flight to make a emergency landing. passengers sent to the hospital. it had been a routine flight from tampa to houston. they were flying through clear after after that weather system that spawned the tornadoes had already passed through. enter it shifted. and jim avila tells us what happened next. >> reporter: thousands of feet above the ground a volt that injured five of the 132 passengers and two flight attendants when the plane hit sudden turbulence. the tampa to houston flight was nearing approach when over lake charles, louisiana, it hit leftover bumpy air from the storms that hit texas yesterday. >> when you hit a very large up draft is d

the rich pay higher taxes in some cases than the middle class. you look at the effective tax rates we can put up the numbers for you and you can see it is the middle class pays in many cases a lower tax rate than the very wealthiest. here we have mitt romney, in 2010 i think it was 13.9%. the middle class 12.8%. >> right. >> you have the top 1%. they pay 27%. and the top 0.1% pay 30%. this is the irving brookings tax policy numbers for 2010. what does that mean? >> it means that almost invariably the rich pay more in taxes than the middle class. >> the tax rate and in dollars? >> yes. the average effective tax rate of a wealthy person, the millionaires in this country is 19%. they pay about 19% of their income into income taxes. your average middle class person pays something like 13% of their income into income tax. but the thing people don't understand is they don't understand the effects of marginal tax rates and effective taxes paid. in other words, because you hear the rich guys' top tax rate is 35% that doesn't mean he is paying 35%. becaus

we have to help the people in the middle of the country and the middle of the spectrum understand the true defenders of america's values are on our side. >> yeah. >> every value, a generation of young people education, the middle class, that's our values. throwing kids overboard into a global economy where you have debt, no grants, that's not helping america. no country in the world is throwing their kids overboard making education harder and employment impossible but us. india, china brazil they are not doing that to their kids. >> you have to get van's book and learn more because i know that rebuilding the dream will also help to rebuild our campaign finance system once president obama is re-elected through construction through rebuilding the dream. up next, it's time for the campaign for the latest from wisconsin. we have got a little bit of results coming in. there is only about 2% in. it's too early to call. we will bring in our political roundtable and then later, no matter what happens in tonight's primary, brett erlich has it all covered. coming come. >> i have no idea who won

in their personal lives and their interest in democratizing art in introducing beauty into the growing middle-class. >> one of the inspirations for the victorian avant-garde was the industrial revolution. quality household goods were now being mass-produced. artists responded by either creating elaborate unique court or by embracing technology and trying to share a beautiful creations with as many people as possible. >> william morris was in a difficult position, because he wanted the middle-class to be able to acquire really beautifully made objects. but the piece is that he actually made, you know, took so much handcrafting that there were quite expensive. i think he would have been pleased to know that there are things like restoration hardware anne craig and bare all that tried to make available to the middle-class -- and crate and barrel that tried to make these things available to the middle class. >> over 60 lenders contributed art and craft to the exhibition. one of the partners is london's victoria and albert museum, which has been collecting the finest examples of victorian craft si

so we will emphasize asia pacific and the middle east. the strategic guidance made clear that we must protect capabilities needed to project power in asia pacific and the middle east. these are the areas where we obviously, as you know just by picking up the newspaper, these are the places that can represent the greatest threats to our security. for that reason, we maintain the current bomber fleet. we maintain our aircraft carrier fleet at a long-term 11 of 11 ships and 10 air wings. we maintain the big deck amphibious fleet. we enhance our army and marine corps structure presence in the pacific, and we also maintain a strong presence in the middle east. third, for elsewhere in the world, and we have responsibilities elsewhere, we can't ignore europe or latin america or africa. what we have recommended is that we built innovative partnerships and strengthen key alliances and partnerships in those areas. it makes -- the strategy makes clear that even though asia pacific and the middle east represent areas of growing strategic priority, the

by the people of the middle east. this is their revolution. this is not made in america. this is not made by george bush. the one thing i think we can claim for president bush is that he, looking at 9/11, was willing to say, and articulate it clearly, publicly, that u.s. policy has been wrong for about 50 years. that it was premised on the notion that you could support tyrants and authoritarians in the middle east and get stability, and we thought we needed that stability over 50 years for oil and to keep out the soviets and all kinds of reasons, and he, one of the lessons he dprew from 9/11 that was a bad deal. supporting authoritarians instead of getting a stability really got terrorism, because it -- it created a culture of despair and lack of hope that made the middle east a recruiting ground for extremism, and he came out and said that very clearly, and that the united states had to have a different policy. it had to have a policy that supported freedom, democracy, human dignity. the right to people to take contro

looking at temperatures in the middle 60s. here's our wakeup forecast. grab a light jacket you will need the sunglasses. temperatures upper 50s to middle 60s winds out of the southwest five to ten. we'll see daytime highs well into the mid to upper 80s. the question is how long will it last? full details in my forecast coming up in just a few minutes. >> all right. thank you. we're following the latest developments in the scandal that is rocking the secret service. president obama lands in less than 30 minutes following his trip to latin america, marred by the ever growing scandal involving 11 secret service agents and prostitutes. today the president commented. >> president obama waited until his last few moments in colombia to make his first comments about the secret service prost tuition scandal. >> if it turns out that some of the allegation that is have been made in the press are confirmed, then of course i'll be angry. because my attitude with respect to the secret service personnel is no different than what i expect out of my delegation that's sitt

temperatures tomorrow, by the middle part of the day, into the '70s.et into the evening, a good chance, for you folks across northern maryland, there could be passing showers. many of those will stay to our north. temperatures tomorrow morning, when you get up and head out for the cherry blossom parade, will be in the mid-forties. rapidly will it raise into the low-seventies. there is a chance late tomorrow afternoon for a shower or thundershower. nothing around here with -- compared to what the people will deal with in kansas and oklahoma to mar. i am afraid we will hear about the violent weather and tornadoes. you can always keep posted about the weather and a cherry blossom festival right there at our home page. >> what a great weekend. fantastic and in sports as well. the capitals gear up for the bruins. london fletcher says, hello washington. and take a look at the nationals. can they do it again? this game was back and forth. >> the toyota sports desk, brought to you by your local toyota dealer, moving you forward. >> for the second straight day

but when it comes to the middle east, things are not as clear-cut as in the west. liberty often means freedom to foley practice sharia and ending the peace treaty with israel, to move into the conflict stage with israel again or freedom to declare jihad against israel openly come and to many it means the beginning of the road to the islamic caliphate that never really existed. democracies don't come out of nowhere and are not the natural progress passing of time. a lot of people think that even shows the time will bring democracy. but egypt, countries like egypt and persia have 5000-year-old histories, and unfortunately the passage of time doesn't necessarily mean positive progress. it doesn't mean they will finally discover liberty to read certain factors must exist for the society to have democracy and freedom. at the state level it means the right legal system to protect freedom of democracy. the cultural level, it means they're right morals and values that will establish the foundation comfortable, for people to behave and to be appreciative of freedom and demo

and the middle class in the meantime has been decimated. i submit there can be no sustainable economic recovery to america, no sustained return to fiscal balance without the recovery of the middle class. that is exactly the aim of the rebuild america act. is it comprehensive? yes. is it ambitious? of course. but it rises to the challenge of our time. so i urge my colleagues to join me in advancing this legislation and doing all we can to restore the american middle class. it is the fundamental challenge of our time. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call mrs. shaheen: the united states postal service is a fundamental part of our nation's history and what it means to be an american. it was talked about in our constitution. nationwide the postal service employs 550,000 americans and it

and by the middle of the next century, by the middle of this century, excuse me, by about 2050 at a time when most of you will have families of your own, funding for most of the investments i talked about today would have been almost completely eliminated altogether. now,s in not an exaggeration. and when i said this about a week ago, the republicans objected. they said we didn't specify all these cuts. well, right, you didn't because you knew people wouldn't accept them. so you just gave a big number. so we've done is done the mooth. this is what it would mean. they said well, we didn't specifically propose to cut student loans. okay, if you don't cut student loans, then you have to cut basic research even more. the money has got to come from somewhere. you can't give over $4 trillion of additional tax cuts including to folks like me who don't need them and weren't asking for them, and it just comes from some magic tree somewhere. fw they say the if the is making this stuff up. no, we're doing the math .if they want to dit put anything we said right now, they should show us specifically

and the middle has been shrinking. d the deep economic crisis that started in 2008 has made that problem even worse. >> so when you say middle class, you say jobs at the median. we have this median income that people are supposed to be in but there are fewer people earning it. >> there are fewer people in the middle. it's been harder to move up from the lower, middle or bottom into the middle. that problem has been going on for over a decade in the u.s. economy. the president's looking for ways to try to reduce -- >> why wouldn't you step back and say this is a product of what the market's doing. it's rewarding those with skills more heavily and it's really not paying as much to people without skills. if that's the natural agenda of the market, why fight it? >> part of the problem is we haven't done a good enough job to provide workers with skills, the skills employees need. we look at other countries, they've continued to raise their educational attainment while we stagnated. we went from having the best educated worke

actions in the middle east to support israel, oil was withheld from the market and the united states had begun to be a significant importer and the government had to allocate oil. for 40 years, we watched it and the significance is over this period of time is that every major economic attraction or recession was either coincident webbed or precipitate eby a significant run-up in fuel prices. beginning until 21st century, the landscape changed as a result of the united states' imports of its petroleum needs reaching almost 60% at the zenith and the emergence of china and india as increasing users of petroleum as they had large percentages of their population moving into the middle class and wanting to have the same lifestyle that we did. so, it has become over the last several years after nuclear proliferation and after weapons of mass destruction issued the largest single national security and a national economic risk that the united states faces. the energy security leadership counsel is an organization as you noted that's composed of four star generals and admirals and ceos of comp

damaging winds probably the biggest concern in the middle of the nation. southeast, still dry for you. temperatures pretty warm and also a big cooldown in denver. that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. pittsburgh, pennsylvania, not bad for you. you were a little cool over the weekday. around 60 degrees. raleigh, cool. talk about cool and chilly weather, it snowed on saturday in connecticut and massachusetts. it was chilly yesterday. a slow improvement this week. overall, just the incredible heat in the midwest. it's going to be in the 90s in a few spots. even in st. louis maybe. >> unbelievable. bill, thanks so much. k078ing up how often airlines are on time, new jobs are cropping up and owning a piece of titanic history. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus coming up awards adam sandler would preferred not to one. >>> a championship p plus a couple of hockey coaches make the nhl look like wrestlemania. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'

are straight ahead. >>> looks like another day of wet weather in california, that will head in the middle of the nation. the forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning, if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports, six of the top nhl teams faced off last night. beginning round one of the hockey's stanley cup playoffs. here is mario solis with an early look at the sports headlines. >>> good morning, the stanley cup playoffs got off to a b listering start. the penguins and flyers. pens jumping out to an early lead. sidney crosby got the scoring started. danny briere and brayden schenn. jakub voracek pops in the rebound, flyers rally to take game one, 4-3 in ot. >>> to the west, predators with postseason debut to remember. scores two goals, nashville wins 3-2. >>> vancouver, many think they are the toughest team in the playoffs. kings, jeff carter deflecting the puck, scores the game winner, kings win game one 4-2. >>> nba, bucks and knicks, until the end, smith knocks down the rain maker, new york wins 111-107. >>> if i asked you which team had the b

arabia had -- two great civilizations in the middle east. pt and persia and the area of turkey, and it wasn't arabia. but arabia discovered the brilliant sharia law, and the koran, and they conquered all these nations who were at the low point in their history. and quickly gave them the sharia to rule by, which was a very smart way to many leaders thought it was a brilliant way to rule by -- to make people obey them. >> consolidate. >> yeah so islam was very -- at that time was very attractive to many leaders who wanted the solutions for obedience. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> hi. my name is vanessa and i'm an intern at the clare booth luce policy institute. my question is actually based on the happenings thus far with barack obama, he way he is happening foreign policy. do you think he has firm and accurate grasp on muslim religion? >> from his books and from what he says, he doesn't, unfortunately. he has a lot of sympathy towards islam and a lot of closing the eyes like apologizing a lot for things that we should be apologizing for.

continued in the middle way as. one of the sides best boxers.it was anyone's fight with barely anything to separate the two i managed to call it a unanimous decision when up to landing some precise conscious. choices in the middle of the night so it's a very important down to match. it can make or break the whole match. yet aiming for the final and the limping books in arena will host it and it's a great honor for us to represent russia there. think this night in flight three d. gate the fourth boat turned out to be a do or die battle for the side but. managed to remain standing to keep his unbeaten record the twenty four year old ukrainian stand to be three two roads edging. a bill he'd been travelling on points. but the opponent got back into it in the second and i have to try my best to overcome them in the last two rounds luckily i did it the heavyweight boat was just a formality and. wasted no time there three coats in the opening round and before i was away in just several minutes this victory dilemma regularly impressive five nothing last

we'll hit the middle 40s by 9:00. we'll keep the sunshine thro

the top issues. we noted deaths middle-income kids of low-income kids learn in the school year of about the same rate -- we noted middle income kids of low-income kids learn in the school year of about the same state. -- rate. during the summer middle income kids keep learning in their own environment, but low income kids go down, and that widens the achievement gap, so by eighth grade we have many students seeing that drop accumulate to maybe being a dropout statistics. they get behind and feel they are not as good as other students. we need to have them continue that learning. this is one of the top priorities. we want to see that matt still been -- map filled in. it is exciting, engaging, and excellent. we want to see that throughout this state of california. what you are doing through san francisco with the after school for all initiatives and the summer programs, this is the way to go for the whole state of california. that is why we are here today. i am issuing a call to action for all the city councils, all the superintendents and board members, and you have a great champion in your superinten

>>guest: but for the poor and the middle-class. it depends on who is going to be harmed by cutting that spending. >>neil: would you tell the rich who are happy, if the rich are happy to pay more taxes if it goes to get spending under control you telling me that will not change, you are just going to pay for more government? >>guest: no, i don't say that is what we do. i say we also go with the progressive caucus budget which bringing our troops home from afghanistan saving over $1 trillion over the next ten years. topping our investment -- stopping investment in nuclear --. >>neil: got you, got you, congresswoman. all right. all right. all right. we will have more. >>neil: rick santorum out and stocks down and out on a day that romney is loop for both of the above saying this is a combination he would like to say. of course that is not what he would say. and now, on phone, my guest, bob, what do you make of the developments and for rick santorum? >>guest: very surprising to me. had he called me to ask my opinion, as you know i would

. >> i believe this is a make or break moment for the middle class. i can't remember a time when the choice between competing visions of our future has been so unbasic biggousu unambiguously clear. the republicans running congress right now have doubled down and proposed a budget so far to the right, it makes the contract with america look like the new deal. >> the republican budget would require vast, and i mean vast spending cuts and no tax increases on the wealthy. republicans will not compromise on the radical plan. the president is calling the budget out for what it really is. >> if you want to keep these tax breaks and deductions in place or give even more tax breaks to the wealthy as the republicans in congress propose, then one of two things happen. either it means higher deficits or it means more sacrifice from the middle class. seniors will have to pay more for medicare. college student will lose financial aid. working families scraping by will have to do more because the richest americans are doing less. i repeat what i've said before. that'

my mother was born in antioch, my father passionate we were the original christians of the middle east spent and when did you come to the states? where did you go to school? >> i came in 1963, and married to an episcopal priest goes from the diocese of jerusalem spent and you went to school? >> i went to school and boston university school of theology is, harvard seminary. seminary education spend what do you teach at georgetown? >> i teach islamic studies and also about arab christians. arab intellectuals. >> how many books have you written? >> twenty-three. >> all of this topic? >> no. i've written on islamic concept of the resurrection of muslim women, arab ideas spent we've been talking with georgetown professor yvonne haddad, "becoming american?: the forging of arab and muslim identity in pluralist america" published by baylor university press. >> thank you. >> we would like to hear from you, tweet us your feedback, twitter.com/booktv. >> since i am a psychoanalyst and not a political analyst i will not predict who is going to win 2012, but i will say that what makes bipartisan ob

and the middle class are squeezed economically. eed to continue to give college assistance for their kids to health care to economic security so they can hold on to the american dream and pass something to their children that today is under assault. >> only one american president in history, i think, has ever been elected with unemployment above 8%. the poll suggests it's pretty close with the assumed nominee mitt romney. president obama, your guy, has a fight on his hands, doesn't he? how is he going to win the economic argument against mitt romney who will be chucking the kitchen sink at him saying i'm the business guy to get out of this. >> the policies that mitt romney advocate are the policies that got us into it. it's hard to get out of it with policies that got us into the mess. second, the president also is more trusted when it comes to fighting for and protecting the middle class. and this still while under assault, the middle class is still the heart and soul in this country. and we'll talk about student loans. the questio

continued in the middle weight. sides best boxers. it was anyone's fight with barely anything to separate the two. however. a unanimous decision to landing some precise. thoughts is in the middle of the night so it's a very important down. it can make or break the whole match. yet but we're aiming for the final and a limp. and it's a great honor for us to represent russia their three nothing this night and five three eight. turned out to be better. but. managed to remain standing to keep his unbeaten record to twenty four year old ukrainians turned to victory in two rounds edging his. points. back into it in the second to try my best to overcome them in the last two rounds. of. the heavyweight. just a formality and. wasted no time there he comes in the opening round and the fight was over in just several minutes with this speech to a dilemma record at an impressive five nothing new in a while last year finalists and it seems it will be hard to stop in one school site in the decider as they face the lawn from there on may the second it'

special envoy for the middle east peace under the obama administration. and before this, distinguished physician began his career and the military. serving a synopsis or in the u.s. army counterintelligence corps. senator mitchell practiced law in washington d.c. and main before he was appointed as the u.s. attorney for maine and the u.s. district judge for maine. shortly thereafter, he was appointed to the u.s. senate and served in the senate for 15 years. in 2008, "time" magazine named him one of the most influential influential -- pardon me, 100 most influential persons in the world. in his keynote this morning, senator mitchell will discuss the current dangers in the middle east and the effect on our nation's security and shares his insight on how america can effectively counter terrorism from hostile governments and radical terrorist groups. please give a warm welcome to senators george mitchell. [applause] >> thank you, ralph. thank you very much, ralph. thank you, ladies and gentlemen for the warm reception and for being here. it is a pleasure for

because if the middle east cannot solve the issue of tolerance, then you're going to have a situation where the political authoritarianism of political authoritarianism of the mubaraks is going to be replaced by religious authoritarianism which is what the middle east is now, she yaria, that's the threat to democracy, i think in freedom under the long term in the middle east. what does that mean. we and elliott is right, we have a role, we need to be pushing for religious tolerance, for an understanding the majority rule does not mean you get to impose your values on everybody else, and that there has to be some space between the state and religion. and interestingly enough, prime minister of turkey helped in that in a speech he made in cairo that really actually angered a lot of islamists because he said look, the state should be equal distance from all religions and no religions. and the state ought to run a system where all religions have a place, but the premise of that is going to be tolerance. and i think that's what we need because if there is going to be stability over the lon

he's asking the middle class to pay for it. that's not new. we've seen it brchefore. i think the american people recognize that. >> thank you very much for joining us. let's turn to alan fine and strategist steve schmidt. both are financial analysts. let's talk about this budget so the audience knows what we're describing. last week it was criticized in the house. it proposes deep cuts for the wealthy and making changes to programs that mainly serve middle class americans. ryan's budget cuts include $2.4 trillion from medicaid and other health programs, $463 billion from mandatory programs, including pell grants and other social services, $291 billion in cuts from discretionary programs and $134 billion in cuts from the food stamp program. here's what the president said about this today. let's watch. >> this republican budget is something different altogether. it is a trojan horse disguised as debt reduction plans and it really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. it is thinly veiled social darwinism. it is ampathetical as a land of opportunity and upw

so not only did wall street steal seven trillion dollars worth of wealth out of the middle class and working people they also stole a generation of young people as well even the eight million children affected by foreclosure doesn't begin to tell the story of the terrible damage those banks have caused the murders the suicides the financial ruin sweeping our nation as a result of that financial meltdown to dig deeper arcanes joins me is the founding editor of the exile and coeditor of the exiled mark welcome. thanks for joining us from our new york studios which has the class warfare in america turned out and who's dying as a result. well really the class warfare started in a big way under reagan and then certainly reached a new peak levels since you know since the meltdown in two thousand and eight when the bailout was really a gigantic transfer when it should have been actually a redressing of what had gone on the previous thirty years it was actually a gigantic transfer of wealth again from the middle and lower classes to the super wealthy and so in that way definitely has heated u

i think we're likely to see the same thing in the middle east. some of the countries probably won't get nuclear weapons, ohs probably will. i think we will see some proliferation response. colin said one of the things we can do to tamp down the proliferation demand in the region is to provide security guarantees to countries. and that's right, but think through that with logic. that's a pretty big increase in u.s. military commitments to the region. colin is talking about signing defense pacts with the gulf, maybe israel, so threaten to fight a nuclear war? would we be willing to trade new york for riyadh in a nuclear war? incredible threat the way we would try to make that credible is the way we would in the cold war. probably have to station u.s. soldiers on the soil of those countries, deploy nuclear weapons in case we got dragged into a conflict. there are things we can do to prevent proliferation but serious costs with those as well. >> diana lady dugan, center for strategic and international studies and cyber century form and former state de