♪ ♪ be ♪ >> up next, the head of the national endowment for the humanities discusses the importance ofnd american history. then, supreme court's toast -- supreme court justice stephen briar. --breyer. and then the radio and tv correspondents dinner. >> three former staffers of former senator bob dole look at like a step -- legislation he sponsored. that is tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3 then, at 12:15 p.m., a look at the future of american culture that is tomorrow on c-span. this weekend, john dean is our guest. the author of 10 books, including an upcoming addition, and we will take your phone calls sunday, at noon eastern. >> and now, former congressman and current head of the national endowment for the humanities talks about understanding culture and the arts. he talks about his efforts to bring stability to public discourse this is moderated by the former head of the national endowment for the arts. the aspen institute is the host of this event. last about an hour -- it lasts about an hour. >> good afternoon. welcome to the aspen institute. i am the director of programs

what action and threat action is taken against the nation. quite clearly we need to have a strategy that tackled it within that domain. in the same way as the maritime domain was and the same way as space was another domain. i think was quite a good way of identifying those, and i don't believe we need to knee-jerk each little incident, although very often the government does have to react to what one might call a small incident. so for example, the chancellor are very worrying and afford office, very close to engage with trying to get them released. but that specific instant wouldn't necessarily say that we have to have a complete strategy on smaller boats in the indian ocean or something. piracy, yes. we've already identified that. this is a subset of that. >> will things get knocked out of his strategy? the danger is as events go roaming on it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. there's practically nothing that somewhere in the recesses, should be people be aware? there are limited amount of resources. >> there are limited resources. i don't

this will improve the national estuary program and enhance the protection of our nation's estuaries while ensuring the taxpayer is getting a strong return on an investment. the delaware estuary is home to the second largest concentration of migrating shore birds in the western atmosphere which is pretty incredible when you think about it. as well as dozens of protected species and the largest population of horseshoe crabs in the world. the estuary is also home to over five million people and some of the largest refineries and chemical manufacturers are on the east coast. the group that charged the understanding of how to manage the demands of these two forces is the partnership for the delaware estuary. as one of the 28 designated n.e.p. organizations, the partnership has done an absolutely outstanding job, a tremendous job to not only protect and enhance the delaware estuary but also to raise the public awareness about the need to act responsibly and care for this unique ecosystem. i want to commend the partnership of the delaware estuary and the 27 other partnership organizations that h

i am a reporter for bloomberg news and the president of the national press club. we are the leading professional organization for journalists and are committed to our future and by posturing a free press worldwide. for more information about the national press club please visit www. press.org. to donate to our program please visit www.press.org/library. on behalf of our members worldwide i welcome our speaker and our attendees which include guests of our speaker as well as working journalists and i would like to welcome our c-span and public radio audiences. after the speech concludes i will ask as many audience questions as time permits. from your right, carlos hammond, in washington. mary lou donahue, producer and editor of artistically speaking. peggy eastman, from publishing enterprises. jean landru, and health report for reuters. special adviser to the secretary and guest of the speakers. melissa progress will vice chair of our speakers committee and producer for news book media. and doris, president of editorial associate, former editor and publisher of the h

the national average now stands at $2.85. here in d.c. is $2.96 and it is the most expensive in the region. usually is. marylanders are paying about $2.84 and the average in virginia, $2.77 a gallon. everything from the price of gas to the cost of investment losses can hit your wallet. newly released e-mails from a tie tan of business proves they knew exactly what they were doing but goldman sachs says it did nothing i will leem fwl the e-mails came out before top goldman execs testified before a senate panel. they show executives boasting before the market fell. donald mullen wrote sounds like we will make some serious money. his colleague michael swing son responded yes we are well positioned. the company denies betting against its own clients but one memo shows the ceo seemed okay with shorting the market. in november '07 lloyd blank fine writes of course we didn't dodge the mortgage mess and then made more than we lost because of shorts. the e-mails aren't going over well with the obama administration. >> these e-mails that are release

host: talk about the national mall. how many visitors come? has also been talk about replacing the grass on the mall? guest: absolutely. the mall is suffering from the tragedy of the commons. it is the front lawn of america. it is the place where millions and millions of visitors come, not only from our country, but from around the world. it should be a center of pride for the country. if you have looked at the grass out there, the open walkaways are pretty hammered, frankly. so we have been combing through a process over the past several years, just completing the public comment period, and we are looking not at changing the form of the mall, but that its designed to handle the literally thousands of activities. it is also by the wa, by the wat amendment site. that is important and we need to accommodate that, but the mall was never really designed for that. remember, this is a bill that was put on top of a swamp. it is not very resilient. it is going to take a significant investment for us to basically rebuild the mall in a way that can with

the mets are 2-2. nationals 1- 3. s a terrific play, diving grab in right field off a low liner from tejada. 8-12-0 for the mets. they lose it by 6. tough strike for this -- tough start for this trip to new york. >> we had an opportunity, desmond swung the bat very well. we will look in the second inning. kennedy lines hard to right. rodriguez single through right and that brings up desmond. 1-1. rips the ball to left field. shows you what kind of pop he has. everybody needs to be patient about his defense. that's going to come. you can improve your game by working hard. >> you see the numbers for the nats, niger 0-24. simmerman, dunn 0-2. 4 hits. they lose it 8-2. it's another rough outing for the nationals bullpen tonight. >> batista gets a ground ball, double play ball, he comes in with pressure. nice sinker. they do that very well. then he ends up throwing a fast ball. 1-2, royalty right down the middle of the plate. you got him ahead of the pitch and throws a fast ball down the middle. he lost -- he still has his

spammer j-juliett that the nation's capital was a tinderbox. shington set squarely on the sectional fault line between north and south as the nation threatened to split into. a public event culminates in the near of civility remained in a private dinner parties hostesses found it difficult to wonder the world for president and key political enemies apart. now sam was a democrat. he believed in gradual emancipation in compensation for slave owners. he has many friends and family members in the south, but there is no question that sam would remain loyal to the union. he put his house on five straight at the disposal of his friends dinner secretary of state william henry seward. there has -- which it are to be going to be noticed provided the perfect cover for northerners and southerners who needed neutral ground on which to me. sam traveled to the confederacy in the early days of the war with his old friend william howard russell, secretly sending back letter's to seward for which he surely would have been hanged or shot was discovered. when a new

she transformed the nation-to-nation relationship between the cherokee nation and the federal government. and served as an inspiration to women in indian country and across the country. a recipient of the presidential medal of freedom, she had a brighter future to all americans. her legacy will continue to motivate others. michelle and i offer our condolences to her family, especially her husband, charlie, and two daughters. as well as the cherokee nation and all those who knew her and were touched by her good works. in closing i'd just like to say i knew wilma as a young boy. i got to meet wilma through many festivals, powwows with my father when he served in the u.s. senate. and she was always so kind. she was always lending advice to me after i was elected to congress, congressman cole was very correct, the term i would say was blunt. she was very blunt in her political advice. she would call me whenever something would happen within the cherokee nation or here in congress and give me some advice. very direct advice. she was always right in her advice. and we're going to miss her deep

the national average price of a gallon of regular is $2.85. if $2.96 in d.c., $2.84 in maryland, $2.77 in virginia. prices are higher than a year ago, but $1.26 less than the record high set in 2008. >> the washington times is looking for a new publisher. there publisher's contract will expire on friday and they're looking for replacement. the paper underwent major changes, including deep staff cuts. >>> president george w. bush will release his first book since leaving office. that will happen later this year. crown publishers says "decision points" will hit bookstore shelves on november 9. the publisher says mr. bush is not writing a traditional memoir, but an account of key decisions in his life. his wife's belmar will be released on may 5. -- memoir. >> brian van de graaff is telling us about the potential for storms. >> in northern parts of the area, loudoun county, a frederick, close to virginia, they had tornado warnings, and hail and rain. today, not nearly as severe. let's show you what it looks like. the deep pockets in maryland towar

let's send the national guard if necessary to the border to protect the dignity of the nation. because that's the job of the federal government. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. the chair recognizes mr. defazio from oregon. mr. jones from north carolina. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? without objection. mr. burton: let me just -- i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. let me just say that, mr. poe from texas, my good friend who just spoke, he added a little bitive levity but it was very important, the point that he was making, in that we have the ability in this country to really deal with things like agriculture and insects that might come in and contaminate our crops. but we have a serious, serious problem on the 1,980-mile border between us and mexico. the administration has cut some of the money from the whole project of putting fences and more border patrol agents on that border and it's a war zone, as mr. poe has said. mr. poe is the leader in pointing out the problems with what's going on the bor

is jonathan jarvis, director for the national park service. what is the condition of the national parks? guest: thank you for having me. this week is national park week. we have waived all the fees and have invited folks to reacquaint themselves with the national park system. host: remind us of the breatdth of the national park system. often, there are places that we would not even think about. guest: that is right. there are hundreds of locations. we often think about places like the grand canyon, but there are places like the home of martin luther king, the national mall is a national park. in every state, except delaware, there are units of the national park system. host: climate change is an issue that is coming up more and more frequently. guest: absolutely. we are already seeing the effects of climate change in places like glacier national park, where they are receiving. according to science, we expect that within 22 years or so there could be no glaciers. we are seeing more intense fires in the sierras, invasion of exotic plant species,

that happens all the time across the nation. he found in the recovery act that there's some refundable credit for install things like energy efficient windows or insulation. he figured out he can do some marketing to current and past customers. he would be able to pitch them and get some new business. he walked away feeling a lot better, having interacted with us. i hope these scenarios have made the point that every day across the country there's thousands of irs employees helping taxpayers. but we also serve honest and hard-working taxpayers throw robust and evolving enforcement programs that ensures that everyone pays what they owe. hereto we are innovating and evolving our programs every single day. we're going to continue to use new and enhanced techniques to bring people into the tax systems and make sure they pay the taxes if they have been hiding assets overseas. we have a new global high wealth operating unit where we are taking a unified look at the entire web of business and economic entities controlled by high wealth

many of those figures are part of the national bill. host: in "the christian science monitor" they had an article last week with the headline, who is the father of healthcare reform? obama or mitt romney? the massachusetts bill included a moment such as the individual mandate. it is deeply unpopular among conservatives. mr. obama emphasized similarities. he did that partly to appear less radical and more bipartisan himself. in doing so he has also made problems for mr. mitt romney. is it realistic for the former governor to try to run away from this healthcare plan that he put together because it is so similar to what the president has signed into law? guest: i do not think that it is realistic. the reason the reform has worked in massachusetts is because of the four elements i laid out, including the individual mandate. the governors from the supported the individual mandate. host: we will talk about massachusetts' health care with dr. judyann bigby, the health and he missehuman services secrf massachusetts. here are the phone lines if

it's a pleasure to be back at the national press club with a different job. some of the same issues but some additional one sells well. as was mentioned in the introduction. very briefly before i turn to the act will topic today, which is aviation security and the ever-changing threat environment and which we live, let me briefly describe our department. it is an amalgam of 22 agencies. it was formed in the week of 9/11 but there are aspects of the federal government the word square away or pieced together in different departments that should be under one roof. i'm often asked how one can manage such a large and diverse organization, and we have done -- i was going to give [inaudible] for just a minute. [laughter] we have done a quadrennial review which is basically a really good plan for the department. the first woman ever since it is such a yondah department and we have boiled ourselves down to five major mission areas. one is the counterterrorism mission. the reason for the founding and the primary thread that runs through almost every area of the departme

in other words, the national endowment of arts and the national endowment for the humanities are not institutions which in and of themselves are producing great art and humanities projects. they are precipitating the great american citizens to do great art and great humanities research, and great humanities translation of research to the public themself. from a money perspective, there is a macro economic dilemma that faces every discipline of any kind in every community of any kind. that is that in the last few years we have seen, at a minimum, a 20% erosion in the real wealth of the united states of america, and of the average american family. and that is -- it could be a little higher than 20%. that means every governmental agency and every government unit, from a city to the federal government, has less to draw upon, just as the american family has less to draw upon. we are looking at a federal government that has announced a freeze on domestic-level spending for a three-year period. that is something we in the humanities and arts will have to cope with. i must say my perspective

the nation pays 60% through the flood. unfortunately, testimony before the mississippi supreme court by a nationwide attorney, attorney for the nationwide insurance company and i'm they hired before the insurance company, this is a quote, i'm giving you the example. it is 95% of a home is destroyed. the flood by wind -- the flood comes in and gets the other 5%. and you know that. does your interpretation of the word sequence -- he's talking to the attorney for nationwide insurance company mean that you pay zero? mr. landeau said yes, they pay zero. now, going back to your job you run the federal flood insurance program. you have testimony before the mississippi supreme court with nationwide insurance companies, a paid representative cessna circumstance where they should have been paying 95% of that bill, they pay zero and tuck the federal taxpayer 100% of the bill, what have you done to look into this? because the contract with america says they have to have a fair adjustment of the claim. and to the gentleman's point, i a

these problems affect the heaflt our nation's schools and the -- health of our nation's schools and the people in them and can contribute to absenteeism, sick building syndrome, staff turnover and liability issues for our school districts. research shows that simple steps can be taken to make our schools healthier. heating and ventilation equipment can be improved to enhance indoor air quality. new schools can be built with a healthy design at nonpolluted sites in more sustainable ways that reduce energy and maintenance costs. nontoxic products can be used for cleaning, maintenance and teaching. the use of natural light can indeed be improved. healthy and high-performance schools are designed to improve the indoor environment for the students and staff members who go to work and school in these buildings each and every day. they are more energy efficient and lead to better overall health. many states, in fact, have already adopted guidelines for building healthy and high-performance schools, like my home state of new york. national healthy schools day draws the importance of having a sa

we've had budget surpluses, we have cut the national debt. at our current leaders and policymakers can learn from the past to get us on a more sustainable path. that's next. [ female announcer ] breathe right asks... [ woman ] could i ask you to strip on e ? absolutely! i have a lot of stuffiness at nightit wakes me up. i have allergies. ♪ you're right. i'm getting more air. -oh, yeah. -oh, wow! [ female announcer ] for two free samples, go to breatheright.com. [ male announcer ] we call it the american renewal. because we believe in the strength of american businesses. ♪ ge capital understands what small businesses need to grow and create jobs. today, over 300,000 businesses rely on ge capital for the critical financing they need to help get our economy back on track. the american renewal is happening right now. ♪ there are engines... and then there's the twin-turbocharging, 365-horsepower-generating, ecoboost engine in the taurus sho from ford. that has the thirst of a v6 with the thrust of a v8. the most innovative full- size sedan in ameri

this is the national kidney foundation's kidney walk at the mall at prince george's. it was also a chance to educate adults and children about kidney disease an have a little bit of fun as well. >>> what was nice was the rain held off for the most part until late in the day yesterday. a little bit muggy out there but at least we didn't deal with the rain showers. >> it was a warm and humid day yesterday. at dulles, it got up to 80 degrees yesterday. reagan national, 77. up to the north, temperatures were much cooler. bwi only made it up to 60 degrees yesterday. that is a big difference in temperatures. hence the thunderstorm we saw yesterday afternoon. you can see there are some wouldn'ting showers including areas of heavy rain up near frederick, just to the north of frederick and near the hagerstown area. baltimore has a few showers inside its beltway. here around wash, we just have moisture in the air with humidity. we don't have anything in the way of precipitation although there are some showers fairly close just off to the west. we'll keep our eyes on that. could

the iranian nation and surrender. if you don't accept to do this, the iranian nation will later force you to surrender and bow down. now, you know, that makes me nervous, given the fact that iran has recently begun to enrich uranium to beyond 20% four times the necessary enrichment percentage for peaceful purposes, it puts them about 90% of the way there for being able to have fissile material for nuclear weapons. so i have to say, it's a difficult thing, especially difficult for me in some ways because i stood at that podium there at five year -- five years ago and called upon the country to refer iran to the security council. that's before they had had had almost any -- i think they had -- the guess is they had probably less than 164 centrifuges, now they have 8,000 and 3,000, of course, as my good friend from missouri knows, 3,000 is the commonly accepted figure for a nuclear enrichment program that can be used as a platform for full-scale trill program capable of churning out dozens of nuclear war heads per year. i

and in id, he found the path through the national mine field, and for a brief period managed to put the subject of race on hold and find the space to pursue his candidacy without being mired in the turmoil that often attends that subject. even a year ago, his election seemed to have ushered in a new age -- a post-racial era. but today, with the economy still staggering, but partisan politics again ascendant, but tempers short, so many americans and black americans hurting as usual more than those, there is a sense among african-americans that the age of obama may be distinctive but not really different. race seems still to mater a lot, particularly among those who have the least and on the bottom socially and economically. senator obama may have sidestepped the issue in the 2008 presidential contest, but if you asked residents of central cities across this country, they may tell you that they are still stuck in that, black and blue, just like before. race is so daunting, such a big and expensive subject, that is hard to determine how to approach it, where to begin. for all african ameri

we are not building nation in afghanistan. the afghan nation is 2000 years old. d for many, many years. a lot of our neighboring countries are younger than i am, but the fact is that despite the fact that afghans lived as refugees in neighboring countries, defensive nation host becomes much stronger. i get a my personal experience. i know that your talk about one particular student. when we were drafting the new constitution of afghanistan, many ideas were debated. one idea, legitimate idea, we have others. people from the countryside in afghanistan was a much against it. they were saying this as a way of possibly splitting the country. they were soul adamant to make sure that we have a strong unified government. the sense of the nation is strong in afghanistan. i know that state institution to deliver services are weak. we don't have a strong army like in pakistan, to keep the country together. the country, stay together we don't have an army. we don't have a state for many years but so is the state of nation's is we, afghanistan would have been disagreed way bef

like the eu can impose fines upon nations that do not follow it. it is a binding rule of law. that is not the same question as to whether win a case comes in front of a domestic court and you have a rule of law saying a statute or some other common law, whether in fact the rule of law is trumped by the provision of the treaty so that we, the domestic court, have to apply it. nobody thinks that the answer to that question is always, nor is it never. even those who came up the other way think that sometimes it would become self executing if, for example, it said in the treaty that it was self executed. my response is that we are not going to get things like that written into a multilateral treaty because what counts as self executing differs from one nation to another and it is going to be too complicated to put in. it is not that tough. they could say something that would make it clear that it is supposed to become self executed. if they agree that it is self executing the majority would say it becomes domestic law once the senate passes it. nobody t

but the nation refused. america turned its back on the freed slaves, and had it not been for the missionaries and for the freed men and women themselves, there would have been no formal education opportunities, no schools, no colleges. so this is a unique moment in american history. over the last decades of this and the previous century, we have struggled to reach imagine, reengineer, and redesigned our public schools. new generations of young americans are addressing themselves to address centuries of social inequities by become teaching -- by becoming teachers and school leaders. innovators are redesigning schools and creating bold new charters were poor children are finally being given the chance to learn and prepare themselves for the demands of the global and highly competitive economies in which they live. in the white house or two individuals who demonstrate the power of education to overcome the barriers of circumstance and to prepare them for lives beyond the boundaries that seem so fixed before they

guess what, the nationals are not giving up. m riggleman and the team say all i care about is we've got a chance. you've got to stick with me, guys. two on for ian desmond. he hits one to third. here comes pudge rodriguez. is pudge going to make it? no, he's out. pudge rodriguez tries to make good but is he out at home plate. with that the nationals lose, 4-3 in 13 innings. >>> that's going to do it for your sports on this sunday morning. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> a different kind of sporting event i think. if you've heard of eating contests for hot ca dogs and those sorts of things what, about asparagus. >> the asparagus eating championship was yesterday in california. >> it was a great contest. the crowd was definitely on my side. i definitely was able to push harder than everybody else i think. >> at least he was smiling. five time champion joey chess enough of won the competition again this year. he ate an amazing eight pounds seven ounces of asparagus and only one ounce shy of the record for the contest whic

the nation was pulling for them, wondering what they would do. that was ok to keep on living. the only with a that honor their loved ones is to keep living life and to what they're lost loved ones would have done. it was better than anything i could have said and she had more credibility in saying it. i think it helped not all the victims and their families in also helped everybody else. after oklahoma city, what happened? at one level, we did rational things. i went back to congress and ask them to. bob dole was great. we had a real sense of bipartisan mission. we disagreed about whether chemical tags should be put in fertilizer, but as a scientific matter, it is hard to do anyway. we did not abolish all our disagreements, but there was a sense that this is something we had to do together. that is exactly what happened. i propose measures to increase law enforcement officials solely dedicated to fighting terror. eight center to gather every i asked for the approval of military experts who were prohibited from participating in law enforcement to b

this marks the national volunteer work. it recognizes the spirit of service that has been important to bringing americans together especially in times of economic hardship. according to the corporation for national and community service, 61.8 million americans, or 26% of adults, took time to contribute some volunteer service in 2008. those volunteers donated eight billion hours' -- eight billion hours, worth $162 billion. finally, i want to recognize the person for whom the serve america act is name, the late senator edward m. kennedy. senator kennedy spent his life serving his country, never forgetting the words spoken by his brother, president john f. kennedy, in 1961, of those to whom much is given, much is required. i'm proud we can honor senator kenky's memory by encouraging americans to offer service to their fellow citizens. mr. speaker, once again i express my support for this resolution, commemorating the edward m. kennedy serve america act and i urge my colleagues to join me in support of this resolution, celebrati

we will again be with face the nation. sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org where will the energy come from to move us forward? from natural sources in abundant supply? or perhaps a manmade source. at nrg, we believe innovation will solve our energy needs. that's why nrg is moving away from fossil fuels... towards wind, solar, and other sustainable technologies... to power the smart grid, the electric car and our clean energy future. we're using all of our energy, to develop more of it. the risk-takers. the visionaries. the entrepreneurs... who put it all on the line to build and run their own businesses. at at&t, we know something about that. our company started out in a small lab, with not much more than a dream. and today, we know it's small businesses that can create the jobs america needs. that's why at&t is investing billions to upgrade and build out our wired and wireless networks. making them faster, smarter, and more secure. connecting small businesses to markets across the coun

the national motto. which indicates that one does not have to be a person of faith to be an american citizen, but the idea of the width of the individual and the idea of the rights of the individual came from god and not from some monarch is essential to the understanding of the beginnings of this republic. and from the beginnings of this republic we have had a chaplain ministering to the needs of the members. it is not a new idea or novel idea. it is an idea that is firmly entrenched in the tradition of this institution and this country. and father coughlin has been a great example of that tradition and we hope he continues. i might say that he ministers to all of us no matter what party we are a member. but i sort of enjoy the fact that he ministers to those of us on this side since i found myself in the minority on most of the years i have served here and therefore by definition the underdog, and so when i met father coughlin's great mother who is dedicated to the great underdog of all time, the chicag

it cuts spending as a share of the national economy by 11%. it cuts the deficit as a share of the economy by 70%. i your share of the economy or percentage of the gross domestic product because it, stella's that is the best way to measure changes over time, to provide an apples to apples comparison. the chairman's mark also include $671 billion more in deficit reduction than does the president's budget. and it cuts taxes by $780 billion over the five years. most of that, a middle-class tax cut. hear some of the polish -- the policy highlights contained in the chairman's mark. it includes importantly measures to promote economic growth and jobs, provides for a tax cut on small business investment, and it includes investments and highways and transit. it extends unemployment insurance and cobra, it includes a reserve fund to remote employment and job growth that must be paid for, and it includes a reserve fund for tax reform and tax relief. i personally believe that the time is right for fundamental tax reform. we need to make this system more ef

he says he was pleased with the team's spring program. >>> on to the nationals now. body expects them to be the best team in baseball but what is more important is they finally are shaking the title of being the worst. >> down 3-2. morgan singling to left here. adam kennedy scores and this thing is tied up at 3-3. we are going to extra innings. same scored. russell martin bringing home a player. bottom of the inning. grounder. play at the plate. coming home. he just barely is out. cristian guzman ending it all. nats fall 4-3 in 13. the orioles at the red sox and os took a lead into the 7. scutaro a three-run bomb. courtesy of that pitch. 16 runs in that 7th inning. os fall 7-6. >>> there is a reason members of the media have to wait ten minutes after going into a locker room. bruce boudreau took until this morning to calm down. his high scoring capitals team muster just one goal in friday's game 5 he called out his players and threatened to change lineups. but less than 24 hours later at this morning's optional skate bruce boudreau had changed his tone about his team.

and i want to thank our host from the national museum of the american history, dr. brent glass and john rogers. thank you for making these museums such wonderful places for people of all ages to learn and to explore. and i have to also do my part in recognizing our very special guests, the students and the teachers from huntington high school who made the trip all the way from new york to be here. you all please stand so we can see you. [applause] now, there's a special reason i invited these students here. they sent me this book of beautifully designed inaugural gowns of their own creations and i had so much fun looking through the designs. you all are a very talented and beautiful and handsome group of people. and i'm so pleased to be able to share this special day with you. you make us proud. and thank you for the gift. and finally, i also want to thank all the board members, the staff, the supporters of these museums, all of you for the work you do every day and for being here and sharing this moment with me as well. so here we are. it's the dress. and turf say,

the vision is our nation's -- the division is our nation's moral compass. much work to be done. whether in employment, education, housing, voting, personal liberties, the civil rights division must take action and not stay on the sidelines against those who violate our law. they have a proud tradition of fighting to enforce anti- discriminationç laws in the ars of voting rights, civil rights, housing, elections, and he crimes. during the last administration, the division had an alarming lack of civil rights enforcement and a multitude of politicization. so much that their own offices began independent investigations of the political appointees at the department of justice. more evidence of corruption and lack of enforcement came to the surface. between 2001 and 2006, they failed to file any cases on çbehalf of error -- on behalf f african-american voters. there was just one case filed for minority bovote dilution. they played no role in holding a lender's accountable for discrimination. disability lawsuits declined by 50% under the last administration. on

so that it's provided and subsidized all around the nation. is that the first step in getting broadband reclassified from title i to title ii as a common carrier? >> guest: i will not say it's the first step of doing that. it's a recognition of how the market and how the communications industry is evolving. you've got persons who are cutting the cord. there are about 25, 26% of the nation who no longer -- they don't use a land line as their primary communications device. so there's a recognition of that. there's a recognition that with companies like skype that in terms of how they're communicating it's not just even on their mobile phones. so because of that we recognize that there is a need for us to shift, there's a need for persons to be connected especially if the they're going to save money to provide them with more options. so, again, this is another example which you brought up at the top that there is a need, and we have an obligation to keep up, retrofit ourselves, retool, and as we say at the fcc, reboot. >> host: cecilia kang. >> ho

the health of our children should be the top national priority. as many of you know, first lady mr. obama recently announced that ending childhood obesity will be her first major policy initiative. last month she launched the let's move campaign to ensure that children born today will grow up as healthy adults. mr. klein and myself was at the white house when she met with a bipartisan group on what considerations she might make when we reconsider the authorization. by offering a realistic goal of making children healthier and more active within a generation, she has set the stage for dramatic improvements. to help achieve this goal, her initiative contains the four key pillars. getting parents more involved and informed about nutrition and exercise, making healthy foods more accessible and affordable, increasing the attention of physical activity and improving the food in school meal programs. the first lady and i both know the government cannot curb this epidemic says individuals, families and the public sector all share the responsibility. i welcome her involvement. ... >> the ch

we are not building a nation in afghanistan. the afghan nation is 2000 years old. en around for many years. a lot of our neighboring countries are younger than i am. the fact is that despite the fact that afghans live as refugees in neighboring countries, in the sense of nationhood becomes much stronger. i can tell you my personal experience. i know you are talking about one student. when we were drafting the new conditions of afghanistan, many ideas were debated. people from the countryside in afghanistan were very much against it. they saw it as a way of possibly splitting the country. they were so adamant to make sure that we have a strong and unified government. the since the nation -- sense of nation is strong in afghanistan. we do not have a strong army like pakistan. -- to keep the country together. if the state of nationhood was weak, afghanistan would have been disintegrated way before the taliban came to the power. the ability to deliver services is limited. on the countryside, there is a lot of talk of an powering the local communities. on the countryside

first of, the president and ceo of the national urban league, marc morial. for the first time, they included hispanics in their findings -- first up, the president o. also tonight, actress anna torv, who can be seen and a much talked-about new series, "pacific." marc morial and actress anna torv, coming up, right now. >> there are so many things that wal-mart is looking forward to doing, like helping people live better, but, mostly, we are looking forward to helping you build stronger communities and relationships, because with your help, the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance. working to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. >> ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >> and by contributions by viewers like you. to pbs stations. thank you. tavis: marc morial is president and ceo of the urban league. this year's report included findings about the latino community, as well. marc morial joins us tonight from washington. good to have you back on the program. >> th

of the great civil roog -- to the cullmy nation of the great civil rights movement in american history. it's with fondness i remember her activity, her friendship, her helpfulness and i think that there may be some kind of national commemoration for her that might be appropriate now that we've reviewed all the medals, commendations, and awards that she's received thus far. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognize. mr. poe: i reserve the balance of my time the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i'm pleased now to recognize the majority leader of the house, the great steny hoyer for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: i thank the chairman for yielding. i want to thank chairman conyers for his extraordinary leadership on behalf of the rights of all peoples. his role in the civil rights movement has been extraordinary and continues to this date. i rise on behalf of this resolution and in memor

this may be useful for thinking about the profitability of the nation. every morning, the wake up and have to compete with people from other nations. the people who are playing by the rules of other nations often have the advantages and disadvantages that are presented from that association. another thing that has changed the most radically is the corporate tax climate. these are countries that have changed radically. if you look at the green line, you're looking at 34-40% for it -- a 35%-40% -- 35% to 40%. what has been going on is that pretty much every other nation on earth is reducing its corporate tax. the red line is the average rate. the average for trading partners were above us. you can see that this is a logical thing to do. if you see that the average is below 25, to be below the average, we have to reduce our corporate tax rate by 11%. that is an interesting member because that is the reduction that is proposed. that would restore the equality with our trading partners. why is the corporate rate several that? if you are a u.s. auto maker and y

the national aquarium gets an extreme makeover. first, thoe, a pastor and his wife from hay market, virginia, are back home from haiti with their adopted son. the warrens were trying to adopt for 12 years. time after time the adoption fell through. after meeting their son in haiti, they knew nothing, not even an earthquake will get in the way. we have more on their amazing journey. >> reporter: through the lens of pastor warren his new son is introduced to family. grandparents, aunts and uncles swarmed baby sterle. >> i'm so thankful. i ask our government please help the families that are still sitting at the embassy crying like i am. it's just a dream come true. one of the happiest days of my life. >> reporter: this emotional day has been months in the making. through the adoption process, everybody was almost set until january 12th when the earthquake hit and the adoption papers were destroyed. the warrens decided to return to haiti and bring him back themselves. with no paperwork it took nearly two weeks to overcome red tape. >>

i'm david eisner, i'm the president and chief executive officer of the national constitution center and it is our distinct on horto host the -- honor to host the fourth annual peter jennings project for journalists and the constitution. it's named for a man who prior to his passing in 2005 had made it his mission to bring constitutional conversations to his viewers hand readers. and moreover, he did it in such a way that was commensurate with his enthusiasm for what he felt for the historic human achievement represented by the u.s. constitution. it is to that unfinished mission that the peter jennings project for journalists and the constitution is dedicated. our journalists, mid career journalists come from 19 states, and nine countries. the jennings fellows in the audience, will you all wave? the jennings fellows in the audience represent a diverse group of media professionals. they're all here and have given us this weekend to engage with constitutional issues. they're exploring the principles and the ideas that are expressed in our nation's most cherished document. as journalists, t

of the nation's borders.at case individual gained employment as a border inspector for the specific purpose of trafficking drugs. through the collaborative efforts in the yearlong investigation this public official put guilty to one count of conspiracy to import more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana into the united states while at the same time receiving more than $5 million in bribe payments. this individual has since been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. while the threat posed israel the southwest border is not and should not remain the only focus of our efforts. each day the federal government is charged with protecting over 7,000 miles of land bordering canada and mexico and over 300 points of entry across the united states. each of these entry points has the potential for criminal and or terrorist organizations to exploit corrupt officials willing to misuse their official positions for financial or personal gain. in fiscal year 2000 mine alone fbi field officers along the nation's canadian borde

>> i mean, i think the answer is yes. we have national security secretary now firmly embedded in the cabinet office which has the ability to to reach out. and i think the answer there is yet. one of the things i have to say that i found, i found very reassuring in the two and a half years or so that i've been in government after prime minister asked me to come in was the way the oic to come within the home office has coordinated counterterrorism across all government departments are because i have to say my expense of some 20 odd years and home where i've been at sea is trying to make big government department work together is not always been the most successful thing that i have ever seen. and i think it is work really well. i think now we are tearing this across into the national security strategy. and end of the secretary have worked very hard and trying to make these connections. had we really totally got there yet? the answer is no. we have to keep working on it all the time. i can see it in the cybersecurity area where still we are

there are 192 members of the united nations. ident certainly could gone on to say just as the ecuadorians believe in ecuadorian exceptionalism, and just as the guinea's believe. option if everybody is exceptional, then nobody is. this is the u.s. is simply one player among many. and i think the observation of the president's view is one that has been very widely perceived. and i would just refer to the commentary that evan thomas in editor "newsweek" gave on the d-day and virosa. commenting on the obama and comparing to president reagan at the 40th anniversary, evan thomas of "newsweek" said the following. we were the good guys in 1984. it felt that way. it hasn't felt that way in recent years. i believe you in the audience haven't felt like good guys in recent years. it's a thing about the media in this country. but it hasn't felt that way in recent years. so obama's had really a different task. reagan was all about america. obama is we are above that now. we are not just parochial. we're not just chauvinistic, we're not just pr

a public funeral will be held this thursday at the national cathedral. still ahead on this broadcast tonight, it could have been far, far worse. how a driver walked away from that accident, unscathed. we'll take you there. plus the push to protect all the tweeters, status updaters and social networks. and thousands hit the national mall to rally for climate change today. lindsay, what you got in sports? >> coming up in sports, capital spencer eric bell anger explains yl why he pulled out his own tooth. and jason campbell looks back on his career in washington. and the nationals try to hang on against the dodgers. news 4 at 6:00 continues. for a price that starts low and stays low? look no further than fios. now pay just $99.99 a month for verizon fios tv, america's top-rated internet, and phone guaranteed for 2 years. that's fios price protection, and it saves you hundreds of dollars. fios delivers the best channel lineup and the peace of mind that comes with paying the same low price every month. call 1.888.get.fios now to lock in $99.99 with a 2-year ag

the chair of the republican national committee says yes. and that other african-american leaders face a similar situation. steele is embroiled in a controversy involving rnc funds being improperly spent. within the gop, many have hammered steele's lavish spending. $13,000 for chauffeured cars and limos. now, an accusation that a staffer spent money at a sex club. many members are furious because they believe this money should be used to win races. steele refuses to step down, leaving some to worry that the chairman's public relations problem will turn away big donors and voters. despite criticisms, the rnc says it's raised more money than its democratic counterpart, and won big races, including ted kennedy's massachusetts senate seat. >>> a major snowstorm is moving across the western u.s. heavy snow made for utal driving conditions in the mountains of northern california. there were multiple spinouts and crashes along roadways.r california drivers as the snow is moving out. and it will be sunny for the next couple of days. >>> now, that sys

the street but politicians. they demonstrated -- extended feelings toward polish nation. d i suppose that will probably produce something positive. >> at the crash site in western russia and the investigation is continuing. there have been claims the pilot was put under pressure to land -- possibly by presidents lech kaczynski himself. but at a news conference in warsaw, both claims were played down. paul and's chief prosecutor said there was no evidence of such pressure -- poland's's chief prosecutor. >> there were surely be a detailed examination aimed at amplifying the background noise in order to determine if other people made suggestions toward the pilot. we want to determine all grounds for the pilot's decision. >> these have been a remarkable few days for poland and also russia as well. could the dynamics of politics be changing in central europe? possibly. it may have taken a tragedy to unlock a relationship that for so long had languished with hatred and alienation. duncan kennedy, bbc news, warsaw. >> this is the worst political violence in thailand for nearly 20