it should not be directed by political operatives working out of the white house. such a move is especially troubling considering the census at the time was considering entering into a national partnership with acorn, an organization ripe with internal corruption and that was responsible for multiple instances of vote fraud in the 2008 presidential election. asking an organization like acorn to help recruit the 1.4 million temporary workers that will go door to door is akin to inviting the fox into the hen house. an estimated $3 billion in federal funds are distributed annually on the basis of census data, according to census officials. all the people in this country are affected by this money. the census bureau is staffed by talented and experienced people who are leaders in the field of statistics. in order to produce a fair, accurate and trustworthy count in the 2010 census, the census bureau needs to remain free of political or partisan interference. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves his time the gentleman from west virginia. mr

minstar all this close and posted on the white house blog. e make an effort to have a standard of transparency in the office that hopefully sets the right agenda and tone. the other is accountability. we are working very hard to make sure the vice-president and president's staff will pull together as part of an integrated whole and server, agenda. -- serve a common agenda. while we talk about relations with congress, and the vice president gives a lot of time on spending -- spends a lot of time and giving the history. it is an exciting time to be in washington and in the executive branch, but is also an exciting time on capitol hill. we should not lose sight of that, either. this president has a aggressive domestic agenda. he has to deal with many topics at the same time. he is addressing those issues by working closely and energetically with congress. is that relationship and the progress we are seeing on capitol hill in passing recent bills, and the big work ahead on health care and energy and bonanza regulatory form, is the biggest change i

from the white house rose garden to the white house briefing room, press secretary robert gibbs will answer reporters questions. live coverage expected to begin shortly. you're watching c-span2. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] you're watching c-span2 waiting for live coverage of the white house briefing. >> this press briefing expected to begin shortly. the senate is expected back at 2:15 eastern for more work on a bill that promotes u.s. tourism. that legislation would create a nonprofit corporation to attract foreign tourists while providing information about entry requirements. that's expected to start again, the senate back in again at 2:15 eastern here on c-span2. >> doesn't smell like somebody just cut the grass? [inaudible] >> president lee talked about these measures of policies that he and president obama had agreed to talk to the other members of the five party talks about new measures and policies on north korea. can you elaborate on what he meant by that and what they agreed on? >> i don't have anything additional on that in terms of what went out abou

chip, sure you don't see much of him in the white house. john mccain on the other hand loved reporters, spent hundreds and hundreds of hours invested in those relationships and i think if you pull political reporters in washington, john mccain would win the personality contest by 1 million miles, but that is just to say that whatever perceived by yes there is and isn't based on relationships or based on president obama cultivating it because he has done the opposite. >> wim these were surveys taking of voting action -- >> i would say regarding the came -- mccain he was well liked i should say in the media because he is that kind of guy that will come back and talk a long time. it probably work to to his advantage some but he didn't get the nomination. >> i covered mccain during the campaign and obama right now and she is right, obama doesn't talk a whole lot to us one-on-one, and mccain did but it is a double-edged sword for mccain because of the one hand we like and as a person and he was great to talk to but he put his foot in the mouth so

committee is trying to bring the cost of the bill down to a trillion dollars or less and i understand the white house supports that as well. are you willing to make the trade-offs needed specifically in order to bring the cost down, forget about the pay force but to bring the cost down you're going to turn back the benefit package, turn back the number of people who qualify for the number of the subsidies, that's how would you bring the costs down. is that a trade-off that you are willing to make? >> i think we continue to watch what is going on as the finance committee works through this process. i would mention that the president has put a think last count of $950 billion on the table, as you're shaking your head, it's actually 950 -- >> that's not relevant to my question. my question is and how you pay for it, the you need to pay for it. >> but you did talk about a force and if you are going to talk about trimming the cost down to petroleum and i'm willing to tell you 950 billion is put on the table i think 950 billion, the trillion is a relevant part of the conversation to have. the preside

the white house press briefing coming up momentarily. while we wait, and looked at this morning's court "washington journal." financial times." she hopes for a v-shaped recovery. the u.s. economy will feel a substantial boost from the obama administration's emergency spending package over the next few months. christina rohmer has warned against tightening monetary and fiscal policy before career is well-established. she is the chairman of the council of economic advisers. she told us in an interview that 2 is more -- that she is more optimistic that the economy is approaching stabization. she comments that as the opposition republicans step up their attacks on the stimulus, it has not prevented unemployment from hitting a quarter-century high of 9.4%. that is from yesterday in that interview in the paper. this is on the front page of "the baltimore sun" which says that new jobs and not likely. as the economy rebounds higher unemployment in jobless recovery is forcing. not only as the employer rate likely to climb, but it is expected to re

any reaction from the white house? >> i do not have anything specific on that. >> when the president made some comments around the smoking and tobacco act, i noticed the president did not refer back to his personal experiences with smoking and struggles. i wonder of smoking continues to be a struggle for the president. >> the president would likely tell you as anybody would that has smoked or been addicted to smoking that it is a lifelong struggle. >> is it a daily struggle? >> his days -- i think that is covered. >> he mentioned the cairo speech and the lebanese elections. i wondered if you made the connection between his speech and what has happened in lebanon and iran in terms of the election. did he take credit for what is going on? >> i think as we have talked about in here, i do think that the reaction around the world to the president's speech, particularly in the muslim world has been i think beneficial. to our efforts at recasting ourselves in the world. i think we were certainly heartened by a the large turnou

>> the staff secretary's office, i certainly did know about and to working in the white house, a very inward looking office, all of the paper goes to the president through the secretary's office. look core of the job is ensuring that by the time a decision memo gets to the president, it accurately reflects his advisor's views. there's a process you go for as a policy council, working on developing policy and working with agencies on policy, it works its way through, there's a certain consensus that has developed. we are the lapsed substance to stop before it gets to the president. we make sure it will circulate and make sure that his senior advisers have had a chance to have input so that if you have larry summers working away on something, it doesn't happen just in a silo said that peter orszag hasn't had a chance to weigh in. they're serious differences of opinion in a variety of issues in the white house and this is a president who actually wants to hear from different advisers, he wants to make sure that he has the benefit of all these different opinions. if the policy works throu

there are a serious difference s of opinion in the white house. this is a president, he wants to hear from this different advisers and he wants to make sure that he has the benefit of all these different opinions. you can see that if you get a policy working through in a silo and gets to him, he would not have the benefit of that. you could have a decision that might be wrong but you realize that it could have been better. that is the core part of the job. often it is with technology. one of the changes in the job is our office gets very substantively involved in going back to the authors and saying what about this? the president is likely to want to know about this. what about this issue? here is where conservatives -- this is the argument they make, how do we respond to that? there is a lot of working with the offices to make sure they are teeing it up and people are engaging. the president and also -- also asks questions. it would be a meeting with the president and an initial memo and it will come back with questions. you get people involved in

this is his second trip to the white house today. [laughter] it is a day that marks an historic step toward the changes we seek, but i think we'll have to of knowledge this is only one step. among the steps we have not yet taken it is to repeal of defense of marriage act. i believe is discriminatory and interferes with states' rights, and we will work with congress to overturn it. we have work to do to ensure that government treats all citizens equally, to fight injustice and intolerance in all its forms, to bring about that. i am committed to these efforts and i pledge to work tirelessly on behalf of these

is that something the white house is involved with? >> i will check. obviously as i said earlier insuring an active and free press on the ground as well as communications either through texting or twitter are incredibly important. i think, david, you are seeing the yearning for change to that the president talked about and the president has talked about right now. i think the peaceable demonstration and that during especially my youth and iran is heartening for the world to see and is important for the world can mack you said that u.s. interest with iran hasn't changed since last thursday or friday. is it fair to say the past u.s. addressing the interest has gotten much harder because we have been to the last week? and as a going to be much more difficult to build engagement strategy with ahamdinijad as president after a disputed election? >> well, i've seen quite a few people in the last 24 hours discuss a more vigorous policy engaging iran, quite frankly that i have seen in any number of months. i think again i go back to what i said just a moment ago

. >> he said the same thing about -- >> any reaction at all from the white house? no, i do not have anything specific on that, no. >> and today, when the president made some comments abound -- around smoking, i am wondering if smoking continues to be a struggle for the president? >> i think the president would likely tell you as many would that has smoked or has been addicted to smoking that is a lifelong struggle. >> is a feeling struggle for him? >> since there are days comprise within your lifetime, i think that is covered. >> i think it was mentioned the cairo speech, and i just wondered if you wanted to make any connection between what has been happening in lebanon and the election? does he take any credit for it? >> well, i think, as we have talked about it in here, i do think that the reaction around the world to the president's speech, particularly in the muslim war, has been, i think, beneficial. -- particularly in the muslim world. we were certainly heartened by the large turnout in lebanon and what appears to be a large turnout in iraq. i have seen peopl

. >> host: what about the white house? >> guest: president barack obama sent me a letter last january and he committed publicly to this process. so we haven't heard officially other than that letter plan hopeful that the president will support this process. we are demanding space process in afghanistan, iraq, iran, how come we will do it with 4 million u.s. citizens? u.s. citizens act we have always been willing actually to defend or democracy. actually there are more active in the armed forces than all states but one proportionally speaking so in that sense i'm hopeful the white house will support this effort but i'm cognizant of the fact congress has to take the lead of the stage and because there is so much more going on. >> host: let's hear from the calls. first is on the democratic line, butch from jackson, wyoming. >> caller: yes, good morning. the discussion about the puerto rico status territory. number one, we've got. health care should be a right, not a profit. number two, we should discuss taxing church property.

outside groups meet with us are all the schools and posted on the white house blog. e make an effort to have a standard of transparency in the office that hopefully sets the right agenda and right on. and the other is accountability. i think we are working very hard to make sure that the vice president's staff and the president's staff work well together, that they are part of an integrated whole and serve a common agenda. i mentioned earlier and i want to take a second more broadly to talk about relations with congress, something the vice president spent a lot of giving his history. and people say it is a very exciting time to be in the administration. it is an exciting time to be in washington, but i think it's also a very exciting time on capitol hill. i don't think we should lose sight of that either. this president has a very, very aggressive domestic agenda that by necessity have to deal with many topics at the same time because of the situation our country finds itself in, and is addressing those issues by working closely and energetically with the congress. an

is a possible peace could go to the white house? is it a hoax? wasn't it is an extraordinary response we have gotten from them and i might add another thing we were struck is the diversity of things they were housewives, a former university president, people on the 1 faculty, writers, nine writers, people who would never tried writing before, they raged in a range from 25 through 80 and they were writing things that really told us black women had very deep sensibilities and sensitivities about this historic moment and of the role they could play. i will stopxdñr now. >> in terms of the tears the letters and poems bringing tears to our eyes we found that certainly in some of the views that have been done and the e-mails and letters we received that the expressions and feelingsxd expressed by these women resonate with the white men that right us and say they are reading these letters and crying. white women, latino, black women and men, a foreign for african women, the universality is so powerful we did not expect when we started putting this book

when we come back, linda douglass will be joining us from the white house. and in our next half hour, bob schieffer. "washington journal" continues on this tuesday morning. >> the u.s. house comes and for general speeches. morning our is the 10:30 a.m. eastern and legislative business at noon. several agendas -- several business bills on the agenda today. they're also expected to debate the 2010 defense authorization bill. live house coverage is here on c-span. on c-span2 president obama walley news conference at 12:30 p.m. eastern at the rose garden -- will hold a news conference at 12:30 p.m. eastern at the rose garden. and health care legislation markup live on c-span3 beginning at 10:00 a.m. >> discover an unfamiliar sight of our nation's first president as rare live from george washington's mount vernon estate with historian and author john ferling. that is sunday, july 5, live on in death on c-span2's "book tv ." host: we want to get your phone calls and just to -- and just a moment linda douglass. democrats:(202) 737-0002 republicans:(202) 737-0001 ind

going to the white house. we don't know when. but we are going you heard us and you on c-span, you heard us. somebody tell michele. [laughter] because we want to go. >> i have to tell you the black women's network is something because black women talk to one another "go, tell michelle" blogsño bought.com, facebook, and people who are writing us to say what is this a facebook thing? you know, it is a thing. we say go for itxd because if peggy brooks-bertram can do it to anybody will do it. they went to our web page "uncrowned queens".com but we still did not understand or appreciate the brat and the scope of their network. beginning with the black churches and we just left today publishers say it is listed it will take two monthsxd before you can get a read the -- weedy nor presentation set up. don't believe it because when one black woman calls the minister of her church, you have got to read it. and you have a reading saturday morning and if you go to a black church on sunday you have the reading money and tu

now we have a meeting at the white house. we are ready to go. the congressman will encourage many republicans to join him. >> how committed are you to debated on the floor? >> absolutely. immigration has been the constant reinvigoration of america. the commitment of making the future better for the next generation as a -- is a very american idea. i am very in touch -- i am very enthusiastic for the future. make america more american. >> this is bigger than the energy bill and the health care bill. how would you compare it to the opposition you have found? >> the process is a very dynamic one. what we came here to do is, frankly, what we enjoy. everyone agrees that we must have a healthier america how do we get from here to there? it is about the substance. it is about the outside maneuvering. it is about the outside mobilization. it is about listening to people and what their concerns are. many ideas are improvements on what many already thought. it is to work closely with the white house. it is two of the president's top priorities. we do think

it is as if the white house red's the script in the morning.he exempla wanted to give it is held the presses in the sanfo situationrd where some point there will browbeat him out of office. -- that is the simple i want to give. the did not do that to bill clinton. host: new orleans on the democrats their index caller: sure. host: what you make of this example? caller: i don't believe it is a love affair so much as he is a very articulate and intelligent man and sinkthings before he sps which is a refreshing change from the last eight years. i think that the media seize this more than anyone else and that is the reason for the exposure. his a constitutional law professor and has a lot compared to the cowboy that we just are rid of. host: on the independent line, john, what do think? caller: i don't it is a love affair from the media to barack obama, but if you put it into the context of how the media treated george bush just after 9/11 and a look the other way as bush pushed through his policies, you put it into that context -- and with the medi

in november, he ends 12 long years of republican rule in the white house. as a key adviser to the campaign, a transition, and the president, al becomes the conscience of the white house, and bruce reid goes to the white house as domestic policy adviser to the president. soon, a democrat agenda becomes national policy. the 100,000 cops program not only reduces violent crime, but puts to rest of the nation's perception that democrats are soft on crime. americorps reflects the party posing a commitment to civil duty. -- the party's commitment to civil duty. it shows that the party believes in making sure that every american has the opportunity and responsibility to get ahead. clinton is propelled it to a historic re-election. the first democrat to do so since franklin roosevelt. in his second term, he accomplishes what appears to be impossible. the passage of a balanced budget that provides the nation with the first surplus in 30 years. those successes, products of a startling different brand of democratic politics, begin to see progress is the world over. he b

." >> staff members from the white house and various federal agencies discuss how legal change can be achieved in today's policy environment. >> good evening. i am the president and the center for american progress. on behalf of the american constitution society, i would like to welcome all of you to tonight's plenary panel which is entitled the levers of change, help progress is made in today's policy environment. i would also like to extend a special thanks to all of our panelists who have been generous enough to donate their vital time to participate in this discussion. we have several members of the administration up here, and given the pace of the new administration, i think spending a friday evening doing anything but being in a catatonic state is really an heroic effort. i know that the panel will be lively, in just by way of one housekeeping business, you will get to ask most of the questions tonight. business, you will get to ask most of the questions tonight. you need to reach into your back in right -- pullout a card and write your question on the card. people will collect

hal is the white house feeling about that? guest: they do feel something changed, attitudes about the u.s. in the middle east. days later they understood the elections in lebanon for the hezbollah-backed coalition was supposed to win and lost largely because there was a large turnout, much larger than expected for the pro-u.s. coalition of parties. they understood that immediately to mean something. they could not quite bring themselves to say publicly, gee, we think that he had a big influence on these elections. now we see something in iran. they are trying to walk the line behind it taking credit for something happening, a new, diplomatic opening in that part of the world, and not antagonizing the authorities in iran or inserting themselves into a debate that they still insist is a iranians debating their own future. it is impossible to say whether or not, how much influence about events that his congress be chad. host: what is holding back the president and his team? the president has said already that some of his statement

this will be his first time in the white house rose garden. a look at the supreme court, the nation's highest court is accepting new cases. the supreme court has made it easier for parents a special- education students to be reimbursed for the cost of private schooling. the court ruled 6-3 in favor of a teenage boy from oregon is parents sought to have their local soap -- public-school district paid the $52 above the costs to send their sons to private school. they say school districts must pay for a private specialist services if the school does not have appropriate services, regardless of whether the child previously received special- education services through the public school. also, the supreme court upheld a federal government permit to dump waste from an alaskan gold mine into a nearby lake even though all its fish would be killed. by 6-3 vote, the justices said federal appeals court wrongly bought the permit on environmental grounds. the army corps of engineer granted that permit in 2005. environmental groups challenged the permit, sayi

the c-span's podcast. >>> topics at today's white house briefing include u.s. policy towards iran following the nation's presidential election, legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system and yesterday's senate resolution apologizing for slavery. press secretary robert gabus speaks with reporters for a little under an hour. >> good afternoon. let me take ten seconds to get organized. let me quickly go through a week ahead for the planning. the president will spend the weekend in washington and has no scheduled public events. monday the president will sign the family smoking prevention and tobacco control act in the rose garden. tuesday the president will meet with the president of chile at the white house. on wednesday the president will hold a town hall meeting -- telhami in here at the white house in the east room on health care which will be broadcast on abc during primetime. on thursday the president -- i believe it is taped. i think it's taped at eight and broadcast at ten if i am not mistaken. >> [inaudible] >> i assume so. thursday the preside

host: about another half hour concerning the present, the white house, congress. good morning, california. caller: it seems to me that advocates of global warming think the debate is over. it really is not. the case for global warming is not based on science. instead it is the statistical correlation in computer models that global warming is human- caused. the alternative as a clinician is that temperatures in the planet are caused by solar activity. you have a correlation of warming on other planets, principally a mars, that correlates with the temperature changes on earth. i'm wondering if the progressive gentleman can provide me with the press was the argument that rebuts this, or perhaps just point me to upset. guest: i would tell you about the most renowned body of international experts on the issue of global warming that has come to determination that the signs is in and we need to take immediate action to address a. it is not this inter- governmental body alone, but nasa, and a whole body of u.s. experts who have all determined that this is real, happening,

[laughter] >> does there need to be more of a campaign outside the white house? you brought back campaign letters today escaping the notice of nobody in this room for the first time. does he feel like he needs to go out and storm the country? >> no, i don't think we need to storm the country. i think the president will continue to use the opportunities that he has at the white house and on the road to talk about what he thinks will make america safer and stronger, ensuring that we get healthcare reform, and i think if you step back and look at some of the significance of today's events, you've got the pharmaceutical industry and the largest group representing seniors in this country who 16 years ago weren't at the table but were on the other side of the political debate, and i think that represents progress and important steps towards real reform. i would say -- i'm saying we have made progress on comprehensive energy legislation and i think slowly but surely we're working to turn this economy around. >> one last thing. has the president had a personal reaction to

nine years ago, he leaves the white house. last week he put the monday ue meant he saved it as the last minute while he was in africa.,ú half fired over alaska lands argument he started and fired pincho. roosevelt gets in daring to turn back even a portion of the legacy.

we are going to start here at the white house. the secretary has started to take a look at our light bulbs and we will replace them with energy efficient light bulbs. if we want to make our economy run more efficiently, we have to make our homes and businesses run more efficiently. we are speeding up a three charger $46 million investment to expand and accelerate the -- $346 million investment to accelerate this. these buildings consume almost 40% of the energy that we use and contribute to about 40% of the carbon pollution we produce. we're talking about technologies that are available now or soon will be available. from lighting to windows, and heating to cooling, smart sensors and controls. by adopting these technologies, we can make our buildings up to 80% more energy-efficient. with additions like solar panels on the roof or geothermal power from underground, you could turn them into zero energy buildings that will produce as much energy as they consume. this might seem far-fetched. we are not lacking for ideas and innovations

the white house was forced to issue a remarkable statement with a -- where they said publicly that all this lobbying was, quote unquote, counterproductive and everyone was really pushing the president in a public way toward one of their preferred choices, they needed to knock it off and cut it out. a few hour that was white house made that somewhat extraordinary statement, senator barbara boxer sent out a tweet on twitter where she urged her supporters to sign an online petition telling the president to appoint a woman. i don't know if the message got as far out as the president hoped or maybe some people heard it and chose not to follow his request. the consequence was the president may have perceived his choice to be nor roed in that if he didn't choose a woman or a minority he may have been faced with a significant backlash from key morgses of his constituency. now out of all of this, this confusion and chaos and this frenetic lobbying, judge sotomayor emerges. introducing her to the american public, the president spoke of her background. he has since characterized her as having mor

it had be ratified on the white house lawn. rahm emanuel and i had a huge team organizing this ceremony. getting yasser arafat to shake hands, similar to me, i was at the center of 2 other things in 1995, was trying, after the disastrous election in 1994, trying to come up with a policy that would preserve affirmative action, worked on acute policy review, the president ended up giving, a precursor to a president obama's race speech, national archives in july and in that was incredibly gratifying. finally, it was the last day of 1995, 1994/1995 were difficult years, our white house was a very kayak -- very chaotic place. very schizophrenic. we were pursuing 2 different political projects at exactly the same time. what it culminated in was discovering the shutdown in 1995, and clinton sympathized the 2 camps he created in the white house. the fact that i was fighting on pretty much prevailed and it was clear in those final days of 1995 that by standing up the way we did, forcing the republicans to shutdown the government, at both

congresswoman pat schroder used to tell audiences democrats need to do three things to win back the white house. unfortunately, nobody knows what they are. well, al from knew. he understood that to lead a party out of the political wilderness would take a different kind of democrat. today we have a different kind of democratic party because of what al from and that great new democratic president bill clinton accomplished. if you have front what the political wilderness waslike in those days, just take a look across the aisle at the sad state of today's republican party. [applause] >> now we can't feel too bad. after all, they did plenty to earn it. but it is still a sorry sight. republicans have lost back-to-back landslides in 2006 and 2008. they don't have the courage to challenge old orthodoxies and interest groups. they would rather hold on to old approaches that don't work, thnt embrace new ideas. they cling to the same old approaches that are sure to shrink their party faster. my fellow democrats, we have been there and al from, bill clinton and all of you are a big reason we decided

did you see the video on the white house website? i wish you could see the look on my face. >> [unintelligible] >> i think there was some editing. >> we want to start with honduras. as the u.s. been in contact with honduran military leaders? >> i know the state department officials have been in touch with the president. i do not know the extent of the contact with military officials. obviously, there is a special meeting of the oas scheduled for later on this afternoon. >> is there any other acceptable solution? >> not at this point. >> is team meeting today with the state department or anybody in the white house -- is he meeting today with the state department? >> i think if he comes, it he will likely meet with the state department. >> that was partially my question. the first one being, if he does come to washington as he says he would like to do -- >> at this point, he will likely be seen by state department officials. >> secondly, it is not that far, can you give us a little bit of a heads up of what the president wants to achiev

she and richard holbrooke work together and heading for a meeting at the white house. richard fall brook -- richard holbrooke proceeded to attend that meeting. she was examined and they determined that it was appropriate for her to go to the hospital. >> why did it take until 1255. -- until 12:55 p.m. to report it? >> she proceeded down the street to george washington hospital. she got back to her house at roughly 10:00 p.m. she took a call from the president shortly thereafter. we started to work on a statement some time in the next hour and put it out as quickly as we could. >> it was 11:55 p.m. >> yes, sir. >> obviously, we knew she had fallen. we thought it appropriate to get complete facts before we informed the public and the media. >> [unintelligible] >> cheryl mills is a very close confidant and counselor for the secretary. with all the was the most appropriate person to comment. >> is it likely that she will likely not be in attendance because of surgery? >> will it will be able to address that later appeared >> was a bad break? >> i am sure it was painful. i a

it's not just an order of magnitude that led the white house to say -- the violence because obviously there have been those who have died in the streets before the president used the word unjust. >> which is why the president again, a week ago -- remember a week ago we were a day or so, maybe two days away from the election and the president was asked and responded to images on television that warned against increased violence. we saw that ratchet up over the course of several days. >> last week when i asked you, maybe tuesday or wednesday, if this administration was still open to negotiation with the ruling regime, you said yes. now a moment ago a very similar question was asked, it's hard to say what's going to happen. are you less certain about whether it is fruitful for this admin to consider negotiating with them now? >> i'm not less certain about whether it's fruitful because i understand the fruit that was not borne as a result of not engaging the islamic republic of iran, right? we've gone from zero spinning centrifuges to several thousand. i think that. >> that was true a wee

one interesting thing in introducing one thing is that the president has focused, and the white house as a whole have focused on her experience and quality cations, which i think represents a change from what president obama spoke about during the campaign. you will recall when asked what quality he would look for the president said -- candidate obama said -- empathy. it was interesting because empathy is one of those words that on its face certainly has a neutral or favorable connotation. who could oppose the justice who has empathy? but what was interesting is that he was using it in a careful sense or signaling to his supporters he would appoint a justice who would reach certain outcomes, liberal outcomes in a lot of cases. when 2 president was talking about empathy he was not talking about empathy for the crime victim or the taxpayer. he was not talking about tax empathy for the property owner. the white house has back shelved emp think and switched their focus now where it should be. her experience, her ability, her qualifications. now one interesting thing in rolling out justice

i mean, the scale of the challenges and the scale of the responsibilities that this white house is facing is unlike anything that we saw in the early 1990s. >> and it is this kind of crisis that can, if history turns right and the individual reacts correctly and does the right things, can make a great president. >> you can only be a great president if you're facing great crises. i think that is likely one of the things president clinton is envious about. >> right. >> no, seriously, that you do have a chance. [laughter] i think president clinton was a very good steward of the economy. he made the right economic decisions, we had eight years of basically peace and prosperity under president clinton. now, you could make an argument about could more have been achieved with that peace and prosperity, but he, the difficulty of the decision making wasn't as great as what's being faced right now. on the other hand, that's also very liberating. not only do you have the chance to be great, but when you're facing problems like this, the other little mistakes, little stories, they just exnt -- can't,

it hasn't mattered which party controls the white house or the senate. the paybacks and the bickering have been thoroughly bipartisan. republicans are still seething about the way judge bork and justice thomas were treated. democrats are still seething about the way the republican-controlled senate blocked or delayed some of president clinton's judiciary nominees. republicans complain that the democrats seeking revenge oppose mainstream and well-qualified judiciary nominees of president bush. i will tell you as an independent observer that both parties are right. i think president obama and the democrats who now control the senate should recognize that excessive partisanship can fuel fire. it certainly has in the past. and republicans also need to recognize that fact. i think it's time for democrats and republicans alike to join with administration and try to stop this war. an impartial federal judiciary should be the goal of both political parties. the appointment of the most qualified nominees available should be the goal of all americans. the long del

fdr had everybody come to the white house and talk about things to offer ideas. i think the set of people the obama white house is getting ideas from is much smaller. it is amazing to me that the people who presided over the dismantling of glass stiegel and started this whole financial crisis, the -- tim geithner and larry summers just have come back to the white house without any kind of problem. it is almost as if fdr had brought back herbert hoover's secretary of the treasury. that would have stunned the country. it is kind of stunning to not seek a wider range of people for information. host: some of the mistakes is the president's decision to leave the reordering of the financial world to timothy geithner and larry summers. they played a major role in bringing on the disaster in the first place. you say it is not too late to

first of all, someone who helped ensure that we are in the white house. please give steve a big round of applause. where is he? he is around here somewhere. [applause] the new chair of the export/import bank, fred. where is fred? good to see you, fred. our director of the institute of education sciences, john easton. [applause] a couple of special friends, the bishop gene robinson. [applause] ambassador michael guest is here. ambassador jim hornel is here. oregon secretary of state kate brown is here. [applause] all of you are here. welcome to your wife house. -- welcome to your white house. [cheers and applause] somebody asked for the lincoln bedroom. [laughter] it is good to see so many friends and familiar faces. i appreciate the support that i have received from so many of you. michelle appreciates it. i want you to know that you have our support as well. [applause] you have my thanks for the work that you do every day in pursuit of quality on behalf of the millions of people in this country that work hard and care about their communities, and that are

i'm sure you do not see much of him in the white house. john mccain, on the other hand, los reporters and spent hours and investing in those relationships. --loves reporters. john mccain woodwind the personality contest by a million miles -- would win the personality contest by a million miles. whatever perceived bias there is, it is not based on relationships are based on obama cultivating it, because he has done the opposite. >> these were surveys takinen on journalists and their personal voting preference. in 2000, mccain was well liked in terms of the media. he is that kind of guy. he will talk to for a long time. we did he will talk to you for a long time. it probably worked in his advantage, but he did not denomination. >> if you look at mccain and obama, she is right. obama does not talk to as a whole lot, but became did. it is a real double edged sword for mccain freewheel like him as a person and he was great to talk to, but he put his foot in his mouth. -- it is a real double edged sword for mccain, as we like him as a person. he

that is the case the white house would make. thanks, guys. have a good weekend. >> sherrod brown met today with the president at the white house. following that he spoke with reporters. this is 10 minutes. >> good afternoon. i had a good meeting with the president for 20 or 25 minutes, talking about jobs, talking about some specific ohio things. he recognizes that alito has more -- 5000 jobs in solar energy. probably the largest number of solar jobs of any city in the u.s. and what is happening in my state in manufacturing alternative energy. we talked about audio and -- auto and how we move forward in alternative energy. the president has an interest i have had. the to get to the middle class will continue to be manufacturing, not just preserving automotive jobs but what we do with new industries, especially alternative energy, especially building for high- speed rail, not just the real technology that has been in europe, but building cars for light rail and high-speed rail, building train cars and trucks and all that. it was a good discussio

then a conversation with linda douglas of the white house health care reform office. er, bowen schaefer of cbs news. "washington journal" begins at 7:00 each morning with the day's news. over on c-span 3, work continues on health care legislation, live coverage from the senate health committee begins at 10:00 eastern. now president obama announces an $80 billion deal with u.s. drug companies to help cover costs to medicare recipients. from the white house, this is about 10 minutes. >> i want to thank you for having us here, mr. president. we certainly appreciate it. aarp is proud to stand with you, chairman baucus, senator dodd, to announce that the gap in medicare, the drug coverage gap known as the dougnut hole to all of you, will be substantially filled for millions of middle income americans as part of health reform. i want to applaud chairman baucus and senator dodd, who continue to be champions for this issue and have always fought for people who are struggling to make ends meet. we are honored to stand with both of you. senator baucus, it is your strong leadersh

host: the conversation this half-hour is on politics and the white house. r guest will be with us until 8:00 a.m. eastern. kyle trygstad, you have a piece on friday about the gop pushing back on energy. the just passed the bill which should not pass by a wide margin -- did not pass by what margin, but how likely is it that the gop was begins that with those things coming down the pipe at the present has popular support for? guest: this took some effort off the health care plan which they had been pushing against pretty hard. this deal last weekend between the agriculture committee chairmen and it speaker nancy pelosi and henry waxman kind of changed things quickly for republicans. the republicans that will it push against this energy bill, but was such a big gap between the majority and minority in house seats there is little they can do. host: let's go to calls. first up this is richard on the republican line from new york. go ahead. caller: thank you for c-span. they just passed the cap and trade legislation and house. in the congressman who voted for that

the congressional budget office and the white house, they are trying to manipulate figures to hide the truth, the reality of the way things really are. you need more money, washington needs more money, a tax increase, to say carbon dioxide is a pollutant is a joke. just come out and say we need more money. guest: let me say to this debt, and again, there is not a penny of tax in this -- let me say to this gentlemen, again, there is not a penny of tax in this legislation. it is a pretty independent office, and the analysis that issues is not done for the partisan advantage of either political party. as steve was indicating a moment ago, the congressional budget office, this nonpartisan agency, says that by the year 2020, the average effect of cost on the typical american family is going to be $175 per year. the environmental protection agency, look me with the near- term cost is going to be up until that time, says it is between $77 and $111 per year for the typical family. . at the white house, the president meets with members of congress to talk about immigration issues, this after hi

you mentioned a meeting coming up next week at the white house. tell us a little bit more about that meeting, how that advances the issue. guest: well, gay advocates in washington had various national organizations had called for a meeting to discuss their concerns. and initially we were sort of gin a run around. but i heard yesterday that they had been invited to a meeting at the white house to discuss these concerns. and that's all i know. i was not one of those invited. i'm just a local activist, a group that focuses on equality under the law here in washington, d.c. and of course in d.c., we have a special relationship with the u.s. congress. all of the laws that we pass in d.c. have to go to the hill for congressional review period. and congress has to approve our annual appropriations bill. so we're in a special case. but our national advocates will be meeting in the white house and i expect all of these things we've been discussing will be on the agenda. >> do you know if the president is going to be at this meeting? >> i don't know that. i