i know that there was some talk earlier this year about the white house taking the census or taking the -- taking some sort of leadership role in the census. we have been public assurances, private assurances that the white house has no such intention. the fact is that the census was admittedly mishandled during much of the bush administration, so that toward the laster part of the administration, everybody was scrambling to try to repair the damage that had been done. to its credit, the department of commerce, the bureau of census conceived of a census in 2010 that would involve as much technology, as much automation as possible. the whole vision there would be to be accurate and to be less expensive. unfortunately, the contractor and the -- the secretary of the department of commerce actually took a lot of responsibility for the agency for the contractor, not having correct instructions, but in fact the job was not well performed, whether it was the fault of the commerce department and the bureau or whether it was the contractor. point is, that we have spent a lot of time in the last

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

a live look at the white house briefing room. the white house briefing is scheduled to begin momentarily. we will again for just a moment. it appears it may be ready to start. we will look again for just a moment. 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

different belief structures and different centers in iran. >> you discussed in yesterday's briefing the white house's confidence with the flood detainee's the [inaudible] on that same subject has the white house or president had any discussions about taking [inaudible] >> i think i believe we have had discussions with the government and have had discussions of different levels with the saudi government about the program and about detainee is that are some that have been transferred and psalm that are still held at guantanamo bay. obviously, i think the president believes and has said repeatedly he is and when to make the decision on anything related to guantanamo that would threaten the security of the country. but i don't want to get into any death about those discussions. >> [inaudible] >> discussing guantanamo definitely

will there be a package coming from the white house at some point [unintelligible] and the as the white house have to wait for a score or does he have some figure in mind? >> i would say this. in the original budget that the white house submitted was a significant down payment toward health care reform. over $600 billion in a 10-year period. as well as the president outlining what we have talked about here which is restructuring aspects of medicare and medicaid that are inefficient in the system, particularly, i think the biggest example was medicare plans that are -- pay private insurers extra money to do what they already should be doing in the form of a middle man payment. i think the president will in short order out line additional ways that efficiency can be brought to the system in achievable and score will savings -- scorable savings that will enhance the robust downpayment he has outlined. >> what is the shortfall? >> i do not know that -- obviously, some of that scoring will be dependent on the parameters of what plan is adopted. you heard the president talking about the fact

[applause] she now serves as assistant to the president, white house secretary, a position i occupied for president clinton. i expect her to be the chief of staff and the white house in the last three years of the obama administration. she cochaired the agency review for the obama-biden transition process. prior to joining the transition, she served for six years as the executive director of the american constitution society where she helped lead the organization to the tremendous growth and prominence it has today. lisa also was counsel to vice president al gore before her duties -- before duties in the vice president's office, she served in the office of legal counsel in the department of justice. she has seen a lot of variety from different perspectives. he is executive she of staff to vice president joe biden. before joining vice-president gore's staff, ron was chief of staff to janet reno and assist -- associate counsel in charge of judicial selection. he has been a veteran of five presidential campaigns. he directed the fall debate preparations for president obama as well as joh

the technology officer is the house as well as the omb. those offices are more involved than others in setting the policy but this is something that is crosscutting every agency, every office in the white house. it will probably come a little bit from everywhere. >> do you think the project is going well? >> the recovery act is a great example. we have the most unprecedented level of transparency with regard to the spending and recovery. it is obviously a huge project, there are websites created for every federal agency, there is recovery.gov, state and local grants, it is an extraordinary effort. where we started given where we came from is huge. >> we have twitter going in iran recently. >> a couple of very important concepts that are really new in terms of political culture, would be transparency and collaboration. they are very consistent with technology concept, and they do characterized what is happening in terms of collaboration across agencies and in terms of transparency when we talk about executive order, we talk about the is the executive order. the ethics executive order. in terms of transparency -- >> you work for an administration which was going the other direction. clai

. >> do you worry that too much authority, too much power has been sucked into the white house and diminishing the rules of the cabinet secretaries? >> i think that is not so much about omb. there is talk about the various policy councils and their policies within the white house. this is a unique time. there are extraordinary challenges and the need for coordination is something that is essential. i think it is having -- all the various policy councils are playing a creative role in bringing together the thinking around the administration. given the ambition and amount of work that is taken on, it has to happen in a unified way. >> that is kind of bs, maybe. -- a yes, maybe. you work in an office most people think of doing the work that is being suggested. you are deciding which techniques can be used on prisoners when the office of legal policy is not the office of legal counsel but it has an important role in the transparency question. that has been your background. there has been disappointment on the progress of side in that arena -- on the question. there's this case about withholding vi

robert, the mayors are very happy, early on in this administration saying they had a friend in the white house when the president was engaging them on the recovery plan. now they are very upset about the white house not crossing the picket in line to talk about that. is a good of the holding neglected for one city? >> no, i think the administration has denoted pretty clearly that obviously we have worked with officials at a city, county, state level particularly that relates to the recovery plan, but i think as the statement from a says clearly, not a policy to cross the picket line. >> so and i'm going to go hypothetically but i want a real answer. [laughter] >> a little contestation. >> is that a real word? here is the deal. if the conference was in another city, would in the high profile white house official have attended if it were in another city that did not have any --? >> let me see if i'm accurately paraphrasing your question -- if there wasn't a picket line that we would uncrossed what we go? >> in another city? >> again our policy is we don't want to cross the picket line so there i

i would be interested in taking questions, but i have to get back to the white house. i cannot close without complementing bruce. i cannot tell you how important the dlc to what we do at the white house. the work they do their laws and have an answer when i call him and yelled at him that we need work on a project. -- the work they do allows them to have an answer when i call and yell at him to have an answer to a project. they have solutions to very important policy choices, making sure you remember what the goals are and become creative about the means to achieve those goals. the dlc is a very important policy think tank for what we do with the white house. i thank you for being involved in a very important organization, if for nothing else making sure that bruce has an answer when i scream at him at 1:00 at night. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much, ron. i know you have a country to run. thank you for fighting the good fight. on behalf of democrats everywhere, thank you for making the government work again, rahm. >> the senate health committee continues work

. >> 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.

does the white house have to wait for a cbo, or is there a figure in mind? well, i would say this, a couple of things. obviously, in the original budget that the white house submitted was a significant down payment toward health-care reform. i think over $600 billion. it is a 10-year period that included changes for the taxation of charitable contributions for those at the very top of the income scale as well as the president outlining what we have talked about here, which is restructuring aspects of medicare and medicaid that are inefficient in the system, particularly, i think, the biggest example was medicare plans that pay private insurers extra money to do what they already should be doing in the form of sort of a middle man payment. i think the president will in very short order outlining additional ways -- outline additional ways in which efficiency can be brought to the system with achievable savings and even in a greater way enhance the already robust down payment. >> any idea of what it would be? what is the shortfall? >> obviously, some of that sc

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

host: you can call the white house. by the way, you can go to whitehouse.gov. e're talking about the white house health-care plan and ronald is joining us from raleigh, north carolina. caller: good morning, first, let me sarah on vacation and i do not want everyone to -- let me say i am on vacation and i do not want everyone to think that federal employees are the only ones on the phone. my question is, what does what does the government think it has the right to pay for health care when they cannot even do it for their own federal employees? every year for the past 10 years or more, federal employees insurance costs, including copays and premiums, have gone up by 10% or more. secondly, if the american public thinks that the federal government can run a federal health system, just look at our military health care. when the government can show the public that it can take care of its own employees' health care and cost and its own military health-care in a more efficient manner, then i think they can propose a before the public to buy. host: thanks for the call. t

several weeks ago when the president had his first speech to the joint houses of congress, the white house invited ms. henry to come to d.c. they put her up in a hotel there broader to the congress and to the white house and by this time we had sent her a book so we could verify that she was indeed and she took her book with her to the white house and she showed it to the president and he said michelle i think you need to sign this some michelle obama got the book and signed it. now we're waiting for michelle to sign our books and all of the contributors books. we are going to the white house the 27 of march, we just have another contributor come in, we're all 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 bec

we are interested in what will happen at the white house today. we believe is important that the president has called for this meeting. he has the economic summit and several other summits. 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

host: how does this change things for the white house, having the social media be a presence? do they see that as opportunity or challenge? guest: i think they embrace it. i think they see -- this is a white house that has reached out over mainstream media quite a bit. i believe "the huffington post" was called in the very first prime-time news conference. it is a white house that embraces new media, has its own blog on the white house website. that is a first. at the same time, you are right. it adds to the flow of information coming in and questions asked, and feeds the calls for more, for harsher language about what is happening iniran. host: from philadelphia on the the republican line. caller: good morning, mr. scott wilson, your newspaper and all the other liberal media seems to forget there were over 4000 american soldiers who died in iraq. it is right next toiran if i'm not mistaken. do you think that head anything -- that had anything to do with the change for people can see next door what is going on, other than just words from that speech that obama gave? guest: i ha

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

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,

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

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 president will participate in the service event in washington, the president will also host a small group of senate and house members from both sides of the nile. at the white house for immigration meetings the meeting is to continue the conversation with hopes of bringing the beginning debate in earnest later this year in the evening the president will host a picnic for members of congress and their families on the south lawn and next friday the president will meet with german chancellor merkel here at the white house. >> the house resolution, it asks for direct combination of the government, the government in iran use of, violence against proteste

on many of those topics. >> does the president feel that, does the white house feel, there needs to be more of a public campaign, that the american people need to be -- >> people saying we're overposed. [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

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.

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

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

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

democrats, a revitalized democratic party. >> in november he ends 12 long years of republican rule in the white house. as a key advisor to the campaign, the transition and the president, al becomes, in clinton's words, the conscience of the white house and bruce reed goes to the house a domestic policy advisor to the president. soon a democratic agenda becomes national policy. the 100,000 cops program not only helps produce an unprecedented drop in violent crime but puts to rest the view that democrats are soft on rhyme. a movement recommits us to patriotism and civic duty. his bold effort to end welfare is not only lifting millions out of poverty but shows that the party believes in making sure every american has the opportunity and responsibility to get ahead. clinton is propelled to an historic re-election, the first democrat to do so sense franklin roosevelt. in his second term he accomplishes what seems impossible in the post-bush era. the passage of a balanced budget that provides the nation with the first surplus in 30 years. those successes, products of a starkly different brand of democratic

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

can you clarify whether that brief was cleared here at the white house, whether it represents the white house's view? >> you didn't ask the staff secretary? >> it wasn't a press conference, it was a panel discussion. can you clarify whether it was -- >> i don't know the answer to that. >> do you know if there's any discussion under way about maybe modifying or changing it? >> nothing i'm aware of, no. george? >> what do you see as a realistic timetable for getting immigration reform through congress? >> as i talked about last week, the president will have a meeting at the white house on thursday, that will be with those that have supported and opposed in the past what the president believes is comprehensive immigration reform. i think this is as i described last week part of the ongoing and continued conversation, understanding that we have still got progress to make in order to get something like this through the house and the senate. i think the president hopes that later this year, we can have and begin formal debate on that but -- and i think he hopes that it will happen soon but do

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

awful lot of space in the media world from 2007-2008 when this was hitting. >> let's turn back to the white house just for a second. as you said earlier and we know very well, a lot of the same people who worked with us in the clinton white house are now back in the schwarzenegger term. [laughter] do you think we're watching kind of a do-over here, a chance for some of these folks to advance the policies that may have gotten lost under clinton? >> it's a great question. yes and no. i mean, yes in the sense that, listen, on health care and this is one of the reasons -- i took some criticism during the campaign because after the 23rd debate where we heard about the difference between hillary and obama on whether or not to have an individual mandate for health care, i moderated a debate where i didn't ask about that because basically a lot of my feeling was, you know what? if either one of these two wins, they're going to end up creating something like what has become the consensus democratic health care plan over the last 15 years, and sure enough that's exactly what's happeningment -- happening. s

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

the funds they need." each of these quotes, mr. president, spoken by republicans, when a republican was in the house -- the white house -- each of these quotes was spoken by republicans when a republican was in the white house. today, with a democrat in the white house, some republicans threatened to stand in the way of our efforts to support our troops. our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, everything we've asked of them they have done and more. as always our troops and commanders have gone above and beyond. the least we can do is give them the basics they need to fight this war. this war against terrorists. this bill does that. it gives our brave troops, including more than 1,000 men and women from the state of nevada, the resources they need to do their jobs and return home safely. it provides $80 billion for the wars in iraq and afghanistan. mr. president, in this important piece of legislation we are also dedicating billions of dollars to make sure we're prepared for and can spend to a potential flu pen democratic. we must -- flu pandemic. we must be ready. there is no other opportunity to be ready by this fall. we are dedicati

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

now one interesting thing in rolling out justice sotomayor, i think the white house has done a good job. i'm not saying there haven't been bumps in the road. i can't resist quoting this. i actually went and looked at the transcript. robert gibbs, the white house press secretary held his daily press secretary and you can see from his perspective this was a historic day. the president just nominated a woman who would be the first hispanic supreme court justice in history. clearly robert gibbs was hoping to bask in the warmth of the press corp. he gets from the podium and takes a question from hillary thomas. he gets up there says, the president believes that judge sotomayor's life story is a compelling one and her voice will be an important addition to the supreme court. then he calls on helen thomas. >> question, did he pay her taxes? >> mr. gibbs says did she pay her taxes? >> well, i have not seen anything on that. in fairness i should note that it does appear she has paid her taxes so i think there is some truth to the claim that judge sotomayor has had life experiences that other oba

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

the white house loring the expectations for reform anytime soon. lawmakers will gather at the white house this week for a working session on immigration reform, a meeting that has been highly anticipated by latino leaders. they want obama to work on his campaign promise. we are joined this morning by the examiners chief congressional correspondent, susan ferrechio. over the weekend her poll numbers came out about an incident reported here in the the politico. the approval rate in nevada has plummeted falling to 39% in favor impression of the senator as opposed to 53 in may. what is his position so important for some republicans? caller: he came out last week and disclosed that he had an extramarital affair. he is out of the leadership now. he is not facing an immediate election challenge. there is time for him to recover politically. republicans are vulnerable right now. they are that in the minority in the house and the senate. they are trying to change their image and regain some of the popularity they had in the last decade. something like this d

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

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

many people blame that on the white house and maybe the american people are tired of seeing these things. the other argument is that abc may not have promoted as much. it was obviously a good thing for the white house to do to get this conversation going to the american people. host: the issue of health care came up with george stephanopoulos yesterday. let's show you a bit of what they had to said. >> i do not -- i want to show you something that president- elect barack obama said during the campaign. >> i can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family, making less than two under $50,000 per year, will see any form of tax increase -- making less than two under $50,000 per year, will see any form of tax increase. -- $250,000 per year. >> the president said what ever has to be done cannot add to the deficit. we have issues with our budget. we do not want to add to our deficit. this will have to be paid for. 2/3 of the expense of this under the president's's plan and proposal will be done by transferring money within the health-care system from medicare, on wasteful spending, and so on.

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