before that, thelma served under six assistant secretaries in the department. a native of chicago, thelma began her public service career during world war ii when she worked at the selective service system in the office of price administration. after the the war she worked with the veterans administration before coming to work at the pent's gone guided missile committee. he served for melvin price in 1952, but she soon returned to the pentagon. in the 1950's and 1960's, thelma served as a personal assistance to six of the -- including william bundy. she began to accompany them on what would later total 85 trips overseas during her career. she worked closely with secretary robert mcnamara. one of the most frightening times was during the cuban missile crisis. as there were sets to be shredded when she left after midnight, she was one of the few americans who knew just how precarious the situation was and she couldn't say with certainty whether the pentagon would be there the next morning. but, thankfully, that morning came. in 1969, when melvin laird, she was as

thelma, are things winding down now at the capitol? >> reporter: don, there are definitely not as many people here at the state capitol as there were yesterday. however, later tonight, another candle light vigil is planned. the vigil protests all that's organized by students activists and while this is just one opinion on a very complicated immigration issue, they're definitely leading the charge to fight back. >> after the hurt and anger over s.b. 1070, student leaders in arizona jumped into action. >> my name's christian vito, i am 18 years old and i'm organizing a group to protest against the law. >> i'm jessup fino and i'm a youth organizer here in arizona. we're going to kick off the summer of hope, it will be 90 days of organizing and getting together. >> reporter: this organization of student protesters are going viral. >> we're using databases, we're using text messaging systems and doing phone banks. >> i have thousands and thousands of people looking on to us for what is next. >> reporter: jeff, an arizona state university gr

thelma gutierrez has more on reaction from many in arizona's hispanic community and beyond. [ chanting ] >> reporter: the governor just signed a bill into law, and if you take a look around you can see thousands of people gathered here in front the state capitol in phoenix. the emotions of sadness and angster are palpable. >> i started to try. started to think about my family and my friends. about everything that's going to happen. about how thing, going to change from now on. >> reporter: what was your first reaction when you heard that the law was signed? >> well, disappointed at one point. fighting against this all this injustice going into the state. of course, for all the community out there, of course, we're going to feel a fear of what's going on. >> reporter: many are young students and latinos but not alone in their indignation. what was your first reaction? >> i cried. how could we do this to people? >> hopefully this will stir up the masses to come out and get the politics of this state turned around in the right direction. >> it took a lot for me to wear this, and you know,

extraordinary capable person, what would you have done to stop it, or were you only the vague is thelma and -- now only delaying its? and you said your focus was not likely to be on iran in a month's cannes. what are we missing? is there a way to switch focus to iran, or do we have to see a lot of meetings against the united states? in order to catch everyone on camera and in the network, i am going to us you to respond and these microphones. >> it is always nice to reminisce about opportunities for gone. i think the last administration pursued a dual strategy, and one truck was to offer opportunities to produce of it, to have dialogue and other issues if they suspended their uranium enrichment. the other was international isolation. i think part of the problem was each track was too little, too late. the inducements for week. it is conceivable if loan strategy had operated -- if the strategy had operated at a higher level, if we were able to threaten sanctions a number of years ago, and if we have more serious inducements, maybe we could have changed the approach by day iranian leaders

thelma gutierrez, cnn, los angeles. >> how can the average family, working class family, how are theyle to afford college? >> this is a huge challenge. working class, middle class is something we think about all the time. it's a real worry. what i'm so proud of, due to the president's leadership and congress' support, we recently passed the higher education bill that is going to bring an additional $36 billion into pell grants for students over the next decade. we did that simply by stopping subsidizing banks, not going back to taxpayers for a dime, and putting all that money into education and investing in our future, which is where it should be. families can get a $10,000 tuition tax credit. so we have to continue to work to make college more affordable. this is the biggest increase in funding since the g.i. bill. massive resources going in, and we want to make sure that every single child like that around the country has a chance to pursue that dream of higher education. we also need to really change universities to think about reducing costs. and i think families have to vote with

thelma is a concert islam. she's 22. one of perhaps 30 women in belgium to wear the full face vail. a decision she says she's made for herself. >> it mice freedom to get closer to my creator and closer to allah and everyone should be free to express themselves the way they want, according to their conviction and religion without having to abide by a law. >> but belgium politicians have other plans. they will ban clothing to this and the long vail. some see it's a security measure or protecting the rights of women. but for others it's about social contact and culture. >> if you want a good communication between all the communities because all of the communities in brussels. it's important that we see each other and speak to each other. i think it's very important for social contact. >> gel gum has about half a million muslim residents. there's little outward sign that extremist islamic views have taken hold here and opinion is mixed on wheret new law is needed at all. >> i think it's a good thing. nobody has the right to dress in the streets. we have to be able to recognize people fo

for democrats, it's thelma and louise. i wrote in sarah palin doesn't do subtle very well.se two are take no prisoners. they don't have any aspirations to leave the center of the country, but they are reffing up the tea party movement in states like minnesota and elsewhere. >> tim pawlenty, usually a headliner of events in minnesota, now the opening act today. let's take a listen to this. i want to leave you with one thought. the reverend dr. martin luther king said the measure of a person is not where they stand in times of comfort and privilege, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy. your presence here today answers the question. your standing up to say enough is enough. you're standing township say i'm willing to fight back. you're standing up to say our values matter and we're putting a marker down and we're going to restore common sense to the united states of america. >> you look at palin and bachmann. then you look at this republican rising star. they really do represent different parts of the republican party in a way who very much need each oth

thelma gutierrez, cnn, los angeles. >>> we invite you to join us for a cnn special. "fixing america's schools" this evening, 7:00, tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. an encore presentation. >>> a smell of success isn't as sweet at as one of the top universities in the country. opportunities at m.i.t. krauming a little too hard to learn a little too much and forgetting a little something. personal hygiene. that's creating a big stink on campus in more ways than one, but this is m.i.t., where the brightest minds can solve any problem. right? well, the student senate pass add bill providing free samples of soap, tooth 3 paste, mouth wash and deodorant handed out to students during class. >> you're smart, but you stink. right? >> not something to put on the resume. >> not at all. thank you for not cramming too hard. you smell pleasant this morning. >> thank you. >>> coming up next here, talking about pigs. a lot of stories out about bullies in the news, the past several week. high profile cases. a kid we're told in one particular school reporting school bullies to teachers. then a bu

to use my "thelma & louise" analogy. >> no. unless we expect the increase in government. don't accept that, we can reduce the size of government and have the same spending burden as before when the budget was more or less balanced. >> wow! in the last two years that's the problem. in other words we didn't have a deficit before the last two years when we didn't put the wars on the books, we didn't account for that. or we didn't provide some source of funding or financing for medicare prescription drug benefits for our seniors. oh, so before that, we didn't have any deficit problems? is that right, bill? >> the deficit in 2007 if i'm not mistaken was $130 billion. it was the surplus in 2000, wars are winding down and it would go back to surplus if we didn't have a huge splurge of spending under president bush and obama. and the entitlements are a problem and need to be reformed. >> a huge problem! we made sufficient cuts and we may have to have more with medicare spending. you come to something like social security and here is where the problem is. are the tea party people

. >> reporter: thelma gutierrez, cnn. >> there will be a showdown in a few hours on financial reform. people with astigmatism. acuvue oasys for astigmatism. they work with the way my eyes move and blink, which helps them stay in place. and this is the only lens of its kind made with hydraclear plus. i'm seeing more clearly, crisply, comfortably, all day long. now life doesn't have to be a blur. [ male announcer ] for a free trial pair certificate, go to getacuvue.com. acuvue oasys for astigmatism. >>> a political showdown today over efforts to crack down on wall street. democrats scheduled a vote this evening to e begin debate on financial reform legislation. republicans say "not so fast." let the bipartisan negotiations play out. >> the vote against this bill as it stands and i hope a lot of democrats would. >> 18 months later we're in no better position today to protect ourselves against that kind of crisis again than we were 18 months ago. >> dana bash is live from capitol hill. great to see you. here's the lay of the land here. we have a test vote planned for early this evening to

one of thelma oldest and most successful firms on wall street. those activities contributed to the economic collapse that came full blown the following year. goldmansachs and other investment banks, when acting property lawyer -- acting properly, played an important role. they create jobs and make economic growth possible, bringing together investors and businesses for helping save for a child's education. it is not hard to echo the conclusion of another committee that found, the results of the unregulated activities of bankers were disasters. that conclusion came in 1934 as the senate looked into the reason for the great depression. goldmansachs claims response ability for our community to support and fund our ideas and facilitate growth. the evidence shows goldman repeatedly put its own interest in profits ahead of the interests of its clients and our communities. it's miss us help spread toxic mortgages, and when the system finally collapsed, goldman profited from the collapse. the evidence also shows repeated statements by the firm and execut