this was a friend of washington's, he was actually related to washington. he was a business partner of washington. interestingly enough, david stewart actually laid the cornerstone here in that 1791 masonic ritual. the infamous compromise of 1790 is what finally sealed the deal. it had to do with the assumption of debt. after the revolutionary war, there was a whole lot of debt that had been taken on by the various states. and there was, the politics of this is that the southern states had largely paid off their debts, but the northern states had not. so alexander hamilton wanted the federal government to assume these debts. james madison was against that, but madison and the virginians wanted the capital on the potomac river. so there was a famous dinner that was held at monticello, thomas jefferson's house, where thomas jefferson invited james madison and alexander hamilton, and then over dinner at monticello they struck the compromise of 1790 which was that the federal government would assume the debts, the wartime debts from the revolutionary war in exc

we'll talk a martha washington followed by the rosa ♪ >> martha washington was george washington's confidante>> she was very capable. she did not like that. she called herself a prisoner of state. >> by the same token that every step washington took to find the office, so can it be said that everything martha washington did, likewise. >> it was a businesslike relationship. but not without affection. they had a deep respect for each other. >> she owned most of this whole block, going back a couple of acres. she owned a huge chunk of what williamsburg was. >> there was a lot of tragedy in martha washington's life. she lost her first husband. >> she was raised a rich woman. what that means in the 18th century, that is not necessarily what it means today. >> she brings with her to mount vernon 12 house slaves. that is almost an unimaginable luxury. >> it'd take for 10 days to travel here to valley forge from mount vernon in her carriage with her slaves and servants with her. this was a difficult journey. >> her experience had prepared her to become the first lady. >> martha washington was 57 year

>> washington is a liberal town. it really has not changed washington much. they are more -- there may be more jobs for conservatives in journalism than there were. it has not changed that much. look, who decide what's the story is? it is not fox news. it is not rush limbaugh. it these mainstream media i which is liberal. they decide what the story is. some conservatives thought because talk radio in particular had a huge impact in the midterm election in 1994 and but it, but the conservative media could rival the mainstream media, boy, that had not happened at all. you know, brian shall i wrote a piece for the new republic back soon after i got there, '85, '86 or '87. a conservative era in american politics. ronald reagan was president. republicans controlled the senate, not the house, but rage gain has been successful in getting things through the house. immersed a whole bunch evidence to say that there had been, i called it media realignment. that the media was getting more conservative or at least less liberal and i wrote a whole piece on the cover of the

>> washington is a liberal town. it really has not changed washington much. more jobs for conservatives in journalism than there were. it has not changed that much. it these mainstream media i which is liberal. they decide what the story is. republicans controlled the senate, not the house, but rage gain has been successful in getting things through the house. immersed a whole bunch evidence to say that there had been, i called it media realignment. that the media was getting more conservative or at least less liberal and i wrote a whole piece on the cover of the new republic. >> does it matter though? >> of course it matter? >> why? >> look at the 2012 bam campaign. >> you never changed your views and you lived around the liberal media? what does it matter? are they all sheep following the media says? >> oh, who? >> others. >> the reporters. well, there have been some who have come out. i remember charles when he was liberal. i remember mike when he was a pollster for a liberal democratic polling firm. so some people have changed. >> i am talking about the p

once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. we had an unexpectedly entertaining not to mention consequential week. the topic remain from cabinet nominees to the federal budget all bracketed by good economic news, a record close on wall street as well as more jobs on main street. but at this very time last week, we were being told for the sky to fall as across the board budget cuts took effect. so why the good economic news? >> the numbers that came out friday were positive. 236,000 jobs created across the economy. the private sector even stronger. this is against the backdrop on a bunch of other good news, the stock market making its first new high since 2007. a rare good week for wall street and main street. to keep these in context, neither of these numbers suggest that the economy is racing ahead. in fact, it's still growing at 2 1/2% the same rate it was growing last year. the impressive thing is that it's doing this in the face of so many head winds. gasoline prices have gone up. most economists would have anticipated some

washington's favorite tavern. i miss episodes in the early teens centuries and within the cms today was built circa 1785 and a new addition was added 1782. but the new edition is over 200 years, too. other famous people who died here, including john adams, thomas jefferson, james madison. thomas jefferson had his dinner here. john cassidy had a terrific reputation for hospitality. he was no for the really great dinners he would serve. so use well-known all over the area and that's why the president of the united days to come here because it was probably the best place to eat in this entire area. the last year to establish restaurant in baltimore and washington city. when you think about george washington, you think of them as living the revolutionary war and being this is correct or in your dollar bill. but what is needed that gadsby's tavern is you see and dining and drinking, dancing. he loved to dance, telling stories, meeting friends to your and having conversations. ecm is a real person, not as a statue. we a

and some noises coming out of washington there is quite a little contingent within the united states that is looking to perhaps get into the batek because she should run and not be talking abrasively as they have in previous years and israel has entered the fray of israeli lobby is really putting pressure on those politicians in america to take a more israeli line which is a more hardcore lied to us to do with perhaps a flame war with out of around the big change that we're looking at is a shift there is a shift away from this kind of like allegiance to israel that is on capitol hill in washington d.c. there are splits appearing because americans are realizing that it's not in their best interest it's not in american interest to follow israel's agenda so therefore aipac. it's not beneficial for aipac to be running the government and want any more as for the past thirty years. when this friendship leaves. the apac congress this sunday. now for some more internationalism brief this hour. in macedonia at least twenty two people including thirteen police have been injured during protests

maybe we will hear about the full name of the march on washington which was the march on washington for jobs and freedom, and maybe we will even hear about the kennedy administration horror about this march. they didn't want this to happen. a were concerned there would lead to the point president kennedy's shut down the federal government other than for the essential personnel the day that this occurred in 63. but, i am pretty certain that the commemoration is mostly going to focus on dr. king and i have a dream. and i know that -- we all know this and most of us can recite parts of it and chunks of it especially towards the end. it's a great speech. it's optimistic, hopeful, it is king at his best when it comes to the delivery and the style and emotional appeal but also frees as dr. king in 1963 in this moment. he's talking about ecology and the brotherhood, which are fine themes and messages but it freezes him and obscures' the complexity of king and of the freedom struggle and the complexity of the 1960's. so tonight i want to talk more about another march, the poor people's campaign

we know what people in washington thought about her and people who visited washington. but that's a very small universe. there were 200 members of the house of representatives. about 50 senators. there was the supreme court, a handful of cabinet members. a few foreign dignitaries. local people. the washington social kirkle was maybe 500 people and that was the world that we think when we talk about social washington, it's this very small group of people. and that's who met her and who reflected on her. people didn't know. in fact, when monroe was president, he did two tours around the country and they were phenomenal because no one ever saw the president. no one ever heard the president talk. we can't go through a day hardly. you have to be sealed up to go through a day to not hear the president's voice or to see an image of him. a man in massachusetts wrote in 1817, several months after monroe became president that for the first time he saw a picture of president monroe. james madison gave three speeches when he was president. thomas jefferson did too. people never saw

that washington support for egypt's islamic rulers may not be as strong as the opposition claims. i think there's a double spaced in washington back in the muslim brotherhood goes back to role in egypt. when the. saw the muslim brotherhood as a potentially useful tool to put in their bag of organizations that they manipulate around the world i think some people around president obama have the delusion that they could control what's basically of political islamic fascist movement actually it's not really a movement for democracy and it is for much of the imagination at this point morsi is in a life and death struggle because the popular support is not there for this this who and washington is beginning to get a little bit wobbly on its support for washy for that reason they're beginning to rethink i think that's one of the reasons for the change between hillary clinton and john kerry to bring in a new cast of people and see what what kind of options there are in egypt just for . well it's syria's apparently never ending civil standoff which became the key issue if you have to promi

the less they do in washington, the better the economy performs? >> well, i would agree with that except i think when they leave a lot of uncertainty there, it makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to make commitment. i think that's why, as james says, most of this money that the fed is creating is being lent to the treasury, so it's not going into the real economy, except to the extent that, you know, it's forcing, as i say, investors to go into the stock market, and that is, you know, pushing up asset prices. but it's not clear to me that the lack of resolution in washington is actually good for the economic-- the economy. >> mary mentioned the word uncertainty and one thing that the federal reserve board came out with this week is that there is uncertainty in labor markets, specifically about obamacare. and businesses don't know exactly how many people they can hire, whether they have to switch people from full-time workers to part-time workers, there are a lot of questions about obamacare yet to be answered. >> well, businesses large and small h

. >> she moved back to washington d.c.n her elder years and became very much behind the scenes in a political field again. >> as henry clay famously said, everybody loves mrs. madison. her equally famous response -- that's because mesrs. madison loves everyone. >> dolley madison came to her service as first lady with experience during thomas jefferson's two terms. the president often called on her to assist him. this sense of the usefulness of diplomacy all-out dolley to hit the ball running. she assumed the role in 1809 as her husband james madison became the president. welcome. we will learn about the intriguing dolley madison. we have two guests at our table. let me introduce you to them. catherine allgor, an author and biographer of dolley madison. thank you for being here. >> it's a pleasure. >> edith mayo was the creator of the first lady's exhibit at the smithsonian. thank you for being here tonight. >> it is a pleasure. >> any 21st century woman who starts to read about dolley madison can see parallels to their own

one thing that washington has to think about is how to make sure what starts in washington stays in washingtonwashington got to be a major exporting state that would attract a lot of unwanted attention from the feds, so the question is can something -- what the president said when he was asked a couple months ago, question is how to accommodate the difference between the controlled substance act at the federal level which makes growing marijuana and selling it strictly illegal and the state law that proposes to tax and regulate it. it is not going to be an easy needle to threat. >> we're leaving it there. mark kleinman, thanks so much for your time and can all the best. >> thank you. >>> his story is inspiring as a small child in iraq, ucef was doused with gasoline and set on fire. he was brought to the u.s. by the kindness of strangers and five years later we visit the young boy that has beaten so many odds. um, i see a duck. be more specific. i see the aflac duck. i see the aflac duck out of work and not making any money. i see him moving in with his parents and selling bootleg dvds out of t

washington is mr. president. martha washington is lady washington. james madison is mr. president. dolley is queen dolley. the men have to travel this very strict line, but the women get to have an aristocratic title. that is one of the messages she is sending out the women at that time, and it was understood a lot at the beginning of that is predicated on loyalty. >> a lot of people called her president. >> who called her queen dolley? >> a lot of people. >> she dressed a queen. she looked every inch a queen. sometimes they say she looked libling a -- like a bride and a queen. so her elegance of dress, she bought a lot of her material in paris. so she is very elegantly dressed, and she looks to american eyes as a queen. and that's fine, because she is not the head of state. she is walking a very fine line where she expresses the finer things to which the nation aspires. she is not royalty. she is always walking a very fine line down the middle. >> you provided a wonderful segue to our next video. >> oh, did i? >> it is at mont pilliar which is the restored home of the madisons and

also as a new leader comes to power in china beijing and washington struggled for dominance in the age of looks set to heat up. you're watching r t a line from moscow with me to bomb would say it's good to have you company with us of the soft and the child soldiers fighting them both sides of the bloody conflict in syria that's according to u.n. investigators and charities as a crisis in syria approaches its second anniversary this week of the u.n. is warning this is not a simplistic battle between good rebels and an evil regime reporter. has this update from damascus. the conflict is getting more complicated we have seen many many phenomena regarding the children being involved in this crisis we have seen many children eighteen and these children in the school ages where there's going to destroy and they don't have any other thing that we can get through today and sometimes paid for paid for their paid in one of the most important example of this was the video that was produced or let's say on you tube something like a month month two months ago for a child of seven years old by headi

the washington social circle was maybe 500 people. world of social washington. it is a very small group of people. that is who met her and reflected her. people did not know her. if monroe was president, he did two tours around the country and they were phenomenal because no one ever saw the president. no one ever heard the president talk. we cannot go through a day, hardly. you have to be sealed up to go through a day without hearing the president's voice or to see an image of him. massachusetts wrote in 1870 that for the first time, he had seen a picture, an image of president roh. -- monroe. james madison gave three speeches. john -- thomas jefferson gave two. peach -- people never saw the president or heard the president. is not a public perception. it is a good question. but it is a different time. >> the white house was burned by the priggish -- the british and the matteson's had to leave while it was being constructed. the munros moved back in. how important was this symbolically? >> even by then, the white house had become america's house. itsof the reas

i think there is a double face policy in washington the backing of the muslim brotherhood goes back to the cia's role in egypt back in nineteen fifties when the world saw the muslim brotherhood as a potentially useful tool to put in their bag of organizations that they manipulate around the world i think some people around president obama have the delusion that they could control what's basically of political islamic fascist movement so it's not a movement for democracy and he's for much of the imagination at this point morsi is in a life and death struggle because the populace of court was not there for this this coup and washington is beginning to get a little bit wobbly on its support for morsi for that reason they're beginning to rethink i think that's one of the reasons for the change between hillary clinton and john kerry to bring in a new cast of people and see what what kind of options there are in egypt as for. now just when it needs effective government more than ever is he remains paralyzed by a post election stalemate. the don't they can't be paid for at the current that ca

"washington journal" continues. host: we have will rahn and sabrina siddiqui. we have been asking our viewers in a word or phrase how they would describe sequestration. will, we will begin with you. guest: my word would be, "meh." host: how do you spell that? sabrina? guest: unneccessary. it does have potentially devastating impacts. it is difficult to protect at this point in time. it was designed to force congress to act. congress has not acted and now we are facing 1.2 trillion dollars in cuts over 10 years. they are indiscriminate and that is completely unnecessary. host: here are the phrases gallup survey. "failure," "ok," "expected," scary, good, disaster, and bad. guest: there seems to be a lot of negativity. guest: i would like to know who said, "excellent." host: from "the new york times," -- the toll is too high. it does not result in a grand bargain. guest: these cuts we are going to see how severe the turnoff to be in the coming months -- it is roughly 2% cut from rising spending. i think we are goin got

not washington in action. >> okay.g to talk a lot more about the stock market and how you invest in this climate in a little while. no one thought the forced spending cuts would happen. but they did. most likely your world is still the same today as it was yesterday. but washington's next completely avoidable crisis would hit you hard, no matter who you are after march 27th. i'll explain that after the break. [ man ] i've been out there most of my life. you name it...i've hooked it. but there's one... one that's always eluded me. thought i had it in the blizzard of '93. ha! never even came close. sometimes, i actually think it's mocking me. [ engine revs ] what?! quattro!!!!! ♪ i work for 47 different companies. well, technically i work for one. that company, the united states postal service® works for thousands of home businesses. because at usps.com® you can pay, print and have your packages picked up for free. i can even drop off free boxes. i wear a lot of hats. well, technically i wear one. the u.s. postal service

and, for example, we all know about george washington, but we study washington at yorktown. what brilliance. we study washington's courage, dashing crossing of the delaware christmas night which saved the revolution. but who were george washington's girlfriends when he was a kid? and you find that the teenage washington on more than one occasion basically goes back home in tears because he was turned down and puts pen to paper and writes roses are red, violates are blue -- violets are blue types of program. cupid's dart has been shot through my heart when yet another girl turned him down. during my degrees and during my doctoral study, my professors didn't tell me about washington's teenage girlfriend. so it's kind of fun, and i think it provides us with an important lens, a new way of understanding the presidents. we all know that our country's leaders have often times been shaped by the hand of a woman, often a mother. often a wife. but i'm here to tell you, sometimes that of a mistress as well. it's in the news today as we tape this program, david general -- general david

martha washington is lady washington. james madison is mr. president.ley is clean dolley beginning -- queen dolley. that is one of the messages she is sending out the women at that time understood a lot of the beginning of that is predicated on loyalty. >> a lot of people called her president. >> who called her queen dolley? >> a lot of people. queen.just a clea me -- she looked every inch a queen. she bought a lot of her materials in paris. she is very elegantly dressed. she looks to american eyes as a queen. that is fine. she is not the head of state. she is walking a very fine line where she expresses the finer things to which the nation aspires. she is not royalty. she is always walking a very fine line down the middle. >> you provided a wonderful segue to our next video. the restored home of the madisons and open for tours. put it on your list if you ever get to virginia. they have a display that talks about her dresses. we will show you that now. >> most of the dresses we have at the visitor's center are based on descriptions we have of the way sh

when you came to washington.gest surprise has been the defeatist attitude among so many republicans who have been in washington along time. i cannot tell you how many times people have wanted to that me on the head and say, that is nice. you can vote no and we will just louis. it is utterly maddening. i will -- you can voting no and we will just lose. it is utterly maddening. i will tell you something the media does not know. for the past three weeks, conservatives have been winning. we are winning because of you. three specific examples in the last three weeks. a couple of weeks ago, i was honored to join my friend, rand paul, as he stood for 13 hours on the floor of the senate. [cheers and applause] when he started at 11:47 in the morning, there were more than a few senators, republican senators, who saw what he was uotic -- odd or even q quixotic. he said we are going to stand for the constitution. we are going to stand until this administration ethnologist limits on its power. -- until this administration ack

they'll be able to go to washington and bring it out of washington.ng to happen if it's very cheap in washington. but it's as if there are no pot dealers in idaho and oregon and the borders are not thickcally populated. the real issue is not the people coming to the pot but the pot going to the people. in colorado they allow home growing and a low tax and washington does not allow home growing and a high tax. the big problem may be that their prices are so high that they're illegally in washington because it's cheaper. >> michael: you think about pot you would think that they would bring in someone who is for it. but you're opposed to the legislation. you wrote when they would flock to california to stock up. there is no way on earth the federal government would tolerate that and instead we'll see massive federal busts of legal growers and retailers no matter how legal their activity was under state law. no friend of marijuana legalization, is that part of the idea, to bring in people of different beliefs about marijuana? >> well, nobody asked anybody

sanctions blaming seoul in washington for ruining a nuclear disarmament talks and conducting war games. john brennan confirmed as the new cia chief despite controversy on capitol hill over his endorsement u.s. deadly drone program. it's ten am in moscow i met reza good to have you with us here on r.t. we begin in egypt where the northern city of port site is said to be a war zone a war zone army and police units protecting government buildings from anti from angry anti-government protesters have been on a rampage since sunday at least seven people have been killed in this spate of unrest are true has more. there are ten scenes here in the egypt's coastal city of post sayit as the clashes continue into the night time standing right in front of the front line here we've witnessed excessive use of tear gas and by the security forces as well as hearing gunfire although i cannot confirm whether this is my mission police reports have come in that i mean you should has been used in the past few days these protests abreu counts a few days ago often defendants in this very contentious who cite

sanctions blaming seoul and washington for ruining nuclear disarmament talks and conducting war games. the body of venezuela's hugo chavez to be involved and put on public display for years to come as latin america mourns the loss of its loudest voice for social justice. noon in moscow i met très a good to have you with us here on r t we begin in egypt where the northern city of port saeed is said to be a war zone army and police units protecting government buildings from angry protesters who've been on the rampage since sunday at least seven have been killed in this spate of unrest artie's bill true has more. there are ten scenes here in egypt's coastal city of post as the clashes continue into the night time standing right in front of the front line here we've witnessed excessive use of tear gas by the security forces as well as hearing gunfire although i cannot confirm whether this is my munition all the reports have come in that i mean it has been used in the past few days these protests broke out a few days ago off the defendants in this very contentious. verdicts were being move

thanks so much. >> hello, i'm congresswoman cathy mcmorris rodgers from washington state. today, would like to give you an update on the debate we're having in washington about spending. this debate is about more than just numbers and politics. it is about the kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren. do we want to hand them a mountain of debt and all the worries that go with it? or do we want them to inherit a vibrant economy and a future full of opportunities? this is the debate we've been having for quite a while. it is time we resolve it and get something done. yesterday, across the board spending cuts known as the sequester took effect because president obama and senate democrats failed to act. these devastating across the board cuts will affect the lives of so many hard working americans. yet, this week the president traveled 180 miles to newport news, virginia instead of traveling 1.5 miles to senator harry reid's office on control to negotiate a replacement of smarter spending cuts. the president failed to act and his senate never passed a bill to

washington that would be will advise to not get involved in venezuela the least they can say at this point is the better this is a process we're going to see a very heated election and any intervention on the part of the u.s. even a misstep on obama would be taken as as as hostility towards venezuela would play into the into the elections in venezuela in this context but after the election of a new president i think that there are good conditions for an effort to reestablish relationships but i think we should understand that it's not just venezuela that had a has had difficulty with washington also ecuador has no ambassador from the u.s. bolivia has no embassador from the u.s. and the wiki leaks reports really indicate how u.s. attempted to maneuver and to play country against country in latin america and it really provide a revealing look about u.s. foreign policy and how little it has changed either from bush or obama. another verdict sparking another royal it in egypt saturday's court ruling to uphold twenty one death sentences over the portside stadium killings led to a further

they were there 50 years ago for the march on washington. they put together a concert for sandy hook elementary survivors, teachers. he has a new album called "i'm in love with a big blue frog." let's take a look at peter paul & mary singing at their 20th anniversary concert. i'm in love with the big blue frog ♪ ♪ paul was here months ago and i have a great conversation with him as always. forever busy. the work does not stopped. the commitment is something we inherited. maryeavers, pete seeger, used to say if you seen, you have to lift me. the turning point came at the march on washington in 1953, and i remember when we were singing, people knew this song. it had been a big hit. us, andvis introduced he said, what should i say? a music groupr that will express music. we were not there to entertain. we were there to express and to join other people. get all of a sudden, a quarter million people were singing the song. ♪ if i had a hammer, i would hammer in the morning, i would hammer in the evening, all over this land ♪ ♪ i would hammer out d

and its effect on washington workers. followed by a discussion on rising gas prices, oil and gas tax credits, and climate change proposals. our guest is john felmy. then a look at federal contractors and services affected by sequestration with paul reichmann -- reich. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c- span. >> next, a discussion and house hearing on the proposed merger between u.s. airways and american airlines. then a joint economic committee meeting on jobs in the u.s. economy. then "q&a" with bill steigerwald. >> i was fascinated by her eminence, beauty -- remember the ladies, or you are going to be in trouble. i am paraphrasing. she warned her husband, you cannot rule without including what women want and what women have to contribute. this is 1700. >> abigail adams, this monday night on c-span's new history ies: influence lady' and image." as one of the most prolific writers of any first lady, she provides a unique window into colonial america and her relationship with john adams. join in the conversation alive at 1 to

and public protests to during his visit to egypt some of the country's opposition leaders accuse washington of interfering in the country's domestic politics that sentiment is being echoed by their supporters on the streets as artie's cairo correspondent true reports. there was. from the people here in egypt what we saw was protests outside the foreign ministry of people actually burning pictures of john kerry saying that he was supporting the muslim brotherhood and u.s. interests in egypt on a formal political level opposition leader creating a hamdeen sabbahi i'm really so on mohamed el baradei to attend the meeting on saturday yesterday six of the eleven opposition think it is used to attend to by himself who of course is part of the national salvation front the leading opposition coalition here he said that he wouldn't open dialogue with john kerry the u.s. continues to pursue their interests here and to interfere at a domestic level. for his part apparently did to meet with john kerry were not sure what was actually discussed. they talked to him on the phone clearly a feeling of anger

this was a friend of washingtons, actually related to washington. he was a business partner of wash. interestingly enough, david stuart laid the corner stone here in 1791 rich chew, the into maws compromise of 1790 sealed the deal with the assumption of debt. after the revolutionary war, there was a whole lot of debt taken on by the various states. .. in exchange for the b. in place right here in the potomac river. for the act of 1790 with the deciding during creating the district of columbia. they came to the spot were standing on now and had a masonic ritual. the masons have dared a burdensome trowel trowels encored audio in the case and speeches right here on the spot. the ceremonial day of the southernmost marker, which is however standing over now. that's how the district was created. >> and 73, someone takes a look at this dodd-frank farmer protection act and argues that took based on a false narrative of what led to the 2008 economic collapse. he spoke about his work at the american enterprise institute in washington d.c. this is just over 90

he's in washington where the sequester is hitting here tonight. how about the debt debate now, randall? does it change your investment horizon if we're talking about things that are happening in the very short-term future? >> n in fact, i think in the long run, it's good for our investors who need to take a long-term perspective on investment. so much of investment action that's been taken in the last year has been based on expecting the government, the federal government to step in and save companies and in fact create business for them. now i think investors are-- will have a chance to realize increasingly they've got to look at what those companies are able to do on their own. >> tom: but with so much uncertaintwhen it comes to fiscal policy-- taxes, for instance, and government spending certainly beyond this fiscal year, how do you skill keep that viewpoint on the long-term horizon? >> it's difficult. but the fact of life is, this is not the first time in american history wove faced these kind of difficulties. the difference between then and a

has to do with whether you happen to work for the washington star or the washington post. you happen to work for upi or ap. and it starts with another -- it's interesting that so many of these i hadn't realized what i was doing. were about women who were saying this. just more interesting of how about that. washington star, which had once been the paper of record here, ceased publication on august 7, 1981. and this is what roberta draper said. aside from my husband's death, the day the washington star folded was the worst day of my life. i had no notice. my boss called at 6:00 a.m. to tell me so i wouldn't hear it on the radio. so i walked to the kitchen and made myself a manhattan. i thought, how many times do you have a death in the family? it was intense. i had been there since 1957. i started out as a copy boy. it was other wonderful place to work, even though it was conservative because they gave reporters absolute free rein. no one told you what you had to do. she then says a friend from nbc called with a job offer. i became anywhere senate producer which is a euphem

action on the ground from the united nation from the united states speculation is brewing that washington is starting to view the assad regime as the lesser of two evils preferable to radical jihadist groups the obama administration although there are levels and levels of what you what governments do basically it is it has been interested in seeing. there is a way out of this mess but in reality america is still in a white house decision last month may have ruled out arming the rebels an idea backed by the pentagon cia and state department but the countries do little to stop others doing just that washington was silent when another made to member turkey asked for the arms embargo to be lifted nor did protest when the arab league gave the go ahead for weapons supplies and more recently when the u.k. said it could veto the use arms ban the us of a no objections everyone knows that. if it were to tell saudi arabia or qatar or turkey or whoever of its friends there that they should stop well everyone knows that but he would prevail. the u.s. has decided to watch from a safe distance played a

is caught up in the washington malaise.our the president will speak to outside group known as organizing for action. former obama campaign advisors is criticized for selling access. >> more on this with the second panel. thanks. >>> retail sales went up by 1.1% in february. the fastest pace in five months. half of that was due to higher gasoline prices. dow on the first nine-day winning streak since 1996. gained five today for another new record close. the nasdaq gained three. up next, we talk to cardinal from rome. take a live look there. in rome. big day. with a new pope. at od, whatever business you're in, that's the business we're in. with premium service like one of the best on-time delivery records and a low claims ratio, we do whatever it takes to make your business our business. od. helping the world keep promises. (music throughout) why turbo? trust us. it's just better to be in front. the sonata turbo. from hyundai. >> bret: president obama joined national security advisor tom donelan's meeting today with libya pr

she moved back to washington. she loved the washington scene. >> she was right there. she immediately jumped into the social swing. she came back there as a widow. >> we talk about the van buren administration. >are you there? i was calling about mrs. jackson. i thought she had a son. i would like to comment on impression with the press. >> thank you so much. the adopted indian/american child that died shortly before jackson went to washington. angelica singleton's first year, van buren spent the first year in the white house without a hostess. angelica and abraham married in november of the next year. she was hostess for the' 39 season. everyone shouting she was beautiful and glamorous and did an outstanding job and swhept on an outstanding honeymoon in europe. she had gone to the french academy and learned all of this. then she came back for the next season is when she sort of had a problem and that's when she tried the tableau at the new year's open house and this is a country that is interested in democracy. this is just the beginning of the next presidential elect

after washington shifted its priorities to the region and what's been called the asia pivot as we can see here the u.s. has been boosting its military presence but unsurprisingly the strategy is making china increasingly nervous beijing based correspondent shouted and said things there's an ideological rivalry between china and the west. i wouldn't say it's a competition yet militarily but certainly i can honestly and to some extent in terms of ideology and ideas in terms of how political system should be and liberalization there are a lot of competing ideas right now between the west in between age and china specifically china's economy is growing at a very very impressive rate and the economies of us other brics nations and so china provides leadership in a certain way and china as well their trade relationships with brazil with african nations with russia and india it's very very important and so i think it'll be very interesting to see going forward china of course right now in some ways this fueling the world economy and if it's going to continue to do that it has to make this tr

washington does not work the way it used to. he used to have a process with these issues. 1983 is a good example. i worked under bob dole. i remember in 1983 there was a bipartisan commission he was involved in, and they produced a bipartisan recommendations for getting social security fix, which was going to run into serious trouble in the near term, and it worked. it was a combination of tax increases and benefit cuts, and it worked. it put the system on a solid footing for 30 years, and that his how the system used to work. you make these recommendations. we do not have to process any more. there is so much distrust. even the best ideas are put on the shelf to gather dust. people are too busy fighting each other to lead. congress, the president, their job is to govern this country, and they are not doing their job. >> look in your crystal ball and tell me the reason there is no conversation in washington as we speak tonight is because there is no pressure to do anything at the moment as far as i am concerned. if the cuts are

will washington -- washington's societal ambitions. hear to tell us about those who served in the white house to aupport the presidents, presidential historian. michael, welcome. brady back at our table tonight. her biography of rachel jackson is called "the french your love andrew."rachel and how do people understand the change that andrew jackson brought to the white house? the first westerner. we have virginia presidents from the old south before that. he grew up in the frontier. the change is enormous. socially, the change is enormous. he is not of the old planter class of the south that previous presidents had been from. not like a newly linder either. he brings different values and the french ambitions to the white house. was a widowgh he the president, the ghost of his wife, over the white house during his years there. why is that? >> she was the woman of his life. he loved her. when she died just a few months before he was inaugurated, he was a rest. he spent all of his time thinking about her and her memory and having her port

it is silly season again in washington.he time of year when the president is invited by reporters for evenings of free food and jokes. saturday night was the annual gridiron dinner in washington, which is closed to cameras, but with a roomful of reporters, most of what was said has leaked out. and this time perhaps inspired by the romney 47% secretly recorded video, a secretly recorded video appeared yesterday on the minnesota star tribune's website, starring of all people, minnesota's senior senator, amy cloeb shar. >> i know i was picked to speak tonight from a binderful of women. you first went to michelle obama, but she was doing the oscar's. then you went to hillary, and you know she doesn't like to travel. and then to susan rice. but john mccain blocked her. and then you ended up with me. and you should know that what i don't have in fame i makeup for in hard work and preparation. and i can tell you one thing, i prepared more for this speech than the president did for his first debate! >> joining me from the last word