we are extremely lucky to have young here. -- yao ming here. he is a perfect representative of china and the u.s. [indiscernible] ming, ask who is yaoo everyone knows. yao ming and other chinese young scholars will share their perceptions, their understanding , and they're thinking our world concerning china today, concerning the relations.he i wish and i believe that our event will be a very successful one. thank you. [applause] >> i will start by thanking thorntonand the entire center. this is the best collection of china scholars in the u.s. it may be the best set of china policy scholars in universities here under around the world, and it is extraordinary, including predecessors,is two of whom i see in the audience. it's a great group. theme delighted for hosting this event, and hospitality they showed to me and my family two years ago when i spent three months traveling through china in preparation for a book. a major notrating event 35sition, but years ago. we are blessed and honored to have two transformational figures in this sport that

i want to note that yao ming broke a big barrier. these gentlemen played a role in basketball akin to breaking the color barrier, and it is quite an honor to be present and see that happening. recently, the first gay nba basketball player, the first player in a major sport come out. i want ask your thoughts. in china this is a very sensitive topic. you have attached yourself to very path-breaking issues. i wonder in the cba we will see someone who will break that barrier. and for mr. stern, in china, there is a challenge in intellectual property rights. the nba has an interest in making sure that it is addressed. i want to see if you can help us understand how the nba is treating that issue. i want to see if you can help us understand how the nba is treating that issue. >> go first, yao. [laughter] >> i think it is a very good question. assuming that this works, basketball game, or any sport is a platform. a platform, you can put everything on there to measure, to measure not only by vertical -- >> vertical and horizontal. >> and als

playerng the former nba yao ming. >> i want to start with the idea professional basketball and when you first started playing it, a relatively new government in china. china had had basketball for many years. your father played eskimo. he started playing professional passed ball there, and made the transition to playing professional basketball here. tell me about that. what was that transition like? >> the transition was great. the professional basketball 1997,g in china started ive years for the sharks, and was drafted by the nba in 2002, heading for the acts -- houston rockets. countries,nt different cultures, different people. we all are linked by this very simple interest, which is basketball game. we are very interested, and we love this game so much, and people --so many participate. i always have problems with that. i have been living in texas too long. this came links so much people. we know each other or we do not, always either play the game or watch the games through television, or now with the new media, internet, everything. this game just brings everybody together. i want

that panel the to the former nba player yao ming and the former nba commissioner that starts at 2 p.m. eastern on c-span. in scene earlier this week washington, snow tuesday earlier this week, in front of the supreme court as the court heard to religious liberty cases. supporters and opponents were in front of the court and heard the vsument in the case sibelius hobby lobby which call -- which dealt with country septic coverage inalso live today on c, discussion on the role women the national health care plan and a decision is expected later this year. we will have those oral arguments for you in their entirety tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. up next, conversation from this morning's "washington journal," on the heroin epidemic in the united states. host: joining us from nashville is russell moore, president of the southern baptist convention commission. >guest: that's right. host: let's start with you in nashville, when you heard just hear the term religious liberty, what does that mean to you? guest: i defined as the freedom to be able to live out one's religious convic

relations, including a number of issues including sports and diplomacy, featuring former nba player yao ming and former nba commissioner david stern. speaker, i rise today out of concern for you, all of us in concern for these united states house of representatives. as one who has been involved in the reform movement for the years i have been here in congress, those of us who are interested in reform are interested in just that, reform. we do't want to banish -- not want to bash this institution or our colleagues. but all of you have been home. you have talked to your constituents, i have talked to mind. they are outraged. congress today stands at the lowest esteem in the history of polling in this country, and why? because the american people look at us as ineffective and unaccountable. if we are sincerely going to about-- to do something reform in this congress, those of the two issues we have to address -- accountability and effectiveness. on effectiveness, we know the problems of committees and the proliferation of subcommittees, the rules under which we operate. at what has to look happ

former nba player yao ming and former nba commissioner david stern are among the panelist. that will be live beginning at 2 p.m. eastern on our companion network c-span. supreme court justices are weighing whether corporations have religious rights that exempt them from part of the new health care law that requires coverage of birth control for employees at no extra charge. two cases than an were combinedd argued at the supreme court tuesday. it involves family-owned companies that provide health insurance to their employees but objected to covering certain methods of birth control that they say can work after conception in violation of their religious beliefs. you can hear the oral argument from earlier this week tonight at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span. also c-span radio will air the argument today at 4 p.m. easte eastern. >> probably when you look at the threats we faced, when you look at things like improvise nuclear devices, we know that no one jurisdiction would ever have the capability to respond. we'll have to bring resources from across the nation. and looking at variou

some research on it but one of the things that i do know is that i'm seven foot and i do know that yao ming is from china he's seven seven and i do know to kids are getting bigger and i do know that i have right now four kids at fourteen years old that are three hundred pounds and that cannot be eating healthy food now that i know that i was absolutely nothing i can withstand the yeah i have it as a do it c.n.n. doesn't have anything to do achieve anything because everything nothing just said i mean not even afford it is not him owing i mean i get to read it i mean i don't know why we need other people because this panel could go for our. we're now joined by mark crumb packer he's the chief marketing officer of chipotle a since it was founded in one thousand nine hundred ninety three chipotle a has opened more than sixteen hundred locations and my two children go to two of them every day. ok mark you have heard the opening of the discussion what is the two polled late position on g.m.o. this. so twenty stance on g m o's is that we don't believe there is a scientific consensus that they're s