obama and then john mccain and at the same time we more -- of john mccain and then of barack obama. i should point out though in fairness that one of the offers of one of the study said that yes and the media did tilt in in barack obama's favor, but it wasn't for ideological reasons, it was using his words, because obama was leading the polls and winning begets winning coverage. really? winning didn't get winning coverage when ronald reagan carried 49 states. he was called amiable dunce. weddington be get winning coverage when newt gingrich led the conservative revolution in 1994, he was on the cover of news magazine that said that the gingrich who stole christmas, so i'm not buying this winning begets winning coverage nonsense for one second. and even that was the reason, even if to be generous say, well, maybe winning does begin winning coverage let's assume a congressional race once upon a time between david duke and martin luther king, it's not hard to imagine in some places at a certain time and david duke leading in the polls. does any decent person and think that if david duk

if you try to find an american hero barack obama would be at the top of the list. this has nothing to do with barack obama as a person. i am literally very impressed by this man. my view is and then share it with my two co-authors, i think he is wrong on every single issue and it is not because he is not a good guy. he is a good guy but my view is ultimately economics will take over. there are lots of examples, but the what i want to do with you is very simply what it the appointment on the energy and environment issue. fox as me to be there correspondent to respond to the appointments that obama was making to energy and environment, so i was the guy sitting there and the president came up and announce them and as you know chu was elected as head. chu's portfolio is beyond belief. he is professor stanford university in high energy physics. use thought only professor, he is chairman of the physics at stanford where i got my ph.d.. not only that, he is go to nobel prize in physics. this guy as credentials to the end of the earth. he introduced chu and then chu was fo

now barack obama said he is against this. you watch, liberals in congress are going to -- they will not let this go away, they will, and from a different direction and color of local content which means after a conservative show a local group can come on income and their liberal opinions. can you say a corner by the way? [laughter] in this will be the exact same thing as the fairness doctrine will have a different name. now, here is why they don't really want fairness, they want to stifle conservative voices. the only place in the media landscape and you get right down to a that is nominee by conservatives is talk radio. if they really wanted fairness and the fairness doctrine applies to the public airwaves, they would say, well in this book for instance there are lots of impartial studies that show that the media was far more favorable towards barack obama then john mccain. does the fairness -- and that they envision mean going to abc, nbc and cbs and saying if you have to battle -- balance or pro obama dealings with promise

but barack obama did not create this movement. this movement created the opportunity for barack obama. and the best thing that we can do is to keep on moving. keep on fighting. nexium o more green, more inclusive, a better begin than it is right now for the right way forward. and if we do that work, of light and well, we will not only be inspired by barack obama, we will inspire the best in him to deliver on the great promises. thank you, seattle, very much. [applause] >>> our special presentation of book tv continues "after words" featuring joe scarborough, host of msnbc morning show on his thoughts of the bush administration in his book, "the last best hope: restoring conservatism and america's promise." this is an hour. >> host: >> coming up next book tv presents "after words" an hour-long interview program where we invite a guest host to interview the author of the book. this book from expo america joe scarborough on his book, "the last best hope: restoring conservatism and america's promise." the former republican congressman

i'd like you all to give yourselves and president barack obama a big round of applause. [applause] >> for progress siffs taking back -- for progressives, taking america back was just the first step. during our years in the wilderness, progressives kept our eyes on the prize. we worked creatively to build strong new coalitions to advance bold economic vend agendas for prosperity and democracy. and in the process, we built a strong progressive movement. in 2006 and 2007, candidate barack obama came here and spoke at take back america, and after putting his own stamp on what we were talking about here, candidate obama took our progressive change agenda into the election contest, and with your help, he won a powerful man date to take our -- mandate to take our country in a new direction. i want to note that candidate obama and his team also learned from our organizing techniques as well as our message. the campaign fueled the organizing instincts of barack obama with the activity of such groups as moveon.org, so we had quite an interest change, even early on. and now with th

barack obama cannot do anything without people singing critical about him. i want to ask a question, sir. do you think he will become a great president? >> guest: it's tough to say. look, whether he is or could be a great president is something he thought about at the earliest stages of trying to decide whether or not to run and again this is the second chapter of the book where he and his friends are discussing what makes a great president and in his opinion, he has a sort of mixture of the person and the time and that is why he thought ronald reagan and was a great president even though he opposed every single one of his policies. the character, the leadership of the individual with a time when the country was ready for that kind of change. he went public with that approach and observation around the time of the nevada caucus and south carolina primary and frankly it drove president clinton crazy. crazy is a figurative crazy. it prompted him to react in ways that were not disciplined and distracted the clinton campaign. coming back i think you can only tel

bush did but especially because what barack obama is doing. the spending is remarkable. he has admitted we are out of money, he has admitted his own budget creates deficits that are unsustainable but even as he admits that he is talking about spending more money. it is insanity. george w. bush may have been a radical with tax dollar is above barack obama is actually making him seem like a flea the new england miser. in. >> host: you have been quoted as saying george w. bush that the french and the conservative coalition, damage to the republican party, heard to america's image of the world. i think a book party you call that the big trifecta of. the republican party, however, it is my impression is not in love and with hearing such criticism of george w. bush. what is that about? what is the position of bush now with regard to the comeback of the republican party. and what do you do -- how does the republican party get away from bush? >> guest: i don't know. again i wrote a book five years ago predicting that george w. bush spending was going to wreck the american majori

i would send a copy of those letters to barack obama and timothy geithner. host: what are other countries in similar situations doing right now? guest: the chinese are pursuing, correctly, a very infrastructure oriented stimulus. there are a lot of unmet needs around the cuff -- country in the government sector, schools, things like this. that would have generated a lot more jobs than obama will generate. the chinese are focused that way, and they have not been shy about saying this is being spent for chinese jobs. us putting in that kind of language in our legislation, we are spending it on chinese jobs. they spent much more on infrastructure. in europe, a lot of governments didn't spend as much as we did, and the question what is going on here. when you consider how liberal europe is, and the kind of lessons learned from adventures like ours that we are about to embark on with gm, i would listen to them closely. host: long island, new york. caller: think you for joining us commune of the ability to be able to make clear so many complex topics. you had spok

barack obama stimulus bill spent 5 percent of america's gdp. 5%. the spending -- i wish i could come up with a word other than radical to describe the president obama has done domestically. there is no other weren't. in his radical. >> host: are you more inclined to be support and then to proving that a new president's foreign-policy agenda? i know a lot of conservatives criticize him for going on an apology to offer air to been i don't know if it is dissident or holding back toward the world? in terms of foreign policy i think so far so good. i think it is a difficult world. the challenges are most extraordinary but i like him trying to put it on the foreign-policy just by showing up by now that in foreign policy things get started now and then somebody shows up in merced up a little bit. i am not against american foreign policy. >> guest: i'm not myself. he is a realist so far. he is the opposite -- you want to talk about radical foreign policy, george w. bush promising to end tyranny across the globe using the united states army and marine corps

i would like you all to give yourselves and president barack obama a big round of applause [applause] for progress is taking back america from the radical right wingers were taking the country in the wrong direction, that was just a first up. during our years in the wilderness, a progressive scanning our eyes on the prize. rebuilding our country. we worked creatively to build strong new coalitions to advance bold economic agendas for prosperity and opportunity and democracy. and in the process, in the process we build a strong progressive movement. in 2006 and again in 2007 candidate barack obama came here and spoke at take back america and after putting his own stamp on what we were talking about here, candidate obama took our progressive change agenda into the election contest in with your help he won a powerful mandate to take our country in a new direction. i want to note that candidate obama and his team also learned from organizing techniques as well as our message, the campaigns used the community organizer instincts, barack obama with the inclusive technology and activist ener

it is one that president-elect barack obama campaigned on. the details were well-understood by leaders of both parties in the house. host: the president expressed doubt about the tariff provision in the bill. does he go into this negotiation with political capital and getting out of the bill once it goes to the senate? guest: he gave an interview yesterday and it was an effort to influence the senate debate. they want to take out what they see as a protectionist item in the house compromise. hopefully, they will have help doing that. there is still room to strengthen the senate bill for it is far weaker than the house bill. there has to the effort made to make sure that the global warming emissions targets are raised. host: nashville, go ahead. caller: i have a comment than a question -- my comment is, i feel that capt. trade is important because the united states has been the leader in the world and with china as an upcoming power with millions and millions of people going to get cars in the next decade or so, we need to lead the world. my q

obama and as a gesture of friendship, he gave barack obama, this book, "the open veins of latin america" i understand he gave it to him in spanish which was difficult because obama does not read spanish but i think the intention was to give him a book that if he were to read it it would open his eyes about latin america what was your reaction when you heard that anecdote that chavez had taken your book two barack obama? >> to be on rather than the old of course, i was happy about but i am a walker. i was walking on the seashore. they said it is selling so well. this was terrible for me. each one of us is becoming defensive you sell, you are not selling you are sold or you are bought a. >> host: the bbc i think did that to you the cuts after he gave your book two barack obama it rose to #2 in the amazon ranking spry checked it because originally it was 57,000. negative and a one or 200,000 but it bounced up and down bride notice this week is 17,000. so you could be a little more humble. [laughter] it is not important at all in some fields of life there is what quantity and quality may be

obama and as a gesture i think of friendship and he gave barack obama this book, open veins of latin america. he gave it to him by understanding in spanish which was a little difficult because obama doesn't read spanish but i think the intention was to give him a book that if you were treated was open his eyes about latin america. there was a lot of discussion about that. what was your reaction when you heard that anecdote that chavez had taken your book to barack obama? >> it's better to be, how is it, young and healthy than old and sick. obviously happy about it but i was quite unhappy when i was walking on the seashore. everybody -- we are selling so while. this was terrible for me. we are living in a world in which each one of us is becoming a commodity and fuel cell, you do not sell, you are sold or not sold. >> host: the bbc i think did that to you because they mentioned after he gave your book to barack obama it rose to number two on the amazon rankings. and i checked it because of originally it was about 57,000. my books are in the 100 or the 200,000. but they bounce up and d

caller: no, i do not believe there's a media love affair with barack obama. i'm not surprised that because a republican wrote that article -- i would like to make a comment, and i don't want to sound rude to anyone, make a comment on an african-americans -- the person from pennsylvania who talk about the distance with you live close to african-americans are far away, i think there was a racist comment. getting back to the question, i think the media is having difficulty talking about anything. it is like they're trying to find something that is newsworthy. if obama makes a mistake i am sure the will start talking about it. nonstop host: thanks for calling. here is one of tweet. it's as the present obama once walked into window at the white house and if there was no coverage by me. bush tried to open a locked door 1000 times. host: eric on the republican line from virginia. caller: every time that i turn on msnbc it is like watching the three monkeys, hear no evil, see no evil -- all you have to do is turn it on a prime-time. host: how about just one example?

barack obama clearly agreed with the agenda of acorn. he worked for them for free and represented them in court. that makes him their employee as their attorney. if that's not compelling enough, madam speaker, we'll take another component of this. barack obama headed up project vote. project vote is a subsidiary of acorn. that's not disputed. they are the get out the vote machine in chicago. that's not disputed. the head of acorn in chicago hired at that time barack obama to train the people that were going to work under project vote to get out the vote and also those that would go into the banker's offices and encourage them to make bad loans in bad neighborhoods. part of this enterprise that has all of the trappings of a criminal enterprise, headed up in chicago by, check the name, but i believe it's margaret talmadge, who hired barack obama o to head up project vote and he got paid. the canceled checks exist. he worked for project vote as an employee. hired by the head of acorn in chicago to work for their subsidiary to get out the vo

so really, it is a pleasure to work with barack obama. we work regularly together. he knows that france is a friend of the united states. we basically coordinate on all major issues and we are determined to continue that. barack, welcome, welcome to your family. >> it's wonderful to be back in france, particularly on this day because this day marks not only the triumph of freedom, but it also marksow the transatlantic alliance has allowed for extraordinary prosperity and security on both sides of the atlantic. the fact that france fully reintegrated into nato this year under president sarkozy's leadership is just one further indication of the degree to which u.s.-french cooperation can help to underpin not only security in europe but also a more secure and prosperous world beyond europe. world beyond europe. i very much appreciated president sarkozy's leadership on a whole range of issues. he mentioned a number of them. france's leadership within europe and understanding the need for us to have tough diplomacy with the iranians, to reach out to them but also insist

. >> so you think having a long primary helped barack obama the calls keep in mind in 2004 john kerry wrapped up shortly after a couple of early primaries and caucuses. >> guest: i think given the choice i am sure any of the obama folks would say they prefer it shorter but he needed the time and this is something they discussed early. he needed the time to get known and raise the money and build the organization and they needed time to be a better candidate. they tested his personal skills and his management. remember this is the biggest operational he had ever run and undertaking of his life and not only was it important for the voters to see this person being tested but it was important for him to understand the kind of pressures just in a sort of laboratory form, the kind of pressure you get as president absolutely i think it was necessary. >> host: baton rouge on the independent line with richard wolffe. good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you this morning? well, i have heard a lot, and the only thing i hear is how great he is, which may be he is, i don't know but there

have been unpalatable to my little friends to find that barack obama wants to continue george bush's policy of faith based initiatives, is in keeping with his sense, that is not necessarily a reactionary move. to cut a long story short, the desperation parts, trying to write a book that would explore stories with you, with the american public, but also try to educate out of these simplicity's. the biggest interest is they are in europe, a dispassionate way, as one of my friends said, the long, dark years of dubya, there are no medieval knights in north dakota. we call it harley-davidson riders. history doesn't play a part in the formation of contracts. one of the cleverest things, of the most misleading things to describe the united states, the united states of amnesia. the impression that history doesn't matter to the american people is derived by the mind numbing phenomenon of social studies textbooks. can we, philadelphia, famous for firebrand causes, tonight in this room, at this moment, launched a campaign to abolish the dreaded word social studies? yes! [applause] we are going

here is the concession speech by barack obama. . the yes, we can speech. a critical moment of testing for his speech writers, too. fascinating seeing them react and seeing him react. when they realized that the numbers weren't coming in, especially around the man chester area, there's this obviously stunned reaction inside his circle. and a handful take the long walk through the hotel to obama's suite where he and michelle obama were staying. david axel rod, the senior strategist, his campaign manager and otherors. and they knock on the door, david says, we've come up short. it looks like we're not going to make it. and they're all looking to see how he is going to respond. and they were surprised themselves. now, these guys were not exactly short of respect and adulation for their candidate. but they were surprised. his reaction was, what happened? what do you think happened? so they go through it and they say, well, there was a massive flip roonched. the undecided voters went for her. he said, well, let's pretty much give the same speech. obviously we ne

first of all, i don't think barack obama is an ally of the lgbt community at all. i think that we need to stop being advocates for both of these major parties and come out and start advocating for the third parties, the libertarian party and the green party. i think that just from, like saying things like you know that these people are allies like barack obama. the guy is purely for banking interest and lobbying interests. he is not our ally. he didn't stand up and speak against the defensive marriage act after the department of justice called us in the lgbt community peedo fillaction. and things of that nature. and i'm tired of that. and i don't think that guy is an ally of ours. host: who in the political realm do you feel speaks for you and your community? caller: both dennis cuse niche and ron paul. but they never have a huge voice. but also, in a third party, mckinny and the green party. and michael bat anywheric of the libertarian party. guest: that's a recipe for disenfranchise. sintsdza mckinny right after 9/11 was peddling conconspiracyy theories accusing

obama and as a gesture and i think a friendship he gave barack obama this book. "the open veins of latin america". and he gave it to my understand was a spanish which, of course, is a little because obama doesn't read the spanish but i think the intention was to give him a book that if he were to read it to do it opened his eyes about latin america. there's a lot of discussion about that. what was your reaction when you heard that anecdote to that chavez had taken your book two barack obama? >> guest: a generous act, the young and sick, and obviously i was happy about it, but i was quite happy when i was walking in my walker in my neighborhood and the seashore and everybody was saying we are selling so well. we are living in a world in which each one of us is becoming a commodity and you are sold, you are not sold. >> host: the bbc i think did that to because they mention that after he gave your book to barack obama it rose to number two in the amazon rankings. and i ejected because originally it was about 57,000. my books are in the 100 or 200,000. but they boun

barack obama is known by his deeds with a comes to china just as george bush was. we are getting new numbers friday on on employment in the country. it will be about 9.6. it will be 10 before we are done. host: what does that mean? is there a psychological aspect associated with that number? guest: it will largely be felt on the political side. it will not have a real effect on the economy. at some point, the obama administration will have to stop blaming president bush for our problems. if the unemployment rate stays above 10% for a long time, the republicans will get traction other arguments the rea scene with government spending and other things that do not work. it is how we spend the money not if we have government spending. this stimulus package demonic -- unlike the chinese stimulus package does not do a lot to create jobs. there were a lot of bold claims about jobs being created. economists and abc news started taking a hard look at this. people started fact checking. we discovered that those job claims were based on anecdotes and things that are hard to ve

that president barack obama signed. lilly had the satisfaction to know that this congress and this president would not allow the injustice created by the supreme court decision to continue. some have said we do not need judges with empathy. if we told her, she missed it and she was out of luck, that is not a fair and just resort -- results. i want to know the particle decisions -- practical decisions that are made. i think empathy brings someone who is in touch with the world. the nominee of president barack obama for the supreme court, sonia sotomayor, broker ankle -- broke her ankle. many senators came into meter she says -- many senators came in to meet her. she has met with about 60 senators. she is doing her level best to introduce herself and answer any questions they may have. i told the president when i saw him that he has made an extraordinary choice. she was first selected to serve on the district court by president h. w. bush. she was promoted by president clinton to a higher court. now she is nominated for s

obama , as a

host: you write, barack obama has been able to make his actions live up to his words. healthcare is being gunned to death. he has done nothing to pass card check provisions, he has capitulated uncap and trade from the budget outline. next call is from maryland. good morning. caller: basically, we have the senate and the executive and the judiciary. i don't think anyone thinks obama is responsible. we have the speaker of the house that is not holding forth for the democratic body. guest: i am critical of these other bodies. one of the sad things is tell little constructive support the president is getting from the other parts of the government, from the democratic party. we have elected this genius, now we will sit back and watch while he solves everything. that is an infantile way of fixing democracy. at the same time, he will have to make his mark with the congress, and get it to respond to his initiatives. host: this is one of the drawings from inside her print -- harper's bazaar magazine. callercaller: i am the owner ofs corporation. somebody has to pay for all of t

barack obama has the tower. we will be lucky to escape catastrophes into which other countries have been led. -- barack obama has that talent. that is right on the money. host: jacksonville, florida. caller: ok, my opinion on this -- this question has come up sometimes during the election until the present. there is a love affair with him, but not a positive one. i get a lot of my news from watching you all or maybe cnn, or talk radio, but my point is, i cannot understand a country who is so upset that his not lashing out of another country about how the people feel about the president, but in this country, look at the lack of respect that this president gets. several of your callers you may ask them to give an example on how that feel the media is in love with him but you never correct them that he is liar. i think that is a rude, bold statement, but these american citizens to lash out at the president -- if only have one who can read and they are upset with that. the have a president who takes his time to spea

talk about what the campaign so much but barack obama, the man who is still around in is really politics. >> guest: mo barak, the foreign minister and the unity government. we will see what happens with that government. it's challenging. right now in israel. but he is unique. i right here i learned more from him than the other leaders. i have enormous respect for mandela and learned more from barak than any others because he is unbelievably brave. nobody -- i don't know any political leaders and i include in that tony blair and bill clinton and others what he had gone into these negotiations dealing with palestinians or even syria which he barely had a government and every time he took this latest step towards doing this the government almost failed and so he went into -- the approval ratings were about as low as president bush's approval ratings at the time of the iraq war at the low point when he went to negotiate the future of the country and there are not that many people that have the political courage. he knew that when it was over either he had to call elections and referendum or

he is talking about barack obama being in the white house and he said things are in such a mess, he is probably sitting at my desk wishing he was john mccain. he won the election but boy. [laughter] he won and now he has got to deal with all of this. it is a very interesting campaign to cover because amongst other things barack obama is the best speaker we have had, certainly since jack kennedy and maybe sense-- i don't know who i would list. in the beginning of this country the founders were all great speakers. they were all great idea people. they knew how to communicate and we are saying that again. people during the campaign said, he is just an orator and i thought that was not something to be laughed off. i thought it was kind of in the spirit of tradition in this country, so it is very interesting and as a reporter, it is fun. >> hello, welcome to close-up at the newseum. >> my name is amman and i am from michigan. my question is oftentimes in the news media every election is portrayed as being the most important of our lives and i was wondering which in your career defined the m

president barack obama meet with german chancellor angela merkel. the house is in session with energy and climate change bills. in "the new york times," obama and congress clash on how to pay for health care. and immigration reform returned. "the washington times" headlines, pushing for action. the federal reserve chairman ben bernanke appears thursday in a contentious. -- a contentious hearing on capitol hill. on the republican line, you can call 202-737-0001. on the democratic line, 202-737- 0002. and on the independent line, 202-628-0205. you can also send as a comment on twitter. we start this morning with the front page of "the wall street journal," "bernanke blasted in house." "setting aside the deferential tone usually reserved for fed chairmen, members of the house committee on oversight and government reform repeatedly interrupted mr. bernanke at thursday's hearing to review the fed's role in engineering and government aid package. for bankamerica corp. it was the harshest public grilling since the late 1990's. also in "the washington post,

one of the earlier caller was saying that she did not like barack obama because she thought he had a muslim part. it seems to me like we still do not get it over here that these are people like our fellow christians that have extremists as well. i got to know a muslim working for the audit department and he was a wonderful gentleman. he just had a different faith in may. i think we need to bridge the gap between understanding what muslims are about. guest: the caller is absolutely correct. the issue of terrorism exists in every faith. it has existed in every phase, including christianity in various phases of history. in fact, even more recently, if you look at what happened in the issue of northern ireland in recent decades, one thing that always raises my concern -- that is how the issue of israel /palestine has fed into a discourse that basically goes to say that you have jews and you have christians on the one hand and then you have muslims on the other hand. president obama did talk about this in his speech yesterday. there are a lot of christian minorities. throughout islamic hi

to the fear barack obama? --do they fear barack obama? >> i think this is a case of about off protest too much. -- of thou dost protest too much. it is almost like is delegating the hard work out their. he did not do that because congress has some great power. he did it because he does that is the way to get passed quickly. the hill would pick it over for months and there was not being -- and there would not be a stimulus bill. everyone thinks of it as his bill, let those guys fill in the details. >> will he do that for health care? >> it to a degree, he will have to because he wants to get it passed, but it will be his bill in the end. he is someone who does not have to have every dotted i and crossed party -- crossed t. he wants something that will be his bill. >> adding he is a student of the presidency and as an offer from inside his administration what went wrong with health care back in the clinton administration. it is that it was all engineered by a secret task force at the white house. the only people allowed in that room from co

barack obama goes abroad and talks about democracy. i find it fascinating because you do not have democracy in the united states. there is an issue in terms of the treatment of african american people in america. i wonder why al jazeera does not deal with the injustices for african-americans in the united states. guest: there is the issue of hypocrisy in the issue of what al jazeera covers in the united states. as far as democracy is concerned, i'm speaking as a non-americans living in the united states. the american political system is an amazing political system treat it is capable of redress corrections. it has checks and balances, freedom of speech, the first amendment. it is obviously not the perfect political system. it does have its failings. we, in the arab world, clearly have a big deficit -- a big democratic deficit. while there is some hypocrisy in the u.s. president going to preach democracy in the middle east while there are problems here in the united states, that does exist. but to compare the state of democracy in the a

all of the sudden, barack obama printer in, and did bring up -- barack obama brings her in , i think it is a pretty good statistic. i do not care what color you are. host: do you think the stakes are different when you're talking about a lower position versus the? supreme? caller: no, the qualification still has to be there. we are calling her stupid and she was second at prisoprinceto. host: dahlia lithwick? caller: i agree. this is a judge was 17 years of judicial experience. she is the most qualified person to be tapped for the supreme court in 100 years if you look at judicial experience. if you look at her record, as i have been doing, there is not a lot to be alarmed by. progressives will say there is not that much to be cheered by. she is an incredible, moderate, careful, scrupulous, slightly boring, hospital corners judge who sticks to their records and sticks to the facts. she reminds me, more than anyone, of david souter. she has a great reverence for the statute before her. in many cases, with the option to go beyond what was at issue, and make proclamations about what the

a thing barack obama has the right approach. just take it easy, to get soft. -- what will that gain us? just putting them on made up lists those not achieve anything. host: back to a piece about this issue, putting korea back on the terrorism list. the u.s. waste steps for intercepting shipments. mr. obama has decided who will not offer north korean new incentives to dismantle the nuclear complex that the north had previously promised to abandon. good morning to roger on our independent line from dallas. caller: this is a failure of foreign policy by obama. when president bush was in office the democrats blamed all of our troubles with north korea on him. president obama suggested that he would be able to get along with troublesome countries better than bush did, but he has not. the north koreans are being very disrespectful to the united states. they are testing nuclear weapons, firing missiles. now the have kidnapped reporters. they are really challenging obama and making him look weak. host: on the nuclear issue here is a sto

where they seem to like barack obama more? >> and that hurts my feelings. [laughter] >> i am sorry, senator. >> i will try to go on. [laughter] he is very likable. i read with that. i do not think that your that bad. >> you are likable enough, hilary. >> thank you. [laughter] host: richard wolffe? guest: it was a backfired approach, that arrogance. people wound up switching over to the republican primary, because for many it was a done deal. it was a very volatile time. they stopped polling, which was a huge mistake that they did not repeat. as i explained in the book, they lost track of it because it was over, they were going to sail through it. host: were you there at the cafe guest: i was not. host: this was one of the many early morning events that senator clinton was conducting. here's what happened. >> it is not easy. i could not do it if i did not passionately believe that it was the right thing to do. i have so many opportunities in this country. i just do not want to see us fall backwards. you know? [applause] this is very personal for me. it is no

it is my pleasure to welcome the president of the united states barack obama back to chicago. we appreciate that he has been able to make time out of his busy schedule to come here today to speak about health care reform and to make it as open as possible. we are glad we are included in your efforts. you have said that a test of the american ideal is whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by the events in history or whether we act to shape them. america's physicians want to help shape a better future for our patients and our country. [applause] we know firsthand the that change is needed and the status quo is not acceptable. [applause] we appreciate the investment you have already made to help physicians in four areas. first, to purchase equipment and we look forward to standards of enter opera ability. -- inter-operatability. in your budget, you used realistic numbers about the cost of treating medicare patients. you charted a course to replace the senseless medicare physicians payment formula. you are the first president to do that, and we thank you for that. [applause] you

. >> he's barack obama. he has come to save the day. ♪ ♪ >> there, we got a situation. >> pirates. >>♪ >[laughter] [applause] thank you for evan and great. they are here with us along with members of the team. a stand-up. thank you, there are dvd's on your table. please enjoy your first course 3 will be back in just a minute. -- we will be back in just a minute. >> one of the longstanding traditions of our association is to toast our special guest. so, please stand and join me in the executive committee in that tradition. >> to the president. we're very honored to have you with us tonight. thank you. please be seated. >> he had the most appropriate name for a journalist >> we call that the chicken noodle network in those days. of all people thought that when bill left one of the networks to go to work for this newfangled deal that nobody thought was going to go very far, we all wondered if he had something along with him. he saw something that the rest of us did not see. he did a great job. >> tony lef

and i believe that barack obama is spot-on in his message, and i have agreed with everything that has come along so far. i think that the elections in iran next week will be key because he has already set a tone that there are millions of voters in iran who are hopeful that his message carries some weight. we may see the dawn of a new era, and that is pretty remarkable considering that barack obama has been in office for less than six months. , let me share with you one of the many editorials -- host: tom, let me share with you one of

it is important that the american president, barack obama, makes his first stop in dresden. this is a symbolic city. it was almost destroyed during the second world war. it was rebuilt after german reunification. it has turned out to be a jewel of german culture. the people here are so glad that you come to see them because it shows that you also pay tribute to the tremendous efforts they made in this 20 years after the fall of the wall. we have made very good use of that time talking about the political agenda, pressing issues. president obama gave a very important speech yesterday in cairo, which i think will be an ideal basis for a lot of fashion of a positive nature, particularly with the peace process in the middle east. he also talked about a time frame for progress to be made. i said on behalf of the federal republic of germany that we would like to try and be helpful in this peace process to the extent this is possible. we need a two-state solution in order to accompany this along the way. the status of negotiations with iran on the nuclear program was also at the to

we may see the dawn of a new era, and that is pretty remarkable considering that barack obama has been in office for less than six months. , let me share with you one of the many editorials -- host: tom, let me share with you one of many editorials. "president obama sounded like he was channeling president george w. bush during his cairo speech yesterday. much of the substance of his address, titled "a new beginning, some of like the same old song. one could easily remove the biographical references, redact a few sentences that were clearly critical of specific bush administration policies, and pass it off as old republican talking points." caller: i find that hard to believe, particularly because the response to what he has said is entirely different. if it were the same rhetoric or the same intent wrapped in slightly different language, delivered by something who looks a little different than george w. bush, i am certain that the reaction to it would have been identical. but, in fact, it was polarly opposite. so i think that editorial view may be a little out of the realm. . rejectio

. >> barack obama announced today a step in changing the health care system. drug companies have pledged to spend $80 billion over the next decade to help reduce the cost of drugs for seniors, to pay for some of the president's health care plans. he is introduced by the new head of aarp. >> aarp is proud to stand with you, chairman max baucus, chairman dodd to announce the gap in medicare, the drug coverage gap known as the doughnut hole will be substantially filled for millions of middle income americans as part of health reform. i want to applaud chairman max baucus, senator dodd, who have been champions in this issue. we are honored to stand with both of you. senator max baucus, with your strong leadership on the senate finance committee, with the creativity that led to the development of this very unique solution. we will also support the process and look forward to -- with optimism to the next up. the bottom line, without you chairman, we would not be here today. we offer you all of our thanks. when the president issued his call for all parties to come to

barack obama it administration will try to move the deficit down. it is linked closely to health care reform. the most intriguing inconsequential question for the next couple of months will be whether health care reform can pass. suddenly, if it can pass and a way to help the nation's long- term fiscal situation. if it does, the obama administration will look good in the eyes of history. if not, it worsens the budget outlook. president obama will have a difficult legacy. host: johnshaw is an international reporter. thank you for your time. on the front page of "the washington post," looking at the virginia primary for democrats from yesterday's for the governor's race. the candidate from charlottesville has won and will compete this fall. to give us more context, this guest reported on this for the paper. could you tell us what happened and the importance of it? guest: sure, i would be happy

obama. [applause] the president will be coming in in just a second. just a couple of words to him. mr. president, we appreciate that you've taken the time out of a busy schedule to join us and we're grateful for your efforts to make the path toward health system reform as open and inclusive as possible and in particular that we have been included in those efforts. you have said that a test of the american ideal is whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by events and history or whether we act to shape them. america's physicians want to help shape a better future for our patience and our country. [applause] we know firsthand that change is needed and that the status quo isn't acceptable. [applause] we appreciate the investment you've already made to help physicians in four areas. first, the purchase of health i.t. equipment, and we look forward to standards for interoperability. and we thank you for the investment in comparative effectiveness research to enhance quality medical care. [applaus

but more importantly, the election of barack obama marked the close of an era. and the welcomed beginning of a new one. what everyone thinks of his politics, his stunning success with 43% of the white vote and record high turnout by minority voters is a historic turning point. integration was the aim of the civil rights movement in the 1950s, much of the 1960s and by the ultimate test, american politics is now integrated. blacks have been a major political force for decades. and now an african-american man has reached the highest peak. when the 1965 voting rights act was passed it was inconceivable that americans would elect a black president four decades older. i am old enough to remember the sit-ins in the winter of 1960 and '61. i picketed woolworths as a harvard graduate student in those days. the state of race relations that i have witnessed in my own lifetime is unparalleled in the history of any other nation. the passage of the voting rights act marked the death knell of the jim crow south. it was one of the great moments in the history of american democr