the white house today is the nixon white house and the state grants. they brought the white house to that state. >> outside the gates, it is a home whose history and documents are still under siege for most of his presidency. from the vietnam protesters to the watergate scandal at the end, the white house becomes an insular place for president nixon and a place where he finds solace in one particular room. >> richard nixon was a man who cherishes solitude. his intellectual privacy. he loved a fire in the fireplace and it was his habit to turn the air conditioning up as high as it would go and start a fire. it is important for every president to have a time when he can think. for nixon, that is what the lincoln sitting room was all about trade in the end, it turned out to be a place of security and memories. sooner or later, every president bonds with lincoln. he famously compared himself to lincoln and the sense that he justified actions of that others sol as abuse of power. -- others saw as abuse of power. just about every president gets very close to

from the american white house expressed. i think this is american propaganda. barack obama can say the government should take steps and be in transition. he did not say mubarak should go. he tried to show [unintelligible] address to show support for the demonstrators at the same time as trying to maintain interest in egypt, especially with regard to israel, and the unfunded danger from the muslim brotherhood. americans are trying to show the demonstrators, "we are with you." at the same time, it is basically nothing from america. >> it is great to talk to you about this ongoing situation president hosni mubarak of egypt has defied expectations by insisting he will not step down, despite mass demonstrations against his rule. we will be following the story. you are watching bbc news. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by th

this out at the white house tonight. chuck, thanks. >>> people around the world obviously are more or less in this together tonight, meaning we're all trying to figure out what this means, this change during the day for hosni mubarak. our own richard engle is reporting on. of course that includes inside the state department elsewhere in the corridors of government, our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell, with us from our washington newsroom with more. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. not only did u.s. officials expect mubarak to step down as chuck just reported, they said so publicly. they were delivering their annual report to congress just as most of the world thought that the revolution was reaching its peak in cairo. they had to answer questions about it. cia director, leon panetta. >> i got the same information you did, that there is a strong likelihood that mubarak may step down this evening, which would be significant in terms of where the hopefully orderly transition in eg

the white house is and how to use the white house. >> the white house staff is -- has figured out how to accommodate families and make them feel as normal as possible even though there are dozens of people dropping of flowers and fixing things up all the time. you begin to see them as family in some ways and that is the duty of this place. it is the staff who make it home for so many different families over the years. >> as the work here, the offense they prepare for provide a window into the home today -- the events they6 prepare for provide a window into the home today. this offers a window into its storied past. they are being made for a dinner honoring the original architect. >> he was george washington's man. >> i think it is important to understand where it came from. so many things are there and are unique about white house life and white house usage. the living comes from that time. >> it was after all, george washington who created it and was the cornerstone, who had a major say in its design and location. >> with the nation's capital scheduled to move to a new federal city b

the white house is happy to let them go along, but the white house which includes a lot of people who were there to negotiate in 1995 when the democratic president was negotiating with house republican the end of o.m.b. and the president's top economic man inside and their view is if this is going to get negotiated, don't start putting a plan out. if you put things out, things have to be on the table and off the table. let's do it behind the screens. the president in his news conference say a lot of this may happen that you may not see it. >> is there any sign that voters are ready for a serious discussion about their entitlements? is the conventional wisdom that it's political suicide to even go there correct? >> we're going to see now if the voters really understood the ramifications of the election. gwen: we're seeing that right now in wisconsin. >> we're seeing some of it in wisconsin. in that case, outrage from teachers who are going to get the cuts. who we don't really know about just yet are the independents and they're the ones that swung that election. they'll be the ones tha

we cover the president. we cover the white house. it's not entirely the job of the agents to do what the principal asked them. why didn't president obama, why didn't tom donovan, why didn't the people around the president say what's going on in egypt? that guy is 83. what will happen next? >> in fairness, they were getting warning signals. he had the egypt working group ahead for some time. there were instabilities. be prepared for this. what he was going to do about it to prepare, what were they going to do? press harder, talk about it more? there were signs the precise timing, the catalysts for it they didn't know. you're right, they didn't upset. the hill is upset. chris: we have all of these groups out there at the national democratic convention, soft groups to encourage democracy, teach people how to win elections and all, didn't they know about the social media going on over there with facebook and organizing? >> i think maybe there's a false premise here that if you know what's going on, we can do something about it. >>y. >> w

at the white house, the nation's highest civilian award. among the honorees, president george h.w. bush, plus warren buffett. also receiving the award civil rights pioneer john lewis. and the poet mia angelo. sports figures being honored are bill russell and baseball hall of famer stan the man musial. congratulations to all of them. >>> just ahead, night of the comet. nasa takes new pictures in a fly by. >>> plus a spring surprise for shoppers as clothing prices are set to rise. you're watching the "cbs morning news." e. you're watching the "cbs morning news." [ woman ] i think people were stunned at the hurricane. and it's the little things that you don't think about. people think of the food, they think of housing, but no one thinks: "how are you going to wash your clothes?" i brought towels, blankets. socks. sheets and pillowcases. [ man ] you just don't feel human without clean clothes. [ female announcer ] tide loads of hope is a free laundry service that provides clean clothes for families affected by disasters. together we can provid

the white house? >> never. >> those are two very different questions. [laughter] that is no lie. >> i innocently got in trouble. all of us have had situations where we know things are going to happen, but we cannot talk about them. sometimes you might put someone's life in jeopardy. sometimes there is a political or diplomatic protocol that does not allow you to acknowledge something publicly at that moment. you can never consciously lied because that destroys the credibility of the trust that is elemental in serving the president and the press corps. dana made a very good point. you are caught in this weird position. the geography for those of you who have watched the television program, "west wing," the back door of the office that all four of us have, you walk out of it and 25 feet away you are in the oval office with the president yelling at you about how bad the press is. if you turn left, you go into the briefing room. you have to try to keep both halves of that equation happy. it is a very tric

understand the white house. and creating enemies and things of that nature. the governance of the country they didn't understand. >> host: good afternoon and welcome to booktv's index. this is a monthly program with one author and his or her body of work. this month, r. emmett tyrrell jr. is our guest, editor and chief and founder of the american spectator magazine as well as the author of nine books and editor of a couple more. here are r. emmett tyrrell's nine books. 1977, "public nuisances" came out. the liberal crack out in 1984. the conservative crackup in 1992. "boy clinton: the political biography" 1996. you're best seller. the impeachment came out in 1997. >> guest: that was close to a best seller. >> host: at 4 "madame hillary: the dark road to the white house" in 2004, "the clinton crackup" in 2007, the best of the american spectator and continuing crisis in 2009, and his most recent book "after the hangover: the conservatives' road to recovery". mr. tyrrell, why so many books about the clintons? >> gu

this is the final day on the job for the white house press secretary, robert gibbs. he announced last month that he would be leaving the post to become an outside political advisor to president obama and his re-election campaign. >>> the donald is talking about moving to washington. billionaire donald trump talked with a group of conservatives about the possibility of running for president. "usa today" reports that trump was nearly one of a dozen potential candidates who spoke. the united states is becoming the laughingstock of the world, he says, and he is going to decide by june whether or not to run. >>> officials at the metrodome in minneapolis say the roof will need to be replaced. there is new video that shows the gaping hole in the inflatable roof right after the collapse and during the collapse that happened in december under the weight of some heavy snowfall up in minnesota. it forced the minnesota vikings to play their final two home games at other stadiums. now stadium officials hope to have that roof replaced by august the 1st. >> that will be quite a cos

a report to the white house. >> what is the funniest thing that happened to you in the white house? >> it was not funny to me, but it was funny to everybody else. [laughter] one time when i was on vacation from the white house, i went fishing in one of our fish ponds. we have four fish ponds now. we are avid fishers. while i was fishing, my press secretary was there. he was fishing on the bank. i was on the boat. a bunch of dogs were chasing a rabbit. how many of you know about this story? ok. the rabbit jump in the water. rabbits can swim very well. the rabbit swam toward my boat. i splashed water on the rabbit and it turned and went to the bank. two years later, jody was one drinking -- was with some other people -- [laughter] in one of the taverns in washington. he embellished the story enormously to get a local appreciation or maybe free beer or something. it was a wild rabbit that attacked me in my boat, and i was saved by the skin of my teeth from being bitten. he thought the rabbit probably had rabies. this became the number one story in the whole world. president carter is a

when i covered the reagan white housand the bush white house some of it was disarray. it made it a little easier to take the story to the public. >> each was fighting for his own turf. that is what did it. >> you are not going to stop turf battles between heavyweights in the adnistration. >> they seldom leaked in the bush administration. >> there is a myth that the republicans did not have message problems. if you look at the social security debate of 2005, that is not a cohesive message. >> is thathe same problem that obama had at reelection time? that is debatable. when you take on these big issues, it is not necessarily -- you will not have a cohesive message. >> lightning round. i want to go to a few questions. with regard to the television series the west wing, how realistic was that? >> one of the funny things about that, the creator of the show had been in washington. he read a script for the movie american president. he asked me if i would read his pilot and consult on the show. all of my friends in washington started calling me. hollywood never gets washington

street from the white house to give a speech to the u.s. chamber of commerce where he called on business leaders to show "responsibility to america" and invest now in the future of the nation. following up on many of the themes unveiled in the state of the union address last month, the president renewed his request for such things as infrastructure investment and regulatory and tax overhaul. he also cited past disagreements between the chamber and his administration but said the white house business leaders must work together for america to prosper. this is just under 40 minutes. >> president and ceo of the u.s. chamber of commerce. [applause] >> thank you very much, and good morning. i am pleased to welcome the 44th president of the united states, barack obama. your visit continues a century old tradition stretching all the way back to william howard taft, who suggested the creation of this institution in 1912, and we are honored you are here today to continue that tradition, and you probably noticed next year we will have our 100th birthd

that is the dilemma for the white house. how to achieve two things, freedom and transition and democracy for the people of egypt and stability for the important interest we have in that region. that balancing act has just become much more difficult for the administration given this very disappointing speech by president mubarak. >> we could see we have live pictures we have showing this morning of cairo and we have been hear about the disappointment from the people directly. when you look at the, quote/unquote, change that has come through, putting vice president suleiman in power is there a change at all or is he a puppet for president mubarak? >> i think it's increasingly clear that this is a false transition. it's a transition where the game of musical chairs where at the thu people in different positions but it's the same people, the same people who have been ruling egypt for 30 years. i don't think that handsing off some powers by president mubarak to vice president suleiman is going to placate. the administrators and p

of the white house. >> just below the south portico from where fdr addresses the nation is the entrance to the white house reserved for presidents, first ladies, and their guests. it leads into the first room and on basie, the diplomatic reception room. look it on the ground floor, it is beyond the bounds of public tours. it is made famous by fdr. >> never before since jamestown and plymouth rock -- >> fdr made the first of many fireside chats to the nation during his presidency. >> i want to tell you what has been done in the last few days and why it was done and what the next steps will be. >> mainly through radio but sometimes allowing the newsreel cameras in four portions of this chat. like so many of the rooms, it has had very uses over the years and the connections between different presidents and first ladies are many. originally a furnace room, in 1902, fdr's cousin theodore roosevelt turned it into the diplomatic reception room as part of his work on the white house. as you look at it today, its

white house. >> what is the funniest thing that happened to you in the white house? >> it wasn't funny to me but was funny to everybody else. one time when i was on vacation from the white house i went down fishing in a fish pond. we have full fish ponds. now we do fly fishing all over the world but back then -- on a punt. when i was fishing by secretary was fishing of the bank and rosen and i were in a boat. a bunch of dogs chasing a rabbit. how many of you know about this story? the rabbit jumped in the water and rabbits can swim very well. they have to cross creeks and so forth. the rabbit swam toward my boat. i took my paddle and splashed water on the rabbit and the rabbit turned and went to the bank. that was all there was to it. two years later, jody powell was with some other people. [laughter] in one of the taverns in washington and embellish this story enormously just to get a local appreciation or a free beer or something. it was a rabbit that tried to attack me and i was saved by the skin of my teeth from being bitten and he thought the rabbit was probably

last time he was at the white house the president gave him a tie. today he gave him a medal. but up next, when two men match wits with a supercomputer, it's no trivial pursuit. kgng unlike other osteoporosis medicines... atelvia has a delayed- release formulation... so you can take it right after breakfast and help protect your bones. do not take atelvia if you have esophagus problems, low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or cannot sit or stand for 30 minutes. follow all dosing instructions. stop taking atelvia and tell your doctor if you experience difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, which may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. tell your doctor if you develop dental or jaw problems, as serious jawbone problems have been reported rarely. also tell your doctor if you develop severe bone, joint, or muscle pain... or any hip, groin, or thigh pain... as unusual thigh bone fractures have been reported rarely. with atelvia, the mornings are all mine.. talk to your doctor about new atelvia. >> cour

the white house. plenty of moves being busted. and even the obamas themselves got in on the act. ererererererer >>> overseas stocks are climbing this morning. tokyo's nikkei average climbed 0.7% today. hong kong's hang seng rose nearly 2%. in london, the ftse opened higher. and on wall street, the dow fell 37 points yesterday. the nasdaq gained almost 15 points. >>> well, believe it or not, toyota has issued yet another massive recall. this time, nearly 2.2 million vehicles, are being recalled because the gas pedal could become trapped by floor mats or even jammed in the carpeting. toyota has now recalled 14 million vehicles since 2009, to fix a wide range of problems. >>> and a little bit of good news. most workers can expect to take home a little bit more money this year. a new survey finds that companies plan on increasing pay by an average of 3%. that's up from 2.7% last year. and would be the biggest hike since the start of the financial crisis. >>> and the irs are offering leniency for some who

public, -- the white house. c-span provides a rarely seen look at the presidential residence and take you to the mansion, the west wing, oval office, and lincoln bedroom and focuses on the families which made it how it looks today. there are updated to views with president obama and first lady and comments from georgia and laura bullish. that today at 6:00 eastern on c- span. >> one-quarter of all internet traffic is involved in infringing on people's intellectual property rights. >> today, the subcommittee work on international property rights. >> on january 25th, former u.s. ambassador to south korea and 31-year cia agent, donald gregg, spoke with students on -- at williams college and talked about dealing with critical military issues based on his experiences with president kennedy during the cuban missile crisis. he also touches on a situations with the korean and isabella, iran, egypt and pakistan and some decisions made during the vietnam war. this event is just over one hour. let me recognize the organiza

once the white house, you were probably one of them, pat. and she was a force for moderation within the white house, and we've convenient her on that path since she's left of the white house as well. >> the reason i'm a conservative is because of ronald reagan. because i was very, very young when he was president of the united states, but everything he stood for just instinctively struck me as correct, and what i found so amazing by reagan is he was unafraid to stand for his conservative principles. >> well, i worked with him for four-week period and i found to my astonishment every issue that came up he got the point right away. he was very, very decisive and he had the capacity to inspire this country and rebuild the confidence of this country in its future, after a couple very, very difficult years in the -- from the preceding president. >>> issue three, bulls in motion. the economic just came out and the bulls are hoping if not running. daily index stock market up, breaking 12,000 this week. monthly index, item unemployment down .4%, 9.4

we received e-mail from the white house. he is coming, he is meeting with some business leaders, end of sentence. that's it. that's very interesting. and surprising coming from the white house press office. >> sometime we overreact. we expect everything to be done the ts crossed. we have to figure out which ceos they want to show case. how it relates to the budget and the kinds of thing they're promoting. there is a lot of lodgistical works to do. >> we don't have the guest list at hand. regardless, the ceo of this company or that company or whatever companies, regardless of who will be there, the significance of what he will do thursday at around 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. >> in a state with really dark clouds, silicon valley really shines. our unemployment is 11% but it 12.5 statewide. industry is moving. the president can showcase what happens, especially it is a relates to high-tech. that you think california created 66,000 jobs last year. 12,000 of those came right near silicon valley. mostly tech. all those things good to a pr

in the white house. i think he'd find him pretty much more of a socialist than richard nixon. now, go on. i'm sorry for interrupting. >> host: vance, you still there? >> caller: yeah, i sure am. can you hear me? >> host: yep. we're listening. >> caller: well, i just want to respond to that because i had a professor who knew milton friedman very well, and he said the last time he saw mr. nixon while he was president was in the white house and asked him why, why did you impose wage and price controls? and he pulled out a copy of "the new york times" and says, look at this. look at what they're saying to me. and then milton friedman just left and had nothing further to do with richard nixon. >> guest: well, i knew milton friedman, and at any rate, and milton friedman was a gentleman, and i don't think there's any reason to disagree with what i just said or disagree with that little anecdote of yours. but go on, pardon me. >> host: he is, he is off the line. from your first book, "public nuisances," you writ

chip reid is at the white house tonight. chip, it's been a very long week and the president seems to be very happy to see it end and end this way. >> reporter: oh, yes, katie. after the dangerously unpredictable events of yesterday, today the president sounded deeply relieved as he praised the egyptian people for their courage. >> the people of egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard and egypt will never be the same. >> reporter: but while the euphoria continued in egypt, president obama had a warning that there will be difficult days ahead. >> this is not the end of egypt's transition. it's a beginning. >> reporter: the beginning of a long, arduous path to democracy. with the first stage of that path now controlled by egypt's military leaders. the president had a message for them: that they are only a temporary caretaker. >> that means protecting the rights of egypt's citizens, lifting the emergency law, revising the constitution and other laws to make this change irreversible. >> reporter: on this day, the presiden

>> reporter: jen crawford at the white house, thanks. also this sunday many americans took some time to remember former president ronald reagan who was born 100 years ago today. as bill whitaker reports, the occasion was marked with ceremony and song at the ronald reagan presidential library. >> reporter: ronald reagan the 40th president of the united states was remembered today with high flying pomp. >> happy birthday mr. president. >> reporter: and ceremony. >> happy birthday to you. >> reporter: on this the 100th anniversary of his birth his widow and former first lady nancy reagan laid a commemorative wreath before dignitaries and assembled guests at the reagan library in simi valley outside of los angeles. >> i know that ronnie would be thrilled and is thrilled to have all of you share in this 100th birthday. doesn't seem possible but that's what it is. >> reporter: it was a day both reverential and rousing. >> ♪ proud to be an american ♪ where at least i know i'm free ♪. >> reporter: on this brilliant day, lee greenwood sang.

at the white house, president obama decided to close the u.s. embassy in tripoli, suspend limited military cooperation, freeze arm sales and the treasury department sent this advisory to banks, to be on the lookout for any movement of gadhafi's money. this as they prepare to freeze his assets, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. the british and swiss already have. >> it's clear that colonel gadhafi has lost the confidence of his people. >> reporter: the white house still stopped short of calling for gadhafi's ouster. france's president sarkozy was tougher. he said mr. gadhafi must leave. >> we shouldn't kid ourselves. sanctions, asset freezing, travel limits and the rest are not the sort of tools that are going to turn a situation like this around. >> until the money runs out, until the mercenaries run out, until those family members who control security units around gadhafi decide that he has to go and that may well not happen, there's not a whole lot we're going to do. >> reporter: still in washington today at their residence, libyan diplomats, raise

, winning the white house in 2012. the triple crown. >> conservatives gather for the annual cpac conference. and some presidential contenders make their debuts and test the waters. >>> and the mayor of atlanta, representative bobby schilling of illinois. former clinton white house press secretary, dee dee myers. >>> columnist for "the new york times," david brooks. >>> and "time" magazine's mark h alprin. >>> after 18 days, president mubarak of egypt is gone, in a revolution that sent shock waves around the world as they partied in the streets. we'll get the latest this morning from cairo with nbc's richard engel. plus insights in washington for what it means for the rest of the middle east with the former u.s. ambassador to israel and the u.s. correspondent, robin wright. >>> first to richard engel who is in cairo as he has been throughout the story. richard, first, tahrir square, the heartbeat of where the revolution has happened. there's an attempt i understand this morning, to get back to normal. how has that playe

chris: the white house thinks huckabee is the nominee. >> the white house is nervous about huckabee but he's making too much scratch to give that up. in florida. chris: you are even -- gloria. >> let's talk about the senate. you talked about the president and let's talk about the senate. john kyl retiring. in arizona. chris: why? >> talk about the scratch. i don't know. and obviously gabby giffords is somebody who had wanted that seat and still could perhaps run for it. if that doesn't occur, democratic leaders really would like janet napolitano. chris: a lot of udalls around. anne kornblut. >> the white house was -- the white house has to figure out what to do about china and some would like to see gary locke leave the commerce department and he speaks chinese. chris: so his background is chinese. >> yeah. he could do that job. not sure if he would do it. moved his name once but he's in the mix. chris: david david. -- david ignatius. >> c.i.a. officers are worried about the implications of the pack substance -- pakistanis holding someone with diplomatic credentials in jail in lahor whe

to the white house he was seen as the beacon of stability. within egypt his whole regime had become associated with corruption and a brutal suppression of dissent. the secret police had a fearful reputation. this fear fueled hatred towards him. >> president mubarak leaves behind broken institutions -- >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. new man's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies, from small business to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was brought to you by kcet, los angeles. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> lehrer: good evening. i'm jim lehrer. egyptian president mubarak stepped down today and

and that's the white house. it's remarkable that the white house seems to be on the sidelines. haven't weighed in with specifics where they think things should go. this is signature for the white house. wait until the last minute and like to come in and be the closer when they think a deal is close just like on the tax cuts. but what do you have guys think about where the white house is or is not on this? seems like they're not weighing in with a lot of specifics. maybe behind the scenes but certainly not publicly. tom, what do you think? have you heard much from the white house or they're waiting on the sidelines until closer to a deal. >> far be it from me to speak for the white house. i think they have concerns about the cr and the spending cuts, the $60 billion. and some of the specifics in particular. some of the cuts are just somewhat mindsless. for example eliminating a program to help homeless veterans, cutting border security at a time when that's so critically important. homeland security, cutting head

of america's most recognizable home, the white house. we provide a barely seen look at the history of the presidential residence and take you through the, the west wing, local office, and lagan betterment focus on the presidents and first families to most influenced how it looks today, airing in high-definition and newly updated with interviews with president obama and the first lady and comments from georgia and laura bush. that is today a 6:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> coming up, we will take your questions and comments on "washington journal." later, a look at the white house. this morning on "washington journal." we discussed the 2012 budget request. we look at the low energy home budget assistance. then the national taxpayers union ahead out lines hit in taxes contained in the budget. later, a discussion on how past presidents have dealt with fiscal matters with james thurber. thurber.

this, the white house really loves. they want to look like they are making tough cuts about programs that the president and his party care very much about, that he's going against his own party because that's a real appeal to independent voters in the middle trying to show that you can do the tough thing. i think what's working to the president's advantage and in talk to go some white house aides i think they have this sense too. is the bill that is on the floor in the house right now about this year's spending cuts, the democrats are so focused on pushing back on that push by republicans to cut $100 billion out of this year that they're not as focused on the things that they're not thrilled with in the president's budget but you can only pick one fight at a time. >> just very quickly speaking of that this year's fiscal budget there's only a couple of weeks left. is there a possibility they're not going to work this out? >> that runs out march 4. this is the funding of the government. this morning the house budget commi

the american white house right now because there. every indication they want somehow to support suleyman and the army that's going to be the savior stability egypt will keep its international obligations and you know what i'm talking about i mean it seems to me the democracy issue really isn't there they just they have this dilemma and they want it solved and they have one partner there and they also are big right in the dilemma is not merely the dilemma is not merely between people in the white house and state department who support democracy and those who want to promote stability what we're calling stability here but the idea is we don't know exactly what it looks like in egypt what sort of institutions are there i mean look you can certainly blame mubarak for tearing apart whatever sort of centrist opposition there might have been to him but the fact remains we don't know what there is without mubarak so i think this is part of the debate as well i think the white house definitely would like to find some sort of democratic keller

chip reid is at the white house with the latest. chip, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, harry. the obama administration is walking a very fine line here. on the one hand, they strongly support the protestors, but on the other hand, the last thing they want is for egypt to descend into chaos. so here is the basic policy position of the obama administration right now. first, the administration is calling for "an orderly transition to a government that respects the rights of the egyptian people." second they are not calling on mubarak to step down. third, the white house is calling for free and fair elections in egypt this fall, elections in which mubarak may or may not be on the ballot. now, harry, it may seem strange that they're calling for a transition to a new kind of government, but at the same time they're saying that mubarak may be able to stay around. well, the white house says they're being very adamant about this, they say they're not going to take sides but on principle they're going to continue to say it's up to th

he's going to lose the white house in 2012. try this. ♪ ♪ it's that chocolate ♪ it's that whipped cream ♪ it's that caramel, and espresso you mix in ♪ ♪ i must be, i must be, i must be, i must be ♪ ♪ i must be dreamin' [ male announcer for the first time at mcdonald's -- your two favorite flavors together. new mccafé caramel mocha. well? what do you guys think? perfect. [ male announcer the simple joy of sweet harmony. ♪ ba da ba ba ba >>> 2012 does barack obama get re-elected yes or no and why? >> if there's a republican that can speak to middle america unlike mccain and some of the other candidates he's going to lose the white house in 2012. >> if we have another ronald reagan he'll get ousted in four years like jimmy carter did. >> i'm really concerned. i see this sarah palin movement and i never thought it was serious enough, but i actually think that it's frightening actually, that sarah palin could be the nominee. if she's the nominee, president obama will win again. >> are there any black people on the

in the united states, the white house spokesman says that the country's political transition should begin immediately. jeremy has been following the day's explosive the events in cairo. >> it is dark, dangerous, and a violent been talk here square tonight -- and violet in ta krir square tonight. from the morning, the atmosphere was different. the president's men appeared. the first time i had seen them in any numbers in a week here. the ruling party is a very organized force and it is clear. they're determined to get as many people onto the street to the -- to support the president appeared >> it did not feel spontaneous. many were bused in and many of the packers looked professionally made. lacards of the p look professionally made. >> we choose our leader. he is our leader. he is our leader. our leader. >> as the supporters for the president moved closer to liberation square, it cut escalated. they lined up on the edge of the square, trading insults with the opponents of the regime who seized it last friday. the demonstrators stretched way back there. it seems to me that they have more

president and the white house? >> never. we can never lie. >> those are two very different questions. [laughter] >> sometimes the art is telling the truth slowly. [laughter] >> i listen to you doing a lot of that. >> we had -- all of us had situations where we know things are going to happen and can't talk about them because sometimes you might put someone's life in jeopardy and there are other times when the political and diplomatic protocols don't allow you to acknowledge something publicly at that moment. but you can never consciously lie because then that destroys the credibility, the trust that is elemental about serving the president and serving the press corps. dana made a very good point, that you are caught in this weird position and the geography for those who watched "the west wing," the real rest wing, the back door of the office that all four of us had, you walk out of it and 25 feet away you are with the oval office yelling at you telling you how bad the press is and you are literally in between these

when i covered the reagan white house and the bush white house, some of it was disarray. it made it a little easier to take the story to the public. >> each was fighting for his own turf. that is what did it. >> you are not going to stop turf battles between heavyweights in the administration. >> they seldom leaked in the bush administration. >> there is a myth that the republicans did not have message problems. if you look at the social security debate of 2005, that is not a cohesive message. >> is that the same problem that obama had at reelection time? that is debatable. when you take on these big issues, it is not necessarily -- you will not have a cohesive message. >> lightning round. i want to go to a few questions. with regard to the television series the west wing, how realistic was that? >> one of the funny things about that, the creator of the show had been in washington. he read a script for the movie american president. he asked me if i would read his pilot and consult on the show. all of my friends in washington started calling me. hollywood never gets washin

whit johnson is at the white house with the latest on that. >> reporter: the white house is trial desperately not to be seen as the puppet master in egypt, but in the process, its message has evolved. yesterday, president obama's message had an urgent tone. >> the future of egypt will be determined by its people. it's also clear that there needs to be a transition process that begins now. >> reporter: but today, at a security conference in munich, secretary of state hillary clinton suggested that process will be a gradual one. >> it's important to support the transition process announced by the egyptian government, actually headed by now vice president omar sulieman, and that takes some time. i mean, there are certain things that have to be done in order to prepare. >> reporter: taking time is not what protesters on the streets of cairo want to hear. they want egyptian president hosni mubarak to leave now. but today, former ambassador to egypt, frank wisner, who met with president mubarak this week at the request of the white house, indicated the embattled leader should stay put while the new

is that what the white house is looking for? >> reporter: the white house's immediate response to the news that gamal had stepped down from the executive board of the party, of the political party there was great, we need more. and then in terms of the meetings with the muslim brotherhood, again, the response is, great, we need more. there is concern by the administration that because of all the repression in egypt for decades, the muslim brotherhood may be right now the leading opposition to mubarak's party, and that's why they want some time before these elections actually happen so other parties and other ideas can emerge to present a choice so it's not just mubarak's party and versus the muslim brotherhood. christiane? >> jake, thanks so much from the white house and we have some breaking news. the meeting out of what happened today has come up with several proposals including allowing freedom of the internet and text messages, releasing political prisoners, prompting not to harass protesters in the street, setting up consti

s and is the white house nominates, there is no -- as soon as the white house nominates, there is no impediment for senator leahy to hold a hearing for that nomination, and no impediment for the senate majority leader. bob says that a single senator can freeze all nominations. he withholds is unanimous consent. . . position to block either a hearing or actually taking it to a vote the last two years. so, you know, i am glad that it is becoming a pority and hopefully the consultation and how that process would go. the one thing that does bother me, a couple of nominees who when the democrats had 59 senators, actually for a period of time they had 60 senators when senator specter switched parties, they couldn't get those nominees up or they didn't think it was important enough to bring those up when they had 59 after senator brown won in massachusetts. they couldn't find a single republican to support one of those nominees to bring it up for cloture and go for a vote. i think when you have only 53 democratic senators, difficult red states it wi become a heck of a lot more difficult so

and did our embattled ally take a swipe at the white house? >>> under your yard. another neighborhood rocked by a deadly natural gas explosion. >>> wasting your money. jon karl, our sherlock holmes of waste in washington, challenges the man at the top about what he found. >>> and, end in sight. what does our sam champion see in the cold and the snow? >>> good evening. listen again for yourself to that moment today when egyptian president hosni mubarak announced to egypt and the protesters he is not going away any time soon. those were cries of anger after 17 days in the streets. though, mubarak did say he would turn over some of his powers to the new vice president. and at the same time, warned foreign countries to stop the pressure. so, what does this mean for america and the world tonight? our team is covering it all. and we begin with terry moran who is right there at the square in cairo. terry? >> reporter: diane, tonight, this square behind me is still filled with tens of thousands of protesters and you can sense their anger and frustration all the way up her

ford white house instead of the nixon for white house and making enough changes that people would see him stepping forward with a new team. he opted for the continuity and paid appellate -- penalties. >> you don't say he should have? >> no. he was a decent and kind man i don't want to let anybody go to appear that they did something wrong. there were a handful that did something wrong. not all large number and a truly wonderful people pat moynihan, alan greenspan, george shultz and dr. stein and so many people of wonderful reputation and gerald ford could not bring himself to fire anybody. he did not want to do with because he felt it would be a tarnish. >> host: you talk about a story how the older president bush went to the cia in 1975. tell us briefly the story and what you feel the real story was. >> what do you mean what i feel the real story was? [laughter] the real story? >> host: then the god's truth. >> guest: now you are talking. [laughter] george herbert walker bush came to congress with a wonderful group of people and by a new him and at assembly ended up running for the s

the white house today is the nixon white house and the state grants. you could use it for a set for a nixon movie and it would be authentic. they brought the white house to that state. >> outside the gates, it is a home whose history and documents are still under siege for most of his presidency. from the vietnam protesters to the watergate scandal at the end, the white house becomes an insular place for president nixon and a place where he finds solace in one particular room. it adjoins the lincoln bedroom. >> richard nixon was a man who cherishes solitude. his intellectual privacy. it was his habit to hole up in his favor room in the white house. he loved a fire in the fireplace and it was his habit to turn the air conditioning up as high as it would go and start a fire. it is important for every president to have a time when he can think. for nixon, that is what the lincoln sitting room was all about trade in the end, it turned out to be a place of security and memories. and the link in connection. sooner or later, every president bonds with lincoln