also in other areas it seemed to me that the obama administration was taking a turn that was much more in accord with our interest than with the previous at minister since had. for example, in the middle east where i think it is a very clear that israel will not be able to achieve security unless they stop the settlements and began a real negotiations and clearly that has been an issue you also that the obama administration has taken on. >> host: the word registered democrat but almost prominent foreign policy positions under two republican presidents, ronald reagan and george bush. it's also very clear from your book that you admire ronald reagan. >> guest: absolutely. >> host: how did it happen that you became his foreign policy assistant adviser on all matters russian? the reason i'm asking is you were a career foreign service officer. you were known as a pragmatist. you were registered democrat. and then ronald reagan, welcome here was an ideologue, the ultimate cold warrior. why did he turn to you to have this is very important position? >> guest: first of all, my being registered

i also think the russians viewed that they have leverage with the obama administration. they viewed that the agreement was more important for it obama than for moscow, and that led them to press hard in the negotiations, and they never quite got beyond 97%. number three, and maybe the most important, this agreement like any other agreement between moscow and washington, it brings into the debate the whole relationship itself. i want to remind you that for the russians, they are still operating under a military doctrine which identifies that principally the united states and nato is the number one risk or a threat to their security. our strategic outlook are quite different. the united states -- i think that we have really moved on from the cold war and we're looking at a different threat environment. the russians are not quite the same and that is a problem. it is clear that some political forces and military forces were obstructing the agreement at the tail end. but we got it. the other point i would make is that the role of nuclear weapons is asymmetry for washington a

we're talking about the obama administration. are they taking the right approach to nuclear arms policy? we will continue that discussion. this is the "usa today" -- here it says that the czechs are torn over the u.s. nuclear treaty with russia. as obama returns, czechs differ over whether his conciliatory dialogue with their former occupier is dangerously naive or appreciabla praiseworthy step td global security. the article goes on to say that the russian president tried unsuccessfully to get limits placed on the u.s. strategic missile defense in the treaty. the line for independents, not seville, tennessee. good morning. -- knoxville, tennessee. caller: yes, i believe obama has done a very good job. on the atomic weapons, according to that i don't know that if we would have dropped the bomb in world war ii --as horrific as it was, i think that we saved thousands of lives, not only americans, british and others. i think that it was the thing to do. host: in "the washington times" as we continue the discussion we will take a loo

will not, according to the obama administration, let me make by points here -- weaken its commitment to nato, with from military from europe, agree to any revision of the continent's into blocks or spears and influence, four, close the door to further nato enlargements, and five, make any grand bargains with moscow over the heads of former soviet satellites in central eastern europe. . >> what commitments are made to mutual defense and the nato role of the coming decade. is it a global nato? is it back to basics or how can they be combined? there are different views on how this should be structured the concourse of the new missile defense system. i remember president obama canceled the bush version but has talked about his own version to which several countries have already quickly signed on to. the question there is exactly how this will be an integrated nato system, how russia will be included and if there will be included. it is worth remembering in this context that one of the reasons warsaw and prague initially signed on to the bush version was not so much defense against iran i

counter terrorism in the obama administration, tactics and strategy. and our speaker could not be more authority tative. he is ambassador daniel benjamin, the state department's coordinator. it's a position he has held since may of last year. prior to his appointment as the state department's counter terrorism coordinator, dan benjamin was a -- served as a senior fellow and a research director both at brookings institution and the center for strategic and international studies. prior to that during the clinton administration, he was a foreign policy speech writer for several years and then went on to become a director in the office of transnational threats on the national security council staff. prior to entering government service in the 1990s he had been the foreign correspondent for time magazine and the "wall street journal." after leaving government during his think tank years, he co-wrote two important books on terrorism. the age of sacred terror, and the other was the next attack, the failure of the war on terror and the strategy for getting it

and the much larger bet that the obama administration has placed -- or higher priority the obama administration has placed on winning the war in afghanistan. and, therefore, the role the russians play in providing supply and transit of materials both lethal and nonlethal to our troops in theater. and the third is, of course, the nuclear security agenda, which without making progress with russia is impossible to move forward on. i think there's no question as we look at, you know, the 15 months or 14 months since the obama administration has taken power that the u.s./russian relationship has improved considerably. it improved from a very low point. it's a very low bar. in fact, if the relationship had not improved, which it was basically frozen at the end of the bush administration after the war in georgia, there was the danger literally of a new cold war. amongst the achievements one of them which is not talked about so much and maybe i should knock on wood when i talk about this is the fact that there has not been another war in georgia in the last year and a half since the war in august of 20

what is the government doing under the obama administration this is serious. when you have the obama administration, for instance in this new financial control bill, financial services, suggesting that the federal government should decide who gets credit in the future having permanent bailout authority in the future. people are opposed to this. they want to ram this bill through, just like they rammed through health care. the american people are saying no dice, we don't want to play in game any more. >> sean: thing i find most interesting in the "wall street journal" today you have the president of the pew research center the general public wants government reform and its power curtailed. what i think has happened, tell me if i'm wrong. i think conservatives have won the argument on health care. they forced it down our throat any way. they are winning the argument on the size, scope and influence of government. now the reaction is to now lash out at the messengers that are saying, we could do better with limited government, lower taxes and a strong national de

pete, what is the significance of this, and what did the obama administration argue in this case? sh >> this will be a test for the obama administration to see if they'll appeal because they argued in the case not about the merits but about whether sh should be even in court at all. they argued the whole issue was covered by the state secret privilege and they were quite insistent on that. we'll see if they maintain that position on appeal. the judge said the law that was in place at the time -- remember, this program has been changed, president obama voted for the change -- what they said was the program in place at the time was illegally used against two lawyers who were representing an islamic charity. they were on the phone in washington talking to their client in saudi arabia. they argued in court that the government listened in on them without getting a warrant, which is required by federal law. the judge said you're right, i agree, this was illegally used in your case. their lawyer says, the lawyer for the two lawyers, says this shows as a warning to the presidents, this pr

what were you do if you were in the obama administration advising if the president of russia? >> guest: first of all we need to get the nuclear genie back in the bottle and you know reagan and gorbachev and the first bush administration we made great progress in reducing the threat of nuclear weapons, progress that has virtually stopped. i think it is close to in saying that the united states and russia still have over a thousand nuclear weapons, enough to destroy the world deployed, why? there's no reason why can see. it's a danger. we let that whole nuclear danger escape to escape the attention of the 90's and second bush administration and i think we need to get back into the obama administration is moving us back in the right direction there. and there's a number of other issues that we need to get back and we go into some of those in the book basically i think that american and russian security interests are much more consistent in conflict and we need to find ways to get back to the sort of cooperation that the reagan and bush administration carried out and get away from

. >> what do you want to see from president obama from the obama administration in this summit? this is clearly a big opportunity for them to make their case on this issue. they've had a steady drum beat the last few weeks with this deal with russia signing the treaty, the nuclear posture review. what's your sense on them, whether they have any momentum coming to the summit? and what do you want to see them accomplish the next couple of days? >> well, i think they've got momentum on dealing with the rather technical issue of making sure that medical nuclear materials are well handled and that when they are no longer useful, that they're returned properly to where they can be reprocessed or disposed of. as to the bigger issue of stopping the iranian nuclear program or dealing with the north korean program, i think we're doomed to failure as long as we maintain the policies of the bush and obama administration. that policy is that we beg but we never bargain. we have never told any country that if they'll help us deal with these nuclear problems we'll see it there way on any other

those are two forces that neither the bush administration nor the obama administration have been willing to take on just for the purpose of dealing with the rent nuclear program. if we were to actually follow the law of the iran sanctions act, european governments would be upset. so far, we have not been willing to upset anybody come offer anything, or threaten anybody in order to get sanctions on iran and that is why we do not have anything but the smallest efforts and to the tiniest sanctions. >> we have time for one more question. >> non-proliferation, which is the focus of the summit, is expensive. there is not that much money floating around that is available in the federal budget. the health care plan was very expensive. we had the stimulus plans. in terms of bipartisanship, if it is -- is it worth it to have that cost? >> bipartisan defenses and hundreds of millions of dollars, compared that to the cost of the world economy. the best investment we can make in our national security are steps to try to keep the worst hands of the most powerful weapons and nuclear material. that bein

will not according to the obama administration -- let me make five points here. one, weaken its commitments to nato security guarantees. two, withdraw militarily from europe. three, agree to any redivision of the continent into blocs or spheres of influence. the continent is the old continent of europe. four, close the door to further nato enlargement east wards and five make any grand bargains with moscow over the heads of former satellites in central eastern europe. however, i would say the very fact that such reassurances need to be emphasized indicates that several capitals in the region remain troubled. not just about russia's aspirations in the neighborhood but about u.s. and nato policy towards russia. for this reason, there are several landmark developments ahead that will prove significant for the new allies and i think these are going to be discussed at the dinner. countries that are seeking not only reassurance but an upgrade of nato's security commitments. let me mention three. first of all, the framing of nato's new strategic concept which is in the

he talked about the obama administration's approach to security and terrorist threats. the woodrow wilson center international security studies hosted this even here in washington. it's about one hour. [inaudible conversations] .. today's meeting is cosponsored by the international security studies program and by our middle east program. the coseries of georgetown professor bruce hoffman sends regrets. he's unfortunately enable to be with us today. i'd like to extend a particular welcome to those who is viewing's today meeting on c-span. i welcome those who are attending in person. and the usual format after this meeting is over in one hour we will adjourn to a reception in the adjacent room. today's topic could not be more topical counter terrorism in the obama administration tactics and strategy and our speaker could not be more authoritative daniel benjamin a position held since me of last year. prior to his the placement as the state department counterterrorism coordinator can benjamin was a senior fellow and a research from the brookings is a tuition and room durin

the obama administration, will still not be closed. the war on terrorism does not fit the conventions of a regular war in some respects. activity should not be subsumed under the criminal law paradigm. these are not bank robbers on steroids. they are people who are waging war on us, our allies, and our way of life, and they need to be treated in that context. i think it is fairly remarkable, the shift in american public opinion that we have seen. at the end of the bush administration, the media and political elites had beaten the administration into submission to close at guantanamo bay. it was one of the first acts president barack obama undertook as president. just this morning, i saw a new cnn poll that showed that support for closing guantanamo bay is down to 30%. opposition to closing it is at 60%, way up from where it was, because people have seen at the base. they have made up their minds that guantanamo bay turned out to be the right decision. was it a perfect decision? no, of course not. but there wasn't any alternative. >> we

. -- it is hard to know how the obama administration will handle it. whether they will make a big issue or pull back. the papers are saying today that because the leader of china is coming in applied -- implies the obama administration will take a softer approach. for workers around the country, if china moves its currency, it does not mean that detroit will see more factories the next day. most of the factories that are in china will move to india or other regions around the world. he cannot -- the economics is just not simple. host: greg robb is our guest from marketwatch.com. christina rummer, this is her statement today. -- christina romer. interpret that for us. guest: for the administration, it is cautious optimism. they are cautiously optimistic things are getting better. but they are not declaring victory. some people i talk to think they should be better cheerleaders' than they are. but the obama administration has this sort of realistic cautious approach to things. they are saying, things are looking good, but let us wait for a couple of more

i said one of the obama administration's administration's time-consuming as it is is a comprehensive peace in the middle east, comprehensive peace in the middle east has to conclude a peace agreement between israel and syria. if the israelis and the syrians believe that turkish mitigation will help restore the negotiation we are all for it. >> [inaudible] >> it looks difficult at this point. we have talked a lot to the syrians -- he said recently in an interview he traveled and met with the turkish officials, talks a lot with turkish foreign minister. it's not that easy right now to restore peace negotiations but we believe they must be restarted the some point and to some extent the parties would rich to rely again on turkey's good offices again we would be supportive. sprick what a british high to keep comments brief because we do have the significant number of questions. >> thank you for organizing the conference. it is good to see you. i think you should be feeling good about what you and the administration has shared with iraq. today iraq and democracy is moving forward. iraq ha

subpoena of the obama administration. >> we have been stymied by the administration. >> they said the defense and justice department is blocking access to witnesses and files. >> we have maintained the confidentality of the classified information coming before us. >> reporter: senators want access to personnel file of the alleged shooter hasan to see if there was evidence shoved aside by his bosses he was insider threat because of the extremist views and then there are the e-mails sent by cleric anwar al-awlaki described by u.s. counterterrorism officials as a talent spotter for al-qaeda. >> congress must understand the example of home based terrorism to find ways to prevent it from occurring in the future. >> reporter: fox news learned al-awlaki was spiritual advisor to two of the 9/11 hijackers and believed to be a link between the christmas day bomber and the bomb maker in yemen. friday, the justice department publicly released dozens of c.i.a. e-mails part of an ongoing investigation in the destruction of videotapes which showed waterboarding. in a statement, the defense departmen

the obama administration's that we stand ready to fight last week. how could he do that and would russia even be open to that? >> could i

but maybe i was impressed by the fact that obama, during his campaign and also, so far, in the administration, has placed the nuclear issue act in the forefront of our attention. the issue that reagan and gorbachev dealt with, and i've had headed us in the right direction toward bringing nuclear weapons under control, and even eliminating them as a final thing. so his espousal of that early on and the negotiations with russia to bring that about give me encouragement. also, in other areas, it seemed to me that the obama administration was taking a turn that was much more in accord with our interest than what the previous administrations had. for example, in the middle east, where i think it is very clear that israel will not be able to achieve security and less they stop the settlements, and begin real negotiations. and clearly, that has been an issue also that the obama administration has taken on. >> host: you were a democrat but almost prominent on other two republican presidents, ronald reagan and george bush. it's also very clear from your book that you really admire ronald reagan. >> gu

on the iran sanctions, it will be interesting with the obama administration, they have been pretty explicit in talking about this as on the reset of getting the russians to come on board as the litmus test. if you ask them whether arantxa test is with the u.s.-china relationship, it is not. that reflects a much greater leverage that the chinese have with the bilateral relationship with the u.s. than the russians in particular. that is an interesting and telling change of affairs from even just a few years ago with the russian support was viewed as you get that and you have the chinese. i think that is a paradigm. if it ever existed, i think it is broken. the chinese have shown themselves on a number of issues are for the past year to be willing to be more in front in opposition to the u.s. interests. the question on the nuclear treaty, the numbers. the you want to talk about the numbers? >> sure. i think that there is less of an obsession with the numbers because of the reason that andy gave earlier which is the u.s. does not fear russia as the major strategic competitor. maybe andy can tal

. >> lehrer: then, jeffrey brown gets two views on the obama administration's call for new limits on nuclear weapons. >> this review describes how the united states will reduce the role and numbers of nuclear weapons with a long-term goal of nuclear free world. >> ifill: paul solman explores small community banks versus institutions deemed too big to fail. >> size does matter but you don't need to be a large institution in order to be successful as a financial institution today. >> lehrer: and we get an update on the deadly wave of bombings in iraq from rod nordland of the "new york times" in baghdad. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

i take it you don't think that the obama administration is doing the right thing there? >> i'm not too happy about a delay. if we get something specific from the chinese, okay. but what we are looking at for the national interests along help on sanctions against iran, let the nation pay for it instead of one specific industry. we have a real problem with the chinese. they are very shrewd and customarily outmaneuver us. they take our jobs and money and then lend it back to us and own a big part of america. let's watch exactly what is happening. if we get something concrete, a delay might be okay but we can't stand back and let them manipulate the currency and run us ragged on the economy. >> chris: senator kyl, the president and democrats are talking about even now that healthcare passed an ambitious agenda for the rest of this year during the healthcare debate when the democrats talked about and eventually ended up using reconciliation to pass healthcare reform you and a lott of other republicans said that might kill cooperation on financial reform, immigration reform, e

the problem is that the obama administration has left no uncertainty. they are not even interested in this. that's why you have got the gates memo. you have got to be interested. even if it's only a bluff. even if it's only a way to reinforce negotiations. >> bill: absolutely. now say you were president. president charles krauthammer. we have a big military expenditure in iraq and a big military expenditure in afghanistan. simply don't have the forces to invade on the ground. that would be horrible anyway. so what would you do? what kind of a military plan b would be realistic enough to get the iranians' attention? >> well, the one that would be obvious would be an air attack. but it wouldn't be a one shot unone-day deal. it would be a series of attacks like a two-week campaign, the kind that we had in a much easier situation, of course, in serbia. but, if you unleash the u.s. air force carriers, you unleash our cruise missiles, and you unleash our capacities from the bases nearby, you can do a lot of damage. and you return, as we did in iraq, as we att

did the measures that were taken by both the bush administration and then the obama administration were quick, fast, massive, decisive. >> yeah, i think so. i think that, obviously, this crisis comes from what we didn't expect. i mean, the system, the united states system, but as soon as the crisis has been identified, as soon as, and probably the imf role plays into this, then i think the measures taken by both administrations were the right one, and because of the size of the u.s. economy, it's one of the reasons we avoided this big collapse. if things had been -- have been worse in the united states, no way for the global economy to recover. u.s. is still one fifth or so of the global economy, so it's really the motor of the global economy. but if you have the broad view, really, what has been done, what was what needed to be done. >> help us understand, what does it mean to see greece in this situation? we think of this as a european country, part of the eu, host of the olympics, and now we learn that the finances of the country are in shambles. what happened? >> this crisis put a l

as we look at the 14 months since the obama administration has taken power, the u.s. best russian relationship has improved. it was a local bar. if it had not improved -- it was basically frozen after the war in georgia -- there was the danger of literally a new cold war. one of the achievements is the fact that there has not been another war in georgia in the last year and a half. i know my colleagues in the defense department and state department spent a lot of time on this issue and assuring this does not happen. when they received a call about the tragedy on the bombing of the moscow subway, they were thinking there might be another war. this is a significant achievement. the relationship has been broadened with the establishment of the commission between secretary of state clinton and the working groups. this is important. most importantly, aside from no war in georgia, is there has been progress on the key security drivers. we have modest expectations about what we can get out of the relationship with russia. we're more likely to be not disappointed. when you lo

i think the obama administration a popular choice. i think on policy grounds, it was the wrong choice. in my view, the health care program he has just signed will actually increase spending and may cost more difficult to control. there are a number of provisions that are alleged to control costs. when you look at them, they are tokens. it is my thought that they will not succeed. host: republican line. caller: good morning to you. and not of the hyperbole coming out to washington is due -- a lot of the hyperbole coming out of washington is due to the information coming out. the way i see this country, it is on its knees in every direction. i believe in taking care of the people who cannot help themselves. that is the problem. if you get the slow pace the obama administration is walking on, it will fundamentally change this country. the constitution has been shredded. if you look at everything this country was built on, we are going the opposite direction. it is pushing this country towards socialism. if you do not believe that, you se

i would very much fear that's the obama administration's real plan b. they know their effort at u.n. sanctions isn't going to stop iran. they are prepared to acquiesce iran with nuclear weapons i think that is a miss tack. >> greta: in terms of -- that is a mistake. >> greta: in terms of a nuclear bomb. how far down the road of development do you get to until you have a bomb? when you put the final screw in the device and can send it off and fire or earlier when you have the technology and ability to put it together? >> that's a signal in the story that either the reporters or their source don't understand the nonproliferation treaty. commitments that the nonnuclear weapon states make among other things are not to manufacture or receive assistance to manufacturer nuclear weapons. manufacturing doesn't mean turning the last screw it means a lot beforehand weaponization and that sort of thing that's why i think it is clear iran is plain fully violation of the nonproliferation treaty and why all of the steps we have taken against them are appropriate >> gr

our local partner is karzai and relations between him and the obama administration are bad. the administration has privately and at times publicly criticized him for corruption, vote rigging and general ineffectiveness. it threatened to withdraw a white house invitation to him and even now it suggests he's being monitored for his comments. for his part, karzai has been attacking the united states vigorously over the last ten days amid reports that his private behavior is erratic and sometimes just plain weird. all in all, a bad situation. my own view which is somewhat contrarian, is that the obama administration should grow up and face the facts -- it has no alternative to hamid karzai, so it should support him rather than undermining him. karzai is a pashtun, the dominant ethnic group group and he seems willing to work with washington. he's had troops in his country for eight years. he has significant support in the country. certainly more support than any other political figure in the country at this point. and finally, there is no path to replacing him short of a military

the obama administration the first 60 days in office sent the civil rights office after me. it has been a year and a half they have been investigating me and nothing has happened. i feel comfortable that this law will pass muster. just gives me another tool to get the job done and law enforcement. >> geraldo: be that as it may

at the end of this year, americans will face the obama administration's tax increase. it will be the largest in history. as if that was not enough, others, including speaker nancy pelosi and obama economic adviser paul volcker, support a european-style value-added tax. higher

administration mistrust russia and aho. obama said the san ready to help last week. how could he do that and would they even -- foot rushing and be open to that? >> can i jump in? that's a very good question because the way i see the conflict in russia is between not terrorism of which is some of the suicide bombers and save terrorism. another risk russian politics hasn't exactly been the same as our policy in afghanistan. in other words, for russia anti-terrorism means meeting with a wider swath of population with no cameras present and no media present and to which you wish and some of the brave russian human rights activists have reported on some of the atrocities by russian serviceman and security forces in the region, is not surprising the sister-in-law in more -- is like a thomas nast stirring even more cause for revenge and that looks as though the two people who blew themselves up in the moscow metro so-called black widows, women whose husbands or brothers or some kinsman it were actually killed by russian forces, so how can read help russian anti-terrori

i don't know the idea that the obama administration raised his profile. the journalists at the "new york times" did a good job in fe ferreting this out. >> to be fair, the fact is in the news cycles and the way they operate, it's going to get out. if we make this step and we essentially put this guy on the kill list, it's going to get out. reporters in january, reuters has been on this story for months. i think we're not thinking as clearly as we might be thinking as to how the united states can stick to their principles and there are certain things we cannot do. i think frafrpgly we're now with al awlaki. >> fred, i'll give you 4r5the l word. >> you still have to find him. you lack the human intelligence to be able to find him. >> thank you very much, guys. appreciate your time. we're going to take a quick break. >>> in minnesota today, a coming together of two conservative mega stars, sarah palin and michele bachmann. at sharp, our goal is to reproduce every color in the world on tv. introducing quattron quad pixel technology. it adds a fourth color, ye

but in policy-makers -- the obama administration and congress -- will start turning their attention to this the longer it goes on. host: 162,000 total jobs created -- is a jobs created klezmer guest: jobs created. host: it looks like almost 50,000 were government. guest: what is going on now, like everybody knows, is the senses is being conducted and the government is hiring workers temporarily to help complete the census. that went up by 48,000 this month. but wall street takes away the numbers because they are temporary and will not last. host: they don't really matter. so, today, at 9:30 a.m. when the stock market opens in eight minutes, will go up for down given what you heard here, your own prediction? guest: my own prediction -- i don't know. host: the stock market cares about this stuff. guest: the stock market cares about it, the bond market. they are market -- market moving. the bond market, what i was told, had continued reaction. it was kind of an line with expectations. -- although it is good news, it is not super strong so not as much reaction. i think the stock market mig

a higher priority again in the obama administration? >> well, it's certainly high priority in, i don't really have any news that i can share here and now on that one. in terms of the capabilities of al qaeda, i think that director panetta in his various statements has captured quite well. the group really is, certainly its senior leadership is under the worst pressure it has experienced in quite a long time. certainly since the 2001-2002 period. however, this is an enormously capable and innovative opponent that is always looking for new ways to achieve its ends. i don't think that we should write off their ability to direct complicated logistically challenging operations that could strike u.s. interests abroad or at home and, i think the other thing to note is that the threat in some ways, as i noted about al qaeda of the arabian peninsula is a bit more distributed than it was before and a lot of these groups are capable, a lot of these groups, al qaeda in arabian peninsula certainly and other groups aspirationally are able to conceive

women's rights groups were hoping the obama administration would promote the hiring of women into ses positions, the newly created white house council on women and girls was created to do just that, but the and other things, but the early results are not good. >>> so is it possible karen that the obama administration which is all about diversity, and is doing a worse job than the bush administration which took more of a color blind approach, color blind gender blind approach to hiring is doing worse in the term of hiring women civil servants? >> the, number of reasons why women in particular won't consider, can't get in that type line for it. number one it takes a lot of time to train in those candidate forums. nobody has got the money to do it. most agency money is sent directly to the states, by formulas sent by congress. the first thing that goes when you have a tight budget is the training dollars. and third, every administration puts their senior executives through a lot of anguish that a lot of women won't put themselves in the firing line because of the -- >> bonnie: what kind

whether or not the obama administration is prepared to defend that is a question. host: they have also been holding this olive branch, talking about developing a new nuclear defense program with the russians. is that just talk? guest: hard to say. there have been planned to put radars on line near russia, in russian territory. i doubt that we would ever want to, at this point, move forward with that type of project. who knows? it could happen. host: patrick from arizona. independent line. callerpatrick, on a going to puu on hold. just a reminder. turn your television down. elizabethtown, north carolina. caller: yes, my question is, do you think russia will support sanctions against iran? do you think the u.s. will never attack iran if they break this treaty? guest: those are fantastic questions. iran is the 800 pound gorilla in the room at this nuclear summit. my sources tell me that the p5 members + 1 are approaching a solution to slow down the nuclear program. whether or not those program will bhave any attraction is unclear. but russia will sign on eventually. c

whether or not the obama administration is prepared to defend that is a question. host: they have also been holding this olive branch, talking about developing a new nuclear defense program with the russians. is that just talk? guest: hard to say. there have been planned to put radars on line near russia, in russian territory. i doubt that we would ever want to, at this point, move forward with that type of project. who knows? it could happen. host: patrick from arizona. independent line. callerpatrick, on a going to puu on hold. just a reminder. turn your television down. elizabethtown, north carolina. caller: yes, my question is, do you think russia will support sanctions against iran? do you think the u.s. will never attack iran if they break this treaty? guest: those are fantastic questions. iran is the 800 pound gorilla in the room at this nuclear summit. my sources tell me that the p5 members + 1 are approaching a solution to slow down the nuclear program. whether or not those program will bhave any attraction is unclear. but russia will sign on eventually. c

and what obama's executive order decreed is, first of all, anyone who leaves the obama administration cannot sign on as a lobbyist and lobby that administration for the entire duration of the obama administration. which could be eight years. i expect will be eight years. and he also for the very first time addressed the reverse revolving door. obama has set up a conflict of interest standard in which any presidential appointee has to go through an extense scombrive view process, identify who they may have lob yid for previously or who their former clients are. and they are generally prohibited from being appointed to any position within the administration if they were a localist who lobbied that administration. as a result, out of the 3,000 presidential appointees that obama has made, only 24 were registered lobbyists. compare that with the hundreds and hundreds that have been brought in by the bush administration, by the clinton administration, and every administration beforehand to senior administration post business the way, too. however, having praised what obama is doing, obama h

this dates back to before the obama administration. there is a desire in arizona for the border to be strengthened. host: there is a large number of people who oppose this effort within arizona. guest: 70% of likely voters in arizona approve it. it crosses over some of this party lines, surprisingly. politicians are going to listen when 70% of people support something. there's a lot of concern over civil rights and possible racial profiling. >> our failure to act responsibly at the federal level will only open the doors to irresponsibility by others. that includes, for example, the recent efforts in arizona which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness. as well as a trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping a safe. i have instructed members of my administration to closely monitor the situation. if we continue to fail to act as a federal level, we will continue to see a misguided efforts opening up around the country. as a nation, as a people, we can choose a different future, a future that keeps f

these of the small steps that the obama administration is looking for as a result of this summit hearing. what can each country due to secure or get rid of highly enriched uranium or plutonium? iran will of course remain the subtext of the summit. of course, there will be the final communique, in which the obama administration will want to be as positive as possible. >> you can get more details on that summit, issues behind it, and participating countries on our website, bbc.com/news. with news of an ultimatum for the ousted president of kurdistan and the rest of today's headlines. >> they say that if he does not voluntarily surrender, he will be arrested. in the south of the country thousands of supporters had gathered to suppress -- expres'' their loyalty. >> one week ago he ran this country. now the ousted president is facing increasing pressure to resign. today thousands of supporters came out to see him in the south of the country. despite the ultimatum to surrender, a defiant message from the man that ruled for five years, toppled in a single day. >> this is not legitimate. i was e

if you were asked on the hill to testify, not on the basis of what the obama administration would argue, but on terms of what you would argue in the interest of the united states to skeptical democrats and republicans, what would you say? >> i think that russia has to be much more constructive on the subject of joint ballistic missile attacks. up to now, russia has proposed some agreements. e some agreements but there is a widespread impression that this group assessment of threats and whatever is done in joint ballistic missiles has, for russia, lever to put the brakes on an american program. i think it is time to come out with new proposals. maybe you think what vladimir putin proposed on on the joint data center on mitchell -- missile launchers but also move forward whe. vladimir putin and president medvedev proposed that we have to have joint missile defense with the united sates and the european union. how about the russian people living in asia. ? are they entitled to protection or not? many people are going away from that but still, if we are to have ballistic missile defense cov

this says that under the obama administration's own plan, we're still want to have a very high debt. with all the compromising that goes on in congress, it is not want to get better. it is likely to be worse than what we're seeing here today. host: some of the numbers provided by the cbo show that public debt projections under president obama's budget by the end of 2009, $7.50 trillion or 53% of gdp. the 2020 projection, $20.30 trillion or 90% of gdp. deficit projections, $132 billion will be added to the deficit this fiscal year. total by the end of the fiscal year will be $1.50 trillion or 10.3% of gdp. we will continue our discussion of that. if you want to get involved in our conversation, the numbers -- it and also send us a message our first call comes from coral on the democrat line. i think our problem, as a country, we have to recognize the fact that over the last 30 years or so, we would to a conservative economic philosophy. -- we went to conservative economic philosophy. it has been failing us. they say we should cut spending and not to anything about taxes. we have a bus

to state whether or not the obama administration believes that currency is being manipulated. that report we learned this weekend will be delayed. is it going to be delayed because the obama administration needs china's cooperation on other things such as sanctions against iran? >> no. >> that's not the reason. >> it's being delayed because that's part of our international economic dialogue which is directed at supporting a crucial issue for jobs creation, doubling our level of exports and that depends on what other countries do. we've got three major meetings, a meeting of the g-20 finance ministers, our strategic dialogue that takes place every year with china and then the president's meeting building on the form he created in london, in pittsburgh last year of the g-20 countries. those are opportunities to engage with china to engage with other countries that have large trade surpluses, other countries who think they can continue to rely on the united states as an importer of last resort and secretary geithner's judgment and i think it was the right one was that we could re

administration laid out would be necessary. it could put the president in a position a year from now of having to begin to withdraw without achieving his major objective of being able to tra transfer >> schieffer: you're saying the whole afghanistan project is in trouble. >> it's in jeopardy and we had a fascinating story of what's happening in marja where the nato initiative began two weeks ago and the taliban are coming back in and quietly intimidating or executing people who have taken money from marines and helped them out in a way and we're a long way way from the declaration from commanders we had a government in a box ready do come into afghanistan and there's a similar problem next door in pakistan where for years president bush and now president obama have been trying to get a pakistani government to have the same enthusiasm about pursuing the taliban and al-qaida and pakistan improved some. >> schieffer: if i understood the reason we went to afghanistan is because it posed a threat to the country because it was a have

administration, and was that ever discussed before he announced? i just wonder. wonder. we appreciate it. >> one other question --. >> we are out of town. you've got to try it, >> thank you for staying with us. in the culture war segment, we have been telling you of the court battle between the westboro baptist church and the family of a marine killed in iraq. they picket because they hate gay americans and they think the united states is being punished by god. now, we do not want to draw attention to their cause, we hate to do that, but they are beyond contempt and what we want to share an uplifting story from the virginia tech campus where a small group of westboro protesters showed up to say the school was cursed and they were met by 350 counter protesters. remember, 32 people were killed on that campus by a gunman in 2007 so they have been through a lot. more recently, a 20-year-old student was found murdered this january. her pains reacted to the westboro protests. >> we were blind sided by this. we have already had our daughter raped and murd

. >> the obama administration is announcing a new crime fighting tool the likes of which the commander in chief promised back in january. >> in the days ahead i will announce better integration of information and enhanced passenger screening for air travel. >> reporter: the no fly and watch list contains specific names, now airlines will be told for instance to also look for anyone with a passport stamp from a particular country. if z for it's intelligence based inst offed name based. policymakers looking to strike a delegate balance for air travelers. >> the weighing of security and liberty and privacy convenience or business operations. >> reporter: the findings of a separate city city that took a year and looked at security from ground transportation, will be released today. more than 8 years after nine 11, this is not functioning properly as part of the airline security initiative automatic second screenings for passengers from 14 countrys considered state sponsors of terror or countrys of interest will no longer be in affect. >>> massive flooding in rhode island is turning ordinar

back to the phones and our discussion on the obama administration nuclear arms policy. next up is melissa on the line for republicans in new york. caller: good morning. first of all, thank you for taking my call. secondly, i cannot believe that at 29 i need to be the voice of reason for the republican party. i completely disagree with what someone said earlier to the previous caller before them that they should be annihilated. that is not the language we should be having. we should be able to have debate on issues. the one issue i find interesting is that in 2001 in june george bush laid out a framework for nuclear. he did reduce the nuclear arsenal during his presidency. it was not the republicans who were criticizing him back then, but democrats to discuss the urgency of reducing those, and then 9/11 happen. now it has become a partisan issue and it has flipped. we need to stop being partisan about things and focus on the facts and look back on history. if obama is doing these things now, let's see if the previous presidents have done it before. what happened in those

it. >> neil: but iran gets bell acoos. >> i believe the obama administration made a decision they're not going to stop iran from getting a nuclear bomb and they'll live with it. to me, we are approaching apiecement in munich. >> ed koch, fiery as always. >> hawaii. >> the check isn't in the mail and not sure when it will be. you try telling the tax collector that. so what do you do when the tax collector tells us that? the money ain't there, so just chill. the missouri lawmaker who has had it with his state telling taxpayers that. now to raquel welsh. she's here. identity theft, a serious crime that strikes millions of americans. when identity theft strikes you, it can seem... like no one will listen, and no one is there to help. but there is one place you can turn... for real protection and real peace of mind. lifelock. at lifelock, our only business is helping protect your identity. lifelock protects your information and never sells it. that's why lifelock is the leader in identity theft protection. a member called in right away, i could tell that it was going to be a serious... co