the bbc, but whether they would go that far to blacken mousavi in that way, it's not clear to me whether they would. host: back to the phones. orchard park, new york. carl on the line for democrats. caller: yes, mr. ambassador, you're very familiar with iran, obviously, and the squeography of iran and we've heard for the last few years, especially the 8 years of the bush administration, and the right wing elements in israel that perhaps we should bomb, carpet bomb, the nuclear facilities if they confine them in iran, and as a former ambassador there, is it not true that if the west gave israel the green light or actually participated in a bombing of the so-called nuclear facilities, wouldn't iran immediately, with their mobile missile systems, totally blockade the strait of hormuz, which would shut off about 50% of the world's oil, raise the price of oil up to $400 or $500 a barrel, and in addition, free up the revoluntionary volunteers from iran to take on our $130,000-member army currently next door in iraq and next door in afghanistan? host: ambassador dalton. guest: i agree w

to present this year's award to oral lebaron of the bbc. >> in the fall of 2008, garon produced a report on a day of desperation for thousands of refugees near goma. the presidential election was just days away, but the bbc decided that the panic at a un food distribution center out with a campaign. he reported as starving men, women, and children crushed against the fences of the center. she even talked a little girl that was caught beneath a stampede and was separated from her parents. for this, we honor and the bbc for their courage to leave it with such an important on the reported sale. her bravery really captures the spirit of our father, david bloom. >> you would expect us to begin tonight's program on the campaign trail. that can wait for a few minutes, because tonight, and the democratic republic of congo, there are scenes of desperation so gripping that they simply demand our attention first. hour after cut call-up -- africa correspondent was in the city of goma. you might find some scenes in her report disturbing. >> it was the promise of food that brought them here, to

columbia and university, schama has presented more than 30 documentaries for the bbc and pds including the power of art, and international emmy award winner. mr. schama has one literary and journalism prizes including the award for history, w.h. smith prize for literature, the national academy of arts and letters award and the national book critics circle award. he also loves to cook and we've seen a number of his recipes. his newest work, the american future, a history explores the 2008 presidential election from the historical perspective debating for topics, war, religion, race and immigration and the relationship between natural resources and prosperity mr. schama and examine these in the context of america's identity. before we bring mr. schama we will show a short clip from his documentary that shares the same name of his new book. ♪ >> it was a hard american winter a tough time for americans. but out there beneath the ice something big was stirring. and a weakening of, american democracy. this presidential election isn't like other elections. those who lived here decades felt

presented 30 documentary's for the bbc and pbs including an international emmy award winner. mr. schama has won numerous journalism prizes including an award for history and the prize for literature, the national academy of arts and letters award and the national book critics circle award. he also loves to cook and we have seen a number of his recipes. his newest work, the american future: a history, looks at the presidential election from a historical perspective debating war, religion, race, and immigration, and the relationship between natural resources and prosperity. mr. schama examines these problems in the context of america's identity. before we bring mr. schama out, we will show you a short clip from his new documentary that shares the same name as his new book. ♪ >> it was a hard american winter. a tough time for americans. but out there, beneath the ice, something big was stirring. an awakening of the unruly animal, american democracy. this presidential election isn't like other elections. people who live here felt the efforts -- first tremors of the political earth

and now there are robins all over their villages. the bbc program on climate change title, no word for robin, climate change in the canadian arctic. okay, where are the fact-checkers on this one. come on. there are staffers over here on the hill that had to have had a computer, which would be connected to the library of congress. there are fact checkers at the bbc who could connect with the british museum. or whatever. 1953, the journal arctic, volume 6 pages 35-43 by l. irving, the naming of birds by the nunamiut eskimo. robin equals koyapigaktoruk. nobody bothered to check. or in 1913, a great book by the way. this guy went and lived up there. my life among the eskimo. mackenzie eskimo or alaskan eskimo. and ironically, the 2004 quote by mccain was related to a trip to alaska. so there you have it. we have a book detailing this and we discuss why it happened. that's beyond -- i'll talk about it in the q & a if you want. is there are several reasons for it. be very careful when you hear one of the following. there's no such thing as global warming or, two, it's the end of the worl

probably come emptiness i'm sure but he said no, i'm addicted to the bbc world service and every day when i do my four hours of meditation from 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. when he's traveling to places like washington and can't listen to the bbc service that he feels as if something significant is missing from his day and i think he follows the news much more closely than on or almost any journalist that on no does and i think again, that is what allows him to be a liberating and unorthodox light to the world of politics and when i listen to him i hear the outdated term, the war on terror, the war on terrorism at least is never going to be one so long as there are people on the far side of the world so desperate they are ready to give up their lives in attacking us, but the war on terror, that's to say the war precipitates those attacks and the fear in those souls leaves them to make them, that can be one at any moment. each one at a time that any person can begin to transform their heart whenever she so chooses. i hear him say essentially so many politicians are quarreling with their to paint

-- they are eight counselors short. >> if you look at those shares of the votes calculated by the bbc, the only main party which is going up, the liberal democrats, three points, and the conservatives down substantially, and deliver down as well. -- and labor down as well. >> you do not control any single county council in england. >> it was a dire results. that is no question. many good counselors have lost their seats through no fault of their own because of the national situation. we have to rebuild on that. we have to listen to people. we have to govern more effectively. we have to delegate our politics more effectively. the tories have significantly been down by six points. the have done no better than they did in 2004, as you pointed out, when they lost the election the following year. they are not where they should be for this barnstorming victory that in damon kamen has virtually put in his back pockets and -- david cameron has partially put in his back pockets. >> you have said that there has been a failure to govern by the labor government. that is a pretty severe indictment by y

very, very difficult place to work. .. kill the 2 of them. i went with bbc because there was some controversy. there were rumblingss that it was not the actions of the israeli defense forces, that it was a rocket that come in and killed them. i went with bbc to do investigation, they followed me, what is it like when human-rights what goes in some place. using my knowledge and understanding of the weapons that we look at when we go, it was difficult, i have 2 little girls, 6 and 8, to walking to this gentleman's living room, the brains of his daughter were still on the ceiling, very difficult for me and for him, i can hardly imagine. then to stand there and piece together where the tank had been, looking for the debris, trying to understand how we think when we go some place, i am looking for evidence, i am looking for forensic evidence. part of our work is to do interviews, speak to people, take those interviews, bounce them off of other interviews we do individually so no one will interrupt each other or influence each other, corroborate that information with hospital records, b

should permit free media and respect the free flow of information and ideas. the bbc and the voice of america are important, independent, truly indigenous media. again, the numbers are on your screen if you want to call in and comment about the last comment of protesters. this is from the guardian newspaper. this is based out of tehran. dayton, ohio. kathleen honor democrats line. caller: jane hamsher, is incredible. i encourage your public to go to that blog. i have read comments from policy analyst. seymour said that congress had passed funding, condoleezza rice was part of that, i believe, to send into iran to undermine the president bridget present government and four men dead student movement there. -- and undermined the student movement there. i read everything that he has to say. i would hope c-span will have them on to talk specifically about this issue. host: another photo from "the associated press." this is out of iran yesterday. the accompanying story talked about what this means in iran. obama's core message of democracy and change dovetails with the hopes of iranian refo

computer, which would be connected to the library of congress. there are fact checkers at the bbc who could connect with the british museum. or whatever. 1953, the journal arctic volume 6 pages 35-43 by l. irving the names of birds by the nunamiut eskimo robin equals koyapigaktonuk. nobody bothered to check. .. >> and you will find out that we don't agree. everything. we agree on some things. he is the associate professor of climatology at the university of delaware also the style of art -- estate dollar climatologist from 2002 through the president and his governor joined him on speaking out against climate change they have state climatology's so i am sure he will have nothing to say for pro governor kaine asked me to do the same which is what i will be full time at the cato institute speak being freely starting july 1st. is also the director of the world's most unique micro and meteorological networks the delaware observing system in which people learn a tremendous amount of fine scale distribution of climate within a small city and a large city and farm to farm this is the high-tec

-span: where -- where did he announce this? >> guest: oh, on the terry wogan chat show on the bbc. c-span: just one day said, "i am the son of god." >> guest: yeah. and in britain, this was a big splash. it's kind of like geraldo suddenly announcing he's the son of god. it would become a big deal. c-span: do you know anything we don't know? is it -- is that an announcement coming? (laughter) >> guest: i'm not sure! but david icke said, "not only am i the son of god, but the world is about to be destroyed by cataclysmic earthquakes and tidal waves and floods." and what i thought was interesting back in the '90s is that, ok, we were amazed and laughing. but a little bit of us thought, "maybe he is the son of god. maybe he's right." so he went on this chat show, and the whole nation watched and -- and he made these predictions and said that he was the son of god. and the audience was laughing nervously. and i think the nation kind of looked to terry wogan, the presenter, for guidance because part of us thought "maybe this guy is a soothsayer." and terry wogan just said, you know, "they'

reached several journalists including the bbc's that alistair darling was not going to be chancellor in the reshuffle. as far as you are concerned, that doesn't matter. >> i'm saying i don't know any of these points that you are putting to be. i know as a new cabinet member it is my job making sure that whales voice is heard in reflecting wilson's voice in the cabinet and making sure that our message gets across in a way that we haven't been able to do. we haven't communicated much in the last few months as the whole of the parliamentary expenses scandal engulfed in british politics. we are also tackling the big economic agenda and having the prime minister, and we saw brilliantly leaving the whole of the world in taking the world forward. >> what does it say about how he leads -- how he leads his cabinet, and tonight with the resignation of, and she said your best, you know, the way our team is constructed, you know, the opponent is irrelevant. and in a team sport, that's ra rare. >> number one, they struggled with their shooting. actually tied the second fewest field goals made in a f

selling you are sold or you are bought a. >> host: the bbc i think did that to you the cuts after he gave your book two barack obama it rose to #2 in the amazon ranking spry checked it because originally it was 57,000. negative and a one or 200,000 but it bounced up and down bride notice this week is 17,000. so you could be a little more humble. [laughter] it is not important at all in some fields of life there is what quantity and quality may be closer related but not in literature. you could be very successful in the market and in the quality but it definitely depends on that. in all of the history of the spanish language it is terrible, he wrote something like books like a soap operas and she sold much more. really. it does not mean too much. >> host: i think it is significant because this book affected me so much when i was a young man and it turns out that i thought you were such a man of such stature and so great then me but it turns out we're almost the same age to run the book in the beginning i tried to win the prize but i lost but perhaps it was not serious enough because a

never had a word for robin and thousand there are robins all over their villages. the bbc program on climate change title, no word for robin: climate change in the canadian arctic. where are the fact-checkers on this one? come on. there are staffers over here

fifth film and there would have one a fifth chapter called american money but actually the bbc ran out of its own money, and is unfortunately true. we are you making a film about morals and money, which is the story of the 1907 crash. i thought -- i still do think that actually when and if as we hope the present government gets us -- we get ourselves -- not the government getting us through. it is part of the most admirable part of the project does seem to be about the restoration of america as a sense of mutual obligation, and the miracle of it was, i have to say, i think of that election campaign, was that he said something very wise at the exception speech in denver. he said you can always make big elections small. he said, it's been trifled it worked. what he meant what lee atwater. the proven success, karl rove in 2004, was that it's all very well throughout the great issues affecting america, the deep structural problems in all the fields i talked about, but you know, americans actually wont politics to be a branch of entertainment tonight. and enough already with the high de

sold, you are not sold. >> host: the bbc i think did that to because they mention that after he gave your book to barack obama it rose to number two in the amazon rankings. and i ejected because originally it was about 57,000. my books are in the 100 or 200,000. but they bounce up and down every day. i opened the spigot is around 17,000 so you can be a little bit more humble than you were a or the attention was. >> guest: it is not important at all. and live there are some deals in life of which quantity and quality may be closer but not in literature. you may be very successful in the market to end in the quality of your books. definitely depends on it. the best selling and all the history of the spanish-language is by a novelist. he wrote something like 500 soap operas, books like soap operas and issues sold much more so it does not mean too much to me. >> host: i think it is significant because this book affected me so much when i was a young man and it turns out to that i thought to your such a man of such stature and summers greater but it turns out we're almost the same age. >>

called the american money but the bbc ran out of its money. that unfortunately is true. we are now thinking of a film about morals and money which is the story of a crash. i still do think that actually when and if we hope the present government gets us through, it is part of the most admirable part of obama's project does seem to be about the restoration of america's, sense of obligation. and the miracle of it was, i have to say, i think about election campaign following it around was that he said something about whites at the exception speech in denver. he said you can always make big elections small. he said it's been tried. it works. what he meant by that was the proven success also of course karl rove in 2004 was that it's all very about the great issues affecting america. , and all the fields i talked about. but americans actually want politics to be a branch of entertainment tonight. enough already with the high debates. don't need that. americans are sort of a juice dish is a very, very patronizing view, the atwater, ed rawlins, karl rove view. it's a view. it's called tele

commodity and fuel cell, you do not sell, you are sold or not sold. >> host: the bbc i think did that to you because they mentioned after he gave your book to barack obama it rose to number two on the amazon rankings. and i checked it because of originally it was about 57,000. my books are in the 100 or the 200,000. but they bounce up and down every day. i notice this week it is around 17,000. so you can be a little bit more humble than you were with the attention -- >> guest: it's not important at all. in life there are some in which quantity and quality may be closer. you may be very successful in the market and the terrible and the quality of books. the best selling author and all of the history of the spanish language [inaudible] he wrote something like 500 soap operas, and books like soap operas and sold much more than she did so it doesn't mean much. >> host: i think it's significant because this book affected me so much when i was a young man and it turns out that i thought you were such a man of such stature to but it turns out we are almost the same age. >> guest: the book at th

political journalists. they've had two days of extraordinary unrest. the bbc reported that recent rallies in the streets of tehran were the biggest demonstrations in the islamic republic's 30-year history. the protest, according to news reports, became violent. and pro-government forces attacked demonstrators in the last 24 hours, causing at least one fatality. we are witnessing a tinmen in tehran. -- tiananmen in tehran, and the united states of america must stand in the gap on behalf of those brave iranian citizens who are standing for free and fair elections, democracy and basic rights. freedom in fact may be flowering in iran as hundreds of thousands rally for democracy and free elections. while i appreciate president obama's comments yesterday at the white house that he was, quote, troubled by the violence , and his belief that the voices of the iranian people should, quote, heard and respected, it seems by myelitis that this administration has yet to express the unqualified support of the american people for those who are courageously taking to the streets for free elections and for

turn it on and at what crackle in this report not from eric and npr but the bbc and one day we heard that the young king was closer to freedom and one day we heard that his pursuers were gaining on him and one day we heard there was a mysterious plane circling overhead and nobody knew it was friend or foe. finally after 14 days of tune in at 7:00 p.m. we heard that the young king had made his way across the border into a new life in exile. and my father who was a professional philosopher and was deeply interested in doing it -- buddhism and other religions uele all the way back from england to india in order to meet the newly arrived delhi,. and the dalai lama and then as now was very keen to open his door to everyone and realize in exile he could engage in much more various conversations then he had in this before so he invited my father to see him in the foothills in the himalayas and my father as you heard was deep in research on ghandi at the time and, of course, the dalai lama newly arrived in exile was thinking with new intensity about how to leave nonviolent resistance to an o

the two of them. there was some controversy and rumblings about that it was not the actions of the isralei is -- defense force, that it was a record that had come in and kill them. i want with bbc to do an investigation. using my knowledge and understanding of the weapons, this is very difficult to have two little girls, to walk into this gentleman's living room and the brains of his daughter were still on the ceiling. very difficult for me. i can hardly imagine for him. but then to stand there and figure out where the tank had then, looking for the debris, trying to understand how we think when we go someplace. i am looking for evidence, forensic evidence. part of our work is to do interviews, speak to the people, take those interviews and bounce them off of other interviews that we do, so no one will interrupt each other, corroboree information with hospital records, etc. but for me it is forensic evidence appears i was looking for evidence of a show. if you know anything about tanks and ammunitions, a lot of kinetic energy going. it is made to go into an armored vehicle. kinetic

about the events and anyone who would speak to such journalists. it has blocked websites and jammed radiobroadcast. yesterday the government censors blocked access to twitter for the first time after it already blocked out bbc broadcast, blocked all videos on youtube, detained more dissidents. all of this to shield the population from any hint of today's anniversary. when a man there died four years ago, the regime took drastic precautions to prevent any rallying of dissidents and people with grievances. remembering how the death of one man in 1989 in april was a spark that ignited the tiananmen uprising. they declared a time of extreme sensitivity, put the armed police on special alert and ordered the railways to screen all travelers heading for beijing. these are not the actions of their regime that feels secure. on the contrary, they are the actions of the regima regime ths it is sitting on top of a volcano that is about to erupt, or at the center of an earthquake hazard zone. the reason for this insecurity was spelled out last month in an election in beijing by the well- known c

, because abc has come down, nbc, cbs, cbc, bbc, the works, have come down and mined our archives, and they can come in. "do you want a story from the rangers? here, we've got maybe 300 rangers all told" -- no, not that many -- 100 rangers all told. they read one, "god, this guy is great. where do i find him?" we'll give them his name and his address and telephone number, and the network will go out and do an interview with him. and it's just great for these guys. i mean, they just love it, being able to go on national television and tell their stories. as i say, it's just immensely satisfying to us. but it's for 13 years that we've been collecting these in obscurity, looking forward to the 50th anniversary. and it's not just the television, it's the newspapers and it's book writers and scholars of all kinds, and they're all coming to new orleans because we have the most accounts from eyewitness sources -- "i was there" -- of any single battle in history. c-span: what are some of your favorites? >> guest: oh, there are so many. those higgins boats may have won the war for us, but every

. this one hour program includes speeches by the prime minister and leaders. . this is courtesy of bbc parliament. >> thank you for having me. i can remember my own election like it was only yesterday. but you're quite right. no press today. do you know why? very simply, there is no speaker to preside over prayers but nevertheless, i'm sure the almighty is blessing the proceedings. >> and do you remember now your time when you were elected speaker? >> i do. and i can imagine those ten candidates. their knees knocking. and wanting to get it over with. and this is what happened. however experienced you are on an occasion like this, it is daunting. but of course once you stand up, you give it all you've got. >> what kind of qualities do you think we should look for in a speaker, especially at the moment? >> they're huge. you can't say this in just one moment. the institution of the commons is a microcox of the british nation. it's full of all sorts of interesting people and the speaker has to weld all these people together. it is a very press didges job. the interests of the members. >> w

zimbabwe? >> i do not have my book on that, so come back to us. >> we will leave the last couple of minutes for a live news coverage from london. british prime minister gordon brown announced cabinet changes today. we expect to hear more about that on tonight's addition on bbc news night. >> after disasters, is a certainty that monday's election results will pile on the misery for labor. in the past 24 hours, seven ministers has resigned precipitating a hasty reshuffle which appeared to shore up gordon brown's position. caroline dropped a depth charge of her own. her accusation a gordon brown uses women in government as little more than window dressing could prove to be buried and drink -- damaging. gordon brown learned from his late father to always be honest. yesterday's alexian news is continuing to pour and it -- to pour in. in a general election, the projected share of the votes would put labor at a historic low of 23%. pushed into third place by the liberal democrats. >> this was a 24-hours bracketed by two government resignations, each in their way damaging for the prime mini