Benjamin Barber and David Gergen discuss a proposal for Libya's Saif al-Islam Gadhafi to lead a transitional government.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of "Infidel," and Irshad Manji, author of "The Trouble with Islam," discuss the role of radical Islam in the war in Afghanistan.

CNN reports that  top U.S. officials in Afghanistan on Sunday condemned the burning of a Quran in the United States that sparked three days of protests in which more than 20 people died.

Burning the Muslim holy book "was hateful, it was intolerant and it was extremely disrespectful and again, we condemn it in the strongest manner possible," said Gen. David Petraeus, who heads the U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan.

U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said in a statement that Americans respect the Quran "and all religious texts and deplore any action that shows disrespect to any religious faith."

Former CIA officer Jack Rice and CNN's Jeffrey Toobin discuss Monday's announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 terror suspects will face a military trial at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.

CNN reports that the decision is a sharp reversal for the Obama administration, which wanted the terror suspects to have federal civilian trials. In announcing his decision, Holder blasted Congress for imposing restrictions on the Justice Department's ability to bring the men to New York for civilian trials - a course of action he promised in 2009.

'IN THE ARENA' EXCLUSIVE: Tik Root, an American student who disappeared in Damascus, Syria on March 18, is safe and well and back home with his parents. The young man from Ripton, Vermont, attends Middlebury College, also in Vermont, and made it home Saturday night, April 2.

Eliot asked Tik about what he experienced in Damascus, where he was kept in 12×12 cell with 22 other prisoners. He asks his father, Tom Root, a biology professor at Middlebury, about the efforts to get his son released.

CLICK HERE to read the story by Associate Producer Leinz Vales.

CLICK HERE to read our OFF-SET interview with Tik and to see a timeline of day he was released.

CNN's Nic Robertson reports that Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, a son of Moammar Gadhafi, is offering to lead a transitional government.

Once thought to be a leading reformer inside the Libyan government, Saif has emerged as one of his father's most visible defenders since the start of the unrest.

Today’s Number of the Day is $1 billion.

Barack Obama announced on Monday that he’s running for a second term, and CNN is reporting that his campaign wants to raise a record-breaking $1 billion dollars

Sounds like an outrageous amount until you stop to think about it.

This is the most important decision being made anywhere in the free world–who we’ll choose to be the leader of our democracy.

Look what we spend money on: in 2009, for example, companies shelled-out a total of $213 million for advertising on one program alone—OK, it was the Super Bowl—to sell cars, chips and beer.

And don’t forget, we wrote a check for $12.9 billion to Goldman Sachs–just to make sure they didn’t lose any money on their credit default swaps with AIG. Nobody batted an eyelash.

The New York State budget is around $135 billion. Our defense budget—counting the costs of the wars we’re in—is around $900 billion a year.

So when you think about it, what we spend on politics is pretty small compared to how important the decision is.

Of course, how we raise it and how we spend it are revolting,

But the sheer size of the number is pretty small in the bigger picture. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today's six OFF-SET questions is John Avlon, a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek/ The Daily Beast.

He is the author of “Independent Nation” and "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America."

With a short video on BarackObama.com, the sitting president of the United States has launched his bid for re-election. Using what apparently will be one of his campaign slogans, "It begins with us," the campaign has told supporters that the kickoff of the campaign has started and that means the race for contributions is on.

From your point of view, why would Mr. Obama announce his plans to run for re-election now–and given the state of budget negotiations and the intervention in Libya–are there advantages to making the announcement now?

No time like the present for President Obama – after all, raising a billion-dollar campaign war chest takes time.  And while the announcement’s timing is largely independent from external events, the Libyan intervention does highlight Obama’s status as Commander-in-Chief and the prospect of a government shutdown would emphasize Obama’s image as the only adult in the room in a fractured, hyper-partisan Washington.  The advantage of incumbency is like that line in the Aaron Sorkin penned-movie 'The American President': “I am the President of the United States.”  Everyone else looks just a little small by comparison. FULL POST

Tik Root, an American student who disappeared in Damascus, Syria on March 18, is safe and well and back home with his parents. The young man from Ripton, Vermont, attends Middlebury College, also in Vermont, and made it home Saturday night, April 2.

His parents, Tom Root, biology professor at Middlebury, and his wife Andi Lloyd, also a biologist at Middlebury, told Eliot  on March 25 that Tik was being held for unwarranted reasons by the Syrian Government in violation of the Geneva Protocols. They spent the time since his capture trying to locate their son, to get any information about Tik's condition, and to secure his release. 

Tik Root and his father, Tom, are scheduled to appear In The Arena on Monday, April 4, 2011.

UPDATE 4-4-11 / 3:55 pm ET – Tik just answered a few questions for our blog:

How are you doing?

I am doing well–much better than I probably expected. I’m definitely a little bit tired, but just glad to be back.

Do you know why you were taken into custody?

Yes, there are a few theories. Mainly, they thought I was a CIA agent or journalist. FULL POST

OBAMA LAUNCHES RE-ELECTION BID – President Barack Obama on Monday launched his bid for re-election with a short video on BarackObama.com. Using what apparently will be one of his campaign slogans, "It begins with us," the campaign has told supporters that the kickoff of the campaign has started and that means the race for contributions is on.

GOP TARGETS ENTITLEMENTS – House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan said Sunday he will unveil a Republican budget for 2012 this week that proposes dramatic changes to Medicare, Medicaid and other political lightning rods. FULL POST