you mentioned this is your 25th anniversary at npr. npr has been under a vicious attack over the last few months. it is worth noting that npr is the only network of all the networks that has picked up listeners over these last few years in this country and around the world. what is it about the reported that npr is doing that has people tuning in to hear what you are doing? >> i think that people want to hear things in depth. first of all, they want to know what is going on in the world, not just the u.s. national public radio has made a huge commitment to expanding its foreign news coverage. that is answering a call to the listeners that they are telegraphing to us. they want to hear about the world and an intimate way. radio is an extremely intimate medium. it allows people to take in harrowing stories, touching stories, stories that are life of forming -- that are life affirming, which is what i try to do. to make people feel that yes, there are divergence is that you have to understand, but there are many of virtues but the we live

in the wake of a disaster from npr. his departure from npr set off a firestorm. just a few months later, the president and ceo resigned under pressure. after his departure from npr, he explained that he did not fit in their box. nor did he fit into any box, which makes them all the more interesting. our guest speaker was born in panama, the son of a boxing trainer and a seamstress. when he was 4 years old, his family emigrated to brooklyn. he would go on to earn scholarships to an exclusive quaker prep school. it was at student newspapers that he had his first taste of journalism. in a column after the npr dust up, described him as being cut from a different cloth. he started his career as an intern at the washington post." he spent 23 years as a reporter. he reported on everything from problems in the d.c. public schools to corruption by the mayor before going on to cover the white house and every political campaign. his insight and reporting act to amend it led to many television appearances. npr initially hired him t

you mentioned this is your 25th anniversary at npr. npr has been under a vicious attack over the last few months. it is worth noting that npr is the only network of all the networks that has picked up listeners over these last few years in this country and around the world. what is it about the reported that npr is doing that has people tuning in to hear what you are doing? >> i think that people want to hear things in depth. first of all, they want to know what is going on in the world, not just the u.s. national public radio has made a huge commitment to expanding its foreign news coverage. that is answering a call to the listeners that they are telegraphing to us. they want to hear about the world and an intimate way. radio is an extremely intimate medium. it allows people to take in harrowing stories, touching stories, stories that are life of forming -- that are life affirming, which is what i try to do. to make people feel that yes, there are divergence is that you have to understand, but there are many of virtues but the way we

npr said his remarks were inconsistent with standards and practices but npr's review of how that was handled itself revealed problems. clearly he has moved on from that and just might be doing better than ever. along with daily journalism he is the author of best selling books about the civil roots icons such as thurgood marshall his next book due out in july is called muzzled, the assault on honest debate. two months ago we had the woman who ran npr, vivian schiller, at this very podium to discuss that, among other things just between -- rather just before she, too, was let go. since then our guest has taken on an expanded role at fox news, serving as a political analyst, panelist and regular substitute host on the o'reilly factor. please give a warm national press club welcome to juan williams. [applause] >> mark, thank you very much. bob, thank you for setting this up on your maiden voyage. i hope i hold to your high standards. thank you. it's a pleasure for me to be here at the national press club and i want to thank you all for coming out today and of course i want to thank you,

williams at npr. incomes my calling from associated press on the print side, michelle, and she is president and the national association of hispanic journalists and a member of the national press club as well. congratulations to rafael williams, the son of our guest speaker, gist having graduated from haverford. [applause] that is fine. we can allow one round of applause. [laughter] [applause] well-deserved. we have an independent freelance journalist. she has formally worked for npr. then we had the devoted wife of our guest speaker today. skipping over the podium, bob is the senior press secretary for the natural resources defense council, and use the speaker's committee member who organize today's luncheon. first time out, great job. skipping over our speaker, greg, bloomberg news. he is chair of our npc diversity committee. he and i work together in buffalo, new york, many years ago and we're both sworn to secrecy about that. speaking of which, my colleague from the ap broadcast, in a member of th

said she took so much of npr's time. [laughter] [inaudible] >> what i wanted it is just tick off a couple of very high level principles that guide our long-term strategic thinking and attitude decision makings at npr on the national level, but which we try to sort of inculcate into our conversations that we have when thinking about how we can help stations or collaborate with stations or really more to the point, extend the reach of public radio dualism on every level. and i think the most important is sort of a paradigm shift where we very much try to think of ourselves as part of a network, network that includes all public we to stations and and network that reaches from the kind of hyper local blogging new journalism that can exist, all the way up to our reporters in foreign countries. into the degree that stories, information assets can be shared openly and freely throughout the system, it's a network. and that means stations airing stories with us and with other stations, every level that you think of a network, we

his departure from npr set off a firestorm. just a few months later, the president and ceo resigned under pressure. after his departure from npr, he explained that he did not fit in their box. nor did he fit into any box, which makes him all the more interesting. our guest speaker was born in panama, the son of a boxing trainer and a seamstress. when he was 4 years old, his family emigrated to brooklyn. he would go on to earn scholarships to an exclusive quaker prep school. it was at student newspapers that he had his first taste of journalism. a column after the npr dust-up described him as being "cut from a different cloth." he started his career as an intern at "the washington post." he spent 23 years as a reporter. he reported on everything from problems in the d.c. public schools to corruption by the mayor before going on to cover the white house and every political campaign. his insight and reporting led to many television appearances. npr initially hired him to host "talk of the nation." later, he was the senior national

npr is an important journalistic institution. when you are engaged in a kind of practice that would silence people, or punish people, for speaking, i do not think that is healthy. again, what you have to do is make sure you are being fair with your employees and the audience. it is not about catering to anyone slice of the audience. we are going to tell people what they want to hear, not introduce different points of view or different stories. i did not think that she was serving the institution very well. i think it opened up a lot of discussion that was debilitating to what was an outstanding brand. >> this is a chicken and an egg question. it is clear that the political debate has become much more negative. it just so happens that it is reflected in radio talk shows, on cable tv, in a way that was not present on cnn. now there is more time devoted to argument. do you see cable as setting a tone for the political debate in our country? is it merely reflecting it? what is the appropriate role for those media? >> i want to remind

they held an emergency meeting to get this going on defunding npr and then we'll talk about the war. and congressman lungrun stood up that we waste more money on the military than npr and you can't make that comparison because the npr is not on the constitution unlike the department and he stumbles and he hums and the idea of the national defense and he knows the constitution doesn't establish a military, whatsoever. it's written as if going to raise a military when we need it for a war. and then not have one anymore. and so then you have congressman drier stand up and taking 77 cents out of the pocket of a good american who may not listen npr is a threat to our very democracy. but taking thousands of dollars from the same person to fund the so-called department of defense, a vast of majority of which has nothing to do with defense, okay, that's acceptable. and it's unaccountable. it's unaccounted and it's secret money and it had new powers that allowed the secret transfer of money into secret campaigns. we have military operations in at least 75 nations now, considerably more than w

ray suarez gets a journalist's perspective on covering the conflict from lourdes garcia navarro of npr. >> what became so compelling was the story of people who had never shot a weapon before. people who were architects. people who were students. all of a sudden they were fighting for their very lives. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i mean, where would we be without small businesses? >> we need small businesses. >> they're the ones that help drive growth. >> like electricians, mechanics, carpenters. >> they strengthen our communities. >> every year, chevron spends billions with small businesses. that goes right to the heart of local communities, providing jobs, keeping people at work. they depend on us. >> the economy depends on them. >> and we depend on them. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. pacific life-- the power to help you succeed. intel. sponsors of tomorrow. and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmen

. >> lehrer: ray suarez talks to howard berkes of npr about a new report on the west virginia mine disaster that killed 29 people last year. >> brown: and "newshour" science correspondent miles o'brien places a really long distance call to put your questions to the space shuttle crew as they orbit the earth. >> as humans i don't think we'll ever stop exploring. and we're all excited to be a part of the great adventure. it's really all starting right here on the international space station. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i want to know what the universe... >> looks like. >> feels like. >> from deep space. >> to a microbe. >> i can contribute to the world by pursuing my passion for science. >> it really is the key to the future. >> i want to design... >> a better solar cell. >> i want to know what's really possible. >> i want to be the first to cure cancer. >> people don't really understand why things work. >> i want to be that person that finds out why. ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine

. >> lehrer: ray suarez talks to howard berkes of npr about a new report on the west virginia mine disaster that killed 29 people last year. >> brown: and "newshour" science correspondent miles o'brien places a really long distance call to put your questions to the space shuttle crew as they orbit the earth. >> as humans i don't think we'll ever stop exploring. and we're all excited to be a part of the great adventure. it's really all starting right here on the international space station. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i want to know what the universe... >> looks like. >> feels like. >> from deep space. >> to a microbe. >> i can contribute to the world by pursuing my passion for science. >> it really is e key to the future. >> i want to design... >> a better solar cell. >> i want to know what's really possible. >> i want to be the first to cure cancer. >> people don't really understand why things work. >> i want to be that person that finds out why. ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine t

npr is having a party but i'm sure it will be pretty sedate. how wild can party get when it's held in accordance with sharia law. it's what i was told. this has been a year of sweeping changes happening, tv news. katie couric announced she is leaving cbs. katie was known best for asking the tough questions like, name a newspaper. the years of hard hitting questions and she's going to be remembered for the one that could have doubled as a category on "the family feud." follow-up question, name something you keep in your attic. katie is just one of the many departures we have seen this year. npr fired juan williams after he said muslims make you nervous, so juan is black and an afraid of muslims, making him the least likely man to get a cab in new york city. msnbc is keith oeber man was suspended for his show for violating company policy by donating money to three democratic campaign, still, the punishment seemed rather harsh compared to the slap on the wrist larry king got after giving a buffalo nickel to the campaign of chester arthur. cnn repl

npr is having a party but i'm sure it will be pretty sedate. how wild can party get when it's held in accordance with sharia law? it's what i was told. this has been a year of sweeping changes happening, tv news. katie couric announced she is leaving cbs. katie was known best for asking the tough questions like, name a newspaper. the years of hard hitting questions and she's going to be remembered for the one that could have doubled as a category on "the family feud." follow-up question, name something you keep in your attic. katie is just one of the many departures we have seen this year. npr fired juan williams after he said muslims make him nervous. so juan is black and afraid of muslims, making him the least likely man to get a cab in new york city. msnbc's keith olbermann was suspended for his show for violating company policy by donating money to three democratic campaign, still, the punishment seemed rather harsh compared to the slap on the wrist larry king got after giving a buffalo nickel to the campaign of chester arthur. cnn replaced

even npr. >> they must be pretty bad if you can't show them on radio. (laughter) >> stephen: now personally, i am torn about bin laden. on the one hand-- (laughter) on the one hand i have waited years to see this guy dead. but seeing him dead would make me feel safer. and that ter fews me. because if al qaeda is gone, i'm afraid we'll let our guard down and then al qaeda will attack. so i say we need a strong al qaeda so we stay vigilant and destroy al qaeda. (laughter) >> stephen: and you know who i blame? al qaeda. (laughter) >> stephen: just listen who they want to replace bin laden with. >> this is the man who many consider likely to get the job al zawahiri but also known as a pretty divisive figure within al qaeda. >> we are told that zoo what wir-- al zoo qa heri is not that popular in the organization. >> he is not charismatic. >> he is a prickly guy, unpleasant human being. >> stephen: come on. if one thing to be a mass murdering terrorist but do you have to be such a dick about it? (laughter) >> stephen: evidently, evidently being a terrorist l

i will probably and more out reached npr from the bay area. mayor lee: if i'm smiling, it's because we literally were giving some valuable tips. some of the mayors were asking if it would be polite to hug. you can shake the hand and balance a little bit, but you do not -- it is that kind of tips that allow mayors to be more successful, and they wanted to see whether or not we were organizing a bay area tret -- triop. >> -- trip. >> you referred to the huge economic boom that could accompany the america's cup. most of the economic buzz has been on your side of the bay. i'm wondering if there is a role in the america's cup for oakland. >> of course. >> you can jump in if you want. >> i was actually going to head up on that later. however, -- >> you are not going to steal that vote out there on the barge. >> we want to be part of fleet week. we understand that the admiral ship cannot talk in san francisco, so we would like to have him in oakland. there is a lot of regional, cultural activities. the two cities are still linked together. we are rea

npr has done this famously. they will get people who will volunteer and interview and following leads. we have seen how journalists' use facebook to share in real time. one that got to me was nicholas posting from tahrir square saying, wow, i can feel this. i also think that we can create more distribution for the media industry. this is a community where there -- we're silly very small company, but this is our vertical view -- we are still a very small company, but this is our vertical view. >> they did a lot of examples looking for questions and they get a lot of examples back. when a company like coke can use facebook to a friend-source, are we being too novice about news and get more than we should be? >> i have a bias dancer about this question. i think everybody should use facebook for everything, maybe not everything, but for most things. facebook is about technology and towering two-way dialogues. the more you can bring the people you are trying to reach into your process, whatever it is -- by the time c

real and significant way that that kind of ground swell is what led to pbs being interested in me and npr and cnn, i used to co-host talk back live in the day at cnn. all those networks came to me because i could see the following i had on b.e.t. and they were, like, if this guy can do o.k. at b.e.t., we should give him a shot here so that's how i failed up. >> you believe we're all have an act ii? >> i think we do, but i think we're determinative of that and how we respond to the failures determines whether or not we get another shot at it. >> another chapter says, "spend, save and invest wisely." you were arrested for writing bad checks in college. tavis: i was. i'm not sure my mother knows that but she knows now. there are two things in my life that have happened that i have tried to keep from her. >> why let her know it now? tavis: because if you're going to write a book, you have to be authentic and real, otherwise, why write it. this book is about the 20 mistakes i've made in my career and how i've learned along the way. one of the worst things i did and i regret it to this day, i h

real and significant way that that kind of ground swell is what led to pbs being interested in me and npr and cnn, i used to co-host talk back live in the day at cnn. all those networks came to me because i could see the following i had on b.e.t. and they were, like, if this guy can do o.k. at b.e.t., we should give him a shot so that's how i failed up. >> you believe we're all have an act ii? >> i think we do, but i think we're determinative of that and how we respond to the failures determines whether or not we get another shot at it. >> another chapter says, "spend, save and invest wisely." you were arrested for writing bad checks in college. tavis: i was. i'm not sure my mother knows that but she knows now. there are two things in my life that have happened that i have tried to keep from her. >> why let her know it now? tavis: because if you're going to write a book, you have to be authentic and real, otherwise, why write it. this book is about the 20 mistakes i've made in my career and how i've learned along the way. one of the worst things i did and i regret it to this day, i had a

. >> i think it's amazing the only national reporter who came to iowa was from npr, she came to two overflow meetings and she looked around. i think it was pretty clear to her this campaign was a long way from over. none of the people rendering judgment of washington had talked to the voters in iowa. none. >> schieffer: i want to ask you about president obama's speech. i want to talk a little about foreign policy. before we go to break i want to ask you about this bizarre revelation that came up last week that your wife in 2005-2006 filed a financial disclosure because she was working with the house agricultural committee that revealed that you owned between $250,000 to a jewelry company. what was that about, mr. speaker. >> it was about obeying the law. she filed a disclosure that's been sitting there for five years. we're private citizens. i work very hard. we have a reasonably good income. i owe one mortgage on a house that's rental property. everything else is totally paid for. my home is paid for. my cars are paid for. we don't have a second house. we don't do elaborate things. >> schie

npr fired someone after he said muslims made them nervous. the is the least likely man to get a cab in new york city. [laughter] msnbc's -- >> berman was suspended for donating money. the punishment seemed rather harsh considering the slap on the rest of larry king got after giving a bfalo nickel to the campaign of chester arthur. cnn replaced larry king with peirs morgan this year. out with the old, in with the who? rick sanchez, few are gone, but you are forgotten. not everyone is leaving, anderson cooper is still over at cnn. i love watching reports from the field. you can tell how much danger he is in a buyout like his clothing is. if he is in the yellow slicker, is a hurricane is still offshore. if he is in a khaki vest, he is in the greens all in baghdad. if you ever see anderson cooper with his shirt off, turn off your television and run. [laughter] msnbc has a new slogan this year -- wayne forward. i get -- lean forward. chris matthews yells like an auctioneer in a wind tunnel i never watch "hardball." i need to get a little closer to

it is the year of npr. it is nice to note that my tax dollars and yours go to support this unbiased journalistic excellence. to make sure they keep getting our tax dollars, they just hired a lobbyist this week. >> we want you to understand the character of tavis smiley. this is not his first award. apparently for three consecutive years he has received an award from the naacp called the "image award." we all know what a great friend and advocate for the tea party movement the naacp is prepared >> by accepting this award on behalf of tavis smiley, we would like to thank him for his unbiased commentary, his honesty and integrity, his unwavering commitment to fair reporting on the tea party movement. we like to, but we cannot. there is always next year. today, we can thank him for putting out the absurdity of the left. >> thank you, very much. >> thank you. [applause] >> thank you, folks. i will see you in four years. see if you can find me. [laughter] [applause] >> while neal was reading war and peace, i was

. >> a check on wall street as npr is down with. the home price index is expected to show a 3 percent fall. this is just another sign of the economy. >> we will tell you more about why bikers and walker's need to share. >> time now is for 1:00 pm her. we're talking about a joplin at missouri. a number of hazards are in the area with the fuel and smoke and dust residue. the tornado leveled most of the city. heck >> if you take a look how close look here you can see a long the final several small tornadoes were reported, hal 4 in. in diameter. three monster waterspouts were spotty loot off of sydney australia. i live look out from are roof cam and let us see what it will look like for the rest of the day >> it is starting to pick up some rain drops to the north and east of us. even see the satellite radar churning around the bay area. we will be seeing spotty interment showers for most of the day. we will be dry and later on and into the afternoon. temperature starting in the '50s as you can say more raindrops may be in store tomorrow

npr fired juan williams after he said muslims made him nervous. so he a black and afraid of muslims, making him the least likely man to get a cab in new york city. msnbc's keith oh berman was suspended from the show for violating company policy by donating money to three democratic campaigns. the punishment seemed harsh compare to the the slash on the wrist larry king got after giving a buffalo nickel to the campaign of cheter arthur. cnn replaced larry king with pierce morgan this year. just like the old expression, old with the old, in with the who? >> rick sanchez, you are donned but you are foregotten. not everyone is leaving. my friend anderson cooper is still over at cnn and i especially love watching him report from the field. you can always tell how much danger he is in by how tight his clothing is. if he it in the bulky yellow slicker it is a hurricane still offshore. the khaki vest, the green zone in baghdad. the child heiss white t shirt bull lets are flying and he is pulling people out of the rubble. if you ever see anderson cooper wit

host: you are at npr. guest: i worked on the "addition" -- morning edition" program. host: our caller, tom, is back. caller: how is it going this morning? because of the uprising in africa, why do you think the uprising is so severe now? due to american change and status with the president and everything? give me your notation on by the uprising there in africa and it seems to have been an uprising in the united states. guest: i believe you are referring to the north african countries that have exploded companies, libya, and egypt. something that has caught people by surprise. what you see in places that are frozen in time or the have one autocratic leader, there is not an allegory venue to practice any kind of normal politics where there are -- the views are suppressed. you can take one incident and things will explode. we mentioned this earlier with the episode in tunisia. someone was abuse by police and this touched this off. this is percolating under the surface. as we a scene, it happened in half a dozen countries at least. guest: think also it is the advent of s

. >> frontline, propublica and npr investigate... >> the truth did go to the grave. >>... "post mortem." >> this program continues online with an interactive world map of airline maintenance facilities. and from alaska, more on the story of clergy sex abuse, resources for survivors of abuse... >> move beyond the shame and the guilt. >> ...and more about the legal settlement. and there's much more on frontline's web site-- watch more than 100 full programs, explore interactive timelines, and follow ongoing frontline investigations. then, tell us what you think at pbs.org. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major funding is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. and by reva & david logan. committed to investigative journalism as the guardian of the public interest. additional funding is provided by the park foundation. dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issue

a lot of nprs haven't formed on some of these issues yet. issues come and go. already, one feels that pretty kay as important as the seizing and killing of bin laden was, it's not driving the race the way we thought it might two weeks ago. i think we have two more candidates before the race is over. if mitch daniels gets in from indiana and the governor from utah gets in, that could really begin to build a serious national conversation around jobs and government spending that we haven't yet had among the candidates. i actually think it might strengthen the whole republican sense of gravitas. >> david, i couldn't agree more. i'm going out on a limb and predict, romney, daniels and huntsman. are those four governors able to craft, as david said, he's exactly right as always, economics is going to drive this, not the bin laden bump, will there be a coherent message as jobs and how to bring back the economy? >> sure, what you're seeing right now shgwhat you're seeing many are focused on what the differences are. ultimately, what's going to drive the fundamentals of

study from a listener's point of view, have you thought about doing another one since you've been on npr? >> read a diary of me going on book tour talking to interviewers? yeah, that didn't occur to me. i had say that year, that was my first book listening to the radio for the year. it was a prison sentence. [laughter] it's been more than a decade since i've been let out, but no, i mean, the one thing about that form was i had to listen to the radio every day, and i don't know if you listen to the radio, but it was kind of trying as a project, but there's something in the form that definitely captured the time. the year i listened was 1995, and i mean, i don't really listen to a lot of different kinds of radio anymore, but at the time, i can't imagine it's gotten more violence, the talk, you know? like when i turned on the radio, i think maybe on the first day, this was right before oklahoma city, before, you know, before especially with the right wing talk radio that people started wondering, hey, maybe you shouldn't talk like that all the time, and the reason i wrote it was because the