washington, d.c. take their tours or go to museums. washington, d.c. that reflects the reality of our country today. >> the great american writer great scotts fitzgerald wrote that the rich are different from you and me. america's previous boom towns became wealthy because they produced something. san francisco during the gold rush, abilene texas, cattle. and, of course, detroit during the hay day of the american automobile. all of those boom towns became wealthy in their time because they created something. this boom town comes from exstracketting it from the revs the country. boom town is something that no one in washington wants to talk about. when they do they tend to blame the other side. the reality is today in washington, d.c. the business is not politics. the business is money. >> sean: joining us now peters sweitzer. great work. good to see you. we are going to really open up a can of worms here tonight. >> yeah. >> all right. so washington, d.c., three of the wealthiest, what, counties in the country, seven of the top ten? >> yes, that's righ

a distant cousin of george washington and later the farm manager is george washington who is washington's nephew, and he ends up married fannie, who is martha washington's niece. i think that tells you something about the closeness of the family relationship. >> it's clear from the response while they're at mount vernon with martha washington, she was a take-charge woman. in term of her interaction with the slaves, she is interacting with the cooks in the kitchen, the maids serving in the house, there are also slave women who are spinning on a continual basis to produce yarn. she was supervisorring the gardens. she liked having a kitchen garden she could go out and bring in vegetable that are going to be able to serve at mount vernon. she is the one planning the menu. there are a lot of levels she is working with. so that's a big operation. really, the center of her whole life. >> if you visit how about vernon today, with the years of additional documentary research. how close is it to recreating the life that george and martha washington experienced? >> nothing today will recreate the li

did washington change us or did we change washington? the question was raised rhetorically. >> charlie: do you believe what some people have said, whether it's the carter administration, the clinton administration, the obama administration or the bush administration either that in the end the town always wins. >> i mean, this is the story about the permanent feudal class which is a term from the republican senator from oklahoma. he uses this to describe this collosus. >> he speaks with a certain candor. it's interesting that he and obama are such close friends. my cynical bone does ache a little bit. i do wonder is this expedient? it does seem rather genuine. >> reporter: that's the interesting question. how can you be as a reporter, you know, what if in fact your intelligent happens every day. reporter: cynicism always wins. >> no it doesn't always win. look, i'm susceptible to authenticity. i think people can be very authentic. there's a line in here from henry allen who is my former colleague at the "washington post" who is one of my

of washington or hollywood. in this case, it doesn't mean washington generally. it means their head office. >> that's right. look, we've seen the selective release of transcripts. when i see them at first i think there's something there. you go back and look at the fuller transcript that was released after that. and the picture is a lot more muddy and suggests a person in cincinnati consulting account lawyers in washington. what does this mean and then the lawyers in washington saying can you send us a couple of those cases so we can look at them. that doesn't mean something wrong didn't happen here. it doesn't mean that these delays were unconscionable. it's a very different picture from the white house pushing a button, making a call and ordering this up from the irs. >> the salient debate, issa is trying to conflate the idea that the scandal originated in washington either understand orders from somebody at the irs or the white house with the fact that as nick just said, of course, there are irs lawyers consu

[laughter] they are people who made washington work for them. jimmy is a socialite and kurt is a longtime aide to congressman darrell ice that describes himself but as an opportunist. not the although raised on the politics of west wing the media culture literally in griffin came to washington and found the father figure with darrell i said it was so completely a neighbor with his own narrative that he felt the need to tell me all about it . . ready males these are written by members of congress and eventually he was fired and is in chapter eight. but those who are extremely powerful whether president to the united states nor senate majority leader harry reid or the next governor of virginia and again is at looks at the entire world people who tried to scramble to the top of the pecking order. >> you have made the point that despite the fact people say washington is divided as though interconnected and the players that have that connection it goes without saying that washingtonians don't know these people that they are fully divorced so not so m

people come to washington. they ran against washington as this swamp. they say i'm going to drain the swamp. then they settle into the place like a warm bath. it's a very moneyed and very easy and very comfortable place. frankly i mean i tried to illustrate this carnival it has always become >> reporter: the idea that there was a pay-off to public service is cancerous in terms of government. >> you would think. i mean this is supposedly a city built on public service. i mean, yes, it's hollywood for ugly people it is said. that's the cliche. but in fact hollywood is fantasy, right? i mean there's big money there and egos there. washington is for keeps. i mean washington is paid for by the american people. washington is supposedly, you know, a land of a higher or a city of a higher calling. that's just been totally tipped on its head >> john: this idea that you mentioned in here of it's fine for politicians to leave washington and fine for people to run for president and say washington needs changing. washington will not hold that against you because the

joseph washington's autopsy photo. from the original negative, i printed onto technical pan film then transferred onto high contrast slides. from what you asked, i figured density slicing might do the trick. what's that? it's when you take each scale of gray and you print it as pure black and white. is that the best you can do, ray? matter of fact, i did better. and better. better. rush: so that's how washington knew the runner. and the walmart's super savings event is here! like this xbox 360. on rollback: you save $20. and this huffy cranbrook cruiser. on rollback: you save over $9! get more for your money at walmart's super savings event. yep.the baby's in there? how'd that happen? um... [ female announcer ] some things are hard for kids to digest. rice krispies are easy. because they're made of rice, which is gentle on tummies. it's simple as... ♪ snap! crackle! pop! ♪ rice krispies! there's a lot i had to do... ... watch my diet. stay active. start insulin... today, i learned there's something i don't have to

as most of you know who note any history of george washington from george washington participate in the french and indian war. that was probably his first real military experience. and one of the officers serving under him, the most doug ridder officer under him was officer dandridge who was a lineal ancestor of logan beirne i believe on his mothers side. and, indeed, after an important battle, one of the few battles the george washington actually one, against, he turned over the sash of general braddock to his trusted and decorated officer, officer dandridge. and we have the sash here today. which we will award to logan beirne. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you. >> the braddock sash. which makes logan beirn logan by upper of the author for today's book. >> they carried braddock's body in islam might take it off. it's funny because professor eskridge and i, our families tobacco long way to colonial virginia. in fact, the last time that we sat around speaking of articulate about politics, it started a revolution. so are you sure this is safe? if yale law school as a hotbed. >> so this a

he was actually related to washington, he was a business partner of washington. interestingly enough, david stewart actually laid the cornerstone here in that 1791 masonic ritual, the infamous compromise of 1790 is what finally sealed the deal. it had to do with the assumption of debt. after the revolutionary war, there was a whole lot of debt that had been taken on by the various states. and there was a, the politics of this is that the southern states had largely paid off their debts, but the northern states had not. so al sander hamilton wanted the federal government to assume these debts. james madison was against that, but madison and the virginians wanted the capitol on the potomac river. is so there was a famous dinner that was held at monticello, thomas jefferson's house, where thomas jefferson invited james madison and alexander hamilton, and over dinner at monticello they struck the compromise of 1790 which was that the federal government would assume the wartime debts from the revolutionary war in exchange for the capitol being placed right here on the

we'll talk a martha washington followed by the rosa ♪ >> martha washington was george washington's confidante. >> she was very capable. she did not like that. she called herself a prisoner of state. >> by the same token that every step washington took to find the office, so can it be said that everything martha washington did, likewise. >> it was a businesslike relationship. but not without affection. they had a deep respect for each other. >> she owned most of this whole block, going back a couple of acres. she owned a huge chunk of what williamsburg was. >> there was a lot of tragedy in martha washington's life. she lost her first husband. >> she was raised a rich woman. what that means in the 18th century, that is not necessarily what it means today. >> she brings with her to mount vernon 12 house slaves. that is almost an unimaginable luxury. >> it'd take for 10 days to travel here to valley forge from mount vernon in her carriage with her slaves and servants with her. this was a difficult journey. >> her experience had prepared her to become the first lady. >> martha washington was 57 ye

this is not washed on washington. he was smart enough to know he should not be defending this island. congress is now, we expect you to make every effort to defend this. and they lose badly, not surprisingly so. at that time the british are chasing the continental army towards philadelphia, the seat of our government, that's when congress finally says, all right, this isn't working. when you change what it means to be the american commander and that's what they actually grant washington was dictatorial powers and adjust the makeup of how they're going to run this war. it originally was only for one week while they we convene in baltimore. an athlete, washington starts getting his act together. the congress does, just keep these people away from us. you could be a dictator. dictator back then was not a dirty word that it is now. it just meant he had full military control to make decisions. he was a political dictator, where he can have edicts and cover and allow the congress never gave up their power over the people. o

. ♪ >> martha washington was george washington's confidante. >> she was very capable. she did not like that. she called herself a prisoner of state. >> by the same token that every step washington took to find the office, so can it be said that everything martha washington did, likewise. >> it was a businesslike relationship. but not without affection. they had a deep respect for each other. >> she owned most of this whole block, going back a couple of acres. she owned a huge chunk of what williamsburg was. >> there was a lot of tragedy in martha washington's life. she lost her first husband. >> she was raised a rich woman. what that means in the 18th century, that is not necessarily what it means today. >> she brings with her to mount vernon 12 house slaves. that is almost an unimaginable luxury. >> it takes for 10 days to travel here to valley forge from mount vernon in her carriage with her slaves and servants with her. this is a difficult journey. >> her experience had prepared her to become the first lady. >> martha washington was 57 years old in 1789 when she and

>> it is happening outside of washington. nearly there have been hundreds of bills introduced in legislatures across the country. this is an excel spread sheet of all the bills introduced since newtown, hundreds of them. half a dozen to each page from california, to new mexico to illinois, to connecticut, to new york, to colorado, we're seeing legislation that mirrors a lot of what we're seeing on the federal level. assault weapon checks, background checks, some kind of limit or ban on high capacity ammunition magazines. it's interesting because i interviewed industry -- gun industry commeck actives and gun rights advocates who seem to be more concerned about what's happening across the country than really they are about congress. molly, one of the things that we've sheard there are some measures that are popular enough, background checks, limiting the magazines but not the assault weapons ban. do you share that view? is that not going to go through the congress? and what's changed from 1994 when it did until now? >> i think

back from washington to wall street. greatly enriched. look, he's a hero to a lot of people on wall street. he was a hero to a lot of people in washington. and again, i think bill clinton more than anyone in the last few decades has sort of engineered this relationship. >> let's get to the press. you write, never before has the so-called permanent establishment of washington included so many people in the media. and you write, washington puts the "me" in media. how so? >> first of all, it's the rise in new media, it's given everyone a new voice. it's never been easier to become a media celebrity. and i think punditry is the gold standard of my profession. the media is everywhere in washington. i think the white house correspondent is a classic example of how washington rewards being famous, being on tv, being a brand more than anything. >> your descriptions of the white house correspondent association dinner, the annual dinner, fabulous in the book. the dinners are sold out, every table, since 1993. >> even the greater o

reporting live from washington d.c. and of course we'll bring you more details on the shooting incident as soon as we get them here. on r.t. that's our breaking news this hour. thirty people involved in a greenpeace protest have now been charged with piracy by court in russia's north western port city of moments they were arrested after attempting to scale an oil rig in the arctic last month in protest over offshore drilling in the region of greenpeace lawyers are appealing the decision insisting that there was no violence involved and authorities said they pose a serious threat to the security of the platform despite facing up to fifteen years in prison activists are still refusing to give testimony when earlier i spoke to ben alias and he is head of greenpeace is arctic campaign and he believes the region should be off limits for any oil drilling company. but increase has a long history of peaceful protest it was perfectly obvious to the coast guard to the operator of the platform that this was a peaceful protest and

karen tumulty of "the washington post." and jeff zeleny of avens news. -- abc news. >> award winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we went out and asked people a simple question. how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90's. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed, the official retirement age. the question is, how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years? >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by northrop grumman. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to pbs stations from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: beca

the washington institute also in washington we have michael hughes he is a freelance journalist and foreign policy analyst and into and we cross to ford is id he's a political science professor at the university of toronto and gentlemen cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want i very much encourage it so i that's go to you first entered on do you believe a word that barack obama has to say given the last thirty years of bad relations between the two countries and i'm talking about covert overt operations up to this day. you know. the last ten years cannot be blamed on obama i think he is responsible for his own presidency and he has been relatively a better president when it comes to iran when you compared him to others we have had occasions when the u.s. congress wanted to pass a new sanction against iran and he has opposed to those type of sanctions and in his a speech at the u.n. i think he had the couple of good points that was the first time we have heard that from a u.s. president for example he talked about president rouhani having a mandate from the ira

this is the way washington works problem. washington can't do anything. they had two years of meetings and meetings upon meetings and new regulations about the -- they can't manage their way out of a paper bag. the old top down way of doing things in washington, hierarchy can't fix anything. this is the best washington can do. this is the best washington can do and not the worst. so the next election is going to be about that. can we change washington? republicans are going to be the party of change. democrats are going to be the party that says more of the same. >> which republican party will be the party of change? will it be ted cruz party of change? >> the american people will never go back to the status quo where health care is 17% of our gdp. they won't go back to tell women about they existing condition and won't take children on their parents' plan off health care. >> can you take something away from people? can members of congress say, okay, you have this but now we're going to take it away from you? >> it's harder. once you have it, it's much ha

but also, as he put it to martha washington following washington's death in 1799, washington is my egis to success. he stuck with washington and washington stuck with him during the remaining years. jefferson's revolution was extremely different from hamilton's. when hamilton was with washington and in battle, fighting in seven major engagements during the war, risking his life, at one point being surprised by the british patrol and when they shot at him, having to dive off of his boat into the school -- the schuylkill river and swim for safety. jefferson served in the house of burgesses, then in congress and while in congress, 15 months in congress, the principal author of the declaration of independence. almost immediately after independence was declared, jefferson left congress and returned to virginia because he was interested in reform. the continental congress was simply going to be a managerial body that managed the conduct of the war and the conduct of the army and hamilton wanted to return -- jefferson wanted to return to virginia and carry out as many reforms as he could. he d

>> washington is a liberal town. it really has not changed washington inch. they are more -- there may be more jobs for conservatives in journalism than there were. it has not changed that much. look, who decide what's the story is? it is not fox news. it is not rush limb boug. it these mainstream media i which is liberal. they decide what the story is. some conservatives thought because talk radio in particular had a huge impact in the midterm election in 1994 and but it, but the conservative media could rival the mainstream media, boy, that had not happened at all. you know, brian shall i wrote a piece for the new republic back soon after i got there, '85, '86 or '87. a conservative error in american politics. ronald reagan was president. republicans controlled the senate, not the house, but rage gain has been successful in getting things through the house. immersed a whole bunch evidence to say that there had been, i called it media realignment. that the media was getting more conservative or at least less liberal and i wrote a whole piece on the cover of

in washington he's a senior fellow at the washington institute also in washington we have michael hughes he is a freelance journalist and foreign policy analyst and into and we cross the ford is id he's a political science professor at the university of toronto and gentlemen cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want i very much encourage it find it's go to you first. do you believe a word that barack obama has to say given the last thirty years of bad relations between the two countries and i'm talking about covert overt operations up to this day. you know. the last ten years cannot be blamed on obama i think he is responsible for his own presidency and he has been relatively a better president when it comes to iran haven't you compared him to others we have had occasions when the us congress wanted to pass a new sanction against iran and he has opposed to those type of sanctions and in his a speech at the u.n. i think he had a couple of good points it was the first time we have heard that from. u.s. president for example he talked about president rouhani hav

how has washington changed in the past 25 years? says nancy pelosi is poised to become the first woman speaker of the house. >> there is no wilngness on either side of the aisle to find common ground. >> a word on the quality of our democracy, institutions, and polics. heris charles i in october of 2006. >> when y you lose an election n america, people arare cruel. when you compound it by acting like an idiot afterwards, it is over. >> ♪ >> in 1988, the year in which this program began, ronald reagan was in the white house. william rehnquist was chief justice. republicans nominated vice president george herbert walker bush for president. democrats nominated massachusetts governor michael dukakis. president reagan visited the soviet union. gorbachev visited the united states. barack obama began his studies at harvard law school, hired on as a summer intern in chicago, anmet young lawyer named michelle robinson whom he later married. before he announced his candidacy, mark shields said this on "iide washington." >> i will say this a

the first ambassador loved washington. he loved to ride the secret car and be out in public here, and he found it so much different from other countries where he was. but, no, i didn't. there was a -- i will say in the big houses here it was interesting, the servants in the census in records were german and english. and after 1907 they were all local, hostly black, african-american. but the butlers were almost universeally african-american. and they were much sought after. they would be hired out from under somebody. and archie butt in his hem worry, he was had been memoir, he was roosevelt's aide which he left in endowment to public, and he said that most of the dinner parties were prepared by the butlers. they did the list, they checked with adie, they did everything. and the host and hostess just came to the event. so -- uh-huh. [inaudible conversations] >> this is the one that the audience can hear, so if you just would restate that in the microphone when they ask it. >> the original question was if any of the letters

gwen: a lot of republicans in washington are saying don't link me to republicans in washington. >> but the ones taking a stand in washington are saying we are with -- the true conservatives. bobby ginnedal is saying no, it isn't. gwen: the next big fight, the debt limit. these things have been wrapped up together but this, it seems to me to be the fight that the administration is most worried about. >> this is the fight that's most consequential. this is the fight that could plunge the country into recession and it's coming up within two weeks. gwen: and that's generally accepted. to be fair, this is something john boehner says he does not want. >> absolutely. that's the vice grip boehner is in. he said he recognizes he cannot -- we cannot default, that the debt limit needs go up but he said eneed something with that and by shifting what he wants in return for that, he has put himself in this box or the house republicans have put themselves in this box. it's very difficult because the president, looking at the republicans grabbing this or that to try to issue as a demand is saying no,

we're live in washington. this is special live coverage of this tragedy that struck blocks away from us here at the washington navy yard here in the nation's capital. i'm brooke baldwin. >> i'm jake tapper. police search for a motive as new details emerge about the deadly shooting rampage, but we may never really know why a gunman killed 12 people and wounded eight others. >> we're learning new details today. here is the latest exactly as far as what we know beginning with law enforcement sources say the gunman it, aaron alexis, recently contacted not one but two va hospitals apparently for psychological issues. authorities say alexis was a former navy reservist who was discharged after eight instances of misconduct. >> eight instances. right now forensics investigators are scouring the navy yard for evidence. sources say police have recovered three weapons from the scene. one is a shotgun that police believe he brought into the compound. the other two are handguns that may have been taken everyone guards. >>

gwen: autumn in washington. at the supreme court returns to debate campaign finance, and the president picks a new leader for the federal reserve. >> we can and must safeguard the financial system. gwen: covering the week, joan biskupic of reuters. greg ips of the economist. alexis simendinger of realclearpolitics. and jim tankersley of "the washington post." >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> at northrop grumman, we know in the cyber world threats are always evolving. at first, we were protecting networks. then we were protecting the transfer of data. and today, it's evolved to infrastructure. finance. and military missions. we are constantly oin reiterating to advance -- oin reiterating to advance the frontline of the cyber world wherever it takes us. that's performance. northrop grumman. >> additional corporate funding for "washington wee

are indeed washington media players with washington media weaknesses. in the piece msnbc is thrown in with everyone else who got the story wrong. in order to do that, salon had to ignore all three of msnbc's primetime shows, the shows which happen to have the biggest audiences on msnbc, with rachel of course having the largest audience of all. to accuse msnbc of getting it wrong, salon had to ignore the very existence of this program, which has the second largest msnbc audience. in fact, more people heard this program, getting the irs fake scandal right, every night than heard anyone else on the network getting it not so right. but salon, just like the rest of the washington media, didn't hear a word of what was said on this program. absolutely no one in washington took their guidance. no one in the washington media anyway took their guidance on the irs story from this program. and i never, ever expected them to. >> once the political media has latched on to the paradigm of a scandal, once they've collectively fixed its frame around what they think are

and why not. >> effi barry: washington was his city, and he loved washington. he loved washington! i really didn't know who he was. i had just moved here from new york and this man, every time i looked up, there he was. he approached me, and i was looking in my purse, and he said, "is there anything in that bag for me?" and i said, "excuse me, what do you mean? what would you like for me to find in my bag?" he said, "your phone number." >> barry: she said, "i'm not giving you my phone number. you won't call me anyway." and i said, "just tell me what it is." >> effi: so i just gave it to him, you know, thinking, well, you know, he'll never remember. >> barry: next day i called her, went out the next couple days and started seeing each other, and that was it. i mean, she was just stunningly beautiful, physically, but she had a great spirit, and we just sort of connected. >> effi: i thought he was one of the most brilliant men i had ever met. [sirens wailing] >> ...with the gunman inside the building. where i can see though -- although we understand there have been gunshot fired ... >

people now come to washington to get rich. that was never the defining ethic of the town, certainly 30 years ago. there is now so much money. it is now the wealthiest community in the united states. it is home to seven of the wealthiest 10 counties in the united states. and frankly -- it is -- i mean, the power is obviously going to be very alluring. there are going to be some idealists who's going to be the make-a-difference types. but ultimately this has more in common with silicon valley, with hollywood, than with wall street. which is a rush to cash in. it is a rush to somehow take from this big entity, this big marketplace, some kind of reward, as opposed to doing something that will reward the country. >> what's stunning is how disconnected washington is, the political washington that you write about, from the lives of everyday people. is it because of this gold rush? >> when you look at the disconnect between washington and the rest of the country, which people talk about. i mean, there's a shorthand, "well, washington

in washington he's a senior fellow at the washington institute also in washington we have michael hughes he is a freelance journalist and foreign policy analyst and in toronto across the forehead is id he's a political science professor at the university of. and our gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want i very much encourage it find it's go to you first in town do you believe a word that barack obama has to say given the last thirty years of bad relations between the two countries and i'm talking about covert overt operations up to this day. you know. the last ten years cannot be blamed on obama i think he is responsible for his own presidency and he has been relatively a better president when it comes to iran haven't you compared him to others we have had occasions when the us congress wanted to pass a new sanction against iran and he has opposed those type of sanctions and in his a speech at the un i think he had the couple of good points that was the first time we have heard that from the us president for example he talked about president rouh

of the values that washington had. he could learn from his experience. >> exactly. so when he's defeated he doesn't say "oh, woe is me." but "what can i learn from this?" experience had been his teacher all through life. his father died when he was quite young. he was on his own from about the age of 16. as always. but the jabez fitch story is different because he's keeping a diary and he kept a diary no matter what was happening, including after he was captured and taken prisoner. they put one of those vile british prison ships in the harbor here in new york. i think he must have hid -- the you shouldn't picture a beautiful leather diary. they're writing on scraps of paper. i think he was hiding in the his shoe because it was against the rules. you weren't supposed to do that. but the fact that they wrote the letters, the fact that they kept the diarys is part of their great contribution to their country. because now we know what it was like. we can be in their shoes, in their skins, and feel what they went through. t

we do have this heavy handed indication of washington, washington, washington. >> sleazy intonation that suggests in the war movies, call berlin like there's some sort of washington or hollywood. in this case, it doesn't mean washington generally. it means their head office. >> that's right. look, we've seen the selective release of transcripts. when i see them at first i think there's something there. you go back and look at the fuller transcript that was released after that. and the picture is a lot more muddied. it suggests a person in cincinnati consulting the lawyers in washington. what does this mean? and then the lawyers in washington saying, can you send us a couple of those case so we can look at them? that doesn't mean something wrong didn't happen here. it doesn't mean that these delays weren't unconscionable. it's a very different picture from the white house pushing a button, making a call and ordering this up from the irs. >> the salient debate, issa is trying to conflate the idea that the scandal originated in washington either understand orders from somebody at the irs or

i'm wolf blitzer here in washington. you're in "the situation room." >>> shock, fear and grief today right here in the nation's capital. at least, at least 13 people are dead after a mass shooting at the washington navy yard, including a gunman who opened fire this morning inside building 197. that's the naval sea systems command headquarters. as s.w.a.t. teams rushed in, wounded were evacuated by helicopter. the dead suspect has now been identified as a military contractor from texas, but authorities say another potential shooter may, repeat, may still be at large. that's kept much of the surrounding area, including capitol hill, which is only about a mile or so away, on alert. the u.s. senate went into lockdown. schools were shuttered. it's a horrible, horrible situation unfolding here in washington. we have seen street closures, flight delays, people are obviously very nervous, among other things the washington nationals have postponed tonight's baseball game against the atlanta braves. the stadium is only a block or

they totally took over washington. i wanted to talk to cory booker as this young up and coming future star democratic politician about what that meant for him, what that meant for the party and whether that signalled some sort of larger shift in our country's politics. >> even in my state, i met republicans who were so excited about voting for barack obama not because he was a democrat, not because he was a black guy, but because they thought he was going to lift our country to our highest aspirations for ourselves. i think obama has a pragmatism about him, he will explain ideas to the american people not using the tired liberal parlance. he will be explaining to people in a way that touches people's hearts and compel them to act and work with us. >> just a few months later, even before barack obama was sworn in as president, republicans in washington decided that they would not work with him on anything during his presidency. nothing, no matter what. they voted unanimously against the president's first big initiative,

eso fue durante la marcha en washington. se calcula que el 70% a 90% de t trabajadores del cmaampo son indocumentados, por lo que hoy no fuern a la marcha. tenemos un ejemplo de estos t b trabajadores que merecen una o r oportunidad verdadera y decente >>entre las voces alzadas en a una. >>y los rostros confundidos en m multitud, el murmullo timido de una joven campesina, acostumb acostumbrada a empacar en cajas su tristeza. >>se nos pone duro mantener la c casa. cuando me pongo a pensar en todo eso, me hace llorar >>nancy chÁvez estea en el sin d sindicato de trabajadores, mÁs d de un millÓn son indocumentados, como la madre de nancy. ella dice que su legalizacion o los beneficiaria a todos. >>esta es una vida que no es s justa. >>como muchos campesinos teme u que haya mayor consideracion por trabajadores especializados con titulos universitarios >>algunos promotores de la re reforefo reforma migratoria dicen que es necesario para evitar la fuga de cerebros de este paÍs, sin em r embargo tambiÉn hay que cuidar a quiene

the washington institute also in washington we have michael hughes he is a freelance journalist and foreign policy analyst and into and we cross to ford is id he's a political science professor at the university of toronto and gentlemen cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want i very much encourage it find it's go to you first. do you believe a word that barack obama has to say given the last thirty years of bad relations between the two countries and i'm talking about covert overt operations up to this day. you know. the last ten years cannot be blamed on obama i think he has a sponsible for his own presidency and he has been relatively a better president when it comes to iran and when you compared him to others we have had occasions where the u.s. congress wanted to pass a new sanction against iran and he has opposed those type of sanctions and in his a speech at the u.n. i think he had a couple of good points that it was the first time we have heard that from. u.s. president for example he talked about president rouhani having a mandate from the iranian peop

once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. we had an unexpectedly entertaining not to mention consequential week. the topic remain from cabinet nominees to the federal budget all bracketed by good economic news, a record close on wall street as well as more jobs on main street. but at this very time last week, we were being told for the sky to fall as across the board budget cuts took effect. so why the good economic news? >> the numbers that came out friday were positive. 236,000 jobs created across the economy. the private sector even stronger. this is against the backdrop on a bunch of other good news, the stock market making its first new high since 2007. a rare good week for wall street and main street. to keep these in context, neither of these numbers suggest that the economy is racing ahead. in fact, it's still growing at 2 1/2% the same rate it was growing last year. the impressive thing is that it's doing this in the face of so many head winds. gasoline prices have gone up. most economists would have anticipated some

. >> she moved back to washington d.c. in her elder years and became very much behind the scenes in a political field again. >> as henry clay famously said, everybody loves mrs. madison. her equally famous response -- that's because mesrs. madison loves everyone. >> dolley madison came to her service as first lady with experience during thomas jefferson's two terms. the president often called on her to assist him. this sense of the usefulness of diplomacy all-out dolley to hit the ball running. she assumed the role in 1809 as her husband james madison became the president. welcome. we will learn about the intriguing dolley madison. we have two guests at our table. let me introduce you to them. catherine allgor, an author and biographer of dolley madison. thank you for being here. >> it's a pleasure. >> edith mayo was the creator of the first lady's exhibit at the smithsonian. thank you for being here tonight. >> it is a pleasure. >> any 21st century woman who starts to read about dolley madison can see parallels to their o

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he is running against d ct dc cd washington, d.c. he is taking advantage of the new cycle and he looks to be coasting to victory. >> coastalling to victory and setting up a race in 2016. thank you. we appreciate it. that is it from the team here in washington, d.c. and from me david shuster for now. you can keep the discussion going by logging onto the facebook page. you can send us your thoughts on twitter i'm david schuster, thanks for watching. ♪ ♪ >>> welcome to al jazerra. i am stephanie sy. here are the top stories at this hour. transit workers in san francisco are officially on strike. the walk out by union workers happening just an hour ago will strand more than 200,000 daily commuters. a bart union official says both sides agree on health care and pension bud remain far apart on pay and work conditions. negotiations have been going on for months. bart workers walked ute for nearly five days back in july. furloughed federal employees are back on the work and national parks have reopened. president obama says the 16-day go

and we told him we were going to march on washington. you know, president kennedy didn't like the idea of hundreds and thousands of people coming to washington. and he said to mr. randolph, who was our spokesperson, "if you bring these -- all these people to washington, won't there be violence and chaos and disorder? and we will never get a civil rights bill through the congress." mr. randolph responded and said, in his baritone voice, "mr. president, this will be an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent protest." we left that meeting, came out on the lawn of the white house, and said we had a meaningful and productive meeting with the president of the united states. and we told him we were going to march on washington. >> can you sum up what was going on in america at that time that led to the march that had people like john kennedy worried and people like you adamant about what had to be done? >> well, the years leading up to the march on washington had been an unbelievable amount of action on the part of the movement. people had been sitting

it is not just about washington. washington is a reflection of a broader culture. we live in a polarized culture. we live in a culture that celebrates -- notoriety is the quickest ticket to 15 minutes in the 24 hour news cycle. the other enormous difference that contributes to this -- i do not know how you reverse it. 50 years ago, you had two political parties that were both appealing to the center. republicans had barry goldwater, but they also had jacob javits. the diversity of the parties, by history. you can see the result of the party system we have now. host: a caller. caller: i am concerned about how history is going to deal with the fact that the senator mitch mcconnell and the senate and house republicans all stood up and said, we're going to stop this presidency. we're going to make sure it is a failed presidency. how is history going to deal with that? why has the press and the media given republicans a pass on this serious issue? it is almost like it is unpatriotic, totally unethical for them to do this. guest: it reflects the evolution of the politica

to come to washington. eventually she cooled off and decided she would follow him after all. between them, mostly good years, even with all the political fights over the gag rule. >> it was a 50 year marriage. >> they had been through the worst. the white house was a thing of the past. i think she was more likely aligned with him in his congressional career. stuff that had come between them was in the past. in some ways, they grew closer in the last years. >> did she begin to influence him on issues like slavery and women's rights? >> she would not use influence in that way. and women's rights, i certainly don't think that is something that they would have really discussed in that way. it was not something being put forward in congress. slavery they stop hurting your eye to eye. it is hard to say who influence to where they both got there on their own. he felt freer in congress to be active about it. she had family members who were slaveholders, being from maryland. both of them, they don't like slavery. th

they totally took over washington. i wanted to talk to cory booker as this young up and coming future star democratic politician about what that meant for him, what that meant for the party and whether that signalled some sort of larger shift in our country's politics. >> even in my state, i met republicans who were so excited about voting for barack obama not because he was a democrat, not because he was a black guy, but because they thought he was going to lift our country to our highest aspirations for ourselves. i think obama has a prague malt tichl about him, he will explain ideas to the american people not using the tired eld liberal par lance. he will be explaining to people in a way that touches people's hearts and compel them to act and work with us. >> just a few months later, even before barack obama was sworn in as president, republicans in washington decided that they would not work with him on anything during his presidency. nothing, no matter what. they voted unanimously against the president's first big