i'm voting for barack obama not because he's black. i'm voting for barack obama because he's brilliant. >> this is very personal for me. >> presidential campaigns are tough. >> i feel change in the air. >> the democratic party has thrown us women aside. >> we are going to go washington and shake things up. >> i can't trust obama. >> the first african-american president of the united states. >> failure to act now will turn crisis into a catastrophe. >> it's not health reform. this is control. >> how is that hopy changy stuff working out for you?

american people have sent a resounding and unmistakable message of change ask new direction for america. >> it's been five days since they took control of congress, but the focus is shifting to the

next political prize, the white house. >> when the election season begins in 2007, the climate is not very good if you are a republican. >> the war in iraq is very unpopular. and made democrats think they could win the presidency. >> senator biden joining a growing list of candidates announcing their intentions for '08. >> you had a lot of candidates like chris dodd and joe biden, bill richardson and in the end you thought, well, this is going to be hillary clinton's time. >> for some time it's been no secret that hillary clinton would run for president, but today on her website shs she made it official. >> i'm not just starting a campaign, though. i'm beginning a conversation. >> after six years as a senator, people believe that she has the credentials and leadership skills to be president. >> i'm in it to win it with your help. >> she got a lot of experience.

her husband was a popular president. she had all the money, the backers and big names. it looked like a sure bet. >> senator barack obama threw his hat in the crowded ring today in springfield, illinois. >> one thing you can say with certainty about senator barack obama is that there's never been another presidential candidate like him. he has a foreign sounding name that rimes with osama and admitted to using marijuana and cocaine as a teenager. he's half black, half white and in terms of political experience, green. >> as a senate candidate in 2004, barack obama stepped on to the national stage and wowed the democratic national convention with his eloquence. >> this is not a liberal america and conservative america. there's the united states of america. there's not a black america and a white america and latino america and asian america. there's the united states of america.

>> i encouraged barack obama to give thought to the presidency early on. i thought he could bring people together. the longer you're in washington, the less viable you are. >> america is hungry for change. america wants something new. >> held by the media hungry for a fresh face and a good story, he's graced the covers of "time" and "newsweek" and endorsed by oprah. a far cry from how he's treated in washington where he's 88th on the list of seniority. >> the clintons said you're not qualified to be president. they liked him and thought he had a great future, but their view was you don't run for president after you have been in the senate for a week and a half. >> early polls show him third trailing both senator hillary clinton and john edwards. >> we got two different americas. we have one for all those who are doing very, very well and

then one for everybody else. >> edwards is focused on eradication of poverty. but the 2008 election was about the war in iraq. >> you said if you were president in 2002 you would have not gone into war. >> right. >> how can can you then explain the contradiction from your voting to support the invasion? >> i do not believe that most of us who voted to give the president authority thought he would so misuse the authority we gave him. >> hillary clinton tries to, explain it away. that was ultimately unsatisfactory. especially on an issue that was so divisive. >> i'm proud that i opposed this war from the start. because i thought that it would lead to the disastrous conditions that we have seen on ground in iraq. >> obama was really smart, articulate, but vague. >> i went on your website to find some information about you and i was wondering what really are your top issues?

because it's not online. >>. i'm not sure whether you're going to the campaign website or my senate website. >> at a health care forum, he didn't deliver and critics say a foreign policy speech this week was long on vision, short on specifics. >> 2007 was a tough year for obama. he seemed to be trying to wing it. he had yet to demonstrate he understood policy. >> is that hillary calling? >> obama is having trouble convincing democrats to say i'm going to go with obama over clinton. they did not want to risk losing this election. >> i'm not asking that you take me on a leap of faith. i'm asking you to look at the evidence and the record. >> we were feeling pretty good about her prospects. but our opponents showed there was this obstacle for her to prove that she could be commander-in-chief even though she was a woman. >> when you are attacked, you have to deck your opponents.

and that is what i believe -- >> we were running on the fact that she was incredibly experienced. she could start this job on day one and just go. >> senator hillary clinton has more than doubled her lead over barack obama. >> we weres a far as 30 points behind in the national polls. our view was if we didn't win the first pimary in iowa, there would be no chance to win the nomination. so he spent more than 80 days there in 2007 meeting one-on-one and in small groups. >> are any of these people over 30? >> i'm on my way to mason city. then to sioux city and council bluffs and then out and around. >> how many people are going canvassing today? it's a little brisk outside. it will be good for you.

walk quick. talk fast. >> it's time that we move from sound bytes to sound solutions. >> we need to continue to press, keep the energy up. there's a huge momentum. >> iowa, you can b make the difference. >> tomorrow night the future of the free world is riding on your shoulders. don't feel any pressure. >> tonight across this state in all 99 counties, neighbors are gathering huddled together under the banner of their chosen candidate. >> an unprecedented turn out due to the high number of first time caucus goers. >> the stereotypical iowa caucus goer is older, female. what barack obama did is go after the young people. we all thought that's just silly. they are never going to vote. >> we were horribly, horribly wrong. >> cnn is now ready to project

that senator barack obama will win the iowa democratic caucuses. a dramatic development indeed. >> iowa is the whitest place outside the north pole. he's not just winning. he's winning handedly there. >> no black people are supposed to win iowa. there's no black people in iowa. how did this happen? wait a minute, what does this mean going forward? >> we are one nation. we are one people. and our time for change has come. ♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ ♪ ♪

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there is something stirring around the country. it happened last week in iowa and now it's happening in new hampshire. >> the obama steam roller pulled in new hampshire catapulted by the big win in iowa and eager for more. >> the victory in iowa invested us with a hubris that was visible. et we campaigned around new hampshire like a conquering army. > >> i have been a lifelong republican who is now a registered democrat because of barack obama. >> barack obama is surging here 9 pounts ahead of hillary clinton. we're just a few days ago they were tied. but senator clinton is fighting back hard. >> i don't know since when experience became some kind of liability in running for the

highest office in our land. >> she is got gritty and was like i'm going to fight this thing out town by town. >> it turned into a day unlike any other for hillary clinton. >> she's taken aback by what's happened. she's losing against this guy named barack obama, who no one had heard of months before. and she's frustrated. you can tell. it's palpable. >> as a woman it's hard to get out of the house and to get ready. my question is personal. how do you do it? >> how do you keep upbeat and look so wonderful? >> it's not easy. it's not easy. and i couldn't do it. i didn't passionately believe it was the right thing to do. i have so many opportunities from this country. i just don't want the to see us fall backwards.

>> all anyone is talking about is hillary clinton this that rare display of emotion. >> some are wondering if the pressure is actually getting to her. >> if the emotional strab is too much to bare, how can we expect her to handle it behind that desk. >> presidential campaigns are tough. but being president of the united states is also very tough business. >> aattacked her as a woman. if we cry, then we're weak. >> what would happen if barack obama cried on the campaign trial trail? >> they would say he's a sensitive male. >> that was a moment that working women could say she's relatable for once. they came out the next day in new hampshire to support her. >> senator hillary clinton has shocked the political world. she's beaten barack obama. >> i listened to you. and in the process, i found my own voice.

>> this just had to be a blow to barack obama and husband campaign. they thought they had this. >> they came expecting a coronation and instead barack obama had to concede. however, they are not throwing in the towel by any means. >> the energy is all on barack obama and hillary clinton. so we get through all of these first primaries and john edwards and his two americas are not getting any traction. >> it's time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path. >> it's now certain that for the first time in america, a major political party will nominate either a woman or african-american to be its candidate for president. >> i feel change in the air. what about you? >> the united states political royalty was endorsing this first term senator and turning his

back on the clintons. for the clintons, it was personal because they had worked with ted kennedy. they were friends with ted kennedy and it was a real blow for us. hillary said where do we go from here and frankly, we didn't have an answer. >> hillary clinton never expected to have a well-financed opponent like barack obama. >> her entire strategy is based on winning early on and closing down shop, moving on to the general election. but that's not happening. they are out of money and that's a huge problem. but she keeps fighting. >> her campaign has $5 million of her own money to see her through the near term. >> i'm going to keep making our case until we have a nominee whoever she may be. >> one of these cards. i want you to fill it out. you want you to become part of

this process. >> people underestimated the political operation that he was able to put into place. his blgd can be organizing helps throughout the campaign. >> call these folks and tell them you will go with them. >> the two campaigns have pursued different strategies. clinton focused her attention on the big prizes. new york, new jersey, california, where a large. population means lots of delegates. obama is hoping to run the board. he's visited 15 states in the past week uncolluding red states like kansas and idaho. >> they told me there weren't any democrats in idaho. but i didn't believe them. >> since the 1960s the democrats had catered to this white moderate muld. but obama decides to appeal to a new generation of young folks and to usually alienated

communities of color. he was able to change the democratic map and really open it up again. >> turn off is off the charts heavy. 10,000 voters in one county the first day. ten times the turnout in the last presidential election. >> obama's campaign harnessed the internet as a fundraising tool. >> over $100 million online from 1.5 million people. >> it allowed him to exceed past super tuesday outspending clinton every step of the way. >> obama not only has momentum, he's starting to pull away and the delegate count has a sizable lead. >> we're turning out to be a scrappy little team. >> he was cruising along and out come the tapes. >> brack know what is it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich, white people. hillary can never know that.

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new polls say barack obama is taking a big hit because of his pastor. >> the government gives them the drugs, bigger prisons, and then wants us to sing god bless america. no, no. god damn america. >> here you have the scary black preacher saying things that are clearly anti-american. it had the potential to derail his candidacy. >> that reverend looks like a raging maniac. >> i'm fearful that obama feels the same way. >> this is going to scare the hell out of white people. >> it's designed to attempt to scare. >> why have you been listening to this it pastor and close to him for 20 years? >> reverend wright is someone who is like an uncle or a family member who you may strongly object to what they have to say. >> uncles are blood relatives that you're stuck with even when they say outrageous things. you can walk out of a church.

you can go up to a pastor and say this is wrong. >> he went on cable tv and got pummelled. >> do you repudiate the man or comments? >> he called me and said i want to make a speech on race. >> barack obama was working on this speech until early this morning. he's hoping not only to diffuse the controversy. >> in the green room, senator obama turned to me and said i know everybody is nervous; but i'm going to give this speech and maybe people won't accept it and then i won't be president of the united states. but at least i will have said what i us wanted to say and that's worth something. >> i have already condemned in unequivocal terms the statements of reverend wright that caused such controversy. as um perfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. i can no more disown me than my white grandmother, a woman who loves me as much as i love anything in this world. but a woman who confessed her

fear of black men who passed her by on the street. these people are part of me. and they are part of america. this country that i love. >> i thought it was taking a moment that is normally responded to by a politician with denials and avoidance. we're not going to comment any further and instead he made something useful out of it. >> the profound mistake of reverend wright's sermons is not that he spoke about race in our society. it's as if he spoke about our society is static. what we know is that america can change. >> hillary clinton had a chance to catch obama from behind. but when obama gave his great speech on race, that was it. that was the end. she was never going to catch up. >> one year, four months and 18 days after she started her campaign, hillary clinton waited through an emotional crowd of supporters to end it. >> although we weren't able to

shatter that highest hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it's got about 18 million cracks in it. >> even when she did concede, her supporters were still so passionate and so inspired by her that they wouldn't accept barack obama. >> the democratic party has thrown us women aside. >> they were called the pumas. party unity my ass. >> the veteran senator was selected as barack obama's running mate. >> going into the general election, joe biden provided a level of experience that obama didn't have. but more important, the assumption for many people was that this country was not ready o to vote for an african-american president. so biden could help appeal to working class white voters who might not vote for him.

>> the american people didn't get to know me yesterday as they are just getting to snow senator obama. >> and the republican side you have john mccain, who almost dropped out of the race. had no money. he decides that he's going to dig in and remarkably he's able to win the nomination. but this is not a great year to be the incumbent party. >> i'm not comparing myself to president bush on anything. i'm building my own campaign. >> both parties wanted change. john mccain described himself as a maverick. he felt that he had a legitimate claim to being the anti-bush in the republican party. >> obama and mccain will be fighting for the female voter. mccain seeing an opportunity with older and working class women angry at how the primary turned out. >> i spent the last few months looking for a running mate who

can best help me shake up washington and make it start working again for the people that are counting on us. >> john mccain faced the same problem that hillary clinton faced. all of a sudden, john mccain's kind of sage elder statesman persona doesn't look so fresh. >> governor sarah palin of the great state of alaska. >> hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest part of a glass ceiling in america. but it turns out the women of america aren't finished yet. and we can shatter that glass ceiling once ask for all.

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the top google searches going on today, the hot trends, palin, vice president, governor of alaska. it's fair to say it's not every day the web is abuzz with the mccain presidential race. >> sarah palin was unknown to republican voters. she was a maverick in her own way. risen from local mayor, pta president to highest office in alaska. she was a success story that everyone could relate to. >> he's a lifelong nra member and in a recent visit to kuwait,

she showed she knows her way around a gun. >> she dwoez out and killed a caribou and cook it is for dinner. >> john mccain's choosing sarah palin was a a curveball and gave some new energy to the republican ticket. >> i'm not one of the movers and shakers within the republican party that i think conventional you think us would. >> why not make some history. >> when you're in an america that has the itch for change, it looks like it could be a really smart pick. and maybe she'll get some of the women who are mad over hillary clinton having lost. >> ladies and gentlemen, the next vice president of the united states. >> i was hired to work on the obama campaign after hillary conceded. we were watching sarah palin give her convention speech. >> before i became governor, i was mayor of my hometown, and

since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities. >> she did what hillary clinton could not do and that was deliver a precise attack without looking like a bitch. >> the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull, lipstick. >> that's one of the best convention speeches i have ever seen. mccain who had been 8 points down to obama with no possibility of turning it around, by the time sarah palin finished speaking, he was 5

points up. >> the campaign announced it raised $8 million online and that's just been since sarah palin gave the speech less than 24 hours ago. >> with your help, we're going to go o to washington and shake things up. >> this is the real shocker among white women mccain leads obama 53 to 41. before it was 52 to 42 obama. that was sarah palin. >> she could be vice president. >> she has more skills than anybody. >> sarah palin does steal the thunder and garners all the headlines and that's scary to barack obama. >> they were saying it's experience, experience, experience. then they chose palin and start talking about change, change, change. what happened? >> palin has yet to hold a news conference and steers well clear of the reporters that travel with her everywhere. >> she's going to have to answer questions and have to scans ans questions about her record.

>> i was curious. what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand? >> i read most of them with a great appreciation for the press and the media. >> but what specifically? >> all of them. any of them. >> there's no more teleprompter. there wasn't anything for her to memorize in preparation for her interviews with katie couric. when she was asked about foreign policy challenges, she had nothing to draw upon. >> as part of your foreign policy experience, what did you mean by that? >> that alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, russia and on our other side the land boundary that we have with canada as putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the united states of america. where do they go? it's alaska.

it's just right over the border. >> you have alaska here and this right here is water ask then that's there's russia. so we keep an eye on them. >> tina fey doesn't need new material. all she needs to do is to read a transcript of sarah palin's interview with katie couric to get huge laughs. it's embarrassing. not simply to palin, but to mccain. >> i just found out from mccain's campaign manager that they actually only met once before he started seriously considering her as a contender. >> joe lieberman was the candidate he wanted, but he was convinced that would create a revolt inside the republican party. joe lieberman is is pro choice. >> the idea that women are going to race off to vote for any candidate with the same internal plumbing is both offensive and historically wrong. >> if john mccain wins, this

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some very serious and troubling news from wall street. the most serious financial crisis since the great depression. >> heading into the fall of 2008, you had the collapse of the economy. all tied to the mortgage meltdown. at the time, everybody was still trying to figure this out. >> john mccain said he would suspend campaigning, no speeches, no fundraising, no commercials and go back to washington to help solve the economic crisis. he called for a delay in friday's first presidential debate. >> all we must do to achieve this is temporarily set poll -- politics aside and i'm committed to doing so. >> barack obama plans to debate mccain friday in mississippi. >> i thus it's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once. >> the financial crisis was this realtime test of leadership. we now get to see what it will be like for either of these people to be president in the middle of a crisis.

>> we know we have to get something done as quickly as possible. >> from the moment he set foot in whington, mccain was engulfed in politics and then second guessing of his actions. even by republicans whose in fighting unravelled a near completed deal and left mccain with little to show for his efforts. >> it's one thing to be a maverick, but you want to be a maverick who gets things done. mccain didn't. he's making obama look more presidential. >> i put forward a series of proposals that makes sure we protect taxpayers as we engage in this important rescue effort. number one, we have to make sure we have oversight. >> before it was about hope and change. now he's able to offer a vision for how he would lead the country forward in concrete ways. >> barack obama has doubled his lead in the weeks since their first debate. senator obama gets better. marks for his handling the crisis. >> campaigning in california,

sarah palin launched a new line of attack on barack obama. >> one of his earliest supporters is a man who, according to "the new york times," was a domestic terrorist and part of the group -- >> palin attacked obama for his ties to william airs, who participated during a domestic bombing campaign. >> barack obama faced a challenge this no candidate had had faced. there were whispering campaigns that barack obama had not been born in the united states. that he was a secret muslim. the idea was that barack obama was some kind of candidate that wasn't real. >> who is the real barack obama? >> obama scares me. i just -- i'm worried about what will happen to this country if obama takes over. >> he's not american. >> i can't trust obama. >> he's an arab.

>> no, ma'am. he's a decent family man, citizen, that i just happen to have disagreements with >> mccain did the country a service by refusing to embrace nasty attacks on obama and rebuking people who tried to launch those attacks. it's unfortunate that there were pockets in the country that were pushing that way. everyone to be respectful. >> john mccain is now so mavericky, he's mavericky and getting booed for it. >> he finds himself having creating this monster he can no longer control. there's a way to play this game so you end up with no good choices. we are watching a campaign in that position. >> the polls open from the east to the west across this country, the picture emerged. eager voters showed up before the polls opened and in many

cases lines as far as the eye could see. >> all of it felt like is this a real thing. is it possible that america could do this. so it was all like a collective holding of our breath. when these states will be closing. >> the rules are that we had to wait until all the voting had ended. i remember my executive producer was in the ear saying 10 seconds. it was an electric moment that i will never forget. >> cnn can now project that barack obama, 47 years old, he will be the first african-american president of the united states.

>> for those who lived through the civil rights era, it felt like the fulfillment of everything they thought the country could be. when something seems impossible and suddenly it's achieved, it's beyond words. it's still a shock to me. >> it's been a long time coming, but tonight change has come to america. >> it was just overwhelming. my friend of some years now president-elect and you could see almost instantly a change. you could see the weight of the world on his shoulders. he was already thinking about the responsibilities that had just flowed to him. in the gravity of the moment, it was palpable.

>> even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime. the road ahead will be long. our climb will be steep. we may not get there in one year or even in one term, but, mae measu america, i have never been more hopeful that i am tonight that we will get there. i promise you, we as a people will get there. >> yes, we can! yes, we can! yes, we can! then, use the ultimate power handshake, the upper hander with a double palm grab. who has the upper hand now? start winning today. book now at lq.com.

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we let you keep an eye on your business from anywhere. the others? nope! for a limited time, when you get fast, reliable internet, you can add voice for just $24.95 more per month. call or go online today. call or go on line today. all of us who are watching in the united states and around the world, we're privileged to have this front row seat of history. >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> tomorrow, the president of the united states gets down to real business. the enormous challenges facing him and the country on foreign policy and on the economic front. >> by all indications he relishes the chance to go into the oval office and get started. he wants to get moving. >> it's a rare day when a

president goes to the capitol to meet only with members of the other party. >> hello, everybody. >> president obama did just that to actively seek bipartisan support for his $825 billion economic stimulus package. >> we had a wonderful exchange of ideas. >> obama believed he'll somehow be able to reach across the aisle. but this kind of hope and change and optimism that had made this such an inspiring campaign runs up against the reality of politics in 2009 when he takes office. >> hr 1 as amended passes. >> it's a victory that came with almost no republican support, zero on the house side. three in the senate, a long way from those hopes of bipartisanship. >> old habits break hard. so we're going to keep on reaching out and eventually i have confidence that it's going to pay off. >> president obama is incredibly ambitious, and he still sees that 2009 is a unique moment. the democrats control the house

and senate, and he realizes these windows are limited. >> the president vowed to solve a problem that has bedeviled presidents since theodore roosevelt, how to reduce health care costs and expand coverage. >> one of the greatest threats, not just to the well being of our families and the prosperity of our businesses, but to the very foundation of our economy. >> president obama absolutely understood that addressing the issue of health care was going to be a really difficult challenge, but we had to try. >> we're doing it on a bipartisan basis. we're working together. the president is being very pragmatic about this. he's open to listening. that's how we're going to accomplish the goal. >> obama believes republicans will vote with him on something that's reasonable. if he compromises, they will as well. but over the course of the next few months, it turns into a terrible political challenge. >> as members of congress return to their districts for their monthlong summer break to hear from their constituents, the shouting at so-called town

meetings has sometimes reached a fever pitch. >> i don't want this country turning into russia, turning into a socialized country. >> this is not health reform. this is control. >> people who were never involved in politics before, grandmothers, grandfathers across the country saying, hey, give me my country back. 2009 was the awakening of the tea party. >> sarah palin has waded into the heated health care debate in a new facebook posting. she raises the possibility of what she calls an obama death panel. >> millions of people will be given the pill to make them comfortable while they die. >> there was an element in the republican coalition that was already beginning to listen to conspiracy theories and falsehoods. it was a sign of the kinds of things we would see balloon. >> where we do disagree, let's disagree over things that are real. not these wild

misrepresentations. >> the president said the debate is over. it's time to pass health care reform. >> but with republicans still unanimously opposed, the president left no doubt he wants democrats in congress to pass his bill with democratic votes only. >> when's the right time? if not now, when? if not us, who? >> as the final votes came in, i went and i found the president and i said, you know, i'm so thankful for what you did here on behalf of all those families who won't have to go through what my family went through when my child was young and had a chronic illness and we almost went bankrupt. and he just said, that's why we do the work. >> the challenge now is to the president to sell this to a very skeptical public in a very tough election year.

>> there's a funny thing about political success. people tend to rest at the top of the mountain. and the people who are out of power tend to gather the energy because they have a focal point. we want to get rid of this person, this congress. we want to change things. and that change possibility is energetic and frenetic. >> tonight, there's a tea party tidal wave, and we're sending a message to them. >> rand paul headlines a slate of conservative tea party-backed candidates who are partying after victories. >> a remarkable 40% of voters now identify themselves as tea party supporters. and eight out of ten of them voted republican. >> feels bad. >> two years ago, barack obama was at 62% in the polls. "time" magazine declared the republican party all but extinct. and look at where we are now. the voters have not gotten what they asked for. >> the mistake was to think that

the country speaks as one. that we're all one thing. what we really are is a mass of reactions. we're always reacting to the last thing that happened. so if the country goes left, you can be damn sure it's going to go right. if the country is looking good for rich people one day, the poor people will hate that and get angry. if we think we're past race, racism will come right back. our pendulum swings. in the long run, we make progress, but it can be pretty ugly to watch. >> what a week. the state of hawaii released my official long form birth certificate. no one is happier to put this birth certificate to rest than the donald. obviously we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. seriously, in an episode of "the apprentice," you recognized the real problem was a lack of leadership. and so ultimately you didn't

blame lil jon, or meat loaf. you fired gary busey. these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night ♪ it's a time of enormous turmoil. >> the '60s are over, dad. >> here's michael at the foul line. good! >> we intend to cover all the news all the time. we won't be signing off until the world ends. >> isn't that special? >> any tool for human expression will bring out both the best and worst in us. and television has been that. >> they don't pay me enough to deal with animals like this. >> people are no longer embarrassed to admit they watch television. >> we have seen the news, and it is us. ♪