his door was open for ed murrow. ed murrow would drop in at 10 downing street for a couple of, you know -- churchill would come out and wave him in. do you have time for several whiskey's. so they would sit and have whiskey's and talk. he included winant and harriman even more. they were government officials. so he made himself available to them in ways that had never been before. he made himself available and teammate members of his government available. the really interesting thing goes to what you are saying. he made them part of his own personal family as well. they really work, especially winant and harriman, the fact of members of the churchill family. they spent many, if not most, weekends with the churchill's at the various country houses that they would get to during the war. the relationships was so close that all three of them did have more time with members of the churchill family. churchill's middle daughter, favorite daughter. harriman and murrow. she was married to randolph churchill. i should add that

but the key character is murrow. his broadcast with more ournalists during this time. >> the responsible uniforms, talking about military stuff and epvilians would come like a garnish on a plate but what reporting was coming out of germany? not many reporters could get much out but reynolds packer who wrote the kansas city milkman, we used to -- a you see stuff from the other side. >> the germans really cracked down on american reporters. one of the murrow boys reported rom germany until 1940. but the germans were really censoring british american western reporters out of the country. t islaimed he was about to be arrested which is why he left berlin. good american reporters tried to get the story out but it was difficult to do. obviously they all left before we got into the war. >> let me throw this open for questions. are we wired for questions? >> there's a microphone. [talking over each other] >> you mentioned canada use the word poison the well by telling fdr that it was unbalanced or whenever. how is it that he

ed murrow was in the white house that night.e talked about how roosevelt was just ashen and upset. i don't know, but i don't believe either of these two men knew. i don't think there was a conspiracy. >> if you will permit me, i really don't like to ask questions. i like to make statements. i think a lot of people should like to make statements to set history of to get right, is it more about history that is more pertinent to our lives now. i was wondering if you might be interested in writing about this history. first of all, about the tax when kennedy came into office the tax rate for corporations was 93%. we don't hear that at all. all we hear is when the taxes. >> we are kind of short on time. we will probably have to skip that one if you don't mind. >> that is not my area, my expertise is world xdwar ii. let's give us better government. if we can get our taxes picked up. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> two quick questions. i heard your interview on npr. could you recount again what joseph kennedy's attitude was toward church

murrow and murrow couldn't stand him. and when cronkite took over to be the anchor it was over murrow's dead body, and murrow, of course, went into the kennedy administration then. but he thought walter wasn't an intellectual. that the intellectuals were charles collingwood whoagc had received a rhodes and went to cornell and eric sevareid the philosopher from minnesota, where cronkite was kind of the gumshoe up reporter and didn't have this kind of book learning that murrow thought needed to be his successor. so it's a fascinating chapter. >> what are you teaching? >> i teach an undergraduate course on the american presidency and in the process of developing -- >> where? >> -- a graduate course at george mason here in suburban washington, which is a wonderful and in many way very unusual university in that it is very collegial and very entrepreneurial. and those are not traits that one universally associates with the academy. >> and what are you writing? >> i am still writing, as i have been for the last 10 years, a biog

back to ed murrow's sex life. rtaireally. thday we have certain journalists who declare themselves fair and balanced and are not either and back then the s thewas crucial and these guys, anis was the beginning of the spoken word and some of the other people at that point there was a major story to tell and if you just said our business of objectivity is a really difficult word because it is essentially impossible but there is real fairness, the balance is tough. so what was the role of the broadcasters and the good journalists and solid people in this difficult period? >> that is a reallyd

murrow awards, including best news operation and best breaking news coverage. a big congratulations to them. >>> coming up, it is official, a rematch is coming in the race for maryland governor. >> a son is suing his mother for what she wrote on his facebook page. >> gas prices back near $4 per gallon? >> physically, i cannot think or move. >> next, a tennis legend that begins the fight of her life. >>> surprising news from a sports legend. >> martina navratilova has been diagnosed with breast cancer. >> it was spotted during a routine mammogram. the tennis champ admits it was not routine and has a message for women not to follow her example. she is a 9 time wimbledon champion, winner of 18 grand slam singles titles, and currently health and fitness spokesperson for aarp. when martina navratilova learned she had breast cancer, she was shocked. >> physically, i cannot think or move. >> in an exclusive interview with good morning america, she sd a mammogram and biopsy revealed it was a non invasive cancer with a 98% recovery rate. still, she thought it would neve

the action, as well as new state law, gives the bombing at the murrow federal building is a place in history as well as how the people of this state came together for ever after. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, superintendents garrett. thank you also to gov. henry for making this dream a reality. we believe educating our children to the senselessness of violence and terrorism, and shoving first and the high price to be paid for those actions helped to shape a better future for all of us. this morning we are also joined by one of our oklahoma congressional leaders who is serving -- was serving as a lieutenant governor 15 years ago. she brings with her at a resolution from the u.s. congress. please welcome congresswoman mary phelan. [applause] >> good morning. secretary napolitano, gov. henry, mayor cornett, other distinguished guests, and it is my honor to have introduced a special resolution in the conference co-sponsored by our entire congressional delegation. it reads, resolution, remembering the victims of the attack of the federal building in oklahoma city, whereas on april 1

as edward murrow used to say, good night, and good luck. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> ok, now we have got 20 minutes when you can ask questions, and all i would ask the to do -- i concede there. i beg of you, ask a question. do not make a speech. identify yourself, and we will start right over here. >> my name is ari, and i am from a group called "media matters." fox news aired 73 in show promotions for the event. they told viewers they need to visit -- >> we are missing some of what you're saying. >> speak a little more slowly. >> your business network host told viewers they need to visit the tea party website to buy merchandise, and your network had graphics saying fox tea parties. is it appropriate for a network to engage in so many politics? >> i do not think we should be supporting the tea party or any other party, but i would like to investigate what i am saying greece -- what you are saying before i condemn anyone. sphen>> i am a student

he has won two edward murrow award and was a finalist for the national magazine award. the american journalism review profiled him as one of washington's most enterprising journalist. he is now the founder of a media consulting group. it is my honor to have him here. i am looking forward to his remarks. >> thank you. [applause] despite his kind words today, i thought i would be a little country in and talk about whistle-blowers. -- contrarian and talk about whistle-blowers. i was a journalist for 25 years. during that time, i produced a report on a couple dozen stories that involve whistle-blowers. i interviewed and talk to and ultimately declined to do stories on probably two or three times the number of people who ultimately did report on. why was i selected? this -- selective? the truth is, whistle-blowers can be really difficult people. they can be a huge pain in the neck. i am not saying that lightly. there are a lot of reasons why. they all have an ax to grind. they're trying to get their own story out. many of them have an inflated sense of what they want to brea

however no one is even trying to be ed murrow anymore like anyone in politics is trying to be a blank in any more. and this creates a problem because even c-span which is filming this even c-span has experienced a decline in the the ability according to recent polls. unedited coverage. people are not believing what they see with their own on is because they are used to being spun to death by extremes. it has eight toll on all society and exacerbates. >> the man in the red jacket has a question. we will get a microphone. >> mike caswell from the union square area. where do you put the progressives who criticize bush but also now increasingly are criticizing the president as moving the senter if not to the fight and is it really fair to demonize progressives who called for the impeachment of bush on substantive ground without name calling? >> ig the question. to the viewers watching in the heartland of america we are in my home town of manhattan and i love it. [laughter] [applause] it's important to appreciate that the dynamic that you're describing which is far left liberals progressiv

murrow could not stand him. he thought that walter was not an intellectual, that the intellectuals were charles collingwood and the philosopher from minnesota. cronkite was more of a gun issue -- gum shoe reporter. >> what are you teaching? >> i am teaching an undergraduate course on the presidency. it is a very unusual university in that it is very collegial. it is very entrepreneurial. those are not traits that one university associates with the academy. >> what are you writing? >> i am still writing for the past 10 years, paid biography of nelson rockefeller. >> in 1993, doug brinkley, you talked about communicating. this shows the difference between then and now. let's watch. >> one of the things is that these are adults. but they may be young people, but to me, at 21 years old, they are an adult. they have to call home and their parents have an itinerary and they know how to reach us. that was it. people would make their own phone calls. i was not responsible for that. they would have to pay for it themselv

murrow school of communication. she describes her early years in the newsroom and offers advice for budding journalists. plus, find a link to tonight's "frontline" on the dancing boys of afghanistan, an ancient tradition where boys are dressed in women's clothes and taught to entertain male audiences. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. jeff. >> brown: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm jeffrey brown. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thanks for being with us. good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

they met at the oklahoma city national memorial which includes the site where the alfred murrow building. on the morning of april 19, 1995 a huge truck bomb exploded just outside the building. it killed 168 people and wounded more than 600 others. the enormous blast also damaged hundreds of millions of dollars of property. today mayor mick cornet said the city refused to let that day be an end. >> we have chosen strength. we have chosen optimism. we have chosen freedom. and we have chosen to move forward together. with a level of unity that is unmatched in any american city. >> reporter: the principal figure behind the attack was timothy mcveigh a u.s. army veteran and former security guard. he said he was seeking revenge against the tyrannical federal government. he was convicted on federal murder charges and executed in 2001. >> the system works. america is good. >> reporter: mcveigh's accomplice terry nicholls nichols was convicted on federal and state bomb-related charges. he's serving multiple bomb sentences at a federal prison in colorado. the plot unraveled almost immediately when

murrow did reporter based in london for cbs visited the concentration camp right after it was open. he did not go back to his hotel room and played an immediate broadcast. he was so overwhelmed by the horror that he saw that he spent three days thinking about it before he actually wrote it. when he did write it became one of the classics in the american broadcasting history. you're own sense of that. would you think that was good journalism to wait three days before you share with your public that which you experience this credible experience? how would you put it? >> yes, i don't know that you could do wheat today because you would have your competitors with you racing out to tell the story. clearly it can lead to classical work. but the race to be first can lead to corners been cut and we have to be careful about that and that is where anything comes in and i think as we've discovered the three great networks will discover at the same moment i think he would imagine they would race to get on the air. >> absolutely. so today given the nature of journalism and competition that kind