"washington post" assistant managing editor bob woodward.for coming by. >> let's start with what's atop the news today. you've watch eed this stuff a lg time. how do you assess obama in this leadership role and in both parties? >> obama has a big problem. the expectation is, the stewardship role of the president, he's going to take care of everyone, and it's -- it's really potentially kind of ten days that shook the world. if they don't fix this, as you well know, the economic reverberations will be endless, perhaps. so even though the republicans have immense responsibility, the president is expected to be the leader. when there was the famous government shutdown in the '90s they blamed the republicans, but there was no real economic impact. if this is not worked out, the economic impact is going to be giant. >> and what's your gut tell you on that? briefly, are you optimistic or pessimistic as you look at the next couple of weeks? >> here thei ishthe -- you talk people in the republican party, democrat party, they all talk about public ser

bob woodward, andrea mitchell, jamie tarabay and clarence page. that's the show. th

joining us now, bob woodward, subject of the note, and for the record, his sources stood the test ofthe watergate scandal. how much does all of this surprise you? >> it's interesting because this is 38 years ago, carl bernstein and i were doing this reporting for the "post" talking to people, getting lots of detail about the coverup, about illegal campaign money, dirty tricks, and it was an era when you could go to the white house and talk to dave gergen for an hour and a half and spell out what we had and say, what can you give me guidance on, what's your response? and there was no rush to print. we eventually printed all of these stories, but sometimes it would take weeks. >> you bring up an interesting point about the times and how much times have changed in terms of reporting and privacy. do you think presidents now have it easier or harder in this youtube/facebook world. >> everything is driven by the impatience and speed, and give me a sound bite and, of course, in doing this story about nixon it wasn't about sound bites, it was about real reporting and getting detail and so fo

. >>> tuesday, the day of those hearings, my colleague spoke with carl bernstein, who with bob woodward, broke the story of watergate. they spoke strongly about press intrusion at the princess diana funeral. >> you had some hopes of purse reform. it did to get anywhere today? >> i had high hopes today, but not at all. i thought they would be briefed well enough to get through the questions from hampered inquisitor's because they are dealing with the backdrop of the inquiry. not many punches were landed. i don't like any great progress was made. >> was this a big moment, are things changing? >> i hope so. i am an optimist. i think if they don't change on the back of what has happened on the past few weeks, that we get a more accountable press, one that is not accused of criminal acts, i don't know when we will. >> what has been the effect over the years on you and your family? >> fairly massive, but i have chose to live abroad to get away from tabloid intrusion. this is much more a case not about people like myself who could move, but it is about people who may be rolled over by the pres

entire outfit, when david gergen writes ominously that he received an urgent call from reporter bob woodward that "the post" was agonizing over a story that would implicate richard nixon in a cover-up. richard nixon was gone 469 days later. we have placed all of these documents and the new recordings on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. they make for some fascinating reading and listening. >>> and when we come back here tonight, the space shuttle program rolls into the history books, but what next? >>> a major chapter in america's space program came to a close early this morning as the space shuttle "atlantis" touched down for the last time. this means for american astronauts, for now the russians are now our ride into space. as you might imagine, this was a bittersweet day for the men and women who have made it all happen. nbc's tom costello reports tonight from the nbc space center. >> reporter: in a pre-dawn landing with nasa precision, "atlantis" and her crew of four returned home safely this morning. >> main gear touchdown. >> reporter: at 5:57 a.m. america officially retired its last spa

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the reporting of bob woodward and carl bernstein led to the watergate scandal and the downfall of president richard nixon and the paper is most well known for all of its political coverage but oh how that might be newspaper has fallen this week of those who broke a major news with the following headline michelle obama orders seventeen hundred calorie meal at shake shack can you believe now it turns out there was about a fifteen hundred calorie meal but that's not the point here this is a suppose it world class newspaper has a leader in print journalism actually put time and effort into a story about the first lady eating a burger and fries at a d.c. restaurant i'm sorry but it's just stupid but not to be outdone the next day they also ran an online poll asking is michelle obama hippocrates for loving burgers give me a break guys she ate a greasy burger it happens at the paper as a notice the first lady is in excellent shape she's got a killer body she often talks about her workout routine and the post wanted to know if it was a bad example for the first lady to be eating a burger while push

in a few moments, i will be speaking to bob woodward. all the discussion tonight has been about the end of an era. another end of tomorrow. if all goes according to morrow, the space shuttle atlantis will go off. it is the last a shuttle launch ever. we are talking to the teams that want to take over including one that signing the deal to use the kennedy facilities. the plan to open it up to everyone not just astronauts appeared what could be the next chapter for human space flight? ♪ >> by tomorrow morning, this beach will be packed as it has been for every significant launch. this is the beach in florida, the closest to the kennedy space center in the launch pad of these benishek. this has been everything from the first american into space to the apollo mission that put our shahram on the moon. and of course, every shuttle launch. -- that put neil armstrong on the moon. and of course, every shuttle launch. it is really a delivery van, a way of getting stuck up to the space station. four people were aspire, and they think of the moon la

. >> reporter: then there is bob woodward, retired from stanford university. >> what better thing to do than help the state along with doing the things i really enjoy doing? >> reporter: the department of fish & game is still accepting applications for the next class. don ford, cbs 5. >>> a silver lining in the bad economy. why some bay area homeowners are getting an unexpected break on their taxes. >> looks like a bank of fog? something much dirtier. a city overtaken by a giant wall of dust. you're smiling. and when they're laughing... you're laughing. be kind to your eyes... with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see your whole day comfortably... and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. stain from an otherwise pristine wall-to-wall? or granted the christmas dreams of twins whose only wish was the shine of a professionally-cleaned hardwood floor? well, i have seen the glory of steam-cleaned kitchen tile in the early morning hours! i have saved floors. i have lived!

. >> as soon as one starts to talk, like a bob woodward novel. one or two. >> and the cat's out of the bag. sometimes jurors want to correct something other jurors, that unity kind of dissolves. a little bit. >> but i would just ask people, to, please, respect the jurors and the process, as some people have been saying on twitter today. we weren't in the jury room. most of us weren't even in the courtroom. and so while it is easy to criticize their verdict, we have to respect what they've been through. this has been an intensely difficult process for them. they have to live with this verdict for the rest of their lives. much more so than any of us do. so to threaten or question their verdict, even, i think is terribly unfair. >> just about one minute left. take us to the big picture between the don 'nique strauss-kahn case, and everyone jumped to judgment about a character, unsavory, but may not be guilty of what he was charged with. is there a bigger constitutional lesson in this, savannah, about the presumption of innocence a day after july 4th

piloting skills for his proud bride and got to see the couple unleash competitive streaks and bob woodward reports this morning from yellowknife, canada. ♪ >> reporter: royal tours are highly scripted affairs. every handshake, every outfit, every moment planned to the finest detail which is why this is causing such a stir. it wasn't much, a responsibspon very brief embrace but this was a highly unusual public display of affection. >> prince william is going to do things his way and, you know, they both say, this is how we do it. that's how you did it then but we're doing it different now. >> reporter: the royal squeeze came moments after prince william and kate competed head to head in a dragon boat race on the lake. at first it looked like kate's team might win. but will's boat crossed first, which seemed to disappoint many watching from shore. >> she's beautiful. she's athletic. >> yeah. >> she seems very nice. >> yeah. >> like one of us. >> reporter: throughout the first five days of this trip the crowds and the cameras have been focused almost entirely on kate. what she wears is big ne