tonight a conversation with billy bob thornton. he is out with a new book about his life and career. the book includes details about his rise to fame from small-town arkansas and his thoughts on the state of american culture. we are glad you can join us. coming up right now. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: pleased to welcome billy bob thornton to this program. the award-winning actor and writer has teamed up with another colorful son of the southwest, kinky friedman, for a new book about his life and career, called "the billy bob tapes: a cave full of ghosts." ooh. cave full of ghosts, billy bob? >> yeah, well, it's actually a song title of ours. tavis: yeah, yeah. >> yeah, i figure that's a good way to say it when you're talking about your past and whatnot. so it was -

join me next time for a conversation with -- oscar winner billy bob born on his new book. that is next time. we will see you then. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs. pbs.

>> billy bob thornton? played the president? >> yeah yeah. let's talk about your weather.are concerned about strong storms. you can see it right there. northern plains pushing into the upper great lakes and parts of the mid-mississippi valley and even the ohio valley could be dealing with strong to potentially severe storms. that is one of the hallmarks of your weather today. lots of instability in the atmosphere and lots of heat in the southern states and out west as welcoming up a little later. we'll talk about the heat we can't beat >>> well, for our weekend, it is pretty hot and steamy already. we have a dew point that is very high. moisture is very high. high pressure for hot and humid air to keep moving across the mid atlantic, across maryland. hit and miss thunderstorms today. our forecast >>> love actually. that was the movie that billy bob played the president. we actually love rebecca and terrell. i'll send it back to you guys. >> we love you too. even though you ask us brain busters. no idea. >>> an amazing discovery in the mountains of afghanistan. after more t

. >> stephanie: billy bob in kentucky. you're on "the stephanie miller show."'t have a war on coal. he has said many times he's for all of the above in terms of energy. >> caller: no, he is not. he's trying to kill the coal industry. he's shutting down coal fired generator plants all over the united states. he's killing all of the coal miner's jobs. he's destroying the families. >> stephanie: mm-hmm. >> coal is incredibly dirty. it leaves all kinds of nasty things in the environment and to get to the coal, they often have to shave off the top of a mountain. they poison the rivers. it is just -- >> it is inefficient. >> and it's horrible for the environment. there's no such thing as clean coal. they keep talking about it. >> so why wouldn't it behoove us to search for a cleaner method of energy. >> caller: hello? >> i was waiting to hear his answer. >> stephanie: that seemed to be too many scientific things all at once. >> mercury is a by-product of coal and it winds up in the rivers and you can't eat the fish you catch out of the rivers and you get mercury pois

bob: they do! >> eric: all right. we have to move on. so, my good friend billy hallowell at the blaze sent this to me., with know about chick-fil-a and where they are with the christian beliefs. they're five other companies who are out with the christian beliefs. forever 21 puts john 3:16 in all of their shopping bags which says god so loved the world he gave his only son. in and out burger puts it on the drink cups. ty sob food. interstate batteries and lobby lobby very christian, believing and out there. hopefully these groups don't boycott. >> andrea: real quick. we have had bible verses on our menus at the restaurant every day. if they didn't like it, they didn't have to eat there. >> bob: does forever 21 put it on the bikinis? >> eric: in the shopping bag. >> bob: this is an irritating thing for me. religious leaders around the country. the republican budget which has been decried by many religious leaders because they call it unfair. they call it indecent. they call it a lot of things. i always am amazed how republicans who wrap themselves around god and the bible, and they go out and vote for s

billy graham is taken to the hospital with a lung infection. we have a packed show. spiritual leader t.d. james and picabo street and representative chris van lol den and bob mcdonnell and debbie wasserman shultz all joining us this morning. it's monday, august 13th and "starting point" begins right now. >>> this morning we're talking about congressman paul ryan, mitt romney's new running mate, one man who knows him very well is ryan lizza, he was writing an in depth article about how ryan won over the gop. ryan is with us this morning. it was eight days, nine days ago we were discussing paul ryan, the article in "the new yorker" called fuss budget. did you know then he was actually on the fast track to be a pick for the vp? >> no, we barely talked about it in my interview. the reason i wrote the piece, i wanted to think about what is romney going so do if he wins. if you want to understand what republicans will do if they gain the white house, paul ryan is the guy to understand. it was his policy agenda that you knew romney was going in the direction. i didn't think he would take paul ryan himself. >> you could have said yes and told us you did -- >> i wa