clarence king fahd to ensure that no paper trail of his secret life would exist. no pictures of him with his wife exist. no pisa paper beers both his signature, either one, and hers. they married in a private ceremony conducted by ada's minister from the episcopal church but king never went to city hall to write his name on an official marriage license and he made sure that the pupil gold wedding band he gave to her would not be inscribed on the inside. he was a celebrated storyteller, but trust me he left behind no stories about his secret life. is well-to-do friends in newport in manhattan thought him the most eligible bachelor in all of new york. they never knew about ada, and she of course never knew about his public life as clarence king. so, to tell a story like this presents a particular challenge to a historian. trust me, many times when i was working on this story i want to be a novelist. i wanted to be, i wanted to know what was going on in their heads. i wanted to be able to say everything but i don't have that kind of knowledge and i don't have self-co

ada todd was an eye to married to clarence king, is celebrated public a.a person the american secretary of state john hayes was call the person who was the best and brightest of his generation king was a larger-than-life character from a western explored phraseologist an accomplished writer and storyteller. he hobnobbed with presidents and congressman, can to some of the nation's most distinguished writers and artists of his closest friends. his physical agility and bravery combined with his keen intellect and wit commandery air -- near reverence for those who knew him best. with king and the historian henry adams roach, men were shipped not so much as the ideal american and they all wanted to be. this, of for husbands tried kennedy and even his real family genealogy through the memories of his friends, through his letters, his published writings, through the records of the government agencies which he served as an administrator. his race, social status, education, his professional career let us know much more about him than we know about most americans bo

taste the joy we put in every spoonful. >>> clarence page and susan page with "the politics fix."et me start with susan. seems to me secretary of state clinton went to africa and spent 12 days in some unpleasant countries. countries at war, countries that pose danger to her as visitor. talked about blood diamonds. talked about women's rights which are not honored in the world many places. she got no credit for it. all she got is the cheap shot because of what she got when she lost it a bit with that question from that kid, what she thought was a question about her husband's thinking, not hers. what do you make of all of this? >> i'm sure it was very frustrating for her. it was a long trip focused on issues that americans are and american diplomats often don't pay that much attention to. in places like congo. but it is true that it was -- her husband was getting a lot more attention in north korea, and one incident at a news conference sort of is the thing that the public will -- the information the public got about the trip that she made. i'm sure that's disappointing. >> you know

i remember covering clarence thomas early on in justice thomas was a source for me when he was in the education to prevent famines later from the district of columbia court of appeals and i must tell you this interesting, people info fess reagan and bush in this race and oftentimes is viewed him as not sufficiently conservative. they wish to is more outspoken in their people, black people including in it the reagan and bush administrations who thought one thomas should be more of spoken in take on some of these issues which you look back and he transformed the equal employment opportunity commission and brought them into the 20th century in terms of computers in the light and got a lot of the backlog at of the way unsatisfied and change the framework in thinking much away from class action suits to individual claims of

and i remember covering clarence thomas early on.omas was a source for me when he was first in the education department and then at eeoc and the district of columbia court of appeals. and i must tell you, you know, it's interesting people in the reagan and then the bush administration oftentimes viewed him as not sufficiently conservative. they wished he was more outspoken and there were people, black people, including black people in the reagan and bush administrations who thought, you know, clarence thomas should be more outspoken. he should take on some of these issues. but you look back and, you know, he transformed the equal employment opportunity commission. brought them into the 20th century in terms of computers and the like, got a lot of the backlog out of the way. satisfied it. changed the framework in the way of thinking. went much away from class action suits to individual claims of discrimination. that was his conservative viewpoint and i think he brings a conservative viewpoint to the court and i think that's what the f

squishy concept right now they're hoping will cushion the blow they're going to get -- >> maybe, clarenceand, susie, you don't take any position, but it seems to me if you can walk away at thanksgiving time if you're president of the united states and say for the first time in american history young people, healthy people who think they're immune to sickness are now going to have to participate in the health care system to share the costs and risks of high health care with everybody, you're going to have a system of subsidies for working people to help them afford health insurance, you will encourage employers to pay for health insurance and solve problems like portability and pre-existing conditions. you get all that, you sign it, that's better than nothing. >> they can get all, that that's better than nothing indeed. nobody knows how it's going to work. that's the question. it's not as simple of a concept as the public option which would be in general something like medicare for everybody. that's easier to say and explain than something that's going to be kind of a hybrid between medica

johnson looked at mitchell and said, "how many votes do you have, clarence?" that is what it will come down to with obama. >> the wascally wabbit is dead. in the end, the liberals are bluffing. mara liasson of npr put it correctly. there is no left wing democrat who will lose a seat if the option is left out of the bill, but there are a lot of moderate democrats who will lose a seat if the public option is in the bill. that willetermine how it goes. there will be no public option. there might be a co-op idea, which is a trojan horse, which would be a substitute. >> i don't think there will be a co-op idea. that has fallen pretty flat. it would not surprise me if the house passes a bill with the public option it. and the senate passes some bifurcated thing that does not have the public option, and it is all resolved in conference, probably without a public option. that will be the big trade off, that you have a public option and you give in on x, y, and z. >> you have the blue dogs digging in their heels, you have howard dean saying that the public option has t

clarence, you said health care reform could become obama's iraq. is it as bad as some democrats fear right now? >> i think they were caught off guard by the at least the visible theatrics if you will of the town hall protests. it's thrown them off message. they haven't had anything positive to sell as far as specifics go because the legislation is still being worked out. it is very easy to attack the overall concept. they have been on the defensive. they are trying to get their footing again. it is not too late but there are remarkable similarities to the way iraq went wrong very early. >> david the president said the media coverage of these town hall meetings is inaccurate and we are focusing on the most dramatic exchanges that is giving more power to the loudest people than there should be. do you think that is fair? >> i think you are seeing the workings of dreags as a country works its way to a compromise on a tremendous issue. there is no way they are not going to not pass something they can call a victory. there is a possibility with this ris

have that, and said, "how many votes do you have, clarence?" this is what will come down to, how many votes out of the senate. >> charles? >> it doesn't have a chance. mara liasson of npr put it correctly -- there is no left wing democrat who will lose his seat if the option is left out of the bill. there are moderate democrats who will lose his seat if it is in the bill. that will determine how it goes. there will be no public option. there might be a co-op idea, which is a trojan horse. >> nina? >> i don't think there will be a co-op idea. it would not surprise me if the bill passes the house with the public option and the senate passes a bifurcated thing that does not have the public option, and it is all resolved in conference, probably without the public option. that will be the big trade-off. ok, you drop the public option, and give on x, y, and busy. >> you have the blue dogs digging in their heels, united jerrold nadler saying he would not vote for it, he said that howard dean -- you saw howard dean said it has to be there. >> 50 opposi

the way this particular presentation evolved initially there was the henry fonda version of clarence daro. i was in rehearsals for that and luckily nielsen pulled our rights on that and we thought what would the do? and we feud a flawed contradictory daro and human, accessible daro and in this presentation we let the summations breathe a little more and they have more power and potency. they become arguments and summations that actually resonate on an emotional an intellectual level as well. >> reporter: where did this passion for justice come from inside of daro? his father was an abolitionist and his mother worked for women's rights. >> he is actually been quoted several times as saying, i'm not here to use the law to protect my client. i'm here to protect my client from the law. he happened to be able to channel his gifts, his empathy to his fellow man through the law and so he was able to actually do what you would want a representative to do to actually represent someone, to actually become them and he had, he was a social reformer, he was a philosopher. he was quoted as saying

he sought as the capstone of his live. >> host: what did you think of clarence thomas? >> guest: most people would come up and ask this question must assume there was a great deal of antagonism between two and, in fact, and told by people who work with justice marshall during their controversial hearings. thomas and anita hill, justice marshall of one point began to pry and the reason was he felt people were not taking the future justice thomas seriously understanding what a young man he was and how long would be on the port and the impact here and have filled a press conference that he had of the time he announced his retirement from the court justice marshall had spoken about their not being a black seat on the court and nobody to replace him with a black person. this was less said in reference to justice thomas, it was a saving in general and i think of how justice marshall feld there was no one person to replace him. he had a strong sense of yvo unity was insecure and so when justice thomas's highly confirm justice thomas arranges to have been facing down a couple o

this black collar said that clarence thomas was not really black.e said 80% of black people vote for the democrats, and therefore clarence thomas was not black because he did not think like them. here is the orwellian part, this man has put his mind into slavery. he believes you must think a certain way to be black. this is a left-wing perception that you have to think a certain way. clarence thomas thinks for himself. host: let's wrap this up and bring it back to the question. this is regarding present obama and saying he is ok with a single term. with that work for you? caller: i don't think he is genuine in that. i think that was a political statement. i happen to like the man. i think he has a wonderful family, but i don't like his politics. host: we will move on. this analysis this morning under the headline, "the passaic professor." obama tries to convince the public of the need to enact health care reform in the presidential approval ratings are on the wane. we will look at more of that in a few seconds, but back to the phones. ohio on our in

there was a group earlier at the home playing games and there could have been an argument there clarence rankin was known to help others and sponsored get-the togethers for the local jamaica community. >> he helped people, put them to the airport, everything. i don't know why a feud happened like that. >> the police did find a handgun on the scene but hadn't figured out who it belonged to. so far no arrests were made. >>> and everywhere, deadly day on the waters, one died, two rescued after two boats collided at curtis creek. the coast guard found a dead man in his boat. the two survivors were found hanging to the side of their boat. the cause is under investigation. >>> and a massive wildfire gaining ground tonight. some 2000 firefighters fighting the flames at least two people burned when they didn't evacuate and tried to ride out the fire storm in a hot tub. the mandatory evacuations forced thousands from their homes. other centers put up to help people forced from their homes. >>> and looking at an incident. the senator announced he will propose measures to stop a similar crash from

the chicago tribune's clarence page is a syndicated columnist, and "the boston globe's" susan milligans the author of "the last lion," the book about ted kennedy. what is the condition of the senator as you can report it now for "the globe" and for us? >> well, obviously it's very tough. he's got a very aggressive brain tumor. we haven't seen him outside in quite some time. his family has been very good about keeping him -- keeping his day-to-day condition very private, but certainly he's not been well. he didn't go to his sister eunice's funeral, and that was certainly a sign of how things are, and i know that he would want to be in washington right now trying to work on this health care plan if he could. >> is there a calculation -- i know it's tough because everybody loves him up there and around the country, most people do actually. do you think he could make a vote in the senate if he had to come down and make a vote? >> you know, honestly, i know that people who don't know him think this is a crazy thing to say, but i can entirely envision a scenario where he would manage to get

. >> reporter: clarence rankin was a person who loved his jamaica heritage. friends say he was very kind to those in need. tonight police want to know if somebody went to see home, not for fun but with the intention to kill. in this back yard, gunfire ended a night of fun. the police say that 63-year-old clarence rankin was shot multiple times and killed in his own yard. all day sunday, a large gathers of friends and family gathered in disbelief at his university boulevard home. >> it was a sad, sad story, a very nice guy, just a real friendly kind of individual. and i'm obviously sorry to see him go. >> reporter: the montgomery police made no arrests, but say two others showed up at the hospital at the same time with guns. they believe the incidents could have been connected. witnesses there at the house party say there was a conflict over money regarding games. friends say that rankin routinely had gathers with the jamaica people in the community. >> helped people do everything. i don't know what happened last night. >> reporter: he was popular in the commu

clarence, you have a child that will be in the first grade. how do you feel about your student starting school here on monday. >> i'm greatly concerned about the air quality in the school come monday because there lab lot of residual dust from the construction itself. they have cut a lot of holes in the school. there is a lot of brick mason dust and probably asbestos dust in that school. so great concern is we have 380 students that is looking to return on monday and unfortunately they will be coming to school in an unsafe environment. >> thank you very much, clarence. here's what the opefn, the dc office that is running the renovation, just released a statement. this is what they said about it. they said our construction crews are putting the finishing construction on most of it and mostly can doing deep cleaning of the facility. they say they will be preparing if the first day of school. the bottom line they say this will be ready for the students on monday. parents, of course, are saying they don't see any way that is possible. i have to sa

let's stick with the status quo. >> clarence page of the "chicago tribune." thanks as always. >> stay tuned. >> now with us to dig into the poll numbers we mentioned, melissa harris lacewell, african-american studies at princeton university. professor, good evening. >> nice to be here. >> republicans are crowing about the president's loss of support about how he's handling health care. it's down 11%. the publicly released poll from abc and "the washington post," but the plug line blog reported the internals of the poll also show he is down 11% on this topic among liberals s that not the message for the president? you know, never mind bipartisanship, you're not even getting partisanship on this now. >> i think it's more complex than that. so you have on the one hand this kind of issue-based approval rating going down. but his personal approval rating is robust. two-thirds of americans still see president obama as someone who cares about people like them. well over 60% still see president obama as a strong leader. when george w. bush's poll ratings plummeted af

prosecutors said clarence myers said the fire that killed his girlfriend's two daughters. the 12 year-old and a 16 year- old died in february when the fire raced through their home in hancock, maryland. myers admitted starting the fire, hoping to collect donations from the community. police have found the suspect w ho opened fire at an arlington apple store last month. 21 year-old byron dean was already in jail on unrelated charges. during the doorbell at the back of the stores. a few moments later the woman was shot in the shoulder. she's recovering. a new effort underway in fairfax county to fight underage drinking. police and county and business leaders joining together to introduce something to identify fake i.d. cards. the responsibility toolkit includes a small magnification tool for restaurant and bar staff. local leaders are starting education campaign on the dangers of the underage drinking. it will soon cost more to use valet parking in the district because it will charge restaurants more to get permits. businesses that offer valet four days a week must park cars

it happened at 5:00 this morning at 900 block of university boulevard. 63-year-old clarence rankin was found near the side door of his residence and was shot several times. two other men turned up at a local hospital suffering from gunshot wounds. is there a connection? >> police were notified of two other subjects, a 39-year-old hyattsville man and a 44-year-old new carrolton man in a nearby hospital. their relation to this event remains under investigation. what we have learned is that in the early-morning hours there were an undetermined number of people at this residence. hal, the 63-year-old man went to the side yard and became a victim of a shooting and is still under investigation. >> a handgun was recovered at the scene where rankin was found. >>> steady stream of mourners may their respects to senator ted kennedy. today is the first time that the public could view the grave site. we have more on the story. >> the media and public had strict access near the grave site. we were allowed to take pictures for a few minutes before we had to leave but it was the first chance for non-

. >> arifing officers found 63-year-old clarence rankin in a side yard, fatally wounded. >> it's shocking when someone is kill, partilacu67rly right outside their home. >> investigators quickly got word of two other wounded men who appeared at a nearby hospital. >> we're not sure how these people that were at the hospital about the same time as the gunshot wounds are related to this event o how they're realed to this event. >> but neighbor says the corner is a magnet for loud parties and fighting. as investigators sort through the scene, there are dozens of evidence markers here, some like 73-year-old wilson say they felt like they're trapped in their own homes. >> i ner step across, i never step out, unless i'm going to go grocery shopping. i'm always cooped up in here. >> police are stressing this was not a random crime. they believe that rankin knew his killer. family members say rankin was seen in a bar late last night, they're trying to track his movements nd police did find what they believe is the murder weapon, a handgun, at the scene. if you have information about this crime, pol

let's turn to clarence paige, pulitzer prize winning columnist. the "wall street journal" croats an aide saying democratic statements over the weekend that led to confusion among supporters were, quote, calculated to test republican responses. is this rope-a-dope, then pass a democratic plan with or without a single republican vote? is that what it is or are they pretending that's what it is? >> a lot of ways republicans have been doing that job for the democrats, but when i heard that statement, i was trying to read the tea leaves and wondering if the administration wasn't trying to top their own progressive wing to float that trial balloon out there to point out, to say that the public option is not potential. to say that public option is not essential, that is saying, hey, we're ready to cut this overboard if we need to in order to get a bill passed. that is a direct red flag to the progressive party. and they reacted that way this week. so i personally can't help but think they were really sending signals to their own left wing. president obam

if so, how will that impact the rift growing inside the party in the chicago tribune's clarence page and the new york time's jeff bellamy joining us. >>> before we go to break, we want to take this moment to remember a pioneer, "6 to 0 minutes" creator don hewitt, died today of pancreatic cancer at the able of 86. he was known as the father of modern television for a good reason. he was the executive producer of cbs news, a title he took after stepping down only five years ago from "60 minutes." his journalism career spanned six decades, really, the history of broadcast news. played a major role in news events from the 1940s to the 1960s and on, including the first televised presidential debates in 1960, the nixon/kennedy debates, one in this very studio. avenues producer, director and developer whose greater achievement was creating "60 minutes" in 1968. he was survived buys his wife of 30 years, marilyn berger, a former correspondent. he is home with his family at new york when he passed away. (announcer) illness doesn't care where you live... ...or if you're already sick... ...or

lyndon johnson said clarence mitchellnd the naacp when they'reushing the civil-rights bill -- mitchell nt to him and said he had somhing he really had to ruff, and got ected him d said, "how man ves do you have,larence?" that ishat it will com down to with obama. >> the wascall wabt is dead. in thend, liberals are bluffing. mara liassonof npput it rrectly. theris no left wing democrat who will le a seat if the option is left out of the bill. there are moderateemocrats who ll lose seats if the option is in the bill. at will determine how it goes. there will b no plicption. the might be a co-op idea, whh is a trojan horse. >> i don't think there will be a co-op idea. that has llen pretty flat. it would no surprise me if e house paes a bill with a public option in, and the senate sses some bifurted thing thatoes not have a public option, and it is all result in congress, probab without som sort of puic option. -- is all resolv in conference, prably withou some sort public option. >> you have the blue dogs digging in their heels, you have howard an saying tt the publicption pass to be the.

lyndon johns sd to clarence mitchell and the naacp wn they're pushing the civil-rights bill -- mitchl went to himnd said he hadomething he really had to ruff, and g elected him and said, "how many vot do you have, crence?" that is wt it will come down to with obama. >> the wascally wabbi is dead. in the e, liberals are bluffing. ra liasson npr t it coectly. there no left wing democrat who will losa seat if the option is leftout of the bill. there are moderate docrats who wi lose seats if the option is in the bill. th will determine how it goes. ere will be no pubc oion. ther might be a co-opdea, whicis a trojan horse. >> i don't think there will be a co-opdea. at has faen pretty flat. it would not surprise me if th house pass a bill with a public option in,nd the senate paes some bifurcadhing that ds not have a public option, and it is all result in congress, probablyithout some sort of publ option. --is all relved in conference,probably wiout some st of public option. >> you ha the blue dogs digging in their heels, you have howard de saying thathe public oion pass to be there howould

you said you did not vote for clarence thomas because he lied.ia sotomayor was not very consistent. she disagreed with statements she previously made. i have a problem with her because she had an issue where she would not answer the question about americans having a right to self-defense. she also has had multiple cases that have gone to the supreme court that have been overturned. i have a way about -- i have a problem of all the way that she rules. guest: she has had over 3300 cases. 98% of them have not been overturned. those people in baseball -- most people in baseball would like a record like that. host: next phone call. richard on the republican line. caller: my concern is the voting process. many people in the country are losing confidence in our voting system. we have organizations like acorn who are now being investigated or indicted in 13 states in being considered in 14 others. yet, i see the house of representatives chairman, john conyers, fiduciary committee refuses to investigate the problem. my question to you, as chairman of the

police say clarence rankin was shot about 5:00 sunday morning by someone who was visiting the home. when police arrived they discovered the bloody scene and found a handgun. no arrests were made but police are speaking to two people who showed up with gunshot wounds in an area hospital around the at the same time time. the victim was a man who helped others and one who he helped came back to take his life they used to help poor people do everything. >> reporter: it's a good possibility montgomery police say the two incidents may be connected. although police have made no arrests friends say they know who is responsible. witnesses who were at the party say the 63-year-old confronted someone trying to pay him with counterfeit money. >> my man helps everybody and them come kill him. . >> reporter: rankin was said to have lived here in the home for the last 30 years. he was known to have weekend get-togethers for the jamaican community. tonight police have made no arrests. but they do now confirm that all of the individuals involved, they did know each other. police tonight not speculat

. >>> police say 63-year-old clarence rankin was found near a side door of his residents short several times. police say a short time later two other men turned up in a hospital suffering from gunshot wounds. there may be a connection. >> police were notified of two other subjects. a 35-year-old man and a 44-year- old man in a nearby hospital. their relations to this event remains under investigation. what we have learned is that in the early morning hours there were an undetermined number of people at this residence. the 63-year-old man went to the side yard and became a victim of a shooting that is still under investigation. >> police say a handgun was recovered at the scene where rankin was found. >>> an eighth victim of that sleighing at a mobile home park in georgia has died and police say they haven't ruled out the man that reported the suspect as a suspect. he now faces charges of lying to police and tampering with evidence. now the latest on that story. >> reporter: inside this small mobile home authorities are investigating the biggest mass murder they have ever seen. eight pe

. >> i clarence thomas do solemnly swear -- >> reporter: though swearing in justi justices at the white house has been going on for nearly 70 year, members of the court have become more vocal complaining it that it sends the wrong signal. they figure that if the picture that goes out is of them being sworn in at the white house it conveys the idea that they're beholden to the president, they owe him a favor and there's some kind of political trophy. >> reporter: who's idea it was to break with seven years of tradition. >> i've decided to nominate an inspiring women i believe will make a great justice. >> reporter: white house and supreme court officials all say it was president obama's desire to have sonia sotomayor swearing in at the supreme court and on camera. >> the president is somebody who studied the supreme court believes it's simply best for independents to have the new justice sworn in where she'll do her work independent of any interference from the executive or the legislative branch. >> reporter: to emphasize his point about independence, president obama even stayed away fr

. >> let's get we turn to clarence and he can take it up. what works for president obama? >> what works for president obama? competition. all50states in direct competition, racing against each other to enact reform. or any state to access the $5 billion war chest, it must sub instantively alter its status quo by putting in place the following. one, more charter schools. the schools receive public money but are more innovative with far less bureaucratic regulation. two, standardized testing. a single yardstick to evaluate students in all 50 states, not the scattered standards of the u.s.'s 14,500 individual school districts. >>> three, data mining. use test results to identify successful teachers, weeding out bad ones. >> four, teachers get paid based on student performance. aka, merit pay. use the market dynamic to reward teachers who get results. conversely, when students are habitually not succeeding, fire the teacher. ignore tenure status. the biggest sticking point of course is number four. of course. merit pa direct linkage of student test results and teachers' salari

vice president bides promises to keep worth fighting for by john mccains, sandra day o'connor, clarence thomas is biography, among others. and they have a new book out. and marcy purcell of random house wants to tell us about it. what is this book about? >> this is called joker one, and the subtitle is a marine platoon storage of courage, leadership, and brotherhood. i was very fortunate to hear donovan campbell speak on the very first day that the book came out, which was just last month. he was a guest speaker at the first year experience conference in orlando, florida. and that's a conference where administrators pick a book that would be suitable for an entire incoming freshman class to read. it's his story and his platoon in ramallah in the middle east, and it is his way of paying tribute to his men who worked on the patrol and trying to keep order, in an impossible situation. i am happy to say he speaks from his heart. the book got a full-page positive review in the sunday new york times. and the room of about 150 educators gave him a standing ovation at the end of his talk. and w

you said you did not vote for clarence thomas because he lied.as not very consistent. she disagreed with statements she previously made. i have a problem with her because she had an issue where she would not answer the question about americans having a right to self-defense. she also has had multiple cases that have gone to the supreme court that have been overturned. i have a way about -- i have a problem of all the way that she rules. guest: she has had over 3300 cases. 98% of them have not been overturned. those people in baseball -- most people in baseball would like a record like that. host: next phone call. richard on the republican line. caller: my concern is the voting process. many people in the country are losing confidence in our voting system. we have organizations like acorn who are now being investigated or indicted in 13 states in being considered in 14 others. yet, i see the house of representatives chairman, john conyers, fiduciary committee refuses to investigate the problem. my question to you, as chairman of the judiciary comm

nascar is very mainstream right now and that's what he was trying to do. >> clarence?diverse and younger audience. they've been trying all kinds of different outreach. and so, this is kind of an interesting juncture here, because obama would like to have better penetration with the nascar crowd, which is over 60% republican in their voting demographic, and they'd like to have more of an appeal to his base. so, maybe they can help each other this time. >> hey, whatever happened to the promise of green jobs? shouldn't the president be backing bicycle races instead? >> nascar's not that green. >> it is not -- >> you saw the car out there. >> it is not green. but i think the decline in the fortunes of this and other forms of entertainment are one more example that we need -- the penetration and depth of this recession. and the president has with his focus on health care has been a danger of overlooking the driving fact, which is when you look at both the unemployment and the underemployment numbers, people who are looking for part-time work who want full-time work, people

he has been identified as clarence rankine. police have no suspects. >>> accused holocaust gunman james von brunn is expected in court this week. he will be arraigned in in s shooting and that killed museum guard stephen johns. von brunn has been in the hospital ever since. >>> d.c. fire officials are investigating a fire. a fire was set in this and the sea on 20th street in northwest. >> it caused about $2,000 in damage. no one was hurt. now we turn out west. >>> firefighters are trying to get a wildfire under control. >> that blaze is only about 5% contained. it is threatening more than 12,000 homeless. matt brock is joining us live with more. >> fighting this fire has become all the more difficult because firefighters lost two of their own on sunday. dark skies over los angeles signal dark news -- the wildfires turned deadly. >> in the national forest, two of our of firefighters were in a vehicle that went over the side. both of them suffered fatality life ending injuries. >> the fire destroyed at least 18 structures. offici

clarence mills, an obama supporter from eastern maryland believes the president has to be flexible. >> i think he ought to deal with the public, you know, see what the people want. listen to the people and do what they want him to do. >> i'm sorry, sir, i just don't believe you. >> reporter: the townhalls -- the country is evenly divided. 43% say they have done more harm than good. 42% say they have done more good than harm. and by overwhelming majority, democrats believe they're harmful. republicans believe they're good. michelle mockey of lawrenceville, georgia, voted for john mccain in 2008. >> i think the townhalls are a good idea. i think that -- they're allowing people to vent some frustration. >> most of the people doing the yelling and screaming, they're showing their dark side. >> reporter: as for those controversial allegation as but what's likely to happen, the president has some work to do. >> he is not really communicating with the average american out there. >> reporter: 55% believe illegal immigrants will get health care insurance. 50% believe taxpayer money will be use

of course that nominee was clarence thomas.et me cite one example, the decision by justice thomas that wasn't formed by his experience. in virginia vs. black, the supreme court in 2003 held a virginia statute against cross burning done with an attempt to intimidate was constitutional. at the same time the court's decision also rejected another provision in that statute. justice thomas wrote a heartfelt opinion stating he would have gone even further. in every culture, certain things acquire meaning well beyond what outsiders can comprehend. that goes for the sacred and profane. i believe cross-burning is a pragmatic example of the latter. he went on to describe the ku klux klan as a terrorist organization while discussing the history of cross-burning, particularly in virginia, and the ruralization of racial minorities and others. would anyone deny justice thomas' standing or seek to belittle his perspective on these matters? i suspect not. who would attack him for that as judge sotomayor is now being attacked? i trust no one wo

clarence meyers admitted to setting the fire that killed a 12 year-old and a 15 year-old. the fire raced through the palm, and he said he hoped to receive donations from the community. he will serve two consecutive life terms. >>> children were stunned by bees or wasps again. seven children were stunned. -- stung. emergency crews evaluated the children, but nobody suffered an allergic reaction. several worst on multiple times. -- were stung multiple times. last thursday, your call to a dozen people were stung. -- you recall two dozen people were stung. >>> enrollment is up at public charter schools. school officials tell the examiner they expected a drop off, but believes things will soon turn around. >>> it is much harder for district parents to send their kids to private schools. we're live with what one mother is calling this a broken promise. >> i am outside the u.s. department of education where d.c. school choice supporters today protested the federal voucher program -- it cutbacks that have paid for d.c. school student to go for catholic and private schools. it was

he has been identified as clarence rankine. neighbors say they heard multiple shots. >>> james von brunn is expected in court this week. he will be arraigned in federal court on wednesday i with the with the shooting but killed museum guard stephen johns. von brunn has been in the hospital ever since. >>> see -- d.c. fire officials are investigating a fire at this embassy. it caused about $2,000 in damages. >>> the u.s. military is packing up to leave iraq. they are shipping out more than 1.5 million pieces of equipment along with a force the size of a small city. it is taking place ahead of schedule. the deadline to move -- to remove all combat troops is next august. >>> there is concern that the defiant of cases that must be investigated will delay the announcement of a winner in the afghanistan collection. hamid karzai is currently ahead. >>> alvaro uribe from colombia has the swine flu. he is being treated at the presidential residence. he began feeling sick on friday after a summit. >>> 6:37. time for a look at business he

you said you did not vote for clarence thomas because he lied.nia sotomayor was not very consistent, she disagreed with statements she previously made. i have a problem with her because she had an issue, she wouldn't answer the question about americans have a right to self-defense, and she has also had multiple statements that have gone up that have been overturned. i have a problem with the way she comes down on the rules. >> guest: she has had 3,000 cases, 98% of them have not been overturned. i think most people in baseball would like a record like that. >> host: next call from georgia, richard on the independent line. >> caller: good morning. my concern with the voting process, i think many people in the country are losing confidence in our voting system. we have -- right now being investigated or being decided in 13 states and being considered for other states, yet i see in the house of representatives, the chairman of the judiciary committee refused to investigate this problem. my question to you, sir, as chairman of the judiciary committee

these were some of the communications as far as clarence, the air traffic controller and the pilot of the aircraft asked if they were going to request southwest or downriver. the pilot responded -- either one. they came back, let me know. tell you what, said the pilot, i will take down the river. we are trying to communicate this sequence, the timing, and the expectation for handoff and control. this is from information that might have been conveyed to the pilot. pilots are advised, when they enter the exclusion area on the river, to tune into a common traffic advisory frequency. that traffic frequency is one to 3.05 mhz. advisory in nature only, it is not required. this pilot was being handed off to new york, new jersey, on a different frequency. the floor of the airspace is 1101 can the ceiling of the area is 1100. neil: we are continuing to monitor this press conference. they have found the wreckage of a private plane that collided with a helicopter. two victims are thought to be remaining in the river. getting to this plane is easier said than done, said to be lodged in about 60 f

former golfing buddy clarence stewart was also there trying to get a new trial for him.emember, the two men are in jail for kidnapping and armed robbery. they pulled off a so-called sting operation in a nevada hotel in 2007 saying they were trying to get simpson's personal stuff back. simpson was sentenced to at least 9 years but his lawyer says o.j. did not get a fair trial. and stewart's lawyer says his client should not have been tried with o.j. the court is expected to take several weeks before releasing a decision. prosecutors here in new york say a grand jury has indicted the former new york giants wide receiver plaxico burress on weapons charges. plaxico testified to the grand jury last week about the incident that landed him in trunget police say burres accidentally shot himself in the leg last november when he brought in his sweatpants, a gun into a manhattan nightclub. the grand jury indicted plaxico burress on two counts of possession, criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. a conviction on just one of those weapons counts would

they found 63-year-old clarence rankin dead.later two other men showed up suffering from gunshot wound. they're trying to find out if the two are connected. >>> a deadly turn over the weekend, two fire fighters died when vehicle rolled down a mountain side. so far it has destroyed at least 18 homes and cabins and forced thousands of residents to e value vac wait. >> a deadly end to an air show in pow poland. the crash sent a huge plume of black smoke into the air. investigator believe a bird flying into one of engines is to became. >>> suggesting health concerns weren't the only reason the bomber was released from the scottish prison. >> there's new threfd may well have been a quit pro quo between the lib and british government, release the terrorist and get oil contracts. if it were true that would be just dispickable. >> british officials deny those. the scottish government still insists he was released due to his terminal cancer. he's the only person ever convicted in connection with in 1983 bombing that killed 270 people man

>>> a man who set fire to two young maryland girls agrees to plead guilt to charges. 31-year-old clarence myers started the fire at his girlfriend's home in hopes of receiving charity. his girlfriend's two young children died in the fire. >> there is a safety reminder for parents tonight, after two more babies are trapped and killed by faulty bassinets. kai is live in the newsroom now. >> reporter: the babies got trapped and then suffocated in simplicity close sleeper bassinets. the product was recalled, but then a 6-month-old died after their parents continued to use the bassinet. the government is urging parents to pay close attention to recalls. all manufactured before may of 2008 are affected, including some sold under the graco-name brand. >> they can be returned to the stores where they were purchased. >>> a window washer is recovering after he spent time dangling from a collapsed scaffolding in washington, d.c. fire officials say he was working about nine stories up when one end of the scaffolding became loose. the man dangled by his harness for hours before they were able to rescu

this was not like clarence thomas. i think the questions have been tough but fair.nd it has not been personal. i do think that you are likely to see a debate on the broader issues. what is the role of the judge? what is there about this and that the issue? does that removed the blindfold of justice? host: and julie on the independent line. richmond, va. caller: i watched the hearings, and i am watching this, and i want to ask a question about these appointed czars. we need to fix medicare first. before they take it anymore, they are born to take our health care away. right now i am on medicare. i have another insurance and they give me the right to go and have my test. i do not have to pay for them. i can go to an exercise class. they already give me all of this. the third thing. i know what they are doing about this october. after october, the democrats fixed it so that they only need 51 votes to pass. the czars is bothering me a lot. thank you. guest: you raised two interesting issues. czars. and on up presidents have used special envoys. this president seems to h

i think of the reason bush put clarence thomas up there was because black people are only 12% of the population. as you look at it, we should only have one person on the supreme court, but he is going to put a person of their the don't represent us, which was a shrewd move. obama should put another black person up there. but at least the appointed someone who represents their views and that's a good thing. on the thing about the gate saying. on the dates thing, i want to ask the gentleman why do you think they dropped the charges against him if there was no wrongdoing? guest: i think there was wrongdoing. i think it was improper arrest and i think that has a lot to do with why they dropped the charges. i think there realized in court to make the charges thrown out by a judge who would say it's unconstitutional arrest. you should not be arrested, and i think the first amendment protection, from mouthing off against a police officer. my complaint with what professor gates did is attributing the rest to racism when and fact lots of people of all races have been improperly arrested under