between columbus and the vikings. people knew what columbus had done, and people came after him. one of the things to consider that in columbus' world they had that they did not have in the world of the vikings that helped to spread information. what would be the most effective method that columbus and his people had to spread information that the vikings didn't have? what is it? not the internet. but what? what was available in 1500 that wasn't available in the year 1000? it could spread information. printing. guttenberg. remember. movable type. think about that. we think of books today. so ordinary. everything is online. the point is, now information can spread very rapidly, relatively, and it doe

how did columbus know where he was? we talked about latitude and how they measured latitude, the inability to really get any kind of real fix on longitude, so what columbus did is he estimated everything, used that hour glass, turning the hour glass and using the hour glass to measure time and the length of how far the vessel moves in that length of time. that's how he did it. very crude and quite wrong. when you look at columbus' log, his log is quite wrong, quite wrong. he didn't really know where he was except for the latitude. what would you worry about? >> fresh water. >> yeah. >> coming home. >> coming home, right. we talked about the portuguese going through africa. this is great. what a great day for sailing, the wind is behind us. oh, wow, great. then we have to come home. that's what they worried about. so every day the farther they went, the farther they knew they would have to go home. that was their concern. the crew began to murmur, began to murmur. fortunately, fortunately, columbus continued on. he was n

here is columbus making his pitch. we don't know what he really look like but this is as good as any. ferdinand and isabella agree to support his venture. she didn't have to pawn her jewels. okay. queen isabella did not have to pawn her jewels to finance this expedition. columbus is given a contract by the crown. he will be admirable of the ocean seas and viceroy of all the lands he discovers. they didn't know what they were doing. he will be admirable of the seas and viceroy of all the lands they discover. they didn't know what they were giving away. we want to go to the port, southern spain, and again for reasons that they're not quite clear would seem that the people of paulos had done something and they were being punished and the way to publish the people was to force the community to give columbus three ships. that was the punishment, three ships, that he would use for his voyage. so columbus goes to the port of paulos and makes arrangements. well, think. fellow shows up in town, an italian fellow and speaking sp

they're here in greenland, 500 years before columbus. they're here 500 years before columbus. it is really a remarkable story. yeah? >> what happened to the vikings? >> that's a great question. what happened? we know they weren't there by the time 1500, thereabouts, we know that there are no viking settlements in greenland. again, the evidence is uncertain. it would seem a couple things happened, madelyn. one is perhaps the climate change. it got colder. we know that from climate evidence from climate history, that they have the little ice age as it is called so it probably did get colder in greenland which of course would impact domestic animals, agriculture, et cetera. they may have been attacked by pirates and others. there are lots of people who begin in the 1400 and 1500s, lots of vessels sailing through here and may have attack and had sacked some of these towns, and there is also something else that's curious and relates back to our friends the portuguese. one of the big export from greenland, what do you think the greenlanders would be sending back to iceland and back

if you get to columbus, kentucky, it's well worth the trip. if you see what they have built there and what's still around there, you see these walls that are 20, 30 feet high. they're 30 to 40 feet wide. they're massive construction. then you see the little chicken scratchings in the water battery at ft. donelson. you can see where the confederate majority of effort was. where they were concentrating was the mississippi river. they knew that's what the federals wanted -- they wanted to control the mississippi. so, they built fort on the mississippi river. for the tennessee river, you had ft. henry and hyman, across the river from each other. that's it. that's all they have. and ft. henry was built on a swamp. ft. hyman was uncomplete, on the kentucky side. ft. donelson was stronger, but even then it only -- 14 guns along the river. columbus had dozens on the river. you could just see where they're focusing their effort. it wasn't here on the tennessee or cumberland river. it was on the mississippi. so, when -- to get to your question, as ft. h

so columbus' experience now, is shared. and here you see, now we've yet, the spanish have yet by 1500 yet to get to the mainland that will come later but they are certainly probing about, probing about here in the west indies. by 1520, 20 years later, you can see now how the spanish empire is in fact expanding here. and of course we carried this forward a few more decades you would see the creation of a great spanish-american empire. yes. >> so when did the kind of colonization of north america -- >> the colonization of north america doesn't really begin until early in the -- permanent, to the early 17th century. here you see the route that john cabot takes in 1497. but it won't be until jamestown and st. augustine is established. yes. st. augustine. 1565. but a few generations away. from permanent settlement on the north american continent. think for a moment, what would the attraction be here. if you can come down here, cortez, the other conquistadors are finding these enormous civilizations. rich beyond measure, that's t

these are pictures earlier of the president and first lady arriving there in columbus, ohio. the president has been spending an awful lot of time in ohio, a key swing state. again, this election season, this is his 21st visit since he became president. we'll be going live to the event as soon as it begins with the president and first lady there. we've also got a full analysis of the rally today. we put together a pretty incredible panel for you beginning with jessica yellin traveling with the president and at the rally in columbus, ohio. howard wilkinson is a political reporter in cincinnati and we're mixing up the order. lepy mcalester. we're expecting to see the president and first lady in just a few minutes from now. let's begin with our senior white house court jessica yellin traveling with them there. full crowd. it wasn't full but now looks like it is. >> reporter: it looks like it is on tv, fredricka, but the top tier of this auditorium is not full. it's empty, mostly. it's fair to say they expected to fill this up, so it must be a disappointment to the campaign. we sh

cortez, well, columbus obviously, degama, magellan, et cetera. going, mastering the capacity now to sail to distant lands. this tremendous technological, emotional, physical triumph of being able to sail to distant lands. this is the beginning of the establishment of the european expansion into other parts of the world. so, on october 12th, remember christopher columbus. don't remember that he took the prize. don't remember that. but remember what he accomplished and the sadness in the sense of his life in that he didn't understand the great triumph that was his. any questions? anything i haven't covered that you might be curious about? yes. >> why -- they went south? >> who went south? >> like the farthest northern explorers, cortez. >> because there is nothing to attract them. in the 16th century it's the incas, the aztecs. this is where the action is, and in india. and they do sort of poke around on the northern coast here. a little bit. but there's nothing that attracts them. why would you come up here where it's -- there aren't great kingdom

cnn's jessica yellin live at the rally in columbus a pretty good crowd. what message from the president in what appears to be a mostly college crowd? >> reporter: yeah, mostly college. mixed crowd, fredricka, still not full but they have an hour to go. the message you'll hear is effectively the president preempting a tax on the economic conditions in the u.s. he expects the romney campaign is going to attack the unemployment rate and the president's stewardship on the economy, so you'll hear him talk about how hard the economy was hit before he got in office, what he inherited, and how he made things better, how much worse they could have been, in the president's view, and what he could do going forward. he'll also, because this is a manufacturing state, a big emphasis on how he believes the auto bailout made conditions better. that's a popular theme in ohio. then you'll also hear the broader messages you've heard him emphasize, a much more political speech. the first campaign -- official campaign rally to date. he's appearing as well with the first lady.

and columbus, ohio. on the ground in columbus, the national field director for the obama campaign. jeremy bird. hi, jeremy. thank you for joining us. >> hi, bill, how are you? >> bill: we're expecting a big crowd, a big event tomorrow. tell us about it. >> we are. we're excited. tomorrow in columbus and then % later in the day in richmond, virginia. we'll be kicking off the 2012 campaign. really the president's first big campaign event both here at the ohio state university and then at bcu in richmond. so we're getting things ready today. looking at the site and looking forward to a great day tomorrow. >> bill: it is not just the president. the president and the fist lady both. >> absolutely. the first lady will be there which we're excited about. >> jeremy, will the president mention mitt romney in the speeches tomorrow? >> that's a good question. i don't know about the exact language of his speech. i do think that what he will do is he's going to contrast his vision you know, strengthening the economy

i was with the president saturday in columbus and in richmond.from a distance, you know, what was the re, in colorado? what did you think about the quick off of the campaign? how did it play in colorado in. >> i think it's going pretty well for him out here. i think mitt romney is not the most inspiring romney and because mitt romney doesn't have the ties to this region in terms of where he kind of grew up and i know he has ties to utah but he is known as sort of a michigan, massachusetts guy. i think that we may see a situation where obama is able to compete in states that collapsed haven't been able to compete out here in the west. barracks obama driver's license well out in colorado. even though he was facing acandate in 2008 who was from a neighbor being state. so i think we could see a similar map play out in terms of colorado and arizona may be up for grabs. >> the obama campaign, they have different maps, you know, as to how thifr going to get there. look at virginia, for example. big play for virginia. north care look a right? got it last

fers nhk's takamoto kajiwara reports from columbus, ohio. >> hello, ohio! >> reporter: university students here for president obama's re-election, their support is indispensable. he laid out policies to target young voters in order to stir up their enthusiasm. young people, mainly students, were a driving force behind president obama's victory four years ago. appealing to students once again, obama held his crucial campaign kickoff at ohio state university in columbus. with students concerned with rising tuition, obama spoke about his determination to promote educational reforms. >> i'm running to make sure that by the end of the decade, more of our citizens hold a college degree than any other nation on earth. in the 21st century, higher education can't be a luxury. over and over again -- >> reporter: obama also criticized likely republican candidate romney for economic policy obama claims would unfairly benefit the rich. >> why else would he want to spend trillions more on tax cuts for the wealthiest americans? why else would he propose cutting his own ta

the columbus zoo had kept the animals for about six months.ordeal. they were under quarantine. now that that medical quarantine is over, zoo officials have no choice but to return the animals to marianne thompson, who wanted them back. when you look at some of the video of the reunion there, you can see she's actually hugging one of the black leopards, which does show that she does have as many people say out here a relationship with the animals, but also there's a number of -- there's a bit of concern, frederica, from the folks who li in this rural community about these animals coming back to this particular area. i spoke to the sheriff's department about it. what he thought about marianne thompson having these animals back at this particular time. listen to what he had to say. >> i know how devastated she was when we had to do what we did back in october, and if there is anybody here that she doesn't want anything to happen to those anz malz. she really cares about those animals. i'm sure she's going to go above and beyond to make sure those

tom staub is the chief operating officer of the columbus zoo and is outfront tonight.aking the time, coming on the show. obviously you've had these animals at your zoo for the past few months. are you opposed to having them returned? >> well, i was also there during the tragedy at the thompson farm on october 19th, and what i witnessed as their holding facility inside the house, as well as outside, was horrific. so i am opposed to having these animals leave the columbus zoo and aquarium and go to such conditions. >> and i'm a little bit confused, because i know at the time, there was -- people were shocked around the country that this could have happened. that these animals could be not just kept in what you describe and others described as bad conditions, but just that you would have animals like this at someone's home and my understanding was that the law had changed. so, obviously not? >> well, they're in the process. unfortunately, ohio is one of only a few states that did not have restrictions for dangerous wild animals. and currently the bill has passed the senat

the friday before columbus day we will take a half day. >> you want to three and a half day for this day? and columbus committed genocide against a legion of native americans. >> i don't care. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley on pbs.org. tavis: i am tapis smiley, join me next time for a conversation with a pulitzer prize-winning novelist. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard, the cornerstone we all know. it is not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make everyday better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. thank you. >> american public television presents the slendors of the world in the lifelike reality of high-definition television. >> hi. i'm rudy maxa, literally standing on the crossroads between east and west in a

by leaving out the north side west of columbus, it becomes an altogether different thing. just for disclosure, it needs to be explained for exactly how we are combining, what is common to both, what is different. >> if you look at page 4, the chart, that shows what the washington-broadway sud does. item a >> sense of street parking requirements -- exempts of street parking requirements. the one exception is development on lots that are larger than 20,000 square feet in the chinatown community business district. removing it would have little impact on eds. in addition to that, phase three would eliminate minimum parking requirements in the chinatown district. commissioner moore: doesn't mean that cars would only push the congest and further out? isn't that what it means? >> i think chinatown does not have that much parking and it. -- in it. there is very little required parking in chinatown. the washington-broadway was done in the 1980's we were still trying to deal with that sort of issue. commissioner moore: may i disagree with you? in the block between columbus up toward

my concern in question is -- the most congested section is between columbus and the beginning of the stockton tunnel. i have sat on buses for as long as 30 minutes to go those few blocks. my concern is that all of a sudden i noticed that the station that was supposed to be washington square is no longer advertised and i am wondering if that section will be included in the tunnel. is that a question that you could answer now? >> thank you. i am with the asset mta. the current plan for the central subway calls for the northernmost station to be on stockton at washington street, however there are potential possibilities for extending the subway through the north into washington square and even beyond, into north beach sunday. those will be studied further, but subject of course to available funding in the future. >> i understand the funding problems, but i would like you to consider these most congested sections. >> we are aware of that. in addition to the central subway service, we will also be beefing up the 47 and 35. >> good evening, mayor, supervisors. i am a resident of north beac

the friday before columbus day we will take a half day. >> you want to three and a half day for this day? and columbus committed genocide against a legion of native americans. >> i don't care. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley on pbs.org. tavis: i am tapis smiley, join me next time for a conversation with a pulitzer prize-winning novelist. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard, the cornerstone we all know. it is not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make everyday better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. thank you. tonight... jeremy schaap: he is the quintessential olympic hero. margaret macmillan: hitler's script was the triumph of the aryan race, the triumph of nazi germany. louis zamperini: after winning all of those gold medals, he expected the whole nation to love him,

there are street scape proposals along columbus -- columbus avenue, and the embarcadero needs more work, a project really given the america's cup coming through. in chinatown. lots of ideas of what we can do, and i look forward to work with mta staff and others to figure out how we can find money is to move the projects for work. supervisor campos: thank you. if you can please continue. >> good morning. moving to district 9 -- senior planning -- planner at the planning commission. amid the othe octavia circulatin freeway affects cluster nine and several of your other districts. this is a study of traffic circulation, both locally and regionally affecting the cord network right here in our neck of the woods. we expect to bring the power report to their plans and programs committee within the next couple of months. among the corridor identified in this study is the san jose corridor, and we have been working with the partners at caltrans and other city departments to seek for their funds from caltrans to do a more robust design effort. both in that location and within the city area and yo

what we are doing is focusing on columbus, ohio. that is where the stage is set for the president to officially kick off his re-election campaign. we're looking there at the stadium at ohio state university. welcome, everyone, to "weekends with alex witt." we're glad you're with us. it should be wheels down for air force one in columbus, ohio. the president kicking off his re-election campaign in that city. he's holding rallies in two king swing states. air force one has landed. there you see the live look there. joining us from columbus right now, nbc news correspondent, chuck todd, has been traveling with the president. chuck, very good day to you. we have a full stadium. what's the latest there? >> reporter: we do. it looks like 8,000 to 10,000 people are here inside the arena. already probably a larger event mitt romney has been able to have which is one of the messages the obama campaign wants to send today, that here they are in the two arguably most important swing media markets in the presidential election, columbus, ohio, a

this is in the suburbs of columbus, ohio. the animals roaming the streets terrified people living there. police hunted them down and killed most of them. i want to get to jason carroll in zanesville, ohio. jason, what do we know about now the widow and whether or not these animals will be returned in her care? >> reporter: well, according to the law marian thompson can bring that's animals wherever she wants, she can bring them back to the farm here, she can take them to another location. it seems as if in terms of everything we've been told in terms of what we've been told from officials, the animals are headed back to the thompson farm. they're still about 20 miles away. you can see the thompson farm behind me. this is where some of the animals were kept before. waiting to hear from marian thompson in terms of whether or not the five animals that have been released back into her care, if the animals will be kept in some of the cages you see now. understandably, there are a number of people who live in this rural community w

you're headed up to 62nd and columbus. that is 35 blocks away.gonna get started right away. are you ready? yes. all right, here we go. these first questions are worth 50 bucks apiece. here's your first one. named for a famous german river, what fake gems are used to add faux flair to cellphones and ipods? rhinestones. rhinestones is correct, and you're on the board with 50 bucks. for mountain bikers with exceptional balance, the muni is an all-terrain variety of what man-powered vehicle? a unicycle? unicycle is right, and you're two for two. yay! two for two. here's your next question for 50 bucks. featured in a flighty classical composition, what stinging insects are known as "foggy bummers" in scotland? bumblebees? bumblebees is correct, and you're three for three. here's your final $50 question. trademarked by w.l. gore & associates, what waterproof fabric boasts that it's guaranteed to keep you dry? gore-tex. gore-tex is correct, and you're up to 200 bucks. four for four. well done, heather. thank you. that's it for the $50s. these next quest