>> i love david brooks, of course, rush limbaugh decided to take on david brooks today and said that david is jealous and some people are saying there is a reason rush limbaugh makes $100 million. >> i'm sure david is jealous of the money but i'm not sure that david brooks is not right about this, because there's so much noise in our culture often isn't backed up by what happens on the ground. >> but it is interesting how many republicans kowtow, even though it is just a niche, how they kowtow. >> they are scared of the noise. >> all right. next up on the on edge, is the recession really over? well, paul drugman thinks not. in mission not accomplished, he writes, "it is time to shift our focus from economic stimulus to the budget deficit. no it isn't and the complacency now setting in over the state of the economy is foolish and dangerous." do you agree with that john? >> i'm writing my column this week, if i can get people on the phone this afternoon for this timing problem for democrats which is they have got the unemployment rate, they think the obama stimulus package is working, u

al to the defense of our people, david brooks. a war of necessity. will this president make good on those pledges with the decision he'll make on troops? >> i actually think he will. >> he had this long meeting in the white house, 18 people in the situation room for 3 1/2 hours. they were looking at all the options. i think they'll look at what's worked to defeat counterinsurgency. there's only one thing that's worked, and that's what mccrystal is suggesting, protecting the population. they're redefining the standard. the standard you might call the al qaeda standard. that standard is, well, the taliban can take over, that's fine, as long as al qaeda doesn't come back. if the people who want to get out are redefining the war as a taliban victory is acceptable to us -- >> rachel maddow, i asked about the politics and she had none of it, saying this is not a political consideration. they've met with the historias.s >> i think there's a willingness on the democratic side to allow some time. you see these accusations of ditdit ditdithering that it needs

. >> lehrer: then, mark shields and david brooks offer their weekly analysis. and jeffrey brown tells the story of actress annette benning's return to the stage. >> i feel really lucky that i'm able to pursue the work that i love. i want my children to see that. major funding for the newshour with jim lehrer is provided by: >> tiny little thing, it's just... not big. ah... okay, i found it. ( cheers and applause ) okay. >> we are intel, sponsors of tomorrow. >> 150 years of financial strength and the experience of an established investment firm have come together. wachovia securities is now wells fargo advisors. the financial advisors nearby and nationwide. with the advice and planning expertise to help you address today's unique challenges, we're with you. wachovia securities is now wells fargo advisors. together, we'll go far. >> chevron. this is the power of human energy. the national science foundation. supporting education and research across all fields of science and engineering. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... t

david brooks taking on rush lame baugh. mccain's campaign manager saying palin would ab disaster.ve our country from the corporate communists? i think maybe they can actually. we're back an after this. you've worked all your life. as the decades have past, the promise of medicare has always been there. and aarp has fought to guarantee none of the benefits you earned were ever taken away. today we're continuing that fight by protecting your freedom to choose the doctors and treatments you need. and to have your tax dollars go towards your care-- not insurance company subsidies. you've done your work. and we'll keep doing ours. learn more at aarp.org. having to go in the middle of traffic and just starting and stopping. having to go in the middle of a ballgame and then not being able to go once i got there. and going at night. i thought i had a going problem. my doctor said i had a growing problem. it wasn't my bladder. my prostate was growing. i had an enlarging prostate that was causing my urinary symptoms. my doctor prescribed avodart. (announcer) over time, avodart actually shri

david brooks is a conservative?l rush his 100 million a year aren't real. >> he's well paid. >> is he a wolf in sheep's clothing? >> he's a conservative. >> he is a conservative for the "times." >> who is on the other side. >> paul. >> "toy story" released in 3d. it's going to make $25 million to make back the conversion. you can convert all these movies, titanic, lord of the rings, harry potter, make them 3d, put them back in theaters for a few weeks. get some money off the inventory. they are already produced. there aren't that many screens. that's why it's coming out now. they call it the shoulder season before the big movies for the holidays. we could see a whole new round of 3d movies then 3d dvds once 3d television becomes available. >> i saw -- not cloudy with a chance of meatballs. we didn't need 3d to watch toy story over and over. going back to the theater it will run true. this reminds me of the remix beatles songs. will it be listening to eleanor rigby. >> i don't know. >> i know what's going to happen i

david brooks agrees with megan. he said that the rise of beck, hannity and o'reilly has correlated perfectly with the decline of the gop. what do you think of that and then we'll ask susan, our resident republican, the question. >> i'm not a resident republican. >> a young republican. >> don't say that. >> okay. i think that david brooks is in competition with these guys. you have to take it with grain of salt. they're all in conservative movement. there's this debate going on. there was a long piece in "the washington post" saying we have to get back to ideas for conservatives and not just attacks. the big problem is there's a false comparison. we hear about the left and right. left gets mad about certain things and you have voices. you don't see the overt appeal to racism and other personal attacks as much on the left as you see right now on the left. the barack hussein obama clip you saw is wrong. >> do you see the decline of the republican party right now? >> i see a party that lost an election and just like oth

and david brooks and e.j.dione and mike murphy. >>> finally, in our meet the press minute, remembering william sapphire, who appeared on this program 99 times throughout the course of his career. >>> but, first, news about iran and this morning's newspaper, the new york times reports that they may be closer to producing a nuclear weapon as it comes as the international inspector irs with ahmadinejad. what does it mean for the negotiations with iran? here with us live is the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice. welcome. >> good morning. thank you. >> this is what the article says. iran has the ability to produce a nuclear bomb. and the senior steve members of the united nations nuclear agency have concluded in a confidential analysis says came from intelligence agencies and it's own investigations. but the report's conclusions, described by senior european officials, goes well beyond the positions taken by several governments, including the united states. first off, does the u.s. concur with these conclusions? >> well, david, i'm not going to get into characterizing the co

dionne, mike murphy and david brooks of the new york times. should be a good discussion. >> a great show. david gregory, thanks so much. >> thanks, andrea. and we will be right back. go and check my credit score ♪ ♪ now all they let me have is this dinosaur ♪ ♪ hello hello hello can anybody hear me? ♪ ♪ i know i know i know i shoulda gone to ♪ ♪ free credit report dot com! ♪ that's where i shoulda gone! coulda got my knowledge on! ♪ ♪ vo: free credit score and report with enrollment in triple advantage. >>> welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports" live from geneva. joining us, ken pollack from the brookings institution in washington. ken, there have been a lot of developments here in the last 48 hours with the iranians and tomorrow, mohamed elbaradei is heading to tehran and beginning to try to nail down the details of not only the inspectors going in to this kom facility, how much access they will get, but also this novel idea of them shipping out their low-grade enriched uranium to russia to be reprocessed and then fabricated in france and

. >> there was a good column by david brooks this morning on the "new york times" this morning arguing that glenn beck and none of these guys really have any power, it's all just entertainment, none of them have actually moved any voters, they do things to entertain their base, get their base all revved up. but mostly it's much adieu about very little. >> johnathon alter of "newsweek," and msnbc, sorry about this loss for your hometown today and thank you very much for your time tonight, gentlemen. >> thank the cubbies. >>> coming up, the late-night bombshell on cbs, david letterman reveals an extortion plot against him, in talking about the blackmail efforts, he also admits he had sex with some of his employees. we'll show you letterman's admission and discuss the impact on this career and whether he too could face possible legal troubles. >>> and the details about the suspect, robert halderman, a cbs news producer, we'll talk about the allegations he pled not guilty to today. ahead on "countdown." another family used to live here before they filed for bankruptcy. 62% of personal bank

we'll seyou on-line, and again here tomorrow ening with mark shields and david brooks, amg others. i'm jilehrer. thank u and good night. major fundg for the newshour with jim lehrer is provided : chevron. intel. supporting math and science education for tomoow's innovators. >> and by bnsf railway >> andy wells fargo advisors. together, we'll go farm and withhe ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this proam was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributio to your pbs statn from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored macneil/lehrer oductions captioned b media accesgroup at wgbh aess.wgbh.org sturbed. i can't go back. hey. ah. [ laughs ]

we'll see you on-line, and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks, among others. i'm jim lehrer. thank you and good night. major funding for the newshour with jim lehrer is provided by: chevron. intel. supporting math and science education for tomorrow's innovators. >> and by bnsf railway. >> and by wells fargo advisors. together, we'll go far.em 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 captioning sponsored by wpbt >> paul: just one day ahead of a key labor report, fed chairman bernanke tells congress there are no magic bullets to combat high unemployment.

david brooks agrees with megan.t the rise of beck, hannity and o'reilly has correlated perfectly with the decline of the gop. what do you think of that and then we'll ask susan, our resident republican, the question. >> i'm not a resident republican. >> a young republican. i thought we just went over that. >> don't say that. susan is a young republican. >> okay. i think that david brooks is in competition with these guys. you have to take it with grain of salt. they're all in conservative movement. there's this debate going on. there was a long piece in "the washington post" saying we have to get back to ideas for conservatives and not just attacks. the big problem is there's a false comparison. we hear about the left and right. left gets mad about certain things and you have voices. you don't see the overt appeal to racism and other personal attacks as much on the left as you see right now on the right. the barack hussein obama clip you saw is wrong. >> it's rude. susan, do you see the decline of the republican par

you saw david brooks do a column early on in "the new york times" that essentially said these peoplehuge megaphones and huge platforms, but in terms of driving policy and driving people to the polls, they're not able to do that. >> let's hear what dana per ino said. the more they fight, the more defensive they look. it's only been ten months and they're burning bridges in a lot of different places. >> to me, that's a little nuts. i know dana, she's a lovely woman. but she got up on the podium and said disparaging things about the msnbc. they sent out the press releases blasting "the new york times." all presidential administrations attack the press. >> is it a good strategy really? didn't bush look bad when he sent helen thomas to the back of the room? that was bad. >> bad to whom? this may be one of his issues in which the average woman in america could care less. it's been going on forever. this reporter told me he once got a phone call from the clinton white house and then clinton himself screaming at him for his coverage. it happens all the time. >> helen thomas was asking hard q

i mean you saw david brooks do a column early on in the "new york times" that essentially said, yes these people have huge megaphones and platforms but in terms of really driving policy or even driving people to the polls, they are not able to do that. >> let's listen to what dana perino said, george w.'s former press secretary. she said: they won, why don't they act like it. it's been ten months and they are burning bridges. >> i know her. she's a lovely woman. she got up and said things about msnbc. the bush white house sent out the press releases. further, all presidential administrations attack the press. i talked to a reporter the other day -- >> but is it a good strategy, really? didn't bush look bad when he sent helen thomas to the back of the room? that was bad. >> bad to whom. it could be where the average person in america could care less. it's been going on forever. this reporter said he got a call from the clinton white house, then screamed at him for coverage. it happens all the time. >> and helen thomas was asking hard questions about our foreign policies. >> glenn beck is a

in the "washington post" an op-ed says this -- let's bring in michael hammond from the brookings institution. davidrucker is a writer for roll call. talk to me about these questions. as the president showed his hand at all in terms of what he believes is the way forward in afghanistan? does he know what he wants? >> i think he has because he did a review on his policy upon becoming president, and has spoken for two years on the campaign trail, and that's senator, about how he did not like the policy of the bush administration and its minimalist approach. now rumors that he may revert back to that himself would be a strange turn of the offense because he is on record saying that he basically supports strong traditional counterinsurgency is. that puts him in the position where it will be hard to say no to general mcchrystal. martha: ditty think differently about afghanistan as a president compared to when he was in the campaign? >> no, he sent more troops to afghanistan in the past few months. if he were to immediately revert back to what you could describe as a rumsfeld-like approach, that would be

also with us, our hln law enforcement analyst mike brooks and david owens, reporter for "the hartford current." david, let's start with you on this one. lomax iii charged with murder. do police believe he's the one who stabbed jasper howard? >> they do. they charged him with murder so he is the one they believe thrust a knife into jasper howard. >> let me say with you, david. are we finding any more details out about that tragic night? >> not a lot of information yet. the warrants in the case, where the law enforcement officials have put down their version of what happened, are sealed at the request of the prosecutors and they won't be available for at least 14 days. >> anything about hakim muhammad's -- his involvement? he's charged with conspiracy to commit assault. so if lomax did the stabbing, if that's what police believe, what about muhammad, what was his role? >> again, we don't know the details but by the charge it would indicate that he and mr. lomax were somehow together and had talked, planned ahead or were involved in whatever went down that evening. >> okay. and the third

david letterman affair. but there are some very, very important differences. while brookealleged to have stalked the phillips family, this young lady here, stephanie birkitt, was outed because she reportedly left her diary, her secret diary out, where her reportedly jealous boyfriend was able to find it and read it and may have allegedly become enraged over what he read about stephanie and dave in the diary. so we can contrast those two, the way these two paramours are portrayed in the media. now, check out these zriepgss from t descriptions from the "new york post." this is about stephanie. she's a pretty former "late show" staffer, stephanie birk t birkitt. but now check out the quotes about the espn chick. "after espn talking head steve phillips dumped his portly production-assistant lover." and the "post" also called brooke schlubby. dr. dale archer, is there some kind of underlying sexism here in the sense that if you're ugly or perceived to be not attractive and you do something like this you get taken to task but if you're cute and you do something like this as a fe

this sex scandal, as kim just mentioned, it sounds a lot like the david letterman affair but there are some important differences. while brookealleged to have stalked the brooks family, this young woman here, stephanie, was outed because she reportedly left her diary, her secret diary out. where her reportedly jealous boyfriend you was able to find and it read it and may have allegedly become enraged over what he read about stephanie and dave in the diary. so we can contrast those two, the way these two paramours are in the media. check out these descriptions in "the new york post." this is about stephanie. a pretty former late show staffer. now, check out the quotes about the espn check. and the "post" also called brooke schlubby. dr. dale archer, is there some kind of underlying sexism here in the sense, if you're ugly or perceived to be not attractive, and you do something like this, you get taken to task but if you're cute, and you do something like this, as a female, it is perceived more as, oh, a fun anecdote and gossip? >> no. i think that in her case -- >> which her? >> right. >> the brooke hundley case. i think she b

this sex scandal, as kim just mentioned, it sounds a lot like the david letterman affair but there are some big differences. while brookeleged to have stalked the brooks family, this young woman here, stephanie, was outed because she reportedly left her diary, her secret diary out. where her reportedly jealous boyfriend you was able to find and it read it and may have allegedly become enraged over what he read about stephanie and dave in the diary. so we can contrast those two, the way these two paramours are in the media. this is about stephanie. a pretty former late show staffer. you now check out the quotes about the espn chick. "after espn talking head steve phillips dumped his portedly, production assistant lover" and the post also called her schlubby. dr. dale archer, is there some kind of underlying sexism here in the sense, if you're ugly or perceived to be not attractive, and you do something like this, you get taken to task but you if you're cute, and you do something like this, as a female, it is perceived more as, oh, a fun anecdote and gossip? >> no. i think that in her case -- >> which her? >> right. >> th

brooke anderson. next on "showbiz tonight," jon's girlfriend goes off on him. is jon gosselin an emotionally abusive boyfriend? a former writer for david was letterman playing favorites because of sex? >>> plus, sarah palin's brand-new slam on levi johnston, next. >>> out to the lines. sheeba, illinois. hi, sheeba? zpl >> caller: hi, sweetie. first of all, don't stop what you're doing. >> thank you. >> caller: you are a godsend to so many people. second of all, i need your prayers. my husband has lost his left leg due to gangrene. and secondly, please, tell me she had dna under her fingernails and she got him good. >> let's find out. to mr. thompson, have they recovered any forensic evidence from somer, mr. thompson? >> well, i was told that there was possibly skin under her fingernails and there was possibly defensive marks on her. i know my daughter and she's a fighter. and if she's got one ounce of my blood in her, she's not going to take this lying down. so this man probably does have scratches on him, bite marks. i know my daughter, and she wouldn't give up. >> you know, that is just, exactly, mr. thompson, what police are saying.

david letterman has joked about it. betrayal is serious business. can relationships or marriages, for that matter, survive a big break in trust. we want your views on this. i'm brooke baldwin and welcome to hln "news and views." >> arnie duncan and attorney general eric holder are in chicago. they are in talking with mayor richard daley as to ways they can help stop the violence. the visit was prompted by the death of 16-year-old derrion albert. the honor student was beaten to death while walking to school at a bus stop. the education secretary called albert's death a tragedy and the administration plans to tackle school violence head on. >> i came here not out of sadness, but hope and compassion. i believe in chicago's ability to deal with this openly, honestly. this is my home. the city where i grew up, played ball and tutored children. my friends are here. my family is here. i learned everything i know in these communities and schools. i learned about character. this city never gives up when it is challenged. this city always unites and produces great leaders, great thinkers, a great mayor, america's first black president, men and women shaping the future. chica

david letterman. that would be a major shake-up and affect a lot of people and the network financially. it's no surprise they let him go. they don't need the headache. >> we learned that brook hundley is also no longer working for espn. we don't know if she was fired or quit. should she have been fired as steve was? >> again, i don't think she was fired for having sex, but being an alleged loony tune full of nut who is terrorized steve phillips's wife and children. if she did half the things being reported that she is alleged to have done, she exhibiting way beyond unprofessional conduct. these are potential criminal charges. they want it to go away. >> this broke after david letterman's admission that he was having sex with several employees. let's break it down a little bit. david letterman hosts the late show and runs worldwide pants, the company that produces the show. steve is a high profile baseball analyst who admits to having an affair with a 22-year-old employee. he is not her boss. he gets the boot as well. you can't really compare the two, but looking at the similarities, how do you explain phillips getting fired and dave not so much? >> phillips is nowhere near

david letterman. letterman leaving cbs would be a major shake up and it would also affect the network financially. >> and "showbiz tonight" did learn late today that brooke hundley is no longer working for espn. we don't know if she was fired or if she, in fact quit. what do you think, jane, should she have been fired, as steve was? >> i don't think she was fired for having sex, i think she was fired for being an alleged loony tunes chock-full of nuts who terrorized steve phillips' wife and children, if she did half the things that are being reported that she was alleged to have done, she's exhibiting way beyond unprofessional conduct. these are potential criminal charges, except for the fact that the family said we don't want to press charges. they want this to go away. >> well, the steve phillips sex scandal broke just two weeks after letterman's shocking admission that he was having sex with several employees. let's take a look at both cases and break it down a little bit. dave, of course, hosts the "late show" on cbs and he runs worldwide pants. that is the company that produces the show. steve is a high-profile baseball analyst. he admits to having