from san francisco, david brooks of the "new york times." an exert of his new book about the brain will appear in next week's new yorker magazine ed ted by the aforementioned david remnick. from washington, jim fallows of the "atlantic" magazine. i'm pleased to have each of them on this program and i raise this question: what ought to be the tenor and the conversation in the country and what you would what should the president speak to? >> well, i'm in no position to command, but... god knows. but i do think it's interesting that he's in this position now, in this tragic moment and maybe even at a decisive moment about political rhetoric. it's an incredibly complicated political decision he faces in terms of what he says or doesn't say and it it's also an incredibly complicated issue of what we are to make of the madness that happened a few days ago. we can't say for a certainty what happened inside this man's fevered mind. what sickness contributed to it, what rhetoric contributed to it. but if we look historilly we know that feved political

from "the new york times," david brooks and from "the wall street journal" peggy noonan. for three hours a week, i'm a coach. but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. how are those flat rate boxes working out? fabulous! they gave me this great idea. yea? we mail documents all over the country, so, what if there were priority mail flat rate... envelopes? yes! you could ship to any state... for a low flat rate? yes! a really low flat rate. like $4.95? yes! and it could look like a flat rate box... only flatter? like this? you...me...genius. genius. priority mail flat rate envelopes. just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to s

david brooks. from "the washington post," e.j. dionne. katty kay. senator-elect from president, republican pat toomey. and author of "the violence of peace," yale la professor, stephen carter. we know why we're here. ♪ to design the future of flight, inside and out. ♪ to build tomorrow's technology in amazing ways. ♪ and reshape the science of aerospace -- forever. [ female announcer ] around the globe, the people of boeing are working together -- for the dreams of generations to come. that's why we're here. ♪ awwwww. this one? this one? this one? still not big enough. [ disappointed ] but it's the biggest one here... [ male announcer ] let's be honest. no one ever wished for a smaller holiday gift. ♪ it's the lexus december to remember sales event, and for a limited time, we're celebrating some of our greatest offers of the year. see your lexus dealer. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 that i didn't even understand -- i was so naive. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i mean, i still need help. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 but not from some guy that's just going to sell me stuff. tdd#

i'm david brooks, we are here to review essays consistent writings written by irving kristol. irving kristol is not here, he died last year in september, we are joined by his son, bill kristol will need no introduction. anybody watching this, bill kristol grew up in new york. used to be my boss. went to harvard university. worked at the education department in quayle, and now editors a fine magazine where i used to work "the weekly standard." >> guest: well done. >> host: thank you. i thought we'd begin by talking about your dad's life. a lot of neoconservatism flows out of his life. i want to ask you about the upbringing. the social class that was raised -- what your grandfather did. because i think those roots involved a lot of his writing later on. >> guest: he grew up poor. he said he didn't realize he was poor. everyone was poor in his neighborhood in brooklyn. poor working class. my father, grandfather was employed as a jobber, tailer. fairly regularly employed. i think in the depression, he may have lost his job and had to start over once or twice. his father -- his mot

turn here. >>> we are back, joined by our roundtable, columnist from "the new york times," david brooksgton post," e.j. dionne, together again, brooks and dionne. and stephen carter, welcome to the program. senator-elect from pennsylvania, pat toomey is here as well and washington correspondent for the bbc katty kay is here. strong showing for the president in the lame duck congress. now it's a new year, new congress and new challenges. you heard the president in his new year's address. he talked about his new year's resolution, getting the economy back on track. what does that mean? too many people still out of work. economic recovery still too slow. mixed signals. holiday shopping was robust, people buying a lot of christmas gifts, spending money. that was good. then headlines like this in "the wall street journal," housing. this was the headline, housing recovery stalls. fall in home prices, interest rates going higher. that bedrock of savings for so many americans wiped away by the loss of housing value. so, where does the president go from here to make the economy stronger? >> you

. >> lehrer: and mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i mean, where would we be without small businesses? >> we need small businesses. >> they're the ones that help drive growth. >> like electricians, mechanics, carpenters. >> they strengthen our communities. >> every year, chevron spends billions with small businesses. that goes right to the heart of local communities, providing jobs, keeping people at work. they depend on us. >> the economy depends on them. >> and we depend on them. >> for three hours a week, i'm a coach, but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer, i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions, i felt lost. united healthcare offered a specially trained r.n., who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me, cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids, but my coach had hit that pitch before. >> turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 m

. >> lehrer: mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. >> woodruff: from port-au- prince, jeffrey brown previews his coming stories about haiti, one year after the massive earthquake. >> thing-- from the minute you get out of the airport there is still the very large tent camp that you see and as you travel around the city you see from all over the place. >> lehrer: and we have a story from louisiana public broadcasting about testing oysters after the oil spill. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> auto companies make huge profits. >> last year, chevron made a lot of money. >> where does it go? >> every penny and more went into bringing energy to the world. >> the economy is tough right now, everywhere. >> we pumped $21 million into local economies, into small businesses, communities, equipment, materials. >> that money could make a big difference to a lot of people. >> this was me-- best ribs in nelson county. but i wasn't winning any ribbons managing my diabetes. it was so complicated. there was a lot of inf

. >> brown: and mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> for three hours a week, i'm a coach, but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer, i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions, i felt lost. united healthcare offered a specially trained r.n., who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me, cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids, but my coach had hit that pitch before. >> turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. united healthcare. >> bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. 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. >> lehrer: the government of

: we look at the heated political rhetoric some have blamed for the tragedy with mark shields, david brooks, beverly gage, and kathleen hall jamieson. >> lehrer: and judy woodruff gets a medical update on giffords' condition from trauma surgeon peter rhee. >> ifill: plus fred de sam lazaro reports on the mood of jubilation in south sudan as the vote for independence gets under way. >> people have never experienced anything like this before in their history. there is great exuberance and unmitigated joy everywhere you go. >> lehrer: and we'll have the other news of the day at the end of the program tonight. that's all ahead on the newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> oil companies have changed my country. >> oil companies can make a difference. >> we have the chance to build the economy. >> create jobs, keep people healthy and improve schools. >> ...and our communities. >> in angola chevron helps train engineers, teachers and farmers; launch child's programs. it's not just good business. >> i'm hopeful about my country's fut

mark shields and david brooks are off tonight. welcome to you gentlemen. >> thank you. >> brown: and happy new year. >> happy new year. >> brown: so it is the end of the year, so we're a hawed to think big. not just the week. what defines, what defines this year in politics? >> i don't know, i think it was a year of impatience. the american public -- >> impatience? >> yes, the american public was impatient with the democratic congress that seemed to be, you know, be on every issue except the ones they were concerned about. impatient with a president that didn't seem either as inspiring or effective as he seemed two years ago. impatient with an economy that didn't kick into gear, you know. and i think it was evidenced in the election cycle but americans want results. and that's really a warning to republicans and to democrats. kind of moving forward into the next year. >> were they right to be impatient? >> i think so. you know, i think that they were, it was not just a-- an undifferentiated impatience with the political class. it

my name is david brooks and we are here to talk about a book called "the neoconservative persuasion" selected essays, 1942-2009, and the book was written by or consists of writings written by irving kristol. irving kristol is not here because he died last year in september, but we are joined by his son, bill kristol who will probably need no introduction for anybody watching this. bill kristol grew up in new york i know your resume. used to be my boss at harvard university, taught at penn, worked for william bennett of the education department and dan quayle and edits a fine magazine rory stuart called "the weekly standard". just go very well done. >> host: i thought we'd start by you but your dad's life because they think neoconservatism and a lot of american conservatism flows out of his life and the first thing i want to ask you about was his upbringing, the social class he was raised in and what i guess your grandfather did because they think those roots informed a lot of his writing later on. guest go it says somewhere in this book that he didn't realize he was for. poor working

al and i continue with david brooks of the new york times. as you watched this, david, today, what was your sense of it? >> well, john boehner struck the pose he has been striking the last couple of months, mod city, no big promises, not the a i am the rival of the president and i am the leader of the free world and newt gingrich the tone, he struck the right toe and the republicans are a little nervous about the members, they have pot some debt ceiling raising, they have got a budget process that is about to go through, and a number of them have said i will not vote to raise the debt ceiling and that, if they vote that way, will create chaos. and so they are trying to get some realistic expectations and to me over the next four months the key person to watch is actually glenn beck, because a lot of these members are going to be asked very carefully and i think very authoritatively by real conservatives in the republican party we have to make some compromise and we are really going to cut spending but you have to make some compromises and i t

my name is david brooks and we are here to talk about the book called the neoconservative persuasion selected essays from 2004 to 2009 and the book was written by writings by irving kristol. irving kristol is not here because he died last year in september but we are joined by his son, bill kristol will probably need no introduction to anyone watching this. bill kristol corporation in new york, see if i knew your resume, use to be my boss, went to harvard university, taught at william bennett in the education department and now and it's a fine magazine where i used were called the weekly standard. >> guest: very well done. >> host: thank you. i thought we would start by talking to add your dad's life because i think neoconservative in a lot of neoconservatism flows out of his life and the first thing i wanted to ask about was his upbringing, the social class raised in what your grandfather did and i think those routes and formed a lot of his writing later on. >> guest: he grew up poor, he said somewhere in this but he didn't realize he was poor. everyone was poor in his neighborhood.

they liked living in washington, but also -- washington got more intellectual of course, and david brooks writing columns from the washington that he remembers as a young man which was just a place of political bargaining and no intellectual life. >> host: he played pocker here? >> guest: they may be unexpected for people, but i think that was -- >> there was a couple supreme court justices and other washington types and it was a low stakes game and carefully regulated applying with all rules. i'm sure. there's a funny essay about las vegas and he was not a huge gambler by any means. i remember watching the adults -- i think it rotated among certain apartments, but it was in our house once every six months on the normal rotation, and his friends showed up, great friend, journalist types, and played what i guess is now low stakes poker game. my father was looking at a publishing house. it seemed to me or you know, pretty high stakes, enough to get people to take it seriously, a few hundred dollars. i think my father was a good player. others walked away with $200 at the end of the evening.

we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks, among others. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> well, the best companies are driven by new ideas. >> our history depends on new ideas. we spend billions on advanced technologies. >> it's all about investing in the future. >> we can find new energy-- more cleaner, safer and smarter. >> collaborating with the best in the field. >> chevron works with the smartest people at leading universities and tech companies. >> and yet, it's really basic. >> it's paying off everyday. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. 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

al sharpton, tim shriver, peggy noon noon and david brooks. it's "meet the press" sunday. >> we are off to a foggy start but rob says if his forecast went out 14 days it would be nice. >> it's kind of unusual actually. for january to see it this dry. we have the fog this morning, really thick in spots. above the fog, san bruno mountain, 48 degrees. really socked in at sfo. arriving flights delayed up to an hour probably into the early afternoon. see here, we've got high pressure off to the west, storm track off to the north. no worries about rain around the bay area. the fog will be the main concern as we enter this thing called a mid-winter dry spell, high pressure off to the west, a pattern sometimes doesn't give its ground up over the next few days and see it through the end of the month. patchy fog, 50s and 60s for highs today. as we head from monday, all the way through the end of the week, looks like we're going to stay dry. fog the main concern as you get back to the work week. 70s possible for places south of san jose as we get through