tavis: his name is douglas brinkley. perennial new york times best selling author. new one is called "the wilderness warrior." douglas, nice to have you want. thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much, tavis. tavis: my pleasure. up next, musician josh charles and his tribute to the people of new orleans. stay with us. one week before hurricane katrina, musician josh charles move to ignore lanes with plans to record an album there. like so many, the storm forever changed his life. his most recent project is a single devoted to the people of the big easy called "healing time." all proceeds go toward the continuing reconstruction in the city. in just a moment, he will perform for us. at first, have you on the program. >> thank you. tavis: i asked whether you were still living in the city, and you said i tried. what did you mean by that? >> i attempted to move to north lanes august 25, 2005, -- i attempted to move to new orleans august 25, 2005, and my goal is to attempt to move back there sometime soon, but i feel like i am wondering nomad, trying to bring attentio

we will also hear from historian douglas brinkley. we're glad you joined us. remembering ted kennedy, coming up right now. >> there are so many things that wal-mart is looking forward to doing, like helping people live better. but mostly, we're helping build stronger communities and relationships. with your help, the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports "tavis smiley." tavis and nationwide, working together to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. >> ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: a couple of quick programming notes. due to the breaking news of senator kennedy's passing, our conversation with c.e.o. ron williams will air tomorrow night. and he is a critical voice and health care debate, opposed to the public option. he will explain. that full conversation airs tomorrow night on this program. also on the end the program, edward brooke and african- american republi

douglas brinkley, good luck with the book.countdown" with keith olbermann starts right now. >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the truth is out about the societal sabotage dressed up as phony protests against health care reform. poisoning the political well. give it up. any presence of being the loyal opposition. they've become political terrorists. the searing op-ed in "the washington post". constant references to, images of hitler, nazis, the ss or from the organizer whipping up a crowd of the americans for prosperity funded by big tobacco and big oil, all of the above, and euthanasia, too. >> adolph hitler, he called his program the final solution. i kind of wonder what we're going to call ours. >> the one saving grace? they are not that smart. just an ordinary american and a connecticut town hall still wearing his blue cross blue shield shirt. just an ordinary american in a wisconsin town hall saying she is not affiliated with any party who was vice chairman of her county republican party as lat

text your questions to james and about the city's reese coverry and to douglas brinkley to "ac 360."end your questions to ac360.com or text to 22360. >>> we'll listen to more of the music live from musician's village. ♪ (mom) for just $9, you can get them shoes from names like danskin now and starter. select eyeglass frames are just $9 at walmart - and they have a 12-month guarantee. juniors' tops from op are $9, too. $9. considering what you get, that's a really great price. back to school costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart. >>> all right. we are back with a crowd from americorps, from new orleans habitat for humanity. a lot has changed in new orleans in the four years since hurricane katrina hit. no doubt about that. much of it is for the better. more than $20 billion has been invested in infrastructure, community facilities and housing like this musician's village. as we mentioned earlier, population is back to nearly 80% pre-storm levels. some people are returning, others are moving here for the first time like the ultimate washington insider, james carville,

we will so hearrom historian douglas brinkley. we're glad you joineus. remembering ted kennedy,oming up rig now. >> there areo many things that wal-mart is looking forwarto doing, like heing people live tter. but mostly, we' helping build stronger communits and relationshs. with your hel the best is yt to come. nationwide insurance proudly suppts "tavis smiley." tavis a nationwide,orking together to improveinancial literacy and the onomic empowerme that comes with it. >> ♪ nationwid isn your side ♪ >> and by contribuons to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [caponing made possible by kcet public televion] tav: couple of quick prograing notes. due to thereaking news of senat kennedy's sng, our conversation witc.e.o. ron williams wll air tomorrow night. nd he is aritical voice and alth care debate, opposed t the public option. he will explain. that full conveation airs tomorw night on this program. also on the end the program, edrd brooke and african- american republican who served alongside ted kennedy in the u.s. sete. tonight, i am pleed

and also presidential historian, douglas brinkley, joining us live out of boston. and since you're there, david, i mean, from a personal level to a presidential level, to your experience as an aide and a writer and adviser to so many presidents, what are you thinking about today? what's going through your mind as you're remembering ted kennedy and his life? are you with us, david? okay. how about doug brinkley. can you hear me, doug? >> i hear you fine, thank you, kyra. >> okay, fabulous. well, i know that you actually were there at the compound, was it fourth of july this year or was it last year? >> no, it was a couple years ago i had written a book on hurricane katrina, and i'm very close to ethyl kennedy, robert kennedy's widow and a fabulous woman in her own right. one of the greatest people alive. and my wife and i, we have three kids, so we came up and spent the fourth of july weekend there at the house, and david gergen had said something very smart earlier, like he usually does. he said that it's really a neighborhood feel there. the term "compound" was re

perspective from former senator chuck yagel and lee hamilton and finally presidential historian douglas brinkley joins us to talk about presidents and our national parks, but first, the rage over healthcare reform. on face the nation. captioning sponsored by cbs "face the nation" with cbs news chief washington correspondent bob schieffer. and now from washington, substituting for bob schieffer, harry smith. >> welcome again to the broadcast, bob sniff is offer this morning, joining us now from phoenix, arizona where he is travel twg the president, white house press secretary robert gibbs, mr. gibbs, good morning. >> good morning, harry, how are you? >> very well. >> 80 percent of americans have health insurance, they may not be thrilled with the system as it works right now, but their fear is reform is going to make things worse instead of better. can you guarantee them that things will improve? >> absolutely. if you like what you have now you will get a chance to keep it, but in each of the town hall meetings that the president has done over the last week, harry, we have highlight add specific

douglas brinkley looked at the first green president, teddy roosevelt, from his new book, the wilderness lawyer, hours, starting at 6:00 p.m. eastern today on c-span2's book tv. book tv visited with eva brann to talk about her life and work. she has been a tutor at st. john's college, talks about her interest in the classics and the philosophers her students be. this is just over 30 minutes. >> in 1957 when you first started at st. john's college, what did you think of it? >> i thought i had come to sheer heaven. i never had to change my mind about that. it was heaven. it was everything that i had hoped for. learning is as much a part of being a teacher here as teaching is. the relation to our students has that kind of closeness which depends on a certain kind of formality. we don't intrude on their lives, we don't pretend to be friends with them, we have important business between us, amongst us, and so, teaching is a pleasure and agrees too. it can be an enormous irritation. by and large it is wonderful. one of the most remarkable things about the college is the relation of the faculty

closely are cbs news chief washington correspondent bob schieffer and presidential historian douglas brinkleyb, let me start with you. senator kennedy authored more than 2,500 pieces of legislation, hundreds were passed into law. what made him such a great legislator in your view? >> i think the main thing, katie, is he never forgot how important personal relationships are. he got a lot of great things done with orrin hatch, the very conservative republican. he would go to hatch's office, a lot of hatch's colleagues used to compliment him and praise him for the way he wrote gospel songs as his hobby and sang them. they'd praise him and encourage him. kennedy would actually go go to his office and listen to them for hours at a time. hatch never forgot that. >> couric: he also worked closely bob dole, didn't he? >> yes, he did. dole told me today that the reason he liked kennedy so much is that when ted kennedy told you something, you could count on it. bob dole also told me this. he said kennedy had the ability to go to the floor, make a very partisan speech but come off the floor and convince

douglas brinkley, give us your thoughts.something that david said, he's being remembered as this legislative pow powerhouse. but if you look at the broader arc of his life, it wasn't always clear that that would end up being his legacy, was it? >> no, it wasn't. i saw ted sorenson last evening on "larry king" and he talked about ted kennedy as a survivor among all the other things he did in his life. if you look at the fact that he's had to end up enduring the pain of seeing his three older brothers die, and he was always the baby brother, and there was always this thought that he was somehow not quite up to snuff, not enough to equal his brother, who was the president, or robert kennedy, who in his own right almost won the presidency in '68 if he hadn't have been assassinated in los angeles. and so he ended up having to work a little harder. and he did it because of his big-heartedness. people liked him. he had sympathy for people that were in plight or in -- disadvantaged. and it came through in his entire career. i think

mike: joining us is douglas brinkley, a presidential historian. doctor, thank you for joining us. let me ask you, a big mistake on the part of the president to invoke the memories of fdr and jfk? >> well, it is never a mistake for a democratic president to raise respect for fdr and jfk. the lyndon johnson comments gets into the difficulty. as you know, the great society is what ronald reagan fought against. he is trying to roll back the great society, that is what he wrote in his memos. many other government programs, conservatives have been trying to roll them back. there is this is a suspicion that has been part of our entire history. there has been the suspicion of too much government. of, is pushing health care after all of that economic stimulus plan. -- obama is pushing health-care. this might be too much, too fast, too expensive. mike: how come they don't compare themselves to jimmy carter >> we? >> carter is someone who used in the white house as a steppingstone to his post presidency. the democratic convention did not want to show anything attributing lbj because of vietn

that is where q&a cameras went in late april to talk with historian, douglas brinkley, about his upcoming book on the influence of our 26 president on the history of the conservation movement. the book is titled, "the wilderness warrior" theodore roosevelt and the crusade for america. >> host: doug brinkley why did you want to start our conversation about your book at this center? >> guest: this is the national conservation training center. this is where biologists get trained, make sure that our rivers and that are marshlands are taking care of, that manage endangered species. it is the headquarters of u.s. fish and wildlife but conservationists leaders from all over the world come here for seminars and to learn proper methods and techniques. here on the side, like walking pastoral the pictures of karabell in alaska. roosevelt was interested in all of the wildlife including carabelle and what interests me is writing a book like "the wilderness warrior" is roosevelt really is the father of the u.s. fish and wildlife and john is known as the creator of the sierra club. is roosevelt that re

. >> douglas brinkley looks at the first green president, teddy roosevelt, from his new book, the wilderness lawyer, two hours starting at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2's booktv. >> join the conversation with civil-rights and race relations with one williams live on sunday at noon eastern on booktv's in depth on c-span2. >> book expo america, yale university press book with john donatich. what do you have? >> number of great books starting with "the making of americans: democracy and our schools" by e. d. hirsch, jr.. e. d. hirsch, jr. wrote a best-selling novel called cultural literacy. he cares very much about what role education has in defining what it is to be american. this book is the capstone of his career. many bestsellers, many decades of activism and education to talk about the centrality of information and knowledge and what it means to have a shared base of knowledge and how important that is to the national identity and our is being threatened by the way education is limited across the country. it is a book that has a lot of arguments, advocacy, ways to look forward to what the n

douglas brinkley, thank you so much for joining us from rice university in houston. >>> and still todallist scott hamilton joining us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports," live from hyannis, massachusetts. we'll be back after this. they say imports always get the best mileage. well, do they know this malibu offers an epa estimated 33 mpg highway? ey never heard that. which is better than a comparable toyota camry or honda accord? they're stunned. they can't believe it. they need a minute. i had a feeling they would. there's never been more reasons to look at chevy. 90s slacker hip-hop. ♪ that can strain your relationships and hurt yourody 'cause we'pride ♪ng a ride ♪ ♪ it's the credit roller coaster ♪ ♪ and as you can see it kinda bites! ♪ ♪ so sing the lyrics with me: ♪ wn your debt goes up your score goes down ♪ ♪ when you pay a little off it goes the other way 'round ♪ ♪ it's just the same for everybody, every boy and girl ♪ ♪ the credit roller coaster makes you wanna hurl ♪ ♪ so throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em around ♪ ♪ like a wanna-be frat boy trying to get down

douglas brinkley, good luck with the book. how can you not put this on your shelf? you've got to put this up there. teddy roosevelt, what a great president, "wilderness warrior." join us again monday for more "hardball." right now it's time for "the ed show" with ed schultz. >>> i'm ed schultz. this is "the ed show." good evening. live from 30 rock in new york, it's "the ed show" on msnbc. i'm lawrence o'donnell in for ed schultz who's gone fishing this week. he'll be back next week. more town hall and one new york congressman may have found the way to beat the mobs. congressman anthony winger joins me in just a minute. >>> will the anti-reform campaign unite the democrats? rahm emanuel wants liberal groups to lay off the blue dogs. will they follow the white house marching orders? >>> and 44 years ago, lyndon johnson got government-run, single-payer health carapaced by a wide margin. what can president obama learn from lbj? i'll ask joseph califano, a top aide to president johnson, in "the playbook." plus "ed-lines." the latest twist in the florida senate race. >>>

. >> president, conservationists, wilderness warrior, douglas brinkley's look at teddy roosevelt, two hours saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2's book tv. >> join the conversation and civil-rights and relations with fox news analyst juan williams. that is live sunday at noon eastern on booktv's index on c-span2. >> the decatur book festival welcomes harold evans as their keynote speaker. celebrate local culture and literary history in st. augustine at the florida heritage book festival. look for authors jonathan latham and and. than the cast at the brooklyn festival. the west texas book festival will sponsor nearly a week of author events throughout the city of aberdeen. later in september, baltimore book festival hosts a weekend of workshops, author talks and literary events. from the national mall in washington d.c. book tv brings you live coverage of the 2009 national book festival. please let us know about book fairs and festivals in your area and we will add them to our list. e-mail us at booktv@c-span.org. >> book tv visited with author and teacher eva brann in an apples, m

. >> douglas brinkley looks at the first green president, teddy roosevelt, from his new book, "the wilderness warrior." today on c-span 2's booktv. >> race relations with juan williams, noon eastern on c-span 2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: 202-737-0001 for republicans, 202-737-0002 for democrats, and independent viewers, 202-628-0205. john burns writes out of london for the "new york times." he writes, gary mackinnon has admitted he has tapped into dozens of military computers in 2001, 2002, saying he was looking for ufo information. the latest ruling denied his request for judicial review approving a request for his extradition. a court order also rejected his bid to be tried in britain. he and knowledge packing into 97 computers pulling to the defense department, navy, army, air force, and nasa in the months before september 11. his actions were influenced, says his family, by a form of autism that he has. there's also a story in the hartford paper that reflects off an announcement made by christopher dodd yesterday, reporting that he has prostate cancer and will get surgery fo

. >>> joining from us houston, cbs presidential historian douglas brinkley and from washington d.c.,good morning again, gentlemen. doug, i want to start with the notion that some of the risk taking kennedy involved in, chappaquiddick, the night before drinking with his nephews, the night his nephew ended up being charged with rape, going all the way back to the ill-fated plane flight he insisted on talking into western massachusetts that killed his aide and the pilot of that plane, until it seems like, at least, maybe 20 years ago or so, this is a man who made some brutal, horrid missteps. >> well, that's true. nobody's ever accused the kennedys of not having hubris. certainly ted kennedy wasn't immune from that. i think in his early years, he had trouble with the plagiarism scandal at the university of virginia. there had been some drinking problems in his life that he's admitted. he seems to have tracked after the death of his brother and after -- robert kennedy and after chappaquiddick and started feeling this big-heartness, almost as if this epiphany came that he had a lot of res

. >> reporter: james carville is here now along with douglas brinkley from austin, texas. progress all around. no doubt about it. >> yeah. people weren't patient. it just takes a while. you can feel the steam built up from reconstruction efforts, people moving back. the ngos, the habitat for humanity. the businesses are starting to open up again. you can feel the momentum starting to move now. it's taken a while but it does feel a lot better. >> doug, you say it's a tale of two cities, though? >> first off we have to launch james' campaign for mayor. he should be the next mayor of new orleans. his return made a lot of people happy when he came back to louisiana. in general i think -- >> a lot of restaurants are happy. >> that's right. but look, i think there's still some serious problems that the city has to face. first off, a lot of families that have wanted to return haven't. some neighborhoods are still in ghastly decline and disrepair if you go to the lower ninth, you won't find a 75% return rate. it will be a lot lower. something more around 25%, for example. i think

. >>> joining me now cbs news consultant douglas brinkley.ennedy family moves forward. peter, i'll start with you. what is the legacy? is it a little legacy if this family continues and who will carry that torch? >> well there is a lot of speculation here that perhaps the senator's nephew joe kennedy who served in congress will run for senator kennedy's seat. he would be a formidable candidate. but i think there is a sense that the kennedys may be transitioning into more of a kind of public service role and charitable organization than in a political arena. >> so much of that drive for political office seems to have been driven by joseph kennedy who was, of course the patriarch, the father of the nine children jfk, bobby, senator kennedy, he pushed the children very hard. he expected them to serve their country, wanted them to run for president. how much of that though do you think was an inspiration to the kennedy children and how much was a burden? >> well i think that -- >> go ahead, doug. >> i think that it was a mixture of both. the insp

us now for more on senator kennedy's personal and political struggles, presidential historic, douglas brinkleyohn king, and political analyst, gloria borger. for a long time, he was associated with scandal first and then public service, second. how does the country reconcile the ted kennedy from that era with the ted kennedy that's being remembered so fondly tonight? >> i think we've missed a little bit today the theme of catholicism in ted kennedy's life, and that notion of, you say you're -- you know, you go to confession and you ask for forgiveness. and i think he, at his core, was a man of lightness, a man of god, but he had a dark side and it came out with the drinking. some of it may have been trauma, of losing his three older brothers, a baby brother, losing three in such violent ways. trying to cope with so much pressure on him, that he would turn to the taproom and drink too much and perhaps carouse and party too much. but chappaquiddick, no doubt about it, has been an albatross around the legacy of ted kennedy, but he did his penance, he struggled out of it, and you're dealing, reall

and presidential historian douglas brinkley has been on the phone for some time. douglas, get your impressions and then go to chris. doug, what are your thoughts this morning? >> just from listening to mike barnicle he talked about the personal very well. i add to that the fact having dogs with him and playing chasm all the time and going to see ted kennedy you always felt like you were going to see a kind of person who was so nice to young people, people upwards in their careers or had questions. i'm impressed historically about the senate office. it became during the 1960s and '70s protest period in washington, d.c., kind of the place if you got tear gassed, he'd go to his office to get water and recoup. he had a high tolerance for dissent and allowing people, particularly that were protesting vietnam, veterans back from vietnam that had a beef with the way the war was going, to actually use his office as a living room at times. he did it so much it would frighten guards that were guarding the capitol, the hodgepodge band of people who would come and get an audie

douglas brinkley is a presidential historian and author of the wilderness warrior theodore rooseveltfrom austin, texas. good morning. >> good morning to you guys. >> you know 21,000 people have filed by senator kennedy's casket paying their last respects, it's an enormous amount of people for a senator. because as you know, lawmakers' approval ratings aren't so high these days. will we ever see this outpouring of love again for a politician? who is not a president, by the way? >> well, it doesn't happen often for a politician who is not a president as you said, but ted kennedy has been part of the massachusetts scene since really the late 1950s and was beloved as the senator. he could've won five more elections if he wanted to there. he could have been incapacitated and been reelected because they loved him so much in massachusetts. you're seeing that outpouring at the library going by the casket and then there are people who just admire the kennedys all over the world. used to be said you could go in some latin american countries and see in little homes a picture of the pope and a p