we love franklin graham. i think he should have stuck with his original premise and that is that president obama claims to be a christian. in my book, i quote an interview with president obama in which he says he has trusted in jesus christ for the forgiveness of his sins. and by that definition, he's a christian. you know, if you were to say, lawrence, you're a democrat, i could take you at your word, i believe you're a democrat, bullbut i don't know for sure unless i go to the voting booth and see you vote. i take you at your word and have no reason to doubt you and no reason to doubt president obama is a christian. >> what he said about mitt romney and mormonism, what is your reaction to that? >> well, i do agree with franklin. of course, as you replayed it at the beginning of the program, my comments about mormonism. mormonism is not historic christianity. when people say, well, mormons and christians, say all believe the same things, my response is if that's true, why are they always on my front doorstep

>> what does regret feel like to joseph paul franklin? i had not done it. i feel sorry for the people, you know? it was really wrong for me to do that. >> i think like most serial killers, joseph knows right from wrong. he talked about regret. but whether or not that was a sincere, remorseful regret, i can only tell you what my opinion was based on my experience with these type of offenders and i did not walk away with the sense that he had those feelings of remorse and guilt. >> i was under the influence of the devil, to be quite honest. i know that sounds -- i'm not trying to say the devil made me do it, but the devil does put thoughts in people's minds. that is a fact. at the time when martin luther king and robert kennedy were both assassinated the same year, and the article that had -- titled "two enemies of the white race die" that's what i was feeding my mind on. that's why i was thinking about blacks as subhumans who go around raping white women and killing. i know that's a criminal element now. there's a lot of hard working black

the door and there was an actual ben franklin impersonator and franklin is a huge figure in this book and i spend a lot of time reading these letters between franklin and priestly so when you walk in the door and there's been franklin, so i introduced myself and said i just wrote a book about you and he was totally in character and said well priestley and i need many years ago 1765i believe so i'm not going to do any more impressions, but that may be in my future. i'm going to tell you a little bit about how i got to this story. i wrote two books about video games and pop culture and then went to the next logical thing which is 19th century cholera. [laughter] now i figured the only thing more excited is 18th-century chemistry. i was going to write about a bigger book which i think i'm still going to write about innovation and the spread of ideas. and one of the things i have been writing and thinking a lot about is ecosystems and how the metaphor of the ecosystem is useful to think about the way information flows through the society, and was a theme that showed up a little bit in the

. >>> welcome to the "the ed show" from new york, reverend franklin graham questions president obama's christianie after rick santorum compares him to hitler. the radical attack on women in virginia is delayed, mitt romney steps in it like never before. >>> buckle up folks, it's "the ed show," let's get to work. >>> do you believe that president obama is a christian? >> i think you have to ask president obama. i cannot answer that question for anybody. >> reverend franklin graham joins the conspiracy theorists. >> muslim world sees barack obama as a muslim. >> barry lynn and e.j. dionne have full analysis and the white house is responding. >>> today, women in virginia won a small victory to keep the government out of their bodies. but the fight continues. >> it's an invasive procedure and government entering into a woman's body. >> we talk to the democratic lawmaker on the front lines against a radical governor. >>> now's terry o'neill. lizs winstead and krystal ball on the republican war on women's health. >>> a week away from votes in michigan and arizona, the campaign vitriol is hea

i guess that's not enough for franklin graham. the president still hasn't proven himself. but graham is totally convinced that rick santorum is a christian. >> do you believe that rick santorum is christian? >> oh, i think so. >> how do you know if the standard is only the person knows what is within them, when you apply to the president is why it different for rick santorum? >> because his values are so clear on moral issues. no question about it. >> your reaction to the difference to the question about rick santorum and president obama i think exposes incredible double standard, they are the same situation. >> no, i asked president obama how he came to faith in christ. and he said i don't go to church. >> have you had that conversation with rick santorum? >> i talked to rick santorum, yes. >> he was more persuasive on the depth of his sincerity on the question? >> i think so but you have to look at what a person does with his life. anyone can say he's a christian. >> graham spends a lot of time deciding who is a real christian and who is not. here's what he thinks about

franklin roosevelt changed the whole conversation about politics. it's very difficult to talk in terms of the conservative politics of the 1920s anymore, after the new deal and the political triumphs of fdr. what else? >> changing expectations regarding the president as >> absolutely. now we're beginning to talk about some changes of the presidency itself. it's not that other presidents didn't initiate legislation. woodrow wilson did. theodore roosevelt did. but none kind of led and directed the national agenda on policy as much as fdr. he really -- anyone even remember who the leaders of congress was? you know? maybe, you know, a political junkie like you do, zach. but most people have no idea who the speaker of the house or you know, the majority leader. joe robinson. these names don't mean anything to anyone because fdr was so much at the center. it was the roosevelt's new deal program, which is not entirely true because there were very important figures notably senator robert wagner who are very important in forging a lot of new deal programs. b

whitney called franklin her mentor and idol. franklin called her nippy. >> nippy was a pet name. she called me aunt re. >> she first met nippy in the late '60s. she remembered her as a quiet girl. when was the first time you heard her sing? >> the first time i actually heard her sing was say saving all my love for you". ♪ so i'm saving all my love for you ♪ >> and when she hit the soprano, i said, oh, this little girl can sing. okay, sissy's baby can sing. >> did you ever have any idea that this little girl would become this -- >> who knew? who knew? no one could forecast the monumental success that she had. >> in 1989, franklin and whitney recorded "it isn't it wasn't it ain't never gonna be," their only collaboration. ♪ it isn't it wasn't ♪ >> she was a very exciting young artist. she had a lot of class and she was one of the better singers, if not the best. sissy taught her how to fight and how to be a fighter in this business. she just had it going on. ♪ and i will always love you ♪ >> reporter: whitney was at the height of her success, but franklin knew all too well the temp

and franklin d. roosevelt who, of course, very friendly to jewish people, not as -- it's very interesting to see what he would have done with the state of israel because he was, he was talking with the arabs just before he dies with the saudis about, well, we'll consult you on everything. i've read that he was part of the board of directors which instituted the numerous classes at harvard which put in a quota system against jews. and who's really his best friend among cabinet members, is morgenthau. so people are contradictory. there's contradictions among every person in this room, and harry truman is just this amazing example of it. anyone else? >> oh. >> is it true that when truman, well, truman didn't run in '52, stephenson ran against ike. that he simply, he and bess simply jumped into their car without secret service protection or anything and drove back to independence, missouri? >> well, there's a new book on that. actually, well, not as new as my book, but it came out maybe a year ago. and,

i mean his insight, plus, i like franklin because of his humor. one of the things about a story like this, and i hope you -- and if i point this out, about this. in "gone for soldiers," the characters i like won't stock because he is so aggravated with everything going on around him. he responds with such a humorous, it breaks the tension a little bit. clearly, a character like buster rain served that purpose as well. as even sometimes a character like jeb stewart can serve that purpose as a counter to the true. this man had some interesting personal quirks. and a lot of them are in here. in the mexican war, you have santa ana. it is important to have a story, do you have general thomas gauge. thomas gauge is a man -- that name means nothing to many of you. i'm sure of that. this is the most -- one heroes british. this man, he's the commanding general of the british troops in the colonies. he is given the job by king george to put down a rebellion but by all means don't start a war. i don't know that anybody can pull that off. thomas gauge underst

on where danny o'brian and two others who transferred to, that includes vanderbilt, where james franklin is head coach. however, he filed a grievance with the acc accusing franklin of contacting o'brian before a final decision was made. >>> time now to vote for our high school game of the week. among your choices this week, austin hill at laurel. whitman, and for the girls, blake at springbrook. go to dc.highschoolsports.ne t to vote. >> he looks beatable today. on 11, hitting from the brush. doesn't hit the ball very far. he would lose that hole. down the stretch, tiger was solid on the 18. for par and the win. tiger buries the put and he lives to play another day, which will be against nick. he has been there. >> okay. been there, done that. we are done. >> good night, everybody.

aretha franklin is back with us on the phone.bout your reaction. you found out by seeing it on a television screen. take us through what went through your mind at that point and who you have talked to since and your general reaction once again. >> well, i said i was just sitting on the the side of the bed reading the paper, i think. i happen to -- no, no, no. i know what it was. i was watching tv. i had just finished watching rose mary clooney's nephew. george clooney. and also a couple other movies. and i didn't want to see anymore, and i said let's go to regular tv because it doesn't look like there's anything else good on here. i went back to the regular tv and maybe 30 seconds later, it flashed across the tv. and i could not believe what i saw coming across the tv. it was just not to be believed. it was so stunning and so sad. and i couldn't believe it was true. i just c

franklin d. roosevelt family, all of them come together and one eye. they want to stampede the convention. he finally draws back and says no at the last minute. otherwise it could have been eisenhower as the nominee and even as the president beating doing, but he says no. not his year. he does become president a year of columbia university. for years more for the presidency. so chairman, truman it's so bad, so bad at that convention, he gets on the phone and he is calling william of douglas, the supreme court justice. will you be my vice presidents. why him? because he is a guy who is respected by the old new dealers. he has to get back in good graces with that one of the party. he has to cement that tied to the new deal. and william of douglas supposedly says i will not be a number two man to a number two man. he turned some down. so he takes alvin barkley, this democratic leader of the senate, and you haven't ticket which is a pretty good speaker. he's kind of well liked. he is older than harry

able -- giovanni was able to hear political meanings in franklin's voice.nection between the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement, and this is a very historic performance. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> okay. you know that sncc came out against the vietnam war in january of 1966 and then dr. king opposed the war in april of 1967. for dr. king, it was a very significant break because he had been cultivating an alliance with the johnson administration to pass civil rights legislation. so dr. king became a pariah within american politics for doing that. here's another example of connecting a civil rights perspective. at end of the clip, stevie flashes the peace sign. this, i think, this is the era of black power, which is associated with black militancy. in a lot of this music, you see trying to project a civil rights oriented vision of integration and racial harmony, even as they are protesting against the status quo. we tend to think of civil rights and black power as a clean break. i think when you look at the music, you get a

franklin roosevelt is looking for a fourth term. the war is still on and to 1940, he has dumped his vice president, john vance gartner, who had grown a bit too conservative for the new deal and he put 10 henry a. wallace the secretary of agriculture. who is a very left-wing kind of new age kind of guy or back them. and he forces wallace on the ticket in 1940. the democratic party does not really want him. and in 1944, roosevelt is getting the word back, you keep this guy on the ticket, he could cost you a million votes. roosevelt is a great politician. he knows what this means. and he says, i have forced henry wallace on the party once. i can't do it twice. i can't do it twice. he has got to go. not in so many words, not in so many words but he eventually slits wallace's throat. who did he replace them with? the guy he replaced them with is a guy that is not too southern, not to northern, not too conservative, not too liberal, respected by the union but not really in the pocket of the union and that is harry truman. he fits in all t

aretha franklin will be performing at the funeral.had a chance to sit down for an exclusive interview with her. >> of course she's known as the queen of soul. to whitney houston aretha franklin was simply aunt ree and aretha called whitney by the family nickname, nippy. she said she was shocked and saddened when she heard about the death. she found out the same way the rest of us did. >> i was sitting on the side of the bed. i had just finished watching george clooney in "the descendants." and i flip back to the regular tv. maybe two minutes after i did that it came across the screen. >> we have some sad breaking news. singer whitney houston is dead. >> i just jumped up off the side of the bed. what? this could not be. what is this? i just said, oh, my god. that's not good. >> somebody said she was doing well. she was on the verge of a comeback. >> i thought so. she looked beautiful. she really looked good. i saw some of the previews from "sparkle." she looked fresh, healthy and gorgeous. i thought, yes, she has co conquered her chall

to the point, franklin.dent? >> listen, the president has said that he is a christian and we will leave it at that. kyra, only god knows the heart of all of these candidates and he's the only one that knows your heart and my heart, all of us have to stand before god one day and give an account to almighty god for our lives and how we lived our lives. as it comes down to the candidates it's the issues that are the issue here. i cannot support the president, i cannot vote for the president because of abortion. he supports abortion i can't support that. the other candidates are more in line with my views on this. so it comes down to a moral issue, abortion. the president supports it, he's going against what the bible teaches, the bible is very clear about life and where life begins and i believe the president is going against what the holy scriptures teach and so the bible is my guide. the bible is the authority in my life. and that's what i follow and these other candidate, there is a lot of good people out th

>> franklin. >> reporter: franklin. and now? whitney e. of the arts. >> reporter: beautiful. nippy. you've been calling her all this life -- >> if you look at her license plate number, nippy inc. 1, nippy inc. 2. >> reporter: your heart is heavy? >> my heart is heavy. crying, not sleep you, what have you. but today i feel good. you know why i feel good? because so many people are recognizing the things she has done. that in itself is beautiful. not talking about negative things or this or that. they're talking about the true whitney and that has help med overcome the grieve that i had. >> reporter: amen, principal. i think there's a time and place for everything and i don't think there needs to be mention of that. this is, what you said, negativity. this is what we do when we send people home. we honor them and we think about and celebrate the good times in their lives and what they meant to us and what they brought to the world and just their presence. we'll miss their presence, but we still have them in spirit and fortunately for whitney

franklin in a radio enter -- tampering. franklin in a radio interview staunchly denies that. >>> the winner of the high school game of the week contest, 4,000 votes, rockville hosting orchard. frank weaver father of lily weaver battling bone cancer. >> the we've warriors, we will look for them. >>'s -- the weaver warriors, we will look for them. >> that's all for 9 news now at 6:00. good night.

the terps, througgh the acc, haveefiled a complaint against vanderbilt..and by connection, franklin..year, o'brien was recruited by franklin at maryland, and affer his benching last season, the complaint allegessfranklin spoke with 'brien, which is against caa rules.. mmanwhile, in sarasota... another day of workouts for pitchers and catchers at oriole sprrng trainnng, as buck showalter and pitching inviting 31 pitchers tends to b. bring... and not only that, but 12 orr 13 of them are all competing for one of the fiie spoos in the starting rotaaionn..this guy,,jason hammel, figures to be one of themm..the 29 year old righthander was acquired from cclorado in the jeremy might wind up the oppning day reliable innings eater...and a& he says he xpects that to continue here in baltimore.... up dates on these stories...the rest of the night in sporrs, and morgan adsit talks with morgan pasketball coach todd bozeman...that's coming up tonight at 10:50 and 11:30 on sports unlimitee. --toos to vytas-- vytas-- 33 3 3 jams.../ witt.../ mick jagger.../// b-b king.../ and... buddy guy.../ at the .

at maryland, and after his &benchi complaint alleges franklin against ncaa rulls..wile coppin isspondering post-seaoo possibilities..the cross town rivals hooked up tonight at coppin's new gym.... gym....first half action... coppin trailing out of the gate... but they lead he meac pn three point percenttge... living by it... michael harper nets it..bears with something to lay for early on... peeding the bbg fella... enough for two with his left.. morggn sticking to what works... inside again to the post... shaquille duncan working logan wiens... and the &ppivot foot... then theehigh glass... morgan up ouble digits..bears on both eeds... blake bozeman... making his daddy proud... strips the point... and it's dewayne jackson going the other... putting on the hurt on with theeone handed sttff...beers hoping for a new season in march... get their 7th win: 91-80.morran adsit goes one-on-one now with head coach todd bozeman. 3- it's now time too it's now time to announce the candidates in our highhschool brought to you by varsity . sportt networr dot com...youu can vote o

and "amazingly the president didn't address the franklin graham comments". and he said that the president is focused on the job at hand, which is focusing on the economy, the issues that are important to the american people. he was asked earlier about some of rick santorum's comments on the campaign trail as well about the president's theology. and to that he said that, you know, the president has made it clear that he's a christian, and that it's up to news reporters, producers and our editors to decide whether these are stories or not, essentially turning it back on the media whether this is something we need to be talk about, john. familiar. >> jess, they can turn it back on us. they can say it's out of bounds. but i assume both at the white house and more importantly at the obama campaign they think this tone, this shift is happening for a reason. >> reporter: absolutely. and they know that this is -- they believe this is politics at play no doubt. and the general sense, though, is that this is not helpful to the republican field. there is a larger sense

aretha franklin and whit knew houston rivaled in popularity.ally as popular and equally known around the world. stevie wonder is going to sing "ribbon in the sky." alicia keys is going to perform, a whole bunch of people. we heard about all of the people who are going to be here and those are the confirmed people. they're going to be so many stars who we have not heard from who are going to be here. as a matter of fact, i haven't seen them on the guest list anywhere, but i know he's going to be here with his wife, l.a. reed. i took the red eye with l.a. reed. there are other stars, jay-z, beyonce. i would imagine a lot of people are going to show up that we don't know about and it's all going to start on cnn in just a little bit. but we're going to carry the entire coverage for you. again, the interesting thing is who is going to be here who we haven't heard from already. >> you know, don, what i keep thinking about, there are literally tens of millions of people threout the world mourning whit knew houston's death and who are so saddened by th

so here we are, this was franklin graham on "morning joe" going there as rick santorum did.et's talk about the president's faith. bringing up the question of the muslim issue, that was long resolved and reinjecting jeremiah wright. >> long resolved despite the number of people that still think that he is a muslim. it's incredible. the other thing is that it was probably legitimate more to talk about jeremiah wright four years ago because people did not know who obama was. one way that candidates use religion is sort of shorthand, this is a candidate that i do not know, but if i know his religious belief, it gives me a sense of his character. >> isn't it a way to define someone as other, outside the mainstream, not quote american, but not only his name but his k kenyan father. >> there was ministers at a time, where there was problems with protestants and catholics that try to do the same to kennedy. >> jimmy carter was a bit controversial because he was the first reborn, avowed reborn candidate that we knew about, and was teaching sunday school and was deeply religious and d

aretha franklin.course, we've been reporting that she's not going to be performing. th that she's not even going to be at the funeral. >> aretha franklin just e-mailed me and she wanted me to give everyone this message. and i'm just reading, this is in a series of e-mails, so just forgive me if i'm reading this for the first time. it says, sean, regretfully i cannot attend service for nippy. up until 4:00 a.m. with leg spasms and locked leg muscles. felt it very important to stay off my leg as long as possible until the concert tonight. my heart goes out to cissy -- reading the next e-mail now. >> cissy houston. >> bobbi chrykristina, and the of the family. would greatly appreciate if you would mention it. i have every intention of being there, just going to be -- it says necessary to keep leg elevated and stay off of it until the concert. >> so the very latest there on aretha franklin, why she's not going to be here. let's listen in now. the funeral's starting, alex. i'lls to it back to you. >> we'll

thank you, miss aretha franklin.ouston had a profound effect on radio listeners and the radio community pays tribute. . >>> the ripple effect of houston's death is being felt where it started for her. radio. she was unstoppable in the 1980s and early 90s, rack up hit after hit after hit. we talked about the void she leaves behind. >> whitney houston loved to have fun on the radio. >> we love you, whitney houston! >> i love you too. >> like singing along with wanda smith. she was more than an artist to the staff. >> the one and only, whitney houston. >> the d.j. said she was also a friend. >> she was really down to earth like the girl next door when you got to meet her. >> her music was played often and she was a frequent guest on the morning show sharing not only her music, but her life. >> we were just all family. >> the news was a shock to everyone who dedicated their sunday afternoon to pay tribute to the loss of a musical icon. >> i feel like i am standing here. >> even fellow musicians like grandmaster d called

aretha franklin said it best, that she had a twinkle. had a sparkle and glitter about her and the picture on the programs and the posters everywhere, it still fills the essence about her and it was a timeless quality that she was able to have at her prime. >> i was down at the church taking in the scene. she gave voice to the people of newark. they saw themselves in her. they felt she represented them well on the radio on tv, in her life, and she's someone who really changed the game on radio and in record stores for what sells. upon when she sang in the '80s, and your voice still matters. vocals are at the core of what music is all about. even today we celebrate her for that for paving the ground for that and shaping the careers of a lot of other singers that came after her like beyondy and christina aguilera and they might not have made the world safe for real vocalists. >> you being a music krstic. christopher john farley has spoke ben what she meant to the music world. there are many who say that the likes of her voice will never com

a solo was planned by aretha franklin. we hear she may be sick, she may not be forming.ait for clarification. she does appear to be here today, but we're not sure if she'll be singing. clive davis, of course, the great mentor of whitney houston, who discovered her, took her to arista records, he'll be speaking here. and stevie wonder singing "a ribbon in the sky," a medley by alicia keys, a solo by r. kelly, "i look to you," and family remarks by patricia, her sister-in-law and a tribute by dionne warwick. it's going to be a hugely emotional day, think. very much a family affair. you can see it's eerily quiet here. throngs of fans are being kept away. this is what cissy houston wanted. >> the fans are gathered on the outskirts behind police barricades. they understand it's a moment for the family of whitney who's been so public, to finally have a moment -- have her to themselves. >> i don't know what you think, but you feel like you're right in the middle of where whitney grew up. this is really what whitney is all about. she wasn't the superstar glamorpuss she game. thi

aretha franklin was whitney houston's god mother. aretha franklin and whitney's mother are very good friends for a very long time. we are expecting a musical remembrance today. but we are expecting a very, very private funeral as well. the church, new hope baptist church seats 1,500. we're told there will probably be somewhere around 500 in that church. a fairly small funeral when you compare it to some of the other ceremonies that we've seen for superstars in the past. >> absolutely. that point being they want to make this private. of course we will have access to a camera inside and to you as well. thank you so much. >>> here's a reminder for all of you. we'll bring you the entire funeral service for whitney houston. our coverage begins at noon eastern right here on "weekends with alex witt." i'll see you at that hour. >>> let's get more now on the terror suspect at the u.s. capitol yesterday. pete williams is in washington with the latest on that. some story here. >> well, right, we've seen these sting operations before, including

>> yes, as we know, aretha franklin will be there, stevie wonder, also darlene love who is whitney'sg at the memorial service. >> and it's invitation only. bobby brown back on stage last night with new edition and he had this to say. take a look, it was in maryland. >> give some love for whitney. ♪ that's my love. >> so, is he officially going to be at this invitation-only funeral? >> i would hope he would be able to be there because he clearly loved her and was a huge part of her life. some want to say maybe she detracted from his life. but you can't take away -- you can't make them be something they're not. if he was able to enable her to do something that she wasn't normally thinking aut doing, he's bringing something out of her that's already there. we can't say that he suddenly changed her into being something she wasn't. he's an important part of her life and we've got to try to include him in this -- >> probably more drama not to have him there. >> and the family has said it was not true that he was not invited to the service. they said that was not true. they said there was s

so will aretha franklin, a close family friend who talked with al roker exclusively on "today." >> did you have any idea this little girl would become this? >> who knew? who knew? no one could forecast the monumental success that she had, not even mr. davis. no one knew how big she would blow up. >> reporter: how are you going to remember her? >> as an adorable young lady, as cissy's baby. and a great artist. and a very kind and giving person. very sensitive young lady. >> by the way, there will be more of al's conversation with aretha franklin tonight on "dateline" at 10:00, 9:00 central. >>> about that airport surveillance video that shows a woman in ft. lauderdale who leaves behind a $6,500 rolex in the bin and then the guy who comes along looks around and keeps the watch. well, they found the watch. it was on his wrist. he told police he thought it was a gift from god, but that was just the woman's watch and he was placed under arrest. >>> a satellite that keeps an eye on the sun for all of us here on earth has sent back some extraordinary images of sun tornados. the visible churni