guthrie: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. guthrie: i rise today in support of house resolution 1472, expressing support for designation of the week of september 13, 2010, as national adult education and family literacy week. illiteracy is a nationwide problem. according to a recrept report nearly one out of two adults is illiterate without the minimum skills required in today's society. unfortunately, many adults in this country cannot read a newspaper or fill out a job application. the board of education estimates that 7 million u.s. adults have basic and below basic literacy skills. department of education studies have also found adults living in poverty were more likely to have lower than average literacy scores than adults with higher incomes. half of the adults who do not have the high school diploma performed in the below basic levels. elderly over age 65 has the lowest average literacy scores with 64% perform in the basic and bel

as we mentioned, savannah guthrie still with us from the white house. we also want to bring in marc whitacre from our washington newsroom. marc, we'll begin with you, do you see any nexus between these two stories? is this what the new era looks like, and in plain english, what is going on do you think? >> brian, let's not forget, this is nothing new. any time we have a story in this country involving race, reverse racism, it becomes very volatile. there are three factors here that have made these stories even more intense. one is, we have a black president for the first time. and rightly or wrongly, there are people in this country who wonder whether that affects his view of these kinds of issues. the second is, we have a terrible economy. every time people think the pie is shrinking, these stories take on bigger importance and more anger. and finally, we have this web culture now, you know, where mark twain said a century ago, a lie can make its way halfway around the world before the truth has its shoes on. that's just been intensified, both in terms

it was just unbelievable. >> and that was nbc savanna guthrie reporting. meanwhile the ncaap initially called sherrod's actions, quote, shameful, but have since backtracked, saying they were, quote, snookered by fox news and the conservative blogger who first published the video. >>> well, english prime minister david cameron says he understands american anger over the gulf oil crisis and said it's bp's responsibility to clean it up. at a joint news conference with president obama yesterday, cameron also insisted bp had no role in the controversial release of the lockerbie bomber. brushing off calls for an investigation, cameron cautioned, quote, let us not confuse the oil spill with the libyan bomber. >>> meanwhile, bp has acknowledged it posted an altered photo on its website that exaggerates the activity at its houston command center. a spokesman says there was no ill-intent and the company has since put up the original photo. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton was in south korea today to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the korean war. secretary

as our white house correspondent savannah guthrie reports, his speech about schools was also about race. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: though he was among friends before one of the nation's largest civil rights organizations today, the president also encountered foes. >> when you try to shake things up, some people aren't happy. >> reporter: the national urban league is among seven civil rights groups this week to blast the president's signature education initiative race to the top which rewards federal funding to schools based on a competition among states that embrace reform such as tying teacher evaluations to student performance, adopting common student achievement standards and encouraging charter schools. but civil rights groups worry race to the top leaves minority students at the bottom. 19 states were announced this week as finalists in the latest round of competition for federal funds, but critics say in the two states to actually win grants so far, only 3% of the nation's black students are represented. >> let me tell you what's not working for black kids, hispanic kid

as lord guthrie said earlier this month, mixed messages are dangerous. the deputy prime minister earlier today said, quote-unquote, nothi is chiseled in stone. and then insisted, i think, six times that there would be no britiscombat operations from 2015. last november, mr. speaker, the president of afghanistan said in his inauguration speech about that. he has said the foreign secretary has said that he would be very surprised if this process of security transition took longer than 2014. thprime minister then said british troops would be out of combat by 2015. last night in washington he said british troops could pull out next year. and the foreign secretary expected british troops to be the last to leave afghanistan. all of us want t troops home as soon as possible and, therefore, to resolve any confusion that might exist could the foreig secretary tell us whether the government sticks by the position that the prime minister, the honorable member set out last year that it should be, quote, based on success. you do so once its safe. do it based on succe

but first, nbc's savannah guthrie is at the white house with the latest on the story. savannah, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. well, the white house is hoping to move past this chapter, now that the agriculture secretary has come forward to offer ms. sherrod a new job with the agency, and to apologize. under fire for the firing of a usda worker, agriculture secretary tom vilsack faced the cameras. >> this is a good woman. she's been put through hell, and i could have done and should have done a better job. >> reporter: vilsack said he personally called sherrod to apologize. >> i asked for shirley's forgiveness and she was gracious enough to extend it to me, and for that i am thankful. >> reporter: at the white house wednesday, it was also all apologies. >> i think without a doubt ms. sherrod is owed an apology. a disservice was done for which we apologize. and on behalf of the administration, i offer our apologies. >> reporter: after initially standing by the agriculture secretary's decision to fire sherrod, the white house now acknowledges it wa

we're going to talk to shirley sherrod in a moment, but first, nbc's savannah guthrie is at the white house with the latest. savannah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, matt. these developments are moving really quickly. at first there were condemnations against shirley sherrod for alleged racist remarks. now some of the very first people to rebuke her are now apologizing and over the night the white house directed the agency that fired her to reconsider. this is the video at the center of the controversy. with having to help a white farmer save his farm -- >> reporter: first posted on a conservative website, it shows shirley sherrod, a georgia-based official with the u.s. department of agriculture, and obama administration appointee, at an naacp dinner in march of this year describing her reluctance to help a white farmer who came for aid. >> i was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland, and here i was faced with having to help a white person save their land. so i didn't give him the full force of what i could do. >> reporter: the vid

guthrie: in my district unemployment is the number one issue like it is across the country. not just for people looking for jobs but for people to provide jobs. they are concerned about the tax increases that could be coming with the expiration of the tax increases. one of the concerns we heard this weekend, madam speaker, is that taxes could increase on those making $250,000 or more which we know half of that runs through small businesses. i'm talking to a lot of small business owners attackses because they want to grow their business and hire people and put them to work. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? without objection. >> thank you, madam speaker. mr. walz: perhaps my career as a public school teacher and having survived 20 years of the high school lunchroom makes me more optimistic than some of my colleagues. the idea of the trust i have in our young people and in this country to overcome any adversities we see, this weekend i was out in minn

savannah guthrie is at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the white house feels a political winner championing benefits for the jobless at a time when unemployment has dragged the president and his party down in the polls. accompanied by three out-of-work americans the president tried to shame republicans into extending unemployment benefits. >> the same people who didn't have any problem spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthiest americans are saying we shouldn't offer relief to middle-class americans like jim or leslie or denise who really need help. >> reporter: republicans say they support unemployment benefits but not unless they're paid for with spending cuts and won't add to the deficit. >> we're all for extending unemployment insurance. the question is, when are we going to get serious about the debt? we recently passed a $13 trillion cumulative deficit threshold. when are we going to get serious about this? this administration has been on an incredible spending spree. >> reporter: but today's vote, the

this friday morning, i'm matt lauer along with al roker and is a van a guthrie. >> we should start singingme for the money. >> that's right. depending on where you're looking anywhere from maine to new mexico to norman, oklahoma, what you can get starting at $200,000. also ahead, interesting question, good parents raising bad children. you may have child who is difficult, early behavior problems, you may ask what am i doing wrong? we will talk to experts about what is happening and the warning signs to look out for. >> did you know americans consume on average more calories than any other nation? but all those countries with good food, they don't suffer from an obesity epidemic like we do. we will look at diet tips from around the world and see what we can learn from others who struggle with this. >> how about those breakfasts for kids we just showed. >> from friendly's 2,200 calories. >> that's crazy. lots to get to. let's get inside. natalie is at the news desk while ann is off today. she has all the headlines. >>> good morning, matt, savannah and al. north korea is threatening the u.s.

guthrie: their concerns about getting the economy moving again didn't have to do with george w. bush or win when the majority took over in 2006. their concern was this congress. the debt from the stimulus bill that didn't keep unemployment from going above 8%. they were concerned about the energy cost that could have greatly affected the great commonwealth of kentucky. and also we are going to talk about how they are going to implement the health care bill. those are the concerns. if we got back to our belief of limited government and unemploymented faith in the american people that we will get this economy moving again. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from maine rise? ms. pingree: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. ms. pingree: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, 75 years ago francis perkins, a wonderful woman from a long line of maine farmers and craftsmen, addressed the nation as the secretary of labor. in addition to being the first woman cabinet maker