years later she would sing a radical folk group with woody and guthrie.e dust bowl she would become radically politicized by her migratory experience. as she recalled it, along with hundreds of thousands of performers we fought to survive, we battled crop failures, undero illness without doctors, gully watches and hailstorms and the death of livestock, fires. we could have endured all those normal disasters but there was no way in god's world to escape the sharp teeth of the bankers. that is what happened. woody remembered the further west you walk the more brown and empty the country gets. the hard rock miners and old prospectors and swarms of hitchhikers and migratory workers squatted with their piles of belonging is in the shade of the big signboard out across the flat hard crust desert. kids chasing around in the blistering sun and ladies cooking scrappy meals in sunni buckets and scouring the plates clean with sand. young folks in work pants, khaki and cotton dresses gathered around and they would sing sometimes they would stand quiet and listen. and

our book takes a look at the iconic guthrie and the context in which he struggled both personally and on a wide political stage. tonight's author is a professor of american literature and culture at the university of england. he's the author of the previously published book american culture in the 1970's, and he is as you will soon find out also a professional boxing year and musician. it's my pleasure to introduce to you the author of "woody guthrie american radical" well kaufman. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ it is a muddy harvick road ♪ my poor feet have traveled this team rhode ♪ ♪ on the west word we've rolph ♪ into the desert mountains for cold ♪ ♪ i have worked in orchards of peaches ♪ ♪ i've slept on the ground in the light of your moon ♪ ♪ at the edge of your city ♪ we come with and dust and we go with the wind ♪ ♪ california, arizona, i worked on your copps ♪ ♪ and north up to oregon to gather your kutz ♪ ♪ did from the ground, cut the grapes from your fine ♪ ♪ put a place on your table that white sparkling wine ♪ ♪ and green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground ♪ ♪ from the dam where

. >>> and later, savannah guthrie's exclusive interview with author joe mcguinness, the man who moved next door to sarah palin while writing a book about her. you will learn more about palin's future plans. >>> while the president was out in ohio insisting over and over again that congress pass the bill, it seemed like the only democrats who were even willing to talk about it here on capitol hill were tearing it apart. >> that was senate minority leader mitch mcconnell today, noting the growing democratic resistance to the president's jobs bill. the white house dispatched advisers david plouffe and gene sperling to the hill today to convince dissenting senate democrats to support the president's legislation. complaints in recent days ranged from the bill includes too much spending to the bill includes too many tax cuts to it unfairly eliminates subsidies for oil companies while ignoring other big industries. after the private 90-minute meeting, senate majority whip dick durbin told reporters, "we're not going to get 100% of our caucus, but believe me, if it's up to the democrats to pa

we'll show you his exclusive interview with the "today" show's savannah guthrie, coming up. determination and decisive action. i go to e-trade and get unbiased analyst ratings and 24/7 help from award-winning customer support to take control of my finances and my life. i tap into the power of revolutionary mobile apps. to trade wherever. whenever. life isn't fully experienced sitting idly by. neither is investing. [ birds chirping ] so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you hav

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savannah guthrie.hanks. >>> now to alabama where a federal judge upheld the toughest immigration law in the country. a law that tells elementary schools to investigate their kids. one commentator today called this arizona on steroids in terms of immigration. opponents of the law are promising a fight. nbc's kerry sanders in birmingham, alabama, for us tonight. kerry, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the state immigration law is now on the books here. but those who will have to enforce it are yet to figure out just how they will do that. today, police in alabama have new power. teachers have new responsibilities -- to check people's birth certificates and to enforce what, until now, was federal immigration law. not everyone welcomes the new authority. >> we don't believe that teachers in alabama public schools should be converted to immigration officers. it's not our job to police the children that come to public school every day. it is our job to teach. >> reporter: it is estimated more

nbc's savannah guthrie who, as a lawyer, has covered her share of crime and punishment controversy is with us here in new york tonight. good evening. >> good evening. this was a terrible crime. a police officer who came to the aid of a homeless man being beaten by a group of men was shot dead on the street but the troy davis case is gathering worldwide headlines tonight because of persistent questions about whether he really was the man who pulled the trigger. to his last breath, troy davis, convicted of killing an off-duty police officer in 1989, maintained his innocence. >> he said, i want to say something to the mcphail family. i did not take your son, father, brother. [ chanting ] >> reporter: many believe he was innocent. for four hours after his scheduled execution, thousands of people all over the world held their breath during final appeals. there was lingering doubt about the conviction, even from world leaders. no dna linked davis to the crime and seven of nine eyewitnesses recanted their testimony. but shortly after 10:00 p.m. the u.s. supreme court denied davis's appeal an

i'm savannah guthrie in new york.and everyone here at nbc news, thanks for being with us. good night and have a good being with us. good night and have a good weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

and "today" show's savannah guthrie, thinanks for being her as well. >> reverend, you mentioned the next washington, right? >> we'll be in washington tomorrow. i think we've got to look at the broader questions here of how we can have someone executed based on just eye witness testimony when there's been so many studies that have questioned the reliability of eyewitness testimony. in this case they recanted seven of the nine. the question becomes how do you do this? and we want the justice department to stay whether we can do it through the federal courts or through legislation. to leave this case, where it can happen again, i think is something that we committed to troy davis we wouldn't do and secondly we're only playing with a matter of time before the same issues would become issues again. >> i don't want to talk about the innocence or guilty of troy davis but i do want to talk about the death penalty. here was a guy that two decades, this case worked its way through the courts, the supreme court reviewed it. but it doesn't seem obviously he was able to prove his case. did he have du

savannah guthrie is here with more about the interview with the author. hi. >> a lot of people know joe mcginniss. he has been writing books since his book on richard nixon. now he focused on alaska's famous politician. to get the story, he got very close to his subject. the rogue, a 318 take down of palin by best selling author joe mcginniss paints a scathing portrait of the woman that could have been vice president. >> an utter fraud. an absolute utter fraud. >> you call her a tenth grade mean girl. >> oh, that's -- those are kind words, compared to what you would hear in wasilla today. the thing i found, savannah, that really surprised me was that the people that know her best like her least. >> mcginniss spent four months in alaska, claims he spoke to approximately 200 people, a mix of old associates, acquaintances and former friends. but the book was causing controversy before he wrote one word. >> she had a problem with you living next door. >> she did, and i don't know why she did. >> really, you don't know why? >> i really don't. >> but the experi

libya kicking into high gear with the truck rebels now accused of being too keen to target alleged guthrie loyalist and rounding up innocent foreigners in the process a report coming up on one also the human rights watch dog countries have allegedly been hosting secret cia prisons to investigate claims of serious violations. tens of thousands of angry italians of hit the streets nationwide today to protest the harsh you will stare at a package being debated in rome and a number of violent scuffles between demonstrators and police have already been reported underlying the political and social tension wrestles with its massive debts how does one of europe's biggest economies its troubles threaten to destabilize the euro zone and spur a new financial crisis the dropping of some key provisions such as a temporary tax on the wealthy said markets into a spin and spark rumors of a credit rating downgrade. across the efforts to further rescue greece took a hit and submitted it won't be able to meet its deficit reduction headlights. point was a member of france's ruling party until two thousand. be

guthrie for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. guthrie: thank you, mr. speaker. the position the bipartisan position, the one that both parties working together have put forward is to support this and we have had different comments what the republicans are doing. but the truth of the matter is this is a bipartisan bill and bipartisan bill that our country needs because for 2 1/2 years, bureaucrats have run wild with new regulations while staggering job losses. it requires the committee to study the actual effects of e.p.a. regulations and makes the finding public. most of us say that's common sense requested of e.p.a., no more regulations until we know how many jobs will be lost. mr. speaker, i have a manufacturing background and i come from a manufacturing state. in kentucky, we know what it takes to keep and grow jobs and it isn't excess regulations from e.p.a. i ask my colleagues to pass the train act and stop the havoc. a vote for this bill is a vote for jobs and transparency. thank you, and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of hi

he was featured on "today" in a piece by savannah guthrie. >> he described a rocky palin marriage with todd and sarah fighting and threatening divorce, something they have denied in the past. another bomb shell, he writes todd and sarah have both used cocaine in the past, a claim that was not verified. >> you talk to somebody who snorted it with her and many of todd's friends who describe him as having been on the end of the straw frequently in his youth. i'm not saying todd and sarah palin today abuse cocaine or even use it, but it is no question that they both did at one point in their lives. >> reporter: he quote friends who speak of a sexual encounter palin had with glen rice in 1987 while she was a sports reporter for a local anchorage station prior to her marriage. >> how should journalists handle the contents of the book? steve roberts, professor of journal ichl and media ethics at george washington university. and senior editor at national review. steve, in the first 24 hours, nobody has seen this book. lots of websites were trumpeting the sleaziest allegations. why? >> ratings

samantha guthrie and al roker and natalie morales are holding down the fort in new york city. nice to see everybody. coming up, more of our interview with edda mellas and curt knox, parents of amanda knox. they're going to talk about the emotions and the frustrations as we continue our interview. ann? >> all right, and matt, here in los angeles, another dramatic trial we've been following all this week, michael jackson's personal physician is facing involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of the king of pop. paramedics who treated jackson take the stand today but on thursday, emotional testimony from his bodyguard who called 911. you're going to hear some of that call. now al, let's go to you. >> thanks so much, ann. from here, ""today's" real estate" our guru barbara cochran is back, open house tours from the suburbs of chicago to the beaches of california. we're going to show you how far your cash can go when you buy that house these days. >>> let's get to natalie over at the news desk with the day's top stories. good morning. >> good morning to you, savannah and al. t

. >> reporter: earlier this morning on the "today" show, one of the rescuers spoke with savannah guthriend he was still marveling that they were able to pull it off. >> it's just a miracle. i sat there and looked at him and i was sick, but i've been worried about about him and knowing that he'll make a full recovery, i'm just glad we were there at the right time and in the right place. >> bran do that wright's a pretty lucky guy. he was not wearing a helmet, but he didn't sustain any head injuries. his uncle says brandon will now be a big advocate for motorcycle helmets. >> i would imagine so that. that video is amazing every time you see it. thank you, sir. >>> gumby surrenders. san diego police say the guy who dressed up as the children's character during a failed convenience store robbery turned himself in. 19-year-old jacob kiss and his getaway driver both turned themselves in. he told the clerk he had ademan but got nerves us and ran out. the d.a. will decide whether it merits charges or was just a prank. we should also note that police confiscated that gumby costume. >>> some stagg

. >> joining me now is a vanna guthrie and professor mark hills. how will the exkugts of davis impact the national conversation of the death penalty in the country. >> in some ways i think the fact we are having the conversation means it has had an impact. the fact of the matter, the death penalty has been falling out of favor. haven't seen as many death sentences handed down and as many execution after hitting a high in the '90s part of it is publicity around people who were exonerated, the use of dna. it is an interesting time to have this debate. people are expressing misgiving about the death penalty. if you look at polls 60% of americans support the death penalty. this case is one that raises a lot of questions because there seems to be so much doubt in the record when you have seven of nine witnesses later coming back and recanting. i would note, though, those witnesses were heard by several courts and saw the affidavits. one court heard from the witnesses and ultimately rejected their changed testimony. so in some way we have to remember tha

. >> savannah guthrie on the "today" show asked him why he was still in the race, because it's no secretind in the polls. mark, at this point, what is keeping his campaign going? >> what's keeping his campaign going is resume. so he is a former governor of utah who actually had a pretty good economic record there and had some successes to be able to show. he's also someone who is personally wealthy. not as wealthy as mitt romney but he could be able to fund his campaign. we already saw him dip into his own personal pocket for his second quarter fund-raising. so he has the potential to be able to do that again. but the allure of jon huntsman is kind of more of a general election one, that he could actually reach out to independents. in some ways he's the republicans' version of barack obama, someone who says i can work with everyone, want to bring everyone together. the question for him is whether that's the message that republican primary voters want to hear, because for him to get to that general election, he needs to get through the primaries first. >> mark murray, nbc's deputy politic

and this is how he summed up his investigation into palin on the "today" show with savannah guthrie justd utter fraud. >> you call her a tenth grade mean girl. >> oh, that's -- those are kind words compared to a lot of what you would hear in wasilla today. the thing that i found, savannah, that really surprised me was that the people who know her best like her least. >> wow. well, next week, maginnis' book "the rogue: searching for the real sarah palin" will finally hit bookstores. my question, if sarah palin decides to run for president, who knows what she's up to, will this book hurt her chances? right now, the co-author of another book on sarah palin, and frank bear is up in alaska. we're kind of previewing the fact that the author is coming on this show next tuesday. shanna, is there anything in this book that you've heard about so far that would keep her from running for president? >> i actually think the opposite, chris. we've talked about this for a very long time. i still don't know which way she'll go, but i think, if anything, the claims in this book will make her want to run m

a man came in and started playing guitar, the old woodie guthrie standard, "this land is your land." we all broke down. the long islanders from new jersey did not seem so irritating anymore. we are american at our core, whatever else about us, there is something deep within us -- there is something special about being american. it is the only country that has been formally based on principle. they say it is "unjust," not un- french, un-german -- thety say it is "un-american." at the core, i am an american. host: thank you for sharing your thoughts and reflection spirit we have been showing you the scene -- and reflections. we have been showing you the scenes. this is a mother of someone who died on flight 93. this is the mother of mark bingham who died 10 years ago. she is hugging an iraqi war rhetorveteran. she hugged him to thank him. joyce from illinois, democrats' line. good morning. caller: we had had sunday brunch with some friends. one person had just come back from working in hawaii. she was sharing her photographs with us. they were of the bases. she started to scream as we

guthrie discussed public program constraints and as they understand these apply to brand-name drugs are not generic. is that correct that the only apply to the namebrand and not generics quirks >> well, congressman, those economic issues are persisted once we are analyzing right now we have especially her assistant secretary planning an healthy economist looking at what the economic pulse and modeling that could help us predict where we need to go in the future. the thank you again for raising these issues. these are complicated business and economic models we have come to find. >> the generic drugs as the most of the shortages and recent years. if there is that distinction, is that the problem? >> well, we do know it's older generic steroid injectables that make up three quarters of the shortages and that's what we are indeed folksinger attention. >> i don't know if either mr. shimkus or mr. guthrie asked you if you said you're going to get back to them, but i would really like to get some answers, you know, obviously you are not prepared or do not feel you have an answer today, but i'