i'm myron belkheim, president of the national press club, i would like to welcome you on a day that is important to our -- where journalists are once again at the front line, courageously trying to cover news developments in the most difficult of circumstances. late last night, the national press club issued a statement expressing its deep concern about reports that at least two reporters from "the washington post" and t"the huffington post who were covering the unrest in ferguson were man handled and detained by police officers there before being released. other reports backed up by video taken during the disturbances show that some television grews were hampered by authorities from doing their professional duties. this is all unacceptable. and we call for the police to let the journalists carry out their professional mission to report the news in an unfettered matter, otherwise it's a violation of the freedom of the press enshrined in the first amendment of our bill of rights. also unacceptable. very much unacceptable is the threat of prison to james risen. this morning a petition si

. >> thank you, myron. and thank you to the national press club institute for hosting this briefing and thank you all for coming this morning. we're here to talk about reporting on vaccinations and outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases. and to share some insights we've gained while preparing our upcome prague gram vk seens calling the shot. vaccination is a perfect topic for nova to cover because our primary pligs is improving the public's understanding of science through accurate and engaging journalism. and in fact, today, noef why and pbs are among a small handful of places one can find good science journalism on television. and still, the need for science journalism has never been greater. science and technology is joined insome public policy issues today, like vaccination. it's crucial that people not only get the facts but get clear accessible explanations, analysis of the facts, so they can make informed decisions. yet, providing these can be really challenging for journalists, especially on subj

. >>> i'm wearing myron old mcdonald house socks. >> very nice. >> they are nice and warm. >> yes good they are cool and wet outside, what a night it is. >> it is one of those raw nights. even though it is mild out there. it is going to be damp and miserable. if you are heading out tonight, there is a little bit of lull in the action over philadelphia, right now but another round of rain is heading in the area. take a look we have live neighborhood mobile weather lab cruising the streets in route one north and delaware county. we are seeing some drying conditions but as our vehicle continues to head toward the the north, we will be seeing heavy rain, moving your way, so get ready, here it comes, on storm scan three we are tracking it, a line of heavy rains, embedded thunderstorms as well and gusty wind and all this moving toward the north, northeast and moving into delaware county in to places like western chester county, reading berks county and here it is, coming up i-95 corridor, history of damaging wind in baltimore and washington and it all continues to lift toward the north/north

myron levin is an infectious disease specialist at the university of maryland school of medicine. he's been working on vaccines, including one for ebola, for 44 years. >> with limited resources to test vaccines, et cetera, one always has to pick and choose what are the highest priorities. >> reporter: and when stacked against everyday threats like cancer and the flu, there wasn't a financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to put money into ebola research. dr. anthony fauci is the head of infectious diseases at n.i.h. >> you have a company that says, "let's see, maybe i can make a pill that everybody takes every day, whatever it is-- a lipid-lowering agent, another kind of viagra, what have you-- they put a lot of money in to get that product. that wasn't the case with ebola. >> reporter: so the bulk of the research was left to government funding. earlier this week, n.i.h. director francis collins said, "we'd likely have a vaccine already if not for a decade of budget cuts." since 2003 the n.i.h. budget has roughly stayed the same, around $29 billion but it has not kept pac

i'm myron belkheim, president of the national press club, i would like to welcome you on a day that is important to our -- where journalists are once again at the front line, courageously trying to cover news developments in the most difficult of circumstances. late last night, the national press club issued a statement expressing its deep concern about reports that at least two reporters from "the washington post" and t"the huffington post who were covering the unrest in ferguson were man handled and detained by police officers there before being released. other reports backed up by video taken during the disturbances show that some television grews were hampered by authorities from doing their professional duties. this is all unacceptable. and we call for the police to let the journalists carry out their professional mission to report the news in an unfettered matter, otherwise it's a violation of the freedom of the press enshrined in the first amendment of our bill of rights. also unacceptable. very much unacceptable is the threat of prison to james risen. this morning a petition si

myron levine is part of an international team leading the vaccine trials in the african nation of mali. >> we're optimistic and more importantly we're hopeful because the ebola outbreak in west africa is such an unmitigated public health disaster. >> the first doses of the ebola vaccine have been given to healthcare workers in mali and people at national institutes of health in bethesda are also being given the trial vaccine, but officials are quick to warn more research is needed before it's available worldwide. >>> paraolympian oscar pistorius faces sentencing this week in the south african court for the killing of his girl friend reeva steenkamp. his sentence will be totally up to the judge. it can range from a mere fine and suspended sentence to 15 years in prison. several days of legal arguments and testimony are expected. oscar pistors claim ed thought steenkamp was an intruder when he shot and killed her through a bathroom door in their residence. he has been free on bail. >>> tonight police search for a cab driver who allegedly sexually assaulted a passenger. a woman told polic

i am myron belkin, president of the press club. hosting this briefing with the pbs show nova and tangled bank studios with be co-producer of the upcoming show on vaccines. no question from maine to ohio to california, there have been many outbreaks of preventable diseases that many in my generation thought were no longer a threat. measles, mumps, whooping cough and even polio. and on a personal note, i was a foreign correspondent for the associated press for 40 years. when i'm asked, what was the most important story i ever covered, i respond that it was covering the eradication of smallpox in ipd yeah. when i went out with a group of world health organization epidemiologists, to talk about report on how they isolated areas with smallpox to ensure that everyone was vaccinated. and those vaccines in behar helped make the world smallpox free a few years later and that is why it is essential not to forget the role of vaccines. no question, this issue of vaccines is being talked about by news media around the united states and the worl

. >> thank you very much, myron, distinguished guests and audience representing various views. i think the -- eaissue here com down to an immobilized society. people want to get things done in this country but the powers that be as they have for thousands of years have learned that the best strategy to block the will of the people is to divide and rule. as a result, we hear article after article about how polari e polarized our society is, red state, blue state, republican, democrat, left, right, and there are many divisions and disagreements, to be sure. there are disagreements on reproductive rights, on gun control, on school prayer, on constitutionally required balanced budget, on taxes, on kinds of regulation. and those will probably remain. however, there are huge areas and very fundamental ones in terms of constitutional procedures as well as substantive policies where there is a large left/right convergence majority in this country. it starts with the public sentiment as abraham lincoln said. with it you can do anything and without it you can't do much of anything at all

myron, thank you for that generous welcome. i might talk later bit about the buffalo bills, but we'll save that for another time, jerry. and thanks to everybody at the press club including my good friend allison fitzgerald who live in the neighborhood. we're overrepresented and took home a park here today. but that's okay. tim's an extacoma park resident. thank you for having me. you know, over the summer something remarkable's happened around new england. thousands of employers of the regional supermarket chain market basket walked off the job to protest the firing of their ceo, arthur. workers up and down the chain of command put their jobs on the line, they held rallies and picket throughout the summer. eight managers who spearheaded the first rally -- some of whom had been with the company for more than 40 years -- were fired. loyal customers held their own rally. merchandise sale ises started to dwindle, sales lacked, veb doors began to cut their ties with the company, and governor of two states stepped in to try and broke

i am particularly interested in this for personal reasons myron told you about but i will say them if it is okay. standing before you is the product primarily of a public-school education and in the third grade, my elementary school teacher opened the classroom cabinet and said what instrument will you play? not do you want to play, but what will you play? and and i am here today because i had the opportunity to find myself through music. he got the story right, didn't he? the teacher in that public school gave me the first tools and curiosity and passion to find myself. to write my story here in the arts. i believe fervently fat every child, every individual in this country deserves to find themselves whether it is in academics, athletics or the arts. art education has been diminished to such a degree that generations have lost the opportunity for even a basic education in the arts on their school day. our organizations across the country are desperately working to supplement programs that do exist, there are insufficient resources to ensure that all children had that experience in t

i am the club president, myron belkind. the midterm elections are just a few days away and since the last election cycle, new election and voter id laws had been put into place in a number of states. the have been numerous court rulings on the validity that others condemn as suppressing voter turnout by making it more difficult for the poor, minority groups, the elderly and the physically challenged to cast their ballots. this morning, we would hear from experts on both sides of the issue. sherrilyn ifill is the president of the naacp legal defense fund. she served as a fellow for the american civil liberties union and is on leave as a professor of civil procedure and constitutional law at the university of maryland school of law. she is a well-known voting rights litigator, civil rights strategist and an author of the book "on the courthouse lawn -- confronting the legacy of lynching in the 21st entury." hans von spakovsky is manager of the election law reform initative and senior legal fellow at the heritage foundation. h

i'm myron belkheim, president of the national press club, i would like to welcome you on a day that is important to our -- where journalists are once again at the front line, courageously trying to cover news developments in the most difficult of circumstances. late last night, the national press club issued a statement expressing its deep concern about reports that at least two reporters from "the washington post" and t"the huffington post who were covering the unrest in

there are windows and do their part to make and myron says it's bad things can happen.permitted to make a u-turn and commercial districts or cross to lines. the same thing we now holding a formal driving even a light is a problem. just a heads up now if you hit someone and across what even if you got drunk you could be arrested on the spot. things have changed so pay attention. the >> : still had on the kron for more news commuter what benefits you could receive from employers for not driving that story coming up at 6. >> : also following fire danger low humidity expecting the winds to pick up in the oakland hills at those two together a could be a long as several days for firefighters in see how dry is full details coming up at about 10 minutes on the kron 4 morning news. >> : mmmmm. ring ring! ring ring! progresso. you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well, vegetables... shhhhh! ...taste better in our savory broth. vegetables. no, soup! oh, soup! this week at safeway find progresso vegetable classics soup on sale for 99 cents with your club card. 555 the ti

thank you myron for the opportunity to participate in this briefing. good morning, everyone. thanks so much for coming. the subject of vaccination is on the minds of many americans right now as we send our kids back to school at a time when vaccine preventable outbreaks are making headlines around the country. the cdc puts the numbers in perspective. measles was declared eradicated in 2000, but there have been 600 cases this year, the highest in the u.s. in almost two decades. whooping cough is also a problem. 2012 was an especially bad year with nearly 50,000 cases and 20 deaths in the u.s. this year the state of california declared it an epidemic. these are diseases that vaccines can and do prevent. so the numbers would make anyone, but especially a journalist, wonder what's going on. at tangle bank studios our mission is to shed light on topics of public health so the story of vaccines was irresistible to us. we have been fortunate to partner with pbs and nova to explore these issues. the result is a new documentary, vaccines calling the shots which airs on nova september

my name is myron, an adjunct professor at the school of media and public affairs, former international bureau chief for the "associated press" and the 107th president of the national press club. the national press club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists committed to our profession's future through our programming with events such as this while fostering a free press worldwide. for more information about the press club, please visit our website at press.org. on behalf of our members worldwide, i'd like to welcome our speaker, and those of you attending today's event. guests of our speaker as well as working journalists who are club members. and so if you hear applause in our audience, i note that members of the general public are attending and it's not necessarily lack of journalistic objectivity. i'd also like to welcome our c-span and public radio audiences. you can follow the action on twitter using the #npclunch. after our guest's speech concludes, we'll have a question and answer period. i'll ask as many questions as time permits. it's time to introduc

i am myron belkind, and i am the president. the midterm elections just a few days away. since the last election cycle, election and voter id laws have been put in place in a number of states. and there have been numerous rulings on the validity of these laws that some herald as necessary to ensure the integrity of the voting process and that others condemn as they suppressing voter turnout of making it more difficult for the poor, minority groups and the physically challenged to cast their ballots. we will hear from experts on both sides of the issue. with sherrilyn ifill, as president of the naacp defense fund, she served as a fellow with the american civil liberties union and a voting rights attorney with the legal defense fund and is on leave as a professor of civil procedure and constitutional law at the university of maryland school of law. she is able well-known voting rights litigator and a civil rights strategist and author of the book, on the courthouse lawn, confronting the legacy of lynching in the 21st century. hans von spakovsky is manager of the election on

well, as myron mentioned and it was 14 on monday, statements released on that day by pulitzer prize winners, since then there have been six more who have approached us to add their individual statements, all of them are posted at roots action.org where people can also find a way to sign on to petition, which is ongoing and let me briefly emphasize that the names on the petition we dropped off and that are on screen, they're not just names, they're an activist network. we know how to reach them, we do reach them, we have everybody's e-mail addresses, and we're just getting started here. it's all about organizing at this point, in terms of mobilizing the kind of social understanding and a political pressure that's to be necessary to turn around what is truly a deteriorating, dreadful situation. the many organizations involved are only part represented here and folks that we're going to hear from today are speaking for just one of the or a few of the many groups that are involved. and i want to emphasize really that we're embarked now on something that might be unprecedented, a collision betwe

i'm myron, the club president. midterm elections are just the few days away. since the last cycle new election and voter id laws have been put in place in a number of states. there have been numerous court rulings on validity of laws. making it for poor, elderly and physically challenge to cast their ballots. this morning we'll hear from experts on both sides of the issue. mrs. cheryl voting rights attorney with the defense fund and on leave as a professor of civil procedure and constitutional law at the university of maryland school of law. she is a well known voting rights lit gator, civil rights strategist and author of the book "on the courthouse lawn confronting lynching in the 21st century century." hanz is senior legal fellow at heritage foundation. he's worked as council and senior corporate officer in the insurance industry. he served as council to the assistant attorney general for civil rights 2002-2005. he was a member of the federal election committee for two years. he is coauthor of the book "who's counting, how fraud administers and bureaucrats

thank you myron, it is an honour for us to be here. thanks to the big 12 for hosting us. i would have loved to have heard from bob today. bob has been a member of our board to 8 years, i know first hand what a great thinker and speaker he is. bob you are probably watching and i wish you a speedy recovery. today is college athletics. you know all the stakes for the university and the athletes also an incredibly topic for the olympic games. you a brief ive introduction, we've been around since the late 1800s. there was out right conflict us and the oc. that all changed with senator cat stevens who was from alaska. the act did a number of things, a congressionally chartered the oc so it surprise you to learn that we are a 5013c organisation, we do accept donations. we are not a government organisation. we were given complete responsibility for olympic sport in the united states and shortly thereafter paralympic sports, who given the authority to certify a national governing body. i think we now have 48 national governing bodies, nine of which are an olympic sports. we have t

arkansas, independent caller, myron, go ahead with your thoughts. we're listening. >> caller: here's what i got to say. i'm trying to stay fairly positive about the government. i'd say 70%. if it was 50%, i'd be neutral, wouldn't i? but any way, it's all due to the economy, right? the federal reserve controls our money supply and stuff but also it's tied in with the imf, the international monetary fund and the world bank. here's the best statement i can tell you. harry s. true man. are we still on? >> yeah, we're listening. you're still on. >> caller: harry s. truman when he became president asked how is the economy going, mr. president, he says well i tell you what, i need a one handed economist he said because they tell me on the left hand if this and this and this happens, the economy is going to heck in a hand basket but on the right hand, if this and this and this happens, it's going to go right through the roof, sky high. he says that's why i need me a one handed economist. >> host: all right. front page of the "washington times" has story abo

i played against myron. i decided this would be the best academic and athletic environment for me. i would go on to a successful academic and athletic career graduating in 2007 and decided to send sign my letter of intent to go to the university of north carolina, chapel hill. what drew me to that school was not only its esteemed reputation as a top academic institution but a new hire of coach davis. it showed that the university had an all-around commitment to excellence. now my career at the university of north carolina has been one filled with adversity. i've undergone five surgeries, been through three head coaches, and been asked if i wanted to transfer or take a medical red shirt. however, despite all this, i managed to be named an offensive starter four out of the six years. and named the top three in my position. but most importantly, i got my degree in public policy, concentration in business. i moved back to red bank, where i would pursue my hopes of making an nfl team. however, i didn't make the team at tampa bay. now in the summer of 2010, two of my teammates have viola