and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: president obama took to the road today in his latest effort to woo the business community, and he appointed a major c.e.o. as an economic advisor. ray suarez begins our coverage. >> suarez: speaking at a general electric plant in schenectady, new york, president obama tried again today to highlight bright spots amid a sluggish economic recovery. >> and over the years, in the wake of these shifts, upstate new york and places like it have seen more than their fair share of hard times. but what has never changed-- we see it right here at this plant, we see it right here at g.e.-- is that america is still home to the most creative and most innovative businesses in the world. >> suarez: he used the event to name general electric c.e.o. jeffrey immelt to a new economic policy panel. >> the past two years were about pulling our economy back from the brink. the next two years, our job now is putting our economy into overdrive. our job is to do everything we can to ensure

to order, visit www.shoppbs.org or call 1-800-play-pbs. by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org the pbs series "god in america" from american experience and frontline is... "eye-opening and thought-provoking"... "ambitious and extraordinarily well-produced"... and "probably the most provocative, insightful look ever done on the role of religion in the united states." now you can own a dvd set of the series "god in america". to order, go to shoppbs.org, or call 1 - 800 - play - pbs.

on pbs, you can catch the season premiere of american masters. tonight i'll have some thoughts on the situation in haiti as we approach the one-year anniversary since the devastating earthquake that struck this impoverished island nation. one year, the situation remains dire. we're glad you joined us. our conversation with jeff bridges and a look at haiti one year later coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> nationwide is on your side >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. pfund pfund -- [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: a few programming notes. first tonight, this is the begi

pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: elizabeth warren is a special assistant to the president and the woman in charge of setting up the new consumer protection bureau. she is also a noted author whose books include "the two income trap." good to have you with us. >> good to be back on this program. tavis: when the announcement was made and the agreement to get the financial package that we would have this consumer protection bureau, i along with many americans thought that you should be the person to run it. having said that, the president chose to put you in charge of setting up the agency. how are we doing so far getting this set up? >> this is really exciting right now. i have spent my whole grown-up life working on economic issues affecting working families. a big part of that has been about the fact that there has been flight in comes, rising court expenses, and a lot of families that turned to debt. those that products that more dangerous. for the first time, here i am in a job or we are putting p

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. pbs station from viewers like you.hank you.

to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org. >> be more. pbs.

i will see you next time on pbs. thank you for watching. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org >> join me next time for a conversation with actor ed o'neal. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. >> be more.

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: there were more indications of progress today in the recovery of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. the arizona democrat was holding her own, despite being critically wounded in the tucson shootings. three days after she was shot in e head, the latest medical report on congresswoman giffords offered new reason to hope. at university medical sent err c.t. scan early today showed no increase in brain swelling. and giffords' neurosurgeon reported other promising signs. >> we've been able to back off on some of that sedation and, in fact, she's able to generate her own breaths. she's breathing on her own. in fact, the only reason we keep that breathing tube in is to protect her airway so she doesn't have complications like pneumonia. >> ifill: he voiced guarded optimism but he said again it's a long road back. >> it's week to week, month to month. and i know everyone wants to hear new results everyday, but as long as we don't backslide and as long as she holds her own,

and proud to support pbs's "to the contrary" with bonnie erbe. additional funding provided by: the colcom foundation the charles a. frueauff foundation and by the sanofi aventis foundation. >> this week on "to the contrary" the debate over gun control heats up. then, the declining abortion rate hits a plateau. behind the headlines: michelle bachelet, former president of chile, discusses her new role as head of un women. >> hello, i'm bonnie erbe. welcome to "to the contrary," a discussion of news and social trends from diverse perspectives. up first, the tucson massacre and gun control: the tragedy in tucson has renewed efforts to tighten gun control laws. house democrat carolyn mccarthy wants to reinstate a ban on high-capacity magazines. police say this is the type of clip the gunman allegedly used to kill six people and injure 14 others including congresswomen gabrielle giffords. high-capacity ammunition clips which can hold more than 30 bullets were outlawed 16 years ago under the federal assault weapons ban. but that law expired in 2004. gun

and proud to support pbs's "to the contrary" with bonnie be. additional funding provided by: the colcom foundation the charles a. frueauff foundation and by the sanofi aventis foundation. >> this week on "to the contrary:" up first, men, women and competition in the workplace. then, eastern versus western parenting, a new twist in the raging debate. behind the headlines, reality tv bites for women says one author. >> hello, i'm bonnie erbe. welcome to "to the contrary," a discussion of news and social trends from diverse perspectives. up first: women and workplace competition competition is good on the playing field. but is it holding back women in the workplace? a new study finds while men thrive in competitive situations, women prefer team play at work, something researchers say could explain the pay gap. a university of chicago study released this week interviewed nearly 7,000 big-city job seekers. it finds men are 94% more likely than women to seek jobs where pay is awarded competitively. most women, on the other hand, opt for jobs where pe

see you back here next time on pbs. thanks for watching.always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org tavis: join me next time peter bergen with and kim edwards. that is next time. we will see you then. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working 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] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: around the world today the celebration to welcome 2011 has begun. from moscow, where fireworks went off despite a curtain of thick snow. to tokyo, where revelers released silver balloons. among the first to celebrate-- new zealand... >> three, two one, happy new year! >> brown: and australia, where fireworks lit the midnight sky over sydney harbor for a crowd of 1.5 million-- one of the largest in the world. but there was little cause for celebration 800 miles up the pacific coast of australia. thousands of homes across queensland state are inundated with water, after days of pounding rain caused swollen rivers to overflow. >> i think it's horrendous. i think there's too much of it and it's quite frightening as to where it's going to go. >> brown: nearly 200,000 residents have been evacuated, and an estimated 300,000 square miles have been affected by the flooding. it was a stormy end to 2010 for much of the united states as well. a huge weather system-- more than

it airs on most pbs stations january 18th.ere now seen from pioneers of television. >> the pioneers of science fiction television didn't just invent a genre. they taught us something about ourselves. they gave us a great ride. how wonderful. three years. 40 years ago, they still talk about the character. my god. >> i said, fascinating. that was where we found the spark for the character. >> have these plastic rocks. that was fun to me. i was a kid. >> i never had a bad day going to work on that show. >> he wanted to speak from a voice of men and women as equals. >> i thought we had exceptionally good stuff on. and in the few years it has practicesed since twilight zone was on, there appeared to be a new generation and new body of marvelous science fiction. >> nichelle nichols an honor to be in your presence. >> good to be with you as well. >> it has been a while. >> it has. tavis: here we are good en. >> lucky me. tavis: lucky me. tf you're as busy as you were then. >> more so if thatst possible. tavis: yeah. it is not just be

only on pbs.

pbs.

contributiones to pbs stations from viewers like you. thank you.

and keep up with daily developments online and on the air all week on "the pbs newshour," then join us again next week around the table on "washington week." good night. download or weekly pod wags and take us with you. it's the podcast at washington week online at pbs.org. >> washington west virginia was produced bier -- "washington week" was produced by weta, which is solely responsible for its content. funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to give our war fighters every advantage. >> to deliver technologies that anticipate the future today. >> to help protect americans everywhere, from the battle space to cyberspace. >> around the globe, the people of boeing are working together to give our best for america's best. >> that's why we're here. >> there's one thing dave's always wanted to do when he retires. keep working. but for himself. so as his financial advisor, i took a look at everything he had. the 401 k, insurance policies, even money he's invested elsewhere for building a retirement plan to help him launch a second career. dave's flight sch