with us now, the managing editor of "time" magazine, rick stengel, who's here to reveal the latest issue's serendipity. i think they were on the phone last night and stengel said you come on set and hawk my magazine. no, actually, tom, let's talk about his piece. it is a wonderful piece -- i just read through -- about walter cronkite. >> it is a lovely, moving insightful piece but tom about walter. talks about what a role model he was for people in broadcasting, he was a kind of every man who people could relate to, but was also generous to his peers. editing brokaw is easy. he's such a pro, man. he doesn't say, no, man, keep that word. >> thing that jumped out at me -- everyone remembers -- you talk about the big moments, taking the glasses off when kennedy was assassinated. tet. everybody remembers tet. it was day in, day out. my dad called cronkite a communist. yet we watched him every night. guess what? my dad trusted walter cronkite. i think you explained why in this piece. because he understands that there are millions of people out there that aren't impressed by what some do, that

rick stengel's here.bout how this cia dust-up is much to do about nothing. >>> confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor expected to wrap up today. >> thank god! >> now stop. in yesterday's questioning, the 55-year-old size-stepped questions on abortion rights an the second amendment saying that if confirmed, she'll likely face issues on the bench. >>> this morning's "washington post" is revealing new details about the cia's now-canceled program to develop its plots to kill al qaeda leaders overseas. cia director leon panetta canceled the program after it entered what officials call a "somewhat more operational phase." include be a new agency proposal to train teams of assassins. >>> in california, any prospect of quickly closing the state's $26 billion budget deficit continues to dim. negotiations between lawmakers and governor schwarzenegger broke down last night over disagreements in education funding and cuts to social services. the state is already issuing ious to cover some of

we'r'regogog to have to leave i ere todday rick stengel andnd kathleen parker, rick wlllle veveilg theg joe." >>> up nextxt a political fight ewing. congresssswonn sila jackson lee wawant the h to p pa a resosoluonon congngremamanpeter k kin has cacall jackson a peert, a child mmolteter, and a a dophil. e house democratats e caught in the middle. the ololits fix" is nexext,nlnl on msnbc.. >>> coming up, given that new ohio poll, shohowihe apovoval rating dipping beloy 50%, what is thehe hsese doing n nowo shoe up congressionalconfidence. "harall" returns after this. an eleven sieehs wrench over here? you go. elen sixteenths... (announcer) om designing some of the world's cleanest and most fuel-effien jet engines... to buildining more wind turbines than anyoyone i the countryry... the people of ge are working together. creing innovation today foamerica's tomorrow. anks! no obm! accidents n happen, bubuwith lerty mutual's new car replacement, if your new car is t totaled within t the firststear, we'll give youou theon to buy a b brand-newar. and with our accident forgiveness, an accccide

rick stengel and kathlhlee parker, rick w wilbebe ueiling thnewest magazine cover withth tomorrow on "morning g e.e." right here m msn. >>> up next popotical fight ewewin erer ne other than michael jason. congrerewowomasheila jacksoson e ntnts e house to ssss resolutitiononoring jackson. republican c cgrgresan peterer king has called jackson a pervert, a c cldld mester, and a pepedoilil thhohousdemocrats are caught in the m mide.e. the "pololicics x" is next, only m mbc. >>> comi up, given that new io poll, showing the a aroval ratiti of prident obama dippinbelow 50% what is white house doing now s sho up congreioional nfidence? just say, "calall dave taylor" callinda taylor mobile. and if you wanna tl l it what to play, just say, "play songs by jack johnson." playing sos jack johnson. ♪ voice control.l. on the iphone 3gs, the most powerful ipneet. it's refresheded, alalood and rereadfofor mmer. chse one appepetir to share and two entrees for just 20 bucks. start with one of your favorites, like our spinach artichoke dip. thenitinto our new lilifoia shrimp salad or our classic sev ou

rick stengel, this adds to t literature of political adultery you took thisubject and expanded iout into an examination ofhat is the state of marriage in america and looked at the question of, is there something wrong with tse ys is there something peculiar in the drinking water at the potical fund-raisers? or is e something going on american marriage that they are just reflecting? reflecng in a sense their cotituents? >> katly flanigan, who wrote the story, basically makeshe case at the same time thate are venerating marage, we undermine it at the same te, at americans have more partners than other peop in other countries, we haveore t-of-wedlock births. >> including sequential partrs through marria and dorce? >> yes. and at the se time, we hold up marrge with great reverence. it's this greaaspirational thing for so many ople, but we have a very contdicting view of it. ansically, as you know, from your longtime serve for pat moynihan, thatarriage is the haven for the heartlessorld. it's the wayhat children are ised best, and anytime children are rsed outside of that conventional parenta

rick stengel, thank you very much, the new cover of "time" magazine is "paging dr. obama." ood. >>> coming up next, msnbc political analyst lawrence o'donnell. rick, thanks very much. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". two identical rooms. so why does this one cost so much less on hotwire.com? when four star hotels have unsold rooms they use hotwire to fill them, so you get them at prices lower than any other travel site, guaranteed. >>> welcome back to "morning joe." it's 8:00 here on the east coast. you're looking at live pictures of los angeles where it is 5:00 a.m. lawrence o'donnell normally spends his time being crazy. this morning he'll be crazy here