ron williams wll air tomorrow night.he is aritical voice and alth care debate, opposed t the public option. he will explain. that full conveation airs tomorw night on this program. also on the end the program, edrd brooke and african- american republican who served alongside ted kennedy in the u.s. sete. tonight, i am pleed to be join by congressman john lewis, a civirights pioneer and longtime georg ngressman to knew a worked th senator kennedy for many years. congressman lewis, ne to have youon the program, sir. >> am delighted and pase to be with u tonight. tavis: it i suc an hon to have you won i wanted to have you won for a umber of reaso, not the least of which was your numr of years working th senator kennedy and with dr. king. also wanted to have you want becau youere the recipient of the john f. kennedy prole inourage litime achievement ard presented to you in 2001, by senor kennedy. take meack to thetime that senato kennedy bestow that prestigious award on you, sir. >> i wi never fget the occasion when senator

ron williams of aetna. he does not support a call for a public option if the health care debate but does want to see universal coverage. how is that possible? also tonight former massachusetts senator edward brooke had his thoughts on the life and legacy of ted kennedy and finally a look at dr. king's iconic speech at the march in washington given 46 years ago this week. eric sundquist is the author of a book on this subject called "king's dream." >> there are so many things that wal-mart is looking forward to doing, like helping people live better but mostly we're looking forward to helping build stronger communities and relationships because with your help, the best is yet to come. >> 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 televi

o aetna, on -- ron williams is the c.e.o. o one of theeading insurance compani. aetna.joins me tonigt. mr. wliams, it is an honor to haveou on the program. my time with you is limited. i nt to get to what i mentioned a mome ago before you came online which is that you are onrecord as being opposed to theuch talked about blic option, but yet you wan for every americ universal healthare. explain how at works. >> weli think the fundamental issue fous is to make certain that wfocus on getting and keeping eveone covered. and while many peoplstrongly believe in the public optis for reasons i wille glad to expla later, it really is a diversion. we have 45 mlion uninsured. ife really understand who those people are, wthink there e ways to address the barrie to insurance that they fe. tavis: all right so tell me more then who arthese persons and how do we address the barrier >>ell, let's take the 45 million and segment them and break th down. therare 11 million of the 45 million who are eligib today for a program like micaid or the state children's hlth insurance prram. we don't

among the things they did was bring ron williams in. and williams, among the first thing he did was order a revamp of the i.t. system so that... >> moyers: the information technology system... >> exactly. so that the company could determine more about which accounts were not profitable or margining profitable. so with that new system, he was able, and the other executives, to identify the accounts that they wanted to get rid of. and over the course of a very few years, they shed eight million members. >> moyers: eight million policy holders? >> eight million people, men, women and children, yes. some of them were shed by intention. some, i'm sure, probably walked because the... or left for whatever other reason. but they intentionally had this program to purge these accounts. eight million fewer people were enrolled in aetna's plans. many of them undoubtedly joined the ranks of the uninsured because their employers had been purged. >> moyers: so what happened to aetna's stock? >> went up. >> moyers: and so did ron's... >> and... >> moye

its chief executive, ron williams, has met with president obama and with lawmakers from both parties.thank you very much for talking with us. thank you for inviting me, it's a pleasure to be here. >> woodruff: what is the main thing or things that you believe should be changed about the health care system in this country? >> i think one of the things we have to do is we have to find a way to get and keep everyone covered with health insurance. i think there are very specific things we can do to make the individual insurance market work better for those seeking individual insurance. i think the second critical thing is we have to slow down the rate of increase in health care services, and i think there are many ideas under discussion to accomplish those two things. >> woodruff: one of the ideas very much out there, we just heard kathleen sebelius reiterate it, the president likes the public insurance option, despite signals to the contrary. you are on record assaying it the wrong way to go. why? >> i think it's the wrong way to go because we believe that the changes that are being prop

first of all, ron williams running the cameras brought in eggplants and peppers.s one is called a ghost buster. isn't that great? and then the weather terrace has some funky tomatoes that have funny shapes out there and we are looking right here and here's our little pepper. so i hope your garden is going well. >> that's great. >> visit my blog. i have a link where you can send me your pictures and we'll share them on the air. there's the ghost buster. that thing is awesome and we have the italian tomato and the regular eggplant and here's my clicker. there. >> it is great to see you. cloudy skies. that will help us from getting in to the 90s. love that. let's check out the allergy update. just in to my in box. let me tell you the latest. we have trees low for the pollen. grass low, mold still in the moderate category. there you have it. we are looking for rain and may get a couple of showers today but the clouds are helping us out. middle 80s for the high instead of the 90s. tomorrow 88 and partly cloudy. 88 right now humidity is 62%. rain showers are starting to

ron williams, running our robotic cameras lives in washington, d.c.ok at what came out of his garden. so dc has some pretty nice produce. >> good soil. >> exactly. so we could use some rain. i want to know how your garden grows. visit my blog. you can send me a picture. i want gardening tips. >> and whether that upside down thing works the one where you plant your tomatoes and it is upside down. >> no. i want to hear more. >> we will find out the scoop from andrea. >> we don't have one. i want to hear from you. >> try it before you buy it. >>> some rain drops in the future today. the next three days in the forecast, a couple of thunderstorms this afternoon. the stuff is coming from the roan 'nique area right now and 87, much cooler than the high temperatures we have had the last couple of days. yesterday hit 93. here's how it looks on the satellite and radar loop. a band of rain reaching up 18. keep your fingers crossed it sneaks in to our area with a couple of storms. we will take what we can get. the rainfall total for 2009, just about 25 inches and

its chief ecutive, ron williams, has met wi president obamand with lawmakers from both parties.tha you very much for talking with us. thank ou for invitingme, it a pleasure to be here. >> woodrf: what is theain thing or things thatou elieve should be canged about the healthare system in is country? >> i think onof the thin we hve to do is weave to find a way to get and keep everyone coved with halth insurance. i think there are ry specific things we cando to make the individual insurance market wk better for tho seekingindividual insurance. i hink the second critical thing is wehave to ow down e rate of increase in health care servis, and i think there e many ideas uder discussion to accomplish tse two things. >> woodruff: one of the ideas ry much out there, we just hed kathln sebelius reiterate it, the presint les the publ insurance option, despite signals to t contrary. you are on record assaying it the wng way to go. why? >> i think it's t wrong way to g because we believe tat t chang that are being proposed in thendividual insurance market will in fact addre many of the fund

ifill: ron williams of na told us on the progm that here are already changesbeing proposed in th individualmarket that l solve a lot o proble that we see in the healthinsurance industry. do you agree with that? >> i don't really agre as you noted, i have been with the industry for almo 20 years and i saw mr.illiams and i know that he... ned he said that he and the dustry aren favor ofoing away with the p-existing condition clauses as a condition of insuracend also the effort...the practice of cher picking only the healthy meers for their health ans or healthy people. thewere saying the same thing in 193 when... the lt time we had this debat sohat they said tn is almost precisely what they're saying now. almostverbatim. and wh health care reform failed in '94, for a large reason bause of the oosition from the health insurance industry, the indust made no pass the lislation that would do t things they said ba then and they're ying now that should be done to regulate the marketplace mo. >> ill: so you don't see any difference between their rol in 93 and 1994 than you see no >> i don't. because

we will have ron williams and joe madison. thank you very much for coming in. mr. matheson, what did this week for the last couple of weeks revolving around statements by the presidents and concerning mr. gates and the officer, what did this say about u.s. relations? callguest: there are still raw nerves. i am thinking about going to cambridge with our show. we are working with nacp and other individuals to have what we would refer to as a truth and reconciliation town hall meeting pitted the reason is that we have to finally reconcile the remnants of what has existed, not only in this country, but globally, for centuries. the only way you do that is to have to be very truthful on both sides of the the issue of race relations. it is not just a national issue. it is not just cambridge, but it is a global issue. guest: i think it has taught us about individual experiences. how we view the police. how we trust them and how they impact our lives. we have people that live in communities and interact with police on a daily basis. they are in school together with the kids

and ron williams, i would like to thank you. have a traveling black history museum that teaches african-american history and race relations throughout the state. i used to form a more perfect union, those stamps, the u.s. postal service commission for the civil-rights movement and i also use eye on the prize. i would like to thank you again for that work, and my question to you is thurgood marshall's relationship with dr. king and malcolm x, would you talk about that briefly? i hold you up with max robinson and bradley for your commentary and thank you so much. >> guest: thanks for saying of that. this is interesting stuff. if you look back at dr. king's relationship with thurgood marshall. there is a kind of sense that thurgood marshall may be looking down on dr. king. thurgood marshall has already achieved brown vs. board of education, been on the cover of time magazine, before dr. king he emerges as a young minister, a 25-year-old in montgomery, alabama, involved in the bus boycott, rosa parks, and the like. and thurgood mars

as i have said, ron williams, i will admire until i drop my last breath, not because we always agree, but we do agree on what is important. -- until i draw my last breath. i want to thank you all for being here. we can get full of ourselves in the city. in the end we are human beings turn to do the right thing and to pass on something precious to the next generation and the best way we know how. that is these wonderful things in our country and our founding documents. thank you all for being out here. i appreciate your. . -- i appreciate you. [applause] [no audi >> this fall into the home to america's highest court from the grand public places to those only accessible by the nine justices. the supreme court, coming the first sunday in october. >> white house senior adviser dollar -- it was the featured speaker at last week's convention hosted by the group netroots nation. she covers a range of issues. see her commons tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> president obama says that u.s. troops in afghanistan are working to secure polling places so that this week's elections ca

william mo ron ne with us? good to have you back, doctor. okay. once you kind of get a heads-up in march, aren't there background checks? let's back track to the beginning when she was hired two years ago. don't we do background checks on our registered nurses? >> here's what you really want to do. as a doctor, you look at nurses as your partners. and if you hire another doctor, you're going to look for a copy of a diploma, a copy of a license, a copy of special training, and then you can go to the state website and verify that they have a license, a board of licensure for the specific state. and other things, too, you ask them to do a drug test and physical. >> ann, how much trouble is this lady in? >> she's in a world of hurt. think about usually its eve just a nursing board that regulates nurses. but she's not a nurse. so you're looking into all the criminal laws. and you're looking at forgery, felony, impersonation. >> yeah. horrible. >> imagine being someone who is in need or in pain and this is the lady who is administering your injections t

ron allen, nbc news, new york. ♪ >>> that is our broadcast for this thursday evening. i'm ann curry in for brian williams.us here at nbc news, thank you. and good night. thank you. and good night. ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

ron allen, nbc news, allentown. >>> that's our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. and we thank you for being with us. i'm brian williamslester holt will be here with you this weekend. and then i get to see you right back here on monday. in the meantime, have a good weekend. in the meantime, have a good weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

ron mott, nbc news, newburn, north carolina. >>> that is "nightly news" for this friday night. thank you for being with us. i am david gregory in for brian williamssunday morning on "meet the press." good night and have a good morning on "meet the press." good night and have a good weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> also into carroll county. there you can see the areas that are in the greatest threat right now around damascus. that storm is heading into -- also heading toward carroll county. so again, this is a tornado warning that remains in effect. northern parts of howard county, montgomery county, carroll county, and frederick county. stay with us. we'll keep you posted.

ron mott, nbc news, newburn, north carolina. >>> that is "nightly news" for this friday night. thank you for being with us. i am david gregory in for brian williamsain sunday morning on "meet the press." good night and have a good morning on "meet the press." good night and have a good weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

ron, thanks for the report. >>> and by the way, that protester with a gun that we mentioned, his name is william costrick.ll be a guest on "hardball" tonight with chris matthews. it's coming up one hour from now. -n >>> how is the insurance industry responding to attacks from the democrats. today is not the first day the presidents a accused the industry. he once accused insurers of abuses and record profits. nancy pelosi called them, quote, villains. a democratic organization is accusing the insurance industry of, quote, stirring up fear with false rumors. the head of a group that represents insurance companies says democratic lawmakers are not helping their case by vilifying the insurance industry. they say members of congress will come back to washington without a strong sense that health care reform is doable, and that would be a lost opportunity. we think health care reform is going to be won or lost in august. that's from karen ignagni and robert zerkelbach, i hope i got your last name right, thank you for joining us sir. >> you did. >> you got the president in new hampshire. the stats are 89% of th