tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, our conversation with tennis great venus williams. after becoming the first african-american to reach tennis' world no. 1 ranking, she has been in the force -- she has been a force in the game nearly 15 years. she has teamed up for a new book about harnessing your competitive spirit. it is called "come to win." our conversation with venus williams, coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, nationwide insurance is happy to help tavis improve of 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. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: always pleased to have venus williams on the program. she is

tavis: good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with the legendary actor, patrick stewart, the star of strar trek the next generation and the "x-men" series. he's taken on the starring role of "hamlet." the production airs on pbs on april 28. later this year he'll take on the leading road inpowerment th ♪ 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] tavis: delighted to have patrick stewart on this program. he's enjoyed success in a wide variety of roles, including, of course, "star trek: the next generation" and the "x-men" series. beginning april 28 right here on pbs, you can catch him in the production of "hamlet." so now, here a sneak preview of "hamlet." thou art stubborn and heart with strings of steel. be soft the sinnews of a newborn babe. >> now i'll do it! [laughter] >> tune in next week. [laughter] tavis: i was just thinking on the way in here, what makes this stuff relevant hundreds o

tavis: there is a risk. this is a beautiful thing, but there is a risk in planning something different every time. >> i do not think that this is a bad th that this is important, especially for an artist. i was watching the biography a couple of nights ago and his trajectory was about doing something and wanting to do something else. i have to do something else. i will not be happy and this will not be interesting. we would not have those last records. "amandula" and "tutu." tavis: some people pushed back on miles davis for taking this so far. >> thurgood marshall was not resting, either. he was trying to take this as far as he could. tavis: he is like laurence fishburne. >> he is working. tavis: he is working. his name is lawrence fishburne and the play is "thurgood." try to see this thing. it is at the gavin playhouse. tavis: do you have my ticket? >> i have your ticket. tavis: that is the show. until next time, keep the faith. >> justice marshall, we have a request of a report on your condition and i will

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. first up tonight, a conversation with pulitzer prize winning writer alice walker. the author of "the color purple" is out with two projects, overcoming speechlessness and "the world has changed." the latter is a collection of conversations with alice walker conducted over a 35-year period. also tonight, a visit from the only living original member of the temptations, otis williams, along with lead singer terry weeks, the tempt akeses are out now with a new cd and summer tour. next year marks the 50th anniversary of the legendary motown act. we're glad you have joined us author alice walker and >> and by contributions to your pbs station for viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> please welcome alice walker back to this program, the pulitzer-prize winner writer is out with two new projects. she's been busy overcoming speechlessness, and it's not what you think it's about but we'll get into that book in a second. a second text called "the wo

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with groundbreaking actress pam grier, the star of iconic films "1974's foxy brown." the book is called "foxy: my life in three acts." we're glad you have joined us. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> you in trouble. tavis: please welcome pam grier back to this program. the talented actress is out now with a new memoir called "foxy: my life in three acts." pam grier, always good to have you on the program. >> yes. i couldn't wait to come back. tavis: i'm glad to have you back. >> since you were my first. tavis: stop. that was off-camera conversation. that was not supposed to make it to the airwaves. speaking of the book. great, great, great cover. tell me about this photo. >> that photo was a gift. matthew ralston took that photograph. of course grand central publishing, my wonderful edit or, karen thomas, we were trying to come up with a photograph of what would r

tavis: good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. first up tonight, a conversation with the man who blew the whistle on bernie madoff, harry markopolos. after a career as an security industry executive, he became a freelance fraud investigator and uncovered the ponzi scheme run by bernie madoff. his book is called "no one would listen." also tonight, "ncis" star mark harmon is here. the cbs series is now in its seventh season on cbs. it has become one of the most watched shows on television. we're glad you joined us. >> 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] tavis: harry markopolos is a former securities executive whose own investigatorive worked uncovered the ponzi scheme perpetrated by bernie madoff. his book is called "no one would listen," a true financial thriller. he joins us tonight from boston. harry, good to have you on this program. >> thank you for having me. tavis: having gone through the text, i underst

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i am tavis smiley. today, a conversation with hellen mirren and. taylor hackford the two have teamed up on a new project called "love ranch." the cast includes joe pushy and geena -- ging gershon. actress hellen mirren and director taylor hackford coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help>> 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,l 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-- tavis: we are pleased to malcolm -- to welcomek andh -- to welcome taylor hackford hellen mirren the husband and wife team have teamed up on "love ranch." >> what is this about him moving index "is going to train here at the ranc

tavis: that you have on the program. >> thanks. tavis: "solitary man" is about? >> it is about a very successful, tristate car dealer who thinks he has a serious medical issue, but rather than really following it up, he says you know what, i am going to live each day like it is my last. he leaves his wife, susan sarandon, and gets together with his girlfriend, mary louise parker. it is beautifully written and very funny. tavis: this is very different. you have played some characters who come to mind now whose lives have disintegrated around them. what is it about disintegrated lives and michael douglas that goes so well together? >> i try to figure out why my whole career is contemporary movies. i have only done one period movie out of 50. somehow, i seem to love these movies where you put a character in an impossible situation and try to watch him get out of it. for me, is sort of a challenge of flying without a net. you take characters that are not inherently likable and try to win the audience over. why i do it, i would probably have to sit on a couch. i am su

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. tonight a look at the long-term impact of the two biggest stories of the summer. the gulf oil spill and the war that has become now the longest in u.s. history. fishing has been decimated by the spill at time when fishing around the world is in jeopardy. paul greenberg is a contributor to "new york times" magazine and the author of a new book on the subject called "for fish." and former advisor to general petraeus, david kilcullen. on wednesday alone eight more american soldiers lost their lives in combat. we're glad you joined us. paul greenberg and david kilcullen coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james. he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference. >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join dallas mavericks in removing financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it.

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i am "the tavis smiley show." tonight a conversation with the legendary rock musician, tom petty. he was inducted into the rock 'n roll hall of fame back in 2002. he and the band have reteamed this year for their first project in eight years. the new c.d. is called mojo. we are glad you joined us. a conversation with tom petty coming up right now. >> all i know he is name is james, and i needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> thank you. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy and the empowerment that comes with it. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> i am pleased to welcome tom petty to this program. the rock 'n roll hall of famer has reteamed with the heartbreaker for theirs first c.d. in eight years. the c.d. is called mojo from the project. this i

tavis: hi, i am tavis smiley. join us next time with sam nunn. >> 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. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is prone to join tavis smiley to help improve financial literacy and the economic and power meant. -- economic empowerment. >> and by contributions to pbs by viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org- national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org- ♪ pawsuuup, everybody? ♪ ♪ diddy-doo-wah-day ♪ the raggs kids club band is coming down your way. ♪ ♪ we got a song to sing, we got something to say, ♪ ♪ the raggs kids club band, can you come out to play? ♪ ♪ ♪ razzles makes us dazzle ♪ ♪ she's our go-to-girl. ♪ pido keeps the beat while he catches a curl. ♪ ♪ b. max writes the t

also tonight, a preview of the next installment of teak -- tavis smiley reports. we will look at the plight of orleans. a unique look at the people of new orleans, shot on location in conjunction with an oscar winning film maker. we're glad that you have joined us. >> all that i know is that his name is jane. -- james. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you helpless all to make life better. >> nationwide insurance it supports tavis smiley. we are proud to join him in improving financial literacy and conomic empowerment. nationwide is on your side. >> and for contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> we are pleased to welcome oliver stone back to this program. this year he is releasing his sequel to "on wall street." before that you can see his documentary, "south of the border." focusing on the political movements and culture of south of the border. >> they also mobilized support within military help, getting it from military -- getting it from the united states and spain. >> a businessman is chosen to be the ne

. >>> venezuelan president hugo tavis has broken off diplomatic talks with colombia. chavez accused them and the u.s. of wanting to instigate a war with his country amid accusations from bogota that its neighbor was hovering leftist guerrillas. chavez announced he would sever ties after columbia presented what they said was photographic evidence of -- after colombia presented what they said was photographic evidence of farc rebels meeting with leaders in venezuela. >>> heavy rains and flooding in parts of the province. roads are still flooded from the previous typhoon. the government has warned pele to stay ioors. china currently in the grips of its worst flooding in at a decade. storms have killed more than 700 people since the beginning of the year, with hundreds more still missing. >>> germany's defense minister guttenberg sayse will not be scrapping the country's compulsory military service. the proposal had been hotly discussed as part of moves to reduce the size of germany's armed forces and cut costs. law reform plans could still see the drafput on hold,- while

seen in many russian regions the heat has burned out more than ten million have to greenfields louis tavis may fall by quarter this year like many other films hundred and is counting his losses amounting so far to fifty percent of his films eells grain production vegetable production in essence all crop production that's open field crop production. and primarily the dairy industry but we're losing a significant volume of milk because of the heat but as soon as the heat is over we'll eventually bounce back the quality of the feed won't be quite the same the cost of the feed may be quite the same drought has a knock on effect on almost every agricultural sector the cost of producing grain milk beef and hogs has doubled cattle breeders have lost their grass and now they're running out of cheap grain as drought continues don't clouds are gathering around the finance ministry as they contemplate their inflation forecast seven when we also observe the similar rally all the cultural markets it's true that russia received the push through to its local inflation so personal i just upgraded the infl