tavis: here we are good en. >> lucky me. tavis: lucky me.f you're as busy as you were then. >> more so if thatst possible. tavis: yeah. it is not just being busy. it is not just that you're a part of the wonderful pbs specialer, the series, the pioneers of television, we'll come back but you're being honored. one of my favorite places in the country. new york city, they got an honor for you. what is that about? >> they're doing the pioneers of television and this sunday is devoted to legendry women of television. and i'm with the -- with the wonderful group of ladies, linda evans, my girlfriend stephanie powers. angie dickinson and myself. tavis: wow. can i go with you. >> yes, please. tavis: do you need a date this sunday? >> yes. tavis: that's a crew. >> yes. tavis: i assume if you're willing to accept the honor like you receiving this sunday, you're okay with the pioneering status. >> yes. you go in hoping you get to i think ma your mark and then you stay in long enough to -- to be called a pioneer. i lived a life. i had a wonderful life.

tavis: [laughter] you did it out of here. is it the case in your career that you played characters not just that you enjoy, not just characters you have something in common with, but characters that for the rest of your life do in fact speak to you or change you? have you played characters that are life-altering for you? >> totally. i don't think that movies are characters can change the world. they can take you to a different place and you can see it from a different perspective and go back to your own self with some new answers. issues that you knew intellectually but you did not have a chance to experience yet. the actor has the possibility of leading to a different life and that i think is great to grow up as a person with a less judgmental thing and having more empathy. you have seen the world from different points of view, not only yours. that is one of the greatest gift of being an actor. tavis: it must be special when a writer or director tells you that i wrote this character specifically for you. you are the only per

tavis: good evening, from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. first up tonight, a conversation with one of hollywood's most popular and acclaimed leading men, jeff bridges. 2011 is shaping to be a banner year for this oscar winner. in addition to the blockbuster "tron," he also appears in true grit. 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

tavis: good evening. i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with actor robert duvall. it is has been 30 years since his film debut in "to kill a mockingbird." he's being discussed for another cad by award. if he gets the prize for best actor, it will come on the heels of his 80th birthday. a conversation with robert duvall, coming until right for you. tavis: i tell you, i'm hoppered to welcome robert duvall. the legendry actor turning if so many brilliant performances. it is easy to understand why he's a six-time oscar nominee. he's taking home the prize for his role in "tender mercies." he's an oscar nominee in his new film "get low." >> i want to be there. >> you will be. >> i want to be there now. >> you want to be at your funeral alive? >> yes, sir. >> but -- you can't have a funeral if you're not -- you know, deceased. hold on now, it is a detail. we can look at it. pretty big detail. >> you want to have a funeral party while you're aleve so you can go. alive so you can go. >> yes or no? >> yes. >> we need to make a list of who mr. bush wants to invite. >> sit dow

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. with so much focused on the economy and jobs, in tonight's state of the union address, et sometimes hard to believe this country is deep into two wars and one of which is the longest in u.s. history. first up a conversation about the war on terror. nearly 10 years after 9-11 with peter bergen, national security analyst for cnn and author of "the longest war." a conversation with best-selling novelist kim edwards who is out with her first book since her number one "new york times" best seller "the memory keeper's daughter." her latest is called "the lake of dreams." we're glad you've joined us. national security analyst peter bergen and author kim edwards 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 i

tavis: good evening, i am tavis smiley. president obama's date of the union address is tuesday. his improving poll numbers will soon be tested as the host of the republicans will announce their bids for the white house. tonight is a preview of the speech and a look at the state of american politics with former u.s. senator, bill bradley and presidential historian douglas brinkley. bradley mounted his own campaign for the white house in 2000 and was an early obama supporter in 2008. douglas brinkley has the latest installment on the american series of "the quiet world.' we are glad you can join us. our state of the union preview and our interview with douglas brinkley coming up. >> 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, 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 view

tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley.oin me next time on the king holiday i with clarence jones and steve wonder. 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'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 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. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, our conversation with former tennis great andre agassi. he created a foundation that created a model charter school in his hometown of vegas. last year, the school graduated its first ever class with every single senior going to college. he now has a best-selling autobiography, "open." his thoughts on the u.s. open and other topics in our conversation, 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 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 andre agassi on the program. he becam

tavis: good evening, from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. first up tonight, a conversation about cancer and one of the most acclaimed books about the subject, "the emporer of all maladies." dr. siddhartha mukherjee is a noted cancer researcher whose best-selling book is a comprehensive look at the disease. the book was named one of the 10 best of the year by the "new york times." also tonight, emmy-winning actress roseanne barr stops by. she's out with a new book, "roseannearchy". [captioning made possible by viewers like you -- thank you] >> all i know is his name is james and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> 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 smiley to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to empowerment. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: dr. siddhartha mukherjee is a cancer physician at

tavis: i think so, tavis. many of the cords that he struck reminded me of some things that we heard from president obama when he was the democratic nominee for the u.s. senate. remember him speaking at the democratic convention in 2004 when he said we are not the red states of america, we are not the blue states of america, we are the united states of america. it is clear to me that is where he is happiest. i really believe that his core is about being in the center. i think the more he has the opportunity, as he did last night in eloquent fashion, had the opportunity to talk about the need and desire and the importance of america coming together as a country, he will do better and better. we have seen it just sends the lame duck. accomplishments that were achieved between the election, which was a difficult time for the president, and the end of the year, and his numbers have continued to grow. getting things done is what the american people really want. i am convinced is what the president is striving to do

tavis: it depends on what day it is. when they are our allies, why don't we press them to cooperate with us? >> that is a question we have been asking ever since he was taken into custody in early 2004. the situation is politically sensitive. he is considered the father of the islamic bomb. nobody has the political clout to challenge him and make him available. they are not talking about water boarding the guide. but we try to get to the bottom of just how dangerous his network is. it is one of the key elements of his book, that we expose the extent of the nuclear weapons plans and designs that he sold to the world. tavis: what is the threat to this country from pakistan? >> it is enormous. it is the world's most dangerous country. it could fall into internal chaos and some fundamentalists could get control of the nuclear weapons. they will tell you they are under careful guard, but as we saw with the assassination of the governor of punjab, you cannot trust very many people. the security of those nuclear weapons is an e

tavis: thank you, sir. always pleased to welcome kevin spacey to this program, the two-time oscar winner is also a very successful producer and theater director. his lathe oast film is called "casino jack" based on the real life story of lobbyist jack abram-off. >> and here -- and here a scene from "casino jack." >> it's an all-cash business. use your imagination, adam because i've got plans. >> plans like bugsy malone. public education sucks. you have no idea what kids have to deal with. >> your own school? >> plus there's my foundation. i'm trying to do important stuff that matters to people. >> i -- i don't know, jack. i don't want to see charlie manson as my cell mate. i'm going to say no. but thanks for the $65 steak. it was delicious. >> you're trying to spin him as a modern day robinhood? >> maybe in his own mind he was the orthodox robinhood, yeah. >> actually that's a very interesting point because when i started doing research for the role, you know, let's face it, abram-off was -- abramoff was th

tavis: you mentioned inspiring. does the character that you play -- do they have to be strong personalities? yardy opened a plane someone that is that in texas? -- are you open to playing someone that is the antithesis? >> i mean that as embrace it. -- as in brave. they have extraordinary experience. i find people like that to really move me. you read about them in the paper. that is why i am an actor. i love people and their stories. i find a compelling. tavis: i am trying to get a sense of whether or not you feel some conviction, something that compels you an inclusion into wanting to portray on the screen for the rest of us to see women who are brave. >> i did not set out to do that. i did not start my career wanting to find these real-life stories and tell the specific types of stories. these are the stories that i am drawn to preve. hopefully, i will do lots of different types of things. i have to say that something happens when i read them. i am nude from a very deep part of my soul -- i am moved from a very p

tavis: did dr. king think that, even though he went off script that day -- did he think that he had accomplished what he set out to do with whatever remarks he was going to give that day? was he comfortable and happy with what he accomplished in that moment? >> i think so. i think the practical answer to that question is that immediately after the march, the march leaders went to the white house. i was not with them, but i remember martin saying that the first thing president kennedy said was, "i have a dream." i think that he felt that the -- that the march had been successful, because it was the largest non-violent assembly of people that had ever taken place in the district of columbia. and it had had a powerful effect on the country and on the congress. and, i think, on the president. whether he felt -- clearly, he felt it was a success. clearly, he felt it has been -- had been a public delegation and celebration of the movement, a celebration of the goals and objectives of enabling america to r

say -- tavis: 3 hours. a lot of talk. >> i find it so easy. as i get older, it is much quicker in the gunfight. it is like "gunsmoke." all of a sudden it is getting, upper in the holster. i started plunging on tv. it is a little hiccup. when i get in stand-up, i go back to the basic mode and and a killer out there. in the interviews, i am a little fancier than i used to be. tavis: you still like the stand up? >> it is action. something can go wrong. everybody is sitting down on the floor. if it is never going to go wrong, you might as well be teaching the chop shop. i like the fact that you can't go kind of wrong. tavis: i want to close on something i said earlier, because now it is going wrong and i am stumbling. i want to get to something i said earlier. >> it is wmds! tavis: i want to close by saying something i loved about you. it is very difficult to empower an audience with information and entertainment at the same time. you do that very thing. >> that is sweet of you. at the end of the day if you sta

tavis: which we appreciate, by the way. what kind of doubts did you have, if any, or just unease about comparisons that might be made between "the silence of the lambs" and "the rite," where you are performing exorcisms. did you think about comparisons? >> the first time i got the script, i did not bother to read it. i did not want to do it. my agent said to think about it. i met the director. we did it. all i can say is that personally i enjoyed every moment of the day. i will look back and that time with great nostalgia. it was only last summer. i did not track whether it was quick to be a big hit or not. i hope it is going to do well. but the movie business has changed so much now. i am not cynical about it. but you can get a big movie release and see it in every multiplex. but it is gone the next week. that is the american way. nothing lasts. in a way, there is a comfort in that. you cannot take yourself too seriously. i was in memphis for my birthday. tavis: your birthday is new year's eve. >> yes. [laughter] my 41st b

tavis: good evening from washington. i'm tavis smiley. this is the third and final night of our conversation about the current and future state of our country called "america's next chapter." our thanks to nationwide for helping to make this event possible. i'm joined here by a terrific panel including david brody of the christian broadcasting network, maria teresa kumar, dana milbank,ianian, maria bartiromo, cornel west, david frum and john chen. we're glad you have joined us for the final fight of our conversation, "america's next chapter," coming up right now. [applause] >> 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 proudly supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide is proud to join tavis 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 viewe

tavis: i need to understand this. when the tea party said we're going to take our country back, from whom? [laughter] [applause] seriously. this rant all the time. we are taking this country back. >> we're taking our country back to constitutional view of what they believe the constitution requires or what it says. it is not take our country back in terms of tax some heat and let's go. that is not what this is about. getting back to a point you made earlier, dr. west. there is a danger in saying, using the race as a word, you were saying there was an element of racism to the tea party. i can tell you that inherent in that is a dismissive attitude towards the tea party. it is basically trying to not justify its existence and power in this country. >> i am concerned about the truth. >> we record the audio. i can go back to that and listen. i am looking around the corner. i am looking around the crowd. i have to tell you, it is not there. >> how many black folk are there here? black folk are very intelligent. we get a se

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation about the film with the most oscar nominations this year, "the king's speech." tom cooper directs it on the true life -- tom hooper direct the film. it earned 11 other oscar nominations, including one for best picture. it is. these projects include an award winning -- his other projects include an award winning series on john adams and elizabeth 5. director tom hooper, coming up 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 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: tom hooper is a talented filmmaker

tavis: first of all, the title. i love me some d j rogers, and one of my favorite songs is "love brought me back." >> i was in new york, and i heard that, and i thought, that is the title of my book. it makes sense. when you look back at certain things, you can ask yourself how do i get through this. players got me through this. >> you did a cover, "say you love me." that is a beautiful song. >> i ran into debt and sell. -- denzel. tavis: if i show of december 8 and you do not sing it, i am going to think he is more important than i am. >> nosair. >> it is a great song. it was not that long after that you went into dialysis. how did you wind up with a kidney? >> it is a long list, especially in big cities, and my son was not a match. we got a call. i was with my sister when the call came to say they did find a perfect match and that the kidney was specifically designated for natalie cole, so the hospital kind of flipped out. how did i get to the top of the list all of a sudden? a woman had taken care of me for one d

tavis: good evening from washington. tonight, we bring you the first of three nights devoted to a conversation about the state of this country, called america's next chapter. thanks to the support of nationwide insurance, we are proud to bring you this event from the campus of george washington university. of our panel includes david brody, maria teresa kumar, dana milbank, arianna huffington, maria bartiromo, cornel west, david frum, and john chen. we are glad you've joined us for night one of our conversation, coming up right now. [laughter] [applause] >> 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 contri

[inaudible conversations] >> tonight, television and radio host tavis smiley hosts a form called "america's next chapter." one of the topics discussed was the recent shooting in tucson. the first example of the answer been found in the problem would be the shooting in tucson and this conversation the country is involved in about stability. tell me how it is that that is the way forward if it requires a heinous act like that to get us to have a conversation about civility. i have heard members of congress for the last week passing themselves on the back and sticking their chests out reminding us that we are no -- not republicans or democrats. we are all americans. we were all americans a week ago before it happened . it can take an act like this to make us realize we are all americans. >> you can see this at 8:00 p.m. eastern and 5:00 p.m. pacific on c-span. tomorrow on "washington journal ," a discussion on the 112th congress and the obama administration. also a discussion of china's president hu jintao's visit to the united states. that is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. tomorrow on n

tavis can be reconciled. -- maybe that can be reconciled. commissioner garcia: the permit does not ask to legalize what is done, and therefore, cfc could not have -- that is more reasonable to me, as the question was asked by vice president goh about the moving of the sink and toilet, i think it has been stipulated that they did that, prior to getting the permit. you do not have 30 seconds or one second unless the president wants you to comment on it. i am onboard for changing the findings or on board for whatever. if i am the one he made the motion to reopen, i mean to vote, because i would withdraw that. i thought maybe you had done that. commissioner fung: can you restate that? commissioner hwang: if we can narrow the issue, that be more efficient. my focus is whether or not there was a valid permit. and this goes to work being done prior. vice president goh: if we went ahead and voted and went ahead and voted tonight, i am not sure if that means that commissioner garcia would change his vote in vote to overturn or not, because now we hav

host: tavis smiley, thank you very much for being with us today. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] host: we're now going to take you to the floor of the u.s. house of representatives, where the house will take up a resolution paying tribute to those who lost their lives and those who lost their lives and

i'm tavis smiley. we have assembled a wide-ranging group of journalists to talk aout "america's next chapter" three-hour long conversation about where this country is in the first decade of the new century. let's thank c-span for covering this conversation. [applause] he is the chief political correspondent for cbs news, please welcome david brody. [applause] she is the co-founder of voto latino, maria teresa kumar. [applause] political columnist for the "washington post" please welcome dana milbank. [applause] she is the creator of one of the best sites on the web, huffington post, please welcome arianna huffington. [applause] the anchor of "at the closing bell" maria bartiromo. [applause] he is the best-selling author, please welcome dr. cornel west. [applause] he is a best selling author and former speech writer for george w. bush, please welcome david frum. [applause] the ceo of sybase and a committee of 100, our friend, john chen. [applause] i think want to start our conversation with dr. west. i

will be two weeks from now. >> you can see the entire form on america's next chapter with radio host tavis smiley tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern and 5:00 p.m. pacific here on c-span. tomorrow on news makers, the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius. she discusses the republicans' effort to repeal the health-care overhaul legislation. that is at 10:00 a.m. here on c- span. >> starting tuesday, the house takes up the repeal of the health care law. watch the debate and final vote live on c-span. and go to nkunda c-span.org to read the bill on line -- and go to c-span.org to read the bill online and read c-span's facebook and ritter pages. the >> c-span cozy local content vehicles are traveling the country. we now take you to go a reno -- kobo aruna in detroit. we caught up with the task force on the automotive industry. >> we appreciate ron coming out. ron has played such a pivotal role on behalf of president obama, as you all know, in getting us where we are now. also with the efforts that have allowed ford to -- to support for efforts to be here. -- ford's efforts to be h

later, tavis smiley lead discussion on the america's future beginning at 6:00 eastern on c-span. s "s weekend on c-span 3' american history tv" an oral history on pop culture. a visit to the bureau of engraving and printing to learn about creating currency. and a discussion about the first states to secede from the union, south carolina. see the complete we can scuttle online at c-span.org/history. you can also press the scheduler button and have the schedule e- mail to you. tim plenty is at the national press club coming at 1:00. to get us there, a segment from this morning's "washington journal." continues. host: paul -- april 2007, virginia tech shootings. have there been any changes in federal gun laws or state gun laws since april of 27 -- 2007? guest: congress passed an act to basically encourage the states to send more records into the background check system. one of the lessons directly from the virginia tech, the shooter had actually been found by a court in virginia to be a danger to themselves and others but va -- which would disqualify him -- but va never said that re

from it is washington your way. >> a forum on america's future hosted by a tavis smiley. this is three hours. welcome. tonight we have a wide-ranging conversation about the current and future state of this country. this is a 3 hour conversation about where this country is in the first decade of the 21st century. in the first decade of the new century. let frank c-span for covering this. he is the chief political correspondent for cbs news, please welcome david brody. [applause] she is the co-founder of voto latino, maria teresa kumar. [applause] political columnist for the "washington post" please welcome dana milbank. [applause] she is the creator of one of the best sites on the web, huffington post, please welcome arianna huffington. [applause] the anchor of "at the closing bell" maria bartiromo. [applause] he is the best-selling author, please welcome dr. cornel west. [applause] he is a best selling author and former speech writer for george w. bush, please welcome david frum. [applause] the ceo of sybase and a committee of 100, our friend, john chen. [applause] i thin

i'm tavis smiley. we have assembled a wide-ranging group of journalists to talk aout "america's next chapter" three-hour long conversation about where this country is in the first decade of the new century. let's thank c-span for covering this conversation. [applause] he is the chief political correspondent for cbs news, please welcome david brody. [applause] she is the co-founder of voto latino, maria teresa kumar. [applause] political columnist for the "washington post" please welcome dana milbank. [applause] she is the creator of one of the best sites on the web, huffington post, please welcome arianna huffington. [applause] the anchor of "at the closing bell" maria bartiromo. [applause] he is the best-selling author, please welcome dr. cornel west. [applause] he is a best selling author and former speech writer for george w. bush, please welcome david frum. [applause] the ceo of sybase and a committee of 100, our friend, john chen. [applause] i think want to start our conversation with dr. west. i