tavis: good evening from china, i am tavis smiley. we are here talking to everyday chinese about the issues that matter most to them, the environment, the economy, education, the future, the family, real issues, real people, every night from the people's republic of china. our conversation begins tonight right now. >> every community has a martin luther king street. this is a place for wal-mart standing together with your community to make everyday 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. additional funding provided by -- >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: this is the view of beijing from the roof of the microsoft campus. this is second only to their headquarters. the big cities are already jammed and in the next 10 yea

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, our conversation with television wasn't -- television legend betty white, less than a year shy of her 90th birthday. in addition to her role on "hot in cleveland," she has a new memoir called "if you ask me>> s 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] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- tavis: pleased and delighted to welcome betty white back to this program. the legendary television actress is a seven-time emmy-winning actress for her many roles, like "mary tyler moore" and "the golden girls." she has a new memoir on her life called "if you ask me (and of course you won't)." here is a scene from her latest series, "caught in cleveland." -- "ho

tavis: you are having a great year. what do you make of the fact that all of this stuff is out in the same year? >> that is really ought. you often do jobs that never come out. it has been really lucky. that is one of those random things. i was working back-to-back last year. tavis: when you have that kind of success which is almost unprecedented, is the new season like a letdown? what is "damages," at this point? >> i love television. i am a big fan of television. for me, the show has been home. i like working with glenn close. i was also exhausted because i had worked solidly. in a way, it was nice. it was like coming home again. tavis: 1 people -- one thing that people like about "damages," is that the entire season is built around a story line. what is this year's team? >> it is loosely based on blackwater. we get embroiled in a wrongful death suit against a company that is run by a compromise in character. -- my very uncompromising character. we did a lot of research before we did it. they could push the content ev

♪ tavis: good evening.onight and all this week we move throughout the country of china trying to listen and learn about the chinese people. talk about china must always be the economy but this week we will talk about the people and the social issues, environment and education. all these issues the people of china are wrestling with. we spend this week on location. that is coming up right now. >> every community has martin luther king blvd. it is the cornerstone we know. it is not just a street but a place where walmart stands with your community to make everyday matter. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer,we're proud to join him in improving financial literacy. and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. additional funding provided by -- >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: i first came to china one year

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up tonight, a conversation with john prendergrast. then, we have a conversation with conversationnikki jean. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard, this is a cornerstone we all know. this is a place where wal-mart comes together withouou mmmmitittotoakeveryday better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, 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: john prendergast is a noted human-rights advocate and a co-founder of the end of project which works to combat genocide. his latest text is called "unlikely brothers: our story of adventure, loss, and redemption." good to have you on this program. are you doing all right? >> i am doing very well. thank you. tavis: let me start in an unlikely place. i

tavis: good evening from los angeles. up tonight on this fourth of july, a look at the most american of all businesses, the auto industry. bob lutz is a legendary figure. serving as vice chairman of general motors. his latest text is "car guys vs. bean counters". also, cedric the entertainer is here. he stars alonside tom hanks in "larry crowne". he launched a new show for nbc called "it's worth what?". coming up right now. \[please stand by/] >> 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. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] t

tavis: good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with r&b superstar bobby brown. this summer the former new edition front man is out with his first album in nearly 15 years. the disc is called "the masterpiece" and has already produced a new single. later this year he and the crew are planning a reunion in conjunction with their 30th anniversary. we're glad you've joined us, a conversation with bobby brown coming up right now. >> 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 from 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: bobby brown is back. this year marks the release of his first c.d. in nearly 15 years. the new disk is called "the masterpiece," which is already getting some buzz around the first si

tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with betty white, on her new memoir. see you then. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where wal-mart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, 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.

tavis: good evening, from china. i am tavis smiley. i have had the pleasure of sharing my unique experience with some of my personal staff and my friend and colleague, dr. cornel west. the people have impressed us with their candor and friendliness. it would be a the authoritarian government and their grip on modern china and even for us. minor flareups emerged at some surprising moments. i will share two of those experiences. this all b bininininususa momentnt >>>> e ery commumutyty has a marvelous the king boulevard. this is the cornerstone we all known. this is not just the street or a boulevard where wal-mart stands to get there with your community to make everyday 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. tavis: additional funding provided by -- >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank

tavis: good evening, from china, i'm tavis smiley. we're here all this week to listen and to learn as we speak to the chinese people about the issues that matter to them. the social husband is. the cultural issues. their families. the future, education and environment and so much more as we're on location tonight and all this week. i'll have more in a moment. >> the cornerstone we all know. it is not just a street or boulevard but a place to gather with your demoupt make every day better. community to make every day better. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance working to improve financial literacy and the economic >> nationwide is on your side >> additional funding provided by -- >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. kcet public television] >> this is my second trip to china and i've come back with some of my staff and good friend and colleague, dr. cornel west. we're something of an anomaly in china. you don't see many african-americans. it resul

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i am tavis smiley. a conversation with one of the country's leading opinion makers frank rich. after a decade writing at the "new york times" he is writing for "new york magazine." he will talk about president obama and his chances for reelection. michael rapaport is here to talk about his film about a tribe called quest. columnist frank rich and actor michael rapaport coming up right now. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it is a cornerstone that we all know. it is a place where i walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> nationwide supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, nation why it works with tavis to move -- remove obstacles to economic empowerment. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from the worst like you. thank you. -- viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- tavis: always pleased to welcome frank rich back to the

tavis: that could be replicated across the country. >> absolutely. tavis: that can be replicated. northwestern is not unique in that regard. others can clearly do that. what benevolent work would that be for law schools across the country. i want to come back to something that ken said something. talk to me about the burden, the responsibility, you tell me what it is for you that you have dedicated the rest of your life to representing others who are enduring the same thing you had to go through. >> i was sitting down with the reverend. i wanted an innocent project within our community pride there are only two african-americans that i know of. he was the first african- american that was granted a pardon in the state of illinois. we need that in our community. we need to go into the inner city colleges and direct programs. teach these to our young children and ignite their passion so that we can deal with the overwhelming volume of mail that i receive. it is more than i can answer. my dream is to bring these young students and allow them to enter these letters, allow them to assimi

i will go on the tavis smiley show. i tried to be helpful. tavis: a great actor and a better man. an upcoming showtime series and a new deal with showtime to produce other projects. whenever he wants to do. good to have the wind. i appreciate you. up next, a preview of our week devoted to china. it starts monday. we will explain it for you in just a moment. stay with us. i hope you will join us for an entire week devoted to china. i traveled there with a camera crew and a group of colleagues including cornell west. over the first of four nights we will look at the issues and the challenges facing china and the ideas and people who will shape china for the rest of the century and beyond. on friday, we will have a high- profile panel of chinese americans for a conversation about china and its place in the world. our guests include john chan. we met and spoke with some extraordinary people but probably the most moving encounter was when we got a chance to meet my your workers and their kids. we hear a lot about the economic boom. everywhere you look you see evidence of that. china is

tavi>> nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in improving liturgy. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org tavis: to me next time with frank rich of the upcoming presidential campaign in his post at new york magazine. >> 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. pbs. >> be more. pbs. >> philip levine grew up in detroit during the great depression, the son of russian jewish immigrants. he worked in the auto plants, and resolved that he would speak for the people working in the factory. "and," he said, "sure enough, i've gone and done it." >> belle isle, 1949. we stripped in the first warm spring night and ran down into the detroit river to baptize ourselves in the brine of car pa

on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org tavis: to me next time with frank rich of the upcoming presidential campaign in his post at new york magazine. >> 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. pbs. >> be more. pbs.

tavis: good evening. we wrap up our week long look at china. tonight, have a distinguished panel of chinese americans. tonight, we will explore many issues we discussed during a recent visit to china, including the good and the bad of china's economic boom, the environment, human rights, and the complexity of u.s.-china relations. our round table conversation on china is coming up right now. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it is the cornerstone we all know. it is not just a street, a boulevard, but a place where wal-mart stands together with your community. >> 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 the viewers like you. thank you. ♪ tavis: i am pleased to be joined by a terrific and distinguished panel. first up is john chan, former chair of the c-1

tavis: good evening. as we prepare to celebrate the independence and freedoms that helped define america, is a sober reminder when men and women are wrongfully accused and often sentenced to die. the state of illinois is ground zero these days for numerous cases of false imprisonment. recently, i joined rev. jesse jackson in chicago for a two- part conversation with four men, black and white, who, combined, spend more than 50 years behind bars despite their innocence. we're glad that you have joined us. we're looking at the plight of the wrongfully accused in america coming up right now. >> all i know is that his name is james and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i and james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference. >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. we're happy to join him in helping to improve literacy and empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and the contributions to your pbs station from viewers like

tavis: you were born in detroit. i am curious as to what you make of the fact that you are birthplace is going through -- >> i think about it a lot. first of all, there is no baseball team. my dad had one year of college and he came out here, took a big risk. he is a self-made man, or was. my dad has passed away. but we got in a car, my vote -- my older brother and i, and picked up stakes and came down here and he did not make a deal in the real estate business for two years. but then my younger brother and sister were born. my mama was from a family of 11. we would go back every summer in the family car. tavis: california to detroit, every summer? >> we are sleeping on the floor and arguing who gets to sleep on the floor and who gets the hump in the middle. tavis: i have nine brothers and sisters, and we had a station wagon. used to run to the car to avoid sitting on the hope. >> we argued, and i was the younger of the two. my younger brother and sister were babies. there was no air conditioning, and with diaper cha

tavis: smiley. tonight and interview with the popular comedian george wallace his thoughts to night on a number of subjects, including a golden age of comedy in las vegas. >> every community has martin luther king boulevard. it is the cornerstone we all know. it is not just of boulevard but a place where wal-mart stands together with your community to make everyday better. with every question and every to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> always pleased to welcome our friend, george wallace. the talented comedian continues his successful run at the flamingo hotel in las vegas. the show runs tuesday through saturday. i cannot believe you are still in las vegas du. >> first of all, i am so blessed. i went there for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. i am in my eighth year, and i have to thank the people for letting me be

. >> nationwide supports tavis smiley. nationwide is proud to join have is in working to remove obstacles to economic empowerment one at a time. >> 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-- ♪ villaraigosa may be best known as the guy who convince the entire city to stay out of their cars for the weekend. hazmat you may know, the 405 was shut down this weekend. you pulled it off. >> we pull it off. it worked like magic. >> i was in my hotel room cracking up about all the new stations in canada talking about it. i was cracking out that this became such a huge story around the world. what do you make of it? >> everybody knows about l.a.'s addiction to the automobile. i think people did not think it was possible that we would have a day off from the hectic now nature of driving in the city of los angeles, and it worked. people stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. >> does

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i am tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with barry manilow. next week he is out with his first album of original music in a decade. later on, a special performance from the new project and some great music >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all lived better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. nationwide insurance is proud to join have this in working to improve financial literacy and working to remove obstacles one at a time. >> 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-- >> what an honor to have barry manilow and his piano on the set to night. it is hard to believe we have not seen a project of new music in 10 years, but that is about to change. it is an honor to have you in this program. >> i have been looking forward to doing tavis:: 20 years i have been in the broadcast business, and i have never had the honor of sitting with an artist for an entire conversation at th

tavis smiley and cornel west. you both very much. >> thank you. >> it's been a pleasure. >>> tomorrow, an

. >> we'll have a conversation with tavis smiley. this is "piers morgan tonight." >>> donald trump says america's economy could be going bad from worse. he joins me tonight on the phone. donald, how are you? >> hello, piers. >> first of all, congratulations on becoming a grandfather again. your lovely daughter ivanka and a baby girl ella rose, i understand. >> that is true. we're very happy about that. >> tell me, if we were trying to prescribe an economic future or young arabella that you would feel comfortable about, what would you do. >> first you have to get the debt down. the whole world of debt has to be changed as far as this country is concerned. we have to create jobs and rapidly. because if we don't, things are going to head in a direction that's going to be almost impossible to recover from. so we really need jobs now. we have to take jobs away from other countries because other countries are taking our jobs. there is practically not a company that doesn't do business with the united states that is making a very big profit

tavis: unless he said something lake, he has served very -- could very firm. -- he has stood firm. stood firm in his disbelief of a higher being. those agnostic and atheist until they get in a situation where they have to call upon something more divine and they discovered god. >> i write about that. a guy that had been renouncing the and at the end, he wants his last rites said. there are people toward the end. hi dad would say -- he was a

. >> we'll have a conversation with tavis smiley. this is "piers morgan tonight." >>> donald trump says america's economy could be going bad from worse. he joins me tonight on the

tavis: i am glad that as many others are. your fans are glad to have you back and see it -- digging into what you have to say. why this particular piece about obama as your debut? >> as i was looking at various subjects, what really grabbed me and pushed me in this direction was the fact that mitt romney, a dye that is associated with corporate america, americaguy that is associated -- guy

it's not going to come back i mean you know we had a politician get up on tavi not long ago he said well the reason that jan saying it's going extinct because the deer are in. order bought this thousand acre. site that's not the garage sale process mountaintop removal coal mine is an awesome display of coal extraction engineering it is also quite simple once the site is a den of clear cutting begins next explosives are used to blast away the earth material holes and. then machinery completing massive shovels called drag lines remove the overburden which is then deposited in adjacent valleys called valley fills mountaintop removal coal mining can bring down the elevation of a peak hundreds of feet sites are often thousands of acres in size but i would say these are like actual. blacksburg and written. in the spring of two thousand and five a group of activists college students and local citizen conservation groups joined together to oppose the widespread increase in mountaintop removal mines throughout southern appalachian training the group called their campaign mountain just a summer th