tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a third and final night of our conversation, "remaking america to prosperity." that is next time. 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 walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> w. k. kellogg foundation. engaging communities to improve the lives of vulnerable children. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television]

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight we begin a look at one of the most vexing problems facing our country, poverty. i traveled to many of the poorest parts of our country to put a face on the number of people who find themselves among the ranks of the port. tonight we will bring you the first installment of the poor followed by a conversation with cornel west. his thoughts about what can and should be done. we are glad you have joined us. >> 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 literacy one question at a time. >> brought to you by the aarp foundation. ♪ >> the w.k. kellogg foundation, improving the lives of vulnerable children. learn more at wkkf.org. ♪ america's kids and a better families. >> and by contributions to you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: even before the name -- numbers came out, we decided to s

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, our conversation with sean penn on the situation in haiti two years after the deadly earthquake. he has devoted much of his time and effort since the earthquake to nonprofit organization called cheye/p 80 relief organization. we're glad that have joined us. our conversation with actor and humanitarian sean penn, coming up right now. >> 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 walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet television] tavis: tonight marks the first show far more new studios in los angeles, as we continue our night season on pbs. our conversation with sean penn, the oscar winner, tireless human rights activist, who spent much of his time on the situation in haiti. he is not an ambassador at large to 80, given that distinction by h

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up, a look at this state of the florida race for the white house. polls show mitt romney with a lead over his chief rival, newt gingrich at the moment. a win in florida would be his biggest yet as he tries to secure a republican nomination. also, a conversation with the filmmaker who made take home the oscar top prize next month for "the artist." it is an acclaimed a silent black-and-white project. we have a look at the artist coming up right now. >> 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 walmart stands together with better. >> and by contributions from your pbs station -- to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: ron brown skin is a two- time -- ron brownstein is a two- time award winning journalist. he has been covering this race. good to have you back on the program. >> good to be back. tavis: you just go

from washington, i'm tavis smiley. tonight we bring you to first of three nights devoted to a conversation about the issue of poverty. i'm joined tonight here on the campus of george washington university by a terrific group that includes oscar winning film macromichael moore, financial expert, suze orman, cornel west. jo complafmente we're glad you joined us for night one coming up right now. >> 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 walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. w.k. kellog foundation engaging communities to improve the lives of vulnerable children. and by contributions to major your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. kcet public television] [applause] tavis: i'm so honored that you here. i want to start with you because the numbers here have been coming out so much of late. certainly in the last few months of 2011, it seemed like every other day there was a new stat

tavis smiley once you on the show -- wants you on the show. tavis: this is going to be a mutual admiration society. did you are one old sister. prince, marvin gaye, you pick some timely stuff to cover. >> that is the stuff to cover. everybody i usually sing those songs, i love them and the stuff they recorded. we were all sites. -- tight. we went on the road, and we knew he was going to be a star because he had the star attitude, but i always said, i want to do something he did, so all of a sudden he started doing it. i am one of those kind of people. somebody will do a great song, and i want to do it. >> everybody has their own reasons. what is it about that song that made you want to cover it of all the stuff martin has done? >> because it said, what is going on. i love those kinds of stories, so if it can tell you what is going on, i want to know about it, and and i want to sing about it. everything he has ever done, i wanted to do its. blacks i probably should not tell you this, given that i -- >> i probably should not tell you this, given

i am tavis smiley. we bring you night two of our look at poverty adn the poverty tour across america, including the kids who live at or below the poverty line, and i will be joined by vicki escarra . we thank you for joining us on night two of the poverty tour. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. one last pla literacy one question at a time. >> brought to you by the aarp foundation. ♪ >> the w.k. kellogg foundation, improving the lives of vulnerable children. learn more at wkkf.org. ♪ america's kids and a better families. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. ♪ tavis: in our second part of the poverty tour, we look at the inw pour,or," who used to be the middle class. >> the blues are a personal catastrophe expressed lyrically. >> the white literary blues. >> i teach them in my class. >> the tennessee williams festival. >> me and my wife -- all of us. trying to get here. you have to keep our home. >> the new pouor are the form er middle class. >> i had a j

. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. to me next time for part two of our conversation with actor sean penn about haiti, two years after the deadly earthquake. that is next time. we will 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 walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- 

stands together with your community to make every day better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smileywith 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] >> be

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, part two of our conversation with actor and humanitarian sean penn. is efforts on behalf of the people of haiti earned him the 20 12th humanitarian award. he has also been named ambassador at large to haiti, now two years removed from the devastating earthquake. we are glad to have joined us. a part two of our conversation with sean penn, coming up right now. >> 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 walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet television] tavis: welcome back. good to see you again. i want to pick up where we left off last night. last night, you raised the name of president clinton, who was an ambassador to the haitian people, who was our ambassador, asked by president obama to lead the effort to raise money for haiti. what

. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for the final night of our party toward -- of our poverty tour. that is next time. we will 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 literacy one question at a time. >> brought to you by the aarp foundation. ♪ >> the w.k. kellogg foundation, improving the lives of vulnerable children. learn more at wkkf.org. ♪ america's kids and a better families. >> and by contributions to thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] kcet public television]

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cornell west and tavis smiley.ent, remaking america from poverty to prosperity will be broadcast live on c-span, thursday, january 12. you can see a list of guests who will be appearing there, including michael more. tavis smiley, why not bring these people together? what you hope to get out of this? guest: i don't want to endure another campaign redo 9 detractor -- traction on this particular issue. last summer we got on a bus and traveled around the country, 11 states, 18 cities, trying to put a spotlight on the poor in this country. the week of programming on pbs. call we just rebroadcast that week last week on my pbs show. this is the next thing, to bring these poverty experts together and talk about how we cannot just reduce poverty but eradicate poverty. i figure if you bring these kind of voices together, the drumbeat gets louder. occupy wall street certainly beat the drum last year, but this drumbeat must get louder between now and november. i am hoping that tomorrow night we can advance the conversation. i

caller: i like to ask the question to tavis smiley and cornel west.t do they think president obama is doing? he is doing all he can to get jobs created. i don't understand the concept. host: do not see that is happening, that the president is trying to work towards helping the poor? guest: you begin your campaign and give nearly $1 trillion to investment bankers. that's not a good start in terms of fighting for the poor. in the last few months, he has given some good speeches about jobs. we applausd that. he has been fighting for the payroll tax cut. we applaud that. that is not a substitute for a massive job creation and housing and jobs with a living wage. we applaud the president when the president does the right thing. the president -- you have tim geithner running things. tim geithner is not a fighter for the poor. i hear people saying obama is better than the republicans, but he is more work to do to fight against poverty. guest: people act in this election like there are two choices. either obama or mr. romney. there's a third choice and that's

. >> for more information on today'show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: join the next time for a conversation with grammy-winning singer seal. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it is the cornerstone that we all know. it is not just a street or a boulevard. it is the place where walmart stands together with your community to make everyday better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. 

caller: i like to ask the question to tavis smiley and cornel west.esident obama is doing? he is doing all he can to get jobs created. i don't understand the concept. host: do not see that is happening, that the president is trying to work towards helping the poor? guest: you begin your campaign and give nearly $1 trillion to investment bankers. that's not a good start in terms of fighting for the poor. in the last few months, he has given some good speeches about jobs. we applausd that. he has been fighting for the payroll tax cut. we applaud that. that is not a substitute for a massive job creation and housing and jobs with a living wage. we applaud the president when the president does the right thing. the president -- you have tim geithner running things. tim geithner is not a fighter for the poor. i hear people saying obama is better than the republicans, but he is more work to do to fight against poverty. guest: people act in this election like there are two choices. either obama or mr. romney. there's a third choice and that's a better presiden

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with actress angelina jolie. she has written a new project called "in the land of blood and honey." she will also be joined by one of the stars of the new film, zana marjanovic. we are glad you have joined us. the conversation with angelina jolie coming up right now. >> 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 walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: pleased to welcome angelina jolie to the program. she is making her directorial debut with a project called "in the land of blood and honey." we are also delighted to have one of the stars of the film, zana marjanovic. the movie opens december 23 in new york and los angeles. more cities on the way in in january. scenes from "in the land of blood and honey." >> come out with your hands in the air. >> it is very complicated. one of your friends is in my opsc i wonder, wouldop he kill