>> it's not what the white house said originally. when the story first broke the white house was clear this was a rogue agency in cincinnati. this was done by bureaucrats and didn't have any relevance or ties to the white house. we learned over the course of

>> she wanted the white house. the political world, smoking in her living room and ruining her draperies. she wanted the white house as much as he did. she wanted to be the first lady of land. they are all dying for it. >> just one first lady i have known who did not is beth truman. there is no question about it. she did not like it and he could have run again even though they passed a law that you could not have two terms, seven years. fdr's unfinished term. he could have run again. he told me -- talking to presidents. [laughter] >> in your bedroom. >> he told me he did not think he should run again because of the law. in a sense, it was almost seven years. it was really bess truman. i have seen her at a party. i think it was a party reception to the club in march and talk to her briefly and was so sure he would not run again. she didn't. he spent a lot of time -- did not like the white house. >> nixon campaigned beside him throughout. i think she never really dreamed of being in the white house. >> she would shake

this was one piece they took to the white house. ed with their personal furniture. this was one of the pieces they took to the white house with them. this table was known as the white house table. they had to borrow some furniture to take to the white house with them. this was one piece that they borrowed from jane's sister mary. the also took the little writing desk and chair that belong to franklin pierce. this room would have been used as a guest room. this is a small bed. we think this belonged to benny this is a master bedroom. this is a rumor that franklin and jane would have used. theirs the room where second son, frankie, died of typhus when he was four years old. this was a great blow to both jane and franklin. he was the apple of their eye. he was an interesting little character, according to their letters. they were devastated by his death. jane was in mourning quite a a big house, especially with only one child, was too much for jane to take care of. she was not interested in housekeeping. when pierce went off to fight in

there was a lot of gloom in the white house. hay was at the telegraph office, a short walk away from the white house. he sat up through the night with lincoln and watched him pace, watched for the returns to come in from various states. when the returns came in, they realized that the soldiers had voted, and they realized that made the difference. they had been allowed to go home on leave. hay's description of lincoln being concerned but calm, keeping everyone around him at ease by telling his great stories, one of the great moments in political history. we have all become familiar of the stories of election night for various presidential candidates. this is one of the first. >> you start your book with a quotation from john milton hayes, 1905. >> where did that come from? >> john hay essentially wrote his own benediction. in the spring of 1905, he had a bad heart. his health was very poor. yet, theodore roosevelt, who had been elected the previous fall, been inaugurated in march 1905, said, please stay on for as long as you can

had the first easter egg hunt on the white house lawn. it stops during the civil war, but he brought it back. he held it on the white house lawn so that eliza could watch. she was not able to get out much. she watched it from the portico of the white house. >> she chose not to assume the role of the first lady. she received many kids that she brought home with her after they left the white house. -- she received many gifts that she brought home with her after they left the white house. one of them was a box that had 50 pounds of chocolate bonbons. we have letters from some of her children say they would go up to mom's room to get a tree from the bonbon box. another item she thought that was a remembrance of a visit. she returned and bought back one of his books. she was an avid reader. this gave her a chance to remember his visit. charles dickens is one of the most prolific writers of that time. of that time. 500 pieces of inlaid wood. they would play games. it sits up and rolls up. it looks like a regular table. the craftsmanship is incre

not necessarily the white house. >> it has gone to the chief white house -- the chief irs scandal, a political appointee, who did indeed hold a meeting inside the white house. >> i will argue with the daily caller's reporting. you asked him important questions. what they're doing at this daily caller which as you know is a very right wing perspective newspaper. he has an agenda. all he's doing is drawing guilt by association. you asked him pointblank whether he had any evidence whatsoever that these procedures were discussed. he had none whatsoever. the only reason he has this information is because the white house visitor logs are public which the obama administration in an historic commitment to transparency has made public. it's backfiring a little bit politically because right wing reporters have access to those logs. >> hold on a second. we have scott here from townhall.com. you think it's not a fake scandal. make your point. >> it's not a fake scandal. a fake scandal is what the white house would like us to believe with benghazi and fast and furious. in reality we have documents

reporter jessica yellin takes is on an inside tour of the white house press room to see where the reporters who cover the white house work take a look i larry welcome to the white house press room. so this is the press briefing room you've seen it on t.v. a million times you see the person it's probably a little less glamorous than you expect this is the front row obviously this is the box i stand on when i have to do live shots because the. hole will not go. up to get a little bit of height if you want to be jay carney or the white house press secretary for a moment what it looks like to be him so this is our access to the white house right here. you'll notice the doors closed is one more level where we can walk up after that no access this is built on the swimming pool i think the story is this is harry truman swimming pool and so there's really not a lot of office space so when people come in here for the day they don't have a lot of room to hang out so they just hang out the chairs this is where the people who make the magic sit monitor the magic ba

the president is on the south lawn of the white house. you can look straight out and can people see him here where he is on the jogging path? >> guest: you know the white house is so unique because the way it's laid out. typically when the president would walk on to the south lawn you couldn't see anyone. almost like he was alone, like completely alone but obviously there are thousands of tourists outside. it's real interesting place how it's laid out. >> host: here is another visit. i think this is miss beazley in this picture. >> guest: right. miss beasley was more affection@. she enjoyed petting the president would play with her a lot. these moments, types of really light moments happen literally section. then it is back to the seriousness of the day or the meeting and, it was amazing how quickly things could transition from very intense and serious to light and funny to back to serious and the whole day was like that. >> crawford, you write in here, and, should say that in front row seat there is a page or two of text introducing each

so in that respect would say, although the original idea was not the white house, the final design very much reflected the white house. >> the author of this book, governing security in the hidden origins of american security agencies. how much overlap to the creation of the super department such as t h. as or at the say create in the federal government? >> it is ironic that in both cases that idea behind the creation of these agencies was to create efficiencies. but one of the things i talk about in the book is that you have this very hard choice when you're putting together a government agency. by unifying certain functions you disunify other functions. of you an example from the hsn and the fsa. that vhs, plainly it might make sense to put the transportation security agency in a security agency, but in doing so you separated from the federal functions that otherwise involves aviation. with the fsa it was important that the food and drug administration be transferred from the agriculture department to this new superagency, some of the roosevelt advisers felt like that new structure th

21.just shy of >> where did he physically live in the white house? > the secretary's room was on the -- on the northeast corner of the white house. so if you picture the white looking from lafayette square, it would be in the upper left-hand window. the president and his family the ied seven rooms in second floor of the white house. this is before the west wing. the offices and all of the of the government of the administration were conducted on that floor as well. very little security so always office seekers and people and running in and out all of the time. who. nick lai? >> seven years older than john hay. friend m illinois and a of hey. he feels born in germany, came a young ited states as man. and had run a small newspaper in illinois. lincoln brought him on first to private secretary. nd when the mail got so that nikolay couldn't handle it, they brought on hay. nikolay and hay came on the train together. hey were roommates for four years in the white house and ere great friends and collaborators together because once lincoln died, and even efor

>> she wanted the white house. ing in her living room and ruining her draperies. she wanted the white house as much as he did. she wanted to be the first lady of land. they are all dying for it. >> just one first lady i have known who did not is beth truman. there is no question about it. she did not like it and he could have run again even though they passed a law that you could not have two terms, seven years. fdr's unfinished term. he could have run again. he told me -- talking to presidents. [laughter] >> in your bedroom. >> he told me he did not think he should run again because of the law. in a sense, it was almost seven years. it was really beth truman. i have seen her at a party. i think it was a party reception to the club in march and talk to her briefly and was so sure he would not run again. she didn't. he spent a lot of time -- did not like the white house. >> nixon campaigned beside him throughout. i think she never really dreamed of being in the white house. >> she would shake 4000 hands in one aftern

you can't say the white house wasn't involved when the spokesperson for the leader of free free world is perpetuating a myth these were two rogue agents in ohio? how do you square that, when the spokesperson for the white house is advancing a demon -- is that in the new defense in this town, that the president himself was involved? nobody has alleged that president obama was involved, but if that's the new standard for propriety, that as long as the president himself was not orchestrating something, that there's no harm there? jay carney works for him. jay carney took it upon himself to advance this false narrative and the notion that you can now claim the white house wasn't involved is just balderdash. it's false, wrong, i would use another word but the fcc would get involved it's just wrong. >> thank you for your remarks. i appreciate it. >> yes, ma'am. >> hoe risk story out of texas. a mother has died after reportedly falling out of the texas giant roller coaster at six flags in arlington. take a look at these images. witnesses say the woman wasn't properly secured in her seat but

i did covering the clinton white house and the george w. bush white house first term each, have an opportunity to work with her and you know, as the president noted in his statement, we are all appreciative of her many years in that chair and her career. >> bill: she did great work covering the white house for ten different presidents starting with john f. kennedy. she had covered his presidential campaign when he got in the white house. upi said hey you've been with him throughout the campaign. why don't you cover him in the white house. the first woman to do so, first woman to sit in the front seat of the white house briefing room and she was still there when i started going to the white house, covering president obama maybe three or four years ago. and jay carney there, as he pointed out under two presidents with her. then you may have heard there is a new book out that's getting a lot of buzz in washington d.c. it's about washington. it's about the political and media kind of circus that exists here. where everybody is in this pool. they

our bill plant, himself a very familiar face at the white house, worked along thomas for some time. he has this remembrance. >> do you know of any country in the middle east that has nuclear weapons? >> well,... reporter: helen thomas always wanted answers from the president of the united states. >> mr. president, when are you holding a news conference? >> reporter: as the white house correspondent for united press international for 40 years and then as a columnist, thomas confronted ten presidents with bulldog persistence. >> why did you really want to go to war? >> reporter: she was a path-breaker for women in journalism. born to lebanese immigrants, thomas grew up in michigan. after college she moved to washington. in 1943, she went to work as a writer for united press. her big break came in 196 when she became the first woman reporter at the white house to cover the president and not just the first lady. >> mr. president, thank you. thank you, helen.

the east room over at the white house. president of the united states getting ready to pay tribute to a former president, president george h.w. bush, who's been invited to come to the white house. they just showed the folks who have gathered there video that the president is going to be walking in and paying tribute to george h.w. bush. barbara bush will be there. they will both be speaking soon. they're going to be -- it's always nice to see a president and a former president get together at these kinds of events. we'll dip in. we'll hear what they have to say. standby for that. the two presidents will be there in the white house. let's do a quick market check right now. stocks haven't been moving much today after hitting record levels last week. the dow up about 27 points. investors are weighing news out of china that its economy has slowed down a bit. china has the second biggest economy in the world. it is one of the biggest trading partners with the united states. that's creating some concerns over how much this could

anybody in the white house and outside the white house, they said it's summers.be surprised if it's janet yellin at this point. >> i want you to interpret the sentence about the fed chair. i want a chairman who can step back and say let's make sure we are growing the economy and keep an eye on inflation. if it heats up, let's make sure we are not creating new bubbles. i think everybody probably looked at it and wanted to interpret it in the best way. >> is there a gender promoun in there? >> no, but i wonder if they are just tipping the scales towards larry. >> i think that might be fair. i read it myself and i don't know that i picked up on that, but after that i read an article where he elaborated and some that were kept cal, but also concerns that if you are keeping interest ras low for too long, you worry about asset bubbles. yellin and bernanke watched out for that. he has given speeches saying here are the risks and we are carefully monitoring them. >> to go in and i talked to political pros who say the white house, they signal now with no pick will be made

150 timenot going to the white house? was he rolling easter eggs? >> what about obamacare? >> even the great darrell issa has finally admitted, finally said he never said this had anything to do with the white house. come on. enough already. >> morgan, the fact is some people still think where there is smoke there is fire. the irs guys are going 150 times to the white house. they are almost entirely focusing on conservative groups. right before a political election don't you think there is enough smoke to investigate? >> of course there is enough smoke to investigate. investigation is the key word. it is an active investigation. the only thing we know for sure is this beurocracy moves very slowly and is very painfully plotting along in its investigation. we have three fferent agencies that are involved in this investigation right now. what we do know off of acting irs chief, his testimony last week is that they are doingn internal review of the irs right now and they have replaced five managers internationally. i think they are start thrg and moving outward. >> the testimony

have now been addressed in secret by the white house and members of both the house and senate intel committees have now given their secret approval for the white house to provide lethal assistance to the syrian opposition u.s. arms could begin funneling into syria as early as august. now speaking this week for the speaking at the veterans of foreign wars national convention sen rand paul slammed the idea of arming the syrian rebels saying the united states may be putting itself in the position of arming al-qaeda odd regime is no friend of freedom or of the united states but this does not mean that the enemy of our enemy is our friend there are currently seventeen different rebel groups in syria including the largest group al nusra. nuestro fighters are radical anti-american geodes and they're affiliated with al-qaeda but your politicians in washington are eager to send weapons they promise oh these weapons won't get into the hands of the enemy i don't believe it does anyone believe that. unfortunately for senator paul he doesn't sit on those intel committees in congress that ha

substance of any charges. >> reporter: thomas made ten presidents squirm over five decades covering the white house for united press international. in 2006 she famously challenged president george w. bush. >> my question is, why did you really want to go to war? from the moment you stepped into the white house from your cabinet, your cabinet officers, intelligence people and so forth, what was your real reason? >> i think your premise in all due respect to your question and to you as a life-long journalist, is that, you know, i didn't want war. to assume i wanted war is just flat wrong, helen. in all due respect. >> warner: she also was a trail blazer for women in journalism. born in 1920 to lebanese immigrants in winchester, kentucky, thomas began her career in washington as a copy girl in 1943. in those days women reporters were relegated to society news and features. but thomas was assigned to federal agencies by the 1950s and got her big break in late 1960 when she covered president-elect john kennedy's family vacation. she became a u.p.i. white house correspondent and, in 1974, its white house

what does the white house say about that? nior white house foreign affairs correspondent wendell goler has more on that. this isn't the first time the president tried this strategy, to pivot to the economy. wendell, good morning. what's his message? >> reporter: bill, this is true it is not the first time he tried to refocus on the economy and partly his own fault he got off the topic if you will, to push for stricter gun laws and immigration reform although events in syria and egypt dragged him off topic and republicans arguably pushed him off with the efforts to undo obamacare and benghazi and white house irs scandals. the president will address themes in the past about rebuilding a middle class that provide a life of security and providing ladders for people to get into that middle class. the senior advisors say he wants to do it with investments that used to get bipartisan support. >> infrastructure, for example, our roads, our bridges, our ports, he will be going to a major port in florida tomorrow, jacksonville, florida.

>> it's not what the white house said originally. when the story first broke the white house was clear this was a rogue agency in cincinnati. this was done by bureaucrats and didn't have any relevance or ties to the white house. we learned over the course of several months and particularly today, this does get closer to the white house. we don't know that the white house directed this or other claims some republicans have made. but this gets us closer. it contradicts what the white house said earlier. bill: you are saying this is a possibility this waits irs said to the white house meaning they could have been misled by the leading agency irs in the first place. >> it will be interesting to watch the white house reaction as this part of the story unfold. the white house by telling the american people they didn't have anything to do with it, there were no ties, this wasn't done out of washington. now it seem clear it was done out of washington. an obama administration appointee was notified of what was going on. if you are the white ho

reporter jessica yellin takes is on an inside tour of the white house press room to see where the reporters who cover the white house work take a look i larry welcome to the white house press room. so this is the press briefing room you've seen it on t.v. a million times you see them personally it's probably a little less glamorous than you expect this is the front row obviously this is the box i stand on when i have to do live shots because it's a whole another. to get a little bit of height if you want to be jay carney or the white house press secretary for a moment what it looks like to be him so this is our access to the white house right here. you'll notice the doors closed there's one more level where we can walk up after that no access this is built on the swimming pool i think the story is this is harry truman swimming pool and so there's really not a lot of office space so when people come in here for the day they don't have a lot of room to hang out so they just hang out the chairs this is where the people who make the magic sit monitor the ma

the meeting. the house republicans have now succeeded in taking up national leadership on issues of immigration and border security. the white house efforts into: friday senate bill obviously failing as the president plotted his latest strategy with democratic members of the congressional hispanic caucus. today trying to help a way forward releasing a report showing a broad coalition and major economic benefits from the gang of eight now dead proposal. council of economic advisors made a point of naming some prominent republicans who he said agree with the president's approach. >> it reflects a widespread bipartisan agreement, so for example people like grover norquist, former vice presidential candidate, former republican president george bush, all of them agree with the administration on the basic premise comprehensive common sense immigration reform will be good for economic growth. lou: president george bush reemerged in the public arena today after remaining largely out of public view since he left office. mr. bush try to offer a helping hand to his frustrated successor in the white house. >> we have a problem. the laws

peter alexander from the north lawn of the white house tonight. thanks. >>> now to the west, in arizona, where firefighters are struggling to gain control over that huge fire burning virtually unchecked, 85 miles outside of phoenix. even as they mourn the loss of 19 of their own, 19 of their best. the so-called yarnell hill fire took the lives of a highly skilled hotshot crew. today that same fire is threatening hundreds of homes. as investigators start to look at what went so wrong, nbc's miguel almaguer remains in prescott, arizona, for us again tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. the grief and heartbreak can be seen on every street corner in this small community. this fire has taken so much, and tonight it is still on the move, as investigators work to determine what happened here. these are among the final images taken sunday afternoon. the granite mountain hotshot team headed to battle a blaze from which they would not return. >> they're the toughest of the tough. yarnell is in their backyard, they fought fire in t

we'll wait to hear officially from the white house. professor is joining us as well, a real expert on the middle east. fuad, what do you think the president should do right now? >> well, first, on the definition of the question, a coup by any out name is military. the military says coups are not part of its practice, but this is a could yp dtat. with the military assistance, it's over. we are back in the world of the military coup dtat. this is a great schism, a great war in the land of egypt between secularism on the one hand and islamism on the other. for the democrats they now find themselves relying on the power of the military to redeem them so very quickly, how should the president respond? >> i don't think we have very many good choices. we have good relations to the military, but i think the game is playing, because in fact president obama i think he was right. he had trusted the democratic process, and for better or worse had been elected, so we don't really have brilliant choices. we're really playing catch-up. sell based on e

this was one piece they took to the white house. they had 8 rooms they had to furnished with their personal furniture. this was one of the pieces they took to the white house with them. this table was known as the white house table. they had to borrow some furniture to take to the white house with them. this was one piece that they borrowed from jane's sister mary. the also took the little writing desk and chair that belong to franklin pierce. this room would have been used as a guest room. this is a small bed. we think this belonged to benny pierce. this is a master bedroom. this is a rumor that franklin and jane would have used. this is the room where their second son, frankie, died of typhus when he was four years old. this was a great blow to both jane and franklin. he was the apple of their eye. he was an interesting little character, according to their letters. they were devastated by his death. jane was in mourning quite a long time. >> a big house, especially with only one child, was too much for jane to take care of. she was

the family of trayvon martin. we begin with senior white house correspondent wendall gooler who joins us from the white house. >> white house spokesman jay carney was asked about charges. he said the president weighed in because mr. obama wants to convey the idea of trayvon martin's death being a tragedy and note the wishes of martin's parents. >> the president wanted to ask every american to heed for the call for calm reflection from trayvon martin's parents a rather remarkable request given how much they are suffering after losing their son. >> the president's a pole for calm followed the protest that were largely peaceful though there were arrests in los angeles. mr. obama said i know the case elicited strong passions and i know those passions may be running higher and we are a nation of laws and the jury has spoken. i ask for alls of calm re234rekz. >> and decision on whether too bring federal charges by zimmerman will be made and the white house will have no involvement in that. but the justice department said the prosecutor would look at whether federal prosecution is appropriate in accordance with the departmen

the white house has a lot of problems. and a lot of things on their plate but they have a better approval rating than congress. >> even the press has a better approval rating. >> that's true. >> also the improvement in the economy is giving his polls a ttle lift and if the economy wasn't doing better might be -- gwen: is he a lame duck yet? have we reached the point? they say when they take office in the second term you got at most a year 0 get things done and everyone looks at you as lame duck. has he put that off for a minute? >> it depends. you could argue that he was stuck in lame duck in a sense. right after he won the election. because the players didn't change. the majorities were roughly the same. and his -- this calcified partisanship in washington that he had before the election and that wasn't changing after the election, that that limits his options. and so his options were limited with republicans are going to move on immigration because they feel pressure from their own political fortunes, not because of anyth

>> well, we know that the white house counsel and the deputy chief of staff of the white house knew about this before the report came out. we know that for a fact. at it hard to believe -- this is a question i'm going to find out in discovery -- why did the commission of or internal revenue service make so many visits to the white house. >> the difference here being whether they knew about it. that's one thing. whether it was a directive from the white house, that's completely different can of worms, is it not? >> well, sure it would be, and you don't have that evidence yet. but you're on a path, and i think that fair to say too take another step up oladder of cup ability at liar -- at higher levels how much far in the white house, going to be determined by the facts. we talk about facts and circumstances and the fact is the irs was supposed to be reviewing applications under a facts and circumstances test and they violate the civil righted and constitutional rights of the individual groups here, and remember this. i'm not a fan of eric holder. eric holder said there may have been crimina

what the votes in the house are doing today, putting democrats in the house in a difficult position to vote in favor of suspending the employer mandate, which is what the whitein favor of doing, but instructed democratic house members not to vote that way. >> 35 of them said no thanks. juan, the white house democrats touting new york premiums in the face of the back and forth on obama care. take a listen. >> this is despite the fact that new york's health care costs are much higher than the national average. >> this is a tangible success, proof that all of the doom and gloom of my colleagues on the other side is not likely to come to pass. >> so the governor there, edward cuomo, announcing that residents in new york who purchase health insurance on their own next year, according to the schedules, will see their premiums slashed in half. of course, what wasn't said, most residents get their insurance from employers. but that alone, democrats were touting that today. >> right. i mean, democrats pointed to massachusetts, they can point to new york. you know, the reason the treasury officials' voice seems paralyzed at a simple, direct question, there's so much p

defied the white house and the democratic leadership to vote for the amendment. she did so because she hopes this will send a message to the white house there has to be some boundary, some bounds in this program. not do away with it altogether but have some limits. sanchez is calling from long beach, california. hi sanchez. good morning. >> caller: gentlemen, good morning to you. i wanted to agree with ian swanson about a couple of things. i disagree with you bill, about another thing. throw a third observation into what you're discussing here with the nsa. whereas that -- this all-important word that the tea baggers are always flinging about. it is one of the reasons why they were formed that all-important word is liberty. and as mr. swanson was just saying we have the elections coming up and i think that the tea baggers and the republicans were using this as the perfect opportunity to use it as pure sound byte recording for their upcoming elections. that way, they can say that they were battling in congress hard to fight for your liberties. and that's why they

the white house bill it a historic economic address. critics say it is just higher spending and taxes and he's out of ideas. since president obama tock office the economy has struggled. january 20095.7 million people are out of a job and the median household income has fallen seven and half percent to 51 and half thousand. the national debt rose by more than six trill yen dollars. if the critecs are right and nothing new here, what is the speech all about. joining us is the fox digital editor and host of power play every day. chris. good morning to you, chris. >> hi, janet. we are in the afternoon none time. i am off on my timing as we await the start. it seems like there is prebut theal from the white house saying don't get excited we told you it would be big but now toning it down. >> hard to do after dan pheiffer is not out an e-mail that was widely mocked. i almost never send an e-mail like this. but the speech is so amazing, you are going to want to so. it i thought maybe it was a letter to penthouse, it was so breathless in the des

he gets a phone call from the white house. m some undersecretary of who knows what, but from president obama personally. according to the white house's own readout of that call, president obama expresses concern about reports they were going to release abdulelah haider shaye. , theto give you a sense pardon is then ripped up and he remained in prison over the course of the next two years. their president was visiting the united states, supposedly for medical reasons, but now going to meet with president obama. the white house is clearly very, very irked that abdulelah haider shaye has been released. >> i want to go to the lawyer for one minute to abdulelah haider shaye's lawyer, who describes how shaye was beaten and psychologically tortured by yemeni security forces. >> abdulelah haider shaye received many threats from the security forces over the phone and when kidnapped the first time, they beat him and interrogated him. i think he was arrested based on request on the american government. at the time of his arrest, they beat

how much do you think the the white house pays attention to that. nk it will boost that number. this is where the president thrives, right? >> he certainly thrives in campaign mode. the white house is looking with a fair amount of weariness. he has things he wants to accomplish in the second term. he is not going to get the things done. support increasing. so i think obama is certainly out there rallying support by using his number one skill, which is getting out and convincing people. you know, the economy has rebounded in the president's time of offense. but it seems like a growing gap between the haves and what-nots. >> the president is arguing that the emphasis is the middle class. by the way, before i forget, alex, i want to thank you for bringing up subjects that don't have anything to do with anthony weiner. >> we are talking about the white house having to fight the gop it seems every step of the way. how weary is the white house on that? >> i think they will get even wearier after the congress. they will have negotiations about how to keep t

her big break came in 1960 when she became the first woman reporter at the white house to cover the president, not just the first lady. >> mr. president, thank you. >> thank you, helen. ( laughter ) >> reporter: she went on to be the first female president of the white house correspondents' association and the first woman admitted to another washington institution, the gridiron club. president johnson once claimed he learned of his daughter's lucy's engagement from one of thomas' stories. but her own engagement to associated press reporter doug cornell was only revealed after pat nixon spilled the beans to a room full of their colleagues. she laughed easily with one president after another, but that never stopped her from asking them hard questions. >> do you know of any money that could have gone in? >> no. i have no knowledge of that. >> reporter: helen thomas was tough, cantankerous and opinionated. her opinion ultimately got her in trouble. >> these people are occupied. >> reporter: a lifelong champion of the palestinian cause, she said in 2010 that israel should get out of palestine. aft

>> and the white house announces it will send to senior centers to egypt sees the political crisis and and widespread protests. the foreign policy chief becomes the first diplomat since the egyptian deposed president morsi. u.s. soldier bradley manning faces jail after being found guilty of espionage but is cleared of the most serious charge against him. trainiver of last week's crash, going twice the speed limit and talking on the phone when it derailed. diplomatic efforts to ease the political crisis are stepping up. the u.s. president asked senior to travel onnators the back of the top diplomat. of the interim leadership. john mccain and glenn t. gram traveling to egypt. they are very to well-known center is at home and also our round of the world. senator mccain more so because he ran for the white house against president obama in 2008. it is unusual for the white house to send senators in this way. menident obama asked both to go to egypt and it is odd because they have been harshly critical of his foreign policy. both men calling for the suspension of the military aid that goes e

the white house is fatcing what has become one of its greatest domestic challenges. selling it to you at home. joining us, chris with the national journal and april ryan, a white house radio correspondent. thank you for joining me. april and chris, this says that the law, yes, it is a complex subject. yes, an entire political party remains adamantly opposed to it. yes, the media's coverage often emphasizes what's not working rather than what is. here's the pr reality for the obama white house. since health care passage in 2010, one side has been lobbing grenades on a daily basis while the other side has been mostly quiet. chris, that's what our first read team says. do you agree? >> no, i think they're right. what the president did today was a long time coming, tamron. this is something that supporters of this law wanted to see three years ago, which was a strong president getting out there, getting out there often talking about the benefits of this law. and part of the reason republicans have been so effective in driving down the poll numbers on obama care is because

i certainly don't think the white house is surprised by those two reactions. the president, the white house has been paying close attention to the reaction to the george zimmerman verdict every since it was handed down last weekend, both within the african-american community and across the country. some african-american leaders have been speaking to the white house directly urging president obama to speak out on the issue of race in the wake of this verdict. so the white house, the president well aware of the fact that there are heated emotions, there are deep divisions even within the african-american community about what role president obama should play moving forward. remember, alex, the president was not only speaking to african-americans, he was -- i think he was to some extent validating the heated response to the george zimmerman verdict but he was also speaking to white americans helping to explain why we saw such a strong response to the verdict. the other interesting point, alex, for all of the fireworks this morning on "meet the press" and other morn

tonight the white house press briefi briefing. , supported to, because the press doesn't think they are getting much information anymore. char charlin said it's a charade. i don't know about that. they deflect reporter's questions like a hockey goalie. carney deflected 10,000 questions since taking over in 2011. that's 4,000 question as year and to give context that's twice as many as the nhl single season save record. jay carney is the best goalie of all time. i hate to think the media's time is being wasted every day but a small price to pay to see deflections like this. >> can you describe a little bit about the damage it's caused? >> i think i would refer you to statements by the director of national intelligence. >> i would have to refer to the department of health and human services. >> i would refer you to the treasury department. >> i would refer you to justice. >> i would refer you to the justice department. >> i would refer you to the department of justice. >> i would refer you to the department of justice. >> i would ref