tom brokaw joins us now to talk a little bit about that. he's at the center of the conversation and it's wonderful to be here with you, tom. >> welcome to my part of the world. >> this is -- you advertise this would be glorious and it really is. i'm excited to go hiking later on. health care, you'll be talking to everyone about that. what are the main questions we could get answers to? >> three main questions right now, we're approaching critical mass in washington, a lot of people are staying behind to work on the bill rahm emanuel didn't goat to russia, three b questions. first one is, how much is it going to cost. and that's a very elusive number, ceo came and said, we're talking $1.1 trillion. eight days later came back on the hill, saying we can do this for $650 billion. i don't know where they found the 600 billion in the last six days. then the next big question, should it be mandated. should everyone have health insurance and should every employer be required to provide health insurance? and then the final question, which is a really

. >> tom brokaw, former managing editor, anchor of nbc nightly news, so good of you to join us tonight and share your thoughts and reflections. we appreciate you being part of it. >> thank you very much. he was not only a great journalist, but a great citizen. walter and betsy cronkite for models for us in so many ways. there is a hole in this country tonight, but at the same time there is also a reason to celebrate all they stood for. >> indeed. thank you. we appreciate it. cbs news announced earlier tonight the death of walter cronkite. it's difficult to say much more than you already heard. again, the broadcasting world, american history lost a pillar of americana and of broadcast news and integrity and journalistic excellence. walter cronkite dead at the age of 92. our coverage will continue here on msnbc. i'm david shuster, msnbc coverage continues now with rachel maddow. > good evening. we do have breaking news that walter cronkite who anchored cbs evening news for 20 years has died. he was 92 years old. mr. cronkite died at his home in new york with his family by his side. a cbs

we are pleased to be joined by tom brokaw. can put in perspective for people of my generation who came long after the '60s. with the kennedy assassination in anz 63, vietnam, shots to the moon, the cold war hanging over everything, how walter cronkite fit onto that? >> well, walter cronkite was a seminole figure of that coverage. i want to make sure everyone understands this in context. the assassination of john kennedy made television news what it became. it became what everyone called the electronic hearth. it was this common experience of seeing it and sharing it in realtime. walter broke the news of john kennedy's death there was that emotional moment where he removed his glasses, gave us the time and put them back on, ever the journalist, but also human. i was working for an nbc station at the time and remember watching that and being so impressed by the utter professionalism of it. at the same time, showing his personal side. then that launch -- and by the way, it was just a few weeks before that that nbc and cbs both we

is the former anchor and managing editor of nightly news now nbc news, a special correspondent tom brokaw. mr. brokaw thanks very much for joining us this evening. i appreciate it. >> rachel, i'm not going to go on if you refer to me as mr. brokaw. listen, we've all been hoping that this day would not come but at the same time no one can look back on walter's life and have anything but an enormous sense of admiration. and i think that dan and i both have an enormous sense of gratification as well because walter cronkite set the standard, set the bar very high. and we owe so much to those early pioneers of network news, david brinkley, chet huntley, and walter cronkite and the people who put them on the air for taking this mission so seriously, establishing the standard when they did, and making sure that broadcast news would become as it has i believe such a critical element in american life. and no one personified that more than walter cronkite did. >> tom, when you think back over the types of milestones that mr. rather milestones mr. rather was describing earlier, the kennedy assassina

thank you very much, tom brokaw, for keeping our feet on the ground here this morning. great to see you, thanks for taking the time. brian, be well. >> harry, thank you. >> all right. >>> coming up next, how walter cronkite became america's most trusted newsman, telling it like it is. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. >> it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived cr to their pledge toefci dd mo adey,idacnd d the best they ulco ndd. it can be tough living with copd... but i try not to let it slow me down. i go down to the pool for a swim... get out and dance... even play a little hide-n-seek. i'm breathing better... with spiriva announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden sympt

so thank you, tom brokaw.ate it. >> okay. >> logon to msnbc.com for more on walter cronkite, including videos, tributes a slide show of the most trusted man in america. >>> now to the latest on the economy. stocks lifted on the news as several companies reporting better than expected earnings. on friday, we got a progress report on the obama administration's economic recovery plan from the president's top economic advisor larry summers. the take away? but the number of banks being shut down by federal regulators continues to grow. regulators 0 friday shut down two banks in california and two smaller banks in georgia and south dakota. boosting to 57 the number of federally insured banks to fail this year. we'll be right back. ♪ i'm your venus what if embrace... the latest from venus... came with a closeness guarantee. not just a guarantee to shave you closer. but to get you closer... and closer. venus embrace. get closer or your money back. right now, all over the country, discover card customers are getting 5%

. >> tom brokaw, thank you so much for pausing to remember your friend, your colleague, mentor, and a great life. lived brilliantly and we all pay tribute to him today. thank you. >> andrea, i'm always happy to play a small role in your supporting staff. >> hardly. hardly. thank you, tom. good to see you. >>> and i'm joined now by democratic senator sherrod brown of ohio, busy writing health care legislation. thank you so much, senator, for joining us. senator, the majority leader, harry reid, moments ago announced there will be a delay. no august deadline will be reached. that the senate finance committee needs more time to work out its bipartisan magic. how much of a disappointment is that to you and the president? >> i don't think it means a delay in the president's timetable in terms of the president wants this on his desk by october or early november. i think we can still do that. this is a complicated thing, as tom brokaw's report showed, but we can't listen to the naysayers, many of the drug companies and insurance industries that say, we've got to slow this down, slow this dow

there were a number of journalists there incling diane sawyer, tom brokaw, filling the church paid their respects. lterwalter cronkite anchored the news on cbs until 1981. >>> next, why mental health records for the virginia tech shooter were found in a former universities employee's home. >> the nationals are riding a two- game win streak. (announcer) illness doesn't care where you live... ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. e. health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supporting bipartisan reform that congress can build on. when the paths we take do determine our future. today we are communicating with each other as never before - and that requires a seamless network that is constantly growing better, smarter, and more secure. that's why our scientists and engineers in our labs, are taking the fastest technology in the world and making it mobile, better and faster - t

here with us now nbc's tom brokaw.ow it shaped today." he's host of "american character" along highway 50. we're about to see a portion of that set up the piece we're about to see, tom. >> we went out to hawaii, the ohio/indiana border. they have had a huge facility out there. they have 15,000 jobs that disappeared and we profile one young american family and the struggle that they're facing which are not atypical in america. let's catch up to them now. dan and april looper never asked for much. just a chance to be good parents. >> entertainment is taking the kids outside and watching them run. >> markers and watching them color on each other. >> and with four energetic little ones, 28-year-old dan that you had he had the means to make it happen with relative ease. he and april met on the job at the shipping company airborne. >> airborne was the one place that if anybody ever need add job, they could always go there. >> as close as it gets to a company town. when airborne and dhl merged in 2003, the future seemed secur

former nbc news nightly anchor tom brokaw recently talked about why cronkite was so well regarded. >> he was a quintessential american. he came from the heartland. he wasn't flashy one way or the other and his reporting was straightforward. >> cronkite got his on air start here in washington in one of his last interviews, he spoke of joining wtoptv, the newly minted cbs affiliate in d.c. in 1951. >> well, i went over and joined cbs. they bought their first television station in washington. and they needed somebody on the air. everybody else was busy covering the war or doing their radio shows. and i was the only one free to go into television. so they told me, you're going out to the television station and doing a program every day. well, i didn't know what to do and i said i didn't. they said weon't either so let's just do it together. >> he was the only one who was free and the rest is history. a funeral for cronkite is scheduled for thursday in new rk city. he'll be laid to rest beside his wife in missouri where the two first met. >>> a construction worker had to bees rcued r from

. >>> nbc's tom brokaw spend as day with the chancellor of d.c. public schools on his cross country trip along highway 50. ?71p1p ( dryer blowing, music ) you can probably imagine a lot of ways... to make land o' lakes butter spreadable. ♪ the easy way... land o' lakes spreadable butter with canola oil. with the pure land o' lakes butter you love. soft and creamy, it spreads straight from the fridge. imagine that! and now try new land o' lakes butter with olive oil. it's simply perfect. >>> good morning. welcome back. former nfl quarterback steve mcnair was found shot to death yesterday in nashville. he played for the tennessee titans and the baltimore ravens. this morning, police are investigating the unusual circumstances surrounding his death. we have this report. >> reporter: this is the downtown nashville condominium where the body of 36-year-old steve mcnair was found with m l multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. a female victim was also found dead. police are investigating, but so far have released few details. >> one female,

tom brokaw was criticized for not wearing the pin on his lapel on his suits.nd the saddam hussein, never had in the fbi translated interviews with him, i never had the weapons of mass destruction, people want it to go away and i think the media is following that. >> one of the stories you brought to our attention, jim, this out of washington, i mean shall "the washington post" one of the major opinion leadners this country. and lo and behold in the days when the papers are struggling to buy new sources of re knew came word from the post may have found one or tried to. >> the post as of late in the week was caught redhanded trying to sell access to corporate fat cats and lobbyist toss schmooze with members of the obama administration, a series of $250,000, this is a major scand scandal-- >> and interesting to what the white house says, but what relationship they had in the planning of this. >> for viewers who might not know exactly what we're talking about, a series of dinners, cocktail parties at the homes of washington's most-- >> editors. >> owners. >> the p

tom brokaw's series of reports for us and the usa network on cacharn " for e thlks tom met in hillsboroohio where unemployment and health care aren't just an argument going on in washington. >> reporter: dan and april looper never ask for much, just the chance to be good parents. >> entertainment is taking the kids outside and watching them run. >> giving them markers and watching them color on each other. >> reporter: with four energetic little ones, 28-year-old dan thought he had the means to make it happen with relativease. he and april met on the job at the shipping company, airborne. >> airborne was the one place that if anybody ever needed a job they could always go there. >> reporter: hillsboro, ohio, as close as it gets to a company town. when airborne and dhl merged in 2003, the future seemed secure. it turned out to be anything but. last november, as the economy cratered, dhl announced it was cutting back on its u.s. operations and moving out of state, eliminating a staggering 8,000 jobs. >> i never dreamed that it would be like that. >> reporter: he knows his job and the fami

diane sawyer, charles gibson, and tom brokaw paid their spts. walter cronkite died last week at the age of 92. >>> dangerous lightning street this guy. >> we did need the precipitation, but not the mess it left behind. >> it was kind of like the fourth of july yesterday. a lot of people which is standing and watching. there were some scary moments here in arlington. a home was struck by lightning. an hour for firefighters to get that blaze under control. fortunately, no one was injured. fire fighters found flames poured through the roof. it was the end of a wild day of weather. the sky just opened up. many residents board -- were caught off guard but were happy to see the storm. many rains -- heavy rains flooded highways. >> lightning started cracking everywhere. it knocked out or out. some lightning bolts strucve ose. >> one golfer got a big. >> really loud thunder and lightning. horn went off. >> another round of storms with huge bursts of light. >> i was trying to get into the building. i did not want to chance running through it. it was stri

broadcast journalists including charles gibson, the dan rather, and tom brokaw were on hand for the service. walter cronkite was 92 years old. >>> 8 river of mud nearly wiped out a highway. it had to be shut down for nearly two days. mud and debris was sent across the road, making its un-drive double. -- driveable. >> we see that in california all the time. there is nothing to observe the rain. >> that makes sense. >>> we had some torrential downpours out there and as we speak there is still some falling. not everybody saw rain today. this is a live picture in arlington. it is kind of a scary-looking sky. fromse clouds, there hav been some very heavy downpours. hweave an number of little msorms 'le tt'salk about where they are and where they are heading. everything is moving west to east, left to right across your television screen. that storm is brand new, heading due east. north of the dunkirk heading into calvert county. a letter shower out near reston. -- eight lighter showers out near reston -- aa lighter shower out near reston. in an hour or two, most of this will be out of here. we h

. >> and nbc's tom brokaw joins us this morning on the phone. tom, good morning. >> good morning, amy. i'm out here in montana where it's a little earlier than where you are watching that remarkable life and career of walter cronkite. i'm reminded again what a blessed life i've had to be able to follow in his footsteps. walter and i became good friends, even though we were compitors. obviously, he was always, as i said earlier in the interview with matt, the gold standard for all of us. and i think what's important for everyone to remember this morning is not just that he was a famous reporter, but that no other american reporter had ever been in the middle of more historic stories than walter cronkite. in the history of our republic. maybe in the history of the world. do you think that heegan with world war ii and goes all wait through the landing on the moon, the assassination of a president, the resignation of another one, and yet through it all he seemed to be the guy on main street. it was not by accident that he was often referred to as "un

tom brokaw has a ranch nearby. jeff bridges, michael keaton. they do not affect the society of the town, because like a lot of places out west, they come in on their private jets, take a car to their splendid ranch, and get out. that is not true of brokaw. he mixes and mingles, but some other folks you will never see their face. >> your ex-wife was margow kiddo's daughter? >> i had known the novelist for many years. we have two kids. we are now divorced. >> where are they now? >> they are in livingston. they live in livingston. charlie is in the hospital for having broken arm. i feel sad for him. >> go back to the story of your father, and being kind of lost. and where you lived in where you went and what it was like. >> my father ended up going to princeton, but afterward and before he was not what you might call "princeton material"" he did not know the difference between princeton material and non-princeton material. they gave him the best deal. he studied something practical in case his athletic career did not work out. people go to princet

they include many of the cbs workers, nbc, tom brokaw and a few of the speakers will include his son, chip, this afternoon. also, his colleague andy rooney. a lot of tributes being paid here. a memorial will be held in a couple of weeks where work and professional colleagues will get a chance to talk about walter cronkite and how they knew him. we all have a collective idea of how we knew the man throughout these years, coming into our home and we'll get a chance to hear a little bit from his family about how they know the father, walter cronkite. >> michelle franzen outside the funeral right now. we'll keep our eye on that. >>> and dozens of officials across new jersey arrested. mayors, legislatures, rabbis. >>> and in ohio, president obama expected any moment to arrive and talk about the need for health care reform. 3... 2... 1. ever wonder how cheez-it bakes... so much real cheese in such small bites? ♪ baking complete! well, now you know. cheez-it. the big cheese. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved

same thing for tom brokaw.hrew it to me for the first time, i wasn't sure i would be able to talk or katie couric. but he made a mark on -- you see now on television not that he wasn't a dashingly handsome man but you see journalists, you know, everyone who is cute and pretty and you have to look a concern way, walter cronkite did not believe in that type of journalism, did he? >> he certainly did not. one of the reasons that i was concerned when they asked me to go to moscow as an on-air correspondent is i didn't look pretty and i wasn't an on-air personality. had i not been trained in television. at that time, he said we'll train you. that doesn't matter. wa we're concerned about are your journalistic skills. as you know, the industry has changed in that regard. have you more people hired for their looks than their brains. >> that would be -- it's interesting that he felt that way. he didn't feel that he made a mark? explain that. >> actually, he wrote a biography in 1996, a bestseller. i was just skimming it

you know, he is part of the greatest generation that tom brokaw wrote about. come away since then and it's not that it's not as good. it's just that it's different now. and it mattered so much back then that you, when something happened, you would tune in to walter cronkite. >> walter cronkite's family said that he had been suffering recently with a cerebral vascular disease which is essentially the brains and arteries in your brain and head degenerating so i gather it was tough at the end but by all accounts he had a remarkably healthy, very rewarding and enriching life. >> well, knowing how to say good-bye at the right time was another gift he had. he left when he still had some good years in him and spent them with his family and spent them sailing and seemed to, you know, just lead a good, happy life, which is harder these days in the 24/7 news cycle. back then you felt like there was a possibility that, you know, people like walter cronkite thought about the news. he was an anchor in the sense that he was heavy and grounded but he also still had time to r

i'm tom brokaw nbc news and it's my sad duty to report this afternoon that my friend and colleague, tim russert, the moderator of "meet the press" and nbc's washington bureau chief collapsed and died early this afternoon while at work at the nbc news bureau in washington. >> the shockwaves cannot be fully expressed. tim was our friend, our leader, our cheerleader, our teacher, my mentor. >> and, of course, the country has just mourn the passing of the plain spoken man who practically invented the role of anchorman just as television news was coming of age. >> good evening from our cbs newsroom in new york on this the first broadcast of network television's first daily half hour news program. >> at a funeral service this week one of cronkite's oldest friend grew quite emotional. >> he's been such a good friend over the years. please excuse me. thank you. >> these were all journalistic giants but are they irreplaceable? there's no shortage of talented anchors and correspondents today but they operate in an environment far different from cronkite. one where cable news and blogs and website

last week, or the 13th, actually, tom brokaw was here speaking about the 1960's. he said that -- ifind it. i have lost the card. oh, here it is. well, i have lost the card. [laughter] i just got back from big band, and where these men could not have been as far away as big bend. he also was talking to us, and he said that when captain lovell put his thumb up and said that it covered the entire view of earth, making us realize how insignificant we all are, and i think we are all much more aware of that now than we even were in 1968, it reminds us of all the challenges we had then and all the challenges that we have now, to take care of our wonderful planet earth. i look forward to hearing all the things you are going to say, so i am going to go sit down. [applause] [applause] >> you had to be 40 years old to have even been born at the time, and you need to be 50 or 60 to understand what was happening. let me set the stage about what was happening in 1968 and 1969. we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the actual landing of the moon this july. there are a lot of folks here who wo

bernie shaw, peter jennings, tom brokaw, walter cronkite. will we live in an age where people trust people on television? nobody works harder than sam donaldson. will people ever trust us as in the days of cronkite. you mentioned your former colleague, peter as well. >> i hope they will. all we have to sell is our credibility. certainly my case you may be -- i think you're an exception. we don't sell our handsomeness. we don't sell anything else. when we say something, we want people to understand that we think we're telling you what is actually there. we may be wrong. we'll have to correct it tomorrow when we find out we didn't have enough information or we didn't know how to process the information, but that is so important in the business. the fear is that -- i believe in all of flowers blooming. the internet, the bloggers, let everyone have a say, but the theory is that if you watch or listen to people who don't care about the facts, they simply care about their opinions and political agenda, and you take that as factual, then we come on

and last week or the 13th, actually, tom brokaw was here speaking about the 1960's particularly, andim here, if i can find it -- that -- well, i guess i didn't -- i've lost the card. oh, no, here we go. well, no, i've lost the card. ok, here we go. [laughter] i just got back from big ben and these men, where they went, could not have been as far away as big ben. but he also was talking to us, and he said that when captain lovell put his thumb up and said that it covered the entire -- his entire view of earth, making us realize how insignificant we all are. and i think we're all much more aware of that now than we even were in 1968 and reminds us of all the challenges that we had then and all the challenges that we have now to take care of our wonderful planet earth. and i look forward to hearing all the things you're going to say. so i'm going to go sit down and get y'all coming up. [applause] >> in looking out over the audience here, i can see that there are some gray hairs, but there are some young folks who -- you had to be 40 years old, first of all, to even have been born at the

we are just looking at tom brokaw. it is a who's who at the church. i could go on and on.alter cronkite was our topic of the day. what celestial body is named after him? the 6318 cronkite. it is roughly the size of pikes peak in colorado. breaking news in just crossing on roethlisberger. he was accused of sexual assaults in las vegas. he is about to make a statement. his first comments are coming up restaurant inspired dishes with long grain rice and garden greens is it love? or is it fancy feast? i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. that's a great call. one a day men's. ♪ ♪ which one's me - for a cool convertible or an suv? ♪ ♪ too bad i didn't know my credit was whack ♪ ♪ 'cause now i'm driving off the lot in a used sub-compact. ♪ ♪ f-r-e-e, that spells free credit report dot com, baby. ♪ ♪ saw their ads on my tv ♪ thought about going but was too lazy ♪ ♪ now instead of looking fly and rollin' phat ♪ ♪ my legs are sticking to the vinyl ♪ ♪ and my poss

." >> i like your tom brokaw. tone.rove it. >> reporter: now this picture cannot hold a wand to the earlier magic that exploits but the passing of time does bring its own surprises, and pledges. >> now that's some kind of magic you're not allowed to teach. >> reporter: harry saves. hermione's become a young woman. >> this place has known magic. >> reporter: the years have aged dumbledore. the evil snake confesses. professor slughorn brews enchanted portions of potent potions of love. when ron weasley is struck by cupid's arrows, he quivers. ain't love gland? >> they're going to kill me, harry. >> reporter: now the saga's end is near, and for j.k. rowling's the grand finale, the deathly hallowed will be stretched into two movies, ostensibly to get in every last detail. but maybe, it's the last chance to rake in every last dollar, euro, ruble and yen to keep harry potter j.k. rowling along. and now the critic's corner will be rolling along. that's it for "today." >> and now let us say hello to our own wizard. willard scot

tom brokaw will be with us to talk about health care and we have a little bit of media news, and we'reoming up later in the hour. a lot coming your way and we'll see you soon. >> it's interesting american express performed so well in the last year. a lot of people thought therapeutic so vulnerable with the credit card default rate and tied to the upper income borrower. wall street is convinced there's hope, even though it's down a little bit today. >> reporter: sue, i'm so glad you mentioned that. year to date, american express is the best performer on the dow and ken chen all explains it, saying it will make credit more xpentive, but they still rely on the fees, where you pay the annual fee for the card. on the high end card they have not seen pressure on the fees at all. that was a pretty amazing thing to say in terms of stability. that's what he's saying and that's why that stock outperformed. >> we'll see you later. >> it is gorgeous part of the world. we'll take a quick break then check this out. hackers taking down major federal websites in the last few days on the fourth of july

he was the gold standard as tom brokaw once called him as far as anchors. and he was the first anchor, the first person to be called an anchor of the newscast. so it is a passing of an era. i don't think we will ever see another anchor, another checklist without authority that commanded the respect that many people around the country, which is why so many people can relate to his life and all its accomplishments. i've talked to a couple of my cbs colleagues who worked alongside of him, they'll discriminate has a very humble man. someone was not caught up in slavery at all. in fact if you went to events, he would worry about having his ticket, and they would say wait a second, you are walter cronkite. and he never got that part of it. so it is a sad day but it is also a day you reflect on this career and what it meant for television journalism. >> clayton: what a poignant weekend as we talk about the 40th anniversary of the apollo 11 landing. you are in dc and on monday we celebrate the 40th touchdown. you talk about his humble nature and even admitting on a

tom? >> many thanks, jacqui. all the best weather comes from south dakota. >> is that so? do the best anchors also come from south dakota, i'm guessing? >> brokaw'skota. but i lived there, too. >>> details about a secret counterterrorism program withheld from congress. now the cia says former vice president dick cheney was responsible. folks from all across the country. howdy! of all shapes and sizes. saving time by comparing our progressive directories to those of other top companies. and saving money with our discounts and customized policies. ah! thanks for dropping in! maybe it's time you visited progressive.com. if you like saving money, you'll fit right in. thank you, thank you very much. you're welcome very much. uh-huh! savings everyone can enjoy -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models. welcome home, man. i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose