tom robinson, a human being. she must put tom robinson away from her. tom robinson was her daily reminder of what she did. what did she do? she tempted a negro. she was white, and she tempted a negro. she did something that in our society is unspeakable. she kissed a black man. not an old uncle but a strong, young, negro man. no code mattered to her before she broke it but it came crashing down on her afterwards. her father saw it and the defendant has testified as to his remarks. what did her father do? we don't know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that mae ella was beaten savagely by someone who was used almost exclusively to his left. we know in part what mr. yule did. he did what any god-fearing, persevering, respectable white man would do in the circumstances. he swore out a warrant. no doubt signing it with his left hand. and tom robinson now sits before you having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses. his right hand. so humble, respectable, quiet negro who had the unmitigated at the merit to feel sore -- temerity

they're willing to go out and try to lynch tom robinson, right? they have taken one of their upstanding citizens, bo radley, and locked him in the attic. he's been there for god knows how many years. has anybody in town done anything about it? no. lock your kids in the attic. that's the kind of town you're dealing with. as we're seeing this through the idse of scout, a child, we have -- through the eyes of scout, a child, we have to dig into it ourselves to see what's going on and once you do you realize that atticus doesn't have a chance. there's nobody to appeal to. he's going to lose. and the moral of "to kill a mockingbird" isn't that atticus finch is a great lawyer or the lawyer that we should follow. the moral of the book and the movie is that the republican lawyer won't work any more. we need a new kind of lawyer. the only way to clean up a town like this is to bring in the federales. you know, everybody's got to go to jail. i mean, these -- you know, if you think about it, who is the real hero of "to kill a mockingbird"? who's the one who

it's tom robinson. n-not boo radley? b--did you say boo radley? (laughs) that's funny.s the last time you actually read this book, oprah? no, you di'int. do you actually read them? or do you just have people in your club read them? you're asking me when's the last time i read "to kill a mockingbird"? yeah, exactly. aah! uhh! oprah, you--aah! hey! that's my husband! aah! uhh! (smack) ow! book club fight club! (heavy metal music playing) (all grunting) oh! ooh! uhh! boo radley! pow! pow! you're pounding! you're just pounding them. uh, thank you so much for coming, jimmy. no, no, no, no, no, no, no. i-i have one more idea. i think it's-- it's the best one yet, okay? can i just--one more? please? this better be good. okay. doctors--you love them, right? dr. oz, dr. phil. and they're both great, but let's be honest, neither one of them is a real doctor. actually, they're both-- so great ready for an appointment with the best oprah doctor yet. hi, ladies. i'm dr. vajayjay. open wide! quack, quack! no! but wait. there's--there's one more part. (robert palmer) ♪ doctor, doctor,

tom brokaw. lawrence o'donnell, and eugene robinson. >>> up next, mike allen with the politico playbook, and willie's week in review. >>> but first, bill karens with a check on the weekend forecast. >> it's going to be split. middle of the country, gorgeous and warm. northeast, you're not going to like it. worst weather in the country, much of wisconsin, milwaukee, green bay. in chicago, that rain will head through your areas. this storm system is going to track today through the southern great lakes, northern ohio valley. eventually that rain will make it to pittsburgh and buffalo. that will be late today. in the northeast, mid-atlantic, you're dry today. but late tonight, we're going to see snow and rain mixture throughout much of new york state, southern new england, including albany, boston, probably springfield. hartford to new york city, probably just a cold rain for you. it's not going to be a fun early saturday morning. saturday afternoon, a bit better. the middle of the country, i mentioned how gorgeous it's going to be. temperatures today in the 70s from kansas city to denver. and look what

tom, thanks very much. a br >>> still seeing big delays in our area. jammed at shady grove. delays continue to the spur. no accidents, just delays. very slow at robinson much. more news and weat >>> we're back, 8:30, on a thursday morning, the first day of march, 2012. so the rain in the air, some breezy conditions as well. but obviously we have nothing to complain about. compared with some of the weather they've been experiencing in the plains states and the midwest. we'll talk more about that in just a second. i'm matt lauer, along with ann curry and natalie morales. and al will be checking in from ill nil just a little while. he's been out in harrisburg all morning, a town that got devastated by one of the tornadoes. >>> on a lighter note this morning, we're going to switch gears and talk to zac efron, in a new movie called "the lorax" and there is zac actually signing autographs this morning, he's such a supremely talented young man. it will be nice to catch up with him. >>> think you don't have the time or energy to cook a wholesome good family dinner? think again, our chef curtis stone and a new dad himself is here, he'll show you how to make it