Friday, April 22, 2005

The Moussaoui Case
Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States in connection to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, pleaded guilty Friday of plotting with al-Qaida. Ray Suarez speaks with New York Times reporter Neil Lewis, who was at the hearing in Alexandria, Va.

Then, Suarez leads a discussion on the Moussaoui case with Juliette Kayyem, professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and Andrew McBride, former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Power Struggle
Before his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologized Friday to China for the pain his country inflicted on its neighbor during World War II.

Margaret Warner speaks with Robert Pekkanen, assistant professor in the Japan Studies Program at the University of Washington, Seattle, and Bates Gill, a China scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the causes of the hostility.

Shields and Brooks
Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks speak with Jim Lehrer about the protracted approval process of President Bush's judicial nominees, the controversial nomination of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ethics allegations and whether the momentum to reform Social Security is flagging.

Essay: My Broken Heart
Essayist Anne Taylor Fleming takes a look at her hometown of Los Angeles.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Judicial Wars

Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute discusses the judicial nominations and the proposed "nuclear option" of ending the filibuster's use for judicial nominees.

Off the Tracks?
Amtrak, facing steep money woes after shelving its high-speed Acela trains for months due to brake problems, asked Congress for a 50 percent increase in budget Thursday.

Jeffrey Brown leads a discussion on the financial and mechanical problems of Amtrak with Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, and Tom Till, executive director of the Amtrak Reform Council from 1999 to 2002.

Missing Men
Business correspondent Paul Solman of WGBH-Boston looks at the fate of families in the era of welfare reform.

Images of Disaster
Former Marine Infantry Capt. Brian Steidle, who recently spent six months in Sudan's Darfur, discusses the violence in the region he captured through a camera lens.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Struggle for Security in Iraq
Iraqi authorities pulled the bodies of more than 50 people believed to be Shiite hostages seized in the Madain region south of Baghdad from the Tigris River Wednesday. Robert Worth of the New York Times provides a report from Baghdad.

The Bolton Battle
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee again delayed voting on the embattled nomination of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador. Kwame Holman reports on the continuing controversy.

Challenges to the Church
Ray Suarez leads a discussion on the challenges facing Pope Benedict XVI with John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

Then, Lamin Sanneh, professor of history and world Christianity at Yale University, and Jose Casanova, sociology professor at New School University, discuss the pope's role around the world.

Operation Homecoming
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Defense Department joined forces on a project in which soldiers and Marines publish their wartime stories.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

The New Pope

The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of America, a national Catholic weekly magazine, talks about the selection of Ratzinger, who took the name Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Benedict XVI
The election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a noted hard-liner within the Catholic church, as the next pope is eliciting mixed reactions from Catholics and other church observers around the world. Joseph Fessio, provost and professor of theology at Ave Maria University; Bern Schaeffer, a German historian and research fellow at the German Historical Institute; and John-Peter Pham, a former Vatican diplomat, discuss Ratzinger's life and work.

Challenges to the Church
Jim Lehrer leads a discussion on the challenges facing Pope Benedict XVI with Rev. David O'Connell, President of Catholic University, and Chester Gillies, professor and chairman of the Department of Theology at Georgetown University.

Oklahoma City 10 Years Later
The nation marked the 10 year anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing Tuesday, an attack that killed 168 people at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Cardinal Decision

Then, correspondent Elizabeth Brackett of WTTW-Chicago examines the challenges facing the Catholic Church and the next pope.

Christopher Bellitto, a church historian at Kean University, then gives a historical perspective on the papal conclave.

Judicial Wars
Republican senators are lobbying to end the practice of filibustering, saying Democrats will use the tactic to defeat President Bush's judicial nominations. Kwame Holman reports on the Senate debate.

Market Jitters
U.S. money markets last week saw their worst week since August, besieged by an under-performing technology sector and a growing trade deficit. Diane Swonk, chief economist and senior managing director of Mesirow Financial, and Hugh Johnson, chairman of Johnson Illington Advisors, discuss the struggling stock market.

Death of an Activist
Jeffrey Brown looks at the life and death of Marla Ruzicka, who fought for war victims' rights and was killed in Iraq over the weekend.