To the Point

After initiating a week of deadly fighting, Iraq's Prime Minister al-Maliki looks weaker than when it began. The winners appear to include Iran. Also, the Bush Administration loses another cabinet member, proposed financial regulatory reform and a "virtual convention" of Democratic leaders is already under way. 

With a crisis on Wall Street and home foreclosures soaring, does the US economy need more government or less? Recent statements make Obama and Clinton seem far from McCain. Does the rhetoric reflect the reality? We talk with all three campaigns.
Also, President Bush says Iraq has

President Bush has high praise for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's crackdown on Shiite militias, but there's a lot at stake for both leaders. Maliki's political future and US troop withdrawals are both at risk. What could it all mean for McCain, Obama and Clinton? Also, US officials are accused of "meddling" in Pakistan, and the African president who won't leave.

The federal government promises healthcare for the elderly and the poor, but Medicare and Medicaid are steaming toward a "fiscal train wreck." The law requires the next president to resolve a problem that's been building for years. Also, Iraq's escalating violence.

Last week political pundits had Barack Obama on life support because of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. This week, they're asking when Hillary Clinton will quit the campaign. Do primary victories really determine who's likely to win in November? What's behind the sudden swings in conventional wisdom? Also, the US military admits a big mistake, and a surprise Obama endorsement from a conservative Republican.

Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are harder to get close to than the Soviet leaders during the Cold War. US agencies want an increase in "soft power" to get inside the heads of extremists and potential recruits. We hear the pros and cons and ask if al Qaeda is running a better propaganda machine than the western alliance. Also, the Mayor of Detroit is charged with felony crimes, and the Olympic Torch begins its trip from Greece to China.

The Olympic games are providing an international forum for Tibetan grievances against Chinese rule. During a week of violent protest, China has cracked down. What's the international reaction? Will the incident make life better or worse in Tibet?  Also,  Obama wins another endorsement, and presidential candidates and passport files.

The furor over Barack Obama's church has pushed his presidential campaign into the most dangerous possible political territory -- questions about his patriotism. Has the founding fathers' notion of American exceptionalism created to an exceptionally patriotic country?  Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell talks about the defining role patriotism plays in American politics and what role patriotism plays in the politics of other countries. Also, President Bush signs legislation to protect the US-Mexico border, and a look at Hillary Clinton's daily schedules when she was First Lady.

Race, religion and politics collided in Barack Obama's presidential campaign yesterday as they do every Sunday in many African American churches. Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell talks to the reporter who sparked the controversy, and discusses the roots of the black church in the US and its current role in African American society. Also, President Bush marks the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, and how the Panama Canal helped create the Reagan Revolution.

Today the Supreme Court hears arguments in the case of a Washington, DC security guard that could re-define America's relationship to guns. Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell explores whether the Second Amendment grants each of us an absolute individual right to bear arms and how likely it is that the court will find all gun control laws unconstitutional and return the country to an unfettered free market in guns. Also, Barack Obama on his former pastor, and the crisis in Tibet.