President Barack Obama talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 17, 2010. (AP)

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Arms are being triple-twisted all over Washington this week as Democrats go down to the wire on health care reform.

Two-hundred-sixteen votes needed in the House. Sunday billed as the moment of truth. Republicans warning of Armageddon. It’s a major-league moment in the capital.

We’ve got flooding in Fargo. Mexican drug violence hitting an American consulate. Federal moves on Wall Street, jobs, and No Child Left Behind. U.S.-Israel fireworks. And Tiger Woods headed out of the dog house and back to the links.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines. 

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, or on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Eleanor Clift, contributing editor and columnist for Newsweek and a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group. Her latest book is “Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Politics.”

Noam Levey, health policy reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Vice President Joe Biden gestures as he speaks at Tel Aviv University in Israel on Thursday, March 11, 2010. (AP)

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A slap in the face for Vice President Joe Biden in Israel this week. Dueling press conferences in Kabul from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Iran’s Ahmadinejad.

And at home, on health care reform, the president says, “I don’t get worn down, I wear them down.”

We’ve got Jihad Jane. Congressman Eric Massa, out after allegations of harassment and a “tickle fight” confession.

Conservatives going after Liz Cheney. And Chief Justice John Roberts may pull his court from the State of the Union.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, or on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests: 

Joining us from New York is George Packer, staff writer for The New Yorker. His piece in the current issue is “Obama’s Lost Year: The President’s Failure to Connect With Ordinary Americans.” His most recent book is “Interesting Times: Writings From a Turbulent Decade.” 

From Washington we’re joined by Andrea Seabrook,congressional correspondent for NPR.

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama listens during a meeting with Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders to discuss health care reform, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010, in the Blair House across the street from the White House in Washington. (AP)

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Summit time, at last, on health care in Washington this week. Everybody spoke. Nobody moved. At least not yet.

The president doubled down on reform. Democrats, not backing off, not slashing their bill, yet. And clearly threatening to try to do it alone, if they can muster 51 votes in the Senate.

Toyota’s chief apologizes. A killer whale makes headlines. And in Afghanistan, the government flag goes up over once Taliban-held Marjah — and suicide bombers attack in the heart of the Afghan capital.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.
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You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook 

Guests: 

Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for Time magazine. 

Steve Chapman, columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune. 

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic. 

U.S. Marines with NATO forces keep vigil as Marines and Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers set up a joint military base north of Marjah, Helmand province, on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010. (AP )

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Big stories all around this week. A major allied offensive in Marjah, Afghanistan, and top Taliban leaders captured in Pakistan. Hillary Clinton talking tough on Iran, as Iran turns up the nuclear heat.

Indiana’s Evan Bayh says he’s done with the Senate — and rattles Democrats. Republican hopefuls rev up the crowd in Washington at a big conservative confab.

The stimulus has its first birthday. The Fed hints at higher interest rates. And there’s gold — lots of gold — for Americans in Vancouver.

This hour, On Point: it’s the week in the news.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Tom Ashbrook is on vacation this week.

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Clarence Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning nationally syndicated columnist at the Chicago Tribune, where he’s a member of the editorial board.

From Philadelphia, we’re joined by Trudy Rubin, foreign affairs columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

(AP)

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Snow all over the mid-Atlantic this week, in piles that seemed to bury the White House and Capitol Hill. “Snowmageddon.” Mother nature’s metaphor.

As market’s wobbled, Europe rallied, sort of, for debt-bound Greece. Congress rallied, sort of, for jobs — with the Senate producing a very skinny sort of bipartisan jobs bill.

In Nashville, Sarah Palin mocked the “hopey, changey thing” for the Tea Party crowd.

In Tehran, claims of nuclear statehood, and crackdown on the critics of the Islamic regime.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Edward Luce, Washington bureau chief for The Financial Times. His Sunday piece, “America: A Fearsome Foursome,” about President Obama’s inner circle of advisers, has generated a lot of attention.

Also from Washington is Ken Walsh, chief White House correspondent for U.S. News & World Report. His latest article is “Obama’s Troubles Mirror Clinton’s in 1994.”

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010. (AP)

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The state of the union looked difficult, to be honest, this week. On Wednesday, the president gave his big address. By week’s end, the way forward looked tough.

Republicans, declining to vote for lifting the debt ceiling or for pay-as-you-go restraints. Democrats, uncertain how to advance President Obama’s call to stick with health care reform.

Tim Geithner got an epic grilling. Ben Bernanke got another term. The economy got 5.7 percent growth at the end of ’09. That sounds good.

iPad’s out. Toyota’s in trouble.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Dana Milbank, columnist for The Washington Post, where he writes Washington Sketch. His lastest book is “Homo Politicus: The Strange and Scary Tribes That Run Our Government.”

Also from Washington we’re joined by Liz Halloran, Washington correspondent for NPR.org.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Sen.-elect Scott Brown, R-Mass., is pursued by reporters as he walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010, after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. (AP)

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Aftershocks all week long in Haiti — and political quakes in the USA.

Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat goes to a Republican. The conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court goes revolutionary, overturning decades of law to send a torrent of new corporate cash into the heart of American politics.

The Democrats’ loss of their 60th seat in the Senate may mean the end of health care reform. President Obama says he’s ready to fight over reining in big banks.

All huge. And Haiti suffers on.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent and columnist for Newsweek and author of “The Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates That Define and Inspire Our Country,” now out in paperback.

Also from Washington we’re joined by Jennifer Rubin, contributing editor to Commentary. She writes regularly for the magazine’s blog, Contentions.

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

A girl screams after seeing the feet of her dead brother in the rubble of the collapsed St. Gerard School in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. (AP)

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The scale of suffering in Haiti continues to mount. Dead in the streets. The trapped, dying. The battered living, hungry and thirsty three days after the earthquake of 7.0 that rocked the hemisphere’s poorest country. And relief planes circle, desperate to land.

In Washington this week, Wall Street chiefs testify just days before giant bonuses begin to arrive — again.

The White House and Congressional Democrats reach a deal on Cadillac health plans.

Mark McGwire concedes steroid use. Leno and Conan and Sarah Palin make waves on TV.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Zanny Minton Beddoes, global economics editor for The Economist.

Joining us from Albany, New York, is Debra Dickerson,  contributing writer for Mother Jones and author of “The End of Blackness” and “An American Story.”

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010, about an alleged terrorist attempt to destroy a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner. (AP)

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Full-court press on anti-terror security measures this week, after the would-be Christmas Day bomber slipped through the system.

The president said yesterday we won’t “succumb to a siege mentality.” But, he said, “we are at war.”

In Afghanistan, repercussions from a double-agent bombing that took out top CIA officers in their own base.

On Capitol Hill, Democratic Senators Dodd and Dorgan say they will retire, and the midterm election push is on.

This hour, On Point: 2010 is off and running. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Tom Gjelten, NPR News correspondent.

Margaret Carlson, columnist for Bloomberg News.

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama speaks at the morning plenary session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. (AP)

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Where’s the bottom line in Copenhagen? It was hard to say this week as big powers and poor nations battled over who will do what, and when, to tackle global warming.

A cliff hanger to the end.

In Washington, Joe Lieberman roars on health care and progressives say enough with the compromising.

Oral Roberts is dead. Ben Bernanke is Time’s “Person of the Year.” Toddlers’ swine flu vaccine gets a recall — too weak. And militants in Iraq use a $26 software kit to hack into live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones. Amazing.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Jessica Yellin, national political correspondent for CNN.

William McKenzie, editorial columnist for The Dallas Morning News.

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama sits in front of framed photos of previous Nobel Peace Prize winners at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. (AP)

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And it came to pass that an American president, Barack Obama, stood in Oslo accepting the Nobel Peace Prize — and talking a lot about war.

There’s a headline for the news this week.

In real war, top U.S. brass say don’t hold your breath on an American exit from Afghanistan in 2011. And Pakistan says it holds American “jihadis.”

On health care, Democrats battle — and maybe compromise — on something other than a public option.

And in Copenhagen, they’re trying to draft a climate future for the whole planet.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Ron Brownstein, political director for Atlantic Media, columnist for National Journal, and author of “The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America.”

From Washington, we’re joined by Ezra Klein, blogger and reporter for The Washington Post.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

A United States Marine LAV vehicle of the 4th Light Armored Recon on patrol in the volatile Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. (AP)

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Tiger Woods owned the tabloid headlines this week: the Escalade, the crash, the nine iron through the window, the alleged mistresses.

But that is dust in the wind. The marker of history was laid down at West Point, before row on row of gray clad officers-to-be, maybe casualties-to-be, in Afghanistan — listening to their commander in chief order 30,000 more troops to the Afghan front.

On the economic front — just 11,000 jobs lost last month. Unemployment, down. That’s new.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Philadelphia is Trudy Rubin, foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. She’s just back from three weeks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

From Washington we’re joined by Jonathan Martin, senior political writer for Politico.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama tours the Great Wall in Badaling, China, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009. (AP)

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Who knew mammograms and Pap smears could headline a week? But here they are this week, shoved into the health care debate just as everything is on the line for reform.

We’ve got the president in China, where the U.S. no longer towers. 9/11 trials coming to New York. The Fed chief warning of another year of high unemployment. Crunch time in the Senate on health care.

And women. Sarah Palin in the news. Oprah, signing off for cable. Hillary Clinton, in Kabul for Hamid Karzai’s inauguration.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Matt Continetti, staff writer at The Weekly Standard. He’s author of the new book, “The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star.”

Jill Lawrence, columnist for Politics Daily.com and longtime reporter for USA Today.

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation. She writes the “Editor’s Cut” blog. She’s also a contributor to the Nation’s own take on Sarah Palin, “Going Rouge: An American Nightmare.”

Soldiers Cross, honoring those who lost their lives in last week's shooting, is seen near the podium where President Barack Obama will speak at the memorial service, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, at Fort Hood, Texas. (AP)

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A solemn week on the war front, at home and abroad.

Taps and empty boots at Fort Hood, Texas and troubling questions about the alleged killer, Nidal Hasan.

A Veterans Day with much to ponder on costs already born and still to be born. An Afghanistan debate in Washington and Kabul that grows deeper with time.

On health care, abortion lands in the middle of reform efforts — and could be the poison pill.

From Guantanamo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 9/11 mastermind, will stand trial in a civilian court in New York City.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us in our studio is Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer Prize-winning and nationally syndicated columnist for The Boston Globe.

Also in our studio we’re joined by David Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He served as an advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) listens during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on health care reform, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009. (AP)

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Nevermind the boy not in the balloon. We’ve got more than that up in the air this week.

The Dow flying high again at 10,000. Bonus numbers over the moon.

A healthcare reform package out of committee in the Senate, and up in the air, with Republican Olympia Snowe onboard — so far.

An Afghanistan troop decision, up in the air. The future of Pakistan, up in the air — with Taliban and Al Qaeda attacks all over.

Rush Limbaugh’s NFL ownership dreams? Crashed to earth. Sacked.

This hour, On Point: Joe Klein, Liz Halloran, Jack Beatty, and you, take on a week in the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Liz Halloran, Washington correspondent for NPR.org.

Joining us from New York is Joe Klein, political columnist for Time magazine and author of six books, most recently “Politics Lost.”

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama chairs a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at the United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. At rear is U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. (AP)

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The small-world principle was on big display in the U.S. this week. Leaders from all over, sitting elbow to elbow at the UN in New York. Leaders of the world’s twenty most powerful economies descending on Pittsburgh.

We’ve got a nuclear weapons vote in the Security Council. “Rebalancing” on the table at the G20. Explosive charges that Iran is hiding secret nuclear capacity.

Health care reform grinding on in Wahsington. And terrorism plot allegations tumbling out of Denver, Dallas, and Springfield, Illinois.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Ruth Marcus, editorial writer and columnist for The Washington Post.

Also from Washington, we’re joined by Susan Glasser, executive editor of Foreign Policy magazine.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, gestures during his news conference on health care legislation, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009. (AP)

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Healthcare moves and missile-shield news this week.

In the Senate, Max Baucus finally delivers his proposal on healthcare reform. Questions now: Will he get a single Republican vote? Will enough Democrats sign on to pass or change the bill? Was it worth trying to compromise?

Poland and the Czech Republic will not have American missiles aimed over Russia at Iran. There are better ways to defend, says President Obama — and George W. Bush’s defense secretary, Robert Gates.

We’ve got trade war talk. Carter on race. This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Michael Gerson, columnist for The Washington Post, contributor to Newsweek, and senior research fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement.

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation. You can read her latest writings on politics at her “Editor’s Cut” blog.

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama speaks with members of Congress after delivering a primetime speech on healthcare to a joint session on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. (AP)

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It’s September 11, 2009. Eight years after the shocking morning that instantly consumed American hearts and minds.

U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan. New reports say Al Qaeda is sputtering, yet still dangerous.

But at home, this week was a marker of how much else has crowded onto the national stage. The president, front and center in an epic debate over health care. The Supreme Court, in an epic case over corporate money and political speech. We’ve got flu vaccine, deep space photos, and a new liver for Steve Jobs.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

From Washington, we’re joined by Doyle McManus, former Washington bureau chief and now columnist for The Los Angeles Times.

Also joining us from Washington is Jay Newton-Small, Congressional correspondent for Time magazine and contributor to Time.com’s Swampland blog.

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

More links:

One of our favorite stories this week was the release of new deep space photos from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. This one in particular has a mysterious beauty:

NASA’s caption: Butterfly Emerges from Stellar Demise in Planetary Nebula NGC 6302.

Smoke from the Station Fire rises over downtown Los Angeles on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. (AP)

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Back to school. Back to the health care debate — and the president’s task of selling health care reform to the public, and members of his own party. Bill Clinton tried it 16 years ago — next week, President Obama delivers a major speech to the American people.

We’ll look at that and other stories this week: in Afghanistan, more civilian deaths, debate over more troops, and questions about its election.

Plus, more jobs numbers… a swine flu comeback … two nightly female TV news anchors … and jockeying for a Kennedy Senate seat.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jacki Lyden, guest host

Guests:

Janine Zacharia, diplomatic correspondent for Bloomberg News.

Jonathan Weisman, White House reporter for The Wall Street Jounral.

Eleanor Clift, contributing editor at Newsweek.

(On Point news analyst Jack Beatty is off this week.)

The U.S. Capitol is seen in the background as flags fly at half-staff at the Washington Monument in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in honor of the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. (AP)

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The end of an American era this week, as Senator Ted Kennedy succumbed to cancer.

While the nation marks the passing of an unrivaled political dynasty, Kennedy’s absence from the health care debate in Washington is felt more than ever. We’ll look at that and other stories this week:

Attorney General Eric Holder names a special prosecutor to examine CIA interrogations.

President Obama taps Ben Bernanke for another term as Fed Chairman.

Afghanistan awaits election results amid more violence and charges of fraud.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for Time. Her latest piece is “Health-Care Reform After Kennedy.” She blogs at Time.com’s Swampland.

Also from Washington we’re joined by Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent and columnist at Newsweek. In his latest piece he suggests why Ted Kennedy’s death resonates most with Baby Boomers.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.