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.

An Afghan woman voter walks past male voters lining up to cast their ballots, as she heads towards the women's side of a mosque made into a polling station in Kabul on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. (AP)

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Rocket attacks didn’t stop the vote in Afghanistan this week. And town hall fireworks haven’t stopped the health care push at home.

In Kabul and beyond, Afghans braved Taliban threats and went to the polls, though in smaller numbers than five years ago. It’s been a long war.

At home, Democrats pushed back on health care, but pushed each other, too, in debate over the “public option.”

We’ve got Blackwater back in the news, a new human speed record, and Cash for Clunkers’ last hurrah.

This hour, 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 Tom Braithwaite, business and politics correspondent for The Financial Times.

Joining us from Philadelphia is Trudy Rubin, foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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

Randy Hook, 50, of Hopewell, Pa., yells at Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., during a town hall meeting on health care in a Penn State University ballroom in State College, Pa., on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. More than 400 attended. Opponents occasionally drowned out the Republican-turned-Democrat. (AP)

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Health care reform on the line this week, as the President steps onto the town hall circuit that in many Congressional districts has looked more like town hell.

What’s real, what’s “astro-turf,” what’s true, what’s false — all whipped into a fury, with American health care in the balance.

In Afghanistan, tough fighting ahead of a big election. In Africa, Hillary Clinton speaks up for women and against speaking for Bill.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver and guitar legend Les Paul bow out.

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:

Byron York, chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner and contributor to its Beltway Confidential blog.

Margaret Talev, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.

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

Sonia Sotomayor waves as she leaves Manhattan Federal Court in New York on Thursday. Sotomayor won confirmation Thursday as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. (AP)

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A lot of emotions this week: political tempers, economic hopes, and a joyous homecoming.

A former president goes to North Korea and comes back with two freed American journalists. The current president stumps for health care reform and economic stimulus, while Congressional town meetings turn ugly.

The Senate, on its way out the door, confirms Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, and extends “cash for clunkers.”

Hillary Clinton tours Africa. And a surprising new jobs report has unemployment … falling.

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

Tom Ashbrook is on vacation.

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 New York, we’re joined by Betsy Stark, business correspondent for ABC news and an Emmy Award-winner for her investigative reporting.

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

President Barack Obama, right, and Vice President Joe Biden, left, have a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., second from left, and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley in the Rose Garden of the White House on Thursday, July 30, 2009.(AP)

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Stories brewing up all over this week, from Washington to Tehran.

A much-hyped round of beers at the White House. More news from the world of steroid baseball. And bankers at the trough — 33 billion dollars in bonuses paid by bailed-out Wall St. firms.

Health care hurdles in Washington. A passel of U.S. diplomats in Israel. The secretary of defense shows up in Iraq. In Afghanistan, U.S. deaths are the highest since 2001. And in Iran, the opposition grows more restless, despite crackdowns.

This hour, On Point: What’s your take? 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

Tom Ashbrook is on vacation.

Guests:

Joining us from Philadelphia is Trudy Rubin, foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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 for The Atlantic.

Clockwise, from top left: President Barack Obama responds to questions during a news conference at the White House on Wednesday (AP); U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a news conference in southern Thailand (AP);A booking photo released by the Cambridge, Mass., Police Dept., showing Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (AP); a British patrol clears compounds in Afghanistan's Helmand province (AP).

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It was a bad week for busted corrupt mayors, assemblymen and rabbis in New Jersey. Mixed news everywhere else.

The Dow, over 9000 for the first time since January — and investors cheered.

Health care reform, despite a prime-time push from the president, is off the August fast track and looking at a tough slog into the fall.

F-22 fighters and concealed weapons were pushed back in Congress.

And a white police officer’s arrest of a high-profile black scholar makes waves all over — including in the Obama White House.

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 Helene Cooper, White House correspondent for The New York Times. She’s author of the memoir “The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood,” which is now out in paperback. You can listen back to her On Point interview last year.

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

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

Clockwise from top left: A Uighur woman protests before paramilitary police in Urumqi on Tuesday (AP); Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in an interview on Tuesday (MSNBC.com); Janet Jackson (l) and LaToya Jackson (r) stand behind Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris Jackson, during the late star’s memorial service in Los Angeles on Tuesday (AP); President Obama speaks about climate change during the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy (AP).

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No smooth sailing for Barack Obama’s priority list this week — at home or abroad.

Health care and climate bills up against headwinds in Congress. The G8 and developing countries in Rome going slow on tackling global warming. Continued tough numbers on job loss in the U.S.  At least GM’s out of bankruptcy.

In China, there’s blood in the streets this week. Russia’s talking reset with the U.S.

Sarah Palin is bailing out as governor of Alaska. And Michael Jackson, King of Pop, gets a royal sendoff in Los Angeles.

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 Kathleen Parker, syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group.

Also from Washington is Clarence Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist for The Chicago Tribune.

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

Clockwise from top left: U.S. Marines move into Afghanistan's Helmand province on Thursday; Senator-elect Al Franken on Tuesday, shortly after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in his favor; South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday; people wait in line at a job fair in Seattle earlier this month. (AP)

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Jobs, jobs, jobs. And war. As Americans mark another Independence Day, the news at the end of the week reminds us where the nation stands.

In Washington, the White House responds to new unemployment numbers — now at 9.5 percent — and to critics of its stimulus plan.

In Afghanistan, 4,000 Marines move into Taliban territory. While in Iraq, U.S. troops move out of the cities — as bombings increase.

In Minnesota, the Democrats gain a 60th U.S. senator. In South Carolina, Republicans look to get rid of a governor.

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:

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

Gebe Martinez, political columnist and contributor to Politico.

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

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford wipes his tears as he admitted to having an affair during a news conference in Columbia, S.C., on Wednesday, June 24, 2009. He said he is resigning as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. "I spent the last five days crying in Argentina," Sanford said. (AP)

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Is it just me, or has it been a long, long week?

A week that began with the world riveted by the brutal suppression of Iranian protestors draws to a close with the untimely death of Michael Jackson at age 50.

In Washington, the Obama administration faces big questions on health care from Democrats as well as Republicans.

And speaking of Republicans — another confession, as Mark Sanford admits to his Argentine affair, and another setback for the party.

Up next, On Point: What moved you in the world this week? 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:

Joining us from London is Roula Khalaf, Middle East editor for The Financial Times. She’s just returned from Tehran, where she was covering the post-election unrest.

From Providence, Rhode Island, we’re joined by Froma Harrop, nationally syndicated columnist and editorial board member at The Providence Journal. She also blogs at RealClearPolitics.com.

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

Bullet strikes are seen in one of the doors to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., after a shooting left a security officer dead and the gunman wounded on Thursday, June 11, 2009. (AP)

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News all over this week. In Iran, a clamor for change as voters pour into the polls. In Detroit, Italy’s Fiat now owns Chrysler. On Wall Street, the big money guys squirm at the idea of executive pay curbs.

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, President Obama says it’s now-or-never time for health care reform. In Bermuda and the Pacific islands of Palau, Guantanamo prisoners are moving in.

And in Washington, a lone shooter opens fire at the Holocaust Museum — and sparks wider concern over homegrown terrorism.

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 Chicago is Laura Washington, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and a professor at DePaul University in Chicago.

From New York we’re joined by Jim Ellis, assistant managing editor at BusinessWeek.

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

Egyptian villagers watch a live broadcast of the speech by President Barack Obama at Cairo University from a coffee shop in Qena, south Cairo, on June 4, 2009. (AP)

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Tectonic shifts this week.

General Motors actually in bankruptcy. Straight up bankrupt.

An American president, middle name Hussein, in Egypt speaking Arabic and quoting the Koran in ardent outreach to the Muslim world.

In the skies over the mid-Atlantic, a French airliner mysteriously down with 228 aboard.

And in church in Wichita, Kansas, Dr. George Tiller — serving as an usher on a Sunday morning — shot and killed in the church foyer by an anti-abortion crusader. He was 67.

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 Tony Blankley, columnist for The Washington Times and author of “American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century.”

From Paris, France, we’re joined by Christopher Dickey, Paris bureau chief and Middle East regional editor for Newsweek. His latest book is “Securing the City: Inside America’s Best Counterterror Force – the NYPD.”

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

President Barack Obama speaking at the National Archives in Washington and former Vice President Dick Cheney speaking at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington on Thursday, May 21, 2009. (AP)

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A very unusual showdown this week. The duly elected president of the United States, months after his election, grappling center stage over fundamental national security questions with an ex-vice president who hasn’t faced voters in almost five years.

Obama versus Cheney, again, on American values and American security.

We‘ve got new emission controls on the way, greens battling greens over cap-and-trade, new rules on credit cards and a green light for loaded guns in the National Parks.

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:

Chrystia Freeland, U.S. managing editor of The Financial Times. She leads the paper’s U.S. edition and U.S. news on FT.com.

Gebe Martinez, political columnist and contributor to Politico.

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

President Barack Obama listens as he is introduced before speaking at the Arizona State University commencement ceremony at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., Wednesday, May 13, 2009. (AP)

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News popping on many fronts this week. In Afghanistan, a top U.S. commander is fired. In Tehran, journalist Roxanna Saberi is freed.

In Detroit, Chrysler announces it will close nearly 800 dealerships. In the future, we’re told, Medicare and Social Security will go broke sooner than we thought.

In Washington, President Obama reneges on releasing photos of detainee abuse. Nancy Pelosi says the CIA lied to her on torture. And the health care industry says it will cut its own costs, big time.

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 Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for Time magazine. She’s reported extensively on health care, and wrote this week about the way costs are driving the debate.  She also blogs at Time.com’s “Swampland.”

Also from Washington we’re joined by Gerald Seib, executive Washington editor and “Capital Journal” columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He’s co-author of “Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power.”

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

A sign for a Bank of America branch is shown in downtown Philadelphia, Thursday, May 7, 2009. (AP)

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Stress tests, infidelity, job loss and Manny Ramirez in the news this week.

The Obama administration put a positive spin on what they found in the big banks’ books. But losses could still hit $600 billion. Job losses last month: another half million-plus. But that’s a lot better than the month before.

Afghan and Pakistani presidents in Washington. Elizabeth Edwards on Oprah with John’s wayward ways. Santa Barbara burns. And another Major League Baseball slugger up on drug allegations and out for 50 games.

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

What’s your top story this week? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is David Leonhardt, economics columnist for The New York Times and staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. His recent interview with President Obama was the magazine’s cover story last Sunday.

Also from Washington we’re joined by Perry Bacon, national political reporter for The Washington Post.

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

A child seeking medical treatment waits to be attended at the makeshift waiting area set up at the entrance to the Naval hospital in Mexico City, Thursday April 30, 2009. (AP)

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It’s been the week that “swine flu” became “H1N1” and very nearly, says the WHO, a pandemic. Masks, Mexico and hog farms in the news. A small world and a quick spread.

In Detroit, Chrysler falls into the arms of bankruptcy and Fiat. In Washington, Supreme Court Justice David Souter dreams of summer in New Hampshire, and decides he’ll retire.

Arlen Specter makes a different change — from Republican to Democrat. And VP Joe Biden rolls out his version of snakes on a plane.

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

What’s your top story this week? Do you see Chrysler-Fiat coming back strong? Arlen Specter lining up for Obama? Have H1N1 and Joe Biden scared you off the plane? The subway? Out of your wits? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Michael Gerson, columnist for The Washington Post, former White House advisor and speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and author of “Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America’s Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail If They Don’t).”

Also from Washington we’re joined by Margaret Talev, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.

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