State of the Union with John King started with a report on the proof of life video of a US soldier captured in Afghanistan with Barbara Starr. Later in the program, King reported that the Defense Department had identified the soldier as Pfc. Bowie Bergdahl of Ketchum, Idaho.
The first guest on the program was Peter Orszag the White House Budget Director to discuss the numbers on the health care legislation.
They also discussed the economy and the impact of the stimulus package and the budget deficit.
King talked with Senator Patrick Leahy (D) and Senator Jeff Sessions (R) on the confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor. Senator Leahy pointed out that he has voted on the confirmation of every member of the current Supreme Court. King tried multiple times to get Sen. Sessions to commit one way or another to how he planned to vote on the confirmation.
John King's column this week on CNN Politics was GOP sees fertile ground in taxes, pocketbook issues.
King mentioned that today's Reliable Sources would be discussing the passing of Walter Cronkite. King shared his thoughts on Friday night's coverage (which he anchored during both Larry King Live and Anderson Cooper 360) in the behind the scenes video clip for this week.
As part of the American Dispatch series, King reported from Newark, New Jersey talking to Mayor Cory Booker (D) who was offered a position in the Obama administration, but turned it down to focus on local politics.
Howard Kurtz was on with Reliable Sources at 10AM. His focus the first half of the hour on the death of the CBS anchorman, Walter Cronkite. Kurtz talked with Bob Schieffer, Susan Zirinsky, Bernard Shaw, Don Hewitt, Connie Chung, Daniel Schorr, and Sandy Sokoloff.
Kurtz then turned the program to the coverage of the Supreme Court nominee with Terry Moran, Dahlia Lithwick, and Jim Geraghty. Kurtz talked to Moran about the ratings success of Nightline and also grilled Moran on Nightline's decision to lead with the Michael Jackson story 12 out or 15 nights.
Wrapping up the hour, Kurtz reported on the release of emails to Gov. Sanford from various people in the media attempting to get the Governor to come appear on their programs. John King was one of those whose emails were being critiqued.
The Sounds of Sunday segment reviewed what some of the other Sunday morning programs were talking about:
Donna Brazile and Bill Bennett were in the Washington, D.C. studio with John King this morning. The topics this morning were the Sotomayor confirmation hearing and the health care reform legislation and whether or not it is going to make it through Congress.
The CNN Diner segment was in Newark, New Jersey this week at Je's Diner (Restaurant). King spoke with Gerard Drinkard, Charles Hayes, and Peggy Godrey-Drinkard.
The next panel had Ed Henry, Jessica Yellin, and Dana Bash discussing the Obama administration's August health care deadline as well as Secretary of State Clinton's comments on the vetting process for appointed positions within the Federal government.
The first 36 minutes of the noon hour was a repeat of interviews that were done during the first hour of the program. The Last Word this week went to Rev. Jesse Jackson. King asked Jackson about how the Obama administration was treating the older generation of African American leaders as well as how civil rights had progressed over the past 25 years.
Here are the links to this week's podcasts:
One last note tonight, looks like they are overhauling the graphics being used during the program… here's an example of the graphics that we saw during the intros at the top of each hour:
