All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Picture it: with the summer recess behind him, a young President prepares to deliver the most important speech of his first term in office. The topic - health care reform. Amid controversy and confusion, his task is to explain exactly what he hopes to achieve and how he plans to do it.

I'm talking about former President Bill Clinton. It was September, 1993.

Tonight, another young President will deliver his September song to a tough crowd on a really tough topic.

Before President Clinton's speech, just 13 percent of the nation understood his health care plan. And by mid-October of that year, the number was just 18 percent.

For President Obama to be successful in his effort, he's going to need a much bigger return than that.

The commander-in-chief needs to play educator-in-chief and explain simply and specifically what he hopes to achieve and how he plans to do it before history repeats itself.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

It's the first day of school for millions of kids around the country, and the fall semester began with a lesson in politics.

Last week the White House took some heat for a proposed speech to children, and an accompanying lesson plan for teachers. The plan called for kids to write a letter stating how they could help President Obama.

Critics said that sounded a bit too "Chairman Mao," so the Department of Education changed it to a letter about personal goals.

But the controversy spread like the H1N1 virus, and lots of parents and pundits washed their hands of the speech and dismissed the entire effort.

In the end, the President's message today was uplifting and completely nonpartisan. He told kids to stay in school, work hard and to keep a positive attitude.

To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a speech is just a speech and with a 30 percent dropout rate in this country education should be on everyone's political agenda.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

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>Rob Hendin is the White House producer for the CBS Evening News

Traveling with the White House has its share or perks and random occurrences. Yesterday, we spent the three hours waiting for President Obama's press conference with Russian President Medvedev, admiring the opulent gold-leaf filled rooms of the Kremlin.

This morning, as we sat waiting for the President's arrival at the New Economic School of Moscow where he was speaking, we saw former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and his entourage enjoying a cup of coffee. Gorbachev, who was there to meet with President Obama, declined our request for a quick chat, citing a sore throat.

But there's more to these trips than the perks of international travel.

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With less than a month left, this presidential campaign has taken a decidedly ugly turn.

At Republican rallies, some over heated supporters have started to yell things like "terrorist" and "treason" when Barack Obama's name is mentioned. This is depressing and unacceptable.

Freedom of speech is one of our most cherished rights, but words that incite violence should be seriously condemned by all the candidates.

It's no surprise that "civil discourse" is such an oxymoron these days. When I sometimes peruse comments on the Internet, they are loaded with vitriol and profanity. I'm embarrassed for the authors of those comments, and for the readers who stumble upon them.

Words are like weapons – they can damage who we are. This is an important time to remind ourselves that even when passions are high, we can agree to disagree. And we can do so with reason – and respect.

As I promised on Friday, here's the speech I gave at Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass yesterday:

Thank you President Schapiro, and good morning everyone — dedicated faculty and staff, proud parents and, of course, graduates! I am honored to be a small part of this very big day.

Having heard so much about Williams and Williamstown from my brother-in-law Jim Batchelor — class of '72 — and from my sister, Clara, who left Smith to spend her junior year here (mostly because of Jim), it’s as beautiful as they’ve described. It’s no wonder Thoreau said after visiting here in 1844, “it would be no small advantage if every college were thus located at the base of a mountain.”

And after doing a little reporting, I’ve learned a lot about this school and its legitimate bragging rights as a college of firsts — the first to sponsor a scientific expedition, the first to build an astronomy observatory in America.

And Williams was the first school in the country to adopt the Oxford tradition of sporting caps and gowns at graduation — an effort to make the class more egalitarian. So it’s because of Williams that hundreds of thousands of graduates this time of year will be sporting this figure-flattering, dress-it-up, dress-it-down ensemble.

And Williams, no doubt, is the first and last school in the country to adopt a purple cow as its mascot. I’m sure this bovine bruiser instills a tremendous amount of fear on the football field.

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I woke up this morning to the news that the FCC may be able to regulate violence on television, without doing harm to the constitution.

No word on whether that includes regulating Rosie O'Donnell.

But hot on the heels of that news, comes Dick Meyer's latest opus, with some provocative thoughts:

The FCC has apparently surveyed the research and found connections between violent entertainment and media imagery and violent behavior and imagination. I don’t know if Russell Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network have surveyed the research and discovered that woman-hating, violent and racially degrading music foster, um, anti-social behaviors.

Certainly the idea that eliminating these three specific words from rap lyrics would have any real world effects is ludicrous. Certainly the idea that a new law, enforced by the FCC, regulating what times it is appropriate to air chain-saw massacres and slasher movies on cable would diminish the production of future Dylan Klebolds and Cho Seung-Huis is farcical.

But I applaud both these efforts.

How else can “society” – the collective “we” – fight back against an entertainment culture that is perverted? Put it another way: I applaud almost any attempt to protest and mock this piggish, warped media machine, no matter how ineffective, illiberal, anti-First Amendment, prudish or uncool it may be.

Wander over to Against the Grain for more. And watch your mouth.

Early indications are that President Bush will have a lot to say tonight on various domestic issues.

But while America waits to hear more, the Wall Street Journal has a helpful primer on what the President has said in years past.

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What did America think of President Bush’s speech last night? Not much, according to CBS News Director of Surveys, Kathleen Frankovic.

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Presidential speeches can make a difference in public opinion – but, according to our CBS News poll conducted right after the President’s January 10 speech on Iraq, not this speech.

President Bush has been effective before. After his March 17, 2003 speech before the war in Iraq began, approval of his handling of Iraq rose 10 points -- from 53% before the speech to 63% afterwards. And speech watchers were more than twice as likely to say they were relieved as to say they were worried.

Other Presidents have also given speeches that affected public opinion positively. Bill Clinton’s approval rating rose 16 points after his State of the Union address in January 1998, shortly after revelations of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky surfaced. In 1983, Ronald Reagan’s speech after the invasion of Grenada resulted in public support for the invasion jumping from 46% before to 55% after.

But there was little change after last night’s speech. Six in ten Americans opposed sending more the 20,000 additional troops to Iraq – and it mattered little whether they watched the speech or didn’t. Worse for the President, perhaps, is that personal assessments of him didn’t change, Before the speech 68% of Americans said they were uneasy about the President’s ability to make the right decision about Iraq,. After the speech that number was still 68%.

Of course, opinions may change over the next few days as more information is available and more arguments are made. But right now, these poll results suggest that opinion about the war in Iraq may have hardened – just as it did in 1967 and 1968 about the war in Vietnam, and just as it did in 1973 and 1974 about Watergate. No event – and perhaps no single speech – could unharden those opinions.

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Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer and Katie attended a briefing this morning at the White House, giving a preview of tonight's speech. Here’s their report of what they were told.

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The plan the president will outline tonight will call for increasing the number of American military troops in Iraq by more than 20,000, a move that will force the administration to extend the tours of duty for many troops in Iraq by two to four months, according to White House officials.

In a briefing for network anchors, officials said it may also require calling some reservists and members of the National Guard to active duty.

They also said the President will acknowledge that the current policy has failed. They said the President would characterize the policy as “not working, that what was happening was not acceptable to the American people or to him.”

These officials said the President was aware that he was going against public opinion and congressional sentiment.

Those who know the President said he knew he was “sticking his neck out.”

But the President is known to feel that the country can’t afford to fail and, while he recognizes there is a consensus on that, no one—including those in Congress—has come up with a solution.

Officials say the current plan will divide Baghdad into nine neighborhoods with the majority of Iraqi military taking charge, supported by smaller numbers of U.S. forces.

Their aim is to reassure Iraqis that their own forces will be providing security.

While the President will outline his plan tonight to the American people, he will also make it clear that American patience is not unlimited. His message to the Maliki government and the Iraqi military will essentially be, “You have to perform.”...

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It’s a big country out there. Four e-mails this morning prove it.

First, there was this:

Lookit. I've stayed with you guys through thick and thin, mainly because I've considered CBS News the best news-gathering and news-reporting operation of the Original Big Three. But tonight I did a spit take when Sean Hannity came on to represent "Free Speech." Why don't you guys just go ahead and label that bit "Bloated Celebrity Speak" and get it over with?

Then, another viewer weighed in:

The balance is perfect!!!!! The program is developing a character of its own, which I believe is the goal over the first year. I f you remain unique, balanced and fair in your reporting or coverage, you can’t lose.

This viewer thinks we’re an adjunct for FOX:

I have been a fan of The CBS Evening News my entire adult life. That is until I see you giving the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity a platform to espouse their hate and bias to a national television audience they don't usually have.

But this viewer thinks, overall, we’re on the right track. So to speak:

When I finish watching your news program, I feel encouraged, yet informed. Your program is so creative and interesting...very different from any other news cast. Don't let "the powers that be" try to make you conform to the depressing, boring, traditional news presentation found on NBC and ABC! In this day and age the public needs to know that there are other things going on in the world besides killing, war, dirty politics, etc. By the time you say goodnight , I feel uplifted and more encouraged...ready to face another day! Congratulations Katie...keep up the good work! You're doing a fantastic job!

As you might imagine, we got a lot of reaction to Sean Hannity’s appearance last night – mostly negative, accusing us of imbalance.

But interestingly, no one mentioned the fact that tonight’s “freeSpeech” will be delivered by liberal blogger Arianna Huffington.

Meantime, if you're curious, you can check out the complete list of "freeSpeech" contributors here.

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