Iowa Public Television

Washington Week

Episode #4318

Moderator: Gwen Ifill. This week has been a violent one in Iraq. The hotel housing Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz on his visit to the region was hit by rocket fire Sunday. The following day, suicide bombers attacked the Baghdad headquarters of the International Red Cross, as well as three police stations in the Iraqi capital. Undeterred, President Bush vows that "desperate attacks on innocent civilians will not intimidate us." Michael Duffy of Time will size up the latest developments. The candidates looking ahead to the 2004 presidential election know that events in Iraq matter not only to the war on terror, but to political battles as well. John Harwood of The Wall Street Journal will join the roundtable to assess the many sides to this story, from the president's confidence in his administration' s strategy to some Democratic candidates' changing outlooks on the situation. Pocket-book issues are always key in voters' calculations and they have some very upbeat numbers to take into account this week. Is the economy still in a "jobless" recovery? Is a true boom ahead? Jeff Birnbaum of Fortune Magazine will have a seat at the Washington Week table this week to analyze the consumer confidence and economic growth figures released in recent days. On Capitol Hill, House and Senate negotiators continue to work toward an agreement on Medicare modernization, including a prescription drug benefit for seniors. The Washington Post's Ceci Connolly has been watching the developments and will bring us the latest on this and other health care issues in news.
[26 minutes]

This episode has not aired in the past few months on Iowa Public Television.