Saturday Evening/Sunday Morning Political News/Debate Shows For July 29 & 30, 2006

A summary of the morning's political news/debate shows:

1. Meet the Press: Exclusive: Israel's Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Dan Gillerman and Lebanon's Special Envoy, Ambassador Nouhad Mahmoud on the violence in Israel and Lebanon. Also: an in-depth discussion with author and columnist Tom Friedman. (MSNBC)

2. Late Edition: Topic: "What's the next step for Israel and Lebanon?" Live from Jerusalem with the latest on the growing crisis in the Mideast. (CNN)

3. Face the Nation: Topic: "Crisis In The Middle East." Guests include: Fuad Siniora, Prime Minister of Lebanon, and Shimon Peres, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. (CBS)

4. This Week: Guests include: R. Nicholas Burns, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, on the status of diplomatic efforts to end the violence in the Middle East; and Daniel Ayalon, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, on the growing battle against Hezbollah. Roundtable: Fareed Zakaria, Time Magazine's Washington Bureau Chief Jay Carney, ABC News's Claire Shipman, and George Will on the impact of the Middle East crisis with US policy and politics. Voices: Lance Armstrong battles for a cancer cure. (ABC)

5. Fox News Sunday: Topics: "Latest on the Middle East crisis" and "New plan to stop the violence in Baghdad?" Guests include: Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns and Amb. Paul Bremer, former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority. (FOX News)

Other political news shows:

1. The Chris Matthews Show: Topics: "Is This America's War? If the US and Israel Don't Crush Hezbollah, Who Will?" "Could the Stem Cell Veto Be the Key to a Democratic Takeover of Congress?" "Bush's two front war: How dangerous is the new threat from Hezbollah? And is the Iraq war hampering the US diplomatic efforts in Lebanon?" and "The Democrats' new primary calendar for '08: Does it hurt Hillary? Does it help John Edwards become the sole rival to her?" Guests include: Howard Fineman, Newsweek chief political correspondent; Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News White House correspondent; Andrew Sullivan, Time magazine columnist; and Gloria Borger, CBS News. (CNBC)

2. Fox News Watch: Topic: "Are reporters being manipulated by Hezbollah as the conflict in the Middle East continues to rage?" (FOX News)

3. The Beltway Boys: Topics: "Israel keeps pounding away at Hezbollah in Lebanon as pressure builds for a cease-fire" "Iraq's prime minister gets a mixed reception on trip to U.S." and "And what Howard Dean said that had Dems cringing." (FOX News)

4. Heartland: Topics: "Live in the Middle East with reports from the Israel/Lebanon border" and "Stranded in Lebanon: John talks to an American pastor who couldn't get out." Guest: Singer Brian Littrell (FOX News)