8am Helen Thomas
Commonly referred to as "The First Lady of the Press," former White House Bureau Chief Helen Thomas is a trailblazer, breaking through barriers for women reporters while covering every President since John F. Kennedy.

For 57 years, Helen also served as White House correspondent for United Press International. She recently left this post and joined Hearst Newspapers as a syndicated columnist.

Born in Winchester, Kentucky, Helen Thomas was raised in Detroit, Michigan where she attended public schools and later graduated from Wayne State University. Upon leaving college, Helen served as a copy girl on the old, now defunct Washington Daily News. In 1943, Ms. Thomas joined United Press International and the Washington Press Corps.

For 12 years, Helen wrote radio news for UPI, her work day beginning at 5:30 a.m. Eventually she covered the news of the Federal government, including the FBI and Capitol Hill.

Thomas has the distinction of having traveled around the world several times with Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, during the course of which she covered every Economic Summit. The World Almanac has cited her as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in America.

Helen Thomas has written four books, including Thanks for the Memories Mr. President: Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House, Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times, and her most recent, Watchdogs of Democracy (2006).

8:30am Senator Joe Biden
First elected to the United States Senate in 1972 at the age of twenty-nine, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is recognized as one of the nation’s most powerful and influential voices on foreign relations, terrorism, drug policy, and crime prevention.

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden is one of the Democratic presidential hopefuls. He was in Fairfield Sunday as featured guest for Iowa State Senator John Whitaker's ice cream social.

Senator Biden grew up in New Castle County, Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, and from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. Prior to his election to the Senate, Biden practiced law in Wilmington, Delaware and served on the New Castle County Council from 1970 to 1972. Since 1991, Biden has been an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on constitutional law.