Kurt Eichenwald, Vanity Fair, former reporter-NY Times. His new book is 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars. Over the last 11 years - it's been a question asked hundreds of times: Could 9/11 have been prevented if the Bush Adminstration had acted on the intelligence they had at the time. Of course - 9/11 did happen - and Bush took us to war with Iraq shortly thereafter. What was the planning for the Iraq war really like inside the White House - and what roles did the United States' closest allies play in it? We'll ask investigative journalist Kurt Eichenwald in a special edition of Conversations with Great Minds

Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Nation Magazine joins Thom Hartmann. For tonight’s Conversations with Great Minds - we’re going to take a closer look at the momentous decision by the Obama administration to normalize relations with Cuba. First announced on Wednesday - the move - which came after months of secret negotiations - is the most significant shift in American foreign policy towards Latin America in decades. Not surprisingly - it’s also causing a lot of controversy back here in the U.S. - with many Republicans slamming the president for what they say is another example of his “weakness” But what's the real deal with America's new policy towards Cuba? And who stands to benefit most from the end of one of the last remaining Cold War standoffs?

Helping write the I have a Dream Speech Joining Thom is Professor Clarence B. Jones, former personal counsel, advisor, draft speech writer and close friend of Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.; Scholar in Residence at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute at Stanford University.

Could encouraging more private investments in solar power and other forms of clean energy help make renewable forms of energy more popular in America - and lead to the downfall of dirty fossil fuels? That and more in our Conversations with Great Minds with Billy Parish. Billy is the co-founder and president of Mosaic - a solar power investment platform. In 2002 - Billy dropped out of Yale University to help found the Energy Action Coalition - which quickly grew into the largest youth advocacy organization in the world working on the climate change crisis. He's been honored by Rolling Stone magazine as a "Climate Hero," and by the Utne Reader as one of the "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World." Billy is also the co-author of the book, "Making Good: Finding Meaning, Money and Community in a Changing World."

Stewart Acuff, "Playing Bigger Than You Are" & Karen Nussbaum, Working America & Bill Spriggs, AFL CIO, joins Thom Hartmann. Today is May Day. Workers and activists from all over the world gathered to celebrate labor's achievements and demand social justice. With the wealth gap widening and union membership here in the United States at its lowest in decades - May Day is as important now as ever. After the break - I'll talk to tonight's Bigger Picture Panelists about the future of the labor movement and what workers are doing right now to fight back against the one percent.

Jared Genser, Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, LLC. He is also founder of Freedom Now, an independent non-profit organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide / Co-Editor (w/Irwin Cotler) "The Responsibility to Protect: The Promise of Stopping Mass Atrocities in Our Times" and author of the forthcoming, "The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Commentary and Guide to Practice." As the world's largest superpower - does the US always have a moral obligation to take military action to stop human rights atrocities?

Joining Thom is Professor Clarence B. Jones, former personal counsel, advisor, draft speech writer and close friend of Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.; Scholar in Residence at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute at Stanford University.