pac-man, but not when you are tortured by satire. >> remember, we want you to check out our political podcast. sub crime at cnn.com/situationroom. up next is "low dobbs tonight." president obama's effort to push his health care ajen day through congress. senator majority leader harry reid saying there would be no vote by the president's deadline. complete coverage of what could be a pivotal point in the health care initiative and the presidency of barack obama. also tonight, the showdown over the arrest of a black harvard professor is escalating after the president said police in cambridge, massachusetts, acted stupidly. the police sergeant involved in the arrest said she followed procedure and has nothing to apologize for. and the left wing media launching an all-out attack against me because i simply called for transparency on the

issue of the president's birth certificate and said the president is a u.s. citizen. a comment, by the way, that was not quoted by the left wing media. we'll exam this controversy in our face-off debate here tonight. first, a major setback for the president's health care plans. senate majority leader harry reid declared there will be no senate vote on health care until the fall. despite the president's urgent call for a vote by august 1st. senator reed says he wants a bill based on quality and thoughtfulness. meanwhile, house speaker nancy pilosi said she would take that legislation to the floor of the house when it is ready. she did not rule out keeping lawmakers at work over the august recess. dana bash is on capitol hill. ed henry is traveling with president obama in cleveland, ohio. kandi crowley is in our washington, d.c. studios. first, dana bash on capitol hill. >> reporter: the writing was already on the wall, but this made it official.

the senate will miss the president's deadline for a health care vote by next month. >> i think that it is better to have a product that is one that's based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than trying to jam something through. >> reporter: why the delay? a big reason is disagreement among the president's fellow democrats. in fact, inside this room just before that announcement, democrats tried to hash out health care legislation and had what forces described to cnn as a lively and contentious meeting. democrats voicing objections and differing opinions to many aspects of what bipartisan negotiators had been working on. >> it was the most honest discussion of agreements and disagreements that i've been a part of in the last three months. >> it has given me a very good opportunity to learn from

senators on the committee at what they what, what they don't want. what the real concerns are. >> reporter: concern and democratic disagreement continues to delay a house vote as well. house democratic leaders had their own testy meeting in this room. >> it might be one of the most contentious. >> reporter: democrat divide here. conservative democrats want to slow down saying their party spends and taxing too much without sufficiently cutting medical costs. liberal democrats, including the members of the black caucus, disagree. >> we are concerned about the efforts to delay and frustrate this process. >> reporter: but unlike the senate where now house leaders are determined to pass a bill by august recess. >> we leave here without doing this, nobody is going to interpret our going home as listening to people. all of you are going to report that we are taking an vacation in august without doing it. that's the headline. >> reporter: behind those doors,

those closed doors, six senate negotiators are working to try to craft another headline, and that is a bipartisan deal on health care reform, but, lou, it is still unclear if they can even do that by the time congress leaves for august recess because they say that they are working, they are making progress, but they told the democratic leader they are not going to be rushed. lou? >> they are not going to be rushed. this all comingless than 24 hours after the president of the united states was insisting that they meet his deadline. this is straight-forwardly a rebuke to the president on that issue encircling. >> reporter: there's no question they are not giving the president what he wants, but they are trying to give him what he needs, which is enough votes to pass the priority. what democrats and republicans alike will tell you who are working in that room, and they are working as we speak, lou, they will tell you they are trying to find some way to craft something that will actually get the 60 votes needed to pass the senate. nevermind the differences and

disagreements among the president's hone democrats in the house. >> thank you, dana bash, from capitol hill. the president today said he's okay with the delay in the health care legislation as long as lawmakers are working out tough problems. president obama, however, said change cannot come soon enough for the american people. ed henry is traveling with president obama and reports now from cleveland. ed, the president's reaction to the setback from senator reid. >> reporter: well, lou, he is trying to put the best face on what is clearly a blow, but we just got new information that tomorrow morning the president is going to be meeting at the white house with max baucus, the chairman of the senate finance committee, as well as with harry reid. clearly, the democratic leaders are trying to huddle behind closed doors to figure out where to go from here because democratic leaders did, in fact, push back on the president. he was the one demanding the

deadline of august to at least get some of this cleared through both the house and the senate saying that was the best weapon against what he called inertia in washington. instead, now the president today trying to say, look, i'm okay with you pushing it back somewhat, but he was trying to stand firm in saying he still wants to wrap all this up in the fall and in a packed town hall crowd here in a suburb of cleveland, he urged people to put pressure and hate heat on congress. >> if i think people are really working through these difficult issues, and making sure that we get it right, but i don't want to delay just because of politics. and i have to tell you sometimes delays in washington occur because people just don't want to do anything that they think might be controversial. >> reporter: there was also a subtle shift in the president's sales pitch today as well. you probably heard it last night

at the news conference, talking a lot about insurance reform instead of health care reform. that's because the president heard the criticism from people who currently have insurance wondering what is in it for them, basically saying the focus has been too much on the 46 million or 47 million uninsured right now, people who have insurance coverage wondering if they are going to face higher taxes to pay for bringing in more people to be covered, but wondering what's exactly going to happen. do they have to move out of their current plans? the president is trying to reassure those with insurance coverage that he's trying to strengthen and stabilize their own coverage, lou. >> straight-forwardly, it seems the response on the part of the senate and the house to public opinion has turned decidely against the president on the issue of health care legislation. is that correct? and, of course, those in the house and many in the senate facing election far sooner than does president obama.

>> reporter: look, lawmakers on capitol hill in both parties read the polls closely as the democratic and republican people in the white house do. that clearly has an impact. on the other hand, the president is correct in saying he's making some progress. clearly, not as much as he wanted because the deadline has been thrown out the window, but the fact of the matter is as dana was reporting, the lawmakers have not gone home. they are still working away. the president trying to push them along. he hasn't gotten where he wants to, ultimately, but they have not shut the door on reform either. >> do i take it from what you just said that his success in all this, the progress you were talking about, is that the senate and the house have not yet left town? >> reporter: well, the fact is that a bill, the progress they cite is the fact that the bill has gone through the house committee and the energy commerce has gone through the senate house committee. it has not gone through the senate finance committee. that would be real progress and they have not gotten that yet.

>> thank you, ed henry, traveling with the president. one of the biggest obstacles is a group of conservative democrats known as the blue dogs. in last night's primetime news con friend, president obama tried to convince those very democrats and other skeptics to support his health care plan. kandi crowley is joining us live from washington. what do you make of today's setback for the president on health care? >> reporter: i think it says a couple things. first of all, we should say it was inevitable you watched over the past couple of weeks and saw the kind resistance he was getting and congress just doesn't move at what were speed, as we all know. that's one thing, but the other thing is, why is it taking -- it is not that the process is slowing this down, it is the conservative democrats and sometimes moderate democrats and republicans that are slowing it down because they have real policy differences here that they are looking at. primarily, they are looking at the cost of this and nobody likes some of the ways that they are coming up with it.

is there a surtax on the rich, the president doesn't want to do that. everybody talks about cost savings because that's a favorite thing for people to talk about to take out all the waste. there are huge problems here. i take away from this that the president is going to have to do wheeling and dealing. that's how things get done on capitol hill. he needs to go to his confident dants on capitol hill and ask, what is it going to take to get 60 votes? what's the minimum i have to give on to get the bill through the senate. >> there's political horse training, but, again, speaking with ed henry, candy, we are looking at a decided shift in public opinion on this and $24 trillion is the latest estimate on the cost of the bailouts. $2 trillion in budget deficit alone for this fiscal year. there is a great anxiety that

extends across the aisle on what is happening here to the federal budget. >> reporter: yes, there absolutely is. i think -- i know that these congress men and senators are hearing just that from many of their constituents says, listen, this is just too expensive. s a ed was talking about, what's going to happen to my health insurance when more people have health insurance than don't. they are getting enormous amounts of pushback. the polling has gone down. here are two different vups. the white house says the polling has gone down for approval of the president and the handling of health care because there's so much bad information out there put out by the republicans and the republicans will say the polling has gone down because the more people learn about these plans the more they dislike it. take your choice. >> not a particularly good choice either way you cut it for the president and the deadline he had set. all right. thank you very much, candy crowley, as always.

much more on the issue of health care legislation. we'll have a face-off debate on the president's health care agenda between two leading members of congress. stay with us for that. also, new controversy after the president stepped in to a confrontation and controversy over the arrest of a black harvard professor. the fbi is arresting mayors, lawmakers and rabbis in the largest corruption bust of its kind. this case is not about politics, it is certainly not about relinl. it is about crime, corruption, it is about arrogance and the shocking betrayal of the public trust. >> and we'll report on the latest from the series of corruption scandals among elected officials, governor arnold schwarzenegger on the offensive over his budget cuts with a 2-foot knife.

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just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthritis pain all day. a sweeping federal corruption investigation today resulting in the arrest of elected officials, rabbis, the mayors of three new jersey cities, two state legislators and several rabbis. among the more than 40 people arrested, the charges range from money laundering to trafficking and human body parts. debra farrick with our report. >> reporter: it began as an investigation into international money laundering allegedly by a handful of prominent new jersey rabbis with ties to israel. it turned into a far-reaching probe of public corruption in new jersey as nearly 30 politicians and public officials, democrats and republicans, were rounded up in the largest steep of its kind. >> this case is not about politics, it is certainly not

about religion, it is about crime, corruption, it is about arrogance, it is about a shocking betrayal of the public trust. >> reporter: the two cases are linked by a single cooperating witness posing as a real estate developer, but, in fact, working for the government says new jersey's top prosecutor. >> i don't donate, i invest. the c.w. would get together in meetings, lunches, diners, offices, basement boiler rooms and bathrooms. and the politicians willingingly put themselves up for sale. >> reporter: prosecutors say mayors, deputy mayors, councilmen and assemblymen took envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for political favors. one of the most damaging statements allegedly made, hoboken mayor peter comradery iii told a phony developer he would become a priority while,

quote, the people who were against us the whole way get ground into powder. ed has been working the case for ten years. >> corruption is not only invasive, it is ingrained in new jersey's political culture. >> reporter: jon corzine criticized the corruption while asking one of his staff to step down after he was investigated and not charged. >> this morning i asked for the resignation of joe doria and he has agreed to resign. >> reporter: the same cooperating witness who aledly was paying the public officials bribes earlier infiltrated the money laundering investigation involving rabbis allegedly taking thieves and laundering millions of dollars to their charitable organization. debra farick, cnn, newark, new jersey. >> new jersey is not the only state where elected officials are corrupt. in recent years there have been several high-profile examples of politicians behaving very badly. brooke baldwin with our report.

>> reporter: mayors busted. assemblymen, busted. prosecutors in new jersey name 44 suspects in a wide-ranging corruption investigation. >> for these defendants, corruption was a way of life. >> reporter: americans elect our leaders to lead. but time and time again, according to one watchdog group, lawmakers act as though they are above the law. >> they think getting a job with the public trust is like winning the lottery and use it to align their own pockets as opposed to protect the taxpayer. >> reporter: there's disgraced illinois governor rod blagojevich accused of trying to sell obama's senate seat. former detroit mayor kwame kilpatrick pled guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice. and william jefferson, $90,000 in cash was found in his

freezer. he pled not guilty to charms of racket earring and bribery. it is not just corruption. last month south carolina governor mark sanford was caught and confessed to an affair with a woman in argentina. presidential hopeful john edwards admitted to cheating on his cancer-stricken wife. senator larry craig who pled guilty to disorderly conduct after an embarrassing encounter in a minneapolis airport. and former new york governor eliot spitzer engaging in hooker hanky-panky. this psychiatrist says many of these men, and they are all men, possess an unhealthy dose of narsism. >> if you take that mix, a person vulnerable, and you mix them with a lot of power, all right, power that is isolating, which prevents them from feeling the shame and guilt which may have already kept them within bounds, then you get a recipe for what we are seeing right now. >> reporter: as long as there are people in positions of power, dr. norris says krumgs,

sex and politics will go hand in hand. >> all right. thank you very much, brooke. >> i'll have a few thoughts about political corruption and other issues. join me on monday through friday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. please follow me on lou dobbs news on twitter.com. still ahead, democrats delay the president's health care initiative. what it means for the obama presidency. the subject of our face-off debate tonight. and california's governor arnold schwarzenegger joking about budget cuts knife in hand? his critics say it is no laughing matter, however. we'll have the report and the racial firestorm after the arrest of a prominent harvard scholar. was it racial profiling or was it appropriate police procedure?

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news tonight on the economy. the national association of realtors says home sales rising for a third straight month.

the first time that has happened in five years. hole sales up 3.6% in the month of june. that's higher than economists had expected and home sales are up in all four regions of the country. the good news led to a rally on wall street today. the dow jones industrial is jumping nearly 200 points closing above 9000 for the first time since january. turning to california and its budget mess, lawmakers there scheduled to vote on a plan to close the state's massive $26 billion budget deficit. the plan includes proposed cuts to programs including education and public safety. governor schwarzenegger doesn't seem too concerned. in fact, he's been joking a bit about it and that doesn't please some people in california. casey ryan with our report. >> reporter: california governor arnold schwarzenegger posted this video on his twitter page wednesday posing with a large hunting knife. a clear reference to the $15 billion in cuts to education,

health care, welt fair and other state services. the governor and legislative leaders agreed to them this week. >> you are talking about budget cuts, you are waving a knife, some people think it is insensitive to joke around like that. >> people need to have a little bit of a sense of humor. you know, that's me. you know, you send a governor to sacramen sacramento, you sent someone a little more entertainer and has more fun with the whole thing. not that i have fun with making the cuts, they sadden me, but fun with the job itself. >> reporter: on twitter schwarzenegger also thanked the constituents who sent ideas on novel ways to close california's $26 billion budget deficit. one example having the former action hero governor autograph surplus automobiles being sold by the state. >> why don't you sign the car since you are a celebrity governor. sign the cars and sell them for more money. that's exactly what we are going

to do. >> reporter: but others inclu including officials from 188 california cities are in no joking mood threatening to sue the city for budget illusions of nearly $4.7 billion in money from cities and counties. >> it is amazing that they think they can break the law like this and get away with it. they will have to do what every city council in this state has done, and that is balance their budget with their funds. >> reporter: for three weeks california has avoided doing that by issuing 180,000 ious. contractors and state vendors worth nearly $800 million. state lawmakers are voting on the budget deal tonight and it is expected to be a contentious process, in part because the agreement leaves so many questions unanswered. among them, the agreement to cut spending in prisons by $1 billion. that would require the release of tens of thousands of prisoners early, but a vote on that has been put off for

several weeks, lou. >> and the press there in california is worried about a governor with a 2-foot knife? it seems like they might focus on something for substantive. >> reporter: the press reports out here have been focused on the substantive, lou, and the fact that the budget deficit measures are entirely speculative, the sale of the state assets, the governor is hoping to get. >> reporter: 1 billion by selling off properties. local reports say that's not likely to happen. several things with the budget -- >> no matter what happens, they still have to borrow billions of dollars. >> reporter: absolutely. >> amazing. all right. thank you. up next, the left wing liberal media blasting me again because i want the president to live up to his promise of transparency on his birth certificate. by the way, i believe a president is a citizen, but for some reason the left wing media

felt it inconvenient to report that part of the story. also, some democrats, including the leader of the senate, are stopping the legislative initiative before the deadline called for by the president. that's the subject of our face-off debate and the showdown over the arrest of a black harvard professor is escalating. the police sergeant involved gives his account of what happened after criticism from the president of the united states. but i did. you need to talk to your doctor about aspirin. you need to be your own advocate. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. you take care of your kids, now it's time to take care of yourself. it can be tough living with copd... but i try not to let it slow me down. i go down to the pool for a swim... get out and dance... even play a little hide-n-seek. i'm breathing better... with spiriva. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day.

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controversy over the president's criticism of crime bridge cambridge, massachusetts, police in the arrest of henry louis gates. gates, an african-american, was arrested last thursday. police were summoned to his home by a neighbor who reported a break-in by two black men. james crowley said gates became disrunnive and abusive and then he was arrested. gates claims he's the victim of racial profiling by the police. president obama in his news conference last night said the cambridge police acted, this is his word, stupidly. joining me now with more, cnn's soledad o'brien. good to have you with us. and candy crowley, thank you for coming back to talk about this.

let me start, if i may, with just the president's comments in the midst of a presidential news conference last night. i say in the midst at the end of it, the president. >> the came bridge came bridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof they were in their own home. >> all right. soledad, was the president out of line? >> i don't know if he was out of line. i do think that the two people involved, henry louis gates and the police officer are consistent in their statements. they agree. there's no contradiction in what they are talking about. basically, they say the same thing. whether it is stupid or not or if the president is out of line is not for me to say, but what you see is the police officer gets there and he doesn't know what's going on, so he starts to investigate. but then, at some point, he establishes, in fact, the person he is dealing with is the homeowner and he then, third part, gets angry because the person is belligerent and

uncooperative and he arrests him. the two of them are consistent in their story. whether you want to define that as stupid or not, i can't say, but i would say it is a pretty interesting thing to see the police officer really admitting that he was arrested because he was uncooperative. in his own home. >> candy, your thoughts? >> reporter: i think if you would ask the white house at this point they would rather that particular sentence in what was a rather lengthy response to the gates' case, they would take it out. here is why. it is being seized upon as making a judgment about a case that many people feel will never really know what went on inside the house and how soledad is saying they have consistent stories, nonetheless, even the mayor this morning said we are trying to figure out exactly what happened. we know that the head of the police in cambridge said the department was deflated hearing this. it was not something that you

hear a president say, making a judgment like that, it is -- certainly, it was pretty harsh. now, if he, again, he went on to say, i don't know the facts of the case and i'm a little biased because i'm a personal friend of gates, so there was that. then he went on to say the police acted stupidly and it has been seized upon by critics saying he shouldn't have said it. >> did the president play into stereotypes? >> i'm not sure those are stereotypes. it is a fact it is a touchstone for people of color that the sbrer actions with police become hostile. there's an expectation sometimes that you can be a black person and maybe this is not your home, that there may have been a different scenario if professor gates was white. i think what people seized upon was that experience. i have heard in my reporting with "black in america" consistent stories. not only is it the house, but who's car is this?

let me see your id, i.d. are you the nanny of this kid? >> is the president cast, however n a different position because of the office he holds? >> i can't answer that because i don't cover the president. i'm sure as candy says, stupidly, just because of the fact that everyone is talking about that word, probably, if you are dealing with press for the president, you think, hmm, wouldn't it be better if people were talking about health care today. >> perhaps not health care as well. >> possibly so, but i can say that he addressed an issue that people of color feel very strongly about, that they have a different treatment by officers. and the fact that this white police officer is an expert in race relations and seems kind baffled that the black guy would be angry with the white police officer in his house, i think that's kind of an interesting element, too. all these are, again, in the police officer's own words. >> what do you find baffling from the perspective of the white police sergeant? >> he's an expert in racial

profiling, so this is something he has done for five years. >> given the circumstances. >> i think he was following police procedure. what's going on? i'm getting a report. he says he was surprised that the person he was dealing with was not grateful that he was there. i think here's a person, an officer not necessarily thinking of what professor gates is seeing, which is a white police officer has come into my home and is trying to figure out -- >> with black officers with him. >> the white police officer was by himself, at first. one of the reasons he was concerned, he said, was he was alone with no backup. he didn't know what was going on. he wanted to follow police procedure to make sure there was nothing happening. but he as the guy expert in racial profiling, he said, you know, he was behaving irrationally, professor gates, and he said he should be grateful i was there. i think he seemed, i would describe that as a little baffled, a little baffled that why is professor gates not grateful i'm here to help him out. professor gates is clearly

angry, furious, however you want to describe it. >> was he reacting on the basis of racial stereotypes? >> was professor gates? >> correct. >> again, i cannot possibly answer that question because i was not there. i will say, i would understand why a black man would be angry in his own home. >> candy, your thoughts? >> reporter: well, what was interesting to me listening to the president is that he did talk about the thing soledad is talking about now. he said, listen, i don't know if this was racial profiling. what i do know is that racial profiling exists. that it does happen. and this is something we as a country need to look at and to try to correct. again, i think his words, if he had not said that the police department acted stupidly after admitting he didn't know really what the facts were, i don't think this would be the cause for criticism. >> we should point out that aboard air force one today press secretary robert gibbs did try

to use one of your expressions there in washington, d.c., candy, trying to walk back the president from where he took the administration. let's see what robert gibbs had to say. let me be clear, he, the president of the united states, was not calling the officer stupid. cooler heads on all sides should have prevailed. that clearly substantiates your perspective on it, candy. this is what candy -- this is what sergeant crowley said to y today. let's listen in. >> he's the president of the united states and i support the president to a point, i guess. i think it is disappointing that he waded into a local issue. >> it is interesting, because both professor gates and

sergeant crowley initially said that both the city and harvard, the professor and the sergeant had resolved things and were not going to move further. >> here's the thing. he said it is a local issue. the point is it is not a local issue. racial profiling is an issue as a whole. whether it happened this in case, i don't know. this is a national problem. this is what the president was pointing out in this press conference last night. >> had he done that, that would be one thing. if he said that was a national issue, that would be one thing but he went to the issue of circumstances involving his friend. >> i think what the police officer is saying, hey, this is local, and i'm saying, the reason people are reacting the way they are is that it is not a local issue. it is a national issue. it is a thing that any person of color can relate to, the fact that there's an interaction between a white police officer and a person of color and a person an expert in racial

profiling or race relations should be aware of that. >> you are going to get the last word here, candy. >> i love that. oh, candy. i thought he was giving it to me, candy. >> you are getting the last word, candy. where are we with this? >> reporter: the president has given this story, we'll use another washington term, more legs. i think the story moves forward. i don't know if it only moves forward locally, but the president spoke about it again tonight in an interview with abc and said he didn't understand what the -- why this was such a weird thing and what the uproar was about, essentially. i think this goes on. i think it will be interesting because i will bet you anything there will be poll about this and how people feel. it would be very interesting to see how that comes out. >> all right. candy, thank you very much. soledad, the second part of your special report on "black in america" coming up at the top of the hour.

what are we going the see tonight? we have been focused on success and deconstructing success. how people are achieving it and we are looking at programs and people's opportunities that are both reppicable and scaleable. how does it work and how are they doing it? that's the focus of "black in america 2." >> success. we want to talk about that. cnn's special report "black in america 2" is coming up at the top of the hour on cnn right after this broadcast. next, a major setback on the president's health care plan. questions on why the president won't release his original birth certificate in the liberal media attacking me on the issue? no, the left wing of the national liberal media is attacking me. we'll find out the accuracy and the records about the president's citizenship. >> ping i think the president of the united states is a citizen, but what i don't understand is

why he just doesn't produce it to get the noise out of the way. i believe barack obama is a citizen of the united states, folks. don't you? but i do have a couple of little questions like you. why not just provide a copy of the birth certificate. that's entirely within the president's power to do so. then all the nonsense goes away. i don't know what the reality is. do i believe he is a citizen? yes, i do, absolutely, but i would think it would be a nice thing to produce that birth certificate. isn't it interesting that a single outlet in the left wing national media, just that little part of the national media, chose to include a single one of those quotes from me. we'll have much more on the issue of the president's birth certificate in our face-off debate next. to stay on top of my game after 50,

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president obama promiseed trarns parency and openness in his administration, yet he's chosen not to release his original birth certificate or a copy of it. a number of americans are asking why not. the left wing media has attacked me because i simply asked the question. meanwhile, the state of hawaii says it cannot release a paper copy of the president's original birth certificate because they say the government discarded the original document when the health department records went electronic eight years ago. that explanation, however, is not satisfying some critic. joining me now, roland martin,

and joining us as well, congressman ted poe. before we get started, i want to be clear where i stand because the left wing media kind of forgot to leave -- kind of left a few things out. it was inconvenient to their story. just one statement very quickly, if you will. play that. >> i think the president of the united states is a citizen, but what i don't understand is why he just doesn't produce it to get this noise out of the way. i believe barack obama is a citizen of the united states, folks. don't you? but i do have a couple of little questions like you. why not just provide a copy of the birth certificate that's entirely within the president's power. >> why not? that's the question. roland martin, what's the answer? >> first and foremost, he's produced the box yumt he received in the state of hawaii. you are saying where's the original according to the state of hawaii where it is a document that establishes where he was born. what's the issue? >> you don't think the president has a copy?

>> what's the issue? he's the president. he's certified and in hon office. >> you make it sound like he's anointed. >> no, he's the president of the united states. what's the point? he's presented a document. the state of hawaii is saying he was born there. what's the issue? >> ted poe, what's the issue? >> well, the president has not produced a birth certificate. he has produced a birth announcement from the state of hawaii. this can all be setted if he would just produce the birth certify call and that's why we have introduced legislation that in future elections that the president prove that he is a resident for 14 years, that he's over 35 and that he's a native-born american. that applies to everyone and we get done with the controversy and move on down the road. >> that's nonsense. you are a state judge in texas. i was born this houston and i remember seeing your stories all the time. my dad, when he got a passport, he didn't have his original birth certificate. he got a copy of the birth

certificate and satisfied his passport, satisfied the state department, how can you say that's legitimate if the president did not present what the state of hawaii said is an official document with their seal on it? >> because it is not a birth certificate or a copy of the birth certificate. it is a birth announcement. it is like me sending out a birth announcement for one of my child. >> that is an official document. what is in the newspaper is a birth announcement, congressman. come on. >> let me interject. can we just put up a copy of that certificate of live birth? what you are looking at there, which i believe is the copy that come comes to us, there's no reference there to the attending physician, there's no reference there to the hospital in which he was born, it is a certificate that refers to the fact that another certificate exists. >> it is an official state document. is it an official state document of the state of hawaii? >> let me try this again so i

can be really clear about it. it is a document that says there's another document. it does not include, you are referring to your father's birth certificate, a copy of his birth certify call, it would have the doctor, the hospital he was born in, correct? this is -- by the way, this is just what people are concerned about. >> whose people? >> there are 600,000 people. >> 13% of american, 39 million still think he has muslim and we have done everything to debudget that as an absolute lie. it is irrelevant. >> that's fine. >> i don't know why you are getting so upset. >> congressman, you probably have better things to do, congressman, than this silly little -- >> your side was often -- >> congressman, let me correct you with something. >> he produced his birth certify call from arizona. >> nice try. i voted republican over democrat. don't try your side.

i thought the left wing people were nuts as well. >> just produce the birth certificate. >> it is silly. it is silly. are you losing sleep over this? lou, are you losing sleep -- >> roland, i would like you to remember, if you would, and i'm trying to be as nice as i can be, but you are yelling and getting awfully excited about something that doesn't require this. >> i think it isly hair hilarious. >> then laugh. the congressman may take your remarks a different way. all that i ask is that you relax just a bit. let's take a look at the headlines from the new york times, if we may, from last year when at question was senator john mccain's citizenship and see if we can see a difference in the way in which they have approached this issue. this is "the new york times." a hint of new life to the mccain birth issue. mccain's own birth prompts

queries of if that rules him out. "the new york times" in july last year with an article that goes on. the issue of justices turning back the challenge on obama tha challenge on obama rumors. there's an obvious difference in tone here when talking about john mccain and barack obama. >> the issue that we had -- your issue is about a certificate. it's not about how -- >> no, no. my issue is this. when this could be dispelled so quickly and simply by producing it, why not do it. >> he has produced a document that is status factory, but to you. he's not here to satisfy lou dobbs. he's the president of the united states. he probably has other things on his mind than satisfying lou

dobbs. he has presented a document that is legal. because you're not satisfied, okay. >> don't worry about my satisfaction. >> is there a big deal? >> the best way to prevent anything from happening in the future, there's a birth certificate. if you have your child that wants to be in the little league, you've got to prove he's a resident. why can't the president do that? that's all this legislation does, that in future elections, we don't have these problems. just produce the birth certificate. >> a document from hawaii is not a birth certificate. that's the bottom line. it's a legal document, but not

the birth certificate. >> this document couldn't pass on little league in hawaii. if you were still sitting on the bench, you would say this is another one of those useless lawsuits we see every day. you'd probably say, come on, give me a break. >> so you're not content to speak for yourself. congressman, you get the last word here. >> well, without belaboring the point, in future elections, the president candidates, it came up with romney, goldwater and now obama. they're over 35, we won't have these disagreements and that's what we ought to do. >> thank you very much.

you don't need to because, some would suggest that's irrelevant. coming up, another deadline missed that the president's health care plan has run into trouble. a leading member of congress joins us. stay with us. i still got osteoporosis. i never thought i could do more than stop my bone loss. then my doctor told me i could, with once-monthly boniva. boniva works with your body to help stop and reverse bone loss. studies show, after one year on boniva, nine out of ten women stopped and reversed their bone loss. i know i did. (announcer) don't take boniva if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease or can't sit or stand for at least one hour. follow dosing instructions carefully. stop taking boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. if jaw problems or severe bone, joint, and/or muscle pain develop, tell your doctor. i've got this one body, and this one life, so i wanted to stop my bone loss.

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announcer: now, a free phone service shows captions of everything a caller says. i'd like to make an appointment to see the doctor. announcer: to learn more about captioned telephone, call 1-800-552-7724 or go to our website. i'll see you at 3:00! announcer: captioned telephone - enjoy the phone again! another deadline missed as the president's health care plan is now stalled in congress. joining me now, a supporter of the president's plan. debbi wasserman schultz. obviously, contention in the house of representatives. an outright statement that ends in the prospect of meeting a deadline in the senate.

how much trouble is the president's plan in? >> i don't think it's in any trouble at all. this is a really significant reform. we're trying to reform the health insurance industry and make sure we can cover everyone in america. we are really being careful about the details and making sure that if you lose your job, you don't lose your health insurance. we're trying to make sure you don't have to worry about being dropped for a preexisting condition. >> may i? here's where we are. >> they're not talking points. the reality is that -- >> ma'am, may i? >> you absolutely may. >> thank you. the polls show a complete right now, reversal of fortunes for health care. how is it that the house and the senate can overcome what is

clearly opposition now in the public to the president's handling of health care? >> lou, i reject your premise that there's an outright reversal. there has been some flippage in the polling where it is not in the 60s or 70s where people support specific legislation they think we're considering, but the majority of americans, it is still over 50% that support making sure that we can reform health care insurance. that we can make sure that everyone in america is covered, that we can make sure that they, that small business owners can continue to provide health insurance or for their employees if they can't now. those are real issues and real issues that affect our economy. and the only way as president obama said last night, please let me finish now, lou. if we make sure we reform health care insurance so that we can

stop the bleeding because we won't fix the deficit without fixing health care snurns. >> how will you pay for it? >> we're putting together legislation to make sure through cost savings and belt tightening, will wring a lot of the excess waste in the health insurance system right now. >> got a hard out here. i thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> we'll be right back.