local listing in your area. and please follow me on lou dobbs news on twitter.com. we'll have us a hoot or a tweet, whatever. thanks for being with us tonight and join us here tomorrow. thank you for watching. good night from new york. now campbell brown. tonight, here are the questions we want answers. is the biggest terrorist threat now in our own backyard? americans busted in north carolina planning attacks. hear why some experts are sounding the alarm and say what we don't know can hurt us. plus, tonight's news maker, colin powell, what he says about the harvard professor arrested in his own home. >> i'm saying skip, perhaps in this instance might have waited a while, come outside, talk to the officer and that might have been the end of it. i think he should've reflected on whether or not this was the

time to make this big of deal. >> more from this exclusive interview. also will there be an arrest in the death of michael jackson? cops surrounding the las vegas office of conrad murray. helicopters hover overhead. what were they looking for? and where is dr. murray now? and legalizing marijuana. california will let the voters decide. will the golden state go green? hi, everybody, those are the big questions tonight. but we're going to start as we always do, with the mash-up. our look at all of the stories making an impact right now. the moments you may have missed today. we're watching it all so you don't have to. and we begin with new developments in the jackson investigation. it was all happening in las vegas today. investigators swooped down on the home and office of michael jackson's personal doctor, conrad murray.

>> los angeles police and federal drug agents made a house call today on a doctor. michael jackson's personal physician. >> for six hours police and drug enforcement agents searched the home and office of michael jackson's doctor. >> search warrants here at the doctors office and at his home. >> reporter: dr. murray had been living with jackson being paid $150,000 per month. he reportedly gave the singer propofol through an iv and would allegedly shut it off at a time that jackson wanted to wake up. >> we know from other doctors that you cannot give propofol outside a hospital setting. clearly based upon the search warrant they're looking for evidence of manslaughter. >> now, police were still searching dr. conrad's office late this afternoon. we're going to have a whole lot more on this coming up. president obama talked health care today with thousands of members of the aarp. his favorite tool to explain his plan, the analogy. try this one. >> if you got your car fixed at

a mechanic and three weeks later you had to go back and you had to pay again to get your car fixed all over again, you'd be pretty mad. wouldn't you? >> that, of course, why hospitals need to get it right the first time. here's another one. >> when you go into the bank, you got an atm, if you use your credit card they'll find you really quick and the billings really easy, right? >> the analogy for why digitizing records is so important. and, of course, this. >> if you could figure out a way to reduce your heating bill by insulating your windows, then that money that you saved, you're still warm inside, you're just as comfortable as you were, it's just you're not wasting all that energy and sending it in the form of higher bills to the electric company.

>> huh? we had a little trouble figuring that one out, but that's how we'll reduce costs without sacrificing care, of course. now the president's schedule is locked in for thursday at 6:00 p.m. that meeting with harvard professor henry gates and cambridge police sergeant james crowley, has any backyard beer ever gotten so much attention? >> this will be the table where we're told they'll share some beers. it's right next to the swing set. i would even make like a drinking contest. >> does anyone else think this is a little odd? >> it's bizarre. >> bizarre, they're going to have this beer fest. >> i can't believe how many newspaper articles were debating what kind of beer they should have. the story goes on and on. >> i'm moving on. >> they really should've had vodka, but whatever. >> could you imagine if he would've said corona. you have to say bud. >> you know, if beer is diplomacy, i think we can start -- we're not allowed to open it on television, but we want to be part of the party.

>> maybe they can figure out health care after all of this gets resolved. >> white house press secretary robert gibbs said it will be quote a poignant moment. one we will certainly see all of the news. another step forward for judge sonia sotomayor, the senate judiciary committee approved her nomination today, no surprise there. a bit of surprise in this, though. a bit of candid bipartisan point of view here. the -- over the issue of the process that the process stinks. take a look. >> we need to change the rules for the hearings. we need to let judges really know, let us know what they think. >> if a nominee were to be rejected for not answering questions it might set a tone, but that's not going to happen. >> for many years we have seen a familiar pattern from nominees. democrat and republican alike who have learned that the path of least resistance is to limit their responses and cautiously cloak them in generalities.

>> these hearings have become little more than theater where senators try to ask clever questions and nominees try to come up with clever ways to respond. >> more chances for theater when the full senate debates the nomination and then votes next week. sarah palin's farewell speech left many questions like what's next for her and what was she talking about? william shatner took the speech and adding a beat on the "tonight show," it is the punch line. >> soaring through nature's finest snow. denali the great one, the cold, though, doesn't it split from the sourdough? in the summer time such extremes, summer time about 150 degrees hotter than just some months ago and then just some months from now.

and it is as throughout all alaska that big wild good life, teaming along the road that is north. to the future. >> william shatner. >> and that is brilliant. but real shatner fans know he has done this before. william shatner circa 1978. check it out. >> 9:00 a.m., and i'm going to be -- a kite. a macho man they think i am. no, no, i'm a rocket man. >> william shatner, the rocket man, and that is "the mash-up." the big question tonight,

we're going to get a little more serious here. how big is the terrorist threat here at home? a group of men busted in north carolina and six of them were americans. find out why some experts are sounding the alarms tonight. also, did michael jackson's doctor cause his death? there was a raid at his house today, we're going to take you there for some answers. and tonight's news maker, colin powell in an exclusive interview. rue since the day i me my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

a frightening terror plot is being uncovered in what may be most disturbing is that all of the suspects arrested so far, anyway, live right here in the u.s. authorities say these are among the eight people who plotted quote violent jihad overseas. >> the fbi says it's broken up a violent ring of home-grown terrorists arresting seven men

from south carolina. daniel patrick boyd and all but one of the other suspects are american citizens. >> they never came close to carrying out an attack, but they are in custody after the fbi busted their dreams to commit jihad overseas. >> they include this man, daniel boyd and his two sons. the investigators say boyd attended terrorist training camps in pakistan and afghanistan and recruited the others to train with him in north carolina. there were no known targets in the u.s. >> it's a huge problem in the united states. recruitment both into radical jihadist movements as well as home grown terrorists who want to attack us here in the united states. >> now, tonight, the search continues for the eighth suspect who's name is being withheld. so the big question tonight, how big is the threat from home grown terrorists? and we thought steve emerson joining us tonight from washington. right here in new york with me,

r.p. eddie, director of global issues for the white house national security council under bill clinton. welcome to both of you. steve, let me start with you on this. and just talk specifically a little bit about this group. what do we know about them? how much danger do you really think they really did pose? >> well, the group was instigated by daniel patrick boyd who had fought himself in the afghan jihad against the soviets in the late '80s and early '90s. he became a muslim, converted. the pictures now being seen are really reflective of his high school graduation pictures. he actually has a long beard, became very orthodox in the fundamentalist way and began teaching his children as well as friends that jihad was a necessary way of conducting behavior overseas. now he plotted together with seven other people ways to carry out suicide bombings in israel as well as attacks in jordan, pakistan, kosovo, and elsewhere. he also raised money to teach

youngsters as well as other would be recruits how to carry out jihad in the united states. that is he trained them in the u.s. to carry out jihad outside the u.s. and that's the danger here. i think the reason why they wrapped up the case at this point was that they were thwarted in carrying out jihad overseas and the arsenal they collected a massive arsenal, they believe the u.s. was an infidel country that could be targeted. they all swore allegiance to martyrdom and they were to die in carrying out suicide bombings. therefore the possibility existed they were train in the united states and carry out attacks here. >> let me add an allegedly, steve. they've only been arrested at this stage. we'll see where this takes us. but r.p., we've seen these islamic radicals arrested across the country from new york to miami to portland now. how severe do you think the problem is?

and are we -- to me, we in the media are very dismissive of this, we think these are just a bunch of whack jobs and we're not paying a whole lot of attention to it. are we making a huge mistake? >> the first is, what kind of threat from inside our own country? and the answer is that it's real, it's been around since before 9/11. different than the type of threat that hit us on 9/11, which was an external coming inside, but there are threats inside of this country. and you mentioned a number of cases, there are many others as we both know. then you get to the issue, are they jokers? is the threat real? the answer is, i think we do, and i think a lot of criticism that these cases aren't real and should be be ignored is entirely wrong because it's much easier to commit a terrorist attack than most people believe and many of these plots or groups are much more advanced than we give them credit for. these are real threats, the last point is we've seen home grown threats, of course, across europe and asia and those attacks are successful, why wouldn't that happen here? >> do you agree with that,

steve? are we ignoring these guys and incidents at our own peril? >> i think we are very dismissive. i think first of all, this story itself didn't get as much play because it didn't happen in new york or washington. number two, the plots were designed to be carried out outside the u.s. but these were determined, convinced, and very, very violent jihadists, allegedly, according to the indictment. we'll hear more at the sentencing on thursday. but certainly if you look at lodi, california, fort dix, new jersey, new york a couple of weeks ago where four muslims plotted to blow up two synagogues and shoot down a national guard plane. we see home grown terrorists who are muslims who converted either in prison or in the community or indigenously muslim who believe that jihad is okay to carry out. either here in the u.s. or more likely outside the u.s. but they use the u.s. as a base and it's illegal to do that, and it shouldn't be allowed because ultimately if you're prepared to carry out a suicide bombing in

let's say israel, you're a stone's throw away from carrying out one in the united states. >> r.p., i read the authorities tracking this group for three years. are we giving them the tools they need? fbi, law enforcement, are we devoting enough resources to this given that as you said we're not really paying that much attention as our government is paying attention for us. >> i think absolutely we are not giving enough resources. we think about the resources we put into the war on terror, immense amount of blood going overseas and with the cia around the world and other issues. internally, the only organization that's really capable of working on this in the united states is fbi. and maybe there's two, five, six, 7,000 fbi agents working on this in the u.s. and that's not enough. what we do have in this country are 1 million police officers all of whom who have local intelligence. they know what's out of place. they're not being asked or equipped or trained or really equipped or trained to deal with this threat. and that's something that needs to be worked on and a great

resource available to us. and these stories go on and on. some were thwarted with police. but the police need to be a big solution and need to be taken more seriously. >> pretty terrifying stuff. all right, steve emerson joining us from washington here. r.p. eddy with me here in new york. california taking the first step towards legalizing marijuana and michael phelps a swim suit controversy to tell you about all coming up in tonight's download. plus are overweight people in this country blowing up health care bills? or are they being scapegoated for the nation's health care crisis? we're going to hear two very different points of view on this very shortly. stay with us. - others buy the car of their dreams. - ( beeps ) during the lexus golden opportunity sales event, you can do both. it's an opportunity today. it's a lexus forever.

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a look now at some of the other must-see stories of the day. erica hill with tonight's download. the top u.s. commander there, general stanley mcchrystal expected to ask for even more boost on the ground. that's according to a senior u.s. military official. those troops would likely be used for conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance as well as dealing with roadside bombs and other explosives. the request could come in the next few weeks. a trial ordered for the man charged with gunning down a doctor who performed late-term abortion. at today's preliminary hearing, anti-abortionist -- tiller was shot at the church in may. he faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault. just a week after voters in oakland, california approved a tax on medical marijuana, a ballot measure was filed today that would legalize pot statewide. it is the second such initiative in recent weeks. this one would allow all adults

to possess up to an ounce and to grow pot for personal use in small gardens. now, if they do find enough signatures here, the measure could go to the voters next year. governor arnold schwarzenegger has said the idea does deserve serious consideration. and michael phelps actually lose a swimming championship because of what his rival fell? phelps' coach is furious after the german managed to beat the phenom. that other swimmer wore a high-tech swim suit made out of 100% polyurethane. now he's threatening to keep phelps out of that competition if they do not ban the high-tech swim wear. there's a new taser on the market, unlike no other stun gun to come before. it can zap three people at one time. until now tasers had to be reloaded after firing just one. there you go. three in one. >> okay.

>> i'd hate to see that showdown. >> erica hill. >> yeah, let's not. we'll see you later, erica. thanks. the big question tonight, will the doctor who gave michael jackson his final drug dose be charged? his home raided today by the dea. we are separating facts from rumor for you. also tonight's news maker, colin powell, his advice for the harvard professor arrested at home. >> there is no african-american in this country who has not been exposed to this kind of situation. do you get angry? yes, do you manifest that anger? you protest, try to get things fixed. but it's kind of better course of action to take it easy and don't let your anger make the current situation worse.

now to the very latest in the michael jackson case. are we on the verge of an arrest? check it out. this was the scene in las vegas

today, police cars surrounding the home and office of dr. conrad murray, jackson's personal physician. while news helicopters hovered overhead the searches came less than 24 hours after a source with knowledge of the investigation confirmed to cnn that dr. murray had administered a powerful drug that authorities do believe killed michael jackson. so is this a break in the case that we're talking about here? joining me now ted rowlands and jim ray. ted, let me start with you. helicopters flying above the house as we said out in vegas. give us the very latest. what's going on? >> reporter: well, right now, they are just finishing up what turned out to be an eight-hour day at conrad murray's clinic. the last police officer here announced about half an hour ago that they finished their work here and they will not be back tomorrow, presumably they're done. the other search warrant that was served was at murray's house, that answered one kwen kwe that people have had for a long time, where was murray? he was in the house and came out

and greeted investigators and brought them in. and according to ed chernoff, he helped them with their search. we doe know that through ed chernoff, murray's lawyer, what they took. and that is simply a computer hard drives, and cell phones. this one took eight hours. >> so, jim, again, second time, his property has been searched in a week. how serious was this today? >> well, i think it's very serious. the dea agent made it very clear. this was a search warrant. not an arrest warrant. so you don't want to draw too much from it. however, what you can gleam from this is they need more information, specifically documents. what were they looking for? they were looking for, perhaps, any correspondekocorrespondence michael jackson and the doctor. and specifically as to the propofol, did this doctor purchase it and you would look for receipts, for records, for lot numbers, anything that would tie this doctor to the

medication that actually killed michael jackson. it does intensify the investigation with respect to this doctor, but they are looking at other doctors, as well. >> and ted, the key in large part to this moving forward, also, seems to be the toxicology report. what are you hearing in terms of when we may actually see those? >> well, originally we were told that we should expect them as early as the end of this week. however, the coroner's office is now telling us it will not happen this week. there will not be a public release of this report. it may be done, but they're not going to release their findings this week at all. they say that the e earliest now it'll be sometime next week at the earliest. pushing it back and that may have, may have something to do with the other investigation that's going on. >> let me go to jim on this. there's a statement that chernoff, who is the attorney for dr. murray released late last night. and i want to read it. everyone needs to take a breath and wait for the long delayed

toxicology reports. i'm sure this will happen here, as well. i mean, just kind of big picture this for us. is all of this speculative at this stage until we really learn what the cause of death is is? or as much as we can about the cause of death? >> well, there is speculation with respect to the cause of death. but if it's true that this doctor admitted to police that he administered diprivan which you know you can't get with a prescription and never used outside of a hospital setting, you could have criminal charges relating to that alone. the toxicology report is critical because it will give us a cause of death. and you don't want to jump to conclusions saying this doctor killed michael jackson when we don't even know what killed him. >> all right, jim moret for us, thank you very much, appreciate it. >> sure. the government saying tonight obesity is costing this country $147 billion a year. but are plus-sized americans

really straining the health care system? or are they being scapegoated here? we're going to talk to a model and a mom on opposite sides of the issue when we come back. but. 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. if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act. that can take so much out of you. i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then...well...

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(woman) for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. (announcer) ask your doctor about pristiq. so a new study that was just put out by the cdc finds that nearly 10% of what the country spends on health care is attributable to obesity. $147 billion a year, double what it was a decade ago. in grief and in dollars, that is a heck of a tab. still, there are those who say we may be scapegoating overweight people for the nation's health care crisis. and joining us right now to talk about this, mimi roth and actress mia amber davis who is creator at large for plus model magazine. >> thank you. >> mimi, let me start with you on this first and what do you make of the numbers? $147 billion is a lot of dough.

>> yeah, if you wanted to make a nation fat, we have set our culture up to do that. it's like we're living in a brothel and no one's allowed to have sex. there's one temptation after another. i'm surprised there's anyone left in this country who isn't overweight. >> get to the heart of the problem of what we need to do. >> we need to make good food real food available, cheap, accessible to everyone. we need to have recreation places that are safe and easy to access for everyone. we've got junk food in the school, we've got marketing junk food to children. we're not doing what it takes to correct the problem. but the economy, the economics of it are shifting, big pharma's made a bundle, the weight loss industry has made a bundle, beverage and food has made a bundle. and now we're picking up the tab and pushing back. >> mia, is there a sense to you blame the victim, scapegoating blame the people overweight? >> definitely, 100%.

sizism is the last acceptable prejudice. automatically they're the reason for america's problem in the health care industry? that's absolutely not true. i know plenty of people who are normalize who are straight sizes as opposed to plus sizes who have health issues. i don't know anyone in my circle of friends being a plus-sized advocate that has health issues relating to be overweight. >> if you are obese, you are unhealthy. you're a wash in extra estrogen. if you're man, woman, or child, you have extra estrogen coursing through your body. you're inflamed. >> i know a lot of skinny people really unhealthy too. >> i think tonight we're talking about obesity, but you're absolutely right. starvation or improper eating. >> the point you're making is that obesity is a large part of the problem -- >> absolutely. here's -- >> we only have reported only 8% of us don't smoke, drink

moderately, eat our -- the fruits and vegetables we're supposed to eat and exercise regularly. so really fat or thin only 8% of us are even trying in this country, but we're eating ourselves into obesity, diabetes, dementia, heart disease, cancer. did you know that 1/3 of cancer is obesity-related. >> overweight does not mean unhealthy. i've been off the chart since i was 12 years old and i'm perfectly healthy. >> there's higher incidence of infertility, pregnancy complications. >> none of those issues. >> there's a higher incidence of birth defects. >> i'm not arguing with you, i'm saying we are the last acceptable prejudice. >> it's a choice -- >> it's not a choice to be overweight. i think that's insulting, actually. >> well, it's what the numbers show -- >> no one asked me, there was no poll, i never participated in any poll, i never had a health issue, i'm not included in that issue.

>> i come from a long line of obesity, and i know how hard it is to stay at a healthy weight. it really takes a lot of discipline and motivation, it's not easy. >> i work out four times a week. >> which you're supposed to be working out every day. >> with a trainer. that is my workout. >> let her finish. >> i'm not here to argue with you, i'm here to say stop blaming overweight people or obese people for america's problems. it's not our fault. >> let me follow up on the point mia is making because, look, there's -- you're a very thin woman, there are a lot of people who genetically have a much harder time -- >> and i'm in that category. i've always had to watch my weight. i'm very mindful of what i eat. i run four miles every single day. it is a hard choice if your genetics are help iing you out. it's not explaining the last three decades. we cannot become obese in the absence of food. it's not a genetic situation. >> so where do you draw the line? are you suggesting that if you're -- if you don't hit a

certain weight, if you're overweight that you should be paying higher health insurance premiums? >> no, i'm a big fan of changing the culture to make it easier for all of us to be healthy. and i'm a big fan of the sweet and soft drink tax. i think we tax things that are ubiquitous and nonessential like that. we can earmark that for prevention and easy access and cheaper produce. >> people charging people because they're overweight. >> no, anyone who drinks -- >> and people just talking about if you're overweight you should pay more and it's your fault. stop blaming us. it's not about accessibility, it's about the blame. we're a target yet we're invisible everywhere else. mainstream media doesn't showcase overweight people, overweight women are not seen in hollywood. it's like why are we being targets yet we're invisible everywhere else? it's hard to find clothing, hard to find adequate seating arrangements, hard to find so many things because of we're a nation of size and we're not being catered to --

>> hold on, mia. i want to ask mia this too. you mentioned this and the head of the cdc, it's not the administration's policy. they have raised the idea of taxing soda. what do you think? does that sound crazy to me? >> it sounds crazy to me because it's soda. i don't drink soda personally. it's like you're saying if i drink soda i will become fat. >> i'm not talking about who is fat or not. anyone who drinks these sweetened drinks and we know the single greatest source of our calories is sweetened drinks. so again, it's ubiquitous, nonessential, a great place for us to raise $100 billion to $200 billion in the next decade. and you're talking about a 1-cent tax per ounce. it's a great place to get money to help subsidize fresh produce, not corn, but maybe broccoli or avocados. and i'm a big fan of%j plants t make sure we have calories posted on all menu boards across the country, not just -- i want to inform. >> i want to give mia the last

word on this. >> stop blaming overweight people for america's problems. if you are gay, you can playb%p straight, if you are a certain religion, you can play another religion. you can't hide the fact that you're overweight nor do we want to. i'm proud of the way i look, proud of my body, and proud of the work we do to maintain our curves. stop blaming us because i am not a part of that plan. >> the studies don't back you up. and 9 times out of 10, obesity -- >> i'm not included in those studies. >> guys, i wish we could go on. the difference is over whether or not you can be overweight and be healthy. and clearly mia believes you can be. >> the physicians won't back you up on that. >> my physicians will back me up. >> okay. we've got to end it there. but many thanks for coming on. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, guys. tonight's news maker colin powell, hear his surprising advice for the harvard professor arrested in his own home. ur dia. it's very important for me to uh

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welcome back, everybody. now time for tonight's news maker. colin powell, the former secretary of state weighed in today on the controversy over the arrest of harvard professor

henry louis gates. and if you think powell sided with his long time friend gates, you may be surprised by what he told larry king. listen. >> you think gates was wrong? >> i'm saying that skip, perhaps in this instance, might have waited a while, come outside, talked to the officer, and that might have been the end of it. i think he should've reflected on whether or not this was the time to make that big of a deal. but he's just home from china, just home from new york, all he wanted to do was get to bed. his door was jammed and so he was in a mood where he said something -- >> larry: are there those who say he brings that whole history into the -- >> that may well be the case. but i still think it might well have been resolved in a different manner if we didn't have this verbal altercation -- >> larry: were you ever racially profiled? >> yes, many times. >> larry: did you ever bring anger to it? >> of course. but anger is best controlled, and sure i got mad. i got mad as a national security

adviser to the president of the united states, i went down to meet somebody at reagan national airport, and nobody recognized -- nobody thought i could possibly be the national security adviser to the president. i was just a black guy at reagan national airport. and it was only when i went up to the counter and said is my guest here who is waiting for me did somebody say oh, you're general powell. it was inconceivable to him that a black guy could be the national security -- >> larry: how do you deal with things like that? >> what are you going to do? it was a teaching point for him yes, i'm the national security adviser, i'm black, and watch i can do the job. so you have this kind of -- there is no african-american in this country who is not been exposed to this kind of situation. do you get angry? yes, do you manifest that anger? you protest, you try to get things fixed. but it's kind of better course of action to take it easy and don't let your anger make the current situation worse.

>> so colin powell there, but no surprise here, i guess, bill maher taking a different point of view telling wolf blitzer he thinks the police acted stupidly, but it may not be a question of race. take a look. >> i think they did. you know, i'm not even sure if this is really a racial situation. because, you know, i don't know if this cop is racist, but i have to say, you know, it seems to me more like a police situation. i think henry louis gates was arrested for the crime of not kissing the behind of the police officer. and i think that's too often the problem we have in this country. >> so who's really at fault here? can a beer at the white house solve this problem? joining me now dylan glenn, former special assistant to president george w. bush. jeffrey toobin with me, as well, susan, former congresswoman from new york, and willie brown the former mayor of san francisco joining us also.

mayor brown, let me start with you. what did you think of secretary powell's comment. should professor gates have handled the situation differently as the secretary was suggesting there? >> i think if you ask skip gates he would tell you today he should've handled it differently. after all, whenever a policeman confronts you on the street, you better know that policeman is the judge, the jury, and the executer and with your superior knowledge you probably shouldn't annoy him too much. you ought to be very careful, you don't have to be submissive, but you certainly can't humiliate him verbally or otherwise. i think skip gates would prefer, frankly, to reflect upon himself in that way. he's probably more critical of himself than powell is critical of him. >> dylan, we also heard powell talk about being a target himself of racial profiling and the reality is african-american men still have to deal with this every day of their lives in some form or fashion. do you think that this, you

know, incident is going to help improve that in some way? >> i think if there is a positive, i guess, it sort of raises awareness of the real issue of racial profiling. i'm not sure this was an example of that. however, the fact that we're talking about, the fact that secretary powell talked about it. that's a nice side benefit to this unfortunate incident. but, you know, the fact of the matter is that this was a call into the police about a potential break-in a neighborhood and we now found out ex post facto that race wasn't a part of that call even though initially reported that way. so perhaps at the end of the day the side benefit that all of this much adio about nothing about a real issue in america. >> this has been hashed out from every angle over the last week or so. but let me move it forward a little bit, susan here, and look beyond this debate and talk about this beer summit between

obama, crowley, and gates at the white house on thursday. is this the solution here? a good idea in your view? >> well, look, i think this was a teaching moment. i think perhaps for the president too who realized that he can't react as barack obama any more, he has to react to these situations as president of the united states leader as the free world. and i think hopefully he learned the lesson that he needs to calibrate a little more upon those issues he speaks out particularly when he and we don't have all of the facts. nonetheless, i think if two -- if you can have a situation where, you know, from a political standpoint it prolongs the debate. probably not a good thing for him when you're going into accomplish health care. if you're sitting here in washington, d.c. and hear that people have called each other names and yet can get together and have a beer, that's probably a teachable moment for all of us in washington, d.c. >> susan used to be a member of congress and i love the idea that there are congressmen and women out there who might vote

for or against health care because of the skip gates controversy. that just seems so surreal to me but washington being washington it might actually be true. >> it might actually be true. >> i think the point is we're spending more time talking about this issue in the media at a moment like this on taking up the president's time on his energy as opposed to him being a vocal advocate for the health care bill that he says he needs to pass in about, you know, two days. >> i don't think -- >> i don't think we have -- >> i don't think one has to do with the other. i'm sorry to interrupt. >> go ahead, mayor brown, go ahead. >> i don't think we should ignore too much what bill maher said. he is correct. the police departments, when i served as mayor, we often had the issues of what happens with the policemen on the streets. whether or not it's training that's been sufficient, to require him to elevate himself above and beyond the things that ordinary annoy people. but he's empowered, he's got a weapon, all of the authority on his side when he's confronting a

citizen in the streets. it takes a considerable amount of restraint not to exercise that power. we need to talk about that as well as the question of whether or not skip gates conducted himself appropriately. >> that's a very important point. because i think colin powell was very eloquent in saying, look, skip gates probably should've taken a deep breath and said, you know, and not had a confrontation, but so might sergeant crowley taken a deep breath and said, you know, i just hassled this guy, he's in his own home, he's angry, he's tired, maybe i shouldn't arrest him. so both sides, i think, needed to take a deep breath here not just gates. >> and campbell, i think it needs to be said that police officers also have a job that none of us have, which is when they leave their home at the beginning of the day by virtue of the job they do, they're not sure they're coming back.

i think sometimes we've got to give them a little latitude too because thank goodness they want to do that job. >> many thanks to jeff, susan, dylan, and mayor willie brown from san francisco, as well. thanks, guys. for obvious reasons, barack obama already assured a place in history. so what is the presidential historian think when he sits down for a private meeting with the man? stay tuned. we're going to have douglas brinkley when we come back. r that maybe has to choose between paying their credit card or putting food on the table and that's why they call us. our main objective is to reach out to the customers that are falling behind on their payments. a lot of customers are proud and happy that bank of america actually has a solution to help them out with their cards. i listen. that's the first thing i do is listen. you know what, what happened? what put you in this situation? and everyone's situation is different. we always want to make sure that we're doing what's best for our cardholders. i'll go through some of his monthly expenses,

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every american president makes history, barack obama more than most. in just a little while ago, i talked to presidential historian douglas brinkley who said mothers all over the world are telling their kids some day you can grow up and be like barack obama. douglas brinkley's latest book is called "the wilderness warrior" theodore roosevelt and the crusade for america. before we get to the book, let me ask you about a recent dinner you had with the obamas. they invited you and a number of historians to come and sit down

and break bread. what was it like? i know it was a private dinner, but give us whatever sense you can. >> we had a nice dinner, off the record, i can't say too much, but for a historian to get to walk around the white house is an amazing thrill. and i was pressed at just how book knowledgeable and history knowledgeable president obama is. i was reflecting when i left the white house about other presidents and, you know, i think you really have to go back to theodore roosevelt to have a president that was so engaged with the written word, pr made his career making books about the war of 1812 and the dakota territories, we forget that barack obama came to our attention as an author. >> you know, obviously what people will write as historians later, the first black president. at what point do you get beyond that? because you have a rare ability to think about this and i think a bigger picture way than most of us. when does his agenda come into play? >> he's beyond it because he's

not just a president, the global aspect of barack obama's intents all over the world and so-called developing countries have been particular. mothers are saying some day you can grow up and be like barack obama. some people call that a global president or a celebrity president, doesn't affect his poll ratings at home, but this is somebody who will not be forgotten, being elected with his name and biography and his -- the kind of principles, you know, i think what we've not talked about in the news media about barack obama is his family values. that's where it's been bandied about since i was a child. who has family values? the values of barack and michelle for all of us in the way they're raising their children, the way their mother-in-law's brought into the white house. it's -- it's his strength, his personal biography is going to be strange. however, he's one of those -- a president of personality in a lot of ways. and it's yet to be seen how we feel about the policies. >> let's talk about roosevelt

and specifically the book. and you focus on one sort of narrow part of his life. but a very important incredibly important part of his life and his legacy. the book is called "the wilderness warrior" and how he set aside 230 million acres of open land in this country. 100 years later now, we're obviously still feeling the impact of that today. talk a little bit about how huge it was. >> he really helped create his legacy as creating this incredible wild america. he had climbed the matter horn in switzerland and saw no wildlife. and he was determined that our rockies and our cascades and sierras were filled with wildlife. so as president of the united states as a founder of the bronx zoo, he bred buffalo here in new york to be shipped to oklahoma to repop late. and he did things for seals and

manatee and on and on. and the whole list. he was really the father of the wildlife protection movement. now, here at cnn, you guys talk about planet in peril. he was trying to hold global summits 100 years ago to have all of the world work together on natural resource development. now we see obama trying to get china to, you know, work on their pollution standard. so that's the same thing roosevelt was doing 100 years ago. when we come back, colin powell the exclusive interview with larry king. that's just minutes away. right back after this break. 50+ advantage... 's has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. that's a great call. one a day men's.

an exclusive interview with colin powell, that is just seconds away. and then join us tomorrow again, we're going to be talking about two big news makers tomorrow, will.i.am will talk about his work with michael jackson on the album before his death. we're also going to talk with rudy giuliani. be sure to join us, all of that coming up tomorrow night. have a good one, everybody. we'll see you back here, then. "larry king live" starting right now.