jenkins. which house do you like better? >> this one. >> reporter: and one at a time, that is how they hope to keep turning empty lots into homes against. tom foreman, cnn, new orleans. >> five years. that does it for "360." thanks for watching. larry king starts now. see you tomorrow night. >> larry: tonight, president obama admits it the economy is not recovering as fast as it needs to. >> too many americans are still looking for work and too many communities are far from being whole again. >> larry: he is calling for a full-scale attack. what's the plan? should he fire the economic team? plus the president says he is a christian. why do some refuse to believe it? and then.

dueling rallies in washington, what, if anything, did they accomplish? next on "larry king live." >> larry: good evening. we begin with breaking news. two men were arrested today at amsterdam's international airport. are they terror suspects? let's go to cnn's homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve for the latest. jeanne? officials don't know yet exactly what these men were up to. they're in the process of investigating this. here's what we know. one of these individuals boarded a flight in birmingham. in his luggage, an x-ray detected some suspicious items. one that has been confirmed to me is a cell phone strapped to a medicinal bottle. this individual was put through secondary inspection. they found nothing prohibited on him or in his carry-on luggage. the item that were in his checked baggage were allowed in checked baggage. he was allowed to travel on to chicago.

a second individual traveled from memphis to chicago. the two of them then got on a flight that went from chicago to amsterdam. but the luggage didn't. the luggage got on a flight that went to dulles and then on to dubai. and eventually it was scheduled to go on to yemen. what we don't know yet is why this individual from memphis attracted official concern. the department of homeland security has put out a statement. it says, suspicious items were located in checked luggage associated with two passengers on united flight 908 from o'hare to amsterdam last night. the items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves. as we share information with our international partners, dutch authorities were notified of the suspicious items. this matter continues to be under investigation. i'm also told, larry, that the two individuals were not u.s. citizens, but i am told by multiple sources that they were in the country legally. what officials really want to know apart from the fact of how they got on a different flight from their luggage -- they're

supposed to be 100% match -- whether or not this was some kind of a dry run for some sort of terrorist act. at this point they do not have the answer to that question. i am told it is very much the subject of an ongoing investigation. larry. >> larry: thank you, jeanne meserve, cnn homeland security correspondent. let's go to nic robertson, cnn senior international correspondent in london. nic, what do you make on this? anything you can add to what jeanne just said? >> larry, we have been talking here with u.s. law enforcement sources. and they have added a few details. one of the two men, al-sufi, traveling from birmingham to chicago and got on that flight for amsterdam. the other man arrested, hassam al morici, both arrested in holland, mr. al-sufi in his luggage had $7,000 in cash. not only with a cell phone strapped to a small plastic bottle but also watches strapped

to a small plastic bottle. one of the big questions that -- that sources are telling us is going to have to be answered is how could the men get on one flight or at least one of the men get on the flight to amsterdam when he had luggage apparently checked through to dulles and abu dhabi and yemen and the luggage was picked up actually in dulles. that will raise questions. so is it a dry run? let's remember the small bottles of liquid placed in handbaggage. had been a planned hijacking attempt by al qaeda related terrorists, and that was foiled. speculation. what is the group trying to show? they now can potentially attack luggage in hold? is that what they're trying to show? is it a dry run of that type of description. obviously a lot more scrutiny here. it is going to raise a lot of concerns. this now seeing a shift potentially, not only in

hand baggage and about the person as we saw the bomb at christmas, but now potentially putting it in the luggage in the hold, larry. >> larry: thank you, nic. we will continue to follow it. let's check, nic robertson. fran townsend, cnn national security contributor, homeland security adviser for president george w. bush. what do you make of this, fran? >> you know, larry, it is interesting talking to senior counterterrorism officials this evening. as jeanne said, not sure what they have. it is interesting if the guys are related to al qaeda in yemen or the arabian peninsula in any way. you'd think we would know something about them. i am told there is nothing in u.s. intelligence databases on either of the guys that u.s. officials aware of yet. the other interesting thing, larry, i am told one of the suitcases field tested positive for explosives. we hadn't heard that before this evening. now we should tell our viewers, field tests are notoriously unreliable. so i think you will see they're going through now, far greater more detailed testing that they will, they will find out if that is accurate or not. one of the individuals was a

legal permanent resident. which means he had ability to cross our borders pretty carefully. that's a real value if this was related to a terrorist event. that's not somebody you put at risk for a dry run. the other individual that we have mentioned, nic robertson mentioned, he was a visa overstay. that meant he came to the country. he was here legally. he overstayed his allowed time in the country. so even if he had done a dry run, he wouldn't have been able to come back and benefit from his experience, although is might have helped the organization. a lot of questions tonight. >> larry: yeah, obviously a lot of answers still to come. thanks, fran. one more check with peter bergen, cnn national security analyst. also joining us by phone. peter, you know a lot about such things. what do you read into all of this? >> it is all very murky, larry. this is like the christmas day incident in reverse. a flight going to amsterdam. as opposed to leaving amsterdam. you have the yemen connection.

all those things, raise issues, you know, making it an issue of concern. and one thing that i think, larry, it is important to underline, although it may not be directly relevant to this, but i think it is quite relevant to al qaeda in the future, is whoever built the bomb that was put on the plane on christmas day, 2009, a yes, ma'am -- yemeni based bombmaker is still out there. a guy with a lot of skills. a guy who can build a bomb not detected by metal detectors. if indeed this was a dry run for that kind of thing you can see why law enforce the is so concerned, larry. >> larry: thank you, peter, peter bergen checking back frequently, jeanne, nic, fran, peter as well. dueling rallies were held in washington over the weekend. al sharpton and dana loesch are here to spar with each other about them. it's next.

he's single, he's great looking and i'm going to introduce you in two weeks. he's a dentist so whiten your teeth. no coffee, no espresso. mm-hmm. ♪ [ female announcer ] crest 3d white toothpaste. the remarkable toothpaste that removes up to 80% of surface stains in just two weeks... hi. i'm paul. [ female announcer ] for a noticeably whiter smile in just two weeks crest 3d white toothpaste. also try crest 3d white rinse. ♪ it's laughs over a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad. catching up over wood-grilled shrimp and chicken. and with lunches starting at just $6.99... it's an hour you wouldn't trade for anything.

>> larry: two rallies were held in washington, d.c. this past saturday. 47th anniversary of dr. martin

luther king's historic "i have a dream" speech. one a revival style gathering at the lincoln memorial orchestrated by the conservative commentator glenn beck, the other called "reclaim the dream" organized by reverend al sharpton. al sharpton is here, civil rights activist, and dana lash, conservative talk radio host, host of her own program with kftk, 97.1, and tea party-tv, with pjtv.com. al, do you think they did this deliberately the other side? >> i don't know if they did it deliberately or not. but i do know that none of us objected to mr. beck. no one said anything contrary that i know of. he first was going to have it in september. when it came to the date of august 28th.

even though by then a couple months ago we decided we would go to washington to a school this year. no one said anything. until he started saying he was going to reclaim the civil rights movement and reclaim the moment. that's when we said, well, wait a minute, this is a civil rights day. we already commemorated the speech of dr. king was about having government protect civil rights. and that's what we took issue with. the fact that he decided at the last moment, it appears that he was going to turn this into a religious rally or revival, i think the term you used, he has a right to do that. we have a right when he said he was going to reclaim the civil rights movement, to object to his trying to position, which clearly does not seem like one who has been involved in civil rights to try to have that as his day or as his justification for his day. >> larry: dana, why do it on the same day? >> i can't answer that, larry. i didn't plan it. i attended. i thought it was a very positive. i thought it was a very uplifting event. and i'm not going to speak for glenn beck.

but i will say that i think that, that the original purpose of it was not just to restore faith to the idea, the origins of this country to honor our military, the special operations warriors foundation, fantastic group, but i don't think that glenn beck was saying that he is going to reclaim the civil rights movement. i think that the dream that dr. martin luther king jr. spoke of 47 years ago on the steps of the lincoln memorial was an american dream. i think this is something that dr. alvada king said on the steps as well. just on saturday. she said that we are one race. we are an american race. this was an event about unity. i don't think there was any malicious purpose. anything other than that, that was the whole reason for having this event. >> larry: al, there are some supporters of the restoring honor rally criticizing you saying you didn't plan to do anything commemorating dr. king's speech until beck announced his rally. >> well that is not true. we announced it in april at our convention. we started planning two months

ago. we have done it for the last several years. in 2000, mrs. coretta scott king spoke at our action network rally. every year we do something. 2008 we did it at the democratic convention. we never knew beck knew what civil rights was at the time. it was not to psychoanalyze whether he was malicious or not. i think dana is right, dr. king's dream is for all america and it's about how all americans were not treated equally. dana and i or glenn beck and i or anyone can have a different opinion. we can't have different facts. the speech itself speaks for itself. the entire speech was about the inequality, about how america had given black is a bad check, that had bounced in the, in the bank of justice. about how we have to end police brutality, how we have to step into position and nullification of certain governors. you can't redo what dr. king said his dream was. and i wish that mr. beck had read the speech and said he agreed with it. he didn't. he said he admired the man. they never got to the message.

and august 28th was about his message, not the man. he made a very specific detailed speech that day. if i was going to speak on a day that ronald reagan had made a speech and said that i was reclaiming reagan conservatism, conservatives have the right to critique that since i have not a conservative and i am speaking to something that they're committed to. that's all we raised. >> i have to quickly point out something. >> larry: i will have dana respond to that and whether dana agreed completely with every word that martin luther king said so many years ago. we'll be right back. [ but aleve can last 12 hours. tylenol 8 hour lasts 8 hours. and aleve was proven to work better on pain than tylenol 8 hour. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? good, how are you? [ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain.

host: could switching to geico realis a bird in the handre on worth 2 in the bush? appraiser: well you rarely see them in this good of shape. appraiser: for example the fingers are perfect. appraiser: the bird is in mint condition. appraiser: and i would say if this were to go to auction today, appraiser: conservatively it would be worth 2 in the bush. woman: really? appraiser: it's just beautiful, thank you so much for bringing it in. woman: unbelievable anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more.

let's bring in, let's bring in alveda king, the niece of the late dr. martin luther king jr., founder of king for america and pastoral associate, priest for life, she attended the glenn beck restoring honor rally in d.c. this past weekend. alveda, do you think your uncle would have been an admirer of glenn beck? >> well, you know, larry, that

is a good question, but it is not really about glenn beck. he would have admired glen's message of faith, hope, charity, love, of honor. my uncle would have admired the message. so is it not so much about the man as the message. my uncle often said that. and, you know, as a pro-life advocate with priest for life, founder of king for america, i understand that. it is not about me. it is not about glen. it is about the message. my uncle would have admired the message that glen brought that day. >> larry: could you also have attended al sharpton's rally commemorating your uncle's speech? >> actually i could have. it was interesting. i wasn't invited initially. reverend sharpton and i were on a joint television program that friday night. and he says, yeah, come on by. if i had not had other plans. right after glen's rally i had to go home. of course i could have. but my uncle said we have to live together as brothers. and i add sisters. or perish as fools.

as one human race it is not about arguing, it is not about personalities. i was just so honored to deal with faith, hope, love and charity. that really blessed me to do that with glenn beck. >> larry: as a reverend, al sharpton, you would have to agree with what she just said, wouldn't you? >> absolutely i would agree with it. i would say on that day we were dealing with the dream and the speech specifically around civil rights. you know there were ministers in the deep south that no one knows this better than dr. alveda king, whose family gave their lives including her father for civil rights. preach hope, faith, charity, that opposed civil rights. dr. king wrote a group, famous letter from birmingham jail, you can preach what is right, what i agree with and admire and still not go all the way in civil rights. i'm not saying that those that did, rally the other day would or wouldn't. i know that was not their message that day. it was our message which is why we had to have the rally.

>> but, larry, and reverend sharpton, seriously i listen to you as you talk about the intent and purpose of my uncle's speech. my daddy reverend a.d. king was there, daddy king, standing behind his two sons, but, my uncle was not teaching that we needed the government to take care of us. he was teaching that we needed a government who revered and respected what was right and the principles of god. and then those people in the fear of the lord would do what is right and then the government therefore would be a support to our people. so i never heard my uncle really say that he was marching or fighting so that the government would take care of people. >> no, he didn't. i don't agree with that, that they should. i think that martin luther -- >> larry: dana, did you agree with martin luther king's speech years ago? >> yes, i understand what he was speaking about. i agree with this niece, delivered one of the most

eloquent and beautiful speeches i have ever had the privilege of hearing firsthand. it wasn't just about marching for government entitlement or having the government taking care of you it was for marching realizing we are one american people and that we have, we have a higher power, our rights come from a higher power. that's what it was about. that's what 8/28 was about. the reverend sharpton earlier was making mention that nothing was said at all about the previous inequalities that were taking place during the 60s. glenn beck did very specifically mention the fact that in america, we have done some truly remarkable things in this country. and we have also done some truly heinous things in this country. and he didn't, he didn't just mention the black community. he also mentioned indigenous americans where my family comes from. so i felt that it was truly a unifying event. and it was uplifting, powerful, and it, all and all, i don't understand where the criticism is coming from or the need for

it. >> larry -- >> larry: wait a minute. al, quickly. go ahead. >> one, i think there is inequality that still exists. that's what we were talking about. you have double unemployment, black to white, you have the gap in education. we are still trying to become one. i think that the, the desire for us to have unity and be one human race is all about desires. the debate is how we get there. i think if you read the speech, dana, as you said, dr. king did not talk about government taking care of people. but he did talk about protecting people. his appeal to government was to make the check good. his appeal to government was to stop governments in position for nullification. >> i talk about the check. i hope i get to talk to president obama too about the economy. and doing something about that, too. >> larry: hold on. alveda, we will have you back. lots more to discuss. we will get to a couple more areas with al and dana right after this. some still believe that president obama is not american born, that he is a muslim.

hear what the president says about that. then we will get dana and al to comment next. high in vitamins d, e, and b12. plus omega 3's. there's one important ingredient that hasn't changed: better taste. better taste. yum! [ female announcer ] eggland's best. the better egg.

waking up with morning pain better taste. yum! drain the energy right out of you. fight it with (new) bayer am. it combines extra strength bayer aspirin to treat pain plus an alertness aid to help you get off to a running start. try bayer am - the morning pain reliever. you know, the guys who always do a super job. well, it is. just get the superpagesmobile app on your phone. and look for a business with the superguarantee®. you'll get the job done right, or we'll step in and help make it right. so, protect yourself. use your phone to find a business with the superguarantee®. only from superpages.com®. and let the good guys come to the rescue.

>> larry: dana and al sharpton remain with us. a recent cnn poll showed that more than a quarter of those surveyed have doubts about obama's citizenship. a pew poll indicated that one in five americans believe obama is a muslim. the president addressed these issues yesterday in an interview with nbc's brian williams. watch. >> we went through some of this during the campaign. you know, there is -- a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new media era can get churned out there constantly. we dealt with this when i was first running for the u.s. senate. we dealt with it when we were first running for the presidency. there were those who said i couldn't win as u.s. senator because i had a funny name. and yet we ended up winning that

senate seat in illinois because i trusted in the american people's capacity to get beyond all this nonsense. so i will always put my money on the american people and i'm not going to be worrying too much about whatever rumors are floating out there. if i spend all my time chasing after that then i wouldn't get much done. >> larry: dana, what do you make of all of that. >> oh, goodness. my bigger concern is how well he does his job as president. >> larry: what do you think about the two issues. you have 25% of america, the man says he is christian, and 25% of america thinks he is muslim. what do you make of that? >> i don't know. i think perhaps he has done a couple things to give room for questioning. but the bottom line is what is awesome about this country is there is no mandated faith. so to me as long as he does his job well, then i think it is irrelevant.

honestly. >> larry: al, how do you react to all of this? >> it is part of the hysteria. and those on the conservative side saying they seek unity, they should step up and say there is no basis at all for someone to say that the president is any other faith than he has the said. and that he was born here. i mean, you can't preach unity on saturday and then say he's left room for things. there is no room. there is no room to question his birth date. there is no room to question his religion. and he has tried to reach out, president obama had me tour with secretary of education duncan with newt gingrich. we don't agree on anything. we have tried to reach out, no matter how much you reach out, this president is questioned about basic things like his birth, and his religion, and people wonder why there is this

-- distrust when people say unity. if you want unity, let's at least start from a basis of respect. >> reverend, the birth thing started with hillary clinton. that did start on the democrat side. >> she was wrong if it started there. i don't know that. >> larry: dana, the day after the rally, glenn beck described obama as a man who understands the world through liberation theology. he said that approach is a perversion of the gospel of jesus christ as most christians know it. what is your reaction since this nation, doesn't mention god in its constitution? what is all of this have to do with anything? >> we do mention it in the declaration and minutes of the discussion. the declaration of independence. >> larry: are we a christian nation, dana? >> i think we were founded upon principles understanding that our rights come from a higher power. because what man gives man can take away the what god gives away, man cannot take away. >> larry: are we a christian nation?

>> i think we were founded upon principles that are rooted in christianity. do we have a mandated faith, we do not have a mandated faith. >> larry: all right, what is all this fuss about? >> well, i think when you mention the poll earlier, i think that, that sort of presupposes that even questioning whether or not he may be christian or muslim is a bad thing. i don't think speculating about what someone's faith is, is bad unless they're trying to, unless the purpose is to condemn that person for being either a christian or muslim. i don't think that was the point. i think it was just people were wondering, they were just perhaps speculating. but the whole idea of, of some of the things that glenn beck has said about him. the one thing that does stick out to me and quite honestly you would have to be intellectually dishonest to not cite this as perhaps a concern. i hate even bringing this back up. i feel we have talked about this endlessly. when you sit in a church for 20 years, like with jeremiah wright, i know he since has broken from that, when you sit

there for 20 years and hear some of the things that reverend wright said that really hurt the soul when you listened to it, you do have to wonder how could someone have listened to something like that for that long and just by consent just sort of sit there and maybe, anything was said, not quite sure. i mean, that did leave a question in a lot of people's minds. i don't think that they can be faulted for that. >> larry: all right, al? >> i think first of all that all had been dealt with during the campaign. i think that clearly, it is interesting to me that mr. obama who is president obama now, by your own admission, was a member of the united church of christ, a white christian denomination and now you say there is room for doubt whether he is a muslim when you concede he was a member of a white christian denomination. >> they did welcome a lot of faiths? >> please let me finish. there is a lot in any religion. clearly he was not in a muslim

church he was in a white christian denomination by your own statement. that's what i am saying. why are we questioning his christianity? then to say that to be part of liberation theology or liberation christianity is looked down upon. the president probably personifies social justice christianity. >> you are putting words in my mouth. >> when martin luther king jr., the irony, saying it the day after. >> reverend, you are putting words in my mouth about that church. i said the church accepted a lot of people of different faiths. >> i said the denomination was a christian denomination. mostly white. >> larry: obviously. all right, guys. obviously going to do a lot more on this. there is another topic at hand we have got to get to. thank you, al sharpton, and dana. >> thank you. >> larry: is the economy on life support. we'll debate the rocky state of america's finances next.

when you approach things from a different perspective, you don't end up with just another car. you end up with the all-new saab 9-5 luxury sport sedan. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now, i can join the fun and games with my grandchildren. great news! for people with copd, including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different from most other copd medications because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help you breathe better.

advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. i had fun today, grandpa. you and me both. if copd is still making it hard to breathe, ask your doctor if including advair will help improve your lung function for better breathing. get your first full prescription free and save on refills.

>> larry: dennis praguer is in minneapolis tonight, conservative talk radio host of his own program and best-selling author. stephanie miller here in los angeles, progressive talk radio host. host of her own show. polls show the economy is issue number one for voters. president obama tried to control the state of the political storyline earlier today at the white house. watch. >> the fact is that too many businesses are still struggling, too many americans are still looking for work, and too many communities are far from being whole again. that's why my administration remains focused, every single day, on pushing this economy forward, repairing the damage that has been done to the middle-class over the past decade, and promoting the growth we need to get our people back to work. >> larry: let's start with dennis prager, ben stein said the other night on this program, dennis, that nobody has the answer to this problem. nobody. do you agree? >> well, there is a great part of the hippocratic oath that

doctors take. the first part of their oath when they become a doctor, first do no harm. maybe there is no panacea, but i do believe that there can be a lot of harm. there are a lot of bad choices that can be made. i think that the president out of totally noble reasons, he wants to help, i believe that. he has a keynsian view of how you fix economies, that's by the government expanding and spending. a philosophical almost religious difference that people have. good people on both sides. but i believe that decades have shown that that approach is wrong. that the best way to make a thriving economy is through individuals keeping their money, spending their money, and investing their own money. and not having people who think they know better what to do with my money spend it. >> larry: richard nixon once said he was a keynesian. your reaction to that? >> he probably was.

>> i love dennis prager, yet, you can't argue about math, larry. yes, good people on both sides can disagree. we cannot disagree that we were losing nearly 800,000 jobs a month when george bush left office. and we are going in the right direction now. if you look at any graph, larry, what the president has done is the right direction. he is absolutely right. you don't give the keys back to someone that drove the car in the ditch in the first place. yes, good people can disagree. this is not disagreement. this is math. this is -- you know, and i, i would agree with people think the stimulus probably wasn't big enough. it clearly has created millions of jobs. it clearly has us going in the right direction. the last thing you want to go do is go back to policies that got us here. >> larry: dennis? >> well the issue -- >> larry: go ahead, dennis. >> go ahead. >> larry: you go ahead. >> the issue is not going back to george bush's policies. george bush over the vast majority of eight years in

office and when he had a republican legislature to work with, it, in fact, was a booming, one of the most booming economies we've ever had. >> what? when? >> having said that, here is the greatest truth. >> when? >> the greater truth, our collapse, when? through most of his administration jobs. >> we had a booming economy during george bush? >> yes, we did, of course. the bust came near the end of his, of his administration. >> oh. >> but that, i think almost every viewer knows that to be true. but here is the bigger issue. why was there a bust? and the reason was democratic policies, again, goodwill, let's get everybody we can no matter what their, their capabilities, economically, especially minorities, to become house owners. and we dropped the criteria, many years ago, this is before bush, this is during president clinton's era. >> bush said we should have an ownership society. he pushed for ownership for everybody. >> correct. but the policies preceded bush. i am not blaming mr. clinton.

we need first to tell the truth and give our opinions. i am convinced that that its the, the root of the problem. changing the criteria to enable people who couldn't afford homes to have them so that we reach out to minorities and poor people. >> larry: what is the solution, stephanie? do you think the solution is happening? >> as i say, larry, i get it its hard to sell a negative. that most economists most credible economists say we averted the next great depression. hard to prove a negative. isn't it? we didn't do that. we didn't have that. hard to say you have to take credit for that. but i think it is true. i think we were headed for the next great depression. i think we are moving in the right direction, not certainly fast enough for a lot of people. as the president has said. i think we are moving in the right direction. the last thing if you read paul krugman's column today last thing you want to do is put in obstructionist republicans that are not going to do anything to

help this president get anything done and probably just have a bunch of mindless investigations like they did with clinton. >> larry: when we come back i will ask dennis, forget looking back, what would he do tomorrow? don't go away. while i was building my friendships... my family... while i was building my life... my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries.

that's why my doctor prescribed crestor. she said plaque buildup in arteries... is a real reason to lower cholesterol... and that, along with diet, crestor does more than lower bad cholesterol... it raises good. crestor is also proven to slow the buildup of plaque in arteries. crestor isn't for everyone, like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. you should tell your doctor about other medicines you are taking, or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of serious side effects. while you've been building your life, plaque may have been building in your arteries. ask your doctor if crestor can help and go to crestor.com to get a free trial offer. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

>> larry: we're back. dennis prager and stephanie miller will return in a moment. let's check in with anderson cooper. he's host "ac 360" at the top of the hour. what is our lead tonight? >> following the breaking news out of amsterdam. two men arrested after suspicious items found in their luggage. we have late-breaking details to tell you. also tonight dallas congresswoman, democrat, under

fire after a scholarship scandal. turns out the congresswoman eddie bernice johnson, a democrat from texas, was awarding scholarships to family members and friends. she gave them scholarships from congressional black caucus foundation money over several years though they were ineligible to receive them. tonight we'll talk to the reporter who broke the story and representative from the congressional black caucus foundation. trapped thousands of feet underground. the question is could any of us survive? our gary tuchman went to find out, in what was a gold/silver mine, used by colorado school of mines for training. show you what he discovered what it is like to be trapped underground. those story and more at the top of the hour, larry. >> larry: looks fascinating. anderson cooper, 10:00 eastern, 7:00 pacific. back with dennis prager and stephanie miller. still to come jewel. we know what you think was wrong, what do you do tomorrow? >> tomorrow, when i hope it does become possible in november, i, i will actually accept paul krugman's challenge and welcome

obstructionism. john rosemont, he says best things parents can give, the best vitamin they can give their children is vitamin n, his term for no. no does a lot of good in life. and no to more spending. and no to bigger government. my motto i coined a number of years ago. the bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. as the government and the state grow, the human being becomes lessened. and so we have to turn back a 2,500-page law, series of laws, more and more laws controlling our health. we have to turn back a 2,000-page system of new laws. >> dennis, why didn't i hear you say any of that when george bush was running up this incredible deficit with tax cuts for the rich and an unnecessary and illegal war in iraq? why wasn't any of that operative

back then? spending is not just spending. barack obama is spending to get us out of the hole that george bush put us in. most economists would agree on that. the bailout of gm worked. gm is in profits and we're going, american taxpayer will make a profit with interest now. that's not a good thing? the stimulus is working. it's created jobs. we are getting out of the hole. >> larry: george bush favored it, did he not? george bush started the stimulus. >> george bush started the stimulus and t.a.r.p. >> exactly right. >> larry: would you have opposed the iraq war spending? >> no. look, if you are asking me to go all the way back to there, i was ambivalent about going into iraq. >> larry: let's take the future, war spending. >> once we were in iraq we had to win. >> larry: that means -- >> what does win mean? >> win means that very, very bad human beings called islamists or islamic terrorists cannot take over that country once we have

tried to get rid of that type of human being. winning is not a difficult concept. >> is that our job to get rid of islamists everywhere? saddam hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, had no weapons of mass destruction, is it our job to get rid of islamists everywhere, going to war against the 1 billion muslims in the world? >> if the 1 billion muslims were all islamists we would be in terrible condition. it would be 1 million people would be exterminated. >> i thought george bush, george bush said islam its a religion of peace, do you disagree? >> i an not denying that. an islamist is not a muslim, it is an extremist muslim who wishes to violently impose his understanding on other people. for us to fight the people is the greatest good we can do on earth right now. >> no, george bush said islam is a religion of peace. islamist terrorist is a different thing. just like a christian terrorist like tim mcveigh is a different thing. anyone that twists their religion for --

>> okay, timothy mcveigh was not a christian terrorist. it is a dishonest thing to say. i'm not christian, it is just dishonest. >> really? >> yes. he was a terrorist. >> he didn't twist christianity like the 9/11 hijackers twisted islam. >> no, no they did not blow up the building in the name of christ. >> larry: we're going to have you back very soon, both in the same studio. i'll wear a black and white striped shirt. the great jewel is here with some of her new funny video. jewel is next. let's get chinese.

should we order panda blossom, panda moon... how about chinese at home with wanchai ferry? you can make it in just 14 minutes. mmmh, orange chicken. great. i didn't feel like going out anyway. [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry. restaurant quality chinese in your grocer's freezer. thais...peggy. whatng usa pris problem, please? peggy? sure...well...suddenly it looks like i'm being charged a $35 annual fee. yes? tell me it's a mistake. yes?

are you saying yes or are you asking yes? yes? peggy? peggy? anncr: want better customer service? switch to discover. ranked #1 in customer loyalty. it pays to discover. people like watching it rain, as long as they're not outside. but, i'm a home. i'm always outside. i make being inside possible. look, do me a favor. get flood insurance. floods can devastate your home. fred, how you doing over there?

i think this is gonna be a problem. see what i mean? hey, i know what i'm talking about. because i'm a home people. and, there's no place like me. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. for a free brochure, call the number on your screen. >> larry: jewel is a grammy nominated singer/songwriter,

actress and poet and motorcyclist. and she was terrific last night on the emmies. her latest album is "sweet and wild." funny or die revealed to the world that early in her career, get this, jewel paired up with a fellow alaskan sarah palin. here is part of that satirical show business story. watch. >> the first night in town, i played this open mic at the crap in coffee. this woman came up to me and said, hey, my name is sarah. i play flute. do you want to jam sometime? i was like, yeah. i didn't want to call us the gold rush girls but she was really into sort of these jam bandy kind of names. she was like, i'm going to be on "saturday night live" before you are.

i was like, i'm going to be on the cover of "time" magazine before you. all of a sudden, she screams "the hell you are!" i was like, whoa, she's like, i'm quitting. i want to spend more time with the kids. todd needs help with his fishing business and i want to run for the governor of alaska. >> >> larry: to your knowledge there, jewel, did anybody buy that? >> you know it just hit the web tote so i have no idea. i haven't checked in. >> larry: do you think some people will? >> i definitely think so, yeah. >> larry: do you like doing that? >> i love it. i love doing skits like that. i love making fun of my snaggle tooth. i like to poke fun of myself. >> larry: you also did a video of funny or die undercover karaoke. you get up and sing your own song, right? >> yeah, i dressed up in prosthetics of somebody else and i got up and sang my own music.

they were so happy for my character, karen. they thought she was going to make it. >> larry: what do you think of sarah palin? you're both alaskans? >> i can't say we agree on everything political wise. but alaskan women are can-do women. i love the state i'm from. alaskan women are grounded, down to earth. very effective. the women feel like they did do that. i like that about sarah. >> larry: why is that? >> it's really the last frontier. it's a pioneer state. i was the daughter of a father of a pioneer family. she settled in the '50s. were given a homestead. the women up there had to do it for themselves. they had to plow their own fields. >> larry: did you start there? >> i did. i started there. my parents were musicians. i started singing with them when i was 6. my dad and i became a duet when i was 8. >> larry: what do you think of bristol, sarah's daughter, she's going to be on "dancing with the stars"? >> is it confirmed? >> larry: yeah, i think so. >> wow. that is amazing.

>> larry: you were supposed to compete. what happened? >> i fractured both legs. i was rehearsing too hard. >> larry: running around the stage? >> yeah, i went from zero hours of dancing to suddenly eight hours day. it was too much. i got stress fractures, basically. it is not from falling. >> larry: would you like to go on "dancing" some day? >> the only reason i would like to do that show is to get abs which really isn't a good reason to do a reality show. >> larry: last night at the emmys, you sang a song you wrote in commemoration of those who passed away. is that a difficult song to do? >> i was honored they let me sing that song. it's an unknown song. nobody ever heard it. it's not famous. it's sort of unusual on a show like that, they usually want a famous song. it's a personal song. i wrote it for a friend of mine who passed away from cancer. it's a difficult song to sing. it was hard to get through it there. >> larry: what was the title?

>> "the shape of you." it is up on itunes yus me solo acoustic guitar. >> larry: did you have to time anything on what they placed on scene? >> i did. i had to do it quick. it was married to a video so i had to be a bit strict. >> larry: you told me also "jewel sweet and wild" has been out since june. and you haven't promoted it because you and your husband has been on a motorcycle trip across the states? >> yeah. we decided while we are yng and still healthy we wanted to see the country. i put an album out in june and my label was okay with me leaving. i did a short tour and a few tv shows. that was it. >> larry: where have you motorcycled? >> about 4,000 miles so far. we're taking our time doing the byways and the scenic highways. we did new mexico, colorado, up in montana. we left our bikes there. i have a 650 gs and he has a 1200.

we left them there. we'll go back there tomorrow. >> larry: what does he do? >> my husband is a bull rider. >> larry: a bull rider? >> uh-huh. >> larry: you know you are weird. no, jewel, you are a great talent but a little weird. >> yeah. he is a rough stock rider. he one of the co-founders of a company of professional riders. they sell out 20,000 stadiums every weekend. >> larry: they ride bulls? >> yes, they do. he's retired now though. >> larry: and the both of you ride motorcycles. >> yes. >> larry: how much more time are you going to take? >> i don't know. we have another couple of weeks in us, i think. >> larry: anything scary ever happen? it seems motorcycles, they seem scary. >> they are a little scary. i was on a muddy road. going slow. i fell over and tore all the ligaments in my ankle. that is the worst thing that has happened. >> larry: things happen to you, jewel? >> for a little folk singer, i get into a lot of trouble. >> larry: like somebody is looking down and don't like you or something. >>