good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" tonight from new york. according to democratic aides, a debt deal without tax increases is reportedly moving forward. tonight, the big three remain on the chopping block. democrats need to understand cutting the big three in any way is a disaster. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. democrats still say no deal without taxes. the tan man can't control his tea partiers. meanwhile, religious and civil rights leaders are personally urging the president not to cut the social safety net.

reverend jim wallace met with the president. he's here tonight. in "psycho talk" el rushbo is pushing another democratic conspiracy theory. and congressman allen west voted to cut social security for his constituents and for some listen he's still attacking debbie wasserman-shultz. >> 80%. 80% of americans do not want washington to lay a finger on medicare and medicaid. that's a heck of a number. you know the nfl is about ready to do a deal. if some nfl coach said my quarterback is going to hit 80% of his passes this year, they'll say holy smokes, we're going to win the whole thing. that is a huge number. this just isn't democrats. it's republicans, it's independents, the young, the old. black, white, blue, green, center.

that's -- you can't have 80% without a strong mixture of all walks of life in america. we used this to show you how out of touch paul ryan was. i want the president of the united states to tell me what he doesn't understand about 80% of americans who don't want him to lay a finger on the social safety net that's been around since 1935. democrats have to ask themselves are they going to stand with the 80% or side with those who want the middle class again to take yet another hit. compromise that will fundamentally change everything the democratic party has fought for for the last 75 years. multiple polls, poll after poll shows that americans don't want washington to touch social

security. well, let's get outside of washington. let's go to flayover country. 76% of missouri and montana voters don't want cuts in social security. 72% of minnesota voter, they don't want senators al franken to sell them out on social security. and in ohio, is that kind of a big state when it comes to 2012? okay, let's forget the election. 80% want social security off the chopping block. not just this year, every year. social security has been around since august of 1935. and it should not be modified. we shouldn't go through any modifications whatsoever or changes at all in august of 2011. social security is the most effective government program in our nation's history. prior to social security, over 75% of the nation's senior

citizens, they lived in poverty. today the poverty rate for elderly americans has dropped to 10%. and today, over 9 million disabled americans and their families rely on social security benefits to make ends meet. along with 6.5 million widowed families. about 50 million americans rely on social security benefits. that's a hell of a number. every democrat in the congress and every democrat in this country has an obligation to go to the firewall for these people. even if john boehner sees the light and includes revenue increases in a deficit deal. no democrat should sacrifice one dime from social security. it should be off the table totally. there's no way to talk to people who want to cut the big three. take a page from nancy reagan. >> just say no. >> i know it seems like such a

simple message, just say no, but it's an important one. just say no. tell them to just say no. >> that's all you have to do. congressional leaders, just say no. in business, no is only the begins of negotiations. republicans basically have steam rolled the democrats for a long time. and president obama as well into throwing away their principles to appease a group of people who have acted like they have no care whatsoever for the economically challenged and nose who live on a fixed koun ed ed income in this country. listen to what tom coburn, the gang of six has to say. >> i'm willing to go out across this country, even if the polls are 70% against what we're doing. the fact is you can't solve our problem unless you do what cut, cap and balance wants to do. it doesn't matter what the polls are. we've got to fix our country. >> that's a theory. that is a theory that they're

peddling. that we just have to go after medicare, medicaid, social security or we cannot get this done. flat-out, that's a lie. okay, i'll take the hook, line and sinker on this one. let's play the if game. let's say that mr. boehner does a deal with president obama and says all right, i'm going to give you some revenue but i'm going to want the world. you're going to have to give me social security. that's going to bring the democrats across the board to a cross roads. are you willing to negotiate away social security something that's been a bedrock for the democratic party and the social foundation in this country for people to live in dignity in their later life. are you willing to negotiate that away just to get a little bit of revenue at a time in history when we can get it in so many other different ways? is the president talks about shared sacrifice. the middle class has already sacrifice sacrificed. the working poor has already

sacrificed. how much more sacrifice do you want from working americans? when does the greed stop. how many more billions of dollars do you want to quote the late senator ted kennedy. you know, walking to work here in new york and going to the different neighborhoods in manhattan, it's hot out. it's hot all over the country. 100 degrees, the insdex un dex is unbelievable. there are people who have their windows open. you would think that air conditioning would be probably the right thing. and i start wondering in some of the neighborhoods, maybe they can't afford a $200, 5,000 btu air conditioner that you can mount right in the window. a couple hundred dollars is a lot of money to some americans, millions of americans, in fact. $600 a year is a big cut to somebody who's living on a fixed income. i don't understand why the democrats are almost intimidated

and not to a tee willing to stand up shoulder to shoulder and say what we are doing is morally wrong. we should not even be talking about the big three. the big three did not get us in this problem. it was the bush tax cuts, it was the unfunded wars, it was big pharma. that's what brought us to where we are right now. it wasn't the elderly. it wasn't the poor. it wasn't those who are sick and need help. those people have nothing to do with the elite on wall street. it's easy for the gang of six to stand up and say sure, they can serve it up a little bit more. and these code sentences that are used about, well, we're going to try to make it stronger. you show me a cut to somebody who's living on a fixed income, i'll show you a cut. tonight, mr. president, i beg

you don't do this. no matter what the cost. the republicans have caused this financial mess, they have signatured it into the history books. do not back down. take the big three off the table. make it a nonnegotiable issue. now's not the time. morally, this isn't the time and it's not the right place to have this dpiegt. force the republicans to negotiate on your terms. mr. president, why didn't you tell us at grant park the night you won that in 30 months you would have cuts to the big three on the table? why didn't we get that part of the campaign speech snf because the campaign speech i remember was that you were going to protect all of that. that's who i voted for. that was the hope and change that i was looking at. now this is no the a hit commentary on president obama and i don't dislike president

obama. i'm being told time and time again as every other american is that we're in the 11th hour right now. well, if we're in the 11th hour, this is the time to speak up and speak with clarity across this country that we do not want these programs attacked by a radical group of politicians who want to give more breaks to the top 2%, who don't want to serve up any revenue to the treasury. they don't feel obligated at all, and they are not -- don't insult me -- they are not the job creators. 1361 west mooreland avenue is where george and mary raised five kids. they lived on a fantasticed income. my mom was a high schoolteacher, my dad was a civil engineer, he worked for the government. they had a little retirement, but they waited for that social security check and they counted on it. and mr. president, you're not -- i'm not much older than you and

your grandparents, you talk about your family a lot, your mom what she went through with health care. and your grandparents? were they on social security? did they wait for that check? mr. president, you know what this is all about and you know what the democratic party is all about. and you know what your constituents are all about. and we know what the republicans are all about. it is wrong to have this conversation now, and i am begging you, don't do this. don't do it now. the democrats in the house are trying to save you, mr. president. it's not about your legacy. it is not about you. it is about the democratic party. it is about those people that live on fixed incomes. but let's go back to the beginning. 80%! this is where the people are. how can you turn on the will of the people. we're in the 11th hour, it's

almost midnight. who's got guts in the congress to tell the president we won't go there. i'm looking fwr someone to tell us we have to have shared sacrifice. the hell with that. the middle class has already sacrificed. the working poor have already sacrifice sacrificed. you know the promo i do with the empty containers? that says it all. we ought to be talking about jobs not cutting social security. where's the heart and soul? this is about the heart and soul of the democratic party right now and sticking up for americans. sticking up for fairness. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, should democrats just say no to social security cuts? just like nancy reagan said no. just say no to drugs.

just say no to social security cuts. text a for yes, text b for no. 622639. you can always go to our blog at msnbc.com. bring you the results later on in the show. congressman garamendi joins me now. >> excuse me, i've got to text this number in. >> what's the text? >> it's no and no way. it's wrong to go after medicare and social security. social security is not the problem. social security actually is the cash cow for the budget. it's running a surplus and will for the next decade and beyond that. no way should we ever touch social security. and medicare, no. not in this process. we're being held hostage. there's a simple way of doing

that. put a clean, clean, lift the debt limit and let's get on with dealing with the problems of america. >> the republicans say you can have some revenue. that's going to bring as i see it you and the rest of the democrats to a cross roads. you're going to have to make a decision. if there are tack cuts or -- excuse me, if there are tax increases on the table for the wealthy, will you still say no cuts to social security? >> i thought i just said no and hell no. i mean it. we have no right at this time or anytime in the future to harm those who are in social security. period, no.

>> why can't the president say that? why does he have such an insatiable appetite to do a deal with the republicans? >> i don't know. i don't get it. frankly we'veruined the message here. this is about jobs. it's about putting people back to work and somehow we've gotten into this deficit issue which is only be solved when people go back to work. we need a job agenda. we've been work on that with our make it in america agenda. we have to get this default crisis behind us. put a clean one out. we have moved the debt limit up. we've gone on. tax increases on the wealthy, there's no way the wall street barons are getting off with a 15% income tax it's just not

right. shared sacrifice, you bet. >> it's up to the wealthy to do the sacrifice right now for the good of the country and not take from the people who depend on fixed income. thank you for speaking with tremendous clarity. my next guest met with president obama on wednesday. let's bring in reverend jim wallace, president and ceo of so adjourners. did the president tell you unequivocally the big three would be off the table because it's the moral thing to do? >> let me set the stage for the meeting. it was in the roosevelt room. the president and the team were there. across the table were the leaders of churches.

and it wasn't the religious left. it was evangelicals and catholics, black, hispanic, we were all there. what brought us together was this crisis, what you're talking about. we're in deep trouble right now and the poorest and most vulnerable are really at ris income this debate. as you're report big the hour, you know, a deal on this is a moving target. i was at the senate this afternoon. and no one know what is's going to happen. and they're terrified. but we don't have any principles. >> did you tell the president that this -- he has a moral obligation, this country has a moral obligation to take care of the poor? what was his reaction? >> exactly. we formed a circle of protection, we talked about, which we're going to circle around the programs. we have to really implement here, no matter what the deal is tomorrow, the next day, boehner, obama, the deals have to be guided by principles.

which is you don't target those who have already suffered the most. you don't make them hurt more. >> i understand you had a real faithful conversation with the president. but he did not at the end of the conversation say i'm going to protect social security because it's the morally correct thing to do? it's still on the premise of doing a deal? >> well, we said and he said back to us, it would be wrong to make the sacrifices be born by the least of these. he's quoting scripture there. jesus said, you know, as you treat the least of these, you treat me. and that was good.

but the devil is in the details. i'm concerned, ed, that even the democrats may defend medicare more than they do medicaid, you know? medicaid really is for poor people i want to push them on that as well. >> we could talk for hours on this. we're passionate about it. remember to answer the question at the bottom of the screen. we want to know what you think. the tea party republicans are passing up a deal of a lifetime and more republicans are calling them out for holding up a deal. allen west digs a deeper hole for himself. you'll never guess who he's throwing under the bus now. in an interview with "the aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! [ quack ] oh yeah? what about your family? ♪ we added aflac, so we get cash! it's like our safety net... ♪ to help with the mortgage or whatever we need! so my family doesn't feel the pain too.

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washington post," he said, quote, not continuing a tax cut is not technically a tax increase.

but just to be clear, they asked if it would violate his tax pledge, he said, quote, we wouldn't hold it that way. this means the bush tax cuts could expire without drawing the ire of norquist and his crowd. democratic senator chuck schumer jumped all over it. >> it's a recognition from norquist that the house republicans are increasingly isolated and have painted themselves to a corner. grover norquist, hall monitor when it comes to the anti-tax pledge has given house republicans a hall pass. >> but then norquist tried to reverse himself with chris jansing on this station today. >> there are things the public would clearly understand tax increase. americans for tax reform would oppose any effort to weaken, reduce or not continue the 2001 2001-2003 bush tax cuts. >> but "the washington post" has audio of his original comments.

>> that's right, not continuing a tax cut is not technically a tax increase. >> so it does not violate the pledge? >> we wouldn't hold it that way. a lot of the guys on the hill do. >> so even now he now wants to deny it, norquist was trying to give house republicans a way out. they certainly need a way out for the good of the country. new. hey ! chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ? chocolate ! chocolate it is ! yeah, but i'm new, too. umm... he's new... er... than you. even kids know it's wrong to treat new friends better than old friends. at ally bank, we treat all our customers fairly, with no teaser rates and no minimum deposit to open. it's just the right thing to do. a network of possibilities.

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>> it would be irresponsible for us not to look at backup strategies to solve this problem. at the end of the day, we have a pons isability to ability. >> and the tea party breshmen continue to draw the attention of a deal of a lifetime. it's an all-or-nothing strategy. you're likely to end up with nothing. standing firm for your principle at the expense of achieving your goal is just wrong. weber says even just weaker deals with $1.5 trillion in cuts would be a huge accomplishment for the republicans. let's bring in the managing editor of the grio, joy ann reed

and co-host of radio news amy holmes. amy, the tea partiers, are they still holding the kind of line that would stop a deal? is there any wiggle room at all there? >> i had a chance to talk to senator lee. he beat out the incumbent in that senate republican primary. and he says he wants to see a cut, cap and balance brought to the senate floor and voted on. he does not support mitch mcconnell's plan b and would not be voting to raise the debt limit without the major spending cuts. but ed, what i would tell you is there's news out today from standard & poor's that says even if we raise the debt kreeling if we do not get at our deficit, we could see our aaa credit rating reduced to aa credit rating. so there's pressure to both do something, raise the debt kreeling so we don't default and cut our spending so that we can be on fiscal financial firm footing. >> with that kind of tough talk and that kind of hard stance, where does that leave the democrats? >> mike lee is still talking

about cut, cap and balance and is probably the single most radical piece of legislation that i've seen in my lifetime. i think john boehner if he had his way would make a deal of some kind to raise the debt kreeling. he's talking to wall street. he can't educate those republican freshmen. they will just not be educated about this. >> why won't the president hold blind on big three? why is he negotiating way something that has nothing to do with the financial problem we got into. >> one of the things i would say is my old boss steve shale used to say underreact. i think what we have in a lot of cases is democrats on the hill starting to panic a little bit. you have a lot of staff members, i read through "the washington post" and new york times stories on this.

and you have a lot of staffers of people who weren't in that negotiation speculating about what's in a potential deal. but no one knows what's in a deal. the president has never said he's down for cutting social security, h he's interested in cutting medicare. he's actually said the opposite. i think it's a lot of speculation about things. people just don't know what the president is actually negotiating. >> i think that's a very good point. the president has been all over the place on this. initially he wanted a clean up or down vote on the debt kreeling. we could be downgraded for -- >> the fact of the matter is we were in deep financial trouble when he showed up at the oval office. we've got to be honest about that. >> the buck stops with him quite literally.

>> i read through the moody's report cover to cover. it's really incredibly disingenuous to try to reverse things on the president and say because of president obama's inaction on the deficit we're looking at a downgrade. we're looking at a downgrade because people who have no experience in government and don't understand the markets are awilling to allow the full faith and credit of the united states to actually be defaulted upon. these are republican freshmen who were ideologues. they're willing to let it happen. >> they're willing to throw the country financially under the bus for their ideology. >> they're not willing to let the nation default. and when you call these freshmen republicans ideologues -- >> they are. >> or as senator harkin did, that is to ignore the results of november midterm election -- >> things have changed since then, amy. look at wisconsin. look at wisconsin. things have changed since then. thanks for joining us tonight. it's not just the debt ceiling being held hostage by the

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republicans in the house are holding the federal aviation administration hostage and putting thousands of jobs at risk.

the faa has november long-term funding because the house and senate haven't come to an agreement on a bill since 2007. house republicans want provisions in the bill to make it harder for aviation and railroad workers to unionize. there have been 20 routine short-term funding extensions since then. but this time the stop gap was hijacked by republican house transportation chairman john micah. he inserted a poison pill into the many ez sure and admitd doing so in order to, quote, send the senate a message that we want this finally resolved. senate democratic transportation chairman fired back in a letter

saying, you need to think about this very, very carefully. any consequences resulting from such an action will fall squarely on your shoulders. right now, you are in control of the agency's immediate future. if the agency has no funding by tomorrow night, john micah will be responsible for putting thousands out of work. after sending a scathing e-mail to a female kol colleague colleague, allen west is not backing down, in fact, h he's doubling down. there's in uh propaganda out there and we will debunk it tonight. comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing decades of cleaner burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self contained well systems and using state of the art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment

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i know you said you would not apologize. is there anything you want to clarify or any part of your statement that you want to take back here today? >> not a chance. >> republican congressman allen west is not backing down despite the uproar over his comments to democratic congressman debbie wasserman-shultz. he cc'd the house leadership and

called her vile, unprofessional, despicable and, quote, not a lady. he has since refused to apologized. in fact, he's fundraising off his comments and taking a victory lap with right wing talkers. early on a radio show, west claims the reason why people are so upset over this e-mail is because he's a black conservative. >> what we do is we totally invalidate the liberal social welfare policies and programs, and, you know, i'm the threat because i'm the guy that got off of their 21st century plantation. >> and on fox business network, west was offered several opportunities to walk back his comments but he wouldn't take the bait. instead, west, a former lieutenant colonel, booted from the army for beating a man in iraq blamed the military for his behavior. >> there are certain ways we

speak in the military and i guess i have not learned the d.c. insider talk that maybe some of these people are used to. don't poke me in the chest. >> wow. congressman west, are you going to apologize to the brave men and women serving our military for that comment? or are you just going to fundraise off it? don't use our troops to justify your lack of decency. time now to bring in jeff santos, heidi harris, host of the had eidi harris show. how does he balance the comment he made about race when he insulted debbie wasserman-shultz is not a lady. >> he wants to blame it on the military, wants to blame it on the insiders, the outsiders, racial politicking to distract from the fact that he made what

is simply a political gaffe and there's no getting around it. the sooner he apologizes, the letter. you alienate so many people, young people, women, people who like civility in politics. you call someone vile and despicable? what do you do the next day? i think he niece a dead end. he may not realize it, but i guarantee you that the leadership is quietly pulling him aside saying look, you've got to walk this back. >> is he right saying ing ing he needs to talk it back? >> of course he is. the problem is he's not your typical right leaning weanny who backs off the first time someone cries. he stands by what he said. remember the debbie water her name shultz stood on the house floor and bashed him when he wasn't in the room. that is gutless, rude, despicable. then she's crying about. you're not allowed to hit the boy first and run out of the house crying when he hits you back 37.

>> but wasn't she talking about policy of medicare and supporting a program that would affect lives? >> no, she was not. she was trying to characterize colonel west as trying to starve the old ladies, which her opinion, but that is not the fact. that's not what colonel west is advocating. so she is trying to characterize it -- >> so what has she done that makes her not a lady? . >> she was rude that she bashed him when he wasn't in the room. she was gutless in her approach. she's playing the girl card and he's not going for it. good for him. >> he doesn't even live in the district he represents. he lives in debbie wasserman shultz's district. yeah, he was part of the military, the inside part of american foundation. it's just laughable. he's trying to basically back pedal on everything right now.

>> why is he trying to do that? why does he think he's right? >> i think he lives in his own planet. i don't know. i think that he is -- he's somebody at some point, boehner, they're obviously a little busy right now, going to bring them together and say look, just stop this. i think. >> i think he -- >> i don't know what you're talking about back pedalling. >> another congressman we've talked about named anthony weiner, ex-congressman. it's easy to fall victim to, you're the darling of the talk shows, you seem to raise a lot of omoney. people think you're bold, you seem to be unique. and the reality is you're just out there in la-la land. what seems to work for a while can really backfire. this kind of talk just doesn't work. >> all righty, let's talk about the debt ceiling for a moment. is the president going to cave? >> well, if any of the three, the dig bree, medicaid, medicare, social security, are touched at any significant level, i'm not talking about

something, half a percent here and you take out some dollars that save some money off of companies who provide an x-ray machine. outside of that, if he destroys it in any form in terms of the foundation that was done in the 1960s with lbj and fdr in the 1930s, it's a bad day for the democratic party and a bad day for america. >> and why don't the republicans go along with what the american people want. clearly every survey out there shows they don't want the big three to be a part of this. >> well, there are plenty of americans who understand the big three are not sustainable. the only way to fix the problem in america financially is to make changes to the big three. we're not talking about decimating them. we're talking about making changes. anybody who tells you those programs are sustainable is a liar. and a lot of americans are not that stupid. >> social security is not sustainable? >> of course not. absolutely not. why would the age have been 65 to begin with. why? you weren't expected to live long enough to need it.

duh. >> whatn't a the surplus in social security that we borrowed against. >> compared to any other program, it is far more stable than almost anything else. you don't find other program where is there might be a problem in 20, 30 years. let's fix it today. the reality is it's fine for now. if they change it in such a way that the change comes in 10 or 20 years, maybe the eligibility level goes up to 67 years, no the with anybody who's alive now, but starting in 10 years, starting in 15 years, that's not a cave, that's actually a structural reform. if something like that is being considered, i think the president gets away with it. if they take away things that people have now, then there's going to be a political price to pay. >> switching subjects again, heidi, is michele bachmann fit to serve with her headaches? >> absolutely. i get may grains. i feel for her. i was reading the things said about her. i've been sick on a plain, sick in offices.

been there, done that. if you want to look at the past presidents and the health problems they've had. one thing i want to get a point in here about harry reid. he said social security was good for 20 years. now we're not sure it's good for 20 days. >> well, you ear wrong on that, hide to di. -- heidi. it's good for 26 years. you think michele bachmann is just fine, then why did tim pawlenty the former governor of minnesota go after her and why did karl rove go after her? >> well, i think people brought it up and tim pawlenty tried to walk it back a little bit. i think it's unfair. a lot of presidents have had health problems. she'll be fine. i don't see why it's a big issue. i never play the girl card myself but i think it's a swipe at women because more women than men get migraines. i think it's a subtle way to g after her.

>> i think the republicans have got a war on women and i also think that the she is scaring the hell ouft of the establishment. i give her credit for the way she didn't back down to the attacks. thanks for being here tonight. i appreciate your time. rush limbaugh claims up the heat on the climate change denials.

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rush limbaugh thinks this year's sweltering temperatures are being manufactured by the government. he's targeting the heat index which combines the air temperature with humidity to tell you just how hot it really feels. forecasters say the heat index could be above 115 degrees tomorrow in some parts of the country. way past the danger zone.

heat related sickness and death starts to rise significant when it hits 95. but from where the drugster sits in his climate-controlled studio, it's just a liberal government conspiracy. >> they're playing games with us on this heat wave again. even drudge, drudge getting sucked in here. going to be 116 in washington. no it's not. it's going to be 100. maybe 99. the heat index, manufactured by the government to tell you what it feels like when you add the humidity in there. when was the last time the heat index was reported as an actual temperature? it hasn't been. but it looks like they're trying to get away with doing that now. it's going to top out at 102, 103. it does this every year. >> rush, i know you're not big on science, but the weather does not do this every year.

take a look at this map from real professional scientists. all those red dots represent record temperatures set this month. 1,289 of them. as for the heat index, the concept has been around since the early 1900s. the national weather service has used it if per more than 30 years. and all you have to do is step outside to figure out humidity makes it feel hotter. so for rush limbaugh to see the heat index is manufactured by the government is a steaming pile of "psycho talk." lots of people are out of work, but a conservative think tank wants you to believe it's because of health care reform. ♪

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>> leave it to a right wing think tank to link health reform with job loss. the conservative heritage foundation released a form claiming the passage of the affordable care act caused private sector job growth to stall, but as the washington monthly points out, private sector job growth has been on and upward trend since health

care we form passed. but the uninsured continue to struggle. and americare report says the majority of free clinics have had to turn away eligible patients because of the lack of staff and funding. that's what it's all about. this is one reason the ed show continues to support the national association of free clinics along with msnbc. to donate or learn more about volunteering, visit free freeclinics.us. text 50555 to make a $10 donation by phone. joining me tonight is the executive director of the national association of free clinics. great to have you with us tonight. what do you make of the conversation. that i just mentioned about some of the talk about the health care bill and affecting job loss. what about that? >> well, what i can tell you right now is free clinics have

seen a 40% to 50% increase in patient demand. that's a lot of patients that need our help. we've seen a 20% decrease in donations. we're turning away more and more patients because they do not have access to health care. but yet, we still know that 63% of those patients have some sort of job or come from a working household. >> what kind of impact, as political groups work to undermine the health care reform bill, what impact does it have on the free clinics? what have you seen? >> we've run the gamut. from people saying health care reform has passed so we don't need free clinics anymore, which is not true at all, to people saying oh, my goodness, where am i going to go. we know that i don't have any access right now, i better get to that clinic and i really need some help. >> as you've seen in our large scale clinics across the country. people need help and they don't know where else to go so they come to our free clinics. >> how tough has is this on your resources?

>> it's amazing. we have a 20% decrease across the country. we take no state or federal money across the country, so we know that our patients need help but we're really trying to do more with so much less. >> and in new orleans, we need some help, let's just be right up front about it. we want to raise as much money as we possibly can. folks, i have been at these clinics. i have seen some fabulous stories, some unbelievable stories, they're really gut wrenching and this is helping americans. >> we need $350,000 for us to hold this clinic and we're right about $126,000 now. your viewers have been incredibly generous. we really need the help. new orleans really needs volunteers and donations and people can go to free clinics.u.s. to help us out. >> nicole lamoureux, thanks for your time. we will see you in new orleans. and again, if you would like to donate, text health to 50555 to make a $10 donation by phone.