we'rba with howard fineman and maria teresa kumar. let me ask you about this issue of the health care bill. the president announced toy rnlg ga benjamin from alabama is going to beis nominee for surgeon neral. ma ierpreted this decision today, on the mondayhis first day back frohis trip overseas, s to keep the excitement behind his commient toealth care high onis agenda. my worrys that in the hill today i watched senator hatch came on tonight and id they justot narrowly by one vote with b casey joining his side, to not exclude abortion fromhe health care covera of this new plan. i ju think it might be a deal-breaker to include abortion when theresident says he's going to reduce thnumber of abortionin this country, through nooeion, obviously. how n he do that and say i'm bsidizing it at the same tim >> ihink is a difficult problem and this is whera lot women's groups are going look ahim critically to see if he's maintained his campaign

promise to ph rward their issues. i thk he's going to have a fight. i inone of the reasons he came on monday, in the middle of the confirm hearings, that is he knew america wasatching and that he wants to demonstrate that he's a multi tasker. i think it demstrates that he believ sotomayor is going to get confirmed ther easily -- >> bk my question. is he ing to kill his health care bill by including abortio financg by taxpayers for all americans under th plan? in otheror, he says he wants to rede the number of ortions in this country, now he says, by the way,'m goi to subsidize them. does that work pitically? >> it's ghlg to be hapn. i think he's going to go bind closed doors and t to figure out the pulse -- >> howd? >> i think the hh care bill is in big enough trouble as is without loading the abortion issue on to it. don't know what they're thinking. they're going to lose whole bill.

>> maybeobby casey will save them from eir worst inclinns. thank yooius again morrowight at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball" our brand new here. ich of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the still unrevealed, still secret, stildubious bonus secr bush program to get al qaeda? the one which cia director panetta pulled t brakehis spring then ldongress dick cheney order the cia to not tell cgress for eight years. s that because the plan was too much or too little? special prosecut. thwords are whispers of the attorney general, mr. lder. an actual criminal invgation toorture? e sotomayor hearings. invitati to an anti-climax. as sator graham says to her, unless youave a complete meltdown you're gointoet confirme and the sarah con woman chronicles she's going to start herwn coervative party with democrats. plus li hnson is now talking about her, quote, stress levels.

all that and more now on "countdown." good evening from new yo. the me bush-cheney administration which failed heed warngs from its own cialans from al qaeda, itself, that fled to prevent the wot attack on u.s. soil, that failed to get the perpetrators of at attack is also we learned today thsame administra which failed to come up with a single viable plan for the cia to capture or kill members of al qaeda, spite running an eight-year long mission so secret theice president ordered e cia to not tell cgress about it. "the wall street journal" toy reporting that discussion of pls to kill al qaeda lears tapered within six months ter 9/11. accoing to former intelligence officials saying bush and chen didn't sport a proposal to send special tea after al qaeda the way israel got t terrists who attacked the munich olympics. on march 13th, 2002, six mths,

o days after 9/11, mr. bush himself said publicly of b laden, quote, i try am not that concern about him. tonight's story . chen now reduced to defen their toughness by sending h dahter out to defend them spinning tha"wall street journal" story to est it somehow reveals democratic weakness on national security. cheney forced to pladefense now with t weekend's revelation that it we who ordered the cia not to comply with the laws requiring fu inl briefings for congressional leaders, fwed qukly by today's "wall street journal" story that what mr. cheney conceal from congress were the failed attets to come up with cia plans for getting al qaeda, a story tt raises a host oquestions. considerg the congressional leaders had already been brief about the president's 2001 directive ordering capture ankilling of al qaeda members. on june 23rd of this year ci officials concerned about misleading congress still told thnew director leon panetta about the al qaeda effor what detas abouit no one has yet said. panetta then told congress essentially confirng to the

diay of the right wing speaker pelosi's previous claithe cia had not told hern 2002bout the waterboaing it was conducting at atime. let me tn first to the author of "the dark side, the inside story of how the war on terror turned into a r on american idea" and of course staff writer at "the new yorker" magazine. thanks for beingith us. >> thank you. >> congress and the public have known for ars that president bush authorized the cito kill members of al qaeda, proy no onwould have an argument with that. there uld have been no reason to withhold th from congress that was the end of it. so no reas for that to stun membs of congress as they reportedly were stunned whenhe director briefhem last mont what is it that 're missing in this narrave? >>ell, there are some details here, obvisly, we don't yet have. seem to be coming togethe there is atory in the british press that sounds li "the new york times" is working on a piece, too, that sugsts that

these were kd of masad like hit squads that were going to be thorized possibly to operate in se of o allied countries without informing th governments those countries, so there are some potentiay controversial ascts to this that haven't completely aced ye partrtf the ason i think it's worth thinking a aut why congress w wld be set about this is if you go backcknto th history of theheia, thwhole id of intelligence oversrsht, it c came out the 1970s after plans for asasssinatn attempts susurfacednvolving the cia. so the idea that cheney y might have specififically trd to keep congss from knowing about t what could be seen as assasassination attempts i icertaiy going to push lot of buttons up on n e hill. >> i know seymour r hersh'hint of the story i in minnota in the spring w about stuff run out of the pentagon n ecificly not tied t to the a but it seems markable we might be talalking abouout in aeriod of months two secret assassination s squads somehow totouching othe vice presesident ofhe united states. is that too mumu of a coincidencnce? could we be talking g out th

same squad o ojust t aspects of the se operation? >> well, i iean, t particulars -- from what we knowow so fa anyway abobout this rticular hit sqd was that it was neveveup and running. ey did, though, it souous like begin to trainin specic killers, who mit be able to rove the e world lookoking foal qaeda members. i mean, wewe know ofourse we've gogoa dronprogram that killed so from the sky but therere's methindifferent about them workg secretly in, you knono alaled couries, and in terms of chey what we've seen overer the last f few month really, is that every t time anher document comes out abouout the sh administraration'srograms you can see cheney's finingerpris on it. so, , basicall take a look at the -- there was a a fasciting report that cacame outast friday that was put together byby

inspector generalslsn the inteigence community. >> right. >> it's full of f tails out both cheneney and hiformer lawyer david addingtonon. they were ththe peop who seemed to be behind the warrantntless retappg program. mehow, weirdly, it wasas up to them to decide w which oth laers got to be cued in n out this in the administsttion, you d this very strange situation where there e was this intense secrecy ananmany othe subjt area experts were keke out of knowingng abouthese ograms. >> jane, maybe i'm'meing a litt simple in asking thisisut if y y put erything together, is it ssible that the reasonon cheneney wouldave pushed for the secrechere was not because t t much wasasone toillegally to y to g al qaeda but that ultitely the history of thisis progogm woulshow how little wadone to get al qaeda?? >> well, i meaean, i tnk one of the revelations thatatame ouin ththat, certnly in the inspector general's repoport, was which is very impoportan i think --

was at the warrantless surveillance program, , which twisted our consnstitutionnto ots, turns out to haveveeen ineffectctive. cording to government t experts who are nonpartisan,n,t did t help i in any seous way in our antiti-terroefforts. so, mean, i think it is possible that the morere we kno about some of f ese prrams the more we'rere going tfind out ey werunnecessary. >peakinof unnecessary, last point here. he washington post" rereported today that t t cia h hid from congress. itas called a technically y oriented i intellince collection effort unrelated to o terrorm suects and that was "thehe wall street j journalversion of this. ould wbe skeptical of these anonous sources suddenly appearing with detailslshat se so widely atat variae from what we thi we know? well, think that there's probably a real jump b ball goin on politicicly to y to paint whatas withheld from congrgrs as unimportantnt. u knowthe cia and some of

e republicans on the h hill are tryingo say, this wasn't an important program. but if it turns out totoave actual been an elite sort of assassin's squad that cocould wo without -- in n various untries wiwiout teing the host countries, i think it's s going be hard toto say it s minor. >> yeah, andnd certain they won'n'say itas minor. jajane may of "the new yorker" magazine a and authoof "the dark side" anks for your time tonight. speaking o of the ju ball polititically e right wing of the chey family trying to pupush back on numerousus repor mr. cheneney order the cia to defy intel laws mandating congressional briefingngs. one named bush official tellining anea mitchell the adadnistraon did not tell coress about the cia efffforts because, quotetecongre didn't ask.k. mr. cheney, himselelf, ducki commenent all ekend allowing his daught the political appointntee at statate to fit for him in an inrview with the conservatative "washington titimes" ciming without anany factuabasis whatsoever that democrcrats obje toto getti al qaeda rather than in facacthat ty object to being pt in the dark about plans to get al l eda ormore accutely, the bush-chene

failure toto make plan to get al qaeda. > there'shis big piece in he wall street journal" " this morning that says thatat it was number o of differt concepts or ways we could cacapture kill al qaqaeda leads in the days after 11. now, i im real surprised that the democratatdecidehat's what ththey wanto fight over. if they want to o go to th american p people ansay that they disagreed with the nono weht to be capturing andnd killing al qaeda l lears, u know, i ink 's just going to pre to the american peoplele o more time whwhththeyan't trust the democrats with oururatatiol security. let's turn to msnbc's litical analyst and also senior editor at " "neweweek magazine. good evevengng, hn. why are dedemoatattrying to stop republicans from g getngngl qaa? >> cheney figures ththe stst fense is a good offense soso he'll try to tururn isis othe decrcrat but lookok at's happened here is s eierer this was nototn n imrtant prprram in which case we f faid at something t tt t yoand i and evereryby y el assumed we were doing.

wh a allhis bad stuff was happening to the constititutn,n, dodon'knknowbout you but i assumed atat lstste're killing the bad guys in n thdadarkf night. the dark side was gogoodoror something, o oining qaeda. so eitithethth didn't do that, which case we all shohod d be more scared nonow ououterrorism, orf f itas a big, important prprogm and they didn't infofo congress aboututt,t, ty broke the lalaw. see,e,vever nce the 1970s, the a has been required toto rorort at least what t th c cl the gang of eight. members of the l learsrshiand the chchrmrmannd ranking members ofofhe intelligence commititte in each chambebe they must t rertrtn their operations. ththatveveight was implemented after the last cia abuseses t t 7070s ich are quite similar to what we're t tkikingbout, the so-called phoenix progograinin vietnam tatargeded vt cong leaders for asassaininion. when t thacacameut it gave the cia a blblk eye and the law was

chchand requiring them to ininrm congressss. so if it comes outut tt t th okokthe law under orders f fro dick cheney, thahat eses ld to some questionsns aututhether the vice prerededentas involved in law breaking. does that meanan wllll s him frog marcheded o o othe cheyenne aiairpt?t? i doubt it but we e cod d e some kindnd oininquy as to whether e vice president brokeke t law. > jt bring him to the white house soso wcacafrog march him out of the white hououseo o ease jojowilson. number two on this l lishehere eses tt still supply the cessary astonishment we'veve heard described from t theememrs of the h hsese fally briefed tisis by mr. panettatahehen said ohohby the way i just shutut dn this program y y d didt know anythihingbobo? do there not feel like therere's another really s shailille'neal sized shoe waiting to drdropn n isis? yes. and you u casesee ttle sort of hints that it varied i in memef these ststors.s. nonow, don't want to make itit seemem le e know something that

i don't, because we'rerelylyin blind here. but ththerwawas indication thth, perhaps, a large numumbeof prisoners were kilillebybyfghan allies under thehe serersion, perhapaps,f f thcia, or did they give them a greeeen ghght r executioio?? you know, during t theimimwe werere fhthtinthe taliban? not clear. d d i n't want to suggest i know that that happenenebubut that's the sort t ofhihi. >>hahat'the level of things. >> yes, that we might t bealalng about. >> and what would ththfafallt from that bebe? i mean, would ththat- - do the astotoshshme that the democratic mbers who wrote, the g gro o of six thatat wtete tt letter, is that astonisishmt t mewhat back fill to make sururththei fingerprints aren'n't t thi thth this is going to be entirely the repububcacansnd mr. bubush problems? >> you certainly can't't uerer esestite the ability of politicians of botpaparts to

cor their fannies when they y need to. but t i t t thsense from panetta's actions s anrerember netta though he serveded uerer llll cnton and now under babara obama he used to be a a republican. he i ia a retively conservative guy. i don't think k 's's crying water here.. he was u ups a athe degree to icich ngress was left in thehe dark aboboutn n portant program, so obviouslyly, erere'a lot more to learn abobouthihi i don't think the obamama adadmistration wants big hearings b b i i he we have themem. >> lastly, is there e anwawato rtrtf reverse engineer whahat dick cheney might hahaveeeeen responsible for babaseononhis suddenen stctch his daughter to this clalaimf,f, y know, it's just going to bebe f fig over naonal security and the e democrats will lose ththatnene does that tell us ananhihingf what he mighght g glty of in th?? >> no, but i think as janene popoteted t, you know, his fingerprintstsrere oall of this. >> thahat ululbe new, wouldn't ? whwhicof these vice presidenenal asssssinion squads will you bebe talking about tomorrowow?

jojoththanlter, of "newsweek" d msnbc, thanks for cocomi i in. a spspecl l osecutor for torture and d 's's sious enough e e atrney general has rerertedly asked for a lisist ten nominees.. of course there will b be mimi. the quasasi-awawye who fabrbratatedhe documents auororizg the torture not to be prosecuted. and anybodody o o foowed those documents not to be prososeceded anybody whwho dndn'tollow those documents and wewentveveoard but wawas titingn good faith, not to be prosecuted. at w whapopot does special prosecutor b bece e a aningless brand name? and who coululththisne still prosecute? the only people eminglstill onhe table are those who wer tortured. plus gas too dude. we're coverer. enjoy the game easy. pepto guy: p pepto-bisl. yup, you'r're veved. okay, w is is the lastime alght? thanksyou know we don't deveanything like this. this crispy flatbrbre. mmmm. mmm! troducing the taste that's never been delivered.

diginono crispy flatbread pizzaza. 's's delivery, it's's digiorno.

when the term special prosecutor becomes aoxy moronic brand me by jumbo shrimpr virgin brand condoms jonathan turley on the tep murmurings from e obama administon about the torture investigation. then the sotomayor hearings. if the republicans have anytng damaging in disguise it is certainlto quote churchill very effectively disguised. as sarah palin hits orming her owy her ex-future soin-law with an overloooo bombshell. hints she quit as governor because she just cldldn'handle the esessure of doing the job. you're watching "countdownwn" o snichl tang its rightful pce a long line of amazi performance machinines. this is the new e-coupupe. this is mercenz.

attorney general eric holder is seriously considering t appointment of apecial prosecut to look at whether bush era detainees were illegally tortured. in our frth story on "the countdown" the heaine comes with such ge caveats the opportunity might be sandered. the decisionou be made soon about the same time the juice departnt completes an ethics port about bush administration officials who drafted thnow redited memos which authorized werboarding and

so-cald enhanced interrogation. any inveigation into torture abuses would bnarrowly focused, limited to a small number of the most egrious cas in which cia officers or contractors went far beywhat s authorized. this according to our own pete williams. anyoneho followed the bush era gal guidance would not be investigated nor wou those who strayed from the technical limits of interrogation but acted good faith. the oo, sorry, i broke you in half defense. the attorney general'somewhat toented process described in "newsweek" athere were startling indications at some interrogats d gone far beyond what had been authorized in the legal opinionissued by the bush jusce department, which re themselves controversial. he, that is lder, told one intite that what he saw, quote, turned my stomach. according to "newsweek" lder also asked his staff for a list ofen candates, four prosecutor five fr within the justice department and five fr

outside it. let's call on the ofessor of constitutional law at george washgton university jonathan turley. good evening. >>i, keith. >> theeats in a moment but is something likelto happen in the way of scial prosecutor no >> the question of course is what will haen? what hs described is more of a nzai plant than a prosecutor that you can twist a restrain to gw the way you want. it not a special prosecutor. for some lertarians i think they rather have nothing at all ratherhawhat he is suggesting. the biggest probleis that holder and psident obama appear to be rewritinghe law we created inuberg. we convicted people like herbert clem, who was convicd with these other judges. this w the third of the 12 trials and he was a justice offici in the nazi regime. he was convicted for his legal opinions tt allowed for war crimes. weried h. wereated that rule. principle four of the nurmrg w specifically says following

superior oers is not a so the obama administrioare rewriting nurmberg wh all of these preconditions and th're rewriting it in a ve ig noble and in mview immoral image. >> so is thema administration shifting? is this answer to those who sa no, you have to do more cause as you point out t law would seem to impell it? or is ere some indication, perhaps, that . holder is strikingut on his own and that thermight in this be the germ of a hopeful sign that this could be broadened as time goes by rather than narrowed or being nothing at a? >> like a lot of civil lirtarians i must admit i' grown more cynical with time, with this administration they have tried soightily to avoid any prosution or even investigation of war crithat there is a lot of cynicism out there. i'm just not convinced. i ink that attorney general he's becoming almost arac, d. comil figure like sergeant schultz sayi, i see nothing, i see nothing, when every ek

brings out compelling eviden of aar crime. on top of that we had soldiers in harm's way. i think if the obama administration is preparg for wh may come. what happens wn one of our soldiers is waterboardednd al qaa says, well, it's interrogation. what happens if an iranian tribunal orders waterboarding of an american and says this iso greatethan the interrogation allowed by thenited states. that is what the loss moral clarity brings ta country like the united stes. >> n mind in north korea where we have two jourlists in jail, two americ journalists for coming into the country illegally. that's a praical example right now where somethg, i mean i'm not expecting they wou wateoard them after convicting them but they certnly have no moral clarity based on wha we'vdo in response to waterboarding. that's right. what we are doing is n just frittering away our moral standing but putting ourwn

people agreat d grave risk. that's what nurmberg gave us. it w not just a moral superiity over those who committed these crimes. it also gave us a clarity in how we would insist our n soldiers and citizens be treate e simply lost that. >> the republican senator mr. alexander said if lder does even this he also needs to lk undee subject of rendition under presidenclinton when mr. holder was the deputy attorney general, thereby saying if you're going to instate, investate yourself. i assume yr answer to that is, you know, bring it on. >> yeah, well i thk i'd more than happy have them investigate all such occasions and i don't believe -- or policies -- and i dot believe the republics are serious abouthis. but republicans haveo ke an impoant decision. they cannot go in and crte a legacy for their party as the pay that fought to protect the right to torture. i mean, whatever polical aspirations they may have, ty must at ast retain something a moral definition of themselves.

i , they're the party of abraham ncoln and see where they have gone. i just don't believe most republicans really want at. but what also think attorney geral holder has to do is accept, appoint a special prosecutor and telm to go find cmewhere the evidence leads. and that's t moral clarity th we're lacking in terms of these recent sries. >> yeah, archibald c could come in most useful at this pot. jonathan turley george washingtonniversity, as alwa, john, thanks for your clarity on this. thanks for your time, too. >> thanks, keith >> all right. good night. u know what was the best part of having that g-8 summit in ily lasweek? clearly, it s the moon light. wait a minute. wait f it. there -- just a little late. okay. holdn. all ght. so the graphics hid what y're seeing but y get the point. and the southernalifornia pastor w says it's fine to spend 2% of all your prayers o king god to kill people ke the president. worst personin the world

ahea undefeateted profsional boxer floydyd "money"ayweather ngas ever seen. s the fs so i've come t thiring to see who's stster... on the internet.. i'll be using the 3g &t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i canan browsee the web faster, email l busine plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis d d i'm faster than floyd mamayweather. (announcncer switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get t at laptopconnect cd for free.

(announcncer switch to the nation's fastest 3g network car inrance company in theatn.t bu it'not like we're cking ck, now, havin' cua tea. gecko vo: tatakes lots of sweat to b become thth big. gegevo: 'course, geckos don'tt literally sweat... it's just not our ththin.. gecko vo: ...but i do rk hard, mind you. gecko vo: first ru o of "hard work equals success."" gecko vo: thatathy geico is consiststentl rated cellent or better in tes of financial strength. gecko voseco rule: "don't steal a c coworker's egg salad, 'specially if ititarked "the gecko."." come on peopople.

best, bests in a momenent,nd swearing helelpsouou wh stand papa.. something i could d relylyse tonighght ghght out now. rsrst,ittingly, given the ststarof the baseball all stst celebrationsns 1 y yrs ago yeyestdaday s born harry krause the greatest b bebebalpitcher who eveveriviv. iefly, a century ago k kususe, rookie, won all ten ofof h f fir teststts for the philadelphihia hletics. 6 ofof t 1 1were shutouts. 4 of the 6 shutotos s we 1-0 shutouts.. 100 years ago totoy y hirecord

stooooatat 10 and six shutouts. then somomhihingappened. probably a tororn tatar cuff. ananhe won just 26 more gagamein his career before e beg g se to ththe nonoleagues with a sore arm three seseass s ter. let's play "odd ball."." we beginin iitity where last weweekhe world's leaders metetor ththe 8 8 mmit. ititian television networkrk t1 coverered f fm all angles. the news team wawas ererfor the ststeded pto ops as well as presests thth one not far from the e meeting. u u casee the reporter in the foregroundnd a group ofof ptetests way behind heher. then three guyuywawanding into the middle ground and d -- [ speaking in n heher nguage ] >> pleasas a a cseup. did i mention n thu.u.n.ecurity councicil ckckmoon was attending

thsummit? prpresesto caught the director sleepiping this is why we d d't't dour show on the ground d vevel. inin genenlle, south carolili a a sirrel has a yogurt cup stuck on its h hea part of yoyoplt't'new fur on the bobott line of yogurt or pererps a show they cacan a ahour on on cnn headline news. an nbc camera shshoongng atory at theheniniveity happened to shoot this little fellow i in distress and t tnknkfuy the wyff crew didid t r rht thing. th k kepthe tape rolling but tried to rescue him. follow the bououining uirrel so we c canriri you the footage night in "oddball" theheththey put the camerara dn n d pulled e e cuoff little rocky's head. w. the great sosomamayo showdown. thisis ialalthe republicans ha? ansarah palin's levi johnsonon problem. now he's's ilylyg she quit as gogoveor because the job wasasoo stressful for her.r. these ststors s ahd. first the best pererso i in e woworl "datelinine ttttsbgh" number

three best typypo,hahamorse code meage from the airplane e opop the grant building i i pittsburgh, 80 yearsrs omomoe co in little red lights tellllinpipits what city they're seeing. 's been spelling out pitstsbkh. evenen wh h e bizarre native acacce t thas not how you spell pipitturur. authorities say they're e fingn it. "datatinine w york" number two st admission. yoyou ought bill moyers, mr. ndall potter says michchl l moore's moving on n heththare reform sicko was deaeaonon, rtrticarly the positive picture e ofeaealtcare in canada and enengld d d adds the ereric health care industry is trying to o rarailhe picture cause it was true. quotote s suldn't fear government invnvolmeme in our health s stetem. ththe e isn appropriate role for government tanan b beeproven in the countrtrieththatere in the movie. whisis wdall potter? some obama specicialt?t? nono he was u unt l lasyear the head of public relatitis s fosigna thth$18 billion health carare d heal i insance corporation.

and dateteline engngnd. number one best excusese. dr. richard stevofhe ychology school there usg g intricate neuro expepents with voluntnteers and ice water find one grououp caenenre pain nearly % % loer than another group.p. the longngerasasti? those who were encouourad d as they thrust theieir ar i io a tub of frereining ter to square out loud and keep sweaeari. thosose whwewe told not to swear buininead repeat a word withth which they would desescre e a table lasted an n areaf f st 75 seconds. the swearers lasted d two nunus. the one caveat theheorore earing ththe ss effective as a ychological means of p pai managegentnt ereris no data on those whwho described d e e tae by swearing at it. even theheananki republican but did you know youou also ge hotel price assusue? it's a o one-two pch of savinings -- pow! pow! lower hotel bobooking fees men you gegea lower total price. plus, ifif another orbitz custotomer then books the same hote for less, we send d a chk for e e dierence, automatically.

women who drink crysl lit drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a decis change.

even the ranng republican on judiciary committee fully aware fromhe outset he is marshallg his forces for a lost cause. our third story s opening statemen senator jeff ssis referring president obama's nominee to

the supreme court as justice tomayor. day one of a weeof confirmati hearings for judge nisotomayor. the star witne silent for all but eight minutes, the gallery not so much about four protestors interrupt for -- arrested for interrupting ong them t janw of roe v. wade. >> call it eathy. callt prejudice. call isympathy but whatever it is is now. in truth it's more akin to politics and politics has no place in the courtroom >> wonder what the mbers of the judiciary committee called it in 1986 when two repuicans voted against the nominationf the same jeff sessionso be a federal dirict judge because of allegatio that as a federal prosecutor he sought to suppress the black vote. today the now natofirst as rankinmember on this committee. others claiming the supreme

court has overturned more of sotomayor's decisis than any otr ju >> igree that her judicial record is an important component of our evaluation. i look forward to heing for inance, the supreme court has reversed or cated 80% of her inions. >> a tip for senator kyl whos apparently newo the country. the preme court reverses an overwhelmingajority of the cases it accepts. when theourt agrees with a cision it will far more often

than not turn away a case and lethe ruling of the lower court stand. democrat russ feingold laying bare the republican lking point meanwhe of judicial activi. i suggest to everyone watching today that they be a little wary of ahrase that they'rhearing at this hearing -- judicial activism. that term really seems thave lost all uselness, paicul since so many rungs of the conservative majority on the supreme cot can fairly be deribed as activists in their disregard for precedent and their llingness to ignore or override the intent of congress. at this point, perhaps, we should all accept th the best definiti of a judicial acvist is a judge who dedes a case in a way yodot like. >> cdit lindsey graham of soh carolina with today's rare republican moment of honesty. >> i don't wt it to be lost th this is mostly about liberal and conservative politics more than anying else. now, unless you have a comple meltdown, you'reoing to get confird. >> when wasally her turn sak judge sotomayor, knocking down suggestions that she would allow hebiases to guide her from the bench. in the past month, many senators have asked me about my judicial plosophy. simple. fidelity to the law. the task of a jue is to make law. it is to apply the law. >> the judge also seeming to make indirect refence he wise latina controrsy today. >> my peonal and professional

experiences helpe to listen and understand with the law always commanding the sult in every ca. >> time now to tn to our own lawrence o'donnell contributor to the huffington post, rmer chief of staff of the senate finance mmittee when it was chaired by the late senator ihan. go evening, sir. >> good to bhereith. >> the rubcans have been sliming this judge for the lt six weeks, 24 hours a day, seven days a week possibly taking of memorial d. shld we be surprised that was e prevailing strategy in the opinstatements even today? >> well you could look at that way but it's mostlyeen from the limbo ze. wh theuys knew, all the repuicans on the committee have met her some were on the commiee for her last confirmation arin th always knew what america

was going to heatoday when sonia sotomayor opened h mouth for the first time. so what struck me was how careful th were about it. even jn kyl saying at a certain point he thought -- he said i hope every american is proud a hispanic woman h been nominated to sit on the preme court. th was not something you were heinin republican chorusses before. but the reason to look at it from the other sid the reason they went so easy on her and the reason they all stressed

posive things about her as a persons that they knew when they finished speaking ameri was going to heaher for the first me and what they were going to hear was the voice of a wise a educated, yes indeed, latina woman, with a very slht flavoring fromhe b, a formalizedix- diction that comes from english being her second language and a ve warm, maternal aspect and that kind of aracter is not someone you can go up against easily politically. when she finished her statent today our own ris matthews on thlive coverage had to say he was feeling one of tho thrills ofis bich he means it's e of those thrilling momts to be an american, wching someone likehat rise to this point. and those repuicans know that chs wasn't the only one feeling the thrill. >> thank you for explaining that. thsessions role here is kind of ironic, tt he's the ranking repuican on this judiciary committee. should we believe that his past experience with it doesn make him kind of bizarrely slanted on e subject of judges and race and all the rest of at? plus, should wbelieve that he did not read thehole wise tinaech? you can read that out loud in about ten minutes and if he didn't read it and didn't get the contexin which she's basically saying in the whole thing, you know, youan't rely on just ur own experience, just your own background. it's the reverse meaningf what the snippet ys. are weuppoto believe seio doesn't know that? >> i can, personally believe sessions doesn't knothat, keith, having worked in the sete myself. and if you go back to his confirmati hearing, which he couldn't me his way through as a candidate for the bench, mself, i've never seen a

weakerandidate actually make it all the way up to a confirmation hearing. we mayave had weaker candidates who never even got that far through the clearance process. and he is in over his head. it is one of tho onlerica stories ateff sessions could from being rejected by that committee to being the chairman of it and can thank the wonderful united states senate seniority system. you don't take an exam to become airman. you just s there long enough and it happens. >>ounds like he's an eoe hire to me. i don't know. lastoint. is there anything of substance? are there any meltdowns? are there any secrets wondfully disguised? is tre anything worth while e rest of these hearings besides the fact othe confirmation? >> no. lisey graham has got it absolutelyight. there's nouspense left here. she'going to be able to handle all the issues they're going to want to raisvery easily. the empathy questions. sey graham looks to me lik a republican vote for her alg withrrin hatch who voted for and enabled her nfirmation

last timaround when he was chan of that committee the last time shwent through. >> if it's somebody from the bronx versus anybody else always vo on the person from the lawrence o'donnell of e huffington posand msnbc. >> that's thway i play it. >> thank you, sir. >> thank y. >> she's reay going rogue. all democrats who would like sarah palin's endorsement y it with me now, scidal. bossimbacompares judge sotomayor to senatoreorge allen. wait. you're comparing somebody wh isn't racist to sobody you say isn'racist. when racl joins you at the top of the hour, thentel program about whicdick cheney ordered the cia not to telcongress.

the racism double hehead tonight and d woe.e. limbaugh compapas s jue sotomamayototoenator george alalleit's the alleged pastoto praying for the presesidt't' deh. then the unified parar, , th

palin popular peopople f fro? "cntdown" continues on ananyby msnbc. g b it's a curious thing that happens. it seems that when we t t toa place whehere none knows us, we become most ourselves. try new things. kekeew friends. laughing out loud.d. and dainin the streets. its time to nntu out. whoho knows j jst who we migight discover...

as we come alive under the. your trip begins at michigan.org. >>now it can be told the reblblic party tried to stage e an intervention early y th spring to geget rarah lin to return phone calls.. th's'sext. rst for the number two stotory toninit't's rst persons in the woworl e e ss limbaugh fading intnto the babackouou lately thus begging for attetentn n th wakier stutuffhahausual telling

his audience during g th sotomayor heararintotoy, so russ ingold a couple words thatat sonia sotomayor saidid tenenut of context, yoyomemeanike caca? ororgellen saying macaca? heard about that for weekeks and momont sosotoyor's comments are mucuc worse than macaca ananththeye frueuent quick rereeseshesenator george allen called a dark k ininne blger videotaping one of hisis speecheseshehe rial epithet macaca. to t tien n thracial slur level the judge would d ha h hado call sobody like say limbaughgh whitey o or y,y,imbaugh, yeah yoyou,ou ofay you. e e ruer-up jim thompson thehe owowr of the right wing wewebse free republic c thth merated commenentseaeang a grownup should read and d leletehe crazier ones b butisis fks waited thrhreeayaybefore deletiti a a cment and a diururbi large number of his posters. after presididenobobams daughter appeared in n a shsht with a peace sign on it at t e e g-the free republic hahad otothephoto of the first ladady ptptned to entertain her daughter m micllll obama loves to make e nknkey signs. some of the posts dedescbebe t bms individuallyly a

cocoecectily as, quick, typical reet whore, bunch of g gheo o thugs. street trash.. wonder when she'llet first ortion. theyake me sick. mammy,appy, the free loading mammy-in-law, the misgdeded chillin' and espspecially littl 'cuz. people simultaneouslsly rere threatenining ybybodwho even mentnenesarah palin's ildren. ththe mo p pminent response was nonot apology but rather the e clm the comments were plplteted. this w wasn n tu greeted by rarayst comment by veterans s e e te and a call to actioion flood d the mama accounts of a li o othe main stream media a people, pepeopleikikdon imus and msnbc. the cbs evenining ne w wh dan

rather. ananpapaulzahn and bill hemmer and tucker cararonon a robert novak k of c.. let me know w d danather still anansws s hicbs e-mails. clowns. our winnnner, stst wiley drake the e adaderf the buena park sohehernaptist church in californiaia. he h h c conrmed he does in fact pray for the death of f esesidt obama. bubut says that such petititis god should only make e upbobout 2% of your d dlyly pyer diet. he says that theheororre version t ts is to pray that the e lo smite your opponont t orring him plagagues. just stick to scscriurure d then aim m i in e proper direction. kind of f keke vdoo. stor drake says he does s inde pray for obama's deaeath b a ao prays oror h p prad for the dehshs opresidents clinton andnd george w. bush and p pastoriri warrrren. some sort of i'm'm wkikinghis dede othe street bub i guessss.. i don't gogo forhihipraying for other people's deaths s myse b b if you do o th w wou seem to offer an unexpecected popounity for r birtrtisship. mbined, supporters of president obama and susuppteters of presidede b busand supporters ofasasr warren surely combinined out number supportrts s ofhis

pastor d drake i mean certainly they cacan suon up more of these cumumatativ smsmitesplplues, and death prayers thanan he n.n. seems to be e a mpmpleuestion of mathth. a at ayer time remember the name pastor wiley drdrak today's s but ssssly soon no longer to be eligiblble foa a repeat victotorywoworsperson in the wor . >> thalalst ex-governor of alaska goes vevery mh h gue. this t timvivirtlly threatening to start her own cononseatativ party plededngng tstump for inindepeenen and even nsnsertive democrats. but in o ourumumbeone story the qution now is will anybodydy wawanterer t sarah palin tellllinththe "washington n memes"he plans to ju i immiately into the national political arerena, otot i will go arndnd country on in the right thingreregardss e of theirir partyabel or afaffiliio me. people a are so tired of the papartis sff, even my own son is not a republican. pepto guy: pepto-bismol. yup, you're coverere (laughing through cpute goonight, buddy. od morning, dad. (announcer) ooo. milk's favorite cook..

the e doe e rysler and jeep smer clearance is here,e, a andt't'the best time to t some of the best deaea.. get t inowow a get the chrysler town & country with a a gerous cash allowance, or 0% financing for 6060 mthths. ththtrail rated jeep grandnd cherokee also comom with a cash allowawae e or% financing f for0 0 nths. ororhohoosa hard working all new dodge ram truck with a cash alalloncnce at's ouougho beat. all withth o b bt in the e buneness lifetime powertrain n waanan. so hurry c ce e sethe deals wee e ilt for you at t theodod chrysler and j jeesummer clearance. you hungry? me too. (d(door crashes in) (broadew arm) (gasp d scream) go! go! go! go! gogo! (phonenegs) hello? this imama with broadview sesecutyty. e evething okay? no. sosomeonst tried to brereak in. m sending help right now. thank u.

(announcer) brins ho security is now w brdvdvw security. call now to install ththe standard systetem r r ju $99. ththe ovov technology of a brdview security systemm delivers rapid resesnsnse om highly traininedrorossionals, hours a day. call n nowo o t the $99 9 inalallaon, plus a sond keypad inalled free. and, you couldave to 20% on youhomeowner's insurance. llll now and get the system installed for just $99. oadview security for your home or business - the nenextenerion of brink's hoecurity.

the almost egovernor of alaska gs very much rogue. this time virtlly thatening to start her o conservative party pledging to stumfor independentsnd even conservative demrats. but in our number one story the

question now iwill anybody want her to? sarah palin teinthe "washington times" she plans to jump immiatelynto the nationalolitical arena, quote, i wi go around the country on behalf of candidates whoelieve in the right things regass of their ptyabel or affiation, me. people a so tired of the partisan stuff, even my own son is not a republica that would betrackho is a registered nonpartisan along withisather, todd, whose prevus affiliation was with alaska's secessionist party. this as thnew yo times reports on earlier attems by the goto save palin from herself. senior official from the republican governors aiation outling advice with firm counsel fopalin follow. make a long-rm schedule and stick it. build a cohere home state agenda that eas jobs and sures re-election. another senior official asng the governor to please return her one calls. meanwhilmore of a department of almost in-ls. levi johnston stl talking. his baby grandmother wanted to do a reality show he says an thought it would be niceo take the money and run. johnston maintains palin is an incredible lady and he do about anything for her excep vote for her. >> i just don't think she can handle the stress level as governor. i don't think she n ndle it

as president or vice president. >> and word from thether palin rriage of convenience senator mccain remarking he s surprised but t shocked by news of pan quitting. >> youave faced personal torture, personal attas, politil tacks, investigations. you have never resigd from anything. is it consistent with ur qualies of leadership to resign an elected post lik there? >> sure. if you -- the question is how can yoserve most effectively? >> what about not serving all? joining usow the white house repoer for "the washington post." good evening. can we have a giggle at e image of some mocrat somewhere caing governor palin for an endoent? but obviously shwas chosen by john mccn for this express puose of rounding up stray hillary ton supporters. ist possible even after wh happened to that theory in reality last year maybe she is

stilthinking that way this year, that she is some sorof multi-party transcendent fe? >> let me be brief. no. you kn, i don't think so, keith. i think what s is trying to do, remember, her peal is a reform appeal, an independt appeal. she was ected in 2006 as goveor, running against the guy named anmer cowsky who was the alaska establishment. she was elected as someone who fought the establishment. i think she wants to g back to those root it's whyou're seeing her make statementsike she would campaign for an indendent or conservative democt. the truth ishey wouldn't ask and she uldn't accept. >> you've been reporting that palin's potical tion committee raised over $700,000 in its first s months. but did e just hint in talking about going around the country for democrats or whoevero matter wt the party label is i guess that mns democrats that this mey could be going to something that at least resembles third rty acvity as opposed tpurely being directed towards the reblicans? >>here's always the ssibility.