you think she's qualified for the highest office in the world. >> she is qualified, absolutely. >> if she seeks the presidency in 2012, you would endorse her? >> well, i would, maybe not. sarah palin in the news again this morning. 6:00 on the east coast. welcome to "morning joe."

i'm mika brzezinski, joe is off this morning and willie geist is back from having a baby. >> i am back. >> my wife would like to make it clear that george is named after my grandfather george, middle name is william, another family name. while i have respect for george w. bush, my son was not in fact named for him. >> you're already calling the baby w. >> we call him 45. >> he's gorgeous, look at george w. >> what i did notice, i've been gone for a week and i come back and it's like nothing has changed. we're still talking about sarah palin. >> that's a little problem, i think, actually. i think there's a fascination with her. we were talking about this on the radio yesterday. we'll play part of our radio show later in top talkers. but there is an interest in her in a i wonder if it rivals an

interest in candidate obama in terms of selling papers. mark, she was on the cover, correct? >> she is on the cover, the renegade. >> there has to be a reason for it. >> people are definitely interested in her in the media and in parts of the country. >> we'll see. >> dan is with us as well. new polls out today that talk about whether or not republicans think she's fit to be president. she also has a piece that she has written for "washington post." >> a good piece. >> substantive. >> did you write it, dan? >> i did not write it. >> are you sure? >> i'm positive. but it's a good piece. the president wants a second stimulus and holding back on the cap and trade bill would do a lot to avoid what he's doing which is heaping burdens on the economy. it's a pretty good piece. >> stand by, i'm going to do

news, this is where you don't interrupt me. >> got it. >> george w. >> w. >> time for a look at today's top stories judge sonia sotomayor will field the first questions from senators considering her nomination to the u.s. supreme court. despite their skepticism, her confirmation appears to be a lock. >> now, unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed. >> okay. i guess that's one way of putting it. a new poll shows 53% of the american public support her confirmation, 33% do not. >> this morning's "new york times" is reportsing for years the cia worked on years to tend teams of assassins overseas to kill senior members of al qaeda. the plans were hidden from congress at the instruction of

former vice president cheney. members of congress are now demanding an investigation. >> i think that it behoofs the committee to take whatever actions they believe are necessary to get more information on that subject as to whether the intelligence community was directed by the vice president to create a program and intentionally with hold that information from congress. and further, if the same intelligence community people were asked, is there anything else we should know, whether they said yes or whether they said no. >> here's where there's a little bit of -- dan, if the program is not operational -- >> under law, active operational programs have to be reported to congress. there's a law, very vague on programs under development. the former cia director, not a political career guy has said he

was never under any pressure to withhold this information to congress. >> what i had heard it wasn't a program yet. we'll see. we'll talk to former vice president dick cheney's daughter liz cheney who will be joining us to talk about that controversy and other things as well. southwest airlines is inspecting hundreds of jets after a hole in a plane's fuselage forced an emergency landing. no one was injured. it's not clear what caused the damage but the airline says today's schedule will likely not be affected. according to democratic officials president obama is pushing a committee for a health care reform bill by the end of the week. >> i want to put everybody on notice because there was a lot of chatter during the week that i was gone. we are going to get this done. inaction is not an option. and for those ney sayers and cynics who think this is not

going to happen, don't bet against us. we are going to make this thing happen. >> a new cbs news poll shows the president's o profl rating down 11 points since april. 57% approve the president's performance slipping six points. bernie madoff is one step closer to the federal prison where he'll serve his sentence. 71-year-old madoff is being held in atlanta after his transfer from a new york jail cell. he'll end newspaper a prison in north carolina after being sentenced last month for the multibillion dollar pon xi scheme. the obama administration forecasts the gap for the entire year will top $1.8 trillion. >> wow. >> a lot of money. >> we'll have to pay that back somehow, huh?

>> have any ideas. >> george w. >> will have to pay it back. >> you tell george w. everything will be okay. he has to make a lot of money. >> he has no idea. >> he's so cute, george w. let's go to bill karins for the latest check on the forecast. >> that's a lot of five cent bottle returns. >> he'll be working hard at that. >> mika, motivate everyone. yesterday the most beautiful day. what did you do? >> i went jogging, texting while jogging. >> just a few miles. >> my nap on the couch was great too. >> another perfect day, we had a miserable june in the middle atlantic up through new england and this is our reward. 61 to start your morning and new york was beautiful. sun is coming up, we'll be 83 today in new york.

85 in philly and 85 in washington, d.c. northern new england mid to low 70s. there are some trouble spots if you're traveling out there today especially near kansas city, we have a line of thunderstorms, a lot of lightning that's going to head through. kansas city, almost in chicago, up through minneapolis and st. paul. that's our stormy region of the day. the forecast goes like this. kansas city, early morning storm, possibility this afternoon, orlando, look at the heat though in dallas. 104. today will be seven days in a row of being 100 degrees plus. the worst of it today, oklahoma city, today will be 106 in oklahoma city. >> good gracious. >> bill, thanks very much. >> con grat lagss to willie too, good looking kid. >> take us through the top talkers. >> let's do it. let's get back to sarah palin

right where i left off a week ago. >> seriously, why are people just -- they really are? we have to stop. >> do i have to stop now? >> no. >> do this one and that's it. >> she does have a piece in the "washington post" which we'll get to in just a minute talking about cap and trade call teenager a dead end. let's look at cbs polls on sarah palin. here's what people are thinking, palin is resigning because she thinks it's better for her political career. 52% believe that. 24% believe she did it for the state of alaska. in the same poll, would sarah palin have the ability to be an effective president? only 22% of those polled said yes. 65% no. finally along party lines would she have the ability to be an effective president, you can see the numbers here. republicans only 33% say yes, 6%

of democrats. mark halperin, reading in between the lines, what do you see? >> if she wants a career in national politics she has some rebuilding to do. >> i would agree and say 33% can win a republican primary. crowded field against huckabee -- >> has there been a seat change? >> no, the most amazing thing to me, with my republicans i talked to, the views have not changed dramatically since before the press conference. people are still skeptical of her. >> don't you need a lead to be a republican nominee? >> they've got support among donors, commentators, politicians -- >> first of all, i don't think she's going to win the nomination and don't think she should win the nomination. she has a lot of support out

there and elites can be responsible for grass root support. if there's a sense she has momentum, donors can be like sheep. >> does she have fund raising potential? >> not right now. i think she's tremendous organizing potential at the grass roots. i don't see the real capacity in her organization to capitalize on that and organize a well and build something. but there's something there. mccain/palin rallies people waiting in line for ten hours to get a glimpse of her. there is something out there. i don't understand it, she won't be my choice. but to be so dismissive of it is a mistake. >> two questions, what do you do with that? do you ignore it when you have no one else to draw crowds like that? what are you hearing from inside the republican party about what they think of her? when you look at john mccain's response, i know they were

making fun of it on letterman. he was uncomfortable. i don't really want to -- actually say what i think. >> a lot of people, i know feel that way. my attitude is wait until after 2010, there will be a lot of interesting candidates that pop and meg whitman in california, interesting people in ohio running for office of the mitch daniels in indiana. it's just -- there are a lot of people from 2010 and 2012 that will start emerging. the sense we're stuck with palin is a mistake for republicans to be so -- >> another one of big stories over the last couple of days, this cia plan which apparently never became operational. new york times has more details on it saying the cia developed plans to dispatch small teams overseas to kill senior al qaeda

terrorists but never got off the ground. >> here's liz talking to you and joe on the radio. about her father's possible involvement in this. >> well, first of all, the program appears to be classified. i want to be clear that my dad is not commenting on the program. i would point out, the program was apparently some kind of effort to come up with ways to capture or kill al qaeda leaders. if the democrats want to fight a fight over that type of program, that will just confirm for the american people once more why they can't be trusted with our national security. >> the plans remain vague and were never carried out. >> no, i think liz is right. i would also add to that, if you look at the immediate years after september 11th, democrats by and large were either acti actively or passively on board with a lot of the programs, intelligence programs, build up

to the iraq war, they were for it and by and large they did it. we can debate about why they didn't, they can't have it both ways. can't in 2003, 2004 been basically for these things and at the same time try to capitalize politically off the demonization. i think that's what you're seeing now, in this box here of trying to defend against being for these things and -- >> mark halperin, do they gain anything taking on the fight, whether right or wrong? >> the big mystery still, did the vice president have the authority to order the cia to withhold information? whether they did in this case and whether there was anything to withhold? >> or another case. >> did he have that authority. >> that's what i think is an interesting question. >> i feel like we're on the wrong story. this program may have been just

an effort at this point from the sources i've spoken to as well and what you've read what's on the record. there's a lot of other stuff that happens. where do we need to go to it. coming up, as we mentioned, liz cheney will be here. we'll talk about the cia controversy and her comments about possibly running for office. also secretary of agriculture tom vilsack will join us, the latest headlines with chuck todd and eugene robinson has a new piece out today. actor matt dillon pushing for new effort for human rights. you're on it, your kids are on in and parents are on it. now author ben mez rick has a capty vating story on the founding of facebook. you're watching "morning joe." at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick

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she spent her summer breaks at princeton reading children's classics she missed in a spanish speaking home. impressive unless you're pat buchanan. >> she went to princeton. if you're frankly, if you're in college and working on pin oak yoe and the trol under the bridge, i don't think that's college work. >> he's right. children's books are inappropriate when you're in college. you read them when your country is under attack. >> zing. >> i didn't know they were

teaching that. >> the comment about levi yesterday. >> i read about that online. >> could we play that again sometime this morning? >> maybe we shouldn't for pat. >> here we are still talking about palin -- >> in case you missed it on "hard ball". >> bring it up for dan. let's do mike allen. get the clip ready, mike allen, the chief political correspondent for politico. good morning. >> congratulations pap pa willie. >> he named him george w. >> george william, we'll use the full middle name at all times, george william geist. >> i won't be welcome at home if we continue with the george b. >> hillary clinton been in the shadows since she came in six months ago, has a big speech tomorrow. tell us about it. >> she is. one of the biggest surprises of

this add mgs she hasn't been getting constant coverage, been out there a lot on substance and celebrity element. with this speech tomorrow at dan's institution, cfr, secretary clinton will be drawing a big picture around the obama administration foreign policy. she'll emphasize development and their approach to the great powers. it has been crisis driven until now. this is her chance to give the big picture and starting to step out a lit more herself yesterday, speaking to boys of the u.s. agencies, for international development, part of her vast state empire they were saying how come we don't have a boss or director? it's not my point, i picked someone. the white house is still vetting them. senator clinton is traveling with secretary geithner. we'll see her travel in asia out

of the shadows. i think she's in a tough position. the reality is secretaries of state are popular around the world if leaders think they have a close relationship with the president. i think many people know there is a tension that dates back to the primaries and undermines her ability -- >> let's not forget she had an injury, had to have surgery. there's legitimate reasons -- >> so did so to mayor and she will cruise -- >> mika reported that $1 trillion number, how are republicans using this? >> willie, this is just to show joe we miss him. i cannot believe this is not on a single front page and i know that mark halperin will share my outrage about this because mark halperin too recognizes the importance of this issue. the wall street journal has a good story say this will crimp

obama's agenda. this is an awesome issue for republicans, one way they have to stop momentum for the other obama programs. the president has sold health care and climate by saying they will fix our economy. if republicans are able to make the case that in fact they are further endangering the economies trillion dollars with three months left in the fiscal year. one republican consultant out with a new phrase that he'll popularize about the health plan. obama experiment and designed to inject the idea of risk in a time people are beginning to worry about the long-term finances. >> before we let you go, i have to ask about one item, mark sanford made in past campaigns, an issue of people's schedules? >> he's given a great new issue to consultants and opponents,

where is your governor, now in all kinds of campaigns, people are scrutinizing schedules. the ap all at once called 40 governors and says where's the governor at this moment. the best answer in nebraska where the governor apparently came down to the ap office with his lieutenant governor and said, here i am, you can find me, i'm not in argentina. >> that's a good way to handle that one. >> mike allen. thanks so much. we love the politico playbook. we'll check it out at plit coolo politico.com. >> can obama make the sale that the massive health care plan and energy plan are going to help the economy and dig us out? >> that's the big bet of the whole administration and today he has to try once again to do it but he has limited time. >> "washington post" sotomayor pledges fidelity to the law

fighting charged that she'll be an activist judge. that was the takeaway sound byte. sotomayor makes her case. senators grill nominee today. i don't know if there's too much grill,ing, just polite asking. >> cia had plans to kill al qaeda's leaders we'll talk to liz cheney about this. wall street journal, u.s. in talks to rescue cit, one of the primary lenders to small and mid sized businesses. auto czar quits post six months into the job. that's big. >> coming up late every, liz cheney will be here and political analyst harold ford jr. we'll go to london for a check on the overseas market plus the morning's must-read opinion pages which include one from

sarah palin. pat is the one who says what everyone is thinking, we'll be right back. here it is. >> i think first dude up there in the alaska ought to take leaf vi down to the creek and hold his head under water until --. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him. mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed. mom: that's why i go to walmart. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices. vo: like dell, hp and toshiba. save money. live better. walmart.

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walden university. a higher degree. a higher purpose. welcome back to "morning joe." 6:30. time for a quick look at today's top stories, this morning the nation is learning more about the next nominee for surgeon general. regina benjamin is the first black woman elected to the board of the american medical association. the family physician is known for her efforts to rebuild her alabama medical clinic following hurricane katrina. police in florida say up to eight people may have been involved in the murders of a couple known for adopting disabled children. a fourth person was arrested yesterday. robbery is one of the numerous motives. >> according to the financial times, executives at goldman sachs sold stock at the same

time the committee was being boosted by billions in taxpayer dollars. >> there's a revolt going to be brewing on this -- >> it's outrageous. >> there needs to be one. >> it is at some point seriously -- i'm just saying, this is going to sound completely out of the blue. the report comes amid the much anticipated earnings report which is due today. >> huge earnings. >> one second willie. think of -- i'll get in trouble, what martha stewart went to jail for, what is she thinking about these people walking around with our money right now? >> these institutions are no risk control. you get the sense of back at it again, spending other people's money. making huge risks with other people's money and -- revolt. >> we need systemic change. >> we do. there seems to be a lot of imbalance on this.

>> steve over in london. good morning to you. how is it looking over there? >> yeah, it's not looking bad. you hit the nail on the hid. goldman is everywhere. the story is the biggest one. 8:30 eastern time is when we get the numbers. we have to remember they paid the top money back but a lot of concern from viewers over here as well today about the fact that goldman is set to make block buster money today. meredith whitney one of biggest analysts on wall street, she's overbearish on the broader sense, say it has side stepped most of the crisis and will continue to make money. so some people saying, needless to say, it's a contentious numbers, when you have others still deep amidst the problems here. tim geithner is currently in saudi arabia, saying the

stimulus plan starting to work, trying to reassure saudi investors. little bit left field, 20% in the annualized gdp. >> steve, thanks so much. >> coming up next, harold ford jr. joins the conversation, plus mika's must-read opinion pages, you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks.

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in the past month many senators have asked me about my judicial policy, simple, fidelity to the law, the task of a judge is not to make law, it is to apply the law. >> that is the headline on most papers this morning. here with us now, msnbc, harold ford jr., your title as professor, does that still stand? >> it's still standing. >> we have a couple of op-eds here. we'll read the one on sarah

palin. >> sara speaks. >> dan, you didn't write this, did you? >> no, i did not. i do not write for sarah palin. >> i'm joking and now i'll get pillaged for joking. "washington post," cap and tax dead end. by the way, i haven't gotten more reactions to anything i ever said about anyone except when it comes to sarah palin. our nation's debt is unsustainable, the federal government's reach into the private sector is unprecedented. unfortunately, many in the national media would rather focus on the personality driven political gossip of the day than on the gafty of these challenges. at rick of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what's on my mind. i'm deeply concerned about president obama's cap and trade energy plan and i believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. it would undermine our rory over the short term and inflict

permanent damage. >> i think what she's trying to do, she's trying to build up her energy credentials which she thinks she has a logical connection too. she's right, politically in the larger picture between the cap and trade and trillion dollars plus and rolling back of the bush tax cuts and what rangel is introducing today about the income sur tax. i think it could be an ugly august for administration as people step by and say why are we burdening the economy with all of the different things, i think she's on to something. >> harold, here's what she's got when you see her on the cover of "time" magazine, she has access, whether you, i or anyone else like it or not and using it in the correct way writing op-eds that papers will gladly print. >> she needs to establish policy credential. this is the first stab at that.

the more she's able to show depth and breadth, the quicker she will erase the perception that she is a pretty face in the party with a typical message, that democrats are overspending, the cap and trade debate that emerges on washington, you've seen blue dog democrats that went home over the weekend trying to defend the vote facing some challenge and even protest in some places violent protests back in their district. for this measure to pass the senate, they'll have to pitch it as an energy bill, security bill and national security bill and jobs growth bill. right now that is being smothered by the kind of message she put forward. i'm not sure this does everything she wants in making her a substantive candidate but it is a first step. >> is being fabulously attractive a barrier to being taken seriously? >> i don't believe so but you

have to have -- >> i was making a joke about you, trying to loosen you up a little bit. >> i thought you were talking about yourself halperin -- >> harold, serious related question though, the "washington post" op ed, she on advicely wanted a serious topic, but will this change things or how can she build on that if she wants to go beyond the first step? >> i think she's got to find her way in delivering some answers. the republicans have done a pretty effective job up to this point complaining about the deficit spending. dan outlines some of it in his remarks and -- >> democrats are doing too much in spending, but if you're against the trillion dollar

deficit, what would you do to stimulate the economy? what would you do to address rising health care costs? whether you like obama's plans or not, he's acknowledged we have an enormous entitlement bill coming for the country to pay and he has to plan to pay for it. some may not like it. i happen to like it. but you have to have an answer. sarah palin is in a unique position. conservatives want to hear from her and national media is testing her. it's a positive first step. i don't believe with her policy conclusions but she has to continue to do this to be taken more seriously. >> good poibts. guys, deep breath, we're going to move on now -- >> no, none of that. >> willie, we're moving on. >> fair enough. >> congratulations, willie on the baby. >> thank you. >> i'll hold my tongue because i respect your wife on the name. >> george william. >> wall street journal, the

economy is even worse than you think. this is mort zuckerman. vice president joe biden was right when he said a week ago the administration misread how bad the economy was and how effective the stimulus would be. it was supposed to be about jobs but it wasn't. the recovery act was a single piece of legislation that required thousands of funding schemes for thousands of projects and the programs are stuck in the bureaucracy as the government releases the funds with typical inefficiency. >> this is what i'm worried about because i have to tell you, a second stimulus, i don't think that would be very popular. >> people are talking about tax reform, leading democrats are saying there needs to be a value added tax. >> is it fair to judge the stimulus effects right now? >> yes, there's talk of a second stimulus, health care -- the president has one choice, has to

make it all about a national crisis that he's going to solve moving big pieces around. has to engage the public. there's not a crisis atmosphere in parts because they are playing it down. >> in order for this to work, the job numbers have to change, have to be changed and motivated in different directions and is it possible that may not happen with what we've got going here? >> the president can't afford for it not to happen. the most important number for the president over the next three to six months will be jobs, jobs, jobs. his piece is interesting because it says the unemployment rate is almost at 17% already and talks about how wages are not going up and talks about more americans working fewer hours than they had been in the past and the june numbers he suggests may be worse once they are revised. i happen to think you need a stimulus, may not call it a stimulus, you can pay for some of the tax cuts, maybe a payroll tax holiday by taking the

t.a.r.p. repayment from the bank and recycling that money back into a stimulus that inject money immediately into the economy. the first stimulus will work. the problem is it will take longer to find its way to the states and projects and infrastructure. you need something that will move into the economy quicker. >> we'll talk about at the top of the hour, top talkers, dan has something to say in response to that. i'm still concerned the stimulus will not create the jobs we are losing. i have nothing to base that on except the people that i see out there without jobs. and i want to hear some numbers about unemployment and what direction they are going to be moving in. harold, stay with us, we'll get to this again. coming up in the next hour, liz cheney will be here and chuck todd. first, willie has highlights from the home run derby when we come back next in sports. undefeated professional boxer floyd "money" mayweather

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tomorrow, the all-star game, how about is that? crazy. president obama will actually be at the game. he'll be in the broadcast booth. he's going to be working in the broadcast booth during the all-star game. everyone says that's cute. let me tell you something, you know the economy is bad when the president has to take a second gig. that's not a good sign. no thank you. >> yes, dave is right, major league baseball all-star game tonight. not only will the president be in the booth for the inning but he'll be throwing out first pitch of the game. here's albert puljols giving the president advice. >> make sure you don't bounce it. but i think the best thing is not trying to -- just try to let it go out there.

it's better if it goes over my head than bounces. it will be fine in looking forward for the honor to catch first pitch tomorrow. >> the president looks like the kind of guy that will throw a good first pitch. last night the home run derby, there's pujols the crowd favorite. finished with a total of only 11 home runs in the annual event. despite his -- watch this shot, prince fielder, a 503-foot shot that disappears into the night. the longest home run of whole event. fielder advances to the finals against the rangers. nelson cruz, it went not audience. >> i hope someone caught it. >> it went into the audience

and, winning home run deep to center, 25 years old capturing his first home run derby crown. 23 home runs. more on tonight's all-star game and blue jays right hander and roy holliday starts for the american league. and lincecum will be one of the starters. david wright of the mets hoping to change that and the leader vote getter, derek jeter. >> to be amongst the best players in the game, something i have a good time with and i enjoy and learn as much as i can while i'm here. >> the game is most fun for all of us. things are hectic early on, you have to the media and the workout then you have the parade and finally when you get on the field, that's when -- >> how do you know there's not much going on in the world of sports, when we're showing you this.

>> london's iconic tower bridge, freestyle motor cross star maddy son made it look easy. made the first rider in history to jump the bridge on motorcycle. afterwards he said it was weird seeing the famous bridge upsidedown. i guess that would be weird. news you can't use coming up next. president obama and his precious teleprompter part ways. we'll show you when we come back. this is the new iphone.

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>> is it time? are you back? >> i'm back and connected now. >> my head was somewhere else before. >> i'm back with a vengeance, i have teleprompter news for you. very important news. the president of the united states has taken some light hearted heat for -- >> because he reads the prompter. >> he has several. >> one of his critics has been his own vice president when he was addressing the air force academy commencement, listen to this. >> a modern military needs great warriors, yes, but it also needs a special brand of strategic thinking that are gained only in the thin air of colorado springs. and the windy air of colorado springs. what am i going to tell the president when i tell him his teleprompter is broken? what will he do then? >> nervous laughter from the

crowd as he mocks the own president. >> yesterday it happened. we'll show it to you. president of the united states was giving a speech defending his economic stimulus package and the prompter broke the here it is. >> that's one reason why we took swift and aggressive action in the first months of my administration to pull our economy -- oh, goodness. sorry about that, guys. to pull our economy back from the brink, including the largest -- >> kind of a dramatic breaking, fell to the ground and shat tered. >> the teleprompter revolting against him. >> must be the 2.0 plan. >> what happened? >> it came -- >> seriously. can't even get a prompter to work right. he had to look to the right for the rest of the speech.

>> he is -- >> he really is a cool customer, isn't he? >> the man who would have been president, john mccain, exciting news, just passed and this is great, 1 million followers on twitter. >> john mccain. put out a statement yesterday, this is a real thing, i'm being honored and humbled that 1 million people have been following me on twitter. one of the most enjoyable experiences. not too bad for an old guy. senator john mccain -- >> remember he didn't e-mail. >> he has an iphone he uses for bird watching. >> oh, okay. >> rather than actually watch the birds. >> you can look them up by beak color and sort by beak color -- >> totally plugged in. >> one more item for you as we approach the top of hour. joe scarborough will be excited.

if something bad happens to you, swearing, cursing, screaming at the top of your lungs helps the pain -- >> i don't buy that. >> misa medical study. >> then your spouse yells at you for swearing so loudly, especially in front of the kids then you're under tremendous stress. >> here's what they say at the university, it taps into emotional brain centers and appears to arise in the right brain. swearing develops to help us deal with pain -- >> shout at the top of your lungs. >> seven second delay today? >> a state of u for i can't, i get it now. >> how about it? >> argue with the guys in the lab coats, not me. >> i will. >> if you swear in front of george w. -- >> my son, of course, all right.

i would never do that. >> top of the hour. >> my wife is going to swear in front of you if you keep that up. >> we do have the delay though, right? >> you're good. >> let it rip. >> i'm in pain the thought about talking about sarah palin again, but we have to. >> at least we're not talking about michael jackson. we've moved -- >> we didn't really cover that story. >> which was fantastic -- >> the reet thing to do. >> the day he passed was a big story and we covered it a great deal that day and certain mentions along the way. we did not take part in the overload that i witnessed elsewhere. >> what does levi johnson think of michael jackson? >> is he writing a book because i'll read it? not. >> he's getting a reality show? >> really. >> i'm with the baby and up all

night. >> he might be. >> i think it's further along than might be. >> this country is seriously -- i love america but we are -- >> promise me "morning joe" will not cover the levi johnston reality story -- >> you're not lying? >> i'm being serious. i'm upside at this country -- the bachelor and -- >> guys, seriously, that is the problem right there. if that's the case and if people watch it, like jon and kate plus eight, that train wreck of a family, that's our problem. that's our problem. americans. >> the curse. >> did you say that on the air? >> your stress will go down. >> chris, say it on the air? sit back there and produce then. >> he said to me in my ear, why do you hate america?

>> he meant it rea torically. >> i don't. i want the best. that's not representative of the best that we would have a reality show on levy johnston and people would watch it. >> it's sort of depressing. >> chris. >> i love america. >> get ready for the e-mails. >> he's mika with the news. >> it is time now for a look at today's stop storieses, judge sotomayor will be back on capitol hill fielding the first questions from senators. despite their skepticism, republicans, including lindsay graham acknowledge her confirmation appears to be a lock. >> now, unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed. >> okay. that's pretty much sums it up. gallop poll shows 53% of the

american public support her confirmation, 33% do not. >> that's a great job interview, you got the job, just don't screw this up. >> don't melt down -- >> you've melted? >> well, i've melted down but i've been told that too, it's a good story. >> this morning "new york times" is reporting for years the cia worked on plans to send teams of assassins overseas to kill senior members of al qaeda. those plans were hidden from congress at the instruction of former vice president dick cheney. though the plan was canceled last month, members of congress are now demanding an investigation. >> i think that it behoofs the committees to take whatever actions they believe are necessary to get more information on that subject as to whether the intelligence community was directed by the vice president to create a program and intentionally withhold that information from congress.

and further, if the same intelligence community people were asked, is there anything else we should know, whether they said yes, or whether they said no. >> okay, so those are the questions being raised by nancy pelosi and other democrats, we'll talk about this dick cheney's daughter liz cheney. and also, i think we ought to raise a big question as to whether it was a plan or program or effort because that seems to be in dispute as well. it seems to get brushed off as a program and there are many high level officials that dispute that. >> the op ed which was a re-education or reminder about the importance of accurate education on the u.s. role in the end of the cold war. >> southwest airlines inspecting hundreds of jets after a hole in a plane's fuselage forced an emergency landing last night. the 737 lost cabin pressure, it

is not clear what caused the damage but the airline says today's schedule will likely not be affected. tom costello will join us with more details in a few moments. following the speedy reorganizations of gm and chrysler. the head of the auto task force is stepping down to return to private life. this comes amid an investigation of an alleged kickback scheme at his former investment firm. authoritieses have said he is unlikely to face charges. >> bernie madoff is one step closer to the prison where he'll serve his 150-year sentence. the 71-year-old is being held in atlanta right now after his transfer from a new york jail cell. he'll end newspapup in a prison north carolina after being sentenced for his multibillion dollar ponzi scheme. >> the federal deficit has hit

$1 trillion and it is expected to go higher as i start stut ter. they forecast it will top $1.8 trillion. trillion. here with us now, nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director, chuck todd. let's start right there. that benchmark. that's a lot of money. do we have any plans in this administration to address it? >> reporter: they said they want to have the deficit by the end of his first term essentially, so nothing like making your job that much harder than helping to increase the size of it and the stimulus did it. obviously this is as much about the economy too, don't forget, revenues as people lose their jobs, fewer people actually able to pay taxes. it's a lose-lose as far as the

deficit is concern. government has to spends more money and taking less money in. it's -- you know, i've had this theory that the when we see the numbers on surpluses and deficits that you wonder if the public believes the number. because we were told we had the surpluses eight years ago then at the turned into deficits overnight. then we never had a trillion dollars and now we're nearly $2 trillion in a deficit, you wonder is this an accounting issue and you see the numbers move up and down, how believable is it all? >> the forecast the white house put out there was in conflict with what some analysts predicted and now we've got a jobless issue if it doesn't improve, they'll have a political problem to deal with, especially when it comes to dealing with another stimulus. let's move onto the other headlines. front page of the new york times, this cia planned to kill

al qaeda leaders. yesterday you called this issue, the one pertaining to vice president cheney and democrats calling for an investigation into a program, a plan or effort whatever it was, is, cable cat nip, or are there serious moral issues and questions we should be asking here? >> i'm just talking about politicalally, it's not something to get bogged down in. is there an investigation that should be done, trying to figure out the relationship between the cia and rest of the intelligence community as well as congress? well, that seems to be the case. it's still not clear the role dennis blair, the national director of intelligence and on the organizational chart is above leon panetta. we haven't worked that out. if an investigation is done so

that the organization between the intelligence community is a much clearer and who reports to congress and how does that work, then it's worth while. these things if they end up being, let's just go get somebody and depose somebody for deposition sake, that's something that will end up hurting everybody involved, left and right. >> absolutely. dan, you want to chime in? >> adding these things up, august could be an ugly month for this white house. the cap and trade bill right now is in bill trouble, house democrats voted against it and democratic senators are raising concern. the health care issue, doesn't look like this month. then you add to it the huge distraction on the terror issue and cia program, talk about -- by the way -- >> is it a distraction or legitimate question? i'm not sure this this fair.

>> there may are or may not be legitimate questions, the white house, saying this is the last thing we need with all of other stuff blowing up in our faces and we're exhausted -- >> chuck? >> i think there's the hype on health care that somehow they are in huge trouble in health care is a little bit of hype. i think they will get the bill. it's my understanding after pelosi a couple of weeks ago said she wasn't going to dismiss, allow the august recess to happen until a bill is passed. you'll hear a similar comment today or tomorrow they won't leave until they pass a bill tomorrow. i think you will see bills get through both. they would feel very much under the gun. >> if you talk about the question whether the white house would step up from the government back overseas from health care. he had this meeting with congressional leaders, what do we know about what he weighed in

if he put his finger on the scale? >> it's my understanding, two things happen. number one, if you recall yesterday, at the last minute added that surgeon general announcement. at the beginning of the announcement, we heard something from the president we hadn't heard in a couple of months, the campaign pledge he wasn't on fa making $250,000 or less. was that sending a message to charlie rangel and on the senate finance committee talking about different ways of fundsing health care that would have put extra tax burden on folks making less than $250,000. that was a message to them, look, don't be sending, i have to keep this campaign pledge, i'm keeping it. don't send me a funding mechanism that's that. that was one thing that happened. and the second was to put

pressure on harry reid to say, there are a lot of house democrats saying, wait a minute, you want me to vote on this health care bill and the senate gets to walk away in august? no way. a little bit of a game of chicken. getting a commitment both publicly and privately that the senate will stay in session until they get a bill is -- was important for house democrats and the white house. >> willie? >> let me ask you about another story that popped out at us today. steve radener stepping aside with the always popular wanting to spend more time with the family. what is going on behind the scenes, only about there a come of months. >> it was only a temporary job on this front. the investigation happened a couple of months ago. i'll say this, when it first became public, had it not been

literally at the most important moment in the task force job to deal with gm and chrysler, my guess is ratener would have left then, but he was the point man. he had to do that. i think that there was this -- i'm not going to guess motivations but it looks to me that a decision was made, as soon as gm is a company again, you're going. and we're going to have separation. guess what, gm became a company friday out of bankruptcy, announced he leaves tuesday. it feels it's more than a coincidence. >> we have harold ford jr. still with us. harold? >> chuck, good to see i. the top senate democrat says you should tax the cadillac health care plan. top democrats in the house says you ought to tax the richest. there is a difference there. any sense from the white house if there was any -- heard your point about the house doesn't want to go unless the senate is going to go. did the president weigh in and

give any sense on how the two sides can reconcile their different approaches on how to finance this health care bill? >> it's my understanding that the president yesterday did reiterate that he doesn't want a tax benefit, he doesn't think that's the best way to do this. you know, for about three or four weeks, they seem to allow this, allow this conventional wisdom to develop, maybe they are flexible on the $250,000 tax pledge, maybe their flexible on taxing benefits. yesterday, there was no, there isn't flexibility on the two issues, maybe a tiny bit of flexibility on health care benefits, but aren't willing to say that yet. it was the leadership and only two point people they brought, two people in charge of paying for health care reform, not chris dodd and henry waxman also in charge of other parts of health care, the two money guys.

it was clear the white house wanted to send a message, look, don't tax health care benefits and don't do the raise taxes $250,000 or less. >> chuck todd, thank you so much. we're going to be checking firstread.msnbc.com. great place to go for all your political news. >> willie mays is flying on air force one from detroit to st. louis tonight to accompany the president. >> really? >> there you go. willie mays. >> thank you, chuck. >> coming up, the daughter of former vice president dick cheney, liz cheney will be here, who recently hinted she may be open to a political run, also the president of the naacp celebrating a big milestone for the organization.

matt dillon will talk about his recent trip to sudan. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him. mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed. mom: that's why i go to walmart. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices. vo: like dell, hp and toshiba. save money. live better. walmart. has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick.

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all of a sudden, the loudest noisy heard came out of nowhere, no pop tore explosion of noise, a loud roar, it took me a couple of seconds to wake up and i look up and there's the sun coming through the ceiling. >> whoa. >> one passenger's account of the story we've been reporting this morning. southwest airlines inspecting hundreds of planes after the discovery, as you heard right there, of a one-foot hole in the fuselage last night. the flight was forced to make an emergency landing in west virginia.

tom, what happened? >> reporter: right now i'm talking to mike, the gentleman you just saw, he said because they lost oxygen pressure in the cabin about ten seconds or so, in that period of time his fingers started to go tingling. that shows how quickly you kf an affect. the masks dropped and they had oxygen and everybody was fine. as you mentioned, southwest is inspecting 200 of its 737, south wecht the biggest operator of 737s in the world. after the hole opened up in the fuselage late yesterday. the question is why and what happened. they are clearly going to be looking at the possibility of metal fatigue. you may recall a roof opening up over the pacific, a flight attendant and 65 passengers were injured but metal fatigue is a

serious issue. you may also recall, southwest airlines was fined by the federal government for failing to inspect their planes for cracks in the fuselage. they actually whitled that fine down from $10 million to $7.5 million. southwest insists no passenger was at risk but later did discover some cracks in the fuselages of these planes. the question is going to be, is this an isolated incident and is it metal fatigue? if you have a fleet less than ten years old, why in the heck did this happen? everybody is fine and a lot of questions today. >> an incredible story. thanks for bringing it to us. >> can you land safely with a hole in the plane, unbelievable. >> the issue of metal fatigue,

we'll hear more about that. tom vil sack is continuing his rural tour to talk about how stimulus money is reaching rural areas. he's here to tell us what he's hear from the ground on this. i'm really, really interesting about hearing about the effect the stimulus money is having, if any. there have been criticisms and concerns that it's not getting where it needs to go. quick enough, not addressing the problems quickly enough. what are you finding? >> all of which you expressed on the show. first and foremost there is immediate help for a lot of families around america. the usda in the process of distributing $20 billion of food s stimulus, within 30 days of the money going out, the money is spent. for every dollar we spend in food assistance, we generate $1.84 in activity. there is work taking place.

unemployment compensation extended tax relief to families. doing the work americans want done, we have obligated $800 million of waste water treatment money for communities across the country. we've loaned 10,000 home loans through usda and created opportunities with the broadband to distribute money this fall to expand broadband. there is work being done to build the infrastructure then the work to build the 21st century economy, energy, we're seeing a substantial amount of money come from the department of energy creating new energy sources. >> let me stop you there. the work that will be done in terms of the 21st century. perhaps we're going at this in the wrong order of events, not that it's not important, but that what we face in terms of

the crisis in this country is jobs, jobs that are lasting in the future, the kinds of jobs we're hemorrhaging our mid level and high level jobs, people out of work for a sustained period of time will not lead to recovery. >> the weakness in the economy didn't occur overnight, won't be solved overnight. you are building the kinds of jobs you're talking about -- >> are we? >> absolutely. this is happening all across america. and do not underestimate the temporary assistance resources. one out of five american families is receiving food assistance, it is a big deal to receive $80 a month more to spend on groceries. i'm not underestimating it. the word stimulus for the economy means to push it forward and grow it to where it needs to be and push it forward. >> i don't think people understand the stimulus effect of the programs. when you spend a dollar of food assistance, creating $1.84 of

activity in the economy. you are stimulating the economy. within 30 days, 97% of the resources are spent. that's a direct stimulus. then the infrastructure and long-term, in rural america there is real possible with broadband and discussion of climate change, new rural economy, trust me, it will be successful. >> you're well aware the debate, you and the others talk up the economy and be realistic, be straight forward as you are, nice plane iowa talk. what is the best case, if the stimulus plan works perfectly, what's the best case for unemployment or growth in this calendar year? >> i think you'll see in increase in the latter part of the year in the unemployment numbers? >> a decrease in the unemployment numbers the end of this year. and i think you'll see the

economy and more a steadiness of consumer confidence. the markets will be perhaps a bit steadier than they have been. and then you'll see continued growth in the economy in 2010. >> what's the worst case, if things don't go well? >> mark, i want to tell you, i'm absolutely confident in the capacity of this plan to work because i understand the vision the president has. the worst case scenarios, obviously a continuation of high unemployment and unemployment rates continuing to go higher. it was projected that would happen early in the process. we're only a couple of months into this and you have to give it time to work. this is building a foundation for a new 21st century american economy, not something to be done overnight. the president has a clear and concise vision, energy, broadband, new infrastructure. >> secretary, there are some who are skeptical about the rural tour. i'll read from the l.a. times

and let you respond. the itinerary announced for the rural tour includes sefrlt politically districts that would make a case for people who voted republican in the past congressional races and now represented by democrats up for re-election in 2010. are there political motivations behind the rural tour? >> no, i was in michigan yesterday, my ninth stop. the president added eight additional stops, we'll hit 17 or 18 states. it is an opportunity for us to talk about a new rural economy. something that hasn't been down. the investments made by this administration are historic, when you look a broadband, $9 billion over time and the energy title, new opportunities for second and third generation feed stocks for ethanol production, when you look at the production

and consumption work we're doing to link people locally and retain wealth there, you're seeing a massive investment in rural america which overtime will pay off. when you get to the discussion of climate change, there are benefit for agriculture and climate change, the offset program based on the house bill will create opportunities for rural america that we've not seen for quite some time. it's an opportunity for me to listen to concerns folks have about dairy prices and pork prices and opportunities to educate people about what the administration is doing and the huge investment it's making in rural america. >> thanks very much for coming into the studio. we wish you the best of luck engaging injure department in the future of the economy's growth. we hope it works. willie, what do we usually do -- >> if you're in the obama administration we dig up an old photograph and ask you to explain. i believe this is hamilton college, there he is.

>> it is hamilton college in my thinner days. >> i understand you ran for class president. >> i did. >> what went wrong? >> there wasn't anything that went right. i got 18 votes after several hundred casted and vowed to never run for government office again. >> i wonder if this is as good as the gibbs one. >> no earring. >> thanks for playing along. come back and keep us posted. i would love to hear more about the efforts and how they work out. harold ford jr., thanks as well. coming up next, liz cheney, we'll talk about the cia controversy, her father and whether or not she's thinking of running for office, all ahead on "morning joe." imodium multi-symptom relief

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i think it behoovess the committee as to whether the intelligence community was

directed by the vice president to create a program and intentionally withhold that information from congress. and further, if the same intelligence community people were asked, is there anything else we should know, whether they said yes or whether they said no. >> here we go with those questions. here with us now, daughter of former vice president dick cheney, liz cheney, mother of elizabeth, who is here. liz has been critical of the democrat's calls for investigations into the cia programs and on foreign policy she recently wrote in the wall street journal this. mr. obama thinks he's making america inoffensive to our enemies in reality he's em boldening them and weakening us. i've heard something like that from someone you might know. you're in agreement with a high profile former vice president. let's start with the big story of the past few days, the cia

information. did your father prevent any information on anything from going to congress, did he authorize that? tell anyone to keep any information from congress. >> this is clearly a classified program and doesn't talk about classifies programs and won't comment on that. i'm not here to speak for him. >> i'm not asking what. >> i think that for -- it's important for us all to take a step back and look at what's going on. this appears to have been a series of plans to capture or kill al qaeda. for the democrat that's have used that, to talk about investigation really sort of trying it looks like the cover up, the difficulty she's in because of own press conference strikes me as incredibly irresponsible. i think the american people do have a serious question to ask are beginning to wonder, are the democrats up to handling national security issues.

i don't deny it looks to me or many like political rehab under way on capitol hill. that's why i'm asking the question. is it just that, is it simply that? whether it's this plan, this program or effort or any effort, was there any attempt by your father in any way to keep the cia from telling congress information they should have heard? >> you need to look at what general hayden said, who said publicly on the record and said he was under no restraint for briefing congress and he had a series of triggers when congress needed to be briefed and they were not met with this particular program. it does a disservice to former directors of the cia to politicsize this issue and the bush administration frankly. we kept the nation safe for eight years and the nation has been down this path before. we went through a whole series of investigations into the cia

after vietnam. and what we see is that it weakens our ability to gather intelligence. it damages morale at the agency. >> i don't disagree with that. >> i think the democrats have got to think long and hard before they send us down the path again. >> think long and hard as do they want to go to. i'm saying, if the answer no, there's no way to go. is there nowhere to go? >> i don't think it's a question you can answer that way. we had a whole series of intelligence program that's were effective in keeping the country safe. i think clearly the allegations that we're hearing are highly plikized. and then to go out and claim that something nef air yus went you on, they didn't want the american people to focus on what the plans were. do you think the cia should be

attempting to cap tour and kill al qaeda, i think they would say yes. i have a question for pelosi, what does she think they've been doing? >> i'm trying to stay away from the political part of this and i hear what you're saying and it wreaks of politics but with panetta pulling this announcement made, there's something there worth asking. >> clearly it looks like different perspectives about when congress needed to be briefed and what programs we ought to be undertaking. and i think it is important not to politicsize it. how have we been so successful in preventing attacks against the home lapd. in large part it has been through gathering intelligence and the damage that it's done, mika, to have the democrats on

the hill led by it looks like the speaker herself attacking the cia, saying we're going to have investigations into the cia activities and now we've got attorney general holder saying we're going to prosecute potentially cia operatives. the people need to understand the damage it is doing. >> i think there are some that would argue we need to look into it and maybe should be prosecutions. i would say pertaining to your father, the question is did he bend any rules, did he break any guidelines in terms of trying -- >> there's simply no evidence of that. what you have was the director of the cia panetta, apparently going up on the hill and talking about a program and as a result you had a huge front page story which was discounted by director of the cia himself prior to leon panetta. and had a story in the l.a. times said not just general hayden but the other previous cia directors as well said they

felt no pressure not to reveal this program, that in fact, when programs are in the planning stages you don't go to the hill every moment and say we're planning this, we're planning this. and i would also point out that president obama himself believes that the white house and the executive branch have to have the ability to decide when to brief. that's why he issued a veto threat for the current legislation. not part of the issue. >> i don't argue -- >> let me try this issue -- question a different way. if guidelines or laws were broken, do you think that it should be looked into and that people should be pros cuted, high level administration officials in the bush administration? >> laws were not broken. i think you've got a real problem here. the potential prosecution we're talking about from the attorney general is of cia operatives. the president of the united states himself stood in the

white house and issued a statement saying, i'm going to release the details of the enhanced interrogation program, the president said that himself. now you've got the attorney general saying maybe we will. that has not happened before in american history. it's a real, very dangerous precedent to set, that somebody comes into office and treats as criminal differences. >> i'll ask a question about the history of the bush/cheney administration d your father as part of the job instruct the cia to brief congress on matter snz. >> i was not in every meeting, most meetings my father had. >> do you know if he did that as part of his duties? >> he doesn't comment on classified program and i'm not going to comment on classified programs on his behalf.

it is very clear, if you look at the 1947 national security act that the white house does in fact have the right to decide when to brief the cia. >> do you know if that's something he did personally, either on his own or at the president's request? >> right, but. >> i wasn't there. >> you don't know whether -- >> i think it's very important to look at the fact that not only do they have the right to decide when to brief congress but they have the right to look at a particular set of issues and say, if we brief congress on this issue, we're worried it's going to potentially expose sources and methods. >> without question he would have -- >> that anybody in the white house here's when you should brief -- not going to comment on whether they did or didn't -- >> let me. the one thing i always try and struggle with. we're on different points of view on this.

and i love you come on the show so we can try to explore it together. the time after 9/11 is so different than the way we think now. and it's the one thing where i really struggle in my mind about some of the decisions that were made. the entire country would have supported exactly what is being accused here in many ways if they were asked at that moment, do you think we ought to do a, b and c? >> that's an important point because i would also point out that the -- there was really -- the democrats themselves supported the programs that the president put in place, the vice president supported to keep the nation safe. they supported the programs when it was politically expedient. now we're in a situation where it seems to be politically expedient but i would argue -- >> it's a dangerous path for them to go down from the perspective of the national

security of the nation. >> absolutely. a lot of these investigations, although i have a moral issue with a lot that happened when it happens -- >> you have to be clear about exactly what. obviously -- >> we could be here for quite some time. >> obviously there were agreements and obviously there were policy debates, but there can be no debate about the fact we kept the nation safe. not another attack on the homeland after 9/11. that's something the democrats don't want the american people to focus on. i also think the democrats don't really want this to be a war. they would rather we be able to handle the issues through the court system. i think that's sort of the direction they are trying to take us in again and it's dangerous, we've been there before. it didn't work and makes the country less safe. >> i actually think there is debate as to whether the country is less or more safe. there is no debate that something did not happen after 9/11 -- exactly. but we got to have you back.

liz cheney, are you going to run for office? well. >> here to announce today on "morning joe" -- >> look, right now i'm very busy, focused on helping my dad with his memoirs, not something i'm contemplating. >> will you stay because i want to ask a few more questions. >> sure, mika. >> stay with us. the story of facebook ben mez nick tells the story. next on "morning joe." something new is happening at ethan allen

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where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. welcome back to "morning joe." with over 200 million active users, everybody knows about facebook. a lot of people don't know who

created. well, it's a 25-year-old genius. we are joined now by the author of that book, ben misrick. we associated facebook with in other words. >> yeah, it's about in other words. the kids that founded it, they were kids that were essentially trying to get laid in a lot of ways. most of us -- >> can you say that in the morning? >> yeah,yeah. i don't think that you can say that. i actually don't think that you can. >> these genius kids that eventually created the next generation in technology, while trying to become part of the in crowd. it started with a college frank

and that's what led to facebook. one night after a bad date, he hacked into the computers at harvard, he pulled up all the girls, and he cracked the servers, and then came back the next day with the idea on facebook. >> yeah, so it was the lack of sex. >> yes, raise the bar, please. >> i personally believe that facebook is brilliant. we have gone from the village to the city on facebook. it's changed how people socialize. it has changed how people date and live. it has 200 million members and growing. it takesover the internet. i love facebook. i am a big fan. >> and you were saying, mark is

a billionaire. and he is not interested in money. >> yeah, he created a piece of software and microsoft came to him and offered him over a million dollars, and said no i am not interested in it, and for no reason at all gave it away for free. he is not motivated by money. and who knows what he is going to do, because he does not care about money. which is admirable. and what he cares about is facebook, and it getting bigger and becoming what he envisioned it being. >> tell us about the day-to-day operations at facebook. >> well, these are the kids sitting at harvard, and with the computers, and they are running the business. he is a genius. there was a kid, shawn parker,

who helped build it. never went to college, and then was the first president of facebook. he was a rock star kid. he was one of the initial people. he is not there any more, but -- he brought it. and it's the kids running the company. >> what about twitter? how does that fit? >> that's the macarena of the internet. twitter to me is like myspace, where it's look at me. it's a branding thing. i think it's is growing quickly. it's cool. you put it out there, and everybody can look at you. for celebrities it's awesome. i enjoy it. and i think -- >> the macarena? i like that. >> many of us that thought we could go to vegas, and it

doesn't work out too well. >> well, young kids who are absolutely brilliant, but maybe not the most socially cool people you will ever meet. t the m.i.t. kids, they became the crowd they wanted to be part of the world they created. >> mark would not talk? >> i worked around him, and i talked to a lot of people in the story. >> well, given your track record, this is should be to be a best work. already going to be a movie? >> yeah, "the founding of facebook." a great book. >> i appreciate.

>> look at the tie? >> yeah. >> that's great. coming up next, eugene robinson. and liz cheney is sticking around. this should be good. we'll be right back with more "morning joe."

liz and i are talking about sending our kids to camp.

>> you guys are talking about hanging out in new york, and we are talking about our kids. we are talking about how hard it is to travel when you have little kids. >> yeah. the draw to your kids. >> the next two years of your life, it's over! >> let's look at los angeles, and then we will move to san francisco. the city by the bay. and then we go to vegas, where yesterday we could have seen willie teaching george how to gamble. and d.c. is next. we will get a look at the white house. that's always nice. and then the city of brotherly lo love. and there is philadelphia. and then new york. and we don't watch reality shows by levi johnston, or jon & kate

plus eight. we are all responsible for the trouble we are in. >> yeah, and this is true. >> yeah, now i will go out on a limb and get myself in trouble, childhood obesity, and the way we are interested in pop culture and smut, and all of these things lead to the dumb and down of this country, and then we have problems that we are talking about with liz cheney and dan about and willie about, and we have to engage ourselves in. >> i would not say the obesity is connected to the cia plan. >> your father is behind the obesity crisis, i want to know? >> he had a secret mission. >> i am just saying, it's

demoralizing to hear that levi johnston is getting his own reality show. it makes me disgusted with where we are. eugene robinson is standing by. he can be on the moral high horse about the cia. the top stories, sonia sotomayor will be back on capitol hill. despite their skepticism, this is how lindsay graham puts it. >> unless you have a complete meltdown, you are going to get confirmed. >> moving on now, and the new poll shows 53% of the american public support her confirmation, and 33% do not. this morning's "new york times" is reporting for years the cia has worked on plans to send teams of assassins overseas to

kill senior members of al qaeda. according to the report those plans were hidden from congress at the instruction of former vice president dick cheney, and though it was canceled last month reportedly, nancy pelosi is calling for an investigation. >> i think it behooves everybody to look into that. further, if the same intelligence community people were asked if there was anything else that we should know, whether they said yes or whether they said no. >> southwest airlines is inspecting hundreds of jets after a hole in the fuselage

forced a emergency landing. nobody was injured. it's still not clear what caused the damage. the airline says today's schedule will not likely be affected. and the head of the obama administration task force is stepping down. there is an investigation into a kickback scheme. ratner is not likely to face any charges. and goldman sachs sold nearly $700 million worth of stock when being supported by taxpayer dollars. we will follow that. and for the first time ever the federal deficit has hit a trillion dollars, and it's expected to go higher. the obama administration forecasts the gap for the entire year will top $1.8 trillion.

here with us now, editor and pulitzer surprise winner, eugene. i want to start with you, eugene. i saw your face during liz cheney's sound byte, and i saw frustration. now, wouldn't this go away if your father could just come out and say -- >> well, my frustration with the sound byte is it clearly looks like you know it's an effort to filibuster here. i think speaker pelosi knows that she made a mistake when she stood up in her press conference and suggests that the cia has been lying to the congress for years. for her to be diverting attention from that on to vice president cheney is very

irresponsible, not because it's a political miss calculation, but much more importantly, because the national security of the nation is at stake here. i think it's critically important for us to say what is it we need the cia to be doing today and tomorrow to keep us safe. and dragging the cia officials and operatives and the people that participated in these programs up in front of congress for a round of investigations, we know where that's going to end up. we know where that ends up in washington. >> couldn't you just end it, no matter what you think of what nancy is saying, and i understand your concern about that, and why not just end it and say he did not ask the cia -- >> because it wouldn't end it, mika, and you know that. there is absolutely nothing at this point that i think frankly anybody could say that would get the democrats off of this path of we are going to politicise intelligence and have

investigations and put the nation in a situation where the cia is more focused on responding to congressional and political investigations then on defending the nation going forward. that's dangerous, and the responsibility for that is going to be on the hands of the democrats. >> and eugene robinson has a different take on this. am that in. >> hi, liz, how are you? i have a question. i actually have a question for liz in a minute, but, look, it's inconvenant that there is a law, and i think there is a law that requires that congress be briefed on significant intelligence operations or activities or anticipated significant intelligent activity, so it's clear that they should have been briefed. if the vice president told the cia not to brief congress then that was wrong. if you want to look at the program itself, however, i have a somewhat different take on that. i am kind of confused as to why

you wouldn't -- if you are going to have a cia, i am confused as why you wouldn't want the cia to try and get the leadership of al qaeda however they can get it, and i many a confused as to why it would not be prefreable to go after them. the program itself doesn't seem to me to be something you would want to rule out at a time of war against al qaeda. but should he have briefed them? of course he should have briefed -- or the cia should have briefed. >> i think that i clearly agree with the second part of that. i think we do want the cia going

after al qaeda. with respect to the law, it's important to look at the specific language of the law, and that makes clear, and this is an issue that the white house and congress have been fighting over for many years now, and frankly continue to fight over it every day, which is who has ultimate authority. but the law is clear, and the law says that the executive branch can make these decisions about when to brief, and they can make decisions based on concern about whether or not it's going to hurt sources and methods, and whether or not the information will be leaked. >> eugene, hold on one second. and stan is going to chime in. >> i think it's instructive, if you look at the fact that these programs, this plan was kept secret for eight years, and then apparently, as soon as we briefed the congress, now it's public. i think that tells you why there may have been a reason why they

did not brief them. >> i think that's disinjen wis. if you brief congress, it always leaks -- >> i did not say that. >> but the system does, in fact, work. if the executive branch can just decide not to brief about anything because it would affect moth methods, you don't have a law. >> that's not the argument. >> it's a judgment call. and i believe the wrong judgment was made in this case. >> but you don't have any facts upon which to make that assessment. you don't know what the programs were, so you cannot sit there without knowing the programs and saying the law was not somehow abided by. >> if we lifted the lens here, and this will be one issue that will keep coming up, and we will have these attacks on cheney about the programs and the intelligence community, what if we lifted the lens that looks at

all of the decisions made in the early part of the bush administration? i am not saying i am for that, but if we got to the bottom of what motivated all of the decision making, if people went on record and said why they made the decisions they made, and then congress was forced to say what they knew, they could be coconspiracies here. >> yeah, and i think that would include what did congress know and when did they know it, and is congress being or members of congress being hypocritical and now criticizing activities that they were fully briefed on. and they have to be held accountable, too. >> we have a choice to make eugene, and the choices --

>> hold on, one at a time. >> the question is whether illegal things were done. and we need to know that. >> there is the question. >> but there is no evidence that anything illegal were done. there are a lot of accusations being spouted by democrats. and there was one very responsible democrat on the intelligence committee who stood up publicly and said what the democrats are doing is politicising intelligence, and i will not be part of it. we have a choice to make as a country, are we going to undercut the intelligence by calling people up in front of congress and attacking them and criticizing them and prosecuting people potentially, and we have been down that road before and it makes the country unsafe. >> do you think what pelosi is doing right now on this issue that liz is talking about is motivated to create a political distraction, from her earlier mess up calling the cia liars on

the waterboarding? >> i think that she enjoys having political cover on the question of whether or not she was briefed on waterboarding. but that doesn't mean that there is no legitimate issue about whether or not congress was briefed on a significant intelligence activity that they should have been briefed on, which i think is probably true. i think it's true that they should have been briefed. >> but it comes at the expense of the central intelligence agency to be able to do what they need to do to keep the country safe. >> the political cover, i think, is from the point of view of speaker pelosi, as a collateral benefit. it would be appropriate for congress to ask why weren't we

briefed about the program? >> the former leader explained that congress was not briefed because the plans never rose to the level where the trigger for briefing congress was put in place. >> well, it continued to the point where it was recently canceled by director pennetta. it did not die. >> no, but they were in the planning stages, eugene. >> why was it canceled? >> i don't know. >> why would you cancel something that never happened? >> well, it sounds what was canceled was the planning. people need to have questions about that. why would we cancel, why don't we want the central intelligence agency focused on how to capture al qaeda? >> that's what makes me believe that there may be things about

the program that we don't know. something about it, whatever it was, made leon pennetta, not only cancel it, but run to congress and say gee, we should have told you about this thing, and we did not tell you about it and we're sorry. and so there is something about it. we don't know. we probably shouldn't know at this point. perhaps we shouldn't know at this point about the details of it. but we should know, i think, why congress was not told, and if it's true that your father said don't tell them, then we need to look at that. and we need to see if that was the proper use of his authority. >> i think we can all agree that the cia ought to be capturing and killing al qaeda and we ought to keep those efforts secret, and there was a disagreement between the current director of the cia and his predecessors about whether or not these plans rose to the level to the need of briefing congress, and all of that is being used by the democrats to

launch attacks at the expense of the security defense and the security of the nation, and then we need to ask how can the democrats be trusted with the nation's security -- >> that last deep you just took, but it enhances the security of the nation in my view for the system to work the way the system is supposed to work. >> we have done this before. >> that is the american way, and the white house doesn't just get to say we're not going to tell congress any more. >> and nobody is suggesting that. but president obama himself issued a current intelligence legislation, because he understands the decisions about when to brief and whom to a brief belong with the executive branch. this is cost free in terms of

the security of the nation. >> i see that this is a separation of power struggle, and it's an old one. it's not a new one. but it's a legitimate struggle. and the representative of people in the forum of congress, they are sovereign, and they have a right to know what the government is doing that. >> paul: y >> eugene, come on. if there were serious questions which i believe is motivating you to be asked, it would not have been handled in the way it was handled. they issued a press release making news about this before they alerted republican members of the committee. it's structured like a political rollout. and for years, they have been playing politics, the democrats,

it seems with intelligence, too. and to stew this up right now is dangerous for the reasons liz said, and politically, an enormous distraction for the administration. >> eugene, your response? >> i don't see that this is a politicalization. i see it as a political issue, and one we will visit before and will visit again. but the bottom line is the law is meaningless, the law is absolutely meaningless. the executive branch can decide is all cases not to brief congress. >> eugene, have you to read the language of the law. the law makes clear when they are concerned about sources and methods they can take that into account. >> there is that wiggle room, that gray area. >> particularly for program development, and not in the implementation phase. >> eugene? >> but the law says anticipated intelligence activity. >> yeah, anticipated, but they

said they could take into account sources and methods. >> well, of course. >> if you have an obligation to brief the entire intelligence world, and congress gets to make that decision, the numbers and members of congress will rise to the level that you can guarantee leaks. you will not be able to conduct an intelligence program in that kind of a circumstance. >> give eugene the final word? >> what is disinjen wis about this, if you do not brief them at all -- >> that's not it, eugene. it clearly increases the likelihood of leaks, eugene. >> okay. i appreciate all of you for joining the conversation. >> i bet this is the frs time

eugene has been ganged up on on "morning joe." >> he can handle it. >> oh, come on. >> honestly, this is the conversation that we need to be having and how we are going to have it, too. >> i was going to give liz one more chance to announce what office she is going to run for. >> yeah, okay, liz. >> thank you. i appreciate that. >> go straight for the senate seat. don't worry about the house. >> eugene, when ever i decide when or if i will do that, definitely it will be on msnbc, because these are my people, msnbc. >> there we go. we watch out for our peeps. >> eugene, thank you very much. we are done not with conversation, but i like the way we did it today, you know,

because there is not a lot of screaming, and it needs to be had. coming up, celebrating a major milestone ahead. and matt dillon will be here. my friend had the biggest crush on him. i am humiliating her. >> yeah, and that was "the outsiders." i cannot believe i am going to run into matt dillon. >> you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet.

i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free".

welcome back to "morning joe." and with us now, chairman of the board, and we will talk about including how technology can fight this. we want to talk about the significance of the president speaking at this event. how will the naacp and other organizations use technology to fight racism, especially as it is in our society today? >> we have a tool called rapid report. and if you capture, for instance, a cop beating somebody

on the street, you can take the video and send it to our office, and that goes into a computer. and we use these for pattern and practice request to the doj, to get them involved. if you have a rogue officer or a rogue department, sometimes have you to go straight to the feds. >> and i would think that also one of the things that we have been discussing along the way with the descendants of the american president, you would think we have come a long way. and in many ways, that's not the case. do you think president obama will address this? let's take this to julian bond in his speech, when he addresses

your event, or is there something more that you would like him to do as the leader of the country to fight the problem that is still very much there? >> we think he will talk about us, because he came to the convention yesterday when he was candidate obama, and told us he would come back this year. and we are happy to have him. there are many things we want the president of the united states to do, no matter who he is or what race he is, and that's to represent the people fairly and justly, and to insure that everybody has an opportunity. we expect to hear that from him. >> you say no matter what his race is, that's what you want the president to do. but there is a difference here. this president going to the middle east and africa, it carries a significant difference. let's not deny that. >> yeah, he is a unique figure

in american history. he can do something with it. he can use it, if you will, to the advantage of the united states. and so far he has done it very well. >> and that's where i was getting at with my question. how do you think that he can use the flat form he has that he brings to the table that is so different than any other president we have had? >> he can talk about experiences with race. and he did that on the campaign trail. we have a president that has had a hard time catching a cab. and just essentially because of his color. and we had a bill called the profiling act that takes the same phenomena to the law enforcement context. and that's one thing that you can do is talk about his own personal experience. when black kids in philly cannot get in a pool. that's crazy. >> how much do your members care

about the president's health care bill? are you doing anything to try and help him and democrats pass that? >> surely. we hope we can get democrats and republicans to pass that. we supported national health insurance for i don't know how many decades and decades. we think this president will move us closer if not all the way there. we are cheering him on. >> can your members put pressure on members of congress? >> they do and are. >> and when you get down to the blue dog democrats for instance, we are one of the most powerful groups pushing that set of dems. and even up in maine, where black people are less than 1%, we have tremendous credibility with collins and snow. we will push across the country on the ground, and we have close to 4,000 folks online. >> you are hearing from michael steele, the chairman of the republican party.

are you all open to the republican ideas? >> i used to think we were holy on -- well, we don't endorse political parties. we think everybody ought to support who they want to, and we just don't do it. >> good luck at the convention. it looks like it would be a great event. thank you for coming into the studio this morning. coming up, i am old. i am. i just realized when i see this name. matt dillon will be here on "morning joe." >> did you bring your autograph book? >> i have to get one. i have never taken one autograph in my life, but i think i might for my friend, laura. she loved him. but first we will have a check from cnbc's erin burnett on the

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for an agent, call the number on your screen. we are getting new economic numbers in. cnbc's erin burnett is live for

us at the stock exchange. >> there are a couple key numbers. these are coming out within the past couple moments. retail numbers coming in better than expected. it's better than the 4% anybody was looking for. gasoline is part of that. we have seen an increase in fuel crisis. take it for what it is, a slight improvement in the consumer, which is 2/3 of the u.s. economy. and auto dealership, best performance since january. and that's something to take to the bank for now. and it's not just here. we talked about europe. we had an increase in industrial production, the first in nine months. and stability in both europe and the u.s. this morning. and on goldman sachs, it's out with its numbers.

and stock was up startly, about 5.5%. and everybody knew they would be very strong. and here is some of the highlights. i am looking at the press release. you had record results -- record. that doesn't mean a year ago, but forever. and record in equities, and this one the most interesting, record revenue in under writing. the last record was set in the second quarter of the year 2000, and that's right at the peak when everybody and their mother was coming to market and doing a offering, and that's as good as it got. >> is it possible golden sacks is that much better than every other firm on wall street? >> they have made some decisions better than others, yes, that's true. but are you going to say golden sacks people are smarter than

other firms? probably not. they have consistently made decisions on the right side of the trade, but a lot of it comes down to management, and we clearly have management stronger than their competitors. >> erin, do you know who matt dillon is? >> yes. >> i am not that old. >> i mean, i am not a pop cultu cultu cultu culture idol, but i know who matt dillon is. >> matt dillon here when we come back on "morning joe." gecko vo: geico's the third-largest

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she has been abducted by a tribe in the area. they can be used in times of getting resources for the tribe. >> it is like a business. that was a clip from south sudan, a documentary directed by actor and refugee international board member, matt dillon. tell us what is going on in south sudan and why you wanted to get involved? >> i went on a mission with refugees international. the peace treaty we signed there in 2005 between the north and south, i think at this pointed there is a threat that the

comprehensive peace agreement could disintegrate, you know. recently, i guess in may of 2008, fighting broke out, intense fighting broke out along the contested border area, and that was a bit of a red flag for everybody. south sudan is very complicated. there are so many problems and internal tribal conflicts as well as contested fighting over the border area between the north and south. i wanted to go -- i have been interested in getting involved with refugees international for some years now. and this was the first mission that really was something, and we had the time to get involved in it, and i brought a camera with some footage. >> is that your footage we just

saw? >> yeah, that's my footage. >> what are we looking at? >> what we saw was a principal of a school that we visited in easternequatoria, i believe. and there were 10 teachers, and not a desk in any of the classrooms. i see kids walking to school and carrying chairs, and it occurred to me, they are carrying chairs because that's the only way to get a seat in class to bring a chair to and from school. we talked to them about some of the problems they are facing there. and those problems include security. security is a major issue. that was the biggest concern with everybody that we talked to. there is no fence around the school. children get abducted going to

and from school regularly. a reported 300 some odd abductions every year. and these are the things that we are concerned about. resources are a major problem, obviously, and getting potable water, and health care, and these sort of things. you have got communities there that are absorbing because you have returning people, you have refugees returning, and communities are doubling and tripling at times, and they don't have the resources to deal with it. and this is causing tension. and you have got, you know, tribal conflicts that are being exacerbated by -- these people are armed in ways they were not before the civil war. they are talking about the abduction of children. and this is a problem, because these things are tribal and complicated, but there should be some sort of local policing force.

some sort of local security. we are not talking about the military to protect children going to and from school, you know. >> can the people in sudan solve this themselves, or do you think they need international intervention, do you think? >> the people of south sudan need help, obviously. and they need help from the international community. they need help from the donors. they need help from their own government. they can't do it on their own. 23 years of civil war, and you go to south sudan, and it's bigger than the state of texas, or the same size, and there is 10 miles of paved road in the entire area, you know. and there is water there. it's underground. and there is not -- there is not enough water points for a community. there is not enough water bumps for each village.

i go to my apartment and i have seven potable water spouts there, if i include my bathtub, where i can get clean drinking water. and they may have one for an entire village. and women have to walk and wait in line for two hours to get water, and then walk back home an hour, and it's just to get water, the stuff we take for granted. it's all about resources there. and whether it's fighting over a chicken, or the oil that is being disputed between the north and south. and so i think that they need -- they need help. there was a lot of promises made. we made great strides. the united states was instrumental in the peace agreement. we were. and there were a lot of promises made, and the attention was diverted after everything that happened in darfur, and

understandably there is a lot of attention put on darfur. and there was a boy, whose name i am forgetting, and he is focussing on sudan. he has to focus on south sudan, because that's thekey. >> yeah, and they are lucky to have you speaking with them. we have to ask you before you go, have you seen "bruno." >> well, i want to see "bruno." i have not seen it yet. no, i got -- i started editing this thing, and i thought, well, you know, i will shoot footage while i am over there in this mission. and it sucks you into the rabbit hole. and it's -- you think that you can, i will just shoot stuff and

cut it together in a few days, and it's like anything else, man, and it's so time consuming. >> where can people see this film? >> refugees international.org, and that can lead you to, if you want to find out more about south sudan and what you can do, log on to refugees international.org. and the clip is there, south sudan, an enduring struggle which is a title that came up in my living room. >> it works. and it's the feel good movie of the summer. >> now that you are done, go to "bruno." >> people will go to the website, and i know one woman that i grew up with, my best friend, laura, who is probably on the website right now, thanks to you, matt dillon. she was obsessed with you. >> we appreciate your efforts on this, and people like you can make a difference during very hard times in this country to

get people to think outside and care. >> appreciate you having me. >> matt dillon, come back and take care. the documentary again, "south sudan, an enduring struggle." when we come back, what, if anything, did we learn today. floyd "money" mayweather has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free.

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