♪ put me in coach ♪ i'm ready to play today ♪ put me in coach ♪ i'm ready to play today >> you don't get a chance to warm up. here they had me down with pujols in the batting cage. >> a lot of heart on that pitch. mika's pitch with the braves.

>> he could perhaps have thrown in an all-star game, the 1941 all-star game by sewell who pitched and it was hit for a home run. it's a true story. i wasn't there. >> glad to have everyone here. >> we're back together. >> what did you think of that pitch last night, willie? >> it wasn't good. >> what do you mean it wasn't good? >> be nice. >> it had a little arc and the form was more of a push than a throw. >> a girl throw? >> we don't judge presidents on how they pitch or bowl, for example, but that wasn't so good. >> okay. >> here is an easy question to answer. what is the greatest first pitch ever thrown out by a president of the united states? >> george w. bush. >> absolutely. september 2001. >> it really was. phenomenal.

>> that's why willie named his child after the 43rd president. hey, congratulations. how is little "w" doing? >> "w" is doing great. my president will appreciate you calling him "w." europe the best. >> george w. >> george w. >> that doesn't make it better. >> it's great. so your wife is a little concerned about this, people coming up on the street asking why she named her child -- we're not lighten iing her load. >> we're getting strange looks from neighbors why we named our child after george. 20 years from now when iraq is a beacon of democracy people will look back, kennedy, be reagan, bush. >> exactly. seriously, it will be like having reagan kennedy or something like that. or truman. a lot to talk about. sotomayor impressed yesterday. goldman sachs soaring $4.3

billion in bonuses using taxpayer dollars. >> nice. thank you. >> they repaid their t.a.r.p. funds. >> we floated them. >> they don't have to loan money to anyone. they're not a bank putting out mortgages or car loans. they're just making money. >> and "the wall street journal" headlined goldman gains on rivals' pains. the top of "the wall street journal," small businesses face big bite talking about the health care insurance and then there's a 5% surtax, i guess, on top income earners. we're going in that direction. it's smelling like pre-reagan days. >> one of the things that the health care plan -- one of the health care plans is modeled on is the massachusetts health care plan which now is nearly bankrupt and the state legislature is going to have to go back and tack on a tax

increase to the 5% of the wealthiest. >> big government really works well. we should look at california as a model. if we can only follow what california has done by giving more and more benefits to as many people as possible and raising taxes higher on the top income earners, then we would see which direction. >> we'll leave your sarcasm there and get to breaking news. >> i love california. >> i know you love california but the system is sort of in shambles. >> oh. >> there is that. it's nice to have you back in the studio. >> a lot of people throwing the shoe, go away, leave. >> they're glad to have you back. a look at some of today's top stories beginning with breaking news out of iran. there are reports a plane carrying 158 people has crashed in the northwest part of the country this morning. according to state media everyone onboard were killed. details are still coming in. we'll have more on the story as it develops. we'll move on to other news. judge sonia sotomayor will be

back on capitol hill today for a second day of tough questioning in her bid to become the nation's next supreme court justice. it follows a day of sharp exchanges with republican lawmakers who questioned whether the judge harbored racial bias and the temperament for the job. >> lots of lawyers who are unfamiliar with the process in the second circuit find that tough bench difficult and challenging. >> if i may interject, judge, they find you difficult and challenging more than your colleagues. i never liked appearing before a judge that i thought was a bully. do you think you have a temperament problem? >> no, sir. >> chris matthews will host live coverage of the confirmation hearings beginning at 9:30 this morning right here on msnbc. and associated press reports citing government officials says at least $1 million was spent by

the cia on planning a secret program aimed at training a squad to kill senior members of al qaeda. now the house intelligence committee is requesting documents about the program which could trigger the launch of a full-scale investigation perhaps as early as this week. >> listen, if nancy would like to just hand the gavel to a republican just so they can get ready for how it feels, we on this show every day leading up to nancy pelosi's first horrific press conference warned her, don't do this. this is not good for the democratic party. your constituents in san francisco and people on the west coast and liberal bloggers will love you but you will lose middle america. and, mike barnicle, her approval ratings, and we can pull the tape of what i said before and then we can show the approval

ratings dropped from 54% to 34%. the cia chasing a car. they're dogs chasing a car and they don't know what they're doing. >> this is the third day of this story, joe. and i would submit to you that if you remove ideology from the following question and ask the first ten people you meet on the street of any city in this country, if you say to them the central intelligence agency was considering spending a million dollars to put together assassination hit teams to take out the top echelon -- >> to kill bin laden. >> -- around the world, nine out of ten people would say to you why not spend more? >> yeah. how much do they need? >> i don't think that's the debate. it's whether congress should have been told about it. >> i think they were. >> and other things perhaps slipped through because congress wasn't told about it.

i know what this is about, but you're talking about politics. you're talking about what will be effective to keep the democrats in power or what will bring the democrats down and i think you're right. moving forward with this is probably detrimental politically to the defensemmocrats. >> right. it is. and this is about -- let's just admit it, they're circling the wagons fo nancy pelosi. nancy pelosi lost 20 approval points. she's trying to strike back at the cia and her closest friends. it's just bad politics for 0 democrats. >> it's bad policy, too. are you intent on propping up the speak er or intent on havin intelligence programs covert that help secure this country? >> and, mika, you're right, congress needs to be advised. i understand your point but they're going to try to turn this into a show trial f. they wa wanted to take care of this, they could quietly behind the scenes.

they could have classified briefings. they could -- but this is not about getting to the truth. this is not about a balance of power between the executive and the legislative branch. this is about trying to revive nancy pelosi's pathetic ratings. >> it's about a lot of different things but, yes. >> she lost 20 percentage points because she went after the cia the first time. we warned her and she wouldn't listen to us. she's not listening again. >> house democrats are offering a $12.5 trillion plan to reform health care, taxes employers and the wealthy to pay for it. the plan aims to have 97% americans enrolled in a health plan by 2015. to foot the bill those making more than a million a year would face a tax increase of up to 5.4%. and individuals and employers would have to get coverage or face costly penalties. >> and that's "the wall street journal" headline. small businesses face big bites. >> that is potentially very

challenging for them. meanwhile, president obama is saying the unemployment rate will likely continue to rise after already hitting the highest level in more than a quarter century. >> now this has been a more severe recession than we've seen since the great depression so how employment numbers are going to respond is not yet clear. my expectation is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months. >> huh. >> so they're taxing all the businesses. >> and also the unemployment problem has the heart and soul of this crisis. so if that doesn't change -- >> jobs, jobs, jobs. >> stimulus has done nothing. >> it is. everything is related to it. mortgage foreclosures, jobs, jobs, jobs. >> i'm not an economist but do you raise taxes on small businesses while we're losing jobs and trying to turn the economy around?

i don't know. i slept through economy 101. >> i never was an economist. i never bought paul samuelsson's book. i would think it's the opposite, you cut business taxes and even cut the corporate tax rate. >> really? >> to get companies small and large -- >> because they're raising taxes on small businesses. general motors' former ceo is planning to retire next month, walking away with an $8.5 million benefit package over the next five years. rick wagner was pushed out by the obama administration ahead of the bankruptcy filing and government takeover. and this comes to us from msnbc.com where a report commissioned by the pentagon is suggesting a ban on smoking in the military even by troops in combat. the report found tobacco-related illnesses cost the defense department more than $800 million a year. listen, guys, and billions more at v.a. hospitals around the country because part of our

health care problems across the country is the fact that we do not know how to take care of ourselves and, therefore, we are sick and paying for millions of dollars in obesity related costs. >> this is not obesity. >> smoking related costs. it's about addiction. it's about our country's addiction to things that aren't good for them. >> mika, stop it. if a guy being shot at in afghanistan wants to have a cigarette, knock yourself out. give him a carton. give him whatever he wants. >> they'll come back better off because they've quit snoeking. i'm serious. >> mika, you don't think they're already at-risk dodging bullets? >> speaking of smoking, broadway bill karins, hey, bill, how are you doing, buddy? >> missed you. >> put down that quarter pounder, will you? i'm more worried about the bullets coming to my head.

>> mika, you're going to live about 20 years longer than anyone else at that table. >> i wouldn't count on it. >> they're killing me. i wouldn't count on that. thank you, bill. bill standing up for me. >> smoke every day, drink every day, ate badly every day. >> stop. >> like 94 years old. >> i have some video to show you, pictures. let's move to minnesota. tornado damage yesterday outside of minneapolis. luckily no injuries, no fatalities, but there was a lot of significant damage, about three or four homes, as you can see, were destroyed. the storms have weakened but are head to go chicago and st. louis. let's talk about the gorgeous weather out there. the it hasn't been summer in new england but the last couple of days have been fantastic. this morning it's cool, it's comfortable. temperatures are in the low 60s in most areas from boston down to d.c. look at the forecast today. 81 in boston. perfect sunshine. 84 in new york. what's interesting in new york city, it has not hit 85 degrees yet this summer.

now thursday and friday upper 80s. this weekend we're back in the low 80s. so the cool weather overall continues although this will be a warm week. we showed you pictures, the worst of it chicago to st. louis, possible airport delays. we do have lightning over the top of o'hare right now so as the airport opens, a small delay. it will be fine this afternoon and this evening. the same for st. louis where the all-star game was played last night. the forecast for the rest of the kun be try, dallas, you're 102 today but better weather for you as we go down the road. it will cool off as we go through the weekend. >> thank you, bill. thank you very much. i've been staying -- my family has been staying at a place in new england. every day, seriously, 68 degrees. >> it's been incredible. >> clear skies. all of the bad weather in may and june, i mean, we're getting paid back for it.

the weather is the most beautiful weather i've experien experienced. >> the best july. >> it's about time. >> it's about time. it's also about time we spoke to senator kent conrad, the democrat from north dakota, and why he has doubts about passing a health care bill. we'll talk to him about that. former white house press secretary dee dee myers says there needs to be more women on the supreme court. senator chuck grassley, "the wall street journal," says the republican from iowa could be the key to a bipartisan health care deal. nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell will join us. plus, a look at the stories politico is working on. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. >> and mike allen, brewed by crystal meth. >> well, he has that going in his office. undefeated professional boxer floyd "money" mayweather

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he rarely makes a false move. he rarely does. in the past few days a few miscues and this is bound to happen, the president's detractors have already pounced on the guy. take a look. >> he can't pronounce the name of a town in alabama. his teleprompter fell down during a speech. he tripped.

looks like he's giving somebody a run for their money, barack obama, might be the worst president ever. >> that is funny, i guess. >> george w. bush, i don't know about that. not yet anyway. we have to get to mike allen because he's wearing a shirt you're not going to believe. >> what is going on? >> he's the chief political correspondent. >> he's like spray painted green. >> what is that? happy holidays. ho-ho-ho. mike allen has a look at the politico playbook. >> it's like cotton candy. >> i don't know what that means. >> always sweet, always at the ballpark. >> oh. >> always puffy. >> let's talk some business here. we know that the house unveiled its health care overhaul -- >> hold on. are we supposed to listen to him wearing that outfit? >> i'm okay with it. i'm ready to move forward. >> did you take that shirt off a

school crossing guard? look at that thing. >> i think you look fantastic. let's talk health care, shall we? what's the white house going to do here now to back up the house plan and to hopefully get something together by august? >> well, since joe is such an expert on all matters, this is a quiz for joe. welcome back. what do these states have in common -- arkansas, indiana, louisiana, maine, florida, nebraska, north dakota, ohio? >> well, hell, you just named 49 states. i don't know what. what? >> these are all swing senators in the health care vote. >> there you go. >> the white house is playing hardball with them by tv ads beginning today. they'll go through the dnc, of course, with real stories, sad stories from real people i think will also pop up on msnbc, but it's part of the president's effort to bring pressure on senators from back home to get work done here in d.c. >> that's really the key.

you just named the states where those moderate democratic senators that are in swing states, a lot of those you named actually states mccain carried and that bush carried twice. that's really where the power is now as we move forward, isn't it, when you talk about cap and trade in the senate, talking about the tax increases. those like evan bayh and mary landrieu determine which direction this country is going to go, don't they, at least over the next year? >> right. it's increasingly clear there needs to be a prod, that this is not going to happen by inertia. there's so much resistance to this. there's a feeling that the cost is so high, the benefits are so uncertain, that there needs to be political muscle and people on the hill have been whining about how the president needs to do more. well, he is. this is an example. today we'll see him in the rose garden with members of the american nurses association, registered nurses endorsing health reform bringing in nancy

snyderman and other tv position anchors to talk to them about the contents. we'll see the president very involved day by day. >> dr. nancy snyderman. >> i'm surprised they didn't invite me. >> dr. nancy and the president. mike, some of those same democrats, i understand, are holding a press conference today, finding new ways to bleed money out of us. tell us about it. >> i love this. the $100 billion here, $100 billion there. democratic senators are targeting health insurers. we've talked about how drug companies, hospitals, have come forward to do their best to help pay for reform. here is another money pod democrats are going to go after very aggressively. health insurers are negotiating with them. the number needs to be a little more rational but the phrase is going to come out of this news conference is they're going to talk about a windfall profits tax for health insurers based on new business that they may get

as a result of reform and republicans sent me a great e-mail. just about everyone who has been, quote, at the table, unquote, is getting hammered. when are they going to push their chairs back and start throwing food? we may see. i can tell you the business interests that have been quietly going along trying to get the bill more to their liking are going to be increasingly vocal about how this just won't work for them. >> i'm surprised by how far left the democrats are going right now. i just say this, again, political. >> they can't make these numbers add up. the numbers do not add up. they're going for money wherever they can get it. >> well, mike, it seems -- and, again, i'm a conservative and i've always -- everybody knows my position on this. but just politically they seem to be trying to do so much. it's like what colin powell said, they're throwing too much stuff up at the walls. we're looking at this tax and that tax and this spending plan and that spending plan and this

new bureaucracy. you talk about those swing states. i guarantee you people that voted for barack obama in indiana, a lot of the swing voters there didn't expect this. it just seems too much for some of the more conservative, the moderate swing states to digest. am i wrong? >> no, you're right and i think you're going to hear republicans increasingly push the line that these changes will be harmful to small business and the obama coalition is in danger here. joe, it won't surprise you that asking people, the richest people heavily for obama as well as the poorest people and they're getting hammered in this. so there's a lot of constituencies here with a lot of clout that are going to be pushing back. >> that's something we don't hear much that mike allen just told us. you always hear about this 5% added tax for wealthy americans. oh, that's going to hurt

republicans disproportionately. no, the richest americans went overwhelmingly for obama. >> to your conspiracy theory because i find it fascinating. the president of the united states as we mentioned earlier threw out the first pitch covered by fox sports. tell us what you saw or didn't see, mike. >> well, viewers at home were amazed that we didn't see the actual pitch. we saw the president, and i have a blackberry message that said i bet he's going to do it shirtless. he didn't do that. we saw the president's reaction. >> what? >> but every presidential first pitch in history has been shown from the center field camera. you can see whether or not it's a strike. they didn't show his pitch. as i started getting e-mails, what is this the soviet union? we deserve to know whether or not the president bounced it. when he went into the booth we finally saw it. in the meantime the sports blogs went crazy. it was a little low but he did fine.

it wasn't embarrassing. it wasn't a particularly masculine stance. he short-armed it. >> now stop it. it may be you or me doing that in boston. we do not want to set ourselves up for failure. >> can i say something seriously? >> do 0 it off the mound. you get much more credit for it. no ladies' tee. >> the president didn't throw the ball well. we all -- the guys at the table said it, but it's great. i'm just saying this as an american. it's great seeing a president that runs out there, that carries himself the way -- listen, president bush did that after 9/11. like you said, president bush went out, carried himself well but president obama, despite the fact that i think his policies -- he carries himself well. he, i think he did pick up fdr's optimism at least in a personal manner. yeah, i think he presented himself very well.

>> there he is. >> great to see him then. >> mike was trying to find something dirty in it. >> he was optimistic. he went to the booth. he said that every team has a chance to be in the playoffs except for the washington nationals. >> he did. >> mike, we're going to ask you more tomorrow about the shirtless e-mails you're getting. we didn't have time to get into that today. >> mika, what color shirt -- what color shirts should jim wear tomorrow? >> should jim wear? >> yes. because he's so fussy. >> oh, jim boeheim? i'd say plaid. >> tone it down a little bit. >> we have the christmas music up for you, mike allen. thanks so much. checking you out at politico.com. >> you all have a good day. off the mound, no short arming. >> a quick look at the papers. front page of "the wall street journal," britain's deadliest days since the afghanistan war

began. "the new york times" takes a look at a marine running for safety after a homemade bomb exploded monday. in helmand province, afghanistan. "the wall street journal," we referenced it. small businesses face big bite. house health care bill penalizes the tiniest employers for not providing insurance. expect that to be watered down in the senate. "the washington post," sotomayor emphasizes objectivity. i can't wait to talk about that. i think republicans sounding a little shrill yesterday. "the miami herald," the white house is supposeded to spend $12 billion to improve community colleges, an investment it says would help laidoff workers train for new careers. that is a good investment i think, mika. coming up, a first look at business live from london. mika, you've been sorting through the must-read opinion pages. welcome to the now network. population 49 million.

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welcome back to "morning joe" just after 6:30 on the east coast and this beautiful summer morning, time for a look at some of today's top stories. iranian state media report 168 people were killed this morning when a passenger plane crashed just 16 minutes after takeoff in the northwest part of the country. crews are at the scene where a huge trench can be seen smashed

into an agricultural field. parts of new zealand are under a tsunami warning after an earthquake struck. according to the u.s. geological survey the quake has the potential to trigger destructive waves that can strike coast lines within hours. and the senate judiciary committee reconvene confirmation hearings for judge sonia sotomayor. yesterday's questioning fell along party lines with republican questioning her ability to be impartial while democrats touted her record. that's a look at the news. willie? >> and she answered the wise latina question. >> yes, she did. right now an early check on business with steve sedgwick live in london. good morning, steve. >> reporter: good morning to you. it can't be right, can it, two days of good news in a row? the markets are trading on a high due to what we got out of the states. goldman sachs numbers contentious but very good. after the bell, great numbers from intel. really crowd pleasing, great outlook from the companies boosting all the techs and boosting the u.s. futures ahead

of the session. as far as the day's session, amr as well getting some data including the key june consumer crisis. by and large a positive session so far. back to you. >> steve sedgwick in london, thanks so much. editor in chief of "the daily beat" the great tina brown will be here. plus, mika, brewing up a pot right now of must-read opinion pages. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him.

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when chief justice roberts came before this committee in 2005 he said a supreme court justice is like an umpire calling balls and strikes. we have observed, unfortunately, that it's a little hard to see home plate from right field. >> justice roberts was and is a supremely intelligent man with impeccable credentials but many

can debate whether his four years on the supreme court he actually called pitches as they come. or whether he tried to change the rules. >> a judge or a court has to call the game the same way for all sides. everyone that comes to the plate with the same amount of no balls and no strikes. >> supreme court justices are much more than umpires calling balls and strikes. >> these momentous decisions were not simply the result of an umpire calling balls and strikes. >> i also wanted to note i thought this was your hearing not judge roberts' hearing. >> do they not talk before the hearing and say i'm going to use the terrible baseball analogy so you don't get to use it? >> the problem is they get press release -- how embarrassing. >> there were some interesting headlines. >> the committee acting like the crew chief forum pirs and turning to them all, you're out

of here. >> why were they all talking about john roberts yesterday? >> the metaphor -- >> said i'm an umpire calling balls and strikes and their most extreme example was the second amendment ruling where they found an individual right to keep and bear arms which, by the way, president obama agrees with as well. >> to the hearing of headlines yesterday and bring in editor in chief and founder tina brown. thanks for coming in. before we get to our op-ed, judge sonia sotomayor responded to the statement that she made years back about the wise latina and this is the statement that made many especially on the republican side, question her ability to make sound decisions that don't have anything to do with race or heritage. here is her response to the criticism. take a listen. >> i want to state up front, unequivocally and without doubt i do not believe that any

ethnic, racial or 0 gender group has an advantage in sound judging. i do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background or life experiences. >> okay. does that put an end to it, joe? an end to the question? >> i don't think there really is a question. she is -- of course you want everybody to be judged equally. she's a hispanic woman from the bronx that went before hispanic groups and showed pride and seriously, yes, i'm concerned about her suggesting that a woman latina can do better than a white man or whatever, but, come on 0, are you really going to blow this up into an entire issue in a hearing? no. when i go places, i try to

inspire whatever group of young people i'm talking to, say, look, university of alabama, and look what happened to me? that's what you do when you go to these audiences so, yes, ask the question. but, tina, do you turn it into an entire hearing over something she was trying to inspire other latino women? >> the truth is this whole sotomayor sort of cavalcade has been flogging a dead horse. it is flogging a dead horse. the woman is very well qualified. the whole idea that republicans now are trying to kind of inflame sort of identity politics over this is an absolute no go. it's a nonstarter. it is silly. questioning her about issues of national security and what her feelings are about that. we had a good piece yesterday about that. it's just a dead horse. i agree with joe. one of the hazards today you can't actually speak to an audience and sort of think you're in a silo where you can

discuss people and be a little blue collar talking to blue collar people and be a wall street guy while talking to wall street guys. all that chameleon stuff they can't do it anymore because they're on the internet and everything they say is judged through the new prism of what it plays like on a national stage, the downfall of every speaker. >> mike barnicle, we have concerns about somebody who would think one group of people could do better than other groups of people but seriously, come on. who really thinks that she's a racist? >> no, these hearings used to have the potential for providing some education to the layman out there, in terms of what guess goes on in the supreme court, what sort of people are nominated. now you first have to strip yourself of all personality. you have to get up there like an atomoton, speak in rigidly boring sentences and, to tina's point, you cannot have had a

life outside of the bench where you expressed any sentiments having to do with reality because someone, some group is going to be so easily offended by a remark taken out of context and offended. >> the most ludicrous thing was lindsey graham bearing down on her asking if she was a bully. this woman has minded her ps and qs all her life, been this by the book lawyer, and now she's being asked because of some blind quotes whether she's a bully. >> he did say if you're going to meltdown -- unless you meltdown, you'll do well. maybe he was trying to make her meltdown. >> i mean, scalia is not a bully? >> really. >> i've heard from people who work with her she's very tough and she's not extraordinarily likeable with other people that she works with. i've heard that behind the scenes, but if you're going to go there in a hearing, you'd better have a chat. i've had conservative jurists

say that she's about the best conservatives could hope for because she's not a politician like john roberts. she's not going to pull other people to her side. but, again, if you go in a hearing, you'd better have a chat. >> the alito hearings were an absolute absolutely -- dull. he seems like a guy without any personality. >> just when they made his wife rush out of there crying. >> i know, that was a great cable tv boone. >> they were tough. >> everybody is crying about everything right now. >> everybody is crying about everything. what the hell does that even mean, tina? >> crying and running out. >> the bottom line, though, these hearings, these confirmation hearings have become more heat than light. it's about savaging whoever you put up there and i think it's terrible.

>> i really do. >> well, i'm crying because we didn't get to my op-edz. we'll get to them later. >> 80, 82 votes. i've taken it down from 85 to 80. even the firefighters case, a case split 5-4 along ideological lines. nobody's painted her as a radical jurist, that she's widely out of touch. >> she's going to sail through. they are making themselves look petty, vindictive and flogging a dead horse, which is not another thing they need in my judgment. >> they're playing to their base. democrats are playing to the baseball base. again, these hearings didn't help joe biden when he was running the committee. they seem to shrink everybody on that judiciary committee.

>> tina stay with us. we'll talk about this more. chuck todd will have the late e headlines out of the white house. but first, could the national league break its 12-game losing streak in the all-star game? sports with willie geist is next. >> excitinexciting. >> you know he named his child after the 43rd president. i know. it's so sweet. george w. >> congratulations. >> thanks. >> you have a baby? >> george w. 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.

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call now-- and get the system installed for just $99. broadview security for your home or business - the next generation of brink's home security. call now. welcome back. time for some sports. the national league has not beaten the american league in the all-star game since 1996. they did tie in a bizarre game in 2002. we'll break that spell last night in st. louis. there's president obama. much more on the first pitch. he's wearing the white sox jacket, controversial. albert pujols, you see there, the catcher. he went 0 for 3. national league up 3-2 in the fifth. joe mauer doubles to left field. look who comes around third. look how he strides, those long -- derek jeter crossing home plate. tying the game at 3-3. the national league did have a chance to snap the 13 had been year winless streak.

still tied at 3-3, the rockies' brad hawpe sends one deep to left. the leaping grab, bails out that bum jonathan papelbon. huge play by crawford gets him the mvp award. they win 4-3 and get home field advantage. maybe the red sox, maybe the yankees get home field in the world series. >> certainly the sox teams. >> one more baseball note. according to reports the phillies have agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract with pedro martinez, the official announcement could come today. the tour de france picked up with stage ten. the 121-mile trek saw x competitors riding, get this, without ear pieces. a new ban on electronic equipment. lance armstrong does not like that. but apparently not affected finishing in the main pack still

eight seconds behind the overall leader. lance going for his eighth tour de france title. coming up next, some news you can't use and a complete breakdown of president obama's first pitch. we're going to really get inside, talk about some of the conspiracy theories behind it, show you some of the best and worst first pitches you'll ever see up next. q

news you can't use. >> william. >> we're going to go back -- we have an interesting e-mail. >> oh, willie. we're so glad you're here. >> concern about my baby's name and it wasn't a very kind e-mail. >> you had a political statement to make and you made it. >> i make no apologies for it. before we get to that, though, back to president obama's first pitch. we're just going to lay it out here and let you watch one more time. comes out he's wearing a white sox jacket. he said his wife thinks he was cute in it. >> he does. >> he says he makes no apologies. good for him. >> he carries him seven so well. >> he looks good. the windup. he gets it over the plate. pujols had to move up a little bit on the one-hop.

there was something about it. i couldn't help but recall a cold march afternoon in altuna, pennsylvania. >> you're not. >> at a bowling alley. >> joe. >> i'm not even -- i don't even know if it's the right comparison but there's just something familiar about the motion. it's kind of like a guy who doesn't hang around a bowling alley that often. >> i've just got to say it. >> i think that's enough from you. >> let me show you one thing, 2005, barack obama in chicago at comiskey park, home of his beloved white sox, i'm told he does a better job here. he has the jersey. >> it's okay. he doesn't extend. >> he lobs it too much. >> boom, just like that. >> there is good news, though,

someone one threw a worst first pitch. mariah carey. high heels, short shorts. >> oh, my goodness. >> can we see that one more time? >> the olympic carl lewis. did you ever see his? >> no. was it bad? >> mariah carey looks like nolan ryan. >> we mentioned it earlier, president george w. bush about a month after 9/11 at yankees stadium in new york. this is not it. you'll have to take my word for it. yeah. this is not it. well, here he is throwing one out anyway. >> he can throw. in 2001 if you just imagine with me for a moment, he threw -- >> not quite as dramatic as the pitch that he threw in the world series. as ground zero of smoldering but nice try. >> this was at a meeting with texas rangers. i don't know what you're talking about. he throws a nice first pitch. that's all we'll say about

president obama. we'll let people judge for themselves. >> our president carries himself well out there. >> obama? >> he got cheers, mainly cheers. >> he did a great job. he went up in the booth and he clearly knows baseball. >> by the way, i understand in some cities it's worse than others like in philadelphia they boo santa claus. seriously, whether it's a republican president or a democratic president, cheer the president. don't b oo o him at these events. >> no. you don't do it. anything else? >> he got a great reception last night in st. louis. >> he did. a swing state. i'm sure a lot of republicans up there. i'm glad they didn't boo. a lot of swing states. very exciting news. other than "w," george, you have

some news. >> we do. we can can announce here today on "morning joe" we'll be getting up a little bit earlier. when i say we, i mean me. don't worry. new show coming up called "way too early." going to come at you at 5:30 a.m. monday through friday beginning a week from monday, july 27th. i just felt i wasn't waking up early enough is the bottom line. mike barnicle has agreed to be a very frequent guest. we're going to do 30 minutes, zip through all the headlines you need to know, get you ready for the morning. we'll sort of get the audience briefed and ready for the debates on "morning joe" where you hit everything from washington to wall street, the weather, sports, pop culture, whatever you want. 30 minutes, it's going to be fast paced. a lot of fun. >> can you do me a favor? could you call me at about 5:35 and wake me up? >> that's part of the show.

it's not a gimmick, it's actually to wake you up for "morning joe." >> is this just a complete -- >> europe not the only one asking that question. >> newborns start waking up at 3:00 in the morning it all just makes beautiful, perfect sense. >> e-mails about your newborn. >> oh, great. congratulatory stuff? >> people are so excited about your baby, george w. >> i can't wait to hear about it. >> i have a george, too. i love it. >> it's so wonderful. we have a loving community. a new baby comes into the world and the "morning joe" community, look at that sweet baby. >> oh, he's beautiful. >> what does the e-mail say? >> this one yum pd out at me. who uses the naming of a baby to make political points to their liberal neighbors on the upper side?

>> what? >> keep going. nothing about the sweet baby? >> i guess that kid is going to grow up to be an f-ing drunk until he's about 40 and needs karl rove to think for him. >> wow. that is horrible. that's horrible. that is terrible. >> congratulations. what a sweetheart. good gosh. the kid's a week old. >> wow. >> for the christening album. >> any hateful e-mails about women on this show? talk about mika? >> no. >> we're going to do this story in news about the military not wanting people to smoke. i've had it with mika brzezinski says al. please, someone give her a rifle, body armor, helmet, parachute and drop her in

afghanistan with a pack of juicy fruit gum. >> are you ready? >> i'm ready. >> i missed you guys. i'm just going to do this for my wife one more time. my young son, just a week old today, is named for my wonderful grandfather george geist and not for our 43rd president of the united states. george w. bush. it's just a coincidence. >> a symbol of freedom. >> 20 years from now -- i remember i called you up right as the baby was being born. you said, joe, this is going to be a monument. i said god bless you. a free and democratic iraq. >> some of us still believe in america. >> as your son george -- >> all right. all right. we have to get to news.

time for a look at today's top stories. iranian state media reporting 168 people were killed this morning when a passenger plane crashed just 16 minutes after takeoff in the northwest part of the country. the victims include 153 passengers and crew members. the burned wreckage scattered through a rural field. judge sonia sotomayor will be back on capitol hill today for a second round of tough questioning from her bid to become the nation's next supreme court justice following a day of sharp exchanges with republican lawmakers who questioned whether the judge harbored racial bias and the temperament for the job. >> lots of lawyers who are unfamiliar with the process in the second circuit find that tough bench difficult. and challenging. >> if i may interject, judge, they find you difficult and challenging more than your colleagues.

i never liked appearing before a judge i thought was a bully. do you think you have a temperament problem? >> no, sir. >> she wants to punch him but decides to say no, sir instead. >> she made the right choice. >> good call. >> i was thinking it, too, myself. chris matthews will hold live coverage beginning at 9:30 this morning right here on msnbc. an associated press report citing government officials says at least $1 million was spent by the cia on planning a secret program aimed at training assassin squads to kill senior members of al qaeda. now the house intelligence committee is requesting documents about the planning of the program which could trigger the launch of a full-scale investigation perhaps as early as this week. >> please don't. stop. >> house democrats are offering a $1.5 trillion plan to reform

health care. taxing employers and the wealthy to pay for it. the plan aims to have 97% of americans enrolled in a health plan by 2015. to foot the bill, those making more than $1 million a year would face a tax increase of up to 5.4% and individuals and employers would have to get coverage or face costly penalties. meanwhile, president obama is warning the nation's unemployment rate will likely continue to rise. after already hitting its highest level in more than a quarter century. >> now this has been a more severe recession than we've seen since the great depression so how employment numbers are going to respond is not yet clear. my expectation is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months. >> and this comes to us from msnbc.com where a report

commissioned by the pentagon is suggesting a ban on smoking in the military. even by troops in combat zones. the report found tobacco-related illnesses cost the defense department more than $800 million a year and billions more at va hospitals around the country. that's a look at the news. i'm sorry that i support that. i'm sorry that i think it's a good idea. i'm sorry. >> the position of those two stories, raising taxes on business and the unemployment rate continuing to rise -- >> that's a very good point. >> -- it's stunning to me that this message isn't better crafted. that the democrats on the hill trying to pass along this huge tax increase on wealthy americans and on businesses including small businesses at the time unemployment rates are skyrocketing, you wonder if anybody ever stumbled into an

economics class on the hill. >> it seems to me they need to do something else and i'm very worried about the unemployment rate basically proving the stimulus plan to be weak or inefficient. the president was talking about that yesterday. let's bring in chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd. chuck, before we play the president's sound bite, let's have you rate him on his pitch. how do you think he did? >> reporter: mm. as somebody said, passed on to me and i pass on, it was about a 54-foot change-up you could believe in. thank you very much. >> ouch. >> reporter: albert pujols is going to get himself an extra invite to the white house since he made sure the ball didn't hit the dirt when it was clear ly heading for the dirt. >> good for him. chuck, let's play a clip from

the sound bite from the president actually doing what he does for a living. yesterday in warren, michigan, and i want to get your reaction to it. >> i love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, well, this is obama's economy. that's fine. give it to me. my job is to solve problems not to stand on the sidelines and gripe. >> what's the president's strategy? >> reporter: on this one? this is about trying to push back -- he took about, i'd say, two straight weeks of criticism on the stimulus, on health care, and, you know, there was some griping among democrats here in washington who were like we have to fight back. he's got to push back harder. and i think, you know, you can't do it in the rose garden. you can't do that sort of bring it on type of mentality in the rose garden but you can go on the road and do that and i think you're going to see the president do this more every

time they get on the road he feels better. they feel like they do better getting their message across and, look, i don't think it's a coincidence that since he hasn't been on the road domestically his numbers have settled down a little bit and out there doing a campaign style event and that's what yesterday felt like. i was there. felt like it was back on the campaign trail again. he was getting fired up and he was pushing back a little bit and i think, look, this is a -- you can't find a place that has been hit harder than michigan. not only that, this is how hard and how bad the unemployment 0 situation is. the guy who gave the benediction, joe, you know how these events are, there's always somebody there, let's pray. during the prayer talked about the job losses in the community and it wasn't like it was something that was thrown in. you could tell this is all anybody there is thinking about and talking about and so him getting up there and showing

some fight again did help out politically. >> mike barnicle, you can take it to chuck, but even the president now talking about the unemployment rate and possibly it rising. isn't that the focus of potentially the problem with the stimulus plan that it may not be helping create the jobs that we are hemorrhaging, that the people are losing? >> you get the distinct impression, the realization, out there in the country that it's jobs, jobs, jobs. those are the top three issues that no matter what they talk about health care, whatever, jobs is the biggest issue in the country and, chuck, i'd like to ask you, off of the unemployment figures, is this administration aware of what seems to be a rising tide of criticism based really among a lot of people who supported president obama and his election campaign that one of the problems this administration has in dealing with the economy, dealing with unemployment is that there are too few people around the president who have ever met a

payroll, a small business or a large business, that they're all academics? >> reporter: well, look, it's an interesting criticism. i know i've heard that particularly when you look at a larry summers or tim geithner who, as you said, they're academic first before they've been people that are out there understanding what it's like when you have to lay people off, you know, not just when you're trying to start a business but what it's like when you have to lay people off and you can't because if you don't you won't meet payroll for everyone else. i don't think you're going to hear that criticism too much right now but i think in the next three or four months if these numbers -- if this unemployment number, the monthly number, doesn't continue to go down and it has been a little bit, but if you don't see a d dramatic movement on that you may see a greater sense of it. i'll tell you this, they are trying -- you know, they've

gotten this guy, ed montgomery, trying to help communities wrp the auto industry is going to disappear so they're trying to do -- feel your pain type of initiatives but right now there's a lot of pain. it doesn't matter how much you feel. there's still a lot of pain. >> and, mike, if any of these -- if there had been some people in the white house that had run small businesses, had to make payroll every two week, to worry about all the regulations on their small businesses, i just seriously doubt that an economic adviser with that background would say, okay, we're hemorrhaging jobs. now let's raise taxes on small business. to make people on the left in your party happy. it's just, i think personally, it's bad economics. tina brown is here. chuck, has a question for you. >> joe biden spoke the truth when he said they underestimated the stimulus. do you get any sense of a gathering desire for a plan "b" because clearly there wasn't enough in the stimulus to make it happen or at any rate the way

the stimulus is crafted there wasn't enough to make it happen. >> reporter: well, i think, tina, if there's a plan "b" it would be to take the money there and push it out faster, move it around, maybe use the t.a.r.p. money. i in the now they're using the bailout money that they used for banks as a way to help small business. i don't think they're going to be, okay, let's throw more money in because i think they have enough people internally telling them, you know what, interest rates are already basically at zero. you maximized all the money you can spend and the deficit is at a point where if you raise the deficit anymore then suddenly whatever money you throw in, you're going to hurt the long term even worse by increasing deficits. i don't think you will see more new money. i wouldn't be surprised if in the next three to six months they had a way of taking money that they already had, whether it's t.a.r.p. money or stimulus money and pigging out how to use

that as a way to supercharge things a little bit. >> final question, chuck todd, wy willie geist announced excitedly he has a new show starting at 5:30, way too early. he announced you would be his first guest every morning to kick start the day. should we bring the satellite truck to the white house at 5:30 a.m. or to the nebraska avenue right at the top of the show? >> reporter: i think it's arlington, virginia, if you're lucky and just keep knocking, willie. just keep knocking. i don't know if i'm going to wake up. as joe said, i like the idea if you could become all of our personal wake-up call service. >> there you go. >> reporter: that would be very helpful. >> could you deliver coffuld ha coffee, too? >> he's the guy who gets the coffee turned on. >> turn on the coffee when you come in. mika, who is next?

>> congressman john chattic. we'll talk about a health care plan. also ahead the senator who "the wall street journal" says is the key to a bipartisan deal, senator chuck grassley. andrea mitchell will join us. 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.

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>> i wouldn't approach the issue of judging in the way the president does. judges can't rely on what's in their heart. they don't determine the law. congress makes the laws.

the job of a judge is to apply the law and so it's not the heart that compels conclusions in cases, it's the law. >> more from the confirmation hearings of judge sonia sotomayor and here with us now nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. she's also host of msnbc's "andrea mitchell reports" at 1:00 eastern time here on this network. andrea, let's talk about secretary of state hillary clinton's return to the spotlight with a big foreign policy speech today. what's she planning? >> this is her first major speech and it is in front of the council on foreign relations. you might ask why now? it has been a number of months. tina wrote needs to throw off her bertha and come out. there is some suggestion she has

been taking a back seat. the hillary clinton people would say she broke her arm for one thing and has been healing and having surgery and physical therapy and couldn't fly around. she is taking a trip next week to india and thailand. there's sort of a balancing act here. a lot of people within the administration praise her for being differential to the president, for showing up at the g-20 sitting behind him like a loyal member, in every place she goes the president leads, the obama administration believes she has certainly proved that team of rivals works but does it work for hillary? does it work enough to give her the star role you would expect her to have? well, her answer would be that she's not the star in this administration. it's the president of the united states. >> tina, throw off the burqa, that's tough talk. >> i just feel that she's had to go overboard proving that she is a good team player.

she's good at that. she did that in the senate where she dialed back all her celebrity, put her head down and worked. at the same time i have to say that you do rather feel that obama did a brilliant checkmate when he gave hillary state because he gets her brains and her kind of wonderful ability to just do the work. hillary is an absolute work horse and she's willing to take it on. but at the same time, you also feel she's checkmated because she didn't show herself between herself and the president or minimizes her power. it's checkmate bill because he has had to be dialled back into being a prince philip. >> i never thought of him in that light. >> i love your parallels. >> he's been given envoy to haiti. he's having to be such a good boy because otherwise he imperils his wife's position. the clintons are boxed out in terms of star hawking in any sense. it's a brilliant move. i actually think that, you know,

i'm surprised that she's been willing in a way to have the ambassadorships taken off her and given the obama fund-raisers. >> in fact, tina raises the point there have been a couple of edgy moments. one was japan. there have been years, decades going back to joe kennedy, of rich contributors going to the port of st. james, going to paris, but that has not been the case with japan. japan has been the embassy that has been inhabited by the walter mondales, the howard bakers, tom foley. mike mansfield. someone who is a real, major figure, a political pro, and the clinton state department tried to do that with harvard professor joe nye and instead the person who went is a big contributor. so the obama people have certainly taken hold of the ambassadorship. the other point is dennis ross going from the state department to the white house. major figure.

big player in many administrations on the mideast and now is right at the president's arm helping him at the president's elbow sitting in on every meeting, every phone call. >> andrea, i want to ask you about the cia story, the democrats in the house are pursuing an investigation here. is this an effort of high moral importance or political suicide? >> i think it's certainly partly political cover your rear end. that has been discussed by all of you as well. but at the same time leon panetta brought this to them. panetta clearly felt it needed to be briefed. i think if you went around america and asked people do you think we should have a program after 9/11 to go after top al qaeda operatives, i think people would say, yes, resoundingly yes. the problem apparently became trying to deal effectively with foreign countries because they didn't want cia hit squads showing up and what if they got

the wrong guy and how do you explain that to the local intelligence figures? so there was a lot of coordination. it just didn't work. it was on again and off again. even in the planning stages, the law is ambiguous whether or not it should have been briefed. panetta and current officials believe it should have been briefed to congress. >> and, andrea, don't you think that's where this ends, ambiguity, so the left gets what the left wants, the right gets what the right wants and once again you've got the cia in the middle. >> and the cia is really being hurt by this because you've got now four separate investigations going on already. into what the cia did or did not do and it's very hard for them to figure how to be effective. >> boy, i'll tell you what -- >> a few more months ago in march he said at that speech in minneapolis there was an assassination squad and everybody chewed him out. we interviewed him on the beat. he made the point yesterday, they said we don't torture peep.

now they're saying we don't assassinate people, so what's to believe? he did make that point it was an assassination squad and it turns out to have been right. >> they were trying to get it off the ground, couldn't do it. >> well, he says they did. we'll see. >> andrea mitchell, thank you so much. >> congratulations to willie. >> thank you, andrea. >> thank you very much. >> and his show. >> and watch the hearings today. chris matthews at 9:30. i'll be with him all day and then our own show during the lunch break, probably 12:30 or 1:00. >> okay, great. andrea, we'll be watching. thanks very much. tina brown, thanks to you as well. >> andrea is exactly right about the cia again with the people i know from my time in congress, quite a few over there. the veterans are rolling their eyes and saying i'm going to punch out, i'm going to retire. they're saying, telling me, though, the young people coming in are learning day one to cover

their back sides, to not take any chances, to not do the time of things the cia has done for 30, 40 years. >> we still have it next. >> enjoy the tv because we're going to have a risk averse central intelligence agency and i'm just telling you it's going to cause a serious problem and you're going to have politicians in both parties in the years to come wringing their hands saying why weren't we more aggressive? all the things you heard on september 12th we will hear again. >> absolutely. >> i don't doubt that. >> we will tell the cia to do things in danger and then we will investigate them when we're out of danger. we do it all the time. >> coming up next, senator chuck grassley, the iowa republican, seen as a key player in a possible health care deal. the senator also had what might be the best one-liner so far in the sotomayor confirmation hearings. we'll show you that. ♪ on this endless ocean

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a narrow issue that the court -- [ inaudible ] >> officer, remove that man

immediately. >> senator grassley, we did stop the clock. this did not take from your time. >> thank you. people always say i have the ability to turn people on. >> oh, my good neness. that was a good line. here with us now, senator republican, member of the senate judiciary committee, senator chuck grassley. would you like to explain that one, sir? >> well, i guess when you have those sorts of uprising during a committee meeting what you want to do is get people feeling comfortable when you start out again and i think senator leahy did that and i thought i would just liven it up a little bit. >> yes, you did. you did a good job. thanks for being on the show this morning. let's talk about sonia sotomayor, the judge. do you think she's off to a good start? >> well, she got off to a good start in her opening statement on monday when she said that she

was going to have fidelity for the law and she knows what her biggest weakness is and that isn't so much the cases she's decided as a lot of speeches and a lot of writings she's done where she's brought this empathy and these various statements about a wise latina, et cetera, et cetera, into her background and that raises a lot of questions among people that want judicial restraint on the supreme court and not have judicial activism and i'm one of those and she knows she has to overcome that. so she has made very many statements yesterday to back up that fidelity for the law because she's got to overcome this burden she brought to the hearing in what she left the impression that she was very much a judicial activist. >> senator grassley, willie geist here. the wise latina woman line has gotten so much attention but do

you really believe based on her record, not on that one comment but on her record, that she is an activist judge? >> i believe she's very much an activist judge and i think she pointed that out yesterday. for instance in the case i asked her about, she said that they were waiting around for the case to come out but when she got around to answering my question, she more or less said the case didn't have anything to do with her decision in the case. and then this wise latina issue that you just praut up, you know, she said it was a bad choice of words probably had a of a dozen times but she still has not said that that attitude that's expressed in the statement is flat out wrong where i thought that senator lindsey graham tried to make very clear that if he said that i'm a white male and i'm going

to make more wise decisions than perhaps a hispanic or latino woman that he would have been blackballed for doing that. and so we have to get around to the point where she realizes that sort of an attitude is outright wrong and it's divisive in our society and what we're trying to get through the rule of law is to bring america together not to divide america. >> mike barnicle? >> senator, it seems to be the consensus judge sotomayor is going to sail through and be confirmed as a supreme court justice so let's skip to something that might not sail through the senate, and that's health care. now i think everybody watching this program, everybody walking around drawing a breath, knows who is going to pay for health care costs. it's going to be the american taxpayer. my question to you is how are we going to pay for it? >> well, first of all a lot of economic economists in the

health area point out that there's a tremendous amount of waste within health care. now i'm not answering your question that that's the only source of revenue but you've got to realize that when there's a lot of waste to the perverse incentives that a doctor gets paid because he sees you not necessarily between the quality. when we reverse the perverse incentives for a doctor to tell you that i want to see you every day and twice on sunday to quality, we're going to get more for our money and we've got to move in that direction and our legislation does move us in that direction. there are other things that are more controversial but another thing health economists referred to is the health insurance particularly at the high end that tends to bring about increased use of medical care maybe when it's not needed and drives up the cost of medical

care and there's nothing wrong with that kind of medical care. but why should the taxpayers be subsidized? they say that's the number one way to drive down health care costs. >> all right. senator grassley, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. and coming up next congressman john shadegg, the one with four blackberrys. i don't get it. i'm going to ask him. >> first question out of the box. >> that's a little weird. he has introduced legislation that works from the bottom up. we'll ask him about it when we come back. we know why we're here. to stand behind all who serve. ♪ to deliver the technologies... vital to freedom. ♪

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a live look at the white house this morning. a lot going on there. yesterday republicans introduced an alternative health care proposal to the democrats' plan. all right. here with us now the leading republican of that plan, congressman john shadegg from arizona. a good friend of the show. nice to have you on, congressman. >> he's not a good friend of the show. >> yes, he is. >> look at this guy's face. this is what's wrong with america. look at him. >> no, he's beautiful. what are you saying? >> morning, joe. >> good lord. >> nice seeing you. >> i'm uncomfortable. >> actually john was the one guy that would come on our show while everybody was saying bail out, bail out. not so fast. let's figure out where the money is going. so we're marching towards health care reform. >> yes. that's a new idea. >> you have a new plan, what is it? >> well, joe, reforming health care from the bottom up, not the top down is to empower average

americans to make their own decisions about health care which they can't do now and which they certainly won't be able to do under a washington, d.c., heavy on bureaucracy, heavy on control from the capital health care program which the democrats are proposing. it's called the improving health care for all americans act and it does exactly that. >> let me ask you a question. let's say i work in an accounting firm. i get fired from the accounting firm. i have four kids and suddenly i don't have health care insurance. what does this plan do to take care of me? >> you're covered. >> how? >> here is how you're covered. while were you an employer and had employer-based coverage under this bill you could take the employer-based coverage if you wanted to and keep the exclusion you have right now from income or decline your employer-based health care and take essentially a tax credit or stipend from the government and go out and buy the plan you wanted. if you had stayed with your employer's health care plan as your question implies and you lost your job, that stipend to

go out and buy a plan of your choosing would be there and you could go buy that plan immediately or after your cobra ran out. if we empower you, joe, to buy your own health care, you'll take more responsibility for it. you'll watch what it costs and you'll demand quality and you'll be in charge instead of the hr person at that accounting firm you work for who didn't much care about whether you were happy or not. >> another quick question, i'm a single mother with three kids. i can't afford health care insurance. when my kids get sick, i have to take them to the emergency room at 11:00 at night. what does this plan do for me? >> what you described is current law. what this bill does for you is says that because you can't afford health care, the government will put up a fund of money equal to what you need in health care. the bill begins by saying it's $5,000 for a family like this woman's family. she can go out and buy the plan she wants and keep that plan. it's hers.

she can take her kids to see a regular doctor or anyone she wants to for her health care -- >> okay. so you're saying i will have as a single mom with two kids who can't afford health insurance, i will have a stipend up to $5,000 where i can go out and buy a plan that i want? >> absolutely. if it mistreats you you can fire it and give you another one. >> what's the catch then? how much will this cost? >> well, the catch is they want government control. they want to control costs by handing it over to the government. joe, when was the last time -- this issue is all driven by cost. everybody -- lots of americans, 83% of americans like their health care but worry about runaway costs. the president says costs are unsustainable. the democrats' answer is we're going to control costs by putting government in charge. when was the last program we put the government in charge and costs came down? >> of course it doesn't happen. let me ask you another scenario because my complaint about the president's plan is it does nothing to take care of long-term costs. it only adds to long-term costs.

let me turn the question to you. i am a rich 55-year-old guy and i have frequent headaches and, dwo god, you know, i had an mri last year and thought i had a brain tumor, nothing showed up. i'm going to go get another mri this week because i think i may have a brain tumor even if it's the 15th i've had in the past decade, does your plan say, no, buddy, you are not going to get yet another mri whenever you feel like it? >> it doesn't because it's not commanding control but you are a rich 55-year-old guy only you're like 45, right, joe. you're going to do that with your own money. no government assistance whatsoever. the other thing it does, joe, it motivates you and i and that woman you mentioned and the accountant you mentioned to all watch our own health care costs. nobody has any incentive to manage it. >> what's the incentive?

do you have the cbo estimate? >> i don't have an estimate because they haven't made me a ranking member or chairman yet. i can tell you this, it costs less or half as much as the democrats' plan. what it says, if you like your care, you can keep it. we're not taking away anything you have. >> mike, your turn. stump the congressman. >> what does your plan do about the friday and saturday night doctors offices that are big city hospital emergency rooms? where people line up to go to the doctor because they have no doctor. all of their cost ts, all the costs incurred by that hospital emergency room from these people who have no health insurance showing up are born by state governments and the federal governments. what does your plan do about that? >> it covers every single american. every single american. so there's no need to do that anymore. there's no need to go to a publicly funded emergency room or a publicly funded facility of

any kind because every american is covered by that tax credit. it's a refundable tax credit. it's cash that they can take to go buy their own health care plan and then they can go to the doctor monday through friday between 8:00 and 5:00 if they want to. >> we have a moral scold here who doesn't like smoking, drinking, whipped cream or anything. do you have anything? we hear about the health care system is not a health care system, it's basically a sickness system. >> right. >> anything on encouraging people to have healthier habits? >> it prohibits insurance companies, employers and others from incentivizing people to engage in healthy conduct. safeway has gotten around that and brought down the costs dramatically. this lets the kwanis club create a pool, it lets the rotary international or the daughters of the american revolution

create a pool. you can join that pool and it can incentivize healthy behav r behavior, quit smoking, lose weight, control your blood pressure, your cholesterol. >> okay. i'm getting frustrated. we have yet to draw blood. i think we need to invite him back. >> a great infoe mergs. >> top up not top down. >> bottom up. bottoms up. >> the blackberrys, he has like four, he's constantly working it. he's coming up with alterp tiff plans. it sounds like a great plan but we're skeptical because it's you that's proposing it. >> thank you, joe. i appreciate the vote of confidence. >> we would like you to come back. maybe we can get katrina and some other critics to just fire questions at you. i want to hear more about this. >> good by me. >> thank you very much, john shadegg. >> seriously, great to see you. sha sounds pretty good. >> it does. >> a little idealistic.

that people go to the emergency room will get a lot of them ho then -- >> we need more time. >> yeah, we will continue this. >> coming up, our guest says there needs to be more woman on the court. i think she will get her wish. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick

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los angeles, lax. >> oh, i love that. >> and las vegas is next, and that's willie who is heard there yelling bingo. and then the white house washington, d.c. and then new york city. beautiful view looking south. i will tell you, what has been phenomenal this month, as badly as it has been, and i talk to the subway operators and jump on the one train to get here, and i said, the weather is great. the subway operator says yeah,

it's like we are getting spring in july here. >> after lots of rain. it must have been a good time to have time off with the family. and then have the sun follow you instead of the clouds. and mike barnicle is here and he has a smug look on his face. >> why wouldn't i behave? >> well, he is trying to keep a straight face. >> yeah, he is having to keep a straight face every time joe comes out. >> i do the subway. >> in the morning? >> yeah. >> i do the subway every day, but not at 4:00 in the morning. >> and last night, the all-star

game, did they hear that what chris just said? >> no. >> the all-star game last night, the national league lost again. that means the red sox will be home. >> yeah, open in fenway park. >> that will be great. >> the president pitching the first ball last night. mixed reviewed. no, that's not true. everybody neglect on the president's style. >> i loved it. >> with that being said, he carried himself well. >> and the "wall street journal" is talking about tax increases for the health care plan. and some in the house are pushing that. and these days that we are entering into will be absolutely

fascinating. i think you will see washington fully engaged. >> and small businesses impacted on a number of small levels. a question you raised, and you raised earlier, about the unemployment rate. i don't know how we change the direction of it, and even the president seems to think it will only get worse. we will look at that coming up. but first breaking news, 168 people were killed this morning when a passenger plane crashed just 16 minutes after takeoff in the northwest part of the country of iraq. and video footage appeared to show the burned wreckage in a field. and new zealand, under a tsunami warning. and authorities say it would likeley not cause any damage.

and sonia sotomayor will be back on capitol hill in her bid to become the next supreme court justice. lawmake lawmakers questioned whether she has the temperament for the job. >> lots of lawyers who are unfamiliar with the process in the second circuit final that tough bench difficult and challenging. >> if i may interject, judge, they find you difficult and challenging more than your colleagues. i never like appearing before a judge that i thought was a bully. do you think you have a temperament problem? >> no, sir. >> you know what was interesting, with dee dee meyers coming up, with the same question be asked of a guy? >> i don't know. >> do you think it would, joe? >> i don't know.

that's a good question. >> i think men are allowed to have temperament problems? >> yeah. if a man is assertive on the bench or office, he -- >> yeah, he is a man. >> if a woman if assertive in a office or on the bench, she is tough. >> yeah, it's the word of rhymes with witch is always suggested. it's difficult to say whether they are on the bench or the corporate boardroom, the same caught that people celebrate in men is unacceptable for woman. it's an amazing double standard where in 2009 woman are treated as differently as they are. >> and i think you raise a really, really, really good question, as to whether or not that would have been asked as a man. i wonder if in past hearings that has ever been asked of a man. we'll have to find out.

>> all right. back to the news -- do you have the temperament to get through the show? >> i do. chris matthews will have live coverage of the confirmation hearings beginning at 9:30 this morning right here on msnbc. and an associated press reports one government official says $1 million was spent by the cia aimed at killing secret members of al qaeda. >> spend more. >> now a committee is requesting documents about the planning of the program, and that could launch a full scale investigation as early as this week. that's terrific! and then the plan aims to have 97% of americans enrolled by 2015. to flip the bill those making

more than $1 million a year would have a tax increase. and employers would have to get coverage or face costly penalties. and this comes to us from msnbc.com, where a report commissioned by the pentagon is suggesting a ban on smoking in the military, even by troops in combat zones. >> let them smoke. maybe "morning joe," maybe we can start like -- you know, one of the drives where kids spend fudge and brownies, and we can start a cigarette drive. >> no. you guys, i understand it's unpopular -- >> no, no, i am serious. >> you are caught in an ambush, do you think they are going to say, hey, put out that cigarette? >> many more millions of dollars a year could cost -- >> i have to say, if a

19-year-old kid is a bit more relaxed before he runts through a gauntlet in iraq or afghanistan and people are shooting at him from buildings, and please, smoke away, and i will light the cigarette. >> that is just not caring about their life at all. >> what? that is caring about their life. >> you are doing this make us angry. >> no. >> all they are saying is we want our troops to be healthy, and slimmer. now, you remember that they started slowing down the trips, the ones that are overweight. >> they are in a war zone. >> and let's bring out dee dee meyers, and she wrote a book about how women should rule the world. this is more of the remarkable statistics in american government. there are nine supreme court

justices on tbench, and there i only one women. did any other institution in america would not be sued and taken to the supreme court if only one of nine leaders because a female. >> it's worse than that. it's out of 111 justices over the history of the court, and only two have been women. that means 109 men and two women. >> how did that happen? how do we get to that point in 2009, because only one of nine supreme court justices is a woman. >> well, their qualifications have to be so acceptable to be looked at and chosen. mike, i am so proud of you for asking the question. would sotomayor have been asked about her temperament had she been a man.

>> i was empressed when mike asked that question. yeah. >> i am going to be right about the cigarettes. so dee dee, do you speak from experience? has this happened to you? are you hearing from many women

that feel this way? >> i cannot tell you -- yes, it has happened to me. as i travel around the country talking to women and giving speeches to large groups of women, i always say if this has not happened to you, raise your hand because i'm looking to a woman where it has not happened, and when i head out, you are in a meeting, and the heads start to nod, and i have yet to find a woman that has not had that experience. and ginsburg said it still happens to her. and she will say something, and it's not until one on the men on the court says the same thing, and then they engage in that notion. and it happens when they are little. and that continues through adulthood and every profession and at every level.

but the antidote to that is to have more women. once you have two or three women, that stops happening, and there is a ton of research that suggests that this is true. and not only does the culture change, but the decision making gets better. i say we need more women on the court, and not just in the court, but in every institution in the body of life. when you have a diverse group of decision makers, they reach better decisions than if you talk just the best people you thought were the best decision makers, and then put those in with diverse back grounds. and businesses with more women on their boards and more senior management positions are more profitable. it's an argument about what is in ourself interest. >> yeah, and mike barnicle, let's get men agreeing with the women agreeing on this point.

i would not want to go to a boardroom with eight men and one woman, because we know men bring our ego with us, and it's about us and man versus man, i am bigger than you and more powerful. and women, they bring their own qualities, but i found a more measured discussion if you do have that diversity. >> i don't think there is any doubt about that. off of dee dee's model that she was talking about in terms of corporate boards, and the supreme court or whatever, if you take one of the issues that is so befuddelled in this country, and if you ask yourself based upon talking to people in business, would we be in such difficult shape in regard with the collapse of the mortgage industry and the financial services industry, had more women in charge, or in the upper tier of the large financial

institutions, the most universal response you get is we would not be in such shape. >> yeah, because there is not that test toss reason. >> and yeah, these are generalities, but for the most part, these play ought in a boardroom or on a court, don't they? >> they do. >> or in the white house, which you know about. >> yeah, no question. if you get e-mails about all the women that wrecked companies, i think you could answer with a 25 times longer than the men that wrecked companies. you could get one woman, and she is an example about how this is not going to work, and men have been doing these things forever. i don't think that there is any question that bringing a different perspective, and

particularly in a diverse country, appears good things. and some of the hearings suggest if you are born white and male, that's the mark of objectivity, and if you have a different experience, we have to be careful of you bringing your life experience to the table. that's silly. we all love white guys, and i married one and gave birth to one, and i don't think that they are infallible -- well, maybe my son, but he is the only one. and sotomayor has been very enthusistly embraced as we go forward. >> and yeah, this is willie. this is interesting giving the comments that sotomayor drew so much heat for, which is the wise latina comment when she was asked about yesterday in the hearing. do you think there is something to that given what you are saying, not just a woman but a

woman of a different ethnic heritage can bring something new and important to the supreme court? >> i think if she could say a wise latina could make a better decision better than a white man, and she should have said that included a wise white latina could make a wise decision, and i think that's the point that she was trying to make, we all bring our life experiences. as she said in her speeches, i cannot pretend i can divorce myself from where i have come. we don't pretend supreme court decisions are completely objective. and so i think she paid a heavy price for that comment, but if you broaden it out and say with would a court that represented more perspectives and more

points of view reach better decisions, and i think the answer is certainly yes, and probably on lower courts although i don't know if there is research that shows that or not. >> dee dee, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> can i make a comment. how many of those 19-year-olds start smoking when they are under these unfortunate and stressful cigarettes, and then bring the habit home? >> exactley. >> yeah, such a good diversity to reach a better opinion. >> i know you are trying to save me from myself on this. it does impact their ability to do their jobs. you cannot run. >> those guys that were scaling the cliffs of normandy on june

5th, they would have got to the top of the cliff and we would have beat journey. >> how many hundreds of millions of dollars are we paying to health care costs related to smoking veterans. >> i have no way to put a percentage on this, but i would bet you that the percentage of young men in combat who smoke while in the service while in combat who never smoke again after they leave the service is stunningly high. >> which is why they are probably trying to ban it. >> shouldn't we ban transfats in the military then? >> well, what about ambien, and vodka? >> well, the am bbien argument. >> i bet they come home and quit argument, i bet they don't. it's powerfully addictive.

>> why are you making fun of everything that i say? >> i am not. you bring diversity to the conversation. >> you are a wise polish woman. >> you are a wise polish woman. >> you better watch out. >> dee dee meyers, thank you. >> thank you. >> and we have a e-mail about our wise polish woman, don't we? >> yeah, holy mika, how about employers stopping their employees from drinking vodka? >> no. serious seriously. >> talk to the camera, because none of us here are listening to this. >> you should be more respectful. >> and senator specter is

running for office in 2010. when we come back, senator kent conrad, he is not convinced about the health care bill being passed by august. how about that? you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. >> and it could not be possible in all or most cases with the oath you have taken twice which requires impaur -- >> i was trying to play on her words, and it fell flat, because it was an impression that i believe that life experiences commanded a result in a case. it's clearly not what i do as a judge, and clearly not what i intended in the context of my broader speech.

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i'm sorry. i can't hear you very well. announcer: does someone you know have trouble hearing on the phone? dad. dad, let me help you with that, okay? announcer: now, a free phone service shows captions of everything a caller says. i'd like to make an appointment to see the doctor. announcer: to learn more about captioned telephone, call 1-800-552-7724

or go to our website. i'll see you at 3:00! announcer: captioned telephone - enjoy the phone again! don't be fooled by folks trying to scare you saying we can't change the health care system. we have no choice but to change the health care system because it's broken for too many americans. we have to make tough choices to bring down deficits. don't let folks fool you, the best way to bring down deficits is to get control of the health care costs, which is why we need reform. >> you know how we can tell that t.j. was in michigan today,

because the president's microphone was distorted. there was feedback. >> oh, well, it's all right. >> we miss t.j. >> a democratic senator, senator conrad, he is talking about health care. it's always great to talk to you. thank you for being with us. >> good to be with you joe and mika. >> have you been concerned about rising deficits. you have been concerned about the out years on the president's budget. and you have a lot of criticism from the left. you look at the polls now, and it looks like independents are moving in your direction. doesn't this cause a concern as we try to over haul health care? how do we do all things at once? >> it's an enormous challenge. in terms of the deficit, the big

driver, the 800-pound gorilla. health care reform was an attempt to get the deficit under control. it's important when we bend the cost curve, we bent it in the right direction. it's possible it could be bent in the wrong direction. how we do this job is important. >> how do we do this job? how do we lesson costs over the long haul? >> we asked them that question, and one of the things the committee said is this, the income tax subsidy to health care over the next 10 years is $2.4 trillion. if you want to reduce over utilization, you have to consider the taxation of cadillac health care plans. one of the proposals that is out there that is for the moment

being put aside is to reduce the tax subsidy modestly, to affect only 1% of all policy holders. and so far it's not gathering much steam and momentum. so that's one thing that we need to do. and the second thing we need to do is alter the payments to providers, and cbo said those are the two things to bend the cost curve in the right way. and we will spend 1 in every 3 dollars in the health care system. >> senator, the president can't support the taxation of health care benefits, because that was the 30-second ad that he used to get john mccain.

talking about taxing health care benefits for the first time in u.s. history. >> the fact is the circumstances of the country and the finances of the country changed dramatically since the campaign. we are on a course towards a cliff in this country. we are headed for a circumstance in which the debt in the united states will be 100% of the gross domestic product of the nation. and is that an unsustainable course. >> and we are headed towards the cliff. as you know, i blame republicans for recklessness over the past eight years, but has the president not proposed a budget that moves us more quickly toward that cliff, this president? >> well, let he just say this. the course that we are on, the budget that we adopted, we made, as you know, substantial changes

in the president's budget. the forecast for the budget reference knew chanchanged dram. and we are going to reduce the deficit by 2/3. by 3/4 as a share of gdp. and the great concern, i think we all have to have, is the second five years, and the fact is none of the budgets, none of them, have dealt effectively with the second five years. not the republican alternative or the budget that passed congress, and not the president's proposal. >> the president, when we get past the stimulus spending, the out years, five through 10, they are simply unsustainable, aren't they? >> absolutely unsustainable. we cannot go that direction. why not? this is not just numbers on a page. this is a question of the economic security of the country.

why? because if others who we now owe money decide they will quit financing the debt and reduce the amount of financing our debt, that could create a dollar crisis. that could mean we would have to raise interest rates dramatically, and raise taxes dramatically, and cut spending in a very significant way. all of those would be very harmful going forward to the competitive position of the united states. and the economic strength of our country. so look, these are just not numbers on a page. these are things that make a real difference to the economic strength of america, and the kind of lives the american people are able to lead. >> mike barnicle? >> what are the odds the time the date in october or november arrives where the president wants a health care bill passed. what are the odds it might come down to everybody throwing up their hands and saying okay we will just cover the uninsured right now, and that's all we can get done this year. if that's the case, how much

would just doing that cost us? >> about $600 billion. and i don't think that that will be the result, mike, although it could. the matter of paying for all of this -- and it must be paid for under the budget that went through congress, i am only able to release the reserve fund for health care if it's entirely paid for. that has got to be done. there could be no addition to the deficit as a result of health care reform. we could get to that, but we have a long way before we reach that conclusion. >> as you talk about the numbers, the numbers are rather frightening. do you sitting around the conference table, sitting around the senate, and -- it's frightening to think about it. do you ever get frightened for the fiscal future of this country? >> i would not say that i would call it frightened, but i think

anybody who has any understanding of the country's financial position has to be deeply concerned where we are headed. we simply cannot keep on the concern the trend line. and that would risk in a very significant way the economic future of the country. so look, we have done lots of tougher things in this before. this country has always stood up and been there when it really had to do something tough. we can do this, but we have to face up and be honest about our circumstances. >> now, we have to be honest. >> already, senator, thank you so much. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you. >> i just have to say, i am glad that he is chairman of the budget committee. >> yeah. >> i really do. he is somebody that speaks truth to power to both parties. >> and these questions we have been asking all along the way, i am hearing the white house address them finally.

it's just sort of addressing them in a backward way, because they were initially questions that the very projections were being questioned in the first place in terms of a budget and how the stimulus would work, and they are answering them now. >> well, they are talking about it. they have to talk about it because the president's numbers are going down because the independents that elected him are growing away from him. it's got to be a big, big concern for the white house. >> nearly everybody that we have on says the same thing about the powerless fiscal future of this country. it's unsustainable. >> and i have to say the long-term budget that they pass is just reckless. for the out years, as the chairman said. >> well, we will get the latest from cnbc's erin burnett when we come back. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him.

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we are taking care of business, aren't we? welcome back to "morning joe." let's get a check on business before the bell with cnbc's erin burnett. she is live at the new york stock exchange. >> well, things are happy right now, and you heard about intel coming out. a giant tech company, and people were feeling stabilized by what they heard in terms of demand. now this on inflation. remember yesterday, producer prices rose. and consumer prices came out today, and up rather starkly. and you take out energy and it was only slightly higher than expected. and everybody can write that off as inflation. and don't worry about it, but deflation does not appear to be a problem either.

and two other important things that i wanted to go through with you guys, because i heard you talking about them. and looking at the headlines around the country today, and let's start with goldman sachs, every headline i see emphasizes particular pay. and the facts on goldman sachs, we know this, goldman sachs received bailout money. things got better like we all hoped they would, right? and goldman sachs repaid the money that the taxpayers lent them. and the interim period, they were paying interest on that. but when the numbers come out we are all supposed to be angry because they did so well, and how could that be?

and we need to get astronomical numbers and imply all of these are bad people. there are fair conversations we need to have on regulation and on how much risks these institutions can take and how they should be structured and how we deal with risks. those are real conversations we should have. willie, let's say you got a check from the government in the stimulus package, and it was $300, and you did not have a job but you got a job, and you repaid the interest plus your $300. and people are angry. people say you should be i guess you should be donating it back -- >> yeah, i agree with you. somehow goldman surrendered its rights to turn a profit. why are so many people outraged about this? >> because of the bonuses. >> but they made the money sf. o

>> well, to say it's our right to be angry is off base. and the other thing to keep in mind, this number that you keep seeing that they earmarked, $11.4 billion for compensation. they have the rest of the year to get through. and if things fall apart, that money will not be paid. >> isn't it important to point out that goldman, unlike j.p. morgan and bank of america, they are not loaning money to anybody. >> you are completely right about that. i am glad you raised that. you are right. they are in the business of making money. >> you look at $11.4 billion set aside for bonuses. i am a capitalist. if you do well, i want to reward you. but is now a good time to be doing this? and we hear stories about people

that leave companies that they wreck, and they have $115 million parachute over the last decade. this is insane. there were times when people in businesses made $3 million and employed tens of thousands of people. >> you raise a fair point, but it's to barnicle's point that this company is in the business of trading, and that's what they do. they take a piece of that and disclose a profit. that's what they do. can you have a broader conversation on how costs can be linked to performance. and i know we have to go. but health care, ironic, the biggest cost in our country, and they are going to announce they are going to increase spending and not tell us on what. >> i don't want -- >> i feel a little aggravated. >> yeah, we are as well.

i don't want the federal government to get involved for federal compensation for anybody. i want american business to show common sense. >> and yeah, those are conversations we should be having instead of getting angry because they made money. >> nice, tie. >> oh, my god. >> okay. arlen specter is next. >> that was horrific! [ engine revving ] [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz.

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senator specter, give us your impression of sotomayor, judge sotomayor, after her first day? >> i think she is doing very well. i think all of the conversation about the wise latino woman was really making a mountain out of a moe hill. i think it's what you expect a

woman to say to assert a woman's confidence. we live in a society that denied the right for women to vote for decades, and a glass ceiling, and when you talk about being a latino, a lot of bias in our society based on ethnic grounds. in philadelphia for example, very recently, hispanic and african-american children were excluded from a white-only swimming pool. i think it was understandable when she said that. >> what about lindsay graham questioning her temperament. was that out of line? >> no, i think senator graham's questioning is okay. i think she responded very well. senators can ask what they choose, and she handled it fine. >> they certainly can. the question we have been asking this morning if a man in the same position has been asked that question, and if it was

something there in terms of being a little bit of a sexist question? >> well, a fair amount of sexism around, but senator graham said that if he had said what judge sotomayor said, he would have been out of office. i think lindsay is talented. he could say that and that would be fine. people make a lot of mistakes, and i don't think it should dominate the hearing. we have issues. or how about the question of the court legislating and taking on

congrew tea and proportionality. and nobody understands. i think if there are bigger issues, it ought to occupy us, and i am waiting for my turn. >> you just moved me to another question. seems to me the democrats made promises to you that they did not fulfill, if you look at how the senators were lined up yesterday. did the democrats -- did harry reid break his word to you? should you have been given more seniority on the judiciary committee? >> joe, i think we will work that out. it was my understanding i would step in if i had been elected as a democrat in 1980. i don't mind where i sit on the panel. i sat way down the line when

there was a different confirmation was up, and where you sit does not matter as much as what you say. stay tuned. >> okay. the next question is a lot of democrats going after john roberts yesterday. are you disappointed in john roberts' performance on the bench over the last several years? >> no, i am not disappointed in him. i think some of what he has done deserves scrutiny. he said it was up to the congress to establish a factual basis for legislation, like the voting rights act and the recent decision. he seems to have been going the other way. but is it inevitable, but the confirmation process is not going to hold a nominee to rigid standards. i think that there is some room to question what the chief

justice has done and drafted with his testimony. but that is part of what goes on regularly. >> you have been under attack from democratic congressman who is running against you in 2010. how is that race going for you as a democrat? >> i think it's going fine. i did not ask the field be clear. i am ready to take on all comers. i think my record speaks for itself. i have been in pennsylvania 67 counties, virtually every year for decades. i am ready for a primary contest. >> all right, senator specter. >> you are looking good. you must be feeling great? >> i feel great. i just came from an hour of lifting weights. i am ready to take you on, joe. >> come on, baby! we are so glad that you had great recovery, and so glad to

see you doing so well. >> i am fine. at the top of my game. thank you. >> ready to take me on? >> he is. >> and i have been smoking cigarettes and drinking milk shakes. >> we will talk about that on the radio today. are you going to let me talk? >> yeah. >> we'll be right back. (announcer) some people don't just work.

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