good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. you have been watching nbc's coverage of judge sonia sotomayor's senate confirmation hearings for the supreme court. right now on this special edition of "andrea mitchell reports," we are following three developing stories. any minute now in the rose garden, president obama will be joined by nurses to again push the need for health care reform. this time, house democrats have a combined deal on the table, but in the senate, we are waiting for the finance committee's version after the health committee passed its plan today. and another live event this hour, secretary of state hillary clinton set to deliver a major foreign policy speech warning iran that the united states will not keep its offer to negotiate on the table forever. there is a time limit. in pensacola, florida at this house, we are expecting the sheriff to announce another arrest or more.

this would be the eighth arrest in the gruesome double murder of a couple in their home in florida and we will be listening in right now. >> ms. long's connection, again, she is a person of interest. let me emphasize, she is a person of interest at this point. ms. lawrence is a realtor. she rented the property occupied by laurence patrick gonzalez jr. and his family. >> do you believe she was there the night of the murder? >> we do not. we have identified the seven individuals, again, that entered the billings' compound. >> get the name -- i think you mention it had a couple of different ways. the name is? >> pamela laverne long. >> laverne long? >> laverne long. >> pamela laverne long? >> yes, ma'am. >> and lawrence -- was there a lawrence? >> i did not mention any realty company. >> can you show the picture one more time? >> yes i can. ms. long also has some also known as.

she is also known as pamela long wiggins, pamela l. malden, pamela long link, pamela lauvere co-coach and pam long. this is her photo, we will pass copies out. >> last known address? >> we would prefer at this time because this is not meant to be harassment for ms. long. we will so the speak to her business dealings, her business holdings or her current home address. again, we want to emphasize that it is imperative we speak with her as soon as possible. we would like for her to contact or if she has any family or friends that are aware of her whereabouts, please contact the escambia county sheriff's office a? >> put the community in danger and if not, why do you think she is on the run? >> to our knowledge, she is not someone that would put this community danger. >> is she a realtor or landlord? >> she was representing the

property. again -- >> as a landlord? >> again, we are not going to release the full information on her. again, our intent here is not to harass ms. long we need to speak with ms. long. >> [ inaudible ] knew about these murders? >> i will not address that issue at this time. >> do you have an eighth person? is this the eighth person? >> thank you, sir, for asking that question. we have developed in the last 24 hours a few more persons of interest that we think have some significant input as to again the conclusion of the billings' murders, excuse me. we are also honoring at this time the huge gap in this operation. as you well know, we have spoken from the very beginning about its execution, less than ten minutes on the billings' compound, four minutes in the house and exiting the entire property and the crime being committed in less than ten minutes. the gaping hole in this

attempting to put the puzzle together in this investigation and all of you should have asked this, we asked ourselves this from the beginning, why was the security system not disabled? we are of the opinion that that may be a pest of this puzzle that has yet to be solved. we are of the opinion that there may have been someone involved in this case that that, in fact, was their very duty, to disable the security system. >> do you think it was her? >> no, we do not. remember, as a person of interest, we want to gather informatio information. >> [ inaudible ]. >> we have had no contact with her for 48 hours. >> [ inaudible ]. >> she is a person of interest. >> she is the person you were referring to yesterday? >> i will not confirm that. >> how many more persons of interest? >> at this point in time we have two persons of interest that --

[ inaudible ]. >> [ inaudible ]. >> [ inaudible ] [ inaudible ]

>> [ inaudible ]. >> [ inaudible ].

>> they were surprised it wasn't disabled? >> i believe that they entered that compound and this is the theory that we are currently working on to conclude this case, entered the compound with the belief that they were not under surveillance. >> disarmed from -- >> most of your security locations can be disarmed either at the location of their installation or they can be remotely disabled. as many people will tell you in their homes and businesses, they have a security system install and they can monitor their home or wherever or the business from their home by using their access code on their home computer and mop toring their business or their home, whichever the case

maybe. you can also activate and/or disable a system. so it may have been done from a remote location. >> some of the theories the investigators are working on. what have some of the avenues they are going down to try to understand? >> this is the reason for persons, again, of interest. we are now looking at anyone that may have had an involvement with the security system, everyone from the company that installed it on back. we are wondering, again, why was this system left on in an otherwise, otherwise very i hate to use the wordperfect, but perfectly executed murder. >> [ inaudible ]. >> can you confirm that the dea is involved in the investigation? >> i will not answer that question. >> do you know the address of the property that ms. long rented to gonzalez? >> i will not release that just like i will not release ms. long's address. the intent is not to harass ms. long. we need to speak with ms. long. that is a matter of public record. >> [ inaudible ] her age,

height, weight stuff? >> i will check with the state attorney's office. again, we received clearance to release this information. and if mr. edens is comfortable with releasing that we most certainly will. this is a current photo. >> [ inaudible ]. >> i won't address that issue. ms. long, at this point is a person of interest. >> [ inaudible ]. >> no, sir, i've already answered that question, the answer's no. yes, sir. >> [ inaudible ]. >> we have executed numerous search warrants. i will not release at this time the items received. >> how about the safe? have you recovered the safe? >> we have issued numerous search warrants. i will not address the items we received. >> [ inaudible ]. >> ms. long is well known in the

community. in the gulf breeze area, i will tell you that, in the gulf breeze area. >> [ inaudible ]. >> no i cannot. >> [ inaudible ]. >> as i understand, she has numerous property holdings and i will let it go at that. >> [ inaudible ] was she asked to come in to answer questions and did not? >> at that time, she was not. to the best of my knowledge. >> [ inaudible ]. >> she has not provided us any information. that is why we would like to speak with her. any other questions? you got one question. >> do you mind, sheriff, if we ask you again [ inaudible ].

>> yes. and people in hell want ice water. thank you very much. >> you have been watching a news briefing with quite a lot of news in it. this was david morgan, the he is scamby ya county, florida sheriff. he reported, first of all, they are looking for an eighth or ninth person who they believe beyond the seven already arrested may have disabled the security system. clear the security system, an elaborate system in that household, was not in play, was not engaginged and very clear that those who came in and did this robbery and murder knew that they were not under surveillance. he said that they were only in the compound for ten minutes, only in the house for four minutes sheriff morgan also said that they are looking for a person of interest. he would not describe her as either a suspect or a witness

but said her name is pamela long link, she has several names possibly because she has had several marriages, he does not know that she has real estates in the interest and in the gulf breeze, florida community. she is not a suspect, a a person of interest and a second person of interest as well that the sheriff said that they are still looking for. so, a very interesting series developments in the case of this gruesome murder of the billings family in -- near pensacola, florida. back with me now here in washington, we are waiting to see president obama coming into the rose garden momentarily. he will be joined by nurses as he begins to reach out within the health care industry and beyond, the medical industry, doing reports -- interviews today with medical reporters, doctors, including our own dr. nancy snyderman and also pushing he very hard for passage and for progress on his health reform proposals. joining me here, pat buchanan of msnbc, mark whitaker, nbc news,

washington bureau chief, and richard wolf, msnbc analyst. first of all, let's talk about the president. he is coming into the rose garden right now. you are seeing people gathering for this white house announcement, he is going to be talking about the important of health care. mark what we saw today was the senate health and labor committee coming out with its version, a more liberal version. still waiting on the senate finance committee which will be critical. that is how to pay for it. it is crunch time. i think everybody involved in this effort to get health care reform feels that if we don't get versions out of the house and the senate before the august recess, it may not go forward and the president has to get involved now. >> that's where the president is pushing hard, as he takes the podium in the rose garden. >> not only some of my former colleague and legislator bus also nurses, i think i have said this before, i really like nurses. so, to have them here today on

behalf of a critical issue at a critical time is extraordinary. let me introduce a few of them. we have got becky patten, who is the president of the american nurses association here. raise your hand, becky. we have dr. mary wakefield, who is a nurse and happens to be the administrator of the health resources and services administration at hhs, our highest-ranking nurse in the administration. we have keshia walker, an rn, currently a is senior research nurse at johns hopkins university's bloomberg school of public health. we have dr. rebecca weitzman, nurse and assistant professor of adult health at the university of maryland school of nursing and i'm also joined by representative johnson, representative capps, representative mccarthy, chairman george miller and my friend, chris dodd. i am very pleased to be joined today by the representatives

from the american nurses association on behalf of 2.9 million registered nurses in america, men and women who know as well as anyone the urgent need for health reform. as i said before, i have a long-standing bias toward nurses. when sasha, our younger daughter was diagnosed with a dangerous case of meningitis when she was just three months old, we were terrified and we were appreciative of the doctors, but it was the nurses who walked us through the entire process to make sure that sash shafs okay. when both my daughters were born, the obstetrician was one of our he hbest friends but we her about ten minutes in each delivery. the rest of the time what we saw were nurses who did an incredible amount of work in not

only taking care of michelle, but also care for a nervous husband and then later for a couple of fat little babies. so i know how important nurses are and the nations does too. nurses aren't in health care to get rich, last i checked. they are in to care for all of us, from the time they bring a new life into this world to the moment they ease the pain of those who pass from it. if it wasn't for nurses, many americans in underserved areas wouldn't have access to health care at all. that's why i think it's safe to say that few understand why we have to pass health care reform as our nations nurses. this he see the heart-breaking costs of our health care crisis,

the same stories i have heard across this country of treatment deferred or coverage denied by insurance companies, of insurance premiums and prescriptions so expensive they consume a family's entire budget, of americans forced to use the emergency room for something as simple as a sore throat just because they can't afford to see a doctor. and they understand this is a problem we can no longer defer. we can't kick the can down the road any longer. deferring reform is nothing more than defending the status quo. and those who would oppose our efforts should take a hard look at just what it is they are defending. over the last decade, health insurance premiums have risen three times faster than wages. deductibles and out of pocket costs are skyrocketing and over single day we wait to act, thousands of americans lose their insurance, some turning to nurses in emergency rooms as their only recourse. so make no mistake, the status quo on health care is not an

option for the united states of america. it is threatening financial stability of families, of businesses and of government. it is unsustainable and it has to change. i know a lot of americans are satisfied with their health care right now are wondering what reform would mean for them. so let me be clear, if you like your doctor or your health care provider, you can keep them. if you like your health care plan, you can keep that, too. but here's what else reform will mean for you, and this is for people who have health insurance, you will save money. if you lose your job, change your job or start a new business, you will still be able to find quality health insurance you can afford. if you have a pre-existing medical condition, no insurance company will be able to deny you coverage. you won't have to worry about being priced out of the market. you won't have to worry about one illness leading your family into financial ruin.

that's what reform means, not just for the uninsured but for people who have health insurance right now. the naysayers and the cynics still doubt we can do this, but it wasn't too long ago that the same naysayers doubted we would be able to make real progress on health care reform and thanks to the work of key committees in congress, we are now closer to the goal of health reform than we have ever been. yesterday, the house introduced its health reform proposal. today, thanks to the unyielding passion and inspiration of our friend ted kennedy and to the bold leadership of senator chris dodd, the senate health committee reached a major milestone by passing a similarly strong proposal for health reform. the plan that was debated for more than 50 hours and that, by the way, includes 160 republican amendments. a hopeful sign of bipartisan support for the final product if

people are serious about bipartisanship. both proposals will take what's best about our system today and make it the basis for our system tomorrow. reducing costs, raising quality and ensuring fair treatment of consumers by the insurance city. both include a health insurance exchange, a marketplace that will allow families and small businesses to compare prices, services and quality so that they can choose plan that best suits their needs. and among the choices available would be a public health insurance option that would make health care more affordable by increasing competition, providing more choice and keeping insurance companies honest. both proposals will offer stability and security to americans who have coverage today and affordable options to those who don't. now this progress should make us hopeful but can't make us

complacent. should provide urgency to the house and senate to make reform before the august recess. america's nurses need us to succeed, not just on behalf of the patients they sometimes speak for. if we invest in prevention, nurses won't have to treat diseases or complications that could have been avoided f we modernize health records, we will streamline the paperwork that can take up one-third of the average nurse's day, freeing them to spend more time with their patients. if we make their jobs a little bit easier, we can attract and train the young nurses we need to make up the shortage that is only getting worse. nurses do their part every time they check another healthy patient out of the hospital. it is now time for us to do our part. i just want to be clear, we are going to get this done. becky and i were talking in the oval office and becky just pointed out we need to buck up people a little bit here and that's what nurse does all the time, they buck up patients, sometime these buck up some

young resident who doesn't quite know what they are doing. you are look at becky, you can tell she know what is she is doing. and what she is saying it is time for us to buck up congress, this administration, the entire federal government to be clear that we have got to get this done. our nurses are on board, the american people are on board, it's now up to us. we can do what we have done for so long and defer tough decisions for another day or we can step up and meet our responsibilities. in other words, we can lead. we can look beyond the next news cycle and the next election to the next generation and come together to build a system that works not just for these nurse bus for the patients they care for, for doctors and hospitals, for families and businesses and for our very future as a nation. i'm confident it is going to get done because we have got a great team behind us and we are goington to be continually talking about this for the next two to three weeks until we have

got a bill out of the senate and we have got a bill out of the house. then we will deserve a few weeks' rest before we come back and finally get a bill done so we can finally get it signed right here in the rose garden. thank you, everybody. >> president obama in the oez garden saying the costs are out of whack. mark whittaker, joined by pat buchanan, richard wolf. mark, to you. when he says first your costs will go down with this plan there is no "plan," there are multitude of plans. is that an accurate statement? will costs come down in the near term for people who are laid off and have to buy their own health insurance? >> i think essaying if you are excluded from the system or you lose your company health benefits it may be cheaper to replace them under this plan. essentially, one of the problems in selling this to the american

people is the administration is making the argument that in order to save money over the long run in health care for individuals for companies and for the broader economy, we are going to have to spend at least $1 trillion over the next ten years and i think for a lot of people who are very concerned about the amount of money that we have already spent to on the stimulus, on the banking rescue, on the auto companies and so forth this is a big concern. so, that is what he is going to have to do now in next month, come up with a way for paying for it and then sell it to the american people. >> that is the heavy lift. pat and richard stand by just a moment. we are going to go to the council on foreign relations in washington. hillary clinton on the subject of iran. >> unmistakable opportunity. iran does not have a right to nuclear military capacity. and we are determined to prevent that. but it does have a right to civil nuclear power if it re-establishes the confidence of the international group that it will use its programs

exclusively for peaceful purposes. iran can become an actor in the reege finance it stops threatening its neighbors and supporting terrorism. it can assume a responsible position in the international community if it fulfills its obligation on human rights. the choice is clear. we remain ready to engage with iran but the time for action is now. the opportunity are not remain open indefinitely. to our third policy approach and personal priority for me as secretary is to elevate and implement development as a core pillar of power. improving the material condition of people's lives around the world. these efforts also lay the groundwork for greater global corporation by building the cap passity of new partners and tackling shared problem for the ground up. a simple per pos of the quadrennial development review that i announced last week is to

explore how to effectively design, fund and implement development and foreign assistance as part of a broader foreign policy. let's face it, we have devoted a smaller percentage of our government budge tote development than almost any other advanced country and too little of what we have spent has contributed to genuine and lasting progress. too much of the money has never reached its intended target, but stayed here in america to pay salaries or fund overhead in contracts. i have committed to more partnerships with ngos but i want more of our tax dollars to be effectively and to deliver tangible results. as we seek more agile, effective and creative partnerships for development, we will focus on country-driven solutions, such as those we are launching with haiti on recovery and sustainable development and with african states on global hunger. these initiatives must not be designed to help countries

scrape by. they're tool to help countries stand on their own. our development agenda will also focus on women, as drivers of economic growth and social stability. women have long comprised the majority of the world's unhealthy, unschooled and underfed. they are also the bulk of the world's poor. the global recession has had a disproportionate effect on women and girls, which in turn has repercussions for families, communities and even regions. until women around the world are accorded their rights and afforded the opportunities of education, health care and gainful employment, global progress and prosperity will have its own glass ceiling. our fourth approach is to enthis their our civilian and military efforts operate in a coordinated and complimentary fashion, where we are engaginged in conflict. this is the core of our strategy in afghanistan and iraq,integri

with international partners. in afghanistan and pakistan, our goal is disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat al qaeda and its extremist allies and to prevent their return to either country. yet, americans often ask, why do we ask our young men and women to risk their lives in afghanistan when al qaeda's leadership is in neighboring pakistan? and that question deserves a good answer. we and our allies fight in afghanistan because the taliban protects al qaeda and depends on it for support, sometimes coordinating activities. in other words, to eliminate al qaeda, we must also fight the taliban. now, we understand that not all those who fight with the taliban support al qaeda or believe in the extremist policies the taliban pursued when in power. and today, we and our afghan allies stand ready to welcome anyone supporting the taliban

who renounces al qaeda, lays down their arms and is willing to participate in the free and open society that is enshrined in the afghan constitution. president-elect obama is sending an additional 17,000 troops and 4,000 military trainers to afghanistan. equally important, we are sending hundreds of direct-hire american civilians to led a new effort to strengthen the afghan government, help rebuild the once-vibrant agricultural sector, create jobs, encourage the rule of law, expand opportunities for women and train the afghan police. no one should doubt our commitment to afghanistan and its people, but it is the afghan people themselves who will determine their own future. as we proceed, we must not forget that success in afghanistan also requires close cooperation from neighboring pakistan, which i will visit this fall. pakistan is itself under intense

pressure from extremist groups. trilateral cooperation among afghanistan, pakistan and the united states has built confidence and yielded progress on a number of policy fronts. our national security, as well as the future of afghanistan, depends on a stable, democratic and economically viable pakistan. and we applaud the new pakistani determination to deal with the militants who threatened their democracy and our shared security. in iraq, we are bolstering our diplomacy and development programs while we implement a responsible withdrawal of our troops. last month, our combat troops successfully redeployed from towns and cities. our principal focus is now shifting from security issues to civilian efforts that promote iraqi capacity, supporting the work of the iraqi ministries and aiding in their efforts to achieve national unity. and we are developing a long-term economic and political relationship with iraq as outlined by the u.s./iraq

strategic framework agreement. this agreement -- >> hillary clinton warning iran that the offer to negotiate is not going to stay on the table forever and also outlining the goals in iraq, afghanistan and pakistan. richard wolf, we heard some new language on afghanistan on what would be offered to taliban willing to come to the other side. >> right, we have heard a lot about the bargain for iran but the bargain for people who want to leave the taliban was made pretty explicit there for a start she talked about al qaeda and its extremist allies, didn't even talk about the taliban and then says those in the taliban who are willing to renounce al qaeda will be welcomed. i mean, this is really an opportunity there that they are trying to split apart the taliban, obviously making a distinction as people have before between the taliban, afghanistan and pakistan, but this is a level for negotiations, for starters unthinkable in the bush era but now seeing it really mapped out fairly closely here. it is a nuanced, complex way to negotiate in a very difficult part of the world.

>> and pat buchanan, she was very critical of the iranian ve regime and the way they have put down the dises but still leaving that offer on the table, is the engagement with iran going to cause problems with the critics of its foreign policy? >> i think it has and i think that is why barack obama moved the deadline from december which it was to september which is about two months off and she is saying that you have got to negotiate seriously now. if they don't, they are going to move to sanctions but the russians and a chinese will not go along with u.n. sanctions which means the u.s. and europe peeps, u.s. has to move toward i think these sanctions on capitol hill really wants to get hard lined and cut off 40% of the gasoline, which is imported by going after these european companies, indian companies and others, which send gasoline to iran. we are -- unless the iranians are serious about negotiating and frankly, she gave him what i think is a fair offer, you are

entitled to peaceful nuclear power and processes but as long as you have got to show us that you're not moving toward nuclear weapons, but i think we have got a two-month deadline here and really the ball is in tehran's court right now. >> but mark, without support from russia, without support from germany, france and the united states and britain cannot do this alone. >> it is also very tough to negotiate even through back channels with ahmadinejad after what happened in iran after the election in the last couple of months. so, this is, i think, going to be a huge challenge to figure out. they want to make progress on the middle east and both the israelis and modern arabs are saying you need to address iran and nuclear we question in iran first before we are willing to move forward and play ball on the middle east. >> hillary clinton who is leaving very shortly for india and thailand, she announced in this speech that she is going to be going to pakistan as well in the fall. you don't go to pakistan without

going to other parts of that region as well, you can't imagine a bigger trip from hillary clinton. she is now emerging after several weeks of not being in the front lines of foreign policy, she was not on the trip to russia, which she was scheduled to be on because of her surgery on her elbow and she announced that she was appearing here today, first time without a sling yesterday and today. she has been through the therapy, been through the surgery but been a somewhat painful time. stay with us, gentlemen, we are going to be back in a few moments. we will, of course, have continuing coverage of the sotomayor hearings. they are in a lunch break. stay with us. we will be back. you are watching msnbc. she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials

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welcome back. during this lunchtime break on the hill after sonia sotomayor

hearings work go to nbc chief washington correspondent, norah o'donnell. norah, let's listen to a bit of the exchange earlier on the right to self-defense. this was senator coburn questioning the judge about whether she believes there is a fundamental right to self-defense and this, of course, related to gun rights i. let's watch. >> do i have a a right to personal self-defense? >> i'm trying to think if i remember a cation wherele supreme court has addressed that particular question, is there a constitutional right to self-defense and i can't think of one. >> does the second amendment mean something under 194th amend? does what the constitution, how they take the constitution, not how our bright legal minds but what they think is important is it okay to defend yourself and your home if you are under

attack? >> norah o'donnell, how did she do during all these questions and answers, trying to get her to commit herself on controversial issues, abortion, gun rights? how do you think she did today in the second day of the hearings? >> she was able to back that pretty quickly, remain pretty cam, you hit that on the head, andrea. today was about the hot-button social issues, let about her rhetoric like yesterday, the wise latina comments and more trying to pin her down on gun rights on abortion rights, first republican senator john cornyn, she said she was asked no question by anyone, including the president about her views on any specific legal issue like abortion rights. then senator coburn who is a physician here in the senate, delivered thousands of babies, anti-abortion, he sponsored the bill, the partial birth abortion ban. today, he started off by asking her this hypothetical, what if a mother had a 38-week-old fetus

with spina bifida she wanted to abort so that be legal? and judge sotomayor said she can't answer hypotheticalsship. he repeatedly was very difficult to pin down on her position on abortion. i think that is noteworthy today. andrea, it is important to note that right after this break, we are going to hear from senator specter and then going to hear from senator al franken. he has barely been in the senate just a week. we will see if he can show everybody whether he is good enough, smart enough and doggone it people like him that is clearly one of the highlights, hearing from senator al franken, i think, andrea, he is not going to be funny. he is going to try to be very serious, probably only one of these seen doors on the hearing behind me, sat through every senators' questions, is he joking around with you guys back there they said, no, he is very serious. >> i think al franken's job, one is to prove that he can be

boring. >> ex-a actually. even though we want to see something else, right, he has got to be serious. >> speaking of someone never borg, pat buchanan. >> yes, ma'am. >> has the nominee done enough to satisfy senator coburn and some of the other conservatives? has she spoken to the lock and load them constituency that you had in new hampshire some years ago? >> her job here, she has 60 democratic senators, and a number of republicans. her job here is no to the an tying nice more republicans. the murder board told her i don't care what they ask you can don't get into it. when ask you somebody do you have the right of self-defense? of course you do but is she is saying to herself, if i answer that he is going to ask me about the gun things, we are going to get into that, so there is sort of a ring around what she is going to say. it is a very boring session, quite frankly, but she has been told to say these things, scripted, rehearsed, it is a

revital, into the hearing, and i think her own standpoint, not the right thing and i don't think coburn and folks won't vote for her but that is the name of the game, don't hurt yourself. >> pat is she too rehearsed, like all nominees, justice alito and roberts, they are prepared by these expert from the political side of the white house and the justice department prepared not to mick mistakes? >> she is coming off like sam alito and she is not a conservative judge, but you read all her record and everything, her statements from college this is a passionate late tina feminist who really drives -- i mean, drives the agenda. >> not on the bench though. people look at her. >> that is the question. the question is can she take her whole life and set it aside and be this sort of judge that sits up there and judges based on precedent and the constitution

or does she bring her own basic beliefs, convictions what is a good society what is the right kind of society? does she bring them to the bench? i think it is going to be the latter. i think she is playing like she is the former. >> mark, we are got to go to a break, let me ask you to bounce off that for a moment. >> you think we have had a lot of discussion about her judicial track record because the republicans have been so intent on keeping the focus on her. >> more mainstream than they might want people to believe. >> as pat says, her job is to play rope a dope and not let her land punches and the predicate against her saying i told you so if she turns out to be more liberal but also for the next nominee and i think that is what the republican line of attack is about. >> stay with us. richard wolf, we will be back in just a moment. you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. free cred!

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welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports" live pictures of the hearing room 216 hart, just beginning to come back from the lunch recess. this is some of the highlights -- here are some of the highlights of this morning's session. >> can't change law, we are not lawmakers. it is clear from the attention that my words have gotten and the manner in which it has been understood by some people that my words failed. they didn't work. i stand by the words, it fell flat. you could talk about that being a liberal instinct in the sense that i promote equal opportunity in america. if you looked at my record, i have rule aid kod according to in all issues addressing the issue of termination of abortion rights, of women's rights to terminate their pregnancy. >> just a couple of the issues that came up this morning.

pete williams, our justice correspondent, standing by. pete, she was again asked about wise late tina, she was asked about abortion, she was asked about guns what are some of thor issues, self-defense related to guns, some of the other big issues that came up today and what you are expecting to come so far? >> those were the big issues, andrea, that little clip of sound was like sort of trying to read the billboards going down the highway at 100 miles an hour. on abortion, she said that she never discussed the subject with the white house, she was asked, well, then why did white house officials say to women's groups, don't worry, you will like her position and she said, i don't know, because i never told the white house anything about my position on abortion. she got into an interesting discussion with senator tom coburn, as you know is a physician and opposes abortion rights. he said it's clear that medical technology is advantages and fetuses can be viable at an earlier age. should that influence how the court decides these cases?

shouldn't it adjust what is said if roe v wade? she said that is not how courts decide cases, they don't sit around thinking about what the policy is, they take the cases one at a time, looking a what the state refrictions r this is an interesting moment, we had known she was influenced by two things, nancy drew books and perry mason, a tv lawyer and talked quite a bit about perry mason today energy almost every case, he got his defendant off and guilty person convict bud one episode she clearly remembers the prosecute and perry mason are talking afterwards and says, boy you must be discourage when all the guys you are trying to prosecute end up getting off, fouad out to be not guilty and the prosecutor says no my job is to do justice and justice is done whether the guilty are convicted or the innocent are set free and that lesson stuck with her even when she was a prosecutor in new york

city. >> we have cultural influences like nancy drew and perry say mayson. we know a lot more about sotomayor. she says that she had fond memories, wonderful memories of her father who died so young, yankee stadium, senator klobuchar asked her if she had seen the all-star game last night, she wasn't able to so klobuchar informed her that derek jeter from her beloved yankees tied her up and the american league went ahead there was a little bit -- we can even play you a little bit of that just a light moment in this otherwise very serious hearing. >> baseball case and they have been talking about umpires and judges of umpires. did you have a chance to watch all-star game last night, because most of america didn't watch the replay of your hearing. they might have been watching it. >> i haven't seen television for a very long time but i will admit i turned it on for a

little while. >> there was, i will say and maybe you -- maybe you didn't turn it on on this moment, but your yankee, derek jeter, tied it up but you must know that he scored only because there was a hit by joe mauer. i just want to point that out. >> derek jeet certificate one who got on base. pete, so you have it all there, perry mason, nancy drew and the all-star game what do we expect this afternoon? >> this afternoon, the questions are going to finish up. we will hear next from arlen specter, sitting at the kids' table, committee table, now that he is a very young democrat, a very -- a democrat without seniority, sitting next to al franken, the newest senator, those two will go, then the second round of questions will start and instead of 30 minutes, senators get 20 minutes, but traditionally, andrea they don't all take the 20 minutes. as a matter of fact, some of them may not even come back for a second round.

pat leahy, the chairman of the committee said a couple of times while all the questions have been asked, questions have been asked, not all the senators have asked them. then of course at some point this afternoon, the committee will meet with her in a closed session. this is traditional to go over personal matters. >> all right, pete williams on the case. just like perry mason. thank you very much. we'll take a quick break and be right back.

this progress should make us hopeful, but can't make us complacent. should provide the urgency for the house and senate to finish health care reform before the august reses. >> president obama in the rose garden, getting that august recess deadline. we go to kelly o'donnell in the senate right now. how realistic is it they could

have something by the august recess? >> now, we're seeing president obama become sort of the nudger in chief. he's going to use the bully pulpit, his appearances to hammer away at congress. to put the pressure on them to get this done by the deadline he has set. the house side has gotten their committees together to put together a bill that meets what the president is looking for. today, what really stood out in a very long process in the committee that has been run by chris dodd in the absence of senator kennedy, they've come forward with a pack that gives the president much of what he wants. basically, the big key thing there is an opportunity for a government-run insurance program that would compete with private insurance. that's something the president wants very much. there are still big questions

thousa thousa though. the committee has not come to terms with its plan yet. they're trying to have a bit more bipartisan support because today was a party line vote. democrat ins favor, republicans all against. there is a lot of pressure on the calendar, but it remains to be scene whether they can keep to it. we're seeing more evidence the president is going to push, push, push. >> kelly o'donnell, thanks for the update from the senate. while we've been talking about all of this, there have been some additional comments by hillary clinton in response to a question. she has said that it is not clear what the complexion of the iranian regime is, that the government has not sent signa signals -- there is no path opened up for dialogue.

that's it for us for today. we're going to go to a break and on the other side, continuing coverage from msnbc of the sonia sotomayor hearings with chris matthews and the rest of the gang. stay with us. one fo star hotel. two identical rooms. so why does this one cost so much less on hotwire.com? because when four star hotels have unsold rooms, they use hotwire to fill them, so you get them at prices lower than any other travel site. guaranteed. like four stars in san francisco, travelocity price $195.

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