good morning. welcome to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. we've got breaking news right now on msnbc. police in pensacola, florida, are set to release new information in the murders of melanie and byrd billings. police say the primary motive was robbery. a total of eight people have been arrested, including a real estate agent, pamela wiggins, who surrendered voluntarily. we expect to hear new details about the safe that was stolen from the billings home. good morning, everyone. i'm carlos watson. welcome to brand new hour of msnbc live. is the president finally about to capture a mand full of key republicans to get health care reform passed? we'll talk to savannah guthrie live at the white house. also, can california coming undone? we have an exclusive

conversation with mayor villaraigosa. and what would a second stimulus package look like? and prosecuting the bush white house? will he or won't he? we'll look at "newsweek's" cover story on attorney general eric holder. we fast forward to the top three stours. f sonia sotomayor is facing questio questions. a list of witnesses include new haven firefighter frank ricci who will testify against sotomayor. ricci and his colleagues are guests of republican members. judge sotomayor ruled against the firefighters on reverse discrimination. jpmorgan chase seems to have weathered the economic storm. their earnings have soared 36%, bringing in $2.7 billion in profit. that follows on goldman sach

announcement earlier this week. and a gasoline tanker explodes. the driver was taken with minor injuries but no one else was injured. we'll talk to republican senator chuck grassley. i sits on the senate judiciary and senate finance committee. want to start by introducing my guest co-host. someone really sharp, and every thursday richard wolffe. >> wham i going to do? >> author and "new york times" best-seller of "renegade." consumer of enormous amounts of sotomayor coverage. >> and starbucks. >> anything surprise you so far about the sotomayor hearings? i know you have been following them very closely. >> how little ammunition republicans had, how little she gave. obviously we as observers, journalists, commentators, wants

to see the drama involved, but one thing i think is pretty clear here is our senate is going to judge her as a judge or are they going to test her on some political measure? is she speaking as a politician when she gives these speeches or is she going to be measured on her judicial opinions? those are two very different measures on how you're going to vote. i would be interested to know as we talk about this, should senators vote for a supreme court nominee based on politics or the law? the end result out of all of this is you're going to get a republican nominee voted down every time by democrats and what we're seeing is vice versa right now. >> final question on this sotomayor piece, how many republican votes if you had to predict today, do you think she'll get? >> count them on two hands, maybe one hand. >> wow. >> i think it's going to be small. >> interesting. okay. let's bring in savannah guthrie. in fact, this hour president obama is meeting with two key senate moderates as he continues

to make his case for health care reform. he sat down with dr. nancy snyderman and talked about the stake that the american people have in reform. >> well, let me talk about what i think the american people are going to have to do. first of all, the american people have to recognize that there's no such thing as a free lunch. so we can't just provide care to everybody. it has no cost whatsoever. you don't end up having to make any decisions. >> so self-responsibility. >> self-responsibility is going to be critical. >> nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie is live at the white house. savannah, strong words from the president. does all of that translate into charlie rangel's right and we're going to raise taxes on the wealthy in a meaningful way? >> look, what the president has made clear is he doesn't want to raise taxes on those making less than $250,000, so you do the math. health care has to get paid for.

they want to emphasize the savings, the deal they're striking with pharma, and so on and so forth, but it's more likely than not there's going to be some kind of tax hike. frankly, the president has proposed one. it's kind of going nowhere on the hill. he wanted to limit the deductibility of charitable deductions for the wealthiest americans. everyone sees the writing on the wall. this morning the house is marking up its version that has this surcharge on people making over $280,000, $350,000 for families. that's getting a lot of heat from republicans. this is the biggest issue. how will you pay for it? health care will be at least $1 trillion when all is said and done, and it's got to be paid for. so it's very, very contentious. >> savannah, very famously in 1964 when lbj was trying to get the civil rights act passed, he turned to an unexpected ally in

the republican senator from illinois. is there such a member of the senate, a republican, who we may not expect to be a key participant and partner of the president on health care reform but who the president and his administration are starting to be hopeful that maybe this person will be an unexpected ally? who is on that republican watch list. >> reporter: now how unexpected it, but senator baucus is still trying to work with senator grassley. we're hearing less of it here at the white house n a way it. bipartisanship now means something a little different. what you hear senior aides talk about, we're incorporating republican ideas or republican amendments are ending up in the final bill and that's a signal of bipartisanship. of course, the same could be said, and they did say that about the stimulus package, and it didn't get hardly any republican votes. there's still talk of bipartisanship, but there's a palpable sense that some in the

democratic caucus are getting impatient. the president wants the bill passed out of oaof both houses congress by recess. >> savannah guthrie at the white house. california is in a world of hurt. the golden state is simply trying to keep its government running and open for business. the mayor of los angeles, antonio villaraigosa now joins me. mr. mayor, good to see you. >> hi, carlos. good to be with you. >> good to be with you. mr. mayor, we have all heard a lot about the severity of the cash crisis in california. is there a way forward in your mind, and if so, what are key to breaking not only the short-term crisis but what seems to be a longer structural economic crisis in california? >> well, there is a way forward, and that way forward requires that we make cuts in programs. there is cuts, and the legislature has done that over the last couple of years. but it also requires that we raise the revenue that we need

to provide the safety net of programs that are so essential to californians. the problem is that the state is in a big bind, and they are because there's a small group of legislator that is are holding the entire state hostage. they're refusing to raise the revenues we need, requiring even more severe cuts, cuts that are going to decimate programs for health care for children, our public hospitals, our schools. the cuts are draconian and unacceptable. >> mr. mayor, where do you get that revenue from that you're talking about? are you in favor of significant increases in the tax rates, particularly among the wealthy? >> well, i'm in favor of raising taxes and cutting programs. look, the right says let's cut government completely. the left says we can't cut programs. you have to do both.

we're going to have to cut some of the spending here. there's no question about it. the size of this budget deficit is too great. at the same time, we'll have to talk straight to californians and say if you want quality schools, if you want public health care, then we're going to have to pay for it. we have to do both. unfortunately, as i said, you have a small group of legislators in california, one of only three states that require a two-thirds vote to pass the budget, two-thirds vote to raise taxes. you have term limits where you have a lot of pofolks who have very little experience, afraid to make difficult decisions, and so we're in a meltdown in sacramento. >> i'm joined by richard wolffe, msnbc contributor who has a question for you. >> mr. mayor -- >> hi, richard, how are you? >> good to see you, mr. mayor. if a company tried to hire you or your services and wanted to pay you in ious, would you take them? >> no. the answer is no, and i can tell you as a city that has one of

the best bond ratings of any big city in the united states of america, over $2 million, that we're very concerned about that. those ious are going to have an impact on us. we're paying our bills. with he have to make the tough decisions in los angeles to resolvir resolve our own budget crisis. you're right, it's going to have an impact on us without question. >> mr. mayor, thank you so much for joining us this morning. i hope the next time you're in new york you'll come by the set and join us in person. >> i look forward to it, carlos. >> good to see you, sir. coming up straight ahead, is president obama about to finally turn a group of republicans in his bid for major health care reform? we may talk to the person who is central to all of that. we'll talk to senator chuck grassley, member of the judiciary committee, also a member of the finance committee. straight ahead. you're watching msnbc live. i'm carlos watson.

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welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. today among other witnesses, two new haven firefighters who sonia sotomayor ruled against in a racial discrimination case will testify before the senate judiciary committee. joining me now is senator charles grassley, republican from iowa, and member of the judiciary committee. good to see you, sir. >> thank you, carlos. >> senator, i want to turn to health care first. i know it's an issue you've spent a lot of time on. do you think when all is said and done we will see a bipartisan transformative health care bill come out this year? >> as of right now, yes. 24 hours makes a difference, but then i have been saying that for a month, and we're still at the table. we're still negotiating.

you know, i think having a few republicans at the table negotiating something that is very moderate compared to what pelosi is going to bring out of the house, compared to what senator kennedy's committee produced the other day, both not only very partisan, totally partisan, but very extreme in their approach to the delivery of health care and dramatic changes to be made, and i think that the moderation that's going to come in a bipartisan bill will look a lot better to people, and i think we're going to preserve a principle that's very important in health care, and that is the market forces working in health care as opposed to the absence of market forces where democrat proposals that wunt to take to us a single payer system like canada has takes us to where the government runs everything. remember, the government is in the process of nationalizing banks, nationalizing general motors. you know, is health care the

next thing? i don't think people want that. i don't think we should have it, and it would destroy and ration health care. >> senator grassley, what did you say to your republican colleagues, and which of your colleagues have you brought to the table, republican colleagues, to sit down with president obama? what did you say in order to help turn the tide a little bit? >> well, for instance, in one area, you know, i spoke about the step towards canadian-style health insurance program. pelosi's bill, senator kennedy's bill have a government-run health insurance program in competition with our present health care system. well, listen, the government is not a competitor. the government is a predator, and what you're going to have according to the think tank that specializes in health care, you will have everybody opting out of private health insurance into the government-run insurance, and then you're going to have setting of rates, and then

you're you're going to have doctors being paid 80% of costs like medicare, and pretty soon you will diminish the profession of medicine and hospitals and you will be where you are in canada with a government-run system where you got to wait three months to get an mri. so you either wait three months to find out if you got a brain tumor or you spend your own money and come to the united states where you can get it done immediately. i don't think the people of this country want that sort of health insurance. you want to know what i bring to the table? i bring to the table of getting away from a government-run health insurance program. >> senator grassley, i'm joined today by richard wolffe who has a question for you. >> senator grassley, on the supreme court you have suggested that you would vote against someone who you thought would legislate from the bench. i'm wondering if you ever think judges make law from the bench, whether they're at the state level or all the way to the supreme court? do judges make law? >> well, too often, they wouldn't call it making law,

they would call it interpreting law, but when you go way beyond the four corners of the law to make policy, you're making law. you're legislating from the bench. now, maybe in state courts where you can be voted out of office, that's one thing. but why we got to be so careful that judges don't do that at the federal level, they have a lifetime job. you can't vote them out of office. remember, we got checks and balances system of government. judiciary interpret law. my branch to make law. why? if you don't like the law we make, you can vote us out of office. in the case of judges, you can't do that. >> but isn't that what you want a supreme court justice to do, to look at areas where the law has not yet been applied and, therefore, make law? >> absolutely not. you know, i got into this statement and i may bring this up with sotomayor before she leaves the table, i brought it up with souter 20 years ago. he talked about the courts had to fill vacuums.

fill vacuums? what do they think that they got to solve every social problem we have? it's not their job to solve social problems. their job is to interpret the law that congress passes. it's congress' job to solve social problems and establish policy. >> senator grassley, finally, i want to move you to a third and different subject. obviously, you've been a senator from iowa for nearly 30 years. your state often determines the presidential elections, has a lot to say about it. sarah palin, what are your thoughts on alaska governor sarah palin who is coming to iowa who some think are interested in maybe running herself in 2012. do you see her as one of your party's leaders and would you support her? >> well, the answer is would i support her? i campaigned with her during the last election when she was running for vice president, so obviously i have already done that. would i pick her ahead of everything else three years before we're going to have primaries?

i would not do that at this point, but i would surely encourage her to be thinking about it, but i think that it's too early for anybody, even a person that's a potential candidate, to make up their mind they're going to be a candidate right this minute. i think they need to lay the groundwork for it. i would encourage her to lay the groundwork, but i'm a person that believes in the grassroots of our system. we make presidents sometimes. in fact, obama wouldn't be president if he hadn't carried the caucuses in iowa. there's another couple examples like carter as an xmexample. i don't know whether i can give you a republican example. they wouldn't be presidents today if they worked iowa well, and she'll have to do it like everybody else does and then win the support of our people. coy ma i could make a decision in december of 2011 that she could be my candidate, but i can't

make that decision now. it's not her responsibility that we're in trouble. it's our own responsibility because we lost our fiscal way during 2005 and 2006, and we got to convince people that we're going sto stand to stand by ours and live by the principles and legislate by those principles in order to get back into the majority. >> strong words. look forward to having you on the show again. >> thank you. glad to be with you. >> good to be with you. president obama heads to new york to mark the 100th anniversary of the naacp. his message, plus how the nation's oldest civil rights group is transforming if the face of the first african-american president. we have that and a whole lot more next on msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. the classic flavors of tuscany inspiration for...

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welcome back to msnbc live. in today's tech watch, popular social networking sites manage to keep people connected, and it turns out they're also helping keep police informed. customers at at new york city bank jumped into action by tweeting the robbery in action. check out msnbc.com for the entire story. president obama will be m manhattan tonight to address the naacp. but white house officials are pulling down expectations for the speech with robert gibbs saying his inaugural address was his first address to white and black america alike. ron, i want to turn to you first. now, despite the fact that the white house is playing down expectations for the speech, do those in attendance there, those at the naacp expect to hear something significant from the president? even perhaps some new policy prescriptions?

>> i don't think this is going to be about policy. i think this is going to be about celebrating. remember, this is the centennial anniversary for this organization, an organization that believes that obama is essentially the personification of what it's been fighting for for so long. i think it will feel a lot like the inauguration. many of them were there in washington that day. i think they want to hear obama also address what's been one of the central narratives of this convention is the question of what is the relevance of this organization moving forward now that he has been elected and now that a lot of the battles to fight discrimination have been won over the years. i think they'd like to hear that from him as well. but mostly it's going to be about inspiration and celebration and not about policy. >> richard, how much do you think white audiences are hungry to hear president obama talk about race? because for the most part, except for the major speech in philadelphia which sent a thrill up chris' leg, he's scheidehied

from it, right? >> his classic m.o. is to talk about general politics, jobs, health care, you name it. it's not about black interests or white interests. that's his style, always has been. frankly, when he talks to african-american audiences, he tends to deliver a tough message about better parenting, about better education, that kind of thing, and that actually feels i think for both sides, the blacks and whites, the question here is whether he feels any pressure -- not about the inspiration, but to speak that kind of tough message and say, hey, we've come this far but we need to go a whole lot further. we do it by helping ourselves. i'd be interested to any if he goes into that kind of policy. >> i knew he would have to do that sort of a dance because he doesn't want to be seen as the black president, right? he had to tell america before he got elected, i'm not here for the black people, i'm here for everybody. he couldn't go and talk about race too much. he couldn't go and give too much love to black people. he had to kind of bring out the

stick a little bit so black and white audiences, especially white audiences see that. you can go and give me the cane a little bit if that means you're going to get elected. like i'm happy to see that. >> but i don't think that was just a political maneuver. this is something that he's done throughout and it's something he feels personally, and actually it's part of, you know, the very controversial united church of christ in chicago. this is part of his philosophy. >> the final word to ron allen. the cover story in "the new york times" a couple days ago was about the dramatic disparity in white and black unemployment rates in new york city. they were saying although there are 1.5 million more whites in new york city than african-americans, there are actually 80,000 more unemployed african-americans despite smaller numbers. is the president not going to talk to at least that central issue, that soaring unemployment in many african-american communities? >> i don't know that he's going to get that specific and talk

about something like that. i think, again, in terms of what the naacp wants to hear, i think, what the members here want to think, is him discuss these things and what he's going to do in terms of policy, an approach that might specifically solve problems like that. as the other panels have noted, he hasn't done a lot of that. i remember a question he was asked at one of his first press conferences about the black community. his answer was essentially a rising tide lifts all boats. if that's the way he goes, i think there might be some people who are a bit disappointed. >> for more on the naacp's 100th anniversary and other topics check out the website, msnbc.com. and do we need a second stimulus pack and if so, what are the potential options? we have that discussion next. you're watching msnbc live. he recommended citracal. it's a different kind of calcium. calcium citrate. with vitamin d...

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welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. now to breaking news we're following out of florida in the deadly shooting of a couple. nbc's mark pot ser live ter is pensacola, florida. i know the news conference was delayed an hour? what's going on? do we know the reason behind this? >> reporter: we were told the sheriff is meeting with the state's attorney's office. they are going over the evidence and what they can say about it. that's a consultation that usually occurs before one of these news conference. we will have that news conference we're told now in about a half hour. we'll hear from the sheriff, david morgamorgan, and also thee attorney. what they'll be talking about, we understand, is the latest developments in the case where the woman was arrested yesterday, the realtor. she's now out on bond. pamela long wiggins. also, they will talk about some of the evidence that turned up yesterday. the second car, the suv that they had been looking for. also, and probably very importantly, the safe that

authorities say was stolen from the house. that has shown up now, and we saw that being brought here to the sheriff's office last night and then taken away to an evidence facility. so there are lots of things to talk about, lots of questions still about the motive behind this killing. they're saying predominantly it's robbery, but they always hint there's something else. all of those questions will be asked. what was in the safe, if they know, did the robbers get anything from the safe? were they able to open it? lots and lots of questions that have been asked over the last few days, and hopefully we'll get some more evidence. but it's the details we're looking for and they dribble out each day and hopefully we'll get some more kotoday. >> thanks so much. stay tuned. you're watching msnbc where we'll have live coverage of that press conference in the murder of the couple there in florida. we'll have all that information shortly. right now we fast forward though to the top three stories. good news on the job front. first time unemployment claims fell sharply last week to 522,000.

the lowest since early january. and in just over an hour, astronauts aboard the spation shuttle "endeavour" will expect the ship's thermal shielding. chicago's iconic sears tower is now known as the willis tower. it was renamed after london-based insurance broker agreed to lease 140,000 square feet of office space. what the recession aforwards. he unemployment is expected to top 10% in the coming weeks. the deficit tops $1 trillion, and so that has a lot of people asking whether president barack obama's $787 billion stimulus package is actually working. christy freeland is a managing editor for "the financial times." good to see you. >> nice to see you, too, carlos. >> this may be the last day or two we get to see you. >> possibly, yes. >> there's some tremendous news.

>> if i go into labor while i'm talking, then you have a deal. >> naming him carlos. let's talk about the stimulus, the second stimulus. do you think we need it, and if so, what should it look like? >> the position of the white house, which i think is probably the right one for now, is it it's a little too early to judge. what they've been saying is first stimulus, this is one of the key criticisms of it, wasn't a lot of money all at once into the economy. it was money that was going to be sort of dripped into the economy and, in fact, more coming a little bit later. i think it's fair enough for the white house and the treasury to say let's wait a little bit, let's see. the other thing is in terms of the actual -- >> but you don't feel like that's a cop out at all? i mean, i understand their point that it's a two-year program, that it's not a three-month program, but they also know what they hope was going to be 8% unemployment, 9%, is going to be 10% and could go higher. when you add in the under

employme employed and people no longer looking, the number is much higher. you don't think that's a cop out, that politically they could get something else done? >> realism versus the cop out. you did mention the deficit number. that's also an important calculation. i think pointing to the unemployment numbers is really the issue right now because it looks now pretty certain that the economy is moving into a recovery. the fed minutes from june were released yesterday and the fed actually was a little more optimistic on the pace of economic recovery than it had been previously. but what the fed also said was it looks like this is going to be a jobless recovery. so employment is going to increase really rather slowly, that politically could be a real challenge for obama. >> a second stimulus question. if it took so long to get the first stimulus money pumped into the economy, isn't it already too late for a second stimulus because by the time that money would fkick in, the economy hopefully would be in recovery anyway? >> i think that speaks to the

jobs versus recovery question. i think the big debate in the second half of this year and next year is going to be less about is gdp contracting or growing, and it's going to be more about, okay, maybe the economy is recovekofecovering b still hurting, people still don't have jobs. i think what that's going to be balanced against is this question of deficit and the question of is the u.s. deficit becoming uncontrollable? will that hit the dollar? will it hit the willingness of foreign countries to buy american treasury bills? >> china announced recently that their growth was tremendous, that they're back growing very quickly, i think 7.9%, almost 8% in the last quarter. huge. a, did you believe those numbers? and, b, is that good news for americans? does that mean china can be a consumer of some of our products in a way they haven't been? and also buy our treasuries,

support our debts? >> i think we should be skeptical about chinese data. it does seem as if the chinese economy is growing really robustly as is the indian economy. that's great news for the united states. america needs -- america for this sort of past decade of global prosperity has been the consumer engine of the world. americans need other consumers to sort of step up and start buying things. >> and i want to turn to a completely different subject. i know on your mind is that tina brown piece about hillary clinton and her burqa. your thoughts when you read that piece where tina brown, editor of "the daily beast" effectively said it was time for barack obama and his administration to allow hillary to take her burqa off, free hillary in a sense. >> i thought that was a lovely metaphor. we did see hillary clinton making a very forceful foreign policy speech yesterday. she had all the foreign policy big weights lined up in the

front row to sort of show they're behind her, but to me what this whole sort of mini brouhaha speaks to is one of the consequences of the obama presidency is the end of the clinton era. and i think for some of the clinton loyalists, for some people who saw clintonism as being the defining characteristic and defining clan of the democratic party, it's kind of hard to let that go. >> i love the burqa image, but if you're secretary of state, you're subordinate. you are not the president. it's a brutal fact of life. i think you're right, people have to wake up and smell that coffee. >> although henry kissinger said he has never seen a state department and white house work so well together in the last 30 or 40 years. who knows, maybe we'll have progress on that front. coming up, day four of the confirmation hearing for judge sonia sotomayor. we've got live coverage.

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welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. now, on capitol hill senators are continuing their question of supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. the committee will then hear from witnesses invited by both parties to testify on her nomination. joining us again is christy freeline, and norah o'donnell. norah, is there new news or is it more of the same? >> reporter: well, i think the new headline today is that judge sonia sotomayor drew praise from a number of republicans today. first, senator lindsey graham, who originally said barring some meltdown, she would be confirmed. today he said she had a very bright future, that her judicial record was generally in the mainstream. he also said that she said some

things that bugged the hell out of me, his words, but he said he does not think she is an activist judge. i also spoke with senator chuck grassley and i really questioned him to find out are you going to vote for her? lindsey graham is leaning towards voting for her. when it comes to senator grassley, i asked him, could you vote for him. he's listening to his constituents who are pretty much against her, but he said he's never voted against a president's choice for supreme court. he said he voted for eight of the nine currently sitting judges. for him to vote against her would be a change. grassley is a possibility. john john cornyn who would probably be an unlikely vote against her today said he found her judicial record pretty much in the mainstream. so i think that's significant.

>> that is really significant. we're just getting information that senator pat leahy, chairman of the committee, said he will set a date. we'll find out pretty soon who are some of those republicans who step forward and say yes. we're going to see one of the new haven firefighters, frank ricci, whose name has been bandied about quite a bit. is this going to be explosive or is it much ado about nothing? >> i don't know if it's going to be explosive. but it will be interesting. judge sotomayor dismissed that reverse discrimination case and the firefighter ricci, who has dyslexia, who had been working very hard to get this promotion, he had the audio tapes in the car he was listening to to study up and beef up and get ready, he feels like this was not fair, the ruling that judge sotomayor

ruled on. there are going to be more than a dozen new haven firefighters behind him. i think it will create a picture. will it be decisive? absolutely not. but that's what will characterize the afternoon. >> norah o'donnell in d.c. we'll be talking to you quite a bit. the latest in the michael jackson investigation and the never before seen pictures of the accident that many say started jackson's addiction to painkillers. you're watching msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. could someone toss me

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welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. to a shocking never before seen video of michael jackson. the video shows the infamous 1984 incident where jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a pepsi commercial. many say this accident could have sparked an addiction to

painkillers. toure is an msnbc contributor and he loves it talk about michael jackson. >> i am to talk about michael jackson. >> i am shocked that we're talking about michael jackson. the last time i was here, weren't you the one that was like, enough michael jackson, i'm over michael jackson. now you're dragging up 1984 footage, just to keep it going. you'll see what ratings will do. >> they're good video and richard wolffe demanded it. >> i demanded to be on the outside of you too. >> because he's a renegade! >> last time you were around, remember i told you, as important as michael jackson was, and as special he was as an entertainer, philanthropist, et cetera, i was worried about what was going on in the economy. 10,000 people a day were getting foreclosure notices. not good news at all. but we are going to talk about more distractions. we're going to talk about more distraction with this big heart that i have. >> we'll call dr. nancy to see.

>> dr. nancy just talked to the president, so she is more than ready to deal with a big heart like this. let's talk about tv shows, "calfornication," "man men," and now "entourage." >> "entourage" is back, a fantastic opening, vince is learning how to drive. but it's a symbol for they're all learning up, trying to become men. now they're trying to grow up and move on, forward. they don't want to be little boys anymore. turtles trying to think about getting that job. he's dating the real jamie lynn sigler. even e. is thinking about moving up. is vince a good actor, or just a pretty boy? we don't know. that was the big question last season. kind of went back and forth. he got a movie bombed. the movie got killed while they were doing it. >> which one was that? >> he was working on a movie called "smoke jumpers."

he was so bad, they couldn't finish the movie. the movie gotten shut down. but then they sent this video to martin scorsese and loved it and cast vince as the great gatsby. i was like, if scorsese loves, you must be a great actor. but he likes to work with dicaprio. >> you said there's a new film out on iraq. talk to me about that. >> "the hurt locker" is being called the best iraq/war movie film yet. i think "jarhead" is a little bit better, but it gives you a feeling of being a soldier. it's about the bomb unit. they go out and diffuse the bombs before they can go off. and the main guy, sergeant james is a cowboy. he strides in there like a stud to a willing woman. he's going to diffuse the bomb.

>> but, but, but? >> there's not that much character development. you know, it's just a bunch of scenes. they just move from war scene to war scene. but it's very tense, very emotional. you're kind of on the edge of your seat, like in a horror movie, the whole time. it's interesting. but america does not care for iraq movies at all. >> interesting. well, thomas freeman wrote his column the other day, saying iraq, so long, good-bye, you're not american focus anymore. all right. we've got to turn back to your favorite topic, michael jackson. this new footage -- >> i love this topic. you don't. >> look at his hair on fire. >> he's still dancing. >> he's still dancing. he is dancing! >> he's dancing because he's on fire. but he has a nice tight 306, still dancing, still in the moment. good tough. >> that's a performer. >> 100%, 24/7, he's a performer. >> but those sort of injuries can lead you down a crazy road, including prescription drugs.

>> i mean, look, we're talking about a potential homicide investigation, lapd is saying they are treating it as a homicide investigation. so perhaps not an addiction issue, but a doctor who's giving him drugs that he shouldn't have had in the first place. >> guys, thank you. richard wolffe, toure. we're now going to turn from my daily big thought, the "c" note. a lot of the country is focused on health care and sotomayor, but i think there are two significant pieces of international news that have recently flown under the radar. one is the possibility that china's economy is rebounding faster and stronger than expected. the other is the possibility that the british are getting skittish about afghanistan. now, both can profoundly affect americans and america. and hence, i'm wondering not only what's on president barack obama's mind, but what's on the mind of two other premieres, h h jintao. there could be another single

that long-term, their economy, not ours, is the one that's on the rise. in the case of the british, it's a reminder that's what's happening in the afghanistan war can in fact get much harder and as general barry mccaffrey recently said, much bloodier, and that in fact even our own allies won't want to stay there, much less in iraq. so what will we do if we can't get the substantial help we need in afghanistan and how long will we stay and fight largely on our own if that's what it comes to? that's not the situation yet, but it certainly raises the question. two other places to look, even as we focus domestically. that's fit for me this hour. more tomorrow. a conversation with samuel l. jackson. want to thank richard wolffe and toure. now i turn it over to dr. nancy snyderman. you had a big conversation recently. >> i had a big day yesterday. coming up, my one on one with president obama. my sit-down interview with the president, when we talked about

health care reform, including who's going to pay for it. and when she gave birth, she was the oldest new mother in the world at the age of 66. now, three years later, however, she has died making history again. was she a perfect candidate for infertility treatments? we'll talk about that. and a dilemma, increasingly, for parents. what do you do when your 5-year-old child appears on the fast track for obesity? we have tips from experts, coming up. have a heart attack,