what's really amazing someone who came along post-walter cronkite era, there was one voice at that time whether it was the moon landing or vietnam, he was the man everybody tuned into and listened to. now you can go and hear which ever voice you want to hear that you think agrees with yours. you can watch the space shuttle go up on a website or a blog. the idea there was only one guy narrating the news. >> the other thing people actually talked about him getting into politics himself because they say if he ever ran for president he would be unbeatable. pretty amazing you can say that about a newscaster given how people look at our profession sometimes. >> i want to ask dan about -- he gave his opinion about vietnam. there were some interesting moments along the way that reflect to where we are now, so we'll talk about all that. walter cronkite's legacy, what he meant to journalism, to tv news and to america coming up. first a look at some of today's top stories. the u.s. military denouncing a

taliban video of a captured american soldier in afghanistan. 23-year-old bowe bergdahl was taken hostage late last month near the border with pakistan. in the video the army private is prompted to speak about the war and his family back in idaho. that's where we find nbc's george lewis. good morning, george. >> reporter: we're out in front of the coffeehouse where bowe bergdahl used to work before he enlisted in the army last year. over the weekend many prayers went up for the safe return ofbeof bowe bergdahl. this community shocked to see him in that video released by the taliban. after that video was released the pentagon denounced it saying it was a cruel exploitation of a prisoner against international law. bergdahl disappeared from his

unit can on june 30th. he said he lagged behind the other men in the unit. he was apparently captured by the taliban. while the people here in the community knew he was missing, they kept quiet about it hoping for a quick rescue of bergdahl. now we've seen that video. his family remains in seclusion. they did release a statement saying that they hoped and prayed for his safe return to his comrades and eventually here to home in idaho. but they haven't heard anything since then. his family remaining in seclusion at the home asking reporters not bother them. mika? >> fair enough. nbc's george lewis, thank you. and in another story out of afghanistan, two nato pilots are recovering with minor injuries after their fighter jet crashed on a runway this morning. a day earlier a civilian helicopter crashed on the same airfield killing 16 people.

officials say neither incident was caused by insurgent attacks. six months into office, president obama's approval rating has dropped below the 60% mark for the first time. according to a new "washington post"/abc news poll the president's approval stands at 59%, a six-point dip from last month. when it comes to handling of health care, 49% approve, down eight percentage points from april. despite those numbers the administration is taking on the issue of health care full force including public events, prime time news conference this wednesday, internet videos and, of course, keeping the pressure on congress. >> this is the status quo. this is the system we have today. this is what the debate in congress is all about whether we'll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more families and businesses go under and more americans lose their coverage or whether we'll seize this opportunity, one we

might not have again for generations and finally pass health insurance reform this year. >> all right. we've got more on that debate coming up in top talkers. in san francisco federal investigators don't know why the operator of a train that crashed over the weekend switched off the autopilot just before the collision. they say the automatic controls could have prevented the crash. 48 people were injured. and in milwaukee bystanders risked their lives to rescue a mother and her two kids from a burning suv. the woman and a 2-year-old were pulled out first before an off-duty firefighter reached theed toddler. they both suffered burns but are expected to live. all right. that's a quick look at the news. now to bill karins for a check on the latest forecast. bill, good morning. good morning to you, mika. have a good weekend? >> yeah. it was beautiful. what's to complain about? >> there wasn't much to complain about except for that putt on the 18th where tom watson -- >> that was sort of depressing. that's sort of a buzz killer. >> it was a buzz killer.

i haven't gotten over it. miserable. >> good point. let's talk about your morning. temperatures out there are very comfortable with a nice weekend in many locations as mika mentioned. warmer this morning. we're at 68 in new york and 59 in hartford. that's in the comfort zone. a beautiful shot behind me, too, the sunrise coming up over new york city, gorgeous. some scattered, high clouds. as far as the forecast for today goes, nice and mild out there. new york city, just what you saw there, sun and cloud mixture, 82. hartford 83. d.c. around 82. today is a lot better than tomorrow. if you have travel plans try to get them done today. could see airport delays. the showers and storms off the coast. that's going to push into new england as we go into tuesday. some troubled weather, showers and storms possible dallas, oklahoma city, and the heat wave continues out west. sacramento, 102 today. fresno should be around 108. if you're wondering where summer is, it's not in chicago. it's definitely out west. chicago with 71 yesterday, mika.

this is the second coolest summer on record in chicago right now. >> oh, my goodness. i'm not complaining, are you? >> well, no. we complained in june here. it was miserable. >> well, we're making up for it. all right, bill, thanks very much. that's a look at the news and the weather. now time for our top talkers with willie geist and health care. harold just kind of stumbled in. i wasn't sure if he was sober, so i wasn't sure if i should mention he was here. >> i trying to get in the makeup chair. >> the blush. >> i was embarrassed. i've never seen anything like it. >> let's get to health care. as mika mentioned, the president of the united states and the white house making a big push. david axelrod said this is the time where we now hand the baton to the president and let him go out. peter orszag was on fox news saying they're still on the table they want to be on.

>> will both the house and senate meet the president's deadline and pass separate health care measures before they go on august recess? >> that is the goal. >> and what do you think of the chances? >> i think the chances are high. >> is the president going to get a bill out of the house and senate by the august recess? >> well, i don't think he ought to get the particular bills we've seen out of either the house or the senate before august because they're really not the right way to go. what's going on here, david, it's perfectly clear this is the same kind of rush and spend strategy we saw on the stimulus bill. this isn't a bill that should pass at any point either before the august recess or later in the year. >> harold, how do we reconcile the two soundbites. the white house says before the august recess. >> it's been hard to rebuff president obama when he puts his energy and mind and political resources behind something. people thought the stimulus bill would not pass. when he decided to hit the road and make the case, it created momentum.

this is a little more difficult. i'm not certain they get everything they want. there's such a block of defensem democrats saying no to such a public plan. i wouldn't bet against the president when he gets out there. >> politically you want to set this deadline so you give a finite time period to the opposition and your own party. if you squeeze it too much, people say you're rushing. >> that's the big question. >> the balancing act. >> we've seen that before, harold. i think there's the gun to your head feeling and there may not be so much of an appetite for something to be rushed through. now you look at the stimulus -- i have some op-eds, thanks for rushing. what has this done? do we need this again in terms of health care. >> it has lost the luster. i would argue that t.a.r.p. probably worked better than we give it credit for but no doubt

the stimulus needs to be passed and these measures needs to be passed or calamity will happen has lost it. >> this is a much tougher sell. you see the insurance companies starting to lobby up against us, do a tv campaign. and as you're suggesting it's not like t.a.r.p. it's not like we're on the edge of abyss. people are getting health care. it's clearly broken. >> they feel politically they have to reach. we'll talk about that in must-read op-eds. willie, sarah palin apparently has spoken out again. wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to hear that. >> she's gone on a tour of the state. she has only a month on the job. she insists it's not a farewell tour. she's just going around saying hi to some folks. i am alaska. i've grown up here and i'm going to remain in alaska. it's not farewell, it's more like thanks for letting me be here and i'll see you soon.

she's been seen cleaning out the governor's mansion a little bit and getting ready to move out in a month or so. fishing. >> that's nice. >> is that fishing? >> terrific. enough of that. look at the cover of "fortune" magazine. thank you, willie. what have we got here? >> that is the guy who founded netscape and he is one of these guys who kind of makes things work in silicon valley. despite everything else in the economy, continues to run on all gears and drive our economy. he is talking about what's coming up with facebook and all those social media businesses. >> i love it. we'll get to our morning papers coming up. also coming up, the showdown over health care reform. we'll talk about that. when we talk to andy card we'll read some portions from ted kennedy's piece that's in "newsweek." did you guys get a chance to look at it on line yet? i think that's part of our must-read op-eds. i picked a few portions of that. we'll continue the discussion with house majority whip james clyburn. in a few minutes former white

house chief of staff andy card and legendary journalist dan rather on the impact walter cronkite had on his career. we'll talk about the state of journalism today, too. and presidential historian doris kearns goodwin will join us. her take on president obama's first six months in office. we're also going to take a look at the top stories politico is working on. 90s slacker hip-hop. ♪ singer: buckle up, everybody 'cause we're taking a ride ♪ ♪ that can strain your relationships and hurt your pride ♪ ♪ it's the credit roller coaster ♪ ♪ and as you can see it kinda bites! ♪ ♪ so sing the lyrics with me: ♪ when your debt goes up your score goes down ♪ ♪ when you pay a little off it goes the other way 'round ♪ ♪ it's just the same for everybody, every boy and girl ♪ ♪ the credit roller coaster makes you wanna hurl ♪ ♪ so throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em around ♪

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here's something that's crazy because i remember exactly where i was, what i was doing, "apollo 11" left for the moon. whoa, yeah. because the whole thing was delayed. did you remember the delay? they had to go through newark. >> he's not lying either.

newark is not good. >> executive editor of politico jim vandehei. he has a look at the politico playbook. good morning, jim. >> good morning, guys. how are you doing? >> i'm doing great. you wore a jacket today. a return to respectability. >> once i learned there was a dress code on "morning joe" i was happy to adhere to it. >> let's talk health care. we got into it a little bit last segment. nancy pelosi is drawing the ire of moderate democrats on this. how is she holding up? is she standing firm? >> obama is learning the perils of letting the housework on a bill. it also would add to the deficit. so nancy pelosi is under a tremendous amount of pressure from moderate and conservative house democrats to change things up. she called mike allen in for an interview to talk about health care and said she is now willing not to tax at least people making less than a million dollars. the initial would have hit individuals making over $280,000

and families over $350,000. she's trying to find concessions to make sure she does not lose the conservative and moderate wing of her party. >> it feels a little bit like the white house and democrats have lost control of the health care debate. it's become more about taxes than reforming the health care industry. do you feel that way? >> absolutely. if you think about all the stories out there, it's been a big focus on the fact this does not pull down costs and a lot of people will get hit with a tax increase. i think that can change. the process is always very messy. i think obama is right when you have all these committees working on things it gets ugly. it has to get ugly before you can actually get a deal. the truth is there are so many things happening simultaneously right now it's getting harder and harder to get his agenda through congress because it's not just health care they're trying to do. they're trying to do cap and trade, trying to reregulate the u.s. economy and only so much oxygen in congress and a lot is being pulled out for health care alone. that isn't actually the best

option. it's not getting them where they want to be. >> and the white house says it still wants something by august. we'll have to wait and see on that. your next story is a heartwarming one, jim, everyone will feel good about as unemployment continues to rise across the country washington, d.c., doing just fine. >> as if people needed more reasons to hate washington. it's not that we're recession proof but because we have the federal government and there are so many federal contractors around the d.c. area, you don't feel the recession here. unemployment rate, at least in the region is 6.2% which is much lower than the nation as a whole. about 15% of the money going out from the federal government into goods and services is going into this metro region so our restaurants are still full. the housing market is bad but certainly not as bad as it is elsewhere and a lot of republicans are talking about how, well, maybe this is why there's a disconnect between what's happening in washington and elsewhere because members spend so much of their time here and you don't feel the pain of the recession like you would feel it if you were back at

home. >> we all feel great for d.c., don't we? finally the president has a big meeting, i understand, today and not just with the astronauts but a big religious leader. tell us about that. >> it's good to look at the president's schedule and why they do the things they do. today meeting with the astronauts, he talked about health care. he has his war briefing but meeting with the head of the mormon church, the church of latter-day saints. he's bringing in harry reid. about 8% of voters in nevada are mormon so this is a great photo opportunity for reid. of course obama's been meeting with leaders of all the different churches. i always assume there's extra motivation on everything that gets added to the president's schedule. >> harold? >> and, senator, always good to see you. it's harold ford. senator reid is a mormon. he's a member of the church of latter-day saints. >> absolutely. he certainly was as mitt romney was in the presidential campaign.

that's an important voting block in nevada. he does not have a really good republican -- he doesn't have a good republican opponent. look at his poll numbers. they're pretty bad. he needs to do everything he can to protect himself. >> thanks so much. we'll be checking out the rest of the playbook at politico.com. we'll see you tomorrow. and let's take a look at the morning papers. "the new york times," the nation's governors fear costs in the health plan. >> we're trying to book someone who has real concerns about obama-care and apparently the democrats as well as republican governors voicing deep concerns about the shape of health care plans emerging from congress. about to hand them expensive new medicaid obligations without the money to pay for them. they need that, harold, do they not? >> governors, democrat or republican, their main concern

is balancing the budget. >> which stimulus funds have been used to help. >> states have to. this urgency and this pressure is real and democrat and republican labels don't matter quite as much when you have to balance that budget every year, have to make those cuts into vulnerable populations across your state. >> "washington post," the polls show obama slipping on key issues. approval rating on health care has now fallen below 50%, maybe part of the republic he wants to get something done by august. india tells hillary clinton no carbon cuts. houston chronicles 40 years later one giant leap for mank d mankind. buzz aldrin later on "morning joe." >> very cool. i can't wait for that interview. that will be neat. what's coming up, willie? >> former white house chief of staff andy card will be with us. a first look at business live

from london and of course this morning's must-read opinion pages when "morning joe" continues.

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welcome back to "morning joe." time for an early check on business. for that, where else do we turn but to london. good morning, louisi. >> reporter: excellent. i'm glad you are turning here for that update because i have good news for you this morning. our sixth straight session of gains, trading higher across the board on european markets up by around 1.5%. this last-minute rescue sources are confirming in the u.s. that we are looking at a new refinancing plan essentially with bondholders of cit, a rescue financing plan. you probably heard the details also creeping out over the weekend, though. that has a positive impact on the banking sector this morning

what we're seeing in general strokes. also of course coming often the back of positive earnings numbers that we had out late last week out of the u.s. basic resources, though, being the best performing higher by 3.5%. i was looking at france in a bit more detail. analysts think we're looking at a 9% fall in second quarter revenues in france in general for the quarter. 20% decline for earnings per share confirming this group this morning they see the earnings forecast in line with expectations for '08 and '09. vw and porsche, a story that continues on a day-by-day basis. both lower quite substantially. there is a lot of speculation we, this week, will finally see some type of a conclusion to how much of a stake vw could be

looking to pay for a porsche or vice versa. we still don't know the details there. a lot of uncertainty. porsche still very keen to take a stake of the company. porsche having racked up such a huge pile of debt north of 10 billion euros in the last couple of months. they took over 51% of vw. so quite a few stories noting around on this side of the pond. i'll see you tomorrow for further updates. >> lo 0uisa bojesen, thank you. we'll start with this top story, the civil war in looming in honduras after talks between ousted president manuel allaya. they reject add mediation plan and called for delay of prosecution over his push to change presidential term limits. secretary of state hillary

clinton continues her overseas trip meeting with leaders in india today in a major address at the university of dehli she addressed everything. and did you hear this, frank mccourt, the former public schoolteacher who earned fame as the author of "angela's ashes" died on sunday from complicat n complications of cancer. frank mccourt was 78 years old. when we come back andy card. also the must-read opinion pages, stimulus, health care, and to mars and beyond. - ( microphone feedback ) - whoa. hi, i'm john. all: hi, john! going to college and need a laptop. what do you got? you, in the top corner. our next class laptops could be perfect for you. we got student feedback and designed them specifically for college.

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all right. welcome back to "morning joe."

a live shot at the white house. a little hazy in washington. here with us now former chief of white house andy card. thanks for being with us. >> it's my pleasure to be with you. top of the morning. >> top of the morning. let's zip through some op-eds. we'll start with robert samuelsson talking about the stimulus plan and i want to ask you about this as now it pertains to health care. listen to what he says. given this criticism, andy, about the effects of the stimulus, which was rushed. everyone was told let's get this done. we'll have catastrophe. is america ready for what may feel like another rush job, health care reform?

>> i feel very strongly the difference between trying to get out of our economic doldrums with the economic plan is much more important to do quickly than health care reform. i actually feel that the contrived haste that is out there now on health care reform is going to cause budget busting waste and i do not think that haste and waste should can be the result of this health care debate so too much haste makes for way too much waste and that's what we're likely to see in the health care debate. the stimulus plan, i thought it was important to find a way to rediscover what appropriate risk is. i'm not sure they did that. they need to move more quickly with regard to the economy than they need to do with health care. >> i like that term contrived haste. wred that with the bailout. we had it with stimulus and some would say the jobs aren't there. they're feeling impatient, whether it's fair or not, and we feel it with health care. >> and the president said -- >> there are going to be some

unintended consequences. if everything is a haste, haste, haste, there will be unintended consequences and we cannot afford unintended consequences to the extent they're showing up right now. >> to this point, you've heard the president say we've had a unique opportunity to get this done but why? what is the unique opportunity? is this part of what rahm emanuel is saying? >> i think the unique opportunity centers more around politics. i'm not necessarily talking partisan politic. it may be around health care. but at any rate i don't think this is the time to rush to do something that even some prominent democrats are saying is not right. they're calling this plan flawed. and it's flawed and it's budget busting. slow down. >> there's one prominent democrat who definitely thinks this must be done and that would be ted kennedy. the cause of my life. he's written a piece for

"newsweek." it's pretty compelling. where working with republicans to make this a bipartisan effort everyone won't be satisfied and no one will get everything they want but we need to come together just as we've done in other great struggles in world war ii and the cold war in passing the great civil rights laws of the 1960s and in daring to send a man to the moon. if we don't get every provision right, we can adjust and improve the program next year or in the years to come. what we can't afford is to wait another generation. harold ford jr., take it to andy card. contrived haste or perhaps as ted kennedy puts it something we have to do now? >> reading those words you wish he was in the senate. he could probably help broker and manage some kind of consensus. i would ask my friend andy card, we spend $2.3 trillion in health care. it is expected if we do nothing $2 trillion more. the white house and the president believe acting now can help save -- reduce costs,

reduce that trajectory and at the same time provide more coverage and allow small businesses to be more competitive. do you believe that and do you think there's an argument that could be made that this is important to do even during this deep recessionary pressure facing the economy? >> i think it's important to do something but it is not important to do something fast that would have unintended consequences. so to me it's the contrived haste part of this rather than the effort to try to change the health care system. don't let the government come between the doctor and the patient. and that's basically what this plan would do. understand that there's a tension between holding costs down and expanding coverage. debate that fully. let us have an honest discussion about it. make it bipartisan. this is not what's happening in washington, d.c., today. they're trying to say just get it done. we're going to bully it through the process and let's not have a debate. don't read the bill. trust us. don't trust them. don't trust them.

it's too big a deal. and our economy is too fragile right now. small businesses cannot afford to be the ones that will have the unintended consequences laid on their lap. >> i hear you. at the same time peter orsza fw over the weekend says republicans are just trying to kill this deal. they're trying to drag out the legislative process and they just basically want to appeal health care reform because they don't have any better alternatives. is that fair? >> don't paint all republicans with that brush. there are republicans that have put forward responsible programs to help keep costs down. yes, meet obligations to expand coverage but not bust the bank and they want to help to make sure our economy can be vibrant and that's critical today. let's do it smart not fast. >> but if not now, andy, and i will take sort of the other point, if not now then when? why not do it now and, you know, there's nothing holding it back. you have a president who still

has very high approval ratings, still has a lot of political capital. why shouldn't we take this on? ted kennedy is there to help push this through. >> well, i do wish ted kennedy were healthy enough to be in the senate because i think tess a very constructive legislator. he's one of the best senators this country has ever had in terms of the process getting done. i disagree with his philosophy frequently but he is a darned good legislator and we miss him on capitol hill. but having said that, there's nothing about august 1st or getting it done before the august recess. let's do it smart. we have time to do it right. congress will rise to the occasion if you give them the leadership to make it happen. the president has to give them the leadership. you can't just say do it and i'll fix it later on. it won't happen. >> there are some reasons to do it now that have everything to do with politics and will and the first year of a president's term being sometimes the only time that he can really get something done. let me read one more piece from

ted kennedy's "newsweek" piece he wrote. the cause of my life is the title. if we don't reform the system, if we leave things as they are health care inflation will cost far more over the next decade than health care reform. we will pay far more for far less with millions more americans uninsured or under insured. i believe the bill will pass and we will end the disgrace of america as the only major industrialized nation in the world that doesn't guarantee health care for all of its people. it's the cause of his life. it's also, andy card, an issue. is it a moral issue that we have this situation that's still in play? >> that is a wonderful statement and it's a great goal to have but there are some practicalities that have to be considered. do you want people who currently have health coverage to have their health coverage reduced? do you want the cost for people who will have reduced health coverage to go up so

dramatically to increase coverage for people who don't have it now to put a burden on the taxpayers and put a bigger burden on the federal government? do you want the government to get between the doctor and patient? all of those are in the details of that very noble call that ted kennedy is making but it's the details that make a difference and impact the viability of our economy and the health care systems that can be worked to meet the needs of individual patients. >> these are good questions, harold ford jr. we saw kathleen sebelius on "meet the press" and she called it a work in progress. we know work still need to be done. is it a flawed plan? is there something that they can push through that actually cuts costs and does all the things that the president is committed himself to do or are we just rushing something? >> when you're against something, you can always argue that we're rushing. i respect andy card. i think he wants a health care reform bill. some republicans don't. there are two things we can't

deny. one, our current system doesn't work and as much as we argue and complain about the president's plan, the democrats' plan creating this and causing this problem, 46 million americans without health insurance, 25 million under insured and frankly this president has been able to extract concessions from insurance companies and enjoys the endorsement of the american medical association which democrats, my ten years in the congress we never enjoyed that support for any health care reform bill. two, if we don't do something now on health care, the costs will grow and grow and grow. again, i wish senator kennedy was healthy enough. this senate and congress need to find a way to come together, democrats and republicans, and get something done. and as much as andy is concerned about doctors coming between -- government coming between doctors and patients, i'll let you know now, there are stories across this country with insurance companies coming between doctors and patients and precluding patients from enjoying the kind of medical treatment they deserve. that needs to be fixed and this bill puts us a long ways towards doing that. >> oh, boy.

andy card, ten seconds or less. >> we have to take a look at tort reform as well. >> i would agree. >> andy, stick around. you guys foe at this point 40 years ago today man stepped foot on the moon and i want to read from another piece that aired -- that was in "the daily news" over the weekend by buzz aldrin, one of those men on the 40th anniversary of our lunar journey, it's time we challenged ourselves to be bold and explore the true unknown. mars for america's future is where we should be headed. the best way to commemorate "apollo 11" not to replay the past but call the next generation to make some new history of its own. at 7:45 eastern time we'll talk to buzz aldrin about that, about his book and why he thinks the moon is a dead end and we ought to be going elsewhere. andy, stay with us. coming up, dan rather and doris kearns goodwin. we'll talk to them about health care reform and the passing of walter cronkite and the state of

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apparently this happened over 20 years ago when a nasa employee -- i'm not making this up -- erased the moon landing footage and recorded over the tapes. that was in the news today. yeah. actually a little bit of the original footage survived. let's take a look. >> i'm going to step off now. that's one step for man, one giant leap for man -- ♪ just take those old records off the shelf ♪ ♪ i'll sit and listen to them by myself ♪ >> what was that? you record "alf" over the moon landing. you're just kicking yourself. >> prioritize. let's go to some sports now. as you can tell by the dramatic

music it is time for sports. tom watson on the verge of history yesterday. everybody was rooting for him. he was great for 71 holes. all he needed was a par on the final hole. watson in position to become the oldest player to ever win a major. one main challenger fellow american stewart cink. to the 18th hole, cink with the birdie putt gets him seven to 2 under. still, all watson had to do was par that 18th hole. it all came down to this. a par putt for the win and history. not even close. watson fell into a four-hole pl playoff with cink and that was not pretty. the third playoff hole the wheel just coming off for the five-time open winner watson. yanks his tee shot into the thick rough. he actually ended up losing the playoff by six strokes on four holes. he double bogeyed that hole. the final hole of the playoff stewart cink making the most of his moment in the spotlight, a beautiful approach shot just

feet from the hole. finishing with a birdie to win the open. the claret jug belongs to stewart cink, his first major title. afterward tom watson couldn't hide the pain. i'm a huge stewart cink fan. georgia tech. it's been a long time coming. >> you're righting against -- >> stewart cink. >> you hate america. fair enough. >> last time i checked georgia and alabama part of the united states. >> get behind the story. the is ath stage of the tour de france alberto contador took the overall lead. armstrong moves up to second overall, 97 seconds behind contador. armstrong said he's now too far behind and he's just riding to help contador win the tour. no eighth title for lan. to baseball, phillies going for eight straight wins. top of the second, raul ibanez

having a monster season. shane victorino. phillies were up 3-0 at that point. jimmy rollins joining the hit parade later on. doubles to left. scoring carlos reid right there. phillies 4-0. they cruised to a 5-0 win. their eighth straight win. huge lead in the national league east. phillies are, of course, one of the main contenders in landing rahal day, the rumor of trade. the blue jays ace freezing j.d. drew of the red sox with an outside fastball for his first strikeout. bottom of the second, halladay's catcher barajas along the left-field line. lyle overbay, alex rios both score. 2-1, toronto. that's all halladay needed. complete game, six hit, no walks, seven strikeouts. jays beat the red sox 3-1. so with the red sox loss, the yanks now trying to clinch -- n inch closer to first place in the a.l. east. a-rod hits a bomb to left center field. his 19th home run of the year.

ties the game at 1-1. then the yankees' mark teixeira, huge free agent signing here, giving the bombers the lead for good with a blast to right field, his 23rd home run of the year. in the top of the ninth, a tight game. what do you do? bring in mo. mariano rivera comes in, gets santiago coming up here into a routine grounder. i swear it's coming. there it is. cano makes the play. the yankees win 2-1, sweep the tigers out of the all-star break and pull within one game of the boston red sox in the a.l. east. in horse jumping news -- >> what? >> a dog interrupted a competition over the weekend. >> oh, no. is that a jack russell? >> it looks like it. >> i thought the dog was part of it. >> he darted onto the field. he didn't try to leap over the gates. >> nip at the heels. >> chasing the horse around the course. maybe motivating the horse, who

knows. >> oh, yes, he was. >> let's see if the rider keeps going. >> that horse is not going to stop. >> it's the gate. scared the dog. >> they like to run. >> eventually taken off the field. wow. >> i love those dogs. i mean, we need to get one. >> it's good whenever we get moroccan horse jumping. >> i try to get my husband to get another dog. >> coming up next, a little news you can't use. this is huge. huge paula abdul breaking news. >> what? >> straight up now tell me. >> yeah, right. >> tell me now. >> how did you know that? stop. that's the first pop culture reference you've ever made. >> straight up, now tell me, willie. >> don't miss it. huge news. ♪ the $9 icebreaker. walmart announces select eyeglass frames for just $9 -- and they have a 12-month guarantee. back to school costs less at walmart.

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has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. does two jobs... at once. one: kills weeds to the root. two: forms a barrier, preventing new ones for up to four months.

oh, yes. is it time? >> it's time for news you can't use. >> that's good. >> coming up within the hour talking to buzz aldrin and other people who have walked on the moon. this is the day to pay tribute to our pace program. >> 40 years ago today. >> man stepped foot on the moon. so let's start here with a little space news. >> sure, sure. >> the international space station turns out the toilet's broken. >> what? wait a minute. >> they have two cans up there. one of them flooded. >> all right. >> and they have a major problem up there. >> i'm uncomfortable. you have six people vying for one toilet. mission control, their technical suggestion to the crew, hang an

out of service sign on the front until we can figure out what to do. they're working the problem. we should point out this is a joint effort, the space station, and this was the russian-made toilet. there's a surprise. >> that's a good clarification especially when we are celebrating a momentous day in history. >> i think buzz aldrin would be excited to hear us talk about that. do you think he would be excited to hear about the wiener mobile? >> who was driving? a woman or a man? >> just look at the video. when you're making a turn in a driveway, when you're driving the oscar mayer wiener mobile you have to watch your clearance on something like that. a three-point turn is one of the hardest to do. this guy was trying to turn around in the driveway while he was in fact driving -- >> it was a guy? it wasn't a girl texting her boyfriend? >> it was a girl. i was trying to protect. it was a girl driving. that unsuspecting family suddenly had a wiener mobile in the car. >> women wiener drivers.

>> this is the big paula abdul story. >> what? straight up, now tell me. >> over the last couple of weeks we've heard simon cowell was going to get a deal for more than $100 million to return. we heard last week ryan sea crest was going to come back at $15 million per. >> pretty good. >> a $45 million deal. paula abdul hasn't been getting too many calls. producers of "american idol" so her representative says, here is the breaking news, friends, paula abdul may not return to "american idol." >> that's a big deal. i will tell you i thought when they put that other lady next to her that was the beginning. >> her manager says she is being disrespected. they haven't even approached her about a new contract. she wants a little respect. >> those people are making a lot of money. the show makes a lot of money. >> mass audience like no other television program except for this one. >> does she have an argument that's legitimate? i mean, she was one of the sole

people who started the show and the only woman. >> i bet they'll come to her. >> they like to create this paula where paula gets dissed. i think it's all premeditated. >> simon cowell is the producer. he started the show. they'll come to her. this is all drama. >> why has it taken them so long to step up for the woman? i'm just curious. >> she's a little crazy. they might be worried about her ability to show up to the program every week. but she is part of the show. >> she's part of the show and what she brings to the table -- >> she's not going anywhere. just a little bit crazy. >> but that was part of -- >> negotiating tactic. i'll leave if you don't pay me my $17 million. you know about that? >> i do. that's how i got my $17 million. >> a year, by the way. >> per hour, are you kidding me? keep us posted. >> i certainly will. >> all right. it is a minute past the top of

the hour. we have harold ford jr. here smiling. >> the thing about the $17 million, willie got it. >> you're calling your agent. >> i'm quitting now. >> another great cover story of "fortune" magazine, this issue. and willie geist, of course. joe scarborough is off today. we have a lot going on today. we have dan rather coming in. a great day to have him in given the passing of walter cronkite and also 45 minutes past the hour, buzz aldrin and, well, we can have three men who stepped on the moon 40 years ago today to talk about that experience, what it meant for history and also where space exploration should go now. some of them don't think it should be the moon. time now for a look at the top stories. let's stop there. the military is denouncing a video of a captured american soldier in afghanistan.

beowe bergdahl was taken hostag late last month near the border with pakistan. in the video the army private is prompted to call for the withdrawal of u.s. forces and express his worry he may never again see his family back in idaho. also in afghanistan two nato pilots are recovering with minor injuries after their fighter jet crashed on a runway this morning. just a day earlier a civilian helicopter crashed on the same airfield killing 16 people. officials say neither incident was caused by insurgent attacks. six months into office president obama's approval rating has dropped below the 60% mark for the first time. according to a new "washington post"/abc news poll, the president's approval rating stands at 59%, a six-point dip from last month. we still have andy card? >> yes. >> andy, what do you make of th this? is this the natural way of things within the first six months or does this strike you as having to do with what's going on in terms of spending? >> i think much of it is the natural change after an election and the euphoria over

inauguration but i also think president obama's rhetoric is being somewhat skewed in the public's mind by the reality of the policies. so the reality of the job and the rhetoric don't match. >> interesting. let's look at these numbers. when it comes to his handling of health care, 49% approve, down eight percentage points from april. we'll talk more about that coming up. despite the numbers the administration is taking on the issue of health care full force. the outreach includes public events, prime time news conference this wednesday and of course keeping the pressure on congress. >> this is the status quo. this is the system we have today. this is what the debate in congress is all about. whether we'll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more americans lose their coverage or whether we'll seize this opportunity,

one we might not have again for generations and finally pass health insurance reform this year. >> in san francisco federal investigators aren't sure why the operator of a train that crashed over the weekend switched off the autopilot just before the collision. they say the automatic controls could have prevented the crash. 48 people were injured. and in milwaukee bystanders risked their lives -- look at this video -- to rescue a mother and her two kids from a burning suv. a woman and a 2-year-old were pulled out first before an off-duty firefighter reached the toddler. they both suffered burns but are expected to live. that video, you see so many situations where people don't. that's amazing, some people being brave and getting in there. to our top talkers, peter orszag not mincing words about health care reform. >> the white house going into overright. david axelrod telling "the washington post" the president is now going to be very, very

visible. now is the time. we're passing him the baton. still says, the white house says, they want something done by august. they're stick iing to that. here is peter orszag. >> will both the house and senate meet the president's deadline and pass separate health care measures before they go on august recess? >> that is the goal. >> and what do you think are the chances? >> i think the chances are high. >> is the president going to get a bill out of the house and senate by the august recess? >> i don't think he should get the particular bills we've seen before august because they're not the right way to go. what's going on here, david, is perfectly clear. this is the same kind of rush and spend strategy we saw on the stimulus bill. this is a bill that shouldn't pass. >> over the next decade the house plan would increase

deficits by $239 billion. how much of an impediment is that to the white house? >> it has a big impact. the cbo saying this impact, what i hope congress will do is look at his numbers, try to determine where you can adjust the package right now to ensure the trajectory the cbo warned of could be averted. if we do that, you'll be able to win some of the blue dog democrats back and maybe some of the moderate senate support that might be wavering right now. >> what would get more broad republican support? would it be trying to do a little less and get something done that seems effective or is it the rush of it all? peter orszag is saying republicans want to kill this because they don't have better ideas. >> i think they have to do less and more. they have to do less in terms of

taxing. less in terms of getting a bureaucracy between a doctor and a patient and they have to do less in terms of really changing the nature of what works in our health care system rather than throw everything out and replace it with something that will be less overall in terms of good coverage. what they have to do more of, they have to do more appreciating what the unintended consequences might be to the economy. they have to demonstrate to the small business community this is not going to make it impossible to compete in a very competitive world. they have to do more to get tort reform as part of the solution rather than leave it off to the side. and they have to make tough choices with regard to spending. they have to do less and they have to do more but they don't have to do it fast. they need to be part of the solution rather than the problem. nobody is calling for the status quo to be the result.

people want to make a change here but it has to be done in a responsible way rather than just fast and irresponsible. >> okay. and, harold ford jr., jump in, but isn't there something to getting it done now in terms of the will being there and why can't it, as ted kennedy points out in his piece in "newsweek," tweaked and adjusted later? >> there can be arguments made for why something should not be done. i wish andy carr were a part of the negotiations in the house and senate. if you listened to mitch mcconnell with david gregory he said he wished a bill wouldn't get done before or after august. there seems to be some disagreement. if there's a good faith effort to be made on the republicans' part, i believe democrats will be willing to negotiate, to find an answer that will limit the burden on small businesses that will expand coverage and do what many democrats and a lot of republicans want which is to contain costs going forward. if card were a part of the

debate, we might have a better chance of winning republicans. for mcconnell to say no bill before or after august, this is a far more partisan effort than need be. >> that sounds like no bill to me. >> you're very kind. i'm kind of irrelevant right now, though. i do know that republicans really want to solve the problems. they're not looking to maintain the status quo but they do recognize there are important things that must be part of any viable health care plan. number one you can't get between the government and the patient. number two, you've got to make sure the small business community can function in this society because they're the engines that drive this economy and, number three, you can't gouge taxpayers, you have to make tough decisions. >> okay. we have to look at what's working. i would submit the part that does work high-end health care for people who can afford it. what's not working is the number

of uninsured continues to climb, 46 million, 47 million. it's going to be up. and the average deductible continues to outpace inflation so i feel if we don't start to address things, andy, very quickly like this year while the president is still in his first year of office and we're really going to lose an opportunity. you have to wonder about that. >> let me just, before we go to a break, switch topics. over the weekend we lost the most trusted man in america, walter cronkite died at the age of 92. he was at the helm of cbs news for 19 years and really developed a trust with the american people i think it's fair to say is unmatched. and the president spoke about the passing of cronkite. >> walter was always more than just an anchor, he was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day, a voice of

certainty in an uncertain world. he was family. walter invited us to believe in him and he never let us down. this country has lost an icon and a dear friend and he will be truly missed. >> mika, as we were talking about last hour, i'm too young to have lived through the cronkite era. >> you're a child of the news business. >> my father, of course, works at cbs and knew walter cronkite a little bit. the thing that strikes me studying history walter cronkite is inseparable from so many moments in history whether it's the assassination of jfk or the moon landing or the vietnam war. his voice is linked forever to those moments in history. >> and when he made that statement, he had that trip to vietnam, he was a hawk and he went to vietnam and he became -- i don't know if you could say a dove but at least the best we can do is a stalemate. >> i look forward to talking to dan rather about that.

he put his opinion out there on vietnam, a very well-informed opinion. >> it didn't seem politically motivated. >> it was crafted in a brilliant way. but having said that the birth of television play-by-play began with walter cronkite and his coverage of the kennedy assassination and there also is potentially a link between some sort of opinion television that started there with the most trusted man in news which now you could argue is watered down and broken down perhaps in a way that doesn't work for the good of the democracy. i would think that might be potentially his concern. i've heard some talk that he's made to different organizations talking about the state of journalism and it was his worry. this show, we try our best to do the opposite of what's happening out there which is have long conversations and actually really learn something about an issue and not just sort of visserally report.

>> soundbites, what we're talking about here, and that does run counter to an informed opinion or objective news gathering disseminating. there is a loss there. who do we turn to for that kind of information? >> well, and -- >> i would argue brian williams. >> i would definitely argue you could turn to "nbc nightly news" but i would also say in the greatest of honesty when you look at this business and what we do, we are constrained by a lot of different pressures. >> i would agree. >> the pressures that did not exist when there were just three networks and one place to go for news on television. so it's not just that the quality of personnel has diminished. i actually argue that's not the case. i think there are a lot of conflicting pressures, though. >> you're talk iing about the ratings game. >> ratings, competition, internet, cable versus network -- >> fragmentation. your cover story speaks to it.

>> that's mark andriese talking about twitter and that stuff is revolutionizing the news even as we speak and it's direct journalism, citizen journalism. >> i would argue there's something gained as well. we will get there. we'll talk to dan rather coming up. it's a fascinating conversation. andy card, thanks so much for being with us. larld ford jr., thank you as well, professor. coming up, the impact walter cronkite left on journalism and the man who succeeded him, dan rather, will be here in a few minutes. also today marks president obama's first six months in office. we're going to talk with presidential historian doris kearns goodwin about that. plus, it was a giant leap for mankind 40 years ago today. coming up former astronauts share their experiences of walking on the moon. and when we come back, the

latest headlines out of the white house with savannah guthrie. [ engine revving ] [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz,

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there are those who will oppose reform no matter what. we know the same special interests and their agents in congress will make the same old arguments and use the same scare tactics that have stopped reform before because they profit from this relentless escalation in health care costs. and i know that once you've seen enough ads and heard enough people yelling on tv, you might begin to wonder whether there's a grain of truth to what they're saying. i want to be very clear. i will not sign on to any health plan that adds to our deficits over the next decade. >> a reference to some people who yell on tv. we're not going to yell here. andy, inside voice, honey, okay. inside voice. >> i'm just going to keep it chill. >> we'll talk about health care but we will not yell.

here with us now nbc news white house correspondent -- i have to keep her from screaming at the top of her lungs sometimes, unbelievable. savannah guthrie joins us. good morning, savannah. inside voice even though you're outside. seriously, though, because this is really the key question about this deadline whether or not i would think we need to make this deadline. the president seems pretty committed. the ads are out there and we have this prime time news conference on wednesday night. he wants to make this happen, savannah. >> reporter: he does. you could really look at this as the first real test of his ability to persuade. his first test of political muscle. he's all in with health care and saying he wants congress to meet this august deadline. now there's always a little bit of wiggle room and they've left that wiggle room. at the same time they want this to happen now because they're on a schedule. the idea is, house, you pass your version. senate, pass your version. take your recess. by fall we'll debate a reform

measure. the notion being if you don't get it done this year then you're into 2010, then you're into midterm elections. this proposition does not become easier. it becomes harder. and that's the urgency from the perspective of the white house. republicans, of course, even some moderate democrats are saying we want to get it done this year, too, but let's not rush into it and have a rushed product. the president probably at the end of the day would be flexible but he's still trying to put the pressure on saying get this thing done. >> how tough has the republican -- well, the push against this by republicans been along with the cbo report that showed this could really hurt the economy, obama's health care reform plan, and then you have republicans preparing today, michael steele talking about a new campaign, about obama's health care plan coming up at 9:00 this morning. is there concern, the republicans, to perhaps drag out this process and put off and

potenti potentially some would argue it's a good idea, put off this getting done. >> reporter: a couple thing. they certainly have the power to do that if the white house and democrats in congress are still pursuing a bipartisan bill. now the senate finance committee we are all waiting with baited breath to see what it comes up with. matt baucus had indicated last week he might have a deal done by the end of the week. that didn't happen so they're still meeting privately. so if it's a bipartisan deal the republicans and those moderate democrats have a lot of sway, maybe have that ability to draw it out. in they throw their hands up and say, look, we're going to do this under reconciliation rules, they don't need the 60 votes, they can do it with 50-plus-one, there's less power for republicans to do that. the issue of delays is important for the reason i mentioned. they feel the longer this waits, the tougher it is to do and that's why we see the president. have you noticed this ever-increasing intensity every single day last week including saturday out with some public

message on health care reform. it will continue this week. he's going to travel. he's doing the prime time news conference. the white house feels he is their most effective advocate and that's why they've got him out front and center. by the way i should mention, a little cross promotion, he's sitting down with meredith vieira on the "today" show, too. >> it's not just republicans he has to win over, too. some conservative democrats who are concerned about deficits soaring under this plan. what is he doing exactly, the president and the white house, to win them over? >> reporter: well, look, what they say is the president does not want to sign a bill that either increases the deficit or increases health care costs over the long term. and that's all well and good except for the fact the congressional budget office, nonpartisan, independent, came out with a pair of reports last week that suggest the legislation currently on the table does the exact opposite. the director told the congressional committee last week not only do all the bills being considered right now do

they not reduce health care costs which is something the president has talked about as an economic imperative they may increase it. there was a report late friday that the house bill adds to the deficit. so these are two huge issues for the white house and for democrats to work through but what they would say is, hey, this is a work in progress. let the legislative process unfold. there's more work to do. at the end of the day this bill, the president would sign will be deficit neutral and will control costs. >> that's what secretary sebelius was saying on "meet the press" it's still a work in progress. the question is, can they get it done? is is a van, a thank you very much. talk to you soon. coming up next, presidential his torial doris kearns goodwin and dan rather will be right back with more "morning joe." at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick

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rather in place. i have to do the news now in front of dan rather. welcome back to "morning joe." just before 7:30 on the east coast. time for a quick look at some of today's top stories. the u.s. military condemning a taliban video of a captured american soldier in afghanistan. 23-year-old bowe bergdahl was taken hostage last month near the border with pakistan. iran's opposition leader mir hossein mousavi is calling on government officials to release protesters detained last month during last month's disputed presidential election. in a message posted on line mousavi said the protesters have been denied access to attorneys while disputing claims they are linked to foreign countries. and frank mccourt, the former public schoolteacher who earned fame as author of "angela's ashes" died from complications of cancer. frank mccourt was 78 years old. we'll be right back with doris kearns goodwin and dan rather right here in the studio. [ engine revving ]

[ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you. introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less,

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i'll be back from time to time with special reports and every week with our science program "universe." old anchormen don't fade away they just keep coming back for more. and that's the way it is, friday, march 6th, 1981. i'll be away on assignment and dan rather will be sitting here for the next few years. good night. >> you know, real anchormen always come back for more. here with us now the man who succeeded walter cronkite as the anchor of the "cbs evening news," dan rather. host of "dan rather reports."

it's great to have you here. >> great to see you. >> thank you for coming in. presidential historian doris kearns goodwin, team of rivals. doris, thanks for joining us as well. with the first six months of the obama presidency behind us, we'll talk about that coming up but first the passing of walter cronkite. dan, watching some of the retrospectives with my daughter it was like uncle walter taking our hand and walking us through history. your thoughts on his passing? >> first of all, he walked us through history and i think that for the rboomer generation he represents a time line of the boomer generation's history right through the building of the berlin wall, the kennedy assassination, the civil rights movement, vietnam, watergate. he walked us right through that. i think it's been said and it

can't be emphasized too much walter, when you say why walter cronkite, why all this fuss about him? number one, he helped more than any other person, helped invent modern television. set the standard. he really believed in quality journalism of integrity and he lived it. he breathed it. one reason he connected with the american audience so well, one reason he became the most trusted man in america he really had a passion for covering news and presenting the news and it showed. i think the public connected with that. i know people born after maybe 1980, 1981 say what's the big deal about this guy? but he connected in a trustworthy way that no one before or since with the possible exception of the late great ed merrill even came close to accomplish. >> doris, i'd love to hear from you. as dan touched on, play-by-play television journalism was born with walter cronkite and of course his reporting on the

assassination of president kennedy and he walked us through that through key moments in our history when the country needed someone like him. >> no question about that. think about the ritual that used to be for american households of listening to the evening news and knowing that everyone else was listening to that same voice at the same time. that gave an extraordinary sense of power but more importantly he created credibility, people really did trust him. as people said over and over again when he began to question the war in vietnam lbj knew i've now lost middle america if i've lost walter cronkite. he was a great character. i interviewed him not too many years ago because he asked me to interview him in a speech at the university of lowell in massachusetts and beforehand he said to me now i have a little problem hearing so make sure you speak loud. i said to him, well, if that's your only problem you're in great shape. he said, who said that's my only problem? it was great. and then he turned the interview around to ask me, now what was

really going on with you and lbj? oh, god, what did i get into? >> playful. >> doris mentioned that ritual every night. so many people in the retrospectives you hear about dinner didn't start until walter said that's the way it is, you shut often the tv and go eat dinner. for someone of my age that's simply not the way it's been. >> it's not the way it is. >> it's not the way it is. you get the news instantly on your blackberry or on the web. you can get it at any moment now. i just wonder what you think walter thought, as you talked to him later in his life, about the current media climate. >> what a good question because i did talk to him about it. i remember going to his home, at that time on the upper east side of new york, and he sat in his den and the purpose of the session was me to say to him, walter, if you're not ready to go, you don't have to go. i won't take it. he almost interrupted me mid

sentence. he said, dan, i can't wait. he wanted to go out top as he well deserved to do. and we had a conversation about how the television news cosmos was changing. he said you have no idea how competitive it's going to be and he pointed out he had much of his career it was a two polar war, nbc and cbs. abc was beginning to come on very strong and walter knew that. he said you're going to have trouble with abc. cnn had just started. the whole television news cosmos was just changing and he knew it. and he said you have no idea how hard you're going to have to fight, how competitive it's going to be. he was very much aware of that and because he wanted to go out on top, he really wanted to go. now it's true that like a lot of people who retire shortly after he retired he said to himself, i think i left too soon and he was not happy about that. >> well, let's talk about that television news cosmos.

he was part of the birth of play-by-play television journalism and you could also argue opinion. he put out his opinion there on vietnam. what we have today is live play-by-play tv all the time and lots of visceral opinion. >> well, that is true. while walter did give his opinion on the vietnam war, that was an exception for him. he believed in being an honest broker of information and not weaving his opinion and his views, giving his opinion, and that's one reason what he said about vietnam was so effective because it was so unlike walter cronkite. you mentioned something about play-by-play which is worth noting. walter was a tremendous ad-libber and he made the anchor position such that you couldn't really aspire to be a network anchor unless you were a strong ad-libber as in play-by-play person he had been before. robert trout, the big radio name in cbs news for a long time and, by the way, once they tried to replace walter cronkite with a

combination of bob trout and roger mudd but troutt was a great ad-libber so much so franklin roosevelt once stayed below deck on ship just to say how long can he go? cronkite carried that further. he became the ultimate ad-libber. >> and i think what's so impressive with his gravitas, he wasn't a pretty boy but he was extremely talented and worked hard. that was so singular about him that he had this work ethic and yet he was so talented and that's a pretty unbeatable combination. >> doris? >> i was just going to say, mika, we had dinner on saturday night with senator george mcgovern, his 88th birthday. he told us a fabulous story about cronkite. in '72 when he was elected and the question of who should be vice president, he really began to think what about walter cronkite and, oh, no, he'll

never go across the line but he later found out cronkite said you should have asked me. i would have said when do i report? and that would have been a huge change in our history possibly and mcgovern said it made him so sad when cronkite died remembering what might have been if something like that had happened. >> okay. so there is a lot of questions i have for both of you about the state of journalism and how it has evolved, dan. what do you think walter would have thought of the michael jackson coverage, for example? and if you don't feel comfortable answering for him, i'd like your opinion on it. my gut is he wouldn't have wanted to take part in it. prolonged. >> listen, i never am so prumt use but i think it's clear he would have been appalled by it. he would have turned the set off. >> keeping in mind he covered the beatles, he covered the pop culture. we're talking about the long drawn-out wallowing coverage. different, right? >> very different. and walter stood for -- in fact, he set the stage.

not many entertainment values overwhelming news values. for example, when elvis presley died in the mid-1970s, my recollecti recollection, walter covered it on the news but it was pretty far down in the news. looking back at it they could say they made a news judgment mistake at the time but it spoke worlds about how strong walter felt. listen, we are serious people. we're not serious about ourselv ourselves. walter cronkite had a serious sense of humor. we're serious about our work not ourselves and we're here for serious journalism. if he was going to err, he would err on the side of going with hard news as opposed to the smack of entertainment. >> and restraint of a ratings grab. >> walter understood it very well. i have these member ras as several people have written since, he loved to sit down to play the piano. he had a player piano.

and he would sing along with the player piano. not very well, i must say. >> i love these stories. >> he'd dance. he had this strange dance. >> i saw some footage of that. >> even half of an adult beverage and he would break into this dance and we would all move away. >> doris, give us a sense especially given the latest approval ratings we're seeing on president obama of president obama's first six months in office, how he's doing and how important health care reform is to, i guess, the success of the first year in office for this president. >> oh, i think one of the most interesting things in that latest approval rating was that even though some of his approval had slipped on various issues attributes remain high. seven out of ten people think he's a strong leader and you think that he's in command much of the situation even if one doesn't agree with what he's

doing and two years ago nobody could have guessed that a rookie president would have that level of command but you're absolutely right that everything i think now is in the eye of the storm of health care and i think he seems to realize right ly that e has to take a much more ratcheted up emotional pressuring role in it. i think what happened when he first came in that he had two goals, one was sweeping reform and the country elected him for that. also he wanted a new method of governing for congress to have more bipartisanship, give them their place in the sun. he's allowed them to come up with the initial plan for health care. lbj said the president comes in in reserve. you can't come in too early. once you come in, you come in with all barrels flashing or whatever that metaphor is. and now is the time for him to put pressure on individual congressmen and senators. he should be calling them up at 3:00 a.m. in the morning like lbj used to. he's the one who has to put pressure on their district by having the ads out there. i think he's got to make it clear he's going to draw the line in the sand if there are

certain things in that bill that are not there. it's hard to do that at the beginning. i think now he's going to do it. >> we'll see what happens. also a prime time news conference wednesday night. doris kearns goodwin, thank you very much. nice to see you. >> you are very welcome. >> and dan rather, stick around if you could. still ahead, more on the showdown over health care with house majority whip james clyburn joining us. but first, one giant anniversary, moon walkers will join us right here on "morning joe." welcome to the now network. population 49 million. right now, 1.5 million people

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i'm going to step off the lander. it's one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind. >> still gives you chills, doesn't it? >> it's amazing. >> today marks the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. in honor of that historic day we're very excited. we have the second man to walk on the moon, "apollo 11's" buzz aldrin joined by "apollo 12" and apollo 16" astronauts. gentlemen, thank you all for being with us this morning. >> my pleasure.

>> buzz, >> buzz, i will start with you. describe if you could to mere mortals what it's like to set foot on the surface of the moon. >> well, i want you to know that i was thrilled, proud and happy. we were struck by the mag n lifelessness that was there. and it described to me. it was surreal. it was like imagination, but it was real. everybody up there, out there and back there on the surface of

the earth were paying attention to two people that two people were further away. and it was -- big brother was watching. if we made a mistake, we would have to live with it. we were focused on everything that we were doing. we learned to suppress motions, and uncertainty, and what is on the checklist and how do we carry out the mission. >> allen bean, share with us some of your reflections. what was the objectives of the "apollo 12" mission, and tell us what it looked like to look back at the earth from where you were standing? >> well, it seemed incredible.

i thought that was this big, and i thought it was going to be this big. and i thought we -- somebody in mission control has got to get us on the right course to intercept it. i thought i have to get out here and collect a few rocks and put out experiments and do whatever my commander tells me to do. this was a great adventure for my generation. the question in my mind is what is the great adventure for the next generation? what do they do? it's up to them to move forward. we did something. it's their turn. >> wow! >> and charlie duke, you were out there for 71 hours. what do you think we ought to do this new generation? >> my experience was like these other two guys, and all 12 of us

that walked on the moon it was a thrilling adventure. we landed in the mountains of the moon, and our landing area was very, very rough. and johnie and i had a rover that we drove around. it was awesome, exciting, adventure. i was on an emotional high for 71 hours. i look back now and can almost remember every step it was so exciting. the future that i see is hopefully a challenge to the next generation to return to the moon and then on to mars. i think the human spirit wants to take us out there. that's the exploration. columbus came to america. we did not stop coming to america. they kept coming to america. i think the same way we should continue to go out in space, and find out all that is out there

and the knowledge will be beneficial to all. it will inspire -- the wonder will inspire everybody. >> a question from buzz, "the long journey from the moon." you write it's not so easy. can you tell us about that on a personal level? >> well, i wanted to return to the air force and be the first astronaut to go back to the air force. i thought it would be a good transition, and i had been there, and i did not choose a route of testing airplanes for my career, but i was selected by nasa because of my looking forward, analyzing what we have done and what we could do in the future a little bit better. i went to the best pilot school, and that's what the air force

wanted. that began a questioning of what it really is i ought to be doing. i had to deal with inherited problems of depression and alcohol. i moved past that. and now the greatest challenge in my life really is take my experience and express it as best i can into what we should be doing in the future. >> and going to mars and beyond is something you would like to see. that's something that you would like to talk to the president about. thank you all so much for being with us and sharing your stories. we appreciate it. >> we'll be right back with house majority whip, james clyburn, on "morning joe." (mom) soon, we'll be doing homework,

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top of the hour. we are still talking about dan rather about the moon landing and history, but here is los angeles live where people are probably sleeping.

las vegas, let's go there. i thought perhaps we would see willie there teaching george -- >> nobody is sleeping there. >> definitely not. let's go to seattle. why not another useless shot -- that's not seattle, and that's not useless. that's washington, d.c. let's go to the city of brotherly love, philadelphia, and then right here to new york where at 30 rockefeller plaza we are broadcasting "morning joe" with dan rather, and willie geist and me, and joe scarborough is off today. we will talk about health care reform. a lot of debate as to whether or not this is a rush job, and some saying the republicans are trying to kill this thing and they don't have a better alternative. and more on the passing of walter cronkite and the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. first, a look at today's top

stories. the u.s. military is denouncing the video of a captured soldier in afghanistan. he was taken hostage last month. in the video the army private is prompted to call with the withdrawal of u.s. forces and express his worry he may never again express his family back in idaho. and two jets crashed on a run way this morning. and just a day earlier, a civilian helicopter crashed. and obama's approval rating dropped below the 60% mark for the first time. and the president's approval stands at 59%, a dip from last month. when it comes to handling of health care, 49% approve.

and the out reach includes public events, and a primetime news conference this wednesday, and of course keeping the pressure on congress. >> this is the status quo. this is the system we have today. this is what the debate in congress is all about. whether we will keep talking and letting this problemfester as more families and businesses go under, and more americans lose coverage, or we will seize this opportunity. and finally pass health insurance reform this year. >> but the negotiations are set to resume today between governor schwarzenegger and top lawmakers, and it comes as the state continues to hand out ious. a private funeral service is scheduled on thursday for walter

cronkite. he died at the age of 92 after a long illness. and a separate service is planned at the performing arts. now, is the president setting himself up for failure or is there a possibility we could see true reform within the coming months? >> the possibility is there, and it's odds against. my own opinion is generally not worth any more than the guy at the end of the bar, and he either gets it this year or he doesn't get it. a lot of democrats have the willies about this, because the tax increases involved. the president, as doris kearns goodwin said earlier, there

should be no delay. i think it's odds against partly because so many democrats are appearing for constituents, particularly small businessman cannot afford a tax increase. and i know health and center is front and center. i think it depends on his ability to create jobs. he knows the original stimulus package was not large enough, and it's all about for him, jobs, jobs, jobs. and if one were david axelrod, i suspect he would bring that back. if we don't get people back to work, we will be in trouble for the 2010 off year election, and in trouble for 2012. >> kennedy has a compelling piece in this week's "newsweek."

let's bring in to the conversation, democratic representative from south carolina, congressman james. >> we will most be talking about this primetime news conference on this wednesday evening will be who pays for the plan and also does it hurt the economy, especially given the information that got out of the budget office last week. is this plan too faulty to rush through, sir? >> i don't think that we are rushing. to begin with, remember, since teddy roosevelt, we have been talking about health care. that was one of the things he regrets most. we had 79 hearings here since we

have taken over. 45 hours of mock-up in three commissions. 3 of 5 committees already reported something out. one in the house and senate left. we will have mock-up for the next two days. and cbo is not scoring a big part of the bill on the second side. we understand that. we believe the savings are in the system. we don't need to have any kind of money coming into the system if we were to score these savings. so i believe that we are going to have a bill by wednesday that will satisfy most of the people in the country simply because we think that the money is already in the system to do the reform that is needed. >> some republicans may not be

too satisfied, willie. >> yeah, a lot of people wondering why the rush for the august deadline? some are saying let's put on the breaks a minute. i want you to listen to this talking about the need for the august deadline, and senator mitch mcconnell after that. >> will the house and senate meet the deadline and pass measures before they go on recess. >> that is the goal. >> what do you think of the chances? >> i think the chances are high. >> is the president going to get a bill out of the house and senate by the august recess? >> i don't think that he ought to get the particular bills that we have seen out of the house or senate before august, because they are not the right way to go. what is going on this is the same rush and spend strategy we saw on the stimulus bill. this is a bill that should not pass at any point, either before the august recess or later in the year. >> i guess the question,

congressman, is what is the rush? >> there is no rish. we had 79 hearings, and 45 hours of mock-up, and still two days of mock-up taking place in the house, and let me just say this. we believe very sincerely that if both the house and the senate were to complete initial work about the time relief for the august break, then our staffs can get together during the august break, and try to reconcile differences, and then come back in september and let us work on a conference report that everybody can be satisfied with. so i really believe that we are going through a very good process here. it's slow. it's deliberate. and it is hard, but it gets harder next year. >> congressman, dan rather is with us, and one of the things that is talked about in the

"newsweek" article, pass it, and we can adjust and improve it later. do you have a question for the congressman? >> well, my question is how much is president obama investing in this in terms of what i will call the lbj system, of calling congressman and senators in the middle of the night, is he hitting the boards, to use a basketball term here, or is he working the levels in congress, which you and i both know he has to do if he has any chance to get this passed? >> well, dan, thank you so much. i believe that he really is. i have not spoken to him -- i got a phone call from him after he got back from his overseas trip. i have been talking to other people, and they have been sitting with him and his staff. he has been on the telephone with people. i think that he is doing exactly what he needs to do to get this done. and i might add, i think both

sides of the aisle -- on the house side at least, both want to see a reform take place. i do believe that we are going to get where we need to be, at least close enough for things to get worked out during the august break, and sometimes in september before october, we will get a conference report that will satisfy the vast majority of the american people. >> so it sounds like, first of all, it seems to me you are looking like beyond the august deadline that the president just laid down, which is interesting. i want to ask you about your actual dealings with republicans and your counterparts on the other side of the aisle. what kind of concerns do they have. >> well, the republicans i have spoke with are very concerned about the surcharge. i am concerned about that, too. i have had listening sessions working with john lawson, and we

have had six listening sessions with our members, and we have come away from the sessions believing that we can do this with the savings that we will get out of the system. if we don't get the scoring from cbo, we can still do the plan as we envision the savings to be. i don't think that we have to have the surcharge at all. a lot of democrats on my side of the aisle believe that. and because we think that there is a chance that some to come down the road, we could have a trigger in there for a millionaire tax cut, a trigger that we don't think will ever need to be pulled. that's what we are working on. i do believe that we can do this. by the way, i am saying the house can finish their work before august, but the president always envisioned having conferences and doing the august break and coming together with a

conference report in september. >> dan rather, let's talk about that august deadline. ted kennedy calls this in "newsweek" the cause of my life. and he says we are working with republicans to make it a bipartisan effort. >> dan, talk about if you think there is one, the political necessity, to get this done now. >> well, certainly from president obama's standpoint, he put so much of his capital behind this. i think you -- from what the congressman was just saying, i

think the stimulus will not be part of the bill. and the president is not going to get it by august, and it will flop over into at least september. the core of the argument here with republicans almost to a person and with many democrats is yes we need it, and everybody applauds center kennedy, but how are we going to pay for it? and nobody has come up with the calculation of how it gets paid for. we may get a bill through, and i think it's odds against, and i think senator kennedy's point is get something through. put the marker there and work out the details later. but the details on how to pay for this is a national debate. >> it's something the congressman that want to understand and they want to feel this is not going to go into the deficit, which the president committed this will not add to the debt.

but then again, shouldn't everybody pay a little, or should it just be one facet of our economy? >> well, everybody is paying right now. the deductibles are being paid for my everybody. and they are being paid for by everybody. every family with insurance paying $1,200 or more on premiums. we are paying for this now. i wish people would focus that we are trying to pass a bill that is for everybody, so that we can drive down the costs, and get these spiraling copayments and deductibles out of the system and get rid of the so-called doughnut hole that is having an undue burden on our seniors. we cannot afford not to do this. i believe that everybody is

paying now. we are trying to get to the point where nobody will have to pay much more at all. >> that is such a good point, true. dan, i mean, the bottom line is one way or another, we are paying for our nation's health care prices. >> and that is the strongest practical political argument for getting it through. i have to say as a guests, only a guest, i don't think that is permeating to most people. most people look at it and say i am a small business and i cannot afford an 8% surtax. and they are not going to raise the taxes of people making $250,000 a year, and it will go to $1 million a year. and this is something they have to get through. you are paying for it now. >> exactly. >> but people are feeling hurt by higher deductibles, and more red tape and less care. that's whatever american is

experiencing right now and it is increasing over the past couple decades. if we put off dealing with the problem, we may not see like what we saw on wall street, but it needs to be addressed. >> and we talked about this last week, and it was the assessment that the plan ask in health care reform could not be constructing the economy. it's all about jobs. we are not seeing them as a result of the stimulus yet. we are seeing glitches with the stimulus, and this was another program rushed on us. and before that it was the bailout. do you see how there could be a little bit more public concern about this. >> absolutely. >> policy fatigue. >> yeah, that's the reason why i said, jobs, jobs, jobs. people are most worried about the economy, and they worry

about health care and they worry about it a lot, but unless the president can demonstrate that his policies are going to create jobs, and get unemployment down and the economy starts to move ahead, there will be a concern of, well, gosh, i really want to change health care, but can we afford it. >> not just create jobs, but create the kinds of jobs we are losing and create new jobs. there are different sectors for people losing jobs that cannot find work now. >> the idea, the perceptions large with the public that he has helped the banks, but he has not helped people at the lower edge of the economic system. he has to stop the momentum in that direction. whether he can argue it's unfair or true, but that is the public perception. he helped the banks a lot, but not the people at the lower economic scale. >> the unemployment rate continued to climb, and that has

to reverse. can you say the financial system is better, but unless people have jobs and get back to work, really the economy has not improved. it can be a lagging indicator. and they don't care about lag, and they just want to get back to work. >> health care reform certainly a tall order. and congressman clyburn, you brought up the idea at the end of the day, we are already paying for it. and that's something that we need to hear as we balance out the pluses and the minuses of what is on the table. thank you very much. dan rather, thank you as well. >> thank you for having me. >> coming up, political correspondents from the "new york times." why he says president obama's agenda is like listening to an ipod on shuffle. we will have him explain that. and will the relic continue on

wall street? we will talk to mark haines. and then we will take you in the new series "the wanted," and tracking down terrorists and war criminals. that's all coming up. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. undefeated professional boxer floyd "money" mayweather has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't.

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there are those that will oppose reform no matter what. we know the same special interests and their agents will make the same arguments and use the same scare tactics that

stopped reform before because they profit from the relentless escalation in health care cost. i know once you have seen enough ads, you might begin to wonder whether there is a grain of truth to what they are saying. i want to be clear. i will not sign on this any health plan that adds to the deficits over the next decade. >> health care, just one of the items you can download from the obama agenda. >> only if you use your inside voice. no yelling on tv. >> and joining us now is matt bai.

matt, good to have you with us this morning. >> thanks, i am trying to wake up. nice to see you guys. >> try to wake up, because we need you to explain this. >> we magazine holders have a whole different thing. >> well, tell us about this. >> traditionally we expect new presidents to tell a consistent and sequential story. it's one or two big things and you work on the one thing and you get that done and then move on to something else. and here the consistent complaint in washington there is no narrative or story, and why

doesn't he focus on one thing and then another thing. and that reflects the change in the society at large. we read books that are not character driven-long narratives. everything is sort of shuffled. and you are going to have a lot of things going on at once, and people can sort of customize that experience based on which part of it is most important to them. >> isn't there a peril to prenlting the topics that way? should he perhaps buckle down and focus as he has lately on health care? >> there is actually a pairil, and i think you see it in the poll numbers. his rating continued to be

impressive. but the approval ratings for the policies, cap and trade and wall street policies and others lagging by anywhere from several points to double digits. what that tells you is that people really like the guy but not so vested in the policy ideas. and that's partly an issue of not focusing on anyone thing. and it's worth remembering. i don't think this president is jimmy carter, but it's worth remembering at the height of his decline and spy wul in the 1970s, americans thought president carter was a terrific guy but did not like the policies. >> that's an interesting parallel. >> yeah, they will love that at the white house. that will make me very popular. >> what about the concern, is there a public sentiment out there that is growing in terms of spending and our deficit, and, you know, $3.66 trillion. and this is not something that we can turn away from. >> yeah, and i think that there

is a concern among business people particularly that i talk to about the spending. and the amount of government intervention in the economy and our society. the question is do we deserve it, and is that something that we need or something that will pull us out of this. and my question formats, getting back to your point, do you think this is intentional by the president and his staff, do you think they are seeing a short attention span add society that we have now, and they are matching the president's strategy to have, and if so maybe he needs to use the genius function to further the ipod metaphor, and -- >> is it possible to take this metaphor too far. >> yeah, i did, and thank you very much. >> i don't think that it's purposeful. i think it's reflective of a younger president and staff. this is how the culture changes and politics tend to lag it. on the point of spending, and this is very important and this

goes back to most things do to the opening frame of a presidency. what you just heard him say on the video clip, i am not going to do health care that adds to the deficit. that's one argument. the other way they could have gone here is the way some of clintons advisors were pushing him to go and he did not either, and which is to say if you don't make the long-term investments we will have to borrow money and it will cost money. but they are required to grow economically. i don't know whether that would have been a better argument. they put themselves in a certain box on this, and now you hear the debate as the whip. congressman clyburn was talking about how much revenue needs to be in this and whether or not the spending and debt is tolerable and the savings are in the system. that's a result of putting yourself in the box and saying you have to pay for every penny of something that costs a huge

amount of money no matter when you do it. >> i don't think it's a shuffle strategy, but i think what he is talking about is it's a much younger administration, which is used to using all the communication mediums out there. and they are twittering, and talking about cable. this president is engaging with all sorts of television personalities, and people in the print media, and online media as well. and he is using it to get in there and roll up his sleeves and looking like he is having a conversation with us about these issues, whether he is or not. and wednesday night, a primetime news conference. and they are acting upon what they are seeing as what the conversation is about health care, and they are not afraid to jump in on every level. >> and you can bypass the mainstream media by going directly to the internet and youtube and blogging and doing

web videos, and twittering. you are being unfiltered. that's the president, raw, which speaks to a whole new way of communication. >> but all the twittering and youtubing in the world is not going to make the moderates or republicans like the health care plan. >> maybe the opposite. >> i believe they will get some bill, because only a suicidal party with these margins in congress with the promises they made would allow the thing to die entirely. i think the better question -- i could be naive about how suicidal the democrats to be, but we will talk about what kind of reform, and how much does it cost? the better question is what are they going to pass and are they going to be able to stand up and say we made a transformtive change in the health care system, versus the kind of expansions and tinkering they

have made. >> yeah, and people are going to have to give, and not everybody is going to be happy with this. but it's what it's going to take to get something done. matt bai, thank you so much for coming on the show. come back. >> thank you for having me on. i would love to. coming up, earnings continue to be the focus on wall street. we will check on business before the bell, with cnbc's mark haines when we come back. to si.

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welcome back to "morning joe." we are finally getting pay back in new york after a long june month of rain. the major indexes enjoyed 7% gains. and let's get a check on business before the bell with cnbc's mark haines. he is live at the new york stock exchange. hi. >> is everything all right? >> not really, no.

>> well, that long june of rain that you talked about, it triggered wiping out the tomato crops in the northeast. it's a fun gus that you cannot treat. there is a big article in the paper last week on it. >> okay. >> and i thought, oh, it's not my problem. and then i looked out in my garden, and it's my problem, too. >> it touched your life. >> yeah, now he cares. interesting. >> black hold, and blite, you just can't win. but you can win on wall street. is barnicle there? >> he is not. >> too bad, because there is not a single bit of bad news today. >> really? >> not a bit. a lender to small businesses,

they appear to be on the verge of a $3 billion rescue plan, so they don't have to declare bankruptcy. and there is a great drug now to treat lupis. and the leading economic indicators are going to come out later this morning, and expect it to be up for the third straight month, which indicates that the economy should be turning sometime toward the end of the year, and i mean turning for real. and there is just no bad news. >> this is unprecedented, mark. >> i have not seen a morning like this in two years. it's great. the futures are up five -- i wish i could go home. >> he is taking his happy pills. >> and it's all good. and in general, we are getting into the teeth of earning season, but so far in general the earnings have bench ben muc

better than expected. so it's all good. >> mark down this day. leave it to barnicle to miss all the good mornings. >> so you are feeling, at least today, good about the economy, despite everything that is going on, rising employment and the rest of it? >> no, no, i think the economy is in a lot of trouble. all i am saying is the news is all good. >> we have to distinguish the two things. mark haines -- >> have a good day. >> good luck as always. we wish you luck with your tomato garden. >> what just happened? >> well, we have something really exciting coming up, so let's just move on. >> and a new reality tv tracking down real-life war criminals and terrorists. it's a new series "the wanted"

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i am moving into the target area, and so please set up. >> they leave the house and go to work. this guy is unemployed. apparently he does not like to go out very often. >> you are trying to make sure nobody is eyeballing your vehicle. >> i have eyes on from the back. >> let's go! >> the car is crossing the red -- >> copy that! >> that was a clip from "the wanted," the controversial new series debuting tonight, where

investigators track down real life terrorists living in western countries. and courtney hazlett joins us as well. charlie, tell us why this show -- how it came together and how you are pulling it off? >> two years ago, the producer on the show we met and they told me about how there is hundreds of accused terrorists living in the u.s., and in europe. and at first it sounded like a bad "james bond" movie, and not reality. and it's happening. and we round tabled what we could do, and the series grew out of that. and the concept was could we nary journalism with excitement.

reality tv viewers. and be genre defined. >> how do you tow the line, and this will be entertaining, and you still have to get eyeballs watching it, but you don't want to trivialize this either? >> we have carsons, who spent his life as a man that trained the iraqi troops. and scott tyler, a navy s.e.a.l. that served his country with honor. what you do is you say you spent

your whole lives becoming experts in this area and take that thing and go and do the investigation. you are not a soldier but a diplomat, and how do you approach it? and we get the approach that ends up being more than investigators normally see. and we are honest because we break down the fourth wall. we have an entire to do it, and we make it looks like why the jason bourne. >> do you work with law enforcement? >> yeah, we try to get with local and state and even federal authorities to talk about the case, and get their perspective. if we're lucky, and these people are just accused, and if we are lucky we effect an arrest or legal confrontation. and oftentimes, however, governments refuse to take action, and sometimes the legal normals don't support it or a lack of willpower.

if there is not a lack of government willpower, you will see the legal norms have not caught up with where we are, and there are gaps that allow those accused of terror and war crimes to live like that. the communities that i care about, the special operations community and the people that i work with on capitol hill, we have had two screenings, and they have both been positive. they came back and saying it's good tv and journalism and something that needed to be done. >> we screened it on capitol hill last week, and everybody from the special's operations command, and across the board the biggest response we got was we have more targets for you. homeland security came

afterwards, and they are like we like what you have done and here are some thoughts. we are completely independent from the groups. when we go out and do it, we are not doing the arrests ourselves, we are doing the investigation and looking for a way for justice to occur. and that's really the difference there that allows us to be comfortable with the groups. >> when stories like this are told, one of the criticism when you are talking about terrorism or a political issue or health care, it's like great we understand that and what is the next step? now, the question is what is the next step? you don't want joe down the block to think that he works for national security and profiling people everybody down the block, so what do you expect? >> well, joe scmo did not spend the last 30 years perfect is that correcting the pursuit of justice. and the concept is these guys

are living free and they are untouched. and we are bringing in professionals saying what can we do to move the football down the field. that's how we got roger to do the show. >> in many cases, our show acted as a catalyst for government action. we shined a light on cases that have been dormant for years. and governments are now moving together to take action. >> that's exciting. >> and the reviews are not bad either, some saying "the wanted" could prove to be the needed. >> a highly-charged knockout. >> thank you for coming. >> good luck, tonight. >> catch "the wanted" series debuting tonight. >> when we come back, what, if anything, did we learn today? >> i am thinking. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick

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ask. willie, what did we learn? >> i learned that we talked to buzz today, and he said all eyes on mars, and forget the moon. >> and courtney, we are still picking up the pieces of my broken heart of tom watson not winning today. class act. he is so graceful, given that

situation. >> hard to watch that last one. >> picking up pieces of my broken heart. >> and the stewart sink fan club right here. and number two, the moon landing, the biggest story was the moon landing of the 20th century. >> and walter cronkite, one of his favorite stories. that was interesting to hear from dan rather. willie geist, got a question for you. headed to do radio, and if it's way too early, what time is it? >> "morning joe." and it's time, get ready, for the "morning meeting" with dylan ratigan. the meetings just keep coming, willie. i am dylan. good morning to you. welcome to the "morning meeti "

meeting." a u.s. soldier in the hands of the economy, as obama looks to make this his war. is this one example of the worse things they have gotten. and what are the american objectives in that country. and general joins the conversation. and mark sanford writing another love letter to his constituents to gain their trust. walter cronkite is dead. what about journalism, though, particularly in the 21st century? and is there a boom giving birth to a new journalism. would walter approve? >> is the space program worth the money we spend on it.

would you rather have free energy and no diplomacy in the middle east, or hangout on mars? >> i would like to do both, myself. the "morning meeting" begins right now. obviously, lots to cover. two hours of meeting today and for the balance of the week. we begin with the stories coming out of afghanistan. jim, what is going on. >> reporter: well, it contained a piece of good news. for the past three weeks, they had not heard at all from private first class burden doll.

and the analysts are exploiting the video to try and find any piece of information that might help them lead to the identity of the captors. on the tape itself, one of the captors say they represent the omar taliban network there in afghanistan, while the u.s. military thought it was a different network that grabbed up the soldier. the u.s. military is throwing all possible assets available in that region to try and find the soldier. we are told by military officials they do have some very good intelligence and they appear to be narrowing down the area of the search, but admittedly, they say they have no idea exactly where he is or when they might be able to possibly locate him, dylan. >> thank you, stay with me. jonathan joining the conversation. good morning to you. i am going to begin with