american tv and our movies, you think -- >> all that and more this hour on msnbc. good afternoon, everyone. i'm tamron hall. >> and i'm david shuster. tamron, good to be with you. as you know, when you're facing the political fight of your life, sometimes it helps to have a controversial opponent to focus on. and in our big picture today, as president obama tries to get health care reform moving before congress goes on summer recess in a few weeks, the white house is now trying to leverage an extremely controversial remark by south carolina republican senator jim demint. in a conference call on friday with conservative activists d demint said if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo, it will break him. president obama says now is not the time for politics because too many lives are at stake. >> this isn't about me. this isn't about politics.

this is about a health care system that is breaking america's families, breaking america's businesses, and breaking america's economy, and we can't afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. not this time, not now. >> but the president's approval rating on health care is slipping according to a brand new poll from "the washington post" and abc news. his handling of health care is down 8% from 57% to 49%. his disapproval is up to 44% from 29% back in april. savannah guthrie is nbc news white house correspondent. savannah, how concerned is the white house by the president's slippage on these numbers? >> reporter: well, i think they feel the heat. i think at the know health care reform has to get done this year if it will at all and i think they recognize and have recognized from the early days in this administration that those super high approval ratings wouldn't last for yrve. they know the president, his

popularity is likely to decrease from those highs at the start of the administration. and so they are trying to put him out and they recognize, of course, that those polls also show that he's still pretty personally popular. so they'll try to leverage that, make him the salesman for health care reform, and we see him everywhere these days. he's about to sit down in a few minutes with meredith vieira from the "today" show. also doing pbs. he's doing a prime time news conference on wednesday. thursday traveling to cleveland. i think we will see a lot of domestic trips where he's getting the debate out of washington and trying to get with real people. >> you mentioned earlier something that's fairly dramatic that everyone is waiting on, the senate finance committee led by max baucus. everyone is waiting to see what he's able to produce and whether it's got republican support or not. how significant is that piece of the puzzle to all of this? >> reporter: i think it's huge because i think it will tell whether or not there's any hope of a bipartisan deal, a deal that some republicans could sign onto, and, look, you know as well as anybody, the cbo, the

congressional budget office, an independent, nonpartisan office dealt a double blow last week to the obama administration and democrats on the hill finding that the current proposal would not reduce health care costs, and that they would over the long run and also would add to the deficit. and one of the things you would hear over here is, well, wait a minute, the lesion isn't complete. the senate finance committee hasn't come out with their plan and they have the financial part of this. so i think we'll also have to see that this is really where the rubber meets the road in terms of whether or not they can come up with a plan that's deficit neutral and that controls costs over the long term. >> nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie. savannah, thanks as always. we appreciate it. now, the bigger picture. the chairman of the republican party is attacking the president's health care plan. michael steele is accusing president obama of conducting a risky experiment that will hurt the economy. >> the president is rushing this experiment through congress so fast, so soon that we haven't had a moment to think if it

would work, or worse, to think about the consequences to our nation, our economy, and our families if it doesn't work. slow down, mr. president. we can't afford to get health care wrong. >> and joining us now to respond, virginia governor tim kaine, chairman of the democratic party. thank you so much, governor, for joining us. >> glad to be with you, tamron and david. good to talk. >> david is here as well. you have peter orszag from the white house saying basically the delay by some or the delay some are requesting is a way to kill this. you heard michael steele say slow down, using the same kind of talking points throughout. did the administration not anticipate that this would be coming from the republican party? >> well, no, i think we did anticipate it because it's what we've seen. we've seen the costs of inaction. the republican party when they had the white house and when they were in control of congress didn't do anything on this, and let me tell you what's happened in america in the last 15 years. 15 years ago in 1993 61% of small businesses offered health insurance to their employees. today, tamron, it's 38%, and

it's dropping like a stone. so the idea of delay is basically delay for what? this is not working. the american public overwhelmingly supports health care reform. they showed that in the election and they've shown it in polls that i have seen up to very recently they support reform. so the issues are known. what is needed now is the willingness to act. the american public supports action. >> but, governor, if the white house and the democrats anticipated this, the first few months of the administration all we heard about was bipartisan, reaching out to the republicans who if you got it right were never going to be on board. why not then focus on the moderate democrats who may have some questions about costs and pull this team together and do what the president and the white house has said the american people want, which is health care reform, and that's why they voted for him? >> tamron, that's what we are doing. we're doing it in every state and in every district. we're reaching out in different ways. we have americans very engaged in town hall meetings, public service events, contacting their

members of the legislature, doing all kinds of things to demonstrate that need, and that's what we are doing, but we do also continue and the white house does continues to reach out to meet with the republicans to hope that some will cross and vote for this plan just as we saw in the house on the climate bill a month or so ago. people did cross the aisle to vote for something historic, and we expect that we'll see the same in the health care arena. we just can't wait any longer. you know, i'm going to go to an event this friday that's an annual event in virginia. a medical clinic that sets up to provide free medical care. thousands of people drive from many, many states to come and get free medical and dental care, and it's a heart rending thing to see that in this nation when other industrialized nations have figured out how to do this and control costs better than we have. that's what the president wants to do. >> isn't that exactly the point? other nations have essentially a single payer type of system or a public option, and there's an argument by trying to please everybody, the cbo now has come out with this analysis that says

what the obama administration, the democrats, are proposing now would not save money over the long term. it would not bend the curve. so doesn't -- you talk about the willingness to act, doesn't the obama administration, the democrats, need to act more boldly to do what these other countries are doing that you referred to? >> well, david, what you have seen is that there are bills that are out there, the tricommittee bill on the house side, there may be another bill coming from senate finance. this is bold. i mean, and that's -- i guess that's the michael steele point, gosh, we don't want to experiment or do anything different because we like the system the way it is. the problem is it's not working for the american public. when the vast majority of our employees are working in small businesses and in 15 years they've seen the number of small businesses that are offering insurance drop from 61% to less than 40% and it's dropping more. we can't just stand around and do nothing or we're going to end up in a society where so many people are without health insurance. i was at a virginia unemployment

office today viting wisiting wi people who lost their jobs and their health insurance. they may get turned down because of a pre-existing condition. that's a key part of the reform. the american people support this. as we get to the closing of this and it gets very, very challenging as the president said last friday, we expect that, of course we expect, it but the american people expect something, too. they expect action from their leaders to fix a problem that we've known about for a very long time, and there's no better time to act than right now. >> thank you very much, dnc chairman governor tim kaine. always a pleasure. we hope to see you on soon as this debate continues. >> look forward to it. >> absolutely. programming note, rnc chairman michael steele will play "hardball" with chris matthews tonight at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern. president obama healolding a pr time news conference on wednesday night. >> the democrats want this done now. they don't want to wait until

september that. seems abundantly clear. >> delay is death. that seems to be the message. top pentagon officials say they're doing everything they can to find and free an american soldier captured by the taliban. private first class beowe bergdahl is seen in this video. he was kidnapped just five months after he arrived in afghanistan. >> having been with the forces, in fact, who are conducting the operations to recover him or to find him, they are extensive, vast. they're on a 24/7, and we're doing absolutely everything we can to get him back. >> meanwhile, we're learning some in bergdahl's close-knit hometown knew for weeks about the soldier's capture but they kept quiet. leanne gregg joins us from his hometown in hailey, idaho. leanne, why don't you describe how people there are describing

bergdahl. >> reporter: they're saying he was a fun-loving guy, a free spirit. he liked everything from biking to ballet. he performed in a troupe ever he joined the army. he actually worked at this coffee shop behind us. he was very well-liked and very popular, and this is a close-knit community and that's why the people aren't speaking about it. they don't want to do anything that might further impair his security and also they want to respect the family's wishes. but clearly there's a lot of support for him. there's been a transformation between sunday afternoon and today. while you said earlier many people did know about his capture, there were others who were just finding out about it when the video surfaced first on the internet and later on news broadcasts, and that's when they found out. since then there's been a mobilization of volunteers who are putting out signs like this earlier today along with yellow ribbons placing them all around the community in support of bowe. a lot of love and a lot of support and a lot of prayers hoping that he will return

safely. david? >> nbc's leanne gregg. thanks for the update. we appreciate it. >> it's the do he details. they say he wandered off without his gun and his body armor. the story is heartbreaking on so many levels. some believe this will bring the attention back to afghanistan and the effort there and the many other men and women who will be heading there very soon and, sadly, we could see more casualties and stories like this as the effort is stepped up there. >> and the casualty rate is a lot higher than a lot of people may realize there now. still ahead this hour, news out of the death investigation of michael jackson and the other side of that story, the custody battle. also, what officials are saying about potential criminal charges in the singer's death. plus, new fallout from that secret cia program to kill al qaeda leaders overseas. it may have been a little more complex than that, and a top democratic senator is now taking on the obama administration. but first, the apollo 11 mission.

40 years later. david's big interview with buzz aldrin, the second man ever to walk on the moon. i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack. my daughter was with me.

i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time. are enjoying the new palm pre with its revolutionary web os. they're running multiple live applications at the same time. - ( thunder and rain ) - 3 million are using the simply everything plan. each is saving $1200 - over an at&t iphone plan. - ( cash register dings ) together that's over $3 billion. - enough to open a dunkin' donuts in space. - ( walk-talkie sounds ) from america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. get the palm pre from sprint. only on the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

welcome back, everyone. >> 40 years ago today neil armstrong and buzz aldrin took man's first steps on the moon. the 2 1/2 hour walk on the moon captivated the world. it seemed unbelievable at the time. i had a chance to ask buzz aldrin what stood out the most

about that historic landing on the moon? >> well, so many things stand out. the tremendous opportunity that, oh, 30, 40, 50 of us came along at just the right time, and three of us happened to be so fortunate to be given the opportunity to participate in the first landing mission. we were, indeed, very fortunate people, given a great responsibility, and everything kind of worked out favorably for us, and, fortunately, it wasn't quite the attention-getter of when something goes wrong on apollo 13. but that's good material for exciting movies of very realistic things. but what stands out is the magnificence of our achievement, but the utter lifelessness and desolation of the surface, and i chose to use those words as the title of my autobiography, and i'm very proud to have had the

opportunity to share my personal experiences of magnificent achievement at the peak of my career to land on the moon, but then have to deal with inherited tendencies for depression and alcoholism and having overcome that and lovely lois, my wife of 21 years, we're now expanding our coverage, traveling around, sharing experiences with many people doing rock music, twittering. >> and then finally one of the things that you left on the moon was the inscription here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon july 1968 a.d. we came in peace. what do you think about 40 years later? >> i think about the opportunities i had and the symbolism of our patch carrying the olive branch of peace with

the eagle to the surface of the moon. i chose to celebrate that symbolism quietly on the surface by communion. i have had a much more broadening outlook on spiritu spiritualispiritua spirituality since then primarily due to recovery, opportunities i have had to really look at my life, look at other people, help other people, they helped me, and now i have a much more exciting life, a much more aware life than i would have had i not gone through those experiences, and i enjoy the opportunity to share those in seven, eight books i've written, children's books, and to talk about the experiences that i think make me a fairly good person to suggest what we should be doing for our future in space. not going back to the moon again, letting other international people, but we

should chart a course for a pathway to permanence on the moon by way of the moon focus at mars. i meant mars instead of the moon. >> a remarkable man, tamron, remarkable life, and just a remarkable mission. hard to believe. >> and we were talking about it, can you believe it took 40 years. it's still hard for me to believe it even happened. it's so incredible when you think about the obstacles that were faced and the challenge this country was facing at the time and to do it, it takes your breath away. it takes mine away. up next, the campaign to -- come on! from this emotional moment of genuine affection for our country to this. my other favorite show "american idol." it gives me goose bumps to think paula may not be returning. >> wow. apparently the hottest thing in the twittersphere. no way is coming up.

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protect your home with flood insurance. call the number on your screen... for your free brochure. tamron, there are a lot of things that could be considered news in this world. >> but there are only a few stories that make us say -- >> no way! >> no way! >> okay. world leaders and entertainers gathered together over the weekend in new york, actually a few blocks from here, to celebrate nelson mandela's 91st birthday, and you may never guess who were among the performers. >> who? >> france's first lady, carla bruni. she sang a ewe rhythmics tune with the founder, dave stewart. ♪

>> okay so she sang with the guy from the ewe rhythmics. they need to turn up her mike. it was the first ever mandela day honoring him. he was not in attendance. his doctors advised him against international travel. her husband was photographed jogging in new york with short shorts on and shoes with a french flag. >> short shorts. it's been almost a month since michael jackson died, but the tributes continue to pour in. check out this one featuring shaquille o'neal and damon jones performing that famous fight scene from the "beat it" video. ♪ they're out to get you better leave while you can, don't want to be a boy, you want to be a man ♪ ♪ you want to stay alive better do what you can so beat it, just beat it ♪

>> too much time. >> wow, what's with the holding hands there? >> that's the video. >> oh, yeah, okay. i guess i'm so distracted by how large shaq is and how small that -- >> looks like they were holding hands. here is another nba player, too, damon is, but it's interesting that was shaquille o'neal's wife that tied them together and then, you know, they're re-enacting. who are those children? mafia knife fight. this is the big story, the big one. american r "american idol" may be down a judge next season. hold your heart. paula abdul's new manager, she's only been working for her for a few weeks, says she may not be returning. last week we learned that ryan seacrest got a three-year $45 million deal. well, there's also talk that simon cowell could get close to $144 million to come back. so is this all just a ploy by paula to get more cash? >> yes. >> okay, about you she deserves

it. only time will tell. in the meantime, her fans are launching a grassroots effort on tw twitter to bring the "idol" judge back next year. randy jackson already under contract. i think he's tied up until 2012 or 2010. she's the only person out. i think they're being unfair. >> moved to tears that her supporters are twittering she should be part of the show. wow. >> she's the middle person. that's crickets. oh. >> okay, paula, whatever floats your boat. >> i'm going to sign that petition. still ahead this hour, carrie prejean gets a book deal. >> your favorite beauty queen, david. >> this was perhaps inevitable. we have the latest on the former miss california. plus, we've got new developments in that cia program kept secret from congress. a top democrat now calling out the obama administration. and making the grade, what viewers think about the first six months of the obama presidency. we'll have the results of our text survey here on msnbc, the

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i'm julia boorstin. stocks rallies on wall street today. the dow gained 104. the s&p picked up more than 10 points. the nasdaq added nearly 23 points. oil prices rose nearly 24 cents. amwell is plodding a comeback and it's cutting back on ads to do it. aol says reducing ad clutter makes the pages load faster. traffic rises as a result. and the beer industry is taking a page from the wine industry using beer tasting to improve the bottom line. beer brewers are going face to face with consumers to let them try before they buy. those states include vermont, texas, new york, and florida. that's it from cnbc, first in

business worldwide. back to msnbc. welcome back, everyone. >> that would be you. >> yes, i was like in my script. i'm tamron hall in narcotic. >> i'm david shuster. russ feingold is challenging the director of national intelligence's claim that it was legal when the cia kept a controversial program secret from congress. feingold is responding to dennis blair's comments to "the washington post" last week. blair said the cia did not break the law by keeping congress in 9 9 -- the dark. feingold wrote a letter to blair that says in part, you stated that the failure to notify the congress did not violate the law. i disagree and believe the program in question fits squarely within the notification requirements of the national security act. i, therefore, request you provide me with your analysis and any analysis by the dni

general counsel supporting your conclusion. several democratic lawmakers have accused the cia of deliberately misleading congress by failing to disclose the program's existence. blair broke with those democrats by asserting that the cia did not violate the law. he said agency officials may not have been required to notify congress about the program. now for the bigger picture, senator feingold's letter could put the white house in an awkward position. will the white house stand behind the national intelligence director's assertion that the cia did not break the law or will administration officials walk back his comments? blogger greg sergeant joins us live from "the washington post" newsroom. you wrote -- you were able to obtain feingold's letter in all of this. how awkward of a position could this potentially put the white house? >> i guess it depends on how much attention it really gets. if it just sort of blows over and people just dismiss it as a

quote, unquote, left wing senator raising an alarm, then maybe the white house won't be, you know, put on the spot in any way, but if people start to actually focus on the fact that the director of national intelligence essentially said that the cia -- what the cia did was legal, then it could put some pressure on them to clarify. >> this letter couldn't be more clear about where senator feingold stands, so there can't be -- or could there be any backpedaling here? the language is quite clear, i disagree with you. i need this information. i want you to provide this to me justifying your thinking. >> that's right. it really is sort of a major throwing down of the gauntlet to the white house, isn't it? i mean, feingold is essentially saying, you know, put up or shut up. >> right. >> and to that end, i mean, it's a huge amount of pressure on the cia and especially dennis blair's sort of lawyer, the counselor who suggested when you look at the national security act, it's fine that you didn't tell congress. we've looked at the national security act, greg, i know you

have, it seems pretty clear there was a burden to tell congress, right? >> i mean, yes, although i think blair has a little bit of wiggle room because the original article that kicked this whole thing off actually just paraphrased what blair said. there's not a direct quote, and i think if there were a direct quote from blair where he was sort of stating very clearly that the cia had acted within its legal rights, then i think you'd see a little more pressure on them to either, you know, stand behind it or clarify it. >> greg, why is the obama administration seeming to bend over backwards to accommodate the intelligence community? i mean, is it an issue where president obama just has never felt comfortable in that world or doesn't have a lot of experience, just being so differential this is what happens? >> i think we've seen again and again that obama on some level just is fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea of, you know, serious and searching investigations. so, you know, here his director of national intelligence is now, you know, directly at odds with democrats who are saying we can't decide before hand whether this was legal or not. we need to investigate it.

>> it's interesting even with the discomfort, as you explained, that's quite clear coming from the president, when you have these different stories that are trickling out, greg, and the cia started truly as a trickle and it exploded into a lot of serious back and forth here, how long can the administration just be uncomfortable? >> i guess it depends on what these investigations reveal. i mean, if stuff that is just glaringly obvious and it's law-breaking comes out, it just becomes tougher and tougher for the administration to sustain its position. >> thank you very much. greg sergeant, we certainly appreciate you talking with us. here it is. greg writes the plum line blog for whorunsgov.com. a "washington post" company. that's what i was supposed to read him. >> the plum line is pretty good and this website is also terrific. greg has been writing for talking points number for a long time. great to have him on the air. while the investigation from michael jackson's death is far from over, a new report out says

there's nothing to suggest the king of pop was murdered as a couple family members have claimed. "the los angeles times" reports a senior law enforcement official says it's unlikely jackson's doctors will face murder charges, but the officials say some doctors could face lesser charges of wrongly prescribing drugs. also a custody hearing for jackson's children, well, that's been postponed. the singer's mother has temporary custody, but sources tell nbc news she realized she can't raise the children alone. two of jackson's sisters, janet and rebbie are emerging as potential custody. service will be held for walter cronkite at st. bartholomew's. a public memorial will be held at the lincoln center for performing arts. a group of people, including two off-duty firefighters and an off-duty police officer pulled a

4-year-old boy from a burning car in wisconsin. the two firefighters said they had to cut that boy from his car seat in order to get to him. >> it was horrific. you know, you had the car, it was engulfed in flames and the child was just inside there screaming, and all you could -- all i could see was that child's face who was it seemed just perfectly fine, but you could see like the car seat around that child was burning and the child was literally burning in front of me. >> wow. the boy suffered burns over 30% of his body. the cause of the crash, the fire under investigation, and if you saw those two firefighters, they had bandages on both of their hands. obviously, they surf suffered t injuries. >> heroes indeed. up next, our special look at the first six months of the obama presidency. >> the achievements, the setbacks, and the work that remains.

we'll ask our political strategists to grade the president on how he's doing and what grade you would give president obama. that's all ahead on msnbc. to stay on top of my game after 50, i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. that's a great call. one a day men's.

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six months to the day after president obama took office and he is getting grades from both supporters and critics. >> in today's "face-off" our political grad yladiators, okay

we're talking foreign policy and bipartisanship. has the president offered more than what some say is lip service when it comes to reaching across the aisle and has he been tough enough with our allies and foes that exist overseas. here to face-off chris kofinis and republican strategist ben. ben, i think chris told our write tors prs to put gladiator. but we'll deal with that later. we were talking earlier with governor kaine about this effort to have a bipartisanship spirit. we're hearing some in the white house say they may do health care without the republicans coming on board. chris, let's start with the bipartisanship grade that you gave. >> i'd give the president and the administration is b plus/a minus. i think on some of the most significant issues we faced in the first six months, you're talking about an administration that walked into a series of unprecedented crises.

they have tried to involve republicans on the stimulus. they have tried to involve republicans on health care. fortunately, what you have seen is a consistent pattern from the republicans and the republican party not to offer a single new idea that doesn't start with the word "no," and that is i think part of the problem with bipartisanship. if there's one thing i think you have to say or maybe you can argue is the president and the administration may be trying too much and too hard to be bipartisan. maybe they don't need to be. >> ben, go ahead. >> please. >> did i hear you say please? >> i would say that we've seen president obama pay lip service, like you said, but i think he's done nothing but perfect the photo-op. he's out there every day acting like he's doing bipartisan reform when he's meeting with people on capitol hill. that doesn't mean you're incorporated their ideas or what they have to say. the legislation that was passed on economic stimulus plan didn't get a single republican vote on the house side, which means it didn't have a single republican idea or else that wouldn't be the case. >> so your grade is a c minus.

how do you measure it compared to the previous administration. it's one thing to say come to the table, but it's another thing to say, well, then you have to take my idea. it sounds like a lot of times that's what the republican party wants, for obama to not only listen but take every idea. a lot of dnemocrats say you had your turn. >> i would say it's not fair to just simply compare one administration versus the next. >> why isn't it fair? >> if you want to compare processes he would look back to '9 4 and '95. they put together each side of the table and passed a great piece of legislation. >> take the stimulus as an example. i would argue and i think a lot of people have argued that to our detriment, the democratic party and the obama administration took into consideration republican ideas that made a good bill a bad bill or worse. unfortunately, i think that's sometimes -- >> really, who would say that? >> a lot of people would argue. you included tax cuts that

completely were unnecessary. here is the problem when you talk about even let's say you talk about the current debate in health care. can you tell me what the republicans are proposing in terms of health care reform? michael steele went out there today and all he did for 30 minutes or however long the speech was was criticize the president again and again. there was not one original new idea. >> what is the republicans' plan for health care? >> look, i think whether you're talking about the health care or stimulus package, i agree the republicans haven't always been on target with their message. i think if they're smart they go out and say there's no reason to do health care unless we prove big government works. if you look at the stimulus plan, which has failed miserably, i don't think we should put any more trust in president obama or his -- >> we have heard a number of republicans say we have to fundamentally change health care because costs are going up. given republicans agree something must be done, what is the republican plan? >> well, i would say this, david, just because republicans are saying it, doesn't mean i'm going to agree with it.

i think this is a great opportunity -- >> there is no republican plan. there is nothing. >> you have to be careful when we're asking you that question because we have this little cricket sound, so when you don't have an answer like what is the republican plan? and you pause three seconds we will play crickets on you. that's the kikt souncricket sou. that's what we get every time we ask what is the republican plan. you have 47 million people waiting for an answer. >> well, what i would say is, look, i'm not a policy expert. i don't know what the plan we're going to put forth. i guarantee republicans will have proposals and put something down on paper to either counter or complement what democrats put out there. but let's not kid ourselves. >> what are they waiting for? >> the government has not proven itself in any way that it can manage a national health care system. >> we're going to give you a break here. we're going to move to foreign policy because we have to get your grades. your grades on president obama on foreign policy in his first six months. >> i would give him a "b." i think i was pretty fair in the

grade. you have to take a step back and grade on effort rather than result in this category. you're not going to see a lot of results on foreign policy for a long time in any administration. he's gone around. he's met a number of foreign leaders, and i think that i echo the sentiments of some of my republican colleague that is he's probably apologized a little too much on behalf of america, that i don't really necessarily think we have anything to apologize for. >> chris kofinis? >> i'd give the president an "a," and president obama and theed a mortithe ed administration haven't apologized for america, they have apologized for the many mistakes and errors for the bush administration that went on for eight years. if there's one thing they have done exceptionally well is repair our world image, repair our frayed relationships with our allies. in six months you can only do so much, but i think that is the kind of strategy that is going to pay enormous dividends down the road as we move forward in this -- in the president's tenure.

>> all right. ben, chris, it was great talking with you. david is fighting back emotions. >> these are my two favorite guests. great gladiators both. we thank you both for coming ob. >> awesome. >> i must say, i love this new cricket effect we have going. >> so when we ask someone a question, you get three seconds to answer or we're going to the crickets. >> there it is. >> what is your plan? okay. so how would you grade president obama's six months in office? here is a look at how the president is doing so far with close to 12,000 people responding. 54% give him an "a." 30% say he gets a "b." 6% grade the president with a "c," and 5% each for "d" and "f." very interesting, and you can vet by u vote by using your mobile phone to 622639. standard text messaging rates do apply. i don't know how to convert it to percentage, but compared to the other polls, it seems like it's in line. only 12,000 people though. >> online polls are always a

little tricky, but interesting. >> gladiators. still ahead, some things we thought you should know. >> secretary clinton talks about bollywood and carrie prejean gets a book deal. and then on "hardball," chris matthews interviews rnc chairman michael steele. a lot out there that michael steele has said. chris has been asking him to go on "hardball" for a while. he's finally going on "hardball" tonight. must-see television. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. it can be tough living with copd... but i try not to let it slow me down. i go down to the pool for a swim... get out and dance... even play a little hide-n-seek. i'm breathing better... with spiriva. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long.

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there's a lot going on today, and here are a few things we thought you should know. >> secretary of state hillary clinton has become the first senior obama administration official to visit india. after meeting with the prime minister, today she gave a major address at the university of delhi. secretary clinton even took some time out to answer a few questions. she got quite a laugh when talking about cultural perceptions. >> people watching a bollywood movie in some other part of asia think, you know, everybody in india is beautiful and they have dramatic lives and happy endings, and if you were to watch american tv and our movies, you think that we don't wear clothes and we spend a lot of time fighting with each other. >> don't we? secretary clinton also took questions on not being president. listen to what she had to say. >> i feel very grateful that i

have had the experiences i have had. i don't look back. i am always somebody who gets up and looks forward. >> pretty good. >> good for her. >> good answer. the former miss california who was stripped of her title last month, she now has a book deal. i kid you not. carrie prejean will public a memoir called "still standing." she said shea believes her crown was taken away because she opposed gay marriage. that's what she claims. her book will be published by the same company that brought us such classics as ted nugent's memoir and the chuck morris manifesto "black belt patriotism." >> those are the things we thought you should know. >> i am not going to get a copy of this -- >> oh, no, you're getting one for christmas from me. i wonder what her book cover will look like. very interesting cover, what she

might put on there. maybe the pictures that got her in trouble. another day, another example of president obama using what's called the bully pulpit to push his effort to reform the nation's health care system. >> today the president gave a speech on the issue and he's giving media interviews to television networks, including nbc. let's get to our next read on politics with the stories we'll be watching heading into tomorrow. mark murray is deputy political director for nbc news. mark, what do you have for us? >> hey, david and tamron. that's right, president obama is sitting down with nbc's meredith vieira for an interview that's going to air tomorrow on the "today" show, and a lot of it will be about, you guessed it, health care. also tomorrow the senate judiciary committee will be meeting to discuss sonia sotomayor's supreme court nomination. the committee is supposed to vote on her next week. and then, finally, is there going to be some two-stepping going on at the white house tomorrow night? the white house is inviting country music performers like brad paisley and alison krauss

to perform tomorrow night. >> that caught my ear. >> what does that have to do with health care? >> dancing keeps you healthy and in shape. that's part of it. let's go back to the seriousness of health care. we were marking at the beginning of the hour about the calendar the president has going. in addition to the interview with meredith and a lot of other things coming up, and he spoke today at a children's hospital. >> that's right. you know, earlier just late last week we heard the white house and every administration official say that congress, both the house and senate, needs to pass bills by before the august recess coming up in just a few weeks, but then over on the weekend shows we heard the white house kind of talking about, well, we just need a health care bill passed, and we would hope, hope being the keyword, that actually a bill comes through before the august recess. this he realize it will be some tough sledding right now in the senate. they want a deal. they want everything that they can, and that's exactly why we're seeing the president talk, talk, talk, and talk about health care. >> mark, it's so complex, so many pieces, and so many different committees, but, again, everyone is waiting for

the senate finance committee version to come out. a lot of attention on max baucus. it's such an inside the beltway thing to say that people are focusing on a committee chair, but this is really a big deal, right? >> it's a big deal because, one, they kind of have to placate and at least please the people on the left that want a strong bill. you saw the senate help committee and also the house democrats put it out. at the same time when the congressional budget office said that those bills weren't going to really necessarily reduce health care costs, everyone is going to be waiting to see what the senate finance committee, whether they're able to reduce those costs. those are the two things to watch. >> mark murray, nbc news deputy political director. thanks as always. we appreciate it. make sure to check out first read first thing every morning. it's updated throughout the day. logon to firstread.msnbc.com. >> you're here with us all week in new york. i'm so happy about that. that does it for us. i'm tamron hall. >> and i'm david shuster. "hardball," chris has a great show coming up, a great interview with michael steele. tough watch this. it will be live and terrific.

"hardball" with chris matthews starts right now. intensive care. will the health bill make it? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, health care. now in surgery. president obama's everywhere selling action on the national health care bill. with just a few weeks to go before the congressional august recess, the president will be highly visible with speeches, interviews, and a prime time news conference on wednesday night. all this is the latest abc news/"washington post" poll shows the president is still popular, but with skepticism growing over whether he can do the job on the economy and health care. the president's poll numbers are still the envy of republicans, whose ratings continue to be at a near all-time low. democrats have received more popular votes than republicans

in four of the past five presidential elections. and the gop has lost 54 house seats and 15 senate seats in the past two cycles. rnc chairman michael steele comes to "hardball" tonight. how does he intend to reverse the tide that threatens to bury his party? plus, so much has been said and written about walter cronkite since he died on friday evening. we're going to do something special here tonight. dan rather will join us, and he and i will look back at an interview i did with cronkite back in '96 when he revealed some things about himself that might surprise you about the most trusted man in america. also, it's getting near do or die for president obama and health care. he stakes his presidency on getting this done and getting it done this year. let's see how that bet looks in "the politics fix." and tonight i'll show you where i was those recent two weeks when i was gone from the show. i have some pictures to show you from africa, and a great story of what some good people are