sure that they can't sell that version. we get the hatfield and mccoy thing once again. we need solutions. obama pushing his version. we will talk about ron widen's version in a second, but first let's get to savannah on what the president is up to trying to sell his slate here. what is going on, savannah? >> another day and health care reform event here at the white house. and tomorrow, a primetime news conference. the white house is in a full public relations effort trying to get the message out on health care reform, and these are critical times on the hill. the house is trying to get the last piece of the puzzle, the last house committee to pass the version of the health care reform. some of the democrats will come over to the white house today, and that would include the conservative democrats some of whom have been critical of the plan. the president will meet with them. and the president will

diplomatically try to get him onboard with his plan. and he lashed out at a critic yesterday, one that said if they could stop the health care from being done, it will be the president's waterloo, it will break him. this is how he responded to the remark. >> this is not about do we need a little more time to get it right, to be constructive and talk to the policy analysts. this is all about politics. and that describes exactly an attitude that we have to overcome. >> reporter: republican congressman michael steele was on "morning joe" saying the republican party is the party of no. >> nobody is saying no, and let's stop that political talking point and deal with the administration that is trying to get through a major overhaul of

our system, regardless of how you characterize the overhaul, it's a major overhaul in two weeks. >> health care reform has been talked about, and the largest point that republicans and some democrats make is what is the rush? this is a huge deal. let's take our time. however, at the white house some people think that is just code, they are trying to delay, delay, hoping the effort dies. very contentious times here. and the back drop is this is a poll rating for the president. the polls out the last few days show the same thing, the president while still popular, still having an approval rating in the high 50s is losing support in issues like the health reform. >> thank you, savannah. and we have our panel here.

welcome back. it's nice to see you. cc conly, the health care reporter at the "washington post." i want to begin with you, c.c., if i can, and obviously, all of us that are vested in this, are milling our way through health care in this country, the health insure ups, and all -- there is no more important or complicated issue than this one, which is why it doesn't rate that well when you talk about it on tv, and people want to make it black and white. just give it to me. or you can't do that. it costs too much money and people are crazy. and the reality is, and american health care is much like the new york nix basketball team. nobody could spend more on a franchise than cable vision and our friends at the nix spend on that time. and they cannot make the

playoffs. we want the nicks to win it. we cannot afford to put the amount of money we are putting into this health care system and get so little out of it for every dollar that we put in. i don't care about uninsured or that or that, i care about the unadu unadu unadu una -- forcing the capital to swim around. and i am curious what your perspective is on obama's ability to not only get what he wants, but to get a real solution to turn the nicks into winners. >> we are playing not getting our money's worth.

we spend so much money, and our employers spend so much money, and taxpayers and you name it, and we are not getting a lot. i think president obama still has a decent shot. right now we are in the really, really messy and difficult season of trying to write and put together legislation. this is legislation that affects more than 1/6 of the entire u.s. economy. it's probably going to be messy for a while now. i understand why the president is pushing and urging people to move quickly. he knows political realities. if you think back to what happened with the clintons in 1993, they actually went through that whole process for over a year they debated that thing, and in the end it died because they got into the mid-term elections. obama knows that and is very pragmatic, and is trying to keep the pressure on.

>> jonathan, what about the idea of forcing more competition in the business of health insurance? you mandate insurance for everybody, and you create, mandatory participation and that drives the cost of insurance down, and then you push the decision back down to you and me, and we get to shop across the board for our insurance, as opposed to getting it from an employer, as the case is for so many people in this country right now? >> yeah, it sounds like a good idea, and a good plan. the problem is, on capitol hill, there are folks that are fighting it tooth and nail. >> assuming those folks are health insurance people, and supported by the money. >> i don't know that for a fact. but money talks here in washington, and we have a story that the paper today about lobbyists, and all the things that they are doing here in washington. but, look, ceci is right.

the president is right, to push hard on getting this done. he was saying he wanted this done before the august recess, and then backed off a bit by saying that he wanted it sometime this year. if we don't get it done this year, it's not going to happen. we all know that. >> karen, your thoughts? >> i think jonathan is exactly right. this is my health security card from the 1993 health care plan, and i am still waiting to use this. >> was that single payer? >> by the time it died, i don't know. i like this idea. >> well, that's part of the idea behind the whole idea of the public option, which is to create competition in the marketplace.

we think that's a good thing. and it means that we get the uninsured into the system and we give people a choice. and it's outrageous to me to hear the republicans talking about it's not going to be fair. it's not going to be fair if the insurance companies don't stop worrying about the bottom line and worry about better care. but i agree with ceci and jonathan. we needed health care reform for a very long time in this country. and people are suffering and the numbers are going up. you know the story. on the practical side, we see the president as most popular at the giping of the administration, and it will be easier to get it done. if they pass it into the august recess, you give the insurance companies to make it more difficult to get a consensus. >> the insurance companies are the ones that make the most money out of the current system,

and they will be resistant to any change. this conversation is going nowhere. we will table for the moment, and let's check with contessa brewer. and the military tells nbc they believe bergdahl is still being held near afghanistan. the president talked about that with "today"'s meredith vieira. >> seeing something like this, it makes you think about the family and the young man. we are hopeful that it will have a good ending, and we are doing everything that we can. >> president obama says he has not spoken to bergdahl's family because he is waiting to tell

them something when he finds out. police say the militants used gun fire on the governor's compound. the spike on violence has been hard on u.s. troops. at least 30 americans have died in the deadliest month in afghanistan in 2001. in part because of the spike in violence, robert gates says he will add 22,000 soldiers to the army. and pentagon officials say they plan to step up the recruitment and maintain the existing force. gates did not say what it would cost but would ask congress to pay for it in 2011 and 2012. and there is a flu vaccine to protect people in the fall, but this vaccine will not guard against the swine flu. and a scholar at harvard is

accusing the police for arresting him. he found his home doorjambed. and a woman called the police, and the police came. he showed police his harvard identification, and police arrested him then for disorderly conduct because of what they called loud and tau mull chau wus behavior. >> you are saying the police were seeking to arrest a man that was in his own home, to enquire a man that was in his own home, and then he existed loud behavior? that would have been me, by the way. >> it does seem to appear that police were trying to investigate what they thought was a break in, and that was offending the homeowner, which, you could understand.

we will see where it goes. this will be a big story today. >> thank you, contessa. much more ahead here at the "morning meeting." and author of "the black swan," and the house, too big to fail. what that is and what do we do about it? and make companies that can't fail never need taxpayer money. that's my opinion. contessa, and karen staying, and mr. capehart staying, of course. i never thought i would have a heart attack, but i did. you need to talk to your doctor about aspirin.

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we are discussing too big to fail. and somebody said they were holding us hostage with too big to fail. and i agree with that. so our guests join us. before we get into the conversation on too big to fail, take a look at what is going down in washington on too big to fail. contessa, what are they up to? >> well, at 2:00 you have the financial services committee lookingsystemic risks. $180 million dollars was thrown at aig, and if it collapsed it would cause a financial catastrophe. and now the obama administration is calling for regulation because they want to limit that

kind of government intervention. might be little too late. >> yeah, and capitalism works when you get paid for your risks. my risk of money is now somebody else's problem, but i get paid for the amount of risk that i take, and i will take risk until the cows come home, and the loser is the american taxpayer. >> regulators, people think that regulators do a great job. the regulators gave us these matrix to use, and it hid risks literally. >> the way we did the math to calculate the probability of default on home loans, and calculate the probability of default on credit cards, and auto loans, and it was allowed -- math was being allowed to be created in a way that masked the risks or diminish the perceived risks?

does that make sense? >> yeah, a cabdriver could tell you, you cannot use science for these. >> a cabdriver could tell you what? >> that you can not use math for these. >> you don't need to be a rocket scientists to know. >> did they take a huge amount of risk because they thought they had it down, or did they take the risks because they knew they could afford to, the government would come to the rescue, and therefore no matter what risk we take, we are covered. everybody else may not be covered, but we are definitely covered, and therefore we can take that risk? >> i agree. >> do you think they were assuming knowledge that when the cows came home it would not be their problem, aig and citi and

etc.? >> well, they are fooling themselves. >> they think they can predict the future and they can't. >> yeah, that's the first class of risk taking. and that's natural. and then the second one is the crooks surrenderness. >> yeah, it's always a combination where you have somebody fooling themselves, all right. >> all right. >> let me tell you why it's a combination, because you cannot fool people unless you start by fooling yourself. >> you have to believe yourself that you can do this in order to move -- i want to use one of your analogies, and then i will get you into this conversation, karen. i will get up from my chair for a second, and baear with me. this may look like dr. nancy, but it's not. it could be dr. dylan, but i am

not qualified. on this particular show, i want to think of these of these lungs of not only a person that they represent, but also as a bank that is breathing on its own lurngz and own money and business, and this is traditional banks where there are institutions around the country that have their own support system of money. this is what our politicians enabled by acceptediccepting th and the lobbying. and then to make things more efficient -- well, it's inefficient to have everybody have their own set the lungs. and if we could create one lung, and everybody works from the same lung, we will have a much more efficient system. but if aig takes up smoking, everybody gets lung cancer and we have to cover for it. is that good?

>> that's exactly what happens. >> maybe i am the doctor. >> jonathan, are you there? >> that was good, dylan. >> good way to bring in health care. >> yeah, and why this makes sense is because the way we have to manage to learn a complex system is by looking at mother nature, and looking at biology, and living oregonianiser organi. they are very dependent, but there is nothing that is too big too fail. >> this concept of too big to fail is absolutely ridiculous. how do we get into a situation where we have any entity that is quote unquote too big to fail. and why aren't we too big to fail? >> let me answer that question, karen.

in 1999, two pieces of legislation were passed. one, it created morris k taking well intended. and some of these things were done with the intent of the efficiency. we all have the same lung. and then commodity futures. christmas eve, 1999, and they create uncollateralized insurance, and as soon as i can sell insurance and not keep money to pay for it, i detached risk and reward and created too big to fail. and then a couple bank ceos and other executives are now saying if we do not come up with x hundred billions, tonight, there will be layoffs and all these things. >> isn't the part of the problem is, this regulation was passed,

but unfortunately, we know that aig, they were doing things that not even the top people in the company understood what was going on. >> my point is we are politicians, and paid by the people to inform rules of capitalism, and make sure that i cannot come up with a business model where the risk of loss no longer resides with the person taking the risk. that's what our politicians did. that's why we are in the situation. they failed us. >> i agree. and i think that's part of the reason why you see the american public so frustrated with the slow start of the stimulus. i know the administration will say that the money is just getting out the door, but it's very hard for people to, you know, sit at home and see -- the point you were making about the risk, the folks at aig had no risk at all. they got their businesses. >> you understand why this is not criminal. i have to take a break, because this meeting can only perpetuate itself if we take commercial

breaks. it's brutal, honestly. >> go ahead and pay your bills, dylan. if we can come up with an insurance fraud scam to fund the show, we will do it. and then we will not take commercial breaks. but until then, please enjoy these messages, and we will be back after this. (announcer) he's sweet. even with one third less sugar than soda. kool-aid. delivering more smiles per gallon. come on in. you're invited to the chevy open house. where getting a new vehicle is easy. because the price on the tag is the price you pay on remaining '08 and '09 models. you'll find low, straightforward pricing. it's simple. now get an '09 silverado xfe with an epa estimated 21 mpg highway for under 28 thousand after all offers. go to chevy.com/openhouse for more details.

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controlled their diabetes with new nutrisystem d. backed by 35 years of research and low glycemic index science nutrisystem d works. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back! new! nutrisystem d. lose weight. live better. call or click today. all right. welcome back. contessa here with a look at a few things outer pace. >> and it looks like jupiter has been hit by a comet, maybe a comet, but certainly a large object. we see a scar near the south pole. it could make a scar. who knew? a tip from an amateur.

>> we identified the comet that hit jupiter with somebody in the backyard with a telescope. and it was like, i think i see something. >> crowd sourcing is the future. >> yeah, a new book coming out about the secret service, who claims the bush twins, were a pain in the butt. >> what fun that would have been. >> jenna would try to lose her protection, by running red lights. her boyfriend got so drunk, they took him to the hospital. the press secretary for laura bush, and this is what she said. >> can you imagine being a

teenager girl, and they want to get away from their parents. >> yeah. >> and let alone having a bunch of people following you around, and the only option is to make a sport out of it. >> and they were successful sometimes. smart girls. need pot? my phone has an appear -- app for that -- or iphone has an app for that. it cost $2.99. >> you put it in your iphone, and you know, it's like -- >> yeah, the map shows up. you can go around the corner. and you can get it. >> and there is a man with a plan. >> yeah, a man and he always has a plan. >> california, they put it in a store. it's like, here. >> like kids in a candy store. >> speaking of marijuana,

california has a budget plan. but do they need an oil plan, too? in other words, is drugs and drilling the only way out for california. we know the marijuana story, but what about the beautiful speeches off the coast of santa barbara? let's start drill something what i say. >> drill, baby, drill. >> and this could go bad. we could also solve the budget crisis. we will be back after this. spectacular. women who drink crystal light drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a delicious change. i'm glad anticavity listerine® smart rinse™ attracts stuff like a magnet, then shows it in the sink. ewww. gross. cool! (announcer) listerine® smart rinse™. save, visit sterinekids.com

welcome back. a quarter way through the meeting. nice to see you. we have been talking about health care, and also too big to fail. and obama is trying to rally the democrats on this one, and he admits the democrats are not where they need to be. and think of the new york nix, they spend a lot of money but cannot make the playoffs. and california's budget crisis may be kind of solved, but there are plenty of radical solutions being discussed for the boom bust economy, whether it's oil drilling in santa barbara, and legalize marijuana from the north to the south of that state. and there is a lot of money on the table for california if they get into those types of issues. and a trillion here and a trillion there. pretty sooner talking real money. latest bailout estimate for the

whole thing, cars, boats, trains, whatever you are into. $24 trillion. people go nuts about a million, and nobody even knows what $24 trillion is, and it's easy to spend. and then moments ago, coca-cola earnings, stocks are up there. and manufacturing in the development sense, caterpillar to construction companies, that's where your stimulus money is going. whether it's china stimulus or american stimulus, you are wondering where in the corporate universe your stimulus is going? let's pick up on california and come back for the rest in a second. california reflects many issues we as a country will face

over the next years. immigration, education, and health care, and all of these issues. think of california as america, 2050. a future laboratory. if we can solve it in california, maybe we can apply it to the country. we talked about marijuana legalization, and we will come back on that. and we are about to talk oil drilling in santa barbara as well. and to do that we are joined by a place, oil analysts, and he wrote a piece on drugs and drilling as a way out for california. and jonathan capehart. what are you thinking? >> thanks for having me on, dylan. there is so much sensitivity about oil drilling off the coast of california given some of the history that has occurred there, but the fact of the matter is is that we are able to drill in the gulf of mexico with very little

environmental damage. and california is sitting on capital. and my advocacy of drilling -- >> we just went in, and as you are talking, we literally went in to one of the nicest beaches in california, which is santa barbara. i will interject. we are off the coast of santa barbara in paradise, i would say, and you are telling me you can drill without being too invasive. how does that work? >> yeah, i believe we can drill -- i don't believe that we can drill without risk, however i think the state faces such enormous problems with its school system and budget that it's very difficult at this point to decide not to extract the capital that sits off the coast of california. and to use that capital for good

public use, like public transport and so forth. >> karen, let's switch from oil to marijuana. >> okay! >> and 50/50, right, and just don't smoke marijuana and drill for oil at the same type. >> i don't know, dylan. >> those two events need to be separated. the cbo does our budget, and california has done the math. it says, proposed rev yenureven billion. and they say -- this is from the california budget office. $1.4 billion, down 50%, and marijuana usage would increase 40%. >> yeah, i bet it would. >> and that's barry saying, he has good points saying what are you people talking about?

and then they go so far as to say they would add to a $50 per ounce tax that would reduce usage, and they even go so far as to debate what the appropriate tax structure is for a joint. >> taxing your high is what you are saying? >> yeah. yes i am. >> i am sure there are a lot of college kids and high school kids that are for it. i went to college at ucla, and i probably would have been for it back then. and i think they are trying to find desperate measures, and it's not the way to get them out of the problems they are in. and there are problems that arnold schwarzenegger was supposed to be the guy to come and fix and he did not. >> you are talking about their tax revenue is based on sales and income tax and the property taxes are low, so they have no

fixed revenue whatsoever? jonathan? >> yeah. >> i can drill for oil on the beaches of santa barbara -- >> you make it sound like it's going to be an oil rig on the beach. >> i can see it and it's going to irritate me. >> there are untapped resources oil and money right off the coast there. and if we are willing to import oil from other places, like nigeria, and other places, we should be able to explore for oil off our own coast. and that money can be used for not just california, but for the nation. and the bigger piece here, and it's not just budget but energy and independence. once we can happen our own resources, it's less oil we have to import. >> you agree with sarah palin, then, drill, baby, drill. >> no. >> yeah, you are. that's what she says. >> i am all for drilling based

on what jonathan just said. you talk about hypocrisy about we want oil -- >> we would rather do it in far away places where we don't have to deal with it than have to sit there -- >> but that does not make it right. especially in the state of california. and first of all, i am for off-shore drilling, and i am looking at the marijuana issue is what i wanted to get to. last week -- >> who doesn't. >> i was against it when we spoke last week, because from a moral perspective, you don't want to start something -- well, in the state of california, you have a $26 billion deficit, and you are desperately in need of money. it's big business clearly. and you already got it. you are talking about $1.4 billion a year, you might have to do it, and clearly governor schwarzenegger went in there with good intentions, but because he needs a 2/3 majority,

and he won't get what he wants to do in the state. >> karen, he is from espn, and he uses the clock to his advantage. he knew the clock was running, and he got it in. we will get you back, karen. we will take a break and we are back right after this. gecko vo: you see, it's not just telling people geico could save 'em hundreds on car insurance. it's actually doing it. gecko vo: businessmen say "hard work equals success." well, you're looking at, arguably, the world's most successful businessgecko. gecko vo: first rule of "hard work equals success." gecko vo: that's why geico is consistently rated excellent or better in terms of financial strength. gecko vo: second rule: "don't steal a coworker's egg salad, 'specially if it's marked "the gecko." come on people. and my dog bailey and i love to hang out in the kitchen... so she can watch me cook. you just love the aromas of beef tenderloin...

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>> any word yet on the search for bowe bergdahl? >> no, u.s. military officials and military intelligence still believe that pfc bergdahl is being held by the taliban inside the eastern region right along the pakistan border. they feel like they are gaining some ground, that they are getting good intelligence, and nobody is willing to predict that they are anywhere close now. and as not to tip-off the enemy, they are sharing very little information about how close or what kind of information they have. >> and there are a lot of theories about what happened to the private, and how he got outside the base. this analysts, this military analysts on fox went out on a limb and has outraged veterans groups with what he said about bowe bergdahl. let me play it. >> we know this private is a liar. we are not sure if he is a

desse desserter. but the media needs not to post him as a hero. if he walked away, and the taliban can save us legal hassles and bills. >> are you hearing any similar sentiment from the pentagon? >> on the speculation that he is a desserter, and you have seen they ruled that out. and they point out that remarks like that are not the least bit helpful. and in fact could endanger bowe bergdahl, because they could use that information against him. and quite frankly, if it were true -- i am not saying it s. the u.s. military would not put out that kind of information or want it disseminated for that reason, because the enemy could

use it against him. and i want to say again, they say there is no evidence that he is a desserter. republican senator, jon kyl says he thinks the debate will take about four days. sotomayor has solid support from the democrats and from at least three republicans. and new information into michael jackson's death. police are looking at at least 19 doctors. sources say it could take months and even years to take action against any or all of them. and they are still waiting for the toxicology results from the autopsy. and that's when they could file the first possible criminal charges. and the owners of a gardening store shows what appears to be a money breaking in. he is stealing plants and handing them to somebody on the other side of the gate.

another gate. they are investigating. >> you can show us prime mates every day, we win. remember, we talk about health care. the ratings go down? >> right. >> we have to do that because that's important for us to understand and discuss. we compensate for that with primate ratings go up. >> a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. >> so sweet. thank you very much, contessa. we will go into more sugar straight ahead. apparently love does not mean never having to say i'm sorry. chris brown finding that out the hard way. he's sorry. >> he should be. >> we will stop in with courtney, stephen a. and myself, right after this. ♪ i'm sorry so sorry ♪

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i am very sad and very ashamed of at what i've done. my mother and my spiritual teachers have taught me way better than that. i have told rihanna countless times and telling you today i am truly sorry and i wasn't able to handle the situation both differently and better. >> stephen a. says he better be. apparently. i'm just learning about this story, quite honestly. we're going to take a break. no health care, no marijuana, no oil. no too big to fail. this is what people are actually talking about today. >> yeah. people are actually talking about chris brown today. with all due respect to your fancy health care. >> what is going on? >> here is what is going on. chris brown put out yesterday must be one of the most hallow apologies i've ever seen. the more controlled your apology is the less disjen bus it seems.

i wouldn't want to be shiny. all kidding aside, though, the problem this is domestic violence we're talking about and we spend so much time focusing on twitters and facebook and that sort of thing. >> and the gossipy aspects of the entire thing. >> we're seeing it's okay now and wipe your slate clean by putting a video on youtube, really some that seems really strange to me. if he wanted to apologize in a meaningful way he would go online and television and say bring it on, i will answer the hard questions. >> i argue i don't want to hear his apology. i don't care if he has an issue with his personal life, which clearly he does and he, much more than an issue, i never understand -- >> here is why. because he's a role model to people. he is an alleged role model. the second you have someone like that, nickelodeon should have said something at some point. chris brown didn't take his name off the kids achoice awards

until a need to do it. i know a need to put a period at the end of the sentence but this is the opposite how you should do it. >> i don't see how apologizing for that, in other words, what where is he trying to go? here is what i think. eric was here on crisis management yesterday and i was giving him a hard time. how do you get out of it? we were talking about this and all of this nonsense. he shut me up and said, listen. >> he shut you up? i'm sorry. >> it's not easy. if you're just looking to get acquittal and call that success, i may be able to get that for you. if you're looking to become a senator again or run for president, no can do. >> right. >> once you have exhibited a certain behavior, whether it's a political betrayal or branding or relation betrayal you may be able to get yourself in a functional state again which is the crisis manager's point, but to think you can exhibit that behavior and then go straight back to where you were before

you exhibited it, i made something fun not fun actually. i feel bad about that. >> the thing here he was able to do that because while he did plead guilty, the difference between chris brown and another person who pleads guilty, he didn't go to jail. in our america consciousness, as soon as you don't go to jail is in a sense he picked a scab that was almost healed over and nower talking about it again. the worse part is it raises more questions than answers. >> what appears to me he is trying to get her back and trying to use a vehicle, trying to use a vehicle of sort of this grand i'll throw myself at the world, i'll lie on the feet of the world! >> exactly. thank god for youtube. how else would he get her back? >> all right. >> disaster. >> thank you. great to have you back. we could have fun early in the meeting and michael jackson, he left and -- >> it was tough timing. >> the meeting goes on. on and on. >> this meeting goes on all day

it feels like. >> it's kind of fun, actually. stephen a. smith and eliot spitzer coming through and all sorts of people coming through. classic bunch of meters. i got to go. i'm so got to go. we want a transparency. guess what? we're getting a transparency. that is the good news. the bad news is we opened a can of worms and we found a bunch of worms! we'll talk about some of the smelliest ones in the can after this. that and 23 trillion dollars on the "morning meeting" coming up. nothing beats walmart's unbeatable prices... but now they have new areas where i can find the brands i use every day-- and save even more. so that's what they mean by unbeatable. save money. live better. walmart. i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration.

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good morning. welcome back. nice to see you. second hour of the,getting under way. i'm dylan ratigan. nice to see you. new estimates on our national debt. it was 14 trillion and moving it to 24 trillion.

10 trillion here and 10 trillion there and next thing you know, you're talking real money, stephen a. >> real money? >> yeah. we'll talk about what a trillion dollars is and how willing our politicians are willing to saddle our children with it. we want a transparency. i carried on it going on a ways back now. looks like we're getting some of it. stimulus money being spent literally on pork. as i mentioned before, listen. we wanted this. the whole point of this is to see it. you're going to see some awful things. >> who is "we" some hard to see this! >> what i'm saying until we turn the lights on and look inside and see what's going on, if you don't like it, just because you don't like what is in the closet doesn't mean you don't want to open it up and clean out the closet. >> some people don't want to. >> most people want to keep the closet full but it's full of chunk and we have to clean it. >> hillary clinton says he and barack obama are on the same page. but think about hillary clinton, forget whether you like her

politics. think about her moat trags motivation and qualifications. are we getting as much out of her as we should? stephen a. says are you kidding me? it's 10:00 a.m. let's get back to work. they keep doing math and the numbers keep getting bigger. here is contessa with more. 23 point something trillion? >> 23.7 trillion. >> excellent. >> a lot of money. neil barofsky is before a house oversight committee presenting his finds. he says 23.7 trillion is what the taxpayers could be on the hook for. >> this is what is at risk? >> right. let me get to it.

i said if. >> sorry. sorry. >> hold on. if the programs involved in the financial system are maxed out when they -- in other words, if fannie and freddy fails, it's every dollar that the government has at risk implodes 23.7 trillion. a spokesman for the treasury department is downplaying the numbers, obviously, saying unlikely every dollar the federal government puts up would fail, but the treasury department says less than 2 trillion has been spent so far and makes it sound like chump change, doesn't it? >> capitalism is based on you have an idea, you try to do it, you pull it off, i'll give you as much money as you can make doing that. when you're making money by taking risk with taxpayer money and bonusing yourself hundreds of millions and billions of dollar you are a feet. that is not capitalism. if you're wondering how much money they were risking -- >> it became capitalism. >> no, wait. >> when laws repelled, it allows

that to happen and becomes our system. >> i think any social system, comumism, socialism and capitalism can be corrupted where a few people take all the money. i don't care what it is. that is capitalism became a way for a few people to take money. >> what comes to my mind oxymoron. they totally exploit the system to benefit the few at the expense of the many is what this comes down to and why something needs to be done about it and really, really fast. >> the thing is we have the midterm election coming up. again, our politicians -- greedy bankers will be greedy and polish borrowers will be foolish borrowers and the world will go around but we pay a third of our salary every hour we work for a government to protect us, national defense, thieves which is what these people were, energy resource management and all of the things we can't do for ourselves and the government being willing to take all of that lobbying money and alter laws to allow insurance fraud at

aig you're off to the races. >> we have to get them out of there and more importantly throw some the politicians in jail. i think it might be necessary and coming to that. everybody is playing politics. in '94 the republican takeover and democrats out there aching for the opportunity to reclaim the house and senate so we could avenge what has been done to us over the course of 14 years or so. now they've got that opportunity and had that opportunity since 2006 and they've been exploiting it to the max at the expense at the american people some would argue. why 2010 seems like we will revisit 1994 i believe. >> karen, a point where the hatfields, the game of playing the hatfields versus the mccoys because you realize both are a bunch of jerks and you're like, listen. >> you're right. >> i'm the hatfields or the mccoys. i want somebody who will administer an efficient system for our country as opposed to somebody good with fighting with the guy across the table. >> that's right. i think that is ultimately what president obama has been trying to do. you know, there is always a

question when a new president comes to town it's can obama change washington or is washington going to change obama. what you got in the congress is members of congress who are very entrenched and closely connected in some instances to some of these various interests. and we have a system where talking more about aig, where the risk, there was such a level of irresponsibility. the whole point of taking risk is that if you fail, you have to take responsibility for it. >> right. >> they were totally disconnected from having to take any responsibility for it. now the members of congress make that okay, then they have to answer to their constituents. >> when they passed -- when the commodity futures modernization act and larry summers in the treasury and i'm saying there is a peep -- at the end of the clinton administration, there was a body of legislation between futures modernization that may have been passed with the best of intention. >> but, dylan, there was eight years between 2000 and 2008 where a lot of things happened. >> i know. >> part of how we got into this

situation. you can totally blame the end of the clinton administration for passing of legislation but what happened in the interim? >> i have to because i have to find the law that allowed aig to do what they did. and the law that allowed aig to do what it did was -- >> what were the regulators doing during that time in that eight years? people who couldn't even understand what they were doing. >> i'm saying, yes, 40-1 leverage approved under george bush, you betcha. did the hatfields screw us badly in that regard? you bet and so did the mccoys. my point is the mccoys passed the law and hatfields added gas to the fire with the leverage. my point is, until we step out of the hatfield/mccoy mentality and be honest what is going on on with money in this country, the people of this country suffer the most. that is the only point i'm making. >> i absolutely agree with you. that is the story playing out when we look what is happening with health care reform and what is happening with banking reform and with all of it, you got these entrenched interests

fighting each other and the republicans basically saying they're more interested in, you know, trying to derail the president's agenda than coming up with ideas of their own. >> meanwhile, burns -- >> more and more people are losing their health insurance and losing their jobs and homes. >> i think barack obama honestly gets that. i don't know that the congress gets that. i think that is phil griffin gets it by giving us a chance to have this "morning meeting." jonathan, you get the last word. >> in order to change washington, i think it's incumbent upon the president to keep doing what he is doing, trying to transparency, and but also he needs to bring in other people to washington who share his vision for transparency and changing the way things happen and that is the only way you're going to get all these things that you've been talking about since the "morning meeting" started. you can't do it by himself. >> the president is going to have to use a little bit more of his leverage. >> he is. karen, stay with me.

again, we're coming up with insurance fraud scam for this show and there will be no commercials. we're going to go two hours and sell insurance out of the back on 30 rock here and we'll insure anything. just send us money. >> we'll just drill off santa barbara coast. >> we're going to drill and sell marijuana and sell fraudulent insurance from the "morning meeting." contessa, we can't do that yet. what is going on? >> breaking news from capitol hill. ben bernanke, the fed chair is up and you see barney frank who is the chair of this house financial services committee. here is what the federal reserve chairman is telling them. that the outlook for the economy is improving. he says that he thinks the fed will be able to reel in its extraordinary economic stimulus to prevent a flare-up of -- but he says unemployment is going to remain high into 2011 and warning lawmakers that could, itself, zap consumer confidence and undermine any progress that we're seeing in the economy. we'll keep our eye on that and bring an update throughout the

hour. president obama is keeping high profile push for health care reform firing back at republican critics who want the whole process slowing down. today he defended his august deadline and says without it nothing gets done but said that deadline may slip. he admitted to "today" meredith vieira that current legislation doesn't do enough to bring overall costs down. >> any one of those bills, would you sign them, based on what you see? >> right now, they're not where they need to be, but i promise you, i just met with the congressional budget office today, so i know exactly what they're saying. what they're saying is that the cost savings that are in those bills right now, some of them may work but they're not enough to offset the additional costs of bringing in $46 -- 46 million new people to provide it. >> the president's meeting with house democrats later today to try to help forge an agreement. he'll speak publicly about health care about three hours from now. we'll be watching for that on msnbc. in afghanistan, at least six people dead after attacks by

suicide bombers and attacks took place at three government buildings and u.s. base in the eastern cities of gardes and gentleman lal la bad. police say they used suicide bombers and rockets in that assault on the governor's compound. waiting for update there. it's been very bad and a lot of violence and the deadliest year so far for our groups in afghanistan. >> the president said point blank he is going to escalate efforts in that country. unfortunately, that correlates directly to fatalities. thank you, contessa. ahead in this hour of the meeting, a 2 million dollar ham. we're getting transparency. you is open a can of worms but don't be surprised when you open the can of worms to find worms. we'll talk about the stimulating projects for perusal on the internet at recovery.gov. first, applaud the administration for creating

recovery.gov and making an effort to turn the lights on. 21st century society deserves better than a 19th century government. (announcer) illness doesn't care where you live... ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supporting bipartisan reform that congress can build on.

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about transparency, we are starting to get some of it and that is a good thing even what we see when we first open the door is scary. >> here is what we found on recovery.gov. 2.5 million dollars spent to purchase sliced ham. that is again on recovery.gov. the daed is firing back saying the recovery act funds allowed people to purchase ham, cheese and dairy products for food

pantries the act to send 2 million pounds of ham is wrong. the contract purchase hundreds of thousands of pounds of ham and spent $351,000 to upgrade a dumbwaiter in new york. 541,000 to fix a traffic signal in hawaii but you need a traffic signal fixed. if it's broken and everything in hawaii is more expensive, you know. >> yeah. like the new york knicks, once again. we are a country that is phenomenally spend ab surds amount of money and getting little as possible for it, whether a canned ham or a traffic light. jake brewer has made the quest for transparency a full-time job, not just jake but those he works with. we're starting to get some of transparency that modern technology allows for. a good chuckle to be had here,

for sure. again, the pricing and the recordkeeping are terrible in many cases. but is this a beginning of a positive road? in other words, have we cracked the egg here in the sense we're now starting to see what is where and where the cockroaches are and the more we look at it, the less of the type of thing that contessa was talking about there will be? >> i think absolutely that we are. i mean, in many ways the fact we're airing this segment at all is an indication we're on the right track. you know, vivet and east chokera, the chief technology officer have the hardest jobs in washington. we admire what they are up to and the goals they've set for, but here we have an example of where, as you said, 19th century government is coming up -- coming head-to-head with a 21st century government. >> 21st sendry society with 19th century government. so we suffer, i can't keep

track. we might as well be using leeches to cure cancer the way we run our government. >> recovery.gov is an excellent website. they did call for the highest ideals when it was announced from the office of management and budget, the highest ideals of transparency and accountability and we love that. but it needs to be what the american people's definition of transparency and accountability is and not what the government's traditional definition is. >> karen and jonathan, both of you on this. how do they fulfill their obligation to the american people as any employee would if they were spending all of your money to show us how they are spending the money? >> yeah. >> at the same time, they have to go through the transition that any business would have to go through or any group of people would have to go to to get their house in order if they have to show everybody the books all the time. >> yeah. you know, this is the kind of thing where transparency a great thing to campaign and talk

about, but sort of the practical reality and they really opened themselves up to people being able to sort of cherry-pick little bits of information and question it, rather than have an ongoing conversation with the american from the beginning how the money was being spent and why it was being spent a certain way. when you hear all that money spent on ham, that sounds ridiculous. but when you hear those hams actually went to food banks and we know in this economy, more people are relying on food banks, you think that makes more sense. >> what it makes me think about is this. it's not just a spending problem in d.c., it's also a recordkeeping problem. >> absolutely. >> because what happens, jonathan, is because the guy, the government says how much -- put two pounds of ham for everybody. it's as if we are at nbc and 44,000 a month for the newspapers and then one newspaper for dylan and 44,000. no, newspapers for all of 30 rock. if do you this, you need

recordkeeping to go with it. >> yes, need recordkeeping to go with it but i think it's incumbent upon all of us not to have knee-jerk reactions to what we're seeing on that site. it's great to slam the government for -- >> but -- >> wait a minute, dylan. it's one thing to slam the government for basically deli sandwiches for everyone but without delving deeper and see what the money is used for i think makes it a disservice and makes it harder for folks at recovery.gov to do their jobs. who wants to have some light on them and try to do the right thing if, what they're doing is easily mischaracterized and caricature? >> my point is it doesn't matter. >> yeah. >> if you you were going to take trillions of dollars from a group of people every year, for good ns are, the national defense, all of these things, it is not unreasonable, particularly in the context of modern technology and with the track record from blagojevich to -- >> right. >> these people have lost their

chance. go ahead, stephen and then i got to go. >> it was obama -- it was barack obama and his administration talking about transparency. but here you have, as "the wall street journal" reported how you got the treasury declining and bailout recipients to reveal what they're doing with government dollars. this is not difficult. this is very, very simple. i understand there are reasons for doing and not doing an abundance of things but we are in absolutely mess and clearly the system has been exploited by the few who are looking to benefit themselves at the expense of the whole. something as simple as honoring your word to be a bit more transparent. we should be in a position where "the wall street journal" is not telling us that the treasury department refuses to be transparent. >> the least we can do as journalists is request that the lights be turned on and that the technologies of the 21st century be applied to our government to help ease them out of the 19th century and into the 21st century with everybody else. we're going to take a break. jake, a pleasure. thank you so much and hope to see more of you around here.

jake brewer from the sunlight foundation and jonathan has to go back to his morning meeting. >> i do. >> you've been great. you've been here every day and hope to continue to see you. karen, we won't let stephen a. smith, he's a bully! >> oh, man! not at all, karen! don't listen to that! >> bring it on. >> not at all! >> i got to take a break. we're back and sell insurance fraud and marijuana and oil drilling but not there yet. back after this commercial. 3... 2... 1. ever wonder how cheez-it bakes... so much real cheese in such small bites? ♪ baking complete! well, now you know. cheez-it. the big cheese. has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet.

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welcome back. time to plug into politics. what else is going on some. >> president obama is trying to get bloggers on his side to help push this health care reform. huffingtonpost.com has an article he is holding a conference call with like-minded

bloggers to sort of keep the heat on lawmakers to pass health care reform. let me play what he told them. >> that also might be code for one thing that blogs are really good at is buying whatever i'm selling and putting the heat on anybody who dares question otherwise. by the way, he has moved up his big talk now on health care and we'll see that at noon eastern. today on msnbc. okay. twitter pitfalls on twitter. >> i don't do it. >> i do. and i know there are pitfalls. claire mccaskill was apparently tweeting late at night and wrote i support the pubic option on health care reform. >> that's not fair. that is not her fault. i would have done that so many -- i probably have done

that. >> you know what? i didn't even read it as a mistake the first time i read it. nine minutes she corrected her mistake. big mistake tweeting when you're tired. i support public option is what it should have said. >> come on. >> al franken put forward his new first bill here. >> really some. >> yeah. he thinks it's time for the government to pay for service dogs for wounded iraq and afghanistan veterans. he's a major u.s. o-boosten and entertained troops in afghanistan and you think that would be something that would already be done, wouldn't you? >> you would. you have conversations with our veterans and tell you not a lot there. >> who is going to vote against that? nobody is. >> good politics. take care of the no-brainers. we're so busy on the hookers, pot and gay marriage. anyway. we're going to take a break. we take breaks all the time. >> we have to pay the bills.

>> when we come back, where there is hail, there is a way. how do we get the best off our secretary of state? hillary clinton on a globe trot in thailand today to be exact. a conversation on how to get the best out of hillary clinton here coming up. what's in a triscuit? simple ingredients like soft white winter wheat gathered together for 22 grams of whole grain goodness. it's what makes triscuit worth every bite. triscuit. weave some wonder. to silence headaches... doctors recommend tylenol... more than any other brand... of pain reliever. tylenol rapid release gels... release medicine fast. so you can stop headaches... and feel better fast. 90s slacker hip-hop. ♪ that can strain your relationships and hurt yourody 'cause we'pride ♪ng a ride ♪ ♪ 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 ♪

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all right. secretary clinton, as we know --

maybe you don't know. a long way from washington these days. today in thailand and bouncing all over the place. contessa brewer has the latest on the secretary of state. what is going on? >> well, she left india and landed in bangkok earlier this morning. recent buzz has it. she has been sort of sidelined by the obama administration because she has missed on the key trips to moscow and saudi arabia. don forget some of the state's department some of the heaviest lips have fallen to other people. for instance, richard holbrooke is dealing with afghanistan and pakistan and george mitchell is overseeing the middle east and joe biden is overseeing the withdrawal from iraq. clinton insists she and the president are on the same page despite they fought over foreign policy on the campaign. listen to it. >> i think the campaign magnified the differences more than they actually are. that's what happens with campaigns. i'm sure you've notice thad. we talked a lot about what we would want to do and how we

would set the goals and achieve our objectives, and maybe some differences of degree, but not necessarily differences of kind. >> so there you have it. hillary clinton says she's on the same page. >> joining the conversation, mo, a former clinton campaign spokesperson and karen is with us who both worked for bill and hillary and democratic strategist and stephen a. and contessa are here. mo, i will say having had the benefit of interviewing a lot of different folks over the decade and a half, i cannot think of a person who is more intellectually formidable and more impressive and capable in communication, in general, than hillary clinton. and, again, forget whether you like her or not and you're dealing with a formidable intellect and a formid ble person.

my question, mo, how do the american people -- forget what hillary clinton wants and barack obama wants. what is the most valuable thing hillary clinton could do for america? >> i think it's simple. i think it's following through with the president's number one foreign policy item which is to restore our standing abroad. i think shea is in the midst -- my count, tenth foreign trip since becoming secretary of state. we've got a lot of work to do and a lot of places around the world. having her out there as our top diplomat trying to restore our standings, redevelop relationships suffered over the past eight years is critical to our success on the global feat. >> karen, how are we to interpret the special enjoys? contessa walked us through some of that relative to her -- her role in -- in diplomacy right now. >> i mean, look. we know that any one of the issues that are these various envoys dealing with on their own are pretty substantial.

i think we're fortunate in the united states that we have the best and the brightest. hillary clinton is the best secretary of state and the best thing she can do is do what se is doing and do the job. a little ridiculous this woman has logged almost a hundred thousand miles and broke her elbow and missed one trip and now we're questioning whether he is -- she is in the game? i think that is absurd. i think i've known hillary clinton for a long time. she knew that when she accepted the position and i think she is bringing her all to this position. knowing that, it's not her job necessarily to be front and center all the time. >> diplomacy often happens behind the scenes. >> that's right. >> you don't see diplomacy happening. other instances happening where envoys were pivotal in getting things done. george mitchell, when things were happening with great britain and not always do secretary of states intervene. she is doing something.

we know she angered a lot of new yorkers when she told countries they didn't have to pay their back taxes. >> contessa is being a smarty-pants. not exclusively, mind you. >> i'm with you, contessa. >> if you're trying to make friends, one of the best things to do is to save them money. >> that's true. >> it's politically expedient. >> blame the republican party for this to some degree. >> for what? >> because they've been making so much noise about obama's travels and some of the things he has done, traveling over to the middle east and giving his speech in cairo and being the face of the nation, which is what he is supposed to do as president of the united states of america. it has served to some add minutished a role that she was so formidable during the campaign for the democratic nomination. that you expected a lot more from her doesn't mean she is not doing her job and doesn't deserve all of the respect in

the world but because obama is so front and center, people out there are saying, we expected more from hillary clinton. >> front and center over -- overshadowing the president? >> karen, go ahead. >> i was going to say it's appropriate we have a new president who does not have the same kind of standing on the world stage. it's very appropriate that he is out front and center. i mean, look. she was with him on that historic trip to egypt when he gave the speech in cairo but the focus on what the president was giving. >> i get all the appropriate. i get it. here is my question. they are doing health care in america right now. they being the politicians. we are doing health care. everybody is involved in this conversation. we hope. she, obviously, attempted this once. is there a deliberate act on the part of the obama administration and maybe that is an intelligent -- i'm not criticizing it but to get her out because they don't want the branding of hillary clinton anywhere near the obama health care plan so if she goes on a

world tour and while she is on a world tour we sell health care we have a better chance of success? >> dylan, can you imagine the attacks that she would face. >> i know. >> so do you think that is why they sent her around the world? >> no. i think they sent her around the world because that is her job! >> but it keeps her out of their hair while doing health care. >> i completely agree with karen. her job is go out there and help your restore our standing around the world and do the job of secretary of state. when she took the job i presume she wasn't going to be involved in the health care debate. >> i understand. >> i think she is doing a great job. look. it's a big job and a job not one person can do all alone. having the president and enjoys envoys out there and having the secretary of state out there, the last administration left a big mess and everybody is trying to clean up. >> can we chill out with sensitivity here? the fact nobody is questioning whether hillary clinton is doing her job. we know shall she is doing what

she is supposed to be doing but doesn't negate the fact there are perceptions that others are trying to create that is saying that she's being pushed to the sideline to sort of create some kind of tension. all i'm asking is whether there is any legitimacy to that. we all know she is doing her job. >> i don't think anyone would disagree with that. on the point of health care, you have rahm emanuel in the white house and there during the clinton years and a number of us around during that time. plenty of us in washington can give our advice about the mi takes. goodness knows, plenty written about the mistakes made in '94 for the president to take a look at and try to mitigate those mistakes as he moves forward. >> ultimately, then, north korea is hillary's issue? i mean, we need to go after her and be harassing her because that's our job, by the way. nothing against her, but we are in the business of asking questions over here. exclusively in the international theater s that fair, mo?

the only place we should give her trouble? >> given her current portfolio i think -- i don't think shaeed have any problem answering any questions you all throw at her. >> i have no doubt. i've dealt with her. she is an impressive intellect. mo, a pleasure. thank you. we'll take a break because, again, we have to. and we'll be back after this. limb: dude that was sick! i've been hangin' up there for, what, like, forty years? and then - wham - here i am smacking the pretty off that windshield of yours. oh, what you're looking for an apology? well, toss another coin in the wishing well, pal. it's not happenin'. limb: hey, what's up, donnie? how you been? anncr: accidents are bad.

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books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. welcome back. contessa, what do we got? >> president obama in less than 90 minutes will come with the leaders to write the massive health care bill. he will meet with them and putting the pressure on them to finish the health care plan before the august congressional

recess. new poll says 85% of americans say it is important the president make health care reform part of his efforts to restore the economy. family of kidnapped american soldier bowe bergdahl released a message they are overwhelmed with messages of support but their sheriff says they don't want to speak publicly. >> the family members just don't want to do or risk doing anything to inflame the situation of their captors. so you can see how easily that can happen. >> top military commanders say u.s. forces in afghanistan are doing everything they can to find and rescue the 23-year-old private. nbc's george lewis is there in bergdahl's hometown of haley, throw. what can you tell us, today, george? >> the town is praying and watching and hoping for a great outcome mode. yesterday, swaths of volunteers went all over town tying yellow

ribbons on trees and putting up signs saying bring bowe home. so many that local shops reported running out of yellow ribbons and they ran out of the signs they had printed up. as the family says an overwhelming show of support from the community. it's interesting that a lot of people in this community knew or felt that bowe bergdahl was the soldier captured in afghanistan when the first reports came out, not naming anybody. they kept quiet about it out of deference to the family and out of fear of inflaming the situation. when the video was released over the weekend and we saw bowe in captivity for the first time, people began going public. the family remains in seclusion in their home about six miles outside of town. they said they wish that the public would respect their privacy as they wait. local churches have organized prayer chains to pray for the safe return of bowe bergdahl but

some people say while they are trying to keep a positive face on things, it is frustrating just waiting, knowing that they can't do a whole lot. contessa? >> i'm sure it is, george. thank you. the danger of using a cell phone while driving apparently was kept from the public. a study in 2003 and gathered research and study never finished so didn't release the research it had already compiled. it is reported the head of the administration saying he was told to withhold the findings for fear of anger congress. what in that would anger congress so much? >> can i tell you if i was to -- >> yes. >> i can see them doing the reven and finding out using your blackberry or whatever it is driving is much more dangerous than drinking. all of these things come out. >> right. >> now i picture the telephone lobby saying please do not create a law you can't do this

and that. in other words, again, i'm suspicious of the lobbying. >> let me give you the facts. that drive distraction contributes to about 25% of all police reported crashes. cell phone use by drivers increase 50%. >> increase what, 50%? >> yeah. increase 50%. from 2000 to 2002. so they're looking at this. do you think maybe it's because members of congress also like to drive while they're talking on the phone? should we move on? >> sure. much deserved day of down time for "endeavour." yesterday astronauts took a walk to mark the 40th anniversary of the apollo 11 moon landing and used this robotic arm to transfer spare parts from the shuttle to the international space station. you never know when a toilet is going to break. another ethics complaint filed against sarah palin the 19th to date. the complaint says she didn't fill out gift disclosure forms in a timely manner.

palin respond odd twitter calling the allegations ridiculous and wasteful and saying it came from a serial complainer. in her resignation announcement she cited the complaints and how much it cost her home state is part of the reason why she is leaving midterm. news brief wraps up announcement from a new york city tourist icon here. this is the naked cowboy you're looking at. >> i used to work across the street from him not that long ago. >> wearing a similar costume? >> yes. >> you lied. >> i used to work with him! ha ha! now i'm here. >> he specked to toss his hat in the ring for mayor of new york. this guy. naked cowboy plans to run on a platform of bringing transparency to a whole new level. you should like that! >> yeah. listen. i may go donate to his campaign after the show. >> 38-year-old robert burke has been a times square fixture for a decade now and does a brisk business out this. they throw their dollars and his

little coin collection. >> he is transparent. >> not quite. >> almost. >> thankfully. >> yeah. indeed. like i said, opening a can of worms and finding worms is not a reason to be upset you opened the can of worms. there's worms in there and why we opened it. in this case, he's a naked cowboy. >> and potentially the mayor of new york city if things go well for him. >> what a follow-up to michael bloomberg that would be, huh? a naked man. listen. things have gotten so bad in this country that the california budget office has done explicit mathematical calculations on the market impact of marijuana legalization. the price drop, the consumption rise, the tax policy ranging from bulk to joints. what is america coming to when our tax -- our bean counters are bean counting drugs and potentially drilling? we'll talk about that here coming up. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol...

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all right. another big day for health care. president obama moving up his speech on health care. msnbc will carry it live shortly after 12:00 eastern time. again, this is the national conversation. there's everything at stake for us as a country, as, again, we're currently the new york knicks. we spend a ton and get very little.

president obama wants to address that. we're debating how to go about it. the least we could do is hear the man out as he engages in this debate. admirably so. when you like the topic. >> we talked about the issues of california. two ways to solve their problems. drilling on those beaches off santa barbara. got jonathan capehart to like that idea. and legalizing marijuana. things have gotten so bad in this country you have the california budget office doing mathematical calculations as to the street price of marijuana and consumption of marijuana and tax structure for marijuana. whether you like drugs or drilling as a way out of the california budget crisis, the one thing we all agreed on, don't mix the two. don't smoke and drill. either drill or do the marijuana thing, but don't mix both of them. that is my take-away. with that said, carlos wonders what he walked into.

>> what did i walk into? >> mothers against drunk driving works. can you use the same organization, mothers against drug drilling. >> you're a genius here. the man from upstate new york has a plan. ahead, we have breaking news. a senior republican says he is ready to deal with president obama on health care and could be big news. also have a democratic rising star who says he's got a way forward to the budget crises. the one guy who doesn't have a structural deficit in terms of what is he doing. a real life inspiration for the mayor and the wire and don't forget more on the hen i didn't lewis gates story. as you said, crazy story and chaotic. harvard professor in your own home? >> he was tumultuous? if he came into my house and tried to arrest me for getting into my house i again would be tumultuous and loud. >> right now, msnbc live with

carlos watson. we have a lot of good folks coming up. don't go anywhere. coming straight back.

right now the battle over health care hits a fever pitch in washington. president obama defends on the august deadline but one republican says he can break president obama. tails on that ahead. in california lawmakers find an answer to the multibillion dollar budget dilemma but is chaos on the way? has the governor schwarzenegger struck a bargain in we'll discuss that with the democratic rising star. was it a misunderstanding or something much more insidious? new allegations of racial profiling at one of the nation's most prestigious universities. good morning. welcome to a brand-new hour of msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. a great show lined up. maryland governor is here and democratic congressman clyburn

and plus msnbc contributor pop culture expert toure are joining me this hour. much more on the wars in afghanistan and iraq ahead. the pentagon says it will spare no effort to find bowe bergdahl. the family of the 23-year-old is repeating their request for privacy. >> i think what their energy is focused on, certainly, is on bowe and they want to know, you know, that -- they want to be careful so that they don't do anything to inflame the situation. >> california's finally taking a definitive step toward ending its budget crisis. governor schwarzenegger and leading lawmakers reached an agreement to close the budget shortfall and july is the deadliest months for u.s. troops in afghanistan since the war began. 30 soldiers have been killed so far this month. the milestone was reached after four u.s. troops died on monday.

new concerns about racial profiling today in the harvard community. hen i have louis gates jr. was arrested at his home by police reportering a break-in. i want to introduce my guest co-host. each day i invite a guest co-host to join me. i'm pleased to have "today" show financial editor jean chatzky. >> nice bob to be back here. >> nice to see you. this disturbing story on henry gates? >> disturbing on many levels. until we have details coming out on both sides we're playing a game of wait and see to see what comes up. >> absolutely heartbreaking. also tough news on the economy. ben bernanke, the chairman of the fed, testifying on capitol hill seeming to suggest, in fact, i want to play a little bit of it for you. seeming to suggest that not only are things bad in terms of unimploichlt but it cou