has been the most underthe rug senate majority leader i have ever seen. the president was in cleveland today for a town hall, asked multiple times about what he thought about the senate delay. here's his response. >> we just heard today that, well, we may not be able to get the bill out of the senate by the end of august or beginning of august. that's okay. i just want people to keep on working. just keep working. what i don't want is what i refer to in my speech, delay for the sake of delay, delay because people are worried about making tough decisions or casting tough votes. that's what i don't want to see. >> well, it's the delay because the lobbyists are doing a bit better job than the white house right now. i've got to be honest with you, folks, i think the president missed an opportunity today and he missed an opportunity last night at the news conference. there is an undercurrent of frustration among hard-core democrats in this country.

president obama, no doubt about it, he is illustrating a great of patients with his parties in the process, but he's also doing it with the people who are trying to destroy him. now, the republicans are out there just hammering him at every corner. what's the president doing? he's offering up an olive branch. i almost fell out of the front row the other night. they haven't got any ideas. he's trying to do the statesman-like thing, and you have to admire him for that, and we are in a del indicate space right now through this process, no doubt about it, but i think for president bush, this would have been a fighting moment, so i i think we're seeing different contrasts. i appreciate that. i think we have the smart guy in office who's knowing he's very knowledgeable, very reasonable and has a real command of this issue of health care reform in this country, but i think there's an undercurrent, and i'm right in the middle of it,

because i want to see some punches thrown on the republicans. they're not going to do you any favors. back during the campaigning days when the president was trying to be the president, anytime the clintons came out swinging, he swung right back on the campaign trail. i think that's kind of where we are right now. i could be totally wrong, but i just want the victory. i know he's trying to show patience with the process and i think the senate delay is a setback. so many people have their hopes on the fact that the special interests won't have time to go back in august and infiltrate into the small towns, get people thinking the wrong way and forget about the election. by the way, the economy is not doing what we want to do, obama is a loser. that's what i'm afraid of. i also think in the big picture that the president is really surprised where he is right now on this issue. i don't think he expected this much push-back from his own party. i know the president is trying to usher in a new era of politics, everybody get along, but sooner or later, president

obama is going to have to find a way to deal with the junkyard dogs that are doing their thing all over the yard at not contributing anything. i want to know what you think. we know the gop talking points are absolutely bog gus, but are the republican attacks starting to sink in with the public? text us your vote. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. last night when i was sitting there, i thought for a moment, i wonder if this guy wants to run for reelection. there were times last night that i thought president obama was a beaten man, and i thought, where's the fire? do you remember last week when the president was out on the campaign trail, he was over there with the governor of new jersey, mr. corzine trying to get reelected, he has a tough battle coming up. the president was just getting

after it, just getting after it. i kind of expected that last night, and it wasn't there. maybe it's the white house, maybe the setting, the press thing and everything else. i don't know, my level of disappointment was in the demeanor, and i know barack obama is a very smart guy, i hope he's on point, getting this thing done, but today the senate saying that they're not going to get a vote and chuck grassley and max baucus, the big takers from the medical side, they need more time to figure this thing out. hogwash! they've known all long what the obama agenda was going to be. they need to get together and you need to communicate with the folks on the hill and tell them to stay on the job. joining me is one of the ranking members of congress that says congress should stay put in town. hue ray for jim clyburn with us tonight. e know we have you on the phone here. congressman, how contentious was it behind closed doors with the

democrats today when this subject about working through the recess came up? >> well, a lot of passion in our caucus, wanting to do health care reform, and there are people who do believe that if we were to leave here without doing this, the headline is not going to be we're going home to listen to voters, the headline will be that we took a vacation while 14,000 people a day lost their health insurance, while 3 million seniors fell through the doughnut hole. we've got to stay here so the american people will not view us as vacationing while they continue to suffer. >> now, do you think that the house has the votes to get this health care package out on your side? nancy pelosi says she's got the votes to go a progressive plan out. do you agree with her on that? >> well, i haven't started trying to count votes yet. nancy pelosi is a former whip,

she and steny hoyer both. i, for one, have not started counting yet, simply because i want to wait until the energy commerce committee finishes its work, then we square these three different bills and blend them into one, and then we'll start whipping on the final product. there's going to be some changes made even tonight. >> change made tonight. it's the -- the process is very fluid right now. >> absolutely. >> i want to know what your take is, congressman. last night president obama did not use the term public option. today in a statement at the town hall meeting he did not use the term public option. i mean, this is what we've got talking about, the whole country has been focused on. all of a sudden the president just conveniently stops using that term? why is that happening, in your opinion? >> well, i don't know, but i do believe that a public option is

very strongly supported by the majority of the house of representatives. now, there are some issues to whether or not the public option of what will trigger a public option. should it be there automatically? or should we give the insurance companies a fair opportunity to do the controls we think that need to be done in order to hold the costs down? if they don't do it, trigger a public option? there is some sentiment for that, but i do believe the vast majority of the house of representatives is in favor of a public option. >> if scale 1 to 100, 50%, 80%, what do you think the chances are of the house staying in and working until they get conclusion? >> better than a 50/50 chance. >> congressman clyburn, thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you. let me bring in roger simon, chief political columnist for

politico. roger, what do you make of the senate not being able to get it done before the recess and harry reid today saying that the senate financial committee needs more time to figure this thing out? what's your take? >> my take is the votes just aren't there. the president would love to do this with republican support, but he'll do it with just democratic support, but he doesn't have the votes yet, doesn't have the votes in the senate or the house, and one of the reasons is neither side knows exactly either, a, what this health care plan is going to look like, and, b, how really we're going to pay for it. you put your finger on one of the big sticking points, the public option. a lot of people think the public option is a done deal. if you talk more to max back us, listen closely to the president, there's two different views. two different views on what the public option really is. is it something that will actually exist? or is it going to be used as a threat to make the insurance

companies play ball? or as the president said last night, to keep the insurance companies honest? the progressive wing of the party, reformers, a lot of rank-and-file citizens, they want the public option. a lot of democratic senators, congresspeople and i think to a greater degree of people than people expect, see it as a tool, a club to hold over the head of the insurance companies. you heard the word "triggers" if you have triggers, that means not a public option from day one. >> roger, one thing i think a lot of democrats in this country are concerned about who very much are in favor of this getting done asap, we know what the issues are, and i think a lot of them are saying, okay, this is going to give the sound machine the antis, the lobbyists more time to swing public opinion in their direction. is this not the hourglass

broadband turned oto'bama administration? between now, almost the first of august, and the end of the year is a long time. >> it is a long time. if the democrats could get it done now, they would, and i think you're already seeing in the polls exactly what you're talking about, ed. the public is worried about health care reform. they used to be all for it. now they're okay, but how are we going to pay for it? and is it going to cost me my job? and yeah, are we going to soak just the millionaires? or the middle class, too? and, you notice, there are more questions about health care reform now than there were three months ago, and there probably will be more three months from now than there are now. >> and i thought the president last night came out trying to calm the fears of lower income and middle-class americans that you're not going to have to pay for this, but at the same time, roger, he didn't get specific on who is going to pay for it.

rojser, great to have you with us tonight. thanks for your time, roger simon, columnist for the politico. coming up, new revelations about shooter and scooter. chen yes almost broke with president bush, because bush wouldn't pardon scooter libby. he was, quote, leaving him out on the battlefield? you got to love the war analogy. they've got some great summer reading for us. stay with us. two medium cappuccinos, you're ready for the mid-morning rush thanks to a good breakfast. one coffee with room, one large mocha latte. medium macchiato, light hot chocolate hold the whip, and two espressos. make one a double. she's fiber focused! i have two cappuccinos, one coffee with room, one large mocha latte, a medium macchiato, a light hot chocolate, hold the whip, and two espressos, one with a double shot. gonna take more than coffee to stay this focused. stay full and focused through the morning... with a breakfast of kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® cereal; an excellent source of fiber that helps you avoid... the distraction of mid-morning hunger.

no thanks, i'm good. [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you. introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. i want to see dick cheney hauled up for capitol hill and forced to testify under oath about the cia's secret programs and possibly lying to congress and of course there's so much other stuff out there. the house intelligence committee has launched a full investigation. we'll talk about that at the bottom of the hour. stay with us. dy presented by better homes and gardens, definity color recapture.

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welcome back to "the ed show." dick cheney pleaded, cajoled, even pestered president bush to pardon convicted former chief of staff scooter libby. he argued, quote, we don't want to leave anybody on the battlefield. "time" has an explosive front-cover story showing just how much dick cheney put on the line for scooter. it was, quote, a crusade for chen cheney, who seemed prepared to push his 9-year-old relationship with bush to the breaking point and perhaps past it. joining mess is michael weiskopf. he co-wrote the story and a senior correspondent for "time." good to have you with us

tonight. as a journalist, this had to be kind of a fun story to do, wasn't it? >> dealing with the bush administration has always been like chipping rock, ed, so it was a hard story to get, and -- but gratifying. >> what was the most startling piece of information you came au across which you think would be an interesting point for the american people, who are fascinated about how that administration was run. >> just the 11th hour nature of it, the fact that after a couple wars and an economic meltdown, you know, right at the end of the administration that what really dominated was this political issue, this question of loyalty and the kind of lingering question of how this administration would be seen. >> one of the comments from a

bush family friend was, quote, cheney really got in the president's face, he just wouldn't give it up. give us a description of what these conversations were like, from what you know. >> direct, lawyerly, insistsant, persistent, and it got to the point where the president was uncomfortable with hearing more about it. >> are they friends today? >> yes, they are, and interestingly, although this caused some strain at the end of the administration, it doesn't seem to have colored their relations since. >> it seems that president bush made the personal determination that he thought that scooter libby was a liar. can we take it any other way? >> well, he might not put it quite in those terms, but yes, you can equate it that way. i think the question he asked over and over was, did the jury get it right? he also wanted to know whether

scooter lied, and when the answer came back in both cases yes, he decided it was no good to pardon this verdict, that the jury did get it right. it's important to note two years earlier he commuted the sentence, and that hung over the final deliberations, because the president thod then and two years later that he had done enough. >> the former vice president has responded to the article in "time." he says, scooter libby is an innocent man who is the victim of a severe miscarriage of justice. what's your response to cheney's response to your work? >> well, this was not a response to our work. this was the argument he was

making internally, and it was rebuffed, his argument. you'll notice that he didn't take exception with the nature of the story, and whether or not schooler libby was a guilty man or not is an issue that will be debated for a long, long time. but there is a verdict that it was maintained. it was not overturned by the president's pardon, so really the jury system speaks for itself. >> mr. weiskopf, good to have you on "the ed show" tonight. >> you're welcome. you won't believe the latest excuse from the party of no ideas, the republican lawmaker says they're not offering their own bill because it would confusion people? it's next in "psychotalk." stay with us. applebee's 2 for $20.

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oh, welcome back to "the ed show." i'm told you for weeks on end this health care thing really runs the republicans right into the ditch. this time it's the chairman of the house gop health care solutions group. congressman roy blunt of missouri. he's the chairman of the solutions group. "solutions," got that? this is what he said to "the hill" newspaper in washington --

now, let me get this right, the house gop will not produce a health care bill. that's what the chairman of the solutions group says. it sounds like he's singing a new tune, doesn't it? >> our plan will help small business oorns on main street. our proposal will also encourage disease prevention. we'll continue that outreach while drafting our own legislation aimed at helping small businesses and families. and please take a few moments to look a what we're doing to craft a bill that's an american health care plan. >> that was blunt speaking just last month when republicans were getting heat for being obstructionists and being the party of no ideas. now suddenly it's better policy to keep the focus on democrats, forget a bill, forget about trying to fix a broken system,

forget about trying to make health care more affordable, cover millions of americans who could get insured, plus a new bill would only, quote, confusion people. congressman roy blunt, that sure sounds like politics to me. i'll tell us what it is, it's do-nothing, flip-flopping "psychotau." transitions lenses are there to help care for my sight. announcer: transitions lenses adjust to changing light to reduce glare and help protect your eyes from uv damage so you can see better today... and tomorrow. live your vision. transitions. healthy sight in every light. to learn how transitions lenses can help protect your family's eyesight, go to our website or stop by a sam's club optical near you. garth, you're up. hold on, i'm at capitalone.com picking a photo... for my credit card. here's one from my prom. oh, what memories. how 'bout one from our golf outing?

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s. welcome back to "the ed show" on msnbc. just did a town hole meeting in madison, wisconsin, place was packed, fever pitch, but i did ask the crowd one question -- how do you feel about the house intelligence committee investigating whether the last administration was lying to the cia and lying to the congress, and just this whole round robin, and how do you feel about dick cheney coming in under oath. the place went absolutely nuts. i mean, they're just all about it.

so i've told that to a few people another hill, and that's the topic of this segment tonight. what could this reveal? msnbc anchor/political analyst carlos watkins is with us, and stephanie miller, syndicated talk show host, and nationally syndicated talk show host michael melvin tonight. we could do more than walk and chew gum in washington, so says the president. >> so says the president. >> i was taken by that. could this be a down side for the democrats if they go down this road and really start digging into what the cia actually did and did not tell the congress? >> i think even more so now, because health care is in a tough place. as you called it a lowdown dirty shame. if jim cooper is right and not only will it take a few more weeks, but maybe even a few more

months is the truth of that matter could help democrats in getting health care done. >> stephanie miller, what do you think? this would be good summer entertainment, wouldn't it? >> it sure would. you're right. while they're taking a break from screwing up health care, what else do they have to do? >> i like stephanie. >> i don't see how you turn your head from contemplatant law-breaking. >> michael, are the republicans concerned about this? or do you see the republicans viewing this as, see that? that's all democrats want to do, go back and dig up dirty old stories? >> i think it helps the republicans a great deal. it takes the focus away from president obama's agenda. that agenda is a bit in trouble. the american people are turning against, according to all the polls, against president obama on health care. this dilutes the focus. it's sort of the equivalent on the democratic side of the sick

obsession with some people on our side with this birth certificate noncontroversy. it hurts republicans, it doesn't hurt obama. talking about cheney, scooter libby and the cia, that hurts democrats, it doesn't hurt us. >> i'll tell us another piano es which president obama saw early in the year. i'm one of the guys that thinks it would be a good idea to to have selective investigation and coordination. one of the things that president obama is worried about, to you extent you go into investigations, you'll show inflammatory pictures, and you still have troops there still, i think he's worried it will put more troops in harm's way. >> quickly around the horn on harm's way. stephanie, how do you think the president did last night and today and of course the phrase "public option" has been taken out of her vernacular. he didn't mention it today on the stump when he was in high

how. >> that troubles me, too. i know we can't expect the thin line of eloquence of explaining difficult issues that we got from president bush, but i thought he did fine last night. i would have liked more fire, but this is a complex issue, it really is, and i think he answered the questions and answered them correctly. i share your frustration with democrats and republicans at this point. >> michael, what do you think? is this announcement today by harry reid that the senate will not get anything done star a vote is concerned, this gives the antis a lot of room and time to push back and turn the thinking of the public? what do you think? >> i think that's true, but i think it also gives people a time to have some kind of meaningful compromise, which democrats have resisted until now. look, the president last night in the press conference, he is normally extraordinarily passionate, and a great communicator. he looked like he was asleep last night. i'll tell you what highlighted

it, was the last question was -- >> it was his strongest answer, no doubt. >> he was passionate, cared, he was awake. the rest of the time was almost he like talking in his sleep. it wasn't at his best. >> he seemed a little defeated on health care. >> i heard a lot of you guys going after him on that. >> i'm not going after him. hey, you know where i am. i want him to get the big victory. four press conferences, that one lacked the passion on the biggest domestic agenda. >> i'm not going to disagree it lacked passion, but i think the president realized frankly a lot of people weren't going to watch it. >> that's the most that that have ever seen him talk about health care. >> he was talking to congress, and i think he was negotiating with congress, and i think he felt like he needed to speak in clear language, and i think he did lay some things out. including being open to the

millionaire tax. how do you feel about that? >> i would have to pay more, and i think we need to take one for the team. if it doesn't work, they can come back and fix it. we've got to get everybody covered. i wish i had seen more passion. you have to admit that president obama talking about health care over in new jersey and talking about it in ohio is different from talking to all the of the media and 16 million people at a press conference last night. >> maybe that's the problem. maybe that's the problem. >> i was taken by that. go ahead, stephanie. >> ed, i've got to tell you, though, i would be tired too. do you know how many times he's had to deal with the lies? if you like the doctor and the plan you have now, you can keep it. it's an option. he has to keep explaining it, because they're not telling the truth on the other side. >> maybe he could just explain it a little more credibly, because honestly, the people's doubts about it are appropriate. >> well, credibly, hang on,

michael. he's got tremendous command of this issue. i think he's just disappointed. i don't think the president thought he was going to get this much smoke from his own party. i thought that this was going to be easier of a lift. he didn't think he would have to bring so many democrats along. >> i agree with you, ed, and you could see him on the edge when our chuck todd asked him -- that's where i felt like the president wanted to bring more passion, and he made a decision that my audience wasn't the public, it was the congress. >> i think he's afraid to call on me. i'll break the room up for him. >> see, ed, you're more honest about this than the president. what the public and the congress need to hear is some explanation of how is it you can give people better coverage, lower cost coverage, you can ensure 47 million people who aren't insured, and it's not going to cost anything. >> michael, i have to tell you, a closing comment on this,

medicare has never denied a patient, medicare has never told people they can't go see a doctor, and, by the way, it's government-run. stay with us, panel, we're coming back. one of the one-stop shop for talking points on health care, here we go. >> lewin group, lewin group. >> guess who owns this consulting firm? it's the insurance giant united healthcare. i'll tell you all about it. it's the perfect conflict of interest, i'm exposing it right here in my "playbook" on msnbc on "the ed show" right after this. has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network

and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience. i want to know what you think. are the republican attacks on health care starting to sink in with the public? text "a" for yes, "b" for no. up next, i'm debunking the right wing's favorite, quote, expert on health care, a consulting firm owned by an

insurance company. that's next in my "playbook." stay with us. what's in a triscuit?

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welcome back. in my "playbook" i guess you could say we're going to the hail mary page. the republicans have never been fans of the facts, but they love to quote the research of one of the health care consulting groups, known as the lewin group. >> the government is not a competitor, the government is a predator. what you'll have according to the lewin think tank, you're going to have everybody opting out of private health insurance. >> according to the lewin group, 119 million americans would lose the private coverage that they currently have. if we have a government-run system.

>> the lewin groups estimates that 21 million americans would lose their insurance under this plan. >> you know who they're quoting? they have no shame at all, do they? the republicans are hoping to think they can confuse the american people thinking that the facts are just terrible, the facts about a public plan are just horrendous, and they have this great source called the lewin groups that backs everything up. it's owned by united healthcare, the insurance giant that raked in big profits. it shelled out $400 million to settle accusations they were cooking data in order to bill patients who got out of network care, and united health group posted a record second quarter profit yesterday, so i don't think they're interested in a public plan, do you? i i think they like this system. david held is notrath wrote

about it today in today's ""the washington post."" do you they they're succeeding in fooling this american people, this convenient connection between the now famous lewin group and united health care? what do you think? >> ed, i'm not sure the public is fully informed. many people might have watched a lewin executive on recent tony hall meeting on abc news with the president at the time neither the host, charlie gibson, nor the executive disclosed this relationship. they've been described as nonpartisan, independent, they also neglect to mention it's a subsidiary of one of the nation's largest health insurers which hack a major stake in the debate and a subsidiary of a subsidiary that has been accused of distributing skewed data that

favored insurers over consumers now, in fairness to lewin, ed, lewin has said it had nothing to do with the injectix data at the root of that controversy. john shields told me that being owned by this health care company since 2007 has been a terribly difficult adjustment, because it creates an appearance of conflict of interest. >> are they going to continue to supply information on the health care front to the congress? because the congress on the republican side, they just can't get enough of this. >> well, lewin has been in business for about 36 years. it's served a very diverse clientele. its clients include the commonwealth fund and heritage foundation. it says it retains editorial independence from its parent

company. i think the issue may be less the lewin group than how the lewin group has been used by various parties in the debate. i think it's especially interesting to note is one of the widely cited statistics has been lewin's findings that million of americans, perhaps more than 100 million americans could end up shifting or being shifted from private employer-sponsored coverage to a public option, but lewin's analysis is actually more complex than that, and in fact, what a lewin executive explained to me is that under one version of the public option, many employers who would cease to provide direct health coverage to their employees, instead they would move their employees into an exchange where those individuals could choose their own coverage. >> but that's what's lewin is saying, but it would also force

the insurance try to be a heck of a lot more creative and really compete, and it might slow down the report profits and gouging as well. david, good to have you with us tonight. excellent reporting, thank you for bringing that to light. david hilzenrath. six bailed out banks said asite billions to pay bonuses. 20% more than they maid out the year before. you think about that. we're in the middle of a financial crisis, unemployment over 9% we're saying we don't have the money for health care and these guys are handing out bonuses with our tax dollars keeping them afloat. the dow crossed over 9,000 today. they're not celebrating a comeback on wall street. they ought to be ashamed. we weren't supposed to to be

treated like this, were we? the president set off a controversy when he weighed in on an alleged kay of racial profiling. a lot of strong reaction today. i'll put it to michael eric dyson, george town professor, next. women who drink crystal light drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a delicious change.

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welcome back to "the ed show." president obama may have stolen his own headline last night. the strongest response came after a question about a controversial arrest of harvard

professor henry louis gates. here's what he said i think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. number two, that the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. there is a long history in this country of african-americans and latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. >> joining me is georgetown university professor michael eric dyson. it's been too long, my friend. good to see you again. >> good to see you again, brother schultz. congratulations on the show. you're doing a great job. >> what did you think of the president's response? it seemed to me more than genuine, but he was eager to talk about this. what did you think? >> no question. i think people have been razzing him all day, you know, called the police stupid.

he said acting stupidly. there's a critical difference there. it was great to use the bully pulpit to shine a spotlight on this essential and critical social matter that many penal are not familiar with and not aware of, because it doesn't affect them. the fact that it affected the most prominent and powerful scholar in the history of america for african-american studies shows he's the rosa parks, if you will of racial profiling. he's very balanced, as at ease, you know, in white america as he is in black america, yet subjected to arbitrary forms of police in his estimation and it was unfortunate, but it also has helped us understand and grapple with an issue that affects millions of other african-american and latino men. >> one of the arresting officers was sergeant dennis crowley. here's a radio comment which i find rather startling to throw fuel on the fire. here it is.

>> that apology will never come. it won't come from me, and it won't come from me as a sergeant in the cambridge police department. what anyone else chuss to do in the name of the city or the police department is beyond my control. i know what i did was right. i have nothing to apologize for. >> well, based on that response, professor, it's a good thing the president did address it last night. >> absolutely true, and, you know, i've had heard that sergeant crowley is responsible for sensitivity training or at least diversity awareness among police people. this would be a signal moment for him to reassess his skills in that area, but also to become more empathetic and sensitive to the needs of citizens of color in this country. again, nobody is mad at the fact that police are called when it looks like somebody is barging in your door, but i must say, ed, that i think we owe an apology to the national association of advanced black

burglars, because what kind of burglar will burgle a house at 12:45 in the day trying to get in the front door. you have to turn in your card for that. the reality is we have to grapple with the fact that this kind of profiling happens routinely outside of cambridge where millions of black and latino people are subjected to much more than what professor gates was subjected to. many times there's greater harm, and we're happy nothing more serious happened to him, but maybe this sparks the discussion, and i applaud the president for speaking bravely and directly to this issue. sergeant crowley obviously doesn't have the wherewithal to address this issue in a self-critical fashion. >> thanks so much for joining us. >> thank for having me. you bet. for more let's go back to our panel. carlos watkins, stephanie miller and michael medved. i wonder if there's an arrest quota with that police department. a pretty gross mistake. did the president have to go

down the road last night? >> i think he did. he got a direct question from lynn sweet. the white house expected the question. i think the president spent a lot of time on this individussu individual and state legislator. i read what james crowley said before. i understand for five years he taught some diversity training. when i heard the radio thing, i was sad. i don't know how else to say it. i wasn't angry or frustrated. the whole notion of never an apology from me, now he says if you truly understand the story as i did, you would understand how i feel. but i have to know skip gates, a guy in his 60s, mid of of the dale -- >> why didn't he defuse the situation, no comment right now, but for him to say what he did i found rather amazing. michael, you pointed out earlier it was president obama's strongest response on the night, but he did personalize it, and i

think that connected with a lot of people in america. your thoughts. >> i think you're completely correct, and he said that skip gates, henry louis gates, was a friend of his, and i know -- >> he says he was -- >> and he acknowledged that. i think he reacted like a human being, and i think that's what was lacking in his health care comments. there's no sense of personal stake in this. look, this case, i have great sympathy for our police officers. they're put on the front lines, asked to do all kinds of tremendous difficulty, but one of the things you have to do if you're in that kind of position is recognize when you're wrong, and i don't care whether the guy is black or white, if you are arresting a guy for the crime of trying to get into his own home, and being indignant when you come and hassle him, there's something wrong. i think sergeant crowley should reconsider. >> stephanie, how could they have made such a gross mistake after he produced identification and proved this was his house? >> ed, you know what?

i'm so glad the president said something. if this happens to a harvard professor who's friends with the president, imagine what's happening to people who aren't? like any good liberal, some of my best friends are black, ed, and they've been pulled over driving a nice car in beverly hills because they couldn't possibly own that car or live there. if you're a black person, you have to learn to keep extra keys, put one in the dog's collar. >> i only have three. so i'm glad you said it. i'm going to double up later tonight. >> i was not going to profile the question and ask you how many keys you had? >> now that i've profiled myself -- i'll tell you what, ed, it's still a tough issue. i'm going to profile you now. what's the best way to get more white americans comfortable talking about race? not just for any old reason, but because of the real issues. as stephanie said, it happens to people who aren't friends of the president. >> we live in an age where we have a lot of overzealous law

enforcement, i really do. if the law enforcement officials know the community, they should have known that this guy lived there. i mean, that's what i think. >> this is one of my questions. apparently his neighbor called in. how come this professor gates wasn't recognized business his own neighbor? that also says something about what's going on in the neighborhood? it's troubling. >> stephanie? >> here's the good news for the economy. is home depot anywhere that makes extra keys is going to see a huge surge. >> i like stephanie with the bright side. why not? >> the president had a sense of humor about it last night's well. thank you, panel. you're great. earlier i asked you what you thought, are the republican attacks sinking in, 52% said yes, 48% said no. that's "the ed show." i'm ed shultz. for more go to msnbc.com.

police story. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, taking sides. president obama asks for last night's news conference to talk about health care. but the biggest news may end up being what he said about the arrest of an african-american scholar, henry louis gates. he said the cambridge, massachusetts, police acted, quote, stupidly in arresting gates. the case and the president's answer touched a very sensitive issue in american politics and in history. it's called racial profiling. police treating minorities as suspects because they're minorities. we'll be joined by among others lynn sweet of "the chicago sun times" who raised that provacative question at last night's news conference.

also cheney versus bush. this week's "time" magazine just out today has a fascinating cover story on how vice president cheney tried and failed to get president bush to pardon cheney's former chief of staff, scooter libby. the story says cheney, who some white house staff thought might be engaging in a cover-up, came close to crossing the line with mr. bush. we'll dig into the details in a moment. plus, more on those republicans, the so-called birthers who insist in the face of all the evidence that barack obama isn't an american. one of the most prominent of them g. gordon liddy of watergate and radio talk show fame joins us later to explain what's behind this fringe unit and why he's a part of it. sticking with birthers for a moment, jon stewart had the best take on why this movement is insanity, and we'll have it in the "sideshow." back to last night, why did the president call a primetime news conference about health care if he had nothing new to say on the matter? we'll ask chuck todd whether last night was a lost