>> good evening from new york. i'm richard wolf, keith olbermann's got the night off. a knock on the door after dawn from government officials who forcibly removed a small boy named elian gonzales in miami and in places like ruby ridge, both ended in violence. all three stories are the kind of government intrusion that conservatives rail against as the enemy of american freedom. but in our fifth story on the countdown, when a police officer in cambridge, massachusetts, arests someone, a harvard professor no less and in his very own home and president obama speaks out against that arrest, go guess whose side the conservatives are on now. another day of blowback from the president's comments on the arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates. president obama making an unexpected remark in the white house briefing room this afternoon in an attempt to tamp down the controversy. this morning in cambridge, after the arrest last week, police officers gathered in a show of

support for the arresting officer, sergeant james crowley. union officials called on president obama to apologize, not just to sergeant crowley but all law enforcement personnel. >> cambridge police are not stupid. i am proud to represent the officers of the cambridge police department. it is a great department. i think everybody that knows us knows that. i'm a third generation cambridge police officer. my family. and i'm very proud to be a police officer and i think if you ask any of the officers in cambridge, they'll tell you they're proud to be here. as far as the president's comments, i think the president should make an apology to all law enforcement personnel throughout the entire country took offense to this. >> one reporter asked why if sergeant crowley did nothing wrong they dropped the charges against professor gates. >> that was a decision that was made without our input. we think in retrospect, given the publicity that has transpired it would have been better to let the matter go forward to a trial of fact.

so that the truth could have been disclosed by means other than debates and media that we have expressed or that we have seen over the last few days. >> sergeant crowley did not speak at today's news conference but in a conversation with our nbc affiliate in boston, sergeant crowley defended his actions and said he was just doing his job investigating a report of a robbery in the area. >> i asked him if he could step outside and speak with me and he said no, i will not. he asked what this is all about. and i said i am sergeant crowley from the police department and i'm investigating. i was radioing in his name to our dispatcher so they could record it. as i did that, he was continuing his rant about that i was doing this because he's a black man in america, that i was a racist and to the point where as i was reading his name off the identification card, i couldn't even hear myself say it, he was yelling that loud. >> professor gates, left

cambridge for a summer home, told whdh in a statement, quote, it is time to move on to another story. barack said it all. all of that with at backdrop to president obama stepping up to the microphone at the white house this afternoon. >> i actually just had a conversation with sergeant jim crowley, the officer involved. and i have to tell you that as i said yesterday, my impression of him was that he was an outstanding police officer, and good man, and that was confirmed in the phone conversation. and i told him that. and i -- because this has been ratcheting up, and i obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up, i want to make clear that in my choice of words, i think i unfortuna unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department or

sergeant crowley specifically. and i could have calibrated those words differently. and i told this to sergeant crowley. i continue to believe, based on what i have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling professor gates out of his home, to the station. i also continue to believe, based on what i heard, that professor gates probably overreacted as well. my sense is you got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way that it should have been resolved and the way they would have liked it to be resolved. the fact that it has garnered so much attention, i think, is a testimony to the fact that these

are issues that are still very sensitive here in america. my hope is that as a consequence of this event, this ends up being what is called a teachable moment, where all of us, instead of pumping up the volume, spend a little more time listening to each other, and try to focus on how we can generally improve relations between police officers and minority communities and that instead of fleeing accusations we can all be a little more reflective in terms of what we can do to contribute to more unity. there are some who say that as president i shouldn't have stepped into this at all because it is a local issue. i have to tell you that that thing -- that part of it i disagree with. the fact that this has become such a big issue, i think it is indicative of the fact that, you know, race is still a troubling

aspect of our society, whether i were black or white, i think that me commenting on this and hopefully contributing to constructive as opposed to negative understandings about the issue is part of my portfolio. >> in response to the president's unscheduled remarks, tonight union officials in cambridge have released a statement. quoting from it, sergeant james crowley and president barack obama had a friendly and meaningful conversation this afternoon. sergeant crowley was profoundly grateful the president took time out of his busy schedule to attempt to resolve the situation. we appreciate his sincere interest and willingness to reconsider his remarks about the cambridge police department. we're joined from the white house by press secretary robert gibbs. robert, thank you for your time tonight. >> happy to be here, richard. how are you? >> i'm good. does the president walking out to your podium this afternoon

means that he said and did the wrong thing on wednesday night? >> well, look, richard, i think he wanted to make sure that everybody knew the full context and understood what he was trying to say on wednesday. and i think as he said out there, we had a situation that was becoming wildly overheated. he described it yesterday as two individuals that probably needed to step back and i think he believed the situation needed that today and felt it important to go out and tell the country that. >> the cambridge police came out this morning with some pretty strong criticism of your boss. did he feel he had to respond personally and publicly to that? >> well, again, richard, he didn't see the press conference, but i think he felt, again, like the situation was one that he needed to step into. he said in the press room today that he had contributed unnecessarily to this becoming a bigger incident than it probably

needed to do. he decided to call the officer and to call professor gates and had good conversations with both. >> you didn't feel that the pressure from them was enough to put you out again? >> well, look, i think the president wanted to go out there and speak directly to the country today and tell the american people why he thought this was an important moment. >> he called it today a teachable moment, that's what he hopes. in illinois, as you know, as a state senator, one of his major achievements was legislation to correct the abuse of racial profiling. beyond having this kind of conversation that we're having right now in the wake of the gates arrest, are there concrete steps the administration can take to minimize profiling across the country? >> as you know and as you mentioned, the president worked on legislation that raised awareness by publishing statistics, working with communities and police officers to become aware of the situation and the situation has gotten better in illinois. i don't know what specific remedies the administration is

looking at on this issue right now. but i think what he said today, and i was asked this later on about sort of an ongoing discussion on racial issues in this country, i think because of who he is as president, and because it is obvious these issues are still very raw in our society, i think he believes that he can help bring these type of teachable moments to the forefront, allow our dialogue to take over and communicate better with each other. and make society a little bit better because of it. >> speaking of communicating bet we are each other, we're going to play sound of this in a moment. but rush limbaugh says this is about ethnic politics, said the same about judge sotomayor and the white firefighters. he even compared the president and the prosecutor in the duke rape case today and he said the president was playing the race card. so how do you respond to someone with a bullhorn who is trying to stoke racial fears and resentment? >> well, i think you asked me like seven things, i can't even imagine which one i would

respond to first. look, i think that the president wants to have constructive dialogue with people that clearly want to have constructive dialogue on issues that are as important as race. whether or not rush limbaugh wants to be part of a constructive dialogue or whether he wants to get ratings to sell commercials on a radio show, i'll let him answer that question. >> and is there a danger in opening up the subject because it allows people like rush to fan the flames? >> well, i think rush has paid a lot of money to fan the flames, again, so he can tell advertising on his radio show. i don't think that's what's important. i think what's important is obviously these are important issues, they have been over the lifetime and the history of our country and the president takes them seriously and wants to deal with them seriously. i think that's what it is going to take. i think that very few of our issues are going to be solved yelling at each other on talk radio. >> thanks to white house press

secretary robert gibbs. more of my conversation with gibz on health care later in the show. we don't yet know whether the gates arest will evolve into the teachable moment obama wants or whether this will resolve itself over a lawsuit. but the president's critics are doing all they can to prevent the controversy from going away. from rush limbaugh, he's been caricaturing the president as an angry black man, no matter how reasonable the president sounds. has the president regained control of this debate next on "countdown." >> might not be the best time to sell a home. to get the job done. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. where do you want to be? whether you consider it a cruiser or a clunker, you could turn it into cash. get to your dodge, chrysler, and jeep dealer, and get up to double the government's cash for your old car. now get up to $4,500 for your old car... plus, up to an additional $4,500 cash allowance. no turn-in? no problem. your dodge, chrysler, and jeep dealer guarantees everyone up to $4,500 cash allowance... on virtually every model.

get to your dodge, chrysler and jeep dealer on the double, and get double cash for your old car! enough to turn back the likes of limbaugh. and sarah palin's last weekend as governor. with her numbers plummeting, what can she possibly do to turn things around? ncer) 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.

the situation was ratcheted up by the president and may have been toned down by him. in our fourth story on the countdown, do you think the remarkable 48 hour roller coaster may have played out differently if the president had not used the word stupidly or if the same words had come from a white president or if the president's critics had not twisted his words into an ugly caricature. the president chose his words more carefully today but light relief, that they may all sit down for a beer at the white house. sergeant crowley defended himself without invective. the usual suspects have taken advantage of the story, like the de facto head of the republican party, rush limbaugh who continues on his personal jihad. >> when obama is faced with a

political setback, even one of his own making, he plays the race card. this is something i have figured out watching ever since the campaign began. anybody who wonders what obama accomplished with that statement had better realize it reduced the focus on his failed before the august recess demand. now, i don't know that he was purposefully trying to do that. i think he's genuinely revved up about race. you know me, i think he's genuinely angry in his heart and has been his whole life. >> and president obama made his surprise appearance at the white house during the last hour of limbaugh's show, limbaugh acted like he was happy, to prove his prediction was right, that he would back down and even throw professor gates under the bus. let's bring in georgetown university professor of sociology michael dyson and author of "debating race." good morning, michael. >> good morning, richard. i'm glad to be here and congratulations on renegade.

it is a great read. >> thank you. i appreciate that the president by his own admission wants to tone things down and elevate the discussion. did he do enough today to move that in the right direction? >> he pointed the needle in the right direction if you will, on the larger compass of race. the question is when you play the bigotry of the pomposity without predication, the invective of a rush limbaugh, rush limbaugh perverted the nature of the conversation, to call barack obama an angry black man is as ridiculous as calling rush limbaugh a first class intellectual. the reality is that president obama with poise articulate his viewpoint, talked about the competing forces that made this situation untenable and then tried to resolve it by acknowledging that perhaps tempers flared on both side, but not denying the legitimacy of the point that it must not be lost here on all of the discourse. that is to say that racial profiling doesn't have more equivalence between black people on one side and police people on the other.

police people have often acted with lethal force against the lives of african-american and latino people and that issue must ever remain before us. i think the president is committed to using his bully pulpit to inform, to enlighten and elevate the conversation beyond the trashy character that rush limbaugh is addicted to. >> president obama said he wants this to be a teachable moment. do you think he also has himself in mind here? has he maybe learned something about how we all handle this? >> well no question. i think one of the things that president obama has been is loathe to talk about race. we can understand why. here it is, he makes an honest statement with about his perception of a matter and he is thoroughly lambasted in the media. the reality is that he has to tread water very carefully. but tread it he must. he takes abuse from the right wing when it comes to health care. he takes aabuse when it comes to being criticized for his actions in afghanistan and iraq. and so i think as the big man in charge, so to speak, on campus, he's got to take the heat for having a racial discussion. but he must not run from it. the real challenge here is to

mr. obama. as he said before the naacp last week, no excuses, no excuses to black people now that they have to come full force into the american mainstream and stand for their own right to be heard, there are no excuses for the president who must now step up and address the issue of race, not be afraid of it. we elected him because he was the most capable person for the job. he also happens to be an african-american. use the accident of birth as a springboard to intelligently educate and enlighten the broader populous. most white people don't get it when they say why are black people mad that professor gates was mistreated? because most of us have been mistreated in our lives at some point without any ability to have the president or anybody else give us a hearing. >> michael, let me ask a political question here, because the president's reaction was seen by many people through the prix of race. some of his critics twisted it. i hate to bring up rush limbaugh said but he said obama played the race card, you have a black president trying to destroy a white policeman.

how do they win back voters or suburban independent voters when this is the kind of debate they're listening to? >> they have to be self-critical. they have to understand that rush limbaugh does not play to the better anke els of their nature. rush limbaugh, his total modus operandi is to put the popularity around this president. if this were not henry gates, another harvard professor, henry kissinger and not president obama but george bush i and a black sergeant came to the house of henry kissinger and treated him rudely and arrested him, i can guarantee you this would not be the same reaction. president obama pointed a powerful spotlight to this issue. the republicans must be willing to be self-critical. we heard of driving while black, now housing while black, being housed while black, is that a sin as well? what they have got to do is say, look, we believe in law and order. we also believe in the dispensation of justice when it comes to african-american and

latino people. let's find a happy medium between imposing restraint on law officers and also asking communities to be responsible for their behavior. and in that sense, the republicans will have at least a good start on a viable public conversation around the issue of race. >> michael, just briefly here, do you think the president can go beyond the teachable moment here? can he do something to address the policy that could correct the problems of racial profiling? is there something he can do that is more than just a debate? >> absolutely. he can empanel a blue ribbon commission to address this issue. he can call upon the genius of eric holder who has been committed to this issue of racial profiling and also dealing with the disparities and laws that attach themselves punitively to african-american people and latino people. and then furthermore, he can begin to insist on local municipalities and governments that they take seriously this issue. if we can fix it in the local arenas, in which it aoccurs, the nation at large will be better to are it.

>> michael eric dyson of georgetown university and author of "debating race," thank you for your time. >> thanks for having me. marion robinson, the mother of michelle obama, never dreamed she would see the day where her daughter would be first lady of the united states. coming up, rare public words from the first grandmother on life inside the white house. and what is the world coming to when frogs are marrying other frogs? an oddball special report next. (announcer) this is nine generations of the world's most revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. this is the 9th generation e-class. 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 run my own business. it's tough. some days this place gets a little out of control.

getting clients in the door and keeping them off the floor, it is a little stressful. announcer: introducing nature made heart and stress defense fish oil. all the benefits of fish oil with super strength omega-3 epa, which may protect your heart against some of the risks of stress caused by mood. hey, life's an adventure, right? announcer: learn more about new heart and stress defense fish oil at naturemade.com.

on this day in 1969, after the original moon wall, the crew returned after slashing down in the pacific. on that note, let's play oddball. we begin in india where dearly beloved we are gathered here today to join this frog together with this frog. meet rahm and his beautiful bride cedar. don't expect a lifetime of wedded bliss. this marriage is an arranged one. the village is in a drought. the groom commissioned the wedding to appease the rain gods. the ceremony was elaborate. invitees were kermit, the budweiser trio and michigan j frog. when asked to comment on the frog on frog nuptials, they declined but the night ended on a sound note.

to japan where the competition is stiff and the stakes are on sale. it is a battle for cashier of the year. with top store clerks fedexing their price scanners. there are three categories for the judges. the scan with the smile, extra points. miss an item or miskill clayt the cost and you're out. after hours, the scan to scan combat concludes and this lady is the winner. she'll get the tiara after the steroid test comes bag negative. the crowd favorite was knocked out when she failed to call in the spill on aisle nine. binghamton, new york. the team star slugger just hit a grand slam and mascot, bingo the bee, wants to join in the festivities after a series of victorious gallups, he jumps over a railing and gets his

baseball bashed proving that the spectacle of someone getting stung in the stinger never gets tired for them, especially when they're dressed as a bee. president obama says he's fine with not making his original deadline for the health care reform. is another month of talks only going to trigger more problems for conservative democrats who aren't yet on board with the president's plans? more of my conversation with white house press secretary robert gibbs. and later, sarah palin's final weekend as governor of alaska. less than a year after she volted on to the national scene, she quit her job, her approval ratings are at an all time low. inside the gop, she's still a leading contender for 2012. details ahead.

you could buy 300 bottles of water. or just one brita filter. ( drop plinks ) brita-- better for the environment and your wallet. all around the world, men with erectile dysfunction have asked their doctors about cialis. ask your doctor if a cialis option is right for you because in addition to 36-hour cialis, there's another dosing option: cialis for daily use, a low-dose tablet you take every day so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. man: tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. don't drink alcohol in excess with cialis.

side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed back ache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision... stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. announcer: 36-hour cialis or... cialis for daily use. so when the moment is right, you can be ready. nd love on the internet? skeptical! oh, my gosh. (woman) find your perfect place at remax.com. (doorbell rings) you had me at "ding-dong." where do you want to be?

health care reform talks almost fell apart today. and republicans had nothing to do with it. well, almost nothing. in our number three story, blue dog democrats, self-described fiscal moderates, walked out of

health care negotiations today and a top republican in the health care fight cheered them on. democratic congressman mike ross of arkansas, the blue dog leader on health care, emerged from his first meeting today with house energy and commerce chairman henry waxman claiming waxman back ped aldz on prior commitments. when waxman said he might bypass the blue dogs and take it straight to the house floor, he got the blue dogs back to the table. but no thanks to senator chuck grassley who was cheering on the blue dog rebellion in a twitter posting. here is what he wrote, filling in abbreviations and vowels. we should note that washington bureaucrats are already in charge of senator grassley's health care which apparently must not stop. the leading democrat in the way of health care reform, max

baucus, chair of the finance committee, went to the white house today for a meeting with the president. senate majority leader harry reid, the three men discussing what they can achieve on health care on baucus' committee before the recess next month. though noibl finalized what a reform will do, one republican governor said yesterday he's considering ways to block it from his state. texas republican rick perry proclaims his love of states rights which means that more than 5.5 million texans without health insurance, more than any state in the nation, would not get health insurance. quote, i'm certainly willing and ready for this fight if the administration continues to try to force their very expensive government philosophy down our collective throats. also ready for the fight, white house chief of staff rahm emanuel, responding to today's remarks predicting health care will prove -- >> i don't know the exact quote, but basically the thrust of the

quote was the political importance of defeating this, because of what it would do to president obama. they're seeing it in political terms. and they decided that if they can beat the president on health care reform, they have scored a big political victory. but what they have also guaranteed in policy terms is you have a status quote. i actually appreciate what senator demint said and senator inhofe. i'll different than everybody. i won't criticize them. i complement them. they're honest. now -- >> are you telling democrats there is actually some truth to that, if you guys don't stick -- >> no, no. you asked me about what they said. no, no. but they're being honest about what they see as the stakes. what i find interesting, i haven't heard a lot of people on their party criticize them. >> are you enjoying this fight? >> i'm enjoying this interview. am i enjoying this -- >> in my earlier discussion with robert gibbs, we looked at the politics behind the health care battle. >> i understand the need for a deadline, but with an early

deadline the best idea here? haven't you spent political capital when you didn't need to? >> well, look, getting health care reform through is going to take a significant amount of political capital. whether we set a deadline or not, i think the president was clear and i think he was right about having a deadline to poke and prod congress to move and to act. i think we have seen that happen. the president is very encouraged we have continued to make progress. if you compare this to where we were 16 years ago in the fight for comprehensive health insurance reform, that cut costs and provided accessibility for those that aren't fortunate to have health insurance, we have made significant progress, we're closer than we have been in 40 years and the president is encouraged by that. >> let me ask you about a piece of democratic party today. the talks of the blue dog democrats, is the president willing to let those people walk away if need be? isn't your house majority big enough to do this without them? >> well, look, i think the president wants to be inclusive.

the president spent an hour here with the blue dog earlier in the week. staff was there for an additional two hours after that. we can see consensus here, richard. we have to keep people in the room and keep people at the table. i know that the blue dogs have some good ideas. they're concerned about the direction of our country and mike ross said today, he thinks we're going to get health reform legislation this year. >> robert, as i'm sure you know, rahm emanuel said he's glad to hear senators inhofe and demint speak openly about that political goals and all this. we all know the republicans want to defeat the president on health care. is your battle with them or isn't it really with conservative democrats? >> well, look, obviously there are members of both parties that have concerns that the president and his team want to work through in order to get comprehensive health care reform. i think rahm was absolutely correct in appreciating the honesty with which senator

demint and senator inhofe spoke very freely about the notion that killing health care reform was all about playing a political game. richard, that's why we haven't had health care reform in this country for 40 years. that's why people are paying more for their insurance now. that's why people are losing it and that's why people are being discriminated against for having a pre-existing condition. that's the status quo. i think it has been interesting to watch that very few people on that side of the aisle have come out and criticized senator demint or senator inhofe. i think there are certainly a group of people that believe this is all about scoring political points. i don't believe that's where the american people are. >> joining me is now democratic strategist chris kasinis. good evening. now we have rahm emanuel and robert gibbs thanking senators inhofe and demint for their comments. what's up with that? >> republicans are serving up a

political enemy on a silver platter. with this -- when is happening in this debate with the republicans' rhetoric of not only politicizing this but not offering any real substantive counterproposal is it becomes the perfect enemy in this. and this perfect enemy, by the way, if you look at the recent polls, is one of the most unpopular political parties in recent history. so they are a perfect foil to the white house and politically from a strategic perspective, you have the president, the administration out there saying we have to confront a serious crisis, the health care crisis that affects tens of millions of americans, that is untenable in terms of the costs. and what they're doing in terms of the -- in terms of contrasting that with republicans is you have the republicans going out there trying to obstruct, obstruct, obstru obstruct. politically it helps the white house. >> chris, press secretary gibb says the president wants to be inclusive. that's a parallel goal. can the president get it without making policy sacrifices and

would the sacrifices be worth it? >> bipartisanship and working with the other side is always, i think, something to be commended. i think the president was right in the press conference when he said, you know, listen, if the republicans have good ideas, you know, i'm going to listen and we're going to incorporate them. i think what is unfortunate about this whole political discussion around such an important public policy problem is it has become overtly political. and the republicans have a political agenda here that has to do more with 2010 than 2012 than has to do with solving the health care crisis. so at some point, you know, i think the white house is going to have to decide, and i know -- i understand from political perspective why they don't want to do that now, but at some point they have to decide it is better to steam roll over them than to basically have to sacrifice good policy for pleasing republicans. at the end of the day, they are still going to criticize you no matter what. >> during the first stimulus talks, progressive economists

ripped their hair out and said it wasn't enough. now there is lots of concern that the first stimulus wasn't big enough. are we seeing the same dynamic happening here? is health care reform going to end up too piecemeal, too tinted? >> i don't think so. i think it depends how the negotiations go. people are making a big political story about the august recess and the deadline. it is not a big secret to believe there isn't going to be discussions and negotiations going on during the month of august between the various key parties and key elected officials. in terms of those negotiations and coming back in september, i think it depends on everyone keeping their eye on the ball. the president did the right thing by making this about the crisis that we face. we're talking about 47 million people, plus that don't have health care. we're talking about a health care level of spending that is now going to potentially double in less than eight years. you're talking about a health care spending that will reach potentially 20% of our gdp.

these are not acceptable. this is not a crisis that we can accept and ignore. i think if everyone focused on what needs to be done to solve the problem, then we're going to get good policy. if it braeeaks down in politics we have a repeat of the stimulus. what happened is the white house and democrats have learned a lesson, don't necessarily compromise and sacrifice with republicans who don't want to achieve what needs to be done to solve the key problem at hand. >> chris kofinis, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> sarah palin could soon be on her way to -- it is her final two days in office as governor unless she gets mavericky and decides to keep her current day job at the last minute. coming up, rachel will look at why the secretive group the family was paying for overseas travel for the senator. and the grandmother in chief, marion robinson's transition from a grandmother on the south side of chicago to living in the white house. details ahead on "countdown." access to favorite courses

chef's meal with pommes frites perhaps a night at the theater with extra special seats additional hotel night, our treat your world in perfect harmony: priceless look for world on your mastercard to get rewards and offers that matter to you.

in a long line of amazing performance machines. this is the new e-coupe. this is mercedes-benz. population 49 million. 145,000 teenagers are typing a text message at 70 words a minute. average speed of their parents: 8. right now, 90 high schoolers are shopping for new kicks on zappos.com. - none of them got game. - ( buzzer sounds ) 19,000 teenagers are flipping 354,000 burgers - to get the new samsung exclaim. - ( sizzles ) - ( gasps ) - just one of four iming, texting and twittering back-to-school phones you can get from sprint, starting at $19.99. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

the first grandmother, michelle obama's mother speaks publicly on what it is like to call 1600 pennsylvania home next on "countdown." 123450 i go down to the pool for a swim... get out and dance... even play a little hide-n-seek. i'm breathing better... with spiriva. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, or have vision changes or eye pain. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma,

problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate, as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects may include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. every day could be a good day to breathe better. announcer: ask your doctor if once-daily spiriva is right for you. including who i trust to look after my money. ♪ (woman) the dust might be settling... that's great, but i'm not. ♪ (second man) i guess i'm just done with doing nothing, you know? ♪ (third man) oh, i'm not thinking about moving my money. i am moving it. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 she's a very private person who lives is the a very public

address with a very public family. and number two story, marian robinson, mother-in-law to the president, talks about life in the white house, opening up about her time with the first family and discussing her role as grandmother in chief. our correspondent is norah o'donnell. >> how does it feel to have a daughter that is married to the president of the united states? >> you know, excuse me, that's an overwhelming feeling. >> reporter: america's first grandma for the first time talked about the honor of living in the white house. >> especially when you come from the south side of chicago. she ended up marrying a person who lived the same kind of life that he did, but they both had great ambitions. >> reporter: her son-in-law campaigned on change. but to her, he's still the same man. >> i remember president obama being a very hard working individual, and believe you me, he still is the hardest working

person i know. >> reporter: marian robinson was reading a book to elementary school parents. >> and there is a granny, a snoring granny. >> reporter: when she was asked about the president's daughters. >> malia and sasha cannot watch tv. i think they can only watch an hour a day. but they are at an age now where they would rather read books or play games with themselves so grandma is beginning to feel left out. >> reporter: the first lady's mother has always helped take care of her granddaughters, but family members say she really didn't want to move into the white house. now she says it is great. and she's got a very busy social schedule. the first grandma was front and center this week as the white house celebrated country music. but it was the first lady who turned heads with her new do, which officials said was just a pinned up version of her usual style. both the first lady and her mom are looking forward to more

quality time with the girls, taking much of the month of august off. >> my life is wonderful. >> reporter: norah o'donnell, nbc news, washington. as the clock ticks down on the final days of sarah palin's governorship, her approval numbers are also going down. can palin turn those numbers around before 2012? will there be a palin invasion in the lower 48? who will keep an eye on russia, next on "countdown." (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. or 100 pringles. both cost the same, but only the new pringles super stack can makes everything pop. the choice is yours. 100 of these... or 100 pringles. same cost, but a lot more fun. everything pops with the new pringles super stack can.

richard nixon who quit his presidency 35 years ago this august, once said a man isn't finished when he's defeated. he's finished when he quits. we'll have to wait and see if that holds true for sarah palin. in othur number one story, with

her popularity plummeting, alaskans get ready to say farewell. she is to officially resign at a picnic in fairbanks. today marks her last working day with a picnic in wasilla with another one in anchorage tomorrow. palin quit on july 3rd because of what she called the politics of personal destruction aimed at her and her family including numerous ethics complaints and mounting legal bills. three days ago, an independent investigator said' trust fund may itself violate alaska's ethics law. a new poll shows that the complete turn around in the way americans look at the governor with just 40% viewing her favorably, down 28% from 10 months ago. also just 14% of americans think she's a strong lead and 37% thinks she understands complex issues. there is good news for the

governor's political am bigs with 70% viewing her favorably, she ranks among third behind mike huckabee and mitt romney. let's bring in msnbc political analyst and huffington postcontribupost contributor, lawrence o'donnell. this huge drop in her popularity but she's still a force in the gop. would the party really nominate someone with those kinds of numbers? >> no. i don't think there is any chance. remember, those numbers exist in a precampaign mode. we haven't seen romney campaign against her. we haven't seen tim pawlenty campaign against her. it will be very easy to drive her numbers into much more negative territory by putting her in a presidential primary campaign. which i hope she joins. it would be a lot of fun. but, you know, she would be up there on the panel with seasoned and experienced debaters and including huckabee, who i think would run rings around her. and i think she would be in trouble very quickly.

>> would be fun for us, maybe not so much for her consultants and advisers. some poll numbers also stand out here. 52% of americans feel she is honest. 48% say she shares our values and 47% say she understands their problems. do these numbers make up for a negative? is there some reason for hope there? >> well, there is something to build on there. wi what those numbers say, people, when you talk about her as a person, people like her better. they're more drawn to her as a person than they are as someone who can govern. and her numbers on competent and ability to govern are very low. that's the big problem now in leaving office. exactly how is she going demonstrate the competence that america doesn't believe she has. >> there are other numbers that are important here. no ability to grow the party own & on the other hand, a big time money raiser. what do the party leaders do with her? >> we have seen this before.

we have seen people very popular within the party, not popular outside the party. and those people are used for fund-raising. you bring them in and hopefully with a few cameras around as possible and they raise money for you. she'll always have that role, presumab presumably. and until the novelty wears off. there is a certain point in time where it will not be all that much fun to pay $2,000 to meet sarah palin. for a while it will with work. >> dick cheney is a hockey mom, maybe. she threatened to unleash her trueself on twitter when she is no longer governor. what do you expect of her tweets? >> the tweets so far have been pretty strange. and i just wish twitter didn't have such a limited word count and character count so she could let herself go on twitter. she promised her first day out of office, suddenly the tweets will be honest for the first time. we'll see. she's really -- she's got a lot to live up to in her promises about twitter.

>> putting the twit back in twitter. what do you make of all those screen door parties they're having in alaska. are these happy days in anchorage? >> well, you know, the screen door phenomenon is get out before the screen door hits you in the back there is a real negative. her negatives have been run up very, very high compared to where they were in alaska. alaskans didn't like a lot of the attention. you don't move to alaska to get -- to draw attention to yourself. and so alaskans seem like they're going to be very, very happy to watch the national media take their cameras and go home or take their cameras and follow sarah palin on either the campaign trail or the fund-raising trail or the book tour trail. and i think alaska will be very happy that that trail is not in alaska, but somewhere down there in the lower 48. >> and just briefly, if alaska loses palin and palin flames out, is there someone else to take up the mantle she represents? >> she's in that pat buchanan

section of republicanism that pitch fork brigade, that angry working class so they would say section of republicanism. it is not immediately clear who that is. huckabee is the person that lives closest to it. but he doesn't pander to it as much as palin does. romney clearly is not that. the guy is a multimillionaire. tim pawlenty is not that from minnesota. perfectly reasonable republican man of government. and so it really looks like that's her zone. if she can command that zone, she has a base in the party. >> lawrence o'donnell of huffington post and msnbc. have a great weekend. that will do it for this friday edition of "countdown." i'm richard wolffe in for keith olbermann. and now time for "the rachel maddow show." >> you did a great job tonight. thank you. >> thank you. >> there is some good news for the country and maybe some bad news for texas today. the governor of the state with the worst health care problem in

the country, governor rick perry of texas, wants to secede again, this time from any national effort to fix health care. also, c street is back in the news with weird easily disprovable denials by politicians who are trying to hide their association with c street. plus, at amazing scene of the president of honduras in exile, walking back into honduras wearing a big cowboy hat while talking on a cell phone. it is all coming up this hour. we begin tonight with the remarkable and unexpected moment at the white house press briefing this afternoon, concerning the arrest of henry louis gates, an eminent african-american harvard professor, and sergeant james crowley of the cambridge, massachusetts, police department who arrested gates a week ago. it was already a national story when president obama was asked for his view of it at the very end of his primetime press conference on wednesday night. >> i think it is 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. >> acted stupidly that line from the president turned what was already a big deal story about race into a huge story about race and politics. >> recently professor, henry louis gates jr. was arrested at his home in cambridge. what does it say about race relations in america? >> i think it is fair to say -- >> that it is a complicated issue and don't have any comments at this time because i wasn't there and i don't know all the facts. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> [ bleep ]. >> jon stewart of "the daily show" showing why he's the most