trusted newscaster in america. on this show, she describe ttd sa it essentially the same way but without the f bombs. >> i knew that would become the news cycle rather than the conversation on health care, which had been the whole hour before. >> president obama's comments about the henry louis gates arest, of course, did become the news cycle yesterday. the white house press secretary robert gibbs spent much of the day not exactly backpedaling but doing a lot of explaining and tweaking of the president's comments in order to make people less upset about them while still not exactly taking the words back. and then today, as the story completely took over the news on a slow summer friday, "the rachel maddow show" staff was holding a meeting to talk amongst ourselves about how we expected this whole story to end, while we're in the middle of the meeting, the president

himself in a surprise move, interrupts the white house press briefing to readdress and ultimately to try to diffuse the situation. >> 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 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 it is a testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in america. because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, african-americans are sensitive to these issues. and even when you got a police officer who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity,

interactions between police officers and the african-american community can sometimes be fraught with misunderstanding. 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 flinging accusations, we can all be a little more reflective in terms of what we can do to contribute to more unity. lord knows we need it right now. >> one thing to notice here is that the president, while making these remarks, he's not reading. not talking from a teleprompter, doesn't even necessarily seem to be talking from notes.

the beltway response to what happened on wednesday night, just a political assessment, was that the president, while making unscripted remarks got into territory he never would have wanted to get into had he planned his words in advance. it was an off message moment that was probably off message because it was unscripted. frankly getting to see a president go off script is one of the reasons that people watch presidential press conferences because there is some unpredictability there. think about that it says about the president's confidence on this particular issue that when he went out to stop the firestorm that had been burning about this issue for two days, his comments, when he tried to fix it were again unscripted, no prompter, no apparent notes. what happens next here? the president says that sergeant crowley and professor gates may soon be meeting again. this time, though, their meeting will happen at the white house. >> at the end of the conversation, there was discussion about -- my conversation with sergeant crowley, there was discussion

about he and i and professor gates having a beer here in the white house. we don't know if that's scheduled yet, but we may put that together. >> professor gates has now given a statement to the boston globe saying he will attend that meeting. similar noises have been made by sergeant crowley. it really seems like the two people involved in this incident that is at the center of this now national conflagration might literally end up talking it over a beer with the president. can the whole country do that now too please? i'm sure anheuser-busch would be delighted if we tried. from the bully pulpit, the president is now putting himself in the middle of this, willfully. he's trying to diffuse the situation. in his words he said he wants to make this a teachable moment. needless to say, he's going to have some opposition there. >> we're finding out this guy has got a chip on his shoulder, he's angry at this country, he's

not proud of it. president obama is black and he's got a chip on his shoulder. i think there are elements in this country he doesn't like and he never has liked. >> let's face it, he's black. radio host and republican agenda setter rush limbaugh, who doesn't have a chip on his shoulder at all, especially not about race. there is a reason that this story has blown up the way it has. and it is not just about the raw outrage over professor gates' arrest, though that is there, certainly. it is also not just about raw outrage about the police officer in this case being called a racist because of the arrest, but there is outrage about that too. as the president tries to, in his words, get everybody to back up, slow down, be constructive in the wake of this incident, watch to see who resists and why. watch to see who would rather this not get resolved constructively if they are given the choice. we have proved ourselves over generations if not centuries, to be great in this country at provoking racial hatred and

racial resentment for political gain. can we now prove ourselves capable of giving that up and just trying to be less racist? joining us again tonight is melissa harris lacewell, political science professor at princeton university, thank you for coming back on the show tonight. >> absolutely. always glad to be here. >> let me ask you first about this premise. do you think the president is just trying to get a cease-fire from the people who are firing at him about this case? or do you think that he's trying to get essentially a national cease-fire to try to turn the conversation that has sparked into one that he thinks would be more constructive? >> well, i think that both of those things are going on. part of this reaction of my goodness, certainly was stupid to arrest henry louis gates, is that if you know professor gates, even a little, and president obama knows him more than just a little, your first reaction to hearing he was arrested is, what? so i think that he was having that kind of off the cuff unscripted reaction.

on the other hand,'s pondered it over the course of the day and as he said, as the volume got pumped up in the media over the course of the day, he also thought about what it meant for the president of the united states to denigrate or say something negative about a working police officer. so, clearly, part of what he's trying to do is ameliorate feelings on both sides. on the other hand, it is also clear he's trying to turn down the racial emotional volume so we can have a conversation about the policy questions he and the administration would like to have on the agenda. >> certainly. let me ask you about the statement that was just released a few moments ago, from professor gates. he e-mailed this to the boston globe in response to the president's overture to have a beer, i don't even know if he drinks beer. but he said this, my entire academic career has been -- i'm hopeful my experience will help in the criminal justice system f so, this will be a blessing for

our society, it is time for -- it is time for all of us to move on and to assess what we can learn from this experience. he went on to say he would accept president obama's invitation to meet with him and the cambridge police sergeant jim crowley at the white house. what is your take on that response from professor gates? >> that sounds right to me. but i would assume he would like pi pinot noir over beer. we had a cheering section going on when we heard barack obama speak so forth rightly about what sounded like his clear understanding of the anxious relationship between african-americans and the police. and so there was similarly some booing that happened in that same quadrant today as he, you know, sort of backed away from some of it. all i want to say to that is we already have seen what a presidential administration looks like when folks start calling names and refuse to

listen to criticism or back down. that's what w did. he called people the axis of evil, assumed there were weapons of mass destruction when there were none and he refused to meet with or listen to critics. although, you know, there are times i wish barack would be a little more like, you know, the black professorial group that wanted to charge forward on criminal justice here, i also appreciate that as president he took a moment to say what are the possibilities for how this conversation could negatively impact us more broadly and how to frame it so we can have some more equivalent conversation about it or more equal conversation about it. >> one other response today to the president's remarks, which i thought was -- goes directly to what you were saying there in terms of the utility and the best national interests in moving forward, this is one of those water shed moments when a lot of different things could happen. the boston globe again today got a reaction to president obama's statement from the head of the

cambridge patrol officers association who just hours earlier had given that press conference, demanding an apology from the president. and after the call to sergeant crowley and the remarks from the president and the press briefing today, that cambridge patrol officer said he was delighted by what president obama did. he said the phone call to sergeant crowley mended the fence. he said i'm pleased. he did a total 180 in a space of a couple of hours. what does that say to you? >> i don't think it is true that president obama did a complete 180. >> no, the patrolman did. >> what i want to say is that i hope the boston police learn a lesson from the kind of leadership the president has just shown. an african-american communities, we're taught to only say to the police, yes, sir, no, sir, here's my i.d., and do you have a warrant? that may keep everybody respectful, but it doesn't get information to the police that they need, and in cities like chicago, where people are, you

know, being victimized by violent crime where the police need to work with minority communities. so what i hope the police learn from having watched how president obama was willing to take critique and open up to a bigger conversation is that if they continue to assert that there is only one very straight-line you're allowed to walk with the police, they will make it harder to do the job they want to do in keeping communities safe. i hope they take a similar action towards opening up, listening to chris teak a ining they're sorry when they need to. >> it looks like people are in line with what you're thinking. this will continue to unfold for a long time but it has taken a lot of interesting turns already.lacewell, thank you for your time. the fight to prevent health care reform is drifting ever

cuckward these days. governor rick perry is one of my favorite people to talk about in all of politics. stay tuned. 3... 2... 1.

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a florida doctor active in the anti-obama tea party movement has apologized and has pledged to stop participating in conservative anti-health care reform efforts. after he was caught circulating a photo shopped picture of president obama, portrayed as an

african witch doctor with a bone through his nose. the photo, which we will not show on this program, so as to save you from bleaching your eyeballs later, was captioned obama care with the c formed into a hammer and sickle. get it? he's an african witch doctor with a bone through his nose because he's black, like really black and also he's a soviet communist at the same time. subtle and complicated, as is a lot of the expressed opposition to reforming health care. even by people who aren't supposed to be just tea party cooks and guys holding signs on street corners. >> does president obama's health care plan represent socialism? >> yes, next question. >> he's very sure about that. he can move right on. he's very sure that reforming health care is socialism even if he's not actually all that sure what health care policy is. >> i don't do policy. i'm not a legislator.

>> don't let that stop you from talking about it anyway. the opposition to reforming health care isn't the most cogent thing in the world thus far. the gop health care solutions group in congress, you will recall, admitted this week they think it is best if they don't actually offer any health care solutions. they would rather keep saying no to whatever it is the democrats are offering no matter what it is. in this rollicking substance free festival of incoherence, there is one man who is determined to be the most incoherent of all. little known outside his home state for anything other than having beautiful hair, and for threatening to secede from the union back in april, texas governor rick perry is threatening that texas will also secede from health care. i told you it was incoherent. speaking with a conservative talk show host yesterday, on wbap in arlington, texas, governor perry had this to say about what he wants to secede from next. >> it really is a state issue.

and if there was ever an argument for the tenth amendment and for letting states find the solutions to their problems, this may be at the top of the class. >> you know who is at the top of the class? i guy who brags about how health care is really one of those issues where states ought to find their own solutions, when he's the governor of the state who has more uninsured people than any other state in the entire country. one in four texans doesn't have health insurance, governor rick. health coverage is ten points worse in texas than the rest of the country. governor rick, you've been governor for nine years there. how you doing finding a solution for texas' health care problem, governor? you got the most expensive health care markets in the country and the least number of people insured. and you're worried the federal government is going to screw up the good thing you got going on in texas? you need to protect texas' health care system that you're doing such an awesome job with

from the people who you think might really screw it up. let the states find their own solution. you've had nine years, governor. you're the worst in the country. how are you doing with that? sorry, i try to never do it. come on. now, to allow a cooler head to prevail, we are joined by lou dubose, editor of "the washington spectate" and co-author of "bill of wrongs: the executive branch's assault on america's fundamental rights." i apologize for my outburst. thank you for joining us. >> i just regret being described as a cooler head. but let's go. >> well, please tell me i'm just misunderstanding this somehow, please tell me there is some secret texas speak at work here that i just don't understand. >> there is. this is line stoma-item secessi. we're going secede on certain policy issues. it is governor perry refining

his pentagon. a little more seriously, it was 107 in dallas yesterday. it is 105 in austin today. it is the dog days of summer. there is a political campaign impending. kay bailey hutchison, senator kay bailey hutchison is preparing to run against governor perry. and that's a problem for him because he doesn't quite know how to run against her. but in texas, there are proven formulas. you run against -- you run for god, against gays, you run against washington, and you run for guns. he's going to spend this summer running against washington and running against obama care, as he's calling it, to try to -- and try to associate kay bailey hutchison, senator hutchison with washington. >> well -- >> she is in washington. >> she is. that's convenient, i suppose. but i know that he likes to make a show about this texas independence stuff. he doesn't -- nothing seems to work out for him. he is the governor. he's not just doing this as a

gadfully. in mark he was rejecting unemployment money. then the state had to go back and take what he rejected, but ask for more beyond that. he said this spring he wanted texas to secede from the union, then he had to say he didn't really mean that. one would think he was going back to this well over and over again because it was working for him. from outside the state it doesn't look like it is. is it from texas? >> it is hard to tell. but the answer is probably yes. you know, the governor, it is a ribbon cutting position. it is not -- it is very difficult for the governor to when the legislator is not in session, for the governor of texas to get any attention. so he's going to use this summer to run on these issues. if you consider his last legislative session, he had several big agenda items. one was a choose life license plate on which he won. the other was this tenth amendment resolution to restate

the primacy of the states which he lost in the texas legislature. the other was the defeat of s-chip, the children's -- the expansion of s-chip, children's health insurance. he won that. defeated s-chip. and the other was the $550 million in stimulus money that he returned, only to borrow $170 million later. it makes no sense. but it is good copy and it is the dog days of summer, he's terrified about -- of kay bailey hutchison who will run a smart campaign against him. and, you know, we're texas. we do things differently here. >> but just to be clear, he is politically doubling down on the texas sovereignty secession stuff, while he couldn't even get his tenth amendment gimmick sovereignty thing through the texas state legislature. >> don't call it a gimmick. he was deadly serious about it and so were half a dozen legislators. and, rachel, there is also -- i mean, there is a states right argument here that goes back to

f faubus and george wallace. you know, he's going to do whatever he needs to do to get elected. and he's in a tough race. i mean, as you pointed out, we lead the nation. we're mississippi with good roads. we lead the nation in uninsured adults and uninsured children. yet he fought to stop the expansion of the health -- of s-chip for texas children. it is texas. important thing to note is he's fighting for the texas base, that 600,000 voters and the state of 23 million who would turn out and vote in a texas primary. so that's -- when you think of the national republican base, you know, distill it down to real crazies in texas. and it is an extremist base that he's got to nail down before kay

bailey hutchison, senator hutchison, starts spending money. >> lou dubose, author of "bill of wrongs: the executive branch's assault on america's fundamental rights," a brave man given the heat. >> and he was an eagle scout. which member of congress is denying having anything to do with the family, the group that runs the c street house in washington. even though we have high witness reporting proving otherwise. jeff sharlet joins us in a moment. stay with us. taking its rightful place in a long line of amazing performance machines. this is the new e-coupe.

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coming up, if the mysterious c street house is just a place where elected officials gather to chat and support one another and share their faith, how come so many c street affiliated members of congress are going out of their way to deny knowing anything about it. jeff sharlet joins us to discuss the latest. political battles caught on tape that makes president obama versus congress look like a friendly game of tennis. that's all coming up. first, time for a couple of holy mackerel stories. we begin with international intrigue. about a month ago, the president of honduras, manuel zelaya was overthrown. he was escorted on to a plane and flown to costa rock rica and

he couldn't come back. so far he's not been reinstated. he hasn't been allowed back into the country. though he does keep trying. on july 5th, he tried to fly into honduras but his plane couldn't land because the military put vehicles on the runway. he tried mediated diplomacy to allow him to return but talks have reportedly stalled. and then today, just a few hours ago, he tried just walking in, walking over the border from nicaragua. the president just walked up to the honduran border by the big welcome to honduras sign and while giving telephone interviews on live tv, he lifted up a chain that indicates where the border is and he went home for a few moments. soldiers formed a human chain in front of him to block any further progress. and after talking more on his cell phone for a while, he eventually jumped back over the chain into nicaragua. the honduran military has been

promising they can't be responsible for his safety if he does get back into the country. the defense minister suggesting that he would stage an assassination attempt on himself for attention. our secretary of state hillary clinton called zelaya's border jump rope thing today reckless and depending how you see the situation in honduras, that translates to either loco or -- finally, thanks to the democrats'ed my midterm election promise in 2006, the minimum wage in america went up today. if you make minimum wage, your annual salary went from about $13,600 to just over $15,000. of course, that's if you work eight full hours every single freaking week day of every single freaking week and you never get sick and never sleep in once and never leave early ever in the entire year, 15 grand a year. are you supporting a family on that salary and by any chance

does your minimum wage job not offer you health insurance? if so, here is the telling awful math about being poor in america today. the minimum wage annual salary went up to $15,080 a year. right? the annual average cost of family health insurance this year is $13,150. which means if you have a minimum wage job and want to leave the fantasy of buying health insurance for your family, on average, america expects you to live off a grand total of $1,930. for everything else you need for the year, food, shelter, everything. oh, also, we're the richest country on earth. she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act.

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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. what does c street, the d.c. home of a number of congressman, operated by a secretive religious organization, have in common with the cult crossover homoerottic hit movie "fight club." aside from the obvious? apparently the first rule of c street is you do not talk about c street. the second rule of c street is you do not talk about c street.

i can't really do that justice because i'm no brad pitt. but then again, neither is michigan conservative democratic congressman burt stupak. congressman stupak lives in the c street house. we found a 7-year-old los angeles times article which said he lived in the c street house back then too. so it appears he's been at c street at least since 2002. but as reporters on a conference call with congressman stupak found out yesterday when they asked him about his ties to c street and the family, the organization that runs it, if there is one thing a guy can get down pat after minimum seven years living at c street, it is rule number one. >> i will not discuss what goes on there because i'm not there. are there other activities going on there? yes. but what goes on and things like that, i don't know. i have my room there. i have a room there. and i participate in a tuesday night dinner once in a while there. so there is no regiment. there is no group stuff i have

to do. i rent a room there. i rent a room at a house on c street. i do not belong to any such group. i don't know what you are talking about. i have no affiliation. i rent a room at c street. i pay rent for a room. i sleep there. i rent a room. >> despite those many protestions, jeff sharlet, the journalist who infiltrated the family in 2002 and who will join us in a moment, reports that congressman stupak openly participated in the religious activities of the family while he has been living at the c street house. democratic senator mark prior of arkansas is also angrily denying now he's a member of the family. and he's picking a fight with jeff sharlet in the process. in response to an article written by sharlet, which quoted senator prior from a 2007 interview with sharlet, that interview named prior as a member of the family, senator pryor's spokesman told the arkansas times that pryor is not a member and that jeff sharlet,

quote, is a nut job. we will have jeff on in a moment to respond to that particular allegation. mean while, the las vegas sun is reporting this week that admitted and confirmed family member senator john ensign took three overseas trips in 2003 and 2004, trips costing more than $15,000, that were all paid for by the family. according to congressional travel records, republican congressman pete hoekstra of michigan took a family sponsored trip in 2003 at a cost of more than $7800. even so, congressman hoekstra is now trying to distance himself from the family, telling the detroit news this week that he, quote, stopped attending meetings about two years ago, saying he had gotten what he needed out of his visits. here's the question. if as the people who are willing to admit their members maintain there is nothing controversial at all about c street, how come so many members of the group aren't willing to admit that

they belong to it? joining us is jeff sharlet, author of the book "the family: the secret fundamentalism at the heart of american power." thanks for being back on the show. >> good to be here. >> let's start with senator mark pryor of arkansas. his spokesman says you never spoke to senator pryor, he says you're a nut and he says that mark pryor is not a member of the family. i have to ask for your response to that. >> well, you know, i spoke to senator pryor's office just the other day and they changed their tune. i wasn't even looking for his involvement. i called him up, interviewing him for a story i was reporting for "rolling stone" magazine and senator pryor said, no, i'm not so much involved with them, i'm involved with the prayer breakfast folk, the family. he went on to say that he had learned through this group, the family, learn the the real meaning of bipartisanship which he described to me as jesus didn't come to take sides, he came to take over. i wrote about this and as you

say, their first response was, well, sharlet never spoke with pryor. when i offered to share my record, they conceded the point, told me they would be making a correction to the arkansas times and then they said, please stop connecting our man to the family. he doesn't know anything about it. he's never been there. he doesn't know anything about it. and the events he's been part of had nothing to do with the family. of course, their actually paid for by the family. but that's senator pryor's word. i guess we'll just have to accept that. >> do you know he has any connection to the family other than through the prayer breakfast? when he described to you that idea of jesus didn't come to take sides, he came to take over, was he explaining that was something he learned through participation with the family beyond that prayer breakfast? >> yeah, absolutely. not the national prayer breakfast, a singular event but the weekly events, like the one bart stupak attended and went on to say through the family he learned that separation of church and state is actually something sort of exaggerated by

seculars, that in fact america really has this almost christian identity. >> let me ask you about congressman stupak. he says he doesn't know anything about activities at c street, he just lives there, he's got no association with any group of any kind. what was his role in the family during the time that you were part of the organization? >> well, when i was living with the group, it was in fact congressman stupak's name that would be mentioned when people wanted to emphasize the fact that it is not an entirely republican group, it is about 80% republican, but there is some conservative democrats involved. they talk about congressman stupak and, in fact, one of the men i was living with, went over to washington, we were in arlington headquarters, would go to washington, once a week, for what he described as mentoring sessions with congressman stupak in the family which he found actually a little bit unsettli g unsettling. they were so at odds with what he knew about christianity. >> jeff sharlet, contributing

editor of harper's, the author of the book "the family oork the secret fundamentalism at the heart of american power". i would love to have you back next week to talk about the foreign trips that have been funded by the family, the senator ensign, congressman hoekstra and others we know have taken. i would love to talk to you about what may be the agenda of some of the trips if you wouldn't mind joining us again. >> i would be glad to. >> great. american political fights can get ugly. bill ayers, anyone, right? compared to south korea, what goes on in washington is like reading the miss manners guide. coming up, friday night fights, political ones. stay tuned. first, one more thing about the c street scandal. after admitting to an fair with a married staffer and having his parents pay said marry staffer's family nearly $100,000, senator john ensign of nevada says he's done talking. he released a statement tonight that says, quote, i know there are questions regarding my affair with cindy hamt than people want to know the answers

to. it was reported, however, that crew was planning to file complaints with the senate ethics committee and the federal elections commission so i've been advised not to publicly comment further at this time. in other words, senator ensign says he's not commenting on the scandal because of this complaint by crew. we called up melanie sloan, executive director of crew tonight to find out whether crew filing these complaints means the senator can't comment on his affair and the ensuing scandal. sloan told us, quote, the fact that crew has filed complaints with the senate ethics committee, the fec and the fbi in no way prevents senator ensign from explaining himself. if he has nothing to hide, he has nothing it fear from any investigatory body. and with that, case not at all closed. taking its rightful place

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we're going to work until the bill is done. >> are you ruling out -- >> that doesn't mean we're necessarily going to work in session. >> we're not going to stop working. >> that was steny hoyer confirming today, you can tell he was confirming something by the fact that the something the

reporters went ah. congress is not planning on meeting president obama's deadline for a health care reform bill. all the heated congressional rhetoric we are hearing about health care, socialist this and fascism that is about as burly as political fights get in this country. without trying to down play that at all, this may be an appropriate time to step back for a little perspective about just how vicious political fights can get. for context, earlier this week in south korea, for example, this is how their law makers dealt with their contentious debate about easing restrictions on media ownership. if this is ringing a bell for you, you've seen this before. this stuff happens way more than you think it would. >> let's get ready to rumble. >> south korean law makers sort of cornered the market when it comes to political brawls. this one in 2007 was over the investigation of a presidential

candidate for fraud. it marked what we think is the first time a telephone was used in a parliament as a weapon. it was also in south korea in 2008 when law makers used a sledgehammer to break down a barricade other law makers had built. they also moved on up from this and telephones to fire extinguishers when it came to finding convenient things to hit each other with. the russians, it turns out, are also fond of donnybrooks in the duma. political circumstances unknown here. for pure physical kinetic drama, this is impressive. a physical smackdown between two czech politicians. this was apparently some personal matter between the two men. this led to a firm slap in the back of the heat followed by the

prerequisite exchange of this. this is the ukrainian parliament in the midst of a fight whether or not to oust their speaker. in terms of just literally the best individual fighter out there of all of these politicians fighting, i think it's got to be mr. judo master here. imagine assuming that guy is just your average interior ministry agriculture bureaucrat and he flips you over on your head. closer to home is this guffaw in a government chamber in mexico. then there was this clash in guatemala which features a shove, another shove, a glass of water to the face and finally a white flag of surrender. clearly, the rest of the world just has us beat in terms of converting their political

arguments into sheer physical ordeals. to prove the exception proves the rule here, we must note even when americans do turn their political fights into violence among politicians, it happens very rarely, but when it does happen, we're bad at it. this is a city council meeting in carson, california. >> oh, no! piece of paper? sledge hammer? what's the difference? ow, ow, ow. how about this knockout, dragdown brawl in the senate? here it is one more time in case you missed it. the fight over whether we are going to get health care reform in this country has gotten nasty and will almost certainly get nastier. take a moment to realize even the worst of them are typically

settled with nasty words rather than nasty judo moves. when our politicians do fight it out, they suck at it. that's something to be proud of. 3... 2... 1.

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here now is my friend kent jones with a look back at the last seven days of lamitude. >> a savory stir-fry of week. you're included. you're fine. don't worry. fine. >> in pakistan, anyone caught sending a joke about president zadari will be arrested and possibly sentenced to prison for up to 14 years.

wow. this guy has a nuclear arsenal at his fingertips, but he's unable to withstand nark? how many zadaris does it take to screw in a light bulb? zadari does not screw in a light bulb. an advocacy group asks the supreme court to overturn a ruling that makes it easier for park officers to crack down on nude sun bathing on safe beaches. what? the right to be naked on a beach in california is one of the corner stones of our constitution. live free or die. don't tread on me. finally, the press rachel of the week. "pri "pride '09" is a magazine and

look who's on the cover. what is the word for heavy-handed censorship? you can't handle the maddow. >> trying not to take it personally. >> i don't think it's about you at all. >> i was wearing a dumpy shirt. it could have been a fashion police move. thank you, kent. >> little bit of breaking news, actually. "the new york times" just posted on their website a bombshell that will be in tomorrow's paper. it says that dick cheney demanded to send our military, the army, into buffalo, new york, to arrest people in 2002. in the words of the "new york times," to test the constitution. literally to demonstrate that the constitution no longer applied anymore. politically, my instinct is it looks like this is royal bushees returning fire against attacking bush about scooter libby.

this looks like a big one. see you monday night. have a spectacular weekend. good night. eight months ago, i put a proposal to michael jackson -- show me the real man, but show me everything. make nothing off-limits. he thought about it, and then he said yes, come to neverland. do you come out here on your own? >> yeah. >> how often? >> all the time. >> just come out on your own? >> yes. >> go on a ride. >> yep. i use the carousel. i play music. i love playing classical music on the carousel. >> and what about the ferris wheel? >> i like the ferris wheel. it makes you wish and dream. >> can we go on it? >> sure. >> let's go on it. we began a journey together across continents, through his past, and rapidly into the disturbing reality of his life

today. >> okay. all right. >> michael jackson, martin bashir, in the go-cart land of neverland. >> you got a head-flipping coming. it'll flip your head. hey, he's chilling. >> this is michael jackson as you've never seen him before. quite simply, his world. >> whooo!