the next day, he went to cleveland, ohio, ended up answering questions about the words he used. his choice of words and at the same time he maintained, look this is just a media-generated frenzy. his spokesman says the president was not going to say anything more about it. it changed very abruptly yesterday as the controversy continued to swell and officials from police organizations in the area of cambridge, massachusetts, held a news conference critical of the president and backing officer crowley. the president room wasn't even full and out pops president obama to you the utter the state you heard. but a talk of beers at the white house. getting the parties to sit down at some point in the future, alex. >> let's move to topic a. the president has released a new white house study on health care what is the strategy here?

>> reporter: serious problems with health care. things have dissolved to acrimony in congress yesterday. the president has been pushing for weeks through public statements, private meet negotiation the west wing. people moving in and out of here like a car wash, alex. having their arms twisted, cajoled. in pressure that can be brought to bear. the next day, his prime-time press conference, they found his goal of having a vote in the senate was not going to be met and now it looks like it won't happen in the house either. because it's democrat-on-democrat disharmony is the best way to put it. let's have a listen to what president obama said this morning on his weekly internet address. >> because they lack the bargaining power that large businesses have and face higher administrative costs per person, small businesses pay up to 18% more for the very same health insurance plans. costs that eat into their profits and get passed on to

employees. >> reporter: and there you see the president trying to emphasize now the new strategy. emphasize what it means to the ov average person who has health care. not mentioning the 47 million people who doesn't have health care. but but telling those who have health care that your costs will go down if -- if, they can get interest passed. for a look at the details behind political headlines, i'm joined by john decker, washington correspondent for reuters. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. >> did the president effectively walk back the gates issue with the phone calls and his remarks? >> reporter: i think he diffused the situation quite a bit, and although there was no formal apology that was made by the president in the white house briefing room yesterday it had the tone of an apology, and there will be, of course, some people who are disappointed that there was no formal apology to

the police of cambridge and as sergeant crowley in particular, and there will also be some african-americans who will be disappointed that the president essentially provided some even handedness to the situation that took place originally up in cambridge, massachusetts. i think this story finally is probably put behind the white house after two consecutive news cycles in which all the talk was about what happened in cambridge and the president's comments on wednesday night. >> i'm curious how much damage overall in your mind has this con from versy done to the message that the president is trying to send on health care? >> reporter: the president acknowledged it himself. two news cycles where the talk wasn't about health care reform, but, rather, about comments he made at the white house news conference. that set the president quite a bit and like viqueira pointed out, there are problems right now in the house of representatives.

a vote will not take police in the senate. a vote will probably not take place in the house before the august recess deadline that the president has set and that's a problem, because this means congressmen and senators go back to their districts, their home states and it gives some time for the opposition to mobilize against this health care reform bill. >> john, how crushing of a blow would it be to the obama presidency if a health care bill never makes it to his desk? >> reporter: i think it would be a big blow to the president it wouldn't in any way destroy his first term, but it would set the president back. remember this is the primary domestic policy issue that the president wants to see passed during his first term. it's the centerpiece of the domestic policy. he says it's the key to the future of the u.s. economy. turning the u.s. economy around and it will set him back in terms of pushing other legislation that he would like to see passed by the house and senate during his first four

years. >> okay. john decker, good to see you. we'll check in again. >> reporter: thank you, alex. a new report in "the new york times" reveals president bush considered sending troops to buffalo to arrest suspected terrorists. a justice department memo sent in the wake of september 11th gave the president the ability to use the military to arrest terrorists. this group that became known as the lackawanna six all plead guilty to terror charges. watch "meet the press" tomorrow. hillary clinton joins david gregory for a full hour. check local listings for that time. the international space station. it is charged up and sporting fresh batteries after a very long space walk. astronauts installed four new batteries during the 7 hour, 12 minute space walk. the last time one of the

astronauts went out there, he was so fast, the air cleansing canister couldn't keep up and that relatsulted in an early eno his space walk. california state assembly has approved a plan to close most of the state's $26 billion budget deficit, it calls for major cuts, including teacher layoffs and closed parks. president schwarzenegger talked about the budget cuts. >> i'm not happy about the one-time solution or the other solutions we have up there, but $8.5 billion, but there was no other way to go. it was necessary. but in exchange, we, of course, have changed major and lasting reform. >> lawmakers rejected two of the most controversial measures, a

plan to take $1 billion in transportation funding from local government and allowing oil drilling off the california coast for the first time in 40 years. let's go to wall street's big week. the dow capped with the second straight day above,000. and dramatic gains in the final half hour of trading. the dow is signaling what some analysts say could be a rally to end the recession. let's bring in vera gibbons. >> reporter: good morning. >> what is behind the suddenly strong dow? >> across any other number of sectors, ebay, ford, caterpillar, at&t. have you some companies like microsoft not doing well, but even so, the good superseded the bad and we have good housing data as well. >> you and i have been looking for things that say had is the recession rally. >> right. >> or is it a sucker's rally?

>> can this last? >> the fact that it's not assigned to a certain sector, that's promising. short term, you may see gains. people talking about dow 10,000 over the next six months if we continue to see good earnings numbers. here are the issues, consumer spending and employment. the only way to sustain growth is see improvement in these areas. if the dow looks good, earnings continue to look good, i think the optimism will spread from wall street to map street. >> what many believe was the start of all of this mess, housing. the sale of previously owned homes has resten more than expected. the third straight monthly improvement. does this show a thaw in the housing market? >> that was a good number here. the reason for the gain, the first-time buyers taking the credit. all of the foreclosures. mortgage rates low as well and

this sort of reiterates what bernanke said earlier in the week. the housing market, the slump is moderating, and that sort of reiterates that fact as well. that's a positive, and fueling optimism, but the recovery long way back. >> okay. but at least you said recover, and let's stop there. vera thank you. today, lifeguards in malibu, california, continue to be on the lookout for a shark. authorities used cameras to capture what they say appears to be a 12-foot-long shark. the shark didn't harm anyone, but lifeguards are warning beachgoers to stay alert while in the water. today, florida authorities are assessing the damage from a powerful tornadoes. it damaged more than 160 homes near tampa. witnesses say it sent glass and debris flying in all directions. one person recovering from minor injuries. a strong storm also pounded

parts of north dakota and northern minnesota. golfball sized hail and winds up to 60 miles an hour left behind an estimated $200,000 worth of damage there let's get the latest weather from meteorologist bill karins. bill. >> good saturday morning to you, alex. we have bad weather out there this morning. a lot of people in ohio and indiana were woken up with the line of strong storms and lightning has rolled on through. also storms south of kansas city into southern portions of missouri. the two trouble spots this morning. a closer look at the radar, look at the active lightning strikes through columbus, louisville, and that will be the trouble spot today. the other area of interest is in the northwest. our friends are really going to heat it up over the next couple of days. look at portland, oregon. this is the forecast for dallas. sunny and hot each and every day. right through the weekend into portions of the middle of the week. your saturday forecast, eastern seaboard. probably the warmest and best

forecast we've seen for you so far on a saturday and much of the middle of the country, the deep south, going to be hot. alex, a decent saturday to head to the beach. >> i'm going to stay here for now, bill. thanks. still to come, a report on sarah palin's final weekend in office. her first move, once she steps down, coming up. and an adventure almost kills a man, and it's caught on video. new pictures of jupiter's black eye. that, when "msnbc saturday" continues. (announcer) roundup extended control

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now to the latest in the controversy over the arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates jr. sergeant crowley says he is proy

pro-foundly grateful that the president is trying to solve the issue. ron allen joins me live from cambridge with the latest. good saturday morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, alex. yes, the reaction from the cambridge police community has been positive, since the president has changed his position what on all of this. they are especially gratified that he took his comment about the camp ridge police department performing stupidly. sergeant crowley i understand took the phone call from the president at a pub surrounded by other officers and there was banter about having a beer, so forth. the dynamic changed as soon as crowley opened up and started telling his side of the story. >> we completely support sergeant crowley and the fine men and women of the cambridge police department. >> reporter: the police union representing sergeant james crowley rallied to his defense. crowley himself did not speak, but told whgh-tv about the

arrest. >> i'm sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. >> reporter: he insists professor gates provoked the confrontation, the moment the officer explained he was responding to a 911 call to a possible break in. >> he said, why, because i'm a black man? >> reporter: crowley spoke out because he was tired of being called a racist. he is an 11-year veteran, father of three, and has trained officers on how to avoid racial profiling. >> this wasn't a back and forth exchange of banter or arguing. this was one-sided. >> reporter: an african-american sergeant seen in the foreground, defended crowley saying he never heard the professor call anyone a racist. >> i support what he did 100%. >> it's over.

>> reporter: professor gates remains on his vacation home on martha's vineyard. speaking out. >> just because a black man answers the door and you're responding to a 911 charge, treat him or in the case of an african-american woman with respect. don't go presuming, don't do anything else. protect me. >> reporter: gates has threatened to sue. his lawyer told cnn there, are witnesses with similar experiences with sergeant crowley. some community leaders are growing more concerned that the damage that could be happening. professor gates and sergeant crowley need to bury the hatchet for the sake of the country and the black community. >> reporter: all this perhaps leads professor gates in a what awkward position. he has not had a lot to say lately. he has said in part is he pleased the president called and pleased with the suggestion to meet with sergeant crowley.

gates made this suggestion earlier in the week, but the climate has changed somewhat, and it's more likely that meet willing take place sometime soon. >> hey, ron, you know how you can tell that it is my first day back from vacation. did you hear that? i said president bush. i promise by the next hour i'll have had my coffee. >> reporter: i don't think most people even noticed. >> nick was yelling at me. don't worry, he totally was. >> reporter: thank you. new pictures from the hubble telescope are giving a clear picture of the aftermath of an object that collided with jupiter. a small comment or asteroid created a debris field the size of planet earth. my car and you'll take care of everything? yep, even the rental. what if i'm stuck at the office? if you can't come to us, we'll come to you

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full day as governor of alaska. she is meeting with residents at throw different picnics across the state. more than 1,000 turned out for her annual picnic yesterday in wasilla. and we are live with fairbanks on this early saturday morning. that is where governor palin will attend another picnic tomorrow. what is sarah palin saying in the final hours before stepping down as governor? >> reporter: good morning. it's dark still out here and cold all the way here in alaska. today is sarah palin's last full day in office and as she's ending her role as governor but beginning the next chapter of her life. still not clear what the next step for her is. that's still a misery. yesterday, she was in the hometown of wasilla. here she had on this read sweatshirt that says once a patriot, always a patriot and addressed supporters and talked about the importance of

patriotism. listen. >> my heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones in this service to our country and let us do all that we can. let us do all that we have in our power to show support for those families, unless that ultimate sacrifice, let them never be in vain. >> reporter: now, today she is going to be in anchorage attending the governor's picnic there, literally serving the people of alaska. she is dishing out food to them. and then she'll head north to fairbanks for another picnic tomorrow, where she'll turn over the reins of power to the lieutenant governor. she is resigning with a year and a half still left on her term. there's big questions about

whether she's going to run for president in 2012. if she wants to do that, she'll have to take a look at a new poll out there which suggests she has a lot of work to do. because a new "washington post" poll show a majority of americans, 53% of americans view her negatively. that is the most negative her ratings has have been since john mccain picked her to be his running mate nearly a year ago. she has nearly $1 million in a fund that she can use to travel across the country in support of republican candidates. when asked if she'll run for president in 2012, palin won't take the bait. she says she'll hunker down but won't go with the flow, because only dead fish go with the flow. >> did she say what she'll do monday morning? she's not even giving us anecdotally what she is going to do?

>> reporter: no. the only thing on her calendar is a big speech in california at the ronald reagan presidential library it is closed to the press. that's all she's agreed to at this point. she signed what is believed to be a multi-million dollar book deal. she wants to effect change from outside the governor's office. she has a lot of money sitting in this political account, which she can use to travel across the country and campaign on issues that are important to her. so she'll have a platform no doubt, alex. >> nor after o'donnell, thank you so much for getting up early. still ahead, more on the fallout following the arrest of a harvard professor. any signs of a resolution? that story, coming up shortly. take a look at the new york skyline. we'll get a weather check ahead, when "msnbc saturday" continues. . ...against enamel loss by forming a micro-thin shield against acid attack.

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welcome back to "msnbc saturday." i'm alex witt. more reaction on the controversy surrounding the arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates jr. president obama talking about it again. >> because this has been ratcheting up, and because i helped contribute to ratcheting it up. i want to make clear that in my choice of words, i think i, unfortunately, gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department and sergeant crowley specifically, and i could have calibrated those words differently. >> i'm joined by author, commentator and professor michael alan dyson. good morning. >> good morning to you, ms. witt. >> where are we at on this? >> the president is a prince of a man, reconciling figure,

attempting to bring the two figures together, sergeant crowley and professor gates. he also insisted that we underscore the necessity of dealing with racial profiling and i think that's the bigger story here. at the end of the day, professor gates was in his home. he was arrested. the sensible reason for the call was breaking and entering had occurred. the brutal relations between police departments and african-american and latino people has to be at front and center here and not just a misunderstanding between two individuals, which, of course, may be the case, but there's a broader issue we must not obscure with all of this. and that is these issues are very real and the president contributed to the ratcheting up of that, but we need a healthy conversation about the relationship between an aggressive police force and a vulnerable black and brown population. >> the president released comments yesterday, he had both the mayor and police commissioner of cambridge said

they were please the with what the president had to say. you think we're moving toward resolution? >> i have no doubt. nerves are being settled. but the deeper issue remains. and i think i'm very concerned that professor gates not be dismissed as, okay, just another overreacting black man. it's interesting to me that no matter what pedigree you possess in this country no, matter how storied your career has been, it takes all of the pedestri takes all of the pedigree to make arguments with the blitz department. it has to be held accountable. they are here to protect and serve. we should not go around, whatever color we, being intimidated by police people who are sent there to help us maintain the law. >> i'm curious, michael, the beer between the sergeant and the professor and president to try and talk and have a conversation about the incident,

how could this further the discussion on race relations in america? what would you like to see out of that trio talking? >> i would like to see open, honest discussion from either side if sergeant crowley is responsible for teaching racial sensitivity and racial profiling, perhaps it should stick in his craw that this is something he needs to be concerned about. he is so dissident and defensive, i am not going to apologize, i did nothing wrong. you have to be sensitive to the fact that african people are more vulnerable to being mistreated. and professor gates on the other hand will talk about the issues of race will speak about in his books and documentaries. >> yesterday, we heard from dr. leon lassly. let's listen to this. >> i support what sergeant crowley did. i support what he did. i support what he did.

i can say what happened. speculation is a whole different thing. i know what he did. i support what he did. 100%. >> okay. here is an officer, an african-american officer. a witness to what happened. him with him saying he's behind crowley100%, does it muddy the waters? >> for some. he's a police officer and african-american. and he wasn't articulate about what actually happened. i'm sure he is articulate, but he wasn't capable there of expressing himself. i would like to know exactly what went on and again, these little microaggressions. the small flashes of intimidation that exist between police departments and citizens can happen with black and latino officers in aggression against black and latino community. we have to talk about police forces and vulnerable community and what that might mean. we have to get beyond the thin blue line and the wall of

silence and it was discouraging to me, quite frankly, for some to determine even the president had to tow the loin and apologize to the police force. you are the chief executive of the united states of america. take the bully pulpit and do the tough things. the police have to learn that they are not unlimited in their ability to impose their arbitrary will or power on people and just because a police officer is upset that a black man would dare challenge his authority, he doesn't have the right to engage in personal reprisal by potentially arresting that person this is a potential abuse we need to be sensitive to. >> thank you for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. a recent survey understores america's concern about race nichl our society. in a poll that was done in may, 55% of african-americans say racial discrimination was a serious problem and 45% of blacks and 42% of whites say

race relations will always be a problem in the united states. the fight against the swine you in. the nation's health authorities fear it could be a big problem in fall. the centers for disease control recommending children from six months to 18 years old be vaccinated against the flu. even though it doesn't protect against the swine flu, officials want to make sure children don't get hit with two boths of flusly. >> we expect when children get back together in school, that we'll see more cases. >> health officials suspect more than 1 million people have come down with the illness. new details on a group of terror suspects arrested near buffalo, new york, in 2002. a published report in "the new york times" says the bush administration considered sending military troops to western new york to arrest the terror suspects known razz the

lackawanna six. joining us now, jack jacobs. good saturday morning to you, colonel. >> good morning. >> why would the bush administration continue using military force? >> it was worried it didn't have enough evidence to support an arrest warrant to arrest these guys in the normal way, but these people have been under surveillance by the fbi for quite some time, and ultimately they were taken into custody by the fbi. but the ahead monday station was worried generally about not having enough evidence to collect al qaeda cells in the united states and thought that they were very -- it was important to get them in custody if they didn't have enough evidence. >> so why is this an issue? sending in the fbi to ultimately were the ones to go in and arrest the lackawanna six or sending in military troops? >> the fbi is normally the guys we use for that, but the military is establishment has not been used to arrest people in this country since the civil

war. and there's a law against doing that against using the military to enforce state laws called the posse comitatus act and others arguing that using the military to enforce laws is a violation of the constitution against illegal searches and seizures, you cannot have people barging in on people without a search warrant. it was and still is a big issue. >> had military force been authorized, that would not have been a good idea? >> i don't think so. the military is a blunt instrument. what we do is to knock down doors and knock down buildings and -- and the use of the military in domestic environment when there's no martial law that's been declared is a very poor use of that instrument. law enforcement people do that very well, the military does not do it very well.

>> okay. but you can talk about it very well. colonel jack jacobs, thank you. a battle on capitol hill brewing. division among the democratic ranks, all over health care what will the house finally decide on? we'll talk to congressmen from both sides of the aisle, right here on "msnbc saturday." that's outlast lipstain from covergirl. light as air lipwear that does what a lipstick can't. it's never sticky cuz it's a stain. and it won't leave your lips cuz it's outlast lipstain. [ male announcer ] from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl.

it is a thrill-seeking activity that almost cost a man his life and it was all caught on tape. check this out. this is ted davenport. this week, are you about to see him jumping off a cliff in colorado, performing what's called base jumping. he tried a complex maneuver. when he eventually opened his parachute, it failed to save him from a very rough landing. >> i took the whole impact to my back, but it was -- it was such a forceful impact that it really ricochetted throughout my entire

torso, and i immediately started coughing up quite a bit of blood. we take every precaution to make it as safe as possible. >> we have a view from davenport's helmet camera his lungs and spine were browsed. despite the scare, davenport plans to jump again. okay. the octomom has signed a reality tv deal to make sure her churn get a boat load of bucks. it deals nadya suleman's children collectively earn about $200,000. suleman's lawyer says a trust will be set up for the children. before it begins, a judge has to approve a deal. there may be a run on rodents across the country and all because of a picture on the big skroon. ahead on "msnbc saturday."

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kate milton, long-time girlfriend of prince william is off to holiday. after nearly eight years, is a wedding in the works? nbc's keith keith miller in london with the latest. good morning to you. you know, some speculation surrounding these two. is prince william going to pop the question? >> reporter: well, everybody is asking that question in england. certainly. after seven years, he certainly had the opportunity to. some people would guess that perhaps he has some sort of commitment phobe. prince william is training to become a helicopter pilot and the next king of england. a lot on his plate. a lot of speculation has surfaced because of one of kate middleton's relatives was in the tabloids.

her you know kel from her mother's side was filmed snorting cocaine and offering brazilian prostitutes for "news of the world." the palace says that particular incident is irrelevant to their relationship, that kate and william are still on track and what we are looking at now is reading the royal tea leaves as you well. end of august, kaite has been invited to the balmoral castle, while the queen is still in residence. they think once she sits down with the royal highnress. people have been speculating that they will get married this year. it looks more likely next year. a royal wedding takes a lot of planning. i wouldn't expect we hear anything -- an imminent wedding on the part of those two,

wedding on the part of those two. >> the history of these two, much loved couple. is that still is case? >> very much so. people like her. they identify her with diana. she's glamorous, very royal, very poised. very well-spoken. she's done something very important for herself and her place in the royal family. she's kept quiet. you never hear her voice. she had a short, short verbalization on youtube probably lasting seven seconds, where you can hear her upper crust, clipped english accent. they've actually broken up over this eight-year relationship three times and you've never heard a word from her. no complaints, no crying about a relationship gone sour and each

time, william's gone sour. >> thank you. keith miller in london. rahm emanuel says the house will vote on a health care reform bill as early as next week. nancy pelosi says she has enough votes to pass legislation, but reports that the leader of the blue dog democrats says there are not enough votes in the house. so what is it? joining me now, democrat from new jersey and chairman of the energy subcommittee on health. also, john fleming. good morning. i know that you're a member of the committee where this legislation is currently bogged down. according to some reports. but first, are there enough vote es to get this past before the august recess? >> i believe there are. i know there are some pitfalls,

but i think we are close to an agreement that would mean we could vote on the bill this week. >> the hill reporting today that one of your colleagues said that the following about committee chairman waxman. quote, i've been lied to, we have not had legitimate negotiations. mr. waxman has severed discussions with the blue dogs. is that accurate? >> i don't want to contradict him, but as we speak, there are meetings and negotiations taking place with the blue dogs and a lot of it has to do with the way to keep down costs. i believe those negotiations will be fruitful and we'll be able to vote next week. >> representative fleming, how many votes, if in, will the current legislation get?

>> alex, i don't know of one single republican vote at this point. the polls show that americans are not in favor of this bill. at least in terms of a single payer or government takeover option. the feedback we're getting and we know the blue dogs are getting the same, is to trash this bill. >> there are a lot of polls out there that agree americans want health reform. if that is the case, can some of this legislation be salvaged on a work abl solution? >> most americans and all republicans want health care reform, but they don't want to crash the current system and put in place a socialized system as in the u.k. and canada. we're hearing horror stories out

of other country where is this system has failed. if we had a bipartisan bill and we've tried to introduce amendments that would cover ours, the need for insurance reform, provide affordability, improve access, we could have a bill tomorrow, but we've been totally locked out of negotiations, amendments. >> represent pallone, your reaction to that? >> we had a mark-up in the energy and commerce committee that started last week and continued this week and there were lots of republican amendments, so of which passed. what we're proposing builds on the existing system. it is no in way like england or other countries.

people who have health insurance they have now and like it can keep it. we're basically expanding medicaid, improved medicare and setting up this health change, which is basically a way the buy insurance. there's no government control of the system or running of the hospitals by the doctors. >> and some form of health care doesn't happen by august, are they willing to keep law make rs in washington past the break? >> i think they will do what's necessary. i think the issue is can we come to an agreement and i think we're almost there. as congressman fleming said, everybody wants health care reform and the blue dogs do as well. the fact that everybody wants it means that we'll have it. >> representative fleming,

you're in a unique position being an elected official and a family physician. put on the physician hat. what concerns you most about that being put forward in the house? >> this plan is going to put a bureaucrat within the sacred doctor-patient relationship. we tried to apply an amendment that said the government will not be allowed to enter into that relationship. the committee were stacked way against any republican amendments. we have not been able to get one single republican amendment. this bill also provides for taxpayer funded abortions. as a family physician, i'm very

concerned how the government will be controlling the decision-making, which i think should be between the doctor and patient. >> thank you for joining me for this discussion. >> thank you. still ahead, has president obama defueled the fire storm over the arrest over the harvard professor? and also, it's just say no. leading republicans say they'll turn some down on sonia sotomayor. [ gine revving ]

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the same party and it's getting ugly. and sarah palin, the governor's last week in office. the international space station gets new juice. good morning, everyone. this is "msnbc saturday." we have all that ahead for yourks but right now, let's get to the new reaction today over the arrest of henry louis gates jr. the police officer who arrested gates is speaking out because he says he's tired of being called a racist. >> he was the one being provocati provocative. this wasn't a back and forth exchange. this is one-sided. >> in a radio interview, professor gates is holding his ground. >> just because a black man answers the door and you're responding to a 911 charge, treating him with respect, don't go presuming, don't do