anchorage. she officially leaves office tomorrow. and more than 1,000 people turned out for governor palin's annual picnic in her hometown of wasilla yesterday. nbc's norah o'donnell, live in fairbanks, where it's only 6:00 a.m. don't worry, i'm putting out the brownie points for you norah, we know that the governor will be attending another picnic tomorrow. she's saying good-bye this weekend. has she said anything about what she's going to do next? >> you know, she hasn't. i mean, she's ending her term as governor but she's also sort of opening this new chapter in her life. and what next step sarah palin takes is still a mystery. yesterday she spent time in her hometown, wasilla, you just pointed out. talking to more than 1,000 supporters there, interestingly she had that red, white and blue new england patriots jersey on that says, once a patriot, always a patriot. she's literally serving the people of alaska in anchorage at a picnic where she's going to be dishing out food to them at the governor's picnic.

then she heads north here to fairbanks for the final farewell, where she will turn over the reins of power to the lieutenant governor and she is resigning this office with still a year and a half left on her term. and so some people have called her a quitter. some people have called her courageous. she says she's fed up with the frivolous ethics complaints out there. she's had it, wants to spend more time with her family. she's also got this book deal. she's got to start writing that book and get that delivered. the question about her political future. if she wants to run for president in 2012 she's got to start considering what people think of her. there's a new "washington post"/abc news poll out there that shows a majority of americans now view her negatively. 53%. and that's significant. because that is her lowest approval rating since she was picked as john mccain's running mate and burst onto the national stage. now when she has been asked what she plans to do in the future, she has said she's going to try to affect change from outside the governor's office.

we know she's traveling to california in august to speak at the ronald reagan library. that's closed to the press. when she's been asked if she's going to run for president, she doesn't take the bait. in fact she's said she's not going to hunker down and go with the flow. because in her words, only dead fish go with the flow. alex? >> hmm. so, when she hands off things tomorrow, what's up? she goes home and starts writing and has a couple speeches? i mean, do we know where she will be appearing at any speeches coming up? >> she, of course, is going to hand over the reins of power here in fairbanks at the annual governor's picnic. it's going to be a big, big thing in pioneer park here. that's going to happen about 7:00 eastern standard time tomorrow night. and then yes, she'll go back to wasilla, and we'll just have to wait and see if we hear from sarah palin. her next scheduled event was in august in california. she has no scheduled interviews, she has been invited to lots of

republican events. she's been invited to go to iowa in the fall. but she has not yet responded to that request. so i think it's wait and see. she's probably going to take some time to regroup, be with her family and then figure out what's next. but you know, she's got this book that's due in the spring of next year, so she's probably got to get that manuscript delivered pretty quickly. so she's got a lot of work to do, no doubt. >> okay. norah, next hour we're going to have you walk around again and show us that beautiful area. and we'll see if pat buchanan's woken up. remember that? >> the sun's coming up. sun's coming up. >> okay. pat isn't there. i don't know where he is today. because he's not with me. i've got to figure out where that guy is. thank you very much, talk to you soon, norah. >> you're welcome. >> to washington now and new this morning a just released white house report says small businesses pay 18% more for health insurance than larger firms and nbc's mike viqueira joins us live. we know he's at the white house. mike, how will the health care

plan help the economy according to this new study? >> well, this is an in-house study from the council of economic advisers. and this represents a subtle shift in emphasis for the president here as his message previously about health care notwithstanding the fact that he's been out there in all different kinds of venues, town halls, private arm twisting sessions, cajoling sessions in the west wing inviting members of congress. his health care reform on the ropes in congress. so plan "b," let's talk about the benefits this will have to people like small businesses who, after all, face an increasing cost curve going this way, going upward, that means that they are increasing their burdens, the percentage of their payroll, the percentage of their revenues that they have to spend to give their employees health care. the president now talking about the need to bend that curve downward, trying to emphasize that, instead of his previous messages. which have centered around largely ensuring the 47 million americans who are -- who at this point do not have health care. kathy mcmorris rogers is a republican from spokane,

washington. she responded to the president's internet web address, which was on health care today. let's have a listen to the republicans, what they have to say. >> because the democrats' plan is bankrolled by a small business tax, more jobs will evaporate. according to the national federation of independence base, the democrats' plan will destroy a million more small business jobs. >> the national federation of independence businesses, a small business lobby here in washington, is against the bill, against the employer mandates, and so now the war is on. some democrats are buying the argument, alex, that this is a tax on small businesses. a number of house freshmen have written speaker pelosi complaining of that fact. meantime, on the rocks, is this legislation in congress. no chance that it's going to be on the senate floor before that august recess, which was the president's goal, and a very, very slim chance it will be on the house floor before that time. >> mike viqueira, we'll catch you next hour. let's go now to the latest in the controversy over the arrest of harvard professor

henry louis gates skwr junior. sergeant james crowley, the police officer who arrested gates, now says he is profoundly grateful president obama is atemtding to resolve the situation. the president called both gates and crowley friday and then invited them to the white house to have a beer and talk it over. and we are being joined by nbc's ron allen who is live in cambridge, mass for us. ron, good morning to you. let's get the latest. what's going on in cambridge today? >> well, i think everybody is back significantly alex from where we were just a couple of days ago. because president obama has taken a more even tone in this dispute. the police department, the police officers across the state for that matter, i can say, are also pleased that the president has taken -- simply taken back his words, saying that they acted stupidly in this matter. they have cleared sergeant crowley of any wrongdoing. in the sense that there's going to be an independent investigation. but the police department is pretty much trying to move forward.

they say they're optimistic and hopeful that they can now resolve the dispute. on the other side of this, professor gates, we have not heard a lot from him since the president made his comments. he did send an e-mail to a newspaper saying that he looked forward to this meeting. also saying that he is pleased the president has called him, and also saying that he wants this to be a teaching moment, and a broader discussion in the country about race relations. professor gates also did a brief interview on a radio station yesterday. here's some of what he had to say about the situation. >> just because a black man answers the door, and you're responding to a 911 charge, treat him or in case of an african-american woman, with respect. don't go presuming, don't do anything else. protect me. >> reporter: it's unclear at this point how professor gates, and if professor gates, intends to pursue his complaint with the police department. that, i guess, is one of the biggest questions left unanswered now. alex? >> okay, ron allen, want to thank you very much for that

live report. we'll check in again with you next hour. texas senator john cornen is joining a list of conservative republicans who will vote no on sonia sotomayor's nomination. senator orrin hatch also says he will vote no against sotomayor. the chair of the mexican-american legislative caucus says senator cornen's no vote will be a symbolic gesture to the largest growing demographic in texas. one-third of the senator's constituents are hispanic. the international space station is charged up and sporting some fresh batteries after a very long space walk. astronauts installed four new batteries during saturday's 7 hour 12 minute space walk. the last time one of the astronauts went out on wednesday, he was so fast that the air cleansing canister in his suit could not keep up so that resulted in carbon dioxide levels that forced an early end to that walk. the same problem happened friday, but it didn't crop up until the battery work was complete. today, a new look at the damage left behind by a pair of tornadoes. a witness captured one in

action, spinning in port orange florida, right near daytona. according to a witness, that first twister spun for less than a minute then went back into clouds. those who experienced the storm say as it grew and moved south, a second, larger funnel cloud dropped down and this time it was wider and a lot stronger. the damage is widespread over 160 homes were hit by that storm. let's go live right now across the studio. nbc meteorologist bill karins joins me. what's the latest on this? >> it started off as a water spout. pretty much a tornado over water. over the intercoastal that separates daytona beach and those areas from the land. then it moved a little further from the south over port orange. you saw the damage it did. it hit mobile homes and manufactured homes. those structures, they don't do well with any type of strong wind. a lot of people were lucky. over 160 homes damaged and only a few injured. no fatalities. as far as today goes, still relatively quiet. no huge weather stories. but it is going to rain and ruin

a couple picnic plans out there. currently, cincinnati, you've got some big storms. a lot of lightning, too, especially on the west side of town. east side of town and north side of town. all around the loop there in cincinnati. indianapolis, you had early morning showers. still light rain right now. you should clear out for a decent afternoon. further to the north, what a miserable summer it's been. wisconsin and michigan. if you have any friends up around flint and saginaw, this is the coolest july on record. and maybe one of the coolest summers on record, too. as far as to the south, we showed you what happened there in port orange just south of daytona beach. we also have a lot of storms heading from pensacola to panama city. those are going to move to apalachicola. the beautiful beaches in north florida, a lot of lightning and rain throughout your morning. the rest of the forecast, relatively quiet. hot and dry, in fact, the drought continues. we're also watching the heat building in the west. and the one thing i liked about my job is even when there's no weather, it's interesting. we've not had a tropical named

system yet. we're at the end of july. >> you're right! . >> we still haven't had our "a" named storm. going back to look at all the records and only three times in the last 20 years has it taken us this long to get our "a" named storm. one of those, 1992, hurricane andrew. just because we haven't had one doesn't mean -- >> you know what nick just said, he just jinxed it. >> i know. >> next weekend. >> i walk under ladders. i'm not nervous about that. >> okay. we'll see what he says. thank you very much, bill. still to come a live report on sarah palin's final weekend in office. what to expect from the alaska governor. also new signs of life for the housing market. you're going to hear why some markets are a long way from hitting rock bottom. plus new pictures of jupiter's big shiner. i never thought i would have a heart attack,

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and now to wall street, enjoying a rally this week. friday the dow closed above 9,000 for the second day in a row. it's the highest close since january. the ford motor company is posting a $2.8 billion profit in the second quart irof this year. ford, the nation's second largest automaker says it's in the black because it reduced its debt. according to edmunds.com, overall sales for july are expected to be overall. joining us is the ceo of edmunds.com. good morning to you. >> good morning, how are you? >> i'm fine, thanks. i think i'm pretty good if these latest numbers are showing what i think they're going to show. tell me what you got. >> you got to put it in perspective. this has been a terrible year for car sales with every month not even getting over 10 million. i think for july we're going to see car sales, looking at about 10.5 million.

the perspective is that historically we've been looking at many, many years now of over 16. so it's still not great but the trend line is up and that's got to be good news. >> silver lining here. to what do you attribute the rise in sales? is it great deals? is it people feeling a little more comfortable, feeling maybe they bottomed out or people desperately in needs for cars, or the cash for clunkers program? what is it? >> i tell you the big thing. this is a market that's really driven by value. consumers are still feeling under distress and looking for good deals. the summertime has always been where car sales are the highest. and it's because cars go on sale before the next model year comes out in september. this year we're going to see a summer sale's spike, if you will, that's a little higher than normal. of course the big question is what's going to happen in september, october, when the new cars hit the market and prices are probably going to be higher? so this summer i think will be very strong. people are looking for value. i think there are some good deals out there. but the question mark is going to be what happens when the

summer sales are all over. >> so which are the companies to watch, in your mind? >> well, it's interesting. if you take a look at the statistics for july, there's one car company that actually is showing sales increases year over year and that's hyundai. and i think that goes to what i was describing. hyundais are really known for value. that's what people are looking for today. looking at sales say from june to july, the one-month from toyota has actually got a nice turnaround. they're sales look like they'll be up 25%. they're leading the pack in terms of an increase from june sales to july sales. in fact, everybody's going to be up other than chrysler. chrysler is the only car company showing a decline from june to july. >> so does that mean you think chrysler may be the place where people can get great deals? because they just want to clear out their lots and their inventory? would that be the place that you would tell a bargain hunter car buyer to go? >> yeah, it gets a little tricky. they did a very smart thing. you mentioned cash for clunkers. that's certainly got a lot of buzz around it. got people in the marketplace. frankly most people aren't going to qualify.

but chrysler launched a matching cash for clunkers incentive. if you get the $3500 or $4500, chrysler might match it. even if you don't get it they'll offer you up to $4500. so there's some good deals there. the flipside is they had a shutdown when they were bankrupt. and gm is also shut down so there's some inventory shortages starting to build there. it's going to be a very strange summer. >> thanks for ironing it out as best as you can. thanks. it is a thrill seeking activity that almost cost a man his life. it was all caught on tape. so, this is ted davenport this week, jumping off a cliff in colorado. yeah. can you believe that? that's called base jumping. he tried a really complex maneuver that forced him to wait longer than usual to deploy his parachute. it failed to save him in a rough landing. >> i took the whole impact to my back. but it was -- it was such a forceful impact that it really ricocheted 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're getting a view now. that's davenport's fall from a helmet camera he was wearing. davenport, as you heard, said he bruised his lungs, his spine. despite the scare, he's going to jump again. wow. [ femalennouncer ] introducing the latest

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fresh from the surprise visit to the white house late yesterday to ratchet back the professor louis gates arrest controversy, president obama trying to push his health care plan yet again today. this morning, the president in his weekly internet and radio address, striking the familiar

health care theme. i'm joined by emily heil, staff writer for roll call. she also writes the column, heard on the hill. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> might the president have laid to rest his part of the gates controversy, but how much valuable time did he lose in the health care battle, if any? >> well, i think he did get knocked off message, and certainly for a couple news cycles he was talking about gates and the controversy when he really wanted to be talking about health care, health care, and nothing but health care. so it has proved to be a distraction. we'll have to see whether it's a long-term distraction. you know, i think this issue might be coming at least to an end when it comes to the president's involvement in it. although, of course, he'll be talking about it if they do take him up on that offer to come over and have some beer at the white house together. >> right. but you know, i mean, in terms of long-term distractions, look, we only have so long in terms of ahead of the august recess for this to all get done. so it's a short-term distraction

for sure. i mean, what happens if health care doesn't get done by a week from now? >> well, i think the idea is that it probably won't get done, and people are sort of backing away from that hope that something would be done before congress left for its big august recess. there was some thought that possibly the house could pass something, but from the way negotiations went, last week on the hill, things got very acrimonious. that's actually a little bit in doubt, too. the senate has already sort of backed off that idea that they would pass something before the august recess. so, the time stable has now been lengthened out a little bit and now they're talking about getting it done toward the fall. >> okay. in terms of the five-week recess, which group does it benefit more, those that are for the bill or those that are opposed to it? >> right. well that five-week recess is a time when members of congress go back to their districts, and they're going to hear from constituents. also, plenty of time to run lots of ads.

you're going to be seeing lots of ads on both sides of this issue. i think that any delay sort of does tend to benefit those who are opposed to this reform effort. and i think the white house realized that and that's why there was such a push to get this done before that recess. so i think that that does in some way benefit those who would want to slow this down. because any time you lose momentum behind something, it makes it harder. now that doesn't mean that it's, you know, makes a heavier lift. doesn't mean it's not going to get done. but i think that's who the advantage goes to over this recess. i think that vulnerable democrats are going to be hearing a lot in their districts from people who are opposed to this bill. >> emily heil, as always, many thanks. we'll see you again soon. >> you bet. >> new pictures from the hubble telescope. they're getting the clearest picture yet of an aftermath. the spot was created when a small comet or asteroid hit jupiter's atmosphere and created a debris field the size of earth. i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack.

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msnbc is the place for politics, and president obama is trying to walk back the comments he made on the arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates jr. he's even invited both gates and the arresting officer to the white house to share in some beers. now the president is primed to talk health care but the gates issue may not be that easy to lay to rest. i'm joined by joe watkins, republican strategist and msnbc political analyst. and peter fenn, who's been gallivanting around the globe. i have not seen in a month of sundays. also democratic strategist. >> alex, you've been taking vacations, too. i just didn't see you jump off that cliff with a parachute off your back. >> i was sitting here criticizing that. oh, i jumped out of a plane once. what's wrong with me? joe, i'm glad you guys both are

here. should the president have apologized for saying the arresting officer acted stupidly? was that word a bit harsh? >> well, you know, i think that there's nothing wrong with saying you're sorry, and apologizing personally to the police officer. you know, it seems to me that it's -- the president certainly has done a great deal to try to quell this issue. he took time to call the police officer personally. he was wise to step in on that news conference yesterday and say, you know what, i didn't use the best choice of words. this is very surprising for a man who has built his success around being a wordsmith. around carefully choosing his words. and also about being bigger than race. ones of the reasons he was so strong as a candidate for the president of the united states is because he was not a black candidate for the presidency. he was a candidate for the presidency who happened to be black. and now he has suddenly injected race into all this and that's what caused the big controversy. >> so what do you think, peter, what's your assessment of how the president handled the situation?

and do you think he was just surprised by the question? >> i think he was a bit surprised by the question, alex. skip gates is a very, very good friend of the president. this is a very distinguished american. "time" magazine voted him one of the 25 most influential americans ten years ago. he's a well renowned scholar. and you know, the thing about this, i think, that's so hard, and the president even in his own biography, alex, talked about racial profiling, and how it had happened to him. and i think, you know, one of the things that in today's "new york times," there's a very, very emotional column with facts. i mean, 66% of black american males say that they have been unfairly stopped by police officers, as opposed to 9% of white males. so you know, this is still an issue in the country, but the president, i think, by coming out as -- i totally agree with joe. i think this notion of wait a minute, let's step back, let's bring these two men to the white house, let's use this as a

teachable moment. let's try to make something happen. and for the good after this incident. >> so, joe, do you think it could be viewed as a good thing the president high lated this incident or do you think there's anything about his initial remarks that may have damaged the president's reputation for dealing with racial issues in a nonpolarizing way? >> i think that anything can be healed, of course, over time. i think that the president was uncharacteristic in his initial comments by saying that they acted stupidly, without knowing all the facts. he is normally so thoughtful and careful a person, that he would want to know the facts first and would normally say something like i'm disturbed to hear that this happened but i don't know the facts yet. it was unusual to see him respond in the way that he did. but skip gates is a friend of his, and somebody who is a distinguished harvard faculty member, somebody he's known for a long time. i think that caused him to act the way that he did. it just seems to me that this is a tricky issue that's not going to go away any time soon.

and the president is best able to help when he is above the fray. when he is not the one who started the fray, but is above the fray. i think his remarks yesterday certainly are helping to quell the storm. >> peter, any lasting implications for the president here? and if so, what are they? >> i don't in so, alex. i mean, i think he's handled it all right. one of the things this president does is when he makes a mistake or when he has -- says something that he regrets, he comes right out and says so, and doesn't get his back up. you know, he treats it very, you know, very human way. so i think it will be fine. i just hope it is a teachable moment, though, alex. because new jersey had a terrible incident and then they passed legislation to stop racial profiling. in this country this isn't over. we aren't really in a totally post-racial world here. >> peter, as a consultant, a political consultant, you go around and tell these politicians what to do and say, don't you think it's great

someone is able to come out and say maybe i misjudged? haven't we said that all along, it is worse if you try to hide behind things and just say nothing? >> absolutely. >> or not admit you made mistakes. >> yes. i mean look, people are human. they get caught up in the heat of the moment. they say things that they regret and it's fine to say look, i overstepped there. i shouldn't have done that. so i think, you know, what people are looking for in their politicians is, you know, they're not looking for superwoman or superman. they're looking for someone who they can identify with, and who is human. and that's -- that business of kind of apologizing, there's nothing wrong with apologizing. >> no. okay, joe and period, i'll talk with you guys next hour. for more angles on the gates controversy and all of your political stories logon to firstread.msnbc.com. let's go to the michael jackson case and investigators who are more closely focusing on the doctor who was with jackson when the pop singer died.

authorities are trying to determine why on the day jackson died, two women who identified themselves as employees of dr. conrad murray showed up at a storage unit rental facility and removed up to five boxes from murray's unit. federal local police searched two warrants. with more on what to expect in the investigation, msnbc.com celebrity correspondent courtney hazlett. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. >> okay, let's talk about the evidence that we're finding. when you're in an investigation you're thinking evidence, should be answers. >> you said something very important there. one trail to the next. the problem is you've got about 14 different trails coming from different places and intersecting. they all lead to likele jackson but the road to get there is tricky, tricky alex. problem here, he's a secretive, secretive guy. we know that. we know this family is good at keeping secrets, too. one of the things, he wasn't up front with people about what

medicines he was or wasn't taking. he wasn't up front with people -- even some doctors, he wasn't always saying okay i'm also seeing this person. he was good about managing the machine behind it all, too. you could have, he could be seeing one doctor in his house. and then, you know, another one shows up and didn't know the other one was there. he's one of these guys who, while on the outside it seemed like this life was just completely out of control on some level, on the inside it was very, very calculated. >> what do we expect to find this week when the autopsy results are released? >> we expect to find a cause of death. a calls of death doesn't necessarily mean all the pieces of the puzzle have been put together. the cause of death will be something, for example, like cardiac arrest. and you know, it might seem really, really simple. but, you know, there will be other information in that autopsy that they found certain drugs, certain volumes of drugs. they might find that he had some other -- we haven't really discussed this either, might have found that he had a

condition that predisposed him to heart failure or something like that. there are organic issues here that might have contributed that we haven't really considered. because, there's so much else going on on the surface. that is clearly now possibly criminal. >> well, perhaps the most important thing is the welfare of the three kids. and i understand that if katherine jackson gets custody, but really the primary care giver would be jackson's older sister rebbie? >> that's coming out and i think where that comes from is rebbie is involved in their life already. and you look at rebbie and her relative youth to her mom and you say rebbie should have the kids. no, michael trupsed katherine with the financial end of this. he trusted her to maintain his estate and image in the proper way. that's why you see the language in the will the way it is. in terms of how involved will rebbie be? completely involved. she has been up to this point. another thing i've been speaking to people exceedingly close to the family. there's not a soul who doesn't think that katherine will get

custody. that debbie rowe thing is kind of like a shiny, annoying object right now. they want to get that out of the way. debbie rowe isn't looking for physical custody of the kids. or a huge new financial payoff. she just wants to make sure the deal she had in place before michael died is seen through, and then just be done with it. >> okay. well, thank you very much courtney hazlett. doing a little o.t. with us on msnbc saturday. new hopes of an economic recovery could now be on the horizon. the dow soaring hundreds of points higher this week, crossing the 9,000 mark for the first time since january and gaining 12% in two weeks. on friday sed ral regulators closed seven more banks, six in georgia, one in new york, that brings the number of federally insured banks closed so far this year to 64. and right at the height of the summer travel season, american airlines is now tacking on another fee. it's now going to cost $20 for the first checked bag. that's up from $15. a second bag is now going to cost you $30, up from $25.

well, some good news for housing this week. sales of existing home sales shot up 3.5%. but prices are still down sharply compared to last year. ammanda gangler of "money" magazine is here with more. let's get to the first point. the first-time industry has experienced three straight months of gains for about five years. five and a quarter years. how encouraging are these numbers? >> this is encouraging, because we are taking many, many small steps in the right direction. now, we are going to need to see this continue for many more months before we actually see any change in sort of the prices and how quickly they're dropping. but, again, three months is a start. >> okay. your latest article i was reading you say that the nation's median home price is only another 5% to 10% to fall. so where are those markets that could still see some significant drops? >> the places that are still sort of not -- they haven't seen

the worst of it behind them are many of the places that started falling later. new york city, unfortunately, where we are, in a great example of that. and then also the real estate markets that are being brought down by the economy there. and i think detroit, many parts of the rust belt are showing just what high unemployment can do to foreclosure rates, and therefore drag down the housing economy even more. >> and the markets where prices have basically leveled out, that might be a place to get into and buy right now. where are those? >> where we are surprisingly, i think, for a lot of people hearing that we're actually closer to the bottom than in many other parts of the country, are in a lot of big cities in california. i mean, these are some of the hardest-hit cities, and we are now suddenly seeing huge jump in the sales in california, and of course, that's what you need before prices will turn around. you need to see a big swing, and for sales to increase, many consecutive months, and then

you'll see prices turn around. those forecasters thinking that california could hit bottom pretty quickly. >> i want to get to what you had in your article, the five facets that help keep a home's value. first couple are easy to get through. proximity to city, and great schools. but you also list strict limits on new construction. explain this one, because if i'm looking for a home, how do i find out this information? >> well, it is the towns that had tough zoning regulations that made it difficult for new construction to happen. they are not seeing nearly as much in price drops as some of the areas that just had huge building booms. so a great place is just to go to the town or county planning office, and ask them, you know, of all the vacant land in the area, how is this zoned for residences or businesses? if it's residences, can there be one home, three homes built per acre? you can also get the town's overall map of what it wants to do over the next decade and that should give you a good idea of

whether they are trying to control growth. >> okay the other final two were plenty of commerce in the area and lots of flower beds. i know it's more than just landscaping but it is certainly a major point when you're trying to look at a home. all right we're out of time. amanda gangler, thank you very much from "money" magazine. still ahead, the latest on sarah pail and an her plans for the future. taken more than money from me. it's taken my time.

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surprise you? >> not me. not at all. i think that from the post-convention, which is when the original poll was taken, to now, it's been a pretty rocky road for governor palin. and the end of that road, her decision to quite as governor well before her term is over has been probably the part. >> you look at the 40% with a favorable opinion of her. how much does sarah palin's overall favorables matter? isn't her real strength the strength of rallying the base? >> well, that's a good point, and actually that's the most disturbing part of this poll for her. the place where her favorables sell the most was in the percentage of republicans who had a strongly favorable impression of her. so it's not just the overall slide, which is troubling if you're a palin fan. it's where she slid. she slid least, actually, among

liberals. now that's not necessarily good news. it's because she didn't have that far to fall. >> i was going to say, yeah. >> with every other group it's double digits. with republicans, with independents. with white christian evangelicals. with moderates. >> so why? why the fall in your mind? >> well, if you think about when the first snapshot was taken, this was after the convention, where i think everybody, sarah palin fan, and nonfans, such as, to be honest myself, thought she had a very, very good convention. she did a terrific job in her convention speech. and there were a lot of -- there was a lot of potential there. and what she did in the ensuing months, i think, was to not live up to that potential. she then had a set of disastrous interviews where she showed she wasn't fully or anywhere near adequately conversant with the issues. she had a debate where i thought

she didn't do very well. then there was all of the sort of post-election weird family psychodrama, cover of "celebrity" magazine type of thing. and then there was this surprise friday afternoon, somewhat disjointed, not entirely sure why she's doing it, announcement that she was quitting as governor. so instead of taking that post-convention time to build up her reputation, to convince people that she was ready for higher office, and after the election, that she was sort of building her cred in alaska, doing a great job there, i think she's done exactly the opposite. >> ruth marcus with "the washington post." thank you, ruth. >> thank you. a man in new zealand getting revenge on his bank, after his mortgage application was denied. so here it is. roger decided to cash out all the money he had in the bank, $190,000. he wanted it in $20 bills and he piled it inside a large buffle

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questions linger in connection with the arrest of professor 4e7bry louis gates at his home in cambridge. the president tried to campen that controversy by innovating both gates and the arresting officer to the white house for a beer. joining me live for some perspective is the executive director ronald hampton. he's also on the advisory board for the national police accountability project. thanks for sticking around this morning. >> thank you. >> i want to get your perspective. you were a former police officer, so tell me what you observed in this incident? and keep in mind the police officer at this point? >> there's a couple of things. i think that, i mean, i support

professor gates. but i think he was handled based on the color of his skin, the community that he lives in, i think there were a number of factors that were involved in it. >> let's get to what we said. we just look at the picture, the african-american police sergeant who is seen right there in that photo of professor gates being arrested. he spoke out. let's listen to what he had to say. >> i support what officer 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%. >> what's that all about? and do you approve? i mean, as a former police officer, do you understand what he was saying there? >> well, it's the police department and his colleague.

so he, as he said, he's going to support them. and so i expected that. i'm not surprised by that. what i would like to see is that, that the president in inviting them to the white house, i would like to see the white house have a town hall meeting and invite criminal justice professionals, law enforcement included, to have this discussion about race. to have this discussion about the tension that exists in our community as it relates to police conduct, as it relates to public safety service in our community. i know that there are a couple of bills that's in the senate by senator whip and vice president biden before he left the senate, talked about establishing these committees that are going to look at the criminal justice system and disparity and inequities as it relates to race. so i would like to see the

president host some town hall meetings that would address that issue. because i would like to see us deal with the issue of race, rather than to run away from it. >> okay. perhaps those town hall meetings will happen. thank you very much for joining us. still to come, sarah palin's final days in office. what to expect from the alaska governor once she steps down. a live report coming up here on msnbc saturday. so many arthritis pain relievers -- i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills than extra strength tylenol. just 2 aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day. i'm pretty much the same as i am in a plastic bottle? except that you'll save, like, $600 bucks a year.

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next on msnbc saturday, it is the palin picnic tour. the alaska governor's parting ways, but does she have an exit strategy? tamping down the uproar. will president obama's words bring cooler heads in the professor arrest controversy? plus a funnel to fear in florida. a twister descends on parts of the sunshine state and tears right into homes. and it's a down-to-earth nightmare. a thrill seeker's terrifying sudden impact with terra firma. and good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt.

at 11:00 here on the east coast, 8:00 a.m. out west. here's what's happening right now here on msnbc saturday. today is sarah palin's last full day as governor of alaska. and before stepping down tomorrow she is meeting with residents at three different picnics across the state. more than 1,000 people turned out for governor palin's annual picnic in wasilla yesterday. nbc's norah o'donnell live in fairbanks where governor palin will attend another picnic tomorrow. so, norah, let's talk about sarah palin, what she's saying ahead of stepping down her last day, this day, as governor. >> she's saying thank you to the people of alaska. but she's saying very little about what her future holds. she is ending, of course, her role as governor. stepping down, resigning from office with a year and a half left on her term. the big question, of course, is what is she going to do. is she going to run for president in 2012? she didn't talk about it yesterday when she greeted more than 1,000 people in wasilla, her hometown. instead, she talked