i'm sure going to the white house and having a beer with the president is not going to address anything with race relations. >> thank you both for your time. have a good one, guys. we are approaching the top of the hour. when we come back, sarah palin's final day in office. is this just a prelude to a run for higher office? we'll explore the possibilities. also, what's driving increasing car sales? is the cash for clunkers paying off for carmakers? you're watching msnbc sunday. finally, good news for people with type 2 diabetes or at risk for diabetes.

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that could tell us for sure. very good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt, you're watching msnbc sunday. 10:00 a.m. on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. out of west. in just a few hours sarah palin will step down as governor of alaska after meeting with residents at picnics in her hometown of wasilla friday and in anchorage saturday, she'll attend a farewell picnic later today in fair banks. that's where nbc's norah o'donnell is this morning. norah, what's the government been saying this weekend on her farewell tour? >> reporter: she is saying, thank you, to the residents of alaska and, of course, just later today she is going to deliver a farewell speech right here, pioneer park in fairbanks, alaska. you can see on the stage behind me they're already setting up seats for v.i.p.s who get to sit this close to the governor. she actually traveled from anchorage yesterday, a seven-hour road trip. she actually used her twitter account and tweeted that she packed her camper full of kids

and coffee for the road trip and even tweeted what she was listening to on that trip, which included a lot of country music stars, as well as the black-eyed peas. this has been part of her way to sort of wrap up here but it all ends today when she hands over the reins of power to the lieutenant governor. she's giving up her powerful perch, but for what, it is not clear. she has not said what she plans to do, if she wants to seek the presidency in 2012. nbc news has learned sarah palin has raised more than $1 million for her political action committee. that's $1 million in the first six months of this year for sarahpac. that's the name of the committee she set up. $300,000, $400,000 of that raised since july 3rd when she announced suddenly and shocking everyone not only would she not seek re-election, but she would leave office early with 1 1/2 years left in her term. she's managed to raise a lot more money. what can all of that money do? it can fund a lot of political travel to different places.

then it's been interesting, alex, to talk to the people here in alaska about their reaction. i was at the golden day parade in fairbanks yesterday. i met up with a woman actually dressed up as sarah palin. kind of looked like her. here's what she had to say. >> i have the sarah thing going on. always. always. i was very proud to say was from alaska when she started running for president. >> reporter: but are you disappointed that she's stepping down? >> a little bit. just very, very sad to see her go. but i think she'll be back, with a vengeance. >> reporter: that's kind of really the sentiment, that people were disappointed, that she's leaving office early, not angry with her but wish that she would have stuck it out. there was concern that the "quitter" label would stick with sarah palin. of course there is a lot of supporters for her here in fairbanks. this is actually where she was sworn in to office as governor. she'll be leaving her term with a year and a half left and turning it over to the lieutenant governor.

it always happens right here. >> that person that you had spoke to, you said she looks kind of like her? are you kidding me? she had her exact hair style, exact same glasses, just the sunglasses. maybe sarah palin's been an inspiration in more than a few ways in the state of alaska. >> there are a lot of people dressed up like her here. >> okay. see you later. i've been getting a lot of responses to sarah palin's resignation on twitter this morning. gms toner says, "she's going to run for the u.s. senate, not president." and 3109 tweeted this -- if i thought palin would be in the news less, i would be thrilled she's resigning. unfortunately, that's probably not the case. logon to twitter.com/alex witt and let me know what you think about palin's resignation today. updating you on breaking news in new york, an electrical fire forced a southwest airlines jet to make an emergency landing this morning at macarthur

airport in islip. southwest flight 693 was flying from condon bradley airport in hartford to orlando, florida when that fire broke out. the plane landed in islip safely with 136 people on-board. we're told no one was hurt in the incident. we'll bring you more details on the story as we get them. also this we are just getting in -- breaking news from paris where a palace has just released a statement french president nicolas sarkozy began to feel a little bit ill while exercising today. he's being examined right now. the short two-sent statements says he felt faint and is undergoing some tests. they say more details will be made available later. sarkozy is 54 years old and is regularly seen running. he's also a cycling enthusiast. we'll bring you details as we get them. new this morning, secretary of state hillary clinton says north korea doesn't have any friends left. in an exclusive interview on "meet the press" this morning, clinton says north korea knows

what it has to do to rejoin the international community. >> north korea must change their behavior, and we have to get back to moving toward verifiable denuclearization of the korean peninsula in a peaceful manner. now as you know, and as you've reported, they've engaged in a lot of provocative action in the last month. we still want north korea to come back to the negotiating table, to be part of an international effort that will lead to denuclearization. but we're not going to reward them for doing what they said they would do in 2005 and 2006. we're not going to reward them for half-measures. they now know what we in the world community expect. >> you can get the re-air of "meet the press" at 2:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. now to a new report on the president's $1 trillion health care plan. the congressional budget office says a white house proposal that was expected to generate savings will probably do little to reduce health care costs over the next ten years.

very good sunday morning to you, mike. how big a setback is this for the democrats? >> just one thing after another for the president's health care initiative and the democrats are leading the charge trying to formulate that legislation in congress. the congressional budget office says the long-term costs of health care are going to go up as a result of the plan going through, not down, as had been advertised by the obama administration. to address those concerns, the president started talking last week about a commission that he wanted to form that would keep medicare costs down, to look at the waste and inefficiency, two operate medicare in a way that would save money and turn the cost curve down. he proposed this new commission to do it. yesterday in a letter, the cbo, who are really playing spoil sports in this whole thing, it is a nonpartisan group, congressional budget office, that keeps track of how much all these things will cost and their effect on the economy. they say this will only save

over the next ten years $2 billion and unlikely to save more money in the years after that. a real ble to the health. a new report in the "l.a. times" says senator ted kennedy isn't letting brain cancer keep him from fighting for health care reform. he's in constant contact with his phone aides in washington and he watches washington hearings on his computer. democratic leaders want to bring kennedy to the capitol to vote on the health care bill even if

he needs a wheelchair or hospital bed to get it done. new video of what's a confirmed ef-1, a tornado that left behind in western new york this kind of damage. saturday's twister touched down 30 miles east of buffalo. the storm's estimated 110-mile-per-hour winds toppled trees and tore down power lines, damaging several vehicles an homes. power has been restored for nearly 1,000 customers. no injuries were reported. across texas, there are police officers patrolling for people watering their lawns and gardens. that's an offense. the officers in dozens of other state officials are scouring neighborhoods from dallas to san antonio to enforce strict no-watering rules. texas is the country's most drought-stricken state. according to the u.s. department of agriculture, severe drought conditions exist in 77 of texas' 254 counties. authorities stress while water levels are dangerously low, there is no immediate danger to the state's water supply. looking ahead to the week on wall street, on monday a report on new home sales is expected to

show a rise thanks to interest in the newly built smaller homes. on friday the big number of the week will be the gdp. that of course is the measure of economic growth. that report is expected to show the economy bouncing back a bit in the spring. shrinking just 1.5% after a 5.5% decline in the first quarter. also friday, a milestone for the 107-year-old jcpenney. the company will open its first store ever in manhattan, right in the heart of new york city. the stock market will kick off the week tomorrow following some big gains on friday. in fact, the dow had its best two weeks since 2000 as companies beat profit estimates and increase in home resales signaled the economic recovery may already be underway. joining me now, chief business correspondent with "u.s. news & world report," rick newman. dow, nasdaq, s&p, all starting the week after gaining at least 4% in the last week. what's driving this rally and do you see it as a sign the economy's turning around? >> sure, everything's great.

people just go spend as much money as they want. >> dripping with sarcasm. >> you know, it is great to see things -- clearly some things are better than they used to be. some of this enthusiasm i think is a little premature. we're getting excited because gdp might be down by only 1.5%. what's going on here is we'll have two types of recovery. i think this will be a statistical recovery, the kind economists look at and see indicators turning upward meaning the recession is officially over which we won't know until looking back in a few months. other recovery, the one that consumers will feel, that's still going to take a while. the unemployment rate keeps going up. companies seem likely to keep shedding jobs for the foreseeable future, probably into next year. it is great to see positive indicators. this is real progress but people aren't really going to start feeling more comfortable until probably well into next year. >> what about the housing market? for many it was the epicenter of this whole mess. looking at the new home sales figures, they are expected to be

released tomorrow. >> the real thing to look at with the housing market is existing home sales. that's more than 90% of the whole market. they're improving from where they used to be, but these comparisons we're hearing now, when you start to compare to some of the worst numbers ever. of course they're going to get better at some point. the real thing to watch is when do house prices stop going down and at least stabilize. that's getting better but we're not there yet. few more months for that, too, at least. >> consumer confidence will be out as well. june was down after two months of prior improvement. where do you think it is going to go? >> i think consumer confidence is probably going to bounce up a bit because it is a relief to see the stock market, it bottomed out in march, it's had a great run since march. it's up for the year finally. still down a lot from the peak in 2007 but at least the headlines aren't terrible as they used to be. that will make consumers -- >> if the numbers we get officially are lagging indicators of the recession, if you have consumer confidence

going up, does that tell you anecdotally that the recession's over? i'm trying to pull something out here. >> we want to believe confidence is a self actualizing thing. like if people feel better, that will make the economy better. the one single indicator to watch is unemployment. if you don't feel confident about your job security or if you don't have a job, the economy's just not going to get better until that turns around. >> yeah. you're right. rick newman, chief of business there as u.s. news and world report. thank you. cash for clunkers. the new government plan starts on friday. has it brought in new buyers to the dealerships? we'll check that out. a new spin on a blast from the past. why one generation can't get enough of vinyl records. and harry potter beaten by a popular household pet at box office this weekend? we'll tell you about the new number one movie coming up here on msnbc sunday.

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in a new op-ed in this morning's "new york times," vice president joe biden says he wants to "set the record straight" on the stimulus. biden writes, "the actions we took passing the recovery act stabilizing the banking system, pressing to get credit flowing again and helping responsible homeowners brought us back from the precipice." i'm joined live now from washington by a.b. stoddard, associate editor and columnist with "the hill" newspaper. good morning, a.b. >> good morning, alex. >> what is behind the vice president putting this out now? >> well, they're trying to make a major push about the stimulus program because it's the least popular thing they've done. as we recall, there was a huge push during the transition between barack obama's election and nis inauguration about coming together with some sort of package that would create 2 million jobs and 3 1/2 million

jobs and almost 4 million jobs. they passed it with great urgency. it was an ugly debate. lots of questions about whether or not the white house let the democrats in congress write a bill that was too easily criticized by republicans, pork-laden, et cetera. then reports all through the spring about the fact that the places in the country that needed it the most weren't getting it and that they'd only spent between 5% and 10% of the money. now i believe it is somewhere around 12%. they're trying to reframe the stimulus as they get into these debates, like health care. their number one priority. because their own party has now lost their nerve. i mean it was tough to get political will for health care before and energy reform, costly measures in the face of this tough economy. but since the stimulus package, it doesn't appear to be working well soon enough and we continue to lose so many jobs. makes it harder for those democrats to climb on board these other costly measures. you bring up health care. looks like congress is going to take a break at the end of the week and there will be no bill on the table for them to vote on

at this point. what happens during this five-week recess? what do republicans and democrats do to try to sway their constituents and put out their ideology on health care reform? >> well, republicans feel very emboldened and they will beat just like a drum. you can see in the polling much anxiety, growing anxiety, among the voters about deficits and debt an federal spending. and the fact that the stimulus package isn't producing a lot of jobs. that's what you'll's hear from republicans, it is not the time to take on another trillion dollars in federal spending to fix health care. they say how can you reduce health care costs by spending $1 trillion? democrats will go back to their districts and hear from their own constituents and the concerns from the leadership is, because they didn't get the bill out before they left, that those moderate and conservative centrist democrats who were already losing their nerve on this saying it is too expensive might hear more of the same from their voters, come back and be even more dug-in this opposition to a bill. >> more from you, a.b. stoddard,

next year. see you in a little bit. the 13 astronauts aboard the shuttle space station complex are enjoying their first day off in more than a week following several intense space walks. "endeavour's" commander says the mission's been so busy with activity that he's had trouble finding time to tweet. um-hmm, you heard it. mark polanski is only the second astronaut to twitter from space. the crew of seven departs the space station tuesday and returns to earth at the end of the week. rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience.

this weekend, severe weather hits the heartland. first, thunderstorms packing high winds and heavy rains knocked tree limbs right on to cars in several independence, missouri neighborhoods. crews worked through the night to restore power for thousands and clean up all the debris. the storm ruined a day at the fair for thousands in lagrange, kentucky. high winds twisted tents and sent chairs flying and downed

power lines. local utility company reports crews are making quick progress in restoring that electricity. to the west coast, a high-surf warning remains in effect for several beach communities in southern california today. waves could reach eight feet or more. watch the weather channel or logon to weather.com for your latest weather updates on that. surf's up there. a british tabloid is reporting farrah fawcett left the bulk of her almost $6 million fortune to her troubled son, redmond. the daily mail says fawcett asked it be placed in a trust. redmond has battled drug and alcohol addiction. interestingly, the report says the actress chose to leave nothing to redmond's father, her long-time love, ryan o'neal. farrah fawcett died from cancer at age 62 last month. still ahead, the health care reform battle. how divided are the democrats and where do the republicans fit in this picture? that story coming up here on msnbc sunday. [ birds chirping ]

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a critical week ahead for president obama and health care reform. the president pushing for a house vote on legislation before congress leaves for its august break. meantime, republicans this weekend are calling the democrats' health care proposals a prescription for disaster. joining me live now, democratic congressman from maryland, representative john sarbans. good morning. where do things stand right now? are the democrats going to have enough votes to get a health care reform bill passed before the august recess or should we just not even bother going there? >> well, we'll see. our committee, the energy and commerce committee, is the last committee in the house. it needs to do a mark-up. we adjourned last week while some issues were being worked out, we're continuing to have discussions. my hope is just to keep the process moving forward. i think what the public wants to see is that we're making deliberate forward motion on this health care bill and that we're going to get something

that they see as real relief from this current health care system that's broken. >> representative, you know when you talk about the issues that are being worked out right now, would that include the discussions within your own party, the fiscally conservative blue dog democrats, talking with other democrats. is that what you need to work on right now, and how troublesome is it that there is that divide? >> well, of course, those are discussions that are happening. you want to make sure everybody on your side of the aisle is comfortable with the legislation as it moves forward. don't get overanxious about these discussions because i think whenever you have something that's as major as health care reform, you have to work these things out. i mean this is a big transition that we're going to look for in terms of fixing the health care system. there's a lot of different views and perspectives that have to be in the mix. frankly, i'd be worried if we weren't having contentious discussions both in our own party and across the whole chamber on something that's this important. we'll keep moving forward and

having those discussions. >> okay, well then right now, are there enough votes in the house to pass it, or not? >> well, you know, the question to be asked is whether we have enough votes for health care reform. without question we've got those. right now we're still working through some issues so that everybody's comfortable with what's in the bill. some people are saying you shouldn't go too fast. on the other hand, you don't want to go too slowly because if you slow down, then there's special interests out there, the people that want to defend the status quo. they'll get in there and try and dilute things, then we won't have a product that's good for the public. so we got to find the right balance between moving too quick, moving too slow, and getting this thing right. that's the important thing. >> representative sarbanes, an article suggests health care costs have risen. are you at all concerned with the new health care reform bill, the motivation will not be here

for companies in terms of research and development because the financial reward may not be as attractive? >> there is going to be plenty of dollars in the system to continue to fund research and development and new exploration and so forth. i'm not concerned about that at all. where we're looking to reduce costs is in places where there's been excess, and there's plenty of places you can look for that. we've got a system that, frankly, pays for a lot more utilization than maybe the case in some instances, and so it is the way the medicine is being practiced, trying to create efficiencies. there's something called an accountable care organization which is going to get physicians and providers to think more carefully about how they administer care and what kind of tests they order. there's a lot of savings in that realm. i think this bill is going to try to pursue those. >> before i let you go, as you think about it, do you think republicans are going to come on-board with this? any of them? >> i hope so.

i mean we'll see what the final product looks like. look -- we're getting rid of pre-existing conditions exclusion. that's something that's killed people. we're putting more dollars towards the actual deliver riff medical care. we'll put a good public plan option in place to keep the health insurance industry. not drive it out of business. just keep it honest. keep it honest. there's a lot of good things in here. we'll continue forward. >> democratic congressman from maryland, john sarbanes, thank you very much. new this morning, secretary of state hillary clinton says the universal health care debate is different now than it was back in '93. she's encouraged by congress' work on the issue. in an exclusive interview on "meet the press," secretary of state hillary clinton said she's glad the president's tackling the issue despite his jam-packed domestic agenda. >> there are many problems we're dealing with in our country, and certainly he could have said, okay, fine, we'll get to that when we get to it. but he's waded right into it. and i am somewhat encouraged by

what i see happening in the congress. i've been there, i know how hard this is. >> is it different than '93? >> oh, it is. it's different in several ways. it's different because i think everybody's now convinced there is a problem. back in '93 we had to keep making the case over and over again. well, now we know, costs will continue to rise. for everybody who has insurance, there is no safe haven. their costs will go up. we lose insurance for 14,000 people a day. we know that our system left unchecked is going to bankrupt -- not just families and businesses, but our country. it is a central concern of president obama and our administration. >> catch the re-air of "meet the press" at 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc sunday. well, today the next chapter in the controversial arrest of a harvard professor is now starting to unfold. cambridge city official, along with the police department, are now working to map out a city-wide forum to address the controversy. the invisitation from president

obama stands. both professor gates and sergeant crowley say they will go to the white house to talk this all over over some beers. joining me now, reverend al sharpton, president and founder of the national action network. good to have you here. where do you think we stand today on this? >> i hope we're moving forward to really trying to resolve the issue broader than just this case. i think that the president is right to try and bring some closure to this case and unite americans around it. as we see that unity, i think we need the federal government to really deal in two areas. one, making federal law and when police abuse power, and, two, racial profiling. and they are not one and two necessarily the same. because you can abuse power or overstep your lines without being racial. and then you can also be racial. i think that, if anything, this case can lead us to a real sober and reflective moment to let's make some laws in place that

protect police and citizens from these kinds of situations. >> i want to read you what one of our msnbc analysts jonathan capehart had to say in an op-ed in the "washington post." "the arrest of henry louis gates jr. sparked another conversation on race in america that i suspect will end as quickly as it began, with no clearer understanding of the roots of the racial reactions that fueled it." what do you make of that, and what do you hope will come from the president, the professor and the sergeant sitting together over beers? >> i think jonathan capehart is right, i think america is uncomfortable about really dealing with race. i think the attorney general, eric holder, said earlier this year we've been a coward about it. i think we'll try to get past it rather than deal with it. what i hope will come out of this is that we understand we made a lot of progress, a tremendous amount of progress. we have an african-american president, two african-american governors. but that has not closed the race gap in the criminal justice system, in education and health

care, and let's use this moment to really bring the society equal. there's nothing to fear. i think we should fear not using this moment. i hope the teaching moment means that we can unite the country in finishing to close the gaps rather than avoid it and wait on the next incident, and then we all flare up and react again. >> how much is the fact that part of this conversation now, reverend, involves a popular black president and the fact that that's a unique situation as opposed to previous situations on a national level when race was part of the discussion. how much does that, you think, afford an affecting of change? >> i think it could afford a lot if we change it into a policy-driven discussion so that we can make permanent laws and make permanent reform that makes the community feel protected and the police, we need. if i got trouble now, we call 911. make them feel protected. i think the president is in a unique position to do it and i think he's tried to rise to that

occasion. >> the race debate really all of us and the rest of us talking about this publicly really started when the president mentioned it. do you think in the end when we look back at this particular incident, that will have been a good thing? >> i think so. i think if we leave it to where it unites not only the parties involved but the country, to say, you know what? we really need to deal with this issue. we need to have an adult conversation about race, adult conversation about policing. i think we will be glad that the president put focus on it. you must remember, when the president made his statement, some people said we interviewed with a case. there was no case. the local prosecutors in cambridge had had already dropped the charges on dr. gates so he didn't interfere with a case. so now the only thing left is to deal with the broader issues of police abuse, if there is or is not, racial profiling. because there is no case against dr. henry gates. that has been eliminated before the president ever made his remarks last wednesday. >> when we talk about the

president, you talk about federal issues and trying to make this federal laws and policies. but the fact is, all politics goes local puch's got to deal with this on a one-on-one, face-to-face basis in the community. how much weight do you put on the fact that the cambridge mayor, the city police there, are trying to put together some sort of forum? do you think that's the kind of starting ground, the root by which we need to get -- >> i think that's a good thing and i think they should do that and i think that they will. but i think the reason you need a federal law is because you can't heal it in cambridge and it jumps up tomorrow in raleigh or in atlanta. there needs to be clear federal guidelines that everyone understands that this is proper policing all over the country. national action network and i have dealt with these matters for the last decade all over the country. there needs to be federal law. i think this is the administration that can unite law enforcement and community to get to that point. >> okay, reverend al sharpton, always a pleasure. thanks so much. incredible pictures show what it was like to be in the

drivers seat during a formula one crash in hungary. this was shot on board the ferrari. the driver was hit on the helmet with what appears to be a spring from the other car. driver crashes into a tire barrier there. is he seriously injured but reported to be in stable condition right now. back to the economy, the latest efforts to help u.s. automakers. there is a new government assisted program called cash for clunkers. one goal is to get drivers out of old gas guzzlers and into more fuel-efficient vehicles. the program is expected to breathe new life into the auto industry as well. why are critic ready to put the brakes on this program? mike ramsey reports on the automobile industry for bloomberg news. good morning to you, mike. >> good morning. >> let's get to numbers of people right now taking part in this. it began on friday. do you know how effective it is? >> so far, there's been a great turnout. dealers that i've talked to expect that the money -- $1 billion that finances this

program will quickly be extinguished probably well before the november 1st cut-off date. >> let's look at requirements for cars. it has to be less than 25 years old, it has to get 18 miles per hour or less, has to be in drivable condition, continuously insured and registered for 12 months. now under this program, mike, the consumers can buy domestic or foreign cars, but is the incentive behind here to buy u.s. cars? >> well, i think that the incentive was put in place because production and sales of automobiles was incredibly low by historical standards and this is part of a stimulus effort to really not only sell cars and help dealerships but to get factories producing again and to get people back to work who have been laid off in the auto industry. it will provide some support, but in the grand scheme of things this is like a minor boost. >> okay. >> it's not going to be a big

savior to the industry. >> okay. how much can people get back? when they bring their dluclunke in, they won't get cash handed to them but it will go into the exchange deal. how much? >> essentially the dealer will handle everything. you'll come in, they'll determine the value of your vehicle, if it's something less less than $4,500 or $3,500, you'll get the difference between that taken off of your vehicle price. so if you come in and you have a $500 beater, they'll give you $4,500 tax credit and you will get $4,500 taken off the price of a new vehicle, plus whatever incentive the auto company is putting on there. potentially you could get -- in chrysler's case, they're offering to double it -- so $9,000 off the price of a car. could be very significant. >> absolutely. okay, mike ramsey from bloomberg news, thanks, mike. for all you golfers going out today, here's a challenge. this is on the 15th hole of the canadian open.

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6,000 people are expected to show up at sarah palin's governor's picnic in fairbanks, alaska today. at her third picnic in as many days, palin will sign autographs, hand out hot dogs and turn the keys of the governor's mansion over to lieutenant governor sean parnell. she'll also deliver a resignation speech, one she's calling a "transition" speech.

i'm joined by the managing editor of "c kwch"cq weekly."" transition speech. what do you make of that characterization? >> i guess it is a transition to what we do not know, which is how is she going to stay fresh in the public's eye, re-invent herself and start what will need to be a very long road back. >> the latest poll -- >> she's got plenty of time. >> well, she does, given her age. but we have 53% of americans have an unfavorable opinion of sarah palin. there is a gallup poll that shows 72% of republicans view her favorably. what's that mean for palin's next move? how do you read it? >> well, i think what that means is that, as i said, she's got time both on the clock and politically. she could -- just to illustrate how much time she has, she is a very young woman, only 45. that means if she sits out the next six presidential elections and doesn't run again until 2036, she'll be the same age

then as john mccain was this year. so she has time but she obviously can't fritter it away. she has to find a new job for herself. that will probably mean running for office again. i don't think can you do what ronald reagan did in the 1960s for 20 or 30 years. she'll have to run for some different office again, probably the senate in five years against a new democratic freshman or for the house, the one house seat in alaska. if the republican incumbent ever wants to get out of the way. in the meantime, she's got to find a new political organization. >> somebody tweeted me this morning that's exactly what he thinks she'll do is run for senate. what does she have to do in the next five years? if that's the time frame that's best for her to opportunize on that potential, what does she do for the next five years? >> well, the first thing she needs to do is get a more savvy professional and, dare i say, insider staff around her, i would think. she has run as the outsider, of

course. she ran for governor of alaska as the outsider. she positioned herself as the other maverick on the mccain-palin ticket last year. underneath it all she sort of had that reputation as somebody who is a maverick. she hasn't had a very disciplined staff. she hasn't had good advice about scheduling, about fund-raising. she needs to build up that internal organization of pros who can help her out, then probably give some speeches, write a book, do op-ed columns, maybe go on the air. maybe a little bit of money so she can at least be comfortable in her family situation. and then stay on the public eye. >> david, with the 1 to 10, 10 being a sure thing, give me a number in terms of the fact we might be looking at sarah palin as a senator palin or vice president palin down the road. what do you think? >> i think the chances are -- i'll give it 57 that she'll end up in congress, and a 4 that she'll ever end up on a national ticket again. >> ooh, thanks!

you actually really gave us something there. david hawkings, thank you so much. well, what's old is new again in the music world. vinyl record sales were up 89% in 2008. they're on pace to be even better this year. retailers are stepping up, including large chains like best buy. they started putting vinyl back on the shelves. top sellers last year were radiohead, and pink floyd, "the dark side of the moon." that's not it right now though. product do women think is best?

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now to the latest at the box office. "harry potter and the half-blood prince" broke a record when it debuted a week ago. g-force, a movie about hamster and guinea pig agents checks in with $11.7 million. in second, harry potter with $11.2 million. and three, "the ugly truth."

good morning, tia brown. harry potter, opening day it was ginormous, $396 million. ticket sales though down significantly. how come? >> it hasn't gone down that much. the movie has made $221 million in ten days, which isn't a far cry from its domestic grosses for the other movies which have averaged between $249 million and $317 million total draw. so it is doing pretty well. you did see a big boom the first few days. they had the number one movie with $22 million. they feel like a large portion of the audience who are teenagers and older went those first few days. that's why the numbers were a bit less. >> a lot of that money mine considering the big group i took. this weekend, lots of choices for families. harry potter, the new animated movie, "g-force." can you tell us more about it? from this movie is adorable, a kiddie flick about some guinea pigs who are trying to save the

world from a plot by this billionaire. very popular with the kids, may $33 million. it's kind of funny because there is a popular kid show on called "wonder pet" which is similar. so i see why so many families would love to go out and see it. >> the other new movie that weekend, lot of people describe it as the ultimate chick flick, "the ugly truth." >> the reviews were bad but people still came and supported it. it came in almost $30 million. the movie's budget was only around $50 million. so it is going to be a pretty big hit. and women love chick flicks. the movie seems to be doing well. >> you attribute that to the fact that it is a romantic comedy? it is a good time of year? >> i think it is a combination of everything. katherine higle is hot, of course. she's had "knocked up" and "27 dresses." jared butler starring in the movie doesn't hurt.

it is a cute theme. a lot of single women believe in love and want to see it happen with a hottie. the whole premise works well. >> you work well with us always, tia brown, thank you so much. coming up at the top of the hour, denny's grand slam, slammed with a lawsuit. the restaurant chain sued over salt. that story next on msnbc sunday. for me to keep my bones strong but even with calcium, vitamin d, and exercise, i still got osteoporosis. i never thought i could do more than stop my bone loss. then my doctor told me i could, with once-monthly boniva. boniva works with your body to help stop and reverse bone loss. studies show, after one year on boniva, nine out of ten women stopped and reversed their bone loss. i know i did. (announcer) don't take boniva if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease or can't sit or stand for at least one hour. follow dosing instructions carefully. stop taking boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. if jaw problems or severe bone,

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