four reasons to watch msnbc sunday this hour. it is sarah palin, see ya later. but will it be on the campaign trail for a white house run? new swine flu fears. new worries about the h1n1 virus sweeping the nation and taking a devastating toll. the food police pick a fight with a national restaurant chain. why do they say the food could be hazardous to your health? facebook friend overload. bill gates says no more!

a very good morning to all of you. i'm alex witt. welcome to msnbc sunday. 11:00 a.m. eastern time, 8:00 a.m. out west. here's what's happening for you this hour. sarah palin stepping down as governor of alaska in just a matter of hours. she's embarked on a series of farewell picnics this weekend to thank the residents of her home state. a bit later today she'll be attending a picnic in fairbanks. nbc's norah o'donnell is live for us once again in fairbanks this morning where it is a very early, just 7:00 a.m. but that's really late in the day compared to what time she's been getting up all weekend for us. good morning, norah. what is she saying before she officially bids farewell to everybody? >> reporter: she's saying thank you to the people of alaska. that's what she's going to say here today in her farewell speech. i'm actually sitting in the v.i.p. section which is only invited guests and family here because this is exactly where sarah palin is going to deliver her farewell speech, her resignation speech. she's going to turn over power to the lieutenant governor here

in this state, even though she's got a year and a half left on her term. it's interesting, she's spent the last couple days at picnic all across this state. she was in wasilla, her hometown. 1,000 people showed up there. she was in anchorage yesterday at a big picnic. stayed for three hours serving up hamburgers, hot dogs and alaskan salmon. then she tweeted that she actually got in her camper full of kids and coffee, listening to country music and drove seven hours, a road trip, from anchorage to here in fairbanks, because this is where it all ends for sarah palin later today. it is interesting because this is pioneer park. this is going to be the sight of the golden day picnic. there are going to be more than 5,000 people here. it is going to be packed here for sarah palin, as well as just to enjoy some of the free food. that's right, free food at this pick nir that the governor's going to be serving up. what's next for sarah palin? she's being very could i about why she's leaving her powerful

perch as governor of this state. what we do know and what we've learned is that sarah palin has actually raised more than $1 million for her political action committee called sarah-pac. in speaking to some of her advisors, i've learned she's raised $00,00 $300,000 to $400, that since she announced her resignation on july 3rd. that kind of cash can fund a lot of political travel. her first stop, the ronald reagan political library in california in two weeks and she has been invited to iowa, which of course is the site of the first presidential caucuses. >> interesting. how many folks are expected there today? >> they say 5,000. but it could be more. i mean this is the big picnic of the year. and so they've been cooking barbecue all night long. you can see a lot of the young people here are already setting up a lot of the chairs. i bet it could go bigger than that, in part because it's already a big attraction but

because sarah palin is going to give us this big speech and hand over power, i bet it is going to be packed here later today. >> norah, was that your seat there in the front row? >> i have a feeling i'm not going to get to. but we'll be close by reporting all throughout the day and on "nightly news" tonight. >> no worries, i'm sure you'll be all over the story. norah o'donnell, thank you so much. we appreciated the tour of alaska the last couple mornings. the latest gallup poll shows sarah palin's still very popular with the republican base. among republicans, and republican-leaning independents, palin has a 72% favorability and 21% unfavorable rating. not so sure those of the folks who have been tweeting me because here are some of the responses i'm getting this morning on twitter to sarah palin's resignation. this first one, "good riddance. if only that was to be. unfortunately, palin won't be going away quietly." this tweet comes from linda c.,

4251. "she did not step down to spend more time with family. lame excuse. is she planning books? campaigns? gop icon? or the most lucrative?" i want to hear what you have to say. logon to twitter.com/alex witt and let me know what you think about pretty much anything since we're coming to the end of our morning today. updating you on breaking news in new york, an electrical fire forcing a southwest airlines jet to make an emergency landing this morning at macarthur airport in islip. southwest flight 693 was flying from connecticut to bradley airport in hartford, to orlando, florida when the fire broke out. the plane landed in islip safely with 136 people including those crew members on board. no one was hurt in the incident. as we get more details on that breaking news story we'll bring them to you. this breaking news from paris where the palace is releasing a statement that french president nicolas sarkozy began to feel a little bit ill while exercising today. they say he is being examined by his personal doctor is undergoing tests.

french media reporting sarkozy has been hospitalized. he is 54 years old. he's regularly seen running. he is also a cycling enthusiast. medical services say sarkozy last underwent a medical example on july 3rd. cardiovascular and blood tests were normal at that time. a new report on the president's trillion dollar 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. nbc's mike viqueira joins us live from outside the white house. good morning. i understand that the president's budget director not really a fan of this new report. >> reporter: and with good reason if you're an advocate of the president's health care plan. it came out ten days ago, the congressional budget office said, look, this plan as it is being formulated in congress would not cut long-term costs in health care, would not curb the growth of health care costs in

this country, which is a major stated objective of the administration. instead, they'd see costs rise. so president obama came up with a solution. he would create a commission to oversee medicare expenditures he said would take the politics out of it and help curb those costs. the cbo again playing spoil sport, comes out with a letter day saying it would only cut costs over the next ten years of some $2 billion. that's a fraction, doesn't even scratch the surface of the cost of health care moving forward. they further said it is unlikely that it will affect long-term costs even after that. they do allow that there is some possibility if certain things are done, a, b or c, peter orszag, the director of the president's budget office, not very happy with that cbo report yesterday, alex. >> something else here, hillary clinton doesn't exactly deal with domestic policy as secretary of state. but as you know, given what was on her agenda in 1993, health care is very close topic to her heart. it was on "meet the press" this morning this topic. right? >> that's right. very interesting. david gregory on "meet the press" asked the secretary of state about her experience in

health care. remember it was in '93 and '94 when the clinton administration right out of the box, there was a big speech before congress, said they wanted to reform health care. they did it a little differently. they formulated their plan behind closed doors here on the white house grounds, then sent it up to congress. the obama administration trying the opposite tack. let's hear what hillary clinton said today about her experience then and now about health care. >> 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. we know that our system left unchecked is going to bankrupt, not just families and businesses, but our country. >> in the face of all of this today, the prevailing wisdom in washington is that even though the chips are down in congress, they expect by the end of the year the obama administration is going to have a health care plan on the president's desk sent to him by congress. the question is will it be a watered-down plan or will it embody the principles that the

president set forth over and over again over the past several weeks. >> okay, mike viqueira, thanks so much. to follow all the developments on health care reform efforts, go to our website, msnbc.com. let's go now to a crime in suburban boston caught on tape. the weapon of choice -- a hammer. the suspect using it to hold up a convenience store, making off with just $100. but it didn't take too long for police in a nearby city to nab him in a reputed drug area on friday. turns out he's the brother of a local mayor. criminals not exactly rocket scientists. right? new video of what a confirm ef-1 tornado left behind in western new york. national weather service says saturday's twister touched down about 30 miles east of buffalo. the storm's estimated 110-mile-an-hour winds toppled trees and tore down power lines. the storm damaged several vehicles and homes. power's been restored for nearly 1,000 customers. no injuries were reported. a storm ruined a day though at the fair for thousands in lagrange, kentucky.

high winds twisted tents sending chairs flying and downed power lines. local u fit company reports crews are making quick progress in restoring that electricity. across texas, police officers are out patrolling for people watering their lawns and gardens this morning. the officers and 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 text' 254 counties. authorities stress while water levels are dangerously low, there's no immediate danger to the state's water supply. let's go now to the fight against the swine flu. an alarming new projection from the cdc. health officials say up to 40% of americans could get swine flu in the next 24 months. joining us now from washington, d.c., dr. ruth karen, the director of the johns hopkins vaccine initiative at the bloomberg school of public health. the doctor is also the director of the center for immunization

research. a very good morning to you, doctor. >> good morning, alex. how are you? >> i'm well, thankfully. don't have any signs of the flu. but i know that 40% of the american population could be getting swine flu. why such a high number? >> the reason really is because we know that this strain of h1n1 is highly transmissable. we know that from data here in the u.s. and around the world. it's not a surprise to think that 40% of people could get infected. that's probably a reasonable estimate. >> what can we do to lessen those numbers? >> one of the things that -- there are a lot of things that are being done by the u.s. government, by other governments around the world. there are also things that individuals can do. vaccines, as you have probably heard in the past week or two, are being prepared. the first doses are likely to be available this october. and priority groups will get those vaccines first, followed

by other americans. there may also be things that individuals can do in terms of protecting themselves, staying at home when they're sick, covering their coughs and their sneezes, using good hand washing techniques, those sorts of measures. >> the centers for disease control recommending now that children from 6 months to 18 years of age be vaccinated against the flu. but it doesn't protect against the swine flu. how does this help? >> well, it helps -- i do just want to recognize that that's not a new recommendation. the cdc has had that recommendation for the past year or so. we know that it's possible that other strains of flu may also circulate this year, and certainly it's good to be protected against those. it's also likely that children will be among the groups prioritized to receive h1n1 vaccine and we'll know more about that when the cdc advisory committee meets this coming wednesday to begin talking about

which group should be at highest priority to receive the h1n1 vaccine. >> i also understand the cdc will stop counting the deaths attributable to swine flu. so do you have a guesstimate as to how high those numbers could go and how that differential rates from the regular flu that we get every year? >> you know, i think the one thing that we know about influenza is that it is very difficult to predict. this is not a number that i think we can know with any certainty at this point. we know from past experience that there have been mild pandemics and severe pandemics. thus far, we know that the h1n1 virus is behaving in terms of mortality, in terms of deaths, like seasonal flu. i think we'll have to wait an see if it becomes a more virulent virus. but we do have -- we will have methods in place to mitigate,

and that includes vaccines and the use of antivirals. >> dr. ruth karron, thank you for your time. >> thank you, alex. we have new developments to bring you in the michael jackson investigation. in a moment, you'll see why this could be a pivotal week as prosecutors consider possible homicide charges. also ahead, bill gates closes the book on being a facebook member. you'll see why he gave up on facebook. signs of an economic rebound. is the recession finally over? you're watching msnbc sunday.

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senator jeff sessions will reveal his choice when the senate judiciary committee casts its vote. right now voting is scheduled for tuesday. republican senators john cornyn and orrin hatch say they will vote against sotomayor's confirmation. i'm joined from washington by associate editor and columnist with the hill newspaper, a.b. stoddard. good morning to you, my friend. >> good morning, alex. >> i want a prediction from you. i figure you'll give me one. right? what's the full senate count going to be for sotomayor? >> well, i think it is going to be under 70 because you got 40 republicans, and i just don't see looking around at those who are saying yes and those who are saying no that we're going to get more -- that we're going to even get ten, or more than ten republicans, to sign on-board. >> how about this from the vice president who has a new op-ed in today's "new york times" on the recovery act. he uses the paper to, quote, set

the record straight on the stimulus. he says it is not being spent on pet projects. why is the vice president talking about this now? >> well, first off, president obama put vice president biden in charge of the recovery act so he really feels that the onus is on him to make the case for it. the best case in light of all this criticism that not enough money has been sent from the program, not being sent on the right things and it was still filled with pork projects that aren't helping to create jobs. you'll see biden out there a lot. you'll also hear in the language of president obama and vice president biden sort after recalibration of expectations of what it was supposed to do. you heard in the prime time press conference this week that obama gave, some comments about how it is a two-year program and supposed to work over the course of two years. they're trying to say now it might not happen as quickly as we expected but it is going to work. they need to do this because it is all part of the larger context of the political

landscape we have where the democrats are trying to pass health care. and that's resistant from republicans and their own party that too much money has already been spent, it is not working effectively, you can't trust the government, we shouldn't spend anymore. >> i'm guessing when vice president biden got that as the guy overseeing that, he probably thought, "thanks," with a deep sigh. >> he was actually overheard on a phone call, reported saying "if this goes down, it's on my back." it is a big concern. >> huge weight to carry around. let's talk about day which marks sarah palin's last day in office. she's calling it her farewell speech a "transition" speech. >> that's interesting that she's actually calling it that. she was trying to be very mysterious for a while about her plans. but now she's not. she's heading to the reagan library to give a speech. she obviously intends to offer her political profile she's not getting such a warm reception from her own party in terms of

candidates who want sarah palin to come and campaign for them, appear for them. we'll see. she's obviously raising some good money from her fervent grassroots supporters. that will be some sort of base to build on in the future. she hopes to get gigs and hopes to obviously improve upon those poll numbers. her favorability ratings aren't in good shape and are declining. but it's -- she's pretty much -- she approached this day admitting more and more that she intends to remain in the spotlight and try to be a force in the republican party. whether that means a white house run or not, we'll have to find out later. >> a.b. stoddard, always great to talk with you. thanks. you can never have too many friends unless you're bill gates. the billionaire says he had to quit facebook because he got too many requests to be friends. gates says he had 10,000 people waiting to be his friend. most of them strangers. instead of picking and choosing who to okay as a friend, gates just gave up and dleetd his facebook page all together. he says it was just too much

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but you can do something. call now. let's go now to the latest on the investigation into the death of michael jackson. the l.a. coroner's office is expected to release the findings from the autopsy report that it conducted on the pop star this week. for more on this and the lingering controversy surrounding michael jackson's death, live across the set to msnbc.com entertainment correspondent courtney hazlett. >> quite an interview. the release of details of michael jackson's autopsy report will definitely be a big deal. i think that's something we can all agree on. we'll finally learn exactly what caused the singer's death. still a lot of lingering questions about what role the drug diprivan might have had in michael jackson's life. one of the few people who had firsthand knowledge of michael jackson's search for the medication, his nurse and nutritionist. listen what she said about michael jackson's state of mind when he asked her for diprivan.

>> his state of mind was -- this was in the early morning when he started asking for it in the month of april. he was just to the point he wanted a good night's sleep. he kind of knew what he would feel if wre to have diprivan and -- >> is it your opinion that he'd had it before to help him sleep? >> well, he definitely -- he had definitely had it before because he knew exactly it was an vichlt, he knvichli.v., he knew that once the first drip started. he was very emphatic, "i will be asleep." >> did you ask him who's given it to him before? >> i asked him who had given it to him before. he was very vague, he wouldn't answer who had given it to him. he just wanted to have it because he wanted to get sleep. he said --

>> right. >> he was using it for insomnia because someone made it feel it was safe to use it. >> there's also top this week about dr. conrad murray and the two drugs seized from his office. dr. conrad murray's michael's personal physician, as you recall. those drugs, cherilyn lee shed some light on the other drugs as well. >> he loved to hug. one day before i left i gave him a hug because he had -- my birthday was the same day as blanket's. they gave me a surprise gift. when i stood back and he looked at me, and he said, look at this. look how grateful. it was just so many moments with him that i felt great from. he was the most humble person i'd ever really come in contact with. >> you know, that was what we

did on the air. and yet she's somebody who clearly wants to communicate her situation because she stayed on the phone with you for 30 minutes afterwards. >> i went to back to my desk an spoke to her for another half-an-hour. it's very interesting, we got very deeply into this blood panel they did with michael jackson when they first met. she said before i do any nutritional analysis of everybody, i have to look at every component of this person's health and that's a full blood panel. i'll write more in that about my column tomorrow. it is really interesting, he was a healthy guy. these are indicators you can't quibble over. it is indicators, too, about there are certain issues there that if you clear it, if you're fine, if you pass this test, you can't develop an issue in such a short amount of time that that would have caused the death. i'll write more about that tomorrow. his overall state of health was good. one thing she said, was a huge concern was dehydration. he was losing a tremendous amount of weight because of

these rehearsals, he wasn't eating enough. think we still -- this morning i thought we knew a lot about what we were dealing with, then after that second 30-minute phone conversation, even more questions now. >> that clearly was a lethal combination. what a tragedy. okay, we'll look for the scoop tomorrow. piano man billy joel is sticki i sicking out. joel's doctor reportedly advised him not to perform for 72 hours because of extreme fatigue. the elton john/billy joel face-to-face tour has been the nation's top grossing show in two months.

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citywide forum to address the controversy. and the invitation from president obama stands. both professor gates and sergeant crowley say they will go to the white house to have a talk over some beers. joining me now, reverend jesse jackson, founder and president of the rainbow coalition. good morning to you, reverend. >> good morning to you. is there where do you think we stand today on this matter? >> well, the sounds are coming down because president obama has intervened now to convene sergeant crowley and dr. gates. anguish over whatever happened did not justify handcuffing professor gates from his own house. he felt humiliated. sergeant crowley felt offended. so solving that problem. but the bigger issue about race profiling, if this is a teachable moment, the president,

the professor and the police are a small classroom. race profiling should be in its proper perspective because it is such a pervasive problem. >> jonathan capehart wrote an op-ed in today's "washington post" which reads, in part, "the arrest of henry lou business gates jr. sparked another debate on race which 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, reverend? what do you hope will be accomplished if these three sit and talk over beers at the white house? >> since he's dealing with health care which is a great moral subject, the president is grappling with now, black people are number one in infant mortality, race profiling in health structure and equality. home and subprime lending cri s crisis, blacks and browns are

targeted still and clustered. in the unemployment blacks are number one. so racial profiling is pervasive. 2.3 million americans are in prison. 1 million are black, in part driven by the crack cocaine problem. if we take it to its logical conclusion, it means that now's a chance to heal the breach and close that gap. we'll all be made better when that takes place. >> how do we do that? >> well, it may very well mean not just a meeting with the president and dr. gates and crowley but the attorney general and the secretary of labor must be involved early on. equal protection under the law and equal -- eeoc, equal employment opportunity, contract compliance, we must now enforce the laws and formt laws to close the gap. president spoke to the naacp convention he acknowledged it is structure and equality.

there must and plan for structural equality. that means the commitment and a plan that will pass adequate laws and force them to affirm them. we know second-class schools lead to second-class citizens. we lost 5,000 soldiers in iraq in five years. we have an opportunity here if there is a teachable moment, make it for the nation, not just for these three -- really three decent men, crowley seemed to have an excellent reputation. dr. gates of course is an impressive scholar. and our president. i think the three of them ought to meet with a much bigger discussion than the three. >> in the wake of these large issues you were talking about, sir, we are getting word here that monday michigan congress machine republican thad mccotter plans to demand president obama

apologize to sergeant crowley and those words saying he acted stupidly publicly. with the invitation already extended to sergeant crowley by the president, is this kind of move counterproductive? is there room for this as part of the healing process? >> no, that's not healing. the president was saying that he was acting excessively and unnecessarily. why would you handcuff dr. gates in his own home? why would you handcuff michael jackson? that's excessive. i think he was calling that stupidly. but let's go beyond that. the tension between dr. gates and sergeant crowley, that tension's coming down. the president stepped in i think with good leadership as he ought to have done. but let's go now deal with the issue of pervasiveness of race profiling in health care, education, jobs, it's driving the home foreclosure crisis, this disspaparity.

we have a case against countrywide here in chicago, race profiling. race profiling is not just police, it's judges in sentencing. it weakens our nation's resolve. >> reverend, we are in a unique position at this point unlike where we've been in the past dealing with racial issues in the discussion in this country. we have a very popular black president. how much do you think he will be able to affect change because he's become part of this conversation? >> well, he ought be part of it, just as bill clinton sought to be. but we've measured for too long the success index. two top tennis players are the williams sisters. tiger woods, the golf player. oprah winfrey, talk show host. kobe bryant, basketball player. the president. there's a misery index. we're number one in infant mortality, short life expectancy, in murder rates. let's deal with the issue of

poverty. when you deal with that, you get beyond race profiling to class profiling. that is to say that the poverty index, whether it is appalachia, or inner city chicago or new york, but do not underestimate the impact of humiliating race profiling, police, and judges, and then education. a black kid's more likely to be expelled from school. list does not stop so let's make it, if it's just the three of them, that's a small classroom for a big subject. i would think a white house conference on structure and equality and how to make it equal and profiling would be an appropriate national gesture for the nation. >> all right, well, the reverend jesse jackson, as always, sir, it is great to talk to you. thanks for joining us on msnbc sunday. >> thank you. new this morning -- more calls coming in for iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program. this morning on nbc's "meet the press," secretary of state hillary clinton called iran's nuclear pursuit futile. >> we will never let iran,

nuclear arms, not nuclear arms. it is something that we view with great concern and that's why we're doing everything we can to prevent that from ever happening. >> but let's be specific. are you talking about a nuclear umbrella? >> we are not talking in specifics, david, because that would come later, if at all. my view is, you hope for the best, you plan for the worst. our hope is that that's why we're engaged in the president's policy of engagement toward iran, is that iran will understand why it is in their interest to go along with the consensus of the international community which very clearly says you have rights and responsibilities. you have a right to pursue the peaceful use of civil nuclear power. you do not have a right to obtain a nuclear weapon. you do not have the right to have the full enrichment and reprocessing cycle under your control. >> you can catch the entire interview with secretary clinton on "meet the press" that airs

again at 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc sunday. just moments ago, alberto contador of spain won the tour de france. today lance armstrong, seven-time winner, is set to place third. for more, i'm joined by nbc's keith miller. good morning, keith. what can you tell us about the race? >> well, it was a thrilling finish but just about everybody knew that contador was going to do it, he was so far out in points. in fact, lance armstrong had a good tour de france. coming in third is not shabby considering just how difficult that race is. but nonetheless, contador was leading. unless there had been some sort of calamitous accident in the end, he was set to win the tour de france. that hasn't put lance armstrong off the idea of in fact going after another try at the tour. he had this comment before the associated press. he said, "i wouldn't change anything about my performance.

the tactics about performance, sure, will change some things next year, but looking back at this season, we did everything we wanted to do." so he's already planning his comeback, yet again at 37 years old, the oldest man to ever win the tour was 36. armstrong coming in third place is a major achievement. we know of course that he's won the tour seven times, more than anybody else on the planet. and in the record books. keep in mind, alex, he's come back from testicular cancer and fought back hard, and is now in incredible physical shape. spends a lot of his time in fact raising money for charities for cancer research. one thing i thought was really interesting, alex, he said that he didn't mind taking third place and being on the podium. it gave his children a lesson in humility. they've only seen lance armstrong as the champion, and today they were looking at their father as the man who came in third. he didn't thing that was

shameful at all and he'll be back next year, alex, to try to get back on the podium but be in first place next time. if he does, it will be an historic moment. >> not too shabby at all. he's still on the podium getting a beautiful medal and flowers and hugs from beautiful french ladies that are right there. one quick question -- you said how many thousands of calories are burned over that three-week period? i know we fell over when we talked about that. >> i slim down just talking about it. extraordinary. over three weeks, 21 days, these guys burn an average of 130,000 calories. that's obviously why they appear quite thin as they're bicycling around france. >> yeah. >> but it must be one heck of a weight loss program. i guess we should all take to our bikes if we want to emulate tour de france champions. >> right. stay healthy and stay fit. thank you very much, keith miller in london. we'll go now to a story about bad monkeys in india. they've become such a menace in one region that a school is being set up to teach the whild

m monkeys to quit messing with the humans. this monkey's messing with a couple of tigers. this youtube video has caught the eye. more than 2 million viewers. wildlife authorities want to teach the misbehave monkeys to act like more wild monkeys and attack their own, or the tigers. you're watching msnbc sunday. crest whitestrips has created a revolutionary strip that sticks to your teeth so well

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to politics, a new article in today's "washington post" examines president obama's decision to press forward with the most jam-packed domestic agenda since lyndon johnson's administration. the article says some think the president's making a mistake, saying if he'd moved more slowly and with a narrower focus, obama could have nurtured his electoral majority, built greater public confidence around his leadership and emerged with a bigger mandate to pursue his

post-poeponed campaign agenda. i'm joined by political reporters. good morning. the president's making his push on health care at the wrong time. that's the belief that's held by some. agreed? >> i don't think that's really clear at all. there's no doubt there's been some erosion in the polls which will happen when you have a lot of things on the table at once. you did sigh sessect them. it is very clear this is exactly what president obama was talking about on the campaign when he got these supporters. he was mentioning health care, energy, education, economic recovery. virtually in every speech from the primaries all the way through to his inaugural address to his first address to congress. i think this is just exactly in line with expectations. >> amanda, some suggest the obama presidency hinges on

getting health care reform passed. how much of the republicans' objections to the health care bill is political in nature? >> well, i really think what's stalling up the health care bill right now isn't the republicans, but more the scores that are coming out of the congressional budget office. if we talk about what obama's done so far, i think he assumed the $787 billion stimulus package was a gimme. he went out to the public, said we have to do this, it is very urgent, nobody read the bill, and we're not seeing results from it. we have unemployment more than 10% in ten states. people are worried, they don't trust that urgency of now argument anymore and i think they want to take their time with the health care bill. i think he staked way too much political capital in the stimulus and now he's having to make choices on health care and other issues. >> okay. want to switch things up, bengie, with you today on sarah palin's last day in office. latest poll shows 53% of americans have an unfavorable opinion of her. a gallup poll says 72% of

republicans view her favorably. is palin someone democrats should be worried about? >> at this point, i really don't think there's a lot of evidence to support it. in fact, many would be -- take joy in the fact that the person who seems to be the most unpopular republican figure nationally is also the one that seems to be the strong nest the potential primaries. that's the one you want going into a presidential election a few years out. >> amanda, how do you think palin rises from being an ex-governor who leaves office with 18 months to go in the term to the presidency? or is that the trajectory you think she wants? >> i don't know if that's in the cards. i mean, sarah palin is so unconventional, it is really difficult to make any kind of prediction. but there is a sol i would base of her support for her to take that path or at least try it out. we don't know what she's going to do many the months ahead, but you can certainly expect her to hit the speaking circuits, you can expect her to test what kind of appeal she'll have. and that's really what i think a lot of people in the media will

need to watch for, for what kind of pull she has after she relinquishes that title. and that's going to be the main thing to watch, i think, in the next three to six months. >> amanda, bengie, thank you both so much. >> thanks for having me. >> thanks. the food police are taking on denny's. what's wrong with what denny's is serving up for breakfast? i'm meteorologist bill karins with your sunday forecast. after a stormy saturday afternoon many the ohio valley, those storms are going to push to the eastern seaboard with more tiring up during the afternoon. so, watch out from new york to d.c. it won't rain all day, but you will see some. dallas and san antonio, continuing hot. cool in the great lakes right around chicago. frosted shredded wheat! yeah, but i'm throwing it away. why? you seem to really like it.

i do. my wife wants me to. she says there can't be any fiber in it. (mr. mehta) it's got a third of a day's worth of fiber. it tastes way too good to have fiber! ten crunchy little layers frosted to perfection. i eat what i want. she's here, isn't she? she is. hey. (announcer) fiber one frosted shredded wheat. cardboard no. delicious yes. new crest pro-health enamel shield protects... ...against enamel loss by forming a micro-thin shield against acid attack. only crest pro-health toothpastes protect all these areas. new crest pro-health enamel shield.

a new jersey man is suing denny's restaurant over salt. he claims some denny's meals are dangerously high in soed july and aims to get the restaurant chain to lift the sodium content on its menu. lisa green, an nbc news producer, is here to talk about this. >> they're basically saying that denny's is using deceptive practices by not being clear enough with diners about the sodium content of the food. you can find it on the website.

you can find it in pamphlets, but the center for signs in the public interest, the food police, want denny's to make it clear on the menus, some of these meals have a lot of salt. >> double cheese bugger 3,880 milligrams of sodium, moon over my hamani. people have got to know, ham, eggs, beef, bacon, sausage, come on. >> i agree. but you can look at this lawsuit as a way to energize and educate the public as well as kind of goading the food companies like denny's to make things more transparent. >> okay. let's look at a statement that denny's saying about the lawsuit. denny's believes the lawsuit is frivolous and without merit and the company will fight it aggressively in court. with hundreds of items on the menu, denny's offers a wide variety of voice for consumers with different lifestyles, understanding that many have special dietary needs. will this work in court?

>> it's unclear. these guys first went after transfats pretty successfully. soed judgment the next frontier of the intersection between the law and healthier eating. >> it's not like this is the only business right now for the food police out there. right? there are other lawsuits this week. >> this week, another organization wants hotdog manufacturers to label their products as potential carcino n carcinogens. hotdog makers say there's ridiculous. >> that's a big claim. >> filed in new jersey, inter t interestinginteres interestingly, this past week. >> thank you so much. that is a wrap of our "live msnbc" sunday coverage. stay with us for the headline updates and breaking news as it happens. i'm alex witt. have yourself a great day. live pictures from way high above us in space. that's what the nasa astronauts see.

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