you can't do this. >> no? >> it doesn't work.

>> doesn't work? what's wrong? >> now what am i going to do, willie? >> you're all on your own. i'll meet you out there in ten seconds. >> why don't you skedaddle down here. i guess "morning joe" starts right now, mike halprin, carl bernstein. >> so we are here today at a changing of the guard. now, people know me and they know how much i love this state. some still are choosing not to hear why i made the decision to chart a new course to advance the state. and it should be so obvious to you. >> wow. okay, she is former, former

governor now. we'll talk about that this morning, what's next for sarah palin. we'll have pat buchanan chime in on that. i'm looking forward to the chat of that for some time now. i'm mika brzezinski. joe is off. willie is here, fresh off his new show. >> got one in the bag. >> how did it go? >> good. we'll do another one tomorrow. not official, but -- >> you better wait until phil talks too, kind of a day by day thing. >> been picked up for the whole season. >> he has. >> gosh. that didn't happen to me. you're lucky. all right, we got new information on the gates 911 call, that big controversy out of cambridge. did the caller identify him and his driver as two black men or not? bigger issue pertaining to that, a beer at the white house with the president. we'll talk about that. also the health care bill showing vital signs while its

opponents say it is nothing personal. we'll talk about that as well. good op-eds on all of these issues. here from washington, we have an editorial writer for "the washington post," jonathan capehart, also an msnbc contributor. you wrote a good piece over the weekend for "the post" on this. we'll read some of that coming up. but it is good to have you on board this morning. >> thanks, mika. good morning. >> again, we have carl bernstein with us, mike halprin with me and willie geist. we'll get ready to talk about it all including sarah palin. and -- >> throwing darts yesterday. i said you want to come on the show tomorrow? so he's on. >> great. okay. it is time now for a look at some of today's top stories. today, sarah palin is plotting her next move after stepping down as alaska's governor on sunday. palin used a twitter to deliver a good-bye message to her followers and take one final swipe at the media. >> democracy depends on you.

and that is why -- that's why our troops are willing to die for you. so how about in honor of the american soldier, you quit making things up? and one other thing for the media, our new governor has a very nice family too. so leave his kids alone. >> okay. north korea appears to be calling for a direct dialogue with the u.s. to cut the tension over its nuclear weapons program. it follows the regime's provocative nuclear and military exercise. this is a recent back and forth with secretary of state hillary clinton. >> we want to it make clear to north korea that their behavior is not going to be rewarded. in the past they believed that they have acted out, done things which really went against the norm for the international community, and somehow then were

rewarded. those days are over. >> talking about that a greet deal during this show, also with dr. brzezinski, about that, and lots more coming up this morning on "morning joe." president obama is hitting the road today in his push for health care reform. he'll hold events in north carolina and virginia, even as republicans continue to hammer away at his proposal. >> this is not personal against the president. i like the president. but he's out of control. and he's been leading a stampede of more spending and debt and taxes and government takeovers. he's taken a bad economy and made it worse. he used a lot of false promises and bogus numbers and panic to push through the stimulus. and the promises have not panned out. and now he's trying to use the same strategy on health care. >> french president nicolas sarkozy is out of a military hospital this morning. the 54-year-old underwent observation last night after becoming dizzy on sunday while

jogging. sarkozy's office says there are no long-term health consequences and the collapse was due to heat and overwork. the cambridge woman whose 911 call led to the arrest of a harvard professor said she reported two men at the house, not two black men. a michigan congressman is planning to introduce an resolution demanding an apology from president obama for saying the police acted stupidly. it come as the white house tries to mend fences over a cold beer. >> let's hope soon professor gates and sergeant crowley can sit at the white house and talk about some of the issues and have a beer with the president. >> has that been scheduled yet? >> i don't know it has been scheduled but it is our hope we're going to get it done. sergeant crowley told the president he was game. and i read that professor gates is the same way. so hopefully we can get that done in the next several days. >> we got gibbs as your first guest. >> he was great.

>> very good. very early. call him every day, right? >> every day. >> good. a new study is linking physical attractiveness to reproductive success. scientists say women are evolving to become more beautiful and they have up to 16% more children than their less appealing counterparts. the study also found good looking parents were far more likely to conceive daughters. >> i would argue that you're exhibit a in that -- >> oh, come on. >> women are getting more beautiful. >> they are? >> and that's the news. >> okay. get out the beer goggles, everyone. to bill karins for the latest check on the forecast. bill, good morning. >> good morning. what about the men? are the men getting better looking? >> you're all so pretty. >> yeah, right. >> hard to understand. >> yes. let's talk about your morning forecast. hope you had a good weekend. feels like summer in a few locations. new england, today is the hottest day of the summer yet. we are watching some showers early today from d.c. off to the delmarva.

overall, a dry, sunny, hot day. even boston, 87, hardford, 88, new york city, 87, the hottest temperatures of the summer. no 90s yet. philadelphia, 88, a stray shower or storm out there. we had a tornado warning in queens, new york, yesterday. a funnel cloud was spotted but no damage. the other rainy spot, oklahoma city, down to the dallas area. right along the red river, we're going to see heavy rain over the next two or three days. that's not the area that needs the rain. san antonio has the horrible drought down to austin. for you, you're going to continue to bake. the heat, 114 in phoenix. sacramento, 102. a heat wave in the northwest, portland to seattle, three or four days in a row of temperatures in the 90s. nothing much has changed. like a broken record. >> oh. >> hot out west. we continue to be, you know, kind of okay in the northeast. but we still haven't felt like the heat wave of the summer. we'll see. >> like a broken record. okay. bill, thank you very much.

time for our top talkers. let's start with jonathan capehart out of washington. he has a great piece. >> what a great piece. >> out of "the washington post". >> he's with us. >> good morning. >> good to see you, jonathan. i'll read an excerpt from your piece. we heard from president obama that this professor gates situation is a teachable moment. people said now we're going to have real conversation we never had about race. jonathan capehart says that's unlikely. here's what he writes. can african-americans engage in the discussion without being suspicious that whites will dismiss their painful experiences or discount them as imagined or overreacting? jonathan, i couldn't agree with you more. it was a great piece. explain more why you don't think we can have this conversation.

>> well, thanks very much, willie. willie, you were very nice yesterday to send me an e-mail telling me that. i appreciate that. the e-mails i've been getting at my "washington post" inbox have not been as nice. but i say that this conversation -- you know what we need? we need trust. and in order -- in order to have this conversation, you have to have it. this is a very personal conversation. it is one that is a matter of the heart. racism is the corrosive cancer of the heart. in order for us to get past this, we need to have, you know, relationships based in trust to have this conversation. and certainly there are these talks going on in small groups around the country, but i say as a nation we don't trust each other enough because we have been down this road before. how many times have we had these teachable moments. we had the james byrd murder in texas, we had katrina, we had

the gena 6, we had abner louima. i would go on and on. it happens. the nation starts talking for two or three weeks, oh, my god, soul searching and then we move on to the next thing. and i think if we're going to get past -- break this cycle, we have got to start building the trust so that we can -- so that we can move on. >> jonathan, you know, i understand why you're skeptical. but wouldn't it be better if we all just said -- talked about ways to try to get this done rather than saying it can't possibly happen this time? >> well, sure. and actually, you know, the piece is probably a lot more pessimistic than i personally am. because i do think, you know, throughout my life i've just decided, look, ask me any question, i'll answer it, if it means fostering understanding between myself and someone -- and someone of another race or

someone of the other sexual orientation. i don't know how else to put it. so, you know, if we're going to have this be different from other teachable moments, we have to leap from that beer that is going to happen at the white house and how about we all, you know, take a friend -- take a friend out for a beer and start having this conversation. my hope is that -- i'm hoping to write another piece, gathering all the questions, some really nasty questions, but still they are questions that are common out there, get those questions and try to get answers to them or at least air them so we can start talking about these things so that when the next racial flare-up happens, we're not, again, staring at our navals soul searching and trying to figure out how we got to this point. >> i'm not sure we're looking at our navels soul searching.

i remember the kerner commission report that talked about two americas. we made really remarkable progress in the civil rights era. and what happens, i think, is continually we take a step backwards, two steps forwards and, look, we now have the first black president of the united states. something i don't think any of us could have envisioned. we're having a conversation on race, partly because of that. that is not to say that the history of this country is largely a history about race. and this is an ongoing fissure in our culture. it has been the great tragedy of this country. and we continue to try to ameliorate it. i wouldn't quite as pessimistic. i really liked your piece in terms of what it said, let's not let this moment pass. >> right. >> again.

but i don't think we let these moments pass. i think we -- it is incremental. >> yeah. i don't know, jonathan, i like the piece a lot. i also think there is a trust issue. and i found that in having the conversation here on the set on friday, i just felt like there was a lack of trust in the conversation, it was one of the first times where i did not think we were all talking on the same page, which is unusual for this show. >> yeah. i'm sorry. >> i left the show feeling like there are things i just can't say today. which i think is really a deeper part of the problem and when you look at what happened in cambridge, it is not like those historic events you point to in the past. there are a lot of other issues that led up to what happened there, but i don't fellel i can say them. is there an issue there? what am i trying to get at here? >> i tried watching the show on friday. for the first time, i got so uncomfortable, i had to turn away. i could not watch the show on

friday because the conversation was just spiraling. everyone was in his or her camp. and, you know, i can't remember if you read this one piece, one part of my piece where it says, you know, can we, as a nation, listen to each other with an open mind to try to understand where the other is coming from? and i wasn't getting that on friday. and it is unfortunate, mika, that there are things you would like to say, but now you feel that you can't say, and if we're going to have this conversation, if we're going to build trust, you can't feel that way. >> right. >> you have to feel like you can ask questions so that you can understand. and so that the other person can understand where you're coming from. >> i totally agree. by the end of the day, i didn't feel like i could ask the questions. but jonathan capehart, thanks very much. we'll talk about this more and try to get to that point. stay with us, jonathan. coming up, former national security adviser zig knew

brzezinski. maria bartiromo. pat buchanan will be here, we'll ask him about his girlfriend's future, a day after she stepped down in alaska, that's sarah palin, of course, i'm just kidding. but i have an interesting op-ed to read him. also michael eric dyson will weigh in on the cambridge race controversy. and later, dr. howard dean jr. -- junior? no. just dr. howard dean. and a look at the stories that politico is working on. >> keep that title. junior, iii, dr. >> you're watching "morning joe." >> -- we would defend the constitution and we have, though outside special interest groups, they still just don't get it. hollywood needs to know we eat, therefore we hunt.

oh, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, the governor of alaska will be stepping down in two days. sarah palin stepping down in -- two days. unless of course she decides to leave early. but she's leaving this weekend and all week long she's been packing up her stuff and got everything loaded up and ready to take off and pull out of the governor's mansion. and, oh, i think we have a photograph of -- here she is right there. everything -- got it all loaded up. >> here with us now with the politico playbook, the chief political correspondent for politico, mike alan. good morning, mike. >> happy monday, willie. congratulations on "way too early". >> isn't it something? wow. >> keep your phone on. we might be calling you. >> yes.

robert gibbs seemed very safe about your suggestion that you call him every day. >> he'll be available to us as a backup, which we really appreciate. >> a go-to guy. i was hoping he would pass the phone to obama, but he didn't. speaking of the president, mike alan, this will be quite an august. we're used to writing the month of august off as congress goes on its recess. this is going to be a very active month, isn't it? >> well, it is. and, willie, this is a sprint where the outcome of health reform will be known, and the outcome -- the president's domestic agenda, so millions of dollars will be spent on mailboxes, on ads, and the barack obama campaign organization now, through the dnc, is firing up today, they're launching a page on barackobama.com, still exists, where you can tweet your senator. i know there has been a lot of times you wanted to tweet your senator. >> i know. >> but this time you can do it

online. >> that would be wonderful. did he just say that? >> are you talking about frank lautenberg? i have no interest in tweeting him. none whatsoever. >> i don't think he was. >> where do we stand right now as we head to the recess in a week and a half? the president optimistic now? is he concerned? where are we? >> well, he's very worried. looks like this would be impossible to mess up, popular press, biggest domestic priority, big majority, house and senate willed in the country do it. republicans for it, the industry on board. but nobody could agree on the details. and that's what's going to be decided in august. is the white house going to have to dramatically scale back what they want? they have always said this would be somewhat incremental, but maybe even then the president's eyes were bigger than his plate. >> we know the president is going to be getting a little help now from the first lady. we all know that things turn out well when first ladies get involved in health care reform. tell us about that.

>> oh now, now. >> be good. mrs. obama is going about it very differently, as you might guess. this is very interesting. mrs. obama today is venturing down i-95 to do the fredericksburg area, which is my first job was with the fredericksburg freelance star. and she is going to be visiting health care center there, cutting a ribbon. this was a health care center that was built in part with stimulus funds. they built it very quickly. but they say it was built with stimulus funds. and put the emphasis on the message that preventive care can save you money in the emergency room. so this is sort of the softer sell, the softer side of health care. you're not going to see mrs. obama banging on the senate health committee. instead you're going to see her out, she also has visited health care centers in d.c.

she's sending a settler message. she can remind people of the importance of the need for change in our system. >> finally in the political playbook this morning, the obamas and their vacation destination. tell us everything, would you? >> they have settled on a vacation spot. we knew they were going to martha's vineyard. but now thanks to the vineyard gazette classic newspaper, we know the details of where they will be. this is the same house blue heron farm where the clintons stayed back in 1998, sounds like a nice place, on a cove, has a private beach, has a basketball hoop, tennis court, and has a barn where you can have a dinner party. sounds like a nice spot. >> very fancy. very fancy. okay. mike allen with me, political playbook, check it all out at politico.com. thank you very much, mike. >> mom used to say, don't act like you're born in a barn. but not this barn. >> thanks. let's look at the morning papers as we go to break. here "the anchorage daily news,"

palin hands reins to sean parnell. a live report from norah o'donnell from fairbanks, alaska. "the new york times," two big west bank settlements, a sign of hope for a deal. residents may be open to a compromise with the palestinians. "usa today," u.s. pulls $644 million iraq jobs program after concerns of misspending and fraud. "washington post," pelosi vows passage of health care overall, confidence grows as democrats plan to resume talks. and "the wall street journal," loans shrink as fears linger. the number of loans shrank 2.8% in the second quarter. today we start the dow at over 9,000. dow coming off its strongest two weeks since 2000. when we come back, an early check on business live from london. she's working on them right now, mika's must read opinion pages. and in a few minutes, pat buchanan, great unifier, talking

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welcome back to "morning joe." just before 6:30 on the east coast. time for a look at some of today's top stories.

alaska has a new governor this morning after sarah palin stepped down yesterday. the 45-year-old is set to begin work on a book and refused to address speculation about any future political ambitions. defense secretary robert gates is in israel this morning on a trip partially focused on the iranian nuclear threat. gates is pressing israeli leaders to avoid taking any military action as the u.s. continues to press for diplomacy. still, israel's defense minister says no option off the table. and the police chief of alexandria, virginia, is on administrative leave after being arrested on dui charges over the weekend. david baker was detained after he got into a car accident with another car, sending that driver to the hospital. baker had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. that's a quick look at the news. now over to willie. >> all right, mika. we look at some of the market boards today. the dow beginning over 9,000.

let's get an early check on business with cnbc's jeff cutmore, he's also the "way too early" business chief correspondent. good morning, jeff. >> great to have that title, willie. good to talk with you once again. clearly the market action is the key focus here on whether we can continue to put on these gains. ben bernanke talking sunday saying he had to hold his nose when it came to authorizing the bailout of some of these banks with public money. he said unemployment likely to remain a problem for a little while to come. on the data front today, not much going on, new home sales numbers and we should get some earnings out of verizon, honeywell, corning and amgen. an update on that sarkozy story that i brought to you in "way too early." mr. sarkozy has been released from hospital. the 54-year-old as you will have heard collapsed, felt dizzy while out jogging on sunday in 30 degree centigrade heat. we understand that he's just one

of a number of male european politicians who are feeling their age and engaging in vigorous activity with negative consequences right now. anyway, on that story, let me send it back to you, willie. >> jeff cutmore, thanks so much. we'll leave it right there. >> a lot of straight-lines you play to that one. leave that one alone. coming up next, the great pat buchanan joins the conversation. also, mika's must-read opinion pages. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. g bñth

it is because i love alaska this much, sir, that i feel that it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical politics as usual lame duck session in one last year in office. with this decision now, i will be able to fight even harder for you for what is right and for truth. and i have never felt that you

need a title to do that. >> okay. >> she has avoided politics as usual by serving her term out. >> that would be normal. sarah palin steps down as the youngest governor in alaska on, i guess, halfway through her first term. here with us now to make sense of this and try and put a good spin on it, and msnbc political analyst pat buchanan. pat, how are you this morning? >> doing fine, mika. how are you in. >> we're good. i'm going to read to you from "the new york times," i picked this out over the weekend. try to make sense of this and see what sarah palin maybe might be able do with this opportunity. but the title is, in alaska -- i hope i'm saying this right, qviders never win. in short, alaska had a governor who has a stature within the state, nationally and

internationally to deal with our problems. she could have used her position to find solutions to the high cost and financial insecurities of our far northern state. instead, she abandoned her role as the state's leader and midstream making her the only governor in our state's history to qivit at a time when we need strong leadership. he's saying with the national spotlight she gained over all this time, she could have used it, she could have used it to help her own state. and instead she quit. what do you think, pat? >> well, no question that i think she's -- the governor hurt herself even with some very good friends of hers by stepping down and quitting because conservatives don't like a quitter per se. but i disagree with that commentary in this sense, look, she was bedeviled by the media up there. she has these ethics complaints coming at her every single day. her family is basically being

harassed. she's got real problems at home with five kids, i guess, and a grandchild there, and a child with problems. and i think she felt that really she wasn't getting anything done for alaska having to spend her time and her money answering these ethics complaints. and she could not do as effective a job as governor, even given her enormous popularity, as the lieutenant governor who is there down the line. nationally she hurt herself a bit, i think, with the -- with some in the republican party. but she's still at 70% approval, 40% nationally among all americans, i think what she's going to do, mika, is she's going to come down here and speak for the conservative movement, rally it, and campaign on behalf of republicans in 2010 and see what happens. >> look at these numbers. you talk about that favorability poll, pat, she's gone down in a bill wait, 40% currently the numbers are.

back in september, 58%. carl bernstein, i mean, pat has an idea as to what she could do with her time off. i guess there are other options like take care of her family and make money. >> it is a fundamental problem in the way that we have viewed her perhaps too seriously since she was a candidate when we should have viewed her seriously. she's a demagogue. he's ignorant. she's a flake. >> oh, boy. >> and i think there is a kind of obesance that the conservative movement has paid to this person f a liberal democrat were to be in a similar position, conservatives would rightly run her out of time as would sensible democrats. there is something very strange about this episode. i know john mccain very well, as does pat, wrote the first big piece on him for "vanity fair" magazine in 1999. then i wrote during this last campaign that he had really committed an almost unpatriotic act in picking sarah palin

because she's manifestly unqualified for high office. >> jonathan capehart, then pat. take it. do you agree? >> yes. i absolutely agree with carl 100%. i've been mystified and fascinated by her rise and her presence on the national stage. and i said many times on this show that, yes, she has raw talent. she was the one who pulled people out during themccai mccain/palin rallies. she showed a lack of discipline, a lack of interest to do the hard work it takes to really stand on the national stage and endure the intense spotlight and scrutiny that comes with that. her leaving office halfway through her first term, i think, shows that she just can't take it. and i hope that if she wants to be a leader in her party, she takes this time to take care of

her family, finish her book and then study up on the issues that could really then make her a true leader for her party. >> pat buchanan, these two gentlemen paint a very bleak political picture of this woman. are they right? >> well, i think that is the beltway wisdom or the beltway prejudice, if you will. >> oh, come on. come on, pat, you're in the beltway. >> what that tells me is i don't understand middle america. when this woman was picked as governor of alaska about 18 months in, she came down to the st. paul and she was a national sensation. she had something in terms of authenticity, guts. her accomplishments up there against the establishment as a young woman and a governor, raising a family, doing all these things at once, the country fell in love with her, she terrified the democratic party, biden was wailing, maybe they should have picked hillary. she had something in those two

weeks and demonstrated it, no other political figure, man or woman, in either party could have done. >> right, pat, until she had to stand on her own -- >> okay. >> here's the thing, she has gotten nothing but abuse and assault and attack from an enormously powerful media, liberal media, and -- >> hold on, hold on, hold on. okay, pat. >> -- with everyone in the country paying attention to her, two huge platforms to define herse herself, her agenda, she messed up the first one. she had weeks to think about this one. it wasn't a surprise. she had weeks on her own timetable and she comes out and gives another speech that is unfocus unfocused, says nothing, didn't talk about her past, her friend or her future. pat could have written her a speech. >> what would you have told her to say? >> first, i don't think her

departure and her appearance at the fair grounds is fine. there is no doubt she has not articulated what is the new conservative agenda. no one has. mccain hasn't. no one really has. >> what was her message yesterday? >> i agree she ought to study. i would have started making things up to the media. >> what was her message yesterday? she's the big leader of the conservative movement. if she's a big leader of the conservative movement as you say she can be and is, what was her message yesterday about conservatism. >> you look at all the demand on her, as to what she ought to say. she's not up there. she's saying good-bye to the state and i'm going down to the lower 48 and campaign. it is a semirally speech. it is not a disquisition on conservatism in america. >> my gut is that she actually has some sort of contract that she can't talk about.

that's my gut. because you would say -- >> way too early to -- >> here's what she's going to do look. >> go ahead, pat. my guess is what she's going to do is this, go down and speak, she has $507,000 in debt. she'll speak some, big speeches for money. other speeches, i think she'll go to major conservative events, go into states where republicans really will welcome her. and i think she'll take a look at the end of 2010 as to whether this is doable. not only winning a nomination, but potentially being elected and what she's up against. and if she decides not to go, i think that will be in terms of politics probably the end of her career if she decides not to go. who else could have stood up, i mean, as a governor of 18 months out of alaska, to the abuse she's taken. i'll admit she's made many mistakes. >> -- brought the abuse upon herself. >> some of this abuse was

completely out of left field and unfair. what i think pat is saying and what i noticed along the way is that this was a woman, no matter what, whether with her own fumble or somebody else's attack, would just brush herself off, pick up and keep going. let me tell you something, you cannot argue that this woman draws a crowd. >> i agree totally. she draws a crowd. so did huey long. and i think that -- i think that is the -- that's what we're looking at here, quite honestly. we are talking about a real demagogue. >> what's that, pat? what's your question? >> carl bernstein, let me ask carl -- listen, carl, let me respond first. tell me, carl bernstein is terrified of a 45-year-old woman with five kids in alaska and her speechs? >> to the contrary. to the contrary. i worry about demagogues. but what concerns me is the

conservative -- >> what are you worried about? what is she going to do to you, carl? >> my concern is the conservative movement. your movement ought to know better and ought to say, hey, we have great women in our movement who are -- >> i'm not denying that. been very helpful. >> wow. okay. >> pat, you said she stood up to all these attacks. she's not standing up. she's leaving. >> right. >> let me say this. >> exactly right. >> except this, let me say this, i think the central problem is the family. i think that the beit has hurt family, i think there are problems in there and tensions. the daughter in the situation, she said, look, the family comes first, i can't get the job done there, i'm going to have to move out of this, take some time out, and then come back to the battle. okay, you can criticize it but i understand it. >> i would never criticize that. i totally agree with that.

>> there is a human dimension to this, absolutely. the question is why has she been on this perch in the first place? >> all right. ask john mccain. >> that's what i said. >> we'll leave it there. we'll definitely come back. >> i'm terrified, patrick. >> you should be. >> you should be. 10,000 strong. name one republican that can do that? >> plenty of them. there are plenty of folks out there. >> pat buchanan. >> pat could draw that many. >> that we know. jonathan capehart, stay with us as well. coming up in a few minutes, a live report from fairbanks, alaska, with msnbc's norah o'donnell. and later, we'll talk foreign policy with former national security adviser dr. zbigniew brzezinski. >> you're mocking him. >> you nailed the last name. first, lance armstrong back on the podium, having completed another tour de france. announcer: welcome to the now network. currently, thousands of people

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this is big news. yesterday, chicago white sox pitcher mark buehrle threw a perfect game, which -- yes, it is huge. threw a perfect game.

and afterwards, afterwards he had a five-minute phone conversation with president obama, which is very cool. yes. meanwhile, the losing pitcher got a two-hour phone call from joe biden. >> an unsolicited phone call from joe biden. >> now stop it. get to sports. >> to sports. get who is in first place? the chicago cubs, this could be the year, chicago, right? here's fred roggin with the rest of the day in sports. >> thank you. and good morning. nascar is all about speed. the faster you go, the better. even nascar has speed limits. indianapolis for the brickyard 400. juan pablo montoya dominated, five-second lead, that is an eternity on the track. flagged for going too fast on pit road. it dropped him out of contention. he finished 11th. talk about a costly speeding ticket. jimmie johnson became the first driver to win the brickyard consecutive years, the third one of the season. tour de france, final stages in the streets of paris.

lance armstrong saluting his teammate alberto contador. just a formality for the spaniard. armstrong finished in third and said he's happy with his comeback. at 37, he's the second oldest rider to reach the podium. tragic news from boxing. bernen forest was shot and killed saturday night in atlanta. two men tried to steal his jaguar, he was shot multiple times and police are searching for the suspects. he was 38. to baseball, they took two different paths and inducted into the hall of fame yesterday. rickey henderson, elected in his first year of eligibility. jim rice finally inducted in his last year of eligibility. rice said it didn't matter, the call came 15 years late, as long as he got in. on the field in detroit, tigers and white sox, adventurous day in left. carlos quentin, sliding grab. that's watt i to field your

position. here is the wrong way to field your position n sixth, rayburn dropped a fly ball and kicked it to the fence. well done, rayburn. looked like the three stooges out there. turned it into a double and the white sox popped the tigers 5-1. football, michael vick could be reinstated as early as this week. roger goodell is considering a four-game suspension for him to start the season. terrell always outspoken doesn't like the idea. >> it is unfair to michael vick. i think he's done the time for what he's done. i don't ty it hink it is fair fm to be suspended four more games. it is like kicking a dead horse when he's done. tony kanaan in the pits when his car caught fire. a fuel hose wasn't shut off sparksing a blaze inside the cockpit. here is the amazing part. crew members from another team rushed to his car to put out the flames. he suffered second degree burns on his hands and face but was okay. whether they were from his team or not, good to see guys out there helping somebody in

danger. there you go. there is still some good in the human spirit. have a good day. >> the new york yankees still in first place over the red sox. coming up next, the news you can't use, mika will hate this story. the octomom takes child exploitation to the next level. details when we come back. 90s . ♪ singer: buckle up, everybody 'cause we're taking a ride ♪ ♪ that can strain your relationships and hurt your pride ♪ ♪ it's the credit roller coaster ♪ ♪ and as you can see it kinda bites! ♪ ♪ so sing the lyrics with me: ♪ when your debt goes up your score goes down ♪ ♪ when you pay a little off it goes the other way 'round ♪ ♪ it's just the same for everybody, every boy and girl ♪ ♪ the credit roller coaster makes you wanna hurl ♪ ♪ so throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em around ♪ ♪ like a wanna-be frat boy trying to get down ♪ ♪ then bring 'em right back to where your laptop's at... ♪ ♪ log on to free credit report dot com - stat! ♪

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oh is it time? >> i'll do some balloon animals and juggling here. >> make one for the children. do you have your big shoes on. >> am i a clown to you? >> i would describe you more as the wit of our show. a lovely article in "the new york times," but i do not like the headline. >> the piece is great. >> the headline writer, apparently i did something to him. anyhow -- >> all right. moving on. clowns scare me. i don't like clowns. >> i hated clowns. >> yes. >> speaking of scary things, let's talk about the octomom. >> sure. >> jon and kate plus 8 have taught us that children on tv always work out well. good for families. so the octomom and her 14 children are taking this thing live with a new reality show. she signed a deal with a british production company, she's going to get for each kid $250,000

total over three years for the kids. that will be spread out over 14 children. set up trusts for them so they're going to get money, apparently. but the bottom line is she's putting her 14 children on to a reality show. filmed each and every day. >> every day filming? that's wrong. >> let the long spiral of child stardom begin right now for those children. >> break them in. >> exactly. consistency. >> move on. >> it always ends well. >> enough of octomom. >> here is news. bill gates, hear about this? >> something i might be able to use. but go ahead. >> he's getting off facebook. he's done. he's had it. he had a facebook account, but he says now he's frankly getting too many friend requests. he has more friends than he can deal with. he has some 10,000 he hasn't answered yet. he said it is way too much trouble, i gave up. bill gates quitting facebook. >> okay.

that's -- it is official. >> we're near the top of the hour, want to play one sound bite we played earlier in the show, want to get reaction around the table sarah palin yesterday said good-bye to the state of alaska, took a shot at hollywood. she said they don't understand people up in alaska and their hunting ways. >> i promise that we would manage our fish and wildlife for abundance and defend the constitution. and we have, though outside special interest groups, they still just don't get it. by the way, hollywood needs to know we eat, therefore we hunt. >> take that, hollywood. >> i eat, therefore i make reservations. >> oh, mr. new york. >> there you have it, carl. >> she's incoherent. >> no. >> i understood the message. hollywood and people like you, carl -- >> sarah palin -- >> too easy. it is too easy. have a substantive debate.

that what we need from politicians whether it is sarah palin, the president, substantive, serious debate. enough of this nonsense. >> as you can see, we have pat buchanan and jonathan capehart still with us. sarah palin stepping down officially as the governor of alaska late yesterday evening. we'll get to that. some foreign policy field trips are under way. we have secretary of defense robert gates in jerusalem now. george mitchell headed to israel. hillary clinton on "meet the press" talking about iran and north korea. we'll talk about the tapestry of faces that make up obama's foreign policy and how they all work together and how joe biden fits into that. coming up later, norah o'donnell will join us live from alaska. and michael eric dyson will join us. we'll talk more about that beer that is scheduled to be, i guess, yet to be scheduled at the white house between the cambridge cop and the professor. >> robert gibbs said on "way too early", a blue moon ale.

>> they decided on the beer? >> that's what it sounds like. not a can, but a keg. >> a keg. >> all right. we'll get to that coming up. first, a look at some of today's top stories. today, sarah palin is plotting her next move after stepping down as alaska's governor on sunday. palin used twitter to deliver a good-bye message to her followers and also took one final swipe at the media. >> democracy depends on you. and that is why -- that's why our troops are willing to die for you. so how about in honor of the american soldier you quit making things up? and one other thing for the media, our new governor has a very nice family too. so leave his kids alone. >> you know what she could have done, willie? a bubble tweet. i had my first.

she could have -- >> how was your first? >> i don't understand it, really. but i think people found it amusing. did you like it? >> i did. >> quite a conversation. >> slightly incoherent. >> do you know what a bubble tweet is? >> thank god, no. >> i found out on friday. north korea appears to be calling for a direct dialogue with the united states to cut the tension over its nuclear weapons program. it follows the regime's provocative nuclear and military exercises and the recent back and forth with secretary of state hillary clinton. >> we want to make clear to north korea that their behavior is not going to be rewarded. in the past, they believe that they have acted out, done things which really went against the norm for the international community, and somehow then were rewarded. those days are over. >> all right. we'll be talking to dr. brzezinski about that. and lots more coming up on "morning joe."

president obama is hitting the road this morning in his push for health care reform. he's going to hold events in north carolina and virginia even as republicans continue to hammer away at proposal. >> this is not personal against the president. i like the president. but he's out of control and he's been leading a stampede of more spending and debt and taxes and government takeovers. he's taken a bad economy and made it worse. he used a lot of false promises and bogus numbers and panic to push through the stimulus. and the promises have not panned out. and now he's trying to use the same strategy on health care. >> all right, we'll talk about that coming up. we have brand new video into msnbc of french president nicolas sarkozy who was released from a military hospital earlier this morning. the 54-year-old was under observation last night after becoming dizzy on sunday while jogging. sarkozy's office says there are no long-term health consequences

in the collapse was due to heat and overwork. the cambridge woman whose call to 911 led to the arrest of the harvard professor says she reported two men at house, not two black men as was widely reported. meanwhile, a michigan congressman is planning to introduce a resolution demanding an apology from president obama for saying the police acted stupidly. earlier on "way too early," willie geist asked press secretary robert gibbs about the president's plan to mend fences over a cold one. >> well, willie, it was part of -- the president was on the phone with sergeant crowley. i was in the oval office with him on, i guess friday afternoon. and the president just threw it out there, maybe we should have you guys over for a beer. and sergeant crowley said that would be great, i like blue moon beer. so we went all the way from not having anything to knowing beer choices by the end of the phone

call. and it is not on the schedule yet, but i think in the next few days it is very likely to happen here at the white house and i think it would be an interesting moment. >> and more new video in this morning where defense secretary robert gates is in israel on a trip partially focused on the iranian nuclear threat. gates is pressing israeli leaders to avoid taking any military action as the u.s. continues to press for diplomacy. israel's defense minister says no option is off the table. that's a quick look at the news. i guess while we're on that topic, we go into hillary clinton, willie. she was on "meet the press" yesterday and talked about this very issue. >> she did. she was on "meet the press" for the full hour, sitting down with david gregory. she really was tough talking about iran. she said their pursuit of nuclear weapons is futile. here is hillary clinton yesterday on "meet the press." >> we believe as a matter of policy it is unacceptable for

iran to have nuclear weapons. what we want to do is to send a message to whoever is making these decisions that if you're pursuing nuclear weapons, for the purpose of intimidating, projecting your power, we're not going to let that happen. >> all right, tough talk on iran from hillary clinton. a full hour with her on "meet the press" yesterday. overall i thought she did really well. was kind of great to see her out there again. she had that injury recently. pat buchanan, in terms of the words she's using pertaining to iran, how do you think she's doing in. >> i think she's moved to the position of the bush doctrine, frankly. she's saying that we will not let these -- this iranian regime get the world's worst weapons, which are nuclear weapons, so she's moved to the bush doctrine. however, i think she's begun a bridge too far when she says we're not going to let the iranians enrich uranium or do that process on their own soil.

they signed the nonproliferation treaty and they have a right to do that under that treaty. israel has not signed t pakistan has not signed it. india has not signed it. secondly, i think hillary really had to walk back to the disastrous diatribe of joe biden about russia being a withering economy and it is failing and fading and losing its influence in all these things, which i think was a diplomatic disaster. she walked that back by saying that she's looked upon russia as a great power, but i think a lot of damage has been done by the vice president. >> well, we'll talk a little later in the show about her position as secretary of state and all the other personalities in there, including joe biden and how that sort of -- is it a team of rivals or are they able to define themselves in their specific areas of interest? she also talked about, this was an interesting moment on "meet the press," willie -- >> yes, interesting to hear carl's take on this as he wrote the book on hillary clinton. but david gregory pushed hillary and asked her, asked the

secretary of state what it was like, now that she had six months to step away and think about it, working under the man she fought so hard against for two years, at times a nasty campaign. here's what she said. >> here was a recent headline that got a lot of attention, not surprisingly, in "the los angeles times," clinton seems overshadowed by her boss, some analysts say. you responded with a pretty sharp -- i broke my elbow, not my larynx. >> that's right. >> has it at times been a struggle? >> not at all. maybe because i understand the function of the united states government. the president is the president. the election is over. the president has to lead our country both internationally and domestically. i saw this when my husband was president. at the end of the day, it is the president who has to set and articulate policy. >> carl, you studied hillary clinton so very closely. tell us what you think is going on in her mind and her heart? >> i think she's remarkably

comfortable. that's what people around her who know her best tell me. this turns out to be a really deft pick by obama and a deft position by hillary and bill clinton to accept this position. she's a terrific advocate for the united states. she's comfortable. hillary clinton is not really a conceptual thinker but much more an executor. and all this in the press about who is making policy and who is not, look, the president of the united states makes foreign policy. she executes it. she helps make it. she's in the nfc meetings. but this is really working out. she has great connections with women around the world. they respond to her. government leaders respond to her. she got up the other day and said the united states is back and there is something demonstrable about the response that she's getting. this is really something to watch. quite honestly, i think we ought to take her at her word about that her real interest is right now, which is focusing on being

secretary of state of the united states. >> she's logged the miles for it, something like 100,000. jonathan capehart? >> i think carl is right. go gosh, i keep agreeing with carl. i'm glad he said what he said. let's take her at her word, that she's got her job, she's -- clearly she's having fun doing it. there are plenty of problems for her to focus on. i thought her answer to david's question about the -- about the team of rivals aspect where she said, she named all the special envoys that are out there and she said, you know, you can't do it all and it is terrific to have all these people and all these places handling all these situations so that the united states, again, can be back, can be back in the leadership role that it somewhat negated in a lot of areas over eight years. >> coming up, talking to my dad, i want to talk to him about the challenge of the personal dynamics of being in a job like that, when there are other high

profile players that you could be in essence competing with. i think to an extent it has been a madeup story. on the inside, there are those issues you always have to contend with in terms of competition. but let's, before we get to the break, i want to read mark halperin, something from charles crowdhammer. hillary clinton talked about health care on "meet the press," something she was involved with during her husband's presidency, a failed effort, albeit, but she knows a thing or two about it. this is how he describes obama care. it is all about him. health care is his signature reform. he knows if he produces nothing, he forfeits the mystique that both propels him to the presidency and has sustained him through a difficult first six months.

would you agree with that? >> i think it is most of what you read, i think, is cynical and off base. but i think there is two other things to say about it. one is that this is the exact frame of obama, negative frame, the mccain campaign talked about when they were trying to beat him. it is all about him. it is a cult of personality. the other thing is, that's clearly what republicans want to do. they're no longer going to be satisfied with just trying to bring down democratic efforts to reform health care. they're going to try to wound obama by making any failure personal to him. it is very clever and i bet you see the white house strike back if republicans in congress start to talk this way. >> pat buchanan, do you agree? >> i kind of agree with krauthhammer to this extent, i think barack obama is -- his left foot is out there on the left. i think the man is a pragmatist. they won't get that great big monster bill he wants.

i think he'll be willing to settle for what he gets. i think he'll call it a victory when he does. i don't see anything wrong with that as a political leader who realizes that, look, this is still in many ways the center right country he's dealing with. i think krauthammer is right on this one. i don't know if it is about obama personally, but i think he wants a bill he can call national health care or at least a part of it and he wants that victory and he wants the legislation. >> he wants the victory to help america, not because it is about him. >> capehart, quick. >> the other thing is, that line of argument from krauthammer, all about him, all about obama, it is something -- it is a mantra of krauthammer has run with since the campaign. he's going to view anything that obama does as being -- >> obama centric. >> there are principles in here we can talk about a little bit that obama will fight for. that's what i am told and we'll see what they are. you have to look at the basic

elements of what it is he wants, especially -- >> he has himself all wrapped up in this. and he's been called the chosen for a reason. >> oh, gosh. we jammed a lot in there thank you very much. >> the new jerusalem. >> coming up, cnbc's maria bartiromo will be with us. we'll get a preview of our health care special meeting of the minds, which airs tonight. also, beer diplomacy. author michael eric dyson joins the conversation on professor gates and the cambridge police department. plus, nbc's chuck todd with the headlines out of the white house this morning. and when we come back, what's next for sarah palin's political future? we'll go live to fairbanks, alaska, with msnbc's norah o'donnell. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks.

so we are here today at a changing of the guard. now, people who know me and they know how much i love this state, some still are choosing not to hear why i made the decision to chart a new course to advance the state. and it should be so obvious to you. >> it be supposed to be obvious to us. >> thank goodness it is obvious. >> to advance the state? >> what is the course she's charting? >> she's stepping aside so her life and the ethics probe do not become a distraction to the state of alaska. >> what is she doing to advance the state? what did i miss? something happened over the weekend. she had a chart and told us? no? >> she walked everybody through it. >> okay. we have our best reporter on the story. with us from fairbanks, alaska,

where former governor palin made it official yesterday, msnbc chief washington correspondent norah o'donnell. so she says it was obvious that she's charting a new course to advance the state. would you please go into great detail what it is that this course will -- >> advance the state. >> will be. >> reporter: that's right. such sarcasm, you're stupid if you don't know because it is obvious. right. exactly. listen, it was quite a speech yesterday. she's out of office, but not out of work. this was a very fiery farewell speech. some people could say she was bitter, angry in it took a shot at her opponents, took a shot at the media, she talked about hollywood starlets in this speech. it was remarkable in many ways for trying to get in a last word, if you will. she says it is obvious why she's leaving office. she says she deposit waidn't wae

out a lame duck session as governor. she accomplished everything she promised when she campaigned so now she's going to get out of office so there won't be ethics complaint and didn't say this in her speech, but she'll do this, travel the country and campaign on behalf of republican candidates. we learned she is going to the ronald reagan presidential library in two weeks, on august 8th, to address republican women there. closed to the press. she's been invited to go speak to iowa. i learned over the weekend her political action committee raised more than a million dollars and that's three or 400,000 of that since she announced her resignation on july 3 rd. she's got plenty of cash to travel across this country, mika. >> yes, she does. clearly she's got a certain following. look, like it or not, carl -- >> not only that, look, she wants to be a player. this makes her a player. she doesn't have to be the president of the united states.

she can be -- she can figure -- she can figure in the national debate, in the national dialogue, she'll make a lot of money, she'll be on the air, we're going to be talking about her on air every day, not the last word, norah said there. we certainly have not heard the last word from sarah palin. she is going to be ever present in our political culture. it doesn't mean she has to be running for the presidency. >> norah, since it is not obvious to us, sorry, it is not obvious to me what her plans are that will chart a new future for the state of alaska, if you could link for us, you've got the fact that she's campaigning on the behalf of certain republican candidates, do we know who they are? >> in the lower 48. >> invited to iowa. do we know for what? you said her political action committee has raised more than a this will dollars. is there some sort of plan here mapped out on her schedule since

it is not obvious to us. >> reporter: there is not usually a plan for sarah palin. she has a tight circle of advisers and that includes me, myself and i, for sarah palin. it was mazing to watch her. there were thousands of people waiting for her in pioneer park, at the front of the park. she decided to dart in through a back door to avoid the national media. she did go ahead and serve up the people of alaska, you know, hot dogs and hamburgers and alaskan salmon but didn't want to talk to the national press. she wanted to get up on the podium and yell at the national press. very angrily, saying it is time for the media to tell the truth in her words. >> interesting. pat buchanan, one last chance here, what would you advise her to do in the coming months? personally i just on the record feel like i'm making a guess here, she has some kind of contract yet to be announced and that's why the descriptions as to what she's going to do are so

nebulous. pat buchanan, your guess on what she might do or what she should do in. >> what she should do is what she's going to do. she has a book contract. she has to work on that. i think she probably will sign up for the lecture agency and go around the country doing some speaking for fees. as carl said, she wants to make a lot of money. carl has never objected to that, to my knowledge. i think in 2010, what she will do is campaign in all those states where she is wanted. and at the end of 2010, she will look at it and see if it is doable. i think there is no doubt she can make tremendous gains in the iowa caucuses, but could she win the nomination? and if she won the nomination, could she win the presidency? 2011, january, february, he'll make the decision as to whether her life in politics is going to go on to the presidency or end right there. >> prediction, she's going to endorse a conservative democrat

somewhere, patrick. what do you think? >> conservative democrat? quite frankly, if there is a good conservative pro life democrat, i would love to see her do it. >> any idea what she's going to talk about at the reagan library? >> no idea. i doubt that speech has been written yet. >> my guess is there you will get her idea of what the major issues are of american conservatism and what are the three or four issues she'll be campaigning on around the country. but small government, social conservatism, right to life, strong foreign policy, the basic conservative message. >> okay. maybe more negative news about the press. go ahead, norah? >> mika, she was not talking about those things on the final couple of days in office. she talked about patriotism and our troops. she spent a lot of tweeting -- time tweeting talking about what band she's was listening to, and she is sharing a lot of the personal lately, even at the

same time while she is saying, once again, reminding the media, leave my kids alone and angrily denouncing that. she's still standing on both sides of that line, and it is quite a balance for her. >> might be hard to balance. we'll find out. let's go on twitter and find out. norah o'donnell, thank you very much. we appreciate it. we'll talk to you on the radio later this morning. again, she should try to twit her bubble or whatever. coming up, can sergeant crowley and professor gates settle their differences over a beer? we'll bring eric michael dice noon the conversation. and the white house, will it try to put the focus back on health care this week? a live report with chuck todd when we come back on "morning joe." if we don't act,

medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act.

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they said that my choice of words didn't illuminate but rather contributed to more media frenzy. i think that was unfortunate. there are some who say that as president i shouldn't have stepped into this at all because it is a local issue. i have to tell you that that thing -- that part of it i disagree with. the fact that this has become such a big issue i think is indicative of the fact that, you know, race is still a troubling aspect of our society. >> that was part of president obama's surprise appearance in the white house press briefing on friday. with us now, nbc news chief

white house correspondent and political director chuck todd. also with us, georgetown university professor michael eric dyson. he's also author of "can you hear me now: the inspiration, wisdom and insight of michael eric dyson." i would like to get the headlines from the white house with you first. this beer that is being scheduled between the professor and the cop, is that happening anytime soon and ultimately what is the white house trying to do planning this thing? >> well, there seems to be an indication they want to get it done this week so there is real momentum. you know it was interesting the way the president presented the idea on friday, you know. it almost was at first, sort of like, we ought to get together and have a beer, and then all of a sudden it seemed like within minutes of him saying it out loud, i think he even realized or maybe not -- i don't want to try to read his mind, but that this was going to be something that they should make happen. and so it does feel like it is

going to happen in the next week or two. probably depends on how to get all of them together. i would assume the rest of this week is going to be a little bit about -- it is going to be behind the scenes health care. he's going to go out of town later this week and promote health care. but he's also not going to just have the entire clear the deck mentality and only do health care, health care, health care. today, there is an opening of what is a very significant development in u.s./chinese relationship, this dialogue. he discusses that. he may not make a public statement today about health care while stuff happens behind the scenes on capitol hill. >> the u.s./china dialogue is a big story. we have a lot pertaining to foreign policy that we'll be talking about on the show today with hillary clinton, and also secretary gates in jerusalem. yet what is the word at the white house in terms of how the president has handled the gates situation and this beer that they're going to have at the white house, which could be very constructive, and a great

conversation, but is there regret that they're even there in the first place because it does seem to steal the headlines against world issues. >> well, you know, the uncomfortable joke late last week was, thank god for this gates story because it stepped on all the bad news taking place politically on the issue of health care. that said, they certainly -- this was not the way that the wednesday press conference, the way they wanted to see this play out. i definitely you can hear the regret inside -- behind the scenes of the white house, not the regret about him talking about the issue, as the president himself said on friday, regret that sort of they got bogged down with it. and i think they didn't -- what is interesting here is they didn't lash out at the media. they didn't say, it seems like the media created this distraction. i think they get how, hey, he's the president. when the president weighs in on a news story that captured the imagination of some, it is going to garner even greater

headlines. so i think it was a lesson, you would think that they would know this going in, but i think this was an abject lesson on sort of this is what happens when the president comments on stories that are kind of out of his normal sphere, if you would put it that way. >> let's go to michael eric dyson about this while we're on this topic. michael, i would like you to know that jonathan capehart is with us from washington, he wrote a piece on this issue. he's going to jump into the conversation as well. starting off, sir, though, did you -- i'm curious if your sense of what this story is, and what the concerns are in this story are, did it evolve over time as the facts came out from when you first heard about it, to where we are today? >> well, of course. not only the evolution of time, so to speak, but the evolution of our knowledge about it and the evolution of our sentiment. i think that what we got do here is focus on some of the bigger issues that this case ostensibly shows a powerful spotlight on.

i read mr. capehart's article yesterday in "the washington post." the reality is it could end up being what mr. capehart said, much ado about nothing, unless what we do here is focus on how this story does shed light on racial profiling, can shed light on this and can shed light on the difficulty that black men have with a judicial system that is often unfair and doesn't remain sensitive to them as it should be to every citizen. the brouhaha between mr. crowley and mr. gates and meeting with mr. obama in the white house to resolve it is great news, great media. it is also a great pr, if you will, for the furthering of certain sorts of race relations. i think ultimately here it is not about the battle among three elites. it is how this trickles down to everyday ordinary black people who need -- and latino people, who need a powerful bully pulpit in defense of their interests and in defense of the kind of

issues they need to have addressed. >> jonathan? >> you know, it is great to hear professor dyson say all these things. but it is not just african-americans and latinos who need to have a bully pulpit. i think this is a conversation that needs to be an -- it is african-americans, it is latinos, it is whites and asians. i think we all have to be part of this discussion. we all have to understand the relationship between african-americans and law enforcement, our relationship between and amongst ourselves if we're going to turn this teachable moment into a -- more than a moment. i want -- i look very much forward to this beer between the president, professor gates and sergeant crowley. i also want to hope that that conversation between the professor and the policeman continues once they leave the white house gates. >> chuck todd, this beer that is going to be happening, is there a concern there that this conversation is not something

that perhaps could be settled over a beer? i know throughout the entire weekend, people would bring it up to me where i was and it would end up being a long conversation that was unending because it is not a simple problem. >> no, it is not. and i have a question for professor dyson. is any of -- do you think any of professor gates' reaction is generational, here is somebody who experienced life as a black man in the '60s, which was not a very -- not a very good thing for black men in the -- obviously, not an easy time to be a black man in america in the '60s. and how much of that generational memory may have affected his reaction at that moment? i throw it out there. i'm curious. >> i think mr. todd raises an interesting point this is what is known as the obama theory of race. mr. obama in his very highly

touted speech -- as if only the 1960s provoked the kind of anger that might be provoked when one interacts with systems of government right now. i think that's a -- i think that's misleading. i think you're right, mr. -- professor gates wrote a book that talks about his experiences. he was in west virginia. i don't think he had much experience with the kind of racial profiling and police brutality about which we might speak. i think the problem is here, mr. todd, there are interactions between black men and policemen right now. i got powerfully negative experiences with the police. there are people younger, i have people who are my son's age, my son included, who had negative experiences with the police. so while i agree with mr. capehart this should be a discussion across the board and i agree you that certain generational tensions feed into it, first of all, black people are dieing and latino people are dieing at proportidisproportion

numbers than other people. in terms of generation, yes, i think there are some racial memories that fuel the discussion with what the police have done. i think mr. crowley also bears some of that generational tension. i think what we need to see here is that police and populations of minority people need to have better interactions across the board. >> michael eric dyson, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. and, chuck, thank you as well. we'll be talking about this more. we have a lot we need to get to. chuck, we'll be reading your updates from you throughout the day at firstread.msnbc.com. coming up next, political director for the atlantic media company, ron brownsteen will join us. also, cnbc's maria bartiromo. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks.

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we're basically saying that lives that don't have insurance aren't worth anything. >> you don't have insurance -- >> you don't have insurance this is important, if you don't have insurance in america, you die sooner. >> that's right. >> you have less care, less adequate care. >> we're also saying your life is not valuable if you have a pre-existing condition and therefore you can't get care. >> okay, now that's the real debate right there. right then and there. that was a clip from a new special on health care airing tonight called "meeting of the minds." with us now, host maria bartiromo, she's also the anchor of cnbc's "closing bell" and host of "the wall street journal

report." anything else? >> a lot of balls in the air. >> yes, you do. also with us now, political director for the atlantic media company, ron brownstein. good to have you on the show as well. >> good morning, mika. >> let's start with a meeting of the minds. i read a lot open sa-eds, the f krauthammer, it is all about him and he'll pass anything to get it done. is there any concern that we're at that point where we're going to pass just something or is something going to be effectively done to actually deal with the problem? >> you know it seems unlikely we'll get something before the august recess. the blue dog democrats are really wanting to look closer at this. and the two issues on the table, the number one, how do you get the costs down? health care is soaring. it is rising. how do you ensure the 47 million americans that are uninsured right now? we brought all these people

together to put those two issues on the table, to figure out how we accomplish those two things and what came out of it really were issues that put the whole topic on its head. so one person comes down and says, look, why don't we more personal responsibility in this issue? the government wants to send a trillion dollars on health care over the next ten years. we cannot afford this because we are already in massive debt. so one of the panelists for the special that you'll hear from tonight says, when you have a car, and you get into a lot of accidents, what happens? your insurance goes up, right? everybody has their own personal responsibility when it comes to health care. did you know that an obese person will cost a company four times more than a smoker? why? because they typically will develop heart disease and diabetes. >> correct. >> instead of spending all of this money to treat disease that is actually preventable, let's put policies, real policies in place, tax incentives in place

that people take responsibility and care for themselves so that you don't -- >> they're saying an obese person's insurance goes up? >> these are some of the incentives. >> a smoker's insurance goes up? >> i know where you're going with this. you're asking me if this is going to cross a line. but if you have a massive accident, your insurance goes up, yes. >> i'm fine with this. >> take responsibility for your own health care. this will eliminate a big cost. >> is this being talked about? >> we talk about it on the special tonight. we were outside of the box. we have lots of issue on the table to discuss solutions here. the issue is, 70% of the cost of health care is preventable disease. lifestyle, behavior. >> common sense right here. >> exactly. >> is anything being put on the table, in any of these plans, focused on the common sense that maria -- >> i haven't heard of it here. >> an incredible group on this special, people from all

government, private sector and all that. what is their argument against the general direction of what congress is doing now? what are the things that concern them that they would like to see changed. >> number one, it is too expensive. a trillion dollars over ten years is just too expensive. we don't have the money for that. and secondly, think about the uk. the uk government now, they're deciding what procedures what drugs to pay for because they have a public system in place. the obama administration is putting forth a public system. in the uk, if you have cancer, you will not be able to take herbitox or another one s that where we are going? are we going to a system where the government is going to play god? >> maria, everyone wants in. ron brownstein, chime in and then we'll get to your piece. >> couple of things. first of all, you know, what the congressional legislation is talking about to the extent

they're talking about a public system is a public competitor, no one is talking about a great britain type system where the government becomes a single payer or more directly employ the doctors. so there would be a substantial private insurance sector in any vision of health care reform. and, you know, i think what is happening here in washington is that this is obviously very difficult to do because there are so many moving pieces in health care, and when you try to resolve one concern, you create another. having said that, there is consensus around some basic and broad points. and the tragedy will be if congress and the administration and all the interest groups cannot find a way to get to that consensus through the cacophony of disagreement, the biggest point on how to expand coverage, requiring all individuals to take special responsibility by purchasing insurance, including young people there are provisions in the bill that allow the employers that are experimenting with differential premiums based on how well you take care of yourself to continue to do so, that is already being discussed and included in both the house and the senate discussions, but the

basic idea that everybody ought to buy insurance and in return the insurance companies have to undertake fundamental reforms, a mandate to buy, a man beat to sell on insurers that would devise an opportunity to reject a claim because of prior conditions, there is that basic consensus that the challenge is that as you say, over ten years, over a big stimulus plan and finding a way to pay for this is not easy. that is a fundamental breakdown. >> it is. pat buchanan wants to jump in. take it away. >> i would like to ask maria a question. you said and i think you're dead right, a trillion dollars is simply too expensive, too rich for our blood now, what about the argument that, look, ask first what we can afford and then once you get that down, suppose it is $500 billion or $300 billion, whatever, and then decide what you can buy with that and get some kind of agreement, it seems to me barack obama in the long run if he's not going to get this super program, is going to be able or

going to have to settle for something like that, isn't he? >> yes, for sure. the numberssomething, won't he? >> yeah, the numbers on the table are to the extend where you have to settle on something much lower. for all of us, we may say our loved ones getting sick is priceless, and yet somebody is putting a price on it, isn't it? and insurance companies are saying i will pay for this but i will not pay for this. who is going to decide how much a life is worth? i think at the end of the day we will have to settle on something lower priced than what we are talking about right now, but how do you get the cost down and insurance 47 million americans. >> the idea that we are showing the kind of difference to the

american insurance industry is nonsense. the worse bureaucracy is the economicalture in many ways in the industry. with a public plan, as an option, it will force the private insurance companies to lower their rate. i think ron brownstein knows a lot about this. that's the element that will make this affordable. beyond that, we want universal coverage. the question is how can this be done without making this a partisan, let's go get obama issue? >> let me make it a broader question for ron brownstein. you say the final gamble is the government today is willing to accept more programs and more

spending and more taxes than it was under bill clinton. is the public more willing to accept that? because i am feeling a different sense about this. >> whether they believe this is more like 1981 in reverse, and they have an opportunity to go further than bill clinton did. what we have seen clearly in polling is the partisan change since 1994 has been different than the idealogy. not surprising, after the 2008 meltdown, both business and government has lost favor with the american and faith with the institution. most willings are willing to see action on health care. there was a majority that

supported what obama is trying to do. it was described to them. but there is a lot of skepticism about government. our poll that i write about in the column there, 52% of americans say government puts in more obstacles than opportunities. there is still an atmosphere where there is skepticism about government. i think the obama administration has to be aware that they are still dealing with a country that is dubious where the first solution is the government coming in and solving the problem. >> you can catch maria bartiromo on cnbc's "meeting of the minds," and that will be good. maria, can you stick around? >> i will. >> good. coming up, dr. brzezinski.

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's the top of the hour. it's 5:00 a.m. there at lax. look at las vegas, nevada. my goodness, where it's always

morning or night, and it doesn't matter. big d looking good to a hot, hot texas day. and missouri, that's a beautiful shot of the arch. and how about washington, d.c.? the white house, they have a lot to work through today, and will host a beer party. and top of the rock, new york city looking south down on manhattan. it's a beautiful day in america, mika. >> welcome to "morning joe." congratulations on "way too early." but we have a problem at the end, you clown. >> good story, bad headline. >> i wouldn't call willie our clown. >> he is our youth, our wit, and our son. >> a good article.

>> great article on willie's new show. >> the show is looking fabulous. >> i know you are early looking at the market, maybe we will call you on the show. >> i don't know. we are going to talk about sarah palin's last stand. a lot of people in alaska feeling like she really just cut them off when she had an opportunity and the national spotlight to do something for them. they feel a little short changed. is she a quitter? we will talk about that. could she ultimate the great state of alaska as she said she will? she said it's obvious what she is doing, maria, obvious, and you should know. do you have any idea? >> no, i have no idea. >> me neither, maria.

>> i was baffled. >> she doesn't want to make it about herself or be a distraction, so she is stepping aside. >> if all the other 49 people did that, where would we be? >> we will be talking about this with pat, because he has a strong defense of sarah palin coming up. we also have governor dean joining us. that should be good. hi, howard, how are you? >> how are you? >> first, a quick look at today's top stories for you. today, sarah palin plotting her next move after stepping down on alaska's governor. she used twitter to deliver a good-bye message to her followers, and also one more

swipe at the media. >> that's why our troops are willing to die for you. so how about in honor of the american soldier, you quit making things up? one other thing for the media, our new governor has a nice family, too, so leave his kids alone. >> north korea appears to be calling for a direct dialogue with the united states to cut the tension over its nuclear weapons program. it follows the regimed nuclear exercise, and the recent back-and-forth with secretary of state, hillary clinton. >> we want to make clear their behavior is not going to be rewarded. in the past, they believe they have acted out and done things that went against the international community, and somehow then were rewarded. those days are over.

>> we are going to be talking to dr. brzezinski in just a few minutes. president obama will hold events in north carolina and virginia, even as democrats continue to hammer away at the proposal. >> i like the president, but he is out of control, and he has been leading a stampede of spending and taxes and debts and government takeovers. he took a bad economy and made it worse. he used panic to push through the stimulus. and the promises have not panned out. now he is trying to use the same strategy on health care. as we mentioned, howard dean joins us to talk about that. robert gates is in israel,

on a trip focused on the iranian nuclear threat. gates is pressuring israel not to take action as the u.s. presses for diplomacy. the cambridge woman whose 911 call who led to the arrest of the professor, she says she made the report that two men, not two black men, in that call. >> it's our hope that professor gates and the sergeant can sit and talk and have a beer. the sergeant told the president he is game, and i read professor

gates feels the same way. the police chief of alexandria virginia is on administrative leave after being arrested on dui charges over the weekend. david baker was detained after he got into a car accident. baker had a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit. now we go back to the governor of vermont and former dnc chairman, howard dean. he has a new book out. we need a book and a conversation like maria is having tonight on her special on cnbc. but governor dean, if you could give me your thoughts on sarah

palin's final speech when she stepped down. what do you make of this? >> actually, i have some sympathies. i don't agree with most anything that she has said, but i have been in that spotlight, and it's really tough on your family. if you are not prepared for it, it's tougher. i think she was not prepared for it. but i have to agree with her, the liberty takes liberties with your kids, and i don't appreciate that. even though i don't believe in anything that she believes in, and i don't think that she can see russia from her home, i think she is in a tough spot and got more than she bargained for when she was put on the ticket. >> i have sympathies as well, and i expressed that on my own set, but if that was the issue, why wouldn't she go into it more? i think more americans would

have sympathy for that, her abrupt exit? >> i don't know. that i don't understand. i learned a long time to speculate too much when you don't know. i don't know her and never met her. before she was put on the ticket, she was respected by the democrats and republicans in alaska. i don't see how she continues a political career. stranger things have happened. we will see what happens. >> pat buchanan? >> i would like to ask you, governor, just look objectively in washington, d.c., do you think the president will get all he wants, or is he going to have to settle for some of what he wants in the fall on health care? >> he will have to get the public option. if he does not get that the whole scheme falls apart. there is no cost control anywhere in the bill except for the public option. to put more money in the private

health insurance companies that made a mess of our health system over the last 30 years is a huge mistake. it will come down to whether we get the public option or not and i think the jury is out on that. >> i have two questions on the public option. how do we insure that a public option does not impact the quality of health care? a lot of people wonder and worry about government getting involved in our personal health care, and whether or not that is going to make quality suffer? number two, why do health care costs rise as much as they do? what is driving it? what is so expensive? >> well the second question is easier to answer than the first. two problems to the health care cost. one is the desire for more, and then two is the private -- unlike most things in america, the private sector did a terrible job controlling costs. the private sector does not work

well in health care. there is no supply and demand curb that are linked. >> how can you say health care was a failure on the private side when in fact the best, most effective drugs in this country -- in the world come from this country. how can you say the private sector has done a lousy job, when all of the innovation comes from u.s. companies? >> well, i didn't say the drug companies have done a lousy job and innovation was lousy -- >> well, who would you mean by private sector? >> the insurance companies do a terrible job, because the problem is they are privately owned so there has to be advertising and a significant return, and that all comes out of health care dollars. from the health care system's point of view, having private

health care systems is inefficient. if you will do a survey, most people are happy with medicare. there are a lot of bureaucrats is interfering between patients and doctors. i think most people are upset with the private health industry and we have to let the american people make a choice. we will not make them get into a public health care system, and let them choose. it's time special care folks stop making choices for them. if they want a public sector option, they ought to be able to have one just like everybody over 65 does in this country. >> the debate is happening against the back drop of a struggling economy and administration trying to piece it back together. i will read this by joe biden,

and then jonathan, you take it away from the governor. this is what he says you might not know about the recovery. he talks about what parts of the stimulus is working where. jonathan, capehart, do the american people see the stimulus money coming their way and working for them? >> we know from the stories in the last few weeks, only a quarter or 1/3 of the stimulus money has gone out. most of it, as the president keeps saying, this was not meant not as a shot in the arm over a

few months, but spread over two years. i think, you know, republicans and other people that say the stimulus package has not worked, we don't know that yet. and the administration keeps saying over and over and over again, they make the contention health care reform is essential to the long term economic recovery of the country. i want to know if the senator agrees with that? >> absolutely. absolutely. that's why i talked about saving jobs in the subtitle of the book. we are at a competitive dischange, not with just china but with canada. their governments pay for health care and their costs have been under control relatively speaking to ours. one of the things that nobody ever talks about in president obama's health care plan, if you have a small business, you don't

have to pay for health care for your employees any more. that's incredible. 87% of the new jobs in america are created by small businesses. this would be a huge boost to the small business community. >> here is the problem with the stimulus package. over and over and over we hear we need large and small businesses to start investing again and stop cutting jobs and put money to work to create jobs. unfortunately there are not tax incentives to do so. we need tax cuts to get businesses to move again. and that's what they are talking about in the health care proposal that we need throughout the economy. one of the issues with the stimulus package is that whatever tax break people have gotten, they saved. people are still hoarding cash. in the long term, the savings rate will be positive.

people are not spending money, and that's what we need, tax breaks and incentives for people and small businesses. >> how are we going to continue to fund the infrastructure that is falling apart with more tax cuts? it seems to me what is really needed is a way to pay for things? >> governor dean? >> well, i think two things on this. first of all, the way we are going to do infrastructure from now is probably private partnerships. we have to be careful. originally public partnerships were developed by conservatives to get rid of public unions. you have to have private money doing things that were not done by private money in the past because the states and the government do not have that money. and i agree with maria. there will be a long-term shift in this economy. not as consumer driven as it

was. that's a good thing. it would be fantastic if our savings rate approached. that will lead to more money to invest in the economy. i think obama's stimulus package probably is working. i have to put in a plug for one of the very few appointments that george bush made. i think ben bernanke has done a tremendous job with little showmanship and politics. that's a welcome change. i think we need that. >> pat buchanan? >> let me ask the governor, the federal government spending this year 28% of gdt, and it's an all-time record except for world war ii. we are over 40% of the entire gross national products being consumed by government. we have a $1 trillion health insurance bill that we are talking about. at what level do you break the bank and the american taxpayer

with all of this? >> let's remember that what you are adding or taking out of the pocket of the taxpayer you are putting back in in terms of the stimulation of the economy. if the government takes over significant responsibility for the health insurance for small business people, that's a direct boost to small businesses that creates jobs. i don't think anybody wants a government takeover of the gdp or the economy, but we have to get out of the very near meltdown we had last year. >> this is just in, you will guest host "countdown" this week? >> yeah, tomorrow and wednesday. >> governor, who are your worse people in the world? have you thought about that yet? >> i am not doing that segment. >> oh, yes, you are. >> you have to stick with the program.

>> thanks for being with us. we will look forward to watching that. my head hurts. jonathan capehart, thanks as well. coming up, we will talk national security with dr. brzezinski. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. >> the president is trying to do most of these things on the far left. i think the stimulus was a big mistake. i think we can fairly, safely declare it now as failure. it was sold as something that would jolt the economy and hold unemployment, and now unemployment has gone over 10%. most for headaches.

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we believe as a matter of policy it is unacceptable for iran to have nuclear weapons. what we want to do is send a message to who ever is making these decisions that if you are pursuing nuclear weapons for the purpose of intimidating, projecting your power, we're not going to let that happen. >> that was hillary clinton, secretary of state, on "meet the press" yesterday talking about iran. here with us now, former national security advisor, dr.

brizniski. how is she fairing on these very primary and active trouble spots in the world? >> i think she is off to a good start. she is very personable. she is very intelligent. she articulates well. she is being very careful to keep in step with the president. she emphasizes over and over again that it's the president that makes foreign policy, and that happens to be the case. and i think that she fits well into the team. >> willie geist? >> doctor, let me ask you a philosophical question i have heard people ask, not just inside iran and not outside. why does iran not have a right to develop nuclear weapons? why do we say it's futal and will stop it? >> well, you say to create a

nuclear program. in fact, they have the right to do that. they do not have the right to build nuclear weapons because of the treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. in fact, they say, over and over and over again, we're not seeking nuclear weapons. we don't want nuclear weapons. our religion forbids us to have nuclear weapons. and the trick is to say that's fine, we are happy to hear that, but we have problems with your accuracy, so let's work out an arrangement, whereby, in fact, you do have a peaceful nuclear program, and you are not building weapons and there by threatening the region. sometimes we talk loosely as if in fact they were building nuclear weapons, as if, in fact,

we knew they were building nuclear weapons, and the fact is we don't know. i think we have to try to establish some sort of negotiating process in the course of which we establish -- we set up some sort of inspection system that gives us a confidence that they are not seeking nuclear weapons. >> and doctor, i want to ask something maria brought up in the commercial. how do we go about it if we have seen them building weapons, and we say you cannot do it, and what happens next? >> if we are convinced they are building nuclear weapons, the next option is a combination of things. one, probably increase sanctions, because that will put more pressure on society and the economy and impact a serious price on their well-being. some sort of nuclear guarantee for the region, which is what

secretary clinton was talking about. that's what i have been arguing for myself. and namely, we will simply say to the iranians, the reen is under the u.s. nuclear umbrella, and therefore if you have nuclear weapons, you are not gaining advantage, you are losing because your economy is suffering and you are not able to use your weapons to threaten anybody, because if you do, you have a collision with the number one super power in the world, the united states. that seems to me to be reasonable. don't forget, we had a really rough relationship. we did not go to war. we detoured successfully. >> maria bartiromo has a question. >> what about the diplomacy with iran as it relates to israel? you have secretary gates in israel today, and what do you expect to come out of that meeting? >> my guess is secretary gates

has a two-fold mission. the first is to reassure the israelis, in spite of the disagreements we now have on policy, and these are serious issues, and it's a major obstacle to peace between the israelis and the palestinians. in spite of that, we are truly committed to israel's security, and in that context there might be some generalized talk about the notion of a nuclear umbrella by the united states. secondly, i assume he is going to tell the israelis, we don't want you to attack iran, because if you do, it's going to create a mess in a region that is already pretty messy. it's going to make it much worse than it is, however. and especially for us. if there is an israeli attack on iran, iran will retaliate against us, and not israel because it cannot reach it. our forces in iraq, and our forces in afghanistan, they will

suffer and pay the price. there will be some turmoil which means the price of oils spike and americans will pay $5 a gallon. i don't think that americans will feel good about such out come. i think it's fair to say to the israelis, don't do it, you don't need it. >> is the internal situation in iran now working to our advantage in terms of the perhaps leading to some kind of containment on their nuclear program, or is it working against it? >> on the nuclear program, and that's -- >> i am talking about toward weaponry? >> it's not clear. our intelligence don't think they are building nuclear weapons right now, and we don't have evidence that they are. we have allegations. people speak loosely as if they know they are. i repeat, we don't know they

are. but in the long run, i think democracy can dominate iran. we want to be careful not to seem to be supportive of the regime. but the final ahnalysanalysis, iranians are willing to negotiate. we have no choice but to negotiate who ever is in charge. >> pat buchanan? >> doctor, what you laid out is a policy of negotiations with iran over its nuclear program, and a policy of american deterren deterrence. the defense umbrella over the middle east, should they move towards nuclear weapons. you left out any preemptive strike by the united states.

what do you think gates is doing in israel? he is trying to convince them not to attack iran. do you think netanyahu and the israelis are interested in attacking iran or provoke the united states into doing it for them, because we hear that the israelis don't have the capacity to do it. i don't think they will settle for the brzezinski idea, will they? >> israel by itself cannot knock out the iranian nuclear establishment. it's too complex and too big. it's a short duration attack, and that's not enough. what they may be calculating, however, is if they attack iran, and iran retaliates against us, like it or not, we will be drawn

into a war with iran. more and more casualties, in afghanistan, probably renewed the violence scale in iraq. this is something in my judgment to be avoided. it's not necessary in any case. so i think that we have to be very clear about our own interests, and not allow ourselves to be dragged into a conflict when we do not need, and it's not necessary. i repeat, we do not know if the iranians are building nuclear weapons. all we know is they have a ambitious nuclear program. they may be, and they may not be. we secondly could detour them, because we have detoured much bigger countries, and why shouldn't we be able to detour iran? >> dr. brzezinski, i agree, the

united states can detour iran. but the israeli position is they cannot be allowed to continue with the program, and he cannot be allowed to get nuclear programs. that's the threat to the israeli nation. even if we tell him not to move, he would move on his own. >> what does that mean? the moment the iran's get their first bomb, they will get national pleasure by blowing up tel aviv? that's national propaganda. and why don't they stage a big employ and announce that they will give up their nuclear weapons if the iranians give up their nuclear program if they have a weapons program. the fact of the matter is, israel has a couple nuclear

weapons. what are we talking about here, the exstential threat? and iran is not as big of a threat to israel as israel is to iran. >> do you think netanyahu is bluffing? >> well, i don't know if he is bluffing. the point i am making is the american national interest would be adversely affected, and thinking about world affair at my point of departure is the american national interest. >> is that the point of departure for netanyahu? >> we have to make it clear to him he should not damage american economic interests.

if we are damaged in the region, in the long run, israel's future is in jeopardy. without the u.s., israel would not be as safe as it is today. >> what is so interesting about this discussion is how different is it from what we read and see in the press. when you get into a factual discussion, we see that it is not these idealogy simplifications. we have to get away from that in the debate. the television and print press has to get away from this. >> that's exactly why i bring my father on the show, at my own perril. >> dad, thank you for coming on the show. >> great to be with you. coming up, earnings out from

honeywell. we will check with erin burnett when we come back. things, vo: it adds up to some pretty amazing things. vo: walmart saves the average family $3,100 a year no matter where you shop. vo: what will you do with your savings? vo: save money. live better. walmart.

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bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. welcome back to "morning joe." a beautiful warm summer day here in new york city. somewhere in the haze, we find cnbc's erin burnett.

>> i am glad i came back to xhur here. >> yeah, and you came back to a dow of 9000. >> yeah, an amazing hit show debuted this morning, i think. >> yeah, and i am sure you were up watching. >> i was. >> i have to book people on the air because it's blackmail. hey, erin, do you want to come on the show this week? >> well, i am light on time, but we have earnings as a big story this week. 77% of companies in the s&p 500 already reported. i am sorry, 184 of the companies reported, and 77% of them have done better than expected. companies have been beating, and that's why the market is up above 9000. we need to see growth overall,

and that would mean revenue growth. once we see that, we could have a fair conversation about inflation. big week in the treasury market. everybody knows we are issuing unprecedented $2 trillion of debt this year. and the last week that was closed was june 22nd of this year. u.s. treasuries, why would you want to buy them? they make a lot of fair points about is there value? is the u.s. economy going to get weaker, and all the things that can hurt the treasury market. would you want to own a u.s. treasury or spanish treasury, and the yield on their equivalent bond is 4.1. it gives you a sense of why you are not getting a lot on the risk. willie, one more thing. remember iceland? >> yeah.

>> they are coming back. they are billing themselves -- are you ready for this, as the arctic abeesa. nonetheless, they are coming back. their unemployment is below the average in europe. their exports are up, would you believe that? and their growth -- well, they will shrink by less than ireland. >> it's a remarkable country. >> wow, karl brownstein got married in ireland. that's a long story. >> yeah, you had to be there. >> erin, thank you so much. >> thank you, erin. >> iceland is back. coming up, courtney hazlett with this weekend's box office

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♪ >> oh. [ speaking spanish ] what just happened there? >> a lot of people saw that film. we are talking about "g force." >> this is courtney hazlett , and she will tell us why the guinea pigs were a hit.

>> there is a rule of thumb, if you can make an animal speak, it's gold. chihuahuas. that's apparently what america wants to see. talking animal. this is the number one movie this weekend. it knocked hairy potter off. and that drop from "harry potter" is a drop from over the weekend. they had a huge monster opening, and then there is a premium that is charged for 3-d movies. they did not have as many bodies as harry potter, but because it cost more, it doesn't look like that. they have a lot of money to have to make up before you can say this is a runaway financial

success of any kind pf >> speaking of runaway, let's talk about the octomom. >> i hope you have not eaten breakfast yet. what is she doing? >> she is putting her kids on tv. in the state of california, and some other states, and new york is one of them, you have the law that protects child actors. until the child is 18, you have to put 50% of the gross salary into a trust. my opinion is we need more than laws projecting children putting children in shows. they are not willing participants. $250 for these 14 kids does not

do anybody any good. it's not going to end well. >> we have to go. >> we have "mad men" coming back. >> we have been getting around, "morning joe," drinking and spokin smoking. >> just another day. stay tuned for "morning meeting" with dylan ratigan after "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card.

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