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today on "andrea mitchell reports," setting the record straight. for the first time since a harvard professor's arrest triggered a national debate on racial profiling, we are now hearing directly from the woman who made that 911 call. >> i was called racist and i was a target of scorn and ridicule because of the things i never said. >> this as our to exclusive preview of tonight's nbc news/wall street poll shows that more americans say that the professor is to blame than the cambridge police sergeant. 27% say gates was at fault, 11% sergeant crowley.

nearly 37% say both were at fault. president obama is wrapping up a town hall in raleigh, north carolina, defending his push for a government-backed public option, a goal that the senate finance committee is now dropping in order to gain bipartisan support. but there is a noticeable change how this dialogue is going, instead of pushing health care and reform of health care and expansion of health care, the president is pushing health insurance reform, consumer protection s white house losing the message war? and disturbing new reports today that iranian protestors, dissenters, political prisoners were beaten and gruesomely abused in jail. this is sparking new outrage in tehran. this as the iranian officials are about to release high-profile prisoners in an attempt to defuse the reports and growing political opposition. good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. lucia whalen says she feared for her own safety since making

that 911 call leading to the arrest of harvard protester henry louis gates jr. here with us, clarence page, a nationally syndicated columnist with the chicago tribune. we are talking about the third rail of the american politics, the race debate. you hear from the right wing, you hear people, you know, calling the president of the united states a racist. this woman completely innocent, upstanding citizen, as far as anyone can tell, the 911 call was flawless in her concern, her accuracy, not overstating it, not rising to any questions of race. how have we come to this point and where is america now? >> we are polarized. i have been around since the '60s, one big difference now is there is not a clear moral divide like you had back it the days of dr. king. today, where you stand depends on where you silt, either on the one side with skip gates and

civil liberties and against profiling or with the police and law and order and strong law enforcement. i mean, libertarians i know would be appalled at the idea of a police officer charging somebody in their own home are siding with this officer saying that skip gates was too arrogant, you know, as if that were just the law. so what happens now is ms. whalen, in the past now, everybody cite herd as a profiler, somebody who spotted these two black guys and got scared. now hear prom police tapes she didn't even know their race. >> that means the police report was clearly anner there. >> it was. >> initial triggers. >> undermines -- >> hear what she has to say, very emotional, completely human statement. let's watch. >> i'm proud to have been raised by two loving parents who

instilled in me values, including one another, be kind to strangers and do not judge people based on race, ethnicity or any other feature, other than their character. >> and she declined to criticize anyone, not the police, not professor gates, speaking out on behalf, the cambridge community she doesn't live there but works there and cares about the fabric of that community. >> i really felt badly for this womanship. did he what she is supposed to do under good police -- good community policing principles, here is a house that has been broken in before. here she was being a good citizen, reporting something suspicious. >> not exaggerating not responding as some people might in an emergency, most people might. not taking sides because her account is not the same as the police account, she is getting hate phone calls from people on both side it is happening, this

is the way things are these days. >> our new nbc news/wall street poll, the rest of the poll will come out tonight at 6:30 with chuck todd on nightly news, all of the information about the president and what altitude he maybe losing, others indicate he is losing altitude because of the health care debate in particular. on the race issue, now breaking news from this poll that 31% feel that they don't know enough about it. 29% feel both were at fault. 27% blame professor gates. only 11% blame the police officer. >> right. >> more americans would side in he said, he said, would side with the law enforcement official. >> i would like to know when they were questioned, andrea, you saw how this story evolved, we first heard it, we heard that this nice, mild-mannered professor arrested in his own home and then heard he had been arrogant, loud, abusive to the officer. now, we are hearing that the the

officer's police report wasn't as accurate. >> with that poll the last couple of days. so they were in the field over the weekend when things were being clarified. i think that people really are in a state of confusion. >> i think that poll reflects the idea that skip gates was the arrogant upper class professor who mouthed off to the officer and asks for t. >> what about the fact that the right-wing and certainly seen what has happened with glenn beck calling the president a racist on fox. >> specializes in being a sensationalist, we know that. >> but is there an attempt by opponents of the president, by conservatives to try to use the race issue and capitalize on it? what's going on there? >> my e-mail box is full of people on both sides but especially angry conservatives who see barack obama as siding with al sharpton and jesse jackson, sort of the image that

barack obama worked diligently during the campaign with this one statement of his in record to how police behaved stupidly, retracted that statement, critical of a police arresting a man in his own home. this has, i think, fallen badly for him in terms of mainstream a conservative, i suspect may have some reflection of the health care debate right now, the question of, you know, does the president understand people like me? that is going to be a critical question as to whether people support this health care legislation or not. >> what happened to the postracial america? i put that in quotation marks that we were all hearing about at least with barack obama. >> multiraischal, never postracial, but we are multiracial country this election reflected that we are, despite the angry headlines and e-mails, much more tolerant and

more accepting country now and i a country prepared for the next century but when we try to be postracial before we really are that is where we get surprised. >> the gun on that. there was another man, another political figure and national leader, colin powell, once thought of as the likely first african-american president not to be his choice not to run, but this was colin powell talking about this whole issue and acknowledge need knows professor gates, colin powell and the approach that he took with larry king last night. >> i think skip in this instance might have waited a while, come outside, talked to officer and that might have been the end of it. i think he should have reflected on whether or not this was the time to make that big a deal. he was just home from china, just home from new york, all he wanted to do was get to bed. his door was jammed.

and so he was in a mood -- >> one who says he brings the whole history knew that body of a black movement? >> that may well be the case. i still think it might well have been revolved in a different man fer we didn't have this verbal altercation between the two of them. >> what would have happened if they didn't have that altercation? now retrough now resolve it over a beer at the white house? >> this is what i call a racial eruption where an event, say if all the parties had been of one race, wouldn't be talking about because they were different races, what if you had had a white cop and white homeowner this wouldn't be a racial story, might be a class story. people might find more amusing than hateful. anger expressed around this. colin powell is trying his best to carve the middle ground barack obama was trying to do.

i have gotten e-mails calling colin powell all kinds of names which shocks me. in the '9, everybody thought he was going to be our first black president. he was unshakeable. >> to be continued. clarence, thanks so much for coming in and sharing. and to the white house, president trying to reassure working middle class they will not be left behind as his health care debate sweeps washington, town hall focusing on explaining how the overhaul will mean more security, stability for working families according to him, as senate finance chairman max baucus has emerged, seen his shadow perhaps. just announced that a bipartisan panel has a draft bill on the table, at least, cost below the president's $1 trillion target, according to the congressional budget office. >> we are bending the cost curve the right way that is a significant accomplishment.

in fairness, because we have this rule, nothing decided in everything is is decided. we can't really say the conclusion has been reached because in truth, we are not done. >> they are not done yet. that is the big story at the white house. so let's bring in nbc news white house correspondent savannah gutry. hey there, savannah a lot going on. you have been reporting that they have really changed the tone and approach of what they have tried to persuade people what health care is, because they were losing a lot of altitude. >> no question about that health care reform has really hurt the president. i think we will probably see that in the nbc poll, seen that in other polls, starting to get his hands dirty, started in the high 60s the beginning of the administration ever-falling number expected to be for any president, particularly one taking on an issue like health care reform a lot of people are

very, concerned about what they hear. you heard the president strike that tone in the town hall today saying he wants to correct some of the misinformation, he thinks people have been scared, that there's some scare tactics out there. they are trying to recalibrate and retool their message, let's face it they acknowledge it inside this building, they haven't been perfect in message execution here, there are a lot of people who -- >> savannah. i am being diplomatic. >> a lot of people having insurance and hearing about tax increases and wonder what is in it for me, why do we need health care reform? really not made that pitch as hard or convincingly as they need to. >> let's go over some of the items that you and i have been talking about that have come out of the new obama pitch. president pitching no discrimination for pre-existing conditions, no exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses no cost-sharing for preventive care, no dropping of coverage for serious illness no gender discrimination no annual or lifetime caps, extended coverage for young adults, guaranteed

insurance renewal. so, the areas were they are not reaching people, where they have got even from the aarp yesterday, that town hall meeting, some questions, young people still not wanting to sign on, these are the key elements to of the political coalition they are trying to rebuild. >> this is an a la cart list what it means to you if you had insurance. these respect new proposes, new positions by the president. repackaging and reselling, this is a proposition to middle america. talking about the issue of sliding numbers, did yous if the in the town hall today the first half of his so of prepared remarks about were not about health care reform but the recovery act and made this hard pitch what the recovery act has done what is important, why it is accomplished and people are souring on it, not thinking it is really working.

trying to push back. hit willing hard on those points today. >> thanks savannah guthrie at the white house. breaking news from the hill today. house republican also been banking to on those blue dog democrats, the conservatives, the moderates, to join them in stopping the health care overhaul. now the blue dogs say they are in negotiations with democratic leaders and making progress potentially, paving the way for a republican defeat. just within the last hour, blue dogs and house leaders agreed not to vote on health care before the summer break. congressman mike pence of indiana, chairman of the house republican conference joins us now. >> hi, andrea. >> may not be good news for you guys. maybe the conservative democrats and their leaders coming together around something and they will be able to outnumber you on the house floor. >> may not be good news for the

american people, andrea. you know, house republicans have supported health care reform that builds and strengthens our private health insurance system but house republicans and up to this point, a handle of of conservative democrats and i think a majority of the american people oppose a government takeover of health care paid for with $1 trillion in tax increases. but you know, you are right, we are hearing that the energy and commerce committee is reconvening here on capitol hill today. there's rumors of a deal but this is not a deal that's going to go over well with the american people. they understand what a government-run insurance plan will mean. millions will lose their current health insurance and many americans will lose their job as a result of the higher taxes on businesses. >> what the president had to say today in rebutting what the republican reasons, what you have been claiming. let's listen.

>> nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care. i'm tired of hear that under the reform i proposed, if you like your doctor, you keep your doctor. if you like your health care plan, you keep your health care plan. these folks need to stop scaring everybody. >> are you trying to scare people, congressman pence? >> not us, a nonpartisan group called the lieu win group, respected on both sides of the aisle, stating the government gets -- the president gets his wish for a government-run insurance plan, 114 million americans will lose their insurance but they won't lose it, in fair tonight president, andrea they he won't lose their current insurance at their job now bus the government will tell them they have to give it up, they will lose it their employers, struggling to make ends meet during this difficult economy will likely say to their employees, look, uncle sam offering health insurance free down the street, we are no longer going to offer health insurance here at your place of

employment. employers are going to say, look we love you, but got to keep the lights on and the doors open so we are canceling your current health insurance. most americans understand it that, for some reason this administration doesn't understand that and that's how a government run insurance option that the president has insisted on is going to amount to a government takeover of our health care economy. >> despite all of this and your claims i and the fact we are pointing out the president is having a a lot of trouble and his own poll numbers have been dropping in a number of polls and likely in our own -- that will be released at 6:30 tonight, but there is an npr poll where respondents like the democratic statement on solving health care problems a lot better than the republican statement. 51 to 42. there some warning signs for you guys there? >> oh, look, you know, we've talked many times, andrea, about the difficulty the republicans have gotten themselves into with our own big government and reckless spending ways of the

last ten years. i want to say with the earlier report, i don't think the democrats in congress mess arms i think it is content. american people rex am minuting this massive expansion of the federal government's role in health care, introduction of a government-run plan, $1 trillion in new taxes, falling square loin small businesses. the content of this bill is what the american people are rejecting. what we ought to do is scrap this plan and then all ought to go home for august, listen to the american people and bring forward true lay bipartisan bill this fall that will lower the cost of health insurance and health care for every american based upon strengthening our private health insurance system. >> congressman, i got to tell that you there are plenty people around coming from not on the cbo but elsewhere that would say it is not $1 trillion in new taxes mostly falling on small

business, that those claims could be debated, depends which plan you talk about i'm not sure any plan that has $1 trillion in new taxes. >> i think the cbo number was about $800 billion. the reality -- >> it wasn't all taxes, those were costs but not all taxes. >> well, the tax increases remember, medicare when it was launched in 1965 was projected, i think, to cost $9 billion by 1990. it ended up costing seven times that anyone who is looking in and thinking launching a new government-run insurance plan that we are going to be able to bend the cost curve needs to look at the history of entitlements in this country to recognize we are increasing the burden on our grandchildren enormously if we create a government-run plan. no debate on that i don't know you want to go back to indiana and campaign against medicare. >> no no i support medicare and support the program, but the

issue here how we go forward in the 21st century, i think most americans believe, the basis of strengthening our choices in private health insurance in this country not a government-run plan paid for by higher taxes. >> okay. we have to leave it there but thank you. as always, mike pence. up next, new claims of prisoner abuse in iran as the government prepares to put nearly two dozen people jailed in the postelection crackdown on trial. former cia field officer and "time".com columnist bob bare will be joining us next. this programming note, the first time, we will be broadcasting live from africa next week, as secretary of state hillary clinton embarks on her seven-nation trip. don't miss it. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only from msnbc. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol... a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthris pain all day.

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new outrage today in iran as gruesome new details of prison er abuse emerges and details from human rights group there is, some prisoner says they have been watching fellow detainees being beaten to death by guards in overcrowded, sinking holding pens. bob bare, intelligence column must for time.com, also a former middle east ci a field officer and author of "the devil we know, dealing with the new iranian super power." good to see you, thank you for joining us today. let's talk about what we know. what can we know from sources? i know the intelligence services, u.s. intelligence services are really poorly informed from iran but from foreign sources and from our human rights groups and other ngos, what do we know about what's really going on in those prisons? >> what we know is that the

revolutionary guards and vigilantes called the basij have been arresting demonstrators and opposition forces and taking them to prison, not the main prison and there has been clear evidence, we have names of people that have been beaten to death, tortured and beatened. khomeini has been forced to close this prison it has become an outrage, even in iran and the holy city of kum, fairly obvious this repression in iran has gone very, very far. >> now this is not a prison where we know of other people detained, iranian-americans this is another prison and we have very little insight into what is really going on there? >> run by the revolutionary guards, which in a sense is a parallel government in iran. no oversight at all. even the prosecutors are kept out. this it is a political prison. what khomeini, the supreme leader is trying to do is to

intimidate the opposition. in fact, he has arrested sons of opposition leaders and they have been beaten to death. >> now, we are told from various groups that iran is releasing some of the detainees, some of the better known detainees. is that because ahmadinejad and the clerical leaders who really run the place are getting concerned about public outrage? >> i think the regime is cracking in a sense, i'm not staying is a prerev at this point or going to fall, the regime, but you are seeing miniclerics in the forms of khatami and rafsanjani coming out against the regime, against the violence. khomeini is feeling pressure. they are call nothing question his legit miss say at this point. i don't know whether they are going to succeed in unseating him but by the day, unless he is able to resolve this, we are getting closer to that.

>> what kind of time line is there? is thistle kind of thing we with saw with the students when they were protesting and then there is a crackdown and then they disappear for years at a time or is this going to continue, do you think to bubble under the surface? >> oh, i think it is going to continue what is interesting, tree, people are up on the roofs yelling allah akbar, same thing in 1979, almost as if the iran rannians are trying to reproduce the '79 revolution, the spirit of it. >> turn it against their own leaders? >> khomeini in particular. >> exactly. >> at this stage is there anything productive the united states can do? in talking to people, the concern here officially is that anything that the united states says to encourage the protestors and to speak out against human rights abuses can be used by the regime to say, you see, it is the evil in the united states that is cause all of this so it can hurt the cause of freedom? >> andrea, i think we should

stay out of it. this regime very well could fall on its own. if we pick sides that side will be harmed. i think this thing has progressed farther than anybody suspected and it could really go somewhere. we could have a new democratic-type regime in that country if we just leave it alone. >> bob bare, who knows of where he speaks. good to talk to you. >> thank you. coming up, senator joe lieberman and senator bob casey, two senators with a lot to say about health care and everything else we have been discussing today. and if you missed something on the show, just check out the website, andrea.msnbc.com. we will be right back. i'm robert shapiro. over a million people

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from clairol. the senate finance committee chairman, max baucus, just announced that his bipartisan working group has a draft bill for health care reform but the job far from done. senator baucus cautions that the draft "does not include resolution of several issues." probably pretty big issues. at the same time, the president is having so much trouble sell his ideas that he has retooled he is message, now stressing insurance reform and consumer protection instead of universal coverage. >> we have a system today that works well for the insurance industry, but it doesn't always work well for you. what we need and what we have when we pass these reforms are health insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fair labor day insurance companies are held accountable. >> me now is democratic senator robert case cis of pennsylvania.

senator, great to see you. you came out of the health committee, the health care committee and now we are seeing from the finance committee that a lot of the changes that you guys put into your bill are not going to survive this finance committee version, does not include the employer mandate, does not include the public option, are you ready to accept these co-ops is that an alternative that could be the basis of a compromise? >> andrea, we have a ways to go. as you know, the health education labor pensions bill had a public option to allow people to make that choice along with making the choice of having a private insurance plan, the employer mandate was part of our bill. i think we are a long way from making deafentive conclusions, no matter what the finance committee does in the next couple of days. i'm glad that they are trying to work toward the bipartisan resolution of this but overall, with avenue long way to go if this is a ten-chapter book, we are probably in the first or second chapter, there will be a

a lot of changes and development. the key thing for us, the goal for every senator, especially on the democratic side is to create some stability in terms of cost, stability in terms of the coverage and the quality of the coverage and stability and secure as a it pertains to choices. we have got to make sure that we give people choices so if they want to choose a public option they can but they also have a long menu of choices in the private market. >> we are seeing people close to home, your governor ed rendell, popular democrats in the past are losing a lot of steam partly because of this partly because of the economy but 53% negative now on ed rendell. when that happens in a state like pennsylvania, that is a real warning sign for you. >> well, andrea, you know -- you know philadelphia well, you know pennsylvania well, i think governor rendell will do just fine. he is living through, as every governor is, a very difficult budget situation but that is connected to our economy and revenue. one of the reasons why we have to keep moving forward to make

sure that the american people understand that we are very serious about health insurance reform this year, very serious about putting in place a set of reform which is never happened before. you know, despite all the debate about some of these topics with regard too this bill or that bill, one of the primary achievements to of the bill that we got through our committee is that pre-existing continue conditions will no longer be a bar to that bill. all -- not forcing people to pay too much out of pocket. those reforms and others i think will be be critical to enhancing and increasing the confidence of the american people we are focused on their stab way in the families have regard with regard to their health care. >> what are you going to tell people over the recess, you are not going to have a bill before you go home? >> andrea as you know, different roles that are played here, our bill deals with coverage and quality and some of these issues

i just mentioned barring the three existing conditions being a pathway to treatment, we shouldn't have to legislate that, we do, insurance companies have been denying people coverage. i'm going to talk about the bill i worked hard on in to our committee. the finance committee bill likely won't be done by then by the time we are back in pennsylvania and other states but i believe it is important not tonight to talk about what is in the bills and a full debate on it here and in washington, but the cost of doing nothing. the cost of doing nothing is a bad path for our government to take because the cost of doing nothing in our state means less than eight years from now the median family income, 52% of it will be dedicated to health care i don't think anyone in pennsylvania or america, for that matter can pay half their income for health care that is where we are headed if we do nothing. >> ask you in your other role as

a member of the foreign relations committee about these really troubling reports out of iran today that political prisoners have been beaten, some have been beaten to death, being tortured we have got pretty credible reports coming, state department believes they are credible, what, if anything, should the united states be doing? >> i really believe one thing we have to do on iran is speak with one voice. it was unfortunate the president was appropriately reacting to the situation on the street a couple week he is ago, people in washington taking pot shots at him. i do believe there is a consensus that we have to be focused as i and others have been with legislation to focus on making sure we are doing everything possible to prevent iran from achieving nuclear capability. that is job one. secondly, with regard to other abuses or funding of other groups like amass terrorist groups around the world, we have to work with the security council and work with our allies

in the region and beyond the region to make sure that we are holding iran in check, especially as it relites to the knock clear question as well as other abuses in the news today. >> senator bob casey. thank you. >> thanks, andrea. >> good to see you. today's nbc news poll with "the wall street journal" shows american support is not behind the harvard pro-ers in that dispute that sparked a national debate over racial profiling, the poll shows more people say the professor is to blame for his arrest than cambridge police sergeant james crowley. another report says both are equally to blame. bring in steve mcmahon and republican strategist fred duffy exformer white house deputy press secretary this is the kind of issue he said, he said of it not only can't to be resolve bud brings up some of the worst crock currents in american life.

trent there are republicans trying to capitalize on t commentators, an lists, politicians, people calling the president a racist. how does that help the republican party? >> i think the president should not have waded into it and i think realized that as he quickly came back and set the record straight. we worked in the white house, never let the president wade into an ongoing investigation. you can have these kinds of errors, in terms of capitalizing politically, i think it is an error to do that. >> doesn't listen to press secretaries, not told go out and say the police acted stupidly? >> pretty certain they are practiced that question. >> not that the police acted stupidly.. >> maybe realizing on that point, the fact is the white

house decided to take the question, decided he should answer in kind of the way that he did maybe didn't choose the word stupidly that was a block and tackle mistake on the part of the white house which they quickly realized. >> steve a fundamental business mistake or what you would expect, the first african-american president was going to be asked a question about a racial dispute, could have answered it differently but a case where white people perhaps cannot relate to the way an african-american man relates to this question? >> i think what you see depends on where you sit and that is a good point. no way he is going to avoid his confrontation, there are a lot of things that drew him into the conversation, whether he should have used the words or not he regret and walked them back himself. >> let me talk about sarah palin for a moment. this was colin powell asked

about sarah palin last night on larry king. >> got to hand to her. early 4, governor of a state and been the mayor of the city of that state and accomplished woman with also mom and grandmother. i don't think she was ready to be president of the united states last fall when she was named vice presidential candidate and i said so at the time. we will now have to see what she is going to do. all be watching with great interest. >> with great interest. and maureen dowd, great interest in today's column says the woman prematurely counted in is out and the woman prematurely counted out is in. goodbye, sarah, hello, hillary. trent, is she the future of the republican party for america? >> got to have room for more people in the republican party, we are in the minority party. of course there is room. i think good that you don't have to have tests you have to have a

harvard degree or a certain pedigree to be a leader in the republican party. i am proud we have mainstream voices. i think it is part of the what you are seeing in new jersey and ohio. >> you don't have to have a harvard degree but helpful if you've read something. republicans have a great dilemma here. 70% of americans like sarah page. many would like her to be the tan scarred bearer in 2012. great for democrats. trent understand what is a party it would be for his party. look, smiling. >> you guys are having a good time. trent duffy, thank you both. what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? we will have that coming up next. (announcer) before they give you the lowest price, some pharmacies make you work for it with memberships and fees. but not walmart. they have hundreds of generic prescriptions for just $4 for up to a 30-day supply or $10 for 90 days. save money. live better. walmart. we call the bunches in honey bunches of oats

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what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? a white house reporter for the washington post and aught over

the fix on "washington post."com. chris, savannah guthrie reports that the president will have a bud light tomorrow, give you a hint what we might see discussing tomorrow? >> that is why savannah guthrie is by farther best reporter. you know, what i would have said coors light. that's why i'm not -- >> coors, are you kidding? >> you kidding? >> a democrat? >> good point. although we know this is essential lay photo opportunity to try to put a nice end for what has not been a great episode for the president, we are still going to cover it, it is still a big story it is still what we will be talking about. it does bring up the interesting point about race and barack obama. he has largely stayed away from talking about it he didn't run as an african-american for president, he ran as someone running for president who happened to be an african-american. this has raised that debate. let's see if this ends it or if it continues on after the bud light. >> after the bud light. i want to know when do we get the bud light right here on the

is set? thank you, chris. >> thank you, andrea. >> see you later for a beer. >> chris's blog at blog."washington post."com/the fix. coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports" senator joe lieberman wading into the health care debate, next on msnbc. et h. ( chirp ) team three, boathouse? ( chirp ) oh yeah. his and hers. - ( crowd gasps ) - ( chirp ) van gogh? ( chirp ) even steven. - ( chirp ) mansion? - ( chirp ) good to go. ( grunts ) timber! ( chirp ) boss? what do we do with the shih-tzu? - ( chirp ) joint custody. - dog: phew... announcer: get work done now. communicate in less than a second with nextel direct connect. only on the now network. deaf, hardf hearing and peop with speech disabilities access www.sprinelay.com.

with me now is senator joe lieberman, independent senator from connecticut. senator, thanks for joining us. health care, we now hear that republican mikens el don't get commitments unless they accept the final deal. how are you going to broker everything if -- doesn't everyone have to jump off the diving board at the same time? mix my metaphors completely. >> they all made sense at the

time. fist, the good news is we're hearing very encouraging reports from the finance committee, which has been the last remaining hope here of a bipartisan proposal on health care reform. and we need that to be able to actually get it through the senate. so i'm encouraged about that. i was just at a lunch. seminar baucus was talking to the democratic chairman and he reflected that same optimism. it's not -- nothing is agreed to and everything is agreed to. what mike is doing is simple and classic legislative stand which is i'll agree to this but not if you bring me along and suddenly spring something larger. i think it's good mike is making that position clear. i think ultimately he and every senator knows if they're worried about something put in a

conference committee with the house it takes 60 votes to take up a conference committee. so every one of us can block it if there are surprises that a lot of us don't like. >> and speaking of surprises that people don't like, we have a really ugly debate. nobody wanted it but it's there. the race debate. people calling the president of the united states a racist for having sided initially against the cambridge police. how do we disentangle from this or is it unavoidable? >> well, it's too bad this happened. because i think our country has disentangled ourselves from the racial bigotry that's throughout our history. and the very fact that we have an african-american as president speaks to that so powerfully. this was an incident in cambridge, mass, that i think ignited some memories, racial

memories and also some anger, defensiveness in the police and reaction to to what the president said. i just hope this discussion today that the three of them have clears the air and we go on. the truth is the president, >> whit: comes to the place of african-americans in our country and relations between african-americans and law enforcement, including something like sergeant crowley who is apparently very sensitive to those matters, the worst is behind us. let's not get drawn backward wi a single set of misunderstanding in one incident in cambridge, massachusetts. >> former attorney general, knows something about law enforcement. thank you very much. good to see you today. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we are out of time. tomorrow, eric cantor from the republican side. and contessa brewer now picks up our coverage from here.

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