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because when it comes to medicare, it's easy to see jack is on a roll. ♪ get your free information kit and medicare guide. aarp medicare supplement insurance plans. call now. ♪ that kind of dialogue is what has to happen at every level of our society. >> maybe it's not a peaceful beer between fellows. just two hours from that so-called beer summit at the white house, but both sides are bringing attorneys and even a union rep. is this really goodwill? new questions about the custody deal involving michael jackson's children. can the singer's 79-year-old mom really care for his kids? what do the kids know about

debbie rowe? and why will a shrink be involved in the process? plus, violence today in iran. tear gas and beatings as police crack down on thousands of demonstrators trying to honor those killed in last month's protests. oh, no, not again. william shatner's new take on sarah palin's tweets. >> i'm reminded one heart, one hope, one destiny, one flag from sea to sea. >> and police chasing a pint-sized suspect who really, really does not like church. good afternoon, everyone . i'm tamron hall. >> and i'm donny deutsch. >> just one hour to go before a beer outside the white house. press secretary robert gibbs says it will be an informal event for the men to talk about

what escalated into a national debate on race. also traveling to d.c. gates' and crowley's attorneys as well as family members. moments ago we got this tape of crowley speaking at the airport after arriving in washington. >> very thankful to the men and women of the cambridge police department and police officers from all over the country who have shown their support to me. also thankful to the local police that have provided protection to my family, but right now i just want to get back to work, get back to doing what it is i do, and get back to being a dad to my three children. >> someone who was not invited, lucia whalen, the woman who called 11. her attorney says she's the only person involved who acted responsibly. nbc's savannah guthrie joins us live outside the white house with more details on this informal but i mean very important topically event that's happening at the white house. savannah? >> reporter: hey, tamron and donny. we'll see this meeting for about

30 or 40 seconds, but we won't hear it much. that is on purpose. basically the white house has set this up so cameras will be about 30 or 40 feet away. we'll get that image, capture the image of gates meeting with crowley and the president, but not any words from the president. we don't expect him to say anything. now, of course, gates and crowley will have the option, if they like, to come out to the stakeout camera as we call it around here. as any guests of the white house would, and the white house is making the point, they're not encouraging it or discouraging it. totally up to these two men. >> i'm going to ask again because i think there is a small chance, particularly on the cop side, that maybe something doesn't come out right, i think everybody wants to get this thing over with and go home at this point. is that fair to say? >> reporter: well, i think that's certainly the goal from the president's perspective. i mean, as much as there is talk that this is a teachable moment and they hope to start a dialogue, this is not why the president ran for office. i mean, he has other items on his agenda that he wishes everyone would be focused on.

so, you know, i think there's always a possibility that things won't go as planned or won't be as perfect as some might have hoped, but probably, and these kinds of things, they're in the white house, people are on their best behavior, i think the notion is to sit down, break bread, have a beer, get along, that kind of thing. >> all right, savannah. by the way, savannah, thank you again, we got a statement from the president saying his meeting with the professor and the officer a, quote, opportunity to listen to each other. so it sounds as if the president wants to direct this to -- far from a chummy kind of conversation, but maybe both of them can tell from their sper te perspective what happened. >> in the bigger picture, what will tonight's white house meeting do for the race relations in america? president obama calls it a teachable moment. he believes the meeting will help spark a discussion of race. attorney general eric holder says race is an issue that's

divided us in the past and could divide us in the future. >> i think we're certainly in a much better place than we were. i think work remains, but there also is work that needs to be done in communities of color where i think people too often want to assume that the police or people in law enforcement are doing the wrong thing. >> james peterson is a professor of african studies at bucknell university. he joins us live from washington. i guess the kind of disturbing thing with these events is that we all felt maybe naively with electing an african-american president that we took a much bigger step forward than in reality on a day-to-day basis does play out in this country as far as race relations. >> we're a little ahead of ourselves on that. i'm personally more interested in companies like blue cross & blue shield than i am in blue moon beer. i'd like to see whether all the different people that are involved in this process, including the president, are willing to make this beer summits happening in communities across the country. let's have officers of the law

and community leaders and community folk sit down together and try to talk through some of the issues to try to heal the rifts between policing institutions and the communities they have to protect and serve. that's what i'd like to see come out of this. it will be interesting to see if that's the case. >> we are waiting to get some sound of the president. he spoke about this beer meeting, beer sut minimmmit as been called. we'll play that shortly. does this at all have the potential to minimize a very serious and difficult conversation? obviously, these two men have very different perspectives of what happened. one referred to the other as a rogue cop. the other said the other was belligerent and acting out of control. somebody's got to relent, it would seem, to find equal ground here. maybe not over race, but over behavior. >> sure, yeah. i'm not sure that's going to happen. i think what we need to take from this is like the conversation that you, tamron, and donny were having about the interaction you had earlier. those kind of conversations are happening all over the country. we need to sort of make those

things happen in this moment. this is a largely symbolic gesture. this beer summit is largely symbolic, but we have to take the symbol and make something real happen in our communities. >> let's do one of these discussions between you and i. we've never met. give me an instant that's happened in your life that as liberal as i am, i can't understand because i've never walked in your shoes. >> well, donny, there's too many to recount here, but i'll give you an incident with myself in graduate school. when i was preparing for my exams in graduate school i had a small cubicle out of which i worked. i went in that day to study for my exam. someone had scrawled the "n" word on my desk. they had engraved it in the desk really harsh. up until that moment i never thought very racially about being in graduate school that. threw me so far off my game, it affected my performance in the exam, it actually affected me in general over the next year or so because i was stunned someone would approach me that way. >> professor we have this tape in.

let's listen in to what he has to say about the summit. >> reporter: what do you think will be the main message of your meeting tonight in the rose garden? >> on gdp i don't have a crystal ball and i haven't received the figures yet, but i think if you look at the consensus of economists right now, it confirms that we have seen a significant slowing down of the contraction over the last several months. there are a lot of indicators out there that tell us that job losses, although still way too high, are not at the pace that we were seeing in january or february. housing prices went up for the first time in three years.

the credit system, the banking system, the financial markets generally have settled down. you're not seeing the huge volatility or panic that you were seeing. so all of that is a sign that we have stepped away from the precipice. you know, as ben bernanke and others across the ideological spectrum have indicated, we were in a position where we could have gone into a great depression. i think those fears have abated, but i suspect that the gdp numbers will still show that the economy contracted in the second quarter, that job loss is still a huge problem. you don't have to read gdp numbers to see that. all you got to do is talk to the american people who are still

losing jobs, losing homes, and worried about their ability to keep their health care and finance their child's college educations. so we're not going to rest until we have seen not just a technical iment prprovement in but until the american people's job prospects and incomes have rebounded, and that's going to take some time. with respect to tonight, i have to say fascinated with the fascination about this evening. as you know, this idea was prompted when i was talking to sergeant crowley and he said, well, maybe i'll have a beer in the white house someday, and i said, well, you know, i'm sure that can be arranged. you know, i notice this has been called the beer summit.

it's a clever term, but this is not a summit, guys. this is three folks having a drink at the end of the day and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. and that's really all it is. this is not a university semi r seminar. it is not a summit. it's an attempt to have some personal interaction when an issue has become so hyped and so symbolic that you lose sight of just the fact that these are people involved, including myself, all of whom are imperfect, and, you know, hopefully instead of begginning

anger and hyperbole, hopefully everybody can spend some time with self-recognition and recognizing that different people have different points of view. that's all it is. and so i will be surprised if you guys all make this the lead as opposed to a very important meeting we just had with one of our most important partners in the world, but the press has surprised me before. thank you. thank you very much. >> president obama in a meeting with the president of the philippines but reacting to this beer summit -- he said it was a clever name, but it's not a summit -- this meeting with professor gates and sergeant crowley coming up. we also want to thank you professor peterson for talking with us. you hear the president trying to

categorize it and get some control over what is now a media firestorm. >> the one time i have ever seen him where he's not telling the truth, that he'd be surprised if the immediate why is leading with the beer summit versus his meeting with the president of the philippines. coming up, a closer look at the custody deal for michael jackson's kids. why will a psychologist be involved? >> later this hour, politicians using snoop dogg the rapper to talk about the economy. you are watching "the big picture" on msnbc. i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time.

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now to iran where at this hour there are reports of violent new government crackdownsprotesters. >> video shows iranian police moving in against protester. they reportedly used baton to beat back protesters. we're also just getting in amateur video apparently shot on a tehran street corner. it appears to show demonstrations and clashes with security forces that have spread to other parts of the city. so far there's been no word of any injuries. joining us from beirut is richard engel who was just recently in iran. richard, some compelling images yet again coming in. we understand some of the reports out there, people are being detained. is this possibly the beginning of another big flare-up as we saw last month?

>> reporter: not necessarily the beginning of a new wave. this demonstration that took place today had been about a month in the planning. it was 40 days since the death of neda, that woman who became a symbol of opposition to president ahmadinejad when she was killed on one of the tehran streets. thattured by a cell phone and circulated around the world. at least 1,000 demonstrators gathered by her graveside, or tried to hold a vigil this will they were broken up by riot police. there were numerous accounts of the riot police using batons and tear gas. at another location in central tehran, there were more clashes. it was more hit and run style slashes. >> what is the latest on mousavi? i understand he was barred from attending this event today?

>> reporter: he did attend. he showed up in his car, but he was quickly surrounded by riot police who didn't let him get out of the vehicle. this would have been the first time he's been seen in public trying to lead the rallies in about two weeks, but his attempts were mostly unsuccessful. he arrived but wasn't able to address the court. >> nbc's richard engel live in beirut. always on top of what's happening in iran. thank you very much, richard. and so there are obviously more incredible video. it's still the case where the media is locked out and the images are coming out from the people in the midst of this. still ahead, rush limbaugh, still fanning the flames. what he's saying about racism and, yes, new comments from rush about the so-called beer summit. first, holy roller. stealing a car to get out of church? you will be shocked when you see the little driver. tonight's dinner specials:

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there are, of course, a lot of things considered news in this world. >> but there are only a few thin things that make us say -- >> no way! >> every tried to avoid sunday school? a 7-year-old took it to a new level by stealing his parents' car and leading police on a chase. joining us from ogden, utah, is captain clint anderson. welcome, officer. what was your reaction when a 7-year-old got out of the car? >> well, i wasn't actually there. it was one of my deputies, but the way he describes it is that he froze. he jumped out of the car, saw the child get out, and couldn't believe what he was seeing. >> captain, it's hard for us to

believe -- he's just bolting towards the house. i'm sure he's adorable but what was his story? as cute as he may be, he was running from the law. what was his story, captain? >> he was definitely running from the law. well, the deputy actually went in the door after him and stood in the door and hollered. that's when they met his father who was getting dressed. the family had been sleeping in and when they asked if he had a young son about so tall, he said yes. and said, well, we just followed him, he was driving a car, and the father did not believe it at all. it was only when they confronted the child in front of the father and the father said did you do this, he said yes. >> obviously, we're talking about it as something kind of charming. certainly it's a scary story. do you know what the parents did with the young church an avoiding man? >> well, i know he'll be going to church for a while. >> he should be going probably all day. >> yes.

well, they have grounded him. >> good. >> and apparently they also took away one of his cherished video games, one that involves driving a car and fleeing from the law. >> interesting. do they think he learned to drive from a video game? it looks like a pretty rural area. had they been teaching him to drive? >> well, no, they'd not been teaching him to drive except it is a rural area, and the child has had an opportunity to steer a tractor a couple times with his father, but he's a bright child, and he apparently pays attention, and -- >> a little too bright. >> yeah. >> captain, he was going i understand up to 45 miles per hour. how did his feet even reach the gas pedal? >> well, the deputies say when they saw him, he was looking through the steering wheel over the dash. he could barely see over. >> thank god nobody was hurt. >> what he would do is slide down to hit the accelerator and then scoot back up to see where

he was going. >> oh, my god. >> i have a 6-year-old at home. the thought of her possibly driving is beyond comprehension. the fact he's 7-year-old is disturbing. >> we appreciate you coming on and sharing the story. you're not giving out his name i guess because he's only 7. >> that's right. >> protect his identity. >> we know we don't have to say this, kids, do not try this at home. >> it is hard because when you see it, it's like something out of a movie and you want to chuckle especially when you see him getting out and bolting. but when you see him cut across that lane, thank goodness nobody was out there. 7 years old. >> you're not doing your kid a favor even putting him on the lap. thank god we're reporting it this way and not a more horrific way. >> up next, 352 pages of rod blagojevich? yes, blogo is back in the news. what theon lone community onli saying about his upcoming book. >> maybe he has some hairstyling tips. new details about michael jackson's final hours. msnbc's exclusive interview with

his chef. what she saw on the last day of his life. that's coming up. i said, "you're joking." amandai know sandra personally. and she was only able afford a week's worth of medication at a time. sandrasome of my medication was $100 for one prescription. amandabut now, she's able to get a whole month's generic prescription for $4. amandashe's also able to get a three-month supply for just $10. sandrai just want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart. vo: save money. live better. walmart. 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. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances fter. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free".

i'm julia boorstin. stocks posting decent gains. the dow up 84 points. the s&p 500 up over 11 points, and the nasdaq up about 16.5 points. big rebound or oil. oil recovered almost all of yesterday's losses jumping more than 5% today settling just below $67 a barrel. first time claims for state unemployment benefits rose 25,000 to 584,000 last week while claims for new benefits and continuing benefits dropped 54,000 to 6.19 million. a set back for the rebound in the housing market as mortgage rates rise for a second consecutive rate. interest rates for 30-year fixed rate average 5.25%. mastercard made a profit of nearly $350 million during the second quarter.

it beat analysts expectations. mastercard posted a loss of more than $746 million during the same period last year. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. back to msnbc. i'm tamron hall. >> i'm donny deutsch. >> the big picture at this hour, custody deal apparently has been reached in the michael jackson case. katherine jackson will raise her son's three children under an agreement with his ex-wife. debbie rowe, the biological mother of the two oldest kids, will get visitation rights under the supervision of a child psychologist. under the deal she will get no extra money. michael jackson gave rowe a financial settlement when they actually divorced in 2000. she relinquished her parental rights but that has been disputed over some time. she now says she wants to develop a meaningful relationship with her children. meantime, we've learned new details about what happens in michael jackson's home the day he died. his personal chef, kai chase, spoke in an exclusive interview on nbc's "today" show.

>> 12:00, 12:10, dr. murray comes running down the stairs and into the kitchen stairwell, into the kitchen. he comes from the kitchen screaming, hurry, go get prince, get security. >> he's frantic. >> he's frantic, yeah. so i drop everything at that point and run into the den, which is not too far away from the kitchen, and get prince. prince, hurry, come with me. dr. murray is screaming something may be wrong with your dad. we're all panicking and wondering what's going on. paris is screaming and crying, daddy, daddy, daddy. the kids want to know what's going on. >> they're being kept downstairs with you and the housekeeper and a nanny, i believe? >> and a nanny. >> what are you all doing? >> so we're wondering what's going on. we come together in unity and we stand in a circle. we start holding hands and praying. we're praying, dear god, please let mr. jackson be okay. >> the chef has said a short time later michael jackson was

taken to the hospital and everyone was told to leave the premises. she said she learned on the radio while driving home that michael jackson had, in fact, died. >> okay. now, the bigger picture, what's best for michael jackson's children? joining us msnbc journalist and pop culture expert toure. she's almost 80. not to be ageist here. i'm think being my kids in terms of when setting up a will, i have the most amazing parents in the world, but they're close to that age. are people of that age capable of taking care of kids. >> at the risk of being ageist it takes a lot of energy to take care of three kids of any age. how much energy do you have to be running after them, physical energy, and mental energy to be taking care of small children, young children like that? i mean, we know that katherine jackson is a person of great morals, a person who has raised a huge family that for the most part has done very well. you know, so i think she can do

it, but she's going to need help from somebody who is a little younger. we hear rebbie will be a big part of it. >> but isn't that telling though that if she is the best option and not a knock against her, what else was available? i mean, what are they going to go to a mother they've never known before? their father had a memorial where thousands of people were present. life is not usual foor these children, maybe that's the most usual of circumstances -- >> you think one of the siblings -- >> i would have thought one of the female siblings would have become -- janet i would have expected. i thought michael and the janet were the closest out of the group. i don't know where debbie rowe feels a need to enter the situation now. is this really in the best interests of the children that now they're going to meet this person who abandoned them -- >> it is still their mother. a lot of children, if they were just adopted, many of my friends who are adopted have wanted to reach out to their biological parent years later. >> this is the other way. the biological parent, who

abandoned them for millions of dollars, is reaching out to say i want to be part of your lives now. where were you two years ago? why didn't you want to be part of our lives two years ago? why did you abandon us for millions -- >> they didn't know the father was going to say. >> it doesn't say maternal when there's a psychologist sitting right there. it seems weird to me. >> i don't find that unusual at all. i hope to god there would be a psychologist. >> when your kids meet their real mom, you need a psychologist there to make sure things go smoothly. >> if this is their mother, and apparently it is, then they're trying to find some healthiness out of a strange situation. >> the definition of mother is stretched here, right? i mean like people want to say is michael their biological father? i thought that was a ridiculous discussion. but let me talk about something

else, too. in katherine jackson's autobiography, she talks about corporal punishment and being a big fan of corporal punishment up to the age of 15. says children should fear misbehaving. >> isn't that probably typical of someone of her age group? when you know better, you do better. i'm not saying all 80-year-old people, but i gather if you surveyed a lot of 80-year-olds they accept corporal punishment as part of -- >> my parents aren't 80 but a little younger than that or my mom would say i'm a lot younger than that, but a similar generation. we got spanked, i don't know if you did. >> i did. >> but not at 15, not a 10. i think i was 5 or 6. you're not going to get spanked anymore. you're going to get a talking to. >> do you think it's an unhealthy home they're being put into? >> i'm not saying that. i am saying katherine jackson has laid out her parenting manifesto. >> you can't judge other

parents. >> certainly not. >> i hope they have the proper advocate looking out for them financially also. i'm sure their dad wanted everything for them. he clearly loved those kids. >> wasn't that ironed out in the estate later on? >> hopefully. somehow the kids if they don't have the right person looking out for them, so i just -- >> i think these kids are going to be bathed in wealth for their whole lives. however, they're lacking real parents. wealth is never going to clear up that. >> update on the death of boxer arturo gatti. >> police are now saying gatti -- this happens right after the steve mcnair situation, they're now saying that he committed suicide. the 37-year-old was found dead july 11th. at the time though, this is what makes this so intriguing, police believed his wife strangled him with her purse strap while he was asleep. she's been in custody since july 11th, but now the court is ordering her to be released.

they recently reconciled -- were kind of on a honeymoon. there was also reports he may have been stabbed. >> how would he commit suicide with -- i could see hanging. how do you strangle yourself with a suicide. >> i don't know if the police reports were not accurate, but nevertheless what they're saying now at this point is that it was a suicide and this woman who has been behind bars is now -- incredible story. up next, the face-off on the beer summit happening at the white house. >> what will come out of it? and then at the top of the hour it's chris matthews on "hardball." you, of course, are watching msnbc. ♪ ♪ once you've dealt with the things that come between you... don't let erectile dysfunction get in the way.

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index science nutrisystem d works. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back! new! nutrisystem d. lose weight. live better. call or click today. president obama is so race obsessed he writes a book about the father he never really knew subtitled a story of race and inheritan inheritance. he marries a woman who is lucky enough to get into princeton but writes a book about how she's always an outsider in white culture. the two of them sit in reverend wright's hate temple for 20 years and i am the one with the race problem? >> you are the one with the race problem. that was rush limbaugh on his radio show this afternoon. will president obama's beer diplomacy make a difference in racial issues in this country? >> we're a little more than one hour away from the president's meeting with harvard professor gates, sergeant crowley, but will the president succeed in

making the meeting a, quote, teachable moment. he says he wants to allow the men to talk it out. we're getting new video of the table. it's all coming together. >> the table. what is the table made out of? we have chairs. >> it is a round table. many thought originally it was going to be a picnic table. people made a fuss on what side the president would sit at. >> a la king arthur. >> a race statement because it's white? i think some people -- >> please. president obama said he's fascinated about the fascination over tonight. >> hopefully instead of ginning up anger and hyperbole, you know, everybody can just spend a little bit of time with some self-reflection and recognizing that other people have different points of view.

>> well, bill press is a nationally syndicated talk show radio host and author of "how republicans stole religion." i love reading that title. john feehery is a republican strategist. thank you for joining us. john, you're the republican strategist, what is your criticism of what we're seeing today? >> well, nothing. it makes me kind of thirsty. i want a beer. you know, i think that actually this was sergeant crowley's suggestion. i thought it was a good suggestion. i thought the president was pretty smart in taking it up, let's have a beer and talk about it. very irish thing to do. i think it's smart for the president to say, yes, i will have a beer with you. i will say from a political standpoint, there's a big fight on capitol hill on health care and no one is talking about that. everybody is talking about beer, and i like to talk about beer, so that's good. >> we did both in our two hours. we covered both. certainly you can talk about both. >> but the fascination was with beer, tamron. you know that. >> no, i think it's the issue of mr. it was race profiling, but

john i will give you a shot because you say you can't find any real complaints. do you find complaints with what rush limbaugh is saying and others who are describing the presidents a a racist saying he hates white people, forgetting his mother is white, beloved grandmother is white. he is half white. >> i think when we get overcharged and make all these accusations of everyone being racist, i think what we need to do is look at people as individuals. i think that makes us better as a society and not through the race lens. >> so you think rush is being irresponsible and others like him who -- >> i think when people use the race card and charge people with racism, they're all being irresponsible. >> bill, as a democratic strategist, do you think this will backfire on the republicans. none of the republicans are stepping forward condemning any of this nonsense. will this backfire? >> first of all, i have to agree with john. i think glenn beck was way over the line calling him a racist. i think rush limbaugh was way

over the line. i read barack obama book. it's a moving book of a black man growing up. my motto, more beer and less bile. i think that's what we need in washington. it was -- >> i agree with you, bill. >> it was the police officer's idea. you know, and the teachable moment i think tonight is just that all the rest of us see here are three guys who overreacted last week. all three overreacted, and all three are stitting down and having a beer and talking. that's good. >> some of the language was certainly incendiary. gates calling him a rogue cop. the officer saying gates was overreacting and we see the hand cuff photograph. are they going to be able to make this into a sitcom moment or are they going to have a real conversation. donny and i have talked, everybody has perceptions and you've got to knock down walls, and as you knock down beers in the white house, can you do that

realistically? >> let me say i think let's not forget that just the fact that they're meeting tonight i think is already significant. i think it's a great model when you have these people who overreact and they they just get together and talk about it. seriously, if there were more of that in washington, we'd be a hell of a lot better off. >> i want to bring tamron in. the theory of this is just obviously the more talk the better. when we all acknowledge, whites we certainly cannot walk in black people's skin and vice versa. you're sitting here with middle aged white -- >> i'm not middle aged. >> john is not middle aged. >> selectively we're middle aged. and young african-american woman. tell us what we don't know. an incident in your life. this is what this is all about. >> what you don't know. >> what we cannot fathom and the more we understand about -- that's what this discussion is, and if at everybody's dinner table tonight these discussions are happening, we all won. please, i'm not being -- >> and i don't think you are. i think you're sincere. it's not about me.

i think there are many others -- >> but that's all -- everybody has -- >> everybody has a story. >> as a jew i have stories in my life and once again i think the more we can talk about it and accept it, understand that -- >> yeah, i think it would be nice if -- we have live pictures of people arriving at the white house. let's take a look here to see -- hang on john. >> we have american flag. >> we have the flags. >> bill and john hang on. we're trying to see who these people are arriving at the white house. cameras are pointed everywhere all around to see who is there. we saw bill and john, we saw a little earlier sergeant crowley speaking at the airport as he arrived. it will be interesting how they're going to balance this. but i think, donny is right, we don't have time for me to tell my story, but a lot certainly has been learned. we had a professor on sharing his experience. i don't know if we can knock down all of these walls, but if conversation is a healer, maybe that's what we're doing. i don't want to sound like i'm

pontificating because i don't know, but the best way to know someone really is to talk to them and maybe these guys will talk and learn they've got something in common. maybe they both like the red sox, i don't know. >> tamron, i would say picking up on what donny said, if people are talking about tonight there's some racial profiling going on in this country and that's too bad and people are talking about three guys that i dd d disagreed can sit down, that's good. >> i was talking about gates and crowley. i know he's a white sox fan. i lived ten years in chicago, john. >> i'm from the south side of chicago, so i get it. >> thanks a lot, guys. >> the interesting thing like one of our earlier guests, african-american professor, was saying when he sat down in college taking a test somebody used the "n" word, when i hear a

story like that, its still so much more than i can understand. the next time something happens like the gates incident, i'm already talking about a more empathetic way. >> when i got in national news, i told someone during the election season, i have never been called the "n" word so many times with phone calls and letters that people would send in thinking because i was an african-american journalist that somehow i was on president obama's side. and i grew up in texas and i have never been called the "n" word so many times until the national audience became engaged. does that make someone guarantee me more? no. i'll get e-mails saying, tamron, it's not about you. you have to take it you're a journalist. we have hit it off in three days. david and i hit it off. we certainly don't have a whole lot in common other than i think we're open-minded people. >> 35 years from now white will be the minority in this country,

so this is a discussion that obviously i think is in everybody's best interest. >> we should heal the world. >> up next, some things we thought you should know. >> i'm going to cry. donny deutsch is the most sensitive man in television news. a radio giant says thanks but no thanks to sarah palin. first, a rapper makes an unlikely appearance in a tweet from florida candidate marco rubio. if this doesn't bring the world together, i don't know what will. he writes consumer confidence at near historic low. with my mind on my money and my money on my mind. in case you don't know this, that's the original name of snoop dogg and that quote is from his hit "gin and juice." it all comes together. you just touched my heart, donny. my doctor told me something i never knew.

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a lot going on today. here are three things we thought you should know. >> former illinois governor rod blagojevich is getting his story out there with a 352-page book. the governor, the truth behind the political scandal that continues to rock the nation. that's the title. it hits stores september 8th. but it's available by going on amazon.com. customers have added tag words including delusional, governor

goofy, and hairbrush. >> think you could listen to sarah palin for a few hours every day? clear handle has already passed on the idea of palin hosting her own show. palin representatives are testing to see if there is any interest out there. it is not easy, three hours. one thing to talk in sound bites. when you have to do 15 hours a week -- >> clear channel is a big player. >> it shows they don't think she's got the stuff. not enough meat on the bone. sp speaking of sarah palin, william shatner is putting her words to poetry. he returned to conan o'brien to read palin's latest tweet the way conan says it was meant for you to hear. take a listen. >> god most creatively displays his diversity in alaska. tourists from across america, here loving their 49th state i'm

reminded one heart, one hope, one destiny, one flag from sea to sea. >> think it's going to go to wax? >> it was funny one night. >> those are the things we thought you should know. one night is good, two nights pushing it. >> it was a funny bit. popped the numbers is they brought him back. should have left it alone. the house of representatives leaves for its month-long august recess tomorrow. missing president obama's self-imposed deadline to pass a health care reform bill. but all eyes will be on the work of one house committee and whether it gives democrats and the obama administration some momentum on health care before the recess. >> let's get right to our next read on politics with the stories we'll be watching heading into tomorrow. mark murray is deputy political director for nbc news. what do you have for us? >> obviously as you were just mentioning, we're going to be watching the house energy and commerce committee to see if it actually can get that health care bill through the committee which would obviously be a