when you go into a campaign, it's the free market of ideas. we are laying out our ideas. we gave them to the president. we've put them onto the floor each and every day. the difficulty is you need to work together to get them through. right now the only bipartisan votes in congress are saying no to the direction washington is going, and i think america is waking up to that. >> i have to challenge you on that, congressman mccarthy, where is the government takeover? i'm not quite sure i know what you're talking about. i know it's a bullet point -- >> you're not quite sure? let me tell you. >> where is the takeover? did you not want to help out wall street? >> i did not vote to go out and bail out wall street. no, i wanted to help out main street. tomorrow we're sitting in congress and they're going to try to decide what is the pay for people across america? we're debating for the last three weeks a government takeover of our health care. >> no, there's no government

takeover of health care, congressman. you've got to be honest. >> how can you say that? >> there's a government option maybe on the way. you can keep my health care, and i can keep my, but somebody who doesn't have health care might be able to buy it. >> have you ahead the bill, ed? >> i'm not in congress, you're in congress, my friend. so they're calling it a government takeover after you read the bill? >> i wasn't the only one calling it a government takeover. i talked to numerous democrats. if you currently have a private plan and it passes, within five years they can't offer you another plan, you only have the option to go into the government health care. >> congressman, i'm short on time. come on back. i've enjoyed the spirited discussion. i'm amazed you've got all this confidence. thank you so much. >> thanks for having she. >> earlier i offered sarah palin a chance to fill in on my show. here's what you think about it.

that's "the ed show." we're going to be live from portland, oregon with this show tomorrow night. last call. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, ale to the chief? the summit is over, but it's not over. president obama, vice president joe biden, henry louis gates and the man who arrested him gathered tonight. i think the main fare was

peanuts. everybody had something to say by the way, about how they conducted themselves in the situation the other day. i think a couple weeks ago, everybody has a different view. based upon the own rear-view mirrors what they've been through in life. in about a half hour, by the way, sergeant crowley will hold a news conference over at a labor hall, the second half of tonight's big event. we'll carry it live when it happens. a presser tonight in about a half hour. more news coming on this story. first we'll be joined by eugene robinson. we'll be joined by eugene robinson and others. why are some republicans and other opponents of health care reform now insisting that president obama wants to send government workers to the homes of the elderly to ask how they want to die? it's because of a provision in one of the health care bills congress is considering. we're going to talk to the sponsor of that bill. but first with a radio talk show

host who doesn't like the bill. plus, what happened to the all-purpose can't miss obama message machine that vanquished hillary clinton and john mccain? suddenly the president seems to have a hard time figuring out who he has to say, and we can't figure out what it is. also, what do people thing about president obama? that's coming up in the "politics fix." and which of the political coupling would you line to spend your vacation with? the obamas, the clintons, the mccains, or the palins? we got some information from a focus group and what other people are saying on that topic in the "hardball" side show. but we start with today's white house beer summit. president obama, vice president biden, professor henry louis

gates and sergeant james crowley. with me now is eugene robinson pulitzer prize winning columnist for "the washington post" and an msnbc political analyst mark whit akerr. and at the white house, the "new york times" jeff zell. a print guy telling us tv guys, what happened. can you give us some ticktock on what's been going on on the back lawn, jeff? >> chris, we know this meeting lasted about 40 minutes. advisories the press and cameras were only in there about 30 seconds. at this point we don't know exactly what the conversation was. nos surprisingly, a white house aide just e-mailed me and said it went well. of course, it did. here in another 30 minutes we'll hear from sergeant crowley himself, holding a news conference just a couple blocks away, but the body language initially was said to look sort of stiff between the two, but a few other aides said as they were watching it via windows of

their west wing offices, that they were listening intently, that there were some smiles and jokes, but having vice president joe biden optically was one of the most interesting things, as you said, sort of a late edit n addition to this, because the president brought along the guy to bring loon white voters, if you will. i think the white house wants the picture to be left at that. as the night goes along, we'll find out more. >> so he's using the vice president as not as an envoy, but as his ed mcmahon? >> something like that. that's -- we weren't going to hear any of the conversation. i would have loved to have had a mic microphone on him. >> join our roundtable as we discuss this with gene and mark. mark, do you have any ticktock to share yet? >> biden had a non-alcoholic

beer. a buckler, so maybe they didn't want him to drink and -- >> send that the non-alcoholic version of heineken? >> we thought he was going to ask for a red stripe, which is a jamaican beer, yet he asked for a sam adams light, there was a lot of talk they should have an american beer from boston. i also was watching the body language. it was interesting, we know joe biden for being very lo quashs. >> he apparently doesn't drink, mark. >> it was done by crowley and professor gates. crowley started, but gates was being very animated, in professor mode. those of us who know him can just imagine what that was like. >> don't you think from the visual, gene, that the sergeant has his game face on? >> he certainly seemed to start that way. >> i'm looking at the guy. there's a crease of a smile. >> yeah, look at professor

gates. he also doesn't -- you know, he has his classroom game face on as well. it's interesting, having biden there, of course, balances the picture in a different way. you've got two white guys and two black guys. >> that's what i thought immediately. aren't we getting good at this? >> and also, if the conversation were to -- >> by the way we have two white guys and black guys now. this is interesting, but i think biden -- we're learning so much about this. biden doesn't drink, i'm told, so proves the argument, see, you don't have to drink to have a good time. joe seems to be having more fun than anybody there. >> i guess he's less inhibited enough. >> like jerry lewis. what are the president's risks are? if the sergeant, the eye resting officer, we're talking about a police action here, if the arresting officer continues with his statement that he wants the president to basically step back from his charge of stupidity

again the cambridge police, what's the president's risk here? >> well, i think -- >> he can't end this tonight. >> there is some risk, but i think it's mitigated. he's been the host, he had them there. i think it would be ungracious to give a press conference and them slam the guy that just offered you a blue moon, you know, in the white house. >> this is a guy that will try to bring peace between the arabs and netanyahu. if he fails between these two guys that's not a great prelude. >> here's where the story will be tomorrow. it's been about the "r" word. tomorrow will be about the "a" word, was there an apology. both men so far have said they're not prepared to apologize to the other. >> jeff, in addition to what we're getting here, jeff, do you know if they agreed to not talk about the case, so to not warp any further legal action here? >> well, certainly that was the hope of president obama and the white house, if they weren't going to sort of relitigate

this. it's unclear if they talked about anything specific. we don't know if there will be some kind of suit. the white house said there will be a statement coming out sometime soon, so we'll get a bit of that. >> we'll get a joint communique. >> exactly. and this is something that is -- i guess puts an end to this, but for president obama, at some point he's going to be asked about this again. he has to talk about this at some point. he won't tonight, of course, but i think we'll hear maybe one more thing from him and hope it's over from here. >> what about the racist language in that e-mail that one of the officers in the boston police got caught with the other -- well, recently, like today. is that going to add to the fuel here? jeff. >> i think it certainly sort of forms the backdrop. at the beginning of this, people jumping to conclusions on this said this john crowley must be a racist.

it turns out he wasn't. a week and a half later, here is a statement, an e-mail from someone who looks to be like that. so, you know, i think it will fuel it on talk radio, and others things. it definitely gets the "r" word out there, but the white house won't engage in any type of conversation. you can be sure that police officer will not be invited to the white house for a beer or anything. >> i want to go around the table on this. the white house believes now they are in a defensive mode, gene, that the president came off as a buttinski here in a racially charged case. was it seen as a -- i think the without believes it better had the president not opined on the case itself and perhaps maid some more an i dine press conference. i think this is an interesting moment.

>> you like this moment? >> yeah, i think we've learned something, and i think it's been an opportunity to talk about race, where we don't have a tragedy as a backdrop. egos were bruised, feelings were hurt, but nobody got shot, nobody -- you know, nothing really bad happened. so we can talk about it. i think some people enjoy this, because they do enjoy the vision, but do you think we'll improve the situation? open your trunk, buddy? you know, you fit the description, open the trunk, and treat people like suspects just they're black? >> i think there are a lot of causes for that that go very

deep to our history, our sociology. i don't think just this episode i think will put an end to this. i think the lesson learned for the white house is, and they should have learned this from the jeremiah wright story during the campaign, is any story about race is going to be catnip, if not worse for the media. >> are you shocked? i know you're a columnist, you can opine much more freely and jeff is a straight reporter, but aren't we all surprised by the outward statements being made by people on the radio, you know, the names rush and beck, the harshness of it? >> well, look, i think there's a larger backdrop to this, which is that it's not only about our racial past, it's also about our racial future. we're well on our way to becoming a country where white people are going to be a minority by the middle of this century, and i think that is scary and unsettling to a lot of people. >> jeff, is there any way to

analyze whether some of this is purely political, meaning the somewhat kumbaya aspects from last fall is somewhat frightening to the right especially? >> i think that anybody that would have thought of issues of race were transcended, well, not really. if you go out to a lot of those districts across the country -- i traveled around all over the country with president obama. there were people everywhere who weren't voting for him necessarily. there were states, counties he didn't do that well. so i think the comments and the criticisms right now from the right are particularly being heard more, because president obama is sort of has come back to earth, if you will. you know, his approval ratings are just above 50%. this was the hardest moment so far of his presidency. so i think one interesting thing

he said on friday, one thing he objected to, he said, look, i don't apologize for talking about this. he doesn't necessarily i think -- if he couldn't have taken back the "stupidly" word, hi probably would have, he said this is part of my portfolio. >> thank you, mark whit akerr, because it's a hot time in the house, thank you, eugene robinson, and thank you jeff zelleny, from "new york times," my favorite newspaper. sergeant crowley, by the way will hold a press conference by the way at 7:30 eastern. we're going to bring you that live when it happens. who knows if there's more to this issue. coming up, the republicans now have the nomination they need to defeat health care reform now that democrats have inserted a provision covering end of life consultations. they're making the democrats

like lie kevorkian. we're going to talk about the congressman who added that provision, and also to lars larsen, who actually loves this issue, red meat for him. 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. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. 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".

welcome back to a "hardball." last week john boehner put out a statement that the house-drafted health care legislation

. they have a solution that will make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all americans and that ensures afford all action for all americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government. >> not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government. warning us a health care bill. if you don't think this is hot, here's the president getting hit with it this week at a town hall meeting in north carolina. >> i have been told there is a clause in there that everyone that's medicare age will be visited and told to decide how they wish to die.

this bothers me greatly, and i would like for you to promise me this is not in this bill. >> you know, the -- i guarantee you, first of all, we just don't have enough government workers to send to talk to everybody to find out how they want to die. i think that the only thing that may have been proposed in some of the bills -- and i actually think this is a good thing -- is that it makes it easier for people to fill out a living will. >> well, what's going on here? in a moment we'll talk to earl blumm blummen gnaw. lars larson, according to the president, this is money in a bill that pays for somebody to write a living will consultation. >> it's baloney. they're putting government in a

position to counsel you about how you should end your life. we've seen it happen here in oregon. there's a woman by the name of barbara wagner told by the medicaid program called the oregon health plan, we won't pay for your cancer treatment, but we will pay for your so-called physician assistance in dying. the government says we won't save your life, but we will help you end your life. the idea that this new 1,000-page bill includes lang with the government counseling older people about how they want to end your lives, chris, you ought to be very afraid of this. we're on our way to serious -- >> what about the idea of a person who wants a living will, who doesn't want any extraordinary steps taken, like an alzheimer's person facing it. you know it's a 15-year progression. >> chris -- >> what are you say to a person like that? >> you can go online and get all

kinds of documents to make your wishes clear, but this is the government, the people who control the money that eventually will control all of our health care if the democrats get their way, god help us. they'll be saying, how would you like to end your life? knowing the very people that asking that question also have billions of dollars at stake in the question. >> having read the bill, tell me how it would work? now physically i just got a bad cancer diagnosis, for example, where i just found out i have alternate hypers or something. >> what they're saying is i understand the language, i've read it too, it says that periodically people who are older will be counseled by their doctor -- >> at their request, right? >> well, there's the question. it's whether or not it will be at their request or whether or not the government will say, we want you to do this with all of your patients. >> how would the government do that? >> the government is signing the checks, chris. >> they go into your room and walk in and say you're wasting government money or wasting medicare money, why don't you

give us hospice care or something? >> the way i see it happening is people who are older who generally have more health problems will walk into a doctor's office or a physician assistant, and they're going to sit down, and along with all those other questions, how are you feeling? what's your blood pressure? they'll do a health history and they'll say, have you thought about the way you're going to pass out of this world? >> so i respect your position. your position is they will affirmative raise the topic of whether you want to waste this money, as they might put it, do you want to be a burden on society? do you want to go through all thinks mris when you're on your way out? we'll get you the right drugs for pain killing and live in a hose pi. you're going to say they'll force it in your face. >> they have a dog in the fight. they have billions, and the doctor answers to the government who's writing the checks. >> thank you, lars, we'll try to get those answers from the congressman. >> good luck. >> here's earl blumenauer, he

put the language in the bill. what he put in there is an offer to get an explanation by a practitioners of advanced directives, including living wills, durable powers of attorney. congressman, thank you. lars larson says you're going to basically have professionals confront older people and tell them they're basically being a burden, the costs are running too high, they should consider something else. >> lars is either not telling the truth or he doesn't know how to read the bill. i posted it on my website. first of all, thinks bipartisan legislation, my co-sponsor is a republican doctor, and it simply provides not a government bureaucrat, but allows you, when you pick your doctor, if you're going to have this conversation, the government will pay for it. right now the government will pay to hook you up, put needles in you, tubes, do all sorts of things and tests, but it won't pay for a simple consultation about what a patient can look

forward to when they're in this most critical stage. i had a friend of mine, a republican doctor/surgeon, who says he has these conversations all the time. he doesn't want to have them at the last minute before people think about it. he thinks this is the way to go. so do i, so does the american association of retired people, what lars is talking about is absolute lly bog us. >> what triggers this conversation, sir, in your bill. >> it triggers any medical condition you have with your doctor that's paid for under medicare. >> do you bring up the subject if you want a living will? or does the physician say do you want a living will? >> it can go both ways, you pick your doctor under medicare, it's not somebody the government assigns. it's been that way for 40 years. what happens if you have a pain in your neck or your doctor sees something that is wrong with

your eyes? or is talking to you about -- it's the same thing what's different is for the first time the federal government will pay people to have this conversation, and hopefully it will raise the profile. you know, the only mandatory provision that dealt with the end of life was introduced by a republican in the senate that would have required medicare -- medicare people to have to fill this out before they get medicare. that's not in our bill, and i'm really embarrassed -- >> congressman, here's the imagery they're working on. they'll say you'll be -- >> your doctor. >> and they're going to say to you you're a burden on society, this is going to cost a lot of money, maybe you just want to go to a hospice and save a lot of people a lot of money. are you saying you won't be confronted with that choice?

>> i'm saying that this gentleman and others like him have no idea how medicare works. you pick your medicare doctor. it's somebody that you are comfortable with, and they are professionally obligated to work with you. it's bog us to say that your doctor will suddenly want to do something that's against your interests. >> we -- let's talk about terri schiavo. we can argue about the brain waves and everything else, it was a terrible situation, her husband made the decision to end the extraordinary steps, the parents disagreed. how would your bill avoid those kinds of situations where you can't tell what the patient wants? >> well, it would attempt to make sure that more people are not in the situation of terri schiavo. if terri schiavo had had this conversation with her family and

her doctor before this instant occurred and had securitied a documents or the doctor actually knew, we wouldn't have had 17 judges intervening and wouldn't have made a national spectacle out of that family. that's why i have these provisions, i assume that you do, maybe even lars larson does. >> there's no government agency involved, nobody is pressuring you to make your decisions. you're saying that. >> it's voluntary, your doctor, and i invite anybody to look at my website and look at the actual language. >> thanks very much for coming on the show. earl blumenauer. up next, if the things that sarah palin says leave you bewildered, it's bill shatner will put it to verse. he's going to give us the poetic version of the words of sarah palin. it's pretty funny and not derogatory. you're watching "hardball" only

on msnbc. he ran off with his secretary! she's 23 years old! - oh, come on. - enough! you get half. and you get half. ( chirp ) team three, boathouse? ( chirp ) oh yeah. his and rs. - ( 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.

than a second with nextel direct connect. only on the now network. ♪ ♪ i'm cool like that, i'm cool like that ♪ ♪ i'm cool like that [ female announcer ] there's a smarter, cooler way to get your clothes brilliantly clean. and it's a turn for the better. ♪ i'm cool like that, i'm cool like that ♪ [ female announcer ] tide coldwater. it's specially formulated to clean in cold better than the other brand does in warm. ♪ cool like that and by washing in cold, you can save up to $10 on your energy bill with every 100 oz bottle. and that's cool. tide coldwater.

get out of the old and into the cold. ♪ i'm cool like that ♪s♪ which one's me - a cool convertible or an suv? ♪ ♪ too bad i didn't know my credit was whack ♪ ♪ 'cause now i'm driving off the lot in a used sub-compact. ♪ ♪ f-r-e-e, that spells free credit report dot com, baby. ♪ ♪ saw their ads on my tv ♪ thought about going but was too lazy ♪ ♪ now instead of looking fly and rollin' phat ♪ ♪ my legs are sticking to the vin ♪ ♪ and my posse's getting laughed at. ♪ ♪ f-r-e-e, that spells free- credit report dot com, baby. ♪

back to "hardball." here's sarah palin's actual twitters from palin, but also in verse. >> from sea life near lush wet

rainforests to energy housed under frozen tundra atop permafrost, god shows 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. awesome alaska night, sensing summer already winding down with fireweed near full bloom, finally sitting down to pen listening to big and rich. >> listening to big and rich. talk about a trooper. bill shatner, though i never thought of bongo drums making the alaskan sound. for tonight's "big number." a sugarplum from last night's focus group. a group of 12 independent voters were asked what political couple

they would most like to invite along on a vacation. out of the obamas, the clintons, the mccains, and the palins. who came out on top among the dozen people polled? this may surprise you a little bit. the clintons with six votes. half the people said they'd rather be with the clintons. the obamas came in second followed by the palins and then the mccains. the real draw apparently was not hillary clinton so much as bill clinton. quote, this is one of the guys said, i want to have fun. bill is a party guy. 6 out of 12 say they'd rather vacation with the clintons. tonight's "big number." up next, what happened to the obama message machine? the president's polls are slipping and more americans disapprove of his way of handling health care reform. for a guy who was so hard to knock off course last year, what's going on right now? we're going to ask a pair of top-notch message crafters, dee dee myers and tony blankley, what's going on with the president. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. when my wife started forgetting things...

the doctor said it could be alzheimer's. i didn't want to believe it. but that night at the bowling alley... where's alice?

oh, there she is! she seems a little confused. that's when i knew... i couldn't wait. our doctor told us prescription aricept... is the only treatment proven effecti... for all stages of alzheimer's. studies showed aricept slows the progression of symptoms. it improves cognition... and slows the decline of overall function. aricept is well tolerated but not for everne. people at risk for stomach ulcers... or who take certain other medicines... should tell their doctors... because serious stomach problems... such as bleeding, may get worse. some people may experience fainting. some people may have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bruising, or not sleep well. some people may have muscle cramps... or loss of appetite or may feel tired. in studies, these were usually mild and temporary. we really love this place. talk to your doctor about alzheimer's treatments...

well, the nuts continues tonight. we're awaiting sergeant crowley's live press conference in washington following his beer summit, if you will. back with us are mark whit akerr and roger simon, the chief political columnist for the amazing new journal "the politico." i want to start with you, roger. it's really about personality. the president of the united states joined by the man i called as ed mcmahon, with no derogatory meeting, his regular guy, running mate, now vice president, seems to have a role. to bring biden in, a man known as pro-cop, pro-firefighters, irish guy -- >> i hear biden wasn't invited, he just showed up -- no. just kidding. the white house did not prepare

anybody for the fact -- >> what does he bring to the table, if you will? >> i think he brings, you know, a certain bond with all union members. >> and guys like me. >> this police officer is a union guy, and a certainly -- >> regular, scranton guy. >> exactly. if you run the video again, i don't know -- >> we can look at it. >> if you can get the screen up. >> what are we looking at? >> i got to ask one thing about the stagecraft here. why is is there a physical gulf between crowley and gates? >> what, you want a loveseat? >> why are they why aren't they sitting as close to -- >> they set up the camera shot. >> i don't think it was set up for a camera shot. >> two guys in white shirts are the framing people, so you can see the two guys in the middle.

mark, you're tv now, good-bye print. what is going on with this? >> well, i think this probably was a good moment, in that i think it's not hard to look at this and say these guys can get along, but what will happen next, the press conference. >> we got a two-minute warning already. >> will be an important moment. >> here we go. here comes sergeant crowley. his lawyer and union rep. >> we'd like to thank the afl-cio for hosting our meeting today. we're going to do a very brief statement by sergeant jim crowley, and we will open it up to just a few questions. if people could raise their hands or something so everyone's not screaming them all at witness, that would be greatly appreciated. >> good evening. first, i'd like to thank the police officers from cambridge, from my hometown, and from massachusetts and across the

country for your overwhelming support to me and my family during this difficult time. during this ordeal, one of the challenges was to make clear across america what a difficult job. we had a cordial and productive discussion today with the president, vice president and professor gates. we have all agreed that it is important to look forward rather than backward. issues important to all of us will form the basis of discussions between professor gates and me in the days and weeks to come. professor gates and i bring different perspectives to these issues and very agreed that both should be addressed in an effort to provide a constructive outcome to the events of the past month. thank you. >> also here with us is dennis o'connor, the president of the cambridge police superior of association, and alan donald, legal counsel, as well. we'll start with you. >> reporter: did anyone

apologize? >> no. >> sergeant crowley -- what was accomplished today? >> i think what was accomplished was, this is a positive step in moving forward, as opposed to reliving the events in the past couple weeks, in an event to move the whole country to move beyond this and use this as a basis of maybe some meaningful discussions in the future. >> sergeant, when you're talking about these discussions, is there something -- meeting again or meeting on a regular basis? >> yes. >> can you tell us, you know, that you're going to have one meeting a week or -- you've already planned a meeting? >> we have already planned a meeting. the professor is heading back to the vineyard to spend time with his family. he and i will have a phone conversation in the coming days to lay the groundwork for that meeting that's already been discussed. >> do you know where you're

going to meet? >> i do. >> reporter: can you tell us? >> no. the venue is much too small to support all of us. >> reporter: are you going to be in a house? in a bar for a beer? >> i think meeting at a bar for a beer on a second occasion will send out the wrong message, so maybe kool-aid or iced tea, but we have a venue in mind, but that's also up for discussion. >> reporter: what kinds of things would you like to discuss? >> i would like not only to discuss, but i'd also like to listen to professor's perspective and he has the credentials to enlighten me a bit, and perhaps the professor has a willingness to lynn listen to my perspective as a police officer, and the difficult job that police officers -- hold on a second, i want to fin that. the difficult jobs that police officers do every day. the professor was quite receptive to that.

-- as far as -- we agreed to move forward. no, i think what you want today was two gentlemen agreed to disagree on a particular issue. i don't think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. we spent a lot of time discussing the future. >> reporter: can you telling you the people in the first couple minutes, it looked like anything other than having a beer. >> that wasn't the first we encountered -- the first the professor and i encountered each other during tours of the white house. the professor approached me and introduced his family, i introduced my family, and then we continued on with the tour, but as a group, two families moving together. that was the start. so it was very cordial. >> sergeant, can you share any words the president shared with you? >> it was a private discussion. it was a frank discussion. i'd rather not go into the

specifics of what was discussed. >> reporter: did the president make any -- >> he provided the beer. >> reporter: that's pretty much it? >> he contributed in a small part, but he wanted to bring two people together to not only solve a local issue, but also what has become a national issue. hold on just one second. >> reporter: i wanted to ask you, the president has talked about this being a teachable moment. did you learn anything? what did you learn from this? >> what have i learned from this? i learned that the media can find you, no matter where you live. they did a good job of doing that. i think that that's the responsibility of professor gates and i in the coming weeks when we have the discussion, to maybe learn from each other. certainly he brings a lot to the table, and i hope i do as well. >> reporter: did the president express regret over saying -- and did he also say what the vice president -- >> the vice president was just a

great man. it was nice, he was very nice with the children as well. we did share a few stories that were unrelated to the topic at hand. i'm sorry. what was the first question? >> reporter: did the president express any regret -- >> parts of that conversation are private, and we understood that going into it, so i think it would be best to honor that agreement. >> reporter: on a personal level, what was it like to have this experience? >> i'm not sure this is really happening. i still haven't caught up with this. i need a few days off to reflect on the events of the past couple weeks. >> great, we want to thank everyone. >> reporter: a letter from sergeant -- did you not? >> i did not. >> reporter: okay. it's my understanding there was a letter that was delivered that sergeant lashly perhaps feeling that professor gates may have caused irreparable harm, and that known as a traitor and

uncle tom for standing up -- >> sergeant lashly has views on this event just like we all do. those are sergeant lashly's views, and i knew in the days before sergeant lashly came out in support of my position that he was going to be putting himself in a position of ridicule. sergeant lashly's statements, whatever it is, i haven't heard it, would speak for itself. it wasn't a message i relayed. >> reporter: can you talk about the support you've gotten from -- >> the men and women of the two associations have been tremendous. they have helped provide protection for my family. i've gotten phone calls, e-mails, letters, things in the mail from the men and women of the police department, and i think this has brought us closer together as a law enforcement family. i wouldn't want to leave out the

incredible work that the police department has done in ensuring the safety of my family. as you know they've been barraged with the media in a small area of the town, and those men and women really deserve a lot of thanks, because they're protecting what is most important to me, my family. >> reporter: how has your perspective changed -- >> he's a very interesting man. >> reporter: in what way? >> he's just a regular person sitting around a table having a discussion about an issue, and he -- just was very cordial. i respect the man a great deal. >> reporter: was there tension? >> no tension. >> reporter: did you joke around and have an ordinary conversation? or just business? >> it was both. it was business, but discussing it like two gentlemen instead of fighting it out either in a physical sense or in the mental sense in the court of public opinion, so it was very productive. >> did professor gates ask you to be part of any documentary that he's thinking of working on? >> no. >> thank you all very much.

>> thank you very much. well, we're back with roger simon and mark whit akerr. i have watched politicians for about 40 years now, he's better than most of them. >> is he suave or what? we had a cordial and productive discussion. he's like a head of state. >> answered a lot of questions, no apologies, they're going to look forward, have a serious get-together. mark? >> no apologies, but probably no lawsuits, from the body language. he says they're going to meet again. my guess is that skip gates likes to do documentaries, and i think we've seen that a star is born. i think this guy could have a future in politics, in the media, let's see. >> we'll be right back. i have to tell you, well, i feel like we're watching "britain's got talent here." we'll be back with more of "politics fix."

we have our susan boyle here

sergeant crowley, changed the whole tenor of the discussion. quite a statement. a lot to say for himself. be right back.

we're back with mark whitaker the washington bureau dheef for nbc news and roger simon, chief political for politico. and setting the direction of the news sfoerp i'm going to meet in a cerebral setting with professor gates talk about it in a non-alcoholic way, get serious about this.

in other words, the teaching moment has become a semester. >> very good. >> and you know, it is impossible to watch that performance. that's what 2 was. and think rogue cop. it's one late-night comic said, gates ran into the one boston policeman who's not racist. >> that's not true. take that back. >> i said it was a joke. this is a guy who teaches other police officers how to be sensitive on racial matters, and it wasn't credible before now. now you see that and you see this guy the pretty smooth. >> this is the thing about race. right? what is the goal? the goal is that we see each other as individuals and not as distractions. we're finally at a point where people are able to see these guys as individuals. that's a good thing. >> but the spark that leads to a fight, is it still there? the spark that says, you're treating me like a minority. you're treating me the way you wouldn't treat a regular, a

white person, if you will, follow that language problem. the way you would somebody like you. >> there are issues of pride and disrespect and respect in all cultures. and then when you pour race on top of it, i think it becomes particularly volatile. so will this happen again? absolutely. but i do think that we are probably going to think a little harder about the whole issue of racial profiling. i think that's a good thing. and i think we now are starting to understand these two men. i don't think we still quite understand what happened. ed one thing i would say, this was a successful afternoon and early evening for all concerned, except there's still a lot of unanswered question about what originally happened. >> my simple question is a police question. maybe get a police officer on this. if i give a lot of lip and start screaming at a police officer regardless of the context, i would expect to be hit with a charge. no matter what the issue. >> not if you're -- not if you're standing in your house. i mean -- >> he was standing on his porch.

okay. >> forced to leave. >> yelling at a cop. can you ever do that? >> i think cops get yelled at a lot and put up with a lot and sometimes draw the line and say no more, but i mean i think it is important in gates' mind-set here that he felt as if his home had been invaded. he wasn't a burglar. he was in his home. wasn't on a street corner, not at a demonstration, in his home. >> what about the cop -- >> the cop -- >> communication i. doubt if he did it just for that. for one thing, the cop -- the cop. sergeant crowley, said he was following police procedure. a police officer responding alone to a call, which is dangerous enough. >> two men thought he might be dangerous in the house, and police procedure if you're alone get the person out of the house because you don't know who else is in the house and you can't search the house. >> we're right back to square one. it would happen again if it happens again. the same thing could happen again. what are we learning? >> black men were taught i was taught by my father never ever, ever talk back to a police officer. never get lippi.

it's actually been a conversation with the black community about this. we don't exactly know how ex-trapperous the professor got, we're going to move on. are we going to talk about another e7 sewed lice think down the road? >> absolutely. >> talking about politically, the president of the united states played a role at mediator tonight. will he come off as having delivered himself from evil? from a situation, maybe he wished he hadn't gotten into. we don't know what he wishes. he may well deep down believe as he put it last week, being the first african-american president, like it or not, it's in his portfolio. it's his job description because he won. he's got to be there. can't pretend i don't know what you're talking ap. he leaves this is a profile and he acted on that. right? >> a critical question. are we glad this took place? is he glad he raised it, whether

a mistake or not, and that it got solved on national tv. we think it's solved, and somehow a national discussion ensue and both sides if there are sides in this -- >> people told me -- >> does he feel he would have been better to duck it. >> if he's ducked this and given a beniall answer and passed on it, when we ask about this case, among african-american men especially he would have like looked like he let them down. >> there would have been a way to address it without using the word stupid. i think stupid was -- >> he didn't ask to do that but he could have said i didn't like the looks of this situation, or i think i know what happened. right? >> we can't go back and revisit it, but i think they've learned a lesson they should have remembered from the jeremiah rice case it become as media fire storm when the president gets involved and i think they'll try to avoid that. >> watching the tape of the