the new picture of the room where michael jackson died. this as his family heads to court tomorrow. we're live in southern california. drivers shift into high gear as they try to take advantage of the cash for clunkers program. how long will the good times roll? the economy shows signs of improvement, but could you be to blame for it not recovering faster? plus a building does a summer salt. we'll have the story behind the pictures. a good morning everyone. i'm alex witt. welcome to "msnbc sunday." tomorrow's return of "jon & kate plus 8." the u.s. military has just found the remains of a u.s. navy pilot shot down during the first few days of the first iraq war more than 18 years ago. scott spiker was originally declared dead. then his status was later changed to missing because his remains were never found. we will be talking with nbc's jim miklaszewski with more details from washington.

today we could have our first ever look at michael jackson's death. a british tabloid is publishing a photo that it claims is a picture of jackson's bedroom taken just after he died. all this as the lawyers are gearing up for tomorrow's courtroom showdown over the estate. msnbc.com correspondent courtney haze let joins us. good early morning to you. >> let's talk about the photo. what can you tell us about this? >> it's interesting. first of all, let's be very clear. nobody has verified this is in fact, nobody at nbc or msnbc has verified this is michael jackson's bedroom. i was with people close to the family who said they don't know. it shows a disheveled bed, allegedly the photo taken just after resuscitation attempts.

there's some medical equipment strewn about. it's not the picture of chaos that you might expect to see from this sort of photo, especially the way the british press is trumpeting it. it's a photo of a bed, a little unmade, definitely not a bedroom of someone who is healthy, who didn't have some sort of medical effort taking place. at the same point in time, can't say it's definitely his. >> courtney, every day we're learning more about jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray, the more we learn about him, his picture not getting any rosier, right? >> definitely, a kind way to put it. dr. murray we're learning is extremely steeped in debt. a little irony here. a physician who is more than $780,000 in debt according to estimates going to one of the pop stars who, despite all sorts of assets, is also very steeped in debt as well to sort of get out of this situation. a lot of people are saying why would dr. murray give propofol for something? maybe it was to pay for his

bills. he was supposed to be paying back settlements against his business that was due on his mortgage, child support payments, student loans. michael jackson was giving him $150,000 per month if i'm not mistaken. it brings to light more this, if someone will pay for it, will someone do it? yes, that does seem to be the case. dr. murray, according to law enforcement definitely did give michael jackson propofol. if it was to pay back debt, that makes the story even sadder really that he would have to do that. >> tomorrow's court hearing, a couplish issues can be discussed, the custody of michael's three children. word has it that michael jackson will get custody. the interesting point with katherine jackson, she's claiming the wills executives are keeping her in the dark. yet this will states that john branca and john mclain are the executors. what do you make of that.

>> i think what she's referring to are some of the business dealings going on behind the scenes. the autobiography coming out in october, that deal was done not with katherine jackson's say in any way, shape or form. there are other things that have to do with the concerts that she's not being included in. in the end of the day, it comes down to money, alex. if you're not one of the executors, you're not making business decisions. from where katherine jackson stands, she says listen, you two were on the outs with michael for a period of years. you happen to be on his will. i'm his mother, i want to help protect his image, too. i want a say? some of these business decisions. that's where that whole in the dark allegation stems from. while a judge have to sign off on any business decision that gets made, she's now part of the process leading up to that. >> courtney, we got the morning ahead. i'll ask you more questions next hour. thank you. coming up in our next half hour, i'll be talking with two

legal experts about what we can expect during tomorrow's courtroom showdown over the estate. stay tuned to msnbc all day for the latest on the jackson hearing. we'll have live reports throughout the day. now that a house committee has passed a health care bill, is the whole reform thing going on holiday with congress? the house energy and commerce committee nodded its approval of sweeping health care measures friday night on a 31-128 vote. the full house will vote next month. in the meantime congress is taking off for the august recess or pretty much they've gotten out of town. we'll check with nbc's mike greg ger. >> i'm auditions for the new job of white house spokesman. robert gibbs is not very happy with that. >> everyone has taken off out of town. what happens now, mike? >> half the congress is gone anyway, the larger half, the 435 members of the house.

their last official act before leaving on their month long recess, not coming back until labor day. nice life if you can get it. the senate is still in, however, the last act of the house was to clear a hurdle in that committee, the president's health care plan, at least the house version of that. one small step along the way. many controversies left to be resolved. the senate can't get this to a voting committee. the public option, how that works out, all kinds of wild allegations and things being made on the internet about the results of this will mean government workers will come to your doorstep and ask you how you want to die. not true. a number of -- a lot of misinformation that's being thrown about on both sides. now members of congress are going to go home an face constituents in town halls. we understand that those are getting kind of dies see themselves. the police had to be called at one recent town hall that a new york member of congress had. health care is going to be issue one. you can bet on that. the interesting thing is going

to be to see the effect when members come back in september and have to come to the house floor to vote on some of these things, what the effect, all the feedback they're getting from their constituents is going to be. the war is on over the air waves, there are democrats went home armed with talking points given to them by their leadership, things they should emphasize to their constituents. it's going to be a very interesting month, it's just not going to happen here in washington. >> i'm sure you'll get the information. mike viqueira, appreciate that. back to the breaking news from the top of the hour, the u.s. military has just found the remains of a u.s. navy pilot shot down during the first iraq war more than 18 years ago. lieutenant commander scott spiker was originally found dead. the status was changed to missing because his remains were never found. jim miklaszewski is joining us live from washington with the details. good morning. >> good morning, alex. 18 years after he was shot down on the first day of the first gulf war, the u.s. military has

finally found the remains of a u.s. navy pilot. lieutenant commander scott spiker was shot down in western iraq in his fa-18 hornet in 1991. although he was first declared killed in action, his remains were not found. last week some iraqi civilians let some marines to an anbar province where the body was buried shortly after the crash. military forensics experts after examining the remains here in the united states and examining the jawbone and teeth of the remains that have been found have positively identified those remains as scott spiker. there will be some further dna testing. but the military is convinced that after 18 years they have finally located this missing pilot, alex. >> mick, is there any controversy about his death, any

evidence that he died as a result of a plane crash? >> controversy has been swirling around his disappearance for the past 18 years. on the first day of the gulf war, then defense secretary dick cheney from the podium in the pentagon without any official declaration declared that scott speicher was the first american casualty of the gulf war. then a couple months later in march, officially he was declared killed in action, body not recovered. but in the subsequent years, the wreckage was found, speicher's flight suit was found relatively intact. it was thought perhaps he had been in custody. several years later some iraqis reported they had actually seen an american matching his description in custody in an iraqi prison. then his status in 2001 was changed to missing. when the gulf war -- the second

gulf war was launched in 2003, the military dedicated an entire unit to searching for speicher but to no avail until last week. >> jim miklaszewski, through for bringing us that. the united states is working on getting three american tourists detained in iran released. iran state tv said the two men and one woman were arrested after they crossed the border into iran. richard engel is following all the develops from turkey that's where the americans originally entered kurt stan. what can you tell us about the situation? >> reporter: good morning. they left here on tuesday and crossed from turkey into northern iraq. it's quite a common border that people do cross into kurt stan. it's the mountainous area in northern iraq, a popular tourist destination for backpackers, people looking for something a

little different. the americans stay in kurt stan between tuesday and friday staying mostly in hotels. it was on friday that the three decided to go camping along the border with iran. this is not a very clearly defined border. but it was a very sensitive border for iran. according to iranian television that's when the three americans who have not been identified by the state department. but curtis officials say their name are all in their 20s or early 30s crossed into iran. it's unclear if they knew they were in iran. the u.s. state department has contacted switzerland which represents u.s. interests in iran. there's no diplomatic relations directly between the u.s. and iran. so the united states has asked switzerland to investigate and see what it can do about securing their release. >> richard, what are the reports about a fourth person involved with this group?

>> reporter: yes. there were four initially, four americans that left from here in turkey, crossed into kurtistan. the fourth one, a 35-year-old from california wasn't feeling very well, so he stayed back at the hotel while the others went camping. a lot of the information has been coming from this fourth american who was never detained. he's been cooperating with u.s. diplomats in iraq, providing them information. he was actually the last pesh who received a cell phone call from his friends who said something has gone wrong. we are now being surrounded by iranian security. >> richard, i want to ask you, you're an expert in that part of the world. but talk about the dire nature of this for these three. if you could, compare it to the two in north korea right now, laura ling and euna lee. it's not good either way. >> reporter: i don't think it is that comparable. i'm not sure if it's that dire or that comparable.

it was really bad timing on their behalf. it's a very sensitive border for the iranians. the cia before the 2003 invasion of iraq used kurtistan as a base before the american troops were in iraq. the iranians have always known that. they have a particular sensitivity. kurdish rebels operate in this area and use this region to smuggle weapons and drugs across the border. the iranians are very suspicious of what was going on on that side of the border. if they're tourists who accidentally strayed in, didn't have anything on them, i don't think it's necessarily comparable to journalists held by north korea. it's bad timing, but i don't know if it's necessarily as dire. the iranian officials say they're only investigating at this stage and haven't given any indications on what specifically they're being charged with beyond illegally crossing the border. >> richard engel, thank you for the update from turkey. after the break, the cash

for clunkers program got some roadside assistance from the house on friday. the program faces a much bumpier road in the senate. will the popular program get a $2 billion refill? a race that's gone to the dogs. you're watching msnbc sunday. we all have confidence and we all have doubt. but when the moment comes... what's going to win? here's to confidence. gillette helps you look, feel, be your best. gillette. the best a man can get.

sandra..."that's just gonna be four dollars." sandrai went to pick up my prescription and i was told... i said, "you're joking." amandai know sandra personally. and she was only able to 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.

)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%). call or click today. msnbc is the place for politics. this wednesday president obama will travel for the second time to elkhart, indiana, part of an area battling with a near 17% unemployment rate. i'm joined live from washington by julie mason, white house correspondent for "the washington examiner." good morning, julie. >> good morning, alex. >> let's talk about the president. we'll talk about his vision for the economy on wednesday. what kind of a tone do you expect the president to take? what is his message going to be?

>> alex, the administration has been waiting to have some good new on the economy. i think it's true public concerns about his handling of the economy, particularly the stimulus has hurt his push on health care. they've had a little good news this past week and really hitting hard on this idea that the stimulus is working, the economy is starting to turn around, the recession might be over. we're going to hear from him for the next few weeks more about the economy than health care. the president has said certainly on numerous occasions, the economy recovering, it's not going to happen overnight. given where unemployment stands, where unemployment is scheduled to go by most analysts which is further downward, how long do you think the public is willing to wait? >> well, i think the public isn't willing to wait, alex. i think part of it is, i think obama set the tone when he pushed the stimulus through so hard. he said we need the money right now. we have shovel-ready projects. unemployment, we've got to get that under control. then it didn't really go as well as they had stort of led people

to expect. you're right. he did say it was going to take the economy a long time to turn around. the problem is they did raise expectations there would be some immediate impact from the stimulus. when that didn't happen, they kind of got into a jam. they're recalibrating that message. they did really set the bar for themselves on economic improvement. it's supposed to go up to 10%, the president said himself, on employment. it's tough. >> they set the august deadline bar for the health care to pass. that didn't happen. what's the scene for the future of the bill. >> we learned a lesson that congress works very much on their own schedule. the senate is still in. they've got to do cash for clunkers next week. they won't be getting to health care for a while. the worry for the administration is that health care is going to lose momentum while congress is out of town. then obama himself is going out of town at the end of the month, going to martha's vineyard for a week. it's a real concern for the white house to keep people

concerned about this, keep pressure on lawmakers, keep it moving so when they get back maybe they'll make some progress. >> julie mason with "the washington examiner." i love your yellow sweater. you look so pretty. >> thanks alex. watch "meet the press." larry summers, director of the national economic council. that is this morning on "meet the press." check your local listings for the time. hundreds of chihuahuas in anaheim, california, competing in the national chihuahua races. they race down a course about 30 feet long. the winner heads to the finals on august 29th. there are regional races in dallas, chicago, philly, miami and boston. the winner gets $3050 and a lifetime supply of dog food. let me tell you something. those chihuahuas, they can eat. 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". (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" the $100 cream. flabbergasted when we creamed the $700 cream! for under $30 regenerist micro-sculpting cream hydrates better than 32 of the world's most expensive creams. fantastic. phenomenal. regenerist. let's say you have osteoporosis. i do.

and you haven't done anything about it. i haven't. well, now's a great time to do something. call now... for your free information kit and trial offer of once-a-month actonel, and ask your doctor how to help treat osteoporosis. actonel is clinically proven to help reverse bone loss and can help increase bone strength to help prevent fractures. do not take actonel if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or cannot sit or stand for 30 minutes. follow all dosing instructions. stop taking actonel and tell your doctor if you experience difficult or painful sllowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn. these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. promptly tell your doctor if you develop severe bone, joint or muscle pain, or if you develop dental problems, as serious jawbone problems have been reported rarely. call now for a free trial offer of once-a-month actonel. and help reverse bone loss. you all want to run your businesses more efficiently, so we've brought in a team of experts to help.

one suggestion is to make your shipping more efficient with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. call or go online for a free supply and up to $160 in offers from authorized postage vendors. shipping's a hassle! weighing every box... actually, with flat rate boxes you don't need to weigh anything under 70 pounds. if it fits, it ships for a low flat rate. ok, but i ship all over the country. you can ship anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. ship international, too. yes, but i ship hundredsof . great, because flat rate boxes come in four sizes. call now and we'll send a free supply, plus up to $160 in offers. when you're ready to ship, we'l no matter how many you have. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. call or go onne now to get started.

one car on top of another. that is what happened when a 13-year-old philadelphia area boy accidentally drove his father's car off the top level of a four-story parking garage. what a might mary, right? >> that car parktd on the street might have helped to save that boy's life. police say the boy got his father's keys and started the car before losing control of the vehicle. the boy was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. wow, what a nightmare. this weekend the makers of the number one movie are laughing all the way to the bank. $25 million in ticket sales, "funny people" try toss show the humorous side to a painful discovery. >> we have discussed this. i'm very, very sympathetic to your recovery and i hope we will succeed with what i'm doing. >> i've been trying to build this cabinet i bought from you guys for about six months. >> ikea, that's very funny.

>> joining me live is joe neumeier. "funny people" is number one at the box office. >> it didn't click with me. i gave it one and a half stars. i can see why some people have had it. his secret weapon has been his movies, even the big comedies have some seriousness to them. he's got a heart. this movie is a little more heart and wears it on its sleeve. a little too much. adam sand her works and seth rogan works. audiences, it might be the right mix for them. >> middle days of summer. >> that's right. >> i understand there's a bunch of testosterone head together a theater to you. let's take a peek at "gi joe: the rise of the cobra." >> they're the best operatives of the world. when all else fails, we don't.

>> okay. lots going on about the heart throbs there, channing tatum. this is something, he's headlining this film. >> the buzz has been pretty awful. for a while, director steven summers who had done "the mummy" and "van helsing." they made a lot of money. the director was taken out of the editing room, reportedly replaced by an experienced editor. paramount had the worst tracking with this film it had ever had. but that's also -- there's a lot of comic things going on, based on a 1980s ka toon series, and a 45-year-old action figure. it's not going to win an oscar. i think the other issue with this movie is it's coming after "star trek" and "transformers"

and movies that up the ante. "rise of the cobra" sounds like a bad joke right there. >> after we save the world, another one coming out, a little bit of fine french cuisine. let's take a look. >> what is it that you legally like to do? >> eat. >> and we are so good at it. look at you. >> if i really wanted to learn to cook, i could just cook my way through julia child's cookbook. i could blog about that. >> good luck with that. i complete relate to amy adams in the film. she and meryl streep teaming up, she's terrific. what is the story here? apparently there's an interesting tale to tell? >> the blogger that wrote the book. her blog became the book, the book became the movie, her adventures in the trying to translate julia child's cookbook resulted in the a lot of personal problems, a lot of -- as one can imagine, dealing with all these recipes, and a lot of

things fell to the side. julia child is not necessarily who you think of as big summer movie starring meryl streep as julia child. this is her sweet swap. "mamma mia," "devil wears prada." the two of them were together in dout. this looks very light. it's nora efron who is writing and directing it. i think it's got a good buzz to it. >> i'm hungry now. >> joe, we'll talk to you later on about more in the movies. president obama says his stimulus package is working. is the recession almost over? the house committee votes to narrowly approve health care. we'll talk about it on msnbc, the place for politics.

♪ take me home ♪ take me home ♪ to my family ♪ ♪ i need to be surrounded by ♪ the ones who care for me [ female announcer ] clean you can see. softness you can feel. tide with a touch of downy. ♪ take me home

call or click today.

h whoa honey honey honey honey honey! okay... i mean... you can't... this isn't a stove, alright? i mean... what if i just walked into the kitchen and started making a salad? - that'd be weird. - right? i mean, look, there's a technique. - okay... - ( strikes match ) wow. it's okay, everyone. - thanks, hon. - you're welcome. announcer: yep, it's that easy, - with kingsford match light. - ( match strikes )

msnbc is the place for politics. with the house starting its august break and the senate wrapping up on friday, your congress is heading home to talk health care. as republican groups and lawmakers plan ads and speeches slam i slamming the president's health reform plan, democrats will have a handy cheat sheet courtesy of nancy pelosi. a pocket card including hits against the insurance industry, i'm joined live from washington by bob fran kin "from politics daily." good morning, bob. >> good morning, alex. >> let's talk about the august message war on health care. how important is this and how do you see this playing out? >> it's all important. if i were a member of congress, probably the last place i would go on the august break is back to the district because i think that people are going to be hammering them, going to be tv ads, all kinds of special interest groups that are making their lives miserable. if i were them, i would go into

maybe the witless protection program, because they're going to be hammered witless by all the pressure put on them by health care. god help them if they're losing their talking card. >> which side has gotten a leg up so far on the debate and why do you see it that way? >> well, i think that thus far the people who are against the ones who are gaining traction, number one, the message which is a variation by president obama, a variation of change you can believe in, has been really eroded, kind of a chinese water torture by people who are asking some really impertinent questions, what's it going to cost, what's it going the mean to the average american, that type of thing. and it started to disintegrate just a little bit. so the democrats have the big job now, and that is getting momentum going again. the other problem is it is so complex that it's hard for

anybody to understand. congress hasn't done anything to help that, passing variations on the bill and several committees that are extremely hard to explain. >> i love your dry humor there. the impertinent questions of, gee, how much is it going to cost. what about seniors getting attention in the health reform debate. the bill would let the go decide how people die. is he being called an attempt to, quote, kill granny. why are seniors being targeted this way? >> well, i think what this proves is when it comes to an issue like health care, there is no shot that is too cheap. what has happened is that under this proposal, and this is just a proposal at this point, there might be an element where people are given the opportunity to voluntarily revisit their living wills every five years. what has happened is that some people, particularly those on the fringe who sees ed on this s a way to say to seniors, you will be pressured because of cost consideration to give up the right to medical treatment as long as possible. in other words, you will be pressured to end your life. it is the kind of hysteria that

quite frankly is very, very effective when it comes to a debate in some issue like this. >> bob, thanks for weighing in. always good to see you. >> good to see you. for everything politics, from original nbc news reporting to exclusives from your favorite msnbc shows, logon to politics.msnbc.com. at this time tomorrow the courtroom showdown over michael jackson's estate will just be getting underway. katherine jackson asking a judge to give her some control over her son's millions. and in that same courtroom, the same judge will rule on the custody agreement reached by katherine jackson and debbie rowe last week. joining me live is jay fahey, former prosecutor and defense attorney, janna spilbor. a couple things to talk about here. jay, we know the will gives katherine jackson 40% of michael jackson's estate. she's got that. what is the difference between having that and what's happening tomorrow, what she's battling

for? >> she wants a seat at the table. she wants to have some control over the estate. jackson in his will doesn't give her control over the estate. it's unlikely a judge will do that unless at some point in the future there's fraud or something alleged. at this stage, michael jackson's wishes should be complied with and she shouldn't have any say in how the estate is run. >> janna, let's get a statement from katherine jackson's attorney. she deserves a seat at the table at minimum. i'm optimistic they can work things out but am prepared to go the distance if mrs. jackson directs me to do so. he's making clear he wants her to be an executor of the estate. what is the likelihood that's going to happen? >> that's a good question. as jay alluded to, it probably won't happen. here is the way it could happen. if mrs. jackson can show there's some sort of fraud going on between the existing executors, then the judge might allow her to be a co-executor. here is one really important

point. the job of the executors is to inventory all of michael jackson's assets. what i suspect is mrs. jackson is saying, wait a minute, i'm getting 40% and i'm not contesting that. but i need to know what the hundred percent is. i don't trust you two to be representing to the court all of my son's estate. that's why she wants a seat at the table. >> is there any scenario, jay, where you can envision where the judge will say let's get all the players in together, go behind closed doors and work this out? could it be worked out to the satisfaction of everybody by the two executors just saying, look, we're going to keep you in the loop. we're going to talk with you regularly? >> that would be the smart thing to do, we'll meet once a month, tell you what assets we've garnered, what liabilities there are and keep something at the end of the day, she's entitled to 40% of the estate. as time goes by, if she needs an allocation of money since she's going to get 40% of it anyway, it's common while an estate is in probate for recipients to get portions of what they're going

to be entitled to as time goes by. the smart thing to do would be to keep her in the loop. i wouldn't be surprised if that's the solution. >> that's enough on that issue. janna, the details of the agreement related to debbie rowe with katherine jackson. most reports say katherine jackson wants custody. debbie rowe will get some visitation, also getting no extra money by the reports we hear. i know you've practiced in california in terms of the california law, the biological mother has all these primary custody rights. but under these circumstances, will this be the last we see and talk of debbie rowe from a legal perspective? >> absolutely not. it might be the last for right now. now they've come to an agreement and that's good. but for as long as these children are still children, she will always have the opportunity to go back in front of a judge and ask for other things such as more visitation and child support in the future if she chooses to. this is the end now, but not the end forever. >> okay. well, it's not the end for you guys either.

we'll see you in a bit. a raging fire in austin, texas, takes down a local flea market. the blaze burned about 200 booths. investigators are looking at whether electrical wiring may have smashed the fire. large clouds of smoke could be seen from several myers around. a firefighter and ems worker were taken to the hospital for heat exhausts. no other injuries reporting. not your typical building demolition. this old flower factory in turkey tipped over instead of falling inward. workers spent 15 days hoping it would collapse on itself. unfortunately it did not. the good news here, at least, nobody got hurt. car dealerships have been doing brisk business this weekend thanks to the overwhelming success of the government's cash for clunkers program. the $1 million program which gives $4500 to drivers trading in gas guzzlers ran out of money. the house voted on friday to

inject another $2 billion in into it. >> why do you think this program has been working so well, louann? >> because people are ready to buy new cars, alex. it just makes sense. if you think about it, this program works fosh not only the consumer, but for the government and it works for the automobile companies. just in $1 billion, if you take just the sales tax alone that the counties are going to get, they're going to get somewhere between $450 million and $500 million back in sales tax. that doesn't even include the dmv registration. >> okay. in terms of the timing here, this is the time of year where a lot of people will go car shopping. they're clearing out the 2009. they've got to bring in the 2010s. a lot of critics are saying people were going to get out there and spend this money anyway. how do you see that? do you agree? do you think this has been a real motivator? >> i think it's been a real

motivator. the people who are sitting on the sidelines are going to come out. there are going to be some people who say $4500, i'll do it. a lot of the cars -- i talked to the auto alliance, a lot of the cars being traded in are suvs and being traded in for cars like the ford focus, the toyota ka role la and the chevy cobalt. two-thirds of the cars being traded in are getting the $4500, which means they're getting over ten miles per gallon of what they traded in for. that's huge for the fuel efficiency of america. >> are hybrids popular? do you know if hybrids have been selling? >> i haven't not heard about hybrids being really popular. i talked to toyota. they said that 90% of the cars they're trading in are conquest vehicles which means that they're getting cars from domestic cars, other types of carmakers.

primarily because toyota has always had good fuel efficiency. there are very few toyotas under 18 miles per gallon. >> when all is said and done, how much do you think this would have helped the automobile industry? let's talk about the u.s. industry. are people being urged to drive chryslers and buicks and gms and all of those? >> i think they thought that that's what would happen, and what is happening is definitely a lot of the big three vehicles are being turned in because they were the least fuel efficient. what the auto alliance says is that two of the three top that are being bought are domestic vehic vehicles, ford focus and chevy cobalt. i do think it's going to help. >> that's great. louann hammond, thanks for helping us. we'll talk with you later this morning. >> thank you. up next, are you to blame for the economic downturn? in our next hour, the ripple effect from viral video, the dancing wedding party, how it's

helped the career of a big star plus the now parity, get ready on "msnbc sunday." sglfrnlths sglvrnlths if you think all batteries are the same, consider this: a tornado hits, air life denver takes off... their night-vision goggles keeping the rescue mission safe... and powering those goggles-- the only battery air life trusts: duracell. trusted everywhere.

finally, good news for people with type 2 diabetes or at risk for diabetes. introducing new nutrisystem d, the clinically tested program for losing weight and reducing blood sugar. hi i'm mike, and i lost 100 pounds on nutrisystem d when i was first diagnosed with diabetes, that first step was more like a giant leap. till i discovered nutristem d. in a clinical study people on nutrisystem d lost 16 times more weight and reduced their blood sugar 5 times more than those on a hospital-directed plan. plus a1c waseduced .9%. choose from over 140 menu options, there is no counting carbs, calories or points. i lost 100 lbs. and lowered my blood sugar level. nutrystem d changed my life. mike is one of many who have lost weight and controlled their diabetes with new nutrisystem d.

backed by 35 years of research and low glycemic index science nutrisystem d works. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back! new! nutrisystem d. lose weight. live better. call or click today. let's say you have osteoporosis. i do. and you haven't done anything about it. i haven't. well, now's a great time to do something. call now... for your free information kit and trial offer of once-a-month actonel, and ask your doctor how to help treat osteoporosis. actonel is clinically proven to he reverse bone loss and can help increase bone strength to help prevent fractures. do not take actonel if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, orannot sit or stand for 30 minutes. follow all dosing instructions. stop taking actonel and tell your doctor if you experience difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn. these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. promptly tell your doctor if you develop

severe bone, joint or muscle pain, or if you develop dental problems, as serious jawbone problems have been reported rarely. call now for a free trial offer of once-a-month actonel. and help reverse bone loss. it's going to be a big week for the economy. automakers will be releasing their sales figures for the month of july. the big three could see big gains because of the popular cash for clun kers program which started last week. we'll get a look at construction numbers as well. spending is expecting to drop about .5% or so for the month of june. then on friday we'll find out the national inemployment numbers for the month of july. right now that number stands at 9.5%. it is expected to go higher. now some new questions about the pacing of the economy. are consumers slowing down the recovery? for more on that let's go to

"washington post" financial reporter neil irwin. good sunday morning to you neal. >> good morning, alex. >> do you expect the numbers to continue this week? >> we think the data will be consistent with a slow bottoming out of the economy. as you mentioned, the jobs number friday will be huge. it's going to be a bad number. everybody is expecting it to be less bad. in that sense there seems to be progress. we seem to be in a stage with the recession ending later this summer. wall street opens up good tomorrow. can that current last? >> we hope so. i'm not so sure to tell you the truth. there's a lot of pressure on corporate earnings, a lot of optimism built into these numbers. if p the economic data doesn't support it. if the unemployment rate keeps rising as a rapid rate, ultimately stock markets can reflect that. this will be an interesting

week. it's taste whether the boy yancy is lasting and real or people getting ahead of themselves. >> we talk about consumers holding up the economy. you wrote about that in your article this weekend. why should americans be spending when the jobless rate keeps going up? if you're going to turn it back on the consumers and say it's your fault, but if you're afraid you're not going to have money to spend, how can you blame anybody? >> that's the risk. what's happening right now is production is increasing or at least leveling off. so gdp is probably going to rise in the second half of the year. that's not the same as consumers being more comfortable. as long as businessing keep cutting jobs like they have been in the hundreds of thousands per month, you're not going to have any kind of sustained recovery take hold. the question is can that happen, will the business eventually have to hire again. people have more confidence in their job prospects. maybe they stop increasing their savings rate. but the savings rate levels off. that's what it will take to get to a point of a sustained recovery. not clear if we're there yet.

>> what about the housing market? the new and existing sales are up for homes. why is this sector still turk out to be a big drab on the economy if things are moving upward? >> well, there's some lags built it. it looks like the housing sector v shrank in the second quarter. we got that number friday. it looks like, based on the permits and that sort of thing, as you mentioned, the leveling off in home sales, that that might actually change in the second half of the year. for the first time in about three or four years, housing will go from being a negative for the economy to at least not a negative. it might not be a positive, but might not be not a negative anymore. that didn't make much sense. >> we've been through the false positive stuff for months. what's the best sign to you that the recession could be winding down? what stands out in your mind and you think, okay, this is the proof? >> well, definitive proof will come in a few months as we see whether the job market

stabilizes and stops declining at this rapid rate. layoffs aren't happening at the same rate. we need the momentum to continue if we're going to have any sustained recovery. >> okay. neil irwin, thank you very much. good to see you as always. >> thank you, alex. still ahead, the show "jon & kate plus 8" returns tomorrow. what to expect since the couple announced their plight? that's next on "msnbc sunday." ( sighs ) ( music throughout )

hey bets, can i borrow a quarter? sure, still not dry? i'm trying to shrink them. i lost weight and now some clothes are too big. how did you do it? simple stuff. eating right and i switched to whole grain. whole grain... studies show that people who eat more whole grain tend to have a healthier body weight. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains... and 110 calories per lightly sweetened serving. more grains. less you. multigrain cheerios. according to a study presented by better homes and gardens, definity cor recapture. it corrects the look of wrinkles and discoloration. 50,000 voters. one brilliant winner. 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.

they're back. monday night marks the return of "jon & kate plus 8" to prime time television. a lot has changed since we last saw the gosselins. jon has gone from mr. mom to play boy. a house in the suburbs to a new york city bachelor pad. as jon travels the world with his new love interest, kate is at home with the kids. could all this reality be too much for the show's fans.

>> kim serafin joins me this morning from l. acha. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> let's talk about the changes to the show. how is this going to be set? there's not going to be the couch, i understand, any longer where they used to have their little chats. >> yeah, that's right. that is the big news. the president of tlc just confirmed that there will be no couch. now they're going to be doing their interviews on separate chairs because the couch seemed very empty and lonely with one person on it. that's one of the big changes. what they're saying is it's going to focus on single parenting. for example, jon will try to make a pizza for the kids. kate will try to set up a tent by herself. the kids will comment she doesn't do it as well as jon did. those are some of the big changes. what everyone wants to know, are they going to incorporate some of these outside relationships, for example, that jon might be having? will it be kind of ""jon & kate

plus 8" plus dates." it's obviously a work in progress. i think everyone is waiting to see how they're going to handle it. we know more about them now than from watching the show obviously. >> that jon, what a standup guy, not divorced, engaged to one woman and apparently dating another. i'm just saying. let's go to some of the exclusive details that "in touch weekly" uncovered about jon. he's got this new inner circle of friends. >> of course we know he's been hanging out with michael lohan, lindsay lohan's dad. some sources are telling "in touch" that they're concerned about who he is associating with. does he really know he's taking advice from people blindly? is he making decisions by people who maybe don't have his best interest at heart? i think it's interesting to see how a lot of this is panning

out. a lot of friends tell "in touch" jon is a kid in a candy store, got married young, thrust into fatherhood early on. now getting attention from everyone, all the girls want to talk to him. we're definitely seeing a different side of jon right now. >> what about kate? here she is at home for the most part, taking care of all the children. word of a possible romance for her, too? like she has the time, but nonetheless, is it true? >> there had been some reports. it really seems right now that kate seems to be the one who is focusing on the kids. she's the one spending time with the kids. and jon is the one at least getting the notoriety for being out in the ham tons, being on the both in the south of france with another girl. it will be interesting i think to see how fans react to this? up until this point a lot of people were siding with jon saying kate was always ordering him around it seemed. it was always that scene with the two of them on the couch,

kate telling him what to dorks him kind of cowering and putting his shoulders down and agreeing to whatever she said. now we're seeing this whole other side of jon that we haven't seen before. it will be interesting to see how fans react, how people who have been watching the show for years react to this. >> i know you'll have the latest on that next time we ask you. we'll have you back this morning as well. thank you very much, kim serafin. we will be back at the top of the hour with much more news, first check this out, the old geezer carting world championships, where? these were held in finland. the men had to sit in a milk cart while their women pusheded them through obstacle course that included water, and a sand drap. that's just wrong. undefeated professional boxer floyd "money" mayweather has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen.

so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. i'm pretty much the same as i am in a plastic bottle? except that you'll save, like, $600 bucks a year. but other than that, we're pretty much the same. pur. good, clean water.