tv MSNBC News Live MSNBC August 3, 2009 4:00pm-5:00pm EDT
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lizard people. plus, a gop memo urges republican activists to stand off and go after democratic lawmakers who support obama policies. is all fair and love, war, and politics? we'll take a closer look in our "face-off." later, the jackson family is trying to get control of michael's millions as a deal is finalized over who gets the kids. meanwhile, the investigation into jackson's doctor has taken another turn. in no way, the building demolition that went horribly wrong, and we mean horribly wrong. and the other things we thought you should know. it's the new slang inspired by the man who lived in this house. all that and more this hour on msnbc. good afternoon, everyone. i'm tamron hall live in new york. hey there, david. >> good to be back.
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i'm zafd shdavid shuster live i washington. tomorrow is barack obama's 45th birthday. conservative activists bombarded many of us in the media with twitter messages and messages claiming they have the smoking gun. but the kenyan birth certificate they pointed to is a forgery. even some republicans say the birth movement is making itself look ridiculous yet again. first the background. colorado attorney and birther leader released this document over the weekend and claimed it's a copy of a kenyan birth certificate with barack obama's name on it. he also filed the motion in federal court compelling the government to authenticate the document. it lists the president's birthday as august 4th, 1961. tomorrow is his 48th birthday. no doctor is listed but the document appears to bear the signature of the deputy registrar of the province. furthermore, it was allegedly issued as a certified copy of the original on february 17th,
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1964. that, however, should have been the first clue that something was amiss. kenya didn't become a republic until december of 1964. secondly, when mr. obama was born in 1961, the city of mumba si belonged to zahn za ba-- zanzibar. then check out the certificate number. 47044. 47 is obama's age when he became president followed by the letter "o," not a zero, followed by 44. he is the 44th president. despite all of this and the proof already in hawaii showing mr. obama was born there, this is not the first time the birthers have been had. last week another fake kenyan birth certificate made the rounds and was embraced by some conservative websites. even karl rove who has refused
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to criticize the birthers says this latest document is also likely a forgery. >> and david now to the bigger picture, why do so many on the right continue to want to believe that barack obama was not born in the united states? well, here is the authentic document that's widely been circulated from hawaii proving that president obama was born in honolulu in the united states. this document has been verified by the state's republican governor, but a large number of republicans still not convinced. look at this. a poll out this past friday shows 58% of republicans either believe president obama was not born in the u.s. or are not sure. however, ann coulter, even ann coulter has called the birthers, quote, cranks, and if an editorial in the national review calls birthers' claims foolishness. we will talk with the attorney behind the birther movement shortly. we're hoping to get her to the microphone and in front, david, to be able to talk with her. in the meantime, we're also
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talking about the obama administration and they're reportedly looking at prisons within the united states to relocate some of the terror suspects. joining us from capitol hill is kansas republican senator pat roberts. with he know you're here to discuss this, and we want to talk about these 229 terror suspects and whether they will end up in prison in the united states, but i want to get your reaction quickly to talk that these birthers are hurting the republican party. what's your reaction to this birth movement and i guess the fascination, not just the media, but people in general are having about the folks who choose to deny that barack obama with proof was born in hawaii? >> i don't know how many of the so-called birthers, i have never met any, are republicans or independents or democrats, but i think they're on an issue that simply does not exist. i think the president was born in the united states. by the way, i was born in topeka, kansas. maybe they want to look at that. >> kansas is a beautiful state,
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wonderful city. like i said, i don't want to drag you into this, but it is -- you've got some republicans who were kind of cornered, might say ambushed on the hill, and they was asked to say whether they believe the president was born in the united states, and some shrugged off the question or wouldn't answer, and there's a worry, i think, within the moderate parts of the party that these fringe groups might be hurting the resurgence that the republicans are hoping for. >> the concern that i find among kansans in regards to health care and what has happened in regards to the cost, possible rationing, government takeover, et cetera, et cetera, a lot of opposition to the health care bill, the cap and trade bill. there's enough going on in the congress that affects everybody's daily life and pocketbook as opposed to that issue that you mentioned. >> senator, i'm sure most folks will agree with you. certainly their health care means a whole lot more than some
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crazy movement as its been called. let me talk to you about whether health care stands right now. we hear that there's progress being made. the administration has said 90% of the agreement has been done. is that how you see it? >> that's not what i see, no. in the last meetings we attended as of last week there had been no agreement reached. you know, it would be nice if the health committee bill, the authorizing committee of which i'm a member, the health committee and finance, would get a copy of the bill. we haven't got a copy of the bill. so we're 3,000 pages long. the president promises he's going to read every line, he's got a lot of reading to do. it's first time i've ever tried to amend a bill i never saw. we had over 200 amendments. so there's a lot of work to be done on this. i think one thing the wise decision was to postpone this over the break, have every calm down, and i know a lot of
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republicans want to offer their bills and programs perhaps we can even come to agreement on one that would be a good alternative, but the bill that was passed by the health committee in the house is dead in the senate, and the one in the senate we can't find. >> senator, this other issue that you've been speaking out a lot about, the obama administration has reportedly looked at taking some of the guantanamo bay prisoners, 229 of them, out of guantanamo bay, putting them at federal prisons possibly in michigan or even ft. leavenworth, kansas. those are the who possible locations. however, officials in michigan have been mainly supportive of the idea of sending guantanamo detainees there. i gather it's a different issue in leavenworth. what is the problem with moving gitmo detainees to leavenworth given that leavenworth, kansas, already holds some of the worst criminals in the united states? >> not really the worst criminals, it's a military prison. but in terms of the military
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prison, we have about 430 detainees or people serving time who are on the other side of the military court of justice. but to mix 100 of the most dangerous terrorists in the world with that population, number one, is against the law. you can't do it. >> well, first of all, i don't think anybody is talking about mixing. my understanding, correct me if i'm wrong, is this would be essentially a separate facility. it might be connected. there might be an adjacent facility but saying the populations would be mixed is different. >> well, you can't have in the same facility or even an adjacent facility regular military prisoners with these detainees, and you're going to have about 100 of them that are the most serious in the world, and why on earth would you want to put terrorists like that at ft. leavenworth, which is the intellectual center of the army, every army captain, every army major goes through command and staff school plus an awful lot of people from foreign
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countries. the muslim nations have indicated they will not send anybody over there in terms of international cooperation if we have a terrorist facility, and the community, ft. leavenworth, our prison out there in terms of inside out, you know, we're pretty secure. outside in, no. we had have a lot of improvements that have have to be made. none of them would affect the community and the community doesn't want them either. >> senator pat roberts, republican from kansas. we appreciate you coming on and talking about this. it's a fascinating issue and one that's still developing. we'll talk to you more about it in the weeks ahead. thank you. we were talking about with senator roberts off the top about this alleged birth certificate that's supposedly showing president obama was born in kenya. joining us now from tel aviv is or orly, the attorney for the birth movement. i want to start with something
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else and that's, first of all, the birth announcement in hawaii, there were two of them august 13th in the honolulu advertiser, august 14th in "the hawaii star bulletin" announcing the bar of barack obama. how could these birth announcements have been fabricated 48 years before president obama possibly took office? >> absolutely. >> how would they have the foresight to know that? >> okay. i just need to know how much time do i have? i had bad experience on cnn where she -- >> if you answer my question we'll give you plenty of time. answer the question about -- >> okay. okay. in hawaii the way announcements were made in the newspapers, they have two types of birth certificates. that's why we're demanding to see the original. one was a proper birth certificate from the hospital. another was a birth certificate issued based on a statement of one relative only. it could be grandmother or a mother. >> that's fine, but orly, you
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haven't answered my question. >> i am answering. >> what would be the motivation for barack obama's family -- >> if you're talking -- okay. you need to show some decency and integrity as a journalist. you need to give me an opportunity -- >> okay, orly. you can talk about integrity and discipline. go for it. go for it. >> okay. so there were two types of birth certificates. one proper birth certificate from hospital. another that came from a parent. as a matter of fact, a parent could have just filled out a form and lied. if obama was born in kenyaened a t -- and the mother wanted to lie and didn't want to go through immigration, she would fill out the form saying my son was born in honolulu, mail it or bring it to the health department. >> so i guess -- so we're clear, your allegations -- orly, orly, your allegation is barack obama's family was motivated to lie to hawaii -- joshly, you
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have to give me a second. >> no, i don't. let me explain. let people know the truth. they're sick of the lies coming from the mainstream media. 85% of american citizens are saying obama was not -- he needs to provide original birth certificate. the only one that are on the fringe are obama's brown shirts in the media that insult people -- >> name one. obama's brown shirts. you're referring -- you're making a reference orly to nazi germany and to a lot of us who lost relatives in the colonholo is deeply offensive. >> you and tam rron hall are behaving in an offense movement. you said this is a crazy movement. you would not listen to the word of truth. when a birth certificate was
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issued, they would go to news agency in hawaii. hawaii news agency. the proper ones, plus ones that were obtained based on a statement of one relative that could have been lying because she didn't want to pay for the immigration. all of them went to hawaiian news agency which sends it to two newspapers, and that's how those announcements were obtained. >> orly, let me ask you quickly -- >> therefore -- >> orly, we have been fair and we have given you time. i want to ask you here, hang on, hang on, let's not go there. ann coulter, popular with the right, says that this is foolishness and called this movement -- >> hang on. >> come on. and has called this foolishness and has referred to the birthers as cranks. what's your response to those who see you now, you're emotional, and i understand you believe this, but those who say you're crazy, that this is
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cranks and it's scary. what's your response? >> okay, okay, okay. okay. all i hear from mainstream media are dumb insults. >> ann coulter is not mainstream. she hates the mainstream. >> you and -- >> karl rove, ann coulter. >> let me answer. let me answer. if you don't let people speak out the truth -- >> you got three seconds or we're going to have to end this. >> and people like you -- >> go ahead. >> okay. obama's birth certificate does not show the name of the hospital -- >> ann coulter says you're a crank. karl rove says it's a forgery. answer that or we're done. >> i am telling you -- listen, you will be done. >> ann coulter says you're a crank. >> i don't care about ann coulter. what is important is obama has numerous social security numbers and one of them is a social security -- >> orly maybe we can get to your motivation with another question. let me try one other. is it true that while nbc offered you a car to take you to
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the studio there that you refused because it was a muslim-sounding name with the driver? >> no, it's not true. and let me go back to obama, which is very important. obama is completely illegitimate for u.s. president for two reasons. not only because he did not provide the place of his birth, but also because both parents have to be u.s. citizens. his father was never a u.s. citizen. he was in the united states on a student visa. >> okay. orly, you repeated yourself and you're starting to repeat yourself, and we can't let you go on if you're not -- >> you're repeating yourself. >> listen, with great patience we have offered you this opportunity. thank you, orly. >> never showed any patience. >> you don't understand how much patience we have offered you. orly, thank you very much. >> no. >> david, moving on from this, okay, let's regroup here. >> wow. >> because people are wondering why we are covering this. we're getting twitters saying we're obsessed with this. we're not. this is a movement. you see the polls out there.
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when this portion of the american population had been led to believe by orly and others that the president is a fake, is a fraud, i think it is critical, especially when you say, and many people believe, david, this is fueled by racism or whatever the case may be. but for those people who are a part of the birth movement who choose to follow orly, just tivo or rewind what you just saw, and i think that answers a lot. >> tamron, the other point is, look, there's a journalististic responsibility. we have to look and see whether this is true. we did this. obama was born in hawaii. we'll be right back. you're watching msnbc.
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our social networking sites like facebook and myspace hurting kids? >> even hurting adults possibly? that's what the head of the catholic church in england is saying. the archbishop of westminster believes young people are spending too much time on social networking sites and on texts and e-mails as well. he thinks teens are more interested in the quauntity of friends than in the quality and that this puts kids at risk of even possibly committing suicide. he says among young people a factor of them committing suicide is the trauma of tran see yent relationships. they throw themselves into a friendship or network of friendships then it collapses and they're desolate. the pope urges young people to use the internet responsibly. joining us now is psychiatrist
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dr. gail saltz. thanks for joining us. >> it's a pleasure. >> is this an overreaction or a genuine reasonable concern not just for teenagers but for a lot of adulths who find friendship online? >> i think that the concern about this being the main form of communication for some people, for some people interpreting this as important relationships in their life, i think that is a valid concern. the concern about suicide, the problem is there's really no data to support, you know, that this actually causes suicides. there was a terrible case here, of course, and he's referring to a terrible case that happened in england. and teens are vulnerable. teens can suffer depression, and teens certainly in a depression the ending of what's perceived to be an important relationship to them can be a trigger for suicide. so i think that parents really do need to be really responsible about their teen being involved in the internet. they need to have an idea of what's going on, and they need
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to talk to their teen about the fact that a relationship is purely on the internet isn't really a relationship. you know -- >> but are you finding that you have a lot of teenagers that really just have friends on the internet and if they do, might there be other problems with that teen if that's the only friend interaction they've got? >> i think there are many teens who think that a relationship that is happening exclusively on the internet is an important relationship. it may not be their only relationship, but they put a lot of value in that, and they put a lot of value in how many, quote, friends they have that may not really be their friends. they put a lot of value in that and they count how many do they have and they may unfortunately base their own self-worth on their number of friends and whether, for instance, one of those friends is a boy who likes them if they're a girl or vice versa when, as i said, unfortunately this idea that something a romantic relationship on the internet exclusively is not a good way to judge that relationship.
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so of course, there's nothing backing it up. of course, it could end instantly, but then what's difficult for adolescents particularly is their self-worth often gets tied into that. it's fragile, you know. they're figuring out their identity, and they may invest too much in that and it just may not be reasonable. >> well, it's a fascinating conversation, especially now that the church of all institutions now giving thoughts on this. dr. saltz, thank you very much. it's always a pleasure. >> thank you. >> we've had people talk about this especially after the tragic suicide of that girl. but i'm intrigued the catholic church is being vocal about this as well. it's an interesting conversation coming from them. >> it's very interesting they would get involved and almost sort of inject themselves. to try to tie this together to our previous segment, a lot of people come together online. there are a lot of people who suggest it's not healthy, never mind for romance, but also for real friendships and
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relationships. we just did get a statement from the republican national committee chairman steele about the interview we did at the top of the hour. we will show the statement from republican chairman later in our show. >> it's not just mr. steele who is commenting. our twitter pages are -- have lit up from people responding to orly taitz's interesting interview. just ahead, time to find some new engineers. >> that's right, tamron. a building demolition that went very, very wrong. so many arthritis pain relievers -- i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenole? taking 8 pills a day...
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quote
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nephews and nieces. >> after that guest we had, i wouldn't be shell shocked. if you start hearing rumors that the sky is falling, relax, take a breath. it may just be a tool bag that dropped during a space walk back in november. okay, listen to this. masa says the tool kit should have re-entered the earth's atmosphere this morning, and they say it's really not a big deal. the tools are small and the kid will probably burn up over the pacific ocean. >> i like the focus on the word probably. tell that to the northwestern who gets h-- person who gets hi space hammer. i love this one, check out this building demolition in turkey that didn't go exactly as planned. crews spent 15 days lining this whole floor factory with explosives. it tumbled right over. you may wonder whether anybody was hit by this rolling building? thankfully no injuries have been reported. >> but there's something to be said about all the walls stayed
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intact. next time i get a house, they're going to build it to hold together. here is a sport you don't see every day. it's the old geezer carting world championships. it took place in finland where they have all the best races. women have to bush men in a traditional milk cart, but don't think it's as easy as it looks. it includes a water trap, a hill trap, and a sand trap, but the winners get $140,000. an award is also given to the funniest couple and that might be the funniest couple in that outfit. the old geezer and they also have the -- what was the other one they have? the wife hauling or wife carrying contest? >> yeah, well -- >> i think that's finland. >> well, let's not go there. >> come on, we've already gone there. >> you know the finns and their wife hauling, okay, well, whatever, whatever. i think we ought to have a contest where they explode a building and see if he can
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tumble it -- >> those are some strapping women. i love it. >> leave it to the finns. up next, an update on today's michael jackson key custody hearing. a live report. and then what it means to say, quote, you are so obama. if someone says that to you, what are they talking about? it's actually official slang now. you're watching "the big picture" on msnbc. i never thought i would have a heart attack, but i did. you need to talk to your doctor about aspirin. you need to be your own advocate. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. you take care of your kids, now it's time to take care of yourself. (announcer) regular kool-aid. goes almost three times further than soda. kool aid. delivering more smiles per gallon. ♪
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i'm julia boorstin with your cnbc market wrap. stocks ended the day on a high note on wall street. the dow gained 114 points. the s&p 500 picked up 15 points and the nasdaq added over 30 points. oil prices rose sharply as positive manufacturing data from the u.s. and cha ni raiina rais optimism. u.s. manufacturing showing
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signs of improvement. the institute for supply and management says the decline of u.s. manufacturing was at its slowest pace in july with an index of 48.9 up from 44.9. and the fda is warning the public not to use any products made from clear con. skin protech -- officials say the products were promoted to treat open wounds, but actually contain harmful bacteria. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. back to msnbc. welcome back, everybody. i'm tamron hall live in new york. >> and i'm david shuster live in washington. tamron, in the big picture several members of michael jackson's family gather in court today for a hearing over his children and his estate. a judge did sign off on katherine jackson's custody deal with debbie rowe granting jackson's 79-year-old mother
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permanent custody. the judge also approved monthly stipends for the kids. the judge is set to consider whether katherine jackson can challenge the two lawyers who are administering her son's estate. >> and in the bigger picture, more americans will remember michael jackson for his music than his personal troubles. a new cbs news poll finds 66% of those surveyed will think of jackson's legendary singing and dancing, but 1 in 4 americans say their memories are of his bizarre behavior. msnbc.com's courtney hazlett joins us live from l.a. i think that's such a big part of this estate battle because how people remember him and continue to buy his music and if they set up some kind of memorial for him like a graceland and go see him, this increases that estate and makes it for valuable for whomever gets to control do. >> i think that poll is fascinating for another reason, too. when we first started to report that there would be these concerts in london, i remember
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we were on air saying would people pay thatch to go abroad to see these shows and the outpouring of response i got was from abroad saying we don't remember him for his legal problems, but we remember him for his music. that speaks to the fact that at the end of the day we remember him as a musician that was really influential. >> what is the latest here, this court i understand is in recess for lunch right now. is this pretty much being seen as a victory for katherine jackson, especially when david just outlined what she'll be able to get to care for these kids? >> i think it's a little premature to call it a victory overall for katherine jackson. one thick she was victorious in however is the allowance question. the judge granted a family allowance to katherine jackson. he gave her 100% of the money that she asked for in that allowance. in terms of an allowance for the children, the judge granted
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83.5% of what was asked for. the judge felt there were some duplication between the two. so from a financial standpoint, yes, shea getting what she wants for that allowance. we have to sort out so much in terms of his image and the rest of the estate and what type of say she'll have in his estate moving forward. >> all right, courtney, thank you very much for the latest out of los angeles. where certainly this michael jackson story is far from over, from the death investigation to the estate, david. >> yeah, tamron, that's right. you know, the investigation itself, we're still waiting for the toxicology report. also getting these indications that dr. conrad murray sunday renewed skrut thincrutinscrutin. up next, our face-off, and they're going it face-off because you guys are twittering and e-mailing us crazy over this birther movement and now by popular demand, it's a part of face-off, david. >> yeah, that's right. we'll play a clip from that explosive interview we just had a birth leader and then we'll tell you how the chairman of the
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of issues including health care. >> it's part of a bigger strategy by some republicans. a memo called locking the town halls explain how to infiltrate town halls. look at what happened just this weekend. >> just say no. just say no. just say no. >> so what you hear there are protesters chanting just say no in that town hall regarding health care reform. it also happened during a town hall with kathleen sebelius and pennsylvania senator arlen specter. >> also democrat senator carl levin faced a group of protesters who were shouting the pledge of allegiance at him. take a listen.
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>> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic -- >> so this a good strategy at this time or is this kind of style of opposition hurting the republican party? joining us, chris kofinis and brad blakeman. chris, maybe it's the rebel in me, but americans got a right to stand up, shout it loud, shout your opinion in a respectful manner if you can, but that's not always the case. what is the problem here with these people getting out there and if they so choose to shout the pledge of allegiance doing so? >> you know, we're free to do -- to say whatever we want in this country. that's fine. the problem i have is here you have one of the most important policy issues and policy debates we have faced in this country arguably in decades, and instead of having a reasonable discussion about the policy difference, these end up being the shouting matches, and it would be bad enough if it wasn't
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an orchestrated strategy, but it is an orchestrated strategy amongst various grassroots groups as well as republicans who do not want to have a real debate about health care. on that debate they lose. what they want to make this is this ideological battle and you're seeing this play out in the town halls. that's the unfortunate thing about this. we're not focused on the seriousness of the problem and the seriousness of what type of path policywise we should take to solve it. >> brad, to that point, you have this memo encouraging this kind of behavior, but every time we have a republican lawmaker on the show, they say, we want to come to the table. our thoughts about health care reform are not being seriously looked at by the administration, but then you have a memo telling people to behave in the way that we just showed in three different instances. >> if you can't stand the heat, get out of the emergency room. the american people have a right to stand up and question lawmakers. should they be disruptive? certainly not. but they should be organized, they should go out and let their thoughts and opinions be heard.
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the fact of the matter is the american people don't want socialized medicine. they want the economy fixed, and that's what they're hearing in these town halls t shouldn't be about health care right now when people don't have jobs and unemployment has a national figure of almost 10% and 14% and 15% in urban areas. yes, people should go out and challenge their lawmakers. >> there goes brad again. this is again part of the scare tactics. >> this >> you're damn right, chris, this is scary. >> to use loaded words to frighten people -- >> here is something scary, the scariest thing that happened to us today and that was an interview where we were talking earlier this hour about the birther movement and their claim to have found certification that president obama was born in kenya, not hawaii. we had a heated discussion with birth movement leader orally taitz. here is a sample.
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watch. >> orly, your allegation here is that barack obama's family was somehow motivated to lie to hawaii -- orly, you got to give me a second here. i want to understand. >> let me finish. no, i don't, because i'm able to listen. let me explain. let people know the truth. they are sick of the lies coming from the mainstream media. >> well, the spokesman for the republican party disagrees. chairman steele has more -- this is the official statement. chairman steele has more important things to worry about right now. quote, chairman steele believes this is an unnecessary distraction and that the president is a u.s. citizen. he wants to move on and continue talking about real and immediate issues that are facing our nation like health care and the economy. chris kofinis, smart move obviously by chairman steele to try to get as far away from this woman as he can? >> yeah, it's a smart move. this is a problem for the republicans because these are republicans going out there and pushing this crazy theory --
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>> come on, chris. >> wait a second, brad. brad, what i thought was funny about that whole segment was when ann coulter, when ann coulter says you're crazy, you're crazy. and that's all you need to know about this entire birther movement. >> we should also let our viewers know that brad blakeman criticized the birthers long before a lot of other people. >> but brad is now -- largely though, brad, it is the republicans and republican lawmakers who are -- >> no. >> there are democrats who are backing orly and this birth movement? >> we were victims of it, too. palin was a victim of it with her son trig. there are crazies on the left and there are crazies -- >> who is sponsoring that birth bill as that has been called? who is sponsoring that? >> there are 535 lawmakers up on the hill -- >> but of those sponsoring the birther bills, are those democrats? >> look -- >> they're republicans, brad. they're republicans. >> on either side -- >> brad -- >> this is the point, brad.
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here you are even, brad, you have called the birther movement crazy. you yourself, but just now i said, brad, who is sponsoring the birther bill and you couldn't just say republicans. >> anybody can sponsor a bill. the bill isn't going to see the light of day. >> i can't, you can't, david can't. come on. the republicans. at least those. i'm not saying a majority, but i just -- >> brad, i don't remember any democrats sponsoring a bill involving trig and the palin birth and trying to verify whose grand kid -- >> but they brought that up during the campaign and knew it was false. >> didn't take it nearly as far as the birthers. >> you reported on a daily. >> that's not xabl, brcomparabl. here is the reason why. this is being fueled by the grassroots. >> please. >> i grant you it's the far out wing of the republican party, but at the same time you have members of congress, republican members of congress, that give this crazy movement legitimacy
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and they should be ashamed of it. >> i agree with you they should be ashamed. >> but every republican should be condemning it, in particular those that are elected representatives. >> you don't control your crazies like kucinich and others. >> that's completely ridiculous. there's no comparison, none. >> chris, brad, thank you both so much. you two are definitely not crazy. we appreciate you coming on the show. >> oh, did you say not crazy and then come to me. was that planned? >> tamron, you're never crazy. >> i know we're out of time, but some of the reactions from twitter people are saying this is serious or others saying, you know, we shouldn't be covering this to give it legitimacy. but others have said is orly taitz a new character from sacha baron cohen? >> tamron cohen, you are brutal. we love it. you are watching msnbc with tamron and me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life.
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testimony ron -- david, harvard scholar hen ris louis gates is finally able to joke about being arrested by that police officer and setting off a national debate on racial profiling and race. he made his first public appearance this weekend since the first beer summit. he told a group at a book signing answered sergeant james crowley were able to find some humor in it all. >> i offered to get his kids into harvard.
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if he doesn't arrest me ever again. >> well, how far we've come from that initial report and the angry words to being able to laugh about it. you know, either cry, laugh, or figure out something in the middle. interesting response. i like it. >> absolutely. former alaska governor sarah palin made her first appearance since leaving office and she made it this past weekend. palin gave a public speech on second amendment rights saturday night at an nra banquet in anchorage. cap ras were not on hand for the event. senator john mccain says he respects palin's decision to leave office. >> but it's -- everybody makes the decisions as to what's best for themselves and their families, and sarah i think made clearly the best decision. i think she will continue to contribute. i think she will continue to be a force, and i just also
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continue to kind of be saddened by the fact that there's still such vicious attacks on her and her family. i mean, i've never seen anything quite like it. >> i don't know, tamron. i have seen some stuff quite like you. it just mention president obama and you can find some pretty vicious stuff, but mccain does have a point. >> president obama has made it into the latest edition, david, of the ucla slang. so the book which is being published this month is released every four years bilinguistics professor and her students. the 160-page book includes terms, definitions, parts of speech, sample sentences, and notes on new slang words. so what does it mean if someone says to you, quote, you are so obama? it means, david, that you are cool. other slang terms in the sixth edition. presh, which means cute or
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precious. i think they're perez hillson. and bromance, which means a close platonic friendship. that's funny we bring up bromance because a guy says he has a bro crush on you. >> you have to take the flattery wherever you can get it. >> david shuster you're to presh. those are the things we thought you should know today. >> nobody is ever going to say david shuster is so obama. all 60 democrats serving in the sfat from the most senior senator, robert byrd to al franken have been invited to the white house to talk about their first six months. we saw the cabinet meet on friday to assess their first months. let's get to our first read on politics. mark murray, deputy political detector for nbc news. a lot of report cards going on near your location from the cabinet to now this. >> right.
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it comes actually with the six-month mark that we've passed that in the obama administration, and tomorrow he's going to be huddling with senate democrats. they're in town. the house has actually left. it just comes a couple days after he did the same thing with his cabinet secretaries. also tomorrow all eyes are going to be on the senate to see what it does, whether it follows the house in providing an extra $2 billion for that cash for clunkers program. we'll see if the senate can do something with that before it leaves on friday. and then finally, all signs are pointing to the fact that pennsylvania congressman joe sestak, a democrat, will be announcing his primary challenge against arlen specter tomorrow. >> mark murray, a great point to end on. we are going to be covering that in tomorrow's show. make sure to check out first read first thing every morning. it's updated throughout the day. logon to firstread.msnbc.com. it's great to be back just to see you. >> new word, showmance, a
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twitterer said that's a crush on our show. >> "hardball" with chris matthews starts right now. crazy august. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, summer in the city. temperatures are rising in this country as town hall meetings on health care are turning into mob scenes. noisy, angry, vengeful crowds are shouting down members of congress who are trying to talk up president obama's health care push. catch this joyful scene surrounding democrat lloyd doggett down in texas when he called a town meeting. >> just say no! just say no! just say no! just say no! just say no! just say no!
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>> congressman doggett joins news a minute. the message there was fairly clear. just say no to the obama health care plan. also, we've been hearing so much crazy talk from the right recently from the no nothing birthers who want to claim the president is a native born kenya kenyans, who claims the government wants to kill old people or at least talk them into killing thegez, but is it just possible in fact, really possible, really possible that stirring up the far outs on the far right will also gin up the conservative base and get things perking for the republican party come next november with the midterm elections? plus, what about this government program that gives you up to $4,500 towards a new car if you trade in your low mileage clunker? if it ran out of money while the congress was on vacation, at least the house is on vacation, will the senate go on vacation without extending the program in time?
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