and, those freed american journalists spend their first night at home after laboring for months in a north korean prison camp, we're getting new details this morning about how bill clinton orchestrated their release and the implications for other imprisoned journalists in this world working out of this country. and we surprised our "morning meeting" friend jonathan capehart this week, catching him on camera biting down on a butterless bagel. jonathan thought it was funny. his mom? not so much. mama capehart joins us later this hour to set me straight. maybe we have to set our producer straight. it is 9:00 a.m., pull up a chair. hope you join the "morning meeting." welcome, good morning. we begin with a chilling new video from the gunman who killed three women, wounded nine others before killing himself at a gym

in suburban pittsburgh. this, 1 of 2 youtube postings from 48-year-old george sodini. this one you're looking at was posted a little over a year ago. it reveals some of his struggles with dating women. nbc's allison carter joins us live from pennsylvania with the latest. where do we stand? >> reporter: well, good morning, dylan. in that video that you were talking about he also, while he was giving that tour, he kept referencing things about what women would like about his house. the fact that he had matching furniture, the fact that he kept things tidy, and there was indeed on a coffee table a book that was entitled "how to date women." he was very preoccupied with showing this home and what women might like about that. in his next posting he spoke more about his emotions, or a way of hiding his emotions. this is what he had to say. >> it is easy for me to hide from my emotions for one more day. it is a long drive in the car, listen to some music, daydream,

or just do some mundane task around the house that really doesn't need to be done, that's not too important. and there you go, one more day. one more day turns into one more year. now rds says i have approximately maybe 15 more years to be successful at this. when i heard that, i wanted to continue immediately to start moving on this. i didn't realize i had that much time. so what my objective is to be real and to learn to be emotional and to, you know, be able to emotionally connect with people. because when i'm 10 to 20 years older than she is, she has to feel good about this thing. and the only way around that, you know, is to work on this and perhaps forgiveness exercises perhaps or whatever else.

i'm going to post this and see what comes back. >> dylan, what came back was absolutely no comment. this man repeatedly in his blogs and with these youtube postings was trying to reach out from this isolated life that he had, but until this shooting occurred, there were no comments on either his blog or on these youtube postings, dylan. >> thank you. i want to bring in our panel, dr. robi ludwig, psychotherapist, also with us for the next couple hours, former governor of new york and former attorney general eliot spitzer. welcome back, governor. jonathan capehart. doctor, i'll begin with you. obviously i'll make this brief. how do you identify these types of situations sooner? >> it's very hard, but anyone who is isolated and feels like they are somehow victimized in life -- >> that's a lot of people.

>> that's a lot of people. you know, it is easy to look in hindsight and say, we should have seen these signs. but in some cases you just really can't because it's almost like a volcano that builds up. then these people can't handle it anymore. and there is a desire to be recognized, which i think is really interesting. because he did want us to understand his emotional experience. but he felt so hopeless for that himself, he didn't reach out to anybody. >> it almost felt like he had a lot of shake, self-hatred himself. >> he was profoundly depressed so he could not imagine his life ever being different, ever feeling fulfilled. it doesn't sound like he had any friends. he didn't reach out to a therapist. so you know, it was just himself with himself which is never a good situation. >> i want to -- speaking of himself with himself, look at this youtube video, this is him giving a tour of his house. >> my bedroom.

extra computer here, the network. i'll show you the cat 5 connection downstairs. okay. there's -- looks pretty clean. i'm sure she'll be impressed. >> it's almost as if he was using the camera and internet as a proxy for the woman that he wished he could be dating. i don't know if that's reading me in, but like the use of technology to create a relationship that doesn't otherwise exist. >> right. it's almost like match.com gone bad. he was trying to kind of -- it almost sounds like when you're selling real estate, you want to show like where you live and how it's some great deal and he's showing the bedroom, of note. he was sexually preoccupied. this is a person -- i don't know why he wasn't able to connect. there obviously was some type of issue there. it is no surprise to me that he actually targets women when he is killing them. leader of this class was about to be a mother. so this is somebody who had a lot of rage towards his mother,

could not connect with women, and so he's saying, if i can't have you, i'm going to get rid of you and i'm going to tell you my story and be important because nobody treated me that way. >> i get the feeling a lot of folks you talk about this will say, people have been isolated for centuries. people have been -- felt rejected and separated from society for centuries. certainly in this country for as long as it's been here, in any country. why does it go to this place? >> i think it is like this perfect storm of having severe depression, a lot of rage, he felt that he was bullied. there was nobody he was able to get in there. >> that didn't answer the question. is it the case that there are more events like this now than there were ten years or 50 years ago? i don't know the answer to that. if you know the answer to that, be thrilled to know are we seeing an increase in incidents of these rage-driven mass murders that we hopefully would have been able to predict. >> we certainly seem to be hearing it a lot more in the

news. >> that's a separate issue. sharp bikes we hear a lot about them. >> statistically i don't know the answer. it seems like it is increasing. i wonder if we're really leading more isolated lives sitting in front of the computer, really feeling disconnected and different people of different skill sets in order to manage that. >> one person who's done a lot of work to try to answer the exact question you just asked, mark ames who will be along in an hour. he believes since the '80s there's been a meaningful uptick in the frequency of this. why do you ask that? >> because i think we are because of the pervasiveness of media these days we can see these events and they explode across the internet and multi-media world much more rapidly. the question is are we really seeing an increase in isolation, in the events that trigger -- because if we're seeing the same number, you think of it differently, it's an enormous crisis but you think of it differently. the law has a very difficult time dealing with events like this because the law likes to

think of itself as being a rational set of principles and rules. here you are dealing with somebody who's fundamentally irrational. those two intersect. psychology of the laws intersect in a very awkward way. >> dylan, remember the story we were talking about earlier in the week, i think it was the catholic church issued this report about facebook and how it could lead to teen suicide and lead to isolation? now i'm wondering, what role -- maybe the doctor can answer this, sort after follow-up to what eliot said earlier, what role does technology play in isolating people and feeding the sense of loneliness that seems to be out there more pervasively than maybe before? >> it's interesting, this comes up a lot in my private practice where facebook is almost like a press release. so people are presenting the face that they want you to see. so if you're struggling in life and reading facebook and everybody seems happy and i'm driving in my car and i'm out to

meet my best friend for lunch, or you see an ex-boyfriend is in a happy relationship and you see beautiful pictures, that's a lot to tolerate. and then if you are growing up with technology and your ability to interface one-on-one atrophies for a certain subgroup of the population, then you could be more at risk for certain feelings of loneliness, depression and not knowing how to really connect. >> simply does your ability to disconnect from other human beings, whether it's using technology or whatever it is, there is a culture of disconnectedness in humans make it easier for people to become violent, make it easier for people to steal? all these types of sort of sociopathic or psychopathic activities. i wonder how much of that is a function of whether humans are connected or not. >> well, what we do know psychologically is that if somebody is alone and thinking about themselves too much, that is not healthy for themselves, because the more you think about yourself and you don't have somebody to break that up,

you're depressed. >> this is the irony of the internet, we're both more interconnected and more isolated. how you mediate those two can perhaps lead to events like this. >> yes. i agree completely. we have to move on. doctor, thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. >> we'll have you back. there is talk of a new t.e.a. party switching gears. a call for a national so-called recess rally. a protest to health care reform being made here. contessa brewer has details. what exactly are they protesting? >> they're protesting a lot of different things but in this case it seems to be the big overhaul reform legislation with health care. senate lawmakers are going to leave washington, d.c. tomorrow so the debate over health care reform is really moving into these town halls, it is moving into communities across the country. president obama is in fact e-mailing supporters, he's asking them to go out and fight what he's calling lies with the truth. who's he fighting?

those angry critics we've seen showing up at these rallies and shouting. they want to kill this reform legislation. we may see fireworks august 22nd when planners organize a so-called recess rally. lawmakers are on recess, protestors are ready to challenge what they call socialized government-controlled health care. it may not be entirely as it seems though. there is a lot of evidence, a lot of the so-called grassroots anger is being sort of manufactured, even cork straighted by conservative republicans. david, what are you finding in terms of who's setting up these rallies? >> these town hall meetings have always produced outliers, people who may be were not in the mainstream, those who did not want to talk about what members of congress wanted to talk about. but at least they seemed organic, they were from the district, they actually lived there and had some say. now it appears some of them at least are getting bussed in,

paid for even by outside groups. that changes the whole nature of these town hall meetings. >> does it make it less authentic if you have people bussed in? if someone's organizing them to show up and make their voice heard, how is that any different to orchestrated letter writing campaigns to legislators? >> it sort of wastes everybody's time. there might be people at these town hall meetings worried about getting their social security checks, they might have other questions about national security, other issues an they can't get their voices heard because they're just protestors who shout down whoever's on the stage. it is not just members of congress. we saw a cabinet secretary, kathleen sebelius, the health secretary, with senator arlen specter a few days ago shouted down. >> that big recess rally, some organizers here, we're looking at a fox news analyst, red state, a right wing blog, american majority run by a former bush speech writer, sam

adams alliance, americans for prosperity. run by conservative activists. thank you so much for your time. >> you had a thought. >> my thought is i think the success of the opposition right now hinges on the fact that the white house hasn't articulated sufficiently what health care reform is. they went to the other extreme, the mistake hillary made which was go so detailed people could pick at the details, here it is so amorphous, people can say we don't like this but nobody knows quite what it is so we don't know what to grasp on to to support it. they need to be more specific about what we're getting. >> competition for health insurance and free choice to liberate people to leave their jobs and keep their health care, i don't -- it is good we have a plan but nobody wants to talk about it. >> nobody's explained to the public and say here is what you get. the idea government's going to socialize health care, half the people protesting are getting government health care, they

love it. yet they're saying we don't want government run health care. it's like what are you saying? you don't understand what's going on and nobody's explaining. >> dylan, the other thing is i agree with both of you 100%. the other thing is that the white house hasn't fallen behind any one of these specific plans. they want -- the president wants health care reform. i don't think until we have a bill out of the house and a bill out of the senate that people can actually look to and say, this is what we're voting on and this is what will happen if we approve this. until that happens, these rallies, whether they're organized or heart-felt emotions from people at these town hall rallies, they're only going to continue. it is feeding the fear rather than making people feel confident. >> it is the fear of uncertainty. somebody's got to say here's what it is. forget this rhetoric, this is right wing silliness. here's what you're getting. >> contessa? >> it's hard to explain it if

you're being shouted over. if you're going up and just willing to say "liar!" you're not going to get an answer. >> nobody shouts over the president of the united states. i think he can articulate it better than anybody else. he should do that. he's the best salesman. >> jonathan, are you done for the moment? >> yes, dylan. >> i'm done as well. are you done, govern sfer. >> i'm done if you're done. >> contessa? florida police have busted a bizarre murder for hire plot. they arrested a woman because she allegedly tried to hire a policeman to carry out a hit on her husband. that was a smart move. wasn't it? we'll talk to nbc's mark pot ber this story coming up a little later this hour on "the meeting." caught on camera, cell phone video in oakland. police asking an unruly baseball fan to leave the game. the guy refuses, starts taunting the cops. and so -- don't tase me, bro! do you see that? there he goes down. you hear screams. dylan, if someone in the studio had a taser -- >> i'm sure somebody would have

used it on me by now. thankfully they're not allowed in the building. thank you, contessa. much more ahead here on the "morning meeting." speaking of questions that will get you tased, questions surrounding those american journalists. not to mention the banksters. a fun hearing on the ratings agencies. we'll talk about the return of those journalists, where we go from here with the precedent of, again, what's appropriate and not when looking for information and what's appropriate an not when trying to get somebody -- an american captive out. that here at the "morning meeting" right after this.

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lawyer are ling, euna lee, waking up with their families this morning for the first time in many months. meanwhile, more coming out about what it took to get them home. nbc's chris jansing live in studio city, california with what went into this. hi, chris. >> reporter: what we know is when there was talk about sending an envoy to pyongyang, the first thought was vice president al gore because he's also the boss of these two journalists at current tv. but other names came up as well, former ambassador bill richardson, now the new mexico governor who's done these kinds of missions before. ultimately though, it was clear that north korea wanted bill clinton. in fact, what we've learned is that they've said to these two women while they were still in north korea, they would look very kindly upon bill clinton making a visit. they conveyed that into one of their rare phone calls home. that of course then made its way to the administration and ultimately of course, bill clinton made the trip. took them in total only about 48

hours, start to finish. of course he came back successfully yesterday. i was at the airport. it was an incredibly joyful reunion, but john bolton, among the people who have been critical of this and questioning whether the administration should have sent anybody at all, dylan. >> the reason for that of course, there are many other american journalists who find themselves in foreign countries and ultimately in possession of foreign governments. we have some from "newsweek" for instance covering the lairanian elections who are currently in prison. what about the comment? >> i think it is easier when you're on the outside to say we shouldn't do this. it poses a risk to other journalists who could be taken hostage and held until they get a bill clinton involved. on the other hand, have you two journalists whom you can free. former president clinton did a typically stupendous job bringing them home. most of it was arranged ahead of time. that's what diplomacy is all

about. north korea did get what it wanted which is the recognition, stature is raised, they are now playing on the international stage rather than being isolative which is where we went them to be because of their nuclear pow person. >> is it worth it in that context as a potential gateway to a dialogue with north korea? >> the up side is perhaps this opens the door to conversations if it means they'll begin to modulate their nuclear program. that remains to be seen. that has been an international objective of the u.s. for many years now. >> jonathan capehart, what's the day-after conversation in your world? >> i'm still getting up to speed on what the day-after conversation is. but i think a lot of people are wondering is the administration going to hold true to the mantra that the release of the two journalists and six-party talks and talks on north korea's nuclear weapons program, whether it truly will remain separate. i think, yes, north korea and kim jong-il, he's got stature

now for maybe a couple more days. he's seen on par with the former president of the united states. but that's going to fade away and the united states and allies actually have made it very clear that the nuclear talks are the real deal here and right now i think north korea is the one that has to now decide whether it wants to play ball with the united states, china and russia, or if it still wants to play this sort of isolative recalcitrant role. >> how do you interpret north korea's behavior? do you think they want to play ball? >> nobody knows. we can't predict. he wanted to show proof he was alive and healthy. they've got something out of it, we got two journalists home. how it plays out remains to be seen. >> we will take a break. if you own a home however, don't miss our next story on the "morning meeting." a new report says half of all u.s. mortgages indeed will be under water by 2011. another report says home ownership is plunging.

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welcome back. we talked about some of these housing statistics. what do you got here? >> by 2011, almost half of all u.s. mortgages will be under water. people will own homes that are worth far less than what they actually owe on their mortgages. here's the statistic. we're talking a big problem even with those prime conforming loans which are much less risky. they expect 41% will be underwater by the first quarter of 2011. 46% of those prime jumbo loans will be larger than what the property is actually worth. right now it's been up like from 29%. what this means is we'll see home ownership taking a staunch tumble. people just can't afford to own homes anymore so they'll go back

to renting. we'll see the percentage of homeowners dropping. >> when you twr >> when you trap people inside of their home with debt, they can't move. >> you get a great job offer but you can't move because you can't sell your house. another story, a city worker in deer field beach, florida suspended two days without pay. the big crime apparently -- she didn't say hi to the mayor. the mayor was talking to her supervisor. the woman was just doing her job, like sweeping the patio up, didn't want to interrupt. she gets called in to the supervisor's office. he says, look, you didn't properly acknowledge the mayor's presence. suspended, no pay. >> are you sure there is not more to that? i feel like that's one of those ones where we're missing something maybe? >> no. she was reprimanded because she did not acknowledge the mayor. her supervisor charged her with insubordination. the decision rescinded when reporters started asking questions. but come on, the mayor must think she's a hot shot. like some other people i know.

>> that's why i'm always very nice to you. >> you always say good morning to me. >> how lovely you look and how smart you are and all that stuff. every day. >> he's full of a lot of you-know-what. i'm not. a lot more ahead here on the "morning meeting." including this -- police used a fake murder trying to bust a woman for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband. they caught it on tape. everything's caught on tape these days. ever feel like somebody's watching you? yes. we were watching jonathan capehart as you snuck in some breakfast the other day. his mom taking us to task. contessa was not pleased either. >> no, i think that's wrong, dylan. >> i do, too. >> do you? >> yeah. >> change of heart? >> no. the producers set that up. >> blame it on the devil. blame it on the producer. >> that kid, brett. >> let's suspend him. two days without pay.

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welcome back to the morning meeting. nice to see you. time to reset the agenda at the half-hour. the alleged health club shooter in his own words. new youtube videos of the man accused of killing three women and himself in a rampage, again extraordinary story. we'll pick it up in just a second here. you can't make this next one up either. police tell a woman that her newlywed husband is dead, she breaks down sobbing. then she's busted for allegedly hiring a hit man to kill the man. is the white house compiling an enemies list to target the president's critics on health care? that's what one gop senator is indeed claiming this morning. jonathan capehart bites down

on a bagel with our cameras rolling. now his mother's going to give us a piece of her mind. right here on the "morning meeting." contessa wasn't happy about it either. wall street opening up for business. good news and bad kind of thing. slightly better than expected. the job report's real number comes tomorrow morning. you want to talk about the american economy? talk about jobs, whether in fact we are creating them or not. so far, not so much. but hope springs eternal. we'll get to that a little bit later. first off let's get into the credit ratings agencies which has been one of the issues that's been coming up in congress this week. they've been doing hearings on financial reform, financial reregulation. we know ba the banksters and the grand caper. >> dylan, during the height of the housing boom, these credit rating agencies are accused of giving top rating to those risky and confusing mortgage-related investments. everybody was making a lot of money until those investments

crumbled in value. the collapse in the mortgage market played a role in the economic meltdown. senator chuck schumer has just introduced legislation to prevent banks from shopping around for the best rating for their product. but, the obama administration's resisting calls that would have the government step in to make sure the ratings are reliable saying that it would force investors to rely even more than on the ratings. >> how does this work and why is it such a problem? the biggest issue, governor, with ratings agencies is what? >> biggest issue is can you trust them. the fact of the matter is rating agencies slap aaa rating on all sorts of junk. aaa rating meaning it is the highest type of debt that should be owned by pension funds and people who want absolute security. they were running around putting this on stuff that turned out to be absolutely worthless. the question is, did they know what they were doing, was it simply ignorance. neither one of them is a terribly comforting answer. if they were simply wrong and

dumb, would we ever want to rely on them again? were there conflicts of interest inherent in the structure of the industry? the answer is probably question. then the next question should be did anybody get it better? did the banks or fed know better? this is the examination we need to go through. >> play it out for a second. we'll do yet another skit, you'll play the investor. i'll be the bank. how are you? >> i'm doing. >> you play the ratings agency. you are the one in charge of what happens. let us commence the "morning meeting" masterpiece theatre. first i'll create a housing bond with a house. if you wouldn't mind not looking, please. this is between me and the ratings agency. i'd like a aaa rating for tho this house bond. it is a full house. >> nice house. is that stucco? >> yeah. how much will that be? because i'm going to pay you to rate that. >> okay. you're going to get a aaa. >> thank you very much.

>> i represent pensioners across the country. teachers. civil servant workers, private sector pension. i've got a aaa rating. i feel good because i'm not crazy about the color of this house, pink -- but it is a house. it has a roof, windows, it is a real house. >> i hope it is a policeman and teachers for whom you mentioned you manage the penny for enjoy their house. >> they've got collateral here. >> as long as we keep paying you, we'll be fine. >> this is version two. this is more like house parts. >> parts of a house? >> i got a sink, i've got -- you can take a look. but it looks aaa to me. >> well, it don't look too aaa. it is not a real house, it is not an actual house. >> what if i gave you a stack of 50s? >> it is a little more housish. >> you could totally live in it. if i give you another stack of 100s. >> this is aaa to me. >> thank you very much? >> are you bribing him? >> this is how wall street

works. this is not a bribe. >> does this come with instructions? >> i got to go back to the people i represent. >> it's like home depot. can you do it, we can help. >> this house was what we call transparent. i can see the house on this one, this one we're hiding something. you're saying it is aaa? i've got aaa for my pensioners. we'll all set. >> this seems to go pretty well. i'm making a small fortune selling this stuff, i got to say. one here is what i like to call mystery meat. >> dylan -- i'm confused. i'm confused. so you, the bank, pay the rating agency to give a aaa rating to something you're trying to sell? >> yeah. but jonathan, nobody's supposed to know that. >> mind your business, jonathan! >> that's the secret we don't want anybody to know. they're buying that rating. but shh! don't tell the real world. >> mind your business, jonathan. >> then they'll get wise to this

scam. >> jonathan, if you keep talking like this, how am i supposed to make money? if i can't bribe the ratings agency, what kind of business am i going to have? >> carry on. sorry. >> this is a bag of -- look inside. you'll see. it is a very valuable asset. these are more house concepts. this is like things of the future that could become houses. >> i don't know if i'm getting aaa with it. let's see what happens. >> i got a stack of these, a stack of those. i got a stack of these. >> you got yourself a aaa. >> that's what i'm talking about. now i got a big bag of junk. you know what the problem is? i'm going to wake up some day and i'm the pension -- when i'm c new york state pension fund or whoever, i'm supposed to have invested this money. i am now seeing my pension fund go from $150 billion to about

$100 billion if i'm the new york state pension fund. suddenly i have all these pension obligations and i'm holding junk that is worthless. how do i pay the pensions of all these hard-working men and women whose money we've taken over the years. we told them we were going to secure it. we're holding paper that you paid to get a aaa rating on. this is a bribe. ugly word, it is commercial bribery. that's what's been going on. we are now holding junk paper. how do we pay these pensions. >> very briefly, what can we do to fix this system? >> we have got to first stop the payments to the rating agencies for putting on a aaa that's simply unwarranted. we've got to restore some incontributory negligence grit to the system and also understand that these bonds are worthless. and we've got to write them down. they repealed mark to market. that's why financial security stocks went right back up. we have to be real about what this stuff is worth. >> what frustrates people, these garbage bags, particularly that last one, ends up at the federal reserve but the banks have kept the money that they -- made

creating the garbage bags, he's got his loot, everybody else has this. >> everybody wins except the american taxpayer. those trillions of dollars that have gone to the banks have bailed everybody out but the taxpayer is footing the bill for the incompetence and gamesmanship or wall street that inflated this huge bubble that's now deflating and that huge sucking sound is taxpayer money flowing out of our pockets right into the pockets of the banks. >> maybe we could have another skit. because i want to know how we went from slapping on a aaa rating on a whole chicken to slapping a aaa rating on chicken parts. who said that that -- >> that's the vehicle. this is the beauty of what they call securitization which is a concept -- like when you go to the deli counter and say i want the nice, thin roast beef. they slice it so thin they were able to sell off little pieces and they continued to say aaa, even though you were given the

yin side of the outside. >> i think a lot of folks are starting to understand all of this but they don't know what to do, they sit there and go this is terrible but what do we do? we can't solve that right now. quick break, thank you for playing and explaining. we'll keep to you talk paula abdul. keep the hat. use it at the beach this weekend. there is lots more coming up at the morning meeting, including a murder for hire case straight out after novel. a woman tells police her husband is dead only he is not dead. this does not involve the governor of new york, eliot spitzer. when i was seventeen i was not good to my skin. long summer days and not enough sleep. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. (announcer) new neutrogena total skin renewal. gentle exfoliating puffs and micro-vibrations speed surface cell turnover. it's clinically tested to help undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just one week.

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good thursday. i'm contessa brewer. a florida woman is behind bars today accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband. she got busted when she allegedly hired police to carry out her plan for murder. nbc's mark potter is in miami.

i know you have the whole scoop for us. mark, what's going on here? >> reporter: she hired that police officer by mistake. she thought she was hiring a real hit man but instead she got and undercover officer and a trip to jail. police say they first learned about this scheme on friday from one of their informants. in a dramatic scene worth thy o hollywood but shot by police, a young newlywed returns home to find crime scene technicians there. when she's toll her husband of only six months has been murdered, she begins to sob and she continues to sob uncontrollably. until she is led away to be eventually arrested. >> i didn't do anything and i didn't plot anything. >> reporter: police say the 26-year-old woman did plot something. the murder of her husband. actually hired someone she thought was a hitman. >> but the twist is that that man was an undercover boynton

beach police officer who she hired to kill her husband. >> reporter: police say she offered to pay $4,200 for the killing and provided photos of her husband and her house. >> we have her on surveillance video talking about wanting her husband dead and saying she's 5,000% sure that she wants this done. >> her husband, 38 years old, was alerted by police and was never harmed. >> technically if this is 10:50, i should have been dead at 9:00. i'm an hour and a half on the good side, i guess. >> reporter: as the supposed crime scene, the woman began to sob and sob. officers continued to play along. >> at that point she was brought to a vehicle and brought back here to the police department where she came face-to-face with the man who shot her husband twice in the head. >> reporter: or so she thought, police say, before finally learning he was an officer and she was charged with the solicitation to commit first degree murder.

the biggest question now for the husband is, why his wife would allegedly want him dead. >> there's no point for it. just divorce me and take everything. that's the best way. right? >> reporter: much better, it seems, than waiting until "death do us part." now police say that several times during the scheme the undercover officers asked the young woman if she was sure she wanted to have her husband killed. she said she was absolutely sure. 5,000% sure. at one time while laughing she says "i will be very happy." contes contessa? >> mark, thank you. six months in, i guess, dylan, you can say the honeymoon's over there. >> yes, you can say that, among other things. thank you, contessa. yes, the honeymoon's over. up next, do not mess with mom. particularly jonathan capehart's mother, sounding off on the "morning meeting" about our little practical joke the other day. mr. capehart himself chomping down on a bagel. jonathan was entertained. others see it a

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well, the bagle bite scene around the world. we caught him on camera trying to wolf down his breakfast bagle. jonathan entertained by the entire process. his mother less so. she joins him now sending a message -- i want to read this quote from mrs. margaret capehart. you tell dylan you are not some toy to be played with on that show. we welcome miss margaret capehart to the program. mrs. capehart, can i say one thing in my defense before you give it to me here. >> yes, you may, dylan. >> i'm a victim, too. that's all i need to say. i'm sitting here. i was victimized by brett. remember that producer kid? >> by brett? >> he's like 22 over there cutting tape and rolling it left and right. there he is. hiding again. anyway, you know, your son is an

extraordinary man. you probably already know that. >> i know that already, yes. >> what was he like as a kid? >> as a kid? he was a good kid. i never had a problem with jonathan. i always knew where he was. he knew his mother was, you know, take care of it if he wasn't where he was supposed to be. >> all right. when i worked with him back at bloomberg, i'll be honest, he was quite a rabble rouser. he was running around, grabbing phones out of people's hands and hang up on them. why did you do that? get off the phone and talk to me. >> i don't believe he did that. >> no, he didn't do that. >> no, i know he didn't do that. >> i'd like to show you something, if i could. i think this will entertain jonathan. when i was working at cnbc, we use to have what we call martini day in the control room. occasionally they would do the

wrong switch. at one time maria bartiromo was interviewing hillary clinton who at the time was preparing her presidential run. i was a co-host doing facial stretches. i was sitting around. >> bloomberg an idea. mayor bloomberg proposed -- >> that makes a little more sense if you see -- i was not supposed to be on camera. that was being put on camera during an interview with hillary clinton. if they showed you the whole clip, again, brett kind of screwed this up showing me out of context. this happens from time to time and i just want to say we won't do this again to your son. what was so offensive to you about this, actually? >> the whole thing was offensive. >> what else, mom? >> i said the whole thing was offensive. you know what, i thought it was

mean, disrespectful, an invasion of his privacy and personal space. my question to you is, do you have cameras in the bathroom or in the dressing rooms? who are you going to put on national tv next. if you wanted to make a fool out of someone, you and the camera person and brett, whoever that is you're talking about, you can yours yourselves. because it really pissed me off. i don't know if i should use this on tv. i apologize. it really did. >> i did not intend that at all. i do bowl guys. can i show you one more piece of tape? >> you know what, dylan, my son is not a clown, okay? >> i understand. but he is an avid reader. >> i don't care. i thought it was so distasteful and disrespectful. jonathan might have thought it

was a joke, part of the job, i did not feel that way. he's not a clown. >> i understand. >> he's not a kid at a birthday party where you take pictures and show family. this is national tv. >> i understand. >> i really didn't appreciate it. >> it won't happen again and i apologize. >> it really pissed me off. >> i won't happen again. >> thank you, dylan. >> thank you for coming on and setting me and the rest of these people straight. jonathan capehart, we don't think you're a clown, we don't think any of these things, we think you're the reason this show has gotten off to such a great start, truly. we're going to take a break. we'll continue with the second hour of the morning meeting here. more on the shootings, the journalist and a look at cash for clunkers. it may not be good economic policy but the reality is it may be a necessary bailout for the automakers. we'll have that debate.

plus president obama accused of having an enemies list. story from the white house on how they are trying to fight back against what they believe is gop targeting of health care reform after this. good thursday morning to you. i'm bill karins with your business travel forecast. much of the country is calm today. we have a little bit of light rain, areas around washington, d.c. and philadelphia, possible airport delays there. the west coast, everything is looking pretty nice in l.a. and phoenix and seattle. temperatures are cooler, though, definitely in the midwest. have a great day.

mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models.

said i had approximately maybe 15 more years to be successful at this. when i heard that, i wanted to

continue immediately to stop moving on this. >> the youtube ramblings of a killer. george sodini, we're all familiar with the terrible act earlier this week in pennsylvania. i'm dylan, welcome back. setting the agenda with youtube videos of the alleged aerobics class shooter. did they reveal the inner workings of his mind and what is the social aspect of this. after ten years in russia, a violent society there, a violent society here. we'll talk about that murder for hire, an elaborate scheme to bust an elaborate plot to hire a hit man for her husband. does the white house have an enemies list of its own speaking of hitmen, targeting critics of health care. we have the story on that front. plus paula abdul picked the

worst day ever to admit she's leaving "american idol." her bombshell, overcome by the release of the american journalists from north korea. thanks for joining the morning meeting. breaking news on the deadly shootings at a gym near pittsburgh, pennsylvania. the blogs were not creepy enough, two videos he made more than a year ago have now been discovered on youtube and they are shedding that much more light on the tortured mind of a gunman who killed two women and wounded nine others before taking his life earlier this week. more on the videos and the day after. hi, alison. >> reporter: hello there, dylan.

in one of these videos he posted, he gave a tour through his home. george sodini was painfully aware of his inability to kent to people. during this tour he spoke of how he hoped to impress women by the fact that his home was neat and tidy, he had matching furniture. he kept it clean. he even had on one of his coffee tables, a book about how to date women. he seemed to be very aware of his inability to connect to women and other people. his neighbors described him as being a loner. in his vekd video he spoke of his inability to connect to people emotionally. this is one of the things he said he wanted to work on. >> my objective is to be real and learn to be emotional and be able to emotionally connect with people. because when i'm 10 to 20 years older than she is, she has to feel good about this thing. and the only way around that, you know, is to work on this.

>> who that she is no one knows. it might not have been anyone in particular, dylan. it seems like he was just searching for someone to be a part of his life. he posted these things hoping to reach out to other people. the bad part of it was these blogs and youtube videos, there were no postings to them at all until after this deadly shooting. >> all right, alison. thank you very much. mark ames, author of "the exiled" also author of "going postal." if the thing in your ear comes out, put it back in. least of our problems. mark, you talk about this as a textbook case. >> well, in some ways yes and some ways no. this wasn't an example of disgruntled worker going into his workplace and shooting fellow employees.

that is a new phenomenon that started in the middle '80s. it's a textbook case in that this guy is a loser. there are millions or tens of millions of people who are losers like him, lonely. as he said he hadn't had sex in 20 years, hadn't had a girlfriend in 30 years. we have this idea, hollywood films, 99% about revenge of the nerd is funny. the life of a nerd is funny and cute and they always wind up with the beautiful woman in the end. this guy's life was the real life of a nerd and loanner. it was miserable. you add to the economy, what was going on in his company, the layoffs, the squeeze, the guy who snaps, couldn't take it anymore. >> elliott was asking when we

asked about this an hour ago whether there's more of this happening now or we get more coverage because of the internet and the rest of the things. what is your view on frequency? and if there is more of it and why? >> there is more certainly since the crash last fall. >> more of what? >> more of these economically inspired massacres. the difference between a serial like this and a serial killer, for example, you can't profile a guy like this. they have no history of violence, weren't torturing kittens, they were normal by our standards. what you also see in the crisis is the new type of going postal shooting where somebody is laid off or squeezed so much can't take anymore heat not only kills himself but his whole family. we've seen these family

massacres. that just started this year. >> i don't know if you're talking about a particular subset of crime where people go into the workplace and wreak revenge and vent anger. overall, even though the economy crashed and crime will go up, just the opposite has happened. murder rates have gone down. this is a phenomenon they can't understand. murder rates are coming down quite significantly based on data i've seen in the mass media and people are trying to say why is this correlation we presume, the economy and crime rates going up breaking down. you're talking about a subset but overall it hasn't happened. >> that's right. it is a subset. workplace violence, these kind of murders where an employee shoots a supervisor, they are a subset of all workplace violence but they shock us because they remind us that actually our fellow employees might kill us because he might be getting

bullied. >> it's interesting, though, we'll come back to this. you make great points which is that there's more to be learned about the fact that as the economy suffers, crime isn't going up, which is the traditional interpretation of the economy and crime. at the same time as the economy suffers, whether it's michael jackson's doctor under water in his house looking to do whatever he has to do to be able to keep that house or somebody else in a pressure cooker-type situation. there are more pressure cookers but actually less crime on the streets. >> i think we are now seeing obviously financial crimes that are outraging people but less of the violent crime, the random violence or even people who know each other shooting at each other. the random violence that terrifies people, am i going to be walking down the street some person i don't know will shoot at me. that is what used to grip urban centers. you can't go out at night. these days as the number of crimes among people who know each other is reasonably static random violence is going down

and making people safer. >> people terrified to pay taxes. >> they don't want to. why am i bailing out wall street again. >> contessa, what else? >> texas republican senator john cornyn accusing the white house of building a list of enemies, health care enemies. he has sent a letter to the president insisting he call it off. let's get to mike at the white house this morning. a list of enemies. that sounds ominous. >> sounds orwellian, doesn't it, contessa. this gets back to the notion going virile on the internet, e-mail, people confronting politicians at town halls, like a health care bill going through the house page 435, section 1233, it says right there in black and white, you've got to put granny out on an ice flow once she reaches a certain age. that's nowhere near the truth. what it stems from is medicare will now pay for end of life sort of care and consultation,

consultations with your health care provider. there's no requirement for anybody to do anything. so it's this sort of thing that the white house is pushing back against. this is what led the white house office of new media to put out the following e-mail yesterday. it says there's a lot of disinformation about insurance reform out there. insurance reform, by the way, not health care reform. if you get an e-mail or see something about health insurance reform that seems fishy send to flag@white house.gov. and hello, send something to the white house if you think it's fishy. and john cornyn, the republican senator from texas, also heads the senate republican campaign arm wrote a letter saying, wait a minute, we're going to start reporting people to the white house who send private e-mails, private conversations back and forth, that does sound a little orwellian. the white house says this is not about taking lists putting names, ranks and serial numbers

on a list somewhere and getting back at people just about pushing back from the disinformation campaign as we head spot august recess and face angry constituents, push back against disinformation, made up information. >> the lesson here is we don't want big brother to watch us? >> that's what john cornyn. >> we're watching several hearings under way on capitol hill, postmaster general testifying what to do about the fiscal crisis the post office is facing. money problems. it lost almost $2.5 billion in the last quarter, people aren't sending letters. they are using e-mail or bill pay. testifying about climate change. democrats are worried it could take a back seat to health care for the rest of the year and they don't want to see that happen. another senate subcommittee holding a hearing on aviation safety examining the difference between national network

airlines and regional airlines. so busy before vacation. breaking news, noaa has come out with revised forecast for the rest of the hurricane season stretches into november. let's get right to nbc meteorologist bill karins. what do you have? >> well, contessa, it's the first week of august. we haven't had a named storm. hurricane prediction center likes to give updates. obviously we haven't had storms. main change is an increased probability of a below normal season which obviously two months in. they are still seeing we should expect anywhere around two major hurricanes. you know, the average is anywhere around two or three. they still say we could see about three to six hurricanes. they don't say where these storms could occur. this is a better graph. this is a time line. the area in yellow there is the typical hurricane. the peak of the season is september 109. you can see where the bottom arrow is flashing. we're starting to go up the

hill. the frequency is going up. every day that goes by without a storm that forms, that's a good day. usually the first hurricane forms about august 14th, the second about august 30th. contessa, just because we haven't had a hurricane, nothing much. if we get towards accept and haven't had a hurricane wool start scratching our head. what noaa is saying, be prepared. >> all right. thank you, bill. >> can i ask you a question? you want to ask me a question? >> yes, sir. >> do you have any what they are talking about? >> do we have to get into this again? >> can i read this to you? here is what it says. noaa predicts 50% probability of near normal season, 40% below normal, 10% above normal, 70% chance of 7 to 11 storm. >> who is paying these people?

>> you are. >> he did make a good point in the high occurrence period. >> you're talking non-sense when i have the best story of the day. >> let me have it. >> you've ruined it. >> you ruined it. >> listen to music. turns out that stephen tyler, aerospace's front man found out it may be dangerous to live on the edge. this isn't the good part of the song. we want to hear the chorus. apparently he was in south dakota. he was dancing at the edge of the stage, doing this little dance and a power box blew. he fell off the stage. people helped him back stage. he had medics examining him, had to be sent to the hospital. lesson learned, said maybe it's not right to live on the edge when you're that age. by the way, he wasn't even performing that song, which would have been perfect. he was performing "love in an elevator." he was living it up while he was going down. >> i heard he was a producer so

when he falls off the stage the right song is playing. >> dylan, sing it. >> the hurricanes, they don't know. they don't know. >> we settled this earlier. come on. >> you do the music, i'll do the weather, okay? >> all right. >> next on the agenda, home sweet home for two american journalists, 47 days held in that country but was the risk they took unnecessary. do all these digital channels and websites encourage journalists to take unnecessary risks in order to get noticed? we're back with sam french out of kabul, freelance journalist who takes risks on a regular basis to bring pictures and information to the world. pollen. when i really liked to be outside, i did not like suffering from nasal allergy symptoms like congestion. but nasonex relief may i say... bee-utiful!

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all right. journalists laura lee and euna ling home with their families. now the white house shifting to president clinton and what he may have learned during the journey to north korea. his rare meeting with kim jong-il and his return to america. live in studio city with what he may have learned and what he may be relaying to the white house. hi, chris. >> yeah. we've actually learned a lot in the last 24 hours about exactly what happened. all of this apparently started in july when north korea gave a message to laura lee and euna ling that they would be open to a visit from former president clinton. they relayed that to their families who relayed it to the proper channels through administration and he ended up going, as you know, for 48 hours. the key part of that, the three hours he spent with kim jong-il and what he might have learned

there. it is a meeting that has drawn chris sichl among other people, former ambassador to united nations john bolton wasn't happy about it. let me play for you what he had to say about that meeting. >> the symbolism of a former president going to meet with kim jong-il i think is something that benefits kim jong-il a lot more than the united states and it only encourages others to do the same thing. you can bent in tehran they watched this little performance in north korea and are no doubt calculating how they might use it to their advantage. >> reporter: well, the question is will it help the united states in its relationship with the nuclear ambitions of north korea. we know that there's going to be a debriefing that may have already begun. there's no protocol of debriefing of former presidents but the obama administration has already indicated they might be using bill clinton in similar roles in the future. dylan. >> thank you very much, chris.

joining the conversation, sam french out of kabul, freelance video, photojournalists, co-founder of development pictures, also working for tv. sam, writes the line? in other words, somebody who delivers images from war zones and hostile nations, for you and those who do what you do, how do you determine what is safe or appropriate or at least a calculated risk and what isn't? >> well, that's a very hard question. but the last thing i want to do is create an international incident or lose my life pursuing a story, but i do believe there's some stories that need to be told. as a freelancer because i'm not under same security restrictions of news agencies i can pursue some stories others can't. >> you're in kabul, close to where missiles were landing just a few days ago, how close have you gotten to combat and what

restrictions are placed upon you by the military that are there? >> well, i spend most of my time in kabul. it's a relatively safe city. of course the other night there was missile attacks and i was waken up by gunfire. that's not a normal occurrence. the problem is when you go into provinces. i recently went to a town by the border, smugglers across the border. i did this as a freelancer. if i was work willie geist a news organization i wouldn't have been able to go? >> why not? >> well, it's a dangerous area. there's a border outpost regular attacked by the taliban. they get no support. the only way we could go was because i decided to spend some time in jalalabad and actually meet the governor of the province. i had dinner with him and the hospitality code in afghanistan. he very nicely gave me 12 border

security as an escort to go down there. i don't have my own security so i have to do things like that in order to get my story. >> jonathan? >> sam, that leads to me question, when miss lee and miss ling were arrested they had vice president al gore and his company to call. since you're an independent filmmaker and on your own, if something happens to you and you're kidnapped or jailed ar god for bid worse, who do you call or who has your interest at heart? >> that's a very good question. i think about that quite a lot, actually. i am -- i have many friends here. that's the thing. there's a a

freelance journalist. you wind up in bad situations. don't you think these things are inevitable because of how difficult it is to make it and by nature a lot of freelance journalists working in places like you are are adrenalin junkies? >> sam, did you catch that? i think he dropped off. >> i think your question makes the point that this is attracting people who are attracted to this lifestyle, apparently a risky lifestyle. >> he didn't want to cause an international incident, one presumes that's the case of all journalists, if a journalist goes in and taken hostage, we're pulled in. should we respond? >> what's your answer? >> i have to think about it carefully. we're brought in a situation

diplomatically and he was april situation where he shouldn't be there. >> i want to take issue with adrenaline junkie character. makes it sound like journalists in war zones to get the news out are doing it for kicks. these people are putting their safety and jobs on the line to tell stories that might not otherwise get out. so do they find a thrill in going out and getting a great story and breaking some news and shedding light on something that otherwise wouldn't be reported, certainly. but getting that story is the primary mission of the people out there. i don't think adrenaline junkie is fair. >> is it possible both are true. >> sure i said that. but i don't think the primary motivation is an adrenaline kick. >> good point. thank you for the conversation. sam, be safe. if he gets in trouble, we'll do what we can from the "morning meeting." still to come in the next half

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contessa with the buzz on the political blog this morning. what's going on? >> dnc has an ad out, people bitter and angry, rnc doesn't want to hear about it. grand old party has an line. when you press one it throws you right over to the dnc, doesn't even answer your call, sends it to the democratic party. >> pretty clever. >> michael steele is taking credit. he thought it was a good idea, you don't sit there and think you're going to direct a bunch of angry liberals to call rnc when i know full well what that's about. talk to your own party. they are the ones ginning it up.

thank you for that. talking about outrage on the part of missouri senator claire mccaskill. congress has ordered up, even appropriated the money for three big jets. this is nonsensical. the air force asked for one jet priced $55 million. the house appropriations committee add another on its own initiative, add a couple more airplanes. mccaskill is on twitter and is really upset about this waste of money. >> do you know what i found around wall street and is appropriate here buying airplanes with other people's money is fun. so i can understand what they are doing. it's not their money, private airplanes are fun. they get to spend it and get the arpgs. >> remember when they get upset because carmakers showed up in private planes, come on. >> don't underestimate of the sheer pleasure of buying an airplane with someone else's

money. >> i've never done that. >> we'll try to work that out for you. we'll find somebody with a bunch of money to buy you an airplane. >> what do i have to give? >> nothing. that's the convenience. >> i'm in. >> coming up the next half hour, senate to approve more clash for clunkers. take a look at why the popular program is the epitome of an economic lemon. it may be a bailout from lawmakers but we're borrowing money from china to send to japanese lawmakers by way of washington and detroit. good fun. back with cash for clunkers right after this. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah.

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all right. welcome back. ready to extend cash for clunkers program days before going on vacation. they are going to triple the size of the funding. capitol hill correspondent kelly

o'donnell on the beat. >> reporter: good morning, dylan. this is really a big vote today. there's been so much popularity, so much attention drawn to this program because it has given car sales a boost. there's lots of consumers who like the deal. but it is not so easy to get it through the senate today. as you recall the house raced through to add $2 billion. the senate will likely add it later tonight but they are going to talk about it a bit in the form of seven amendments. republicans and democrats raised the question does it make sense when the country is really strapped to add money to a program that really favors one industry and one group of consumers? so we're going to talk about this later today. it is likely to keep going. if so, that should probably keep money in the pipeline through labor day. dylan. >> here is the crackup with this particular caper. borrowing billions through

china, bringing it through washington and detroit so we can buy japanese automakers. borrow from china to give to japanese companies. the reason i say that if you look at four of the top five cars traded in, four of the top five are not american cars. this clearly is not great economics. what's wrong with this picture? >> the question you should be asking from an economics perspective, how many jobs created per dollar and is that a good use of dollars. we're borrowing from china to buy cars where the value added is overseas. this is a complete waste of money. people like it because it's the only tangible thing they can see coming out of the stimulus package. >> i like it but i'm a fan of the clunker. i like my clunker. i have good memories of that. it's a family heirloom. i was conceived in that car. >> you nodded your head when elliott said we should evaluate government dollars spent based on how many jobs created for each dollar spent.

>> i agree. >> how do you go about beginning a measurement like that. >> four out of the five honda, toyota, toyota, toyota, what is the value added of each car made domestically. we hadn't done the first gm bailout with billions and billions of dollars and done it with domestically produced cars it would make sense. >> this is an efficient way to get dollars back into the economy. >> japanese returned, parts too much to pay for. >> those are the cars they are buying. they are bringing the clunker in and buying toyotas. >> wow. >> what's that say for gm and ford and a half what does that say for gm and ford? >> still not putting the product out there appealing to the consumer. at the end of the day a good product will sell. look at apple computer. apple hit after hit because it designed a smart product. now we've relieved the auto manufacturers, now have a clean balance sheet. give us a car that's appealing

to the consumer, boom, we will buy it. >> i feel like technology has changed a lot of these businesses, whether it's wall street, auto manufacturing, health insurance debate, and the legacy business, whether it's the health insurers who don't want to have to deal with a more competitive health insurance market or the automakers that don't want to have to adapt to the more competitive automakers or bankers that don't want to come to the realization profit has been obliterated like the music business but they have the money to protect themselves. >> i wrote a piece a while back, s.e.c. and general motors are the same. both business models that worked in the 1950s. they didn't adapt. if you don't change, adapt, you become a relic, dinosaur, good for a museum. if you're apple computer you change every day and that is the future. >> how doubts the opportunity to get in there, to be the new company? >> all the inefficient companies are controlled by the united

states government and protecting their interest at the expense of all of us, we're seeing this generational theft perpetrated against our country by these inefficient enterprises -- >> dylan, that is the phrase, creative destruction. you need to see a withering of the old business models that won't work. hopefully something new is built when you create a new he had physical, give them money to putter around without changing -- >> the question is -- >> the question is and i think people get this but they are frustrated because they don't know what to do. they don't know how to recapture the government from the corn lobby. >> congress wants to continue the status quo because those are the existing voices you hear. all general motors is going to be left with is 40,000 jobs. after billions of dollars, 40,000 jobs. all the subcontractors will work for any manufacturer out there. why are we doing this to rebuild

the same he hed ifici. >> what can we do to change? >> i think it's american people, too. there's something in our heads we want to stick to the old ways. we like it like that. we don't want new car companies, we want the same thing. >> it's not only the car companies but wall street. all the wall street firms there lobbying saying give us money, there are other people that can step in. article yesterday private equity will do underwriting, investment banks will be irrelevant. you need transitions like that where the status quo fights back. >> tom, i hope i'm pronouncing your name correctly, probably not. how do i say your last name? sounds sweeter in print. >> are you impressed by

america's taste in cars if you look at the rollover in cash for clunkers, toyotas and stuff like that? >> first off, listening to your conversation prior to joining the conversation doesn't surprise me toyotas and asian imports are selling strongly. of course they have done their job in terms of quality and marketing and thus made a positive impression on the american motors and consumers. the thing thati me about this whole thing is the destruction of perfectly good salvageable auto parts. why destroy good engines? why crush cars that could be utilized as a resource for perfectly good auto parts for salvage yards. it's insane. >> welcome to america. >> last week, just the last week a billion dollars has been burned through, 157,000 vouchers have been turned in, another 67,000 can be. that equals a quarter of a million dollars a week. if the program follows its life to november 1st we're talking 20

million automobiles. think of the resource and the rich resource we would have in terms of used auto parts across the country if they were able to take advantage of those 20 million vehicles. >> not a good answer but the answer is you take that supply out of the pipeline, you need to build, you're destroying jobs but an asset. >> same way you drop bombs you have to make more of them. the worst use of capital, build something, blow it up. it creates jobs. you blow up a kara bomb. >> listen to it, consider these statistics. u.s. fleet population, 251 million, 38.3% of them are older than 10 years old. 22.3% of them are between 7 and 10 years old. don't you think these vehicles would benefit? we're talking about people who can't qualify for credit, cash for clunkers, it would be a great resource for people like that.

>> again, the conversation continues. that's the reason we called this meeting. governor, thank you very much. i thought we were going to take the funny out of you for a second. we can't lose. contessa what is going on? >> a woman behind bars today accused of plotting to kill her husband. >> i didn't do anything and i didn't plot anything. >> police say otherwise. in fact her plan they say started to unravel because the 26-year-old hired an undercover cop to carry out the plan then police turned the table on her. mark potter in miami. what have you got, mark? >> reporter: hi, contessa, police say they got wind friday from a confidential informant. they set up that informant to talk to the woman and introduced a supposed hit man into that scheme who actually was an undercover officer with the boynton beach police department. they say the woman offered to pay $4200 to buy the gun and to pay for the hit. she also said that she was 5,000% sure she wanted to go through this.

she was asked that several times. meantime her husband michael dippolito, who was alerted by police and who was not harmed, said he had no idea why his wife would want him dead. >> i feel a little bad. but i mean, there's no reason she had to do this. she was well off. she could have just left and done just as well by leaving. >> now, yesterday police called the woman dalia dippolito at the gym and told her to come home. there they informed her her husband had been murdered. she didn't know it was a fake. she didn't know the police had been tracking her. she began to sob and sob uncontrollably until she was taken to the police department and confronted by the undercover officer. she was arrested there on charges of solicitation to commit first degree murder and was jailed. contessa. >> mark, thank you. by the way, dylan, why is it that people who try to hire hitmen always hire undercover cops. morons. >> i have a former attorney general here. why is it they hire -- if you

want to do a hit, how do you know if it's a real hit man or cop. >> i was on the other side of the law. i want to make that clear. >> it's not a cop when it's me doing it. >> coming up after a question break, could paula abdul have picked a worse day to announce she was leaving "american idol." abdul upstaged by the two american journalists coming mom from north korea. paula her due after this. since arthur's been eating purina one, he has blossomed... into an incredibly strong, healthy cat. his coat is incredibly shiny and soft and very thick. everybody thinks he's the most handsome cat they've ever seen. [ woman announcing ] purina one for indoor cats... unlocks the brilliance of nature... with a natural fiber blend that helps minimize hairballs...

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poor paula abdul. of all days to drop the bombshell she was leaving

"american idol." >> june 25th would have been worse. that's when michael died. >> she needs to hire a publicist. >> when you saw bill clinton arrive in north korea, don't talk about anything else. bill clinton is a player. no player is going to travel that far and not come back with at least two asian women. >> can i bring these two stories together, though. paula is on the way out. what if we got bill clinton to be the next -- >> i would like that more than -- >> how about kim jong-il. put him on. >> elliott. >> i'm tone deaf. i won't work for "american idol." >> i don't want no american judges on "american idol" except randy he doesn't count. >> he's just thumbs-up all the time. >> thumbs and dude and dog. >> off the chart, fonzi and happy days, when they jump the

chart in the leather jacket and swim trunks, that's when you knew the show was over. taking it too far. now downhill. next story from idol is who is leaving next. >> until they sign bill clinton. >> until bill clinton gets oppose. >> would you watch "american idol" with bill clinton? >> yeah, absolutely. >> he could step in. i like him. somebody call clinton. we're going to harlem after this, go to his office. >> i don't go up there. >> all right. we are going to take -- >> i'll go with you but not by myself. >> we are back right after this. - hi. - crowd: hi! i hate my phone. what do i do? ( shouting ) this is crazy. you. let's r a free upgrade check. see if you're due for a new smartphone. don't i need to go to my carrier's store for that? no, you don't have to. we sell phones and plans on all the major networks.

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welcome back. time for the takeaway. earlier i took what was a well deserved tongue lashing from mrs. capehart, jonathan capehart's mother. he's been on the washington beat's "morning joe" meeting since we began. she was upset that we showed her son eat during the show. >> i can imagine. >> she was appropriately upset. >> jonathan thought it was funny. i want to point something out. >> did you think it was funny. >> i did. i thought it was funny. i'm going to be honest. that's not the point. it was a mistake to do it.

>> you feel remorse. >> i clearly feel remorse. i want to make clear i'm not afraid to face my mistakes in this process. it's a learning process. >> it's a spanking you'll bear. >> however, this was a producer-driven event. so i'm going to start a new segment when good producers go bad kind of thing. there's brett right there. >> he's so young. he shows promise. >> that's how he gets away with it. >> so sorry. >> i don't think you are. >> everyone is sorry. >> thank you for spending some of your morning with us. do stick around. carlos watson picks up with elijah cummings among his guests this morning right after this. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal

you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time. it's taken my time. time that i should have had to be with my family. it's like you're getting violated.

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good morning. everyone. i'm carlos watson. right now on msnbc, did president clinton's rescue mission in north korea set a dangerous precedent. is the u.s. changing policy on talking to terrorist nations. a history making vote in the senate for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayer. why a no vote from the republicans may come back to haunt them and the party. is help on the way for you and your mortgage. the outrage over why wall street may get a free pass, another free pass. a young newlywed finds out her husband has just been murdered. guess what, police say don't believe the crocodile tears. former secretary rice, elijah cummings, nbc's kelly o'donnell capitol hill and nbc from the white house. let's fast forward through the top headlines. the senate reached a deal to

save the cash for clunkers program. the plan would have add add $2 billion to the popular program and give car shoppers until labor day to trade in the gas guzzlers. former congressman jefferson has been convicted of bribery, laundering charges. he was caught with a freezer full of marked bills. he faces 20 years in prison. the man who killed three women and him at a pittsburgh area fitness center revealed many problems through youtube. he discussed his troubled life on videos and an online diary which chronicled events up to the shooting. a florida woman allegedly hired an undercover cop to murder her husband. a fake crime scene was set up to bring her in. >> here is a woman who is saying she's 5,000% sure she wants to pay for her husband-to-be killed. and then at the scene you have a woman who is sobbing uncontrollably because she's just learned her husband is

dead. >> the woman says she's not involved in the alleged plot. interesting story indeed. each day we invite a guest host to join me for the hour. chief economics correspondent for "the wall street journal" and proud duke university graduate. >> that's right. that's right. we got a ways to go before basketball season. football won't be such a good show. >> football not a place to celebrate. some relying interesting stories on the international front. have you been following the north korea story closely. >> i've been following it as any other american has to follow it. the thing that strikes me, i think people have stopped talking about why those two journalists were there in the first place, which was to document human rights abuses. there's a hot lot of talk aboutl clinton and what this means for his profile, nuclear arsenal, north korea's human rights, too. >> want to talk to you also a

little bit today about the economy and some of what's going on on wall street. i know you're covering this every day. i was out last night with some investment bankers who were positively giddy. >> the stock market is way up since its march lows. they have reason to be giddy. some of the big banks have been paying off t.a.r.p. money and trying to get back to business as usual. i kind of suspect that the markets are going to have to take a breather at some point. the economy looks like it's turning around -- >> when you say a breather, you say slow down, are you -- >> i think there's some disappointment brewing. as we're going to see tomorrow, we're going to have more unemployment numbers coming out. they are going to be really weak. consumers are still struggling out there. we have to start looking into 2010, if we have a recovery, where is it? >> back to school spending, slower at the moment. >> not much to get too excited about on that. we are potentially at a point where ec