this is -- this is whether it goes overboard sometimes or not, pat, this seems to be very spontaneous and of course k-street groups and health care groups are sending out blast e-mails just like unions do when they want to get people out to rallies. as you and i both know, people don't just come out to rallies spontaneously like this across the country unless there's an anger out there. >> oh, yeah, i think that's right, joe. a friend of mine wrote about americans in the early 1990s when you had this rage over nafta and gatt and illegal immigration in california, and he called them mars for middle american radicals. and i do think there is really a -- this group has risen up again. i don't know the exact details down there in florida. apparently it was a businessman opposing the health care bill who got his shirt ripped off. he and his wife couldn't get in. so i think there may be this ginned up a little bit but there

is authenticity to the anger and the rage and the folks in the local community have to know whether there are ringers out there or whether these are folks just coming out because they're angry on both sides of this issue. >> and of course we also had reports of some huffington post in the middle of the day the unions are getting engaged. they're starting to send people to these town hall meetings. i suspect we're going to be getting a lot of back and forth. but that being said, and that's usually what willie wears after work, that shirt, but that being said, this reminds me so much of the united we stand movement you talk about. that was really a collection of nafta, gatt, world trade organization, rising deficits -- a lot of different things, a changing economy. the same sort of situation we have right now. we're going to be talking about that and a lot more. we have doris kearns goodwin here along with aaron erin

burnett and a cast of thousands. and, doris has a touching story. doris' son, also, is going to be here. he served in iraq and afghanistan and sent letters back to his mom and dad and we're going to be talking to him about that and the situation. much more. but first here's willie with the news. a look at some of today's top stories, big story here. pakistan any officials say the taliban chief has been killed in a missile strike. baitullah mehsud, seen here -- not really seen here but trust me -- helped plan several suicide attacks. he's suspected involvement in the assassination of former prime minister bhutto. meanwhile judge sonia sotomayor will be sworn in tomorrow morning as the next united states supreme court justice. she won confirmation from the senate yesterday by a vote of 68-31 with just nine republicans

backing her nomination. still -- >> my over and under was wildly off. >> we were off. >> what did you have, 81? >> 85. yeah, i'm surprised republicans decided for the first time to oppose a justice. and i'm surprised because a lot of these people that voteded for ruth bader ginsberg, a lot of these people who voted for stephen breyer, a lot of these people that voted for democrats all along decided this time they were going to vote against sotomayor. >> do you think there was any one senator who was critical in reducing the number of republicans who did vote for her? >> i don't know. i would guess, pat buchanan, would you guess john mccain coming out and voting against her, which was a real surprise to me especially since mccain was one of those gang of 12 a few years back that said we weren't going to have

filibusters in nominations, are you surprised that the number was that high by republicans? >> no, not too surprised, joe. i thought this was coming. it was developing. frankly, there is a new militancy among republicans in the senate. they're going to vote on philosophy and ideology just as well as the democrats are. we haven't been this strong against a justice since 1968. we blocked af appointment by lbj trying to slip in a chief justice to replace warren in those days and senator bob griffin did it and then gerry ford tried to impeach wild bill douglas. i think, again, this is part of this movement you saw beginning two years ago when the republicans road up, middle america rose up against that amnesty against, then cheered sarah palin when she was first appointed. there's a new militancy out there, joe, in the gop. >> i've got to say, mike barnicle, democrats always do this.

democrats always will vote ideologically. if you look at barack obama voting against john roberts. clearly qualified to be supreme court justice. we republicans always took pride in the fact that we would grill a democratic nominee but then we would go ahead and, you know, we believed in advise and consent. if that's who the president wanted and they didn't fall short of the mark, we didn't look at ideology. that changed yesterday. and i'm just going to say, just cynically, politically i think republicans could have picked a nominee that wasn't the first hispanic woman to show what pat buchanan calls the new militancy. >> yesterday's vote may be a forerunner, a harbinger of the vote on straight ideological party lines. >> as you might expect president obama led the praise for soug sotomay sotomayor. >> justice, equality, and opportunity are the very ideals

that has made judge sotomayor's own journey possible. the ideals she's fought for throughout her career and the ideals upheld today in breaking yet another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union. >> i have to say this really quickly and go to the news. these votes obviously were votes for the conservative base. my question is what element of the conservative base were some of these senators trying to appeal to? and we don't know the answer to that. >> the president also yesterday was praising the senate for providing another $2 billion for the cash for clunkers program. while democrats hailed the initiative as a boost to the economy, many republicans argue the program is just another example of big government spending. according to a new gallup poll, the political discord surrounding president obama is only getting worse. 35% of americans now say the tone and civility in washington is worse than when the president took office. that's an 11-point jump from a couple months ago.

in other news -- >> can you believe this, seriously, that here we are six months in, and i'm not blaming anybody, but we're six months in and after going through eight years of political warfare under clinton and eight years of political warfare under bush, six months in now americans believe things are even worse than they were under george w. bush when it comes to civility. 200 days in. >> what are they looking at, though? what clip did we just show at the top of the program? what do they hear on talk radio all day long? >> well, yeah. you can't just blame it on the right. you know what, the president sets the tone and, let's face it, this first year they have said -- they have followed rahm emanuel who has said we're going to pass our legislation. the hell with bipartisanship. invite them over to the super bowl, have a congrecktail partyt

don't give them any legislation they could actually vote for. when you talk about passing a cap and trade bill that nobody read, whether you talk about passing a stimulus package no republican could ever vote for, one bill after another, and now it's not a surprise in a the american people are saying we don't want health care reform unless it's bipartisan health care reform. >> and now off the pictures at the top of the show and we show every day now, joe, you have these two lines, anger that's out there and fear -- fear of the huge deficits we're running up, fear of a growing government, and most people in the middle of this country, most people live there, they don't want the government to get as big as it seems to be getting. so those two lines are crossing, fear and anger. >> they are crossing and of course republicans are doing everything they can to beat barack obama, also. so, again, it's the same thing from both sides. mike murphy and i were talking

before barack obama got sworn in and mike murphy said if this guy goes to the middle, if he really is a centrist, if he really is bipartisan, republicans are screwed. >> absolutely. >> he said republicans will not get back into power for a generation. and murphy said on january the 20th, let's pray to god he darts way left and listens to rahm. he did. and here we are 200 days later. mike murphy was exactly right. it's a shame. it's a shame as a country that we get these leaders that get into office and they think we're going to do it my way or the highway. >> do you think that's what he's doing? >> yeah. that's what rahm is doing. and, you know, maybe, pat buchanan, i hate to go on on this point but it's an important point, you know, maybe it's just smart politics, pat, that, you know, like reagan knew in his

first year you've got a honeymoon and you shove everything down congress' throat while you have that honeymoon because you know the second, third, fourth year is going to be a long, hard slide. politically does it make sense for obama to get as much as he can possibly get this year for obama the liberal? >> he said himself, joe, i'm going to be a transformational president like fdr and like ronald reagan and if you're going to do that, be that, you're going to have to go whole hog. he decided to do it. we are where we are. mike barnicle is right. when we open up our show and every show in america and we're looking at guys in a fistfight down there in florida, people choose sides based on what they look at and america is a divided country again. >> yeah, and, by the way, what's so telling about that scene in tampa, that's the i-4 corridor, cuts through the center of florida. it is the swing part of the swing state.

that's the center of america. that area decides who's president. that's an area that went for barack obama. and is going for george w. bush, it cuts back and forth. willie, the last story, a sad story especially to those of us that grew up in the '80s. >> a shock yesterday. john hughes, the writer and director of several popular movies of the 1980s and '90s has died of a heart attack at age 59. he died while in new york here yesterday. hughes was behind many cult classics including "the breakfast club." he helped shape ferris bueller's philosophy on life. >> a person should not believe in an ism. he should believe in himself. i quote john lennon. i don't believe in beatles. i just believe in me. a good point there. after all, he was the walrus. i could be the walrus. i'd still have to bum rides off people. >> you almost forget how many great movies he made. "planes, trains & automobiles,"

"home alone," all those series of movies. unbelievable resume. >> that ferris bueller it was not a great film -- i mean, it wasn't "the graduate," right? but just like a lot of people in the '60s, coming of age in the '60s we'll remember "the graduate" as a defining movie of their time. a lot of people in the 1980s remember that movie, "ferris bueller" 1986. it was a great one. >> "planes, trains and automobiles" still my favorite of all time. let's go to bill karins, he has the latest on the weather. >> if he can get away with not showing up to work today on this friday, do it. this is a top ten day for the eastern seaboard. low humidity, warm sunshine. it is going to be perfect out there. look at the forecast today from boston all the way down to washington, d.c. low to mid-80s. just a perfect start to the day. temperatures are cool in a lot

of areas and this is about as good as it gets especially when you know what's coming and that's a hint because we have the first heat wave of the summer heading for the mid-atlantic states and even areas near chicago. out there today the travel trouble spot near omaha to des moines later this afternoon, minneapolis, we have some showers and storms for you during the day today. later this afternoon towards chicago. hot once again in texas. any travel on the west coast you're just fine. take you through your weekend. saturday, d.c., you hit 90. chicago up to 92. kansas city, 98. so the heat begins to spread saturday. washington, d.c., will be 97 degrees. washington, d.c., humid, 97. that will be shocking. >> wow. >> a nice day not to show up for work. >> if you can get away with it. >> i'm chained to this chair. i'm the iron man. i don't take days off.

coming up -- >> see you mob day? >> maybe. perhaps. not five in a row. let's not get excited yet. let's go next, though, we're going to be having mike allen coming up and this is exciting. do you know what else is coming up? the new school year. it's approaching and the government is rewriting the rules on how to deal with the swine flu in the classroom. details from secretary of education arne duncan. moderator of "meet the press" david gregory is here. we'll talk presidential historian doris kearns goodwin. her son will be here as well. "washington post" columnist eugene robinson is around. and three stories topping the politico playbook this morning. we'll have an exclusive first look when we return.

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o.j. simpson claiming that his cell mate is dangerous and may be plotting to kill hill. that's what he said. yeah. then they explained to o.j. that's a mirror. >> really? >> welcome back. welcome back. >> dethat to you? >> he did. >> here with us now the chief political correspondent from politico, mike allen. he's here with a look at the "politico playbook." good friday to you, mike. >> o.j., almost as nostalgic as "the breakfast club." >> a little bit different nostalgia, fortunately. we have to ask you about these crazy, off-the-wall town hall meetings we saw, just a wild scene in tampa last night. how are democrats preparing

themselves for these? what's the preparation like as you go out and face these mobs? >> willie, this is so crazy. these things always a snoozer. hundreds of people turning out. it's the hottest thing on youtube. yesterday top white house officials david axelrod, deputy chief of staff, rahm's number two -- he has two number twos -- give them backbone, tell them what you are going to face. they even showed them videos of the out-of-of control town hall, sort of almost like game a films to say, look, this is what you may face. they told them to prepare more than they usually would because these groups are arming these people with good questions and, this is very fascinating, there's turnout wars. they tell them, do more prep than you usually would. turn out your own people so it looks like these town halls are going to continue to be crazy because there's going to be an

arms race in attendance. >> hey, mike, is the white house strategy and the strategy of the left going to continue people are instruments of conservative special interest groups and this outrage is not real? >> no, i think that's a good point. the whole strategy is to make them look extreme and that's why they're trying to get the phrase angry mob out there, use it in their video ads, they use it in their e-mails to try to discredit the points being made by these people. paul krugman in "the times" today said health care may well fail. may well fail, he says, if the president cannot rally his supporters and get the sort of excitement going he had last year. >> hey, pat buchanan, let's put on our political analysis hats and if i were axelrod, if i were in the white house trying to figure out what to do, i would keep saying over and over again right wing extremist, out of control, angry mobs, and i'd

just keep hammering that over and over because this whole fake -- fake crowds, k-street, you can look at these people and tell that they're not from moneyed interests. a lot of them don't seem to have money. i would keep hammering that. you have a media that will be compliant. they did it with sarah palin when sarah palin did very well, they would find two or three freaks in the crowd and say, oh, look at the radicals out in the crowd, and the press will do that again for the democrats. so don't you just play angry mob, angry mob, play that card? >> i think it depends on whether it's credible. now that group down there in florida, i looked into it a little bit. the unions got their guys organized. they got there early and slammed the doors on the outsiders and this fellow that got ripped all up, he's a business guy who said, look, i have problems with this health care thing. i just wanted to come in and he got the day lights beat out of

him. if it's not credible, you could really end up antagonizing huge numbers of people if there are serious people out there very concerned and they're being called names, i think you also risk a backlash if it's not true, joe. >> mike allen, is that the case. was the guy who got his shirt ripped up and roughed up, roughed up by unions that came there to support the plan? >> i don't know the answer to that but i can tell you that the white house is worried about these town halls. they know members have to do them but they think there's no good that's going to come of them. the members are starting to do something teletown hall over the phone. we may see more of that. >> if i were in the situation and a democrat, i would do talk radio shows. i would let people call in. do these teleconference town halls where you can invite your entire district to call in and conference call. they can ask questions. i would not give anybody this

image because even if you have the unions beating up conservatives and conservatives yelling, it's too much of a mess. take it to a higher level. stay away from the town hall meeting. >> we know this is going to be a busy month. not much of a vacation from the house and senate but what does the white house do during this off period? >> they're finally telling their people to take vacation the last week of the month when the president is in martha's vineyard. most of the senior staff will be gone. they're telling the staff take a break and then vice president biden, always ahead of the curve, getting a jump on things. right now he's in south carolina golfing, practicing his stroke. >> good for him. >> he's already a better golfer than the president. >> joe biden -- you know joe biden is an eight handicap. he's a heck of a golfer. >> do you play golf, mike? have you played with biden? >> i've never played with the vice president.

>> he's a really good golfer. the president is playing a lot more golf but his handicap is a bit more challengeded like mine. like all of ours. >> the vice president has been getting better. >> yeah, the vice president is getting better by the day. >> mike, one more, i have to ask you before you go, it's never too soon to talk about 2012. what's mitt romney up to these days? we've been talking about sarah palin. what about mitt romney? >> this is total genius. governor romney will be out in march with a book and they've unveiled the title for it. the title take willing a poke at the president, no apology. no apology. the case for american greatness is going to come out just as the mid-term elections are heating up. you can already see where mitt romney will be going. >> no apologies. happy weekend. >> we have "the new york times" john harwood here. also we're learning more about the twitter outage. did the online attack come from overseas? and later, the moment we've been waiting for, a moment you're going to want to wake your

children up for, a moment that may very well change the way you look at life. willie's week in review. which of these shocking sensational and possibly stupid stories will make the cut this we week? undefeated professional boxer floyd "money" mayweather has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free.

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morning over washington, d.c. it is time for a look at some of today's top stories and an update on an awful, tragic story we brought you earlier this week. the family of the new york woman who caused the crash that killed eight people is now disputing claims she was drunk and high on marijuana at the time of the collision. remember, she was driving the wrong way down the parkway. the family claims a medical ailment and not substance abuse caused her to steer into on coming traffic. we'll stay on top of that one for you. today wall street is bracing for a major report on the jobs market. the labor department is expected to show job losses slowing in july to a pace of around 320,000. still, overall unemployment will likely rise perhaps to 9.6%. those numbers will come out at 8:30 in the morning. we'll bring them to you live on "morning joe." and twitter is getting back up to speed. a wave of spam e-mail denying

access to millions of visitors. now get this, officials say the attack may have been an extension of a propaganda battle between russia and georgia. which are marking the anniversary of their five-day conflict last year. >> didn't russia just have -- get in the jam with south carolina, too? >> i knew you were getting there. it never gets old. caught in the crossfire there, russia and georgia. mike hasn't been able to tweet for 24 hours. a look at the morning papers. "the new york times," senate confirms sotomayor for the supreme court. she's the first hispanic approved by a 68-31 vote. >> there are now out of nine supreme court justices two women. a shame for ratio but at the same time, too, it's better than one. "the washington post," sotomayor wins confirmation. >> miami herald, breaking the barrier, sotomayor makes history. >> and also "the wall street

journal." congress gets an upgrade, $500 million slated for purchase of eight more planes as lawmakers' travel soars. it's up to $500 million now. they are so stupid. we're in a recession, deficits are exploding, their approval ratings are going down, they're going out buying more -- and they're g-5s. i would say these are planes rock stars fly around but even rock stars can't afford these planes. >> tone deaf is the term, isn't it? >> imagine dennis ka sin itch in a g-5? >> what's in the hartford courant? >> home sales are slightly improvement. a two-year slide was halted in july. >> all right. i want to show a couple of front pages in the "usa today." this is extremely important. if you look, number five preseason the university of alabama. >> who's number one? >> can you imagine nick saban

has now two years of recruiting. ohio state, virginia tech, penn state, lsu, ole miss rounding out the top ten. >> how about the s.e.c.? >> alabama plays virginia tech right before labor day in atlanta. it's going to be great. and my favorite tv show other than "way too early," "mad men." they get the treatment. in "the wall street journal" the women behind "mad men." it is an extraordinary show. >> the guy is great in that. >> john ham? >> yeah. >> john draper, baby. how to pick up women like john draper. did you ever see that on "saturday night live"? that was great. by the way, so you came out today and kconfessed your love for the great american screen. >> did you hear about the woman who married the roller coaster in pennsylvania? >> yeah. and so you admitted to your wife on tv today you are in love with

the great american scream machine. i wonder when you're going to tell her what her real name is is. >> six flags over new jersey. deeply in love. >> she goes by the great american scream machine, that's hermon kerr. >> and harold ford jr. will bail us out here. first, "the new york times" john harwood joins us for a look -- >> willie! >> at this morning's must read opinion pages. ( upbeat music playing ) what do you say to a spin around the color wheel? to paint with primer already mixed in? test samples instead of can commitments? what do you say we dip into our wallets less and grab a hold of the latest tools out there so we can quit all that messing around with extra steps and get busy turning our doing dials up a notch? more saving. more doing.

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one of them took my arm and did an arm twist, tore my watch off, then the other one grabbed me by the neck and the shirt and tore the shirt off because i

didn't immediately fall over for him. i'm not a protester. i'm a businessman and so i just came to listen and see what i'm missing about this health care plan because it doesn't make sense to me. >> so that's what happens when you send in your people, unions get involved. you say that's the union? i heard earlier that was the union that was shipped in there and so they roughed that guy up apparently, locked the doors on them and were off to the races. not a way to get the debate going. with us now cnbc chief washington correspondent and political writer for "the new york times," john harwood. it's getting ugly out there. let's read paul krugman's editorial today, the town hall mob. rob gibbs has compared the scenes at health care town halls to the brooks brother riot in

2000. the demonstration that disrupted the vote count in miami and arguably helped send george w. bush to the white house portrayed at the time as local protesters many of the writers were actually gop staffers flown in from washington. but while the organizers are as crass as they come, i haven't seen any evidence that the people disrupting those town halls are florida-style rent-a-mobs. for the most part the protesters appear to be genuinely angry. do you agree with that? >> i do and i think it sort of diminishes the unease in the public about the prospect of a massive change in the health care system to suggest all of this is sort of put up stuff. on the other hand there are organized attempts to -- on both sides. the people -- proponents of health care reform are mobilizing and so are the opponents and there are a lot of town hall meetings out there. it's hard to sort out individual

ones but it's pretty unfortunate when the debate sort of turns in that direction. i'm not sure how much of that we'll see in august. i think you have to count on the good sense of the average american to think it's not going to happen too many times. >> you know what's so disappointing to me about looking at these images, i think back to barack obama in iowa and i looked at the guy in iowa after he won and thought, you know, i don't agree with him politically but this seems to be a guy that may be able to bring this country together. of course we've had 16 years of political warfare, eight years under bill clinton, eight years under george w. bush, and we were told we were going to be post partisan and we were going to turn the page. i want you to look at a new poll that came out talking about discord and partisanship in washington, d.c. we showed it earlier. guys, can you put up a poll, please? there's a poll since obama was

elected, the tone and civility has it improved? 21% say yes. has it stayed the same? 42% say, yes, it stayed the same. 35% say it's gotten worse. almost 80% of americans say the tone in washington is as bad as it was when george w. bush was president or worse. what happened? >> you can't wish away the deep divisions within the american population, within the political community. the political parties are further apart than they've ever been. barack obama is trying to balance his own leadership style which does try to bring people together, which is up fig, with his own conviction about what's best for the country which is very determinedly a democratic point of view. republicans see an opportunity

now especially that we've got continuing unease about the economy, the jobs numbers out today. obama is losing alit at this tud a bit and so the debate is sharpening. obama is trying to do big things that produces strong emotion and, you know, it's not -- look, george bush tried to -- he did actually try to change the tone in a certain respect but he was a very conservative guy and when he bumped up against the reality of democratic opposition, the fact that he was a nice guy personally one-on-one with members didn't cut a lot of ice. >> george w. bush, though, did in the first nine months before september 11th do a lot of things to reach out to democrats that actually angered conservatives like myself like teaming up with ted kennedy on education. let me read michael gers ten. i've been arguing the problem is not that barack obama's positions have been too far left but rather that he's handed his

whole political agenda over to nancy pelosi who is too far left for most americans. after the thrill is gone, president obama staked the initial reputation of his administration on the wisdom, restraint and economic innovation of house speaker nancy pelosi and the rest of the democratic congressional leadership. it was a mistake. the legislation they produce plugged the holes in state budgets and medicaid. the package did little to promote investment, job creation or economic growth. about 12 cents was devoted to stimulus. while obama him seven remains popular, support for his latest economic achievement stands at 34%. obama can of course recover as other presidents have but he did not take the full advantage of his honeymoon and he will not get it back. you could say that about the

stimulus, about cap and trade. you can say this about this health care plan. barack obama's fingerprints are not on these pieces of legislation. he turned them over to nancy pelosi and henry waxman and on finance barney frank and said run with it and they ran far left. let me get mike barnicle's reacti reaction. >> we talked about this for several weeks, the president of the united states elected to lead the country, chose one of the most pivotal issues of the decade, to let someone else drive the car when he was elected to drive the car. i would like to sort of -- is pat still with us? pat and john, in terms of the president, president obama who was elected in this great, gleeful moment many people felt in this country, now is confronted with the mob scenes over health care and you have rising anger, fear of the unknown. you have people who know that there's a horrific deficit we're facing, jobless numbers continue

to rise. their 401(k)s have been decompleted. can we look for the white house to address the social, cultural issues surrounding the stuff? >> pat, we're short on time. pat, answer and, john, we'll get your answer next. go ahead, pat. >> let me talk about what joe talked about there, the rent-a-mob thing. the white house would make a mistake if it starts going after its opponents as mobsters. joe, you had a congressional district. when you go home and you have a town hall meeting and guys are shouting you down over here and this guy is asking you questions, you know whether it's authentic or not or it's a rent-a-mob and you're going to decide for yourself and that's how his health care plan is going to come out. those blue dogs are going to come back and either say the folks are against it and i'm going against it or that was just a rent-a-mob and i'm going with the president. >> you can tell when people were shipped in. you point them out. you make fun of them and the whole crowd boos them out of the room. it happens. this is easy. i agree with paul krugman.

this is not a rent-a-mob. this is an angry, angry kroutd crowd across america. the question is why are they angry? john harwood, stay with us. and also still ahead the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. the red sox get pounded in the bronx. new blackberry, huh ? yeah. ♪ me too how sick is the web browsing !? all the apps... gps... video. yeah... you didn't get your blackberry with the verizon network, did you ? no. sorry. so it doesn't work here, does it ? no. umm... but... paperweight mode. alright ! blackberry runs better on america's largest 3g network. and now get the new blackberry tour for only $199.99

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welcome back. wow, that's a beautiful picture. look at new york city, the home of the new york yankees. i would talk -- no, listen. >> stop it. >> it's july -- august. it's august. >> that's what i was going to say. >> what do they play, 152? >> we've lost eight in a row. we ron one game. everybody settle down. there's three more to play this weekend. fred has the highlights. thanks and good morning. yankees lost eight straight this season to the red sox. last night they showed why they are the first place team in the east. the greatest fighter of all time muhammad ali making an appearance at yankees stadium. he came to see a fight but it ended up being more of a rout. yanks down early but got back in it in a hurry. cabrera, three-run homer into the jet stream in right. yanks put up eight in the inning. they led 9-3 after four. they crushed the red sox, 13-6. he's not roy halladay but they

have to be happy with the way cliff lee has been pitching. the cy young winner put on quite a show. first start in philadelphia, struck out 9 over 7 innings against the rockies. lee improved to 2-0 and the new club. phillies beat the rockies, 3-1. nationals quite a day against the marlins. perfect 4 for 4, double shot in the cycle, but belting his 23rd homer of the year. great day for zimmerman but not so good for the ball girl. she tried to make a play on a grounder and fell right on her rear. to make matters worse, the ball was fair. no harm, no foul. the mistake didn't factor into the game. nationals won it 12-8. turns out performance-enhancing drugs aren't just a problem in baseball. orlando magic lewis tested positive for elevated testosterone level. he's been suspended for the first ten games of the season. lewis said in a statement he took an over-the-counter supplement and didn't realize it had been banned by the league. >> most embarrassing moment belonged to sergio garcia whose

tee shot didn't find the fairway but the back side of a spectator's head. fortunately the guy was okay. he got a signed ball from sergio and an ice pack for aches and pains. ernie els from the fringe on one. lofted the ball onto the green. took a fortunate bounce and rolled right toward the pin and in. that was good enough for an eagle. els finished seven strokes behind clubhouse leader harrington. it's been said luxury comes at a price. get this. a regular 20-inch cheese pizza will cost you $60 which is the same price for a 12-pack of beer to wash it all down. the annual cost for a suite can run up to a half million bucks. it just goes to show you everything truly is bigger in texas. a surreal since on the pitch where thousands of fans attending a brazilian soccer league match wore facemasks by order of a judge over fears of the swine flu. most fans complied with the order though they constantly pulled them off to yell and

scream. the match took place in the southern part of the country where most of the swine flu cases have been reported. fortunately the players played mask free. if the flu continues to spread, it's likely the next step will be to play the matches with no fans in the stands. you want to talk about reaching out to people, new l.a. laker ron artest wants to hear from his fans so he posted his cell phone number on twitter and asked people to give him a call. right now he's in china. >> i have a line open to all my fans, my number is 8322608192 and i already got thousands of calls. we just twittered my phone number. we will speak directly to the fans. yo-yo, what's up? it's your boy, artest. pay attention to my girl and i. yeah. all right. what's good? what's popping? >> and if you want to ask ron

what's popping, call 832-260-8192. if you get a busy signal, you might want to keep calling. no word on when ron will get worried of this and change his phone number. that's it for me. have a great weekend. >> and when he's not calling fans he's punching them in the face so it can go either way with ron artest. up next the week in review. which of these stories will you be talking about in three minutes? at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick

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time for the week in review and what a week it was. >> what a week. >> where else would we begin but the story about a man, his mistresses and a bottle of krazy-glue. >> this individual had a private body part superglued to his body. >> number three, as the old saying goes, things get sticky when you have a wife and three mistresses. >> they all confronted him about his infidelity. >> the wife of a wisconsin man joined his three girlfriends in a revenge plot that was vicious but well deserved. >> if anybody is a victim in this, it's all the women. >> the man was lured to a motel room by one of his many mistresses for what he thought would be a naughty tryst. first he was blindfolded, fine. then he was bound and tied to the bed. getting a little weird now and, wait, what's with the glue? >> a private body part superglued to his body. >> to rub a little salt in the

adhesive wound the women stole the man's wallet, his cell phone and his car. he eventually chewed through his bindings and made what must have been a very awkward call to the police. >> we do know that he doesn't have any long lasting or long-term injuries. >> at number two, "american idol" loses its crazy. >> people have seen your vocals -- heard your vocals. >> even as one trailblazing female judge inched closer to the highest court in the land, another pill popping jurist announced her resignation effective immediately. >> you've got to learn to eat it up and embrace it and say, the best delusional people. >> paula abdul announced over twitter this week she is leaving "american idol" after eight magical seasons filled with memories, tears and hal use nations. >> how about a lot of you coming in? it's a wild party where you are. >> abdul reportedly felt

slighted by the new big money deals given to simon cowell and ryan seacrest. president obama and his advisers will now spend the week at camp david developing a short list of nominees to fill judge abdul's spot on the bench. >> i will seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity. >> and the number one story of the week, bubba to the rescue. >> we saw standing before us president bill clinton. >> former president bill clinton swooped into north korea this week, charmed a little liz claiborne pant suit off kim jong-il and left with the two american journalists held there for nearly five months. >> and they were delightful on the plane trip home. >> president clinton was hand-picked for the mission by the dear leader who kindly interrupted his normal daily schedule of posing for giant murals and controlling the weather to meet with bill.

the story's happy ending was complete when the journalists were reunited with their families at a california airport on wednesday and the beautiful moment of national harmony was punctuated by a beefy man hug between clinton and his former vice president al gore, two men who utterly despise each other. >> and a special thanks to president bill clinton, my partner and friend. >> the lingering hug was the second most awkward public display of affection ever committed by gore. actually it was a very distant second. ♪ you're the meaning in my life ♪ ♪ you're the inspiration >> no! >> and deit again. do not show that l.a. kiss again! >> it's historical context set against the backdrop of that kiss, the events of this week. >> you know the krazy glue party

there, what ever happened to tupperware parties? >> that wasn't a happy kind of party. >> thank you, willie. sonia sotomayor on the united states supreme court. now she's the first hispanic member of the supreme court. the second woman on the court now, two out of nine. i am woman, hear me roar. maybe we'll get a few more soon. also the town hall meetings heating up across america. the temperature definitely going up inside most of those rooms. now unions are being shipped in and you're starting to get battles inside and outside. willie will be telling me about that in a second. also a new poll out today talking about how americans believe that washington is as divided or more divided than it was even under george w. bush. mika brzezinski still on assignment, still on her mission of mercy, still trying to bring light to a world that so

desperately needs it that is dark and -- in northeast harbor, maine. here is willie. he has some of today's top stories. willie? this morning a senior taliban commander in pakistan is confirming reports the chief was killed in a u.s. missile strike in south waziristan. for years baitullah mehsud helped in the assassination of former prime minister benazir bhutto. today he is dead. meanwhile, judge sonia sotomayor will be sworn in tomorrow as the next u.s. supreme court justice. she won confirmation from the senate by a vote 68-31 with just nine republicans backing her nom facial. >> i just think that's a bad political mistake. >> only nine. >> only nine and, again, if they constantly like democrats voted against the nominees based on ideology, okay, fine, that's what republicans do, but they

have chosen to change their pattern for the first time when the hispanic female not really smart politically. >> o'donnell said all of these votes are about politics, somebody they're running against in an upcoming race. >> i think the republicans who over the past eight years have not acted conservative enough and focusing our military, i think they're trying to prove to their base they are conservative. and so their base is telling them vote against the liberal nominee. they've decided to do it. >> especially john mccain. >> john mccain, that is a stunner. john mccain, the guy who was supposed to be in the middle, the guy who had the gang of 12 or 14 and, no, we're going to keep this process down the middle. now suddenly he's darting to the right because he's worried about his primary. >> sotomayor will become the nation's first hispanic justice. >> justice, equality and

opportunity are the very ideals for judge sotomayor's own journey made possible. ideals she's fought for throughout her career and the ideals in breaking yet another ba barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union. >> the president is also praising the senate today for providing another $2 billion for the cash for clunkers program. while democrats hailed it as a boost to the economy, some republicans argue the program is just another example of big government spending. this is interesting. according to a new poll, the political discord surrounding president obama is only getting worse. 35% of americans now say the tone and civility in washington is worse than when the president took office in january. that's an 11-point jump. >> that is something. i'm looking at my twitter feed right now and everybody is tell me how stupid i am. one man called me a puke because i'm dumb. i don't realize it's racism, americans hate him because he

was black. apparently we have become more racist as a nation because the president's poll numbers are dropping. now six months later he's done nothing wrong it's just americans going to these town hall meetings see some things in washington that scares them, they're just racist. that's the pitch. and here is the danger, maybe you want to tell your democratic friends because i've been telling my democratic friends, if you try to kid yourself this is all about racism or this is all about k-street lobbyists staging these events, you are whistling past the graveyard just like republicans did over the past eight years when i kept telling my party, you're in trouble. you're in trouble. you're in trouble. >> first of all, the impatience of this culture, we think things are going to be solved overnight. secondly what's happened to the economy and people's personal

fortunes, their 401(k) plans, there's the rising knowledge and awareness among many families that these deficits can't be sustained. they know it because they have to make out their own family budgets and they're asking whether the government can afford stuff and we can't afford stuff. a whole bunch of things going on. >> just to say the numbers are falling because people are racist. >> aerosmith singer steven tyler fell backwards from a south dakota stage on wednesday. the 61-year-old misstepped, left him with a broken shoulder and cuts on his head and neck. could you see it there? down goes tyler. and in other news john hughes, writer and director of several popular movies, has died of a sudden heart attack at age 59. hughes was behind so many cult classics including "the breakfast club" and he helped shape ferris bueller's philosophy on life.

>> a person should not believe in an ism. he should believe in himself. i quote john lennon. i don't believe in beatles. i just believe in me. a good point there. after all, he was the walrus. i could be the walrus. i'd still have to bum rides, though, from people. >> the only problem with him, john hughes, he set such a standard for what high school was going to be like at 10 years old and i got to high school, this is it? >> ferris bueller. >> big letdown. >> my favorite show, movie from the 1980s. willie, i understand we have an e-mail -- chris, i understand we have an e-mail. >> how dare you say "ferris bueller's day off" was not that great a movie. not every movie has to have a dramatic plot line to move people. it has been my favorite movie since i was 3 years old. how dare you? >> okay. i said it was my favorite movie of the 1980s. i think that's high praise. it wasn't "citizen cane" but,

you know what, that's quite okay. let's bring in political analyst and chairman of the democratic leadership council harold ford jr. thanks so much for being with us. we're continuing a conversation. >> ferris bueller was the best. >> i absolutely loved it. john harwood, i think we go back to you. we owe you a reply on these town hall meetings and, again, what's going on out there? >> a couple of things, joe. i know you were wondering but we'll be talking about those town hall meetings on the special edition at 2:00. i talked 20 chuck schumer and kent conrad about that yesterday. kent conrad was saying there are thugs being sent out. schumer was a little more sanguine about it saying experienced politicians can tell the difference and handle it. i have to say with all respect to mike, a brilliant writer and a smart guy, the analysis that the problem for obama is that he

subcontracted to nancy pelosi is completely 100% wrong. barack obama got the stimulus package that he wanted from congress with some small differences on the margins and if you look at the health care debate, what are the big flash points? government run socialized medicine. they're talking about the public option. who is the biggest advocate of the public option? barack obama. nancy pelosi is trying to pass his program and it's creating the angst and difficulty. it is not nancy pelosi. one more thing on cap and trade. hold on, joe, one more thing on cap and trade. >> make it fast. >> that has been moved to the center to get votes for it. his program has been deluded and moved to become more moderate. it is not mropelosi taking it t the left. >> okay, but from what i understand from the white house barack obama was more concerned about health care than cap and trade. he got pulled into that. >> yes. but she's trying to pass his

progr program. >> when it looked like it was going to die. also, harold ford jr., barack obama had his outline for the stimulus plan as we said on shoet repeated. they took it up to capitol hill and nancy pelosi said, no, we're not going that way. he turned it over to nancy pelosi. >> health care, as much as i respect and appreciate john's insights on this, i have to disagree. i think congress, having served there, you served there, they play a bigger role. the president had a big problem. a real short coming on health care. he had a specific problem and laying out specifically what he was for. he couldn't in a sustained way say what he expected from congress and how to pay for it. there are questions about how the congress wants to pay for it, how the chooses to pay for it, what john harwood is correct is the president wants a public health option but even that has found its way into an area that i'm not clear what the president exactly -- how he exactly defines one. what's going to happen? i happen to agree with you, joe,

people have the right to come out. even if the efforts are organized by k-street or organized by corporate types, so what? you put yourself before the public and people have every right to ask whatever question. as irritating as it may be. i think what my party has to do is to probably step back a moment here, get back to the drawing board and define clearly what -- how you plan to contain costs, how you plan to address those who don't have health insurance and those who have illnesses and are kicked off their insurance when they go see their doctor. >> pat buchanan, quickly, has it not been your perception as well from following the news day in and day out that barack obama hasn't had his hands in health care, cap and trade and these other issues, the way bill clinton did in '93 and '94? >> i tell you, the perception here in town be a among a lot of people is that barack obama was elected to run sort of a centrist government. he said bring us together, government, and that he has governed from the left. he has one foot in the left.

that is the perception of the american people. this sergeant crowley thing was a killer. the quinnipiac poll shows that by 54-27 white americans who gave obama more votes than they gave kerry that they thought he handled it stupidly. i think he's perceived as a man of the left now and he was not six months ago. >> all right. and also i just have to say, again, with all due respect to john, i have not heard anybody in washington, d.c., saying barack obama has been drichg the legislative engine over the last six months. it's been nancy pelosi. and congress that's been driving this train. john, thanks for being with us. harold ford, stay with us. coming up next, moderator of "meet the press" david gregory joins us. his take on the slipping poll numbers, the battle for health care, the politics of north korea, how president obama can turn things around. also the government is issuing new guidelines on how to handle cases of swine flu in schools. we're also going to be talking

education reform with education secretary arne duncan. presidential historian doris kearns goodwin.

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welcome back to "morning joe" on what is a picture perfect start to the day. what a friday heading into the summer weekend, new york city, sunny and cool. what a great day it's going to be. much of the eastern seaboard, this is a getaway day for the weekend. 81 in boston. cape cod is going to be great this weekend. jersey shore. ocean city, maryland, down through the outer banks. enjoy. 92 in atlanta. florida is looking great, too. watch out, trouble spot today chicago with some storms. i'll tell you what, the mid-atlantic looking at the latest numbers it could be near 100 in d.c. sunday into monday. so get ready for that. coming up next here on "morning joe," the one, the only, what is

he, 6'6"? david gregory.

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so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. you must be looking for motorcycle insurance. you're goo thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy. cool. i'm not done -- for less than a dollar a month, you also get 24/7 roadside assistance. ght on. yeah, vroom-vroom! sounds like you ran a 500. more like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. well, you're excused. the right insurance for your ride. w, that's progressive. call or click today. with us now the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory.

david, things are getting hot out there across america during the august recess especially inside town hall meetings. we've had a lot of attacks from the left. now from the right we have a congressman akin calling these town hall meetings, quote, lynchings. how hot is it going to get out there this august and what's the white house's plan to combat a lot of anger? >> i was talking to some white house advisers yesterday who were saying, you know, they believe not surprisingly some of the town hall meetings and the anger out there and some of the real bare knuckle tactics here are going to backfire but at the same time they acknowledge that the hits the president is taking in the polls is a direct result of the fact he's involved in legislating which is never really where a president wants to be which is an odd thing to say because on the one hand he's being called on to really drive this process and say what he believes in and what he wants but presidents get judged on accomplish things not getting involved in legislating and that's where he is. he doesn't have resolutions. he has a deadline that slipped

and i think you're going to hear in the coming weeks from this president and from people around him the idea of consumer protection, reassure americans don't be afraid. you might be angry in terms of where we're headed. there may be philosophical and ideological differences but don't be afraid if you have health care insurance you're not going to lose anything and you're not going to find that your quality of care goes down. now whether he can actually make good on those promises is something else but i think that's the message they're testing and i think they acknowledged they're behind on that. >> and we've been talking about that on this show for a couple of weeks. what you do by talking about consumer protection, you say not only are you not going to lose your health insurance, we're going to make sure that insurance companies can't kick you off because of pre-existing injuries. we're going to make sure your kids, the day they graduate from college, aren't going to lose health care insurance. that way you turn this negative into a positive but, my god, you look at the numbers the president right now down 15 percentage points. health care, 39% for his health

care plan. 54% oppose it. is the president going to be aggressive during august or do what george w. bush would like to do and slip off, go on vacation, lay low and see how things play out? >> it looks like he's going to do both. the white house maintains he's going to be aggressive, his team will be aggressive. he will get down time at the end of the month. you look at these town hall meetings, this is going to be a story, something he has to contend with and, blook, there is a blueprint for republicans both in opposition of the president but also as they look ahead to the mid-term elections, in terms of how they oppose this government, about mike murphy's comments and whether there's been lurching to the left by this president, the creation of big government. the overall questions about the economy even if there are signs of progress, is there a framework for real sustainable growth without the government priming the pump? these are real questions and the

truth is questions about tax hikes and all the rest probably don't matter because if the economy does not improve it's not going to matter where he stands on a tax hike. he's going to have bigger problems. i think they recognize that. >> pat buchanan? >> you mentioned consumer protection. mike barnicle said go for cost control. then we said earlier go for universal coverage. is the toothpaste out of the tube? when you have that 39-54 figure is it too late to catch up with a brand-new message? >> i think that's one of the key questions here. what battleground do they want to fight on? they're deciding, pat, to reassure americans. you go back to the health care fight. i interviewed secretary hillary clinton a couple weeks back and you look at her memoir. back in '94 this was the same fight they were having, trying to convince people you're not going to lose something if there's massive health care reform by the federal government. that's where the president is now. i think he has double trouble.

he has to face this consumer protection argument and those fears. at the same time he's facing real concerns about whether the economy and the country can afford to pay a trillion dollars for health care. so i think he has to fight both battles. he can't give up one for the other. he's got to try to run the table on all. he's still willing to compromise on this. >> david, talking about politicians with concerns, america's mayors. it doesn't get any worse than it is right now. you're talking to two of the more high-profile mayors on sunday. >> that's right. mike bloomberg, core y booker obviously from new york and new jersey. how the stimulus is playing on the front lines of this battle as well as some of the issues that mayor bloomberg is dealing with in terms of policy over guns and the like. we'll have more on north korea as well. the back story and how the journalists were freed and where this administration goes with north korea. is this an opening here for

real? we'll talk to general james jones about that. >> all right, fantastic. greatly appreciate it. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." and, pat buchanan, if it's every day, it's pat buchanan on "morning joe," baby. have a great weekend, pat a. coming up, making headlines at the white house this morning with nbc superstar savannah guthrie. first, today we're expecting new dwidance on how schools are going to take care of your kids when they go back with swine flu out there. talking with arne duncan on swine flu and also on education reform. he ran off with his secretary! she's 23 years old! - oh, come on. - enough! you get half. and you get half. ( chirp ) team three, boathouse? ( chirp ) oh yeah. his and hers. - ( crowd gasps ) - ( chirp ) van gogh? ( chirp ) even steven. - ( chirp ) mansion? - ( chirp ) good to go.

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any monkey business is ill-advised. any questions?

>> yeah, i have a question. does barry manilow know you raided his wardrobe? i'll give you the answer to that question, mr. bender, next saturday. don't mess with the bull, young man, you'll get the horns. >> oh, boy. >> the great john hughes. boy. he will be misseded. you know, school is just starting now, in a few weeks. in addition to getting back to school supplies there's a new concern for parents like myself as we send our kids back to school. here to talk about that, arne duncan, new guidelines to follow if swine flu strikes. we in the news business have this news cycle. you talk about something. you report on it a couple of weeks. it goes away and then you move on to michael jackson. well, the swine flu has not been so convenient for news gatherers. it's still out there and we still hear these stories of

young children getting swine flu and dying. what are you doing as my kids and millions of others go back to school in a month? >> it's definitely still with us. i view this like you as a parent. i have two young children, second grader and kindergartener preparing to go back to school this fall. i want what every parent wants, my child first and fror most to be safe and keep them learning. we're asking parents to practice intervention, take a common sense approach to this and asking schools to take a tiered response. we hope no schools have to close as we go into the fall. realistically some will. we just don't know the numbers yet. >> well, what -- it seems to me early on in the swine flu epidemic when it first hit there were a lot of people in the news accusing schools, accusing governments of overreacting to the threat. when do you think is a proper time for a school to shut its

doors and send the kids home? >> yeah, we just want to have a measured common sense approach and our job is to provide the best information possible to local school officials and local health departments to make the right decision. if you have a handful of children sick, i don't think it makes sense to close those schools. the children should stay home and parents making plans now whether they can stay home from work or have a relative or neighbor take care of that child. if the numbers start to escalate, you move into a different ball game. >> so you're saying if the school my daughter goes to has three or four kids with swine flu, that's not enough. keep the doors open? >> again, that decision should be made at a local level. i don't think it makes sense to close the entire school. keep them home, keep them safe, keep them learning. we have to think about distance learning opportunities as well but the numbers start to escalate, then you move into a different ball game. >> mr. secretary, vaccines, when are they going to be available and how much is going to be avail able? >> that's very important. we think vaccines will be important in mid-october. we want our school sites to be

sites where students can receive the vaccine. it is going to be a two-shot dosage so you do the first one in mid-october, the second one a couple weeks after that and we really want schools to be part of the solution, to be a safe, logical place to administer the vaccine and to make them acce accessible to every family who wants their child to receive that vaccine. >> when do you think the white house and congress is going to be ready to tackle the type of education reform that you were talking about when you came to washington, d.c., where students and teaching students becomes priority -- job number one? >> joe, i have to tell you in six or seven months we've seen amazing progress around the country. we've seen 46 states come together behind high, common standards and plan to hit that high bar. we've seen a number of states add flexibility to their charter laws see seen a tremendous amount of movement and we're getting ready to invest billions

of dollars that will lead the country in a race to the top. so i've been incredibly pleased with the progress we've seen already in going forward. we can transform education at every level. it's truly a historic opportunity for the country. >> mr. secretary, unions gave great support to this president's election campaign last year. the teacher's union has historically been terrific for education but has seemed to stumble over the past few years. specifically charter schools and seniority where younger teachers, terrific teachers just out of college get laid off first and charter schools which are sort of outside the barometers, the parameters of the teachers union. how are you going to deal with that? >> i actually think that we have more enlightened leadership at the top of both unions than we have ever had. and all of us have to change, joe. we want dramatically better results for our students, if we

want to achieve achievement, all of us have to move outside of our comfort zone starting with us, the department of education. we have to move from being a compliance driven bureaucracy to the engine of innovation and just as we move, so do the unions. it's interesting, joe, these are false dichotomies. some of the best charter schools around the country happen to be run by union teach eers. many of the ideas for the union movement came from the legendary head of the aft. these are often false choices. that's what we're all fighting for. >> all right, arne. greatly appreciate it. >> secretary duncan, harold ford, good to see you. did you play ball this morning with the president? >> we didn't play this morning, harold. we played about a week ago. we had some fun. how are you doing? >> doing well. >> good to talk to you. take care now. >> thank you so much. wasn't shanker the guy who was asked, the union head who was asked about when he was going to start worrying more about kids than teachers, and his answer

was when kids start paying union dues? >> just about. albert shanker, as secretary duncan accurately pointed out, legendary head of the teachers union. >> but shanker's comment there, his answer to that question, epitomizes what's been wrong with teachers unions and scared politicians that bow to teachers unions for a generation. now president obama and secretary duncan don't seem to be concerned about the type of union bosses who are more concerned about teaching as a job than about teaching students to learn. >> joe, i'm hoping secretary duncan's sunshiny outlook on this, i hope it comes to be true. you can talk to parents all across this country, coast to coast, with kids in public schools where you'll get a young 24, 25-year-old teacher coming in fresh out of college, eager to teach, alive in front of the classroom making history come

alive or geography or physics or whatever. they are the first to go. and they've got to do something about that. >> and that happened in the los angeles county schools over the past six months where they actually would fire young teachers so they could keep bureaucrats in the bureaucracy in los angeles county and it's not a false dichotomy, harold, to say that there has been a problem between unions and charter schools and home schoolers and christian schools and other religious schools. there has been a fierce battle. >> in tennessee a tangible example of where the administration and secretary duncan challenged democrats and challengeded some of our constituencies. our charter law was pretty inflexible. we wanted to grow it and give more school districts an opportunity to open district schools. secretary duncan made clear federal dollars would be limited if not altogether pulled back if the state did not -- and democrats in particular -- did not become more open-minded on these issues. i applaud him on it. the administration took charge

of this issue. this is one area where the president has not only remained true to everything he campaigned on. they're executing. and secretary duncan, who ran a school system in chicago effectively, is doing all the things we're saying here. >> this is a great opportunity as we talk about the president lurching too far left over the first six, seven, eight months for a lot of people in middle america, education is a great opportunity, i think, for this president to find the middle of america and show he is a new kind of democrat. >> joe, they wrote this. >> right. >> and they carried this and arne duncan is implementing it. they can be reformers. >> he has been doing exactly that. >> that's actually exciting. we'll be back with savannah guthrie live from the white house. we're going to ask her what's going on today in the health care battle, also ask about confirmation. also pulitzer prize winner

eugene robinson will be here.

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from meltedmetal.com. that's happening now with the new mifi from sprint, the mobile hotspot that fits in your pocket. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. on this vote the yeas are 68 and the nays are 31. the nomination of sonia sotomayor to be an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states is confirmed. senator al franken sitting in the big chair. and let's just say right here, i want to commend senator franken but for his little dustup with pickens which i'm sure his staff told him to avoid those type of things in the future because the spotlight will be on you more than others. he's kept his head down. he did what hillary clinton did. he kept his head down. he's not picked fights. i think that's what people in minnesota want.

>> a serious guy. >> he's playing it serious and trying to be as dull as humanly possible and that's a smart political play. >> he's also not doing national interviews, to downplay it. >> just like you. >> i'm doing no more national. >> he's only doing jersey interviews. >> that's right. >> he is a jersey guy. >> white house correspondent savannah guthrie. is a van, a the white house got through the nomination of the first hispanic justice to the supreme court. how are they feeling this morning? >> reporter: oh, i think they're very happy with how this confirmation process went out. after all this is one of the most enduring things that a president can do, name a nominee to the supreme court. this went off without a hitch. of course they didn't get the republican support they may have hoped for but, look, there's a couple things going on here. number one, as you have been talking about, the nra decided to score this vote because she doesn't believe that the second

amendment or had a case where the second amendment was not incorporated against a state. that was a controversial decision from the nra's perspective. look, in some ways i think republicans feel barack obama ceded the high ground with roberts and alito. remember when we were doing this a couple months ago and people were speculating about the short list of supreme court nominees sotomayor was actually considered one of the more controversial names on the list that got bandied about. and so i think they're happy to have this process behind them and now she'll be sworn in probably tomorrow, i believe. >> you know, it's interesting she was seen as one of the more controversial ones but, harold, i don't -- i really didn't hear any cases of sotomayor's that were far left. certainly ruth bader ginsberg was more liberal on the bench before becoming a supreme court justice than sotomayor and yet something like -- she got 94, 95

votes. >> i think the hype was greater than the reality with now justice sotomayor. when you look at her record and the cases that she wrote and the cases that she decided. she was actually more predictable. you couldn't put her in one category. >> she is going to be left of center. she's going to be voting with stevens more times than not. let's not paint her as a moderate. >> i think more of a moderate than people give her credit for. the one case far left was the case in connecticut. when they looked at the range of decisions, there was not one that really stood out. they took her comment at duke, that panel, that one decision in connecticut, and all the things she's done in her career. i think she's going to surprise people. she'll be left of center but not as far to the left as some may think. congratulations to her and her family. >> congratulations to her. congratulations to her family and certainly to all of her friends. savannah guthrie, let's go to health care.

things are getting ugly out there from florida to california, these town hall meetings. what's the white house plan? i know david axelrod went to the hill and dave democrats a pep talk before they left town. >> reporter: he did apparently with some visual aids. there was also an assurance that the white house stands behind this effort and so they were not going to lay down for this kind of thing as august goes on, as this will be the mother of all battles in terms of the message. the white house wants to assure congress they're behind the effort and will respond forcefully. this is a real issue for them, the anger you see at the town halls, something that will always grab attention. the media will show it over and over again. i think the perspective of the white house and certainly the dnc is to portray as much as they can these folks as somebody who is a far right wing extremist and not something that's reflecting the center of america and that's the best they can do. this is a real issue for themam.

this is a real issue for them. >> savannah, the republicans have done a great job of putting a face on the opposition. is the white house planning to put a face on the uninsured to counter the compelling images put forth by the other side? >> it's an interesting idea and sometimes we see that. there was actually some stories, i don't believe it was the white house itself, but democrats were saying, send up your horror stories. there's no one single story or face that has really emerged. some of the ads contain some of these personal stories, but you see the message shift. the focus now is on health insurance reform. the notion now is more of a

consumer protection angle saying look, insurers are the bad guys. here's this top eight gripes people have against insurance companies. >> consume protection, consume protection, consume protection. savannah, we will see you in radio to ask you where are you going to be staying on the vineyard when you have to follow the president up. >> no. actually, we've improved our position. the white house press corps loves crawford. >> i bet you did. whatever, savannah. just lost all of her credibility. we've got to lot to get to this hour. (pouring rain)

i had a great time. me too. you know, i just got out of a bad relatio... it's okay. thanks. goodnight. goodnight.

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a bonus run for the weekend review. i'm the editor in chief of the week in review and i've deemed one of the top three stories this week, the story about the man, his many women and a bottle of crazy glue. >> this individual had a private body part superglued to his body. >> reporter: as the old saying goes, things get sticky when you have a wife and three mistres s mistresses. he joined his three girlfriended in revenge plot that was vicious, but well desevered. he was lured to a hotel room.

first, he was blindfolded. fine. then, he was bound and tied to the bed. getting a little weird. wait, what's with the glue? to rub a little salt in the wounds, the women stole the man's wallet, his cell phone and car. he eventually chewed through his bindings and made what must have been an awkward call to the police. >> he doesn't have any long-term injuries. >> reporter: number two. "american idol" loses its crazies. even as one trail blazing judge moved to the highest court in the land, another announced her resignation immediately. >> you've got to learn to embrace it, you have the best

delusional people. >> reporter: she's leaving -- with tears and hallucinations. >> it's a wild party where you are. >> reporter: abdul reportedly felt slided because of big money deal given to ryan seacrest and simon cowell. >> i will seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity. >> reporter: and the number one story of the week. bubba to the rescue. >> we saw standing before us, former president bill clinton. >> reporter: he swooped into north carolina, charmed the little pantsuit off kim jong-il

and rescued the women. he was hand-picked for the mission by the dear leader who kindly interrupted his schedule to meet with bill. the story's happy ending was complete when the journalists were reunited with their families and the beautiful moment of national harmony was pungs waited with a man hug. >> a special thanks to president bill clinton, my partner and friend. >> reporter: the lingering hug was the second most awkward public display of public affection committed by gore. actually, a very distant second. ♪

>> hey, we're almost at the top of the hour. we start our tour of this great nation at los angeles international airport. there it is. lax. 5:00 there. wow, look at vegas. jumping. i can't wait until i get back. how about the sun coming up over st. louis? >> i thought it was a large mcdonald's. >> nice day in washington. right back home to new york city. the home of the now three and a half game leading new york yankees. what a city, what a team. >> do you want to get slapped on national tv? keep moving on. introduce our guest. >> joe is in the building. right now, he's giving a tour.

we've got doris kearns goodwin. good morning. great to see you. and we've got eugene robinson. good to see everyone. jean, let me get your impressions on the near riot we saw in tampa last night where one of these democratic congresswomen was talking about health care and essentially a fight broke out. >> this has really kind of gotten out of hand. i'm wondering what is the point of these sessions if they're supposed to be informational. there's a lot that people need to learn about. this is big, important legislation, whether they're for it or against it. people should have a chance to

here what it's about and express their views. i don't know if you'd call it passion or manufactured passion, but any of that, the uproar at these meetings, it's -- it's counterproductive, antidemocratic and it's organized, which i think is the most disturbing part of it. >> that it's organized? you have never organized rallies like this. that is disturbing. >> i would be tempted, because i'm a bad person, if i were a democratic strategist, to make up a few phone calls and say, okay, let's get our guys. >> the sciu was down in tampa yesterday. they've been organizing and

sending people out to town hall meetings for decades. i'm just curious why it's suddenly disturbing that conservatives are doing it. >> this is sending people to prevent town hall meetings, joe. >> have you seen the pictures of those town hall meetings? we got guys in wife beater t-shirts. i don't -- i mean, i'm looking at that guy, does he work for aetna or met life? you can't do it. if you've got an issue out there that angers people, you send out e-mails. you will not get these people away and i know of what i speak from watching "wheel of fortune"

at 6:30 while they're eating dinner, to come out unless there is generous unrest out there. >> it does turn into a useless exercise, really. there is passion out there about health care reform, but is anybody learning anything about health care reform? i don't think so. >> all right, gene, thanks so much. by the way, that theme, we understand what we heard earlier. that was the sciu, from what we understand. the guy with the ripped shirt had it ripped by the union member trying to keep him out. >> happy days are here again. willie geist, what's up? >> this morning, a senior

taliban commander in pakistan is confirming reports that the organization's chief was killed in a missile strike. for years, he helped orchestrate a campaign of suicide attacks against the government and is also suspected in the insolvement of the assassination of benazir bhutto. judge sotomayor will be sworn in tomorrow. she won confirmation yesterday by a vote of 68-31, although just nine republicans supported her nomination. both parties were you nan mouse in praising her life experience. >> i feel very badly that i have to vote negatively. it's not what i want to do when this process started, but i believe that i'm doing the honorable and right thing, even though i feel badly about it. >> in a few hours, we will have

achieved something truly great as a nation. our first african-american president has nominated the first hispanic justice to the united states supreme court. times are changing. >> little known fact. lbj twittered a lot. i twitter also, doris kearns goodwin. last night, a congratulated sonia sotomayor. i milestone. of course, got a lot of angry issues. i'm a conservative, but at the same time, what a picture. an african-american nominates a hispanic female. >> this is why you're so reasonable, most of the time any way. >> i've grown. >> the extraordinary thing i think for the administration as well is that they have got a person there who will make an impact on people who say, she

can do it, we can do it. but also, think about the fact it only took three months. some other supreme court nominations, you lost with bork, ginsburg. they didn't lose time. time is so precious to an administration. had this gone on for six more months, they would have lost a lot of time, so it's a big victory for them. >> it certainly is. and republicans decided to vote against sotomayor. it is a different time. >> the president is also commanding the senate for another $2 billion for that cash for clunkers thing. some republicans say it's a sugar high and argue the program is another example of big government spending. officials in iraq say at least 20 people were killed this morning in a suicide car blast

as worshippers left the shiite mosque north of the city of mosul. the jobs report due in about a half hour. it's expected to show job losses slowing. still, the overall unemployment will likely rise perhaps to 9.6%. according to a new poll, the political discord surrounding president obama is getting worse. 35% of americans say the tone and civility in washington is worse than when the president took office. that is an 11-point jump from four months ago. >> doris, every presidency has its seasons. this is the first of probably three or four seasons of this administration, just in its first term, but it is surprising. 79% of americans think the tone in washington is as bad or worse

than it was when bush was president. what's happening? >> i think the administration came in, because of the election, feeling like there was a passionate desire for big change and that may have been felt during the election, and for bipartisanship. but then the economy fell apart, the financial crisis came and people got frightened. as a result, maybe they're not as ready for the big change or how much of the congress is ready. august is a tough month. i've been thinking about it. certain terrible things happen. nixon resigned in august. katrina happened in august, but world war ii was won in august, so we shouldn't think that august is always so terrible. >> we were talking about world war ii also began in august. what was that, 60 years ago? 70 years ago?

>> you know what else? monica went to the jury. >> one of the interesting, many cross currents going on now. i'm tired of the head to head polls, how obama is doing now, last week. i'd like to see a really extensive survey of what's going on in this country because the level of expectation in january 20th, i think it was like up here. and now, there's a rising level of disappointment because people's expectations were so high with president obama and the kosz currents of increasing joblessness, am i going to lose my home, my 401(k) is worth 1/3 of what it was a year and a half ago. all that comes into play at these rallies. >> i said from january 20th, the president needs to move to the

middle. if he did, republicans would be doomed for years. he didn't do that. i want to show you president obama, what he said last night and then show you a poll and see if he's lined up with where americans are. >> i don't want the folks created the mess to do a lot of talking, i want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. i don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of the talking. >> get out of the way, they will pass health care reform on their own. we showed a poll yesterday that's worth noting again today. quinnipiac, the question is, would you want health care to pass if it were only a democratic health care plan. 36% say yes. 59% say now. eugene, this is a dramatic ship.

americans want bipartisanship. >> i wonder exactly how they're going to get it. i'm not familiar with that poll. that's a fascinating finding. i believe americans still do want health care reform. they want it in a bipartisan fashion. i'm not quite clear on how that happens at this point, frankly, because the positions that have been staked out and so in the end, i do think the democrats will pass a bill because at this point, they can't not do something after promising it. it would be -- it would be a shame i think from a democratic point of view if in the end, they managed to pass health care reform and nobody's happy with it. politically, i don't see how they can backtrack at this point and not i don't think -- i don't

see how the democrats can capitalize on republican grounds, which seem to be don't do anything. >> and there we go again, gene. that's been the argument from day one of this administration and doris, i've just got to say that we've been saying it here every morning. there's this attitude. do it our way or nothing's going to get done. we want a stimulus plan that looks like something nancy pelosi can support or else we're not going to do anything. the argument's been, well, republicans don't want to do anything. that's not the case. and now with health care reform. that's not the case. is it fair to say as a historian, that the first six months, this president has charted a very aggressive course? >> i think that's fair to say. i think this week, he's making a

smart move by bringing the committee of six. he should have them their breakfast, lunch, dinner. he should go to grassley as the republican leader on that and say, do you want to make history. just like lbj said to dirkson. >> definitely -- mike, he is a liberal president. there's nothing with him going far left on domestic matters. he's been very down the middle on foreign policy, but at the same time, people can't be shocked republicans aren't going to jump on board very aggressive legislation. what do we do? compromise with the republicans? we can't do that. >> you know what they ought to do? the president, speaker pelosi, go to best buy. stand there and watch an american family come in. the two parents with the child

about to go off to college. watch as they look at which computer to buy. this is great, it costs $2800. this is $950. we have to get the one we can afford. we have to pass what we can afford. >> the question is, what can we afford? there are a lot of people out there who are really, really concerned about deficits. and this type of anger rises up, it rose up in '93 and '94. there's not really any national figure that's embracing that, but it seems like a big challenge again. >> people have lost their life savings, it makes it more real. before, you might not have made that connection, but now, it's a problem. >> stay with us.

a little later in the show, your son is going to be here. he served in afghanistan. we're also waiting for a huge, monthly jobs report. plus, political reporter for "new york" magazine, when we return on "morning joe." pollen. when i really liked to be outside, i did not like suffering from nasal allergy symptoms like congestion. but nasonex relief mai say... bee-utiful! prescription nasonex is proven to help relieve indoor and outdoor nasal allergy symptoms like congestion, runny and itchy nose and sneezing. (announcer) side effects were generally mild and included headache. viral infection, sore throat, nosebleeds and coughing. ask your doctor about symptom relief with nasonex. and save up to $15 off your refills. go to nasonex.com for details, terms and conditions. has the fastest serve

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it probably wouldn't happen, but let's say my old house in chicago. here, i'd get shot. >> wow. very funny. the president.

you know, going back to the deficit. the reason why sometimes there's so much anger there, i remember when i ran, all your supporters, there weren't a lot of people who said, go to washington and cut the deficit. earl said, don't get my anything. just go up and cut the deficit. what do you want? i don't think anything. just balance the budget. you don't get a lot of guys like that. >> you don't get a lot of the people saying to themselves each thursday or when ever they get paid, i wish i got the opportunity to pay more taxes. i'd really like to throw in some more. >> i know. we need more earls out there that don't want anything from washington, that just says, balance the checkbook. even some of the people that are

yelling, i don't want socialized medicine, then the question's asked, how many of your parents are on medicare. right. half the hands down. with us now, "new york times" magazine political correspondent, matt bayh. he wrote about president obama's sense of humor and sometimes gets him in trouble. he writes this -- that's what willie and i were

saying before the show. you say his jokes get him in trouble sometime. how? >> this president, we've seen a pattern emerge over this first six months or so, joe, this president's funny. he's genuinely funny and in a way other presidents are not. but the contrast is here we have a guy seen as this incredibly disciplined campaigner. the few times he's overshadowed his own message is when he gets funny and gets a little bit wreckless. that clip you showed earlier, he was talking about the skip gates evidence. he was talking about comparing his bowling to the special olympics. he seemed to insult nancy reagan. if you look at it with a sense of humor, you can laugh it off,

but there are people who don't and it gets in the way of what he's trying to say. >> doris, how does he use humor? >> you don't want him to not say anything spontaneous. lbj was so funny, but they were afraid he would curse. they called the tell prompter mother. like lincoln, somebody says to him, you're a two face and he said, if i were a two-face, do you think i'd wear this face? john kennedy once went to a function where it was 20 degrees below zero. he said if i were them, i wouldn't come to see me either. my favorite thing is when tim russert asked him in that debate and all the other people, what's

your biggest problem, your biggest, acknowledge an hour weakness and he said he was messy. and clinton and edwards said we care about people too much. he said later, if i help old ladies cross the street and they don't want my help, it's terrible. the pomp and circumstance is so ridiculous in the white house. >> matt, you say sometimes the president's humor has gotten him into the trouble, but also out of sticky situations. when? >> sure, it has. i think a lot of this depends on how you look at it. i find it a little refreshing and interesting when he does it, but a lot of people don't. if you talk about that moment

doris was talking about during the debate, some thought that -- there are people who didn't like the comment he made when he talked about the arrest of henry louis gates. part of it i think the generational. he has a slightly different sense of humor that it is a post watergate way of mocking institutions and mocking himself that would not have been in place in the era before. >> mike barnacle? >> in reading your very fine piece in this sunday's "new york times," i was wondering if you were struck at one level by a certain sense of sadness, as i was struck in reading the piece, at the fact that we have a president, he's a pretty funny guy and he's got a twinkle in his eye about a lot of things,

and yet, the isolation in the white house and dwindles sense of humor in this country and people's reactions to be offended by anything anyone says, has sort of thrown a blanket over his sense of humor. >> i do feel like that, mike. there are going to be advisers who say, look, we can't afford to lose two days every time you make some quip from the podium. i think that's bad advice. i think people do expect more from this guy than other presidents, that he sees the absurdity in the situation, that sometimes he does feel he's the only sane guy in the room. and i think that to the extent he indulges that from time to time, he reminds people what

they first liked about him. >> thanks so much. coming up next, the july jobs report is out. we're going to be going to erin burnett live at the new york stock exchange. plus, willie's week in review. once again, it will frame the way you think about america and how you spend your weekend. when i was seventeen i was not good to my skin.

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7 all eyes are on the july employment numbers. erin burnett is live and looking for the numbers at the new york stock exchange. erin, do we have the numbers in yet? >> one major headline here. first, drop in the unemployment rate. since april of 2008, that's a big headline. the payroll's number, we saw a drop of about 247,000. the estimate was for 328,000. so much better than expected. some were more optimistic, but it's on the better end in terms

of the payroll. which is based on a survey of actual employers. >> what is the new unemployment rate for this month? >> 9.4. i'm trying to pull it -- excuse me -- june, 9.5, it was down, that would, i believe, put it at 9.4. >> by the way, that significant because over the past several weeks, many people have predicted we're going to continue moving upward to 10%. so a drop is surprising and has got to be seen by a lot of people in wall street and washington as very good news. >> one reason why it might be more important than that payroll number is that the unemployment rate is based on the survey of individuals across the country. it's people talking about their employment situation as opposed to large employers. that's why in a sense, it is a

more accurate reflection in a dark economy. so yes, that drop is significant. and the payrolls were better than expected. people often say though, how is it possible that we lost another 247,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate went down. that can happen because one's based on what employers say and one's based on what people say. that the time, it may be more accurate what people say than the actual payroll number itself. >> again, the breaking news is the payrolls have dropped by just 247,000. jobless rates fall to 9.4%. >> that's right. >> and associated press just says this. sign recession ending. >> yes, and you know what's amazing about that, joe. what is the definition of the end of a recession.

there is no definition for the end. absolutely none. it all comes down to how you want to judge it. the president has said that he will not consider our economy to be in recovery until we're not losing any jobs at all and we're losing 247,000 jobs a month. massive improvement, but to get to zero could take a very long time. it will be interesting to see if they start talking about recovery before they get it with jobs. >> and when you have a associated press news alert talking about this is a sign the recession may be ending, i think the president may revise his benchmarks. i'd certainly revise mine. unemployment rate is going down, happy days here again. >> he's got to be so concerned about the last time we came out

of recession, jobless recovery, that sparked this talk and how regular people weren't having job growth and income growth. he's going to be careful because he doesn't want to end up in that kind of a situation again. but it's very unclear where the jobs are going to come from. i've been on the phone with a couple of ceos the morning and they're saying, yes, there is improvement from this quarter to last, that we're at the bottom, but i said, how long is it going to take to get back to where we were before lehman brothers. they don't know. >> well try a quarter century. hit the reset button. we had an economy that was built over the past quarter century, just i'm sorry, vulgar consumerism, cheap money, cheap

credit. we get to the point where we were using our homes as giant credit cards. college kids who had never held a job were getting credit cards once a week. that era is over. the reset button has been hit. there are going to be a lot of best buys and other chain stories that aren't going to see the types of sales they saw the past five, six, seven years. >> you put it eloquently. >> you sound shocked about that, erin. >> nobody know what is the new normal is. you look at the stock market. it's up 50% from the bottom. now, the bottom was so deep, it had priced in the end of the world. it doesn't mean the market is necessarily ahead of itself. we have no idea whether it's overshot. there are just so many question marks out there. will we be back?

i don't know. >> thank you so much. breaking good news for the first time since i think, a couple of summers ago when we were doing this. that's right. payrolls drop by just 247,000. jobless rate, 9.4, ap report, sign recession ending. have a great weekend. okay. you know, it's so nice that even when mika's not here, we still get crazy comments. that breaking news is going to shape the political debate, especially if we continue going in that direction. coming up, we'll be joined by joseph kearns goodwin. he's just returned from afghanistan. and later, the stories

you've talked about all week. the stories that will change your life. willie's week in review. keep it right here on "morning joe."

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this is a great segment. mother and son, in the immediate days after september 11, 2001, men and women in america signed up to serve their country, including doris kearns goodwin's son, joseph. he rose to the level of captain while serving in afghanistan. in a recent e-mail, he wrote this --

joseph, it's great to have you with us. that was a remarkable series of e-mails. unlike anything i ever e-mailed to my mother. send money, mom. >> it happens. we were just talking about you've just come back a couple of weeks ago. tell us what you were doing over there and the adjustment coming back. >> this time, by title was the strategic adviser to the director of strategic effects. it meant that i was working for the general in charge of all strategic communications. which was incredible because it gave you an opportunity to not only figure out what are we

trying to say as a nation, but also trying to listen to the afghan people to figure out what they're saying. >> how many tours have you taken? >> this is my second. the first time was in a much different role. from '03 to '04. >> explain the difference what you saw in iraq and afghanistan. >> while i was in iraq, i was a platoon leader, took patrols fighting vehicles. i had my little section of baghdad i was responsible for and had no idea what was going on in a larger picture. i couldn't even tell you the name of the commanding general. going from that in iraq to afghanistan where i was working at a much different level. i got to view that conflict from a different angle. >> dexter said in iraq, we could threaten to bomb them back to

the 13th century and in afghanistan, you can't because they're in the third century already. >> i think that's exactly right. it's an enormously bigger challenge as far as trying to create the institutions that can govern themselves. in iraq, you had a middle class that was preexistent to our time there and there was these institutions, they have history. they still see what violent institutions look like. in afghanistan, it's been 30 years or more since they've seen that thing and probably thousands of years since they've had a functioning government. >> joe, you know, you've led a very privileged life and i've witnessed all of it. i'd like to ask you, you're a graduate of harvard and you joined the united states army. the "times" piece about trying

to get more college graduates to join. >> i think the initiative is wonderful not just because the army does really need people like that right now to fill the ranks of the leadership, but going back to the e-mail you read at the beginning. when i joined, i thought i was doing it for self-less reasons. having a great parents, of course, living in a state with with a great baseball team -- >> getting chatty since coming back from war. >> so i felt i should give something back to the great country who's given so much to me. the value to me turned out to be so tremendous that there's no doubt, no matter what path i had chosen, nothing else would have given me the same skill, the same circumstances to make me a more valuable person, no matter

what career field, making me a better american. >> joe, we've got to get you back to talk more about this. and we're going to have your e-mails to your mom on our website. we'll be right back in a minute.  ♪ [ female announcer ] arthritis targets your body where it's weak. where it's vulnerable. ♪ tylenol arthritis works with your body to block the pain, without interfering with certain high blood pressure medicines

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welcome back to "morning joe." it is time for the week in review. >> this individual has a body

part superglued to his body. >> reporter: number three. things get sticky when you have a wife and three mistresses. >> they confronted him about this infidelity. >> reporter: the wife o a wisconsin man joined his three mistress mistresses. >> if anybody is a victim in this, it's all the women. >> reporter: he was lured to a hotel room by one of his many m m mistrises. at first, he was tied up, then bound to the bed. wait, what's with the crazy glue? the women stole the man's wallet, cell phone and car. he chewed through his bindings and made what must have been a very awkward to the call to police. at number two.

"american idol" loses it crazy. >> people have seen your vocal. >> you hear vocals. >> reporter: even as one trail blazing female judge inched closer to the highest court in the land, another pill popping juris announced her resignation immediately. >> you've got to learn to eat it up and embrace it. >> reporter: paula abdul announced over twitter this week, that she is leaving the show after eight magical seasons filled with memories, tears and hallucinations. >> how about a lot of you coming in. it's a wild party where you are. >> reporter: abdul reportedly felt slighted by the big money deals given to cowell and seacrest. the president and his advisers will now spend the weekend at camp david, developing a short list of nominees to fill her

spot. >> i will speak somebody with a sharp and independent mind. >> reporter: and the number one story of the week. bubba to the rescue. >> we saw standing before us, president bill clinton. >> reporter: former president bill clinton swooped into north korea this week, charmed the little pantsuit off kim jong-il and left with the two american journalists. >> there were delightful on the plane trip home. >> reporter: he was hand-picked for the mission by the dear leader, who kindly interrupted his daily schedule to meet with bill. the story's happy ending was complete when the journalists were reunited with their families on wednesday and the beautiful moment of nationwas p

waited with a man hug. >> and a special thanks to president bill clinton, my partner and friend. >> reporter: the lingering hug was the second most awkward public display of affection ever committed by gore. actually, it was a very distant second. ♪ you're the inspiration almost more of a head butt. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? i'm bill karins. here's a look at your forecast. today, showers and storms, down through minneapolis and chicago. hot in the middle of the country.

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happy days are here again. the unemployment rate went down. for the first time since like 1943 and the associated press talked about it could be a sign that the recession is ending. william? >> i learned that joe kearns goodwin is a real man. he saw what happened on september 11, went down and signed up the next day. i also learned that red sox fans, mike barnacle, he went to the game last night -- >> lost one game. >> and this is how they reacted.

children. >> doris kearns goodwin. across america, we have good news and bad news. just as many americans concerned that the red sox seemed to have lost their way. give us help. >> well, willie said there are seasons in baseball like seasons in politics, so might be just as august might be turning around in the country because of the recession and possibly coming to an end, so the red sox have a lot of the games to play, but i haven't been able to sleep for the last week. >> just because of the red sox issue, i think that while i was in afghanistan, they were doing tremendously well. when i left, they had a five-game lead. this time, for the good of red sox nation, i better get my butt back over there. >> jack jacobs, we learned yesterday that you teach now at the school that is rated the best in america.

>> number one. i'd like to say, the reason is that i'm up there. but that's not the reason. it's number one in spite of my being up there. great fun. teaching young kids. i learned, and i can demonstrate to everybody, that young soldiers get to meet old soldiers. >> exactly. mike, you've got a big day ahead of you. you're going to put on your sunglasses, your track suit, your hat. walk around central park and chase women. >> i've learned that once again, willie has been unable to reach the inner punk within him, also, that little boys can grow up to be young men who continuely make you proud. have a great weekend. william, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." it's time now for dylan rand th

morning meeting. health care town halls turn violent. is this what they call democracy in action or is this just a violent mob? good morning. we're looking at what's behind all of these protests on both the conversation on the right, left and right and wrong. and rush limbaugh comparing president obama's health care low e lowgo to a swas ka. how does the talk compromise is whole darn country, contessa? then women, this is the result, contessa, women have been driven to drink.

the statistics show it. that story of the wrong way driver who killed seven, including four children, may not be an isolated case. a new report suggests women are drinking more than ever. swine flu in schools. a live news conference this hour to announce the government's plan of action. dr. nancy snyderman will join us. it is 9:00 a.m. friday morning. nice to see you. welcome. a nice day. >> this is big story of the morning here. this was supposed to be a town hall in tampa, florida. hosted by congresswoman, kathy

castor. >> you work for us, you work for us. >> police estimated 1500 people tried to cram into an event. they jammed up against the doors. one guy says he was actually man handled, may end up going to police about it. >> one of them took my arm and doing a arm -- arm twist, tore my watch off, then the other one grabbed me by the neck and shirt and tore the shirt off. i'm not a protester. i'm a businessman. i came