because it doesn't make a lot of the sense. >> here's the latest in a string of democratic health care events broken up by angry opponents. some say riled up by industry groups who want to kill reform. senator mccain weighed in on twitter and says town hall meetings are an american twa edition. we should allow everyone to express their views even if we disagree. michael steele adds this. we're not encouraging people to be angry -- the national congressional committee is calling them recess roasting for the recess in august. todd akin got cheers when he described them as lynchings.

>> they almost got lynched, so -- if you're not approving lynching because you don't -- what these people are really upset at some of this legislation and very good reason. >> yeah. so -- get him to clarify. there's a huge list of conservative groups actively working to bring grass roots opponents together. even providing trips, talking points, or should they be shouting points? our own rachel maddow called on

them to step in. >> somewhere between extreme rhetoric and violence. you can condone the threats and then risk being seen at -- or be an adult. >> democratic senators leaving town today got marching orders of their own from the white house. they were getting instruction on handling the events. and how to handle things if they get ugly. in addition, the big union has announced it will send activists all over the country to engage those who would otherwise disrupt the town halls. >> gerald cha joins the conversation, as does matt kib. it is a pleasure to have you joining the conversation. we thank you for making the time

for us. gerald, on the one hand, i can see the desire to get engaged. on the other hand, it runs the risk of further violence. what does the aflcio intend to do when you say ul engage demonstrators? >> we always urge our participators. this is no different, but with the mobs going around, we have said to people, look, we need to make sure that the congressmen know there are people who support cost control. >> what responsibility do you have to ensure that you observe and encourage a level of

civility and behavior? >> we've been doing this stuff for 20 years and always encourage people to show up for town hall meetings. we never tell people to shout. we always tell people to be respectful. we tell them to know, to understand the issues, but also to be assertive and get answers. i think what you're seeing out there is a lot of frustration with a process that was fast-tracked, not transparent. the president and the democrats in congress tried to ram this package through even before the august recess. it's understandable people are frustrated, but we would never encourage people to push, shove, shout. >> and it's dangerous for obvious reasons. the unanswered part of that question, matt, if you are getting violent outbursts as a result of those protests and you are indeed either delivering

those people or supporting the delivery of those people or simply giving them talking points et cetera, at what point are you responsible for their behavior after the fact and when do you or others have to step forward and say, listen, go do this, but what you are doing here, physical engagement, is not acceptable. >> first of all, freedom works and none of the groups on our side that i'm aware of are actually bussing people in as the dnc talking points claimed. we do supply talking points, but there are ways to educate people on issues. we've always told people not to be disruptive, to show up and to engage on the issues and that's what we do. >> karen finny, i want to bring you in. former communications director for the dnc. you have that perspective and you've been in on the health care fight before. what's in your head right now?

>> unfortunately, i think what we're hearing is not the truth. freedom works is funding by right wing networks. we know that a number of these groups are already admitted that they quote unquote, have people on the ground in more than 30 states. we saw the memo that went out from the republican caucus to many of these groups that called for open confrontation. we need to hold the gop and these groups accountable in case there's violence. god forbid something awful should happen. when you call up people, rather than to go and participate, this is supposed to be an opportunity to raise questions, get more information and instead, they want to be disruptive and break them up to create this false sense there's this unrest out there, rather than letting the

democratic process take its course. >> matt, how do you redirect the message to be more constructive to the fact that we spend more on health care and get less than most anyone out there. we come in 37th, we spend more. instead of having anger, i said the public option is -- wyden and bennett, more competition for health insurers, at what point can you turn your conversation on something constructive instead of simply saying, this sucks, this is terrible, we can't have this, and move to, we can do this better and here's how. tell me now. the past 20 years are gone. how would you do it better? >> you've got to get the middleman out of the process. >> who's that? >> the government. the government now spends over 50 cents of every dollar out of health care. it leads to inflation,

rationing. >> what do you think about wyden bennett to allow for more patient choice, more movement of employees from job to job and forces more efficiency out of the health care industry. >> i don't think wyden bennett does the things you say. >> sure it does. >> you've got to get third parties out of it whether it be employers or the government. >> the third party is the health insurance company, my friend, and they're the ones taking money out of the system. wyden bennett is saying we're going to use government rules to force a more competitive market. it's beyond me why anybody would be against better insurance. karen? >> what he's advocating is really a radical solution. he wants to dismantle the

current system, as government programs that supplement that. that is the basis of the design of the legislation going through congress and it's designed to strengthen and stabilize that system in part by reducing the power of private insurance companies. >> all we have to do is enforce capitalism. we have structure that protects false compatibility. for me, it's a lay up to forced competitive practices. karen, then jonathan. >> here's the thing. i've talked about this before. what should be at the center of this debate is how to have better health care for the patient. it should be about the patient. unfortunately, freedom works gives a large percentage of their money from met life, an insurance company, so of course they're trying to protect the

status quo. >> you're just making that up. >> i'm not. it's in your public record. >> that sounded like a much more fun part of the conversation. i wanted to rise above the clouds here. >> it's important you do that because we're about out of time. >> these protests, really unfortunate because it's supposed to be places where people get information and can ask questions and with people shouting and screaming, you're not getting the answers, information. also, it would be more helpful if the conservatives who show up go there with valid proposals of their own to debate back and forth with a member of congress. >> what's beyond me is why conservatives would be anticompetition. why they would try to protect a structure for an industry when clearly it's anticapitalist. >> when that's who you get your money from, of course you're going protect them. >> and clearly, you're not a

capitalist. savannah guthrie is with us. the white house seems to have a tremendous amount of power in this dialogue and yet seems to have not acted on it. in other words, they're allowing this sort of do nothing versus public option debate to continue to escalate when there clearly is at least one good third option and probably four more i don't know about. where does the white house stand on all of this? >> we did see the president out in force a couple of weeks ago and yet, this bill and the plan to overhaul the health care system is something that's dropping in the polls. i think we'll still see the white house push on it and be aggressive. i'm sure they would take issue with the premise that they're not really getting into the debate, but there is the argument that's made out there and sometimes it's made among democrats, that the president should be more forceful and

specific about what he supports. he said he prefers a public option, but might be open to a hybrid, something like the co-op. something that would look like a public option, something that would increase competition, but be short of a government-sponsored insurance plan. i don't think and advisers say they don't expect him to do a blitz like before. he's also wanting to talk about the economy and polls are dropping there, too. actually today, got good news on that. actually dropped. >> christina romer will join us in a bit to talk about the economy. thank you, savannah, gerald and matt. karen and jonathan are staying with us.

if you're against competition, you're kind of anti-american. why would you not want more competitive environments. the jobs market looked a little better. >> yeah, it's great. we got good news. the national unemployment rate has delined for the first time in 15 months. it's a strong signal the recession may be coming to an end. the rate has fallen back to 9.4%. here's why that's good news. because they weren't expecting that to happen. they were expecting to see a higher rate. 247,000 jobs were slashed last month. coming up, dylan's going to have white house reaction to the latest report with christina romer. >> and the parachute metaphor, the stimulus package, the bailout, all these things are practically a way to slow it.

this is evidence it is working. then we move to the next phase, which is why did we go in and how do we prevent it. we're learning more now about the gunman who killed three women at the pittsburgh health club. george sodini bought three of his handguns from the same wisconsin supplier who sold guns to the virginia tech gunman. >> we have learned that men like george sodini often copy other killers who have done violent acts spectacular to the one they're planning. that's what experts are telling us. sodini was no different. we know he planned this for the long time because of his postings on the internet. we know he was a man who had trouble relating to others. he even went to a workshop

called the right attitude. this is a so-called self-help seminar for the art of seduction. he continued this reaching out right up until the very end. he made a final phone call right before he started shooting people. we are told that he told his mother, i am going to kill a bunch of people and i don't expect to survive it. >> so it was a call from mom to the police? >> no, not to the police. he made a phone call to the police -- they have not said whether or not, but in fact, even if she wanted to, she would have had a hard time getting call in. he went inside twice before. he came back out, made this call and then entered, walked straight to the room and started

shooting. >> thank you. dylan? >> thank you, contessa. swine flu getting more attention here. dr. nancy joins us. we are back on swine flu rolling forword on a friday meeting after this. i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time. you need listerine® whitening vibrant white™ rinse. the mouthwash that gets teeth four times whiter than the leading toothpaste. and kills bad breath germs. listerine® whitening vibrant white™.

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we're getting an announcement from health and human services on swine flu. >> today, we're announcing the latest steps we're taking to get ready for the flu season this fall. new guidance from schools, from

the centers for disease control will help schools respond to the h1n1 strain as kids get ready for schools in the coming days. parents are out buying backpacks and school supplies and we want you to know that we're taking steps to make sure that children and teachers are as safe as possible. but it is the latest in the national framework for response. really guides our efforts. the framework starts with medical surveillance, which means we work closely with doctors and public health officials across the country and the world to identify outbreaks as soon as they happen. we're also sharing mitigation methods. huge range of strategies to help limit the spread of the flu from encouraging people and children to wash their hands frequently, stay home when they're sick, to advising communities on how to

respond to outbreaks. the best way though to prevent the spread of the flu is vaccination and our scientists are working hard to have a vaccine ready by mid-october. they've already prepared a seasonal flu vaccine that should be available very shortly, so we first recommend that people who are ready and willing to get a season l flu vaccine do that quickly so that we can be ready for the h1n1 vaccine by mid-october. the fourth part of the strategy is communication. the national defense against the flu is as strong as our weakest link and that's why we've been reaching out to employers, doctors, teachers, the american people, and certainly with allies and colleagues in the media to try and reach the

american people with accurate information and timely information about steps that can be taken. the best place to learn more about all of these efforts and to keep updated on the flu is to visit the website, wwwflu.gov. it's a combines website and we are certainly sharing information and strategies. it's where the briefing is also being streamed today for americans across the country. so before i turn over the podium to my colleagues who will tell you more about our joint efforts on flu preparation, i want to point out a quote that many of you probably saw when you came here today. hubert humphrey, after whom this building is named, made this quote and it's on the wall that greets you as you enter the building. what he said is that the moral test of the government is how

they treat those who are in the dawn of life. >> all right. we'll continue to monitor this announcement. dr. nancy snyderman joins us right now. what point can we go beyond, wash your hands, purell. >> right now, it's cough into your sleeve and when the vaccine comes out, get vaccinated. you're not going to be at the top of the list. it will be care workers, the elderly and kids, sort of six months to 24 years of age because we know this flu, the h1n1 is striking 19 year olds. >> the thing with this one, it's easily transferrable, but not as fatal. >> phenomenally lphenomenally,p

in the spring, sort of something to come in the fall. >> they're looking at the places we saw a lot of swine flu cases. wisconsin has had 1,000 more cases than any other state and they're looking at why that's a pr problem. these guidelines they've handed out today where they're going to separate out staff and students who show symptoms, wouldn't they do that anyway? >> this is going to be a challenge for the federal government. one thing they haven't gotten much clearance on, the federal guideline to state and local communities, when you close a school, send people home, quarantining doesn't work. this virus is around the globe. so we're going to have to rely

on a lot of responsibility for parents to keep their sick kids home. but if you're a single mom of two kids and you're required to be at work, you can see how that's going to fall apart. the towns doing it well already have a phone log where parents can rely on other parents to sort of take care of each other. >> the risk as you take a look at what the press is reporting, you've got a version that is fatal, but some that are dangerous and don't transfer. >> it takes two things for a big virus to be a big killer. think ebolla. the concern is although we haven't seen a mutation is that you could see a different virus in the fall. no indication of that yet. >> and people worry about

antibiotics. >> anthey do not treat viruss. the other thing is, you should not take an antiviral just because so and so down the street has been diagnosed. get treated when you are ill and you have to stay home. >> is it too simp list that taking those medication actually makes the problem worse? >> absolutely. stupid. you know what does it? white, worried well, who can access the system, thinking they're smarter than everybody else. >> and they create a situation that creates greater threat. >> absolutely. dumb. >> thank you so much. >> welcome. >> contessa.

>> swine flu -- >> coming up, are women being driven to drink? a mother kills herself and seven others reportedly while driving drunk. occurrences of drinking with women in general spiking. if you look at the statistics, why is that? coming up. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models. but i did.

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time to reset the agenda for this half hour. health care town halls turning not only ugly, but potentially unhealthy. one in tampa erupting into outright violence. all of this building up to a recession rally planned for later this month. is this real anger or frustration from a constituency out of power. rush limbaugh's at it again. reaction on wall street, meanwhile, better than expected jobs report. we lost fewer jobs than will be anticipated. it's been a while since we've done this. let's take a moment and be pleased by that fact. again, the parachute is open. we don't know where this goes, but we know we're not losing as

many jobs. christina romer join us for in a bit. and man on the street. i hit the pavement, yes, they let me out of the building and i went to times square and tried to find work. we have some good feedback. let's get things rolling here. new developments in a tragic story. a mother driving the wrong way down a new york highway crashes head on into another car, killing seven, including four young children in the car with her and of course, herself. the police say she was drunk and high at the time and now, her husband speaking out in her defense. there's a back and forth here to say the least and a horrendous story. >> he says his wife was perfect. he says he would marry her again

tomorrow. >> i go to bed every night knowing my heart is clear. she did not drink. she's not an alcoholic. my heart the rested every night when i go to bed. something medically had to have happened. >> instead, he suggests it could have been a stroke, an abscessed tooth, could have caused her to act this way in the hours before her death. police say the autopsy report shows she had the equivalent of ten drinks, she smoked pot within an hour of the crash. the husband is considering having his wife's body exhumed, seeking an independent autopsy. >> and the autopsy just to confirm, did show high blood alcohol and thc, which is

marijuana. i want to bring dennis kelly into the conversation. part of his work is investigating highway crashes. officer kelly, i got to say, you must have had some very difficult evenings with the work you have chosen for your life. when you look at the situation like this, does it matter? in other words, this is terrible, what are happened. the question becomes is this an open tragedy or evidence of some broader issue in society? we're going to talk about women drinking more. your thoughts. >> these things have been happening for years. just now, they get more publicity. it happens every day in the united states. something has to be done and people keep saying that, but little is ever done. in texas, it's very common, a

phrase, if you want to commit murder, go drink until you get drunk and go out with a car and kill them and nothing much will happen to you. we've got people arrested 10, 15 times for dwi and never go to jail. >> percentage of women who drink every day is up 50%. for men, it's down 8%. clearly, there is more alcohol-related incidents between women. what would you have society do to address alcohol abuse? >> i think one of the things you could do is to have it against the law to have an open container of alcohol in your car. you could make the blood level for legally being drunk, every uniform so that every place

it's .08 instead of .1. i think the biggest thing is that you have uniform, hard penalties for driving while drunk. >> it's got to be unacceptable. >> karen, why are women drinking more? >> oh, dylan, we don't have time to get into the reasons. earlier this week, we saw stories about the use of antidepressants. we're living harder, we're stressed. we've got our blackberry. we know that drug use is on the rise. frankly, i think we're not, in terms of drinking, i know here in washington, d.c., there's a lot of drinking and a lot of people who drink too much all the time because it's pretty much accepted. >> that's true.

turning public opinion against being drunk. the other thing, women are living like men. we go to work every day. we work out hard. we serve in the military. we're doing things that traditionally men have done and now, we're doing them like men do. >> it's driving women to drink. >> if you go out with a bunch of guys, you're matching them, drink for drink, but we're smaller and can't hold alcohol the ways guys can, so we get drunk faster. i've read studies about this. women are trying to keep up with the men and you can't physically. >> with smoking, through shame and legislation, as a former smoker, i ended up quitting because i thought it was going to kill me and because everybody was going to -- i quit drinking

because i realized i wouldn't be hosting this show or anything else. more people are hanging around the bar in washington smoking pot, if you were snorting cocaine -- it's a good time. >> right, and in many cases, in terms of how much people are drinking, you're just as out of it if you have five or six drinks in you or smoked marijuana. culturally i think it's somewhat acceptable. people say, let's grab a drink after work. i think we need to think about other ways to destress. >> or at least don't drive afterwards. >> that would be good. >> i also think though, everyone's living harder and working harder, but also, let's not discount the amount of stress that people have, worried about the health care, worried about their jobs, whether they're going the find a new one, keep the one they have or

get a better one. i think we have to, as citizens and friends of people whom might drink a little too much, feel the freedom and have the will to go through that friend and say you know what, let's talk about this. what's behind this, so that we start helping each other as opposed to looking at the person falling down drunk in the bar and pretending it's not a problem. >> there is another way. you can be drunk a lot or not. i've done both. i found not being drunk a lot is better. >> as friends, we need to support people who are trying not to drink as much and make it more of our habits not to drink so much. >> we will come back for this one. judge sonia sotomayor will be -- we're getting conflicting reports first, about the death of the top taliban leader in pakistan. american officials believe that he was killed in a u.s. missile

strike wednesday. confirmation has been difficult. he is blamed for the 2007 assassination of benazir bhutto and the 2008 bombing of the marriott hotel in islamabad. we're learning more about the time the two american journalists spent in north korea. lisa did not elaborate, saying her sister eventually wants to tell her own story. lisa ling talked this morning with meredith vieira on how she's doing. >> she's quite weak and exhausted and because she would go weeks without talking to anybody, even though they were two guards posted in her room at all times, they didn't speak

english, so they would just go days in near silence. >> she also said that in the last of her sister's phone calls, she said it had to be clinton to negotiate their release. what was supposed to be a fun event for kids turned into chaos yesterday. this looks like a town hall meeting. several fights erupted ending up in about a dozen arrests. i have no idea why that started. >> maybe they're anticompetition as well. >> i'm sure that's it, dylan. >> maybe they were drinking, i don't know. today, we've got some nice economic data to talk about. live pictures from the new york stock exchange here. you can see a little bit of strength there. dr. christina romer and i have talked about the parachute being open. the rate of decline in our

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we got the report an hour ago. a surprise. july unemployment number now stands at 9.4%, which is down. first time we've seen a decline since the spring of 2008. employers throttling back on layoffs. 247,000 jobs lost in the last month, which is the fewest we've shed in about a year.

since 2007, we've lost a total of 6.7 jobs in this economy. there have been a variety of things done by the government to try to diminish the violent impact of this sort of decline. dr. christina romer is the chair of the white house economic panel. welcome back and thank you for continuing the dialogue with us here. >> great to be with you. >> walk us through your interpretations of this data to continue with our metaphor of the parachute being open and this showing a slower rate of shedding jobs. >> that's a very apt metaphor. the way we're describing this is the least bad jobs report we've gotten in a long time. we did still lose jobs, but i'm pleased with the trajectory. to go to 550 and now we're down to 250, i want to see that

continue and add jobs. >> everybody in this country would agree with that. if you look at some of the cause sz for decline, the incredible credit, all sorts of inefficienci inefficiencies, one thing that sticks with me is 40% of new jobs in that cycle came from housing and that credit supported housing developed jobs. clearly, that's unlikely to return. as we see the parachute slow our rate of decent, how do we create new jobs in this country? we want to create environment that is encourage that. >> you're exactly right. when we come through this crisis, we are going to be a different economy. it's almost surely the case that consumers will be saving more. it's almost surely the case that we won't be having the same boom in housing.

what the president's been talking about is what can make his case. earlier this week, he went to elkhart, indiana to talk about innovation, new technologies. it has been a part of our tles and how to get the healthier economy. i'd also mention business investment. one of the really positive features of that gdp from last friday, how the investment had started to stabilize. that again may be a tribute to the recovery act where we know we've given a lot of incentives and we're hoping those will bear fruit. >> we're going to have some more efficient form of health insurance in this country, i hope. however again to don, i don't care whose plan it is. we're going to have a more thos

working on those jobs won't be able to do those jobs any more. the same thing with cars. as the economy goes through this transition, media, for that matter, how do you deal with the potential for huge swajs swaths of labor, whether it's car auto manufacturers, financial professionals and health care professionals that won't have the type of work available to them the next 5 to 10 years that has been there the past 10 or 20? >> you're right, we are looking at a transition. that, again, is one reason why the president has emphasized things like continuing education and training, right? we are going to move people. the council of economic report adviser had a report of jobs on the future trying to get a sense of what sectors will be growing and things like, you know, we hear so much about green jobs but it's really true. moving into building the new renewable energy technologies. that is a growth sector. your point about health care. we want to, obviously, through

health care reform slow the growth rate of cost, slow the expansion of this sector but we are an economy that, you know, we do know the baby boom is aging but that sector will, in fact, growing and more people taking care of patients and less paper work. >> i'm in favor of that. less people taking money out of the system and more putting value into the system, however you get it done, you'll get a thumb's up from contessa and myself anyway. i know have you a busy day. look forward to take you -- talk to you again. the president is delivering his own remarks on the economy 1:15 eastern today this time from ft. myer, virginia. live coverage here shortly after lunch. the we're still lose be jos but we're not losing them as quickly as we were. the conversation one you're familiar with. we'll take a break. ahead on the "morning meeting," rush limbaugh stirring the pot to comparing the left to

nazis. why not? right? are you crazy? he is comparing obama's health care logo to a swastika. at what point does the right have to come down on rush or does at some point the right have to actually solve a problem sf we're back after this. (male announr) if you've had a heart attack caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be rking, waiting to strike. a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots.

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jobs, women drinking, riots at protests, town halls. >> dressing. >> let's take a break. >> give me something. ♪ every woman >> you love to sing. >> i'm trying to encourage you. sherri shepherd is the host on "the view" is struttin' her stuff. she put on a swimsuit yesterday to show off her body. she didn't say how much weight

she lost but she did lose 5 inches around her waist and 42 years old, this is a black one-piece and, man, she working it! and then here is her reward. a platter of ribs, corn and you can't do that! >> can you imagine if i did that? why is it only female television hosts? i don't know. i will never do it. >> no, no. >> because i don't have to and i don't want to! but what i'm saying is i find it to be a double standard. why is it that sherri shepherd -- >> give me a break. >> you're talking to me about a double standard? >> can you imagine if hi to do that? >> i'm encouraging this. >> the hungarian will not be doing that! jonathan is laughing! i feel bad but i shouldn't feel bad. >> dylan is on the table. >> oh, god! >> like a runway.

>> no, it's not. >> guys, i don't want to get myself in trouble with jonathan's mother, but let me just say that sherri shepherd is a big fan of jonathan capehart and at the white house correspondent's dinner she made a point of tracking him down with quite an interesting exchange between sheri and jonathan. it's a good story. let's say she has a thing for mr. capehart. >> she is wearing a gown and we both looked at each other. i guess we looked familiar to each other. i said what is your name? she said my name is sheri. what is your name? i said jonathan and she goes, capehart? oh, my god! she wanted to take a picket with me! >> oh, my god! like that. >> it was cute but she never called again. they never call again. >> it's because we're out drinking, guys. >> on that note. >> let's take a break before this goes to the wrong place.

ahead in the succeed hour of the "morning meeting," town halls. speaking of conversations turning ugly. these are angry protesters pushing and shoving and ripping a man's shirt in tampa. if it's this bad now, what will the recession rally look like later this month? and is this just extrek extremists looking to vent random frustration or is there a productive message in this behavior? anyway. i took to the streets as well looking for jobs, actually. later in the "morning meeting," whatever people are saying about the state of our economy and where they think america should be finding its next job. great friday morning to you. i'm meteorologist bill karins.

here's a look at your friday and saturday forecast. today, showers and storms. northern plains down through minneapolis and chicago. otherwise, it's hot in the middle of the country and just gorgeous, mid-atlantic to the northeast. what a friday it's going to be! saturday, we started to heat it up in areas around d.c. and chicago and out west, things cool but nice.

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pretty much everything you buy can help your savings account grow because keep the change from bank of america rounds up every debit card purchase to the next dollar and transfers the difference from your checking to savings account. it's one of the many ways we make saving money in tough times a whole lot easier. you work for us! you work for us! >> rowdy town halls, anger, spilling over. one town hall in tampa rerupting in violent shoving and an interesting august setting up for our country. good morning to you. i'm dylan ratigan. welcome back. we are setting our agenda this hour and talking about the outrage is real. is it orchestrated right wing attacks of democrats in the sort of classic hatfield's and

mccoy's fight but we don't solve any problem kind of things. we are talking to one person behind the recess rallies to figure it out. when it comes to outrage, no one tops rush limbaugh. the talk show host comparing president obama's health plan to a sass take ka. mr. solution himself there. the conversation coming up. good news on the job front. meanwhile, unemployment showing a little down kick. we were at 9.5 and the first time we've seen the trend the other way. christine yeah romer is telling the meeting it's not necessarily good news but at least it's not bad. then i recently hit the streets in new york to find out if americans really are feeling hopeful about jobs and where they think they might find work. the conversation took some surprising twists and turns. times square is a fun place to talk to people about work. it's 10:00 a.m. nice to see you pull a chair up

and join the "morning meeting." so we begin with the democratic town halls repeatedly being broken up by protesters in recent days, specifically a debate now taking a violent turn last night. contessa with the latest in terms of this whole situation. >> we are seeing some incredible video coming out of these situations. here, this one billed at a health care event hosted by congresswoman and society up by the service of the employees international union. it was heated inside but outside, things got downright ugly. >> you work for us! you work for us! >> we hear you. we just don't understand what you're saying. police estimated some 1,500 people trying to force their way into a meeting room designed to hold 250. it started with shoutering and then shoving and organizers trying to get in and organizers

trying to keep them out and one guy was trying to get in to ask a question and ended up getting assaulted. >> 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 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. i just came to listen and see what i'm missing about this health care thing, because it doesn't make sense to me. >> last night a health care reform in detroit got out of hand. the incidents happening all over the country. texas, wisconsin, new york, arizona. all have seen democratic health care events broken up by angry activists. there are real questions about how much is genuine grassroots outrage and how much of this is being stirred up by republicans and industry groups who want health care reform dead.

senator mccain said town hall meetings are an american tradition. we should allow everyone to express their views without disruption, even if we disagree. texas republican senator john cornyn weighs in saying -- the national republican congressional committee is promoting the disruptions on its website calling them recess roastings and democratic senators leaving town today say they know they have to be ready. they got some advice from the white house on thursday. several huddled with the president to get tips on how to organize health care events to keep them from being disrupted and how to handle things if they get ugly. as for who is behind some of this? huge list of conservative groups actively working to bring grassroots opponents together some of them like americans for tax reform and americans health insurance plans are providing scripts and talking points for the folks who go up and show up

and ask questions at these meetings. all of this may ab preview of what is to come. august 22nd, plans to hold a nationwide recess rally fanning out to congressional districts all over the country. house minority leaders predicted here it will be a long, hot august for democrats. >> eric odom is one of the organizers of the august 22nd recess rally joins the conversation. karen and jonathan are still here. eric, how do you get the most bang for your bucks? in other words, how do you get the most productive use of the energy you're able to generate without being destructive and violent? in other words, how do you help us solve for the fact we have the most inefficient health care plan in the world beyond screaming and yelling? >> well, first, i do want to kind of address, you say the destructive and extremists. there are certainly destructive elements of this fight and extremism and they're happening within the unions and the left.

>> no, stop there. who knows. here is what i'll grant you if you want to cast accusations. there are extremists on a variety of places that are exhibiting behavior that is counterproductive. i prefer that it's not directed one way or the other, quite honestly. my point is none of this is productive. >> it's interesting to see that those who are the world's most professional community organizers are upset that we are organizing communities. >> no, no, you're changing the conversation. for the moment i'm host this show, i get to control the conversation as long as i host the conversation. >> okay. >> how do you use your power it becoming health care in america. can you tell me who is a jerk or a idiot. i don't care. how do use the power you kr vin organize the people to help america go from spending one-sixth of its gdp on health care and tied with costa rica. how do you help us be

constructive? >> we do it the same way that our founding fathers and that is by helping people -- you showed a clip early on saying you work for us, hear our voice. that is exactly what people want. >> what do you want heard other than anger? my point is very specific. what is it you want heard other than we're pissed off? >> sure i think we're hearing that all over the country. >> we get that. >> people are saying we can't afford anything else. we can't afford more taxes it's going to require. you're talking trillions of dollars. i'm a business owner. i'm feeling the pinch and the pain. that's what we're saying. we can't afford to do anything like this right now. as a business or as a private citizen, you have to look at things and see if you can afford them. if you can't afford them, you can't purchase them. >> i completely and totally agree with that. which is i look at it and say, man, we're spending all of this money on gdp and health care and, yet, the overall quality per person is terrible, right, on a relative basis.

>> no, i don't think so at all. >> no, absolutely. mathematic fact. it may be fine for but the reality whether it's contessa -- let me finish an then i'll let you finish, sir. >> i'd love to see some examples. >> if you want to play stupid word games on cable television, please do it on another show. i would love to have a productive conversation. >> i think people all over the world right now come to america to get health care all over the world and north of the border and south of the border. our insurance -- our health care is really good right now. i think it's disingenuous to say it's bad health care. >> let's be clear how we are defining quality. i agree we have the best quality service. i think we're spending way too much because anticompetitive practices in the health care insurance business. why you are favor of supporting anti-competitive health insurance practices? what do you think about wyden and bennett that would create competition in the insurance market? have you entertained this idea? >> i'm sorry.

that didn't make much sense to me you are suggesting moving the free market system, we make it more competitive. >> i would hate for my inability to communicate to hurt our conversation. wyden/bennett is a piece of legislation that was proposed by 12 senators. there was an op-ed earlier in the "the washington post" this week saying the mathematics of insurance require a mandate to bring the price down and they suggest a tax credit to allow portability so that employees can move with their health care inside of the private system and it suggests a private marketplace on the internet where people can go and adjust and choose their health insurance plan forcing real competition among the health insurers. what is the problem with that? >> so, in other words, you're suggesting the same government who told us the stimulus package was going to provide millions of jobs and who told us the stimulus package was going to solve the problems of the economy is now going to solve

the problems of the free market health care system? >> no, no, what that's not what i'm saying. i'd like to clarify myself. the government right now i'm saying is taking bribe money from the health insurance companies to support anti-competitive practices to ensure their access profitability to the expense of the health care system and our legislators have proposed a bill that is a capitalist bill that encourages competition to the health insurance companies and it's beyond my comprehension how anyone claims to be an american would be in support of a process that protects anti-competitive practices, whether it is in the banking system, the health care system, or in energy, so it has nothing to do with this government or any other government, it has to do with whether you are in favor of rules that encourage free market competition for the provision of services to people. are you against competition to serve people, sir? >> of course not i'm not against competition. i go back to what you said -- you said the government takes bribes. i agree the government takes

bribes and that is exactly why i don't want the government telling me what doctor i need to see or telling me what sort of medical plan i need to be on. >> no, stop. this is brilliant. i totally agree with you! wyden/bennett does not do any of those things. wyden/bennett lets you choose within a private health insurance plan. wydennet les you leave your plan and begin true capitalism. wyden/bennett has nothing to do with government health care. i know you're fighting the public option which is proposed out of the congress, but i'm suggesting to you there is a third option, sir, that is neither a public option nor a do nothing option. but is a rational approach at health insurance reform to encourage more competition and more choice for more people in this country and it does not make sense to me, as a ration national human being, not a political human being, why we would not, as a group of people, expect more competitive, more choices. why wouldn't we want that?

>> well, i don't think anyone suggesting that we don't want that. >> you are. >> i'm certainly not suggesting that i don't want that, no, not at all. what is being protested is government-run insurance. not the legislation that you're referring to, if, indeed, that is that. >> why change the conversation from this is stupid to this is better? how about using your rally to say this is better as opposed to saying you're stupid? >> what people are upset about is not what you're talking about. what people are upset about when people have the conversation and congressmen and women have had this conversation all across the country that they actually believe some sort of government-run public-run alternative is a better solution. that's what these protesters are addressing. >> i understand but i'm saying why do we have to play hatfield's and mccoys when a ration national concept that creates more competition and people on the right and left get together and say why not more competitive health insurance and have a conversation where we go from there because people in american in general deserve their government to try to work to make for more efficient systems where they have to be

involved like with things like health insurance or energy resources. karen, go ahead. >> well, look. unlike the labor groups inviting the people to come to town halls and ask their questions, one of the issues on the right wing groups you have insurance companies some of the folks backing these groups. when we talk about government-run insurance -- dylan, i know you're about the wyden plan and there may be some merits to it, but we've got to -- we have three government-run plans right now volunteer veteran systems. >> expensive. >> the medicare system and the very system that our members of congress gets. if it's good enough for them why isn't it good enough for the rest of us? >> ron wyden on the congressional system. >> right. if it's good enough for them, why isn't it good enough frost of us? when we talk about the v.a. system it has higher customer satisfaction than any private system. so, clearly, the government is doing something right, but the point is, also sh did. >> i disagree. >> no. >> here is where i take issue. they are getting great results but what cost to the future of

our nation which i think, is eric's point. >> cost savings is sure. that what the president's plan is. if you like what you have, keep it. if you don't, let's come up with alternative and one thing i think this gentleman not acknowledging is health insurance for the majority of people in this country is not so great. 47 million don't actually have it. and for people like you and me, we're actually paying for those people. so, again, to this cost issue, we're paying for the people who don't have health insurance. >> why is why i like wyden/benne wyden/bennett. eric, i'm pleased you joined us for that conversation and i mean that quite sincerely. i hope you will rejoin us to continue the conversation. my only point to you i understand not liking what you're looking at it even helps us more if you can say here is something better. i don't like this and here is something better. if you could do that on the 222nd, that would be fantastic. i'd like to have you talk about what you think is better rather than what your protesting is.

eric odom, thank you. american liberty alliance. next up on the agenda here, the chicago way in the obama administration. while congress debates health reform in public, there are reports the president is cutting his own back room deal. why are there parts of this debate that are being carried out in back room meetings if, in fact, we claim to be a democracy? then rush limbaugh comparing president obama's health care program to a nazi symbol. talk of being productive. we've now gone too far. let us change directions and actually improve the health care system. why not? it would be fun. we're back with more, including politics the chicago way after this. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick

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welcome back. president obama facing a battle

from democrats. they want the president to push harder when it comes to squeezing more money from the big drugmakers to help pay for the health care reform. mike viqueira at the white house. what is going on? >> the pharmaceutical industry is lobbying in washington and they came to the table early on in this health care process and they made a deal, it's now apparent, with the white house. they said we will kick in $80 billion of our profits to kick this along. it's revealed in the process, they got a deal that the bill now emerging from congress or trying to emerge in congress, would not touch that $80 billion. democrats on the hill say, wait a minute. look. we are trying to work this thing as many different angles as we can. we are not beholdent to any deal and what democrats are saying including nancy pelosi and henry waxman. the $80 billion involved the pharmaceutical industry coming in and covering pa part of the

medicare prescription drug program called part d, a hole between the coverage. after your benefits run out and until you got to that catastrophic level seniors had to pay out of pocket for their drug. and they came in and said we will contribute $80 billion to help cover those costs but we want to make sure you don't have anything that is really to us in this bill. the white house was forced to confirm that that was the deal and that has democrats very upset because, you know, they are trying to do this political -- making the sausage and need to have as many avenues they have as they can and the pharmaceutical industry doesn't have a lot of fans in the democratic caucus, spaem in the house of representatives. >> what is your sense of how many people playing hatfields and mccoys, in other words, my way or your way or my way or your way and it's fun to have the fight butter not being productive and how much of that town feels like it's ready to be productive? >> i look at this with a pretty

jaundice sigh. this doesn't surprise me these sorts of things are going on. i think most people are proponents of health care are willing to say whatever it takes within the parameters of what is legal and ethical, of course, and willing to do whatever it takes to get this moving along. the problem is the deals are made on one end of pennsylvania avenue that aren't necessarily going to be held at the -- upheld at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. >> any talk of breaking it up? why can't you improve health insurance, then go to the drug company? why couldn't you do where you wouldn't scare people so much? >> it's all about the cost. democrats feel as though they can find cost savings in medicare part d. >> mike, thank you. i want to bring in representative raul grivala. i believe i pronounced your last name correctly and if i didn't, please correct me.

your sense of the extent to which the white house is using back room deals whether in the car deals with the gm bailout and seeing on the reporting with the drug company or some behaviors in the past and potentially in the future. what is your sense of how much of our policy is made in private and how much is being debated in public? >> well, you made a good point earlier in your program about the fact that part of this debate, it should be a healthy debate based on fabts and based on trying to reach an accommodation with each other that produces a product that is good for american people in terms of health insurance. and while we stumble along and do our dance, try to get to someplace that is agreeable, we discover that there has already been a decision made as to what that compromise is going to be and the involvement of the congress is nonexistent or

limited. for example, if cost containment and affordability for the american people is one of the cornerstones of moving health reform forward, then all avenues should be open. yes, pharma said $80 billion of future profits would be on the table to help with that cost containment. they did very well in the subsidies they received from the federal government in part d of the prescription they did very, very well on that. we're saying why not bulk purchases and why not bulk negotiations and importation that could help drive those costs down and make it more affordable for the american people? so if you take that huge ability to deal with cost containment off the table, then we're left with what? we're left with either reducing benefits, reducing subsidy for people who need it the most, and eligibility. so the goal of all americans having access to health care is now compromised and, you know,

what are those deals mean? i agree with the speaker and with chairman waxman. we don't feel those are binding to us. >> understandably so. my question is what is your sense of not just health care, even though is a the most obvious and pointed example right now, but what is your sense of the white house using back channel pre-deals to try to get conversations basically pre-baked and sending them to congress some. >> i did see the proverbial cart before the horse. i believe part of the debate process has to be the transparency of what we are doing. the american people are going to be spour supportive. they are going to understand these concepts if they feel their elected representative is part of that process. if we feel locked out, they are going to be -- their sense of support is going to be lost. >> understood. jonathan, are you there? >> yes, i am. >> you've been at this a heck after long time.

you've seen washington fight over this, that, and the other thing. compare this debate and these techniques to the past debates, whether it's the iraq war, et cetera, to the way people are behaving and thoughts that occur to you as to how this might get better, not worse. >> well, the thing that's interesting here is that you have a white house that's been content to let congress write whatever bills it wants to write, whether it's the stimulus bill or the health care -- i'm sorry, the health insurance legislation. but then, on the other hand, they are doing this maneuver behind the scenes that sort of runs counter to that. >> is that typical? >> sure. yeah. yeah. but this maneuver would make more sense if the white house, if the administration had its own bill that it sent to congress and said, here, here is what we want specifically and now you guys deal with turning this into legislation that you can pass and then send back to me to sign. >> i got to wrap it, but what do you think, speculation on your

part, obviously. what would the white house strategy be to allow the frick see to come out of congress that is coming and not use the authority of their own plan their own ideas and let's do health insurance and then do drugs. is there ten ways to solve big problems and they are clearly familiar with them. they just not doing it. >> yeah. again, by allowing and saying to congress here, you do this, you come up with the bill, it allows for the president, it allows for the president not to -- not to, one, have any fingerprints that can be associated with him, but it also gives maximum flexibility for the president, for the white house to come behind a bill, that in some large measure, conforms to the principle, the overall principle that the white house wants on any type of legislation. in other words, that's what is i think is going on here. remember, during the bush administration, it was the white house telling congress, rolling over congress saying this is what we want and this is what you're going to do. this white house is treating

congress as if -- as it is under the constitution. a coequal branch of government. that's what's happening here. after eight years of steamroll, you know, we're in sort of readjusting to the fact that congress has an equal role to the white house. >> understood. how much -- i'll go all day with you and i can't. i got commercials and stuff. it's a tv show, for god's sake. >> it's not free, dylan. >> we started a good insurance scam and contessa have and i have a good stream set up. once you cut the checks, send them to me and contessa. we are talking rush limbaugh after this. comparing president obama's health care logo to the swastika. good times, good times. hey smart, heard you're getting free nights from hotels.com. - how? - well, funny you should ask. say i stay 5 nights on business, then 5 nights on a family vacay,

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breaking news on msnbc. word from the white house just moments ago president obama signed the cash for clunkers extension into law. the bill gives the popular program a $2 billion shot in the arm and gives car buyers more time to trade in their old gas guzzlers. stocks are higher in the early going after a much better than expected report on the job market. july unemployment rate dipped from 9.5 to 9.4% last month. that's the first decline since april 2008. 247,000 jobs were cut. a much better than expected showing, but a dose of reality here. the white house still expects unemployment to hit 10%. last hour, we spoke with christine yeah romer, the white house chair of the economic adviser. >> we did still lose jobs but i am very pleased with the trajectory. the idea that we've gone from losing 750,000 jobs back in january to 650 to 550 and now we're down to 250. boy, do i want to see that pattern continue. >> the reaction from the

republicans. in the month of july alone, michael steele says the following. the president said his stimulus bill would keep unemployment rising than higher than 8%. michael steele's words. top taliban leader in pakistan, conflicting reports. pakistanis believe baitullah mehsud was killed. but it happened in the taliban controlled area of the country. mehsud is blamed for the assassination of benazir bhutto. coming up, rush limbaugh takes the health care debate to a new level and turning obama's health care logo into a nazi symbol containing swastika. what does this do with the debate over the issue? "morning meeting" continues after this.

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new side show in the health care debate and a heck of a cash cow for one man. conservative talk radio host rush limbaugh comparing president obama's new health care logo to the swastika. it's damn good for rush limbaugh's business. he is like screw everybody, get my 30% worked up and send me 20 bucks and i can say things like this and everybody can go to herr. >> here is a picture from a recent protest out of colorado office of democratic congresswoman. one protesters carried president obama's picture underneath a swastika. this gives the president a

hitler mustache. this other picture reads stop obama's nazi health care cuts. no strange to controversy, in fact, i think, he might embrace it. >> good business. >> here is what rush limbaugh posted on his web. >> ist the obama health care logo is damn close! to a nazi swastika logo! there are far more similar its between nancy pelosi and adolf hitler than between these people showing up at town halls! the protests a hitler-like policy! that's being heralded by a hitler-like logo. oh, another similarity! obama is asking citizens to rat each other out like hitler did! >> what? >> what i'm saying is, so listen. to engage is insane. what the man is trying to do is make a lot of money. he does not care what it says or

where he says it or how he says it. it doesn't matter left/right. once you go to nazi conversation. >> i'm telling you about law which says if you're an intellectual argument whoever brings up adolf hitler or nazis automatically loses the argument and wins the case. >> in limbaugh's case that happens but he gets more web hits and more money and if you're willing to be reckless with the dialogue, and abdicate any responsibility of having the microphone or the audience, you're saying, listen, i don't care about my responsibility or the conversation, i can get rich if i say crazy things, get me -- where are the nazis? >> let's bring in our panel, karen finney and contessa brewer and david goodwin and joe watkins is also with us and joe,

i'll start with you. i'll ask you the same question. i'm not getting into. listen, i consider rush limbaugh to be a genius businessman who may well be a liability to conversation, but what the heck. you know, you throw the nazis around, you get on tv, they send you money, he doesn't care. how do the republicans do something slightly more productive than certainly what somebody like this, a conservative voice like limbaugh is offering up which is look at me, i'll draw in my cartoon, a swastika over some american imagery? good for money, not good for the country. how do we make it better? >> well, one of the ways that you make it better is by just telling the truth about the legislation. you've got congressmen like the congressman from new hampshire who says that he hasn't read the legislation. the health care legislation. that's the case, unfortunately, for most of the democratic members of congress who are supporting it. but the reality is if you look at something like section 1233. >> hang on. one question. you may well be right about that.

i have no idea who has read it and what hasn't. do you think the number of republicans against it are equally ignorant as to what is in the legislation? in other words, there is a pleasure of fighting between the republicans and democrats and health care is a way to have this fight and it's just delightful and if you don't read any of the legislation it's a great opportunity to yell at each other? >> i don't think so, dylan. i think the disagreement is substantive. certainly on the area of taxes and what it does to small businesses and working people, it doesn't work. certainly when it comes to senior citizens, the older people, it's a disaster. if you look at section 1233 of the bill a specific nobody is talking about, the democrats want a mandate end of life consultation for senior citizens and comparative research. >> and i understand that, but until we all have a chance to see what is really going to come out of it, whether it's going to be a version of what was the house plan was, which was a lot of resistance to, understandably again, wyden/bennett plan which

i like and others who believe in competitive markets and actually not protecting false profitability for large corporations who are sending money to government, do believe in. david goodfriend is here, a democratic strategist. how do the democrats get more productive and more struckive to this conversation? >> well, going back to how you started this discussion, these absurd comments by rush limbaugh and the use of the nazi swastika, i can only describe this as a kind of irrational arack that phobia. it's like they have a knee-jerk fear coming out of this administration. forget the -- forget about the fact that health care costs have killed american companies and forget about the facts. they want to square you and they are using some unbelievably tactless tackics to do this. i got to say i have members of my family who are world war ii

veterans. i'm a jewish american. we take very seriously comparisons to hitler and nazis. rush limbaugh you owe an apology on your air and on your program. i demand it. this is across the line. you and your followers have gone too far and you need to public apologize today. >> joe, do you agree with that? >> no, i don't think so. i think that at the end of the day, if you have policies that don't value senior sit sense citizens -- >> answer the question, joe! >> no, no. do you think rush limbaugh should apologize? >> huge run government-run bureaucracy. >> joe, that's not the question. hang on, david. let's play for crazy, crazy fun that i'm going to ask awe question and you'll answer it. do you think rush limbaugh should apologize for using the nazi symbol in the health care dialogue as david just suggested? yes or no? >> no. this is a free country.

absolutely not. i don't think he has to. >> that's fine. we're good. everybody is entitled to their opinion. fine. it's okay. >> that's exactly right. >> thank you for the answer. joe, i appreciate the fact you answered my question, most notably. i thank you, david, for your time. this conversation, obviously, will continue. we are back at the meeting after this. change it up a bit... and you're sure to get a reaction. [ motorcycle engine growl ] ♪ don't let erectile dysfunction slow things down. ♪ viva viagra! viagra, america's most prescribed ed treatment, can help you enjoy a more satisfying sexual experience. to learn more, cruise on over to viagra.com. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. don't take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain... as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects may include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision.

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i'm going to be grandma for a long time.

we got a little bit of good news that we are not losing jobs as quickly as we were. 9.4% now the unemployment rate. first time we've seen it go lower and well over a year. i figured this is a creative city. it's a creative town. i went to times square, in, fact, in the middle of the day and i figured maybe they know where the work is. they're hanging out in times square looking for work. >> what did you find out? >> take a listen.

we're solving problems right now. i've got your daughter here. she's going to help me figure out how to create jobs in america and we're going to do it right now. ♪ >> outsourcing instead of doing that to foreign places, everybody has their problems but if you want jobs in america you keep the jobs in america. >> does it matter to you who owns the company as long as the jobs are in america? >> no. >> so if the jobs are in america, it's american johns jobs? >> because they are working there and supporting our economy. >> what kind of jobs do you want to have available to you when you grow up? >> buyology. >> that's a good job for us, a health care job. >> i'm not sure net. >> international celebrity or fashion designer. >> i want to be animal saver. >> interior decorator on broadway. >> what about making our firefighters as investors and teaching? >> no, because they have no moral and no souls.

>> start paying it back and secure that money for our future. >> how would you like to be a magician? come on, man. that guy is eating fire. that's pretty cool. >> that is probably a bad idea, kids. don't try this at home! >> 1-2-3! >> you have a unique skill. >> thank you. >> the nice thing about a capitalistic and creative economy is you can make a living because you can do something not many people can do. >> that's true. ♪ >> i think there should be more tourism. i think people traveling around, looking, seeing, learning, they discover ideas and then they go back home and they make more work for themselves. >> i think the unions are killing the jobs. >> yeah? >> i think they need to get rid of the unions. >> i like the green jobs idea. concentrating on solar and wind. we have nuclear power plants in florida. we haven't had any of them blowing up on us. >> you haven't? >> not yet. >> if they pass the health care systems you need more doctors.

you spend two to three hours for an appointment. everybody has health care, you will be spending six to eight hours. >> not being magicians out there. >> right now, the bailout is not the answer. >> a real pleasure. thank you very much. >> take care. >> take this, too. >> beautiful. thank you very much! >> big spender. >> no, no. i looked at him and i said, do you think i could get into the contortion game? he looked right at my gut, and was like, no way, man, no way. >> you never even see chubby contortionists. >> no, you don't see chubby because not only do you not see chubby contortionists you really only see skinny contortionists. he got into magic originally and too many magicians. then he gets into magic and

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we got breaking news in here at msnbc news. we have found on out that republican senator in florida mel martinez is resigning.

it could be even as early as today. the reports that we're getting in seem to indicate that governor crist may put in former governor bob martinez. government christ has said he is running for the senate seat, he was not expected to run for re-election but now it appears he is resigning. >> no reason? >> not yet. we're working on that. also getting nis from the white house even though good jobs numbers today, they say that they think we're still going to hit 10%. >> understandably. until you have an engine for growth which is not evident right now, you're playing a game of keep the parachute in the air until you find an engine for growth which is what they're doing. a fun week. >> you were fiery this morning! >> all worked up. the tweeters love it. >> what the heck. sometimes they love it and sometimes they hate it. >> no. mostly they love it approximate it's all love. >> it's definitely not all love. we wrap up the "morning meeting" with the following take away.

we continue to learn more and more about our friend jonathan capehart. this morning we learned that sherri shepherd, star of "the view" a lovely lady, by the way. >> especially now in a swimsuit and high heels. >> she has a crush on jonathan capehart. >> who doesn't? it doesn't matter who you are. how can you not have a crush on jonathan? >> which i why i think her mother gave it to me. >> are we going to revisit that? >> she was right. >> look at sherri shepherd. you could not pay me enough money to do that, by the way. >> i'm going to do that on monday. >> yes! >> no! >> that, i would pay money for! >> that wraps up the "morning meeting." enjoy your summer weekend and it is the summer, after all. our colleague carlos watson is up next. harold ford joins him and they are on the jobs speaking. we're back at msnbc after this. ♪ chloe is 9 months old. she is the greatest thing ever.

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good morning, welcome back to a brand-new hour of msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. kicking things off with a strong signal the recession may be behind us. a better than expected jobs report shows employers are slowing the pace of handing out pink slips. the unemployment rate seeing first drop in 16 months. health care debate is sending chaos across the country but is this democracy in action or stage outrage? pakistan's enemy number one taken out by a u.s. missile strike. if confirmed it's a major victory for the united states and major blow to the taliban's grip in the region. sonia sotomayor stakes her claim in history as the first hispanic female to sit on the supreme court. does her confirmation signal a tipping point in hispanic politics? good morning.

we have a terrific lineup. joseph crowley and ryan ellis and two columbia professors will be with us and democratic strategist alicia menendez and richard engel is live with us in afghanistan and eric bates of "the rolling stone." my special co-host this morning is harold ford. the cash for clunkers program lives. at least until labor day at least. the president signs the bill into law. a brush fire in southern california is almost under control but in the northern part of the state, firefighters are battling a number of blazes triggered by lightning strikes. in fact, more than 23,000 acres have been burned. after months of isolation, the two american journalists freed from north korea readjusting to life with their families. speaking on the "usa today" "today" show, lisa ling said her

sister is recovering. >> she is quite weak and she is exhausted. and because she would literally go weeks without talking to anybody because even though there were two guards posted in her room at all times, they didn't speak any english, so there would go days just in mere silence. >> ling also said that her sister and colleague euna lee did briefly touch north korean soil before they were captured. new signal today the recession may be ending. national unemployment rate dropped for the first time in 15 months and, in fact, last night optimistic president obama took credit for the economy's improvement. >> i'm convinced that the actions we've taken in the first six months have helped stop our economic free-fall. the market is up. housing prices are up for the first time in nearly three years. so we may just be seeing the very beginnings of the end of this