>> it's not the south of france. it's off the coast. >> there are some poor people. >> well, if the go to the coast -- >> just stop it. >> what did you learn today, mika? >> i learned because the red sox got beat, it's not over. i love them. >> well, what did you learn? >> i learned absolutely nothing. no, i learned it's getting nastier on both sides, and the white house needs to listen to lawrence o'donnell. he has been through this before. >> i have no suggestions. i have no idea what to do that. i admit that. >> you really do think that's what they are going to do, muscle through it without public support? >> that's what they are going to do. >> and then spend the next few years to get back on the good side of the american public.

>> think will have a billion dollars. >> if it's way too early, what time is it, willie? >> it's time for "morning joe." but right now, it's time for the "morning meeting." dylan ratigan takes over. thank you so much. the lovely gang, especially the lady in pink. i am dylan ratigan. welcome to the "morning meeting." topping the agenda, town hall after town hall being interrupted. the president's message is being disrupted. rumors are running out of control. death care, panels. the democrats say they have a new plan to fight back this week. we will talk about what that may be. meanwhile, over the weekend a terrible tragedy on the hudson. some saying this is a disaster waiting to happen. is this a case of too many aircraft flying in too small of a space in too business part of

the world, and officials looking the other way. we will talk about in a bit. we are talking to a general about what is going on in afghanistan. and mark sanford fighting claims he used state transportation to have hair appointments and attending his son's sporting events. how can people that have such great leadership be such terrible employees? interesting contrast. when is enough enough? when should he resign? coming up, it's 9:00 a.m. it's monday morning, and pull up a chair and enjoy the morning meeting. welcome to the "morning meeting." contessa joins us today. and jonathan kacapehart joins u

today. and every year, contessa, since '57, they introduced a health care bill into the u.s. congress. at the very least it will be interesting to see if this path is more constructive than all of the failed path that comes before that. >> first let's talk about the headlines. right now divers are searching for two of the remaining victims of the crash between the sightseeing helicopter and a small plane. the pilot and five italian tourists have been found. and they found the body of one teenager boy aboard the plane. federal investigators don't know what caused the midair collision. coming up, we will get a live report from nbc's ron allen, who is on the scene.

a man is divorces his wife, and he has a good reason. she hired a hitman to kill her husband. investigators say they caught her on camera bargaining for the hit saying her husband's death would make her husband. and they faked her death, and then caught it on camera when they told her, and then they arrested her. >> jason brody, and josh freeman are michael's attorneys. nice to see you gentlemen today. >> good morning. >> michael, tell me how you are doing now that you have had time to let the news sink in, your wife of six months allegedly tried to kill you? >> well, honestly, it has not really sunk in yet. i still am in disbelief about the whole thing. i understand what happened, but,

you know, i was home alone a couple nights ago, and i have not felt comfortable in my house. i get it, but it has not sunk in yet. >> when you say uncomfortable, do you mean you don't feel safe? >> yeah, i really don't. i lock the door -- it's just the idea that somebody was supposed to enter my home and do what they were supposed to do to me. it's still there. i am not sleeping well. yeah. >> police say she paid 4,2$4,20r the hit on you. were there issues in your marriage? >> there were no issues that i knew of that will lead her to want to kill me. i know that for a fact. >> were things weird? could you tell things were changing? >> no, not at all. actually, we bonded fairly fast, and we got along so well.

we did everything together, and our routine was everything was together, and every morning spent together and friday to the movies, and, you know, we did everything together. we went and seen our families together. and there was nothing that would lead me to think she would try to murder me like she did. >> did you have a chance to confront her about the allegations? >> they gave me one -- they police station when they handcuffed her, they gave me a moment face-to-face with her, and she tried to tell me to come here, come here, and i just said to her, you know, you can't get out of this one. i saw it. i heard the tape. i had to walk away. i just did not have anything else to say at that point. >> as it stands now, her bond is set for $25,000. i know the defense and prosecutors agreed to let her be placed under house arrest at her mom's house. jason, josh, is that changing?

>> well, we are going to be something filed today requesting the state attorney to go to the judge to try and revoke the bond. >> we will stay on top of this. michael i appreciate you sharing some of the perspective on what has got to be a surreal event in your life. thank you. president obama meets with canadian and mexican leaders today in what has become annual so-called three amigos summit. we will talk more about that in the next hour of the meeting. and the three leaders will hold a news conference at 12:30 eastern and we will watch that for you live on msnbc. and there was weekend riots at a facility in chino,

california. today all 10 prisons in southern california remain on lockdown. and the police are investigating a deadly weekend pursuit. seven people were killed, including four young children. and police were chasing the ford dodge neon, and it ran a red light. the parents are in the hospital with major injuries. the three suspects also killed. and a new hearing on michael jackson's estate later this morning. the pop star's mother would like to control her late son's affairs. and meantime, another chapter in the drama over michael jackson's children, and who is now claiming paternity. you don't want to miss that. we will talk about that later with dylan. and dive teams are back in the water at the scene of the deadly collision around the

hudson river. a lot of debris is washing up now. tell us where the investigation stands this morning. >> reporter: the main effort now is to find the plane. that's what most of the activity behind me is. they think they found where it is. the water is 30 feet deep, and the visibility is poor. if they can find the plane and bring the wreckage up, they want to see if they can determine what happened. the helicopter for the most part has been brought up and taken to a pier down the river from here. and they are looking for clues as well. and they are trying to recover two more bodies for a total of nine. they already have seven. and the debate about the safety of the air quarter continues. the air behind me where the plane and helicopter collided is a mile wide. it's between the statue of liberty, and the george washington s bridge, there could be lots of aircraft.

and the mayor, for example, has been talking about this over the weekend. he thinks the skies are safe enough and argued against more restrictions. here is what the mayor had to say on the issue. >> the city has interests, and we have a commercial interest in making sure that we are accessible and transportation can come and go. >> the national transportation safety board will do a complete investigation and figure out what happened and see whether measures should be taken, and that will be up to the faa, and they are the ones that set the rules as to where you can fly. >> reporter: it could take time to decide the issues. they are looking right now at this particular cash. you remember back in october of 2006, the plane of the yankee's pitcher crashed near the east river. after that happened, there were more restrictions put in for low-flying aircraft to fly on that side of staten island. and right now they are trying to recover the plane below the

hudson river. >> thank you for the wrap up. >> dylan, a sad story. see we saw a miracle on the hudson earlier. >> yeah, you look at some of the other areas in the country, and the use of small aircraft to get to airports and vacation spots, etc. as a culture, and the liabilities of a lot more people looking to do that short of thing. and karen joins us, and so too does jonathan capehart. and we have a retired american airlines pilot, now a flight instructor. nice to see you. the statistic that stands out to me is the crash. the death because of accidents in the air, in the new york regi region. i want to go to the airport or

cape cod or whatever is it, and total commercial flight fatalities zero. at one point duty rules, the commercial aspects of tourism and the economic aspect of the cities, in new york mostly, obviously, have to take a backseat to safety. >> we have been flying up and down the hudson river, and we have been doing it since the wright brothers. and you are not under atc control? >> what does that mean? >> it's a free zone. it's a see and avoid zone. when you negotiate -- >> see and avoid meaning if i see you i don't fly into you. it's a visual environment. >> yeah, there are rules. have you a frequency, 1.305 that you monitor. we heard one helicopter attempting to tell the helicopter that had the collision there was a potential

conflict. and you can hug the right side -- well, you always hug the right side of the river. >> you mention we have been doing this for a long time, and obviously we have, right? >> yeah. >> so the question is is there more air density than there has been because there are more aircraft and people, and do we need a review of the environment for that reason, or are we seeing this and it's more dramatic because it's on tv, and we are more prone to overreact? >> anytime there is an accident there is a tendency to sensationalize. what about the highways come into new york? how many deaths have happened there? >> yeah, the past few days. not even the past few days. >> well, see and avoid it's a time-proven process. >> i have a question. >> dylan, i have a question for tom. is he saying there should not be any kind of regulation or look at regulating that airspace now?

people like senator schumer are saying the idea from 1100 feet and below that there is no oversight at all, and it should change. >> i think once again, the history and the statistics of flights up and down the hudson river over the last 40 years argue against any overreaction to the tragedy. certainly this is a tragedy. but i may be mistaken, but it's the only midair commission ever over the hudson river? >> and i am not making any recommendations, but is there anyone class of aircraft that could be more either restricted or flown at different times or is it nonsense? >> well, the ntsb will investigate, and the faa will enforce changes and regulations.

i have flown in that corridor many times. >> they also don't have black boxes. wouldn't that be a simple change that could give us more information, and so if there were other regulations needed we would have more information? >> well, i know that that's a thought in the mind of people that don't fly. black boxes are very expensive, and number two, no ambiguity in the accident. >> it's like a car accident in the sky. >> yeah, you can't legislate against that. it's going to happen. >> you can reduce the type of cars or in this case planes flying around each other, but other than that, no other obvious merit. you can't contest if there is a busy airspace, a reason to evaluate that airspace and see whether the rules should be changed. >> yeah, i would argue since the recession and before the regulation diminished.

there are fewer airplanes flying, and there may be more helicopters, i don't know. i don't think an overreaction with respect to legislation is indicated here. >> car accident in the sky, and it's under investigation. >> yes, under investigation. boy, oh, boy, health care at the top of the list to get people worked up. what are lawmakers doing to get their message across? any form of dialogue? any form of debate? instead of hooting and hallering, and raising hell. they are trying to establish any form of dialogue at the down hall meetings. and the u.s. general saying the taliban is winning right now. is the afghanistan war on the verge of crisis? one general said we are doing

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all right. welcome back. more town halls on health care, and more outrage over the weekend and more disruption and shouting and carrying on. clearly this is the hot issue in the country. contessa with all the new developments this morning, and then we will try and take the conversation forward. >> the president may get a taste of what the town halls are like, what members of congress have been feeling from their constituents. he will host four town halls over the next couple days. the first is in new hampshire. protesters are urging people to show up to a staged event.

>> let me start by disspelling the outlandish rumors that reform will promote -- >> similar sentiments were expressed throughout the past week. and congressman john diningle said he would not let intimidation stop him from fighting for health care. and nancy pa pelosi said it was unamerican. this is what they say.

>> michigan congressman, receiving end of an outburst. he joins us live now. it's the unemployment hit in michigan and detroit, and the health care issues in your state, and the economic issues that go along with that in your state. how do you focus people on a more constructive conversation? i feel like we have gone down a path of destruction, and it doesn't seem to be in anybody's interest? >> dylan, you are right. if you look, you will find they are not only disrupting, but they are doing it according to a plan. if you look, they are going around the country telling people how to do it. one says you need to rock the

boat. watch for an opportunity toel out and challenge statements early. and the team should meet outside the hall with the voting record. and the use of protests signs outside is an option if the people bring them. our objective was to pack the hall with as many people ready to challenge other congressman putting on the defensive and putting the congressman on the reality check. put the rip on the defensive. it's an organized things. >> it's one thing to have a plan to participate in the dialogue. i am fearful for this, and worried about this, and what about medicaid? there are obviously valid concerns for everybody on health care. unfortunately, nobody that is doing this seems to be on that page. i don't know what your options are or what any politicians options are when basically the goal is to suppress dialogue at

any cost? >> well, dylan, unfortunately, you are right. what one does to see to it the rights that one has to discuss things, and to hear the response and the answers of their elected representatives is very important. how do you see to it the other things that have to go with that happen? but these disorders are denying the overwhelming majority of the people that want to have orderly discussions, who have honest questions, and who want to have them answered to have an opportunity to participate. that's one of the great shamz about the what happened in my district. honest people there to get a decent answer were denied that opportunity because a group of people came in to disrupt and destroy and to deny my people the opportunity to enquire of matters in which they had legitimate concerns and issue.

>> and talk about un-american. jonathan, go ahead. >> yeah, this is jonathan capehart. i want you to talk about something i heard over the weekend. that is some of the town hallers showed up at your house to show their discontent over the health care reform effort. is that true? >> no, that was gary peters that they did that. it did not happen to me. >> okay. >> karen? >> yeah, organizing for america is now encouraging people to come to members of congress' offices to have a more civilized conversation, but are you concerned some of the protesters will move from the town hall forum and try to show up at your office and create chaos? >> well, this is very real concern. what this country desperately needs is a real honest discussion about what the problem is. we are going broke on health care. what is the cure?

how should we do it in a way acceptable to the people of the country, and what are the benefits and disadvantages of all the different proposals that lie before us? we are being denied that opportunity. >> representative, we appreciate your efforts to continue to try to create dialogue where it's so desperately needed. whichever way this ends up going. thank you very much, representative dingell from michigan. >> yeah, have you a real shot at reforming the system and you have a bunch of bozos showing up. and the intend is not to get answers, but to -- >> yeah, the objective is to destroy any form of conversation for the fun of disruption, i suppose. anyway, good times. well, what can the united states do about the taliban,

speaking of disruption. a general joins us to give us the lay of the land as it stands this august. plus, blago, surprise, surprise. the disgraced illinois governor refusing to fade from the spotlight. we will tell you what he is up to now. ( dog barking ) ( sheets buffeting ) ( man ) whoa ! ♪ have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. at legalzoom, we'll help you incorporate your business, file a patent, make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes. then we'll prepare your legal documents

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welcome back. we go into the other big stories of the day. >> rod blagojevich is facing charges here, and he is vowing he will keep speaking his mind. he started a new website called governorrod.com. he says i will show up here and i invite your feedback.

he says he will speak his mind and tell the truth. he got up on the stage, and i don't know if this was about speaking his mind so much as showing off. i love elvis, but somebody suggests he should have been singing "jailhouse rock." >> dogs it appears are as smart as 2-year-old humans. >> meaning? >> children. think about it, 2-year-olds can come in and understand language. and dogs can understand 150 words. it's a really smart dog at the top of the class, 250 words. they can do simple arithmetic. take a 2-year-old or dog. >> simple arithmetic? >> yeah, they know. if you give them two streetreatd

one suddenly disappears, they know it should be two. it's like a small child. >> but 2-year-olds can talk. >> yeah, they do too. speak. >> coming up, a u.s. general warning the taliban is winning the war in afghanistan, forcing the u.s. to adapt and change its strategy. and how did the taliban, if they have it, get the upper hand in the country. a new twist in the family drama over michael jackson's children. and who is claiming he is the father of at least one of those children. we will head to the break room for that story right here on the "morning meeting" only on msnbc. . long summer days and not enough sleep. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. (announcer) new neutrogena total skin renewal. gentle exfoliating puffs and micro-vibratio speed surface cell turnover. it's clinically tested to help undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging

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welcome back to the "morning meeting." let's reset the agenda for the second half hour. it will be as hot as i will get out. we will talk about that.

anyway, democrats -- democrats are fighting back here this week. president obama's grass root group is taking on what they are calling health care rumors. what is fact and what, in fact, is fiction? we will try and sort of out. and chuck todd will join us for that conversation. and mark sanford, his wife moves out of the mansion. and he is being accused of using money for private trips. imagine you are an employee, and you are getting the behavior you are getting from your employees? when is enough enough in why do the so-called leader exhibit this type of behavior? if an employee did it, i suspect

they would be fired. and then we are joined by a general to discuss afghanistan. and then the money trail already developing. we will discuss that. and the markets are opening for business this week. and tony chan joins us today. tony is a piece of work in his own right. a fine man. >> he will tell us how hot it is. anyway, america's top commander says the taliban is winning the war there. he says it's time the u.s. changes its strategy to gain the upper hand. and richard engel is live in afghanistan. richard, what is going on? >> reporter: good morning. this is a newspaper in review

that the commanding general did with the "wall street journal." i can tell what you i read in the account. he described the united states needs to change its strategy, the current strategy allowed the taliban to get stronger, and that casualty rates are high right now, and will continue to remain high. i was a little surprised, however, by the headline of the article when it said the taliban is winning. that is not what i have been hearing from the aides over the last several days. when we talked to them, they said u.s. policy does need to change but they did not go so far as to say the taliban is winning. >> barry mcafree joins the conversation. and karen and jonathan capehart also in the conversation. you explained to me a couple weeks ago the we are fighting a

14th century war. you are dealing with 14th century environments and etc. where do we go from here? >> well, certainly, it implies we have a very complex and long-term task. and that's the main reason you are hearing this from the guys on the ground. they are saying this is tough. mullen just talked about a culture of poverty that rumsfeld under resourced the war, and essentially we are not beginning to put the leadership and the resources of people required to get jobs and the economy moving, and agriculture, and irrigation systems, and schools, build an afghan army and police. this is 10 years of hard work ahead of us. i hope we have the political will to do it. >> richard, what is your sense? in other words, when you are there, you see the morale levels

and the operations, and the structure of how the u.s. and global military is set up to deal with 10 years in afghanistan? >> reporter: well, i think the military commanders everywhere, and the soldiers in general all realize that something here needs to change, and that the strategy thus far has not been very effective, going back to what the general was saying. this war has underfunded a lot of the brainpower and equipment, and troops diverted to iraq. what the defense department is waiting for is an assessment, a new strategy from the general. that was expected. they asked the general to postpone things until after the afghan elections, which are in 10 days. they want to see how the force are able to cope with the elections. are the police and army up to

the task of securing kabul and other major cities. and then perhaps a question for more troops. already, we are seeing some indications of the way that strategy is leaning, because he said the troops need to be concentrated in the population centers, and although he has not said it, most commanders imply there could be a request for more sources. >> they are attempting to create a version of what they believe is civilization should look like or stability, and they are failing horribly. how does the u.s. not go down that road once again? >> well, clearly we are quite different than the russians, and the brits. the russians in particular ruined the entire country and murdered hundreds of thousands of people. my guess is over time this is an achievable national objective.

you have to put together countries that have been at war for 40-some odd years. >> jonathan capehart, are you there? >> yeah. >> what is your sense of the political fortitude to do what the general is discussing, which could be a decade-long undertaking? >> well, the attitude from the white house is the carryover from the campaign. remember when he was a candidate, then senator obama, he said he would put the attention on the war on terror where it started, in afghanistan. now that he is president he is making the moves to shift the attention there. it's a matter of whether the folks at the other end of pennsylvania avenue are going to provide the money that would allow for more material, and to go over more troops. >> yeah, you get the last word, karen. >> i am just wondering -- we are having the conversation in part because, as i understand it,

congress is owed a report on around september 24th, an update on the progress being made. i know part of what the white house is doing is preparing a report. one of the things we have done in the past is not have the matrix to develop the progress. and i am wondering from the others on the panel, when they see happening as we go towards the 24th of september. >> general? >> she is exactly on target. t the challenge is will the democratic congress support their president and talking about the fights over medicare and social security, and etc., and it's an open question. i don't know how this will come out. >> we will have plenty of opportunity to discuss it. we will have you back. richard, be safe. thank you for the reporting as always. contessa, what else is going on.

the grim search has resumed for the victims from the crash between a plane and a helicopter. seven bodies have been recovered. police are looking for the pilot and another adult passenger aboard the plane. and continental passengers spent the weekend stuck on a flight overnight. severe weather forced the plane to lend in rochester, minnesota on friday. the crew reached its maximum work hours in the air, so another crew had to be flown in. the passengers were not allowed off the plane, because tsa screeners had gone home for the night. are you kidding me? in the meantime, things got messy on the plane. >> everybody on the plane was moving and trying to find positions to sleep in. there was not any room. the plane was getting warmer. there were at least two babies nearby who cried and screamed almost the whole night.

the smells were getting worse. the bathroom was getting worse. the babies obviously started going to the bathroom. >> i am flabbergasted. the passengers were finally allowed off the plane at 6::30 n the morning. flying three hours later. you mean to tell me, nobody is on the phone saying they are being held captive. you don't need screeners to get off the plane, just to get on the plane. >> can we discuss how hot it's going to be? >> yes, sing it. >> no. but it's going to be quite warm, isn't it. >> it's going to be for the first time in new york city, it will feel like august. we had a weekend that felt like late september. >> like they care. >> yeah, and by the way, in seattle when it got to record-breaking temperatures, we were not griping then. let's go to the weather channel

meteorologist, mike seidel. it feels good, doesn't it mike? >> well, that's a matter of opinion. be careful for what you ask for. we will get one day in boston, new york, and philadelphia with this stuff. highs in the low 90s. it has not hit 90s in those three cities, and here in new york, too, since april. we only had two 90-degree days. we get one day of heat, and then we have another front coming in to drop the temperatures back into the low and mid-80s for the rest of the week. if you go to duluth, you say when is summer, and they say july 14th. well, today, in new york, summer is august 10th. and the record in new york city is a little above average. nothing close to a record. >> yeah, when it happens on a weekend, everybody heads to the beach or pools or rivers. i like it hot. i am a fan of hot weather. >> yeah, you are a southern

bell. >> i am not a southern bell. where did you get that idea that i am a southern bell? >> i am just making it up. >> there you go. >> am i wrong? >> i am not a southern bell. i am a child of the world, i lived all over. but i do like it hot. speaking of the heat, governor mark sanford in the hot seat himself, not only has his wife moved out, which is none of our business as far as i am concerned, but now did he use state aircraft for personal business? that's our business. what have we learned from the economic downturn? that's straight ahead here on the "morning meeting." does your mouthwash work in six different ways? introducing listerine total care. everythingou need... to strengthen teeth, help prevent cavities, and kill germs. introducing 6 in 1 listerine total care.

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the economy. late friday, the jobs number, we did not lose as many jobs as we had been losing, and lost fewer jobs than we thought we would. we are not losing them as quickly as we were a couple months ago. joining us a man that represents in his own way, hope. and tony chan, an investor. you look for people with good ideas and place your bets and try to help them succeed. that's capitalism at work. god bless. however, we are now in the recession. and there is the bailout, and there is not capitalism any more. how do you get back to the basics on an individual level making things work during the recession? in other words, whether it's a little small business in a small town in america or a big business that has been kicked around by the obvious head wins? cash is king is the first thing

on the list. >> yeah, that's the first basic element. we have seen in this downturn it comes back to the fundamentals. what we forget, life where managing business is like a marathon more than a sprint. the problem we have had in the downturn, we completely panicked and overreacted. that is exacerbated by the information flow. if you have a kid 8 years old, and you try to predict the weekly height your kid will grow, a tough thing to predict. >> yeah. >> there you go. if you try to guess within 10%, when the kid is 18 years old, you will probably be correct. we completely overestimate short-term impact and underestimate long term. >> isn't that a policy failure? there was a national policy to liberal eyes practices on wall street to create a short-term culture that was how tall will

he be next week? >> i think it's not a policy issue, but a dna issue. >> surely is no question it's human nature but human nature is unable to influence policy so say, listen, let's us speculate how tall we will be next week so we won't have to worry how tall he is when he is 18. >> i think whether it's policy, i think whether it's greed or people's ability to do policy cap as' posed to value creation. i think ten years incredible to use debt and value capture -- >> explain that to me. >> value capture is like not really necessarily creating something. we get to the second lesson around innovation. you have these aberrations or -- >> a way to pick off money? capitalism -- >> that could be innovative. >> but the thing is capitalism, if the way you're innovating is innovating ways to steel is not capitalism. if you're innovating ways to do anything else, where wall street

bamboozled us we're innovating but ways to take your money. quickly here. innovation and creativity -- >> still matters. still matters. what has made this country great is that we have a country and culture where if you have a good idea, it can create a lot of value. even if in this down turn. whether it's apple iphone -- >> give me an example. >> we have invested and helped create a concept called minilux. 65 nail salons. innovation around hygiene and health, innovation around experience and how you order your nails. are you like you'll get this? are you oval or round or square or short, medium, long, what color palette? >> innovation has to be just

something better value. >> i like innovation is ways not to take money from anybody else. that is the innovation i don't much care for. tony, nice to see you. ainstead on the "morning meeting," the latest chapter of michael jackson as the world turns. our own personal soap opera. this time, his trusted friend and godfather of his children, now claims to be the father of one of them. yes, the break room is next here at the "morning meeting." bicycle, what are we waiting for? the flowers are blooming. the air is sweet. and zyrtec® starts... relieving my allergies... 2 hours faster than claritin®. my worst symptoms feel better, indoors and outdoors. with zyrtec®, the fastest... 24-hour allergy medicine, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. zyrtec® works fast, so i can love the air™.

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contessa, break room time. oos the world turns. michael jackson, who is the father and who is the drug dealer? all sorts of fun questions to be answered. >> who is the mommy, who is the daddy? ♪ ♪ >> dramatic intro here. jackson's friend, longtime friend, paris jackson's godfather, mark lester, is telling news for the world tabloid he is actually her biological father. he says that he gave the sperm that they went into the clinic with debbie rowe and he says he has invested in making sure that he has a say in her life and he is willing to take a dna test. there we have another one to add to the list. >> another potential father? >> right. >> new father? this is not the other father from last week? >> a soap opera some. >> as the world turns. ♪ >> speaking of soap operas. kathy griffin, 48 years old,

comedian. attractive young man to take her to the teen choice awards. levi johnston. does that name ring a bell? >> palin fame. >> part of the palin family, but, stead he is on the out and instead of writing a book -- >> isn't that the father of her grandchild? >> who is the daddy, it's lee ve johnston. one night, at least, with kougar kathy griffin. >> still ahead in the second hour of the "morning meeting," we got bigger fish to fry. do whatever you want. enjoy yourselves. subsidize abortion. another nice nightmare to get people worked up. we will separate fact from fiction in the health care debate and see if we can create a conversation as opposed to a bunch of hooting and hollering.

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all right. good morning. welcome back. i'm dylan ratigan. second hour of the "morning meeting" is getting under way. contessa is saying this show is much better than last monday. >> i love mondays. >> this whole thing could go straight in the ditch. fighting fire with fire. president obama's grassroots group plans to take on the town hallers. when it comes to health care rumors there are an abundance to choose from from advocating euthanasia, paying for abortion. if you can think of it, it's been speculated and we'll try so sort some of it out for you in saeked. the problems keep coming from our friend in south carolina. his wife moving out of the mansion there for governor sanford. that is the least of it, quite

honestlily. news he used state aircrafts for personal trips and if you look what he has done the past couple of months, i defy to you keep an employee who kept this schedule in your office the past couple of months. his former communications director joins the meeting. he recently resigned himself. sanford may be out of the running for the presidency, of course. excuse me. but plenty other republicans seem to be laying the groundwork for a presidential run. we will look what is shaping up to be the gop pool for 2012. then the summit of the south of the border. mexico. old war on drugs tops the agenda. the president in attendance. plans to stop the supply. again, some countries buy up the crop. how do you cut out the mexican middleman? most of the cocaine they say does not come out of mexico but it comes through mexico.

think of them in a system where they make the cocaine in colombia and get it -- i don't know. >> they're a retailer. >> they are whaerl wholesaler. retailers up up here. >> you know an awful lot about this. >> listen. it's 10:00 a.m. pull up a chair and join the "morning meeting." the president says it's time to fight the lies about health care reform in america. he says he will do it in person by heading to several town halls over the next week. he is also getting some help, though. nbc news political director chuck todd is here to tell us about a grassroots campaign of their own to try to counter what they say basically as a plan to end the dialogue effectively. chuck, what are they up to? >> this health care debate has turned into a debate about the debate itself. we are no longer debating the issues about public co-op.

they are officially using the white house to dot gov website. then they are also using the political arm. the democratic national committee have sent out an e-mail to try to convince their supporters to get out there, go to these congressional districts, go to the district offices of members of congress to try to show support as a way to counteract. then, of course, now we know some of the president's special interest allies like labor as we heard on friday on your show. >> with the mobs going around, we have said to people, look, we need to make sure that the congressmen know that there are people who support health reform and want their costs controlled. >> now, dylan, tomorrow, you talk about the president doing his town halls. tomorrow, he goes to port smith, new hampshire for his own town

hall. the first town hall he has held ever since town hall became a four-letter word literally and sort of the visuals of these things have become such a focal provide of the political debate. what will be interesting to see does the president encounter somebody who gets in, who slips in? you know, they have a fairly open process who they let in. though, it's still somewhat controlled, but i have a feeling, you know, an opponent of the president can get into these things. also, what will the outside of the venue look like in port smith? i got my hands on at least one organizing e-mail from some new hampshire republicans who are recruiting folks to show up on the outside of the event to voice their protests. >> yeah. i want to bring john martin into the conversation from politico. stay with us, chuck. do a couple of these most intense sort of rumor mongering. one being, and this is from represent bonner. federal tax dollars will be used to pay for abortions is one of the things that very much

inspires people to come out. it's a call to action so to speak. jonathan, are you there? >> i am, dylan. if you check some of these fact check sites that are on the web, you can see that when it comes to the abortion issue, actually, no federal tax dollars can be used for abortions. now, i think some of premiums will have to be used for that procedure. as i understand it, you can check these sites online but the house legislation, there is a provision that does not allow for a tax dollars to be used for that procedure. >> however, in some of these plans, they are talking about using government money as subsidies for people to buy health insurance. if the private insurers then cover abortion through this process, government money would, in effect, be used to pay for abortions. >> you got to check that out, though, online. i think there's still a law, a

federal law that does restrict taxpayer dollars being used to fund that procedure. and i'm pretty sure it has come out of that person's pocket. but, again, sites devoted to checking these out online. >> next one. this is from the club for growth which is a conservative political action committee saying people will be allowed to die if their health care costs exceed 22,000. that's a fun one. >> that's not true. >> a good way to get you to yell at a town hall meeting, though. >> it sounds like a game show, the buzzer in the background there. the 10:00 hour! perfect! right, exactly. we heard about the birthers and now hearing about the deathers. didn't have the same tone but they are saying health care reform plans are basically going to spur waves of euthanasia. that is not true. >> last one on the other side with the demonization of the

health insurance companies one of the fun facts there they are making record profits right now coming out of, again, the pro reform camp. true or false? >> there you go. false. i don't get a word in before the buzzer goes off here! it's great! >> interesting dialogue here. jonathan and karen, get in here, this is they try to reframe this from overall reform and try to reframe it from health insurance form. wyden/benefit nell bill i bring up a lot. at least obliterating the practices that currently exist in health insurance. go ahead, karen. >> what is interesting is, obviously, this gop strategy to create these disruptions and the misinformation going out as congressman dingell was showing they are trying to press the buttons about things like abortion and who gets control

and particularly when it comes to -- sarah palin had ridiculous comments over the weekend. >> you mean the death panel? >> right. >> if that isn't scary, i don't know what will be. >> talking to one doctor in particular, dr. dean, what is in fact, in the bill is what happens now and that is that should be a conversation and a decision between the doctor and the patient. doctors have those kinds of conversations with their patients all the time and what they are saying is we want to make sure we keep those decisions. but that's not the information that's getting out, obviously. >> dylan, part of the problem here is that we're still not dealing with a final bill. we're still dealing with proposals and, yes, various bills in the house and senate finance committee still coming up with a bill, but until there's a common bill that the house and senate will sit in conference to discuss, we're not really going to know what health insurance or health care reform is. >> hang on one second here 37

doesn't that present the problem? when there is not a single set of facts, my ability to take whatever facts i like to try to create propaganda. >> exactly. that's why death panels and funding abortions and things like that take hold, because, you know, there is nothing to knock it back really. >> guys, i got to tell you, this is so chillingly lie 1994 where, unfortunately, we made a very similar mistake where we lost control of the discussion and the right wing controlled it by saying things seniors will take away your medicare. again, kind of pushing those buttons. that's why i think it was a huge political mistake to let it be in a precarious position with three bills heading into the recess, because it does make it much easier for people to cherry-pick different pieces and distort the facts and create this anger. >> that's why president obama pushed for that august deadline because of that reason. he wanted to have bills that were out of the house, out of

the senate and they can reconcile those going into the fall. the problem was as you guys know, congress doesn't work that fast. >> only talking about health care for, what, 20 years, 30 years? not like it's a new topic. >> one thing we should watch out for when the president goes to new hampshire. maybe i'll make some calls and try to find out, i wonder if the folks in the white house want protesters to show up and challenge the president because the president is the best salesperson for the administration, for the party and for their ideas. how he handles that could determine how this conversation goes from that moment forward. >> yeah. >> i think jonathan is right and the the other tactical thing for me if i was sitting in the white house, i would want that. not, obviously, the level of aggression we've seen, because it makes them look so small and makes the protesters look so much more ridiculous because the president is so good at handling protesters. he is so thoughtful and rational and pragmatic.

so that sort of contrast that you would then see on your television for the nightly news and morning shows might try to turn people's thinking around this is wacky. >> we'll wrap it up, but obama is so so well known for his leadership through hope and opportunity and through this can be done better as his message as opposed to the reent messages which are they will kill you if you don't do what i wanted to do or that power of nightmare versus power of hope and interesting to see whether obama can flip the nightmares currently promoted around this country into a more hopeful conversation. new developments in last week's deadly shooting in pittsburgh area, health club. police teled nbc news sodini was picked up for questioning before he killed the three women and himself. he was spotted on a bus pulling out what another passenger said looked like a hand grenade and pulled it out of a computer bag.

sodini was questioned but not arrested because the person was not able to positively identify him. hudson river, we saw a mid-air collision. a plane and helicopter and still looking for bodies. let's go to nbc's ron allen who is in hoboken, new jersey, where some of the debris has washed onshore. what are you looking at? >> looking at the river there. the main effort is to try to 2350i7nd find the wreckage of the plane. the diving is difficult for a number of divers. the mayor says they are trying to make sure no divers are hurt while trying to do this. they want to look at the wreckage of the plane to see if anything is there to give them a clue as to what happened. they have already picked up most of the wreckage from the helicopter yesterday and recovered seven of the nine bodies they've been looking for. people still missing are the pilot and his brother of the small aircraft. this operation is going to go on all day. not a lot of activity in the

skies above the river as well. of course, that's something else that everybody is looking at now is whether, in fact, this narrow corridor, about three-quarters of a mile wide and a mile or so long is too crowded and too busy with aircraft and if that's the main reason this happened. >> ron allen, thank you. a story we discussed in the first hour of the "morning meeting." a spokesman for stanley mchrystal tells nbc news the headlines about the taliban winning in afghanistan goes too far. what he did say was the taliban is an aggressive enemy and it's launching complex attacks. but does not think -- this is coming from the general spokes people, does not think the taliban is winning the war in afghanistan. dylan? >> all right. thank you very much. >> general mcaffrey, in his own observations. still ahead on the "morning meeting" today, embattled south carolina governor mark sanford under scrutiny once again, this

time for allegedly using the state's airplane for personal business. can sanford still be effective as gover governor? we will talk to the governor's former communications director. he himself just recently resigned. he joins us after the break. 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, boom. free night. welcomerewards. smart. so smart.

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welcome back. i thought we were picking on contessa there. an investigation by the associated press claims governor sanford has been flying around south carolina for personal use on the taxpayers' dime, surprise, surprise. the ap found the governor flew from myrtle beach to the state capital and personal time his only agenda item and he did get

his hair cut that afternoon. i can go on and on and i won't subject you to it. you understand where i'm going. lots of moving around on the airplane that is not -- >> the governor watchdogs say this is crossing the line. let's play it. >> as the evidence keeps mounting up and he keeps inflicting this on gs ongoing soap opera, i respect for the people of south carolina, needs to step aside. >> in fact, we've got the response from the governor's spokesperson, too. this specific reporter misrepresented the governor. the governor has only used the plane for official state business and not all official state business is put on the schedule. he goes on to say the governor has used the plane far less than his predecessor. >> we learned on friday, jenny sanford, the south carolina first lady, moving out. if you go back to the timeline

where he knits the affair. how your state employee spent his summer -- i won't go through the whole thing. you get it. joining us for the conversation, joel sawyer. governor sanford's former communications director and he just resign. he joins us by way. skype. welcome to the conversation. why did you resign? >> i'm sorry? >> why did you resign? >> because somebody approached me with another opportunity to go out on my own and begin my own business and thought i'd take advantage of it. let's be clear. 16 in an administration you see people to trickle out the door. in this case, it happened a little bit sooner rather than later for me because of an opportunity that came my way. >> a common conversation as you know around water coolers is giving a politician and pretending he was an employee of the people of america. i say pretending because it doesn't always seem to be the case but they do get their money from american taxpayers. if an employee were to exhibit

anything remotely like the lack of attention to the business of the state or whatever it is that they are hired to do, at what point -- how many weeks and months can they go on before you fire them or they have to resign? >> first of all, i'm not on the clock anymore but this is going to sound like it for a little bit. i mean, governor sanford has been focused on the job at hand. what you have in south carolina is a interesting operating structure. you have a constitutional framework of a government established in 1895 to diffuse power from the executive branch. in south carolina, it's an oddity because the governor only has administrative control of about 16% of the agencies in south carolina. so i think the governor is focused on the task at hand. one of the things you'll see him announcing sooner rather than later is -- >> i've said all along -- >> he is going to be working across the aisle. he is going to be working with some people on the same side of the aisle but maybe hasn't worked as closely in the past to

put together reforms i think will have an impact. >> the thing is during the summertime, he disappeared. people didn't know where he was. you didn't know where he was. >> that's right. >> you have this time line, if you're a voter in south carolina and you voted sanford in office, june 24th, he knitted to this affair and june 25th, we saw the release of those steamy e-mails and june 30th, we saw he admits that this argentinean mistress is his soul mate. he went off with his his family two-week european vacation and now his wife and sons have moved out of the house. doesn't all of that distract from a state that is in desperate need of more attention, not less? >> does not mean the man is not doing his job? >> let's start with the obvious. is it a distraction? absolutely. is it a distraction you would rather not deal with? absolutely, it is. but a couple of things. you have to remember the legislative session in south carolina ends in early june so

typically the summer months even had this not happened are a slow time for the governor's office anyway. back to the larger issue when you talk about the personal -- when you talk about the personal details, yes, the governor made mistakes in his marriage and on a personal level, absolutely, he has. >> i don't care about that. i care whether it's affecting his ability to do his job. >> as i raengs answered earlier, i think what you have to go back to one of the larger issues he has tried to push forward is the same thing the republicans across the country are pushing for. lower taxes and school choice. you go down the list and i think those are the things that people -- >> but wait a second. we're making the excuse after all of these things that we've now learned about governor sanford's personal behavior that because he only controls a certain percentage of what goes on in government and because the summer months are slow, that makes it okay? i mean, that sounds like making excuses and why shouldn't he take time off to go and make

amends with his family? >> i don't think that -- i don't think that it makes it okay. i think governor sanford will be the first to tell you it's not okay but i'm giving you more realistic lay of the south carolina and i think -- >> jonathan, i've run the clock on this. joel, good to have time with you. much more ahead on this hour of the "morning meeting" as we say good-bye to joel there. gop keeping an eye on the 2012 seat for obvious reasons. several are raising money already. we'll break down who thinks they have a shot coming in 2012 after this. hey, it's me, water. did you know that when you filter me at home

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we want to bring contessa in. qha is going on in the political world? >> we told but the opposition growing from the house plan to buy new jets. the obama administration had asked for 220 million dollars

for four passenger jets and what happened is house lawmakers doubled the aircraft order to eight at a total cost of $550 million. now, we're seeing bipartisan opposition to that plan. two democratic senators in missouri are opposing that funding. jon thune says it's being out of touch with helt reality. >> you thought being part of russian government was good? >> di? >> you get all of that money and do whatever you want? >> oh, right. i remember that. >> lifestyle anyway. >> i want to register my complaint. we didn't have dance party on friday so we're making it dance party monday. this time with secretary of state hillary clinton. >> really some. >> she is on her african tour. here we have her second time this week during this tour through africa greeted the south africa housing project in cape town and singing choirs and much

more. she definitely was getting down but earlier this weekend we saw it doesn't take very much for clinton to get down. >> a little funk on some. >> just a little bit. >> all right. coming up in the next half hour of the "morning meeting," president obama in mexico. the so-called three amigo summit talking swine flu and trade and the drug war. we will speak with general barry mcaffrey coming up. hot time summer in the city. i'm not going to sing it but the big apple is expected to get baked today with the hottest kay day of the year ♪ hot time in the summertime ♪ >> we can dance to it. >> no. pollen. when i really liked to be outside, i did not like suffering from nasal allergy symptoms like congestion. but nasonex relief may i say...

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welcome back. so-called three amigo summit getting under way this morning. president obama and calderon and stephen harper meeting in guadalajara. the growing drug war on both sides of the mexican border being discussed along with swine flu. >> mexico committing thousands of troops and millions of dollars to squeeze out the drug trade and so far it hasn't had that much luck. last year, more than 6,200 murders related to the cartel

crackdown in mexico and a huge part of the country under siege. the mexican president calderon and president obama are expected to talk about that today. even the mexican government knits it can't destroy the billion dollar drug trade and fueled largely by american consumers. mexican cartels bring in 90% of america's cocaine and most of that from ko columbia. mexican drug tra traffickers have been identified in 230 u.s. cities. a growing number of americans actually dying as a result. in fact, the daily beast is reporting today the deaths of byrd and melanie billings in florida last month known for adopting their children, their deaths may be linked to the mexican mafia. the u.s. now planning to pay farmers in afghanistan millions of dollars to stop growing opium poppy. the production of opium fueling

the taliban insurgency. afghan farmers earn 730 billion a year for selling the drug. the question is can you apply what you're doing in afghanistan to what is happening south of the board irer? >> general mcaffrey joins us. can you? >> contessa sure got the facts right akris across the board on the issue in front of us. i'm on a panel with the mexican government. the secretary of public safely, luna, they are in a fight for the survival of the rule of law in mexico. 12,000 murders. high integrity people. the president, the attorney general, the army, there's been a lot of dr essentially armed confrontation throughout mexico. hopefully, president obama, attorney general eric holder and secretary napolitano will day engaged and stay supportive and win out for the rule of law.

>> the concern, general, when you get an unregulated market like the market for cocaine or marijuana or anything, arms, any black market, it ends frequently with a violent culture, a few people with most of the money and everybody else sort of subordinated by it. it's sort of an example of free markets run to their ultimate outcome. how do you displace the power that the drug dealers have to provide $500,000 a month to police officials who are making pennies in comparison? i say how do you deal with that sort of financial influence? >> certainly we deal with it. the fbi, the dea, local police, honest and high integrity and courageous people. dylan, let me turn this around. the problem with heroin and meth amphetamines and cocaine all coming out of mexico has nothing to do with whether it's legal or illegal. the problem is we end up with 16 million americans chroniclely

addicted to alcohol and another drug. devastating impact on their fm liz and their employment and they are arrested and they have stds. the problem with drugs is addiction, not whether they are legal or illegal. >> i totally agree with you, by the way. not that that matters either but how do you deal with the demand side? we have strategies to manage for supply that sometimes work and sometimes don't whether buying crops or whatever it may be but we seem to have very little to reduce demand. as long as there is that addictive demand is seems where is there a will is there a way to try to find a way to get the drugs? >> the facts are uncompromising. we have reduced demand dramatically since 1979. 13% of the country past drug users and now around 7%. casual use of cocaine is down dramatically. adolescent use of drugs is down. smoking is down. drunk driving is down. so we've actually made

considerable progress, primar y primarily, because of the involvement of parents, educators, d.a.r.e. officers, that's the deal. talk to your own family, talk to your own school and try to get them to stay away from drugs from the sixth through the 12th grade. >> let's look at this for a second from the perspective of mr. calderon. you are the leader of a free nation that is mexico. it is erupting in violence. you know the narrative in that country right now. >> sure. >> you're dependent on north america as a market for your economy in general. you have all of these issues, we all know. at the same time, you know that a lot of the money that is in drug dealers' pockets is money that is arriving in those pockets from american consumers. >> sure. >> if you are now in charge of mexi mexico, what is your message to obama about that drug demand and what is your plan for that country over the next year? >> well, i tell you one thing. mexico turns into a narco state,

people important to our economy and social welfare, we are in trouble. we should be uncompromising and supporting the rule of law that democratically elected government and helping them create honest police forces which is a huge challenge to them and they know it. only 5% of them is federal police and we're starting to make headway. >> how do you do that? is that american tax money going to mexico or american officers going to mexico? >> dylan? >> go ahead, karen. >> i was going to ask. isn't there also -- don't we need to look broadly at what is happening in colombia where i know they've made great efforts to crack down on terrorism and drug trafficking, although i guess, countries like venezuela harbor those terrorists. don't we need to take a regional approach, general, to this problem? >> oh, exactly. regional? global approach. these are international treaties. vienna convention where all of us are signatories to.

colombia has made dramatic progress. the level of violence is down enormously and the rule of law is back in most places in colombia. a lot of it due to this courageous stance by the colombian government. think you're entirely right. it's a regional problem. it isn't a problem of u.s. consumers and mexican suppliers. >> is there a model in colombia for mexico? >> maybe. all these situations are somewhat different. i mean, obviously, afghanistan giant levels of corruption and lack of infrastructure is entirely different than sophisticated mexico with oil business, with educated political and with an army that works. so you have to -- you have to essentially, though, take into account local history, local laws, local culture. >> what is your -- what is your one request of the president today if you are mr. calderon?

>> look. we're -- we were spending 12 billion a moj month in iraq. we spent 400 million a year supporting mexico. get our priorities right. mexico and canada are central to our security and our economies. >> spend more money closer to home, quite simply. general, thank you so much. contessa, what sels going on? divers are back in the hudson river searching for the two remaining victims from saturday's tragic crash between a sightseeing helicopter and small plane. police have recovered the bodies of six people on board. you are looking at live pictures right now. pilot and five italian tourists on board that chopper and investigators have found the body of a teenage boy on board the plane but police still looking for the pilot of the plane and another adult passenger. federal investigators still don't know why the mid-air collision happened. congressional budget office says the federal deficit grew by another $181 billion in july.

one month deficit is projected to hit now 1.8 trillion by the end of the fiscal year according to the hill.com it stems from the massive bailout of the financial and auto giants, falling tax revenue due to the recession. later this morning a judge in los angeles holds a hearing on the late king of pop, michael jackson. let's go to or entertainment reporter courtney hazlett who is in l.a. what do you have? >> good morning. this morning, it's going to be a long dispute in court over the contract between aeg and sony. we are figuring out today the nuts and bolts of the agreement here, how merchandising is going to be sold. all that rehearsal footage we heard about, how it's going to be used and why is it going to be interesting, you ask? katherine jackson is going to be allowed to enter objections into court today. the reason she would want to do that isn't so the estate would get less money. if it's if she wants to be an inner down the road she has to prove she is financially

responsible and interested and that she has been following this but there is a fine line she has to walk. she doesn't want to appear difficult. any time you have the jackson family, things take a difficult time. interesting to hear what her objections are today with this contract. >> george lewis is reporting the judge is reviewing the 60 million dollar deal with columbia picture to bring in the rehearsal footage from the "this is it" concert tour and it never happened because of jackson's death. how much would that ease sort of the big debt that his estate faces, courtney? >> there's still a tremendous amount of debt and all of the people behind the scenes are saying that's great. we're hearing a hundred million here and 60 million here. that sounds like big money about you when you're looking at 500 million in debt a lot to take care of and what you will hear is every person who is owed money from michael jackson, every creditor, every small contract agreement are all coming forward as soon as the deals are set saying i want to

get paid first. before the estate sees any real money like in a checking account, cash that can actually be spent, all of these debts have to be paid off. >> courtney, thank you. finally feeling like summer after the coldest temperatures on record. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is in new york central park. not that we're complaining because it's been a really mild summer here but what are we in store for today? >> you're doing a lot of this out here today. drinking water in the park. the heat is not keeping people out of the park. still people jogging and riding their bikes and a lot of folks bringing their kids out. it's not bad yet, still in the low 80s right now in the park but down in washington, dulles airport hit 90 and reagan national 88. those areas will get around a hundred. in new york city, 91 is what we're forecasting. you think that's hot? well, it's hot only because it hasn't hit 90 here and in philly and boston since late april. record highs today, though, in the upper 90s and record high in boston today is 101. no record heat today.

it's only going to last one day in the northeast and southern new england. a front in here tomorrow and that will bring in rain and cooler temperatures. enjoy it while you have it. the flop sweat is starting to show up on the back of my neck so it is getting hot out here. >> people in phoenix and that area and southern california are yelling at their television. shut up, you big babies! we don't want to hear it. >> it's not humid. it's a dry heat. >> golf courses have changed all that. besides that, you go outside in the oven, you snow been in the oven? please. >> very dry. >> what about the pacific northwest? >> you're right! >> last week, seattle 103 and portland 106. what is 91 in seattle would have been happy with 91. >> new yorkers are a bunch of big babies when they plain about 91. >> what about north africa. it's hot there all the time. >> oh, yeah. >> what about the equator? thank you, mike. >> thank you. >> still to come on this hour --

>> death valley. >> what about the volcanoes? gop sets their sights on the 2012 political prize and we will follow the money trail to see who is eyeing up the white house. that is next. only on msnbc. - ( rock music playing ) - ♪ oh! what do you say to a spin around the color wheel? - to paint with primer already mixed in? - ♪ yeah yeah yh... - test samples instead of can commitments? - ♪ whoo! - what do you say we dip into our wallets less... - ♪ are you feeling it? - ...and grab ahold of the latest tools out there... - ♪ oh! ...so we can quit all that messing around with extra steps - and get busy turning our doing dials up a notch? - ♪ whoo! ♪ oh! more saving. more doing. - that's the power of the home depot. - ♪ yeah yeah yeah. it's critical that i stick to my medication. i cannot be one of the 61 million americans who do not refill their prescriptions on time. readyfill at cvs pharmacy automatically refills my prescriptions and reminds me to pick them up. you mean, reminds me to pick them up.

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welcome back. dozens of republican governors, surprise, surprise, getting together over the weekend to create a campaign strategy for 2010. what are they planning? >> if they want to stage a real comeback in 2010 it has to begin with local races. 18 seats up for grabs and 22 governors up for re-election. they are playing the groundwork for 2012. newt gingrich has pulled in $8 million mostly through his committee american solutions for winning the future. he is using that to fund trips all over the country to promote his pet causes. mitt romney raked in almost 2 million bucks and a huge part of it to launch efforts to raise

even more. political action committees for sarah palin and mike huckabee raised money and they are using the money to help rebuild the party they say. one told politico, you can't wake up in 2011 and decide you want to run for president. you have to start right now. >> joining the conversation as it were, brad blakeman, republican strategist and karen finney is a democratic strategist. karen, i start with you. >> okay. >> if you were advising a republican. >> oh, no. >> too much fun for me. >> i'd run! i'm kidding. >> how would you counsel them? where do you think the democrats are the weakest right now going into 2010 and 2012? >> going into 2010, this you're going to see there needs to be a check on the democratic congress and democratic president is their strongest message. obviously, if democrats aren't

able to show they have been able to deliver i think they could be vulnerable to that message. going to twelve, a lot is having a republican candidate who has a message. part of the problem with the republican party you have the far right wing of the base and the rest of the party is really sort of in disarray and not one clear leader. someone who seems to be able to sort of bring together those desperate factions on the right but then still have some appeal to the middle of the country with fiscally sound message which is something we've not seen from republicans in some time, i think that would be important and kind of platform to run on. >> bradley, one of the ideas of a conservative ideology is that it is, indeed, economically conservative, not just socially conservative. that seems to have been lost somewhat in the political dialogue. how can the republicans move from being this sort of rewe need a check and balance, which karen just pointed out, how do

they take that and then cat lies it to we can do this better and then fill in the blank? >> well, the because is look at where we are as a country. we're divided on the economy. we're divided on health care. why? because there's no leadership in washington. it should be all about the economy and there's a diversion to health care which is a manufactured crisis. the average americans, as we've seen from the polls, do not consider health care to be a kris. but they consider the economy to be. the economy is failing. and faltering because of the inability of the democrats -- >> brad, wait! wait! >> hang on, karen. i don't have time to get into this. >> okay. >> he makes a good point there is a good republican opportunity to say, listen, they are trying to do too much and they are distracted and play the economy off of health care as brad just did in an effort to sort of spark the conversation. >> i think that makes brad and the republican party sound out of touch. they don't understand the average american, health care is a crisis. for small businesses, it is a

crisis even for big businesses. why did gm have to move a plant to canada? because of the cost of health care. >> karen, karen! if you don't have a job! >> brad, brad, brad! i'll take over both of you till i'm blue in the face and no one will hear and everybody keep talking and do a little dance or you can wait your turn and talk when she is done. karen you have to do the same thing because otherwise it's a cable dance. people yelling and nobody hearing anything! karen, finish third quarter and then brad, why don't you rebut in a traditional fashion where one person speaks at a time. >> i disagree that health care is a manufactured crisis. i think it is a real crisis. again, you need someone who can, as president obama is trying to do, weave all of these things together. i think it is a deterrent to the brand of the republican party they continue to be seen the party of no and a party into being disruptive. >> brad, the last word. >> we are are a party who is on the sidelines. you control everything. if you control everything, you

own everything. it should be all about the economy because if you don't have a job, you can't afford health care. >> a lovely last word, i must say. that was beautiful. >> thank you. >> i'll be good. i won't say anymore. >> you were both very good. thank you. ahead here the take-away from today's "morning meeting." my doctor told me something i never knew. as we get older, our bodies become... less able to absorb calcium. he recommended citracal. it's a different kind of calcium. calcium citrate. with vitamin d... for unsurpassed absorption, to nourish your bones. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah.

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we wrap up the first meeting

of the week with the following take-away. we've been talking about the heat in the town hall meetings. contessa with an update. >> after sarah palin puts out the whole death panel think on health care now she is on facebook saying we should have civility and discourse. kind of a turnaround for sarah palin. >> yeah. i'm thinking rush limbaugh is saying what is next. >> there's a thought. >> we'll see. i think rush take ha it in him. somewhere in that man is an opportunity. he is right half the time. >> is there some sort of psychological coaching you're doing him? come to civility where we don't talk over each other! otherwise, it ends up as a dance! you do on tv! >> all right. carlos is up next. he has all sorts of thing, including new conservative strategies and silicon valley secrets. a little fun with technology and

hope there maybe, the driverless car or synthetic organs, i can't say. contessa with you at 2:00. break after this. but did you know you also get hotel price assurance? it's a one-two punch of savings -- pow! pow! lower hotel booking fees mean you get a lower total price. plus, if another orbitz customer then books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically.

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