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you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. you asked my opinion, i'll tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channeling

my husband. >> wow. >> she looks quite annoyed. you put that down. you stop it. >> she looks upset. >> i would be, too. >> i must say when i look at the "new york post" headline, i thought, maybe it's what "new york post" does. but she was upset. >> i understand. she is trying to do her job and everyone asks her husband's opinion. >> that's what willie geist and i go through every day. >> what? >> we go out places and i want to talk about "morning joe." >> what happens? >> they ask what mika is like, why isn't mika here. >> so not true. >> we do this. >> it's hell out there.

you're the tony danza of the program. >> it's surprising. you've known her 20 years. she was upset. she seemed pretty angry. >> i think there's more doing on there. we have to get behind the scenes to figure out why she had that strong reaction. >> was it sort of hangover from a weekend in north korea? >> she looked a little tired, too. it was a long trip. >> how about you work really hard to make a name for yourself doing the job that you're doing, and then someone asks your husband's opinion about that job. >> the translator, apparently, is the one who got it wrong. >> exactly. the question was, are the sox go to beat the yankees by the end of the year. >> mangled it. >> one of the worst translators since jimmy carter in 1979 was accused of telling the polish

people -- >> stop it. >> that was a low line for translators. >> i'm not a jelly doughnut. >> but for carter, it was just a terrible year. remember the killer rabbit. >> the collapsed jogging at camp david. >> collapsed jogging at camp david. you know why. 21% interest rates, that wasn't good either. but the picture of carter with the string thing attached, that set it off. that was a defining moment of his presidency. that was big, too. but the killer rabbit. >> mika is taking it personally. >> as a member of the carter administration. >> i'm not even looking. >> i'm not going to channel my father. he would have if he had a shotgun and i would, too. >> the thing i never figured out, sitting there waiting for

the rabbit to attack. >> never happened. >> killer photo. here is mika with the news. >> thank you. time for today's top stories. president obama will be in new hampshire today for a town hall meeting designed to counter growing criticism of its health care reform plan. it's a fine line for the white house, which is trying to debunk what it calls misconceptions without alienating voters who question the proposal. >> we are having a vigorous debate in the united states. i think that's a healthy thing. i suspect once we get spot fall and people look at the actual legislation that's being proposed, that more sensible and reasoned arguments will emerge and we're going to get this passed. >> all right. we're going to talk about that in just a minute. mark halperin, you just got some news in.

>> some sad news from the kennedy shriver family. cord to a statement, just got e-mailed. hard to believe the amazing eunice schieffer went home to god at 2:00 a.m. she was the light of our lives, mother, wife, grandmother, sister, aunt, taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of service and love to others. >> who said that to you. >> this is a spokesman for the family. >> eunice shriver. >> "time" magazine. >> to you. >> nbc news will have to say doesn't have this information but that e-mail was sent directly to mark halperin, "time" magazine, and certainly sad news. she had been sick for sometime. >> variety of ailments over a long period and hospitalized for the last week or so. the family had been gathered since early in the weekend. >> we'll continue with that sad news and information as it

comes. >> nbc news will confirm is at well and we'll certainly cover her life and her legacy. mark halperin, thank you for that. keep us posted if you get more information. back to news, divers in new york hudson river this morning to try and locate the final body saturday's midair collision of a small plane and tour helicopter. eight victims have been pulled from the water as newly released 911 calls detail the moments following the deadly crash. >> 911 operator. what is your emergency? >> i just saw an airplane and a helicopter in the hudson river here. the helicopter went down into the water. the plane, i'm not sure what happened. i can't see it from my window.

officials in taiwan say hundreds of people have been rescued from villages buried in mudslides following the deadly typhoon that dumped as much as 80 inches of rain on the island. dozens of people are still missing. turning to politics, new polling shows republicans making small inroads with americans as support for democrats continues to slip. according to the cnn opinion research poll, 41% now approve of the gop up 2% from february. meanwhile democrats are favored by 52% of the public down six points. >> that is a two-point gain by republicans since february and democrats slipping just outside the margin of error. that's about as small of a shift as i've seen in any polling. let me just say i would like to know the sample of that polling because that's not consistent

with polls. >> just outside the margin of error. look, if this is a normal historic cycle here, no matter what barack obama does, probably, his party is going to lose seats in congress. but, you know, if you look at some of the other areas, factors that do into it, recruitment, fund-raising, the ability of the republicans to form their own message beside throw the bums out, they are not in bad shape as they might be right now. >> and also you look at the fact the democrats have had two back-to-back elections that have almost been historic in that they have picked up 30 seats and picked up another 15, 20 seats. and so there's always a natural ebb and flow back and forth. the democrats have had two great elections. again, as you said, even if barack obama did well you would expect -- >> a lot of democrats first termers, when you most likely

lose. on the other hand we've never had a white house chief of staff basically the director of the democratic campaign committee. rahm emanuel knows every vulnerable democrat, helped get them elected and is going to do what he can do from the white house to get them elected. >> it would help if they pushed legislation that wasn't quite so unpopular in moderate districts. >> i'll say again, if what they are there to do is retain the majority the way dick army and the other republicans did when they had the majority then they may well lose it. if all you're there to do is try to vote safe you may end up losing. if they do what they think is right on health care and environment they may look unpopular but may save themselves. that's the risk they have to take. >> speaking of dick army and newt gingrich, that would be -- this is the equivalent of republicans abolishing -- >> school vouchers.

>> this is far left legislation as you or i or anybody could have imagined six months ago. there is something in between playing it safe and playing to get reelected and passing the most liberal legislative bills. >> it's doing what they think is right. most people in the democratic -- >> henry waxman, nancy pelosi -- >> people on the far left of american politics. >> nothing will pass unless bill nelson and mary landry are for it. >> ben nelson, mary, claire mccaskill represent american politics more than the people drafting the bill. >> the president isn't going to sign environmental, health care legislation unless those more moderate democrats are on board. even then they will take a risk. i think the strength he has now is they are willing to lose their seats to pass a very liberal agenda. >> who is? >> a lot of democratic members

of congress. >> no. because you've got a speaker of the house who represents san francisco. you've got the person riding finance reform that represents the most liberal part of boston. the person writing cap and trade represents the most liberal district on the coast and henry waxman. these are people not who represent middle america but who represent a political extreme just like newt gingrich, dick army, tom delay represented political extreme on the right. >> what they are inclined to do is take the risk they can pass liberal things -- >> radical republicans did that but this morning sounds like it's an act of courage. i wish somebody would have said that about us in 1995. >> they didn't do it. they benefit from big spending bills. >> not in '95 -- >> i'm talking 2000. >> i just remember '95 and '96

just being lashed, trashed and burned at the stake by newspaper editorialists day in and day out being a radical, rabid, extreme. >> that's what you're calling democrats and they are risks. >> i'm not calling them radical, rabid, extreme. >> left wing. >> they represent the far left of american political thought. is that not true? >> that is true. they think they can move america there by passing this stuff. i'm saying they are willing to lose. >> i'm going to wrap news. catching a breaking story, press release from special olympics as well mourning the loss of eunice kennedy shriver, died at cape cod hospital in high annes,, massachusetts. she was surrounded by her family. eunice kennedy shriver was 88 years old. near her were her husband robert, her five children, robert, sergeant shriver iii,

maria owens, tim schieffer, mark kennedy schieffer and anthony shriver as well as their spouses and all of her 19 grandchildren with her at the time of her death. again, this is the youngest sister of president john f. kennedy, eunice kennedy shriver. certainly a life and legacy in her own right with everything she accomplished. >> so much focus on senator kennedy as the patriarch of the family, living patriarch but she was really the matriarch of the same generation. obviously not just through her brothers and husband, tom schieffer, vice presidential nominee in 1992 and her famous daughter maria, but in her own right most outspoken, champion of children with special needs in america through the special olympics really did incredible work over many years to get that organization not just in america but around the world up and running. >> absolutely. we'll follow this story, obviously breaking very early

this morning. mark halperin you had the lead on it with the family e-mailing you. really sad time for the family. certainly our thoughts are with them. it is time now for a check on the weather. let's go to bill karins for a check on the forecast. >> good morning, everyone. yesterday was a hot day as everyone knows. 91 officially in new york, 96 in d.c. it's going to be hot but not quite as bad. waking up, muggy and warm everywhere from pretty much mississippi river to atlantic. temperatures in the 70s already. you know we're going to jump up into the 80s. not a lot of heavy rain currently. it's going to be hot, especially in the carolinas today. here is your forecast, 90 in new york, 90 in d.c., chance of thunderstorms there in boston. i think you should carry that umbrella with you new york to philly, baltimore and d.c. stray showers and storms during the afternoon. much of the southeast is dry. and also just breaking weatherwise, tropical depression number two formed in the

atlantic. more on that in the days ahead. it's not heading towards any land. >> all right. we've got a great show this morning. senator barbara box here, the lawmaker has a new novel. political thriller. talk about that. christie hefner. "washington post" pulitzer prize winner eugene robinson, a breaking look at "politico's" top story they are covering this morning. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. bicycle, i've missed you. gathering dust, as pollen floats through the air. but with the strength of zyrtec ® , the fastest, 24-hour allergy relief, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride.

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get ready for the time of your life. dirty dancing 3. >> nobody puts hillary in the corner as we learned yesterday.

>> i was going to say the sequel to that not as uplifting. >> we should play that clip later. >> i'm really surprised. >> why? >> she was that upset. >> no. i totally get why she was that upset. i can't believe you'd be surprised, especially since she's your girlfriend. you should be more defensive. >> i'm surprised. >> why? >> i thought she knew the love i provided her, the constant conditional support would make her more confident than that. >> let me tell you something. >> i can't believe you can't believe he's surprised. it's all around outrage. >> executive director of "politico" with a look at this morning's playbook. jim, were you surprised by hillary clinton's reaction yesterday. >> i was surprised. >> all the guys. >> she's such a good politician, you'd think she would brush it off and not get flustered knowing everyone would be obsessing about it here and

online. >> a college student that asked the question wasn't even asking about her husband. we'll talk about that later. let's talk about planes. we've been waving our arms when we heard congress order g 5s. what's happening? what were they thinking? >> looks like they will kill the additional aircraft. the pentagon says they don't noticed them or want them, congress will no longer fund those. i think it will get taken ouchlt it's been embarrassing for members of congress because they spent so much time earlier this year getting wild that corporate ceos were flying in, meantime they were putting money away to have executive aircraft. always been a big fleet of airplanes members of congress and administration use. they use them for folks like nancy pelosi to fly coast-to-coast. a lot of people feel it's a

justified expense. in this atmosphere it ain't. >> you never used them, jo. >> no, i didn't. >> man of the people. >> let's talk about president obama's agenda. back from mexico holding a town meeting on health care. those have been adventures as late. what is he expecting. >> those won't be adventurous. when the president has a town hall they give out tickets to control the events. he'll talk more about consumer protections in these bills in new hampshire, montana, colorado, talk about things about making sure people don't get denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions of they think that's a powerful argument because people can't move from job to job because they don't want to lose that health insurance if they are already sick. >> thanks very much. we'll read a story on texting while driving and what the obama administration is doing about it. >> coming up, political analyst harold ford plus a look at

papers around the country. don't forget if you miss part of "morning joe," see it online. e-mail us your thoughts and suggestion, go to joe.msnbc. >> that is all you have to do. >> so simple. >> so they are only going to hand out tickets to people that agree with them. >> exactly. >> that's my kind of town hall meeting. the great taste

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let's take a quick look at the morning papers, anchorage daily news. federal stimulus money accepted in anchorage special session. >> they took the money. >> they did. >> yes. and i'm stunned, they set up death panels. >> not even as governor is she being overridden. >> "washington post," obama failed to focus on borders, immigration action won't come until 2010. on the left, people staying cool as temperatures soar into the 90s. that is where we are headeded today. >> also washington times, u.s. officials raising questions on race bias in health care bill, looking at underserved areas.

>> death toll rises, we're coming that in the newscast. "wall street journal," stress score. creditors using debt positions to seize ownership of companies. >> "miami herald," florida slow to spend stimulus. governor cyst crist. >> i'm the boss. snapping at a college student in congo. a college student feeling the wrath of hillary. >> let me tell you something. i think i know exactly what she was doing there. >> what was she doing. >> making it clear she's in charge, it's not a co-secretary situation. >> it's a wrath we've all felt

around this table at one time or another. >> joe, what is wrong with you. willie, stop it. >> go ahead. >> coming up next -- would you be quiet. >> it was all a set up. all a setup. >> harold, please help me. >> harold ford jr. coming up. also mika's must-read opinion page. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. bicycle, i've missed you. gathering dust, as pollen floats through the air. but with the strength of zyrtec ® , the fastest, 24-hour allergy relief, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. with zyrtec ® i can love the air ™ . i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. is if you run into a friend and you want to share a photo one,

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's just after 6:30 on the east coast. >> we've got breaking news here. >> what's that? >> you're saying most people in the mainstream media don't admit the president is biased. >> i don't think so. >> no, they don't admit it. i agree with that. >> mark halperin and harold ford said most people in the media are liberal, and this is an

obvious thing. >> it's obvious to me. >> most people accept it. but you know, you be fair even if most people in the media are left of center. you say most people you hang out in the media think they are right there in the middle. >> i agree with that. >> i think that's still the dominant issue. >> that's surprising. >> they are just saying that because i'm in the room. >> they are sucking up to you. >> guys, we have breaking news. let me get to this. nbc news now confirming that eunice kennedy schieffer died early today at a massachusetts hospital. she was the younger sister of president john f. kennedy and founder and honorary chairperson of the special olympics. eunice kennedy shriver was 88 years old. in other news today, a new survey shows 90% of private economists say the economic downturn will be declared over this quarter.

the upbeat assessment follows a slower contraction of the gdp and friday's unexpected drop in unemployment. we'll talk about that in this week's op-ed. some beg do differ. president obama heads to new hampshire in his push to drum up support for health care reform. he praised the vigorous debate over the issue, top democrats are calling some protesters un-american for drowning out opposing views. we will talk about that in must read op-ed. >> by the way, yesterday our friend bill burton on the plane, i actually got this in a tweet because i'm hip. >> the twitter. >> but bill burton on the plane pushed back. they asked if the president greeted nancy pelosi that was un-american to interrupt. he said, no, that's part of the process. we would hope they would let us talk and let our people talk and have conversations but it is not

un-american to go and by boisterous and express yourself. >> there's a lot of layers. that's the bottom line. let me read first -- with us now chairman of the democratic leadership council harold ford. >> thank you for being with us. >> your starbucks color-themed tie. >> michigan blue. >> green. >> that's all you should know. >> a scary reality. this is about jobs numbers that came out friday, which everyone was surprised unemployment came out at 9.5 as opposed to 10, i think it was. >> happy days are here again. >> this is what bob says, a truer picture of the employment crisis emerges when you combine the number of people officially counted as jobless with those who are working part time because they can't find full-time work and those in the so-called labor market reserve, people who are not actively

looking for work because they had become discouraged, for example, but would take a job as one became available. a mind boggling 30 million americans. 1% of the overall workforce. he says it's a lot bleaker than it looks. so people who have been unemployed for a long period of time are having trouble getting back in. i don't know. i think the numbers are more than you would actually -- >> i think the situation is much bleaker than it looks. it's not a situation that any one president going to fix. i agree with people who say this economy, harold ford, are having to reset this economy over the past quarter century. we've been fueled by consumerism. it's really been a false -- a false raging summer. we can't operate that way in the future. so unless we start making things

on a massive scale, this country is going to face hard times for a long time. >> one of your favorite guests zuckerman wrote something similar to this in the "wall street journal," he laid out the number of hours americans are working, how it's fewer hours per week. he laid out how wages have not seen upward pressure in a few years. in a lot of ways dove tailing and mirroring what bob herbert said. the question is whether spending that's taking place in washington now for a variety of reasons, whether once we get past this kind of strange and difficult hardship moment now, whether we begin tonight gauge in fiscal discipline that gripped washington for a time while we were there, eluded, but has to come back long-term, whether investment in new energy, new technology will produce a kind of drive and growth for the economy. that's the question for this president and maybe even if he's reelected president after that will have to continue that kind of growth platform for the

country. >> you know, and i heard mika in your newscast, 90% of economists think the downturn is going to end this quarter. >> yeah. >> i can tell you, there's a disconnect here, and we hear it every morning. we get reports from wall street and we have some experts coming on that will say, hey, things are getting better. things are getting better. first of all, i talked to the wealthiest men and women in america who quietly tell me things are worse. and they are very scared. they think we're about to drop off a cliff. then i go home to pensacola, florida and talk to some very middle class people to tell me the situation is just horrific. that friends that they never thought would be unemployed, friends they never thought would lose their house are barely hanging on by their fingernails. and if things don't turn around in the next couple of months, the vast middle class in

pensacola, florida losing jobs. susan and i love driving around every morning, we get a bagel, drive around florida. so many shops are shut up there. it's a vibrant town, things are shut down there. we keep hearing things in america are getting better. there seems to be a disconnect. >> look, one of the things the president wants to do are long-term structural changes. deficit, that's a big deal. health care, energy reform and education, which doesn't get as much attention as it should, are all about having people in pensacola have a chance and their children have a chance for the future. you may not agree with the elements he's doing but those three areas are about in large part jobs and economic development for the future. that's why i think it's unfortunate there's no bipartisan consensus about the big pillars of long-term changes the american economy can work against.

>> well, i don't want to get too deep into this but if you want a bipartisan energy bill, you want a bipartisan education bill, you want a bipartisan health care bill -- >> bipartisan. >> make it bipartisan. >> nancy pelosi -- >> you've got to start in the middle. claire mccaskill and evan bayh, sit down with olympia snowe and george voinovich and see what you can do. that's how do you that i agree. as a deficit hog, somebody always went to washington to balance the budget, i can tell you if you just balance the budget without talking about these longer-term issues, without expanding the pie, you're going to have a shrinking pie. >> you can't balance the budget. >> you can't balance the budget. even if you could, which you can't, you wouldn't take care of the long-term problems, which is, again, mika, we have to push the reset button and start building things. i understand there's an op-ed in here that savagely attacks mark

halperin. >> otherwise i think you'd really like this. >> i'll stand by halperin here. >> i highlighted the part about the martyr. obama's tone deaf health care campaign. dorothy robin wits, no handwriting over decline of civil debate in election 2004 >> okay. >> i'm not sure actually -- >> of what? >> the last line. i'm not sure i agree with. >> of the media worshipping

barack obama in 2008? >> no. no. they worshipped the story. >> no. they worshipped barack obama. i went into halperin's house. he had a picture of barack obama, two candles, an alter. it was pretty embarrassing. i think we all agree around this table and hillary clinton and everybody that followed that campaign will agree with that part, the media was worshipful toward obama. >> i think we should welcome a heated conversation about health care. maybe it gets out of hand, people use ridiculous vitriolic words. we can choose to listen to them or not but the conversation needs to be had. i think there are other examples of things that went too far. >> the bottom line, i don't think she's -- >> thanks. what did i do. >> saying things like that. >> what? >> nothing. i respect your opinion.

>> thank you. >> so harold, the left is acting so shocked that the disrespect has been shown at town hall meetings, but this has happened for quite sometime. i'm not condoning it, i think the people should shut their mouths, let the people talk and ask tough questions. >> they have every right to. i wish people could talk back and forth. the one thing that concerns me, i wish the organizers on the left and right, have to be started on the right in this instance, discourage any violence and should allow all sides to talk. i thought mccain said it fairly well, you encourage debate but allow both sides to talk. tempers are flaring. the question whether or not the issue health care is debated in a credible, constructive smart way. >> there's so much back and forth on who is to plame, left says the right is to blame.

right says you're hearing more stories of union members hitting protesters. it just doesn't really matter who is to blame, the fact is the debate is getting drowned out. >> i think it is. >> we've got to go because chris is yelling in our ear. i guess chris doesn't think giving free air on this issue matters. >> got to go, sorry, mark. >> live to new hampshire with chuck todd for a preview of the president's health care town hall later today. >> that's going to be great. >> more on secretary of state hillary clinton's overseas flairup. >> she's not happy. >> she's fine. we'll get the latest from nbc's andrea mitchell. first sports with willie geist. >> red sox win. red sox win. red sox win. >> based on short-term political

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the idea that barack obama will kill your grandparents is somewhat hyperbolic. at least i thought that until i saw this. >> i used remote control to call life call. i've fallen and can't get up. >> shore sorry, ma'am. i can't help you. president obama didn't want to. >> oh, socialism. >> that's terrible. >> is that bad? sarah palin talking about death squad. >> let's do sports now. we're finally doing to hear from michael vick for the first time since he was arrested and admitted to running a dog fighting ring. nfl today conducted the interview. it's his first since he admitted

two years ago to running that dog fighting ring. also hear from the humane society of the united states, the country's largest organization dedicated to the protection of animals. should be an interesting interview. >> baseball highlights. mika's favorite player, ending the cycle early home run, hits it up into the food concourse. a triple for the cycle. that's the tough part. i don't get how this turns into a cycle. it's in left field. how long does it take to get the ball and throw it. he slides to third base. they win 11-5, one-game lead over the giants. angels and rays bottom of the seventh, vlad, home run, puts the angels up.

second of the game, 400th of his career. top of the ninth, two outside, game in the balance, one-run game. is this the home run that was -- will he rob? >> reaches over the wall to end the game. they win 8-7, their lead in the al west four games. fenway park, red sox trying to regroup after getting swept by the yankees over the weekend in the first, hit a two-run home run over the monster. snapped a six-game losing streak. >> they blew a lead. >> lost to toronto, sox back five and a half games. >> you think it's over? >> no. >> you don't? >> two series, head to head, thing could happen. the pitching. pitcher. >> let me show you this video

real quick. nascar ran their race because it was rained out sunday. got a little wreck for you. kasey kahne gets a little loose, he starts spinning. nowhere for jeff gordon to go. looked a little worse than it was, they walked away as they tend to do. tony stewart won. >> pick up vick, they don't want to protest? >> don't. >> raiders. >> this is a big story my friends. >> okay. >> miley cyrus at the teen choice awards last night. people are outraged by this. >> my kids love her. >> no, she wasn't. certain high blood pressure medicines the way aleve sometimes can. that's one reason why doctors recommend tylenol more than any other brand of pain reliever. but i've still got room for the internet.

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is it time? >> it is. >> time for news you can't use. april 20th past and we neglected to mark the 30 year anniversary of the killer rabbit incident. >> it was. >> i think we have a picture finally. president jimmy carter fishing near his home in plains, georgia, shooing away the bunny rabbit swimming past him. the white house times said it was an angry, berserk rabbit. >> that came in the boat and tried to attack him. >> tried to jump in the boat, which would have been quite a feat. >> whose side are you on? >> i'm a reporter. >> we also know the white house withheld the photograph and didn't leak out until later years. there you have it, killer

rabbit. in other presidential news, president william jefferson clinton is in las vegas. >> yes. >> because it's his birthday. >> happy birthday. >> not today, coming up soon. but celebrated last night in vegas with some of his closest and most dear friends. >> i bet he did. >> they had a wonderful night out, dinner, at vegas most expensive steakhouse, where a stake goes for $250. >> that's a lot of money. >> we'll just say we hope he had a good birthday celebration. >> willie, stop it. come on. >> what's our next story? >> miley cyrus. >> my daughters love her. >> she is a role model. >> the show with her father billy ray, my girls watch it all the time. >> she was unfairly attacked on those naked pictures her dad took. seriously. she's goes around saying don't

sexualize me. >> it's a kid show. >> i'm biased. >> it's the media. >> a young girl trying to make her way in a tough market. miles to go. >> thing is, billy ray explains this one. she's 16, keep in mind, working the pole at the teen choice award. >> that's not miley. >> what? ♪ ♪ >> the innocence of an ice cream

cart. >> she's working a pole on an ice cream truck. >> we say it will be attacked. >> she'll say i don't know what you meant. >> plaque shorts and boots and wrapping herself around a pole. >> we get in trouble. >> that was miles to go. >> oh, my god. i've got to get that book away from my daughter. i'm returning it. i'm going back to the store and returning it. >> do what a republican would do. don't return the book, burn it. >> i'm going to get my money back. >> and get all the other books off the shelf. >> you say that for halperin, the liberal. >> the "vanity fair" pictures. we do it twice now, she's committed to the lifestyle. >> the photo shoot. >> that's not her fault. >> she's supposed to be a kids

role model. >> one thing for you. >> the choreographer. >> kathy griffin, comedian, with levi johnson at the teen choice awards. there they are on the red carpet. that was her date. last night she was hosting larry king live. her guest, levi johnson. they got into dirty talk about their night at the teen choice award. >> i don't need to hear this. >> can we please talk about my new life in wasilla. tell me about the ig loo. >>ette going to be colder. i'll have to keep you warmer. >> with your big strong man arms. >> yeah. >> do you have any scars on you. >> yeah. >> i have a bruise in the naughty place. >> wow! doesn't matter whether larry conducts the interview or not.

they ask the same question every night. >> i have a bruise in the naughty place. wow. >> what's he doing, levi johnson. what's the end game here? >> fifteen minutes of fame. >> what's she doing? >> she's a comedian, using him as a vehicle. i don't blame her. >> wow. >> the takeaway here, harold ford, is miley cyrus. >> i'm still blaming the choreographer. >> my daughter may not watch that show anymore. there's no way. >> ice cream pole. >> i didn't know ice cream carts had poles. >> every time, kate and i, when i walk her home from school, there's always an ice cream cart there. we're going the other way now. i want to keep her away from those sort of negative influences. >> okay. it is the top of the hour everybody straighten up.

welcome to "morning joe." i'm mika brzezinski along with joe scarborough. we're going to try to raise the bar. >> harold ford is here. >> we have to get to our top stories. nbc news is now confirming that eunice kennedy schieffer died early today in a massachusetts hospital. she was the younger sister of president john f. kennedy and founder and honorary chairperson of the special olympics. eunice kennedy shriver was 88 years old. president obama will be in new hampshire for a town hall meeting designed to counter growing criticism by health care reform plan. the white house tried to debunk what it called misconceptions without alienating voters who question the proposal. >> we are having a vigorous debate in the united states. i think that's a healthy thing. i suspect that once we get into the fall and people look at the actual legislation that's being

proposed, that more sensible and reasoned arguments will emerge and we're going to get this passed. >> a, harold, speaking of pressing the reset button, do you think things will calm down a bit like the president says and in the fall people will refocus on this health care reform bill or is it just bad news moving from august? >> he's going to have to answer more specifically what he stands for, what elements of the bill are most important and frankly how it's going to reduce cost in the long-term. i know they want to get to september and hopefully put something together but the next two weeks are going to be critical. >> mark suggested the white house, some elements of the white house are thinking we're going to pass this bill regardless, whether it's popular or not, tough luck. >> that hurts a lot of democrats next year running. >> when you consider '06 and '08 democrats won for two reasons largely. they won because of the war,

mismanagement and too much spending. a lot of democrats, particularly those republicans are going to have to go home and defend it if it's not something that makes sense in the majority of the district. as much as reconciliation is an option, politically it may not be attractive for a lot of moderate to conservative democrats. >> mika. >> back in new york hudson river this morning to try and locate the final body from saturday's midair collision between a small plane and a tour helicopter. eight victims have been pulled from the water. the investigation into the crash is expected to take months. that's a quick look at the news. >> during a tour in congo, secretary of state hillary clinton lost her cool. >> she was a little mad. i don't know if she -- >> town hall meeting yesterday when she thought a student asked about her husband's take on a financial contract in the congo. things got a little tense. let's take a look.

>> wait. you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not secretary of state, i am. you can my opinion, i'll tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channeling my husband. >> with us now from washington, nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent. >> i like it. >> msnbc andrea mitchell reports. andrea mitchell, that was a surprising response. what was going on there? what's the back story, andrea? >> i think the back story is she's exhausted. she was jet lagged. she was flying to a displaced prison camp today in congo. yesterday she arrived in congo and that was just about the halfway point in this amazing trip. she had already done 22 speeches, 5 interviews, toasts, been up all night. it was a seven-hour time difference. the very first thing when she landed last tuesday was about what about husband bill. not about the work she was doing.

here she goes from hospitals to state dinners to all of these other events and she's trailed by people asking her about her husband. in this case they weren't asking about her husband. it was a student asking her, in fact, through a bad translation about president obama, what president obama thinks about the chinese investing in congo. she snapped. call it a bad hair day, which it was. it was very hot there and i think she was pretty tired. sure it's got to be -- mika and joe and willie and everybody, when i asked her about this last week, about husband bill and whether there was a conflict there, she said, no, not at all. i'm a mother, i'm responding to euna and laura getting out. clearly there is a back story. >> i think she's probably concerned, wants her husband -- his birthday is coming up, she's in congo, he's in vegas and wants everything to be okay. have a good birthday. >> i think it's her right to make it very clear she's in

charge. when bill clinton was in the news last week, i think, you know, it raised some questions. andrea, don't you think at some point it would get frustrating if people feel like she's channeling her husband's experience rather than bringing her own to the table? >> reporter: sure. you also think about what she's been going through. here she is traveling around the world, just having recovered from a broken arm, and people at the same time writing stories saying all the power and foreign policy is moving to the national security council and the white house and to the president. and she's being the good soldier saying president obama this and president obama that, and i represent president obama. and you know, i'm a team player. her ratings soaring, in fact, higher than the president's in some polls. then she gets to africa and the very first moment in kenya on arrival she's asked about another man, her husband. then you look at, you have the

new york, how damaging is this for someone who has done everything right as secretary of state. all of a sudden in one moment, poof, she shows another side. very human. >> i get it. andrea, before we go we want to talk about another big story that broke this morning, the death of eunice kennedy schieffer a shriver, by her said put out a beautiful statement. to run another special olympics game, visit us in our homes, attend mothers, sisters, brothers, to fail to tell stories and laugh and serve her friends. how did she do it all? we look at her family connections, of course, and relations to john f. kennedy, but really she created her own legacy in her own right, did she not? >> she certainly did, is an example of a woman who broke

through tradition and history and gender. her family also said her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe and they, in turn, are her living legacy. that was so much the case. i knew eunice shriver and knew her work through special olympics. her husband sergeant shriver has been ailing for years with alzheimer's. maria, her daughter, one of her five children has broadcast and written and spoken out and testified eloquently about the trials and tribulations of her dad. but eunice has been ill for quite sometime. several strokes. i saw her last i guess it was more than a year ago, ran into her shopping, doing christmas shopping in a little shop near both of us. we had this wonderful chat. she was in a wheelchair attended by nurses. but she was out doing her own christmas shopping. she had amazing spirit. what she did for special olympics, you just have to think about, you're a lot younger than i, mika, but back decades ago,

people with special needs were so hidden away. that, of course, is the legacy of her sister rosemary, who was lobotomized, much to the shame and horror of her siblings and eventually the whole family realized what they did to rosemary. she vowed that would never happen again, and she made it possible for people like rosemary to live with huge dignity and success. i was with hillary clinton when we landed in february in tokyo and were greeted by the returning japanese special olympics champions who had just come back from competing in the united states, the whole team. that's the kind of thing. they are everywhere, the people who love eunice shriver. >> andrea mitchell, thanks of i had the honor to cover the special olympics when i was a reporter in connecticut. they are truly the most beautiful events that you can ever go to. you are changed completely after spending a day at the special olympics. and that is eunice kennedy shriver's legacy. i did an event -- andrea, thanks

very much. >> you bet. >> with maria recently on mother's day and she spoke about her mother with such heartfelt conviction and belief that this woman was the driving force behind everything that she's been able to accomplish in her life. a huge loss for the family for sure. >> and the country. >> for sure. >> andrea mitchell, thank you so much. we'll see you 1:00 eastern time. coming up on "morning joe," senator barbara boxer former "playboy" ceo christie hefner. "vanity fair's" vicki ward, bernie madoff's mega yacht. comments about health care. when we come back, a preview of president obama's town hall in new hampshire. live to portsmouth with chuck todd. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. he ran off with his secretary! she's 23 years old!

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>> as you can hear there, there were hundreds of witnesses to that collision on the hudson river on a sunny day. police released 911 calls from the deadly air crash. divers continue to search the waters for the body of the ninth and final victim. new york officials wasted no time calling for tighter restrictions on hudson river air traffic. here with more on that situation, nbc news is tom costello. what are they going to go to do, change so that doesn't happen again? >> i don't know if they are going to change anything. you have lawmakers calling for change but they don't have authority whatsoever. it's the faa's call. here is the problem or the situation regarding this airspace over the hudson river. below 1100 feet, there is no faa regulation to speak of, no air traffic control and you don't need to file a flightplan. on any given day 225 planes and

helicopters traverse this airspace, the three-mile airspace of the hudson river. because of that, because these planes and helicopters don't have any faaover sight they communicate with each other. what happened saturday? it's hard to tell but one possibility is the plane as it was leaving the teterboro airport on the left side it was making a turn and did not see below his wings. there is a blind spot for pilots of this particular plane, the helicopter was coming up and they hit each other. by the way, it was also the blind spot for the helicopter behind the chopper. the issue is can this be prevented and slight be something that should be a high priority given the fact you have literally somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 helicopter flights coming off the hudson river every year, 50,000. there hasn't been a midair collision, at least according to one pilot's organization, since

163. on the other hand if we have more and more traffic every day and every year, should the faa look at, in fact, regulating or imposing some oversight here. willie, you know, the devil is always in the details. here is the trouble. the faa really doesn't necessarily have the manpower to be able to watch the skies, these skies, in addition radar is going to be interfered with by all the buildings up and down the hudson. they don't get a clear view down the river. >> joe scarborough here, we're not talking about a stretch of desolate land in arkansas, we're talking about the same waterway that two planes flew down on september 11th. now, if a cessna aircraft decided to go down the potomac and took a slight turn left, it would probably be shot out of the sky. why is it washington airspace is so heavily protected and airspace around new york city is not? >> well, we're talking

specifically about the hudson river. it's a three-mile radius below 1100 feet is really the only area we're talking about here. the question is, you know, cord to the mayor, mayor bloomberg, this is also a matter of free commerce. we need those helicopters traversing the hudson river. the tourist business is alive and thriving. >> not to interrupt you, tom -- >> no, you never do that. >> i never do that. i don't have to sketch this out. this seems like insanity, somebody can get ahold of a cessna plane and put inside that cessna plane whatever they want to put inside that cessna plane. and as long as they fly it under 1100 feet, they can be at any landmark in new york city before anybody can do anything. this is insane. >> that's certainly -- so according to those who believe we need to impose strict restrictions, you would not allow any helicopters or planes below 1100 feet in the nation's

busiest city that relies on the immediacy the helicopter provides. teterboro airport is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country. literally about a mile from me in new jersey. so if you impose those kinds of flight restrictions, the exact on private aviation and in fact on commercial aviation as relates to the helicopter business would be really quite severe and restricted. if you're doing to impose that on new york city, do you do that on los angeles, cleveland, denver. i think the issue is at what point are we overreacting. >> denver didn't have two airplanes fly up the hudson and crash in. >> no, but it would be just as exposed to a nuclear weapon, if you're talking about that scenario. >> i don't know if they are thinking about the mile high city in afghanistan caves this morning. there is no doubt that new york city and washington, d.c. are on the front lines of the war on terror, if, in fact, you still want to say we're in a war on

terror. new york is target rich, denver is not. >> hey, joe, i would tell you i have not heard anybody make the argument you're making. yesterday that was not the argument about whether this is a terrorist target. the issue was the hudson river and threat of midair collisions. the last one according to this pilot's organization was 1963. that's the argument, not whether we should be prohibiting any kind of aircraft at all because of the possibility of terrorism. i think they have been there and done that and addressed that issue. >> let me just say there's a lack of imagination on the part of new york city officials and faa officials, because, again, sketch it out and figure it out. anyway, we'll see. >> wild, wild west on the hudson. thanks so much tom costello, greatly appreciate it. again, don't have to sketch this out. put device, i'm not even saying a nuclear device in an airplane somewhere in connecticut or new

jersey and fly it right into times square. nobody thought about that? is our federal government that stupid? is the faa that stupid? >> it's hard to believe there's no flight plans. i didn't realize that. >> you don't have to file anything. >> they do cabin searches if you fly on commercial airplane. but where you can actually back a truck and put things into a cessna airplane, oh, no, let's not regulate that. it might hurt commerce. good god. >> back with chuck todd live in new hampshire with a preview of the president's health care town hall today. we'll be right back. liers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping is easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. come on. how about...a handshake. alright.

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welcome back to "morning joe." if you could only hear what we talk about during morning break. good morning, st. louis. a beautiful arch there. we are looking at the most part for clear skies and sunshine in many areas. two things at once. >> she throws well, too. >> 81 in chicago. i never bring it up. it's always him. continue to watch temperatures in the 90s, mid-atlantic up through the northeast. as far as the other story today, our friends in hawaii, if you're still up this morning or just going to bed, tropical storm felicia is going to be moving through. coming up next on "morning joe," and i wish you luck. chuck todd. imodium multi-symptom relief

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all right. welcome back to "morning joe." just before 7:30 on the east coast, we're following a breaking story out of cape cod this morning. nbc news confirming eunice kennedy shriver died earlier today. she was the younger sister of president i don't know f. kennedy and also the founder and honorary chairperson of the special olympics. according to the family she was surrounded by her children, their spouses and all of her 19 grandchildren when she died. eunice kennedy shriver was 88 years old. >> mika, you said that she was a matriarch in every sense of the word. >> absolutely. >> she was the glue that held this family together. she was tough. she was loving. and also she was a lot more than

a president's sister. she did remarkable things throughout her life. >> far beyond. as andrea pointed out earlier, she created the special olympics and brought people with special needs out of the darkness into the light and also was the pillar of her family. >> you know, there's so many people that make so much money trying to write books, trying to talk about the dysfunction of the kennedy clan. anybody that knows eunice shriver and sergeant shriver, and that family, all say the same thing. they are a remarkably close family. i'm reminded of the story, mark halperin of the kennedys and shrivers playing football and one of the shriver boys got knocked down and started to cry. bobby kennedy came up to them and said, kennedys don't cry. sergeant shriver patted him on the back and said, that's okay,

son, shrivers do. there was such a closeness in the family. the mom was the rock they built that family on. >> particularly the last years sergeant shriver had alzheimer's. nineteen grandchildren and incredible achievement. obviously the family always under scrutiny. she did so much. one of her children, maria shriver, part of the nbc family, someone who talked about the dangers of the health issues they have had. >> mika, you spent time with maria recently at an event honoring mothers. >> honoring mothers. >> yourself and maria. and all maria wanted to talk about was her own mother. >> she got up on stage and told great stories about her mother and the example her mother set. actually would talk about how she would get picked up at school. her mother would drive up in a station wagon with two big dogs in it and crazy hair and plaid pants on.

and she would go oh, my gosh, that's my mother. cut to 30 years later and that's me. thank god. her mother was such an example to everybody in her family and to anybody who wants to accomplish something in this world and feel a sense of fulfillment about giving back to society. >> and helping children with special needs. those of us -- >> special olympics, the most amazing organization. you can't help but be changed forever if you do anything pertaining to it, especially getting involved in an event. >> she took a family tragedy and decided to turn it into something remarkable. something terrible that happened to one of her sisters turned into something that helped hundreds of thousands of families across america and across the world. christy hefner, thanks fog coming back. >> it's always good to be here.

>> we were talking about the life of eunice shriver and what a great impact she had. >> i was with maria a few weeks ago, she's partnering on a woman's nation focused on what it means to have women now increasingly primary breadwinners, more than half the labor force. i completely agree she's such a classic example and that family is of kind of giving back. >> let's go to chuck todd, he's up in new hampshire, because president obama is making his pitch for health care up there. chuck, what do you expect the president to do? what's his message today? >> well, the official message is going to be about health insurance reform. you're going to hear that phrase over and over again. he's going to talk about what his bill is supposed to do for people who already have insurance. he's going to talk about how you won't get denied if you have a pre-existing condition. look, let's be realistic, the

real story is going to be how does the president address the tone of town halls taking place around the country. he's going to take a moment to do that. maybe because somebody shouts at him or maybe he'll go out of his way to try to find an opponent to talk to. in some form or another, the white house realizes he's got to use the bully pulpit to simmer things down a little bit. >> harold, these events as we usually heard earlier in news, these events are usually very well staged. they hand out tickets to supporters. chances are good they are going to have to find a cranky person on the street and drag them in to yell at the president to get that moment, likely friends of the president. >> to your point earlier and chuck's point, you may get someone to ask the question, mr. president, we agree with you, but how do we address the concerns if not the outrage that some across the country are dealing w the question i have

for chuck from the white house's perspective, when you address the tone are they not worried they have to be careful not to be attacking those raising concerns about the president's plan versus answering those questions? it would seem to me there's more to be gained from answering those concerns than attacking the tone. >> well, exactly. i think you'll see a pushback. yesterday speaker pelosi and house majority leader in usa today called some of these protesters un-american. notice i think you'll hear the exact opposite phrase from the president. in mexico even said we're having a healthy debate, vigorous debate, there's nothing more american. particular in new hampshire. new england arguably invented the town hall meeting. i think you'll hear the president push back on that a little bit and try to embrace the democracy but answer these

things. look, he's got to do some myth busting here. this whole death panel thing has gotten out of control among seniors. there are some opponents that are preying upon seniors at this point to get out information. it's something they have to push back on. >> chuck, i want to bring christy hefner in the conversation. new topic. hillary clinton, want to play this clip for you both, led us to these headlines where she feels she needs to emphatically say she's the boss. i actually don't blame her. joe and i disagree on this. here is hillary clinton answering a question i guess she thought was really about and for her husband. take a look. >> wait, you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. you can my opinion, i'll tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channeling

my husband. >> okay. christy hefner, first of all, what's your reaction to that? it's making a lot of waves in the papers. >> i kind of don't blame her. >> on the one hand, as somebody who has done business trips where you're on for 20 hours in a day and it's very hard to stay even energized never mind civil and charming, i have some sympathy for her. i think mika, you and i particularly, having a famous last name is a blessing and its a burden. what you have to do in my opinion is you have to remember at the end of the day you're going to be judged by who you are and what you do with opportunities you were presented. you have to have enough self-confidence to keep pursuing your own life and strategy and let the chips fall where they may. so a little too defensive. >> i think so. you're absolutely right. it's a blessing and a curse to have a famous last name. it ultimately calls on you to

really know who you are and it must be frustrating. a certain stage in adulthood where people are asking you to channel what your father thinks about something -- >> of course chuck todd they were actually asking about president obama, who somehow was lost in translation. >> there was that. >> the only famous last name i share is former alabama quarterback and new york jets mediocrity quarterback, no offense, richard todd. >> i know that's a heavy burden on your shoulder. >> really heavy burden. the guy that threw away the jets one shot at the super bowl in the '80s. but no, in all seriousness and i know mark halperin is on there, i can only imagine what the clinton folks from '08 are thinking, howard olsens of the world, only the clintons get overanalyzed by this. frankly, she was probably a little bit tired.

she had been on a crazy swing out there in africa. she misheard and all of a sudden the tabloids are psychoanalyzing her. that's where you've got to be a little sympathetic with the situation. >> of course she's my girlfriend so i'm going to forgive her no matter what she does. at the same time condoleezza rice acted that way towards a con congonese college student, chances are we'd be talking about it as well. >> her mj on the trip to africa is about women's rights. i think it's possible that one of the things she's teeing off of, a male student was saying to her, what does your husband think, saying i care what the man thinks not what you think. >> thank you very much, mark halperin. >> i love it. i am woman, hear my roar.

helen reddy. chuck. >> helen reddy and mark halpe n halperin. >> chuck we're going to be thinking about you and praying for you as you carry that terrible albatross, bastard son. >> you heard it here first. >> he threw two interceptions that got the dolphins to a super bowl. >> i have no idea how you even made it through school with that burden so heavy on your shoulders. >> how could i. >> thank you, todd. we'll be reading updates from you throughout the day. >> up in new hampshire today. >> absolutely. christie hefner, it's great to have you on the show. >> is that it? she just got here. stay there. don't leave. >> my pleasure. >> up next, "vanity fair's" vicky ward. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

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angeles city hall and it got ugly. >> >> no fat chicks! no fat chicks! >> i didn't realize he had a political side to him. >> welcome back. with us now contributing editor for "vanity fair" vicky ward. last week vicky wrote an article exposing andrea. >> the chief shareholder of a billion doll billion dollar madeoff. his company defended the actions saying, quote, that he's trying to sell the yacht and has been on board with perspective buyers. been on the boat. >> not any longer.

i think with some help from you, joe, come on. we were here discussing this last week. he was planning a cruise with some friends of he was going to pick them up and he called and said this is very annoying woman, vicky ward, who keeps mentioning the fact that i'm on my boat. it's too embarrassing to go on this cruise given that, you know, lost $7 billion in the bernie madoff scheme so the cruise is canceled. he's off the boat. so it did its work. >> are they still trying to sell the yacht? >> yes, they are. >> what's the asking price? harold and i were thinking about going into boating. >> i was told 22 million euros. i spoke to somebody who went and had a look. and like everything, you can get it on the cheapchristie, you wa

yacht? >> i'm the person that sold the "playboy" jet. >> things change so quickly in 18 months, though. the money tossed around, we really have hit the reset button. >> i think that's true and we're not going back to rolling back the clock two years on a lot of different levels because i think consumers are going to have to work through their consumer debt and the government is going to have to work through its deficit and business going to have to deleverage. some of what we used to have is not going to be the same. >> that's a political problem for barack obama and democrats who come in and they come in at a time when the economy that we've known for the past quarter century has changed from being deleveraged. even if the president were able to throw a hail mary pass and turn the economy around, a recovered u.s. economy is going to look nothing like our economy precept 15th, 2008, is it? >> i think you said it numerous times. the reset button has been

pushed. i'd be curious from miss hefner. >> is this about "playboy." >> unemployment numbers. the question about unemployment rising over the next year or so, how do you reconcile that with some of the positive data we're hearing from wall street? is there a disconnect with what main street is dealing with and wall street dealing with, some unemployed people. how do you assess where we are right now? >> i think the way you ask the question is right way to look at it, there are sectors. one thing i've noticed in past recessions companies were slow to lay off people. frankly you pay severance, have the cost of recruitment and training when you readd people. it was often a lass resort. in this recession, companies became aggressively proactive in playing people off because they were so fearful of where the bottom was. those sectors like main street sectors, like retail, we're going to get big retail quarterly earnings this week, i think are going to outperform

expectations. i think you're going to see jobs added back more quickly than might have been anticipated. but those sectors like financial services and housing, disproportionately responsible for layoffs, i think it's going to be much slower. >> vicky, we were talking before about common misconceptions regarding the crash, the good guys, who the villains were. you said something before we came on the that startled me is, you seemed to lay out a defense for john fein, merrill lynch. >> i didn't own merrill lynch stock but if i had, i think anybody would be defending john fein. there was a man who come in to run merrill lynch for 10 or 11 months. he was completely unemotional. he saw within 24 hours, 48 hours in the famous speech in the middle of september when lehman brothers fell, he saw what was

likely to happen unless he took very quick action. and he did the deal bank of ame. >> but you think he saved merrill lynch? >> he did a fantastic job for share holders. he said merrill lynch, unless we do something, the bank will go. >> and paulson actually did everything he could do to save lehman brothers. >> yes, i think when history is re-written, you know, and they had to admit the economy looks like it's better than it was. and we forget that it was henry paulson who actually was responsible for the very dramatic legislation that changed -- well, it actually

saved all of wall street and the economy. wall street affects main street. hank paulson, with the fed went through a lot of legislation. and i hope his memoirs get painted differently. >> yeah, he really has. he is a guy that came out of retirement. i am sure he wishes he just would have gone to aspen. >> i think he is a better guy than that. actually, i don't think he would. i think he wanted to help the country. it's a conspiracy theory. >> thank you. the great taste

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choice awards last night, and britney spears was honored with a lifetime achievement award. yeah. yeah, the award is given every year to remind us why we don't let teenagers vote. >> but we do let teenagers poll dance on national television. and miley cyrus. here is a picture of her. she was singing her hit song. >> "the climb," willie. >> let's watch the video. ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ it's a party in the u.s.a.

>> okay, she climbed on an ice cream cart, and as we all know they have polls on them. >> there is a new one on the set. >> my daughter bought her book, and now what am i supposed to do? >> she is 16. is that too much? >> i think it's a problem. obviously it's like "17 magazine" was always read by 13-year-old girls. young girls want to be young adult women, just like boys want to be young adult men. but you don't want their literal peer models being out there behaving like adults behave. >> yeah, if there was 16 and 17 and 18-year-olds watching this, they have seen a lot worse.

but it's 10 and 11-year-old girls -- >> that's my daughter, 11. >> i am not shocked and stunned by it, and i am thinking if you want to do that on mtv, do it. if you are going to do a kid show, though, seriously, you know 11-year-old kids are going to watch. don't do that. >> vicky? >> yes, well, i have two 6-year-old boys and they think miley cyrus is very boring. that would not affect them. but -- >> what about my daughter? >> well, she was holding on the poll and wiggling, and like the poll was a friendly long walking stick. >> a walking stick. >> simulated poll dancing. i never heard of it.

>> i think we are read into it. can't we let miley cyrus grow up? >> wearing tight shorts? >> well, listen, i am shocked by nothing. i really am shocked by nothing. this is not exactly about me being shocked. again, this is about targeting. it's targeting an audience. >> i am insulted. >> and there is part of it, too, that i find, and willie i will throw this to you, because you are an expert at -- >> yeah, poll dancing. >> we are trying to reshape your image after the heroin bust in florida. the thing is, this is so predictable and obvious. a young teen sensation, i will make the transition over to womanhood. we saw britney spears do it,

slither across the stage in "satisfaction." strip naked with your dad in the pages of "vanity fair." i don't find that offensive, because that's up to you. if people are going to wear "vanity fair," people go okay. >> well, she put the pictures in "vanity fair." she said how dare you think of it as being sexual. and now she will say how dare you say it was poll dancing. >> children don't watch "vanity fair." >> that's my point. >> i would rather people see her grow up in public, instead of hide and grow up sort of on the outside, the outside world. and then there is a train wreck

at the end of it. i would rather see public mistakes and let her grow up, and the end result may be better. it may. >> i have no idea -- are you working on another "vanity fair" thing with miley cyrus. >> it's a poll dancing issue. >> yeah, it is. all right. it's the talk of the hour. >> that will be -- advertisements will pileup for that one. >> at the top of the hour, we have vicky ward with "vanity fair," along with joe, and willie and me. and eugene robinson will join us. >> we will ask him what he thinks about miley cyrus simulating poll dancing on top of an ice cream truck -- he wrote a piece on this a year ago that won him a pulitzer prize. >> i am still getting over vicky's defense of it.

it's pathetic. >> we americans are so closed-minded. >> i have an 11-year-old that watches miley cyrus every day, and now i have to explain that. >> they watch you every day, come on. miley cyrus is the least of your problems. >> let's get to the top story and then get to eugene. very, very sad news to tell you about this morning. nbc news confirming that eunice kennedy shriver died today at a massachusetts hospital. she was the youngest sister of president john f. kennedy and also the founder and honorary chairperson of the special olympics. and arnold schwarzenegger described her. she was 88 years old. and president obama will be

in new hampshire today to counter health care reform misconceptions. >> we are having a vigorous debate in the united states, and i think that's a healthy thing. i suspect that once we get into the fall, and people look at the actual legislation that is being proposed that more sensible and reasonable arguments will emerge, and we will get this passed. >> searchers will be back in new york hudson river this morning to try and locate the final body from saturday's midair collision between a small plane and tour helicopter. eight victims have been pulled from the water. the investigation into the crash is expected to take months. >> your husband, by the way, an investigative reporter in new york, you told me that he agrees

that this is a real -- >> yeah, he just e-mailed. >> this is possibly a homeland security threat, where anybody can get in a cessna plane and fly around unregulated in new york city and slam it into times square or the empire state building. and we have tom costello saying the faa is not even talking about it. that's the stupidest thing i ever heard. >> yeah, he just said the faa would allow this unregulated flying over the hudson river. of course the question of congestion is the initial safety issue given what has happened, and then the second question that we should be asking right now, what you are asking -- >> it doesn't take a great deal of imagination to say i want to blow up the empire state building. what will i do? i will buy a cessna, and start

parking at teterboro, and i will become friends with those people, and one early sunday morning i will rush up to the gate, and we all know we have been in general aviation, and they wave me in and i fly and 10 minutes later i just took my plane down in times square. has nobody thought of that? >> well, yeah, this is too soon. >> yeah. >> do you agree? >> yeah, i think it's a sharp contrast with how useful is it that we all take our shoes off. we all do that because somebody once had a bomb in the shoe. i think thank goodness it was not in their bra. >> willie and i were pulling for

that. yeah, we take off our shoes and do all of these things, and then you look at this situation, and, my god. if i am in a cave-in afghanistan, i am writing this one down. here with us now, washington post so columnists, eugene rob n robinson. something, joe, i think we have heard on this show many times before from you.

>> yeah, gene, i have said for several months there are two issues here, and i am glad somebody is talking about this. we have morality issue of insuring uninsured americans, and you can debate whether that's 13 million or 47 million. you can debate that. and there is the second issue. this country, again, whether barack obama or john mccain had been elected president would be bankrupted by rising health care cost in the next 15 years. medicare and medicaid go down in 2019. yet, we are not having that discussion. we have not had that discussion, and we are not having it now with people screaming back and fourth at town hall meetings. how do we get this message to american? >> i don't know how we do at this point. you keep talking about it, and i will keep writing about it and we will see what we can do. i think a strategic decision was made to tie the two, basically.

i think they understand the math in the white house and in congress, and they feel the moral obligation to move towards universality. what i think that has ended u o doing in many peoples minds is confusing the debate. so we argue about whether there is going to be a death panel, and which is there is not. we argue about, you know, various really ancillary issues, and we never get to the main event. we are going to be broke. >> let's dissect this a bit more, because you talk about the death panel and the president's mixed message.

well, as the cbo and others say the president is addressing the moral side of the issue, and he is not addressing the math. he is claiming that he is, but he is not. the problem is, even though he is not addressing the math, you have got republicans and sarah palin, and newt gingrich and others talking about the death panels and the talk of rationing. that comes when we finally do have to talk about rising health care costs and choices that have to be made. >> but there has been no -- >> well, i think there is a factor that connects both of those issues. which is what we really have to do is talk seriously about is move from a system that focuses on treating illness to a system that promotes wellness. when we talk about the uninsured, it's not that we want everybody to have insurance, but we want to have access to preventive care and health services. when we talk about costs. three quarters of our cost goes

to chronic illnesses, most of which are preventible. that's the big discussion that we have to be having, i think. and where are the incentives or disincentives is the business question. >> seeing the president up in new hampshire today, what does he do to get his message back on track? >> well, i think from a standpoint of getting some health reform through, i think that this is the only thing that he can do. i think that it is time or past time for the president to weigh in to the whole town hall thing. he can be forceful, and persuasive in these situations. he might succeed, i think, in damping the fire somewhat. i am not sure that he, in the course of a few weeks, or a few

appearances, turns the whole thing around. but i think that he can kind of -- you know, clearly from the white house point of view, this whole thing spun out of control. i think the president has to define the terms of the debate. which he has not done, accept in the broadest possible terms. >> we will see what he says tonight to see if he can focus the debate. speaking of -- i can't say it. speaking of spinning out of control, but i think she was right. >> she was fired. >> no, but i think she was right. let's play it and then let the viewers decide. here is hillary clinton. >> wait, you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state! i am.

you ask my opinion and i will tell you my opinion. i will not be channeling my husband! >> okay. that's hillary clinton. she, of course, misunderstood a question. >> i think it was a miss translation. >> maybe not even a misunderstanding. but it shows -- >> what do you think? >> well, i am married to a man that people call mr. ward. that's not his name. she should not have to say that. it's painful to watch. i feel so sorry for her. >> don't you think it shows that she has this problem repeatedly? >> i think for many, many years. i don't think it developed in two days. >> she went through an entire campaign, and at times it was thrown up by -- >> well, bill clinton was not the best ally at times. >> and i was going to say

precisely to that point given that everybody thought he would be a great political ally during the campaign, and he turned out to be anything but. and if you look at the times since she has been secretary of state, and i think objectively he has not been messing around in her public perfesona. and i think one action that he took in the korean situation was done well. >> well, i think the reaction got so much print and coverage, and really compared to what she has been doing, and let's be honest here. hillary clinton as secretary of state has not got the coverage for a single trip or mission that bill clinton got for his one act. >> but that's dramatic. it's drama. >> yeah, but it still remains

true, bill clinton blows his nose and the world pays attention. >> thank you. do you think this is fair coverage? >> well, eugene robinson, chime in, final thoughts. >> well, people have said, you know, when your husband was president, this is the way things were done and whatever. there just seemed to me to be some sort of background to that that we have not seen in public, because clearly it hit her one nerve, and she misunderstood the question and went off. you are right, bill clinton has not been publicly atrucive in stealing her thunder. the korean mission was a humanitarian mission. what is he supposed to do? you don't blame him for that. but i wonder if she talks to

world leaders and they don't reminisce about the old days when bill was the guy. >> eugene robinson, thank you so much for being with us. >> is willie -- >> yes, a humanitarian mission to las vegas, nevada. >> they need to restore hope. >> yes, occupancy in the hotels. >> he is doing that this weekend. up next, senator barbara boxer. a political thriller. we will get this morning's business headlines from cnbc's erin burnett. but first, peter king is here. >> yeah, and most americans don't care about health care. >> yeah, and we will talk about that and the hudson issue. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. bicycle, i've missed you.

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that was a multimillion dollar attempt to take care of some myths. if obama's health care plan passes, how long until the firing squads are set up in queens in your queens district? >> before we get to that, i made a remark about a certain congressman being barefooted. i walk in this morning and what do i see? after all the years of abuse of me -- >> yeah, and he said he would not listen to southerners like joe scarborough, and then we get in a fight publicly, you brought

adams over, and i apologized for you bringing over a terrorists. those are the days, my friend, was my friend. and you were right about jerry adams. and peace -- >> here we are. you are making money and i am still hanging out in congress. >> yeah, you said last week health care is not high on the list for the wish list. what do you mean? what is radical? >> restructuring the entire health system. when you find 80% of the average people that have health insurance, and 90% of the registered voters have health insurance. it's not the type of issue that had to be solved by august 1st of this year like obama was saying. >> look at this poll. i understand a lot of democrats voted health care reform for a

long time. we do see this time and again, the biggest challenge that seems to be facing the president and the democrats is a large chunk of americans are satisfied with their health care plan. >> yeah, and there is an underlying anxiety, because since health care is tied up with employment for most americans, and we don't have portability of health care, and we don't yet have the requirement that people are covered regardless of preexisting conditions, which is part of what the reform is about, and i think people with health care know people that lost health care or know people that have gone into debt and bankruptcy because of health care costs. so you still have a majority of americans wanting change in the health care system. >> i agree with that. i don't disagree with that. we should have portability. i thought it was a mistake and say 17% of the economy and saying we have to have it resolved by august 1st,

otherwise the country will fall apart. that's where i think the president made a mistake. >> are there going to be death panels out there? >> no. >> sarah palin and newt gingridge exaggerating, right? >> well, even ed cotch, he was a big time supporter of president obama because of the health care. >> you are a ranking member on the homeland security committee, and what do you think about what happened over the hudson? what about the homeland security issues? >> i heard what joe said before, and the difference between small flights is the damage that can be done. a truck coming into times square

filled with explosive is dangerous, too. and as far as the safety issue, that's a real one. >> it doesn't surprise you on a homeland security level that it's so unregulated, even for small aircraft? >> i think it should be regulated. i was just talking about what joe said. we live in a dangerous said. we can't regulate everything. we do the best thing we can. and definitely homeland security should look into what happened over the hudson river, absolutely. >> all right. senator king, you come in my house, and been great, and i love you for it. >> i came to see mika, and not you. >> i understand that. we also book people on the radio, wabc in queens. >> i am on tomorrow.

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- building shiny, strong... - hair with life. announcer: new aveeno nourish plus. welcome back. it's time to talk to international superstar, erin burnett. this is the favorite time of our day, because she is after all, an international superstar. she will tell us today to tell us what is going to happen at the fed meeting. >> here is what going to happen

at the fed meeting -- nothing. >> you are channeling mark haines. >> yeah, i am. he is very riled up on a story today which we not need get into. >> is he upset about miley cyrus poll dancing? >> no, but he doesn't know about that one yet. i will share that in a moment. ben bernanke are starting the meeting this morning in a few minutes. they will come out with a decision tomorrow. there will be no move on rates, but what could come out of it, the most important thing to watch for is what update do they provide on the big stimulus in the fed. which is not interest rates. they have been zero forever. and it's all of the programs where they have been buying mortgages to keep mortgage rates lower, and other fixed income securities. and those are set to run out. that's the most important thing.

they will debate that today. and a couple other things to watch. general motors, it's 30 days out of bankruptcy. gm today says the bolt -- are you ready? did you talk about this. 230 miles per gallon. >> say that again. >> they say it could get 230 miles per gallon. >> well, there goes your revolution. if they can do that, seriously. >> seriously, it sounds a bit sketchy. >> yeah, my vehicle gets -- not that. >> well, it cost $40,000 at current prices. it's not sustainable and cannot bail gm out, so we will see. >> you start getting 230 miles per gallon, and people will buy

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the first election i voted in was samuel l. jackson >> that is unfair. don't do that to larry king. >> yeah, they are making fun of larry king again. my god, the questions that were asked last night on "larry king live." >> i don't want to talk about it. >> let's bring in democratic senator from california, senator barbara boxer. and she is also an author of a book "blind trust."

and we just heard the volt can get up to 230 miles a gallon. the revolution could be here. >> yeah, that's exciting. we recently had a hearing where we have people leaders out there, and they say the technology is there. what we need to do is put a price on carbon to level of playing field, and it will all happen, and we will lead the world. >> we will lead the world. for those people that say that we can't do it, i have always said just go to your toyota dealership and open the hood. the technology is there. we can't figure out how to do it? gm is going to have an announcement today. >> this is big stuff. it's the way we are going to really economically launch. we need a launching pad for a new economy, and this is going to be it. >> if this happens, historians

will look back on 2009 and say two things, transformed american culture. number one, the volt, and number two, your book. "blind trust." this will be like 43 years ago, the volt was released and they will look back at your book the same way. tell us about the book? >> it's a true look at what happens when you become a target of the far right, and how they come back you. and what it's like in your personal life, and what it's like, you know, in your -- with your staff and how staff plays such an important role in helping you stay cool. the star of the book is my ideal ellen fisher. she is a liberal democrat but married to a moderate republican congressman, who winds up leaving because he is being challenged from the far right, and he thinks it's going to be so hurtful, he doesn't want to

hurt her career. i think that there is a lot in there for people who are just a little bit interested in politics. >> i love it. >> let's talk about decisions. let's try to keep it down the middle. i know the town hall meetings, a lot of people on the right -- isn't there a lot of independents upset, too? >> yeah. >> there are being things said on the left that the white house is backing away from now. how do we have a discussion, a sane discussion, when you want to transform health care, or some people talked about transforming social security in 2004, or when we tried to reform medicare in '95 and '96. it seems seniors are always told whether republicans are doing it or democrats are doing, you are going to die. if this is passed they are taking your money away and kick you out on the streets, and now

they are setting up death panels? >> that's insane. there is something that passed in the committee by a conservative republican that says we don't use money for assisted suicide, and no federal funz. that was an affirmative step to say nothing about killing you or you killing yourself. okay. and then the second piece was another republican that stepped out, johnny isaacson from georgia that said if you want to talk to your doctor or lawyer about a living will, whether or not you want heroic efforts if you are very will, can you do that and get help, and if you don't want to do it, don't do it, this is a free country. this is what sarah palin picked up on and others. how do you do this? you just keep doing it, joe. you just keep trying to go on television shows -- unless

willie starts to scream at me, i guess i am okay. >> willie is the tyrant around the table. you bring up the end of life issues. and nobody likes to talk about it, but at some point we are going to have to realize that the reason we don't have enough preventive care, and the reason why our young in america get the worse health care is because we spend a hell of a lot of money keeping people alive the last six months with new technology. we expand life expectancy, and you have people rushing in and saying do whatever it takes, and even if it's two or three or four weeks. i know that sounds hard. but if you look at the economics of it -- >> i know it's human nature, because there are studies that show actually if more people did have a living will, to barbara's point, they actually made their own desires known rather than the family trying to ascertain

those, we would have different decisions being made. >> so if i write a living will that says don't keep me in a coma on a ventilator for a year. >> yeah, i think it's a matter of choice. some peoples' religion doesn't allow them to take a step like that, and it's in god's hands and if a doctor can save me, fine, but others want the opportunity to choose, and it's the way you look at live and you can say to my kids, this is what i want. that's all it's about. it's not about one size fits all. it's all very different. >> will health care get passed in the fall? >> i believe it's going to happen one way or the other. we will try hard to get the republican friends to help us. when it came through the stimulus package, and i know there were lots of arguments about it. i think you had a position on it, and maybe different than other members of the panel.

i felt we had to do this, because our economy was in free fall, and i am a believer in no death sentence. i know we have to work on that. but the fact of the matter is, we have three republicans, and that was so good that we got those three. one became a democrat and now we have two. and it's like, where are they? where are you? and we will try to pull republicans. but here is what i think, mika, i think the american people need to see us trying. we have to try to get bipartisan support. but let me tell you this, when you spend twice as much as any other nation in the world, when you are 29 out of 30 on infant mortality, and 24 out of 30 countries on longevity. we have to act.

otherwise i don't belong in the senate. >> yeah, and we had tom coburn sitting there yesterday, and now senator boxer, and they are both saying the same thing. tom coburn said the system is broken and we have to fix it. >> yeah, it's very easy to say. do you think the president is struggling with his message, and what do you think if you agree that he needs to do tonight at the town hall in new hampshire? is there anything that he can do to clarify? >> yeah, we have to be sharper and be clear. to me, this is about my families in california. very simply put. the studies show, if we do nothing, the average family in my state are going to be spending 41% of their income on health care premiums. if you live in pennsylvania, it's 50% of your income. and this is unsustainable, and incredible. if i cannot take the heat at a

town hall or round table or wherever i go or in the street, i don't belong in the senate. it's tough. nobody said it was going to be easy. the president is tough. i think that this is turning into another presidential campaign for him. he is very good when he is, you know, challenged. so i am hoping that we all hone our message. >> willie, and try not to make it a personal vindictive attack. >> i will hold my fire, and take it off the air with the senator. >> senator, do you feel like the american people -- we showed an nbc poll a few minutes ago that shows health care third on the list behind the economy and jobs, and do you think the american people share your sense of urgency and the urgency the president has in getting this done now? why now? why so quickly? >> well, one of the biggest

drags on the economy is the health care system that is killing our small businesses. they need a chance to get insured for themselves for the families that work for them. they are trying to compete in a world economy. so if you care about the economy, and you care about the jobs, you know, there are 48 million people out there that don't have health care. and it's costing us a fortune. every one of us around the table, it's costing us $1,100 a year to carry the cost of the uncompensated year. the economy, the jobs and health care and if i might say, energy independence. i think it's all important. of course, deficit reduction. we can do that. we will. >> yeah, it's definitely a business. >> the question is can we do it all at once. you took over playboy enterprises and tried to transform that company, and you did not make all the changes in six months. i wonder if, as colin powell

suggested a few weeks ago, the president is trying to do too much too quickly all at one time? >> i suspect what is going to happen is going to be changes that get passed over time. it will be what can we build a consensus around? and today we have consensus from big business and small business and insurance companies and the government and etc. around moving to universal coverage, and moving to no restrictions on preexisting conditions, and portability. and you say that's pretty impressive. >> right. >> i think the other piece that will require us to take time, frankly, is that we don't know yet what is going to be most effective. what i have heard is that something like 25% of medical decisions that are made today are actually based on

evidence-based knowledge of what is most effective. >> right. >> so we are going to have to learn as we go. that's going to require an evolution politically. >> speaking of insurance companies, nancy pelosi a week or so ago said insurance companies -- i don't know if she used the word evil, but something like villains. do you agree with that? >> they are part of the problem. look at the economy and how we struggle. the last four years the insurance industry has seen its profits go up 400%, while people are being dropped from coverage. it doesn't add up. and i am -- i used to be a stock broker on wall street. what i think we did this year saved capitalism. but that's another debate. the fact is there is something wrong when you have something like health care, which is so important for families, for the ability to live and thrive.

and here is the problem. they don't want competition. and that's where all the problems come in. i just want to mention -- >> wait, wait, i need to follow-up because we are running out of time. the president backed away from nancy's and steny's unamerican comments yesterday. do you agree the protests are "unamerican "? >> i like to use my own words. i would put it this way, town halls are an american tradition. and if folks come in there from the right and the left and they are screaming and they shut it down, it's hurtful and doesn't help us get anywhere or get any better. we will work around it. we have to.

because we can't walk away from this issue. >> well, a health insurance problem, changing incentives. >> sure. do you agree with nancy pelosi that this book may just be the greatest book ever written? >> use your own words. >> i like to use my own words, and say it's a page turner, and i think you will really enjoy it. >> i think i will. barbara boxer, nice talking to you. the book is "blind trust," and willie and i have decided it will transform america's popular culture. >> we will be right back. check us out on the radio. you can listen live from the website, at joe msnbc.com. (announcer) your doctor knows

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welcome back. it's time to talk about what we learned today. willie, what did you learn? >> i learned when i was in high school, the girls went to bal t ballet, and now they are going to poll dancing. >> what did you learn? >> i learned it was possible to eat a sno-cone and poll dance at

the same time. and i also learned king thinks we need health care reform and regulation over the hudson. >> all of the topics, i learned, we will be talking about on the radio. >> yeah, we learned about a gm car, that may get 230 miles to the gallon. we also learned, willie, perhaps there is not a rudder weather man in all of america -- >> crude, actually. >> if there were one other weather person in the building, we would use them. here is a "morning joe" moment, joe and bill karins going at it. >> look at the beautiful arch there. we are looking at clear skies and sunshine out there in many areas. i am seeing two things at once. she throws well, too. and 81 in chicago -- i will never bring it up. >>