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tv   Morning Meeting  MSNBC  August 13, 2009 9:00am-11:00am EDT

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this is frankly just a joke at the time. huge joke. it may be a big cultural event now. >> it was a big joke inside the nixon white house. it was a pretty big deal at the time. >> all these guys didn't make it there, they were falling off the road, it was a mess. unbelievable!
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>> that's woodstock remembered 40 years later by the likes of buchanan, urlichman and alderman. harold's now calling johnny isaacson -- the euthanasia amendment? >> i'm not saying anything. i just had to offset that comment. >> this is like okay corral. >> i love hillary. >> david axelrod is starting chain e-mail. i just got a note, he's actually sending out e-mail with health insurance facts correcting misrepresentations and asking people, forward it, there are all these chain e-mails out there. >> willie? >> i learned two things. mike barnicle once again the master of the irish good-bye.
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45 minutes ago said i'll be right back. he just landed at logan airport, i believe. number two, i learned from "time" magazine that vegas needs me more than ever and i will be there for you, lady luck. >> willie geist, he is a patriot. willie, it's way too early. what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." and it is time for the morning meeting with our good friend, dylan radigan. good morning. contessa is off, chris jansing will join us for the balance of the day. mr. capehart is here. the lockerbie bomber may be getting moved back to libya. families of victims of that bombing will join us. is this a game of oil politics using a convicted terrorist as leverage? we'll have that conversation. also, hillary clinton on the one hand tina brown says she's
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doing a spectacular job, great six months. at the same time there is this nasty web clip of her carrying on. then the generational divide. is health care quite simply about old and young and at what point do the young in this country say enough is enough. there's our friend secretary of state hillary clinton. i've referenced her just a second ago. again, we'll talk about her past six months. but let us begin first here with the lockerbie story. i think we have stephanie gosk live at the libyan embassy in london but i'm not sure. stephanie, are you there? >> reporter: i'm here. i'm actually in our london bureau at the moment, dylan.
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can you hear me? >> yeah, i can hear you. can you hear me? >> i can hear you now. my apologies. we've been covering the today of libbial abdel al megrahi who is serving a life sentence for the pan am 103 bombing over two decades ago. his defense team is applying for release on compassionate grounds. he's dying of pancreatic cancer. it's spread throughout his body so they've asked the scottish government to release him to his home country of libya so he can spend his final days with his family. british reports are saying they've decided they are going to release him imminently so he can be back in libya for ramada but the scottish government says that's not the case, they're still deliberating whether or not to release him or transfer him to a new jail to a different jail in libya. they released this statement earlier today. they said that we can confirm that no decision has been made on the applications for his release or his transfer and that
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the justice secretary kenny mccaskill, the official in scotland is still considering the situation and hopes to make a decision later this month. >> thank you. joining us, kathleen flynn, jack flynn, both residents of new jersey who lost your son in this bombing. we appreciate you taking time to come out and talk to us on a summer morning. nice to see both of you. start at beginning. they say this is a consideration, a decision they'll look at this month. what decision do you think they should make? >> i think it is an interesting play on words, the fact that mr. al megrahi is being considered for a compassionate release because of his illness. my thought is, just think about that. the word compassionate means someone who has mercy, sympathetic, charitable, humane. my question is, did mr. megrahi as he planted a bomb on a u.s.
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airliner reflect on any compassion for the people he was about to blow out of the skies and the people on the ground in lockerbie? i think not. therefore, this terrorist who killed 270 innocent people should never, ever qualify for anything compassionate. >> have you had any contact with this man since the incident? >> we went to the trial every day, either in the netherlands or in new york on closed-circuit tv. so we saw him all the time at the trial. but the evidence was so strong against him, he was guilty. i reviewed the evidence with friends of mine who were u.s. prosecutors and they went down through the evidence and they said, jack, he's guilty and you're going to get him. you're not going to get the other. the other one was released as a result. okay? but i was aware that that could happen. mr. megrahi did it, and he
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actually carried the bomb and got it on the plane. okay? so, yes, the evidence was very strong. >> what is your sense of why this is even a consideration? obvious that this person is not deserving of compassion based on your very articulation. and yet a conversation emerges, should there be a so-called compassionate transfer. why do you think this comes up? >> well, i think my feeling is, it has to do with the fact that moammar gadhafi is still in power and that libya is a very oil-rich country, and i would hate to make that comparison with regard to establishing relationships with a known
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brutal dictator and his country. so i think that that's not something that you can just put out of your mind. i think it is a concern. >> the idea being that he's a political proffer, for oil negotiation. >> the fact is he'll go home to libya for a hero's welcome because moammar gadhafi is the man who ordered the bombings. you're sending home the criminal to his boss. you know? >> how old was your son? >> he was 21. he was a junior at colgate university studying in the syracuse program in london. he was on his way home for christmas. >> i can't imagine what the two of you have been through. i appreciate again your coming to talk to us. >> sorry about the prostate cancer. it is very curable. >> this is the prostate cancer -- >> he has.
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i had it. my friends had it. it is a very correctable scenario. i can't understand why you can go back to libya when you can basically remove his cancer and he would not die. >> sure. not to put words in your mouth, but sounds like irrespective of what the cancer is, doesn't matter. your point is, if you're even going to go down the cancer road -- certainly, i understand. thank you, both. appreciate it. kathleen flynn, jack flynn. chris jansing with us. what else is going on? >> a lot's going on today, dylan. president obama taking the day off from the health care debate but fellow lawmakers are not. another full slate of town hall meetings is on tap for today after two dozen were held around the country wednesday. still plenty of outrage being vented, a lot of it from seniors. nearly all of it aimed at democratic lawmakers like maryland senator ben carden.
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zbla say it with me. $99 trillion that you did and your cohorts up there on capitol hill, how are you going to look at my children? >> we'll take a closer look at the generational divide in this debate in a couple of minutes. what's in this plan for seniors? could they get the short end of the stick? that's coming up. some break economic numbers to share. first the nation's retailers, disappointing report for july. retail sales fell .1%, almost 1% lower than expected. one bright spot, car sales posted a 2.4% jump with some help from that cash for clunkers program. we're also getting a fresh snapshot of the job market. labor department reports first-time jobless claims rose but an unexpected 4,000 to 558,000 new claims. but ongoing unemployment claims fell to 6.2 million from 6.3 million a week earlier. also new this morning, new worries about the housing market. foreclosures are soaring, jumping 7% in just a month.
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that's 32% up from a year ago. realty track says 1 out of every 35 350-foreclosures alone. the opening bell rings in about 20 minutes. fire officials have evacuated several hundred people in the path of a fast-burning wildfire in northern california. the fire has already burned through 1,900 acres near santa cruz and is threatening 250 building, including the campus of look heed martin. windy and dry conditions are hampering firefighting efforts. check out the fiery end to a police chase earlier this morning from detroit. officers were chasing a pickup truck when the minivan hit it, going through an intersection. that collision sending the truck on to the sidewalk, taking down a power pole, then erupting into flames. we're working to find out conditions of both drivers. no word yet on why that chase even started in the first place.
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guantanamo detainees may find a new home in michigan. administration officials will tour a maximum security prison north of detroit. it's the standish prison. the military penitentiary in levinworth, kansas, both facilities the government's looking at to house detainees. president obama has ordered the guantanamo facility closed by next year. next hour we'll take a closer look at that proposal to move those gitmo detainees to the u.s. euna lee and laura ling spoke out together the first time since their release from north korea. the two journalists posting a thank-you video to their supporters on their employer's website, current tv. >> we are so, so very grateful for all of your love and support. >> we're so happy to be back with our families. it was tough time in our life. >> they went on assignment when they crossed the border into north korea. former president bill clinton flew there to secure their release. they were detained there for 140
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days. even bears need to cool off on a hot summer day. this one in california decided to hit the pool. of just right for a little swim. took a dip for about a minute, then just wandered off. there have been several reports of bears in backyard pools. even stealing from an apple tree. apparently they have read that little-known provision of the health care bill, an apple a day keep the the vet awap. much more ahead here on the "morning meeting." secretary of state hillary clinton coming under fire for more comments she made in africa. is she feeling tired? threatened? overshadowed by her husband? or is this just a couple of web clips and a bad rap in somebody who's otherwise doing a fine job? but first the generational divide over health care reform. do seniors think the
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government's pulling the plug on grandma, so to speak, and how can the democrats elevate and inform the nature of this conversation, if anything? what's our farite part of honey bunches of oats? the sparkly flakes. the honey-baked bunches! the magic's in the mix. my favorite part? eating it. honey bunches of oats. taste the joy we put in every spoonful. they say imports always get the best mileage. well, do they know this malibu offers an epa estimated 33 mpg highway? they never heard that. which is better than a comparable toyota camry or honda accord? they're stunned. they can't believe it. they need a minute. i had a feeling they would.
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lack bawelcome back. one of the few republicans who's actually been with the president in the room trying to work on some form of bipartisan planning took a dive on wednesday. he told his constituents they have every right to fear government death panels which is
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again -- were such a thing to exist, it would be quite scary. i understand that. bringing in chuck todd, chief white house correspondent. chuck grassley and his apparent cooperation and participation with the president in private, then inflaming the most partisan and sort of fearful aspect of it in public. >> dylan, first take a listen to what grassley said because in his defense, he didn't use the word "death panel." he was trying to get closer to what's actually in the house bill. take a listen. >> in the house bill there's counseling for end of life. and from that standpoint, you have every right to fear. we should not have a government program that determines you're going to pull the plug on grandma. >> now dylan, what i think we're getting out here, let's look at the politics. grassley's been a part of the last sort of remaining republican, 1 of 3 in the bipartisan talks. he's up for re-election in 2010.
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iowa, very much a at this point a democratic-leaning state. huge conservative vent to it inside the republican party. iowa caucuses are regularly nominating the more conservative candidate that a lot of times doesn't get the republican presidential nomination. that's what grassley has to fear. he's walking a fine line. he might be needing to find a way out. there are some at the white house that fear that while grassley may get everything he wants in this bipartisan deal out of the senate finance committee, he'll end up not being able to support it publicly because of his own potential problems it would cause him on the right. that's why he was possibly trying to walk that fine line. but then you've got other conservatives who are up for re-election themselves in 2010. listen to senator lisa murkowski on this very issue from alaska. >> it does us no good to inkrith fear in people by saying that
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there's end of life provisions, these death panels. so quite honestly, i'm so offended at that terminology because it absolutely isn't. there is no reason to drive up fear in the american public by saying things that are not included in the bill. >> fun back story here, lisa murkowski from alaska was jabbing a little bit at sarah palin, a fellow republican, but somebody she is not very friendly with. sarah palin of course defeated lisa murkowski's father for governor back in 2006. that could have been as much as a little internal political strife as anything. but i tell you, the white house is very pleased to hear comments like that from somebody who will not support them eventually on this bill, dylan. >> jonathan capehart, are you there? >> right here. >> what occurs to me -- you know this better than i in terms of political aspects, but i feel
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there's been an implicit deal with the american people where old people in america pay for the education of young people in america, through the tax base, and young people in america pay for the health care of old people in america through the tax base. we have a government medicare obviously for senior citizens. as long as that's sort of balanced, nobody gets too worked up. but we're at a point now where the costs of providing health care is exploding, and i wonder whether we're starting to set up a real generational divide here between the demands and politics of seniors and their expectations from national health care or medicare, and the young people of this country who are looking at an increasing tab for all of these things. >> sure. well yes. it was bound to happen. dare say inevitable. because the seniors, these are the baby boomers. the generation, our generation, my generation, coming up behind them, there are fewer of us to pay that huge exploding health
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care bill that's coming. health care, medicare, medicaid, social security, and all of these things so there are fewer of us, fewer young people to pay the huge tab. also, we're looking at bank bailouts and auto bailouts an other things to try to keep the country afloat. whether we like it or not, don't know whether generational divide is the right phrase to use, there will be this inevitable tension between young and old. >> chuck, how does the white house deal with that? obviously the investment from seniors in this debate, if you look at the town halls, et cetera, they're much more invested for obvious reasons. and yet you get the generational aspect, our generation, looking at this and saying, hang on a second -- you get it. >> look, generational warfare would be a huge political problem for them. the thing is, we're not even talking about the other bigger issue here when we talked about this weird debate about living wills which has gotten out of
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hand. another debate which we don't talk about, which is the fact that guess what? life expectancy is going to continue to get longer and longer. so what is the next debate that's going to come? do we have to have a workforce work longer because we can't afford to have medicare folks because people are going to live to 110 or 120. talk about a generational war that's going to start in another five years. god help us then. >> chuck, i have three rapid fire questions for you. >> uh-oh. >> one, you said that chuck grassley probably won't publicly support a health care bill that has all the things in it that he wants. is that also mean that he won't vote for it? which is a very public thing to do. >> look, i think that is a worry with some democrats very close to these conversations that grassley, because the rest of the caucus isn't going to
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support him. this has become so much of a partisan issue. then you have grassley, who usually never has to worry about re-election. but the last thing he wants to do is open up a wound on the right. if he becomes sort of only 1 of 4 republicans to support a deal that he cut? look, jonathan, this is the problem that the white house is in. grassley, if he cuts a deal and gets everything he wants, that's a way to guarantee ben nelson, that's a way to guarantee blanch lincoln, some of the conservative democrats. then if you don't get grassley himself -- >> it's a real box. yeah. then my second question is, at what point will the president put some real skin in the game? where he and the administration say, this is exactly what we want in a health care bill? so that folks out there who are taking heat in those town hall meetings aren't fighting
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phantoms as they are now. >> they feel like they're punching at nothing. when you try to punch back, give me more ammunition. no, i think that -- i thought it was a very telling blind quote today in the "new york times" story -- my apologies for bringing up a rival newspaper. but in that "new york times" story about how sort of the deals with the industry have worked with the white house and how they've all been pointing to one group of folks and one bill, what comes out of the senate finance committee. frankly, i think we're still waiting until those details come out and then that's when the white house will say, here's our skin. we're in the game. >> last question along those lines though, chuck, following on jonathan. how does the white house change the conversation from death panels and funding abortion to plans that increase portability for people in the workforce and increase patient choice and manage costs? how do you create a conversation around portability, choice and cost as opposed to death panels and abortion? >> i think this is the problem. we now -- the debates, there are
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two debates. the debate inside the beltway an among democrats is about portability, it is about cost. that's a real debate that's happening. the debate now in the polarizing red versus blue culture war, one that he's going to be fighting as long as he's president, as long as he's head of the democratic party, so i kind of think the white house, for now, believes, guess what? these town halls, it's table catnip. you heard robert gibbs yesterday saying, hey, almost blaming us in the media for ginning this story up, creating this made-for-reality tv news, whatever you want to call it. and instead focus on the debate they have to worry about in congress which is getting a bill through and hope that eventually we just wear ourselves out, that we punch ourselves drunk. you snow use more box is metaphors. punch ourselves out and just stop covering these town halls. >> basically come back to portability -- >> or go back to not covering it. >> or guantanamo or something else for that matter. >> exactly.
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>> chuck, thank you. jonathan's staying. next here at the "morning meeting," south carolina governor mark sanford now all by himself in the governor's mansion talking about the state of his career. is he ready to step down? chris jansing is here with the answer. she'll give it to us right after this. ? you were right. these healthy choice fresh mixer thingys, taste fresh... say it again! they taste fresh. wait. what are you doing? got it. you're secretly taping me? it wasn't a secret to us, we knew of course. they taste fresh becse you make them fresh. healthy choice fresh mixers. in the soup or pasta aisle.
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welcome back. chris jansing is here. chris asked at the commercial, what's the plan for this segment? they said the plan is dylan's going to shut up and you're going to talk. >> you love mark sanford, the governor of south carolina. he is finding it hard to be alone in the governor's mansion. he -- his wife went to charleston after he had, shall we say, a liaison, unfortunate liaison with another woman. he's not in contact with her but
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he says he'll never run for office again, his political career is over. >> no resignation but -- >> 16 more months and he'll do the best he can for the people of south carolina. would you buy a 52-inch samsung plat tv for $5.99? lots of people said yes at best buy. then best buy said, time, folks. sorry. it's really $1,799.99. but that's half off. >> did they let the people keep the tvs? >> no. >> no one got it for $9.99. some people say it is a scam to get you to sign up. most stores will honor an incorrect price. in this case, $1,800, best buy says we're not eating that. you know what? take off, go away, have a vacation. for $599, you can buy a ticket for travel on jetblue from
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september 8 through october 8, go anywhere they fly. >> how much? >> $599. >> $599, it is like a pass. i can just get on and off like a bus pass. >> exactly. book three days in advance, tax is not included. but they fly not just in the u.s. but the caribbean, south america. >> is there a limit on the number of flights? >> just keep going. go as far away as you possibly can. then try and get back. >> can i get back? >> that's not clear. >> we'll talk to the boss after this segment. thank you, chris. coming up in the second half hour of the morning meeting, did she have a bad week or is she simply getting a bad rap? secretary of state hillary clinton feeling the heat over comments she made about the 2000 presidential election, this on the heels of another angry outburst involving bill clinton. is she tired? is she ready to come home? is she just misunderstood? or is she simply a victim of a
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taliban. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is live in kabul with more. richard? >> reporter: good morning, chris. there has been more fighting in that town in southern afghanistan this morning after yesterday in a pre-dawn raid, about 500 u.s. marines and 100 afghan soldiers moved in. they had stiff resist tent with the taliban in the town firing back with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades an hurricane machine guns. according to nato officials, about evan to ten taliban fighters were allegedly killed nep also seized about 60 pounds of opium. these operations are taking place in southern afghanistan in order to try and clear out the taliban so people can vote in elections that take place just one week from today. there are concerns that violence will increase leading up to the election, and even take place afterwards. there are many questions in this country about how the results
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will come in. the taliban has vowed to disrupt the election, and because this country has such a primitive rogue network, primitive communications network, it could take up to two weeks for final results to be clear. >> thank you, richard. citigroup is defending a $100 million pay package for a top energy trader. the obama administration's pay czar is about to begin examining the pave top executives at the companies who took billions in taxpayer bailouts. but citigroup plans to claim that the energy traders should be exempt from the new compensation limits because he signed a contract before the pay law was passed. to some it may be no surprise, people who live in hawaii among the happiest in america. it is after all, paradisparadis. a new well being index attempts to measure evaluation, work and physical traits.
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my home state of ohio? i dispute that. >> file that as indispute. we'll accept it but put a little red marker. >> i want the recount done immediately. >> in dispute. secretary of state hillary clinton wrapping up an 11-day, seven-nation trip of africa tomorrow but not without a few bumps and bruises along the way. chris, get us to speed real quick. what's the latest and greatest? >> hillary clinton stopping in nigeria, comparing corruption in that country's elections with the 2000 presidential election here in the u.s. take a listen to this. >> our democracy is still evolving. we had all kinds of problems in some of our past elections. as you might remember. in 2000, our presidential election came down to one state where the brother of the man running for president was the governor of the state. so we have our problems, too.
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>> those comments sparked quite a spirited debate on msnbc's "morning joe." here's host joe scarborough. >> hillary clinton, the secretary of state, of the united states of america, is overseas and she suggested that the governor of florida, jeb bush, rigged the election for george w. bush. i was there. that is an unfair slanderous assessment. >> just a couple of days earlier, this was in the congo, secretary clinton snapping at a college student whose question was mistranslated to say what does your husband think instead of what does the president think? >> interpreter: what does mr. clinton think through the mouth of mrs. clinton? >> wait, you want me to tell what you my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. >> then on top of that, adding to the woes, a new poll shows former president bill clinton has a higher approval rating than mrs. clinton. could have something to do with the freeing of the north korea
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journalists. >> clearly. clearly. i want to bring in our guest, david hawkings, managing the tore of "cq weekly." jonathan capehart. david, you say this is is exism, pure and simple. >> i'm not sure about pure and simple but i certainly think two things going on. if this were a man, most men secretary of states we've had in our career, a little slip of the temper wouldn't be this big a story. i also -- in that sense it is a stereotype. the other thing is it plays to her reputation. hillary clinton going back to the time she was first lady and the wife of the candidate for president back in the early '90s, she had a reputation, well deserved, as i'm told from people who talked to her, for being quick-tempered and fiercely tempered, especially when she was tired. so -- we haven't seen that much in the last few years. she was pretty disciplined as a candidate. now she works for the no drama obama administration and she's kept it pretty well in check.
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again, it lives up to her reputation. >> bill clinton does that all the time and gives these speeches. does anyone ever say to him what does your wife, the secretary of state, think about that? i don't think hillary clinton's approval ratings or her popularity in the american public were ever higher than after her husband had an unfortunate situation in the oval office with monica lewinsky. what's that say about us when we find women most appealing -- >> when they're most vulnerable. when she feels vulnerable, then you can be sympathetic. when she's powerful, she's a bitch. >> are we allowed to say that? >> i did. that's what we're talking about. right? >> well, look. all of this -- we look at the clintons through, i think, a fun house mirror. anything they do, anything they say is interpreted, parsed, pulled apart. >> what about sexism? >> well, i'm getting to that point. i wrote a piece for our "post"
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partisan blog, that you go, hillary. she's in a country, and on a continent where generally male supremacy rules. so she's asked the question by someone that's translated as asking what does your husband think of this foreign policy situation? and she looks at him and says, ask me. i'm the secretary of state. so she's sending a message to the men and women in that room and in africa that she will not be condescended to, nos t as a woman or not as secretary of state of the united states of america. i think she did absolutely the right thing then. when she found out translation was wrong, she went over to the questioner, shook his hand. they had a little bit of a conversation, hearty smile. she did exactly the right thing. yes, i agree that, yeah, there's sexism involved here. >> very quickly, david hawkings, how should we judge hillary clinton on the job that she does? >> well, by how well she's able
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to advance -- how well she is able to do what the questioner meant to ask, which is how well is she able to channel what president obama wants out of foreign policy and bring it brak to the united states. it's pure and simple. we should not judge her on how she -- whether she should stand by herman in 1992 or whether she ran a failed campaign for health care reform in 1993 or whether she ran a failed campaign for president last year or what she's doing now. lots more coming up on the "morning meeting." this is one of my favorites, in fact. taxis to another galaxy. how to spend your summer vacation. nasa wants to send people into space. they're using $50 million in stimulus money to create an x-prize, if you will, an aspirational number. if you can create a taxi to space, we'll give you $50 million. is that a good use of taxpayer money and would you get on that
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no more space shuttles after next year, so nasa's spending its time figuring out how to do commercial spaceflight. it's come up with a $50 million program to develop so-called space taxis. nasa putting out the call to anyone if you know how to do that. the only reporter covered every single mission flown, 51 years, joining us via skype from cape canaveral, space taxis, jay, fantasy or reality. is this doable? >> it's doable, but not yet.
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listen, this is like handing the keys to the minivan to the 7-year-old and telling him to drive the kids to school. you want to do that now? you have to learn. you have to get there. we're not there. the people who are proposing to do this have had four flights of one rocket, two of them completely failed, one of them was a partial failure, the other one was a success. they want to tie nine of these rockets together and fly people up into space? now they turn around and say, we need $300 million to build an escape system. of course. you want to escape off of that thing before you launch. >> i'd like to see the escape system. it's a long ladder off the back, i suspect. >> right! >> jim, on the phone, a former space shuttle engineer himself, someone who could probably build us a ladder. also a spate consultant here at nbc. i understand they're entertaining commercial entities today in houston?
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is this correct? >> yes, dylan. i'm at the nasa space center. we're going through several briefings of the next shuttle flight set for august 24th. looking at briefings about the space taxi. i think the timing is per gekt perfect to get into this taxi business. it is more than just ferrying people up and down orbit. we had more ambitious missions. now we need something to move in a day or so up to space and back, we could build much simpler, cheaper and lighter vehicles. nasa could do it or other people could do it, and other people can do rocket science. >> jay, i just say aries 1, the rocket they've been working on. here we see it going into space. we have to remember, back when we lost seven astronauts
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on-board "columbia," the mission said the utmost important here is safety. the shuftle inherently is not safe. get rid of it. that's what they've been doing trying to get rid of it. they sent the best minds in the country to go out there and look what we should do for a future spacecraft. first they thought about modifying existing rockets. they found out they could not. this aries 1 is 45 times safer than the space shuttle itself. so they went through all of this. now another review board is going through, replowing ground. $50 million in nasa and space exploration, that's like giving dylan a dime to go out to the fanciest restaurant in new york city and have a great meal. you can't buy it on that. let's quit kidding ourselves. we're going to get there, but not yet. >> we're not going to get there on a $1 billion program. >> jim, what would be the safety -- obviously we can get a
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craft into space. obviously we can get people on a craft into space. we've been doing that for decades. cost and safety. >> dylan, obviously things are safer on paper than they are in reality. paper studies on safety have a notorious bad track record and nasa. these private people, first of all they can be sued. nasa can't be sued. they're going to start out by being a little more careful. >> they don't have the know-how yet. >> jay, you just need that long ladder and you'll be fine. >> let's modify a volkswagen. i'll get on a volkswagen -- this is ridiculous! >> jay, go ahead. >> i watched a private rocket flying people up into space and back in the desert. i stood there twice a couple of years ago. these are things that until
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recently private group company could not do but private companies have been learning about this. i'm if i have my ways, will cover this story inside and out. the morning meeting will be all over the space taxi. thank you both. still ahead here on the morning meeting, tell us how you really feel. former vice president dick cheney unleashing about his relationship with former president bush. new details about his tell-all book out this morning we will discuss when the morning meeting returns exclusively on msnbc. w . active naturals wheat formulas proven to target and help repair damage in just three washes. - building shiny, strong... - hair with life.
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welcome back to the break room we go.
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an old friend and neighbor named torre. what's your real name? >> just torre. >> there's a lot in the break room. kelly clarkson, why we still care about her, i'm not sure. she was on the cover of self magazine. it was photo shopped. shock, magazines are photo shopping people. causing a debate online, people don't have that much to do. she's photo shopped to look thinner and perhaps more attractive to some people in the magazine. they think total body confidence. clearly kelly clarkson does not have total body confidence. >> "self" sells itself as -- you would think "self" magazine of all magazine, you can be your self with "self" magazine. it's just a moment here. you've seen this photograph.
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next time we see her on stage, we'll see how she really is. we're going to move along. i don't even care about the "american idol" situation at all. anything with "american idol." just paula, whatever, no. let's go to somebody else. >> we don't care about. >> in the philly schools they are considering letting tony danza, who's the boss. he's going to be in a new reality schmo called "teach" if approved by philly education officials. he would co-teach a tenth grade english class. whether he's up to the level of teaching children english, i'm not sure. the school is going to vote on this next week and allow at least 13 episodes to be shot.
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certainly have the cameras and microphones in the classroom will be a fantastic educational experience for all these kids. they will learn so much from tony danza. thank you so much. >> he kind of looks like a tenth grade teacher. think of it as a role. you will play a tenth grade teacher. >> i don't think it's actual education when the cameras start rolling. >> actual education? >> yes. when the cameras stop rolling, now we're going to teach you the stuff you should have been learning. you know how easy it is to get distracted in tenth grade. cameras, multi-cameras, three cameras, six microphones, boom, all over the place. >> shakespeare, english. >> can you imagine shakespeare, tony danza, the thick accent there? >> you have a problem with thick accents? >> no, i don't have a problem with thick accents.
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i don't think we should teach that to the children. >> i have to go. you look as hand some and devilish as ever. still ahead the second hour of "morning meeting," when it comes to health care are republicans friend or foe to reform period. is it time to nix bipartisanship? when i really lid to be outside, i did not like suffering from nasal allergy symptoms like congestion. but nasonex relief may i say... bee-utiful! prescription nasonex is proven to help relieve indoor and outdoor nasal allergy symptoms like congestion, runny and itchy nose and sneezing. (announcer) side effects were generally mild and included headache. viral infection, sore throat, nosebleeds and coughing. ask your doctor about symptom relief with nasonex. and save up to $15 off your refills. go to nasonex.com for details, terms and conditions. teamwork...
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all right. good morning to you. welcome back. nice to see you. my name is dylan. second hour of the "morning meeting" getting under way. let's reset our agenda this fine and beautiful thursday morning. passion for terrorist, the man who killed hundreds in the lockerbie bombing may be set free, released to libya. causing huge outrage. we'll talk to a former spokesman for the victims who also lost his brother in the attack.
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this is oil diplomacy. meanwhile, members of the gop defending sarah palin's death panel comments. is it time for the president to forget bipartisanship and get health care done. cheney unleashed, the former vice president's tell-all and some not so flattering things he is saying about his former boss, president george w. bush. gitmo, obama officials visiting michigan, specifically a prison in michigan they believe could serve as a site to relocate guantanamo detainees from cuba. we're going to talk to the mayor of the town who would take these suspected terrorists into its prison system, see how he feels about it. 10:00 a.m., nice to see you. let's get to the "morning meeting." the white house hitting the web asking supporters to forward an e-mail to fight what it calls lies and distortion about health care reform. so far the president has not been able to dispel some of the
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most pervasive rumors about ones called so-called death panels. chuck todd, nbc white house correspondent and political director. what he would like to be talking about, cost, affordability, choice. what they are talking about, death panels and the rest of it, chuck. how do they get it back on the rails? >> reporter: they have obviously decided to split the debate in two a little bit. they know they have to fight this issue of the myths, exaggerations, et cetera. that's why we're getting this viral e-mail. but the political fallout, and i see you're playing the video clip. let's listen to what chuck grassley said about this issue because it could derail the bipartisan talks. >> the house bill. from that standpoint, you have every right to fear. we should not have a government program that determines we're
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going to pull the plug. >> this clip is the most important played. there's a lot of democrats that wish the white house would stop trying to get a bipartisan deal. you're only going to get three republicans, what's the point of caving to three republicans if the fact is that 97% of your support in congress is going to come only from democrats at this point. does this grassley video ignite the left a little bit and see more public defend from the white house to say stop dealing with them, stop dealing with them. grassley has his own political issue to deal with. he's up for re-election in 2010. now, he did not say the word death panel. he was playing a little bit fast and loose with some of the verbiage he used. he was getting closer to what was in the house bill, this idea of counseling about living wills, et cetera. still, just bringing it up has ignite add firestorm on the
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left. the question is, is it going to scuttle the bipartisan conversation that's taking place on capitol hill, dylan. >> what's the answer? is that knowable? >> i don't think that's knowable yet. i know there are a lot of people in the talks that have been concerned by grassley's body language which says this. if grassley gets everything he wants, he may still publicly have to not support the bill. why? i brought up his re-election issue, iowa's conservative, very strong, very large. he could suddenly find himself with a primary challenger. if the entire senate republican leadership is against whatever deal he cuts and grassley may have no choice politically for his own survival to come out against it and that puts the white house in this box to say, then why are you the lead guy? >> i guess what i also wonder, if you look at that op-ed in the "washington post" from the widen
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bennett crowd banking on them not coming up with anything, that a distraction. is there anything viable for bill bennett and the auts of that piece or is that a sidebar at this point? >> six months ago i would have said it was viable. i had a lot of folks in the white house policy shop that loved that bill. they loved the idea of saying, hey, look at all these republican co-sponsors, let's get it done. it's not a serious flair right now. today's "new york times" had an interesting story, blind quotes from industry sources and heck and the white house. clearly these deals that the white house has cut with the pharmaceutical company, with hospitals, with a couple of other stakeholders have all been predicated on the idea they are going to get something out of the senate finance committee. that's the core of this bill. the white house put all their chips in with max baucus. their chips are with him. until we see what he came up,
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there aren't any other players with. >> do you have any idea what baucus came up with. we're joining by strategists. very briefly jonathan and brad, i'll go in order, does anybody have a sense of whether max baucus has anything going? jonathan? >> i think you're talking about -- >> brad? >> i don't think jonathan is on at the moment? >> no, he's not. brad, are you there? >> let me tell you, chuck said something very interesting about putting all your chips on the senate. the senate doesn't have a bill. every senator has said that. there's no bill. that's the problem the white house has. there's no cohesive bill that even mirrors the house bill to sell. all this isis talk. what we need to do is come back in the fall and see if democrats can get their act together. not bipartisan bringing blue dogs and liberal base of their party together on a comprehensive bill to sell to the american people.
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>> ezra from the "washington post." how do democrats navigate the politics of this, trying to entertain bipartisan effort but knowing they can if they need to do it the way the republicans were doing things and not too long ago? >> it's getting trickier for them. the longer you wait on the bipartisan plan, the harder it begins to move forward with the partisan move, right? the way these legislative efforts work they sit out there to get battered by chuck grassley. in these talks on the house bill they become more unpopular, so it becomes harder for them to take a direct route to passage. one of the weird ironies of the baucus process, if people don't like what's coming out of there and they don't think they will like what's coming out of there, the longer they wait there's more possibility the democrats will have no choice other than to accept it. >> explain. >> a month ago if he can came
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out with a little less liberal than the house bill, came out republicans didn't like it. health care reform still popular, didn't have town halls blowing up all over the country. you probably could not not just passed it, not have been easy but a much easier path to passage. now baucus hasn't come up with anything. in the intervening months, deadline is september 159, intervening month, things more difficult. poll numbers dropped, a lot more criticisms, organizers more effective, freedom halls. one thing about baucus process, whether or not intention it has made itself more relevant by waiting for it to become unpopular. >> democratic strategist, how do democrats navigate exactly what ezra described going into september. >> part of the challenge here is getting the bill out of the finance committee. >> no, i understand that. how do the democrats recapture the momentum for reform period?
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if you look at the gallup poll, independent voters to sympathy the town hall protesters, 32 more sympathetic, 38 no difference, 13% less. whether you like it or not based on polling the overall enthusiasm has been diminished and that's a problem for democrats. >> in terms of looking at message communication strategy, when you're opposing something it's always very easy to make that message. stop this, oppose that. if you're trying to actually pass something or support something, it tends to become a more complex argument. i think what the democrats and white house have to do is make the positives of this bill very clear to the american voters and just hammer it in every single day. i think one of the problems, just to be frank about it is, the legislative process is not a neat, easy process. it has made it more complicated to make that clear message will that's just a matter of reality.
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but the other part i think is really critical, at some point i think democrats have got to come to term with the fact we're either going to go down the road of getting bipartisan compromise or try to go down the road of forcing this the way we think is best for the country. if you see what senator grassley said, i tell you, that is just toxic, toxic for this notion of bipartisanship. >> you have to wonder going into 2010 election, to the republicans favor to not be bipartisan. make the democrats own it, it's their problem. >> if a mild personal perspective, the position we should be pushing is what legislation should solve the health care crisis. whether that's the public option or not, we choose the policy, we should support the policy that will best address the crisis. if we go for simply the quick political gain, that may be smart in the short-term may not
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be smart in the long-term. may be smart, i agree with that. the majority of republicans are going to oppose this no matter what is in the bill. so let's choose a bill -- i don't profess to be a health care expert but choose a bill that will solve the crisis. then the american people will thank not only the democrats but the administration. >> of course. if you can get affordability, patient choice and reduce cost, you can do it with three martians and a chicken if you have to, health care gets better. but people need to talk about those variables. we'll come back for it. thank you for the conversation. chuck, thank you so much. chris, what else is going on in the world? >> fire in my home state of california. something new. fire officials have evacuated several hundred people in the path of a fast burning wildfire. this is a fire that has already burned through 1900 acres near santa cruz. it's threatening 250 buildings, among them the campus of lockheed martin. windy and dry conditions are hampering firefighting efforts. we're going to keep our eye on that one. check out a fiery end to a
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police chase in detroit. officers chasing a pickup truck when a minivan hit it going through an intersection. sent the truck crashing into a power pole. the driver was killed. the driver of the minivan has minor injuries of the driver of the pickup stole it from a detroit suburb. this will ignite the questions about the police chases yet again. nasa managers discussing whether to launch shuttle discovery on august 25th. the mission to the international space station could get delayed. the shuttle showed significant foam loss during the last two trips. missing foam covered brackets holding liquid oxygen lines on the side of the spacecraft, nasa face ag september 3rd deadline to launch or delay that mission. and how about this. up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane -- no, it's a fish. a fish. an ohio woman was driving along the road when she spotted a rare sight in itself. a bald eagle. lee ann niles describes what
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happened next. >> i realized something was wiggling in its claws. and i looked again. next thing i know, i'm saying oh, my god, and down comes the eagle plunge. >> and boom. >> she had to buy a new windshield. 250 bucks for lee ann, but of course the story she gets to tell. >> the day an eagle dropped a fish on her car. that sounds kind of scary. >> what's the punch line. >> we'll work on it at the commercial. we're back in a second here. still to come on the "morning meeting," scouting out michigan prisons to possibly turn them into the next gitmo. plus could the only person convicted in the '88 bombing of pan am 103 soon be released from prison? we'll speak with the brother of one of those victims right here right after this very quick break. my doctor told me something i never knew. as we get older, our bodies become...
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welcome back. the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of pan am 103 over lockerbie, scotland now could be released from prison early, possibly as soon as next week. we begin with stephanie goss. >> he's being held in a prison outside of glass go. he was convicted and sentenced to life for the bombing of flight 103. he's dying of pancreatic cancer, it spread to his organs. the defense team is asking the scottish government to release him on passionate grounds or
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transfer him to a prison in his home country of libya. press reports in the press in the last day or so said the decision has been made and they are going to release him soon, so he can be back in libya in time for ramadan and spend that time with his family. the scottish government said they are deliberating and don't have an answer yet and they will have an answer to that request this month. >> joining us is the man that lost his brother. you're spokesperson from the victims from '89 to '94. pleasure to see you. thank you for making some time for us this morning. let's just go in order. the very idea of a compassionate, i'm reading from the statement, compassionate early release by the libyan authorities. >> it's lunacy, immoral. you have a man convicted for mass kerg 270 people, 259 at 31,000 feet, 186 americans. the compassion given was giving a life sentence in confinement
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without capital punishment. >> how old was your brother at the time? >> 36 and left two daughters and a wife. the two daughters age six and four. >> the politics, what's the back story? >> it's an awful message. the message you're giving to leaders of state sponsored terrorism you cannoit weigh england and united states. he will go back a hero, showing terrorism works. >> most importantly in the context of this release, what's going on here? >> the bottom line and this has been going on for the last 15 years. families had to step in and bush 43, clinton and the obama add manage. this is all being done no matter what they say to acquiesce to big business and oil. they want to open relations. they started the clinton administration with the passports, did it with bush 43 when he complimented khadafi on
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state sponsored terrorism. now bring libya back to the world community with the leader of libya being the man responsible for this master. >> you're saying in effect it's a proposed trade where we return to you your convicted terrorist and you allow us to then go into the oil business with you. >> absolutely. i'm in support with reopening relations with libya. we must. today's enemies are tomorrow's allies not until khadafi leaves office. the moment that happens i'll be the biggest supporter to reopen relations but not with that man. >> what is your sense of the british government's role in all this. are they being pressured more by the american government on behalf of big oil? are they being pressured by big oil in the uk, or are they on some other page that i can't think of right now? >> being an educator, if you were doing a checklist, all of the above. the united kingdom has the lead
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in this, the united states behind the scene. gordon brown and that administration is not going to act without the tacit approval of the united states. they are all in this together. >> and just -- i understand there may be nothing more painful. remind us what it is this man did? >> this man through his approval confirmed the bombing of pan am flight 103 where this gentleman was convicted of putting a bomb on in malta. it blew up over lockerbie, scotland. i was there the first ten days of it was a war zone. i'll never forget it, until i identified my brother. it's ten years later. we the citizens have to continuously be the conscious of our government. it doesn't make any sense to me. someone show a moral backbone and stand up and say, enough, this is unacceptable. >> bert, thank you so much for making the time for us this morning. in addition to being the spokesman for those people, you lost your brother yourself.
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thank you. thank you. i want to switch to plug into the political scene. next the "morning meeting," vice president dick cheney revealing interesting new information about his former boss president bush. what he has to say and what their relationship is like now after the break right here on msnbc. ♪ well i was shopping for a new car, ♪
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respectful ties, they were not that close. dick cheney is remaining hard line. >> did he elaborate, went soft? >> nothing in the report. dick cheney believed he showed an independence dick cheney didn't see coming. he didn't like the fact that he felt, then, driven by polls, which is something dick cheney always dismissed. >> that bush got more into pandering in cheney's perception -- >> whatever the whims of the american public were. he didn't like this. >> why is it poem are able to work in these situations -- the whole thing of writing the book after, you're in this together. >> i've been taking notes throughout the morning. >> a hell of a book. >> do you have a problem with that? >> no, that's fine. >> we know there is this big company, bank of america, citigroup, gm, they had to turn in their executive pay plan to the treasury department. here is what everybody is talking about. there's one guy at citigroup that said the energy trader is
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going to get $100 million bonus. people are going back looking at it saying it's a typo. >> can we talk about it. i'm familiar with some of these people. here is the irony of this. citigroup is a bankrupt enterprise that exhibited reckless behavior and brought taxpayers to the brink. we bailed them out with our money. this guy is an oil trader who did not trade citigroup, did not do anything we were offereded by, uses citigroup to make money trading oil. the group he works for should be out of business. >> they say it's controversial and will not make public the compensation plan. as the people who bailed him out, the taxpayers can't really know why he's worth $100 million, what the deal was that was made before all this happened.
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>> all i say, until we deal with too big to fail, how we got into this in the first place, it's all a shenanigan. >> $100 million. is anybody worth $100 million. >> absolutely. you can be worth a billion if you contribute that so society. capitalism creates value. bill gates creates microsoft, the car, the assembly line. >> dylan, the "morning meeting." >> that's worth three or four bucks but i'm taking it. >> overpaid. >> politico examines president obama's positive word choices. he has spoken the word health, economy each more often than iraq, iran, afghanistan and terrorism combined according to this analysis. jobs mentioned twice as often as security, four time more than war. and america and its cousin american top the list of major
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announce, 2,929 mentions. he has said the word gay only 13 times while in office, abortion just 15 times, immigration came in at 39. no word on jansing or rattigan. >> great lakes gitmo, how about that? the obama administration officials currently in michigan today touring prisons to possibly house the detainees from guantanamo bay. the mayor of the town in which that new gitmo will be built joins us right after this. so? you were right. these healthy choice fresh mixer thingys, taste fresh... say it again! they taste fresh. wait. what are you doing? got it. you're secretly taping me? it wasn't a secret to us, we knew of course. they taste fresh because you make them fresh.
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all right. we may be getting closer to having our own gitmo on american soil. obama officials in michigan touring possible sites to house guantanamo detainees. what's going on? >> take it from there and bring it here. rumors swirling for weeks that the obama administration has been considering a prison to hold terror suspects. now officials are confirming to nbc news that representatives from the defense and justice departments are, in fact, in the state touring several sites. they visited a facility believed
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to be in must keegan yesterday. a prison has been shuttered but public pressure to keep it open, one of the state's biggest employers. the state is hit hard by unemployment. it's just to gather information. no decision on where to move the 229 prisoners at gitmo has been made yet. military prison at fort leavenworth, kansas is being considered. either way the clock is ticking because president obama promised to close the prison camp in cuba by january 2010. the mayor of standish, michigan. mayor, welcome to the program. what do you think about this? >> first of all, thanks for having me. the consensus in our community is the number one concern you mentioned. we have a lot of people that could be without jobs that work for the state of michigan as far
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as correction officers. those folks are the main concern. i know california and other states have been inquiring about the prison. probably our number one option would be going with another state so that our people could continue to work. if that doesn't work out, this is a viable option. haven't heard too many people against it. standish max has been in our area for 19 years. we haven't had any bad affects. >> has anybody ever escaped? the fear is somebody escapes. you get the fantasy, have you ever had any realities? >> no, in 19 years there's never been an escapee from standish max. there was an escapee of an individual who was mowing a lawn from a lower security prison, that happened a few years bag. but from standish max no one has gotten out. >> representative tim moore, what do you think the politics would be? >> first and foremost, my
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concern is to make sure the prison stays open. as the good mayor mentioned, our priority is to keep our people employed, which would be great. if we could bring in inmates from other states. we want to leave all options on the table. >> meaning? >> meaning if the federal government were to determine this would be an acceptable prison that they would be interested in, they could be forthright with how this would go forward, it's something we should consider. >> josh gerstein, reporter, what is the criteria? do you know what they are evaluating? >> it's a little bit different from a usual prison, i think you guys are alluding to. they have to look at somebody from the outside coming in to try to break these folks out. it's a totally different setup than what most prisons are configured for. that's the main factor they are looking at. i think they prfr to do it in a
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place that's away from a built-up area in the country. so there are a bunch of different sites that i think are still being considered, but this is certainly one they are looking at seriously because it's one of the few places the community is saying we'd be interested in doing it. >> what of it, mr. mayor, the concern in effect from other terrorists -- as i talk to you from the midtown manhattan, a lovely terrorists problem, by virtue of bringing a terrorist prison to your town? >> this is obviously a new concept for us. i want you to understand the dynamics of how small we are. we have one red light in town. we have 1400 people. we are in every sense of the word small. you know, this is something that we're going to talk with the folks from washington today on. we're going to have to educate our people. nineteen years ago when this prison came in, we had a split community. people were worried about the community changing the dynamics
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of who is going to live here, crime rate going up, things of that nature. all of those things i know we're going to be talking about with folks in the community. to answer your question, is standish going to be a place for terrorists to attack? i can't answer that right now? >> very quickly, you get the last word representative moore, can you answer that? what is the variability or increased risk of accepting a prison like this. >> i don't buy into that theory that all of a sudden we move the guantanamo inmates there, that will be the number one target. we have international and domestic terrorists housed in the united states currently and there's never been an attack on any prisons to get them out. i don't buy into that the fact i've toured this facility and seen, it's a level five. security is very tight. i don't have that concern. >> thank you, mr. mayor. thank you so much. josh, thanks for the reporting. chris, what the heckles is going on prfr u.s. marines trying to take control of a village in afghanistan are facing tough
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resistance from taliban. for the second day they are exchanging heavy fire with insurgents. at least seven taliban fighters have been kichltd marines are hoping the offensive will cut the lines and isolate local fighters. seven suspects arraigned for allegedly killing a florida couple. last month byrd and melanie billings were found shot to death in their home. the couple, a parents to a dozen special needs children but none of the children were harmed. the cameras captured men dressed as ninjas wearing a black mask, stealing a safe and leaving in less than four minutes. an important recall involving children's toys. little tikes recalling trucks, oversized plastic toy nails can cause a choking hazard to children. there's one report of a child in south carolina choking on that toy nail. euna lee and laura ling
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spoke out together for the first time since their release in north korea. the two journal is posted a thank you video to supporters on their employers website, current tv. >> we are so, so very grateful for your love and support. >> we're so happy to be back with our families. it was a tough time in our life. >> euna and lee were on assignment when they crossed the border. the women were detained in north korea for 140 days. right now nasa managers discussing whether to launch shuttle discovery august 25th. the mission may get delayed due to lingering questions about foam loss. nbc veteran correspondent joins us live via skype from cape canaveral, florida. >> right now, chris, they are meeting here senior managers and will continue meeting through tomorrow. noon tomorrow they hope to make a decision whether or not they
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should role the shuttle discovery back to the assembly building so engineers can get another hard look at what they call the frost ramp. the side frost ramp that goes between the external tank and the shuttle itself has been dropping off some critical foam. what they mean by critical foam is foam parts that could do some damage. this is the same thing that happened with columbia back in 20 2003 when it was bret down by foam that knocked a hole in the left wing. they want to make sure nothing like this happens on a mission going up. if they should, they have the safe haven you know of the space station to await coming back. again, they want to make sure they have this under control if they can. they have asked to look at what it means if they take another hard look at it because of a remote robotic ship coming up by the japanese to the space station and a crew change by the
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russians, it will be october before they can launch "discovery." >> let me ask you about something else, they are talking about $15 million to send commercial passengers to space. how real is this? >> it can't be real right now. usa know, you've been here, covered the stuff. $50 million doesn't buy a tank of gas. there's a lot of study going onna lot of flights taking place by commercial enterprise. they should be, and they will get there, but they are not there now. what we have going right now was designed the areas one and areas five and orrian spacecraft, this is where we should put money. we're looking at animation of the or ion spacecraft. we've got to be safe. the astronaut's office testified before the review board now
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we've got to be safe. so we have to be safe. there is no vehicle that you can fly to the international space station that could be built for $50 million that could be safe. they have already been given $1.8 billion in this program. >> how has that been spent? >> it's a long way off and it should be. >> how did they spend that $1.8 billion? >> pardon me? >> how did they spend that $1.8 billion. >> you have a computer expert in california that made a lot of money. he's been flying a rocket called falcon. he's flown four of them. two have been fill yours, one a partial success, the other a full success. he's thinking of strapping together nine of these vehicles and flying up cargo as well as flying up, you know, astronauts to the space station. well, he can get there but that's ten years down the road.
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we have got to have a vehicle now. you know, they are coming back with this review board, chris, talking about modifying other rockets and stuff like that. if they do that ten years they won't be able to fly an astronaut. >> my friend, an encyclopedia on space travel. >> still waiting on you. >> even bears need a cop oppose on a summer d -- need a co-op. look at the bear. not too hot, too cold. took a dip. that's a nice looking pool area and wandered off. there's been reports in san dimas of bears, even known to steal from apple trees. >> bears are friendly. they want to hang out, come over, have a bite to eat. i grew up in upstate new york, a lot of bears around, had bears
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visit. >> dig in the garbage. >> they saw you and ran off. >> hoot and holler, they will run away. they don't mean trouble. >> they are hot. >> they are furrey, it's summer. >> yeah. still to come on the "morning meeting," the week is not quite over but it's been a rather eventful one at this point. up next, take a look at moments you may have missed for the contentious town halls across this great land. we're back after these brief messages. does your mouthwash work inix different ways? introducing listerine total care. everything you need... to strengthen teeth, help prevent cavities, and kill germs. introducing 6 in 1 listerine total care. the most complete mouthwash.
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the country bringing lighthearted moments. several ugly, some lighthearted, some strange. here is a few you might have missed. >> okay, mr. president. my concern -- >> he winked at me >> i'm an 11-year-old from hagerstohague e haguers town, maryland.
quote
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i have five grandparents so this issue is important to me. >> the rumor circulating is that somehow the house of representatives voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on grandma -- >> i hate to use my mother's voice here because i've got three teenagers and i've got one but what is it you think we're going to accomplish if you don't let anybody talk? >> this is a skeptic. >> i am a skeptic. >> i'm a dumb southern iowa redneck. >> are you through yet? tip your waitress. >> tip your waitress indeed, chris. the fun part about watching it, if you call it the fun part. claire mccaskill doesn't listen. i'm your mother, knock it off. arlon specter was like a comedian dealing with hecklers. he'd walk up, listen, you want
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to yell at me, have at it, man. >> it's happened before. >> i've been yelled out before, i'll be yelled at again. >> don't you think it's great americans are getting out there, talking about it. i came from california to ohio to new york. everywhere we go people are talking about this. they want more specifics. it's interesting to me i hear people on a subway saying we don't know what the senate proposal is. okay, this is what americans are saying, they are paying attention, getting worked up about this and they should. >> the upside of august, in my opinion, is it gives an opportunity now to explore your worst fears. you want to talk about death panels, funding abortion? there are scary things about this worth talking about. let's not have abstract boogie men bring them in the room and say, listen, is this real or is it not, also define what we're trying to get here. we want a portable system with
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choices that cost less. i don't care how you get it done. let's force the debate to a place that evaluates anybody's proposal on what we want to get out of it not what we're worried about in terms of the political realm. >> you look at the polls, not only are most people engaging in 70% of it, dominating news networks, cable news. we're trying to get information out there and people are clearly listening to it and trying to dissect it. >> at the very least, explanation of fierce and what we want under the health care system may have september go better because people have vented and explored a lot of these things. we shall say. >> you just said you don't smoke because it might kill you. >> if i could smoke, i would. i'll be honest with you. adopt go smoking. i do. i miss smoking from time to time. that's for another day. the takeaway right after this. ♪
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all right. welcome back. got to spend the day with you, which is lovely. >> tomorrow. >> i've been invited back. >> it happens to me a lot but i expect that. sometimes i say things -- >> i was a little stunned. i brought it up. >> let us refer back. our takeaway harkens back to an earlier time when we would spend much of this takeaway period apologizing for something said
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or done in the "morning meeting." we find ourselves in this situation again. some viewers thought, in fact, i called hillary clinton a bitch. that would be a rude thing for me to do. >> i would not want that to happen. >> others think we're not allowed to say that on tv at all. >> on television. >> let us clarifying. >> you did. >> isn't it a classic example when women are vulnerable. >> sometimes called witch with a b. >> when they are powerful if they are a woman they are more vulnerable to being attacked for being a bitch. not this i'm saying she is. >> i don't like to be in a position of defending dylan rattigan. i did not think you called hillary clinton the b word because if you had -- >> and deservedly so. i hope that clears things up. be careful. carlos watson up next. chris is back with me tomorrow. the "morning meeting" will convene. right now i leave you in the
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able hands of our friend mr. watson. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models.

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