obama fires back at his health care reform critics to cap off his town hall tour. jix. danger on the diamond. it's a frightening day between the white lines. major league baseball. deal or no deal is an airline's all-you-can-fly travel pass a good-bye. good morning everyone. i'm alex witt. you're watching "msnbc sunday." here is what's happening at this hour. let's go first to the president's personal pitch for health care reform. at yesterday's town hall meeting, the president took on his critics point by point. when it came to talk about end-of-life care, the discussion turned personal. i'm joined by nbc news political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd. the sun is coming up there, chuck. know you were at the town hall

meeting. did the president win this crowd over? >> reporter: well, look, it was a feistier president obama. this is his third town hall in less than a week. all has been in an attempt to regain control of the health care debate. president obama's working vacation out west continue with a second town hall in as many days, this one in grand junction, colorado. >> hello grand junction! >> reporter: he spent as much time dealing with the tenor and town of the health care debate as he did with the details of the plan. >> whenever america has set about solving our toughest problems, there have always been those that sought to preserve the sta cuss quo by scaring the american people. >> reporter: he dealt directly with end-of-life procedures in a very personal way. >> i just lost my grandmother last year. i know what it's like to watch somebody you love who is aging

deteriorate. >> reporter: during the q&a, the president faced tough questioners. >> i'd love to have a debate. >> reporter: jack lane challenged the president to explain how private insurance companies can repeat against the government? he repeat add refrain he used in other town halls, taking a shot at the u.s. postal service. >> ups and fedex are doing a lot better than the post office. >> reporter: afterwards lane said he wasn't satisfied with mr. obama's answer on the public option. >> i asked for in my question, i didn't want generalities or philosophical arguments. >> reporter: did the president hint that the public option may not be in the final bill? not quite. >> the public option, whether we have it or don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. this is just one sliver of it. >> reporter: he rapid up a question about doctors to join

him in his efforts on health care. >> if you are a fiscal hawk, you more than anybody should want to reform the health care system. >> reporter: you know, alex, if you wanted a good round-up of everything the president has tried -- every point he's trying to make, he did an opinion ed in "the new york times" where he felt like he read everything. at all three town halls this week in person, none of them were contentious. and i think that should tell us that, in fact, other reporting that we've done, most of these town halls, even with members of congress aren't contentious. it is true what the president said. one day we had i think 20-odd cameras. 23 cameras, i believe, keeping an eye on some congressional town halls and only a couple got out of hand. >> you bring up that "new york times" op ed piece. i read through it one and a half times. it's great. i think everyone should take a look at it. look at it online if you can't get access.

if you think i'm not asking the right questions or anybody else you're watching on television, this will at least give you some answers i think. it's a very well done op ed. beyond that, chuck, i know the president has some vacation time in this trip. what's he going to do for that? >> reporter: today he's down pretty much all day, not going to be doing work. almost an all vacation day, going to the grand canyon to see that. yesterday was yellowstone. he went fly fishing the day before. the first family -- the first lady and his two daughters they've been white water rafting. they were with them to see old faithful. today they'll be with them at the grand canyon. it is one of those days that everybody wishes they were at the pool because you get one of those helicopter tours of the grand canyon which not everybody gets a shot at. >> pretty cool. thank you very much, chuck. we'll check wu you next hour. to read the latest exclusives from chuck you can logon to firstread.msnbc.com. right into this developing

story, a tropical storm warning issued for parts of florida this morning. right now there are two tropical storms churning in the atlantic. there's ana and bill. bill is expected to become a hurricane. meantime there's a new tropical depression in the gulf of mexico. it's going to take aim at florida's panhandle a bit later today. we'll get the latest from meteorologist mike seidel at the weather channel in atlanta. mike, another good morning. let's talk about the florida panhandle beaches. what are they going to see from this? >> beautiful beaches, pretty much a washout from here on out, mainly going to be a rain and wind event with tropical depression four. moving north-northwest at 16 miles an hour. whether it's a depression or becoming a tropical storm named claudette, the impact won't change. shouldn't be any serious issues with damage or anything. the beach weather goes downhill. take a look at the path. it will make landfall sometime this evening. first the radar. there's the heavy rain out over the gulf of mexico.

notice the bands are stretching out. we wouldn't ex-pex it b to be strengthening quickly. we'll show you that from apalachee bay towards pensacola, you're in line for rainfall. keep in mind that you can get ponding on the roadways, some street flooding when you get three to five inches of rain. forecast takes it to a tropical storm. we'll see what happens. when it comes onshore we may get gusts of 40, 45 miles an hour. we've got ana and bill. ana has had two lives, a tropical depression, then a wave, back to a tropical depression. snou it's fighting for its life out here. the center is out here exposed. not a lot of convection. the hurricane sterp at 5:00 a.m. left it at 40 miles an hour, a min cal tropical storm. check out the track. tropical storm watches are on for port reuerto rico, u.s. bri virgin islands. it will track off in this direction and not strengthen that much. . once it hits the mountains of hispaniola, i think that will pretty much take care of it.

it holds onto it as a td until at least friday. we'll see how that shakes out. bill out in the central atlantic, 1600 miles from the islands. this is looking a little healthyier. you can see rotation, banding features moving west at 13. it's a long way off. three days away from the islands. here is the track on bill. there's been a lot of speculation, the long-range models over the past week or so have been trying to bring this to the u.s. main land. right now this is our five-day forecast. it tracks north of the lee wards and lesser antilles. the official forecast on friday to a major hurricane, minimal cat 3. also at the same time the jet stream oovps will start producing a dip, a trough in the atmosphere. and that will probably pick it up and steer it, the thinking right now, most of the models saying it will be steered away from the east coast. again, alex, that is a long way away. a lot can happen in the tropics at this point. we'll keep you updated on all three. >> mike, it sounds to me like

the one you're keeping the closest eye on in terms of the u.s. mainland and the coast specifically is bill? >> bill is probably the one that will probably become a hurricane. the one that's going to make landfall in the florida panhandle may become tropical storm claudette. wind and rain. ana doesn't have much life to it right now, probably will not have any serious impacts on the u.s. we'll watch the td now and see if it can get to the east coast. as we've seen all winter, the cold fronts keeping it up north will tend to steer it away. >> we'll check in next hour. as those tropical storms churn in the region, mother nature is taking a toll on miami this weekend. that city was slammed with heavy rains making for slow going for drivers. you add wind to the mix. residents were dealing with low visibility and pretty dangerous conditions. for the latest on tropical storms ana and bill along with the weather forecasts in your area, you can all log onto weather.com. today thousands of

firefighters in california are continuing to battle 11 different wildfires across that state. the most troublesome of which is the fire in santa cruz county south of san francisco where already more than 10,000 square miles have burned. nbc's michael okwu is live in swanton in santa cruz county. i want to make sure i got that last statistic right. is it that much acreage that's burned already? >> reporter: that's exactly right. it's been about ten square miles. we're talking about more than 6800 acres and possibly growing even at these early morning hours. all day and overnight the firefighters were concerned that those numbers would get greater because of the winds that were expected here, specifically those hot, dry winds that might fan the flames. essentially end all of the progress that they had been making in the last 24 hours. >> okay. so where does this thing look as it's going to go? what are the projections?

well, the projections right now is that we're going to get more of those winds. but the reality is, we never really saw those winds materialize yesterday. firefighters as a result of all of this were able to use gps systems to strategically get their hands around this fire, to start digging down some containment lines. they've also used a very aggressive air assault on this fire which is burning about ten miles or so northwest of santa cruz. in a large state park that is teaming with redwood trees and also on private property. there are about 2100 firefighters who are now battling the blaze. they must feel very bored by the weather conditions we're seeing this morning. instead of the hot winds that were expected yesterday that could potentially whip up today, what we're seeing is a very thick marine layer. it's moist. it's wet. it's cool. and all of that means very good

news for firefighters. this thing is now about 50% contained, alex. >> good. like hearing that. okay michael okwu. thanks so much. we'll check with you again. for the first time in tleerly three years michael vick is back on the football field this weekend. the quarterback press pated in his first practice with the eagles yesterday. the 29 took part in limited drills with the of o fence. vic spent 18 months in federal prison for running a dogfighting ring. his new teammates shared their thoughts. >> michael vick is a very talented player. he can do anything from playing receiver to quarterback, to running back. >> i can imagine how he felt stepping out with the number seven jersey on feeling the part of something again. >> for his part, michael vick did not speak to reporters after that practice session. a baseball player's worst fear. several scary incidents play out in major league baseball. it could be a dream come true for frequent flyers. is an airline's flat fee travel

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for unsurpassed ab now that's p. call or click today. a new poll shows the republican poised to take the virginia governor's mansion away in democrats. "the washington post" says robert f. mcdonald is seven points ahead of democrat r. creigh deeds. when it comes to the likely voters, the margin widens with mcdonnell in the lead, 54% to 39%. this race is bigger than virginia politics. democrats don't want a republican governor in charge of a key swing state. some suggest the vote could be a referendum on president obama's

administration. i'm joined by steve thomma, white house correspondent. good morning. >> hi, alex. >> virginia's election is three months away. what do you think is at stake for the democrats there and the obama administration? >> reporter: this is a key test. there are only two governors erase this is year, virginia and i and new jersey. this has been a reliably republican state for generations. but over the last ten years, the democrats, particularly moderate democrats started winning state-wide races, back-to-back governor races, a couple senate seats. and the big one, obama, the democrat took it in the presidential election for the first time since i believe 1964. the republicans need to put this back in their column before they'll have any chance to start winning back swing states. so the fact that the republican has a solid lead early doesn't mean it will hold up. it's still august, but it's a

good sign they could make inroads and start their comeback trail here. >> how much does the president's agenda affect state and local elections? >> right now the biggest way it impacts it is the economy. it's the number one issue for voters in virginia like it is in a lot of places. if the president's agenda and his policies are working, the economy is going to get better. the democrat, creigh deeds, could make the argument that, stick with us, it's going to get better, maybe build some confidence and win the election. if, however, the voters think the president's agenda is not working and they'll continue to be pessimistic about the economy, they'll throw all the incumbents out. >> staying on the health care issue we've been talking with you about lately, i'm sure what he's done already, including the three town halls, an op ed in today's "new york times." what more do you think the president could be, should be doing to sell his health care plan? >> i think he's on track.

now he's going to take off -- be back in washington for a couple days, but then go on vacation. i think what he's got to do is stop the bleeding. he's been losing political support, losing poll numbers for himself, particularly on this issue. it's now his worst issue according to the polls. he needs to stop that's roegs of support so he can go to congress and say the people are still with me. he's got to continue to argue why this is needed, why democratic members of the congress and even some republicans should vote for it. i think he's going to have to get more specific like he did yesterday talking about his grandmother and he would never support anything that would want to have the federal government dictating when older people should die. he needs to weigh in on those kind of details. >> okay. steve thomma, always great to see you. have a great sunday. >> my pleasure. >> thank you. fly all you want for $600 a month, well, $599. there you have it. the latest marketing campaign from jetblue. the deal is that money gets you

a path allowing you to travel as much as you want between september 8th and october 8th. is this away for jetblue to get more people in their planes or are they just crazy? joining me is george rohoboth. it's peak travel day month, post labor day. >> i think with some people it definitely makes sense. if you live in new york city or boston where jetblue has a lot of flights. houston, where they have one route to jfk, makes less sense. you can't fly out of the same airport more than once in the same day. >> there are restrictions. lots of fine print. what do people need to know? >> first of all, three-day add van purchase which is really good. >> that's all? >> you can change without penalty. the only real penalty is if you don't show up for the flight, you'll have to pay $100 fee.

the reason jetblue does that is they're the only airline that duns over book. >> brings up a good point. i'm a jetblue devote tea. i fly all the way between new york and california it's real convenient. those flights are packed. i have rarely been on a flight lately where there have been one or two open seats if. so people are buying this. how much are they going to oh e oh. >> we don't know how many they'll sell or what the availability is going to be. it is somewhat of a chance that people are taking. >> i actually had to buy a trip to california, and it was just as this thing was coming down. i went and got my flight. i asked my operator. i'm curious how is this selling? she told me it was selling like hot cakes with companies, with businesses calling up and also for some people down in ft. lauderdale were buying a lot. she couldn't figure that out. >> perfect for a salesman or maybe someone who didn't have

the money to visit their clients all across the country. the average jetblue fair in the quarter was $127 one way. you only have to use it five times. everything else is gravy. >> any drawback for jetblue? anything bad here? >> all plus, plus, plus. it's brilliant marketing. the equivalent advertising value is enormous. i've never seen anything talked about so much on the media. a brilliant marketing ploy. >> we'll have you back later on this morning to talk about it. thank you very much. a lingering question about miley cyrus's poll dance routine. that's ahead on "msnbc sunday." >> leave britney alone, please!

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♪ viagra! and ask your doctor viagra is right for you. teen sensation miley cyrus is making new moves and stirring up new controversy. the young pop star took home 11 awards last week at the teen choice awards. her live performance is generating the real buzz. was it dirty dancing or a poorly-placed poll or is she entertaining her millions of fans with a superstar sized performance. joining us is tom o'neill from "in touch" weekly magazine. what do you think with the dancing? did it cross the line? was it too much? >> i don't think so. what's interesting is if disney thought so, if fox thought so, they would have broadcast her here. they could have stopped this. one million out of the four

million viewers under the age of 18. they knew they may have been crossing the line. she's just holding on to the poll for a brief minute and ducks down and gets up again. so in a way we're reading a lot into it. >> how much, though, the fact that she is a global superstar and she's a role model for millions of kids, how much does she need to keep that at the forefront of her mind without risking it all? >> i think miley look at it the opposite way. she thinks how far can she push things and still remain cool? we were just talking at break about your daughter. what are the two concerts she wants to see? >> i had to admit. i'm going to take her to britney and she'll take her friends to miley. >> she sees those gals as cool. >> here is what she wants to do. she wants to booed en her fan base, get past this disneyesque, hannah montana image. does this bring in more scrutiny from her?

how prohibitive can that be? >> i think it's realistic of her to push things. i think last year she pushed things too far with that "vanity fair" photo shoot. within hours of that pole dance, her new song was number one at itunes, has already exceeded the sales of her last hit "the climb." >> we have seen child stars go wild in the past. is she on a different path than they were? who comes to mind? lindsay lohan. even britney to a degree. it was a rough road for a while. >> brid any rebounded. lindsey has not. it's questionable whether lindsey ever will. as miley takes that dangerous path, it may be a one-way trip. >> what do you think about her family? he dad and mom seem to be so over her. when she reaches a certain age, what can they do? >> only a year and a half left in terms of reigning her in. i think obviously they're show business savvy having been there themselves. i think that helps in this case. there's a wonderful bond between

them. i think that will help. should we all be worried about miley? absolutely. she is constantly pushing that edge. >> yeah, she is. again, the kids love her, like my daughter. thank you very much, tom o'neil. yesterday was the great nationwide kiss-in, took place in about 50 u.s. cities, organized in response to recent incidents in which gay or lesbian couples were harassed for smooching in places. you're watching "msnbc sunday." 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

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special interest groups are trying to block progress on health care reform, derailing the debate with myths and scare tactics. desperately trying to stop you from discovering that reform won't hurt medicare. it will actually strengthen it by eliminating billions of dollars in waste and lowering drug prices. tell congress not to let myths get in the way of fixing what's broken with health care. learn the facts at healthactionnow.org. the health care debate rages. president obama says there's no perfect solution. at a town hall in grand junction, colorado this weekend, he says his opponents are resorting to false accusations. >> what you can't do, or you can but you shouldn't do, is start

saying things like we want to set up death panels to pull the plug on grandma. i mean, come on. >> joining me live on the phone is republican state senator from grand junction, colorado, josh henry who is also running for governor. good morning to you, sir. >> good morning. nice to be with you. >> i want to get your take on what the president said at the town hall in grand junction. how do you read it? >> i think the debate about the facts is obviously critical to have. anyone who knows anything about government-run health care programs in other states and other countries knows it's a way that government contains costs is through rationing, telling doctors and patients they can and can't have treatments. i think that's just a reality of what the country would face if the government option becomes a reality. >> the fact is the president had this to say about the public option in the health reform bill. let's take a listen to what he said about it.

>> the public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. this is just one sliver of it. one aspect of it. >> the president seems to be suggesting democrats might concede this public option. isn't that quite a concession? how would the republicans read that? would it not be incumbent upon the republicans to make concessions of their own? >> i thought that was very clearly a concession. it's not an accident. the american people are speaking out with increasingly strong voice that they're not interested in what the president has proposed, certainly not the bill that's moving through the u.s. house of representatives. this president has gone out on a mini campaign to try to sell the american public. it's not working. 75% of the american people according to a recent poll reject the notion this will be cost neutral. a majority don't support the plan at all. i think concessions are understandable for the president

because his plan is in real trouble. >> state senator penry, without the public options don't you think your constituents would be more agreeable to health care reform and ultimately blame republicans if nothing gets done? >> i don't think so. i think this thing, increasingly is a ship running aground. what i hear from my constituents, republicans, democrats, they religion alarmed at the breathtaking pace that government is taking over various aspects of our private economy. this is just one more example of it. i think the rush to do this is what has so many concerned. what are they trying to sneak by? why don't members of congress want to participate in it? do we really need a trillion dollars of new debt on top of what we've already gone. these are questions that people are concerned about. >> if the president is willing to make some concessions, and there are a lot of republicans out there, elected and otherwise, who believe there should be some sort of health care reform, doesn't this offer an opening to get something donnell? >> you know, i'm back in the

state of colorado, not involved in the day today negotiations in washington. obviously conversations, negotiations are appropriate. this president -- the end game is important. this president has said he supports a single parent system who doesn't think you can sort of get there under the current scenario. i think the concern a lot of people have is sort of an incremental approach to canadian-style government-run health care. as those negotiations take place, i think that will continue to be a concern among many republicans and frankly many americans, whether republicans or not. >> it seems like republicans and democrats these days both talk that health care reform is necessary. but the only really serious treatment gets done by democratic administrations with president clinton, president obama now. health care reform never reached serious consideration under george w. bush for eight years, certainly on a national discussion level like this, even when republicans were control of both houses. if republicans were really serious about reform, couldn't they have taken advantage of that and try to right health

care on their own terms? >> well, i'm not one -- in my candidacy for governor i've been quick to criticize the republicans in congress over the last ten years, doubled the national debt, tripled earmarks. i don't think our leadership back in washington was necessarily the emblem of what good leadership look like. this president, nan e see pelosi and harry read haven't hit the nail on the head either. the american people are frustrated this president and this congress have been worse than the one before. i think there's a strong inclination on the part of the public to pull back and focus. these are huge, sweeping decisions this president is trying to push through in matters of days and weeks that have permanent implications for our country. and that's why i think the push is to slow this head-long dash. >> okay. colorado republican state senator and gubernatorial candidate josh penry.

thanks for your time on "msnbc sunday." >> thanks form having me. on "meet the press," dick gregory with talk with dick armey, tom coburn, tom daschle and rachel maddow. the popularity of the cash for clunkers program has generated yet another problem. that is a shortage of used cars. independent used car dealers says the clunkers program is hurting the supply of moderately-priced cars. because there are fewer used cars available, the price for them is now rising. money may be in short supply for many of us. there's one group having money woes, that's general yers. a new survey shows they have no savings and the poorest knowledge of personal finance. today the whispers of an apple touch screen computer on the horizon are getting louder. we found images created of what

the touch screen computer could look like. there's still no official word from apple on this rumor do everything gadget which already has a name. the i tablet. joining me is dan ackerman, senior editor at cnet.com. what do we know. >> apple is one of the companies that likes to keep things under wraps. they haven't confirmed they're doing a tablet. when you work with a lot of our companies like suppliers, you hear stuff coming through the supply chain. >> do you think they're doing a tablet? if so, what's it going to look like? >> the drum beat has been getting louder and louder all year long about apple doing a tablet. we heard enough from people who claim they had been in on design meetings and suppliers who said ab let is ordering tablet parts. we're pretty sure they're going to do one. we're not sure when they'll release it. >> we've made a list of some of

the potential features on an i tablet. could this be a competitor? >> you can already use your iphone for that, a bigger screen, a ten-inch screen that would be a good kendall competitor. >> the two things people are thinking about the apple tablet, it would be a larger version of the ipod touch, a simple media gadget with a ten-inch screen or like the math book without the keyboard and touch pad. >> how about game play sng. >> the iphone has already revolutionized portable game playing. you're looking for a lot of things on the screen. >> when is it going to happen. >> up until a couple days ago the smart money was on september. in the last couple of days people have started saying the september event is going to be about ipods and music stuff and we might not see the apple tablet until 2010. >> at least we got a look at

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as the president wraps up his third town hall in seven days, the big question for the white house and health care reform opponents, who is winning august? i'm joined by bob franken, syndicated columnist and brian debows contributing writer for theroot.com. bob, who is winning august? what do you think? >> actually i believe the democrats are winning because the republicans are being represented by a bunch of screamers out there. all the democrats have to do is

stand silently by while the other side makes fools of themselves. >> okay. there's that point. brian, how about you? >> i think at this point it's a draw. i say that because the president has had to come out himself and directly champion this bill. the congress has actually written in, whether or not it's a good will will remain to be seen when they come back. at this point it's not a good bill. there are some problems with it. the other issue is for some of these conservatives who are at these town halls saying some of these things about the bill, where were you when medicare prescription drug came out or when the bush administration came up with the t.a.r.p. plan? they just seem disingenuous. i don't think it's right to call them un-american because they oppose it, but they seem very hypocritical when they talk about government taking over industry. that's been going on, even under the republican administration. >> bob, despite your thought that the democrats are winning, it seems the rights that have

had the strong key phrases, death panels, socialized medicine, health rationing. it seems as if the left hasn't been able to boil down their message. are they using the wrong words in not getting a buzz phrase like "health care for all." >> the left has pretty much gone to the beach, soon to be followed by president obama soon to be going to martha's vineyard where he'll be with all the people in his choir. what is happening is those on the right have gotten apoplectic because they've been whipped up by the people who do control what they think. they've been out there, but they're just sort of yelling. the only people who can listen are the people who already believe as they do. >> brian, after all the partisan ads and the disagreements at the town halls, will congress be ready to hammer out a compromise when they get back to washington or has the drama driven lawmakers further apart? >> it seems to be have driven them further apart. one of the problems with this bill is that the white house did

not write it. the president and his staff did not actually submit a bill to congress. they sent a small list of proposals to congress. and congress has 535 people, each clamoring either in opposition to something or for something in this bill. there's all sorts of things in this bill that don't make a lot of sense. the funding mechanism doesn't make a lot of sense. when they come back, they have not really solved any of these problems. they're going to have to deal with other issues when they come back like section 1233 which deals with death consultation or end-of-life consultation. but more importantly they're going to have to deal with the abortion issue. there are a lot of people saying this plan allows -- if p the public option comes through, allows federal dollars to go to abortions. they have not denied that for some reason. that's going to be another problem. >> okay. i want prediction frs the both of you. we'll keep it simple. does it pass this year, next year, not at all? bob, what do you think? >> i'll paraphrase the former

president who says it all depends on what the word "it" means. >> good point. >> right now there are so many "its" out there, some variation will pass. it has to at least save faces, whether it's meaningful or comprehensive, way too early to tell. >> okay. what do you think, brian? >> i think portions of it will pass this year. what they'll have to do is chop up the bill and try to pass portions of it this year, maybe come back with a bigger, more comprehensive bill this year. >> okay. we'll stay tuned. thanks, guys. >> thanks, alex. the obama family is taking in the sights saturday at yellowstone national park. you see them right there having done that. old faithful erupting right on schedule for the first family. today the baeobamas are headed the grand canyon. they're encouraging national park visitation. it's something our next guest says is very important. joining me is audrey peterman, the organizer of the conference,

breaking the color barrier in the great outdoors. good morning to you. >> happy to be here. >> i've loved going to the natural parks, a natural precious resource of this nation. part of the problem you say that families of color have not been able to get there is lack of information. how do you mean? >> well, i can use my own experience. i actually stumbled upon the national park system on an around-the-country trip with my husband in 1995. i actually had been to five national parks before it struck me, when we were in yellowstone, that all these incredible beautiful places had something in common besides their great beauty and the. they have the thing behind their name saying national park. what the heck is a national park is what i thought. that was 14 years ago. in many cases in communities of color, that has not changed. >> you talk about encouraging park visitation and employment right now as being an important

angle for minorities why? >> well, the national park system has a budget approaching $3 billion. it has inkrcredible opportuniti for all people to be stewards of the public land system, including archaeologist, managers. many of the national parks are the same size as small cities. yellowstone, for example, is multiple times the size of new york city. so they need all of the amenities in the system that cities need. but because people don't know about them, they are left out of that revenue stream and out of those opportunities. >> how much do you think the th presence of the first family in our national parks on this vacation helps the profile? >> oh, my god, i am so happy about that. because of course, now it raises the profile of the national parks for all americans. but particularly when people of color see the president, yes, who looks like them, who is a

preside person of color and his family enjoy the vast beauty -- oh, my god -- and grandeur of the national parks, i think it will draw the attention to desire to explore as well. >> this conference, breaking the color barrier in the great outdoors, what do you hope to accomplish in that conference? >> one of the things we want to do is break the stereotype of people of color don't swim, camp, hike, mountain climb, ski, and amazingly enough, we have all of those kind of people who are black and latino and asian and native american, as well as anglo-american come to the conference and share the amazing thins they do in the outdoors. we actually have the first african-american sailor around the world and a young latino man who lost a leg in a traffic accident but nevertheless went on expedition in antarctica in his quest to save the arctic wilderness. we have fabulous stories that are little known.

>> breakingthecolorbarrier.com. >> yes. >> audrey peterman, thank you. it is wills and kate plus love. will that keep them together and send them to the altar? here's your sunday forecast. in another warm summer-like day from d.c. to new york, all through the coast of new england, enjoy the summer weather. chicago, hot day at 89. thunderstorms will be rolling through the plains from minneapolis to kansas city. getting warmer on the west coast, too. especially the valleys of the

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three major league baseball players this morning are recovering from what could be described as their worst nightmares on the diamond. look at this. >> oh, boy. >> that's a scary moment. that's david wright of the new york mets lying there yesterday after taking a 94-mile-per-hour

straight to the head. he left the game with a concussion. he was not the only player hit in the head yesterday. >> ooh. hit to the head. >> he didn't take it lying down. the texas ranger got up. he was smoking mad. he stayed in the game. he was okay. there was yet another player hit in the head. >> and a shot -- oh! it hits corona. into the air, and corona's down on the ground. oh, my goodness. it hit -- >> that might have been scary for all three incidents but the l.a. dodgers pitcher remained down for several minutes. he was carted off the field, taken to the hospital and stayed there overnight with only a concussion. but, wow, as you can imagine, it could have been a whole lot worse. well, prince william and his

long-time girlfriend kate middleton may have a secret. joining us now, tom aspell. good morning to you. tell me the secret. is some sort of a marriage deal, a done deal for these two? >> good morning, alex. according to the news of the world, that's britain's top-selling sunday newspaper, prince william and kate middleton had reached an understanding that they will marry within the next two years. now the plan has the blessing of the royal family which wants to see william well established as a hard working, responsible prince and heir to the throne first. he will represent the queen on official tours to australia and strik in the neck two years. the royals want to make sure william is a stand-alone royal in his own right before they release any news of any engagement. >> why wait this long? why wait to make an announcement? >> well, i think the palace on one hand wants to make sure william's ready but it also wants to safeguard the privacy of kate middleton.

you'll recall when princess diana became engaged to prince charles all those years ago, she totally overshadowed him from that very moment and in fact she dominated royal coverage right up until the day she died. the royal family doesn't want to see that happen again. they want to see prince william as the future of the monarchy, really and the new face of the royal family in the modern age. they don't want anything to distract from that image. >> more to follow. we will pea see. we are approaching the top of the hour with the day's headlines for you, that includes trouble in the tropics. unfolding storm stories the weather channel's tracking for us. a live report. also, they're taking the box office by storm. "aliens." i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar,

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