it when jean chatzky joins me. >> we have a big show coming up. >> you are talking about this albert gonzalez case which is interesting and scary. >> for so many people who are worried that they be the next when it comes to having their identity stolen. >> my mom is on the west coast and called me this morning so i know she is watching. >> hi to her. >> revolt from the left. the obama administration signal that they are willing to back away from a public option on health care has liberals outraged. they are warning the president no legislation will pass without a government-run plan. nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie joins us now. good to see you. >> hey, carlos. >> where do we stand? we know on sunday, kathleen sebelius seemed to say it wasn't essential. we heard a lot of liberal -- anthony wiener and now the white house seems to be saying, you know what?

maybe we misspoke. where do things stand? >> well, look. to hear the white house tell it, it all is because the reporters who heard those comments overwrote their stories and created this whole donniebrook and that caused members of congress to get upset. this is entirely a media creation. that's the white house position. robert gibbs said again this morning in our briefing off camera the white house has been boringly consistent on this, on this issue of the public option. in some ways, that really is true. any times we've asked him over the last few months, would the president sign a bill if it doesn't have a public option? he has always said the public option is the preference. they want choice and competition and that there are other ideas that will accomplish those goals, they are open to them. that is true. the white house has been consistent on that. some people felt that, in particular, hhs secretary sebelius went further on sunday when she said the public option is not an essential element of reform and when the president himself said it at a town hall

over the weekend at west it was just a sliver of health care reform. the white house insists that was not intended to be a smoke signal or anything to members of congress. this is a case the media got it wrong and their position has not changed. note, however, that that position is we're open to something other than a public option. so if members of congress are mad about that, they can stay mad about that. that has been the white house position all along. >> savannah, besides a co-op, what are the other options? what are the other alternatives that the white house is actively considering besides a public insurance plan? >> i don't think we hear of anything other than the co-op. i mean, the public option is their preference. that's what is in the house side. the bill is over there. they contain the public option. the senate health committee has a public os option and then this behind the scenes deal-making that is going on with the senate finance committee reportedly because no one has actually seen the language, has this co-op.

and when asked, the clear signal from the white house that's something they are open to. once we see the details. but the bottom line it has to be something that really makes insurers compete, that really brings costs down. that's the bottom line here at the white house. as for other ideas, we haven't heard any of it much discussed on the hill or over here. >> savannah, do we have ideas about how the co-ops will work? even "the new york times" this morning said it seems to be there is no clear picture of this co-op emerging. >> yeah. . i think that's right but the reason i mentioned this is still a very much a work in progress and this is the deal that's been going on a few months now in the senate finance committee and the idea of the budget chairman. a democrat, senator kent conrad. how they would work, regional, state, national, can they get the scale to have an impact on the insurance market seems to be the pressing issue. you got to get them big enough so they are a worthy competitor to the insurance companies and can have an affect on prices. i think until we see what comes

out of the senate finance committee, a lot of mystery here. >> savannah guthrie, thank you so much. several democrats voicing their concern about apparent shift away from the public option by the obama administration. >> the problem is the obama administration seems to be negotiating it themselves and without a public plan, it's almost worse than doing anything i mean, because then you don't get any cost savings and you miss a great opportunity. >> joining us now is democratic congresswoman allison schwartz of pennsylvania. good to see you again. >> good to be with you. >> congresswoman, we just saw new york congressman anthony wiener express more than frustration and express resolve he is not going to vote for any plan that doesn't have public option as part of it. you've heard howard dean, a number of other people say we're just pussy-footing around if a public option is not in it and never bend the cost curve. where do you stand on that? are you unequivocal on your perspective for the need of a public option and whatever you vote for? >> i am strongly supportive of a

public option. let me just be clear about this and i think it's interesting just having listened to your report just leading into this discussion, is that the president, certainly the house bill, includes -- the president has been supportive of a public option as a way to do two things. both to control the rate of growth of costs and health insurance for our small businesses, for families, and, yes, for government, but particularly for families and businesses. it's important to our economic competitiveness. and it is important to give people options. so many of the markets across the country, there's simply one major private insurer. we want to make sure that americans, particularly small businesses and individuals, who have the hardest time finding affordable health insurance, that there are options, that there are choices. the way the house bill is written -- >> excuse me for a minute. i get where democrats want to go on this but it's clear to mever the last couple of weeks republicans have shifted the

political momentum on this. what more do you and your colleagues need to do to shift the polls and to shift the conversation and, frankly, to make your senate colleagues step forward with a bill that actually can go to conference? >> well, let me say this. we have always wanted this and would love to see it be a bipartisan bill. we've reached out to republicans. certainly, i've been in many hearings and committee meetings where we talked to them and they are looking for every way to fight really doing what we want to do in this country, which is to provide real options that contain costs for families and for businesses and, yes, for government and also provide real options for affordable, stable, meaningful health insurance coverage for all americans. that's the goal. we're consistent in that goal. we came home during august to listen to our constituents. the republicans, unfortunately, have really not been very constructive in really being able to move this debate forward. when we go back in september, the idea is to take what we've heard, to keep this goal in mind

of what we're trying to do here, and, for me, that includes options for americans, both private insurance options and a public plan. it's on us to come back and really take what we've heard to make it work. >> congresswoman, i'm sitting in with carlos today, jean chatzky. we've talked about a co-op and public option in terms of other options. is there a third meet in the middle type of plan that is on the table? >> the meet in the middle plan -- i'm a new democrat and a moderate democrat in the house and what we have worked out in the house bill is that it's going to be this marketplace where private insurers will step up to the plate, we hope, be able to offer real options be to americans and that they will do so with new rules and regulations which has no preexisting conditions. you can't charge people more because of their health status. that you're going to actually create a bigger pool where we're all in this together. >> why -- >> and that includes a public option from my point of view.

i think that's a very moderate middle of the road position. >> why is the public option so necessary in order to move insurers in that direction? >> well, one is to make sure the insurers do meet these new requirements and make sure they are not excluding people with illnesses and not charging more, that they are actually meeting those rules and regulations, and in some markets, to the private insurance industry not step up to the plate, say, you know, i really don't want to provide insurance to individuals or small businesses. it's simply not what i'm interested in. there will be a public alternative. i think it also is a way to keep down the rates for all of us and that is one of the things we're trying to do. >> congresswoman schwartz, we have to go. is there any part of you as you go through this -- i know you have to be deliberate about it but is there any part of you that just says we are all being too deliberate or too tranquil about this that we need to ask the insurance companies for dramatically more? it's clear we need to ask the pharmaceutical companies for a lot more.

doctors, as much as they feel they are squeezed probably need to take a haircut and frankly we also have to do some taxing. i feel a need for ross perot, a need for someone to tell the truth and i feel right now we don't get that claire knit the conversation. do you feel any of that frustration or feel the process is going pretty much as it should go? >> i think a lot of concern about particularly at these town hall meetings and some of the real distortions and lies that have been put out there by some of the real fringe right wing. we want to be talking about what you're talking about, how much can we save money through all of the providers, the insurance companies, we want them all to be a part of this discussion but to step up to the plate. let's remember that what we're trying to do here which is to drive down the cost of insurance and get the right kind of health care for americans and make sure we're healthy at the end of the day and we can afford the health insurance health coverage and it's meaningful for americans. i believe we have in fact, drafted a bill in the house that

can do all of those things. we, obviously, will make changes when we come back, it's what it's all about and work with the senate and see what they can pass but we have to be very strong and clear about what we're trying to do here and how we are trying to accomplish it using a private public system which is what we have. uniquely american solution to both cost and access to stable insurance in this country. >> congresswoman schwartz, thank you for joining us and looking forward to having you back again soon. >> thank you. we want to hear what you think. go to twitter.msnbc.com and follow the link to my twitter page. you'll see my picture there. click on it. or you can go to twitter.com/carloswatson, jean and i will be reading some of your tweets ahead. coming up, new violence strikes in the heart of afghanistan as the taliban tries to derail this week's presidential election. a cyberswindler buffed for stealing more 130 million credit and debit card numbers.

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i'm carlos watson. today two u.s. soldiers killed and three others wounded when their vehicle hit a bomb in eastern afghanistan and taliban claiming responsibility for a separate attack. a suicide bomb targeting a nato convoy. seven civilians killed in that attack and 50 injured. all this happens two days before afghans head to the polls to pick their next president. i'm joined live from kabul,

afghanistan, by nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel and also joined by jean chatzky, my divest guest co-host. richard, let me go to you first. where do things stand right now just some, i guess, 36 hours before the voting starts? >> tension has been raised significantly here in kabul after not only that suicide bombing attack that happened on the outskirts of the city today against the nato convoy, but also a rocket attack that landed not far from here on the presidential compound of president karzai. no injuries there. the taliban is promising more and more attacks. they are trying to keep as many people as they can from going to the polls when they open up on thursday morning. u.s. officials say they are waiting and seeing and they are

concerned about widespread allegations of voter fraud that voter registration cards are now available for sale in many markets around the city and can cost for $10 to $30. when you combine the illegal cards, the fraudulent cards on the street and this atmosphere of fear, there are serious questions about this election even before it's taken place. >> even if the election is not as smooth as many would like, the violence, et cetera, is this still a key point for afghanistan or, frankly, is "the new york times" sunday magazine suggested a couple of weeks ago, is this much more ambiguous as to whether or not this will represent progress? >> well, i think article show how complex the situation is. i think next for the government through elections is only part of the story. i think the legitimacy for the next government will come if the government can provide services and can create a viable economy. and for me, that's the

challenge. and we have to see how it develops. >> richard engel, let me ask you about ambassador richard holbrookee's comments that seem to suggest a couple of days before he still felt good about the election right now. also seemed to suggest that he wanted to help broker some kind of agreement involving the taliban. is his role right now seen as a constructive one, as a positive run one, or is it more of a side show and still the main theater as the vote itself? >> no. his role is considered a vital one here, because it's not expected or it's not predicted, let's say, that this election could end quickly. it's going to take days, if not weeks, to count all of the ballots before any kind of official results are in and the results might not be definitive at all. president karzai is the -- is in the lead but if he doesn't get 50% of the vote or actually 50%

plus a little bit, this election will go to a runoff and that could take another several weeks to organize. so the u.s. role will to stabilize the political situation here and tell the different political rivals and parties to calm down and not go to the streets and not have the situation develop into what happened in iran. we have multiple people claiming victory right after the election. >> kimberly martin, the final word as you look at this and spent time in afghanistan before. what are your thoughts as we head into the election some. >> two things. one it's exciting that the campaign has done as much as it has to get people thinking about alternatives. we don't just have karzai and his war lords on one side and taliban on the other. people willing to risk their lives for progress. >> literally risk their lives with limbs. we know people have been threatened by the taliban to have fingers cut off, et cetera. >> there is also the possibility of a demonstration effect can beat the it will ban in an area where they are strong. if people see there are areas of

security and people excited about voting they say why can't i have that too. ? that is the best thing that can happen to the campaign to get local support for the provision of security. >> fantastic. i want to thank everyone for participating. good to see you again. appreciate it. richard, please be safe in afghanistan. we look forward to talking to you a little bit tomorrow. straight ahead, more than a hundred million credit card accounts hacked. how in the world did it happen? are your numbers at risk? plus, as tom delay gets ready to rumble on the dance floor, we take a look at other politicians making unusual and maybe some say bizarre career moves. remember bob dole and viagra? you're watching msnbc. i'm carlos watson. during times like these it seems like the world will never be the same. but there is a light beginning to shine again. the spark began where it always begins. at a restaurant downtown.

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ever in the united states. albert gonzalez has been indicted along with two others for stealing information from 130 million people credit and debit card accounts between 2006 and 2008. for more on this, let's go to my co-host today, jean chatzky. it looks like you were ordered for this. >> i'm ready to serve and here is what people need to know about this. you really can't stop something like this from happening. you can't just protect your information. >> no way. it's not possible. >> if they are going to steal 130 million accounts and have you a credit card where yours is in the batch. what you can do is more monitoring of your own information. >> what do you mean when you say that? because i'm busy. >> of course, you're busy but pay attention to what is going on in your credit report so if there ising in some there that doesn't belong to you you can shut it down as quick as possible. the fastest way to do that is by buying a credit monitoring service which is going to cost about $89 a year. there are loads of them. every one of the credit bureaus,

they all have them. >> i call them up and say i want to order a credit monitoring service? >> yeah. or if you see an ad on tv for a free credit report, they are not giving you a free credit report. >> they are cool commercials. >> they are. it will alert you if somebody is applying for credit in your name or messing around in your file in any or way. if you want to do it for free, you go and you put what is called a fraud alert on each of your credit reports with each of the bureaus and that way, if somebody is applying for credit in your name, they will not give them that credit without coming to you and saying, hey, is this actually you? it's cumbersome and time-consuming but it won't cost you $89 a year. >> albert gonzalez not even 30 and former government informant and takes some of the information he used before and along with two russian accomplices and goes after 130 million account numbers. not good. >> not good but only you can protect you.

>> all right. buyer beware? >> that is right e. >> individual beware. jean chatzky, appreciate that. for more on the topics we're discussing check out carloswatson.msnbc.com. coming up, the internet and the digital world shaken up politics in the last few years. they even helped bring president obama across the finish line in 2008. now the online political world is being shaken up once again. we have exclusive information on that ahead. plus when is health care reform no longer reform? democrats revolt over the possibility of losing public option health care. former obama academic adviser robert rice will join us to talk about that and much more. you're watching msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. (announcer) what are you going to miss when you have an allergy attack? achoo! (announcer) benadryl is more effective than claritin at relieving your worst mptoms. and works when you need it most. benadryl. you can't pause life.

welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. we want to fast forward through top headlines. sotomayor made her first decision on the supreme court.

she voted unsuccessfully to delay the execution of an ohio death row inmate. a shortage there could be a swine flu vaccine in the fall. officials say only 45 million doses of the new vaccine will be on hand in mid october. down from 120 million. michael jackson's mother is considering a wrongful death lawsuit. an attorney for catherine jackson says the idea has been, quote, floated and the main man mentioned is dr. conrad murray, jackson's personal physician. is the public option essential to true health care reform? according to president obama's former economic adviser, it is, and will have no one to blame but ourselves if the reform doesn't include it. joining us from berkeley, california is professor robert rice who teaches public policy at the university of california-berkeley and the author of "super capitalism." you had strong words this morning in "the new york times" including bob herbert's piece saying, among other things, the

insurance companies and big pharma are way too happy what is going on. say more about that. are you saying that the man you advised, president obama, needs to be significantly tough oar them? >> well, carlos, not only are they happy, but yesterday, insurance stocks and health care stocks went roar be upwards and otherwise a lackluster stock market because they now believe on the basis of backtracking last weekend the administration is going to of have and not push a public plan option and therefore, thee can count on big options in the future. >> you know they were surprised by the ultimate result that going into, for example, welfare reform, no one could have predicted exactly what happened. people skernl certainly had concerns and models but no one predicted what ultimately occurred. is it possible that co-ops, something that, right now, seems somewhat of a what people assume is weak and unable to bend that

cost curve actually could be effective. ? if so, what would it look look and what would it take for the co-op to be a meaningful option? >> i doubt co-ops will be effective for couple of reasons. we've in this country a history of medical co-ops but they've been either taken over or basically overwhelmed by the for-profit big health insurance companies and there is very little competition in the private sector, partly, because of that. you see, the co-ops don't have the authority and they don't have the scale to bargain and negotiate and use bargaining leverage to get costs down with regard to drug companies and medical suppliers and hospitals. that's been the history of this. and, again, you only to have to look at the lobbying in washington to understand what is going on. the big health care providers, the heal insurers and drug companies are willing to accept a co-op, a cooperative, call it a public option, but something very akin to kent conrad's idea,

because they don't worry that that is going to erode their profits. >> professor rice, jean chatzky. if you were to lay it out for us and structure a plan in the way that you think it has a possibility of getting through both the house and the senate this year, what would that look like? >> well, look, jean. i think a public option, a public plan option is very, very important, both to keep insurance companies honest. very little competition among the insurance market right now. they have a huge administrative cost and spend wildly to find people who are healthy and get that bargaining leverage so you can get the costs down for consumers. how do you do it? ideally, the president says to the senate and we do have a majority of democrats in the senate and the house, ideally, he says this is what i want and i am going to sign a bill that has this in it and not sign a bill that doesn't have it in it.

if the president is unwilling to go that far, it seems to me, you know, anybody out there who is watching who feels that a public plan is important has got to organize and mobilize and energize. this is, at least we call ourselves a democracy, not a corepocracy and hopefully, people are concerned about this and let their voices be heard. >> secretary rice, thank you for joining us. >> okay, carlos. bye-bye. >> now on today's daily topic. how is the international increasing power in the world of politics? a convention just wrapped up last week and they are politicians and party leaders including folks like former president bill clinton and howard dean and valley jarrett and rub shoulders and showcasing ever-growing influence on the web. with me to talk about that is aurie melborn. we talked the other day about the fact the last five to ten

years has seen the digital world become powerful and brought john mccain close and howard dean got to the brink and barack obama got over the finish line thanks in many ways to the digital world. but you now say there are big changes afoot in the digital world in terms of politics. talk to me about that. >> there are big changes and saw some of them at net roots nation. the first is a shift about barack obama did raising huge sums of money online and people are discussing now reverse fund-raising. you can go to a website actblue and say i don't like what a certain senator is doing, say he is against the public option. i want to donate money so that there will be a challenger who comes along later to take that money. >> you are creating a financial billy club and holding it threatening next to him or her? >> yeah. this is the kind of thing being discussed among some activists there at the conference. >> it's unusually powerful, jeep.

when we look at the race in connecticut a few years ago where joe lieberman was beat in the primary although he prevailed in the general election that is significant if someone says we're not waiting for ned lamont to appear. we will create a pool of money so ned lamont or several ned lamonts can step up. >> the next step is that website, that digital pool of money would pick the candidate, correct? i mean, there could be some sort of a process similar to a vote? >> right. you would have the monel online and have a website who says -- you put enough money anywhere, people will come along and say is that the type of person you had in in immediate to challenge? ned lamont was not known around the country but joe lieberman was. >> let's get to the next one. >> donor strike. you are telling the incumbents you don't like we are not going to give you anymore money unless you do what we want and the big

activist behind this is larry lektag who is a professor at harvard and a has a group that say if you don't support campaign finance reform we're all going to strike and not give you any more money to the politicians in congress. >> how long does it take until groups like this have the power of the big lobbies? >> a long time. if you look comparatively there is less money at first. >> but the way to go? >> yeah. what is interesting is les start with several thousand small dorns up on their website. the past two weeks he has big donors to the democratic party and big names that are also joining the strike. >> we've got to go. 30 seconds. any other things we should keep our eye on? >> the last one a shout-out to the blog fire dog lake and been out doing street youtube. we're talking about the public option here. for weeks on the streets and walk from their office to congress and ducking the media and public and get in there with

a camera and ask them questions and put them on youtube. it's a forced interview. >> it's kind of like everyday michael moore, right? >> right. >> once in every two-year event, instead of that, it's on the birther movement and public option and other things. aurie, appreciate it and see you more on the show. appreciate you coming by. >> thank you. >> thank you. is the internet helping or hurting the political debate? go to twitter.msnbc.com and you'll see my picture there. click on it and shoot me a tweet. or you can go to twitter.com/carloswatson, we will read some of your tweets in a mom. coming up girl power in the battlefield. a look at how women are breaking through the combat barrier on the ground in iraq and afghanistan. that is straight ahead with general barry mcaffrey. you're watching msnbc live. i'm carlos watson.

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welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. so we move on to the middle east now. the new reality for the u.s. military women in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. according to "the new york times" women seeing ground combat in significant numbers for the first time. all of this is true even though there is still officially barred from joining combat unit. i'm joined live from washington by msnbc military analyst and retired u.s. army general barry mcaffrey. we with me here in the studio is jean chatzky. i thought incredibly, general, interesting pieces in "the new york times" both on sunday and on monday suggesting that even though the formal rules say that women can't be in combat, that they are see ago lot more combat. in fact, i think unfortunately i think 121 of the deaths we've seen over in iraq and afghanistan have been women in combat. >> yeah. well, pretty good reporting. i think they were a little bit late to discover this. we've had actually 780 plus

military women killed or wounded in combat now in the war since 9/11. 16% of the armed forces are women. we got 57 admirals and generals who are women. women who have been at west point for 30 years. by the way, the real turning point in my mind was the first gulf war desert storm. there were a thousand women in my division alone who did superbly. the law, though, carlos, to add to the discussion does not prohibit women in combat. they are flying fa-18s for the air force and navy and flying apache helicopters for the army. it only prohibits direct ground combat roles. and i think the navy still doesn't have women in submarines. >> general, would you at this point favor a change in those rules to allow women in that direct combat? >> certainly, i would favor

eliminating all unit restrictions. women, actually, practically, are everywhere in the battlefield. they are in battalion combat teams and in brigade staffs. they ought to be. so i think all of that ought to be swept away. there is still a reservation, most of us feel, on ground combat infantry units and probably most special operations units. >> a story in "the new york times" this morning talked about new mental training for armed services. resilience training from some of the country's leading positive psychologists. what do you think of that trend? and do you think that this is necessary as this conflict continues over many more years? >> well, i must admit, it made me a little apprehensive. i want less psychologists involved in this and more sergeants. and the best pre-combat stress training i've ever seen is called ranger school in the army. so i think what we do when we

bring these young men and women into the armed forces, we put them through a transformative experience and basic combat training. that is the kind of thing we need to do. of course, it depends on where you are, what kind of unit, your own individual characteristics, but combat is clearly stressful, particularly repetitive combat tours. look at of these soldiers and marines and special ops are on their fourth or fifth combat tour since 9/11. >> general, as we close out here, i want to go back to the issue of women in the military. what are the next couple of key steps and are there any downsides to the expansion of the role of women in the military as you see it? >> well, i think there are clearly is an expansion. we got to take away the notion that there is a line in the ballots field. women are in command of military police, battalions and everywhere in the battle force. so i think the restriction on location ought to be taken out of the law.

then i think the other thing is, look, most of us in uniform, my daughter was a major in the national guard, are delighted with the contributions, the courage, the discipline of women in the army, in the armed forces, so that isn't the issue any longer. it's exploiting their capabilities. >> general mcaffrey, thank you so much. appreciate it and look forward to having you on again soon. coming up what is the white house saying about the public option and is it, in fact, still on the table? white house communications director for health policy linda douglas joins dr. nancy to answer that question. ahead, hammer time for the hammer? former republican majority leader gets ready to kick up his heels on the dance floor and sparking reaction in and outside the beltway. he might even get jean and i to dance! stay tuned! you're watching msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. ♪

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welcome back to "msnbc live." tom delay is hitting the dance floor. the former house majority leader will be a surprise contestant on the upcoming season of "dancing with the stars." he's actually rehearsing as we speak. the show's executive producer says delay is a good fit because he watches the show all the time and likes dancing with his wife. delay's new career move made us think about another politician whose wacky behavior made him a good fit for the show. take a look. ♪ >> it's a little embarrassing to talk about e.d., but it's so important to millions of men and their partners, that i decided to talk about it publicly. after all, it can be associated

with many conditions. >> hey, things are wide open. democrat or republican, sometimes it's just time to dance. emme miller of politics daily is tom delay's former communications director. emily, good to see you. >> good to see you too, carlos. >> emily, how surprised were you that the guy formerly known as "the hammer" is going to be on abc's "dancing with the stars"? >> shocked, would be a good way to put it, so was he when he got the call. he got the call this summer. the man can dance. he's got rhythm. >> why do you say he can dance? because i'll be honest with you, i know he's as tough a political customer as there are, i know he formerly was in the extermination business. that doesn't always -- >> that could help, carlos. the extermination business, you've got to be a little fast to get all those bugs and vermins. >> i wasn't even thinking clearly. and you pointed out -- >> i've known him for ten years,

i worked for him and one thing i can say is tom can dance. he's got rhythm. and i've seen him dance at weddings first hand, he can polka, waltz, two-step, and the man can disco. >> i understand, too, his daughter is in fact a professional dancer in texas. >> actually, i just spoke to dani delay before i got on the air and she wanted to clarify that her dad did say that and she said she taught one lesson at the ymca. i'm sure my father would say i'm a professional tv anchor after today, but dani is not a professional dancer. but i will say my first trip to houston as tom's communications directors, dani took me, and i'm a yankee, and i don't even know the phrase, i think it's two-stepping, and she was being hurled through the area and the

girl can dance. but no, she's not a professional dancer. she did want to clarify that, as her father told the world this morning. >> emily, i'm going to run a little clip of tom delay on "good morning america" this morning and then i'll give you the final word. >> conservatives can have fun too, you know. conservatives can let their hair down and open their collar and put on some dancing shoots and get out there on the floor just like the rest of them. >> emily, your prediction? political folks haven't always done well on this show. our own tucker carlson gave it a go, but didn't go as far as he probably would have liked. >> tucker openly said he didn't really take it seriously, tom is taking it very seriously. and he is, if nothing else, a tough competitor. in all arenas, politics or dancing. so he's been practicing all summer, getting in shape. and just this morning, as you also already mentioned, he's already rehearsing in texas with his professional partner.

he's going to go far. he is no longer "the hammer." he's going to be the velvet hammer, he's going to be two-stepping his way across america. he will go far. he'll definitely go farther than tucker carlson. >> yeah, not a high bar to cross. emily miller, you get the final word on that. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you so much. i appreciate it. thanks, carlos. we now move on to my "c" note, my daily big thought. as we watch this health care debate unfold, it occurred to me there may be some good channeling that needs to be done, even though hillary clinton gave channeling a bad name recently while she was overseas. but president obama may want to channel two people. one may actually be john ham, the actor that stars in "mad men," one of my favorite tv shows. frankly, i think we need a little more slick salesmanship. we need the president and others to step forward and make it really clear how people will benefit and not just hear talk about something called a public option or a co-op. people need to hear it's going

to cost less, i'm going to get to see my doctor when i need to and i'll end up living healthier and longer. need a little salesmanship. and he needs to channel his old friend and mentor, oprah. no one over the last 25 years has done a better job at taking complex issues and personalizing them. you see oprah there with her students there in south africa, bringing education home. you see her talking about weight loss, see her talking about reading. she always does it through personal stories, through individual testimony. that's another piece of this story that i feel like is missing. instead, we get the town hall chaos and debates. instead of feeling what real lives and real americans have going on. i'm going to leave it at that. that's where we stand. that does it for me. i want to thank jean chatzky. from here, dr. nancy snyderman picks up our coverage. what do you have coming up next? >> well, i don't have barack obama as don draper. we're going to do things a

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talk to your doctor about prescription treatment options. and make this time, your time. coming up today on "dr. nancy," a liberal democrat revolt in full force today after president obama suggests that he might be okay with a health care reform bill that does not include a public option. i'll talk one on one with linda douglass, the woman in charge of the president's message on health care reform. and a sign about doughnuts and health gets a doctor fired from his day job. we're going to talk to him. plus this -- >> would you mind telling me why

partnership's not in my future? >> not at all. you're fat. >> excuse me? >> we can't have fat people working here. >> it may be played for laughs on television, but should employers be able to refuse to hire obese people because of possible health concerns. i'm going to talk to the head of the world-renowned cleveland clinic and he has just opened up a major debate on this hot-button topic. hello, everyone, i'm dr. nancy snyderman, and we begin today with a brand new nbc news poll that shows a public option for health care reform may be in critical condition. our poll showing the number of people who do not want a public option is now at 47%. those who do, at 43%. contrast that to our previous poll, which showed 46% favored the public option and only 44% opposed it. a swing in public opinion. meantime, democratic members of the house are