to my very many phone calls. >> hatch's home confinement following four-year sentence for tax evasion and reportedly revoked for inappropriate contact with the media. as you know if you watch msnbc live every morning i always have a guest host and pleased to welcome back mort zukerman. sometimes i call him my friend and sometimes with the u.s. news and world report. what do you make of what is going on with the stock market? we've seen a tremendous rally the last several months and some people seem to pull back. the dow and other exchanges seem to grab some of that back yesterday. some 80 points. what do you make? >> well, i think there's a general concern that the consumer is not spending and 70% of our economy is based on consumer spending. if that goes down by 4% or 5% or %, it's a huge drop to the economy, therefore, it means perhaps a lot of these stocks are overpriced. what has been the concern that as emerged recently is poor

numbers in terms of what the consumer is spending. it is a real concern for the stock market. >> what does that say to you when you hear some of the retail analysts, whether at the higher end or whether they are target and others say they expect things to return to normal, perhaps middle of 2010? is that just pie in the sky or are they just pushing off number or is there some real rational behind saying i expect, you know, third quarter of 2010 that things will get better and people will start spending money? >> i think there is a real rational for it and it's on several levels. the most important is employment or unemployment. we have a very high unemployment number and it's higher than it looks because it didn't take into account people only working part-time who want to work full-time. have you a 16.5% total unemployment number. this is a huge number. financing if anything, it is going to continue to go up. we are in a real shrinkage of the employment base of this economy and everybody feels threatened by it. a lot of people, their

compensation is being reduced even if they aren't being employed. salaries are at the very best flat and some people are having their salaries reduced. everybody is concerned about that and they are cutting back on their consumer spending. >> furloughs and the like and talk about that this morning with a number of people. in fact, a couple of members of congress in a moment. a new poll shows the tide appears to be turning on the idea of a public option in health care. in fact, more americans, 47% now oppose a public option than favor it. you see the numbers right there. and 54% of americans are more concerned that the government will go too far in reforming the nation's health care system and it won't go far enough. with me live to talk about this is congresswoman maxine waters of california. congresswoman, good to see you again. >> thank you. good to see you. >> what do you make of this? because the president certainly has put forth a meaningful amount of effort the last several weeks including going to various parts of the country. we saw him in new hampshire and colorado and montana but he seems to be losing the message

war. is it time to effectively retreat on the public option question and get through some kind of health care reform that perhaps does include a public option? >> absolutely, absolutely. not. as a matter of fact, the insurance companies got a head start and a jump with us. they went up with their ads. they did a great job of convincing many people that somehow the government was going to take over and was going to be too expensive, it was not the thing to do, and so they got a jump. they got a head start but now we begin to fight back and you will see those polls change because people don't know absolutely what a government option is, what that means. we've got to define it. we've got to keep talking about it. we've got to help the american people to understand that the insurance companies have basically taken advantage of the american people. we have 47 million people without insurance. but more than that, the cost of the premiums have increased

tremendously over the past several years. more profits for the insurance companies. the top ten ceos of the insurance companies, health care insurance are making over $10 million a year so we've got to fix this broken system and i think that the american people will get the truth as we continue to talk about it. >> but isn't the message that has really not come through in this whole presentation of a health care reform bill the fact we have to find a way to cut costs and that the public option is the most effective way to cut costs because of the competition it will present to the insurance company? that message, do you agree, has not come through? >> absolutely. we have not -- as i said, the insurance companies through their ads and even those elected officials who are representing the insurance company interests got out in front of us. they have been able to undermine our efforts to describe public

option. we've got to do a better job of explaining it. >> congresswoman waters, if you look forward here, are there republicans -- you spent a lost time on capitol hill. are there republicans that you think the president maybe has bypassed who could be part of a bipartisan solution? in other words, is he focused on the usual suspects and are there unusual suspects like a retiring like mel martinez of florida or others who could be part of a an unusual coalition? >> let me say this. if there is any president that has reached across the aisle and tried very hard to get support on this issue and other issues is this president. president obama has been extremely forceful in trying to get support from the republicans. they just are not coming around and it's not simply about health care reform, in my opinion. it's because it's a political issue with many of them.

they have decided this is the way to bring this president down. they are being the loyal opposition on this issue because they are centered and focused on taking back the white house. >> final question. we have about 30 seconds rear here. if president obama comes to you and other members of the democrat k caulk he's and says no one wants health care reform than i do but i can't get it done with a public option. i'll come back to that later but i can't get 2 it down without a public option, and i node your vote will you vote for him and will you vote for a health care reform that does not include a public option? >> what you have seen is an opportunity -- i i mean, a chance by the white house to basically kind of put that message out there and see what would happen and let me tell you what happened when they floated it. what happened was there was a great pushback from the progressives in this party, from

the leadership of this party and i think they have seen very clearly that they must have a public option in order to get this bill passed and so, no, i am not going to fold on that. i am not going to give in. i am going to be very strong. i'm going to work with the others who i think are in the majority in our caucus to make sure that we get a public option. that's what we've got to have in order to create competition so that we can drive down the costs of health care insurance. >> congresswoman waters, thank you for joining us and look forward to seeing you soon. >> thank you. a new nbc news news poll says 36% of president obama's health care plan is a good idea. 42 puerto rico. in fact, 42% say it's a bad idea. savannah guthrie joins me live. how concerned are the white house about these numbers or is this information they know and they've already got a plan that is gearing up in order to try to turn the tide?

>> you know, i think it's a little of both. i think they are very concerned about it and they are well aware of not just our poll but most polls show this downward trend on the president's approval rating and his handling of health care reform. however, there's a little tiny bit of good news in this poll. if you actually describe in gentleman nairic generic and neutral terms what the president has proposed you see more people favoring it an he -- than opposing it. that is something for the white house to hang its hat on. then looking at the approval rating of the generic approval job rating is continuing to go down. all-time low for our poll. 51% approval and 41% disproving. health care is a problem because more people are disproving of the president's handling of health care but the plus side is if there is any silver lining for the white house is that health care number, job approval number has held steady. it's been basically static for

the last few times we've polled, so i think they would argue perhaps we've stopped the bleeding or at least that aspect of the poll doesn't show the president getting any worse. >> what do you think the white house message should be in order to turn around the public and, indeed, the congress on health care? >> you get a lot of conflicting answers when you ask analysts. some democrats on capitol hill have been groling for weeks they like the president to take a stronger stance on some specific issues. paw line in the sand a particular bill he should run on. they have tweaked their message a little bit. at the beginning of this debate a few months ago it was about health care reform as a way to control costs and, ultimately, bring down the deficit. that did not fly and people did not think that was a compelling argument and basically rejected it. now, they focus more on health insurance reform, some of these noncontroversial, at least for everyone except the insurance industry, ideas about not cutting off coverage for preexisting conditions that kind of thing and kind of the consumer protection angle.

>> savannah guthrie, thank you for joining us. has your position on health care debate changed? we want to hear from you. go to twitter.msnbc.com and or you can go to twitter.com/carloswatson, i've heard from all of us those who have corrected me. ahead should the government do away with the war on drugs? why two law enforcement veterans and say the drug war is not a war worth winning. the white house thinks it may have abandoned all hopes of bringing republicans on board with health care. is bipartisan officially dead in washington? barney frank at a town hall in massachusetts. take a peek at this. you're watching msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. why do you continue to support this policy as obama has expressedly supported this policy? why are you supporting it? >> when you ask me that question i am going to revert to my

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they taste fresh because you make them frpeople withs access www.sprintrelay.com. welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. when it comes to health care will the democrats have to go it alone? public option grows, democrats are now doubting republicans will get on board to approve a health care overhaul. jon kyl says the co-ops are a trojan horse, closed quote, that the republicans won't support. linda sanchez of california is now joining us. congresswoman sanchez, good to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> where do you see the debate going from here, given what

seems to be very little republican interest and bipartisanship, do you see this as a democratic only effort and, if so, does that ultimately impact the actual policy that comes both out of the house and the senate? it's interesting, because as my colleague congresswoman waters mentioned, i think president obama has really gone the extra mile and bent over backwards to try to bring republicans to the table, have them propose ideas, and work with them to craft bipartisan legislation and i think increasingly what we are seeing they don't have an interest of putting forth any new ideas of their own. they just are pretty much vetoing and saying no to everything that we are proposing. there's not really a lot of meaningful dialogue and whole segments of republicans in the congress have just said no out of the gate and they're not independence really in negotiating anything. so now we turn to the fact that

we are in an unprecedented time in terms of our health care crisis and we cannot afford the status quo. the system is limping along. it's not doing its job. and as premiums continue to rise, fewer and fewer people will be able to afford coverage. we have an unprecedented also opportunity to fix this problem because we do have a democratic majority in both houses. so i think that as republicans continue to reject and misrepresent parts of a very admittedly big and complex bill, i think we now need to look internally to how can we come to consensus, come up with a version of the bill in the house, because, right now, there are two or three. and work with the senate to craft something that can be passed in both of the houses. >> if you had one area where you think you had the best chance of gaining some republican support, what piece of this very implicated legislation would you

focus on? >> it's interesting because, you know, all of this -- there are a lot of moving parts so it's hard to exactly pin down and certain things are deal breakers for some members. i just want to make this comment. i serve on the ways and means committee and in that markup of our version of the bill, it was republicans who were really insisting on the quality of life and end of life care counseling and somehow that got twisted and it became, oh, democrats, you know, are going to kill your grandmother which is completely false and completely inflammatory and misleading. yet that was a proposal we tried to incorporate at the request of a republican members. >> congresswoman chan sanchez, i want to leave health care in a moment. what other issues are constituents concerned about and talking to you about? what else do you think should be on the congressional agenda when you guys return in a couple of weeks? >> i tell you, you know, i've been doing a number of public

events and pretty much health care reform has dominated the discussion because people really are hungry for information and i find once you engage with them in a productive way, not screaming and shouting, but actually discuss, people are very interested to hearing what we've been working on and hearing what we have to say. i think some of the shouters and people being disruptive when we're trying to talk about certain things, i think they are generally frustrated with the status of the economy maybe, they are upset and they are angry, but they are channeling that anger into sort of this health care reform is kind of whipping boy for it all. but if i had to sort of say besides health care reform, i mean, people are generally concerned about economic stability and a lot of folks are concerned about keeping their job, or, you know, retirement security is also a big issue that i hear a lot about. >> thank you so much for joining us and i hope you'll come back again soon. >> ply pleasure. thank you for having me.

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post original shredded wheat is still just the one simple, honest ingredient which naturally comes with vitamins, minerals and fiber. all we did was make it spoon size. did we go too far? welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. on the eve of the presidential elections, more violence in afghanistan as explosions and gun fire throughout the capital today. police stormed a bank in kabul kulg three insurgents. still the afghan government is urging voters to go to the polls tomorrow. kimberly martin is joining us now. also joined by mort zuckerman, my guest co-host. with all of the violence going on, no one is surprised. we've seen this in iraq and other places as people head to the polls. will this ultimately delegitimatize whatever result comes forward? >> i think what is important about the afghan election is not

the vote itself. it's the campaign process leading up to the vote. because what we see is people willing to take on the two major groups in the country, karzai and the war lord coalition that is behind him and the taliban. and they were willing to risk their lives to complain about the situation in the country and suggest that something better is possible. and that gets people a sense of hope for the future, even though this election may not present results. >> what can it look like? bob herbert of "the new york times" one of our guests later in the hour wrote i thought a impressive piece last fall effectively calling into question if we did put a lot of energy and effort into afghanistan, which he predicted we would and certainly the president has, what would the end result be? would we spend five, ten years there and not making a ton of progress and a lot of lives lost? what does success look like there? is. >> it depends how you define progress. success can establishing a afghan national army that is able to provide security across the country. at that point there would be an incentive for investors to come

in and establish new businesses and, at that point, you can provide employment for people and give them an alternative to either working in the drug trade or involved as taliban fighters. i think security across the country with the afghan national army is the key. >> mort, what do you think as you look at this? you've been involved in a variety of foreign policy issues over the years. is there any part of you that worries that this could be a -- >> i think it is a fool's err rand aned. taliban understand one thing we will not stay there forever. that seems to be a huge card in their hand. what is more they have a lot of natural intelligence. they just know the terrain and know the people. we don't. and so sooner later, we're going to leave and they know they are going to be in a position to outwait us and they do not have a legitimate government it seems to me to support in the karzai family because his brother a apparently hugely involved in the drug raid. is that a fair statement, do you think? >> i think what you've said

about the karzai family is correct but i don't think that means we should give up hope, because i think if afghanistan can take care of its own national security needs, it really matters less with the national government is in kabul. there has never been a strong national government in afghanistan. what matters is people have hope to invest in the future economically and you can't get that without security. >> has that ever happened? >> there was a time in afghanistan when the king was in charge and when certainly did you have a lot of growth and a lot of economic opportunity because people respected -- >> in the last century or are you going back further? >> the mid 20th century. >> really? fair enough. professor kimberly martin with columbia university, appreciate you joining us. >> good to be back. thank you. >> good to see you. coming up, when is health care reform no longer reform? "the new york times" columnist bob herbert who we were just talking about joins us on that coming up next. bringing america's hispanic population out of the shadow. is it the next big political story?

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welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. now next year the u.s. will conduct its once in a decade census. a lot of hurdles involved tracking more than 300 people. in fact, one of the largest obstacles is counting for the minorities who have traditionally been undercounted. joining sus don brown and joined again by mort zuckerman. as you and i were talking off stage counting 300 million people most think about the sendus as important in terms of allocating political power and think about it in terms of who gets members of the house of representatives and sway things. but you were saying this also impacts the private sector? >> it impacts this show. the ratings -- for instance the ratings of television shows are based on the sendus. a lot of economics is based on

the numbers and sendus. billions and billions of dollars of funding goes to where the population is. if you're counted, you count. if you're not counted or you're undercounted, you don't and you don't participate in what is mandated in the constitution. >> now it was a huge flash point that showed up when president obama wanted to select judd gregg, a republican from new hampshire, to be his commerce secretary. disagreements about how do you count undercounted populations. some democrats suggesting sampling you could do so if you couldn't see people you might extrapolate based on some numbers. is there any clear sense what the administration is going to do to make sure everybody gets counted? what, if anything, can telemundo do? >> think two things. i think a philosophical difference in what commitment, what resources were going to be committed to the census.

think the obama administration wants to have accurate count and reconfigure it to i think reinforce that. as far as we're concerned we're a hispanic media company and we are to inform and empoe you're or population. hispanics have grown seven times faster than the general population. one of our jobs is to inform. a lot of ignorance about the census and a lot of fear. fear is probably one of the biggest obstacles of getting between people participating and not participating. >> what is the fear? what would make someone not answer the door? >> the fear of participating with the government agency enthen being scrutinized and being in a database where they may come back and look into your personal life. >> but doesn't it deal primarily with people who are what we call unauthorized aliens and call it what you will, isn't that a big part of all of this and that creates the fear and also what creates the distortion in the numbers if there is a judgment on the part of the american population that these people in a sense are not citizens and are

here illegally and therefore are not entitled to whatever it is you're talking about, whether it be economic or political? >> well, it's a big part of the issue. it's a small part of the result. the undocumented or however we term this, will be a small part of the population that's counted. it's a big political flash point but the fact is it's mandated in the constitution that that's the way it is, that's the way it's always been in the way the census has been conducted so that is the way it is in the constitution. now unless that is changed by law, it's going to continue to be done the way it's been done since the constitution machine dated it be done. the fact is you can't change the rules on the eve of the census. >> is that view of the constitution shared broadly? because a lost -- a lot of the reading i've done and a lot of people i've spoken with disagree with that interpretation of it. >> they can disagree but then they've got to do something about it. the fact is if that many people disagree, then they need to get in touch with their representatives and this is the whole point. the fact is there's a reality in this country. we see it every day whether the

historic election of the first african-american president or first latina as a supreme court justice. the numbers speak for themselves. the majority of the population is getting smaller and minority population is getting larger and a lot don't like that but that is the reality and a lot is mandated in the constitution. >> i think the big political story next year. glad we're talking about it first here. don brown, thank you for joining us. breaking news. don huet just died at 86. he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in march. he retired as executive producer in 2004. don hewitt has died at 86. we remember him right now. we will be right back. i'm peter jacobsen, and i've lost 31 pounds on nutrisystem.

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our new nbc news poll shows that president obama's efforts to debunk health care myths, in fact, aren't working. 55% of those poll believe that illegal immigrants will get health insurance and another 50% think taxpayer will be funding abortions. as you see on the numbers on the screen there, 45% of people buy into the notion of death panels. with me live to talk about this is bob herbert. good to see you. >> how are you? >> bob, you wrote in your column yesterday this is part of the overall madness of what is a critical debate? >> it is a critical debate. and i think that the debate is not -- american public has not been well served. i don't think the coverage has been sterling. some coverage has been good but overall i don't think the media coverage has been great and think there is too much focus on the crazies disrupting those meetings and that sort of thing. it's a legitimate news story but i don't think that should have dominated the discussions. >> what is the way forward?

your mind? morted and i have been talking about how obama can take the situation where it is today and still get it across the goal line. we've seen him do this before in difficult situations including during the campaign. >> i think a couple of important questions have not been sufficiently answered. the first is whether the country really wants in the midst of severe economic downturn to do comprehensive health reform. i don't think that's clear at all. the second is if you do do health reform -- now, obviously, it's important to get more people covered that is the fundamental humane aspect of this -- but the argument we've been sold for the longest time is that you have to get a handle on health costs as crip'ing the economy and making us less competitive, that sort of thing. well, if you're going to talk about programs going forward, we need to have it explained very clearly how they're going to get a handle on health costs. i don't think that's been done. >> i couldn't agree with you more. i think if they had one to spell this it was to sell it as a cost

containment program. all of the other stuff could have been submerged in that. that is what the american public was worried about that this is a run-away system in terms of costs and that would have had a majority and now they got to define by the opponents and by the people who are disrupting the meetings and it became all about the disruptions and not about the policy. >> exactly, right. >> bob, i. to move you oddly enough overseas. i thought -- >> i like where we were. i like new york! >> health care in afghanistan. >> oh, my goodness! >> i thought you wrote a very thoughtful piece last fall, long before the people were writing about afghanistan and whether or not that was a fool's errant. we had an interesting conversation with professor kimberly martin of columbia university. your thoughts on where things stand now even republicans like lindsey graham saying more troops, more money, could be there a long time. >> one of the things we seldom do when we get involved in the overseas missions is define the mission.

clearly, what is it that we're really trying to achieve? what will constitute victory in our eyes? that hasn't been done with regard to afghanistan. and now it's been really a long time. what are we talking about? eight years now in afghanistan. and it just seems to me to be unending situation. i think sending young people off to to five tours in the combat in iraq and afghanistan. also we're talking about cost containment on health care and we're talking about budgetary matters here at home and deficits and that sort of thing. look how much these wars in iraq and afghanistan are costing us. what are we getting in return? >> certainly lbj found out firsthand what you spend overseas -- >> guns and butter back during the vietnam. you don't hear that phrase any more. >> we will leave that conversation for now. bob, you promise you'll come

back as our guest co-host, so a good thing. is it, in fact, time to legalize drugs? a "the washington post" op-ed poise out points out the biggest victims in the war on drugs is observe the police officers who lose their lives in the cross-fire nearly every day. quote. the police officers who l their lives in the cross-fire nearly every day. quote. joining me are the authors of that op-ed piece, peat mosskos and professor john j. college and also joined by neil franklin of law enforcement against prohibition and a retired major with the maryland state police. peter, i want to start with you first. that's actually a fairly provocative thought that the people who are most impacted are the police officers but is that, i have to ask you, more of a spin than reality? is that maybe a more better way

to sell the way of decriminalizing drugs to a weary public by saying that police officers are on the line? >> i certainly hope it is. that is the intention. it's not just police officers that suffer and put their lives on the line. it's people in neighborhoods that have public drug dealing. that is the key is not -- to legalize drugs is not make drugs a free for all but to rein in the free for all we have now on the street corner. >> neil, during your time in the maryland state police, did you begin during that time as someone who has opposed to legalizing drugs or decriminalizing drugs and if you did begin that way, what ultimately converted you or persuaded you that is the wrong way to go? >> no, i did not begin that by way. i spent the majority of my career in all aspects of drus endorsement from being a nary on the street and being a commander of numerous drug task forces. so i was one of those soldiers who was out there fighting the fight, fighting what i thought to be the good fight as a soldier would do, but what is the pivotal point for me was

actually a personal one which i lost someone close to me and he was one the finest narcotics agents that the state of maryland had ever seen. when he was assassinated in washington, d.c. in october of 2000 that was a calling for me to take a good look at this entire situation and as peter said, not just the violence that we, as police officers, were the recipient of, but the manynant people in our entrenched neighborhoods where this drug dealing is taking place. they are victimized every day by the violence so that was a pivotal point for me. >> the argument against it, obviously, is a lot of the lower level drugs like marijuana, it's a gateway to much heavier drug use and, therefore, in a sense, would explode the problem amongst people at large. how do you deal with that issue? >> the countries that have more liberal drug policies like portugal and the netherlands have lower rates of marijuana usage and lower rates of all

drugs. i mean, clearly what we are doing now with this very sort of law enforcement approach to the war on drugs simply doesn't work. at least let's stop and ask directions. we're going the wrong way. at some point people have to commit the current policy is a failure. hopefully, we can talk about reform and start about regulating and controlling what are now illegal drugs likely we do alcohol and tobacco. >> only 30 seconds, neil. do you want to give me the top two or three things you would like to see done if we were to revisit this policy? >> the first is to end prohibition. that is where the majority of the violence is from mexico into 230 plus cities in our country here where we have people dying every kay day as it relates to drug violence and that is attributed directly to prohibition, not to drug use. we can then focus on the primary issue which is drug abuse, but right now we are being diverted and distracted with this war on drugs and prohibition. we need to change that.

>> neil franklin, peter moskos, we leave it there and hope that governor arnold schwarzenegger who says he wants to have this debate outloud will join us in the next couple of weeks so maybe ask you back and be part of that conversation as well. >> i'll be back. >> look forward to it. do you think drugs should be legalized? let your voice be heard. 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, another way to find me. chelly cho brings us in on the inside dish on tonight's big finale and might tell you who is going to win but you got to stay tuned and watch you us live to figure that out. i'm carlos watson. >> this isn't so much of a challenge as like the thing that i would love to be able to do. >> i own each and every one of those emotions in my heart each and every day. >> i came on then, guys. >> let's do it. our bodies become...

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welcome back to msnbc live. i'm carlos watson. so, tonight is gourmet food at the getty villa in malibu, the final grilling on the series finale of bravo's "top chef masters." the three remaining culinary masters will cook a meal based on the personal history of the chef. >> the first dish should be inspired by your first food memories. your second dish will be the experience that made you decide to become a chef. third, the opening of your first restaurant. the final dish should represent where you'll be heading in the future. >> i'm a story teller. i own each and every one of those emotions in my heart each and every day. >> all right. game on then, guys. do it. >> kelly choi is the host of bravo "top chef masters." too far aparted though. >> you think i can step away

anymore. might not feel right. >> i enjoyed being on the show never more than this very moment. >> never more. >> kelly, we will turn to you. actually, i'm intrigued not by just the three top chefs you have on, but by your own personal story. were you someone that cooked a lot? were you someone who was involved in cooking, so natural to do "top chef masters?" >> i literally grew up in a grocery store, my parents owned a grocery store. i wanted to go to culinary school, i couldn't afford it at the time. really loving food, very big in asian cultures. like all my friends and like doing everything around the dinner table that kind of thing. food is the essence of life. it brings people together and it is mcto be celebrated an relished and really enjoyed. so -- >> you know, i'm always surprised when i watch top chef, which i do, is the number of male chefs you have and sometimes the shortage of female chefs who make it to the final, given that at least in this country, women still probably cook more frequently than men.

>> there are an incredible amount of women chefs in the country but it is a really grueling lifestyle, because basically, you go into your restaurant at, like, maybe 9 or 10 in the morning, you work all day, prepping, don't do a lunch is service, you are getting ready for dinner. by the time dinner service is over, it is like 12, 1, 2. some checks get out at 3. some sushi places close at 4. so it is a really rough lifestyle f our woman and you want to have a family and kids and that is kind of not going to work so well sometimes, you know? what is part of the reason why i think you see that but the women who are chefs and own restaurants, they are all incredible. you see some in the show. >> carlos actually is a bit of a chef and he doesn't have the grueling part. people who eat what he cooks who have the grueling part. >> oh, really? what is your specialty? >> what would you say your specialty is? >> bread and water. really unusual and copious amounts of that. what is the best thing you've tasted on the show, because you have so many incredible chefs who come your way and i'm someone who loves cuban food,

loves cajun food. mort knows i have taken him for a little bit of both. what is your favorite? what have you tasted? >> some happens tonight. i don't know if i can bring it up. >> give it up. >> can i? >> live with carlos watson. >> michael chiarlello is one of the finalists and had a vegan challenge for the actress zoey dechanel. >> if you have not seen "500 days of summer." >> that is what we will do tomorrow night. >> these good. >> but this vegan challenge. >> later. >> we are glued now forever. >> let's get through this show. >> but he made, michael made this incredible quinoa pasta dish, zoey didn't eat soy. it looked pedestrian, simple but it was one of the best pasta dishes i think i have in years and i have a lot of pasta doing my restaurant show and going out at different restaurants and stuff. >> it really shows on you, too.

>> i'm like you guys, you know, gotta keep fit, i guess. >> what's gonna surprise us in this finale that you can tell us about? >> i can -- what can i tell you? i think you'll be surprised at how much of the show will stay with you after it's over. there's some really touching moments. as you saw, the challenge is really their autobiography in four, you know, four courses. think about that. >> what can happen -- >> no bread and water by the way. >> really good bread and water. we have to go. what can happen for one of these guys who win? they are already established chefs, right, top chef masters. what can happen for them career-wise, if they emerge victorious? >> career-wise, doing it for charity. winner gets $100,000 for his charity. hub the keller, one of the finalists, says fleur de lis is packed tonight and it usually is. mike is doing well, rick's is the same way. everyone across the word is like i want to see rick bayliss,

michael chiarello. >> what time? >> 10:15 after the premiere of "top chef" the regular show in vegas and masters. >> do masters. we will leave it there. that does it for me. i'm carlos watson. i want to thank today's co-host mort zuckerman. he owes me thanks for bread and water. dr. nancy snyderman picks up the coverage from here. nancy, what do you have coming up? >> a recent update from the federal government what can happen in the workplace with swine flu. the doctor at the center of the michael jackson investigation now going public on youtube, what is he thinking? we are going to talk about that a lot coming up, because it is almost noon on the east coast. the doctor is in. introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups.

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numbers that show those spin wars might be working. we will break them down for you. and michael jackson's doctor breaks his silence in a public video on youtube. yeah, despite being the target of a criminal investigation. what is he thinking? plus this. >> hi, honey, how was your physical? >> good. good. good. yeah. yeah. yeah. too good, as a matter of fact. you know what the doctor said? the doctor said i was too healthy. you know? too good of shape. don't even know how. too good of shape. >> you didn't go to your physical, did you? >> uh, i did not. >> yep, if it sounds like a scene from your marriage, you are not alone. why most men refuse to go to the doctor and how it is putting your families at risk. but we begin today with breaking news on swine flu. hello, i'm nancy snyderman. a short time ago, national health officials released guidelines on how to prevent mass infections of flu in the workplace. secretary of commerce gary locke says that we need to prepare for

every scenario. >> h1n1 is more than just a significant health issue. it has the potential to affect virtually every aspect of our lives, from our economy to national security to our educational system. >> with me now, nbc's brian moore. brian, can you give me some idea as to how that press conference went and what the recommendations if any, were made? >> reporter: hi, nancy. well, really, the bush administration here is asking businesses to think about changing the way they do business if this h1n1 virus gets out of control. they are asking business to think about contingency plans, things like cross-training and telecommuting. basically, you can break this down into sort of four categories of tips for business. number one is keep sick workers home. if they get sick, give them the opportunity to stay home and not infect everyone else. number two tell employees who are sick to go