dancing with the birthers? tom delay waltzes with the fringe asking for presidential proof. all that and more this hour on msnbc. good afternoon. i'm monica novotny live in new york. >> i'm david shuster live in washington. a short time ago a democratic national committee headquarters president obama wrapped up an every single state and every single congressional district. >> but in recent days many progressives have become extremely frustrated with mr. obama's conciliatory approach towards republicans and some of the deals he's been cutting with

lobbyists. lengthy negotiations and concessions don't appear to have gotten the white house anything helpful. at least from the republicans. meanwhile, republicans like gop negotiator chuck grassley have been making false charges about reform proposals stoking public anger and throwing cold water on the idea that any republicans might support the bill. in an interview this afternoon with michael customer csmerconi president obama continued to offer them an olive branch. >> i want to give them a chance to work through the processes. we're happy to make sensible compromises. what we're not willing to give up is the core principle that americans who don't have health insurance should get it, that americans who do have health insurance she had get a better deal and have consumer protections. that's going to be my priorities and i think we can get it done. >> so how is all this sitting

with progressives? joining us is one of the most influential progressives. your reaction to the president's approach as it continues today? >> well, the president is in trouble on health care, and i would say that that's because he is losing progressives. we realized i would say mid-june that max baucus was designing his co-op plan in order to take the place of a true public plan that obama had campaigned on, and jacob hacker, the architect of president obama's plan, was on a conference call this morning and told myself and other reporters that he saw the co-op plan as a trojan horse. basically, something that would destroy everything that progressives believe in. so in june we began our program trying to get progressive members of the house to commit to vote against any bill that didn't have a strong public plan and that public plan did not equal co-ops, and so hence the letter. >> you raised something like over $200,000 for people who want to stay with the public

option and say the bill will not pass. aside from that, the president and his sort of conciliatory approach to republicans, what's going on here? do you wish that the president would say the republicans are not helping you, mr. president, let's do it with the democrats alone? >> well, the ones that the president is trying to be conciliatory to are all the insurance industry lobbyists, the medical device lobbyists, the ama that he has had rahm emanuel and max baucus cutting deals with all summer, and they basically lock in a decade's worth of no-bid contracts that keep -- that prevent the government from having the same ability that walmart does to be able to negotiate on a national level for price controls. so that's what they've been doing. that's what he's trying to sell. he's doing it by saying there's a goody bag of things that will be better, but the bottom line is that none of the things he says will be better will actually be as good as it would with the public plan. >> i'm sure fire doglake.com and

i'm sure have heard the president has more problems on the left. to the bigger picture, will democrats split the health care bill in two to get legislation on the president's desk this year. there's a new idea to pass one bill with budget-related matters which only would need a 51-vote majority, then a second bill with policy changes such as insurance reforms which would require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. a spokesman for senate majority leader harry reid says democrats have not reached any decisions just yet, but here is what he did say. quote, patience is not unlimited, and we are determined to get something done this year by any legislative means necessary. and today mitt romney, former massachusetts governor and presidential candidate, explained why he thinks the president is struggling to find a compromise on health care reform. >> if the president wants to get something done, he needs to put aside the extreme liberal wing of his party, work together with

middle votes of his party, work with republicans as well, and get a plan that gets people insured without having the government take over insurance. >> but president obama says he still wants to negotiate with republicans. here is what he said a short time ago on the michael smerconish program. >> i'm confident we're going to get it done, and as far as negotiations with republicans, my attitude has always been let's see if we can get this done with some consensus. i would love to have more republicans engaged and involved in this process. >> adrielle is a reporter for cq politics.com. talk a little bit about the advantages strategically. >> well, i think there's better than a 50% chance that they do it simply because they're in a real quaug mire right now and they need to declare victory on

something no matter how limited before year's end. so tactically what this does is brings some republicans on board. they can pass the less controversial aspects of this overhaul, including new regulations on insurers that would, for instance, prevent the health plans from discriminating if you have a pre-existing condition. they have enough votes to overcome a filibuster on that right now in the senate. but on the more controversial stuff, the stuff that deals with tax increases to finance this or the public plan, then you would use these special rules called budget reconciliation to kind of ram it through. >> house majority whip james clyburn said civil rights didn't happen overnight. maybe it's okay to do things in pieces. he said, quote, lbj made it very clear a half a loaf is better than no loaf at all. we should do what can be done immediately and use the time between now and 2013 to figure out how to do the rest. but if they do try to do it this way, if they get half the loaf, is it a hollow vic tower and

what do -- victory and what does it mean for 2010? >> it doesn't address the core thing the president said any overhaul has to address, which is bringing down long-term health costs. he feels he has to inject competition in the insurance market, and they have to use some cost controls. so the way to do that would be to do the entire package. the question is whether he can get enough votes in the senate and it boils down to really coalition management as some of your previous guests said. can he keep enough liberals from peeling off from what they will likely see as a watered down compromise. >> adriel, thank you so much. there's no doubt senator ted kennedy's colleagues are missing his presence on the hill right now as this debate over health care rages on. the democrat from massachusetts wants to make sure that his state gets two votes on health care and so he has a special request for his state's governor. he's made that request in the form of a letter. we'll have a live report from

hyannis in the next hour on that. monica, it's so tricky for the white house. on the one hand, yes, they want to get something done. but on the other so many democrats want to see real changes and real reform, and do you get the sense that maybe ted kennedy would have been the one who could essentially butt heads on this and get everyone on the same page and perhaps even get the president on the same page as his party in many cases but we'll see. monica, moving on, freed locker ri bomber abdel baset al megrahi has returned to libya. the former libyan secret service agent boarded a private plane in glasgow earlier after being released from a scottish prison on compassionate grounds. he's the only person convicted of the bombing of the pan am flight over lockerbie flight. 189 americans were killed.

he was convicted in 2001 and was given a life sentence. many in libya see him as an innocent scapegoat of the west. joining us now by phone is rosemary wolf, whose 20-year-old stepdaughter was killed in the pan am bombing. rosemary your reaction both to him being freed but also the kind of welcome he got in libya today. >> it absolutely disgusts me. i can't tell you how distraught my husband and i are. we are angry and we are in absolute disbelief that the scots did this. they didn't have to do this, but they did it. >> also joining us is senator frank lautenberg of new jersey. i wonder if you could take this opportunity to speak to rosemary wolf and address her concerns and what you have to say to her about what our government could possibly do at this point? >> yeah, well, i'm ashamed at the outcome here. this was ghastly, to see this crook, this bum, this whatever

names you want to apply, this terrorist, murderer, get a celebrity reception when he's back in his home country. it tells you what -- how they regard life. it's a vulgarism, to say the least. >> that's right. >> rosemary, is there anything you'd like to ask the senator about this? >> well, i just want to say to the senator that, you know, you have been with us all the way, and you've done some amazing things for us, and if other people were on board like you were, maybe this would not have happened. it's something that we feared, and now it's too late, but it isn't too late for the united states to maintain a constant vigil on libya. i fear for where our relations are going with libya. i fear that we will have new arms and military pacts with them as part of the process of

new relations, and i don't want this to happen. >> you're absolutely right. when we look at compassion for a killer, that's a perversion of anybody's idea of justice, and we have to make them pay as heavily as we can. i'm not talking about money. libya admitted that the country was behind this dast ardly deed. as you well know and the other families who lost loved ones all know, those wounds will never heal. this man had a life sentence, and he's now -- a death sentence was avoided, but the people, survivor families are all on a life sentence. it's a pitiful exchange of ideas. >> senator frank lautenberg of new jersey and also rosemary wolf. we thank you both. and, rosemary, again all of our thoughts and prayers continue to be with you and all the other families. >> thank you. monica?

>> david, we do have some breaking news regarding the wildly popular cash for clunkers program. transportation secretary lahood is now confirming that the administration will end this program, $3 billion cash for clunkers program on monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern daylight time. the prption witransportation wi down this program, but, again, now that is confirmed. that will wind down, it is going to end on monday night 8:00 p.m. eastern time. we know there's been some controversy in recent days, some auto dealers complaining they haven't gotten their money refunded from the government as of yet for all of those cars sold. the president called that today a high-class problem to have. he said there were three times as many people hired to work on this, in fact, get the paperwork going, they will get that money. but again cash for clunkers up next monday. up next, outsourcing assassination. we'll talk that a former cia

agent about reports that the agency hired blackwater contractors to kill al qaeda terrorists. plus, tom ridge former homeland security secretary is out with a shocking claim today, although maybe not so shocking if you suspected it z his former boss, president bush, and his administration politicize our national security and the terror alerts for political gain? also, men behaving badly. the political sex scandals that just won't go away. you're watching "the big picture."

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they were just talking about the outrage over the release of the lockerbie bomber who has just now arrived in libya and there's going to be more outrage. this was the scene. this video just in. this is al megrahi waving his arms at the top of the flight of the stairs at the tarmac. there are thousands of people waving flags and celebrating in a scene of utter jubilation which is so frustrating to everybody here in the west. libyans consider this man a hero and believe he was wrongly accused, wrongly convicted even though a court of law convicted him for the lockerbie bombing that killed so many people. 270 and yet he is getting a hero's welcome in libya. >> very hard to watch that video, david. i just feel for the families. it's frustrating to watch. we do have other news to tell you about. a revelation from the first man to leave the department of homeland security today. u.s. news and world report today says a new book by tom ridge

reveals he was, quote, pushed to raise the security alert level on the eve of president bush's re-election, something ridge saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over. ridge also claims he was blindsided by the fbi during meetings saying they withheld important information from him. he urged blocking michael brown from being named to lead fema but was ignored by the bush administration. he says he's writing the book in order to shake the public's xa sen si about homeland security. monica, i was going to say there's also this amazing story we've been talking about today involving the cia and a secret program. nbc news confirms the cia hired private contractors from blackwater u.s. in 2004. it was part of a secret plan to train hit squads. blackwater was reportedly paid millions for its service even though no one terror suspect was successfully captured or killed.

jack rice is a former cia special agent and, jack, before we get into this about blackwater, your reaction to the news that tom ridge was pressured to essentially use the terror security warnings for political purposes? >> this is amazing when you watch this in the first place. one of the first things i see is the use of terror as a political weapon. we've seen it from those who used it had if the first place, but if we're seeing this in our own country where whoever did it on whichever side actually wraps themselves in the flag and justifies what it is they're doing, this is outrageous. i don't care if you're left or right, it make nos difference. there are going to be a lot of people talking about what it means in the future. >> in tom ridge's book he says he pushes back against the pressure he was under but yet there was a time three days after the democratic convention in 2004 when the terror warning alert was raised. so a lot of questions about that. but -- >> absolutely. >> again, now also the cia, and this sort of secret program to use blackwater contractors. i think that would be against the constitution. i think there are laws against

that. what was the cia thinking? >> this is tword extraordinary in the first place. i was in the room when nancy pelosi was talking about being lied to. i watched that when john boehner said they have never lied to me. the real problem is an oversight question. the law requires the cia not just to provide information to the presidency, but also to provide information to congress. it's required. anytime the cia then turns around and outsources something with the idea of avoiding somehow that oversight, it's even worse. you know what this is reminiscent of? it's reminiscent of when people were sent to syria, to egypt to be tortured. the argument that somehow because we're not doing the torturing that we're not responsible. it's the worst of all worlds because you don't get the oversight and then you get somebody in the way. in this case just like with the blackwater situation, if there are actually assassins out there doing it on behalf of the agency and on behalf of the u.s. without any oversight, it's a disaster. it truly. >> based on the timing it looks like george tenet who was cia

director, that he stopped the program and then porter goss reinstated the program. do you think there's any reason to believe that the president, former president or former vice president, knew about this? >> i think the vice president seems to have played a role because we did hear about this back in 2001-2002. he told the agency that they didn't have to brief congress. this is one of the outrageous issues. this is the reason there needs to be an investigation. if we're talking about transparency and i'm fascinated that the vice president we couldn't find him speaking about anything while he was in office, as soon as he left he said, oh, we need to know everything that's going on. you know what? let's see some transparency. let's see what really happened, what the white house said, what the vice president's office said, what the agency did, what they rolled to blackwater. by the way, when we add here, i guess somewhere less than $20 million was spent. they said there were no operational issues taking place. what did they do with $20 million? a power point presentation? that's what the cia called it.

that's a hell of a power point presentation, don't you think? >> jack rice, i agree with you. it's an unbelievable story. we appreciate you coming in. when you take that story about the cia going rogue again and then you talk about the pressure on tom ridge, the director of homeland security to raise the terror alert for political purposes, i mean there's so much there to review. >> yes. i'm going to be watching "countdown" tonight. up next, on a wing and a prayer. an 8-year-old strapped to the top of a plane and some other stories that make us say no way. but first, take a look at san francisco's famous lombard street transformed into a life size version of candy land. a life sized board celebrating the 60th anniversary of the popular hasbro game complete with multicolored spaces, the peppermint spaces and gumdrop mountain. my mother made the best toffee in the world. it's delicious.

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there are a lot of things that could be considered news in this world. >> but there are only a few story that is make us say -- >> no way. >> no way. >> we've got to work on that. >> yeah. >> monica, check out this 8-year-old daredevil. yes, he's become the youngest person in the world to walk on the wing of a flying plane. he was strapped on the top ring of a biplane that flew at about 100 miles per hour and 1,000 feet over a british airfield. he's not the only risk taek tak the family. his mother started wing walking at an early age. are 8-year-old old enough to be able to make this choice of their own free will? >> as a mother i say no way. i wouldn't want my little one up there. this is a fascinating story generated a lot of talk yesterday. a south african athlete whose gender is being questioned has won her first 800 meter title.

she was allowed to compete last night in berlin. an athletic panel requested her gender be tested. her father is dismissing claims his daughter is not a woman. dad says castor is his little girl. if you've ever envied stories about sting's tan trick sexcapades with his wife, you can stop. it's apparently not true. that's according to their 18-year-old daughter. she tells a british magazine it's an international joke. she said her father's friend bob geldof made up the story. >> i think sting fans are going to want to stick with that. i'll ignore the story. i liked it better the first way. >> tan tritric sex. john ensign comparing

himself to bill clinton to defend his own extramarital affair? >> also, senator kennedy's poignant letter about his possible successor. what the lion of the senate wants to happen if he's forced to give up his seat. plus -- >> the president's secret book. >> come on. >> it's a myth. >> it contains all of our nation's secrets. the jfk conspiracy, area 51. >> what president obama said today about national treasure 2 and his book of secrets. we kid you not. we're wat you're watching "the big picture" on msnbc. show and tell you were't always my favorite day. with all the pet hair in the air, i'd spend class preoccupied, bothered by itchy eyes. but now i have new zyrtec® itchy eye drops. it works fast, with just one drop,

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i'm amanda drury with your cnbc market wrap. stocks posting gains on wall street today. the dow up 70 points.

the s&p 500 up ten and the nasdaq gaining 19 points. the labor department says the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week by 15,000 to 576,000. no now, with so many americans out of work, mortgage delinquencies hit record numbers in the second quarter. more than 13% of american homeowners were with a mortgage either behind on their payments or in a state of foreclosure. elsewhere oil prices fell after briefly preareaching a seven-week high. they settled at just over $72 a barrel. j.d. power predicts auto sales will reach over 1 million this year. that's it for cnbc for now. we're first in business worldwide. back to you at msnbc.

the scene in tripoli, libya, has been as disturbing and infuriating as so many americans feared it would be today. you're looking at a picture of abdel al megrahi, the only man convicted of the an pam 103 flight bombing. he was released last night by a scottish justice official on humanitarian grounds because he is apparently dying on cancer. in libya they consider him a hero who was unjustly accused an convicted. they're giving him a hero's welcome. it's infuriating to so many american families. 189 americans were killed as a result of the actions of that terrorist. they're celebrating in libya. all right, david. let's move on now to politicians behaving badly. we could devote the entire hour or two hours to this, but we'll just give you today's salacious headlines. senator john ensign telling the associated press his affair with a campaign aide who is the wife

of another former staffer was not as bad as president clinton's relationship with monica lewinsky because he didn't lie about it. ensign carried on the affair from 2005 until last year but didn't admit all of this until this year. so maybe it depends on what the definition of lie is. up next, governor mark sanford's apology tour. it rolls on. today sanford speaking at a rotary club meeting after apologizing to a different rotary club on wednesday. and then there's former senator john edwards who has admitted to having an affair with rielle hunter while his wife was battling cancer. last night elizabeth edwards was asked about the idea of a dna test to determine if he, edwards, is the father of hunter's baby. take a look. >> my expectation is at some point something happens and i hope for the sake of this child

that it happens in a quiet way. >> monica, now the bigger picture, back to senator ensign. he says he didn't break the law. so what is his latest xarscompan to former president clinton say about his future and even his class. emily heil joins us from washington. is this a sign of desperation when someone whose parents gave $100,000 to his mistress is now trying to make some comparisons to bill clinton? >> i don't know if it's desperation. it seems like poor judgment. i don't think that's a hair you want to split especially if what you're trying to do is apologize. it sounds like he's trying to justify it in some way and it does bring up the question of what does he mean by lie. he means breaking the law. it's not that he didn't lie about it. certainly his constituents didn't know about it. he's making the distinction that he didn't perjure himself where as clinton he says did.

so i don't think that's -- i don't think you want to go there, so to speak. >> even his facts seem a little disjointed. it's apples and oranges. the clinton investigation ended. it ended ten years ago. the ensign investigation has not really even started. there's the possibility that he'll be put under oath by investigators who want to know if he paid off his mistress or if his parents did with this money. i mean, the jury is still out about whether john ensign is going to testify truthfully under oath. >> we don't know if the ethics committee have been investigating that. there have been requests to investigate him but that committee operates with its own discretion. they could very well be taking this up as we speak. they don't -- they're not under any obligation to tell us that they're doing this, but they could be investigating him as we speak. >> emily heil of roll call. thank you very much. and monica, you know, this sort of approach by john ensign doesn't seem like the way to, i don't know, raise goodwill in

your home state of nevada. it sounds ridiculous. >> you think? yeah. i don't get it. let's shift gears. massachusetts senator ted kennedy is asking the senate to change succession law. he wants the governor to appoint a temporary replacement if his seat becomes vacant. aides insist there is no change in kennedy's health. the s'moenator writes, it is vi for the commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and election. i read this letter and given the context, there was something poignant about it. >> there really was, monica, especially in the last paragraph where he says it's the greatest honor of his public life has been and still is serving as a u.s. senator for the state of

massachusetts, but despite the poignancy and despite the malignant brain tumor that president -- excuse me, that senator kennedy is battling, the letter is getting a cool reception in boston's state house. republicans there say this is hypocrisy. they say, look, we all understand senator kennedy's situation and we wish him all the best, but as one pointed out, if a republican was in the governor's office, would this letter have been written? deval patrick, who is currently the governor of massachusetts, is a democrat. senator kennedy wants the law changed so that governor patrick could appoint an interim senator to serve the five-month period before the people vote in a special election should a senator resign or die while in office. and so there is not -- even the democrats, even governor patrick here and the democratic leaders

of the house and senate have in their statements all said wonderful things about senator kennedy, but stopped short of endorsing the idea. >> anne thompson, thank you so much, anne. and just ahead, our face-off on health care. >> monica, as president obama finally adopts the right sales pitch as he refers to it as a more obligation and should he have provided details about what he wanted much sooner? you're watching "the big picture" on msnbc. what's our favorite part of honey bunches of oats?

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it is time for today's face-off. president obama's claimed that reforming health care is, quote, a moral obligation. >> monica, the president held a conference call with religious leaders this week to plead with them to use their influence to help sell his plan for reform. >> i know there's been a lot of misinformation in this debate and there's some folks out there who are frankly bearing false witness. these are all fabrications that have been put out there in order to discourage people from meeting what i consider to be a core ethical and moral obligation, and that is that we look out for one another. that i am my brother's keeper and i am my sister's keeper and in the wealthiest nation on earth right now, we are neglecting to live up to that call. >> oare congressmen and voters likely to take their moral

marching orders from the white house? here is face-off are chris kofinis and joe watkins. joe, i want to start with you. two simple yes or no questions. do you believe that, yes or no there, is a moral obligation to give people who don't have health insurance health insurance of some kind, and, secondly, do you believe there's a moralable gouti obligation tot health care issues honestly. >> i think it would be great to give every health insurance. but not this plan. this plan is a government-run plan and the moral thing is to let people know it's too much, too fast, too soon, it won't run. >> how is it a government-run plan. i thought you just said it was important to be honest about these issues. how is it government-run? >> it's government-run when the go of the is competing against private industry which can't compete against the government. it's government-run when you don't have the opportunity to make choices yourself. anytime the government is telling doctors what they have to do, it's competing with the

insurance companies -- >> except in the time of medicare or social security or veterans affairs where it's government-run. >> under this new plan, the socialized medicine plan, you have comparative evaluation research which means some people may be told they're denied treatment because it's not cost-effective. >> that's just not true, joe. >> well, there is -- $1.1 billion set aside for cost -- >> let him talk. >> here is the part that i find funny about this whole argument. republicans who like to talk about family values, they like to talk about values, but here is a true moral imperative. there are tens of millions of americans in this country today that are waking up wondering if they get hit by a car, how are they going to pay for the bills? let alone how will they keep going on? we have 1.5 million people who lose their homes because of medical costs. we have tens of thousands of workers who are let go because of rising costs of medical health care. this is a great moral imperative. >> what about the business

people who are going to be foursed to layoff folks because they can't pay the 8% raise in taxes? payroll taxes? >> to hear republicans talk about health care after they were empowered for eight years and did nothing and bring up these arguments about we should use tax cuts or health care savings accounts, none of that will get to the core problem which is exploding health care costs which are going to double, let me take it very clear, double over the next ten years. that is both in an enormous problem not only for individuals, but for corporations and business. >> i want to give you an opportunity to respond, joe, but first i want to read what you joe klein wrote today and we're talking about government takeover. he says the same people who rail against the government takeover of health care tried to enforce a government takeover of terri schiavo's end of life decisions. when palin floated the death panel canard, the number of prominent republicans who rose up to call her out to be counted on one hand. >> we have to look forward.

we can't look back. i don't want to talk about what happened several years ago. what i'd like to talk about are the number of people that are going to be put out of work by an 8% raise in payroll taxes for small businesses under that bill. why rush this bill through? if you want to help people tell them the truth. let me finish. tell the folks who are going to be hurt that they're going to be hurt. the president said it on saturday. he was honest. he said, you know, some folks are going to be hurt by this legislation. let them know who they are and how they're going to be hurt. >> it's very clear what the republican strategy is here, which is to slow this thing to death. at the end of the day -- >> how many democrats have read the bill? >> if you, for example, and republicans oppose the public option, i have said this before and i will say it again, then be true to your convictions. come out before the american people and say we will not vote for any more funding for medicare, for medicaid, for veterans health care because that is public health care. so personally i'm sick and tired of the hypocrisy. >> we want to help people. let's help the american people. let's tell them the truth. let's not rush through a bail

fraug -- bill fraught with all kinds of problems. >> if only members of his party would be listening. joe watkins, we appreciate it. chris, the democrats also sometimes have problems with the truth, but right now it's the gop problem. we appreciate it. breaking news. we're continuing to follow this breaking news. pictures just in of the freed lockerbie bomber abdel megrahi. here he is just moments ago arriving in tripoli, libya, to what was predicted, warm crowds. a warm homecoming was planned there. as you can see by the pictures, that is, in fact, what he has had. this, of course, the former libyan secret service agent. he boarded a plane earlier today in glasgow, scotland. he had been released from prison after serving eight years of what was supposed to be a life sentence on compassionate grounds. megrahi is dying of prostate cancer. there's rainstorms he has about three months to live. the decision was made by a justice minister in scotland to

free him on compassionate grounds. he was convicted in 2001 of planting the bomb aboard pan am flight 103 that killed 270 people. as you see these crowds rushing to greet him, i will remind you 189 americans were on that plane. up next, some things we thought you should know. tom delay sides with the birthers and president obama talks about his book of secrets, and then on "hardball," chris matthews will have much more on tom ridge admitting he was pressured to raise the nation's security alert to help george w. bush in the 2004 election campaign. reading about washington these days... i gotta ask, what's in it for me? i'm not looking for a bailout, just a good paying job. that's why i like this

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there's a lot going on today and here are a few more things we thought you should know. >> that's right. tom delay is making news again. earlier this week we learned delay will compete on "dancing with the stars." now, it seems he's joining something else. this is the birther movement. yes, he wants proof that president obama was born in the united states. listen to what he said on "hardball" with chris matthews last night. >> i would like the president to produce his birth certificate. most illegal aliens can. why can't the president of the united states produce a birth certificate. >> are you actively seeking that paper? >> chris, the constitution of the united states -- >> i know, but i've never asked you for yours. >> i just love chris' reaction there. >> he was representing everybody in this country who knows the truth who was laughing in that

guy's face. oh, my god. >> what else can you say? >> wow. all right. monica, president obama, he was on the radio today answering questions from americans on a number of topics but as philadelphia-based radio talk show host michael smerconish found out before air time, there are a few questions the president is not willing to answer. >> my boys wanted me to ask you, they saw the movie "national treasure two" and they know you've been provided the book of secrets. >> i have. >> they wanted to know which of the secrets most impressed you? >> i could tell you but i'd have to kill you. >> i get the impression you have seen the movie. >> i have. and i don't want you messing with the desk. >> he's seen the movie. he knows where the aliens are hiding, that's my theory. >> it's because the ufos that he won't tell us. >> i know you're a big supporter

of the ufos. those are things we thought you should know. you do this read. >> okay. the dog days of august. they're upon us in american politi politics. president obama tomorrow heading to camp david and later goes on his week-long vacation to martha's vineyard. >> congress remains on its vacation but that doesn't mean politics or events will stop. let's go et to our next read on politics with the stories we will be watching heading into tomorrow. mark murray is deputy political director for nbc news. mark, what do you have for us? >> hey, david and monica. that's right. president obama tomorrow heads to camp david where he'll be until sunday, and then on sunday he departs for his week-long vacation to martha's vineyard which all means, as you just said, the dog days of august are upon us. but the dog days of august doesn't mean that politics stops. in fact, a lot of things sometimes very significant events have happened in august. hurricane katrina being one

under jogeorge w. bush's administration. bill clinton admitted his affair with monica lewinsky in august of 1998, and obviously the current health care fight has been a struggle for president barack obama this august. >> and, mark, i just have to ask you because a couple weeks ago on this program i believe i made a prediction about the president attending a wedding, that of chelsea clinton but the rumor mill has really died down. is there going to be a wedding? what are you hearing? >> what i have actually heard is there's not going to be a wedding this summer, although this summer is slowly ticking away, but the clinton people who i do speak with do indicate that maybe something might be coming in the longer future, but certainly nothing right now this summer. >> mark, we saw the clip of tom delay last night embracing the birther movement despite all the evidence and despite the republicans in hawaii who say president obama was born here. there were newspaper announcements back then. did tom delay have much credibility before last night's

interview? >> well, david, i mean he was always a significant figure in the republican party, and we haven't heard that much from him lately. what i really do think is going on on this birther movement and people questioning president obama's citizenship, which, of course, we all know isn't true, is that people who really don't like president obama or probaar probably hor apt to believe the conspiracy theories. that's affecting not only rank and file republicans and conservatives, but also people affiliated with the republican party, and tom delay is no exception to that. if you really don't like president obama, that you tend to believe the worst rumors out there about him. >> mark murray, i suppose a lot of people will now have tom rumors about tom delay because a lot of people certainly don't like him. but in any case, mark murray nbc news deputy political director. thank you. we appreciate it. make sure to check out first read first thing every morning.

check back often. logon to firstread.msnbc.com. monica, you did a great job this week. >> my dog days of summer are on me. i'm going to on vacation but thanks for having me. >> enjoy. >> do you want to do it? >> i'm david shuster. that's monica. "hardball" starts right now. bombshell. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in new york. leading off tonight. suspicions confirmed. for a long time critics of former president bush suspected his administration politicized our national security for political gain. now they have what appears to be proof. tom ridge, who served as bush's first secretary of homeland security says in a new book that he was pressured by top bush administration officials, including secretary donald

rumsfeld and john ashcroft, to raise the terror threat level from yellow to orange the weekend before the 2004 re-election election. re-elections of the presidency for president bush that is. in other words, the bush team tried to manipulate hype, if you will, the terror eye letter level to invite panic and win votes right before his re-election tuesday. we'll get all that in tonight. also tonight, has president obama gone to original alert in his health care reform push? today's "wall street journal" reports that the white house and democrats are considering splitting the health care reform bill into two parts so they can ram through the public option part solely with democratic votes. michael smerconish did his radio talk show today with the president in the white house. he joins us later. a lot of president obama's supporters are unhappy with the way he's handled the health care debate. our own roger simon said instead of drawing a line in the sand, mr. obama has drawn a squiggle in the mud. and senator ted