i don't expect my president, the commander in chief, the guy that runs the troops to speak like a freaken sailor. >> he's talking about the video game. >> that's what catches your eye this morning. >> why is that? what does that mean? does he get that from his daughters? see, that's the problems. when i saw the quote i was thinking okay, i'll cut him some slack because there's nothing but women in his house and you know what it's like. we all have friends who are the man and they get the strong woman they are married to and they have two or three girls. >> ask you a strong woman right next to you. >> no, i'm not knocking it. i mean, you know, you got michelle and those two very bright girls and the guy, i don't care if he's president of the united states. he just sort of slips back into the wood work. >> also when you have kids, you

alter your language on the fly. what the -- weewee. >> you noticed since i had kids, my language, you should have heard it before. i was al pacino in "scarface." >> mika looks disgusted. >> i just think. i'm sort of more interested in homeland security secretary that is pressured to raise the terror alert level. >> carlos watson -- >> in order to win an election which is always something i thought was going on. and now look at this, carlos watson is here. >> i'm glad to be here. good morning. >> good morning. it is not way too early. >> what is that, anyway? >> that's a terrific new show. >> jeffrey lyons says it's going to work. >> we should have him on this show. we should have him on msnbc to

talk. >> i'm doing new show, i'm happy about it. >> i always thought you should have. >> the weird thing is it's on right before you, i threw to you. >> that's so weird. how do you do that, willie? >> phil is very open minded about these things. >> we're proud of you, kid. let's go to the top story, may i? i don't know why you gloss it over as not a headline. god. all right. top story of the morning in a new book, former homeland security secretary tom ridge says he was pressured by top bush administration officials to raise the nation's terror alert level just ahead of the 2004 presidential election. and he write this, "a vigorous, some might say dramatic discussion ensued. john ashcroft strongly urged an increase in the threat level and was supported by rumsfeld. there was absolutely no support

for that position within our department. none. i wondered is this about security or politics? post-election analysis demonstrated a significant approval rating in the days after raising the threat level." a spokesperson for donald rumsfeld call says it was irresponsible not to discuss the alert levels. no analysis from you? >> well, you are so on fire. we're all just staring at you. >> i am very mad because i will tell you that i have friends who went into the polling booths and said things to me like i was holding my baby and i was just worried about the security of our country and then i pulled the lever for george w. bush. i was worried about the pucurity of our country. so i guess it worked. >> does it make you feel better that tom ridge said --

>> i think it's terrific just like scott mcclellan that he has a book later. after the fact. for him, actually. >> joe, any -- >> i don't want to talk and then be yelled at. >> you can talk, go ahead. i wouldn't interrupt. >> she's going to yell. >> there was speculation about this at the time, just remember. >> i remember actually speculating myself and getting laughed at, not by you. >> it depends on the dress you were wearing that day. >> this is a good one today. come on. no. >> this is a great dress. i was talking about that day. it was like a shower curtain it was just miami. so, this is disgusting, this is absolutely disgusting. now rummy and bush and everybody else is going to come out and say -- that ridge was trying to

sell a book, that he's just trying to sell a book. that's what they always say. yeah, this is horrifying if tom ridge. now, wait a minute, when did tom ridge quit? because i wonder around this table would raise the security threat if we thought it was only being done for security reasons or it was time to quit. i could tell you personally that somebody told me to raise it for political reasons i would walk out the door. >> it was a month later that he quit. tell us why you're quitting. >> he quit a month later? that's pretty, that's pretty. -- >> december 1st i think he quit. less than a month after the election. >> that's better than staying a couple years and then -- >> when you hear democrats say that eric holder and the justice department should look back at the bush term and see if there are any egregious crimes committed, does this fall in that category? >> well, i was wondering whether

yesterday after i heard this news and being really angry about it whether there was a crime connected to this. i don't think there is. but this is something that, obviously, will be a black eye on the bush administration for some time and going to be one more example of how george bush, if, again, this is proven to be true, that george bush played conservatives for fools. i'm going to give you small government, he didn't do that. i'm going to, you know, i'm going to protect you from the security threats which, you know, he did. but at the same time, there's so much overreaching. >> where were you at the time? where were you on george w. when we had talked in 2004 and 2005? >> i wrote a book of george w. bush that was critical of him in 2004. critical of the way he was spending too much, government was too much. so, i was already a critic of

his in 2004. that being said, if somebody had told me that that president or any president was raising the threat level for political reasons, i would have said i'm just not willing to believe that. >> it's the same thing -- >> that is what was said. >> let's fast forward it to now. i'm just saying when people tell me that barack obama is trying to pass health care reform because he's a markest or he has a secret plan to take over health care and have doctors -- i'm the same guy for a democrat saying, i do not believe the worst in our presidents. that looks like in this case, though, that maybe believing the worst would have been the right thing to do. >> it looks like the former bush administration official is trying to get in a gray area here saying they have new intelligence. the intelligence is three or four years old, but they had just received the intelligence. that's not going to convince

many people, but that's what they're saying. >> when you have ridge saying that he has intel three or four years old that they're acting on. that's just absolutely ridiculous. it really is. >> this is another big story that is -- after serving just eight years of a life sentence, a man convicted of killing 270 people in the 1998 bombing of pan am flight 103 is a free man today. look at this. the former libyan agent who has terminal cancer was released by scottish authorities on compassionate grounds. cathline flynn whose son was killed in the bombings spoke to our own dillon ratgon about this. >> as i watched the plane climb in the sky y kept thinking ab t about, you know, the fact that on that plane is megrahi. how ironic that i'm sitting here

watching him take off in a plane and he's the man who murdered all these innocent people. >> just want to show the cover of a couple new york tabloids. "newsday." he made it home, they didn't. a sight to sicken us all as he walks down the stairway off the plane to a celebration in libya. >> we'll talk about this more coming up. moving on with news. the government's cash for clunkers program will grind to a halt today, on monday, i'm sorry, when it burns through the remainder of the $3 billion in funding provided by congress. the transportation department has recorded more than 450,000 dealer transactions worth nearly $2 billion in rebates. president karzai and his chief rival both say they're leading the vote count in afghanistan's presidential election with official result still days away. scattered violence appears to have kept turnout low around 50% or less. at least 26 people were killed in attacks around the country.

er according to this morning's "new york times" firm known as blackwater usa plays a direct role in the u.s. predator program loading bombs and missiles to hit al qaeda targets in pakistan and afghanistan. president obama is working to downplay a risk within his own party whether a public option will be included in the proposed overhaul of the nation's health care system. >> the press got a little excited and some folks on the left got a little excited about this. our position hasn't changed. we think that the key is cost, control, competition, making sure the people have good, quality options. if we're able to achieve that, that's the end that we're seeking and the means, you know, we could have some good arguments about the best way to achieve it is but we have to change because the status quo is unconceivable. >> i love how the president always done that.

come on o, it's so silly. it's so ridiculous. but kathleen sebelius said you can drop the public option. robert gibbs got so excited and you're just wee-wee'ing yourself. the cable networks are just getting a little excited. the whole world, i mean, washington could be in flames and he'd be going, the press is gettal a little excited. >> would you top? >> does he not do that? does he not do that? >> he does that. >> aren't they silly? all right, speaking of, oh, never mind. let's go to todd santos for a latest check -- i thought it was bill. >> he does well. >> thank god it's you, todd, and not bill. >> i will see what i can do as

far as carrying that segue in a better direction. you mentioned bill there, joe. hurricane bill, pretty substantial force there off the coast of the u.s. and actually just south of bermuda at this hour, talking about a category 3, 120-mile-per-hour winds and the great news part of this, the trough across the eastern u.s. has been causing all these issues across the great lakes and talking about tornado damage and thunderstorms will keep this deflected off the coastline, although mika if you're heading up towards maine this weekend and cape cod that is a dangerous situation as far as the waves are concerned. the northeast, have the umbrella ready by later this afternoon and even saturday. >> all right, thank you, todd. >> he's so much better than bill. >> he just sort of knows how to concise, clear, forecast. sticks to his job. all right, coming up, moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. in a few minutes, the president of the council on foreign

relati relations, richard haas. and we also have leslie stahl, she'll join us later on. first, an exclusive first look at politicos crazy eyes. top story of the morning. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. when i was seventeen i was not good to my skin. long summer days and not enough sleep. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. (announcer) new neutrogena total skin renewal. gentle exfoliating puffs and micro-vibrations speed surface cell turnover. it's clinically tested to help undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just one week. that summer of sun? i just made it disappear.

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turnout in afghanistan incredibly low. that's a real kick in the teeth. we bring them democracy on a silver platter and they don't even show up to vote. my opium fields are burning! >> the taliban vowed to hunt down those who voted. if we find anyone with ink on

their fingers we will cut it off says this taliban commander. >> so? you still get to vote nine more times. >> terrible. >> welcome back to "morning joe." >> look at that sunrise over new york city. beautiful on a friday, another sweltering friday in new york city. >> all right, you don't need to do it now. >> willie, stop. it worked. the chief now political correspondent for politico mike allen is here with this morning's playbook. i'll play you an ad here for conservatives for patient's rights they are knocking president obama for going on vacation. watch this. >> the beach is nice this time of year, but while president obama vacations, concerns mount about his health care plan. why?

because his public option health plan could lead to government-run health care and higher taxes on everything from paychecks to soda and add a trillion to the deficit. mr. president, when you go back to d.c., drop your government-run public option plan. let's get on with real reform to lower costs and protect patients' rights. >> the beach is nice this time of year. george w. bush, by the way, just for the record, took more vacation than any president in a very long time. >> important to point that out. mike allen, how are the conservative and republican attacks on the president's health care plan working? pretty well i'd say. >> well, willie, that's an exclusive first look at that commercial for "morning joe" viewers. that group that has the initial cpr is spending 100,000 bucks on it. they'll buy boston tv and martha vineyard's cable while the president is there beginning sunday and they're buying during the white sox/red sox series of

four games. >> goodness gracious. >> hitting that martha vineyard's tv market hard. that will change the national dialogue about health care. >> that is going to move massachusetts, seriously. >> they were thinking about it. >> you know what he's going to be doing when he's in martha's vineya vineyard, i don't even know what it means. but i do know this, those commercials. i hope somebody wants to waste $1,000 and enjoy it because it's not going to move anything. a little money you can spend. i mean, in massachusetts. >> moving on. >> mike, the democrats, meanwhile, digging in, it sounds like, for a long health care fight. how long is this going to go? >> they really are, willie. they are telling us it could last into december. this idea that they have of splitting up health care and doing part of it where you need only 51 votes and only democrats and part of it with 60 votes to

get some more. they say that that is fraught with peril. they're very concerned about how much health care reform, if any you would wind up with under that scenario. if democrats decide to go ahead with that 51-vote strategy. they say that republicans could shut down any other votes. so, the idea that you're going to screw republicans on one vote and then try to get a couple of them on another is probably just not going to work. republicans, even as kevin batten would say, cookies and ice cream, republicans will not vote for it under that scenario. >> explain for people who are not as well versed, what do you mean by split it up? >> well, the president has been trying to get a few republicans so that you could get 60 votes, which is what you need for most measures in the senate, but there is a method that is available to them where part of the bill, like the money part of it and would have a sunset, it

would expire and be done with only 51 votes. that's sort of where they're headed. democrats have given up on the idea of getting more republicans. you'll see lots of coverage going into the first couple weeks of congress going back and the gang of six and meeting and so forth. very little hope that anything will come of that. the new, most likely blueprint is that you're going to have a vote on a senate bill in early october and then it could take as long as december for them to figure out what they're finally going to get the president to sign. >> you know, willie, the senate was created by our founding fathers to frustrate majorities and they always frustrate majorities. as i've said, it frustrated republicans in the 1990s and now it's frustrating the president. carlos? >> mike allen, i'm curious about republican surprises. are you hearing about any republican senators besides grassley and snowe that might work with the president? i am thinking about martinez

from florida and boin vch, the other senator from ohio. any surprises? >> i think senator martinez is not coming back after the summer, but probably a lot of them would like to do that and some of those poll numbers you were talking about earlier, we're seeing a real national mood swing and it could really spook these members when they come back in the fall. sort of untold story so far is that whatever was difficult in august, end of july when they left, it's more difficult in the fall with these bad poll numbers. >> all right, mike allen, thanks so much. we'll check out politico.com all day today. >> you get a hand at the crazy larry, lawrence o'donnell, our good friend, he got this right a month ago. he said they're going to go out in august and everything is going to melt down. pretty insightful for a guy that just sells appliances in the five boroughs.

he'll speak very calmly and then suddenly explodes. you're a liar! that's his -- >> when he hosts "hardball" i truly feel uncomfortable. >> but that's why i watch it. it's like jeffrey lyons said, it is a thrill-seeking roller coaster ride. >> i have a bad reaction. i can't stop watching, but i'm very worried and stressed out. who did he call -- oh, that guy from texas. that congressman from texas. >> guy wrote the book about wall street and he wouldn't let, oh t was funny. >> it was awesome. we love crazy larry. >> all right, coming up -- >> washing machines in the bronx. that's a great larry story there. we have a pop quiz waiting for savannah guthrie live from the white house. will she pass? is she sober? also, willie's week in

review. find out which stories made the cut this week. also ahead, oh, it's all ahead on "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

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all right. there's a live picture of the sun coming up over new york city. >> beautiful shot. going to be a hot weekend, but that's okay. we're fine. willie, you staying in town? >> i'll be in the area. it is going to be muggy. >> it is going to be muggy. >> welcome back to "morning joe." >> what are you doing this weekend? >> i'm going to qumartha's vineyard. >> what are you doing? you're doing "meet the press." >> what are you doing this weekend? >> that's what we're leading up to. >> mika, what are you doing? >> you always make it sound dirty, i'm not going to say. >> where are you going?

>> it was a fillthropic offer. >> i would actually challenge a good organization, perhaps, maybe one that helps the homeless or battered women to double the offer for me to go work at a soup kitchen for a day. >> instead of stripping. >> instead of stripping. >> i like that. >> and by the way, the way you say aigate organization makes it sound as if scores is not a good organization. >> that is right. >> you are a moral scold. and i think, you know, there are a lot of single moms working there that are trying to get their kids through school. >> making headlines. >> trying to get their degree. >> okay. so, anyway -- >> no one wants to see that, by the way. >> mika is going to northeast harvard this weekend. we're very excited about it. she already has her party dress on.

>> you're such a jerk. >> it's just after 6:30 on the east coast and it is time for a look at today's top stories. despite tough rhetoric from both sides, a bipartisan group of senators say it's still working towards a compromise on health care reform. the so-called group of six from the senate finance committee says it's now putting an increased focus on affordability and reducing costs. nasa is providing a satellite view of hurricane bill as it churns around 425 miles south of bermuda. the category 3 storm is expected to pass between the u.s. east coast and bermuda on saturday. and deputy in midland county, texas, was fired yesterday. >> oh, my. oh, my. >> what? >> and three others suspended after a waitress was allowed to hold a rifle and pose seductively on the hood of a patrol car. >> joe inserted that whole

scores storyline. >> the deputies admitted they had three to five beers each when the incident took place. >> good thing they didn't have weaponry. >> where was this? >> midland, texas. >> that makes a little more sense. pete, what was the deal? >> she was a restaurant. what kind of restaurant did she work through? >> it took me three hours to explain the see-through intertubes. >> we don't believe the worst in our heroes like donald trump. >> i don't care whether it's president obama or president bush or donald -- >> so we can see their beautiful bodies. let's do that. >> is that, that's a pretty good trump impression. >> i know. morning papers now. let's take a look at them, shall we? start with the "new york times." the afghan election called a success. doubts remain about legitimacy. count may take weeks.

lockerbie bomb convict freed. terror suspect tapped as iran defense chief. >> terrorist who killed 270 people gets a hero's welcome. >> and the hartford current, the break for clunkers. the popular program to end monday night. >> martha vineyard, a buzz about carlos watson -- i'm sorry, about the obama family expected to arrive on sunday. >> by the way, i know we have to tease, but that's a cheap shot attacking the president, going on vacation with his kids. that commercial -- >> oh, yes. >> such a cheap, cheap shot. >> really silly. coming up next, we have the president of council of foreign relations. ere... you can go back to school for less, right here. save money. live better. walmart. you weren't always my favorite day.

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fdr was called a socialist when he passed social security. jfk and lyndon johnson, they were both accused of a government takeover health care

when they passed medicare. this is the process we go through because understandably the american people have a long suspicion of the american government until the government does something that helps them and then they don't want anybody messing with whatever gets set up. >> hey, with us now the president of the council on foreign relations richard haas and also the author of "war of necessity, war of choice." he has the lead op-ed in this morning's "new york times" where he writes american soldiers are fighting the taliban to provide time and space while afghan forces are better trained that resistance does not pay. call it arms state building. but, is afghanistan a war of necessity? if not, if, in fact, it is a war of choice, so what. richard haas, thanks for being with us. the president said that this was a war of necessity and i would guess an awful lot of people and the foreign policy in reno would

agree with it, but you don't. why? >> you call it a war of necessity, it essentially means that you will do whatever it takes to succeed. i'm simply suggesting it's not clear to me that doing more will achieve more. i also believe we do have alternatives, which makes it not a war of necessity, but to be intellectually, we don't have to do ground combat operations and we can do in afghanistan what we do in pakistan, rely on drones. or we can do even less, we don't have any combat presence and adopt the somalia option. every now and then you attack an al qaeda target. the president is raising the bar way too high. that means the united states will be there as long as it takes. none of us can sit around this table or any other table and say if we pour in enough arms and enough dollars we will be able to transform this. >> richard, if we leave, this is

what you hear, if we leave what happens with the taliban? what happens with al qaeda? don't we just return back to a september 10th situation where osama bin laden can just start where, start back where he left off on september 11th. >> probably not quite that bad, but this is a tough choice. there's no good choices in afghanistan. it's possible if we leave that the government will be overrun. the taliban will regain a lot of strength in the south and that's the situation, yes, we had before september 11th. >> what happens to president obama politically? i know that's not your concern. but what a difficult political choice this president has because if he does what you are suggesting, then most likely the taliban will overrun the government and al qaeda get stronger in afghanistan and pakistan and president obama will hear for the rest of his term that he's the guy that quit the war and allowed the al qaeda and taliban to beat us. >> for the time being, it's a close call and we should stay the course.

we should be willing to take on the taliban there and build up the government. all i'm saying is that we should only do it so long as there is evidence that it's working. we shouldn't be pouring good lives and good dollars down that direction if it's not working. all i'm saying is that there are alternatives. i don't much like the policy and i don't like the alternatives, joe, this is tough. >> there are no good options. >> let's be honest of that. i think the president began to overcommit the united states by calling this a war of necessity because that suggests that we have to see this through no matter what. i don't think that's the case. >> it's certainly not iraq, a completely different landscape on a number of levels. you can see more of richard's op-ed in the "new york times." the other big story that broke yesterday. the pictures of this libyan murderer coming home to embrace cheers and hugs and what do you make of this? what are we to make of this? why couldn't we do something?

>> in part it shows some of the differences between american and european sensibilities. we had a big argument around our dinner table last night. this is where some european debates are. the idea you would show a terrorist compassion seems to us, i think, absurd on the face of it. compassion would not lead to compassion. on the other hand, europe is psychologically and politically in many cases on a different place on this issue. they have not had places like scotland have not had their equivalent of a 9/11. different politic there's. also, to be fair to them, no one believes this guy acted on his own. the fact that this libyan agent acted on his own is perposturous. other people who have not been tried and not been incarcerated or killed. i believe one of the reasons the scots did this was because they knew that there were others who were somehow masterminding it and this guy was the only one found guilty. >> interesting. >> of course, we basically have

begun dealing with moammar gadhafi. >> the libyans have improved their behavior significantly. not by stopping terrorism but by getting out of the weapons of mass destruction business. they are actually doing, they did the right thing. so, as a result, we've cut them some slack, the president properly criticized what the local government did in scotland for letting this guy go. >> richard, want to talk to you about another part of the world, china. interesting conversation with the economist jeffrey sax where he talked about china using economic strength to start flexing foreign policy muscle, are you seeing it where there's meaningly different policy that china is extolling today than it did 18, 24 months ago? >> i would like to see china do a different policy is north

korea. china is the only outside country that could influence what the north koreans are doing and they're not prepared about doing it because they're worried about bringing it down and seeing korea under the south. >> what did you make of president clinton's recent effort there? do you think that opens up a meaningful new window and would you respond with some bilateral conversations or negotiations? >> i tend to think it was a one off and the north koreans are hoping it leads to something. i always have the negotiations. negotiations are not out of our favor we do to the north koreans, we used to have to be skeptical. we made deals with them twice and in both cases they reneged on the deals. we just got to be skeptical and, quite honestly, the place to really have the conversation is in beijing. much more than pyongyang because the chinese have the influence over two-thirds of north korea's trade. if the chinese wants to turn the

screws on the north koreans, they can. >> mika has also picked out paul krugman's op-ed in the "new york ti ti times." obama's trust problem. when we come back, david gregly. first, new york times wide receiver plaxico burres is heading to jail when you get sentenced to jail for a couple years for shooting yourself. when i was seventeen

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but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbk for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t.

a nice teachable moment for kids here. when you're bringing your handgun to a nightclub, put the safety on or else this will happen to you. fred? >> thank you and good morning. wasn't a matter of if but of how long. how long will nfl receiver plaxico burres be sentenced for shooting himself at a nightclub last november. he accepted a plea bargen with a two-year prison term. he will be sentenced on september 22nd expected to begin serving his time immediately after. to baseball, what has got nn to the red sox after scoring 16 runs in their last two games

boston put up another eight against the blue jays. victor martinez hit his second homer in as many days and the red sox swept the blue jays with an 8-1 win in toronto. great play to show you from detroit's brandon inge. tracked down the foul ball and hits the railing and went flying head over heels to make the grab. with total disregard for his body ended up in the first row but made the play. now, to the ninth. tied game, two down. one on for clayton thomas and lifting a line drive past first and miguel cabrera scored the winning run. to cincinnati where the reds and giants needed extra innings. drew subs playing in his second career game felt nerves but stay focused long enough to hit a walk-off homer. called up just three days ago and already he's a hero. reds won it 2-1 in ten. college basketball now and memphis tigers forced to vacate their wins because of ncaa violations under head coach and

infractions include a fraudulent s.a.t. score by derrick rose and more than $2,000 in free travel provided to rose's brother. scrimmage between the saints and texans when de marco riens and jerry shocky agreed to disagrooe. ryan popped shocky and it's on. one of several fights between the two teams who play each other in a preseason game tomorrow night. a young man friend's dared him not to run on the field and scare juan rivera, but to run across the outfield and touch the giants' southwest sign and run back. he hustled his way to the sign, was only halfway there on his way back he was so close but then one of baltimore's finest ended his $1,000 dream. gessing his bail will cost him more than a grand. don't know if it was worth it or not. arizona republic is reporting that shaq stole the

idea of his new reality tv show from steve nash. creating a show in which he would go head-to-head with the best athletes in other sports which is the premise behind shaq's new show that debuted earlier this week. gnash gave an executive producer credit on the show. that remind me, years ago, simon cowl and i were kicking around an idea for an american singing contest. i think i have to give simon a call. a final record setting day, already dubbed the fastest man alive bolt captured the world record in 1.19 seconds. spearman finished third while tyson guy withdrew from the race because of an injury bolt is 5 for 5. that printer, many walker who ran right into the back of a truck which was on the track.

both to the ground. both areoy cap. we have an e-mail right now. mika, do you want to read the one from the camera. >> no. >> ini say this name on the air -- >> i think we have a different one from chris. chris, do you have a different e-mail? >> kind of. this is from david in palo alto in california. mika in all white, very nice. >> this is harassment now. seriously. see what president obama has started with that type of language. coming up next, the week in review, which stories will make the cut? i'm sorry, mika. most for headaches.

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or visit a td ameritrade branch. is it time? tell me it's time. >> there's been dancing, there's been singing and public insalts, but we begin with some championship football. >> i crashed so many nights and that put it all into perspective. >> you cried a number of nights? >> yeah. >> at number three, quarterback under pressure. >> who do you blame for all of this? >> i blame me. >> two days after his return to the football field, michael vick

appeared on "60 minutes" to reclaim his remorse for running a brutal dog fighting ring. >> i really do care now. >> the new-found animal lover had a special message for kids. hug your boa constrictor just a little bit tighter tonight. >> i. encourage you to love your animals and whatever animal you have whether it's a dog or a cat or a reptile, you know, if it's a horse. >> peta's response to vick's return was subtle. >> at this point all eagles' fans can do is cross their fingers and hope they won't ever have to explain to their sons and daughters what rape rack is. >> brett favre made his annual come back this week, this time with the minnesota vikings. >> what about brett favre. at number two, hammertime. >> this is going to be so fun and so crazy. former house majority leader tom

delay signed up this week to wear tight pants a ruffled shirts and heeled dance shoes on national television. >> it's a little pump with high heels. >> yes, the man who once ran the united states house of representatives will now share the stage with erin carter and kelly osborn. >> the texas two-step, polka, waltz. >> the excitement of the idea over delay doing the meringue ai that the light footed pat buchanan had been approached to dance with the stars. >> i don't think this is a good idea. i'm not in that good of a shape right now. i wouldn't council the hammer, don't do this. do not do this. and the number one story of the week -- cosmic questions about health care. >> on what planet do you spend most of your time? >> early in the week the white house seemed open to altering his plan. >> that is not the essential element. >> reporter: then after drawing

heavy fire from democrats, the white house spent the rest of the week trying to convince everyone that on second thought it would not alter its plan. >> i think i answered this like 12 times. i'll go slow. no president believes we should have -- >> white house chief of staff ron emanuel calmed the national mood by reading to young children and telling them jokes about bare knuckle chicago politics. >> he ran to the barn and found the animals registering to vote, obviously not in chicago. >> one man who does not specialize in calming the mood, congressman barney frank. >> it is a tribute to the first amendment that this kind of biocontempable nonsense is freely propagated. >> frank lost a vote on tuesday night when he turned the town hall outrage and anti-obama nazi rhetoric back on to one of his own constituents. >> ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you is like

trying to argue with a dining room table. >> you were out there -- >> were you comparing to a dining room table. >> i got to tell you, i like barney, i was only so patient before i -- you know, these politicians sit there and take abuse from everybody. if somebody had suggested that i was supporting a hitlarian idea i would, i would probably do the same thing. >> i applaud what he did. it's just funny the way he did it. >> exactly. >> resorting to his ethnic heritage. >> it's the top of the hour, welcome, everyone. hi. >> hey, how is everybody? richard haas is here. richard haas some lead op-ed today in "the new york times" and carlos watson who is going to be whisked away to martha's vineyard. >> oh, well. >> some time soon. >> you're trying to make me feel bad about my vacation. look at him. >> going to maine.

>> okay. >> willie geist and i who were staying at our homes in yonkers is what we do. >> we share a duplex in yaungars. little catch in the backyard and some flip some burgers and call it a weekend. >> here's mika with some news. time for a look at top stories. in a new book, former homeland security secretary tom ridge says he was pressured by top bush administration officials to raise the nation's terror alert level just ahead of the 2004 presidential election. he writes, "a vigorous, some might say dramatic discussion ensued. . ashcroft urged an increase in the threat level and there was absolutely no support for that decision within our department, homeland security, none. i wondered if it's about security or politics. post-election analysis demonstrate a significant increase in the president's

approval rating in the days after the raising of the threat level." a spokesperson for donald rumsfeld calls the suggestions nonsense and given the ongoing threats, it would have been irresponsible not to discuss the alert levels. >> richard haas, are you surprised by what you're hearing from tom ridge? >> it doesn't surprise me because i can imagine the conversation. i wasn't there, but i could imagine somebody said, let's raise the threat levels before an election were at our most vulnerable and the terrorists might want to do something to disrupt american democracy. there might have been a legitimate argument to do it. on the other hand, i didn't just get off the pumpkin truck and some people might say raise the threat levels, this plays to our strength. the two stories are not inconsistent. >> yeah, it's surprising that ridge came out. >> that's the surprising part. he would write it in a way and portray it as cynical and political. that's the part that surprises me. >> yeah.

mika? >> i'm surprised, too. but i'm not surprised about the story he tells. i'm just surprised that it came in the form of a book that produces money like scott mcclellan and his book. and i wish people would just speak up when they're supposed to if it's the right thing to do. is that naive and stupid? >> he did resign less than a month later, we'll say that. >> am i being naive? honestly. >> he resisted it first and foremost. >> they might have had an argument or disagreement. sound legitimate. what you need is a way for government to reconcile it and the big weakness of the bush administration is that you often didn't have a national security process in place that allows people to have serious disagreements and way to resolve their differences. >> this is about shaping an election -- >> possibly. >> information that is untrue or fear driving fear. >> the other hand might have been if you were a terrorist, what better thing to do than do

something that would disrupt american democracy. the idea of taking preventive or precautionary efforts before an election is not an unwise thing to do. i can actually argue this one round or flat. >> carlos? >> remember rumsfeld, part of his response here is that osama bin laden did right before the 2004 election issue a videotape that said, you know, blood was going to run in the streets and, so, you know, i'm every bit as cynical and would tend towards believing tom ridge and i'm not unimpress would the fact that he resigned and ultimately released the book. i don't feel as bad about that. i have friends that would have been surprised with the sitting administration for going after people if he would have spoken up more aggressively in '05. >> after years of a life sentence, the man convicted of killing 270 people in the 1978 bombing of pan am flight 103 is a free man today. the former libyan agent who has terminal cancer was released by

scottish authorities on compassionate ground. kathleen flynn whose son wasb killed in the bombing spoke to radgon about this. >> i kept thinking about, you know, the fact that on that plane is megrahi, the man who bombed our plane over lockerbie, scotland. and i'm thinking how ironic that i'm sitting here watching him take off in a plane and he murdered all these innocent people. >> you know, this guy, i haven't done the math, but i think this guy probably only stayed in jail a couple months for every person he murdered. it really is stunning to me and it's stunning to me that scotland would do this to an ally. >> what is the message that it sends? i mean, richard, you actually

had an argument, maybe not an argument, but another side to this. >> it's not an argument, it's an explanation that they would have said that this guy in and of himself didn't make the decisions and he wasn't pulling the string and low-level operative. again, to me, this just shows to me the gap between where we are as a society and fighting terrorism and where some other governments and countries are. i think there is a big gap. >> all right. the government's cash for clunkers program will grind to a halt on monday when it burns through the remainder of the $3 billion in funding provided by congress. the transportation department has recorded more than 450,000 dealer transactions worth nearly $2 billion in rebates. president karzai and his chief rival both say they are leading the vote count in afghanistan's presidential election with official results still days away. scattered violence appears to have kept turnout low around 50% or less.

at least 26 people were killed in attacks around the country. a new polling points to slipping support for president obama as the battle over health care dominates his agenda. according to the "washington post" and nbc news 49% of americans have confidence that the president will make the right decisions, that's down 11 points from his 100-day mark in office. on health care, 49% now believe the president will be able to significantly improve the system down nearly 20 percentage points from december 2008. and despite that support, president obama tells radio host michael smerconish he is sticking to his plans for a health care overhaul. >> the press got a little excited and some folks on the left got a little excited about this. our position hasn't changed. we think that the key is cost, control, competition, making sure the people have good quality options. if we're able to achieve that,

that's the end that we're seeking and the means, you know, we can have some good arguments about the best way to achieve it is but zee to change because the status quo is unachievable. >> we'll talk live with michael smerconish about that interview with the president. >> everybody is just getting excited. nuthing to see here, move along. my approval ratings have dropped 20 percentage points. >> you think he gets health care done this year? >> i think he gets something done. i mean, my god, he's got 60 democrats in the senate. he controls the house of representatives. i mean, republicans, republicans might as well be in france right now. they are irrelevant to the process. if this president can't clear mac caskal and the moderates and hammer out some kind of deal, that's a serious failure of leadership.

>> so you do think he is going to get it done, though? >> well, yeah, carlos, i just said so and then explained why. >> paul krugman has an argument. >> let me ask you again. hey, willie, you want to try? >> yeah, i think he's going to get something done. it's not going to make, it's not going to make conservatives happy, it's not going to make liberals happy. he's going to get pounded regardless of what he does. but he's not going to be able to pass a bill that the net roots people are going to like. why? not because of evil republicans and not because of people that nancy pelosi suggests have unamerican tactics or suggest using fashion, it's not the republicans, it's not the perot types going to these town hall meetings. it's the democrats. it's evan byah and how do you get nelson to the table? >> the administration hasn't won the argument that they have a

proposal that will do what people want to see which is better results and same or lower costs and, yes, you can try to increase the coverage, but they essentially have not made the deal or sold the deal and coming back to what you said, i think that people probably wish they had gone about it differently, rather than hand it over to the democrats and the congress to come up with a deal. much more of a joint process from the beginning with the administration and the congress would have sat down to try to hatch something that both sides could support. right now, the administration has left itself very vulnerable. >> the fight in that case, if they had done, use the clinton approach in '93, '94, you would have had nancy pelosi factions and fighting mccaskill fashions at the white house. this is what we wanted to bill after all the battle was out there and everyone would have to sign up for it or not and 50 democratic votes. >> it could have been a hybrid approach from the beginning. the legislative branch and since

you create your own de facto political commission, you create an extra branch of government and that's how you develop these controversial public proposals. >> the thing is, again, you cannot say it enough, carlos. the democrats own washington, d.c. there is nothing, and when i say nothing, there is nothing republicans can do, there's nothing the media can do. there's nothing protesters can do. protesters could go out and burn down a city. there is nothing that anybody could do to stop the democrats from passing whatever bill the democrats agree they want to pass, right? >> except, they can scare the centrist democrats, as you said. >> democrats. >> right, republicans are scare the centrist democrats. they can scare the two senators from arkansas. this is true. come on. >> show a little backbone, right? you own the senate. >> it's easy to say that when mccain won your state by 20 points. >> but, again, it's the democrats. democrats own washington, d.c.,

all this nonsense about and barack obama yesterday talking saying oh, the republicans are trying to derail me and this is the republican. no, it's not. it's the democrats. the president has all the votes he needs. so, when he does get something done, we won't ask you that question again. when the president does get something done. >> why won't you take yes for an answer. i said he's going to pass. >> when he does get something done, when he does get something done, do you think republicans, ultimately, will face some backlash in 2010? >> absolutely. unless, unless -- >> unless the economy. >> let me finish. unless the bill to the president passes is a consumer protection bill. >> meaning you can't drop me from the rolls. my kid gets to stay on my insurance policy until i'm 25 and i get fired and i don't have to pay exorbitant costs and republicans will pay if they

don't support the consumer protections, but a public option plan, not on your life. please. in all these blue dog districts, please, have a democrat running against me talking about how they think the federal government will be more efficient in handling health care funding than the private industry. please. that would be from heaven. i would, as bill clinton said in the "saturday night live" after it's bill clinton said he's going to go into a public square and just smoke, just bags of pot and you can't touch me. >> chris is saying we have to go to break. when we come back, i want to talk about how you might do that in the blue dog district. >> how i do what? >> make the argument about the public option in 2010. >> i just made it. >> make the other argument. >> making the argument that, you know, it's a good thing that there is a public alternative. i think democrats can make that argument in 2010. >> sure they can.

the marginal districts, cape d cod, marin county, northern california. >> the big money guys screwed up wall street and did the same thing to your insurance premium and you need somebody to keep them honest. >> then what i would say to you, okay, government stepped in and bailed them out, $700 billion, boy, that really worked well. why do we have the federal government bail out health care. just trust me, this is an argument that a blue dog democrat in tennessee cannot carry to his people. don't hate me, don't love me, i'm just telling you the reality. >> richard haas, i'd like to thank you very much for being with us. >> always a pleasure. >> i really appreciate it. >> by the way, next time you come back, we'll talk about how golf explains -- coming up the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory will be here. the air is sweet.

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i guarantee you, joe, we are going to get health care reform done. and i know that there are a lot of people out there who have been hand ringing and folks in

the press are following every little twist and turn of the legislative process. you know, passing a big bill like this is always messy. >> willie, how does he stay so calm? >> he's just cool. >> hammering in the press. >> their little children play in the sand box, we have to keep looking forward. >> all right. made your point. >> there goes scarborough, again. >> and i'm going to stay calm. press corps screaming and i'm going to stay calm. she may be addicted to something this morning, but -- >> here with us now, nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie live at the white house. also with us this morning, radio talk show host of the nationally syndicated michael smerconish program who interviewed president obama yesterday at the white house and helped deliver

that message of calm. >> calm, nuthing to see here. move along. michael s, some erconish. was he like sweating flop sweat because he was in your presence? was he sweating? that whole cool thing is just a facade. >> the guy is, as you know, very calm, very collected and very smooth. he's heard it before. >> okay, all right. you're a talker, okay. expect more than a -- that wasn't even 12 seconds, was it? let me throw it open for you. what was it like interviewing the president frof the united states from the white house yesterday, michael? >> i have been very fortunate doing what i do for a living to meet interesting people but to sit in front of that fireplace in the diplomatic situation room where fdr delivered fireside chats, that's as good as it gets for a guy like me. i had to make stupid talk with

the president because he arrived early and it's funny y get invited with my wife to these cocktail parties in philly where people think i will be the life of the party because i talk for a living. i hate providing that kind of conversation and i found myself yesterday having to make stupid talk with the president. what do you say to the man? i got my questions about health care and cash for clunkers and i want to ask him about bin laden, now, i have to fill three minutes and i'm like yada, yada, yada. >> white sox. >> you proved to us at the beginning that you didn't have the gift to gab, michael. let's see, let's try with savannah. see if she talks. hey, savannah, what's up today? >> wind me up. i'll just keep going. let me do the schedule first, just to short circuit any questions. 11:00 he's going to meet, love the music. 11:00 he will meet with former senator tom daschle and talk about health care, as you might expect. at 1:00 he is going to camp david for the weekend.

and then taking off from there, he is going to go to martha's vineyard next week for vacation. >> very good, savannah. >> nobody is meeting with daschle. oh, am i done? okay. >> savannah, just so-called, say don't worry about anything, we're fine, we're fine and yet it's the democrats that he's trying to sort of herd right now, correct? >> i think that's true because i do think it's donning on this white house that the proposition for a bipartisan deal is growing dimmer and dimmer although i think they're still holding out hope. the gang of six had a conference call and they're still committed to doing something on a bipartisan basis and, yeah, he's got to get the left flank of the party calmed down about this public option and he's still leaving it oep on as an option not to have a public option and he's got fancy footwork to do here with the liberals. >> michael smerconish, have the

republicans in philadelphia actually taken your registration card away? have they kicked you out of the party yet? >> you know, it's funny, joe, you'll love this. when the white house announced that i'd be coming to make this interview to do this interview, the first live radio interview in the white house with this president "the new york times" conservative radio host to interview the president and then that was parroted by the "l.a. times," "chicago tribune" and i became this great virtue of conservative politics. the rnc put out a release and said conservative, look at his record, he wants to legalize pot and prostitution and for stem cell research. >> you sound like the willie geist republican. >> this is the coverage about you going there. michael, if i could just ask you about what the president said and what you thought about it. did he say anything that made you feel kftd that you made the right vote?

>> mika, what i most wanted to ask him because it was hard in the confines of this thing to really pursue singular issues and get substantive dialogue i did the best i could to cover a lot of ground and include telephone callers. not from the fringes and not from the birthers, but from more moderate republicans and independents that he wants too much. that his administration seeks too much involvement and control in our lives. the banks, the cars, and now health insurance. and i asked him that. i said, mr. president, respond to this mindset and what he said was, it didn't start on my watch and that's not what i'm seeking and that's not what i'm about. the whole bank involvement and the t.a.r.p. program began on the watch of my predsesser and then he spoke how he wants private sector involvement in these things. will the audience buy into that? i don't know, but i was thrilled to be able to frame it for him and ask him to respond to that. >> thrilling you got to ask him

questions, but are you glad you voted for him and are you feeling hopeful and did he say anything that makes you believe that his health care initiative is something that we really should believe in. >> if you're asking me if i could do it all over again and walk in there and close the curten and if my alternatives are president obama and joe biden and john mccain and sarah palin, i would not change my vote. it's something i get asked on a regular basis by callers to the program. i think gleefully wishing that i'd say this isn't what i voted for. i got to tell you, the man is guv wering as advertised and as far as i'm concerned. what you're seeing is what he told you you're going to get. i don't buy into any of the internet lure and any that is said about him. >> let me ask savannah guthrie the same thing. if you can go back, no, seriously, if you can go back into the voting booth and make your choice, again, would you vote for linden lurouge again? >> anyway, hey, joe, you and i

will say, i thought it was interesting, not so much during the interview with michael smerconish, i thought the president showed his frustration a little bit. not just for there the republicans all the fire is directed at you and me. he's really irritate would the media, he brings it up over and over again. he feels like the debate is not serious. that the media is just playing up the conflict and i thought he seemed very frustrated yesterday. >> poor guy. i mean, how does he get through the day? he's president of the united states and having 60 votes in the senate for him and hounding the house of representatives. >> all right, michael smerconish and savannah guthrie, thank you very much. >> good talking to you guys. coming up next, another member of the media that is bringing barack obama down. david gregory is going to be here. but, first, reaction to the presidential election in afghanistan.

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charlie sennott. good to have you back. richard, we'll start with you, give us an update on the situation there in kabul. >> mika, they're not exactly claiming victory because the results aren't in yet. i just returned from a conversation with abdullah, abdullah the leading opposition candidate who is trying to unseat president karzai and he said he's not claiming victory yet, but that early indications are that he believes that he won this election outright but he's still waiting for all the results to come in. the results are still being posted right now. karzai's campaign is saying the same thing. they're not claiming victory, but they think that indications are at this stage that they won the election, but they are not trying to upset the process so much and claim fraud and said that it was ilegitimate. its arer not quite a dispute at this stage, but a very thin line and both of them appear confident that they're going it win. >> interesting. that's a little bit of a cliff

hanger. charlie, spent a lot of time there, especially reporting on the ground. give us a sense of the landscape that the backdrop in which this election is taking place because we were hearing reports on all the evening newscasts yesterday that there were serious threats being given yesterday to anyone to vote. >> put the spin on it right away and say this was a very successful election and just way too early. i think karzai is learning a lot from his friends in washington and getting ahead of the message. you know, what we were hearing from our correspondent on the ground in the south and what we were hearing across the country is that there weren't people coming out to vote. the campaign of intimidation worked very well in the south, particularly among women. what that means, i think, in terms of the whole election, the taliban measures time very differently than just this one election. they're in it for the long haul and they have been showing that. while the u.s. was in iraq and focusesed on the war in iraq, the taliban had an opportunity to very quietly regroup,

reassert itself and afghanistan is a country of 30,000 villages. that's where three-quarters of the people live. inpenetrable and very difficult to get to. that's where they're going to be strong and that's where they are going to be around for a long time and part of the vote that wasn't in the actual polling booth is that the taliban is going to be around longer than the u.s. forces. >> the taliban unpopular in afghanistan and at the same time you have an example of a girl school that find itself in the crossfire between the taliban and u.s. troops. >> right. this is an amazing story. sally goodrich is a schoolteacher in vermont. her son was killed september 11th in the second plane that went into the world trade center. she came out of this dark hole that any of the 9/11 families were in by trying to build a school for girls in afghanistan. she raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and an amazing story of afghanistan and i went with her the day it opened, exciting,

great day. about feel-good story, right? now, we learn about three months ago, four months ago that all those village elders who we had our arms around and did snapshots with for the opening of the school have gone with the taliban. u.s. military raided the village and some reports that the school was used as meeting place for the taliban and we went in and found out what was going on here. this really speaks to how complicated things are in afghanistan. the taliban leaders in that village, excuse me, the leaders of that village side would the taliban to keep the girl school open. that's how complicated it is right now and they gave up information on the taliban and the ending is now that school, the road into it, has been bombed. there's a complicated terrain there. >> stay with us. david gregly straight ahead. for arthritis pain... in your hands... knees... and back. for little bodies with fevers..

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this is sort of like the belt and suspenders concept to keep up your pants. you know, the insurance reforms

are the belt. the public option can be the suspenders. and what we're trying to just suggest to people is that all these things are important. >> dude, just go behind closed doors at the white house, quit talking to people and start talking to your democrats. find 60 votes. it's not that hard. seriously thought. stop blaming the press and stop talking about suspenders. you get all the votes you need. just call them up to martha's vineyard. >> all right, here with us now -- >> hey, ask me to come to martha's vineyard. i've never been there before. you know i've never been to martha's vineyard. you know why? >> why? >> man of the people. regular joe. >> that's you. you are such a man of the people. >> such a simply country lawyer. if the president would only

invite me up to martha's vinyard, just like carlos. >> i'm flying joe's private plane, by the way. >> let me tell you something. you cannot sleep in the bedroom. >> not at all. >> with us now, oh, my gosh, be quiet. with us now moderator of nbc "meet the press" david gregory. thank god. david -- >> when i think "morning joe" i think regular joe. >> man of the people, david. man of the people, thank you. >> if joe was a cup of coffee, you'd take it black. >> exactly. just simple, simple guy. david, thank you so much for confirming what everybody missed. >> i want to talk about tom ridge. >> oh, good lord. >> david, what do you think of the ridge revelations? >> i think it is very interesting and certainly confirm a lot of fears and criticism on the left about what was going on with this terror alert system. something it seems like the obama administration want to amend at some point and change how that's done.

they haven't done it yet. they have a few other things to do, but i thought this was certainly very interesting. >> hey, david, let me ask you about the president, what we've been saying this morning when we say we, i mean me. what we are saying this morning is that the president has all the democratic votes he needs in washington, d.c., but now he's blaming the press. he's talking about suspenders and he's talking about belts and wee-wee'ing all over ourself and he's angry with the republicans. this is an intersquad game. >> well, i certainly agree with that, joe. my reporting bears that out talking to allies of the white house on othis effort who says a couple things. one, the president has not spent enough time working democrats. these wavering, more conservative democrats to get them on board. i'm not certain that he does have the votes right now. depends on what they go for. there is a lot of talk about changing up the strategy here

and doing some kind of budget reconciliation where you break apart the bill a little bit and get most of the effort through where you only need 51 votes, that's an option. i'm not certain he has the votes, but he has pushback from democrats who are unhappy that he's still talking about the public option when that is not at all part of the negotiation that is going on with this so-called gang of six here who are negotiating in the senate finance committee. >> we have charlie senate here talking about afghanistan. boy, that is a situation that keeps getting more difficult for the president, as well, david. >> hugely difficult. and the polling this week indicating that 51% of the americans don't think the fight is worth it. you have a resurgeant taliban and real questions about what the end game is for the united states. what is end game? are we trying to destroy the taliban because not a lot of people think that is going to happen. the taliban is a nationalest

movement that doesn't have any designs against the united states or the west generally. the concern is that they have become safe haven for al qaeda. but this is, this is very messy and you have general micchrysta over there who is reassessing whether we have the resources, both money to help rebuild the country and also troop strength to carry out this mission. one thing we'll talk about admiral mike mullein, the chairman of the joint chiefs when he comes on sunday. >> charlie, let me ask you about the main rival to karzai, tell me about him and what difference would it make if he would prevail? >> what's happening on the ground, if so the taliban succeeded in its intimidation in the south t looks like it did, that favors abdullah because he's stronger in the north where the polls were wide open and people were voting and much higher voter turnout. the former foreign minister and appointed by karzai and always closely associated as strong

commander of commander muhsed. widely viewed as tajik and therefore from that tribal grouping that is very different from the south and the east, it would really tilt the tribal balance within afghanistan interesting ways. but i actually think it's a long shot. i think karzai's got it. >> we had richard haas on earlier saying this is, in fact, now, afghanistan a war of choice for president obama. we've also been hearing whispers of vietnam as we so often do, whether they fit or not. could this turn into president obama's vietnam, if you will? >> well, one of the terms that comes out of the vietnam era is mission creep and military commanders are sensitive to that now. they know there is a real perception of that and we surged up forces to the tune of 17,000 additional u.s. forces and more

forces that have to be deployed and, again, the time frame here is what is really daunting. the british are talking about a 40-year commitment and maybe the u.s. has to be there about a decade. it's daunting to think about that and, again, it goes back to the question about what is it that the u.s. is really fighting for here? there is a culture of poverty that they talk about in afghanistan that make the nation building effort so much more difficult than even what the u.s. is facing in iraq. so, that's a pretty sobering thought. >> all right, david gregory, the moderator of "meet the press." who do you have on "meet the press" this weekend? >> i hope you have somebody who can connect with the working class man in america. >> that's what we wanted. but still had a certain panache and outreach to the elite, as well. >> so you have smily on. >> we will have tavis smily and joe scarborough.

we will also have senators hatch and schumer and key players on the finance committee on where the president goes nextt and i mentioned admiral mullein here. >> looks like a good show. >> scar different borough, smily. >> scarborough would not put on a tie for that picture. >> are you going to wear a tie on sunday? >> who knows. it depends. if it's sunday morning before i go to church, i plow the fields and then i go to church and then we'll see. >> put on your pat buchanan t-shirt. that would work. >> i could wear a t-shirt. who knows. >> a lot of people don't know that joe wears suspenders when he comes on "meet the press." >> i take off my paisley smoking jacket. >> i don't like that mental image. david gregory, thank you very much. >> sunday is "meet the press." it's 11:00, it's carlos watson. >> great new show. we have former governor mario cuomo not being shy at all about

his perspective on what president obama is doing well and not doing well. well, he might agree a little bit with joe scar different borough. >> we have the editor of "new york times" and the week in review, you know. >> if that's what you want to call it. >> week in review, we'll put it in quotes. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. achoo!

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welcome back to "morning joe." a beautiful shot looking south in manhattan. no cockroaches on that camera, thank god. and let's bring in sam tanenhaus. he is the editor of the "new

york times" book review. what the hell does sam not do? >> that's quite a cover there, sam. >> we heard about that. >> so tell us about it. >> about the book? >> yeah. >> it's by a great writer, tony bennett, and she makes the argument, sex is never connected to money, and these are woman that take the money first. >> wow! >> that's a cynical view. >> maybe i should not have said that. can i retract that? >> i actually heard that said by a lot of married men, actually. what is in the week in review?

i am afraid to ask. >> week in review, we will look at afghanistan and the president. i think david gregory may have mention mentioned it, or somebody did, we could be looking at president obama's vietnam. lbj in 1965 had big ideas about how he was going to improve the wealth of the nation, and then he is in a war he cannot get out of. and the president said himself that afghanistan can hijack his presidency. how do you win it? what are you trying to win? at what cost? and so we have a couple other pieces. let me run them by you. for those of you that live in west chester, like mika, a big issue about low moderate income housing and integrags.

>> now, in west chester, is poor somebody making under $200,000? >> we are taking about blue collar workers, and african-americans, and latinos. and the schools want mixed communities. i live in west chester, and the school is 50% latino. >> do you think the movement has to do with the new administration? >> that's one of the questions. one of the interesting comments we heard from the obama administration is they want to see a society fully integrated. i am not sure everybody knows what that is. and one school is an entirely mixed population, and once you get inside the classroom, it could look different. who is taking the advanced

calculous course, and why? >> some of the most interestingly integrated places in america that i have seen these days are not schools or playgrounds, but churches. i am blown away quietly by churches. and i am blown away by the number of churches that i go to all predominantly black churches are now integrated. >> we'll be back. >> we will be right back with more "morning joe." ysnd not enough sleep.

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all right. shall we go around the country? >> not yet. what we want to do first is go to a place where i have never been. los angeles >> i have never been out of my room, in fact. >> we can do the light shocks. >> seriously, i swear to god, we have the worse production staff. not only in table, but in all of tv. they are horrible. >> yeah, it's embarrassing because we have a 60 minutes correspondent. >> yeah, the goal is like we are

the tin cup that you find on the beach. >> way to go, t.j., get out of the control room right now. >> i would be terrified to talk about it that way, about the way i look next time. i would caution you to whisper. >> well, i can't look any worse than i already looked on tv. i am fine. when you get to the valley, and walk through the shallow of the valley of death, after that they can't touch you. >> they took me off the air one time i looked so bad. >> chris admitted it. >> yeah, we pulled the rip cord. >> yeah, and of course, her husband then called and i expected her husband to defend her, and her husband said get her off the air right now.

my wife called me and said you -- speaking of me, you look like hell. willie, i go to martha's vineyard, and you know why? the barbershop quartet up there, and they are great. >> you have to see the video. tim carter was poking around martha vineyard's newspaper, and they are all coordinated -- >> it makes my blood pressure go up. >> one drunk customer at the bar and got frustrated and took matters into his own hands. watch this.

>> our final show of the summer here, and -- >> let's watch it in slow om now. he pushed the guy in water. he got rope burn, but he was okay, and what a message it sends to barbershop quartets everywhere. >> lesley stahl is joining us this hour. and sam tanenhaus is with us. i feel the story is the tom ridge. >> we love to listen you to read the news, and then editorial it.

here we go again. >> time now for a look at today's top stories. >> there you go. in a new book, former homeland security secretary, tom ridge, says he was pressured to raise the terror alert level just ahead of the 2004 presidential elections. >> that's terrific. a spokesperson for donald

rumsfeld called the suggestion nonsense, and he said given the on going threats it would be been irresponsible to not discuss the alert levels. and a man convicted of killing 270 people in the bombing of pan am 103 is a freeman today. he was released by scottish authorities on compassionate grounds. he refuted suggestions he is being welcomed as a hero. >> i don't think the footage that we have used is him being hailed as a hero. the people met him at the airport, and he has been a part from his family for 20 years, and he is an innocent person in the eyes of his family and many others, and it's a warm welcome,

but not a hero's welcome at all. >> that's not a hero's welcome? that's the beatles at shea. >> he was in jail for killing 270 people. and a new poll shows slipping support for obama concerning health care. 49% of americans have confidence the president will make the right decision. that's down 11 points from his 100-day mark in office. on health care, 49% now believe the president will be able to significantly improve u.s. health care. now, you know, lesl lesley,

something always in august. >> yeah, i was thinking about reagan. we forget that happens to presidents, when you have increasingly joblessness, it's inevitable the popularity -- although the president's popularity is still under 50%. he will be under this pressure and fire as long as the jobless number goes up. and i want to say one more thing about reagan and obama and the big difference, and something that i will bet that he looks at, and i bet obama goes back to study. there is a question about how he is not being passionate, and he is not expressing verve and brilliantly reagan used to do

it. he used to be angry without having the angry face. he was a good actor. i would be up close and he would get the angry -- for example, at the air-traffic controllers and things like that, he would get the angry look. i knew that he was acting. i knew it was not from down here. and something in the public out there watching also knew that. they knew that's not rage. he is not over the top. he is maintaining his sweetness. and obama has to find that spot, because he is an actor, too. he needs to find a way to express his passion without crossing a line he doesn't want to cross. he doesn't want to become an angry mob. there is a place for it. >> a lot of democrats seem to be frustrated. they want to see their president fighting, and they want to stand up and fight. >> i think the middle of the country, not only his own base.

i think that that's what people feel is lacking, and he is not fighting right now it's health care, with the kind of energy and anger -- or strength. let's say a sense that he is not caving and wobbling. say what you want and go fight for it, and do it with the same -- you can express anger without being angry, and reagan did it to perfection, and got himself out of the problem that way. >> i have to say one of the things that surprised me most over the first nine months is the detachment, and not just emotional detachment, but legislatively, and maybe you know a president, and maybe you have a better example than i, but i cannot think of a president, any president, that has been detached -- >> bush senior. >> in legislation, where you just turn it -- whether it's a

stimulus package, he just turns it over to the congress. you guys work it out, give it to me, and i will sign the bill. >> it's interesting, with obama there are so many paradoxes. he is very good at the kind of graduate school seminar, but it's the middle range he is not as good at. that's where reagan was saw perp. the great presidents are able to do the politics. >> yeah, he is great in reading the teleprompter. you look at the democratic speech, and it's soaring rhetoric. he has the mike and is working the stage, telling jokes, but the middle range, he is not that

effective. >> and another range i point to is the accusation that is coming from much of the country, even in today's times where there is a story on florida voters that actually supported the president and now have doubts about health care, as they think government is taking over too much. yet, as you say in an odd way, he is actually detached from government. there is a period paradox there that he has not solved. >> yeah, he certainly is not lbj who knew what was going on in house subcommittees, and would call a chairman and say what is happening? lbj knew everything. now, you were saying bush senior was detached? >> no, i thought you meant emotionally. i can remember when the wall came down in east berlin, and

bush would not express any kind of even joy. in both cases with obama and bush senior, you got the sense both constitutionally that they could not let all emotions run free. and also, they don't think they should. obama wants to keep -- he doesn't want to become part of the big conversation. he wants to remain above it. and bush senior thought it was unseemly. >> a president who is actually pretty good for much -- at least his first term at connecting with the public was the most recent bush. he actually had a very natural kind of itam that he used. but we can forget one of the great presidential speeches in modern history came after september 11th when he was on the floor of congress, and he

gave that passionate address. >> this is a guy that worked together to reform education. he did this on a number of fronts. you are right. >> he also pushed his agenda through against much stronger opposition, really. there was a question of the legitimacy of his presidency. of course, obama we are hearing about the legitimacy of his birth. the issue of legitimacy almost surrounds every president. >> yeah, it certainly has since bush senior. i don't know what the hell has happened with this country. do you remember all the rumors about he is running drugs in central america, and there were wild rumors. ex then with clinton, from the second he came in there was a

question of legitimacy, with bush, and then that was with both terms, and now president obama the same thing. it's disgusting. i am getting more and more disgusted by the extremes on the right and the left, and for me as a conservative, it's not enough that i oppose the president's health care plan, people want me to suggest that he is trying to roll the tanks into washington and take everything over. on the left, if you don't -- what you just said about george w. bush. they will say oh, sam tanenhaus is apologizing for a war criminal. he hates babies. it's so disheartening. >> it's disheartening all of our presidents are being held down. >> isn't the responsibility now of political leaders on the

right and left to call out the extremists. >> maybe it's our responsibility, too. >> let's start on the democratic side, for president obama to say harry reid, you should not call americans evil. and for michael steele to say sarah palin, and newt gingrich, cut the death panel talk. >> yeah, and there is so much junk out there, and let's put this in quotes, the responsible voices with platforms, nothing to hold back the dam. right now you do get the feeling the little guy with the thumb in the dik here. >> and i do believe it's 85% of the country are turned off by the extremists. mika, at least that's what i hear when i go up. i get democrats saying thank you

all the time. i have conservatives saying thank you, we are having a rational discussion. i think we have the crazies out numbered. >> before you go, we lost don hewitt last week. >> yeah, and he was beyond influential, and created and revolutionalized the news. what he really did at "60 minutes," people say he brought entertainment into television. he brought news, journalism into television magazine, and he was the funnest guy you could work for in a million years. i am shocked he died. the last time i spoke to him on the phone, he said to me, you know what, i am never going to

die. >> and you believed him. >> yeah, for sure. >> and he goes back -- so far back. >> yeah, and he kept the values and standards and principles, and he started with edward armour yoe, and produced the evening news with walter cronkite, and he made sure it was founded on the best of those principles. and the whole time i worked for him, that was first and foremost, and not the entertainment, but it was the keep up the journalism, and do the tough questions, and don't be afraid, hold their feet to the fire and all the things you should want. >> how would you characterize a screening with don hewitt? a screening is when you bring it to the producer before it goes

on the air so he can grade it. >> did you do that? >> he helped me track a piece. >> yeah, i came from washington where, no, we never did that, you did not scream and yell. that's the way we talked in those days. when i first got there, he had not had a great relationship with meredith vieira, so he really wanted that he and i got along. and we did, famously. one day he comes in my office and closes the door and says i am going to mess it up big time, and we are doing so well together, but i have to tell you something and you are going to be mad at me, and i am bloeg this whole thing up, but i have to do it. and i said go for it, what is it? he said, i hate your hair. >> it always comes down to that. >> i thought to myself, oh, my

god, you are my mother. >> great story. coming up, a check on business before the bell with cnbc's erin burnett. ♪ bicycle, what are we waiting for? the flowers are blooming.

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i think early on a decision was made by the republican leadership that said, look, let's not give him a victory, maybe we can have a play of 1993, 1994, when clinton came in, he failed in health care and then we won the majority. i think there are folks taking a page out of that play book. >> and now, we have thomas frank, the author of "the wrecking crew." it's out now in paperback.

thomas, how did we do it? >> joe, it was a major achievement. >> it was not easy. it kept us busy for a while. >> yeah, that's right. that's right. >> what did we do? >> what did you do? >> yes. remember, joe, nothing that i am going to say is about you personally, okay. >> okay. >> it's about the way conservatives run the state. what does the conservative state look like. it's opposition to big government. i was asking myself, how did this behave when it's in charge of the government. a simple question, right? and the answer is very interesting. it has a philosophy of turning the government over to market

forces, deregulate, outsource, that type of thing. i am putting it all here in a couple sentences. and let's get something more specific. >> okay. well, you wrote the book, brother. i can't help you sell it. i can let you come on and sell it. what was the sin of the -- how did the conservatives ruin government, specifically, what was the number one sin they committed over the past eight years? >> i would say -- well, before the financial meltdown, before the crisis over the last couple years in the financial markets, i probably would have said something like the personnel games they played in washington, d.c., where they outsourced so much of the federal government and the lobbyist call the shots and that sort of thing. i think it's obvious now it was

deregulation and the politicizing of all of the different regulatory agencies here in d.c., and filling them up with cronies and hacks. and that turned out to be the most con sequential thing. >> if we are talking about the meltdown, not a good thing. on the other side of it, of course, you had democrats, starting with the clinton administration in 1999 deciding they were going to let people get houses that could not get houses. isn't it safe to say the democrats and republicans worked together? >> i would go further than that. i have been back in the day -- back in the day i was a critic of the clinton administration, and what annoyed me in those days is when they allowed the

banks and insurance companies to merge and everybody became one great big -- clinton signed off on that. that was in 1999, the year after that they passed a law preventing government from regulating certain financial markets, the derivative markets, and clinton signed off on that as well. democrats as well as republicans believed in this kind of myth of the rational market. to coin a phrase. yeah, i would throw clinton in there when i say in which the conservative state -- i would include clinton in that whole thing. >> it sounds like deregulation and that is what it sounds like. >> if you go and look at epa and fda, and what was happening with

regulation for health and air quality, and water quality, and all of those things, they were marching along, not quickly, but slowly and deliberately, and then they all came to a halt. >> that's exactly right. >> when you ask tom the question, what is the most -- i don't know, striking thing, i would have said -- i forget your word, but my word is pathological deregulation in all of the areas. >> yeah, the example that i liked the best -- by the way in each of the cases that you cite, the environmental agency, you can find people in these different bureaucratic offices saying, look, business is our constituency now. it's not about the public. we don't answer to the public, we answer to the business community. this is the row setha stone for

understanding how conservative governments work. the business community is the main constituency. and i come back to the wrecking crew, the department of labor, it was set up back during the wilson -- i am sorry, the taft administration. the bush administration put the whole bureaucracy into the works, and they had to wonder what they were going to do with agencies. >> the book is "the wrecking crew." it depends on how you define n conservative conservatives. i don't think there is anything about supporting the wall street crash -- >> we'll be right back.

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welcome back to "morning joe." well, obviously, i disagree with frank. i think we went overboard with deregulation. but i think you have people in

the business community, too many of them and regulatory positions, and now the obama administration swung all the way over where you don't have people that have a lot of business experience making decisions. >> i bet lesley stahl is so impressed with our prepare. sort of like a "60 minutes" piece. >> yeah, months and months of information. >> yeah, i noticed in major newspapers they don't agree. "page 12," and they are talking about the pressure to raise the threat level, and i find it -- well, he waited this long to talk about it. >> well, a tried and true method

of getting information out of your inside, and that's leaking it to a reporter, hello, and we are just sitting there waiting with our arms like that, and get it in the press, and, joe, you know, if it ended up on the front page of a newspaper, that would have killed it. >> yeah, my first reaction was he should have quit before raising the threat level, and i thought well, a middle ground. and i thought if it was me, i would call the president and say you know what you can write up there, tom ridge is pressured to raise the threat level. >> and there were rumors around, that that's why they were doing it. and they were rumors.

>> behind the scenes in conversations wondered what this was really about. i remember getting mocked, and thinking, wow, okay, looking back now, history was changed maybe. >> a lot of people believed you, but there was no evidence. and if it really disturbed him, he should have leaked it if he did not want to walk away. >> yeah, he could have killed this. and that's the question he needs to ask, why didn't he just tell somebody? >> i can remember recovering jimmy carter, and i feel like an old timer going back, and every time there was a primary, the hostage thing was getting better. >> right. that was a horrific time. >> lesley stahl, thank you so much. >> great to see you. >> your website, i love it. >> we are doing an hour on don

hewlett. >> can't wait. thank you. when we come back, cnbc's erin burnett. you don't want to miss willie's week in review. find out which stories will make the cut. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. paying $8 a day for lunch can add up fast. so i'm packing my own lunch now-- for less than $3. thanks to walmart. just two times a week saves my family over $500 a year. save money. live better. walmart. but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't.

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's a beautiful shot of new york city. i feel sorry for brad pitt. you know, he is overshadowed by angelina, and then he does this movie, and then he is oversha w overshadowed again. we will talk about that. first, let's go to international superstar, erin burnett. >> markets are looking sharply

higher, and maybe we will get the friday rally. joe, the big thing will be in jackson, wyoming, and all the fed and officials are working hard. ben bernanke is giving a speech this morning. and then he will go fly-fishing. what is interesting, a year ago everybody was talking about the panic which was going to ensue, and this time it's as if the challenged are a lot greater. we have trillions of dollars to support every bank in the country, right, and interest rates are at zero, and feds printing money every day, and borrowing millions every day, and getting out of this is actually harder than the emergency corks we put in the system to save ourself. he will talk about the exit strategy. and then the convicted pan am

bomber. we are going to have an update on the libya business tonight. it's amazing when you think about it, how countries like this matter so much and why -- why business ties really are so important to political ties. libya, and you guys know this, they have more oil than any country in africa, more than nigeria, and it's not discovered, and all the u.s. people are there looking at it, aux yawn, and i think it has a lot to do to say about foreign policy. >> mika, you are lucky haines is

not doing the hit today. >> why? >> because haines wanted to talk about polls. >> political polls. >> yeah, that's crazy. haines. >> yeah, i am very excited. let's turn the corner here. the much anticipated film "gloerious bastard." here is a look. >> i am a detective. a good detective. finding people is my specialty. and i work for the nazis finding people, and some of them were jews, but jew hunter is a name that stuck. >> have you to admit, it's catchy. >> do you control the nicknames the enemies bestow you on. >> the german's nickname for me is the little man.

>> as if to make my point i am surprised how taller in real life. >> i love him! oh, my god! i cannot wait to see that. >> great to have you with us this morning. >> i am going through the reviews last night, and everywhere i turn they say brad pitt is great, but they are keeping phrase upon you. >> thank you very much. i am honored and flattered and all of it, but i am also embarrass embarrassed. first, how do you overshadow brad pitt? >> no, explain it to us. >> you can't. you know, i couldn't have done -- you know, i could not have sustained half a day without brad's generosity. we all knew the script, it was on the page. brad is a right-stuff actor, the

true kind. he welcomed me with open arms, and made me feel a partner. >> and then you stuck it in his back! i am joking. >> yeah, but it's still embarrassing. >> what was it like working with gwen? >> crazy. >> a dream? >> yes. but not only, he is also supportive, and considerate, and educated, and he has this immense knowledge of movies, and a vocabulary to draw from that is unparallel. >> but also crazy? >> if you add all that up, what i just mentioned, it's -- >> yeah, a fine line between that and other things. >> tell us about the story, we

understand the script has been bounced around hollywood for ten years, or at least in tear teen yoe's mind. tell us the background. >> the background is, you know, an american lieutenant gets a bunch of jewish semicriminal guys together to go behind the lines in the second world war. >> and your role in the plot is? >> i play a ss current who is known as the jew hunter, but whether or not he is the jew hunter is a different subject. you know, our characters are not meeting until later in the film. so there are several strands of

action and story there all woven together. they have these wonderful scenes, and they are, you know, a little gory, and that's to be expected. >> was it a different experience working with terrin, and so what does he do on the set? >> he is inspiring, more than anybody out there i have met. he works on a level of energy that i have not encountered in my life before. >> since you won the award, when the phone rang and it said brad pitt, did you send it to voice

mail? >> again -- >> we are kidding you. >> congratulations on the movie. it looks great. >> yeah, it's a fantastic movie. >> we can't wait to see it, and we can't wait to see brad pitt also. >> it's out in theaters today. thank you so much for being with us. up next -- >> we have the week in review. you have been waiting for it. wake up the kids, you know, willie is straight ahead. >> we'll be right back. new blackberry, huh ? yeah. me, too. how sick is the web browsing ? all the apps, gps, video... yeah... you didn get your blackberry with the verizon network, did you ? no. sorry. so it doesn't work here, does it ? no, but... paperweight mode. all right.

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and it was like, "you're the guy who got me the netbook." he says, "this never happens, but i'm totally going to hug you right now." i get hugged all the time. how could you not hug this? and i'm joni. we've been best friends since we were two. we've always been alike. we even both have osteoporosis. but we're active. especially when we vacation. so when i heard about reclast, the only once-a-year iv osteoporosis treatment, i called joni. my doctor said reclast helps restrengthen our bones to help make them resistant to fracture. and reclast is approved to help protect from fracture in more places: hip, spine, even other bones. (announcer) you should never take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium, kidney problems. or you'reregnant, plan to become pregnant or nursing. take calcium and vitamin d daily. tell your doctor if you develop severe muscle, bone or joint pain or if you have dental problems, as rarely, jaw problems have been reported. the most common side effects include flu-like symptoms, fever, muscle or joint pain and headache. nothing strengthens you like an old friendship. but when it comes to our bones, we both look to reclast.

you've gotta ask your doctor! or call 1-866-51-reclast. year-long protection for on-the-go women. the home of starbucks, america's favorite coffee. and here is the week in review. >> i cried so many nights, and that put it all in perspective. >> you cried a number of nights? >> yeah. >> at number three, quarterback under pressure. >> who do you blame for all of this? >> me. >> two days after his return to the football field, michael vick appeared on "60 minutes" to claim his remorse for running a brutal dogfighting ring. >> i really do care now. i care about animals. >> he had a special message for

kids. >> i encourage you to love your animals, your animals, or ever animal you have, a horse. >> peta's response was unsettle. >> all eagle fans can do is cross their fingers and hope you don't have to explain what rape rack is. >> this time brett favre, and he has a comeback with the minnesota vikings. and then number two, hammer time. >> this is going to be fun and crazy. >> tom delay signed up this week to wear tight pants, a roughluf

shirt on "dancing with the star stars". >> yes, he will now share the stage with erin carter and kelly osborn. >> i even took disco lessons once. >> and the light-footed pat buchanan has been approached to dance with the stars. >> i don't think it's a good idea. i would counsel the hammer, don't do this. >> and then cosmic questions about health care. >> on what planet do you spend most of your time? >> earlier in the week the white house seemed open to altering the plan. >> that is not the essential element. >> and then after drawing heavy fire from democrats the white house spent the rest of the week trying to convince on second half, it would not alter its plan. >> i think i answered this 12 times. i will go slow. the president believes --

>> the white house chief of staff, rahm emanuel, attempted to calm the national mood by reading to children, and telling jokes about bare knuckle politics. >> he ran to the barn and found the animals want to go vote. >> and then we have barney frank. frank probably lost a vote on tuesday night had he turned the town hall outrage and anti-obama nazi rhetoric back on to one of his own constituents. ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. >> he has a way with people. coming up next, what, if anything, did we learn today. most for headaches.

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welcome back, kids, and this is the part of the show where we

tell you what we learned today. >> if you are in a group that performs in martha's vineyard, and you will be out there singing at the ship wreck bar, be careful, because there are guys that will push you off the dock and into the water. >> carlos, what do you have coming up? >> governor quo mow is weighing in. >> we will start with billy. and then -- and then, come on up over here. these are the boys that brought coffee, and they are inturns saying, bye-bye. >> you need a hair cut, roscoe.

>> you did a good job promoting the program. >> now, your weekend is going to start off great, because becoming up next, we have a guy, we call a runaway beer truck. so also, kids, frank, he needs to tell about his books better. >> yeah, we will walk him through a few tips. drive the message home. >> i did not agree with anything that he said, but trying to pull it out of him. >> yeah, just trying to help him. >> have a great weekend, everybody. >> guys, we will miss you. >> i don't know your name, but we are going to miss you. >> congratulations.

>> dylan, i don't know any of their names until the day they leave. roscoe and billy, we will miss you. we made memories together that will last a lunchtime. >> it's time for the "morning meeting" with dylan ratigan. topping the agenda, a late-night conference call with a so-called gang of six. we will tell what you was said last night on the call and where they go from here. and then homeland security former officer, tom ridge, said he was forced to raise the terror owe lurt to get bush reelected. and then not to give him a hero's welcome, but well, talk about a hero's welcome.

now, and gruesome details emerging about what he allegedly did. we are here to get the money back for the american people. >> i have more bags. >> he is taking on just about everything else, and now michael moore taking aim at wall street, slamming their version of capitalism. plus we are tracking hurricane bill taking aim at bermuda. it's 9:00 a.m., and do pull up a chair and join me. well, we begin with the so-called gang of six. these are the senators that may decide the future of health care reform and where this debate ends. they got together for a

late-night meeting of minds. savannah guthrie has the details from the white house. >> reporter: yeah, the gang of six got on the phone last night, and what came out of it was the commitment from them to keep working. they think they could get a bipartisan deal, but frankly, hopes of that are dimming. here is a statement from the chairman of the committee. >> reporter: it's a signal they may try to take away some of the costs health care reform was estimated to cost, about $1 trillion, so they may try to scale that back. and he