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skyrocketing. how scared should we be? and afghanistan has become the deadliest year so far for troops. today new calls for a time table to get out of the country. back at home, remember this? >> how about in honor of the american soldier, you quit making things up? >> but maybe sarah palin needs to check her facts when it comes to government-run veterans health care. the death books palin is promoting on facebook are va pamphleting about living wills designed to help veterans. plus, the miss australia condom, why jessica biel is dangerous, and the other things we thought you should know. plus what george w. bush is doing to keep busy. i'm tamron hall live in new york. >> i'm david shuster live in washington. after watching the obama administration's message get buried in the health care debate

the last couple weeks, there was some good news today for supporters who wondered if the obama message machine still works. in our big picture this hour, the president interrupted his vacation this morning to take the focus away from some new startling reports about the federal deficit. he put the spotlight on what's been working in the economy. the actions of fed chair ben bernanke. the president and bernanke appeared at a school this morning. he said he was reappointed bernanke when the fed chair's term is skecheduled to end at t end of the year. >> as an expert on the causes of the great depression, i'm sure ben never imagined he would be part of a team responsible for preventing another. because of his background, his temperament, his courage, and his creativity, that's exactly what he's helped to achieve. that's why i'm reappointing him to another term as chairman of the federal reserve. ben approached the financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and out of the box

thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall. >> for his part bernanke also noted the historic economic challenges that he and the obama administration have been dealing with this year. >> i'd like to express my gratitude to president obama for the confidence he's shown in me with this nomination and for his unwavering support for a strong and independent federal reserve. our objective remains constant, to restore a more stable financial and economic environment in which opportunity can again flourish and in which americans' hard work and creativity can receive their proper rewards. >> the financial word reacted well to the announcement. the dow finished the day up more than 30 points at 9539. the s&p and the nasdaq were also up. the bernanke news and the market embrace also had the effect today of taking attention away from a series of politically troubling reports about the size of the federal deficit. the administration's office of

management and budget and the nonpartisan congressional budget office both predicted this year's budget will swell -- budget deficit will swell to $1.6 trillion, a record. and over the long term both agencies foresee a $9 trillion deficit over the next nine years. that's $2 trillion more than the obama administration estimated back in may. republicans are already jumping on these reports as proof that spending is out of control. joining us to talk about the message war is nbc news washington bureau chief mark whitaker. standard and perhaps a smart move by the obama administration to try to move the focus on bernanke knowing these reports were coming out. >> i think it was widely expected bernanke would be reappointed. as you said, he's given credit for averting another depression. he was a student of the first great depression at princeton, but the two things are actually related. not only does announcing his appointment today take away attention from these new

estimates on the long-term deficit, $9 trillion, but i think it also perhaps more importantly reassures both people in washington but also our overseas creditors who are going to finance that deficit that in keeping on bernanke, there is a plan not only to address the immediate crisis which we seem to be pulling out of, but that the fed will remain at work trying to get those deficiting down over the long term. this is something bernanke has been talking about from the very beginning. >> mark, how much does it help republicans to be able to make the argument against more government spending when you have reports like the one today, and is there anything the obama administration can do to try to counter that? >> well, there's no question that that's been the downside of spending so much money on the stimulus package to get out of the current crisis. i think what the administration will say is that part of it did work. we are likely to go back into slow, modest growth by the end of this year.

the jobless rate probably will not come down for another year or so, and that's going to remain an economic problem and a political problem, but i think that what they're going to say is that they are going to remain focused on cost control and that health care is a big part of that. this is what they've been saying. part of their pitch on health care is that we need to get deficits down over the long run and that's one reason we need health care reform. >> mark whitaker, nbc news washington bureau chief. thanks, as always. we appreciate it. >> sure. the bigger picture, what wall street thinks about the president's decision to keep ben bernanke on as the fed chairman. bernanke has been widely praised by economists and wall street was expecting him to keep that job. one economist even called him the captain sully of the financial crisis. that, of course, being a reference to the pilot who had the miracle on the hudson incredible landing, but there are some who believe he did not do enough to prevent the economic meltdown. and neil weinberg is executive editor of "forbes.

is this the right choice by the president to keep ben bernanke as a fed chairman? >> it was a happy day on wall street there. was a positive reaction to the reappointment of ben bernanke. obviously, we're not out of the woods. we're not in the financial crisis mode we were back in the fall, but there's a big question here. as you were mentioning, we're looking at a $9 trillion deficit. will the chinese keep buying our bonds? and the other issue is with the fed printing as much money as it is, does it have the ability to put on the brakes at the right time to slow this down so that we don't end up with hyperinflation and potentially the collapse of the dollar, which would kill the confidence that the rest of the world would have in the value of our currency and our bonds, and it would make the bond market dry up. >> so, neil, with all of that said and also factoring in

reports that unemployment will be at 10% in this country, which means if people aren't working, they can't spend, they don't want credit, they don't want to do anything, they want to sit and wait to see what happens next, what does ben bernanke bring to the conversation to change or to better the direction the economy is going in? >> well, obviously what ben bernanke can do is stabilize the financial markets. you have to give him credit for doing that. there's a limit to what he can do. really a lot of the problems we have are fiscal problems. these are problems related to taxes. these are problems related to spending too much, and these are really issues that have more to do with president obama and congress, and obviously the fact that we have both the white house and the congressional budget office talking about a $9 trillion deficit over the next few years, this is up $2 trillion in just three months, would indicate they're not dealing with our problems. they're not looking to balance the budget, and this is where we could really go off the rails and we could really see ourselves slip into a very diminished role in the world

economy and obviously world politics as well if we're not careful. >> neil, on that point, does it buy though the president a little more time, perhaps a little more breathing space, by sticking with a republican like ben bernanke is and soothing some conservatives in the markets who are wondering whether obama would make a change? >> i think, yes, you're right. in terms of wall street, i think there's obviously a breath of thankfulness here today in terms of the reappointment of ben bernanke. but again if we don't get the fiscal house in order, i think that's where the real problems are going to come in. obviously, we do need the bipartisan cooperation here, and this is a step in that direction. >> neil, it was great talking to you today. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> david, that is a great point. you wonder obviously if this is an attempt to ease the tensions of republicans and all the players involved. but also it's consistency. this is no time perhaps to make a change, especially when you're trying to get the ship to sail at an even pace. >> yeah, that's a great point. also so interesting, tamron, the

white house would choose to make it today. it was an effective way to take the message to, hey, we're going to stay the course, we're going to keep it going and don't worry so much about these deficits getting bigger and bigger. you sort of wonder where the white house message machine has been on some other issues. now to the fallout for the central intelligence agency. with a damaging report released on bush era interrogation tactics and a criminal investigation launched into cia practices, what's next? yesterday director leon panetta sent a mess toage to his staff. on the da on the daily beast it was written -- nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins us live. i wonder if you can clarify this sort of shouting match that

panetta was having. what exactly they were about, if we know, and were they about the possibility simply of this report being released? >> what we're told is that in forming this new organization that will oversee interrogations in the future, that will be run by the fbi, this high value interrogation group that will be run by the fbi with probably somebody in the intelligence community in the number two place, the white house officials told us yesterday that the cia was fully on board with the notion that the restriction on interrogation in the future was completely satisfactory, that the cia saw no reason, for example, to go beyond the army field manual in terms of what was allowed for interrogation methods. so that was what we were told, david, is that they were fully on board with that. on the release of the ig report, i heard nothing to indicate that there was a sharp disagreement, and as for the matter of prosecutions, i think it was pretty clear that the intelligence community thought this was the wrong direction to

go, but that the attorney general felt he had no choice, that these outlying cases we're told probably around ten or fewer cases where the interrogators went far beyond what the rules were authorized by the cia and the justice department, he felt he had no choice but to look at them. and one interesting question that's come up today is, well, you know, what's to be gained by looking at them again because career prosecutors did look at them here in the eastern district of virginia just across the river from washington and concluded that these cases could not be brought to trial for evidentiary reasons or availability of witnesses or whatever. what some officials are saying today is that it's a belief that maybe this new -- this prosecutor that's been brought in to have another look at the cases, that there are additional avenues that could be pursued. there are other ways to pursue these cases, and so they want john durham, this career prosecutor in connecticut, to take another crack at it and as

a technical matter, they haven't launched these investigations yet. he's just going to see whether he thinks this is an avenue to be pursued. >> absolutely, and perhaps, pete, it will give more credibility if there are no charges pursued, that gives that decision more credibility to have this new special prosecutor make that decision. but in any case, nbc justice correspondent pete williams. pete, thanks as always. we bresht appreciaappreciate it. >> okay. >> you can appreciate the tensions at cia. they don't want anybody going back and perhaps sending this message to their staffers, hey, there are certain things you can't do, but on the other hand you have to wonder if the people who were doing the right thing are happy about this, that others are being held accountable. >> we talk so much about focusing on the people who may have done the wrong thing and the morale, but if there's a cloud hanging over the department, certainly if you clear it away, doesn't that help those who are still there who always and continue to do the right thing? that's the other side of this you don't hear people talk about much. coming up, the war in afghanistan hits a grim new milestone today as a top democrat calls for a time table

for withdrawal. do we have an exit strategy for afghanistan? also, republicans are now starting to talk about impeaching south carolina governor mark sanford, one of their own. can sanford survive these final 18 months in office? >> how many times has someone asked that question? and what happens when some mist universe contestants gather for the condom olympics? these are miss union ver-- unive contestants doing this? take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills than extra strength tylenol.

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when rudy giuliani's presidential run fell apart in florida 19 months ago, a lot of people thought it marked the end of his political career. "the new york times" reports the former new york city mayor is considering a run for governor of that state in 2010. he's reportedly told associates he will make a decision in the next 30 to 60 days. tamron, speaking of governors, things are going from bad to worse for south carolina governor mark sanford. >> the state newspaper reports republicans in the state house will discuss impeaching sanford when they meet this weekend in myrtle beach. meanwhile, state senator david thomas says he's unkofecovered evidence the governor broke state rules to fly business class to austria, japan, poland. those tickets cost almost $14,000 more than if he had flown economy class. joining us on the phone is john

o'connor, staff reporter for the state's newspaper. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me again. >> you have republicans now saying they're going to talk about impeaching. we've heard this kind of rumbling before. are they about action or are they just about talking with governor sanford here? >> at this point it's important to note that nothing is really imminent here, although there's always a possibility that they could go into a room on saturday and realize that all the members of that caucus are ready to move. house leadership has been real cautious in saying that sanford should step down. they haven't piled on with the call of folks calling for him to step down. they're going to talk about the process, talk about what their role is, and then they're going to try to take the temperature of the caucus a little bit to see what they want to do. >> what grounds are they looking at, john? is it solely based on the use of state money in an inappropriate manner? >> no, it depends on who you talk to. the constitution says serious misconduct or serious crimes in office.

at least one state representative has interpreted him leaving the country to go to argentina without telling his staff as being a dereliction of duty and therefore serious misconduct. others are looking at the use of state resources to try to determine if they think he broke a law there an if so, if that rises to an impeachable offense. >> is the governor having any conversations with any of these republicans who are focusing in on this, and also what has the governor been saying publicly? >> the governor has for essentially the last month or so now been on what folks have jokingly called his apology tour. that included calling literally every member of the general assembly and kind of going through his apology with them. it was later essentially the op-ed that was printed in state papers -- in papers around the state that he apologized and said he's going to work forward -- or move forward. since then he hasn't really been discussing this with lawmakers. in fact, he's not really talking

about impeachment, not answering questions about t he's saying they're going to do what they're going to do. we're looking to try to set the stage for our next legislative session in january. >> interesting developments. john, great talking to you. john o'connor from the state newspaper in columbia, south carolina. thank you. david, are you there? >> yeah, i'm here. i'm just trying to process this in the sense you're not talking, if you're not willing to address the accusations about why you're taking these airfares, that's politically very dangerous. it gets to the point where these lawmakers might get more fed up. you apologized for the affair, that's fine, but what about the other stuff? >> his silence may be telling. every time he has spoken he's gotten himself in trouble. maybe he's learned from talking too much. maybe? >> i agree, but when it's about money -- >> he should be talking, but it blows up in front of us and if he's a cat he might be on eight lives here. so we'll see. just ahead though, transition, why jessica biel has been

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>> so that is not even the best part of his performance. this 27-year-old singing the beatles song "with a little help from my friends," but check out simon's reaction. >> i have been doing this for how many years? eight, nine years, okay, that was single handedly the best first audition i have ever heard. >> that's not the beatles, but the script said it's joe crawford. the script said the beatles, but that's not the beatles. anyway, a great performance. he tried out before and was booted off and then tried again and he made it. >> you know, maybe america has its version of susan boyle in all this, tamron. maybe that's what's happened here. just saying. robin williams dressed in drag to play britain's got talent's star susan boyle, speaking of.

british newspaper says the comedian has been asked to portray the singer in an upcoming movie. the telegraph says he's doing impressions of boyle and singing her audition song "i dreamed a dream" when with his friends. courtney hazlett says williams' reps tell her that the report is just not true. >> i'm happy for her. >> but -- >> david, come on. that's just mean. when it comes to celebrity actresses, jessica biel could be the most dangerous of all when it comes to your computer. the security company mcafee says there's a one in five chance of ending up with some kind of computer virus if you search for the actress on the web. the company says cyber criminals are star watchers and they track popular celebrities to spread destructive viruss in disguise. i think a little bit of addition to it, i don't think it's just searching for pictures. i think it's when guys say jessica biel nude, jessica biel

legs. it's usually something added naughty and then you get had trouble. >> exactly. beauty pageant contestants blowing up condoms and not for their designed purpose. miss australia took the top prize at the condom olympics on friday. she raced against other miss universe contestants to see who could blow up a condom until it burst. she blows up pretty well. it was done to raise awareness about hiv. good for them, tamron, they need to raise awareness. i'm not sure this is how i would do it, but good for them. >> obviously, it's an important cause. an interesting way to present the information. okay. >> i didn't know condoms could be that strong. >> coming up -- >> sarah palin, she's pushing yet another bizarre death claim in the health care debate. it's part of today's face-off. first, david, setting an exit strategy for afghanistan. already a top democrat is calling for a time table for withdrawal.

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i'm julia boorstin with your cnbc market wrap. stocks ended on a positive note. the dow picked up 30 points. the s&p gained 2.5 and the nasdaq was up over 6 points. americans are more upbeat about the economy. consumer confidence rose more than expected this month. apple's latest operating system goes on sale friday a week earlier than expected. upgrades including built-in support for microsoft's exchange software to apple e-mail, calendar, and contacts are more user friendly. and beer prices are going up. anhueser-busch plans to raise the price of beer this fall in most u.s. markets. mill miller coors says it also plans

to increase prices. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. back to msnbc. welcome back. i'm tamron hall live in new york. >> i'm dave schuster live in washington. in the big picture at this hour, escalating violence in afghanistan has led to the death of four more u.s. troops today making 2009 the deadliest year for americans since the war began. 172 u.s. soldiers have died in afghanistan this year bringing the total since the 2001 invasion to 802. meanwhile, at least 30 people were killed and 57 wounded today when a huge blast went off in the city of kandahar. the cause of the explosion was reportedly caused by five car bombs all strung together. fighting the taliban is still difficult for coalition forces. the chairman of the joint chi s chiefsedchiefs admiral mike mullen says the insurgency has become more violent. president hamid karzai has tried

to claim victim in last week's presidential election. his primary rival rejects that and says the election was rigged. votes are still being counted. in the bigger picture, opposition to the war in afghanistan is growing with each u.s. casualty as voters and even members of congress begin to question the mission there. senator russ feingold, democrat of wisconsin, called on president obama to provide a time table for withdrawal of american troops while questioning the effects the war is having. quote, after eight years i am not convinced that pouring more and more troops into afghanistan is a well thought out policy. this is a strategy that is not likely to succeed and we are helping to drive more extremists in pakistan by continuing to build up troops and resentment in afghanistan. joining us live is democratic congressman -- >> thank you. >> let me get your reaction to

what senator feingold had to say about his thoughts on afghanistan. >> well, i think certainly there are problems in afghanistan. i don't believe that a time line is a wise approach going forward, but i do believe we need to have a strategy that is based on a short-term military approach that moves towards having the afghan people and the afghan army and police be responsible for their own security. we need a plan that doesn't tie us down for a long period of time. get in, try to secure the situation as quickly as possible, train the afghans necessary to do it, and get out. if we're there for too long, i think we start to look like an occupying force and it becomes counterproductive. >> you have admiral mullen saying the insurgency has become more sophisticated. it was just a year ago we were calling this war the forgotten war, so no that we are focused in, now it's no longer forgotten. how can you get in and get out so quickly when it has been perhaps mismanaged and ignored? >> well, certainly we needed a

new plan and a new strategy. i'm not saying we're going to be out in a year or even two years, but i do think we need to be careful as we put together our strategy to have it focused on empowering afghans, to have it focused on training and working with security forces there. it's an extraordinarily difficult problem. no country on earth is as far behind economically, structurally as afghanistan, but at the same time the taliban and al qaeda are there. they directly threaten western interests. they're still plotting and planning attacks again western targets. we can't allow them to stay there and be in a safe haven. we have to work with the afghan people to work there. to get there we have to be 3450i7 mindful of how the afghan people recen resents an outside presence. it's a delicate line we have to walk. it's in our national interests to deny the taliban and al qaeda

the ability to come back into power. >> as far as the perception that the united states wants to stay there for a while, isn't that what our policy is right now? you talk about wanting a short-term military approach. every indication coming out of washington seems to be we have a much more long-term strategy. so is the obama administration making a mistake? >> well, i don't think that is the strategy. i think the top two points the president made when he launched his new strategy i think it was last april was, number one, the focus is al qaeda, those militants who threaten western targets that. needs to be understood as the reason we are there. and, number two, train the afghan security forces, the army and the police to make them -- >> how much time should we give for those goals? >> well, i think about a year from now we should see some progress. i think that is very reasonable to say that if by next fall we are not making progress in

containing the taliban, we are not making progress in empowering those local security forces, then we seriously need to rethink that strategy. but i do think what is it? three, four months since the new strategy came out, within three or four months of that new strategy coming out to say it's a failure and throw up your hands and say we ought to run for the hills, i don't think that makes sense. i think we have to give the new strategy at least a chance. >> for those americans out there who originally believed we went into that country to find osama bin laden and to keep al qaeda from attacking us. if you leave within a year or after a year and osama bin laden is still hiding wherever in pakistan or near pakistan or afghanistan, does that mean then that this was all for naught? >> well, it's not just about osama bin laden -- >> but so many americans, for them it really was. this was how it started. >> certainly. what i was going to say is there are a lot of other forces there that threaten us, and we need to target them as well. coy certainly see a credible situation. the killing of baitullah mehsud

in the fatah significantly undermined the taliban's power. i can clearly see a situation where we take out people like mehsud, others who are leaders in the organization that's trying to plot against western targets. well, you could significantly degrade the taliban and even if we haven't found osama bin laden, we have stopped al qaeda. that certainly is possible. >> congressman, thank you so much for joining us today. always great to talk to you. >> thank you for the chance. appreciate it. you know, tamron, it's so interesting you talk about the time frame that he suggested, trying to evaluate things a year from now. that will coincide with the 2010 elections. if the polls continue to go the direction they're going, you will see a lot of political action on this. >> and it's interesting how the same words and language used for iraq now is being used for afghanistan. it is the language that's floated now to the other war. very interesting. >> absolutely. developing right now nbc news has exclusive video that shows new mexico governor bill richardson in cuba.

the governor touched down in havana yesterday for a one-week trade mission. his visit is also fueling speculation he may try to push u.s./cuba relations forward. in the past richardson has acted as a kind of diplomatic troubleshooter with nations like north korea. up next, today's face-off on sarah palin promoting that bogus claim about death books for veterans. plus a tv news anchor gets a very friendly visit from a dog, a shelter dog looking for a home, but had a little licking problem. this is the big picture on msnbc. get that woman a towel. reading about washington these days... i gotta ask, what's in it for me? i'm not looking for a bailout, just a good paying job. that's why i like this clean energy idea. now that works for our whole family. for the kids, a better environment. for my wife, who commutes, no more gettin' jerked around on gas prices...

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that's right, 105 meals absolutely free. plus, add our auto-delivery discount and free shipping for an even greater value. call or click now. well, it is time for today's face-off, and the growing mountain of misinformation finding its way into the debate over health care reform. >> tamron, that's right. first there was sarah palin warning us about obama death panels. then it was senator grassley talking about pulling the plug on grandma. well, now it's palin again. joined by the conservative media in pushing the false claim that government-run health care is evidenced by the veterans administration will mean death book that is push seniors to choose euthanasia. here is the truth. the document is actually called your life, your choices. it is a 52-page optional guidebook for veterans. it is about living wills and end

of life care. it's been in use since 1997 with the bush administration being the one that had its v.a. issue a directive in 2007 to list the book as an example of the type of document doctors should give their patients if requested. the directory was updated in july by the obama administration and it has the same advance care planning required of all health care organizations under federal law. and it was developed with guide frens interfaith minu-- guidanc interfaith ministers. >> so how about in honor of the american soldier, you quit making things up. >> so is sarah palin now conducting an honest debate or is she deliberately attempting to confuse voters? here to face off are democratic strategist mare ya cardona and casey mcfarland. you know all the stuff, that there's no such thing as a death book that suggests people should

be involved in euthanasia. i wonder if you will acknowledge right here that what's going on by the republicans like sarah palin, the conservative media outlets, is a deliberate attempt to coop fuse people. >> you know, i think what this is reflecting is nobody knows what's in either of these bills, whether the house -- >> but we know what's not in them, and we know exactly what's in this pamphlet. >> okay. >> when sarah palin and the conservative media mischaracterize it, that is a deliberate attempt to mislead people, isn't it? >> but why are people listening to it? because people are scared. people don't know what is in the bill. you're listening to a president who says if you like your health care plan, you g get to keep it. that's disingenuous. you only get it keep it if your employer offers it. they talked about health care is not going to be extended to illegal immigrants. page 50 of the house bill says that it is. i think -- >> that is not what it says. >> go to page 50. look at it. >> maria cardona, your view on all this. >> i think you're absolutely right. this is just yet another attempt

by the conservative right wing led by sarah palin to continue to use scare tactics and fearmongering. it wasn't enough they were going after our seniors, america's seniors. they're now going after our veterans. it's clear to me they are desperate. they're desperate for this president to fail. they are desperate to achieve nothing close to comprehensive health care reform, which is what americans want. 47 million people without health care. 14,000 people lose their health care every day, and republicans are being seen now as the party of no, of no solutions, no reform, nothing whatsoever. i think it's going to hurt them, and i think that what they are using right now -- >> can i just get a word in edgewise? >> it's going to come up and bite them back. >> i just have one question for both republicans and democrats in the house and in the senate. are you willing to take the public option? are you willing to take the health care plan that you're going to vote for for everybody? i mean, i think all this other stuff, whether you're going to

throw granny under the bus, do it doesn't even matter. will our members of congress who are voting for this plan, are they going to accept the same plan that they expect the rest of us to have? right now -- >> okay, k.t., well then let's debate this. what the president has said and this actually comes from republican amendments is that he wants to offer an exchange where all of the health plans that the federal government now enjoys, including a public option, will be offered to everybody. that is what you guys are now saying you would not vote for. >> wait a minute. republicans authored -- a republican congressman authored -- >> you are just completely disingenuous here. >> who are you talking about when you're talking about you guys? >> i really resent that. this whole you guys. who are you guys? i'm upset with the republicans and democrats for this. i think if they're talking about reforming a large portion of the american system without ever

trying it with anybody. when bill clinton reformed welfare, when you guys reformed welfare, what did you do? >> i want to bring the conversation back to what we were talking about which is the scare tactics as some are calling it used against our veterans who have fought in these wars for you, all of us, and the statement from the veterans affairs about this line that sarah palin and others are presenting, they say recently some people have been distorting the purpose of a veteran affairs planning tool. the booklet is designed to help veterans deal with excruciating questions about what kind of health care they would like to receive if they are unable to make decisions for themselves. the veteran health administration convened an outside panel of experts to review the tool and assess its merits. overwhelmingly, the panel of which included a diverse group from the faith based and medical communities praised your life and your choices and endorsed

its use. you said you don't care about granny or -- >> i'm a navy mom. people do care when you're preying upon those who are vulnerable. is it wrong when the people misinform like sarah palin who misrepresent what this booklet says? >> i'm not going to speak for sarah palin. i think she's perfectly capable -- >> if anyone says that that booklet does other than what the veterans affairs says in this statement, are they wrong? >> i think anybody who misleads the american public whether they're from the right or the left is wrong and i think when you're trying to stir up -- >> just so we're clear, why is it so difficult for you to say right here right now sarah palin is wrong? the conservative media outlets that peddle this stuff, they're also wrong. why can't you say this right now? >> you want to know why? i haven't read the book. i'm not about to make outrageous statements about things i haven't read any more than you

should be. >> we have talked to the v.a. we've laid out what the sarah palin has said. this seems like a pretty easy call to say sarah palin is wrong on this. why is it so difficult? >> look if sarah palin has read this thing and that's misquoted, then she's wrong. but if somebody has talked about a different kind of a public approach to this, well, you know, she's got her right to argue this, too. i don't think that we are going to throw granny under the bus. i don't think we are going to throw g.i. joe under the bus -- >> i wish other republican strategists would go as far as you're willing to go today. ca we appreciate you both very much. tamron, i'm glad we accomplished something today. >> it's hard when like she said, she doesn't have the booklet there and she doesn't want to speak for sarah palin, but sarah palin is a big voice in that party which puts those who are also in the party on a hot seat to shoot her down or praise what she's saying.

>> absolutely. >> it's that simple. up next, some more things, if you can believe that, that we thought you should know today. >> president obama's aides reveal his pet peeves and a tv anchor experiences some puppy love. an "hardball" chris matthews will have more on the cia investigation and how it could affect the obama agenda. "hardball" starts in eight minutes. i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar, 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. anthe nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t.

there's a lot going on today, david. all fired up and ready to go. there are a few more things we thought you should know. >> i am so excited.

former president george w. bush stopped by the campus of southern methodist university to say hello to the football team after practice. june jones had asked the president to stop by and speak to the team when he could. college football season has arrived, i'm not sure i would want that curse on my favorite team, but so it goes. the white house aides are telling some of the president obama's pet peeves. missing events involving his daughters tops the list. he also does not like missing his daily workout or when people powder his face before tv appearances. he'll be oily if they don't powder you. he hates being late. he hates inconveniencing people. he wants meeting to start on time and wants to have enough time to meet with people. >> sounds like he's got some control issues, tamron. >> he's the president. >> kind of like somebody i know in this anchor duo. >> david, you're going to

confess to being a control freak. >> i was not referring to myself. a canadian tv anchor got more than she was bargaining for during an adopt a pet segment. >> this is ginger. hi, ginger. ginger just loves people. >> you don't have any makeup le left. >> they received a number of calls about ginger, but she's still waiting for a home. naturally, anybody who has makeup in their house can't have j ginger. chris matthews saw the video and he said oh, no. i think we should get it as a pet for chris. earlier this hour we talked about daniel johnson and his remarkable audition on "the x

factor." well, as i said, it was a beatles song. i thought the script was wrong. johnson was singing the song written by the beatles. he was singing the version that joe cocker sings. i'm more familiar with the joe cocker version because i spend my life watching tv in the wonder years in my heyday was the big show, and that's the version i knew, david. so joe cocker because i watched "the wonder years" every week. >> a perfectly valid excuse. >> it's a reason, not an excuse, control freak, david shuster. those are the things we thought you should know. i love you. >> tamron, this is your read, sorry. >> president obama -- control freak. president obama continues his vacation on martha's vineyard but his cabinet remains hard at work in and out of washington. >> let's go to our next read on politics with the stories we'll