>> and i'm eight feet tall. i'm slouching right now. >> what is going on here? and i learned that if you want to bribe a massachusetts legislator, all you have to do is give them a free fish dinner. it's cheap up there. i mean, all the stories i heard about boston and politics, i mean, if you can't drink their water and eat their fish sandwiches and still vote against them, then you're not man enough to be in the massachusetts state legislature in the first place. >> that must be the beginning of the term there's something fishy here. >> look over there. who do we have next snm he is brimming with excitement. >> loaded for bear. >> fused with crack, dillon ratigan. >> crack on thursday. all right. it's way too early. what time is it? >> it's morning joe, a man fused

with passion, dillon ratigan at the morning meeting. and good morning to you. welcome to the morning meeting. i am dillon ratigan. topping our agenda this morning, saying good-bye to the lion of the senate, the nation preparing for a final sendoff for ted kennedy. plus, his passing marines that the democrats now no longer have that all-important 60-seat majority in the senate. what if anything will it do for the issue closest to kennedy's heart? also, pirates on the attack again. this time, they open fire on a navy surveillance chopper. why are these pilots still a threat? is there an easy fix? if there is, why haven't we done it? and then south carolina's governor, he could be our next blago. the lieutenant governor is calling on him to step down, once and for all. >> i have a jewish

mother-in-law. maybe you can't see because of the highlights. i'm a black woman with a jewish mother-in-law. and you know the only thing we have in common is that we don't want to get our hair wet. >> and "take my moerchbl," please, we've all heard their family of mother-in-law jobes. but one family saying one daughter has gone too far and they're suing her. welcome. good morning. we begin with the nation preparing a final tribute to senator ted kennedy. his body will be taken to boston this afternoon where a it will lie in repose in the jfk you museum. a funeral mass will be held saturday before he is laid to

rest his beloved boston red sox held a moment of silence in his memory last night. nbc's peter alexander is following that story live for us from hyannis port. oh, mike is also joining us. mike will be along in just a second looking at the political implications, but we begin with the motorcade. hi, peter. >> dillon, good to give with you. as one of the headlines reads, the lion rests. and today, that is the case. the family has been standing vigil inside the compound. this morning, we have seen some members of the family. at about 1:00 today, this motorcade will begin. it will drive 70 miles into boston. it will follow the route of celebrated life of this man and is remember, the trail, as some have described it from here,

along that path it's the sight of the presidential library on its way. the church where he prayed with his daughter, k a ra, that's where things will wind up today. among those stops, the car will pass by fenal hall where the mayor will toll the bell 47 times for the 47 years ted kennedy served in the senate here. finally, it will end up at the church as we noted where he celebrated the life of his daughter, kara, where he had cancer. timely, the public will get a chance to see the body at about 2:15. >> thank you very much. mike is already here with the political implications of kennedy's passing. the literal mass changes, mike, but also, he becomes a vehicle for both, i'm sure, inspiration

and all sorts of manipulation, i'm sure, in time. but walk us through the mathematics. >> well, i think this health care debate has become such an unholy mess that not even senator kennedy and his acclaimed ability to work across the aisle with even the most conservative republicans would have made much difference at this point. at this point, the biggest problem is that they work in the absence of senator kennedy now to realize his lifetime goal. remember, he said this is the work of my life. to pass health care reform. he's tried time and time again. the senate now has 57 democrats, two of whom -- two plus two are independent, the socialist from vermont, bernie sanders and joe lieberman and 40 republicans and dillon, the trend over the last several years is all the moderates on both sides of the party have been voted out of

office. those who are most likely to work across the aisle have been replaced by people that are more or less likely to do that. >> well, god willing, maybe his loss and all about him will be the catalyst to make people come around and compromise to get something done. >> that's the best possible. >> that's the best possible, but the truth is, yonl. >> you'd have to change the way that things have been done and that is the fact that there's been no real negotiations. there has been a bill before the committee which it was done by democrats and no amendments were agreed to of any significance

and so that is not the kind of negotiations i did with senator kennedy. >> and it was ted kennedy who works to pass no child left behind, worked hand and glove with the bush white house and republicans. he was villified by some of the left that he had done so. and it's only gotten more partisan since then, dillon. this is going to be a very difficult time for democrats now. >> chris matthews is with us. among other things, premiered hard ball documently last night. >> it's going to be on tonight at 7:00, too. it's really about all the brothers. >> walk us through the defining characteristics of their style of politics and how their style

of politics, would going to the left make a deal, let's not make a deal, i'm obstructionive within i'm constructive as a politician applies to the current debate in america. >> well, jack kennedy is a conservative who supported conservative issues. you sort of listen to the arguments, you buy them, you think about them and you come up with a position that's to the left of where your gut was. bobby was in transition all the time. joe kennedy, a joe mccarthy guy, very tough on the rackets, communist, became much more of a civil rights guy near the end, of course, a passionate giet. teddy was a liberal, very little change, he was always a liberal. he was a constituent guy. this fight over health care is going to take -- it's almost like you have to go back into your corners and decide what is

good for the country. does barack obama get a w.? it's not important for the country. they've the got to go rid of the score keeping. that's hard for me, too, because i'm a political guy. it's not about a "w" and it's not about an "l." deal with things like malpractice. i'm sorry, the republicans have to get something out of this. >> do you agree that the health care is reflective of the government's ability to function, period? >> yeah. what's the percentage? who has faith the government can do something it sets out to do? i think barack obama has to prove that himself. can he do what he sets out to do? >> do you look at kennedy's passing as a detriment, pedestrianment or irrelevant? >> no, it's not relevant. you have a country that is driven by the middle. the middle is not going to go

away. it comes back after every election. most americans are pragmatic and they're in the middle. >> for sure. >> the interest groups on the left and the right are always there, too. but the country is driven by the middle and it middle has its own interest. now, the american people are not entirely selfish, because they have to look out for their own interest. their interests coincide with a larger interest. how do you do that? how do you convince them it is in their self-interest to look out for the interest of those you do not know? >> how do you tell a person that is 75 years old to support the public school? they don't have kids. you have to tell them that the kid they bump into on the street corner isn't going to cut their throat because he has an education, he has a decent chance. it's of interest to everybody that we have a public school system. you don't have anybody going to the clinic down tt, but you want to have a clinic downtown to

look out for people that don't have a doctor. i haven't heard one word in this debate about supply. not one discussion about all the new doctors we need. >> i feel like the frustrating part about this debate is that it has been driven on the "w"/"l" basis as opposed to -- >> of course we are people that aren't getting health care. and then the liberal site, they're getting health care in the emergency room. well, with then this bill shouldn't cost any more money. we need more medical schools, more nurses, more doctors, the nurses have to get paid well. >> i need one last piece of -- >> nobody talks about -- >> indisputed, but i have one more piece of political analysis. one of the criticisms of the proposals that have been put out of washington, d.c. so far has been that they really are not -- they don't contain a lot of good ideas and that there are a lot

of good ideas around washington, d.c. but the good ideas are on the outside trying to get in and the bad ideas are in, keeping the good ideas out. >> everyone should read peggy's column last week in the wall street journal, a conservative woman. if you can't explain this, it's not going to go anywhere. if you don't understand something, you're not going to say, i don't understand it, but i trust the government. give me a break. when the president was asked last week, give me the talk points. instead of saying i grew up committed to everybody having health care and we're going to get there, he said, no, my number one goal is deficit neutrality. there's a battle cry. and nobody believes it. democrats for deficit neutrality? that sounds like a republican. >> of course. but isn't the key the ability to articulate why it is in our nation's self-interest to have a better system for administering

health care for the human beings who institute this nation? >> if any other product, food, movies, anything we consume, services are products, we would say how are we going to get it and how are we going to distribute it? they don't talk about how we're going to get it. where is this health care coming from? where are these new doctors coming from to treat the people not being treated today? nobody speaks about it in a practical sense. and my problem is it's about ideology and is victories and people who want to make the president lose and there's some nasty elements out there that just want him to lose and there are people out there who honestly go to these meetings and they're worried. you know why? 401(k) is down 30%, 40%, they're making less money, their property values are down, their kids are going to make less on that and they say, by the way, you're not going to get the liver. >> and the government has the

fact that it's not a level playing field in this country. we're out of time. >> we have to get orren hatchback in this debate, more money on olympia snow. these people are key to this discussion, key. >> your documentary reairs tonight, again, a hardball documentary, the kennedy brothers tonight at 7:00. i agree with you and i congratulate you on getting this done. >> hard work for a lot of people and a lot of prutsers. dillon, we have breaking news right now out of afghanistan. an american serviceman has been killed in an attack in the southern part of the country. it's the 44th deadliest month in afghanistan. tropical storm danny is picking up steam and threatened new england this weekend. bill has the weather channel forecast. >> and danny is still a threat to new england. the forecast has changed a

little bit. now further off the coast. it's intensified now to 60 miles per hour. this has about 15 miles to go to become hurricane danny. according to our computers, all those squiggly lines are different versions of the forecast. some are across cape cod, others are clearly off the coast. this is the official forecast from the national hurricane center. they make danny a hurricane friday night into saturday morning, off the north carolina coastline and then they take it up into nova scioscia. this would make most of the storm offshore. we hope it stays that way. we'll have to look at what the resulting weather pattern is. breaking news on the economy now and it's one of those situations where less bad is good news. dillon b this is your type of take on the story. newly released figures show that the economy shrank by 1% this spring. that's the same as the initial

estimate. but it's better than the 1.5% decline that some economists were expecting to hear. does that make sense? better than what some economists had predicted. some improvement from the job market, the number of newly laid off workers for unemployment fell by 10,000 people last week to 570,000 new claims, so still 500,000 people filing for new unemployment benefits. the ongoing unemployment claims dipped from 6.25 million to 6.13 million people currently unemployed, dillon. an awful lot of people are without work. >> and that's the biggest tragedy, really, in this whole undertaking is the impact on the labor markets. it's incredible. much more to come here, including when pirates attack. new video of them opening fire on a navy chopper now. but is there anything the u.s. or anyone else for that matter can do about it? sfoo carol, when you replaced casual friday with nordic tuesday,

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good morning, everyone. a new pirate attack on a navy helicopter. it happened while the chopper was conducting routine surveillance of a ship seized by pirates in april and now being used as a pirate mothership. in other words, they're launching other attacks from this ship, including this attack on the u.s. flag maerst alabama. remember that one? you can see the pirates on the deck of the ship. here, the chopper wab actually 3,000 yards away at the time. there you can see black proje

projectiles being fired. not clear what that is, but it's a large projectile want. now the run-in with the u.s. helicopter. >> i want to bring in jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst, washington post, jonathan capehart along, as well, this morning. pirate, here we come. take a look at this live piracy map. such a thing exists and we have images of it. it shows both current ships that are potential pirate ships and recent pirate events. so if you've ever been to some of these natural history museums that show you where earthquakes were on the either, this is sort of the same thing, but with pirates, jack. and you have watched other

countries deal with piracy far more effect ily than the u.s. is able to deal with it at this point. >> israel had a very big problem with palestinians rowing ashore in the eastern mediterranean on boats and assaulting towns nearby. and i happened to be in israel some years ago and was talking to the defense minister at the time, and he said he stopped all that. i said, how did you do it? he said, do you see these patrol boats? we send them out into an sclusary zone off our shores and any ship that is in that region, sink. no questions asked. >> effectively, you create a no-fly zone. like if it's over a military base and you build a road in the ocean that goes from point a to point b. >> correct. and it requires that every ship that's going to sail is going to sail in that -- on a lane is going to be escorted. it has to file a plan, the sea born equivalent of a flight plan. and any ship that has not filed

a plan that is in that lane gets sunk. but in order to do that, you can't just do it, you need to have the cooperation of the other sea going powers. and we don't have it. you need an international packet and we don't have it. >> and if you look right now, john, at the way pirates are dealt with even after they are captured, take a look at the nato procedure on pirates. if they catch them, they confiscate their weapons, the pirates are given food and water and they're allowed to go free after questioning. nato doesn't have any procedure beyond taking away the guns, giving them a glass of water and a sandwich and sending them back to where they're going. >> when you have as much activity as you showed on that map, clearly what nato needs to do is start looking at sort of the israeli model in terms of dealing with pirate. when you talk about pirates, we kind of joke around and think

of, you know, sort of have a romantic vision of them. these folks aren't playing around. they're putting lives in jeopardy, they're putting commerce and cargo in jeopardy and they need to be dealt with in a manner that they're undertaking. >>. >> how much of this is a level of function, if it's bad on land with do you take to the sea, if is it your first choice if you're an 8-year-old in a foreign country sdmp. it's becoming a very good living and is very good living given what the rules of engagement are. but the fact of the matter is that a lot of this is driven by instability, lousy or ineffective governments, failed states on the horn of africa. we've got about 500 to 700 marines in that region in jabudi

whose purpose it is to train local militias to shore up the defenses of the countries in that region. but the problem is that the economics are terrible, people are starving to death. most of them spend their time chewing cot, which is a version of hash provided to them by the government. >> so it's a government subsidized -- >> sitting around getting the munchies, exactly. >> so jack, do the rules of engagement with these pirates change once they've taken hostages? because it sounds like what we've been talking about so far is pirates going out and commandeering ships. but what happens when there are pirates and threatening lives of hostages on those ships? >> by and large, the rules of engagement do not change. a government who owns the ship to where the slip is flagged will make a decision to conduct

some special operation in order to get the ship back, but none has been accomplished asset because everybody is concerned about the collateral damage of getting the hostages killed and wounded. so sarltd of that, nothing is getting done. >> thank you both. straight ahead, we're brunging into what is making news out there in the blogoshere. including the naked truth about a model bearing all in the museum with the children in the museum getting more than an eye full. gecko vo: you see, it's not just telling people geico could save 'em hundreds on car insurance. it's actually doing it. gecko vo: businessmen say "hard work equals success." well, you're looking at, arguably, the world's most successful businessgecko. gecko vo: first rule of "hard work equals success." gecko vo: that's why geico is consistently rated excellent or better in terms of financial strength. gecko vo: second rule: "don't steal a coworker's egg salad,

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contessa brewer, more of the latest news and plugging in. >> here is the one that has the news room buzzing. there was a naked model in the metropolitan museum of art yesterday. the new york post has an actual picture. don't worry, you can't really see much. but here she is among the nights

in shining armor. you can see her stripping down. this was for a famous photographer who likes to shoot naked people. this is in a museum where you could see nudes, but a security guard came in, they were busted. it's the first time that he's had one of the models arrested and the guard said, look, there were little kids around. but they go to the museum where you can see all these nudes, so a live nude, statuary nudes. >> you don't just walk into a museum and -- >> why not? coming up, calls for governor stanford to resign. his excuses for holding on to power, meanwhile, continue to grow more and more creative. how long can he hang on? see our next blago. governor sanford, here in a sense, after this.

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welcome back to the morning meeting. 9:30 in the east. while the nation prepares to mourn ted kennedy, some are already looking to who will replace him in the senate. we'll talk about who is next in line to take the lion's seat out of massachusetts. meanwhile, back here in new york, outrage over the libban

leader's hero's welcome continues to grow. we'll talk with the new jersey mayor who says khadaffy should be contained when he comes to speak at the u.n. in september. >> i don't know how she does it. >> you can't make this up. this is a crazy family i'm involved in. >> lots of folks make jokes from time to time about their inlaws. but should they be getting sued when they do so? one mother-in-law is fighting back in court. and are americans eating themselves to death? a new kfc sandwich may be finger licking good, but it's packing hundreds of calories. at what point should a state support forcing transparency on the menus. plus, it's thursday. every thursday we get the jobs numbers.

the jobs numbers, so-so for the week. the economy did shrink for a record for the fourth consecutive quarter, i should say, albeit by slightly less than has been forecast by economists. there is much more pressure for a south carolina governor mark sanford to resign. contessa is here with the latest. >> it's been two months since governor sanford's straij strange absences. and then there was the admission that he had an affair with an argentinian woman, a woman who he called his soul mate. now he's being called to step down again. >> serious misconduct along with lingering questions and continuing distractions make it virtually impossible for our state to solve the critical problems we're facing without a change in leadership. >> sanford admits the stepping down would be like heaven on earth because it would get him out of the critical spotlight,

but he says that's the wrong reason to design. >> i'm not going to be railroaded out of this office by political opponents or folks that were never -- in the first place or put a different way, a lot of what's going on now is pure politics, plain and simple. >> so on top of this latest call to quit, governor sanford is staring down the barrel of possible impeachment proceedings. a lot of people made a lot of enemies over the years by trying to take this moral high road when it kams to politics and policy. >> joining us on the phone now, south carolina house speaker pro-tem harry cato. mr. speaker, i know you're having a meeting this weekend in myrtle beach to discuss a variety of gop issues in south carolina. why do you think or what is your point of view on whether you

should resign or not and to the extent you think he ought to, why should he? >> first, good morning and thanks for letting me call in. the outing this weekend is a house republican caucus event that we hold every fall around this same time where we -- it's a fund-raiser for our caucus, raising money for re-election campaigns and at the same time we talk about the top issues. obviously this is a top issue because it's affecting job creation and economic development. we have unemployment in south carolina, some of the worst unemployment in the country. and it's affecting our ability to talk about that. therefore, i think he should resign. and i think we will discuss that in our caucus event this weekend. >> one of his arguments is that this is simply political opponents that didn't like him in the first place, seeing a window of opportunity to try and knock him out and he refuses to

indulge that politics. >> i really don't know how you can make that argument when some of his most ardent supporters are calling for his resignation. most of them haven't gone public yet because they wanted to talk to him privately about doing it. privately, most of them are telling him, you need to resign so we can get past this and move forward. politics is politics. those that have never liked him do see it as an opportunity, but his most ardent supporters are calling for his resignation. >> mr. cato, is there confidence in the lieutenant governor and confidence that he can do the job that the state needs done? >> i think there's confidence within the general assembly. i know there's been concern out in the general public. however, we have to remember our institution is clear. at the same time, the people of south carolina did elect him to the position of lieutenant

governor. they've elected him twice. knowing that, that he is second in line or first in line to succeed the governor if something happens. so i think we have to have confidence. at the same time, those of you in the general assembly, i don't think we can concentrate on that question. we have to concentrate on the first question, which is should the governor be impeached or not or should he resign. >> when you look at other professionals, who exhibit outrageous and insult iing, horrifying private behavior, and michael vick comes into my mind, and society still desires and will compensate them to do a job that they are good at as we were watching and have watched in so many cases, where do you draw the line between put b politicians in and out of office based on their ability to actually effectively governor and how much are we just taking people's personal behaviors and using it as opportunity for power grabs?

>> well, i do think elect officials are different. we're held to a higher standard than we should be because we've asked the public to put us in a position to work for them. and if we can no longer work for them, no longer be effective, then we should always look at stepping aside. you know, his personal problems, that's between he and his family. now in my mind, it's a question of can he lead this state, can you move us forward. you know, the next year will be critical, not just in south carolina, but in every state in this nation and i don't think we can waste one year while we're sitting back getting nothing done. >> harry cato, mr. speak we shall thanks for the time on the telephone. enjoy your weekend. contessa, what else is going on around here? >> dillon, just a few hours from now, the kennedy family will hold a private mass in hyannis port. then a private motorcade will

move the body. those remembering the senator today include some of his closest friends who also happen to be some of the most powerful politicians in the country. >> for decade toes come, people will talk about his legislative accomplishments and is public policy. to me, i lost my best friend in the senate, a great friend. and so it's been a long three, a year and three months. i'm saddened by it deeply. it's like losing a brother. i lost my sister about a month ago and i feel this pain all so much. >> i sat with him in the judiciary committee physically income to him and i sat with him in the caucuses. and it was in that process, every day i was with him, it's

going to sound strange, but he restored my sense of idealism and my faith in the points of what this country could do. >> a funeral mass will be held for senator kennedy this saturday. president obama will give one of the eulogies and kennedy will be buried alongside his brothers here at arlington national cemetery. msnbc will have live coverage of all the events surrounding senator kennedy's passing all week long. new jersey gvr bill richardson is off the hook when it comes to the justice department investigation in washington. the federal investigation derailed richardson's appointment as president obama's commerce secretary. the awadi hotel had will remain closed due to a hock slide. about 300 guests had to evacuate, but nobody got hurt. rock slides are a danger in the park, which was formed when

retreating glaciers cut dramatic formations into the solid granite. so there you get a little news and a little geography, as well. >> that is full service right there. thank you so much. lots more coming up here in the morning meeting. nothing is off limits when it comes to comedians, so so we thought. especially their in-laws. but one median's mother-in-law has had enough, taking her complaints to court. we'll talk with comedian sunda crundquist. half black, half white, she'll with us right after this. i never thought it could happen to me...

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they call it unsubstashated, hurtful, they're suing her daughter-in-law for jokes like this. >> i have a jewish mother-in-law. maybe you can't see because of the highlights, i'm a black woman becauwith a jewish mother-in-law. and you know the only thing we have in common is that we don't want to get our hair wet. hey! >> i met aunt ruthy for the first time. i walked in and i'm trying to be plight. i said, thank you so much for having me. she said, oh, the pleasure is all mine. have a seat. elliott, put my pocketbook away. >> what have you done specifically that every other comedian before you that has made fun of their relationships and their mother-in-law that has offended your mother-in-law to take you to court? and how is this affecting your marriage? >> well --

>> this has to be an interesting household. >> i think i must have hit a sore spot. and i think i've been making jokes for years. i lost my hardware. i'm trying to make mrai this off. >> it's broken. >> i was hoping this was a mike and not a guy named mike. mike, are you from greece? please, don't take me a cream. i'm in trouble. i'm going to hold it in my lap. it's on vibrate. so here we go. yeah, it's just jokes. it's not malice. you've seen parts of my act and -- and let's take more of a look because you say it's just jokes, it's not malice. but if you're the mother-in-law and you hear this one, you might have a different point of view. take a listen. >> okay. here we are, having a little girl. what i'd like to know is what you plan on naming that little chachka, okay? okay. now, i realize there's a different in the background, african-american, call it black,

whatever you call yourself these days. seriously, i just don't want a name that's difficult to pronounce like shaniqua. because in my mind, i'm thinking of a name short but delicious like hadapta goldy. >> and that seems humanus to me. where did she take issues with these? >> probably because i did say that to her. i said i was naming the baby shaniqua. >> did you name the baby shaniqua? >>s i did not. i was going for shaquandra. does your coming on msnbc with the lawsuit pending help or hurt your case with her? >> i have no idea. i have no idea -- >> what's your relationship? do you guys talk? >> we're not talking any more. we don't have sunday dinner. if it was a walk in the park, she'd be schayesing me, i'm sure. and i feel really bad about this lawsuit, i have to tell you, because she's almost 80 and now

that means she could cut me out of the will. that wouldn't be good. >> what does your husband think? he has to be trapped in the middle. i wouldn't want to be him. >> of course not because his firm is representing me. he's representing his wife and he works with his firm and it's just awful. and it's just jokes. it's not that bad. i mean, you saw mallace in that because i said hadapsa or goldy? >> and one more, if you don't mind, please. >> i knew there was going to be drama from the moment i met my mother-in-law. have you ever met someone and you say through your teeth in the first five seconds, i hate this lady. seriously, very painful. >> jonathan, do you have a question here? >> yeah. on your table there, dillon, there's that beautiful picture of her and her mother-in-law. and i'm wondering, you know, it seems like they had a good relationship. >> we did. >> i'm sure you were doing jokes, using her as your foil even then. so do you think that at any point that there could be some

reconciliation? >> well, i hope there's some reconciliation. not so much for me, but i have two children that only have one living grandmother. all jokes aside, my mom passed away and my dad passed away three months later. she's the only living grandparent they have and that's what this is about. if i don't see that family again, it wouldn't bother me one way or another. my mother-in-law would probably bother me because i need material. >> i was just about to say, have you thought about moving to new material? >> well, i certainly have. i certainly have because if i had known she was going to sue me, i would have written more jokes. >> cunda, it is a pleasure. there's another story to be had about someone who ends up with a half after 15 years of catholic school you understand why. >> indeed i do. >> we're headed to the break room. after this, louisville basketball coach rick patino has

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all right. fed chair ben bernanke finding the hard way why it's a bad idea to have a joint checking account. msnbc contributor and fed watcher. what's going on. >> ben bernanke was at a starbucks in d.c. when her purse was stolen and with it a check that draws from the bernanke account. with that seemingly mundane little bit of crime the couple was unwittingly pulled into the grips of a national identity theft gang. >> national identity theft gang. >> this gang was headed by

someone called big head, which is henceforth your new nickname. they would steal and make fraudulent driver's licenses allowing them to steal $2 million. they were watched by the feds. many, including big head, are behind bars. >> have you noticed the size of your cranial structure. >> the moral of the story, no joint checking account. >> what else. >> basketball coach rick pitino cheated with another woman who was charged with rape, which was dismissed, then an extortion trial this fall. she claimed she was pregnant by pitino but among the millions of americans without medical insurance. pitino gave her $3,000, which his lawyer says was not for an abortion but to buy insurance. pitt pitino was following orders to

stay mum, after a video of her talking to police, the coach couldn't take it anymore. roll the tape. >> everything has been printed, reported. everything you're shown breaking in the news on the day that ted kennedy died is 100 a lie. a lie. all of this has been a lie. okay? a total fabrication of the truth, except what i told you. the mistake that i have made. everything else is a lie. >> he also said we need to get on with the important things in life like the economy and basketball. but i think he's got to start talking about health care reform and how the uninsured impact the insured. ain't that right, big head? >> don't start the big head thing. i'm with pitino, actually. we've got bigger fish to fry. >> we do. we do. >> you know, we should mention

senator's performance day. she'll be in new york. she may further provoke her mother-in-law. she's every saturday at the laugh factory in los angeles. >> she's funny. >> so funny her mother-in-law sued her. second hour of the morning meeting. senator kennedy will lie in state at the museum. who will succeed the senator in the senate? that next on msnbc. (mom) he needed everything for college: towels, sheets and then there was the stuff he wanted... like a new microwave. and because of walmart's unbeatable prices, we were able to get it all. ...and then some. set them up for success-- for less.

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[ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for thdifference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank yo introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. morning to you. nice to see you. i'm dylan. welcome back to the morning meeting. who will replaced the lion of the senate. already some are search forego his successor. top names talked about and the

controversy how it will happen in the state of massachusetts. we all know the fun that can be have when a governor pages senator. should khadafi be quarantined. wants the leader contained when he speaks at the u.n. socialism, heated debate over health care continues at town halls across the country. how much have they paid into the system and how much did they take out? some surprising numbers in how the dems are now firing back some tea parties of them own. are americans eating them to death. a new sandwich at kfc, patties are the bread, in the middle bacon and cheese. that's fattening. should the state tax fattening food or at least demand calorie counts be published in the menu. 10:00 a.m. morning to you. pull up a chair and join the "morning meeting."

our top story two hours from now, the family of the late senator ted kennedy holding a private mass. they will join a motorcade carrying the body. live in hyannis port where the family is gathered. >> reporter: dylan, good morning to you. the family has been holding a private vigil sense the passing of the lion in the senate, lion of american line. we're told by those inside it's been a quiet, spiritual gathering. family and friends will gather for a private mass. we've learned within the last matter of minutes that from the senator's office at 12:30, a little earlier than initially planned, the motorcade will begin, a path of remembrance, if you will, essentially following a trail of the celebrated life of senator kennedy had traveling about 70 miles to the city of boston, ultimately ending up at

the jfk presidential library and museum where he will lie in repose. we're told the family members will greet the public today as they arrive there. also other family members inside the smith center. that's exactly where the casket will lie. it will be illuminated by spot lights. we're told perhaps his wife vicki will be there as individuals pay respects. again will lie in repose tomorrow. the family will gather friday night. there will be a funeral at 10:30. it will be private, not open to the public. the president of the united states, barack obama, will be delivering the eulogy. at 5:30 he is to be laid at rest at arlington national cemetery. another significant note is exactly what's happening, there are new efforts in the state of massachusetts to try to quickly fill the senator's seat as opposed to a special session. it's picking up steam here in the state. the governor of the state duval patrick endorsed ted kennedy's own request this happen without

a special session and someone be appointed in the meantime until that can take place, here is the governor earlier on "morning joe." >> given the significance of the proposals before the congress right now, massachusetts needs two voices in the united states senate. so i think if that bill comes to me, i will sign it. i know that the legislative leaders are working their way through both the policy and politics of trying to get that done. >> that was the governor of the state deval patrick. in 2004 the law was changed so the then republican governor mitt romney would not be able to appoint a republican senator to replace john kerry had he won the presidency. >> that's the most interesting part of the conversation, particularly in the context of what we went through in new york with the kennedy paterson

situation. jonathan capehart tied directly to kerry's presidential bid to alter the rules so the democrat couldn't retain that seat. now it's no longer in their benefit to have the seat so they want to change the rules again. in addition to you, staff writer for the boston globe co-authored a book on ted kennedy. the most interesting to me about this for massachusetts, deval patrick said he would sign it. at what point do they say we will only have democratic senators because we're a democratic state, republicans need not apply. isn't that the implication? >> that's the implication and the holdup with why this seemingly simple measure of a temporary appointment. if it didn't have the stink of

bipartisan it would go through easy. >> massachusetts is saying we are a state that wants democrats representing us in washington, d.c., and we will change the electoral laws in order to accommodate that outcome. >> yeah, that's what it seems like. remember, the state legislature in massachusetts is under the control of the democrats. they changed the rules in 2004 to soot them then. they are possibly going to change them now to soot them now. there's one thing we have to keep in mind. governors have appointed senators in illinois, new york, delaware and colorado because of a change of administration that president obama, vice president biden and then clinton and salazar being chosen for the cabinet. that means -- oh, and plus with kay bailey hutchison retiring and mel martinez retiring, texas and florida, what we have now is 26.6% of the country being represented by a senator they did not vote for. and if you throw in massachusetts, then that number goes up to 28.7%.

the constitution calls for a special election if a house vacancy occurs. there's no such thing in the senate. but you know, at some point, people are going to have to come around to the fact that governors -- and we saw this in horrible circumstances in illinois, where the governor was trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder, what happens when governors put their own personal self-interest ahead of the people. >> russ feingold drew that fine point after blagojevich saying we have to get away from the culture jonathan was describing get to people voting for who represents then. take a listen to mr. feingold. >> enough is enough. it's time to replace senators with what belongs from the people and i don't think it should be any different.

>> are we there? >> when ted kennedy first joined the senate in 1960, he wasn't old enough by the constitution to run. his brother arranged for his old college roommate for two years until he turned 30. we're talking about -- >> nepotism, cronyism, manipulation. >> the difference is a five-month temporary seat where the person who takes this position agrees not to run for office. i think it's a little bit different. >> absolutely. and i see that. but the broader point you were making jonathan, how long will we allow nepotism, cronyism, non-representational politics to dominate a body of government. >> a bill that would call for a constitutional amendment to call for special election toss fill senate vacancies. also on the house side you have freshman republican congressman erin shock who has a bill that

would legislatively call for an election. it would have to happen to fill that seat. whether either one of those bills passes remains to be seen, although feingold's bill has been passed out of subcommittee and now is waiting in hearing in judiciary. >> a string of candidates left and right that could be potential representatives here. to me the most interesting, if you're going down the road, we're not on the democratic process of having -- to me the most interesting candidates in that context become his wife, vicki kennedy or his nephew joseph p. kennedy who i know are not natural politicians but based on the fact natural progression starting with inserting his roommate when he wasn't old enough, why not go out with your wife when you die. >> it's a little different era.

it would probably be hard to get through the appointment on those lines, temporary appointment that was directly family associated. i think given what we've seen with these other appointments and how those may have back fired, i think people would be careful. people talk about michael dukakis, people who clearly do not want the position for the future but senior retired folks. walter mondale, people talked about him. >> chairman -- >> something that gets to the position and reality of it, we just want somebody in the seat. >> until we hold the election. >> jonathan, thanks for the reporting particularly on that one. contessa, what else is going on prfr breaking news from south carolina. the governor is inviting reporters to have a chat with him in about an hour. we're told mark sanford will address ethics investigation into air travel. he's under fire for flying business class when state law

requires flying the most economical way. they released travel records from 1984. they show one governor using supersonic jet to use friends. other officials fly first class. house speaker pro tem spoke out on "morning meeting." >> we have record unemployment in south carolina. we have some of the worst unemployment in the country, and it's affecting our ability to talk about that. so therefore, i think he should resign. >> south carolina's lieutenant governor is also calling on sanford to resign, which would allow the lieutenant governor to assume that office. somali pirates holding a hijacked ship fired on a u.s. navy helicopter. the helicopter was making a routine surveillance flight over the ship which was captured in april, now used as a pirate mother ship to launch other attacks including the attack on the uss "maersk alabama."

let's go to nbc meteorologist bill karins who has the weather channel forecast. >> bill was well predicted, we knew where it was going well ahead of time. danny is a pain. it doesn't look impressive, more like a nor easter more than anyone else. low level swirl coming out from the thunderstorms. i'm not sure what the hurricane center is going to do with this with the next update in 45 minutes. off the east coast, bending it off of new england, turning from a hurricane into what we call an extratropical storm, nor like a nor'easter. that forecast, what we saw there, the closest the storm got to new england with winds would be the orange color there saturday afternoon. as i told you, contessa, this storm is looking very strange. i wouldn't be surprised if they do something interesting in the next update. >> i know you're watching and we're waiting with bated breath. thank you. dylan. >> thank you very much.

contessa, still much more ahead on this hour of "morning meeting." should moammar khadafi be confined to the united nations when he visits. he wants to stay in new jersey but the state put up a no vacancy sign out of respect for families of pan am 103. show and tell you weren't always my favorite day. with all the pet hair in the air, i'd spend class preoccupied, bothered by itchy eyes. but now i have new zyrtec® itchy eye drops. it works fast, with just one drop, to relieve my itchy eyes from allergies for up to 12 hours. no other allergy itchy eye droworks faster or longer. which is good, 'cause there's a lotta paws to shake. with new zyrtec® itchy eye drops i can love the air™. (announcer) find it in the allergy aisle next to other zyrtec® products. the rest of the body is a no brainer. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin back & body.

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moammar khadafi's plan to attend meetings at the general assembly sparking outrage for obvious reason. last week libbians cheered the return of lockerbie bomber, terrorist released from scottish prison on what they call compassionate grounds. they say he's dying from cancer.

family members of victims of lockerbie furious to see khadafi greeting abdel al megrahi greeting the terrorist. many think he gave the order to blow up the flight and al megrahi was one of the operatives. he wants to stay at the home of a libyan diplomat who lives in suburban new jersey. that adding insult to injury for some families who live nearby. efforts to severely restrict his movement. will it work? we're joined by the mayor of england wood, new jersey, who happens to be a 20 year lawyer and immigration attorney. the u.n. itself is sovereign territory. the embassies around the city and around the world are sovereign territories. we can't do that much to prevent a foreign leader from being in

those sovereign areas, correct. >> in this studio let's pull back on the landscape. truth told american consular officials, immigration authorities and the state department could actually restrict a visa, not issue a visa or give a restrictive visa saying a person is confined to a certain territory. if this man agreed or admitted he had something to do with lockerbie, wrote a check for $2.7 billion to the families and we need his oil and we have to do business, fine, let him have a video feed. let him actually come into the u.n. compound, come in and stay out. >> he has the largest oil reserves. that's the political -- >> that's what we barter for. i don't want to barter our souls. this father, this american, this jewish american is offended that he may actually sleep in my city limits. i don't want him on u.s. soil nor do i want him sleeping in my town. >> what recourse, particularly with the benefit of your work as a federal prosecutor and

immigration attorney and being the mayor in englewood, what recourse do you have to prevent him from leaving u.n. grounds and staying with a friend in englewood. >> if they visit him a visa, unrestricted visa, and he's allowed to stay wherever he wants to stay. he can stay with the property they own. they have owned for three decades and haven't put a dime in it. in the recent months they have put millions into it. we've put a stop order, asking them to stop all work on sight because they are violating ordinances. they took a rabbi's fence and a tree -- >> have you or anybody else made efforts with u.s. immigration to not allow the issuance of an unrestricted visa. >> the congressman signature in the district sat and worked very hard as mayor of the city to make this happen. they are working strenuously because this home was to be used

only by the ambassador for weekends and soirees but wasn't to be used by khadafi per se. >> who is they? >> stayed department, imgraying officials. if he's coming and we have to deal with inevitability of the fact he's coming we have to make sure we deal with this properly. it's going to cost my police officers, cost the taxpayers because they are not going to pay a nickel nor have they paid a nickel in the last three decades, $20,000 per day to protect him and the residence. >> your only recourse is file for a restricted visa at the state department. >> i can't file for any visas. my only recourse is to say, thank you, i'm a democrat, mr. obama, i'm upset this is happening. you should not be allowing this person to sleep next door to a distinguished rabbi, orthodox jewish community, african-american and white and latino community, where we don't want people who are financeers of terrorism.

his son and he gave a heroes welcome. what more do you need? is this intermission on terrorism. is this where we go get popcorn and sodas and have a laugh. my colleague mayor bloomberg denied access to central park. mayor alleghegiuliani stat in p when he came to new york and wouldn't give him the time of day. he saw him for who he was, a terrorists. this man had 280 souls, 38 of who lived in new jersey killed. and because he writes a check, because we need his oil, we're going to give him the right to put up a tent. he wants to put a bedoin tent up in our community. >> do you have any kind of formal protest? >> we do. we have a protest slated next door for this sunday at 11:00 a.m.

again, we do not have to like this. we do not want this. and well, democrats, republicans, muslims, christians, jews, whites, blacks, everything, we will be standing in solidarity. the truth is these 38 souls, that's the one permit i'd like to see somebody request, not just bedoin tent. i'd like the names on a loud speaker while he's sleeping. >> no doubt in your mind whether release of the lockerbie bomber on compassionate or accommodations to khadafi in the last few years are specifically a sbord nation of our morals and values in the name of oil. >> we're battering our souls for oil. there's nothing -- there's no difference. amin, a dictator and despot lived 20 years after he retired in saudi arabia and was given a state funeral. what message are we sending? we did this with mujahadin and osama bin laden. this is the progenitor of all

this. he predates this. remember when france wouldn't allow us over their airspace when president reagan sent the fighters and we lost a pilot because of that. the friendships we're making now we're going to have to deal with collaterally in the future but we're also sending message to new leaders, new mayors, congressman, my children, your children, all children, that this is how you deal with terrorists. what do you do? give them cart blanche, let them build whatever they want and to hell with everything else. >> only if they have oil, or else we put them in jail. >> this is not democrat, republican issue, this is an american issue. >> i could not agree with you more. i appreciate you spending time talking about it. >> check out my website, michael wild.com. we'll keep you posted. call your senator, congressman, president. i don't want him on your soil. i don't want him sleeping in my city. >> here here. thank you, mr. mayor. plugging into politics next at the "morning meeting." rush limbaugh patting himself on

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and for me, well, it wouldn't be so bad if this breadwinner brought home a little more bread. repower america. i hope our senators are listening. radio host rush limbaugh feeling vindicated about statements he made in march. >> can i just play it? let's play what rush limbaugh said. >> one year ago when his diagnoses was announced, i predicted they would use his eventual death as the sympathy trigger to get health care passed. i caught hell for that. i reiterated back in march. >> yeah, that's rush limbaugh giving himself a pat on the back for predicting politicians would use the death of ted kennedy to spur on support for health care reform. >> by the way, that's an obvious prediction.

i don't criticize rush limbaugh for making, although he's capable for better. >> he got a lot of criticism for being insensitive. >> of course. it's so obvious purchase now we have senator robert byrd calling for health care reform legislation to be named in kennedy's honor. there you heard rush limbaugh saying, see, i told you so. we have this kansas congresswoman who is driving some criticism she was at a meeting and offered conservative, a great white hope capable of the agenda by barack obama. a spokesperson for the congressman says she wants to apologize for her word choice. she had no intention to express herself in an offensive way, like a great white hope, anybody who might thwart an agenda they

might not agree. >> politicians are fun. >> didn't used to be like this. now it's on youtube, then oh, i didn't mean it that way. >> it's a win lose for everybody. people saying stupid stuff all the time. myself included. coming up, some interesting statistic that seniors who are fired up over health care reform ought to see. and democrats fight back against anger and outrage at town halls. the latest on this debate, those against health care reform against it because they are the ones taking all the money. i think the answer after this. pollen.

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deaf, hard-of-hearing, and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. all right. they are not getting quite as much media attention these days. fiery debate over health care continues at town halls across the country of what's going on prfr they continue to take heat from constituents in the august recess. one of the most fired up and angry fearful groups, the elderly. listen to this. >> the health care proposal needs to be killed now in its entirety. no compromises, senator, please. no compromises. no compromises. senator, now. >> need to emphasize our personal responsibility for our health.

>> well, seniors are clearly skeptical when it comes to health care reform and political website 538.com has some interesting data on the subject. take a look at this graph. while those over 65 are most likely to have insurance, they are the least likely to favor government spending on more insurance. democrats representing souring attitudes on reform, democratic national committee and supporters are launching a national grassroots push to show lawmakers americans still want change. reform advocates are planning more than 500 rallies and events between now and september 8th when lawmakers return to washington. this effort, dylan, even includes a, quote, health insurance reform bus which will travel to 11 cities, phoenix, columbus, to anchor events. >> joining us from washington, d.c., jeremy bird, deputy national director spearheading

the health care rallies in tandem with democratic national committee. jeremy, welcome to the conversation. walk us through what you're planning and brief us how you're planning to deliver your message prfr thanks for having me. over the next 13 days we'll have thousands of events across the country. we kicked off our event on health care insurance reform yesterday in phoenix. on a hot august day we had thousands of supporters coming out. >> what are your talking points? what's your message. >> our folks are coming out and we've been hearing from from folks across the country since we launched our campaign on june 6th, they want reform. we're giving them a vehicle to come out and show the public and lawmakers where they stand. >> jeremy, thanks for your time. joining us from freedom works education, educates, trains, mobilizes in its own right from a more conservative standpoint, again, your group seen as one of

those behind the original town hall protesters joining the conversation, writer, blogger, reporter and smarty pants, all around smarty pants when it comes to health care, i have to be honest. the guy knows a lot going on around here. i'm pleased to have the two of you. what strikes me about the protest is the following. a study by annanberg, 538.com, which have you haven't visited nated site i recommend it. they did the math, starts work at age 21, put $65,000 of their income into medicare and will receive $174,000 in benefits. so they are taking $3 out for every dollar they put in, if you are of that age. if you are of my age or jonathan capehart's age or any age younger than 45 or 50, it is

your $3 that are being taken a la the bank bailout to finance health care. where it actually makes total sense to me that those are getting $3 for every dollar they put in don't want reform. those putting $3 in and expecting to get nothing out do want reform. are we setting up a straight generational warfare. >> a little bit. you get into a weird things. seniors are like the american west they told me recently. they depend on the government and hate it. the most conservative group of the country, only age group barack obama lost. they have single parent health care, social security, they live an american version of canada and they like it and they are worried it will change. they worry they have got what they need. what they are concerned about more reform will affect what they have. they have some reason for it, right? administration said a lot will come from medicare, medpac. so the government is defensive

here. it's a different defensiveness in the 25-year-old that says i don't want the government in my health care. they don't want the government out of their health care. >> matt, how do you reconcile this. there's an obvious mod valuation on each side. those paying at a ratio of three to one don't want change. at some point you have to decide whether this is a model where we want to protect the future of this country by not bankrupting it or whether, quite honestly, the power structure is indifferent to the future of this country as long as they are able to protect the status quo, even if the status quo represents financial obliteration. >> that's right. there's a couple issues at stake here. first of all, remember medicare is a program seniors didn't get a choice as to whether or not they entered it. you're forced into it. if you don't go in you lose your social security payments. >> three to one. >> that's correct. but the issue i believe they are upset about at these town hall

meetings, you hear two arguments from the president and his supporters. first, that we can get $500 billion in cuts out of medicare just by achieving efficiencies. and second, that medicare is far more efficient than the private market. it has to be one or two of those things. i think what seniors are upset about is the idea that a health care program that they are stuckw whether they like it or not, is going to be cross subsidizing new people into a government-run health care system. >> of course. >> the biggest issue, based on simple math mekematicmathematicr younger generation gets screwed so older can keep benefits or older sees alteration of benefits so the younger generation doesn't get screwed. is there any other way to look at it than that?

>> i would suggest simple mathematics aren't the ones to use. you might want to go more complex. number one, seniors forced into medicare. the fact of the matter is they are much more satisfied with medicare than people with employer-based health care are. they defend it. >> three to one, i would be satisfied, too. >> exactly. number two, cross generational subsidy, it is, medicare from healthy to sick but that's how it always in in health care. we don't have a fixed relationship to the system. i'm young and healthy now, one day i'll be older and sick or old and healthy. >> the ratios are multiples going from one group to another, it is a certain financial disaster. if it's one to one or one and a half when you can sort of work with it. when you get to the point you're pumping up 2, 3, $4 to some special interest at the expense of everybody else, you have created a recipe for disaster.

>> i think there may be something to that. on the other hand, i think you are going to have seniors needing medical care. they are the ones that need medical care. the idea is not that i subsidize them by my kids and grandkids can subsidize me. it's not clear how they do it. they don't have earning power. >> not how you do it, about whether you reform the current system. my point is those most against reform of current system are those getting the most and paid the least and those post for reforming the system are paying the most and getting the least, which is the case with any system. but in this case, either you reconcile it by taking away from those getting the most, taking away from those getting the least or reforming the system in a way that it costs less and provides more in creating a better system as opposed to simply debating who pays. >> i think that's right. you can bring down the level of spending. a minute ago you mentioned

efficiency out of medicare but more efficient in the private sector. both are wildly infeefficient. you could get more out of medicare and private system and i think that's what they are trying to do. >> that's all points. a point we have to stop figuring out who we're going to rob to pay for this, whether old or young, figure out a better way to do it which is where you get a lot of disappointment from the people relative to the politicians at this point. matt, nice to see you. ezra, thank you as always. contessa, what's going on. in just a little more than an hour, they will hold a mass for senator ted kennedy in hyannis port then a motorcade will carry the body through boston. this evening he will lie in repose at john f. kennedy library and museum. those remembering the senator include some of his closest colleagues in the senate. >> no question that he was the leading liberal spokesman in the senate. we fought each other right from day one. but you know, after the fights

we'd always get together and he'd say, well, how did i do. then he'd laugh. he had that infecti effecfectio humor. he was a terrific human being. we went through good times and bad times together. he's a terrific friend and i'll miss him. a mass will be held. president obama will give one of the eulogies and kennedy will be buried beside his brother at arlington national cemetery. msnbc will have live coverage surrounding the death of senator clinton all weekend long. toyota recalling about 96,000 vehicles because of a possible brake malfunction. the recall affects 2009 and 2010 toyota corolla and matrix cars and 2008, 2009 scion xd vehicles. if you have one, take it to the dealer to be fixed free. nasa will try again early in the morning to launch space shuttle "discovery."

a fuel valve wasn't working during a test yesterday. official count 12:22 eastern launch. the "discovery" will have a second chance to launch late tomorrow night before midnight. i wonder if this will make it all better. here is a virginia guy standing on the street corner wearing a sign that reads," i cheated and this is my punishment." he says he'll be out there the rest of the week. the deal william taylor's wife made with minimum when she caught him being unfaithful. hey, you know, where is dr. phil when you need him. >> i like it. >> this is a family that looks like it could use intervention. >> there's a lot of folks. we good back to the old town square. put people out there for a week, politicians, bankers. >> in their stocks, their signs, big letter a. >> sometimes the first way is the best way. up next at the "morning meeting" -- i joke, i joke -- introduce you to kfc's new

sandwich. are we literally eating ourselves to death? apparently so. we'll talk about the overeating problem after the break. ♪ ♪ once you've dealt with the things that come between you...

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we all know the country is dealing with obesity. in the past fast-food giants provided healthier options like salad and fruit and milk. so much for that. check out kfc's newes option. bacon and cheese, instead of bread two fried chicken fillets. kfc says it's just a little less than 600 calories. but a newspaper did its own study and said probably more than twice that. kfc is not alone. chili's has chicken jack nachos

with fajita beef, an appetizer. leading the way baskin robbins with large heath bar shake. more than 2300 calories. that's the equivalent of 11 heath bars. in response to all this, congress has floated the idea of a junk food tax for health care reform. in new york city they are forced to put calories on the menu, if they are chain restaurants. a new poll shows half americans support taxes on unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks. come on, a sandwich, dylan, made out of fried chicken. >> sounds low carb to me. south beach? >> if it's breaded, i don't think it's low carb.

>> i think it's called in defensible diet. >> if i was to eat that sandwich and then in the minutes after eat that sandwich you were to look at the constitution of my body. >> go up immediately. here is the problem with something like this. it is indefensible, and i mean this seriously. >> why? >> it shows corporate irresponsibility. there's no way to say that has any need in american society. in fact, it's the fat, the sugar and junk food quality of that that has made this generation not have any sense of whether they are full or whether they are hungry. we have a first generation of teenagers who don't know what it's like to truly be hungry. >> looks good though. >> this is a drug dealers concern for their customers. the drug dealer does not care if the customers are dying or getting sick or whatever. >> as long as there's more customers.

>> we give it to them. this is weird because kfc just did this whole grilled thing, right? we're with the time. we're modern. we're going to give you healthier food. not that it's that much healthier than before. >> i get capitalism, i get the drug dealer stuff. i get the bad for you stuff. the trial attorneys are circling like buzzards waiting to figure out, fat is the next new tobacco. >> how about we sue them for attempted murder. >> you think that's not coming? >> why not. >> let me ask you from your perspective, dr. nancy, what is the government's role in the situation? what's the appropriate role? >> i don't see why government is in it at all. i'm not a big believe in government coming down prfr how do you deal with the liability? >> this is ridiculous. where is the board of directors. every board of director on the kfc board and contact them and say, where is your corporate conscious?

i don't care if you're going to make more money. you're going to pay in the end. you know what, if you provide health care you're now paying more. you want to kill your clients eating your stuff? >> it just damages the image of kfc so much to be shoveling this thing at us with bacon and cheese. >> did you just lick your licks? >> i was in beijing. chinese kids are fatter than ever. they are the second fattest country in the world, second only to the united states. the number one food chain there. >> kfc. >> let me tell you, i ate the grilled chicken one time because i thought maybe it will taste good. it was so gross. >> i'm going to do flash msnbc poll right now. can i get you guys attention here in the newsroom. would you raise your hand if you would eat this chicken sandwich? one, two, three -- >> contessa brewer, no way. i don't buy it. >> bill karins, he wants one.

contessa. look, most of this room would not touch it. >> i wouldn't. you know what this proves -- >> i got more than half the room. >> i don't believe you contessa. >> i want to try it. maybe it's delicious. i won't eat it every day. dr. nancy, i'm embarrassed, i don't want her to be ashamed of me. did you see that, it's got chicken instead of bread. >> this is what's true, are you ready? take out two-thirds of people from the next stroke, swine flu hits and there's no one else in this newsroom. you're so out of luck. >> you can't look classy eating it. >> i don't think class is the common denominator. >> when you try to eat it, the crumbs are going, your fingers are messy. >> set a table for two on the beach. >> zero corporate responsibility. shame on them. >> shame on them. >> shame on them. don't eat at kfc. boycott now. >> except for me. send me one of those sandwiches.

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welcome back. 30 seconds ago, if you missed it earlier in the day we had a visit with a young lady, half black, half swedish, once catholic, converted to jewish, became a comedian, how could you not. made fun of her mother-in-law for a while to make a living. now her mother-in-law is suing her. is there anything you could say to get a lawsuit. >> my mother-in-law is so sweet and nice. >> she would never file a lawsuit. >> what about you, are you vulnerable to a lawsuit? >> i have no comment. >> he is. >> i love you, carla. >> i love you, too. >> that wraps up "morning meeting." i do know carlos watson with governors teetering on the edge,

not just mark sanford, carlos has a few more for you right after this. welcome to the now network. right now five coworkers are working from the road using a mifi-- a mobile hotspot that provides up to five shared wi-fi connections. two are downloading the final final revised final presentation. - one just got an email. - woman: what?! hmph. it's being revised again. the copilot is on mapquest. and tom is streaming meeting psych-up music - from meltedmetal.com. - ( heavy metal music playing ) that's happening now with the new mifi from sprint-- the mobile hotspot that fits in your pocket. sprint. the now network.

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