how are you all feeling today? are you fired up? are you ready to go? >> good morning. happy tuesday after labor day. this is morning joe. that was the president, sounding like he was on the campaign trail again. >> and sounding like he's ready to go. maybe this is it. this is it for him. >> what does he want to happen? no doubt about it.

a lot of stuff going on. today is the day. president of the united states. >> does the unthinkable. >> he is going to speak in school. he is going to transform our munchkins into marxist maniacs. >> hold your children closer. >> i assume when the tv flickers off and the president is gone that's when the third graders around america -- hold on. that's when third graders around america rush the teacher and set up a marxist state. a lot of these kids decided to forego their usual activities this labor day weekend. >> i would think so. >> all because of this meddling president. i have read this speech. this is a submersive speech.

>> thought i was going to be hypnotized. >> working hard and staying in school. my god, this is marxist. >> putting his own private storio into it. >> "children of the corn" where the kids take over the town. >> yeah. >> that's exactly what's going to happen at about 10:30 this morning after the speech. >> that whole bid about i grew up without a father and i was able to accomplish all this. you know what he's saying there. we can grow up without father capitalism and do just fine. >> enough. >> i'm telling you, it's su suwmersive. >> change in the administration over the weekend. yeah, van jones. another midnight -- >> literally. >> on midnight saturday night. >> on labor day weekend. >> i've got to say -- first of all, a couple of stories here. i'm curious of what your take

is, mika, and everybody else. first of all, you have with van jones a guy that never should have been appointed, all right? you look at the things that he just said this year, what he called republicans, and then all the other comments, and then being -- signing something on a 9/11 document, which i went back and read, was very troubling. the white house still, once again, having problems vetting these people. >> he didn't go through that rigorous vetting process because he was an appointee and it was lower level. i'm not making excuses, i'm just saying he didn't go through a process or even confirmation process, which if you were a higher level appointee or cabinet position you'll go through that. >> through the great state of tennessee i heard them make a great point, it's a problem with all these czars, circumventing

offices and basically they're running a shadow government without having to go through the regular senate confirmation. not needing confirmation may have risen up and bit him. >> definitely. >> still had to answer questions on the questionnaire and it's curious as to how he didn't have to answer those questions in a certain way. >> right. like is there anything in your background, being a trucer maybe? >> the whole communist thing. okay, you've reformed yourself. >> i'm thinking maybe -- >> from a communist to a truther, dude, come on. keep it in the middle of the road. >> it's embarrassing for them. >> embarrassing. and this whole czar concept is troubling where you appoint all these czars and they don't have to go through the regular process of some of the

confirmation, unlike willie geist who has gone through confirmation four times. >> oh, gosh. i got forked a couple of times and still made it. >> that's good that you just came forward, i'm an addict. >> put it out there. >> don't hide anything. four minutes past the hour. i need to make you stop talking now. i'm going to do the news. >> all right. go ahead. time now for a look at today's top stories as we've been talking about. president obama set to deliver a back to school speech to students across the country, meant to highlight goals and hard work. still, critics of the move see it as a political maneuver to influence the young and impressionable. despite that criticism, the white house is getting support from a somewhat surprising source. >> i think that there is a place for the president of the united states to talk to school children and encourage school children, and i think it's also really important for everyone to respect the president of the united states.

>> all right. good point she makes. we'll be talking to education secretary arne duncan about the speech. he will be on the show in a few minutes. joe, even laura bush blew it off. this is kind of ridiculous. >> it is. early last week -- i'll just say, i came out and said this is ridiculous. >> right from the get go. >> the president should be able to speak and conservatives are making fools of themselves. if they want to complain about the idiots who slipped something in there that said write your parents or write how you can help the president, i think we all agree, that was just stupid. whoever did that should be fired. but once we got beyond that, we knew this was just a speech to kids. everybody should have just relaxed. on the republican side, newt came out and said it was good and then laura bush, and then myself last week. there just weren't a whole lot. >> the president george h.w. bush, didn't he do something

similar? >> yes, he did. >> and i think he askedkys to write a letter how you can help the president. maybe they shouldn't have included that and you can interpret that in a way. >> come on. it's more about the climate out there, and the internet. arne duncan is coming up, the secretary of education, in a few minutes. let me finish news here to get our headlines out there. meanwhile, the white house is fending off criticism that led to the resignation of green jobs adviser van jones, made news recently for a youtube clip where he uses an expletive to describe republicans as well as his signature that appeared on that 9/11 conspiracy document. >> the president thanks van jones for his service in the first eight months, in helping to coordinate renewable energy jobs that will lay the foundation for our future. >> why did he want him to go? >> the president accepted had his resignation because van jones, as he says in his statement, understood that he was going to get in the way of the president and ultimately this country moving forward on

something as important as creating jobs in a clean energy economy. >> so the president doesn't endorse, in any way, the thing that is van jones said before and things he did? >> he doesn't, but thanks him for the service to the country. >> ow. what's really going on? sounds like a pretty good explanation. he was getting in the way. >> he was getting in the way. couple of other things people should look at. how little coverage there was in the front pages of the national newspapers and broadcast networks. i don't know what this network did on it, so i can't be yelled at after the show. but especially the 9/11, there was nothing in the mainstream media about that stuff. it would have been a front page story if a conservative had signed a berther. the glenn beck connection, van jones' group he founded start this had boycott against glenn beck, and there's a lot of back

and forth and glenn beck saying go dig up dirt on other people, and other people are saying dig up dirt on glenn beck. the whole thing is getting ridiculous. >> kind of dirty, too. i don't want to follow that lead when it happens. having said that, he did sign it and did appear to be an embarrassment to the administration. >> well, he was. this guy -- the fact that the media -- >> not an excuse. >> i don't know that it's a low-level job. they're talking about transforming the economy. >> one of many. >> there was attention over this during the weekend, covered on the sunday show. >> after he quit. >> but it was -- >> he sure as hell wasn't pressured to quit because of what the "new york times" was writing, that's for sure. >> some of the major news outlets talked about it. that's why they had to let -- that's why he had to leave saturday night because it had become a distraction. i think your point about the czars, they may have to take a closer look at that, at some

point. i've heard some friends of his that he's a decent guy. >> we've had him on. >> he's very nice. >> i like had him. seems like a nice guy that made some remarks and signed a petition. again -- >> we all -- >> willie, my god. president obama is going to deliver a highly anticipated address to congress tomorrow. this is a big story, too. he's going to talk about his push to overhaul the nation's health care system tomorrow night. it comes as the white house tries to maintain momentum for a public option without sacrificing support of moderate democrats. the president is lashing out at special interest groups for spreading what he calls lies about his plan. >> i've got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we're going to pull the plug on grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants. you've heard all the lies.

i've got a question for all those folks. what are you going to do? what's your answer? what's your solution? and you know what? they don't have one. >> okay. he asked the question, what's your answer? >> i think actually the answer that most americans are coming to now are we like health care as it is. 75% of americans don't think health care needs a -- i'm not one of those. we go broke in ten years if we don't reform health care. the other problem is that the president does not reduce costs significantly enough to bring people like me on board. the answer is do nothing this year, because 75% of americans are pleased, according to "the

washington post" because they're healthy. following his nephew's announcement of plans not to run, joseph p. kennedy ii says he will focus on his work at a nonprofit organization that provides free heating oil to the needy. there is speculation kennedy was concerned about tough questions he might face over that organization with outspoken critic venezuelan president hugo chavez. liquid explosives in 2006, prosecutors say the plot, if successful, could have killed at least 1,500 people and comes to rooifbl the attacks of september 11th. live pictures from california now where officials say that san francisco, oakland bay bridge will not reopen in time for today's morning commute. traffic delays are expected across the bay area as crews

continue repairing a crack discovered on the bridge over the weekend. >> wow! >> ouch. maybe they should take another day off. let's go to bill karins for a check on the forecast. what's it looking like out there today? >> san francisco will be just fine. what happened yesterday was the sixth named storm of the hurricane season formed, tropical storm fred. fred doesn't sound very menacing and it shouldn't be. way out in the atlantic. it's not going to affect anyone. we won't worry about that. travel plans today, grab the umbrella headed out to the bus stop from d.c. to richmond, norfolk and virginia beach. airports are fine to start your morning, but dulles reagan and baltimore area, you could have delays this morning. coming up on the show from bloomberg news, al hunt will be with us and former mccain campaign adviser nicolle wallace. she says the president's biggest

problem isn't his sinking poll numbers. plus "new york times" columnist nicholas kristof will join us, and savannah guthrie. and more on the back to school speech, arne duncan. >> what happens when the third graders start taking over? >> i'm scared. i'm scared! >> hard work. >> you're watching -- >> where do you get that from? >> morning joe, brewed by star buck's. 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. deaf, hard-of-hearing, and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. gathering dust, as pollen floats through the air. but with the strength of zyrtec ® , the fastest, 24-hour allergy relief, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. with zyrtec ® i can love the air ™ . i know tresemmé will keep every hair in place. the pictures are gonna be great!

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hey, in just a few hours, president obama is going to give a back to school speech to kids across america. >> yes, he is. arne duncan joins us this morning from arlington, virginia. thanks for joining us. >> we're concerned. >> do i let my children go to school today, sir?

can you believe anyone is asking this question? >> send them to school. send them to school. >> good advice. >> any subversive information, ideal that is our kids are going to come home with to take over their classes? >> no. this is all about challenging students to take personal responsibility for their education and develop their skills, develop their talent, develop their intellect. we can have the best teachers in the world, the most modern facilities, great textbooks, great technology, but if students aren't working hard every single day to improve academically and intellectually, we're not going to get as a country where we need to go. the president is really challenging every single child to step up and build a positive life for themselves. >> the president is obviously a great example, no matter what you think of his policies, of someone who practices what he preaches to the children. and i'm wondering, as you all were planning this and helping write and craft this speech, in your wildest dreams, did you ever imagine the reaction that uh-uh would get from, it seems

like, a growing group -- probably on the internet -- about this potential for indoctrination and all these other threats that parents are seeing in what is a simple speech by the president? >> well, the big thing, mika and joe, in all of this is that you have to stay focused. you can't get distracted. as a country, we have huge challenges. we have a 30% dropout rate, urban, rural, suburban. 1.2 million students every single year are dropping out. i'm convinced we have to educate our way to a better economy. all the adult issues, all the adult talk, you just can't pay any attention to that and have to stay absolutely focused on how do we dramatically improve educational outlooks for children, improve their potential and i'm convinced that's the only way we're going to get there as a country. the president obviously fighting two wars, toughest economy since the depression. and, day after day, week after

week, he keeps coming back to education. in his heart, he knows how important this is. >> mr. secretary, obviously, we around the table have been making fun of the critics that don't want the president speaking. as laura bush said she can't believe it's been 18 years, 19 years since a president has spoken to class. >> right. >> i think this would be a good idea for presidents to do it every year if it's this type of speech. we have to underline the fact that somebody did screw up. i don't know if it was the white house or your department, when they told the kids to write letters to help the president pass his agenda. that was a mistake. right? >> well, yeah. it didn't quite say that, but was not worded perfectly correct. all of this is voluntary, developed by some of the best teachers in the country for teachers. what they said was help the president achieve his goal. what they meant to say was of having the highest percent of graduates in the world again by 2020. rather than saying that, just

say you are right about -- students write about your own academic goals, personal goals and how you're prepared to achieve those. >> that's where it is now? >> make it personal rather than talk about the country. >> you know what i love about the speech -- i was going to say, harold, what i loved about this speech -- harold ford is with me here. when the president talked about his own experiences, how it was hard without a father, it was hard for his single mother to wake up at 4:30 in the morning and teach him. all these personal experiences that students out there will be able to relate to. >> no doubt about it. mr. secretary, good to see you this morning. the fact that so many presidents haven't spoken more to students. i hope this becomes a tradition. >> i do, too. >> that the secretary lay this is out. mr. secretary, quick question. we expect a great speech today and read stories about how state and local revenue may be declining and some public schools may face cuts in teachers and may have to make layoffs. you're doing a herculean jb

there. what plan do you have to prevent those things from happening as the school year goes on? >> yeah. basically we've tried to stav off an education catastrophe, due to how tough the economy was in every state, we were really worried about hundreds and hundreds of thousands of teachers being laid off and we were able to stav off most of that, worried about class size going from 25 to 40 and social workers and counselors losing their jobs. there's still tough cuts out there, it would have been unimaginable. harold, the status quo isn't good enough. we couldn't afford to take a step backwards. we have to get dramatically better educationally. thanks to the leadership and support, over $100 billion in new education and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of teacher's jobs, counselors' jobs, social workers' jobs have been saved.

they'll be in classrooms so that our kids can keep learning. we have to get dramatically better. >> secretary duncan, thank you for joining us. >> take care. >> he has a busy day today. call up the national guard. >> willie, move on. >> "children of the corn." executive editor of politico, jim vander had hei. >> how are you doing? >> good. long, hot summer for the president, looking to reset things tomorrow night when he has people's attention once again. what challenges does he face coming up here? >> we'll be talking about health care every morning now for the next eight to ten weeks. the president is meeting with congressional leaders, pelosi today. he is still finishing what should be in that big wednesday speech, because max baukus has

dropped a new outline for a p n plan, taking a look at that, and talking to more members to figure out how to calibrate that message. no doubt from what we're hearing that he will get hit after that speech from conservative that is he's keeping the public option alive and will also get hit from the left because he's not going to give a forceful, this must be in the bill, argument that public option has to be part of that final package. i don't think he will be able to solve a lot of his problems with one big speech. >> can he really break through in one speech? what can he say tomorrow night that he hasn't been able to communicate to the public in three, four months? >> what he can do is clarify things. he can say these are the things that have to be in the final bill, so he can kick congress sort of in the behind and get them somewhere to see if there is a compromise or not. that's what i think he will try to accomplish. the problem is that the more specific he gets probably the more problems he's going to

have, because very specific constituencies will lash out, spend money and try to figure out areas of weakness they can go after. those critics have found pretty big soft spots over the august break. >> we have a poll here i'm looking at. obama job approval among whites, these numbers have gone down for him in august. >> right. >> what does that tell you? >> well, he has lost support. you saw his numbers drop. everyone thought that must be independents. it was a combination of independents and white democrats. particularly in the midwest and in rural areas. and that shows he's having some problem with his conservative democrats or moderate democrats who would consider voting for republicans. he has to come up with a plan that row tans costs and doesn't chip away at the benefits they have already. >> i have to ask you about the glitz and glam that goes into washington, d.c. joe can speak to it. >> he is glitz and glam. >> every time we went to a

party -- >> weekend joe out on the party scene. politico.com/click, all focused on the fun side of washington. yes, joe, there is a fun side to washington. with the obama team here, they like to go out. there's parties. we have a lot of nerds, i guess i could throw myself into that grou group. >> stop it. >> we were thinking because it's a gossip site for washington, d.c. instead of click, you might want to call it dork. >> that's just wrong. >> don't be so hard on yourself, joe. >> listen, i never -- i was talking about myself. i work and hang out with my family and i sleep. i'm a dork. >> vanderhei is not a dork. >> no, he is not. he lives a racy life. >> he does. >> so, we go to politico and then you'll have something that

says click and we get the which is whispers of what's happening in washington? >> all the whispers. >> after hours. sexy. >> new click page on politico. check it out. jim, thanks so much. >> take care, guys. >> thanks. speaking of sexy. >> i'm actually -- >> speaking of sexy, this guy, seriously -- i have been out with this guy before, just going to dinner, right? >> yeah. punch your face in. >> but women love it. harold, you go out and have a burger with this guy, you can't get through the front door with all the women chasing after him. mark lieberman, next, along with the morning papers. i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar,

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well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you. introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. isn't that pretty? welcome back to morning joe. i actually think that's pretty. >> did you hear the word internet, the secretary? >> what? >> of education? the internet like it's just an eight track tape player, like it's going to come and go. >> no. it's just the internet is a dangerous place, i think. with the decline of the mass media and the uprising of the internet, we have a big problem. messages are flying around with no context. >> your medicine cabinet is a dangerous place. we don't want that regulated.

>> that's absolutely true. all right. time now for a quick look at today's top stories. president obama is heading back to school today to deliver a closely watched speech to the nation's students. the white house says the president will talk about setting goals and making the most of education opportunities. some conservatives, however, say it's a politically influential use of the classroom. >> waa. >> some even saying it's indoctrination. milwaukee police say they arrested a suspected serial killer who has been linked to the deaths of nine women since 1986. the dna of walter el lilis was found on the bodies of all nine victims. annie leiebeeeleebovitz hasy

a loan today. she put up pictures to secure loans to try to cover a mounting debt of debts. >> hope she can make that loan. the president says his critics has the health care answer. >> boston globe after days of deliberation, joseph kennedy says he will not seek the u.s. senate seat of his uncle ted. >> and some controversies there. >> yep. >> "new york times," many schools that received stimulus funds are still facing crippling cuts. >> charlotte observer, what obama will say to your kids, the president's message. pay attention in school. >> "los angeles times," joe? you were being indoctrinated. sparking global changes in airport security. >> chronicle, bay bridge will

stay closed another day as the crack discovered in a steel link -- this is a huge story out west, causing major traffic problems for the bay area. >> and "the miami herald," miami hurricanes against seminole late last night and decided on the final plane. very, very happy man this morning. >> i tell you what. he's just -- >> all right. coming up next, "new york times" mark leibovich. (announcer) there are engines... and then there's the twin-turbocharging, 365-horsepower-generating, ecoboost™ engine in the all-new ford taurus sho that has the thirst of a v6 with the thrust of a v8.

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welcome back to morning joe. beautiful shot of washington, d.c. actually, tea not beautiful. it's nonzript, picture of a

plane taking off in the swamps of northern virginia. >> okay. >> speaking of virginia and washington, the guy, seriously, vallentino -- >> seriously looks like he will beat the living -- >> i know. >> my smiling stretches and everything. >> let's see you try it here. mark leibovich from "the new york times." >> good to be here. >> we'll read the op-eds right now. >> "new york times," obama faces a critical moment for his presidency. a bunch of questions we'll put to joe and then you, mark. he faces a crisis of expectations. >> peter baker. >> peter baker wrote this article. can he form a health care compromise that satisfies both his liberal base and fiscal conservatives in his own party much less the other one? can he stanch the slide in support for the war in afghanistan even as he considers sending more troops?

can he soothe discontent with an economy that appears to have bottomed out but remains mor moribund? can he change the tenor of debate in the capital that seems as polarized as ever? >> i'm just wondering -- mark, i'll start with you. i'm wondering if the president has decided to go to his base in this health care fight. you either leave your base behind and go to the middle and try to pick up the moderate democrats and blue dogs in the house or go left and tell everybody else they better follow along with you. that's what reagan did with the right time and time again in fights. the president can't split it down the middle in the health care, can he? it's an either/or. you go left or you go to the center. >> i think there's still a camp within the white house that thinks they can try to thread the needle a little bit. obviously tomorrow night's speech is going to tell us a lot about what they think they can do, what they think they need to try to do.

i think yesterday's speech in cincinnati was a bit of a signal that, you know, maybe he is going to go left. it certainly tonally was a lot sharper than it had been through much of the summer for obama. you know, he gave a shout out to the public option, which i think with his a great applause line, certainly in that crowd. i don't see how you pick up any moderates or many moderates with that line of argument. >> yeah. >> so, yeah, i think we'll know a lot more after tomorrow night, obviously. >> you know, harold, this president has -- i think defining management style of this president has been to be passive, let other people put bi bills together, let other people fight and then you end up signing the final bill. can he do that again here, or does he realize tomorrow night he's going -- >> it's on him. >> he can't vote present on this one. wednesday night he has to come out and say this is what i

believe in. follow me. >> expectations are very high. i think he has to lay out for moderate conservative democrats and those concerned with costs how he will address the cost issue, number one. number two, he has to say to those as you said earlier, joe, who have health insurance, how will your health insurance be affected by his health care reform? and, three, if why your serious about bringing over some republicans, tort reform inclusion and a health care reform bill might win you some republican support and even might tame some of the democratic -- >> it might, but he won't do that, will he? they've never talked about tort reform in all this health care talk, tort reform never comes up, which is ridiculous. >> i would agree. as the president early on talked about a willingness to deal with that. from mark's perspective, joe touched on it in his question. it seems the white house early on, giving this to congress, outsourcing the work to congress. do you get a sense that the

white house may be backing away from that here with this speech or are they not going to be very specific and scripted as to where the president wants to go or will they continue to give liberties and latitude to the congress? >> they've certainly given a lot of latitude to the congress, particularly the senate finance committee. i think tomorrow night is going to be an effort to really take back the conversation a little bit. i think they feel somewhat, i don't know, if burned is the right word. but senator bauckus has taken a long, long, long time to come out with anything and really he has been their default way of sort of coming up with a piece of health care legislation. so, i think in some ways, you know, maybe this is going to be an attempt to end the passivity, to use joe's words. again, they've taken a long, long time. it's been a long, long summer. and the debate has certainly changed. so, we'll see. >> i tell you, a debate that i find even more fascinating right now than even health care, mika,

afghanistan. george will coming out and waving a letter this weekend by charles krulak who, by the way, i've got to say of all the generals i worked with when i was on capitol hill, was the most stand-up guy i knew. he was a great guy. krulak agrees with george will, we can't keep fighting these wars. >> i think this debate is going to escalate in that direction. and bob herber had two pieces of legislation that were critical to the president. this one was on afghanistan, reliving the past on his saturday piece. president obama is being stoled, as lyndon johnson was told about vietnam, that more resources will do the trick in afghanistan, more troops, more material, more money eevenlt if it were true iesh certainly don't believe it. we don't have the resources to give. it's obscene what we're doing to the men and women who have volunteered for the armed services, sending them into war zones for three, four and five tours. he looks at what we've already

lost there, what it's cost us. >> yeah. and, mark, this really could, long after the health care battle is over, the battle over afghanistan could be one of the president's greatest challenges in his first term, right? >> clearly. health care, one way or the other, is going to end. i mean, it's not going to end, but this debate is going to calm down after the next few months and afghanistan, obviously, is something that he owns, something that he has willfully owned and it's an example of him not being passive, to use your words. he's actually said this is something we are committed to. this is the center piece of what our foreign policy is. peter baker had a piece a few weeks ago on how it's very, very likely that his presidency could be defined by this. and, again, this war shows no sign of letting up or ending. >> harold, when you have conservatives like george will starting to say not exactly what i've been saying, but over the

past couple of months when we talked about more troops over in afghanistan, i sit here thinking about, actually, what bob herbert thinks about it. anybody that lives in the military community, anybody that understands the strain. we've got five military bases in my old district. you understand the strain on the soldiers and these marines and these airmen, and these guys and women in the navy. you can only stretch them for so long. our army is at a breaking point and has been for a very long time. we can't fight another five to ten years in afghanistan. we can't send more troops unless we want to raise taxes so we can rehire those 200,000 people we got rid of in the early '90s from the army. we can't be all things to all people. we have to make choices. all these people signing letters saying, yes, we have to stay the course. fine. where are we going to get the money to get 200,000 more

troops? our guys are exhausted. our women are exhausted over there. >> david petraeus may be the premiere thinking general of our generation, he and mccrystal. george will's piece, pakistan is the main place of battle, he said. without our efforts in afghanistan and our bases there, we would not have the success, limited success with pakistan. if we want more, we probably need to maintain a presence there. i'm going to concur to mccrystal. coming up, news you can't use with willie geist. and also sports with willie geist, including highlights from the u.s. open. what a cinderella story it was. >> i know people have already

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(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. ooh, look at this, live pictures of las vegas. probably somebody laying a bet down right now. let's talk a little sports. 17-year-old melanie oudin is the story of the u.s. open, kid from georgia, steam rolling her way through the u.s. open, only her second u.s. open. win yesterday over nadia petrova will put her in the semi finals. third set, four-hand winner here, took a 3-2 lead in the third set. on matchpoint, hits a little volley. another strong forehand to come back and win the match. she dropped the first set, 6-1, comes back to win 1-6, 7-6, 6-3.

she is the story of the tournament. men's side, meanwhile, roger federer plowing through this field taking on robredo. he wins 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 into the quarter finals. bottom of the eighth, chicago's carlos quentin, two-run home run. boston, 2 1/2 game lead over texas in the a.l. wild card. won both gamesative doubleheader and have a 9-game lead in the a.l. east. oklahoma quarterback bradford went down hard saturday, injured his shoulder against byu. he will return in two to four weeks. they lost that game. uphill climb. miami and florida state,

fourth quarter. miami down 34-31. greg cooper, 3 yard td. last play of the game fsu at home this play to win the game, five seconds left. probably a ball that kid should have caught. he didn't. miami wins 38-34. puts their stamp in that florida rivalry. ohio state quarterback, great player, saturday playing against navy, wore support for michael vick on his face during the ohio state's narrow 37 win. if we zoom in tight, it says vick. on the left, it says mika. i'm not kidding. it's his sister's name, mika. we're not going to focus on that. it says vick on the right. after the game, he explained the public support for vick and probably should have kept it to himself. >> yeah, probably. >> not everybody is the perfect

person in the world. everyone does -- kills people, murders people and steals from you, steals from me, whatever. i just feel that people need to give them a chance. >> everyone kills people, murders people and steals from people. >>o my. >> this is why we know college football coaches generally keep tight wraps on their players. mika, we were just talking about the u.s. open. >> oh, my gosh, i went. my whole family went. we had had a lovely time. >> did you see oudin, the story of the tournament? >> we saw that incredible match williams versus kim clijsters. >> another great story. she left the tour to have a baby and came back. >> i took some pictures. >> look at this. >> yes. i was there at the open. there's john isner, he beat andy roddick, he's kind of tall. >> you look shocked. >> i thought he was standing on furniture. >> mika, i have a question.

>> yes? >> were you in the third press seats, nose bleed seats? >> i know you gave me a pass so i could be in those bad seats, but, no, we were guests of the olympus box. >> of course you were. >> it was amazing. incredible pictures. >> amazing. >> we'll be right back, news you can't use. dear cat. your hair mixes with pollen and dust. i get congested. but now with zyrtec-d®, i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. zyrtec-d® lets me breathe freer, so i can love the air™. (announcer) zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed.

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oh, yes. >> yep. time for news you can't use. joe, i think you'll like this story. >> i'm going to love this. >> hugo chavez, our friend from down in venezuela. he was the toast of the red carpet at the venice film festival over the weekend. his date?

oliver stone. there they are. >> here we go. >> they walked the red carpet. >> oliver stone is against free speech now? >> where is sean penn? >> tv stations that have disagreed with you. >> hugo chavez, a new film by oliver stone about chavez's life, all the good things he has done for his people and his country. signing autographs and shabing hands and they were literally like brangelina. he get ace standing ovation from the people in venice. two guys getting along -- bam, fist bump. stone and chavez. >> seriously, how could it be? this is a guy that shut down opposition press. he is moving toward an authoritarian state and people at the film festival are giving him standing ovations and oliver stone? harold am i alone here?

>> you are not. >> what is this about? >> his disdain for our country and its value zpls so if you hate america, you get a standing ovation even if you shut down tv stations? >> i don't know oliver stone. i've been a fan of some of his movies in the past. i would like to hear him explain. i can understand wanting to cover this guy's life, but this is a little overboard. in the film he says chavez is a democrat, a man of his word and a man willing to fight american imperialism. >> what a moron. >> let's talk about the jerry lewis marathon. this is a lot more fun. labor day weekend, everybody enjoys themselves. jerry went a little off the rails yesterday. >> he did? >> two days ago, excuse me. >> that's okay. >> including attacking one of the sponsors and then getting a lap dance from charo. >> ew, no. >> jerry, i think we have a toast. mr. lewis.

>> there you go. >> i would give anything to see the number up there, but south point put their goddamn advertisement under it. ♪ you know what you started we're on the dance floor acting naughty ♪ >> she was grinding up on him for like a minute, minute and a half. >> they're both 85 years old. that's really problematic. >> who is charo by the way? >> she used to be on -- >> goochy, goochy. >> i said that earlier and -- >> 1974, "love boat". >> i'm julie mccoy. i'll be your cruise director for the day. >> charo was over the hill by the time she started doing the love boat in '78. >> i'm julie mccoy. >> the south american ann margaret, whatever that means. >> what was the sound she makes?

>> i literally don't know what that means. >> coochy coochy coo or something. >> this is why president obama needs to give his speech to children. >> that's disturbing. >> useless air. >> cancel the telethon next year. >> come on. a lot going on today. the president will be speaking in a few hours to america's children. >> oh, my goodness. >> far from being subversive, he will tell them to stay in school, strive to be better students. they could have the best teachers and best facilities, but if they don't work hard and stay in school -- >> like he did zblsh it's to no avail. like he did. >> which is what he wants to talk about.

>> good message. and conservatives should all come out and praise it today. let's see if that happens. >> uh-huh. >> nope. not going to hold my breath on that one. also, big speech tomorrow night. >> huge! >> joint session of congress on health care. we'll talk about what exactly it is he can do. >> harold, is he tipping his hand in speaking before a union group talking about the public option? he's basically saying i'm staying with you guys? >> i disagree with mark and others. he said he liked the public option, but didn't say it had to be in that package. it may have been a way to say to liberals, if we want health reform we'll have to negotiate and compromise. we'll have to wait and see. >> momentous speech. no doubt about it. let's get to the news. the president needs to tell america where he stands. you're going to be playing clips and we'll be talking about it later. the president has gone after his critic, saying that they're lying about his health care plan. the thing, we don't know what his health care plan is, because

he hasn't said what his health care plan is. he will tomorrow night. i tell you, i can't wait to hear what he has to say. >> there is a lot he needs to get done. it will be very interesting to see the strategy there. let's get to our top stories this morning, three minutes past the hour. president obama set to deliver a back to school speech to students across the country today. meant to highlight goals and hard work. still, critics of the move see it to be a political maneuver, meant to influence the young and impressionable. despite that criticism, the white house is getting support from a somewhat surprising source. >> i think that there is a place for the president of the united states to talk to school children and encourage school children. and i think it's also really important for everyone to respect the president of the united states. >> you know, when this news broke, you were the first one on twitter, i think it was, or wherever to say this is ridiculous. this is a good speech. we need to look at this in the right way. but it took a while for others.

>> newt gingrich this past weekend came out, which is good. laura bush came out. >> why couldn't they say it right away? >> i don't know. >> what was the issue? >> i don't understand. if somebody wans to be a leader in the republican party in 2012 when this nonsense goes on out there, people like tim pawlenty, mitt romney, others that want to run the party in 2012, they need to come out, aggressively and separate themselves from such stupidity. >> exactly. >> and call it stupidity. you can call stupid people stupid. >> there is some intentions there. >> what happens is when somebody -- i keep saying mitt romney because he's the presumptive leader, when somebody like mitt romney comes out and says, let's stop this let's stop the insanity, let's stop calling the president a racist, let's stop saying that a president talking to kids is a bad thing, let's just stop

acting childish and debate on the issues. like charles from "the washington post" has done. people will follow that leader. a lot of the stupid, extreme talk will go away. >> the question, why don't they do it? same thing with guest panels. who are they scared of? >> waiting to see where it's going to go. >> every one of them is going like this. i would like for -- again, now is the time for a guy or woman who wants to run this party to step forward and start talking that way. and, you know, mitt romney held a press conference and said i think it's a good thing for students to hear from the president every year. and if the president is not lobbying this many to write letters, it's a good thing. we republicans did it. >> at least do an interview. maybe he doesn't want the press conference, look like he he's running for president. but say something. >> if you do that, you will

offend the 3% of the extremists. again, i keep reminding people of this. john mccain was loathed by conservatives on talk radio and loathed by a lot of the people on the right on the internet. he still won. there are a lot of republicans in the middle that want to hear somebody coming out and saying let's stop being so childish. >> making sense. >> let's debate the issues. let's talk about how the president wants to expand the role of government too much. let's win on ideas. if somebody would do that, they would be shocked by the positive response they get. right now, willie, i think they're afraid of offending the most extreme parts of their base. exactly what we can expect from the president in school today. >> all about challenging students to take personal responsibility for their education, develop their skills, develop their talent, develop their intellect. we can have the best teachers in the world, we can have the most modern facilities, we can have great textbooks, great technology. if students aren't working hard

every single day to improve academically and incident lktually, we're not going to get as a country where we need to go. the president is challenging every single child to step up and build a positive life for themselves. >> meanwhile, the white house is also fending off criticism that led to the resignation of green jobs adviser van jones. jones has made news recently for a youtube clip in which he uses an expletive to describe republicans as well as his signature that appeared on a 9/11 conspiracy website. >> the president thianks van jones for his service in the first eight months in helping to coordinate renewable energy jobs that will lay the foundation for our future. >> why does he want him to go? >> they accepted his resignation because van jones shall as he said in his statement, understood that he was going to get in the way of the president and ultimately this country, moving forward on something as important as creating jobs in a clean energy economy. >> so, the president doesn't endorse, in any way, the thing

that is van jones said before, the things he did? >> he doesn't, but thanks him for his service. >> ooh, thank you very much for your service. makes sense. they had to move on and make it happen over labor day, quietly. >> well, they did. this raises a lot of tough questions, though. why somebody with van jones' background wasn't picked up in this vetting process. i know he was a czar. >> they don't vet as much. >> they may not vet as much. when somebody signs a 9/11 trucer document, that really does suggest that george w. bush and dick cheney killed 3,000 americans on 9/11 so they could launch preemptive wars in the words of this, that is a serious -- once again, the white house missed that. but harold ford, i'm more concerned, really, in the long run with the constitutional aspects of this. i think all of these czars are constitutionally -- are s

subverting the constitution. don't you think the obama administration has gone too far with appointing all these zars that aren't responsible to the united states senate? >> a lot of them don't have purse string authority. this raises your larger question at the beginning of the show, the vetting process might be aided by having some of them go before the senate because maybe these questions would have to be answered in an open form. van jones did the right thing, get on back to business at white house. i would imagine that the president and chief of staff are probably wondering right now, are there other people on staff -- i don't think there are. i don't mean to suggest that in any way. one would have to be somewhat -- raise that question. >> how could they have let this one slip? >> 9/11 trucers is about as bad as you can get. that's something that should have been caught. van jones probably had a lot of contribute but a 9/11 truther

should disqualify you. address to congress tomorrow on his push to overhaul nation's health care system. it comes as the white house tries to maintain momentum for a public option without sacrificing support of moderate democrats. the president is also lashing out at special interest groups for spreading what he calls lies about his plan. >> i've got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we're going to pull the plug on grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants. you've heard all the lies. i've got a question for all those folks. what are you going to do? what's your answer? what's your solution? and you know what? they don't have one. >> i've got one. we don't have to do everything

in 2009. let's fix the economy, grow jobs and then we'll worry about health care. >> what is your solution to health care? >> again, i don't know what his answer to it is. >> we'll find out tomorrow. >> that's why i'm excited about tomorrow night. you can't lie about a plan if there's not a plan. to fill the u.s. senate seat held by late ted kennedy remains open following his nephew's plans not to run. joseph p. kennedy ii said he will focus on his work at a nonprofit organization that provides heating oil to the needy. there's speculation that he would have faced tough questions over that organization and hugo chavez. >> hugo chavez has given free oil to joe kennedy. it's a big story. joe's attitude is, if this helps poor people in new england, i don't care who is giving me the

oil. i want to help poor people in new england. >> i don't have any issue with it. he's not out praising chavez. i think he would have made a good senator. i wish him the best. after a london court found three men guilty for plotting to bomb at least seven transatlantic airliners with explosives in 2006. prosecutors said the plot, if successful, could have killed at least 1,500 and come to rival the attacks of september 11th. >> these jackals is the reason why we had to throw away jack's baby food yesterday before we got on the plane. >> exactly. >> and all my make-up. thanks very much for that. >> yeah. mika lost a lot of make-up because of you. >> it's amazing it was foiled. that's good. live pictures from california where officials say the san francisco bay bridge

will not reopen. traffic delays are expected as crews discovered a crack in the bridge over the weekend. stick around, an e-mail just for you coming up. mccain adviser nicolle wallace, why she says barack obama is inside the bubble. it happens in all white houses. nicole will tell you why she thinks it's happened in this one. american federation of teachers, randy winegarden. sbnchts after the break, our own savannah guthrie. you're watching morning joe brewed by starbucks. bicycle, i've missed you.

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when you ask students to write a letter to the president, that is asking students to push the president's agenda. now that the white house got their hand in the cookie jar caught, they changed everything, redid the lesson plans, released the text and tomorrow he's going to give a speech that every president should have the opportunity to give. this was never about the president speaking to children about the importance of education. it was about the white house writing lesson plans. >> oh. >> the only problem there, chairman greer, is the fact that the president had already -- the white house had already stepped back, stepped back from that whole thing write your president which, again, republican president, presidents of my party, have done in the past. when the chairman still talked about it being a socialist -- pushing the president's socialist agenda. >> we have a lot to ask the

president about. we have a lot we need to hear from him. this just lowers the bar in such a bad way. you did not fix it there. >> what would stop a child from writing to the president, you're pushing health care too fast, we wish you would slow down. the kids can write whatever they want to write. >> whatever they want to write. >> so, i don't understand why greer -- >> let's see what savannah has to say. >> we're going to talk to white house news correspondent for nbc news, savannah guthrie. also, mark leibovich is with us. when willie interviewed savannah this morning -- >> she was multitasking. >> totally disrespectful. >> disrespectful. >> blow drying her hair while i was trying to conduct an interview. >> mark leibovich when we called him up early, also, to preinterview him also on a blow drier. >> no way. >> look at it. you can see how frizzy it is. >> he did a good job.

>> i got it going. >> you do have it going. mark, since we haven't talked to you in 45 minutes, let's start with you. >> more than half an hour. i've been enjoying it. it's great. >> have republicans hurt themselves over the past week or so by just sounding extraordinarily shrill about a president delivering an address to students? >> i don't think they've extraordinarily hurt themselves. certainly, i think the story has maybe run its course, and i think this is probably a good thing that the speech is going to happen today. the indoctrination can continue and we can end this and be on to the next thing. i mean, i think -- i do think it's emblematic of the opposition finding its voice, being somewhat emboldened to just be the opposition party, which six months ago they were maybe less inclined to do. but i do think that -- i read the speech yesterday, have no problem with my kids seeing it. so, it will be -- i don't think

it's going to hurt either party either way. i actually think many of us are ready to move on. >> savannah guthrie, how is the white house feeling about all this so far? are they getting ready for any blow back or are assuming finally people will come to their senses and the topic will move on, obviously a big day tomorrow for the white house? >> reporter: it's interesting. i was talking to a senior aide i called about health reform and he said no, let's talk about this education speech. they want to fire back at critics where conservative critics have way overshot it, way crossed the line, that this is something that will not appeal to the great middle, the notion that president can't speak to school children, stay in school, break the news they're not going to be rappers or basketball stars and stay in school instead. they think the crit beings that took the president on, on this, really went too far and see it as an opening. it should be mentioned, they did have to drop some of the language in a lesson plan that

was submitted that had students -- suggest that students write a letter, saying how they could help the president. they found that to be objectionable enough that they did remove that. they released the speech 24 hours in advance. when you look at the speech it's pretty straight stuff and does not seem to be political or an occasion for the president to indoctrinate children. >> after they dropped that part, the lesson plan to write the letter to the president, after they dropped that -- >> come on. >> -- all conservatives should have said, good. this is fine. >> but seriously. >> here is -- it is the danger, this is one of the problems of pathology in washington, d.c. we saw it for eight years when george w. bush was president, now we're seeing it when barack obama is president. if the president is not my party and i'm part of the political class of washington, d.c., i'm against everything he does. >> right. >> and sometimes that leaves democrats with a republican

president, to do really stupid radical things and sometimes it leads republicans to do really stupid radical things when a democrat is president. >> they should come out with some of the -- you said with the terrible talk of the president's speech. as the numbers have gone down a bit, we've seen the polling, losing points in some areas. you've not seen a corresponding jump in republican numbers, which leads to your point. you have to be for something and willing to denounce things that are stupid. i hope the president starts a tradition and begins speaking every year, and i hope his successor, six, seven years from now, will do the same thing. >> absolutely. >> i agree. >> when i was in school, i would have loved for ronald reagan to spoke to me and so would my parents. my dad was a member of congress, a democrat, saying the president is going to my kids' school. great thing. >> i love it. in fact, i want my 6-year-old to hear this speech today, and i hope president, savannah

guthrie, i think this could be part of a tradition. i think it's been 15 years since the president has spoken in schools. i think it's a good thing. so, savannah, they're going to be talking about this today, trying to beat up on some of their more extreme conservative critics. then, obviously, everything shifts to health care, right? >> yeah. in fact, the president will meet with speaker pelosi and leader reid to discuss strategy going forward. there's going to be action on the hill where senator baucus and that gang of six have been trying to reach a bipartisan dea deal. ba baucus has floated a deal and it's where the rubber meets the road on whether those negotiating are ready to get on board. wednesday, this big speech, the joint address to congress. i'm told by more than one aide he will get specific. so, we will walk away from this, knowing the contours of a quote, unquote, obama plan.

on that key issue of the public option, whether or not this should be a government-run insurance option alongside private insurance, he will continue to walk that line. he will support it, says he thinks it's the best way to accomplish choice and competition, but won't draw a line in the sand. >> let's ask about the van jones situation. you had the saturday night midnight massacre. >> goodness. >> van jones fired. he actually quit voluntarily, i'm sure. i don't think so. late saturday night. this has to be an embarrassment for the white house with so many things going on. this guy, former communist, they couldn't forgive him for the truther document, said very intemperate things. here, this guy called republicans a-holes repeatedly in speeches. this guy, we call this guy in the south a run away beer truck. how did he get appointed? and is the white house

embarrassed this morning? >> reporter: i think there is some embarrassment. it really exposes a vulnerability in the vetting process and this is a white house that has had its share of vetting problems with higher officials. he was probably considered a mid-level aide, recruited by the administration because of his expertise in green jobs. as you just cataloged, there was a long history with some controversial statements, signing on to that 9/11 conspiracy petition. there's no way the white house can defend that. he offered his resignation, that classic washington bury the story, i got the press release on my blackberry midnight on saturday on my way back -- from vacation. >> labor day weekend. >> exactly. so, to the extent they wanted to bury it, in some ways it's working. on the other hand, we're talking about it. it did get a lot of coverage. it's an embarrassment for the white house. they need to move on. >> are you a truther, they need to put that question -- >> are you a truther, have you

now or ever been a berther? do you think they're embarrassed by van jones? >> marginally, but it does show problems in the vetting process. the timing is not peculiar. i mean, they wanted this to sort of go away. i also think that later in the week, you're going to have the first 9/11 anniversary with president obama in the white house. and i think, you know, beyond the had health care speech that's going to be a very interesting image and interesting episode to sort of watch. and i think the farther that is in the past, the better it is for the administration. >> you know, we had van on the show here a couple of times. >> yeah, we did. he's good. >> good guy. seemed like a good guy. we all have our past. i've got mine. unfortunately, most of it on film. >> right on film. right on tape. >> but he's a very engaging guy, best-selling author.

boy -- whoo! >> savannah guthrie. >> hold on a second. i'm not done. we've got an e-mail to read for our good friend mark leibovich. >> i want to hear this. >> you need fans like this, savannah. >> phd, willie, joe and mika, fabulous, the bald headed guy on earlier is not nearly as smart as you would like him to be. i can imagine him in a context where his intellect would not be important. >> hold on. that's early in the morning for that kind of stuff. >> signed chris matthews. >> i don't think so. >> thank you, chris. appreciate it. >> oh, my gosh. we'll be right back. >> savannah, thanks. ( conversation ) garth, you're up. hold on, i'm at capitalone.com picking a photo... for my credit card. here's one from my prom. oh, what memories. how 'bout one from our golf outing? ( shouting )

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welcome back. as parents send their kids off to college this year, there are swine flu fears in full force. here is kevin tibbles. >> reporter: on college campuses across the country, the kids are moving in. at chicago's depaul university like elsewhere, there's an uninvited guest, the swine flu. >> swine flu or not, i've always lived at home with my family. so it's different, living in a place with this many people. >> you have to be a little concerned. what can they do? they have to go to school. >> college websites counsel students on what to do should they feel ill.

>> avoid shaking hands with people who are sick, covering your mouth when you sneeze and cough. >> reporter: according to the centers of disease control, this outbreak first started in the southeast where classes opened the earliest, but has spread quickly. >> we're going to start seeing an uptick in cases and we're likely to see that uptick before the vaccine is available. >> reporter: past times like college football have taken a hit. at washington state university, 2,200 students may have come down with h1n1. at emory university in atlanta, a vacant dorm building is now being used to house infected students and have nicknamed it swine u. here at the university of illinois chicago, they're planning to offer the common flu vaccine to all 26,000 students, and the h1n1 vaccine, as soon as it's on the market. >> our plan is to hope for the best, prepare for the worst. >> reporter: but the new vaccine won't be available until some

time next month. and crowded campuses are perfect places for the virus to spread. so, students are being advised to wash their hands with soap or hand san advertiser regularly. and if they feel sick, see a doctor. >> you know what i'm going to start doing because of that? >> what? >> i'm going to start taking a shower more than once every two weeks. >> that would be great. that was kevin tibbles reporting. >> we all have to pitch in. >> i'll drink to that. are you serious? >> by the way, my son is very -- i'm serious. my son, university of alabama, very nervous. >> we need to stay on this story. >> a lot of kids are. nicolle wallace up next on "morning joe." goodwrench... we roll out the blue carpet for drivers of these great gm brands. we can do the small things, the big things, just about everything... right inside your gm dealership. find out more at goodwrench.com.

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>> all right. welcome back. here with us now, republican strategist and former senior political adviser to the mccain/palin campaign and former communications director to president bush, nicolle wallace. she writes you can overcome sinking poll numbers shall but when the public no longer sees you as someone who understands the problems the american people are facing, you're trapped inside the presidential bubble. and you've got a serious problem on your hands. obama became a full-time resident of the bubble and he's going to have a hard time climbing out. that's an interesting and good way of putting it. >> nicolle, you say also in the piece that the bush team got inside that bubble. i was talking to john kerry about running for president one time and he said you get inside that bubble. i couldn't believe the ads that were running. i sit there calling washington,

what's going on here? >> right. >> everybody gets inside this bubble. >> we're so -- i flipped through the papers yesterday. "new york times," pro-obama "new york times," talking about his numbers in the tank. poll numbers bounce back. they bounce back like a rubber band when you have a legislative victory or based on events. but the more serious problem -- i don't think the school brew had an had an has anything to do with the president. they didn't do that gut check that says we're in the middle of a national debate and we're talking about the role of government in people's lives. maybe we should recast this. >> either way, i need to also bring up that in this piece, uh-uh actually sounded sympathetic to the obama staff. a lot of people out there are saying she's just saying this because she's a republican and she worked for george bush.

you actually sounded sympathetic, saying you get so overwhelmed inside the white house. nobody is sitting there going, we're going to indoctrinate children. somebody along the line said hey have them write a letter and it slipped through. the red flag didn't go up because, as you said, they're exhausted and you work around the clock. >> your brilliant moments aren't as strategically planned out as you get credit for and your failures are never as diabolical as crit beings say they are. >> party hacks, not conservatives, party hacks that have decided to use this to attack this president. nicolle, it would be one thing if the white house said no, damn it, those kids are going to write those letters. then i would be attacking the white house every morning. but then they dropped it.

are you like me? i know you're not and you don't want to admit to anybody that you are, but you see a lot of things our side has been saying, death panels. you just rolled your eyes and say stop hyperventilating. we can win on the issues. >> the road back to electoral success is not on death panels. laura bush is always right where the majority of the public is. and i know that it discouraged her that the president, never mind what the head of the party does in that capacity, but the american president deserves respect. >> yeah. >> well, and the conservative voice out there should be a conservative voice, truly conservative one. this doesn't seem to me to represent that. it seems like it's potentially very damaging. >> harold, you saw it when george w. bush was president, when reagan was president, when bush i was president and

sometimes extremes in your own party just hate the guy that's in the office, no matter what. >> for the sake of it. >> respect for the office is in decline. mika touched on it well at the outset of the show. it's in decline. what someone called traditional media to more youtube, blogging and as a result, people hold politicians in the highest office in the land, put aside the occupants, with less respect. >> and it's been that way. >> it's worsened over the years. democrats did it to george bush and now you see it happening with this president. the question i would have for nicolle, i think your piece is pretty precedent. what advice would you have for those in that bubble to reconnect the president, the senior staff with the realities of what's happening on the ground to help them reengage the country in a way that could prove successful? >> nobody better at this than karen hughes in the bush white house. >> qulo think karen is going to come work for president obama. >> we would be debating social security, should we do a panel, a commission, should we do a

committee, should there be a subcommittee and she would say i was in the produce aisle squeezing tomatoes and this woman said as long as it doesn't affect me, i'm all for fixing it for the future. sometimes the people who are interacting with parents at school, and it's hard. it's so hard. you don't get a lot of -- >> all you do is work. once you go to the white house, don't you, you go to work before the sun goes up. >> that's right. >> you come home after the sun goes down. it is very hard. you don't have a balanced life when you work in the white house. >> that's right. >> you work all the time. >> you're estranged from the people in your own orbit who are in touch with what people are talking about at the playground. you're no longer at the grocery store or the playground. you don't really know. i do think -- i want to cut conservatives a little bit of slack here. we are having a really important debate about the role of government in american life. i think it is inappropriate to have objected so forcefully and in a tacky manor to the

president speaking to children. opponents who are pushing on the other side of this expanded role of government people's lives as political enemies. they are decent people who have a very different philosophy. >> that's what we say upsets the extremes on the left just as mitt romney has a responsibility, republicans have a responsibility to call out people on the death panel talk, barack obama has a responsibility with the speaker of the house to suggest that people going to town hall meetings are engaging in, quote, unamerican tactics. when harry reid, the leader of the senate -- these ain't bloggers. these are people running our country. when harry reid calls americans, quote, evil -- let me say it again. the leader of the senate called americans evil that were going to town hall meetings, then you have the president and leading democrats that have a responsibility to say stop

talking that way. >> no excuse for that. at the same time, what they're responding to -- this is what we have a real problem with, with the internet as opposed to the mainstream media taking hold of the message, is distorsions out there. people being distrusted with the information. >> what are you talking about, harry reid calling people evil? >> this is in response to distorsion. >> but you know what you say? >> no excuse. >> you try to make an excuse. >> no. i'm explaining that there are distortions on the far right, just as bad. >> mika, i have been saying that. >> you have been saying that, too. >> you don't have to -- >> the problem is on the internet. >> no, the problem is i was talking about conservatives this morning and one time i bring up democrats, you go conservatives -- yes, i've been saying that. >> no. i -- >> nicolle, i'm sorry. >> in fairness to president obama, the white house did distance themselves from your comments. >> did they say -- they just said we disagree. >> the president himself went on to say we welcome all of these

views. i don't think any of these people are unpatriotic or lack the right to say these things. maybe it should have been more forceful. >> ridiculous. >> nicolle, leaders on the right and the left need to call out the extremists on both sides. >> we need some referees. >> and the referees can be the leaders of the party, president obama and whoever wants to replace -- >> nicolle, stick around. more coming up, randy weingarten will join us. there was a time i wouldn't step out of the house

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we have 1.2 million students every single year dropping out. i'm convinced we have to better educate our way to a new economy. you can't pay attention to the adult talk and focused on how d dramatically improve education for our children and how to give them a chance to fulfill their potential. that's the only way we are going to get there as a country. >> i just got a e-mail from a friend of mine, and there was a teacher that told the district that it can't be shown in the school. >> are you sure? that's in lancaster county? >> yes. that's what they are thinking in the district. >> i can't believe that. >> i have a hard time, too. it seems ridiculous. >> we are joined by the american

federation of reachers. is this possible they are going to ban this in school? >> given the kind of frenzy that happened last week, i guess anything is possible. but take a step back. i think that what happened is people got chilled out when they saw the speech yesterday. but teachers have wanted role models to help keep kids in schools. the fact that president reagan did it and president bush did it, president obama was saying let me talk to kids and keep them in school. let me tell them to do their homework. that's a good thing and not a bad thing. >> what is the american federation of teachers' position on this?

>> we are encouraging the speech. we think it's really important to do. obviously if parents don't want their kids to see the speech, they have a right not to let their kids see the speech. but the speech itself -- again, let's take a step back. education is shared responsibility. we need role models out there telling kids stay in school, and this is what you can become. when you read the speech and he talked about kids that were beating the odds, that was tur riff terrific. i assume he will look kids in the eye and say, stay in school. >> we are starting to hear a lot of democrats and people around the table saying the unions need to fall in line.

for too long teachers' unions have been more concerned with teachers' jobs instead of education. >> i think what happens is that, you know, just like with that quote about the al schanker. >> yeah, every conservative knows that quote, when he said they will pay attention to kids when they start paying union dues. >> i worked with al the last 12 years of his life. he was not about that. he was about high expectations for kids and teachers. if you looked at everything we did for the education in new

york for the last 12 years, it's all about turning this around. >> you know, if they come and say we want merit pay and want to get rid of teachers that under performing. >> we have to do what is good for kids and good for teachers. one sound byte trumps all others. ultimately we will fight for fairness. most often is what happens if we are fighting for the teaching conditions, teachers need to help kids and the learning conditions kids need, appears good thing. now, am i saying that things are not broken? we need to see things are broken. >> merit pay, is that good? >> if we do differentiations,

and some call it merit pay, that's a good thing. we have to help teachers do a better job. if they are not, lots of locals arnld the country -- i am going to one right close to buffalo after the show where we counsel teachers in the procession if they are not doing a good job. we want to make sure teachers do a good job. we need everybody else's help as well. we are working with secretary duncan, and he was with me in st. lewis when we were doing a turn around there. we are seeing when people work together on behalf of kids, we are doing great work. >> nicole? >> how do you begin to pull politics out of this? this is super polarized and political? >> this is the good news and bad

news. the good news is education is important. the moment it becomes important then it also becomes political. when it becomes political, a blame game. i think what we are trying to do is saying there should be shared responsibility and all of us have to step up. we are talking to locals around the country about taking risks and doing things differently, because it's about what do we do to help them in this economy. >> yeah, we would love for you to come back, randi and continue this education. >> well, this school district in lancaster county, the superintendent sent a teachers an e-mail saying it will not be aired because of the parents.

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welcome back to "morning joe." willie geist is going to takous a magical mystery tour around this great line that we call american, starting with the s cement. >> los angeles, nothing coming or going. and then here it is, las vegas. and st. louis, the gateway to the west -- oh, we are skipping

st. louis. when i think of miami, i think of that shot right there. what is that? >> i want to see people lounging around. >> i can do south beach as well. and how about right on to new york city. >> south beach probably enjoys you. >> and there is new york city looking south to the empire state building. that has been the tour of the country. >> one minute past the top of the hour. welcome to "morning joe," everyone. >> top of the hour.

lots -- what? what? >> it's the boys with the faraway look in their eyes. willie is thinking about south beach. you got married in south beach? >> no, in miami. >> they have churches down there? >> yes. >> i am just kidding. >> apparently some are not going to air the speech, and that's ridiculous. >> okay. come on. >> i think bashing the voices that some people are taking seriously? >> i can't say that, chris. he just said something in my r ear. >> what did he say? >> i can't say.

>> what did you say, chris? >> something about porn. leave it alone. >> nicole said she specifically wanted to talk about that. >> can we go back to south beach? >> time for a look -- and al hunt is with us later. >> al loves south beach. president obama is set to deliver a back-to-school speech, and some critics are against this. >> i think that there is a place for the president of the united states to talk to schoolchildren and encourage schoolchildren.

i think it's also really important for everybody to respect the president of the united states. >> president reagan did it. george bush did it. i read the speech yesterday. if he could give the speech tomorrow night in the tone of the speech to the students, the country would be much better off. it's a good speech. i would love to have every child in america read it and think about it and learn that they should stay in school and study. >> oh, i am glad we heard from him on that. >> okay. two out of 30 million. not bad. laura bush and newt gingrich. >> we are glad they both came out and said that. >> little late. and then the resignation of

green jobs advisor, van jones. >> the president thanks van jones for his service for the first eight months. they were going to lay the foundation -- >> but the president -- >> well they accepted his resignation, because he understood that he was going to get in the way of the president and ultimately this country moving forward on something as important as creating jobs in a clean energy economy. >> so the president doesn't endorse the things that van jones said before or did? >> he doesn't, but he thanks him for the service. >> yeah, and now get the hell out. >> yeah.

now the push to over haul the health care system. the president also is lashing out at special interest groups for spreading what he calls lies about his plan. >> i have a question for all of the folks that say we are going to pull the plug on grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants. you have heard all the lies. i have got a question for all of those folks. what are you going to do? what is your answer? what is your solution? and you know what? they don't have one! >> with us is the sclutive editor for political news and host of the greatest show ever about politics, al hunt. the president delivers a speech

tomorrow night. i am curious what your take is on his address to the union where he supported the public option and sounded like he was revving up his base. is this president going to move left or do you think he will move center? >> he will thread a needle carefully, because if he gets republicans on this, that will be icing. he has to keep together the democrats. the blue dog democrats will have to accept taxes and fees they don't like, and the liberals will have to live with a public option, and so a very difficult needle of thread. he lost control in august and it will be tough to get it back. >> how does he do it? >> how does he make the speech

momentous. >> for the democrats it's a disaster if they do nothing. if they do nothing it's 1994 all over again. you know what that meant. >> yeah. people like me getting elected the next year. >> i thought panama city has never been as well represented, joe. >> thank you, brother. >> they can't let the perfect be the enemy of good. if they don't pass the bill, they will lose the seats in the house. that's for sure. >> and i was there when president bush was able to hold on to republicans. give me three things you believe democrats have to have for the president to enjoy support --

>> by the way, since you did not listen to southern baptist preachers growing up, so if you give us one point instead of three that's good as well. >> i am black, and they wouldn't let me in their church. >> oh, come on. >> harold, i think that there are some stuff they can do like banning existing conditions for insurance, and expand coverage and not get 98 or 99%, but coverage has to be expanded and a reasonable effort at cost control. and the liberals are not going to get the kind of public option they want. there is no chance of that. the conservatives will have to accept higher fees. the tradeoff doing nothing is

bad for both sides, especially the democrats. >> hi, al. >> hi, nicole, how are you? >> great. how are you doing? >> good. >> whose reaction matters most? >> well, i am interested in blue dog democrats and interested in some of the senate liberals like a jay rockefeller are going to say i did not like everything but can buy off of most of it. the one republican will call on is olympia snow. >> well, it seems to me, al, you are talking about the blue dogs and you have six, seven or eight moderate democrats in the senate, they are the ones that decide whether the bill passes or not, right? >> yeah, i cannot imagine a bill getting 56 or 57 votes in the

senate and losing because four or five liberals did not vote for it. i think obama has enough clout. and pelosi will make sure she will deliver enough votes. it's not as easy in the house as some suggests. >> wow. explain that to me. to get a 79-vote margin. who does the president loose? >> look at the vote in the energy and commerce committee. the leadership is backed down from some of the weighs and means tax proposals. you have liberal complaints. i think they are going to get a bill through the house. it's not a slam dunk. >> earlier you said that failure would be bad for both sides. why for both sides? some conservatives think maybe hold off a year and do it when you have the time to think it out. why would it be a failure for the republican side? >> well, i think it would be a

great success for the republican side, but it would be bad for both sides of the democrats. >> will there be a risk that the republicans, them looking like they defreud -- >> no, no. there is a new poll? ok okay. al, let's move on to afghanistan. the problem seems much more vexing for the white house, if that's possible. you have more conservatives coming out. no nonsense marine confident in the past saying we got to get out and we cannot keep fighting the wars in afghanistan and

iraq. what is the president going to do? >> i don't think he will get out. he said a few months ago it's a whaar of necessity. how much does he increase or escalate? there was a piece in the "new york times" quoting intelligence people saying by escalating we are driving more people in the taliban camp. it's a incredibly difficult dilemma. >> yeah, and the president is in a lose-lose situation. if he doesn't follow what the generals recommend, not order, but what they recommend, then he will be attacked from the right. if he does follow what the generals recommend, he is attacked by his own base. >> yeah, that's the politics. and what the substance is, as

important as afghanistan may be, the important thing is pakistan. what affect does it have on pakistan? that has to be the bottom line consideration. it's the foreign policy equivalent of health care, a dicey dilemma. >> you mention the politics have it. president obama put in place a new general in afghanistan, general mccrystal. if mcchrystal makes a set of recommendations and the president doesn't follow, but don't they merge at that point? >> yeah, i think that's unlikely to happen. i think these things are worked out ahead of time. there is not likely to be a public disagreement between the commanding general and the president of the united states. how they work it out will be dicey. but they have capable people there. that general is capable. and they know how to put deals together. they face a very, very difficult

situation there. they have capable people dealing with it. >> nicole? >> do you think afghanistan, on so many issues barack obama talked about what he inherited, and he now has his team in place, and this is his general, he picked secretary gates and they appear to be working well together. how much more do you think we will hear him blame the problems on the past. it's a cornerstone of their message to say we inherited a real mess. how long do you think people will have the patience for that message? >> afghanistan is obama's war now. it's not going to work in afghanistan. that's his. >> before we leave. we will turn the tables a bit. you are allowed to ask nicole

any questions about levi. go ahead. >> tell me this. levi and sarah, just tell me if you think there will be a wre wreck -- reconciliation? >> not likely. >> nicole, we are sorry. >> she had nothing to do. >> i refuse to read the article, because it's scummy they would give this boy a platform forgettiforge getting his girlfriend pregnant. coming up, a check on business before the bell with cnbc's erin burnett. and then, john fogerty will

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we're trying to find joe? john fogerty in the green room, and therefore my cohost left me. nicole wallace and i can takeover. it's a men's session because they are leaving the workforce

because they get paid more and they smell. now, "new york times" columnist, nick, good to have you back. and former "new york times" reporter and reporter, coauthors of a book "half the sky." i love it. thank you for coming on the show together. you said you would behave. >> yeah, when you said that bit about men smelling, i was a bit concerned. >> i did not say that i would behalf. tell us about the book and what you are hoping to accomplish with it. it looks amazing. we will start with you, nick? >> we think the central moral challenge for the century is a better equality for men and women around the world. if you want to fight poverty or extremism you have to do that by educating girls and bringing them into the labor force around the world.

>> how do you turn oppression, and in parts of the world where you studied, it's riddled with what keeps women back, and how do you turn that into an opportunity? >> you have to start with education. that's a long-term solution. but you can start now. you educate a girl, and you basically give her the way to live her life more reasonably. she can raise her kids better when she becomes more educated. she has fewer kids and that helps with population control. and she contributes to the household economy. >> what i read nick is that women are the answer to trying to solve the problems in countries that are struggling, and they have not -- their talents have not been capitalized on being able to get things done? >> we had to experiment with that in china. we wrote about a girl about to drop out of school, and a new

yorker tried to send $100 to try and help her, and the bank made a mistake and spend $10,000 and as a result that whole town was transformed and is much richer than others. it was a lesson to us and the need for more bank errors. no, not really. >> we are investigating afghanistan all the time here, and i doubt our position is far off. i don't think that our military can keep skipping the way it is, and i don't think that we can win that woar, but if we leave the taliban gets controlled and the women get savaged. >> yeah, my view is that we should continue but with a smaller footprint.

sending in more troops creates more problems in some areas. but we need soft power aside from hard power. in pakistan, we vested $11 billion to improve it there. if we invested that for educating girls, it would be better off. bangladesh educated girls. >> i know laura bush tapped into those issues and was on the frontlines during the bush administration. who are the warriors on the front lines inside the federal government, and inside the obama administration? >> number one, you have hillary clinton. she already has done a lot to visit india and also in the congo. how many secretary of states ever have been to congo? >> how can they help?

how do you take on the world's women and make a difference? >> it has to be a combined effort. passing laws and going from the top down is necessary, but it's not the only answer. you really need the will to change. and the political will comes from the people demanding change. it has to be from across the country. people have to say we want change. >> what about women in the arab world, in shia regions where -- i remember talking to a guy, a true believer in what george w. bush was doing and what we were doing in iraq, and a year and a half into it he said i think we will still do all right, but he said the way the shiites treat their women i wonder what we are fighting for here. is sit up to the woman in the arab world to quietly win it

over? >> no, it has to be a joint effort. islam used to be a much more progressive religion. they never modernized the way the rest of the regions did. they need to change and some of that starts with education. education is important. it's not the only key. you vls also have to allow wome into the workforce. >> do shiites treat their women worse than -- >> well, it depends on the country. afghanistan is the bottom of the barrel. and that's sunni, of course. >> dan rather when he comes in and talks about the trips, he says let's get to the women and educate them and everything else will follow. that's a opportunity being squandered in a sense. >> yeah, and the book we

describe in somalia where a bunch of of women in connecticut help out there. >> what can americans do to help women across the world? >> we have a website where we list organizations active in this area. >> it's really easy. take 15 minutes to look on the internet and just browse, and then choose the issue you care about, rape, infant mortality, or what? choose your organization that you want to help. >> thank you both so much. "half of sky," and stick around

if you could for our political round table. we will have our cnbc's erin burnett live at the new york stock exchange next. paying $8 a day for lunch

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welcome back. the futures are look up at the

moment. let's get a check before the bell from erin burnett. >> we will have a much higher open, joe. that's really all i can say about it, because there does not seem to be a reason for it. the reason i say that, you have a big deal potentially. cadbury doesn't want a part of kraft. sometimes that makes investors getting excited feeling better about futures and deals are happening, and everything will go back to the way it was. it's a food deal, and maybe kraft is buying that because its own gross stunk. but you take a rally where you can get it. the weakness of last week and the weakness of september in general, and joe, what item

sales rose 90% from last year? >> toilet paper. plunge plungers. >> toilet paper sales, if they were up 90% all around the country? >> what potty mouth answer do you have? >> chinese cars. cars in china, in one month they sold 858,300 cars in august. that's going to bump maybe the market there and the economy. >> in china? >> yeah, they are doing it because of all of the stimulus packages. it races the same question as every other data point from around the world. now that everybody has a car, what then? >> okay. >> maybe they are going to the score and buying the costco bulk

toilet paper? i don't know. >> erin says she is upset, she will leave town because the lincoln center keeps playing operas at night. >> it's the same opera. it starts with the same da, da, da sort of thing. >> all right. you have had it with michaelture. >> that will be fine. erin burnett, thank you so much. coming up, john fogerty will be on the set right here on "morning joe." also the political round table. stick around, we'll be right back.

in recent years the american dream seems like it is slipping

away, because from washington to wall street too often a different attitude prevails. selfishness over sacrifice, and greed. it may have worked out for those at the top but it did not work out for you and for our country. >> welcome back. time for the political round table. president obama looks like he is back on the campaign trail, sort of. >> yeah, the question is who is he trying to chin up, his face on the left or in the middle. >> i think he will try to win back a lot of his supporters who have been antagonized and alienated. he needs to reach out and assure people in the center who are turning away in droves. it's going to be a delicate walk

for him. >> yeah, and the question is can you please nancy pelosi supporters and claire mccaskill supporters. a lot of people on the left cannot understand why claire mccaskill is ringing her hands. >> yeah, and on the other hand i think it's putting fear in other democrats. they want obama to lose on this. it's in their best interest. it may be out of desperation, democrats will come together more. >> yeah. nicole, you asked a great question of al hunt, who is the first person he will speak to after the speech. who is the first person you will see as to whether the president threaded the needle? >> well, i will see if nancy

pelosi looks unhappy during the speech, then he will have hit a home run. >> let's talk about the school speech -- >> which is happening today. the president is speaking to the nation's schoolchildren, that is in school districts actually carrying, and i know of several that are not because of extremists that said this speech will be a form of indoctrination. i think we heard from other republicans that agree with you. >> president reagan did it and president george bush did it. if he can give a speech in the tone of his speech today of the students this country would be much better off. it's a good speech. i recommend it to everybody if you have doubts.

each child in america should look at it and read it and stay in school and study. >> i am glad he came out and said that. >> it has been a silly week this past week, hasn't it? >> yeah, how much more controversial can you get to tell people to go to school and work hard? >> well, i think these messages were spread so quickly. we have school systems not showing it because parents have spoken out. they are hearing the radical messages. >> well, i think it's interesting that democrats have been good in most areas of fighting poverty, and one is education. >> why haven't they been as successful in education? >> well, i think frankly they get an awful lot of support from teachers' unions, and that has been a real force for stifling

createtively and reform on the part of democrats. >> it sounds like randy and the teachers' union may have gotten the message. she was talking about the possibility of merit pay and teachers that are not performing are encouraged to leave. >> she said the right things, but it's always more difficult at the state level, like in california where the teachers have the state in a strangle hold. >> it is both sides. we bickered about this a bit, but you are right that both sides have used ridiculous language and distortions of the facts when it comes to health care. >> yeah, and afghanistan is a big issue. what happens to the woman in

afghanistan if we get out like some are suggesting? >> there are lots of risks to take with anything, even with iraq we had the same issues. i don't think that would be good. i think one has to maintain stability, and then build education on top of stability. if you don't have stability, you don't have education. >> and then we lessen the footprint. we don't add more troops in there. >> we protect kandahar and we don't try to control every rural town in kandahar province. >> new book out today, "half the sky." we'll be right back with rock legend, john fogerty, here on the set. i'm here on this tiny little plane, and guess what...

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thank you for being with us. as i said off camera, you are mccartney, townsand and you. >> he is like a little girl. very excited today. >> thank you. >> this is a great cd where you go back to songs you loved listening to. how did you pick them out? >> these are songs that i loved for a long time and they live inside of me. >> we are talking about "garden party." >> that means a whole lot to me. my wife suggested that one. and she at the same time suggested that it would be great if you sing it with the eagles. >> you have john henley, another

great, and timothy schmidt from the eagles. >> yeah, they sound great. >> the song itself, my wife, julie bought, sounds like my story. i always have certainly found some resonance in it, especially if memories were all i sang i would rather drive a truck. >> yeah, and that was his way of telling people to kiss off. the 1970s, a lot of us, huge fans, we missed you, and, again, you did it your way and you did not come back until it was on your terms? >> yeah, and probably that was career suicide. but, you know, you have to do what you have got to do. >> exactly. other songs on here. i was surprised a rock star like you -- i love the fact that you put a john denver song on here,

not somebody that you would expect john fogerty to be listening to, but "back home again," and that's a great song by john denver. >> yeah, it just had the song -- it sounded like the early sun records. the big guitar strumming. john denver had a wonderful angelic voice. i don't. i was terrified about doing that song, "back home again," and julie kept saying it would sound good with your voice. with that kind of inspiration behind you, i wanted to give it a try. >> yeah, and you were listening to somebody you trust? >> yes, very much. julie, we are a team, and she is my best friend, you know. >> you got bruce springsteen involved in this?

>> yeah, you got the boss. >> yeah, an old song done by linda rondstadt, "when will i be loved." >> this was her idea again. i am sure glad it happened. i am really grateful and thankful to get a chance to work with bruce. it turned out really nice. it's fun. >> i am curious as to what your crowds look like. i had a friend of mine going out to the hollywood bowl and was blown away from your performance. you have a whole new generation -- my parents are surprised i love the rolling stones and the music of their era. are you surprised about the crowds? >> yeah, when i started touring i would say the majority of the

audience was the boomer generation, and now it's sort of gone both ways. there is a lot of little kids at the concerts now. i love children, so i always try to go up to them or throw them a pick or do something. >> tell us about change in the weather, one of your own? >> that's a strong that was on my album called "eye of the zombie" in 1986. it's not an album that i refer to a lot. it was sort of dark and uncomfortable. how i say it, this was a song that was on a bad album. it was great to be able to kind of do it in the blue ridge style. it's more loose and relaxed and an earthy sound. >> so you got a chance to do it again? >> yeah. >> not produce it quite so much, and let the -- >> well, it's more like back

porch guys having a good time. that's throughout this album. i really like that. i have a bunch of musicians playing, and just, you know, everybody got a chance to chime in. they are all playing, but in a respectful way. when it's not their time to be soloing, and it's more organic and fun. >> it's great to have you here. >> thank you. >> great honor. we appreciate it. i have to tell you, even mika, who is a cultural illiterate will absolutely love it. >> absolutely. >> hope you come back. >> you bet, joe. thank you. when we come back, what, if anything, have we learned today.

here is your business travel forecast. the trouble spot along the eastern seaboard. wet weather around washington, d.c. we could have possible airport delays. cloudy in new york and the clouds will increase in boston later today. chance of showers in detroit. anybody traveling out west it looks great from denver to seattle. have a great tuesday. there was a time i wouldn't step out of the house

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we're back on. this time of the show, what we talk about today, dylan ratigan is back. he is thin because he has been pass the out on a boat somewhere. what did you learn today willie? >> the love affair between

oliver stone and hugo chavez took a steamy turn in vegas. they looked lovely together. >> i don't understand that. nicole, what did you learn? >> they are leabuying a lot of s in china, and according to erin, it could be or could not be a reason to go and buy toilet paper at costco. >> what i learned today is that there are good people, nice people on both sides of the political sides, but i would rather talk about music. >> i like it. i have been getting e-mail frz across pennsylvania, and they are not showing the president's speech. are you serious? are you serious?