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speech. what the president said and did not say to school children. >> these are our kids. and we will talk to them about political happenings, not you. >> plus, with parents going to far to withhold their kids from school, did conservatives overreact? what happens when more pressing issues are addressed in the future? plus a preview of tomorrow's big obama speech. divide within the democratic party and the so-called gang of six trying to workout a last ditch effort to reach a compromise, why the president's speech is already putting new pressure on lawmakers. obama's war. four more u.s. soldiers lost their lives in afghanistan today. now there are more questions about adding u.s. troops. will it really help defeat the taliban or just put us deeper into a quagmire. we're live on the ground. to infinity and beyond. the pint-sized guy the space shuttle astronauts are bringing

back to earth. plus a fresh debate over sugary cereals. they taste good, but are they bad for you? do the latest claims cross the line? good afternoon, everybody. i'm david shuster live in washington. >> hey there, david. i'm tamron hall live in new york. president obama's back to school speech. the president addressed students at wakefield high school in arlington, virginia, this afternoon. the president went ahead with the hotly debated speech and ignored claims from some critics he would promote a u political agen agenda. the president did not mention pole ti politics but instead encouraged students to work hard. >> we need every single one of you to develop your talent, skills and intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. if you don't do that, if you quit on school, you're not just quitting on yourself. you're quitting on your country. >> the speech was available to students across the country.

so they could listen in to the president's back to school address. but not everyone tuned in. some school districts in states like texas, illinois, minnesota, virginia, missouri, and wisconsin chose not to air the president's speech. nbc's michelle kosinski is live outside west broward high school in florida where students were able to hear the president. i know you've spoken with parents on both sides of the debate. now that the speech is done, over, all 17 minutes of it, what was the final reaction? >> reporter: right. well, not only could they listen to the speech here, but they had to listen to it in broward county schools. that's unusual. we haven't heard of another district where it was mandatory. but the superintendent came out and said, look, this is part of our broad education that we feel a responsibility to provide for all students. and if we had kids opt out, we give them something else to do if they didn't want to watch it or if parents complained, that would not align with our already established principles along

those lines. but neighboring districts, miami-dade county, palm beach county, down in the keys, they all gave students an option as we saw in many other areas. in some of those cases lawyers got involved. parents started calling school districts. the districts consulted their attorneys and said, what should we do? in many cases the recommendation was we ought to give them some option. such controversy here. wasn't it just days ago we were debating over whether or not michelle obama should wear shorts in public? it seems like anything to do with politics or the obamas, we need a detailed discussion of all elements of this. well, here's what the students had to say. >> i really don't understand why people wouldn't want their children to watch it. because it was very informational and there was nothing -- no, like, controversy for me. i mean, it wasn't anything that he touched on as a topic that was awkward or anything. i thought it was great. >> people went over and over thinking it was all about

politics and all this stuff. it wasn't like that. it was just for us to stay in school. >> reporter: in all fairness, among many of the parents complaining about this it wasn't necessarily the content which so many people were able to read ahead of time. they knew it wasn't political in nature. for some parents it was the timing. health care. the fact that the white house put out a proposed lesson plan that initially said write how you can help the president meet his educational goals. all in all, people here felt happy that they watched it. >> there was even a change of heart, i think you can say. the florida gop chair who initially accused the president of trying to indoctrinate children said it was a good speech and he let his own kids see it. >> reporter: there is strong language. doesn't it seem like it is always that way? and sometimes the most extreme or harsh voices do get the most play. because that's -- you know, that's the other side in a very

stark way. many republican leaders here in florida, the governor is a republican, he initially did say he thought this was fully appropriate as did former house speecher newt gingrich. >> the list goes on. republicans now saying it was not a bad idea after all. all right. thank you very much. tamron, now the bigger picture. the conservatives who did oppose president obama aes speech about staying in school and working hard. are those conservatives unpatriotic? or do they hate america? some of the con serbtive critics from the president's speech was they were initially most concerned about a lesson plan distributed to school districts. at first the plans, which are optional, suggested teachers encourage stunlts to write down the ways the students can help the president meet educational goals. the department of education changed the wording so students might be encouraged to write down ways they can help themselves meet educational goals. in any case, before president obama spoke today his administration's effort got a strong show of support from former first lady laura bush, mrs. bush spoke to cnn and

applauded the president's approach. >> 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. >> the director of legislation for conservative women of america, she was opposed to the content of the president's speech and the curriculum with which it was paired. and kathy supported the president's speech. sherry, was laura bush wrong? >> laura bush was correct in saying that the president has a role to encourage students and encourage kids. but the president's speech shouldn't be about the president. and i believe that if parents hadn't spoken up across this country, the speech that we heard today would have been much different than the one we did hear. >> other than the president telling his personal story about not having a dad and he himself

had overcome obstacles, what was it about the speech? >> this speech, i believe, is much different than the one we had heard reported earlier. as a parent, i was concerned that the speech was going to be about president obama. and about policy. and i'm still concerned about how the speech will be implemented in my children's classrooms. >> kathy miller, can you imagine any way that the speech might be implemented in anybody's classroom that you would think might be controversial? >> well, i want to start by saying i always support the right of any parent to make decisions about what their child will learn or who will be talking to their kids. but honestly, the whole up roar over this speech has actually puzzled me. particularly after hearing the speech. really hearing him encourage personal responsibility and civic participation and staying in school. it's just -- it was good for our

kids to hear that message from someone other than their parents. >> and, shari, i heard you say some of the other versions of what the president might say were concerning. many have brought up the fact that, for example, president bush encouraged children to write a letter to tell how they can help us as a country at that time. we didn't seem to see this kind of anger. of course, democrats have certainly objected to some of the things that the president has said in the past. we brought up george w. bush talking about afghanistan and asking children to send money to help the children of afghanistan. i'm just curious, though, why we're seeing such anger and such harsh language such as indoctrination of kids. >> i think it wasn't about the speech per se. it's the culmination of everything leading up to the speech. the overall reverence, almost, of president obama.

and as part of the curriculum, teachers being encouraged to put notable quotes of president obama around the room. all of these things have parents really distrusting what the true goals are. >> kathy miller, i remember as a kid, and there were quotes of ronald reagan that were put up. and we were encouraged to use our critical thinking lessons to try to decide what we thought about what the president said. is that really a subversive threat to put quotes of a president up in fronlt of kids? >> no. i mean, i think it's really important that we teach our children to respect national symbo symbols. we ask them to pledge allegiance and rise to the flag over morning and respect to the office of the president is a part of patriotism. talking about what the president is doing and saying is also part of civic participation. while we don't all agree with everything that president obama's doing, i think asking our children to think critically and get engaged in civic

participation is a really good thing. >> thank you both for coming and discussing this. we appreciate it. tamron, i read through this speech a couple times yesterday. watched it again today just to see if there was even some kind of tone that might creep out a fifth grader. i just didn't see it. >> that's the sad part of it. people were looking at this 17-minute speech, looking as if there were something hidden, subliminal message from the president. i thought it was great you brought up when we were kids, david, i didn't think of the president in terms of democrat and republican. i'm a fourth grade kid. we were taught to respect the office of the president because that is our nation's leader. and our parents kind of discussed the politics of it all. i'll tell you kquickly there wa a parent in texas. her kids were not shown the president's speech. she took them out of class that day so they could watch the speech at home because she thought her children were being shortchanged from the school district there not showing the speech. >> i think that's the kind of parenting that most americans would encourage and embrace.

let's show it to the kids. let the kids decide for themselves and talk about it. that's the way we all understand these things. >> maybe it'll make it into history books and those kids can see the speech 20 years from now. congress returned from summer break today and the bipartisan gang of six is meeting right now to see if they can agree on a deal on health care reform. democratic senator max baucus proposed a plan this weekend that is up for discussion. baucus's health care proposal would cost less than $900 billion and it would not increase the deficit. now, it does not include a public option but instead creates that so-called insurance co-op. it would also tax insurance companies with the most expensive plans. you might have heard of the cadillac plans. senator baucus is also calling for fines of up to $3,800 a family who fail to get medical insurance. a small group of demonstrators protested outside the white house today in favor of the pub option. some were former obama campaign

workers. tomorrow president obama will deliver the prime time aggreddr to congress. >> i think the president will discuss both what the public option isn't and what the public option is in terms of bringing choice and competition. meanwhile, a new gallup p l poll. earlier this month, 35% of americans were in may vor of reform while 36% were against it. kelly o'donnell joins us live. >> reporter: we're already hearing there are members who are bringing up the town hall meetings, certainly from the republican side. the top republican in the senate referenced as saying that was a message from people around the country to their elected officials to, in his words,

start over. republicans feel this has been rushed, that the american people are not satisfied with the kinds of plans. you gave a very detailed explanation of what's in this latest draft. so the town hall effect has already kind of given us a little bit of a sub text today pipt has been a while since those have cooled town. now kind of the page has been turned. the gang of six that you referenced, three republicans, three democrats, they're at work right now, a little less than an hour they have been talking about the plan that you outlined. that does not have the public option. it calls for the co-ops and possibly taxing the insurance companies. they're going to discuss that. they're going to make some changes. as long as those changes do not add to the overall cost. but there is some pressure to sort of take it or leave it. to try and force the three republicans on that committee to really decide whether they can get behind this idea or not. that'll give us some clues as to how they go forward after they get through this meeting today. >> thank you very much.

tomorrow night you can watch president obama's prime time address to congress right here on msnbc at 8:00 eastern. the coverage will be anchored by keith o -- some of the republicans bring up what we saw in the town hall meetings. and a lot of what we saw, anger and rhetoric, i don't know if it factors into a legitimate debate at this point. >> what's also so interesting, tamron, you and i have talked about it. this is a time when they're putting the cards on the table. baucus is putting his card on the table with this plan. republicans have kind of said they have to take it or leave it. if they leave it, baucus could take a more partisan approach. you hear some of the house democrats coming around to the idea of a trigger. it is fascinating. the time has arrived. >> i can't tell you over the weekend how many gambling analogies i've heard. poker. put all your chips on the table. all the cards on the table.

this is truly a gamble. we'll see who folds. speaking of gambles, it appears for some people it's a gamble to go swimming off the coast of massachusetts. you're looking at pictures from chatham where another possible great white shark was reported off the beach. we got this vid you through our affiliate whdh. there were three great whites that were tagged nearby this morning, bringing the total tagged in the last week to five. five great white sharks off the coast of massachusetts. and by the way, tamron, one of the sharks is reportedly over ten feet long. >> i love that that script said a possible shark. what else could that be? it looks like a shark. a whale, maybe? >> yeah, maybe a whale. they have seen the great white sharks. the sharks are not supposed to be that close. again, all of this is happening just a few miles away from martha's vineyard, where the movie "jaws" was filmed.

coming up, the nation's schools and colleges bracing for swine flu season. with the fall upon us, thousands of students already diagnosed as officials set up quarantine dorms. talk about starting off your college in a strange way. also, crisis in afghanistan. a deadly day for u.s. troops. the political feature is getting even cloudier. a live report from richard engel. today's crossing the line, why are sugary cereals being labeled sharlt choices for healthy living? we will not be quiet. ♪ when we're in a sandwich, you'll know it. we are our own mixed up blend of one of a kind spices. we are miracle whip. and we will not tone it down. now there's new heart health advantage from bayer. its non-aspirin formula contains phytosterols, which may reduce the risk of heart disease... by lowering bad cholesterol.

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we have some breaking news on the increasingly precarious political standing of south

carolina governor mark sanford. he is under investigation for how he spent state money on seemingly personal expenses. the republican speaker of the house in south carolina has now come out with a letter calling on sanford to resign. house speaker says sanford should resign because of constant distractions. this is as big a kick in the gut politically as sanford could possibly get in the republican party in south carolina. now the highest ranking republican to call on him for resign. on the heels of the lieutenant governor also suggesting sanford should go. sanford has given no indication he will heed any of these calls. we'll look for his reaction later this afternoon to the speaker of the house calling for sanford to resign. we will keep you posted. fears of the swine flu that are going to spread rapidly as school reopens. >> it's happened at several colleges across the country. the largest outbreak at washington state university.

at least 2,200 students during the first two weeks of classes affected. now officials there say the situation appears to be easing with fewer new cases being reported. at a university in atlanta, affected students are being isolated in a separate dorm. the students call it club swine. the cdc says swine flu cases have been reported at at least 17 college campuses and a vaccine will not be available until next month. joining us from washington state university is a reporter of our nbc affiliate khq in spokane, washington. what is the latest? they're saying it's easing. with 2,000 students suspected at one point in time, that's pretty scar scary. >> about 2,500 at one time had the symptoms. it's a campus about an hour and a half south of spokane, washingt washington, the major population area around here. last week they were seeing students, 150 at the time coming

into the health services building here with symptoms for h1n1 virus. over the weekend that has slowed to about 60 for all three days, sunday monday and of course saturday. they're not sure if that's because it was a holiday weekend and people were gone from the school or whether or not it is easing up. they'll know a littlele bit more about that by the end of the day. with me now is dr. dennis garcia with the washington state university health services. thank you for joining us. you were talking earlier about the h1n1 virus and the symptoms. we said maybe it's easing, maybe it's not. >> we're not sure, really. again, we had a three-day holiday weekend. the vast majority of our students we think went home for the weekend which is out of the area. we saw significantly lower numbers today. at the same time, we think we're starting to hit that critical number that the cdc is expecting us to reach. roughly 30% to 50% of the student population. >> you were saying earlier this is a perfect storm. >> washington university is a very large university in a very small town with about 4,000 students living on campus.

and so just that close proximity really creates an opportunity for a virus to spread. >> reporter: speaking of close proximity, people living in dorms. in some campuses they're isolating people in rooms. here that's not really how they're doing it. some roommates are giving up their rooms and moving away cross the hall to isolate people. >> we've heard numerous stories of roommates swapping with each other so sick ones can be together and vice versa. >> reporter: there you have it. also saying 95% of the people who had this virus have already recovered, only lasting three to five days. >> the kids trying to keep a sense of humor about it, saying it's club swine. pretty good. remember when it was just gaining the freshman 15 pounds you had to worry about. now you got to wonder if your roommate or you is going to be affected by the swine flu. obviously it's spreading throughout the country. it's not just colleges. it's all school age kids of concern. >> i was watching the michigan

football game this weekend. they now have 50 stations where you can get hand gel. still frightening. >> obviously necessary. up next, what you need to know. your headlines that you need to know. a sinking feeling today for some firefighters. look at that video. we'll explain what happened there in california. later in the show, the great cinderella story from the u.s. open. a teenager from georgia, her boyfriend is 15 years old. she's beating some of the best women in the tennis world. since arthur's been eating purina one, he has blossomed... into an incredibly strong, healthy cat. his coat is incredibly shiny and soft and very thick. everybody thinks he's the most handsome cat they've ever seen. [ woman announcing ] purina one for indoor cats... unlocks the brilliance of nature... with a natural fiber blend that helps minimize hairballs... and maintain a healthy weight. [ laurie ] he's a character. he brings so much laughter into this household. and he's the best-lookin' cat there is.

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great white sharks might be interested in. we're going to be doing an interview about the great white shark and the beaches closed in massachusetts coming up in an hour. incredible pictures of why the great white sharks are so interested in this particular coastline. >> did anybody warn the seals? i feel like they're sitting ducks there. we just saw that huge, what appeared to be a great white. it'll be interesting. i can't wait for that interview coming up. >> absolutely. here's what we need to note today in our segment that we like to call "what you need to know." a suspected serial killer caught in wisconsin. >> milwaukee police say they've stopped a man expected of killing nine women over the past 29 years. investigators say ellis's dna has been found on victims dating back to 1986. crews in southern california are making progress in that huge wildfire burning north of los angeles. officials say they now have the so-called station fire more than

half contained. in the meantime, authorities are continuing the homicide investigation into the source of the blaze that has killed two firefighters. take a look at this one. it's also near los angeles today. a fire truck got stuck. that's a sink hole. the engine was responding to a call of water main break. a residential street when it drove on to the unstable ground. that's what happened. none of the firefighters on that truck were injured. but quite a sight to see. still ahead what the political chaos in afghanistan means for our troops there. also an update on the space shuttle "discovery" astronauts undocking from the space station today. they're heading home, bringing back, that's right, you saw it. that very special guest. you're watching "the big picture." getting an early flu shot is the best thing you can do... to protect you and your loved ones from the flu. it's also one of the easiest things you can do... because walgreens is now offering seasonal flu shots... every day of the week with convenient hours guaranteed.

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points. the sa&p 500 up about eights. oil ro passengers who get stuck on delay eed flights have a new al. airlines are opposed to the measure. netflix offering free viewings of "the wizard of oz." all to celebrate the movie's 70 anniversary. that's it from cnbc first in business worldwide. back to msnbc. three american marines and one sailor were killed today. two more marines wounded in an attack on u.s. forces in eastern afghanistan today. military officials described the

attack as sophisticated and complex. the americans were part of a team embedded with afghan security forces. this latest attack brings the total number of u.s. troops killed just this month to 13. and many of them have been killed and wounded by ieds or improvised explosive devices hidden by taliban poforces on k supply routes. last month was the bloodiest since the war started. 52 americans lost their lives. another attack today, this one near the airport in kabul, reportedly killed at least one civilian and up to seven afghan troops. in what is being called a suicide bombing. president obama continues to send more troops to afghanistan. public support for the war is fading. even some democrats in congress are calling for u.s. troops to come home. it's all happening against the backdrop of the afghan presidential election can be conflicting reports today say president karzai may have met the 50% threshold in the vote,

which would mean no runoff. the entire process has been tlouded in accusations of fraud and widespread corruption. nbc's chief war correspondent ri richard engel is live in kabul. >> reporter: both are possible. they are both problematic rite now. militarily, let's start with the attack that happened on the marines. that's in a mountainous area not far from the border with pakistan. in that area, what happened today was a complex attack. that means first there was a bomb attack. and then an ambush that followed generally with small arms fire. in southern afghanistan, what we have been seeing is ied attacks. mines that have been put in the ground. and just not enough afghan soldiers to deal with them.

complicating this very difficult military situation is the political backdrop. the ongoing controversy over last month's presidential election. now, every day we are hearing more and more accusations that there was widespread fraud. and today a u.n. backed organization called for a partial recount, saying that it had found credible evidence of fraud. this even as afghan officials announced more results today showing that president karzai has surpassed that 50% margin and now has 54% of the vote. however, those votes, according to to at least one organization, should be recounted because there's just been too many allegations of fraud. >> richard, you've reported that the taliban and the fighters or the terrorists are getting more and more sophisticated. how are they able to do that? >> reporter: they are getting more sophisticated because they've been doing this a long time. they have a lot of confidence in that the government here is losing credibility. this electoral process right now has been a big shot in the arm

for the taliban. because if there's a not a legitimate government here, their argument, the militants' argument, that they are fighting against occupiers who are trying to impose an unpopular foreign government on them has that much more credibility. not only do they have something of a moral argument, but they're getting better tactically. for the last several years there have been very few troops, very little attention paid to this war. >> richard, thanks as always for the terrific reporting. we appreciate it. tamron, politically this just seems to be a difficult story for the white house to begin with. seems like it's getting more and more challenging. >> we were just actually forwarded an account from a reporter embedded with the marines. he talked about the ambush that happened. he was saying there were children handing ammunition to the insurgents to attack those marines who were training afghan soldiers. so with more details, certainly will come more pressure for the president to make some kind of move there.

we'll be following it. turning now to a story, 250 miles above the planet where space shuttle "discovery" is undocking from the international space station. the shuttle crew ended a week long supply mission bringing home seven astronauts and someone by the name of buzz lightyear. buzz was sent up there last year. last year. as part of an education program with disney. the doll and his name sake buzz ald rin will have a ticker tape parade at disney world this fall. shuttle "discovery" is due to land on thursday. joining us by skype, jay, i bet you've never seen anything like that. buzz lightyear coming back. >> reporter: tamron, to infinity and beyond. >> very cute, sir. very cute. >> reporter: is that what buzz said? as you said, he was up there for 15 months. and you know what was so funny? when this crew got up there, and

they're getting moved in, somebody stumbled over him. he was under some sort of garbage. i forget what it was. we better bring him home. i don't know. but he's coming home on this flight. they undocked about ten minutes ago. so far, everything is going well. they did the undocking as they were supposed to, without any problems with these large thrusters. they did it over the darkness of china. they're over there now. we're not getting any pictures yet, but we expect to get some pictures soon. >> what about any weather concerns at this point, jay? >> reporter: they're going to land at sunset here thursday evening, 7:05 eastern time. always in florida, especially in september, you can have thunderstorms. they may have to wave off for an hour or make it a night landing or may have to wave off for a day. there's no way of knowing until we get to that point whether or not there will be rain, thunderstorms, lightning within the area where they have to land. >> all right, jay. thank you very much. i'm sure you'll get that first interview with buzz lightyear

and what he saw up there. i want him to be interrogated. >> just for you and david. >> give us the big interview. thanks, jay. david, i think i have us a trip. let's go to disney and see the ticker tape parade. >> absolutely. i think we need a souvenir like that for the show. something we can keep along the anchor desk ands take with us wherever we go. >> a mascot. just ahead, we don't have a little puppet. but we sure have hot topics. do conservatives smell blood in the water after the resignation of this man? he was the white house environmental adviser, van jones. does the right have a hit list of other obama officials? i'm here on this tiny little plane, and guess what...

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also discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects may include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. my doctor said i could be doing more to breathe better and now i am. announcer: ask your doctor about lifestyle changes and once-daily spiriva. i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. ( crowd roars ) that's a great call. one a day men's. announcer: you could buy 300 bottles of water. or just one brita filter. ( drop plinks ) brita-- better for the environment and your wallet. in today's "making their case" david has the resignation oof white house green jobs

adviser van jones. >> jones was one of the 30 so-called czars apounted by the president as special advisers, but without congressional approval. jones resigned after growing criticism over past statements about republicans. and the fact he signed a petition in 2004 supporting those who say the bush administration had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks. now republicans have turned their attention to the other czars who they say should not be in key jobs close to the president unless congress signs off. >> i don't think he's the issue. i think the czars are the issue. we have about two dozen so-called czars, the pay czar, the car czar, all these czars in the white house. that really is an affront to the constitution. the constitution was set out to say that the president is the executive, but the people who manage the government, the secretaries, the cabinet members of which i was one, have to be approved by the congress and have to report to the congress. >> but what about the obama administration's backbone? here to talk about that, founder

of the progressive website, and phillip klein, washington correspondent for the conser conservative "american spectator." >> some say the obama white house caved on van jones too quickly. do you agree? >> i absolutely agree. i don't think van jones did anything that republican members of congress haven't done work. michele bachmann and others tried to suggest barack obama wasn't born in the united states. that's ridiculous and it's crazy that they should back down to something that was actually not that bad. >> phillip klein, your view? >> i think it's outray jous to say it's not that bad to suggest that president bush may have had prior knowledge of 9/11. it not only indicts president bush but plenty of government officials behind him who they say knowingly allowed -- no. it said -- >> right, but philip -- >> knowingly allowed 3,000 americans to get slaughtered. that's an outrageous charge.

>> phillip, that's not what van jones has said. besides, i don't know exactly -- do you know exactly what he said? keep in mind, i thought the president was warned in advance of 9/11 that bin laden determined to use planes to strike the u.s. if that was a reference to that presidential daily brief, would could argue that van jones may have been a legitimate argument. if he went beyond that and said, no, putting that aside, president bush knew about the attacks, didn't do anything to stop it, it was part of a conspiracy, then you're right. he should have been fired. do you know which one it is? >> the petition called for an investigation into whether government officials had prior knowledge of 9/11. >> it asked a question. is that okay? is it acceptable to ask a question? >> it's absurd. >> he didn't indict him of anything. >> harry reid just met with president obama. he's talking in front of the white house. let's listen.

>> -- perpetrated these past few weeks and focus on what we're going to do that's positive for this country. we have a lot of work to do. we understand that. but we're still approaching this in the form of bipartisanship. we still, after all these months, have a place at the table for the republicans. we're going to do everything we can to work with them. we want a bipartisan bill. we do not want to do reconciliation unless we have no alternative. i think that -- i personally am in favor of public option. in my mind there's no question that the majority of -- i can't speak for the house caucus, but if i were betting i would think the majority of them also believe in the public option. we're going to do our very best to have a public option or something like a public option before we finish this work. >> why was there no place at the table for republicans today? >> i'm sorry? >> why were no republicans at

the table today? >> you know, i think that we've had a large table on the finance committee, health committee, and the senate. there's always a place for them. so i think today it was, again, a very positive meeting. that's how i feel. >> the president was meeting with the speaker of the house and a democratic leader of the senate. he has other meetings that we're not invited to that republicans are at. so i don't know what the point of the question is. but the point is also in our commit hou, three committees have passed the bill. all of them have strong numbers of republicans on those committees. i saw to that when we did our ratio. so they had a place at the table as our bill has come through the legislative process. that's what we are engaged in now. the legislative process.

[ inaudible question ] >> that's two questions. two separate questions. on the public option, i believe that a public option will be essential to our passing a bill in the house of representatives. because as the president has said, and i listened to him very carefully, he believes that the public option is the best way to keep the insurance companies honest and to increase competition. in order to lower costs, improve quality, retain choice, if you like what you have you can keep it, and expand coverage in a fiscally sound way. it saves money. but, he said, if you have a better idea, put it on the table. and so if somebody has a better idea of how to do that, put it on the table. for the moment, however, as far as our house members are

concerned, the overwhelming majority of them support a public option [ inaudible question ] >> this is the legislative process. right now we will have a public option in our bill. -- >> well, we're very pleased that leader reid mentioned that the president will be making his address this evening. i think that we have been on schedule. we continue to be on schedule. but this speech tonight will be a very important fact. excuse me, tomorrow. will be a very important factor in how we go forward. >> madam speaker, congress mon clyburn said a trigger on a public option was an -- doable alternative because it saves the public option. is that a fair assessment? >> well, i'm sorry, out of context i really can't speak to mr. clyburn's remarks. i know mr. clyburn is a strong supporter of a public option.

where we going seeing what the standard puts force is another place. i said it before and i say it gain. the health insurance industry out there fighting the public option tooth and nail because it does increase competition which they don't want. they'd be better getting a public option now than one that is triggered because if you have a triggered public option it's because the insurance industry has demonstrated they're not cooperating. they're not doing the right thing and i think they'll have a tougher public option to deal with. >> leader reid, can you talk about -- >> can i ask what you think of -- you haven't seen it at all? >> when do you need a markup by? >> all right, senate majority leader harry reid and nancy pelosi. the last question was about the baucus plan. so sbeeging when they described their meeting with president obama today on health care reform as positive.

harry reid said they're approaching this in the form of bipartisanship. when you hear as far as the possible compromise of a trigger on public option you hear nancy pelosi say for the most public option is essential to -- >> she said without the public option -- >> she says right now a public option for the moment a public option is required. you get the sense, tamron, reading into that a little bit there was a little bit of wiggle room for the first time from the house speaking toward the idea of a public option trigger which may be the compromise it seems they're headed toward in the senate. >> the way she described the trigger was more on an intimidating option for the health care industry, itself. she said they would want to take the deal upfront, the public option as opposed to a trigger which would be of a more detriment because in sense it would be a policing if they are getting their act together, some put it. interesting, david. i'm not sure how that's different greatly what we have heard from them differently overtime. we'll see how this factors into

the president and his address tomorrow before the joint session of congress. we will be right back with much more on "the big picture." david? we'll be talking the health care at the top. reading the tea leaves. 4:00 on the east coast and we're going to have one more segment and then we'll be right back after this. tylenol pm quiets the pain that keeps you awake. and helps you sleep, in a non-habit forming way. we will not be quiet. ♪ when we're in a sandwich, you'll know it. we are our own mixed up blend of one of a kind spices. we are miracle whip. and we will not tone it down. ♪

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now that's progressive. call or click today.

it is almost 4:00 on the east coast. up next, bill clinton's advice to president obama on health care. tamron, also the conservative uproar over president obama's speech to school kids today ended with a whimper, not a bang. did the bogus controversy hurt the republican party? reports of another great white shark spotted in the water a few miles from where they filmed the movie "viewjaws." the beaches are closed all weekend because of the danger. george clooney's encounter with a bizarre journalist who

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