those on the right, digging in, resisting health care reform. on to the left, those who want to plow full speed ahead in the middle, 25% don't know what they want. can the president convince the unconvinced to move forward in making health care accessible to all americans? and can anyone convince lawmakers to read the legislation? an oklahoma senator says he doesn't need to read to vote against it. but we will talk to a group intent on making it nearly impossible not to read the bill. this hour, we get real. account nation afford a system where the insurance companies won't pay the bill for customers who paid their premiums for years? we have the story of a boy whose condition at birth landed him in the category of uninsurable. good wednesday, everyone, i'm contessa brewer.big hour on health care reform ahead but we will also explain this. a cop who tried to be the life of the party with his taser

and what his boss has to say about those antics. let's get to the big news right now, democratic senator max baucus, sending a message to the gop when it comes to the health care bill, get on board or get left behind. the senate finance committee chairman announced today he will introduce the senate bill next week. >> i very much hope and do expect the public to be on board. but if there are not any, i'm going to move forward [ inaudible ] >> a health care reporter for politico, chris, explain what max baucus wants to see in this legislation when he moves forward next week. >> backs can has laid down legislation that would tax insurance companies, put a tax on medical device companies, all in the name of the idea that you're bringing people into the system and you're mandating everybody has coverage, as max baucus is doing, bringing 30 to 40 million more customers to the table, those guys are going to have to pay their fair share.

that is not an idea that the gop is real crazy about particularly folks like chuck grassley and mike enzi. he told them by 10:00 this morning, he wanted to see their ideas for how they would change thing, he wanted to see how they would pay for it and then get around the table and fee there was something they could agree on that meeting, contessa, happens a 359:30 today. >> you know, the thing is if you are talking about -- making health insurance mandatory for all americans, fines for people like there are if you don't carry car insurance and you get caught, a fine to pay, would then liberal lawmakers feel concerned that people that that really hurts are people who can least afford health insurance? >> that's right, contessa. baucus has tried to put those pennant tooins sliding scale if you made more money, would you be fined more if you didn't carry t there would be some kind of minimum fine, even if you didn't make a lot of money, if you didn't carry insurance. what they have done to help the liberal lawmakers with that

compromise is say, well, we will provide you subsidies, if you're low or moderate income, we will help you pay for so you don't have to carry that whole weight. >> you know, some republican lawmakers here are wary of being typecast as naysayers, they are reaching out to president obama. for instance, you talked to senator orrin hatch, sits on the instrumental finance committee, wrote to the president, ensuring access to affordable and quality health care for every american is not a republican or democrat issue it san american issue. our nation ex-specs us to solve this challenge in an open, honest and bipartisan manner. i would urge you, again this is to president obama, to take this historic opportunity to push for a responsible and incremental health care reform plan that can gain significant support on both sides of the aisle. do you think that hatch is moving forward with the assumption that there are some republicans who jnt just willy-nilly going against anything that has to do with health care reform? >> you have thank has been

proven, chuck grassley, mike enzi, olympia snowe part of the gang of six, orrin hatch, bob bennett from utah, republicans that talked a lot about health reform, they want to be in the mix but they have a feeling that things like the public option things like the employer mandate, nonnegotiable, they want to see some more compromise, more flexibility, they are hoping that the speech tonight, president obama set that tone he can start to bring in some republicans who want to vote for some health care reform. >> let me go through the main points that orrin hatch had for president obama. he said that republicans and democrats can find common ground on these things, reform the health insurance market for every american family, make health care affordable for all americans. i mean, come on, yeah, lofty goals, how do you get to that? there is a lot of agreement when you look into the bill, contessa, ways that they are

making sure that people with pre-existing conditions will get coverage, if you get sick, you don't lose your coverage. when obama and the republicans talk about 80% of these things are agreed on, that's true. and what the political chess game happening right now is that democrats would like to see that reform go even further and provide americans with a thing like a public option so that they could expand coverage. republicans aren't crazy about that idea. they would rather see that 80%, you know that 70, 80% get done, while democrats want to expand it they see it as an historic opportunity, something they haven't been able to do since medicare. >> would other main points here, said you should give states the flexibility to design unique approaches to help the uninsured, help american small businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs buy affordable health care coverage. it seems like the simple way to do those things is to end this -- this rule against insurance companies operating across state lines. how come that's not the big, main focus?

>> that was a focus during the presidential campaign, a plank of senator john mccain's. and democrats looked at his defeat and said, well, this is certainly something the public voted against, they don't just want insurance companies across state lines because that will make all the insurance companies can end up headquartering in a place that has the least amount of restrictions, which will only make it more difficult for people to get coverage. so they want to put this public option, which gives everybody something baseline that they can get covered with with. >> chris i know you are going to be watching closely tonight, i appreciate your time with me today. thanks. >> thanks. biggoers the day, account bill survive without a public to option? can the bill survive with a public option? if it is a public option trigger, will insurance companies really change the way they do business? i'm going to talk to a lawmaker coming up here about that you can catch the president's speech right here on msnbc. our special live coverage begins at 8 p.m. with keith olbermann, followed by a special edition of "count down" then, ""the rachel

maddow show."" south carolina governor mark sanford has again rejected a call to resign. this afternoon, 60 house republicans sent a letter asking the gop governor to set down. yesterday, the south carolina house speaker asked for his resignation. last month, lieutenant governor, andre bauer, also a republican, asked the governor to resign. sanford remains steadfast and says he plans to finish his final 16 months in office. in a daring early morning raid, commandoes captured a times reporter captured by the taliban. he was freed by british come man dose but his afghan interpreter, a father of two, and a british commando, were killed. farrell was working on a story about nato air strikes on two fuel tankers on the area last week that killed dozens, including civilians. investigators say a bone fragment found in a yard near philip garrido's home is probably human. remember philip garrido, accused of kidnapping and raping jaycee due guard?

that bone fragment recovered from the backyard of the home next to the suspected kidnapper's house. nancy and philip garrido are accused of kidnapping doug guard and holding her captive 18 years. george lewis is in antioch, california. it seems like there is still room for interpret here. why are they saying probably human but let's not jump to conclusions? >> well, here's the deal, contessa, they think this is a human bone, but is it kecked to this case? they don't know. and the one cautionary note they inject in this, there are a lot of native american burial grounds in this area. this is also in a floodplain, bone fragments could have washed from one of those burial grounds onto the adjoining property here next to the garrido house, that is an area in the backyard where philip garrido was once the caretaker and had access to the property. so, they are not sure what that bone fragment is what they are going to do they are taking it to a state lab, going to have it dated to see how old it is. they are going to do dna analysis on it just trying to

pin that bone down. now you can the reason for this is that investigators have a number of unsolved crimes, including unsolved murders, and they are trying to see if there is any evidence, any possible evidence that might tie philip garrido to any of those murders. they haven't found any so far, but they are continuing to analyze stuff they took from the house and from next door to see if there is any tie-n contessa? >> well, you know, i guess it could be archem's razor, its simplest explanation is the right one. wait and see what investigators determine when they look at this george, thank you. president obama is going to get down to specifics tonight on health care, but let's get real. talk to the people who are really struggling with this health care system. i mean if you don't want government making your health care decisions for you, why would you want bureaucrats who are in to make money? they want to hear what the president has to say tonight, coming up. could be one of the biggest video game releases this year. well, sure, the stores are hoping for that. let's take a look at the

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following some breaking news now outside of phoenix t looks like two small planes crashed mid air, according to the faa. they say that one person on board a single-engine cessna was killed. it crashed. the second person has been airlifted to the hospital. this happened in coolidge, arizona, which is about an hour southeast of phoenix. you can see there the emergency crews on the scene. we will stay on top of it as we learn more details about what happened out there. senator max baucus of montana is making the rounds on capitol hill today to try to secure a bipartisan health care deal in advance of president obama's speech tonight. he is meeting with the senate

finance committee, with the entire senate democratic caucus and then the so-called gang of six. here is what he had to say after the finance committee meeting. >> we all invested so much time and effort in this. i know that some of my republican colleagues very much want to be part of this. they want to be. and they know and i know that there's still time. >> pennsylvania congresswoman allison schwarts and congresswoman cynthia loomis of wyoming join me from the russell rotunda there at capitol hill. great to see you both. orrin hatch sent a letter today and said this is not a republican or a democratic issue it is an american issue. do you think that your democratic and your republican colleagues can work together? do you want to see a health care reform bill passed? >> i do want to see a health care reform bill passed. i want to see us address the 20% or less of americans that are truly unhappy with their health

care insurance or cannot afford health care insurance, or have for the ability problems because they have pre-existing conditions. i want to leave the 80% of americans happy with their health care and health insurance alone. >> congresswoman schwartz, i get a lot of e-mail from folks saying i don't understand what the reluctancesome my insurance company is deciding for me which doctors i can see, what treatments i can have. they are already are people who are deciding instead of my doctor what's best for me. how do you cons convince people on the other side of the aisle to go along with what is definitely an expensive undertaking? >> well, you make a very, very important point and that is for every american, even those who have are insurance, they are deeply worried about the cost of their insurance and whether their insurance going to cover their health care needs and whether, in fact, they will make

that decision with their doctor that is why we are taking action. we have been talking about this for decades and the situation worse for so many americans, an issue for families and businesses and economic competitiveness and an issue for government at every level. we are willing to take action. we always want to see it as a bipartisan bill if we can. we don't necessarily expect that there are going to be very much help from the republicans, the house always a lot more effort on the senate side. but the fact is that american families, american businesses and, in fact, the good of the country, we had to take action finally to really find a uniquely american solution, building on what works and really strengthening those protections for consumers, for patients so that that they and their physicians can have access to the care that they need, that it will be covered. that is what we are trying to do. >> congresswoman lummis, explain to me, here you two ladies are one democrat, one republican, somewhat on opposite sides of this issue, yet you are standing

so close together doing this interview. i mean is it indicative of your willingness to work together? is it uncomfortable for you to oppose your colleague but stand so close to her for an in thor isser -- for an interview and do so? >> heavens no. we have very different ideas how we want health care reform to be accomplished i have spoke to my constituents over the break, they are very opposed to government-run health care. and wyoming in particular, rural areas all over this country, medicare reimbursement for hospitals and doctors is inadequate. use that as part of the money that will go to pay for this plan and still have a quarter of a trillion dollars left unpaid for is unacceptable. >> i agree with that and i have a doctor in my family, doctors simply aren't living the same lifestyles that they used to in large part because they are not making the money anymore. somebody else is making the money in the health care system, but that being said, congresswoman lummis, you said

in wyoming, you have people who don't want government-run health care. how do they feel about bureaucratic-run health care, the people who are in to make profit running their health care system? >> well, bureaucratic health care means government-run health care. government-run -- >> i'm sorry -- i got to tell you -- i deal with my insurance company it is a bureau crattic nightmare. the paperwork involved with it. and i have good insurance. so, what they reimburse you for, what they don't reimburse you for, who is in network. they tell me which doctors i can go see it is a bureaucratic mess. >> i would like to weigh on this [ inaudible ]. make it really clear, we do have very different approach to this, while you can say you are for health care reform, the fact is if you aren't following protect consumers and make sure that we don't allow insurance companies to preclude pre-existing conditions. >> that is an issue --

>> we have to have standardized insurance forms. >> we have to do that as well. the fact is we have to make sure -- this isn't government-run health care we are talking about we are talking about, yes, i supported a public option but this is really a way to make sure that there is an option, a competitive option for individuals who have a very hard time buying insurance in the private marketplace. we are creating a whole new marketplace for the private insurance industry, still rely october private insurance industry to manage the health care benefits but as you point out to, we -- and this is where government is so appropriate, we are going to put some consumer protection, some rules, in fact, you have some tools and your insurance industry says to you, we are not going to pay for that 25 years ago you didn't know this but something happened that you should have known this was going to happen 25 years from now. not going to pay that we are going to find that reason to deny coverage. that is unacceptable. you know what it is making more expensive for all of us, people not to be able to get the health care they need when they need it

that is not government run that just getting good coverage. >> i tell you, i differ dramatically from that point of view. our republicans in the house tried an amendment that says if you like your health care, you can keep it. and the democrats voted against that amendment. in other words, even they know that hr 3200 does not allow people to keep their own health insurance if they like it. it will force people onto government health care because it's cheaper for employers to pay the 8% penalty. >> right it is not that it forces them, but it provides motivation for companies to stop covering their employees. i get that. >> that won't happen but let me also say that people would be able to buy private insurance and that's -- it is just another option. >> congresswoman lummis, congresswoman shah wartz, i appreciate so much you joined me today. i wish i was there in person, we could add three into the screen it would have been fun. thank you. >> thank you. bye bye. friends, colleague and

dignitaries gathered for a memorial service for the most trusted man in america, newsman walter cronkite. former president bill clinton, buzz aldrin and nbc special contributor tom brokaw spoke about the legendary newsman. also in attendance, president obama who said he didn't know cronkite personally but benefited from his work. >> i have benefited as a citizen from his dogged pursuit of the truth, his passionate defense of objective reporting. and his view that journalism is more than just a profession. it is a public good, vital to our democracy. >> walter cronkite died july 17th in new york after a long illness. he was 92 years old. ♪ guys... the blue goes on the left. (announcer) getting ready for the big game? ohhhh... bring it. bounty extra soft--

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all right, is seine to tore harkin speaking right now after a senate democratic luncheon. senator harkin will be taking over ted kennedy's spot on the health committee. let's listen n. >> his friendship and his leadership of this great committee and what he meant to all of us. he took me on this committee 22 years ago and gave me a wonderful opportunity to put my name on the americans with disabilities act and to bring it through. so he has been an inspiration to me all these years. it is a daunting process to be taking over the kennedy committee, but i deem it a great honor. one that i -- one that i appreciate but one that i look forward to taking the reins of and to hopefully continue on in the in the great manners of senator kennedy, to work in a bipartisan manner, but to address the really critical needs of health and education

and labor in our society. let me thank senator dodd for taking over this committee as acting chairman during the time senator kennedy was so ill and the great leadership he gave in getting our health care bill through. >> democratic senator tom harkin of iowa talking now about taking over the chairmanship of the health committee, become all-important, especially right now, in this move to overhaul health care reform in the united states. he takes over the chairmanship for the late senator edward kennedy now. and chris dodd who had widelien expected to take that chairmanship said he will remain on the finance committee, repaint head of the senate banking committee as well. all right. steve jobs is back at apple. he took the stage at apple's latest project launch about an hour ago. it has been almost a year since

jobs appeared at one of these events, he took a six-month medical leave in january and in the spring, acknowledged that he had a liver transplant. today the reluce sive ceo thanked supporters and then announced an update for i tunes and a new price of $199 for the smallest itouch. beatles fans were hoping for a big announcement from apple but that didn't happen today, hoping they were going to see beatles tunes on i tunes. fans will be okay because "beatles rock band" is in stores now, one of the most anticipated and highly touted music video games ever, the game cost $60, available for xbox 360, play station 3 and wii. julie boorstin joins me from cnbc's l.a. bureau. good to see you. who cares? what is the big deal about the beatles on "rock band"? >> this video game industry has had a hard time so far this year. overall, video game sales are down 14% and video game sales of those music video games like

"rock band" are down by nearly half so far this year. the problem is consumers who own these games have just been buying add-ones to the game they own instead of buying new games and new controllers. now, with this new video game, there is a lot of hope there is going to be huge resurgence in purchases, up to 2 million of these game does sell in the first month alone. and viacom, who makes this game is really hoping that consumers will go out and buy this $250 special edition package of instrument controllers that are based on the original beatles' instruments. >> wow. by the way before the fans get mad at me, my who cares was rhetorical, accident mean that literally. the game will actually help you learn how to plate guitar on "rock band." julia, thank you. they weren't allowed to watch president obama's speech to the nation's school kids yesterday but they are being bussed to see a former president speak. hmm. does that make any sense? tennis star raphael nadal

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back playing in the afternoon. excedrin back and body has two ingredients to block and relieve the pain. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin. what ache? good wednesday, everyone, i'm contessa brewer that "countdown" clock at the bottom of your screen, the "countdown" to the president's speech tonight and he needs to convince reluctant lawmakers, those who argue the government shouldn't decide people's health care decisions, he needs to explain and yourious enough, don't they realize insurance companies make the very same decisions and they are in to make money. let's get real. mark and tyler robinson join me from san francisco. good to see you guys. you know, tyler, i know you care so much about this current debate, you, as a 13-year-old, wrote a letter to the president. tell me your story.

>> all right. so, i'm now 14, i just turned 14 on august 5th. when i was 8, i had an operation for a hernia. and 18 months later, health care provider, blue cross, retroactively rescinded our coverage for health care and took away all the took away all the money we had paid them, premiums for 18 months. >> okay. so, mark, why did that happen? >> well, blue cross was our original provider. prior to tyler's conception, they paid for the -- they paid for the prenatal care they paid for tyler's delivery when he was born in august '95. blue cross was our provider and carrier. i was in an accident in 2001, wasn't able to pay my insurance after about a year, so we

dropped it. rein the stuted it six months after that and then about three years after that point, there was this congenital anomaly that appeared on tyler that our doctors originally said would probably correct itself it is all in blue cross's files from the time he was born. the operation was successful. a year after they performed the operation, blue cross rapaciously and capriciously or uncon shenably retroactively rescinded our policy and we had to all of a sudden pay all the bills to the providers. >> here is where you got into trouble, tyler, way tonight say what the problem is, if it is okay with you? >> yeah. >> okay so, tyler was born with an undescended testicle. you were asked on your insurance form whether there were any fertility problems with your family. no fertility problems with your wife no fertility problems for you. so when tyler goes in for this operation what they say that

tyler as -- anned a he dough less sent has fertility problems because of this? >> yeah. >> well curiously enough, the insurance questionnaire form was a compound question. it says is anyone about to be insured have any reproductive or fertility problems. my wife and i had two children. down the think about a 5-year-old or an 8-year-old. >> yeah. >> reproductive problems. so of course, even though it is a compound question, we checked no. >> okay so to you wrote this letter to the president obama. i'm going to read part of it on the air, tyler and put it up. you write, "my family is an example of the rapacious, unconscionable postclaim recessionary underwriting practices of blue cross to claw back their payments to enhance their bottom line in order to meet wall street's expectations. given that i just heard your dad use the word rapacious with us, am i to understand he probably helped you a little bit with this letter? >> he helped me a little bit but most of my vocabulary is learned

from my dad, he used to be an english teacher, i have learned from him and my teacher. >> you are very smart. what do you want to hear.from the president tonight? what to you as a 14-year-old would make sense? >> well, just that if he was gonna have this change in health care, that it should help everybody and that people should look at the upside about it instead of the downside. that is all they are looking at. >> mark, when you hear people opposing health care reform, and you have been the victim of an arbitrary problem with an insurance company, not paying for the medical care when you have been paying your premiums, what would be your response? how do you want people to think of this debate? >> well, let me make something crystal clear. tyler and i are here we do not have a political agenda, we are very altruistic in the way we review society. >> yeah. >> we are here to help benefit 35 million californians and 380

million u.s. citizens. the problem with the health care industry is when they rescinded our policy they wouldn't even send us back our premiums that we had pay payed to ar year. the problem with the health care industry is the hospital charged blue cross $4,000 for the procedure and then charged me $12,000 for the same procedure and i said why is that? blue cross maded 500 million the year before and i made 50,000. they said, well, blue cross has a lobbying machine and they get bulk rates. i hope that the president and our congress can do what the california state assembly did just did passed the bill yesterday, went through the state assembly and the senate, now the governor's address, same bill that was sent last year, bill 1945. unfortunately, the governor vetoed that they very last moment last year because the lobbyists got to him. >> making the argument i was making earlier, insurance companies are a bureaucratic mess, some people say, trading

one bureaucratic mess for another. who knows. guys, i really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story, tyler, mark, thank you. i want to hear from you, if off story you want to share, find me on facebook or on twitter go to twitter.msnbc.com. maybe i will share your story on the air on one of our segments about getting real. by the way, watch the president's speech right here on msnbc. to our special live coverage begins at 8 p.m. with keith olbermann, followed by a special edition of ""countdown"" and the rachel maddow show. a school district in texas boycotted president obama's education speech yesterday. now it has announced they are going to send kids by the bus load offcampus to listen to a speech by former president george w. bush later this month. the arlington independent school district says the fifth grade field trip to cowboys stadium was planned several months ago as part of the super bowl committee's largest ever youth education program. in addition to the former president and first lady, students will hear from cowboys'

players and business and community leaders and they will need a permission slip from their parents. a "new york times" reporter taken hostage by the taliban is freed in a dramatic overnight raid that also left two people dead. steven farm was grabbed saturday. he was in kunduz, reporting to on a deadly nato air strike. nbc's jim maceda knows the dangers facing journalists covering war. he joins me from london. all right. tell me the back story here about farrell and his reporting and the risk reporters take to get those stories. >> reporter: hi, contessa. you know, the rescue was dramatic. farrell who is a 46-year-old british journalist, he does the at war blog for the new york times so he gets as close to the story as anyone can. he and his afghan interpreter, sultan munati, munati a highly respected afghan journalist as well as a translator were going into their fifth day of captivity. farrell had spoke tonight new

york times and said just after midnight this morning, the armed militants, taliban who were holding him and munati panicked and scattered when they heard what turned out to be nato helicopters full of british commandoes landing right next to their compound. farrell says that fearing that he and munati would be killed by their captors, they went outside, they fled the compound in a hail of gunfire. farrell says he saw munati fall right next to him, shouting as he went down, "journalist. journalist" but to no avail. farrell is back in kabul. tragically, munati was found dead later this morning. back to you. >> okay. so when reporters are out covering war zones, obviously, it is a dangerous assignment. does this raise questions about how safe they can be trying to uncover the truth? >> it raises the questions every day, covering the war zones like afghanistan. the question is the story worth

the risk? we have many ways of managing that risk which i won't go into on air. clearly, kidnapping is becoming a huge problem in afghanistan. you recall david rowe, the pulitzer-prize-winning journalist captured and escaped just four months ago. stephen himself was kidnapped before, i believe in fallujah in 2004. what this brings home to me, contessa is that afghanistan is as dangerous today or getting there as it was for western journalists in iraq not long ago. it is always going to be tradeoff, again, between the story and the risk you take. >> jim, thank you so much for bringing your perspective to this i appreciate that. take a look at this a florida county deputy under investigation after our florida nbc affiliate uncovered this tape. it appears too show matthew tremblay, a motorcycle deputy, using a taser gun on his friend for fun. the deputy remains on the job but under investigation. his boss, the florida sheriff ben johnson watched the tape and confirmed this is what happened.

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index science nutrisystem d works. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back! new! nutrisystem d. lose weight. live better. call or click today. putting pressure on doctor s torequire patients to go through a consultation that's prescribed by the government and then penalize them. >> to -- to -- >> wait a second. wait a second. to penalize them if the patient or their family changes their mind about their living will. >> two things about that -- >> in a moment of crisis. that is really wrong. it would be really wrong if that was in any way what this said. no wonder big arguments over what the legislation for health care reform means. here is the house version, has more than 1,000 pages of text. look, some people claim that

they have read it the whole thing, but this -- this would make james joyce's "ulysses" look like a beach read. i snatched a paragraph. can you follow this? the term retroactive lis enrollment beneficiary means an individual who is enrolled in a prescription drug plan under part d of title xvii of the social security act or an ma-pd -- you get my point, i'm going to stop there but the description goes on in similar fashion. today, one group is asking every member of congress to sign a pledge that they will not only read but that they will understand all bills before they vote. that seems like a good idea. bring in eric i can't beerbaum, author of read to vote.org. bad tough create a group to make that happen. seen with senator inhoff of oklahoma to say i don't need to reed read this thing to understand i am going to vote against it? >> how can we elect people who

don't read what is going to be passed in the ledge slach charge you are? based to on where we are at as a country, i knee is a difficult document to read, bills are difficult in general, we need a spirit deed bait based on facts not soundbites. >> do you think part of the problem is i don't know who writes this. are they genius staffers who think that it's a good idea to put all that gobbledygook in there? i'm college educated. i'm -- it's hard to follow that. >> it is rehard to follow but it doesn't matter. we need to -- it is not just congressmen and senators to me appalling that they don't read it we elect them to read these documents to decide what gets passed and doesn't get passed. this he don't read them, how can they pass them? >> isn't part of the problem you have people on one side saying death penals, people who decide old people should be left to die? >> yep. okay. people saying, no, look, talking about the knitty, gritty details a whole lot easier to follow this colorful conversations.

>> death pan as long as a great title, soundbite. public policy is kind of borg there is 27 pages in there i guess sarah palin, where she got the notion of death panels. that is not what it is at all. >> eric, now there is a mission to write every line of this -- >> we have asked the congressional police to give us permission to write the entire bill on the steps of the capitol so that when they are going to their office, they can actually read it. we will make it easy for them. >> in sidewalk chalk. >> yeah, sidewalk chalk, not eventually it will rain once, go awake the point is we should all be educated, what read the vote.org is, if you go there sign up, pledge to read the bill, get an automatic download. we can have an educated conversation. >> i think it is a great idea. spend an hour a night reading the health care reform legislation. eric, thanks. >> thanks for having me. for brand new supreme court justice sonia sotomayor's argument session, she got to watch a movie. >> she is defeatful. she will make up any story, lie about anything, as long as it serves her purpose at the moment. and the american people are

going to catch on to it. >> "hillary" the movie is being screened by the highest court as part of a session on campaign finance law. the film repeatedly attacked then-candidate hillary clinton and the justice seemed to be on the verge of changing the law of who gets to buy political campaign ads. nbc justice correspondent pete williams is reporting to us from the supreme court. so let's talk a little bit about this movie, how might tim pact what we might see in the future? >> i think it is going to have a big impact. here is the reason. the government blocked that movie from running on television because the group that wanted to place it on cable it v had taken some comp pratt contributions, for years, federal law banned corporations from buying political ads, what the government said the documentary ammed to. today, the backers of that movie said to the supreme court those laws violate free speech and should be struck down and it did seem, from the oral arguments today that a majority of the supreme court agrees and ises on the verge of changing decades of

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in a little more than five hours, the president makes his big health care speech to congress. that's not the only platform he is using to spread his message. he also gave an interview to

"men's health" magazine for an exclusive cover story, where the president used some personal history to illustrate the need for reform. peter moore is editor of the magazine and wrote the story. now, look, your magazine is really devoted to how do guys stay healthy in their own lives. so, what's the president's particular take for your audience? >> you know, he sets a great example himself. he is a guy who has a very complicated job but also makes sure somebody took time to paint basketball lines on the tennis court behind the white house. so, i think he is come agent it is in a guy who is very interested in physical fitness for himself, physical health for himself and his family and trying to extend that personal responsibility to the nation as far as looking out for preventive care. >> you know, it's interesting, because i think this is a rather conservative viewpoint, but if you are going to give all americans the right to quality health care, then it seems to me like that goes hand in hand with the responsibility for your own health care. did he address that? what are people's responsibility

it is they get the right to health care? >> one of the things he spoke about specifically, how men aren't so very good at getting preventive care, much likely to deny they have a problem until, you know, they are checking into the er with chest pains. so he specifically addressed that you know, guys are some of the ones who really need to pick up the ball here and pay attention to their physical health before it becomes a catastrophe. >> i know you got a lot of attention, big headlines over the president endorsing stax on sugar. >> too strong to endorse it. he says it is an idea he would lake to consider and should be considering but we have heard from the white house in the last 24 hours maybe they are not going to press that one too hard. >> did not work. the new york governor thought it was a good idea, press an 18% tax on soft drinks and got booed down. here you are, "men's health" editor, have you read the health bill? >> not read it but ready to sign up on the website now. >> a good point. a complicated big piece of legislation but interesting to see whether we can get our

lawmakers, especially those to vote on it, commit to read every word. >> have to make it start sometime. >> peter, thank you. that is it for me, i'm contessa brewer. cam rine hall and david schuster are up next. today, they will talk to republican senator olympia snowe, the woman who could tilt this debate one way or the other. also talk to actress christina richie to a big health care issue that affects millions of americans. be right back. ib scent of gain laundry detergent, time stops. ( ♪ ) your heart races. ( ♪ ) your eyes close. ( ♪ ) and you realize you're in love... earl! stop your time-wasting. with a laundry detergent. ♪ take my breath away gain. to smell it is to love it. what are you waiting for?

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