large hispanic american community in south florida. all we know at this time is that the passengers have been freed. but apparently the crew remains aboard and that president, the mexican president is planning to show up there at the airport. that is all we know at this time. >> is there any reporting this is now over? now we see at least three men in handcuffs surrounded by security forces. we saw the tape of the passengers being led off the aircraft. any indication or reporting from mexico city this is done, the mission has been completed? it has been a success? >> no. on the other hand the reports we are getting from mexican television is that the passengers are freed and that the crew apparently is still onboard. nothing about the situation

being over with at this moment. and, again, they are expecting the president probably to show up there at the airport, something that has called our attention, obviously, that the mexican president himself would show up at the airport. but that's what mexican press is reporting at this moment. but not that it's over. by no means is this over right now. >> all right. ambrosia hernandez, we will let you continue to monitor what you can pick up. tamaran, if the crew was onboard, some concern. it appears they have half a dozen guys in handcuff they are putting on that sort of secure bus or paddy wagon. >> they are saying three men brought off in handcuffs. from the vantage point it

appeared there were more. it is very difficult to see from this vantage point. the reporter who was just on with us said they believe the crew members are still on. i'm not sure if there is another threat that's keeping them onboard. if they are, this is all playing out live. we have no idea who is still on that aircraft. but certainly quite a few passengers as well as some individuals in handcuffs. let's go to our nbc news producer sandra lily, she has been listening in to the coverage. what is happening according to the report? >> we're listening to a report that it looks like they have arrested at least six people. i'm just going to be talking about what i'm listening on spanish language television. what we are basically hearing is

there are at least six or seven people. they still don't know -- they haven't confirmed the nanalty. there were reports they were bolivian. that hasn't been completely confirmed. the crew is okay. we said in an early report a passenger by the name of adrianna romero confirmed that the passengers did not know that anything was going on. they had a pleasant flight. one gentleman was getting up and reaching into his suitcase and seemed well-dressed. they had no idea there was a hijacking on the airplane. the authorities are saying six people have been arrested.

they were taken out of the airplane and taken toward a black hawk where i guess they were being taken, they didn't say where as of now. >> sandra, just to clarify, the reporting as far as the crew, is the crew still onboard or they are off? any indication about that? >> i heard the crew was all right when i started to listen again. i wasn't sure if that meant they were out. we heard that everybody was okay. >> all right. let's bring in bob hanker, former nbc news aviation correspondent. bob, your impressions of what we have been seeing and what do you make of how this was handled and do you get a sense it is coming to a successful conclusion? >> it sure looks like that wa we see in front of the camera. it is certainly a confused

situation. and everything is a guessing game. but just judging by the atmosphere of what we are looking at, the lack of snipers and things like that, it does look like it's over. again, heavy caveat. we really don't know. it is a guessing game. put it all in some long historical context, remember, in this country, anyway, in the u.s., hijacking of planes was a big issue in the late '60s and the early '70s. particularly after the castro government took over in cuba and quite often planes would be hijacked and the hijackers would demand to be taken to cuba. then it disappeared for a long time. and there wasn't really a lot of concern because we didn't have lot of experience with it 9/11. after 9/11 we had concern and rules and regulations, anymore

one could imagine it would be very difficult to hijack a plane since the cabin door is supposed to be locked to the cockpit. there are all these rules that make it much harder. harder to get through security with a threatening device, but it doesn't say a passenger can't report something verbally, a hijacker, as it looks like might have occurred in this case. a hijacker says i have a bomb planted on this plane and nobody can be sure. the crew has to pay attention because no one can verify for certain there isn't a bomb with a timer on it aboard. i can see how planes occasionally get hijacked. it does, however, looking at the pictures, looks like whatever happened here is finish at this point. so we can be thankful of that if, indeed, it is true. >> bob, we are going to get you to stand by the you can.

we will bring in sandra lily, she has been listening in to spanish language television. she has new details. >> they have on the air the secretary of communications of transportation in mexico. he confirmed there was no explosive device on the airplane. again, no explosive device on the airplane. all passengers are fine and for now that is what i heard from him. good news. no explosive device was found on the aircraft. >> who was reporting that information? >> the secretary of communication and transportation of mexico. juan molinar. >> i'm sorry, david, go ahead. >> it sounds like this is coming to a wrap. there are some conflicting reports. here is a tape from earlier this afternoon, passengers or maybe those were the hijackers outside

and put them on the ground. bob hager, there was something -- there are a couple of ways to look at this. the fact the hijackers were not able to penetrate the cockpit. cockpits are impenetrable in many circumstances. the other thing that is so confusing is why would the pilot need to be communicating with ground crew leaning out the window. >> this happened after they got on the tarmac in mexico city? >> yeah. we saw pictures earlier before the passengers were let out ground crew in the front of the nose cone. one of the crew members leaned out the window and seemed to be talking to them that way. it struck as rudementry and odd. there is the picture. that is odd except maybe he saw an opportunity to lean out the window and talk to the people on

the ground and tell them something that the hijackers still couldn't hear because they were back behind the door. and maybe it was a quicker way -- oh, i see. he is gesturing quite emphatically. he is giving some instructions in no uncertain terms, isn't he? without something official being said how this came down it is hard to speculate. that could be something routine like where the plane is parked and whether or not it should be moved, et cetera. >> we want to bring back ambrosia hernandez. i know you just reported felipe calderon was on his way. is he still going to that scene as it seems to be getting under control, if we can say that? >> actually, what is happening is that newspaper el universal, one of mexico city's main newspapers, has reported that the president of mexico,

calderon, was on his way to the airport because he had another trip planned in mexico. they are not being clear on whether he is on his way to the airport because of the crisis or if he was on his way to the airport because he had a previous trip planned. and that is the only thing that "el universal" one of mexico city's leading newspapers is reporting at this time. >> secretary juan molinar is reporting this is under control. >> that is something we are keeping a very close eye with. the mexican press is not saying at this moment, at this particular moment, the mexican press is not saying this is over. all they are saying is that five men have been arrested. >> ambrosio, there are a couple

of reports there were a couple of bolivians among the passengers. does that jump out to you because of tensions or bolivian terrorist groups targeting mexico. does anything jump out at you? >> it calls our attention they are bolivian. there is a lot of tension with the president of bolivia, eva morales. he is a close friend of hugo chavez of venezuela. they have been leading a left-wing movement, very strong movement in latin america. and eva morales travels to havana regularly and he has said many time he is very fond of castro and the revolution in cuba. we don't know if this has any connection to the bolivian government of eva morales. it does call our attention. bolivian guerillas at this time

because we had not heard aboout bolivian guerillas at this moment. >> are there tensions in the drug war between factions in bolivia and factions in mexico? >> i can't talk about that now. i don't have much information about that specific question you're asking. >> okay. thank you, ambrosio. we still have douglas laird with us as well as we try to get a better idea of the status of things at least from watching the pictures. these are images coming in moments ago. when we saw what seemed to be this coming to a head. passengers and six individuals in handcuffs being carted off that flight. douglas from the vantage point you see and the information from the transportation secretary at

the airport it appears all the passengers are safe and the hijackers were not able to breach the cockpit door, there are no explosives and they are in custody. i imagine they would have to secure the flight to make sure there is nothing there of danger. >> normally they would bring on explosion detection dogs. they are not going to find anything. i think what this brings to our attention is an individual can get on an airplane, go through screening and claim they have a bomb and it is difficult to not react because you don't know. let's not fault security. it probably worked like it was supposed to. >> douglas, is there anything differently you think that, i mean, in the way we have seen this unfold, is there anything that jumps out at you about the way this was handled that maybe can take us inside to what was going on? the fact there was this

nonchalant attitude of the people outside you almost get the sense from looking at the pictures that this perhaps was under control well before we were able to report it or the official confirmation. >> i certainly hope that is the case. if it wasn't well under control there would be an awful lot of people at risk because of the way they had them grouped together. one other comment, the fact the pilot leaned out of the cockpit window i don't find unusual. the folks on the ground didn't have radios to communicate to the pilot. that is the easiest way to do it, open the window. another comment made by someone earli earlier about hijacks. we don't hear about it much in the u.s. because they don't happen in western europe and the

united states and south america. it is an ongoing problem worldwide. we don't have it occurring where most of us travel. >> doug, thank you so much for joining us. let's get a final word from bob hager, nbc aviation consultant. bob your thoughts. it does appear this is over. the communications and transport minister says all the passengers are safe, there is no bomb on the plane. what do you make of what happened today? >> well, in recorded history it will go down as an asterisk since it evidently has a peaceable outcome and thank goodness. on the subject of hijackings around the world on the internet there is a note that records about 18 a year on average worldwide. that figure is a little dated. it is a couple of years old. there is a button that cockpit crews can hit in the cockpit that secretly tells controllers if there is a serious threat on

the plane. i remember before 9/11 the attitude always was boy, don't do anything to anger the hijackers and do what they say, take the plane where they want to because that was the way to ensure a peaceable outcome. after 9/11 they began cracking down and there were regulations made to permit forcible activity in the cabin if passengers saw the opportunity to overcome the hijackers, why, airline crews were encouraged to let that happen. but in this case, all that is moot, i guess, because it appears that the system worked as one hopes it would and the hijackers for whatever reason gave up in the plane and came out peaceably. >> nbc news aviation consultant bob hager.

thank you. >> thank you, david. >> threat's go to sandra lilly. she has been listening to spanish language television. mexican officials say this is over, that the hijackers are in custody and the crew and passengers are all safe? >> yes. in fact, i heard an interesting account by anotherer who spoke on television and he basically said danielle, his name is, saying he was in the last group because women and children went out first from the airplane. but what was interesting is he also said they had not known anything when they were on the flight except they noticed there was a nervous man with a bible in his hand and this nervous man at wasn't point they noticed the captain or what he thought was maybe a captain of the flight had gone to the back of the airplane to talk to this man who was holding a bible in his hand.

they wondered why, didn't think too much of it. it turns out he was apparently one of the hijackers, this person who had been seen holding a bible and this person danielle, one of the passengers said the bible holding man seemed a little nervous when he spoke to the captain. once more, they were not aware that anything happened until they got to mexico city and saw the authorities surrounding the tarmac. >> sandra, thank you very much. a live translation as we were watching this breaking news for the last hour and 17 minutes develop here, david. >> that's right. again, just to sum up. 104 passengers at least on a boeing 737 that was hijacked sometime between the flight from cancun to mexico city. at a certain point mexican security forces stormed the plane, some of the hijackers were seen in handcuffs afterwards. mexican officials say all of the

passengers got off safely, the crew is well. there was no bomb on the plane despite the threat of one. we are going to take a quick break. on the other side of the break we are getting you up to date on the health care reform debate. the president has a major speech to congress tonight. more negotiations, statements by a crucial chairman of a senate panel trying to work on a compromise. senator olympia snowe has certain expectations. a lot of questions about whether progressive democrats are going to like what they're going to hear tonight. we'll give you a complete wrapup coming up. you are watching "the big picture" on msnbc. so many arthritis pain relievers -- i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days --

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custody after the hijacking of an aeromexico flight that left from cancun, landed in mexico city. we watched drama play out over the last hour. the latest news, david, eight have been taken into custody involved in this. >> and officials say that all the passengers onboard are safe. there were threats of a bomb onboard. officials did not find any bomb onboard. there were moments when the pilot was hanging out of the front of the aircraft to talk to ground crews. security forces went into the plane and arrested eight people. they are trying to determine where they are from, what their motives are. all the passengers on this flight are safe. coming up, witness the history. it is a big night in the health care reform debate. a big night for president obama. the congressman who has shaken the hand at every president at every speech to congress in two

decades. congressman elliott engel. can he convince democrats to stand by him with or without a public option. can he succeed where president clinton failed? >> this health care system of ours is badly broken and it is time to fix it. and helps you sleep, in a non-habit forming way.

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i'm julia boorstin with your market report. prices pushed higher. the u.s. dollar continued to weaken. oil rose above $71 a barrel. the federal reserve says americans cut their borrowing in july by a record amount. consumers slashed their debt by $22 billion in june the most since 1943. beatles fans get their

chance to rock out with the british group in a whole new way. beatles rock band goes on sale today. the game costs $60 and available for xbox 360, play station 3 nand tendo wii. back to msnbc. welcome back. i'm tamaran hall in new york. >> i'm david schuster live in washington. >> we continue to follow this breaking news story. there were 112 people reported on the airport. they are all safe at this point. the new information includes there were americans onboard the aircraft. now they have upped the number to eight people in custody as possible hijackers. sandra lilley has more. >> what i was -- what i heard was passengers talking. i did not hear about that. >> what else have the passengers

been saying? >> the passengers, again, the couple of passengers i heard reiterated, they seem to have the same story, they truly did not know anything had occurred until they landed in mexico city and saw the trucks and the police and military authorities. they truly seemed to have had a pleasant flight. one said he saw a nervous looking man holding a bible toward the back of the airplane and this passenger said he saw what he thought was one of the captains going to the back and speaking to this person who seemed a little nervous. they never thought it was like a hijacking. >> did they release the passengers in two groups? >> yes. women and children first and then the men. >> thank you. >> we are joined by the latin american bureau chief of the christian science monitor who has new information. americans were onboard.

do we know how many were on board or if the americans were part of what the hijackers were targeting? >> no. that information has not been released right now. it is -- cancun is the premier tourist destination in mexico for americans. we don't have the specifics yet. >> what is the latest infor information you are picking up? who the group is, who the eight hijackers are? >> the local news is reporting that they appear to be bolivian nationals. i spoke to a security expert who said he highly doubts this has anything to do with drug trafficking. they want to capture the hearts and minds of society. they target officials and involved in violence, they don't want to be perceived as a national security problem. it is unclear what the motive was of these suspects and we will have to wait to see how it

plays out. >> okay, thanks so much. to underscore, the situation is over. all the passengers are safe. eight hijackers were taken into custody. there was no bomb found on the aircraft. everybody is off the plane and the situation is over. we will keep you posted as we get more information about what happened. the big picture this hour, in about 3 1/2 hours, president obama is going to address a joint session of congress on his plans to reform health care, the president's hoping to give the american people a clear view of the problems and his proposed solutions. behind the scenes the negotiations with members of congress continue to intensify and take dramatic turns today. this morning max baucus, chairing a crucial bipartisan panel known as the gang of six

seemed to signal things were not going as well as he would like. he publicly declared he is prepared to move a bill through his committee next week whether it has republican support or not. >> i very much hope and do expect republicans will be onboard. i don't know how many. but if there are not any, i'm going to move forward in any event. >> just in the past hour, main republican senator olympia snowe spoke on "the big picture" about her proposal to bridge with democrats on the public option. a public option trigger would force the insurance companies to change their way. >> a safety net fallback plan that would be on stand by in the event that there weren't affordable choices in health insurance plans for people of a given area, state orie john, making sure they have choices of affordable plans. that is the central goal of any

health insurance reform. >> democrats try to figure out whether a public option trigger might be enough for them. against all of this, we are learning more about the view inside the white house of this entire health care reform debate. an interview on "good morning america" president obama admitted he made some mistakes in this debate. >> i, out of an effort to give congress the ability to do their thing and not step on their toes, probably left too much ambiguity out there that allowed opponents of reform to come in and to fill up the airwaves with a lot of nonsense. >> specifically the president referred to nonsense of everything from the death panels which he called ridiculous. he went on to describe the claims about health insurance for illegal immigrants. he said that was false and he said there were accusations out there, false accusations that

health insurance is going to essentially mean a broad government takeover. so the president obviously disappointed in the way this debate has gone and acknowledging he contributed in part by his hands-off approach that creates a vacuum. >> joining us is congresswoman january schakowsky, chair of the progressive caucus. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> let me get your reaction to the president admitting he made mistakes. bill press said the president needs to be more lbj and less gandhi. interesting comparison. nonetheless the president said he perhaps made mistakes in allowing these lies and misinformation to dominate so much of this august recess. >> well, let me make two points. one is i know barack obama. no one should mistake the fact he is apologizing, admitting an

error or reaching out to mean he is soft. he has a steely center. when he says we are going to pass health care reform he means it and i believe him. number two, the media made a mistake when it comes to death panels or the fact that illegal immigrants are going to be covered. there are facts and there are just lies really that have been spreading about this. it is not good to say he said, she said and back and forth. the press should -- the media should express what is true and what isn't. >> i want to play something that house minority leader john boehner said. one of the facts we are told today is the president will strongly support a public option and not make it an ultimatum. here is what boehner said. >> i hope he doesn't double down on this big government run plan and will begin to work with us in a bipartisan way to address

the concerns of the american people and address the real needs in our current system. >> yesterday speaker pelosi said without a public option there is no passage in the house. what are your thoughts about the public option that have dominated the real conversation regarding options available. >> right. i think it will be in the house bill. this is not because of ideological commitments or reasons, it is because we cannot control costs or keep the insurance companies honest if we don't have real competition. 94% of the markets in the united states are noncompetitive when it comes to health care. it is not surprising rates have doubled in the last ten years. we need the public option to have cost containment. >> congresswoman schakowsky, we heard from olympia snowe, the best she could do is a public option trigger.

if that is what it takes to get the votes in the senate, are you willing to say we'll give the public option a few more years. >> the problem with a trigger takes some lead time. the bill doesn't go into full effect until 2013 to develop the network and bring the doctors in and create a public option. a trigger means it will take another few years. we can't afford to turn it over to the insurance industry that has a stranglehold on the rates right now. no. it is not a practical option. >> congresswoman schakowsky, thanks for joining us. >> appreciate it. >> so david, it seems that everyone else outside of the president has drawn their line in the sand on this. it will be interesting the reaction to whatever he says tonight about the public option. our headlines said "public option, do or die."

when you talk about the trigger as a possible option, i'm not sure what is do or die from what we are hear something. >> here is how convoluted it is politically. some democrats say we would be fine with a trigger if as long as it is an escape hatch. you put the public option in the plan and say if the insurance companies meet certain demands they have an escape hatch to get out and that puts the burden on the insurance companies a opposed to progressives to say the insurance companies are not behaving. it is very delicate. >> that is why i think bill press and others, we spoke with bill earlier today, so many others are saying this is where the leadership comes in and what we need to see from the president, not dictating to congress but certainly clear information so that, i think chuck todd said yesterday, people at home can understand where he stands.

they may not agree but will understand what he thinks is true health care reform. >> we have been talking about how big this speech is, the scene, the electricity, the atmosphere in the house chamber when the president addresses a joint session of congress is unlike anything this town sees except the state of the union. what is it like to be there? elliott engel has had that front row seat, that aisle seat to history several times, shaking hands with presidents as they sbrt the congressional chamber. there you can see him shaking the hand of george w. bush. congressman engel joins us live. why do you do this? why is it so important to have that aisle seat? >> i never would have realized it except in my freshman year in congress chairman sonny montgomery told me to come sit next to him so i could shake the president's hand. i noticed that three rows down

there was no one sitting on the aisle. i asked him if i could sit there and i have been there ever since. >> you have your staff hold a seat for you. tell us how that works. describe the atmosphere on a night like tonight. what is it like being there? >> it is very exciting. is why i want to have the aisle seat and shake the president's hand. any time the president addresses a joint session of congress state of the union or tonight, it is democracy at its best. it makes me feel honored and privileged to be there to represent my district. >> congressman, you are a democrat but we saw you greeting former president bush and also current president obama. you are a democrat, but do you get that same feeling of respect for the office as you greet somebody from perhaps not your side of the conversation? >> well, absolutely.

i never voted for any of the bushes, but they were presidents of the united states and it is always an honor to meet the president and shake the president's hand. i did vote for barack obama and i'm going to be especially happy to shake his hand. tonight begins the salvo of the democrats punching back and fighting for health care reform. we have been on the defensive in august and now in september we go on the offensive and it started tonight. >> what is the proper protocol. suppose the president does not deliver a feisty enough speech in your view. do you say that afterwards? do you say before, hey, give them hell? >> we usually say give them hell or something like that. the other party, i always say, hello mr. president. >> do you want to give a shout out to the staff member who is holding your seat? >> no. i'm holding my seat. i got there 8:30 this morning

and have been there. they turned up the air conditioning. >> will someone take your seat? you are not there now. >> if somebody takes my seat i'm going to blame you. >> the weight is on my shoulders. >> get out there and take your seat. thank you so much. >> my pleasure, thank you. >> david, you know what i -- barack obama's book talks about the first time he met george w. bush. and that he was just joining the sena senate. the president turned and asked for the hand sanitizer, not because he is shaking obama's hand, but he is germ crazy. does he take a squirt to not get obama sick. >> especially if the president is urging people to wash their hands. let the record reflect

congressman engel holds his own seat. despite what i thought, he doesn't have interns or staff do it. he does it himself. >> we will investigate that. i'm suspicious. coming up, another hot topic, sarah palin, yeah, she is firing off another defense of those so-called death panels. >> she has been using blogs and newspapers to spread these false ideas. when we will she talk about them in person or try to defend something false in person? that is today's "faceoff." ♪ bicycle, what are we waiting for? the flowers are blooming. the air is sweet. and zyrtec® starts... relieving my allergies... 2 hours faster than claritin®.

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here is a question or riddle. do you want to know what makes sarah palin tick? or if she has plans to run for president. ebay is auctions off a private dinner for five with the former alaska governor and her husband todd. it will benefit ride to recovery, providing wounded veterans to help them with mental and physical rehab. it will be incredible dinner conversation. if you win, we would love to book you on msnbc in the 3:00 to 5:00 eastern hour. david, you approve? >> i approve.

>> it is time for today's "faceoff." sarah palin has incerted herself into the headlines. >> she wrote an ep ed skewering president obama and the democrats health care plan. not providing a suggestion of her own but brought back death panels. americans are used to the sweeping propgs of washington and we know that from long experience that it's a promise washington can't keep. is it any wonder that it will lead to rations of health care, death panels. >> julian, what is sarah palin up to. this whole thing about death panels have been debunked. palin used part of a eugene robinson column without says it

is false and says this proves my point. >> david, a lot of people say embarrassing things on facebook and most of them happen to be 22 years old. she is using facebook and "the wall street journal" to talk about what everyone has debunked. not only is she doing that, but on the op-ed pages calling for the elimination of medicare and the replacement of it with vouchers. republicans are getting remembered of being associated with the birther movement, silly obstructionism in one of the most important issues of the day health care reform. >> lenny, how can republicans hope to be part of an honest debate if their nominee for vice president continues to lead a dishonest one. >> look, the first thing is, i

totally disagree with julian's assessment. republicans are going to be remembered for standing up for excessive government spending and putting themselves on a path to do tremendously well in the next election. sarah palin won the day. we are talking about sarah palin. she has 700,000 friends on facebook. >> we don't agree with everything she says. >> yes, you are right. she is sucking up some of the media oxygen. but she is lying to do it. she is misleading people. this has been debunked over and over. most republicans say this thing about death panels is wrong. how can it be helpful for sarah palin to suck up media oxygen with something so demon traably false. >> if you look at "the wall

street journal" op-ed, i did, i don't know if you read that. she was masterful in bringing it up. she didn't say it was in the bill. i'm not going to defend it. we have better reasons to oppose the massive overhaul than the idiot si on death panels. >> we have support of regulation of the insurance agency and possibly a public option or compromise that is the most sweeping reform we have had in a generation on health care. on the other side you have extremely unpopular republican whose unfavorably ratings are well over 50% talking jung about death panels and calling for the end of medicare n. sarah palin's home state, 17% of alaskans are uninsured. her answer to that is is to quit her job. >> lenny, we are almost out of

time, is it time for her if she is going to bring the death panel lie into the conversation that maybe she'd give an interview where there is a give and take there can be some challenging of what she is saying. an op-ed is a one-sided conversation. isn't it time for her to face someone who can push back and put her on the line or on the spot to explain or justify? >> i have tons of disagreements with sarah palin's approach to being a rising political star. i can't go there. she has no responsibility to deliver a specific type of interview. she was out there, don't blame "the wall street journal" for running it. she has a long way to go before she is taken seriously. 700,000 people who are listening to her, they are not all crazies. >> in the final days of the

clinton administration after the impeachment, we used to say we are blessed by our opponents. we are starting to say the same thing today. >> there is a significant number, 10%, 15% of the americans who believes the sun rotates around the earth. that is wrong. i'm not sure i follow the logic of lenny's point. >> lenny is saying how many people follow sarah palin but they are not all crazy. i guess he is saying some of them are. >> maybe they are rational or misled by sarah palin. >> you have to take personal responsibility to seek out information when you can. >> some things we thought you should know. >> a republican lawmaker whispering sweet nothings and the birther movement. on "hardball," david axelrod previews president obama's big

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there is a lot going on today. here are a few more things we thought our viewers should know. >> congresswoman jean schmitz is contradicting herself. she said the president is a citizen of this country. we may not agree with his politics but he is our president and has my full respect. just a few days ago schmidt changed her tune and it is

caught on tape. she tries to console an upset birther. listen closely. >> ma'am -- >> he cannot be our president by our institution. >> i agree with you. but the courts don't. >> despite being caught on tape saying that we called today and schmidt's press office says she stands behind the comments she made in july. >> congresswoman schmidt said marines cut raund. i don't know. i'll mess that up. i won't go there. a republican eyeing the late ted kennedy's senate seat. former white house chief of staff andrew card, white house chief of staff for president bush is considering the idea. show plans to speak with gop

officials. he served under george w. bush and was secretary of transportation under former president george h.w. bush. those are the things we thought our viewers should know. >> good list, david. three hours and counting until the president delivers the much anticipated address. what he says will have an impact on tomorrow's political discussions and legislation moving through congress. >> let's get to the next step. mark, what do you have? >> hey, david and tamyrn. there is no doubt president obama's speech will be tomorrow's big political news and have an impact on the legislative debate over health care. turning to other news tomorrow, president obama will be meeting with his cabinet as well as with the pittsburgh penguins who won the stanley cup earlier this year. finally, the democratic national committee begins its fall meg