>> strategically. >> it the president's purpose was to unite his party and buy his party time to stop the hemorrhaging, to stop the desertion by some people in his party so that his administration and the democrat leaders in congress can work on them or work with them, pick your term, however you we shall there, to try to bring them out. >> it that was it. >> it will be hard to bring republican around. they've been saying he's not an american. they don't want him talking to school kids. >> i think this is an historic moment in this country. the president put in it context. social security and medicare. this is the third wave. it is your party has a serious problem, if i can suggest. that you vote against the stimulus ufl voted against the cash for clunkers and you'll stand up and vote against universal health care. it will happen. and you're eats going to be part of the party or you're not. it if you're not part of it, you will be in deep trouble for years to come. it is a very serious -- >> if he had want to, it was

that much. this is too big for most people to swallow. >> well, we'll have to -- gentlemen, it is good to have you. earlier in the show i asked you for your thoughts. after the president's speech, are you more confident about reform? 19,000 of you responded. 93% that you that yefl 7% of you that no. i'll have a lot more on "the ed show" tomorrow night. join us then. that's it for the ed shoe. see you to recall. >> a president offering an interim plan to prevent bankruptcy from health care costs that would morph in four years to an insurance exchange containing a public option holding as he announced this a door open for bipartisanship crediting his election opponent for part of the health care reform plan he tonight endorsed insisting no one will be forced to change insurance, no abortions will be federally funded, no death panels calling that a lie insisting there will be no coverage for those here

illegally and then greeted by congressman wilson of south carolina shouting from the safety of the crowd "you lie." the state of health care reform and state of american health care and state of american politics on the ninth of september in the year 2009. our analysis begins now. with senator brown from ohio staunch opponents of public option in the senate health committee and what the president sought to accomplish tonight. elizabeth edwards on the center for american progress tireless public advocate for health care reform. jonathan, the author of "sick, untold story of the crisis" on what the president outlined would really help and the obama deputy campaign manager in charge of field organization, the most senior campaign staffer to publicly express doubt about the white house's leadership and prioritization in the current

crisis and there are always worse persons. congresswoman jean schmidt is back. this is "countdown" special coverage in the wake of president obama's address to the joint session of congress on health care reform. >> i'm not the first president to take up this cause but i am determined to be the last. good evening from new york. i am not the first president to take up this cause but i am determined to be the last. our fifth story in the countdown that line from obama's second address to a joint session of congress certainly to be remembered whether in victory or in defeat long after the current health care debate has been decided. the president tonight urging lawmakers to enact sweeping health care reform including a public option or it would be he reminded both ends of the

spectrum would only be one part of his plan. >> to my progressive friends i would remind that the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage available to those without it. the public option is only a means to that end. we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal and to my republican friends, i say that rather than making wild claims about a government takeover of health care, we should work together to address any legitimate concerns you may have. >> and yet one of the president's republican friends identified by the associated press as congressman wilson of south carolina shouting "it's a lie" when senator obama said the reforms he's proposing would not apply to those in this country illegally. later the president still soliciting new proposals from anyone while laying down the law.

the middle class will realize greater security and not higher taxes. this is the plan i'm proposing. it's a plan that incorporates ideas for many of the people in this room tonight. democrats and republicans. and i will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead. if you come to me with a serious set of proposals, i will be there to listen. my door is always open. but, know this, i will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it is better politics to kill this plan than to improve it. >> in a republican response, the goal would seem to be delaying reform. congressman would be lord boustany of louisiana proposing that lawmakers chuck everything out and start over. >> it's clear, the american people want health care reform but they want their elected

leaders to get it right. most americans wanted to hear the president tell speaker pelosi, majority leader reid and rest of the congress that it is time to start over on a common sense bipartisan plan focused on lowering the cost of health care while improving quality. that's what i've heard over the past several months in talking to thousands of my constituents. replacing your family's current health care with government run health care is not the answer. in fact, it will make health care much more expensive. >> even though that's exactly the opposite of what the president had said. time to call on senator brown, a democrat from ohio. thanks for stopping by. did you hear what you needed to hear or wanted to hear from the president tonight? >> yes. i've been here for a decade and a half and it's the best speech i ever heard to a joint session. a sense of history but a focus about moving forward. it was specific as it needed to be. it had a strong public option to keep prices down and to give choice and keep insurance companies honest and he reached

out. he did reach out to republicans. in our bill, keith, as you know in the senate health committee, we incorporate 160 republican amendments in. this bill has bipartisan flavor to it. on the big questions, democrats and republicans have very different views. for instance, on the public option and a couple other issues. >> the idea of the insurance exchange kicking in in four years with where the public option would be contained, do you have a clear idea of what that means and also what that immediate offer of low cost bankruptcy protection and what that means? the president makes those key but not clear as they might be. >> that's new information. he's open to that idea. i think we can do it faster than four years. i would like to. i like the assistance in the meantime. part of that will be providing medicaid. the president has some other ideas, too.

i think that's an example that even though republicans have rebuffed him and sent out this misinformation about illegal immigrants and death panels, he wants to reach out to them. in the end when i look back to medicare, republicans voted against medicare and they found out two years, five years, 20 years later they were on the wrong side of history. a number of republicans in the end will vote for this bill because they don't want to their children and grandchildren a decade from now saying we're on the wrong side of history of this one. >> that's the intent of citing congressman dingell in pointing out that his father before him in the house had proposed legislation reminiscent of currently proposed reforms but he proposed it in 1943. two generations have gone through that house without getting anything seriously done. that was great symbolism i thought. absolutely pertinent.

>> that's exactly right. when i hear what congressman boustany from louisiana said after the president's comments that we need to go slow and do this again, 12,000 people every day are losing their insurance in this country. 390 in my state of ohio and cleveland and dayton and mansfield and all over and understand that we've been working on this for years starting with teddy roosevelt and then through john dingell and johnson and clinton up until now and we've had very long extensive debates and hearings on this. we're ready to do this and we need to do it before the end of the year. we'll get a bill with a strong public option to the president before the end of the year. >> there were two things in here i wonder how republicans can go out and say they oppose if these are final aspects of the bill. number one being malpractice reform which is something that dr. boustany mentioned for which the republicans stood and cheered and cheered and cheered. the other one, i imagine that out in the great american middle or out in the great american

left or out in the great american right it doesn't matter. if you hear a president say that it will be illegal to deny insurance for pre-existing conditions, i wonder if you couldn't get everybody in the country to vote yes. >> yeah. pre-existing conditions, when you get sick, your insurance company cancels your insurance because it cost too much. discrimination on gender and race and discrimination on people with disabilities and geography and all that. we can get good, strong support in the country but republican members of congress are on a short leash with the insurance industry and the insurance industry pulls that leash and republican members of congress sit back and so it's harder than it looks even though the whole country and even the most conservatives support that kind of consumer protection on these insurance policies. you betcha. >> to that last point, i don't want to waste your time with too many questions about the republican party but did they do

themselves favors by showing the minority whip, mr. cantor, sitting there texting during the message or the remarkable comment from congressman wilson that the president was -- he said it's a lie when the president said none of this would pertain to people here illegally. did they hurry hurt themselves or will he be a hero in certain parts of the country? >> he might be a hero in certain parts of the country and other neighborhoods. they're playing themselves out of this week after week. whether it is opposition to the president of the united states and this one like the other in speaking to students and whether it is making up stuff about death panels and illegal immigrants and saying there's a lot of republicans here feed into that the president wasn't born into the united states. those things and their behavior tonight really isolates the republican party and it really has made them into a conservative southern white party that the rest of the country is leaving behind. it's too bad for the country they're doing that but it's really bad politics for them. they'll continue to pay for it.

unfortunately as i said for the country and i hope they get off of that and come to the table and work with us. >> i think that combat get against that is a phrase it will be illegal to deny insurance for pre-existing conditions. that may change the entire playing field. senator brown, always a pleasure. thank you for your time. >> for more on the president's speech and its intent, let's turn to valerie jarrett. thank you again for joining us. >> my pleasure. good evening. how are you? >> i have some specific questions and i have a general question. the president left the overall intent of this for last. there were a lot of intriguing specifics and things that will sell well and extraordinary moments in the speech, but the emphasis of this and the goal of this if he had to blow it down to a sentence was this was a moral imperative. >> i think that's exactly what he said. he said it was something about the character of our country that makes it so important for

us to deliver on behalf of the american people right now. for those who have insurance, they need additional safety and security and stability in the system. for those who don't, they need affordable health care and we have to reduce the cost for everybody. it's a simple message and any american out there who was listening tonight knows where the president stands and i also think that by the nearly 30 standing ovations he received from congress, we have a good sense of momentum there as well. >> on a subject of the public option, which the president wants to pin as about 10% or 15% of the reform here, it is contained as i understood it from what he said and i will not say that i'm automatically right because i'm reading the president's speech and his words may mean something else. correct me if i'm mistaken. the insurance exchange would not take place for four years. is there a trigger system involved in this? is there a phase in or is there flexibility on that point? what are specifics you can tell us about that? >> sure. of course it is open. what he said tonight is he's interested in other ideas.

his plan is let's take four years and make sure we put it in place and get it right but that we have a safety net suggested originally by senator mccain in the meantime. >> anything more specific about that safety net or is that being built as we speak because it seems that's a new concept or at least a new -- as you said, senator mccain's campaign to some degree but a new essential component to this final version of what the president wants, is it not? >> it is new. what it shows is the president has been listening over the months just as he said he would from the outside. he's received a lot of terrific ideas from democrats, republicans, everyone across the aisle and what he tried to do this evening was incorporate the best of what he's heard and he considers that to be a good alternative until we can get the exchange up and running. >> and the idea of that interim solution that emergency care would be to specifically focus on people who were threatened

with bankruptcy because of the sudden onslaught of insurance expenses or is it wider than that? >> it's for people that don't currently have coverage. there are millions who can't afford coverage right now. if you lose your job or for whatever reason you don't have the coverage, and you are in dire straits, should be able to have a safety net. what he was talking about going back to the character is the importance in our country to make sure that we're taking care of our citizens. when you're sick, you should not have to worry about going bankrupt and pay for your health care. until we have an exchange up and running he would love to have the safety net in place. there are lot of great ideas he received in the course of this process that we've been going through and 80% -- there's an agreement on 80% across the aisle. let's focus on closing this out once and for all and deliver on behalf of the american people. >> i think no one would ever

look at the president's attempts for bipartisanship on this as anything less than severe and admirable. even if the context of what he was able to achieve and address tonight, is there something over prioritized about that if when he says this is a lie. there are no death panels and there's not going to be coverage provided for illegal aliens are people in this country illegally and someone to turns out to be congressman wilson of south carolina shouts from the safety of the crowd that's a lie, is bipartisanship feasible when there's this kind of almost blind reaction from the other side? >> i believe there is. i believe there is. i believe with a president such as barack obama we can achieve that bipartisan support. the fact he took an idea that came from his opponent, senator mccain, and incorporate it is a simple gesture and a way of showing what his character is all about.

i think the measure of a person is whether or not they continue to reach out and continue to listen and most importantly, he's focusing on what's best for the american people. he's going to debunk anything that he hears that's nonsense. the times are too important. there are too many people who each and every day are losing their insurance and having to choose between paying rent, sending kids to college and paying medical expenses and in this country a country as great as our country, we deserve better than that. i think his call tonight was a call to appeal to the better in all of us. stop this nonsense. stop this terrible rhetoric. remember who elected you and who sent you to congress. the people of this country did. >> to that point last question something very important, when the president said he will call people out who continue to spread lies about health reform no matter where they come from, did he mean that literally? will he be standing there reading a list of the people who are spreading this stuff the way so many others have had to do in

the last six weeks? >> i think the president is a man of his word. what he's saying very clearly is let's stop scaring the american people particularly our seniors. let's not do that. they don't deserve that. let's have an honest debate about the issues. there may be differences of opinion on substance and he said he welcomes new and exciting ideas but let's just not try to scare people to keep the status quo because while everyone is hearing around the country is status quo is no longer acceptable and he's going to move the country forward. >> hopefully all of us calling out will get the job done. >> we know we can always count on you to call people out. thank you. >> i appreciate the way that was phrased. thank you kindly. >> take care. >> not all those who campaigned so hard for then senator barack obama have been excited about his version of health care reform.

his deputy campaign manage for field operations questioned that vision in a full page ad in "the new york times" today. let's see if his opinion has changed. he'll join us for reaction and next elizabeth edwards here on "countdown." the rest of the body is a no brainer. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin back & body. excedrin. what ache? i'm finally going to get a flat panel for my home theater. - ( cheering ) - ( laughs ) thank you. what should i get? uh, you. you should check out our new leds. the picture's better than life. okay, but i don't want to pay too much. don't worry about it. we'll match those other stores' prices. and we'll deliver and hook it up for free. okay. last question. if you guys are here, who's in the stores? the latest home theater technology and thousands of people eager to help. best buy. buyer be happy.

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12346789 why do so many americans go without health care? tonight as in the past, we are told, our fourth, what is the president actually going to do about them based on what he just will us? americans who cannot afford health care will not get health care but they will be able to buy insurance and there will be an exchange in four years. americans who do have insurance get to keep their insurance or go for some other alternative form of insurance. health insurance in other words for everyone which amounts to pretty good news for the people the democrats told us were the bad guys, the insurance companies. is that a fair tradeoff? we're fortunate to have with us, elizabeth edwards, participant in the u.s. health care system. hello, my friend. how are you tonight? >> i'm doing all right. pretty pleased with the speech. >> let's expand on that.

what pleased you on it? >> i was watching msnbc earlier today. ed schultz did a survey. are you hopeful or worried? 22% were hopeful but 22% were worried. there's also a worry when the press plays something up as a crucial speech and i think the president met and exceeded people's expectations and the people listened to the speech and felt better about the chances for health care reform and the direction in which the president seems to be leading the country. >> do you think that encouragement stems from the imperative that he presented that this is less about as much as it may benefit the economy, he talked about how the deficit is similarly put and question of

health insurance but larger than that is this call to the memory of ted kennedy that this is a moral imperative. >> i certainly think that was an enormously powerful part of the speech and may actually vault that speech into one of the greatest speeches into joint sessions of congress that we ever heard. the big thing that happened and we've been -- we spent the summer where we were hearing all sorts of nonsense and it was constantly this road show that was going on orchestrated to derail the health care reform and the president basically came back in as the adult in the room and said, you know, there's no more talk of dare i say it death panels or nazis and we're through with all of that nonsense. now we have to go about the serious business of addressing a real crisis both in the american economy and in american families and even in the american character if we're going to continue to allow the kind of

injustice, social injustice that occurs in our health care system to continue. >> not to waste more time on that reality of the circus as you phrase it, this was followed by the congressman from south carolina, mr. wilson, i heard "you lie" or the ap heard "it's a lie" on the subject of health care for people in this country illegally. i wonder if the answer as much as the president promised to call people out who do things like that, i think that's great. i wonder if the answer of all of this is contained in one small sentence that he did not spend a lot of time on but that he said it and made it a centerpiece of this bill might be the sales tool to cut through all of the other noise and to get the circus to leave town finally and that would be simply this, it will now be illegal to deny insurance for pre-existing conditions. that would seem to be a universal message. >> as i have crisscrossed the country not just campaigning politically but in conversation

i had with people in health care and i spend a lot of time doing that, that is perhaps the number one issue. people are afraid -- most americans do have insurance coverage. they're afraid that when the time comes that some condition that is enormously important in their lives will not be attended to because it will either be deemed as pre-existing condition or deemed some reason for denying of care when it is time to pay up. this is the contract nature i would think that would appeal to

people crossing party lines as well. >> the stories that he told about the illinois man who was denied coverage in the middle of chemotherapy or the texas woman that the sister of the illinois man testified and the woman testified about the insurance abuses. it's one of the reasons why it's so important that we have something that people think exists but does not. and that is national guidelines for what insurance companies can and cannot do. right now there's been this threat of government control of your health care. i think americans today think they have insurance company control of their health care. >> as you know, i lost my mom this spring. my dad is sick. my dad is sick. fortunately i think he's going to be okay. i was in the hospital with him. in a rehab facility with him. i was thinking about this today when i was in there with him. if i didn't have the money to spread around where it was necessary, what in god's name would i do? >> i thought -- you could see

nancy pelosi having trouble containing herself when he said for a family to say the answer is out there, i just can't pay for it for you and a child that they love or a spouse that they love not getting the care that they need, when you talk about a northerly imperative, that's something that americans understand. that's what made this speech so incredibly powerful. >> agreed. elizabeth edwards of center for american progress, always a pleasure to speak with you and always a great point of pride to be able to say thank you, my friend. >> back to you, keith. >> take care. >> so long. is what we heard tonight real reform or does it funnel money to insurance companies? is the delay too much? is that negotiable or the big point that it would be illegal to deny insurance for pre-existing conditions or cut off insurance when you need it? answers from an expert on this. jonathan cohn, the author of "sick." late news on senator mccain's reaction to mr. wilson's actions shouting "lie" at the president

saying that wilson should apologize and do so immediately. and a full page ad in "the new york times" signed by volunteers and contributors to the obama presidential campaign critical of his leadership on the subject of health care. the senior campaign staffer whose name is on that ad. has his mind been changed tonight? he'll join us. you're watching "countdown." i crush you like tiny clown car. because you are... ...clown, yes? female valve: come, you hit me again and i break you. male valve: oh, you messed with wrong pipe now, car. ha, ha trust me...i have to live with her. announcer:accidents are bad. but geico's good with guaranteed repairs through auto repair express. when she started forgetting things, i was hoping it was nothing. grandma! what a nice surprise! mom, it's sunday.

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that four-year delay in an insurance exchange. jonathan cohn tries to explain the details we heard tonight from the president and then

deputy campaign manager for then candidate obama, is he back on board with the president's leadership on the subject of health care reform? congresswoman jean schmidt, the editors that wrote a column about jaycee dugard ending with a reference to her having left the yard get published in her hometown paper and the "gentleman" from south carolina. congressman joe "it's a lie" wilson. apologize, resign, leave the country. it's your choice, goober. tonight's worst person and the analysis of the obama speech ahead.

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the president spoke loftily and appropriately about the moral imperative of health care reform this evening, movingly of the letter he received from the late senator kennedy, terrifyingly of the man who died because he did not report to his

insurer gallstones that he did not know he had. but our third story on the "countdown," what about the specifics, and where does the public option stand as of tonight, as of the president's speech practically and as a priority? the president did in fact pitch it tonight, but contained it within an insurance exchange that itself will not begin for four years. and he also said he's open to better ideas, if any. >> the public option is only a means to that end, and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. and i will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead. if you come to me with a serious set of proposals, i will be there to listen. my door is always open. >> let's turn now to the senior editor of the new republic, author of "sick: the untold story of america's health care crisis," jonathan cohn. thank you for your time tonight. >> happy to be here. >> what seems to be the practical piece of the president's speech tonight?

what is the insurance exchange? why will it not kick in for four years? is there a co-op? why is the public option seemingly buried within it? >> the insurance exchange, this is the heart of all of the health care proposals, including the bills that have already gone through congress. this is basically setting up a marketplace where people who don't already have access to insurance through their employers can shop around from among a group of plans and they can get any plan they want. they can't be denied because they have a pre-existing condition, that sort of thing. it's really very similar to the way members of congress get health insurance and the way most people who now work for large corporations. now, why will it take four years? you know, there's a lot of pressure to keep the cost of this bill down. if you want to get an exchange up and running right away and get everybody into it, it's going to cost more. on the other hand, if you wait three or four years and you slow down the implementation, well, that brings down the cost. and this is basically a compromise that obama and all of the bills that have gonely the

committee, they all do the same thing, this basically is a compromised made so they can keep the costs down because, frankly, to be quite honest, i think congress doesn't have the guts to raise enough money to do it right away so they're slowing it down a bit. >> and the idea that he attributed to senator mccain, the short-term emergency funding program that would prevent you or protect you against, as he put it, financial ruin if you become seriously ill, it didn't seem to have much more detail to it than that. is there anything to infer from what the president said as to what this is? is it a long-term process or a short-term process? do you know anything more about it than what we heard from the president? >> yeah, i checked into that little bit on the way over here. it sounds like what they're talking about. as you may recall during the campaign, senator mccain proposed these high-risk pools which basically say if you are somebody who has pre-existing medical conditions and you can't buy insurance yourself, they'll create this special pool, this special class of insurance just for you and people like you to give you coverage. now, the downside is not much of a long-term solution. typically these policies are very expensive. they have pretty high

deductibles. you may have to wait a while until you get your pre-existing conditions covered. it's not a long-term solution it is more of a band-aid so that's why people like me criticized it. is it better than nothing? yeah, it's pretty expensive. but i think there is a sense from the white house and from congress if they are going to roll this out pretty slowly, it is important that people see some benefits right away, and i think that is important. this is one way of giving them that. this is one way of giving in effect what they're calling a deliverable -- a benefit people will see up front so that they know this plan is working, and that they feel like they've gotten some benefit from it. >> understanding where this could have begun if the president had started with single payer and negotiated down to public option, rather than starting at public option and negotiating down from there, understanding it in that context, are you satisfied with what you heard from the president if that's the final bill, is that good enough for the time being?

>> you know, i do think it is. look, my ideal bill would look a lot more like a single payer system. it would look a lot more like some of the systems they have in other countries that work really terrifically. but i am also a political realist. i understand we have the united states senate with a lot of senators from conservative, small states. we have some very powerful special interests. and the fact of the matter is these plans are not perfect, but, boy, they make a big difference in the lives of a lot of people. and we're talking about getting insurance to tens of millions of people, you know, protecting these people from financial catastrophe, from medical catastrophe. people who are currently insured, making sure their insurance actually works for them. and you know, there's nothing to prevent us from coming back in a couple of years and building on this system and adding the part that's people like me, people like you, think are important. do i wish the plan were better or do i wish it looked more like a single payer plan? absolutely. do i think that what we're talking about now will make a dramatic difference in people's

lives? absolutely. >> couldn't say it fairer than this, as they say. jonathan cohn, the author of "sick." many thanks, as always. >> thanks. mr. cohn's perspective is one thing, yours is another. what about the full-page article in "the new york times" today? critical of the president's leadership on reform. the senior staffer joins me next. is he converted back tonight? and rachel maddow joins us on this critical night as health care debate continues. among her guests, white house senior david axelrod, senator boxer, representative frank. and ahead of that, a month ago she announced the president is a natural born citizen. now jean smith of ohio changed her mind if she has one. "worst persons," including congressman wilson, if she has one. [ female announcer ] the deeper you clean,

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and you can't be dropped if you get sick, or denied coverage for a pre-existing condition. that's a long way from a government takeover. and what about the claims that health reform will cut medicare benefits? "false" says the non-partisan factcheck.org... health reform maintains and even expands benefits for seniors and focuses on preventing illness before it strikes. our health care is too important for scare tactics, you deserve the truth. learn more at the factsaboutreform.org

full-page ad in "the new york times" decrying the president's authorities and leadership in health care reform from hundreds of his campaign volunteers and donors. the senior most of the campaigners next on whether or not they're all back in the fold tonight. are they mullified after what the president said? and in "worsts," something in another newspaper, the worst sports column ever. plus, six weeks after denying she is a birther, congresswoman schmidt reveals she's a birther. you're watching "countdown" on msnbc. i'm here on this tiny little plane, and guess what... i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't.

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the man they helped get elected. progressives told barack obama health care reform without the public option is not change we can believe in. our number two story on the "countdown," the president got an ultimatum, support the public option or we'll support somebody else in 2012. the question tonight, did he change their minds back? one of mr. obama's deputy campaign managers said he's losing patience with the white house joins me imminently. first, as an overture to the president's chief, the group progressive change campaign committee taking out this full-page ad, signed by 40,000 obama donors, 25,000 volunteers and 40,000 donors all echoing the same sentiment. we did something for you. now do something for the country. saying the president needs to do more than express support for the public option. he needs to draw a line in the sand and fight hard for it. this on the heels of obama supporter protesting outside the white house, desiring bold leadership from the president. one former adviser telling politico that the president

drops the ball on health care reform, quote, i would have to work for somebody else who would support a public option in a primary in 2012. joining me as promised, former obama deputy campaign manager steve hildebrand. thank you for your time tonight, sir. >> absolutely, keith. >> did he do enough? >> absolutely. he -- i think tonight was a game-changer for this health care reform debate. and i do think he really hit this out of the ballpark. he explained in very clear terms what he stands for, what he believes, and the principles that he's going to fight for, continue to fight for in this health care reform debate, so, yeah, i'm very pleased, keith. >> did you have the sense going into this, as i did, that this was even larger than health care? this was about where the president's priorities, where his presidency would tilt, more towards citizens or more towards corporations and special interests, not that there seemingly was any doubt about

that at any point up until the last three or four weeks, but that somehow, that question was back on the table? was it on the table? has it been taken off the table tonight? >> well, i never had any doubt in my mind, keith, that this president is squarely on the side of the american people, and not, you know, in bed with the special interests, as too many politicians are. he is a very principled person. he believes in the need for health care reform as deeply and as principled as anybody in this country. he has has to fight hard to make sure that it happens. he needs to invite the american people to take control of this debate. to make sure that he calls on politicians and folks in the media when they tell lies about his health care plan and all of us, you know, who believe in him, who believe in his plan for

health care reform, keith, need to get really active. people need to call senator ben nelson in nebraska, senator max baucus in maine. call olympia snowe and susan collins in maine -- i'm sorry, max baucus in montana. get on the phone and tell these folks we need health care reform that's principled, that stands by the very ideals that president obama laid out tonight in his speech. >> steve, when he said, i asked valerie jarrett the same question nearly an hour ago. you were integrally associated with this man. when the president said he will call people out who tell lies about health care reform, do we take him literally at that? are we going to see the president come up and shout back, but not shout back but answer back? >> well, he is a person who -- as i know him -- cares a lot about political discourse. one of the reasons he ran for the presidency was to try to

change political discourse in washington. i don't think that he's going to be irresponsible in how he might call somebody out, but i do think he is going to make very clear what the truth is and what the truth isn't. and for those people who are distorting his plan and his ideals, he should be very forceful in pushing back, just as he did tonight. >> i was going to say, is that what we should expect, something like a simple statement about the death panels, that's a lie? >> well, you know, i can't -- i don't know for sure exactly how they would implement this. i think, you know, they will make sure that, you know, the army out there knows the marching orders. and to make sure that all of us, not just the president, but all of us who are fighting for health care reform behind his principles are also, you know, standing up and making sure that the truth is told. >> steve hildebrand, former

deputy campaign manager on the obama campaign and tonight closer to back to the fold, if that phrase can be used in this equation. great thanks for joining us tonight. >> keith, i'm always in the fold with this president. >> here we go. >> thank you. >> thank you, sir. two days after its publication, it is already considered the worst sports column ever printed in an american newspaper. who wrote and who published, more importantly, an essay, while she spent 18 years of hell at the hands of a pedophile, kidnap and rape victim, would have missed in the world of sports, in the world of sports? "worst persons" next. rogaine?

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in a moment, a special edition of "the rachel maddow show." first we close with the happy reminder that the world keeps spinning despite some people. tonight, our "worst persons in the world." guess who the winner is? the bronze to congresswoman -- yes, she's still a congresswoman -- jean schmidt of ohio, whose smearing of jack murtha of pennsylvania as a coward on the

house floor was the high mark for the bush administration's controlled society. a tea party event monday in cincinnati. >> he cannot be a president by our constituency. >> if it were not bad enough that schmidt is a mean-spirited, unhappy person who seem bent on spreading those emotions, she's also a complete hypocrite. in july, amid rumors she was a birther, she released a statement saying she believed the president was a natural born citizen of the united states. so she was either lying then or she was lying at that fool at that tea party. either way, she's a pandering, manipulative liar and should resign from the house of representatives. runners-up, sports editors of "the oc register." every columnist and commentator will write something so bad, so inappropriate the editor will have to kill it. mr. bean and mr. haarmanson and

mr. sharon fail to do this. mark whiker went totally tone deaf. he wrote a sports column about jaycee dugard, who had been held in captivity in the backyard of a pedophile since 1991. column begins that jaycee dugard hasn't gotten to see a sports page. she never saw a highlight. never got to the ballpark for beach towel night. probably hasn't high-fived in a while. she was not allow to spike a volleyball, pitch a softball or smack a ball down the line or run in a five-footer for double bogey. that's deprivation. no, deprivation is being held prisoner for 18 years, raped repeatedly and forced to bear the children of a psychopath. it is not, not knowing the angel won the world series during your ordeal. the rest of the column was just a lift of all of the less likely sports results since she was kidnapped as an 11-year-old. somehow it got worse. remember where this woman was

held in a family backyard and ball players who always invent the slang no matter what espn would have you believe, came up with an expression for a home run you might appreciate. congratulations, jaycee, you left the yard. mark whitker will take his lumps for this, and it might cost him his job, objectively so. it's impossible to bring back a column that's already been transmitted. in many ways the damage is done. i hope i can be forgiven for this lapse of professionalism. but you are the guys reading this, deciding whether or not it gets publish, and you say great. you're in over your head, gentlemen. our winner, speaking of that, congressman joe wilson of south carolina, not only interrupting the president of the united states during his joint address to congress and to the nation on this extraordinarily important subject, but interrupting the president of the united states to call him before the eyes of the world a liar. it is bad enough that mr. wilson was factually wrong, mr. obama was not lying when he said health care reform will not pay