here ever since. >> mike. >> i learned i don't care if willy ever comes back. >>en hand her. >> what did you learn? you want me to separate you and mike. >> i learned that -- are you uncomfortable. are you kidding me? i learned that willy is very charming at 5:30 in the morning. >> that's nice. >> andrew. >> i learned that unemployment's going up and the economy's still going to go up at the same time. i'm confused. >> if you're confuelsed. >> we learned the lesson that congress is no meritocracy. brought up great points that need to be answered. >> we'll talk more about that on the radio. 10:00 to noon. >> the plausible. >> the plausible joe scarboro h

scarborough. >> i've been called worse. >> it's "morning joe," now it's time for dylan rad i began and the morning meeting. >> thank you. now is the time. president obama demanding action from congress to fix our nation's health care system in a barn stormer of a prime time speech on capitol hill. >> the time for bickering is over. the time for games have passed. now is the season for action. >> good morning to you. i'm dylan ratigan. the president's speech and the near outburst, it was all the same from congressman wilson, heckling the president calling him a liar. a jam-packed show, reaction from howard dean, gang of six member kent conrad, democratic senator

brown, marsha blackburn, the list goes on, the panel is here. it's 9:00 a.m. i hope you join the "morning meeting." reaction pouring in to the president's big push for health care reform and that outburst from republican congressman joe wilson, david axelrod calling the incident unprecedented. nbc news correspondent savannah guthrie joins us live. >> reporter: we did hear kind of a new tone from the president last night. a fiery call to action to get health care reform done. listen. >> well, the time for bickering is over. the time for games have passed. now is the season for action. now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together and show the american people that we can still do what

we were sent here to do. now is the time to deliver on health care. >> reporter: we did hear the president give more details, more specifics about where he stands on health care reform. here's some of the three big ideas that came across. protections for the already insured. he talked about this a lot but made a case for getting rid of practices like banning coverage for those who have pre-existing conditions. two, he wants to set up this insurance exchange for individuals and small businesses, a place to find quality affordable health care. talked about the public option but made clear, again, probably more clear than ever that this is not a deal breaker. and three, insurance mandates, an idea that the president didn't like during the campaign but likes now, requiring every individual to get health insurance the way we're required to get car insurance but there would be subsidies for those who can't afford it. the president spent the time talking about what health care

is not taking a not so veiled swipe at former governor palin and listen to what happened in the middle of the speech. a republican congressman actually heckling the president as he tried to debunk some so called myths. listen. >> there are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. this, too, is false. the reform -- the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those here illegally. >> lie. >> not true. >> reporter: congress joe wilson a republican of south carolina who had that outburst darted out of the chamber right after the speech. he later called last night the white house to try to apologize to the president. chief of staff rahm immanuel took the call. let me read you the statement. this evening i let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president's

remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. while i disagree with the president's statements my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. extend sinl sear apologies to the president for this lack of civility. and here is vice president joe biden on the "today" show this morning. >> joe, you embarrassed an institution i love and you realized it. i think what you saw last night so an exception to the rule. the rule is that the congress is prepared, it is not divided in the emotional way in which joe wilson's outburst indicates. >> reporter: okay. so the health care sales pitch goes on, the president is going to speak on health care this morning at the white house, then later this weekend actually, he's going to go on the road, part of kind of a presidential road show selling health care reform, it starts saturday with a rally in minnesota. >> joining us is former vermont

governor howard dean. also howard dean's prescription for health care reform. welcome back to the program, dr. dean. your reaction. >> i thought the president did what he had to do. more important than any of the details though i think it was important to put to bed some of the misconceptions about the plan, but more important than any of the details he showed to be a very strong leader. people want strong leadership above all in the president. that's what he did. >> let's go through some of his big points. one, protection for the insured. he emphasized that. then goes on to talk about the insurance exchanges which is something a number of bills including widen bennett and others talked about and then the imperative for mandates. you feel the way he framed the key aspects from his point of view reflect what is you think would be the most important aspects? >> yeah. i think he explained it to the american people than to congress. and it made it very clear what was going to happen. including not glossing over the things some of the things that

are not so popular like the mandates. i thought he made it clear t. main part was the message he always had which is if you like what you have you can keep it but we're going to keep the or make the n companies into honest businesses. >> which leaves us with one, the public option and the role. i want to take a listen to the president last night on the public option. >> it's worth noting that a strong majority of americans still favor a public insurance option of the sort i proposed tonight. but, its impact shouldn't be exaggerated by the left or the right or the media. it is only one part of my plan. and shouldn't be used as a handy excuse for the usual washington ideology battle. >> your thoughts on his framing of the public option. >> i think he was downplaying it some in the sense that i think there isn't any way to control costs or keep the insurance companies on the straight and narrow without a public option. the public option fight has now

moved to congress. i think the president said what he had to say, it's time to vote, time to start voting. i think that's what you'll see. i think chairman baucus is going to get his committee voting in the next weeks, the house will vote the bill over to the senate or i think probably they will go first. and we'll get this done. >> which takes us ultimately to your eyes if you will as a dealmaker. forget policy here. if you look at the job the president did in setting the table to get a deal done, to get exchanges, to get a national mandate, some of the things talked and talked and talked, is your sense, governor, that the president is in good shape to get something done? >> i always thought he was in good shape. once it became clear that the republicans had no interest in voting for this bill and no matter what the president put in or took out of it was going to be a democratic bill. once it's a democratic bill you know something is going to have to get done because every democrat understand they don't get something with this majority they won't have it

after 2010. >> which leaves us with the left, the deep left that would like to see either pingle payer or a more explicit deployment of the public option. does he risk alienating that faction. do they feel used in some way that he's maybe led them to believe he was more willing to push harder for just that option? >> i think he will push hard for the public option. i think what he wanted to do is avoid laying down the gauntlet in front of the american people. there is no way to do this without a public option. the alternative is you put $60 billion a year in the private health insurance industry which screwed everything up. 2 1/2 times the rate of inflation. that's the rate for businesses. they made american business uncompetitive. not to mention all the shenanigans with kicking people off health insurance if they get sick and that kind of stuff. there is no real way to do this without a public option. the president knows it, the house knows it. most in the senate know it and i think that's what is going to happen. i don't know what it's going to look like but i'm pretty sure it

will be there. >> joe wilson last night with the heckling if you will, of the president. take a listen. >> there are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. this, too, is false. the reform -- the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> a lie. >> not true. >> how much of wilson's behavior hurt the republicans' ability to accord a viable rebuttal? >> the republicans have played to their base since the debate began. they are not interested in reaching out to the american people except for fear facttics, i think the president is good at laying aside those fears so i think probably what congress wilson did was helpful to the republican base but the base is getting smaller and smaller as time goes on and he apologized. i give him credit for that. and i think will probably move

on. i think it's a -- this is a ju generation, this president was elected by people under the age of 35. they're not going to put up this. when the republicans want to come back in power they have to figure out how to appeal to people under 35. that doesn't help them much. >> dr. dean, a pleasure. we'll talk to you soon. >> thanks very much. >> joining me from capitol hill is congresswoman marsha blackburn, a republican representing the great state of tennessee. and representative, welcome. your thoughts how good a job the president did in connecting with republicans, period, last night. >> i think the president connected with his base. and unfortunately, i didn't hear anything new from the president's speech last night. and of course an energy and commerce committee we have been working through this issue the past few months. and i have had hr 3200 before us in committee. >> you don't believe he did anything, however, beyond his

base last night with that speech. is that correct? with the republicans -- >> i was hopeful that he was going to reach out and say come on, let's start over and work together in a bipartisan manner. he is right to say that we need reform. i think we all agree that we need to reform some com mo nents of the health insurance market system, we need to deal with the costs. the cost is too high. but the promises that i have heard from this public option program or the same promises i heard in tennessee. with our public option. those promises were broken and that program nearly broke the state. >> isn't the problem that when you mandate an insurance mandate and public option but don't reform insurance practices, in other words allow government to maintain competitive struck sure so one or two control the market you are mandating giving billions to insurance companies so without meaningful insurance reform anything else becomes

kind of silly. >> and that should be the starting point. you have to look at the insurance market reforms. those with pre-existing and chronic conditions. and making sure that is dealt with. being certain that people who have insurance aren't dropped. you also have to make certain that you don't have a lot of cost shifting taking place between hospitals and shifting that cost from public pay to those that are in private insurance. that is the the insurance market reforms have to be dealt with first and foremost. >> it strikes me and ezra klein is with us, to keep the conversation that much more honest if you will, as very familiar with all of the legislation. so ezra, i want to bring you in. but it struck me that the president went straight at that. he went at the exchanges, he went at the competitive problem which is why i wonder representative blackburn, why you're not more satisfied with some of the rhetoric that the president offered up about creating more competitive health

insurance. >> he talked about the public option, the problem there is this. >> no, no, representative, my question is -- i know he talked about a lot. what i'm saying he offered explicit rhetoric about health insurance reform. he talked about a national mandate, about national exchanges, he talked about altering -- a tax or some sort of a penalty for those who would seek to charge too much for health insurance. was any of that satisfactory? >> the problem there is the way you come at it. he comes at it with government control. i say let's -- >> government makes the rules. are you suggesting -- who would make the rules? without rules, people cheat. right? we watch that with the banks, we watched that with the car companies. we don't want to continue a process of basically people setting the rules in washington to allow private interests or special interests to cheat and take money. whether it's the health insurance companies, the banks or a car company. it's unclear why his suggestions to try to prevent cheating or

exploitation are dissatisfactory. if the government's not going to make rules, who is? >> and there are bills out there that would address specifically what you're talking about. the shadegg bill that would address the market reforms is one that gets to the heart of that problem. gets to the competition problem, allows people to buy that insurance that is needed across state lines, gets rid of barriers so the options are there. when you look at the public option approach to this, the problem is there is not a government-run program that is actually brought down the cost that has actually removed access restrictions. and for those of us that look at the history of public option plans we look and say well, everything that we see is going to drive cost up. that was one of the lessons from the tennessee plan, the cost quadrupled in a matter of a few years. >> no other meaningful

insurance, you have the mandate all you do is mandating making insurance companies richer. >> thank you for being with us. you say the path of bipartisanship, they make the subsidies lower. the president began to talk about possibly malpractice reform. is there anything the president could add to his bill that is not in there now that would bring republicans on board, is it malpractice reform, cap on the deduction for employers, is there anything that could be brought into the bill? >> you know, i'm not certain that at this point saying is there anything you bring into the bill. i think the appropriate question and what we would like to hear is what is going to be the basis for where we start. how we enter into this. is it going to be addressing those needed market reforms, portability, the malpractice insurance, liability issues that are there. and that is why eventually you

say look, we need to stop, we need to start over, and we need go about this in a different way. one of the lessons of august, for all of us should be as we have been through these town hall meetings, had people come in, some that agreed, some disagreed, what they have said is we need to address this, but we do not want government bureaucracy on top of insurance bureaucracy, we don't want health care to cost more, and we don't want to the be more complicated. we want to be able to manage this ourselves. and it is a deeply personal and deeply emotional issue for our constituents. that's why i think we would be well served to say look, let's go back and let's do this in a different way. >> but you would ultimately have the government set rules to prevent insurance companies from exploiting people to make money, correct? >> you're going to have to go in and look at some market reforms. there again, you've got to make

certain that you don't have a series of mandates and rules that prohibit preenterprise, that you end up with fewer companies instead of more. and -- >> what about a law that prevents people from dropping -- i got a limited amount of time. it's my fault. we'll go all day. thank you so much. >> thank you. and there are ideas out there for risk pool reform. we're looking forward to the debate. >> thank you, representative. we are just getting started here on "morning meeting." deal or no deal. can the gang of six reach a compromise on health care. democratic senator kent conrad after the break. your body needs sleep to feel healthy... to feel better. tylenol pm quiets the pain that keeps you awake. and helps you sleep, in a non-habit forming way.

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now, i have no interest in

putting insurance companies out of business. they provide a legitimate service and employ a lot of our friends and neighbors. i just want to hold them accountable. >> president obama praising the public option in his speech last night. the gang of six planning to meet this morning trying to work out a compromise bill. senator olympia snowe who democrats want on their side said this, i continue to oppose the inclusion of a public option in any package. i would have preferred that the issue were taken off the table as i have urged the president given that any bill with a public option will not pass the senate. and this divisive subject is clearly delaying our ability to reach common ground. senate finance committee max baucus has promised to move forward with the bill with or without republicans on board. senator kent conrad, democrat from north dakota, senator, your response to the comments from

your republican colleagues. >> look, i have great respect for senator snowe. she has been somebody who has been willing to reach across party lines to try to find solutions to the big challenges facing this country, certainly including health care so we've got to pay careful attention to what she thinks and says. as you know, i was asked to come up with an alternative, and i came up with a cooperative approach that would provide very substantial competition, not for profit competition to insurance companies but not government run or government controlled but run by its membership. >> how will the president's speech last night affect the meeting that you will have with the gang of six this afternoon? >> i think the speech was very helpful. because the president was very clear, he wants to reach across the party divide to work together, to achieve a result that's critically important for the country. you know, really here, failure is not an option.

we're in a circumstance that we're on a course that's absolutely unsustainable with respect to health care. the costs continue to spiral out of control. that's putting pressure on families, businesses, the government itself. we simply must find a way to rein the sky rocketing costs. >> other than the public option debate are there other things you are discussing with your colleagues in the senate now that meaningfully diverge from what you heard from the president last night? >> no, not meaning flee diverge. the package we're working on now is in the $880 billion range, fully paid for and we bend the cost curve in the right way, that is reduce deficits over time which is critically important. and cover 94% of the american people. that is very significant step in the right direction that has insurance market reform that's right in line with what the president talked about, as well

as reforming the delivery system in this country, so that we adopt best practices. we know what works. we've got the mayo clinic model, the cleveland clinic, many across the country including in my home state of north dakota where we have high quality and low cost. we've got to get the rest of the systems in the country to adopt those best practices. >> and when you come to the mathematics of this, skeptics raise their eyes and say fuzzy math, they are stealing from the children, you know you know what the rhetoric and how the rhetoric goes. how confident are you in the integrity of the math both of what you're working and for what the president's working? >> i'm very confident when i'm talking about with the finance committee and what the president is talking about because there the math is confirmed by the congressional budget office which is nonpartisan and is the official score keeper in washington. our plan is distinct from some

of the other plans that came out, is paid for, does bend the cost curve in the right way. that's what the president endorsed last night. i was delighted to see it. >> tort reform. real quick here is the president from last night. >> i don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but i talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs. >> how do you deal with it, senator? >> in our group we're still debating that question. i personally believe that we ought to address malpractice reform as part of this package. i think we ought to have medical courts to do a lot of this in arbitration, lift a lot of these out of the court system and also have a safe harbor for doctor who is practice best practices to give them an additional shield from lawsuits. and i think that's a consensus position. >> and then last but not least, give us your anticipated time

table. >> i think the chairman of the finance committee will lay down a mark next week and we'll go to mark-up in the finance committee week thereafter. and i think we'll be in markup all of that week, perhaps even somewhat beyond. and then that package will go to the floor of the senate. >> how soon do you think we see a full vote on a health care bill in the u.s. congress? >> well, i think this would be on the floor for a considerable period of time. i would anticipate several weeks on the floor of the senate. so, sometime in october i believe there would be a vote. >> senator conrad, thank you for the time. we appreciate it. senator kent conrad. a member of the gang of six, democrat, north dakota, a member of the senate finance committee. thank you, senator. still ahead on "morning meeting," reaction from capitol hill including sharod brown.

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welcome back. the debate is lovely. does health care reform have the votes. joining us is democratic senator sharrod brown. the health committee put out which includes a public health option. welcome to the conversation. walk us through here. we presume that we heard from senator conrad that perhaps the biggest stevens point senate finance and what the president discussed will be the role of the public option, if there is someway to reconcile any of that and how you get the votes you need through the senate. >> first of all, there are four

committees that have passed health care bills as the president pointed out. all four with a strong public option. the hows ways and means committee, house education and labor and the senate committee that senator dodd chaired, all four had a strong public option. probably 50-plus members of the senate support a strong public option. it's a relatively small number of senate democrats who don't. but they are also going to follow the president's lead. i think the standard the president set, more competition, we want something to keep prices down, we want to keep the insurance companies honest. the only real plan that does that is having the public option. the co-opt calls short, the trigger mechanism falls short. it's clear where we need to go. >> so play politics with me, though, in terms of vote counting. how do you get from let's say you have 52, 53, 54 votes perhaps that are on board with a public option version plan, can

you work with that either through reconciliation and making at budget issue, listen, this is budget related, as a result we can do it this way, or do you need move yourself to 60? >> well, that's unclear to me. i don't think there's -- there is any democrat here who wants to be the one from a procedural vote, i don't think there is a democrat on procedure wants to kill the president's health care plan. i think it's a question of the majority of the democrats and a number and majority of the public wants to go in that direction. i wouldn't either, dylan, discount republicans. when i look at -- you go back to medicare 40 years ago t republicans mostly opposed it. but a lot of them years later decided you know, i kind of wish -- i was on the wrong side of history. i don't think republicans want to be on the wrong side of history. i think we're going to get some of their votes in the end, not just on the plan overall but on the public option inside that plan. >> do you think you'll get

olympia snowe? >> i'm not going to predict anybody in particular but i think we have a good shot at her. i think republicans don't want five year, ten years look back on this and think you know, i was on the wrong side of history. this is a really good law. this health care bill. that happened to them with medicare. look how well received medicare is in this country. it has been for 40 years. i think this health care bill is going to be looked at the same way as history judge as year from now and 50 years from now. >> let's talk about creating more competition and more choice for individuals. the president on these -- the insurance exchanges. >> sure. >> insurance companies will have incentive to participate because it lets them compete for millions of new customers. as one big group these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. >> the president's argument you have a narrower profit margin

but more access to customers. >> that's right. insurance industry is going to get 30 or 40 million new customers. the public option, 5 or 10 million people. the insurance companies will no longer be able to deny care based on pre-existing condition or discriminate based on disability or age or gender or geography. they will not be able to throw people out of their plans because they are expensive. but in return they get all of these new customers, but the competition injected in part by the public option is absolutely going to matter in driving prices down. for instance, in southwest ohio, two companies have 85% of the market. in south dakota one company has 60%. you heard the president's example of alabama. without the public option there is not the level of competition to drive prices down. >> quickly, is a vote against the public option basically a vote in favor of allowing insurance companies to continue to overcharge in your finance? >> i think it is.

i think anything short of a strong public option is giving the insurance companies too much leeway to continue to throw people off their plans. >> thank you, senator. coming up next here on the "morning meeting," more conversation on health care and no option without the public option. so says lynn woolcy. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy. cool. i'm not done -- for less than a dollar a month, you also get 24/7 roadside assistance. ght on. yeah, vroom-vroom! sounds like you ran a 500. more like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. well, you're excused. the right insurance for your ride. w, that's progressive. call or click today. can add up fast. so i'm packing my own lunch now-- for less than $3. thanks to walmart. just two times a week

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plan i'm proposing would

cost around $900 billion over ten years, less than we have spent on the iraq and afghanistan wars, and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few americans that congress passed at the previous administration. >> we won't get into the amount thrown around for banks and the car companies. will the left accept a health care bill that doesn't include a public option? joining us from washington is california congressman lynn woolsey, representative, welcome to the conversation. is there any vision or characterization of health care reform or health care reform bill that does not include the public option you would entertain? >> well, only something that would be like medicare for all that would be just exactly what we want anyway. so but no, no weakening version, no triggers that get us nowhere, no co-opts that are out in the

never-never land, no. but last night, we got our marching orders. the progressives in the house were ready, we're going to help define the public option so that it actually is what the president wants, will cut costs, will absolutely provide competition and bring security for those who already have health care coverage. >> the president directly addressing his so called progressive friends. >> to my progressive friends i would remind you for decades the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage available for those without it. the public option, the public option is only a mean as to that end. we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. >> are you open to other ideas? >> well, except that the public option is the best idea so

why -- i won't be open to any ideas that weaken what the public option would bring. we need to define what is a robust public option. call it what you want, i don't care what it's called. what i want is a plan that cuts costs, makes it possible for people to be covered by a plan that doesn't have to pay 30% in overhead costs to -- that don't go into health care like the private insurers. >> ezra, go ahead. >> good morning. i was surprised how obama sold the public option. when it came down to defining it he sort of said well, the thing about is i'm not going to let ittio medicare rates, only opened to the uninsured and folks allowed in the exchange. i'm sort of curious if the that neutered public option is going to be acceptable to your caucus? >> we're going to define the

public option. the president laid out what he wants. we have three bills in the house and the senate has their two bills. and the public option is part of all three of our bills and two of them, ways and means and ed and labor are very strong public option bills. so we'll be working with him on that. he knows where the progressive caucus stands, we have 84 members, we have two members in the senate that are members of the progressive caucus. that's a lot of folks that want a nice robust strong public option because that's what the majorities of americans want. >> representative, thank you for your time. contessa, what sells going on >> in mexico 103 passengers and crew safe, a hijacker on a flight from cancun, said he claimed to have a bomb, the preacher claimed that god told him to warn mexicans of an

impending disaster, told the flight attendant his juice can was an explosive. the pilot landed the plane. the passengers were released. new photographs of an alleged allegeded sheikh mohammed. it took the pictures in july as part of its mission to monitor prisoners' treatment. experts say the minimumages could be used by terror groups to inspire attacks. it's the first known image since this photo taken on his capture in march 2003. yale police are looking for a 24-year-old medical student missing since tuesday. she was last seen leaving the lab. her keys, money and credit cards were at the office. she was set to be married sunday and had been planning the wedding for more than a year. the space shuttle "discovery" scheduled to return to earth this evening. thunderstorms could keep them in space a day or two.

we're getting our first look at pictures from the new hubble space telescope. astronauts gave it new life in may and look at those photos. vivid, beautiful. in fact, i think the word would be stellar. >> perhaps where it comes from. lots more coming up here on the "morning meeting." health care, yes, we can. the president kindling the youth vote. does he have a plan that the youth will pay for? what can he do to get young people fired up without picking young people with the bill? you like your health coverage, but worry what happens...

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kicking off a health care campaign to get people energized. heather smith, executive director of rock the vote. what is your message to young people on this issue?

>> you know, young people today are the most uninsured age group. you heard the president last night talk about tens of millions of uninsured americans. well, one-third of those are young people ages 18-29. they have the most at stake, and the most to lose if we don't pass comprehensive health care reform. >> let's show everybody your public service announcement. >> recently i had to have excess nipples removed. all covered because i have insurance. >> recently i needed stitches after cutting myself while trimming my afro. >> covered because i have insurance. >> 18 to 29-year-olds are the most uninsured age group and without affordable health care you could be in for a lifetime of hurt. >> that's true but i wonder if people are not insured because they don't want to buy insurance. when i was 25, why am i going to buy. it costs a fortune. my worst case is i get hit by a bus and then i'll be dead. a lot of people that think that way. >> it's true, we hear that a lot. young people don't care, they

are healthy, willing to take risks. but the fact of the matter young people can't afford health care. they are twice as likely to be unemployed, graduating from college and kicked off their parents' health care plans. those that are uninsured now, 56% of them are working. they just aren't getting health care coverage through their employer plan. right now individual health care plans are unaffordable for this age group that is struggling to make ends meet to begin with. >> then the constant battle which is do those that are most in need, the older members of our population, they are fearful they will lose resources to provide resources to the young and you have the young concerned that they are being stolen from effectively in order to fund the health care of the old. how do you reconcile the generational divide? >> i think young people and old people alike understand that it's a moral and american imperative to insure that all american citizens have a right

to health care and don't go broke or bankrupt in attempt to get the medical needs that they have. as the president outlined last night, old people, seniors, their medicare won't be affected. young people who are uninsured, who are waking up every day with the anxiety of whether they will get sick, whether they will be dropped or whether they can get a plan at all. >> or get hit by a bus. >> or get hit by a bus. >> what i used to worry about. >> one of my employees rode her bike to work and got hit by a minivan. this happens. if you don't have insurance it puts you in incredible department debt on top of the college debt and all the other things that in today's economy young people are struggling. >> a friend of mine, to whole political agaenda is stick it with the kids. it's the easiest way to make policy. what can those who are in the demo that you are targeting, 18 to 20-year-olds, do this month and next month?

>> absolutely. we're in the final stretch. young people voted at higher rates than they ever have in the history of u.s. elections in 2008. there are more voters under 30 than over the age of 65. these young people voted with a hope of a better future and change. and health care has been at the top of their issue agenda for years. they might not be the most vocal at the town hall meetings, but they care. rock the vote is speaking to them directly and giving them ways to get involved, calling members of congress, signing a pledge to take action. really it's about time that people talk to them directly and give them the relevance of this issue, how it will affect them, what the plan will do to address their needs and what they can do to ensure their interests are met. >> and how their money will be stolen if they don't act. >> absolutely. >> appreciate your time, heather smith, executive director, rock the vote. ellen degeneres in the news. apparently she wants paula ab l

abdul's old job. what's her thing with ""american idol""? it's the water cooler talk of the day. we have it right after this. but did you know you also get hotel price assurance? it's a one-two punch of savings -- pow! pow! lower hotel booking fees mean you get a lower total price. plus, if another orbitz customer then books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. without my makeup. now, it's no problem. (announcer) neutrogena tone correcting night serum with high performance soy to even skin tone and active retinol to speed cell turn over. clinically shown to visibly fade brown spots in 14 nights. i even out my skin at night so it looks younger, flawless in the morning. (announcer) neutrogena tone correcting now you can fade and prevent discolorations all day. new tone correcting spf 30.

welcome back. major announcement in the world of reality tv. pop culture ex-pert tori that is that and so many other stories tlout. who wouldn't want to be a judge on "american idol"?

>> white smoke is in the air because "american idol" has chosen ellen degeneres to replace paula abdul. she'll inject more fun into the show. it makes it better. why is she judging singing ability? what music cred does ellen have? you could say the same thing about paula. >> oh, you lie. >> that's not where you're supposed to say that. >> i screwed it up. keep going. >> ellen has been a fan since day one, she'll save money not having to text in her vote. she also said -- >> you lie! >> a white woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male. no, she didn't say that. there, i lied. that was a lie. the legendary fashion house ungaro has put panties in a bundle throughout the fashion world by hiring lindsay lohan. >> no. >> as artistic adviser. >> don't. >> does lilo have fashion

experience beyond shopping? >> no. >> does she have fashion cred? when the house's previous designer was asked to have l.l. as his collaborator, he quit. >> multiple people not qualified doing really fun jobs. >> exactly. >> maybe myself included. so, who am i to judge? thank you very much. we're going to take a break. still ahead, the morning meeting, the full panel. we haven't heard as much as we have from esra. savannah guthrie, lobbyists, pollsteres, you name t we're back after this. (mom) he needed everything for college:

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so i can love the air™. zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. i am not the first president to take up this cause, but i am determined to be the last. >> president obama, all out offensive on health care reform shall speaking to the country last night. in moments he will be holding another live event. good morning, i am dylan

ratigan. gang of six meeting for the first time since the president's speech to congress. we'll also hear from house speaker nancy pelosi in the minutes and hours ahead. plus, we are backtracking the president. it was high on energy. was it grounded in reality? politifat.com joins the meeting shortly. pundits watch iing the speech lt night, did they like what the president had to say? we are taking the pulse of the people with a pollster. the twitter world is abuzz with the moment gop heckled the president. pull up a chair and join the "morning meeting." this hour, the president continues his health care offensive. live remarks at the white house

on health care insurance reform, congress and the american people weighing in on the hard sell on reform last night. nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie on the beat. hi, savannah. >> reporter: dylan, new tones from the president last night, at times impassioned and fiery. he wanted to work with republicans, saying he he incorporated republican ideas into his plan, but making clear he wasn't going to pult up with opponent whose just wanted to score a few political points. listen to the president. >> 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's better politics to kill this plan than to improve it. >> the president put a little more meat on the bones of what he wants from health care reform last night.

he put a price tag on it. he says his plan will cost $900 billion over ten years and claims it will not add to the deficit. there are also some other big points we want to make here. he talked about consumer protections for the already insured, making the case that if uh-uh have insurance, there's good stuff in health care reform for you, too, end of the ban on coverage -- or ban on not covering those with pre-existing conditions, and insurance exchange for those who don't have insurance could go and shop and buy insurance at an affordable price. insurance mandates, the president now embraces the notion that all individuals will be required to purchase insurance, health insurance, likely purchase car insurance. if you didn't have enough money, there would be government subsidies. a lot of folks are talking about something that happened as the president divulged what he calls myths in the health care debate. a heckler, republican congressman joe wilson. listen.

>> there are also those who claim our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. this, too, is false. the reform -- the reforms i'm proposing would not insure those who are here illegal. >> you lie! >> not true. >> well, joe wilson was quick to leave the chamber after that, and quick to apologize. he called over here to the white house last night. rahm emanual, the chief of staff, says he accepted his apology on behalf of the president. and look at the statement that joe wilson issued last night. quote, this evening, i let my emotions get the best to me when listening to the president's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. while i disagree with the president's statements, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. so, the health care debate goes on. the president speaking on health care this morning, will go out on the road this morning starting in minnesota, selling

this health care reform plan on the road. dylan? >> savannah, thank you very much. bringing in our panel who has patiently indulged the conversations with all the various politicians over the next hour. karen finney, msnbc contributor jonathan capehart and specifically on health care, esra, the rhetoric of the morning with the rhetoric of yesterday evening and set the table for where this policy debate is headed. >> what you're seeing on both sides right now, how do you get bipartisanship with only one party playing? that's what last night's speech was about, to go before the american people and try to separate bipartisan action from bipartisan results. he needs to be able to appear as if he's reaching out and the rejection is coming from the other side and not his own.

>> i think it was more than appearing. i think part of what was so important about what happened last night is that he made it clear, look, here is our ideas. if you have a better idea, we're all ears. but given what we've seen from the republicans has been a lot of whining about how democrats control everything and we should trust the insurance company the way we trust the banks on wall stre street, this was an important moment for the president to really say, look, enough is enough. if you have ideas, put them forward. if you don't, work toward a solution. i also think in terms of the policy discussion, he did lay down some pretty clear directives and pretty clear direction. as we go through the reconciliation process, all of those bills, as they try to bring those together will be guided by those principle. >> jonathan capehart, have the republicans been outed or at least a faction have been outed as those who are in the demint camp, if you will? i don't care about health care or the debate. this is my opportunity to make sure this man say one-term

president and we can assume power and everybody else can go you know where. i mean, that's what -- >> yeah. >> you know what? >> not saying that's the entire republican party by any stretch. i know it's not. >> no, but there is that faction there. they were there, in the chamber, which is pretty shocking, who really, i don't think, want the president or want the democrats to succeed here. i know and appreciate that congressman wilson has apologized to the president, apologized immediately, but that outburst in the house chamber was really outrageous. could you imagine, had george bush been standing there and a democrat had said, you lie? lie is a word that is not used in washington. come up with all other sorts of words. >> misled. >> don't remember anything. >> jonathan is exactly right. >> i was drunk. >> that's you, dylan. jonathan is exactly right. i was standing on the floor when

bill clinton gave his speech in the '90s and although republicans -- maybe the opposing party, they just don't applaud. but never, ever, ever have you seen blackberrying, saying, "you lied," waving signs. it's astonishing. >> his thing is fine. >> you lie? >> i love to see the majority rule. very much willing to make that trade. everybody can shout and heckle at presidential speeches, but the majority party just passes it without a filibuster. i would put that on the table if anyone is willing to take it. >> greenberg senior vice president greenberg, kinsler research, independent voters before and after the speech. this is what folks thought about health care reform before the president spoke and what they thought about it immediately thereafter. anna, welcome. what were your results? >> thank you. what we saw were very positive

results for the president, both in the research we did last night and also the poll cnn did of people who watched the speech. a shift of being more favorable, 66% to 70% favoring. one of the important thing that is happened was an increase in intensity of support. there has been more intensity on the opposition side than on the support side. one of the most important things the president accomplished last night was increasing the intensity of support among democrats and independents who might support this plan. >> bringing me back to what joe wilson represents, the impassioned resistance to kill the president, irrespective of health care, politically, i mean. >> right. >> excuse me. in some ways, incites the left or -- forget the left, anyone in favor of health care reform, left, right or center, to become more intense, because they realize the intensity they're up against. >> that's right. the intensity we saw in the numbers we're getting today, that is very important. that's how you know, frankly,

the president accomplished his goal. that gives them momentum to go forward to keep the push for the last ten yards, if you will, to get this over the finish line. >> as you head over the finish line, are you heading over the finish line, telling the truth? >> of course or with rhetoric? bill adair will be along with us to do some fact checking. the biggest chasm, ezra, we heard it from representative woolsey, and everybody seems to be okay with exchanges, everybody seems to be okay with mandates. no one seems to be able to come anywhere near an agreement on public option. will that make or break this entire thing, as it has been speculated to be setting up for, for some time now? >> one of the big efforts in the speech, ratchet down the rhetoric on that. one of the things is that it has been ratcheted down for past programs we did here. i remember being on shoet when

it was said without a public option, nothing will be supported, take out the rest of the bill and the money. you've heard a slight moderation, that there are other things here, too. the public option will still be the central challenge of health care reform, but people are beginning to come to the conclusion that it is not the central challenge to getting health care reform right, it is the central challenge to getting it passed. those are a bit different. >> right. when clinton was attempting to sell health care reform some time ago, what were the results then? >> well, pretty similar. if you look at polling from '93 and '94, but particularly after he gave his speech to the joint session, he got a bump as well on his plan, very similar to the bump that obama got. frankly, similar to the bump that is bush got after the state of the unions and that sort of thing. the key will be is it sustainable? obviously over time, there was a real erosion of support in the clinton health care plan. there's a different kind of momentum coming out of congress this time around. in '93, we didn't actually had a

bill that passed three committees in the house and a bill that will probably pass the finance committee next week. you'll actually be able to build on a momentum that came out of this speech that wasn't possible in '93 and '94. >> i agree. what's very different now, four out of five committees in the house, both committees in the senate pass bills. there is actually a physical bill. with clinton, we never even got to that point. hopefully, the combination of the actual bills and the numbers will help get us across the finish line. >> to the fact checking, shall we? bill adair, politifact.com. first off, welcome president obama trying to separate his own way fact from fiction in his address to congress. a few pieces of sound from the speech last night. i want to begin here with one from wilson on "you lie" about insuring immigrants, which seems to be the obvious one to fact check as it was openly accused of being a lie. let's take a listen. >> there are also those who

claim that our reform effort wos insure illegal immigrants. this, too, is false. the reform -- >> you lie! >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie! >> not true. >> forget the behavior. what of the accusation, bill? >> the first time we fact checked a heckler. that's what it's km to in american politics these days. we gave that one a false on truth-o-meter on politifact. we're rating joe wilson's claim that obama was lying. obama was right. when you look at the bill, it goes to some lengths to try to make sure that illegal immigrants do not get the credits for the health care exchange that would allow them to get free care. they would have to pay for it like everyone else. false for wilson. >> obama, if you already have insurance, you don't have to

change your doctor. nothing will change. nothing will change. nothing will change. take a listen to him. >> if you are among the hundreds of millions of americans who already have health insurance through your job, or medicare or medicaid or the va, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. >> bill? >> he gets a true on the truth-o-meter for that one. he has actually changed his wording here. what he used to say was that if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. we had rated that half true, because there are likely to be market changes here, obviously. whatever plan your employer offers may not be offered in the future. but to the way he said it now, he's being more careful with his words, he gets a true. >> okay. by acquiring insurance companies to primary care, we save money. take a listen. >> insurance companies will be

required to cover, for no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care like mammograms and colonoscopies because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before it gets worse. it saves money and it saves lives. >> sounds rational. is it true? >> no, it's not. he gets a false on the truth-o-meter. he's right it saves lives, but it doesn't save money. congressional budget office has made this point. when you do all the tests that are necessary for preventive care, you have to test so many people that the actual cost is larger than the cost savings. so, a false on the truth-o-meter. >> having spent time in an emergency room where most of the people there are there because they're using their primary care, it didn't feel like it cost me. when they come in at a crisis moment it's more expensive than

if you came in earlier. i thought they acknowledged they couldn't quite account for what that shift would be in terms of cost. >> what about cost savings from eliminating the hyper expensive cute care to the extent to which that even happens? >> at least what elmendorf said in his letter to congress, studies do show -- it surprised a lot of people that it does costs more to do all the testing that's necessary. now, that's not to say that there aren't some saved lives and some people who would benefit from it. but the ultimate cost, when you add them all together, is greater. >> and, lastly, on government panels saving money by deciding who dies and who doesn't. take a listen. >> the best example is the claim made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but by prominent politicians that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens.

now such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. it is a lie, plain and simple. >> bill? >> he gets a true on the truth-o-meter for that one. we've rated this one. sarah palin said it, when betsy mccoy said it in a different way. it's just ridiculous. we gave it a pants on fire when palin said it. so, the president is right and he gets a true on the truth-o-meter. >> bill, thank you so much. hope to talk to you soon. breaking news into msnbc, the number of uninsured in america up a touch here to 46.3 million, at the poverty level hitting an 11-year high. the economic crisis in this great theft and cover-up perpetrated by the banks last year around this time continues to add to both the unemployed roles and the distress, particularly among the poor and

our students. so, another reason to think about health care. not to mention some financial reforms. details coming up here. still a lot to get to in the next hour or over the course of this hour, i should say. the president going to speak again, continue his speech on health care reform. we'll have the president's live remarks for you as he says good morning to everybody. how is the insurance industry reacting to the president's speech and president's plan? a talk with health insurance lobbyists still to come. announcer: what if you could rewrite your hair's past and give it a whole new life? introducing a transformation in hair care. new aveeno nourish plus. only aveeno has harnessed the power of active naturals' wheat complex in formulas that target and fortify the weakest parts of hair, proven to help visibly repair damage in just three washes. - for stronger, shinier-- - hair with life. announcer: write a new story for your hair. the new aveeno nourish plus collection.

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i have no interest in putting insurance companies out of business. they provide a legitimate service and employ a lot of our

friends and neighbors. i just want to hold them accountable. >> moments away from the president's remarks on health care at the white house. we'll bring those to you as soon as he arrives. meanwhile, how is the insurance industry reacting to the president's address last night? vice president of communications for america's health insurance plans, one of the most influential lobbyists in the business, mike, no secret to you that the insurance industry has squarely been in the center of this debate long before the president spoke last night. but what is your point of view on this debate this morning? >> well, hopefully, the president has rallied the country to come together in support of health care reform, to come together in support of bipartisan reform. only the president can do that and hopefully that's what the speech accomplished. >> if we talk specifically about any competitive practices, whether it's government structures or market structures that allow a relatively small

number of insurance companies or a single insurance company to dominate markets and raise prices as a result, are you and is your industry ready to deal with consequences of an exchange, a mandate, things that the president is talking about, and reducing profit margins and his argument is creating new customers to compensate you for the narrower profit margin? >> first on profit margins, ezra klein wrote yesterday our agency is ranked 86th in the country in profit margins and that's not what is driving health care costs. that's a smoke screen. >> joe scarborough and i were talking about this in the hallway the other day, is this not capitalism? it's a very important conversation, i think. the difference is when a business makes money by competing to provide a better product to the customer. airline tries to be a better airline, a restaurant tries to

serve a better burger, a tv station tries to provide better news or health insurance company tries to provide better health care, that's when capitalism is working. but when the profit motive is in direct opposition to the benefit of the customers, when i make more money by collecting more from you and giving you less, whether i am a restaurant, an insurance company, whatever it is, now capitalism has been corrupted to the detriment of people as opposed to its benefit. that's been the concern with health insurance. >> health plans do well the same way any other entity does well, by serving their customers. >> isn't that the point of contest, though? that that's not true? >> dylan, your average physician in the united states contract with his 12 health plans. according to the federal government, in the top 40 metropolitan markets, there are at least eight health plans competing in each of those markets. so, there's ample competition. part of the reason we do need some kind of exchange, some kind

of one-stop shopping for people is that in many instances there's so much competition, people have a hard time sorting it out. there's so many choices of plans and so many different options, we need a place that brings it all together and allows people to compare and shop. >> i agree. >> go ahead, karen. >> maybe just restate what dylan said a slightly different way. people don't feel like they're getting higher quality for what they're paying. i have a friend who woshs for a hedge fund, pays a lot of money for his health insurance and basically says it sucks. most of what they need done, he and his wife, have two children, isn't covered under their plan. technically, they have insurance. they don't have a lot of other options. >> what i would add to that is somebody who, that the point in time, has a good job with good health insurance, i don't feel like i have a lot of choice, quite honestly. i'm sitting here in a situation where theoretically -- >> if you feel that way, part of that is that if you don't like

what you have, where else can i go? >> i'm not sure about your friend at the hedge fund but every survey show that is people are strongly satisfied with their current coverage. the problem is that people are locked out of the system because of a pre-existing condition. that's wrong and that needs to change. the problem is that we don't have universal coverage. if we get everybody in, that all changes. but every survey shows the american people are pretty satisfied with their current coverage. and that's why you hear everyone in all sides of this debate promising that if you like your current plan, you get to keep it. >> sure. probably as you know better than most, mike, the way any sort of distributed risk where everybody is basically paying in for -- in case there's a car accident, homeowner's insurance for hurricane or health insurance, in case somebody gets hit by a bus, whatever it may be. the more people participate, the lower the overall cost goes. what do you feel is the most effective mechanism to force a national mandate? is it a straight law, the baucus

plan of fines if you don't play? what's the most efficient way to force everybody to participate? >> we've seen in massachusetts if you have one-stop shopping and encourage everyone to participate, you give tax credits to encourage everyone to participate and perhaps penalties for those who are able to afford insurance but don't. pretty much, everyone gets in. in massachusetts, they have 98% coverage. now, there are issues on the cost side in massachusetts. but the bottom line is people want zblsh the reason there are issues is a mandate without meaningful insurance reform is just a mandate to give a lot more money to insurance companies. in other words if you're going to do the mandate, you have to have insurance reform otherwise you are simply mandating more money to insurance companies. >> and massachusetts did institute reform. without an accompanying requirement for everyone to participate, it doesn't work. >> exactly. >> delivery system reform to bring costs down. let's fix the medical liability system as the president mentioned last night, give

patients and doctors the information they need to make cost-effective decisions so they're not making decisions on the basis of marketing. we need to bring down the cost of medical care and that will bring down the cost of health insurance. >> understood. >> as the president pointed out last night, though, it's not about any one -- we can take any one item and pick it apart. it is really how we put this plan together, looking at each of the different pieces that's so important. manda mandates are an important part. that's how we get cost. each of these things are interdependent. unfortunately the dialogue has gotten to the place where we parse it up. >> if you don't deal with tort reform -- all these things have to happen at the same time. mike, do you think the president did a good job last night? >> i think the president did a fine job. i think the president always does a good job and it's important he takes his case directly to the american people. we or someone else might have differences on a particular provision, but it's important

that the president rally the nation behind getting this done. >> i think it's important that the people understand, to karen's point -- to reiterate your point, the link anls between doing one means you must do the other, must do the other otherwise you're simply cheating the system in another way. >> we haven't made that connection for people. >> mike, a pleasure. thanks for joining us. hope you come back for another conversation sooner rather than later. we're back after this. exec: well, it's easy for him. he's a cute little lizard. gecko: ah, gecko, actually - exec: with all due respect, if i was tiny and green and had a british accent i'd have more folks paying attention to me too... i mean - (faux english accent) "save money! pip pip cheerio!" exec 2: british? i thought you were australian. gecko: well, it's funny you should ask. 'cause actually, i'm from - anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. if you get sick, or change jobs. eight ways reform matters to you. a cap on deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.

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and active retinol to speed cell turn over. clinically shown to visibly fade brown spots in 14 nights. i even out my skin at night so it looks younger, flawless in the morning. (announcer) neutrogena tone correcting now you can fade and prevent discolorations all day. new tone correcting spf 30. welcome back. the president, with a good night's rest, back on the podium with health care reform. let's listen. >> thank you. thank you so much.

it is good to be with all of you. please sit down, everybody. it is just great to be with nurses again. it is great to be with becky. i want to acknowledge -- i want to make sure i get them in order. this is linda, and that is sonja, right? i want to thank them for appearing with us and acknowledge dr. mary wakefield, health resource administrative, highest ranking nurse in the administration. thank you, becky, for your leadership on behalf of nurses. and i want to just thank you for leading an extraordinary organization, the american

nurses' association. i was mentioning to becky the first time we met when i was in the state legislature, i was the chairman of the health and human services committee and one of my strongest allies in springfield, illinois, in the state capital there, was the nurses' association. we did a lot of work toth to make sure that nurses were getting treated properly, getting paid properly, getting the overtime they needed, getting time off that they needed, getting the ratios that they needed. and so i've got a wonderful histo history, working side by side with all of you, to make sure we've got the best health care system in the world. and as a consequence, i want to say thank you for all the support you're providing for health insurance reform for the american people. i am so pleased to be joined by all of you. and i've said it before. i will say it again. i just love nurses. i don't know what it is.

i -- you know, i love nurses. michelle knows about it. it's okay. i'll never forget how compassionate, how professional and how dedicated nurses have been to michelle and i when we need them the most. and when our daughters were born, one of our best friends was, is an ob/gyn. truth of the matter is that we only saw her for ten minutes. that was it. that was one of our best friends. the rest of the time, we spent with nurses who not only eased the nerves of an anxious father, but made sure michelle was doing all right, cared for our newborn babies. when our youngest daughter, sasha, was diagnosed with meningitis when she was just 3

months old, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. we had to have a spinal tap administered and she ended up being in the hospital for three or four days. it was touch and go. we didn't know whether she would be permanently affected by it. it was the nurses who walked us through what was happening and made sure that sasha was okay. so, that continues, joy of birth and also, obviously, in tougher times, when my mother passed away from cancer, when my grandmother passed away. each time, nurses were there to provide extraordinary care, but also extraordinary support. so, i'm thankful for that. and as a father and as a son and grandson, i will forever be in debt to the women and men of your profession.

i know that millions of women and children feel the same way. you're the bedrock of our medical profession. you're on the front lines of health care in small clinics and in large hospitals and rural towns and big cities all across this country. so, few people understand as well as you why today's health care system so badly needs reform. now, one part of the problem is the uninsured. this morning the census bureau released new data, showing not only the poverty rate increased last year, highest rate since the early 1990s, but also that the number of uninsured rose in 2008. we know through more up-to-date survey that is since the recession intensified last september, the situation has grown worse. over the last 12 months, it's

estimated that the ranks of the uninsured have swelled by nearly 6 million people. 17,000 men and women every single day. and we know that during this period of time, the number of adults who get their coverage at the workplace has dropped by 8 million people. and i don't have to tell you about all the problems plaguing the health care system and the fact that they don't just affect the uninsured. most americans do have insurance. and have never had less security and stability than they do right now, because they're subject to the whims of health insurance companies. many people fear that they'll lose their health insurance if they move or lose their job, they change jobs or that insurers just won't cover them when they need it the most. because insurance companies can deny coverage if a person has a pre-existing condition. many people fear they won't be covered when they get sick, because there's no cap on how

much a person can pay in out-of-pocket expenses each year. many fear a single illness will leave them in financial ruin even if they have insurance. every day, i get letters from people. i got a letter two days ago from a woman who had been changing jobs, had just gone to sign up for her new blue kros cross/blu shield policy. before she went, she felt a lump and had been referred to do a mammogram. and found out, unfortunately, she had breast cancer. the new insurance policy just said this is a pre-existing condition, won't cover it. she now owes $250,000. this happens all the time all across the country. you see it every day. it is heartbreaking. it is wrong and, as i said last night, nobody should be treated that way in the united states of

america, nobody. the reason i need nurses so badly, now is the time to act. i do not need it to be diverted by the usualy ical diversions. if there are any real concerns about any aspect of my plan, let's address them. if there are any real differences, let's resolve them. we have talked this issue to death year after year, decade after decade. the time for talk is winding down. the time for bickering has passed. we're not the first generation to pick up this cause but we can, and have to be, the last. >> so, just in case folks weren't tuned in last night, if

they were watching "so you think you can dance," a show michelle likes, by the way -- let me explain -- just explain more briefly than i did last night what health insurance reform will mean for ordinary americans. simply put, it will mean that as folks go about their everyday lives, one thing they won't have to worry about as much is their health care. they will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. it will provide insurance to those who don't and slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses and our government. for the hundreds of millions of americans who have health insurance, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. nothing will change for you if

you have insurance. nothing in the plan will require any changes. what this plan will do is make the insurance you have work better for you. we'll put in place strong consumer protections that will make it illegal for insurance companies to deny a person coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition. we will make sure that we place a limit on how much folks have to pay for out-of-pocket expenses. for the tens of millions of americans who are uninsured, we'll create a new insurance exchange, a marketplace where uninsured americans and small businesses can choose health insurance at competitive prices from a different -- number of different options. by pooling the uninsured and small business together as one big group, we give insurance companies an incentive to participate and give consumers leverage to bargain for better prices and quality coverage. as i've said from the outset and

repeated last night, one way to give people a real choice when it comes to their health care and keep insurance companies honest is by making one of the options available in such a marketplace a nonfor profit public option. let me just repeat. this is the source of the rumor we're plotting to take over some government health care. it would be one option among many. no one would be forced to choose it. everybody believes that the vast majority of people will still be getting their insurance through private insurance. add it all up and the plan i'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over ten years, $90 billion a year. that's real money, but it's far less than we've spent on the iraq and afghanistan wars.

and it's less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few americans that congress passed in the previous administration. the cost of this plan will not add to our deficit. the middle class will be rewarded with greater security, not higher taxes. if we're able to slow the growth of health care costs by just a fraction of 1% each year, we will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long term. and, by the way, when we stop spending money on things that don't improve quality, then we can start spending money on things that do improve quality, which means, for example, that we can start paying our nursing professors more money to train more nurses so that we can actually have the kind of quality care that we need. just one example. a random example that i chose.

now, amid all the chatter and noise on radio and tv, with all the falsehoods that are promoted by not just talk show hosts, but sometimes prominent politicians, sometimes it can be to lose sight about what the debate over reform is all about. it's like stories told by a nurse teresa brown. she wrote a blog post about a patient of hers. he was in his 60s, recent grandfather, steelers fan. spent the last three months of his life worrying about mounting medical bills. and she wrote, my patient thought he had planned well for his health care needs. he just never thought he would wake up one day with a diagnosis of leukemia. but which of us does, she asks. then she wrote, that's why we need health care reform. nurses, that's why we need

health care reform. i am absolutely confident that if you continue to do your part, nurses, you guys have a lot of credibility. you touch a lot of people's lives. people trust you. if you're out there, saying it's time for us to act, we need to go ahead and make a change -- if all of us do our parts, not just here in washington, but all across the country, then we will bid farewell to the days our health care system was a worry on our families and drag on our economy and america will finally join the ravengs of every other advanced nation by providing quality health insurance to all of its citizens. that is our goal. we are going to meet it this year with your help. thank you very much, everybody. and god bless you. >> thank you very much. >> the president, reiterating some of his key talking points to a group of nurses this morning. his messaging was very effective last night. you were making a point while the president was speaking,

karen, that the democrats -- forget the democrats. anybody in favor of having a conversation about reforming health care would have been better served to amplify the imperative for competition and how those who are anti-reform are basically trying to protect anti-competitive markets for the benefit of the korpgs that pay them. >> simply stated, right? in the marketplace, capitalism is about competition. you'll have better quality product and more choices if there's real competition. if we had been talking about that, we might be in a different place. i think you also heard the president again today personalize this issue a little more, which is a little bit different. and i think we're also hearing -- trying to make the case that there are more people that are for reform than are against it. >> if you're not basically willing to talk about reform, you are in favor of supporting corporate theft, supporting corporate manipulation. >> status quo. >> supporting a system where if you get enough moni and power and can buy control of the government and basically screw the american people, the banks and now the health care

industry. >> he said it a little differently. >> sure. that's the effect. the president failed to show he's willing to stand up to the banks. this is his opportunity -- i shouldn't say failed. has not yet. >> he has not yet. very important for him to go into that chamber and show he was willing to stand up for reform. i've gotten a lot of feedback on my facebook page from democrats and republicans, that was one of the most important things they heard. >> he showed cajones. >> he came out directly first to people who have to lose, the happily insured and then progressed to an emotional ending with the ted kennedy letter. architecturally, put this speech into context of some of the great speeches you have seen and written yourself. >> well, i think last night he

did what only a president can do. he played educator in chief and he explained what his plan will do. he refuted charges and explained what his plan will not do. he spoke to the audience which, as you say, is the worried well, the people who have insurance but are anxious with good reason about their situation. he spoke about the consequences of doing nothing. and as the great presidential communicators, presidents like john kennedy, ronald reagan and, i would add it at best bill clinton, he placed in american history and american values. he was very elevated last night and, as we just heard in his talk with the nurses, he can also -- he's also developed a very fluent explanation of his plan and can present it in a very down to earth and conversational way as well.

>> let's read between the lines. bipartisanship and timing. let's listen to his exact wording on bipartisanship. >> a plan that incorporates ideas from senators and congressmen, from democrats and republicans. and some of my opponents in both the primary and general election. >> what's he saying? >> well, i think he's making clear that what he's offering is not a partisan or narrow, ideological plan, but a plan he put in context of republican as well as democratic presidents that have tried to reform the health care system. he thanked specific republican senators, including his opponent last year, john mccain, who had offered ideas that he is taking seriously and trying to incorporate into the plan. he made an appeal to have a civil discussion about the health care reform and not a very partisan and ideological

discussion. >> he offered his thoughts on the timetable and those who would seek to play politics in the name of killing reform as opposed to improving debate. take a listen be. >> but know this. i will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than to improve it. >> does outing those who simply look at this as a way to end obama's presidency early and don't really care about health care reform help him diminish their relevance? >> i think that does help him. one thing that he tried to do last night was to identify with americans outside of the nation's capital who are somewhat disillusioned with the intense partisanship and bickering and gridlock in the political process. and he tried to identify with people who went to the town hall meetings, who weren't enraged and disruptive, but were somewhat angry and skeptical.

last night i think he was trying to draw a line between reasonable criticism of his plan and unreasonable and politically motivated obstructionism. >> i think it was obvious, karen, looking for political assassination, he has no interest in a conversation about what's going on in the country. thank you for joining us. dr. lazarus, your reaction to the comments last night? >> thank you, dylan. at the ama, we agree with the president that the status quo really is unacceptable and that he really need to have meaningful health system reform this year that will help patients and the doctors that serve them. >> you know, this is karen. i have a question for you. last time we tried this, we didn't necessarily have much broad support from doctors and this time you're seeing a lot more support for president obama's plan for doctors. what's changed in these last years to bring you on to reform?

>> well, we think that there is a moral imperative to get health system reform passed this year. each year, we see hundreds, if not thousands of people basically dying or being sicker because they don't have access to health care coverage and we see patients that are worried every year that they're going to lose coverage and we see the costs of medical care rising substantially. we're also very pleased to hear last night in the president's speech that he acknowledged the cost of defensive medicine and getting medical liability reforms on the table is the first step. we're delighted to hear that. >> is it not unreasonable, though, the only group i can think of other than doctors that might hate insurance companies more is patients. in this case, patients saying the insurance companies, you've got a villain for the patients politically and, rightly or wrongly so, in reality and the doctors are next in line saying, yeah, the insurance companies are the problem. does that make it easier for doctors to be in favor of reform because the villain this time

has been portrayed as the insurance companies? >> well, without villainizing anyone, the administrative burdens doctors go through every day, trying to get the treatment for patients approved and fighting every day to get that treatment and payment accept is a burden and unnecessary cost that we need to change. >> from a doctor's perspective, after you get done wrestling with the insurance company, you get to wrestle with the lawyers, which is why the president gets ten minutes with his ob/gyn, because it's half insurance, half lawyers and enjoy your baby. let's listen to the president on tort reform last night. >> i don't believe medical malpractice reform is a silver bullet but have talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be attributing to unnecessary cost. >> he talked about a bush era concept of basically microenvironments where we'll try different ways to manage for tort reform and take the best of

the bunch and try to apply it out. how do you go about this? >> well, we know that there are certain situations, certain states, like colorado, where we have caps on noneconomic damages where we stabilize the medical liability system. we also know that hhs has told us that the cost of defensive medicine is somewhere between $76 billion and $126 billion. we think if we get meaningful medical liability reforms passed and we're pleased that the president has suggested that, we can reduce that unnecessary cost in the system. >> i'm going to let you go. you just wanted to -- my producer is saying, "don't ask him!" i know those insurance companies get you. i know they do. you can't say it. >> he can't say it. >> doctor, thank you very much for the time today. dr. jeremy lazarus from the american medical association. we'll take a break and be back right after this. in hair care. new aveeno nourish plus. only aveeno has harnessed the power

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