new tone correcting spf 30. the morning after president obama gives a fiery prime time speech and again this morning, he is demanding action from congress to fix the nation's health care. >> now is the time to act, and i will not permit reform to be postponed or imperiled by the usual ideological diversions. >> and right now, the president is meeting with his cabinet. does the biggest speech of his presidency threatened to be overshadowed by this guy? >> just want to clear up under our plan, no federal dollars -- >> well, that is representative joe wilson right there, who heckled the president very loudly last night. you know what they say about payback, moncy already rolling in for wilson's 2010 democratic

opponent. did that speech last night change any minds, or is the gop still ready to rumble? and how bernie madoff hid his massive ponzi scheme for years, we have him on tape coaching someone how to hoodwink the s.e.c. entertainment world saying wow this morning, big "american idol" announcement. that woman, ellen degeneres, will now be the fourth judge on "a.i." can anyone really replace paula? good morning. i'm tamron hall. >> and i'm alex witt. here are your top headlines right now. pakistan says it has killed 135 militants in an operation in the tribal region, under increased pressure from the u.s. to crack down on insurgents along the afghan border. in california, new raids,

seize a computer from the owners of an auto wrecking yard that phillip garrido frequented. one owner is now speaking out. >> i'm pleading to jaycee dugard, please step forward and tell the media, tell the government exactly what happened to you. i do not want to be affiliated with any of these unsolved mysteries. hurricane fred is expected to be a tropical storm by the weekend, currently a category 2 storm with winds gusting 102 miles an hour. health care debate in front of congress and the american people as he sharpens his message and emphasizes the need for immediate health care reform. he was emotional and at times confrontational. >> our collective failure to meet this challenge, year after year, decade after decade, has led us to the breaking point. the time for bickering is over.

the time for games has 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 her to do. now is the time to deliver on health care. >> apparently not everyone got the memo that it was time to end the bickering. the president was met with a jeer or heckle from one republican congressman. that congressman is joe wilson of south carolina. he blurted out "you lie" during the president's address. >> there are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. this, too, is false. the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie! >> not true. >> nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie

joins us. that moment happened when the president was addressing what he says was misinformation that captured the attention over the august recess. that part of his speech is really what so many people suggested he needed to do, be clear and say what is truth and what is not in his proposal. >> reporter: that's true. he had many different missions in this speech. one of them was to put a little meat on the bones, add some detail, come down on some of these areas of dispute and say what he stands for. but you're right, the second perhaps equally as important part of this speech, was to say what health care reform is not. he took time to debunk the so-called death panels. he didn't mention sarah palin, who made that phrase popular. he didn't mention her by name. it was obvious who he was alluding to. in the house bill, there is an explicit reference that says there shouldn't be any government subsidies to help illegal immigrants pay for coverage. so, most independent fact

checkers say the president's statement is correct, that health care reform doesn't mean il liam immigrants are going to be entitled to government subsidized health insurance. to the extent that illegal immigrants are able now to purchase private insurance freely with no subsidies, they could probably continue to do that in future health care reform. in any event, this is one of those enduring issues a lot of people get angry about. a member of congress did just that. >> he later apologized, still getting a lot of heat. we'll talk about that. savann savannah, we saw the president's speech a short time ago and he has mapped out the direction he would like congress to go. what happens now? >> reporter: he will meet, actually, with a group of moderate senate democrats today. that's really where the action is. he will hope that -- he was able to kind of stiffen their spine, inspire them, so they can get on board. he has to hold this caucus together. he will meet with them today. we saw him come out and make

more remarks on health care reform, new census figures that showed 6 million more people are uninsured since that last check. he will try to keep the message going. and then he has this -- what i've been calling a road show. >> right. >> reporter: on saturday, he will head to minnesota for a rally. not a town hall, but a rally, trying to basically make this pitch for health care reform. i think we'll see him on the road quite a bit in the coming weeks. he seems to be reenergized. the president seems to see the finish line here. >> you could pick that up from the latter part of his speech, when he was speaking of senator kennedy and you could see or at least feel the emotion from that letter. >> reporter: nice to see you. as the president made a call for unity, he also made a call to critics trying to derail reform. >> if you misrepresent what is in this plan, we will call you out. and i will not accept the status

quo as a solution, not this time, not now. >> democratic congresswoman joins us now. >> good morning, alex. >> you heard savannah guthrie say the president is trying to keep his message going. was the president effective in delivering a clear message last night? >> i think he was, absolutely. he laid out very clearly and simply what is an incredibly complex issue and got very cloudy in august, by telling the american people that he intends to make health care secure and stable for those who have it, provide accessible, affordable coverage that's quality coverage for those that don't. the third goal would be to bring down costs. and those were three incredibly important messages i thought were directly delivered to the american people and my colleagues. he cleared up a lot of misconceptions and misinformation that i think will address the angst some people have begun to feel over our plan. >> that's certainly on the big picture perspective.

i'm looking at a whole bunch of articles today, what he said, what he meant. fact checks. obama's iffy on pledge. how concerned are you as all the nitpicking and analysis goes through the speech from last night there is going to be bipartisan divide that may grow even further? >> well, i think that we will absolutely put a health care reform bill on the president's desk by the end of the year, and that was the goal of the president's speech, was to make that more likely and shore up any concern that members of congress had. but also to make sure that he addressed the question marks and concerns that the american people had. and one of the things i thought was really important that he said, not only that he was sure he would not sign a bill that increased the deficit but also there would be a measure in the bill that would ensure spending cuts would kick in, in the event for some reason it doesn't work out as planned. so, he has indicated he is

serious and laid it out just how serious he was. >> i want to get the aftermath to congressman wilson's outburst during this speech. >> yeah. >> how are people reacting to that this morning? >> with disappointment. i mean, he -- sadly, even though he apologized, he violated the decorum expected of a member of congress. it's like when the president comes and addresses the house of representatives and addresses the nation in our chamber, it's like he's invited someone into your home. and he was -- he mistreated the president and mistreated his constituents. i think he brought shame on himself and shame for his district and, apologies aside, it was really outrageous. his conduct and, quite frankly, the antics of the republican caucus. >> democratic congressman debbie schultz. police in connecticut are searching for a yale medical

student who was supposed to get married this weekend. annie lee was last seen on security video entering a building in new haven. her cell phone, credit cards and money were found inside her office. yale spokesperson says her fiance has arrived into town to see if he can help in the search for her. more layoffs are coming to gm, needing to slash 1 now white collar employees, according to detroit news. this is part of the automakers plan to cut 6,000 salary jobs by the end of the year. layoffs will come mostly in southeastern michigan. the cut also most likely be completed by october and already michigan has double-digit unemployment there. health officials are urging americans to take personal responsibility when it comes to staying safe from swine flu. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius stressed that this morning. >> today's message is to get the

seasonal flu shot, make sure that we except up the vks nation rate and make sure that people take some individual responsibility to stay healthy during the flu season. >> health officials say americans should get seasonal flu shots right now. meantime, swine flu vaccine will not be available, at least until mid ongt. the national institutes of health have tested vaccines on pregnant women. >> i think it's safe to say -- did you see this coming? who saw this coming? we're talking about ellen. the nudge judge on "american idol." >> ellen will replace paula abdul at the judge's table. not all fans are thrilled, saying ellen has no music al background but she sure can dance. let's get right to pop culture expert, msnbc contributor,

torre. come on. no one wans to be replaced by eln. outside of oprah, she's like the cutest thing in daytime. you don't like this choice? >> i love ellen. she's fun, smart and will bring a new energy to this show. >> nice. >> like paula was. >> she'll say what she really thinks. paula always wanted to give a gold star to everybody unless they did really, really badly. there's always a petina of music credit on this show, right? little bit. all these people kind of come from music on some level. she comes from nothing. so, i can't like fault the "idol" consumer, the "idol" fan. >> it's a love of the game. >> but people on the judge's table should be at least -- i've sung in my shower. sounded really cool. give me a little more than that ultimately, the judges don't really decide. they cut you down in the

beginning. the audience decides. why not have a real person who is just passionate about music? it's just "idol," people. >> let's see how she made the announcement. it was a shocker. here we go, everybody. take a listen. >> i have a big announcement to make and no one knows this. tony doesn't know. no one knows. that's why we had to start a tiny bit late today and i just finally got the okay just moments ago to announce this to you today. oh, god. i am going to be the new judge on "american idol." i'm in the leaving here. don't worry about that. i'm going to have a day job and a night job. that's the times we're living in. we're all doing that. >> we are so excited. we were analyzing the -- >> the little breath she took. you could see she is genuinely excited, partly because this is a fun show. >> yeah. >> it's a huge show. probably because simon is getting, what, $100 million a season or something like that? i think if ellen holds on for a couple years, she could get that nine-figure check as well.

>> what about the part where she says i'll be the people's representative as a consumer. is there any cred to adding that element in the show? >> sure. why not? why not? again, it's just "idol." we're not really picking. >> you keep saying it's just "idol". >> it is. >> it's great family television. >> it is great television. where we start taking it seriously, like anointing a new american star for the culture of -- >> she could do "so you think you can dance" because she dances. >> that would be more interesting, if she was a judge on "so you think you can dance." that would make more sense to me than -- >> if you're paula abdul and you've been replaced by ellen, are you just -- >> let me say this to the "idol" fans who say ellen doesn't have any music experience or music -- what music cred did paula abdul really have? >> i had the best of paula abdul on my ipod. >> she made a couple of pop hits

but is this some great artist like be like her? come on. >> best of paula abdul, really? >> yes. >> you don't have to tell everybody that, tamron. >> we'll go back to politics where we're more comfortable. thank you, toure. the gang of six are behind closed doors right now trying once again to reach a bipartisan agreement. is bipartisanship even worth the effort anymore? plus, listen to this one. >> obviously, first of all, this conversation never took place. okay? >> well, actually, it did. swindler bernard madoff on tape teaching how to avoid s.e.c. yeah, that conversation took place. ( conversation )

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we're learning more about the inside world of disgraced financeer bernie madoff this morning. phone conversation just released. in this 2005 phone call, he coached a potential witness on how to fool federal regulators. this is how that call began. >> obviously, first of all, this conversation never took place, okay? >> yeah, okay. cnbc's scott cohn is live with more. people aren't too pleased about hearing about it. good morning to you, scott. >> good morning, alex. it is really quite an eye-opening conversation when you listen to the whole thing. this came from 2005. so, bernie madoff still in his hayday, but every so often they get these pesky calls from the securities and exchange commission, and one of his biggest investors, fairfield

gr grenwich group is getting a call, and they want to make sure this big investor doesn't say anything that gets madoff in trouble. he says don't worry. we've been through this before. these guys, they are pushovers. >> you know, you don't have to be too brilliant with these guys, because you don't have to be. you're not supposed to have that knowledge. and, you know, you wind up saying something which is either wrong or, you know, it's just not something you have to do. >> madoff says that often times when these guys come calling, they'll just sort of laugh at them and say, what, are you writing a book? he says a lot of s.e.c. lawyers will be going on to work on wall street in a few years and you don't have to worry about them. this tactic clearly did work. it took almost three years to the day of that conversation before madoff confessed, s.e.c. never caught it.

s.e.c. officials will be on capitol hill to answer more questions from the senate banking committee about this. it's a black eye for the agency. madoff clearly had fooling the s.e.c. down pat. >> scott cohn, thank you for that. we know the president has spoken. the big question now, who was listening? the gang of six began a meeting a short time ago, bipartisan group of finance committee drafting a health care proposal. after last night, will it include a public option? joining us now, christina belatoni, and alex bern, white house reporter for politico. thank you both for joining us. >> thank you. >> we heard a lot of interesting comments from the president, interesting remarks. my particular favorite, they would show owe olympia snow, to try to gauge her reaction to what he was saying. now you have the gang of six and you might say they have marching orders. do we really expect any movement, though? >> reporter: it's unclear whether the gang of six will show any movement. you heard a lot of encouraging signs from progressive

democrats, who had been giving the president grief over public option. you heard a lot of them on shows and even on msnbc saying they like what they heard from him last night. and they're willing to move forward and go here. really the audience was the american people. if he can get his poll numbers on this issue to go up it makes him far less an easy target for republicans, who are trying to defeat this plan. >> a lot of people believe it's not a gang of six, but a gang of one. she was on yesterday with myself and david shuster yesterday and she said she spoke with the president recently and told him the public option should be a part, in her thoughts, of the reform. is it on the table or isn't it? the president had an interesting language last night. >> tamron, clearly, the president is keeping the public option, at least rhetorically on the table.

he put in a plug for the public option with the nurses again this morning. listening to democratic members of congress react to that speech, ben nelson and jeremy connelly, and folks like sherod brown all saying the president did an outstanding job. and you sort of wonder were all these folks listening to the same speech? some of these people will be disappointed at some point. >> let me bring you in, christina. the tone that we saw from the president and what we saw from the republicans there, eric kantor on his blackberry, joe wilson calling the president a liar or that's a lie. if you're walking into your home, trying to get caught up on this speech, it certainly told a story when you watched the body language alone and the lack of respect, at least from one gop representative. >> absolutely. that's why you're hearing democrats seize this opportunity today. there were signs of disrespect.

a lot of members blackberry during the speech. that's not necessarily -- eric kantor was caught, but others were on their blackberries as well. that's something you haven't seen before, the shouting. obviously people want to be respectful to the president and they're raising a lot of money for joe wilson's opponent in south carolina right now. democrats look at this as a possible opportunity. that helps the president. >> we're out of time. people wonder how can you have bipartisanship when it is so clear people have dug their heels in and may not be willing to move anywhere on it. thank you both. we're out of time. it is a hot topic we'll continue following. thank you. clay county, indiana, we're looking at picks thanks to wtrh, nbc affiliate right there. you're looking at an area around a home that s.w.a.t. teams were called to because of a domestic dispute. someone has been shot in the torso, three times and transported to an area hospital.

not sure if it's a man or woman at this point. what we do know is that there is a male suspect barricaded inside that house, previously had a female hostage. that female has been released. we know that the s.w.a.t. team is clearly still on scene there, trying to figure out what's going on inside. we do know there's a man inside holding, previously, a woman hostage. she is now free. the identity of the shooting victim thus far and the condition of that victim is not known at this time. so, shot three times in the torso and taken by emergency to the hospital. we'll stay on top of this story. whole lot more coming your way here on msnbc. we'll be right back. most people try to get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green. algae could be converted into biofuels... that we could someday run our cars on. in using algae to form biofuels, we're not competing with the food supply. and they absorb co2,

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getting up early to deal with a bunch of junk again before landing. kennedy space center, jay we're talking about space junk, not just issues up there. what's the plan of action? >> it's just a growing problem, alex. as you say, that he got the crew up about 30 minute ago, a little early. they're getting ready to fire their rockets on the back of the spacecraft here. they'll fire that, about two minutes past the upcoming hour and it should put them out of any danger. this mystery debris, they think, came from the spacewalk last saturday. something came loose from the space station or space shuttle. they don't know which, but know they'll have to get out of its way and have a chance to land at 7:05 pm tonight. if they can't make it on a first try because of suspected thunderstorms in the area, they'll try again at 8:42. if they can't make it at 8:42,

another wave off and they'll try tomorrow night, alex. >> thank you for that, jay barbree. keep an eye to the sky. we appreciate that. following breaking news out of indiana, clay county, specifically shall between bloomington and terre haute, a man has barricaded himself in a home after holding that woman hostage, eventually freed. according to wtrh, nbc affiliate there, one person was shot several times. they're calling it a domestic violence situation. right now, it is a man barricaded in the home. authorities have surrounded or are certainly closed in on that location. we're keeping an eye on this breaking news story. victim shot three times in the torso. taken to the hospital. a woman had been held hostage in this domestic violence situation. we'll keep an eye on this breaking news story and bring you any development. 90s slacke. ♪ singer: buckle up, everybody 'cause we're taking a ride ♪

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here are the top headlines right now for you. at least 20 people have been killed in a suicide bombing this morning in northern iraq, the latest in a string of attacks targeting ethnic minorities in that region. a race against the weather in southern california. fire crews are attempting to set backfires and clear brush along the eastern flank of a massive blaze burning now for more than two weeks. warmer and drier conditions are expected to return by tomorrow. treasury secretary tim geithner will testify today at the congressional oversight panel looking into the so-called t.a.r.p. program instituted for keeping the economy from collapsing last year. the president laid down a tough warning for those who tried to stand in the way of of reform. >> 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. >> here to talk about it, democratic strategist, jamal simmons and former white house press secretary. >> good to be here. >> a lack of bipartisanship this morning on the "today" show. let's play that. >> the president and vice president just mentioned it's gone through four out of five committees without a single republican negotiator in the room. there has no been no bipartisanship in addressing the health care issue. i've been in bipartisan negotiations. i know what they are. it has been totally absent from the addressing of this issue. >> let me ask you, trent, what specifically -- republicans say they weren't invited to the table. >> that's not true. >> last night we heard the

president say that something that even george bush supported, he is willing to put on the table a proposal mentioned during the campaign season by john mccain. >> yes, he did. but, i mean, in terms of whether republicans have been invited to the room, it is true, they have not been invited. they have a plan that calls for true medical liability reform, not this pilot program which he endorsed. i'm glad he did. it was a nod to the republican side. let's talk about what this was, tamron. it was a speech to his base, cracking the whip to get them to pass this. republicans cannot kill this bill. they don't have the votes to do it. >> correct. >> that's why this was an appeal to his party's base, both the liberals and conservatives in his own party to get the bill passed. in terms of bipartisanship, if he want true bi drlt partisanship, that means he can go further. >> is that some acknowledgement that he has made steps to a point? >> rhetorically, he did that.

it's part of the game. it's not true medical liability reform that's at work in texas and other states on capping noneconomic damages. it was nice retorical thought. it was a speech to his base that we need to pass this, the time is now and let's get to work. >> if this is going to be the republican line acres lot of progressives and liberals out there who will say enough already. the president said his progressive friends and conservative friends, at one point appeared to be juggling the conversation, pointing out orrin hatch and pointing out john mccain. when does congress say we do have the votes and not worry about what happens in 2010? >> it's interesting. one hand you have the president of the united states, who is trying to find some republican support for bipartisan solution. to say there are no republicans in the room negotiating, ignores the fact that senator baucus has been talking to senator grassley, senator snowe for

months about this. we've been in a tug of war with republican, the democrats have, in the senate talking about this. that ignores some facts. at the end of the day, democrats are moving forward. on one hand, the president wants bipartisanship. on the other hand, democratic committees keep passing legislation to get it through the house and senate even when republicans are totally recalcitrant and do not want to cooperate. >> a lot of people were watching last night and the president said it's a moral responsibility or when he said there was no truth to this death panel story line that had been picked up and you still had conservatives or republicans grimacing at things many americans assume could easily be agreed upon, that it is a moral responsibility. let's figure out the plan. certainly, it is a concern. why, then, on the simplest of things we couldn't see an applause from the republican caucus? >> i don't think that's true, tamron. republicans were applauding on a

number of occasions. >> the death panel. >> right. >> they didn't with the death panel. why not? >> with the death panel? >> when the president said it wasn't true. >> it's debatable. >> it's debatable that they're -- >> i believe so. look at the president's own words. there's reason people can disagree. i don't think it's a death panel, but when you put the government in charge of end of life counseling, you call it what you want -- >> you still believe that the government is in charge of end -- you still believe that? >> i don't know, tamron. >> where are you getting your information? >> i am getting my information from the president's own words in an interview he gave that was printed and widely distributed, his own words where he talks about the challenge of getting this right. i'm not saying it's in the bill. i'm saying it is part of the discussion. it was president obama's own words where he talked about the delicate balance that has to be made here. >> jamal, i'll give you the last word on this one. >> at the end of the day, republicans try to participate with the president or not. we haven't talked about joe

wilson. i'm totally troubled by a southerner, who i would expect to have more manors, to speak out and call the president a liar on the floor. >> he apologized. >> and he apologized. but, trent, he should have apologized on the floor of the house. it's not just about barack obama. >> i agree with you. i agree with you. >> and beyond the apology, you have independent fact checkers who are saying that he was wrong, that there's nothing in the legislation that would provide health care for illegal immigrants. >> that's right, and he apologized. >> he did not say he was wrong. there was nothing in his statement that indicated that he was wrong. he did not say i apologize to the american public, president and i was wrong. just like you would not say you were wrong about the death panels. >> right. tamron, that's the statement he has to make. >> he apologized to the president. >> i agree with that. >> trent, he should apologize on the floor of the house. >> that's true. he should. >> gentlemen, we're out of time. this is the very reason people still wonder is there a possible conclusion of bipartisanship

with this? this is a great example of why they believe that. >> good talking to you. >> pleasure. investigating fraud in afghanistan's recent election has issued its first order to discard ballots, from 83 polling stayings strongly supporting hamid karzai have been thrown out, accusations of ballot box stuffing. up next, new report on number of houses threatened with foreclosure. all those efforts to help homeowners who are in trouble, doing any good at this point? we'll tell you more about it. tweeters, say it ain't so. paying to use twitter? get ready. tweets may not be free much longer. ♪

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track. that number is up 18% from this time just last year. let's go straight to cnbc's diana olick. provisions starting to work that would help quell back some of these foreclosures. it is certainly regional, some states hit harder than others. how do we process what this means for the overall housing market? >> tamron, the good news is that foreclosu foreclosures are holding steady, but are holding steady at record highs and could go even higher. july's numbers were a record. when you break it down, this is what's telling about the housing market. there was a big drop, 13%, in the final stage of foreclosures called reos. the pipeline leading up to that is rying. more and more properties are going into default and getting into that foreclosure pipeline. look at the numbers statewide. california is still leading the charge. 92,000 foreclosures in

california. by the numbers, florida is next with 62,000 and michigan coming in third. as you look at foreclosure rate for a house, nevada with las vegas leading the way is the worst. look down the road at how this is going to affect the housing market, foreclosures mean downward spiral and more foreclosures we have, lower prices will go. >> alex has developing news. we'll hear right now from representative joe wilson himself, everyone. he is the one who, of course, very famous or infamously now shouted out while the president was speaking "you lie" in response to the president saying those illegal immigrants would not be covered in this health insurance proposal of his. let's take a listen to what the representative said just a short while ago. >> what has leadership said to you this morning? >> last night i heard from the leadership that they want me to contact the white house and

state that my statements were inappropriate. i did. very grateful that the white house, in talking with them -- they indicated that they appreciated the call and that we needed to have a civil discussion about the health care issues. and i certainly agree with that. so i'm happy to discuss the health care issues and, in particular on the issue which i think is very important of whether the bills cover would include illegal aliens or not. my background in that is that i was aware that there were two different amendments on the bill which would have provided for verification of persons having citizenship. one was in the ways and means committee, one was on energy and commerce committee and both of those were defeated overwhelmingly. they were almost party line votes. one of the amendments several democrats actually voted with

us. also congressional resource services has indicated that, indeed, the bills that are before congress would include illegal aliens. and i think this is wrong. we need to be discussing issues specifically to help the american people. and that would not include illegal aliens. these are people -- i'm for immigration, legal immigration. i've been an immigration attorney, but people who have come to our country and violated laws, we should not be providing full health care services. >> congressman, you tweeted something that was premeditated. how do you respond to that? your tweet did seem to say -- >> i will tell you this. it was spontaneous. when he stated, as he did, about not covering illegal aliens, when i knew we had those two amendments. i say that respectfully. we need to discuss the issues.

i'm happy to do that. >> who do you have tonight, clemson or georgia tech? >> as you can see, that's congressman joe wilson, the south carolina lawmaker who yelled "you lie" to the president when the president said that health care plan, his reform proposal would not cover those who are in this country illegally. joe wilson saying that the house leadership contacted him, told that it was inappropriate what happened during the president's address. he contacted the white house. they, too, accepted his call, said they were grateful he called and that the white house indicated they wanted a civil conversation here. he was also asked -- we're trying to get the information on what he tweeted. apparently he tweeted something and it implied perhaps his reaction was premeditated. he said it was a spontaneous reaction. however, all of them had a copy

of what the president was going to read. some question how spontaneous it was. there are fact checkers that say congressman wilson is wrong. >> when he was told to call the white house, he had to talk to rahm emanual, chief white house staff. that could certainly not have been easy, how much he wanted to hear this kind of discourse. what he said, as you're saying, we can agree to disagree and have discussion about this, but have to do it the proper discussion tactics. rahm emanual said okay, forgiven. >> almost instantly, john mccain one of the many republicans who came out and admonished, late last night after he was interviewed and john mccain said that it was completely inappropriate. we'll go to a quick break and be right back with more news and reaction to the president's speech and also those words uttered by congressman joe wilson. your body needs sleep to feel healthy... to feel better.

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welcome back. we are waiting for dueling gop news conferences. house minority leader john boehner will be holding his

weekly briefing. that's what you see on the left of your screen. on the other side of the capitol, senator kyl and cantor will be reacting to president obama's health care address. we see mr. kyl speaking there now. we'll bring you the latest. meantime, she is famous for her witty sense of humor and silly dance moves. the singing judge. >> "american idol" has signed on talk show host ellen degeneres to a five-year deal as paula abdul's replacement, but some "idol" fans apparently upset about the choice, saying hey, ellen might be nice, but she has no music experience. kim is the senior editor for "in touch weekly." kim, let me ask you, because i guess paula abdul is leaving because of money. i would imagine they would have to pony up a lot of cash for someone of ellen degeneres' status. do we know anything about the negotiations? is she making more than what they offered paula? >> that has not been released yet. we haven't heard about that. but obviously, it's not a

problem with money when we're talking about "american idol." i mean, i think the commercials for the finale last year went for like $1 million per commercial. and you know, they're going to be paying simon, when he renews, reportedly, you know, something over $40 million a year or something like that. i mean, so, it's not an issue of money for "american idol." but yeah, i would think thedz they would have to pay ellen a lot. however, you know that she is a huge fan of the show. i mean, as she announced when she taped her show yesterday. she said she has never missed an episode of the show. we know that any time anyone has ever been on her show, like when simon's been on the show, she loves i american idol." she says she's going to bring that perspective. she's going to look at it like we all look at it at home. she likes to watch the show just like we like it. she's not going to bring a technical perspective to it or as a producer. she'll look at it as a fan who will buy this music. i think that would inject new life into the show, for sure. >> as you're watching "ellen," you watch her dance all the

time. what about being a guest host for "so you think you can dance?" she's done that. don't you think that would be more of a perfect fit? >> it does make sense that it would be kind of a dance show that would make sense for her because she's always dancing on her show, and she did, of course, do the guest judge spot on "so you think you can dance?" which is apparently what made the fox executives look at her a second time and say, this could work. but i don't think it matters that she doesn't have a singing background, because again, i think she's a fan of the show and she'll approach her judging in that sense. also, you know, one thing that paula really brought to the show was that warmth, that heart. even i think simon did an interview and said, you know, paula was the heart of the show. and i think you're going to see that with ellen. she can kind of be the cheerleader for all these people. so when everyone else on the panel has not anything nice to say about a contestant, ellen is going to be there giving great -- giving some good notes. >> yeah. >> she's not going to be saying someone is pitchy or talking about their musical abilities, but she is going to be able to, you know, give the cheerleading perspective and encourage people, i think.

>> even if they're terrible, i think she'll be nice about them being terrible, funny nice. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> thank you, kim. great talking to you. >> that does it for us. i'm alex witt. >> and i'm tamron hall. i'll be back at 3:00 for "the big picture" with dick durbin, katherine sebelius, all reacting. up next, also an appointment you can't miss. dr. nancy snyderman picks up our coverage, right across the way. don't miss it. she'll be right back after a quick break. paws. check. bottom. needs work. sorry, son.

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