welcome to a special west coast edition of "morning joe" live from the reagan

presidential library. mika, it's so exciting. just look around here. >> it's unbelievable. >> it's like relics from a different era. air force one. marine one down there. the president's limousine. pat buchanan. >> that's not something different. >> another relic of the reagan era. >> that's right. >> but what's different for our show is we have a live audience, which is unusual for us. i think we could do it. you could play oprah. we're honored to be here and to have been invited by first lady nancy reagan to begin our trip along the west coast here in the place that celebrates a president who was legendary at bringing people together in the middle. there are a lot of lessons perhaps the current president may take away from the great communicator. >> there's no doubt about it. pat and i have been talking over the past several months about the fact that this president, president obama, has sometimes allowed events to shape his presidency over the first nine months instead of shaping it.

pat, we've talked about it, and now you're starting actually getting people on the left to talk about the fact that the president's deferred on the stimulus package to nancy pelosi. he's deferred on cap and trade to henry waxman. he's deferred on health care up until wednesday night. that's certainly something president reagan didn't do his first nine months. >> president reagan never did that. he never let the debate get away from him, joe, as we saw get away from president obama this sum ir. he's up in martha's vineyard, and these town hall meetings are being held, and people are denouncing it and criticizing it. frankly, if he hadn't given that speech last week, this debate would have slipped away from him. he sort of got it back now. i think he's got a 50% chance of getting what he wants. >> it's going to be tough. but frank rich, even yesterday in the sunday new york times, frank rich wrote that president obama has really frittereded away the summer and that he really needs to focus on now

winning the votes that he needs. >> you know, joe, somebody used a good line last week. he said obama's got to start being a little less gandhi and a little more lbj in terms of pulling these people together. he's got the votes. he's got more votes than ronald reagan had, and ronald reagan got his package through. obama's got 59 in the senate, and he's got a 70-vote margin in the house. he's got to pull his party together, and he can win it. >> i love seeing pat buchanan doing the chop at the reagan presidential library. there's something beautiful about it. it is a beautiful day today. we'll talk more about it. we'll talk more about frank rich. president obama was on "60 minutes" last night explaining why he has every incentive to get this health care bill right, and also, of course, the public option issue and a big speech today on wall street. what does he need to do? we'll talk more about that as well coming up. >> okay. but first let's go to new york and get the latest news.

>> guys, thanks a lot. by the way, i don't want to make anybody jealous. we also have an audience here. we've got two guys smoking cigarettes right here in the corner. >> thanks for coming in early. >> welcome to new york. i'm willie geist. good morning to you. mike barnicle. we are known as the guys who weren't invited. >> what's the story on the dockers? >> pat buchanan is wearing the haggar wrinkle free pants. he looks great. we're going to talk a little more in a second. get you updated on news right now. a look at today's top stories. one year after the collapse of lehman brothers, president obama will be on wall street this afternoon to kick start efforts to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system. a lot say nothing has been done in that regard in one year. the speech will push for federal authorities to monitor risks, oversee credit cards, as well as power to take control of failing institutions. that comes as the president continues to press his health care overhaul, expressing new

confidence on sunday that congress will pass, in his words, a good bill. the president says it's part of a larger effort to regain financial stability as debate over the proposal continues to simmer. >> there is an argument to be made out there that maybe health care can just wait because, you know, we've had to absorb a lot. the system's gone through a shock. maybe we should just hold off until some other time. the problem i've got is that the only way i can get medium and long term federal spending under control is if we do something about health care. ironically, health care reform is critical to deficit reduction. >> i don't believe most americans believe it's possible to have the plan he wants and not see the deficit go up unless he's going to propose in the middle of the deepest recession since the great depression

massive tax increases, which will further deepen the recession. >> it pains me deeply to see one of the great optimists, which is speaker gingrich -- you are. we agree on a lot of stuff. the thing we have in common is america can do anything. every other democracy in the world has a health care system that covers everybody, and we don't. of course we can do this. how ridiculous. >> a great debate on "meet the press" yesterday. i want to go back to the first part of our story, the president down on wall street yesterday. just talking to andrew ross sorkin earlier, and i said, what's been done to change our system? what have we learned? he said zero. nothing's been done. >> i kind of disagree with that. i think several things have been done. whether they've taken effect yet, that remains to be seen. individual savings rates are way up. i think there's a lot more awareness of the fact that regulators are not doing the job. they're going to have to do the job better than they've been doing it. this is going to be a long haul.

we're a very impatient culture. we have to hang in there, like you will. you're very impatient. >> speaking of impatient, a new audiotape. terrorist leader osama bin laden says president obama is "powerless" to stop the war in afghanistan. the record be comes days after the eighth anniversary of the september 11th attacks. bin laden accuses the white house of following bush administration policy, and he blames the war on the pro-israel lobby. >> kanye west. anything to say about that tape? >> more from kanye a little bit later in the show. this is a terrible story right here. a homicide investigation is now under way in connecticut this morning after police found what they believe is the body of that missing yale university graduate student. she was supposed to get married over the weekend, went missing last week. the body was discovered inside the wall of a campus building where annie lee was last scene on tuesday just days before her planned wedding. so far, police have not revealed any suspects. just an awful story. meanwhile, house democrats

say they plan to introduce a resolution of disapproval for south carolina republican joe wilson. you lie. they'll push the he resolution this week unless the congressman apologizes on the house floor for calling president obama a liar during his address to congress last week. wilson says he's already made amends with the white house. >> i am not going to apologize again. i apologized to the president on wednesday night. i was advised then that thank you. now let's get on to a civil discussion of the issues. but i've apologized one time. the apology was accepted by the president, by the vice president, who i know. i am not apologizing again. >> he's not apologizing again. and roger federer is in his sixth straight -- watch the shot between the legs, boom. in his sixth straight u.s. open final. he punctuated his semifinal win on sunday with that between the legs winner. he called it the best shot of his life. meanwhile, kim clijsters is now in the history books as the

first unseeded woman to win the championship. it follows her victory over serena williams on saturday. this was an incredible tirade. serena lost match point on a penalty for insulting a line judge. did a lot more than insult her. she threatened to put that ball somewhere special. >> is that a six-month tournament out there? >> i know. the rain turned it into a long one. we'll talk a lot more about the serena incident coming up later in the show. right now, let's go to bill karins upstairs for a check on the latest forecast. >> please tell everyone where she said she was going to put the ball. >> she said she'd shove it down her throat, i believe. >> that's it? she said that's not considered a threat to their life. >> not technically. >> sure, i understand. good morning, everyone. let's talk about the rain out there today. in texas, if you need the rain, you got it this weekend. dallas, this morning you're waking up to some downpours. heading out on interstate 20, we're hearing reports of flash flooding. that's our travel trouble spot.

talk about gorgeous, boston all the bay down to washington, d.c., i-95 corridor, northeast, ohio valley, great lakes. today is a late summer fling. temperatures in the mid-80s just about everywhere. stormy location down along the gulf. for everyone out west, including joe and mika, looks like temperatures are cooling off a little bit after a hot weekend. should be in the 70s for your monday. overall, i'd give today a 10 out of 10. >> bill, thanks a lot. we're going to check back with you in the next hour. right now we'll send it back to joe and mika at the reagan library in simi valley, california. guys? >> willie geist and mike barnicle with the report in new york. i thought they'd be playing cards. they're working. >> no, they're playing cards now that we're talking. i want to get back to something pat talked about before because when president reagan took over in 1984, obviously, pat, the reagan administration was dealing with a house that was dominated by tip o'neill democrats, and yet he was able to succeed getting a

lot of things through the house and of course the republican senate. look at this health care debate right now, and let's talk about it a little bit more. the democrats have been on the defensive since the president's speech on wednesday. they've backed down on the public option. "the new york times" suggesting yesterday the public option is dead. now you've got democratic senators scrambling to write legislation that will not allow for funding of abortions, and also, joe wilson. joe wilson actually shaped the debate because max baucus immediately said we're going to tighten that loophole so illegal immigrants can't get health care reform. so even after that speech wednesday night, it still seems like the democrats are on the defensive. like you said, pat, they own washington. they own the senate, and they own the house. ronald reagan did not have washington in a lock like that. >> what ronald reagan had was a lot of boll weevil democrats from your neck of the woods,

conservative democrats, that wanted to go with them. ronald reagan took their districts 10%, 20%, and he had to get them together with the republicans. notice what the democrats are doing, abortion out, illegal aliens out, the government option is out. what they're saying is we've got to win the blue dog democrats, or we lose this thing. all of this is designed to win the centrists and the conservative democrats because they're the margin of victory for obama if he's going to get it. they're not expecting any republican votes for maybe one or two in the senate, but that's what this is about. get the blue dogs, and you've got to move toward the center to get them. >> you know, mika, i had quoted actually that great political theorist and a friend of nancy reagan, frank sinatra, who once said never overexpose yourself. leave people wanting a little bit more.

don't go out and tell everything about yourself. mika, you disagreed with me in the past that barack obama has overexposed himself with one speech after another. we had him on "60 minutes" again last night. today he's giving yet another big speech on wall street. at some people people tune out leaders that are out there all the time. don't you think he's in danger of overexposing himself? >> you've already said that, and i think there is to an extent the risk, pat. at the same time, we're in a different world. it's a multimedia world. everyone is everywhere. voices are everywhere. to an extent, doesn't this president need to stay in front of the message on every level and engage? >> i've got to say i agree with joe on this one, quite frankly. look, what we did with president reagan and what president reagan did, you would save the president, who's your most vital asset, for the big speech, about 72 hours or 48 hours before the vote in the congress. before that, everybody else is out there doing it. everybody is doing op ed pages. everybody is doing interviews. when you take the big gun out,

he is fresh and new, and he's got enormous support in the country. what obama's doing, he has a presidential speech, and the next day he's opening a kmart or something like that. seriously, it's another town hall meeting. >> we're everywhere now. >> these audiences keep falling and falling and falling. they're overusing him. it's like having a 30-game winner and having him pitch in the minor leagues on the weekend. >> here we go again. >> let me tell you something, the people that work in those kmarts where he's cutting the ribbon, he's got their vote. >> you people are complaining that he's not saying enough. we'll have to talk about this. the speech on wall street today coming up. we've got more from the reagan library in simi valley, california, including senator barbara boxer coming up. san francisco mayor gavin newsom. obama economic adviser austin gools by will join us with a preview of obama's financial speech this afternoon. we'll talk to him about the overexposure and the president

tipping his hand a bit trying to get in front of the message. and in a few minutes, we'll have "the wall street journal's" peggy noonan. she was president reagan's primary speechwriter. plus politico's top stories of the morning. you're watching a special edition of "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. >> whatever else history may say about me when i'm gone, i hope it will record that i appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. my hope is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for herselflessness and idealism. show and tell

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stop with michelle obama's arms. women are clamoring for the new issue of "women's health" magazine where michelle's trainer tells how you can get her guns in just nine minutes a day. but i don't buy that because first lady laura bush's arms never got that cut, and she spent eight years holding on to a dumbell. >> welcome back. we're in simi valley, california. we're at the reagan presidential library. great stories with pat buchanan and joe scarborough here. first let's go to willie geist in new york. >> thank you very much. with us now, chief political correspondent for politico, mike allen. he's here with a look at the morning playbook. hey, mike, how are you doing? >> happy monday, willie. i didn't get invited either. we're home alone here. >> i didn't either. you, me, and barnacle sitting here waiting for our invitations that aren't coming. i agree with bill maher. if i read more about the right

to bare arms, michelle obama's arms, i'll shoot myself. let's talk about the politico playbook. i understand there's a new book out talking about mike bloomberg. >> this is not the political workout coming out too. this is a great book coming out next week by joyce. a lot of people know her. she's the david brody of new york city. she covered six mayors. she has this book, mike bloomberg, money, power, politics. she got really good access to the mayor, to his advisers, and they talk about how there was much more of a campaign for him to be the independent candidate for president in 2008 than had been reported. in public, they were kind of coy. behind the scenes, it turns out -- and this didn't have to be reported because he was paying out of his own pocket. the mayor was paying for travel, polling, getting ready for microtargeting. so he had a whole campaign infrastructure in place. and then in january president obama started to win. senator mccain started to win.

those would have been his voters. the obama-mccain sort of centrists, reform minded voter would have been the bloomberg voter. he knew he wasn't going to win, so he pulled the plug. he wasn't going to do a vanity campaign. >> it helps the campaign machine when you have $6 billion of your own money to spend. >> is microtargeting similar to microbrewing? >> no. but thank you again for your insights this morning. get back to your game of solitaire. thanks a lot. >> if you work in politics, you can never have too much of either. >> let's talk about another book. ted kennedy's memoir "true compass." we heard some excerpts a few weeks ago. but interesting passage about his relationship with president bill clinton. tell us about that. >> there's a lot of personal stuff in this book, including family stories like the time the station wagon got stuck on the way to jack kennedy's inauguration. the dad got out and helped the driver. shows you how the kennedys are a little different from you and me.

in here he talks about one of the first meetings he had with president clinton when he game to the white house. he was stuck on the gays in the military debate. and he had the democratic members of the armed services committee into the white house. senator byrd was there. even at the time you could never be sure what he would say. he started, when he was asked his views about this, he started telling stories about young boys in the military in rome who got turned into sex slaves. and senator kennedy said, nobody was really sure where he was going. but he kept going on and on. the room got silent. he kept talking. finally, president clinton stood up and said, moses went to the mountain, came back with the ten commandments. i've read those tablets. so have you. nothing on there about homosexuality, and that was the end of the meeting. nobody ever really got senator byrd's point, but maybe president clinton should have taken this as it wasn't a good issue to plunge into. >> exactly. take the cues from senator byrd. you were telling me something

interesting about teddy's memoir, that he kept this diary over the course of his career. mike barnicle? >> kept an extensive diary for many, many years from the mid-1960s until right up at the time of his death. >> very interesting. thank you so much. we'll be reading the rest of your playbook on politico.com. as we told you earlier, 26-year-old kim clijsters came back from two years off, where she went and had a baby, now an 18-month-old girl, and she won yesterday her second u.s. open title. the big story is what happened in the semifinal match between clijsters and serena williams. she had a moment that was unlike anything we've ever seen, kind of put john mcenroe to shame. nbc's lee cowan has the story. >> reporter: it was no way to win and certainly no way to lose. there it was, match point. serena williams with the serve and a penalty. and that's when williams unleashed a tirade as serious as her 130 mile an hour serve. >> that's as angry as i've ever

seen her. >> reporter: there ensued a string of expletives, and reportedly a few words involving the ball and the line judge's throat, and that was it. match over. >> i was in the moment, and, you know, everyone's fighting for every point. it was a really crucial point. >> reporter: her opponent, kim clijsters, had outplayed williams anyway, but still seemed stunned. after all, she came to the open as a wild card, and it's only her third tournament since coming out of retirement. >> i mean, i'm still in shock. >> reporter: she was home to have a child, but it was the tirade that grabbed the headlines, not her talent. the theatrics of the losers are often just unflattering measures of intensity, not that that's an excuse, but they do offer some teachable moments. john mcenroe was one of the sport's best, but the first thing that comes to mind isn't his tennis, it's his tantrums. >> you cannot be serious! that ball was on the line!

>> reporter: jimmy conners revolutionized the sport in the 70s, but his arguments with umpires often overshadowed his play. the thing about tennis is it's not a team sport. so when players lose their cool, or in this case, their head, literally, it's mighty noticeable. >> i didn't say i would kill you. are you serious? >> reporter: no one is sure if the call was right or wrong, doesn't matter. for serena williams, her almost flawless run through the u.s. open is now tainted by an outburst, even if it was out of character. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> i've got to say, i'm pretty tough to shock. but i was watching that saturday night. it was shocking. she just made a conscious decision. she composed herself and then turned and just unloaded on this woman. >> you've done this to me here on the set. tennis would be more popular if there were more of that. >> i agree totally. >> more like real life. >> also, you know what, she shouldn't have done it.

stop calling the foot fault. stop calling traveling in the nba. let it go. coming up, much more with joe, mika and pat at the reagan library in simi valley, california. they'll be joined by peggy noonan and msnbc's political analyst lawrence o'donnell. plus a look at the must read opinion pages spanning the country this morning from new york to california. we'll send you back out to california when we come right back. boss: so word's gettin' out that geico can help people save in even more ways - on motorcycle insurance, rv, camper, boat insurance. nice work, everyone. 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...

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all right. we will send you back to that beautiful place right there. joe and mika at the reagan library in simi valley, california. first let's get a look at today's top stories. first, president obama heads to new york this morning, marking the one-year anniversary of the collapse of lehman brothers, which helped, of course, trigger the global economic crisis. the president will deliver a speech at new york's federal hall to press for an extensive overhaul of regulatory markets. meanwhile, new polling shows a mere even split when it comes to the public's embrace of many president obama's proposal to reform the nation's health care system. according to the new "washington post"/abc spol, 46% support it while 48% oppose it. 55% are in favor of a government health insurance plan, 42% are

not. and the iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at president george w. bush is expected to be released from jail. the reporter served nine months for the incident that took place last december and made him something of a celebrity in the arab world. you know what, quick instincts by the president. let's get a quick look at the morning papers. mike barnicle is going to take you through them. "the washington post," reform opposition is high but easing after presidential debate. appears to be softening among critics. "the wall street journal," china strikes back on trade. beijing threatens to tax u.s. chicken and car parts, an odd combo, after washington slashed stiff tariffs on tires. "hartford current," terrible story. police have located the body of the missing yale graduate student. she was discovered in the research building where she was last seen. we're going to continue to follow the story for developments throughout the morning. the atlanta journal-constitution, first round of swine flu shots could

be available in weeks. and "the los angeles times" out there, joe and mika. recovery may scuttle stricter financial rules. obama will try to reignite the courts on proposed overhaul after the lehman brothers collapse. coming up next, peggy noonan, plus joe and mika from the reagan library. we'll also take a look at mika's must read opinion pages, including maureen dowd's hard-hitting new york times piece and congressman joe wilson's outburst. we're watching "morning joe." brewed by starbucks. - ( music playing ) - so our family is playing a game of monopoly and caitlin's already snapped up half the hotels. - thank you. - her little brother has nothing. but then just like that, caitlin helps him out. i don't need a wall and a piece of chalk to mark the growth of my kids. we can just play monopoly. family moments cost less at walmart.

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the truth of the matter is that there has been, i think, a coarsening of our political dialogue. i will also say that, in the era

of 24-hour cable news cycles, that the loudest, shrillest voices get the most attention. so one of the things i'm trying to figure out is how can we make sure that civility is interesting. >> wow, that's something we struggle with every day. good morning and welcome back. we're coming to you live from the reagan library in simi valley, california. first stop on our swing along the west coast here, the guests of first lady nancy reagan. it's great to be here. with us now, to round out the show from the library here from boston, "the wall street journal's" peggy noonan. peggy was a primary speechwriter and special assistant to president reagan, and, peggy, it is great to have you on the show this morning. >> let's get right into the op eds. mika, what are you looking at first? >> this is interesting coming off of what president obama said on "60 minutes" last night about the shrillest voices. maureen o'dowd, boy, oh boy, i tended to agree with obama

advisers that democratic presidents typically have provoked a frothing response from paranoids, from father coughlin against fdr to joe mccarthy against truman, to john birchers against jfk and the vast right wing conspiracy against bill clinton. but wilson's shocking disrespect for the office of the president. no democrat ever shouted liar at "w" when he was hawking a fake case for war in iraq -- convinced me. some people just can't believe a black man is president and will never accept it. wow. >> peggy noonan, over the past couple of days, i've heard more commentators of the mainstream media start to, i would say, play the race card. after all of the campaigning and everything else, the president's back to the wall, and now maureen o'dowd is suggesting that joe wilson and others that are upset at this effort for health care reform have problems with the president being a person of color.

do you agree with that? >> you know, one of the things at play here, i think, is that, when you are a liberal and you see conservatives criticize your guy, you get all upset. you don't understand it. and you try to think of reasons it could be. when you are a conservative and you see the liberals going at your guy, you get a little upset. you don't understand why they're opposing. and so you may come up with stories or narratives about why people disagree with you. look, i thought what the president said on "60 minutes" had some real truth in it, that extreme voices and extreme expressions of a point of view do get a lot of attention in our country these days. and i think we know the reasons that is. i mean, there's money and power and influence to be gained from taking a certain colorfully extreme point of view. i don't see it as doing any

good. at the same time, i always think it's important to remember that just because people oppose you doesn't mean they're extreme, doesn't mean they're crazy. i think, as the president makes his health care position and his economic positions, i guess, over the next few days clearer and talks about them more, i hope he remembers he has a big and serious opposition. and just because they're disagreeing with him doesn't mean they're strange folks. they're a serious opposition. they ought to be addressed seriously. >> that's fair. >> pat buchanan, though, i want to go specifically to this race charge, this race card that maureen laid down. because, my gosh, look at the things that were said about ronald reagan for eight years from people on the far left. let's talk about a democrat. bill clinton. bill clinton took as much

abuse -- or i would say more abuse in '93 and '94 than this president is right now. in my opinion, when he was campaigning around, i couldn't believe the things i heard people saying. my people saying about bill clinton. i would say, don't say that in front of a microphone. >> i think you're correct. this is not about race at all, in my judgment. i mean, barack obama got a larger share of the white vote in america than john kerry did or al gore did, and everybody thought it was a post racial thing. the point is he's made too many mistakes, put too much on the plate. people are tremendously upset about the health care bill. that's why those folks came out to the town hall meetings. a few of them may be raucous and in your face, but barack obama knows this. his own people said, if he

hadn't gotten out in front of this debate. it was running away from him. that was his problem. >> yesterday in the times, frank rich wrote an article, and he did not blame race. he blamed barack obama. read that op ed. >> frank rich. "so it's a little disingenuous for obama to claim that he is not distracted by the 24-hour news cycle. what he's actually doing is gaming it for all it's worth. the droop in obama's job approval numbers isn't remotely as large or precipitous as the belt way's incessant doomsday drum beat suggests, but support for his signature program declined, not least of which because he gave others cart blanche to define it for him." >> do you agree with frank rich, peggy, that president obama squandered his summer? >> yeah, to tell you the truth. listen, you know what was going on? >> in one word. >> yeah.

look, there was a war going on. it was over health care. it was one big fight. it took the white house a long time to notice it was a rout. the republicans were winning, and the conservatives were winning. at these big town hall debates. with a certain amount of the middle rising up and saying, whoa, this isn't such a good plan. i think now, however, the battle is joined. i think the president really engaged in the past week with his big speech, with the weekend appearance out in minneapolis and with what is coming up. the battle is joined. we'll see what's going to happen. it's going to be very interesting now, i think. >> i don't know what you guys want. is he overexposed or getting in front of the message? >> his speeches, big speeches, i think frankly he should have waited on his big speech, as we used to do, 72 hours before the vote. but he to do the big speech now because the whole debate was

rolling away from him. it was going. he was losing it all. >> i'll tell whau, his stories are going to look back on this first year, i believe, of president obama's administration, and they're going to say they should have had one old washington hand in there because these are people that have let this debate get away from them very quickly. peggy, stay with us. we're going to be getting to you a lot more. >> we've got a lot to get to this morning from the reagan library in simi valley, california. mike barnicle and willie geist are with us from new york. still ahead, lawrence o'donnell will join us as well. also, senator barbara boxer and san francisco mayor gavin newsom. plus freddy's got sports. we'll be right back. >> we will continue to act in a certain way as long as they continue to act in a helpful manner. if and when they don't, that first pull your punches.

if they persist, pull the plug. it's still trust but verify. it's still play but cut the cards. it's still watch closely and don't be afraid to see what you see. [ horns honking ]

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ellen degeneres in the news. of course, she's going to be the new judge on "american idol." very talented woman. paula is taking it very well. she's taking it well. last night paula abdul says she has no bitter feelings towards ellen. she says ellen will be a great "american idol" judge and wishes her the best of luck. that's what she said.

at that point, the 7/eleven cashier told paula, good luck with your scratch off ticket. go. >> that's cruel. not only does paula have no bitter feelings. she has no feelings at all. inchts time for some sports. for the northeast fans, jets, giants won. fred roggin's got the rest of the day in the nfl. >> thank you. good monday morning. an exciting opening weekend for the nfl. we'll begin in green bay with football's oldest rivalries, bears and packers. this one went down to the wire. under two minutes to play, aaron rodgers connected with greg jennings for a 50-yard score. green bay rallied to beat the bears 21-15. to cleveland, brett favre made his regular season debut for the vikes against the browns. third quarter, favre hooks up with per si har vin from six yards out. first touchdown for favre and the rookie harvin. you think favre was happy? look at him tackling harvin in

the end zone. adrian peterson ran for three scores. drew brees had a career day. six touchdowns is the most ever thrown during week one of an nfl season. saints and brees pass the lions 31-27. carolina now, eagles beat the packers 38-10 but lost donovan mcnabb on this touchdown run. he'll be reevaluated today. in case you're wondering, michael vick not eligible to play until week three. broncos-bengals, under a minute to play. kyle orton aired it out. pass was deflected. look what i found. brandon stokeley with a gift, sprinted down the field to score a game-winning touchdown. broncos shock the bengals 12-7. golf, tiger woods has done it again. he won the pga championship by six strokes. the first time he's won a pga event by eight or more strokes.

u.s. open. kim clijsters made history by becoming the first unseeded woman to win the open. courtesy of a forehand smash. she was unranked before the match but will likely be in the top 25 after winning her second u.s. open. on the men's side, roger federer defeated djokovic in straight sets. federer had no option but to return it between his legs. an incredible shot worth another look. federer showing why he is ranked number one in the world. a between the legs, back to the net, cross-court winner from the baseline. federer would call it the greatest shot of his life. we'd agree. he'll play juan del pablo in today's final. >> federer's not human. he's like drago. it's just not fair. mike barnicle has commenced his game of solitaire. we're holding down the fort in new york city. he's literally playing cards. >> look at this hand. coming up next, news you

can't use. plus we'll send it back to the reagan presidential library in simi valley, california. first, kanye west goes nuts at the video music awards. i'm walgreens ceo and i'm also a pharmacist. getting an early flu shot is the best thing you can do... to protect you and your loved ones from the flu. it's also one of the easiest things you can do... because walgreens is now offering seasonal flu shots... every day of the week with convenient hours guaranteed. so you can just stop in. our 16,000 dedicated pharmacists... and take care clinic nurse practitioners... are waiting to help you beat the flu... in neighborhoods nationwide. at walgreens we want you to know, there's a way to stay well. goodwrench... we roll out the blue carpet

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oh, yes, is it time? >> before we start, do you have any 5s? okay. we'll pick up this game in just a second. we're holding it down here in new york city. we'll send you back to simi

valley and the reagan presidential library in just a moment. but right now we want to break up this dignified event they're holding out there with "news you can't use." we begin with kanye west on the video music awards on mtv. kanye has a history of doing these kinds of things. sometimes when he doesn't receive an award at the awards ceremony, he goes onstage and complains vocally about it. last night he did it on behalf of his friend beyonce. taylor swift won for best female video. she was giving a fine acceptance speech, and kanye kind of broke into it. listen. >> i always dreamed about what it would be like to maybe win one of these someday, but i never actually thought it would happen. i sing country music. thank you so much for giving me a chance to win a vma award. >> taylor, i'm really happy for you. i'm going to let you finish. but beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.

one of the best videos of all time. >> kanye west weighing in there. >> he embarrassed beyonce. >> exactly. >> she was embarrass. >> she didn't like it most of all. that's kind of his thing, though. he's brash. hey, wait, i'm talking. are you still playing cards? let's see something else. tonight is a big night here on nbc. it's a night we've been waiting for for almost a year since they announced it. jay leno, "the jay leno show" starts tonight 10:00 p.m. eastern time/9:00 p.m. central. a full hour in primetime of jay leno doing his thing he's been so successful for 15 years. he's been winning the late night ratings on nbc. a lot of people are calling this revolutionary. they've never tried it before. it saves a hell of a lot of money. can you do comedy for an hour five nights a week? >> jay leno can do it.

not only is he a funny guy, not only is he going to be great, he's one of the best human beings you'll meet in any line of business. >> that's a true story. the people that work for him absolutely love him. he does 150 nights of stand-up on top of his show. he can crank out comedy. >> we can identify with that, workaholics. >> by the way, do you have any 7s? mike, since you're a dork, you'll appreciate this. how about a star trek wedding? you like nerds getting together? here is a star trek wedding taking place in pennsylvania right around philadelphia. a guy named brad siegel. i have to laugh because one of my friends is named brad siegel. i can confirm this is not the brad siegel. they got married in a replica of the star ship enterprise for a star trek wedding. they were dressed in their star fleet finest as were their groomsmen and bridesmaids. they entered a contest to get married in a replica, and apparently we're calling them the winners of that contest.

>> what do you think is the run date on that marriage? last as long as star trek? >> that had a pretty good run. let's get back to our card game. now we'll send it back to joe and mika, who will take it away, thank goodness, to the reagan presidential library in simi valley, california. guys? >> welcome back to "morning joe." we're coming to you live from the reagan library in simi valley, california. this is our first stop on our trip across the west coast all week long. pat buchanan is with us for the ride along with peggy noonan, who joins us from boston. before we get to news, it must be something, pat, to be here. >> it's extraordinary. as i tell you, we talked. it's my first trip out here. you go and see air force one and see marine one downstairs. you see that limousine, which, i think, carried ronald reagan, saved his life, carried him to that hospital. it is very nostalgic, very, very moving. those were very good days for america. a lot of us remember the '70s as

very tough times. i know you do, joe, and how bad it was with the hostages and everything. ronald reagan raises his hand, and the hostages are coming out. we had tough times in '81/'82, but it was a marvelous decade for america, victory in the cold war. see part of that berlin wall out there. ronald reagan, "tear down this wall, mr. gorbachev," and the wall is out front. >> it really is something. you know, mika, presidents in the future are going to look back, obviously, and they're going to study what this president has done. and i would suggest that this current white house spend a little more time focusing on how president reagan spent his first year, how he didn't allow himself to be controlled by events, but how he controlled events and how he was forceful. there's so much going on today for the president. he's going to be speaking on wall street. we're coming up on the one-year anniversary of this economy. america's economy, as we've known it for the past quarter century ending. the president, of course, last night on "60 minutes."

saying about health care, i own it. this is my health care reform bill. if it doesn't work, everybody's going to blame me. so he's got health care to worry about. he's got the economy to worry about. and he's got to figure out how we get america moving again. a lot of real challenges. we're going to be talking to lawrence o'donnell on the other side of the news. i want to talk to him again about health care because lawrence has nailed it all along. we're going to ask him if he still feels like the president's speech from last wednesday isn't going to have an effect on whether health care passes or not. >> exactly. we'll get to that in just a moment. first, here's willie geist and mike barnicle in new york with the news. >> thanks a lot, mika. we'll get back to joe, mika, peggy, pat buchanan, and lawrence o'donnell in just a minute. first a look at today's top stories. one year after the collapse of lehman brothers, president obama will be on wall street this afternoon to try to kick start efforts to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system. the speech will push for expa

expanded federal authority to monitor risks, oversee mortgages and credit cards, and also to take control of failing institutions. that comes as the president continues to press his health care overhaul, expressing new confidence on sunday that congress will pass, in his words, a good bill. the president said it's part of a larger effort to regain financial stability as debate over the proposal continues to simm simmer. >> there is an argument to be made out there that, well, maybe health care can just wait because, you know, we've had to absorb a lot. the system's gone through a shock. maybe we should just hold off until some other time. the problem i've got is that the only way i can get medium and long term federal spending under control is if we do something about health care. ironically, health care reform is critical to deficit reduction.

>> i don't believe most americans believe it's possible to have the plan he wants and not see the deficit go up unless he's going to propose in the middle of the deepest recession since the great depression massive tax increases, which would further deepen the recession. >> it pains me deeply to see one of the great optimists, which is speaker gingrich -- you are. we agree on a lot of stuff. the thing we have in common is america can do anything. every other democracy in the world has a health care system that covers everybody, and we don't. of course we can do this. how ridiculous. >> in a new audiotape, terrorist leader osama bin laden says president obama is "powerless" to stop the war in afghanistan. the recording released on sunday comes just days after the eighth anniversary of the september 11th attacks. bin laden accuses the white house of following bush administration policy, and he blames the war on the pro-israel lobby. well, this is a terrible story we've been updating you on

all morning. this is now a homicide investigation under way in connecticut this morning after police found what they believe to be the body of that missing yale university graduate student. the body was discovered inside the wall of a campus building where annie lee was last seen on tuesday just days before her planned wedding, which was supposed to have taken place over the weekend. so far, police there have not revealed any suspects. house democrats say they plan to introduce a resolution of disapproval for south carolina republican joe wilson. they'll push the resolution this week unless the congressman apologizes on the house floor for calling president obama a liar during his address to congress last week. wilson says he has already made amends with the white house. >> i am not going to apologize again. i apologized to the president on wednesday night. i was advised then that thank you, now let's get on to a civil discussion of the issues. but i've apologized one time. the apology was accepted by the

president, by the vice president, who i know. i am not apologizing again. and in the next 24 hours, the iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former president george w. bush late last year is expected to be released from jail. the reporter served nine months for the incident, which made him something of a celebrity in the arab world. >> great reactions from the president. >> great reactions from the president. that's a quick look at the news. now we send it back to joe, mika, and company at the reagan presidential library in simi valley. guys? >> thank you so much, willie. thank you, mike barnicle. you can go back to playing gin rummy. >> that's what i think they're doing. with us now, msnbc political analyst lawrence o'donnell. >> we're at the reagan library for god's sakes. what's wrong with you? >> i'm sorry. i apologize. and peggy noonan is still with us from boston, helping raise the level of the conversation obviously. >> we hope so. lawrence, let's start with you.

the president today is talking about the economy on wall street. last night he was on "60 minutes" talking about health care, how he owned health care. frank rich said the president squandered his summer. do you agree with frank? if he did squander his summer, can he get ahead of the health care debate again? >> no, i don't think the president has squandered any of this health care campaign. he's just showing you how incredibly difficult this is. the white house strategy is let's do the opposite of what hillary clinton did because hillary clinton lost. that's a pretty smart way to begin. if you have a perfect model of how to lose, do the opposite of that one. that's what they've been doing. they didn't send up a detailed bill. and what august did was once again avoid any of the specifics in the legislation. death panels was a gift because the white house and the democrats got to say, that's not true. there's no death panels in there. even newt gingrich reaches the point where he acknowledges that. but no one talked about the particulars of the employer

mandate. no one talked about the 8% payroll tax. no one talked about the individual mandate. no one talked about poor people who won't be able to afford insurance even when they are ordereded to buy it and will end up paying the government the tax instead since they don't pay for it. no one has talked about the 35 -- i'm going to say that number again, joe, because you've never heard it before. a 35% surtax on health care plans that are worth more than $8,000 a year. the joe scarborough health care plan is worth a lot more than $8,000 a year. now, remember this is on the companies that provide that plan. those companies are already subject to corporate income taxation. this is a separate -- now, i could go on and on. you've never had had a republican come on your show and talk about that. they come on, and they talk about the theatrics. they come on and talk about whether joe wilson should apologize or not. joe wilson was part of helping

the democrats and the president continue to avoid shining any lights on any of the harsh particulars of this plan which are going to be very difficult to get passed and very difficult to swallow if the public ever learns about them and if republicans ever learn about them. i was in washington last week. i talked to a senator who did not know what the taxes were that the house ways and means committee have already voted on. >> go ahead, peggy. >> let me ask lawrence a question. i think something he said is so fascinating. let me see if i understand it. the plan, to the extent it exists among the democrats at this point, would contain within it a 35% surcharge on -- what is it, lawrence? the worth of an insurance policy? >> this is already written. it's been released in print by max baucus. the president went out in his speech to the congress and simply said, i am endorsing 100% the baucus plan. it's not an obama plan. it's the baucus plan. the baucus plan is already in

print. yes, peggy, i'm going to say it again. no republican has told you this, and republicans have participated. >> no one anywhere. no democrats, no republicans, no nothing. >> and republican senators have participated in the negotiation of this. this was john kerry's idea in the finance committee. it is now winning the day in the finance committee. a 35% tax on health care plans that are worth more than $8,000 for an individual. yours, peggy, is worth more than $8,000. or $21,000 for a family. the scarborough family policy is worth more than that. anybody who's in a plan -- >> hold on a second now. hollywood boy, you're going after me. >> let's talk about my plan. you want to hear about my plan? i'll tell you about my plan. does anyone want to hear about mine? my plan is the writers guild of america, since the show is coming from california today, this particular tax, 35% tax, will devastate my own health

care plan. now, you know, i'm doing well. i can afford what it's going to do to my plan. it's going to reduce the benefits of my plan by 35% on the first day. there are members of the writers guild who make $50,000 a year, some of them $35,000, $40,000 in a year. their health care plan is as valuable as mine. it is a very rich plan. it's richer than the scarborough family plan. but it's for people in that union. it's a union plan. and everyone in that union gets it. this will cut the benefits of their health care plan by 35%. now, they're all hollywood liberals. we all are. we might all be in favor of the legislation even if it does that because it helps out other people. my point is simply this. eric cantor has never come on the show and told you about this. there's not a single republican telling but this. they spend all their time deciding whether or not there were death panels and whether joe wilson was right or wrong. that's what they spend time on. >> the plan you discuss, max

baucus' plan, that is in gestation and coming out, that plan cannot pass the congress of the united states? is it it comes out that way, is health care not dead? >> that plan has been public for a week, and you haven't heard a republicans say a word about it. the president endorsed just that the other night. they call these fees instead of taxes. they will all be collected by the irs. i think we know what those are. my point is this. the more they don't talk about the particulars of the bill, the more the democrats are winning. that's the way this legislation works. and the republicans have never even bothered to do the homework of what's publicly releaseded and available about what's in these bills. i'm not sure if these guys are too late, if they're never going to do their homework. >> you know what, lawrence, whether we're lazy or not doesn't matter. you just gave us the trump card. >> i'm assuming they're not watching this. why would the republicans watch a show from the reagan library? come on, they're not watching.

>> they like this. peggy noonan, let's go back to this. we thank, actually, lawrence for reading the bill for us so we don't have to. now it's very easy, peggy, for me to campaign against my blue dog democratic opponents saying, my opponent wants to cut medicare, and he wants your family to pay 35% more for your health care. i mean, mied god, that is -- that's -- forget the death panel. that is like the death bill for any southern politician who's a democrat. >> well, maybe everybody ought to stop and read the bill again. i remember when the summer started it was like 1,000 pages, and people were furiously going through it. but i guess maybe people ought to take a look at it again and find out exactly what is in there. i'll tell you, joe and mika, what i continue to think is that history has asked this president

to do two really big things. one is handle the economy, unemployment, the mess we're in. the other is keep america strong, secure, and safe in the world. and an unspoken third is handle whatever comes over history's transom. i cannot help but think we all get so much into this health care thing, i want to stop and think why are we talking about this? we've got the first two huge things, the economy and america's security in the world. we're not talking about that. that's work enough. when you add to it what comes over the transom, as mrs. reagan knows and the people in this audience know what came over history's transom in the 1980s was huge. and not only from the soviet union but from so many areas, so many challenges. so it's odd we're even discussing this, and i just remembered its oddness. >> you know, as i said, mika, on

radio last week, there's nothing in the constitution that suggests we had to do everything in 2009. it is all right for the republican party's position to be no. we've overloaded the circuits, as colin powell said. focus on jobs. focus on getting the economy turned around. focus on what's going on in afghanistan right now. when the economy turns around, when we don't have unemployment over 10%, if you want to come back at health care then, fine. but this president has been unfocused, and i think health care is, again, something that, if he wants to address it, he can come back after the economy turns around. >> i think you're exactly right. >> but not with unemployment going over 10%. >> you're absolutely right. but at the same time politically, it's probably his own agenda. that's probably when they're looking at it. when else is he going to do it

in the next four years? >> just because this is the only time to pass health care reform. >> i'm not arguing that. >> doesn't mean we can pass it right now. >> we're looking at $9 trillion in deficits coming up this past decade. we're looking at two wars, afghanistan and iraq, that are going badly. we're looking at a situation in iran, where the president opposes something like a blo blockade. he says it's going to be revenue neutral. why are we focusing time and attention on this? it's a problem, but it's not the greatest problem we face. >> we've got much more to cover here coming to you from the reagan library in simi valley, california, including senator barbara boxer and san francisco mayor gavin newsom. i know for a fact joe's going to put them on the spot about taxes. also, obama economic adviser austan goolsbee. they'll ask him about the president's speech this afternoon on the financial crisis.

right after the break, the latest headlines out of the white house. but first, here is bill karins with a check on the weather. bill? >> impressive, mika. the applause sign must have been on for like 30 seconds there. let's talk a little about your forecast on monday. hope you had a wonderful weekend. dallas is the only trouble spot. some light rain and possible downpours this afternoon. so far so good at the dallas/ft. worth airport. no delays. actually, no delays at any of the big airports. here's your forecast. we're giving today 10 out of 10. perfect from chicago up to the northeast. everyone on the west coast joining us, you're looking at a pretty nice day too. instead of $5 per person for fast food,

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welcome back to "morning joe." with you this morning from the reagan presidential library in simi valley, california. let's go to willie geist now in new york first. willie? >> all right, mika. thanks a lot. here with us now, nbc news chief

white house correspondent and the political director at nbc news, chuck todd. good morning, chuck. >> good morning, willie. >> let's talk about what the president's up to today. he's going to be down on wall street. what's the message, and who's his audience? is he talking to us, or is he talking to the guys down there? >> economy, economy, economy. i think this is the first day of why i think it's going to be an interesting two-week period for the president and for the issue of health care. first of all, the speech today. it marks the one-year anniversary of the fall of lehman brothers. who knew this would become a national holiday, lehman brothers. apparently, we'll get the day off school someday for the fall of lehman brothers. in seriousness, the an attempt -- i think the president wants to highlight, look, we pulled the economy back from the brank. it was really bad. a little bit of a reminder that it was really bad. he's going to make a little bit of a push for his massive overhaul of the financial regulatory system. that is actually another bill mabllinging its way through congress. should get passed in the fall.

totally opposite strategy they had on health care. white house wrote the bill and dropped it on the desk of congress. we'll see how that goes. third thing with wall street is lecture them. hey, don't get complacent. just because things look stable now doesn't mean you can go off and start -- there was an article the other day in "the new york times." you can start gambling on life insurance policies, which i think was the potential latest gimmicks that some in the securities industry were thinking about trading. >> mike barnicle? >> unlike the health care reform bill, does the white house intend to at least make this look like a bipartisan effort on overhaul of the financial systems in do they think they have republican votes there where apparently they don't on health care? >> i think they do. i think one of the reasons why they do on this is it's less about the republicans and the white house working together and more with -- the one thing i think both the left and the right agree about is neither one of them are very happy with wall street. one of the things inside the republican party right now that's a little bit of a split

that i'm focusing on -- that i want to focus on a little bit sometimes, just so we're keeping track of it, is sort of the business wing of the party versus what i would call the grass roots populist wing of the party. that grass roots populist wing, such as those folks who came to d.c. to protest, they're not big on wall street. they're not big on the government intervention in wall street, but they're also not big on wall street in general. >> i know the economy is the focus of the white house this week. your focus, georgia tech-miami on thursday night. big top 20 game. >> big game. 2-0 start. i'm all about bring on alabama. bring on the crimson tide. >> bring 'em on. coming up next, obama economic adviser austan goolsbee. and we'll be back with "morning joe" from the reagan library in simi valley, california. isdom new aches and pains,

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minutes" last night talking about the health care bill. that he's pushing through. welcome back to "morning joe" at the reagan library in simi valley, california. we are here as the guests of former first lady nancy reagan, who is in the audience today. we thank her so much for having us. >> thank you so much. >> once again. such an honor. this week, of course, marks the one-year anniversary of the lehman brothers filing for bankruptcy. this afternoon at federal hall in new york city, president obama will deliver another speech. what the white house is calling a major speech, another one, on the financial crisis this time. lawrence o'donnell and peggy noonan are still with us from new york. with us now from washington, austan goolsbee, member of the white house council of economic advisers. austan, thanks for being on the show this morning. >> thanks for having me back. >> we've been talking about a number of issues pertaining to the president's potential overexposure here. this is billed to be a major speech. what are we expecting to hear from the president later today? >> later today, i think what

we're mainly expecting to hear is that in the one year that's passed since lehman fell, it was a dog year if ever there was a dog year. it's a time to reflect on how far down the economy went, how scary the moment was, the various steps that the president's taken, and where we've come since that time and what still needs to be done, especially on the financial regulatory front. we've seen the president pushing that in that direction, and i think you'll see him lay really out the important case of why we need to do more. >> you know, austan, we heard last week some administration officials coming out. tim geithner, in fact, saying that we hit the bottom. things were getting better because of the stimulus package. yet haven't we only spent 10%, maybe 15% of that stimulus package. isn't it going to take a year or two to really see the full effects, to see whether that's going to help us out of a recession or not? >> full effect, yes, it's spread

out over two, three years. we've seen more of the money go out, joe, and the other thing to note is there's a second half, about 15% of the money's gone out. another 15% has been obligated. so if you start building a highway, you don't get the actual payment until they come out and check to make sure you did it right. but the obligation is really important because that's when the activity starts. so something like about a third of the money has been obligated or gone out. austan, lawrence o'donnell is with us from new york. he has a question for you. lawrence? is >> austan, here we are a year after in an economy i think you would argue is showing signs of recovery. i think the administration believes we're on the path to recovery. you credit the stimulus for that and other things. is this the time in this precarious position in what might or might not be a recovery for the administration to be loading up business and making it with the costs of employment through an employer mandate in health care, which if they comply with, will dramatically

increase the cost of hiring a worker. if they don't comply with it, which they don't have to, it will cost 8% in additional new payroll taxes, there by making the hiring of one new worker much, much more expensive than it has been this year once this plan is enacted. is that what to do as we're trying to reduce unemployment and add workers to payroll? >> well, now hold on. that was a very misleading premise of the question. obviously, for all of the major employers in the country who are offering health insurance now and who are paying the hidden tax for the companies that aren't offering health insurance and that we are all paying close to $1,000 each to pay for the uncompensated care of people going to emergency rooms, et cetera, we've got to find a way to end that cost. so it's extremely misleading to say that everybody's going to have to pay a whole bunch more per worker because, for almost all of those people, they're not paying anything more. we're just trying to prevent

some employers from dumping their costs onto the others. the second thing i'd point out is in most of these plans, there are significant incentives to encourage small business owners, giving them direct tax credits, making them a more invulnerable environment for them compared to as it is now. if you ask any small business or head of a small business organization, health care costs are killing them. and this bill would enable small businesses to compete against large businesses through these tax incentives to help them be able to afford health care. >> you know, pat buchanan. if i were running against a blue dog in the south or running against a democratic senator in 2010, talk about the health care bill. they're strapping regulations onto small businesses. and cap and trade, they're going to make energy costs.

barnacle says they should focus on jobs, jobs, jobs. aren't they overloading the circuits? as general colin powell, who supported president obama, is the white house overloading the circuits with too many things that don't directly put people back to work? >> i think they do. you mentioned cap and trade. you're right. this, of course, is obama's big project, which you raise a terrific point, joe. the number one issue is the economy. austan, my understanding is we're getting reports, even though folks say it's getting better, we've got 9.7% unemployment nationally. higher than that, double digit in california, and you're hearing predictions unemployment nationally is going to go above 10%. is that true? >> look, i think it probably is true unfortunately. for everybody, the president is totally in agreement. we should put the number one focus on how to get people back to work. he's been trying to do that. the irony is the very people criticizing are out there saying they don't like stimulus.

cancel the second half of the stimulus. and plan the role of the east german judge, where no matter what the stimulus does, no matter how much it helps -- and if the president hits a triple lutz, they're still going to give him a 2. so i think we need to put the focus on what the economy is doing. >> austan, listen. be a uniter, not a divider. an east german judge, does it get any more hateful than that? we're at the reagan library. tear down that wall of hate, austan. >> you know what i'm saying. >> tear down that wall. >> tear down that wall. >> austan goolsbee, thanks very much. we'll be watching the president's speech later today and talking about it tomorrow morning. thank you for coming. >> thank you. and kudos to mrs. reagan. >> thank you so much. thank you. we'll send that along. and coming up next, san

francisco mayor gavin newsom. you're watching "morning joe" live from the reagan library in simi valley, california. >> mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall.

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i urged the president to take the public option off the table because it's universally opposed by all republicans in the senate, and therefore there's no way to pass a plan that includes a public option. i think he's recognizing that because it is a roadblock to building the kind of consensus that we need to move forward. >> we believe competition and choice will help bring prices down and improve care and give a better deal to consumers. so he continues to believe it's a good idea.

he continues to advocate it. and i'm not willing to accept that it's not going to be in the final package. but what he also said, and what we've all said, is that this is not the whole of health insurance reform. >> it is "morning joe" in america. we're coming to you from the reagan library in simi valley, california. pat buchanan still with us. willie geist and mike barnicle in new york playing cards. and joining us now, mayor of san francisco and california gubernatorial candidate gach newsom joining us. gavin, thanks for being on the show. >> great to be on. thank you. >> mr. mayor, thank you so much for being here. "the new york times" yesterday reported on the front page they thought the public option was dead. we heard olympia snowe suggesting democrats drop the public option. do you think it's time for democrats, do you think it's time for the white house to admit that a health care reform bill will not pass this year if

there's a public option in it? >> that may be the practical reality, but i don't think we should just submit to that reality. i think we need to fight it. the reality is in san francisco, where i am, has a public option. we have a public plan. the only one in the united states of america. i'm not going to assert that it's working. i can point to the fact that it is working to draw down costs, to create that competition that people are talking about and create a framework where consumers are protected, and insurance companies are held to a higher level of accountability. so i believe in the public option. and, again, here we're practicing. we're not just preaching. >> explain to me, though, how a public option's going to work if you have the president saying he's going to pay for his health care reform bill by cutting out health waste, fraud, and abuse inside the federal health care system. it's an inefficient system as it is. medicare's going to bankrupt us. you talk to anybody, medicare

and medicaid goes bankrupt in the next decade. if those programs are already in trouble, do we want to give the federal government even more responsibility in the arena of health care? >> well, you're forgetting that health insurance companies are bankrupting, individuals are bankrupting businesses. they're increasing in the context of government, they're increasing the costs of government in the context of responsibilities we have to provide health care for our employees. the reality is we need health care reform for both private and public. there's no doubt the medicare issues need to be addressed. but let's not forget the medicare growth is certainly growing, and we need to address those costs, particularly in peril in 2019 of insolvency. those costs are about in line with the health care costs that are going through the roof with health insurers in the private sector. this is a responsibility to address both the public increase in cost as well as the private increase in cost. that's why competition becomes to central and so formidable in

terms of driving down those costs. i want to say this, joe. in san francisco we have a public option with public/private choices within that public option plan. we have literally 50% of our providers are private sector providers. half are public sector providers. and we just had the largest insurer in the state of california, kaiser, the largest hmo in california, join our public plan. i think they did that because of the competitive elements in our plan. i think that sets an example and gives people pause to set an example of what we can advance in terms of the national health care debate. >> hard to find an argument as to whether we ultimately need health care reform, pat buchanan. the question is do we need it now? particularly for this president, if not now, will he ever get it in his presidency? >> that's a good question. if he doesn't get it this time, he's certainly not going to get it in his first term, and his first term may be his only term.

mr. mayor, you're going to add 47 million people don't have health care right now. they're going to be covered. at the same time, the president of the united states says, this is going to be revenue neutral. it's not going to add a dime to the deficit. most americans say, that does not sound credible. how do you explain how it can be credible? >> no, i think it's a legitimate point. that's the devil in the details. even after the president's speech -- and i was there. i had the privilege of sitting up there in speaker pelosi's box with the kennedy family. i do think there's legitimate questions as to how we can follow through on that rhetoric in terms of identifying more substantively beyond just medicare advantage and some of these other cost savings. the reality is $900 billion is not an insignificant amount of money. the fact is, look, if we don't move forward,s what the cost of inactivity? what's the cost of failing? i think we need to focus as much time and attention on the status quo and the reality of that status quo becoming even more

unruly and compare and contrast that to the president's proposal and the details that are being worked out now in congress. >> gavin, you're running, obviously, for governor of california. and let's talk about the two ways the president can pay for this thing. i just want to know if you're going to put this on a bumper sticker. one, he can raise taxes, and he's talked about that. nancy's talked about that. 5% tax increase. boy, that's going to go over well with california voters since they don't pay many taxes as it is. the second one is cutting -- and this is what we're hearing from democrats on the hill. cutting medicare advantage, slashing costs there. i don't think that's going to play very well either. do you think either of those two approaches, a 5.1% tax increase or cutting medicare, do you think that's politically feasible this year? >> no, i think it's difficult. people need to explain the

medicare advantage and what that means in terms of cost savings coming primarily from those insurance companies. that means -- no, you're right. look, in san francisco -- again, i want to come back to the practical reality of what we're doing in this city. we did not raise taxes. we did not create a new bureaucracy. we did not, pat buchanan, replace the american flag with the canadian flag. the sky did not fall in. the world didn't come to an end. and we're actually redirecting existing dollars without increasing the burden to the taxpayers. and in turn, we now have three studies showing we're saving the taxpayers money. my point of saying this is there's money within the system that we're already investing. we need to invest more wisely and strategically. 0 so it's not just the simplicity of raising taxes or cutting them. >> in closing, gavin, i understand. but in reality, though, for the president to pay that $900 billion bill, democrats are saying he's going to raise taxes. would you support the raising of

taxes, which, of course, would fall, again, on californians. would you support that if that's what it took to pass barack obama's health care reform plan? >> i actually -- that's where i hesitate, and that's where i'm not supportive. and i've been criticized by my own party for saying that. i don't say that candidly, joe, as a capped dat for governor. i don't think that that's necessarily palatable just politically let alone practically in this economic climate. >> and it's not palatable as a candidate for governor. >> no. >> gavin, thank you so much for being with us. we greatly appreciate it. >> all the best. thanks for coming on. coming up, senator barbara boxer, former labor secretary robert rush. >> it's like 1978. i expect pat jarvis to come walking in. no new taxes. >> they're all getting very conservative out here in california. >> all of a sudden. >> again, though, these are the realities, though.

if you look at what's happening in california with taxes exploding, if you look even our good progressive friends in new york city say, you can't put 5% more taxes on top of what we're already paying or we're going to be paying 60% of our income to the governments on all three levels. >> you talked about the big problem he's got. obama already said it's going to be revenue neutral. you're going to chop medicare. >> how's he going to do it? >> that message goes out, you've got a problem. you're going to raise taxes. that message out there, you've got a problem. that's the next big thing for obama. >> cutting more fraud and abuse. >> of course. more with pat buchanan, peggy noonan, and lawrence o'donnell all straight ahead. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks, coming to you from the reagan library in simi valley, california. there was a time i wouldn't step out of the house

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welcome back to "morning joe." a beautiful shot of the reagan presidential library in simi

valley. we were not invited. and we have behind-the-scenes access to "jay leno." >> you hang lights. you think everything is all right, and then you go -- >> for jay leno, a lot is riding on tonight's 10:00 p.m. experiment. "time" magazine said it was the beginning. >> i did "the tonight show" 16 years ago, and it was number one when i got it and number one when i handed it off.

>> we were going this way. >> it was a dodge to a serious question, but really behind the scenes jay takes it seriously. he has been chin deep is making sure the show sells, testing out new jokes to the seating of the studio audience, up close. whether the comedy show can compete like drama like "csi" is unknown. >> you try to have a little something for everybody. something smart and silly and groofy. you put it altogether. some of it is throwing it at the wall and see if it's sticking. >> reporter: his musical

sidekick, kevin ya yubanks will back. >> that's gone. you have to lose the whole dopey actress part. >> reporter: jay's familiar desk is gone. he is joined by a team of comics, much like the daley show. all of it is like trying out a new joke on the road, which jay does, almost every other weekend? >> yeah, i am having fun. you are in a young person's game and you are competing competitively. it's a lot of fun. >> reporter: the way leno works at it, he is a nightclub comic

that happens to be a broadcaster, but the stakes are high. >> no more dopey actresses. good morning, lee. this is a pretty bold experiment. 10:00, nobody has done it live five days a week. i did not get a sense from your piece that this is a man terribtea terribly nervous about this? >> no. he said maybe stle a shot during reruns. and he is going to do 40 or 42 weeks ayear. what he is counting on are people that like to watch things happen and they are done and they move on. this is not a show that you will tape and watch three weeks later. >> he was not giving up too much

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call or click now. welcome back to "morning joe." we are holding it down here in new york city. i am willie geist with mark

barnicle. let's go east to west across the great nation of ours. there is the white house. the president of the united states is leaving the white house to go to wall street to make a speech about the market today. and then st. louis, the gateway to the west. and then las vegas. the greatest city on the face of the earth, without question. and then los angeles, the international airport there. out west is where we find joe and mika, where they are at the reagan library today in simi valley. >> yes, we are coming to you live at the reagan library inseain simi valley. pat buchanan is with us. it's great to have you here along with peggy nunan.

the republicans have not read the bill, because we don't have to. >> i got my column done tomorrow. we are all set. >> we will have lawrence ask senator barbara boxer joining us once again. first, let's go to willie geist. >> i don't know why she is laughing. we are working hard. >> i will raise you one banana. the president will deliver a speech at the new york hall to

press for an extensive overhaul of the regulatory market. and then there is a homicide investigation under way in connecticut this morning. police found what they believe is the body of the missing yale university graduate student. the body was discovered inside the wall of a campus building where annie le was seen entering the building. so far they have not revealed any suspects. and then according to the "washington post" and abc news, 46% support the president's plan while 48% oppose it. the survey shows 55% are in favor of a government health insurance plan and 42% are not. that's a quick look at the news. let's send it back to joe and mika at the reagan library.

with us now, senator barbara boxer, and she joins us from oakland, california. thank you for being with us. >> lawrence o'donnell suggested us republicans can be read, so we had him read it for us, and he has a question for you now. >> one thing max has been negotiating is expanding bills. it would expand it. medicaid is a shared cost between the governors and the states, and the governors are resisting any new expansion of medicaid, because they don't think they can put their share on this. california would have a heavy burden if they had to expand

their share of it at this point. do you think that's something california can accept? >> i think we will see having the federal government pick up most of the cost for at least 10 years. that's what i have heard. we don't have the bill from the finance committee. i think it's too much of a burden right now. this is a problem for us. we have to take care of it. i think it's that best to do it by the federal government coming in and not doing an unfunded mandate but to make sure we pick up the line share of the cost. and there are people working hard and can't get insurance. >> senator boxer, lawrence also talked about a 35% tax surcharge on anybody with a health insurance plan that is worth more than $8,000. would you support that? he says that's in the bacchus

bill. do you think that's something that can pass the senate and the house? >> you described it wrong, joe, with all due respect. it's not a fee on the person that has it but it's on the policy. the fee goes to the insurance company. that's something that is won bipartisan support. i will look at that. we don't have the bacchus bill yet. we have the summary, which i have read, and i would not support taxing health care benefits. >> senator, with all due respect, the 35% is going to come from somewhere, and lawrence o'donnell said that is less coverage that he will get. it's not as if they will allow all of us to keep our health care plans as is if we are taxing them 35%. >> i have news for you, joe. when the health insurance companies get 20, 30, a million

more customers, they will do very well. that's why a lot of them are supporting, you know, 90% of the bills that we have looked at. i have not heard them at all speak out against this. what they spoke out against,was know, is having the competition of a public option. people are forgetting that the ash nuns companies will do well, and the people will breathe a sigh of relief when they have health care coverage, when they have insurance. >> mayor gavin newsom said he would not support any tax increase to pay for the health care reform bill if he were in washington. is that your position as well? >> well, gavin is not in washington. i don't negotiate on television. i will see, you know, what the benefits are of this bill that is going to come down to us. i will work to craft it. at the end of the day i believe that we are going to pass a very good bill. i could not disagree more with

the people who say that we shouldn't tackle this. you know, i think that the president was very clear when he ran. he said if he want a strong economy, we need to make sure that we fix health care. we are spending twice as much as any other nation in the world and we are behind cuba on infant mortality. that presses my buttons. we have to do better and we will. we will pass a bill. we have to do more than one thing at a time. >> so you are still open to tax increases to pass health care reform? >> i did not say what i was open to. i said i would look at the entire bill. by the way, what you pointed out is not a tax on any individual. it would be a fee on the expensive plans. but here is the deal, under george bill, the most recent george bush, we passed a big, big program for prescription drugs. i voted against it because it

was not paid for. i believe that it's time to start paying for what we do. anything that i support will be deficit neutral, because it was a shame that we went out and gave the benefit with a great big doughnut hole meaning a lot of seniors are suffering when they get to the point where they spend a certain amount they get no coverage. all we had to do was give the ability to medicare to negotiate for a pharmaceutical price. i am pay as you go. that's what i believe in. i don't believe that you should wage wars without paying for them or have a health care bill without paying for it. we have to get back to fiscal responsibility. that's my opinion. >> well, senator, that's my opinion, too. >> yeah, i know. >> buchanan, that's $7 trillion burden placed on medicare for the plan that was not paid for. that's a huge hole. >> i think a lot of republicans

that voted against it were courageous and correct. >> i voted against it, pat. was i courageous? >> senator boxer, you were -- >> it was more courageous for you, because frankly you come from the other side of the spectrum. it probably took more guts for you to vote against it than others. you said not to worry, lawrence, the states are not going to have to pay their share of the medicaid expansion, and the feds will pick it up. it's not credible to a lot of us that something like this can be deficit neutral -- excuse me, deficit neutral and it's not going to require any -- how do you do it without any major new taxes? >> sure.

number one we know there is a host of things that we need to do to bend the cost curve on health care. one of them is to focus on prevention. there are about five diseases that cost us so much about 70% of the costs are related to five diseases. we don't have time to go into all of that. but that will bend the cost curve. that's one thing we need to do. we need to do electronic records. i have been to hospitals where they have initiated this. and it's saving a lot of money. i think that a fee on the very high cost policies makes sense. we will look at whatever else we have. i will say it again, i did not vote for the prescription drug benefit because it was not paid for. this is a big problem. and one good thing about what the president has done, he brought the pharmaceutical companies onboard here. they said they will cut $80 billion of costs out of the

system by giving discounts. i think it's hard to sit here and say exactly the way the bill will look like, because we don't have it done yet. once the finance committee acts then harry reid will marry the best of the committee, and then we will be very clear on how we are paying for this. here is the deal. if you are one of the 14,000 americans that loses health insurance every day, you are struggling. you are in trouble. if you are one of the people that goes bankrupt and 66% of bankruptcies are linked to a health care crisis. let's go to peggy in boston. >> senator boxer, many fear you may be burdening people with too

much cost and too much for the debt, any concern about that? >> yes, the reason we want to do this, according to a nonpartisan study, 2016, the people of my state will be spending 41% of their incomes on premiums. if you live in pennsylvania, it would be 50%. it's cost that is driving us. we will have a deficit neutral bill or we won't support it. >> thank you, senator, for joining us. we appreciate it. much more coming up from the reagan library in simi valley. first, here is bill karins with a quick check on the weather. good morning. we are jealous of the crowd of

course. and just showers out there by the dallas ft. worth area, otherwise the airport, no problems at all. crystal clear throughout the ports. from the northeast to the ohio valley and great lakes to the northern plains, temperatures in the 80s. picture perfect around washington, d.c. today. 86 and sunny. could be the warmest day until next spring. you are watching "morning joe," and, of course, we're brewed by starbucks. show and tell

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we're back. welcome back to "morning joe." we are at the reagan library in simi valley, california. and we have currently the professor of the public policy. professor blogs, and his latest book "super capitalism" is now in paperback. thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> the president is going to be talking about what happened a year ago. what have we learned over the

past year? >> i wish i could say we learned a lot, joe. i don't think that we learned much at all. the big banks are doing the same thing before. goldman sachs are saying they are doing exactly what they were doing before. they are still sitting on a big, big pile of nonperforming loans like they were doing before. they are not lending to main street despite the taxpayers bailed them out to the tune of $600 billion. i think that unless we change the direction that we are doughidouggoing in, we will have another meltdown. >> that would be 1987, we had a meltdown. '98, '99, 2001, enron, and 2002 worldcom, and then 2004 fannie and freddie get in trouble. now you are telling us that we have not learned any of our

lessons. do we have another 20 years of these kinds of booms and busts? >> hopefully, joe there is financial regulation sitting before congress. the president proposed financial regulation to stop this. as time goes on, you know, the public's attention span is fairly short. it looks like superficially we are getting out of the recession. we are not. but superficially, at least on wall street it looks like profits are back. and everybody is caught up in health care now. there is not much attention and political capital and political will left to do the regulations that need to get done. that's really what worries me. >> pat buchanan? >> i happen to agree with him on this. the banks are still carrying the subprime mortgages inside their colon, if you will.

>> i don't understand what that means? >> it's like a big tumor. >> pat is using a complicated financial term. it's a financial term that i use all the time. it's inside your colon. yeah. >> we went in and rescued the banks, and merrill lynch, and bank of america and all of the other ones and bailed them out and now they are back to the same thing. might it have been better if we let one or two of them go to teach them a lesson so they would cure themselves of what they are doing again? >> it's interesting, pat buchanan. i worry about my own convictions when i hear you repeating back to me what i believe. >> you are reading my column. it's good for you. keep reading that stuff.

>> pat, they need a restructuring of all of the banks like chapter 11, or we should have had a temporary receivership. the worse of both worlds. taxpayers bailed them out. right now they know they were going to get a bailout next time. before they did not know if they were going to get a bailout, now they are making wild trades and doing the same risky stuff they were doing before, and now they know if they are going to get in trouble the government will bail them out because they are, quote, too big to fail. nothing in capitalism should be too big to fail. >> explain to us -- because i am still confused about this a year later. why is it the people that got us in this mess are still running this economy? you look at larry summers that was part of the deregulation in the 1990s, and tim geithner who

was there throughout the end of the bush years. are there so few talented people we have to have the same hank paulsons, and the ones that got us in the mess trying to get us out of the mess? >> i will not say anything against larry summers or tim geithner, and i know larry and respect him enormously. let me say this. i think the mistake, the first big mistake was made in terms of deregulating wall street under the clinton administration and getting rid of what was called the glass -- the old barrier between traditional banking and investment banking. you mess up the utility function, which is getting borrowers and lenders together with a casino function. it's kind of an investment and

wall street equation. when you put the utility with the casino, you get a mixture that is almost bound eventually to create problems. number one reform ought to be xrating them, getting investment banking and commercial banking separated. >> i am looking next for the next book. robert and pat buchanan, coming together. >> i will not go that far. i like pat buchanan. >> at least you can do this, robert, say hi to all my friends up there at berkeley, would you? >> i have a question for you. when you were coming across the

state, come to berkeley. we would be dying to see all of you? why don't you come to berkeley? >> well, you know -- >> let's go. >> let's check with our scheduler to see if we can make it up there. >> i want to go. that would be fun. e i wi >> i will make sure you are treated very well, and protected. >> thank you. >> we appreciate that, too. coming up, a check on business before the bell with cnbc's erin burnett. and also, be sure and stick around for the political round table. we will be right back from the reagan library in simi valley, california. achoo! (announcer) what are you going to miss when you have an allergy attack? achoo! (announcer) benadryl is more effective than claritin at relieving your worst mptoms. and works when you need it most. benadryl. you can't pause life.

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welcome back to "morning joe." with you this morning from the reagan presidential library in semivall valu semi valley, california. let's go to willie geist. >> thank you. the private thoughts of a public life. the host of msnbc's "andrea mitchell reports" joins us. >> we are learning the inside story of the kennedy life from

one of the brothers. it's published today. and sadly, it arrived at the center's home at the day that he finally took to his bed. he died later that night. his publisher thinks he never saw the book that he struggled so hard to finish. teddy kennedy reveals the lessons of a lifetime. from his privileged youth to the burden of being the only surviving son. >> sometime in your life you have to recognize that there is an extraordinary opportunity to put down some thoughts that you have that are relevant to your service in the united states senate. that's what i tried to do. >> reporter: his memoir is a fascinating account of his childhood, including tough lessons from his father. >> i had to sit down with my dad. he said, i just want you to know that i have other children out there that intend to have a purposeful and constructive

life, so you have to make up your mind about which direction you are going to go. >> reporter: what emerges in the book is how scarred he was by his brother's assassination. first jack, and then bobby. he writes how he feared, he too would be shot. and squinting at 21 gun salutes at the cemetery, and then when a car backfired. >> i never saw him sweat it. i saw him drop to the ground like a stone when there was aloud bang, and i saw him tell me to take a boom box away had he thought it was ticking like a bomb, but i never saw him sweat. >> in the end, ted kennedy passed the torch of his legacy

to his family and a new young president. >> it's above all, a moral issue. not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice. and the character of our country. >> kennedy really pulls back the curtain on the terrible losses of his life as well as struggling with the illnesses of his children. what emerges is his final advice to his grandson. he said if you keep a true compass, you will get there. >> much of the book, i don't think a whole lot of people are aware that much of the book is based on extensive diaries that he kept for decades, amazingly so? >> for more than 50 years he kept diaries. this is such a rich, detailed

account of the extraordinary family, of this man and the family. the interactions with the siblings. that's what makes it so special. he dictated and talked to his publisher, and of course they accelerated the pace of this once he was ill. it really is his voice. earlier today ted jr. and patrick were talking to matt lau lauer. they said they were nervous about some of the revelations, what it might be. now that they read it, it is really him that is coming through in it. >> thank you, andrea. coming up next, business before the bell with cnbc's erin burnett, as we reflect on one year ago this week, the beginning of the collapse of lehman brothers and aig and the

rest. and we'll go back to joe and mika at the reagan library in simi valley, california. you are watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar, but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t. 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

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stop with michelle obama's arms. women are clammering for the new issue of "women's magazine," where michelle arms are there. >> welcome back to a special edition of "morning joe." as you watch the sunrise over the reagan library in simi vall valley, california. we will get back to joe and mika

and pat for the round table. first, erin burnett is standing by at the stock exchange with the headlines. >> this is a big day. we are starting to -- i don't know what the right word is, how about acknowledge and not celebrate or commemorate, it's the beginning of the crisis apat of this economic meltdown. and some people are focusing that stocks around the world are surging and maybe they are ahead of economic growth. and this is a see saw war you will see every day between now and the end of the year. some up and some down. and the other story is going to be an issue of tires. tires is a really big story. the u.s. is flapping a 35%

import. and china will restrict things like chicken import. and the big part of that business is the paw. we eat the chicken -- we call them paws in china and we call them feet. it's just bone and deep fried batter -- >> it's breakfast, time, erin, come on. >> we send the feet and paws over there. the point of the story is that as we look to get out of this slowdown, and we realize the biggest issue we are facing is the lack of jobs. maybe they will come from making things here. and the only way to make things here is to protect, protectionism. that's a big fear. we will hear more about it. the president speaks today in federal hall. it's jammed up down here. secret service roads closed. and he will speak across the street about financial reform or the lack there of.

>> will he address the chinese chicken paw. >> i think erin, in any swap deal, our tires, their chicken, we win. i would rather not have the chick chicken. >> no, we keep the paws here. we don't get to send them there. >> oh, okay. >> i have been saying -- sources have been telling me in the administration they think the real worry are banks are not taking enough risks. and bankers that i spoke to every other day during the crisis, their comment on the crucial barrier about risks is can people get credit, and it's not good. there are serious issues when it

comes to that. in terms of the banks and compensations and changes, no, all we are hearing is we will get a systemic risk regulator. >> and banks are not taking as much risk at 10% unemployment? >> yeah, it's pretty easy to legislate. obviously, not quite. >> keep track of the paws for us, the chinese chicken paws. >> up next, we will send it back to joe and mika for the political round table with pat buchanan, and lawrence o'donnell, and it looks like phil donahue is there -- no, that's joe. you are watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. you know what's complicated?

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valley, california. and we have lawrence o'donnell in new york, and peggy noonan. now, i was just joe wilson -- i was just joe wilson. i have democrats that are now e-mailing me saying this was all a right-wing plot to overshadow the president's speech. in effect, joe wilson has become such a big part of the story, pat? >> yeah, you don't do that as a quasi state of the union where the president is there.

that's embarrassing. and people say, okay, joe did wrong. but you people are not taking him out. the democrats are saying we are going to haul him up before the house and make him apologize? >> let me stop you there, pat. last week i mocked democrats that said they wanted to censor this guy. and he is a friend of mine. a soft spoken guy, and a guy i like. his kids serve this country. and peggy, here is my concern, he made a million dollars in his campaign by telling the president he is a liar. he has become a hero of a lot of people on the right. he now encourages, a democrat, the next time a republican is in charge to do the same thing. raise a million dollars. i am starting to wonder whether

the house should censor this guy just on to send a message. not to joe wilson, but to republicans -- >> but to everybody else? >> -- that we don't do this. >> i understand your point. nancy pelosi had a great face on her when he shouted that out. she looked at him like he was one of the kids and she was the mother. it was like i am going to come down there and get you by the neck. when your father comes home, he will get you. that face was enough of a rebuk as far as i am concerned. i don't know what the house should do. but it was great that wilson called the president -- apparently, immediately he knew he did something wrong. he called the president and apologized. the president did something gracious and lovely. he accepted the apology, and later he said something like, we all make mistakes. joe wilson's mistake may have been that he is up at night

going from channel to channel. i think perhaps he came upon c-span and prime minister's question time at 1:00 in the morning on tv, you know, where they all go you are stupid, sit down, and, no, you sit down and shut up. that's not how america does it. we don't do the prime minister's question time. he was rude and he was out of line and he said that he was sorry. >> but lawrence o'donnell, yesterday morning he said he was not going to say he was sorry again. he was sunddon done saying he w. do you think joe wilson will have an effect on the health care debate? >> the big apology he owes is south carolina. many people in south carolina work hard to put the segregation

past that state deep in their background. this was a state that had a racist segregationist that ran for senate. and that child knew who were father was and helped him keep his secret for his entire 100 years of life. when she finally came out, and told the truth about who her father was, gentleman joe wilson said that she was smearing thurman. gentleman joe wilson has done much to make the racists history of south carolina jump back into racism. and he owes the country and especially south carolina an apology for that. >> wow.

>> okay. >> pat buchanan. i feel like this is "cross fire." >> you want to talk about the decision in america. to bring up all that about south carolina, you can bring it up about any southern state or something like that. look, the man apologized. barack obama accepted it graciously. put an end to it. why drag these things out on and on and on and on. i don't think joe wilson ought to do anything more than what he has done. >> he apologized. >> that's what you do. people now are trying to milk this for everything they can get. it's a symptom of the decision in t -- division of the country. >> as we are in the library, talk about how ronald reagan, a conservative guy that can fight tip o'neal during the day and still get to together with him

at night, and joke with him. tip o'neal, who said when he retired and he said who is your favorite president to work with, and he said that is easy, ronnie reagan. how do we get back to that? >> it comes out of character. i saw ronald reagan walk into a cabinet room one day, and he said that blank tip o'neal. he was angry as could be. about 15 minutes later, the sun would come out and he would start telling stories. he was an irishman. it was like the storm would come over you and the it passes and the sun comes shining. he would not drive somebody to the wall and make him apologize five times if the fellow said i made a mistake, mr. president, i am sorry.

he would say let it go. we all do that stuff. >> president obama did accept his apology. sure. >> thank you, peggy. and lawrence o'donnell, we appreciate it. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today. >> whatever else history may say about me when i am gone, i hope it will record that i appealed to your best hopes and not your fears, and to your confidence and not your doubts. my hope is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for herselfle herselflessness and idealism. [ woman ] dear cat. gentle cat.

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welcome back to "morning joe." we are live at the reagan library. we want to talk about what we learned today. mika? >> i want to thank former first lady, nancy reagan, for inviting us. this was really a pleasure to be here. >> i loved so much walking in with pat buchanan, and hearing

the stories about president reagan, and how you interacted with him on the big plane up there. a remarkable man in an extraordinary way. >> and yeah, we were having all the memories in '76. some of the funny stories. it really brought you back to what were some really wonderful years in america, for what she and her husband were in a large part very responsible. >> a huge role in shaping. as you walk through the library, again, pat, you were there, and you were there in '76 and moving forward. so much of that time is brought back to life in this library. >> yeah, you come through that door and there is the plane we came home from the summit on, and he circled the white house and circled the grounds when he

went home, and circled all the monuments before we flew home. we have the limousine that had sad moments, too, of him being taken to the hospital. you ought to come and take a look. >> this is your first time here? >> i was supposed to be here at the original opening and didn't make it, but this is remarkable. >> yeah, and listening to the first lady at launch talking to us, and just about getting the phone call saying i think that things are going well here. i will be home for dinner, honey. and then she said she saw him walk out and she said to herself, he is not coming home for dinner. but he did set in motion that day the chain of events that won the cold war for us.

>> gorbachev left that meeting saying ronald reagan will not give up his strategic missile defense, we will not push this man around. and the soviet empire was broken. it could not keep up with the united states with a leader like ronald reagan. the cold war was going to end with a victory to the west and the united states. >> pat, thank you for coming out with us. do you think mike and willie have anything? >> they taped the show yesterday. we just heard in our ear. we were up working hard. that was an outrage. did you learn anything else? >> yeah, we learned that pat buchanan drove to work out there. out there at the reagan library. see the car behind them. >> he has a handsome pair of