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lessons of the lehman collapse. one year later, how far has president obama brought the nation on the road to recovery? on wall street consist president tried to breathe new life into his proposals for regulatory reform. >> instead of learning the lessons from lehman, they're choosing to ignore those lessons. i'm convinced they do so, not just at their own peril, but our nation's. i want everybody to hear my words. we will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess. >> by the numbers, the dow is down 14%, unemployment up 57%. more than 90 banks have failed. coming up, dr. christina romer, chair of the white house council of economic advisers who was there today in new york. and analysis as well. meanwhile, the state department

under fire for rehiring security contractors in afghanistan despite past evidence of widespread abuse. commission members say that wild parties by contractors in afghanistan could be as damaging to the war effort as abu ghraib was in iraq. >> it appears what happens in camp sullivan stays in camp sullivan. and the fact is it didn't, just like it didn't stay in abu ghraib. >> we are outraged by their failure to notify us. it's in my statement that we are outrageded by their failure to notify us. we have asked in writing for an explanation for why. why they -- >> i got you. >> and senator ted kennedy's final interview. his reflections to his publisher, released today to bookstores. >> sometimes 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've tried to do. >> presidential historian michael beshlov joining us. first, the big story at the white house. we begin at the white house with the president's speech on wall street. savannah guthrie joining us now. what was the president's purpose? what was he trying to achieve today? >> reporter: for one thing, he wants to make a big pitch for financial regulatory reform. this is a big issue, one we haven't talked about too much because of the focus on health care reform. earlier this summer, the administration sent over a bill to overhaul the way the financial system is regulated. he wanted to make a pitch for that and take credit for some improvement that's gone on in the financial markets while

acknowledging there is a huge problem in unemployment for everyday americans. this economy is still very troubling indeed. he gave tough medicine to wall street, saying, if you think things are going to go back to the old way, you're wrong. you need to take responsibility. there were several objectives the president was trying to accomplish. >> and the regulatory reform. this is the bill he did write and gave them specifics. and the financial services industry and others pushing back really hard against that. that has been stuck on the hill. more to come on that. then he's going to have lunch with former president bill clinton. any idea what's on the agenda besides just having lunch? >> reporter: no. isn't it interesting? they did just see each other a few weeks ago when the president came to debrief president obama about his visit to north korea. it's not like they haven't seen each other in a while. for some reason, they're having lunch today. i have to tell you, i've asked a few questions. where are they having lunch, and i'm not going much in the way of

information. maybe we'll get a readout afterwards. >> apparently robert gibbs will have more to share on that later. we'll check back with you. meanwhile, congressional committees and the white house are facing more industry pressure on facing new regulations on the footainancia system. and that other little matter, health care. is more government involvement what people want right now? >> here's john harwood, cnbc. john, you're going to have an interview with the president later today. one of the questions most likely will have to be how do you do health care regulatory reform at the same time people are saying, enough already? >> reporter: that is precisely the question. there are so many things on the president's plate from health care to economic recovery and financial regulation. he's also trying to figure out what to do about the war in afghanistan, which is becoming

increasingly problematic. you have an overloaded agenda on capitol hill. the president believes he can get health care done by the end of the year. it's not likely financial regulation will fall into that category. it's a very difficult challenge for the president. >> mark whittaker, the president has so much on his plate. people seemed burned out. it's somewhat grassroots. interest groups have been organizing these protests. can he get regulatory reform at the same time as health care? >> i don't think this is just about his agenda and the timetable. obviously it was the one-year anniversary for lehman brothers. it gave him an opportunity to talk about some of the moves and the steps he took at the time helped pull the economy back from the brink. i think it was a time when there is a lot of concern about the sheer cost of the health care plan in addition to everything else he'd done. also the larger issue of what is

the role of government? is this an administration that really wants to run private industries? i think he wanted to say in that speech, first of all, we're getting some of the money back. but also ultimately we're not interested in running wall street. that was also a proxy for saying, we're not interested. we're not interested in running the health care industry. >> john harwood, exactly to the point of winding down the government involvement from the bailout. i think he can make a pretty strong argument that he had no choice. he inherited what was left to him by george bush? he knows that he will own health care reform. how does he wind down the government's involvement? >> reporter: they're beginning to do that with some of the extraordinary programs that are not being extended or continued. it doesn't look like more money for the t.a.r.p. is going to be questioned from the congress.

you see the rhetoric changing. the president saying we haven't lost the justification for federal support and intervention. the argument for that is waning as the economy turns around. i think they're looking in some cases for when they can pull out. how do they get out of the auto industry? how do they get out of aig, citigroup? those are difficult questions. they're beginning to take tentative steps toward the unwinding. >> back on capitol hill, we see that there is the whole question of joe wilson. is an apology required? is it necessary? one of the things we're told today is that joe wilson was told by jim clyburn from south carolina that the apology to rahm emanuel doesn't count because rahm emanuel isn't a member of the house anymore? what about south carolinans and democrats, especially this president?

is there a racial connection to this? ma ruin o'dowd, wrote that no democrat ever shouted "w" when he was making a fake case for iraq. some people can't believe a black man is president and won't accept it. she says there is a racial overtone here. >> racial prejudice is often unconscious. it's hard to really quantify what's there and what's not there and what's conscious and what's not conscious. i'm sure that in joe wilson's mind, he was making a policy and an ideological statement and perhaps in an intemperate way. but he does come from a state where in recent times they've been having debates about whether to still fly the confederate fly over the state capitol. there are a lot of people in the black community, who feel -- not

that there isn't a long tradition of heated rhetoric in american politics. but to go this far, and show that degree of disrespect that joe wilson, perhaps not consciously, not accepting the authority and legitimacy of a black president. >> john harwood, great timing. you're interviewing the president on the anniversary of lehman. we look forward to that on cnbc and msnbc. more to come. thanks, john. developing news this hour. in connecticut, nbc news learned that a suspect has now been identified in the murder of that yale university graduate student, annie le. sources say the suspect is a student, has failed a polygraph test and has defensive wounds. the victim's body was found inside a laboratory wall yesterday. osama bin laden is out with a new audio tape. the al qaeda leader says that president obama is powerless to

stop the war in afghanistan. bin laden promised to step up guerilla warfare to mark the recent anniversary of 9/11. and the iraqi man jailed for throwing his show at president bush has been released. paperwork delays will keep him locked up one more night. still to come, can ted kennedy's private thoughts go public with his new memoir on newsstands today and in bookstores today. the surprising revelations that surprised even his own two sons. later, jay leno marking a high stakes gamble in primetime. will his new show revolutionize the way you watch tv? sfx:racking of a taillight.

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welcome back. joining us from federal hall on wall street is dr. christina romer, chair of the white house council of economic advisers. thanks for joining us. the president's speech today called for not having business as usual. that the lessons of last year and of the past year should not be that you should go back to business as usual. what specifically can the white house do with regulatory reform really stuck on capitol hill and so much industry objection to it? >> we absolutely feel that we've got to get regulatory reform moving. that's part of what the president was talking about today, using this anniversary to remind folks how bad things were a year ago. i think something i liked so much in the president's speech was it's not just about putting in new rules but a sense of responsibility. among government, business and

consumers. we all need to do our part to rebuild trust. i thought that was a terrific message. >> as "the new york times," ed andrews and david sanger pointed out, the government is involved in 26% of the economy. if you are involved in buying a mortgage, whatever you're doing, this is now your economy, the taxpayers', what can you do as the chief economic adviser to start unwinding this? >> of course, let's again remember why the government is playing such an important role. precisely because of the nightmare we have been through in the last year. the idea that we saw lending collapse. we've seen our housing market collapse. we've seen our auto industry in deep trouble. the president's very clear. he never wanted to have to be this big a part. somebody had to step in to save

us from really incredibly severe economic downturn. of course, what -- you're right in what the president has said. eventually we will start to unwind this. right now we're trying to get back on the road to recovery. >> today the president talked about closing the loopholes. do you have a compromise plan that can somehow find its way past all the industry objections and get regulatory reform through congress? >> you know, we do feel we can get regulatory reform through. one of the things you noticed in the hall was the big round of applause that the consumer protection agency got from people in there. that's one where industry and some lobbyists have been fighting against it. i think there is an outpouring of support for it. i think we absolutely will see it making its way through congress. it's making an important step forward. it focuses on nothing but

protecting consumers in the financial realm. >> haven't we seen real pushback in the role of public fatigue. if health care is the top right, what does that mean for regulatory reform? >> you know, what i have been strike, i think the president's often said we can do more than one thing at once. we'll have to work doubly hard. health care reform, absolutely crucial. as we heard today, regulatory reform, crucial as well. the administration and congress is going to have to work twice as long. >> dr. romer, i want to ask you about this decision late friday night on the tariff imposed to chinese tires. i know you tried to split the baby there, but the economists among others warning this could lead to protectionism. american action and chinese retaliation made bring more protectionist measures from both sides. it could ratchet up into a trade

war and inflict more damage on both countries. this could disrupt the world trading system. this comes just a week before the g-20, the headline in the "wall street journal" today, china strikes back on trade. are you comfortable with the decision that was taken such? >> you know, absolutely. what the president was describing today, he understands that trade is important. he is a big supporter of trade. but he's also, such as he said with the financial markets, you need to have rules of the road. we have rules of the road in our trade agreements. what this measure is is enforcing those rules of the road. there was a finding of damage and the president imposed a sanction. obviously we want to continue our important trading relationship with china. and we will be working to make sewer that continues and that we don't move in the direction of

protectionism. that would be bad, not just for our country but the entire world economy. >> dr. christina romer, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> today for the first time, we are getting a look inside the kennedy dynasty. senator ted kennedy's memoir is in bookstores today. his sons, ted jr. and patrick, read the book two days after his deaths. they told matt lauer their faurpth was old irish and rarely shared his private thoughts so this was a revelation to them. >> these were stories we never heard before. >> quite homp, i was a little scared about what i might be reading about. what i found was his voice speaking to me in an incredibly powerful way. i was really comforted. >> a completely copy of the book arrived at senator kennedy's

hyannis port home the day he died. the publisher believes it's likely the senator never saw the book he struggled so hard to finish. with us, an nbc news presidential historian. we shared so much of the mourning, the funeral, the funeral and the wake for senator kennedy in boston and back here in washington when he was buried. now seeping the book, it is so textured, so detailed. the remarkable thing is it's the first time a kennedy brother was able to complete a book and give his version of his life. >> brother or sister. the only one of those nine children of joe and rose kennedy. the other thing is that it's so different from the kennedy that you and i knew here in washington. we asked him, how is health care going to do in the senate? he would give you a 20-minute answer and tell you in huge detail. if you asked him something like how did you feel after your

brothers' assassinations? how did you at the beginning of your life get motivated, he would have had a hard time telling you. now at long last, he does in this back. >> it is so much more emotional and personal. i can understand fully why ted jr. and patrick were so surpriseded. ted jr. said comforted by this. he never expected to read these thoughts. i think part of it is of course facing mortality. part of it is that he had notes. part of it is certainly the transformation of ted kennedy in his second marriage. >> i think that's right. if he had written this book in 1990, before he met vicky, he was a much more closed figure. not only to other people but really to himself. this is someone who was able to reach back and talk about all these things with amazing openness. >> here's what ted kennedy told

approximates publisher about his relationship with his father. >> i had a sit-down with my dad. he said, teddy, you have to make up your mind whether you want to have a constructive and positive attitude and influence on your time. and if you're not interested in purposeful, useful, constructive life, i just want you to know, i have other children that are out there that will intend to have a purposeful and constructive life. so you have to make up your mind about which direction you're going to go. >> the role of his father -- we always thought of rose as the most important figure in his life. and we remember his eulogy for his mother. but the importance of his father is now so felt through this book. >> i actually asked him once. i've got two boys. i said, how did your father manage to motivate his children to do such things in public life? it was at the time he wasn't

thinking about this. he gave me a noninformative answer. looking at joe kennedy, his children loved him. but at the same time, as you just referred to, joe kennedy was a very tough guy. he was able to motivate these kids, at the same time, giving them unconditional love so that they are able to feel wanted and do great things in life. >> hearing from teddy jr. about the way his father left the senate and for all of those months when he was in chemotherapy after his -- he was 12 years old when he was diagnosed with the bone cancer of his leg that led to the amputation. his father learned how to inject teddy jr., stayed with him in the hospital. this is taking it to the next generation. the senator talking about his grandson, teddy iii. >> we took more and more time to go over the technique and various kind of procedures on that. little teddy got better and better and better benefit whf

they gave the awards, he got the water for the most improved sailor. that was a great -- a great moment. he couldn't even button up his coat because his chest was so filled with pride and achievement on that. it was a great lesson, whether you were a child or whether you're a grown-up. that longer i live, the fact is by persevering and sticking at it and working at it, you have a real opportunity to have an impact. >> now, what senator kennedy did, you can hear it in his throat, he was undergoing chemo at the time of the interview. they prolonged his life. they worked so hard on this. ted jr. and the family moved. they brought the john kennedy house in hyannis port. the entire family was together.

vicki helped as well. that he had the people he needed around him for this year. >> he lived longer than most patients with that diagnosis. you have to think that had an influence. the only one of the kennedy brothers to die nonviolently and decide how he wanted to live out his last days. one of them fortunately was writing this book. >> also, when we talked about joe sr, talking about the way he felt after chappaquiddick and the disappointment he knew he felt for his parents and the horror of having to tell his father, after his father suffered a stroke about bobby's assassination. >> absolutely. his father in 1961 suffered a stroke, lived for eight more years. chappaquiddick happened the summer of '69. he writes with great candor. he thinks hearing the tragedy hastened his father's death that

november. >> it's an extraordinary book. i know the sons didn't know how far they would be affected. i didn't know how deeply i would be affected and you as well. "true compasses." thanks, michael. >> more to come. those securities guards at the u.s. embassy in kabul, afghanistan. plus, is wall street too focused on short-term success? ♪ (announcer) transform your water. women who drink crystal light drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a delicious change. crystal light. if you're still one of the guys who's going over and over... going urgently... waking up to go... it's time to do what lots of guys everywhere have already done--

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ests of evidence of animal house-style parties in afghanistan. is it enough to revoke contractors' permits? 90s slack. ♪ singer: buckle up, everybody 'cause we're taking a ride ♪

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but the old ways that led to this crisis cannot stand. to the extent some have so readily returned to them underscores the need for change and change now. history cannot be allowed to repeat itself. >> but the question now is how to reform wall street? how to prevent history from repeating itself? the president's plan calls for sweeping reforms, hitting roadblocks now at every turn. joining us now live, the u.s. economics editor for the economist and washington post columnist steven pearlstein. steve, what do you draw from the president's remarks? how is he trying to thread the needle with wall street, avoiding too heavy a hand but enough regulation so this can't happen again? >> i think the delicate balance was being critical of the way they do business, at the same time saying, you have to change the way you do business.

he didn't want to come off as a scold. he will need their help in getting this stuff passed. so far they have been quietly opposing this little section and that little section. they haven't quite shown their handled. the biggest opponents of the reform package that he proposed is to small bankers who don't want an extra layer of regulation of their credit products, loan products. but wall street has sort of been very quiet about this. but there are things they would like to delay or change. we'll see what happens. i think it's going to be a 50/50 proposition this year. >> given how bad their own reputations are with the public, they probably don't want to show their handled. greg, they also are opposing some of the key ingredients on the hill. >> yeah. i think probably the biggest controversy surrounds the creation of this stand alone consumer protection agency. in some sense, that perhaps is not as important as it sounds. all the duties it will have are

already resident with the bank administrators themselves. but they were second fiddle to the federal reserve and the federal deposit insurance corporation. >> a lot of battles going on. >> tim geithner, the treasury secretary, read them the riot act a few months ago and said stop resisting or you'll get something worse. >> how do we know what's going to really work, steve? there are always unintended consequences when they change these regulations. we've seen already the results of some of that. what do we think is going to be the right approach? >> there are three things i think are important. two of which government can have something to do with and one it can't. the first is that the culture of wall street has to change.

and that's something that really is not something government can do. the culture of wall street is i want to go in every day and earn a big bonus. i don't really care what happens to the economy or the financial system. i don't care what happens to my customers or the customers of my customers. the people who put the money in the hedge funds that are my customers. >> take as much risk as possible. >> no, take as much money as possible. sometimes we can do it by reducing risk. fianc finance became an end in itself. there is not much government can do to change that other than to bring a moral judgment to it. i think that was lacking in the speech today. there were a laundry list of his proposals and please support my proposals. to me i think that was the disappointing part of this. >> the passion and the moral authority he brought to the

health care speech, which so fired up democrats, even those who don't agree with him, that was lacking from today. >> let's face it, finance, except for people like steve and i, is a pretty dry topic. obama devoted so much to health care, it in some sense pushed other things like health care reform to the side. i would disagree with steve. there are some things that government can do. they don't need a lot of action from congress. the most powerful thing is to make banks hold more capital. that can be moved on if we get more cooperation from our banking partners. >> that will be one of the topics in the g-20. thank you very much, greg and steve. things are getting very heated on capitol hill in another direction where the private security contractor connected to the lewd pictures of guards engaging in wild

parties in afghanistan has been testifying before congress. time magazine's joe klein is in new york and joins us live. one of the things they were saying earlier today as they conduct these hearings is that the damage caused by this contractor in afghanistan is as bad to that war effort as abu ghraib was in iraq. pretty strong stuff. and that the state department's answer is not adequate they get the message. because they renewed the contract after knowing a lot of this stuff. >> i think it's easy to overemphasize this stuff. these contractors were making fools of themselves in abu ghraib. we were torturing other human beings in ail way that it is inhuman by international standards. when you put this together with the larger picture in afghanistan, the trouble that we're having resolving that election, the question of whether you're going to actually have a government, the question

of whether -- what sort of government it's going to be. the question of whether the government has to add more troops. it seems this is a perfect storm. everything that can go wrong is going wrong at the same time. >> you spent so much time on the ground. you've spoken to our diplomats and our commanders. where do you come down on this very tough decision that the president is now apparently trying to kick down the road a little bit as to whether to deploy more troops and increase the foot print at the same time as we're trying not to become the chief target there and take responsibility for what needs to be an allied effort? >> you know what, andrea? i don't know yet. i've got to get back there. i haven't been back in six months. i want to see what it's like on the ground. i'm beginning to wonder about the u.s. army's battle plan here, and whether we needed to spread ourselves out as thin as we have or whether it might have been a better idea to have concentrate on kandahar and kandahar province, which is the

heart of pashdun land. kandahar, the capital, is slipping out of our control. >> what about the effect this is an election that is not going to have a great deal of viability with his own people? how can the government proceed? >> the only way that this i think -- by the way, if the afghans can't put together a plausible government, i don't think there's any future for us there. certainly not in the current form. i would be against the president adding more troops. the one possibility is if hamid karzai, the president -- maybe we should put that in quotes -- is able to get his main opponents into the government, who might be able to run the day to day government and restore some credibility.

>> joe klein, thanks so much. thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> coming up, president obama calls to an end to reckless behavior on wall street. is more regulation the answer? plus, south carolina congressman joe wilson said there will be no more apologies. announcer: "it looks like nothing else on the road right now," proclaims "gq" magazine. did you see that? the interior "positively oozes class," raves "car magazine." "slick and sensuous," boasts "the washington times." "the most striking vw in recent memory," declares-- okay, i get it already. i think we were in a car commercial. ♪ yeah ♪ yeah. without my makeup. now, it's no problem. (announcer) neutrogena tone correcting night serum with high performance soy to even skin tone

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welcome back. next week the president meets with his other leaders at the g-20 meeting in pittsburgh. president obama said that the federal government must wind down its involvement in the economy. but today he argued for a larger government role in regulating the financial system. joining us live from burbank, democratic strategist bill madden. is this a mixed message? >> i think the president wants to make sure that wall street

restores from confidence out there on main street with the investors. and we haven't been able to do that basically because there have been other things on the plate. i think he has inevitably well to get here. it's a very, very important thing to do to restore overall confidence in the economy. >> kevin, already we hear from michael steele, the rnc putting out talking points against the president's speech today. at the same time, the president is calling for wall street to not repeat the mistakes of the past. what's wrong with that? >> well, i think the big thing right now and why you see many republicans trying to take political advantage here and reach out and try to align themselves with main street, main street is not -- people on main street are not economists. they see the greater government involvement in the auto industry and that worries them. i think what you're seeing right now by many of the president's opponents is that a realignment

with main street against washington, d.c. and too much involvement and quite frankly on the issue of spending, you'll see many republicans saying the president is not doing enough to hold down deficits. that's why we have a lot of economic anxiety right now. >> the washington post/and abc poll said 43% of respondents identified themselves as independents. the highest ever in a washington post poll. one-third don't trust either republicans or democrats to deal with the big problems. bill, does that mean the major problems are in trouble? >> i think that the public feels very, very threatened by the economic situation. and they're very threatened by the government's response to it in a lot of ways. i think as a consequence, they're basically saying, we're going to try the middle course here and decide what we like. i think a high number of independents is a long-term trend but it's certainly spiked

by the economy. >> what about the comments by joe wilson. he apologized. now democrats want a formal apology or there will be's resolution of some sort. >> i think that's a mistake by the democrats. that's a certain level in washington where you overreach and this is it. the american public are very concerned about the economy and health care policy and concerned about big issues. now you look towards washington. and you have this incredible disconnect, where washington is worried about putting up and having a debate on a resolution about making somebody apologize who's already apologized. that leads to kind of, again, this collective cynicism by the public. is this really what we're sending our representatives to washington to do? congressman wilson has apologized. he's willing to move on. >> speaking of making up and moving on, bill, we learned that

the president is having lunch with bill clinton today in greenwich village at an italian restaurant after his speech on wall street. maybe at this point eating lunch. what do you think they're talking about? they had a pretty rocky relationship in the past. >> well, they did have a choppy relationship during the campaign. one thing is very clear. bill clinton is one of the smartest policy minds in the country. i think the president is taking advantage of picking his brain. bill clinton understands the intersection of public policy and politics better than anyone i've known in my 30 years of political activity. >> just judging from some of president bill clinton's former lunches, he once went to an italian restaurant in georgetown with former chance lor helmut

kohl. >> he's a talker too. coming up, hours away from jay leno's highly anticipated return to primetime tv. we learned of another big late night guest today. senator john mccain will be jimmy fallon's guest tonight. let friskies indoor wet cat food unlock the freshness... and freedom of the outdoors for your indoor cat. specially formulated to promote hairball control... and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses.

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it is a big night ahead for jay leno and for nbc. jay's new show debuts tonight at 10 eastern. nbc a's lee cowan is live at nbc studios in burbank. lee it is great to see you. and ask you about your time with jay. how does jay feel about moving to 10:00 and launching the first comedy hour at 10:00 in decades? >> reporter: yeah, you know, andrea, it seems he has a pretty

level head about it. he is pretty realistic. does he think he is going to beat "csi" and some of the other big, prime time dramas? no, not in the first run, but maybe in reruns. those big shows do 20, 22 weeks a year. he is planning to do 40, 42 weeks. he has an audience there essentially what he says what he is trying to do is what he has always done. he calls it big tent comedy, essentially trying to bring in everybody, do a little bit of something for everyone. not trying to go after the real young crowd, not trying to be too edgy, just trying to do what he did and worked well for the tonight show you will see late of the same old gags but new stuff as well that is the point. a lot of comedy, but a lot less talk than we saw on the tonight show. and he sort of lucked out in one way or the other because after kanye west's performance last night at the mtv music awards, he is scheduled to be one of the musical guests tonight. a lot of people are wondering how he is going to explain what he did last night n that sense, jay lucked out. andrea? >> a lot of explaining to do

maybe they should bring taylor swift on, too, and have them face off against each other. thank you very much. we will be watching. >> a whole new segment idea. good idea. thanks, andrea. and what big political story will be dominating the headline notice next 24 hours? joining me now via skype, "washington post" white house reporter chris salisa. you have been writing your blog, the fix, on "washington post."com. what are you writing about today? >> welcome to my house and thanks for doing this from skype. i appreciate it. i think president obama each today in new york will dominate for the next 24 hours. owe talked about regulatory reform. if you read carefully in there that speech named lots of people, a lot of his critics who say the the obama administration is simply interested in growing government, simply saying the government stepped in out of necessity to help the financial firms get back on their feet. now that they are, they have to take over because the government's job is not to control the financial institutions. a subtle jab at people saying

all the obama administration wants to do is take over government. >> well, now does he thread this needle? we have been wrestling with this throughout the hour, not bringing the government more into people's lives because people are pushing back so hard and that's been one of the problems in selling health care. >> you know, andrea, i think that is the central problem, i think you nailed it. there is so much skepticism, some $787 billion economic stimulus package, some of the other things, [ inaudible ] what's hard is people's perceptions are set in their ways. people have decided, many people, certainly not everyone, but many people have decided that the government is too involved in their lives, the debt is getting too big and it is crippling what the president is trying to do on health care, which is a difficult political proposition, in and of itself. >> okay. thanks, chris. we are all about trying to make sure you can stay home and take care of the babies.

thanks for joining us via skype. read more from chris on his blog at "washington post."com/the fix. i'm andrea mitchell washington that does it for me this hour. tomorrow, we will bring you live coverage of president obama's big speech to the afl-cio in pittsburgh at 1:35 eastern. we will be here at 1:00 and set all of that up, plus all of the day's breaking news. contessa brewer picks up our coverage from here. this is msnbc. the place for politics. chef's meal with pommes frites perhaps a night at the theater with extra special seats additional hotel night, our treat your world in perfect harmony: priceless look for world on your mastercard to get rewards and offers that matter to you.

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