cue. the seattle band. as we left he was playing the postal service. this is a great city. i learned that once again. we have a lot of fans that stay up or wake up to watch. "sleepless in seattle" because of "morning joe" the signs read when we came in. >> i should let you know that you need to behave. even when we get off the air because we've got two gentlemen here high up from starbucks. they are going to give us a tour of the very first starbucks. >> good. >> right around the corner. >> exciting. straight and narrow. what did you learn synod >> that mika yesterday at dodger stadium got a hands on, sort of gropy lesson from tommy lasorda how to throw a first pitch. i don't want to call it a head lock. more like a meaty bear hug. but it worked. >> teaching me how to pitch. >> congratulations. joe, not so bad yourself, my

friend. >> you threw a strike. >> there's the grope. they asked you before, a guy from the dodgers said you needed a vice, buddy, i've been throwing baseballs since i was 3. if i need advice how to get it to the plate i'm in trouble. pat buchanan, what did you learn today? >> joe, after watching you, watching mika toss that pitch that drove that catcher back to the screen, we got a new name for her. the rifle. >> i like it. >> i love it. all right. we also -- there it is. >> i tried to get him to come forward. okay. >> we also want to thank our crew today. just fantastic. willy, what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." we'll see you tomorrow morning on the west coast. right now it's time for "morning meeting" with a red hot dylan

ratigan. >> thank you, william. good morning to you. nice to see you. i'm dylan. welcome to the "morning meeting." topping the agenda, the baucus bill d.o.a.? some slamming the health care reform from the gang of six. senator widen with an op-ed. he will join the meetings to talk about why this plan or why his plan will let all americans choose their health insurance and the other plans deny choice to 200 million of us. making the case for insuring illegal immigrants, andrew out of "newsweek" to talk about why insuring illegals could benefit america and end up costing us less. and if that doesn't provoke you acorn under fire. republicans threatening to choke off federal funding to the group after embarrassing video sting. is acorn really evil? as the gop says it is. acorn ceo and chief organizer

joins the meeting ahead. and, debtors revolve. people refusing to pay credit card companies, taking drastic measures to stay afloat in hard financial times as if a trend or a talker in this time of massive bank subsidies. it's 9:00 a.m., pull up a chair, enjoy the "morning meeting." good morning. the president trying to rally sport for a health care overhaul in maryland. one of the democrats saying the newest version of reform essentially dead on arrival. the white house would only say that senator bau cause much anticipated bill is a quote building block although that was kinder than many critics on the left and the right. hi, mike. >> reporter: you know, this is one of those classic compromises where apparently nobody is happy with the final product. it was weeks behind closed doors.

max baucus gornting with the gang of six. the aim was to get bipartisan support. so far he's got a zero. nothing for it and on top of that liberals aren't happy because it doesn't have their cherished public option. the mandate, doesn't have an employer mandate. the minimum premiums that lower income families would pay, too high. a lot called on the president to go lbj and do cajoling, threatening. a heck of a job he has to outdo lbj to get this through the house and the senate. let's start with a sound bite from max baucus talking about the efforts that produced this bill that's going through his committee beginning next week. >> no republican has offered his or her support at this moment, but i think by the time we get the final passage, in this committee, you'll find republican support. >> reporter: now on the left side of the democratic party, let's look at anthony wiener

from new york city. he summed up the feeling many liberals have. >> what we're saying to the united states senate, to the gang of six, thanks but no thanks. any health care proposal that does not have the competition and cost containment that can only be achieved with a public option will be considered dead on arrival. >> reporter: that pretty much lays it out. you have it from both sides. no republican so far on board. the president continues his campaign style events trying to build support out in the hinter land. actually going to college park, maryland, about 20 minutes away on the district line. he's got another big rally at the comcast center. let's see what happens over the next few weeks, whether this is a starting point or whether it's d.o.a. as a lot of people seem to believe. >> startling about so many of the plans, any number of politicians tell you you like the plan, keep it. none of them can say if you don't like it there will be a free and open market for all of us who have health n, not just

the rich, the poor, every american to have a choice to bring real market forces against the health insurers. thank you, mike. i want to bring in senator ron witten. he wrote in "the new york times," it's worth a look. it goes directly to the issue of competitive practices perpetuated in washington, d.c. to create false barriers to entry to protect corporate interests that are afraid to compete in the open market place as every other business in this country is forced to do. listen to the op-ed from the senator. the various bills provide some consumer choice by establishing large market places with whom people could compare plans and pick the one that best suits their needs. that's a good thing. i added that. but, they would not make the exchanges available to all americans. only a small companies and those individuals who can't get insurance outside of the exchange 25 million people would be allowed to shop there.

this would leave more than 200 million americans with no more options, public or private than they have today. and as a result of that, take a look at what happened to the large employer based health insurance stocks yesterday. aetna up 4% on the day. cigna up 4%, united health up 6% on the day. wellpoint up 3%, politicians continue to protect the goose that lays the golden egg for the health insurers which is no competition for the vast majority of us to bring real market forces against those businesses as every other business in this country has to deal with. senator ron wyden rejoins the conversation. you believe you have a solution to unleash the forces of competition, senator. how do you get it done? >> we get it done by saying look. at every rally, i'm sure the president will use it over the course of the next few days, he looks at the crowd and says you should get the same deal as your member of congress. that is, almost a verbatim quote

at these rallies. the fact is, the bills that are being written here on capitol hill, not only don't give people choices like members of congress, they don't give any choices at all. by law they are going to be barred from holding insurance companies accountable. >> why do you -- why are people in washington, d.c. so terrified to unleash the natural forces of competition in health insurance as in every other major industry to tremendous success for this country? >> ultimately, the status quo caucus, led by the powerful insurance interests don't want this kind of competition. they are slicing a fat hog. i had a chance with senator bennett of utah to be with the president yesterday, in effect what we were saying is look, you can't change the american health care system. you can't hold insurance companies accountable, you can't protect taxpayers, you can't get premiums down without choice and competition. the president said that was his guiding principle, last

wednesday when he spoke to the country and spoke to the congress. the fact is these bills literally wall off the opportunity for competition and choice for well over 200 million americans. >> ezra, you have a piece in the washington post, five ways we can save health care and five bills that ultimately provide the sort of choice and american competition and pro american spirit that we would expect from our country and politicians. not the cheap protectionism from the status quo we're getting. what in your reporting are you able to reveal as to why it is we can't unleash real competition on health insurance. >> because after promise made early on. because they said if you -- nothing's going to change. if you like your current insurance nothing will change. the problem is there is a flip side. if you don't like what you have you can't change it. what they wanted to say for the insured american their employer

won't change their insurance, and so they basically made so it they couldn't make anything better. they weren't going to make it worse but not make it better. i'm a fan of senator wy diddeb. it gives a benefit to currently insured americans. the bill is good for the poor, for members of the lower income working class, but for people like you or like me, people who have insurance, they get nothing new from this bill. but being able to choose a better provider is why this proposal would allow them that would be a benefit. >> so senator, for those in this country who would like to have choice, would like to have the ability to choose another health insurer, to bring real market forces to bear in a true american way and get rid of the false fears perpetuated that prevent large industry from competition while others are forced to deal with competition, what can people do to make it clear that's what they expect from their government?

>> call your member of congress, call your senator, and say make sure that the united states congress writes a bill, writes the actual text, so it resembles the very good speech that the president gave last week. right now there is a huge gap between the wonderful speech the president gave the country and the text of the legislation. the president called for competition and choice, we're not getting that in these bills. now is the time for folks to call their member of congress, say take on the status quo caucus, fight for competition, fight for choice, stand up to big lobbies because here's what's going on, dylan. people are going to say well, let's just get started with this legislati legislation. get it on the books, we can make changes. i don't buy that. what's going on now is the basic structure of america's future health care system is being decided, we've got to make sure it's done right and that means embedding clearly the principle that individuals, not employer, but individuals can drive the system with their own choices.

>> jonathan, you have a question. >> yes, for senator wyden. you met with president obama yesterday. did you sense any kind of resistance on his part or anyone in the administration's part to your idea of injecting that kind of competition in the health care system? >> jonathan, i have a rule that i'll talk about what i said to the president, i'll keep his comments private. i think that i made some headway. i think we picked up a little ground, but right now i'm sure these powerful interests are weighing in with the administration, weighing in with members of congress. i'm sure they saw the op-ed piece, they have more lobbyists than anybody can imagine. they have fought these kinds of ideas and our legislation and they are fighting the free choice amendment. when littlen asks what folks can do, this is the money time, this is when the decisions are going to be made. if we don't get real choice and competition i don't think anything in american health care, particularly for folks who

are insured, is going to change soon. >> senator wyden, enjoy your day. we'll talk to you soon. contessa, what else is going on? >> we're seeing breaking news from connecticut. investigators there have arrested raymond clark accusing him officially of murdering annie le. >> based upon numerous interview, forensic evidence and information learned from viewing video surveillance, detectives have secured the arrest warrants for clark. >> glenn zimmerman is in connecticut. break it down for us. why and what led them to officially arrest him for her snurd >> good morning, conthe es is a. at this point we're learning that ray clark is in the building, we're in now. we're at police headquarters, we have the video that came in. you get a glimpse as police brought him in. he was picked up about an hour ago in a motel in cromwell. bail was set at $3 million. you can see the news conference that just ended, that was chief

jim lewis, warrant was sealed so important to mention that because the chief could not answer specific questions, specifically whether there was a dna match. there were published reports suggesting there was. the judge sealed the warnlts. the chief could not talk about the concept of motive, however, we were able to talk about in the reverse. in other words, were there reports that came out suggesting something different than what is true, and he did say that yes, there was no history of romantic involvement so anything you might have heard along those lines is incorrect. there is no history of romantic involvement with annie le, the 24-year-old yale grad student murdered, found killed in the same lab building where she worked, also the same building where the two of them worked together. so, what the chief was suggesting is that this is a case of workplace vie lenolence. not domestic violence. the next step is the arraignment that should happen in 24 hours. contessa, back to you.

>> thanks for that. let's move on now to the obama administration dropping plans to build a permanent missile defense system. a controversial bush administration plan that caused a rift between the u.s. and russia. the obama administration is expected to use a portable system to defend against short and medium range missile attacks. we expect more from secretary robert gates at 10:30 a.m. eastern time. former vice president dick cheney is at george washington university hospital for elective surgery. cheney has what's known as lumbar spinal stenosis, a flareowing of the canal due to aging. >> thank you very much, contessa. much more ahead here this hour of the morning meeting. should we be insuring illegal immigrants? touched off by representative joe wilson's "you lie" outburst. new york magazine has the argument why illegals should be insured. the reason that is next. ♪ wels shopping for a new car, ♪

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the reform, the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie. >> not true. >> congressman wilson's outburst and reprimand brought an angle to the health reform debate. will illegal immigrants be covered, should they be. the new plan unveiled by max baucus takes the concerns head on. >> an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants live in the united states but not one would be covered under the baucus plans. they are banned from participating in state health exchanges and to make sure the plan requires citizenship verification. legal u.s. residents will be able to obtain insurance through the state exchanges. parents who are in the country illegally will not be able to

buy personal insurance coverage through the state exchange but will be able to buy insurance for their u.s. citizen or lawfully present children. for the citizenship checks, in order to prevent illegal immigrants from accessing the state exchanges, obtaining federal health care tax credits, the chairman's mark requires verification of name, date of birth will be verified with the social security administration. despite these the question has to be asked. if illegal immigrants buy health insurance doesn't that save costs by increasing the pool? >> that's the point that our friend andrew romano is making. senior writer of "newsweek." we welcome to you the program. let's cut straight to it. you argue that bringing insurance into the pool as buyers you would collect more in premium from them, than they would take out of the system in insurance costs. you have a few reasons for that. first you say they are younger

and healthier. >> that's true. medical expenditures for illegal immigrants are about 55% lower on average than for the average american. >> you believe if you brought illegals onto the health insurance rolls you would collect more in premium than would be paid out in expense. >> if you allowed them to buy in, that would be the case because they tend to be younger. it's a different question whether you subsidize the lower income immigrants. >> you collect money, that's a net plus. >> exactly. >> you start tax credits that's a minus. employers, how is that relevant. >> is because you know, they have to -- they have -- it costs less money to hire illegal immigrants. if they are required to provide health insurance for all employees then there is not that same economic. >> creates a job disparity for the same reason people would feel they lose a job to a cheaper competitor. this is somebody who doesn't get

a job because they can hire somebody else they don't have to get health insurance for. >> why it's cheaper to hire illegals. >> i want to have you comment on this because you did a fair bit of work on this point. you say if you are really worried about the native born work force what you want to do is minimize the difference in labor costs between different types of workers. health care policy that enlarges those differences, that makes documented workers more expensive to andrew's point compared to undocumented workers is actually worse for the documented workers. explain in brief. >> exactly. this gets to one of the bad things in the baucus bill. what they do, if you've got a worker a low income worker and he needs subsidies on the exchange, the employer has to pay for those. so that worker could cost him say $4,000 more than one of two things. either a higher income worker who they need to pay more money to, or an illegal immigrant who they need to buy insurance from

the exchange. what you want is to not make them more expensive relative to hiring legal immigrants because that will make it more profitable to hire illegal immigrants. what we've got is a form of nativism that's actually hurting natives. it's an astonishing place where populous making for bad policy. >> allowing the banks to perpetuate the theft, allowing the insurance companies, we have to redirect to actual competition and rational thought. andrew, thank you very much. the piece in "newsweek." andrew romano, the reporter and it's a pleasure to make the acquaintance. we'll talk to you soon. jonathan, we'll get you back in. straight ahead, at the "morning meeting," plugging into what else is going on in the world including former president jimmy carter. president carter won't let it go. race and obama and congressman joe wilson, hitting back for that matter. every sunday, lasagna at mom's was a family tradition.

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they have new house rules. the guy yelling out you lie. members of congress cannot call the president a liar, they cannot call him a hypocrite, cannot say he is dishonest. today president bush says where were these rules when i was president? what's this all about? hey. let me tell you. >> jay's having a good first week. jimmy carter continues to talk race tops our plugging into politics with contessa brewer. >> i love it. the former president, jimmy carter says a lot of the bad behavior we have seen aimed apartment president obama is based on racism. let me play it. >> i think people that are guilty of that kind of personal attack against obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to

be african-american. it's a racist attitude. >> well, joe wilson was on the radio yesterday. he says this is a distraction that he wants to side with president obama on this and get back to talking about the real issues. again, there is question about the motive behind some of these attacks. so tv's newly wed game features for the first time in history a gay couple. they never had a gay couple. it's remember in -- this was the well known show here, mr. zulu on "star trek." he has been with his partner a long time. they celebrated their first anniversary, they got married in california last year. they are going on to compete on the newly wed game on the game show cable network. here's the thing. it sets it up because they have been together for 22 years. so they are competing against people who may be really have only known each other for what, these giggly couples a year and a half.

>> might have met last night in the bar, got married, showed up a at the game. >> good for them celebrating love and all of it. how about this. cheer leading is dangerous according to "the wall street journal." >> you pull a hamstring. all the jumping. >> 65% of the catastrophic injuries that high school girls suffer from. >> doesn't that also not account for the fact how many activities high schools -- >> field hockey. basketball. >> maybe because cheer leading is not treated like an athletic undertaking like field hockey or soccer, so maybe they don't -- don't do proper stretches. >> i think they should do better stretching. >> no, it's from the big tumbling. dylan knows about cheer leading. >> coming up in the second half hour of the "morning meeting" we separate fact from fiction when it comes to acorn.

how big of a threat does the community advocate group pose? the chief organizer joins the "morning meeting" after this. canopy egyptian cotton sheets are designed

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♪ welcome back to the "morning meeting." let's reset our agenda. the new health care reform bill from senator baucus getting flack from the left and the right. dr. howard dean calls it the

worst piece of health care legislation he's seen in 30 years. is the bill dead on arrival. it was great for the health insurance stocks. we'll be joined by congressman anthony wiener in a second. reversal of the bush administration t. the pentagon confirming plans have been scrapped to build a missile defense system in the czech republic. what's at stake in the middle east that we may be willing to concede some things in eastern europe. former president jimmy carter adds fuel to the fire after saying race has a lot to do with the opposition to president obama. so far the white house side steps the debate. does this race talk distract and hurt the president's ability to deal with health care let alone the banks. credit card backlash is coming. the story of a woman who says she is so fed up over rising interest rates and gouging she says she's not going to pay one cent until her rate is lowered.

is this a trend or a talker? >> as the opening bell on wall street, stocks trying to extend yesterday's gains. the dow closing at a fresh high for 2009, again further evidence of the bailout success and stabilizing the markets, and success in sticking the american people with $23 trillion in at-risk capital. under fire now, playing defense, contessa here with the new pr strategy from nationwide group acorn. >> dylan, the group announced changes to the way it's doing business days after four videos went virals. filmmakers so lising the information how to get federal mortgage help to run their, well, their business. the group says it understands the public uproar and here's what it's doing about it. first, a complete review of all procedures in the organization which include looking into its half million members.

acorn says it won't take on new cases. for the staff members on board, immediate retraining to go overrules and procedures. for acorn employees and for u.s. cities were fired as a result of that undercover sting and the filmmakers, by the way, facing charges in maryland where it's against the law to film someone without them knowing it. >> does acorn really pose a threat to our democracy? bertha lewis, chief organizer of acorn joins us. also from washington, d.c., carter clues with the group americans for limited government. you can see ezra klein also along. we welcome all three of you into this. bertha, i'm going to begin with you. what do you define as the problems acorn currently has and do you think they are fixable? >> oh, absolutely. this was an anomaly. of course we took swift and immediate action. what you saw on these videotapes were indefensible. however, let me just make sure that people understand.

not one application, tax form, any document, not a shred of paper was ever put through. we have a 10-step process. these folks didn't even get to step one. but, we understand that even though, if you saw unedited tapes which i hope the station gets, they were thrown out of dozens of offices. and in fact, in philadelphia, we called the police, filed a police report. but those folks did not live up to our professional standards. we always think that this's room for improvement. we've got too keep helping people stay in their homes. we got to make sure people get affordable health care. so we want to continue to do our core work, and we will, but we're taking this opportunity to absolutely review all of our procedures, make sure everyone is trained, and for us, use this as an opportunity to strengthen the organization. so we can keep on doing our work. >> carter, you've been a vocal critic of the organization and

with some of the practices, understandably so. i'm personally in favor of as many investigations as humanly possible s. there anything that acorn or bertha could do to satisfy a new standard for professional ethics not only for acorn but any political organizer? >> i think the first thing that bertha could do is stop saying it's an anomaly. it's not. look at the last election. in 17 different states acorn had to be investigated for committing electoral fraud. electoral fraud. in one state i think it was nevada, bertha, correct me if i'm wrong, you registered the entire front starting line for the dallas cowboys. not even in the same state for pete sake. acorn is a criminal enterpritz. >> you bring up a critical point. i would like to allow bertha to respond. that's a meaningful concern, bertha, that this is not an

anomaly. how do you respond? >> once again let me set the record straight. carter, just because you say a lie doesn't make it true. number one, number one, in every instance we turned in every card, and anyone -- i didn't interrupt you. any employee that we suspected of making a fraud yu of making a fraud ylent card, guess who turned them in. please. >> they were charged. they had to be charged. >> because we turned them in. >> this is not productive. >> save this part for when you're not on tv. what else could acorn do to satisfy where they could be exemplary as opposed to the opposite if you will. >> okay. here's one way they can help everybody. stop taking tax dollars. acorn received $53 million since

1994. 18 million since 2004 alone. stop taking tax money. if you want to do your thing do it but don't make people who don't agree with you pay for it. that's wrong. that's shameful and sinful. it's immoral. stop doing it. >> okay. okay. >> carter, you would support trying to make sure that people stay in their homes. you would support making sure that neighborhoods are safe and that kids are not subjected to lead paint and that there's fair housing and people aren't discriminated against. we get an average, again going all the way back to 1994, you can do that and try to make a big number. here's what the fact of the matter are. >> you make the number. >> we compete with every other group out there. we actually produce good results. >> no. >> for making sure that we use tax dollars which average maybe $2 million a year over servicing

500,000 and -- >> bertha, to the extent to which you represent a particular political ideology, whether it's popular or unpopular, what is your view on the ethics of taking taxpayer dollars for any political organization or ideology at this point? >> we're not a political organization. we are the largest community organization of low and moderate income folk of color, i might add, in this country, we've been working with poor people for 40 years. >> you say you're not political. your opponents would charge you are a grass roots organizer for president obama, it's inherently political. >> just because -- >> how much money, bertha, how much money does barack obama funnel to you when he was at the woods foundation with his buddy boy bill heirs. how much did barack obama funnel to you when he was run for president. >> carter, that's not how it's

played. if you ask the question she gets the liberty or the opportunity to answer. >> right. >> first of all, again, unfounded allegations. total lie. so he can make up whatever he wants. here is the fact. the fact of the matter is we've been organizing poor people, keeping them in their homes, and yes, making sure that they are not disenfranchised and they do vote and we're going to continue to do that and you know what, people that are opposed to the work that we do for poor people in this country, they can make up anything they want. this is modern day mccarthyism. we know they are coming after us. we've been around for 40 years. we'll be around 40 more. >> you make it easy with all due respect because when there's -- when they are able to come up with pieces of tape like this and all the rest you make that organization makes itself vulnerable. wouldn't you agree? >> i have 700 employees. i was appalled because people didn't use common sense.

i -- >> wait. it's not productive to talk. >> 700 employees. fired those people for using unprofessional judgment. and made sure that we're doing the review. by the way -- >> not good enough. >> let us make sure that people saw the dozens of offices in which these people were thrown out. >> carter, did you ask for her resignation? >> yeah. i think she should resign. she has proven to be an incompetent manager. she has 700 employees she can't control, get somebody who can control them. i'm help you out. no more of this liberal pabulum. as far as predatory lending you're one of the ones who started it, bertha. you are one of the ones in 1986, tell the truth about it, you went to the louisiana bank shares, you shook them down and made them loan money to people who used welfare checks -- >> carter, i'm going to stop you because i'm running a clock. you have both been sensational. i think it's important it's had in public. i have one last question for you, carter. as i look at the title of your

organization which is americans for limited government. obviously you are impassioned and effective in attempting to investigate and reveal things that may be going on at acorn or any place else. i have noticed massive lobbying efforts to protect competitive practices in bankers with billions and millions of dollars going to washington on airplanes to protect too big to fail and health insurers sending millions to washington to protect the 200 million of us on the private insurance roles from real competition. are those the sorts of things you would be willing to direct your passions to along with the sort of potential voter fraud that you are so concerned about at a place like acorn? >> absolutely. it's the banks use the federal government or any government to try and take the american people's money and use it like bertha does, for pimps and prostitu prostitutes, absolutely. >> what about too big to fail and the lack of choice and real competition for private

insurance for most americans who at this point are being denied that choice? >> we were against too big to fail. we fought it tooth and nail. >> what about health insurance? >> i don't want to destroy the entire health insurance industry. >> what if it's making its money through per pet waiting anti-competitive practices. are you in favor of false bear rer to protect special interests? >> no, we're not in favor of that. we're also not in favor of having the government step in, a bankrupt government take over the health care industry. >> that's not what is being suggested. what we're talking about -- let me finish. what we're talking about, >> public option says bring the government in. >> that's not what i'm talking about. distortion at this point is counterproductive and will be destructive to this country. there are basic -- listen to me. there are basic competitive forces that made this country great. open competition among people to deal with the industries like

health insurers are able to drive money to washington to create false barriers to entry that leave health insurance legislation absent any real choyls for most americans is pathetic and beyond me how an organization that's in favor of so called limited government would not demand real choice and real competition be restored for the american people. >> that's what we're demanding. if they have to compete on a level field like lobbying, which bertha also does, that's fair. but no tax dollars. you disagree? >> i don't disagree at all. i'm demanding the government actually restore fair and honest competition in banking and in health insurance and neither is happened as of yet. >> i think we're all for that. >> let's see it, the proof is in the pudding. >> i'm all for fairness, too. >> bertha, we could use your help. there are people getting picked off left and right. contessa. >> dylan, here is a story for you. have you found great deal on an airline ticket, then watched the

price jump when the taxes and fees are added in? what is going on there? let's turn to tom costello live at reagan international airport. why does that happen? >> good morning. there's a lot of things that you can attribute to that. here's what is important. on a typical airline ticket the airline say 30% is made up of taxes and fees and here's what a investigation found. that a good chunk is going to pay for airports that you and i will never use. why? because they only service private planes. in fact, $1.2 billion of your tax money that comes off offior airline ticket will go to pay for 2,000 airports, little used airports around the country, this year alone. and these are airports that offer no commercial service. so the question that "usa today" and nbc raised is whether it's fair for airline passengers to have to subsidize or pay for these airports that only service

private airplanes. the airlines don't like it at all. they don't think it's fair that their passengers should be taxed to pay for an airport strictly for private use. the government believes that a vast network of airports is critical to the national infrastructure. but the real issue is how should that be paid for. is it fair to only charge the people in this building behind me, getting on airplanes today or should all taxpayers have to bear responsibility if that's viewed as a national prerogative. every member of congress has at least one of these small airports in their back yard and the only people who can change this rule would be congress. more in "usa today." back to you. >> tom, thank you. so dylan, basically what tom is saying is that my taxes and fees are subsidizing rich people. >> rich or poor doesn't matter. but -- >> it matters to me. >> it doesn't to me because i can pick any minority. it's fair play. not rich or poor. we have to be careful.

there's a lot of frustration not to direct it at a black rmt, rich or poor but fair play and good rule making from our government. i think you make a great point. that clearly is not fair. thank you for that. there is a lot more coming up on "morning meeting." desperate times call for desperate measures. and debtors are taking things into their own hands. is this a trend? or just a talker. we'll take a look. carol, when you replaced casual friday with nordic tuesday, was it really for fun, or to save money on heat? why? don't you think nordic tuesday is fun? oh no, it's fun... you know, if you are trying to cut costs, fedex can help. we've got express options, fast ground and freight service-- you can save money and keep the heat on. great idea. that is a great idea. well, if nordic tuesday wasn't so much fun.

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you know it, you love it. is it a trend or talker? do they signify a bigger trend in our country? today's topic, desperate times, desperate measures. our panel, jonathan caper, ready to weigh in. debtor's revolt, california

woman fed up with bank of america raising the interest rate on her credit card year after year, now she says she's not paying another cent. >> if successful, this will be a proverbial first shot fired at american debtor's revolution against the banking elite, federal reserve and the federal government. >> jonathan? >> ooh, you go, girl. remember alien when sigourney weaver gets in that mechanical suit and screams that get away from her, you -- she is the sigourney weaver character. >> they're getting a divorce. mary mccurnin and her husband both had medical problems, cost them serious cash. refinanced their house multiple times to repay, but now they're broke all the same and decided to get a divorce so mccurin

could collect a $1,200 a month survivor's benefit check from her dead husband. is this what it's come to? >> it is, and it will keep coming to it. soon enough, everything we do will just be for health care insurance. it will just be the driving force in our lives. finally, desperate measure, dare we say, turned success story last year, utah decided to close state offices on friday in an effort to save on utility costs not to mention payroll. look at the results. the state reports a 13% drop in energy use and estimates employees are saving as much as $6 million in gas costs, plus workers apparently love it. 82% say they want to keep jonathan capehart the new four days on, three days off work schedule. >> uh-huh. i like that, in fact, and think i'm do it tomorrow. >> okay. we'll see you on monday. toure, we'll sort out the conversation we had after the show yesterday.

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welcome back. toure here in the break room. nice to see you. >> nice to see you, bill. they've forgotten the definition of a diva, because they're giving us imitation divas. >> i don't like it. >> listen to this lineup and how it's down from true diva to what you talking about, willies? >> leona lewis and then the slope starts to get a little slippery. >> these are the people they're actually putting on television, claiming they were divas? >> yeah, and they're so not. >> no. >> kelly clarkson is a what? jordan sparks is a come on,

people. and then miley cyrus? you cannot be serious. i think we need to give vh1 the definition of diva. from italian latin for goddess, larger than life, royalty in their own mind. true divas, whitney houston, mariah carey, jennifer lopez, barbara streisand, serena williams, kanye west, dylan ratig ratigan. you knew it was coming. >> got to go. there we go. okay. that's great. we are back. ezra klein, five ways to save health care. congressman weiner joins us on why the balk us bill is doa.

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and medicare guide and find out... how you could start saving. good morning to you. 10:00 am in the east. 7:00 am out west. welcome back to the morning meeting. let's reset our agenda for the next hour. president obama's decision not to install missiles in eastern europe, is this a way to bring russia on board to do more work in iran? plus the balk us bill on life support before it even hit the senate floor. democrats and republicans alike saying thanks, but no thanks to the senator's health care plan. >> the fact is these bills literally wall off the opportunity for competition and choice for well over 200 million americans. >> congressman weiner says the

balk us bill is, in fact, d.o.a., dead on arrival. he'll be along in a second. plus former president jimmy carter not letting up on allegations that conservatives are being racist against president obama. >> people that are guilty of that kind of personal attack against obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be african-american. it's a racist attitude. >> so far, the white house not touching this one with a ten-foot pole or any pole whatsoever. is this talk of race hurting or helping the president as he tries to deal with health care, banks and a whole long list of things, including those missiles in eastern europe. why america is, indeed, great. why a teacher's bright idea to help school children in his district deserves an a plus, because it can be used all across the land. in fact, it's being picked up in school districts across this

country as we speak. it's 10:00 am. pull up a chair and join the "morning meeting." no public option, no republican support, no choice for 200 million americans who have private insurance already, and senator max baucus' version of health care reform getting plenty of criticism from the left and the right today. >> what we're saying to the gang of six is thanks, but no thanks. any health care proposal that does not have the competition and cost containment that can only be achieved via public option will be considered dead on arrival. >> that, congressman anthony wyder join us in a moment. the president hopes to gain momentum on a health care rally himself. mike, dead on arrival for balk us. what about choice and the public option and all these other things that so many are pushing for, yet don't seem to be in any of the legislation?

>> reporter: that is the distinction, isn't it? whether the balk us bill is dead on arrival or whether health care as a larger proposition is dead on arrival. i think, clearly, congressman wyder is right, if he's saying that balk us bill is daed on arrival, everybody from the democratic leader in the senate to liberals in the house saying no how, no way will we go for this. everybody agreeing major tweaks have got to be made. whether you're talking about this entire effort, entire exercise is dead on arrival, congressman wyder, if that's what he assess saying, might be leaning over on the ski tips on that one. there's a lot of to and fro if this is going to get anywhere. it's going to get interesting now. if you thought the last few months were interesting, just wait to see. a lot of this will be behind closed doors as the horse trading really starts. max baucus' bill, maybe thought he might get grassley, ensley or at the very least, might get snowe on board. at the end, he came out alone.

>> no republican has offered his or her support at this moment. i think by the time we get to final passage in this committee, you'll find republican support. >> reporter: so, it all remains to be seen. max baucus will put it before the finance committee next week when they start the process known as a mark-up, adding amendments, taking away amendments, voting up or down. it remains to be seen what the final legislation will look like or whether it stands a chance of

getting passage in the senate. dylan? >> mike, thank you very much. where does this bill and legislation go from here? joining us now, new york congressman wyder. domestic policy, his beat for that paper, jonathan capehart. congressman, i'm going to begin with you. where is the resistance to getting real choice, real competition and for that matter real public option into this legislation? we watched wall street cheer yesterday and analyst reports from goldman sachs circulate as a victory, that 200 million people would not create any real market force, there public opti about is a relatively narrow one to begin with. we've made a concession too far to water it down as it is. you need some element of cost containment. there just aren't sufficient things in the balk us bill or what any of my republican friends have said that have achieved that. it's relatively easy to say let's cover it additional people and do subsidies to do it. the balk us subsidies are too small. what do you do if the insurance rates keep going up, if the taxpayer keeps footing the bill and more people can't afford to pay even with this subsidy? >> five ways to save had health

care, i feel there's this gigantic elephant in the room, this anti-competitive insurance structure and we're basically moving the chairs around the elephant, trying to subsidize for the poor, do something with exchange, but not dealing with the elephant. >> i agree. the competitive structure, they have one advantage over the others out there, eventually large employers will go in, but individuals like you and me are never allowed in. one thing to add to the representatives, even coat op is strangely watered down. they didn't just water down the public option, but then they make it so the co-op can't sell its insurance to large employers, the co-op can't set purchasing rates for itself. it's not just that we protected insurers from public competition, but any real competition whatsoever and even from consumer competition. so, the degree to which that bill really insulated them from any of the pressures you want to see them exposed to was, in fact, surprising. >> representative weiner, i want

to play you a comment and get your response. take a listen. >> the fact is, these bills literally wall off the opportunity for competition and choice for well over 200 million americans. >> what can the american people do to help people like yourself create real choice for everybody in this country? >> well, senator wyder in that clip and op ed in "the new york times" makes a good point. for all the crying about how the public option might drive insurance companies out of the market, in fact, as ezra and the senator said, for most of your viewers, they won't even have an option to go into the public plan. one thing at the top you said is very true. this is an overly complicated effort to jerry rig the insurance-based model we have. many of us -- this is -- many of us believe returning to the basics, successful program. let's expand it. ten years of eligibility, five

years after to gradually get more people under that um umbrella. it's gaining traction. what we're finding is after months of talk, the senate plan came back and made it less affordable for the middle class and actually provided less competition for insurance companies. >> if you were to look at -- away from senator baucus, who obviously is the focal point, his name on this piece of legislation. if you were to look at the community, left, right, center, democrat, republican on the take from the health insurance companies that are receiving cash flow to protect anti-competitive environments, by pushing the public option away or simply preventing any real competition and choice, the free choice amendment, how big is that constituency? >> there's no doubt about it. we're taking on two very powerful forces here. one is the status quo. something a lot of people have experience with, and trying to change it, though not as much as some people claim. second is the health industry is

very, very powerful. a lot of people are paying a lot of attention to preserving the status quo. actually, it's going to even get better for insurance companies. 30 million additional kuds, 90% of them, 80% of them will be going to private insurance companies. they stand to gain a great deal here. unfortunately they don't seem to be willing to put any skin in the game. >> jonathan capehart, all of these talking points, choice in competition, public option, you know them as well as i do, as the president sets up into this media blitz the next several days? >> the president outlined what he wants in these bills last wednesday and is going up to college park to do this rally. i found it curious that senator wyden wouldn't talk about what the president said to him in relation to his ideas for increasing competition, but said he was making headway. it seems to me that now that senator baucus has put out his plan, the baton has been passed to the obama administration. if they want to get anywhere on health care reform, if they want

to try to pull republicans in the senate, try to pull congressman weiner along, they'll have to push really hard to get them to the table. right now i'm not sure, given all the things that we've heard, that that's going to be an easy task. >> representative, i have to wrap this up. when you woke up this morning, put us in your shoes, your degree of optimism and the fight in you to get real health reform in this country compared to a month ago. >> we all heard of the long good-bye, the balk us plan was the long hello, followed by a very quick good-bye. now we're getting back to focusing on the big issues many of us care about. i think it is something to be said for the idea now five committees have moved health care forward since the medicare program task. closest to the republican initiative we'll see in this, and that's not something that should guide us. >> representative, understood. contessa, what else is going on in the world? police have arrested lab technician ray clark in the

murder of yale university grad student, annie le. ron allen is in new haven, connecticut. what are you learning? >> reporter: police are wrapping this up very quickly, arrested at a hotel 30 miles from here earlier this morning, brought here to the police headquarters for booking and now is on his way to a courthouse for an arraignment that we think is going to happen in an hour or so. he was the only suspect. police say there are no other suspects. he has been charged with murder. apparently, he strangled or choked annie le to death at the lab they both worked. here is what the chief of police had to say moments ago. >> i think it's important to note this is not about urban crime, university crime or domestic crime, but an issue of workplace violence, which is becoming a growing concern around the country. >> workplace violence is the only clue that police are giving as to what the motive may be in this case. there apparently was no romantic relationship between the two of them. they worked in the same area.

he was a lab technician, essentially a custodian or janitor who used to work with animals, cleaning their cages, that sort of thing. of course, le was a grad student here, doing research at the time. motive unclear. we may, perhaps, hear more in court later this afternoon. as i said, police are trying to move this along quickly and send a message of reassurance to the yale community and new haven community that they are on top of the violence here, that this is not something that pertained to the wider community, apparently just these two people or just the people who worked in this particular laboratory. back to you. >> ron, thank you for keeping us in the loop. we'll stay on top of that throughout the day as we get new details in, dylan. >> thank you, contessa. are we negotiating with russia on iran? the president is going to make a statement from the white house any moment. we'll pick it up as soon as it happens, followed by the fine details from defense secretary robert gates. do plans to scrap that missile shield in europe threaten our security? are we playing to bring russia

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president obama expected to speak momentarily on missile defense, a statement that will reportedly indicate a decision to scrap plans to build a missile defense system in eastern europe. the statement will be followed later by a briefing in the hour by defense secretary robert gates. jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. >> reporter: they came in to the white house not on board with the missile defense system that the bush administration wanted to put in poland and the czech

republic. instead they're going to recommend placing a portable, more flexible, but they say just as capable system to deal with short-end medium-range missile threats to europe. for some reason, all of a sudden, there has been a reassessment of the iranian missile threat and it's been determined that there's less of a long-range ballistic missile threat from iran and more of a short to medium range missile threat, which leaves many of us scratching our head. we'll see what the details are from secretary defense gates and the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff later this morning. but, you know, ultimately the white house has wanted to scrap this from day one, and they needed a way out, because they're very sensitive about looking weak, especially on missile defense, dylan. >> hey, mick, why do they want to scrap this plan in the first place? what's going on between the u.s., russia, eastern europe and

iran? >> there is that sensitivity on the part of russia that opposed it from the very beginning, because they thought it was aimed at russia, in part, and that it would be a nuclear deterrent to any possible attack by russia against europe, which obviously is out of the question. but, nevertheless, this could give the obama administration an opening to barrigain with russi to put more pressure on iran in terms of their nuclear development. it's a very complicated issue. but on the surface, anyway, it looks like the obama administration is going to abandon that part of the missile shield, which they didn't want to begin with, and at least come up with a substitute program and a last-minute substitution for a rationale for that program short and medium-ranged missiles from iran. >> retired army colonel jack jacobs with us, author of "if not now, when," an issue that would go to a wide variety of

iss issues in this country right now, colonel. but on this specific matter, what is the obama administration and the defense secretary thinking? in other words, are they playing diplomacy with russia? are they playing diplomacy with iran? are they playing a budget game? why would you make a decision to either install or not install long-range or short-range missiles in eastern europe, period? >> two of those three things are at work. first, is the relationship with russia. we did two things in the last administration which made it much more difficult for russia to get together with us, to put pressure on iran. one was this. and it really annoyed them that we were putting -- we were saying we were going to try to defend against an attack by iran on western europe, but, in fact, their perception was it was against russia. they didn't like that very much. >> let me be very direct. is this an overtur fre from the white house to puti in and russia, to bring them closer, by conceding the missile deployment

to put pressure on russia to put a squeeze on iran? >> i think that's one thing they're doing. the other thing we can't fix is get all of nato -- >> to advance our national security. that includes strengthening our defenses against any and all threats to our people, our troopses and o and friends and around the world. one of those threat are dangers posed by ballistic missiles. as i said during the campaign, president bush was right that iran's ballistic missile program poses a significant threat. that's why i'm committed to deploying strong missile defense systems, which are adaptable to the threats of the 21st century. the best way to responsibly advance our security and the security of our allies is to deploy a missile defense system that best responds to the threats that we face and that utilizes technology that is both proven and cost effective. in keeping with that commitment

and a congressionally mandated review, i ordered a comprehensive assessment of our missile defense program in europe. and after an extensive process, i have approved the unanimous recommendations of my secretary of defense and my joint chiefs of staff to strengthen america's defenses against ballistic missile attack. this new approach will provide capability sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 european missile defense program. this decision was guided by two principle factors. first, we have updated our intelligence assessment of iran's missile programs, which emphasizes the threat posed by iran's short and medium-range missiles, capable of reaching europe. there's no substitute for iran complying with its international obligations and we, along with our allies and partners, will

continue to pursue strong diplomacy to ensure that iran lives up to these international obligations. but this new ballistic missile defense program will best address the threat posed by iran's ongoing ballistic missile defense program. second, we have made specific and proven advances in our technology, particularly in regard to land and sea-based intercepters and the censors that support them. new approach therefore will deploy new technologies that are proven and cost effective and counter the current threat and do so sooner than the previous program. because our approach will be phased and adaptive, we will retain the flexibility to adjust and enhance our defenses as the threat and technology continue to evolve. to put it simply, our new missile defense architecture in europe will provide stronger, smarter and swifter defenses of american forces and america's

allies. it is more comprehensive than the previous program. it deploys capabilities that are proven and cost effective and it sustains and builds upon our commitment to protect the u.s. homeland against long-range ballistic missile threats, and it ensures and enhances the protection of all our nato allies. this approach is also consistent with nato's missile defense efforts and provides opportunities for enhanced international collaboration going forward. we will continue to work cooperatively with our close friends and allies, the czech republic and poland, who agreed to host elements of the previous program. i've spoken to the prime ministers of both the czech republic and poland about this decision and reaffirmed our deep and close ties. together, we are committed to a broad range of cooperative efforts to strengthen our collective defense be and we are bound by the solemn commitment of nato's article v, that an

attack on one is an attack on all. we also repeatedly made clear to russia that its concerns about our previous missile defense programs were entirely unfounded. our clear and consistent focus has been the threat posed by iran's ballistic missile program and that continues to be our focus and the basis for the program we're announcing today. in confronting that threat, we welcome russians cooperation to a broader sense of our common strategic interest even as we continued our shared efforts to end iran's elicit nuclear program. going forward, my administration will continue to consult loesly with congress and with our allies as we deploy this system and will rigorously evaluate the tlelt posed by ballistic missiles and the technology that we are developing to counter it. i'm confident that with the steps we've taken today, we have

strengthened america's national security and enhanced our capacity to confront 21st century threats. thank you very much, everybody. >> so, the president describing precisely what jim was just telling us, colonel. translate it for us. >> it was almost as if you had read his speech before. it's all about russia. we're making nice to russia. without them, we can't do anything about iran without russia's support. it's to save money. the previous ballistic missile defense system was both unproven and extremely costly. this is a little bit more dangerous, because we're only going to intercept missiles in their terminal stages on the way in, but much, much cheaper, and it's using existing technology. >> jonathan capehart, i wonder if making concessions with russia is like making concessions to health insurance companies, thinking they'll

support will widen. what's the expectation that his activities in eastern europe could be effective diplomatically with putin over the long run? >> remember that ceremony at the state department between secretary of state hillary clinton and her russian counterpart and she presented him with this box, button, reset button. this is all part of the, i think, obama administration's efforts to restart the relationship between united states and russia, which was very contentious toward the end of the bush administration, and this, as the president alluded to, it concerned russia very much, having this missile defense shield there in eastern europe. the bush administration said it was all about protecting the allies against long-range missiles from iran, but russia never saw it that way. the united states has made it clear, the obama administration has made it clear that it wants to do something about the long-range nuclear threat of iran, and they can't do that. they can't get anywhere close to doing that without cooperation from russia. and so, as the president said,

you know, this is part of that effort. >> jonathan, thank you so much. colonel, thank you. jim, we'll talk to you soon. ezra, we'll come back to you in a second. we're plugging in to politics next on "the morning meeting." economic czar, car czar, taking aim at 37 czars in the bush administration. how long have there been czars and why the sudden fascination with them? we'll go dancing with the czars, next, on "the morning meeting." walmart checks other stores' prices

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former president jimmy carter moving forward and the obama administration backing away with his allegations that most comme most protests have to deal with racism. >> jimmy carter was in atlanta yesterday, made it clear once again that racism fuels some of the bad behavior aimed at president obama. >> i think people that are guilty of that kind of personal attack against obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be african-american. it's a racist attitude. and my hope is, and my expectation is that in the future, both democratic leaders and republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning

that kind of unprecedented attack on the president of the united states. >> so, up until this point, the white house has tried to sigh step the race issue. press secretary robert gibbs says he does not believe the criticism is based on the color of the president's skin. here is what senior adviser valerie jarrett says. he could probably give a very powerful speech on race, just as he did in the course of the campaign. but right now his top domestic priority is health care reform. now comedian and actor bill k cosby is weighing in. he writes on his facebook page, i agree with president carter that racism is playing a role in recent outbursts against president obama. he spoke on andrea mitchell reports yesterday. >> i don't think you can get people who are entrenched in their own hatred to stop. i think what we have to do is

find the people who are willing to work together, the people who realize that mistakes will happen, and we've got to work for the betterment of the american people. >> by the way, we have a special airing on msnbc this as you know with bill cosby presented by michelle bernard. about our children will address topics such as health, education and parenting, september 20th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm eastern time on msnbc. with us from the washington post, jonathan capehart, toure also here, chuck todd joining the conversation, chief white house correspondent here. jonathan, having been around washington as a journalist for a long time and having watched lots of political expression being -- thought jornl bush was the devil, compare the imagery and extreme resistance you would see with somebody like president george w. bush, at his most threatening and what we've seen

with this president. >> i'm glad you asked that question. i've been trying to pull apart the heated rhetoric from the extreme from the real legitimate concerns people are expressing. george bush was also depicted on the left or by the left as hitler, his administration was compared to nazis. >> devil horns on him. >> right. that's all part of the political theater. the difference, though, between, say, george bush and president obama is that -- well, president obama just happens to be a black man who is president of the united states. and so, you know, as with most things, you know, in america, race is sort of that melody and the sound track of american life that's always there. and we have to, i think, guard against having it overtake issues. i think the administration is doing the right thing by not being distracted by jimmy carter or anyone else who is dabbling in the race talk so that they

can get their things done, and that is health care. >> chuck todd, it feels like the president -- health care battle for the president is avoiding one spitball fight after anot r another, whether it's -- i'm new to this business, as you know, and it starts me to see how much time and effort is spent trying to make sure that the actual issue is never actually are dealt with. how much of this is a real thing that the president needs to address and how much of this is just another misdirect to try to make sure that health care doesn't really get done? >> reporter: look, the white house is going to look at this as a political issue. they have to. this is about him being able to successfully keep the majority of the country behind him, successfully get stuff passed on capitol hill. at some point, he will have to put a stop to the conversation, even as there are many supporters of his that want to have a conversation on this topic. the question is, can washington, can the political community

handle a nuisance conversation or not and is it helpful to enhance his agenda? my guess the white house is going to decide it's not helpful. the president has all these interviews coming up. i wouldn't be surprised if david gregory on "meet the press," you see him get a little tough on some of his supporters, saying enough of this. you know, some of this is generational, i think, as an observer. you see jimmy krter and his experiences in the south and with issues of race are different than barack obama's. that's the reason, i think, obama resonated with a lot of white americans, because they thought this idea that he is -- he was not somebody who grew up in the civil rights movement and you wonder if some of krtcarter sentiments are coming from being

a southern politician and being somebody who led georgea was governor of georgia at a time when race was an even hotter topic and hotter political debate. the president may have to get tough and say enough of this. he can't be dealing with this every three months. he stepped in himself and it became a topic of conversation, but this isn't politically helpful to him to continue to have a race dialogue like this. it gets in the way. >> chuck, thank you very much. new rally cry for the right, get rid of the czars. contessa brewer has more on that story unfold on capitol hill. this debate is happening on the senate floor right now. dianne feinstein currently on the senate floor. a moment ago, we saw the senator from tennessee, lamar alexander, these pay czars, who are they? how much do they get paid and aren't cabinet secretaries in a better position to do the business of the president's agenda as opposed to appointing people that don't have, necessarily, any confirmation,

any oversight from the senate? democratic senator russ feingold actually joined in this anti-czar chorus, asking obama toly out what the responsibilities are of the czars in his administration. he says, you know, explain, mr. president, why these czars, why using czars as opposed to people who have to go through a confirmation process is consistent with the senate's constitutional power to oversee, to offer advice on the top level executive branch officials. the democratic national committee is already fighting back against this. they have a new ad out. i just want to play it, because they're pointing out, look, this was common even under president bush. >> technologies are, the scar czar and now the cyber czar. >> we didn't get to the part i wanted to show, about the 47 czars that were under the bush administration. do you want to replay it or take my word for it?

that's what the dnc ad says. >> we'll take your word for it. >> okay. that's all they have. >> i believe you, contessa. there have been czars as long as there's been presidents. >> right. >> the question is -- >> we didn't call them czars before. >> no, no, we did. drug czar, barry mccaffery. >> that's true. good point. >> czars are going back as long as there's been presidents, for the past 43 years. that's a good way to make hay and not talk about country hostage to a bunch of broken systems and easy to fight against one party than fix systems like an intelligent person would do. thank you contessa. new report out today that looks at a soda tax on your health and wallet, here is what the public health experts are saying in today's "new england journal of medicine." they're calling for a one penny per ounce tax on all sugary drinks, the expectation it would raise almost $15 billion a year for the federal government. but these experts do not want

this money to go into a general fund, i presume, subsidize banks and protect anti-competitiveness for insurance companies. they want it to target programs like obesity prevention and other public health initiatives. one politician wants to cleararity, literally. the health commissioner proposed a ban on smoking in all of the big apple's parks and playgrounds. of course, that includes the famed central park. it was not good for the park or me, but it was fun. similar ordinance already in effect in los angeles, by the way. this is not without precedence. like many other cities, new york has banned smoking in bars, restaurants, even at -- you can't smoke anywhere anymore. that's why i quit. peter moore, let's talk about the soda tax. on the one hand, it can make sense. i wonder if washington gets ahead of itself in not exploring taxation for all sugar.

in other words, if you're looking for behavioral modistic, why pick soda without getting into a bigger conversation first? >> it's an easy target and very specific. what you see in these instances, though, is that stits are much more successful in levying these tacks than washington is. i think what is going to happen and what's already happening, states will raise revenue by taxing sodas and other sugary drinks and feds don't have to act or risk districts by doing so. >> we put this in the context of the health care debate? >> not at all. people don't give enough credit it's not going to make people much healthier. but things like soda taxes, cigarette bans to make people healthier. whether we get the soda tax, i don't know. i bet money we'll have one in five years. that idea is coming really, really quick and estimates out of yale that it could probably reduce obesity by 7%, 10%, do something serious with a very slight modification. >> i still get confused as to,

why, we uniquely target -- i understand the issue with sugar and the corn lobby and the push in general to put sugar in food because it is attractive to people. they like it, although it's not necessarily healthy, as dr. nancy would tell me if she were sitting here. but why not soda, muffins, candy bars? there's a lot of vehicles for sugar that may not be good for you that no one is debating a tax about. >> a lot of correlations between weight gain and added rise of soda and sugar. >> is it just sugar? >> calories in is obviously the issue here. if you want to tax something, you have to be very specific about it. think about the outcry there would be if we said we're going to tax all food stuffs that have sugar, that entire class of legislators would be replaced. >> if we're going to step forward and demand a free and fair marketplace, an open, choice-laden marketplace without too big to fail, without false

barriers, is it fair to ask the government to target one industry and tax them for their use of sugar when the issue is the use of sugar, not necessarily soda pop's use of sugar? >> equal opportunity to be obese is what we're defending right now. if we levy the tax now, it will modify behavior now, savings down the line and how much we spend treating these people, 9% of our annual expenditures on health care go to treating conditions with the obese. so, you know, i guess it's always a matter of how can we make it start? people see sodas as a fat target, as it were. >> i would like to have you back to have a whole sugar conversation at some point. >> great. >> thank you, peter moore, editor of "men's health." how one teacher started a program, literally, to give students the tools they need to learn. that's not what's so great. what's great is that america has the technology that wants you to

devise the plan, everybody in the country gets to use it, which is what this teacher has done. his story here. user-generated suggestion, viewer generated suggestion, if you will. we'll have it for you. america the great take two, after this. achoo!

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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. time for another version, second time at it, of america the great. we talk about giving kids the tools they need to learn. it really comes down to fundamentals. no, not sort of fundamentals that "school house rock" might talk about, the kind of basics we need to teach our children, papers, pencils, glue sticks. something you may not know. on average, teachers in our country spend more than $500 a year out of their own pocket for school supplies. so, charles best walked on to the scene, former high school teacher in the bronx, who gives us at "the morning meeting," our

second example of why, indeed, america is great. best saw this need in his community and came up with an innovative way to fill it. >> donorschoose.org is a website where anyone can help a classroom in need. you can think of it as a philanthropic ebay where teachers post classroom projects for books, art supplies and donors can come and choose the project they want to support and really see where their money is going. >> the site once again, donorschoose.org. that's donorschoose.org. think of it like a wedding registry for school supplies. the teachers put up what they would like and you decide what, of their wishes, you would like to fullfill. >> more than 100,000 teachers have posted project requests on donorschoose.org and more citizens philanthropists have come to our site and donated $37

million to field trips, books that kids in low-income communities need to learn. >> in fact, it's become the subject of a cable news rival. >> stephen colbert set up a friendly competition between the branches of the services to see who -- to see whether the army or the navy or the air force, mari marines or coast guard could donate to more classroom needs for military children and it was really exciting to see what happened. people really responded. >> lots of folks come up with all sorts of ideas to give back to schools. who is against children? so, what made this idea such a breakout success? >> values on which donorschoose.org is based are transparency, people seeing where their money is going, how it's being spent, choice, the donor getting to pick the classroom project that really speaks to them, and accountability in the form of the photograph that every

teacher takes of their project and the thank you letters that the teacher write sbts students write so that every donor can feel like they got total accountability on the donation that they spared. >> let us repeat, choice, transparency and accountability. core values of america the great. and a shout out to dan rosen, the ceo of guitar hero, who sent us this idea. we would like to hear more from you. next america the great coming next week. send me an e-mail dylan.msnbc.com. file your submissions. we'll keep this ball rolling all day long. it can't just be something good, it has to be something that represents those core values, choice, transparency and accountability. we are back with the takeaway here at "the morning meeting," after this. there was a time i wouldn't step out of the house 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.

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we wrap up the "morning

meeting" with the takeaway. on our america the great segment, former teacher helped to bring supplies to the classroom. it was a user-generated idea. send your ideas to dylan.msnbc.com. contessa, you are more active and more capable at logging in, and dealing with the twittering, facebooking. >> user-generated content, right. >> it's something i'm learning about. doing a chat after the show every day. >> oh. >> for a half hour. we get a lot e-mail and i'm sitting around, talking to people anyway. >> twitter is the first start. are you on twitter? >> i'm on twitter. >> i mean really. >> no. they had my face and my name, using it to send clips out. >> because you're not answering them back. >> i'm just sitting in the back, eating a hamburger. >> but now -- >> we're going to do it. >> you're going to twitter. >> free the hostages! that will be my first tweet.

contessa has that debtor's revolt lady. i don't remember her name, but impressed. >> she's mad as hell. she's not going to take it anymore. >> huffington post did a great job highlighting that. you have her this afternoon. >> at 2:00. >> i'm dylan. alex witt, monica novotny pick up coverage right here for us on msnbc. ♪ well i was shopping for a new car, ♪

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this hour on msnbc, major developments in connecticut as police announce the arrest of a yale university lab technician in the murder of 24-year-old grad student, annie le. >> we don't have any other suspects at this time. we do have a lot of evidence we still have to analyze, literally hundreds of pieces of evidence still to go to the lab. off the table. president obama says he'