right now on "andrea mitchell reports," dumping plans for the u.s. missile defense shield in eastern europe. president obama skracrapped the bush administration's plans for the missile defense in the czech republic, focusing instead on land and sea-based intersectors, saying that would be more effective against the short-range missiles from iran. >> there is no substitute for iran complying with its international obligations regarding its nuclear program, but this new ballistic missile defense program will best address the threat posed by iran's ongoing ballistic missile

defense program. >> but republicans say the move will embolden iran and russia while endangering the united states' relationship with its allies in eastern europe. also today, making a hard sell, president obama campaigned for health care reform once again at a rowdy rally at the university of maryland today. and back in washington, looking for the magic number 60. 60 senate votes. senate finance chairman max baucus tries to sell his plan to republicans and members of his own party. president obama was greeted by a ruckus crowd at the university of maryland today, continuing his campaign-style push for health care reform. the president struck a confident note, despite lawmakers' less-than-enthusiastic response to the unveiling of the latest health care plan. >> after debating this issue for the better part of a year, there's now agreement in congress on about 80% of what needs to be done. four out of five committees in congress have completed their work.

yesterday the finance committee and the leadership, max baucus, put out its own bill. each bill has its strengths and there are a lot of similarities between them. >> linda douglass is the communications director for the white house office of health care reform. thank you, linda, for being with me. >> thanks for having me. >> well, linda, we just heard the president talking about the baucus bill. let me tell you what howard dean, a democrat, says about this bill. "the baucus bill is the worst piece of health care legislation i have seen in 30 years. in fact, it's a $60 billion giveaway to the health insurance industry every year. it was written by health care lobbyists, so that's not a surprise. it is an outrage." linda, is this a good bill? >> well, certainly, governor dean never hesitates to share his very strong opinions, because he has been, you know, in the field advocating for health care reform in the way that he wants to approach it for a long time. look, there are many things in this bill that are -- that share common features with what the

president has laid out and what is in the four of the five other bills that have already passed through committees. as you just heard the president say, there's 80% agreement. this bill has consumer protections, it expands coverage, it expands affordability to people who don't have health insurance reform. it, you know, shrinks the cost of prescription drugs for seniors under medicare while salvaging the medicare trust fund, making it stronger and more secure for seniors. so, there's obviously many, many common features. now what has to happen is that the five bills will have to all come together, will be pulling together features of each of these bills, and they are very, very, you know, similar in many ways, and the legislation will be built upon these principles that they share. >> linda, what do you want to change? what does the white house want to change about the baucus bill? >> well, we're not going to get into negotiating right now over a bill that hasn't even passed the committee yet. as i said, it has many strong features. it's obviously going to go

through a process where there's a committee hearing and senators offer amendments. it's going to be changing along the way. so, you know, no reason to talk about something that is in draft form at this point, but the important thing is that there is really strong progress being made, really, serious forward momentum. we are closer than we've ever been. anyone, savannah, who's ever covered the health care reform effort, decades and decades long, they're very, very close to enacting the legislation that the president has been seeking. >> it seemed after the joint address last week there was a moment where some of the dissent within the democratic party had been quieted. with the release of the baucus bill, that hour, that momentum seems to have shifted little bit. everybody's coming out of the woodwork again with their various beefs against this bill. is democratic unity really going to be possible here? are you going to get the democratic caucus and have them hang together to get those 60 votes? which, by the way, we'll need one republican, i don't have to remind you.

>> oh, absolutely. i mean, the democrats are united in their belief and their conviction that the status quo in this country is unsustainable. maybe you saw that report that came out from the kaiser organization that measures the premium increases every year. now the average premium for a family, the premium price from employer-sponsored insurance is more than $13,000 a year. more and more americans are losing their health insurance. the treasury department put out a report that showed that in the next decade, half of all americans are going to go at some point or another without their health insurance. now, when you lose your health insurance, maybe you can find it again, but maybe you have to buy it on the expensive private market or maybe you can't find it at all because you're locked out by insurance company rules. democrats and some republicans, too, understand that these are things that have to be changed. >> linda, how concerned is the white house about the effect on the middle class of this individual mandate? clearly, there are some subsidies for folks to help them

afford insurance if they can't, and yet, even with that, in pursuit of getting a cheaper and cheaper bill, the subsidies aren't necessarily that generous. this could be a real burden on middle class families who have to now, under this legislation, buy insurance. what do you say to that? >> well, you know, again, you're talking about a draft bill that is going to go through many evolutions before it finally goes to the committee. the president has made it absolutely clear that he is committed to ensuring that health insurance is affordable for middle class families. that is one of the reasons that he is pursuing health insurance reform legislation. he's always made that very clear. health insurance reform has to be affordable for middle class families. that is the goal and that is being addressed by all the bills, as all the pieces in all of these bills are going to get pulled together. >> all right, linda douglass, communications director for the white house office of health reform. thanks for your time today. >> thanks, savannah. well, a major strategy change announced today by president obama. a u.s. missile defense program that was supposed to be built in

eastern europe will not be happening. david sangor, "the new york times" chief washington correspondent and author of "inpertive: the world obama confronts and the challenges to power" is with us now. >> 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 of the program that we're announcing today. in confronting that threat, we welcome russians' cooperation. >> first thougquestion, is this good decision? >> it's a decision i think they had to make over time, because the initial placement of the missile defenses in czechoslovak czechoslovakia, in the czech republic, i'm sorry, and in poland, were really distant from iran and conceived of before the iranian threat really emerged to the degree to which it is today. with what they are now looking

at, there's the possibility of both having a mobile defense for limited range, short-range and immediate-range missiles and being able to put these in turkey or on ships in the region that would enable them to actually focus on iran. >> one of the justifications for this shift in strategy is, according to the president, that the threat of iran with long-term missiles has lessened to some degree, and now the action is all about short and medium-range missiles, and so, therefore, this new strategy would be better suited to that. that's based on intelligence assessments. and i guess my question to you is can those be trusted? are we sure that iran isn't still pursuing long-range missiles and that we don't need missile defense in eastern europe to combat that? >> very good question, savannah. the iranians certainly are pursuing it, as the north koreans are pursuing it. but both countries -- and they work together on their missile operations. in fact, a lot of iran's early missile designs were purchased from north korea.

both had very difficult times getting accurate, long-range missiles together. that doesn't mean that eventually they won't do it. we've had a very difficult time building a defense against long-range missiles, but we've been more successful, technologically, against the shorter-range missiles. so, i think that what you're going to hear on the one side is the obama administration saying this was a pragmatic decision. we're taking a system that we have more confidence in and putting it up against the nearer-term threat. what i think you're going to hear his critics saying is first that we have abandoned the ronald reagan vision of a shield for the continental united states. and secondly, that we have abandoned any hope of ultimately building the shield against a resurgent russia. and that was always a subtheme of what was happening in the bush administration. it is not a subtheme of what's happening here. >> let me read what senator john mccain said in response to this decision. he said, "this decision calls into question the security and diplomatic commitment the united

states has made to poland and the czech republic and has the potential to undermine perceived american leadership in eastern europe. given the strong and enduring relationships we have forged with the region's nations since the end of the cold war, we should not, i believe, take steps backward in strengthening these ties." he's concerned about a relationship with the czech republic and poland. a lot of folks will look at this and say, are we coddling russia? russia has made no secret of its distaste for this plan. when we were all in moscow and there was talk of resetting the relationship, starting a new -- getting a new start treaty, this was clearly on the russians' mind. they tried to separate the czech, but the russians -- medvedev has already said this is a responsible move. they're thrilled. >> they are, and i think the vulnerability that president obama has here is that he could be perceived as bending to russian procedural in his effort to get a more comprehensive nuclear deal by the end of the year from the russians. on the other hand, what he gains

is not defending the czech republic or poland, but he does gain some credibility in the middle east. remember, he is concerned and has said many times that the saudis, the egyptians, the turks might be tempted to compete with iran by building their own nuclear or missile capability. this would be a way of saying we're there, you don't have to. >> let's turn to afghanistan. there's some mounting pressure on the president to announce a decision about whether or not we should send more troops to afghanistan. frankly, he doesn't have the recommendation from mcchrystal yet, but everyone expects it. secretary gates said today this is one of the most momentous decisions the president will have to make of his presidency and he'll take his time. i'm paraphrasing. >> yes. >> but do they have that time? i mean, this is not an occasion where you can sit forever and try to reach that great strategy. i mean, our american soldiers are over there fighting and dying as it is. >> that's the tension, savannah, that we've seen play out all

week. when you think about admirable mullins' testimony, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. he basically said, we're going to need more time and more combat forces. he didn't say how many. then the next day, yesterday, you saw the white house turn out these 50 measures, metrics, they call them, of progress in afghanistan. and you heard the president say i'm going to spend a lot of time on this debate. now, again, sort of as in the missile defense, a risk about what the future looks like. let's say he pushes this off until the end of the year. you wouldn't have additional troops there until spring, you know, at the earliest. if we were vulnerable in that time, i think he would be open to that criticism. but as secretary gates said, this probably is the most momentous decision of his presidency. it may be more momentous than the health care debate. >> wow. so, he has indicated for sure he's not going to be rushing it. >> that's right. >> he said no decision's imminent. david sanger from "the new york times," thank you so much. >> thank you, savannah.

new developments in the case of murdered yale grad student annie le. 24-year-old raymond clark did not enter a plea during his first court appearance today. he was arrested this morning. bail was set at $3 million. nbc's ron allen is live in new haven, connecticut, for us. and ron, talk about this arrest. what do we know? >> reporter: well, clark is in jail. he's being held, as you pointed out, on $3 million bail, which is a pretty stiff bail that i suspect he's not going to make. so he's going to be in custody for some time. he was charged with murder. he's the only suspect in the case, and so the police have moved very quickly to sort of wrap this thing up, as you will. the family of le's fiance, jonathan orr dostie, has released a statement. it suggested how this is such a bittersweet day for this community. there is relief that an alleged killer is in custody, but some feeling of grief, of course, because of the girl's death. the statement says "we want to express our gratitude to our friends and relatives, our

temple family and our neighbors, our colleagues and schoolmates, and all good people out there who have offered their good wishes, sympathy and support during this very difficult time." they also expressed thanks to law enforcement for moving quickly to find this alleged killer. but again, for now, clark is in custody, $3 million bail. we don't know what the motive was in this case, as of yet. the next court proceeding is going to happen some time in early october. so, perhaps there will be more details about this. the police have said that this was a workplace crime, a violent crime in the workplace, not an urban crime or a university crime, trying to calm some people in the yale community who are obviously disturbed by this happening right here on campus. savannah? >> nbc's ron allen in new haven, thank you so much for that report. other top headlines we're following at this hour. former vice president dick cheney is in a washington hospital right now undergoing elective surgery to deal with a spinal condition. in a new search, investigators in california found more bone fragments at the home of philip and nancy

garrido. it is not known if the fragments are human or animal fragments. police are trying to determine if the garridos are connected to at least two unsolved missing person's cases. as you know, phillip garrido is charged with the kidnapping, rape and imprisonment of jaycee duggard for 18 years. and coming up, democrats stand divided on the baucus health care bill, specifically whether it will hurt or help middle class americans. and is the bipartisan split over health care exposing a deeper problem in washington? is it time to break free from the two-party system? we'll look into that. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. i don't always let my bladder problems...

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democrats are taking issue with the senate finance committee's health care plan, long thought to be the best chance for bipartisan reform. they are worried, among other things, that the middle class will take a real hit if the proposal passes as it is. ron brownstein is political director for atlantic media. okay, ron, the baucus bill, seems like this is something to hate for everybody, after all those months of hard work. realistically, is this a template going forward or is it dead on arrival? >> no, i think it's actually more the template than it might seem today. there is one obvious, large flaw with this, and then perhaps a second significant flaw. the large flaw is that it does not provide sufficient subsidies for middle class families who would be required to buy insurance under the individual mandate, which is essential in all the bills because it is the key to insurance reform. a second flaw is the way it deals with contributions from employers. it might discourage employers from hiring certain kinds of low-income workers. but savannah, he has built a structure here that i believe is going to be the foundation of any bill that ultimately reaches the president, because it does two things that none of the other bills have yet been able to do. first, it goes much further than

anyone has toward advancing the bending the curve idea, the long-term reforms and trying to shift the medical system away -- >> supposedly saves money. >> that saves money over time, even though the cbo gives you lull l little credit for it. changing a dentist or doctors, they get to some of the ideas that famous new yorker story about differential -- how much use there is in different communities. there is a lot in here in long-term payment reform. the other thing that he's done is he's created a revenue stream to pay for this through the savings and also through the taxation of the high-end health care plans that is tied to the growth in medical costs. every other bill that's been out there, the congressional budget office says the second decade looks worse than the first, and thus, expanding coverage might not be sustainable because the cost rises too fast. in their report on the baucus proposal yesterday, the cbo wrote, "the added revenues in cost savings after the first decade are projected to grow more rapidly than the cost of the coverage expansion." so, that's a template, a

framework for sustainably moving toward something approaching universal coverage. a lot of things in this they're going to have to change, especially because it's going to be a democratic-only bill in all likelihood, but he's given them something to build off of, because it's the first set of ideas that are fiscally sustainable and have the promise of fundamental reform in the way we compensate providers and pay for medicine. >> but you mention the democrats. i mean, first of all, democrats were as quick as republicans to line up -- >> right. >> -- and poke holes in this bill. and some have said, what was this notion of bipartisanship all about in the end? we were just negotiating with ourselves. we've already made so many compromises and they don't have one republican to show for it. >> right, and that is very revealing. the history -- what max baucus was trying to do was uphold the tradition of the senate finance committee, which has always thought of itself as the adults on the playground where, in fact, the bipartisan deals are reached. 1986, tax reform between bill bradley and ronald reagan, going all the way back to the '70s. he spent three months negotiating with three republicans beginning on june 17th.

>> so, was he double-crossed? what happened? >> i think he faced the reality that today the pressure is overwhelming on major issues for each party to line up on its side against the other. there were talks of primary challenges with chuck grassley, questions of whether he would maintain his leadership in congress. there is just an enormous pressure in the modern system and democrats will probably have to pass in on their own, and that's one reason why the bill is probably going to have to be revised. he has a bipartisan bill. it's probably going to be a more partisan approach and has to reflect democratic pirates more. >> this is what ceci connelly wrote -- "on the surface it appears no one is happy with senator max baucus, and that may be the best news president obama has had in months. behind the rhetorical fireworks was a sense that the fragile coalition of major industry leaders and interest groups central to refashioning the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system remains intact. as they scoured the 223-page document, many of the most influential players found

elements to dislike, but not necessarily reasons to kill the effort. most enticing was the prospect of 30 million new customers." but, of course, that raises the question, is this a giveaway to industry? some democrats certainly see it that way. >> well, some democrats view anything that does not have a public-competitor private insurance companies as a giveaway to industry. but certainly, this bill does a variety of things. as i said, it has almost all of and goes beyond anything we've seen in terms of long-term pressure on providers that change the way they do business to try to encourage more quality and value for customers. and it's basically trying to take the things that work at places like the mayo clinic and provide incentives for groups of physicians and hospitals to do that and formally in groups around the country. it also allows competition by allowing the sale of national insurance plans that would have to meet certain standards and could get into the highly conspiracentrated markets, brea up. >> ron brownstein, always good to talk to you. thank you very much. >> thank you. coming up, dr. bill cosby

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manual control plus deep cleaning power. the oral-b pulsar. president obama is steering clear of the race debate after former president jimmy carter told nbc news he believes racism fueled some of the recent attacks on the president. andrea mitchell spoke with dr. bill cosby, who says the discussion must move away from race and refocus on health care reform. >> i do feel that all of this is taking too much time out when we've got a health bill, a reform that has to be worked on, passed, and we have to get it out to people who can't afford to have themselves in -- who can't afford to have themselves taken care of when they're sick.

>> now, the white house, robert gibbs speaking for the president, repeatedly was asked about the race issue and what jimmy carter said and repeatedly said that the president does not see this as being racially motivated. clearly, barack obama doesn't want to go there. >> i think it's very smart for him not to, because it's taking away. if anything that happens is blown up to the point where he has to answer something that has nothing to do with an issue like the health bill, it's going to be a smart move by anybody, and especially -- i don't know, media likes to do this, they like to fan things. i think it's important we say, we guess, we move on, and now

onto the bill. and i think that the president, he's got a tough road. a lot of people trying to throw things in front of his moving train or whatever it is, and we just need to stop this. i think jimmy carter's correct. that's my feeling. and we need to move on. >> well, is there something that we can learn from this, that there are consciously or unconsciously racially motivated opponents of the president, that people should examine their own hearts, their own minds, that our children should perhaps learn from this? i mean, what is the bigger message, do you think, that could turn this into a positive thing? >> 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 re realize that mistakes will happen and we've got to work for the betterment of the american people and that all the name-calling that goes on should be stopped, that corrections should be made and that our children should have a world that is going to be cleared up and safe for them and better than it was before this man was elected. i think that everything in this country still has a majority feeling that good can be the controlling factor.

>> well said, and i couldn't improve on that. so, thank you so much, bill cosby. thanks for joining us. >> and be sure to watch dr. cosby in sunday's msnbc special "about our children," moderated by analyst michelle bernard. that's sunday night, 7:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc. coming up, a strategy shift on missile defense. president obama says he's shelving bush administration plans for a missile shield in eastern europe. that decision is drawing fire from republicans and raising some questions about protecting u.s. allies from iran. we will have the latest, next on "andrea mitchell reports." discover friskies indoor wet cat food.

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>> i believe being pushed by the white house and by senate leadership to move ahead when there are still some things unresolved, and some of those are contentious things that need to be resolved. but i think they could have been resolved, and i think it's been said by several of the three of us to do it right, and we're kind of preempted from doing it right by being pushed or shoved aside, let's say, by the leadership and by the white house because they want to move on. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell is live on capitol hill. okay, kelly, senator baucus said he's still hopeful some republicans might sign on. sure doesn't sound like it. >> well, i think if you listen to chuck grassley's words and the tone, it sure doesn't sound like chairman baucus is going to have much help from republicans on this. today really has been a day of reaction. and interestingly enough, reaction has been negative from both parties on different issues, different reasons why

they don't like it. now, the senate finance committee has more than 20 members. we've talked so much about the gang of six negotiators. today the full committee is getting a look at it, and it's going to bring about changes, it's going to bring about new questions and more debate, but that's why today there is really a flurry of new reaction. as you heard, republicans feel rushed, they don't like what's in it. but also, some democrats are uneasy about what's not in it -- a public option. we heard from house speaker nancy pelosi earlier today. >> security for our seniors. our bill is stronger for seniors than the senate bill. we hope we can persuade them to our point of view. i fully support the public option. a public option will be in the bill that passes the house of representatives. >> reporter: she wants a public option on the house side, but what we've been talking about here in the senate doesn't have that now. it has instead those consumer-owned cooperatives where people could buy insurance. and savannah, you know, there will be changes.

there's a lot of work to do, but a vote could come before the end of the month on part of what we're seeing now. lots of steps to go, but we're seeing incremental progress and lots of opinions today. savannah? >> yeah, that's for sure. kelly o'donnell on the hill for us. thanks so much. well, a u.s. missile defense program that created tension with russia will no longer be based in poland and the former czech republic. nbc news jim miklaszewski joins us from the pentagon. jim, what was the rationale given for this decision to scrap missile defense in eastern europe? >> reporter: well, as you know, savannah, the obama administration really wasn't that supportive of the bush administration plan to permanently base antimissile missile interceptors in poland and radars in the czech republic permanently as some sort of missile shield against possible iranian missile attacks. so, the president announced today that they were scrapping the bush plan, but they were adopting a new one that would provide for a more mobile,

portable system, more adapted that would not only be land-based, but sea-based. and even defense secretary robert gates, who first recommended that land-based missile defense system in europe three years ago, acknowledged today that things have changed, that the technology is improved that allowed this new system to take over for what would have been that permanently land-based system. and it would be cheaper in the long run, more effective and put into force about six to seven years earlier. >> all right, jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. thank you so much. and speaking of defense secretary robert gates, he is urging patience as the president tries to figure out if more troops are needed in afghanistan. msnbc military analyst and retired army colonel jack jacobs joins us live. before we get to afghanistan, though, colonel, i'd like to ask you about missile defense. do you agree with the president's decision? >> depends on what his objective is. if his objective is to save money, then i agree.

if his objective is to pacify russia, who's been really irritated with our plans to deploy a permanent, fixed installations in eastern europe, i agree as well. it's going to do that. the new plan is going to save money. it won't be any more effective, but it will save money, and it's already had the effect, the desired effect on the russians. president medvedev has already said that he welcomes the move and thinks that the new administration is on the right track. we need to get russia on our side, in any case, because without them, we can't put the squeeze on iran. i'm not convinced necessarily that this is all it's going to take in order to get russia on our side, but certainly, as long as we were ready to deploy permanent, fixed installations in eastern europe, russia was not going to play ball with us. >> and shifting to afghanistan for a moment. obviously, the president has quite a momentous decision before him, one that he insists he will not rush into, whether

to send more troops. where do you come down on it? reasonable minds can disagree over what the best course is to take here. >> it's going to take a lot more troops than they've already been planned. there's supposed to be about 68,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan before the end of the year. my guess is that general stan mcchrystal, who runs the operation there, has already asked for or hinted that he wants at least another 10,000 and probably more. he's not going to get them, i don't think. >> all right. colonel jack jacobs, thank you for your perspective. nice to talk to you today. >> you're welcome. straight ahead, finding consensus on health care. president obama works to bring democrats together. can the party find common ground? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ♪

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joining us now from capitol hill is republican congressman bill cassidy from louisiana, a doctor himself. congressman, let me ask you about senator baucus' bill.

i know it's on the other side, in the other chamber, but the cbo says it's going to cover 94% of americans, actually reduce costs over ten years. so, what's not to like about that, from your perspective? >> savannah, there's a little bit of a slight of hand as to how the cbo or how it was scored. for example, it will push medicaid costs off to the states. so, 10% of the additional costs of covering these folks by the medicaid expansion will be covered by taxpayers, but it will be on a state income tax form, not a federal. now, currently, states across the nation are either going bankrupt or having to raise taxes or cut services to cover medicaid, and so, that's one thing. secondly, there's another slide of hand as regards to physician payments and hospital payments. it says medicare will increase it this coming year, but after that, decrease them by 25%. now, that's just not going to happen. at least the president is on the up and up to say that, you know, we're going to do a fix on this, and as it turns out, that fix costs $240 billion. by and large, senator baucus has

moved that out of the cbo's scoring for his bill. i think it's fiscal slight of hand, not fiscal responsibility. >> do you agree with the insurance reforms? i think that one thing that all the five bills have in common is this getting rid of some of these insurance practices like pre-existing conditions, that kind of thing. do you want those kinds of reforms? and if you do, will it be hard for you to vote against them because you don't like other aspects of health care reform? >> absolutely. we want the reform so that somebody with a pre-existing condition is not eliminated from coverage or priced out of coverage. for the last 20 years, i've worked in a hospital for the uninsured. this is an issue near and dear to my heart. that said, any system you put in place has to be financially sustainable. ultimately, if not, benefits are cut. again, i've worked in a hospital for the uninsured. i can tell you from firsthand experience, when the state had a trouble with their financing, our hospital and therefore our patients lost service. so, we have to have those reforms, but in a way which

controls cost as well so that we can sustain it going out into the future. >> all right, congressman, thank you so much for your time. pleasure being with you today. >> thank you, savannah. >> let's bring in democratic strategist peter narajanian and trent duffy. hi, guys. as you know, the president met one on one with skeptical democrats. he's got a republican problem and a problem in his own party, too. let's listen to what he had to say. >> i never said change would be easy. change is hard. it's always been hard. civil rights was hard. getting women the right to vote, that was hard. >> actually, that was the president today before college students in maryland. peter, i'll start with you. he's got to get democrats on board. already, the great hope, the baucus bill is out, and people in the democratic party have a variety of problems with it. can he keep the caucus in line and get these 60 votes?

>> i think he can, and i think that you're seeing a movement now in the finance committee with senator baucus, sort of trying to coalesce around this. i think that, naturally, there are democrats who are more on the progressive side of the spectrum who are going to have some issues with it. conservatives have issues with it. but i think they're going to come together at the end of the day. i think what's interesting about this is that the challenge for the republicans is, do they become part of this at the end of the day? because the baucus bill is as mainstream as you're going to get, the baucus version. do they come together on this or do they stay out with the concern that if they are part of it, they give obama a win on health care, which i don't know if they want to do. >> what about that, trent, because i asked the congressman, are you for the health insurance reforms, for example, or not? the baucus bill, if you ask progressives, they think it's a horror show. they think it's a total giveaway to industry. this is the most republican bill you could possibly get out of democrats. so, why would republicans not support it some. >> i don't think it's the most republican bill by a longshot.

it doesn't have true liability medical reform, true competition. it includes severe medicare contractions. you have florida democrat bill nelson talking about the fact that he needs to protect some of the medicare cuts that are in the baucus bill. i think peter's right, that this is about the democratic caucus. the president is clearly talking to his base there. they realize that republicans don't have the votes to kill it, but i don't think the republicans are going to gain anything by being part of the discussion, because what they're getting is just scraps. it's a medical liability reform -- >> is there any danger that the democrats might get something passed -- >> sure. >> -- and then the republicans have to explain why they voted against all these very popular health insurance reforms? >> there is clearly a risk, and i think the democrats have to make a threshold decision. if the risk is worth the reward. president obama is going to either, you know, take the pain for this and the congressional democrats, or he'll reap the rewards if it seems popular. this plan has serious doubts among seniors who vote disproportionately in off-year elections and he went to the young today to try to rev up

deagain to get the campaign bus, so sure, there is risk for republicans, but i think the concern's not just among conservatives, but independents and seniors are enough that they feel confident that they can take this down. >> peter, the top question for democrats, is this really hurting the middle class. you've got an individual mandate that will be very expensive for people. yes, there will be subsidies for those who can't afford it, but it's tough on the middle class, which goes to the heart of a key campaign promise from the president. >> no, no, of course. i mean, that's something that has to be ironed out. what's interesting about what trent said is that even though the republicans, i think, are still grappling in their caucus weather to get with this or not, the health care industry, the doctors, they have all stayed at the negotiating table, have all been part of this process, unlike '94 with clinton. so at the end daytime, a big constituency on the republican side -- a lot of the folks who support republicans are still part of this process. so, that's the risk i think for republicans is to stay out when industry and other folks on the front lines are in. >> all right, got to cut it off there, peter marijanian and

trent duffy. thank you very much. coming up next, what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? that is next on msnbc, the place for politics. you're good. thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy. cool. i'm not done -- for less than a dollar a month, you also get 24/7 roadside assistance. ght on. yeah, vroom-vroom! sounds like you ran a 500. more like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. well, you're excused. the right insurance for your ride. w, that's progressive. call or click today. with all the pet hair in the air my eyes would really itch. but now i have new zyrtec® itchy eye drops. no other allergy itchy eye drop works faster or longer.

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in an exclusive interview, nbc's ann curry sat down with iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, for his first interview since the elections there and unrest in iran. >> inside and outside of iran, people are question egg the legitimacy of your presidency. the speaker of the parliament, larijani, himself, said many in iran don't believe the election was fair. so, it's important to ask you, mr. president, it's important to ask you this question. did you steal this election? >> any person can express his or her points of view and have

their own opinions. if you feel the structures relating to elections in iran are the strongest such foundation and the law prevais,s the legal frame works inside iran are clear. and if a person has an opinion to express, within the confines of the law, they are free to express such opinion. i don't see any problems. >> you can watch ann's exclusive interview with the iranian president tonight on "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. check your local listings for times. well what big story will dominate headlines in the next 24 showers in joining us live via skype, chris salizzo, author of the blog, the fix, and the

"washington post." quite an exciting background there. it's a little prison-like, but let's talk about the value summit, socially conservative activists beginning their three-day summit tomorrow. talk about that. >> yeah, this is an annual get-together in washington, the summit in which socially conservative activists generally get together and hear from leading lights within the party. this is usually seen as kind of a stomping ground for who ever is interested in running for national office. this was the place that mitt romney dropped out of the presidential race it seems like ten years ago, but it was actually last year. mitt romney will dress that group again, as will tim pawlenty, the current governor of minnesota who is doing a lot that makes people think he will run for president. one person who won't be there, sarah palin, former governor of alaska who is regarded as a hero to social conservatives. she is taking a pass,

interestingly enough. >> chris, i don't know if you have a monitor in your prison cell you are appearing today. i have to show you this video, i don't know if you saw this, but supreme court justice sonia sotomayor showing some dancing chops last night at the annual gala of the national hispanic foundation for the arts. apparently after esai morales pulled her out on the dance floor and she showed some chops there. >> as someone who has been known to break it out with a deejay, i wouldn't fault anyone who shows that kind of dance move. >> she looks pretty darn good. >> doing the salsa. >> i don't think it was on her resume for the supreme court, but it should have been. >> anyone who can dance, i admire. anyone who has seen me dance knows that i am not in the people who can dance category. >> yeah, ex-a actually. chris, we will be sure to read your blog there you are in custody. and you need the support.

>> write a letter on my behalf. >> ex-a actually. blog at "washington post."com/the fix. chris, thanks. that does it for me at this hour. i'm savannah guthrie. andrea mitchell returns tomorrow. contessa brewer picks up our coverage from here with "it's the economy." what do you have coming up? >> it looks like chris is probably somewhere he is not supposed to be, like on vacation, puts up the white background behind him so his employers don't think anything. >> on vacation. >> i think you can hear the crashing waves behind him and thinking of glasses. you are on to something there, contessa. you have heard this youtube video, where this woman mad as hell, not going to take it anymore, taking on bank of america for hiking her credit card fees, joining us to talk about what she wants to accomplish with this youtube campaign. plus, those fees you pay when you buy a plane ticket, did you know it is going for stuff, some of it, that you probably

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