while i may not be the first president to take up the cause of health care reform, i'm determined tonight last, with your help. >> fired up and ready to go on health care. president obama offering his prescription for change in a campaign-style rally, getting ready to roll out his secret weapon on health care, the first lady. czar wars, conservatives and now handful of democrats criticizing the white house for special advisers operating without congressional approval but are they forgetting about recent history? the clinton tapes, hundreds of hours of intimate recordings

from years in office, make for a new book that could be our most unfiltered look yet at his turbulent presidency, a special preview. all that plus the developing news on the yale murder arrest, a yale worker behind bars today acre cuesed of brutally strangling med student, annie le. the latest on the case against him and the possible motive. >> good afternoon, i'm norah o'donnell. >> i'm alex witt. david and tam ron have the day off. >> president obama is back at the white house after holding another rally on health care reform at the comcast center at the university of maryland in college park. he spoke to his young supporters telling them what health reform specifically means for them. president obama also making his case for the public option at this public university. >> some folks who said this is a

government takeover of health care. we have public universities and private universities. nobody says this we are taking over private colleges. >> what we are doing is giving students a choice. you should have a choice the same way in your health care. >> he was fired up. nancy pelosi today insisted that a public option would be included in the final bill. >> i fully support the public option, public option will be in the bill, as it passes the house of representatives. >> but hold on, everybody, house minority leader john boehner says not so fast. >> talking about this issue for weeks and weeks and weeks and maybe months to come, because i don't think there is any chance that there -- these big government health care proposals are going to pass either the house or the senate. >> chuck todd is nbc's chief white house correspondent. let's talk first about the president. wow, it felt like the campaign today, he was on fire, huh? >> it s we have seen this the last week.

look what he did monday, when he barnstormed the rust belt, youngs town, pittsburgh, philadelphia. everything out there has been very campaigny. part of this is about, frankly, trying to keep democrats united because there was another part of the rally that i found fascinating. he brought up the baucus bill. said baucus by name, a group of activists this is college park, maryland, play is been maryland, but inside the beltway, they pay attention. he said the baucus bill and you hear a smattering of boos. probably echoing what we have seen coming from the left. i tell you, as soon as you came on the air, got an official release from four senators on the baucus bill, olympia snowe, ben nelson, claire mccaskill and joe lieberman praising the bill, praising the efforts for it, snowe signing her name on it, obviously, she didn't individually go out there the

fact she is part of the team there you have snowe and nelson, two very important people, a lot of people believe if you can't get snowe, you're not gonna get nelson. nelson goes with snowe and maybe something to that with lieberman. lieberman, by the way, was a huge player for this white house in getting snowe and collins to sign on to the stimulus bill. so lieberman is a bigger player here sometimes than we realize. >> so let me just underline that and put an exclamation point after what you just said this is a significant development that has just happened. that means now that there is a republican behind this bill, a lot of people were panning baucus bill, no republican support, now there is some republican support? >> let me clarify here. >> yes, clarify. >> let me clarify, in the way they commend the bill, not saying they support it, but come on, we know what the hidden message is here, basically, olympia snow is signing on with a group of three other moderate democrats saying, okay, i can work with this bill. >> pretty significant.

nbc's chuck todd with that new information. chuck, as always, thanks so much. >> you got t. let's take that new information and to the bigger picture now. michelle obama will be taking up the issue of health care reform. the first lady will be holding an event tomorrow talking to women and families about the health care system. right now, she is focusing on healthy eating, because mrs. obama say tending the opening of a farmer a's market near the white house at this moment. david trucker, a staff reporter at role call. good afternoon to you, david. >> good afternoon. >> let's talk about the first lady's role in all of this suspect the first time we have heard the first lady talking health care. will she be talking about the details in the bill or just the need for reform? >> yeah, i expect her to just talk about the need for reform. first ladies don't usually get into the weeds on this stuff, notwithstanding hillary clinton's involvement when she was first lady back in the '9. not that michelle obama isn't very capable but i think they are specifically sending her thought for the pr advantage. she thinks that she brings this effort. i think that is what you can

expect to see for her. >> given that it didn't work out for hillary clinton what do you think the lessons are to learn from that experience that maybe michelle obama will take with her? >> i think the situations are both extremely different, okay? with hillary clinton, this was her baby, she was directing this effort from the white house on behalf of the president. michelle obama, with this health care reform campaign she is going to take out the public seems more more in the traditional first lady role of taking a subject important to the president, taking it on the road and sell it from a broad sense. unless michelle obama starts trolling the halls of capitol hill, i don't think you have too much to worry about from that perspective. w he don't expect her lobbying members of congress, twisting arms. the first lady's office has said what they want to do is use her to amplify the president's message and a lot of these key policy issues. with what group of voter does you think she could be most influential? >> well, i think, you know, she

could be influential with women. first ladies have the ability to communicate to the female audience in a way sometimes their husbands cannot. i think she might go after even the young audience, that president barack obama himself was in front of today and i think they might try to roll her out possibly to the senior audience, simply because, you know exas a mother, she might be able to group kate in ways that will be appealing to that audience. but i think it is important to point out that as important a role as the first lady could play, positions on health care within the po public, opinions on some of the major issues that congress was grappling with as a part of reform have begun to harden to the extent i'm not sure how much effect she can have. >> no doubt. david, let me ask you about the news that chuck todd just reported right here on msnbc first at the top of the hour about these four republicans, including republican senator olympia snow, praising the

baucus bill. how significant is that? >> well, i don't think we should overplay it at this point. senator snow has praised this effort throughout, she is part of the gang of six, she has said as recently as today there are many things she likes about the bill, still things she would like to see worked out. so, her praising the bill is not that far of a stretch. the other senators that signed onto this letter, i don't know if you mentioned senator lieberman and senator ben nelson or bill nelson, senator lieberman does not have a vote on the finance committee, i think if he signals he likes this tells you where the moderate democrats are in the democratic caucus. if it is senator bill nelson, he is on the finance committee and has a vote, i think that would be pretty significant. senator ben nelson, show you where the moderates and centrists are it doesn't mean the bill has legs. senator snowe continuing to show support definitely is important for the fact that max back discuss looking for gop support for his legislation. >> david trucker from roll call.

>> our first lady has ginormous popularity ratings. i think she could influence the debate. >> swing voters, women voters you have seen, independent voters. if you look in the poll numbers where there has been a dropoff with the president, independent voters and swing voters, she can go out and an priv fit president's message in a way that is nonthreatening, noncontroversial and emphasize her key issue which are healthy eating and kids' health. >> an ambassador that way, don't you think? >> yeah. >> the way they want to eat healthy in the white house? >> right now, a farmer's market, a new farmer's market, a couple blocks from the white house where the first lady is at, i have white house staffers e-mailing me, they are excited because they can't get a good tomato inside the white house mess. >> there you go. practice what you preach there. now a very important story out there, this arrest in the murder of yale university grad student annie le. 24-year-old lab tech raymond clark was arraigned after being taken into custody this morning. he was picked up at a motel

about 25 miles from the yale campus. authorities say he checked in yesterday shortly after he was released from police. but of course, he was kept under constant surveillance. and clark worked in the same yale lab building where annie le's body was found sunday stuffed inside a wall. that was the day she was going to be married. sources say she was killed on the day that she was going to to be married. police say they have dna evidence. in fact, the hartford current reports computer records show shortly after annie le swiped her card to enter a room at the yale lab building, clark swiped his card to enter the same room. and also, a source told the newspaper that le was never seen again and her card was never used again. >> i think it's important to know this is not about urban crime it is not about university crime, it's not about domestic crime, but an issue of workplace violence, which is become agreeing concern around the country. >> joining us now, dan abrams,

nbc news chief legal analyst. i'm going to ask you about workplace violence in a minute. >> yeah. >> but first this evidence is pretty significant. i mean, it sounds like the police have her swiping into a room and then him swiping in the room and they know he was the last person to perhaps see her alive. no question even before they got this dna evidence that they were looking at him very, very closely. you have got the computer records. you have got allegations of scratches on his body, we will have to wait to see if that pans out, et cetera, but before they got these results that led to the arrest, they were already clearly looking at him. it would take quite a coincidence, they would say, no someone might argue somebody else could have had his card there are other explanations, et cetera, et cetera, but that's why they wanted to wait for the dna. they were just going to go because we have got this evidence that suggests he was in

the same room, they wanted to say we need something else that actually links him. >> he is a lab technician, she is getting her joint md/ph.d. he clean the cages of the rats of this yale lab what is the motive? >> we don't know. there are allegations that they were fighting about the way that some of the mice were being treated, et cetera, but you know in a way, the motive won't than important. meaning, if the authorities have the evidence they say they have, which is the computer records, if there are the scratches, if there is the dna match, et cetera, the motive almost becomes secondary, because if you've got, you know, bloody clothes or you've got hair, et cetera, of his there, then he is going to have some -- >> interesting what the motive is. sort of interested what was going on? >> doesn't make any sense, people say this person never would have done it because of x, y and z. in the end, you find out he or she did. >> but what about something in the past? >> yeah. >> reports about in high school he had an ex-girlfriend who he harassed allegedly and trashed her locker when she dumped him. then the reports, police say he allegedly forced her to have sex with him. how much does that play into it?

>> plays into the investigation, probably not into the trial. not saying it won't come up. as authorities investigate, they want to know about the person. lie detector test, can't admit it in court but investigators love to use it they say it helps us get a sense of where things r i think those allegations, i think just allegations, probably went into the whole mix, when the authorities were looking that the guy and saying, is this the guy who could have done this? and it is clear that even before, i said, there's no question in my mind that his lawyer was talking to the authorities before he was arrested to say, look, we are watching him. he better not go anywhere. and just tell him to make this a easy because if his dna matches, we are going to arrest him, which is what we did. >> learn more about this. dan abrams, thanks so much. >> good to see you. coming up, the clinton tapes, an early look at the new book based on hundreds of hours of recordings that the former president made during some of his most tur pew lent years in

office. and on the attack over missile defense, republicans criticizing president obama for scrapping a bush era program to defend europe. plus, a moving ceremony at the white house as the president awards his first medal of honor to a soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. >> for a third time, he ran toward his fallen comrade. said his patrol leader, "it was the bravest thing i had ever seen a soldier do." bicycle, i've missed you. gathering dust, as pollen floats through the air.

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welcome back to "the big picture." major reversal of plans to build a missile shield in eastern europe. president obama shelved the bush plan a major irritant with russia. decision was based on a determines that iran's

long-range missile program has not progressed as rapidly as estimated in 2006. the president also insisted a redesigned defense system will be cheaper and more effective than the threat from iranian missiles. >> our new approach will therefore deploy technologies that are proven and cost effective and to 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 at the threat and technology continue to evolve. >> president bush planned to build a missile defense system in poland and the czech republic as recommended by robert gates, defense secretary. gates stayed on as president obama's defense secretary, gave details of the new system. >> in the initial stage, we will deploy aegis ships equipped with sm-3 intercepters which provide the flexibility to move intercepters from one region to another as needed.

the second phase, about 2015, will involve fielding upgraded land-based sm-3s. consultations have begun with allies, starting with poland and the czech republic about had hosting a land-based version of the sm-3 and other components of the system. >> the president's decision immediately drew fire from republicans. is senator john mccain said he is disappointed and added, "this decision calls into question the security and diplomatic commitments the united states has made to poland and the czech republic. it has the potential to undermine perceived american leadership in eastern europe." here is what house minority leader john boehner had to say. >> this ill-advised decision does little more than empower russia and iran at the expense of our european allies. i think it shows a willful determination to continue ignoring the threat posed by some of the most dangerous regimes in the world, while taking one of the most important

defenses against iran off the table. >> and we are joined right now by nbc news military analyst jack jacobs. good afternoon. we have presidented me dead vef welcoming the president's decision. >> he would, wouldn't he? >> woechl he was against it when things were being planned both the czech republic and poland. how is this about appeasing russia? >> it is about apaegz russia. don't forget we are not going to be able to do anything about enforcing any of the restrictions on iran or prevent them from developing nuclear weapons without russia's help. as a matter of fact, russia's got lots of advisers in iran help them develop nuclear when pops and until we get russia on our side that is not going to happen. we are not going to be able to squeeze iran. this goes a long way to getting russia to get on our side to assist in stopping iran from what it's doing. >> people care about using the word appeasing russia? isn't this about not angering them further? >> well, we certainly did anger them. the last administration did two things which angered russia. >> yeah. >> and got them much more

paranoid than they usually are. the first was getting all the eastern european countries into nato. the second was fielding this weapons system or trying to field this weapons system. i don't -- i don't think apiece though is necessarily the wrong word to use. they are much more appeased now than they were yesterday before we announced this. as a matter of fact, we had a meeting with them several weeks ago and told them in advance we were going to do this and much happier about it now. >> certainly, president obama anticipated the factor that people suggesting that maybe it was in this way working with russia. it is, too. >> that is all fine and good, but this new plan, he says, ultimately, all that aside, offers more protection rather than less. do you agree with that? >> no. i don't as a matter of fact there are three ways in which you can intercept missiles. one is at the origin, where it is relatively easy to do, if you have the guts to do it, in space if it's en route, a little bit more difficult.

the most difficult and cheapest way to do it, is in its terminal phase, when it's about ready to hit the ground. that's what we are doing now. we are doing it the relatively inexpensive way. having said all that having mobile launch sears much better idea than having fixed ones because the technology is better for mobile launchers now. 'ventionly, as the secretary of defense says, we will have good technology we can plant if i canned launches in eastern europe but that's long way from now, that's five -- five years -- at least five years from now and many billions of dollars, ladies and gentlemen. >> colonel jack jacobs, thanks. up next what you need know today, including why former vice president dick cheney is back in the hospital. later on the shock the hammer vows to stay on the dance floor, despite his fractured foot. [ horns honking ]

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welcome back. here is what you need to know today. former vice president dick chainny checked into a washington, d.c. hospital a chairman at the department of neurosurgery at george washington hospital says chain nay is undergoing elective surgery to deal with a spinal condition. the fbi raided a home of a colorado man with possible ties to al qaeda. agents and sheriff deputies searched the house in suburban denver. zblaz zi denies being involved in a possible bomb plot discovered in a recent connection with several raids in new york city. the fbi is checking with home improvement stores in that area to see if they have sold any large kwaunt quantities of chemicals used to make explosives. a small plane with two people on board crashed into a lake in florida this morning. both people were able to make to shore. their names and conditions have not about released. official says there is significant damage to the nose of the aircraft. the cause of the crash still

under investigation. just ahead, the one topic the white house cannot seem to avoid, how the national conversation about race is affecting president obama and his agenda. also, the clinton tapes, that's right, a new tape details dozens of private conversations with the former president from his most controversial years in office a. (music plays) boy: is that your new car? uh...yeah. boy: cool. thanks. i knew i wanted the new subaru legacy. i went back and forth on the hood scoop. but i'm glad i went for it. the all-new subaru legacy.

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that's why carnation instant breakfast essentials supplies all the nutrients of a complete breakfast. so kids get the protein and calcium they need to help build strong muscles and healthy bones. carnation instant breakfast essentials. good nutrition from the start. i'm bertha comes with your cnbc market wrap. the dow right now with a slim gain on the day, up about 3, 14 points, let's call it the standard & poor's 500 off fractionally and nasdaq off 2.5 points. bernie madoff's weekend retreat on long island has a new owner. an unknown buyer signed a crack to purchase the home for more than the asking price of $8.75 million. the u.s. marshals service put the home on the market september 1st. the house has sweeping views of the atlantic ocean.

proceeds will help repay victims of madoff's massive ponzi scam. promising news on the job front. the number of newly laid off workers filing for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest levels since early july. the third decline in four weeks. housing construction rose 1.5% last month, the highest level in nine months. a surge in apartment buildings offset a a decline in single family construction. that's it from cnbc first in business worldwide. now back to msnbc. welcome back, everybody, i'm norah o'donnell. >> i'm alex witt. in the big picture, former president jimmy carter is speaking out again saying attacks against president obama are rooted in race. the former president held a town hall meeting in emory university last night answered said the quote radical fringe of people comparing the president to hitler and animals crosses the line. >> 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 is a racist attitude. >> today, house speaker nancy pelosi got emotional when she spoke about the angry rhetoric directed against president obama and the rhetoric of the health care reform. >> i have a concern about some of the language this that is being used because i saw -- i saw this myself in the late 'in san francisco this kind of rhetoric. it was very frightening and it gave -- it created a climate in which we -- violence took place. >> well, the white house maintains that race isn't behind recent criticism of president obama. press secretary robert gibbs spoke about it in a briefing today. >> the belief is not that this is based on the come over one's skin but on honest, political

disagreements that have been going on for -- well, since the beginning of our country. >> and now the bigger country is the debate over the race hurting president obama? aides to the president say they should not be distracked but valerie jarrett told the "new york times," "he could probably give a very powerful speech just as he did in the course of the campaign but right now, his top domestic pry or sit health care reform." keith richburg is the new york bureau chief for the "washington post" and joins us now. all right, keith, let's talk about what valerie jarrett just said, he could probably give a powerful speech on race but they don't want to distract from health care reform. it's interesting that they are thinking like that. >> absolutely. you know, we saw this come up during that press conference he gave on health care reform when he got totally distracted about a question by henry lewis gates at the end. that ended up with a week of discussion about the gates'

controversy, rather have are it focused on health care reform. he realized this is the big issue, anything that distracts is not good for them any time he goes into the race debate is not good for him. >> why doesn't anyone tell jimmy carter to do? he says it with brian williams and repeat it is a second day. people in the white house are saying keep it quiet this is not helping us? >> the problem is i think probably administrations on both sides realized you can't control jimmy carter. he has been out there, necessary his 80. he is going to say what he wants. he said some things on the israeli/palestinian conflict five or six years ago that inflamed every not be bush administration. he is going to say what's going to say. it is coming at an inopportune time but something that has been out there. people have been talking about this columnist maureen dowd writing about this gene robinson for the "washington post" it is out there. strange bed fellows, i want to talk about this listen to what representative joe wilson had to sign the room we've got a clip of that. let's play it. >> that is such a distraction

and a diversion from the issues that we should be discussing and that's why i really want to take the requested advice of president obama and that is that we should be addressing the issue. >> do you think that is enough to address to former president obama? you have both sides of the aisle in effect, saying -- it is a distraction. >> you know, president obama, former president obama, has a way of throwing these things out there and letting the debate bubble on. he says things that people are inching up to but kind of afraid to same eric holder when he first took over as attorney general said we are cowards when it comes to discussing race. this is kind of what he meant. it is under the surface there. we see the signs of the rallies. we see the confederate flags on the fringes. we see -- i saw a sign that said, you know, an african lion at the zoo, a lying african at the white house, but we ignore the fringe it is there. >> people don't oppose the president's health care policy because he happens to be a black

president but some people who may not like the president because he is black. >> right. >> i do think it is important to point out the vote tally in some southern states and the number of white voters, as you know, i did all the exit polls, of course, during the campaign, alabama, 10% of whites voted for alabama, 11% of whites in mississippi, 14% in louisiana. nationwide, it was 43%. those states happened to go red for john mccain, southern states but not many whites in the southern states. >> looking at those numbers earlier, other thing you can look at, if you can get the numbers, look how they voted for john kerry in each of the states there was a huge drop between the kerry vote and obama vote, sometimes double digits which means that white voters willing to vote for a liberal john kerry were not willing to vote for a liberal barack obama. how much can you attribute to race? look at the statistics, the number of people who believe or question whether barack obama was born in this country, mostly

concentrated in the south. >> keith richburg with the "washington post," great to see you. thanks, keith. thank you. >> what do you think, alex? >> you know, what you said was nobody votes for health care because of the fact the president has the skin color black. absolutely nobody of a certain mental acumen would do that, but there are those who will confuse things because they come to the table with a preprejudice and don't think open mindedly. >> yeah, look, i don't think it is a huge revelation that there's whack jobs out there, right? >> yeah, sure. >>by think it was important to acknowledge it and very struck that nancy pell lows circumstance the speaker of the house, got so emotional and actually tied it to what happened to the, you know, effort for gay rights, harvey milk. >> in the '70s, absolute violence, people were kill and she was absolutely correct. that kind of infighting. >> i know the president didn't want to talk about this yesterday when questions were thrown to him but about to do sit down interviews with all of the sunday morning anchors, you

bet they will ask him about, interesting to see how he responds or doesn't respond or how he tries to say let's move on from that, more important things to talk b. >> big thing for david gregory this weekend. in today's closeups, the clinton tapes, 79 secret conversations all record ready now turned into a back that could be our most revealing look yet at the clinton presidency. >> author kaytaylor branch is interviewed in "gc" magazine and says clinton has conducted several complaints about the books. a gc correspondent's interview with clinton is in the september 22nd issue of "gc," a must-get magazine. good afternoon. >> thanks, same to you. >> let's talk about taylor branch and his history with the clintons. i think a lot of people would be surprised to know that they were roommates, the three of them, hillary clinton, bill clinton and taylor branch 40 years ago living in texas, right? tell me about that? >> can't you just picture it, a

future president, secretary of state and pulitzer prize-winning historian sharing a tiny little apartment working on a campaign in texas, 1972, later parted ways and bill and hillary didn't, but he didn't hear back from clinton until 1992, when he was coming into the presidency. >> in 1992, to bring in with somebody who he hoped to tease a white house historian post, you know, 1992, he has just been elected, the fact that he was thinking about his position in history, talk about that. >> yeah, right so interesting to read this book and see the unvarnished anecdotes about clinton, how he thought about things, not the least of which is he wanted to leave this record and he was conscious of that record, even before he came into the white house, before he was president, he was thinking about leaving a sort of paper trail, not only of his decision

bus how they were made. so he began speaking with taylor about this project and feeling taylor out about what taylor would think as an historian. of course, wrote three really definitive volumes about the civil rights movement and dr. martin luther king and clinton was trying to feel taylor out about what was the best way to leave a historical record unprecedented, provide a more thorough glimpse into his thinking and decisionmaking process. >> will, this is so absolutely fascinating that these secret tapes were being made, some of the most controversial moments, including the monica lewinsky scandal, at the white house. that president clinton was stuffing these tapes away in his sock drawer so they wouldn't be subpoenaed. i have a question now about the lawyers going back and saying, wow did they fully turn over all of the evidence? did he need to turn that over? what did we learn from these tapes? what did clinton tell his old buddy, taylor branch about the whole monica lewinsky scandal?

>> fascinating. one of the aspects of this book interesting to me, parts as a reader and later interviewing taylor was that taylor took copious notes about his interviews with clinton and this book is written from taylor's notes. so, driving back from the white house to taylor's house in baltimore late at night, sometimes near the break of dawn after these long, all-night marathon sessions with clinton, taylor was recording all of his thoughts about everything that had been said, and that's the basis of taylor's book. the original tapes are still with clinton and he still has not made them public. taylor said that as a writer of this book, we have really liked to have access to those tapes but as a historian, he chose not to request them because he knew it was important or believed it was important for a president to make his own decision about his record. >> you know, will i think on the heels of discussion about monica lewinsky, so many people wonder about the interpersonal relationship between the former president and former first lady.

in this "gq" interview, branch recalls being refused entry into the white house at one point during the president's impeachment trial. and why? well, according to brarmg, the doorman would not let him in because the clintons were "making out in the hallway." regard their relationship, here is what branch writes, "i don't know in their relationship is not romantic it is not cold. there's warmth there. there's communion. they would hold hands. how much erot cism was there, i don't know, but it was striking." >> must have been really interesting for taylor to walk in on those kinds of encounters and spend so much time with hillary and chelsea coming and going from their interview sessions, often in nightgowns and other stages of semiundress or semidisheveledness, because he was really in the residence during these unguarded moments and he was able to see that warmth in a way that the rest of us could only speculate about and tend to assume was not there. in fact it turns out that there was an unusually normal family

environment during an extraordinary and trying time, where i think the rest of us thought probably they weren't talking to each other. in fact, they maintained a level of normalcy. >> well, your first interview, exclusive, thanks very much, from "gq," appreciate that i can't wait for this book. >> you bea live they were making out, but i find that very hard to believe, but this is absolutely fascinating that bill clinton was recording these secret tapes and there's a lot on there. will is a great reporter and kudos to him for getting the first interview with taylor branch on this. it is part of history. the other thing i keep thinking about, too, when there were those discussions between president obama and hillary clinton, you know about whether she wanted to be vice president or not this is the kind of stuff that's out there, could be potentially damaging if you don't know about. >> i'm thinking nixonian thoughts, tapes, watergate what is on it? read the article and the book? >> exactly. well, up next is it possible to have too many czars.

>> we will look at what is behind the czar wars in washington. people are calling it "dancing with the czars." you are watching the big picture on msnbc. as washington continues the debate over health care reform, aarp has chosen a side-- yours. we're fighting to guarantee that you'll never be denied coverage because of your health or age. to prevent anyone from coming between you and your doctor. and to make sure patients don't take a backseat to insurance companies. because at aarp, we believe your health is worth fighting for. learn more at aarp.org. caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be lurking waiting to strike. a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack

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in today's closeup, the czar wars in washington are heating up, now some democrats have joined in questioning the obama administration's use of appointees that don't require congressional approval. >> con ver sattive blog was instrumental in van jones, the president's so-called czar for green jobs, they highlighted jones' association with a 9/11 truth movement and his derogatory remarks about republicans. it has since grown into an all-out attack on the use of czar. senator john soon said, "it is a great issue because it raises a whole issue of this agenda of

expansion of government in washington and lack of accountability and transparency." wednesday, the white house pointed out the idea of czars in the presidential administration, not new. >> senator bennett was pushing for a y2k czar that he didn't think was powerful enough. you have seen lamar alexander call for a manufacturing czar. so you know, somebody referred to the bush administration as the abstinence czar, on the d.c. madam's list. defying the constitution offends our sensibilities. >> the white house press office was ripped for misrepresenting comments and then this was added. watch. >> czars are anti-democratic, czars are usually russian, not americans. czars are usually imperialists, not democrats. the dictionary says czars are

autocratic rulers or leaders, that's not consistent with the kind of government that we want to have in america. >> okay. here to make their case on the czar wars, our jason lincoln, political reporter with the huffington post and conservative blogger liz mayor who blogs at liz mayor.com. welcome to both of you. jason, didn't a lot of the previous republican administrations grow and use a lot of czars? >> the first instance i can find of a czar joining a government was in the nixon white house. and yes, the term has been used throughout, throughout -- since then and the bush white house also pointed a lot of persons that they termed czars. i appreciate the definition that lamar alexander offered but we should be clear, a czar is a shorthand that allows the media to express border czar instead of department of homeland security assistant secretary for border affairs, nothing to do

with russian imperialism. >> what about that, liz? aren't republicans just stoking the flames on this one, republicanen past presidents have used czar and added to this growing bureaucracy? president bush created a lot of czars? >> that is true but not detracted from the fact there is a fundamental principle here and valid debate about this. ultimately, i think it is fair to say that there are issues with regards to professional oversight, checks and balances and constitutionality and the fact you have democratic senator russ feingold raising questions about this. >> let me read what senator feingold said, "to the extent this undercuts that role and people put in the police lace o cabinet people and really are the key authorities and you can't question them that's something worth talking about.

i think it's a fair pont point about what the fact they are not subject to congressional oversight. maybe it has gotten out of control. >> the strong impression i am left with is that senator feingold's effort in this regard should be decoupled from the hysteria that has bloomed over this issue. i believe what senator feingold is attempting to do here is properly define terms, make sure that this issue adheres closely to the constitutional mandate and give the obama administration simply an opportunity to say who these people are and what legal authority they believe provide to their placement in the white house. >> liz, what's wrong with that? are you stoking this hysteria? >> i actually think what senator feingold is doing and what he's trying to get information about is very important. i would be curious to learn more about the legal basis that the white house believes exists for appointing these guys. and also, frankly, about how

many there are and what they do. certainly, some czarists have very large policy mandates and i think it would be interesting to learn about what that all encompasses. ultimately oversight is an issue and we all should be concerned about checks and balances in government, irrespective of political debates about this particular topic. >> liz mair and kris jenkins. great to have youth. still ahead -- >> president obama awarding his first medal of honor for a soldier who gave his life. access to favorite courses chef's meal with pommes frites perhaps a night at the theater with extra special seats additional hotel night, our treat your world in perfect harmony: priceless look for world on your mastercard to get rewards and offers that matter to you.

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there was an emotional ceremony at the white house in the past hour. >> yeah, president obama awarded his first medal of honor, the nation's highest military honor was presented pom humorously to first sergeant jared monti for his heroic actions in afghanistan. his parents and other members attended the ceremony in the

east room. in 2006 sergeant monti's patrol was attacked by members of taliban by 15 enemy fighters. he died while repeatedly trying to rescue one of his wounded men. >> for a third time he ran towards his fallen comrade. said his patrol leader, it was the bravest thing i had ever seen a soldier do. they say it was a rocket-propelled grenade that jared made it within a few yards of his wounded soldier. they say his find words on that ridge far from home were of his faith and of his family. "i've made peace with god. tell my family that i loved them." and then as the artillery jared had called in came down, the enemy fired slowed and then stopped. the patrol had defeated the attack, they had held on. but not without a price. by the end of the night, jared and three others, including the soldier he died trying to save,

had given their lives. >> and members of jared's unit also attended today the medal of honor ceremony. he was a 12-year army veteran and was serving his second tour in afghanistan. besides his parents, he is survived by his brother and sister, several nieces and nephews. sergeant jared monti would have been 35 years old this week. coming up in our next hour -- "the big news" today in the yale murder case. a lab worker arrested. what are police saying about a motive? we'll have a live report. also, a new secret report say the iranians are capable of making a nuclear bomb. we will have more on that and we will talk to ann curry about her exclusive interview that she's just conducted with the president of iran. >> so it is important to ask you, mr. president, it's important to ask you this question -- f did you steal this election? (announcer) what are you going to miss when you have an allergy attack?

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