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think he's got a shot with health care? >> i think it's something he will be able to accomplish. >> i have always believed from

the night of the election, before the election, that he would pass health care. the only thing that's harder for him than me is that this economy is even worse, and people saw me trying to bring the deficit down and going to a balanced budget, and they're thinking, gosh, we've already got this problem. but keep in mind, we can save money if we do health care right. the important thing is to keep stumbling in the right direction. will he prevail this time? i think so. it's time. we've got to do it. >> bill clinton says it's time, we've got to do it, on "the daily show" last night. welcome to the morning half of "morning joe." i'm willie geist joined by a very, very special guest, cnbc's erin burnett. >> i'm very excited to be here. we are awake. >> are you very excited to be here? >> i love "morning joe." let's put it that way. >> somebody got a late night call. we're glad you're here. joe and mika will be here

shortly from san francisco. and we have the great pat buchanan from washington, d.c. good morning, pat. >> good morning, willie. holding down the southern front. >> that's right. they'll be out west. >> where is the west? >> the west is tired. >> the west is sleepy. they had a long week. they'll be here eventually. we'll hold it down until they get here. pat, i want to talk health care in just a moment. but we'll read through some news. time forred today's top stories. in his push to overhaul the nation's health care system, president obama is making his appeal to younger voters, the same group that helped propel him into office. speaking of thousands of students at the university of maryland, the president defineded the issue as "the defining struggle of this generation." >> there are still those in washington who are resistant to change, who are more willing to defend the status quo than address the real concerns of the american people. what can i tell you? they're still out there.

>> meanwhile, senator olympia snowe, considered a key republican vote on the issue, tells cnbc's john harwood she's not afraid to go it alone. >> are you optimistic that's going to end the legislation? >> well, you know, it's hard to tell. yes, i'm probably more optimistic than less, but i think it all -- i think we'll get a better sense, you know, next week in the senate finance committee. i think people really want to get something done. i'd like to have more republicans on board. >> you'd like to, but do you have to? >> no. i'm going to support the right policy. i think that's what guides me and governs me. it always has. i think the right policy will garner the votes. >> pat buchanan, can you explain why olympia snowe, if she is, is such an important cog in this machine of health care? >> sure, willie. right now olympia snowe would be the 60th democratic vote if she went along with them, and then they could break a filibuster

and get their health care proposal through the senate. if she's not there, then they have to have teddy kennedy's replacement up in massachusetts, which they may get, willie, and it may be our old friend the little duke, michael dukakis, because that's moving through the legislature that the governor can replace the senator. if they do, dukakis, i understand, is the front-runner. if olympia snowe goes along, they've got 60 votes. the problem is, willie and erin, right now baucus' bill seems to be being captured by the left wing of that budget committee, which means it may become unacceptable to olympia snowe. she's a very big player right now. >> if you can't convince her, you ain't going to convince any republicans. >> that's the last republican. there aren't any more after that. >> no, there aren't. harold, we were talking earlier, and you said the baucus plan may represent a big compromise for a lot of people. they're not going to get exactly what they want on health care.

democrats are going to have to sit in a room and determine what it is they want to give up to get some sort of health care reform, some sort of major difference in how health care is consumed and delivered. i think pat makes great points about olympia snowe. at the end of the day, democrats need to decide they want to do this. you've got to hold the liberal democrats in the house, which i think you can, and then figure how to bring the ben nelson's and mary landrieu's to the table. >> i think they didn't want to include the public option. okay, you take that off the table, that's fine. now all of a sudden, he doesn't put that in there. but they're finding something else to fight about it. they're raising the question of whether there's a will. house speaker nancy pelosi is recalling the anti-gay rhetoric she saw in the san francisco area in the 1970s. she's saying the words could have violent consequences. republican leaders are blasting the comparison, saying the anger is not about race, it's about

the economy. here's speaker pelosi and then minority leader john bayner. >> i have concerns about some of the rhetoric that's being used because i saw this myself in the late '70s in san francisco, this kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it gave -- it createded a climate in which was violence took place. and so i wish that we would all again curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made. >> the outrage that we see in america has nothing to do with race. it has everything to do with the policies that he is promoting. it's the $1 trillion deficits for as far as the eye can see. it's the bailout of the auto companies. it's their proposal to -- on cap and trade. when you add to all of this,

this whole government takeover of our health care system. you begin to add all of this up, and americans are saying stop. they're scared to death of the country that they grew up in is not going to be the country that their kids and grandkids get to grow up in. >> meanwhile, russia's prime minister vladimir putin is praising the obama administrati administration's decision to scrap plans for a missile defense system in eastern europe. our allies not quite as pleased. the move is allaying russian concerns. some republicans are calling it naive. nbc's savannah guthrie reports. >> reporter: sensitive to accusations the u.s. is abandoning allies in europe, the president took pains to explain missile defense isn't disappearing, it's changing. >> to put it simply, our new missile defense architecture defense in europe will provide smarter, stronger, and swifter defenses of american forces and america's allies. >> reporter: the plan to build a large-scale missile defense base and radar system in poland and

the czech republic was a darling of the bush administration, recommended by his defense secretary robert gates three years ago. but today gates said improvements in military technology and intelligence that shows the real threat from iran is not long range ballistic missiles, but short or medium range ones, convinced him to change course. >> those who say we are scrapping missile defense in europe or either misinformed or misrepresenting the reality of what we are doing. >> reporter: gates said the new missile defense strategy will be operational sooner and relies on interceptor missiles on ships with plans to eventually build a land-based system. >> that this decision was obviously rushed. >> reporter: but republicans like senator john mccain were quick to pounce, saying the administration is placating the russians at the expense of european allies, hoping it can finally win russian cooperation. >> i think the main reason they made this decision is to appease the russians.

they have this idea that they can get the russians to play ball in other areas. there's no evidence so far that that's going to be true. >> erin, you spent a lot of time in russia. this is a big deal to them. >> it's funny because earlier this year, we were saying, what is this missile defense shield? i don't think average americans knew, but in russia, average people on the street knew. when president obama was elected, everyone was excited. the first thing somebody on the street in russia would say, what's he doing with this missile defense shield? it gives you a feeling of how important it can seem to people there. this really matters to them. >> it's got a lot to do with iran too. reports out of iran this morning. scattered violence as opposition supporters clash with pro-government marchers in tehran. it comes as president mahmoud ahmadinejad speaks out in his first interview since the country's disputeded election over the summer. he sat down with ann curry in an

nbc exclusive and presseded the leader on a number of issues, including allegations of voter fraud. >> iran has now agreed to negotiate in what could lead to the first significant talks between iran and the united states in nearly 30 years. what do you want from the united states? >> translator: to gain a new arrangement should be put in place based on new principles so that the work is directed towards peace and tranquillity. we have always believed in talking, in negotiating. that is our logic. nothing has changed. >> are there conditions under which iran would weaponize? >> well, nuclear arms, we believe they belong to the past and the past generation. >> so may i assume then your answer to that question is no?

>> translator: my response to what question? >> is there a condition under which iran would weaponize? >> we don't need such things. we don't have such a need, nuclear weapons. >> so the answer is no, sir? >> translator: i don't know what you mean by no. >> i'm asking, if there are any scenarios in which you would change what you say is your course and move into creating a nuclear weapon. am i correct that the answer is no? >> translator: we do not see any need for such weapons. >> people will remark that you did not say no, as i've asked you three times the same question, and you did not say no. are you sure you want that to be your final answer, sir? >> translator: well, you can take from this whatever you want, madam.

>> pat buchanan, will you rest a little easier tonight after hearing that interview? everything's under control. depends what you mean by no, ann curry. what are you reading into that, pat? >> you're right, willie. that is the regis philbin. is that your final answer? you know, listen, i think u.s. policy is working very well in iran. there's a real division in that country. some of the reformers are challenging not only this fella who doesn't have the authority to build nuclear weapons. the ayatollah does, but he's being challenged. i think this is one area where the american policy is working. there's a real division, though, willie. there's a disagreement in this country as to whether -- how far along the iranians are towards a nuclear weapons. do they really have a weapons program, or are they just holding this low enriched uranium. this is something we've really got to get some answers on, the wmd, before, i think, we move to serious sanctions and any kind of military action.

>> we're not getting answers from him, at least not yesterday, harold. >> i'm going to echo what pat said. the fact that he did not answer is only going to fuel that neo-conservative group within one part of our political establishment. i think pat is right. we have to be very careful. we've gone down this path once before. turned out they didn't have the wmd. in the talks with the iranians, their nuclear objectives will be at the top of the list, and he certainly didn't do anything in that interview to remove it from the top of the list. >> there are at least two who not only think they are further along in the united states, kind of formally acknowledges, but also we talked to off the record leaders, why opportunity the u.s. go in and do something about it? which is so ironic given the criticism the country took for going in last time. >> you can see ann curry's full interview with president ahmadinejad sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern time on msnbc. the whole thing. ann did a great job. she was all over him sitting there in his little garden. all right.

a new pew poll shows president obama making improvement in his ratings. 83% say he's a good communor. his leadership skills saw a 12-point drop. also by double digit margins, voters see the president as less trustworthy and able to get things done. that's according to a new pew poll. and the federal reserve offering more evidence of an improving economy. in the second quarter, household wealth jumped by $2 trillion, a big source in boosting america's spending power. spending is expected to grow this quarter after contracting in 4 out of 6. >> most of that came from the increase in the stock market. half of americans own stock. that isn't something small. it's significant. but it's important it came from there. the increases on real estate were there although incredibly small. we're still about 20% below where we were at the peak for

household wealth in 2007. >> what percentage of it do you think was attributable to the stock market's growth, or the dow growth. it was a sizable number. >> i'm not sure, but it was the majority. the market is up 50% from the bottom. >> let's get a quick check on weather from bill karins this morning. >> little upset with you, willie. >> let's talk this out. >> in the makeup room this morning, you walked in and said, i want the works. why does willie want the works? because he's sitting next to harold and erin. >> it's like when you go to the car wash, you pay a little extra to get the full thing. >> the undercarriage and everything else. >> bill, always, it's inevitable with you, isn't it? it's how you're going to get to the inappropriate comment, that's the only mystery of the day. let's take a look at the friday forecast. good morning, everyone. we are looking pretty nice in the northeast. yesterday was chilly and kind of raw. today is going to be nice. upper 70s in most areas. even 75 in hartford. in buffalo, it hasn't rained in about three weeks. it's one of the longest dry spells we've had in a long, long time.

beautiful weather out west. mika and joe will wake up to great conditions in california. all the way to seattle, summer-like conditions. gorgeous in chicago. call it 77. a little peek at your saturday. still nice in the midwest. rainy in the deep south. overall, it's the last summer weekend. going to feel like it should be enjoyable. have fun. >> bill, thank you very much. i guess we'll check in next hour. try to rein it in. coming up in just a few minutes, joe and mika live from san francisco. wrapping up the west coast tour. also, "the wall street journal's" ron brownstein. he warns democrats may be losing their ground out west. moderator of "meet the press," david gregory will be sitting with president obama on his show this weekend. we'll talk to him. and the sneeze heard round the world. chuck todd reprimanded by secretary kathleen sebelius. he'll be with us. plus an exclusive look at politico's top stories of the morning with the great mike allen. all that when we come back on "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. does your mouthwash work in six different ways?

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jennifer lopez was at the white house, and she got a private tour of the oval office. j.lo was at the white house. so for once, the biggest ass at the white house waesn't joe biden. >> joe biden, leave him alone. with us now, the chief political correspondent for politico, mike allen. happy friday. >> happy friday to you. >> i want to start with acorn. you've been all over this story all week. did a great job digging into it. a great development yesterday. essentially federal funds cut off essentially completely to acorn. what happened there? >> we're going to keep on shelling acorn here. yesterday the house decided that it would cut off by an overwhelming margin, just about 75 members, against it, that

they were going to cut off any federal funds to acorn. the senate now will take this up. interestingly, jerry madler, democrat of new york, said this is unconstitutional. he said this is a bill of attainder, and we're all pulling out our legal pocket dictionaries. congress is not allowed to make a law declaring a person or a group guilty. but, of course, acorn did this themselves with these videos that andrew braybar posted on biggovernment.com. he's quoted on "the washington post" today saying this episode will be the abu ghraib of the great society. good luck. >> that's an unfortunate statement. i don't want to ask you to editorialize too much, mike allen, but in the final analysis, has acorn, the story surrounding it, been blown out of proportion? was it a story worth pursuing? is it a good thing that federal

funds have been cut off? >> let's make a deal. i think next week we can give acorn a rest. but i think it did show how there are lax controls on how government money is spent. there are federal funds being used for purposes that, if we shine a light on them, would be offensive to a lot of people. and it also shows there's a lot of good digging that can be done for pretty cheap. this was done for $1,300, according to that post story. they recount the phone call from this woman filmmaker to her friend, called up and said, will you dress up as my pimp? >> that whole pimp angle just made this story so weird. the cliche, the long fur jacket, the glasses, the whole thing. we'll give it a rest for the weekend. let's get back to health care now. the republicans have been on the offensive for the most part on this, but the democrats now getting tough a little bit, huh? >> i think that's a good point. they definitely say they're going to punch back quicker and

harder. the democratic national committee later today will launch a website, call them out, in which they're going to focus on specific high profile republicans and target them for statements, misstatements democrats would say, about the health care plan. first in the spotlight is the minnesota governor tim pawlenty, t. paw, there's a multifront push against him here. it includes his office number, tulling you to call him out. you get the chance to donate to the democratic party. what a surprise. there's an automatic tweet that you can click on, put on your twitter feed, telling tim to stop lying about health care. and the backup comes from a tough interview by joe scarborough on so-called "morning joe," in which he was very tough on governor pawlenty, who was throwing around very loose descriptions of death panels, making it sound like we're going to have exactly what they have in britain. joe accurately nailed him down

saying that is not what's proposed by anyone. that's what they feature on the call 'em out website, the inaugural page. >> amazingly, we've had so many republicans on this show, and joe has said flatly, will you admit there's no such thing as a death panel. you can't get anybody just to say no. there's always some round about answer about it. mike allen, thank you so much. a good busy week for you. we'll be reading you on politico.com. >> what's more depressing, the fact that t. paw, who's supposed to be middle of the line, made the death panel comment, or the fact there's an automatic tweet function? >> if you're automatically tweeting about t. paw, it's time to get some copies. >> from t. paw? interesting. >> you call him t. paw. >> coming up, congress man tom periello. he's been very tough on president obama's health care proposals. and this morning dylan ratigan

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where pat buchanan will be in attendance for oprah's live show this morning. he'll be right there in the front row. just before 6:30 on the east coast. time for a look at today's top stories. a yale university lab technician is now being charged with the murder of annie le, that yale graduate student found murdered. the bond is set at $3 million. the massachusetts house of representatives has approved a bill that will allow the state's governor to name an interim appoint to the late ted kennedy's vacant senate seat. the measure now moves to the state senate for a vote. in january, a special election will be held for his permanent replacement. as congress continues to battle over proposals to reform health care, new polling shows approval ratings for members of both major parties near their lowest level in decades. according to "usa today/gallup

poll, democrats down to 36%. even worse, republicans stand at just 27%. let's take a quick look at papers. "the new york times," the lab technician charged in the killing. raymond clark being arraigned in a new haven court. >> "the washington post," obama shifts focus of missile shield. >> the los angeles times, missile plan is obsolete, obama se says. this is on the front page of a lot of papers. bush era system for europe will be replaced by navy interceptors based on ships. >> obama ties immigration to the health care battle. republicans see a back door move toward amnesty. >> bankers face sweeping curbs on pay. fed plans to limit the lenders can structure compensation for executives who take risks. what does that mean, erin?

>> it means nothing. they don't have any way to deal with that. you can't. >> coming up next, political director for the atlantic media company ron brownstein. he says the mountain west is becoming risky territory for democrats. we'll talk to him about that, and we'll get pat buchanan, harold ford jr., and joe and mika from san francisco in on the conversation. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. so maybe we can't control menopause. but we can control sagging, dulling skin. (announcer) now l'oreal's age perfect serum, our first for menopausal skin. it rebuilds skin substance to treat sagging and boost luminosity. age perfect serum by l'oreal. gm drivers.. it's goodwrench & go time. three great services: all in one place. all at one time. all for one price for most gm vehicles. but it's only for a limited time. at participating gm dealers. ♪

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i have always been a republican for the traditional principles that has been associated with the republican party since i became a republican, when i registered to vote. and that is, you know, limited government, individual opportunities, fiscal responsibility, and a strong national defense. so i think that those principles

have always been a part of the republican party heritage. and i believe that i, you know, reflect those views, and i haven't changed as a republican. i think more that my party has changed. >> senator olympia snowe, the woman pat buchanan calls the last republican on health care. with us now, the political director of the atlantic media company ron brownstein in a new piece for the national journal. ron explains why the democrats may be losing ground in the mountain west. he writes this. "ominous for democrats are signs that the independent voters who flocked to the party in 2006 and 2008 may be growing uneasy with the cost and sweep of obama's plans. asked what congress could do to most strengthen his position heading into the 2010 election, a democrat offered two ideas. pass a health care reform bill "that's paid for" and then demonstrate a per situative commitment commitment to pay down our deficit and debt." good morning to you.

>> good morning. >> how big a problem is this for the democrats right now, these centrist democrats concerned with deficits? >> let's climb up the hill before we climb down it. the mountain states have been one of the towering success stories for the democrats in this decade, and they crystallize the challenge they're going to face in a lot of the country in 2010. republicans dominated the mountain states. they had 13 of the 16 senate seats, for example. in bush's second term, the democrats have made steady and broad progress. they now hold most of the house seats in the eight mountain states, which is remarkable. they held a majority of the governorships after the 2008 election. they held 7 of the 16 senate seats. and obama won three of the states -- nevada, colorado, and new mexico. and almost half of the total votes in the region. but these gains were made against the back drop of bush's presidency. it was easier for democrats to portray themselves as moderates in this and other swing parts of the country, the outer south places like virginia, against

the backdrop of a conservative republican president. now democrats are facing the challenge, particularly in mountain west, you'll see it in virginia and some of these outer states, north carolina, perhaps, but now they face the challenge of holding on to conservative voters while facing a national democratic agenda. that is a challenge in some of these areas that traditionally have been less receptive to an aggressive role for washington and the economy. this has really been a big success story for democrats. i was at a conference in august where they were very proud of their accomplishments. it is a challenge now. not only do you have this question, can you hold the independent voters who have moved this direction, but also an undeniable opposition of the conservative base, rural white conservative base in the mountain states. it's very real. sort of dormant in bush's second term, but it is stirring now. >> haroldford. >> hi, harold. >> two quick questions. do you get a sense the white house appreciates this political dynamic, this change you're referencing? two, i get a sense from your

analysis that many in the west, and other parts of the country, believe that president obama owns the economy, he owns some of the foreign policy issues. did that play a role in your analysis? do you get that sense from some of the voters and even some of the democratic candidates out west? >> the answer to your first question is the white house is very focused on these states. as you know, many democrats view the mountain west as the long term replacement in electoral votes and representation in congress for their decline in the south. the white house, i think, jim mecino, the deputy former chief of staff for max baucus, made a public comment at the conference i was at, that the white house has montana and arizona at the top of its target list for 2012. they would like to take a majority of the mountain states, and they believe they have a chance to do that. the answer is on the economy, yes. in the west, unemployment is actually lower in the mountain west and other parts of the country. foreclosure is very high. you have -- these states are urbanizing more than people recognize in the four south

western states -- arizona, colorado, new mexico, nevada, as well as utah. 80% of the accumulated population lives in one big megalopolis. that's where democrats have made their gains. these boomtowns, and i'm sure you'll hear this from the trip to california, joe and mika, that's a real economic pressure on democrats. the pressure is mostly ideological right now in this region. >> what is the sentiment ron is talking about now mean for what obama hopes to do on health care? if there is sort of a libertarian, small deficit sentiment out there, what does it mean for the president? >> i think one of the president's big problems prosecute is the attrition he's running here, willie. in all these areas that ron is talking about -- ron, let me ask you. let's take it demographically. obama got 13% of the vote was african-american. it really came out strong for him in 2008. young people did very well, not as well as expected, but those two seem to be dissipating where the anger is really in the white

middle class and the white working class that you see at these town hall meetings. they seem to be turning away from obama. do you see what charlie cook is talking about that this might be sort of one of these tsunami elections like '66 or '74 or '94? >> i don't think we're quite there yet. what you're describing is a very real challenge for democrats that in turn masks, i think, at least as we've talked about, a long term challenge for republicans. what you have from the democrats is the coalition of the offended. they're doing best in groups growing in society, young people, nonwhite voters, 26% of the electorate nationally was nonwhite. obama won 80% of the vote. first time more than a quarter of the vote was nonwhite. and college educated white voters. that's been key in the mountain states. the growth of the hispanic vote and the improving position on college educated whites. the risk for the democrats is some of those groups,

particularly minority groups and young people, drop off in a mid term election. and you are left with an electorate that is blue collar white. obama only won 40% of noncollege whites, and his stand sg weaker among those voters today. there's a real risk the electorate tilt ins that direction in 2010 as it did in '94. the electorate got much more conservative. most of the movement in '94 was among noncollege voters. that's the risk for democrats in 2010 if those voters turn out. the risk for republicans is they mistake that for a winning coalition. in a big national election like 2012 they still have to appeal to nonwhite and college voters. >> the administration doesn't have an answer yet on the tax increase that's most people say are inevitable. you're saying, if they don't handle this right, particularly with the bush tax cuts the administration said they're going to roll back, that could be the key issue that causes a sweep for the republicans. >> it could be a big issue.

i even want to hear ron's point on this. if taxes are raised in this fragile moment we find ourselves in, you know this as well as i do, covering this on set here, the impact this will have on business too. the congressman that raise the biggest objection early on to health care planned advance for democrats which call for tax increases was a young colorado congressman, a former businessman himself, who sent a letter courageously to speaker pelosi saying, if you do this, i won't vote for it, and several house freshman democrats won't vote for it. raising taxes, and for that matter, the health care bill not being paid for, this could have a big, big effect on these '06 and '08 democrats that won not only in the west but i would argue across the south as well. >> i want to get to our must read op eds and get reaction around the table from charles krauthammer, conservative columnist in "the washington post," writing about obama's health care policy.

krauthammer says, "obama doesn't lie, he merely elieds, gliding from one dubious assertion to another. this has been the story throughout his whole health care crusade. its original premise was that our kris financial crisis was rooted in neglect of three things -- energy, education, and health care. that transparent attempt to exploit emanuel's law, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, failed for health care because no one is stupid enough to believe that the 2008 financial collapse was caused by a lack of universal health care. he misdirects, he misleads so fluidly and incessantly that he risks transmuting eloquence into mere slickness. slickness wasn't fatal to slick willie clinton because he possessed a nearly irresistible charm. obama's persona is more cool, distant, imperial. the charming redeemer, he is not. >> when he said health care is not central to the crisis, that's not actually true. health care is central to the economic crisis.

perhaps not to the plunge we had last fall, but the numbers are out there. 60% of businesses didn't give raises over the past two years because health care. 30% of companies have laid people off because they couldn't afford health care. premiums for small businesses are rising up to 30% a year. health care is central to the crisis. >> and one in every two bankruptcies across the country in households is related to health care. >> so that's not true. health care is central. >> if you want to accuse someone of lying, you might try to be accurate. >> obama has made a two-step separation. he said those areas, energy be education, and health care are the long term. i think the charge in krauthammer's article is misleading itself, which is a bad thing to do when you're accusing someone else of being misleading. >> ron brownstein, stay with us. we'll pick up this conversation. coming up, the "morning joe" week in review. there was plenty of material to choose from. you don't want to miss it. plus sports is next.

the 'canes looking like the 'canes of old. we'll be back with more "morning joe," including joe and mika live from san francisco when we come back. how to get rich, by america's health insurance companies. raise health insurance premiums 4 times faster than wages. pay your ceo twenty four million dollars a year. deny payment for 1 out of every 5 treatments doctors prescribe. if the insurance companies win, you lose. tell congress to rewrite the story. we want good health care we can afford with the choice of a public health insurance option.

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of course she was screaming. did no one else see who the line judge was? >> trying so have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. >> that's the best sound bite of the summer. on what planet do you spend most of your time? sports, the red sox have gotten hot lately. won seven in a row coming into last night's game, creating some distance for themselves in the a.l. wild card race. fred roggin's got highlights. fred? >> thank you and good morning. baseball's playoffs began today, boston would open in anaheim. after catching them play the angels the last few days, it would be quite a series. to fenway, red sox going for the sweep. things look good early. jason bay ripped a shot deep over the green monster. boston led 3-1. red sox had no answer for howie kendrick.

kendrick with a clutch bloop single over dustin pedestrian roy. boston did have a chance in the bottom of the inning. winning run at the plate. closer brian fuentes got rocco baldelli to fly out to right. red sox lost 4-3. to seattle, where it took under four hours to decide a winner between the mariners and white sox. bobby jenks couldn't close it out for chicago in the ninth. game tied at 3. on to extra innings and plenty of them. fast forward to the 14th. ichiro at the plate slapped the game-ending single to the gap. ryan langerhans scored. seattle won 4-37 ' in toronto, hosting the royals. dream for kansas city's zach greinke. he took a line drive to his pitching arm. fortunately, he was okay and stayed in the game. struck out eight in five scoreless innings. royals beat the tigers 9-2. college football, number 20 miami had lost four straight to 14th ranked georgia tech.

that streak is finally over thanks to the arm of jakory harris. the hurricanes' quarterback passed for 300 yards. miami won 30-17. big night for chief petty officer ryan zimmerman. the navy officer looked like a legitimate pitcher until he had to pitch. forget the navy. he had to be in the air force with that toss. let that be a lesson. never doubt the strength of our armed forces. here in los angeles, i often take my family to d.j.er games. my kids always look forward to the bottom of the eighth when they play "don't stop believin'" ♪ don't stop believin' hold on to that feeling ♪ ♪ streetlights, people >> it's a great song by journey. steve perry is the lead singer, and steve is not happy. why? steve is not a dodgers fan.

he's a giants fan. he says, i wish we hijacked it first. it's about power and hope. it's working for them. the white sox have used it. the tigers have used it. the lions have used it. it didn't work so well for them. steve, don't be upset. the answer here, you're believing in the wrong team. that's your shot of sports on "morning joe." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. coming up next, the week in review. we've got a lot to pick on. what will be the number one story of the week? blago, kanye, mika at the dodgers game, or those creeps in our control room in the lower right hand corner. we'll show you when we come back. i wish i knew then what i know now. get what dermatologists now recommend to fight aging... in new aveeno positively ageless multidefense. a combination of a high spf and powerful antioxidants... designed to reduce lines and wrinkles in just 4 weeks. new from aveeno. "see ya later, wrinkles!"

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it's a money party. >> what? it's a money party? >> maybe that's because i'm here. dylan is the money party. i don't know what the heck. >> dylan is the money party? >> joe and mika about to join us from san francisco. before we go to them, time for the week in review p it's a very busy week. our week in review is a little bit self referencial, but it's our show. so that's how we do it. when you're telling the truth and you know what the truth is, the truth today and the truth in six months will be the truth last week. >> at number three, blago speaks the truth. >> he's not going to get it for nothing. >> rob blagojevich, the falsely accused former governor of illinois, bravely faced the "morning joe" firing squad this week. >> joe, good talking to you. how are your sons doing? >> they've been great.

>> sure, blago had already appeared on dozens of shows to promote his book, but he'd not faced the team of courageous, truth-seeking journalists like those he met tuesday morning. >> why are all these people being so mean to you? >> like the cubs today, rob. >> the governor, he's our guy. >> despite an unfair agenda pushing line of questioning from mika brzezinski, clearly trying to make a name for herself by bringing down a man who wants nothing more than affordable health care for the sweet, sweet children of illinois, blago was, as ever, gracious to his host. >> i learned today that mika's name is mika. i hadn't heard of her before. it's nice meeting you, mika. >> at number two, just a bit outside. >> please welcome the host of msnbc's "morning joe," mika brzezinski and joe scarborough. >> by some horrible clerical error, mika and joe were invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at dodger stadium on wednesday. mika trained literally for minutes in preparation.

♪ ♪ >> but the real hands on learning took place on game day at the stadium when legendary dodgers manager tommy lasorda offered some tips and some wandering hands. >> i want you to hold it right here at the hand so your thumb is right where it is. >> with the capacity crowd of some 1,500 people cheering them on at chavez ravine, mika and joe threw out the first pitch and inspired the dodgers to victory. then mika and lasorda went at it again. ♪ i've been feeling fine baby ♪ trying to hold back the feeling for so long. >> and the number one story of the week. >> i'm really happy for you. i'll let you finish. >> the death of civility in

america. serena williams told a line judge what she was going to do with her blanking tennis ball. >> [ bleep ]. >> the you lie congressman was punished. >> i am not going to apologize again. >> and kanye west hijacked a 19-year-old's acceptance speech. >> i'm going to let you finish, but beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. >> kanye's moment of public rudeness at the mtv video music awards confuseded taylor swift. >> oh, kanye west is here. >> then his apology confused jay leno and the rest of the country. >> if there's anything i can do to help taylor in the future or help anyone. >> even jimmy carter, when he wasn't calling his fellow americans a bunch of filthy racists, condemned kanye's behavior. >> i thought it was completely uncalled for. >> with all this name calling and incivility and americans wondering where their heroes have gone, it's comforting to know there remains at least one

man to whom a nation can turn its lonely eyes. >> i think there's a little bit of sunshine hanging over me. >> nothing but sunshine hanging over me. rod blagojevich really just blew up the spot when he came in here. we were all starstruck. i think it's reflected in his interview. >> were you all just jealous of his hair? >> he's got great hair. even better in person. >> you knew blago. >> we served in congress together. >> very charismatic guy. i don't know about his stuff going on, but good guy. >> joe and mika are with us live from san francisco. >> clear it out. >> fireman. >> you know what i saw -- and harold ford jr. can tell you this about rod blagojevich. if rod could be indicted for anything, seriously -- willie, you know. harold, tell him. it's for loving too much. seriously, this guy -- >> is an idiot. >> this guy cares about health care. he cares about little babies.

and they're trying to throw him in jail for that. >> because he's an idiot. >> harold ford, speak up here. >> thank goodness for mika, the voice of reason. >> eight counts of love, baby. eight counts of love. >> he almost -- and harold and i always talk about this on education committee. it was like he was trying to fit ten pounds of love into an eight pound sack. >> joe, i think you need more sleep. >> oh, man. >> by the way, erin, that was a nice mika imitation, but it's, oh, willie, is it time? not, oh, money party. >> that's okay. that was a little different. >> by the way, i don't know if you guys know it or not, but by my math, it's 1:38 on the west coast. welcome to "morning joe." we have a lot to talk about. >> we sure do. nancy pelosi.

>> nancy pelosi, very concerned. >> very concerned. >> about civility in america. >> i would have been okay with her statement if she had said, and we've all been guilty of going a little too far. >> we all have. >> yes. >> throw out terms like un-american and terms like evil. >> we all need to come together and think about the language you're using and have a real conversation. that would have been fine. >> like, for instance, when somebody tells a woman to shut up, willie geist, glenn beck yesterday screamed "shut up" to mika twice. >> what? >> yes. >> what? >> yes. >> i didn't hear about this. >> did he. >> joe, are you going to defend her honor and ask for a duel? because you could. >> a duel with glenn beck. what are we going to do, eat doughnuts? come on. >> you'd kill him. >> i mean, set your hair on fire? i'm like blago. i'm not going to set this on fire.

>> joe, it's fine. i probably used the wrong words. we're all guilty of using the wrong words once in a while. >> yeah. and me especially. on tv. >> correct. >> so anyway, harold ford jr. last night bill o'reilly came out, and it seemed as if he supported a public option. have we gotten to a point in this health care debate where bill o'reilly may be supporting a public option but the democratic senate's not? >> this conversation has gone on so long that it's circular now. you've got guys that were against it are for it. guys that were for it are against it. i think baucus' bill may act as kind of the basis for what, if anything, is going to happen on health care, which i think will. i think a lot of this liberal de m. s and conservative dems are going to be rally around his piece as long as he shows how he's going to pay for it. it seems as if he's got a plan. he's got to scale back taxing these luxury plans, but i think

he's got the starting point for democrats now. >> harold, as you know, better than anybody, it's the way it works. if this baucus plan is not the perfect plan, it's located by the right and the left, but a lot of times on contentious issues like that, nobody walks away happy. that's how you pass a bill in the senate. >> we'll talk more about this with pat buchanan, who's with us, as well as ron brownstein. we'll get to them in just a moment. first, time for a look at some offed today's top stories. in his push to overhaul the nation's health care system, president obama is now making his appeal to younger voters, the same group that helped propel him into office. speaking to thousands at the university of maryland, the president described the issue as the "defining struggle" of this generation. >> there are still those in washington who are resistant to change, who are more willing to defend the status quo than address the real concerns of the american people.

what can i tell you. they're still out there. >> meanwhile, senator olympia snowe considered a key republican vote on the issue tells cnbc's john harwood she is not afraid to go it alone. >> you're optimistic that's going to end legislation? >> well, you know, it's hard to tell. i'm probably more optimistic than less. i think it all -- i think we'll get a better sense of next week in the senate finance committee. i think people really want to get something done. i'd like to have more republicans on board. >> you want to, but do you have to? >> i'm going to support the right policy. i think that's what guides me and governs me. it always has. i think the right policy will garner the vote. >> from what i gather, sounds like olympia snowe, if the bill is the right bill for her, the people of maine, sounds like olympia snowe may be the democrats' 60th vote. if she comes along, maybe one or

two other republicans will follow. what do you think? >> i think you're right. if she signals -- and she clearly is -- if she can go along with a baucus-like plan, or beginning with baucus and move from there, the democrats have to listen very, very closely. i think the white house will because they want a health care bill. i think it's interesting talking about the west and the impact the white house policies are having on democrats' chances and fortunes out there. you have a western democrat in max baucus introducing this bill. it seems to, again, attract an ire from both sides. but if you have olympia snowe, claire mcaskill coalition together, i think you've got to go with that as the coalition for health care reform. >> we've been talking this summer about those moderate democrats and say they have to worry about themselves and getting reelected. let's turn it to the moderate republicans, olympia snowe and susan collins. if a baucus bill comes out and

is perceived as being moderate by the voters of maine, it would be a smart political move for olympia snowe to support such a bill, wouldn't it? >> not only that, joe, she has become an enormous national figure in terms of vote. it may be less decisive when they get that massachusetts senator, who i think may be dukakis. there's some folks who haven't been heard from yet. the baucus bill looks pretty good, as harold said and you say, to the moderate democrats. but jay rockefeller and some of these other democrats are very, very angry. they think they're giving away too much. so we're going to hear from them. they've got to put something together that gets both these folks unhappily together. i don't think it's quite been done yet. >> i don't think it's done yet either. but i don't believe -- i just don't believe at the end of the day, mika, if president obama has a bill that the moderate democrats will go along with,

and maybe olympia snowe, possibly susan collins. there's no suggestion of that. i don't think a democrat is going to vote for health care reform if it moves health care reform down the track toward their ultimate goal of universal health care. >> we'll find out. with charges of racism now mixed into the health care debate, house speaker nancy pelosi is recalling the anti-gay rhetoric of the 1970s, suggesting today's angry words could have violent consequences. republican leaders are blasting the comparison, saying the anger is not about race. it's about the economy. here is speaker pelosi and minority leader john baynor. >> i have concerns about some of the language that's being used because i saw this myself in the late '70s in san francisco, this kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it gave -- it created a climate in which was violence took place.

so i wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made. >> the outrage that we see in america has nothing to do with race. it has everything to do with the policies that he is promoting. it's the $1 trillion deficits for as far as the eye can see. it's the bailout of the auto companies. it's their proposal to -- on cap and trade. then you add to all of this, this whole government takeover of our health care system. and you begin to add all of this up, and americans are saying stop. they're scared to death that the country that they grew up in is not going to be the country that their kids and grandkids get to grow up in. >> what do you think? i tend to agree with john baynor to an extent. i think there is issues out there that make the conversation for strident and which to be

concerned, but there's some clear questions. >> i actually to a agree agree with both of them. nancy pelosi is right. the rhetoric out there has been unduly harsh, especially from unelected republicans. i've got to say, though, the rhetoric from elected democrats, including nancy pelosi herself, has been disappointing, talking about un-american tactics. talking about people being villains. i think she use the word "evil." i know harry reid has talked about evil mongers. >> both sides have played in the mud. they should have said something to admit to that. >> it's time to restart this dialogue. harold ford, i think we are at a very dangerous time. i think we are going to step back and push the reset button and try to have a meaningful debate. i'm not saying people who go to tea parties are racist, which is one of the things that has been

maddening this week. if you're anti-tax now and go to anti-tax rallies, just because there are those who are racist with gross signs, that means naturally you're a racist. that's very offensive to me. at the same time, there are some people on the air waves and on the internet that are stirring up hatred on the far right as well as the far left. >> there's a recent history of this. it's ugly. democrats go out to republicans. republicans have gone out to democrats. i tend to agree with baynor in the sense that, hey, government's growing. people aren't seeing jobs created at the rate that they want. it's curious when we talk about deficit spending because both parties have some imprints there, some footprints there. >> harold, are republicans concerned about deficit spending now? huh. pat buchanan, that's a shocker. >> it's a new concern. it's the new republican party. >> it's the new republican party. pat, some of the rhetoric. i know you're a tough political fighter and always have been.

even you have to be concerned about some of this inflammatory rhetoric out there. something bad could happen. >> well, it could. i don't think nancy pelosi should bring up what happened out there to the mayor moscone out there in san francisco, which i believe she was alluding to. but some of these signs at these tea party things and these rallies and town hall meetings, anti-obama signs are disgusting, and they really ought not to be there. i don't think you can tar everybody with this brush of racism and things like that, joe, because, as we've been pointing out, obama's at 75%. everybody's behind him in a way. now he's down close to the 50%. that's not because those folks suddenly found out we have an african-american president. it's because they don't like what's going on in the economy and the jobs and the houses and all these bills, and they're scared to death that the country's going to go to hell in a hand basket. that's what they're upset about. it isn't a racial thing. >> sure. >> no doubt about it.

erin burnett, let's face it. over the past nine months, there have been some economically some, i would say, pretty liberal bills out there. it's not just people on main street. it's economists on wall street that are concerned about these huge government plans. >> i think that's true. you add it up, you've got $1.5 trillion in commitments out there between the t.a.r.p. and the stimulus money. this administration would say on the auto bailout, that was done before. that's actually true. but neither administration had any chance of not doing that. so it was t.a.r.p. 21 banks have paid t.a.r.p. back. some of it, i think to be fair, will improve over time. there's real skepticism on wall street as to whether the economy can grow its way to pay the deficit down completely. that's a huge concern. you've got to admit that some of this money has been paid back. from t.a.r.p., we made 20% on it. it's not an unmitigated disaster at this point. >> i just found out that ron brownstein is still floating somewhere in the ether.

let's go back to him. ron, i'm going to ask you the question i asked pat buchanan before. olympia snowe signaling she just may be able to find a bill she can support. is there any possibility that barack obama in the end could get two, possibly three republicans signing on to a more moderate baucus health care plan? >> in fact, preliminary ya snowe signed a letter yesterday with joe lieberman, and claire mcaskill saying she agrees with the baucus plan. it clearly doesn't do enough to help middle class families who would be required to buy insurance afford it. it doesn't structure for business and employers who don't provide insurance enough. but if you adjust those things, there's a very solid foundation in that bill that could have broad support. but the congressional budget office has verified it as fiscally stable. coverage could be extended and deficit reduced over the long term. democrats would be foolish to let it go. >> that's a big asset for democrats, not just with the

democratic base, but most importantly, for this president who's gone from 70% to 51% in the latest gallup tracking poll. independents, swing voters, the people that have moved away from the present, if you can go with a bill that says, this isn't going to explode the deficit. it's going to give you better health care. >> that would help a lot. >> that swings the moderates back. >> that's the question people have. the fundamental line. erin burnett, thank you so much. we really appreciate it. ron brownstein, thank you for staying. >> i'll see you at 8:30. >> good. >> i think i'm coming back. >> we really appreciate it. and, ron, thanks to you as well. come back. good to see you. >> thank you guys. >> coming up here on "morning joe," david gregory. he's interviewing the president this weekend on "meet the press." we'll talk about that. also, chuck todd, why he got in trouble for sneezing yesterday. in front of health and human services secretary kathleen

sebelius. what was he doing? did he sneeze on her? >> no, he sneezed on his goatee. >> up next, nbc's ann curry live from tehran. where she just had an exclusive interview with president mahmoud ahmadinejad. first, a quick check on your weekend weather. quick check with bill karins. let's talk a little bit about what we're going to deal with this morning. flash flooding down in mississippi is one of the biggest issues. heavy rain from memphis on interstate 40. we're going to watch that during the day. take a look at the airport. so far, so good. we're looking at about 15 minutes in atlanta. that's the only delay on the national map. forecast for today, showers and storms in the deep south looking fantastic from the northern plains through new england and everyone out west with mika and joe. you're looking at a fantastic friday. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. there was a time i wouldn't step out of the house without my makeup.

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welcome back to "morning

joe." great to have you here with us. we've got right now we're going to go to iran. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad speaks out in his first interview since the country's disputed election. sitting down with ann curry in an nbc exclusive interview. nbc's ann curry is live in tehran. ann, what have you learned? >> okay. >> she obviously didn't learn to put in her ear piece. >> you know what she did, we're going to be hearing much more about the full interview later. we have a portion of ann's interview. maybe we'll get her live shot on the other end. here is ann's interview with mahmoud ahmadinejad. >> iran has now agreed to negotiate in what could lead to the first significant talks between iran and the united states in nearly 30 years. what do you want from the united states?

>> translator: today a new arrangement should be put in place based on new principles so that the work is directed towards peace and tranquillity. we have always believed in talking, in negotiating. that is our logic. nothing has changed. >> are there conditions under which iran would weaponize? >> translator: well, nuclear arms, we believe they belong to the past and the past generation. >> so may i assume then your answer to that question is no? >> translator: my response to what question? >> is there a condition under which iran would weaponize? >> translator: we don't need such -- we don't have such a need, nuclear weapons. >> so the answer is no, sir?

>> translator: i don't know what you mean by "no." >> i'm asking if there are any scenarios in which you would change what you say is your course and move into creating a nuclear weapon. am i correct that the answer is no? >> translator: we do not see any need for such weapons. >> people will remark that you did not say no, as i've asked you three times the same question, and you did not say no. are you sure you want that to be your final answer, sir? >> translator: well, you can take from this whatever you want, madam. >> these questions, i gave them at a crucial time really between u.s. and iranian relation, mika and joe, because for the first time iran has agreed to negotiate, to sit down and negotiate with the united states. this could lead to the most significant talks between the two countries in 30 years.

the problem is that iran does not want to negotiate or talk about its nuclear plans, nuclear ambition, and the united states says that is topic "a." so that is the big issue. i should also, however, say to you that president ahmadinejad extended an olive branch in our interview yesterday, saying, quote, if mr. obama seriously is looking to bring about change, we will assist, and we're hoping he will succeed." so there seems to be some space here for something that has on curd in decades. we'll see where this goes. back to you, joe and mika. >> ann curry live from tehran. we'll be watching your interview with mahmoud ahmadinejad sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. if you remember we went in that small group and had breakfast, he likes to play mental football. he doesn't answer questions. he refuses. he plays games. >> he doesn't. ann asked him the same question four times and asked, are you sure you want that to be your final answer?

wow. in the full interview, you'll see he actually picks up the phone, and he gets a life line. >> that's good. >> and he doesn't get the answer from ayatollah he wants. so then he turns around and asks the audience. 73% said it should be no. >> coming up next, moderator of "meet the press" david gregory, and chuck todd live from the white house. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

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possible to make a deal on health care. >> i mean, what is that about? geez. i don't know. who's got some curel. get that to mr. todd rilt away. a little hand sanitizer. good. >> of course, that was the department of hhs secretary kathleen sebelius, who's concerned because she always tells us to sneeze into your arm. chuck just sprayed it out. what she doesn't understand is -- you see the updates of what the medical community is saying. you either do it into the air or into a goatee. goatee traps like 95% of the particles that could cause the common flu, which is why chuck always wears a goatee in flu season.

>> okay. >> with us now, nbc news white house correspondent, chief white house correspondent. >> it's chief white house correspondent. >> i don't have my glasses on. >> chuck todd live at the white house. also in washington, we have the moderator of nbc's "meet the press," david gregory. david, could you show the class how you sneeze. good boy. >> what was that choo? come on, make it a manlier sneeze. there we go. >> we have some movement, david. olympia snowe talking yesterday to john harwood about the possibility of possibly jumping on board. do you think the white house, the president -- you're talking to him this weekend -- might see an opening here? >> absolutely. this is the strategy, man. here's the question. as prepared as they are to try to do this with the votes of democrats only, they want olympia snowe. they've been working that very hard. they recognize the baucus bill is a bipartisan bill without

bipartisan support, which is a problem. that's why senator snowe is the focus. but this is going to be kind of a weird time now, where we're in the nitty gritty details. this is really the work that goes on away from the ball, by the president, working this, trying to get the votes along. what they worry about, of course, is if there is no vote by olympia snowe, does it make it more difficult to pull along some of the more moderate democrats who have real concerns about the spending as well? >> chuck todd, what's the president's strategy to move olympia snowe possibly? oh, my gosh, i guess he also has to worry about jay rockefeller and some democrats on the left. >> that's exactly what wehe's bn doing, which is one on one meetings. he called rockefeller down two days ago. this was basically 24 hours after rockefeller made public his disagreements with the baucus plan. then he met individually with ron widen, democratic senator,

who has also talked about he's on that finance committee. talked about issues he had with the baucus bill. widen was hoping his bipartisan bill with utah republican bob bennett would have gotten the president's attention. it never did. the president is literally doing this one on one. personal phone calls to susan collins, olympia snowe's main colleague. talks to olympia snowe all the time. these are one on one meetings he's doing, trying to patch together this whole thing. and then when they're not worried about that, you've got david axelrod making sure the massachusetts state legislature keeps moving that bill along so he can try to find yet one more vote because they're worried about -- first of all, it tells you they're worried about 60. this whole idea of reconciliation, i actually think that's really, really not as -- they're not going to do it that way. >> david, of course, we're hearing the name michael dukakis as a possible replacement for senator kennedy. >> right. he is certainly among the names of people who would be a good

care taker until a special election after the first of the year. other names have been mentioned as well. but the priority for now the late senator kennedy and for his colleagues, his democratic colleagues, is to make sure it's a reliable democratic vote on health care. just to add on to chuck. i agree there's no question that all along, all this talk about reconciliation was a bit of a power play here to try to get olympia snowe on board, get others on board. but they do have to recognize that they're in a position where they have to move forward on that. and the president, i'm told, is not as gun shy as others might be about moving toward reconciliation if they absolutely have to do it. as chuck said, everything they're doing now is about getting the 60. >> chuck todd, let me ask you about nancy pelosi. she sort of talking about violence that happened around san francisco city hall, the i

city where we are now, back in the 1970s. what's your take about nancy pelosi getting emotional and talking about concerns that history might be repeated in a very ugly way. gl i have a feeling it's going to put the president in a tight spot today. you know, i'm not going to pretend to know what david's going to ask him. i'll tell you, it does seem at some point the president's got to tell his own supporters, enough of this stuff. no matter what you believe, how well meaning you think you're being, it doesn't help the situation. it doesn't help the debate. it ends up becoming a distraction to the point of we're having now a debate over the debate about the debate. and while it would seem silly, that's a heavy charge, and it's one no one want to believe she just threw out there. i think she was being very serious about what she believed. is this where we should be

going, where this debate should be going? >> timing certainly is everything, chuck. i would like to ask david, in light of the fact the president is doing "meet the press" on sunday as well as trying to be seen on many other sunday morning platforms, what's going to be the lead questions on all these shows? is it going to be former president carter? is it going to be nancy pelosi? is he finally going to get to health care. it seems like there are some major distractions taking place. i wonder if they're happy about this strategically. >> i think the way they approach this is the president does have a mess anl to get out on health care in particular. what's so important is he can try to drive up public support. public support means the ability for more pressure from the white house on these wavering senators and other congressman on how they're going to vote on health care. you've got a lot of issues out there right now. i think to speaker pelosi's point, it's interesting, on the program recently i interviewed senator tom coburn of oklahoma,

and he said it's not about health care. it's millions of americans who feel the government is out of control right now. that's a very precarious feeling, and it means there can be a lot of political protests, and it certainly create an atmosphere where it could be even worse than that. we've seen it at various points in our history where emotions are raw. there's no question about it. the way citizens feel about the role of their government is powerful. that goes back to the founding of our republic and courses through historic events in our time, even recent history. these are real issues. >> and it usually matches an economic downturn. i think, to go to david's point, it's this lack of control that i think people feel in their own lives that makes them even more sensitive when they feel like, what's going on over here in washington? >> harold, let me ask you. do you agree with chuck that the white house probably views nancy pelosi's statements and jimmy

carter's statements as distractions in this health care debate? >> they would have to, even if there's some truth to what both may be saying. has very little to do with trying to advance a health care bill, trying to get back to an energy reform bill, and even to a financial reform bill the president wants. i hope -- and i was curious to hear david make the point to what eegs going -- mika, what will he focus on. if i were president obama and david axelrod and robert gibbs and rahm emmanuel, i would want this conversation on health care, where we go from the baucus bill. how do you hold democrats together and bring in a few republicans. the rest are distractions. >> when you have nancy pelosi again, the same person that used the term un-american to talk about tactics at town hall meetings, and harry reid calling americans evil, all you're doing is stirring up -- and as chuck said -- and i love how he said

this -- a debate about the debate. that's not helpful for the white house or the democratic cause. >> it's not healthy. i think what carter did and nancy pelosi did is not healthy for the country to accuse basically a huge number of americans of racism or start invoking the violence that we saw happen in the '60s or in the '70s in san francisco. those are bad references. >> and speaking of unhealthy, we want to thank chuck todd at the white house for being with us. right there, brother. >> and, david, thank you for showing the class the right way. >> david has a new "meet the press" website. absolutely fantastic. they've got just about everything you need. >> look at that. >> regarding news and also streaming miley cyrus video 24 hours a day. >> awesome. >> david, you're going to be on radio, right, to tell us more about the website? >> absolutely. mtp.msnbc.com. you've got it all covered there. check it out.

>> we'll talk to you on the radio. >> it looks wonderful. that's on wnbcradio.com between 10:00 a.m. and noon eastern. thanks very much, david. thank you, chuck. coming up next, one of the democrats the white house is hoping to win over in the health care debate, congressman tom periello of virginia next on "morning joe." we're coming to you live from san francisco. we'll be right back. ♪ need a lift? hey buddy, i appreciate the ride, you know. no problem. ♪ mind if i take a shortcut? yeah, sure. ♪ i knew the subaru legacy was the smart choice... what i didn't expect... was the fun. the all-new subaru legacy. feel the love.

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welcome back to "morning joe." with us now, democratic representative from virginia, congressman tom periello. congressman, thanks for being on the show. good morning. >> good morning to you. >> congressman, are you supportive of the baucus plan as you've seen it coming out in the senate? >> well, you know, i've been a no on health care reform trying to get to yes.

we know how much the status quo is bankrupting our families, our businesses, the deficit. what i've seen of the baucus plan doesn't seem to get at the core issue of the kind of competition and cost containment that's going to really relieve that premium pressure for middle class families. i think what we are seeing is a deadly seriousness here about trying to solve the problem, putting the best ideas on the table, and really anyone from any party who's serious about bringing ideas to the table has a seat, and that's the right way for it to go forward. >> let's talk about a couple of issues, congressman. the first issue jay rockefeller brought up and actually lawrence o'donnell brought up on our show on monday, and that is this 30% surcharge tax. would you support that for americans, middle class americans, as jay rockefeller said, that have a good health care plan? >> i would not. i think that plan is probably doa in the house. i'm not as authoritative on that as some others are.

i don't think that's the right approach. i think looking at where we can find savings, cuts in federal spending, these are ways to go about it. these are ways to retain costs. the cbo said the best cost savers are not in the baucus plan. so we're looking to move forward. >> let's move to another plan in the baucus bill. it's another one that's been criticized by democrats in the senate. bill nelson from florida says he can't go along with the cuts in medicare advantage. could you? >> i think those proposals raise a lot of concern on the house side. i think the democrats -- >> what about with you personally? >> i've got to look at the details of the baucus plan, but if there's cuts in medicare advantage, it's serious concern to me. there's certainly been some waste in that program, but overall it's moving in a direction that's important to seniors. ours is the party that's tended to look out very strongly with medicare and social security and other things for guaranteeing that security to our seniors. >> very good. pat buchanan is in washington

also. he's got a question. pat? >> congressman, i want to ask you a political question. we just heard from chuck todd. and from david gregory. they think this so-called option of going with reconciliation is basically a bluff. in other words, the democrats and the president are going to go for 60 democrats or 60 votes in the committee and on the floor. to do that, you've got to have jay rockefeller aboard, which suggests that jay rockefeller, when he says, if you don't have a public option, i'm not for it, that he is bluffing, or he's going to cave in. do you believe that? >> well, i've been on a steep learning curve here my first eight months, but learning what makes the senate tick is certainly not one of the things i've solved yet. but i do think that, generally speaking up here, 50 votes, 51 votes is what it's supposed to be to pass a bill. and in extreme cases a filibuster could be used. i'm going to leave that to the senate to figure out. i think, they're very serious about trying to get this thing

done. that's a promise we made to the american people. >> congressman, there have been heightened emotions on both sides of this debate on a number of levels. what do you think of nancy pelosi's recent comments about the concern that this could bring us back to another time where things were very violent and that this could go in a bad direction, the discourse. >> well, you know, making the comment or not making the comment doesn't change the reality. clearly, this is part of what's going on but not all of what's going on. i conducted over 100 hours of town hall meetings in my district in central and southern virginia. the rest of them were civil. people disagreed passionately on ideological grounds, and there were the rare cases where very racist remarks were made. sometimes they were called out by neighbors in the audience, sometimes they weren't. clearly, race remains a factor in america, but there's a lot of disagreement here that is genuine and not based on race. i think we have to have both conversations. but i think what you also saw was a shift between sort of a debate from the '60s about

compassionate liberalism versus anti-government conservatism, being replaced by the post-boomer debate, which is the problem solvers versus the political partisans. i think that's the new line in washington is not really republicans and democrats, but the division between people who came here, to get this thing done, to solve these problems that are handicapping the american people and instead go forward with solving the problem. >> congressman periello, thank you so much for being on the show. we'll see you soon. up next, editor of "the new york times" book review and week in review, sam tennenhaus. >> that congressman, very impressive guy. we've had him on a couple of times. i think he's got a future in virginia politics, big future. >> he just might. i'm walgreens ceo and i'm also a pharmacist. getting an early flu shot is the best thing you can do... to protect you and your loved ones from the flu. it's also one of the easiest things you can do... because walgreens is now offering seasonal flu shots... every day of the week with convenient hours guaranteed. so you can just stop in.

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he meant to say plucking, and he said something else. the author of "the death of conservatism." >> yeah, and it was interesting to go to the clinton school and tell the audience the last conservative president in america, he adjusted things, and so it came in as a starry-eyed kennedy/johnson liberal. and so he let it go too far. >> the book was received well in there? >> yeah, they were more interested in joe and maky, and they asked me if joe was going

to run for president, and mika was going to run with him. >> let's talk week in review, sam. what is the biggest headline? >> mahmoud ahmadinejad coming here. and our great white house correspondent is going to look at the different presentations that mahmoud ahmadinejad and president obama might make to the u.n. and the missile defense reminds me of a little big of reaganism. >> the president has been blasted by the allies and the republicans for the missile shield move. how does he handle that? >> he has to say we are not fighting the cold war any more.

senator mccain is a great figure and kind of a cold war guy, and i think president obama will be able to say iran is really the threat now in the most destabilized region. here is a way of efficiently and competently handle this. >> and i cannot believe -- political talk radio is like rap mus music? >> yeah, what is that about? david, who is a great reporter at the time, they have culture pieces. he heard talk radio and it reminded him of rap music. >> joe is out in san francisco.

joe? >> yeah, and i found politicians are not able to -- well, haven't we moved yaurnd the shock of a great economic town turn a year ago. and now americans are saying watch the deficits and watch the debt, and washington don't grow too big too fast. >> i know that i have seen this on the program before, whether barack obama wants to be franklin roosevelt or lyndon johnson, johnson wanted to remake society, and we are looking at early new deal times, and it's hard to know just how many directions president obama thinks he can move in at once. >> what book in the book review are you recommending this weekend? >> well, a fascinating book that really raises the question if

whether the untapped resource might be woman, and that women could transform the economy. >> "half the sky" is the book. >> thank you. dylan ratigan, next. in your hands... knees... and back. for little bodies with fevers.. and big bodies on high blood pressure medicine. tylenol works with your body... in a way other pain relievers don't... so you feel better... knowing doctors recommend tylenol... more than any other brand of pain reliever.

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welcome back to morng j"mor joe." we are going to sweep you back west to mika and joe in san

francisco. there is the white house. got a lot to think about as the president prepares to go on 17 talk shows on sunday. is that your shot of nashville? anything? >> a slap in the face. >> harold, that's a great town. the best. how about las vegas. now you have a beautiful shot of las vegas. los angeles, california. there is the airport. we really know how to find beauty in the american cities. and then san francisco, let's take it up north. we don't have it. okay. well, let's check in with joe and mika there, at least, in san francisco. good morning, guys. >> good morning, willie. it's the top of the hour. it's great to have dylan back in. >> harold and willie, always talking about how beautiful nashville is.

and it's the sang raw law. look at that city. >> talk about dirty politics. >> yeah, now i know why they call it the magical city. listen to the music of those mufflers. >> it looks like a smooth commute this morning in nashville. >> yeah, we have a lot going on this morning. nancy pelosi making comments. >> she is trying to compare what is going on in america in 2009 with the tragedy that went on in san francisco in the 1980s. >> i am not sure of that. >> and also, bill o'reilly, it sounds like he may be supporting the public option. the "huffington post" had a screaming headline after his show. and there are some conservatives that suggest that bill will back off that. we will play the clip and let everybody out there decide.

and i want to talk about after we play the clip, at the beginning of the debate, and i think this is something the white house should have explained more to free market guys like myself, and i kept hearing gibbs saying we need competition. and i thought why do we need competition, we have 1,300 health care companies. and then you here statistics, how one company dominates 85 or 75% of the market in one state. and you think that's not competition at all. the free market in a lot of states is not providing competition. that's coming from a free marketer. the rules in the states have obviously been rigged to help health insurance companies. i hope at the end of the debate, regardless of where these senators and congressmen and the president comes down, we figure out a way to make each one of those states more competitive, because you will not have

competitive health care pricing if one company controls 85% of the health care in one state and we the consumers don't have the opportunity to go out and shop and compare. are they going to take care of this? that? how much will it cost? because most americans with health care have a gun to their head saying you can have any health care plan that you want, as long as it's this one. >> yeah, and the companies have to pay for it, and it's so costly, maybe they could benefit from this. >> and as howard dean said you may have to have antitrust laws and bust them up. we need competition. it's time for a look at some of today's top stories. and president obama is now making his appeal to younger voters describing the issue of

the defining struggle of this generation. it comes as olympia snow, considered a key vote in this competition. >> well, i am probably more optimistic than less. i think we will get a better sense next week in the senate finance committee. i think people want to get something done. i would like to have -- >> you would like to, but you do have to? >> i will support the right policy. i think the right policy will garner the votes. >> pat buchanan, olympia snow sounding independent. how important is it for her

vote? >> i think that would be the 60th vote. at the same time, that answered the question that i asked a moment ago, look, if they have to get 60 votes and reconciliation is a buff, today that means you have to have jay rockefell rockefeller, and if he is telling the truth i am not supporting the bill. >> harold ford jr., if you get a massachusetts senator in there, and let's say it's michael ducacus, and suddenly you can give up one vote. and ben nelson will go to the leadership and say if i vote for this i lose. i have a hard time thinking they will give jay rockefeller a free pass. this is how it happens in washington, d.c. on votes like this. you go to the leadership and you say, i need a pass.

i have a vote against the bill that will kill me. i don't see rockefeller getting the free pass before ben nelson? >> when you have olympia snow on national television saying she sees room for compromise, and it has to send a message to senate democrats where if we need to make adjustments to the baucus plan, about premiums, and let's make those adjustments and hold to democratic support, and pick up one or two republican centers. if democrats are willing to sit, we could find ourselves in a great position in a week or so. we could get a health reform bill. >> and a new pole shows obama holding a 55% approval rating.

he is seeing declines on a number of levels. a dip from 8to 83%. and then voters now see the president as less trustworthy, and able to get things done. >> look at the numbers. george w. bush, what he would have given to have one of those numbers his last three or four years. >> this is pretty expected, i think. >> pat buchanan, a 55% overall approval rating. that's darn good. and those numbers we showed seem to be considering what a long, hot, ugly summer this has been. >> joe, i never saw numbers like that. if i were in the white house i would be popping the champagne

corks. and those are great numbers. and former presidents are saying the things that they are saying, and speakers, and i think the president ought to be feeling confident in the numbers. that's one of the best polls i have seen for the president in a long time. in the second quarter, household wealth jumped by $2 trillion. let's bring in dylan ratigan. what else do you really need to say? >> especially after a story like that. we need to hear from him. "morning meeting." force of nature. crack addict. this guy has it all. just this one time, only one of

us will talk at a time, dylan ratigan. >> he can't do it, joe. >> he can't do it. >> yes, he can. >> i am in to it. >> and here is o'reilly. >> joe and i go to a chat room together. >> yeah, i told you he can't do it. >> you smoked the crack pipe, and he is like i can do anything. >> here is the deal. both of you be quiet. here is bill o'reilly. >> you don't necessarily need a public option if the government is going to control -- >> i want that, i want -- not personally for me, but for working americans to have an option that if they don't like their health insurance, if it's too expensive and they can't afford it, and if the government

can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, i see that as a plus for the folks. >> let's go to pat buchanan. what do you think about bill o'reilly's pronouncement there? >> that's the vote that will replace rockefeller. i think bill's going to be talking to his constituency today and explaining things, joe. >> i want to follow-up on bill o'reilly's point about having the working-class people, that obviously, pat, you reached out in your days. and we brought up today where you have in some states one insurance dominating, a monopoly, 85% of insurance programs all for one company. i would think there are a lot of free marketers, and free

conservatives looking at that system. >> yeah, you have to have let all the companies compete in the states, and that's where olympia snow says if by 2012 or 2013, if people who are still uncovered that want covering, we have a trigger. no need to make a profit gets in there, and they eat up all the other companies, and that's where we are on the road to single payer. o'reilly, i think he came down on the side of the democrats on this one. >> dylan ratigan, do you agree with that? >> i agree with that. but what i think you were saying, joe, when the president said the other day -- we said

this a few times, if you like what you have you can keep it, what they are not able to say is if you don't like what you have in your employer-based program, you can change it. that goes to the monopoly around the insurance industry. it's the tax treatment and other aspects that are directly addressed in an amendment like the wyden choice amendment. it allowses all of us to keep our employer-based plan, or if we don't like it go into the exchange. and they are not allowing the free market competition to come to bear. and i don't see they have not

unleashed the noncompetitive force. >> look at what bill o'reilly says, for those folks that can't get it or find it in the market right now, he would go for a government option there? >> i agree with him. what i am saying from a taxpayer perspective, why should we write taxpayer checks before we released tax competitor force. >> i agree with you. i am just saying bill o'reilly doesn't. >> well, i don't know if o'reilly doesn't agree with that. i think what o'reilly was saying last night is he wants affordable health insurance for middle class and working class americans. i think we can all agree on this show this morning that if the insurance companies were allowed to actually compete against insurance companies, that would drive down prices, whether it would drive down prices enough,

that's a debate that i hope we can continue to have in this country. harold ford, it sounds like to you that bill o'reilly is supporting a public option? >> he is supporting competition, it sounds like. your point at the beginning of the show and i think what dylan and pat -- i did not see the whole interview, and what o'reilly was saying, if you want competition to exist, you will see prices coming down. if you can see the government cobble together a more affordable plan, then you will see prices come down. baucus has the momentum, let's fix it and make adjustments. >> and harold, you look at baucus, and then you take the choice amendment that alters the tax treatment so it creates

portability or if we change our jobs we can take it. you have the baucus impact, and real competition on the exchange. we can all go to the exchange and look for it. not just us that are freelancers. >> you know, mika, we need to get with ron wyden on the bill and get him to talk about this. i think this is one of the most critical points. if you want true free-market forces in the health insurance industry, this is how we do it. >> let me ask dylan before we go. what is your sense of the federal reserve's assessment of the economy? >> in a nutshell, again, a year later the government gets an a or maybe an a minus on how we handled the bailout. a fragile system was breaking and they were able to support it.

it costs us $23 trillion. that's the use of the money, and not necessarily the expenditure of it. what kind of a system requires the use of $23 trillion in taxpayer capital in that subsidy, simply to make the banking system work? that's evidence we have to review how the banking system is built. we have an f for systems design. >> harold ford jr., thank you for being with us. dylan, stick around for the round table. and dylan, we go around the table, and we don't talk on top of each other, and we talk separately to each other. >> just follow my lead. >> that's how she talks to you, joe --

>> we'll have the check on business before the bell with cnbc's erin burnett. >> she is a superstar. >> absolutely. >> and later, the history of living thrifty in america. lauren weber explains why cheap should not be a dirty word. she is right. plus, willie's week in review. find out what stories will make the cut. first, here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. i bet the week in review will probably have somebody throwing out the first pitch. and then let's look at delays. and the problem area is from atlanta to dallas, they have a chance of thunderstorms. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. achoo!

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i have concerns about some of the language that is being used because i saw -- i saw this myself in the late '70s in san francisco, this kind of rhetoric. it was very frightening. it created a climate in which we -- violence took place. so i wish that we would all, again, provide enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made. >> we will talk about nancy pelosi in just a moment. first, let's talk about the front page wall street journal.

big story. what does this mean? >> they do address too big to fail. you will have a lot less ability to take huge risks. and if you are risking our money and paying yourself a lot to do it, that's not very american. >> and pat buchanan, limiting lenders. do you have a problem with that? >> i am a believer in if the taxpayers are supporting the banks, we have a right to set pay standards. you can't make $20 million when we are supporting them. i would like to ask dylan this. it seems you are going to have a two tier system. the free private banks that did not need to be bailed out that can go as far as you want,

fellas, and then the other ones, they will limit salaries. >> yeah, and if the government doesn't do meaningful regulation, you will have another unfair unbalanced marketplace created by the government and ultimately to the benefit of a few and hurting the customer. >> also, the other story we are following here is nancy pelosi. the sound byte that we rolled. we were really talking about the discourse and her fear that it could bring us back to more dangerous times or lead to violence. it just seems like her timing is pretty bad, given the fact that the president is going to be doing a multimedia tour this weekend on every talk show, and now we have another distraction. >> what is the purpose of nancy pelosi taking us back to that

terrible event in the city hall in san francisco back in the 1970s, when she herself said let's put the joe wilson thing behind us and get talking about health care? it's not only a distraction. i think it's hurtful the way president carter suggested all these folks out here including joe wilson are really motivated by racism. they can't find the fact that we have an african-american president. a, it's nonsense. and b, it's hurtful. c, it's damaging to the president of the united states. >> less sort this out, pat. you and i both agree that there is still racism in america, right? >> well, sure, there is, but -- >> hang on. we both agree that this is a segment of barack obama haters who hate him because he is a man of color, correct? >> well, correct.

>> so we don't want either side painting with too broad of a brush here, right? >> what has happened to make carter issue that statement other than the fact that obama has gone from 70% to 50%. there is a lot of folks out on the town hall meetings angry about health care, and then he is into national racism? i think it hurt the president and distracted the president and will give him trouble all sunday. >> i agree with you, there. we can't over generalized it. i think jimmy carter over generalized it. i would like to talk to a political analysts that said it was a distraction. everybody has said it. nancy pelosi is not doing the president any favors. >> these are a couple things --

these approval ratings we have been tracking all along, and they were quite high, and i don't know what happened to people since they didn't become racists. and there were polls entruin tr and leadership, and he is not doing that bad. >> take us through the numbers here. >> this is a research poll, from february to now. the numbers are pretty sensat n sensational. trustworthy, 64%. able to get things down, 58%. they are all down between 9 and 12 percentage points. they are still quite high. >> the president has been basically between 50 and 55%

since this health care debate really exploded about a month or month and a half ago. that's about right for being in this stage at the presidency? >> yeah, and after a really acrimonious summer in which his health care and he were under heavy fire. joe, as i said, if i were in the white house i would be more than pleased with these numbers coming out here at the end of the summer as he is going into the final quarter, if you will, about the health care debate. i think the president is looking good. >> which makes the former president's statements concerning in my point. >> yeah, they are. sadly, craig crawford brought this up a couple days ago. what is so ironic about jimmy carter playing the race card is the fact that ted kennedy supporters played the race card against jimmy carter and accused him of being a racists. it has happened time and time again, and last year.

and republicans on the far right also playing the race card. >> i would expect that after the way this president came into office, swept in with the world, you would think that the money moon would fall hard and there would be a real emersion that would lead to low approval ratings. he is doing amazingly well given the trouble this country is facing. >> yeah, and pat buchanan, the morning of the cold january winter's day when barack obama was inaugurated, you said in all your years in washington, and you have been here for over half a century, you have never seen a president that had such an era of good feeling, not only in washington but across america, not even jfk. to me that would suggest that our problems on race are not quite as broad as jimmy carter would have us think they are.

>> yeah, and it was a happy day. a good era of good feeling in washington, d.c. i have never seen anything like it. the enormous crowds. but when you see the republicans out in the house, glum and ticked off, and that's not racism. they were just upset about what was being said, for heaven's sake. >> up next, erin burnett. deny payment for 1 out of every 5 treatments doctors prescribe. if the insurance companies win, you lose. tell congress to rewrite the story. we want good health care we can afford with the choice of a public health insurance option. new aches and pains,

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new york city, where an international superstar lurks. >> she doesn't just lurk, but she shines. >> will she shine as bright as the chrysler building? >> i came from the set where i was from you guys this morning, and there is a street fair down here. can you believe there is a street fair shutting down streets at 7:30 in the morning, selling this. >> did you get one? >> no, i am resentful. and there is optimism around the world. it's a day americans got a little richer. you did see an increase in net worth, and it was all due to the

surge in equity prices. and equities are more widely held than some might think. and it's going to be a flat open. among the topics of conversation today will be what is going on with compensation on wall street. that's going to be a big one, especially given the head of citigroup said last evening that $100 million was too much. he has a man that is contract wully guaranteed that. we'll see what happens. >> we hear that china seemed to be awaking a bit, and oil is still dropping. why is that? >> well, you know, it's part of

a broader issue. well, it has been building excess capacity not actually needing them for its economic growth. that's some of the concern that you are seeing. china, not the use of oil, but the desire to stock pile oil is what is driving prices higher. right now, joe, we are just around $72 a barrel. by the way, that's pretty darn high. back to you. >> that is pretty darn high. >> thank you so much. >> have a safe trip back, guys. >> yeah, and erin burnett, thank you for being with us. author laura weber on the history of living thrifty. controlled freeze zone is a new technology... being developed by exxonmobil... to remove the co2 from the natural gas... so we can safely store it... where it won't get into the atmosphere.

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i saw a cute photo the other day from the white house. take a picture.

there is sasha obama. isn't that a cute picture. it reminded me of a similar photo taken during the last administration. show that photo. >> going back to the bush well. and now we have lauren weber. great to have you with us this morning. nice timing on this, i have to say. >> i did not plan it that way. >> you saw the collapse coming and released your book. i love about the history in your family. your dad -- i will let you tell the story, do what, when you were driving the car? >> well, he doesn't like to use the turn signals when he is driving. >> to keep the bulbs longer? is that the idea? >> i think that's not rational. he uses hand signals.

>> you know of what you speak when you talk about in cheap we trust. and i thought it was interesting in the book where you say we all assume back in the day our grandparents were frugle and thrifty, but there is not a tradition of being cheap in america? >> well, i think that we have a myth that we were a thrifty nation. we might have admired thrift, but not aspired to it. and there were boycotts of consumer goods that came from europe and a real movement to make american's fugle during the revolution. and when that passed americans

were buying furniture from france. >> mika has a question for you. >> i think this is such a great topic. i think over the past ten or 15 years we have become such a materialistic, just absolutely lazy, fat, society that just -- >> here we go, willie. >> they buy flat screens like they are playing cards. everybody spends so much money and needs so many -- >> we are americans. we are americans. that's our god-given right. >> and i think we need to enjoy what is joyful about life and not this crap from stores. >> yeah, i agree americans have not shown as much restraint as they should have in the last couple years, but i don't think the recession comes down to too many americans buying you know flat screen tvs and lattes.

and i think politicians deregulated the financial industries in the '80s and '90s, and americans don't get the financial training or literacy to deal with that appropriately. a lot spent beyond their means. >> absolutely right. >> what is interesting now, the american people are now ahead of the politicians and the bankers when you have our savings rates going from zero, this time last year, and now it's up to 7%. so americans do learn from their mistakes, i think. that's positive. >> yeah, i think americans, again, we can see this throughout history, whether it was the depression or revolutionary war. i think we know how to cut back when we have to. i am skeptical when i hear people say this is a lasting

permanent change, and i think when the economy recovers people will go back to spending the way they used to. the thing that might change the game this time is people are thinking about their consumption in an environmental sense this days, and that leads something to more of a permanent change. >> this book is great, and you make your own laundry soap? >> yeah, i do. >> the book is "in cheap we trust." >> yeah, i like that. she gets a sense of where the economy is and where the thinking is. we should stop buying big cars?

>> i make plates out of fingernail clippings. is that right? >> glenn beck said mean things about mommy. willie geist, i don't know where to begin here. >> why would he do that? >> he does not like you. let's roll the clip. you will not believe what he said. >> she is concerned that it's not an elegant argument -- shut the hell up. shut the hell up. really? >> is he telling mika to shut the hell up? >> yes, he is telling a woman to shut the hell up. >> i would simply say i will see you in the parking lot outside after the news, glenn. you mess with mommy and you mess with the crew. >> we will have a showdown.

yeah, he was very angry yesterday in the conversation with rick spaegle? >> yeah, you and him were -- you were really talking about the challenge -- >> i guess he wanted to pick you on. he mixed on msnbc and said nobody watches this network, which is kind of funny because if i am not mistaken, the last gig at cnn headline news, we beat him every night. i love it. these guys go over and work for roger, who creates a remarkable platform for conservatives, and suddenly the glenn beck that nobody watched six months ago is the glenn beck that thinks he is a international superstar. >> yeah, you can make yourself a star in certain ways if you

choose to. what did i do? >> because she sadred off the beaches in the south of france and started a radio show, and then -- >> i am on the radio with you. >> well, i studied old time radio and this is what i do, and mika is beating him head to head in the only city where our shows compete? >> it's your show, our show. >> yeah, let's be clear it is mika's show, and has nothing to do with you, with all due respect. >> when we are stumbling in there and drinking, we are beating glenn beck in new york. i think it makes him really angry. >> it was not very nice. i have to say i never heard that tone. >> shut up? that's so sudden. >> and our radio show, between 10:00 a.m. and noon.

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it's hard to believe it has been three days since rocket rod blagojevich was standing here. and the top three stories of the week begins with blago. >> when you are telling the truth and you know what the truth is, then the truth today is going to be the truth in six months and it was the truth last week. >> at number three, blago speaks

the truth. >> this thing is f'ing golden. yeah. sure, he already appeared on dozens of other shows to promote his new book, but he had not yet faced the team of those courageous journalists like those on tuesday? >> why are they being so mean to you. >> the governor, he is our guy! >> i love you. >> despite an unfair agenda pushing line of questioning from mika brzezinski, clearly trying to make a name for herself by bringing down a man that wants nothing more than affordable health care for the sweet, sweet children of illinois, blago was, as always, gracious to his host. >> it's nice meeting you, mika. number two, just a bit

outside. >> please welcome the host of "morning joe"'s, mika brzezinski. >> and mika and joe were invited to throw out the first pitch at dodger stadium. mika trained literally minutes in preparation. but the real hands on learning took place on game day at the stadium when legendary coach, tommy lasorda helped. >> with a capacity of 1,500 people cheering them on, they threw out the first pitch, and inspired the dodgers to move on

to victory. and then mika and joe went at it again. >> the number one story of the week. >> i am happy for you. >> the death of civility in america. serena williams told a line judge what she was going to do with her blanking tennis ball. the you lie congressman was punished, and kanye west hijacked an exception speech. his moment of public rudeness confused taylor swift. >> oh, kanye west is here. >> and then his apology confused leno and the rest of the country. >> if there is anything that i

can do to help taylor or anybody. >> and then even jimmy carter condemned kanye's behavior. with the americans wondering where the heroes have gone, it's comfortable to know that there is one man to where we can turn our eye. in these troubles times, all i can say is thank god for blago. up next, what if anything, did we learn today. welcome to progressive. how may i help you? i'm looking for a deal on car insurance. i think i might have a coupon in here. there's an easier way. we've got the "name your price" option. you do? follow me. you tell us how much you want to pay, and we'll build you a policy that fits your budget. and i still get great coverage? uh-huh. go ahead. you're the boss. i'm the boss of savings. more like the c.e.o.

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to talk about what we learned today. we can keep getting up at 1:30 in the morning and be on the west. >> yeah, we are here on comcast a network, you can see it from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. pacific time, which will help, instead of having to get up so early. >> yeah, northern and central california, and we are moving that way in l.a. and san diego. we will see. >> also, more on radio with david gregory. we might just talk about the public discourse and how rude some can be. >> exactly.

yelling shuttup. while shoving a doughnut in their mouth. >> and pat buchanan? >> they have olympia snow's vote and bill o'reilly. >> i am grateful i was here holding down the fort. and great job to you guys. there is no parking lot behind fox news, and so the proposed fight with glenn beck is off. we will just go and have a drink. i am tired anyway, mika, i can't fight. >> don't waste your time. >> yeah, i will go home and go to bed. >> willie, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." we will see you back here on monday. it's time for "morning meeting" with dylan ratigan. >> i am dylan ti