and more from ann curry's exclusive interview with the rogue leader. >> what do you say to the families who accuse this government of brutality, torture, disappearances of their sons and daughters? michelle to obama adding her voice to the health care discussion, reframing the debate as a women's issue. >> that's why reform is so critical in this country, not tomorrow, not in a few years, but right now. also, star search in the gop, the party faithful at a big party today looking for their next flag-bearer. and pig skin politics. we will tell you which party is getting big bucks from the nfl. all that plus "saturday night live's" take on joe wilson and the shout heard round the world. >> all of us, all at once, together, are gonna yell "you lie." >> all right. good afternoon, everybody, i'm

norah o'donnell live in washington. >> i'm monica novotny live in new york. the big picture at this hour, the threat from iran, as the country's president raises the stakes against israel, president mahmoud ahmadinejad speaking at the end of a massive an anti-israeli rally in tehran and once again describing the holocaust as a lie. then he said, "confronting the zionist regime is a national and religious duty." his remarks came as israelis began celebrating the jewish new year. they also come ahead of his appearance next week at the united nations general assembly and before tehran attends talks on october 1st with major powers, concerned with iran's nuclear ambitions. secretary of state hillary clinton addressing those concerns this morning. >> our concern is not iran's right to develop peaceful nuclear energy, but its responsibility to demonstrate that its program is intended

exclusively for peaceful purposes. >> secretary of state hillary clinton warning of more isolation and economic pressure if iran remains defiant on the nuclear issue. meantime in an exclusive interview, nbc's ann curry asking president ahmadinejad about the upcoming talks with the u.s. and other powers and whether there are any conditions under which iran would develop a nuclear weapon. >> 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? >> today, a new arrangement should be put in place based on new principles so that the war is directed toward peace and tranquility. we have always believed in talking, in negotiating, and 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? >> 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 for nuclear weapons. >> so answer is no, sir? >> i don't know what you mean by no. >> well, 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? >> 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? >> well, you can take from this whatever you want, madam. >> more of ann curry's exclusive interview with iran's president tonight on "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. now to the bigger picture, how should the u.s. deal with iran? u.s. ambassador to the u.n., susan rice, says president obama will not meet with president ahmadinejad when the two are together next week to address the united nations. meantime, european analysts are setting low expectations for the historic talks with iran scheduled for october 1st in istanbul, turkey. the meeting will include the five permanent u.n. security council members, plus germany a. and in a diplomatic letter last week, iran say it had is following talk but made no mention of its nuclear program. michael o'hanlon is senior

fellow of foreign policy studies with the brookings institution and joins us now. good to see you. >> hi, norah, nice to be with you. >> ann curry had a great interview, of course with president ahmadinejad and she really tried to press him, of course, on iran's intentions, you can just see how slippery mahmoud ahmadinejad and difficult to sort of nail down, but he said we don't see a need for such weapons but we are still concerned, right? >> yeah, absolutely. you know, it would actually be a very nice thing, a nice compromise here would be for iran to be following hang onto some of its technology but basically put it all on ice that is the sort of compromise we could live with and ahmadinejad could stay true to that answer and basically say i have gotting in something in reserve in case i ever need it but i don't feel the need to weaponize it this could be the basis for a deal. unfortunately, we don't see iran willing to have that kind of a deal, we don't see them willing to invite in inspectors to confirm that technology has been disabled. so, i'm afraid that we have to assume what he really means is i

do see a need and i'm pursuing this bomb, i'm just not gonna tell you. >> has there been any thawing of relations since we have had a new president with obama? >> no because as you know, norah, the decisive event this year, even bigger than january 20th and mr. obama's inauguration was june 12th and iran's president's decision to basically steal the election in his own country and that's begun to have a lot of effects inside iran that may ultimately benefit us down the road if it somehow shakes the foundations of the iranian ruling party. but in the short-term, it has probably made the problem be worse because it strengthened ahmadinejad and other extreme hard liners against what you might call iranian moderates who are not really moderate but relatively speaking, were a better hope for us. so, no, this year has been mostly a story of bad news in terms of trends inside iran. >> so, then what about october 1st, the u.s. has agreed to take part in these p-5 plus one talks about the permanent five security members of the u.n.

security council. what should be the goal there and how should the u.s. deal with iran? >> well, you know, the goal in a literal sense in terms of the position we put on the table, should be some kind of a comp program mice where iran has to basically dismantle its nuclear technology but hold onto it in mothballs so to speak. in practical teams york think we will get a deal. therefore, the real purpose of these talks is to prove to other countries that irvan a problem and that therefore, because we have tried in good faith and failed that economic sanctions should be tighteneded. hopefully over time that increases the pressure on iran's regime and leds to a recalculation of iran's strategic interests by its leaders. or if nothing else, at least we show we will impose a cost on any country that wants to act in this fashion. i think that's about the best you can hope for by way of what comes out of these negotiations, if want to be very sober and realist buc it. >> if russia and china don't

want to participate in those sanctions, will they be effective? >> not as much as they want to be in one sense, norah but one hand, we are doing a all right behind the scenes, stuart levy, at the treasury department, as you know have been encouraging countries to stop dealing with iran if terms of their banks, in terms of their commercial investment. he has had a fair amount of success, even though not man dated by the u.n. security council and not international law it is still a lot of individual decisions, individual countries and companies and they are adding up to a fair amount of economic pressure on iran. unfortunately what we really hoped is that would lead to ahmadinejad's defeat in the june 12th elections, because his people would, you know, throw the bum out due to the economic performance his regime. unfortunately, we haven't had that effect, now we are in a longer term game but still trying to have some economic pressure applied to iran and i think there is hope at that level of somewhat less promising strategy but one still that can put pressure on iran over the longer term. >> no doubt. michael o'hanlon, thank you so

much. and you know, monica it is interesting, too, one of the other issues, of course, the issue of the three american hikers still being held over there. >> this is true. one thing, too, that i was listening to some of the experts speak on our air with andrea mitchell and we heard there is potential lay small silver lining in that there might be some crack miss this regime we still don't know how fully backed ahmadinejad is right now there maybe some crack there is, if that is the case, perhaps there is something hopeful out there. >> all right. what else do we have coming up? >> another push for health care reform from the white house this morning, norah, as you know this time, coming from the first lady. michelle obama says the current state of the health care system is unacceptable and that women need to step up and help make a change. the first lady says women are uniquely qualified to change the debate because we are often the ones making important health care decisions for our families. >> reform is so critical in this

country, not tomorrow, not a few years but right now. people are hurting in this country right now. health insurance reform and what it means for our families is very much a women's issue, very much an issue. >> a white house reporter for politico is with us. she took a moment there to reframe this debate from her perspective, the women's issue, talked about the status quo holding women and families back. she talked about insurance challenges that women specifically face. i'm curious how you think her voice will impact this debate? as i was listening to her, i was thinking a lot of women thinking my first initial thought is, as a woman, then i think about whether i'm conservative or liberal when i think politics. >> that's true. the question you raise as to whether or not she is really going to be able to cut through this really partisan fight is an interesting one.

women under 50 are more likely to think their congressman or representative should oppose the president's bill that way she may have impact. may not be able to change chuck grassley's mind, but maybe move women to call their representatives to call olympia snowe and say vote for this bill. >> she will be speaking at several of these intimate town hall events, that is how they are describing them, on health care reform. strategical strategically, let's talk about the time and why did they choose to bring her up now it has been a tough summer, the first family did have vacation time in there, but we saw a lot of the anger at those town halls are really erupted. i'm wondering why they chose now as perhaps to sooner or waiting a bit longer? >> definitely, she gives a different face to the debate, more personal, softer tone. her husband has the policy aspect down, she has the personal aspect down, talking about her family, reframing the debate in terms of it being a women's issue, so, i mean, i think, you know, kind of a

situation of all hands on deck at this point. we sought difficult summer that this administration had and they are really, you know, putting everybody out there see the president, of course, on sunday, on all five of those talk shows, so, she today, just a different voice for this debit. >> hey, nia, it is norah. it is interesting, of course to see the first lady, michelle obama and her role evolving itth is almost like the beginning of her sort of beginning to amplify the president's message in a more direct watch i was stlauk she is wading more into the policy issues now. >> yes, and point of fact, you know, kind of a risk for her, because she has really been out there in kind of a soft way, she had the garden, a lot of people attach her to her fashion. this is a risk for her. we saw what happened with hillary clinton in the early '90s and the danger she faced being attached to such a partisan and politically charged issue. they think as long as they keep her on the softer side of this

debate, she will talk about her kids, her family, women's issue that she will be okay and won't suffer any political fallout from this. >> nia-malika, finally, i found it interesting she never mentioned her background as a former hospital administrator when she spoke, something clearly relevant to the conversation and yet i certainly think she didn't leave it out unintentional unintentionally. >> that is a great point. i mean, i think she is coming at this wearing not her hospital administrator hat, wearing not her lawyer hat, but really, wearing her mom hat. i mean, she talked about sasha, she talked about being a daughter and seeing her father struggle with multiple sclerosis that is what she is doing here, just this kind of girl next door, first lady next door pitch she is making for health care. >> nia-malika anderson, great to talk to you. president obama will be david gregory's guest this sunday on "meet the press." check out the show's redesigned website, find it at mtp.msnbc.com. new features over there,

including more videos from the show, more interaction as well with moderator david gregory. all right, coming up, tryouts in the gop. republican stars trying to impress conservative activists at a summit on the party's future. plus, the politics of the nfl playbook a new stud gy look at whether coaches and players are running to the right or to the left. bicycle, i've missed you. gathering dust, as pollen floats through the air. but with the strength of zyrtec ® , the fastest, 24-hour allergy relief, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. with zyrtec ® i can love the air ™ .

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welcome bang to "the big pitch question, ". one week after the t.e.a. party protests, social conservatives are gathering in washington for a three-day event they call the value voters summit. >> the potential presidential candidates are attending,

including mitt romney, minnesota goffer in, tim pawlenty and mike huckaby. one of the highlights of the conference is the 2012 straw poll that includes some of the same faces who failed to challenge senator john mccain for the nomination in 2008. this morning's kickoff event, mike huckaby wasted no time returning to the issue of abortion and death panels. >> if the government can tell us who will be born that same government will tell us who has to die. we need to believe and continue to stand forth that life continues at conception and ends when god calls us home, not when ezeke y'all emmanuel decides it is time for us to go home. >> wow. nbc's brian moore joins us live in washington, give us a wrapup of what we have been hearing today. >> a lot of ways, a social conservative t.e.a. party.

2,000 gathered to hear speakers, not just like mike hukby, but carrie prejean, stephen baldwin, the reality show actor. middle of the road message, talking about abortion and gay rights and also talking about big government. coming up tomorrow, there is going to be a very interesting breakout session, a couple of them in fact, let's go over some of the titles. certainly, eyebrow-raising here, some of the titles, true tolerance countering the homosexual agenda in public schools. obamacare, rationing your life away, global warming hysteria, the new face of the pro-death agenda, and fighting you the vast left-wing conspiracy, some of the things going on here tomorrow that people will be talking about. for the most part though, off this stage, it's been a sort of inclusive agenda of a way to bring in more conservatives and somebody here not liking what we

are talking about right now. norah? >> looks like they are -- >> we are invited guests, doing live television. >> you are being rude. you get out of here. >> okay. >> you there go not everybody -- >> i guess i don't want people to -- i guess they don't want people to know what is going on in their value summit, even though the press has been invited in, huh? >> there are others getting shouted down a little bit now, too, i guess it is equal opportunity shouting down. but let's talk about some of the -- >> the fact that you are interrupting and being disrespectful. these people are trying to listen. >> try to interview her, brian. >> this is about the rudest -- >> we are on live with msnbc. please don't touch the microphone. tell us what your thought is. >> my son thinks you are rude to do this in front of the public. >> even though we are credentials press to tell your story and bring it out to the world. >> okay. we got to --

>> okay. >> we cannot hear when you are broadcasting. all we are asking is that you step outside when we are trying to listen because you are very disruptive that is all we are asking, that you not be disruptive. >> okay and you are? >> i'm linda quest and i paid to come here to listen, not to be disrupted. >> okay. thank you very much. >> brian, it sounds like -- >> continuing the report now -- >> brian, sounds like the people that organized that values voters summit didn't organize it very well, didn't seem to put the press in a way you could do reporting, they have a right to hear it you guys also have a right to report. >> absolutely. the security people just grabbed somebody and escorted him right out. >> a member of the press? or the people that were harassing you? >> no excuse me, one of the gentlemen that was here joining our live shot a moment ago was escorted out, asked to leave. >> okay. great live television, want to talk about the candidates in the

straw poll, that is interesting, too. >> yeah, no doubt. i understand, too, that, of course, sarah palin and new england are not there, but they will be part of the straw poll? nbc's brian moore, you are a good man for holding down the fort there, even though getting heckled by some of the people there. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> monica, i would have interrupted but i thought it made good television to really see what goes on at a lot of these events, people a a lot of time, people come over to reporters and shout us down, get out of here, even though we are allowing more people to see what is going on there. not only that as you said, telling the story, also, those cameras, we can't just make television quietly. he was -- i thought he was being as respectful as possible. clearly, they knew those cameras were set up there not just one person walking in, a camera man, a crew, sound guys, so it was obvious -- >> credentialed press. >> credentialed press, other networks there as well, other

channels. >> they are welcome to close their private event to the press if they don't want us there. all those people paid for, they don't do that. they invited the press in and then rude to the press. >> in their defense, not sure who it was, the one woman talked about i paid to come here, think it is not one of the organizers, we will wait and see, sure brian will find out. >> they got to pay for the event. i think people who come and attend and listen to all these great speak verse to pay a fee. >> i can't imagine they would invite them n that is amazing. >> monica novotny, thanks very much. up next, a manhunt for a skits friend inc., killer who escaped while on a field trip to a state fair. just one of today's need to know headlines, right, monica? >> yeah, you are watching "the big picture" on msnbc. more ahead [ female announcer] introducing the latest

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welcome back, everybody. here's what you need to know

today. police in illinois, right, have captured an armed fugitive who they say escaped on the way to court. yeah, police say robbed madae escaped thursday as he was being driven to court to be sentenced on robbery charges. this morning, a woman was carjack at gunpoint and a bank robbed a few hours later. police say the suspect was responsible for both of them. nice. police in washington state are searching for a kill here escaped while at a country fair. 47-year-old phillip arnold paul disappeared from a group field trip with the eastern state hospital as the group visited the spokane county fair. paul was judged criminally insane and schizophrenic and committed to the hospital after slashing a woman's throat. an official with the hospital says paul has a history of escape and assault. no comment was made as to why paul was allowed to go to this outing in the first place. and the only man convicted in the 1988 lockerbie bombing has released documents he hopes to clear his name. abdel basset al megrahi says he

hopes the arguments released today hopes will persuade the public these innocent of the attacks on flight 103 which killed 273 people. el megrahi, just released from prison on compassionate grounds last month. up next, new details about the man accused of brutally strangling yale medical student annie le. what those who know him best are saying about raymond clark. also, show me the money. we will tell you which political party has been getting most of the cash from the nfl. >> show me the money! >> jerry, you got to yell! >> show me the money! show me the money! 's heth 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. you weren't always my favorite day. with all the pet hair in the air, i'd spend class preoccupied, bothered by itchy eyes. but now i have new zyrtec® itchy eye drops. it works fast, with just one drop, to relieve my itchy eyes from allergies for up to 12 hours. no other allergy itchy eye drop works faster or longer. which is good, 'cause there's a lotta paws to shake. with new zyrtec® itchy eye drops i can love the air™.

garth, you're up. hold on, i'm at capitalone.com picking a photo... for my credit card. here's one from my prom. oh, what memories. how 'bout one from our golf outing? ( shouting ) i know, maybe one of my first-born son. dad, mom says the boys gotta go. personalize your card by uploading... your own photo at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? ♪ i'm bertha coombs, your cnbc market wrap. right now, stocks trade to be the upside. we have got the dow up by about 53 points, the s & p higher and

the nasdaq trading higher as well, by just over 10. . 42 states lost jobs last month, up from 29 declines in july. the biggest payroll cuts coming from texas, michigan, georgia and ohio. and 15.2%, michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, allel though california, nevada and oregon are at postwar record highs. the head of the fdic is considering borrowing from the treasury to replenish the funds that insures bank deposits. shooel la bair says the fdic board of directors will meet at the end of this month to consider all options. the finance crisis has slammed the fdic's deposit insurance fund. california's attorney general has issued subpoenas to moody's investors service, standard & poor's and trading as it investigates the ratings company's role in the crisis. they are looking into whether the agency violated state law by giving better ratings to shaky

assets. that is cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to msnbc. i'm norah o'donnell live in washington. >> i'm monica novotny in new york. police are looking into possible motives for the murder other of yale grad student annie le after raymond clark was charged thursday with the killing much the two worked in a research lab that conducted experiments on mice. lee's body was found last sunday stuffed in a crawl space of the basement of the yale lab building. the hartford current is reporting the crawl space contained dna from clark as did bloody clothing hidden behind a ceiling tile. the newspaper also reports that investigators witnessed clark trying to hide lab cleaning equipment that was found to contain blood splatters. now to the bigger picture, who is raymond clark? here is what we know a lab co-worker says clark was very controlling about what went on in the lab, harassing people.

he had no romantic interest in annie le but calling her murder crime a workplace violence crime. police also say clark is not cooperating, on the today show, a life long friend said he knows a very different raymond clark. >> everybody who have only known him for the past week considered him just a cold-blooded killer. to me, ray is a compassionate person, somebody i have known my whole entire life. >> clark's fiancee has described him as a loving guy. they lived together in an apartment in nearby middleton, connecticut. more on at suspect now from nbc's jeff rossen in new haven. >> reporter: good afternoon, learning more about ray clark and how he acted inside the research lab. lab workers say he was a nice guy, a normal guy but some call him a control freak. i got an e-mail overnight from one of the co-workers who working right alongside ray and annie, the suspect and the victim here. and she told me, "ray has always been very controlling over the

mouse room." that is what they call it downstairs. "often bothering people to the point of damn near harassment. last thing i knew was annie got a message from him saying her cages were dirty." and that's sort of the picture they paint of ray clark, a nice guy who got very territorial about that work and told it is a pretty high-stress environment involving these lab mice. bless were told they were looking into this motive have not come out and said this was the motive, not come out and said there was any motive in particular, investigators looking at this along with all the physical evidence they have in this case. norah and monica, back to you. >> all right, fbs's jeff rossen, thanks so much. monica, here is my issue with this story, describing it as workplace violence, clark was upset because the mice cages were unkept why are we -- i think this is a case of violence against women. and we should call it that. >> yeah, i wonder when he raised

this issue, makes me wonder are they sticking with workplace violence and workplace crime because this is the university if you talk about it being a workplace issue, a little more innocuous. if you talk about violence against women, i think off lot of young women on that campus very concerned. perhaps they are trying to tamp down the concern. i see your point. >> i just think of workplace violence as like a postal worker earthquake the environment at the workplace is so stressful for something like that a person freaks out and goes crazy. we don't know anything yet, details coming out, e-mails, other stuff learn more about this guy this suspect, i just think we should talk about this is a case of violence against women, but that's my opinion. >> i think it's interesting, too that jeff in his report talked about this notion they are now calling it a high-stress environment and made me wonder, explain what the high stress is then. >> exactly. in today's closeup, the national football league is getting in the game of politics. >> and it appears to be a

touchdown for the republican party. we are going throw as many football puns in here as we can, of course. according to a brand new study released by the center for responsive politics, nfl owners, players and coaches overwhelmingly favor the gop with contributions. 22 of the 32 teams given more cash to were uns than democrats. the chargers donated the most, nearly $2.5 million, most coming from the team owner and nearly all going to republicans. the houston texans contributing more than $623,000, all but 8,000 going to republicans. the arizona cardinals donating about $337,000, 75% going to the gop. and the st. louis rams gave the most to democrats, about $230,000. andy barr is a reporter for politico. andy, wondering if the nfl ever did their own research on this, because then, of course, it turns out that the envelope's own political action committee, gridiron pangt, favors the democrats. >> a study that the center for

responsive politics did put it out yesterday, goes back to 1989, really interesting results. for these team. >> the own certificate one giving most of the money, talk about the chargers, gave 275 million total, which blew away everyone else, their owner, alex spanos gave 2 million of that the gridiron pact, spending more on this year lobbying than ever in the entire history of the league, most going to democrats. >> when i pointed this out to a couple friends today, the first thing they universally said, they talk about the owners, for sure, talking about very high salaries and perhaps even folks who don't want to pay taxes. >> i'm sure that's part of it kind of hard to see exactly why they go one way or the other. the interesting thing, you have had a lot of former nfl players run for congress, almost all republicans, a number running this year, a tight wend the bills and pittsburgh steelers,

lynn swann, running for governor, wide receiver for the pittsburgh steelers. an interesting trend, fun thing to talk about. >> andy, it's norah here. the political pact they have, what did the nfl lobbying members of congress why are they making these political donations? what do they get in return? >> one thing that's important with the nfl every year is certainly licensing rights they are looking at. another thing, too, they have got a lot of unions deals constantly working on. they have got the union, nfl union, very powerful, sway on capitol hill, the nfl itself trying to get some sway. >> andy barr, thanks so much. >> thank you. up next, shall we move on? yeah. okay. >> i think so. >> up next, making their case, republicans using an old idea from the mccain campaign to attack president obama's pr blitz on health care. >> that's right. but first, a program note, and the reason we have that mixup there with the prompter issue.

this sunday, msnbc will telecast "about our children" a live event featuring bill cosby discussing poverty in america. they are going to be focusing on parenting, education and health issues facing the poor in the u.s. and cosby talks about some of that this morning the "today" sh show. >> the first thing that happened when i was going around, i had had enough of this, and i kept saying to groups of people our children are trying to tell us something and we're not listening. >> you can watch it right here on msnbc this sunday starting at 7 p.m. eastern time. ♪ look at this man ♪ so blessed with inspiration ♪ ♪ i don't know much ♪ but i know i love you

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he is the biggest celebrity

in the world, but is he ready to lead? >> remember that ad from last year's presidential campaign? well, it didn't help senator john mccain get elected, so you might assume that republicans would bury it right? >> well, yeah, turns out that house republicans and at least one speaker at the values voter summit going on here in washington are resurrecting the obama celebrity theme to attack his upcoming weekend tv blitz. the national republican campaign committee today sent out an e-mail reading, "celebrity sunday is almost upon us. and while many will have no choice but to tune in the numbers continue to show at a people are tuning the president out." and then there was this from former gop presidential candidate mike huckabee this morning. >> it is almost difficult to recognize, we have become the land of czars, clunker cars and hollywood stars. >> all right. is this more politics or just jealousy over the president's ability to dominate the air

waves? here to make their case, a correspondent for the nation and national staff member for the 2004 john kerry presidential campaign and amanda carpenter, reporter and blogger for the washington times. all right. amanda, i think that mike huckabee forgot to add in there, he could make it rhyme, pointing out that there is someone in "dancing with the stars" that is a republican, tom delay, right? >> yeah, right. i think tom delay criticized by a lot of republicans, strange he is on this show while a lot of republicans are in the what they think is the fight of their lives of health care. we will leave tom delay out there and talk about the celebrity ad resurrected. i think that san easy hit for the gop, dust that one off the shelves it does talk about britney spears, it communicates the message, still two years ago that obama is overexposed, what they are hoping for in the media blitz on sunday, hoping that people maybe get a little bit a annoyed a little bit of backlash, he is on every single show. just an easy hit for them.

>> ari, i don't get it you don't have to watch the television if you don't want it not like it is being shoved down your throat, turn off the tv. >> this one is especially stupid. look, he is the president, so, number one, get used to it. number two, this is not celebrity coverage, you don't see miley cyrus on "meet the press." this is what republicans were clamoring for, the president should be asked the hard questions, going on a bunch of different channels to sit down and get pressed on his issues, again, not celebrity coverage. at this rate, maybe have john mccain run in 2012 and just keep it going. >> this is such -- something that the president feels strongly about. there are 40, 50 million americans in this country who don't have health care who cannot take care of themselves, who can't go to the doctor and worry about. this the president said this is about the character of our country. so if he believes firm any something, shouldn't he be out there trying to be on every sunday talk show and trying to make his case to make sure the american people understand we

expect him to just slouch back and had hang out and go play golf at the white house? >> i think that's what he is thinking n terms of overexposure if i was an obama supporter, i would be a little bit worried about this strategy. >> explain to me the overexposure, i don't get the overexposure. he is the president of the united states. he feels firmly and passionately about an issue, his job to communicate to the people, that is part of politics, why it is worth doing it. >> well if you look at what other previous presidents have done this suspect just about health care, goes back to the stimulus and all that other kind of stuff, the "new york times" talked about how he has given i think 114 interviews in the seventh month of his presidency, bush, 37, chillen, 31. >> why is that bad? >> why is answering questions from the american people a bad thing? >> it is risk him. >> how?

>> press conference all about health care, didn't break news, lynn sweet got up and asked him about the gates scenario, that -- that answer dominated the news conference for the week, it was a smart move for the white house? when he goes on all five of the sunday shows, someone is going to ask him about nancy pelosi's comments about violence, someone is going to bring up carter's remarks. >> not answer any questions and be a coward? difficult out there face the president of the united states? >> norah, what i'm saying is that doing so many shows that is a lot of time to fill, even obama, charismatic and smart and on point is going to be very easy to make mistakes and become a joke on letterman the next night. >> can i just add one thoit thought here, amman do d.a. is making a political ament this might be distracting for him politically, yes, journalists can be very distracting, bring up new questions, bring up tough ideas tough respond to that aren't the message of the day. that is great thing. obviously george bush and barack obama when they are president on tv a lot, the difference is the kind of exposure, this exposure is journalistic, puts him under

the lights, answer questions, good for our democracy, even if not good for our politicking. >> he leaves room for error, we saw what happened in the white house press conference the one thing he didn't want to talk about dominated the news coverage and i don't think that is good for people that want health care reform whether you like obama's plan or not i think it is a distraction to solving the problems we have. >> ari acres man dark thank you so much, we appreciate t thank you. >> i'm still surprised by that whole conversation. >> what do you think? >> i just don't understand how we say that the president shouldn't fully do his job or try to rein him in because he might make a mistake, he is scared a reporter is going to ask him a question. >> and that he might answer it in a way that is considered a mistake and that might dominate the headlines. i think we need someone out there regardless talking about this issue, hasn't gotten done up until now, someone has to try to get it done. no doubt.

ahead, political punch lines, lighten it up from the folks at a weekend update and "saturday night live." later in the show, we are going to hear from the woman who miraculously survived after being impaled by a tree branch. ♪ well i was shopping for a new car, ♪ ♪ which one's me - a cool convertible or an suv? ♪ ♪ too bad i didn't know my credit was whack ♪ ♪ 'cause now i'm driving off the lot in a used sub-compact. ♪ ♪ f-r-e-e, that spells free credit report dot com, baby. ♪ ♪ saw their ads on my tv ♪ thought about going but was too lazy ♪

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welcome back and welcome back to the thursday version of saturday night live's weekend update. of course, they had some fun at congressman joe wilson's expense. the congressman who yelled out "you lie" during the president's address to congress. >> he is going to say this. the reforms i am proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. okay? now, when he says that, all of us, all at once, together, are going to yell "you lie!"

>> well, we all know what really happened. here's saturday night live's version of the conversation that happened after the outburst though. >> oh, this is going to come off real bad. really bad. >> not necessarily, joe. let's think about this. where are you from? >> south carolina. >> yikes! >> that is not the worst answer, okay? mississippi would have been the worst answer. >> that is so great. i have been dying for saturday night live to come back. there is so much good material out there. >> it's true. you would think that only in an election year would they get the best stuff but it is just not the case. especially with that one. >> love snl. watch how they handle the race factor with former president jimmy carter and rnc chairman michael steele. >> mr. president yarks believe someone who has so much power with the president did he know party is playing the race card. >> well, you're rate again.

you satisfy, i have no power with the democratic party. they don't return my call. some of them don't even know lou i am. i just found out they recently had a party for all living democratic presidents. i was not invited. >> i believe the terminology you're looking for is you got served. >> i guess so. >> i have a feeling that we'll be seeing a lot more of that michael steele impersonation coming up. >> and i love darrell hammond as jim country carter. in our next hour, a deadline for mark sanford. new pressure today on him to resign. also, focus on the first lady from health care to the olympics. how michelle obama is ramping up her public brawl. plus, paula abdul does the best impression, her best impression of ellen degeneres. this was so funny. this was the big picture on msnbc. access to favorite courses

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at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. this hour, tag teaming health care. >> current situations sun acceptable. it is unacceptable. >> the first lady making america's families her focus. the president of iran lashes out again. what he is saying now about the holocaust, israel, and the protests against israel elections. a manhunt underway for an insane killer in washington state. he escaped custody while on a field trip to a county fair. and it's not the first time. also, hard turn to the right. social conservative pull a meet and greet with all the big name from the gop. who will get the stamp of approval from the party's far right base? all tat