familiarity with the health care system, you are not simply a politician. have you a life -- a career's work dealing with patients and doctors. how do we get to this debate where we are debating the right things? it should be an equal priority to the patient and none of the debate seems to revolve around any of that? >> affordability, and available, the highest quality, and access to all of that. how do you do it all? have access for everybody. affordable and the highest quality? two of the three are easy, but two make them work together is the challenge. >> can i tell you what particularly airritates me.

here is how big the hole is. it becomes a tax debate. when we have not even seen our politicians demand the real fair choice in competition that we get. almost every other industry in the country, why is it that we are stuck inside an employ-based health care system that even to this day and even under the president's speeches does not allow people like myself to access an open market exchange where i can buy the best insurance plan for me regardless of what general electric may have negotiated? why is that illegal for me to do that? >> you should be able to do that. and if you did buy it, you should get the same tax relief that the big companies get? >> but why do they eliminate the free choice? they claim fair markets and claim to be fair capitalists, and then they are protecting the

health insurance companies from fair competition that is only possible now through the magic of the internet? why do the politicians not demand that happen? >> well, when president obama was senator obama, he voted against it. i voted for it. >> what is it about the unions -- well, they are able to negotiate, and they get better benefits. if you join the union, you get better health care benefits. i won't give you a raise, but you will get better health benefits. >> as long as the system stays the way it is right now, dylan, we need to do some things like allowing people to get the same tax benefits, and target it individually to you. if you stay healthy and exercise, you ought to pay less

than somebody of your same age that lives a different lifestyle. not under these plans. everybody gets the same treatment, the same expense under these plans. that's not the way it should be. there are things we should do to bring down the cost but none are in these bills. >> what can voters do to tell the desire of choice that is being denied to them in the health care debate? >> voters are turning out at town hall meetings. these are americans that are concerned about a country that is spending too much and borrowing too much and too many washington takeovers. i had town meetings as a doctor, not just as a doctor but around the united states. and tom coburn and i, this is what we heard everywhere. people want the same choices. you can buy your car insurance or life insurance or buy insurance for my ceramic duck, or insurance on anything, but i cannot go out and buy my health

insurance. >> yeah, it goes with you if you change jobs. >> that's anti-capitalist and anti-competitive. >> that's why americans, if you poll them, they believe the whole system, the scheme will cost them more and their health care will be worse. americans do not want to pay more and let less for anything. >> and i am somebody who was a recent rival at msnbc in the political conversation. it's stunning to me how the priorities have so little to do with the interest of free choice and fair markets. where do you see the greatest resistance as a recently arrived senator to the agenda of real force and real fair markets and real competition in the country? >> washington actually believes that they know better. they believe one size fits all works. i am from wyoming. the smallest population state.

a lot of geography. we believe washington doesn't know it that well, and we believe the common sense of the american people is much smarter. that's why people should be reading the bills. bills ought to be on the internet? >> of course. why wouldn't we do that? >> with the stimulus program and the cap and trade in the house, nancy pelosi, you stay here and you vote before you go home for the fourth of july. i said send people home with the bills, and let everybody read them and then come back and vote. that's why we need to have more americans involved in the debate. >> senator, i look forward to extending our conversation. i appreciate your spending time with us this morning. thank you, sir. the junior senator from wyoming, a pleasure. nice to see you. contessa, what is going on, particularly with the police in atlanta? >> yeah, i will get to that. but first a colorado man is heading to court along with his

father and a new york city ae mum all charged with lying to authorities in a terror investigation. authorities are working to unravel the details of their alleged plot. pete, what are you learning in washington? >> we will see all of them in court today. the man at the center of this case, najibullah zazi along with his father, and a figure head in the local muslim community in queens, they will be in court faced with a single charge of lying to federal investigators who are trying to get to the bottom of the case. these are not terrorism charges, but federal authorities made no mystery of the fact that they believe this is definitely a terrorism case. they found that the young er zai

was lying about explosives. there will be more charges filed. at this point i think it's important to note the authorities admit they don't know precisely what the plot was about. they don't have a good handle on what the means of attack was supposed to be, and what the target was supposed to be and the timing was supposed to be. they have a general sense it was some sort of plan to attack new york. how far along it was they don't know. they don't know if anybody tried in this group tried to follow the instructions or make a bomb or had accumulated all the materials necessary. there is lots more for them to find out. and this will be many more days developing, i think. >> pete, thank you so much for bringing us what you have learned this morning. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan says the u.s. mission could fail unless more troops are committed.

stanley mccrystal writes this. we'll have much more on mcchrystal's report coming on on the "morning meeting" at 10:30. and major flooding in the atlanta area. severe storms created a dangerous situation. roads closed. rescue workers had to go in after stranded folks. let's get to the weather channel's jeff mario, who is in powder springs, georgia. it looks bad. >> reporter: this is some of the flooding. this is minor. can you see some of the cars behind me here. the water up to at least hub cats. in the next county, schools are closed there. you can never be sure how deep the water is. i will have my cameraman pan over here, because it's not just

the roadways. look over here, and you can see some of the apartments behind me over to the side to me where the water is right up to the doorways here. there are vehicles over there as well that have water up to or above the wheels. a lot of the vehicles have been flooded out. people are trapped in their homes here. they will wait it out inside the apartments. when you get 18 inches of water in a very short period of time you get big problems like this. >> thank you, jeff. a criminally insane killer back in custody in washington. he was recaptured without incident yesterday. k paul trick add friend into helping him elude authorities. told the friend for months that he was going to be released. dylan? >> he must have the special relationship, he and the deputy. nice to see you again.

>> yeah. something. >> thank god for the deputy. much more ahead here on the "morning meeting," a new account on john edwards. did he really promise his mistress a roof top wedding? did he do anything criminal? is it okay to write checks so somebody can come to you and be nice? don't get your hopes up, because it's not legal. that's after this. woman: caitlin's pretty competitive.

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well, john edwards, once a candidate of vice president for the fine country will be on the merge of admitting he had an

affair. and fathered a baby girl, a little more of a shock. but perhaps more shocking his willingness to completely corrupt anything that will resemble political behavior. >> this could be the culmination of a very long drawn out process. the "new york times" is reporting that edwards' associates say he is now leaning towards admitting his adultery resulted in the birth of the baby. his wife, elizabeth, who has been suffering from cancer resisted the public declaration. keep in mind, edwards did not admit he had an affair until last year and previously he even denied that. >> it's completely untrue and ridiculous. 2006, two years ago, i made a very serious mistake. i would welcome participating in a paternity test. i know it's not possible this

child could be mine. >> a former aide, andrew young, wrote a tell-all book about the whole thing. he said edwards knew all along he knew he was the baby's father, and convinced him to sign something saying young was the dad. he assisted the affair by setting up private meetings by hunter and edwards. and he promised his mistress he would marry her in a roof-top ceremony in new york after his wife died, on top of this you have a grand jury look into whether federal laws were broken. according to the "new york times," if the grand jury finds the money was designed to help

keep hunter quiet, and if there is evidence of willness deception, it could amount to a criminal defense. >> it's not okay to call your rich friends and have them write checks to people that could be a liability to shut up? that's not okay? >> apparently there are laws against that. could the drama surrounding the john edwards scenario lead to other charges, or is it just another distraction? we have our panel with us. nice to see you. counselor, i will begin with you. is it legal for a politician to call his friends and direct money towards people to keep them quiet in some way? >> well, if that was

intentionally kept off campaign finance forms, it could rise to being criminal. >> what is your sense of how often politicians take advantage of the fact they have wealthy friends and can redirect money to persons that can benefit or hurt them, but outside the specific campaign structure, if you will? is this a freak event? >> i was going to say all the time, but as you got more specific i will back away from that. of course politicians use their rich friends all the time. >> but do they use them to write checks to persons of interests? >> that's what is unusual. the hanky-panky is a side issue. here is it's central to it. we can see in that clip that senator edwards violated one of the basic rules of surviving with a girlfriend, with the press, and with everybody else, pick a story and stick to it.

when you draw a line you have to be sure it's something that you can stay with. here he changes his story again and again every time somebody put out a new comment. >> i can't believe it's against the law to write a check to keep somebody quiet! >> andrew young was asked to sign something saying he was the father of the baby, and if you put that together with the finances you do have a criminal case. >> and you see all the type of behavior ten different ways, and 100 different ways you have seen this story told and unfold. if you were to look at the questions we should be asking of the system, they allow all of these things to go through the cracks, what questions can we ask to update the system so less of this happens? >> i think it's fair to ask why we were not pressing john

edwards harder when the affairs were going on. we knew of aides that did not want to go work for him and it was because this was going on and we all knew it. we should have been asking that question more than we were, even though we were a little bit and not taking his denials at face value. that said, this will go on. there is no systemic change that can be made. and how campaign finance really is at the heart of all this, whether the prosecution is not dredging it up further or whether it's a precedents that needs to be set. this is so rampid where things are being paid to -- >> we like to call it to persons of interest. >> okay. >> well, there are things called contributions, so if you throw a party for somebody, the expenses

relayted to the party should be in the contributions. the person that gave this was supposed to be as a gift. >> at least we did not get any tax must noney out of it. that would be terrible. those that work hard, only their tax money goes in. >> another aspect to it, and it's not just the money that they got to her. she billed the campaign for $114,000 for work that she did on the video. $14,000 was given after all of it was done. >> and a politician -- it's harder for a politician to call a rich friend to get them to write a check to a person of interest? >> the only way you can do that is if somebody makes a contribution, you can ask if there was any other financial arrangements? that might be a way to close some of the gap. >> yeah, and did they give money

to the illegitimate child of the same individual. can you get that as a line item in the finance campaign disclosures. i am hopeful for the balance of the two hours mike will be here. we are plugging into what is making news on this fine monday, including why john travolta is headed to court. we will go to hollywood land for a second. the death of a.c.o.r.n. oh, my goodness, a.c.o.r.n. on the list of priorities of the list of the country, does a.c.o.r.n. belong at the top. the president weighing in and whether it's a trend or just a talker. we are back after this. pure cane sugar and the stevia plant. two of nature's sweetest wonders growing together under the same sun. and now for the first time, in new sun crystals ® . the only 100% natural sweetener

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monday morning,contessa

brewer, yes, it says so right there plugging into the blog. >> the 19-year-old broke into a home and stole rings, and logged on to the victims computer to check out his facebook account. and then he forgot to sign out. the victim arrives and sees the facebook up and police track him down and arrest him. there you go, another example of a dumb criminal. and experts are warning there is a trojan virus that can get the log in information to your bank. you click on a fraudulent website or website that host the codes, and all of a sudden the virus takes whatever your user name and password is for your bank and they can get in. there was a school district in pennsylvania that lost some

$700,000 from the western beaver school district in pennsylvania in 74 fraudulent exchanges. >> any word on how to protect yourself? >> secure wi-fi. use your credit card and not your debit card, because you don't want them to have access to the bank account. >> is it better to use credit cards on the internet? >> yes. and your anti-virus software needs to be up to date. i am just here to help. coming up next on the "morning meeting," republicans on the rise. we are learning what the marching orders for gop candidates are in 2010. a different message for republicans than it has been in recent years. plus, what if anything did you learn? we will talk to the grand master

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welcome back. 9:30 here on the east coast. and it was all obama all the time. you know this to be followed this evening by an exclusive appearance on the dave letterman

show. coming up, our monday morning thoughts on the president's interviews. you will have to see the president is very public. but is he very perfect swasive at this point? >> and palin, we will talk about her political future and whether she may be one of the last remaining politicians able to seize on classic american values of competition and choice, and a phone conversation with a woman that paid $63,000 for dinner with palin. and now the president weighing in on what should happen with the activist group himself. is this the death of a.c.o.r.n. or a story that we love to talk about that ultimately distracts us from the real problems in the country. why is the president worried about a.c.o.r.n. secretary of state hillary clinton ringing the opening bell. she, of course, kicking up a huge week for her and for this country on the diplomatic front.

the u.n. general assembly getting under way. the president will speak at the assembly later this week, on the same day the president of libya and iran. what a day that will be. we are keeping an eye on the u.n. setup and the markets right here. the taxpayer, we have a table financial market. 50% of the bonds were bought through the federal reserve utah miltly by the taxpayer. thank you, once again, and i thank me. this weekend's value summit was an indication of who should be the leader. the stakes are higher for the party recovering from big losses in 2008. the faces are similar here. mitt romney, and mike huckaby, and sarah palin, all wracking up support among their colleagues at the weekends summit. but it was huckabee that had the

crowd going. he won the straw poll by double to his closest economy, mitt romney. >> a lot of them will come to you and tell you that they are with you, but are they? many will come to you. i come from you. voters will make their intention clear in 30 intentions, and that's the public option i agree with with, by the way. >> huckabee got the crowd going. he says the debate just continues on the same slippery slope the nation started on when abortion was legalized in 1973. the republicans say they are back, but what is their strategy? no one better to talk to than two time presidential candidate and senior advisor to three presidents, buchanan. and jonathan martin. and you are still here, pat.

you and i have been getting to know each other through market conversation and "morning joe" over the past year and a half. what is your sense of the best road forward for the conservative movement in this country? are they well suited to remain seated when there is a corruption of fair market and fair play in banking and health care and other places? >> in my father's house there are many mansions. the value voters this weekends are social conservatives and they are concerned about things like right to life and gay marriage and end of life issues. and mike huckabee that does come out of them as an even evangelical christian, he is strong with them. but you are correct. you not only need the social and evangelical christians, but you need the foreign policy and the economic conservatives, and all of the different groups. i think huckabee, and sarah palin, if she chooses to run,

would be stronger with the group. that's only part of the hand. have you to fill out to get a full house. >> and america, it's so obvious to people, that we don't have fair with banking and fair and free choice in health care. and we were talking to the senator from wyoming, the system is not set up to deliver that. everybody is for real choice, and that should be a piece of cake. jonathan martin, let's talk about the talking points that came out of this meeting. do they have real policy a alternativ alternatives? bush your own agenda. everybody does that. stop worrying about the grand. i am not sure what that means. and what will you do with the majority? and that's what would you do if you won. and how do those talking points compare to the talking points you have seen come out of the community in the past?

>> well, what i was so struck about and pat will appreciate this, i heard mike huckabee use that line, i don't come to you but from you. he has been using that for four or five years now, and it plays so well with that group. the gop is a party that pretends to reward those that waited their turn. mike huckabee knows and mitt romney knows this. they know the history of the party. those that lose the nomination in the past tend to be at the front line next time. it's a groundhog day sensation, seeing mike huckabee using the sim rhetoric that he used three or four years ago. we will see what happens. he has a shot here, certainly. >> anne, what strikes you? do you think the republicans will be able to get it together in their own party to become the voice they want to represent right now? >> i am not sure it's up to

them. i think events will take tate what happens. if the economy turns around. we have to get through the mid-terms and see what happens. then we will have a clear picture of what will happen in the next presidential election. if the unemployment rates goes down, it will be difficult for any republican to really challenge the president. if on the other hand the unemployment is staying up, and stays where it is, there will an opening for anyone in the straw poll. and i am not sure it's great for h huckabee to win this. it's fluid and we should not read too much. >> and mitt romney, you would think would have a nice boulevard open to him for free choice and real free markets, and breaking up all the monopolies, where retailers are

forced to compete tooth and nail. take a listen. >> people in the city who were ready to writoff the conservative movement, they were inthrawled by barack obama. well, he can spin a speech, but he cannot spin his record. >> pat, does romney have a chance? if so does going after the president when you considered the banking crisis was served more by clinton and bush than obama? >> yeah, he has a chance. not only did he get a nice share of the value voters. you can't write those off. when you get to the issue that you are describing, dylan, romney has better tickets than any others in the field. here is a fellow that put together together. he has half a billion dollars or something like that.

great creditability there. romney is building all of the bases. and the thing you are arguing about come from the libertarian wing with free competition and the rest of it. >> although what i would interject on the lib rertarian characterization, you end up with people bringing guns to knife fights which is what the insurance companies and banks have done to protect themselves. the problem with the libertarian point of view is it znlt have a strict referee for the came to make sure nobody is cheating. >> i think you are right there. but i believe somebody like romney, he has a libertarian touch to him, also has the same ideas that you do, dylan. i think they are right ideas. he got himself well on the social issues. if huckabee goes out to iowa, he might take a majority of the

social issues, but i think romney has a foot in all camps and he cannot be written off. >> if he comes back and forces real rules for those cheating the american taxpayer by bribing politicians to create unfair competition environments, that man will have himself an interesting package. contessa, what is going on here? >> the flooding closed down roads and schools across the northern part of the state. and as much as 20 inches of rain was dumped there on georgia in the last three days. the metro atlanta area is under a flash flood warning this morning. emergency crews in at least two counties had to go and rescue people from the high water. we are keeping our eye on that and up to date. family and friends are preparing to say good by to murdered yale graduate student, annie le. jeff, what do you have this morning? >> reporter: contessa, police are looking for motive. they don't have it yet, mainly

because they don't have a confession yet. they need clark to speak to figure out if he did this, why he did this. have you a running team going by right now. that's a good time to mention, campus moves on. the research lab is open again as well. only the basement is now a crime scene. the work goes on in the xhu university. ray clark has gone silent. he is not speaking with investigators sitting in the cell in the high security prison. and we should mention le's body has been moved to california, back to her hometown. there will be a privaooiivate f service in el dorado hills. and there you are seeing air force one bound for albany, new york. the president will visit a community college today and speak about innovation and technology and job training.

he will be joined by the vice president and his wife, joe biden. and the president will appear on the david letterman show. and now, last night the shuttle stopped off in shreveport, louisiana. and discovthat must be a sight watching them in the mounting process? >> yeah, and when they stopped off in shreveport, there were people there to get a good look at the shuttle "discovery." >> just imagine being the engineer saying we need to get the space shuttle on top there

to fly it back. >> yeah, the weather has to be clear. >> i won't get into science and technology, but that's cool. a lot more coming up in the "morning meeting." the president says there should be an investigation of a.c.o.r.n. another sign that a.c.o.r.n. about to crack? or is this a story the media can't stop talking about because people like to have spitball fights? this is a great one. we're back with that after this. ♪ look at this man

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welcome back. time for a little trend talker. today it's all about a.c.o.r.n. today are we watching the death of the activist group, or is this a story we cannot stop talking about? are all of these organizers guilty of some sort of scam?

and here we go. the latest controversy stems from the undercover video showing a.c.o.r.n. employees offering tax breaks for a pimp and prostitute. they were going from one a.c.o.r.n. agency to another. and today a.c.o.r.n. going to announce an independent auditor. and bertha lewis said she was outraged by her workers' and promised reforms. >> they were terminated immediately. and i made sure we are having an independent review, and suspend any walk-inactivity, so we can review what worked and what did not work. in those instances, those folks were thrown out. >> in response to the a.c.o.r.n.

video, they voted that a.c.o.r.n. get less. mike, your thoughts? >> classic for the press, riding from one side of the road to the other. yesterday somebody sent me minutes from a.c.o.r.n. meetings out in california. i said, come on. it was great story, but it's time to move on. >> and it's a reflection of our priorities, if you ask me. republicans have been pushing for an investigation of a.c.o.r.n. spending on the sunday talk show circuit, and president obama was asked to weigh in. >> i did not know a.c.o.r.n. was getting federal money. what i know is that what i saw on that video was certainly inappropriate -- >> you are not committing to cut off federal funding. >> george, this is not the biggest issue in the country, and it's not hallelujah, mr. pr.

how do we get our priorities straight in this country, anne? >> easy out for the president. the only problem after he weighed in on kanye west saying he is not paying attention to something isn't flying as well but he has bigger things to worry about this week. >> all of this the latest crisis for our friends at a.c.o.r.n. i say that in jest. "the washington post" taking a look at the history of the group's problems. showing the organization at one point owed the irs 100,000 and on top of the allegations the nonpartisan group pushed new voters towards democratic candidates. falsified voter identification cards and act saiss accusations of degreesle embezzlement. mike, seems to be political organizing groups. a list of charges against a.c.o.r.n any worse than i might muster from some of these other groups? >> no, of course it is. there is no way a group should

be getting federal money until this could be cleaned up. several congressmen have called for a look by inspector generals of the federal money gone to them. 50 million since 1994 and has to be an accounting for that. a.c.o.r.n has hired an accountant. >> can this be done better or is it me? >> it's not you. >> all right. our friend toure who tries to do it better has a breakdown of the winners and losers from the emmys and some sad news about david hasselhoff. he has been hospitalized but this may be one of his own making. toure is here doing it better right after this. what? where? don't freak. it's gone. how? who did it? i did. with one of these. this is a mouse trap? yeah. it's a new kind of mouse trap from ortho. home defense max. it's guaranteed to kill the mouse. you just push down this little lever right here... ...and it does the rest. nothing to see. nothing to touch. you just throw it away. no mess. no drama.

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all right. toure is here talking pop culture. emmys were last wik. alec baldwin, i understand, won. i think he is one of the best i've seen on "snl" so i'm glad he won. >> absolutely, absolutely.

>> you have more to say? >> we're in an er, era where interrupting is in vogue. last my night's emmy were kanye-free and filled with reference that marks this age. we're in a golden era of drama as sigourney weaver said. best supporting actress for comedy. silly glasses. >> and stuck their tongues out. >> sayer silverman wore a mustache when she was nominated and julia louis dreyfus said the last year of tv. "30 rock." >> alec baldwin. >> his big show and both snows are about snark and irreference. >> we want to thank our friends at nbc for keeping us on the air, even though we are so much more expensive than a talk show,

so thank you. >> even new host neil patrick harris got in on the fun making fun of not winning an award, overall, though, he was fantastic. ♪ don't touch that dial because it's been quite a while since a dial was in tile but you know what i mean ♪ ♪ don't jump online >> madmen got a lot of love. your favorite show on tv is? >> "30 rock." >> he's never seen it and totally joking. on another note i'm disappointed the "morning meeting" got zero emmys and it's not right. >> we've only just launched. >> but still you're doing important work here. it's a service. freeing the hostages. >> we're trying to free the hostages. >> come on, people. >> once we free the hostages they will give us an emmy, i hope approximate or throw us out

of the country. still ahead, president obama's big media blitz after five sunday show interviews and appearing on letterman tonight. can he free the hostages? one republican says he needs to get off the television and get to work and look out for the interest of patients and doctors and not unions and employers and politicians. how do we get it done? that is next. instead of $5 per person for fast food, you can serve a nutritious breakfast from walmart for just over $1 a person. one breakfast a week saves a family of four over $800 a year. save money. live better. walmart.

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as opposed to everybody else. how much would you pay for dinner with sarah palin? i'm trying to convince her to go hunting with me this fall. i'm not sure if i will pay for it, though. a woman in this country a bit -- bid more than $63,000 for a date with the former alaska golf and she won but sarah palin didn't. at least not this weekend's straw poll with conservatives. does that mean anything? i don't know. anyway. flash floods in northern georgia this is wild stuff. rescues in the atlanta area. you know, huge storms and black clouds like ghostbusters? not a joke. rolled up on the city of atlanta, flooding, a foot of rain and crazy. streets, homes, businesses under water. we are on the scene. top commander in afghanistan has a warning for the president of the united states. he said if you don't beef up troops, the mission in afghanistan will fail. what is the mission in afghanistan? retired general montgomery meeks joins the "morning meeting" to discuss what the american

strategy is and ought be in that country. it is 10:00 a.m., as i mentioned. pull up a chair and join the "morning meeting." right now, the president headed to new york for a speech on the economy. he'll be discussing innovation and job training two hours from now. i wonder if he will discuss the use of taxpayer money using the banking system. i doubt if he will. meanwhile, he showed up on five different sunday talk shows to push health care reform and even appeared on el punto. if you're a night owl, no worries. i am. he appears on letterman tonight. mike viqueira is at the white house. what, if anything, does he have to do tonight other than repeat what he did over the weekend if he wants to create some momentum here? >> which in itself is a repeat at what he said at two rallies

recently and joint session of congress. you can burn the candle at both ends but what didn't he talk about yesterday? the war in afghanistan, taxes, jobs, health care, a.c.o.r.n. just about everything. here, let's get to the matchup you were talking about. let's play a little of the sound we heard from the president yesterday in those five interviews. >> my focus is on some core principles. i have to have a plan that is good for middle class families. this isn't a radical plan. this isn't grafting a single payer model out to the united states. it's simply trying to deal with what everybody acknowledges is a big problem. what i'm trying to do is explain the facts, which are if we don't do anything, a lot of americans are going to be much worse off, and, over time, the federal budget just can't sustain it. >> on yesterday "meet the press" senator lindsey graham the republican of south carolina has a send tendency to tell it like it is and put it in a unique

way. here is what he had to say in response to the president. >> he says if you want to bicker, forget it. if you want to sit down and talk and i've always wanted to sit down and talk. the president is selling people that people are not buying. he's been on everything but the food channel. just a few weeks, last week, he was addressing the nation. >> now, the president at this moment winging his way to beautiful troy, new york. he is going to give a speech on innovation in the economy. he's got dr. jill biden, the spouse of the vice president, in toe with him. before he heads to the united nations general assembly before he goes to the letterman show later today. >> i think i'm going to stay up and see what kind of condition i'm in tomorrow morning. did the president do himself any good by going on the shows? the room for opportunity similarly obvious. mike allen of politico and white house reporter ann cornbell. did the president do any favors

and what does he have to do tonight to move the ball forward if he wants to maintain control? >> well, the critics in today's papers didn't think he did himself that much good. we've heard lindsey graham saying he was everywhere but the food channel and howie kurtis kurtz saying he was everybody but on "dancing with the stars." i think tonight he will try to be funny and personable but not serious politics. >> the median was the news. five days out of coverage out of the fact the president was talking. the white house says he was looking thoughtful, engaged, xet competent and what they were going for. >> insanity i am now bringing in george havlorson. president of kaiser per nen day. you work an interesting book. the thing that struck me about the book was the celebration of

technology. the availability of all these applications on i phones and what not for doctors and data and the ability to reduce emergency room visits and these type of things people love to talk about. on the other side of the ledger no one wants to talk about the way we distribute it, the way we pay for it and who gets it and that seems to be where we run into a grinding halt. what still confuses me and maybe you can help me is i don't understand why i can go buy car insurance and life insurance and buy my homeowners insurance and it doesn't matter where i work or what i do i can buy the insurance policies and go about my life if they don't give me good insurance or coverage. i use the force of competition to go to somebody else. right now, the health insurance companies with seeing who can shed the most risk and cut the best employer deal and leave us paying as much as we decide to pay. is it crazy or am i wrong? >> what we need in this country is people to make choices about their health care with full

information. the survival rate for breast cancer treatment varies hugely from site-to-site. the survival rate for heart surgery varies from site-to-site. we need an exchange. part in the health care reform package is an exchange and people are missing the impact of that exchange. the opportunity is to create -- >> i tell you why that is. i talked to these various senators. we had a senator from wyoming here a second ago. talked to senator wyden and all of these other people. they say, listen, the problem with the exchange, the exchange is not actually going to be available to 60% of the people. all of us like myself who are on an employer-based system, the president doesn't say what you don't like what you have you can go to the exchange and switch it out. the bulk of us are not given the very opportunity and very choice that you say we so desperately need! >> the marketplace that will exist in the exchange should be extended to all people purchasing health care but it

can be. >> people in the unions they haven't done it. >> once the database is created and you know which hospitals do the best job and which surgeons do the best job, you can use that, whether you are in the exchange or out of the exchange because it will be an available database and transform the way -- >> here is my issue with that. unless you apply real market force out of the gate to the employer-based system, it's not fair to go to the u.s. taxpayer and say to the taxpayer, listen, we're going to allow an inefficient market to function for 60% to 70% of the marketplace. if you doomed, i don't find mind, if we could get another trillion off of the taxpayer so we don't have to deal with the very difficult job of actually creating real choice for most people with their health care. why should the taxpayer take the bill when the politicians have yet to step in and create real choice and real competition? >> we need to fix health care in this country. 75% of the cost of care come with people with chronic conditions and we only get that

care half the time. >> i know. >> we need to fix that and fix that by having the government set goals for care improvement, in addition to what we're seeing in health care reform. we need to cut the number of asthma attacks in america in half and we only do that if we set the goals and put the tools in place to do it because the tools are there and can be done. >> imagine if health snurns were competing who could shed the most risk. it's crazy. >> the market we need is a market that is based on best outcomes and better choice. >> the politicians aren't doing that. >> this agenda could get there if they stay on track. >> i appreciate your optimism. george, it's nice to meet you. the book is well worth reading. i loved your narrative as to all of the different things that have been innovated to get people out of the emergency rooms and the rest of it. there is the book there. contessa? breaking weather news.

watching major flooding in the atlanta area. severe storms have created a dangerous situation there. we're seeing roads closed. we know that rescuers have had to go in after some stranded folks. i want to get to the weather channel's jeff morrow in powder springs, georgia. it looks like the rain has stopped, jeff. how is the situation? >> finally, the rain has stopped here. i tell you, i have lived in there area almost 25 years and never seen it rain and i've talked to a lot of people been here longer than i have and never seen the water get this high. we're going to pan over here and show you this is a ball field at powder springs park and all of the ball fields, they are not playing here any time soon. the dugout is under water. you can see the top of it over there and other buildings where water is just about up to the roof line and if we pan slowly all the way over here, you can see some of the water around the trees and up to a lot of the signs. then we'll show you the water gushing over the roadways down here. this road is closed. powder springs creek is way out

of its banks. again, like nobody has ever seen and really kind of gushing over the roadway. this is one roadway in powder springs and this is just one of many around the georgia area that is closed. so, yeah, you mentioned some swift water rescues. not right where i am but in the county next door they've had a lot of those and hopefully, if the rain stops this water will finally start to subside. >> thanks for giving us a look around, jeff. a crazy story. a 20 yearly california rapper goes by the name psycho sam and appears before a judge today charged with the murder of a virginia pastor. richard mccross rapid about the pleasure of killing people slowly and he has been charged with killing a pastor. they suspect he killed three others as well. look at those pictures. police say it appears one of those killed the preacher's daughter emma. dylan, he invited the rapper to their home. she was on her myspace page.

she couldn't wait for him to arrive on his cross-country journey even though he rapped about killing people. stay on top of that when we get more details in. ahead on the "morning meeting," do we need more forces in afghanistan or face a mission of failure some was what is the mission of the united states today in afghanistan and what are we doing with all of our military resours resources to protect our country from real terrorist threats. we will discuss. plus, how much is a dinner with sarah palin worth? apparently 63 grand on the internet. i'm going to see if i can get her to go hunting with me for free this fall. we'll talk to the person who paid the money after this. not to mention how sarah palin might make herself relevant to a conversation in this country that has clearly fragmented to the point where almost anybody could walk straight down the middle from what i can tell. we're back after this. ♪ well i was shopping for a new car, ♪

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good monday. a big week here for former alaska governor sarah palin after fourth place showing in a weekend presidential poll. she gives her first keynote speech in hong kong this wednesday. she was heavily criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience during the presidential campaign last year. . over the weekend she finished far behind mike huckabee in the first 2012 presidential straw poll. she was in alaska welcoming home her son from a year-long deployment in iraq. alabama woman won an ebay auction to have dinner with palin. the winning bid, $63,a 500.

with me on the phone the winning bidder, kathy maples of huntsville, alabama. why did you want to pony up that kind of money for dinner with sarah palin? >> well, it's not just for dinner, contessa. this is a chance to help out wounded warriors on the ride to recovery program. these are the guys that have been overseas and it's a chance to give a little bit back to them also. >> i understand you own a defense contracting company. what do you plan to talk to sarah palin about over dinner? >> i'd like to talk to her about the direction our country is going in right now. because i like the values she has. >> i mentioned she came in fourth in that straw poll. mike huckabee came in first. would you vote for sarah palin if she were running for president? >> absolutely. >> would you prefer her some of the other gentlemen we have seen

in that straw poll, mitt romney, mike huckabee? >> i would. >> and why is that? >> i like her -- i don't think she's your typical politician and, you know, i'm tired of seeing politicians doing one thing and saying one thing and then doing another just to get votes. >> kathy, i hope you have a good time. i understand you have to pay your own way to go to dinner with sarah palin but i guess if you're willing to show up that kind of cash, then good for you. i hope it's a good time. >> thank you. >> dylan? >> thank you, contessa. peter freeland joins us. also with us is mike allen and "the washington post" anne cornblue. peter, i'll let mike and ann take it away from there. what is your sense of what the values are going to be the most

r resonate with all voters going into 2010 and 2012? >> the value voters who came to the summit this weekend in washington made it clear they are concerned about some of the issues all conservatives across the country are conserved about. i think this built on the momentum from the congressional town halls in august. >> let's define some of those issues. again, i'm new to this so it could be my own lenk curve but i have a hard time finding anybody on the conservative or liberal side of the political spectrum in favor of fair play and real competition. i see a lot of manipulation and spitball fighting and a lot of guilt from the left and i don't see anybody looking out for the taxpayer or trying to solve problems based on the establishment of fair play and transparency and accountability and choice. do those values resonate with your voters? >> well, certainly. but there are crucial moral issues our voters are concerned about like the issue of abortion

and i think they've been motivated by the desire to make sure, absolutely, that abortion is excluded from the health care reform. >> let me ask you a question, though. in the scheme of things, since we're dealing with trillions of dollar and each trillion is 1,000 billion dollars, give or take, and we got multiples of trillions we're discussing right now to support a banking system predicated on systemic theft to support an employer/union/politician based health care system that is basically predicated on either a nanny state or some sort of caretaker concept as opposed to the free choice we get with rest of our insurance buys. where do you come down in the guilty and fear solution with your voters and how do we get our priorities back to stopping the thieving and stopping the distracttions of these other spitball fights? >> well, i certainly agree with much of what you said and i think what's important is there is a strong conservative

coalition in this country between not only social conservatives but economic deservetives and national security deservetives are three legs of a single stool of a single movement. what we're seeing with the speakers at the summit was that there is a strong movement of people who support all three legs and don't want to have any one of them excluded. >> mike? >> yeah, dylan, i'll let your guest off the hook there. your guest is very astute. this is not the cycle of social values. this is a time where you're going to hear republicans talk about what they would do to help people get jobs. on saturday, i went to the summit and saw governor romney speak and pawlenty got a good response. they were talking about jobs and pawlenty was on the road, jobs are his number one message. governor romney, of course, has a very strong economic record and one of his biggest lines had to do with fixing the stimulus. they know that they need to be

talking about issues that people are talking about at home. what democrats used to call kitchen table issues and what you're worried about is your job, if you've been at work, you're hearing rumors about somebody losing their job, your friend lost their job. the social conservative issues as important as they might be to you are not what you want your politicians to focus on. >> a taxpayer held hostage to broken systems the release of those systems should be the top priority of all of those systems. >> return to the straw poll. sarah palin did come in fourth but really came in second. the three lumped down there at the bottom. i think we'll be revisiting that list and again again. >> peter, thank you for the conversation and i hope you'll rejoin us. >> it's one conservative collision with my point. >> here it contessa after this. the president telling new york

governor david paterson not to run for re-election and wouldn't we like to be a fly on the wall one hour from now when the two attend the same event in new york. why is the president medaling with the gubernatorial race in new york and what are his priorities ask the rest of it. kanye is in. we're back after this. (announcer) every woman has many sides express each one more with downy simple pleasures feel more calm with new downy lavender serenity feel more daring with spice blossom dare feel more elegant with orchid allure now all have renewing scent pearls that help you express every side of you downy simple pleasures. feel more without my makeup. now, it's no problem.

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purple but washington, d.c. is still resoundingly red and blue. what is going on in the political universe? >> "the new york times" has a story today that the white house is push new york governor david paterson not to run again for re-election next year. he says he is running and won't talk about the conversations he's had with president obama and won't confirm that is what is happening behind the scenes and senior administration officials tell nbc news that no

one in the administration is pushing paterson not to run for re-election. >> is it true that there is speculation the white house and others may be concerned about the vulnerability of some of the senate seats in new york? in other words, they want what they perceive as a strong democratic governor so they have momentum for the senate? is that correct? >> that may be but, again, the administration says no one is pressuring david paterson. they won't confirm that there is any sort of this pressure going on behind the scenes and, again, the governor is not confirming that is what is happening. according to "the new york times" it's happening. latimer's book a lot of speculation about this book "speechless." here is another one of the leaks we're getting from the huffington post. for a commencement address at furman university spring of eight ed gillespie wanted to insert a few lines and bush called the speech too

condemnatory and said the following. in the campaign leading up to the election, he did, of course, run on anti-gay marriage platform. >> hey, i tell you. he shouldn't -- >> considered very loyal. >> garbage. but it's nice to see you. you are a jewel. if that book is garbage, you are a jewel. >> thanks, dylan. much more ahead. mike allen still with us. top commander in afghanistan telling the president he needs more forces in afghanistan or the mission will fail. but what is the mission? general montgomery meeks, what are we doing in afghanistan and is it protecting americans from terrorist attacks or are we gratifying our desire to feel like we're doing something lightly while leaving ourselves wide open? we'll have a conversation after this. eaving ourselves wide open?

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welcome back. nbc news confirming that the top u.s. and nato commander in afghanistan is warning the u.s. mission will likely fail unless more troops are committed. what is that mission? jim miklaszewski is live at the pentagon with details on general stanley mccrystal's 66-page assessment what the mission is, ought be and why the troops are necessary to it or not. what is going on? >> his assessment boils down to one sentence.

he said historically the mission in afghanistan has been under resource and if it continues to be under resource then the mission is likely to fail. but you've hit on a key question. what exactly is the mission? stan mccrystal went into afghanistan with the idea that his orders were to defeat or at least contain the insurgency long enough, maybe two or three years, to allow the afghan military security forces to get up to speed to take over that operation. but that field appears to be changing as we speak. he has given this 66-page assessment that took several months to compile and now the white house apparently not satisfied with that because it would lead to more u.s. troops. you know, mchrystal has this order sitting on his desk, a recommendation for up to 40,000 additional forces into afghanistan over the next year or so.

essentially, the white house has said sit on it, don't send it our way yet. and now we're being told today by senior pentagon and military officials that the white house is now saying, you know, what we need is another assessment. it's not necessarily -- well, they clearly are not comfortable with the recommendation, so instead of rejecting the recommendation, the idea might be, dylan, to change the mission somehow. and one of the wrenches in these works is that recent afghan election in which the karzai government is accused of rigging the election, voter fraud, stuffing ballot boxes and that has caused serious concern with the obama administration. >> let's talk about what the mission was. we invaded afghanistan, as i understood it to protect us from terrorist attacks in new york and washington in los angeles, et cetera. >> right. exactly. >> now i understand we invade

all of these places in theory to try to prevent nuclear materiel and biological reps deployed and weaponry deployed against here in america and broad. >> the key to doing that according to u.s. military official and many in the previous administration, obviously, is not to allow afghanistan to become another safe haven for the likes of al qaeda and other terrorist organizations. and the fear is that if you do not contain this insurgency for now until the afghan security forces can get up to speed that afghanistan would, once again, become a safe haven for those kind of terrorists. >> there are those, though, that argue, i'm sure you've heard the argument as long as the u.s. is in afghanistan we can prevent afghanistan from being a safe haven for those who want to deploy biological weapons to the u.s. and its interests but pakistan becomes a safe haven. i wonder if it's like a slinky

you go for the one spot and it goes to whatever the next place and while we may be gratifying ourselves in afghanistan with the military operation, the threat has simply moved to pakistan and we're sitting there spinning our whils easement that's why the pentagon was created what -- they put package stan first in this. the pakistan/afghanistan strategy. so mchrystal is not operating in a vacuum in afghanistan alone. there are other efforts under way which have been proven somewhat successful recently, particularly with those unmanned drone attacks against al qaeda targets inside pakistan, and some indication that the pakistani military is, in fact, becoming more aggressive and trying to take down some of those militant organizations within pakistan because they see that as a threat to their own government and stability of their country. so it's just not afghanistan. this is a pakistan/afghanistan strategy, a war which president obama has said the u.s. must

win. >> understood. bringing in the panel, most notely, retired army general mont gomry meeks. mike allen and ann cornblue here. general, if the mission of u.s. forces in afghanistan or in the middle east in general is to protect u.s. interests from direct attack from nuclear, chemical and biological is the current strategy the best to protect all of us that live in new york, washington, los angeles, or around the world from a nuclear chemical and biological attack and is there a better way to do? >> there is a better way to do it because that is not the objective anymore. that was the objective when we went in eight years ago. the problem is that the situation has changed because the previous administration never really resourced the strategy they had. and now the problem is truly instability in afghanistan and pakistan that would ignite a really difficult islamist problem across that whole part of the world. >> i want to stop you there.

you're saying the intended result of protecting americans using our military from nuclear chemical and biological against our interests has been set aside now for now the u.s. is simply trying to present -- prevent some sort of islamic tinder box from erupting in pakistan and afghanistan? >> if you had the islamist tinder box erupt, it would be an even greater sanctuary than what we had to deal with before, so containing the operation of terrorists is still an objective, but you have to now treat the larger disease which is caused by weaker pakistan with very strong taliban/al qaeda presence and the possibility that if we were to leave afghanistan preemptively, precipitously, that would also implode. >> how much did our invasion in afghanistan and the driving of the terrorist operations into pakistan contribute to the destabilization of pakistan? >> it did contribute, because we

didn't continue to consolidate the effort in afghanistan. we didn't have enough forces on the ground and a reasonable chain of command that allowed us to capture a lot of the al qaeda still in afghanistan at the time and we had a policy in pakistan that failed because of the ineptness of musharraf. >> mike allen, if you were to look at the original mission, protect americans interests from nuclear chemical and biological, going back to 2003. now look at the islamist tinder box that the general is just describing which now amplifies and amplifies the risk, what do you think the conversation has to be around the interests of our soldiers, our children who spent a lot of their time in these countries honestly trying not to get killed. you talk to american soldiers about how they spend their day in afghanistan and iraq, i say how do you spend your day? they say i spend it smoking cigarettes and playing

backgammon and not trying to get killed. >> the president will say what is it we need to do there to contribute to the mission of us being safer. i can tell you this order in the "the washington post" is a signal from the pentagon they are worried the president is dragging his feet or might be getting weak-kneed. you saw the president saying on one of these sunday shows we need to look at whether we have the right strategy, whether we're doing the right thing. well, it's a little late to be looking at that now. the president is going to have to navigate. it's a difficult situation where he needs to show resolve on afghanistan. in the end, he is going to do something close to what is general publicly recommend and yet i'm taking the general's point that things have changed. we're in a kind of a worst case scenario sas as far as the afghanistan elections someone regarded as illegitimate and wound up winning barely and almost as if we were defending the government in tehran.

we are there to defend a government look like it was put into place fraud lently. >> we've been on the hook for the last eight years. if you want a stable situation, there are certain kinds of aide that have to be given as the currency, if you will, of progress and development. >> ann? >> we have not, to this point, made a truly national effort along there. an example is uasid do not have one confirmed in office and short of that senior leadership. those are the kind of problems that have to be policed up quickly. >> ann? >> i want to bring up another point. we are seeing political resistance on the hill to any kind of surge in afghanistan. i wanted to ask general, is there any way to have an exit strategy at this point? not in the immediate future but talk both a surge and time frame at the same time to give people back home some ainsurance this is not just an endless war?

>> the way you work the exit strategy is the president has to develop a strategic instate that he believes is worth the candle strategically and say here is the end state we have to achieve and here is why it's important and here is what we're going to do to do that. he needs to take his time to make that clear so that he has a program that american people -- the american people believe is worth sending their sons and daughters to go help achieve. that's an absolutely critical part of this -- >> one thing to convince the parents of this country to allow their children's lives to be put at risk to protect this nation from direct assault by nuclear chemical and biological i suspect the hurdle is higher when it comes to endless nation building in the middle east. >> yeah, but look. if you get an islamist government in pakistan that has control of nuclear weapons, that is tied to al qaeda, you have a much more serious problem than

we were talking about in 2001. >> i don't think anybody would disagree with that, general. thank you very much. we need an efficient and intelligent solution for this, if such a thing exists. again, maybe a fantasy on my part. south georgia big storms there and a lot of flooding. roads are shut down and schools closed across the northern part of the state. we've seen massive thunderstorms coming in as much as 20 inches of rain on the state in the last three days. apparently now there's a bit of a break in the rain so that is good news but right now, atlanta area under a flash flood warning and emergency crews in at least two counties have had to go in to rescue people from high, swift water. we will keep our eyes on that throughout the day. a colorado man is heading to court today along with his father and new york city man all charged with lying to federal authorities in a terror investigation. federal agents are work to go unravel the details of their alleged plot. let's go to pete williams in washington. what do you know about this plot, pete? >> i think the big question here

is what they don't know about this plot. it is clear they believe that there was some kind of plot to attack something in new york. they don't know what. they don't know when and they don't know how. they don't know whether the people that they believe were involved in this had assembled the compensates necessary to make a bomb and don't know if they made explosives found on the laptop computer of the man at the center of this case, najibullah zazi a shuttle bus driver in a suburb of denver. they believe the formula was on there and nine handwritten pages would have built a explosive but don't know if the man actually ever tried it. apparently in the discussions with the fbi, zazi committed going to al qaeda training camp and getting training in explosives from al qaeda associates, explosives and other weapons but whether he had tried this formula or built bombs himself is something that the federal authorities are eager to

find out, as well as who else was involved. we've been told that they believe others were involved and they are trying to trace their movements now and see what sort of training and experience they might have had as well. >> pete, we'll check in with you later in the day and find out if there is more there. here is the space shuttle "discovery." today it returns to the kennedy space center in florida on piggyback on the back of a 747 shuttle carrier. the shuttle has made stops in cities like amarillo, texas and shreveport, louisiana. on friday, nasa released the names of the astronauts that will embark on what is "discovery's" final mission in september of next year. john travolta is about to relive the sad details surrounding the death of his 16-year-old son jett. jury starts today in the ambulance driver who is accused of trying to extort 25 million from travolta to keep family details secret. a second man is also charged --

well, actually the ambulance driver is a former senator in the bahamas. david hasselhoff is being reported to go to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. business 17-year-old daughter found him extrimly drunk and called her mother pamela. no confirmation from half hoff's spokesperson but we've heard about his struggles with alcohol. yeah, and seen it. remember this video in 2007 in there is half hoff in a las vegas hotel room and, um, doesn't he just love that cheeseburger? i mean, if there is ever a video for -- >> take that off. ridiculous. >> moderate consumption. everything in moderation. >> alcoholism is a disease. a time you have to man up and deal with the problem. he may be there. that's a decision for him, though. thank you very much. still to come here at the "morning meeting," the president

goes on a media blitz. you know this. well, we put it together in case you missed it into a monday morning matchup of the best of from the television appearances that have come so far with t the -- with dave letterman in new york city. back with the monday matchup on the president after this. announcer: trying to be good to your heart? so is campbell's healthy request soup. low in fat and cholesterol, heart healthy levels of sodium, and taste you'll love. chef: we're all kind of excited about it. guy: mmm! i can see why. announcer: campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good! for your heart. proclaims "gq" magazine. did you see that? the interior "positively oozes class,"

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we all know the president went on a media blitz appearing on most of the big sunday morning shows although he did not go on fox. an hour from now he speaks in new york and cap off the media tour are appearance on the late show with david letterman and while the person sitting across him may have change we found the president's message pretty much stayed the same. check out this monday morning mashup. >> if we're offering people health insurance and saying

people have to get health insurance we have to make sure it's affordable. the current path we're on is unsustainable. kaiser family foundation said health care premiums went up 5.5% when inflation was negative on everything else. we've got right now 80% of what i'd like to see -- if you look at the bills coming through -- we got to really work on that next 20% over the last few weeks -- the last 20% is tough -- it's always hard -- it's hard. ♪ i'm all right >> our afghanistan strategy was somewhat adrift. we had been adrift -- adrift because we frankly hadn't focused on it -- i ordered top to bottom -- a top to bottom review -- top to bottom review what is taking place -- my job is make sure we get a strategy that focus to go after the folks who killed 3,000 americans -- killed 3,000 americans.

to the extent our strategy in afghanistan is serving that goal -- then we will do what is required -- ♪ >> every president who tried to bring about big changes i think elicits the most passion responses. ronald reagan. ronald reagan. one last point i got to make -- let's face it -- recognize that right now, in this 24-hour news cycle -- what gets you on the news -- to get you 15 minutes of fame is to be rude to somebody -- to say something rude and outrageous -- be really rude -- and that is something i think has to change and it starts with me. >> you get a lot of air time, too. you're usually not rude. >> well, you know, i do occupy a pretty special seat at the moment. thank you -- thank you -- thank you so much. >> another week of dealing with our nation's problems. we have the privilege here of

asking questions in the name of transparency and choice and accountability and what we have been attempting to do and we'll continue to do and we are excited to do it. we'll take a break here. back with the take-away after this. 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. or 100 pringles. both cost the same, but only the pringles superstack can makes everything pop! ♪ ♪ whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ hey, hey [ male announcer ] the choice is yours... 100 of these or 100 pringles. same cost but a lot more fun. everything pops with the pringles superstack can!

all right. we wrap up the "morning meeting" with our take-away. next hour president is talking about the economy and innovation. let's hope he is not talking about the innovations they used on wall street and using taxpayer money. anyway he is upstate in new york. i'm joining my friend and physician dr. nancy snyderman who hosts the noon show. i'm going to see if -- i got a little hip pain and we're also going to deal with innovation in america with the good doctor. stick around here. "msnbc live" picks up right after this. you weren't always my favorite day. with all the pet hair in the air, i'd spend class preoccupied, bothered by itchy eyes.

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right now, on msnbc, the top

u.s. commander in afghanistan warns more troops are needed or the u.s. effort in the eight-year long war could result in failure. explosive accusations from a former aide to john edwards who once claimed he fathered a child with edwards exmistress now says edwards is the father and that is not all he is saying in his new book. >> dangerous conditions in the southeast. from tennessee to georgia, two people dead and rescuers pulled people from fast-moving waters. i'm monica novotny. we begin with that man-hunt for a crazed killer in washington state. police have apprehended phillip around paul who escaped from a mental institution during a field trip to a fair in spokane county. he remained on the loose three days before spotted by police who managed to take him back into custody. in connecticut public defenders representing the man accused of killing annie le is

asked investigation of leaked evidence in the case. meanwhile le aerks body has been returned to a funeral home near her home in northern california. former french prime minister took the stand today in a high profile slander trial. he is charged with conspiring to sneer current president nicolas sarkozy. three terror suspects expected this court today as the feds try to determine the extent of this alleged plot. pete williams joins us now. what more do we know about these men and what they are charged with, pete? >> i think we will know more today when they app in court. typically you know what the prosecution has in mind. at this point only charged with lying to federal investors who are trying to figure out what is going on when the man in the center of this case, najibullah

zazi drove from denver to new york city and that is what touched off this whole thing. people he visited there, all their apartments were searched. places he went were searched. his car was searched. that only added to the alarm when the authorities found a laptop computer that had instructions to making bombs and directions from an fbi scientist said would have built a powerful explosive. now the technique here is to get more out of them and try to figure out who else they may be involved with. authorities tell us they do believe others were involved in denver and new york and elsewhere they say although we don't know where the elsewhere is, other than in pakistan, where zazi admitted going last year to receive training from an al qaeda training camp. this is definitely a fast-moving investigation and we expect to see more action here, if not today, then tomorrow. >> pete, at what point could we learn what kind of a link these men might bring us to much bigger players within