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tv   MSNBC News Live  MSNBC  September 22, 2009 4:00pm-5:00pm EDT

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qaeda linked bomb plot here in the u.s. three men have already been arrested and appeared in court yesterday. nbc's justice correspondent, pete williams, joins us now live. pete, what is the latest on this? >> i think you can conclude from the fact that this homeland security advisory list, basically half the yellow pages, that there's really no certainty about what the plot target was. there are many different reasons for thinking that it could have been mass transit or that it could have been sports stadiums. there were things found on the computer, there were pictures that najibullah zazi had taken of grand central station, for example, with his cell phone. so there are all legitimate reasons for including these things on the list. but it's important to emphasize that there is no information indicating there was any plot against such facility. and in fact, they really don't know what the potential target was. on the investigative side, there
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are other people under observation, some under surveillance, some being questioned. this is a number that's expanding, as you would naturally expect in any investigation like this. but there's no sign that i can tell that any arrests are imminent. so it's a matter of trying to figure out what these folks were up to for the last several days. police in new york and in denver have been going out to hardware stores, storage facilities, trying to see if the people they believe were involved in this plot were trying to acquire the things that were on the computer. on najibullah's laptop computer that had a formula for making bombs. they've been trying to see, did they have those materials? had they been buying them? were they storing them somewhere? so, you've been seeing a fairly methodical bit of work over the last several days, looking at potential storage facilities, looking at hardware stores and that kind of thing. >> pete, if they don't have specific information about what,
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perhaps, they were looking to attack, then what are we to glean that perhaps how far along they were in this bomb plot? >> well, that's a question i think they don't know either. that's a fair question. they don't -- i think you have to look at it from their perspective, though. they say, well, you know, all right, we don't know, precisely, how far along they were. we don't know what the attack targets were. so the biggest concern is, you don't know who's involved. you don't know whether they're going to see the arrest of the three people so far as a call of arms to others that the government may not know about, who may take some sort of action. so what's why you see all of these "be extra vigilant" sort of prudent things in the post-9/11 world that we live in. but i think that's a key question. were this a group of people that had the intent, or with they trying to bring things together? >> pete williams, thanks for your reporting. tamron, this is all-important information from pete.
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people out there, they hear this on the media and they get worried. >> absolutely, you wonder what is safe. and i hate to name a specific event, but you had that huge dallas cowboys game, a record number of people, and when you start talking about sports events, you wonder what you need to know. and i think that's a responsibility of the government, to make sure we get the information to make sure that we are safe, but not to overreact to it. that's a part of the bigger picture, norah. federal officials are still searching for the rest of that terror cell, they believe, is tied to the alleged bomb plot in the united states. with three people already behind bars, how close are they to finding the rest of the suspects and can they actually find all of them? how much of a danger does this really pose to the american public? joining us now is nbc news terrorism analyst, mike shaheen, a former deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. mike, thank you so much for joining us. norah and i were just talking about how to balance the information or the bits and pieces that we're getting with public responsibility. and what we report and the
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overpublove overall public safety. >> tamron, i think this was an opportunity for federal officials to put out a reminder to all state and local and other private security people that there are people out there, this unraveled plot reminds us there are people out there with the intent, as pete was saying, we're not exactly sure how far along they went, but clearly they had the knowledge, the motivation, and the intent to try and put together an attack against some targets and i would suspect it would have been against the new york city subway system or against another mass gathering, like a stadium. that's probably what they were to up. and in that regard, that's why the federal officials put out this warning, to get people back to vigilancy. after a while, as you know, people start to forget about 9/11. >> absolutely we do. and just weeks after we marked the anniversary of it. but you heard pete say they're methodically bringing this together, starting to find out the pieces. but when you have at least a dozen suspects out there, how do
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they do that with people who have, as we know, international ties and perhaps out of this country. >> they have a massive effort under way right now at nypd and the fbi up in new york city, as well as in other cities, denver, across the country. and i'm sure the coordination back to the camps where they suspect this guy was trained in pakistan. they're looking, tracking down all the leads. i'm sure there's literally hundreds of inspectors and detectives working on these cases, tracking down every lead, every time of phone message, every address, every individual these people know. they're not leaving any stones unturned. and as pete was indicating, they're looking to see if there's any other evidence to indicate that these people were going to acquire weapons or materials to build an improvised bomb. >> isn't that point really important? because when zazi was pulled over in new york earlier nont, he had this hand-written recipe for making explosives in a file stored on his laptop computer. what specifically would
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officials be concerned about with that? >> this is the nightmare scenario. you have a guy like zazi who apparently was trained in a camp in pakistan, comes back with notes they find on his computer that basically outline the recipe for how you cook up one of these homemade bombs that have been used before effectively like in london in 2005 where over 50 londoners were killed in the subway system. the exact same recipes were there. and it's not that hard to get those materials in the open economy and then build a lab in your basement or somewhere and actually make these improvised explosives, put them in a backpack, and try to take them on to a subway system. that's really the nightmare scenario for nypd when i was working there. >> michael, thank you so much for joining myself and norah. >> thank you. and president obama says he won't make a decision about sending more american troops to afghanistan until there's a decision on strategy. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan says without more troops, the mission is likely to fail. the secretary of state hillary clinton says, not so fast.
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>> he is the commander on the ground, but i can only tell you there are other assessments from, you know, very expert military analysts who have worked in counterinsurgencies that are the exact opposite. so what our goal is is to take all of this incoming data and sort it out. >> and what about the troops on the ground? over 800 of whom who have already given their lives since the war began in afghanistan eight years ago. well, here is what captain james lecoop of bravo company told the "new york daily news." he said, quote, if we're going to be here, we should do it right and more troops would certainly help, but more troops means the potential for more casualties. is the american public actually prepared for that? nbc's jim mike slaszewski joins live from the pentagon.
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what do we know about this mcchrystal report? when's it going to be in the hands of the president? >> the report's already here. what hasn't arrived yet is mcchrystal's request or recommendation for additional forces. which we're being told could total as many as 40,000 additional soldiers and marines in afghanistan to not only help fight the war, protect the afghan civilians, but also train up iraqi security forces to take over that fight. and now we're told that that request could be in the hands of secretary defense gates within the next few days. so that timetable has appeared to accelerate somewhat. but the white house has made it clear, as you've mentioned, that president obama wants to take sufficient time. he told john harwood in an interview with cnbc that it could be several months before he, eventually, makes up his decision on exactly what strategy to pursue. >> so, mick, let me ask you about that, then.
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mcchrystal's request will be there at the pentagon perhaps later this week where he requests some 30,000 to 40,000 extra troops. it really sort of starts the clock for the president of the united states to make a decision on this. we were talking to former defense secretary william cohen earlier on this program and he said, look, if the president wants to change strategies, he's got to change strategies. he's got to make a decision, because our men and women are dying in afghanistan. how much time does the president have to make a decision on additional deployment of troops? clearly, he has as long as he wants, he's the commander in chief. but generally speaking, what do you think he would have to do to put a decision out on that? >> well, you know, there are several factors at play here. one is the fact that the president is embroiled in a very contentious debate with his own democrats over health care reform. and one pentagon official had suggested to us that the president didn't want to open up a new front of confrontation, because you know many of his own democrats do not want to put any
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additional forces into afghanistan. so there's a suggestion, at least, that he wants to get over the health care reform hurdle. and we know that's going to take some time. but then you run up against the military time clock, which within the next few months, anyway, decisions are going to have to be made, because troops have to get trained up, designated, first of all, trained up and ready to go into afghanistan. that's another six months or so. and according to military officials we're talking to, mcchrystal would like these troops to start arriving some time next spring. so that clock is already ticking. and about mcchrystal's request for additional forces, it would be foolish to think that the white house doesn't already know that number. if mcchrystal has a number, the white house already knows it. and that is suspected to be one of the reasons that obama doesn't want to officially receive it, because he may not want to agree to put in that
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many more troops that mcchrystal is apparently requesting. >> and quickly, mick, correct me if i'm wrong, but for the past eight years, we've had a situation under president bush, where generally what the generals have requested, the president has said, okay, and signed off on those numbers. is that true? >> well, you know, not exactly. as general mcchrystal says in his report, the effort -- the war effort in afghanistan has been historically underresourced and he warns if it continues to be underresourced, then, in fact, it is likely that the u.s. policy there, the war effort, would fail. and during the campaign, you'll recall that candidate obama, and after that, president obama also agreed that the war effort in afghanistan had been underresourced, because much of the u.s. military efforts had been diverted to the war in iraq by the bush administration. so president obama is in sort of a very difficult position here. one, of trying to stand up to
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his hand-picked top commander there in afghanistan now, general mcchrystal, and there are indications too, recently, that even secretary of defense gates is signing on or could approve a pretty sizable troop increase for the war effort in afghanistan. >> pretty interesting. nbc's jim miklaszewski. thank you so much for answering all those questions. tamron? coming up, the latest on those deadly floods making life miserable in the southeast. eight people reported dead, including a toddler. we'll have a live report. plus, what does the left really want from president obama on health care? we'll talk with our very own ed schultz. and stripping down to track the stock market. i didn't know they had to work so hard to keep us interested, but apparently so. we'll tell you what's behind this crazy video. this is the big picture on msnbc.
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breaking news. this just into us. the ceo of pace airlines has been arrested by north carolina insurance officials. investigators say william rogers canceled his employee group health insurance without providing advanced notice. well, he's been charged with one count of willful failure to pay group health insurance premiums. pace airlines recently laid off the majority of its employees, most of whom are still waiting for their final paycheck. >> interesting. and as we continue the big picture, norah, the latest now on devastating floods in the southeast. the floodwaters have claimed at least eight lives, including a toddler.
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nearly two feet of rain has fallen in some places and more rain, sadly, in the forecast. georgia hit the hardest. and the governor of the state has declared a state of emergency in 17 different counties. entire neighborhoods -- look at that video -- under water along with scores of roads and bridges. nbc's tong chong is in atlanta. let me ask you, does it appear most people heeded the warning of how unsafe the conditions are there? >> reporter: most people have stayed away from their homes. it may look like a creek behind me, but this is knee-deep water. the water line yesterday, it would have been right at my head. most people have heeded the warning and stayed away from their homes, but as you can imagine, now that the water has receded, a lot of anxious people want to come home and see what's happened to their homes, but the governor has urged people to stay away because there's no
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utilities, you don't know what's inside of these homes because of the floodwater. and because people coming home may put other people in danger, the governor doesn't want people to come close to their property, just to see what the state of things are at this point. again, at least seven people have died in this, and also, that includes a 2-year-old toddler who was in a mobile home who was basically swept out of his father's arms. and that's just one of the stories in this very dramatic flood story. >> and the drama continues, tooung, because they're expecting more rain. how might that things more difficult or is it a significant amount of rain they're expecting? >> reporter: the irony is, because of the last two years, we've been dealing with drought, but now that people have been asking for water, we have too much water to deal with. right now emergency officials aren't concerned with the amount of rain we're going to get. they don't think it will cause more significant flooding, but because the water is so saturated, anymore water is going to further make that runoff situation much worse and
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that's the last thing we need down here. >> thank you so much. and we're just getting in some breaking news now about a new al qaeda video. this from our nbc news terrorism analyst, evan kohlmann. al qaeda's sahab media foundation has unveiled "the west and the dark tunnel." this video includes footage of american al qaeda spokesman adam gadahn along with other senior al qaeda leaders. we'll have more information on this as it comes into us, but a new al qaeda video. we'll be right back. protecting your heart includes watching your cholesterol.
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say -- >> no way! >> we have clout now. a sri lankan martial arts champion, not ed schultz, has set a new world record by breaking 29 wooden bars on his body in one minute. the bars were two inches feet, six feet long. he recently set a record for breaking 44 concrete slabs at once with his head. what?! that's bizarre. >> that is weird. >> that is weird. >> totally weird. here's another weird one. a drug raid turned into a play date for a bunch of police officers. earlier this year, get this, security camera video just released caught members of a drug task force playing wii bowling during what was supposed to be a nine-hour search of a home in polk county, florida. check him jumping up and down. watch out this one officer jumps up and down after managing to bowl a strike. so instead of reprimanding the officers, a supervisor from the lakeland police officers actually joined in on the phone.
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the local sheriff calls the display embarrassing and has launched an internal investigation. >> norah, i've got to admit, i'm addicted to wii. i can see how one would get distracted. >> what they said was, it was very concerned that the supervisor did not jump in and say, guys, cut it out. >> this one, i don't know what to think of this, norah. the p.u.m.a. clothing company, they've introduced a new video stock ticker for the iphone with a twist. as the stock market drops, the models in the video, they drop their clothes. >> really? >> yeah. ♪ >> wow. wow. as the stock market goes up, the models put their clothes back on. and if you would rather see guys taking off their clothing, well, they've got an ap, apparently,
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for that too, norah. >> i have an, this. we need a stimulus, and stimulus would mean you take off your clothes when the stock market goes up, and i think this is encouraging the market to go down, don't you think? >> yes. the way you said stimulus -- i just -- and that video. i'm all creeped out. >> whatever, you love it, tamron! come on. >> i adore you. can we move on? >> you have the iphone ap, don't you? >> i don't have that ap. you won't see that on my phone. still ahead, jenny sanford planning to write a, quote, inspirational memoir. what will she say about her famously philandering husband. you saw a sneak peak of him, but we're going to talk to ed schultz, the topic he has been firing up his audience about. the challenges facingi presiden obama including that public option. most for headaches.
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i'm mike huckman with your cnbc market wrap. and stocks ending higher across the board today. the dow gaining 51 points. the s&p 500 adding seven points. and the nasdaq picking up eight points. the s.e.c. now says it will vigorously pursue, its words, a case against bank of america. this over its failure to disclose to shareholders that it caused merrill lynch to to pay billions in shareholders. this comes after a judge threw out the settlement of the case, saying it unfairly penalized the shareholders. meantime, "the new york times" reports regulators are considering a plan to have the nation's healthy banks lend billions of dollars to shore up the government fund, fdic. that fund protects regular
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deposit accounts. the fdic suffered major losses during the financial crisis. the plan would allow the fdic to continue rescuing failing banks. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to msnbc. >> he did not just go there. >> he was stripping. >> with the market? >> the market was down, so he was stripping. >> is that what we've come to, norah? >> i think that, whoa. >> well, you won't see us do that, because we are incredible. >> i'm tamron hall live in new york. >> and i'm norah o'donnell, live here in washington. and let's start with the big picture here right now. after months of bipartisan negotiation, the senate finance committee is taking up legislation today to overhaul the health care system. the committee chairman, senator max baucus, unveiled his plan last week without any republican support. but today he said his plan is
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balanced and should be able to attract votes on both sides of the aisle. >> our plan does not include a public option. we did not include an employer mandate and we paid for every cent. >> but senator chuck grassley, the ranking member on the finance committee, says this bill could have been better. >> it seems to me that some people in the senate would rather have it done right now instead of being done right. that artificial deadline pushed us aside and put an end to that bipartisan work before it could produce a bipartisan bill. >> right now, all eyes are on republican senator olympia snowe. democrats are holding out hope that she will eventually support this bill. but right now she says there's a lot more work to be done. >> we are far from the finish line. there are many miles in this journey. >> and the obama administration
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is working hard to keep health care in the headlines. today, vice president joe biden spoke about the need to overhaul the system to a group of insurance commissioners. >> i've read your statement. you support reform. i'm not tying you into our plan or any specific plan, but you know there's no -- this is no time to tinker. you can't rearrange the deck chairs on the "titanic." we've got to change ships here. >> president obama has been out front on the issue, of course, for the past few months, but over the past few days, it was an unprecedented push. five sunday talk shows plus a late-night appearance. and according to a brand-new "wall street journal" poll, a third believe president obama is on the tv too much. 54% say it's about the right amount. and 9% say they don't see or hear president obama enough. of course, chuck todd says that largely breaks down along how you voted for obama. >> and what will happen to
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public option? you just heard senator max baucus say a government-run insurance plan is not in his bill, but house speaker nancy pelosi is still insisting the house bill will contain a public option. here's what she told reporters in philadelphia yesterday. no bill can house the house of representatives without a public option in it. she went on to say that we will have legislation that will be passed in a matter of weeks. it will be signed in matter of months by barack obama and it will have a very positive impact on america's families. the white house is endorsing the public option, but not demanding it. ed schultz, the host of "the ed show" says the white house should demand it. >> well, mr. president, make some news. demand a public option, because in the five bills, four of them call for a public option, plus the health care providers are with you and 75% of the doctors. plus, the american people are with you. enough with the speeches. you've done all you can do. the president said it himself. now is the time for action. >> ed schultz is with us in the studio. ed, you're not the only person saying this to the president,
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whether it's on tv, in print, and i'm sure in his quiet circles, but why aren't we seeing the president demand this public option? >> i don't think it's in his personality. i think it goes back to david axelrod early on. axelrod wrote him a note saying, you may be too nice a guy. there is a stark contrast when president obama speaks to the joint session, when he goes to the town halls and then when he gets in front of one-of-one interviews, there's a different approach in all of this. he's a very academic guy. he knows the issue inside out, but for some reason, it may be just its timing, he has not told his party, four out of five, let's get it done, we're going to do this. a lot of it has to do with the democrats don't want to go home a year from now saying, we've got to raise your taxes to make this work. that's their dilemma. get health care reform passed.
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make sure that we don't have to raise taxes on people so we don't have to hit those commercials and get more seats in 2010. but the republicans, they want to stop everything they possibly can. the september stall is in full gear and i think you're going to see it, you know, october, the same thing. they're going to stretch this out as long as they can. i don't think olympia snowe is going to come on board. >> she doesn't sound like it, from that sound. it's completely contradictory to what we heard, that she might be on board, but now, more time, more wok. >> the worst thing the white house can do right now is underestimate the reaction of the base. i've done enough town hall meetings around the country, i've taken enough phone calls on talk radio, i get plenty of e-mails. i'm telling you, the base wants the president to stand strong on this. that's exactly why i've been saying that. they're going to pay a price if they do. the country wants a guaranteed
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competition for the private sector. that's what the public option is. you don't have to get in it. it's an option, but you've got to have a guaranteed player at the table to give the public a chance to go here, to the private sector, or into the government plan, and that, of course, will reel in the private sector. the gouging's got to stop. the republicans aren't answering the tough questions about, okay, what are you going to do to stop the gouging? take their word for it? we've taken their word for 50 years. this is what change is all about. and of course, there's a lot of other things on the plate too with the economy and afghanistan, but this could affect the economy more than anything else. the democrats have got to stand their ground. don't be afraid to raise taxes on the folks that are making $250,000 plus and let's go back to the polls in 2010. >> we know 500 amendments have been added as they mark up the baucus, some of them absurd. but i've got to ask you, with this president, it may not be in his personality, but he said,
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ed, if he didn't get health care reform done, and not meaningful reform, he would not possibly win another election. he knows it, sto so maybe he needs an out of body experience to bring that tough side that once existed in chicago. >> if this president does the moral thing, and that's how this country, his supporters are viewing it. if he stands with his base the way bush used to stand with his base and if he does this for the middle class and gets something meaningful through, he will walk to re-election. if he walks away from the demand of a public option and guaranteed competition, he'll pay a price. >> but what about the republicans who say, it's his own party, it's the democrats within his own party who are not standing with him as the republicans stood with george bush for the war in iraq and other things. how, then, does the base handle or punish, if that comes to it, the blue dogs and other democrats? >> one thing that the obama team did was teach the grassroots
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folks in this country how to fight back. that's why he won this election. he always fought back. he went after the clintons when he had to. he went after other candidates, went after john mccain. this base will fight for this president. he knows they are correct on the issues. if he walks from that, he's going to be in some trouble. now, the reconciliation today is big news. harry reid officially put it on the table, gave him the first shot over the bow, gave him a warning. this is where we're going. it's up to you republicans if you want to dance with the public or not. so we like sports both of us, score this right now. where does it stand? if you want to use baseball analogies, innings. >> i think it's 50/50, i really do. i think progressives in this country have to realize we're a long way from the finish line, they've got to engage, do the social networking. and i think it was smart for the president to go out and doing the talking heads circuit. i thought it was great for him to do the letterman thing last
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night. he got better ratings doing that than all the other shows. but if he walks away from it, from the standpoint of not demanding at that critical time, it's an issue of calculation on when to do it right now, his base will never leave him. if he does, he's going to have a wavering base. >> thank you so much, ed. you can catch ed's show tonight every weeknight, 6:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc. norah, i saw ed earlier and said, you know, what do you think of delay on "dancing with the stars." ed, might i see you on "dancing with the stars" with the next season? i've seen ed kind of dance in the hallways. what's up with that? >> reporter: well, you know, i've got better moves than tom delay, i'll tell you that. i've done a lot of fishing in my time. that is a guy that is a fish out of water. there's no question about that. >> he was shaking those hips pretty well. he was moving around there. >> norah says he was shaking his hips pretty well. >> i'll dance, but i'm not taking my clothes off. >> thank you very much, ed. >> where we ended up today.
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>> i don't know. okay, norah. up next, is president obama interfering too much with local political races across the country? it's in today's "face-off he" h on the big picture. show and tell 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™. (announcer) find it in the allergy aisle next to other zyrtec® products. (announcer) transform your water. women who drink crystal light drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a delicious change.
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robert shapiro: we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. and make your business dream a reality. thinking about mutual funds-- think about this: the best place to buy one may not be a mutual fund company at all. instead of emphasizing their funds, td ameritrade has tools that can help you choose funds from the leading fund companies. there's even a "recommended" list by the independent experts at morningstar associates. so you can get a fund that matches your objectives instead of someone else's. announcer: before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. contact td ameritrade for a prospectus containing this and other information. read it carefully before investing. welcome back. massachusetts governor deval patrick could name a temporary replacement for the late senator
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ted kennedy as early as tomorrow. the massachusetts senate appr e approved a bill a short time ago that would allow the governor to name a successor. voters will choose a permanent replacement in a special election happening january 19 president welcome back to the big picture. that will certainly be good news for the white house. >> that's right. the obama administration was, of course, pushing the massachusetts legislator to find a replacement for kennedy so democrats would once again have 60 votes in the senate. but is the white house taking too big a role in these state races? are they meddling? that's the topic of today's "face-off." this isn't the first state race that the white house is getting involved in. there's also colorado, illinois, new york, pennsylvania, and new jersey. rahm emanuel helped the democrats win the house three years ago as chairman of the congressional campaign committee and this isn't the first white house to get involved in state races. karl rove, former president
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george w. bush's chief political adviser was also involved in state races to make sure that states had strong candidates. brad, what's wrong with the white house weighing in and trying to get the best candidate to run in these races? >> nothing wrong with it at all, but it's the perception of how they're doing it. either you can do it with a hammer or you can do it with a glove. and i think the white house is better suited to using the glove than the hammer, but that's not suited for rahm emanuel. after all, we didn't give him the nickname rambo. it's his own people who did it. it's the manner in which you do it, but it's certainly in the president's interest to have it done. >> let me ask you what's about going on in new york. that's developing into a mess with the white house urging and president obama urging new york governor david paterson not to run. let me play what former president bill clinton said
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about the whole thing this morning on the "today" show. >> he's not in good shape now. but i will say this about david paterson. he is a good man. i think that he will do in the end what he believes is best for new york. >> so is this a gentle push or is this turning into a shove? >> i think it's more than a push right now. it's definitely a full two-handed shove in the back. and i suspect what you're seeing coming out this week is not the first conversation between the white house and governor paterson. this strikes me as something brad would probably agree is down the line a few miles in the conversation. >> especially given this is the sitting governor. >> absolutely. but the numbers are terrible for governor paterson. there are other races in new york state that the white house is concerned about. so i think what you're seeing come out public is probably the conclusion of a lot of private conversations that maybe governor paterson was given the choice and hasn't taken the choice. and to use brad's expression, now the hammer's coming out. >> but, james, didn't president
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obama get elected as someone who's going to change the way politics -- i mean, does this undercut his appeal with voters that are tired of partisan politics. >> i think there's the danger of that. i think you have to look at each specific race. i think in pennsylvania, he's fulfilling promises made to senator spector when senator specter changed parties. in that instance, i'm good friends with joe sestak, i strongly support joe sestak and i'm sure the white house would let me have my opinion on that. >> so are you mad that the president is supporting senator specter? >> no, i'm not mad at all. but it wouldn't change my opinion to support joe sestak and work for him in pennsylvania. i'm not helping him, but i would. there's a lot of critical races in 2010. i think rahm emanuel may be, you know, flashing back to 1994, when in his first term,
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president clinton kind of took a step back at the midterm elections. >> karl rove, of course, is now weighing in, brad, saying the way the white house handled the situation in new york was a little ham handed. but karl was known also, and maybe in some cases he didn't leave his fingerprints, but he was doing a lot of meddling in these races, wasn't he? >> well, i would -- >> yes. >> the word, meddling, i don't know, but influencing, yes. but you just mentioned a great point, norah -- >> but you need strong candidates in these states. and when the president runs for re-election, he needs strong elected democratic officials, right? >> he does. but when presidents start getting involved in primary races and picking and choosing candidates and taking away that which the voters have a right to say who their democratic choice is going to be, i think that could backfire in some instances. the voters don't want to be told
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who to vote for in a primary situation. >> james boyce and brad blakeman, great to see both of you. tamron, there's no doubt this white house gets it. they'll continue to be involved and weigh in on who they think is the best candidate. >> and i think also what people get, this is not the first administration to do this. as you pointed out, karl rove and the previous administration is just one example. i think voters get that as well, norah. >> all right, tamron. up next, some things we thought you should know. >> so, norah, jimmy sanford, writing a book. interesting. comedian will ferrell, talking about health care. and on "hardball," chris matthews talks to the author of a new book about the relationship between barack and michelle obama. we've been talking about it as well. the interview, just ahead.
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here are three more things we thought you should know. get ready for jenny sanford's side of the story. she's writing a book. valentine books plans to publish jenny sanford's memoir next year. the publisher says sanford will, quote, grapple with the universal issue of maintaining integrity and a sense of self during life's difficult times. the book is currently untitled and financial terms were not disclosed. back in june, governor sanford admitted very publicly to an affair with an argentinian woman he called his soul mate. >> be interesting to see what she's able to say and how candid she'll be during what had to be the most difficult time in her life. >> and what will be the state of their relationship when this book comes out. >> and the people over at
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funnyordie are at it again. will ferrell and other celebrities team up to protect insurance companies from health care reform. here it is. >> why is obama trying to reform health care when insurance companies are doing just fine making billions of dollars of profit? obama, why? >> insurance companies need our support, because they keep our selfish priorities in check when we can't. >> please, doctor, my daughter's dying, she needs medication. >> think about somebody else for once. >> my kid falls off his bike and breaks his leg, he should have to pay that money out-of-pocket, out of his allowance. >> how else is he going to learn not to fall off that bike? >> interesting there. >> those ads can be really powerful. that's the kind of stuff that young people tune in and watch and have a big laugh over. will ferrell is powerful. >> and the young people have not been a big part of this debate and they represent such a large group who are uninsured.
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this will be interesting. barack obama has given plenty of big speeches as both president and a presidential candidate, but tomorrow he's delivering a particular kind of speech he's never delivered before. >> let's get more on it. next read on politics the stories we'll be talking about tomorrow. mark murray, nbc political director. what do you have for us? >> hey, tamron, hey, norah. for the first time in his presidency, president obama will address the united nations' general assembly tomorrow. also, tomorrow, the senate finance committee continues to mark up that health care bill, which has to be the most watched markup in congressional history, it seems. and then, finally, our full nbc/"wall street journal" poll comes out later tonight, beginning at 6:30 on "nightly news" and also msnbc and msnbc.com. there'll be plenty of interesting numbers and also "hardball's" going to have a few health care numbers in the next few minutes. >> mark, tamron was trying to steal chuck's copy of the
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nbc/"wall street journal" poll earlier. >> i was? i was? >> she was trying to get some numbers before it debuts on nbc "nightly news." but can you give us a hint of some of the big topics in the poll? >> the really big topics, and you'll see this in chuck's nightly piece on afghanistan, the numbers that i mentioned on health care. "hardball" will have a sneak peek at some of those figures. and overall, just looking at president obama's general standing, whether or not his poll numbers have gone up or down or stayed about the same, those are really the three story lines to look at in this poll. and i know you guys are going to be talking about it all tomorrow on msnbc. >> mark, i think you have an update, they told us, on senator byrd. there was an emergency involving him. what do you have on that? >> right. he was hospitalized. and of course, his health -- concerns about his health have been nothing new. he is the oldest member of the united states senate. his office put out a statement, though, saying that he's okay.
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everything's fine, but he was checked into the hospital. of course, for us political junkies, we've always been talking about ted kennedy's seat being that 60th seat and it does look like massachusetts democrats are going to be able to appoint an interim replacement to get democrats that 60th seat, but if that happens, people will be starting to look at senator byrd's health a whole lot more. his office says he's fine, everything's okay. but it's something that we've been watching for a while. >> all right. mark murray, thank you so much, mark. we certainly appreciate it. we'll be looking out for those poll numbers coming out. make sure to check into first read every morning. it's updated throughout the day. you can log on to firstread.msnbc.com. and i'm very intrigued to hear what chuck todd reveals in this poll and how the white house and others react to it, especially when it comes to afghanistan and the questions asked to the american people on that. >> no doubt. and general petraeus is speaking actually here in washington tomorrow, so that's also a big story. >> all right. that's the big picture for
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today. i'm tamron hall. >> and i'm norah o'donnell in for david shuster. up next, "hardball with chris matthews" starts right now. barack's got the ball. let's play hardball. good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, full-court press. so now we know the play where the president races out to meet the enemy, grabs the ball and takes the shot, it works. we've got the latest nbs news/"wall street journal" poll on the president's media play, the big fight over health care, and whether the republican party has gained anything over the last several months. add to that the president's one-man show last night with david letterman. but the big question, is the president's all-out media strategy working? chuck todd and politico's roger simon are here to answer that big question. plus, the war in
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afghanistan. should president obama give general mcchrystal the troops he wants? what would victory look like in afghanistan? do we even have a strategy? and what would be the consequences of getting out? all tough questions and we'll ask ron reagan jr. and frank gaffney. and let's take a look, let's get a good inside look at the president, there they are, and the first lady, michelle obama. tonight we examine the power marriage of barack and michelle obama, with noted author christopher anderson. also, bill clinton says jimmy carter is wrong, that race is not what animates president obama's opponents. let's look at why he would say that in the politics fix. and finally, marathon man. former house majority leader, the hammer, tom delay, made his debut on "dancing with the stars." here he is. here's tommy. ♪ ♪

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