that makes us think so. then dictators say the darnedest things. gadhafi, ahmadinejad, chavez, castro. in today's episode of "trend or talker" why -- you're a dictator. that's the one liberty of being a dictator. say whatever you want. we're live at the g-20 summit. protests are under way. it's 9:00 a.m. in new york, 6:00 out west. i'm worked up this morning. i'm warn you. meeting begins right now. health reform moving quickly now through the senate finance committee. at what cost? reconvenes a half hour from now, after wednesday was taken up by squabbling over medicare cuts and whether covering the uninsured will come at the seniors' exspen or come at everybody else's expense or will

we bizarrely and crazily update our outdated employer-based systems and create real efficiency so the taxpayer doesn't get stuck on the hook. if you hope the senate might slow down, even give you a chance to read the bill online, no such luck. msnbc on capitol hill with the sausage making. >> reporter: it is an unsightly sight, dylan. the argument all along for the administration is we're going to save hundreds of billions by making medicare more efficient, we're going to get rid of a program that's dear to republicans called medicare advantage, we're going to curtail the subsidies and help to make this bill so called deficit neutral. that's the administration argument. republicans say nonsense. now joe biden wading into the debate. here's what he had to say yesterday. >> here's the bottom line. you know, you're going to be better off, you, all of us who

qualify for medicare, are going to be better off under reforms we're proposing, not worse off. as a matter of fact, we will be worse off if we do nothing. >> okay. max baucus, he hoped to get this bill through the mark-up by the end of this week. jim bunting, a refiring member of congress is going to vote against this. they spent two hours arguing whether the bill should be printed online, 72 hours before the committee votes on it. a lot of people got upset about that. max baucus says put out a summary that is conceptual in nature. here is olympia snowe. >> if it take was to more weeks it takes two more weeks. i mean, we're talking about trillions of dollars in the final analysis. i do not understand it. what is the rush, what is happening in two weeks? >> reporter: read the bill.

now olympia snowe picked that up. the fight will continue beginning in about 30 minutes. >> thank you, mike. republicans, democrats, what is the value system around which this debate is happening. is it for patients, for insurance companies, is it for doctors. and will republicans simply use this as they have at least in part, simply as an effort to diminish the president and derail any reform as a political prop and the heck with everybody else and health care. joining us now former missouri congressman and former house majority leader richard gephardt. he led the fight in '93 and '94. nice to see you. i would love to talk with you about the amendment that is up for vote today which is the choice amendment that would allow people like myself and others to bring market force against all of the insurers, to be able to choose not only keep the plan we have but also to shop on those exchange we don't like the plan we have. your thoughts on the choice

amendment and olympia snowe has a similar amendment. >> i think it's a good idea. you know, if it passes i think it would improve the bill. but you know, if it doesn't pass we got to move forward. i am more confident now than i've ever been that we're going to address health care reform this year in this congress. the dominant issue is the one you mentioned a minute ago, it's cost, affordability. if we do nothing, health care will be unaffordable for most americans. i'm part of a group called america's agenda health care for all. it's business and labor with a common message to the congress, let's get this done because we can't afford health care the way it is. >> and i think there are a lot of folks in this country that are -- that gets more and more clear to them and also the inefficiencies of how much money we put in and how little we get out and how it's distributed is also startling. so it's not just the cost, it's

also the pennies that go out for the dollars that go in. i guess i'm trying to get a sense of why it is congress, whether it's the unions, the employers, i don't know who it is that would resist updating some of these outdated systems. it's not that the old systems weren't valuable for their time but we're in a situation where we can update across the board. whether it's more competitive health insurance, a real public option, all of these conversations are valid yet no one wants to talk about updating our systems. why is that? >> well, i think that's what they are talking about. this is an encouraging debate in the congress. yeah, it's sausage making and it's crazy but that's the way you make reform. that's the way you get things done. let me make you aware of one medicare study over the last six years. they put some chronically ill medicare patients in managed care, they had real time testing of blood sugar and heart beat and all that. they had nurse practitioners calling maybe a couple times a

week, getting them to do the things that they needed to do to manage their disease or their chronic disease. they saved $6,000 per person per year and they made their health care status better. that's a win-win that nobody can disagree with. those are the kind of changes that need to be put in place. >> if you were to look at your experience in '93 and the experience as an observer through this process, what do you see as the critical communication lines, in other words, the critical messages to people to understand both liberation of choice, creation of options, creation of more cost effective methodology, this type of thing, so that we don't get distracted by the fear from the right or the guilt from the left and all of these ways to manipulate the conversation. how do you, if i was to ask how we keep our eye on the ball where's the ball and how do we keep our eye on it? >> you are exactly right. and i think we are doing the

right things. the president's delivering the right messages, the congress is. the vice president did a good with job yesterday. it's cost and affordability. it's efficiency. that's the dominant issue. yeah, we'd like to get everybody covered tomorrow afternoon. if we make the system more affordable we'll be able to do that. yes, we'd like to have a public option or a private option. but it's not essential if we can get the costs down and maybe we put a trigger on a public option, maybe we say if there isn't enough competition down the road then we bring in a public option. there are ways of dealing with the hot buttons, we've got to stay focused on cost and affordability. >> representative, thanks for joining us this morning. thank you so much. dick gephardt on health care. what else is going on in the sfwherld >> breaking news out of central new jersey. four police officers were shot this morning executing a search warrant, two are in the hospital with wounds to the face, the

other is -- well, apparently two offers here shot. the suspect taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds. as i get more i'll pass that along. president obama becomes the first u.s. president to chair a summit level meeting of the u.n. security council. members are expected for a unanimous vote here to reduce nuclear weapons and we could get an opening statement from president obama any minute. president obama is pushing new nuclear weapons treaties for a world without nuclear weapons. the draft resolution calls for stepped up efforts to promote disarm amount and reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism. president obama and leaders of the industrialized nations will travel to pittsburgh for two days of meetings on a wide range of issues including how to stabilize the economy. let's go to savannah guthrie who is there. what's the focus? >> reporter: couple things. i think leaders will talk a lot about financial regulation, they really want to see a strict

crackdown on some of the practices that led to this financial crisis so they want to hear what the u.s. is doing, they want to see -- on the part of europe anyway, bonus caps on executive compensation, something the administration does not support. they support other crackdowns on executive compensation. then the other issue is exit strategy. there is all of this fiscal stimulus, these efforts to save the economy from turning into a depression. how do you unwind that government involvement. >> thank you. already police have arrested protesters in pittsburgh ahead of the start of the g-20. let's go to nbc's john yang. what are you learning? >> reporter: the protesters, we're here at a park where they are supposed to gather for an unauthorized, unpermitted march about 2 1/2 miles to the site where savannah is now. where the site of the summit. very few people know exactly

what to expect here. the planners, the protesters aren't tipping their hand about details of their plans. but the police are ready. there are about 4,000 uniformed police on the ground here, some of them from as far away as tucson, arizona and palm beach county, florida. so everyone has to wait and see. the police say they are ready for whatever happens, contessa. >> john, thanks. in a couple hours massachusetts will get an interim senator to take the seat of the late ted kennedy. governor deval patrick is ready to announce the appointment a day after legislators changed the law. patrick is declining to discuss former appointees. a long time kennedy friend paul kirk has the backing. he will serve until a special election january 19. >> getting started this morning, lots to cover including a conversation with dick armey. the isolation of iran, several countries including the u.s. walking out on iran's president as he speaks at the u.n., is the

world turning its back on ahmadinejad? will russia back away? and did the hammer come down on tom delay. the verdict in for the "dancing with the stars" contestant. that coming up in the break room. instead of $5 per person for fast food, you can serve a nutritious breakfast from walmart for just over $1 a person.

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welcome back. iran's president ramping up the rhetoric again. becoming more isolated. contessa with the latest how things went for mahmoud ahmadinejad. >> look, dylan. ahmadinejad is known for making wildly controversial statements. certainly he did that again

yesterday during his speech t. u.s. delegation stood up and walked out when he accused israel of genocide and racism. delegates from other countries left mid speech. ahmadinejad had a lot of ground to cover. >> how can one imagine that the inhuman policies in palestine may continue to force the entire population of a country out of their homeland for more than 60 years by resorting to force and coercion. >> at the end of the speech ahmadinejad said his country is ready to shake all hands that are honestly extended to iran, dylan. by the way, do you want to take a shot now of the united nations. this is the security council. this is going to be a big topic, iran, ahmadinejad and their progress on nuclear weapons getting ready to start. >> and well it should.

thank you. joining the "morning meeting" former israeli ambassador to the u.n., notice president of the jerusalem center for public affairs and author of nuclear iran. he writes that diplomacy with iran is not only futile but potentially deadly. also back with us is vicki ward, huffington post blogger, editor "vanity fair," jonathan kapart as well. nice to see you. >> good morning. >> let us convene. mr. gould, if you look at the rhetoric of ahmadinejad and you look at the behavior, you get any sense there is more conviction, i'll ask you the same question, vicki. england has a long history with energy in iran going back decades. is there a sense the western european ally also or russia are more inclined to distance themselves further/be more aggressive with sanctions with iran? >> i would hope so. the europeans tried engagement in 2003 to 2005.

it utterly failed. and the iranians exploited those to move their nuclear program further. in fact, their head negotiator admitted that. and two to fend off international pressure. that's what they are going to try to do again. >> to what extent does it diminish the west leverage because they are perceived to give israel preferred treatment. >> who is perceived? >> the middle eastern communities perceive the west, particularly the u.s., to give preferential treatment to israel relative to the way they treat palesti palestine. you are hearing the beginnings from president obama yesterday talking about the settlements and we don't acknowledge the settlements. my question to you is how can the u.s./israeli relationship either be altered or better explained to the middle east such that it is not viewed as such a sticking point or thorn in the side for diplomatic action between the u.s. and the middle east? >> i would not so secret, secret share with you.

>> lay it on me. >> from kuwait to back rain the united arab emirates to saudi arabia, the number one issue affecting those countries is the rise of the nuclear iran. for them, the palestinian issue is close to their hearts, it's a side show today. and anyone who stress this is as the main issue of the middle east is missing this radical change. >> i'm not disputing that. what i'm saying to the extent to which the united states wants to exert as much leverage relative to iran, period. >> right. >> how can they better either characterize or altder their relationship with israel as it pertains to settlements or nuclear policy in israel as a country relative to the middle east. i think you understand the question. >> you want to defend the oil outlets in the persian gulf. are you going to say don't help defend us because they added a ver randa. >> my point is the ability to

build rhetoric portraying the u.s. as a direct supporter of israel without rules or regulations or discipline in the relationship between the u.s. and israel diminishes america's leverage. >> it doesn't fly. his rhetoric would have been good with at the time of the 1960s, the 1970s. today, people in the middle east, the sunni arabs are scared to death that iran is going to dominate the area. they talk about the resurrection. >> i'm aware. >> therefore, i don't think he gets a big bang for his buck when he does holocaust denial, goes through the whole -- >> what about the exemption for nuclear nonproliferation for israel. >> i think there is a fundamental point in the middle east we understand but maybe in some it's not. in the whole area nuclear proliferation and nonproliferation, i'm talking now including the united states, russia, everybody. britain, france, the whole mix, you've got to distinguish

between responsible countries and irresponsible countries. it's nice to have universal rules. they are very important. but, in this area a country which has been violating almost a half dozen u.n. security council, by enriching you're rain numb, you don't treat that in the same breath as responsible countries. >> understood. you make a good point. thank you for the conversation. i hope you come back. vicki, sit tight. we're plugging in to what else is going on out there. ex-miss california carrie prejean. remember her. back on our website near you whether you like it or not. this time modeling some of halloween's skimpy costumes. anything to make a buck in this town. the "morning meeting" returns after this. clean so deep... ...it's like your old mop's worst nightmare. ♪

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all right.

more back to lash against gadhafi. how ever you spell it. after his never-ending speech at the u.n. >> well, yes, gadhafi, you want to talk about it now? >> i do. >> he had 96 minutes of a rambling speech covering jfk's assassinati assassination, jet laying of the attendees. maybe he needed a nice dinner. famed tavern on the green made it clear he wasn't welcome. when gadhafi as folks called they said thanks but no thanks. someone was so furious they left burning debris in the property the government owns. we saw the tent in bedford, new york. >> trump tent there. >> yeah. torn down. taken down. about time. >> big sign outside. >> speaking of gold. >> libyans only. >> seems anything that oprah winfrey touches turns to gold. >> the latest. >> can she turn her midas touch on chicago and its bid for the

2016 olympics. she is going to denmark to lobby the olympic committee trying to convince them economic is a better choice. by the way, it's expected to cost $900 million to construct the venue. the private donations? >> because of oprah. >> she can probably fund it. >> consider it done. i don't know why they both tear have these meetings. >> what about kafry prejean. >> she is trying to make bucks. >> tmz says this is before she went to miss california. there it is. very christian of her. >> what the heck. >> an excuse. >> wonder what kind of a piece of the action she gets on the sale. >> that's normally the way modeling works. you get paid to have your picture taken. >> and then. >> see you. >> all done? >> i'm done. >> nice to see you. >> every day. what i'm here for. >> among so many things. we're back here.

dick armey still to come, not to mention the big vote on the widen choice amendment is today. who do our politicians work for, us t unions, employee benefit companies. i don't know. also a census worker found hung with the word "fed" scrawled on his back. new polls show many americans think president obama was not born here. that president bush allowed 9/11 to happen. is extremism the new mainstream or is the main stream loves to cover extremism so then you think it's main stream. dictators say the darnedest things. that's what makes them fun. as long as they're not trying to kill you. gadhafi saying obama should be president for life. other jewels from the mouths of dictators still to come.

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♪ love stinks! president of the united states barack obama chairing his first ever and the first ever meeting period chaired by a sitting u.s. president of the u.n. security council. we discussed this with vicki ward and jonathan kaypart yesterday. put this meeting in context as we watch the president make his way as marquee diplomat if you will from the u.s. to the world as he gave a speech yesterday trying to align as many people's interests in the room as possible. what does he have to pull off today? >> well, today this is i believe

the third time he's addressing the -- the first speech was the climate change speech. the next day came his general address to the u.n., the first time as president of the united states. and now we're looking at this high level security council meeting, the first time a sitting american president is doing this. and i think it's going to be a continuation of what he -- what he has said all along. you know, one, the united states is not there to lecture anyone, it wants to work with the u.n., use the u.n. -- views the u.n. as a partner in solving the world's problems, today the issue being nuclear disarmament. he talks about as a candidate and continued to talk about as president. and if the president wants to get anywhere on that agenda item he's definitely going to need the help of the u.n. security council, the u.n. body as a whole and help of his fellow world leaders to get that done. >> the biggest stumbling block

for this president relative to western european leaders on nuclear. >> yes. he does i. think the important thing, yesterday, he can speak what he wants but he's got to get cooperation. >> does he have leverage? >> well, not that i can see in the u.n., yesterday again, i'm not 100% sure that the u.n. is a useful forum. it's great to make speeches but in a way he was undermined by what followed him. the circus act stole his headlines. the headlines out of england to say question gordon brown on, you know, his nuclear -- maybe not as sincere as he's saying. i hope obama says it but will it mean anything. >> that's a good question. can the leader of the free world lead the free world in a room with other leaders of the free world and crack pots? >> i think he'll be able to lead them if he can i think as you

said move from rehetoric to action. there are reports how the president has you know, pursued courses of actions with people who are friendly with the united states and also people who aren't so friendly with the united states. and coming up with little. remember, when he went back on the missile shield, for eastern europe, people said you know, he gave away something with nothing in return. russian president -- president medvedev show add glimmer of hope thap he was going to help the president with sanctions on iran. but you know, that's small compared to some of the bigger issues challenging the president. >> let's move to the extremist conversation. the fbi now involved in the case of a census worker found dead near a kentucky cemetery. lots more to this story as we also await comments from the president before that security council meeting which we'll take

when he makes them. what happened with this crime? >> so dylan, the victim was found earlier this month hanging by a rope from a tree. the most disturbing detail is that the word "fed" was written in marker across his chest. authorities are trying to determine if sparkman was murdered or killed himself, another question here is if this was in fact a crime, was some kind of anti-government sentiment the motivation for murder. that's what investigators are trying to figure out. >> as the fbi works to determine if the motive was anti-government sentiment new poll numbers showing opinions once thought extreme are more main stream. mark with the law center on the phone tom jens within the polling group whose numbers we'll get to. our panel with jonathan and vicki. let's talk, call these up and talk about them, tom. you did the poll. who is the anti-christ? well, 8% think george w. bush was the anti-christ.

does the anti-christ exist? have you met him? >> are you? >> so 8% think george w. bush, 10% think that president barack obama is the anti-christ. the birthing one, was president obama born in the u.s., 60% say yes. almost a quarter of americans in this poll say no, he wasn't born here. 20% say listen, how could i know. i don't know. did president bush intentionally allow the 9/11 attacks to take place because he wanted the united states to go to war with the middle east. 14% say yes, he did, my friends. 78% say come on, that's crazy. did bush intentionally allow the attacks because -- i did that. all right. among democrats, though, more interesting. same question. for democrats, 25% say yes. 6 -- so a quarter of all democrats will come back for that, ponder that as we take the president for a second.

>> the provision agenda for this meeting is before the council in document s/agenda/6191 which reads quote maintenance of international peace and security, nuclear proliferation, and nuclear disarmament. unless i hear objection i shall consider the agenda adopted. agenda is adopted. i wish to warmly welcome the distinguished heads of state, and government, the general -- the secretary general, the director general of the iaea, ministers and other distinguished representatives present in the security council chamber. your presence is an affirmation of the importance of the subject matter to be discussed. the security council summit will

now begin its consideration of item 2 of the agenda. members of the council have before them document s/2009/473 which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the council's prior consultations. i wish to draw council members attention to document s/2009/463 containing a letter dated 16 september 2009 from the united states of america, transmitting a concept paper on the item under consideration. in accordance with the understanding reached earlier among members the security council will take action on the draft resolution before it prior to hearing statements from the secretary general and council members. accordingly i shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. will those in favor of the draft

resolution contained in document s/2009/473 please raise their hand. the results of the voting is as follows. the draft resolution is received. unanimously. 15 votes in favor. the draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as res ligs 1887 of 2009. i want to thank everybody who is in attendance. i wish you all good morning. in the six-plus decades that this security council has been in existence, only four other

meetings of this nature have been convened. i called for this one so that we may address the highest level of fundamental threat to the security of all peoples and all nations. the spread and use of nuclear weapons. as i said yesterday, this very institution was founded at the dawn of the atomic age, in part because man's capacity to kill had to be contained. and although we averted a nuclear nightmare during the cold war, we now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches. just one nuclear weapon exploded in a city, be it new york or moscow, tokyo or beijing, london or paris, could kill hundreds of thousands of people. and it would badly destabilize our security, our economies, and our very way of life. once more the united nations has a pivotal role to play in

preventing this crisis. the historic resolution we adopted enshrines our shared commitment to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. and it brings security council agreement on a broad framework for action to reduce nuclear dangers as we work toward that goal. it reflects the agenda i outlined in prague and builds on consensus all nations have the right to peaceful nuclear energy that nations with nuclear weapons have the responsibility to move toward disarmament and those without them have the responsibility to forsake them. today the security council endorsed a global effort to lock down all vulnerable nuclear materials within four years. the united states will host a summit next april to advance this goal and help all nations achieve it. this resolution will also help strengthen the institutions and initiatives that combat the smuggling, financing and theft of proliferation-related materials. it calls on all states to freeze

any financial assets that are being used for proliferation, and it calls for stronger safeguards to reduce the likelihood that peaceful nuclear weapons programs can be diverted to a weapons program. the resolution we pass today will also strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. we have made it clear that the security council has both the authority and the responsibility to respond to violations to this treaty. we made it clear that the security council has both the authority and responsibility to determine and respond as necessary when violations of this treaty threaten international peace and security. that includes full compliance with security council resolutions on iran and north korea. let me be clear. this is not about singling out individual nations, it is about standing up for the rights of all nations who do live up to their responsibilities.

the world must stand together and we must demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise, and the treaties will be enforced. the next 12 months will be absolutely critical in determining whether this resolution and our overall efforts to stop the spread and use of nuclear weapons are successful and all snagss must do their part to make this work. in america i promised that we will pursue a new agreement with russia to substantially reduce our strategic war heads and launcher. we'll move forward with the ratification of the test ban treaty and open the door to deeper cuts in our own arsenal. in january we will call upon countries to begin negotiations on a treaty to end the production of fisil material for weapons and the review conference in may will strengthen that agreement. we harbor no illusions about the difficulty of bringing about a world without nuclear weapons. we know there are plenty of

cynics and that there will be setbacks to prove their point. but there will also be days like today that push us forward, days that tell a different story. it is a story of a world that understands that no difference or division is worth destroying all that we have built and all that we love. it is a recognition that can bring people of different nationalities and ethnicities and ideologies together. in my country it's brought democrats and republicans leaders together, leaders like george schultz, bill perry, henry kissinger and sam nunn who are with us today. it was a republican president, ronald reagan, who once articulated the goal we now seek in the starkest of terms. i quote. a nuclear war cannot be won, and must never be fought. and no matter how great the obstacles may seem we must never

stop our efforts to reduce the weapons of war. we must never stop -- we muftd never stop at ault until we see the day when nuclear arms are banished from the face of the earth. that is our task. that can be our destiny. and we will leave this meeting with a renewed determination to achieve this shared goal. thank you. in accordance with the understanding reached among council members i wish to remind all speakers to limit their statements to no more than five minutes in order to enable the counse council to carry on its work. kindly circulate the text in writing and deliver a condensed version when speaking in the chamber. i shall now invite the distinguished secretary general to take the floor.

thank you mr. president. distinguished heads of state and government, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. this is historic moment. a moment offering a fresh start toward a new future. president obama, a warm welcome and we salute your leadership. this is the first security council summit on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. i have long advocate add stronger role for the security council. this was a major elt emt of the five point nuclear disarmament plan i announced october last year. the need for action is clear. the thousands of nuclear weapons remain on hair trigger for launch. more states have sold and acquired them, nuclear tests have continued. and every day we live with a threat that weapons of mass destruction could be stolen,

sold or slip away. as long as such a policy exists so does the risk of proliferation and catastrophic use. so does the threat of nuclear terrorism. now some might dismiss the goal of nuclear disarmament as utopia. cynics say stop dreaming, be realistic. they are wrong. nuclear disarmament is the only sane path at a safer world. nothing would work better in eliminating the risk of use than eliminating the weapons themselves. the russian federation and the united states are leading by example. i urge the council to make the most of this moment. they should not be one time. we must sustain the momentum. first we need new ways to increase the transparency and

openness regarding the weapons program. >> the president of the united states making all sorts of comments at the u.n., specific to the very aim beneficiarious agenda he has. if you listen to his speesh it was a speech that preached aligned self interest and responsibility and he applied that across the board to everything from the middle east to the environment to energy resource management and you heard the president this morning as the first ever sitting president of a security council meeting effectively preach that doctrine on the issue of nuclear nonproliferation. this all has a very interesting tie to the conversation we're having before the president spoke. which is extremism and really i'll recharacterize it as fundamental distrust. if you think the president of the united states is the anti-christ, according to this poll, 10%. you don't trust the government, point blank. there is a list that is here with us. john, vicki, tom jensen, and

mark from the southern poverty law center. am i wrong to interpret the polling data i was carrying on about. this is an expression or a metering if you will of the level of fundamental distrust of government where i'm willing to answer a question from somebody like yourself, saying the president is the anti-christ s. that a fair interpretation and exactly how does your polling work? what is the integrity of the data? >> absolutely. it shows how widespread this extremism is becoming. >> call it distrust. ultimately it's fear and anger that manifests now as extremism but it's a function of fear, i imagine. period. right? >> yeah. i don't know how many people really think that george w. bush had something to do with 9/11 or really think that barack obama was not born in the u.s. when you have over a third of the country expressing one of those sentiments it shows how little democrats trust republicans and how little

republicans trust ->> bingo, ane audacious agenda of this president and the myriad of outdated systems that make our country, whether it's the fragile construction of the financial system, may be efficient, but it can blow up horrendously and we're stuck with the results. health care we've discussed, haven't gotten into energy. i won't go on all day, how can this president update all of the outdated systems that i think so many in this country would like to see our government do whether they like this president or not when there is this distrust? you, jonathan. >> well, i think he just tries to keep doing what he's doing, which is taking on a lot of big things all at once, which sort of feeds this. he takes on all of these big projects all at once, which feeds into the distress of the government that the government's trying to take over, but then he has to keep plugging through. but the one data point in those numbers that you show that i

found most shocking was the question of people who thought that whether they thought barack obama was actually born in the united states. 41% said they didn't think so or didn't know. >> we've got to understand, that's one where it's worth asking a couple more questions about the poll question. but i agree with you. i agree with you. mark, you get the last word here. how can this president lead through a doctrine of self-interests and mutual responsibility as distrust continues to rise honestly because of confusion and a lack of understanding, perhaps, of what exactly it is or how exactly it is that these systems are built and how it is the president wants to update them? >> well, i think it's going to be incredibly difficult for him. and i don't think it's merely sort of a lack of understanding that's somehow arisen out there. this is being fed by very particular people. this kind of conspiracy thinking on the left and the right, although i think predominantly on the right.

>> the right loves fear and the left loves guilt. and neither one are helpful as far as i can tell. i'm new to this, but if you were to come up with a single message, vikki, i'll wrap this up, that you would try to reestablish at least the trust to pursue an agenda of mutually aligned self-interest, how would he do it? >> i would say stop trying to be the president of the world. get one thing done at a time. >> financial regulation. do it. >> health care. send out a clear message, do it. not send -- you know make it so complicated it actually feels like a health insurance company actually it's so dense and complicated. >> it's almost like he gets into the legacy politics in the united states, which is spit ball fighting, guilt fear, guilt-fear. that prevents us from updating any of these systems and protecting the taxpayer. >> do one thing at a time and do it right. >> you'll get in a second. we'll come back. that's why you're here.

you're here every day. straight ahead on the morning meeting. trend or talker, dictators say the darndest things. the list goes on. what would you say if you were a dictator at the u.n.? would it be crazier or less crazy than these guys? we're back with trender talker after this. moammar gadhafi was at the u.n. today. libyan leader was at the u.n., he gave a speech that was extremely long, it was rambling, and filled with inappropriate comments. that's right, yeah. as soon as gadhafi finished joe biden came up and said teach me master. inner beauty is important, but not nearly as important as outer beauty. ♪ that's why i use covergirl's simply ageless makeup with olay regenerist serum. a department store brand can glob up in lines and wrinkles and actually make you look older. simply ageless stays suspended over lines and makes you look amazing.

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time for trend or talker. dictators do say the darnedest thing. is that because they're crazy or both in we'll just start with the big three and take it from there. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad speaking at the u.n. last night, part of our trender talker segment. we start again with the old school leaders who have a knack for grabbing the headlines. i'll start with moammar gadhafi.

after four decades as a de facto head of state, gadhafi, of course still gets us talking. in a confusing speech to the u.n. he said the security council should be called the care council and brought up the assassination of jfk. enjoy. >> somebody by the name of lee harvey and then another kills lee harvey. why did he kill him? >> after 40 years out of the country, he had a long list, jonathan. >> yes. what we learned is that gadhafi looked like b. arthur with a dye job. just saying. on to the herelatively new kids on the block, potentially. mahmoud ahmadinejad and venezuelan president hugo chavez. no mention of iran's nuclear issues, but why would you?

when you've got other things to take care of. take a listen. >> translator: our nation has successfully gone through a glorious and fully democratic election. opening a new chapter for our country in the march towards progress and enhance interaction. they entrusted me once more with a large majority. >> vikki? >> well, i mean, i think ahmadinejad he and chavez, i believe, got together. talks about defeat and calling america an empire that must be defeated. i'd like to say that dumb and dumber, but really they're crazy and crazier. lunatics are really frightening. we should be scared. >> or becoming a dictator makes you a lunatic. i can't tell. anyway, we are back, dick army

still to join us. also that amendment is still up for vote today. all of us in the middle. the deep purple, if you will, actually the taxpayer get anything out of this health care reform including an updating of a very out of date system? we'll be back after this. 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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all right. good morning to you. my name is dylan ratigan, this is the morning meeting. you're watching msnbc. is it time to either get rid of or restructure the federal reserve? congressman ron paul making the case for ending auditing and altering the way we run our economy. should a bureau in d.c. decide the cost of money without any accountability? it hasn't worked super well as of late, at least for the taxpayer. prettier for the banks, though. health care, what's in? what's out? can our congress release free

competition, free choice? can they release the taxpayers to update the outdated systems that hold us prisoner in this country? well, the widen choice amendment is up for a vote today. we'll break it down for you. who is most against allowing us to choose what we want for health care. think union, think employee benefits, lots of lobbying going on. meanwhile a.c.o.r.n. on the offensive, how they're trying to fight back against the makers of the pimp and prostitute films that, yes, managed to expose some of their volunteers. they're willing to at least entertain the conversation. and how do you spell gadhafi? i don't know. all the networks and papers spell it differently, vikki ward has her spelling, contessa has hers. there are 32 different official spellings of his name. luckily for him in libya they don't use the western alphabet.

so it's not an issue at home. it's like a squiggle, 10:00 a.m. in case you didn't know the time. if you're coming to the meeting, at least wear pants. right now on capitol hill, how are you, nice to see you, the house financial services committee holding a hearing on a bill that would force the federal reserve to open its books and explain its spending of our money to prop up the entire western financial system money that by the trillion we as taxpayers fundamentally account for through the future productivity of our nation. the federal reserve transparency act was introduced by congressman ron paul, republican out of the great state of texas and he joins us live at this moment. also author of the new book and the fed. and also back with us vikki ward, jonathan capert, "washington post."

let us, obviously, start with congressman paul. congressman, where does your legislation stand right now? >> well, we have 295 sponsors of the bill. we will have hearings tomorrow. barney frank is sympathetic to it. we need to do a couple of different things which more or less been agreed to change the bill, but it's technical. i think the determination is that he wants to -- barney wants to put it in the package of reform. with this number of votes it could pass under suspension because we have more than 2/3 of the votes. 75% of the american people support this. i'm amazed they even know about the fed, but there are more people getting to know it and they support this auditing, so that's pretty good. >> i think when people watched the banks take in so much support and then when they understand the federal reserve is accounting for half of the buying of all government bonds in the second quarter. most of the mortgage financing in this country really is

supplied through the federal reserve. the taxpayers through the support of the federal reserve is basically keeping the entire global economy entact. we could debate whether that's a good idea, but we should understand as the banks pay themselves this money, what is it they're giving us as collateral? i want you to comment on the op ed written last friday by matt winkler who was my first boss and the editor in chief at bloomberg news. he currently has that lawsuit against the federal reserve demanding the disclosure to the people, to the press. i want to read this to you. give me your thoughts. he says this is -- this is an opportunity for mr. obama to make good on his promise. if he foregoes an appeal, and this goes to the lawsuit that bloomberg won to open up the books if you will and now the president may have an opportunity to intervene here. matt's making the point. this is an opportunity for mr. obama to make good on his promise. he will show what he means by

transparency. so far, far too little accountability of the fed how it uses taxpayer money by the trillions to save banks that failed by simply making bets that didn't pay off. your thoughts on mr. winkler's lawsuit, bloomberg's lawsuit and the rest of us that would support his lawsuit. not only myself, but many others. >> well, i think it's great. because the fed is being addressed in various manners through the lawsuits about the freedom of information act, as well as changing the law so that we can audit the federal reserve. one reason why they don't believe they should respond to us is you use the word that they're spending our money and we have a right to know. and you're correct. because even if they just dilute the value of money, they're using our value. but they don't think it's our money, they think it's their money. we make the money, we create the money, so we have a right to it. and they think they're above the law and they don't want us to know about it.

>> let's explore that for a second. my cnbc and -- my financial background myself, when you talk to people about the collateral that the banks brought in to the federal reserve last year when the you know what was hitting the you know what and the whole thing was falling apart. there are those who argue if we get full disclosure of the collateral taken into the federal reserve, the toxic assets, whatever it was that is not disclosed at the federal reserve that it will be a huge risk to the u.s. currency because it will reveal that the emperor has no clothing or a huge risk to interest rates. so while this may be in principle the right thing for the taxpayer, for the country, that the inherent risk because the system that preceded the right thing was so screwed up. it's sort of like when you open the closet, you don't want to know what's in there. how fearful are you of what's in that closet?

>> well, we should never be fearful of the truth. it might have an effect on the markets. but i think the truth is out there. i think you know about it and the financial markets know about it already. even bernanke argued for transparency and he's really not in support of it. so, no, i think the more we know about it the better. the judge that ruled in that case of freedom of information act actually said that the more information you had about a stock or a company or a bank, once the information was out instead of it hurting things, it actually helped that market. >> of course. >> transparency helps. people need honesty about it. but it is true. that if it's brand new information and there could be some brand new information. >> well, if it's brand new information that shows forget the t.a.r.p. >> yeah. >> that shows that a multi-trillion dollar good will was opened up at the federal reserve where banks could bring garbage to the federal reserve, get the taxpayer to pay out the future of our country to those

banks, again, with the cash, which is currently devaluing. and we find out that the banks brought in worthless garbage and we gave them money goods. where do we go from there, sir? >> downhill. and that's why the problems haven't been solved. you can temporarily boost the statistics because the stock market goes up and a few other things. >> well, the taxpayers underneath them. >> yeah. the taxpayers suffer. unemployment rates. they say, well, unemployment's a lagging indicator. if you're unemployed, what do you care about what the government calling it? and under accurate measurements, the real unemployment's probably closer to 20% if you add up everybody. so we're in deep recession, if not depression, and all we're doing is perpetuating these bad assets. the worthless assets. they call them illliquid assets and that means we didn't liquidate. we need the bad debt off the books, and all of that

malinvestment out of the way, then we can go back to work. prolonging the agony will make this problem last that much longer. >> we're out of time, i thank you. the more you can represent the taxpayer relative to the banks or any other special interest the same way they represent themselves to our politicians with aggression and certainty. for what is right. we appreciate that. thank you, congressman paul. contessa, what else is going on in the world? breaking news on msnbc, nbc confirmed the pick to fill the seat of ted kennedy is former aide and long time kennedy friend tom kirk. he had the backing. the governor's appointee will serve until a special election is held january 19th. in about an hour governor duvall patrick is expected to officially announce the appointment just a day after legislators changed the law. president obama and other leaders of the g-20 industrialized nations will travel to pittsburgh today for two days of meetings on a wide range of issues.

nbc's savannah gurthrie's in pittsburgh now. what's the message to these other leaders? >> reporter: well, the message that it'll be giving but also receiving is that the world really needs to get serious about regulating the financial system. i should mention, contessa, that the president is in new york at a important meeting, the u.n. security council. he's actually presiding over this issue. but after that is over, after a couple more meetings at the u.n., all of the world leaders as you mentioned will come here to pittsburgh. and as i said one of the issues is financial regulatory reform. the world very concerned that as we move into recovery, we don't have a situation where financial crisis could happen again. so in particular, europe wants the u.s. to get serious about financial regulatory reform for one thing they'd like to see bonus caps on executive compensation, something the administration doesn't support. contessa? >> savannah, thanks. police have arrested protestors in pittsburgh ahead of the start of the g-20. let's go to john yang in pittsburgh, as well. talk a little bit about who is

behind the protests. >> reporter: well, this is a group, an umbrella group. a lot of different groups coming here to protest the g-20, what they say is the undemocratic private closed-door meetings of rich and powerful few making decisions about everybody. so it's a group spearheaded by a group here in pittsburgh called the pittsburgh g-20 resistance group. they're going to be gathered here in this park about 2 1/2 miles away from the con sengs s convention summit. they say their only permit are their feet and voices. no one knows what to expect. the police are ready for whatever happens. about 4,000 uniform policemen from around the country here are on the streets. contessa? >> thank you. and we'll keep our eye on that throughout the day, dylan, if we see protest activity, we're going to stay on top of that. >> thank you very much, contessa. still ahead here, the senate finance committee hammering out details of the health care reform bill, will the benefits

companies be able to shoot down our ability to choose our own health care? we'll find out today. wyoming's republican senator, our guest on choice tortd reform and whether the senate works for the u.s. people or special interests after this. gecko: uh, you wanted to see me sir? boss: come on in, i had some other things you can tell people about geico - great claims service and a 97% customer satisfaction rate. show people really trust us. gecko: yeah right, that makes sense. boss: trust is key when talking about geico. you gotta feel it. why don't you and i practice that with a little exercise where i fall backwards and you catch me. gecko: uh no sir, honestly... uh...i don't think...uh... boss: no, no. we can do this. gecko: oh dear. vo: geico. fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. now there's new heart health advantage from bayer. its non-aspirin formula contains phytosterols, which may reduce the risk of heart disease... by lowering bad cholesterol. new heart health advantage from bayer.

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choice or no choice? today an amendment that would allow all of us to pick our health care plans goes to a vote. meaning if you do not like the employee plan that you are on, you can change it. although if you do like it, you can keep it. it's a completion of the president's sentence which was left incomplete as has ever piece of legislation. here the wyden free choice act. this amendment gives every

american the ability to either choose to keep the coverage they have or and i emphasize the or, this is a critical variable, pick a plan that works better for them individually and their family even if their company doesn't offer it. i added that last part. it guarantees both choice and portability by creating a path for employers to insure their workers through a state-based insurance exchange. and the way we've got exchanges in this country like the stock exchange, you can manage, you can basically bring all of the risks that one company might bear and basically spread it through the entire exchange. it's very effective, we use it with everything else we exchange trade in this country from pork bellies to stocks. i want to bring in john barrasso, he's been critical of the president's reform push. he's also a surgeon and served as president of the wyoming medical society. senator, i welcome you back to the program. how will you vote today on the wyden choice amendment? >> well, i'm not on that finance committee. but people want choices. and especially if you can buy

insurance across state lines so you can take advantage of that. people also want, dylan, to know what's in the bill. and yesterday there was an amendment and said, hey, before this committee votes on the bill, we want two things. we want the people of america to be able to go online and read the bill. the official language of the bill. >> of course. >> and we want that up 72 hours ahead of time, and then we want to know what this congressional budget office says it's going to cost. that's all we ask for. and almost along party line votes that was defeated. blanche lincoln voted with the republicans to say, yes, put this on the web for 72 hours and let us know the cost. but the democrats following baucus said, nope, we're in too much of a hurry, the american public doesn't have a right to know what's in the bill or what it's going to cost. washington saying it knows better than everybody else. it's just wrong. >> i think as people come to understand the absurdity of that, this will be an interesting year going forward. i was looking at the biggest

losers for choice. i'm new to covering politics, i'm trying to figure out who gets the most leverage back against a piece of legislation. it seems to be whoever has the most to lose because they're the ones that pay money, put people on airplanes to talk to you, and the rest of us clamber around and take the kids to soccer or whatever it may be. here the folks who have the most to lose on choice and really releasing market forces against the insurance companies, for the taxpayer, allowing the things we all know. biggest losers, employee benefits companies, there are corporations who simply make their money preparing benefits books for large companies. the unions, unions have had tremendous leverage by basically being able to offer better health coverage for union members than non-union members. and if we have free choice for everybody, the unions leverage to provide that additional benefit goes away because now we all get it. so the unions are in there lobbying. don't give them choice because we lose our leverage. and then any company that benefits from excessive medical

spending. again, we've got a system that encourages exorbitant spend. how do the american people fight the organization, particularly the union which is so powerful in the democratic party and so active right now at least in certain quarters trying to prevent free choice for everybody else? >> well, there are powers in the democratic party, the unions are one, trial lawyers are another. and the insurance -- and then you have the insurance -- >> you have your insurance companies on your republican side, how do we get real choice for taxpayers, doctors, and patients? it's crazy. >> you know that anybody that's there cutting deals with the white house that go in there and have cut their deals and the drug companies, insurance companies, unions, trial lawyers, all of them are on the inside and that leaves all us, the american people on the outside, dylan, and that's who you're fighting for, the american people to have rights, have choices, to keep what they like if they like it. to change from that and give

them additional choices. and to say how can we keep costs down? i think joe and mika had it right on "morning joe" when they were talking about the issues of children and diets and giving personal responsibility and making sure that individuals are empowered and that individuals can save money on their own health insurance if they take additional responsibility for their own lives. none of those things are in these bills. >> none of those things are in these bills. and i feel like we're stuck, senator, between fear amongering on the right, between death panels and illegals and guilt pedalling on the left, and we're left with terrible problem-solving, we can't get the senate to post the legislation as you pointed out. what can deep purple, the center right and center left who look at health care, energy, or education as a systemic problem that needs to be updated and improved. this is not a political problem. what can we do to emphasize to people who have a job like yours who don't necessarily agree with

this type of rhetoric, to emphasize to them the expectation that they will administrate in this country when it comes to resource management, health care, et cetera, in the best interest of the country not in the best interest of unions, insurance companies, or anybody else? >> i'd ask those 200 million to actually shut washington down by calling in, shutting down the switch boards by overpowering the switch boards saying we want to know what's in the bill. we want to know the cost before you vote on it, we want 72 hours to read this. we need to know as american people, and we need to have our voices heard and i would say people from all around the country ought to be making those calls, e-mailing, but really the u.s. senate really needs to hear it now and from all of america. >> i could not agree more. that and while you're calling, why don't you ask for a free choice for yourself for goodness sakes. what's wrong with everybody? if we could get a better plan, go get it. we have a chance to do this. senator, thank you so much.

>> we don't need a washington takeover, dylan. >> yeah, thank you. health care, of course, sure to be one of the major topics, of course, when former president bill clinton joins david gregory this sunday on "meet the press." why we're not getting a look at the bill and for that matter why we at this point don't have a piece of legislation that gives all of us choice in our health care. plugging into politics next here at the morning meeting on the a.c.o.r.n. front, they filed a lawsuit trying to fight back over those pimp and prostitute videos. we'll have that conversation after this.

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so you can get back out there. imodium. get back out there. i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills than extra strength tylenol. just 2 aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day. a.c.o.r.n. fighting back. >> lawmakers are yanking their funding. so they're doing a couple of things. they're on this media apology tour going around saying couple bad apples, not indicative of the whole organization. they're going to meet with the

lawmakers who may be sympathetic to what they do in urban areas. and three, they're fighting back against the undercover film makers who went in and secretly videotaped this whole pimp/prostitute thing. they're suing the film makers, even the guy who first put the video up on his website, though he says he hasn't been served up until this point. a.c.o.r.n. fighting back. >> a.c.o.r.n. was busted, willing to entertain the conversation. people, there was a set up clearly. unrelated, do you know my first apartment in new york was a former whore house? we used to throw paint out the window on them. go home. >> brilliant. nothing like a call to the cops. no, let's just throw paint on them. >> pink paint right out the window. they never came back. next up on the agenda this morning. at the center of the health care debate, former house majority leader dick army, now the

chairman of freedom works, the organizer of the town hall movement, what have they accomplished? how do they feel about the health care debate right now? and where are they going from here? imodium multi-symptom relief combines two powerful medicines for fast relief of your diarrhea symptoms, so you can get back out there. imodium. get back out there. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when my broker said, "i make money when you make money," tdd# 1-800-345-2550 he neglected to mention tdd# 1-800-345-2550 he also makes money when i lose money, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 withdraw money or do nothing with my money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 tdd# 1-800-345-2550

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available in stores now. all right. two grass roots groups going toe to toe over lobbying efforts. we've discussed the role lobbying's playing.

>> it all started with a series of ads. the goal to point out many members of congress who oppose health care reform are being lobbied by the health care industry. watch. >> congressman patrick teaberry caught taking hundreds of thousands from insurance companies and then voting against reform those interests oppose. >> wait just a minute says freedom works, the only politicians targeted are republicans. so now freedom works is offering what it calls a helping hand. it's naming names on the democratic side and putting out figures that pale in comparison to the republicans' names. according to freedom works, max baucus has taken just shy of $3 million from health care lobbyists during his time in congress. and then there's president obama who the group claims accepted more than $20 million in campaign contributions from health care-related groups. dylan? >> well, the more we talk about

it, the closer we may come to a solution to it. the role of money in our government obviously -- i never know what to say. freedom works, also, the organization that organized the 9/12 march on d.c., expressed their frustrations with the government and the way it's been functioning. joining us now is dick army, chairman of freedom works, also a member of congress for some 18 years, vikki ward along for the conversation with me here in new york, and mr. army, let's begin with your assessment of where things stand. in other words, if you look at the town halls and the protests and where we're headed from here. what's your assessment of the current state of play? >> well, obviously, the american people have stopped this train as it was running. the democrats realize they got out -- they got into trouble in the august recess because people had a chance to actually read the bill that had passed out of committees. 90% of all of the concern that i saw expressed was from people who read the bill. now they've gone under cover

again, they're having secret meetings at the white house. they've just voted down yesterday a simple request that they put the bill up for what was it 48 hours for people to read it before they vote on it? these guys understand if you're going to peddle a bum steer, keep it underwraps. and that's what they're going with. >> that's not the american way and not the wyden choice amendment that would liberate people to be able to choose their own health insurance is up for a vote today. i want to talk about your health reform alternative and some of your key priorities. you talk about tax breaks so people can choose their own coverage, taking the subsidies we give to employers to provide health care and provide that subsidy to everybody. we're not tied to our employers for our car insurance or our home insurance, why should we be tied for our health insurance? and then you talk about deregulation allowing insurance companies to operate across state lines, which would also go somewhat to that end and tort reform. why do you think it is that both members of the republican party

and the democratic party are so keen to perpetuate an outdated system that is effectively anti-competitive for the health insurance companies with the employer-based system? >> well, i don't understand that. of course, a lot of people are invested and they're comfortable with it. i talked about that years ago. remember, this was not a lot, 1942 a bureaucratic decision was made within the irs and a regulation was promulgated that gave every employer the right to give their employees a tax-free income supplement in the form of insurance. that, of course, separated the insured from the premiums and set us on the path -- >> spend like crazy. it's time to update that system. i want to talk a little bit about you and lobbying. and i personally quite honestly have no issue with lobbying whatsoever. i think that everybody in this country should be able to go to washington, d.c. to advocate for things that they think are important and have that debate.

however, it goes to what you were saying earlier about the democrats in their legislative process. what can you do to make it more transparent so that people like myself and others can see the lobbying flows, can see the real flow of money that pushes agendas in our congress? and how do you feel about the revolving door that you are emblematic of? >> well, first of all, i'm not lobbying in the conventional sense, although i think it's very conventional. and legitimate sanction by the constitution. >> so how do we get more transparency and solve the revolving door? >> well, i think what you have to do, the american voters, we will suggest to our folks to contact your congressman and say you absolutely will never forgive them if they vote for a bill they haven't read -- >> but that's not my question. american taxpayers should call their congressmen and say i will never forgive you if you don't disclose every penny you're

taking from every special interest that's lobbying against the taxpayer's special interest. they don't have a lobbyist. >> well, there are enormous disclosure laws on campaign contributions and so forth. but i think what we have to do, you have to understand, just as was the case of medicare, they brought the bill out of the chairman's office, put it in the committee, they voted on it without reading it, took it to the floor. >> i understand that, but it's a rare opportunity to talk to you. and you are such an interesting conversation on the lobbying front. i want to look at your revolving door. '85 to '02 house of representatives. immediately pick up in '03, senior adviser, a prominent lobbying firm. there's no time separation there effectively. in 2003 to president chairman of freedom works. i look at people from the sec beginning to work with goldman sachs with no time delay. how is it any different if we allow our politicians who are looking to get a high-paying job

advocating for whoever the special interests may be without at least some time separation between service in the congress and service in private sector either as a lobbyist against congress or as an investment banker trying to skirt the laws of the sec. >> well, first of all, i think the first thing is full disclosure. look, when -- >> why not say five years? you cannot -- >> well, i think right now they have a two-year moratorium between leaving congress and going to work as a lobbyist. i had a one-year moratorium. the fact of the matter is, i am who i am. i am only effective in this town if people see me representing the interests they know i've committed to. if i went out and lobbied for something that is contrary to who dick army is, like if i was promoting health care, i would have no credibility in this town. >> thank you so much for giving us time. i hope you'll rejoin us in the future. >> what is else is going on. right now a new york grand

jury indicted noouj baa la zazi with conspiracy to explode devices in the united states. we're not seeing new details. it is an official indictment from a grand jury. his father also in federal court today. we're also looking at the united nations security council, ongoing right now, live pictures you're seeing there of french president nicholas sarkozy. president obama opened the session a short time ago and he's pushing for an end completely globally to nuclear arms. >> although we averted a nuclear nightmare during the cold war, we now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches. >> we'll keep our eye on this security council. but a major breakthrough today in the fight against aids. for the first time an experimental vaccine has prevented a virus infection. researchers say the vaccine cut

the risk of becoming infected by more than 31%. top u.s. health officials say they're now cautiously optimistic about developing a more effective vaccine. tylenol's recalling more than 20 types of medication. the medicines were made between april and june of last year, the manufacturer says bacteria was found in the raw material in one of the inactive ingredients. so all 21 products now listed on tylenol's website. if you have one of them, you can call tylenol and get a coupon for a new bottle of medicine. for the first time actor john travolta admits his son had autism. travolta was testifying in a bahama court when he said jett died from a seizure suffered from autism. arguing that a paramedic and a lawmaker tried to extort $25 million from the actor. courtney with me now. was this a new revelation that jett had autism? >> it was sort of an open secret

that knows the travolta family best. sources close to the family tell me that jett definitely had autism. the family knew it, he was on the profound spectrum of it. he didn't have great communication skills, but it wasn't something they talked about. in fact, john travolta at one point said he has kawasaki disease. for him to say in court he had autism, that's a big deal because a lot of autism groups were speaking out saying why aren't you recognizing this? you could do a lot of good for the community. >> do you get any handle of how common it is for celebrities to get these kind of extortion attempts? >> celebrities are being extorted every single day. somebody is being extorted. either we've got a video of you or photos of you. now you've got websites that put these things up quickly, it doesn't happen as often because they can get paid for that work very quickly. however, you rarely see it go to court like it's going right now. so that's another interesting aspect. why is he fighting it? why is this relevant right now?

why is this document worth going to court and saying these very personal things? >> you're keeping your eye on it. thank you, courtney. and did you see this shot? six roommates at texas a&m formed a group. they say this a record-breaking longest basketball shot. here it is. for some dudes who used to play high school ball. now skeptics are questioning, come on, is that a fake? really? look at this. but reports computer experts are scrutinizing this video. so far they can't find any edit. for every 100,000 views they'll sponsor a child through compassionate international. so dude, it's for a good cause. incredible. check out this one. a mom in indonesia has given birth to a 19-pound baby boy. >> come on. >> who is said to have, if you might imagine, a very big appetite. you also might imagine he was born by c-section.

he does not hold the record. a baby born in 1879 weighed 23 pounds. that is one big baby. >> that's a big boy. >> bless its heart. >> thank you very much, contessa. coming up, after a short break in the meeting. what is in a name? we investigate why everyone seems to spell moammar gadhafi's name differently. we did a little investigative reporting. we'll come back with the results of our journalism right after this. you've wanted to quit smoking so many times,

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all right. time for a short piece of investigative journalism. appropriate as i was talking to a friend of mine who works at "dateline," he's freed murderers. you have freed killers for "dateline," well, get ready, dan. how do you spell gadhafi? that's the question. several of you wrote in asking we at msnbc spell his name with a k.

no, it was not a mistake. that's just how we do it here at msnbc and nbc universal. but as i was sitting there watching that lovely gadhafi speech at the u.n., it struck me there is a clear issue we need to resolve here. >> this is not any insult to americans. this is unprecedented, should not come to america because -- >> just how do you spell this man's name? does anyone really know? as you can see cnn spells it gadhafi, fox spells it q-a-d-d-a-f-i and here at nbc universal k--a-d-a-f-i. take your paper, they'll give you a spelling. so we went on a mission to see what's behind the discrepancy. apparently the libyan leader makes a point only to sign his name in arabic including several sounds that have no exact

equivalent in the english language. according to the library of congress, 32 variations of gadhafi on record starting with a k, g, or a q. quite a range there, adding to the confusion, the only time his name is believed to have been written out in the roman alphabet was into a letter of second graders in st. paul, minnesota. according to newspaper reports in may of 1986, the libyan leader replied to a letter from the kids with his own note. he signed it in an arabic script and beneath it was typed the following moammar m-o-a-m-m-a-r gadhafi as you see written there. of course in the name of due diligence we called the school trying to confirm this information, but alas we could not reach anyone firsthand. so here's our suggestion, if prince can be known by this, maybe gadhafi should come up

with his own universal symbol. it it's in arabic anyway, let's be consistent. lay a little of that or this. something to think about anyway. hammer time, tory hasn't been here, i like to call him tory tory, to the breakroom after this. (announcer) transform your water. women who drink crystal light drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a delicious change. according to a study presented by better homes and gardens, definity color recapture. it corrects the look of wrinkles and discoloration. 50,000 voters. one brilliant winner. come on. good girl.] mollie's never looked better. i really was amazed to see the change in her coat. people stop us when we're walking,

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tom, on monday, your cha-cha to wild thing left carrie ann and good portions of the nation speechless. the next couple definitely safe to dance next week is -- tom and cheryl. >> show time go time, torre, you know i don't know what's going on. >> right. >> i'm always worked up about all of these outdated systems.

i spend my whole time on them. >> got to watch a little more tv. >> i know, tom delay's dancing with the stars. how's he doing? >> it's dancing, it's not really dancing. he survived the first cut. not totally surprising because he's not the worse, but he's one of the worst. >> in the scheme of things, how do you think he stacks up? >> on the low end. >> worst three of all time? >> maybe worst five of all time. but i haven't watched all of the cycles. but watching tom delay dance is like waterboarding for your eyes. >> really? >> gail collins -- >> that's pretty rough. >> gail collins of the "new york times" talks about it when your uncle gets drunk at the graduation party and wants to sing and it's awkward. too close to the mike. adam carolla kept it real allbeit sarcastically, big comedian, says you're a middle-aged republican, dancing comes naturally to you people. >> barbie's got something going

on? >> yes, barbie's doing a movie. she's had 100 jobs in her 50-year career, part of our whole group here is doing a barbie movie. they got with mattell, 99% global brand awareness for barbie, that means little daughters and sons huts in third world countries, girls are like, mommy, can i have a barbie? no, go to work. but you look like ken a little bit. >> only when i'm dressed like regis. >> nice to see you. >> always you. >> big vote today in the senate. the people's lobbyist. >> that's it. the people don't have a lobbyist, you're, you know, we will get into that. the people need a lobbyist. and one of the things i need a lobbyist for is not only the disclosures they were denied yesterday, but today, the wyden choice amendment that would liberate the masses to have the free choice to exercise their own judgment as to where they

want to buy their health care, if they want to buy it through their employer, that's great, if they want to opt out and bring real competition to this country, they can do that. the senate will vote on that today. again, here's ron wyden's comments about this amendment that is proposed before the senate finance committee today. and i quote, the free choice act gives every american the ability to either choose to keep the coverage they have or pick a plan that works better for them and their families. who will be against that, torre? >> it makes sense. >> to insure their workers through state-based insurance exchanges. olympia snowe has a similar amendment. those against this amendment, the unions who will accumulate leverage in negotiation by being able to get better health benefits than non-union members. employee benefits, and anybody in the medical business who makes extra money through excess medical procedures that go through such an inefficient medical system. let's see what the senate does. we'll talk about it in the morning. but again, do they work for us

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breaking right now on msnbc. in an historic move, deval patrick is just moments away from announcing his choice to temporarily fill the senate seat vacated by the late senator ted kennedy. there's the live picture right there. and the man at the center of a wide-ranging terror plot on new york city has just been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. good morning, everyone. i'm monica novotny. for more, let's bring in scott helman. this was a choice based on all reports that the family really wanted. >> indeed. paul kirk is a long time family friend associated to the kenn y

kennedys. in some ways the perfect person to fill kennedy's seat for about four or five months. >> and someone perhaps not everyone at home might know, not as well known outside of the beltway, but he does have a history in washington. former aide to senator kennedy, very close ties to the kennedy family, as well. >> exactly. he's sort of one of these classic behind the scenes democratic wise men. he was a chairman of the democratic committee, chairs the john f. kennedy library foundation here in boston. he helped set up the commission on presidential debates. he's sort of a very well-known figure in washington circles, but certainly not known among the public. he's a very behind the scenes kind of guy. >> and he's a choice that obviously democrats in washington and in massachusetts are pretty happy with. someone who is familiar enough with the goings on in capitol hill that they feel he can pretty seamlessly pick up where senator kennedy left off at this crucial time for these few

months. >> exactly a guy who is a very safe choice. i don't think he's going to go off and do his own thing. i think he knows exactly what his role is. it's clear he's not interested in office beyond this. he'll go down there, he'll fulfill and make the kennedy legacy endure for a few more months. he knows all of the kennedy staffers, makes a lot of sense. >> scott helman we're watching the live pictures there. we're going to bring the governor's speech to you live as soon as it happens. we'll ask you to stick around. in the meantime, more breaking news we're following right now. the suspect at the center of an alleged terror plot has been charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams joins us now with more. what can you tell us? >> monica, there are lots of new details here. let me say first of all, if you need to cut away, let me know. but in the meantime until that starts, a couple of things have happened near, number one, much more serious charges filed against the man thought to be at the