weekend? that's going to look pretty ridiculous. >> lawrence, remember richard nixon's statement about the presidential race. there are no silver medals in this race. there are no silver medals when you're going after the olympics. you either get it or you don't. and i think if president obama didn't get the gold here held suffer the agony of defeat from his critics back here and his international standing. one can only imagine, you know, what kind of beating that might take as far as image is concerned. he's had a pretty good ride on the international scene, but things are getting down to crunch time now. the iran negotiationsts are starting thursday, the same time he goes to copenhagen. there are reports that vladimir putin, you just mentioned, russia is a sensitive matter. the whole world right now is a very sensitive matter for this president. but the olympics are part of international affairs, as well. >> clarence page, syndicated columnist for the "chicago tribune," thanks very much for your time tonight. >> thank you.

appreciate it. >> that will have to do it for this monday edition of "countdown." i'm lawrence o'donnell in for keith olbermann. our msnbc coverage now continues with "the rachel maddow show." good evening, rachel. >> good morning, lawrence. thanks very much. thank you at home for staying with us for the next hour. today, bank of america announced it is suspending its current work and is not planning on entering into any future work with the part of the community group a.c.o.r.n. that councils first-time home buyers on how to avoid problems in handling their first mortgage and which represents people who are losing their homes to foreclosure. bank of america's actions to cut off a.c.o.r.n. follows similar moves by the census bureau and the irs. they've both said they'll stop working with a.c.o.r.n. as well. and of course it follows a move by the u.s. congress to cut off any source of federal funding for a.c.o.r.n. following a dramatically escalated campaign against the group by republicans and conservative activists and conservative media outlets.

we have previously reported on this show how corporate interests opposed to a.c.o.r.n.'s successful efforts to raise the minimum wage targeted the group using republican-allied pr firms that proudly specialized in demonizing their opposition. but a.c.o.r.n. has not just been targeted by corporations who worry that a.c.o.r.n.'s advocacy for living-age ordinances and an increased minimum wage will hurt their corporate bottom line. a.c.o.r.n. has also been the subject for years of a purely political smear campaign, a campaign engineered by republicans who are threatened by a.c.o.r.n.'s work to register young and poor and minority voters. the american voter is typically older and more wealthy than the typical american, and that tends to give the republicans an electoral edge among voters as compared to the preferences of the populations at large. but a.c.o.r.n.'s registration drives have gone some distance to changing that. over the past five years, a.c.o.r.n. registered close to 2

million voters. and, yes, the groups of people that a.c.o.r.n. typically registers tend to vote for democrats. over the last few election cycles, fear of a younger, less wealthy, and, frankly, less white electorate led republicans, especially in swing states, to go after a.c.o.r.n. aggressively and, in fact, to try to gin up charges against them to try to make their voter registration efforts in general seem suspect and perhaps to bring down the group entirely. and when i say "ginned up," i'm not exaggerating. do you remember the u.s. attorney scandal, the alleged fire ring of u.s. attorneys because of u.s. political considerations? recall what that scandal was really about. in 2006, nine u.s. attorneys were fired, surprisingly and suddenly, by the department of justice under george w. bush. former u.s. attorney david iglesias, one of those u.s. attorneys who lost his job despite positive job reviews, maintains that his pink slip came after he resisted pressure from republicans to pursue bogus

voter registration cases involving a.c.o.r.n. the pressure began as early as 2002 when mr. iglesias says in his book "injustice" he received an e-mail from the department of justice in washington, quote, suggesting in no uncertain terms that u.s. attorneys offer whatever assistance we could in investigating and prosecuting voter fraud cases. mr. iglesias says he received similar e-mails from the department of justice in 2004 and again in 2006. hmm. what happens on even years in american politics? oh, right. elections. according to documents released by the house judiciary committee in june 2005, karl rove's political aide scott jennings wrote to another white house aide that mr. iglesias should be removed. quote, i would really like to move forward with getting rid of new mexico's u.s. attorney. because republicans in new mexico are really angry over his lack of action on the voter

fraud stuff. iglesias has done nothing. we're getting killed out there. bush's white house counsel, harriet miers, said she received a call from karl rove personally in which he said that the u.s. attorney in new mexico, mr. iglesias, was, quote, a serious problem, and that he wanted something done about it. she told the committee, quote, my best recollection is that he was very agitated about the u.s. attorney in new mexico. why was david iglesias such a serious problem? why was he getting the attention not only of the department of justice but of the white house, karl rove specifically? why was rove so agitated about him? because of dubious voter fraud cases in new mexico, which, if prosecuted, might have helped republicans politically. an e-mail in january 2007 from karl rove's aide to mr. rove suggested a possible replacement for mr. iglesias. quote, rogers would be the dream

but won't do it. rogers was pat rogers, a new mexico republican activist who had deemed voter fraud, quote, the single greatest wedge issue ever. wedge issue. karl rove. bush's justice department. you see where this is going. karl rove's own interpretation of this incident? >> i passed on to the white house counsel's office to pass on to the justice department complaints about the performance of the u.s. attorney in new mexico, that he failed to go after a.c.o.r.n. and clear cases of voter fraud. i was not in a -- >> the rub, of course, was that mr. iglesias didn't go after a.c.o.r.n. because there weren't clear cases of vote fraud. in fact, he found no wrongdoing by the organization that he could prosecute when he looked into it. he writes in his book "injustice," quote, republicans had wanted splashy headlines trumpeting voter fraud indictments, and when they didn't get what they wanted, they were only too ready to assign blame. after an exhaustive examination of the facts, i felt that i had

dispelled the phantoms of voter fraud in new mexico. but some people had wanted a different result whether or not it was warranted by the facts. a.c.o.r.n. was and remains a flawed but legitimate organization which helps register low-income americans to vote. no accusation has ever been substantiated that anyone registered by a.c.o.r.n. ever voted fraudulently. the bush white house viewed voter fraud as the mother of all wedge issues. it's paying its dividends today. and remarkably, democrats are playing right along with it. joining us now is david iglesias, the former u.s. attorney for new mexico who was allegedly fired for failing to prosecute a.c.o.r.n. for voter fraud. mr. iglesias is also the author of "injustice -- inside the scandal that rocked the bush administration." mr. iglesias, thanks very much for being here today. >> thanks, rachel. good to be back. >> in the lead-up to the '04 election, in terms of the climate in new mexico, the political climate, was a.c.o.r.n. very active in

registering voters in new mexico? >> oh, sure. they were working in albuquerque and throughout the state. there was tremendous local media attention on what they believed to be massive systemic voter fraud. >> in terms of what those specific allegations were, i understand that some republican activists and republican elected officials started making noise about alleged voter fraud around that time. what were they alleging and how did you look into it? >> well, they were alleging primarily a.c.o.r.n. was registering people who did not have the right to voter, including underage people, including foreign nationals who were not entitled to vote. and i found out about it directly from an e-mail sent to my u.s. justice account. some of those e-mails you can see on the official justice department investigation. so, i mean, it wasn't just this nebulous pressure. it was direct contact with me and my office. >> so, you were receiving direct pressure not only just through the media in terms of these complaints being made public, but you were receiving direct

pressure from washington to go prosecute these cases. >> right. from the justice department and also from local political operatives. >> when you looked into those cases, did you find that there were -- there was grounds to go forward? they were asking you not just to look into things but to bring indictments and bring them quickly. >> right. as a matter of fact, i set up one of only two voter fraud task forces in the country. i worked with state and local officials. i worked with the fbi. i worked with the justice department in washington. and we took over 100 complaints. we set up a hotline. i mean, i believe there to be prosecutable cases, but i wasn't going to make up evidence. and at the end of two years i couldn't find one case i could prosecute. >> you write in your book about the experience of other u.s. attorneys who experienced similar pressure to go after voter fraud cases that really turned out not to be warranted by the case, including one u.s. attorney who was a friend of yours in missouri. could you describe that for us

briefly? >> right. there was a gentleman, the acting director of civil rights. he went and was the acting u.s. attorney in kansas city. and he, in fact, did file some voter fraud cases at the exact wrong time, according to long-standing doj policy. you can't file something that would affect the outcome of the election. that's precisely what brad did. those cases were eventually dismissed, and brad had to leave his position as u.s. attorney. but, again, that was a direct example of politicizing a federal prosecutor's office. >> and mr. sloszing was moved into the office after previous u.s. attorney also appointed by george w. bush had decided not to pursue those cases. is that also right. >> well, that's right. in fact, his predecessor looked at the evidence like i did and couldn't find anything he could prove. therefore, he didn't file anything. and thaft partial basis for his removal. >> the reason i wanted to talk to you about this tonight is because we're in the midst of a

real -- what i hope is a sort of apex, what i hope is sort of a peaking of this national campaign, media campaign, political campaign and pr campaign against a.c.o.r.n. and it seems to me that whatever a.c.o.r.n.'s flaws are you've done a lot to illuminate how they were targeted unjustly on voter fraud. how many times has voter fraud successfully been documented just in terms of public corruption and public integrity cases? sit something that frequently happens in the united states? is it something that really does need to be cracked down on? >> it's incredibly infrequent. in fact, the numbers i recall from my senate testimony from 2008 is something in the order of 14 in the past several years. so, out of the many hundreds of thousands of cases the justice department prosecuted during that period of time, 14. >> would you describe the political pressure about a.c.o.r.n. as both an effort to make voter fraud seem like a bigger deal than it is but also to try to destroy the credibility of that organization? because it had been effective at

registering voters. >> well, in a state like new mexico, what you have to remember, rachel, is a minority/majority state. it has been for a number of years. a lot of the folks, these low-income folks, were people of color, and they tended to vote for democrats. and the republican party especially locally there in new mexico wanted to disable as much of that as possible. so, they were looking at numbers, didn't like the demographic tidal wave that was coming their way. so, they wanted to engage the machinery of the justice department to stop that wave. >> david iglesias, former u.s. attorney from new mexico and author of "in justice -- inside the scandal that rocked the bush administration," which remains even just on the issue of a.c.o.r.n., small part of the book, remains one of the most important primary texts we have in the country in terms of understanding this political campaign against this group. mr. iglesias, thank you for speaking up. thanks for joining us tonight. >> my pleasure. ever since the heyday of ronald reagan, republicans have waged a rhetorical war to try to

defund, discredit and generally demolish if they could the institution known as medicare. now look who's claiming they will save that highly popular government-run health care program. since when did irony become a strategy? vermont senator bernie sanders joins us next.

the republican party still mired in the wilderness. our first "where are they now" segment. joe the plumber, despite not being named joe or being a plumber, his gig as joe the mccain campaign prop ended in early november, but undaunted he then enjoyed a stunt as joe the war correspondent for pajama tv, a conservative website that sent mr. joe to cover the israeli incurrings in gaza in january.

then got a hitch as joe the website pitch man, which found him hawking irsdote.com, an organization that invited concerned americans to pay 99 cents to click, call, or text their votes to abolish the irs. and it only costs you 99 cents. that was april. the irsz irs survived. i know. what's happened to joe since? he has surfaced. he's surfaced at the how to take back america conference, a slightly further off the cook end version of the recent value voters summit in washington that we'll be discussing later on in the show. the washington independent's dave weigel spent the weekend in st. louis at that conference, and there he caught up with joe the plumber. jtp now says he regrets the irsvote.com thing, says those people were just in it for the money and the big promise of

publicity never materialized. he also revealed hess still in the game and has just endorsed a new comic strip. it's conservative, and it's called microman usa. don't judge it on the basis of the fact that very few men choose "micro" as their preferred adjective. judge it on its substance. now presenting the voiceover theater. >> what's the soup today, shirley? >> it's cream of bailout broccoli soup. >> isn't that unusual? >> not really, microman. anytime you see "bailout," it means you should expect to get creamed. [ laughter ] >> we put in the laugh track where we thought the laughs were supposed to go. here's another one. >> what does politically incorrect mean? >> i means to say somethithings way that offends an a group. an example would be to say nancy pelosi is a stupid, leftist

woman. >> how would you say that correctly? >> nancy pelosi is an idiot. [ laughter ] >> it's endorsed by joe the plumber. that doesn't make concerned idiots of america any less outraged and offended, however. (announcer) we understand. you need to save money.

belated salvo in the scare the bejesus out of elderly voters so they'll put you back in power regardless of whether you're telling the first, or an editorial in the conservative "washington times" and it screams "death panels by proxy." ostensibly argues that the so-called baucus bill on health reform encourages doctors to

withhold health care from medicare patients. health care reform is a secret plot to kill people on medicare. an ongoing strategic conundrum. how do you plan to win an argument with opponents who are undeterred by being disproven? undeterred by the facts, when you don't even believe that they believe what they're arguing anymore? it's not even just the death panels nonsense now. take medicare itself, a program republicans have railed against since before president johnson signed it into law in 1965. they railed against it since then until, well, until now. now in the senate finance committee, republicans are trying to portray themselves as the champions of medicare. they're fighting hard to kill any bill that contains any cuts in medicare, even though people who support medicare like, say, the aarp, say those cuts won't affect care. republicans defending medicare.

what would ronald reagan say? these guys do remember ronald reagan, don't they? here's what he did say about medicare when it was just a twinkle in some socialist, fascist, community-hating organizing democrat's eye. >> we can write to our congressmen, to our senators. we can say right now that we want no further encroachment on these individual liberties and freedoms and that the moment th key issue is we do not want socialized medicine. write those letters now. call your friends and tell them to write them. in you don't, this program i promise you will pass just as surely as the sun will come up tomorrow rs and behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country until one day, as norman thomas said, we will awake to find that we have socialism. and if you don't do this and if p i don't do it, one of these days you and i are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in america when men were free.

>> that was ronald reagan, 1961, on a record sent out by the american medical association when they really opposed it. republicans have been echoing that anti-medicare sentiment ever since. >> the medicare is a massive government bureaucracy that wastes at least 40% of its money, has no effective controls, doesn't give senior citizens choice, and rips off doctors. >> medicare and medicaid are the ones that we're really going to have to reform if we make headway. >> the government never should have gotten into the health care business. >> i want medicare to be privatized. it shouldn't be a government program. >> yet now the republican party expects voters to believe that as of this week the last half-century never happened. earlier this year, 137 members of the house voted for an alternative budget plan which called for abolishing medicare for every american who's under age 55. and it would force all of those people who would otherwise

expect to become eligible for medicare instead onto the private insurance market. that was this year. but now republicans want to portray themselves as the champions of medicare, the people you can trust to preserve it against those evil democrats. yeah. forget all that stuff that happened in the past. >> let's agree in both parties that congress should only consider helle reform proposals that protect senior citizens. for starters, no cuts to medicare to pay for another program. zero. >> thanks, republicans. great idea. joining us now is senator bernie sanders, independent of vermont, a member of senate health education, labor and pensions committee. senator sanders, thanks very much for joining us tonight. >> good to be with you, rachel. >> the republicans have decided that they would like to portray health care reform now as an attack on medicare. what's your overall response to that allegation? >> well, my overall response is that in washington, d.c., where

hypocrisy levels are pretty high, this one is actually quite extreme. it really bounces off the charts. here you have people whose whole mantra, whose reason for living is to tell us that government can't do anything, that government health care is the worst thing imaginable, they want to privatize almost every form of government activity, and now because they think they can get a few votes they're suddenly champions of medicare. i mean, it is totally absurd, and i think the american people and especially seniors who know the republican record on medicare will see right through the hypocrisy. >> i went back today and looked at some of the contemporaneous dprovrge the time that those 137 republicans voted earlier this year that they wanted to abolish medicare, they wanted to get rid of medicare for everybody under age 55, instead, force them into the private market. and at that time they were willing to tell reporters that they were worried that vote was

going to come back and hurt them, that it was going to look like an anti-seniors vote. as yet, it doesn't seem to be coming back to hurt them. i wonder if you think that it will. >> well, i think it will. i think the more we make the point that here you have people today who are vigorously opposed -- we don't have one republican vote for a medicare-type public option, all right, which would give people under 65 a medicare-type program in opposition to private health insurance. i think very few people will believe that these people who are not supporting a public option, who historically have wanted to privatize medicare, are suddenly now strong supporters. clearly, this is 100% political, and i think the american people, and especially seniors, will see right through it. >> you've been a guest here over the last few months, frequently talking about progress on health care about not only the procedural battles but the

principles at stake. at this point, looking ahead at this week and coming weeks with these crucial battles that are being fought now, how do you feel about the public option and the other important components of health reform that people have fought so hard for? >> well, you know, rachel, there was just a poll in "the new york times" where i think the numbers were 65% of the people wanted a public option to give them a choice as opposed to private health insurance. it is hard for me to believe that the democrats are not going to respond to those numbers. and what i can tell you, we are working very, very hard. a number of senators are working hard for two reasons. number one, we think it's right that people have that choice. and, number two, if you are serious about cost containment, if we are serious about addressing the fact that we have almost a million people in this country this year who are going to go bankrupt because of soaring health care costs and medically related bills, you have got to give competition to the private health insurance

companies. we are now spending almost twice as much per person on health care as any other major country, and yet our outcomes in many cases are not as good. so, clearly, we need to wring the waste out of this current system, the bureaucratic waste that exists, and provide quality care without spending the kind of money we currently are. >> senator bernie sanders, independent of vermont, thanks very much for your time tonight, sir. good to see you. >> good to be with you, rachel. >> thank you. i don't watch a ton of local tv programming, but -- no tv -- but when the show is a full-length birthers infomercial that is playing in lubbock, texas, in the middle of the night and that infomercial is titled "where was obama born?" you better believe i will find that tv show on the internet and i will watch it. there are engines... and then there's the twin-turbocharging, 365-horsepower-generating, ecoboost™ engine in the all-new taurus sho from ford.

that has the thirst of a v6 with the thrust of a v8. we speak car. we speak innovation. introducing the all-new taurus sho from ford. drive one. as the decades have past, the promise of medicare has always been there. and aarp has fought to guarantee none of the benefits you earned were ever taken away. today we're continuing that fight by protecting your freedom to choose the doctors and treatments you need. and to have your tax dollars go towards your care-- not insurance company subsidies. you've done your work. and we'll keep doing ours. learn more at aarp.org. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious!

okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro. a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthris pain all day.

it's the anxious to the age-old question. what would happen if the birthers and the creators of "wayne's world" collaborated on an art project? answer may be liveprayer.com's half-hour-long "where was obama born" infomercial. it is certainly a mercial. as for the info, i don't know. talking points memo was the first to air the ad in lubbock, texas. it's scheduled to air in seven

southern states. it's titled "where was president obama born?" and this is how it starts. is it africa? maybe. maybe the united states? doubtful. either way, it's definitely very scary. the birther mercial stars liveprayer.com's founder, bill keller, not the bill kel they're runs the "new york times" but rather an ex-continue who runs the christian website which features classy christian videos like this one, showing president obama being morphed out of adolf hitler. yeah. classy. mr. keller's one and only guest in the half-hour birther infomercial is a man named kreep, not an acronym for something having to do with richard nixon, it's his name,

kreep, an attorney deeply entrenched in the obama is not really the president conspiracy world. and in this new infomercial, mr. kreep and mr. not "the new york times" bill keller, they are ready to make you the offer of a lifetime. >> and the second thing that you're doing is encouraging people to help you with a $30 gift that anenables you, all 50 state attorney generals and a.g. holder about this criminality. correct? >> only $30 for the facts? wow. how much do the facts cost these days? your name on a spammed fax for only $30. >> united states justice foundation has taken the lead in forging president obama to supply his official birth certificate and proves he's constitutionally eligible to be president. you know by going to your phone and calling [ bleep ] have your

name added to a petition going to gop leaders to force president obama to obey the law. join hundreds of thousands of americans who simply want the truth. >> you understand why we bleeped that. right? for only $30, you can have your name on a spam fax and they will add your name to a petition. for only 30 bucks. but wait! there's more! >> as a thank you for being part of this petition drive, you will receive a specially created "got a birth certificate" bumper sticker and help the united states justice foundation in their efforts to force president obama to produce his birth certificate by making a gift of $30 that will enable us to send a fax on your behalf to all 50 state attorney generals and u.s. attorney general eric holder demanding they force president obama to provide his official state of hawaii birth certificate. >> okay. now for only $30 it's not only your name on a spam fax to 50

people, it is your name on a spam fax to 51 people, because now it includes the attorney general. that has to go all the way to washington from wherever you are. plus, for the same $30, your name on a petition, and for the same $30 a bumper sticker. don't delay. call today. don't delay. call today! but lest you believe that this is just a fringe scam to separate gullible stoned late-night birthers from their money, consider how this infomercial is able to reference pretty well-known elected republican politicians in order to bolster their scam credibility. >> since then, however, though, we now have senator shelby of alabama has now started raising questions about that. we have senator coburn has likewise raised questions, and in florida produced a bill to require proof be provided for anyone in the future running for president that they are, indeed, eligible to be president. it has i believe now either five or six co-sponsors so that's

started to progress. so, we're very happy about that. >> that was republican senator richard shelby of alabama they're talking about. tom coburn of oklahoma and republican u.s. congressman bill posey of florida, who has written a birther bill that actually has 11 republican co-sponsors now. apparently it only costs $100 to run this half-hour infomercial late night on the lubbock, texas, station on which it has been running. it's also expected to run in markets like huntsville, alabama, stlooef port, louisiana, abilene, texas, and alabama. this infomercial only needs to persuade three or four gullible late-night tv-watching birlters to part with their 30 bucks in order to cover the costs of keeping this brilliance on the air. any money that they raise on top of that goes, of course, to those 51 spam faxes, and then the organization that creates the ads gets to keep the rest. birtherism may have been

disproven. it may be becoming a political punch line even on the american right. but it's also apparently becoming a really good scam for raising money off gullible sad people. which probably means it's here to stay. we put our economy in the hands of hostile nations. we let big oil make record profits... while we struggle. and we lose new energy jobs, that go overseas. but we can take charge of our economy... by passing strong clean energy legislation. 1.7 million new american jobs. less carbon pollution. and a cleaner america for our children. it's time for clean american energy. when it comes to italian sauce, some people prefer this jar. but more people prefer this sauce. winner of the blind taste test. the sweet and savory taste of prego. it's in there.

mike huckabee would like to be a republican presidential contender again, and so he's now arguing for the u.n. building to be jackhammered off the island of manhattan and floated away into the east river. that's ahead as we're joined by former secretary of state madeleine albright. first time for a couple of "holy mackerel" stories in today's news. the month that president obama was elected in november of last year, italian prime minister silvio berlusconi said something shocking even for him. he described the then president-elect as, quote, handsome, young, and sun tanned. now he's done it again but worse. fresh off his meeting with the obamas at the g-20 in pittsburgh, mr. berlusconi appeared before a group of conservative italian activists in milan and said this.

>> "some tanned guy." oh, yeah, barack obama. then it got worse from there. he brought up the first lady. you know how they say everything sounds beautiful in italian? sort of think maybe that's over. also, republican congressman steve buier has been famous inside the beltway twice this year. first he argued against tobacco legislation by pointing out the ways in which smoking tobacco is like smoking lettuce. >> you could have smoked that lettuce and you still end up with the same problems. it is the smoke that kills, not the nicotine. it's the smoke. >> and the nicotine there to get

you addicted to the smoke that kills. don't worry about that. after becoming mildly famous in d.c. for the smoking lettuce speech, the congressman made himself mildly famous a second time this year when he added a new scare tactic to the long list of them that were being deployed against health reform. alongside with the claim that health reform is a secret plot to kill old people, republicans, women with breast cancer and a secret plot to kill disabled children and a lot of other secret plots besides, the congressman put out a press release in august stating, quote, the current democrat bill harms veterans. congressman buyer's allegation is that it was a secret plot to hurt veterans, that it would subject all veterans to a special health tax. that allegation was made up. we checked the legislation and found it to be untrue, and we checked it on air with congressman and retired admiral joe sestak. can you, as somebody who is responsible for that bill

passing, can you confirm that that's true, there's not going to be any tax on anybody for their va benefits? >> i can absolutely confirm it, and the exact words are the va health care plan meet ps minimum buyer's made-up conspiracy theory about veterans the way that democrats decided to deal with congressman "you lie" joe wilson's made-up conspiracy about illegal immigrants instead of just pointing out that wilson and buyer were wrong, which they were, democrats decided the to try to calm them down by

agreeing to doubly, tripoli, extra dog dare clarify that in wilson's case the bill wouldn't cover illegal immigrants and in buyer's case that it wouldn't harm veterans. the bill wouldn't have covered illegal immigrants in the first place, nor hurt veterans, but democrats agreeing to tweak language to please these guys anyway made them feel their made-up spirl criticism had been validated as evidenced by house staffers wanting me to issue a correction stating that congressman steve buyer was really right all along when he lied about veterans being put at risk by the proposals for health reform. veterans are not at risk from proposals for health reform. tricare and va care will not change under anything that is being considered for health reform. congressman buyer was wrong when he said it in august. he was still wrong when democrats tried to appease him about it anyway. and he is wrong now when he tries to take credit for fixing a fake problem that he created

in the first place to build his own reputation on the babs of veterans he is scaring and exploiting just to make political points that benefit himself. i'm eager to correct the record when i've gotten something wrong. but in this case, i haven't, and congressman buyer and the republican staff of the house veterans committee is trying to use a request for a correction from me to try to make a bogus political point that is as wrong now as it was when they first made it. the record speaks for itself. the congressman is wrong. geico's been saving people money on car insurance for over 70 years. and who doesn't want value for their dollar?

been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

after the first iraq war, then u.n. ambassador madeleine albright criticized zusz for failing to comply with resolutions. the state-run iraqi press lashed out against her by publishing a poem that called albright an unparalleled circus. next time she met with the iraqis, she wore this broach. serpent. get it? diplomacy by aggressive jewelry choices. among her approximately 1 zillion other pins, there's one made from fragments from the

berlin wall, one made in the shape of a rocket-propelled grenade launcher -- because every diplomat occasionally needs one -- and there's there statue of liberty pin whose eyes are two clocks. one of the clocks is upside down so madam secretary could read it when she looked down at it. the other side is right-side up so the person she's meeting with can read it as well. that way they'll both know when their meeting is over. former secretary of state madeleine albright is here after this break. but what we can do is arm ourselves... for the ones we love with a flu shot from walgreens. ♪ ( coughs ) ♪ ( sneezes ) we're making it easy for everyone to get their flu shot, no matter how small their motivation may be. ♪ come get yours for just $24.99.

for six years during the bush administration, liberals and democrats held a yearly conference called take back america in order to plot a democratic path back to power. this year since it worked and democrats now control the white house and the senate and the house, the idea of taking back america starred to seem weird to liberals and democrats, so instead they renamed their gathering "america's future now." proven, however, that no idea in politics is too good to steal, this year the take back america conference name became the how to take back america conference. and this year it was sponsored by the right, specifically by phyllis and her far-right eagle forum. among the popular sessions at this past weekend's phyllis conference was this one reported by dave weigel of the washington independent. in case you can't see that, it is "how to recognize living under nazis and communists." obviously a handy guide for

americans livering under barack obama. once a future republican presidential candidate and weight loss self-helper, mike huckabee told an enthusiastic crowd exactly what he'd like to do with the united nations. >> it ee's time to get a jackhar and to simply chip that part of new york city, let it float into the east river. it has has become the internati equivalent of a.c.o.r.n. and it's time to say enough. >> before the speech who could have known that the u.n. was actually an imperfect but disproportionately attacked advocate of poor people trying to earn a living and register to vote. a.c.o.r.n. really? really against the u.n. and cooperative action with other countries is a tried and true conservative applause line and we should expect to hear more from would-be 2012 candidates. as this president tries to work

cooperatively roping in france and britain and germany and maybe even russia to pressure iran, even as iran test fired even more missiles today to make the international community even more furious at them, do our rather extreme domestic politics about the u.n. and about working with other countries screw up our chances of getting what we want to in the world? joining us now is former secretary of state madeline albright, who has a new book out that's great that's called "read my pins, stories from a diplomat's jewel box." madame secretary, thanks for being on the show. >> great to be with you, rachel. thanks so much. >> i have to ask you about the pin you're wearing right now. i expect it might be a rejoinder to mike huckaby. >> it happens to be very appropriate because there is also a lot of u.n. stuff going on so this is my kind of we need the world and the world needs us. my multilateral pin. honestly, listening to that, i find that so appalling. if you look at the problems that are out there, i believe in the strength of america. how could we possibly deal with

nuclear proliferation alone or climate change or energy and environmental issues generally? i find it such a know nothing position. the u.n. is imperfect but it is a lot better if we support it. >> do our rather agro domestic politics about working with other countries and the u.n. and the whole idea of nu multilateralism because we have extreme rhetoric about that and positions because of our own domestic politics does that make it harder to work with other countries and translate abroad? >> well, it's much harder if we go around insulting everybody. the bottom line, i thought president obama's speech was terrific at the u.n. because he basically said two ways, one if you criticize us for being unilateral then you have to help. that's part of what he's saying to the other countries. at the same time pointing out to the american public that we can use the u.n. in a way to solve a lot of our problems. so, or help.

truly, the issues that are out there require us to help. you know, americans don't like the word "multilateralism." it has too many syllables and it ends in an "ism" but all it means is working with others in partnership to solve problems. >> president obama is being praised by his supporters and condemned by his critics right now for the same thing, which is using his personal powers of persuasion, his interpersonal skills to sort of woo international leaders. we've heard direct testimony to that from leaders like russia's medvedev going on and on about how much he likes obama personally and how much he respects and trusts him. should presidents be suspicious of their interpersonal rapport as a replacement for i guess the kinds of hard nosed agreements that you get not through charm but through written agreements? >> the bottom line, a lot about diplomacy is personal relations, getting to know somebody, getting a sense about them,

trying to persuade them personally. and then you have to kind of get it written down. but i do think that it is important for a president to be persuasive in his own right, and president obama's numbers abroad are stunning. i'm connected with the pew attitude surveys. we just came out with one. his numbers are really higher in some countries than their own leaders. >> that does translate toward america getting more of what it wants from other countries. >> i believe so. ultimately every country think about its national interests but it's a big starter if you actually have someone who can speak confidently, understands his own policies, and also is very persuasive. >> can i ask you one pin question? >> absolutely. >> what's the appropriate diplomatic occasion for wearing the rocket propelled grenade launcher pin? >> try to deliver a tough message and say, you can use it but you prefer to actually use something else. and i do think that it is important to send some messages.

i have so much fun with the pins in the first place, certainly it's fun to have the stories in the book. >> well, it's a fascinating book. i had my expectations were so exceeded. i'm a person who doesn't identify with jewelry obviously and the stories are great. thank you for doing it. >> thanks, rachel. great to be with you. >> madeline albright former secretary of state. the new book is called "read my pins" stories from a diplomat's jewel box. okay. coming up on "countdown", bill clinton on the slightly less vast right wing conspiracy.

welcome to progressive. how may i help you? i'm looking for a deal on car insurance. i think i might have a coupon in here. there's an easier way. we've got the "name your price" option. you do? follow me. you tell us how much you want to pay, and we'll build you a policy that fits your budget. and i still get great coverage? uh-huh. go ahead. you're the boss. i'm the boss of savings. more like the c.e.o. oh, oh. no glass ceiling. the freedom to name your price. now, that's progressive. call or click today. ok ! ok. whoooa, heyyy ! see, the terms require that you keep the bike within this pre-determined space. if you want to take the bike out, i'm going to have to charge you a penalty. i can't really ride in this little space. you can't ride very far. even kids know an offer shouldn't come ha, ha, ha... withidiculous conditions. why don't banks ? at ally bank our 9-month no penalty cd gives you a great rate with no fees for early withdrawal. it's just the right thing to do.

with no fees for early withdrawal. [ birds squawking ] [ moos ] [ man announcing ] if you think about it, this is what makes theladders different from other job search sites. we only want the big jobs. welcome to theladders. a premium job site for only $100k+ jobs and only $100k+ talent.

we turn to our pungent relations correspondent kent jones. hi, kent. >> hi, rachel. as if new york city weren't smelly enough "the times" reports there's been a resurgence in a certain odiferous mammal whoseam