this morning. >> i learned i came on about afghanistan, and i was sandbagged and then my brother left me hanging. >> i never met this man. >> i learned the second of hew -- whatever is it right now. he does not want to comment on pressuring issues. >> that's right. pat buchanan, thank you for a great week. >> don't get near me. >> it's if way too early? >> it's time for "morning joe." right now it's time for the "morning meeting," with dylan ratigan. >> we walked this path together, and i promise you this the chicago of chicago and the united states of america will make the world proud. >> he made his pitch to get the 2016 olympics, and maybe a showdown between the windy city

and rio. what happens if obama's bid falls flat? and then first held hostage, and then put to death. the wyden free choice amendment did not make it to the committee. it's politics like never before. why does congress want to keep us from choosing our own insurance. listen to this. >> if you get sick america, the american health care plan is this. die quickly! >> the congressman whose die quickly speech has people calling for an apology. and breaking news jobs numbers just out. what they mean for the economic recovery and the president's plan to get you back to work. we will talk to the economic advisor. and then the comedian admits he is the target of an extortion

scandal. it's 9:00 a.m. pull up a chair and join the "morning meeting." morning to you. right now the president is headed home on air force one after making his pitch for chicago to host the 2016 olympics. the decision is hours away as to if chicago will get it. hi, jim. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. a couple hours away from when the voting starts. it's a sprint to the finish that we all expected. chicago brought in mr. closure himself, the first time any u.s. president has gotten involved with this kind of olympic negotiation. he flew in on air force one and came to the nondescript building behind me where all of this is taking place and made his personal appeal. he was introduced by michelle obama, who perhaps not surprisingly was wearing gold today to send out a certain

olympic message. it was ai yin and yang express n expression. barack obama was speaking as the u.s. president, saying that he could bring -- he could guarantee from the white house to the state department across the country the best games ever. here is a little taste of what he had to say today. >> it's a buffling metropolis with the warmth of a small town, where the world already comes together every day to live and work, and reach for a dream. that's not just the american dream, that's the olympic spirit. it's the essence of the olympic spirit. and that's why we see so much of ourselves in these games. that's why we want them in

chicago. >> reporter: it seems to be coming down to a two-horse race, dylan, between chicago and rio. anything can happen. chicago, i should say, is still the betting favorite, but rio has a lot going for it, too. the copacabana beach, and the passionate president, and the romantic plus, and it would be the first south american city to ever host the olympics. it's nip and tuck. hopefully around 1:00 your time, we will know who the winner is. >> thank you. chuck todd, white house -- i should say washington post reporter, and a blogger, as well. anne, nice to see you. we will talk about the death of choice for everybody in america on health care, but we start again with the olympics. chuck, what is the political

risks if the chicago does not get the games? >> it's a little risk prestige wise. it would puncture this balloon when it comes to the idea that the president is so popular around the world. all of the reports that we got out of his four hours in copenhagen is that ioc -- the international olympic committee members were grabbing on to him like he was the rock star. bringing him to help chicago, and whether they get it or not, you know, whether they don't get it they were not going to get it if he didn't come. another big that happens before he left, and that is he met with general stanley mcchrystal face-to-face, almost aknonook y lating himself.

>> to that end, where does the president take his message upon his return? forget the olympics, for instance, but to the mcchrystal conversation? >> yeah n. a way he got more out of the trip than if he had not gone. before the trip he was getting criticism for republicans for only having one sit down meeting with him, and not only did he go over and spend a few hours, really, meeting with the olympic committee, but he also got to see his principal advisor on afghanistan, and so when he comes back, i think he will continue to hear from the white house that they are still trying to figure out what to do on the ground. he had a meeting with the top principals during the week, and they are looking at all the options, including not sending in troops. this is going to be a deliberate

process. we will see trial balloons from the white house to the military about what the next steps will be. we are going to start with a story that everybody is talking about. the bombshell confession on the "late show" last night. a cbs producer has been arrested for trying to exstoert $2 million from the comedian. peter alexander has the details on the investigation and last night's shocking announcement. people were blown away in the studio audience. >> yeah, i don't think they knew what to think. he made the dramatic revelations right in the middle of the show last night, mixing together the jokes with a confession acknowledging he slept with several women that worked for him. take a listen. >> the creepy stuff was that i have had sex with women who work for me on this show. now my response to that is, yes,

i have. would it be embarrassing if it were made public. perhaps it would. perhaps it would, especially for the women. >> the whole thing was obviously odd. under arrest and charged with attempted grand larceny is a high-rank producer working with cbs, and his name is robert halderman. he tried to get letterman, tried to extort him for $2 million so he would not reveal the details about the sexual relationships. and letterman said i need to protect these people and my family. it was a curious evening with late-night comedy. >> it was an odd tone, but got everybody talking today. thank you. barack obama says nuclear talks with iran are a good first step, but insists words are not enough.

and iran agreeing to give up much of its enriched uranium, and it agreed to let u.n. inspectors into the facility. this is hillary clinton offer ring caution optimism. >> i think it was a productive day, and the proof of that has not come to fpru wigs. >> we will look at whether the u.s. has the international muscle to lead the effort. we are following new numbers just out following the unemployment rate inched up to 9.8% last month, and that is the highest in more than 26 years. it's much worse than expected. the largest job losses were in construction, and manufacturing,

and retail trade and government. we will look at wall street's reaction when the trading day begins in 20 minutes from now. we will have reaction from the white house also. senate finance appears on the brink of passing the health care reform bill out of the committee. this follows a late-night session that ended after midnight, with baucus declaring work complete on all sections of the legislation. and reform is now closer than ever is what some say. a formal vote will take place next week. meanwhile, the wyden free choice was killed before coming up for a vote. we spent a lot of time on the "morning meeting" talking about the free choice amendment. we will talk about that in the next half hour. dylan, i will throw it back to you. >> i am new to this. but congress is apparently against letting people make decisions for themselves as a matter of policy. up next, congressman allen

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how you could start saving. several republicans asked me to apologize. well, i would like to apologize, and i would like to apologize to the dead, and here is why. according to this study, mortality in u.s. adults published two weeks ago, 44,789 americans die every year because they have no health insurance. i apologize to the dead and their families that we have not

voted sooner to end the holocaust here in america. >> he said the republican plan was to die quickly, and then grayson apologizing, and i put that in quote marks, apologizing to the floor. and capitol hill correspondent, kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: the words in the political word are something we have been dealing with for the last couple months. now we have a democrat from florida in the orlando area in his first term, allen grayson, and he did something that is getting a lot of attention. he planned it, because his staff put together the visual aids, accusing general republicans, and that's different than specifically accusing the president of something that they

have been unsympathetic to the concerns of americans when it comes to health care. that's a volatile topic. when he chose to sort of apologize, where nobody views as an apology, that has people talking. it seems to bubble up to the leadership. and the top republican and top democrat have different views of what should happen next. here is nancy pelosi and john boehner. >> i think it's time for democrat leaders and the speaker of the house herself to reign in some of the rhetoric that she decried just several weeks ago. if he is not going to apologize to the american people and republicans, as he should, really, it's the democratic

leadership's responsibility to have to handle this. >> apparently, they are holding democrats to a higher standard. >> in truth, there really are lots of harsh statements that have been made over time from members of both parties, and these take on a whole new life, and for somebody like congressman grayson, made his name a nationally recognized one. sometimes it inspires people to take risk with their rhett wreck. over time we have seen these kinds of incidents. now there is a new person at the center, all yele yelen grayson. >> and congressman, he joins us from orlando. welcome back. we are all familiar with the rhetoric. i am curious what your intent

is? when you chose to go down this road, you know that you don't have to pick a fight in the house because you have control of the house. who is your audience when you offer this rhetoric up? >> my intent is to take the ball over the goal line. we need health care in america that is affordable. >> that's everybody's intent. >> i don't think so. i don't see the republicans doing that. i wish that was true. i see the republicans as dragging their feet and playing america as fools. >> and yeah, watching the senate finance committee at 1:00 in the morning, they refused to vote on free choice. and as far as i can tell, most of the congress doesn't have much of an interest in helping americans. have you been very aggressive in your efforts to fight special interests, period. what can you do with the momentum you accumulated from

the heat of your argument and put it across the goal line? >> well, during the time this show is being aired, your show, 10 more americans will die because they have no health insurance. that's 122 every day, and america is sick and tired of politics playing with health care. we have to save the lives. >> i am wondering if your comments on the floor, congressman, are in any way designed to stir up your base? if you have given up on the idea of bringing republicans along in this fight, and the goal is to get democrats excited about this? >> there was never a chance of that. the congress is playing ro ropeadope with this for months. whether it's health care or energy independence or jobs or

the economy, we have to move forward and make progress. that's what america believes. they don't want this knuckle-dragging parking that does nothing for everybody to be able to determine the choice with america. >> for those of you that agree with the things you just referenced, how can they be helpful? >> tell your representatives it's time to move ahead, and it's time to stop wasting time and time to play the game of bipartisan when the other group doesn't want to play. these are the things that president obama promised us last year when he was running for president. now we have to deliver them. >> how did those things -- i think you hit on a key thing, which is there are a lot of people in the country, at least antidotically very disappointed because they were hopeful some of the things you were describing would be pursued with more aggressive and less

silliness, and it's not happening. why is that? >> because the agenda is bogged down by the republicans in congress. the people that say no to everything. every vote is 157 to 175. they said they want to see the president fail even if it means america failing. they said that. now we have to leave behind and move ahead. >> with that said, you have meaningful control of the house, and significant control as a party of the senate, and we watched something most any rational person would be in favor of, the ability to choose your own health care, and they cannot get it to a vote. i cannot wait to show you the clip with baucus. isn't the easiest thing for you to do -- would it be more useful

for you to fight with people in your own party who cannot get their ducks in the row. >> the republicans are using every conceivable stalling tactic to prevent that from happening. a few weeks ago, 50 and 60 republicans lined up and pretended they voted wrong, to drag it out. they wasted our time. america won't stand for that any more. >> thank you for your time today. these are not people trying to help the country. straight ahead, plugging into politics. the john insun story blown wide

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"the new york times" is doing digging into senator ensign's case. this has less to do with sex and more with crime from what i understand. >> originally when he admitted the affair back in june, it was a personal discretion, but now "the new york times" is reporting the senator arranged for his mistress's husband to

have favor. he and mr. ensign were aware of the lobbying restriction but chose to ignore it. last night they talked about it. listen. >> senator, in those conversation, it was not explicit that he wanted him to be a lobbyist, and that's how most of them interpreted it. >> the former mistress and husband wanted an $8.5 settlement from him before the affair bim public, and there was negotiation, maybe $2 million instead. it doesn't end. when gop senator lindsay graham coming out and calling birthers

crazy. >> this is what the republican party has to do, and this is a good point. we have to see it's crazy. those that think the president was born somewhere other than hawaii is crazy. >> i love that. and one more for you. hero pilot making the news, and back in the air yesterday. the gop tried to recruit him for a 2010 congressional bid in his own town. he is a registered republican, and not interested in running. they have a second term democrat and they thought this guy might be good to bring in. >> we need somebody -- well, i should hold my tongue. now the wyden plan put to death before being brought to a vote at 1:00 in the morning. and you wonder why our

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>> welcome back to the "morning meeting." that, of course, the president of the united states, barack obama going for the gold this morning. we will know if chicago will end up as the host of the 2016 summer games, as chuck todd pointed out, he had a visit with mcchrystal while olympic land gives him cover from the republican criticism for the trip. and the senate finance committee working early into this morning, passing an amendment that includes a quisi public option. >> and unemployment climbing to a 26-year high. 9.8%. just ahead, we will speak to one

of the president's top economic advisers. the opening bell sounding on wall street. stocks starting lower after yet another disa.ippointing jobs number. first, now further coverage of america's ability to actually release competition in choice to so many outdated businesses, and again the free choice amendment held hostage in the senate finance committee. the crisis may be over, but the hostage free choice amendment did not survive. it was taken up on day-eight of the markup. it happened today. in case you don't know what has been happening with that amendment. wyden's amendment would give all of us the option to buy our insurance from different companies. the national exchanges you heard the president talk about that, and those are for people that do not have employer-based health care. each day it was passed over and held hostage in a sense, and giving the opponents to fire

against it. and boy did they ever fire against it. the lobbying groups there. and if there is choice and companies don't have health care any more, they stop making money. unions, they get more members if they negotiate better health care benefits, and if everybody gets health care benefits, the unions lose power and they don't want us to have choice. and then the round table, the folks behind the exemption from the antitrust prosecutions in health insurance, and then we don't have to worry about any kind of business competition. forget socialists. sounds like communism to me.

do you think the senators on the finance committee heard what they had to say? you bet. here is chairman max baucus. >> i cannot think of somebody so opposed by both. and there must be some wisdom if they are both opposed, and you have done a lot, senator, but i don't think this amendment is really the right thing to do. >> and there is wisdom there, which is that as long as you send money to politicians they will perpetuated your outdated business or data at the expense of everybody else, which is wise. and let's go to mike viqueira to find out what happened in the middle of the night. >> hi, dylan. it was basically the last thing the committee did after the extended markup, after eight or nine days, and they put it on there last. wyden had been negotiating with labor and tried to make it more

palpable to them. and this was a watered down version of what wyden wanted to do. he wanted to give people a choice, if you were not eligible for the exchange, if you received employer-based benefits, then those employers would be required to offer you two choices and provide you with vouchers to get into the exchange and had a number of other provisions. in the end, wyden feels as though he got the rug pulled out from under him. very upset. many people think the white house and leadership had their fingers in this thing, and other amendment disallowed over the last week and a half. that's what happened on several accounts. he feels as though he did get the rug pulled out from under him on a technicality. and there would have been an opportunity for the chairman would have been overruled on that, but the feeling was, particularly in the wyden camp they are protecting members from what would have been a difficult

vote. so it was ruled out of order by the cbo. the wyden camp says that's nonsense. the budget office scored, and it evaluated how much it would cost and save in the various financial benefits and detriments that go along with it. and baucus said it had not been scored and wyden said it was scored two weeks ago. and the next consideration is if wyden should put it on the floor. >> yeah, i know it's totally nuts, but actually competition it drives prices down. nuts! former white house aide, specializing in economic health care policies, and author of a tremendous book, i recommend you read it "the tyranny of bad ideas," and think about this at a time when congress is

supporting outdated financial systems and health care systems with special influence against all tax players as we watch the unemployment rate explode higher. you wonder why? because congress refuses to update the systems. and the panel back. this is washington post white house reporter, and she is probably the best source and educated on wyden's choice amendment. matt, the tyranny of bad ideas. why on earth would politicians elected by americans and paid by americans out of their tax dollars choose not even to bother voting on allowing an updating as something as absurd as an outdated system? >> well, wyden's proposal would

basically let folks -- if there were not certain choices offered by the employers, it would let the employer just essentially give the cash to the employee that they would have spent on them and let that employee use that as a voucher in the new insurance exchanges, which they will have dozens and dozens of insurance choices. why we should say the 175 million people that get their health care from employers and it's shrinking, and the businesses themselves don't want to be in this any more. it's emblematic of the big ideas of the big business. >> and it's not even a mystery for that reason, ezra, quickly, big labor and business have control of congress until the american people come up with a way to start funneling their own way to bribe the politicians and

work for them instead? >> well, it gives a little chuckle, a little small chuckle for a second and says there has got to be some wisdom in that. i thought that was a telling instance in how this debate is going forth. employers get a lot of power over their employees, because they control their health care. unions get a lot of bargaining power because they say we are the ones that will get you health care. they see keep it the way it is, keep it this way. >> yeah, keep us in power. >> yeah, and he says there has to be some wisdom in it, yeah, and there is, for them. but that is not the only question? >> yeah, matt, walk us through your analysis of why -- i laugh because it strikes me, and it's funny to me, i'm sorry. why is this idea so dead? >> business, especially led by

the human resources chiefs that run the empires of the companies like to have the big ben afits empires that they run, and then we move beyond being locked into the employer. and we are the only country in the world, the only wealthy nation that ties health insurance to your job. that's bad for business. it's bad for entrepreneurship. have you a lot of folks that don't start businesses because if they have preexisting conditions in their family they cannot afford to go outside the employer setting. that was the big break-through idea that sadly, business business and turns out the big unions are resisting. >> meanwhile, unemployment is at a 26-year record, and the politicians are supporting this

broken system. >> if we were in america, to do this all over again, and start from scratch, we probably -- we may not have an employer-based system today. if we were to start all over from scratch. and the country realized if they are going to enact health care reform that works they have to build upon their country's systems, and organizations and make it work a lot better. >> members of this committee on both sides of the aisle understand the importance of choice and competition. choice is what generates competition, and competition holds down health care costs for our people. but yet we have stripped this bill, colleagues, of choice and competition. a typical american who works for

a mid-sized company, if they are getting hammered by their insurer, they are stuck. >> ezra, why are our politicians, and what does it say about america that we are such wussys where we can't have a makeover in the banking system or health care systems? >> what senator baucus, it's interesting. he said if we could do it all over again, we sure would not use my bill. and he is right. but what others have been trying to offer is a bridge between a system that doesn't work and one that does. and there is a difference. it's one that has been underplayed in the debate between a health care expansion where we put more money into the system so it reaches more people and a health care reform. one of the things about wyden's

plan is that it's a reform. it moves you towards a different system. if we think this does not work, we change it. the one where we funnel money to people that don't have it now and put them in a closed off space so they can get insurance in the system, but for awful us, the bulk of us, we don't change it at all, that's an expansion. it won't hold down the cost long term, because the problem is the system is inefficient and cost too much money and then we will not change it and spend more money, and you are making it less cruel and covering more money, but you are not reforming it. >> the brief if we continue down the road and refuse to update so many of the outdated systems that hold us hostage at this point? >> if we don't move past the employer, that's bad for business. it's bad for workers and families, because it's going to

be insecure. and ceos at big companies, they will tell you they don't want to be at the center of the welfare state, and so the fact that businesses as a whole cannot make the shift to support the option so people can choose outside the employer set something crazy. >> let me read the senator's statement from this morning. we will take a break. and christina is patiently waiting for the conversation on the jobs market. to wrap things up is the latest from the senator's office. matt, thank you, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, even if it's by way of television connections. lots more to come here at the "morning meeting." unemployment rising to 9.8%, the number much worse than expected.

you know what happens when you keep the outdated systems in a country claiming to that capitalists, nobody can find a job! how many washes did it take cheer brightclean to get this from dingy to bright? one might be surprised. twelve. no. uh, excuse me! four? one... would think it would take that many washes. ten? man & woman: okay, we got it this time. yes? it's six. seven. why? why is... one-derfully bright, hmm? oh, one... yes, yes! hundred. cheer brightclean.

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well, new employment numbers just come out the first friday of every month, and we got them today. employment stands 9.8%, the worse since june of 1983. and the labor department saying 263,000 people lost their job last month, and much worse than had been expected. 15 million americans are out of work. the unemployment rate now at 17%. since the recession began nearly

two years ago, more than 7 million jobs have been splashed and the unemployment rate doubled and continues to rise. right now on capitol hill, lawmakers on the joint economic committee getting a briefing on the new numbers from the commissioner of labor statistics. with us to talk about the report and the economy at large, christina lomar, and it's a measure to have you back here. how do you interpret the data? >> well, i think you characterized it very well. it's obviously disappointing. we had, like the market, been hoping and expecting to see moderating job loss. and we did see, as you pointed out, 263,000 people lost their jobs this month. one of the things that we would emphasize is this is how real recoveries happen. they happen in fits and starts. and this is unquestionable a fit. and there is just no way around that. i think one of the things that we are trying to do is to keep our eye on the long-run trend.

if you think about back in january, we were losing on average -- or back in the first quarter we were losing 600,000 jobs a month. this quarter, even with today's number we are losing 250,000 jobs. that's not good. we want to add jobs, but it's a movement in the right direction. >> what strikes me is this, for capitalism to work as a principle, you need to originate and start smallstrategy, new york stock exchange, et cetera. you need originate and then a culture and rules that force adaptation so everybody is forced to update whatever it is they are doing to whatever the contemporary technology and practices of the day are. it has struck me since i've been around the political coverage that whether it was watching the banking system and the fact the senate agriculture committee plans no reform for derivative directives a year ago no reform there or watching last night, the lack of even a willingness

to vote on choice and reform in something like health care that our congress is a meaningful part of the problem because they refuse to even entertain legislation that will force our outdated businesses, banks and health insurance companies to update themselves. until that happens you're not going to have jobs. >> so i think you're preaching to the whir here in the sense that, you know, what the president has been saying is that to make this economy work gwynne we need to do things like health care reform, financial regulatory reform. i couldn't agree more. your point about small businesses, you know, the council of economic advisers did a report about how crucial health care reform is for small businesses, that they are the people that are really losers in the current system. and it is so important that we get a good bill out because it is going to be something we think helps small businesses to compete. >> last question for you if we're on the same page, we need origination and small business and exit strategies and strict rules to enforce adaptation of business and, yet, congress seems to be doing the exact

opposite which is protecting outdated systems. what can you and what can the white house do to apply more pressure to the u.s. congress to force them legitimately to be more adegree of certaintyive in updating whether it's derivatives regulation or things like choice, they wouldn't vote on senator wyden's amendment at 1:00 in the morning. it's crazy. >> i think we have to keep plugging away working with them. i'm a great believer in the importance of information. that's one of the reasons why the ca tries to do is get congress and the american people the facts that will help them to know these things are good for the economy and we're just going to have to keep working at it because it's so important for everybody. >> do you look sometimes and shake your head, have they lost their mind? you probably couldn't answer that question but i do that. you have a good day. i won't put you in a bad spot. thank you, dr. romer. >> good to talk with you. >> you as well. the next story with toure is david letterman and the extortion plot. the late show host coming clean

with his relationships with a female staff member and toure will tell us what we need to know after this. access to favorite courses chef's meal with pommes frites perhaps a night at the theater with extra special seats additional hotel night, our treat

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tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to the break room we go. the big news today, david letterman, extortion, sex, good for ratings. be lots on of web traffic and a lot of this is great for the chat rooms and for the web sites. >> for the chat rooms but not so much for dave but he'll survive. letterman recommended yesterday, quote, i have had sex with women who worked with me on this show and had to do it after a cbs news producer demanded $2 million or he would write a screenplay on what is going on. letterman sent him a $2 million check.

the man was charged with grand larce larceny. >> i'm a big dave letteredman fan so i have a bias here. >> me, too. >> every part of it can get you irritated, right? one of our partners on the show -- we need better rules who can sleep with who anyway at the workplace, clearly, right? >> who can sleep with who at the workplace would be a no. >> that's no but it depends on the company and, for that matter in david letterman's case, no way he could be doing that, i understand. but at the same time --." plyboy enterprises? >> wwf, no problem. i don't know. the other factor, though, is the extortion. in other words, if you were to look through the character traits here, whether it's obvious concern about mr. letterman's behavior on ethical and moral level and criminal behavior from the person who is extorting. was it -- who did this?

>> the guy at "48 hours" we're told and i mean generally you can't trust producers, that's what i've learned working in tv. >> well, you know, certainly not that one. thank you, toure. you're going to have very bad graphics and elements from now on, i'm sure. still ahead here on the "morning meeting," free choice killed in the senate. now could some sort of public option still survive? senator maria cantwell with her own ideas. a little federalism. drive it back down to the states. the public option alternative on a state level. is that a possibility? we'll have the conversation. you've only got so many hours in a day to get your five servings of vegetables. consider this... the express route. v8. what's your number? vo: yowalmart checks other for sstores' pricesoney. and they'll match any advertised price. so instead of searching for "deals" out there...

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cantwell joining the meeting at this hour. the death of free choice. wyden amendment killed without any vote at all. >> choice is what generates competition and competition holds down health care costs for our people. but, yet, we have stripped this bill, colleagues, of choice and competition. >> well, what happened? and is there any hope for choice for the 305 million americans in this country who would benefit from it, let alone the 175 million directly who would do it. president obama now on his way home after making his push to bring the 2016 to chicago. we will find out in two hours if the gold is coming to america or headed to rio. unemployment rate jumping yet again. desperate times calling for desperate measures. creative ways people are coping with these tough economic times. it's 10:00 a.m. pull up a chair. and join the "morning meeting."

well, it's not a public option and it's certainly not free choice but may be as close as america is going to get from the senate finance committee. cantwell's proposal passed last night. senator wyden's amendment never came to a vote. kelly o'donnell is live on capitol hill. >> good to see you again, dylan. what we saw at the final push in this finance committee meeting after exhausting days for senators and certainly people following it closely who are really concerned about the issues, when you dig down in the final push, what they tried to do is look for ways to reduce penalties for things like if you're required to have insurance and you fail to do so, there was originally talk of a penalty as much as $3,800 for a family. then it dropped to $1,950 and now it's just $750 per adult in

family still a penalty but more affordable. also, there has been attempts to try to make it less of a tax, if you have one of the fancier plans and they were hoping to try to reduce pressure on seniors, for example, or those who work for companies that provide more expensive kinds of insurance plans to avoid some of the tax. that is a lot of the knitty grifty. you referred to something that is like a public option. a lot of interest in this from what senator cantwell, a democrat in washington, had put forward. this was an idea that would allow states to individually negotiate rates with insurance aimed to protecting people who are earning, it's a fraction -- it's rather a mathematical formulation. senator cantwell can speak to the details. the idea there is to make insurance more affordable and to give some of the power back to the states. so different than the big public option we've been talking about for months, but a way for states

to do something. and, of course, republicans typically believe very strongly in states' rights so there was some sympathetic review from represents on this and change how things are done. a limited target audience but another way to change the system the way insurance is provided and something people will be watching very carefully. i know you have been a real advocate on the issue of free choice for those of us who work for corporations and get our insurance that way and it's been called the wyden free choice amendment. he's a democrat from oregon. he has been a fierce advocate for trying to open up the marketplace for the roughly 175 million americans who get their insurance from work. as you know, he really suffered a defeat. he tried mightily to negotiate behind the scenes and, as you pointed out, his amendment simply was not brought up and part of the argument has been those against it say business and unions that provide insurance would change how they negotiate for that.

they won know exactly how many people they would be buying for. they want to keep that relationship between employer and insurance, and between union member and insurance. that was big, big opposition and so the desires for choice fell to the wayside when you put the forces of both labor and management, big corporations that just didn't want to see that change. so a lot has been done overnight and we're digesting it all and trying to figure it out but some significant things that came out of this. >> thank you, kelly. joining is washington senator maria cantwell the one who introduced the successful amendment to what she calls is a compliment to the health care reform. also with us is ezra klein of. >> i want clout for the american people and what this does is give you and i and other people a chance to have some of the population have clout when

negotiating with insurance companies. they've seen a 400% profit in the last ten years and unless we give somebody the ability to go in and negotiate those rates down, we're going to continue to see high premiums. and this at least takes 75% of the uninsured and let's states negotiate on their behalf. >> we understand that for sure which is why i think, at least myself and i think ezra and some others would be so aggressively in favor of getting rid of the antitrust exemption for insurance and allowing all of us to choose our health care which i recognize no one else seems to want to do. why is it that there's so much resistance to actually allowing human beings in this country the option to control their own health care no matter whether they are rich, poor, employed or unnoied, what never it maybe? why don't we want to release actual competition and why is our congress so willing to protect unions and employers from having to deal with anything like this? >> dylan, it's all about competition and i know you speak out a lot about the frustration

of the american people, whether it's the big banks or credit card companies. they want to know whose side you're on. and what we need to show to them we are willing to take on these interests and major sure you have negotiating power to drive down the cost of insurance. if we don't do that, we're not going to be successful in reforming health care. >> ezra? >> i like your amendment a lot and thinks it makes a lot of sense. my question is just about the population that even in the bills as they are, the folks between 133% of poverty and 200% do get pretty good subsidies and pretty well taken care of. the folks between 250% and 400% of poverty who seem out in the cold a bit. i'm wondering why you didn't focus on them or bring them into it. >> i wanted to get a foothold that at least my colleagues were willing to say that, yes, negotiating power on behalf of some segment of the american public will drive down insurance costs. in our state, we've seen 30% to 40% savings by allowing our state to negotiate with the

individual providers. if we can show that, it's at least a start and i'd like to see republican governors tell me that they don't want to negotiate on behalf of their citizens and helping them get more affordable insurance. >> ann? >> senator cantwell, i want to ask you a bigger picture question. what kind of feedback have you gotten from the white house our amendment and how you view senator baucus' leadership during this whole lengthy markup process? >> well, i heard from the president yesterday and, basically, he thought the amendment was a constructive part of the process and so i appreciate the white house's effort. you know, max baucus is a marathon runner and we have since january at least two or three meetings a day on this issue. i haven't been to every one of them, but i guarantee you he has. he has dedicated a lot of time to this but now we're moving beyond the finance committee into a broader audience of all of my colleagues and i guarantee

you the bill will continue to change. >> you said earlier as a representative of the people of america would be in favor of any principle that would encourage competition and, yet, we watch and it's not under your watch but i'm curious how you look at the refusal to take up some of the anti-competitive practices that are directly tied to either too big to fail issues or, in this case, the sherman antitrust exemption provided to the health insurance companies and all of the other protection from competition. file we talk competition and yet businesses are explicitly using the government to basically function like communists except in the government you get to be rich and sit on your boat and send money to the government and collect your fees. >> this is a a great frustration of the american people right now. and they want to know where is teddy roosevelt, where is the person that will come in and say, no, big is not going to control everything and we are going to give some clout to the american people and we are going help them in this debate. i think you're going to see more of that as we move forward. i would have supported senator

wyden's amendment. i think this issue of port ability of taking your insurance from one employer to another is important to america. we see people transitioning in jobs and everything else. so we're going to have to keep fighting these battles. >> for those in america tired of watching large businesses use the government to protect themselves from having to actually compete like the rest of us do, what can they do to demand everybody has to compete? >> well, i think that when we move to the floor, these amendments will come up and, obviously, i'd like to see more competition as ezra says, of a broader population so i'm sure that issue will come up on the floor. i'm sure senator wyden's choice will come up. and this is about having the ability for americans right now as they've only seen their wages go up very small fractions to make sure that they are not, without health insurance, without big companies control 94% of the market and make huge profits. >> not to mention the congress refusing to allow an adaptation inside of a natural capitalism

instead of perpetuating whether it's failed banks or protected health insurance companies, terrible for job creation as we can see in the data today. you want to say something? >> no. dylan, i think your show has captured this issue or else i wouldn't have gotten up after four hours sleep to talk about that. >> i appreciate that and recognize that. thank you, senator. we appreciate the work you do. monica? >> talk olympics. a couple of hours away from the big decision on the 2016 madrid summer olympics. you see the tape. president obama and the first lady made a passionate pitch for their hometown of chicago to host the games. the president saying the windy city is the perfect location for the olympics. >> it's a bustling metropolis with the warmth of a small town. where the world already comes together every day to live and work and reach for a dream. that's not just the american

dream. that is the olympic spirit. it's the essence of the plik spirit. and that is why we see so much of ourselves in these games. that's why we want them in chicago. >> right now, the obamas are aboard air force one heading back to washington. you saw the first lady and oprah joining in lobbying in copenhagen with the president. the top commander in afghanistan met with president obama this morning on air force one after the president concluded making the olympics presentation. general mcchrystal has recommended sending up to 40,000 more troops and he also says he would not support a scaled-back effort to focus solely on al qaeda. at the same time a face-to-face meeting between mcchrystal and senate lawmakers has been delayed. democrats voted down a gop attempt to compel the general to testify. tennessee officials are concerned now for the safety of this infant who has been kidnapped. a little baby boy snatched from his home on tuesday just four

days after he was born. the boy's mother says that she was attacked by a heavyhet white woman with blond hair who she says took her baby. swine flu vaccinations will available starting next week about 600,000 dozes will be distributed. more states will get shipments later in the week. the cdc reports through the end of august, 100 pregnant women had to be hospitalized in icus because of the swine flu and 28 of those 100 died. the director of the cdc calls those numbers upsetting. no question about that. a lot of people will talk about that this weekend. >> thank you. unemployment numbers reaching 9.8% now. what does that mean for the recovery in america? it is evidence that our congress continues to protect outdated systems at the expense of our economy's ability to create jobs? and if there are no jobs, is there no second term for this president?

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the latest report on our labor market was out this morning confirming what many economists and for that matter all of us have been fearing. we're continuing to lose jobs. monica, by a faster pace than anybody had forecast for this point in the year. >> yeah, exactly. here is the staggering number today. 15 million americans now out of a job. the labor department says the unemployment rate climbed to 9.8% last month, a new 26-year high. 263,000 people lost their jobs. more than 7 million jobs have been slashed since this recession began back in december of 2007. the last hour, in case you missed it, dylan spoke with christina romer, chair of the

council of economic advisers. >> one of the things that we're trying to do is keep our eye on the long-run trend and if you think about back in january, we were losing on average -- or back in the first quarter we were losing about 600,000 jobs a month. this quarter, even with today's number, we're losing about 250,000 jobs. that's not good. we want to be adding jobs. michael moore's latest movie opens in wide release this weekend and he goes after wall street and washington. >> we got an election year coming up this coming year for congress. every congress person is up for re-election. i would demand of each of them to know what this re doing to support bills that are already before the legislature, marcy capter from toledo has one to remove money from our political system. >> they are expect the unemployment rate to keep climbing as we head into the new

year. >> a senior economist is one of our guest and ann cornblue and beat reporter, ezra klein. heather, welcome to the program. it seems to have a economy adapting and creating jobs. whether it's in banking or health insurance. i don't see any surprising we are losing jobs. >> i think the issue right now we've inherited this administration inherited a recession that's very deep and that we need to be doing more to make sure we are getting people back to work. he. we have plunked a lot of money into the recovery act and the banks have still to come in spending those funds. a bill before congress right now to make sure the long-term unemployed when which are record numbers are getting benefits. >> if we don't update the systems, are we not just

throwing good money after bad? i'll let you answer this after vice president biden offering some comments himself on jobs right here. take a listen. >> talk about a middle class meeting and discuss our fall plans in the middle class tax force, as we've said before, was designed to make sure that everyone who aspirs to the middle class has a chance to get in there and stay in there. our ultimate goal here is what we set out in day one that is that the middle class measure our success in four years and middle class growing and while we worked hard toward that goal, today, we learned we still have a whole lot more work to do, a long way to go before we get there. we just learned that unemployment fell by 263,000 jobs last month. and the unemployment rate ticked up .1 of 1%. and now it's true that this reflects an improvement of overall things based on the results of our policy, the first quarter of this year, we were losing jobs at an average

700,000 jobs per month, month after month. this week, the loss was 250,000 jobs per month. two-thirds less. but we also know all along that the recovery was going to take a long time. we inherited an awful lot of baggage and we knew the recovery would come in fits and starts, and that job creation would be the last element to come into play. those were the realities we inherited and those are the realities we know and those are the realities we acknowledge. but those facts and those realities aren't good enough for president obama and they aren't good enough for me. we don't think that less bad is good. less bad is not our measure of success. one job lost is one job too many and it's still too much pain. there's still too many hard working americans without a paycheck. still too many families struggling to get by and while

the fears of depression have been replaced by forecast of recovery, the kind of recovery the president and i working to create will not have been achieved and as christy was saying a moment ago, until we're standing here announcing substantial positive numbers of positive growth rate in jobs. that's why the recovery act, which by some estimates, is already saved and created a million jobs and such a vital part of that economic plan. combined with our financial rescue plan, our housing plan, our small business plan and all of the other efforts, we are working hard on every front to turn this economy around. as bad as things are, they would be far worse without the recovery plan or these other efforts. it's why we've worked hard to accelerate the recovery spending and getting money out on schedule and it's why we announced yesterday nine ambitious goals for the recovery act to perform between now and

december 31st. today's tough news is a reminder, though, that as if any was needed, how critical this work is in making a recovery act work and why. as i told the sabt assembled yesterday, those efforts need to be redoubled in the weeks ahead. let me be clear about one thing. today's bad news does not change my confidence in the fact that we are going to recover. we will be producing jobs. the american economy and the job engine is going to be created and moving once again. and i believe we're doing the right things to move things in the right direction and the determination and creativity of the american people, combined with our determination to stay the course on this recovery are what is going to produce the ultimate result of a growing and vibrant economy, which brings me to the meeting that we're having a today. we're working with the task force to lay a new foundation

for economic growth, a future, predicated on good education, high quality health care and clean energy innovation. that future that doesn't leave the middle class behind. we are committed, as we go -- there will be peaks and valleys in this process. this is not a straight line to recover. but we are recovering. we will recover and we're determined that when we do, the middle class is a better position coming out of this than when it went into this great recession. so i thank you all very much for tag the time to come in and we're going to get about our work here. thank you. >> again, ezra, rhetoric once again from the white house. this time from the vice president and, yet, the congress seems quite able to perpetuate a lot of outdated systems if we don't adapt you don't have capitalism and you don't have job creation. >> i think something to that.

i do think in the short term what they are scared of and i thought it was interesting biden made a comment about shapes recovery. they want a quick recovery. a lot of economists are predicting it looks like more a nike swoosh and sharp fall and slow come back up and they are worried about that. the thing that worries is not in the short term but people getting so hung up on deficits. right now it's costing us a lot more money to have a reduced productivity growth and gdp for a long period of time than refrain from adding more to america's long-term deficit. >> heather, at what point do they have to stop subsidizing failed businesses like the banks and go to unemployment? at what point does taxpayer money get stopped doled out and they say build us a park? >> i think that's part of what the recovery act was trying to do is put money out there to get people back to work to do those kinds of projects. i think that one key concern here is that we are going to need, i think as ezra said, we

need short-term deficits to keep money flowing to get people back to work. fiscal policy is our only hope because we remain at the end of the line in terms of monetary policy. >> you're on a collision course between the u.s. currency down over the past three months because it's absorbed all of the banking risk and further spending to create jobs. >> but that lower currency may, in fact, help u.s. manufacturing. a lower dollar means our exports are cheaper. >> i'm familiar but a point when you're carrying a few extra trillion dollars in your currency it's worthless and becomes a problem. thank you very much. we are starting something new here. the daily spitball fooit in washington, d.c. and the first thing we're -- not going to do it right now. i will do it shortly. a health insurance ceo lives here. this year he'll make $57,000 an hour. another family used to live here

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president optimistic that talks with iran going in the right direction after talks in geneva to convince iran to ship much of its enriched uranium to other countries and let the council see it. where do we go from here, chuck? >> look. the president and the entire team that was in geneva appear to be cautiously optimistic. take a listen to the president yesterday about what happened. >> going forward, we expect to

see swift action. we're committed to serious and meaningful gating but not interested in talking for the sake of talking. if iran does not take steps in the near future to live up to its obligations then the united states will not continue to negotiate indefinitely. and we are prepared to move towards increased pressure. >> now, dylan, what we're going to have to look at is what is going to happen over the next four weeks. they have pledged to sit down and have another round of talks that is p-5, plus 1 and iran, sit down and have another round of talks before before the end of october and, in the meantime, it's expected that the international atomic agency, an arm of the united nations, will get this unfettered access. so it's sort of a we're now in the trust but verified stage of whether something was truly accomplished. iran made some pledges and now they have the next few weeks to follow through on it. >> chuck, thank you very much. the president tries to push these negotiations forward, new word that the rest of the world

not necessarily on board. according to a new study, america's global standing declining dramatically over the past ten years and while the president is widely popular, its policies or the u.s.' policies are not. dr. henry now, one of 20 political scientists would worked on the study for a year and participated in the study but does not necessarily agree with its conclusion. he is now a professor of political science of international affairs at george washington university and there is anne cornblue as you can see and ezra klein, a reporter at "the washington post." what did the study find and why do you disagree with it? >> well, it documented a lot of unhappiness about the united states and the world. the problem is that we're not sure exactly what that unhappiness is about. it could also be about conditions in foreign countries of themselves, unhappiness with their own governments and unhappiness with ethnic divisions in various countries and regions of the world and unhappiness generally with unjust international system.

so the polls, unfortunately, don't tell us what this specifically what the unhappiness is about. i think our sense was maybe the report exaggerated, to some extent, the degree of bad feeling about the united states and the world. >> how much of a policy variable is this for the president and as he and a half gaits the list of issues we all know? how relevant is the u.s. standing in the optics of the u.s. to the rest of the world? >> it's very important. it's somewhat important in the context of american foreign policy. obviously, other tools are actually important. military and economic power, for example. but it's also important domestically. we find that this question of how u.s. foreign policy is doing in the world is often a partisan issue domestically in the united states. the report showed that when a democrat is in office, republican poll respondents become much more dissatisfied with american foreign policy and the reverse happens when a

republican is in the presidency. so there's a lot of partisan factors influencing the perceptions of u.s. standing inside the united states. >> anne, how important variable is the pr campaign that is the united states of america, to the president and the white house at this point? >> very important. the study dovetails what the president has been saying since he was a candidate which he would be able to bring the diplomacy back to the united states. the trip he took the last couple of days is extending his global popularity. the study took place during some of the years anyway of the bush administration, if i'm not mistaken, so that this administration is hoping that they can reverse course around the world and he can bring some of that popularity back to the united states and that he can actually show he is willing to negotiate. what we're seeing with iran this is a real departure from the bush years and sitting down with the iranians.

maybe it won't work in the end but maybe the administration will be able to make the case they tried and if it tails, they were talking. this is probably one of the biggest breaks that the obama administration hopes to make from the bush era is demonstrating they are part that they are engaging with the world again. >> professor, how much of the popularity or unpopularity of the u.s. is seen through the eyes of this particular survey is tied to u.s. military policy in the middle east? >> some of, obviously, is. the real question is whether or not this is all more optics than substance. president obama -- there has been a bump, a bounce, you could say, in public opinion abroad after the election of president obama. but there continues to be serious dissatisfaction with american policies, which interesting enough have not changed that much in many parts of the world. so there's a question as to how much the president can do simply with goodwill or simply with rhetoric and, of course, we will see over the next several

months, especially in the case of iran that anne mentions, we'll see whether or not in fact, some of this pays off. there has been very little payoff so far in terms of support for american policies. >> ezra, what is your sense? is the president a pr person trying to put lipstick on a pig that is the impression of the u.s. around the world or is he a policymaker who actually will attempt to alter policies that, as yet, have not been changes? >> i think he'll attempt to alter policies but it's very hard. one thing i would be curious to hear the professor answer, is it a matter of theory? isn't it expected the u.s. will become much less popular than 30 years ago? no super power and i do wonder how popular our country can really be under that scenario. it becomes very easy for other countries to hate us, to feel sided by us and to put their own problems on us. it seems to be such an impression of american power that it seems hard to escape the flip side in public opinion. >> you make a very good point

and it was actually one of our concerns about the conclusions of the report. and that is the fact that other countries are, you know, not as -- actually, i'm sorry. i've lost my train of thought. but other -- we don't know. the point is we don't know what people would think about other countries in this kind of a dominant position. in other words, the polls don't help us understand whether they would be happier with the european doing some of these things in their region or with the japan. >> or china. >> or china. and this is a real problem because i think if you look at what america provides around the world in terms of security and in terms of markets, by the way, for prosperity, it does a lot more of that than we could probably expect from other countries. >> right. >> so you see in some regions like asia, for example, you see a much better -- a portrait of american policy than do you in

other parts of the world because they depend heavily on american security and access to american markets. >> professor, thank you very much. monica? a sign of hope in the midst of atrophy. rescuers pulled two women alive from a collapsed college in indonesia. this is two days now after that powerful earthquake rocked the western part of the country. one of the survivors even high fived her rescuers, can you imagine? as they carried her to safety. the government says nearly 3,000 people may still be trapped under the rubble after wednesday's 7.6 quake toppled thousands of buildings on sumatra island. 715 people right now are confirmed dead there. is a moi samoa. supplies are being brought to the people who survived the deadly tsunami there. rescuers found more bodies and most appear to have drowned and some bodies are still pulled from the sea. a shocking confession from late night host david letterman on the late show last night. he said a cbs news producer has

been arrested for allegedly trying to extort $2 million from him. letterman confessed to having a sexual relationship with women who work on his show. nbc jeff rossen has the details on the vegs investigation and last night's bombshell announcement. not only people heard about it outside but i'm sure in that studio at that moment. >> when you watch the announcement it seems like the studio audience didn't know if he was joking or not. they kept laughing. have you a boss and in this case the boss is david letterman having sexual relationships with women who worked for him. the bigger story today will be this extortion plot that david letterman says he was involved in and it is a cbs news producer. a producer for the cbs news magazine "48 hours." name is robert j. halderman and arrested by the nypd.

a pack in the back seat of letterman's car and joking about it during the announcement saying he usually doesn't get packages there. opens it up and the cbs news producer is claiming i'm making a screen play about the terrible things you've done and here is all of the proof of the terrible things you've done. letterman goes through it and they set up a sting operation with the manhattan's d.a. office and then halderman was arrested. here is some of the announcement from letterman show last night. >> the creepy stuff was that i have had sex with women who work for me on this show. now, my response to that is, yes, i have. and would it be embarrassing if it were made public? perhaps, it would. perhaps, it would. especially for the women. >> and, of course, he jokes even through that. something very serious in his life. as you know, he was married a short time ago. he has a 5-year-old son harry. it's unclear when the sexual relationships took place and who the women were but letterman

said if they want to come forward and say who they are, its their prerogative. 11:30 news conference scheduled in manhattan d.a. today so we should learn more about it. >> has cbs put a comment out on? t? >> they are standing by what letterman said and said his comments speak for themselves on the broadcast last my but we should learn about the time line how it all happened a conference less than an hour from now. >> the other thing he said was i hope to protect my family but i also hope to protect my job. >> my job. remember, he's a boss. i mean, look. sexual relationships do happen in the workplace but he is david letterman and the boss of these women. not only the boss but it's his show and unclear how that will fit in and what the relationship is between the cbs news producer and maybe one or more than one of these women and how he got the proof anyway. a lot of questions. >> thanks so much. >> sure. "morning meeting" follow-up. remember that 72-year-old texas

grandmother who was tasered by the police officer and dash cam video captured the woman stuck by the stun gun during a traffic stop in may. she has now been offered a settlement. $40,000 to compensate her for her pain, medical expenses and humiliation. however she is still charged with resisting arrest. in less than an hour the big news is international olympic committee will begin voting who host the 2016 olympics. they heard pitches from president obama and first lady michelle obama and rio and tokyo and madrid. chicago presentation focused on the people and the impact the event could have there. president obama and his wife both speaking in personal terms. the president describing chicago as the place where he, quote, finally found a home after years of moving. rio highlighted its spectacular scenery and brazil's president drove home the argument that rio would be a new frontier for the olympics. the games would be the first to

be held in south america and silva, the leader of brazil telling the ioc it is time to light the olympic torch in their country. they will vote in a secret ballot electronically and set to start at 11:00 a.m. eastern time and the cities will be eliminated one by one until one secures the majority. live pictures from rio and chicago. those two cities believed to be the top contenders right now. joining us on the money is msnbc contributor jim warren in chicago. jim, what is the buzz out in chicago and are you hearing anything through the rumor mill from copenhagen? >> well, i mean, the buzz is a big crowd down at the daley center. having watched the final presentation of chicago a few hours ago with your peter alexander, i was a little bit taken back by sort of the emotionally flat nature of the chicago presentation. >> really? >> and just talking to a couple of observers who were there on

the scene, they felt that both the rio and the madrid presentations were superior. i mean, if you looked at the chicago presentation, mayor daley, i thought, was very, very flat and somber. same thing with pat ryan, the businessman who is heading the bid, and for those doubting thomas', i think if chicago gets it, they should probably knock on wood that president obama showed up because i thought, by far, he was the most effective of the chicago presenters, especially -- i'm sorry, monica. >> i was just going to say, jim, it's interesting you're saying that because in some of the reports coming out, they are noting, reporters who were there are noting that rio and chicago's presentations were particularly in passion. they do as you do point to the president and the first lady as they talked about their childhood and they talk about that being very emotional. >> no. i just disagree. there were a couple of things i found a little bit odd that michelle obama was talking

about, sitting on the lap of her father, watching carl lewis, the great olympian. you just do the math. michelle obama was an undergraduate at princeton when carl lewis was, you know, at the 1984 games. but much more relevant was the question and answer period. the 15-minute question and answer period after the formal presentation and a simple question to the chicago committee about what were willing legacy of these games be was really fought by whoever answered it. so much so, president obama asked to speak to the same question i think in a much, much more effective job of simply saying why this would be a good idea. >> interesting. have to see if the president pulled it out. we're looking at live pictures there from chicago. jim warren, thanks so much. >> pleasure. back to you, dylan. thank you, monica. the unemployment rate jumping again. trend or talker desperate times call for desperate measures. creative ways, intelligent and

capable people are coping with these tough economic times.

well, is it a trend in this country or a talk to pass the water cooler. see whether the stories everybody is talking about is a larger trend. weighing in is anne kornbult and ezra klein from the lovely "the washington post." our topic follows on unemployment rate climbing to a 26-year high and desperate times and desperate measures. what people do when times are tough and the recession has forced many of us to change our spending habits but some folks are ditching the dollar completely and instead some communities and small businesses relying exclusively on bartering to meet their daily needs. one resident of oregon telling the huffington post that

bartering has become the norm there with people trading everything from flower bulbs in return for seeds to shirt for a jacket and a place to sleep for help around the house. it's not just a small community. more americans getting involved in national bartering networks. i tech allows businesses to trade goods and businesses without cash increase in membership of 47% and before folks probably know they exist. one of civilization early economic systems seems to be make ago comeback and maybe the dollar's decline, ezra. >> i hope not. you know somebody will trade for you a blog post, dylan? >> what? >> nothing at all. >> that's a great barter. this next headline. sad and alarming like music. the recession not only affects the living but the dead now. from michigan to alabama some cities are too poor to lay the dead to rest. local budgets for buried

unclaimed bodies getting cut and more cash-strached families are leaving their loved ones at the morgue in the hands of the state. recently the state of illinois had to put 12. million back into its budget to handle burials for what was a growing crisis. anne? >> you know, in a time when people are delaying medical care and other luxuries, i guess no surprise it was coming to this. since we're coming up on halloween i guess it's kind of appropriately ghoulish. >> indeed, it is. to end on a high note. there are also unseen heroes in this recession. people sacrificing to take care of each other and ed pierce is among that group. a landlord who planned to live off the income of his two rental properties but when his tenants lost their jobs, pierce took a position in the photo department of a local walgreen's for $8.50 an hour rather than kick the two families to the street. the landlord with a heart of gold working to cover the families' expenses until they

are able to get back to their feet. trend or talk with the peculiar its of commerce these days? >> i think if we talk about them a lot, maybe he will become a trend. the take-away here after this. condensed soup, we don't boil it down, our chefs just add less water from the start. ♪ so many, many reasons ♪ it's so m'm! m'm! good! ♪ .

all right. we wrap up the "morning meeting" and the workweek for that matter with the take-away. senator ron wyden trying like heck to restore competition and choice in this country and couldn't even get it to a vote. here is senate finance chairman max baucus why that may be. >> i think of a member so posed by both business and labor. there must be some wisdom there if they are both aposed and i just think that -- you've done a lot, senator, but i don't think this amendment really is the right thing to do. >> what a chuckle. i mean, what could possibly be so wrong with going with the direct interest of massive businesses and labor unions, even if it completely blocks competition of any weight, any

kind or shape or form? anyway we know who chairman baucus works for. understand that, of course the labor unions would not like anybody to have choice because they lose their leverage to accumulate members and the employer system allows employers to control you by controlling your health care so they want to be held hostage as long as possible so they can milk you for a couple of bucks. good times! enjoy your weekend. check out "broken ideas" and chk out matt miller's op-ed in "the wall street journal." he gets it. we need to update so many outdated systems in this country and well, indeed, do so. right now tarks a break and pick up with "msnbc live" after the break. pothole:h no...your tire's all flat and junk. oh, did i do that? here, let me get my cellular out - call ya a wrecker. ...oh shoot...i got no phone

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