the city of chicago, having obtained the least number of votes will not participate in the next round. >> crushing disappointment. chicago loses the 2016 olympics to rio. a devastating blow to the windy city and to president obama. the president putting his prestige on the line, coming home empty-happened. how will this play out politically? plus -- >> 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.

>> it was a late night bombshell. david letterman revealed an alleged extortion plot against him and admitted to sex with staff members. we will bring you new details about the suspect and the woman at the center of the case. also, the john ensign affair, new allegations of ethical and criminal misconduct by the senator's tried to contain the damage from his affair with the wife of one of his aides. was another senator also involved in the coverup? all that plus the man who has been the talk of washington this week, a defiant democrat, congressman alan grayson. our live interview coming up. "the big picture" starts now. good afternoon, everybody, good afternoon, alex, i'm david schuster live in washington. >> hello to you, david, hello to you all out there i'm alex witt live in new york. tamron hall has the day off. >> live pictures now of what is arguably the longest flight that president obama has had since taking office, air force one just landed a few moments ago at a drews air force base, you can

see they are moving the stairs up. the president's tail end of that flight from copenhagen, an olympic stunner today, watching live pictures of the president arrive back home at andrews air force base. >> yeah, david, we know the president has had at least about 3:45 to digest this news. and for all of you, as we watch the door open and await the president to come out there, it was certainly was a last-minute presidential pitch, four years, millions of dollars in planning, in fact, $48 million total, but chicago, indeed, lost its chance to host the 2016 summer games, this to rio de janeiro. >> i have the honor to announce that the games of the 31st olympiad are awarded to the city of rio de janeiro.

>> you see it there the news sending rio into an uproar. nearly 50,000 people have gathered on rios's copacabana beach, screaming with excitement there the party is expected to go well into the night. of course, the president having just land there had at andrews air force base, back to the white house after his whirlwind trip from denmark. he will make a live statement and expect him to speak about the lost olympic bid. carry that live, set for 4 p.m. eastern time. here was the scene in chicago just a few hours ago. >> the city of chicago having obtained the least number of votes will not participate in the next round. >> that would be the announcement that left thousands of people gathered in chicago's daley center there in shocked silence. within seconds, people started high tailing it out of the plaza. the international olympic committee was eliminated hours after mr. obama made a personal

bid on the country's behalf t is unprecedented for an american president. not only the first president to personally lobby the ioc but also established the first-ever white house olympics office. in his pitch to the committee, president obama said awarding the summer games to chicago would make the world proud. >> the nation that has been shaped by people from around the world wants a chance to inspire it once more, to ignite the spirit of possibility at the heart of the olympic and paralympic movement n a new general railings, i urge to you choose america. and if you do, if we walk this path together, then i promise you this, the city of chicago and the united states of america will make the world proud. >> i never dreamed that the olympic flame might one daylight up live in my neighborhood. but today, i can dream.

and i am dreaming of an olympic and paralympic games in chicago that will light up lives and neighborhoods all across america and all across the world. >> those words you just heard uttered by the president and first lady while speaking in koppen hang, denmark. although the president has just deplaned there, valerie jarrett with him as well. the first lady standing by his side as well, coming down the plane's steps there. so, he said that he was disappointed but certainly very proud of chicago's bid upon hearing the disappointing news while on board air force one and watching television there. nbc news chief white house correspondent chuck todd is joining us live from the white house. and chuck, you and i spoke earlier, you probably have had a better chance to gauge the temperature of the white house at this point. how disappointed are they? >> reporter: you know, look, they are -- they are disappointed because there is a lot of chicagoans in this white house, you got to remember that so, there is a little bit of

that personal pride. there's -- you know, you put your political hat on here at the white house and they sit there and say, yeah this is a little bit -- they get this is a stomach punch today that this doesn't add to what is already truly a pretty tough couple of weeks for the president. frankly, a tough couple of months. you know, these guys would like a get a victory on something, whether it is health care. this, while not nearly as important as the economy, a iran, what's going on there i think that clearly there is a -- you know, just sort of a deflation, you can just see it in the eyes but you know, they are trying to make lemonade. take a listen to david axelrod earlier on our air. >> criticism is part of this job. if you can't take it you shouldn't take the job. but i am proud of this president for going to make the case for this country. i think this country can be proud of that. and again, we are disappoint it had didn't work out, but it was well worth the effort. i'm not worry about the politics

of it. any time you are going and making a case for the united states of america, you are doing the right thing. >> and alex, that was sort of the boxed-in position that they were in. a lot of folks in chicago were putting a lot of pressure on people like david axelrod, on valerie jarrett, begging the president go, feeling that if -- sensing that they needed to pull out every stop that they could, all the stops, all the cliches you can think of. so, there was a a lot of pressure. i think the way some of these chicago elite supplied that political pressure they probably regret today, considering the president went ahead and went and it still didn't happen. obviously, the president didn't want to be in a position where chicago didn't get it and he was sitting in the oval office today and watching it and wondering, geez, should i have gone? what is the calculation they made. politically, i think they think this is a bad one-day story and now got to go get a victory on health care. they feel like they are making cautious, optimistic progress on the iran front and of course,

the issue of afghanistan, you know earthquake the most important part of this trip may than 25-minnesota one-on-one meeting the president had with general mcchrystal. they need to establish that personal rapport. that was probably a very important 25 minutes the president spent answered couldn't have spent it unless he had gone over to copenhagen. that does take a little bit of the sting out of some of those criticism republicans were lavishing on him. all great points, relative to the olympics, monday morning quarterback, hoping it is tuesday pretty soon. chuck todd, thank thank you so much. coming up at the top of the hour, the president is expected to speak from the white house about chicago's lost olympic bid. we will have that live for you of course as soon as he starts. david? al lengths, the bigger picture, republicans argue this week the president should have stayed home to keep working on health care reform in washington and also, of course, keep working on the war in afghanistan from here. you can already hear the gloating in some of the republican offices in congress and certainly conservative talk radio who are declaring that the

world rejected president obama. so, how will this loss impact the president politically? how big an embarrassome it? is it a one-day story as the white house contends and how does mr. obama and his chicago team inside the white house rebound as they try to tackle bad job support today and continued obstacles by republicans on health care? msnbc contributor jim warren joins us from chicago. fascinating to see the chicago team essentially, the first lady, quickly changed out of that yellow dress she wore for the olympic presentation. valerie jarrett looked crest fallen in the video that we saw her walking down the steps of air force one. what do you make of how quickly they will be able to rebound and how do they move on? >> i think pretty quickly. i don't know if is it is a one-day story but two or three days, they will take shots at republicans, matt drudge and others of the sort but i think the long-term consequences are nil. and the matter of afghanistan that jobs report and future jobs report and health care, which will probably come to a vote in

november and december are far, far, far more important. >> gentlemen, so curious as far as what republicans in chicago have been sake the last 24, 48 hours, because the conservative media has just been brutal in attacking chicago and i tacking this olympic bid and almost have to wonder if republicans in the city of chicago who had some hopes of perhaps increasing their power, the mayor's office or congressional offices were infuriated at the wait conservative hatchet job was inflicted on the city the last couple of days. >> do you mean all six of them, david, my good friend? i think maybe there's six or ten. i mean this is a one-party town essentially. i think you have got 50 aldermen who voted 50-0 in support of the financing of this and there is one republican out of 50 on the chicago city council. so, no, there is not much of a -- you know, republican impact on this. and the more conservative chicago suburbs, you know,

perhaps. but i think interestingly enough, for all the naysayers that there have been, for all the doubting thomases, for all the polling which suggested that there was a substantial am of doubts about doing this, boy, the collective sense of melancholy one feels the last couple of hours is rather substantial. and i hate to cliche like stunned silence, but in that daley center, i tell you when they got knocked out in the first round, you know, you actually had that. what does that tell you? it tells you we all were inflicted with a certain sense of boosterism. the answer is that rio was the clear, unequivocal front-runner and madrid was a very, very strong second. and the only surprise is how it was that they got knocked out so quickly. >> there is sometimes a perception of a white house official that when they have been in office for six months or a year, they start to come across, even if is not accurate but a per acception there is a certain arrogance that creeps in in the white housesome this something that perhaps takes it down a notch, the people can

then point to the chicago team inside the white house and say, look, this has not all been a bed of roses and you failed in the chicago olympic bid and perhaps need to be a little bit more circum spengt? >> that's an interesting -- that's interesting. could there be a little bit of arrogance after the rather brilliant campaign they ran? yes, that's possible, but it's also sort of a sobering reminder of geopolitical reality that worldwide popularity, david, doesn't necessarily translate that worldwide influence and whether it is a matter of convincing india and china on global warming and cutting back on their emissions or whether it is a matter of getting china and russia on the same page when it comes to sanctions against iran, the fact that people may like obama, the fact after the bush years, they may feel a certain sort of, you know, much warmer sense of thoughts towards this white house doesn't necessarily mean that they are not going to be taking action and even voting when it comes to olympic selection in what they perceive

ton their self-interests, which may be different than ours. >> msnbc contributor jim warren in chicago. jim as always, we appreciate it. alex, i think is a kick in the gut for anybody who loved this country who thinks that the olympics are a good thing this is a sad day. i'm surprised at the level of vitriol from some on the right condemning chicago and celebrating this rejection. thankfully, republicans say this is bad plight crile for republicans to be so aggressive in celebrating this humiliation, we will see how this plays out. >> david if it was an unworthy competitor here, you might have a real story, but the fact of the matter is neither rio de janeiro nor anywhere in south america was awarded the olympic games and maybe it was just their turn to get it plain and simple as that. >> absolutely. >> trying to keep it simple earlier on the air, maybe that's where we got to go with this. >> maybe not so much about chicago and more about rio. any case, alex, still ahead, the

day's other news, we will have the president's remarks live at the top of the hour, but the senate finance committee worked late into the night last night to finally finish their work on health care, at least the amendment process. we will tell you what happens next. also, we will have the stunning revelations in the sex scandal surrounding senator john ensign. how far did he go to try to cover up the affair? much more on today's surprising news out of copenhagen on the olympics. president obama arrived at andrews air force base a couple of minutes ago. the top of the hour, expected to talk about his effort and what the failure means, if anything. you are watching the big picture on msnbc. it's gmc truck month. shop sierra 1500 slt with the 403 horsepower 6.2 liter v8. it's the most powerful half ton v8 in its class. step up to the best. it's gmc truck month. get 0% apr for 60 months on 2009 gmc sierra or get $6,000 total cash back on select 09 sierra 1500 extended and crew cabs in stock.

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45 minutes until the president is due to talk about the olympic decision today, but alex, now to the issue his critics claim mr. obama should

have stayed focused on the last 24 hours, health care reform. >> the senate finance committee narrowly passed an amendment late last night that provides a quasipublic option, introduced by washington democrat maria cantwell. it gives states power the negotiate down the price of insurance with the insurance companies if they agree to cover at least some of the uninsured. but in that session lasting deep into the night, fellow democrat ron wind of oregon ripped the bill, realizing his own so-called free choice amendment would not survive. >> 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 worked for a mid-sized company if they are getting hammered by their insurer, they are stuck. >> and today, senate minority

leader mitch mcconnell shot down the amendment that the republicans respect offering any ideas of their own. >> i don't know anybody in my conference not a single one, who thinks we ought to do nothing. we think there are a number of problems related to cost and access and those two issues are obviously interconnected. i have listed a number of them now and when we get on the bill, you know, there will be ample opportunity to offer alternative approaches to what the imagine juror sit likely to lay before us. >> a final vote in the senate finance committee was postponed until early next week. democrats hold a 13-10 majority on that panel but begs the question can real health care reform pass without a public option? senator widen joins us live from capitol hill. good afternoon, senator. >> thanks for having me. >> i would like to have you tell our viewers what exactly you propose in your amendment? >> what i have been proposing is all americans ought to have choices like members of congress f our member of congress and

your insurance company rips you off in the fall of 2009, in january of 2010, you can go choose from a menu of more than a dozen good choices, where you get good value. as it is written now, they hammer you, abuse you, denies you coverage for a service you are entitled torque you are stuck, you can't go to the marketplace and that's wrong and i will stay at it until we change t. >> like to have you listen to what your fellow democrats, senator max baucus from montana said last night. let's take a listen. >> i cannot think of a major member either still opposed by both business and labor, both. there must be some wisdom there, if they are both opposed and i just think that done a lot, senator but i don't think this really is the right thing to do. >> senator, is it true that

chairman baucus is correct with the opposition from labor and business and if so, why do they oppose it? >> well, certainly, there are some very powerful lobbies, i call them the status quo caucus, who don't want our people, more than 200 million of them, to have choice. if you're talking about say the human resources manager of some company, they like the control when they get to call the shots. they don't want workers have choices like members of congress because that might put some heat on the benefits manager to give the workary better de aworker a first place. what i'm talking about is turning the table on the insurance lobby, turning the table on some of the benefits managers who aren't getting a good deal for the worker and empowering our people to get choices like members of congress so they can hold their premiums down. >> senator wyden, after two week of this markup, were there any amendments that were approved by the senate he finance committee that were, in your estimation, rein in the for-profit insurance

companies and if not what are you prepared to do when this goes to the senate there are? >> i think at the end of the day, there really is very little in this bill that will hold insurance companies accountable. i am for choice. i am for private choices. i'm for public choices. >> does that mean you are going to vote against the bill in committee again next week? >> right now, i can tell you after the all-nighter and kind of felt like college days to me, we are looking through the bill, we are trying to assess there are provisions that we are supportive of, yesterday, got provisions in to start rewarding health care plans that give good quality, hold prices down, i will have a statement to make on the overall bill before too long. but at this point, i can tell you that the special interests are still cutting a fat hog, particularly the insurance lobby. support going to have to be done to hold them accountable and

protect the consumer. >> senator ron wyden, democrat of oregon, thank you very much, sir. >> thank you. so david, you heard him say it but you know actually, his speaking about it is nothing new. he said for weeks that he with not support the bill without the x changes for people to get in there and be able to choose, so, not altogether surprise. right, but his come there is at the end is going to be, so frustrating to progressives. again, essentially the same thing as two weeks ago, nothing in there that essentially rein in the for-profit insurance companies there is no public option. baucus wouldn't put it in there the democrat proposal for a public option got defeated. claim the cantwell one wouldn't work. wyden, he gets defeated. what are the democrats going to do? hold their nose and go along with it? some of the provisions they lack? go along giving billions to for the for-profit insurance companies to cover more people or bolster this on the floor? we will see but frustrated.

>> ask him next time if whether what they have now being passed is better than no bill at all as well. anyway, still ahead, david, the man who has been the talk of the town this week, congressman alan grayson. does he have any regrets? we will be talking to him live. plus, more on today's huge decision for the 2016 summer olympics, the big party is going on in rio de janeiro in brazil. watching the big picture on msnbc. feeling, like i couldn't catch my breath. i couldn't believe i was actually having a heart attack. i remember being at the hospital, thinking about my wife. i should have done more to take care of myself. now i'm exercising, watching my diet, and i trust my heart to lipitor. (announcer) unlike some other cholesterol lowering medications, lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and certain kinds of heart surgeries in patients with several common risk factors or heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 17 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone,

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coming up here on"the big picture," the david letterman bombshell, the latest on this extortion plot and affairs with women on his staff. new developments in the sex scandal involving republican senator john ensign, what he allegedly did as part of a coverup and it maybe criminal. >> of course -- >> of course. sorry. >> no, you go ahead, david. you go. >> talking all day, alex about the olympics and the last picture that just popped up, within a half an hour.

we expect president obama to speak at the white house about today's decision to award the olympics not to chicago but rio in brazil. have that live for you on msnbc. 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.

president obama speaking about the olympics a little bit earlier. let's go to the white house rose garden and listen. >> and so i wish that we had come back with better news from copenhagen, i could not be prouder of my hometown of chicago, the volunteers who were involved, mayor daley, the delegation and the american people for the extraordinary bid that we put forward.

i do want to congratulate rio de janeiro and the nation of brazil for winning the 2016 olympics. i think this is a truly historic event, as these will be the first olympic games ever to be held in south america. and as neighbors in the americas, as friends to the brazilian people, we welcome this extraordinary sign of progress and the fact that the 2016 games will be in the americas. i had a chance to talk president almost ula and gave him a hearty congratulations and told him that our athletes will see him on the field of competition in 2016. again, i want to thank everybody who worked so hard to put america's bid together, not just mayor daley and the delegation, pat ryan, but most especially the thousands of chicagoans who volunteered over these past few

years. they put their heart and soul into this bid. i have no doubt that it was the strongest bid possible and i'm proud that i was able to come in and help make that case in person. i believe it's always a worthwhile endeavor to promote and boost the united states of america and invite the world to come see what we are all about. we obviously would have been eager to host these games but as i said, this nation and our athletes are still very much excited to compete in 2016. and we once again want to just say how much we are committed to the olympic spirit, which i think represents some of the best of humanity. i also wanted to say a few words about the unemployment nones that came out today. as i have said before, my principal focus each and every day, as well as the principal

focus of my economic team, is putting our nation become on the path to prosperity. and since the period last winter when we were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month, we have certainly made some progress on this front. but today's job report is a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts. and that we are going to need to grind out this recovery, step-by-step. from the the home i took office, i have made the point that employment is often the last thing to come back after a recession. that's what history shows us, but our task is to do everything we can possibly do to accelerate that process and i want to let every single american know that i will not let up until those who are seeking work can find work, until businesses that are seeking credit are able to get credit and thrive, until all responsible homeowners can stay

in their homes. that's our ultimate goal. and it's one that we are working every single day here in the white house to accomplish, whether it involves implementing the recovery act that's already helped to bring back america from the brink of a much worse situation or lowering the cost of health care for businesses and families. and that's why i'm working closely with my economic advisers to explore any and all additional options and measures that we might take to promote job creation. when ever i see statistics like the one we saw today, my mind turns to the people behind them. honest, decent americans who want nothing more than the opportunity to cop tribute to their country and help build a better future for their friends and families. and building a 21st century economy that offers this opportunity, an economy where folks can receive the skills and education they need to compete for the jobs of the future will not happen overnight.

but we will build t of that i am both confident and determined. and on behalf of every american, i will continue in that effort each and every day for as long as i am in this white house. thank you very much, everybody. >> president obama in the rose garden at the white house talking in the end there about the unemployment figures. the unemployment rate again jumped up to 9.8%, short of the 10% someone feared but the numbers today worse than expected but the big news, of course, the last 18 or so hours, president obama has been on this journey to copenhagen and back. he lobbied hard, along with the first lady, michelle obama, for the olympic bid from chicago for the 2016 summer olympics. literally, $40 million had been spent by the city of chicago as part of this bid, a lot of anticipation that it had the best infrastructure, the best plan and that the president was essentially going to seat deal but that did not happen. the olympic committee award the

games today to rio. chicago was bumped out on the first round. the president in the rose garden said i want to thank everybody and the thousands of chicagoans who were involved in the bid. he said i have no doubt that we delivered the strongest bid possible and as far as the possible political ramifications, the president said i believe it's always a worthwhile endeavor to promote and boost the united states of america. throughout the afternoon, a number of conservative talk show hosts as well as some members of congress have been giving a big i told you so to the white house, saying the president was rejected on the international stage answered should not have put the prestige of the u.s. president soint line the way he did. president obama was the first us president to actually lobby in person for an olympic committee bid but again, the president saying just here in the rose garden, while he is disappointed, he sends his congratulations to brazil, again the lines we heard from white house officials earlier today, their message, their theme is that they believe it is always worthwhile for the president to

promote and boost the united states. and certainly, have the chicago games got the olympics there is meant it would have meant an economic injection of as much as $20 billion billion and perhaps as many as 300,000 jobs created. again, a tough day at the white house you can the president coming out much earlier than scheduled, literally got back earlier and decided not to waste any time essentially going out and saying he regretted that chicago did not get the games but we will, of course have more reaction. this is a big political story and big sports story and we will keep everybody posted and we will try to get reaction from republicans and democrats, what the president just said and bring that reaction to you later in this hour. of course, at the top of our 4:00. now, picture" at this hour, regarding john ensign in nevada. he may have violated ethics laws by helping a long-time aide get a job after ensign had an affair with the man's wife with.

ensign admitted to the extramarital affair back in june but according to the times, the senator arranged for his mistress' husband, doug hanson to join a political consulting firm and ensign lined up donors as hanson's klein client. then ensign and his staff repeatedly intervened on the firm's behalf with federal agencies after urging from hanson. seine senate ethics rules and federal criminal law prohibit san senior senate aides from lobbying for a year after their job. there was an $8.5 million settlement wanted before and tom coburn of oklahoma, a friend of ensign, acted as an intermediary last spring. the big front page story "the new york times" today. eric, concerning the ethics laws violations, doug hanson, talking senator ensign knew what was happening might be illegal? >> doug hanson, as you noted,

the former aide to senator ensign and doug hanson's wife was having an affair for months with hanson. hanson came to us corroborated with us by separate interviews and documents, this was an active plan by senator ensign and hanson to move him off the senator's staff, first of all, set him up in a political consulting and lobbying job and get him business from donors of ensign's. and it went so far as to -- as to allow hanson to actively lobby ensign and ensign in turn to do the bidding of hanson's clients in calling, for instance, two different transportation secretaries in putting pressure on the interior department to release the environmental impact statement for $5 billion coal plant for a company that ensign represented and other instances as well. >> senator ensign spent much of

the summer apologizing to constituents and drawing a contrast with senator clinton in the lewinsky scandal, subjecting that -- i'm sorry, president clinton, saying that president clinton had committed a crime by allegedly like under oath. now, doesn't this suggest that senator ensign committed a crime, already acknowledging, already proof that he intended to do this, he knew it was illegal that would satisfy some of the parts of the statute that suggest you have to show intent to break the law. >> well, we talked to a number of legal experts who said just that, that certainly, by appearances and, you know, have to be a full investigation before you reached a formal conclusion, but by appearances that there are serious questions that the law was violated on several fronts, involving lobbying restrictions and disclosure of lobbying contacts and ensign's role in directing that effort. >> so intriguing today to see the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, republican essentially not offer any support for ensign.

here's what happened when mcconnell was asked about your report today. watch. >> i don't think today is a day to make any ownses about the matter, it just appeared in the newspaper today. >> again, no defense of ensign, but eric, where does this go now? senate ethics investigation is there a possibility of a criminal investigation now as well? >> yeah, you basically have two tracks, legal track and the political track. the senate ethics committee had already begun look nag this in a very preliminary way become in june when the affair was first disclosed, it seems likely they will now have to broaden their investigation and now that we are talking about possible criminal violations, there will be more pressure on the fbi and the justice department to do something. the other political track, you have liberal groups already calling for mr. ensign's resignation, somewhat predictably and as you just noted, you have the republican leader, mitch mcconnell, who is

silent on the issue, asked today did not give a vote of confident for mr. ensign. >> new york times, big reports today in your paper, terrific work. thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> alex, any time you are talk about a senator with evidence that he knowingly broke a federal criminal statute, that's big deal. >> yeah, and i think it pretty much dismisses any possible talk, while back, being a potential presidential contender in 2012. i think you can say see ya to that at this point. >> absolutely. coming up next, breaking news on that alleged extortion plot against david letterman. >> the suspect appearing in court just moments ago, tell you what happened here on "the big picture." music plays

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just moments ago, a cbs news producer pled not guilty to charges of trying to blackmail david letterman. here's what you need to know. >> robert joel halederman is a producer with "48 hours" he was

arrested for allegedly trying to blackmail letterman for $2 million. police say halderman threatened to expose letterman and the sexual relations he was having with female staffers on "the late show." letterman himself addressed the allegations last night. >> the creepy stuff was that i have had is sex with him who work for me on this show. now, my response to that is yes i have. >> prosecutors are not disclosing what the motive was behind the plot. alex, this new video of an israeli soldier was leased, held captive for the past three years. he was abducted in 2006. he is holding a copy of an arabic language newspaper datedsen 14th showing prav of life. hamas turned over the video in exchange for the release of 20 palestinian women jailed in israel. david, rescuers in indonesia are finding people alive today,

two days after a massive 7.6 earthquake. this morning a teenager was pulled, fully concerns, from the rubble of a collapsed school, but officials say thousands of other victims may still be buried. and the first bits of foreign aid are arriving in american samoa. workers are delivering water and food to survivors of tuesday's devastating tsunami. searchers are still finding bodies and the death toll in the region is now 200. the government is planning a mass funeral for next week. just ahead, our live interview with congressman alan grayson, the democrat who made big headlines this week in washington. >> so here's the question, would he do it all over again? we are gonna ask him. - ( funk music playing ) - let's put a few thousand kilowatts in a vise. squeeze some savings back into our budget. into our attics and walls. let's locate the original energy source called you and turn that machine up full-blast. more saving. more doing.

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n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n%n. call or click today. several republicans asked me to apologize. i would like to apologize to the dead. here's why. according to this study, health insurance and mortality in u.s.

adults which was 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 haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in america. >> florida congressman allen grayson's apology telling them to stick it after they complained about him going to the house floor and saying the health care plan was to die quickly. today more fireworks over the growing grayson controversy. congressman price call for disapproval against grayson and john boehner had to say. >> i think it is time for the leader to rein in the rhetoric that she decide several weeks ago. if he is not going to apologize to the american people and to republicans as he should,

really, the democrat leadership's responsibility to have the conversation with their own member. >> joining us to talk about this, florida democrat congressman. your reaction to the republicans about the admonishment or formal congressm sense you are of what up. >> can't they talk about the issues? america kneads so badly health reform. do they have to make it about me? it has been 72 hours since i gave that speech and so far we've heard nothing from the republicans explaining what they plan to do to keep americans alive. >> there was a republican in florida who was on our air yesterday who complained not specifically about the statistics you cited, but about your use of the word holocaust. watch. >> to compare america's health care system to the systematic murdering of 6 million jews and millions of others.

it is outrageous and congressman grayson should go back to the floor and apologize for those offensive remarks. >> congressman, your rean to that? was it a poor choice of words? >> i could have used different words. i could have, for instance, that this was a disaster for america. i could have said the fact that a million people have lost their lives since i was born, unnecessarily, simply because they didn't have health insurance in america is a tragedy. the word is not important. the lives are what is important. that's what matters here. can't we talk about that? or do we have to continue to see the republicans manufacture indignation in lieu of policy. >> it doesn't appear that they will introduce a health care plan. what is your reaction to that? and then i have a policy question for you. >> i think at this point, we see the emperor has no clothes. it has been 72 hours since i said what i've said. they've got nothing. and america deserves more. they deserve better than nothing. they deserve a solution to their

problems. whether it is health care, energy, jobs, the economy. we have to move ahead. and i've said to the republicans over and over again, you can lead, you can follow or you can get out of the way. >> where do you stand if the health care bill come before the house, and maybe it is on final passage and it does not have a public option. would you still vote for it? >> i will vote for any bill that saves lives and saves money. that's what this is all about. >> finally, congressman, i want to get your reaction to another issue they've been weighing in on. we hear a number of republicans almost celebrating the fact that the international olympic committee decided not to give it to chicago and celebrating that the president was humiliated, according to republicans. would you describe them the other night as neanderthals. does that go with your view as to how they are handling this story? >> sure. they've said for months that they're willing to see obama fail even if it mean america fails. this is a perfect example of that. america lost its bid for the olympics and the republicans are celebrating.

isn't that great? >> congressman, thanks for coming on today. >> someone should remind them which team they're really on. >> i have a feeling that they've hear that loudly and clearly from you today. thanks for coming on today. thank you very much. it's always good having a guest who speaks his mind. and i think he is speaking for a lot of people today. >> did you expect anything less, considering the track record of the last 72 hours? no. he makes a good point. republicans started, you saw the report, i'm sure. they started twittering immediately upon not only the announcement of the poor economic news in term of the employment but also the loss of the olympic bid from chicago. it does make you stop and wonder about whose team we are all playing on sometimes. i must say. coming up in the next hour. the david letterman scandal. the man accused of trying to black nail late night talk show host. his lawyers are in court. plus, the tale of two

cities. heart break in chicago, celebrations in rio. we will round up reaction from the winners and the losers in the bid for the olympic game.

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