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it is the top of the hour at msnbc and here are the stories we are following. right now john mccain and his former running mate sarah palin are together again. you're looking live at a campaign rally in arizona. mccain with palin's help is going to try to tamp down a conservative insurrection in his

senate primary campaign. plus, the obama administration reached a major nuclear weapons deal today with russia. the reaction from moscow, though, makes it sound like we've been had. we will talk with pentagon spokesman jeff morrell. nasa is under fire for spending a lot of money not on the space shuttle but on coffee and bagels. hello everyone. happy friday. i'm david shuster live in washington. we're going to begin in tucson, arizona, where sarah palin and john mccain are together again for the first time since losing the presidential election. mccain is running for re-election to the senate but facing a tough conservative challenger in the gop primary. that's where sarah palin's support may help. nbc chief washington correspondent norah o'donnell is live in tucson. how big a deal is this and what can we expect over the next half hour? >> reporter: well, it is a very big deal as of course more than two years ago or less than two years ago john mccain plucked sarah palin from obscurity, made her a star, now she's here in

tucson to bring some of her star power and vouch for john mccain's conservative credentials. i spoke with a senior mccain adviser who tells me sarah palin is going to deliver a very meaty speech in about a half hour. she'll be introduced by cindy mccain and sarah palin will speak for 10 to 12 minutes then introduce john mccain who will only speak for about half that time, five minutes. the whole event is centered around sarah palin because they want sarah palin to use this time and her star power to vouch for john mccain, talk about his credentials, his character, etcetera, because john mccain ness the toughest political fight of his life. he's been a senator for 24 years but never before has he been this vulnerable because he's facing a challenger in the primary, j.d. hayworth, a former republican congressman. also, the big issues, why john mccain is vulnerable? it does have to do with the tea party movement out there though we should note none of the four major tea party organizations in this state have endorsed.

they decided to actually stay out of it which is a bonus for john mccain. it's very different than for instance the florida senate race where the tea party is openly supporting mark rubio against charlie crest running for the senate. back to john mccain the issues why he is vulnerable here? immigration. john mccain has advocated for a pathway citizenship for illegal immigrants. that's not popular in this state. two, he voted for the t.a.r.p., that bailout many people think was a bailout for wall street. and then, three, his maverick image. there are many people who distrust john mccain, do not believe he is a true, quote-unquote, conservative. i think it is noteworthy in the radio ad sarah palin released today she praises john mccain for being a true conservative. sarah palin, she is here to boost john mccain and vouch for his conservative credentials, david. >> norah, j.d. hayworth, mccain's conservative challenger spoke to msnbc earlier today. here's what he said about sarah palin's visit. watch. >> arizonaans are going to

determine who is going to serve in the united states senate. we all welcome governor palin. we all respect john mccain but there are some profound differences and a record john mccain has that is going to make it very difficult for him to win a fifth term in the united states senate. >> and, norah, we'll come back to you of course when this happens. real quickly, how many people are there at that mccain rally? >> there are several thousand packed in here. we're at the pima county fairgrounds. they've been serving hot dogs and chips and giving out water for free here so there are a lot of people here who look to be long-time john mccain supporters. angry about what's happening in washington. we've heard from some of the speakers before. they said we don't have any violent people here at this rally but one of the previous speakers urged everybody to continue to fight for what is right. and just one other note, david. i think there's a wild card in this race. there are some republicans in this state who are trying to close the primary to independence, making it republican only in the primary. if that were the case, i'm told

by sources that would be a death nell for john mccain's campaign because he has a lot of support among independents so that's one of the wild cards here, certainly the primary is going to be in august to see if john mccain can fend off this republican challenge from j.d. hayworth. >> nbc's norah o'donnell in tucson, arizona. norah, we'll be checking back within the hour and of course we will bring everybody some of those remarks from a fascinating appearance today by sarah palin. norah, thank you. the tea party, which we mentioned there, has made its name by denouncing anything and everything to do with big government. so you may be surprised to learn, many of them want government created jobs. a new bloomberg poll found that 90% of those who sympathized with the tea party movement say the country is headed toward socialism. but 70% said they want a federal government that fosters job creation. does the tea party know what it wants or has it become more of a flash mob for americans who are angry? wayne alan root was the 2008

vice presidential candidate and he is the author of the conscience of a libertarian. wayne, thanks for being with us. what do you make of the seeming contradiction in terms of polling numbers? >> i've seen a lot of polls, david. i've never heard of that contradiction. i know an awful lot of tea party people and everyone i know in the movement and in the libertarian movement believes in smaller government, limited government, lower taxes, economic freedom. we just want to get government out of the way. most people i meet are like me. we're small businessmen and women or people that work for small businesses which create most of the jobs in this country and we just want government to give us a chance. just get out of our way. get the rules out of the way. lower the taxes. don't redistribute our income. i think it's pretty simple. i've never met tea party people that want more government fostering jobs because most tea party people realize, david westerfield, government doesn't create jobs. it's like spain. spain just finished a study, greenest country in europe supposedly, 20% unemployment, and for evergreen job they create it costs them 3.8 regular

jobs. government is a failure at creating jobs, david. >> wayne, i wonder if this poll gets to something that if you separate it out and people on their own imagine, okay. a situation like we had a year ago where you have a severe economic crisis and distress and the feeling that the banking industry, the financial industry is about to collapse, that people, even tea partiers, think there is a way for the government to step in and prevent that sort of collapse, thereby, perhaps, creating jobs. >> i think you've got a point. there is no question that government operates on the prospect of fear. every time government wants to pass something whether it's obama who i'm certainly not a fan of or whether it's john mccain, if he had been elected i believe we'd be in the same kind of trouble right now because john mccain in my opinion is a big government republican. they all try and scare you to death that the sky is falling, the world is ending, the terrorists are coming and we've got to spend money. by spending money that means government gets bigger and more powerful and takes over more of

the market. and more marketshare and more control over your life. that's what i believe most tea partiers are against. i think we're standing up and saying, we've had enough. the private industry is what's going to save us from this economic armageddon and government just keeps making it worse and worse. >> wayne, whether somebody agrees or disagrees with you, there is an intellectual underping to your argument but a lot of people would suggest there is more of a political underpinning to sarah palin's link to the tea party movement. do you agree? what do you make of sarah palin appearing in arizona for john mccain today? >> well, first of all, interestingly when you talk about intellectual, i'm barack obama's college classmate, class of '83, columbia university, and when i went to columbia, david, all my class mates were not even liberal. liberal wouldn't even describe what they are. i considered most of them socialist, marxist, or communist. by the way, they admit thaed'tes what they were. i think the tea party is about

common sense and i think libertarians have common sense. sarah palin has been involved with the tea party movement but, you know, there are a lot of people that are questioning whether in fact she's a republican and wants to get the tea party to support republican candidates or whether she really stands for limited government even if that means electing tea party candidates who aren't necessarily, quote-unquote, republican. that's certainly where i stand. i want to elect the best people for the job no mat whater what y they're come. >> wayne, always interesting to talk to you. thanks for coming on today. >> thank you. any time. >> you're welcome. today president obama announced a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia that he says proves the world's nuclear powers intend to lead a global effort to stop the spread of these weapons. >> in many ways nuclear weapons represent both the darkest days of the cold war and the most troubling threats of our time. today we've taken another step forward by -- in leaving behind the legacy of the 20th century while building a more secure

future for our children. >> the treaty will limit both sides to 1550 warheads each, about 30% fewer than currently allowed, and the president said that by upholding their commitment to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, the u.s. and russia are committed to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and ensuring other countries meet their own responsibilities. in a controversial statement today russian officials at the kremlin said this agreement will reduce defensive weapons including the u.s. antiballistic missile shield. just ahead, we will get reaction in an exclusive interview with pentagon spokesman jeff morrell. time now for a look at the stories making news across the usa. in kentucky 11 people were killed today in a fiery crash. a tractor-trailer crossed an interstate median and slammed head on into a church van carrying a mennonite family to a wedding. two children survived. now to maryland, just outside of baltimore, a freight train derailed. the train was carrying plastics and aluminum.

eight cars flew off the track. nobody, though, was injured. and the coast guard rescued four surfers off the oregon coast. the group was surfing in the area known as the devil's punch bowl when they got caught in a rip tide. all of the surfers and the rescuers made it out safely. nearly 200,000 of america's bravest are fighting battles on two fronts in afghanistan and iraq. the latest updates on the wars, direct from the pentagon's top spokesman. and take a look at this billboard. what does it have to do with driving conditions? today we're counting down the most bizarre billboards. plus, sarah palin will soon hit the very stage to campaign for john mccain. we'll bring her comments to you, we'll bring her comments to you, live. it pushes us to work ha. to be better. to win. but sometimes even rivals realize they share a common goal. america's beverage companies have removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools, reducing beverage calories by 88%.

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they are not seeing their congress do the work that they're sent to do. it's because the press, the press of the united states is not covering the most significant issue of national importance, and that's the laying of lives down in the nation for the service of our country. it is despicable, the national press corps right now. >> that was rhode island congressman patrick kennedy earlier this month making an impassioned plea to the american media to spend more time covering the wars in iraq and afghanistan and less time on trivial matters like the scandal. for the first time since the war in iraq began over seven years ago there will be more u.s. troops in afghanistan than in iraq this summer according to mike mullen. as of today there are still 97,000 forces in iraq down from 150,000 at the height of the surge and 83,000 now in afghanistan. for an update on both wars and reaction to some intriguing statements out of the kremlin today about the nuclear weapons agreement reached between the united states and russia we are pleased to be joined by jeff morrell, pentagon spokesman and

press secretary. jeff, good to have you here. >> thanks for having me. >> we have election results in from iraq. it looks like a split. what role now for the united states? >> we really have no role other than to be there in an over watch capacity assisting iraqi security forces. we did not have a candidate obviously in this election. our interests were in providing or helping the iraqis provide a safe, secure, free, and fair election. by all accounts they had that. 12 million iraqis went to the polls this month, 62% of the population, relatively free of violence. it's taken a while to count the votes. we now have the outcome t's a very close margin between prime minister maliki and allawi and now the tough part. stle to form a coalition government. last time in 2005 it took a long time. it was marred by horrific violence. our hope is they can do this quickly and without the violence we saw last time. >> when americans see there are soon going to be more troops in afghanistan than iraq, from a big picture perspective how should americans view that? >> i think twofold. they should see it as a sign of the incredible progress that's

been made in iraq since the surge was under way in february of 2007, a dramatic decline in violence, and a dramatic decline as you noted in the number of forces we have, just under 100,000 now. we are due to get down to 50,000 as per the president's directive, come september 1st, and then be completely out of iraq of course by 2012. simultaneously though we've obviously seen a downturn in the security situation in afghanistan. that's required the president to send an additional 30,000 u.s. forces. the coalition is sending another 10,000. we've got about one-third of the u.s. surge in there right now, a little over 10,000 forces, and we've seen the initial stages of what is likely to be a 12 to 18-month campaign, nada lee, marja thus far very good. we're now getting into kandahar. going to be much tougher as the secretary noted this week. there are going to be difficult and deadly days ahead for our forces. >> what is the metric by which

the pentagon judges success in these provinces you mentioned? >> clearly we are trying to win over the trust and confidence of the afghan people. the objective of the general now is not to kill as many taliban as possible but it is to win the support of the afghan people. protect the population is the key to doing that. so we are going in, trying to clear out the taliban, and we are then trying to quickly in the wake of that during the hold-and-build phase bring in the civil support that is so essential to our long-term success there so that the people have a reason to support the afghan government instead of the taliban. >> before we let you go i have to ask you about some of the reaction coming in overseas from this agreement this morning between the united states and russia to reduce nuclear weapon arsenals by about one-third. the russians are suggesting, some of them are suggesting that this will affect defensive missiles. in other words, our effort to sort of build a missile shield. is that view shared by the pentagon? >> absolutely not. i think the secretary was very clear about that today. this treaty is about offensive capabilities, not about defensive capabilities.

this is just an issue we have agreed to disagree with the russians on. it in no way inhibits our ability to proceed with president obama's missile defense plan, a phase-adaptive approach to missile defense, not at all aimed at the russians but aimed at rogue states like iran, and our hope is still that the russians will join us in cooperating in this effort because they are every bit at risk to this threat posed by iran and other rogue states as we are. >> do they share this view or even if they don't agree with it do they at least understand loud and clear that they can have members of the kremlin who say oh, yeah this is for defensive but they understand the u.s. position is very different? >> i think they understand that. >> okay. geoff morrell, pentagon spokesman, good to see you. thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. new details in the case against ben roethlisberger the nfl quarterback accused of rape. were the athlete's friends involved? those infamous white house party crashers are now headed for your living room. and so is sarah palin. she is expected to hit the stage

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because i'm foxy klee pat rah and i'm a whole lot of woman. >> yeah baby yeah! >> easy does it, austin. we are hearing a baby is on the way for beyonce. a celebrity gossip website claims singer beyonce knowles and her husband are expecting their first child. we are waiting for official word. the performers met in 2002 and have been married since 2008. remember the couple that crashed the white house state dinner last fall? bravo, a network owned by our parent company nbc universal had been filming the couple for the real housewives of d.c. when the incident happened. it wasn't clear if the salahis would be edited out but bravo now says the couple will be part of the premiere in july as long as they didn't commit any crimes

by crashing the white house state dinner. remember there is an open investigation. speaking of the old maxim the only thing worse than bad press is no press here comes nike, reportedly shooting another commercial with tiger woods. nike was one of the few sponsors to stay with the golf star when the news broke of his multiple extra marital affairs. today we're learning more about the rape case against pittsburgh steelers quarterback ben roethlisberger. a supporter of the woman making the accusation said that roethlisberger was helped by friends who allegedly blocked the entrance to the restroom during the supposed attack. joining us in the msnbc newsroom is the public relations expert. welcome. to give our audience a little background on you, some of your past clients include mariah carey, kim cattrell and star jones. this is sort of ongoing and it isn't clear how this is going to go but this is a public relations nightmare for him would you agree? >> absolutely. this is a matter where he should

have certainly gotten ahead of allegations rather than respond to charges. he should have been proactive and not reactive and i think we would have seen the league really support him, step in support of him rather than show their seemingly new low tolerance for bad behavior. >> how might he have done this given the news is coming out that it looks like his friends may have helped block the door? this is the second sexual allegation made against him within the past year. what is the sort of thing he should be doing? >> the way i always advise our sports clients is to be proactive and get your truth out. there have been no charges made as of yet so get ahead of the story. at that point you will see the league and your team mates and your organization stand united with you. but we haven't really heard much from him. so when you don't know a lot of allegations swirl and that's when the league doesn't want their image and brand equity to be bruised and that's when you see them sort of distance themselves away from bad behavior and swirling allegations. >> as far as the league is

concerned nfl commissioner roger goodell intends to meet with ben roethlisberger but that meeting hasn't happened yet. the statements from the nfl commissioner have been somewhat vague, not as tough as a lot of people would like. is this a matter for the nfl to also wait and see what happens in the criminal investigation before they essentially get in front of this? >> well, you know, the league is there to protect their brand equity and there to protect their team, the owners, the league overall. so for them, they'll make the best decision based on how ben and his team are handling the matter. so, again, when you get ahead of it and show your innocence and get your story out we know we're living in a day and age where people look for the quick dollar so it is, you know, it could be that this really is erroneous but we won't know that until we hear from ben and hear from his team. so the league should distance themselves if he isn't willing to stand up and get ahead of this matter and really let the record show his statement and really where he stands on this matter. if it's not true then he should say that and for him to say nothing is really damaging. >> marvet britto, public

relations expert, thanks for coming in today. >> you're welcome. pope benedict. a lot of questions about him, new questions about his actions in a sex abuse scandal that's testing the faith of almost 2 billion catholics around the world. and we're also keeping a close eye on an arizona convention center where sarah palin will be headlined in a campaign rally for senator john mccain. they're both expected to speak in a few minutes. we will have it for you live right here on msnbc news. daily . it's a tasty, nutritious way to make this number go up... daily . and help this one go down. v8. what's your number? but my allergies put me in a fog. so now, i'm claritin clear! claritin works great on all my allergies like dust, mold, pollen, or pets without making me drowsy, cause i want to be alert around this big guy. live claritin clear. indoors and out.

some people will stick with their old way of getting vitamins and minerals.

others will try incredible total raisin bran. with 100% of the daily value of 11 essential vitamins and minerals, juicy raisins and crunchy whole grain flakes. guess it's all about what kind of crunch you like. how are you getting 100%? i'm mike huckman with your cnbc market wrap. here is a look at how the markets are doing today with about a half hour left in the trading day. they are mixed to little changed at this point. we've got the dow up almost 3 points. the s&p 500 down a fraction. the nasdaq off 5 points. california governor arnold schwarzenegger signed a tax credit bill aimed at moving all of those vacant homes and encouraging new construction in

the state. this bill extends a $10,000 tax credit to first-time home buyers. schwarzenegger says the bill will help get more properties back on the tax roll and more people back to work. is pop star prince really a pauper? is the purple one actually in the red? tax records in minnesota show that the musician is among the list of delinquent taxpayers. the county says prince owes about $450,000 in back taxes. maybe he'll have to sell the little red corvette. th that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. david, back to you. >> thank you very much. today the vatican is responding to allegations that the church covered up what it knew about an abuse case in wisconsin. a vatican newspaper editorial calls the "new york times" investigation, quote, clearly an ignoble attempt to strike at pope benedict and his closest aides at any cost. joining us now with more is lisa miller, the society and religion editor for "newsweek."

it does seem like there is new informing coming out every day in terms of the pope and contact that he might have had with this priest from wisconsin. what is the -- can the pope, first of all, survive this? >> i think without criminal charges the pope can probably survive it. i think the biggest problem for the pope right now is dissent within the vatican. for example, if a lot of the priests and the bishops feel that they can no longer do their jobs under his leadership, there will be an outcry from within the church and that's the kind of pressure he needs to avoid. >> i gather there's already something of a battle over how the vatican is handling this, that there are many catholics higher up in the vatican who are suggesting, let's have an investigation, because if the pope did nothing wrong, that will come out as opposed to looking like we're digging in our heels and trying to hide something. >> that's right. the vatican has been accused for a long time and at least since the sex scandals of 2002 in boston, of minimizing,

diminishing, turning a blind eye, as you said, at the top of the segment, you know, accusing the media of investigating too much. and there are those within the hierarchy who say, now it's time for transparency. now it's time to bring in the civil authorities. now it's time to, you know, show what we really know. >> as far as the specifics of this particular case, a priest in wisconsin, bishops brought this to the attention of pope benedict when he was a cardinal ratzinger overseeing an office responsible for this sort of stuff and the allegation being that he either looked the other way or he didn't take any action. >> right. there is sort of a culture of looking the other way which we all knew about at least since 2002. these allegations in europe are really heinous. and, clearly, the culture of looking the other way has been pervasive for a really long time, so it's not that surprising that benedict is part of that culture. >> lisa miller, the society of religion editor for "newsweek", thanks for joining us today. >> thanks. we are still waiting for sarah palin and john mccain to appear at a rally for the

arizona senator. we will bring that to you live as soon as they appear on the stage. in the meantime, it is now time for the fastest three minutes in news. we are going "down to the wire" today with the space shuttle, free cash, and slovakian frogs. ready? hit the clock. while this doesn't look good for nasa in the midst of top economic times a newly released report shows the space agency spent more than $60,000 for refreshments at a three-day conference. that's $66 per person per day for bagels, cookies, coffee, and juice. senator chuck schumer is working to get the space shuttle discovery to touchdown in new york city. he is pushing for it to become part of the intrepid museum exhibit and schumer says it will inspire dreams of adventure. museums across the country are vying for a chance to become the permanent hangar for the three remaining shuttles when the program retires this year. we do here by claim salvage

on the high saeeas of the spani ship amamistad. >> it's there to mark the day in 1807 when the british government outlawed the slave trade. the original amistad sailed from havana harbor carrying slaves who took control of the vessel and were later intercepted off the shores of long island. a lot of americans are short on cash these days so what would you do in this situation? >> 911 where's your emergency? >> hey, there's bags of money all over the place at hamilton and broad. it's causing a major scene. i just drove over it all. but everyone is stopping and there's $20 bills everywhere. >> police in ohio are searching for $100,000 that disappeared after a security van two days ago accidently dropped a bag of cash onto the roadway. officers are now looking at cell phone videos and surveillance footage from a nearby store to try and identify who may have snapped up the cash.

america's first legal male prostitute has quit his nevada brothel after just two months on the job. why? the 25-year-old alabama native who worked under the name marcus got plenty of news coverage. the problem was he only had ten paying customers. the expression is supposed to be "take a bite out of crime" so what's wrong with this picture? a chattanooga, tennessee police officer felt his car shaking only to find a bulldog chomping on his cruiser on the bumper. someone get that dog a bone. ♪ it's not that easy being green ♪ >> kermit can appreciate this. pazi zabee is slovakian for "watch out frogs." a local group is trying to help the frogs crossroads to breeding grounds without getting squished. you want to catch a glimpse of the rare sun bear head to

japan. this little cub is the newest attraction at the tokyo zoo. even though he and his mom are out during the day ironically sun bears are actually nocturnal. the name comes from a crescent chest mark which kind of looks like the rising sun. and we're a little bit under today so that brings us "down to the wire" about seven seconds light. that's okay. house speaker nancy pelosi celebrated her 70th birthday today by signing the companion health care bill passed by the house last night. >> the result of the work of many people. you've heard me sing the praises of our leadership over and over again and, of course, the president of the united states. but the victory that we have is largely attributed to our newest members of congress. >> the measure removes controversial things in the original bill like the cornhusker kickback and the gator aid measure for florida and added improved benefits for

families across the board. president obama is expected to sign the measure into law early next week and he dared republicans to run on a platform of repeal. >> my attitude is, go for it. if they want to have that fight, we can have it. because i don't believe that the american people are going to put the insurance industry back in the driver's seat. we've already been there. we're not going back. this country is moving forward. >> nbc's luke russert joins us now live from capitol hill and, luke, democrats are now rushing to try to explain when americans will start feeling this legislation kick in. >> reporter: right. >> what is the answer to that? >> reporter: well, the answer is within the first six months, david, you'll see substantial reforms. number one, you hear from democrats that kids can stay on their parents' plan until they're 26 years old. you'll also hear how preventative medicine has to be covered by insurers as well as as no more denial for pre-existing conditions for kids under the age of 18. three big things the american consumers of health care insurance are going to feel in

the first six months, david. >> and, luke, there was a fascinating new scene which shows that registered voters are now just as likely to support president obama as the gop candidate in 2012. how concerned are democrats by this number? >> you know what? democrats really felt a lot of momentum this week. they feel they've passed the most significant social reform in the last 50 years. that being said if you talk to rank and file members, ones from conservative districts, this was a very tough vote for them. they are going to be the ones who the original nos became yes, they'll count on the dnc to help them out in their races and count on the president coming to campaign for them if it is deemed to be helpful. republicans continue to be optimistic that they will take back the house and senate in november. everyone to a man i spoke to believes that, david, though they've had their worst weesk the year so far. republicans also are going to announce i think in the coming weeks their plans for later in the year when there's actual

appropriation bills that would enforce some of these new health care laws, for example, more irs agents are needed to collect taxes regarding health care. they'll try and stick things in appropriation bills in november or before november like september/october to really try and stop health care reform from going forward, david. >> nbc's luke russert on capitol hill. luke, thanks as always. >> thank you, sir. it turns out that eric cantor the house republican whip was not the target of angry constituents after all at least in terms of a gun shot as he suggested yesterday. yesterday he said a bullet was shot through the window of his campaign office. he denounced the violence. >> just recently i have been directly threatened. a bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in richmond this week. >> but now richmond police say it was actually a stray bullet fired up in the air from a nearby neighborhood that landed next to an office window. cantor is not commenting about

that today. but there was vandalism in charlottesville, virginia. someone apparently threw a brick through a window at the albemarle county gop headquarters. those mysterious billboards have turned democrat. former president george w. bush's picture appeared in one last month. and now someone put former president jimmy carter's picture front and center. this one appeared the day after president obama signed the health care bill into law. it got us thinking about the most bizarre billboards we've ever seen. "the huffington post" did some digging and here are our picks for the top three. coming in at number three a billboard encouraging students to, quote, graduate with as not aids. number two, this one. a billboard that bleeds when it rains. this one in new zealand says rain changes everything. please drive to the conditions. is a billboard crying blood really the best way to alert drivers to dangerous conditions? we talked about a distraction. our number one pick, a billboard advertising a stevie

wonder concert. notice anything strange? right. there is braille on the billboard. and how exactly will that help the blind? braille on the billboard? the most bizarre billboard we've ever seen. the president promised to create millions of new jobs but millions of americans are not seeing them. the shuster showdown is next. we're just moments away from seeing sarah palin and john mccain together again. palin is in arizona to stump for the arizona senator. we'll bring you that live when we come back. somewhere in america... there's a home by the sea powered by the wind on the plains. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life. and there's a train that got a whole city moving again. somewhere in america, the toughest questions are answered every day. because somewhere in america, more than sixty thousand people spend every day answering them. siemens.

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numbers from the labor department today that show while seven states saw jobless claims drop at least four states experienced record unemployment with michigan topping the list at 14.1%. the national unemployment rate remains stagnant at 9.7%. so a big question in primaries and also for general elections in the fall, are the policies of the obama administration helping or hurting efforts to turn the economy around and create jobs? joining us for today's "shuster showdown" joan walsh editor and chief of salon and dennis prager a columnist with town hall.com. joan, for the people, the vote ners arizona who say, look, this isn't working, jobs are not being created, what's the answer? >> i think the answer is that he's certainly prevented a lot of jobs from being lost. we know the stimulus did that. but we also know whether we're democrats or republicans what didn't happen is a lot harder to sell than what did happen. so i think the jobs need to be next on his agenda. i think we also know democrats certainly know and a lot of

economists who are not democrats also felt that the stimulus was just a little bit too small. it should have been closer to a trillion dollars and so i think the next thing on the agenda has to be substituting where -- the stimulus came down, david. remember right when cities and states were having to layoff teachers and firefighters, layoff police officers, layoff a lot of the back bone of our cities and states. so i think one thing the president can do is really look at where those jobs are hemorrhaging and back stop that kind of job loss. i'd also look at infrastructure. we have a lot of bridges, a lot of roads, a lot of mass transit that needs to be built or rebuilt and there is a lot of opportunity there. >> dennis prager, what about that argument, that things would be even worse in places like arizona even if it had not been for the stimulus? >> look, we have philosophically and economically different views of the world. the government does not solve the problem of unemployment. it didn't during the great recession, the great depression, and it won't now.

this is a redistribution of income policy, not unemployment policy. >> sarah palin has stepped up to the microphone. i'll ask dennis and joan to stick around but we're going to dip in now. sarah palin of course again trying to help john mccain in his primary re-election campaign in arizona. let's listen. >> in the past and serving today raise your hand. we're going to honor. we're going to thank you. thank you. we owe you. we love you. thank you. you know, i was pretty excited when john mccain asked knee join him on the campaign trail this go around here in arizona. i couldn't wait to get some of the mccain-palin team back together again. i knew this would be fun. a lot of things have changed, though. a lot of things have changed since the last time we were together. one of those things is that john, nobody gave us an teleprompter this go round.

so it's time to take it old school again, resort to the old poor man's version of the teleprompter, write my notes on my hand again. hey, for another thing, another thing that has changed, i think this go round when all the votes are tallied i think he's going to win this one. we've come a long way from the 2008 campaign, but one thing that has not changed is my deep respect and admiration for the mccains and my support of senator john mccain. it was such a privilege to be asked to run alongside him in 2008 and it's an honor to stand beside him now and ask that you, arizona, for the sake of your state and the sake of our country, that you send the maverick back to the united states senate.

john's a man of principle. he's a man of honor. he's a man of faith. oh, and so importantly he is a man of the people. he loves his state. he spent 30 years fighting for the good, patriotic, hard-working arizona residents who call this wonderful state home and the principles that you hold dear. and that hasn't always won him friends in the washington, d.c. elite machine. it hasn't always won him friends. you know, many, many years ago, i competed in a pageant. you know what? >> so as we hear sarah palin there campaigning for john mccain let's bring back in dennis prager and joan walsh. dennis, john mccain is facing a very difficult challenge from the right. is sarah palin enough to help him? >> i think so. this is a very big deal and it's very classy on her part to do this. she's doing it well. it is very it's very difficult for me to imagine that the people of

arizona or even the republicans of arizona are going to reject the man who ran for president, who brings such distinction. none of us agree with everything that he stands for. so what? he's been powerful in helping to block this massive redistribution of wealth. by the way, it's very important your listeners know, your viewers know, pardon me, i'm from radio, and i think of listeners. that is that max baucus said today, senator baucus, democrat of montana, that the purpose of this bill was to redistribute wealth in the united states. and that's an honest statement and it's one that people need to know. if you want redistribution of income, the left are your people. i have the quote with me. i'll read it to you if you like. >> i'm sure it's out of context, dennis, because he's one of our most moderate -- >> not at all, it doesn't matter. >> i tell you what, we're going to get the context. let's go back to sarah palin and we'll dig up the context ourselves.

but in the meantime, back to sarah palin. >> today, those issues are at the heart of a conservative movement that's sweeping this country. it's a beautiful, grassroots mooxt that it's putting government back on the side of the people. some parts of this is, is the tea party movement. and i want to clear the air right now. god bless you. let me clear the air right now. we might as well call it like we see it, right? not beat around the bush. in respect to the tea party movement, beautiful movement. you know what, everybody here supporting john mccain, we are all part of that tea party movement. because i have had the privilege of traveling around the u.s. and meeting with everyday americans who are the great tea party movement. and folks always ask me about my friend, john mccain, everywhere i go. and first, you got to think about it. we're all that tea party movement. back then in 1773, remember it was the freedom fighters and

those who protested tyranny and big government. throwing the tea in the harbor and saying, we're going to tell big government, intrusive government -- no more. and that's what we're doing today. and when you think about the first tea party, shoot, some may claim that john was there at the first tea party. i'm kidding. and i'm kidding. but i got to remind people -- before there were protests on main street or marches on capitol hill, there was the maverick of the senate, fighting for us. john's been leading fight against waste and fraud and reckless spending for decades. and today, he's leading the loyal opposition in congress, standing up and speaking out against the obama-pelosi-reid agenda and what they are doing to this country. [ applause ] [ cheers and applause ]

remember, folks, whenn the obam administration proposed a nearly $1 trillion stimulus bill, senator mccain gave them some straight talk. and he said the bill is generational theft and he voted no. when the president began to waive waiver on afghanistan, it was john who knew that our men and women in uniform deserved better. he asked the president to listen to the advice of his commanders on the ground. when it came to obama care, when it came to obama care -- hey by the way, i see today that fidel castro likes obama care. but we don't like obama care. doesn't that kind of tell you something? when it came to this, john fought against a government takeover of one-sixth of our economy. and he told the president that

transparency in the legislative process should be more than just another campaign promise. and in this case, with obama, another campaign promise that's been so broken. now when the pundits and talking heads said conservatism -- it's dead. no more will the conservatives be able to rise to power in this country, john mccain set out to put the fight back in the republican party. he met with a young, unknown state senator from massachusetts for one. and he's the one who gave this republican the support that was needed, some name recognition that was needed in the early support in order for this republican to run for the u.s. senate. that state senator was scott brown. and today he's a critical vote against big government. we've got huge challenges to overcome in this country. and, yes, we need these new

republicans, we need this new blood coming on into the system and new party officials. and those who are willing to stand up and speak out for common sense conservative solutions. but we also need statesmen and heroes like john mccain in there to help us get through these challenging times in these coming years. john mccain has the wisdom and the courage to lead this country, and to help arizona, also get back on the right track. and that's why i'm here, asking for your vote again. arizona, would you send the maverick back to the united states senate. john spent his entire career fighting for this country. and he spent his entire career fighting for common-sense conservative solutions that arizona needs. that's what his campaign for the presidency was all about.

it was john mccain who warned us about this administration's plans for growing government and digging us deeper into debt and spreading the wealth around. it was john who warned us. it was john who gave us an alternative to the obama-pelosi-reid agenda. and hearing the news reports lately, kind of this ginned-up controversy about us common-sense conservatives inciting violence because we happen to oppose some of the things in the obama administration. [ boos ] >> you do it with your vote. >> amen, brother, that's what you do it with, your vote. you've got it right. we know that violence isn't the answer. when we take up our arms, we're talking about a vote. we're talking about being involved in a contested primary like this, and picking our candidate, too, john mccain, we thank you for that. but this bs coming from the

mainstream media lately, about us inciting violence -- don't let, don't let the conversation be diverted. don't let a distraction like that get you off-track. keep fighting hard for these candidates who are all about the common-sense conservative solutions that we need. and in paraphrasing louisiana's governor, john, i'll going to tell them this one, because it's hilarious. louisiana's governor recently said, we're being accused of being the party of no because we oppose some of the things that the administration is doing. the louisiana governor said, well, no, we're not the party of no. we're the party of hell no. when it comes to those things that are not in our country's best interests. now, even though our share of the votes didn't carry the day back in 2008, we got second out of