i'm overdressed for the bipartisan health challenge. i wish i had come out with the al sharpton velour track suit from 1986. that would have been hot. maybe next year. >> and lastly, ken says i'm upy >> ken says i'm up getting fiber. by that i mean scotch and soda. >> that sounds like a good plan. i think i know what i'm going to do for the race, sit under the tent and drink scott with you. get ready, "morning joe" live from d.c. starts right now. it's more of a cause than a campaign, and the cause is restoring america. >> the palin is strong in this one. my god, just give her bangs and a pair of rimmed glasses and she would be a dead ringer.

oh, my god, no. which one is bridget fonda? which one is jennifer jason lee? i don't know what's going on. >> boy, a lot of material there. >> christine mcdonnell. >> o'donnell -- >> being make en fun of. good morning, welcome to a special edition of "morning joe." we're live at the national mall in front of the capitol building. if you're watching, you probably know what that big thing behind me is. >> it's so great to be here. >> we're not the only ones here. >> no. a lot of folks here today. congress returned to town this week facing daunting decisions and an increasingly restless nation. the big question, can washington pass legislation before the 2010 election that will begin to get america back to work. >> we'll be talking to republicans and democrats to see if they can make progress before what barack obama called the silly season --

>> right, it's back. >> obviously back, in some states more than others. >> oh, now. >> actually there's a little bit of hope for compromise on taxes. yesterday you had the majority leader, steny hoyer, talking about the possibility of negotiating with the extension of the bush tax cuts. barack obama is talking about negotiations. i think they understand it's time for them to get together. >> for the first part of our show we'll search for common ground. but ultimately there is one issue that both sides of the aisle can agree on, and that is being healthy -- well, we almost can agree on it. being healthy. you're going to be with me on this issue today. i appreciate your letting us do this. in two hours democrats and republican leaders will put politics aside, throw on their sneakers and take the "morning joe" bipartisan health challenge. >> we'll have friends of the show going to be here.

from the white house we'll have seen your adviser valerie jarrett, senator john thun, eric kantor and all the young guns are going to be right here. >> so handsome. >> we can't wait for that. >> i wonder if their teeth will glimmer. >> they are being very nice to come on the show. mike ban cal, pat buchanan, gene robinson, jonathan capehart and a swarm of people all over the place. i'll be participating in a 3k walk to promote active lifestyles, showing everybody that it's -- >> that's our route. >> look at this, how cool is this. do you think you'll make it all the way around. >> i have to say, mike barnacle, they say it's never too late to be healthy. i think in my case and your case, it's too late. >> the only good thing about this route we just saw is that

down at the end, joe, because the top of the food mere mid for us, coke and fries down at the ends. >> i love it. >> a healthy brunch. >> i've asked louis to get you one of those -- >> a segue. >> you're not riding a segue. you're walking. mark halprin, how fascinating that democrats seem to be willing to compromise on these so-called tax cuts for the rich that we've heard would cause the end of the world if they were extended. now everybody from barack obama to the majority leader of the house, steny hoyer, saying, okay, we'll talk. >> i'm not one who is automatically cynical and says everything that happens in that building and down the street at the white house in an election year is pure politics. what's going on now is pure politics. democrats thought they could use this fight over tax cuts to their benefit. they realize now they've mostly lost the argument. they're trying to get out of town with a solution that

doesn't hurt them more in the eyes of the public seen as a tax-and-spend party. >> doesn't it look like there's a possibility that some of the bush tax cuts are going to be extended at least a year. >> some or maybe all. remember the budget director, peter orzag said let's do a deal. it's the only politically possible thing. i'd say right now a one or two extension of all the tax cuts despite the fact the president drew a line in the sand and said we can't afford that. >> pat buchanan, your portfolio is safe for the next year or two. >> i gasped watching you on television yesterday. >> you gasped. what was the problem? >> the hooting. >> the hooting about christine o'donnell. >> i got back from dover, the big party and i was a little excited. >> pat, there will be a lot of democrats and we've already heard it on the hill. i know you heard it, too, saying, why can't he start talking about this a year and a half ago instead of health care.

why didn't he talk about the r&d tax credits. barack obama has finally gotten where mike barnacle was saying he should have been a year and a half ago. is it too late or does he have two months to send the message, i'm pro business, i'll do whatever it takes to create jobs. >> i think he helped himself a bit by the one thing the two republicans did support. the democrats, some 31 of them sent him a letter saying extend all the tax cuts. they don't have the votes. if they don't have them, they go up and deal. i think you'll get a two-year extension of all the tax cuts for those above $250,000. >> mike, are you surprised fwha? >> no. >> does that make sense economically when americans are saying we're worried about the deficit and the debt, but we want to get back to work. >> economically i don't know. politically absolutely. mark is going to new hampshire. he will find out as he finds out every trip he makes outside of

the beltway, outside of new york city is people don't wake up in the morning saying, hey, i want to get my tax cuts, keep my tax cuts in vogue, but i also want the rich to be hosed going forward. they don't care. take care of me. that's what they're doing up there in that building. they do, they just want to get out of town having put this behind them. >> all right. let's get to a little news. one of of your favorite candidates, establishment candidates. >> talking about christine mcdonald. >> o'donnell. >> same thing. >> starting the pledge their support for christine o'donnell's general election campaign after initially turning their back ps on the tea party candidate. following her upset win in the delaware senate primary tuesday, senate republicans said she would not be getting help from them. but yesterday national republican senatorial committee chairman john cornyn said in a written statement that o'donnell would have the nrsc support. that's conviction, as well as the maximum, $42,000 donation from the organization.

and republican national committee chairman michael steal who yesterday kicked off his fire pelosi bus tour in virginia told republicans to rally behind o'donnell. >> i don't know if she can win until we try. how can you claim defeat before you attempt victory. this makes no sense. it makes no sense. so stop it. stop it. >> okay. a lot of negativity there. meanwhile o'donnell and sarah palin are fighting back against those questioning her chances, specifically former bush adviser karl rove. >> i am perplexed about what's going on with karl rove. all he has to do is go to my website and he sees all those accusations that he's continuing to put out are not true. i am very perplexed and n wonder does he want a democrat in that seat? >> i have nothing against karl rove personally.

he's the expect. but, bill, some of these folks they are saying that people like christinew3 o'donnell and other tea party americans, can't win because they don't want them to win, because they know a christine o'donnell, a joe miller from alaska in gubernatorial races like suzanna martinez and nikki haley, these folks are going to shake it up, some of those in the hierarchy of the political machine and on both sides of the aisle they are very much into control and titles and egos and everything else. i'm not saying that personally about karl rove. i think that's inherently in the nature of the hierarchy of a political machine. >> we need to -- we really need to just stop here, and i don't want to clutter things up after sarah palin speaking there with facts, but the fact is -- and she's very upset because karl rove pointed out some facts. one fact is that christine

mcdonald -- >> o'donnell. >> -- lied about her education for decades. she lied about going to princeton. she lied about getting a degree. her mortgage was foreclosed on. she can't tell the truth on her biography. those are the facts, are they not? >> they are. but i'll tell you, i think it's possible she can win this race because she's a great candidate. it's unusual for someone to go on the morning shows and handle herself so well. >> i thought she was particularly great on ours. >> riveting. >> it's not she's got extreme positions, although she's got some. it's not she doesn't have the good candidate skills or can't raise money, it's because karl thinks this stuff will be dispositive for voters. bill clinton had a lot of bad facts against him and said do

you want my facts to be about my yesterdays and personal destruction charges or about the future? >> she used those phrases. but the fact is, pat, financially she's been a wreck and she can't tell the truth on her biography. karl rove, a political strategist says this is going to cause problems in the general election. we talked about the difference between heart and head. i understand the heart got you whooping in bed in mclane, virginia. but the head, pat, you know any candidate that has lied about their collegiate career, any candidate that has had economic problems that she's had makes it less likely that she wins a general election. >> karl rove's analysis that she would be probably tougher to get elected than mike castle was probably correct. but after this young woman won her election, she has a sensational night. she's on television. she looks very attractive.

everybody is cheering, and here comes rove dumping on her the way you would expect moveon.org, why doesn't rove just shut up? >> just what i said. she has some personal problems. >> that's not the truth. >> that's the job of the opposition. what is rove doing trashing hills own nominee now? >> i think when you have a candidate that is severely flaw you might want to say it and have some conviction about your party. >> -- a democrat going after teddy kennedy for what happened. >> here is the deal. karl rove is paid by fox news and roger ails not to get republicans elected, but give analysis. that night hannity asked his analysis and he says, this makes it a lot harder for us. instead of us picking up the majority, we're now at seven. >> mark has a good point. we're now 24, 48 hours later. she's had a sensational kickoff. she's controversial. all these people are rushing to

her defense because she's been martyred by rove and the neo cons. you've only got seven weeks left in the campaign. >> rove didn't martyr her, he told the truth about her history. >> i know a lot of truths about republicans, why would i go on the air now and start trashing them? >> so that better ones emerge. >> she only got 24,000 votes. she got very few votes in a very small turnout republican primary. the other problem, the larger problem she has i would submit is this. different this year for a candidate this year is good. people are looking for different this year. crazy is not good. >> she's not coming across -- >> she will, she will. democrats have a very good candidate in this race. it is a blue state. in a normal straight-up year, he would win. this is not a normal straight-up

year. if there's a national republican tide and she can keep the issue on anti obama, anti spending and the voters don't get focused on her past misstatements and financial improprieties, what are the chances of that happening? >> a good chance -- >> do you remember paula hawkins, 1980? all those folks came in. i couldn't believe it. >> democrats are talking about whether they need to go on the air doing negative ads against her trying to kill her now. they wouldn't do that if they didn't think she could win. >> i understand mcdonald -- there's some tape from bill maher several months ago. >> we have it. a controversial appearance on "politically incorrect," back in 1998 where she questions whether it would have been okay to lie to prevent nazis from killing jews in world war ii.

>> a lie whether it be a lie or an exaggeration is disrespect to whoever you're exaggerating or lying too. it's not respecting reality. >> what if it comes to you in the middle of the second world war and you have jewish people in your house, would you lie to him? that would be a lie. >> good question, eddie. >> i believe that if i were in that situation -- >> whoa, whoa, whoa. answer the question. >> if i were in that situation, god would provide a way for -- >> oh, shut up. god is not there. hitler is there and you're there. >> you never have to practice deception. >> so mike barnacle, mcdonald said she wouldn't lie to hitler, even if it was to hide jews. >> the best shot that she has is that people will start feeling sorry for her because the attacks will be so --

>> i don't know, barnicle. listen. >> not because she won't liefatd lied about his college career for 20 years. >> see you later. >> had lied about going to princeton, had lied about his finances, had his house foreclosed upon, had made a total of five of 800 over the past year, had gone on bill maher and said he would not

lie -- would not lie in this case even though she he lied about a lot of other things, lied about hiding a jew in the attic, that he wouldn't do that, that guy would be so dead in the water, it's not even -- does anybody on this set, before i get nasty e-mails, disagree with that? >> absolutely. >> let me say, this is 12 years ago. she's very, very young. what people see there is a christian woman trying to fend her personal beliefs against bill maher. >> we're talking about everything. >> it's a winner in the republican party. >> that energizes all the sympathy vote -- >> you just said the sympathy vote again. i'm wondering, pat, is that because she's a woman? >> yes. >> look at nikki haley, she was attacked by two guys down there. >> and she won. >> people came right to her -- >> and she won. nikki haley is also a woman.

i have to say nickie is a brilliant woman. >> with an impressive record. >> people are attacking her for her past, that's going to engender sympathy. people are saying, she's talking about what i'm talking about. >> in the break we'll try to find out what barack obama's approval rating is right now in delaware. that's a good telltale sign. >> we have a big show this morning. our bipartisan health challenge is coming up. after the break, the top stories in the politico playbook, van da high. >> i will not lie to van da high if he asks me. >> do not do that. a new record for the most personal cash ever spent on a political campaign, a story making front page news. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill, why aren't you here? >> i may still arrive. who knows? we'll see. actually i've got to track all

the hurricanes. you look chilly, too, mika. temperature is 67 degrees today, 8:00 on the mall, they should be okay, a little chilly out there and brisk at the current time. later this afternoon, it's going to be nice and warm everywhere from d.c. to new york. rain from hartford northward. the rain will get it going for the next 24 hours. rain in the great lakes, much of the deep south is looking really good. i mentioned the hurricanes. we're continuing to watch igor, a huge monster, category 4, moving at a snail's pace. it's like watching a turtle eat cabbage or something. it's going to take four more days to get to bermuda, slowly churn its way through the atlantic. finally, we also have tropical storm karl down in the gulf of mexico. that's going to hit mexico tonight and tomorrow as a hurricane once again. you're watching "morning joe" brood by starbucks.

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karl rove was on fox news challenging, she says she was a college graduate, but apparently she got her degree two weeks ago. this morning o'donnell was on "good morning america" and i think it explains why sarah palin likes her so much. >> why did she mislead voters about her college education? how come it took her two decades two decades to get her college degree? how did she make a living -- >> you know what, everything he's saying is unfactual. >> show me unfactual. >> unfactual, she and sarah

palin, cut from the same cloth. willie geist, somewhere a lot to do. you were watching off the camera. i thought i saw you -- what the hell is going on out there. >> people are exercising getting ready for the bipartisan health challenge. >> will i saw you dabbing your eyes. you said a woman so committed to the truth who would turn a jew over to hitler rather than lie to hitler and yesterday she had no problem lying about where she went to school. >> well, that's different. >> some things are beyond the pale. you know what i'm saying. you can lie to the mortgage officer. >> so mcdonald -- >> o'donnell. >> what was her word? >> unfactual. >> word of the day. let's take a look at the morning papers. starting with the "washington times." >> do you think she reads the papers? >> we could ask her which papers

she reads. >> actually she said she will come on the show now. >> that's good. >> steny hoyer and other democrats hint at a willingness to compromise and extend all tax cuts. >> "the washington post" on the first day as mayor elect in washington, vincent gray said he plants to spend the next two months trying to heal a city sharply divided by race, class and geography. >> "san francisco chronicle," republican meg whitman has surpassed michael bloomberg's record for personal spending on an election. whitman added another $15 million of her own money yesterday bringing her personal tab to $119 million. >> wow. >> my hometown, the pensacola news journal saying, acknowledging serious problems in the claims process. ken feinberg promised a quick response and more substantial checks to those damaged by bp's spill in the gulf of mexico. when we were down there, mika, all of our pensacola friends were complaining about the

process, said it was a mess. >> it was so difficult and still is for so many, businesses that the crisis may be behind us but they still face tough times. "new york times," says boeing is entering the space tourism business t. flights beginning as early as 2015 would most likely launch from cape canaveral in florida to the international space station. >> i don't even have time to fly to scranton. why am i going to mars? >> i've landed in the wrong city many times. maybe i'll land on mars now. time for politico. >> with us now, the executive editor of politico, jim vanned high is hearing with the morning playbook. >> look how handsome he is. >> we'll talk about a poll, a new poll we did with george washington university, a battle ground poll. we're doing six of them in the

next year and a half. two interesting findings, our generic match-up, 43-43 which democrats will like to see, most polls have been showing them trailing often by many, many points. the other interesting thing is that voters think republicans will pick up both the house and the senate, and it's a nine-point swing there. i think that speaks to the momentum. >> what's so strange and the times has a poll out today, too, suggesting republicans are going to take control. r image worse than democrats. what did you find in the generic poll? >> i think the reason -- >> 43, 43. but what about the branding. >> the exact same thing. voters don't like republicans, don't like their policies, don't trust them much more than they trust democrats. the finding, which is interesting, is the enthusiasm. we see the exact same enthusiasm gap. when you break it down by demographics, white voters who

tend to vote for republicans are much more enthusiastic than minority voters. older voters are more enthusiastic than younger voters. and i think you saw it in delaware. a lot of people reading delaware as a devastating blow to republicans. it probably is in delaware. i think it speaks to a very good thing for republicans in that there's so much energy right now behind republicans that i think incumbents that none of us are thinking about today are going to lose their house races because conservatives are showing up. i think the more people go on tv and bash o'donnell and other people, the more fired up they get and the more likely they are to turn out in the election. it's been fascinating to watch the play after this. >> that is fascinating. mike, it seems like americans are saying in these polls and this politico poll, we don't like republicans, but we don't want democrats to have a monopoly. we're checking them. >> clearly all incumbents are endangered species this year.

the delaware thing is perfect proof of that in that, if you get angry enough and you feel she's been offended, christine o'donnell in delaware, that will generate enthusiasm among a specific group of people. >> pat, we see it time and time again, the party that's fired up wins. republicans and 66 democrats, democrats in '86. '94, '06. it goes on and on. it looks like this is the r' year for that reason alone. >> i've never seen such fire and energy and desire to get out and vote as you see in the party conservatives and republicans. >> more so that gold waut sgler maybe 1980 when you had reagan. everybody was desperate. paula hawkins and these folks swept out ten democratic senators. >> thank you, go get on your short shorts. >> are you going to run with us? >> no. i have to get back to politico.

michael len has been up since 3:00 running. >> we'll talk to you later. next, iranian president mahmood ahmadinejad, you ale hear what he toandrea mitchell. >> derek jeter, pretending he got hit by a pitch and it paid off. we'll show you what happened. you're watching "morning joe" live from the national mall in washington. we'll be right back.

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welcomerewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart. welcomerewards from hotels.com. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.

thanks. i got the idea from general mills big g cereals. they put a white check on the top of every box to let people know that their cereals have healthy whole grain, and they're the right choice... (announcer) general mills makes getting whole grain an easy choice. just look for the white check. welcome back to "morning joe." we're live in washington, d.c., for the bipartisan health challenge. are you excite snd. >> yeah, can't wait. >> thank you. president obama is planning to name harvard professor elizabeth warren to set up a powerful new consumer protection bureau. warren will be assistant to the president and special adviser to treasury secretary tim geithner. the move, expected to be made

official within days allows warren tob to begin setting up the agency without being subjected to a senate confirmation process. our congratulations to her. iranian president my mood ahmadinejad saying iran can survive without the aid of the u.s. and allies. those comments came in an nbc news exclusive and an interview with andrea mitchell yesterday. during that interview which touched on a wide range of topics, am dij jad says his country was justified. >> they are under the pressures of the united states and the allies and they express political views. is not a technical approach and a legal approach towards the question. and it is part of the hostility of the united states against our people.

>> i think we're doing another breakfast with him. that should be interesting. >> we are. >> time for sports. >> we're pitching this as a breakfast with ahmadinejad. >> what do you like better? i think bravo would like "breakfast with mahmood." >> ahmadinejad is kind of a clunky word. revolutionize morning television. >> that's what we're trying to do. >> rants against the great satan every morning. >> let's go to sports. there's no segue here. >> on the 1s. >> sports on the 7s. even if you hate the yankees, you love jeter. derek jeter, classy guy throughout his career. yankees and rays, final game of a huge three-game series n. the seventh inning, yankees were down by one road.

derek jeter acts like he had been hit by a pitch, shaking his hand. >> the rays are furious because they know what really happened. the umpires huddle up. hits the end of the bat. his hand wasn't even on the bat, the one he was shaking. >> you can hear it. >> you can hear the ball hit the bad. joe madden, the rays manager was out there for five, six minutes. they throw him out of the game. >> look at this. next batter, curtis granderson hits a two-run home run. the pitcher is furious. the crowd was booing jeter. a little justice. in the bottom of the ninth, dan johnson gets the bayback. two-run home run. rays won 4-3. >> mcdonald wouldn't do that. >> o'donnell. >> lying is wrong in all cases. are you surprised? >> i am surprised. a-rod has done things like that in the past. after the game jeter admitted he acted to get on base.

i can tell the ump i'm not going to first. it's part of the game to get on first base. it's my job. >> what do you think? >> on this particular occasion, this was very disappointed because he should have listened to ms. o'donnell and told the truth. he should have turned to umpire, sucked it up and said, i'm sorry, i wouldn't lie to hitler and i'm not lying to you. >> i think it's safe to say that he can, derek jeter did not rise to the mcdonald standard -- >> right down to first base. >> yankees now have lost eight of ten games. the rays are up a half game in the al east. >> lying really doesn't pay. >> it does not. an update on the reggie bush heisman trophy situation. on tuesday bush announced he would be returning the award. allegations that he and his family took cash during his time at usc. yesterday the heisman trophy

said it would leave the title vacant for the 2005 season. the guy who got the second-most votes in 2005, titans quarterback vince young who was at texas at the time. he tweeted this after hearing about reggie's decision. quote, reggie will continue to be the 2005 award recipient and i will continue to be honored to have been where the heisman campaign with such a talented -- no way to revote. >> a class act. >> class act, yes. >> i don't like the heisman stripping bush. penalized, usc, whatever. >> we could do a whole bipartisan challenge about it. today is about health. >> and fighting obesity. thank you so much. >> and not lying to hitler. what's next. still ahead, valerie jarrett, eric cantor and the young guns. >> wonderful. >> governor ed rendell up next. look at that cast of stars.

up next, jack kingston of georgia and maybe some of those people, too. we'll be right back. >> where is michael len? wall street is getting back on its feet.

but the financial landscape is still full of uncertainty. in times like these, you need an experienced partner to look out for you. heads up! and after 300 years we have gotten pretty good at that.

the sun is slowly coming up over washington, d.c. you can see, joe, people are warming up for the bipartisan health challenge. we're going to be taking that run around the mall. it's going to be so fun. we'll do it on the air. literally do our show while walking around the mall. isn't that going to be great? get moving, fit, happy. >> not even a little bit.

>> i think of john dandy in "splash." my heart is beating like a rabbit. >> actually follow through with it. don't be grumpy. with us republican congressman jack kingston of georgia. >> also look who is here. >> capehart, jonathan capehart from "the washington post." and the game changer, john heilemann. good to have you guys. we could do some must-reads if you'd like. >> i'd like to talk to our friends first. jack kingston, were you excited that christine mcdonald won delaware. >> mixed blessing. the rage and the passion out there. you and i are friends of mike castle. mika, i do want to say this, there was a time when joe's locker was about three down in mine and he was up every morning 6:00 a.m. you could not beat him to the gym. he was lifting weights and jogging, swimming, doing all this great stuff. >> jack, we already have been talking about telling the truth

as a politician. >> i did, in the congressional gym. that's because i slept on my couch and had nowhere else to go. i still went. >> he was cheerful every single morning. >> does he look a little different now. >> he looks better, more buff. it's the coffee. >> i'm like elevation 1976 singing "my way." jack, are republicans blowing great opportunities in states like nevada and delaware where there are more electable candidates getting elected -- that are not getting elected? >> i think it's going to be a huge election. there's going to be lots of surprises. the people saying that mike castle was a lot three months ago, now are the experts saying she doesn't have a chance in november. if they're so smart, where were they three months ago? if you have new blood to an election, you'll have surprises. >> you were here in '94. does this feel like '94 all over again?

>> it does, even more. i've had people tell me they like the way i vote, but it's time to go. >> christine o'donnell -- >> telling you that. i like everything about you. i'm voting you out you s.o.b. >> does she represent what your party stands for? >> let's say she represents lots of the new things people are looking for. >> you can't give me a full-on yes, can you? >> there's a little bit of this and that in there. >> that's a good way of putting it. okay. sounds like the dinners i cook. >> joe, you know we got in trouble for being democrat light. there's a lot of people that would say, listen, if i'm going to be represented by moderate, i'm going to vote democrat. people are sending a signal. remember, it's not just about delaware. it's about sending a signal nationwide that, hey, we really do want a true blue liberal, a true blue conservative. >> is that true blue? i don't know. >> speaking of this and that,

jonathan capehart, she has trouble with her resume. i don't mean to keep harping on this. but karl rove brings up facts and she and sarah palin call it the politics of personal destruction. i think that's actually relevant. >> remember when attorney general blumenthal in connecticut, when the stuff came out about his vietnam service and lack thero. we should be talking about christine o'donnell. >> by the way, we went after mark kirk on the republican side when he got his record wrong. nobody was saying cut him a break. >> i think if people want the public to trust them, to elect them, to bring -- to send them here, to pass laws that affect all of us, we should demand they be truthful about who they are, what their service has been, their educational records, their financial lives, the idea she has no discernible income, she's got unpaid bills all over the place, the fact that --

>> she defaulted on her mortgage. >> why is she surveilling in light of all this. >> she qualifies for the cabinet. she hasn't paid taxes. >> there you go. >> good point. >> there's a picture in most of the papers today of john boehner and mitch mcconnell. the republicans for the past 10, 12 months have been cohesive in their opposition to anything the obama administration puts up there in the floor of the house. my question to you is, given the ideological tenor of what came out of delaware, people who voted for her would probably not vote for a john boehner or a mitch mcconnell. how do you control someone on such the maverick side of the aisle when they're in your caucus? >> you know, one thing that's very good about john boehner is he has been here a while. he has dealt with all kinds of different egos, and he knows how to get the kind of

flame-throwing ideological person working with somebody who is maybe a committee chairman, holding the gavel and actually has to pass a bill and work with democrats in order to do it. i think boehner is that kind of manager. he's a calm guy. he's a smooth guy. but in another sense, he's seen it all. so i think that we can make it happen. you know, when the election is over, people tend to say, o karks now get the job done. how do you get the job done. it's a little more difficult. i think we'll get there. >> john heilemann, news breaking yesterday that there may be a deal on taxes. barack obama talking about possibly negotiating with republicans about extending tax cuts. steny hoyer suggesting, after hearing from house democrats who were scared, they want the bush tax cuts extended maybe a year or two. does peace break out over taxes in the last month? >> looks like we may have peace. i don't know if it will be peace with or without honor. it seems to be moving in that

direction. >> to extend all tax cuts, is that not a sign of just how bad the economy is. >> it's a sign of just how bad the economy is and also just how vulnerable a lot of democrats are feeling on this issue. and there's movement on both sides of at least doing that extension for a year or so. i think there are not a lot of democrats who are comfortable with the position of feeling as though they're going to get tagged with these taxes going forward. >> steny hoyer obviously from a swing district in maryland, this guy is hearing from democrats in the south, democrats in the midwest, hey, let me tell you something, if i have to go back and defend what my voters are going to call a tax increase, it's over. shut it down. i think this is a political reality that's finally hit them square in the face. >> joe, i don't care where you live, whether you live in ohio, georgia, michigan, i think constituents are telling their members of congress, their

senators, just get something done. just get something done. >> okay. >> congressman jack kingston. >> a former young gun himself. >> his teeth twinkle. he doesn't need special effects. >> thanks for being here. >> always great to see you. >> where did willie go? where is willie? >> where is willie? where is willie? >> there you go. >> you can talk any time, willie. >> t.j., great directing. >> we'll retrace the rove -- "morning joe" -- >> this isn't working. somebody bring me a smoke, okay? this s&p not going well. we'll be right back.

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about our exercise habit. she runs about 56 miles a day. joe and i don't leave the couch very often except to get up for more cheetoe's. let's take a look back. >> we're going down because we're overweight, we're obese, morbidly, most of this country. >> my food pyramid at the top are fats and oils. let me ask you in that food pyramid where exactly do soft drinks get rid of. >> get rid of soda pop. we don't need it. >> you go to the playground and get a five cent coke out of the machine. it's terrific. >> get one of those and you may as well eat two milky ways while you're at it. >> we'll see you at my bipartisan health challenge. he has been recruited. will you walk with me? will you walk with me side by side. >> i walk with you every day mika. >> there goes your next election. mika, did you hear that, pat

buchanan used to drink a coca-cola for five cents each and every day. look at him now. >> the secret of his success. >> i'm not going to be snarky because you are nice enough to be here. you're not dressed for it. i hope you're walking, aren't you? >> i'm walking the the train station because i have to get back for some stuff going on today. i'm be here in spirit for you. >> willie, i got the rex ryan golf cart, rex ryan sweat suit, rex ryan pork chops, the entire rex ryan starter set for us. >> i have a special challenge for you. >> oh, good. >> at the end of the show i'm going to challenge you to something. >> me? >> yes, you. >> all right. whatever. let's get the golf cart ready. i'm getting tired. >> willie, what's ahead? side.

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now, while o'donnell's a tea party darling, the old guards say she can't win in november. >> republicans feel christine o'donnell doesn't give them as good of a chance in the fall. >> democrats are doing a victory jig. kristol gave us a statement saying, i know sarah palin. like sarah palin. and o'donnell is not sarah

palin. >> it's true. o'donnell might serve out her whole term. >> welcome back to "morning joe." look at that time beautiful shot of capitol hill. the sun has come out. we're here live this morning for the "morning joe" bipartisan health challenge. >> we have a lot of friends with us. the great pat buchanan is here. >> oh, the great. >> but also with us, republican congressman john haddock from arizona and jim clyburn from south carolina. he is the majority whip. >> "new york magazine's" john heilemann. >> john heilemann is still with us. his book now selling more than the gutenberg bible. congratulations. we have a lot to talk about today. we'll be talking about health when we're ed to. >> it's something we can agree on, right, gentlemen? >> right. >> we've been talking this morning, there's a big debate, talking about one candidate, really a bigger debate with the

republican party and where it's going. christine o'donnell wins in delaware and this mcdonald person -- >> o'donnell. >> -- has a checkered past personally regarding her bio and her finances. but it seems like republicans are saying we don't care. you and i were tea party before tea party was cool. the people are fed up with washington. they'll take anybody that's willing go go out there and campaign against washington. she did it and struck a cord. the establishment republican party better wake up and listen. >> you say the establishment republican party, but mike castle, did he not -- you're a shrewd political analyst, did he not have a better chance to pick up a seat for the republican party in that state? >> did he this year? is that the issue for the people? the people out there across america don't care whether we win the majority back here. they care this government represents them. right now they don't think it does. >> i want to go to you, pat, because, you know, pat, you

whooped when she won, you said. >> shelly did, too. >> yet there will be some time in a year or two if democrats maintain control of the senate by one vote that a supreme court nomination is going to come up. and instead of having orrin hatch, chairman of the judiciary committee, you'll have a senator from vermont, leahy. will you be whooping at that point that mike castle is not there to cast a vote with republicans? >> no. because frankly i think that's one of the big issues and we'll have a real battle on that. >> is it less likely that republicans will control that debate now? >> this is a better shot if we take mike castle. they're not the ones that decide anymore. the people out in delaware, all those good folks came out and said, look, you're not going to tell us who our nominee is going to be. >> i understand that. >> there are problems. we like this gal.

joe, that kind of fire and enthusiasm -- i remember democrats have always said, look, the easiest one to beat are these conservative characters like reagan and these other folks. very often, because of the energy and fire they can generate, they might not get the liberal vote. they get a lot of these conservatives and independents. >> energy and fire, one thing. are you completely able to avoid all these other things in her past that you would bring up in someone else? >> congressman clyburn and i are about the same age. he remembers the fats domino's song "yes, it's me and i'm in love again." >> oh, dear lord, pat. oh, dear lord. >> let's talk about compromise on the hill, congressman. you are the majority whip. you to count the votes. yet steny hoyer obviously hearing from democrats in the south and the midwest, we don't want to raise taxes right now, we don't want to be seen as raising taxes right now. let's extend the bush tax cuts a year or two. do we have a compromise coming

up on that issue? >> i've been hearing that. i think what we'll see happening is that, when you go district by district, you get one result. if you look at the country as a whole, this proposal that the president has put forth is very, very popular. 59%, 60% of the american people say they're for it. when you start going to each congressional district, then you're getting a different result. >> and that's your concern, that's steny's concern, when you have somebody like perry ello and i don't know if he's involved with this, saying i've walked the plank on health care and on cap and trade. i can't walk the plank on taxes. you guys have to listen to them and say i'll compromise with the republicans, right? >> absolutely. we listen to all our members out there. i spent pretty much all day sunday with perry ello. i can tell you he's very well connected. >> great candidate. >> of course, we'll less inen to

what they have to say about it. i feel good with coming up with something the american people will support. >> sounds like peace is breaking out on taxes. we may see the tax cuts extended for a year or two. >> it does sound that way, joe. my question for you, congressman, in the absence of compromise, this seems like an issue, as you said, the country seems to be on the president's side. this is one of the few issues that the democratic party had to use against republicans, was this class warfare notion. what is the democratic party going to do plitd cli sf it extends the tax cuts? what does the party have left to run on? >> we have a lot to run on because we are, in fact, as we said from the very beginning, we are going to give a tax cut to everybody. your first $250,000. remember, the very wealthy people will benefit from that as well. i do believe that the proposal the president put forth is

something we can run on, and the american people will understand, if you get to the point of a compromise. >> john, it does help democrats in swing districts in trouble if they can go forward saying we were able to vote for r&d tax credits, we were able to vote to allow businesses to buy more equipment and not pay taxes on them, and then we didn't raise taxes on small businesses. we extended it two years out? doesn't that help democrats? >> i think that would help democrats if they get there. right now i see no evidence of them getting there. right now they're talking about going home at the end of next week or the following week without doing any of those things, in which case they will have raised taxes on every single american? they will have reimposed the child tax credit. >> just explain. these are tax cuts put in place under bush. if they expire, they automatically go up. >> right now i think they're

planning on going home without dealing with the issues in which case they will have raised taxes. i'll look forward to republicans going forward after raising taxes on not just the rich, but everybody. >> jim, you'll have to have a vote. >> i think the argument from the senator is correct. they are going to do a tax vote today. we are going to do a make it work in america vote on the house today. i hope john will vote for that. >> you're not going to vote on that today in the house, not on the tax issues. >> no. in the senate. in the house we'll vote on make it in america stuff, creating jobs. >> you're not talking about the tax cut bill. you're talking about produce goods in america bill, american made bill, not this tax bill. >> i'm telling you we're going to do some things before we go home that i think you should be voting for. >> john, let me ask you this --

>> the tax extenders, you better extend the tax cuts or you're raising taxes -- >> let me ask you about your calendar. when will the taxes expire? when does it expire? >> they expire january 1. if we go home before january 1. >> if we go home -- >> hold on, hold on. one at a time. >> the question is, we do have until december 31st to deal with this. so if you go home in two weeks, you're telling me the taxes will go up before election day? the american people have the same calendar i've got. we've got plenty of time to do that. >> john. >> i love going to the end of this election with democrats having raised taxes by not asking. if they want to say, trust us, we will later. we know they're going up january 1. we didn't reduce them or keep them in place so they don't go up before election day, but trust us, we'll fix it between election day and january 1. >> a lame duck session here.

>> i think john knows that the fact of the matter is we don't have to touch bush's tax cut before we go home. that's you all's burden. >> and taxes go up. >> on january the 1st. >> i like politicians who run on the basis of trust us. >> john heilemann, let's talk about where this is going because i really do believe that the white house will be put in a position where they're going to have to extend the tax cuts, all the tax cuts for maybe a year or two. it's in a terrible position. by the way, that's kansian move, to cut taxes in the time of a great recession. if the president does that, does that cause an absolute all-out revolt on the far left? >> well, i think that probably not, if you extend only a couple years with the intention of eventually repealing them. i think if you have -- >> that's what or zack said we

need to do. extend a couple years, but then end all. >> exactly. that's the cover and that's the signal they will send to the left, to say look, this is what we have to do right now. there are a lot of vulnerable democrats who want to see this done. we have to do it temporarily and we'll get around to get together a sane fiscal posture later down the road. >> the problem with that, i would favor that going two years for extend all tax cuts. but you get to 2012, 2013 and a presidential election and guys are going to say, you're going to let all the middle class tax cuts disappear? no. the congress will have to go right back to the same argument again, right? >> i think so. >> you've got to give bush credit for having these things expire when he did. why don't you guys extend it until say october 31st, 2012. let me ask you, congressman,

once again, you're the majority whip. you hear all these concerns. you live in a southern state. you're in a safe district, but south carolina obviously a very conservative state. what do you hear from democrats? what's their biggest concern right now as they go out there in a year that looks like it's going to be a very republican year. >> the concern is all about jobs. people are really concerned about getting back to work. and we are, in fact, doing a pretty good job of that. it's not as fast as we would like. it's not as painful as we would like. we're not hemorrhaging. we have stopped the hemorrhaging. we're now growing. the fact is more people are at work today than were two weeks ago. and in two weeks there will be more. by election day, i think people will see that we're on the right path. >> gentlemen, thank you for being on the show this morning. you're going to walk the walk,

haddack. >> i'm going to run. >> the governor and i actually have something else planned. are you walk sng. >> yes, i am. i got on my shoes. >> i got a golf cart. >> no, no. willie geist. >> mika, how big is the bipartisan health challenge? the young guns are in the house. that's how big. that's how big. >> look how handsome. >> they will be jogging in their suits. gene robinson is here. look at his workout. i've never seen you like that. jonathan capehart. mark halprin, a fitness freak, ready to go. senator mary landrieu of louisiana. and the goddess of fitness herself, norah o'donnell. nora, you're going to lap the field? >> mika and i are going to have a race. i can guarantee mika will absolutely win. >> you think so? >> yes. also the author of the

best-selling book, "baby love." >> yes. you think "young guns" made the list yet? >> literary trash talk at the bipartisan challenge. we'll be right back. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 what if every atm was free? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more $2, $3 fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more paying to access your own money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it'd be like every atm in the world was your atm.

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it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. there's a big difference between fees and taxes. fees and taxes are one in the same. if it comes out of my pocket, it's a tax. now he says it isn't true. we didn't raise taxes. what? still doing the same thing, paying out more money. typical politician. definitely.

welcome back to "morning joe." everyone is getting ready. look at eugene robinson. seriously. i love his outfit. norah o'donnell, author of "baby love" talking to willie geist. all the folks coming getting ready to exercise. joe is doing a stair workout right now. how are you doing, joe? >> my heart is beating like a rabbit. >> okay. you're going to be fine. haddock is going to do the walk, too, which is nice of him. i hope he changes. joining us now, democratic senator mary landrieu along with

mark halprin and john heilemann. you're ready to go, aren't you? >> this is my third change of the day. >> you haven't done anything and you're sweating. i don't got gut sweat coming through that. >> i was talking to the young guns and it made me a little nervous. >> they're so handsome. >> i have to say the young guns are here. they're the best sports. we trash them unmerciful. >> well, they deserved it. >> we did. >> still they're here. posing for pictures, can you believe it. >> senator, my god, what a summer. what a horrible summer, but how are things turning around right now in louisiana? >> joe, whatever we did to displead god, we're sorry. we're sorry. we want to do something differently. he's still not listening. >> a huge fish kill yesterday. >> let me say, our people are resilient. we're pulling through, trying to get not the only oil cleaned up, but get the penalty money

allocated in the right ways to rebuild our gulf coast. it's a very special place in america as you know, all the way from galveston to mobile. new orleans, pat, one of your favorite places. >> all the way from galveston to pensacola. in pensacola yesterday, feinberg was there, admitted, we showed the newspaper earlier that the claims process has been a disaster. what's happening in louisiana? is it getting better? >> it hasn't been great. it can get better. the good thing is this is an independent entity trying to give out $20 billion to people angry and aggravated and lost money. it's not just the oil spill, it's the moratorium in place that's hurting the economy. >> explain that because a lot of people outside of the gulf coast are being champions of gulf coast waters saying we don't want any drilling off the coast, we want a moratorium. yet people who live in louisiana and mississippi and alabama, they want the drilling.

those are jobs. >> well, we want safe drilling in the gulf. we think generally the record has been pretty good. this is an interesting point for today because republicans and democrats agree on this. all along the gulf coast we believe we can have safe oil and gas, domestic drilling. in the same waters, we fish, we swim, we recreate. we have hotels and motels. now, this accident was terrible. it was horrible. it never should have happened. it may be human error. we don't know. the fact is we've got to get america back to work ef every where m. the gulf coast we have to start drilling again, both in shallow water. this accident happened in deep water. i'm holding a hearing today. we hope to get bipartisan support. maybe we can do a jog on this today. >> speaking of getting america back to work, obviously a big debate going on right now about tax cuts. we've had the r&d tax cuts and other tax cuts, we've all said sounds like a great idea and we wish would have been done a year and a half ago.

but what about extending the bush tax cuts for another year or two? we're hearing talk that that deal may go down. would you support that? >> joe, one of the great things we'll do today is give $12 billion of tax cuts to every small business in america. that vote is going to happen in just a few hours in that capitol. that's a first step. then i think we debate the bush tax cuts and figure out who we can extend them to, who we can afford to extend them to and what we have to allocate to deficit reduction. this small business bill, like you getting everybody jogging on the mall, our bill is hopefully going to get small business jogging and running, those engines revved up. >> do you like peter orzag's idea of possibly extending the bush tax cuts for a year or two? >> i think it's something to consider. i also think this deficit is extremely serious. you've got to have a balance between cutting spending and reducing taxes and then also investing correctly to get this

country in a more solid financial place. but i do know that the small business tax bill, the small business tax cut bill and senate bill is a good first step. >> great first step. >> i wish whoa we could have done it, joe, it got held up with politics. that's over with. let's get people back to work. >> how do people in your district feel about how the president is doing? do they have confidence in the system? >> he's doing good and bad on some issues. i think many people in louisiana liked some parts of the health care bill. we had so many people uninsured with no hope of getting insurance, even though it was controversial, some people liked that. this moratorium has been very tough for the people of louisiana. and so the president gets, you know, mixed reviews. overall, he's inherited, as you all may not admit all the time, but admitted a great mess. i think overall he's trying to fix some things and getting it back on track. >> we all admit that. but we see polls and we're

curious if you can give us insight. it's a poll that surprises me that people in louisiana, in your state, believe george w. bush did a better job handling katrina than barack obama did handling the bp spill. i've got to say that surprised even me being a guy that was over there a lot. why? >> i'll tell you why. because people in louisiana are dead set against this drilling moratorium. it's not the cleanup, it's the moratorium. >> you understand why we're here, right? >> i do understand why we're here. it's hard for americans that don't drill a lot to understand this. these are the facts. if you don't drill in the gulf of mexico where we have high regulations where we have transparency and openness, you drill in places like cuba or venezuela or china that don't have any of those things and the oceans get more damaged. number two, we have a national security issue here. we're already importing over 11

million barrels of oil a day. this country, this capital can't afford to import 100% of our oil from people who aren't our friends and don't share our values. people along the gulf coast know this and we're trying to explain this to everyone in america. i hope they're listen and understand. >> the health care bill, mixed views of the health care bill on your state. why aren't more democrats running on the accomplishment of passing the universal health care? >> i think there's so much misinformation out there, they don't have time to explain it in 30 days, but will have time in the next two years. >> some as private citizens? >> and some as senators. mike castle could explain that in delaware as a private citizen. >> senator landriew, thanks for coming on. best of luck. mika, i'm down here with the young guns. they promise they're going to get that effect where their teeth sparkle where it goes by. we'll have that coming up for you next. the young guns here at the

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america back. eric cantor, kevin mccarthy, paul ryan, joined by common sense conservative candidates from across the country. together they are ready to make history. together they are the young guns. >> we're live in washington. >> welcome back to "morning joe." >> i just want to see if their teeth glint in real life. oh, yes, they do. oh, my gosh. >> here is the deal. here is how seriously -- i've been around this town for a few years. the way i figure out who the professionals are, if guys that are going to make it are the ones that sort of take a punch, roll off and come back and pat you on the back. >> these guys have been very gracious. >> they have. adorable. >> but a confession here. paul ryan, and i've made no secret of my man love for you,

have i not? it's been gross. i've slobbered all over you. you said that's the first time you actually saw your teeth glistening -- is that really the first time you saw the video? >> it actually is. it goes to prove we're better at writing books than making videos. >> talk about the book. >> wait a minute, joe. i want to talk about the video. i thought you loved it. >> okay. let's talk about the video. i don't understand something. i'm 47 years old. i'm an old man. >> azam i. >> yeah, but the difference between you and me is i don't call myself young. >> let's set the record state. we were called young guns by fred barnes and the name stuck. let's get it straight. it's not about age, it's about ideas. that's what the book is about, joe. >> narrow it down. tell me about the ideas. >> we know you want to relive your youth. don't take your frustrations out on us, con on, joe.

>> you're young. look at eric cantor. every time you poke at us, we'll show the video. >> i want to see the teeth glistening. >> here we go. >> oh, my god. >> actually they came right across your teeth. kevin, you called me before. you called me several months ago and said we're working on some ideas that are going to change america. we're not just going to be the party to know. tell americans those ideas. >> those ideas are actually coming out in two weeks. what they're going to be about, things we can change right now. take away the uncertainty where people can create jobs in this country. stop the spending. it's crazy here. discretionary spending has gone up 84%. if you cut that, you can save a trilian dollars. young gun is candidates across the country running for office not to promise a new bridge, but to actually change this country. >> you guys all agree with me,

because i heard you a -- it's one of the things that excites me, you will be the first to say the republican party had a chance and we screwed up. we got fired and we deserve to be fired, right? >> we heard about this in your book which is we lost our way when we were in the majority. we rightfully got fired because we spent too much money. we need to own up for that and recommit ourselves to our conservative principles. we are trying to get men and women around the country to come to congress to help us not have a career in politics, but to come advance the pause of relimiting government, having a free enterprise system. we have to make sure we don't make the mistakes we made in the past if we're given the privilege of serving the majority. >> back in 2004 i remember writing about something you guys were doing, in '04, you were trying to push budget reform on republicans. >> yes. >> you were shocked that the republican leadership was fighting you as much as the democratic leadership. that's what i hear from conservatives. how can we be assured that we're going to give you guys another

chance and you're not going to act just like big spending washington elites. >> look, joe, we have an incredible opportunity right now. and america needs to change because we understand that we blew it. we blew it when we were in the majority. we're seeing the tremendous errors of the ways of this administration and majority in congress. there's not been a more liberal governing agenda in this country in decades. as we saw this week in delaware and the other primaries across the country, people are tired of spending, tired of politicians coming to washington and making promises and not keeping them. they want to see honest transparent rent station here. that's what u young guns is really about. >> you guys understand, also, americans aren't talking about islamic centers at ground zero. americans aren't talking about partial birth abortions. they're talking about the economy. they're talking about jobs and washington getting too big, right sf. >> exactly. jobs and spending. when you look at what people think about stimulus, they spend

a trillion dollars in this kansian view. more people today believe that elvis is alive and that created jobs. we believe in the private sector. go after small business. that's where 70% of all jobs are created. we've got to get people working again. >> you bring up kensian economics. it's so amazing, in 1994, a young staffer for brownbeck. we worked together and we talked about this and this is a battle. even europe, france, great britain, germany, they don't believe anymore, blindly throwing money at the economy is going to grow jobs. >> look at the germans. the germans are growing faster than everybody else because they rejected this stuff. what's funny is the europeans that made these mistakes in the past are trying to not repeat those mistakes. we're the ones repeating the mistakes. if borrowing all this money and spinning it from washington was

the secret to creating jobs, we would be at fum employment right now. we're going gang busters at borrowing and spending. it's not working. we have to get back to the basics. we know what creates private sector jobs. let's get on with fixing the problems. >> eric cantor, john boehner introduced you last night as a possible future speaker of the house. paul will tell you when i was in charge we went after the speaker for sport. and it was a lot of fun sometimes, have coups. how long are you going to allow john boehner to be speaker before you make your move? >> oh, come on, joe. we're not playing palace intrigue here. >> palace intrigue in the '90s was a lot of fun. >> it was. >> we read about that. it really is right now an opportunity for republicans to come together. >> let me ask you a serious question about john though.

i know john. i like john an awful lot. i've heard republicans say he doesn't have the work ethic that newt had, he's not driven by ideas like newt. will john boehner be just a status politician who wants to stay in that speaker's office for two years, or is he the type of guy that will go in there and turn the tables over in the temple? >> i think john boehner is a guy who came to washington for the right reasons. he's a small business person. as kevin was just saying, as we all know, we need small businessmen at that time right now to come to play here in washington. the challenge i think for all of us, if we want to make the real difference in this country, is we're going to have to reject the entitlement mentality. we're almost a victim of our own success in this country. more and more people are basically taking more from the government than they're paying in. >> is john boehner willing to fight that fight? >> yes, he is. he has worked with us in trying to go out across this country and recruit candidates who again, as we've all said, don't want to come to washington

necessarily to go bring back some pork to their districts. they want to come to washington to try to create, once again, the opportunity this country has offered so many for decades and generations. >> -- shut down the bank. remember, that was john boehner that came in with a gang of seven to shut the bank down. >> that was back when congress -- when you could overdraw. unfortunately i came late to that party. cash in drawers, free stamps. >> now they're overdrawing the taxpayers. come on. >> guys, a couple weeks from now you'll have your ideas out. i hope you'll come back on. >> are you going to walk the walk? >> i promise you, paul, i won't make you feel uncomfortable anymore. >> are they not great sports? >> they're adorable. i'm going to my side of the aisle. look who is here. where is he? >> ed -- thank you for coming.

>> what is ed rendell wearing? >> willie, what's coming up next. >> joe cannot have that. >> i've got the golf cart all fired up. >> you and i aren't walking. i have jonathan capehart, pat buchanan. >> easy on the brakes. >> trying to go slow for you. >> i'm ready. are you ready, pat? >> slow down, willie, this doesn't have a rollover bar. >> we're driving the course, getting the lay of the land. >> capehart and buchanan. we'll be right back with senator john thune. i want to give my 5 employees health insurance, but i just can't afford it. i have diabetes. i didn't miss a premium payment for 10 years. and i'm worried if i lose my job, i won't be able to afford insurance. when i graduated from college,

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tea party americans, this

grassroots movement is all about an independent mindset. it's not hard core right wing wackos like the liberal media wants you to believe. these are people, reagan democrats, people not registered in any party and some hard core republicans, too. those who just believe that america is not on the right track right now and they have common sense solutions in how they want to see us get back on the right track. so the positions that the tea party movement has been embracing is -- it's mainstream really. >> welcome back to "morning joe." talking to the young guns. wow. they are something. so handsome. they could be on the cover of a magazine called "young guns, come to washington." >> mika, stop that. stop that. >> i'm sorry. i'm behave. they're so cute. >> she's on you guys.

come on. >> are you going to walk? >> they'll walk. >> i'm going to stop then. we're going to do the cover of "time" magazine now. thank you. >> my uncle is his cardiologist. >> back over here. they're going to do the walk, i'm stop. time to talk about the cover of "time" magazine. mark halprin is going to take over for that for this segment. what is on the cover? >> the story of the moment, the tea party movement and the republican party rising now with this big story in delaware. what is the state of the party. my colleague michael sheerer looks at how the party is dealing with the upside of the tea party movement, the energy and passion they're bringing and some of the risk for the party. >> the other dynamic is very

different. >> another story by michael crowley looks at how the traditional republican party is doing fund-raising. michael steele not doing a great job as national chairman raising money. hailly barbour, karl rove, big figures in the party will getting people to raise money. we have the grassroots support and the big money donors coming together. that's a potent combination that democrats are finding hard to match in terms of grassroots and fund-raising. >> my question to you is, there are going to be many elements of the tea party people elected this fall to congress, maybe to the senate, certainly to the house. who do they report to when they get there? >> that's going to be a clash of cultures. it's going to be up to people like mitch mcconnell and john boehner as the republican leaders to integrate those two groups together. we saw what happened in 1994. you had a lot of new people come in, led by newt gingrich. they overreached.

it's up to the republican leaders to use the fund-raising money to bring in new people and integrate them to some sort of agenda. >> you know what we're ten minutes awe way from? >> my pulling a hamstring. >> the stroll. willie, what do you have next? >> about 45 minutes now, mika, till we start walking around the national mall. we're here at the sign-up table. the surgeon general's office is in the building. we'll be right back on "morning joe." [ whistling ]

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i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right. welcome back to "morning joe," with us now, republican senator from south dakota, a man who needs no introduction in south dakota. what's up, john? johnny boy? now john actually, he is a very fit guy, you would be very proud of general. we would -- everybody got down and played basketball at the gym and i would just sit on the sidelines smoking cigarettes and the boom would be flying through the air. you see the guys on the right side of you, they're going to be

riding along the 2012. you have any questions for john? >> has mrs. coons read the book? >> mrs. coons has read the book. >> has she prepared for anything, john? >> she's got the house manual. it's a great book and it really is an inside the locker room look at how you go through one of these. >> i understand you're on the senate committee on nutrition. >> i'm on agriculture, that's correct. >> i like it. okay, just pointing that out. >> i really don't care. mark halperin. >> since we were talking presidential politics, very few of your colleagues who are thinking of the running have been out there, but you are out there campaigning for other candidates, when you go out and campaign for other people, some

people having met for you the first time, staying why don't you run for president. >> i think when you're out there running for president, people right now are very focused on his midterms and that's what we're know cussed focused on. so that's really the near term focus. i think people who follow politics closely are starting to look beyond, perhaps 2010. but we're trying to keep our focus on the task at hand which is trying to elect more republicans to the house of representatives. >> given how much energy there is among the tea party right now, is it possible for a republican to get nominated in 2012 who doesn't tap into that energy? could you be an establishment republican? >> you don't look like a establishment republican to me. >> i can go anti-establishment. >> you probably vacation on

nantucket. >> no, no, that's you, joe. i obviously think that anybody who's looking at running, i think at a national level or state race right now has got to be aware of the tremendous energy that activists at the grass roots level would bring. the tea party movement is a powerful force out there. but i always say they're very aligned with where most republicans are with regard to debt and spending and taxes. that's one thing that really unifies. when it's all said and done, everybody's going to rally around our nominees and go toward november. and i think in november, the democrats are going to get a very rude awakening. because what's animating this movement, there's a fear of the size of government, there's a fear of debt and spending and taxes. >> you did one thing that's hard to do, you beat a senate leader when you beat tom daschle, sharon angle is trying to do

that in the silver state now, have you given her advice? and what advice would you give her taking on someone that powerful? >> in a race like that, obviously the issue is harry reid, when you look at public opinion polls, that race is very much in play, i think that's what she's got to do, keep the issue, keep the pressure on him and make it about the issues, obviously you don't want to become the issue in a campaign like that, you want to challenge the incumbent on the record and try to create as much contrast as you can. that's sort of the way we ran the campaign in 2004. so that's some of the advice that i shareded with her. >> do you think she'll win? >> i think she has a chance. all of these races right now are very competitive. there's a big wave and i think there's going to be, she could do well. >> always great to see you, you're looking good. >> very healthy looking. >> thank you. i need to go on the mika fitness

fun run here. and joe is the guy if you want to belly up to the twinkie bar, then you'll be okay. >> thank you very much. >> i'm going to get the new senator from massachusetts. >> scott brown straight ahead on "morning joe." the race is at the starting line, what's up? >> joe, we're just minutes away from the bipartisan walk, we're going around the national mall. including olympic championship kerrey straw. >> i'm very excited to see so many people here and it's important to get out and get walking. >> you can see she's very concerned about this challenge. >> the bipartisan health walk coming up in just a few minutes. also governor ed rendel when "morning joe" comes back to the national mall in washington. i want to give my 5 employees health insurance,

but i just can't afford it. i have diabetes. i didn't miss a premium payment for 10 years. and i'm worried if i lose my job, i won't be able to afford insurance. when i graduated from college, i lost my health insurance. the minute i got sick, i lost my insurance.

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welcome back to "morning joe," it is the top of the hour,

we're on the mall, an absolutely beautiful day and the sun is rising behind the united states capit capitol, and while that may be a beautiful sight, i don't think i have seen a more beautiful sight in washington, d.c. than "washington post" pulitzer prize winner jean robinson, what is this? >> this is something i found in the closet and actually two two pieces made by the same company so i put them on. >> way to go, gene. valerie jack! are you going to walk? >> absolutely, the first lady has the let's move initiative and this falls right inside that sweet spot. >> are your parents watching? >> yeah. >> now -- >> how are you? >> you can kiss a republican. >> of course, how are you doing,

good to see you? >> oh, my gosh. that was beautiful. >> we promised to bring america together and i thought for a second valerie jarrett didn't want to hug scott brown because he's a republican and upon closer inspection, she's like my wife, she doesn't like hugging sweaty men. so scott, you actually run this route every morning. >> yeah actually we start around the capitol building and go down around the monuments, you're right, almost every morning. but we do it when the sun is a lot lower and the sun is coming through the dome and it's thrilling. >> it's still thrilling, as i try to explain that to people, every time you go up and you see that capitol, it's just a thrill. >> it really is. we have an interleague softball league that we do and just to play out here and always look back and it's good to see you here, good to see everybody here, just trying to get healthy

and i thought i would swing by and say hi. >> we appreciate you watching, we understand governor that they watch every morning in the senate gym. >> that's good. you need some incentive while we're running. >> we have seen before and after pictures of you, you have gone on a real health kick over the past year. >> absolutely, like most moms when they have children, it takes a little time to lose that pregnancy weight. so last year, we focused on fruits and vegetables, lane meats, carbs only in the morning and it really makes a difference. >> i need to drop a few pounds, like 30 or 40 pounds. sit more important that you exercise. >> you have to change how you eat because you need to fuel your body in the right way, you need to be strong every day. and you need to become more healthy through exercise and the combination of more lean meets

and fruits and vegetables, that's the combination for weight loss and a successful life. >> we have got a very important question here. the yankees, last night, they win only because jeter is now a cheater. can the red sox sweep the yankees and still eke out the wild card berth? >> with all the problems that the sox have had, i think tony should be manager of the year doing what he's done with the team he's been given. it's been fun, i would rather see the red sox in there, though. >> okay, scott, thanks very much. talk to you soon. and governor, we were just talking to senator jithe senatol the weight she's lost this year. you have lost a lot of weight? >> i have. but i thought what senator

jillenbrand said was correct, you can't run by exercise alone, except if you run seven miles a day. if you want to lose weight, you need to cut consumption. but, joe, you got to ease into exercise. so for you, here's some incentives. at the end of the race. >> the breakfast of champions is what this is called. >> yes, it is. >> now valerie, we all know obviously when you get into the white house, you're under so much pressure, pressure that you could never imagine outside the white house and a lot of times when that happens, people make bad choices, they stop exercising, they start eating. how do you stay in shape? i know and the president also, has the president kept his regimen? >> he and the first lady workout every day, they encourage everybody to workout. this is an important way of keeping you healthy.

a big part of the first lady's initiative is to make sure that people are making good choices so we're working with the food industry so that we know what we're eating and we have a bill pending right now in congress, childhood nutrition, trying to get some funding into our public schools to improve the quantity and the quality of food that our children are eating. but yes, we work out, we try to do it every day, clears the mind, calms us down. >> i was just going to ask you this. do you call jumps up and running to turn off "morning joe" every morning and coming back and sitting down, how do you work that stress off of dealing with me? >> you get my blood pressure going, so then i have to work out and calm myself down and then i go into work. i'm glad you guys are doing this because it's a good way to show that exercise is fun.

children need to work out an hour a day. so this is a family event. >> a lot of americans just don't realize that you're screaming and yelling on certain shows at night, the nasty radio shows, and they don't understand a lot of people, republicans and democrats alike like each other, workout together. actually have a real relationship. >> we have our softball team right here, we have a bipartisan women's softball team that raises money for women's breast cancer. >> joe, how are you? good to see you. >> what the great thing is i've got my bipartisan congressional softball t-shirt here in honor of bipartisan health week. >> i love it. >> okay, so cameraman, why don't you go sit on the golf cart and please, save a spot for me. and what we're going to do, mika, can you explain what we're doing here?

>> we're going to start the health challenge in just a moment. we're waiting for our camera to get settled on the golf cart, do you know how to use that thing, joe. >> i really don't. >> why don't you try it out. >> all right, that's loud. we're going to change america. i love the politicians that actually will have a microphone but still use a bull horn. >> all right. >> i'm not going to name any names. >> cameras down. >> 3, 2, 1? >> you can do that. >> 3, 2, 1, let's start this thing. >> i didn't want to hurt the baby's ears. so we have got a cameraman. >> i'm keeping her. i'm keeping her. >> i would actually like to walk. let's go ahead, we're going to walk and talk here, valerie. talk a little bit more about what the first lady's been trying to do. you know, every first lady has an opportunity to select the issue that matters most to her.

this first lady has chosen childhood obesity, why? >> because she knows how important it is for our children to grow up healthy and through her own experience as a mother, she knows that it's very difficult to try to provide healthy meals for your children if you don't know how. and she's trying to make it simple, make it fun, make people informed, allow parents to be able to make healthy choices for their families. and so this is all about being open and transparent and educate people about the importance of healthy eating, exercise, making sure our communities have stores that have good food in the stores because we have what are called food deserts around the country so we want to make sure that every community has healthy choices and we think if we make it as you are doing here a community event where it's fun and we can educate people at the same time, we can do this easily in one generation. >> how strange is it that in this country, it not the poor who go hungry, in a lot of cases

it's the poor who are obese. >> yes. >> and it's the wealthy, the most affluent that are the skinniest. my wife was on a with eebsite t other night, and this was new york, and of course we all know about private schools in new york. and somebody asked the question, has anybody ever seen an obese parent at one of these elite private schools and the answer was a resounding no. why is it? >> one of the challenges we have all across the country that the first lady is trying to address. we literally have parts of our country where it's impossible to get access to healthy foods, to fresh fruits and vegetables. even in new york state, we have food deserts in the north country, and food deserts in the bronx. >> explain food deserts for me. >> you can't buy fruits and vegetables either because it's not available or you can't buy

it at an affordable cost. truly in new york, we have areas where there are no fresh markets for people to buy wholesome foods. so we're trying to change that, we have a bill to do exactly that. >> the first lady is very actively involved in trying to encourage congress to pass this bill, it's going to make more resources available, also many of our children depend on food in the public schools, we need to make sure there's food that we are funding, resources that we are providing are providing nutritious meals, so that requires more money to make sure that the children in our school system are getting healthy, healthy foods. >> childhood obesity has increased in this country. when i was in school, there was 5% who were obese, now it's close to 17%, 18%. a lot of kids don't have access to healthy foods so we're trying to change the school lunch

program so it's more fruits more vegetables. it's hard because it costs a little more money. we need to choose for america, this investment is going to save us money. this last year we spent $100 billion on obesity alone in this country and $500 billion on cardiovascular and heart disease. one of the best ways we can do it is to give our kids a chance to be healthy. >> i want to ask you a few political questions, but let's keep it on the health front for a while. mika, why don't you go interview norah o'donnell. >> i've got my brother's babe on my shoulders. >> she's the perfect. >> your book, you talk about starting at day one, and so many children in this country don't have access to food that will help them grow and don't have a life that's cut short by own

beeszity. >> kids who are obese, they often test low in -- or they don't even sleep as well at night. they get sleep apnea. so we don't give our kids a fighting chance if we don't feed them the right food. or the food surrounding them is just not healthy. >> how many stories have you covered, i mean seriously, where we don't talk about this in a real and raw way. >> and one out of three children in america is either overweight or obese. obesity will bankrupt this country. >> it's $500 billion a year on cardiovascular in this country. >> i'm glad you could come out. >> where's david? >> david's in meetings at the white house.

>> david needs a new suit. he's lost so much weight. >> he's lost a lot of weight, but he's still going. so we're going to wait. >> "morning joe" and the bipartisan health challenge continues. live from washington, d.c. right after the break. you want some fiber one honey clusters? yeah. you must really care about him. what? you gave him fiber. this tastes way too good to be fiber. they're delicious crunchy clusters with sweet honey and half a day's worth of fiber. you care about my fiber? not really.

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we got a pretty good crowd here, some healthy people. you see ezra klein back there. but gene robinson, do you exercise? >> i do exercise, i exercise in the gym. actually the ymca not far from "the washington post." >> yeah. >> and i try to get there often. you know, there was a time when i got there four or five times a week. don't get there that often now. but i do exercise, yeah. >> talk -- oh, my goodness. we have a surgeon general complete with a cheering section here. let me go over to the surgeon general for a second. >> i brought my whole team. >> you did bring your whole team, very quited. obesity and w

we're going to tackle this problem before it brings us down as a country. >> we have told people so many times they need to exercise and they need to eat well, what they can't do. we need to now tell them what they can do. they can go out and walk, have a good time. jump rope, play, i want to make people exercise because they like it. >> you're having fun right now, right? >> great. >> just putting the best smile on this morning. >> the thing is, you talked about walking and that's the thing, so many people think

you've got to get out and sprint or you've got to run five miles, but getting out and walking briskly four or five times a week, even if it's for 45 minutes, that makes a huge difference. >> we walked around the harbor in baltimore during lunchtime, just walking, enjoying yourself, it doesn't matter if you go to a gym or just to your own yard or street. just have a good time. >> what do you think is the biggest health challenge right now. >> i think the big health challenge is behavioral issues. thank you, mika for this prevention of illnesses, disease, we don't want people to get sick in the first place and exercise is medicine. >> and obesity leads obviously to so many health issues, you can talk about diabetes, obviously heart disease, even cancer, right? >> exactly. you've got it now and the best way to prevent them and the best medicine is exercise.

>> you know, this is our bipartisan health challenge, we brought together people from both sides of the aisle to talk about this. and i wonder if you could go out on a limb with me. because we need to talk about this. sometimes when i twitter about the issue of obesity, people say i shouldn't even use the word obese when it comes to our children because it marginalizes them. but shouldn't we be talking about people who have health condition who is need help? joe mike? >> we should be talking about it, but we should be talking about it in a positive way instead of talking about the negative things of obesity, talking about being healthy and being fit. it doesn't matter what size you are, what dress size you are, just be healthy and be fit. >> thank you so much, thanks to your team. good job. >> thank you all so much. so mika, come here, i've got a quick question for you, something i don't understand, maybe you can help me out.

when did you have a baby? >> well, i have a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old, this is my niece. >> oh, that's your niece, what's her name? >> aurora. >> >> isn't he great? >> everybody from both sides of the aisle, i think you did a good job. >> you're a young man, let me tell you as you get older, you pack on if you're lucky about 10 pounds per decade. do you exercise? >> i exercise every day almost. i try to go about two miles a day. except on the weekends when i have time and i'm not up early watching "morning joe," i have more time to do it. it's all about the shoes, joe. these are five fingers. >> those are actually frightening.

let me ask you, do you -- obviously your dad, a hero to so many americans, he died tragically, unexpectedly. i can't tell you, myself included, how many people said oh, my god, this could happen to any of us. we have got to take care of ourselves. was that a wakeup call for you and everybody? >> absolutely. my physical fitness went way up after he passed. the other thing about him, is he worked out every day, he did the bike for half hour, 45 minutes. but it comes down to weight, if you can't burn the weight, especially around your midsection, it has very dire health consequences for the rest of your life. it's about losing the weight around your belly more than anything. >> it's also when i had people ask me about your father, it's also lifestyle choices and your dad, as you know, he loved his job. loved his job almost as much as he loved you. that he loved his job.

he worked unbelievably long hours. and so many of us, i would see him late at night and he would grab a piece of pizza, because you just pick up whatever you can to go through the night and that 2008 election season was nonstop. >> as you know, in the media. he used to go on diet coke and licorice. i drink a lot of v-8 juice, stuff like that, granola bars, just stay away from the pizza and the coke and all the candy. >> got to get rid of that belly. >> luke russert, you're doing a great job, and a lot of people have said, your dad would be really proud of the great work you're doing on the hill. >> i'm glad to be out here and get physically fit. >> mika, back to you.

>> the health challenge continues, we're going to keep walking, dr. regina benjamin, thank you very much. willie geist, take it. >> well, mike barnicle and i broke into a full sprint to get down here, we're already halfway down. >> the crowd from the assisted living facility is right behind me. >> it is a slow shuffle it seems. barnacle and i are just waiting for the group to catch up here at the midway point, we'll make the turn here and we'll take the route to the finish line. we'll be right back. with the "morning joe" bipartisan health challenge.

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the halfway point, 14th street. mike barnicle just walked 30 yards. you okay, sir? do you need medical attention? >> i do. >> nora, you are actually lapsed the field twice. >> i'm helping out mike barnicle here. look, i don't mean to beat a dead horse here, can we talk about your shoes? because they trouble me. it's sort of a frog man look. look at those. >> these are the most incredible shoes in western civilization, the diagram, five fingers, no more back pain, no more knee pain. a guy named phil night comes around and tries to change the way we humans run in 30 years, it's bad for the back.

>> these frog man shoes are absolutely incredible. everybody that's tried them after they are seen me running or walking in them, absolutely loves them. >> all right, that's the next plug for those. norah you've got the best plug out for the baby book right now. you talk a lot about eating healthy, that's why we're here, living healthy, fighting obesity, you say it starts within the first two years of life. >> we know now that obesity begins in infancy, and more than a million americans are obese. i'm a terrible cook, i admit it, but making baby food is not that hard and we all struggle with trying to eat healthy. i'm not saying you have to live a pure life. hot dogs are okay once in a while. chicken fingers, occasionally. we're going to send it back to joe and mika with the walk. >> and we're on. >> thank you, so much, willie and guys.

it has been a rough summer, not just for the press and the white house, but for all of washington. >> for all of the country. let's not forget that people around our country are still really struggling and so that's where we try to keep our focus. >> the fact that we have had the bp controversy and the ground zero controversy, those upset people, but in the end, it comes back to jobs, jobs, jobs, doesn't it? >> that's why just last week the president put together a proposal for infrastructure to try to get our roads and our rail and our airports and our air traffic controls up to speed, why we're looking for additional incentives to encourage businesses to invest here in the united states and so we're constantly looking for new ideas and open to all suggestions to stimulate the economy. >> yesterday majority leader steny hoyer said there could be

some conversation in the works to extend the bush tax cuts. sit possible that the president would go on a compromise on extending the bush tax cuts. >> there seems to be agreement now that we want to have the tax cuts for the middle class so that the vast majority of americans, 97% can have additional resources to help spend and get our economy going again. we really can't afford it for the upper income, and we don't actually need it for the wealthy, wealthy people aren't going to spend anymore money on basic needs. so let's pass what there is an agreement on. i think around the country, joe and meek kachika, people want t this administration move forward and do something that's good for the vast majority of people. so let's send a signal that we can actually work together. we can come back and talk about other things later. >> extending tax cuts for the

wealthier americans. our view is that we can't afford it. and not only can we not afford it, it's not going to do what the goal is and that's to give people resources that they'll go out and spend on things that nay wouldn't ordinarily spend on. if that's our core principle, 97% of people would benefit from the president's proposal, let's satisfy them. >> so if we can't pay for a tax cut for all americans, for the contin continuation of that. >> i think what the president's position is, let's look at targeted ways that we can invest that we know are going to actually create jobs and so if you propose $50 billion for infrastructure, they could leverage private resources in the infrastructure bank, it's not going to only stimulate jobs production, but it's also going

to build our nation's infrastructure so we can be the world class country that we all know we want to be. if you spend money to provide research and development tax credits to businesses so they'll invest here in this country, that's going to be innovative, it's going to spark innovation, it's going to create more jobs so we should be strategic about how we stimulate the economy. as you point out joe all the time, obviously we agree. so every dollar we spend has to be wise, we have come a long way in losing 750,000 jobs a month when the president took office to eight straight months of private sector jobs growth but we're not there yet. >> let's get out of the way and let mika interview governor ed rendel. that's my queue to depart. >> do we really need more infrastructure? >> absolutely. one we need it because we have a substantive need to repair roads, our bridges, our levees

and our dams, but it's the single best job creator, on the construction site, on the bridges, on the roads, but also in american factories, steel factories, asphalt factories, concrete companies, it's the best single job creator we have. >> leslie barns, thank you for coming. we we have got our republicans and our democrats together. we can agree on that. let's get out front, girl, let's go, let's go, let's go, because we can agree on health in this country. >> absolutely, one of the things it covers, party lines, g geographic lines, we know the response in the health care bill, people now getting preventative care so they can live healthier lifestyles. >> we need to address this as a country, but it also means we can't minutes words about it. our children are sick, it's an

epidemic. >> our children have in trouble, and we have to fix it otherwise we're condemning them to unhealthy lives, we're condemning our country to billions of dollars in health care costs, it's the wrong thing to do and we know the right thing to do, it's easy. >> and moving is part of it, eating is part of it. our diet, the way we feed our children in our households and in our schools, we have got so much work to do. joe, you have jonathan capehart. >> i do. jonathan capehart, you guys run up here. you know, i'm pretty good at marketing, okay? i have got a great name for you two. the young guns. i think you should be the young guns. you're in pretty good shape, what do you do. >> i do the elliptical and come down here in the mall, return around the washington monument, over to the lincoln, and back it takes about two hours. >> what about you, esra?

>> i go in mental spars. i highly recommend it. >> let's get some sparring in here. and if john schad dock believes tax cuts should be extended for 97% of americans, you think it would be a mistake to extend all tax cuts. >> as we said, this is a huge problem, obama wants $3 trillion on the deficit. republicans want four. at some point, we need to say here's how we will pay for this if the future. tin definite extension is what worries me. we can extend it for three years, but beyond that, we need to talk about where the money comes from. >> all of the government spending that we're doing because we can't afford to keep spending money we don't have. we're spending our kids money, now we're spending our grandkids' money, so i'm with you all the way, so let's offset

it. why don't we cut spending back to 2008, 2007 levels. >> we're getting in on the homestretch here, and these ladies have an offer for me. >> we want you to be the host of the women's softball game next year. the honorary chair. >> and the emcee of the game. >> is it bipartisan? >> it's bipartisan. >> amen. >> and we're hoping next year to extend it to the supreme court. we hear there's some good softball players now. >> show this shot of this boy. it's a little upsetting. >> shirley. how are you feeling charlie. >> doing good, i'm not sure i have ever walked this show. >> charlie has done such a great job representing your people in north carolina. how are you doing? >> they're resilient people, but they're getting through it

like -- >> talk about the need to continue the offshore drilling, do you agree with it. >> okay, here we go. mika. let's go. oh. all right, congratulations. thank you so much. thank you. thank you, charlie. thank you so much. and i'll let mika talk more, i promise. she felt lost...

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financing their fleet, sharing our expertise, and working with people who are changing the face of business in america. after 25 years in the aviation business, i kind of feel like if you're not having fun at what you do, then you've got the wrong job. my landing was better than yours. no, it wasn't. yes, it was. was not. yes, it was. what do you think? take one of the big ones out? nah. governor ed rendel, you have provided incentive this morning with a variety of pastries and danish. >> joe's good. i think i might have the last one. >> you're in good shach. i saw you moving around there quickly. >> this was a very short walk. and at a very slow pace and it still gets your blood pressure

up and the cardiovascular system working. >> it's been rough. i had to get to the root of the muffin, quick. >> we'll be right back with the greatest what did we learn today in the history of morning joe. i do a lot of different kinds of exercise, but basically, i'm a runner. last year. (oof). i had a bum knee that needed surgery. but it got complicated, because i had an old injury. so i wanted a doctor who had done this before. and unitedhealthcare's database helped me find a surgeon. you know you can't have great legs, if you don't have good knees. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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it goes up when i step on the scale. i'm not fat, i'm big boned. >> welcome back to the "morning

joe" bipartisan health challenge. we walked so everybody could be included, joe. and joining us now, we have mary bh whitenberg, we were walking today, but i have feeling you're going to be with me running. >> you not only talk the talk, you walk the walk, as everybody did today and so we're so proud to welcome you as an ambassador of our new york running program. >> thank you, mary. thank you very much, i appreciate it. >> i have been an ambassador for new york smokers for a really long time. valer valerie, what have you learned today? >> we all came out today and had a good time and exercised. i want to thank joe and mika for coming out today. >> daily, not just once a week.

it just underscores what we know. first of all, exercise is a great part to everyone's day, whether you're young or old like the little one who was just here, whether you're republican, democrat, this is something that everyone cares about and everyone can do. >> madam democrat, thank you for being here. >> this is the place to start a healthy and fit nation. and i want everyone to remember that exercise is medicine. enjoy yourself and just have a good time. >> exercise is medicine, willie. i don't know. >> agree to disagree on that one, right, joe? >> you've got a book baby love. exchanging america, i guess. >> obesity starts in infancy so it's a way to begin a foundation for healthy eating. so my challenge today was running with luke and his little shoes. >> luke, these are troubling. if we could get a shot of those. what the hell's going on here?

>> cave man ran the right way. we're going back to what we did originally, it's so much better and healthier for you. >> i am with phil knight. john shaddoc, thank you for being here. >> we're bipartisan, we take this seriously. >> yeah, we are. we have learned that -- >> we already do bipartisan exercise every morning. >> i'm going to go to the camera and back and you guys have fun. congressman, thank you for being here, you've done a great job in louisiana state, we have all been thinking about and praying about all summer. >> actually i guess the land it's good to walk too. >> and your wife had a message for me about my show, sort of a direction on the show.

>> i think you need to give mika more time. >> all right, senator, thank you so much for coming out, senator, we greatly appreciate it. you talked about while we were walking there and i barely remember because i was about to stroke out but you talked about how in urban areas especially, food these deserts? >> one of the challenges we have is just access to nutritious foods. that's why the first lady is working so hard on changing the school lunch program. but there are places where it's impossible to buy whole foods, fruits and vegetables at an affordable rate. you may have a place like the bronx where there's not fresh markets. but even places like the north country in the mountains where it's difficult to get those nutritious foods. >> and the disparity between obese children or not, in poor neighborhoods versus wealthy neighborhoods, we have a problem, it's clear, it's in the numbers and you can see it. >> obesity often follows poverty

and why i'm so grateful that you are doing this, that it calls attention to healthy eating that what our children need are whole foods, fruits and vegetables. less processed foods and meets. >> we need to stop riding golf carts around the upper west side, maybe start walking. >> we think we should be walking on our hands, that's a great way to get exercise. >> there's a fundamental fork on the road of life. on the one side is healthy living and good exercise and on the other side is bourbon and camel lights, unfortunately i have made my choice. that is a bad message. gene, what have you learned today. >> you know the young guns, they talk a good game, but where are they? they dropped by, they talk a good game, but where are they? >> i have chris and these guys, the young guns of the left, you're so healthy, jonathan, how

do you do it? >> i run, and swim and i used to play tennis. >> other than that, give me a shortcut. >> because you know, madison avenue and fifth avenue, that takes a lot of time. >> and what have you learned today. >> i learned that jonathan cape hard. >> you have lost so much weight here, the people of pennsylvania must love you. >> there's some people in pennsylvania who would like me to lose all my weight and go away. but exercise makes a difference. >> governor rendel, thank you so much. >> the "morning joe," bipartisan health challenge. thanks, everyone, have a great day.

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♪ family feud, are republicans having a battle for the soul of the party at exactly the wrong time? you don't see this every day or every century t pope's first state visit to britain in 500 years. and carl, igor and julia, a storm by any other name, which one will pack the biggest punch. good morning, everyone, it's thursday, september 16. >> let's get to the rundown and with the primaries complete, we do have a little deal on saturday in hawaii. president obama hits the campaign trail. tonight he's in