the offense continued to sputter and drag never reaching the end zone. despite the win, some fans still booed. >> you said the word "gross." it was pretty ugly in some regard. >> the oing, watching it it sounded like it was pretty intense. >> it was. the redskins have work to do. they had som key injury news and we'll talk about that later in sports. the bottom line was they got the win but the redskins couldn't get to the end zone but they relied on their kicker to edge them past the rams. 9-7. back at fedex field, the redskins taking the field looking for the first win of the season hoping to get the offense going. picking up in the third, they trail, 7-#. jason campbell -- 7-6. he hits antwaan randle el over the middle for a catch. good for a 24-yard pick up and the skins are up 9-7. in the end, they would need a big stop from the defense.

last chance for the rams and mark bolger steps up and gets it to the receiver. number 48, chris horton breaks it up and steals the victory. the rekins squeak out a 9-7 victory. jim zorn said, this was a tough one. >> when we walked into the redskin locker room, it was quiet. we knew that we o underperformed in areas but we were really good in a lot. so, you know, i think our guys were looking around saying, hey, wait a minute, we won. >> like i said, there's some injury news to report. jason campbell a sprained left ankle. there's season-eending injury news for the offensive line we'll talk to later. lindsay, thank you. today's game was the first time fans had to deal with new rules at fedex stadium. tailgaters are restricted as to where they can set up their party. no matter when they get there,

those who need more than one spot are shuttled to the back of the parking lot. as y might imagine this us from straights some that used to come early in the morning just to get a prime spot. >> it's frustrating to a degree because we have a longer walk. >> we've had the same spot for ten years. we've had the same spot ten years and all the sudden they changed the parking on us. >> team officials say the new rules are also ease traffic congestion in the lots. 14 months ago the mayor found himself the victim of a botched police raid and his two dogs were killed during the ordeal. he's still demanding justice and reform in a scathing piece that appeared in "the washington post." darcy has the story. >> the words to sum up my last 14 months don't come easy. >> reporter: the mayor looks over the blistering opinion piece he wrote for the "washington post." a little more than a year ago the police raided his home, shot

and killed his two dogs and held him and his family at gun point. to this day, he still hadn't received the answers he's looking for. >> there's a serious evidence that the police may actually be covering up their wrongdoing. and so if we just allow that to stand, i mean, it's almost certain that this will happen to other innocent people as well. >> reporter: in the piece, he criticizes the prince george's county police department's internal affairs section for not completing the report. he says that police fabricated a story to try to justify the warrantless search of his home. the police attract a package to the mayor's house and later determined it was part of a drug-smuggling operation that had nothing to do with him or his family. >> this is an embarrassment. not just for me and my family, one that has to send shivers down the spine of anyone that steps foot in prince george's county. the system needs to work better. >> >> reporter: some good has come of the tragedy. the state passed legislation to provide oversight of s.w.a.t.

teams but there's a pattern and practice of abuse. >> we hope our case can be used to get some answers and make chances to the system so other innocent people don't have to suffer. >> darcy spencer, news4. prince george police had no comment. county sheriff mike jackson maintains his officers acted properly during that raid. a man who was supposed to be caring for the disabled is now charged with locking three mentally challenged adults in a vehicle while he went to eat. frederick police have charged brian fleming with vulnerable adult negligent he locked the blind and deaf, low-functions adults in the vehicle while he went to lunch. after about an hour concerned diners called police. officers say the victims were very hot and in distress. fleming works for the program where the victims lived. fortunately the three were not hurt. we continue to follow the developing story here in maryland tonight.

a hyattsville police officer shot and wounded a suspect around 7:00 tonight. it happened near the mall at prince george on bellcrest road. the man was driving toward an officer when he was shot. the man's brother said he was shot in the arm and a bullet grazed his face. the brother says the shooting was unjustify and mean while, the investigation continues tonight. the 20-year-old man suspected of murdering four people at the home of a longwood university professor is scheduled for court tomorrow. he bragged about th quote, thrill of killing in a rap song he performed on the internet. he is charged with killing presbyterian pastor. he's also suspected in the murders of professor deborah kelley, kelley's husband and their teenage daughter. investigators believe the murder suspect had a romantic relationship with the daughter. tonight, federal investigators say there's more evidence at a denver airport worker played a direct role in a terror plot against the united

states. zazi, his father and the man in new york are all due in court. azizi's finger president prints were found. and nine pages of notes on how the make spleeive. they say he admitted getting weapons' training in al qaeda. today michael bloomberg says the u.s. remains a target for terrorists. >> keep in mind, america is constantly under threat. there are people that find our ability to practice our religion and say what we want to say and be in charge of our own destiny and have men and women be treated equally and have an opened society. they find these things so threatening. >> officials say during their searches they found pictures and references to sports arenas, train stations and other public places in new york. the family of slain yale student annie le is preparing to say their final goodbyes. le's body has been flown to her hometown in california where the

funeral is planned. her fiance' is holding a memorial service in her honor in new york city later this month. her body was found a week ago in a wall in yale research center where she worked. the lab technician, raymond clark is charged with her murder. no surrogates this sunday. president barack obama hit the talk show circuit himself to push his health care plan. he rejected criticism that requiring people to buy health insurance is a back door tax increase. mr. obama says that the plan would make insurance affordable in a number of ways including a new comparison shopping exchange. all he says he's not ready to give up on the public option entirely the president also says there has to be compromise. >> the bottom line is that the american people can't afford to stay on the current path. we know that. and that both sides are going to have to give some. everybody is going to have to give some in order to get something done. >> his problem is when he says "the public option won't affect

your health care choice" people don't believe that. >> mr. obama also said that undocumented workers should not get to participate in the health plans new insurance exchange. democratic gubernatorial candidate krooe deeds is gaining ground. republican bob mcdonald with a four-point lead over deeds. last month he was leading by 15%. deeds gaining ground in northern virginia where he leads him 57-40% among lightly voters. still tonight, beachgoers are on alert. a deadly shark attack at a north carolina beach. plus some lawmakers are demanding answers. they want to know why a legally insane murderer was taken on a field trip to the county fair. plus, one would-be robber chose the wrong bank to hit. take a look at that.

vigilante customer steps up to take down the thief. and i'm your meteorologist, check bell. a beautiful weekend. how much longer can we

when he noticed a bank robbery in progress an alert bank customer springs into action. the wisconsin credit union security cameras show the suspect handing a note saying he has a gun and wants money. the guy in the yellow shirt goes to work. he runs up, tackles the robber and holds him down until the police arrive. a legally insane killer who escaped during a mental hospital field trip to the county fair has been recaptured tonight. phillip arnold poll was caught walking near a road, the same deputy that arrested him after another escape back in 1991, caught him today.

the authorities said it was a race against time to find the patient before his medication ran out of his system. he killed an elderly woman in 1987. the police are questioning why a criminally insane man was allowed to go on an outing to the county fair. >> this is a situation that in my opinion should not have happened i'll be asking the state legislature and governor and department of health sciences to change laws so this doesn't happen again. >> the governor of washington state says she is gravely concerned and has launched an inveigate into the incident. still ahead, a bittersweet good-bye for a northern virginia eatery. it clouds its doors today after 33 years. also what's in store for your work-week forecast? chuck bell is literally three feet

a rare shark attack along north carolina's outer banks

leaved a 60-year-old vietnam veteran dead. the pittsburgh native was vacationing. his wife reported him missing after he didn't return from a late-night swim. his body was found friday with extensive shark bite. the beach was marked with dangerous warnings. the end of an era in alexandria, virginia. generous garchs closed its doors for the final time tonight. the pizza and pasta place has been there for some 33 years now. 28 workers will lose their jobs. managers blame the weak economy. >> business has dropped down and, obviously, the banks aren't loaning money to help out small companies. the business has been here for a long time on the corner and alexandria has grown up around it and a lot of people have grown upcoming here when they were kids and now they bring their kids and they are very sad. >> the owners plan to sell the duke street building and hope to open a smaller eatery nearby.

the generous george's location in herndon will open for business. a six foot water main break happen on friday and officials say it will take several weeks to get the highway repaired and opened for traffic. part of the highway was washed away when the pipe broke. at least 100 homes are flooded. 70 of those homes have been deemed uninhabitable. turning to local weather -- nice afternoon. glorious. i should get double pay for weekends this nice. >> really? >> absolutely right. double pay, middle east, maybe more. beautiful outside yesterday and today. and it was fantastic. sunshine. 77 was the high this afternoon. tomorrow won't be bad. but it is going to be monday and as a result, it will feel cloudier than it will look. outside this afternoon after a beautiful start early this morning when we were dropping into the 50s in a lot of the in-town neighborhoods. was the low at national airport.

made it up to 77 for a high today. right now we're down to 64 degrees under a fairly cloudy sky already. mostly high, thin clouds and not rain making clouds. a light wind from the south at 5 le-an-hours. fairfax county and ma pass in sass and many baltimore, 61 for annapolis and southern maryland. temperatures won't be as chilly as last night thanks to the increase in cloud cover around the area. the nearest rain showers are across ohio, kentucky, and far southwestern virginia. no serious rain threat cing back for you tomorrow. a dry commute in the morning and 99% chance of a dry commute home in the afternoon. there may be a chance of a few showers for you folks toward harrisonburg, stanton and down to the shenandoah valley and light rain late tomorrow. here in the washington area, i

think our rain chances start to ramp up as the high pressure moves away and humidity and moisture to the south moves in. our best chance for rain is on tuesday, tuesday night and it may linger on to the day on wednesday before we clear things out. tomorrow, the day the clouds arrive and rain holding off for tuesday and wednesday. so when you wake up tomorrow, partly cloudy skies and not as chilly as this morning. still, off to a cool start. wake-up temperature relevance mid to high 50s in town and by the bay, low 50s far your folks near the shenandoah valley. tomorrow, is shes from time to time but the clouds will win the day eventually and a chanc of a few very light showers off to the south and west of washington. highs tomorrow back up into the mid-to-upper 70s like where we were today. tomorrow evening, clouds continuing to thicken and a good chance for sprinkles off to the western suburbs by tomorrow evening. but again, downtown i think probably closer to midnight. here's the seven-day forecast. relatively mild week around for

most of us. temperatures in the upper 70s tomorrow. busiest chance for rain is tuesday. lingering into wednesday, wednesday, maybe a chance for a thundershower thanks to extra warm temperatures. 80 degrees. potentially three days in a row. wednesday, thursday and friday. not bad for late september's standards. the redskins can breathe a sigh of relief tonight. but who's taking responsibility for not getting into the

there's several storylines. the redskins not scoring a

touchdown. >> i'm interested to see what they think tomorrow after they look at the film. play calling is the biggest question a lot of people have after the game we saw today. in bigger news, two dwam games in and already, the redskins have disaster strike the offensive line. randy thomas will undergo an mri tomorrow. likely he'll mills the rest of the season with an injury to his ght tricep. he suffered in the second quarter. despite multiple tripped to the red zone the redskins couldn't score a touchdown. they were line on their kicker. 9-7 over the rams. we're at fedex field. >> there's nothing scareier than somebody that doesn't have nothing to lose. we don't have nothing to lose. >> that's the rams' steven jackson giving inside scoop. second and ten from the 27. jason campbell gets pressure and gets chris cooley over the middle for 15 yard. jason found him four times on the drive. cooley is seven catches for 87 yards on the day.

second quarter, skins' offense looking for the end zone. campbell to make and he never drops the passes pl sellers could barely talk he was so bummed out after that one. another field goal would end up. 6-0, skins, handoff to steven jackson and this guy knows how to muscle through it. he knows how to run it down the field. pushed out of bound and finally by number 22, carlos rogers. a 62--yard gain. that play on the heels of steven jackson sets up this. the rams on third and goal from the 2 yard line and mark bolger throws a fade to la rant robinson. under two minutes to go in the half. skins trying to get something going. campbell hits a wide opened santanna moss and then moss fumbles to the ground. look. moss' knee not down on the play when he looses the ball. and former howard player, ronald

bartell. now in the third quarter. 7-6, rams. redskins trying to find the end zone. jason campbell hooked unwith antwaan randle el. the skins inside the 10 yard line but they settled for a field goal. up 9-7. fourth quarter, 2:00 to go fourth and one for the skins and they go for it. didn't work. clinton portis with the handoff but the rams couldn't let him in. the redskins turn over the ball on downs. jim zorn's gamble not paying off. fourth down and ten. mark bolger throws it deep. chris horton there to break up the pass. the redskins get the ball back and run out the clock. the redskins win 9-7. jason campbell likes it but says there's no question that they'll be answering questions about point tomorrow. >> i'm pretty sure we'll get killed again tomorrow in the papers and everything. but guys got to understand, at

this level it's hard to win in the nfl. and any time you get a win you take it for what its worth and you move on and you get ready for the next week. >> jason campbell and the redskins did mix it up. they turned the ball 35 times and ran it 33. tomorrow they'll begin to dissect the game including questionable play calling in the red zone. as for talks on the w dan hellie took the pulse of the players. >> it's called winning ugly. i had also called a rarity. the first times the redskins have won a game when scoring fewer than ten points since 2005. they moved the ball well offensively. four clock-eating drives. they justed allergic to the end zone. >> i can wave all kinds of magic wands but i got to come up with the right play and put our guys in the right position. >> we have so much momentum once we get down there and then it's

like we'll do one play that doesn't work and then the momentum just dies down and we can't capitalize on it. >> you can't say you didn't do what you had to do. we go out there and had a turnover and didn't get nothing out of it we'll be talking about that, too. we gave the kicker a chance to get his feet a little warmed up and hoping next week weapon can let him kick extra points. >> we won, but we won in such an ugly fashion that you don't even really take pride in that win. this was a great team. hats off to them. everybody knows that. this wasn't the same team we saw last week on film. but at the same time when you played the way we played and give the team an opportunity to get back in the game -- >> i'll take a win any way we can get it. we'd like to run for 300 yards and pass for 600 yards and win by 50. but we moved the ball effectively weust didn't produce in the red zone. a win's a win.

i'm going to take this one and be happy. >> we couldn't get in the end zone and gave up too many third downs. take away the positives away that we held them to low points and got the win. but at the same time, we need to score points and we need to get off the field on third down. it's a balancing act. >> so as you can see it was a mixed bag of emotions in the locker room. the guys were relieved to get that win so that overcame the disappointment of not scoring a touch down. next week, it's the detroit lyons. a team that has not won a game since 2007. that will doilt from here the fedex field. back to you. >> the big question still is going to be what the redskins will do about offensive lineman, randy thomas who will likely miss the rest of the season. the stiff line is such a big deal. why are you laughing. >> what if they win 7-3 next week. >> well, a win is a win. elsewhere, the eagles took on the saints in philadelphia and the cowboys open their brand new stadium tonight against the

giants. we're back in dallas. look. if he knows there's a camera, jerry jones shouldn't be doing this. dallas trails and notmore. felix jones with the handoff. busts in for the 7-yard score and they take a 31-30 lead and four seconds to go. the giants with a chance to win it. and the giants win 33-31 spoiling the cowboys home opener. new york 2-0. now in philadelphia, philly sheldon brown takes the field in a hockey mask. first quarter, the eagles trail. kevin kaulb in for donovan mcnabb. he fired downfield to deshon jackson and goes 71 yards. the eagles tie it at 7 and then look at kaulb. he comes to the sideline and mcnabb is there to give him a nice hug. the second quarter, game tied at 10 points a piece. saints on offense. drew brees, this guy is so in control. he throws a strike to marcus

coalson and hauls it in with a 25 yard score 48-22. that's your wrap for the nfc east. the emmies were handed out tonight. kanye west was -- i'm kidding.

no kanye west taylor swift drau drama tonight. it was another huge year for our hit series "30 rk." for the third straight year "30 rock" picked up the ward for best comedy series. also, the funniest man. best actor ia comedy series. jon stewart they took home two statues. for the seventh year, "amazing race" a show i've never seen -- best reality show on television. seven straight years. never seen it. >> my dad said if he could do any reality show that would be it. >> would he take you with him? >> not if he wanted a shot at

from nbc news in washington, this is "meet the press" with david gregory. >> this sunday, a country div e divided, and the president facing tough issues that invoke passionate debate on both sides. is there a way to get past the argument and find consensus on health care reform, the role of government and the way forward in afghanistan? our guest, the president of the

united states, barack obama. then, the view from the other side of the aisle on the big challenges and hard choices. with us, the republican leader in the house, congressman john boehner of ohio and the senior senator from south carolina, lindsey graham. plus, our political roundtable. >> i think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity towards president barack obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's african-american. >> president obama responds to the former president and blames the media for fueling the fire. >> this is catnip to the media. this debate that's taking place is not about race, it's about people being worried about how our government should operate. >> insights from "the washington post" colum nim gene robinson

and politico columnist roger simon. but first, the president of the united states. friday afternoon i sat down with president obama in the roosevelt room at the white house. mr. president, welcome back to "meet the press." >> great to sea you. >> this is a critical moment in the health care debate, and you've been able to assess the landscape. you've got a bill working its way through the senate. you've spoken to congress. as you assess the situation, i wonder whether you approach this with a minimum threshold of what you'll accept for reform or at this point have you said i've laid out my plan, take it all or nothing? >> you know, i think that my focus is on some core principles. i have to have a plan that is good for middle class families who we know last year ended up seeing a 5.5% increase in their

premiums, even though inflation was negative on everything else, that have seen a doubling of their premiums over the last deca decade, that are less secure in terms of the insurance that they can actually count on, and more of more of them can't get insurance because of pre-existing conditions because they changed or lost jobs so it's got to be good for them. now the principles that we've talked about, making sure that there's an insurance exchange that allows people to buy in and get health insurance and negotiate as a big pool to drive down costs, making sure that we have insurance reforms that make sure you can still get health insurance even if you've got a pre-existing condition, cap out-of-pocket expenses and so forth, those co things that make insurance a better deal for american consumers, making sure that it's deficit neutral, both now and in the future, making sure that it's driving down health care inflation so that we can actually deal with our long-term budget deficits. those are the core principles that are critical to me, and i

think we've actually agreed to 80% of that, if you look at all the bills coming through all the committees. the key is now just to narrow those differences and if i don't feel like it is a good deal for the american people, then i won't sign a bill? those narrow differences can also in some cases be also very big differences. as you were president-elect last year you said to the nation in light of the huge challenges that the country faces, you said we're going to have to make hard choices and not all of these choices are going to be popular. what are the hard choices that you are now asking the american people to make, and who are you going to say no to in order to get health care done? >> well, i've already made some pretty substantial changes in terms of how i was approaching health care. >> like the public option? you effectively said to the left, it's not going to happen. >> no, that's not true. what i've said is that the public option i think should be a part of this, but we shouldn't think that somehow that's the silver bullet that solves health care. what i've said, for example, on

what's called an individual mandate, during the campaign i said, look, if health care is affordable, then i think people will buy it we don't have to say to folks, you know what, have you to buy health care, and when i talked to health care experts on both the left and the right, what they tell me is that even after you make health care affordable, there's still going to be some folks out there who whether out of inertia or they just don't want to spend the money would rather take their chances. unfortunately, what that means is then you and i and every american out there who has health insurance and are paying their premiums responsibly every month, they have to pick up the cost for emergency room care when one of those people gets sick, so what we've said is as long as we're making this genuinely affordable to families, then you've got an obligation to get heth care just like you have an obligation to get auto insurance in every state. >> are these the hard choices? who are you saying no to? >> that's an example of a hard

choice because that's not necessarily wildly popular, but it's the right thing to do. you know, i have said that it is very important that we take into account the concerns of doctors and nurses who, by the way, support our efforts, and that's something that doesn't get noticed much. the people who are most involved in the health care system know that it's got to be reformed, but i've said that we've got to take into account their concerns about medical malpractice. now that's not popular in my party, never has been, but i've tagged to enough doctors to know that even though it's not the end all be all of driving down health care costs, it's very important to providers to make sure is that their costs are going down so i think there are going to be a whole series of republican ideas, ideas from my opponents during the campaign that we have incorporated and adopted, and this is hard. and, you know, one of the things

i've always said is if this had been easy it would have been taen care of by teddy roosevelt. >> you're not saying to the left that they have to accept malpractice reform or caps on jury awards. you don't even think that that's contributes to the escalating cost of health care. what are you really doing to say to the left, look, you may not like this, but you've got to get on board and you've got to do this? >> listen, i think i was awfully clear, and i'm surprised, david, maybe you haven't been paying attention to what both the left and the right have been saying about my speech to congress, i laid down some pretty claire parameters, and what i said was we're going to take ideas from both sides. the bottom line is that the american people can't afford to stay on the current path. we know that, and that both sides are going to have to give some. everybody is going to have to give some in order to get something done. we wouldn't have gotten this far, you know, if we hadn't been pretty insistent including to folks in my own party that we've got to get past some of these

ideological arguments to actually make something happen. >> this health care debate as you well know can sometimes be about bigger things and among your harshest critics is the view somehow that government is out of control, and in some cases it's gotten very personal. your election to a lot of people was supposed to mark america somehow moving beyond race. >> right. >> and yet this week you had former president jimmy carter saying most, not just a little, but most of this republican opposition against you is motivated by racism. do you agree with that? >> no. look, i said during the campaign, there are some people who still think through the prism of race when it comes to evaluating me and my candidacy, absolutely. sometimes they vote for me for that reason. sometimes they vote against me for that reason. i'm sure that was true during the campaign. i'm sure that's true now, but i think you actually put your finger on what this argument is really about, and it's an argument that's gone on for the history of this republic, and

that is what's the right role of government, how do we balance freedom with our need to look after one another? i talked about this in the joint session speech. this is not a new argument, and it always invokes passions. it was a passionate argument between jefferson and hamilton about this, you know. andrew jackson built a whole political party around this notion somehow, you know, that there's populist outrage against a federal government that was overintrusive, and so what -- what i think is going on is that we've got a healthy debate taking place. the vast majority of people are conducting it in a very sensible way. ihink that every president who has tried to make significant changes along these lines, whether it was fdr or ronald reagan elicit very strong, passionate responses, but i do think that we all have an obligation to try to conduct

this conversation in a civil way and to recognize that each of us are patriots, that each of us are americans and that, by the way, my proposals as much as you may not like them if you're a republican or on the right, recognize that thiis well within the mainstream of what americans have been talking about for years in terms of making sure that everybody in this country gets decent health care and that people who have health care are protected. >> just to be clear though. >> yeah. >> it wasn't just president carter. there are others in the congressional black caucus, other thinkers who have said that they agree that there is racism out there in that opposition to you. i just want to be clear. are you saying to the former president and others who speak this way is counterproduct sniff. >> well, look, david, here is what i'm saying. i'm saying that the media loves to have a conversation about race. i mean, this is catnip to the

media because it is a running thread in american history that's very powerful and it evokes some very strong emotions. i'm not saying that race never matters in any of these public debates that we have. what i'm saying is this debate that's taking place is not about race. it's about people being worried about how our government should operate. now, i think a lot of those folks on the other side are wrong. i think that they have entirely mischaracterized the nature of our efforts, and i think it's important that we stay focused on solving problems as opposed to plucking out a sentence here or a comment there and then the entire debate which should be about how do we make sure middle class families have secure health care doesn't get consumed by other things. >> in that vain, house speaker pelosi worried about the

opposition, the tone of it perhaps leading to violence as it did in the '70s. there's more recent examples of anti-government violence occurring even in the mid-'90s. do you worry about that? >> well, look, i think that we have an obligation in washington as leaders to make sure that we are sending a strong message, that we can disagree but the being disagreeable, without, you know, questioning each other's motives. when we start caricaturing the other side, i think that's a problem, and, unfortunately, we've got, as i said before, a 24-hour news cycle where what gets you on the news is controversy. what gets yountheews is the extreme statement. the easiest way to get 15 minutes on the news or your 15 minutes of fame is to be rude, and that's something that i think has to change, and it starts with me, and i've tried

to make sure that i've sent a clear signal and i've tried to maintain an approach that says, look, we can have some serious disagreements but at the end of the day i'm assuming you want the best for america just like i do. >> you get a lot of airtime, too, and your views are not rude. >> i do occupy a pretty special seat at the moment, but i do think that -- look, i mean, let's face it, if you look at the news cycle over the last week, you know, it hasn't been the sensible people who, you know, very deliberately talk about the important issues that we face in the country. that's not the folks who are getting a lot of coverage. >> let me ask you about another important issue facing you and your administration and that is afghanistan. >> yeah. >> we've now been in afghanistan for eight years. the soviets pulled out of afghanistan after ten years. >> right. >> are we committed to this war for an indefinite period of time, or do you think in your

mind that there is a deadline for withdrawal? >> i don't have a deadline for withdrawal, but i'm certainly not somebody who believes in indefinite occupations of other countries. keep in mind what happened when i came in. we had been adrift i think when it came to our afghanistan strategy, and what i said was that we are going to do a top-to-bottom review of what's taking place there, not just a one-time review, but we're going to do a review before the election in afghanistan and then we're going to do another review after the election, and we are going to see how this is fitting what i think is our core goal which is to go after the folks who killed 3,000 americans during 9/11 and who are still plotting to kill us, al qaeda. how do we dismantle them, disrupt them, destroy them? now getting our strategy right in afghanistan and in pakistan are both important elements of that, but that's our goal, and i want to stay focused on that,

and so right now what's happened is that we had an election in afghanistan. it did not go as smoothly as i think we would have hoped and that there are some serious issues in terms of how that -- how the election was conducted in some parts of the country, but we've had that election. we now finally have the 21,000 troops in place that i had already ordered to go. >> are you skeptical about more troops, about sending more troops? >> well, can i just say thi i have to exercise skepticism any time i send a single young man or woman in uniform into harm's way because i'm the one who is answerable to their parents if they don't come home, so i have to ask some very hard questions any time i send our troops in. the question that i'm asking right now is to our military, to general mcchrystal, to general petraeus to all our national security apparatus is whether it's troops who are already

there or any troop request in the future, how does this advance america's national security interests? how does it make sure that al qaeda and its extremist allies cannot attack the united states homeland, our allies, our troops who are based in europe? that's the question that i'm constantly asking because that's the primary threat that we went there to deal with, and if -- if supporting the afghan national government and building capacity for their army and securing certain provinces advances that central artery skwi, then we'll move forward, but if it doesn't, then i'm not interested in just being in afghanistan for the sake of being in afghanistan or saving face or in some way, you know, sending a message that america is here for the duration. i think it's important that we match strategy to resources. what i'm also not going to do is put the resource question before the strategy question. until i'm satisfied that we've

got the right strategy, i'm not going to be sending some young man or woman over there beyond what we already have. >> on a lighter note, before i let you go, mr. president, were brazen this summer at the all-star game wearing your chicago white sox jacket out there to throw the first pitch. hate to break it to you, but doesn't look so good for your white sox here so i want to know who is your pick to win the world series? >> you know, i am -- i think mathematically the white sox can still get in the playoffs. >> they can, mathematically. you're an optimist. >> so until they are eliminated, i will make no predictions. >> oh, come on. >> i've got to say though that the cardinals have been coming on strong and pujols sun believable. >> he is. >> but this is tough to say. the yankees are also doing pretty well, and a shout-out to derek jeter for breaking lou gehrig's. he's a classic >> and now the view from the other side of the aisle. we're joined here in washington by congressman john boehner and senator lindsey graham. welcome, both of you, back to

"meet the press." maybe we'll get to baseball if there's timeut there's a lot of substantivessues in that interview that i want to go through with both of you. leader boehner, it sounds like the president was trying to cool off this debat over government, over health care. he pointedly disagreed, the former president jimmy carter saying the opposition against him is not about race, but he also issued a challenge to republicans who he said are totally mischaracterizing the nature of our efforts. your response? >> well, he said basically the same thing when he came to capitol hill and gave a speech, took on the right for our descriptions of what they are trying to do, but if you step back and look at the bill that we have in the house, i'll let lindsey talk about the senate, it represents a giant takeover of our health care system. now there is no debate in washington or around the country about the need for us to fix our health care system. it doesn't work well for everyone, and it -- and it costs too much, but we can fix our

current system. we can make it work better. we don't have to throw it away and have this big-government plan that we see moving through the house, and if you look at what the president has been supporting, it's this big-government plan that has some 51 new agencies, boards, commissions, mandates that is going to get in the way of delivering quality care to the american people. >> i want t come back to the specifics about health care, but i want to stay with this tone of the debate right now and whether or not you agree that by some of the things the president said in the course of that interview he is trying to cool off the debate, the tone of the debate. do you see it that way? >> well, i don't know that the tone of the debate has gotten out of control. >> you don't think so? >> it's been spirited because we're talking about an issue thataffects every single american, and because it affects every american in a very personal way, more americans have been engaged in this debate than any issue in decades, and so there's room to work together, but i first believe

that we've got to just take this big-government option, this big-government plan and move it to the side. let's talk about what we can do to make our current system work better. then we'll have some grounds on which to build. >> senator graham, this is the cover of the week magazine. it's got a statue of your colleague from south carolina joe wilson and says "mad as hell, what's driving the passionate backlash against obama." do you disagree with your colleague here? has this gotten out of hand? >> well, let me talk about the tone. i wish the president had been the way he was in your interview in the joint session. what joe did was unacceptable and it was not proper and we all said that, including joe, but what the presint did today is changed his tone. when he came to the house, he was very combative, i thought. we're not bickering. he accused people of demagoguery who ojected to his plan. he basically accused people of lying about certain aspects of his plan, and he says if you want to bicker, forgets it.

if you want to sit down and talk, well, i've always wanted to sit down and talk. the president is selling something that people quite frankly are not buying. he's been on everything but the food channel. last week he was addressing the nation. his problem is when he says the public option won't affect your health care choice, people don't believe that. they think if the government gets involved in private health care, that the health care they got is going to be compromised. when he says it won't add a penny to the deficit, then the next sentence out of his month, if it does, we'll pull a trigger to stop the spending, we've never pulled any frigers in any other bills and when he talks about how you pay for it we're got to get a $300 billion savings from medicare and medicaid, never done that before, so the problem with the president, he's saying things people want to hear, you'll never be asked to give up your own health care, won't add to the deficit but when you look at the details it doesn't add up and today i thought his tone is better. this is not about tone.

this is about policy. it's not about race, it's about the president selling something that people inherently believe sounds too good and doesn't add up. >> and he speaks about the role of government. first leader boehner, do you think what congressman wilson did was inappropriate, and should he have been, you know, had the resolution passed against him essentially punishing him, admonishing him? >> it was inappropriate. that's why congressman wilson called the white house, apologized to the president, and the president was gracious enough to accept his apology. that should haveeen the end of the story. why house democrats decided to press ahead with this resolution to slap his wrist is beyond me, but it looked to me like nothing more than a partisan political stunt. it didn't need to happen. it was over with. as the president said, it's time to talk about health care, not talk about joe wilson. >> this question about the role of the government and house speaker nancy pelosi saying this

week what she worries about in the tone of debate is that it could lead to violence as it did in the '70s. you know, there was anti-government violence in the '90s in oklahoma city as well. how much of a concern is that? do you share it, or do you think that was an overstatement on her part? >> well, quite frankly, i mean, the whole idea of the role of government needs to be debated. the public option -- she says there will be no bill coming out of the house without a public option. america is saying listen, the government programs we've got like medicare is $34 trillion underfunded. the baucus bill adds 11 million to a medicaid system that the states can't afford so a lot of us are concerned that nancy pelosi and others are pushing government to control prices when it will not work in health care. competition and choice. if you've got only one plan in alabama, let the people in alabama shop around the country for plans, but i'm not so worried about, you know, her criticism about the opponents of the plan don't bother me. the fact that we're -- >> she's talking about violence though. you don't buy that? >> i don't think --

>> david, i'm not concerned about violence. >> no. >> i'm sure speaker pelosi was sincere in her concern, but let's remember something. the debate that we're in here is not just about health care. it's about the trillion dollar stimulus bill that was supposed to be about jobs and turned into mog than spending and spending and more spending. tess aut 'budget with a nearly $2 trillion deficit this year and trillion dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see. it's this cap-and-trade system, a big giant tax on the american people that this week we just find out, the treasury department said will cost the average family $1,700 per year. you add to that this whole question of health care and the government option and the government involvement, and americans toy are getting more news about what's happening in their government than they have ever gotten before, and americans are generally scared to death, scared to death >> but leader, don't they get even more scared when you've got the head of the republican party sending out an e-mail to

challenge the president and democratic leaders for a socialist power grab? i mean, is that appropriate conversation? you really think the president is a socialist? >> listen, when you begin to look at how much they want to grow government, you can call it whatever you want, but the fact is -- >> well, what do you call it? >> this is unsustainable. >> that's fine. >> do you think the president is a socialist? >> no. >> the head of the republican party is calling him that. >> listen, i didn't call him that and i'm not going to call him that. what's going on here is unsustainable. our nation is broke, and at a time when we've got the serious economic problem and near 10% unemploynt, we ought to be looking to create jobs in america, not kill jobs in america. their cap-and-trade proposal, all this spending, all of this debt and now their health care plan will make it more difficult for employers to hire people, more difficult, more expensive to have employees which means we're going to have less jobs