boehner and mr. cantor $60,000 apiece. wholly owned.hers laughable from the moment they opened their mouths, a conspiracy that somehow began with the placement of birth notices in two hawaiian newspapers 48 years ago this month. but people who do not want this president to be president will believe anything. and that is meat for fading commentators like lou dobbs whatever he actually believes because the bitter movement touches another part of the defective soul, the need for an excuse for they need to convince themselves in an immense conspiracy and place that conviction as a barrier between their actions and the sad reality that they are not the victims of intricate machinations against freedom but they are just garden variety ordinary racists, that they can handle the most limited of integration only in theory. they will take anything that will let them pretend that when they burst into tears and cry they want their america back. they're not asking for white power, not asking somebody make the black man in the white house go away. th

boehner of the house -- >> john boehner. >> michael steele, the rnc, both are unfortunate in supportingthe protests in the meeting and have not called for adult behavi behavior. i think it's necessary for the leadership to demonstrate right away this is public policy and not a food fight. i was really disappointed in john boehner of using the expression, very, very hot summer. we know what that means. he did that deliberately. recently mr. steele said he didn't support the outrageous behavior, but, then, again, he can't control the protest. that's provocative language. mr. steele is in a position to call for calm in the republican party. >> before i let roland get into this. you have a lot to say. >> you know i'm just waiting. >> let me let sherry respond to that. >> to say all these people at the town halls -- again, is wrong. this is not something led by washington. this is not something that's being led by michael steele or john boehner. this is something anybody who's been watching politic s even a little bit in recent decades could see what was happening. massive bill. 18% of the u

house majority -- house minority leader john boehner sent a letter highlighting the deal with pharma. drug makers have promised $80 million for the overhaul, with much of it for advertising. in the letter, john boehner urges pharma to join republicans to oppose government-run health care. >> some leaders like the idea of turning downtown baltimore into a grand prix race track. in information about the deadly collision into the hudson river. and john purdue from valley view farms is here to answer the plant and gardening questions. e-mail them to at plantquestions@wbaltv.com. >> federal officials have changed a key point of their investigation into a deadly medical collision over the hudson river. previously, the ntsb said that an air traffic controllers failed to warn the plane of aircraft in its path. now they say that while the controller failed to pass the one, the helicopter was not one of the aircraft on the radar. officials continue to investigate. nine people were killed in that accident. >>> aig could be paying its new ceo more than $10 million a year. in a filing with the sec

congressman boehner saying appeasing a bully never works. remind us again, why is the white house still negotiating with republicans? >> well, the question was always how many republicans are they really negotiating with? and they were hoping that the three they were negotiating with in the senate finance committee, which included grassley, represented a larger group. how much larger, they weren't really sure. we're now increasingly seeing as this comes more sharply into focus that they're representing themselves, and now grassley is saying, if i can't get more than just the people i'm negotiating with, than just two other republicans, then i won't vote for what i negotiate. so this is -- this is what happened in 1994. republicans just keep peeling off. we started negotiating with bob dole. we thought he could bring maybe 20 republicans along. he clearly peeled off. he was running for president against clinton by that point. we started negotiating and ended up with only three republicans in the entire senate that we were negotiating with. th

senator kennedy also reached across the aisle to house republican leader john boehner raising another $5 million for d.c.'s catholic schools. >> roz plater tonight. >>> the flag on top of the u.s. capitol is flying at half g. l it and all ther flagson federaproperty will remain lowered until august 30, part of a presidential proclamation. although the political landscape remains divided on several issues, party lines are left behind as lawmakers honor senator kennedy today. fox 5's laura evans has a look. >> he's left a great void in our public life and a hole in the hearts of millions of americans. >> reporter: vice president joe biden speaking with great sadness and admiration for senator ted kennedy, appearing at an energy department event, mr. biden set aside his discussion of energy legislation to remember his close friend. having served 40 years in the senate, longer than all but two other senators in u.s. history, teddy kennedwas considered by some an icon of american politics. president obama says he was one of the greatest senators in history. >> in the united states senate,

with the help of john boehner. >> senator kennedy and representative boehner reached across the aisle and joined hands to put together this dinner n. five years, they raised over $5 million to support the schools. >> reporter: i have one more ted kennedy story for you. the one that i saw and he saw -- in recent months and years, on a lawn like this one in the late afternoon, ted kennedy would take his dogs out for a walk and he would bring tennis balls out. rather than strain, he would bring a tennis racket and whack them a huge distance from the ball, the dogs would run and retrieve the balls. he would black them out again o. capitol hill, the senator from massachusetts in the late afternoon was not ted kennedy national figure but another dog lover like you and me. >> he will be missed. thank you. >>> senator ken day's death is being felt hard in boston. people are mourning the loss of the native son and represented massachusetts for decades. our coverage of senator kennedy's death continues. we'll take to you massachusetts and a closer look at his careerlong crew seed for healthcare

congressman boehner concludes, "it will be a long, hot august for democrats in congress." the republican party of texas has produced a video for the front page of its website, which includes footage of congressman doing doggett being screamed at and bullied. and the share of the senate campaign arm of the republican party cease an electoral advantage in these demonstrations of hostility. told a newspaper, "fear, i would say, precedes anger, and i think there are a lot of people who tell me they are scared of what they see coming out of washington. i see real opportunities for us." we've got fear, anger, frankly we're psyched. another congressman, another republican congressman, is actually making jokes about the death threats and the other threats of violence against democrats. little known congressman todd aiken of missouri, now officially has something that he will be known for. >> a different people in d.c., come back to their districts and town hall meetings and almost got lynched. and so the people -- if you are not approving lynchings because we don't want to do that

then there was house minority leader john boehner who said, quote, this provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government encouraged euthanasia. and putting the exclamation point on ridiculous, florida representative john micah who said, quote, there are death counselors. there is authorization for reimburse the for those counselors for medicare. you have a whole new cottage industry. as reported on "time" magazine's swamp log land today senator grassley and congressman boehner and john mica have another thing in common in addition to being deathers. they also voted for the 2003 medicare prescription drug bill. that bill in part provided funding for end of life counseling. and i quote, counseling the beneficiary with respect to end of life issues and care options and advising the ben fish yaefi regarding advanced claire planning or as these things are now known in republican circles, death panels. in all, 204 republicans in the house and 42 republicans in the senate voted for the death panels. and there was not a peep about then president bush having a secret plan to ki

either republicans like chuck grassley and john boehner and john micah have totally changed their minds about whether living wills are really a secret plot to kill old people or they voted for something just a few years ago that they actually thought was a secret plot to kill old people. take your choice. >>> next up, the geneva conventions constitute the very core of international humanitarian law. the bush administration tried to argue that the geneva convention didn't apply to people we captured in what used to be called the war on terror. the u.s. supreme court famously disagreed and forced the u.s. to rejoin the community of civilized nations that agrees to abide by these minimum human rights rules. so after all that turmoil during the bush year, it was with deserved fanfare that the international committee of the red cross held a reception in d.c. this week to honor the 60th anniversary of the geneva conventions. about 230 guests attended including staff from the department of state, from house and senate offices, from the national security council, and from the white house. grego

little fanfare but a big impact. >> it was sort of a unique relationship because both congressman boehner and senator kennedy represent strongly different sides of the political respect frum but were able to come together and support the catholic schools in washington, d.c. inner city catholic schools. >> reporter: blessedincipal sai principal said kennedy resigned from fund-raising

a week later after the house bill was unveiled, house republican leader john boehner along with thaddeus statement saying that the -- >> talking about denying nutrition. >> and said that this provision could start, pave the way for government-sponsored euthanasia in the future. >> talk about the impact of this and whether you think this in fact is driving the debate or are people saying you know what, this is bogus. >> this is an attack that has legs. part of that reason is death panel is a phrase that everybody can understand. it's graphic and scary, but we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss that. it's a slippery slope argument that once you've got the government making decisions about health care spending, then it's possible that at some point, you could have a panel of people saying this procedure for this person is too expensive relative to the game. >> mark, you've encountered as i have, the whole issue, end of life directives and the tough choices that people have to make when they are dealing with end of life care? >> sure. absolutely. these are issues that hit most people and they'

. >> teamed with conservative ohio republican john boehner for years to quietly raise $5 million for d.c. catholic schools with little fanfare but a big impact. >> it was sort of a unique relationship because both congressman boehner and senator kennedy represent strongly different sides of the political spectrum but they were able to come together and support the catholic schools in washington, d.c., inner city catholic schools. >>> again, locally and east jenkins a long time and fierce advocate for d.c. states hood said kennedy reit rateded his strong support for self-determination. >> ted kennedy is a tremendous loss for d.c. he supported d.c. statehood from the very beginning. and he believed in us. he said that d.c. should not be the nation's last colony. >> current d.c. voting rights bill remains stuck on capitol hill. dispute over gun rights in the city is holding up that bill. wendy, jim. >> thanks, tom. >>> ted kennedy's also being remembered for special relationship he had with students from american university in north west d.c. kennedy was a guest speaker on the campus an

does boehner have a point?e campaign is as much on the other side as it is on obama's side, and i hope that john is a little tongue-in-cheek year and does not really believe it. there has been a lot of exposure in the town hall meeting. eventually, it is going to start to erode support in the country, and i agree that is true. but let us not for a minute believe that these are outpourings of genuine sentiment. i used to do this in 1985. we organize town hall meetings. nothing wrong with that. i am not agreeing with it. but this outpouring is ridiculous. jane: are these people all plants? >> no. i think it reflects public opinion. democrats are trying to pass this. but the more they hear about it, the more the president goes out, the more they oppose the overall being discussed here in congress. that is the problem facing democrats. a poll this morning showed independent voters, from two-one margins, supplies with protesters at these town halls. the more they learn about the plan to take over health care, -- >>

the top republican in the house, john boehner, has released a statement approving of the disruption ofhe town halls, crowing over the, quote, angry reception given to congressman lloyd doggett and promising a, quote, long, hot august for democrats. and the national republican campaign committee is now publicizing these disruptions in a new series of e-mails entitled "recess roastings." they're promoting and sharing the fact that town hall events have, in their words, turned into town hells for democrats. town halls, huh, they're town hells now. this message brought to you by the modern republican party. >>> joining us now is democratic congressman lloyd doggett of texas. he's the gentleman you saw surrounded by people screaming, just say no at a houn hall event over the weekend. congressman doggett, thank you so much for joining us tonight. >> thanks, rachel. what a great job of exposing this nonsense and what better than juxt say no from the party of no, never, no way, on most every reform. >> well, you put out a statement after the town hall saying that the mob didn't just come to be

in a ly 23rd op-ed in the "nional review", house minority leaderohn boehner wrte that the democratic healt care plan would "requir americans to subsidize artions with their hard-earned tax dollars." air says the issue is not a imple as either side makes i see >> the al of the democrats is to have an abortion-neutl bill. but, the plans in thhealth carexchange could still provide artions, it's just at in the case of taxpayer ney that was used for the public oion-- that would be used to pay for the pubc option-- at its share could not be used to pay for ortion coverage but tt plan might still cover abortions. theoretically, e abortion coverage in it would beaid for by the sharehat the patient paid for und this one version of the bill. swhen congressman boehner sai the president's plasubsidizes abortions, we ratethat one false, cause as we read that bill, the are efforts to sort ofseparate it out. >> reporter: fa or fiction? the docratic pls will allow the government to ke decisions about wn to stop providing medical care to e elderly. the idea that the govnment would make decisions aut

ohio congrohsmey jann boehner is calling on the administration to go back to the drawing board. the administration has struggled for months how to close the u.s. navy prison in guantanamo bay. >>> the portion county commission is considering making it more difficult to open check cashing businesses in the district. the reason image. they want to improve the image of prince georges county by clamping down on strip clubs, liquor stores, pawnshops and check cashing outlets. >>> metro ridership should continue to expect delays on the red line. this weekend the national transportation safety board says it completed the testing of train control equipment at the site of last month's fatal train crash. however, metro will now begin to replace track circuitry in the area between takoma park and fort totten. the work should take a month. >>> today dc mayor fenty and police chief kathy lanier will kick off national night out. it is part of a nationwide effort to combat crime. the mayor will give details about a $12 million grant to expand community policing. >>> and the dc city council vot

so when congressman boehner said the president's plan subsidizes abortions, we rated that one false, because as we read that bill, there are efforts to sort of separate it out. >> reporter: fact or fiction? the democratic plans will allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing medical care to the elderly. the idea that the government would make decisions about end- of-life care caught fire earlier this month after former alaska governor sarah palin wrote on her facebook page that seniors and the disabled "will have to stand in front of obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care." the health bill pending in the house includes language that would authorize medicare to pay for a beneficiary to consult with their doctor about whether to pursue aggressive and potentially life-saving treatments later in life. >> what's in the proposals says that there will be medicare reimbursement for doctors to have conversations with seniors about end-of-lif

john boehner is not going to be judged. he's not running anything. republicans have already proven they can't run congress. now it's the democrats turn and they are screwing things up. i can't believe how ferocious this language is. >> it's also not necessarily. i mean, seriously, they could have sat back, just like you advised the republicans to do and let the republicans destroy themselves. instead it looks like a ridiculous free for all. >> the problem is, it's only hurting the democratic party. >> and health care reform. >> just like the radical comments from the far right are only hurting republicans. so when we come back, we're going to have new jersey governor jon corzine, also congressman anthony winger of new york. he says health care reform doesn't have a chance without a public option. if you see chief foreign correspondent andrea mitchell is going to be with us. >> best selling suspense novelist joe finder. >> you say finder i say finder. also a big article on "the daily beast." later, i'm very excited about this, actor sir ben kingsley w

. >> john boehner said as much two days ago, but the near fact that karen thinks we should be talking about this -- >> i don't think we should be talking about it. you are more concerned about getting licks against the president rather than solving problems. chris wanted to talk about it. >> just a minute, todd. why do you think roy blunt is out there pushing this issue? we can show it again if you would like, but he wants to see the president's birth certificate. he was up there on the platform during inaugural day. why didn't he come down to ask the guy about to be sworn in to see his birth certificate. why is he doing this now? >> i have no answer. the national review, which is hardly a left wing publication, just wrote an entire editorial saying the whole thing is ridiculous. of course he has a valid birth certificate. of course he is an american citizen. the more we talk about this the less we are able to talk about obama's massive takeover of the health care system and i think that's an issue more people should be talking about. >> you know, chris, there are a couple points here

house minority leader, john boehner, says the democrats are in denial because the protests are real.ichael steele sees a more sinister motive. john core nnen is accusing the white house of monitoring the speech and is asking president obama to cease and desist. are these protests spontaneous or organized? does it really matter? >> let's kick it off. let's start with gloria borger. >> the answer is, yes, some of them are real and some of them are manufactured. look, you have conservative groups out there, suzanne, who are against health care reform. they have learned it is very easy to organize groups via the internet and they have told people to go to places and to disrupt meetings. however, you also have some folks who really want to have a serious discussion about health care reform because they are worried about it. they are worried that they may lose their health insurance or whatever their concerns are. i think the ones we are paying attention to are the ones where you have the hecklers and the people who are disrupting any kind of real and protuductive conversation. >> david? >

we have had great activity both in the house by the speaker nancy pelosi and john boehner, minority leader and by senator reid, the majority leader in the senate as well to this project we've delivered the house results some time ago and have been working through the rules committee to get some of these ideas enacted. they are easy things. the senate is more difficult for example of our advocacy project is to push forward a piece of legislation called s 482 which would require the senate to funnel their campaign finance reports electronically the house has done it for years. there is no reason for the senate not to fly all the campaign finance reports electronically. they keep them on the computers and print them out and hand them to the federal election commission that spends a quarter of a million dollars every year making mistakes and of course slowing down the process. i wasn't born yesterday. i know that slowing down of the process is what they want and so we have put a lot of pressure and think congress will -- the senate will pass this as 482 and we have mounted a major campaign to

boehner and kennedy talked about how well they worked together with each other, but boehner also said separately that a lot of his republican colleagues said what are you doing working with ted kennedy? he had to reassure them everything would be ok. host: senator kennedy visited this program back in 2003 to talk about why he got involved. here's what he had to say. >> on the no child left behind, you know, we have about 11 million that are the needyest children in this country. and in 1965 we said as a nation, let's make a matter of national priority the poorest of the poor, the most disadvantaged of the disadvantaged and try to give them a level playing field so that they would be able to achieve their potential. we did that in 1965. president bush tried to do it with no child left behind. we have a good blueprint, but we haven't got the back-up. that's a question of priorities. so many things we do in the congress are a question of priorities and values, and for me, funding that program to make sure re we have small class size, well trained teachers, supplement tri services, and he

we've had great reaccepttivity in the house both by the speaker, nancy pelosi, and by john boehner, the point leader -- minority leader, and by senator reid, the majority leader in the senate as well. to this project we delivered the house results some time ago, and we've been working through the various rules committee to get some of these ideas enacted. they're easy things. the senate is more difficult. for example, one of our advocacy projects is to push forward a piece of legislation called s-482 which would require the senate to file their reports electronically. there is no reason for the senate not to file their campaign finance reports electronically. they keep them on the computers, they print them out, then they hand them to the federal election commission that spends a quarter of a million dollars every year rekeying them, making mistakes and slowing down the process. now, i wasn't born yesterday, i know that that slowing down of the process is what they want, and so we put a lot of pressure, and we think congress actually will, i mean the senate actually will pass this s-482

put be -- boehner, mcconnell, and the president, craft an interim solution that extends coverage, doesn'thave a public option -- sean: you -- he doesn't haven't -- want that. >> here's what i think it's going to come down to. i think we're going to have the blue dog democrats, the liebermans, the evan bayh is, they're going to get in a room, some 50 of them in districts that voted for john mccain for president and what's going to happen is their arms are going to be twisted. their careers are going to be on the line. they're going to be offered a lot of pork barrel spending in their districts. quite -- which way will they go when the president offers them anything to go support him? >> obama knows that this is a centrist to conservative country. i think he knows that intellectually. on the other hand, emotionally he's pulled in the other direction. then you've got this group, i call them the obama-orons. like here's a precipice, go jump. i think his strategy is he's going to talk right and go left. hoping not a lot of people catch on. that is not working. sean: we have one guy, parker gri

. >> why is congressman boehner taking the side of the health care companies in the health care debate? >> reporter: that's the strategy too. it all comes way too late. >> a lot of democrats would say it's about time or past time. the democrats lost control of the message on health care. once the president loses control, it's difficult to get it back. >> reporter: president obama didn't control the message because he didn't leave it up to his own plan, leaving it open to lawmakers who crafted several plans. all open to interpretation and rumor. like the death panel -- once something like -- they want to kill grandma -- is out there it's tough to fight. >> what's truly risky is if we do nothing. >> his supporters are trying to do something more. >> even if they don't succeed in drowning out the conceding noise. but analysts say scary seems to be working. although the president denies it, the president left wiggle room in one democratic idea, the public health insurance option. reports private insurance companies compete with a government-run insurance company, so to speak. and presumabl

house republican leader john boehner sent an open letter tob. he warned its cooperation on the white house with reform is like cutting a drug deal with a bully. some are bound to see this as lobbying gone backwards. in his letter, representative boehner urges pharma t join republicans in what he calls opposing "government health care subsidies for those who insist on being irresponsible. m "back to you. >> a decision on whether or not to release the man convicted in the lockerbie bombing is expected to be made in the next few ys. he has always maintained his innocence but he's been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. libya has asked that he be released to see his family before he dies. the decision is in the hands of scotland's justice minister who has consulted with families of the victims in the u.k., the u.s. and has visited the man in prison. >> our time is 5:38, 75 degrees. big changes for a major construction project in northern virginia. what this might mean for your commute. >> also, a parent's worst nightmare. how a child was kille

>> john boehner has well. he apparently works very well.y clinton. >> new material. from the secreta

. >> john boehner says that's the way the president has been acting all along. >> of course he say that. >> but everything he has done with the town hall meetings suggest the opposite. >> is it too late to gain that control. this seems totally out of control. people angry, screaming, yelling, not making sense well heard congressman frank talking to a woman yesterday but no one is really discussing a concrete issue or concrete bill, which we really don't have. >> republicans need to sit back and shut up and let the democrats continue to go down this path. >> why shouldn't the republicans be part of the plan? even if they are not working with the administration. we don't hear a plan from them either. >> that's a problem. >> while they are continuing with the disruption of the democrat president's plan they have no plan of their own. and now we see that no plan is better than a bad plan. so the democrats need to get leadership together and figure out the message going forward and stick to that. >> here's the problem with that. i think as a result of how obama handled the health care it wil

he told me a few moments ago, i think john boehner needs a new bloodhand. they think that maybe the country is starting to turn the corner, but they're going to be very careful not to celebrate just yet, betty. >> ed henry spoke to the president's chief economic adviser and she he is coming tok to answer your questions. tweet us right here at kyracnn. >> thanks, betty, appreciate it. >>> and just a reminder that the president delivers his remarks from white house rose garden. that is set for 1:30 eastern and, of course, cnn will bring that to you live. you can also listen to his remarks online at cnn.com/live. >>> in the meantime, though, stimulus dollars stuck on the highway. yeah, one of the first shovel ready projects to get government money has hit a road block. my name is chef michael. and when i come home from my restaurant, i love showing bailey how special she is. yes, you are. i know exactly what you love, don't i? - [ barks ] - mmm. aromas like rotisserie chicken. and filet mignon. yeah, that's what inspired a very special dry dog food. [ woman ]

>> john boehner has well. he apparently works very well.material. from the secretary clinton now. >> yes, they do. >> they get new material each and every day. no question about it. >> never lack of it. >> thanks, erica. see the most recent "shots" on our website, ac360.com. >>> coming up at the top of the hour, the heat over health care reform.

john boehner says he believes the president was born here.t out there and i think it's just trying to drum up the story of things the republicans are out of touch and crazy, but no basis and effect. >> we're showing the video of congressman cassel of maryland. he's in his town hall meeting and here's this woman holding up her birth certificate saying, i want my country back. is it your sense that those are organized protests because there's a lot of speculation right now that there might be some like conservative organization behind these people being willing to disrupt the town hall meetings and shout and well things that maybe aren't that respectful. >> i don't think that's the case. there's a genuine sense of anger and concern around the country, not of republicans or democrats, but american citizens. i think these town hall meetings are very reflective of where people are coming from. they're saying to their representatives, are you sure this is the right course. i would like to believe this is not a fringe group on the right or left, but

ohio congressman boehner is calling on them to go back to the drawing board. they have struggled for months how to close the navy base in guantanamo. >>> white house officials are not ruling out the possibility of raising taxes to fund the deficit and fund the health care reform plan. timothy geithner says the deficit must be reduced for the economy to prosper long term. economic council director says funding must be found to pay for overhauling the health care system. the president's economic team says the administration will work with congress to extend unemployment benefits. >>> the popular cash for clunkers program may be suspended unless the senate approves additional funding. the obama administration says the program, would give americans up to $4,500 to the purchase of a new car and it will be halted week. the house of representativeses approved an additional $2 billion to keep the program going but the senate is yet to act. >> reporter: congress is setting its sights on big banking bonuses. the house voted to restrict controversial compensation package

you have boehner saying this is going to lead to euthanasia and then folks at the white house saying this ining this is ridi. what grassley did was something in the middle. at least not pouring cold water on the notion that there's something scary about this voluntary, end of life counseling. he said himself, you have something to fear here and put out a statement saying the fact that this can be misinterpreted is one of the reasons you won't see this end of life counseling in the bill the senate finance committee is working on now. that being said, grassley is still one of the few republicans still at the table. >> and how much of the remark that we heard yesterday from senator grassley were about political survival? >> well, you know, it's an interesting question. i mean, there he is, facing his constituents. they're concerned. he doesn't want to seem like he doesn't get that. it's not like he likes this house bill. he does not have very fond words for the house bill, which is essentially a bipartisan bill. >> thank you very much. >>> now the bigger picture. at what point should de

ohio congressman john boehner is calling on the administration to go back to the drawing board. the administration has struggled for months how to close the u.s. navy prison at guantanamo. >>> police are searching for the person responsible for shooting four people in prince georges county. the shooting happened yesterday morning in district heights near the 6700 block of atwood street. lice say none of the victims appeared to have life- threatening injuries. they are trying to determine a motive. >>> tight budgets in prince georges county mean some fire houses are unstaffed this morning and there aren't enough volunteer firefighters to cover the fire houses that aren't being staffed. however, officials say the public safety is not being compromised by the money-saving measure. they say they have more than enough man power to handle fire and rescue emergencies. >>> this week, we expect to get some answers behind the fire that destroyed a home of former dc school board president peggy cooper. firefighters were helpless to do anything but watch as her house on chain bridge road bu

. >> reporter: on the house side, speaker nancy pelosi and republican leader john boehner spent talking points to their members, basically boiling down to two themes. >> big evil insurance companies versus socialized medicine. >> reporter: time is not on the side of democrats, many whom wanted health care done before recess. the longer the issue becomes out there the more it becomes a pinata. advantage, the critics. >> i think it's safe to say that over the august recess, as more americans learn more about their plan, they are likely to have a very, very hot summer. >> reporter: democrats say it is not that americans are learning more about reform, it's that they are learning erroneous things about reform. august on defense. >> we are going to make sure that health care reform does not get swift-voted during the month of august. >> reporter: the problem is there is no one single health care bill, no plan that has jelled on capitol hill. in some ways, it allows both sides to claim they're right. now, about those angry voters, there are some when republicans go out to talk about health ca

i guess there are some arguments left and right among republicans when you see john boehner going after his lobbying firm because the lobbying firm says why are you fighting against it when we want some kind of healthcare reform in place. bret: billy tozan, former congressman. >> right, and rich army who is now working as a lobbyist in town and who is representing hospitals that want some kind of healthcare reform but at the same time opposing it in terms of his political voice. in terms of the elected republican representatives and senators, they're pretty much unified in opposition to this thing, and charles grassley, on the senate finance committee, i think, is caught in a very difficult place. on one hand people say he doesn't represent all republicans and on the other hand he feels compellinged to speak for republicans because he is at a critical point in revising the system. bret: do you think people are buying what the president is saying when he talks about the republicans being the main cog in the wheel here? >> no. i think people are thinking why aren't republicans willing to

minority leader boehner and michelle malkin also applauding the discussions, evoking the bloodshed of iraq in describing the scripted protests as, quote, counterinsurgency. >> i've been covering these counterinsurgencys among taxpayer rights groups and i think that this administration of democrats have vastly under estimated just how grass roots this movement is. >> she also believes in ghosts. time now to call in senator sanders, independent of vermont, member of the health, education, labor, and pensions committee. good to talk to you again. >> good to be with you, keith. >> these tactics, both the phony protests and the applause, do the tactics surprise you at all? >> not at all. the fact is these people talk about freedom and what they are doing is trying to disrupt meetings, which is the absolute opposite of what freedom of discussions about. and the reason for that is they are afraid to debate the real issues, the fact that we have a disintegrating health care system with tens of millions uninsured, under insured, 18,000 americans die every year because they don't get to a docto

bill by the house commerce and energy committee went into the second day with a cam quo from john boehner. >> i would ask that he be added to the committee on the minority side. >> with full voting privilege can! >> and with henry waxman still dead set on beating the august recess deadline. >> whatever time it takes, we're going to complete this bill today. >> in thursday night's action, which wrapped up at midnight, republicans sought to limit access to abortions an forcing lawmakers to enroll in any public healthcare plan they in enact. both were beaten back by the democratic majority, which resisted the push by the g.o.p. friday to open up to ordinary citizens the federal healthcare plan lawmakers do use. >> this is outside of our jurisdiction. >> this is germane. if you and i want to suspend the committee and see the parliament tearian in person, let's do it. >> despite a rear guard revolt by waxman's liberals, the democratic leadership on friday trained its sights on other combatants. >> the days for the insurance companies are coming to an end in our country. >> you have a lot of in

for example, the house minority leader john boehner and at least one pro life group have said the planseform would lead to government subsidized abortions. but two different nonpartisan groups have reported that is false. and that one of the plans actually bans using public funds for abortion of course the people pushing for reform have also stretched the truth quite a bit. that also includes the president, we're told. wendell goler is live at the white house with our health care fact check tonight. wendell, hello. >> hello, shep. as we fact-check the health care reform debate, we are finding flaws in some of the most basic claims and understandable concerns in some the most outrageous. >> rumor that's been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the house of representatives voted for death panels that will that will basically pull the plug on grandma. >> this is based on a proposal to have medicare pay for volunteer end of life counseling sessions that even some republicans say is being misrepresented by people like former alaska governor sarah palin. one estimate 30% of med

minority leader john boehner. thanks for coming in. >> good to be with you. >> it looks like the house and senate committees are probably going to get something done before the recess. the president is reaching out, though, to everyone. saying spend the recess. read the bills. and then we can talk. listen to. this. >> they will have all of august. to review the various legislative proposals. when we come back in september, i will be available to answer any question that a member of the congress has. if they want to come over to the white house and go over line by line what's going on, i will be happy to do that. >> are you still open to coming up with a bipartisan bill with the president? >> absolutely. i think the american people expect us to work together. to deal with the issue of reforming our health care system. but they've got some real big doubts. about this big government-run plan that eventually will take over our entire health care system. it's going to drive up costs -- >> let me interrupt you for a mom

and people have made a conscious decision they do not like republican leaders whether tom delay, boehner common niche mcconnell, they have made a conscious decision -- decision they do not like these people they feel republicans are incompetent, iraq, katrina, and that they think they are in net to. there is a long list. until the republican party is open under new management nothing will change. that is the bad news but the good news is the leadership change will come from us. here at the grass-roots level nothing will change until the people at the grass roots level assume the role of leadership they think is our i's with each and every one of the. >> i thought you were going to give me optimism i am going to have to head to the bar for a drink. [laughter] >> i would like to endorse what richards said. in fact, for three years of my life i endorsed everything that richard said because i was working for him. [laughter] he was a wonderful boss and a wonderful teacher and mentor i've learned more from him than anyone else regarding the politics and business thank you for the movement and

. >> senator kennedy and representative boehner reached across the aisle and put together this dinner. they raised over $5 million to support these schools. >> kennedy -- [ inaudible ] the senator was a fan of the soda bread. one ever the people we talked o edy lla reat neia n wh is next for the senate seat kennedy has held since 1962? state law requires a special election take place between 145 and 160 days after a vacancy and there cannot be known appointed to the seat before then. california senator diane fine seen sent the kennedy family a message today saying massachusetts's next senator will never live up to the legacy that ted kennedy has left behind. >> i salute your history. i salute your heritage. and i salute all that you have done for the united states. we have lost a titan. his shoes will be very difficult to fill. >> senator kennedy's nephew joseph has been mentioned as a possible contender to fill the state. our coverage of senator ted kennedy is far from over tonight. the senator is known for influencing the lives of everyday americans. tonight they are remembering him

the how gop leader john boehner said you have to adopt a philosophy to get the message out. is the gop offering viable alternatives to what just pass snd. >> they put out some parameters and bullet points of what they would like to see in terms of reform. one of the first things they often mention is tort reform because doctors have to pay such high premiums for malpractice insurance for what many regard to be frivolous lawsuits. doctors are very, very interested in seeing that put into the legislation. the president has been asked about that most recently at a town hall in bristol, virginia. he says he thinks that's a little overblown, he's not in favor of significant tort reform that doctors and republicans want to see. whatever the case may be, republicans are in the opposition. this is typical of the way congress works, especially the house of representatives, whether democrats are in charge or republicans are in charge. minority, their job is to throw rocks as many people see it. they understand their legislative proposals are not going to be considered by the majority.