melanie barnes is a director of the white house domestic policy council. thanks for joining us. this problem. the president has a speech tomorrow night, it could in the be more important. i think perhaps an overstatement in the newspapers yesterday. they talked about the struggling obama presidency. is the presidency of this young new administration on the line with this one speech? >> no, but the president sees this as a wonderful opportunity to talk to congress and to talk to the american people. he views this as a new phase in the health care debate. summer is over. he wants to come back and talk to the american people and talk to his colleagues in the congress about where he wants to go next in this health care debate. it's clear from the american public and what members heard when they were at home in august that the status quo is not acceptable. so the president wants to talk about security and stability. i think he'll be very clear about this need to drive down costs, the need to end of kind of discrimination that keeps people with pre-existing conditions from getting hel

melanie barnes from the white house joining us. and a programming note, president obama will be addressing congress tomorrow night on health care at 8:00 eastern. we'll have special coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. with larry kudlow. >>> with us this hour the man you heard talking about the public option or whether we need it or not, our guest host in the thick of the health care debate, the ceo of schering-plough. also talk about his $46 billion merger with merck which is imminently about to conclude. we also have with us howard dean, author of "howard dean's prescription for real health care reform." good to have both of you with us. howard, feel free to react to anything miss barnes had to say. i wanted to get straight to what i believe is going to be the meat of the debate in this conversation which is fred just said medicare part "d" was proof the private sector can get it done, better coverage, beater satisfaction, lower costs. we don't need a public option. >> look, there is nobody who knows more about the pharmaceutical opti

melanie barns said the president is going to be more specific about what he is looking for, but she didhether or not he was going to mention that public optiona everybody's talking about, clearly white house aides say it's his presence, but they actually acknowledge, they don't think that's going to happen, at least not on the senate side. >> and tomorrow he'll be taking that health care speech live. >>> and our colleague ali velshi has spent the past few days on the road on the cnn express asking folks to express their opinions on the economy, on health care and the state of their lives in general, and they're not holding back. >> reporter: you're in naperville, illinois with the cnn express. >> what do you think about this debate that's really on the road on this bus, do you think that this administration is doing the right things to pass this health care reform. >> i think it's going to go on and on and on. it's been in our main consciousness for a dozen years now. >>er if you ask someone, if you vote for world peace, earn's going to raise your hand, right? but then to pay for world

barn burner 38-34. >>> and finally it's the feel good story of the u.s. open. 17-year-old melanie oudin continues to play like a seasoned vet, takes the next two sets, advances to the quarter finals becoming the youngest american to do so in the last decade. that's your early look at sports on "early today," i'm mario sol solis. >>> who's number one on the charts right now? you wouldn't guess if i gave you a million tries. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, people are popped the question in countless ways, but one couple has no match when it comes to what happened after the proposal. you're watching "early today." morning. here's a look at your forecast. you need the umbrella today. much of ohio, up into northern kentucky, cincinnati, louisville, lexington, columbus, detroit to cleveland and to buffalo, bring your umbrella, d.c., light rain, on and off all day long. and the delmarva region, into ocean beach, maryland, delaware, you're going to get a lot of rain today. be prepared for maybe some possible flooding. >>> well, if you're watching u