bursting at the seams did the president pick a fight with a cop in cam bridge only to be solded by bill cosby and forced to apologize. before we dive into the most consequencal race case since rodney king. a head's up, craig has an exclusive interview with michael jackson's long-time plastic surgeon who names names as he tells us what he knows about who made michael a junky. how does demerol debbie roe sound? and the sealed air erin andrews. only three possibilities. either a peeping tom is a skilled and obsessed freak with a lot of skill and times on his hands or an insider that works for fox news or the tape is a hoax. that probe later. up front tonight, the president, the professor and the cop from cambridge. >> i think it is fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. number two, that the cambridge police acted stupidly. and number three, what i think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of african americans and latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. >> i acted appropriately. mr. gates was given p

. >> i heard a bit myself from our, stephen from our fellow philadelphiian, bill cosby. i want to ask you about that, because i caught it too, i think. we'll be back with michelle and stephen a. smith about the speech tonight. i think it will be something of a barnburner. a lot of noise, a lot of challenge. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. so, what's the problem? these are hot. we're shipping 'em everywhere. but we can't predict our shipping costs. dallas. detroit. different rates. well with us, it's the same flat rate. same flat rate. boston. boise? same flat rate. alabama. alaska? with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. dude's good. dude's real good. dudes. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. >>> the african-american community will still fall behind in the united states, and the united states will fall behind in the world, unless we do a far better job than we have been doing of educating our sons and daughters. >>> well, it's th

. >> i absolutely agree with obama, with bill cosby. i read bill cosby's book, we need to take responsibility for what's going on out he with our children. it's really bad. >> reporter: the question is how far the message spreads after the celebration ends. ron allen, nbc news, new york. >> some of the intensity of last night carried over today to the president's push for health care. one day after the congressional budget office set a democratic health care reform plan would cost money instead of saving it, president obama put together a hastily scheduled appearance at the white house for a pep talk on capitol hill. correspondent kelly o'donnell with us tonight for more on that. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. clearly the president wanted to get in the last word of the week. we added that quick speech with a state your name and unwavering message for congress. the issues are basically cost and time. it really set off alarm bells when the congressional budget office said that the plans would increase spending, not reduce

. >> comedian bill cosby spoke from boston. >> if both parties woul realize that they would be huge, huge human beings and tell exactly what happened, nobody has to apologize. >> the president invited both men to the white house for a beer. it is not clear when it will happen, but professor gates attorney said he does not drink beer but he will attend. caroline lyders, abc 7 news. >> we would all like to be flies on the wall. >>> leaders say they have taken a giant step forward overhauling health care. house democrats announced a plan to rein and the growth of medicare and steny hoyer is giving up in the policy -- leaving open the possibility that they will discuss the policies further. yesterday, senate leaders said a vote would not happen before the break there. >>> president obama announced more than $4 billion of education funding would be awarded to states on a competitive basis. they have to pass national standards, like the teachers' pay to student performance, and hire and fire teachers regardless of tenure. the teachers association supports the plan. >>> michelle obama won a

bill cosby, who has spoken out in the past on race relations and spoken directly to the black community said today that he was, "shocked" by what president obama had to say seemingly in taking sides yesterday against the police. are you surprised, are you shocked? >> well, not really surprised but i find it very ironic that the same president who let him compose himself and gather his words for five days after the aftermath after the election violence in iran took an opportunity to make a statement that he proceeded by saying that he didn't have all the facts. and then turn around and said that the cambridge police acted stupidly, it would be me being on a boston talk show saying that the red sox played last night, i didn't see the game, the red sox played stupidly. i would be taken to task by the local sports crowd. if you are president of the united states, you would choose your words more carefully. i understand this is a news conference. there is a phrase people use quite often in press conference. the phrase is no comment. that would have been quite apropos in this situation. monic

can you do bill cosby reading the lyrics from "boom boom pow" by the black eyed peas. [ imitating bill ] >> "you got to go, boom, boom pow. got to hear that boom, boom pow." [ imitating napoleon dynamite ] >> "i like that boom, boom, pow. boom, boom, pow." [ imitating arnold ] >> "yeah. boom, boom, pow." >> "i'm so 3008. you so 200 -- squirrel." >> "i like that boom, boom, them them chickens is jackin' my style." >> "i look the boom, boom, pow. them chickens is jacking my style. they try to copy my swagger." >> jimmy: what are you doing? [ imitating peter griffin ] >> "i'm so 3008. yeah, you're so 2000 and late. i've got that boom, boom, boom. let's get it out, boom, boom, yeah." [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: thanks, buddy. that was awesome. all right. that's it. we've got some great celebrity impressions. thanks to everyone here in times square. [ cheers and applause ] yeah it was great. oh, it was so fun. peter griffin plus the black eyed peas. who knew? more "late night" when we come back. everybody, come back. please. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ welcome to the now network. curren

. >> comedian bill cosby says nobody has to apologize but suggests calm and understanding would be good. >> because this, racially, is something that need not take off and look and feel the way it is beginning to look and feel. >> i think what we have witnessed is the example of the unfinished business of america. >> in his book "the audacity of hope" president obama writes of being tailed by security guards while shopping in stores and being pulled over while driving for no reason. the boston area has a history of racial tensions, but if the goal is a post racial society, attorney and former police officer ted williams says we have to put the past behind even if racial profiling exists in the present. >> it is there, but every time a white law enforcement officer arrests a black man, it is not racial profiling. >> the president said too much is being made of his comment, but he is not backing down. he spoke again about the arrest and in an interview with abc's ""nightline"" earlier today. >> i have to say that i'm surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement, because i think i

. >> let me say this, i agree with what bill cosby said last night.cosby was confounded that barack obama, who is somebody that he happens to admire, would wade in this issue the way that he did, and the fact that the president of the united states who normally is so careful, so measured with his words, would actually not be measured with his words and make the statement that the cambridge police without knowing all the facts acted stupidly really upsets i guess a bad precedent. >> do you think the president is a black man with a chip on his shoulder, what rush limbaugh said? do you agree with that? >> i wouldn't say that president obama has a chip on his shoulder. the fact he would inject race into it is a challenge for all of us. the president of the united states has done a great job of winning elections because he has been not a black candidate, but a candidate for the presidency who happened to be a democrat. and injecting race into this issue without knowing all the facts suddenly makes him an african-american president. he's the president of al

i think bill cosby is on the right path.hink everybody in the conversation is saying things that are true, and more importantly, useful, that have volume -- if we are going to have problems, health care, race, banks, i don't care, let's use the crisis and the conversations to solve them. jesse jackson coming up at 10:00 a.m. to do that with race. first we will take a break, and we are back with the governor -- former governor, and toury, who could be governor one day. >> stranger things have happened. >> and we will have the federal reserve play goodwill for america. jesse jackson also coming up. you could buy 300 bottles of water. or just one brita filter. ( drop plinks ) brita-- better for the environment and your wallet. if we don't act, better for the environment medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employ

. >> reporter: while gates insist his arrest was racially motivated, comedian and activist bill cosby is hoping all sides will dial down the rhetoric. >> if both people came forward and told the truth, whatever it is, then we would be a grownup community, and that would lead to a very grownup nation. >> reporter: it turns out sergeant crowley has something of a connection to britt leis. he was the responding officer back in 1993 when former nba great reggie lewis collapsed. crowley tried to revolve the baltimore native, but was unsuccessful. >>> we're learning more tonight about the death of michael jackson. more specifically, the role of the king of pop's personal physician may have played in jackson's death. ahead, what federal authorities are investigating tonight. >>> plus, the summer wouldn't be complete without a few block busters. abc 2 has a preview of films hitting the big screen near you. >>> and yesterday i gave you a 2-degree guarantee for today of 86 degrees. and earlier today i didn't think we hit the 2-degree guarantee, but we did. our high was 84. we've got a winner to

bill cosby said, "you know what? we should wait for both sides to come together.maybe the president knows something, but i think everyone should just step back. i don't know if apologies are necessary." jane: thanks. jon: you heard a lot about acorn during the campagn. did they misused taxpayer money, spending it on one party's candidates? avo: are you on medicare? are you using cpap therapy for sleep apnea? then here's a message from liberty medical. over time, cpap parts stretch and wear out. you should replace your mask, cushion and filter every three to six months. the good news is, medicare may cover the cost of these replacement parts. with supplemental insurance, you could pay nothing at all. and liberty medical delivers them to your door. liberty is a medicare participating provider, so they handle the claim forms. and alert you when it's time to re-order more cpap supplies. liberty carries the leading brands. and shipping is free. replace your mask, cushion and filter regularly, and get the full benefits of cpap therapy for a good night's sleep. call toda

. >> bill cosby weighed in from boston. >> if both parties would realize that they would be huge human beings and tell exactly what happened, nobody has to apologize. >>> the president invited both men to the white house for a beer. he is not clear what will happen, and the professor's attorney says he does that drink beer but is willing to attend. after 30 minutes, the president of honduras return to nicaragua, saying that bloodshed was too great. he has vowed to reclaim his post after a military who last month. an injury after an iranian plane crash. the russian-made plane skidded off the runway and burst into flames. the wreck comes after eight crashes that killed people last month. in china, and landslides killed three and injured a dozen more. boulders crashed down on a bridge and swept vehicles down. 87,000 were left dead or missing. a new report finds suggted evidence that those exposed to agent orange have a risk of suffering from heart disease and parkinson's. we have more. >> during much of the vietnam war, the military sprayed herbicides over vietnam, including agent orange.

. >> you know him as tv's funnyman, but bill cosby is getting serious about the arrest of a black harvard professor. he wants everyone to stay calm. >> racially is something that need not take off and look and feel the way it is beginning to look and feel. >> president obama will soon host the professor, henry lewis gates and the officer sargeant james crawley at the white house to talk about the intersy dent. gates was arrested inside of his house after the officers thought the home was being broken into. >> >> today is the day sara palin will officially resign her role as the governor of alaska. she is embroiled in controversy over multiple ethics complaint and is facing mouthing legal bills. she is rumored to be considering a run for president in 2012, but she won say. >> president obama will seek the nation's attention back to health care reform. he has scheduled two more town hall meetings to push the issue. is it a good idea? this morning, kimberly doe >> kimberly doe >> jerry: has both sides of the complaint. >> i think small business owners need to have the ability to have their o

. >> he said the same kind of things bill cosby has said, he has said things, for example, when he says-americans have to be known for things other than sports and music. a white president could never have made a speech like that. he talked no excuses. he was inspirational. bill: i can't argue with that. can you argue with that? >> no, i don't. i agree with alan. i thought it was a great speech. alan is right, only a black president could say this. >> repeat alan is right a few times. >> you better enjoy it. obama gave the right message. the problem is that many in the black community are saying that's not enough. so he gives a great speech, that's great. we want to see him do more. and, in fact, on the economy you've got blacks across the country saying it's hitting our community even more. bill: they still support him, though. the black american community supports obama. that's probably his strongest precinct right now. we all three agree that a message to african-americans that look, no more excuses, we've gone over this ground, i'm now president, america's a place where anything can

alisyn: bill cosby went none that interview to say everybody needs to take a deep breath. this doesn't need to be a whole racist episode, everybody can step back. when you read the police report, it's very interesting, because policeman sounds as though he was doing standard protocol because he didn't know who was in the house with professor gates. he said police please step out of the house, sir, are you alone? steve: the cop was alone. alisyn: the police officer is alone. he wanted to secure the house. you never know if somebody has a gun to somebody's back. go away police officer, go away police officer. that's when professor gates according to the police report says this is what happens to black men in america. he was yelling out his window why do you need to know ohio am. brian: claiming the cuffs were too tight. you can't put handcuffs on me because i'm disabled. i'm not going to be able to hold myself up. when he went outside he kept yelling. finally they said you are under arrest for disorderly conduct. steve: we should point out when you read the report and can yo

you heard bill cosby. and the cop is an obama supporter. the president has gone way too far without looking at the police report, without knowing the facts of the case. and so, i think what he now has to do is walk it back and say, you know what? i spoke out of turn here. skip gates, professor, henry louis gates is a friend of mine. and i was reacting to, in support of a friend, and aware of larger racial issues in society. but it doesn't specifically apply to this case, which is not about racial profiling. >> it will be interesting to see if the president makes that move. juan williams, thanks for the assessment this morning. >> thank you, chris. have a good day. >>> up next this morning is the latest in the michael jackson investigation. police saying they have a suspect. the pop star's personal doctor, who was with him at the time of his death, now officially named a target, in a manslaughter probe. and abc news' lisa fletcher has the very latest for us from los angeles this morning. lisa? >> reporter: good morning, diane. as investigato

thing doesn't have anything to do with gates, and i think what bill cosby thing is the most prevalentto the situation where we should look at how this is going to pan out on both sides before we really make a decision. glenn: i think the guy got off a plane, he was coming from china, he was tired, grumpy, et cetera, and then probably a little beat of an elitist "don't you know who i am?" that's not a race thing. that is something even white people do. david, i have to tell you, i grew up in washington state, a little town named mount vernon. there weren't any minorities in the area, and when i first moved to kentucky in the 1980's, i go into kentucky, and i see -- i didn't understand how people wouldn't open the door for a cop, et cetera, except that i saw an investigation where they arrest ared cops who had k.k.k. outfits in the trunk of their squad car, and i think, well, that's a different world. yeah, i don't know if i would open the door for a cop then. >> it is a totally different world. three were three police officers here. one was hispanic, one was black and the white cop had

everyone from the president to bill cosby has weighed in on the arrest. some are saying they wish this story would fade away. but jim armstrong from our affiliate in boston, he's here to explain why we should still care. >> i think they should let it die. >> i think that it's gone on way too long. >> easy to find consensus here, everybody is familiar with the story. the people involved handled it so poorly. it began with henry lieu questions gates demanding an apology, saying officer crowley should beg for forgiveness, almost unbelievably it got worse. >> you ought to be able to raise your voice in your own house without arrest. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> immediately the conversation shifted away from race relations and tort nonsense. by the end of the week, it was who was offended by whom. more demands from police unions for someone to say sorry. >> i think the president should make an apology to all law enforcement personnel throughout the entire country p who took offense to this. >> the president took the blame for making things worse.

. >> he said the same kind of things bill cosby has said, he has said things, for example, when he says african-americans have to be known for things other than sports and music. a white president could never have made a speech like that. he talked no excuses. he was inspirational. bill: i can't argue with that. can you argue with that? >> no, i don't. i agree with alan. i thought it was a great speech. alan is right, only a black president could say this. >> repeat alan is right a few times. >> you better enjoy it. obama gave the right message. the problem is that many in the black community are saying that's not enough. so he gives a great speech, that's great. we want to see him do more. and, in fact, on the economy you've got blacks across the country saying it's hitting our community even more. bill: they still support him, though. the black american community supports obama. that's probably his strongest precinct right now. we all three agree that a message to african-americans that look, no more excuses, we've gone over this ground, i'm now president, america's a place where anyt

not to racial profile and now america's favorite dad, you know who that is, charles manson, no, bill cosby. he said he was "shocked to hear president obama give his opinion without hearing all the facts." he said if i'm the president, dot, dot, dot, i don't care how much pressure people want to put on me about race, he then relaxed with a pudding pop. can't live without it. karl, i go to you first because you are looking dapper as always. do you think president obama wanted to answer this question? was this fair? was it placed on purpose? >> it came at the end of the news conference and i think it was andy who first compared obama and the obama family to the huxtables and i don't think anybody wants to get between the huxtables and the huxtables on this. the big consequence is was overshadowed the healthcare focus which was the purpose of the health conference. >> greg: but it was good news because it overshadowed the news con fo conference. >> and dr. huxtable was a doctor. >> greg: do you think that was planted? >> i have news to break here on "red eye." >> greg: it is old news for us to

. >> he said the same kind of things bill cosby has said, he has said things, for example, when he says african-americans have to be known for things other than sports and music. a white president could never have made a speech like that. he talked no excuses. he was inspirational. bill: i can't argue with that. can you argue with that? >> no, i don't. i agree with alan. i thought it was a great speech. alan is right, only a black president could say this. >> repeat alan is right a few times. >> you better enjoy it. obama gave the right message. the problem is that many in the black community are saying that's not enough. so he gives a great speech, that's great. we want to see him do more. and, in fact, on the economy you've got blacks across the country saying it's hitting our community even more. bill: they still support him, though. the black american community supports obama. that's probably his strongest precinct right now. we all three agree that a message to african-americans that look, no more excuses, we've gone over this ground, i'm now president, america's a place where anyt

sean: so did bill cosby. >> keep your mouth shut. be nice to the comes. they have uniforms on. something i don't do and they put their lives at risk every night. you've got to respect that uniform. sean: i used to have a heavy foot and i got pulled over a few times in my life. and you know what i learned? when you say, yes, officer, no, officer, thank you -- >> it's the best way. sean: it got a lot -- >> it's the best way out of a ticket. and don't ever do this -- well, i wasn't peeding, officer. he knows you were. sean: exactly. >> immediately you're challenging his intelligence. the answer is i'm sorry, even if you know you're right. i'm sober, i didn't mean it, officer, i'll -- i'm sorry, officer, i didn't mean it. i'll never do it again. sean: one officer said to me, "you're that idiot on fox." i said, yeah, but i'm friends with the mayor. no, i'm knl kidding, good to see you. next up, joe gibbs tells us his game plan for a questions tul life. and ainsley ear heart sfx: coin drop, can shaking hear that? that's the sound of people saving. saving money, saving time, and savin

like bill cosby talk. it was realistic and tough. a white guy like that can't talk to the naacp. he talked about kids in brutal neighborhoods where it's really dangerous. >> that's great. >> that sounds like you talking. >> it does, but the difference is i followed up with action. i want to know -- i can compare my record as a lieutenant governor on those subjects. so the question now for a lot of african-americans and for the country, what are you going to do? how do you move those very kids that you're talking about in poverty to the next level of realizing prosperity when you cut their opportunity by cutting their scholarship grants here in the district of columbia? 1,700 poor african-american kids, many of whom go to -- >> you know what? you just found an area we agree on. these opportunity scholarships should be maintained. >> they should be maintained. this administration, this president then senator, has been garnering to kill those scholarships -- >> who stood, the unions? >> somebody -- >> these are called opportunity scholarships. they basically allow in many cases kids

it included beyonce, john legend and bill cosby. >>> many big easy musicians are remembering the king of pop, ivan neville of the neve very well -- neville brothers. his brothers became famous, and he says he believes everyone was influenced in some way by the superstar. >>> by the way, our very own robin meade will lead hln's live coverage of michael jackson's memorial service. she'll be joined by "showbiz tonight's" a.j. hammer and "issue's " jane vilez mitchell. don't miss that. >>> vice president joe biden says the obama administration misread how bad the economy was when it created the stimulus package, but he says the plan will create more jobs once spending picks up. >> did the economic package we put in place, including the recovery act, is it the right package given the circumstances we're in? we believe it is the right package, given the circumstances we're in. we misread how bad the economy was, but we're now only about 120 days into the recovery package. >> yesterday senate gop leader mitch mcconnell said the economy is just as likely to begin recovering on its own before

. >>> and bill cosby's point was can this be a constructive moment.bunch of reasons may have an opportunity to do more with it. >> it will be an instructive moment until the next moment. >>> the book review by bill straefer, so you have a good book. >> sam tanenhaus, thank you once again. good to see you. coming up next, the host of msnbc's "morning meeting" with dylan ratigan joining us. >> really? >> i am sorry. we have to. we are trying to help out the network. "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. but did you know you also get hotel price assurance? it's a one-two punch of savings -- pow! pow! lower hotel booking fees mean you get a lower total price. plus, if another orbitz customer then books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. music up and under. ♪ vo: will you find a day off in aisle 17? vo: or family time in aisle 12? vo: well yeah, because when you save money on simple things, vo: it adds up to some pretty amazing things. vo: walmart saves the average family $3,100 a year no matter where you shop. vo