behind the headlines: democratic congresswoman carolyn maloney makes the case for paid family leave. [ ♪music ] >> bonnie: hello, i'm bonnie erbÉ. welcome to "to the contrary," a discussion of news and social trends from diverse perspectives. up first, the beer summit: the future of race relations in america. will president obama's meeting with harvard professor henry louis gates, jr. and sergeant james crowley at the white house close yet another chapter of tense race relations or rekindle the flames? the meeting gave the president a chance to make further amends for saying: >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> bonnie: although both parties agreed to the meeting, leading up to it gates continued to say he was a victim of raraal profiling, and crowley said he was not going to apologize for doing his job. meanwhile a new poll finds more americans disapprove of the president's initial response to gates' arrest. so is this the end of the dust up or the beginning, irene natividad? >> let's get real. this is one person's solution to a person faux pas. but that said, i think this is

congresswoman carolyn maloney is on with us tonight to talk about how you can keep that money and to to date on exactly what they're doing. so many arthritis pain relievers -- i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills than extra strength tylenol. just 2 aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day. (announcer) transform your water. women who drink crystal light drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a delicious change. >>> want did know what you think. will no public option mean loss of support for president obama? that's our text question tonight. "a" for yes, "b" for no, to 622639. >>> still ahead, liberal democrats are already planning a revolt if the public option is scrapped. i'll put that to our panel coming up. if you're using other moisturizing body washes, you might as well be. you see, their moisturizer sits on top of skin,

democratic new york congressman carolyn maloney has decided not to run for the senate.challenge kristen gillibrand in 2010. and mel martinez of florida is resigning. senator martinez had already announced he wouldn't be running for re-election in 2010. and the first lady of south carolina, jenny sanford, is moving out of the governor's mansion for the school year and taking her sons with her. mrs. sanford says she's headed home to live in charleston and will continue to work on her marriage to governor mark sanford, who of course admitted an affair. >>> democratic leaders originally encouraged members of congress to hold town halls during the summer break, but was that a mistake? listen what happened last night during john dingell's town hall. congressman dingell released this statement today, saying, quote, i'm sorry for those who came wanting sincerely to know more about the bill but whose voices could not be heard over the protesters. as long as i have a vote,ly not let shouting, intimidation or misinformation deter me from fighting for this cause. let's bring in rep

congresswoman carolyn maloney will be here later this evening. >>> and it's of course a reality checkon afghanistan. the war nobody's talking about. secretary gates is giving us i think some bush talk. and our commander in chief is sending thousands more troops over to afghanistan? with no date and no end date in sight? i want to know what makes them think that they can win this one. three-star admiral

carolyn maloney from new york chairs this hour and 20 minute hearing. >> if the people will come to order. meetings should start on time. welcome commissioner hall. evidence that the stimulus bill is taking hold is starting to emerge. the economy dramatically improved in the second quarter of this year and the pace of job loss has moderated significantly in recent months. clearly the trend is toward recovery. i am optimistic that more americans will be heading back to work as more stimulus projects get underway. while we welcome these signs of improvement this morning, this report reminds us that the high toll the recession has had on millions of americans. this recession, which began in december of 2007 is now the longest and deepest in the post-world war ii period. although the economy is predicted to expand later this year, the duration of this recession has led to long spells of unemployment for are -- for some workers. we have six unemployed workers for each job opening. those out of work are finding it increasingly difficult to find a job. more than a staggering five million america

host: in the new york newspapers there are stories about representative carolyn maloney who is withdrawinge run for the senate. you can read more about that in

. >>> new york congresswoman carolyn maloney says she will not take on senator kirsten gillibrand inhe state's democratic primary. gillibrand was apointed to fill the seat vacated by hillary clinton when she became the secretary of state. >>> remember, for the latest political news anytime, you can always check out cnnpolitics.com. let's go to jack cafferty for "the cafferty file." jack? >>> question this hour, wolf, is whether or not these increasingly loud and violent town hall protests will succeed eventually in killing health care reform. i had a broken leg and two cancer surgeries that would have cost me over $50,000 and i never paid a cent. my taxes stayed the same, too. grow up, america. corey writes -- mary ann writes -- and frank in philadelphia says -- if you didn't see your e-mail here, go to my blog at cnn.com/caffertyfile and look for yours there. mr. blitzer. >> thank you, jack. >>> to our viewers, you're in "the situation room." happening now, student are heading back to school and they want to head off major problems with the swine flu. >>> a drug lord still in busine

carolyn maloney shares this hour and 20 minute hearing. >> welcome.idence that the stimulus bill is taking hold a starting to emerge. the economy improved in the second quarter of this year. the pace of jobless has moderated significantly in recent months. the trend is toward recovery. i am optimistic that more americans will be heading back to work as more stimulus projects get under way. well we welcome the signs of improvement, it reminded of the high toll that the recession has head on millions of working americans. this recession which began december 2007 is now the longest and deepest of the post- world war ii time. the duration of this recession has led to long spells of unemployment for some workers. with six unemployed workers for each job opening, those out of work are finding it increasingly difficult to find a job. more than 1/3 of the unemployed, a staggering 5 million americans, have been without a job for at least six months. it is the highest on record. in both% and sheer numbers. over 2.3 million workers have been unemployed for a yea

messages were carried to carolyn maloney. >> i don't think there is any doubt that -- i don't know that the two are analogous. there was a primary we had with then-senator clinton, taking us to states that we would likely not have been as competitive in had we not spent a decent amount of time there in april or may or june. >> in upstate new york, there are still a few republicans. >> it is hard for me to draw a direct correlations to the senate race without having a better knowledge of the area of the state itself. let me find out the degree. >> can you answer why he would inject himself? >> we want to have good, strong candidates running in the senate and the house. in many of these races, in the new york, we have a fabulous candidate now keeping her house seat and a fabulous candidate we hope keeping her senate seat. . but i have not seen a recommendation yet, but i can certainly check on that. >> former president clinton [unintelligible] [unintelligible] with the united states continued [unintelligible] >> i think you heard president clinton say many times in the past, and i don't n