let's start with you, ceci.esident, president obama publicly last night. do you get the sense that he moved the meter at all in terms of to votes in the house and the senate? >> you know, that's very hard to say today, mike. i can tell you that just released senator mccain, who of course obama made a big deal out of embracing a mccain idea around high-risk pools last night, senator mccain has put out a very harsh letter asking people to sign a petition against an obama-type health care plan. so, that was really an unexpected slap from somebody who at times has tried to have sort of cordial relations between those two rivals. you also still have a lot of division on exactly what president obama might don

ceci connolly, joe klein, helene cooper covers "the new york times" and howard fineman, from "newsweek." president obama stealing the scene in the health care debate. his wednesday night speech to congress showed the president knew he needed to take become control. >> the time for games has pass is! now is the season for action. now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together and show the american people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. now is the time to deliver on health care. norah: polls taken since then showed that the president did have some success and of course there was that outburst from congress joe wilson, the guy who yelled "you lied." other republicans were more polite, but still -- listen to what rush bill -- limbaugh said. >> that speech last night was a fraud. it was dishonest. it demeaned theoffs of the -- office of the presidency. having attacked and lied throughout this thing he claims he wants to work with republicans, with whom he has not met since prim. norah: you can always count on rush. how's the president doing with his own

ceci,what did the baucs plan include after all this buildup and wh didn't it in? well, somehing called an indivial mandate, a requirent that everyamerican carry insurance, withsome tax credits for sma buinesses that might have trouble rrying it. all th items the president has been talking about f a long time are in there. we know it would cover about 30 milln more americas, out of about 4 million uinsured so that's a big incease in coverage and there wouldbe real canges in theways docto and hospitals behave. not in thbill is hat public option we'veheard about. that's not too surprising. maybe more surprising is that senator baucus dd not pt in y kind of requiremenon employs in this country. that's a big difference and perhaps little bit of a surprise. >> -- gwen: those two things are the big diferencebetween what senator baucus is puttg out and what e president said lasteek and has a lot to could -- do with the price tag beg a lot less? >> y. absolutely rht. and senator balk us.a. -- baucus was deteined to come underthat horrble t word, one trillion dollars. the m

and ceci connolly joins us live from washington, d.c. hello to you, ceci. >> hello, there. >> thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. i commend you on your reporting. >> commend her on her reporting. >> you're fabulous. >> let's go to the importance of coalition industry leaders and interest groups. put that in perspective. how important is it? >> well, it's quite important if you think back to what happened in 1994 when president bill clinton attempted a similar overall of the nation's health care system. we know that many of these industry players and the special interest groups played a major role in defeating his efforts. so for quite some time now, the white house and senator max baucus, who you were just talking about, have really tried to at a minimum neutralize those groups and so far it's been fairly successful. you haven't seen the sort of harsh attacks and really blitzkrieg advertising that happened 15 years ago. it's not to say that they're all happy and pushing the effort along quite as unanimously as maybe som

. >> roger, does ceci's news about john mccain, does that surprise you? >> not really. i don't think -- i don't think president obama's going to get any republicans in the senate for this except the possible exception of olympia snowe, who would be a good get, and maybe susan collins. the speech last night really wasn't about bipartisanship. it was about unifying the democratic party and getting the democratic party behind one plan. but as ceci says very accurately, we still don't know where the president's line in the sand is when it comes to the public option. and this is probably what bill clinton could be a help. bill clinton understands health care, first of all, but he understands the fiscal conservatives of his party. >> okay. >> and he understands the progressives in his party. >> okay. >> and he can try to bring them together on this. >> roger simon, ceci connelly, thanks very much. join us again tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for for "hardball." "countdown with keith olbermann" starts right now. >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tom

>> i think ceci's exactly right.uestion he would have gotten after that cabinet meeting -- in fact it's the only question he got -- is how are you really going to pay for this thing? now that we're in the after-glow period of a very emotional and elegant speech, there are some hard questions left unanswered. he has promised to have a $900 billion plan that doesn't add a dime to the deficit and apparently will not raise anybody's taxes. does that strain credility. is this the time to ask about that? apparently not because we have to talk about joe wilson for the next 24 to 48 instead. >> ceci, you've been working all day on the $900 billion question. what have you found out? >> not a lot. there are about three pages of bullet points. most have been what we've been discussing. the insurance market reform. having an individual mandate where everybody is required to have insurance. but there is very little detail on his new idea about medical malpractice. very little about a mccain idea that he is embracing on high rick

. >> ceci, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. thank you. >>> dr. have? >> hello, monica. we're talking health care reform and also talking different kinds of medicine. a break through in the search of vaccine to prevent hiv infection. could it be the holy grail the science has been seeking? as you talk about health care reform, boy, scaring seniors a new fight now taking steps against insurance companies that are frankly scaring seniors and the vice president joe biden, he has step under to the health care fray. >>> plus, sparks fly as the senate finance committee tries to hammer out the details of their health care bill. ...to use new crest extra white plus scope outlast, like me. like her. whew. it's minty! it whitens your teeth and gives you a fresh breath feeling that actually lasts. mm-hmm. and he likes to drink a lot of coffee. [ female announcer ] introducing crest extra white plus scope outlast. for a whiter smile and a fresh breath feeling that... [ inhales deeply ] lasts up to five times longer. [ inhales deeply ] ok she's right. ok. oooh

ceci connelly, thank you. >> thank you. >> you can watch his prime time address to congress here on msnbc at 8:00 eastern. coverage anchored by keith olbermann and chris matthews and rachel maddow. >>> a bone fragment found near phillip rah gee row's garrido's home is probably a human bone. they are accused of kidnapping jaycee duggard and accused of kidnapping her for 18 years. the bone will undergo further testing. >>> fire crews contained 60% of that huge wildfire burning in the mountains near los angeles for two weeks now. the blaze has killed two firefighters and destroyed 78 homes. the reward for information on who set the wildfires now up to $150,000. officials estimate the station fire will be under control the next week. >>> a "the new york times" reporter taken hostage by the taliban is freed this morning after a military raid in afghanistan left two people including his interpreter dead. nb nbc's jim is live with those details. how bad a firefight was this? >> hi, alex. well, first of all, let me say "the times" is confirming that stephen farrell, a british veteran reporter and

. >> this is what ceci connelly wrote -- "on the surface it appears no one is happy with senator maxaucus, and that may be the best news president obama has had in months. behind the rhetorical fireworks was a sense that the fragile coalition of major industry leaders and interest groups central to refashioning the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system remains intact. as they scoured the 223-page document, many of the most influential players found elements to dislike, but not necessarily reasons to kill the effort. most enticing was the prospect of 30 million new customers." but, of course, that raises the question, is this a giveaway to industry? some democrats certainly see it that way. >> well, some democrats view anything that does not have a public-competitor private insurance companies as a giveaway to industry. but certainly, this bill does a variety of things. as i said, it has almost all of and goes beyond anything we've seen in terms of long-term pressure on providers that change the way they do business to try to encourage more quality and value for customers. and it'

ceci connelly, always a pleasure there from "the washington post." >> thank you. >>> still ahead, moren the meeting between moammar gadhafi and the families of those who lost loved ones on pan-am flight 103. did he seem remorseful? we'll speak with a woman who lost her brother on that flight and spoke with him can unlock nature's power? [ female announcer ] nature fusion from pantene helps make hair strong against damage in 14 days. good housekeeping gave it their seal. damage protection results leading salon brands can't beat. [ female announcer ] nature fusion from pantene. nally, good news for people with type 2 diabetes or at risk for diabetes. introducing new nutrisystem d, the clinically tested program for losing weight and reducing blood sugar. hi i'm mike, and i lost 100 pounds on nutrisystem d when i was first diagnosed with diabetes, that first step was more like a giant leap. till i discovered nutrisystem d. in a clinical study people on nutrisystem d lost 16 times more weight and reduced their blood sugar 5 times more than those on a hospital-directed plan. plus a1c was red

. >> i have to wrap this, ceci, the agenda is revolving around trying to create the best health care plan for patients or for funders, the doctors or health care insurance, or will it still come at the expense of the patient? >> i think they still have the thought of consumers and trying to deliver, better, more affordable care for americans. whether or not we are on the path to get there is a good open question for a lot of debate. i do sense that is that what is driving this whole big effort. >> yeah, real quick, karen? >> i think basically at this point if folks are just trying to get something done and get enough of something done that seems like it does something for consumers, they can all go home and sell that for 2010. >> make sure you don't alienate the insurance companies that alienate you, appears political win. >> exactly. >> good times. contessa, what do you have. >>> police accused a 49-year-old walter ellis of killing nine women in murders dating back to 1986 and as recently as 2007. they tracked ellis through the trace of the dna that he left on the victims. one was a