. >> charlie: food, foodies and passion for cooking coming up. captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> charlie: chef david chang is here. his blend for flavor combinations have taken the food world by surprise and applause has followed. he's already won two james beard awards, oscars of cuisine and both "bon appetite" and ""gq" named him chef of the year in 2007 w ha three restaurants in momofuku. and newest ko, i am pleased to have him here for the first time. let me just talk about the biography it's very interesting. mother and father came from korea. >> yep. post korean war in the early '60s. >> charlie: settled in the washington d.c. area. >> northern virginia. >> charlie: in the washington d.c. area. then they got -- your dad first worked in the kitchen washing dishes. >> in new york. then he found his way down south and -- >> charlie: selling golf surprise? >> then, got out of the restaurant business. owned a couple of restaurants. never envisioned that i would ever be in the r

that i thought was fair. >> charlie: if y wanted to sort ofxpand your knledge of fo and cooking. i'm going give yo four or five candidates. tom keller would bone. >> he an i wkedogether, i was his sous chef when he w at raquel here. >> charlie: which was not success? no. it wasn'tecausehe food it was fabulous food. a schizophrec restaurant. a r on oneide and serious restaurant on the othe it didn't knowhat it wanted to be. charlie: also, a perfect leon of the fact that somehow something doesn't ite work out but e people who are tre are brillit. tom went on to -- >> doing ainner together in a few weeks we hav cooked togethere're looking forrd together i he not eaten at el bulli. last time i was there, i was aving the day thishey could get me in i was leaving spain i coul't get. e day they canet me in. i was lucky to get in. itas day i was leaving i couldn't make it. no, haven't. >> charl: he has this passn that is -- you can feel it. rt is, he has curiosity about food that - you know, everything thate's developed, all these techniques that he's researched, they're all,t ast from wh

i'm joined now live from washington by charlie cook, msnbc political analyst and editor of "the cook litical report." good morning, charlie. it's always good to see you. >> good morning, alex. >> i look at what you are saying. you say that congressional democrats stand to lose six to is it seats in the next election or more. what has gone wrong? is it the democrats' agenda or the way they're delivering their message or something? what is it? >> well, when we look at the district by district around the country, we come up with, you know, somewhere between six and 12. when you sort of factor in the macro, you know, political environment, that's where the over and unders are about 20. we're getting the sense of deja vu. that when you see the wind starting to turn against the party, and it's almost like there's an invisible hand pushing the candidates of one party forward and the other back, and we're starting to see that right now brsh as you say, a lot of -- a lot of -- it's not all health care, but a lot of it is, and the thing is i think we got to the point where we know that percepti

. >> now, alex, you and i have both spoken with charlie cook. you spoke with him on the air just moments ago. he is a noted political analyst here in washington. he analyzes elections as well as what's going on in congress. known as a nonpartisan. he said something startling. that some of the democrats he has talked to over the last three weeks are fearing that this is shaping up as a political disaster for them. on the order of 1994, and we know what happened at the outset of the clinton administration when they tried to institute a health care reform program, and republicans won 52 seats in the elections in 199had. at this moment, you know, they say the president is taking a long view. he looks at the distance. one of his advisors is saying. at this moment things are not looking at the encouraging for this health care reform effort in congress. >> yeah. you know what, mike, i want to ask you about that great back and forth that was put together. we talked about the president, and you have representative price. where is the truth? that's what m

charlie cook talks about that. others have talked about not only the president's falling approval rating overall, but among independent voters as well, among the elderly. this is a problem the president has in terms of intensity as well. the right is mobilized, organized, trying to delay or derail health care reform can be carried over into the mid term year. >> i want to get your thoughts on a couple of things. cia is about to release this report on interrogation tactics, including reports that some prisoners were threatened with imminent death if they didn't give up details. then there's this report that the military will name the names of some prisoners being held in secret dentation. what do all those taken together mean? >> it creates the potential for another distraction in the health care fight, but gets back to an issue the obama administration has been wrestling with, what to do to hold the bush administration accountable if there were -- and there have been allegations of torture and stepping over that li

. >> and charlie cooke, the best expert, he and his team on house races, certainly says that the summer has scliped completely out of control for president obama and congressional democrats. the cook political reports congressional election model based on individual races is pointing toward a net democratic loss of between 6 and 12 seats, but our sense is that this is far too low. of course, it's really early and there's always a loss midterm for the party in power. so this would not be surprising, but this is the nervousness that is afflicting the congressional members, particularly, the house members out in the field right now. >> it is one of the reasons that the president talked about the wee wee period in august. there is a lot of nervousness within the democratic party at this point, and for some good reasons. i mean, they see the president's numbers sliding. they recognize that there is unrest. they recognize that a midterm election after a presidential victory and after two consecutive victories is likely to be difficult. so there's understandable nervousness. >> okay. dan balz,

yoing us is charlie cook and also joining us is republican strategist doug hyde. your numbers suggested democrats could lose 6 to 12 seats in the midterm elections your gut was telling you it could be much worse. say more about that. >> well, carlos, after picking up 54 seats in the last two elections it's almost impossible for democrats not to lose some seats and 6 to 12 we do it race-by-race that is what we come up with. when you start stepping back and looking at the broader dynamics, you look at how this majority got put together with independent swinging enormously toward democrats in the '06 election where they took the house and know voters and new voters not likely to show up in the midterm election, you look at the democratic party's favorable ratings dropping down, not quite as low as republicans, but really dropping, we're looking at a lot of dynamics that are starting to resemble the kind of dynamics we saw in the early in the 1994 cycle. i think we're just starting to get the feel of it, the intensity of opposition and animosity that is out there, it's

charlie cook has a chilling forecast for democrats. he says in a special update to his newsletter that democrats could lose more than 20 seats in next year's congressional elections. he writes -- bret: the health care reform debate is factoring in to many reelection bids and one ohio congressman is feeling the heat from constituents. steve brown reports on the effort to make an impression. >> summer is winding down. time for one more ride at the fair. one more shot at winning a blue dog. one more signature and that the blue dog. >> we're getting a petition. >> two congressmen helped broker the deal on the controversial 1000-page house reform bill. >> i was so oppressed with the intellectual curiosity. >> this is an american citizen issue. >> they will not meet with us. >> there is a large congressional district geographically. >> driving the 16 counties from and to and take four hours. a lot of the district as rural. space has been dialing it, holding a telephone town hall. >> we did one last night at 7800 people were on the phone, ask

. >> according to charlie cook, democrats may look back at this summer as the moment they let up to 20 in the house slip away. polls show up to 70% of americans disapprove of the job congress is doing. democrats of course divided on health care reform and voter confidence and the president is sliding. a new poll shows 49% of americans believe the president can make the right decisions for the country. so what does it mean for 2010? here to make their case, blogger adam green and also with us, liz nair. adam, let's start with you. it's usually true the party with the majority tends to lose seats in the next off-year election, but having said that, would you agree that having a week where the house speaker and her deputy disagree, the democrats have a huge number of problems right now? >> obviously, there will be some challenges in 2010. but i think that the real numbers so look at are the polls that show overwhelming support for the public health insurance option. poll after poll shows that americans want democrats to stand up boldly and proudly for the public option. i think that if de

i have to ask you then about this warning about storm clouds that charlie cook talks about and says -ry when charlie sent this out last night, for many democrats. it suggests this may hurt some democrats in their house races. how does that affect the white house, chief of staff, rahm emanuel, trying to get these house members to vote for this plan? >> well, this is one of the reasons those blue dogs were being so insistent on having an input on the plan. there's no question that this is very worrisome for the white house. but i think at the same time, it's -- even charlie would say, it's too early to say for sure exactly how many seats will be lost, but if the mood of the country is real, the anger among voters is real on this, so it's worrisome to the white house, which is why -- the president, about an hour ago, left for camp david, the smile on his face to me was the most convincing gesture he had made all week. he was thrilled to be out of here and anxious to get away. it will all be here when he gets back. >> even if hurricane bill is going to be causing 25-foot waves at martha's

with me now live, charlie cook. good to see you.dents we hear now, more likely to believe obama has not made progress in changing washington than they think he should have. how big of a problem is that? >> i think it's two different things. independents early on were very supportive of anything and everything president obama wanted to do and they've just been souring over it all and just about every question you want to ask, he's -- a lot of independents have lost their confidence in president obama. the thing is, this problem of the poisonous partisanship you see in washington. it wasn't created overnight. it's not going to end overnight. it takes two to tango and i don't think either side is making much of an effort. the democrats, there's not a lot of bipartisanship and certainly republicans aren't either. so i think both sides are at fault. >> you don't think one party is more to blame than the other? since april, many more americans say the tone and level of civility between republicans and democrats has gotten worse. from 24%

joining me now is charlie cook, editor of the cook political report. morning to you, charlie. >> good morning, alex. >> all right. let's take a look at president's approval ratings from just a month ago in which the quinnipiac poll showed 57% approved, 33% disapproved. why do you think his approval ratings have dropped? >> well, i think there has been a general decline. i'm not a big fan of the quinnipiac poll it's an outliar. look at all of the national polls you've had nbc and npr polls at 53% approval. pew at 54. time and cnn at 56. ipo and gallup at 58. the average is around 54%. but what you see is there is a general trend downward. downward. and what you see is the president's numbers kind of yo yo up and down. and they -- but the pattern you're seeing is that when his numbers go up, they generally don't go up as high as his previous highs, and then when they drop low, they do drop lower than his previous lows. so it's sort of a ratcheting down effect that's happening. he's sort of within the average of normal presidents at this point. but, clear

charlie cook warning they could face huge losses in the mid-term elections next year. cook initially estimated the democrats could lose between six and 12 seats or so. but now he says those numbers may underestimate what they actually could lose. cook is forecasting a possible loss of up to 20 seats. this while the president poll rating approval number has hit an all-time low for him. at 51%. that's why cook has revised his outlook of the seats that he thinks the democrats could lose in the mid-term elections next year. >> jamie: meanwhile, legislators in massachusetts, well, they're in a bit of a tough spot now. after they got this request from the ailing senator ted kennedy, he is suffering from a brain tumor. he wants the state law changed so that in the event of his death, the governor can quickly name a replacement, instead of waiting for a special election. here is the thing. it turns out that there was such a law just a few years ago when john kerry was a massachusetts senator. mitt romney was the state's republican governor. democrats worried if kerry won the 20

and it's just too -- charlie cook, i mentioned this last week, that it's more likely that there willbe 20 house losses than less, losses of seats in the next election. so if you are going to lose your job, although you love ted kennedy paying attention to you it is probably not --. >> woodruff: speaking of seats, how much difference does it make to democrats whether they get a successor for ted kennedy named quickly, changing the law which is what senator kennedy wanted done. and it's the flip side of what democrats were asking for not long ago. >> massachusetts democrats are redefining hypocrisy politically. we've always regarded hypocrisy as a given. they changed the law there 2004 to deny a republican governor the power to appoint a successor to president-elect john kerry. and that was mitt romney, john kerry did not win. so 2009 with the death of ted kennedy, now they want, and replace a special election was mandated. now they want to have an interim senator appointed by the democratic governor deval patrick. if a special election will not be held according to the secretary of st

and so he really is in a sort of not free-fall but a serious slide, charlie cook knows more about congressionalctions than just about anybody has a memo out today saying there is as much of a chance the democrats will lose more than 20 seats in the next house elections than fewer than 20 seats. and that's a pretty serious thing. that's a terrible climate in which to enact it. >> but on health care, the reform specifically, is it the president's failure to sell it or is it just a bad idea to begin with that he has a lot -- latched on to. >> i think it has some serious problems, some of which i have enumerated. to me the problem i care about is costs. it doesn't control costs and i think there is an element of the american people that are objecting to that. there is a very large amount, a larger element objecting to the fact it is government take over or at least perceived government take over on the heels of the takeover of as ig, on the heels of the perceived takeover of the auto industry. and the final thing, and this i think the administration is doing the right thing, is in some of the medic

charlie cook, are you along -- are you with those who think that there's a real possible chance, 1 in 3, 1 in 4, that the house could go republican next time? >> i think -- >> they'd have to lose about 30, 40 seats. >> 40 seats. i think that's too high. obviously it's possible. we saw in 1994, but i think it's pretty unlikely, but i think the odds of them losing say 20 seats getting their margin cut in half, that's a very real possibility. what political -- >> that would still give them control, 236 seats with about an 18-seat majority for control. >> and arguably the people they would lose, a lot of those are some of the blue dogs who are not voting with them anyway, but the thing is you like to have that cushion, and it would reflect on the president. >> what's your gut -- i know you don't like to make too many predictions but at this point nobody is going to remember you made it. is it your sense this is going to be a typical off year? >> i think it's going to be fairly typical. right now we have democrats losing about nine seats. my guess is it will get up to 20 or so. >> george b

. >> julian, i have to ask you, i'm sure you know about nonpartisan political strategist charlie cooknd what ee believes the health care could cost them seats. >> the lesson of 1993 is not to sit back and let congress write a health care bill and then just kind of see with a happens. the lesson of 1993 is very early on, the white house, the committee chairmen, moderate democrats, cut a deal. and then sell it in very, very simple terms. democrats failed to do that this time. but i think, you know, what doesn't kill you in politics makes you stronger. the democrats will come back now where -- engage something of the very moderate republicans and i again, i think we can get something on the table by september, october that's understandable and comprehendible to the american people. the real problem is the message hasn't been consistent. democrats can fix that and getting? done. >> okay. real quick, brad. any danger republicans might overplay their hands here? >> i don't think so. we are innocent bystanders. democrats control everything and high majorities in the house and senate and have

i was talking to charlie cook yesterday.k said, you know, whatever you say, those people there in those town hall meetings, you may call them any name you want but they are the voters that put in the blue dogs. will the blue dogs after hearing all that come back and vote for some large nebulous co-op package? i really wonder. they are the ones that hold the fate of the whole health care debate. >> they really do. >> it ain't the liberals. >> they really dochl the only republicans that may be relevant by the end are the two senators from maine, olympia snowe and susan collins. the rest of the republicans in this health care debate are irrelevant. >> i think the blue dogs, obama really let them get out of control quickly. i think he could have done a better job with that i have to say. in the end if he gets something, we will probably look back and say, he did get something for health care. has he tried. it may not be everything we want. perhaps liberals will end up trying to torpedo that at least could get incremental health.

guest: charlie cook is a veteran handicapper. he sent out a warning signal for he sees democrats losing may be 10 or 20 seats. he said it could be as many as 26. what is troubling to some of these vulnerable democrats is that just like in 1993 when they did the deficit reduction program, a freshman congressman from philadelphia cast a deciding vote and lost her seat the next time. the problem was that that deficit reduction program did not kick in until well down the road. you can see the same thing with this health care bill. even if they get something passed, taxes will kick in before people see a benefit from the program. it gives republicans and a project be over the next year. guest: although if the economy is doing better -- and that is the trajectory -- if people are feeling better about the economy by november 2010, then the democrats will not get slaughtered. host: here are phone calls for our two guests. this one is from california on the independent line. caller: this is an interesting exchange. i'm really nervous and

. >> you have charlie cook who is a well-known political an lilvet. >> he was with us a can you pleaseapproval rating now. president obama with 51% ratings. he is looking at a net loss of 6 to 12 seats looking ahead. we will have to see how that influences their behavior. >> did they talk about how much is based on health care situation or the failure to deal with the banks? >> that they are losing on the issues and could influence the kind of action we see when they come back for their next session. >>> wholefoods boycott. 20,000 people joined the boycott. why? a op-ed in "the washington post" saying the government should be more individual and wholefoods you think of their customer base as these very liberal, politically involved, probably supporting the health care overhaul from the government. the question is why would this ceos go out on such a limb and alienate his -- >> the owning way can i answer it. ten ways at it. i think matt hit it on the head with his "rolling stone" article. there are always terrible or weak ideas or watered down ideas in the plan and good ideas outside o

charlie cook the respected political observer wrote about that. loss that we have seen has give and lot of people pause. i do think that president obama's popularity is personal when was elected. he has not brought that much change although certainly the amount of deficit and debt that we have seen is historic. clearly the concern he has politically right now is on the economy and on healthcare. contrary to what julian said, i think it is an open question as to whether the stimulus had the type of effect they promised it would. only 10% has been spent so far. so important that even members of congress didn't even have time to read it. on healthcare, he has disapproval on healthcare. he has to make progress on healthcare and the economy over the next six months. >> i think can he more than take credit for what is happening in the economy. we were looking at negative 6% growth and now we are probably outside of the recession. we recovered from the recession and back into positive growth. most of the analysts on wall street say it is the obama econom

then in 2008 it was tried again and didn't get as much attention that we lked at 22 race that charlie cookdifference between a democratic comprehensive reform and in 20 of those races the democrat won, so for all of its power as a wedge issue that was going to really make it hard for democrats to win in tough races with swing voters been the determining factor, it just ha't happened. the other part of conventional wisdom particularly among republicans and ana as well is this notion that it is oka to? to this issue because latinos don't care that much and they don'teally count. that is then turned on its head t i think the most underreported political story from my field and from the work i do is tell bush and per have a brilliant strategy to win hispanic voters and in 2004 among spanish dominant hispanic voters-- i jot going to use the overall numbers which are pretty well-known but among spanish dominant voters bush kerry 52-48 so many of the new voters who turned out in 2004 voted for george bush. he advertised in spanish, i talked about sharing values. there wa a lifetime court chipper

guest: charlie cook is a veteran handicapper.sent out a warning signal for he sees democrats losing may be 10 or 20 seats. he said it could be as many as 26. what is troubling to some of these vulnerable democrats is that just like in 1993 when they did the deficit reduction program, a freshman congressman from philadelphia cast a deciding vote and lost her seat the next time. the problem was that that deficit reduction program did not kick in until well down the road. you can see the same thing with this health care bill. even if they get something passed, taxes will kick in before people see a benefit from the program. it gives republicans and a project be over the next year. guest: although if the economy is doing better -- and that is the trajectory -- if people are feeling better about the economy by november 2010, then the democrats will not get slaughtered. host: here are phone calls for our two guests. this one is from california on the independent line. caller: this is an interesting exchange. i'm really nervous and appa

online-only feature is a podcast with middle east analyst steven cook on today's meeting between presidents obama and mubarak. you can also watch charlierose's interview with the egyptian leader. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. i'm gwen ifill. thank you, and good night. major funding for the newshour with jim lehrer is provided by: intel. supporting math and science education for tomorrow's innovators. chevron. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

charlie dot crist at my florida.com. very complicated situation. dave and brian, what do you got cooking up in the green room.licated in life and death. thanks, gretchen. dave: storm brewing in the atlantic. it's topping the coast with 12-foot waves. evacuation where it is headed and when. brian: government run to co-opt. the administration is getting clever with their words. do they all mean the same thing and does it work? frank luntz with s. clever with his words and he will join us. dave: if you planning to fly soon. pack your bags, more nickel and dime charges on the way for your bags. brian: don't charge me for the head sets, that's all i ask. >> or the pillow. price. so instead of searching for "deals" out there... you can go back to school for less, right here. save money. live better. walmart. it's what doctors recommend most for headaches. for arthritis pain... in your hands... knees... and back. for little bodies with fevers.. and big bodies on high blood pressure medicine. tylenol works with your body... in a way other pain relievers don't... so you feel better... knowing doctors recommend tylenol

we know from when charlie gibson went up to have lunch with julia child, her favorite thing to serve, and we know this from sara moulton, and karen, who cookedher favorite thing to serve is her iscoise. >> what am i going to do with it? >> take it home until it's lunchtime. >> okay. i will. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> and "julie & julia" opens this friday. we have a special "julie & julia" page on the websit we >>> and we're back at 8:42. business is tough. reality tv, tougher. combine them both and it might be lethal. that's the idea behind "shark tank." it's a neweality show that gives one of the entrepreneurs the chance to get funding from the toughest panel possible. self-made millionaires, who have their own money on the line. "gma" entertainment contributor, ben lyons, who you know from e! entertainment and "at the movies" tested the waters. >> this has hardly gotten traction. >> reporter: they're sharks. and they smell blood. >> there's arrogance. and there's stupidity. i'm not quite sure which one you fall into. >> reporter: they're self-made millionaires, from infomercials, fashion, finance, real estates and technology. >> how mu

we know from when charlie gibson went up to have lunch with julia child, her favorite thing to serve, and we know this from sara moulton, and karen, who cooked, her favorite thing to serve is her iscoise. >> what am i going to do with it? >> take it home until it's lunchtime. >> okay. i will. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> and "julie & julia" opens this friday. we have a special "julie & julia" page on the website. and her favorites will be on explain. oh yea, well for 6 months, customers get all three: fios tv, internet and phone for just $79.99 a month. oh, all right, see... you're just moving your fingers, aren't you? i gotta cut my nails. (announcer) now get three amazing fios services for the price of two. tv, internet, and phone for only... for the first 6 months. it all adds up to one incredible deal from fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home, for razor sharp tv, america's top rated internet-- now even faster, and crystal clear phone service. all for just... for 6 months. it's like getting 3 services for the price of 2. that