marines practice their aim outside, the real battle for afghanistan may be won with words. >> chris lawrence is joining us now from our d.c. bureau. so chris, an awful lot of training in just a year. why such a fast pace? >> well, heidi, because it's essential to the new strategy in afghanistan, which is all about getting good intelligence, in building those relationships with the afghan people. if this works, every marine special ops unit will have a fluent fellow marine on their team. and that's something that could become a model for a lot more of the military. i've got to tell you, i tried just a few phrases, i cannot believe where they are in six weeks. these are really, really tough languages to learn. >> yeah. and the training is very, very intense, i imagine. all right, chris lawrence, keep trying, we appreciate it. our pentagon correspondent this morning. >>> let's talk now about saving money. got your attention, right? we'll show you three ways to cut your energy costs during the dog days of summer. ou need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this

. >> cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is monitoring this developing story. he's joining us on the phone now from washington. chris, what's the latest on what you're hearing, how the pentagon is reacting to this video? >> fredricka, they are certainly monitoring the situation and the actual abduction is something they had been aware of for some time. we had an e-mail earlier from folks in the region. take a look now. people are talking publicly about the matter. he basically says we strongly condemn exploitation of a prisoner, that goes against international codes of conduct, and they talk about some of the ways in which they're going to be going after the people responsible for abducting this soldier. in the past week or so, they have been using a combination of the carrot and the stick, dropping pamphlets over parts of afghanistan. one pamphlet show ago soldier kicking in a door, saying if you do not return this soldier, we will hunt you down. another pamphlet with a soldier surrounded by children with his armed outstretched saying one of our guests is missi

establishing exactly what they'll do and get those numbers in there. >> chris lawrence, nic robertsonyou for joining us in "the situation room." >>> michael jackson gets a shout-out from the fan in chief. >> i grew up on his music. still have all his stuff on my ipod. >> the president praises jackson's talent but also says the king of pop had a tragic life. you'll hear president obama explain what he means. >>> and for jackson, it was the place where dreams came true. neverland. we have new pictures of the place that was a source of joy and scandal. >>> just three days from now, thousands of fans will pay tribute to michael jackson in a way that captures his life as an entertainer. they'll pour into a huge arena, the staples center in los angeles, for a service that is likely to be a mix of performance, emotion, and spectacle. it should be quite a finale. but there is no end in sight to the likely legal wrangling over jackson's estate. a possible custody fight over his kids. and the unanswered questions about his sudden death. if anything symbolized the lavish and often bizarre life o

live now to our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence, in washington. chris, what's going on here?what's this fight all about? >> tony, it's sort of a showdown on high noon. they are voting right now. it all comes down to about $2 billion. one side wants to spend that money to build about seven more of these f-22s. they say this employees thousands of workers across the country. and in this economy, how can you even think about putting these people out of work? on the other side, you've got president obama and the pentagon saying, we don't want the money. we don't need any more of these jets, and we don't want to build them. we want to put the money somewhere else. there is a fierce fight going on, and it doesn't break down along normal lines. you've got republicans backing the president. and some democrats lining up to fight him. >> we put that many jobs at risk. not because the industry is failing. not because it's a bad piece of aircraft. but because the secretary of defense and the administration have decided this program isn't worthy of our support. so, explain to those 90,000

chris lawrence for us this morning. thanks so much. a quick break.ck, we'll be talking about new exclusive details obtained by cnn on the search for prescription drugs in michael jackson's home. ♪ fly like an eagle to the sea ♪ >> checking back the national news this morning. for three weeks, boston's airport is checking out the same system that nasa is using to protect the space shuttle from bird strikes. the birds appear as red dots on the radar screen. but buying the equipment for the airport would cost about $2 million. >>> more e-mails with the governor of the argentinian soul mate. e-mails released by south carolina's commerce department showing mark sanford wanted to keep a night free on a tax-payer funded business trip to his mistress' home country. sanford admitted to the affair last month but told the associated press he's trying to fall back in love with his wife. >>> and the fling with the former staffer was expensive for the parents. the parents gave the woman's family a gift close to $100,000. the parents found out about the affair from

. >> cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is monitoring this developing story from washington. he is on the phone. chris, what's the latest from the pentagon? >> reporter: frederica, right now, they are trying to do all they can to check out whatever information may have come out of this video, you know, trying to go back and forth, through the investigation to see exactly where it may have been made and if the date that was recorded, july 15th, if that is indeed true to give them some idea of where the private may be held now. this is a statement just recently. colonel julian says "we strongly condemn this public exploitation and hugh mill nation that occurred here it is a violation of the international law. and we will continue to use all resources available to us to return this soldier to safety." for weeks, that has been a real combination of the carrot and the stick. the u.s. military has been dropping pamphlets over afghanistan. one pamphlet shows a soldier kicking in a door saying, "if you do not return our fellow soldier, we will hunt you down." the other is a completely

. >> let's head to washington now and bring in our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence. any further comment from the pentagon since they confirmed private bergdahl's identity? >> yes, several. we have 30 minutes of video that the military officials will be able to take a look at trying to find any clues they possibly can about where he's being held. about who may be holding him. at one point in that video, he and his captors both mention that he had been taken to kandahar, while the military can't confirm that, it at least, does give them somewhat more to go on. the military released a statement recently saying "we strongly condemn in public exploitation and humuliation of a prisoner. it's a violation of the international law of war and we continue to use all resources available to us to return this soldier to safety. over the past few weeks, that has included a carrot and a stick approach. the u.s. military has been drops pamphlets all over afghanistan. one shows a soleier kicking down a door and basically saying, if you do not return this american soldier we'll hunt yo

chris lawrence from the pentagon. >>> two british airlines are banning passengers with swine flu, banning them from flying, trying to keep that virus from spreading. british airways and virgin atlantic are conducting medical screenings at airports to determine whether passengers have flu symptoms. britain has the highest number of swine flu deaths in europe, some 29. there's rising concern about the availability of swine flu vaccine worldwide. this comes at a time when the centers for disease control is considering recommending that americans receive not one, but two shots for the flu. kitty pilgrim reports. >> reporter: mt. sinai hospital in new york is bracing for the fall flu season. recent research with test animals at the university of wisconsin found the new h1n1 swine flu virus looks similar to the strain of flu that called the 1918 flu pandemic. one of the top scientists at mt. sinai is studying both the regular flu and swine flu and say both come from the strain of the influenza that killed so many people in 1918. >> common ancestor in 1918. and it appears that the swine virus is

chris lawrence, cnn, the pentagon. >>> today is the day british forces are set to fully withdraw from after six years there. in recent months their mission focused on training the iraqi army. at the peak of the war, about 46,000 british troops were stationed in iraq. britain was a key ally of the u.s. when president bush ordered the iraq invasion. 179 british soldiers have died in iraq since the war began. >>> a u.s. army colonel says american troops are doing more harm than good in saying in iraq. colonel timothy reis, who advises the iraqi military in baghdad, said the u.s. should declare victory and withdraw in a year. he wrote a memo last month saying the training of iraqi troops has reached a point of rapidly diminishing returns and is actually generating more opposition. right now u.s. combat troops are set to withdraw from iraq by this time next year. another contingent is staying until the end of 2011. >>> house members heading home in just a few hours. and they're likely to get an ear full from their constituents concerned about health care reform. congressional correspondent

. >> chris lawrence, pick that up for us. what is the pentagon saying of the potential he could be used as some sort of a bargaining chip. i don't think he goes through this survival of resistance and escape training many flyers do or special operations forces. are they worried about his state of mind there? are they worried about how he's surviving captivity? >> they are. there is that intense resistance in escape training that involves food and sleep depravation. that's only given to pilots, special ops, people at very high risk of being captured. private bergdahl would have gone through a basic version of that. instructed to follow captors' direction, not make enemy of his captors. he would have been told to always look for a chance to escape. it's the difference between being a prisoner of war and a prisoner at war. >> go ahead, mike. >> that's what i'm saying. right now at this juncture in the war, he is more valuable to the taliban alive than dead. if he was with al qaeda, he would be dead by now. >> one of the interest

our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence, has the details. chris?er: wolf, imagine learning one of the most difficult languages in the world from scratch and only having a year to do it. what kind of class could make a marine sergeant sweat? the one where we has one year to learn pashtu. what are some of the more difficult sounds to make? >> they're the hoff -- it comes down from the adam's apple almost and it's like you're coughing, so there's that one. and then the heh versus the huh and the -- so, it's not just learning to repronounce an "action" but like actually reconstruction. your throat and everything else to try and model the sounds that these people speak and their language. >> reporter: the sergeant is only six weeks into camp lejeune's crash course. it's brand new, the fastest language course in the military heading to the afghanistan/pakistan region. we're protecting their identities because they're part of a special marines operations. it's total immersion. seven hours a day in class then five hours of study and eventually being droppe

>> chris lawrence for us this morning.lac care. the top-of wi-the-line health c packages. 54 minutes after the hour. so what do you think? i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. ♪ pink cadillac >> welcome back to the most news in the morning. they call it cadillac care -- top of the line, gold-plated health care plans that cost nearly four times the national average. now there's a push to tax them to pay for health care reform. but at what cost? breanna kieler live on capitol hill to navigate for us. good morning, brianna. >> good morning, john. this is an idea produced by senator john kerry to break the log jam in the senate over how to pay for health care reform. the idea here is to tax insurance companies instead of american taxpayers. they're the best health insurance plans money can buy. in washington, they have a name -- >> supergold-plated cadillac plans. >> reporter: what makes them so great?

our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is adding it all up for us. s. >> reporter: 18 members of the committee came up for this bill, and it acted for one-third of all the earmarks contained in it. $600 billion won't buy you anymore f-22s. the house cut funding for the fighter jet that's never fired a shot in bajts battle. the pentagon didn't want that jet anyway, but it's still stuck with projects it did not ask for. defense secretary robert gates didn't want a new missile defense system or another engine for the joint strike fighter or nearly half a billion dollars for new presidential helicopters. come to think of it, even president obama didn't want those. they're all in the new defense spending bill. >> the department of defense has no history of being fruj ill. >> reporter: a nonpartisan watchdog group taxpayers for commonsense says the words pentagon and frug ill have never been connected before. >> we should listen to that. >> reporter: nearly $3 billion of the extra money goes to earmarks, which are projects demanded by individual congressmen

cnn's pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is working the story for us. hris, fascinating stuff going on. >> reporter: yeah. well, there have been nearly 20 drone strikes in pakistan alone already this year. and the air force says this unmanned aircraft program is only where manned aircraft were in the 1920s. a u.s. counterterrorism official says osama bin laden's son is probably dead. there's not enough evidence to be sure, but officials believe saad bin laden was killed in a missile strike by an unmanned predator drone. on monday, the air force outlined where it wants to go with unmanned aircraft systems. drone, able to switch from refueling mission to long-range assault or remote operator controlling several planes at once. >> -- to project power without projecting as much vulnerability. >> reporter: but the distance can be a weakness. bombings by drones have been blamed for civilian casualties in afghanistan and pakistan, and in those cultures, some see it as cowardly to fight remotely, possibly leading to a loss of respect and support for u.s. forces.

thanks very much, chris lawrence for that. >>> it's not just the troops. a smoker as well. he's been battling to kick the habit. how does that sit with the american public? our senior political analyst bill schneider is taking a closer look. bill? >> wolf, on the topic of smoking, president obama's position seems to be watch what i say, not what i do. recently president obama signed an anti-smoking bill into law. >> to the first time, it gives fda the ability to regulate, it's the most dangerous product out there. >> reporter: mr. obama has a personal interest in the subject. >> almost 90% of all smokers began at or before their 18th birthday. i know. i was one of these teenagers. >> reporter: when a reporter played gotcha with the president and asked him about his smoking habit, the president played gotcha right back. >> you just think it's need to ask me about my smoking as opposed to being relevant to my new law. >> reporter: does the fact that president obama smokes occasionally affect people's opinion of him? nope. does it say something about his char

let's go live to our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence, working the story for us. lots of words today on iran, chris. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. some senior u.s. officials are making it crystal clear they cannot and will not let this stalemate with iran go on much longer. president obama offered to have unconditional talks with iran to scope back its nuclear program, but that offer is about to expire. >> the president's offer is not open-ended. >> reporter: and iran is on the clock. defense secretary robert gates says the president anticipates a response within two months. >> if the engagement process is not successful, the united states is prepared to press for significant additional sanctions. >> reporter: gates says these would not be small, incremental restrictions. the u.s. would be asking other nations to back major sanctions on iran. >> first, we're going to do erg we can to ever prevent you from getting a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: but sunday, secretary of state hillary clinton sent her own message to iran's decisionmakers. >> but your pursuit is fut

. >> chris lawrence has been talking to the u.s. military about private bergdahl's capture. chris, what's the military saying about the tape? >> they are calling it a violation of international laws of war. they are saying that the taliban is using this video for propaganda purposes. you kind of made reference there, the military has known the identity of this young private for weeks now but have been keeping it private because this is what they didn't want to happen. one a concern for the soldier's safety and two because they didn't want to use it for propaganda purposes and now, of course the taliban has released this video. in another part there is a part where private bergdahl makes a plea somewhat to other families of soldiers and marines back home, saying you have the power to pressure the government to bring us home. there's a lot they'll look at to see whether or not in fact it's private bergdahl's own words or whether he was coerced to say certain things. >> would the u.s. mount some rescue mission if possible? >> first, they would have to locate him, when you talk a

chris lawrence is at the pentagon. how is the military reacting to this situation? what can they do? >> susan, they're calling it a violation of the international laws of war. they say that private bergdahl is now being used for propaganda purposes. they have known that he was missing. they've known his identity, the u.s. military has, for a few weeks now. they've been keeping it private so this sort of thing wouldn't happen. of course now that the taliban has put out the public video, they have released the information on private bergdahl. there is another point, also, susan, in that video where he seems to address other families of service members saying, you know, you who have loved ones over in this region, you have the power to pressure the government to bring us home where we belong. the u.s. military will be examining statements like that very closely because they know a lot of this could have been scripted for private bergdahl in trying to discern exactly what are his own words and what he was told to say by his captors. >> chris, when you hear this video an

lawrence? >> chris, the lapdpd kwswshere are 17,0,000icict holders on their way totohehe sples center totomoowow how are e eyey ming their titimas about what else is going to happen dodownwnwn how many othth p peoe who know they can't getet io o thstaples center are still goioingo o ow up? >> r reptete not only can they not t t t in the staples center, th can't even get into t t pememer. you've b beetotolenty of political conventions.s. it's going to be l le e th. if you don't have the wrist band and you don't have a t tict,t, you can't get within b blos.s. i will tell yoyoalalrey just to giveve y a aindication, behind me t the's's line of people. i got here e elyly ts morning, the crack of dawn.n. all daday ngnghere's been a line of peoplplwhwho nt to sign this billboard toto mhahaelackson. theyey'valalrey taken one down. there was s noororroom to sign. they've put anototheonone . there does seeeem b bthis just outpouring for michahaelacacon and people who want to be e in primity to him. how do thehema

let's go to chris lawrence, he's working the story for us. he president to change that policy, chris. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. at the same time that the highest ranking military officers urging a measured change to the policy, others are going full speed ahead. a congressman in combat veteran is launch ago tour to repeal don't ask don't tell. >> in iraq, my men did not care what race, color, creed or sexual orientation their fellow paratroopers were. >> reporter: representative murphy is targeting distincts where military families live trying to drum up popular support for the needed votes in congress. the tour is using straight soldiers and veterans the reach other troops and their families. >> i can speak to people who may not be open to speaking to days and listening to them. >> reporter: the original law was homosexuality is not compatible with military service. the 1993 compromise said the military won't ask recruits if they're day before being inducted and day troops won't tell. >> basic human behavior in terms of relationships b

let's go to our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence.we've seen a huge spike in these ied attacks. what's going on? >> reporter: in all the years american troops have been fighting in afghanistan they have never seen this many ied attacks. these are just some of the 25 people who died when a massive bomb exploded in kabul thursday. the blast sent shrapnel flying a mile away. explosives in afghanistan now have more sheer power and often target american troops. >> the biggest threat is really from ieds. the imp provised explosive devices which have become more and more sophisticated over time. >> reporter: and more common. look at the month of june in afghanistan. in 2005 there were 51 ied incidents. two years later that jumped to 234. then last month, it skyrocketed to 736. that's an increase of more than 1,000%. admiral mike mullen saw firsthand the damage inflicted by eeds as he watched the remains of american soldiers return home. four of these men died monday when a roadside bomb ripped their vehicle apart in northern afghanistan. hum

pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is live in washington to explain why it's so important for theseines to learn the native language there. hey, chris. >> hey, kiran, yeah, i don't know how they do it. but it is essential to the new u.s. strategy, which is not just about bombing the taliban, but about getting good intelligence and building those kind of relationships with the afghan people. >> reporter: what kind of class could make a marine sergeant sweat? the one where he has one year to learn poshtu. >> what are the more difficult sounds? >> it comes down from -- it's like you're coughing. there's that one, and then the hey versus the hu. >> reporter: it is the primary language in afghanistan and the class is six weeks in the crash course. >> it's not just learning to repronounce an a, but actually reconstruct your throat and everything else to try to model the sounds that these people speak in their language. >> reporter: it's brand new, the fastest language course in the military for troops heading to the afghanistan-pakistan region. we're protecting their identities because th

let's bring in our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence.nt, the defense secretary, john mccain, they all said it is time for this f-22 to go bye bye. >> didn't break down along party lines this time, wolf. you know, this all comes down to about $2 billion. the supporters of the f-22 said it's best spent building more of them. the detractors said, no way, we don't need this. that's what the administration was. again, the supporters saying, well, how can you even think about cutting a program like this in this economy, losing those jobs? it did not break down along party lines, you had republicans backing the president and democrats lining up to fight it. >> the secretary of the defense and administration decided this program isn't worthy of our support, so explain to those 90,000 people, once they lose their jobs, get laid off, and they will. >> would you ask yourselves why the f-22 has never flown over iraq or afghanistan? it's been in production for nearly five years. it's never flown over iraq or afghanistan. >> detractors say there have

let's get the latest from our cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence.y active operation that's ongoing on the ground. >> yes, suzanne. the marines have always been able to kick the taliban out of an area. they say this mission changes everything because they won't leave unless and let the taliban back in. >> reporter: in the middle of the night, nearly 4,000 marines launched a new offense wif helicopters and armored convoys. the target -- villages controlled by the taliban in the helmand river valley in the major growing area for opium. marines staged their fastest assault and the farthest assault they've gone. >> the aim of the air assault was to put marine corps forces back expeditionary-wise out behind enemy lines. we dropped into a few places that nobody had been. >> reporter: only small groups of taliban have been fighting back, but at least one marine has been killed, several injured, and still more taken out of the battle by heat exhaustion. they're only able to fight for hours at a time in this searing 110-degree heat. but the marines say they d

i'm lawrence vel in per chris matthews. as the cost argument rages on capitol hill, the plan to reform the nation's health care system has hit a new weapon to help defeat it, abortion. kansas republican todd tehart took to the floor of the house last night and said federal financing of abortions could give some women an incentive to end pregnancies. then he went one very ugly step further. >> our president grew up in similar circumstances. if that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother may have taken advantage of it? clarence thomas, supreme court justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible that we would be denied his great behind mind? >> you heard right. the congressman is suggesting that barack obama and clarence thomas' mothers might have chosen abortion if the procedure simply had been free. we'll have more on that racist logic plus the relentless problems of navigating the costs and financing of health care reform in just a moment. >>> and never mind the affair, now mark san

i'm lawrence o'donnell in for chris matthews. leading off tonight, the president pushes back in the health care debate. as the cost argument rages on capitol hill, conservative opponents of president obama's plan to reform the nag's health care system have hit upon a new weapon to help defeat it. abortion. kansas republican todd tea hart took to the floor of the house last night and said federal financing of abortions could give some women an incentive to end pregnancies. then he went one very ugly step further. >> our president grew up in similar circumstances. if that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother may have taken advantage of it? clarence thomas, supreme court justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible we'd have been denied his great mind? >> you heard right. the congressman is suggesting that barack obama and clarence thomas' mothers might have chosen abortion if the procedure simply had been free. we'll have more on that virulently racist logic. plus the relentlessly vex as

hanks for having me baback > up nenexome t tinings ouought you should k kno >>> and lawrence dodoell fills in forr chrison "hardbl." you'rere watchinmsnbc. only one aen's 50+ advantag has gingkooremory and d ncncenation. plus support for hrt hlth. that's a great call. one a day men's. i'm ptty much the same as i am in a plastic bottttle? except that youl l save like, $600 0 buckyear. but other anhat, we're prty mh the same. >>> ththers s a lot going o o dada here are a few things wewe thout you should knknw.w. >> just how b b was the impact of the mimichaejajason memoria? even computete on capitol hill were expectaffected. the house teech manager was forced to sendan inrnrnal e-mail sayayingeveryone'ss e-ma was due tohehe hot f fl of traffic. ev maxing out thenternet connections. by the way, you'rere wononderi h many peoplple watchedthis? according to elelse over 300 million peoplewawatcd the memorial, 19 differentnetworks, and that's in themiddle of t th dayy when many of us were at work. >>tamron, t tt't' a lolot. >> mddddleff the y.y. >> a lotot of peoplee w we not woinin >> apparareny.y. >>> all rig

i'm lawrence o'donnell sitting in for chris matthews in new york. ading off tonight, the cia and congress are at it again. house mocrats are now charging the cia with misleading members of congress for eight years about a classified progr beginning in 2001. now, is is confirmation of spker nancy pelosi's much-ridiculed charge couple months a that the cia misled her about terboarding or is this something else enrely? we have the chrman of the house telligence committee joining us in a momento tell us what he thinks the cia is really up to. >>> so, we have late-breaking news here at the politic sex scandal desk late tod we learned that the lawyer for john si, senator from nevada, says that the senator's parents gave neay $100,000 to sign'sistress and her family. political fallout for and the republicans coulbe disastrous and the "hardball" strategists are going to debate exacy how the republicans should be hale this one. >>> uswho is the real sonia somayor? is she the radical lefty that her critics want to portray or is she the sober, carefu moderate

m lawrence o'donne sitting in for chris matthews i new york leg off tonight, the a and congress are at it again. house democrats are now charging the cia with misleadingmembers ofoness for eght years about a classified program beginning in 2001. now,s this confirmation of spker nancypelosi's much-ridiculed charge a cole months ago that the c isled her out waterboarding or is this somethinglse enty? we have th chairman ofhe house intelgence committee joining us in a moment to tell us what he thinks the cia is really up to >>> also, we ve late-breaking newsere at the political sex andal desk. late today we learned that the lawyer for john ensi, senator from nevada, ss at the senator's parents gave nearly $100,000 to ensign's mistrs and herfamily. pocal fallout for this and the republicans could be disastrous andthe "hardball" strategists are goingto debate exactly how e reblicans should be ndle this one. >>pls, who is the real sonia sotomayor? is she the racal lefty tha her critics want to portray or is she e ser, reful, moderate admiredy her supporters? we'll talk to soone who has just

monday battleroyale and the confirmation hearing for judge soni sotomayor and then lawrence o'doell fills in for christhews on "hardball." you're watching nbc. after 50 i switched to o a cote multivitamin wititmore. only one d dayen's 50+ advante... has gingko f femory and coconcentrion. plus support for h heart heae. that's a great call. one a day men's. with annuities from fidety. turn your vings into income -- guaranteed, and get a retirementpaycheck" for life- guaranteed. call... to get started, and learn how to secure retirement income that won't go down -- guaranteed. call felity at... for detas about guaranteed iome for life, >>> there is lot going on toy, and here are thre things we thought you sh knowbo the president's visit to the vatican. >> david, the presint metith pope benedict xvi f his first audienceh the video. firs lady michelle obama wa also there and she was weang a mantla vaeil. women often wear that in the esence of the pope. it'sn old spanish custom. is is not theirste we've seen it. laura bush wore a similar one duringer visit to the vatican. and the former first lady jacquelin

m lawrence o'donnell sitting in for chris m matthewin new yoyo. leading off f tonigh what's next r sarah palal? it's been n three days sce the sasarah pan bombshell, that raling speech in which sh announceceshe s leleaving fice later thisis month. so what happens now? is palin quitttting because she decided yoyocan't run for presidenfrom juneau alaskaka? is she leavingng aadf some y yet to be aounced scandal? does she want to make t the g money ow? thespeeches, wring books,nd maybybeosting a tv show, orr wa she just s sk of it all? we have a great lineup of gsts on ts storytononight, including nbc's anandreamitchell, who is goininto be joining us li fromm downtown wwilla, texas -- wasilla, a alaska,and from texa republicicantrategist mark mckinnon who work with palin on her vice e esidenal campaigngn. >>> plus,, hundreds off thousan are expected t jam t s seets of los geles tomorrow for michael jackckson's memorial service. thateans crowdd control.. that mans copsps and that mean money, lots of money. how is the state that is so brokoke that iis n

lawrence lindsay was constantly putting out warnings. i consider myself a informed lehmanite. >> i will read this. the book is "a colossal failure," and coming up next, singer, chrisour, andy roddick has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". and i'm joni. we've been best friends since we were two. we've always been alike. we even both have osteoporosis. but we're active. especially when we vacation. so when i heard about reclast, the only once-a-year iv osteoporosis treatment, i called joni. my doctor said reclast helps restrengthen our bones to help make them resistant to fracture. and reclast is approved to help protect from fracture in more places: hip, spine, even other bones. (announcer) you should never take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium, kidney problems. or yo