that's the bipartisan spirit that senator chuck grassley brings to the table. mr. grassley also explained to "the post" today he may just be against the whole idea of paige health reform anyway. a decision he described as "a natural outcome of what people may be getting from the town hall meetings" adding "i've got to listen to my people." so senator grassley says he may just oppose major health reform altogether because of protests at town hall meetings. but, of course, have been organized and promoted by d.c. beltway funded advocacy groups like americans for prosperity and freedom works and conservatives for patients' rights but that's just corporate funded beltway pr campaigns swaying him. he opposes the public insurance option in health reform because of a study about it by the lewin group, the lewin group, lewin group. is your speedy sense tingling? >> are you aware that the lewin group is paid subsidiary of the big health care company? >> way to go, grandma. >> cpo earns 3.2 million a year which comes out to 10 $2,000 an hour. surely we can do better than tha

chuck grassley doesn't need to do it to get reelected next year. >> roger, we're going to have to leave it there. thank you. join us again tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball." right now it's teem for "the ed show." >>> i'm ed schultz, this is "the ed show. good evening americans, live from 30 rock in new york, it's "the ed show." what would jesus do while americans are vocal at town hall meetings, i find it very interesting that christian leaders are silent when it comes to the public option of health care in this country. i'm calling on christian leaders to step up and speak out, two passionate men of the cloth will join me. >>> dick cheney back in the news. he says the statue of limitations has expired on many of his white house secrets. it turns out there was some love lost when bush stopped listening to shooter. >>> sarah palin's doubling down on her death panel scare tactic, accusing the president of misleading you when it comes to end of life care. at the bottom of the hour, the congressman who proposed that very passage in the house bill joins me to separa

is senator chuck grassley expecting a rough crowd today? don't know if he's expecting a rough crowd, but he's preparing for it. one thing we know is that senator grassley is at the core of the debate now in the u.s. senate because he's the leading republican on the senate finance committee which has been struggling for weeks and even over this break to try to come up with something in the way of health care reform that would be acceptable in the u.s. senate where you need the magic 60 votes. so, certainly he's at the core of this andien withes, as you know, are pretty plugged in politically, even when it's a nonpresidential year. also the other thing about this is that iowa has a population that is holder than average in the u.s. and much of the criticism and much of the angst that we heard has come from senior citizens worried about medicare and worried about what is in there that might affect their life, their quality of life. a lot of reasons that i expect you will see some very pointed questions. while i've seen rowdy iowa crowds, mostl

. >> i think there is en another chuck grassley which is -- >> three chuck grassleys. >> exactly. know, it's some horrible science fiction movie. the way i think of chuck grassley is like whack a mole. he's inside the room with max baucus and the other members of the gang of six negotiating, i think in reasonably good faith, and then when he pops his head up. first he gets whacked by the republican leadership that really don't want him to come up with a sensible compromise. they see the opportunity to really go after the president on this. so he is getting whacked that way. and then when he pops up his head, he's getting whacked at the town hall meetings. and so while i think that when he says these things about how we need to cut back and the staff sends the message that no, he didn't really mean to be so negative, he is still really interested in getting to an outcome, it gets very, very difficult. >> where do you come down on the quote bottom line that is now being thrown out there. is it -- it's going to be a democratic package. forget the republicans. forget, all three of the

what could chuck grassley negotiate for you in the senate finance committee that you would be prepared to vote for in health care reform? >> first of all, give individuals the same tax credit that we give big business, big labor, and big government, the same tax benefits. that should be out there right away to allow people to independently do that. portability is a major issue we talk about. the pre-existing condition i think is something we can actually do, but let's remember, too, we need to look at tort reform. let's get the lawyers out of the operating room. you know -- >> would you be prepared to vote for a bill that extends health care insurance and subsidizes it for people who currently cannot afford it? >> only if they participate in a different type of program than what we see in a lot of places. i think what's exciting is you look at niki's state, here is a state that's very aggressive. here is a state that can dive into it -- >> are you in favor of the massachusetts plan? it was a republican plan. >> i think i'm in favor of massachusetts. i'm very in favor of states being ag

chuck grassley doesn't need to do it to get reelected next year. >> roger, we're going to have to leave it there. thank you. join us again tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball." "countdown with keith olbermann" starts now. >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? congratulations, chuck grassley, you just denied counseling to grievously ill people and their heartbroken families. if they want end of life care advice now, they will have to pay for it themselves. it is out of the bill. grassley now boasts he exploited the bipartisan negotiations just long enough to push the health care vote beyond the august recess to enable the chaotic perverted paranoid death panel talk to unfold. congratulations, senator. you just saved the insurance company millions. millions taken out pockets of the people of your state and the people of your age. palin the pathetic refutates her brief visit to reality. she says there were two death panels and that they were orwellian like she knows what that means. april 2008 governor sarah palin proclaimed health care decis

the latest one was chuck grassley's. he was in iowa. they are typically very polite and very cordial. brian: chuck grassley is the one who is probably the most vital and probably a point of concern for a lot of republicans. he is in the senate committee that is negotiating. a lot of people were concerned that maybe senator chuck grassley was getting duped into a dream was something. steve: here is senator chuck grassley yesterday in iowa. >> i am a conservative. we expected to vie for us. [applause] stand up. do not give an inch. i want to thank god for glen beck and sarah palin. stand up and fight [applause] we will vote you out. steve: we will blow you out -- we will vote you out. steve: batman personified a lot of frustration people across the country are feeling -- at man personified a lot of frustration people are across the country are feeling. yesterday, and one of the town hall meetings, somebody said read the bill. the guy snapped back, how do you know i have not? another question from a young man in maryland at senator cardin'

>> well, first of all, i don't think chuck grassley has the power to bury anything. the republicans are behaving, they're digging themselves deeper and deeper in a pole. their base is shrinking, and no one cares if you're under 35 and voted 63% for barack obama what the republicans have to say because they're becoming increasingly irrelevant. so chuck grassley's probably not going to have a vote that matters at the end of this, because the republicans aren't going to play. >> but are the end-of-life provisions going to be in this bill? >> no, they'll be in the bill. because this has nothing to do with death panels or any of that stuff, they're just making that up. and at the end of the day, you've got to have a decent bill and that's part of it. >> is this -- i don't even know if there's a word that characterizes the last week and a half of death panelitis and the paranoia that has managed to damage something that would benefit so many people who are there yelling about it, as if it were a gunshot threat. i don't know what word describes that, but is it necessary to

chuck grassley just blew my mind today. irresponsible, lying conservative, but he lied today. and we know it, lawrence. there are no death panels. we're not pulling the plug on grandma. when people stoop to that level, yes, there are five bill ps pi'm going to give tony some credit here. i think they have to step up and narrow the range of choices to accept in terms of how we pay for this and the issue of the public option. if he's not going to go for it -- i don't think he has to and i think he will -- but if he's not and he's going to cave on that, then say that and we'll have a different debate. but the fact that he hasn't is because he's working with republicans. he's talking with kruk grassley and trying to get a bipartisan bill. that seems crazy to me because the republicans are lying about everything he does. >> let me read to you what chuck grassley said today. he said, you have a right to be afraid. that's how he begins his answer. and his final line on it is, we should not have a government program that determines

maybe even chuck grassley. that's a grimmer. >> it is a glimmer. i was with chuck grassley in four town squares yesterday. the fringe didn't take over. they were, in fact, pointed but they were not hostile. people got up and said, we'll put you out if you support this but it wasn't in some crazy, yelling manner. i think by and large, we can assume that most of the town hall meetings are fine. people are upset. people are looking at major things. i think what's interesting now is that as we are now looking and i'm sure you have gotten this in your e-mails as well, at what i think is a shift in how the democrats are approaching this. it used to be, this is the fringe. these are crazy people, the t bag people, the birthers. most of the town hall meetings are just fine. i think what they have seen is they have moved more against it than for it. >> the white house, it is becoming more assertive. >> they are. david axlerod sent out a six-page e-mail refuting a lot of what they called myths about health care. >> and asking recipients to keep forwarding it

but chuck grassley is off the reservation with this death panel nonsense like jerry boyer. i think where we are is a place we're going to move forward. there will be a bill. i wouldn't bet against this if i were you, larry. what deroy said a moment ago about people coming out, americans coming out by the thousands. well, yeah, they are coming out by the thousands. we had 100 million more people who voted in the last election and they voted for this. >> no, they didn't. >> where are they? >> i didn't vote for this. i see far, far more opponents than supporters. >> jerry boyer -- >> the popularity down to 47%. >> this is a very important assertioith is making. do you believe 100 million people voted for a government takeover of health care insurance? >> health care reform. >> absolutely they did not. candidate obama pretended he was going to do something else other than this and now there's an enormous amount of buyer's remorse. >> laugh all you want but it's the truth. >> both candidates mccain and obama talked about health care reform. i'll grant you that. do you think max

you suggested yesterday when chuck grassley was already claiming that the end of life consultation reimbursements were gone -- >> chuck voted for that, you know, in 2003, chuck grassley voted for that in 2003. it exists today in the medicare bill. that exists today. part of that is because chuck grassley voted for it. that is a ridiculous controversy. >> and almost everybody who has voiced this came out on the other side of it at some point earlier in their careers which makes it more ridiculous. >> keith, over the weekend we'll hear about it or maybe later, we'll hear about taking peoples children and indoctrinating them. based on a program we actually use in vermont to reduce child abuse and foster care placements and keep families together. inc. these people are going over the edge. i really do. >> i hate to spring this on you but michelle bachman already said that. >> is that right? >> with americorp. >> i rest my case. >> your prediction has already come true 30 seconds after you made it. but one last point here about what kent conrad said. is he going to prove to be wrong on this? that -- w

senator chuck grassley and or a patch. do they have the power to stop what most do not want -- senator chuck grassley and senator hatch. and one person says he is for health care reform but there is to say that he is just not 41 president obama once. yes, he disagrees with the present -- he is just not for the one that president wants. ççwe have a report -- he disas with the president. and is rush leaving the air waves of conservative talk? what could do that? the temptation of a tv show? rush tell as you all of that. but first, they still one answer is -- rush tells you all of that. >> we are scared because we do not know what is really going on, what is really happening. >> the cadillac of health care. i also have tricare for life. i want universal health care for every person. >> aarp. for everyone. they are not supporting the government option. greta: voters want answers on health care. what they do not want is for the democrats to go it alone. now, according to one poll,ç 5% not approve a health-care plan if it is

that is because of comments they say that chuck grassley, the lead republican has made over the past couple of days suggesting he is not really in negotiations he is just in talks. and comments saying if he can't get more than four republicans it is going to be tough. that plus comments from another senate republican today, jon kyl, the number two republican ripping the idea of any kind of health care at all. all those taken together is a signal that they are probably going to have to do this with democrats alone. republicans are saying that democrats are using that as an excuse but maybe republicans are giving them one to push forward without them. >> ed henry, if this is true and seriously under consideration it seems a far cry from what we were hearing over the weekend from the white house, from kathleen sebelius, from the president himself, from robert gibbs talking about the public option being one of several things and the key thing is competition and choice. to go from that to suddenly moving forward ramming this thing through it seems like all day today they have been saying

there a single sentence you would vote for by chuck grassley? >> one thing i would support would be reducing income taxes and then making -- >> that's not on the table -- >> let me finish my point. >> there's not a single thing that any republicans has suggested you would vote for. >> and then tax as ordinary income. only if you lower income tax. you have to lower income taxes to keep it revenue-neutral. >> peter schif is in favor of raising taxes on connecticut citizens that have private health insurance? >> no, remember, i want to lower taxes. >> you want to lower the income tax, but raise taxes on health care benefits? >> no, so there's no net increase. >> how much do you want to raise them to? >> i want to raise them enough to offset the reduction in income taxes. i want people who now get health care insurance from their employers to get money, wages that are not taxed, and they can make a decision if they want to buy health care or something else, or if they want to buy a major medical. >> you and chuck grassley called, he's the leading re

how do you read tht. >> there are t chuck grassleys. one witho premiers washingtonbut then there the one without went home. and i gher some of the town hl meetings are happing in iowa, and iowa are good about ts ing, are triple the se f normal. he goes home and listens and ts threatened we're going to defea new 2010. he's up in th coming election. and he doesn't want toet defeed. and that'seen, i think, the overall fect of this august. whichs a lot ofpeople and parts of the couny, the health-care rorm is recently po popular but in the midwest in particular and some areas the south nd places like florida, it's que unpopular. so hhas to face the fct o i really want toose my seat overhis. and so i st think it's in some sense a democratic process that is creating the other chuck grsley. >> i think theris en another cck grassley which is -- >> three chuckrassleys. >> exactly. you know, it' some horrible ience fiction movie. the way i think of chuck grassley is li whack a mole. he's inside the room with max baucus and the other members of the

joining us now from cedar falls, iowa, senator chuck grassley, republican. and here in the studio, senator kent conrad. gentlemen, welcome to you both. i want to start with the most controversial part of this thing. house speaker pelosi said this week that she simply cannot pass a health care reform bill in the house unless it includes the so-called public option -- that is, the government-run insurance program like medicare. senator grassley, you have said -- you're on the record as saying you can't support a bill that includes that public option. senator conrad, you have said that a bill with that option in it cannot pass the senate. so i will just start with you, senator grassley, same question to both of you, so what should the president do now? >> well, of course the whole thing could be dropped, because i think when you have as one of your main principles you want to make health insurance available to everybody that doesn't have it, and you want to make it affordable and accessible, then you've got everybody covered, then you wonder why you need any ne

chuck grassley of iowa, mike enzy of wyoming, olympia snowe of maine. >> chuck grassley among the goodare some feel because of the house bill there's counseling for end of life. and from that standpoint, you have every right to fear. you have counseling at the end of life, you ought to have counseling 20 years before you die. we should not have a government program that determines you're going to pull the plug on grandma. >> bob shrum, the president's ally said to the seniors, he was reading it like i am, you have every right to fear it. we shouldn't have the government program that pulls the plug on granny. if that's barack obama's friends in the republican party, i'd hate to see his enemies. >> i think to some extent you're right about that. the fact is the president's reached out, he's tried to do this in a bipartisan way. that element of the bill actually came from a republican senator. it makes a lot of sense. a lot of us i think have living wills and have set out conditions under which we want treatment and don't want treatment. it's been used as a scare tactic. but look, in the

iowa, senator chuck grassley held his own townhall meeting earlier this week where he was asked just how many people don't have health insurance in the country. here is the senator in winterset, iowa. >> get a couple of comments. number one, the 47 million figure that you hear bandied about, from bureau of the census, my understanding is part of the 47 million figure are 12.4 million illegals as part of that. if you take the 18 to 35-year-old age group, there are 25 million in that group that don't really want insurance, especially if they have to pay for it. i remember when i was there, it has been a long time. i remember i didn't have insurance either. i watched what i was doing. if you take the numbers out of those that don't want it, according to the heritage found dags you get down to about 8 million. that's really the problem. and couldn't we go down to that number and try to find a solution for that. second question, before you get to that, senator. second one. second one. i have got. second one i have got. the cost question namely. i don't know what cbo used. i do know i have

several republicans, not just liberal, chuck grassley of iowa, that's interesting to me. i would think ultimately a real struggle for those republicans when all is said and done to really cooperate with the president on this legislation. i hate to say the republicans have to blunt his popularity, defeating his health care proposal. >> they have cap and trade, another one of his big proposals that's going to come back to the senate next month. they have the financial reform plan. on all three of them obama has struggled to make progress. i think you're right. there's also the point on this is a case where republicans have principles they can stand behind, too. they don't like the direction these health plans are going in. but then there are moderates in potential swing states that want to show -- >> i don't know they have an incentive to move fast on this. the sense i'm getting, maybe everyone is going to try to slow this process down and do things in smaller bits and pieces if they can't get a giant package through. >> mike, how much concern is there about what jon is rai

iowa senator chuck grassley says the provision is now off the table because it could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly. the provision is still though in the three house versions we should point out. >>> and the president is headed to big sky country right now holding a town hall meeting this afternoon on health care reform outside bozeman, montana. he's expected to talk about a part of the plan that's designed to prevent insurance companies from dropping or limiting coverage for people with serious illnesses. >>> many of you have been asking for more information really, so many questions about the health care reform. there is one central place where you can find answers now. go to cnn.com/healthcare. there you will find coverage of the town halls including how to find one near you. you can upload your town hall i report and there's also information on the leading overhaul plans, the sticking points, the key players working to shape health care legislation. i know a lot of it is very confusing and seems con volume late -- con v. >>> an armed man got a beat down. the suspect

chuck grassley yesterday, he is one of the bipartisan negotiators.here had been -- that's not going to go forward in the senate bill. in the house bill, there had been a provision that toward the end of a person's life, if it looks as if they are in dire situation, there could be in the final year of their life, there could be a consultation with doctor and family members regarding hospice or living wills, because it is so broad and it can be interpreted different ways, there is so much gray area there, apparently the senate is saying not worth of of the trouble, it's out thereof. they are pulling the plug on it. brian: senator grassley ohio mentioned last hour had lunch with the president said he wants bipartisan solution to the health care challenges. he has a different tone now he went back to iowa. here is his quote. maybe others can defend a bill like speak speaker pelosi's bill that leaves major issues open to interpretation meaning about this end of life panel but i can't. so now he is getting into it. and if you lose chuck grassley you have g

senator chuck grassley's war of words with president obama. senator grassley joining us live.te bill. >>> meanwhile, tropical triple threat. three storms brewing up trouble in the atlantic. one of them now a hurricane. we'll look at the state of play in stormland as michael vick says he cried so many nights over the dogfighting operation that toppled his career. the prison crying gave him the redemption he needs to step back on the gridiron and be celebrated once again? we shall see. >>> it's 10:00 a.m. pull up a chair, join the "morning meeting." >>> well, is the public option no longer an option when it comes to the president's health care reform bill? nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie joins us live with the latest. what's going on, savannah? >> reporter: a lot of people are looking carefully at the words of not only the president but also health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius over the weekend where it seems they moved a little further away from the public option. let's play what kathleen sebelius said on one of the sunday shows yesterday. >

first of all, i think he is stating the obvious point which is that mike enzi and chuck grassley and olympia snowe is sort of another story, mike enzi and chuck grassley are not going to vote for this bill. i'd be willing to bet a lot of money on that final outcome. there is no way. mike enzi is a very, very conservative republican representing a conservative state. there's no reason for him to vote for a big, controversial health care reform propounded by a democratic president. so the idea politically i think is this notion of quote-unquote cover. that you're going to sort of somehow create some risk hedging politically by getting the consent of republicans and that somehow is going to ensure everyone from partisan attacks come the mid terms. i think it's a crazy notion because they'll run against this bill no matter what. >> is that idea of cover part of this, that democrats are getting pummeled figuratively or literally by mobs sent on the wings of the industry status quo but the president is expressing concern about the progressive democrats putting legitimate pressure on the re

chuck grassley would never have supported a public option.ucus needed to go in this direction. one thing i'd gently press you on is i think they're putting a lot of this on the president. >> i am. >> the election involves congress, right? he's sort of as clinton was before him and all the presidents who have tried to help reform have been really subject to the whims of the committee chairmen here. i don't think anybody wanted max baucus to retreat in the gang of six but it happened. we're seeing a diminishment of the cut stiff on this. this really is in the hands of congress now. i think everybody's sort of outside of the process. no matter how much power they seemed to have a couple of months ago, has been a bit sidelined by max baucus' ability to sort of do what he wants. >> i have to throw this in. when lyndon johnson was president, he wanted medicare, dammit, he went across to the hill and he made sure that he got what he wanted and he twisted some arms. i'm not saying that's the only way it can get done. and somehow, president bush, he f

in the meantime, chuck grassley is saying there is a death panel. that is totally false!rmation is coming from the conservative movement! >> look. there is a very complex debate on the issues of, like, comparative effectiveness and end of life counseling. a very complex debate there. and i think it would be great if the american public could have a debate on that but that will not get a lot of tv coverage. >> kevin, i apologize. we have to leave it there and go to the eunice kennedy shriver funeral right now. we see maria shriver, her daughter, speaking. let's listen in. you see vice president joe biden there on the front row. >> to a pioneer, to a trailblazer to a civil rights advocate of legendary proportions to a force of human nature who more than held her own in a family of highly competitive, high achieving men. she was, indeed, a transformative figure, but to her five children, mark, bobby, timmy, and anthony, to all of us, she was simply mummy. mummy was our hero. she was scary, hard and not afraid to show it. she was tough, but also compassionate. driven, but als

chuck grassley saying every right to fear death panels. a congressman from georgia saying this is a steam roller of socialism. john boehner last month saying government-encouraged euthenasia included in the health care plan. we heard that echoed from newt gingrich as well. >>> pat buchanan, the splilness in this debate just escalating, now you have nadler talking about fascism. >> let me tell you, i just did a column and i have polls out. this is insanity on liberal democrats. 64% of moderates say the protesters are behaving appropriately and 40% of democrats say that. and by almost two to one, people who know about the protesters identify with them, not against them. joe, there's a story today about a congressman in the neighboring district, congressman boyd. he held three town hall meetings. he said obviously they are really in their face. he said they are wonderful meetings. these are not organized by k street or rnc. if you get three town hall meetings he held. he's going to hold a number of others. this is middle america coming out re

he will not vote for a bill chuck grassley of aye also holding town hall meetings. he's deeply involved in rk reform bargaining. >>> president obama is fighting the health care reform scare tactics headon. he accused special interests of using their influence to scare an mislead people. he plans to hold more town hall meetings. one in montana. another in colorado. the white house launch ad website to counter critics. kansas congressman called police after being threatened twice in the last ten days. and because of all this, he's not holding a town hall meeting on health care. instead sending surveys the to con fich wents. >>> the fbi is still investigating the graffiti outside the office of david scott. the democratic lawmaker found a swastika spray painted on the outside of his suburban atlanta office yesterday. he was recently involved in a heated debate over health care and believes the two are connected. he says he's working to find common ground for people on both sides of this debate. >> i'm in the middle of this. being part of the glue that brings this togeth

you are seeing that passion here now in iowa. >> if it's okay with you, i'll get started. >> chuck grassleyl meeting this year. and what a year. >> we're here at a time when i sense people are scared for our country. >> stimulus plan, bailouts, government spending, health care, grassley gets two, sometimes three times the crowds he's had in previous years, many people, so many hands in the air. >> where do my children go to get their insurance if they don't want government health care? >> how are you going to change the insurance so that the small businesses can compete? >> reporter: so many cross currents. >> i need to know what are you doing to the insurance companies that are putting everything in their pocket and laughing at everybody else. >> simple math even for this southern iowa red neck shows -- we can do -- we can cover the people who want coverage with a private policy cheaper, one-third, than what the government is proposing. >> a trickery one for the senator. he's ranking the government on the finance committee and the smaller group, republicans and democrats, trying to come to

one woman asked chuck grassley to speak out against what she called out right lies in the bills in congress. >> i see signs that say kennedy lives, a grandmother dies. i see signs with obama in white face as the joker. i see signs comparing him to a marxist. >> the bills are online and every american can read them. shepard: senator grassley is one of three republicans negotiating to come up with a bill that might get at least some gop support. carl cameron is live in iowa tonight. grassley is a conservative but some are angry with him. >> that's correct. there has been a number of organizations that have been coming out protesting the notion of health care reform. some of them have been focusing on charles grassley. some the organized the t parties came here today and some said to go ahead and work with democrats and we will vote you out of office. here is an example. >> i am on conservative and what we expect is for you to fight for us, we don't want this nation to be socialist. fight for us. don't give an inch. if you vote with this bill, we will vote you out. >> you know that elected pol

chuck grassley said "specter got it all wrong that i never used words death boards.beral press never accused me of that. so change your last tweet, arlen." white house spokesman robert gibbs this week said misinformation like this has put the administration on defense. >> one of the reasons we've pushed back is because of those misconceptions. have some of those misconceptions contributed to the poll numbers? i don't doubt that. >> reporter: a "usa today"/gallup poll reported that 49% of americans disapprove of obama's handling of health care policy while 43% approve. for now the president is doing his best to separate fact from fiction with fighting words. >> every time we are in sight of health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they've got. we can't let them do it again. not this time. >> reporter: to that end the president is holding yet another health care town hall meeting, this one tonight in grand junction, colorado and the president is sneaking out for a little fun on this trip, kate. he'll take a break from health care and ta

we talk with senator chuck grassley after the break. people think that honda is always the most fuel efficient choice. well, this chevy cobalt xfe has better highway mileage than a comparable honda civic. this chevy traverse has better mileage than honda pilot. the all-new chevy equinox has better mileage than honda cr-v. and chevy malibu has better mileage than accord. however, honda does make something that we just can't compete with. it's self-propelled. there's never been more reasons to look at chevy. test test upgrade cycle. on the legal test test test test test test looking forward to this sort of capital -- over a lifetime being released and it sounds like the latest i don't think vesting ends up -- a mij shift in how consumers address their cell phone. so it's true, the iphone is a success, but i think you'll see blowout numbers over the next six months. of. >> so would you buy the stock right here? >> absolutely. this is a major shift in terms of consumer buying trends, and i think that you're getting entire countries that are

the way these legislative efforts work they sit out there to get battered by chuck grassley. it becomes harder for them to take a direct route to passage. one of the weird ironies of the baucus process, if people don't like what's coming out of there and they don't think they will like what's coming out of there, the longer they wait there's more possibility the democrats will have no choice other than to accept it. >> explain. >> a month ago if he can came out with a little less liberal than the house bill, came out republicans didn't like it. health care reform still popular, didn't have town halls blowing up all over the country. you probably could not not just passed it, not have been easy but a much easier path to passage. now baucus hasn't come up with anything. in the intervening months, deadline is september 159, intervening month, things more difficult. poll numbers dropped, a lot more criticisms, organizers more effective, freedom halls. one thing about baucus process, whether or not intention it has made itself more relevant by waiting for it to become unpopular. >

in a first on cnbc jane wells talked to a powerful senator from iowa, chuck grassley. she joins us from iowa with more on that. jane? >> well, we talked to senator grassley who is at the center of the health care tornado, if you will. he says that it did appear over the weekend that the administration was backing off from the public option plan, but yesterday he said he thinks there was some back-pedalling there. here is what he had to say about why he thinks there will be no bill if it includes a public option plan. listen. >> what's wrong with a public option is the think tank says 120 million people are going to opt out. 120 million people opt out, then 15 million people with private health insurance, pretty soon you don't have any private health insurance, and pretty soon you have what they have in other countries, where the government runs everything. and then you have -- and americans will not stand for rationing. when they want an mri, they want it tomorrow. they don't want it in three months like you have to wait for it in some countries. >> so there you can se

chuck grassley, in some bill, includes everything they want. it really showed that no matter how much negotiating, it may not end up producing what they want and so you know, they've kind of felt like a turnaround yesterday. even tonight with this conference call, mike inze's another one we have to watch. before the august recess, he was giving democrats the most heartburn in terms of his public statements. >> interesting. we thank you both. monica again, in a way, you're watching a slow motion divorce, but only the white house knows when you pull the plug and make that divorce. >> moving on, massachusetts senator ted kennedy urging state leader to change a law to guarantee that his senate seat would be filled immediately if it becomes necessary for him to give it up. kennedy's aides say his letter to state leaders does not mean there's been any change in his battle with brain cancer, but a vacant seat would deny democrats a crucial vote. he writes -- ann thompson joins us live from hyannis, massachusetts. there's been a response from the massa

director of the office of the white house on reform and we're -- for the president to expect chuck grassleyax baucus and perhaps get a bipartisan deal that could pass the senate. looking more and more likely that this is going to be a democrats-only enterprise. she indicated the white house may not be backing off of these end of life counseling provisions that some of the opponents have been attacking on talk radio and some of these town hall meetings. it's also possible that an all-democratic bill could move more to the left on issues like the public option, which is something very important to members of the democratic caucus in the house and most members of the democratic caucus in the senate, even though it's difficult for some moderates to vote for. you see the president moving down the line with his family, enjoying the great outdoors, heading toward his motorcade and heading into that town hall in a few minutes that we'll be watching live on msnbc. that's it for this hour. i'm john harwood. david schuster and tamron hall pick things up next and i'll join me as they cover the presiden

it will not pass if it does not have the public option, so i think the key now is -- chuck grassley, if he signed on to something to give enough otheco, they may get something to sign, a half a loaf, but the whole thing they just fall apart at the scenes. it is all right, tom, thanks. >> you bet -- fall apart at the seams. neil: a health-care specialist joins us. she knows of what she speaks. you just do not like what either of these guys might be trying to sell. >> no. neil: why? >> because the people go online and look at this bill, they will be sick. it caters to non-citizens. you'll have to pay $2,500 if you do not want this plan. also, it does not benefit senior citizens. it does not benefit young people. i heard a doctor said today that young people are going to have to wake up, because young people are going to have to pay $4,000. nothing is for free. neil: you hear that if we do not do something, it will get worse, and you just heard bill clinton say that in 1993, so what do you make of that argument, and are we being scared into doing something, or do you think there is legi

jane wells got insight from chuck grassley. she really the chief voice on the republican side. what can he you? >> he told me we may have a ways to go. we are here in this peaceful and diplomatic backdrop. this is where we found him. he invites every embassy to visit iowa and trade opportunities. no health care visits yet, but it was a topic among diplomats and talking to the senator about reading in the "washington post." i asked the senator what it would take for him to approve a deal. >> if there is no public option, if there no panels, are you on board? >> first of all, this death panel thing is just a diversion from the fact that the house bill does not -- it increases the deficit and raises taxes horrendously and doesn't do anything to cut down on inflation and health care and the president brings up to thing about advising people on the situations. that's a diversion that i'm not going to let them get away with. i will talk about what's wrong and serious things that are wrong about this house bill and it doesn't cut down on health care inflation. it increases the deficit

from the white house how they were going to go it alone and they were still at the table with chuck grassleytor from iowa. it's still a bumpy road for them. mid course corrections are often necessary, i think, if he decided earlier in the year that he was going to speak to the ensured and to comfort the middle class with this rhetorical strategy, he should have done that from day one. he pivoted, of course, from covering the uninsured to trying to sell this to the insured. but the problem is, the more you change messages, the more diluted they become and the more scattered it is. the democrats dug in on a public option. then house majority leader steny highwayer s hoyer saying it's not needed. they squaunterred so much of august. i don't know how they get it back. >> bill press, what's the signal to you that they were talking about reconciliation and tom admits that might be the only way to go. >> first i've got to say, ed, if fdr paid attention to the polls there wouldn't be any social security. and if lyndon johnson paid attention to the polls we wouldn't have medicare. so i hope this is n