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effective enough to be licensed, experts say it may lead to promising new research. >> let's bring in chuck toddwe haven't talked about yet. big news really. we're getting reports that gordon brown, the british prime minister, tried desperately to get a meeting with barack obama, and he stiff-armed him on five different occasions. obviously, going back to the libyan terrorist. >> i guess it's no longer just a very special relationship. it's just a special relationship. i think it's always special. at this point it's special they're not meeting. >> five separate snubs. >> a lot of times you see it gets played down. i think even yesterday the white house is saying, oh, we're going to meet with prime minister brown in pittsburgh, and they chair something, i think, together here at the u.n. so they've spent a lot of time with each other. clearly, i think brown wanted to show that america had forgiven him, and i think we were not going to help him out because frankly the politics of great britain suggests gordon brown's days are numbered either as head of the labor party or prime minister himself. >>

>> thank you jamie rubin and chuck todd. coming up, the democrats could be up for a rough 2010 campaign season. the fund-raising is dropping while the republicans are raking in the bucks. can the. we're a talking to strategists we're a talking to strategists on both sides of the fence. even tone, brighten, smooth, hydrate, and lock-in moisture, all in one clever little package of total effects. okay. right. these healthy choice fresh mixer thingys, they taste fresh... say it again! say it like, "mmmm, these healthy choice fresh mixers taste freshh!!" they taste fresh... wait. what are you doing? got it. you're secretly taping me? you know, it wasn't a secret to us, we knew. yes, but it was a secret to me. of course, otherwise i would be sitting like this and completely block his shot. so that's why i was like... didn't you notice this was weird? no. made fresh from your desk, cook it fresh, strain it fresh, mix it fresh. healthy choice fresh mixers, look for it in the soup or pasta aisle. why is dick butkus here? i hired him

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happy to help. >> the chuck todd psa. they're doing briefings within all of nbc universal with chuck todd teaching everyone to sneeze. thanks as always. you're great. >> thanks. >>> now the bigger picture, michelle obama's role as first lady. her speech on health care was the most high profile push for her husband's legislative priorities. in a couple weeks from now, she will also be playing a big role in chicago's bid for the 2016 summer olympics. she'll be traveling to copen has gone enfor the olympic committee instead of president obama. carl anthony is an historian with the national first lady's library. he joins us on the phone. just on that note regarding her speech for the summer olympics, i believe it was valerie jarrett saying her speech, there won't be a dry eye in the house. it sounds like she has something very special planned here. >> well, i think chicago means a lot to her. it is really, really, not only the roots of her parents and grandparents living there, and she of course returns to it after graduating

chuck todd, chuck, very simple question. why pittsburgh for this gathering? >> it's about domestic policy in some ways. the obama white house wants to highlight industrial cities showing a turn around. it's about showing off economic policy of what's going on here. pittsburgh is a city they want to showcase. person pennsylvania, parts of industrial ohio and industrial indiana, big for the president in 2010 and 2012. being seen. they love the fact the president is dominating the local coverage and the local media. >> chuck todd, savannah guthrie, thanks to you both. in political news, the u.s. senate is back to 100 members. massachusetts has a new interim senator. the seat vacated by ted kennedy has been filled by paul kirk, the former head of the democratic party is the executor of ted kennedy's will. he was appointed by the massachusetts governor today, only to serve until a special election can be held. kirk said he will not run for the seat and will only hold on to it for the interim basis. he will hold the 60 vote majority for the democrats. >>> a disturb

in his news conference later today, chuck todd joins us from pittsburgh where he made the remarks. hey, chuck. >> reporter: ann, the president was asked repeatedly today, okay, what's next? you revealed the evidence you believe iran is trying to make a nuclear weapon program. what next? he pointed to october 1 and the talks andrea mitchell pointed out. also, seemed to duck the idea of exactly how long they would give the iranians. talking to officials behind the scenes, they believe that iran has to immediately allow for the international atomic agency to inspect. two, this may be about trying to get china on board. one of the things that makes this administration hopeful is this time they mean it when it comes to sanctions on iran is russia is on board. everything about next week may be making the final case to china to get them to finally come aboard. the fact they didn't get a statement has some officials concerned. >> we learned five more americans died in afghanistan. does the president have anything to say about whether he would send more troops to afghanistan. >> reporter: he

let's start with chuck todd. what is the mood within the white house over the latest development with regard to iran? they have iraq to worry about. they have afghanistan choices have been made coming up very shortly. and now this revelation. >> well, it is a little frenetic. there is no doubt this is the issue that has dominated the week and we in the press corps didn't feigned out about it until 4:00 this morning when this thing went public in the new york times. so we're now learning what the weak was really like for this white house. behind the scenes with the russians, behind the scenes with the chinese. it was all about letting them know what was going on with iran in this nuclear facility. they briefed the russians, they briefed the chinese, all in an attempt to get everybody on the same page because they knew this thing, the iranians had found out that we had known their secret. and so became a race to sort of get each side, to get this side of the story out, to get their case together in front of the int

both of our white house correspondents, chuck todd and savannah guthrie and kelly o'donnell. chuck, no one believed the administration would live up to the hype of the campaign, but also, no one believed we would be here at this point tonight. they would get rolled over an issue, a false issue like death panels, the resistance would be this high. a lot of things happened on the way here. what is the state of the obama presidency heading into the evening? >> reporter: you can't say this speech is make or break for the presidency. it's clearly make or break to get health care reform done. how did he get here? by doing everything they thought the clinton's did incorrectly when they tried to reform health care in the '90s. the president himself, in an interview today, admitted he probably let too much ambiguity get out there and probably let congress do too much of the talking. the goal of tonight's speech is give clarity, get rid of larity ambiguity. one is joe and jane public, those registered ind pendents and get democrats to come together and stop bickers. three, i'm going to

chuck todd's snowe meter. tell us what to look for in olympia snowe's reactions tonight. >> reporter: we talk about the public option. olympia snowe is the first one -- she takes credit for the idea of the trigger. to explain the trigger, that's this idea where basically they would pass a health care reform bill and they would be open to the threat, basically, government would be telling the private insurance companies we are leaving the option open we will institute a government-run insurance program if you do not meet these specific goals, if you do not meet this number of -- you know, you don't do what these reforms are supposed to make you do then we'll start this public option. she's the one that came up with this idea. she talked about it earlier on our air here on msnbc that this is the way that she sees as a potential to bridge the divide. you have ben nelson, a conservative democratic senator from nebraska who has expressed openness to the trigger if, in his words, it's a real trigger. so, you know, t

>> yes. >> what we can't say on tv. >> i think i can. >> chuck todd, wnbc radio between 10:00 and noon abc? >> abc radio network. >> thanks, chuck. up next, as the president hones his image on the world stage, a look back at how the modern u.s. foreign policy was shaped with author nicholas thompson. on monday, october 5th, i'm going to be a part of something really special happening in new york. the "more" magazine reinvention convention. >> willie, we can reinvent ourselves. >> "morning joe" will have an exclusive sitdown with laura bush. we'll have much more details to come. tune in right here to "morning joe" for that. that's on monday. that will be fun. ♪ bicycle, what are we waiting for? the flowers are blooming. the air is sweet. and zyrtec® starts... relieving my allergies... 2 hours faster than claritin®. my worst symptoms feel better, indoors and outdoors. with zyrtec®, the fastest... 24-hour allergy medicine, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. zyrtec® works fast, so i can love the air™. you can serve a nutritious breakfast from walmart for just over $1 a perso

kelly o'donnell on the hill and we start off with the chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. chuck, good evening. >> reporte good evening. last night was the easy part for the president and his attempt to regain control of the health care debate. today, began the hard part, turning words into action. the president delivered a stripped down version of his pitch for health care to a gathering of nurses, arguing his plan would improveealth care for those with health insurance and cut costs for everyone who doesn't. >> as folks go about their every day lives, one thing they won't have to worry about as much is health care. >> reporter: as the president acknowledged to knowing laughter -- >> there remains significant details to be ironed out. i believe -- >> reporter: the biggest detail how to construct a government n program, the so-call ed public option that appeased the democrats but doesn't chase them off. >> it would be one option among any. no one is forced to choose i >> reporter: the televised speech has an effect. they indicated flexibility on the issue, a first for both.

watch what happened when nbc news white house correspondent chuck todd sneezed -- sneezed during a white house briefing today and didn't follow the recommended protocol. >> bless you. >> a possible impediment. >> i mean, what is that about? geez. >> marring kwet sneezed a few minutes ago very correctly in the shareef. >> i don't know. who's got some purell? give that to mr. todd right away. a little hand sanitizer. good. we'll have elmo give chuck a special greasing. get elmo over. he knows how to sneeze. >> you may remember the muppet character featured in a public service video on how to sneeze without spreading germs. you don't go like this. you go like this. >>> jimmy carter raising eyebrows in recent days by accusing president obama's critics of racism. now the former president is diving into a very different controversy, pitting rapper kanye west against country music sweetheart taylor swift. listen to the question and carter's punch line. >> what do you think of kanye west calling out taylor swift at the vma? >> all right. >> do you agree with president obama's response to his act

chuck todd, always a pleasure.hanks. >>> one final note, the wealthy suburb of bedford, new york, north of here, the home of richard gere, martha stewart and tomorrow, kadafi of libya. donald trump's organization says it's looking into the reports that he's put down stakes at the trump's estate for the u.n. visit. he's trying to pitch his tent, including the satellite dishes on the estate that's known as seven springs. late today, a local newspaper said the town issue add stop work order because nobody got a permit for the tent. now, to the alleged terrorist plot we have been reporting on for days, apparently directed at targets here in new york city. tonight, police and fbi agents are trying to unravel what they have here. in the meantime, the feds issued new advisories for sports venues and hotels across the country. our justice correspondent, pete williams with the latest on this. good evening. >> reporter: the fact the homeland security advisories are so general, covering a wide range of places is a clear sign

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we'll begin with our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd. and chuck, big venue and it is a big gamble at the same time. >> it is. this is pretty much the biggest card you can play when it is to, when you have to give a speech to fix a political problem. this is obviously a huge setting. joint session of congress. the president tonight, it is going to be a serious speech, brian. very direct. don't expect the flourishes that some people have gotten used to when it comes to president obama. he is going to get detailed. high is going to get specific on how he believes it is best to pay for health care reform, what he believes health care reform is, and is not, and he is going to try to debunk some things he believes, they admit themselves and the president himself admits they lost control of. >> you see the chamber is getting prepared for the president's arrival. there, of course, we see the arrival of first lady michelle obama. you will see some familiar faces and there a kiss and hug for vicki kennedy, widow of senator edward m. kennedy, along

contributor author joshua cooper ramo and nbc political director and white house correspondent chuck todd. >>> but first, the debate on health care. joining us, senators john cornyn and dick durbin and former house speaker newt begin river and former dnc chairman, dr. howard dean. good morning to you. a lot to get to. we'll start with senator durbin. in light of the president's speech this past wednesday, what specifically will be achieved on health care this year? >> i think we can pass health care reform. i really believe the american people are ready for it, we are closer to victory than we have ever been, and i hope we understand that failure to pass this health care reform this year will make things overwhelmingly worse. those who are opposing us, those who are criticizing us, really don't have an alternative. they would stay with the current situation, which leaves families with health insurance, with the uncertainty of its cost and the uncertainty of whether coverage will be there when they need it and millions of americans with no protection at all when it comes to health care ins

we just heard from chuck todd. and from david gregory.f going with reconciliation is basically a bluff. in other words, the democrats and the president are going to go for 60 democrats or 60 votes in the committee and on the floor. to do that, you've got to have jay rockefeller aboard, which suggests that jay rockefeller, when he says, if you don't have a public option, i'm not for it, that he is bluffing, or he's going to cave in. do you believe that? >> well, i've been on a steep learning curve here my first eight months, but learning what makes the senate tick is certainly not one of the things i've solved yet. but i do think that, generally speaking up here, 50 votes, 51 votes is what it's supposed to be to pass a bill. and in extreme cases a filibuster could be used. i'm going to leave that to the senate to figure out. i think, they're very serious about trying to get this thing done. that's a promise we made to the american people. >> congressman, there have been heightened emotions on both sides of this debate on a number of levels

let's bring in nbc news white house correspondent chuck todd who joins us now. chuck, it was interesting to hear him, this really was sort of an intersection. we heard will the job creation and stimulus and then the shift into health care and what i found interesting in recent days is that we've seen the administration in washington in general so focused on health care reform and, yet, a poll out the other day that talked about americans saying their number one concern right now is the economy, namely, unemployment. >> that's right. in fact, our own poll when you ask when -- what will be the number one way that you'll be able to know the economy is turning around and it's when there are more jobs available, when a person can feel like they can either change jobs or find a job. but i tell you if you're rahm emanuel, the white house chief of staff, you want evens like this every day when you're in the middle of the health care debetter and you can sit there and talk about jobs and stimulus money and science research and talk about health care. it was striking to he

chuck todd is nbc's political director and "newsweek's" howard fineman is an msnbc political analyst. chuck todd, you have the best speech writers in the business worksing frantically for days along with the best speech giver in the business, in my time working in the senate, i never saw a speech save legislation. do these guys know something i don't? >> i don't think they believe they have to save legislation. i think the goal of this speech as far as that is concerned is to create a little bit of political space. i thought you set it up very well. it is about retaking control of the debate. the president this morning in an interview on as we say another network admitted something we've known for some time, he left too much ambiguity out there and too much of the details to congress. he admitted that may have been a mistake. the white house won't say that is a mistake, but they will say now is the time to bring it all together. we are going to take control of this debate and tell you what the obama plan is and joe and jane in kansas city are going to know what the obama plan is and a

chuck todd is nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director. an martin is politico's senior political writer. gentlemen, let's start with you, chuck. you know better than most, chuck, i've been around a long time. i've got to tell you, this furor over the president's school speech to students, the continuing jam over which democrats are with him on health care, which aren't and the continuing prognostications about all the different polls out there, is the obama presidency at an end? what is going on here? >> reporter: well, i think, you know, i talked to one outside democratic adviser to this white house and it was put to me this way, that, look, they are aware that in many ways this fall and how -- and frankly, it starts tomorrow, that the white house and the president, himself, is taking a character and leadership test. that this is a moment in time for him to show he can take control of a debate, he can take control of his party. he can figure out a way to cut through some of the problems of sausage making inside of his own party and maybe n

joining us now, nbc chief white house correspondent chuck todd. m senator harry reid talking about the goal is bipartisanship. despite what chuck grassley said in an interview this morning. is that the approach of the white house to reach out to republicans tomorrow night? >> reporter: i don't know if you're going to hear him reach out to republicans. advisers say to me, look, the number one audience for the speech tomorrow night is not members of congress, not democrats, congressional democrats or congressional republicans. it is the american people. they're trying to lay is out in layman's terms what the president's plan is and that that will be another result of the speech is that it will be -- if they're successful then, you know, joe and jane in kansas city will be able to say what the president's plan is whether they agree with it or not. they want to go that next sthep and be able to convince joe and jane the president's plan is the best plan moving forward. that said, i think what we're seeing, though, is a lot of maneuvering going on, righ

in the meantime, on the phone we've got nbc political director chuck todd who is at the press conferences press conference originally scheduled? or all the developments with the iranians today has pushed there forward? what is that situation? >> this was always a planned press conference. all of the world leaders that show up for these g-20s, g-8s, you name them. they all do a press conference at the close with their own press. sarkozy from france just got finished with one. gordon brown, and they do it at all of these. this was always planned. the big unplanned news of the day was what happened this morning. by if way, a little update, we're now hearing it might be at least until 5:15 eastern before this press conference gets started. the president has a little down time in his hotel room and he is meeting with pittsburgh native and ambassador to ireland and pittsburgh steelers owner. >> all right. chuck, how does the white house feel it navigated through all of this today? the g-20 summit, you and i talked about health care and everything else. there is so much more on the plate in the

let's go straight to chuck todd, nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director. chuck, well, the stakes could not be higher. this is the restart. what we've heard now is orrin hatch sent a letter to the president saying let's cut this back, streamline it, agree on the historic opportunities to push for areas of agreement. that's basically saying kick the ball down the road. they're not going to go for that? >> reporter: they're not. i know the republicans have been trying to do -- yesterday mitch mcconnell went on the senate floor, called for, hey, let's just start this entire process over. and obviously that would slow things down. that isn't where the white house is on that. the white house's mind set is, look, they're pretty close to getting a deal done with one republican that they care about at this point, and that's olympia snowe. the senior senator from maine. maybe that'll bring along susan collins. more importantly, what that does is you get olympia snowe, then you'll get ben nelson, the c conservative democrat. she gets enough cover for those folks at th

we are joined by cnbc's erin burnett, nbc's chuck todd and author and "time" magazine contributor joshua cooper ramo. chuck today, the politics of this thing, is the president back in control of this debate? >> well, i think he is in more control. he did you night the democrats. i think if he had the single most important thing to do at the speech on wednesday was to get democrats rallying behind him, and i think that he did accomplish. the most fascinating thing, and i go back to the roundtable, senator john corp nip, a member of the republican leadership, he's not the first one over the last couple of days to say this, but suddenly, it is a new talking point about we agree on 80% of what the president said in there, and house speaker newt gringrich said the same thing. it is as if the republicans decided, okay, they have made their point, they obstructed or whatever you want to call it over august, now they have to shift gears a little bit and look like they want to work with them. the question is, you know, is there really a middle ground? is that a real thing or is this a political t

. >> nbc news white house correspondent, chuck todd, former state department spokesman jamie rubin willreak down what this disclosure means for the nation. before the six-nation talks with iran are set to begin. plus, why are democrats seeing a significant drop in fundraising and how can they convince big donors to open up their checkbooks ahead of the 2010 midterm elections? >>> and remember the conservative outcry over president obama's back to school speech in a student performance at a new jersey public elementary school is now drawing fire from some conservative critics. check it out. >> barack hussein obama. >> conservatives are saying schools are trying to brainwash students in support for the president. are they right?

and i'm very intrigued to hear what chuck todd reveals in this poll and how the white house and othersly when it comes to afghanistan and the questions asked to the american people on that. >> no doubt. and general petraeus is speaking actually here in washington tomorrow, so that's also a big story. >> all right. that's the big picture for today. i'm tamron hall. >> and i'm norah o'donnell in for david shuster. >>> up next, "hardball with chris matthews" starts right now. >>> barack's got the ball. let's play hardball. >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, full-court press. so now we know the play where the president races out to meet the enemy, grabs the ball and takes the shot, it works. we've got the latest nbs news/"wall street journal" poll on the president's media play, the big fight over health care, and whether the republican party has gained anything over the last several months. add to that the president's one-man show last night with david letterman. but the big question, is the president's all-out media strategy working? chuck todd and po

nbc's chuck todd with that new information. chuck, as always, thanks so much. >> you got t. >>> let's take that new information and to the bigger picture now. michelle obama will be taking up the issue of health care reform. the first lady will be holding an event tomorrow talking to women and families about the health care system. right now, she is focusing on healthy eating, because mrs. obama say tending the opening of a farmer a's market near the white house at this moment. david trucker, a staff reporter at role call. good afternoon to you, david. >> good afternoon. >> let's talk about the first lady's role in all of this suspect the first time we have heard the first lady talking health care. will she be talking about the details in the bill or just the need for reform? >> yeah, i expect her to just talk about the need for reform. first ladies don't usually get into the weeds on this stuff, notwithstanding hillary clinton's involvement when she was first lady back in the '9. not that michelle obama isn't very capable but

chuck todd will be here, david fromm, the man behind the axis of evil line, and aria in. in a huffington is going to join us. >> axis of evil today. >> i'm sorry. and straight ahead in the next half hour, michael savage, i think you dragged him out of bed. >> he's not happy. >> you should see the slippers he wears. >> all right. let's get to a look at today's top stories. >>> god morning, everyone. pressure is building for new sanctions against iran, it comes two days ahead of planned meetings in geneva between diplomats and six major powers, including the u.s. the meeting could be pivotal, the white house asked for new sanctions unless tehran comes clean about its nuclear ambitions. >> they have one of two paths that they can take. they can continue the path that they've been on, even while the world has shown conclusive intelligence about a facility in qom or it can make a decision to step away from its nuclear weapons program. >>> north korea, meanwhile, is also raising tension over its own nuclear work. speaking to the u.n. general assembly, a top official said pyongy

>> we're joined now, jamie, by chuck todd, who is in pittsburgh, was at the press conference. chuck, jamie rubin, you just heard jamie talking about the answers to the last question that the president gave about sanctions. jamie seems to feel, correct me if i miss interpreted it, while russia and china will be on board, he thinks, for sanctions, they are tiptoeing into the realm of sanctions and might not end up agreeing with tougher sanctions nearly as tough as we would want. what's the feeling within the white house and the administration about how hooked into this russia and china happen to be? >> reporter: right now they're very bullish on the fact they think russia is on board. the statement that russia put out today was tougher than they would have thought they would have gotten out of the russians, say, even just a couple days ago. so they're bullish on this idea the russians privately really do feel a little bit burnt by the iranians. in the fact that the iranians were concealing this. the u.s. folks that i've talked to some sources i've talked to indicate it's pretty c

let's go now to -- >> not chuck todd.rom ronald reagan. >> all negative karma. >> doing that segue is like an infusion of negative karma on the "morning joe" set. joe is all tick off. it's all downhill. >> i remember after gerald ford passed away, chuck todd told one gerald ford joke after another. it was the most highly inappropriate thing i'd ever seen. >> you did not say that. poor chuck. >> he would say we're looking at a president who wowed the nation. and then he'd bang his head and laugh and do the whole chevy chase thing. >> nbc news political director chuck todd. all of which what joe said is not true. >> i think the problem was we had chevy chase doing our coverage. not helpful. >> anything to get ratings. >> what are you going to do? so let's set the scene at home you've been talking about this morning. >> chuck, take a look at these numbers. looks like a majority of independents are disapproving of the way the president is doing things. i would take it it has a lot to do with the healthcare debate. how at this

chuck todd on the beat with the details. hi, chuck. >> dylan, look.ee the end game. we now see how this bill is going to become a law. you see olympia snowe and put up up with lieberman and nelson and mccaskill. all of them tells us a couple of things. number one, snowe is in play. we sort of known that and sort have seen it but this is her one public way of doing it. second, is that the democrats are going to need her, the president is going to need her to keep all of the democrats together. but take a listen to what olympia snowe said yesterday about her openness to the bill. >> obviously, i'm a republican but, you know, i'd like to have more republicans. >> you'd like to, but do you have to some. >> well, no. i'm going to support the right policy. i think that is what guides me and governs me. it always has. and i think the right policy will garner the votes. >> so as i said the end game is here. we see -- i think we all know how the movie is going to end. the question is what is going to be in the final bill? the movie is going to end and snowe is

. >> nbc news chief white house correspondent chuck todd joins us. chuck, this is obviously leading up to that meets october 1st. we're hearing a lot of talk about the u.s. having leverage it never has had before regarding sanctions. >> reporter: that's what the administration believes that they have going in with russia seemingly ready to sign on to potentially tougher economic sanctions, but the big unknown here is china and so it could be that these talks are as important for the united states and the rest of its allies here to make a case to china while they're having these talks with the iranians as it is anybody else and dealing directly with the iranians. to do what they did overnight with the testing shows you they probably aren't ready to suddenly have some negotiations that are fruitful at all having to do with their nuclear program or they wouldn't be trying to provoke the very countries that they want to have these talks with. yes, they're going to show up, but, boy, nothing is looking like these are going to -- you're going to somehow see

counsel resolutions and iaea requirements. >> let's bring in nbc news chief white house correspondent chuck toddt the conversation has taken a right-hand turn in pittsburgh. >> it is. it is all about this issue with iran. as you know, the president is going to be doing a press conference later this afternoon. we're now getting reaction to the accusations that the u.s., uk and france laid out from iran and from ahmadinejad. when he is saying, oh, he is trying to, the iranians are trying to say that they were simply, they have been complying, it isn't a secret, but, clearly, the u.s. believes they have a very strong case here to make. they have been making this case in the last 48 hours to two he

kathleen sebelius scolded chuck todd for sneezing into his hand. [laughter] >> what is that about? who has some and sanitizer? right away. >> the elbow sneeze has been recommended to prevent the spread of germs. >> i don't know but you are not shaking hands with someone using your elbow. >> let's show you what is going on across the area. clouds beginning to thin out towards the west. the sun is coming out gradually. we will see partial clearing. in a 70's this afternoon. in the seven depots and again the weekend. -- in the 70's. some clouds will move in by the end of the weekend. showers on monday. >> thank you for joining us. we will see you monday morning at 5:00 a.m. have a great weekend. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- are you making it easier for bacteria to grow on your dentures? you are if you use toothpaste instead of soaking them in polident. toothpaste is abrasive on dentures look, scratches where bacteria can collect and grow and bacteria can cause bad breath that's why i recommend replacing toothpaste with polident. only polident is pr

. >>> finally, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius has some advice for nbc's chuck toddah. >> at a briefing earlier today chuck did not use the inside of his arm to shield his sneeze. you know, you're supposed to go like this when you sneeze. >> chuck. >> that's what the new health guidelines suggest. listen to this -- >> i think that -- >> bless you. >> a possible impediment. i mean, what is that about? geez. >> very correctly in the sleeve. i mean, it would be one thing -- >> i don't know. who's got some purell? give that to mr. todd right away, a little hand sanitizer. >> chuck todd is so busted. >> he told me, he's never going to live that one down. she's like, what is that about? >> oh, chuck. savannah, you need to get on him there at the white house. tell chuck to -- okay. >>> coming up -- we'll tell you which republican lawmaker is actually claiming president obama wants to control how much food we eat. >>> also -- what the debate about race says about politics and civil society in america. this is "the big picture" on msnbc. r told me something i never knew. as w

nbc news political director, white house correspondent chuck todd. obviously, norah, we're going to be glued to our seats to see those numbers. i was glancing over at chuck's paperwork. >> i want to know. i do. i want to know -- >> i hold in my hand -- >> how will this change the conversation we're having tomorrow when those numbers come out? >> i'll say this. i think there are bigger things here that could change the public's view in afghanistan. it could be as simple as the more we learn about this terror plot. we don't know how connected is this terror plot with -- you know, did -- you know, were there contacts in pakistan and afghanistan? the public pays very close attention. i think we don't know what's going to have an impact on public opinion here. another thing to remember. when a president makes a significant national security decision, the country rallies around that president. doesn't matter which party they are. so don't be surprised if these numbers are more fluid than they seem right now. >> all right, chuck. thank you very much. >>> nor

chief white house correspondent chuck todd joins us. what message, chuck, is iran sending with the actions it took over the weekend firing those missiles, particularly the long-range one? >> this is a message of defiance. they know they go into these talks later this week with the permanent members of the u.n. security council, china, russia, united states, great britain and france and germany, basically without a good hand to deal with because they were caught trying to build this secret facility. and so at this point it looks like they are trying to send a message of defiance a little bit, but, if anything, it may only push -- make the u.s.' goal of trying to get iran to -- to capitulate a lit bit more at the table or have that threat of sanctions be real it may make the u.s.' case to china little bit easier if they keep seeing iran do thed like this. >> over the weekend, we heard so much about the incredible leverage this gives the united states and others. i want to ask but israel. the second missiles that were launched were capable

chuck todd is sitting in tonight. "hardball" starts right now. >>> the president's political health. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chuck todd in washington filling in for chris matthews who will be back on monday. leading off tonight, image problem. the outburst by congressman joe wilson has us asking, are we at the point where we can say the intense opposition to barack obama in some parts of the country is about more than health care reform? stimulus plan? is it also about ideology? regional differences and perhaps even race? what is more, wilson's remark and the support he has received in his south carolina district. is it threatening to harden the republican party's reputation right now inside the beltway? we'll talk to two members of congress in a mole. plus, september 11 is the reason we waged war in afghanistan. but eight years after we went in, what is our mission there today? nbc new chief foreign correspondent richard engel. and they'll give us their take on the present state of afghanistan. t

. >> chuck todd, a lot of push back here. senator kip bond saying the president is ignoring major issues like afghanistan. certainly that meeting october 1st with iran to go and pitch chicago for the olympics. is the white house prepared for some of this? >> reporter: they are. let's put this in a little bit of perspective. when a big -- when washington is consumed by one or two major issues, and in this case health care, war in afghanistan, it doesn't get any bigger than a couple of those issues. it would be odd if the loyal opposition, in this case the republicans, weren't trying to find a way to prove that the president was lacking focus. democrats would do this when it came to the amount of time president bush would spend in crawford or something like that. it would be odd to me if we weren't seeing the republicans trying to hit him for this. it is hard to logically see how the guy's leaving after dinner on thursday night and gets back before dinner on friday night, so we're talking a half day. and, again, "air force one"

chuck todd has said, and somebody wrote a nasty e-mail about chuck todd saying he's a tool because hes, like everybody who's been on here that knows politics believes, like robert gibbs believes, jimmy carter is not helping president obama's cause. i'm sorry people on the hard left don't understand that, but it's just the reality. this white house does not want race base -- >> from my perspective, it doesn't help at all. and i was really surprised by it. again, we have to be so careful about the words being used. on that note, with us now, managing editor of "time" magazine, richard stengel, who is here to uncover the cover of "time" magazine, this week's issue. >> this is a big one. rick, who's on the cover this week? >> well, it's appropriate what we're talking about because our cover subject in some ways is at the center of this debate. and the issue of the lack of civility in society, the difficult summer that we had, it's mr. glenn beck. some people would say he's actually pouring gasoline on some of these issues. some people would say that he is the pied piper of discontent in a

nbc news political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd and the moderator of nbc's "meet the press," david gregory, joining us now. let's have at it. chuck, first to you. the day after the morning after. was joe wilson sort of a gift that they had not expected, at least make barack obama look like the victim here? >> reporter: it is. it's -- you know, i'm sure they would like other parts of the speech to be talked about, quoted from, but if this is the day two story that comes out of this, which is joe wilson becoming a symbol of the republican party, not wanting to work with the president, the white house will take that. at the same time, i think the actions of the white house today are fascinating. they're meeting behind the scenes with moderate senate democrats, and we're not hearing of talks of republicans. and there was a lot of -- and a lot of republicans today saying, hey, this is not real bipartisan. we're not seeing it. in many ways, they're right. it's done. the white house's goal was to have the public see him reaching out to republican ideas, help try to

our chief white house correspondent, political director, chuck todd here in new york while the president is in new york. chuck, for awhile, it looked like the bar scene in "star wars" except the stakes are so high. while the president spoke, you know, he's got other issues simmering. afghanistan and health care. >> let's start with afghanistan. it's been a public debate. watchers of the military tell me, not since vietnam have we seen a public debate between the white house and the pentagon. the white house says this is what president obama campaigned on. this is what he likes. nobody likes it to be this public. you have general mckris toll and general petraeus in charge of strategy. we are hearing all about this. in the actual policy, the white house reminds us, general mckrystol wrote it. >> it's the first time we have heard it. >> their argument is going to be this. things have changed. if we don't have a stable partner, we need a better strategy. >> where is health care? >> we know this, the real senate majority leader is olympia snowe. it means we will not see a health care bill unt