we're here with kevin connolly, the great kevin connolly. thanks for dressing up.olor scheme on. you have -- i got the vest. i don't have a tie, so i guess -- >> jimmy: you have a five-piece suit. three. it looks awesome. >> it's the same amount of pieces as you. >> jimmy: oh, yeah, it is. the tie. subtract. >> tie counts as a piece. >> jimmy: that's true. i appreciate you dressing up. you look very nice. >> thank you. >> jimmy: so we were on "the view" yesterday. we talked about that. >> yes. he showed up dressed for "the view." >> jimmy: yeah, i came ready to go. >> you came ready -- >> jimmy: you came out like a homeless man. with two bottles of aspirin and that dude dressed as spongebob. wasn't even invited. you went out all night with spongebob? >> i was out raging with spongebob until the wee hours of the morning. >> jimmy: we were talking backstage at "the view," i said i saw this magazine cover. you got the cover of "cigar aficionado." look at that. [ cheers and applause ] that's pretty interesting because i have never seeyou ever smoke a cigar. >> and also

earlier today, jerry connolly was holding his own healthcare reform meeting. this one at green spring retirement community. while they were kept in check, outside protesters making their feelings known. digital correspondent, peggy fox with that story. >> in front of the usually quiet entrance to green spring retirement community, angry signs screamed warnings about death panels, socialized medicine. >> i believe it is unconstitutional, unaffordable, and that the government is untrustworthy. >> i feel it would be very bad for america. we have the best system already. >> it's like a great mansion with a leaky roof. you want to take a wrecking ball and tear the mansion down. >> inside, the room held 400 residents, 100 more were on the waiting list to hear congressman's view on healthcare reform. >> i think if you look at the economics of healthcare, we are in trouble. >> he told them that the u.s. spends $7,000 per person every year on healthcare. twice what all other entry yamized nations spend. much of the burden comes from the 47 million americans without ins

margaret connolly, abc news, tokyo. >> the senate is set to make history this afternoon voting on judge sonia sotomayor's supreme court nomination. most republicans say they will vote against her but with a democratic majority on her side, sotomayor's confirmation is virtually a done deal. once she's approved, the new york native will become only the third woman and the first latina to sit on the high court. >> also today the senate has reached an agreement to pump more money into the cash for clunkers program. that would give car buyers until labor day to trade in gas guzzlers for add 4,500 rebate. the administration estimates another half million cars will be sold because of the deal. >> another day of clean-up today in louisville, kentucky, two days after the city was swamped by rapidly rising floodwaters. as homeowners pumped water logged basements and towed damaged cars, university of louisville reopens classes today.

it is hosted by gerry connolly and it will be at the green spring retire community in springfield. and then tonight, congressman jim moran and dr. howard dean will lead another meeting at 7 p.m. at south lakes high school in reston. >>> a zoning dispute in poolesville is pitting neighbor against neighbor. it all started when the couple who live on the left side of a pipe stem driveway received permission from the town to open up optometry offices in their home. their neighbors, don and linda barnes say the tail part of the business, selling contact lenses is flooding the street with too many cars. >> made it clear to them i did not want their business customers coming down a driveway. it would impact the sellability of our house, increase our risk and liability to accidents, et cetera. >> reporter: the barnes say it is against zoning rules for the

as the open, congressman connolly will deliver brief remarks.will hand over the microphone to the congressman. we will field your questions for the 1.5 to two hours. there are two microphones. if you prefer to be seated, steve elliott will have a roving microphone. please, raise your hand. we hope you will limit your questions to 30 seconds so that as many residents as possible have the opportunity to ask questions. well we understand it we have guests here in the room today, we would ask that you refrain from asking any questions of the panel and an least hold those questions until virtually everybody has an opportunity to ask the theirs. we think it is important. we want to make sure that you have the opportunity to ask your congressmen and these panelists the questions. that would be greatly appreciated. if your question is not answered, there will be in-depth cards that will be passed out. you can ask the question on there and send it in if you are not able to ask here. i hope we get through them all. looking at this room, that may be tough.

margaret connolly reports from tokyo. >> reporter: a peace bell was rung the minute the bomb hit, 64 years ago. the crowd fell into silent prayer, in remembrance of the 140,000 people who were killed. hiroshima's mayor urged leaders to back the stance of the united states. we join president obama in activities to eliminate all nuclear weapons. the prime minister spoke in support of survivors. the sufferings of hiroshima and nagasaki shall not be repeated. and we devote ourselves to the abolition of nuclear weapons. people gather at the most controversial shrine in japan. for some is a place to pay homage for those who died serving their country. for others, a reminder of the militaryist past. a past that people call out for a world free of nuclear weapons. a pledge the country sees as a minimum responsibility for future generations. morgue rhett connolly, abc news, tokyo. >>> it's time, now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. thunderstorms expected in every western state. hail, flash flooding and tornadoes could threaten idaho, montana, nebraska and the dakotas. gusty

as the open, congressman connolly will deliver brief remarks. hand over the microphone to the congressman. we will field your questions for the next hour -- 1.5 hour- two hours. there are two microphones. if you prefer to be seated, and steve elliott will have a roving microphone. please, raise your hand raise you. we hope you will limit your questions to 30 seconds so that as many residents as possible have the opportunity to ask questions. well we understand it we have guests here in the room today, we would ask that you refrain from asking any questions of the panel and an least hold those questions until virtually everybody has an opportunity to ask the theirs. we think it is important. we want to make sure that you have the opportunity to ask your congressmen and these panelists the questions. that would be greatly appreciated. if your question is not answered, there will be in debt cards -- in in-depth cards that will be passed out. you can ask the question if you are not able to ask. i hope we get through them all. looking at this room, t

i'm congressman connolly, we welcome you today. this is a very exciting time. we find ourselves as a community very often right in the middle of some of these discussions and these debates and the part of the political process. it's a very exciting place to be, and i have no doubt that today is going to be a model for how to do one of these, to have one of these discussions and to have a town hall meeting that others will try to duplicate so thank you for your, for your civility and courtesy to each other as we do this today. we're going to have some really great presentations, but at the end we're going to have plenty of time for questions and answers, and we're going to have a microphone right here in the front if you'd like to ask a question. there'll also be a roving microphone. if you can't get out of your seat, that's fine. we'll have some people that can bring a microphone to you. we do ask that everybody keep their questions to about 30 seconds because we imagine there will be many questions, and

from the hit show "entourage," kevin connolly is here, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] he's a verywe'll see her. then also tonight, special performance from aimee mann, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] it will be great. she's awesome. phenomenal. and don't forget tomorrow night, the jonas brothers. oh. big deal. [ cheers and applause ] jonas brothers, come on. that's a big deal. everyone is coming to jonas brothers. serious stuff. jonas brothers. they're going to do a political song. >> steve: is the bonus jonas coming? >> jimmy: which one? >> steve: the bonus jonas. the younger brother? >> jimmy: bonus jonas might not be here. cliffhanger. i want people to tune in. >> steve: oh, right. you're right. >> jimmy: what's the bonus jonas' name again? >> steve: that escapes me because i'm 45. [ laughter ] >> steve: i knew it at one time when they hosted the show. i remember the bonus jonas' name. but i can't now. >> jimmy: frankie jonas? >> steve: i'm guessing it's marvin or dwayne. am i wrong? [ light laughter ] >> jimmy: i nailed it. i nailed. >> steve: what? >> jimmy: frankie. i was

. >> reporter:im connolly of coorate strategies turned to second market when hneeded to raise sh for the family trust and pension funds he mages. the asts were auction rate securities but, because ofhe credit market freeze, therwere no auctions. second mket found a buyer in two weeks. >>n this case, it was a buyer who managed a large mber of i.r.a.s and the peoplen the i.r.a.s got a tremendous dl because the i.a.s can be patient and th was pension planoney that could wait to be paid off. soll these i.r.a.s got it at discount, they got small fee anwe got our liquidity back. it workejust perfectly. >> rorter: there are no financial restrictions on sellers, but ocourse some assets are still me illiquid than oers. >> we get inquiries ofeople trying to sell things raing from an ice skating rinko asts, mines in siberia, fortunately, we have buys for lots of asts, unfortunately, some of the more uque one we don't have buys for, not yet. >> reporter:hich is a shame because i have a bdge i'd like to sl. scott gurvey, "nhtly business rert", new york. >> susie: ansportation secretary ray laod p

nick connolly comes in to score from third. that's a heck of a ball game. chula vista goes oto win, 11-10. >>> that will do it. jeremy and vinita, back to you. >>> well, there is a littl monkey love coming soon to the london zoo. >> zoo keepers prepared three female gorillas for arrival of a new mate, by waying to whet their appetite with a life-sized photo. it loo.e it worked. they ran off ander to the pictures into a snack. >> hopefully, the new sitter won't meet the same fate as his >> hopefully, the new sitter won't meet the same fate as his photo. more th from what i hear, ms. haskins is a toughy. oh, we had a good breakfast so we're ready. gonna be another great year, huh guys?! you bet your 8 layers! yeah! long-distance high 5! oh, careful! hey, watch it. start the school year with an excellent source of fiber. a clinical study showed kids who had a filling breakfast... of kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® cereal... had 11% better attentiveness... compared to kids who missed out on breakfast. ( shouts ) keeps 'em full. keeps ' focused. new aches and pa

democrat jerry connolly hosted this one at the green spring retirement community in springfield. and he outlined how the president's plan could impact seniors. if you missed today's town hall meeting. the congressman will lead another meeting tonight. that one begins at 7:00 at south lake high in resten. >>> the president took time from his vacation to reappoint federal reserve chairman, ben bernanke. as word spread, stocks climbed. investors praised bernanke for unlocking credit and stabilizing the financial market. some of bernanke's critics say he may have saved wall street, but not the millions who lost their homes to foreclosure. the second term could be just as rocky as the first. >> mr. bernanke moves to withdraw the liquidity and the support from financial markets, we are going to see mortgage rates rise. this will not sit well with the public or the white house. >> bernanke is expected to face a grueling hearing before the senate likely signs off on another four years. >>> alexandria named earl cook as his new police chief. he became acting chief last month when the form

congressman connolly addressed 500 seniors in springfield. he says americans are spending twice as much for personal health care as other industrialized nations. many in the crowd were concerned about how to pay for health care reform. and what it would do to existing health care. >> senator ben cardin joined us last night on fox 45 news at 10:00. he supports a public option and thinks it is the best way to lower health care costs for everyone. but when asked whether he would vote for a bill that did not include a public option, the senator said he needs to see what the final version of the bill ends up looking like. >> i think it is important to have a public option available. so that those that can not find private insurance, the people that don't have insurance today, have a market. have a product that is available. i think it also will bring more defense tee and competition and therefore bring down the cost of health care. >> we are giving you the chance to ask lawmakers what they think about health care reform. on morning news. represent

ceci connolly of "the washington post"... peter baker of "the new york times"... naftali bendavid of "the wall street journal"... and jeanne cummings of politico. >> celebrating 40 years of journalistic excellence, live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill," produced in association with national journal. corporate funding for washington week is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to redefine air travel for a new generation. >> to ensure our forces are safer and stronger. >> to take the world we share to tomorrow and beyond. >> around the globe, the people boeing are working together to make a difference. >> that's why we're here. >> it creates half the electricity that seals our dreams. we have more than any place on earth. we're working on cleaner ways to use coal every day. there is more information at n.m.a..org. major funding is also provided by the anenburg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. thank you. once again, live from washingt

margaret connolly is in tokyo with details. >> reporter: in tokyo people gather at this shrine, the most controversial shrine in japan. for some it is a place to play homage to those who died serving their country. for other it is a burial place for war criminals and a reminder of japan as millist past. tens of thousands of people gathered to mark the anniversary of the dropping of the atom being bomb. a peace bell was rung the minute the bomb hit 6 years ago. the crowd fell into silent prayer in remembrance of the 10,000 people who were killed at the end of world war ii, as survivors and victims' families. we join president obama in activities to eliminate all nuclear weapons. the prime minister spoke in support of survivors. japan is only country in the world that was victimized by the atomic bomb, the suffering hiroshima and nagasaki shall not be repeated. >> reporter: it is a reminder of a past that people hope will be remembered today. margaret connolly, abc news, tokyo. >> the senate is set to make history this afternoon voting on judge sonia sotomayor's supreme court nomination. m

and later, gerry connolly holds a town hall meeting endin virgi.on c-span tomorrow morning, the federal communications commission will hold a meeting on the wireless communications industry. that will look specifically at in -- issues of competition and increasing broadband access. we will bring it to you live, starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern. and later, from the heritage foundation, a look at the recent presidential election in afghanistan and what it means about the fight against the taliban and u.s. efforts to increase security there. live coverage begins at noon hear on c-span. >> go inside the supreme court to see the public places and was rarely seen spaces. hear directly from the justices as they provide their insight about the court and the building. "the supreme court -- home to america as high as corke." the first sunday in october on c-span. >> senator ted kennedy died on tuesday morning after succumbing to bring cancer. it was first elected to the senate in 1962 to succeed his brother, john f. kennedy. he won election to a total of nine

congressman connolly, you are our rep. you represent a week, the people. employee -- implore you to vote no on this bill and prevent our -- i implore you to vote no on this bill and prevent our company from -- country from sliding further into recession. >> thank you. first, i am sorry for your loss. my grandmother had alzheimer's and was healthy otherwise. she lived a long time with this debilitating illness that was so devastating, to see someone you love gradually fade away as the person you knew. i have deep empathy for what he went through. but we say that while -- for what you went through. but let me say that all there may be an impression out there, especially for those who watched too much fox news -- i cannot help it, i am a democrat. but there are no panels that are going to tell you or your doctors with a loved one is going to get, suffering, for example, from alzheimer's. there are going to be studies looking at comparative effectiveness so that we know what treatments make sense. let me give an example. we now know that in the treatment of br

paul nichols and gerry connolly are exposing that expansion and have scheduled a news conference for today. >>> a new theory station may be headed toward spotsylvania -- a new vre station may be headed toward spotsylvania county. they may subsidize it and it would take about three years to build. >>> tre was a water main break yesterday. it happened near duke street. 600 customers without water. service was restored hours later. >>> metro has imposed tougher hiring standards. applicants for bus operators who have had a felony conviction or a conviction for crimes of sex abuse will be disqualified. those caught driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol will have to wait three years to apply. new regulations went in suspects in the murder of a man. the body of shahabuddin rana was discovered in the pizza mart with chico owned with his brother. police believe robbery was the motive. >>> the investigation into eight arson fires in damascus is now intensifying. the words "lawn boy mower" were found on a gas container. damage and cleanup costs are estimated at more than $100,000. >>>

connolly wasn't him and it -- it didn't really matter who that was, did it, in terms of treating him? we were going to treat him the same as anyone. when i walked in the room and saw it was the president, it was obvious it was him because that's what we were looking for, and, of course, he was very recognizable. >> talk a little bit about [inaudible] >> the -- well, what i know in retrospect, at least what i believe is that president kennedy had had some severe arthritis, etc., and that been put on steroids for pain relief or for relief of inflammation. and when you put people on big doses on steroids long enough, the adriennal glands -- adenal glands quit -- adrenal glands quit responding. but the way that we had some hint that something was going on -- we were aware of the noise in the press -- some of that noise in the press. somewhere in congress within a few months before the president's assassination, there had been a discussion where somebody had said that the president had addison's disease, and bobby kennedy said that addison's disease is caused by t.b. my brothers never had

congressman connolly addressed 500 seniors in springfield virginia. he says americans are spending twice as much per person on health care as other industrialized nations. many in the crowd were concerned about how to pay for the plan. and what it would do to existing health care. >> more challenges about the public option in the lone star state today. >> are you going to drop yours and sign on to this health care? your family and everyone that works in the government, if this is that great. >> democrat coupler of texas answer this had and several other tough questions tonight he says he did not take the congressional health care plan. and kept the one he already had. he also said tort reform should be acritical part of the health care reform bill. >> debate over health care reform continues in maryland tonight. representative donna edwards met with people in montgomery county. keith daniels was there. keith, what was that crowd concerned about tonight? >> well, jennifer, that's right. we're live with representative edwards in germantown. standing roo

connolly wasn't him and it -- it didn't really matter who that was, did it, in terms of treating him? we were going to treat him the same as anyone. when i walked in the room and saw it was the president, it was obvious it was him because that's what we were looking for, and, of course, he was very recognizable. >> talk a little bit about [inaudible] >> the -- well, what i know in retrospect, at least what i believe is that president kennedy had had some severe arthritis, etc., and that been put on steroids for pain relief or for relief of inflammation. and when you put people on big doses on steroids long enough, the adriennal glands -- adenal glands quit -- adrenal glands quit responding. but the way that we had some hint that something was going on -- we were aware of the noise in the press -- some of that noise in the press. somewhere in congress within a few months before the president's assassination, there had been a discussion where somebody had said that the president had addison's disease, and bobby kennedy said that addison's disease is caused by t.b. my brothers never had

i take some heart in what a former state department official and lawyer, advisor to connolly's ariseto condoleeza rice, testified this year that the situation is too murky to evaluate whether this intelligence was useful and save lives. host: here is the headline. and this is the reporting of our guest carrie johnson. james joins us from carlsbad, calif. caller: i know that it is tough to get information from the government through the freedom act, but we have always had a history dealing with terrorists and how we treat them since world war i. we get into this quagmire of the cia. if there was something done wrong -- and i guess mr. dick cheney is turned to look at it as if we made the mistake, not the guy in the trenches. he followed orders. as a reporter i would ask you and your colleagues if you're going to do a story, dig into the fact, look at the administrations, the history we have now. look at who was giving the actual mandates to the people down there. no matter what you or anybody says, 90% of the people in the cia are in the military, in uniform. guest: i will happily loo

. >>> earlier we talked with katie connolly on fox 5 morning news. she says there's a lot of misinformation being tossed around at these town hall meetings. if you'd like to hear the interview, you can go to our website and click the morning show tab. >>> general motors is banking on the chevrolet volt. in an on-line press conference this morning, g.m. announced the rechargeable electric car is expected to get a whopping 230 miles per gallon in city driving. the volt is powered by an electric motor and battery pack with a 40-mile range. after that a small gasoline engine kicks in. the volt is due in showrooms in november of 2010. >>> news this morning july turned out to be a booming month for sales of fuel efficient cars and that's all thanks to the cash for clunkers program. a study by the university of michigan finds the average mileage for a new vehicle went up seven-tenths of a mile to -- [ indiscernible ] >>> it's a familiar story, pretty hard to imagine. dozens ever passengers forced to -- of passengers forced to spend the night on a regional j

. >> this morning, democrat congressman gerald connolly of the virginia talks about a town hall meetings and how the issue is playing out at those meetings. we will talk to james cole and doctor john garrett about the health care system, and provide a context to the health-care debate that is currently before congress. in a couple of hours, paul rainwater, executive director of

overwhelm a president's time, and truman assigned much of this to his appointment secretary, matt connolly, but in the second term connolly found this johannesburg to be overwhelming and he appointed two legislative liaisons. these are the first recorded legislative liaisons in the white house, josive finney, the navy's liaison in the senate and claude mailon in the house. until that point, the cabinet officers were dealing with congress directly as opposed to the white house. they did the leg work for the administration and that allowed truman's top policy people to focus on the larger issues rather than having to worry about appointments to west point and the other concerns that congressmen are always talking about with members of congress. connolly's main function was to keep all of these issues off of truman's desk essentially and so he foisted them off onto 15ey and mailen. in his oral history, finney said truman made it clear that he would be the quarterback and i would be the ballcarrier and i think that description is a good, apt description of the style of truman's working with co

abo some of the oions being considered, how they mht work and the polics at play, we turno: ceci connollytional health pocy correspondent for th "washington post"; and susan dentzer, the etor in chief ofhe journal "health affairs"-- she'also a health analyst for t newshour. ladi, welcome. relity-check time. how much is the publ option, ceci, really fading and how much is the co-op idea gaining force? >> the public option has been fading qte a bit for qui so time, the dynamic isn the finance mmittee, there are not votes in e senate for what is called a rost government option, so they have been loking at this co-op idea for qui some time, b it's not entely clear that they have e votes for that ther, so it's very mu a work in progress. >> help desibe what co-ops are and what the diinction tween what they're prosing dhat a publicly backed opon would be. >> the main definiti of a co-op at theoment seems toe tht it's not a public an and it's not pivate health inrance, it's a goldilos something in between, as senator conrad says th're sort of casting about to models in the landsca to give us a s

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o@5ew: john connolly, thanks andrew: robert novak dead today at the age of 78.the first time i met him was at a conference in chicago on limited government. i was there to discuss civil liberties, ten months after 9/11, and he was there to talk about no child left behind. he blasted the bush administration for what he felt was going to be the soon federal takeover of education and i blasted it for the patriot act and other unconstitutional behavior. bob told me he was worried that both political parties in america wanted to use the government to increase power for themselves. he feared, as do i, both a republican version of big government, which we had then, and a democratic version of big government, which we have now. we became friends and chatted over the years, but not about the government. we talked about god. bob was a proud jew who converted and became a proud catholic. like many converts to catholicism, he was a fear catholic. he had little patience and less as the years went by for the double-talk of hypocrisy and the phoniness of the politicians in was

overwhelm a president's time, and truman assigned much of this to his appointment secretary, matt connollybut in the second term connolly found this johannesburg to be overwhelming and he appointed two legislative liaisons. these are the first recorded legislative liaisons in the white house, josive finney, the navy's liaison in the senate and claude mailon in the house. until that point, the cabinet officers were dealing with congress directly as opposed to the white house. they did the leg work for the administration and that allowed truman's top policy people to focus on the larger issues rather than having to worry about appointments to west point and the other concerns that congressmen are always talking about with members of congress. connolly's main function was to keep all of these issues off of truman's desk essentially and so he foisted them off onto 15ey and mailen. in his oral history, finney said truman made it clear that he would be the quarterback and i would be the ballcarrier and i think that description is a good, apt description of the style of truman's working with cong

journal" and mara liasson of national public radio and steven hayes of "the weekly standard" and ceci connolly of the "washington post." paul what do you make of the town halls, grease roots, exercise of first amendment rights or political astroturf, legitimate dissent or over the line. >> it is a little of both in the sense, some of it is organized and some is spontaneous an either way it is freedom of assembly and people are passionate and if your government says i'll rearrange 17% of the u.s. economy, shouldn't you be passionate? i mean, i'd worry for democracy if people were not fired up and passionate and cared a lot about it and yes. some of it is organized and no excuse nor violence and those incidents are very, very rare. >> let me bring up with you, mara as i discussed with senator mcdonnell, and i think everybody agrees there is no difference between this right organizing in this case or the left organizing against george w. bush and the iraq war, conservative groups have been putting instructions on the internet how to take over the meeting and stand up, shout, rattle the congressme

paul zego from the wall street journal, steven hayes of the weekly standard and cc connolly of the washington post. so far, what do you make of these town halls? grass roots? exercise in first amendment rights or political astro turf? legitimate political dissent or over the line? >> it's a little of both in the sense somist's org nids. some of it's spontaneous. either way, freedom of assembly. people are passionate. but if your government says i'm gonna rearrange 17% of the u.s. economy, shouldn't you be passionate? i vote for democrat if people weren't fired up and passionate and care a lot about it. so much organizers, no excuse for violence. but those incidents have been very, very rare. >> let me just bring up with you you, as i discuss with senator mcdonnell. i think everybody agrees that there's no difference between the right organizing in this case and the left organizing against george w. bush and the iraq war. but conservative groups putting out instructions about how to take over the meeting, stand up, shout, ratle the congressmen, anything wrong with that? >> there's nothing wron

stoddard, charles krauthammer, and ceci connolly. let's talk about how the town hall protests are affecting health care reform. 34% say that demonstrations at the town halls have made them more sympathetic to the protestors' views. 21% say it's made them less sympathetic. bill sammon, how important do you think these town halls have been in building opposition to -- it's interesting, i was going to say president obama's plan, but i've been corrected by one of the leading democratic negotiators in the senate who says he doesn't have a plan. >> that's a telling piece of information. i think they've been a game changer. i think they've been very important because a couple weeks ago we wondered would these town halls build support for obama's plan or would they undermine support for his plan? the empirical evidence is starting to roll in, gallup, fox. everybody's poll is showing america is breaking against the health care plan. >> a.b.? >> i think it's -- you already see two freshmen members, democrats, who won republican seats in virgin

on "washington journal," a discussion on recent town hall meetings with representatives at gerald connolly. we will have more with james cole and dr. john garrett, and a discussion on recovery efforts in louisiana four years after katrina, with the head of the louisiana recovery a party. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c- span. and now, commerce secretary gary locke speaking at a conference of minority-owned businesses. this is about 25 minutes. >> i was an adviser to president barack obama during the last election. in all of my experiences this was raised by one of his daughters. looking out over a sea of thousands of onlookers, when suddenly his daughters, one of his daughters, tug at his coat tand asked a profound question. she asked, why are we here? why are we here? and it is a profound question, one that i believe that we must ask each and every day of our lives. as individuals, as americans, as leaders, as businessmen and businesswomen, all across this country, why are we here? and i think that same question is even relevant today at this conference. why are

let me introduce george burke who's the directer of communications for representative connolly's office. [applause] >> what a crowd. the health care reform is an important issue that impacts every amerin, and we know it is particularly important to all of you gathered here today. there are a lot of myths being circumstance rated -- circulated, and there are also concernsnd questions about health care reform. today we want to try and address your concerns and your questions. we thank all of you who chose to attend today's health care forum, and we apologize to those who could not getn due to the physical limitations, obviously, of the venue. as we open the meeting, congressman connolly and our distinguished panel will deliver brief remarks, and then i will hand over the microphone, and they will field your questions. there a two microphones in the audience. if you prefer to stay seated and stay at your location, steve elliot will have a roving microphone. raise your hand there, please, steve. ank you. so just raise your hand, and steve will find you. as will mentioned, we hope you'll lim

connon m oey.ly connolly's o metroxt e metro e since thousands of military jobs are being moved to the ft. bell voyeur area. >> the broadcasting world is mourning the loss of another news legend, cbs news director don hewitt died of pancreatic cancer. hewitt produced "60 minutes" for 36 years after its debut in 1968. the show was the realization of hewitt's dream to put news magazines, like "life" magazine into a television format. before that, he produced the very first televised presidential debate between john f. kennedy and richard nixon. hewitt was 86 years old. >> 5:07, 73 degrees. what we're now learning about the mental health of the virginia tech gunmen after medical records were released. >> plus, the disturbing details of a conversation held by an air traffic controller just moments before that deadly midair collision over the hudson. >> and the controversy caused by dozens of gay couples all in the name of a cause. m >>> weather and traffic on the 1s. now 5:11. good morning. a steamy 75 in washington. mean while, out in the tropics, hurricane bill has decreased a little bit

applause] [inaudible] >> monday, a discussion on recent health-care town hall meetings hallgerald connolly. we will hear from the president and ceo james cole and dr. garrett. also, in discussion on recovery efforts four years after hurricane katrina with the head of the louisiana recovery authority. that is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. as washington and the nation continues to focus on health care, today we will talk about dealing with the h-1n1 with the director for the center of disease control on "newsmakers." >> tamara, three doctors from virginia hospital center tel personal stories about treating stories -- tomorrow, three doctors. we will hear from them on the cost of the operations. >> the payment is usually a medicare reimbursement for a mastectomy is usually between $65--750. >> of the top of issues surrounding medical care. >> when i have a symptom, they want to go to the internet to figure out what is wrong with them. without a medical background and experience that we have a, they will always get it wrong. they usually think they have some horrible disease. if th

i take some heart in what a former state department official and lawyer, advisor to connolly's arise -- to condoleeza rice, testified this year that the situation is too murky to evaluate whether this intelligence was useful and save lives. host: here is the headline. and this is the reporting of our guest carrie johnson. james joins us from carlsbad, calif. caller: i know that it is tough to get information from the government through the freedom act, but we have always had a history dealing with terrorists and how we treat them since world war i. we get into this quagmire of the cia. if there was something done wrong -- and i guess mr. dick cheney is turned to look at it as if we made the mistake, not the guy in the trenches. he followed orders. as a reporter i would ask you and your colleagues if you're going to do a story, dig into the fact, look at the administrations, the history we have now. look at who was giving the actual mandates to the people down there. no matter what you or anybody says, 90% of the people in the cia are in the military, in uniform. guest: i will happily

host: jerry connolly represent the 11th district and virginia.e is with us to talk about health care legislation, town hall meetings he has had what are you hearing from these town hall meetings? what have you told your colleagues that you have heard? guest: most people agree we need reform and health care system, but there is lot of anxiety about the details, and there is also a lot of misinformation out there. i have to say, the opposition has done a better job of bringing the issues. they have spent a lot of time on dealing with this information about what is in the bill and what is not. host: we have these issues of town hall the growers -- goerrs raising concerns. what are your concerns? guest: i am concerned by expanding health care, we have to make sure we have enough primary health care physicians, and nurses, to staff to bring 47 million people back into the system. host: we covered one of your town hall meetings in springfield last week. we are going to be showing that tomorrow. reporting on that, and last week, "and politico" wrote tha

let's ask ceci connolly. >> it is a little bit of all the above.nk there are genuine protestors showing up. lots of it is in the phoney astro-turf category that harry reid talks about. certainly, people are showing up with all sorts of frustrations. the economy is still pretty rough out there, especially when you get beyond the beltway. we are seeing some of that. >> how does this substantive debate take plays, david, amidst all the noise? we spoke about it earlier, the nazi comparison and stuff like that? >> wolf, what i worry about is that if republicans and conservatives somehow stop this or if it falls apart of its own weight, that may turn out to be a victory of free market principles. republicans need to remember that we have people whom we are supposesed to represent, entrepreneurs, small business and self-employed who are facing rising costs. we have to remember them. you can't forget, there are people who you help who have real problems that they send you to washington to solve. >> rush limbaugh makes the point and i'll throw it to palm be

. >> tomorrow, and gerald connolly will talk about town hall meetings and health care is playing out in those meetings. also we will talk about the -- talk with james cole and dr. john garrett about the health care system and provide some context. this segment is the first part in a three day series that will air live from the hospital's emergency room. also paul rainwater. washington journal, live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. coming up next, an fcc workshop on the expansion of high-speed internet. after that, a forum on the government's use of new technology and communications. and then, on "q&a," a discussion with dr. john garrett. >> as the debate over health care continues, c-span is health care of is a key resource. go on line and watched the latest events, including town hall meetings and share your thoughts on the issue. including video from any town halls to have gone too. there is more. that is that c- span.org/healthcare. now, a federal communications commission form on broadband. at the economic stimulus package calls on the fcc to develop a plan. as part of the pr