i am contessa brewer.or bowe bergdahl, the soldier that has been missing for the last several weeks. >> our commanders are sparing no effort to find this young soldier. and my personal reaction was one of disgust at the exploitation of this young man. >> any word yet on the search for bowe bergdahl? >> no, u.s. military officials and military intelligence still believe that pfc bergdahl is being held by the taliban inside the eastern region right along the pakistan border. they feel like they are gaining some ground, that they are getting good intelligence, and nobody is willing to predict that they are anywhere close now. and as not to tip-off the enemy, they are sharing very little information about how close or what kind of information they have. >> and there are a lot of theories about what happened to the private, and how he got outside the base. this analysts, this military analysts on fox went out on a limb and has outraged veterans groups with what he said about bowe bergdahl. let me play it. >> we

i'm contessa brewer.s conference and coming up, we will be looking for the president to talk with iraqi prime ministerial maliki. cat. specially formulated to promote hairball control and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. friskieif we don't act, food. medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act. >>> can the president ease concerns from the public about costs? also, what about blue dog democrats? can the president stop their barking? >>> sarah palin's problem under fire and on the ropes with just four days left in office with the latest allegations derail whatever she was planning for the future? >>> also, man of steel? new

i'm glad you're here contessa.hing. >> the one republican in the room. go. >> america hates a quitter. when things got tough there, she was under some fire. there's been a lot of -- you can't be a politician and not have people say negative things about you. she kicks off her heels and she runs. ross perot '92, had 39% of -- at 39% in the polls, leading the pack in june. whole things comes out about his daughter and some pictures and he quits. whatever happened to ross perot? co-have been president of the united states. think the one time that we have really seen her metal-tested which is right now, she turns and runs? it's over for her. that's good for the republican party. i'm happy for it as a republican because there is better candidates out there. >> thank you, mr. polone. lots more to come. we're doing half-hour meetings for a couple of days. we got lazy. we didn't do anything. we br drinking by 11:00. now it's 9:40, the meeting's not even half over. >>> treasury secretary paulson testifying. we'll talk about

quickly, contessa, what sels going on?telling fellow lawmakers doing nothing is not an objection. the president will hold a prime time news conference this evening. you can see the president live here on msnbc tonight and we'll take the press conference live at 8:00 eastern and followed by special editions of our lineup. >>> hillary clinton insisting pursuit of iran's nuclear weapons unacceptable. she spoke in thailand earlier today and suggested the u.s. could do more to enhance the military strength of its allies if iran continues to pursue nuclear arms called the umbrella approach. >>> south korea opposite of the parliamentary procedure. lawmakers screaming and wrestling after the south korean ruling party tried to stop a set of bills on media ownership. opposition officials tried to use the couch and other furniture to block ruling party lawmakers from entering the main hall of the national assembly. one person sent to the hospital. in new york state i was wondering if we would see a scene like that in sort of the titt

contessa, wh's going n? >> okay,o "the huffington post" is loing at what the cia may have bn misleading these democratic lawmakers or congress general. we know about the waterboardg allegations, but "huffington post" is pointing out it cou also be this secret scall exutive assassination ring that seymour hirsch referred t whene was at the universy of minnesota giving a little speech. hirsch alleges it was a secret program de up of elite military fo that reported to no one, they didn't report to the defense department orhe ambassador or cia stati chief. he says tha's possible may have reported to di chney. that may have been who was overseeing these. dyla >> that's one of those it's hoifying and not surprisg in thme sentence for a lot of folks i know. maria teresa kumar back in the conversation. jonathan is here. democrat, member of thehouse intellence committee going back to 003, one of seven democrats who sen a letter to cia director leon panetta arguing he misledcongress. i should point out panetta soon in

i'm contessa brewer.t this morning show gross domestic product fell 1% in the second quarter better than the 1.5% than expected and better than than the drof-off from the first quarter this year when the gdp fell 6.4%. how do we characterize this getting worse less quickly? >> think of jumping out of an airplane and pulled the parachute. your rate of decent has to go slower than stopped. >>> christina romer is at the white house. our panel, jonathan capehart and chrystia freeland is here. i'm delighted to have you here. what is your perspective on the slowing rate of decent. whether in the housing market getting bad as a less fast rate than the economy which is deteriorating at a less worse rate, that we are coming potentially to a point of deceleration, if you will? how do you see it? >> i think you characterized exactly right, that we had -- one of the things that came out of the new gdp numbers, we revised a lot of the numbers going back. one of the things we learned is that this recession is each wors

>> well, first of all, i don't sagree with what contessa is sang.legal so drug sal and possession of wholesale amounts is part of what wre saying. go to the scnce, national institute of health. persistentse impairs memory, learning skills, can lead to addiction, increases risof cancer, head, lung. we've got to go withscience. it's a harmful drug. it's liste major because getting adolescents. we want to decriminale personal possession keep the drug illegal. >> wll come back tthe other side of this, again, as i said before this is a two-hour meing every day. thank goodness. rob, realquk. >> yeah. it was never suggested it would be for sale at 7-eleven where kids can get it. it's mijuana dispensaries which currently ave. we do tax with a octor's recommendation. abt 100 million guesstimated for the state. we're talking about a $2 billion plus, by legalizing, removing e doctor's referral requirement, california, the economy is in the hole. we really they'd to do this and there's no reason not t except for es. allies. it's alys been lie since ohibition st

iill defend himim inhahat regard, contessa andnd will talk ababouthat.ntsa make her counterprpois s ich are cecertnly valid. >>erert metoto jump inn here. >> p plee e do. >>>> t problem with michael jackckso t theast ten ararsf his lilife he d not have one friend he cocoultrust. everyone tririedto burn him. in my bookok i got accesess to document frromhehe fstst childd molestation ce,e, the jordan chanandl ase. ii proved t thahe insurancnc company forced himim to sele this case. wh michael heear this, he literallyolollaed in tears, oke do. and afterthat,, i never found oneehred of evidence, including the sendnd case 0404, that this guy ever molested kids. hehe led children. he opened thedoororor cldren. worldwide. n nev had propoper childhood so he wanted, , afrr he h ha al the success, he's b bee inhehe spotlight s sin he's, you know, just a litittld. >> i h ha toaake a eaea here, iaia stephen made the poioint human beings donon'tikikeo watch other human being diststor ththemlves in me fashion asas evidencece of tirir own didislef what this look li.. pe

i'm contessa brewer. there's progress being made in both the house and senate on health care reform. the group of financially conservative members of congress, the blue dog democrats, with a deal -- the plan of public option and the possibility of co-ops allowing people to choose between private insurers. any flute vote on the house bill won't come until at least september. the deal has sparked a rebellion among liberals in congress. nancy pelosi gives her weekly update later this morning. we'll be watching for her reaction. >>> in the senate, a bipartisan group in the finance committee is praising a plan they say will cost $900 billion, cover 95% of americans and be fully paid off within a decade. but the idea of a public option appears to be off the table in this particular plan. it looks like the president might be losing the message war in the health care reform. our brand-new nbc news/wall street poll shows just 41% approve of how the president is handling health care reform. by the way, that's nearl

now, contessa, what do you think about that? i thought this was a pretty provocative column for brent because he said many of us may have been misunderstood barack obama. he clearly wanted to take about race the other night. >> he was pointing out essentially when we saw the president at the naacp anniversary dinner, the next day what we talked about was his challenge to black families to step up, parents to put their kids to bed early, but not a lot of time on his remarks on how families are still underemployed in this nation. >> and you saw in some of his subsequent remarks to jean r, tt kind of ticked him off a little bit. >> hard for any of us to see our words nitpicked apart and only focus on one. david brooks talks in the op-ed pages where the democrats are headed under the leadership of president obama. according to polls, brooks writes, americans love president obama personally, but on politics, he and the democrats are losing ground. brooks says we're only in the early stages of the liberal suicide march, but there have

for details about guaranteed income for life. >>> i'm contessa brewer.uty mayors, rabbis in new jersey are under arrest in what's being called one of the biggest investigations in state history. it looks like an international money laundering conspiracy, public corruption. what are you looking at, jonathan? >> reporter: looking at all of it. they are literally carting the suspects away by the bus load here. 30 arrests so far. we're told the number could grow into the 40s when this operation is all said and done. public officials all across this state, we've got the mayor of hoboken, other public officials from the city of jersey city, these are all large communities here in new jersey. all across the state, the fbi and irs agents have been out making these arrests. also as you said, community leaders of several rabbis arrested, in a money laundering scheme that totalled the tens of millions. we expect a news conference later today from the u.s. attorney and fbi officials here in newark to explain the exact nature of these charges. clearly this is one of

maybe y your piupup tck would help,, contessa. ey're really having trtrblblin ahead here. . >> it's trueue. but if you look at the datata todaday,jim. we saw rtail sale s w ws re dow for r all e e jor stores but th weren't as bad as expxpteted. in a lot of cacaseshey were nowhere near ass bad as expecte. sa was down 4%. w werlooking for11%1%. at the same time, , lo at the employment rate, you ththat too, even ththoughororpeople jojoing g thlines of ememplment, it was much less than bad than peoplele pepect. >>sisilvlining. glass half fufull >> i'm justt trying to sa i i't it possisiblwewe'rgetting it a boom here? >> i it's ssssle, but there's gog to be a big differencnce thisis te e beeen other receceioions -- betenenthis o o and other recessioions wrere ha over thehe l la 40, 50 years, t big difrereeis there's so mu leverage in our system,m, there has to be yoyou believable unwnwdidingf leverage, , we c't'tix this by eaeati more debt like the lstst , 50 years, so this isishyhy consumers are e starngngo save momore when they're ge

i'm contessa brewer.conservative who called the president a racist. >>> later, how big is the threat of homegrown terrorists here in the united states? but right now president obama is in north carolina trying to help americans understand what he plans to do in this health care battle over reform. >> the bills started coming in and i knew that i was not going to be able to make the bills with my income and also with my husband's income. and it just started snow balling from there. >> but as that mother found out, and others are finding out, health is out there. the executive director of the pretty in pink foundation. give me the lowdown on what your organization does for women who experience breast cancer. >> yes. thank you for having me. the pretty in pink foundation is a not-for-profit organization within the state of north carolina that provides funding for breast cancer patients for treatment. i'm referring to anywhere from surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and many times all three. >> what rol

but contessa, what is going on today? >> today, sarah palin is a private citizen, but not out of the public eye. she took the opportunity to slam the media. >> democracy depends you on, and that is why our troops are willing to die for you. so how about in honor of the american soldiers, you quit making things up? one other thing for the media, our new governor as a very nice family, too, so leave his kids alone. >> msnbc' chief correspondent, norah o'donnell, is getting the story. >> reporter: that was a fiery farewell speech palin was giving yesterday. she raised over $1 million for her political action committee. and $300,000 of that since stepping down as governor, or announcing she would step down for governor. and she has a lot of political cash that she can donate to other republican candidates and build a larger national profile if she wants. she has a book that may be published next year. she is expected to visit the ronald reagan presidential library in california in two weeks, and has been invited to iowa. all

i'm contessa brewer.ad a quick b calculus primer at the commercial break. >> i'm melissa francis of cnbc. first let's take a look at where the markets are trading. dow jones industrial average coming back a little bit. it's lower, but not as low. >> actually that's not. but so close. >> s&p is down a little more than two points. the nasdaq is up eight. not bad. >>> ready for things you can understand now? a sports club working on ways to get you working out. they want you to shell out the big bucks for their membership fees even though times are tough and money is tight. so they've got these creative ads to lure you, entice you. >> i saw the ads. it's going to work. i'm definitely signing up. >>> the latest on the michael jackson case now that police are investigating his personal doctor. it is a big business. today the senate judiciary committee voted 13-6 in favor of confirming sonia sotomayor for the nation's highest court. >> one lone republican, south carolina's lindsey graham gave sotomayor a thumbs

contessa? >> all right, lee.hank you. >>> still ahead on the economy, her husband is going to spend the rest of his life in jail and now ruth madoff is facing further legal action. >>> are we seeing relief on the foreclosure front. we'll find out which parts of the country are still feeling the pain. >>> plus, who is behind the wheel? well, it is a child. a very young one. you are not going to believe why he was running from cops. you don't want to miss this story ahead. e air avel for a new generation. to ensure our forces are safer and stronger. to take the world we share to tomorroand beyond. announcer: around the globe, the people of boeing are working together-- to make a difference. that's why we're here. with annuities from fidelity. rn your savings into income -- guaranteed, and get a retirement "paycheck" for life -- guaranteed. call... to get started, and learn how to secure retirement income that won't go down -- guaranteed. call fidelity at... for details about guaranteed income for life, and change t

here is contessa.july fourthy and red, white and blue. >> i love america. >>> "harry potter" turns out very popular in america. huge weekend. it opened to 79.5 million this week, according to the studio estimates from nielson. 237 million dollars would make this the highest grossing foreign open ever for "harry potter" and he is practically a grobe. grown-up now. >> big gangbusters. >> the superlatives of "harry potter" are always, you know? >> much better than sacha baron cohen when plummeted this weekend. >>> the concert promoter for michael jackson has concert promotion foot app. now apparently there is a bidding war for this. it looks like, this is being reported in some places, the offer right now is $50 million is where it's starting for the rights to distribute this footage. >> really? they haven't received their bid for the "morning meeting" yet? >> wow. >> do you have that much? >> $2! $50 million? listen. >> we'll get a picture of his shoe. does the family have that money? >> presumably some

contessa, you are here.cism in america, and we explained the white house, and we can call the meeting off and don't need to come back. i want to talk about banking. and the basic principle about the banks, they lend money and make money by their ability to determine who can pay the money back or not. and it has become i don't care who can pay it back. as a result, who cares. banking breaks down. and the taxpayer has the hot potato. and who has the money? the guy running the banks. and the internet has efficiency. is that a fair character? >> yeah, that's fair character. >> i have a lovely guess by the name is chris larson. and he founded an online bank, which is a lending marketplace. and what chris is basically trying to do is listen, i will be the middleman, and take a smaller piece, and you have invest your money with me and i will loan it out and get it 7% back. and it's like ebay for loans. and he has meaningful concerns about this. before we get into the exact conversation, address your concerns with m

i'm contessa brewer.his month has been the deadliest for coalition forces in afghanistan since the war on terror began. 67 troops killed so far. american forces hold one man particularly responsible, but it's not the leader of the taliban. he's the terrorist group second in command. most people have never heard of him. "newsweek's" up coming issue has a profile of him. it's good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> what were you able to learn about him? how important is he to the taliban? >> he's the key figure. he's been the number two since the begin, but in the last three years, he's been running the organization. >> you list in the article that he appoints and fires governors, presides over council, controls the money and that he commands military, political, religious power. doesn't that make him the number one guy? >> he issues the orders in his name. everyone obeys bar dare, but he's a very different leader. he's much more hands on. >> giving his willingness to meet with people who are strangers

i will get to contessa in a second. survey that asks folks, as you lose your economic power, what do you give up last? what is the last to go? any guesses? two things you would not give up, quickly? >> not sex. >> well, sex is free. you would go nuts, right? >> most of the time. >> cell phone. >> no, their pet or car. >>> the second quarter profits plunged 76% from a year ago, because oil prices are way down from their record highs last year. and let's get an update from the numbers on wall street. stocks opened for business 12 minutes ago. we are down on the dow jones, down 67 points. >>> people in the west are in sweltering heat. temperatures in portland yesterday, hit a record of 106 degrees. seattle, 97 degrees. the hottest in more than a decade. and meteorologist bill karins is here. and i was talking to somebody in washington, and they said the th thermometer hit a high degrees. >> yeah, probably the warmest temperatures you will experience in your entire lifetime. that's how rare this will be. as far as temperatu

i'm contessa brewer.st heard from the escambia sheriff in florida that there has been another arrest and expect to hold a news conference on the additional arrest are. that brings the total number of people arrested for the murders of byrd and melanie billings to eight people now. among those arrested in this invasion-style robbery that allegedly ended in murder, there is a father and son, a 16-year-old, one of the suspects was a member of the u.s. air force special on operations unit. they don't know how he is involved with these other guys, but apparently, this is a well-planned invasion robbery that ended in the death of a wealthy florida couple with so many of their adopted children in the home at the time, nine children at home in the time. reportedly, at least three of the kids saw the robbers. now,er expecting a news conference coming up a little more than an hour from this sheriff on this additional arrest. eight people now arrested in connection with the death of this couple. we will get you all

i am contessa brewer.ome closer to being a supreme court justice. all 12 democratic democrats say they will vote for her. >>> u.s. cities are getting left out of the big give away. they are giving out money to keep officers on the beat during the town turn. and so who is not getting money? new york, houston, seattle and pittsburgh, among others. new york city major, michael bloomberg, said he is disappointed to put it mildly. to punish police department because they have driven down crime. >> keep going. ignore me. >> i can't. you are impossible to ignore. the justice department decided 1,000 other places needed the money, like rochester, new york, and kalamazoo, michigan. i have never been there, so i cannot be the judge. >>> do we really need a study, dylan, to tell us how dangerous it is while texting? >> there is a lot of testing going on on that one. >> it's common sense,no, no. >> put down your blackberry. virginia tech researchers used cameras to observe truckers -- you would think these are the pro

i'm contessa bwer.ging problem of the economy and miions of out of work americans and the government's solution. firs taxpayers she out t.a.p. funds and then a stulus. then the's the minimum trillion dollar health reform the works. and now, talk of anoth stimulus bill joining us now, todd, a national corrpondent with nyc. how far along in the process are we ofhe proposal for a seco massive stimulus bill? >> depends on who you ask. a lot o people interpreted joe biden's remks as a starting gun. and washingtonind of wen into a little minor tizzy after that. manding meetings with white ho persoel. democrats on the hill say they're not talki about it. they're trying to tamp down any exctations becauseey know it wlde politicaldifficult. >> and harr reid urging patience. >>emocrats saying they're not talking about . though ed rendell toda said would leto see a second stus. >> i got to ask you about sarah palin. we're seeing new poll numbers today, one finds two ot of three republicans want sarah palin to be p

contessa?dent and his education secretary lay out how schools can get a shot at 5 billion bucks. president wants to see how schools trying new approaches could find success. so in about three hours he is going to tell states and school districts they can compete for more federal dollars from an education fund included in the stimulus package. >>> dow jones above 9,000 mark for the first time since january but it's opening lower. we've seen disappointing results today from microsoft and from american express. >>> astronauts visiting international space station will take today's space walk more slowly than wednesday. that walk cut short after one astronaut moved too fast and caused carbon dioxide to build up into his suit. the space walk is expected to take 7 1/2 hours. the tale of the tortoise and hare today. >>> angelina jolie calls for more aid to displaced iraqi families. she is calling for more hue man humanitarian aid to iraq. >>> here you are for dance friday. take a look at this reception

i'm contessa brewer. that wraps up this hour for me. from here. they have the latest on what's happening to get that captured soldier back from the taliban. this is msnbc. the world is full of priceless things and amazing deals. find them, share them with mastercard's priceless picks app. download it now. does two jobs... at once. one: kills weeds to the root. two: forms a barrier, preventing new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control. i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. that's a great call. one a day men's. >>> the family members just don't want to to do, or risk doing anything to inflame the situation. >> friends and family knew for weeks about a hometown soldier captured by the taliban, but kept quiet, praying for his release. >> we knew that passing health care reform wouldn't be easy. >> all obama, all the time. the president launches a major media blitz on health care. also, our special look at t

i'm contessa ewer. we'll join andrea mitchell in just a minut first, here's a lk at sme of todas top headlines. ree people are under arrest in connection with the murder of a wealthy florida cole known for adopting cildren with development stall dabilial disae the couple had 16 children. two men he en arsted and a third man chargedith evidence tampering. today on the "today" show, one of the couple's dughter spoke about how the family's coping with their parents'murder. >> they had morelove than ybody could ever imagine, ving one person, muchess 17. they were great people andhis is notomething that should have happened to peoplehat were so giving. >> eight of the couple's children were asleep in the house during the murders. police say more arrests are excted. >>> investigators are combing through 100,000 grav at suburban chicago cemetery. they're looking for hun remains that may have been moved by fo former orkers, chard with digging u bodies and reselli ing burial plots. more than 7,000 families have

>> reporter: well, it turned into a crowd scene here, contessa. houston police circled the clinic.nd that search warrant right now is still being executed. authorities have been here several hours. in large contingent from the houston office of the dea and the houston police department are here in support of two los angeles police department investigators. merely for support. the lapd officers are taking the lead. one of them being an officer dan myers. and they've been in there now for several hours. we've been told that there are two nails on the search warrant, dr. conrad murray and the

. >> okay, contessa. >> why did the president want to see the funding cut in. >> it's because the pentagon, the u.s. military has decided that the addition of 17 more of these f-22 raptors was unnecessary. secretary gates for about a year and a half, i would guess, has been complaining about the way congress and some of the military have next waritis, spending war to fight the next war when the u.s. military is involved in two critical wars in iraq and afghanistan, and secretary gates was afraid that money was being sucked away from the war efforts in both iraq and afghanistan for programs that are not needed now. so this vote today to end the production of the f-22s and cut $2 billion from next year budget is considered a pretty big victory to try to turn that kind of, well, tradition around. you know, this program, for example, had -- it was spread across 44 states, which meant that this had an impact on a lot of districts for congressmen and senators, so they could always count on getting a lot of votes to continue the spending on this program, and john mccain and secretary gates both i

barefoot contessa's in the year. barefoot contessa's in the hunon car insurance.know is that you can contact geico to see if you could save on homeowner's and renter's insurance too. for more information call 1-800-947-auto or check the yellow pages for an office near you. [tires screeching] [screech] accidents can happen anytime. that's why geico's here 24 hours a day, every day. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >> announcer: today's kitchen is brought to you by -- all. choose all and win the battle for clean clothes. >>> we are back with "today's kitchen," back to basics. this morning we stepped across the street to check out this year's kitchen of the year. that's right. it's literally been built in about a week in front of 30 rock and will be featured in "house beautiful" magazine. barefoot contessa is here, she helped design it and you are a contributing editor to "house beautiful" as well. good to see you. are you pleased with the way this turned out? >> it is amazing. i think the kitchen is really the new living room. everybody

i'm contessa brewer. the big story this hour on msnbc.e majority leader harry reid says the senate will not pass the bill before the august recess. >> i think that it's better to have a product that is one based on quality, thoughtfulness, rather than trying to jam something through. >> mike viqueira's in ohio. we know that the president wants to get this done. is the white house at all responding to the senate majority leader's assertion that it may not happen before the recess? >> reporter: it happened between the time the president landed here in shaker heights, just east

contessa is here with a things mimichl l jajackn.n. >> poor debbie rrow though.nd and yet shehe c't deal with h ee paparazzizi thth a arefter heher >> she isis the mothth o of e babibies >> yes. anwilling to prove it. look what happened w whe the journalists went o outtoto try get herreaction. lelet play it. . >> are y ready to f fig for yokids, debbie? e e yo ready to ghgh for your chchilen? >> do not t tohh me! >> nobody toucucd d yo here.e. >> youust didid! dot!t! >> are youou ready tofight for yoyourchildren? a areou ready t to getouour butt kicked?d? don't [ b ble ] ] me! >> thatat will play well. exbibit e. >> leaea her alone. yoyou' interested in t funeral. ii know y are. did you try to tkets? i'm still t ting to figure th one out. i'm aitittl agitated. i guess compapanyaeg,g,hheye operating the memoririal service and they a aoo eera, i g the concert tour. owowthe rights to the c conrt toto? >> therere i spuls they migighte trying t tmamakeheir moneyback. just puttiting it out there. >> how? frfromhehe taxpayer?? >> no. >>>>yy issue is i don't care wh pays

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. >> contessa, thank you so much. what an interesting day, tamron. good afternoon. i'm david schuster live in washington. >> i'm tamron hall. live for you in new york. the big picture today, what we were just watching. more of judge sotomayor's confirmation hearing. she got positive feedback today from republican senators on the judiciary committee. they were granted a third, yes, third round of questioning earlier today. even with that, it looks like they will not delay a vote for her in committee next week or the is that the floor before recess. senator sessions said even he has no intention of holding up the process. >> i will not support and i don't think any member of this side will support a filibuster or any attempt to block a vote on your nomination. >> just how many votes could she get from the gop? norah o'donnell keeping track of it. before we talk about whether she's winning over any republicans, let's talk about the compelling testimony from those firefighters. now we're not looking at professional politicians. these are men who put their lives on the l

contessa, what else is going on? >> other issues going on today. president obama is making another big push on health care reform. he will speak from the white house rose garden after 1:00 eastern time. the committee is launching a tv ad featuring private citizens pushing the agenda. it will air on national networks and in key states. >> my husband's job covered us until he was laid off. >> it's time. >> it's time. >> it's time. >> it's time for health care reform. >> house democratic leaders are pledging to meet the president's goal of passing the health care reform bill before the august break. some are skeptical now. it may be done but not the break. $1.5 trillion now. and it seems like every time we talk about the bill, the costs go up. we have a gallop poll that shows more than half of americans do favor a major health care reform bill passing this year. >> and i think that's understandable. the question becomes what are the reforms and how are they implemented. and this one, i have another chance to read the totality of it, but it's largely b

i'm contessa brewer.sident obama's top officials say the cia did not violate any laws by keeping a plan to kill al-qaeda operatives secret from congress. leon panetta nixed the plan. still, some were furious because they had been kept in the dark for so long. chris kofinis joins me now. so now, you have dennis blair, the director of the national intelligence office saying the cia didn't break any laws, that it was in the planning and sometimes it was off, then back in. what kind of game here are these democrats playing? >> well, i'm not sure it's a game. it's a question of trying to find out the truth. i think dennis blair has his perspective and congress has theirs. there are some really troubling questions that have been raised about this. there's probably nothing more corrosive to our government than if you have an agency and electelect ed officialed deciding not to inform congress. whether there's illegalalties or not, i don't know. >> but according to "the washington post," this is not an operational

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i'm contessa brewer. following a story that has sp k sparked a national debate.go, a spirited defense of a police officer who arrested a black harvard professor in his home leading to accusations of racism. the police union says he did nothing wrong and took on president obama for calling the officer's actions stupid. how would the white house respond? a briefing from robert gibbs is expected anytime. we'll have it here. and there's john harwood with me this hour. john's in california, where the budget crisis has come to a head. >>> but first, the gates arrest. president obama may be stepping back from his comments that the police officer's actions were stupid. it was said that he reported the comment only because it became immediate disstrax. reporters will likely press gibbs on the situation. we'll bring you that briefing when we

. >> i'm contessa brewer.it's the economy" on msnbc. >>> president obama telling the public the nation is closer than ever to a health care overhaul. >> about an hour ago he talked about his efforts in a statement in the white house rose garden. >> the american people understand the status quo is unacceptable. they don't care who is up or who is down politically in washington. they care about what's going none their own lives. they don't care about the latest line of political attack. they care about whether their families will be crushed by rising premiums. >> with us now is nbc white house correspondent savannah guthrie. obama talked about the agreements we with congress. was he trying to create momentum? it seems like he's lost a little bit of momentum. >> reporter: what he's doing is what he did on friday as well, which is to say let's take a step back here and show the progress we've made. everybody watching and wants to talk about the divisions and where the fights are and so he wants to say look, we're

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contessa brewer picks up our coverage next with the economy. hi, there. what do you have coming up?showing signs of stabilizing. we have a huge read on gdp out tomorrow. we'll get you ready for that. also, the market right now soaring on the day. we'll tell you why. >>> and new trouble facing porn star danielle. she was seriously considering a run for the senate, but her arrest may get in the way. we'll explain it all still ahead. stick around. 90s slacker hip-h. ♪ singer: buckle up, everybody 'cause we're taking a ride ♪ ♪ tt can strain your relationships and hurt your pride ♪ ♪ it's the credit roller coaster ♪ ♪ and as you can see it kinda bites! ♪ ♪ so sing the lyrics with me: ♪ when your debt goes up your score goes down ♪ ♪ when you pay a little off it goes the other way 'round ♪ ♪ it's just theame for everybody, every boy and girl ♪ ♪ the credit roller coaster makes you wanna hurl ♪ ♪ so throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em around ♪ ♪ like a wanna-be frat boy trying to get down ♪ ♪ then bring 'em right back to where your laptop's at. ♪ ♪ log on to free credit report dot c

contessa brewer picks up our kovrnl next and will have the latest on the capture of the soldier in afghanistanolitics. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". >>> good monday, everyone. we're looking to the pentagon now to provide an update on the kidnapped soldier. the video has stunned the family of private bowe bergdahl. the taliban released the video of the soldier. we'll see if secretary gates has answers. >>> the clock is ticking for president obama. he's pushing an over haul. six months in, we'll measure how he's doing. bringing republicans in on his plan and whether they're important for the president to get the job done. >>> a horrifying car crash and explosion and braver

. >> contessa brewer joins us live. yohad a chance to talk to reverendlsharpton this morning. he haseen spending a lot of time with the family. what are they telling m? what is the mood >> he said it's really time to focus on michael jackson's accomplishments. he inot happy so many people are willing to spend so much time focusing on the mor controversial years that michael jackson spe in front of the famili cameras with bizarre behavior. pointed that out fore the president didhat michael jackson s part of a group of entertners who made avere americans feel more comfortae with black people. d the talked about the family. as you said, he is spending a lot of time wh the family. he says, they are, obviousl devastat butting on a brave face forhe public. let me play it. they are heartbroken, but determed, rmined to uphole his legacy and determined to give him a send-off that is, in some way, reprente of the mmoth impact he's had on the music world andculture world at rge. >> specically, reverend sharpton, he has three children now wh thisas got be just so iredibly full of anguish

. >>> one more success story, another "30 second pitch," contessa tucksen is on the job thanks to a contact who saw her here on cnn. she's working for a major company as an operational audit manager. >>> now, if you want to be part of our pitch, go to our website cnn.com/kyra or tweet us at kyracnn. a great idea. being able to get out there and use all the networking you can to get a new job. >>> rather, let's go back to chad myers. we were talking to him and he was telling us about tornadoes. unfortunately we had a technical problem. chad, we've got you back now. >> it's the upper midwest, ali. i'm not talking about new york city. i'm not talking about a big, populated area, but we have significant weather that's rolling down through oklahoma city, about midwest city, right along the turner turnpike. and then some showers that will be moving into kansas city from st. joe. especially west of the city. and then rain showers into chicago. but the biggest threat hasn't even happened yet. the biggest threat today will be the threat of severe weather up here into parts of the upper midwest. ther

barefoot contessa is here, she helped design it and you are a contributing editor to "house beautifulto see you. are you pleased with the way this turned out? >> it is amazing. i think the kitchen is really the new living room. everybody believes that. when i built my dream kitchen in east hampton, i just thought i'm going to go for it. >> this is based on your kichen? >> exactly based on my kitchen. of cours i don't have the same view. rockefeller center out there. >> but you have the beach. so it is a trade-off. >> what i did was put everything you do in the living room. big, long table for everybody to eat at and lots of stools in front of the counter. big comfortable arm chairs neck to the fireplace. everybody hangs out in the kitchen. there is lots of place to be. >> before we get to the recipe here, give me tips. >> first, two dishwashers. really critical when you give a party. also the dishes. >> dishwashers are here. >> white crate and barrel plates, great for family time, great for entertaining. they're right behind the dishwasher so you're not walking around. >> tell me abou