that is what we do with the dnc. the staffers walk into that building every day and ask themselves, what can i do in my corner of the world to help the president succeed today? i think that you will all agree that in a tough economy since the 1930's, what we've seen in as president have been the seeds of a very transport the presidency. let me give you a couple of highlights that matter to me. health insurance for poor kids -- president bush be dead the s- chip bill twice and within two weeks of coming in, this bill had been signed by the congress. 11 million children in this country have health insurance who would not have had it if that had not happened. for cuts -- us as governors worry about health insurance, that was important. equal pay for women during delhi ledbetter act which had been a dream of a lot of people and kept getting tripped up has been passed, is signed, and now women are guaranteed by law equal pay for equal work and it was way overdue. that has been done, that is in the rearview mirror, that is

so what did the dnc did?it is doing three things right now and those three things are too kind of a naked to this president and this moment, and so let me just be quick and tell you about them here first, the number one presidential success, that is our number one goal. the i have a different job than howard dean had. he was the loyal opposition, he did not have the white house so he had to be the loyal opposition and build up the party but i have a different job about the success of the president's. the world is a successful american presidency right now. [applause] and our nation needs it and a successful presidency makes it easier for anybody running as a democrat in any of us in any community and a challenge presidency as a enough of history creates a hundred or lease a cross when for democrats saw the first goal that we have as presidential success so we have organized a round of presidential success to be the political arm of the white house and that is what we do at the dnc. i tell the staffer as you w

the dnc circulad this t-shirt. with the enomy still headed south this199 bsh lost the election and now continuing high unemoyment numbers and talk that a stimulus may be needed to sa"we told you so." >> we tried to explain to the presidt that growing government was't going to get america back to work ain and by allowing small businesses and americ families to keep more of what they earn, they're the real engine of economic owth in americ >> the only thing the stimulus plan has stimulatedsore vernment and more debt. and hse republicans are determined to kin to advance policies tha will get this economy moving. >> and the white house always said that job numbersould be the st thing to improve, but will the ony becomen image problem for the obama administration, jining es is he washington post" editorial write jon that are geardt. is it a problem for the presiden he's i europe and now you have these proble. it's n as ifhey developed in the last week, but they are big problemseating up. >> yes. it's a p.r. prblem, and

at the dnc, we have not hesitated to call them out. we're not doing that for name- calling. we are doing it because if we hold the mirror up to them, i know there are members of congress who are republican who do not like that. they ran to get things done and get things to happen. they ran to serve their constituency. i hope if we hold that mirror up again and again, there will be some who will say "that is not me. i want to work in a bipartisan way to make things happen." i think we saw that in the climate change bill vote. the leadership was pressuring the members to vote no. eight broke and voted yes with the president and the democratic congress. we will keep doing that. most of what we do at the dnc is not about the other side. we are not the loyal opposition. we are the presidential party. we are the political arm of the white house. you will see the overwhelmingly positive about what we're doing. we will joust and also with the other guys, but we're mostly about the positive. that is what we do. it is great to be with you. i'm going to go on the road to talk to democr

we will stay on this as the dnc.will stay on in working with members of congress until we make it happen. the president has said it will happen. i believe it. i fundamentally believe that at the end of the day, it is what the american people want. we are smart enough and compassionate enough and innovative enough to figure out how to do it. so many other nations have figured it out. we can figure it out and make it happen. i have asked you to get involved with ofa when you go back to your community. both sides have to pass bills, both houses. then there will be reconciliation. that will play out over some time. we need to keep a sense of urgency about this. you can do that in your communities in amazing ways. i encourage you as you go back to make that happen. we are also interested in politics. let me talk about politics in conclusion. every november is a bit of a greeting card for the president. every november puts new partners in place for the president and congress. we are starting this year with two races i care

therefore, his work with the dnc -- hey, come on. talking about lame duck right now. >> again -- let's not forget, he was on the short list for obama's vice presidency so he is very well connectd with the current administration. >> let's stay in virginia. the department of transportation has decided they will close 18 rest stops around the state. there have been some folks who have made a big deal about this, but the rest stop system was created when a lot of virginia -- a lot of other states -- were far more rural than they are now. you've got mcdonald's, starbucks. how much does it really matter in the grand scheme of things that they shut down these rest stops? >> i think they are important, dependinon the time of day that you have to commute. >> right. exactly. >> i remember a recent trip -- my son had an emergency apr appendecto appendectomy. he was in charlotte. i left here and it was pouring raining and on the way back, i had to leave at midnight to come back here actually to be on this program. so, i said, oh, my goodness. if

greta: the dnc ran an advertisement that has shown you saying this. >> he already has. has he done anything that you can see is working? greta: i am hoping. i thought that the better idea, when we need to put money into the system, was to get rid of some of the taxes on people's weekly in comes. -- incomes. i thought that was a faster infusion of cash into the system. they should have more take-home pay. >> they have less. greta: they voted on a stimulus package instead. i did not think it was fast or in need but i hope it is successful. >> it won't, it cannot possibly succeed. this is my point earlier. greta: i will confess that it has not given -- >> they are now predicting that unemployment will go double digit. greta: it is worse in michigan. >> in these blue states, we are going straight down in the wrong direction. this is not by accident. these people are not competent, their ideas did not work. we don't need to turn this country into a banana republic. greta: that 10% number does not include those who have not given up. more than anything else, i want the stimul

i think the dnc and the democrats in congress need to be careful about making this a partisan issue. i think president obama has tried to avoid that there are lots of thoughtful blue dog democrats who are concerned about the cost of this program. i'm supporting president obama's program. but i think there are genuine doubts and some of the very good republicans like lindsey graham, john mccain and others have serious questions. we ought to not make this ah@ partisan issue. it's too bad the dnc just goes right back to the default position when it really shouldn't be doing that. mike: lanny, the democrats can pass this if they just get all the democrat votes. they have a filibuster-proof senate. a 40 vote majority in the house. how would they possibly be able to say it's the republicans block it? they have opposition, as you mentioned, from 52 blue dog democrats. they also have opposition as we saw a week ago from many of the democratic governors who are afraid that there is going to be some cost shifting from the federal government down to the state level on medicaid funding. so, how

why is the dnc doing this now? >> well, you know, it's clear that the republican argument that this -- really the stimulus hasn't created the jolt to the economy that the president wanted, so members are getting ready to return back to their districts, particularly the leaders, they're pointing out the opposite and they're trying to tie these leaders to the bush administration once again. these ads also say they're part of the folk who is got us into the mess and they're refusing to get us out of it. one big caveat here, though, wolf, is how much is the dnc spending on these ads. >> how much? >> they say it's a significant six-figure buy. we don't know what it is. when you talk to republicans say they it's tiny so it won't have much impact. >> are some republicans who voted against the economic stimulus package now touting some of the benefits to their districts and states? >> i would be shocked about that, wouldn't you, wolf? one of the people they point out in this is eric cantor, a leader in the house, and the a

the dnc has had enough of republican hypocrisy and they're taking to the airwaves. >> they supported the bush policies that sank our economy into recession. they broke it. now they refuse to fix it. >> the bonus battle on wall street. the house makes sure financial execs don't cash in on risky money moves. arianna huffington joins me on the return of her book "pigs at the trough." hollywood and hard times when this is happening on tv. >> an economic crisis has hit the nation like never before. >> you know the recession has taken a deep hold. and obama's beer diplomacy. his meeting tomorrow with professor gates and sergeant crowley still sparking controversy. >> this president i think has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seeded hatred for white people or the white culture. >> the race debate. expectations on tomorrow's meeting from eugene robinson. all that and more now on "countdown." >>> good evening. from new york i'm howard dean. keith olbermann has the night off. if you don't like what we already know about the health care bill that's being wor

guest former dnc chairman howard dean on health care reform.p it right here where wall street meets main street. have a great week, everybody. i'll see you again next weekend.

guest former dnc chairman howard dean on health care reform.p it right here where wall street meets main street. have a great week, everybody. i'll see you again next weekend. ♪ >> tim: today's guest is the greatest third baseman ever to play in the major leagues. and in his 18th season with the philadelphia phillies he was a the-time most valuable player, eight-time home run champion, a 12-time all star, a ten-time gold glove winner and the list goes on and on and on. his book is clearing the bases, now, stay with me on this one. clearing the bases, and a hall of famer's search for the soul of baseball. i welcome mike schmidt. >> thank you, timmy. i had problem with those words, sham. >> tim: i have not read the book, but i understand it's very clear. some great lines about george brett, joe morgan, pete rose, all touting the book saying it's a must-read which is more than just blurbs on the book. i'm anxious to read it. >> especially pete, you know? for pete to read a book is tough. >> tim: i was going to wait until the third or fourth segmen

first of all, you have got one of the finest governors in the country, who is also doing a great job as dnc share. please give tim kane a great round of applause. [applause] part of the reason he is such a good governor is because he took notes while being lieutenant governor to the former governor and now-a senator from the state of virginia, outstanding public servant, mark warner. [applause] and three outstanding members of congress, bobby scott, jim moran, gerry connolly. thank you so much for the great job you do every day. [applause] i know there is all kinds of stuff that valerie was explaining. don't worry. she is in charge, so she will organize this. i want to give a few remarks at the outset, and then we will save most of the time for questions. first of all, it is wonderful to be here in annandale. i am looking forward to answering questions about what is obviously one of the most important issues facing american families, american businesses, and the american government. but before i began, i just want to say a few words about where we are as a nation. and where we need to go. w

there are a number of people on the test of panel testify here on the dnc site and others from well that the problem we have had in this country was not caused by problems in the insurance industry. and we have heard that from other panels as well. i know in your testimony you said the legislation you were talking about is going to go in effect in 2012, right? and if we were having a panel like this back overseas, would that be the same testimony that we would hear over there as well, that the problems in the marketplace and everything that's going on in europe was due and no large part from the insurance industry as well? >> yeah, i think in many ways we hear the same discussion that you will be pleased to hear what are involved in a representative today, we'll be talking about the same issues and classically we would talk about, you know, it would talk about the effects that they had. but i think as one of your honorable colleagues said already, the securitization issue, is actually a kind of reinsurance in itself, isn't it. that's quite a risk. to the insurance industry as a whole is

this guy is big fund-raiser and so is his wife for the dnc. >> glenn: doesn't ring a bell.w why. i'm sure they love freedom of speech. >> the state of michigan's unemployment rate has hit 15.2% for june. i'm told we're supposing to for a low number in this. this is the highest monthly rate in 26 years. michigan seasonally adjusted jobless rate was the highest in the nation. congratulations michigan. michigan has had the highest unemployment rate for much of the past few years. the fight this, the state democrats are now proposing -- listen to this. they are going raise the state's minimum wage from $7.40 to $10 an hour. they ar also going to increase unemployment benefits and require all employees must provide health coverage. michigan chamber of commerce, hate mongers, what is wrong with these people. raising costs for employers will make them cut workers. employers have so much money, they won't even miss it. as the chamber president means no employers means no employees. are you threatening me? you watch. you'll have a state of employers without employees and then you'll

he took 14 trips during the first six months of the year all on dnc business. he says the money will be reimbursed. >>>repare forar delays onhe baltimore washington parke whi gi teinbe they will ialstll median n six locations betweeer rivdale riverdale road. 32. expect lane closures. it gets underway at 9:00 tonight and will continue through october. >>> a program has a goal to protect neighborhood parking around businesses and to reduce congestion. a meeting will be tonight at 7:00 in northwest. >>> there are more problems for marion barry. council member wants investigators to expand a probe of him and to look into his role in securing $291,000 of city money for its social services group accused of misusing those funds. former members of former foster care children of america say the money never reached some of the people who were supposed to receive it. >>> milk may be getting more expensive. dairy farmers are losing about $1 million a day because of slumping demand. since the beginning of the year, they have only been getting part of the money back cost the

and karen phinney the former communications director for the dnc.n the senate now saying they're not going to have a vote by next friday. blue dogs in the house say they have a deal. liberals are up in arms. where do we stand in health care? is it too much push-pull going on? >> i think the pressure is going to be on to get something done. i hope that what happens is as members of congress go home over the recess, they are confronted with constituents who want to know, look, we voted for change. what's going on here. part of what we're seeing, though, is the impact of the negative advertising and the spin control that i think actually the republicans have put the democrats on defense, unfortunately. and unfortunately, we saw this movie back in the '90s. so i'm hoping -- we're all hoping that the democrats can kind of get it together. it's good news, whether we're seeing on the house side with the blue dogs. obviously there's going be a little more work being done over there. on the senate side, look, a number of senators have drawn a line in the san

he was form dnc guy. we have both sides. but you know we will hear about two hours of america's mayor. >> okay. >> he may say some things -- he may disagree with some policy initiatives of the obama administration -- >> but he might agree with some. >> you can listen. takes two sides. there's a big debate going on in congress. they can't even bring it out of committee at this point. there's debate. we are trying to figure out how to do this. you don't have to change your channel and write in about you s.o.b.s -- >> though we like hearing from passionate viewers. >> i know. but we will hear about having giuliani on. >> that's okay. >> it's like when we have howard dean on. >> in washington today, the commodity futures trading commission holding the first of three hearings to consider whether to limit holdings of energy and agricultural contracts. and whether traders should be allowed to exceed position limbs. the agency is investigating whether the biggest players distort the markets role of price setting when they amass thes

his office says 14 of his trips were dnc business.ans say he's ignoring his state duties for national democratic affairs. >>> the water gate hotel hit the auction block with a price tag of $25 million, but there were no takers. the hotel is back in the hands of its lender holding a $40-million note on it. the water gate hotel is part of the complex made famous by the presidential scandal forcing nixon's resignation. local business owners are hopeful one day it will make a comeback. >> what it did was it helped the community that lived here and the people that lived here had a place to go to have dipper, dinner, to meet and relax, it came part of the whole entity. >> the new york bank that owns the hotel says it will try to market the property in hopes of finding a new buyer. >>> it is now 5:37. 70 degrees. the washington journalist is said to be found on charges of child pornography. >>> plus, communicating with god can be at the tips of your fingers, or at least your thumbs. >>> and the new website breaking it down to watch what you

move on, other democratic groups, expect the dnc to do something like this. >> i remember right after people including jonathan capehart, msnbc analyst said she needs to talk more about policy, give a major speech. let us know where you are with these issues rather than the back and forth she's been caught up in. now, you've got the op-ed. you've got these tweets that are some might say, a bit unusual in the approach of them. who is advising her? >> this isn't the first she's written. >> this is the first since she announced she's resigning. >> a lot of times dhwhen she do this, there's kind of a muddled message. on the same day she announced a big pipeline project for alaska, she was hitting back at david letterman. a lot of times she's stepping on her own message. >> andy, interesting as always. appreciate you coming on. tamron, now what our viewers need to know. >>> the cia's plan to deploy hit squads to kill al-qaeda leaders. >> congress the now gearing up for an investigation. house intelligence chairman said his committee is gathering documents from the cia and plans to make a d

this guy is big fund-raiser and so is his wife for the dnc. >> glenn: doesn't ring a bell. don't know why. i'm sure they love freedom of speech. >> the state of michigan's unemployment rate has hit 15.2% for june. i'm told we're supposing to for a low number in this. this is the highest monthly rate in 26 years. michigan seasonally adjusted jobless rate was the highest in the nation. congratulations michigan. michigan has had the highest unemployment rate for much of the past few years. the fight this, the state democrats are now proposing -- listen to this. they are going raise the state's minimum wage from $7.40 to $10 an hour. they are also going to increase unemployment benefits and require all employees must provide health coverage. michigan chamber of commerce, hate mongers, what is wrong with these people. raising costs for employers will make them cut workers. employers have so much money, they won't even miss it. as the chamber president means no employers means no employees. are you threatening me? you watch. you'll have a state of employers without employees and

>> i think beyond the ads the dnc is running right now in the key states, it would be tough for them to amp it up further than that. when democrats see the president out like he was yesterday in new jersey, that was a very, very powerful speech he gave for jon corzine. i don't think there are many democrats who wouldn't like to have him on their team. >> thank you very much. and again, we are waiting for president obama to talk about health care in just a couple of minutes. this is really, this is intriguing at so many levels. what is he saying to the senators? how is he going to use the bully pulpit today? >> the president said we've talked about talked about fixing health care, his words very strong, so it will be curious to see which president obama we hear in a short while. >> that will be very telling. >>> in the meantime, we'll keep going. calls to investigate the cia are growing as we learn more about the secret program kept from congress. >> eric holder is considering appointing a special prosecutor to see if several interrogators tortured detainees and broke the law. joining

dnc wasting its money on ads. reid. senate majority leader slammed the democratic national committee on thursday running ads to pressure centrist democrats for the health-care plan calling it "a waste of money." his comments sent the staff in damage control mode but also reflect a growing frustration among centrists who have been reluctant to back a government- run self -- health insurance plan. liberals have been urging centrists to support it from of using various television and radio campaigns. this week a wing of dnc said it will run ads in states represented by centrist senators. he slammed the of dnc for starting democrats as the republicans or special-interest groups. new york. >> host: from auburn new york is a dale. what did you think of the president's speech last night? , very good. i have been listening to some minority's calling up, and all i can think is the doubletalk. i mean, they can't hardly articulate themselves. the thing to do, if i were them, is go to school and forget about all the racism. and i m

he says he spends a day and a half each workweek dealing with dnc business. most of it is fund-raising and policy issues. he is still keeping his travel plans confidential. >>> metro has some more tough questions to answer today. questions brought up by another youtube video. it shows a bus driver texting on the job. it was posted yesterday. >> we were able to tell it is one of our buses. we have a general idea of what the operator looks like but don't see the face. if the person who posted it can get in touch with us and let us know that it was whatever route at whatever time of day and whatever day of the week i'm pretty sure we can track down the individual without a problem. >> reporter: we reported yesterday that metro suspended a train operator for a week after video of him texting was posted. >> now a followup on a story we brought you 24 hours ago. a deadly crash just before the clara barton parkway. we know now that 39-year-old men dose is a and franklin monanares died when their car fell 60 feet to the ground below. they were hit from behind bay dru

he tells the "washington post" he spends a day and a half each workweek dealing with dnc business. most of it is fund-raising and policy issues. he said he would only work nights and weekends while still governor. me is keeping his travel plans confidential. >>> leaders of the eight biggest economies are meeting in italy. high on their agenda is global warming and economic issues. susan roberts has more. >> reporter: eight of the world's most powerful leaders are reaching out to five of the fastest developing nations them g-8 and g-5 will try to find common ground on a host of issues including global warming and international trade. president obama will lead the climate discussions. yet the president and world leaders agreed to do what they can to keep the average temperature from rising by more than 3 1/2 degrees. the g-8 pledged to cut green house gas emissions by mid century but couldn't get developing nations on board with the plan. the global economy will be high on the agenda. the developing nations are expected to complain they are the ones feeling the brown of the current f

be smart about the action we have to take, and the political points, well, you know, right now the dnc is running around, you know, trying to gin up activity around what senator demint said, you know, is that how we're going to do the politics here? >> the more you delay, the more you delay, the more we're going into the hole. i think something has to be done. i think everybody agrees it's important to come to some type of decision. >> right, i agree. >> because we're already struggling in this country and health care is costing uz up the wazoo. >> do you know how much it's going to count? >> far more than we can continue. senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, can you put a cost on it? >> mr. steele talked about it at the national press club yesterday. it's a huge amount of money. and mr. steele agrees with everybody that that should not continue. it's way too much money. but what i thought was interesting at your national press club feed, i've been reading it here, it was a really interesting speech. you didn't say what you would do to solve the problem. you've bashed obama a

the dnc is blaming members of the republican party for their role in recession.hey supported the bush policies that sank our economy into recession. they broke it, now they refuse to fix it. tell republican leaders to stop playing politics with our economy. >> interesting. well, traffic on the official white house website dropped dramatically despite a redesign of whitehouse.gov was red hot after the president's inauguration but dropped to that of the final days of george w. bush's final days in office. >> maybe that's a little bit of what we've been talking about, a little bit of obama wearout. the great news is we have this amazing tellgenic figure. they've been programming a lot and maybe the same way people go on the website less, i think he's wearing out a little bit. pull him back a little bit. >> could it be you can get the information from so many sources maybe more user friendly. >> over the past couple of months, it's interesting. got to watch that. >> those are the things we thought you should know today. >> there are signs of improvement on health car

former dnc chairman and former governor of vermont howard dean who will be hosting "countdown" tomorrow wednesday night. looking forward to seeing you, governor. thanks a lot. >> thanks for having me on. >>> okay. coming up, part of congress would like to protect you from getting totally jacked around by your credit card companies. another part of congress favors letting you get totally jacked around by your credit card companies. congressman barney frank will join us in a moment. plus, beers of choice have been revealed for the president obama, henry louis gates, sergeant jim crowley, big awkward knees up at the white house this week. welcome to the now network. population: 49 million. right now 1.2 million people are on sprint mobile broadband. 31 are streaming a sales conference from the road. eight are wearing bathrobes. two... less. - 154 people are tracking shipments on a train. - ( train whistles ) 33 are im'ing on a ferry. and 1300 are secretly checking email... - on a vacation. - hmm? ( groans ) that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first

. ♪ >>> the dnc is trying to come out with a new ad today.e'll play it. >> i hope he fails. >> if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his water o waterloo. >> let's bring in a republican strategist and a democratic strategist r you satisfied with the way republicans have responded to the overall plan for health care reform? >> i think overall republicans responded very well. not only in their criticism to bringing life to the plan, the tax increases, government control that will come with it but also offering alternatives. my boss introduced legislation a couple months with tom coburn and companion legislation sint deuced in the house. >> karen, what's your take? do you think republicans responded well? >> of course not. they have made it very clear that they, you know, declared open warfare on the president. they made it clear they're not interested in passing health care reform. rather, they're interested in using this issue to, in their words, take down the president. because it's very disappointing. they haven't really participat

sarah palin and much more, democratic strategist care 15ny, former communications director for the dnc, tony blakely, former spokesman for newt gingrich, and cnn political contributor ed rollins. first, let me start with you, tony. this is a bombshell. this is absolutely a bombshell. nobody expected this coming. what does this do for her chances in 2012? >> it's a little early to actually have a sense of what it's going to do. i think we're going to split on our judgments. i think it's an interesting move. i think it frees her up. it's very unconventional. all the washington polls are going nuts over it. which suggests to me as mentioned earlier maybe it's a smart move. the normal rules don't seem to apply to her. she's a fascinating character. she's going to do things her own way. i think the key for her from here on out is she's got to get a solid team of advisers that she can trust and follow. my sense is she's bouncing around without that. and that's the next step -- >> i want to bring in another republican strategist, ed rollins. this is a smart move for her? do you agree with ton

because they're complaining that harry reid, you know -- they're going to harry reid, get the dnc tot pressure the conservative democrats? >> ea >> here's what i would say. i remember a democrat from the suburbs of philly was asked by president clinton to vote for the tax bill. she voted for it. the republicans mocked her and said bye-bye. and she did get beat on the taxes to a guy that isn't the coolest politician in the world, john fox. could it be that a lot of democrats are scared? if they vote for this bill with an increase for the taxes for the rich of 4% to 5% that they're going to get nailed? >> of course they are. look, any member of congress, democrat or republican, the chief concern is always their own behind. and the fact that these modern democrats and those in the cycle like linden are going up for re-election. >> this is why everybody is wondering why is the white house rushing? they're rushing because they know the closer this calendar moves to ten, the harder it is to corral the votes. they think they can get all the votes now because it's an easier vote to explain a

because they're complaining to harry reid -- they're going to harry reid, get the dnc to stop running they running -- >> they're running -- >> here is what i would think. i remember back in '93, a woman named marjorie, a democrat from the suburbs of philly was asked by president clinton to vote for his tax bill. she voted for it. the republicans mocked her on the floor and said bye, by, more jor ri and she got beaten by john fox. could it be a lot of democrats are scared, not just the conservatives. if they vote for this big health care bill with an increase in taxes for the rich, 4%, 5%, that they're going to get nailed? >> because they will be hit as tax increasers. of course they are. any member of congress their chief concern first and foremost is always their own behind. the fact is these moderate democrats, especially those in cycle are -- >> i will say this, this is why everybody was wondering why is the white house rushing? they're rushing because they know the closer this calendar moves to ten, the harder it is to corral enough votes. they think they can get all the votes the

analyst, and democratic strategist karen finney is communications director for a long time with the dnc. patrick, it looks to me like sarah palin is looking at the pat buchanan playbook. she wants to do what you did. she's had a very short public career in elected office, but that doesn't seem to mind. people don't seem to mind that. can she run basically as a commentator? as a person who doesn't like new york, doesn't like the media, doesn't like washington, doesn't like the government, doesn't like l.a., hollywood, can you run a completely negative rhetorical campaign basically? >> well, if you're the out party and let's say she's out there in 2010 raising money for the party at state conventions, going in for candidates who invite her in, yeah, the red meat, she rallies the faithful, she rattles the cages of the media and the liberals like no one else can do, yes, you can do that in an off-year campaign. but if you're running for president of the united states, you got to have an agenda in foreign policy and an agenda in trade policy and an agenda in economic policy. right now if you

former dnc chairman and former governor of vermont howard dean who will be hosting "countdown" tomorrowednesday night. looking forward to seeing you, governor. thanks a lot. >> thanks for having me on. >>> okay. coming up, part of congress would like to protect you from getting totally jacked around by your credit card companies. another part of congress favors letting you get totally jacked around by your credit card companies. congressman barney frank will join us in a moment. plus, beers of choice have been revealed for the president obama, henry louis gates, sergeant jim crowley, big awkward knees up at the white house this week. two medium cappuccinos, you're ready for the mid-morning rush thanks to a good breakfast. one coffee with room, one large mocha latte. medium macchiato, light hot chocolate hold the whip, and two espressos. make one a double. she's fiber focused! i have two cappuccinos, one coffee with room, one large mocha latte, a medium macchiato, a light hot chocolate, hold the whip, and two espressos, one with a double shot. gonna take more than coffee to stay this foc

. >> thank you very much, dnc chairman governor tim kaine. always a pleasure. we hope to see you on soon as this debate continues. >> look forward to it. >> absolutely. >>> programming note, rnc chairman michael steele will play "hardball" with chris matthews tonight at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern. president obama healolding a pr time news conference on wednesday night. >> the democrats want this done now. they don't want to wait until september that. seems abundantly clear. >> delay is death. that seems to be the message. >>> top pentagon officials say they're doing everything they can to find and free an american soldier captured by the taliban. private first class beowe bergdahl is seen in this video. he was kidnapped just five months after he arrived in afghanistan. >> having been with the forces, in fact, who are conducting the operations to recover him or to find him, they are extensive, vast. they're on a 24/7, and we're doing absolutely everything we can to get him back. >> meanwhile, we're learning some in bergdahl's close-knit hometown knew for weeks about

national committee, everything you say is going to be scrutinized, and you know, maybe the head of the dncnk he probably doesn't along these lines. so you know, i think it is all fair game. you know, i think people have fun at michael steele's expense and i think he doesn't get credit for the tremendous amount of money that they are able to raise, again, you knee when all of the odds are stacked against us right now. >> what a fair and honest answer from karen, a republican. >> i think that patrick is not being honest. here's why, patrick. i think while you say great things about michael steele, i think democrats are delighted to have michael steele out there leading the charge against the president's health care because on the very point karen says, when you're out there making the charge against health care and you don't know what your own health insurance is, that's a major pr problem for republicans. >> i think that's one of the points, david, about the plan that's coming out of congress is that it just doesn't help people who -- it's not strangers it's helping. it's actually helping p

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network that president obama built during his campaign that is now organizing for america out of the dncd that line. and the other groups pushing to sway moderates and conservative democrats into the "no" column. one thing that they have going for them, though, that the folks pushing the health care plan have going for them, that is august traditionally is a month where not a lot of folks are buying attention, particularly in an off year. they're taking their kids to the beach, to the pool, they're focusing on ball games, they're not watching a lot of tv. >> i'm going to be hosting a radio town hall meeting tonight here in portland. i can tell you, if it's any indication what was i saw in madison, people are fired up for this issue. i think it's going to be a very active august. nancy pelosi gave the marching orders to the democrats before they went to recess. here's what she had to say. >> there will be a drumbeat across america. a positive drumbeat across america about what this means to the american people. for them individually and their families. for our businesses to be more compet

now we go back to the governor of vermont and former dnc chairman, howard dean.like maria is having tonight on her special on cnbc. but governor dean, if you could give me your thoughts on sarah palin's final speech when she stepped down. what do you make of this? >> actually, i have some sympathies. i don't agree with most anything that she has said, but i have been in that spotlight, and it's really tough on your family. if you are not prepared for it, it's tougher. i think she was not prepared for it. but i have to agree with her, the liberty takes liberties with your kids, and i don't appreciate that. even though i don't believe in anything that she believes in, and i don't think that she can see russia from her home, i think she is in a tough spot and got more than she bargained for when she was put on the ticket. >> i have sympathies as well, and i expressed that on my own set, but if that was the issue, why wouldn't she go into it more? i think more americans would have sympathy for that, her abrupt exit? >> i don't know. that i don't understand. i learned

congratulations to the dnc. >> what do you think?> it's pretty clear that senator demint was talking about waterloo for president obama's health care plan, the big government-run plan. interestingly enough, i don't know why democrats are so worried about republicans now because really it's democrats who have a problem with democrats. president obama has a problem -- look, he's got the senate. he's got 60 votes. he's got control of the house. the reason he's not able to get anything done now it's not republicans. he doesn't need them. democrats are not signing on to this huge, expensive trillion-dollar experiment. that's his problem. >> it's a big problem that some of these democrats are -- >> a point from last night, the -- senator demin's problem was he said this will break him. he wasn't talking. he was talking about breaking his presidency. but at any rate, yes. and if you listen to everybody, the point is -- and i think the white house feels pretty good about this, everybody is saying this is difficult, this is huge. they can't g

the dnc launched this ad, aimed at conservative democrats. >> it's time. >> it's time. for health care reform. >> reporter: turns out democratic small business owners who make over $280,000 don't want to pay a surcharge on their income to pay for the president's trillion dollar health care program. so democratic speaker nancy pelosi has come up with an alternative plan. instead of raising taxes on those who make more than $280,000. she wants it to apply to couples making more than $1 million. when you hear $500,000, you think, my, god. but it does apply to 1% of taxpayers, and some of them aren't happy either ample cording to the nonpartisan tax foundation, a self-employed company making $1.5 million a year in montgomery county, maryland, pays $583,863 in taxes. after the bush tax cuts expire, their taxes will go up more than $62,000. throw in a 5.4% sur tax for health care and that goes up $9,000, for a total of $655,126. and while that may sound luke a fine way to raise revenue, this economist says this won't begin to pay for the kind of health care reform the preside

this week a wing of dnc said it will run ads in states represented by centrist senators. he slammed the of dnc for starting democrats as the republicans or special-interest groups. new york. dale on the republican line. what did you think of the speech? caller: very good -- i was listening to some of the minorities calling of and all i can think is double talk. they can hardly articulate themselves. the thing to do if i were them is go to school and forget about all of the racism -- and i mean some of the egregious racism, you can't overlook. but some of the stuff they are talking about is just baloney. go to school. thanks a lot, pete. host: this is from "the new york daily news." on your screen is major jennifer -- she is sitting in a capt. spot on air force one. all female staff on chopper is a first. the first time an all-female staff flew the president on marine 1. she was appointed marine 1 capt. during president bush's tenure. she flew president bush and she flew president obama and now for the first time and all-female staff flew marine 1. arkansas, darla, a democ

us ed rendell, chairman of the national governors association as well as the former chairman of the dncoins us from washington, governor, welcome back. good to see. >> nice to be back. >> $3 billion is not good, at least it's not 26 and at least it's not in gridlock the way we have in new york, right? >> sure. our revenue decline was 8% from the first quarter of this year. the average mid-atlantic tate decline was 14%. our unemployment rate is a full point and a quarter lower than national. in balance, we're doing okay as a state. but we still have difficult problems. the question is how to reach the gap we do have. i think we need to do it by a balance of cuts. i've already cut this proposed budget two and a quarter billion dollars and revenue increases. it's inescapable when you lose $2.3 billion in a year you have to do revenue increases unless we gut everything we do including education, including public safety. so many things we do as a state that are so crucial to the quality of life in pennsylvania. there has to be a balance. i've got republican colleagues in the state senate who