>> democratic congressman lloyd doggett of texas.hank you very much for your time tonight. >> thanks, rachel. >> and i wasn't there but on behalf of the country, i'm sorry about what happened to you. it was very rude. >> good night. >> thanks. >>> when it comes to professionally organized fake grassroots rent-a-mob, shutting down what used to be normal democratic processes as congressman doggett suggested, today's organized health care riots have a long and impressive pedigree. bush v. gore, anyone? the congressman doggett just reminded us the brooks brothers riot that shut down the recount in miami using -- used paid rioters recruited from republican congressional staff members. as we said last night, this is not spontaneous. what we are seeing at these health care events, this is not grassroots. this is a scripted phenomenon. chris hayes will be here next to name the screen writers. >>> first, one more thing about congressman doggett's home state of texas. a gallup poll conducted among thousands of voters over the first six months

sign with a tombstone with doggett's name on it. another sign had the nazi s.s. lettering on it. doggett saying in a statement he's more committed than ever to pass health care reform. he will be rachel's guest tonight. after lunch at the white house this afternoon, democratic, "ours," max baucus, perpetuating the lies of bipartisanship. >> we agreed there should be bipartisanship because that's more sustainable, it's more enduring, it's the right thing to do. american people want us to be working together. >> remember that's max baucus, fourth leading recipient in all of congress in campaign contributions from the health care industries. just remember to spell it correctly on the check. >>> time now to turn to congressman chris van hollen of maryland. he's the chairman of the democratic campaign committee and serves to assistant to speaker of the house pelosi. >> good to be with you. >> these fake protesters, have the facts become completely irrelevant in this equation. they're opposing health care, they're opposing all government

. >>> joining me now is democratic congressman lloyd doggett from texas. congressman doggett, you had one of the famous events where you were basically kind of chased into your car and out of there by these -- these protesters. >> well, lawrence, that's really the right-wing spin on it. they dribbled out a little videotape. what it doesn't show is i spent an hour discussing and debating this bill and listening to all the taunts and the pictures of the tombstones with my name on it. and they showed some video at the end when their noise got so loud, it just wasn't productive to stay any longer. democrats shouldn't flee. we need to stand and fight these people. >> all right, so now you're telling me something i didn't know based on this imagery. you feel you had a productive meeting -- >> no, i wouldn't say it was productive. i stood my ground and debated with them this bill. listened to all their laughable objections to the bill. explained why a public plan, a public option, is essential, and then what they did after their views were expressed and responded

. >> congressman doggett, were there shouting matches at the good meetings? how did you get control of the situation or were there not too many opponents there in the audience? >> i think one of the things yesterday at the event i had that drew 200, 300 people is that twats a littit was clear s rup disruption would not be committed. my goal was to make sure there was an even-handed approach. i gave the opponents the same amount of time as those who support my view that health insurance reform is essential. there was fair play. i think maybe the republican cameras weren't rolling and so we didn't have as much performance, art and theater as we did a week ago. >> sounds like a template for those going forward. sir, overall though do you think the white house has done a good enough job of explaining its health care reform plan, the points that it wants to get across? i understand there are different bills out there. but is there a knowledge gap overall in some of the f fundamentals? >> it's a very complex bill. i do think president obama's been doing an excellen

congressman lloyd doggett of texas. thank you. >>> let's watch this video from yesterday in philadelphia just to show you this thing is going all around the count where another rowdy crowd shouted down u.s. senator arlen specter and also health secretary kathleen sebelius. they got shouted down, too. >> i have never seen members of congress work harder. it is unacceptable to me for somebody that -- hours and hours and hours and hours. if people say they haven't read the legislation, then tell them to go back and read it. >> my practice, when you have a bill and we have a lot of them that are a thousand pages, is to take my top staff, and we divide up the bill. we have to make judgments very fast. >> who is behind this? joining us right now is u.s. republican senator bob corker of tennessee. senator, who is behind these raging crowds of anti-health reform folks? >> i have no idea, chris. i'm going to have a town hall meetings throughout the state of tennessee this next month, and i'm sure we'll have large crowds, and my

in texas, lloyd doggett tried to talk. he too was drowned out. one man tried to pick at the congressman in a rather unsavory way. >> the crowd was angry. i suppose some might have had a negle negative reaction to the poster that said, devil to all being. >> reporter: how did it come to this? some said the protests were organized by republicans. >> desperate republicans and their well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs, just like they did during the election. >> reporter: the word mob is greatly insulting to those on the other side of the argument. they say they are simply organizing their rights. >> i feel like my constitutional rights are being taken away from me right before my eyes. i don't like the direction that we're going. they're taking away our freedom of speech. and the silent majority is finally fed up with. >> reporter: moveon.org said they have a plan to fight back against the radical right wingers. the group is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations. it's not only the weather that's hot in august. now the politic

>> congressman doggett joins us in a minute. the message there was fairly clear.th care plan. >>> also, we've been hearing so much crazy talk from the right recently from the know nothing birthers who want to claim the president is a native born kenyan, who claims the government wants to kill old people or at least talk them into killing themselves, but is it just possible, in fact, really possible, really possible that stirring up the far outs on the far right will also gin up the conservative base and get things perking for the republican party come next november with the midterm elections? >>> plus, what about this government program that gives you up to $4,5

i suppose some might have had a negative reaction to the poster that said, lloyd doggett, traitor to texas, devil to all people. >> reporter: how did it come to this? depends who you ask. the democratic national committee says these confrontations are orchestrated by the republican party, and the democrats have released this web video. >> they've lost the confidence of the american people. now rubbens and well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs, jut like they during the election. >> reporter: the word mob is greatly insulting to others on the other side of argument saying they are simply exercising their rights. a pennsylvanian who attended a town hall hosted by arlen specter -- >> i feel like my constitutional rights are being taken away from me right before my eyes. i don't like the direction that we're going. they're taking away our freedom of speech, and the silent majority finally is fed up with it. >> reporter: now liberal advocacy groups moveon.org sent out an e-mail to supporter, say they go have a plan to fight back against radical right wingers. the group is raising hu

in texas, congressman lloyd doggett tried to talk. they depicted him in an unsavory way. >> the crowd was certainly angry. i suppose some might have had a negative reaction to the poster that said, "lloyd doggett, trader to texas, devil to all people." >> reporter: how did it come to this? depends who you ask. the democratic national committee says these are orchestrated by the republican party and democrats released this web video. >> they lost the confidence of the american people. they are organizing angry mob like they did during the election. >> reporter: the word "mob" is greatly insulting to folks on the other side of the argument. many say they are simply imposing their rights. >> i feel my constitutional rights are being taken away from me before my eyes. i don't like the direction that they're going. they are taking away our freedom of speech. the silent majority is finally fed up with it. >> reporter: now moveon.org sent out an e-mail to supporters saying they have a plan, "to fight back against these radical right-wingers.

senator doggett or her?there are honest questions about health care reform, questions that need to be asked and answered. in the meantime, we have the screaming groups on either side. that isn't helpful. let's be honest about this. town meetings are not bean bag, i've had hundreds of them and sometimes folks get upset. that's part of america, part of our process, this is clearly being orchestrated and these folks have instructions. they come down from a texas lobbyist in washington. >> let me ask you something -- let me interrupt, senator. is there anything wrong with that? this country was founded on a whole series of events including the boston tea party where people were organized and instructed to go somewhere and raise hell. is there anything wrong with that? >> when there are a group of people sitting in the middle who are trying to ask the important questions and get answers. and instead a person takes the microphone and shouts until the end. that isn't dialogue, that isn't the democratic process. we

>> congressman doggett joins news a minute. the message there was fairly clear.also, we've been hearing so much crazy talk from the right recently from the no nothing birthers who want to claim the president is a native born kenya kenyans, who claims the government wants to kill old people or at least talk them into killing thegez, but is it just possible in fact, really possible, really possible that stirring up the far outs on the far right will also gin up the conservative base and get things perking for the republican party come next november with the midterm elections? >>> plus, what about this government program that gives you up to $4,500 towards a new car if you trade in your low mileage clunker? if it ran out of money while the congress was on vacation, at least the house is on vacation, will the senate go on vacation without extending the program in time?

>> congressman doggett joins news a minute. the message there was fairly clear. just say no to the obama health care plan. >>> also, we've been hearing so much crazy talk from the right recently from the no nothing birthers who want to claim the president is a native born kenyans, who claims the government wants to kill old people or at least talk them into killing themselves. but it is just possible in fact, really possible, really possible that stirring up the far outs on the far right will also gin up the conservative base and get things perking for the republican party come next november with the midterm elections? >>> plus, what about this government program that gives you up to $4,500 towards a new car if you trade in your low mileage clunker? if it ran out of money while the congress was on vacation, at least the house is on vacation, will the senate go on vacation without extending the program in time? transportation secretary ray lahood is coming here directly today to defend the program. >>> plus, it's excitement eve in the keystone state. democracy it

in texas, congressman lloyd doggett tried to talk. >> you voted against -- >> reporter: he, too, was drowned out. one protester used his artisan reach to pick the congressman in a rather unsavory way. >> the crowd certainly was angry. i suppose some might have had a negative reaction to the poster that said lloyd doggett, traitor to texas, devil to all people. >> reporter: how did it come to this? depends on who you ask. the democratic national committee says these confrontations are orchestrated by the republican party. the democrats have released this web video. >> they've lost the confidence of the american people. now desperate republicans and well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs like they did during the election. >> reporter: the word mob is greatly insulting to the folks on the other side of the argument. many of the participants say they are simply exercising their rights. a pennsylvanian who attended a town hall hosted by arlen specter and health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. >> i feel like my constitutional rights are being taken away from me right

some might have had a negative reaction to the poster that said, lloyd doggett, trader to texas, devilople. i found it more amusing than i did something to be fearful of. >> reporter: but he did call the crowd a mob. he also claims it was orchestrated by the texas republican party. as for the state gop, it did admit to having a camera in the crowd thanks to an anonymous tip but denied organizing what it called a grassroots event. also telling me doggett owes us and them an apology for calling the crowd a mob. >> we don't want them to yell and shoud down people. we want them to try to talk to the congressman. >> reporter: some democrats say the conservative group, freedom works, urges it's members to participate not in a discussion about health care reform but a shoutdown. >> you get some instances where peec people are so passionate about what's going on, they get caught up in the emotions an they start yelling or chanting. that's only because they are passionate about this. >> reporter: the democrats say plenty of like minded organizations want it to work out that way. that's why they

. >> reporter: texas democratic congressman lloyd doggett believes they're carefully orchestrated. >> this notion of a grassroots campaign is totally and completely phony. the republican party has coordinated this apparent outrage and stirred it up. >> reporter: some demonstrations are clearly organized. a conservative activist wrote a memo at other town meetings to put the congressman on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. >> these are real constituents with real concerns, even if they're getting organizing help and being told about it from outside groups, they're going there, and these are people that vote and matter in terms of the political process. >> reporter: but the disagreements are getting increasingly ugly, with comparing president obama and congress to adolf hitler and the nazis. some house democrats are actually canceling public meetings. >> i think we can have honest policy disagreements without being either disagreeable and certainly without being violent. >> reporter: the next legislative action won't be at least until september 8. that's when lawmakers re

they called government-run health care surrounded and then followed democratic congressman lloyd doggettporter: the crowds are partly the result of conservative web sites asking for turnout at town halls, including three tonight in virginia, mississippi, and south carolina. hundreds of events by both democrats and republicans are being targeted in every state. but the turnouts also reflect real fear over the increased taxes. >> stop spending our money! >> reporter: and government controls that are part of the health bills being considered in congress. >> they know that that means somebody's taxes are going to eventually be used to pay for it and they're worried that's their taxes. >> reporter: political analysts say democrats face a very tough august because beyond the shoutdowns anti-reform forces have also mounted phone campaigns. >> it's all the calls that are flooding into the district offices of members of congress and i bet that a lot of these calls will be negative. >> reporter: avoiding this kind of uproar is partly why democrats wanted to pass health reform before the august rec

in texas, congressman lloyd doggette tried to talk. he, too, was drowned out. used his artisanry to depict the congressman in an unsavory way. >> the crowd was certainly angry. i suppose some had a negative reaction to the poster that said lloyd doggette traitor to texas, devil to all people. >> reporter: how did it come to this? depends on who you ask. the democratic national committee says these confrontations are orchestrated by the republican partry yi and the democrats have unleashed this video. >> now republicans and well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs just like they did during the election. >> reporter: the word "mob" is insulting to folks on the other side of the argument. many say they're exercising their rights. one pennsylvanian said this -- >> i feel like my constitutional rights are being taken away from me right before my eyes. i don't like the direction that we're going. they're taking away our freedom of speech and the silent majority is finally fed up with it. >> reporter: now liberal a advocacy group has sent out an e-mail to supporte

congressman doggett got mobbed next day, but next day he got back on the horse, went out and had anothere of town meetings and had a very, very good dialogues with his constituents. so members of congress want to talk to their constituents, and frankly their constituents resent it, if they are prevented from having that dialogue with their members of congress while they're home. >> roger, you think there's a backfire here, the immaterial e immaterialagery actually backfiring and making it looks like that's their position. >> it's a terrible image for the republican parties and special interests like the drug companies, trying to sabotage health care reform. the majority of american people just want more details, and the people who want to stop it, they're going to is suffer the consequences. >> thank for joining us, roger hickey. coming up, the democratic candidate for virginia governor is losing independents. can president obama help him rebound is it the president's campaigning for him right now. i'll put it to our panel, next. he ran off with his secretary! she's 23 years old! - oh, c

it depicts texas democrat lloyd doggett as the devil. you see the symbol of the murder rows nazi ss on a sign that says stop socialism. if you see another view of that same sign, you will notice and we can see the man holding it up, we discover he is holding a little girl on his shoulders as he is holing thding that sign. one more. this from yesterday, a child, denver, colorado. enough said. well, maybe, except for this. just a few hours ago, the anti-defamation league released a statement calling the use of nazi imagery into the health care debate, outrageous, deeply offensive and inappropriate. >> speaking of offensive, wait until you hear what three police officers in texas sent out about president obama. talk about bigoted language. is a two to four-week vacation enough for them? we are going to ask you that. >>> today is my day when i bring you my special when a fallen soldier is brought home, from the home his mom hears the knock on the door to the moment he is put on the ground at arlington national cemetery. this is an exclusive

has produced a video for the front page of its website, which includes footage of congressman doing doggett being screamed at and bullied. and the share of the senate campaign arm of the republican party cease an electoral advantage in these demonstrations of hostility. told a newspaper, "fear, i would say, precedes anger, and i think there are a lot of people who tell me they are scared of what they see coming out of washington. i see real opportunities for us." we've got fear, anger, frankly we're psyched. another congressman, another republican congressman, is actually making jokes about the death threats and the other threats of violence against democrats. little known congressman todd aiken of missouri, now officially has something that he will be known for. >> a different people in d.c., come back to their districts and town hall meetings and almost got lynched. and so the people -- if you are not approving lynchings because we don't want to do that, but the point is people were really upset at some of this legislation. >> that video was shot at a forum held by congressman aiken earli

but i think you get a flavor of not just from the yells but when they show up with a sign, lloyd, doggett, trader to texas, devil to all people and a beautiful photograph of a marble tombstone with my name on it that they didn't come to learn and talk. they came to demonize. >> look at that video. it seems like they weren't just content to tell you what they have to say which, by the way, is their right as citizens of the united states. >> absolutely. >> we are glad there are people out there assembling and passionate and are showing how much they care? >> i couldn't agree more. and would defend their right to say everything critical of me. it's when they go over the line and engage in conduct that denies their neighbors an opportunity to be heard. it wasn't that i was hurt. it was that their neighbors were denied their right of free express by their unruly moblike conduct. >> one of the things i noticed when i watched all three of them, that's why we wanted viewers to watch all three. correct me if i'm wrong. i got the impression that a lot of the things that were being said in one were

lloyd doggett had a town hall. and quite a loud town hall.his is all part of some orchestrated effort by critics of the president's plan. >> they do have a script. i think this is disseminated through the republican party, through websites they're going through, and through some of the private organizations that are helping orchestrate all this. >> other demeanors have gone as far as saying there are angry mobs out. senator durbin, yug your colleague in the senate, claire miss ca mccaskill says i disagree. the people are concerned over health care proposals are manufactured. she says there are real folks with strong opinions. who is right? >> she's right there are a large group in america that are stuck in the middle. they have honest questions about health care reform. questions that need to be asked and answered. in the meantime, we have these screaming groups on either side. that isn't helpful. town meetings are not bean bag. i have had hundreds of them, and sometimes folks get upset. that's part of america, part of our process. this is cl

when we first started following the story, you heard a charge by a congressman, congressman lloyd doggett who joined me here. on video, you see him being chased from this forum on to a parking lot. he told us this isn't some ground swell of grass roots rage. he says it is being coordinated and scripted. >> i think the script is des sem nated through the republican party and websites that they are going through and through some of the private organizations that are helping orchestrate all this. >> now, i should say that there does seem to be some evidence that the congressman may be right at least in some part. i, and my staff, have watched video after video of some of these meetings. we hear many of the same slogans repeated again and again and again. as a matter of fact, here are some. >> it is a direct assault on our personal liberties, our personal freedom, our personal privacy. you need to open it up to the free markets and get the government the hell out of it. >> there you go. some of the themes, social looizlooisocialized medicine, u than asia and, quote, unquote, read the bill. th

take a look at what happened to democratic congressman lloyd doggett back home in texas just this pastar, those protesters. >> reporter: chanting "just say no" to health care reform. take a look at what happened during a town hall with health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius and pennsylvania senator arlen specter. [ shouting ] >> you can hear the booing and carrying on there. crowd not too happy with senator specter's comments about making adjustments very fast. joining us is senate majority whip dick durbin from illinois. there are reports there was a memo sent out actually encouraging people opposed to some of the policies being explored by the obama administration to carry on that way, to challenge and yell as the democratic lawmakers. what is your take on the climate and what will happen over the next few weeks as you're fighting for minds, the public minds, and the polling shows people are a little hesitant from what they're hearing here. >> overwhelmingly people want health care reform that gives them stable costs that their families could afford, stable coverage so

the whole drug commercials on television and how we are being proceeded with this whole "do this doggett will make you feel better." well, pharmaceutical drug use did go up, pharmaceutical drug abuse has been going up since the early part of the decade. i have read some pretty convincing studies that have argued that's not the reason why it went up and the rise in prescription drug abuse isn't as large as it is made out to be in the press, but like i said throughout my book all these different drug to trends are the variety of different factors and i think that is certainly one, and a lot of the time you don't know until a decade later until you can look back and see everything that was going on at the time and actually have some decent numbers to go by. the most recent numbers like could get from this book went back to 2006 for the one federal study in 2007 for the other one because they are so slow and analyzing and bringing the data. they are years behind understanding what goes on. now, the other television ad also write about and it is the one parody on the cover here i think it als

as one woman protesting congressman lloyd doggett elatedly told the "new york times," he jumped in his car and fled, it was like he was tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. it was a beautiful thing. the point is not discourse. it's political terrorism. so how should democrats respond to these attacks when there is no proportional response to irrationality? there's no good response to bad faith? today, the white house posted a video responding to a mash-up video made by a conservative blogger, and this afternoon after meeting with president obama, majority leader harry reid vowed to press on even in the face of this opposition. >> the american people want health care reform and we're going to do health care reform. in spite of the loud, shrill voices trying to interrupt town hall meetings and just throw monkey wrench into everything, we're going to continue to be positive and work hard. >> health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. secretary sebelius, let's take a look at what you encountered in pennsylvania this weekend with senator arlen specter. >> that'

. >> reporter: lloyd doggett was in his district over the weekend talking health care. trying to. to youtube -- also courtesy youtube, pennsylvania snore articenator specter with hhs secretary kathleen sebelius in philadelphia trying to talk health care reform. >> the bill is going very fast and we move about -- >> reporter: suddenly a four-week august recess seems a little too long. most capitol lawmakers will head home with one thing on their mind, health care. actually two things. >> members are always thinking about running again. so, 2010, top of their mind. >> reporter: even those not up for re-election next year feel the heat of an august recess when a hot topic like health care is in limbo on capitol hill. senator kent conrad will do listening sessions across north dakota. but bet your last dollar that august recess this time will have a lot more to do with talking than listening. >> i think it's also very important that people across the country hear that the course we're on is not sustainable. >> reporter: on the house side, speaker nancy pelosi and republican leader joh

. >> congressman doggett thanks for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >>> former president bill clintonth korea. what he's not saying about the trip and why. listen to this. >> i go to bed every night knowing, and listen to this, i go to bed every night knowing my heart is clear. she did not drink. he's not an alcoholic. >> a husband defending his wife against police claims that she drank alcohol, smoked marijuana before causing a horrific crash on a new york highway. hi, may i help you? yes, i hear progressive has lots of discounts on car insurance. can i get in on that? are you a safe driver? yes. discount! do you own a home? yes. discount! are you going to buy online? yes! discount! isn't getting discounts great? yes! there's no discount for agreeing with me. yeah, i got carried away. happens to me all the time. helping you save money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. >>> let's get back to jack with the cafferty file. >> they just never cease to amaze. the question this hour is, what message does it send that during the worst recession since the great depression,congre

organization movednd that is the basis of networ centric warfar at that point, i develope@ a term that doggettire professional life. i was in a meeting -- this was made 15 years ago and i said something related to his work and i said transparency of informationreed's self correcting behavior. and what it does is provide immediate feedback loop bas on what you're doing and information and firemen yotr operating in and information is available to the organization. if it is out there and transparent you will in fact have to get less direction. you will hav more cohesive more efficient operation moving forward. as we move forward into the ternet age it became clear to me tt the next thing that was impacting first of all computations and communications was network theory. and i would offer to books if you haven't already read them. one is linked and the other is nexus and this is the emerging science of network theory as a successor to the chaos theory to explain the phenomena how we interact with each other and i am talking about small networks, random links as a way to plain things like epideolog

also telling me, "doggett owes us and them an apology for calling the crowd a mob."ust saying, can we talk civilly? >> we don't want them to yell and shout down people. we want them to talk to the congress mep. >> some democrats say max pappas network, freedom works doesn't want that at all. they want them to participate not in a discussion of health care reform, but a shoutdown. >> you get some instances where people are so passionate, they get caught up in the i motion t. instead of a civil discussion, they start yelling or chanltich they get to this way. >> reporter: they list where town hall meetings will be held or operation embarrass your congressman celebrates making lawmakers look foolish. but you could argue those sites don't leave out republicans. there is one senator shouted down himself at a town hall meeting who says all of this doesn't matter. >> my preference would be to have it more sedate. listen, democracy is robust. it can be rough and tumble and nothing really surprises me anymore. >> i'm sure it doesn't. senator spector has been around for a long

that's not exactly how it turned out for democratic congressman lloyd doggette of texas.on and answer session on health care. >> just say no! just say no! >> oh, yeah. it was pretty ugly, especially if you were a blue dog democrat. the representative's office called the protesters a mob sent by republicans. but democrats aren't the only ones facing tough crowds. republican senator chuck grassley of iowa was confronted, too, recently. >> why is your insurance so much cheaper than my insurance and better than my insurance? i should have the same insurance that you have. >> so it doesn't sound like it will be a quiet vacation for many members of congress. so what does this august recess mean for the health care debate? will republicans or democrats win on the battleground? we will ask our best political team here to tackle this issue. you have all dealt with congress and obviously, this is one of those rare moments, they get more than four weeks or so to deal with all of this. how productive is this? >> well, this is a time when you have a bill that's unfinished and by the w