francis townsend flatly deny that. >> not only do not think it played politics, it was never discussed >> for the region >> there was concern that if intelligent supported raising the threat -- the threat level, it might be to the detriment of president bush because people might perceive it being political. >> rich's language does not appear definitive. the allegations in clear, that donald rahm spelled -- rumsfeld wanted to use the color-coded threats system for political gain. in reference to the advice to americans to cover their homes in saran wrap secured by duct tape in the event of a biochemical attack, former justice department official said -- rich himself contradicts his own claim that he had been pressured, riding -- apparently, the white house did not call. elsewhere, he wrote that he was never directed to raise the tariff threat level "no matter how many analysts, pundits, or critics say so." bret: president obama today called the recession -- called the release of the pan am 103 bummer highly objectionable. his press secretary of -- described video of his welcome as offen

>> one of the people involved is francis townsend, right in the middle of this and was supposedly in of command. she said it never happened. she's an intelligence employ em. who knows. when you give government power, government uses power. illry had a stack of fbi files in the basement. that's why some of us don't want to give the government power over our health care. >> oh, nice pivot. let me pivot on that one right here. lie big the bush administration, health care. okay, good move. i want your thought on this. i have a problem with tom ridge not speaking up before the midterm. >> i just have to say how deliciously predictable michael. look, ed, certainly tom ridge doesn't deserve any badge of courage reward. he should have quit but colin powell should have quit over the iraq war and he didn't either piem not going to praise tom ridge here, but i think what's really important is what he was saying. you said it at the time, i said it. now it's confirmed the bush administration, they were willing, cheney and rummy and ashcroft and bush were willing to play politics with national sec

former homeland security advisor francis townsend says politics never played a role in the alert level being raised. >>> a new "washington post" abc news poll shows president obama's numbers dropping. 49% of people polled say they believe he will make the right decisions for the country down from 60% at the end of his first 100 days in office. the debate over health care reform is blamed for bringing down those numbers. >>> our other top stories, there is a last-minute rush to get d.c. public school students vaccinated before school begins on upon. you have chanced today and tomorrow to get shots for incoming students at clinics across the district and for the first time, d.c. has mandated girls as young as 11 get the gardisil vaccine that protects girl from cervical cancer. some see this as a controversial move but parents can opt out without explanation. >> there are some women that would really prefer to have this vaccine. that should be their choice. it shouldn't be i mandate from the d.c. government that sixth grade girls have to have this accine. >>> here is where students can ge

joinings now former bush homeland security adviser francis townsend.tening to kill a detainee's children, telling a detainee that his mother would be sexual assaulted in front of him. are these acceptable interrogation techniques? >> well, anderson, let me start by saying i don't think there's anybody in any administration that would defend interrogators who went beyond what was legally authorized. there are memos that outline that. and this report is the result of self-reporting by the cia about issues that they uncovered and that they referred to the inspector general. >> you believe these things went too far? >> well, clearly the cia did. believe they were beyond it. and that's why it was referred to the justice department. but we should be clear. career prosecutors in the justice department reviewed this report and found that there were no crimes that were worthy of prosecution. this is now going back on that and asking a second group of prosecutors to do it again. and i think that's unnecessary. and, frankly dangerous. >> james, prosecutions aside

if some of these people like francis townsend want to come out and call him a lure, they're welcome to do that, but if you parse their words carefully they're also hedging a little bit. townsend said it was never mentioned in that context in her presence talking about politics and the terror alert. >> i agree with you. you don't ever say what your motive is. nobody is going to say let's gig this up so we can get our boss re-elected on tuesday. what kind of brain would say that at a meeting? but what struck me this weekend as we're getting into this weekend is the way in which these people are not really denying what ridge said. ridge says there was politics around that table and it was push backed effectively by him. dan bartlett and the others went along with it. they didn't try to push this thing. did you notice it's the flacks coming out and denying it, not the principals. ashcroft's name has been taken in vain. rumsfeld's name has been brought up. he's been accused of playing politics yet he doesn't come forward. ashcroft doesn't come forward. when do you leave office and stop havi

. >>> francis townsend, george w.at the time ridge says these decisions were being made is going to be with us. we're going to be talking to her in the next half hour in the most news in the morning. >>> hurricane bill could hit the east coast this weekend with dangerous waves and rip tides. right now, the powerful category 3 storm is bearing down on bermuda. the island nation is under a tropical storm warning right now. forecasters say there will be heavy flooding there as well. rob marciano joins us live with the latest. he's in bowling green, ohio this morning. we look at the track of bill. what will the east coast likely feel? >> well, as soon as later on this afternoon, they'll feel the waves. that's for sure. huge swells with this thing. a hurricane with hurricane-force winds that extend 110 miles from the center. very katrina like, very ike-like. both have the ability to push the water out ahead of them, hundreds of miles out ahead of them. it's not going to make a direct strike, but lit be enough waves to make

nieces, mariaan k shrir andathlathleen kennedy townsend, john kerry and chris dodd, plus bob shrum and doris kearns goodwin. >> many thanks to melissa francisster holt. why people over 50 are start in to get back into tattoos again. >> i'm turning 50 this year. >> and? >> and i am not. >>> sesame street, we'll find out what happened when we get a visit from elmo. thanks for being here, enjoy the visit from elmo. thanks for being here, enjoy the rest of your weekend.ee -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> the final resting place for another beloved politician. >>> plus the ominous orange glow of wildfires threatening million-dollar homes. why firefighters are having such a difficult time getting the upper hand. >>> horror in a small town. seven people found dead.

his nieces, maria shriver and kathleen kennedy townsend, john kerry and chris dodd, plus bob shrum and doris kearns goodwin. >> many thanks to melissa francis people over 50 are start in to get back into tattoos again. >> i'm turning 50 this year. >> and? >> and i am not. >>> sesame street, we'll find out what happened when we get a visit from elmo. thanks for being here, enjoy the visit from elmo. thanks for being here, enjoy the rest of your weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com