joining us, paul gigot, editorial page editor of the "wall street journal," john harwood of cnbc and the "new york times," richard wolffe, author of "renegade: the making of a president," and michele norris, host of npr's "all things considered." and finally n our "meet the press minute" we remember legendary newsman walter cronki cronkite. >> the emotional aspect of it hit me when i had to say "the president is dead." >>> but first secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius. welcome back to "meet the press." >> thank you, nice to be here. >> i thought we'd frame our discussion by going through what the president says, must be included in health care reform if he's going to accept it. now, this is what you said on that topic back in june, on pbs. "it really has to lower costs, cover americans, drive quality and be paid for." so let's go through that, and i want to start with that first principle of lowering costs. most people may not know how expensive health care really is. $2.5 trillion per year, 16% of our economy. here was the president on that score on thursday. >>

john harwood, stick around, if you can.er this morning, eugene robinson on the so-called beer summit. but up next, freddy ball game has sports. >>> why is it so hard to have a real conversation about race? >> because i don't think reverse race simple is as important as unconscious racism. that's where racism is nowadays. it's at the unconscious level. i don't think this cop, officer crowley, is a racist. i just think that we all bring with us feelings and emotions that we don't even know are there. (announcer) some people don't just work. they work to make a difference. to make an impact. to improve the lives of others. they're people in positions of great power. the power to effect change. for them, career advancement is a goal. but not the only goal. for them, it's not about the money. although money is always nice. it's not about a corner office. it's about a greater good. there's a school for people like this. an online university where advanced degrees advance the quality of life. walden university. a higher degree. a

john harwood sitting down with three of them right now in a very special harwood file. john? got three of the people here who are at the center of the action in this health debate. jason altmire of pennsylvania, stephanie herseth, three of the blue dogs we talked about. before i get to the health care. i want to ask you about this cash for clunkers program which has been so popular in the last few days that it's already blown through the billion dollars that were allocated for it. i know all of you are concerned about fiscal responsibility. but do you think in light of the popularity of this program that, in fact, congress should step up and provide more funding so more people can participant? >> we do, we have to pay for it somewhere else in the budget. that's something we believe in. it proved that the economy is ready to turn around. people with a little bit of pride are willing to go out and spend money. i think this has been a successful program. i'm optimistic with what the future holds. hopefully with can make it work. >> both of you voted against this program. are you

. >>> john harwood is cnbc's chief washington correspondent. he joins us with some more on this. john, democrats and republicans are obviously urging the president to slow down on the issue. is the white house listening? >> well, i don't think they're listening to the calls to slow down. the president realizes that his political capital will only dwindle over time, but i do think they're listening to the calls to ramp up cost controls. that's why you saw the president late last week begin to emphasize more volume ewablely his support for a commission that would trim medicare spending over time. he's going to try to use that to convince moderate democrats and some republicans that he's more serious about cost controls than some democrats have been so far. >> to hammer some of that out, is there any indication that this self-imposed deadline to get the house and senate to pass a bill before the august recess could be extended in any way? >> the house, i believe, is going to push extremely hard to get this done by the august recess so the president can have at least one bill on the b

john harwood is there and talked to arnold schwarzenegger about the big budget win. >> reporter: the assembly has now passed that budget deal. in some respects, california's budget nightmare the last search months is over for now. the governor was not in that interview doing any victory dance is in the end zone because those cuts are too painful. take a listen. >> what is your message to the people of california and country about this deal? is it that big hunting knife you pulled out for the video the other day? is it what it's about, zmuts th cuts? >> it is that california can stand up and take care of this. it is the biggest financial and economic crisis we have faced since the "great depression." we have 1% of the people paying 50% people paying 50% of the taxes, the rich people and makes it volatile and kind of vulnerable, because, you know, those rich people invest in wall street, and if wall street crashes now or revenues crash so we are just having the drops of $30 billion in revenues in one year and it is just very hard to deal with, but we are dealing with it

here to talk about what he hopes to accomplish back here at home, we're joined by john harwood, chief washington correspondent for cnbc. one of the issues that came up in the g-8, there's often promise of african aid and that znt come through. did we witness a new start of a level of american engagement of africa today or just a day of symbolism? >> i think anyone who saw the pride in the president's face were he stood before the ghanan par parliament and said i have the blood of africa in me and saw him bear witness to that shipment point knows he's going to focus on africa the way no previous american president could. but he also has huge problems at home including a huge budget deficit so the likelihood is you're going see some increase in direct aid financially but more likely exhortation of the kind we heard from him today. the president also said the destiny of africa will be determined by africans. >> i want to ask you about some of those challenges at home, but first, i couldn't help notice the yes, we can line in his speech today. how much is he employing campaign-like tact a

and there's john harwood with me this hour. , 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

cnbc's john harwood has the news. >> rebecca, you can see that crowd in cleveland that president obama is getting ready to address as part of his p.r. campaign to sell health care reform to the american people. he got some disappointing news before he arrived at that venue from senate majority leader harry reid who said there would be action within the senate finance committee before the august recess but not by the full senate. >> i spoke to senator bachus last night. i spoke to senator conrad this morning. they are going to be able to mark something up before we leave here, which will, of course, leave me with the responsibilities during that time that we're on our break to come up with a bill that's better to have a product that is one that's based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than trying to jam something through. >> reporter: rebecca, this is a disappointment to the white house, but i don't think it's a dramatic setback in terms of the eventual prospects for health care reform. still a difficult slog but the senate works very slowly. you still have the potential for house a

john harwood, this is do or die time, as i've been saying on health care reform, and to me, the biggest issue, and you heard it addressed with secretary sebelius, is whether or not the number one goal of containing costs over time will be achieved. the cbo said this week, congressional budget office said not with the plans you've got in congress so far. how can the president stand behind these plans? >> well i think you'll sea adjustments in the plans. you've seen a ramped up effort to get the medpac idea, independent commission to say no, taking place in the system and i think you've got a live conversation ongoing within the administration, between the two parties on capitol hill about whether, in fact, you ultimately finance part of this package by taxing health care benefits which is one proposal that would raise revenue and could bend the cost curve. health economists agree on that. it's politically touchy. labor unions are against it. are the democrats going to go there and try to strike a deal with republicans? we don't know yet. >> the president was campaigning for governor corz

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for more on the trip i joined by chieforrespondent with john harwood. good rning, john. why did the president choose ghana for his firstvegas here in africa despi his personal ties to kenya? >> i think what he's trying to do, alex, is se a message across t continent that he wants to identify wi and elevate e right kind of politil change in development in africa. 's country that's done fairly well which is so problematic. so barack obama is sending that message. of course, he'll always have those ties to kenya. he visited kenyas a senator. got a tmendous response. he's trying toend a different message right now. >> i was rding something about nigeria says he felt a snub. can keep in mindhere are 50 other appry can countries or and you haveo pick one. th's the way it is. let's speak on wht. it's been describedy what's described as lukewa. overall, john, dyou think this has been a scessful overseas trip for the white house? >> sure. i don't think it's a tremdously consequent kwen chal trip. u didn't have a l coming o of the g. you didn't have all that much coming out of the

i'm john harwood.ron hall will pick things up, next. they'll bring you the latest from the white house and we'll have it for you live as he takes the podium at the white house. >>> plus, south carolina's governor, mark sanford, just lost his spokesperson. the resignation comes weeks after the sex scandal broke. he says that had nothing to do with it. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics.

chief washington correspondent and political writer for "the new york times," john harwood. o see you, john. >> good morning, mika. do you want to be a frogman? >> i have no intention of being a frogman. but thanks for asking. >> by the way, mike, mike barnicle, i heard from espn about the possibility of a 5:30 a.m. show. are you in? >> i'm doing it. yeah, i'm doing it. >> are you mocking the hour of my show? >> it's called "tenth inning." >> wake up with mike. >> "tenth inning." we start from monday opposite willie and al roker. >> you laugh, har a wood, but you're the first guest. i'll see you at 5:36. >> we'll analyze all the west coast games, john. >> my goodness. we have a couple of good op-eds here and a real issue about this health care bill. "the wall street journal" a reckless congress. democrats want to ram through one of the greatest raids on private income and business in american history. say this about the 1,018-page health care bill that house democrats unveiled this week and that president obama heartily endorsed. it finally reveals at least some of the price

cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood here to make sense of the madness going on in the beltway these days. hi, john. >> reporter: hey, sue. things are starting to pop on both sides of the capitol on health care, which is what barack obama wants to happen. right now, senate staff and senators, both parties are negotiatesing the contours of a potential financing package for the senate. yesterday, of course, the house democrats laid out that surtax on the wealthy, going all the way up to 5.4% on million-collar incomes. republicans hit back this morning on cnbc with one member of the leadership saying it would be economic disaster. >> this is nothing but a job-killing, tax-raising measure that will actually take away the quality of care that we have become used to. and in a recessionary time that we're in, will kill jobs. >> reporter: now, sue, democratic aides tell me there is a good chance that that surtax on the highest incomes may be scaled back somewhat when the committee, weighs and means committee, chaired by charlie rangel marks it up this week. you could also see tw

>> cnbc's john harwood. promised you this yesterday and i'm delivering. john? >> everybody knows mark haines delivers, president obama is at the point in the health care plan where he needs his personal persuasive power, all of the competi competing diagnoses on capitol hill are resisting both the tax provision and the cost control provisions in the bill and slowing the process down and slow the house down. that means you slow the senate down as well. the insurance industry is now bracing to become the target for attack. one sign of this, they are now shifting from talking about taxing employee benefits to taxing the insurance companies that offer the employee benefit. it's the same aim, same kind of tax. they thing it sounds better politically if they tax the insurance companies rather than the employees themself. and finally president obama has the challenge on his shoulders to try to make the sale to the public that we can't slow down or delay to get this done. the market is a very bill political challenge. >> john harwood. can president obama convince $250

. >>> we are awaiting news of a health care reform and savings over 10 years, john harwood wanted to get you on because some of the headlines we had seen on tax rates may not be what is in the legislation. what are you hear something. >> i'm hearing that the tax rate to help fund the house democratic health care plan will levy a sur tax of 1% on income between 350,000 and half a million. 1.5% between a half million and $1 million and that is a very steeply graduated rate at that top end over a million dollars a year. it will be very, very difficult to sell that in the senate, but for now democrats think they can get the vote for the health care bill with that 5.4% sur tax on income over $1 million. >> i'm just asking to start to get a sense here, do you have a sense of where the headlines may have come from and 3% for 500 to a million and -- >> i was told this has been in flux all morning. leadership aides said not decided. what we have seen now about a half hour before the house leadership comes out and announces it, we can get details. >> earlier it was 2% and they cut that somewhe

breaking news, john harwood, more on that later in the program. keep it right here on "the kudlow report." the bull market is in full flower. it doesn't mean it's forever, doesn't mean i'm not worried about what's going on in washington. it does mean capitalism is still around and cyclical rebounds happen over and over again. i'm larry kudlow. we will be right back. hi, may i help you? we're shopping for car insurance, and our friends said we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates, apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price. how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that? [ chuckles ] wow! good luck getting your remote back. it's all right -- i love this channel. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today. all around the world, men with erectile dysfunction have asked their doctors about cialis. ask your doctor if a cialis option is right for you because in addition to 36-hour cialis, there's another dosing option: cialis for da

our chief washington correspondent, john harwood joins us with details, john, what is up with this thing. >> larry, as bad a mood as you're in over the health care tax, democrats are in a very good mood today, they not only came up with a way to pay for their plan, but they had president obama on the road telling people in michigan we not only need health care reform, we need it now. >> now is the time to build a firmer stronger foundation for growth that will not only withstand future economic storms but that will help us thrive and compete in a global economy. to build that foundation, we have to slow the growth of health care costs that are driving into debt. we're going to have to do that. there's going be a major debate over the next three weeks. don't be fooled by folks trying to scare you saying we can't change the health care system, we have no choice but to change the health care system because right now, it's broken for too many americans. >>> democrats have clearly decided to risk the heat from the class warfare argument. look at these details of the plan. 1% surtax on incomes

i'm john harwood. >> i'm norah o'donnell. here are a few other stories making headlines this hour.hris dodd has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will have surgery over the august recess. he's confident he'll have a quick recovery. >>> cash for clunkers, it was about to run out of money until congress today stepped in. >>> also, president obama praised the house for voting to put $2 billion into the stimulus program. >>> in iran, president ahminedjad begins his second term next week. meantime today, he denied a rift with iran's speak leader, alexander khamenei, saying he's like a father to him. >> back to that interview with the three, blue dog democrats. we talked about cash for clunkers. two of the three voted against it. >> could i just ask you, why are they called blue dog democrats. i looked it up to remind myself. >> it has to do with the artwork in billy's office. before he became a republican. >> and also, they were choked blue by the mor liberal wing. that's why we're interested in them, right? >> exactly. but one of the questions facing them, how far they're willing

there's our own john harwood on the left side. president obama set to start speaking to the nation in about two minutes. good evening, everybody, i'm larry kudlow. >> i'm dennis kneale, the president focus squarely on health care to rescue this plan and john harwood is inside the east room to rescue this plan. what should we expect. >> reporter: we can expect the president will weave together his arguments on health care and the economy very much on the minds of the american people with unemployment having hit 9 1/2% and he has a lot of legislation in motion on the hill in the house and senate. >> president obama has to snatch victory from the apparent health care jaws of defeat. they will go out for the august recess with no bill and b, apocolypse now, i see this as straight up, free market capitalism versus nationalization socialism. >> reporter: you can frame it that way, but i don't think we're near the jaws of defeat yet. for 70 years people have tried to get comprehensive national health care reform. you still have motion in

cnbc's chief washington koefrnt john harwood is at the white house, where he's following the money trail. john? >> reporter: melissa, this is a very interesting turn in the political debate over the economy. all of a sudden republicans think they've got the democrats and this popular young president on the run. the house republican leader john boehner today accused vice president biden of lying when he said over the weekend we hadn't realized how bad the economy was. and at that hearing that you mentioned representative darrell issa of california said the size of the deficit shows -- and the unemployment rate shows that not only is the stimulus not working it's bad economics. >> in fact, i believe that the discredited keynesian economic theory behind the effort is misguided, and i'm con vinced that it won't work. unfortunately, recent economic data has validated my opposition. the u.s. economy lost 433 net jobs in june, bringing the unemployment rate to 9.5%. >> reporter: now, that's tricky political argument for democrats to responds to. governor ed rendell, a democrat from pennsylvania

john harwood is in washington tonight.ll talk more with congressman mike pence, congresswoman from indiana it, allison squarts, democrat from pennsylvania. now let's take a look at other stories we're following on the ticker tonight. the ceo of ubs says is the bank is on the right path to emerge from the financial crisis. oswald grabon noted encouraging signs. separately a swiss judge saying it is possible that the bank could transfer client data to the u.s. without breaking swiss bank secrecy loss. the government says it opposes mass disclosure of client information. if ubs acquires the data, it could end damaging litigation against the bank. finishing the day higher, as you can see, about 1% higher. >>> shares of cit getting a boost after reportedly entering advance discussions for fund from the federal government. the lender took a hit yesterday. a cut from moody's sent the company's credit rating into junk territory. the stock today was higher in very heavy volume. cit group was higher in heavy volume and many people b

cnbc's john harwood in washington now with the story. john. >> reporter: maria, things are starting to pop in this debate. you had the house lay out their plan yesterday. the senate's beginning to move forward, although the finance committee still hasn't come up with how it's going to pay for its plan. but republicans are already attacking, saying the democrats want to raise taxes that will hurt small business without doing anything about the health care inflation they say is bankrupting the country. >> this does nothing about the cost of health care in america. and if we're serious about fixing our health care system, we've got to go to the cost. >> reporter: so president obama surrounded himself with nurses at the white house today for a little protection, and he tried to rally the troops within the democratic party and the advocacy community, saying what we have to do at this moment of crisis is be strong. >> it's time for us to buck up. congress, this administration, the entire federal government, to be clear that we've got to get thi

cnbc's john harwood is in washington right now with that angle. john?>> reporter: maria, the health care reform pushed by the administration is running into some turbulence. partly those slipping poll numbers. partly also rising concerns about cost controls. president obama went before the cameras today to reiterate that he favors a plan that would bend the cost curve down in the long run, and he said he means it. >> the bill i sign must reflect my commitment and the commitment of congress to slow the growth of health care costs over the long run. that's how we can ensure that health care reform strengthens our national -- our nation's fiscal health at the same time. >> reporter: now, here's why this is a moving target. lots of things in motion. in the house leaders are talking about scaling back that millionaire surtax that drew some controversy last week. you've got moderate democrats who are pushing against the bill as something that's going to exacerbate the health care inflation and the deficit in the long term. and finally, negotiations remain ali

john harwood, thanks very much. hn will be with us through the day. >>> heard on k street, john his on deck. we need to consider if the economy does not recover as consensus expects in the second half. >>> then your best market moves now to profit in the second half and beyond. we've got your cnbc edge. and a small-cap hot hand tells us how his high quality growth strategy is paying off in he's volatile markets. five-star fund is up more than 20% this year. "squawk on the street," live from the financial capital of the world. >>> our next guest says even though it appears the economy has stabilized that is a very different thing than actually getting better. and it could still take another turn for the worse. so, he's come up with four scenarios that investors should consider if the u.s. does not recover in the second half of this year. john hilsenrath is with the "wall street journal." good to have you with us. >> the reason for pulling this up is aed what pretty dismal job numbers last week. they weren't as bad as

let's bring in john harwood. does he think it's important on this particular issue of health care to bring in the seniors. >> reporter: he hasn't been talking about those end-of-life issues. that's one of the big issues in the backdrop of the health care debate. seniors are a large voting constituency. they went for john mccain, not barack obama. they're very at tuned to health care issues. one of the challenges for the president is convincing people who already have health care that they ought to support what he's doing. seniors tend to be relatively satisfied with their health care. what he's been talking about so far is those assuring folks on the tele-town hall, people are talking about taking mon any from medicare, that's for providers, not beneficiaries. he has to mount a public campaign now that this drive to get something through the house and senate by the august recess has shifted into a lower gear. >> john, the issue that has taken center stage here is this idea of only spending money on health care pr

and cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood just spoke with governor schwarzenegger about e progress the state is making. he joins me now with the highlights. john? >> reporter: hey, maria. governor schwarzenegger isn't taking any victory laps because the cuts in this budget deal are so deep. but he is hoping for some benefits in terms of the state's credit rating. he hopes that even though some people have accused cal calf kicking the can down the road, using accounting gimmicks in some of these deals, that wall street will look at this package and give california credit. >> we have made major cuts. more than $30 billion in cuts. we've increased revenues. and that's the responsible thing to do in this kind of an atmosphere. i think wall street is going to look at that and say no, they made a commitment, they came together, democrats and republicans, even though they needed 2/3 to pass the budget, but they did it. >> reporter: now, one of the questions is whether california's going to be right back in the soup a few months from now depending on what happens to state revenue

john harwood is back with us. this struck all of us here as a different address by the president.looked a little upset and took on a personal tone as well. how do you read that? >> i think when he said we are a country that has done the harder right over the easier wrong. he was trying to appeal over the people in washington who have a tendency towards inertia and bickering and looking towards the next election. he is chased by what happened over the last few days, but we can't forget that the president is in a decent position to achieve his goals. the house is moving on a more rapid time table than we saw in the clinton administration and the senate is struggling to come up with something, but it's not like they are near the end of the road. >> i was struck by saying the waterloo to the supporters and reminded me about shakespeare once more and to kind of rally people around him. a very different tone from how he appealed before on a logical level. almost like an emotional level. >> it is so much more difficult to achieve a policy goal in washington than it is to win an election.

so i think he's going to face a lot of grilling on that issue. >> john harwood, here's the problem. most important thing. don't people want to find out a lot of other things from hank paulson in terms of who designed the t.a.r.p. and what it was intended to do and where these warrants are? there's so many other questions. >> sure, there are. if you're a democrat on capitol hill, you also realize that you've got a very full plate trying to fulfill the legislative agenda of your new president. so it's no accident that when you saw that letter come out last week of people wanting an investigation of the fed chairman and his actions on bank of america, it was mostly republicans on there. so i think democrats, certainly they want to talk to hank paulson, remember, they've got a treasury secretary now to work very closely with hank paulson on the design of the t.a.r.p. and resolution of the financial crisis as they played it out last fall. i'm not sure they're too interested in excavating for too very long on that subject. >> you know, but, john, you make an interesting point with this le

john harwood is cnbc's chief washington correspondent. he joins to us talk k about at e broad level here, john, if this does noto through, how much of a loss is that for the president? what exactly is at stake here? >> well, it's a delay for the president. but we don't know yet whether or not this health care bill is going to falter in the fall. the president wanted to get it through the house and senate to try to have negotiations early in the fall but there's still time and they do have substantial agreement. the toughest strategic call for the white house may be whether or not to cut bait on those bipartisan negotiations between republicans and democrats and try to do this with democrats alone. of course, that course has risks as well. >> it's been pointed out back in the '30s, whether it was social security, medicare in the '60s, there's been few big democratic initiatives that didn't happen without the help of the gop. can this go forward without votes from republicans? >> president obama would rather have votes from republicans. but

. >> reporter: in an interview with cnbc's john harwood, the governor tried to put a positive spin onhe budget deal. >> i think what we have done is we have steered away from the iceberg. and, you know, we are coming out of it. >> reporter: observers believe california is still sailing in dangerous waters. >> this budget deal is to some extent created with chicken wire and chewing gum. one-time fixes, accounting gimmicks. >> reporter: one of the gimmicks, siphoning off $4 billion of tax revue from cities and counties. now they're threatening to sue. >> what we have to do is beg for the money that is already due us and they get to either borrow or steal it. >> reporter: one other hang-up, a plan to raise additional revenues by expanding offshore oil drilling in the waters off santa barbara, failed to pass this afternoon.bçxw the legislature also gave back to the cities, $1 billion it was threatening to take away, that may stop some of the lawsuits but leaves holes in the budget. the governor will have to come up with some more gimmicks to fill those holes. amy. >>> nbc's george lewis.

our own john harwood will give a daily update on everything you need to know about how much money they are going to tear out of us to pay for health care. john, thank you for being here. what's the latest? >> the latest is that this is hand to hand combat time and they are notuing handbags for this. in the tough bargaining between democrats and republicans. president obama offered the public face of the argument today when he came out again as he will every day talk on this issue and say he is committed to a plan that improves quality and cuts cost. >> we have agreed that our health reform bill will include dramatic measures to cut costs while improving quality. each of these bills improves oversight while cracking down on waste and each produces give aways to insurance companies in medicare. each of these will give incentives so patients get the best care and not just the most expensive care. >> here's what's happening behind the scenes. there is disagreements between the house and the senate and the house which had been on track for rapid approval before the august recess, now they w

. >> you aregood, john harwood. maj announcementnt brorond burris. >>>> hsxpxpted toay that he's not going toto run for the senate seat in20110. weweavav learned of coursee's not raised much money anddf f cocosese, ny demococraon cacapil hill pretty hpypy aut that.. we're going to have this live right here on msnbc. that does it for. tron hall and david huster are up next. you're watching msnbc.c. ze fits. . ♪ he & & sulders j just for dandruff. myth. the fact is, head &ulrs does more than ordinary shampoos and conditioners it giveses you... seven n scalp p d hair benefis inuding relieving drynesess, itch and irritat fact. one size may not f a all but beautiful, 1010 flake-free hair does. head & shoulders. spect the scalp. love the hair. >>> good afternoon. i'm david schuster live in washington. >> i'mamron hall, live in new york. we begin with breaking news this hour. democrats clling for an instign of a classified cia program that even the director of e cia knewothing abt until a few weeks ago. the ngresswoman say

and our chief washington correspondent john harwood joins us with some of the highlights of that. >>bill, an interesting press conference still in progress in moscow. not a lot of smiles and acknowledgment from both leaders that they were frank and business-like discussions especially on the very prickly issues. and said just as they've pledged to try to provide a fresh start to u.s.-russian relations, in these meetings they've taken steps to do that. >> we resolved to reset u.s.-russian relations so that we can cooperate more effectively in areas of common interests. today, after less than six months of collaboration, we've done exactly that by taking concrete steps forward on a range of issues. while paving the way for more progress in the future. >> now, that includes an agreement on a framework, not a final agreement, but a framework for reductions of nuclear warheads and launchers, for a continued conversation on the difficult issues of missile defense, even an agreement to let u.s. livestock into russia which is very important to u.s. livestock prusoducers. it's about much more

. >> and we get reaction right now from cnbc chief washington correspondent john harwood. and john, the president made some really important comments there about the economy. i guess we are away from that precipice. but people still worrying about unemployment. >> maria, that's the communications challenge for this white house, is how do you describe progress in a situation where things still feel very bad to your constituents? unemployment 9.5% and rising. and so you say yeah, it's really bad, but we're not going to fall into the precipice. it's a problem for the health care debate because as long as people feel anxious and uncertain about the economy, concerned about spending and the d deficit, they don't know whether the country can afford this health care plan the president's talking about. they obviously haven't been persuaded by the cost controls that have been talked about so far. so the president is trying to get out ahead of the numbers tomorrow, condition the response of the american people once they see the headlines that say hey, we shrank in the second quarter

joinings now, hilsenrath, jon, and the other john, cnbc chief washington correspondent john harwood. > i wouldn't call him the other john. he's primo john. >> all right. well, regardless, it's john, without an "h" and john with an "h." and what are you expecting this week? >> i'm watching very closely ben bernanke's testimony up on the hill. there are several reasons why this is important. one is that obama has to decide whether bernanke gets his job back. one of the things that's happened in the last couple of months is he's gotten a very rude greeting when he's gone up to the hill before. when he's had to testify about aig or bank of america, it's going to be important to watch how he's greeted. when i talk to traders, they're starting to try to position themselves on whether bernanke get the job or not or whether obama moves on to somebody else. we have a lot of questions about the economy we have to answer and also about regulatory reform. and the fed's own independence, bills floating around up on the hill that have fed officials kind of worried it could take away their independe

. >>> john harwood is in sacramento this hour with governor schwarzenegger. john? >> thanks so much, contessa and governor, thanks for joining us. before i ask you about the budget, the president of the united states just came in the briefing room and walked back to some degree, the xhepts he made about the arrest of the african-american professor in cambridge. said he's like to get the arresting officer and professor together for a beer. do you think the president made a mistake in his comments the other night? >> i don't know much about the case. i've been tied down here in the state capitol, getting budget done. the most important thing, not what the president said. i know very little about that. >> you think race is a big issue though in policing between police officers and the african-american community? >> i think we hear complaints about it, but as a whole, you know, i think law enforcement is doing a great job. it's a very, very dangerous job. there's no two ways about that and you have to wait. my father was a police officer, so i know the danger that he f

and our chief correspondent john harwood with more on what the democrats plan would mean for you. john, we're really in to soak the rich mode. aren't we? >> mark, the house democratic plan set off this debate and moved it forward in a way we haven't seen before. a lot more concrete and you've got republicans out today saying that especially for small business, this plan would be economic disaster. >> this is nothing but a job-killing tax raising measure that will actually take away the quality of care we've become used to, and in a recessionary time that we're in will kill jobs. >> president obama who last night was at the all-star game throwing a fairly slow first pitch said we're only in the first inning of this debate, but as for the warnings from people like eric cantor and others, he said, don't believe it. >> there's going to be a major debate over the next three weeks and don't be fooled by folks trying to scare you saying we can't change the health care system. we have no choice but to change the health care system, because right now it's broken for too many americans. >> s

john harwood has the latest. what are you hearing about what we might get a vote and if there's a deal or something specific? >> reporter: it's interesting the white house suffered a set back when it became clear neither the house or senate will meet the goal before the august recess and getting to krns immediately after labor day. we now have progress at the committee level. this deal between members of the blue dogs with henry waxman, the chairman of the energy and commerce committee to keep the cost of the bill under $1 trillion over ten years, to restrict the advantage for the public option so it doesn't have a subsidy to compete against private insurers to exempt most employers from the employer mandate. haven't gotten the details of how that mandate will be structured but this resembles the movement in the senate and bipartisan snoerks negotiations in the finance committee. when you consider what happened in the last few days, that's progress for the white house. >> john, one question. slightly unrelated, a

john harwood has that, and we've got a lot of other things to look ahead to with the cash for clunkers and christopher dodd, as well, john. >> bill, i've just been in touch with several aides to chris dodd, the senate banking chairman, and they tell me, in fact, he has early stage prostate cancer, was caught early, will be treated they feel successfully and will have no influence on his re-election plans. of course, senator dodd is the most vulnerable democrat running in this cycle, so he has a big task ahead of him in any case. and now it's steeper. one of the things he has been working most aggressively on is, of course, the health care issue. he has been standing in for his fred ted kennedy.y. but there is resistance from conservative democrats, including blue dogs who i talked to today. and one of the fascinating things from our conversation was that at least some of those blue dogs, like jason altmeyer of pennsylvania thinks they don't think any taxes need to be raised. >> this is about preserving the health care delivery system in more rural parts of the country. i think that peo

our chief washington correspondent, john harwood, joins us from the white house with more. and john, some are saying the rally in stocks today is partly because the market thinks he's going to have a much tougher time pushing this through than originally thought. >> he is having a tough time, sue. before i get to that, can i ask you, how come i don't get the cool bj's dance music? >> that's easily arranged. i promise, next time around. >> call it health care central, and it will work. look, guys, one of the reasons why health care is so complicated, and so difficult to do, sue, is that there are so many issues involved, it's extremely complex. hard even for the policy wonks to follow. and so what you saw president obama doing last night was to try to raise the stakes, cast out on the motives of the enemies. it was no accident before he took questions from reporters, he said his goal in defeating health care, his goal was to break the president. >> this isn't about me. i have great health insurance, and so does every member of congress. this is about the letters i read when i

cnbc's chief washington correspondent, john harwood, following the money trail. o, john. >> reporter: larry, we're at a fascinating moment in the debate over economic stimulus and the economy, and you can tell it from the remarks today from house minority leader, john boehner. he said vice president biden over the weekend when he said we hadn't realized how bad the economy was when he took office was lying. >> now, this is the greatest fabrication i've seen since i've been in congress. i sat through those meetings in the white house with the president and the vice president. trust me, there's not one person that sat in those rooms that didn't know how serious our economic crisis was. >> reporter: and at a hearing today on capitol hill, republicans said not only is the obama economic stimulus plan making the deficit worse, it's bad economics, which is a tricky argument for democrats to respond to. governor ed rendell of pennsylvania, a democrat on cnbc this morning, said that the stimulus has, in fact, kept the economy from being even worse, but he acknowledged tha

cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood in washington right now with the story. john? >> reporter: maria, the first u.s.-russian summit in seven years got off to a sober start but perhaps a productive one today. president obama and dmitri medvedev, as you mentioned, met behind closed doors. then they walked out to face the press, and they said during their session in private they had achieved their initial goal of resetting u.s.-russian relations. >> today, after less than six months of collaboration, we've done exactly that, by taking concrete steps forward on a range of issues while paving the way for more progress in the future. and i think it's particularly notable that we've addressed the top priorities. these are not second-tier issues. they are fundamental to the security and the prosperity of both countries. >> and that range of topics was reflected in the initial steps toward agreement on a couple of areas, maria. one is a new framework for nuclear arms reduction. second is an agreement to continue discussions on missile defense. russia has an objection to the

our own john harwood spoke with senator dodd a short time ago. is this package too big to fail? is this package too big to succeed? >> reporter: well, i think it could be either one, larry, i don't think we know yet. i talked to senator dodd both about health care reform and financial regulatory reform a subject you care about a lot. another thing striking about his comments was the way he went after the business community on their complaints about the proposed consumer protection agency. do you think business is tone deaf on this issue. >> it's a culture. i find it amazing, what planet are they living on, they don't understand what's happened, you have 10,000 foreclosures a day, 20,000 jobs lost a day in this country, health care, people being wiped out, retirement incomes, 401(k) disappeared in warp speed and turn around and say, you have no right to be insisting on some protections. >> reporter: there was some good news for business in the chairman's comments. we talked about the house democratic health care plan and senator dodd slammed the democratic plan in the house for i

. >> then today senator mitch mcconnell told john harwood the president's urgency to push this bill will only get the company in trouble making dennis's argument for him. >> this is about the nation's health care. and getting this done right. and we have an example in my view of not doing it right. that was the hurry-up job on the stimulus. >> boom. good point about the stimulus and the hurry-up job. after hearing that, does obama really deserve credit for this stock market rally? i'm not thinking so. julie, i'm thinking she thinks so, a democratic strategist. also with us, jason brooks,broo moneyed for or krio radio. i got to tell you, julie, the only credit obama deserves for this nice rally is because we think that they're going to kill his health plan and he won't hurt us after all. >> exactly. >> what? >> that's exactly right. >> no, listen, if this rally had not happened, had we had the opposite, had there been a huge sell-off today, you would have said barack obama went out and made the speech about health care and the market tanked. we can't win with you guys. with what the marke