john mccain, look, i think john mccain is a hero.n, the one thing john mccain would be doing right now is kicking their butt in afghanistan. and i have tremendous amount of respect for him on. bill: but you don't like anything obama does so if mccain would kick their butt, he is ahead. >> may i just make this analogy here. he is the frog in the cold water. bill: who is the frog? >> john mccain. barack obama is boiling water when you throw the frog in. bill: you kill the frog on your show, didn't you? >> i did not kill the frog. see, he always tries to get me in trouble. i'm a good guy. he is trying to take the heat off him. bill: you threw the frog in a pot of boiling water but it was a plastic frog. a lot of people thought it was real. >> peta wrote a letter and said. bill: you made children cry who thought it was a real frog. >> i make children cry every day. if you have your children watching my show they cry every night. bill: john mccain would have been a worse president than barack obama? >> if i'm wrong with barack obama and w

maybe john mccain and i'm sure he has. he should go back and read "new nationalism" a speech given by teddy roosevelt. this is the beginning of the problem in america. the republicans revered teddy roosevelt. he was a progressive. read what teddy roosevelt as a president he believed in, the collective, and he had, quote, the greatest contempt for the wealthy. i mean, how did i not fall in love with john mccain? let me show you this. in "new nationalism," real quick, a quick vote from tread i did roosevelt. "the general right of the community to regulate the earning of income." he wanted to decide how much income you should have. that's the problem that we have. you know, look at the choice that we were presented with. you can support democrats who are basically socialists, or you can support republicans who are basically old democrats. i'm not talking about the people in the country. i'm talking about what they turned into as a party. you can support some third-party candidate who up until recently would never win anything

even john mccain knew about it. has spoken publicly many times but specifically about sleep deprivation being torture and his obvious objections to torture. now he is objecting to his name being used by the cia to justify them doing it. he still doesn't want any of this investigated? joining us now, someone that spent a lot of time trying to understand senator john mccain, ana marie cox. good to see you. after a campaign event in iowa in 2007, john mccain said this. he said after we passed the detainee treatment acts, 2006, then obviously anybody who violated any law of the u.s. would have to be held responsible. that was -- iowa 2007. now it seems like he no longer thinks that. do you have any insight into the change? >> i actually spent a long time on the phone with people in senator mccain's office trying to get to the bottom of this. one thing i should say they are fighting hard about the sleep deprivation. i remember him talking a lot about that and it being torture. for some reason i'm not trusting the cia on

we're back, everybody, with senator john mccain.e. >> thank you, jimmy fallon. [ laughter ] inside joke. >> jimmy: inside joke there, yeah. now, you were recently in iraq and afghanistan. and are you -- what are your thoughts about that? are you seeing any progress there at all? what are we -- >> well, it's hard and it's tough. before i get into it, could i say thanks for putting the whole health care debate in the right perspective here. you guys did a great job. [ light laughter ] opened up new avenues of bi-partisanship and i'm grateful for that. >> jimmy: we do what we can on "late night with jimmy fallon." >> it's great. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] another inside joke. well, in iraq and afghanistan -- >> jimmy: yeah. >> things are tough in afghanistan. and it is going to take a bigger effort on our part. >> jimmy: really? >> it's very, very tough, and it is a bad place. that is where 9/11 began, as you know. al qaeda was trained and equipped there. and they're the people that did such a horrible thing to this great cit

i think john mccain would have been -- how about this. i think john mccain would have been worse for the country man barack obama. how is that? >> see the entire interview tomorrow night right after 9news now at 6:00. >>> well, tonight exclusive details about secret interviews conducted with the former president bill clinton. civil rights historian taylor branch recorded these videos and now he's published the information in a new book called the clinton tapes. he has talked about those recording exclusively to usa today and here is what the president had to say about the monica lewinski scandal. >> he said i cracked, i cracked, and i said what do you mean. i felt sorry for myself. it occurred twice when i thought i had given my best and i thought things were going to -- i thought we were going to get over the personal diversions and into the real presidency that i had earned a fresh breath. >> and by the way, on this specific day back in 1998, president clinton's testimony about his relationship with monica lewinski was released to the p

john mccain and russ feingold are absolutely right. we will go back to a time before teddy roosevelt where we had united states senators -- not called senators from pennsylvania, massachusetts, but from u.s. steel, sinclair oil. this is a terrifying prospect. >> what do we have now? >> exactly. >> individual contributions. >> $1 billion was spent in the last campaign -- look, we have a first amendment. once you have congress regulating political speech you are curtailing the most precious asset in america. if you have disclosure, as kolbe said, that is what you need, disclosure, open honesty, and an open playing field. ground zero in new york. police, firefighters, and police officers on the eighth anniversary of the attack of 9/11, september 11, 2001, world trade center attack. the weather that day was clear, crisp. the skies were blue. then at 8:46 a.m., the nation changed, and we have not recovered yet. >> and we are not going to recover. we changed fundamentally because we were attacked in a way we never anticipated. now where we a

in a couple of moments, we'll talk with senator john mccain. e got a nice referral tonight from the president. let's have a question, though, i have a question for john king, who's erstwhile looking at maps and things. when will we get our first polls and what will the effect of the polls be on the people in that house tonight? >> we'll get our first polls within the hour. and there are advocacy groups both on the democratic sid, the republican side, all the interest groups are all polling and will put them out there. we'll know in an hour or so what the american people, at least those watching the speech thing, and that's your first target audience, those watching the speech. and then we'll see over the next few weeks as the president travels the country, as the republicans try to argue to take issue with some of his proposals, the key constituencies moving. because in the month of august, if the white house asked, do you support the president's plan, that number held pretty steady. but if you asked the american people, do you approve of his ha

we're really, andrea, at a very early stage in the whole legislative process, and i think john mccaincain reactivate the old gang of 14, which was so effective in defusing the process we had on judicial confirmations in 2005 when i chaired the judiciary committee. >> would the gang of 14 replace the gang of 6? are you kind of tired of waiting for max bachus and his gang to deliver? >> well, i think the gang of 14 could supplement the gang of 6. that might make it the gang of 20. wouldn't be too many people to have an effective gang, but i would take what senator mccain said today on a positive note, and as a call for bipartisanship, and i certainly would be delighted to be a part of it. >> all right. arlen specter, thank you so much. we've got a lot of gangs up there on the hill. thank you, senator. >>> and up next, republican senator orrin hatch, he's got his own gang. will his friendship with the late senator ted kennedy encourage him to reach across the aisle and get a health care bill passed? that's next on "andrea mitchell reports." here you go. whoa! that's some serious insuranc

i think john mccain would have been worse. how about this?nk john mccain would have been worse for the country than barack obama. how's that? >> couric: his loudest rallying cry-- get big government out of our lives and give a voice to the little guy. >> the average person is tired. they're tired. and they've also come to a point where they no longer see our children or our children's children having the kind of opportunity in life that we have because we've spent ourself into oblivion. both sides have done it! it's got to stop! >> couric: beck has loved the spotlight since he was a boy growing up in washington state. he's open and often emotive about his hardships. his mother committed suicide when he was 13, which he said made him turn to drugs and alcohol. in the 1990s, he converted to mormonism. >> it helps me live my life in a sober way. >> couric:? why. >> it teaches know serve others. >> couric: and, according to beck, take republicans to task as often as democrats. after 20 years as a top 40 d.j., beck has brought his shock jock sensi

i think john mccain would have been worse for the country than barack obama.at in. >> the beck ster was just out there saying this stuff to get a rise out of people. okay. we laugh at it. yesterday he says mccain would have been worse than obama? but just this summer he was calling president obama a racist. >> this president, 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. i don't know what it is. >> john mccain's got to feel really good right now, huh? back in april, drama queen glen got in touch with his pyromania side to protest what the president was doing. he continued to pour gasoline over a guest and compared obama's policies to setting an average american on fire. what do you think of mccain? what would he have done? beck is nothing but a high-rent entertainer. maybe he ought to join twinkle toes tom delay on "dancing with the stars" because this stuff is ridiculous, despicable, and "psycho talk." >>> coming up, former new york giant wide receiver plaxico burress is go

robert gates and senator john mccain. gates and mccain, only on this "this week." >>> and bob woodward strikes again. he broke the mcchrystal story. >>> and as always, the sunday funnies. captions paid for by abc, inc. >>> and >>> and we begin with the secretary of defense robert gates. welcome back to "this week." >> thank you. >> national security was front and center all week long. let's begin with afghanistan. we saw the leak of general mcchrystal review. he concluded that the u.s. has 12 months to reverse taliban momentum. i want to show what the president said back in march when he laid out that strategy. he called it new and comprehensive. >> this marks the conclusion of a careful policy review. my administration has heard from our military commanders as well as diplomats. we consulted with the pakistani and afghanistan governments. and with other donors and international organizations. we worked closely with members of congress here at home. >> this was clearly carefully considered strategy. now, the president is

defense secretary robert gates and senator john mccain. gates and mccain, only on this "this week." >>> and bob woodward strikes again. he broke the mcchrystal story. and joins us our powerhouse roundtable. >>> and as always, the sunday funnies. >> president obama made a big speech, he welcomed the members of the u.n. general assembly to new york and he said, i would like to encourage you to do some shopping. china immediately bought eight banks and the state of wyoming. china immediately bought eight banks and the state of wyoming. they bought it all. captions paid for by abc, inc. >>> and we begin with the secretary of defense robert gates. welcome back to "this week." >> thank you. >> national security was front and center all week long. let's begin with afghanistan. we saw the leak of general mcchrystal's review. and he concluded that the u.s. has about 12 months to reverse taliban momentum. and without new troops, the strategy laid out by the president would fail. i want to show what the president said back in march when he laid out t

his friend john mccain knows that. they worked together on a patients' bill of rights. his friend chuck grassley knows that. they worked together to provide health care to children with disabilities. on issues like these ted kennedy's passion was borne not of some rigid ideology but of his own experience. it was the experience of having two children stricken with cancer. he never forgot the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick. and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance, what it would be lk to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent, there is something that could make you better but i just can't afford it. that large heartedness, that concern and regard for the plight of others is not a partisan feeling.

rahm emanual said okay, forgiven. >> almost instantly, john mccain one of the many republicans who camewed and john mccain said that it was completely inappropriate. we'll go to a quick break and be right back with more news and reaction to the president's speech and also those words uttered by congressman joe wilson. your body needs sleep to feel healthy... to feel better. tylenol pm quiets the pain that keeps you awake. and helps you sleep, in a non-habit forming way. shopping online can help save. doing it with bank of america can help save a lot more. up to 20% cash back from over 300 online retailers with our add it up program. just sign up and use your bank of america debit or credit card when you shop online. it's one of the many ways we make saving >>> welcome back. we are waiting for dueling gop news conferences. house minority leader john boehner will be holding his weekly briefing. that's what you see on the left of your screen. on the other side of the capitol, senator kyl and cantor will be reacting to president obama's health care address. we see mr. kyl speaking there now

>> listen, he mentioned last night he's -- terrific idea from senator john mccain and the president is open to good ideas and republicans and democrats, from members of congress and from average americans and that take the time to write him a letter and express to him what their concerns are. you have to keep in mind that he's focused on delivering health care reform to the american people. and when he encouraged last night let's rise above all of the dissension and acrimony and remember why we are here. we are here to change our country. we are not here to just stay in the status quo. >> you are one of the advisers that is the first and sometimes last to talk to the president about events like this, big speeches. was there a particular moment that stood out in his mind last night or something that surprised him or zmg -- what was his takeaway from the speech? anything in particular that he drew your attention to? >> well, when he really remarked was not so much -- not so much anything particular about his speech but the reaction he was receiving from such a wide range of people. the f

greta: of august 2003, at john mccain said we needed more boots on the ground -- in august 2003, johnccain said we needed more boots on the ground. has anyone called john mccain and said, "what do you think?" >> we are about to do what we did in iraq, not have enough power. i think we have forgotten the lessons of iraq very quickly. i hope the president will listen to the commander. these are the commanders that turned iraq around, and if we do not act quickly, we will lose more ground. actress are more at risk. -- our troops are more at risk. the general says if we do not reinforce afghanistan, we will lose the insurgency within one year. greta: what is taking him so long? >> i am sure he is worried what will happen with the governing party. if we send a bunch of troops in, will that affect the government's problem? there is the situation that the karzai government has failed. i have got doubts about the karzai government, but without better security, no government can function, so i would say to get a better security in our image, and then we will push karzai, and others will hold h

host: this is a clip from senator john mccain. i understand he and another were listening yesterday. after word state approached reporters in the plaza to comment. >> it is apparent to me that the questioning shows a strong disconnect between the justices and the reality of politics when corporate and union leaders were able to take calls from powerful committee chairmen who would say "i went to check in six- figures, soft money and by the way your legislation is up before the committee." we saw the corruption in the telecommunications reform act, and in other legislative activities and results as the influence of special interests and corporate and union money in washington which credit out the right of the average citizen who does not have the amount of money that these do. i wish one of the justices who were so strongly standing up for first amendment rights had never run for a county sheriff. host: what is your reaction to that? guest: several -- i heard john mccain several weeks ago stand up to say what he was voting against

. >> senor john mccain and russ feingold, co-sponsorof the law that regulates finanng of political campais, it begins with lasyear's movie out hillarclinton for this by citins united time for release during the 2008rimary. there s some corporate money inlved. is that why it is at the supreme court? >> that is extly why. it wenup to the supreme court. this is the mo interesting aspect. it went up on a relatively minor point, to see ifhis group had an exception uer the law. instead,fter words, they hear arguments in march th just are't -- justices ordered a re-argument oa huge question of wther congress could, as it had for a century a essentially, than corporate -- ban the rporate and union spending in elections. that you have too it through invidual contributions, not through the corporate ney, the union, general treasurfund. itooked very much that there may be five justes to say place. >> thewhat happens? >> corporatis and unions are already contributing tothey do it through pacs,heir employees give it. i am big fan -- advocate of disclosu. t us know exactly where the money is coming from

if you run against john mccain, most people believe he did.was getting ready to enter the race the did eight interview with "the chicago tribune" and they said if you become the nominee and john mccain is rublican how will the race be franz? he said war hero versus not nosed kid. [laughter] he knew what he had to do. but their view was we don't have po be more comfortable capable we sat to convince people we are capable and 72 kors of the summer he was able to do that. >> maybe hillary clinton may president obama a much better candidates. can you talk about why you think he selected her for the cretary of state? and how you think they're working together and how will this play outn her future polical caree i have no idea but for future but it is being made right now as we speak. and how the decisions were made we're not entirely clear. she was not going to be the vice president. there is a wonderful phrase that the aba the people said you cannot have two alpha dogs on the same ticket. [laughter] it did not mean he did not respect hillary towar

that was john mccain. can the republicans say yes to mccain/romney ideas? it is not clear that they are not out to pull the plug on obama much more than anything else. >> mayor? >> i think the senate has a proposal that i don't hear that talks about a real reduction in costs and a realistic way to cover more people through tax breaks tax exemptions subsidies, things like that. i think the republicans could support it. the republicans have -- i supported, along with john mccain, a major reform of health care, if he incorporated a lot of those things in it i would support it. >> let me get to a couple interesting issues. the speech the president planned to give on tuesday was an education speech to students coming back from their summer break and he wanted to talk about studying hard. we brought it up with david axelrod. it created a firestorm. here's the new campaign in public schools, writing a parent level, and in it saying, in developing their plans our principals have considered issues such as developmental issues, the speech is being broadcast and the i

john mccain is the most eloquent person -- >> you don't think it's unrealistic?john mccain is the most eloquent on torture having been submitted to it and he does not believe in it. [ all talking at once ] >> nobody is buying this good cop/bad cop routine of obama i don't want to go down the road of prosecuting but my attorney general is demanding it. he could easily have refused this and he refused to do it. also, we are under the process of catapulting the united states back to september 10th where acts of international terror against us are treated as criminal justice problems and not as acts of war. we know what that led to, 3,000 dead americans in the street eight years ago this weekend. do we really want to go down that path again? >> john, if the president of the united states -- [ all talking at once ] >> if the president of the united states wanted this stopped, he has every right as commander in chief protecting the national interest in saying, i don't want this prosecution or investigation to go forward. here's what i want done and if he tells the amer

there are 70 democrats in the house of representatives whose seat was won by either john mccain or george w. bush. 48 of those seats were won by bush and mccain. one seat was won by mccain only. the balance of those seats, 21 of them were won by george w. bush either in 2000 or 2004. sean: you have two very pivotal gubernatorial elections this year one in new jersey. both are winning in these races by pretty significant margins. democrats have reverted back to the strategy that they have got to attack george w. bush. do you think that's going to be an effective strategy? >> no. i don't think so. also that's not -- they have got a little bit of the attacking bush in there but the biggest part of it is big personal smears and attacks on the two republican candidates. neither democrat is articulating the positive image for the future republican chris christie has talked about fighting corruption. in virginia bob mcdonnell has outlined common sense program on jobs. each instance democratic opponents seem to be dragging all -- candidates. tilted against the democrats in the fall. neither one o

john mccain wants more forces, but some democrats say that we should work on the training site as well as the military side. until the humanitarian situation improves, no force can turn the debate. shepard: president joe biden made a surprise visit to baghdad, and shortly after his arrival, mortars were fired at the green zone. they killed at least two people. the vice president was in a secure area at the time. it is his third trip to the area this year, and in a few days he is scheduled to meet with u.s. troops as well as iraqi leaders. new developments in the trial of a high school football coach charged in the death of one of his players. today, teammates took the stand, testifying emotionally on behalf of their coach. what they said, and how their testimony can change this case . that is next. what do you say to a spin around the color wheel? - to paint with primer already mixed in? - ♪ yeah yeah yeah... - test samples instead of can commitments? - ♪ whoo! - what do you say we dip into our wallets less... - ♪ are you feeling it? - ...and grab ahold of the latest tools out there...

now for the top story tonight, let's bring in senator john mccain for his take. senator joins us from washington. believed to have you, senator, because you could be president of the united states right now. you could be facing exactly what president obama is facing. let's take iran first. am i making any mistakes in my analysis, sir? >> no. not at all. this is very serious situation. and the solution, i think, not only lies with an attempt to impose sanctions on iran, as you, i think, appropriately and accurately pointed out, i have very serious doubts as to whether russia and china will cooperate with sanctions that have significant effect on iran and we can talk about why. but i think you left out something. and that is our advocacy for regime change in iran. and i don't mean through military action by helping supporting, assisting in a variety of ways, including internet access and other -- encouragement of elements within iran to overthrow the regime. bill: we have to assume that it's happening. we have to assume that the intelligence services of the united

to look at joe lieberman and john mccain on some issues and we're worried about getting criticism from you, criticism from them is almost a badge of honor in american politics. those guys have never seen a war they didn't want to escalate and never looked at a country they didn't want to start a war with. >> the whole question of race, the president dealt with it, i thought, very effectively on letterman, he was black people before voted for him. >> i believe that some of the right wing extremists, which oppose president obama, are also racially prejudice. and we prefer not to have an aphfrican-american president. but i don't believe all the people who oppose him on health care and all the conservatives are racist. and i believe if he were white, every single person who opposes him now would be opposing him then. >> did clinton have the balance right, as far as you're concerned? what do you think? >> i think talking about racism on one hand is very simple and on the other hand very hard. it motivates american politics and racial prejudice affects lots of our hearts, it is who we are. p

bill, do we expect this will be in terms of the shots she makes against the john mccain handlers.ome of the people in the mccain campaign better duck because she's going to be thrown at them. no question about that. very angry about her treatment in the campaign and also, she's become sort of a celebrity phenomenon. so, i think the book will probably be quite reckless and geared to try to just be sensational and produce a large sale. that seems to be much of what she's doing seems to be financially. >> and they've printed a million and a half already. let me show you -- >> that's a lot of books. >> that's a lot of books. >> sure is. >> let me show you a little clip from our last interview with her in alaska when we went fishing. >> okay. >> you haven't finished the job, some would say. >> you're not listening to me as to why i wouldn't be able to finish that final year in office without it costing the state millions of dollars and countless hours of wasted time, wasted -- we have true, worthy, public causes. my son over there fighting in iraq right now with the troops that are fig

you have people like john mccain that say that every day it goes by, it puts american soldiers at risk. he told me the president will make the situation -- to make the decision within weeks. >> thank you so much. we can see all of the interview with secretary gates on "this week with george stephanopoulos ." >>> the weekend is now upon us. what do we look forward to? >> we hope to see a nice clearing trend for kids' games. i'm not convinced we will see much in the way of sunshine, but i think it will be fairly dry early in the morning. the next storm is coming in, more rain is coming in, and that is how we will start the weekend. we have not really clear out a lot. but what we have been able to manage as a little bit of sunshine through some high clouds. in the meantime, look at temperatures of the weather network. they had a little bit of rain, and in billy, 0.69 inches. in areas farther north were the sun did break through, numbers rose and the 70's. le's check out what is happening on the board the night. 77 and 64 the official numbers. limited sunshine with 0.02 inches of rain. the

he said this is from john mccain. a serious effort of bipartisanship and will he get results from it? >> it was nice rhetoric, the bottom line is here he promised a lot and said it's not going to cost anything. doctors, hospitals, everybody is going to be okay. if you're on medicare, you're going to be okay. we just got to be a little more efficient. we're going to have waste, fraud and abuse taken care of. he has laid a marker down, now up to insurance companies. >> skepticism from ed rollins. and we'll take your questions. if you have a question about president obama's health care plan, text it to us at 22360. but first let's check back in with anderson in afghanistan. >> john, thank you very much. breaking news out of afghanistan tonight. a daring rescue of a "new york times" reporter who had been kidnapped several days ago. a helicopter assault on the taliban kidnappers who had taken him. one soldier was skilled in that assault. we'll have details tonight. also tonight, dr. sanjay gupta's live-saving tour of duty

genius, i tell you. 2008, john mccain lost the election. suspect the campaign, and worst of all, scheduled to be david letterman's only guest a year ago tonight, mccain bailed out forcing mccain to bring in as a guest, guest me. and he lied to letterman about where he was going stephon his own show, and i got to watch. >> our people here were told, so serious, he is getting on a plane immediately and racing back to washington. and now we've just been told -- take a look, do we have it on the thing? this is going live. there he is right there. doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he? this just gets uglier and uglier. see what he has to say here. this will be interesting. i wonder if he'll mention me. hey, john, i've got a question! do you need a ride to the airport? >> it will be in all the history books, like this. look, the caption will read, "letterman shown on the right, man on the left, unidentified." let's play "oddball." got to hear him twice tonight. to noting ham, england where stag parties are grand tradition but can be ex

>> look, in the year 2000 i worked for john mccain to try to get him elected in the primaries instead of george bush, but john mccain sold out by nominating sarah palin who comes directly from the heart of this movement. and carries with her all of that baggage. he sold out. i don't see anybody on the republican side of things these days who has the moral standing to provide real leadership or who will risk their position to do so. >> frank schaefer, author of "crazy for god." thank you very much for your time tonight, sir. it's always fascinating and a pleasure to have you on the show. thanks. >> thanks a lot. >>> the terrorist group al qaeda appears to have adopted an american as a new spokes model. an american whose image they have modelled on a comic book hero. true story, very weird true story coming up in just a moment. >>> but first, one more thing about fact-free indulgence in our politics today. opponents of health reform first said that it was a secret plot to kill old people. then they said it was a secret plot to take away veterans health care, then a secret plot to take a

because john mccain was a progressive. barack obama is, i believe, possibility of a marxist. what do you say, america? he at least -- he was at least throwing us into boiling hot water where we jump out. the people who have traditionally said, wait a minute, you know, i just don't want to cause any trouble are now the people saying wait, wait, wait. what are you teaching my kid? bill: too much too soon. a lot of people are very worried. let's get back to the kids. you see these two tapes, all right? they are obviously the teachers telling the kids that obama is great and singing about obama. message isn't bad. help america. let's improve america. get together. but do you see this as an epidemic or is this just too. >> i don't know about that i mean, i would have a better -- i would believe that it would be an epidemic when i see two tapes out of acorn than i would these two tapes. bill: it's hard to know what's going on. >> this particular school, and i'm trying to remember all the details and don't quiz me. bill: this is

he went to the republicans, he praised john mccain, orrin hatch, chuck grassley.f them going to vote for this plan, not even come close. but he did it. he threw the sop to the republicans, this myth about medical malpractice is driving up insurance. and he said, well, we'll have test cases. we've had one in my home state of texas and health care costs in texas are increasing faster than the national average. that's what he's doing to the appeal the republicans. he revved up the democrats. independents, who in the elections of 2010 are going to determine who controls the congress, he gave them those insurance reforms. liberal group, democracy corps, our buddy carville helps to run it. i want to give them credit. they tested this notion that the president talked about, about recision. people who pay their premiums but get dumped. like the woman who got dumped for having breast cancer because she had acne. it was off the charts. even with republicans, was repealing this pre-existing condition rule, where your insurance company can turn you down for having been sick.

. >> roger, does her news about john mccain surprise you? >> not really. the i don't think president obama will get any republicans in the senate for this except the possible exception of olympia snowe who would be a good get, and maybe susan collins. the speech last night really wasn't about bipartisanship. it was about unifying the democratic party and getting the democratic party behind one plan. but as cece that very accurately, we still don't know where the president's line in the sand is when it come to the public option. this is possibly where bill clinton could be a help. bill clinton understands health care, first of all elf understands the fiscal conservatives in the party. he understands the progressives in his party. and he can try to bring them together on this. >> roger simon, thanks very much. join us tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball." "countdown with keith olebermann" starts right now. >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the three-ring deather, birther shouter circus comes to the biggest

well, it didn't help senator john mccain get elected, so you might assume that republicans would buryns and at least one speaker at the values voter summit going on here in washington are resurrecting the obama celebrity theme to attack his upcoming weekend tv blitz. the national republican campaign committee today sent out an e-mail reading, "celebrity sunday is almost upon us. and while many will have no choice but to tune in the numbers continue to show at a people are tuning the president out." and then there was this from former gop presidential candidate mike huckabee this morning. >> it is almost difficult to recognize, we have become the land of czars, clunker cars and hollywood stars. >> all right. is this more politics or just jealousy over the president's ability to dominate the air waves? here to make their case, a correspondent for the nation and national staff member for the 2004 john kerry presidential campaign and amanda carpenter, reporter and blogger for the washington times. all right. amanda, i think that mike huckabee forgot to add in there, he could make it rhyme

>> guest: i think john mccain believes he was forced to take positions he really doesn't believe. drill, baby, drill. not john mccain, really the first green republica in t past 25 years in the senate to step forward and do, to make some great steps forward on the green issue. but barack oba seemelike the safe choice. now, when i say that, there are a lot of my conservative friends and m mother said how can you say that? again, i'm not looking through an ideological lens. thbs -- this is about temperment. it's about russell kirk talking about how conservatives conserve, how conservatives establish social order and how americans don't want you darting too far one way or anoth. >> host: answer this as a guy who works on tv and cares about how things look and seem and the impression given. sotimes i think the wor and america understood george w bush to be right wing world super conservative as opposed to how you characterize him, that the world saw him that way becausehe seemed like someone a white male from texas as you were saying who had, was a little bit chippy, you know, a littl

bush and senator john mccain. he's now president of the public strategies and contributor to the daily beat. thank you very much for coming back on the show. >> thank you, rachel. i'm running point out here on the partisan control and i had to blow the whistle today on the daily beast. it's insane when a united states president can't deliver a simple speech to the students of this country without everybody going absolutely berserk, and you know, i think it's bad for the country. but i also think it's bad for the republican party. it makes us out to be incredibly partisan and out of touch, and i think that if anybody actually saw that speech today, they'd recognize that this is great for the kids of this country. >> well, you know, some of the people who had called the speech indoctrination said after they saw the text of it, hey, that's sort of a good speech. i'm thinking specifically of the chairman of the florida republican party, who had been very outspoken about this. i wonder if there is a political cost for

or it appeared likthey could lose to john mccain. ether it was two years before where we are now, where it loed like everybody was saying you know, rack obama, that was all pe, he certaly hasn't come alive on theampaign trail, he's inhird place in iowa. they loo back atog ds sand say "we've been here before, we can turn this around now, of course, turning things around as a candidate to win 100,000votes in iowa is... comparedo the task hand small because, of cour, now theye trying to remake one-sixth of the economy in a way by revamping and reforming the nation's health care system. but i thinkthey do feel confident ultimately. >> rose: one last question and we'll address it at a later te o. for no general mccystal's recommendation his analysis, his ascerinment of what' going onn afghanistan is in washington. when with thehite house act o th recommendation? >> well, the say the slnt gotten any fi requestsor new resource from general mcchrystal yet interms of troops, inerms of resources, money, civilian numbers, civilian individuals i