absolutely. >> larry: what's your read, michael dyson? >> i think, look, the police are tired of being bushed around. it's amazing to me. look at his there between interactions between african-american people and police departments of this land much there's a disproportion of concentration of power on the police. they have the gun, the badge, the ability to intimidate. they make up story, they generate narrative, throw down guns. that's the history. not most of them but enough to make the life of average american person stopped by miserable. unlike larry elder, i have several instances i feel i've been profiled. singled out and mistreated. once i was stopped with my brother claiming that we stole the very car that my father owned. when i reached for my wallet to prove i had registration, the cop pulled out a gun and said "n," the "n" word. i'll shoot you right here. there's history of unequality there. first of all, we don't know what he said. he has a right to say it. he's in his own home and i think he's absolutely right. >> larry: coli

help take care of your growing problem megyn: big news in the michael dyson sagas.has reached an agreement with custody on debbie rowe. it was said that it was going to be the two that would be squaring off over custody. apparently, they have reached a deal. we are working to get the details and we will bring it to you. in the meantime, questions about what happened to michael jackson's body. it has been more than one month since his death. according to his death certificate, the temporary resting place is at forest lawwn n cemetery, but it is not clear where she will be laid to rest. bill: back to the house where democrats to reach a deal on key fiscal conservative ideas on health care reform. apparently, paving the way for an important vote that could happen before lawmakers leave for the august recess. my next guest is a house democrat that had been wary of pushing through this reform. you are a cancer survivor. you know just about as much as anyone how important it is to get a good health care plan in america. you are not about to support this deal. you are not

also with us, georgetown university professor michael eric dyson. n, wisdom and insight of michael eric dyson." i would like to get the headlines from the white house with you first. this beer that is being scheduled between the professor and the cop, is that happening anytime soon and ultimately what is the white house trying to do planning this thing? >> well, there seems to be an indication they want to get it done this week so there is real momentum. you know it was interesting the way the president presented the idea on friday, you know. it almost was at first, sort of like, we ought to get together and have a beer, and then all of a sudden it seemed like within minutes of him saying it out loud, i think he even realized or maybe not -- i don't want to try to read his mind, but that this was going to be something that they should make happen. and so it does feel like it is going to happen in the next week or two. probably depends on how to get all of them together. i would assume the rest of this week is going to be a little bit about -- it is g

let's bring in georgetown university professor of sociology michael dyson and author of "debating race." good morning, michael. >> good morning, richard. i'm glad to be here and congratulations on renegade. it is a great read. >> thank you. i appreciate that the president by his own admission wants to tone things down and elevate the discussion. did he do enough today to move that in the right direction? >> he pointed the needle in the right direction if you will, on the larger compass of race. the question is when you play the bigotry of the pomposity without predication, the invective of a rush limbaugh, rush limbaugh perverted the nature of the conversation, to call barack obama an angry black man is as ridiculous as calling rush limbaugh a first class intellectual. the reality is that president obama with poise articulate his viewpoint, talked about the competing forces that made this situation untenable and then tried to resolve it by acknowledging that perhaps tempers flared on both side, but not denying the legitimacy of the point that it must not be lost here on all of the disc

michael eric dyson, first to you.over exaggerating the importance of this so-called teachable moment? . >> not at all. i think that it might be more teachable should we hear some of the consequences of the dialogue that the three men share. i think it might be instructive for us to understand, for instance, how they were able to amicably reach a conclusion that they should come together in the first place and beyond that that even despite their differences, real problems remain. i think it becomes a teachable moment when we find out who is doing the curriculum, who is the professor, and whose classroom are we speaking to, but more broadly, i think what's important, wolf, is this moment in america is being watched by so many people, and, indeed, around the globe, and i think they can say some important things to diffuse some of the tension and help shed light on racial profiling, prejudices across the board, class inequality, and some of the hostilities that are obtained on both sides between police people and the comm

>> michael eric dyson,he final rd. only 30 seconds. >> agree with both mortnd pat that michael jackson is an extraordinarperformer. i sawim per live. incredibly talted person who touched every race, class, gender and sexual orientatn in the wod and think we need to celebrate and uplift the positives of him. it's not we don't have room for crical analysis as mr. buanan said but let that hold off. this man's genius shoulde celebrated and i think put the othestuff to res >> thank you all. at a crew! what a way to start off this morning show. thanks to all three of you. >>> new detas coming out ght now as president oba and his russian counterpart agree to redu their nuclear stockpiles and nuclear delivery systems and more information on the strategi importance to the pentagon that the rusans aged to allow the united states to y troopsnd weapons through russia othe way to afghantan. big news. nbc white house corresndent savannah guthrieis traveling with president obama and live in mosc. that would sm to be a fairly signifant

. >> reporter: georgetown university professor and author of michael dyson, defends the president's bluntassess zblmt finally somebody with a bully pulpit steps up to articulate the growing sentiment and passions of all americans. not just african-americans, something has to done to stem this tide of unfairly targeting black men in particular, la teen moan in particular, for crimes that all people commit. >> reporter: others who watch the news conference or follow the aftermath have mixed views. >> i think the president addressed the situation and needed to be addressed and i'm just -- the wording he used to describe the officer was a little harsh. >> my personal opinion, i don't think that the situation was racially motivated. >> i understand what he meant. i thght was good what he said. good idea. >> reporter: in a news conference wrapped up a few minutes ago the cambridge police chief said he stands behind his officer and does not believe that his actions were racially motivated. that officer, by the way is a police academy expert who teaches a course about racial profiling. pat, back

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with us now to talk about this controversy over the cambridge cop and the harvard scholar, michael eric dyson of georgetown university, among other things a biographer of barack obama, sociologist who has written a lot about politics and sociology and kathleen parker the syndicated columnist, i would say it is fair to say conservative columnist, in the washington post, although she is ambidextrous, she tells me. what should we make of this michael? >> well, obviously, it was a flare-up along a bigger trajectory of race in american society. the disagreement, the disgruntle., the disconcerning evidence of racial and class hostility between sergeant crowley and professor gates and the president getting involved and what i love about him he is a principled gentleman and says look i ratcheted it up and i admit i did that mea culpa let me help figure this out i think& we have to focus between the persona and the personalities here to bigger issue, racial profiling is real, disproportionate of black and mention hispanic men in prison is real, we have to have a broader conversation about race and eri

and michael eric dyson is an author and commentator. good morning to you and thank you for joining us. >> the cambridge police commissioner and city mayor both said they were pleased with president obama's remarks yesterday. did he say enough to diffuse the situation? >> yes, i think he did. i'm comfortable with what he said. i think he is sorry that he framed it the way hdid the first time. there are too many variables to make a determination of what happened. so i'm comfortable. >> michael, did the president need to express his committees and necessary for him to move forward? >> probably. given the climate that had been produced by his committents. the larger issue here, beyond the burying of the hatchet, racial profiling is a problem that has to be addressed. it has been a lethal exchange often at the expense of black and brown men. that must not be obscured by this most recent development. president obama is a prince of a man. for him to do what he did was extraoinary. this was a good gesture toward that image. >> in this book, "th

>> michael eric dyson, is that message getting through? >> absolutely. he is the product of that message, not giving that message alo alone. working for the opportunity to provide for a barack obama to become president. without the structural barriers to racial inequality falling. barack obama would not have the opportunity to get up there, and, by there way, even though he is casting some aspersion rightfully so, he got a mean flow himself. dip under to the african-american traditional and the baptist church and, so, even as he's denying lil wayne he may have to go break some songs up himself because obama is flowing in a mad way. >> you agree with that, suzanne? he was pretty passionate last night. >> we saw a barack obama that we haven't seen in a while. the last six months. it was the energy from president obama, yes. before that audience. very familiar. >> tara, he did almost appear to be a preacher at one point. >> but i have to say to eric michael dyson, i don't know how much lil wayne he's letting his kids listen to, but i get his point. >> certa

choice of words that the cambridge police acted stupidly, isn't this possibly and i'll go to you michael dyson on this one, isn't this one of those cases where both parties deserve the benefit of the doubt? >> well, there's no doubt about that, matt. but here's the point, racial profiling has proved that black men rarely get the benefit of the doubt, and innocent until proven guilty. >> but you keep going to the larger picture, michael, and i'm asking you about the president's comments about the cambridge police specifically. >> well, i'm talking specifically about the cambridge police. first of all mr. smerconish detailing of the story is from the policeman's viewpoint. professor gates said he was in his home. he showed his i.d. he satisfied the officer that he lived there. and then, when he followed the officer out trying to get his badge number and his i.d., then he refused to cooperate, then when he was on his porch, he was arrested. so the point is that i think that what the president is saying is that when you have satisfied the case that this man is not a criminal, in cambridge, he is n

. >> and michael eric dyson teaches african-american studies at georgetown.ve you as well. let's have it here, we've heard from so many that the gates' arrest is a learning moment, a teaching moment. we've heard that most prominently from the president. what do you hope, michael, is taken away from this episode? >> well, i think a teachable moment depends upon who is teaching. who is running the curriculum and whose classroom it is. i think it's fair to say in this case it's important for us to take away a few lessons. first of all, despite the battle of the elites, the president, the professor and the policeman, there are everyday black and latino men who are victimized by and subject to arbitrary forms of power, especially from the state and especially from police. the police also, the second lesson, have an extremely difficult job. they're trying to do good work in the midst of back circumstances. and so we have to have some leeway and empathy for them. but finally, i think, what's important here, if we speak about race, the truth to be told here is that,

let's continue the conversation with georgetown university professor michael eric dyson and mansfieldfrazier, contributor tothe dailybeef.com. i read your piece this morning, the headline being skip, the nickname of professor gates, you mouthed off. before we get to all of that, do you think the president was right in saying the police officer acted stupidly? >> well, if you want to talk about stupidity, in a situation like that, there's usually enough stupidity to go around. i think it was a poor choice of words. i think there were other words that could have been better. i think he might have acted unfairly. but i don't think it was stupid on his part at all. i think it might have been calculated on his part when he did arrest professor gates. but stupid, no, it wasn't. >> but should the president have used that word? that's the question that i'm asking, mansfield. >> no, i don't think he should have used it. it's a pejorative term. it was an incendiary situation. i think he probably regrets using it, and, no, i don't think it was a stupid act on the policeman's part. >> yeah, becau

. >> i'm joined by author, commentator and professor michael alan dyson.morning. >> good morning to you, ms. witt. >> where are we at on this? >> the president is a prince of a man, reconciling figure, attempting to bring the two figures together, sergeant crowley and professor gates. he also insisted that we underscore the necessity of dealing with racial profiling and i think that's the bigger story here. at the end of the day, professor gates was in his home. he was arrested. the sensible reason for the call was breaking and entering had occurred. the brutal relations between police departments and african-american and latino people has to be at front and center here and not just a misunderstanding between two individuals, which, of course, may be the case, but there's a broader issue we must not obscure with all of this. and that is these issues are very real and the president contributed to the ratcheting up of that, but we need a healthy conversation about the relationship between an aggressive police force and a vulnerable black and brown population

nbc's chuck todd and georgetown professor michael eric dyson coming up on the program to talk about it. >>> my sources on capitol hill are telling me that the public option in the senate is in serious trouble. senator jeff bingham out of new mexico is going to be joining me on that. he's been very close, behind closed doors with max baucus on the negotiations. we'll get the final word on that going into the weekend. >>> i bailed them out. you bailed them out. i want to know how these big banks are managing to have billions in bonuses and executive salaries and employee salaries with the jobs just aren't coming back to the rest of the country. the "financial times" krista freeland joining outside that. plus "psycho talk," a great panel. get out your cell phones. i want to hear what you think about health care, the delay on capitol hill. >>> tonight's "op ed." the big story is the president of the united states and what's going on in cambridge. you knew it was going to happen. i mean, it's just been just over six months into president obama's first term and the big issue and discussion a

joining me is georgetown university professor michael eric dyson. professor, great to have you with us again tonight. >> good to be here. >> did the president do the right thing today? i mean, was this a no-brainer for him to come out after the cambridge police department had demanded an apology? they kind of raced it up a little bit. do you think the president made the right move today? >> i don't know if it was so much a no-brainer as a no-choicer. the reality was the president had to step into the fray once again to intervene in a more edifying fashion than he had before. i think what's critical here is to understand that the issue not be lost. because what apparently has happened is that there is an equitable relationship between the police department on the one hand, and a private citizen on the other. the reality is, brother schultz, in american society, racial profiling and police brutality have been egregious examples of the occupation and black and latino communities by forces that don't necessarily feel sensitive to or understanding of tho

we're going to continue the conversation with a resident scholar for aol black voices, and michael eric dysonwe're going to get them to weigh in on the latest developments. >>> now to our developing story this morning, the sudden slow down on the health care reform. the delay from the senate he didn't want. and this is what he said about lawmakers dragging their feet. >> i don't want a delay just because of politics. and i have to tell you sometimes delays in washington occur because people just don't want to do anything that they think might be controversial. >> brianna keilar is live on capitol hill with the very latest for us this morning. we've got the senate majority leader saying not going to happen by the recess, one of the blue dogs saying essentially the same thing. where does it all stand this morning? >> well, you heard president obama, john, say that he can deal with a temporary postponement here as long as lawmakers are working towards a consensus, and he really doesn't have a choice. as you mentioned in the senate, harry reid saying it's just not going to happen before congress

pat buchanan a michael eric dyson and jack reed and toure and a wholeot more.dent obama isin moscow meeting with russian leads includingvedev and putin. the president's pledge toreset relationsith russia following the sch adnistraon. al frken is headedcatol hill for key meings. abt two hours the next seni senator om minnesota is expected to meet with senate majority leader hay reid. he will be sworn in morrow. robert mcnamara has diedt . he served as defense secretary under presidentsennedy and johnson and later became president of wld bank but is remembered most for his orchestration of the vietnam war and vilified by antwar critics the rest of his life. >>> palin posted this on twitt today. quote. we're ing to talk about. in fact, wre gointo talk it bit wi my gut co-host today i'm ined bmy friend, the ca a

michael eric dyson from georgetown university is the author.u, is sir. >>> cnn day because "black in america 2" tomorrow night, starts at 9 p.m. eastern, right after the president's news conference at the white house. >>> a piece of american history available to the highest bidder, water gate hotel right here in washington and it is up for auction. we are going to update you on the bidding. >>> and some people call them president obama's "mom gene" now the president is responding to his fashion critics. >>> the government finds using a cell phone while driving is dangerous but for some reason, the government didn't want the american people to know about it. why? jack cafferty has your e-mails, coming up. taking its rightful place in a long line of amazing performance machines. this is the new e-coupe. this is mercedes-benz. >>> monitoring other stories incoming to "the situation room" right now. betty what is going on? >> hi there wolf. one of the nation's largest lenders to small and mid-sized businesses says it might have to file for bankrupt