mr. colbert's expertise as a witness. in the past, republicans have had witnesses who played hot lips houlihan from "m.a.s.h." and clint eastwood to testify. republicans have invited elmo to talk about music education. on another note, mr. colbert, thank you for attending this hearing and highlighting the plight of farm workers. the situati is dire. for the state of california, i heard about the case where he came from mexico for better life and took a job that few americans wanted to do. every day in the hot summer months, he picked grapes or 10 hours straight in -- for 10 hours straight in 105 degree temps. he fell ill. rather than call the ambulance, they told his son to drive him home. he died of heat stroke on the way home at the age of 53. there have been 23 reported deaths since 2001 -- those are the reported. this was the last straw. i helped care legislation for shade and water on every farm so that workers can be protected. the anyone talk about working conditions having to do with -- did anyone talk about work

mr. colbert at the farm there. i am mindful of my trip to the strawberry farm outside my district where, luckily, the farm workers are represented by the united farm workers. those migrant farm workers $90,000 per00 to year. they have health care benefits. -- $18,000 to $19,000 per year. they have health care benefits. employers are not able to get americans to take these jobs. they are killer jobs. i picked strawberries. we can say it is a good idea or a bad idea, but that is just the reality. reading the testimony in understanding the number of farms that have simply folded, it has implications for the entire american work force, upstream, downstream. we have 3 too 4 jobs -- to 4 jobs that americans are doing for every farm worker that is here. if the farms clothes and go offshore -- close and go offshore, it is not just a farm workers who are displaced, it also affects the americans who are relying on that food. i would like to thank the witnesses. people do not realize that they are often volunteers who are her

mr. colbert at the farm there. i am mindful of my trip to the strawberry farm outside my district where, luckily, the farm workers are represented by the united farm workers. those migrant farm workers $90,000 per00 to year. they have health care benefits. -- $18,000 to $19,000 per year. they have health care benefits. employers are not able to get americans to take these jobs. they are killer jobs. i picked strawberries. we can say it is a good idea or a bad idea, but that is just the reality. reading the testimony in understanding the number of farms that have simply folded, it has implications for the entire american work force, upstream, downstream. we have 3 too 4 jobs -- to 4 jobs that americans are doing for every farm worker that is here. if the farms clothes and go offshore -- close and go offshore, it is not just a farm workers who are displaced, it also affects the americans who are relying on that food. i would like to thank the witnesses. people do not realize that they are often volunteers who are her

mr. colbert at the farm there. i am mindful of my trip to the strawberry farm outside my district where, luckily, the farm workers are represented by the united farm workers. those migrant farm workers $90,000 per00 to year. they have health care benefits. -- $18,000 to $19,000 per year. they have health care benefits. employers are not able to get americans to take these jobs. they are killer jobs. i picked strawberries. we can say it is a good idea or a bad idea, but that is just the reality. reading the testimony in understanding the number of farms that have simply folded, it has implications for the entire american work force, upstream, downstream. we have 3 too 4 jobs -- to 4 jobs that americans are doing for every farm worker that is here. if the farms clothes and go offshore -- close and go offshore, it is not just a farm workers who are displaced, it also affects the americans who are relying on that food. i would like to thank the witnesses. people do not realize that they are often volunteers who are her

mr. colbert's stature and influence speak out on behalf of blah, blah, blah, blah.nt statement on the condition of migrant workers in the transcripts of any of that subcommittee's hearings, i will read those statements in their entirety on this show. >>> no matter how her senate campaign turns out sat night live has immortalized christine o'donnell. looks like snl might be finding more skeletons in her closet. on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. >>> "saturday night live" season premier took us inside witch turned senate candidate christine o'donnell's meeting with the republican national committee to discuss how they could support her candidacy in delaware. as with all candidates the political professionals wanted to discuss some of the controversial things that had eme

mr. colbert's testimony was anything but. >> this is america. i don't want a tomato picked by a mexican. i want it picked by american. sliced by a guatemalan and served by a venezuelan in a spa where a chilian gives me a brazilian. >> i'm asking to you leave the committee room completely and submit your statement instead. >> i'm here at the invitation of the chairwoman. if she would like me to remove myself from the hearing room, i'm happy to do so i'm only here at her invitation. >> america's are too dependent on immigrant labor to pick our fruits and vegetables. the obvious answer is for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables. and if you look at the recent obesity statistics, you will see that many americans have already started. >> do i get paid by the bean or the hour? >> by the hour. >> how many hours have i been working? >> about 12 minutes. >> please don't make me do this again. it is really, really hard. for one thing when picking beans you have to spend all day bending over. it turns out, i did not know this, most soil is at gro

mr. colbert more than the house. >> and he should not have been called? >> i don't know about whether he was called, but what he had to say, i think, was not the way it should have been said. >> steny hoyer calling it an embarrassment. >>> big story happening now, the future of middle east peace talks could be in jeopardy after israel's ten-month ban moratorium on settlement construction in the west bank expired last night without a compromise. to celebrate the end of that moratorium, jewish settlers broke ground on a kindergarten. still, palestinian president mahmoud abbas said late yesterday that he would not immediately follow through on an earlier threat to quit negotiations if israel did not extend the building freeze. and yesterday israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu called on settlers to show, quote, restraint and responsibility after the freeze expired at midnight. >>> still ahead on "way too early," the yankees and red sox come down to the last pitch in extra innings. could the yanks avoid a costly sweep in the sunday night game? those high

mr. colbert, more than the house. >> reporter: meanwhile with democrats in trouble many are running away from their leaders in washington. it's an emphasis experts say that's the democrats' best hope to hold on. >> the american public is angry that the the economy hasn't turned around, they're worried, they're frustrated and they're taking it out on incumbents, primarily democrats. >> reporter: lester, the focus for president obama is the economy this week. he travels to four states in three days to promote the easing of the recession and promote recovery. he's going to raise campaign cash for democrats. lester. >> mike, thank you. >>> there was tense moments in the air last night over new york's jfk airport. a delta commuter flight was forced to make an emergency landing when one of the landing gears wouldn't come down. the voice of a flight attendant was captured on cell phone video warning passengers to brace for impact. >> brace for impact. >> heads down. stay down. heads down. stay down. >> passengers said they saw sparks out the window and a wing dragging on the tarmac, but there w

mr. colbert more than the house. >> colbert did supply a written statement that did not supply jokes. he said he wanted to speak for those without power. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. do you think stephen colbert's testimony before a congressional committee on migrant workers was appropriate? you can e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> joe flacco had quite possibly the worst game of his career, throwing four interceptions. the team has shaken all of that off. flacco threw for three touchdowns against the cleveland browns. that allows the ravens to challenge for the title next week when they take on the pittsburgh steelers. keith mills will have highlights and reaction later on. >> that will be a game. 67 degrees on tv hill. coming up, the morning's financial news in the bloomberg business report. >> more evacuation's in wisconsin as flood waters continue to rise. >> a new tv might not be a bad idea to put on your christmas wish list. we'll explain why. >> we have a restart on this monday morning. we will check the seven-day forecast when i come

mr. colbert goes to washington. comedy central funny man stephen colbert brings his spin to serious issues, farm labor and immigration. he testified momenting ago before a congressional subcommittee. here's his take on a day spent picking beans. >> i started my work day with preconceived notions of migrant work, but after working with these men and women picking beans, packing corn for hours on end side by side in the unforgiving sun i have to say, and i do this sincerely, please don't make me do this again. it is really, really hard. for one thing, when you're picking beans, you have to spend all day bending over. it turns out and i did not know this, most soil is at ground level. if we can put a man on the moon, why can't we make the earth waist high? where is the funding? >> there is dana bash, our senior congressional correspondent. she joins us now from the hill. i'm looking through his prepared notes. i didn't see any of that. what was the react from the people in the room? >> reporter: i'm not sure what could

mr. colbert goes to washington, mr. champion is in washington for us. good morning, sam. >> good morning, robin. good morning, george. we're at the d.c. national zoo. let's get to the flooding. there's lots of it. 11 states are under flood watches, warnings or advisories. we told you this would be a big rainfall area. there's three to four inches of rain in the southwest from that system. there was immediate flash flooding. we expect additional rainfall from minneapolis to marquette. and there will be flooding in that area today. pop on the high temperatures, and you'll see where the heat is. lexington at 92. there were ten record highs yesterday. and we'll have more weather from the national zoo in the next half hour. robin, everyone is talking about this heat. philly has had more 90-degree days than ever before. >> than ever before? >> than ever before, yeah. >> all right, sam. thanks. than ever before? i thought i would do it again. >>> imagine if everything you thought you knew about the "titanic" sinking was wrong? there's a new theory on how the f

mr. colbert goes to washington. all that and much more coming up. first, a look at geraldo's exclusive interview with new york mayor corey booker. >> i know you want to involve the community but i have been around long enough to have lived through oceanville and brownsville and when we decentralized public schools in new york city and it was a disaster. >> you are not suggesting that, are you? >> we don't want to see repeating the mistakes of the past that can't be done but we see candidates all the time if my political team during the time i'm running for reelection can knock on 40,000 doors, if what if we all joined forces and went out in the community and had a different kind of conversation. does it mean everyone will agree he? no. most americans and most newarkers agree on most issues. great teachers should get celebrated and rewarded. kids need more time on task. more learning time. there are a lot of generalities that are ingredients to high performing schools that most newarkers will come to the same con cruises on and once we having conclus

mr. colbert more than the house. >>> steny hoyer says stephen colbert and barry himself in a hearing beforeess on friday. -- embarrassed himself and a hearing before congress on friday. >> 6:47 is your time and let's turn to the politico minute. >>> a. george washington university polls says its troubled times for the white house. >> good morning. >> it sounds like the numbers are bad for the white house all around. it sounds like a large number of voters said they would vote against president obama in 2012. >> only 38% says he deserves reelection which is pretty low. they're asked who they trusted to create jobs and restart the economy and congressional republicans by a 10% margin did better than president obama. he is doing worse than congressional democrats when matched against republicans. voters seem to have more faith in congressional democrats to create jobs than obama. >> it also talked about personality. this shows that his personality is more popular than his policies. what are the other personalities listed here? >> the reason he is hopeful in 2012 and it is so far away it is sil

mr. colbert, more than the house. >> of course, colbert is more embarrassed than the house of representatives, colbert still has dignity and integrity left to lose.

mr. colbert, washington is a very serious place. >> and later on, you'll see he said the same thing to menarrative today, the story should have been about john king. stephen colbert thinks john king is a very handsome man. >> not only did he say that to me coming in, coming out, all the reporters are asking questions, he saw me and said tell john i said hi. >> but was he in character? >> that's pretty good. how does it feel to be object fieed as a sex symbol. >> we'll be right back. more laughter on the other side. . sweat every day to make an honest buck...month. and if you're gonna try and do this in anything other than a chevy... well, good luck...month. great deals on the complete family of chevy trucks all backed for a hundred thousand miles. it's truck month. now, during truck month, get 0% apr financing on all trucks and full-size suvs like this 2011 silverado. see your local chevrolet dealer. >> "rick's list primetime" coming up in a couple minutes. let's check in with rick sanchez. >> hey, john, how are you? >> that's nice. >> somebody said that yesterday you were wearing somethi

mr. colbert more than the house. >> like he's embarrassed. oh, no. this will destroy his credibility as a fake tv guide but he went up there, one thing was absolutely hysterical and it was hysterical -- >> it was happening there. >> i didn't think it was funny. it was very well written. the funny thing is no one laughed. i know that the republicans and democrats -- >> listen to this, he submitted a written statement and then went totally opposite way. so he gave them a head fake. so they knew -- if -- it's a she, right? >> yes. >> it's a she, chairman of the subcommittee. if she knew ahead of time, it's going to be steven colbert the fake news guy, that would have been really egregious. he embarrassed them and this person whose credibility is on the line. >> you're giving him too much of the benefit of the doubt, brian. she should have known he had the ability to -- >> john conyers knew. >> right. >> ridiculous. >> the committee invited him up there to look hip and get some publicity and they certainly got publicity. not so hip, though. john conyers,

mr. colbert's eight or 10 hours in the field. so it's kind of a run of the mill occurrence on the hill. i think the big difference this time around was that stephen colbert is so well known and was such a comedian about it and took a very different approach than usual and that's really what drew everyone's eyes to him this morning. >> i think some people would say it was refreshing to see. we appreciate your time, thank for coming in. for more about today's testimony you can head over to www.myfoxdc.com and watch more of the hearing for yourself. >>> coming up tonight drug dealers try to slip 21 pounds of pot past customs. take a look. >> a major drug bust at dulles airport and wait until you see how the suspects tried to conceal their drugs. >>> and the story that has a lot of people talking, auto workers caught on camera chugging beer on their lunch break. tonight fellow employees sound off on the scandal coming up. >> another day with this record heat, close to 100 degrees. let's get it out of here. it will be nicer for the weekend. we'll have your forecast coming up in a bit. 

mr. colbert more than the house. >> and he should not have been called? >> i don't know about whether he was called. what he had to say i think was not the way it should have been said. >> steny should have gone further. you want your tooth pulled you go to the dentist, you want your leg pulled you ask steve colbert. they got what they asked for and it didn't help. >>> bp oil disaster, why are republicans running from getting subpoena power? president obama has signed into law a $30 billion package of tax breaks and hiring incentives for small businesses. the president is also calling for extending the school year saying america's kids need the extra study time to stay globally competitive. >>> top military commander in afghanistan says taliban leaders reached out to the government seeking reconciliation. >>> a heat wave gripping southern california pushing temperatures in los angeles to a scorching new record high of 113 degrees. >>> academy award nominated actress gloria stewart has died, best known to his generation as the elder rose in "titanic." she

mr. colbert more than the house. >> and he should not have been called. >> what he had to say i think wasould have been said. >> he should have gone further. you want your tooth pulled, go to a dentist. you want your leg pulled, call steven colbert. >>> why are republicans running -- you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities. restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense. i know people are wondering-- now that the well is capped, is bp gonna meet its commitments? i was born in new orleans. my

mr. colbert more than the house. >> he was called by the democratic chair. >> you asked me chris, whetherink it was not appropriate. >> sean: they don't have time to vote on how much the business in this country is going to be paying in taxes. >> oh god there we go. >> i agree with steny, i don't think it was appropriate. he said i think it was more embarrassing for colbert. that's what colbert does. he's a schtick guy why do we need him on capitol hill testifying -- >> sean: how about voting on -- >> i think it is embarrassing. he's got his show, do his show, do it from there. >> the idea of having celebrities testify has gotten out of hand. colbert testified in character. [ talking over each other ] >> hearings are supposed to be about listening -- eliciting information to legislate not about self-aggrandizement for the commit at this time. >> sean: i got a question. -- bush tax cuts scheduled to expire going to impact a lot of people in this country. we have one of the most -- we don't know that is speculation on your part we don't know what the legislation will look like. why not have

mr. colbert, more than house. >> he was called by democratic chair of the subcommittee. >> you asked me chris, whether the testimony was appropriate, i think it was not. >> of course it is appropriate, he's an american. he comes before committee, has a point of view. he can bring attention to important issue like immigration. it was great. >> bill: you can decide hot pinheads and patriots are that morass that is it for us tonight. please check out the fox news for website different from billoreilly.com. if you came in late talking points memo tonight is about the new poll by politico and george washington university. we've posted the polls on bill o'reilly do the. we would like you to -- to spout off about the factor from anywhere in the world. o'reilly@ news.com. name a town if you wish to opine. here's the -- here's the word of the day when writing to the factor we do not want to see any jabberwocky. it is a legitimate description of something you do not want to do. thanks for watching tonight, i am bill o'reilly please rer the spin stops right here because we are definitely -- please remem

mr. colbert more than the house. >> he should not have been called? to say was not the way it should have been said. >> i wonder if this is maybe part of the disconnect between washington and the rest of the world. >> this does not reflect well on the united states congress for reasons different -- the fact that they don't have a sense of humor. >> i want to know how this happened, who sat at the meeting and said, i got a good idea, let's bring in stephen colbert. >> why, why, why? up next, how transforming a school district can change an entire community. the president of the los angeles urban league is here. later, the star of hbo's "entourage" joins us on the set. keep it right here on "morning joe." ♪ i love my grandma. i love you grandma. grandma just makes me happy. ♪ to know, know, know you grandma is the bestest. the total package. grandpa's cooooooooool. way cool. ♪ grandpa spoils me rotten. ♪ to know, know, know you ♪ is to love... some people call us frick and frack. we do finger painting. this is how grandpa and i roll. ♪ and i do [ pins f

mr. colbert has presented us with a fine statement. it will be entered into the wreckage -- into the record. he has a huge march coming up in washington which many people are going to be at, i know. i have a very good feeling about that. i will be busy working in michigan, trying to turn out the vote. we have been having very low voter turnout. that is the only reason i will not be with you in the march. but i would like to recommend now that we have all this attention, that you excuse yourself and let us get on with the three witnesses and all of the other members there. we are sure it will be shown on the show tonight, and maybe monday. you run your e show. we run the committee. what do you say to that? >> i do not understand the question. >> i am not asking you not to talk. i am asking you to leave the committee room completely and submit your statement instead. >> mr. chairman, i am wondering microphonecolbert's is not on. he cannot be heard. i think he can ponder what you said. i think many are eager to hear his comments. >> that

mr. colbert more than the house. he was. >> chris: he was called by the democratic chairman of the subcommittee. >> you asked me he whether the testimony was appropriate and i think it was not appropriate. >> chris: and he should not have been called? >> what he had to say i think was not the way it should have been said. if he had a position on the issues he should have given those issues and i think -- that is my personal opinion. >> chris: you regret it? >> i think it was inappropriate. can i say something, go back to the pledge because. >> chris: 30 seconds. >> the american public heard from the young guns. it turned out to be a pop gun. turned out to be spin, not substance, not specifics. it turned out to be a return to the failed bush policies which demonstrably got us into a deep hole. the american public two economic prell issues. one we pursued wigraine us the best economy we have seen in yours and my life sometime in the 90s or the worst economy we have seen in the 2000s. >> chris: congressman hoyer, thanks

colbert appeared in character and from congress. here is some video from this. he introduces himself and sets the tone of his appearance from mr. de. >> my name is stephen colbert and i am an american citizen. it is an honor and privilege to be here today. congresswoman lofgren asked me to share my experience spending one day as a migrant worker. i am happy to use my celebrity to draw attention to this complicated issue. i hope that my star power can bump this hearing up to cspan-1. host: appreciate the reference. if you want to weigh in on this topic the numbers are on your screen the political was one of many papers to run on this topic. -- the political was one of the many papers to run on this topic. guest: that is some of the context from yesterday. host: stephen colbert and jon stewart are planning rallies in october. the role of celebrities is next whether it comes to influencing legislators or influencing the public at large. are democrats line is first in houston, texas. caller: that was the first i have seen that. it is a mockery and tragedy to this country to allow someone up there who is a comedian to act like that.

mr. colbert more than the house. >> well, he was called by the democratic chair of the subcommittee. >> youestimony was appropriate. i think it was not appropriate. >> just to recap, congressman hoyer thought it was not appropriate. that is today's "sound of sunday." and just a brief correction to last sunday's program. we called army staff sergeant salvatore beginte the first living recipient of the medal of honor. we should have said the first living recipient of the medal of honor in the iraq and afghan wars. >>> up next, do you know how to spell murkowski? you may be surprised to know who didn't. ♪ [ male announcer ] every business day, bank of america lends billions of dollars, to individuals, institutions, schools, organizations and businesses. ♪ working to set opportunity in motion. bank of america. personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. >>> you may recall last week's interview with senator lisa murkowski, who is going to run for re-election as a write-in candidate because she got beat in

mr. colbert, you could work on so many issues, why are you interested in this issue?eems like one of the least powerful people in the united states are migrant workers who come and do our work, but don't have any rights as a result. and yet we still invite them to come here, and at the same time ask them to leave. and that's an interesting contradiction to me and, you know what so ever you do for the least of my brothers and these seem like the least of our brothers right now, a lot of people are least of the brothers right now because the economy is so hard and i don't want to take anyone's hardship away from them, but migrant workers suffer and have no rights. >> note to the right, quoting christ there if you didn't recognize it. from one comedic genius to the other, the warning. remember when liz cheney complained that president obama said we could absorb another terrorist attack? guess who else said that? and rachel will have a look at the court ruling that demands a nurse discharged under don't ask don't tell get her job back. that nurse will be her guest. ♪ [ ma

mr. colbert more than the house. >> and he should not have been called?n't know about whether he was called. what he had to say i think was not the way it should have been said. >> steny should have gone further. you want your tooth pulled you go to the dentist, you want your leg pulled you ask steve colbert. they got what they asked for and it didn't help. >>> bp oil disaster, why are republicans running from getting subpoena power? ose in need? ose in need? or, maybe you want to help improve our schools? whatever you want to do, members project from american express can help you take the first step. vote, volunteer or donate for the causes you believe in at membersproject.com. take charge of making a difference. how are you getting to a happier place? running there? dancing there? flying there? how about eating soup to get there? delicious campbell's soups fill you with good nutrition, energy, farm-grown ingredients, and can help you keep a healthy weight. helping you get to a happier place. have a nice trip. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. i

mr. colbert more than the house. >> chris: he was called by the democrat i democratic chair the committeeit was not appropriate. >> chris: you think he should not have been called? >> i don't know about whether he was called but what he had to say was not the way it should have been said. if he had a position on the issues, he should have given those issues. you ask my personal opinion. >> chris: you regret it? >> i think it was inappropriate. can i say something going back to the pledge, because the american -- >> chris: 30 seconds. >> the american public heard from those young guns. it turned out to be a pop gun. it turned out to be spin, not substance, not specific. it turned out to be a return to the failed bush policies, which demonstrably got us in a deep hole. american public has two economic premise. one we pursued that gave us the best economy we've seen in yours and my lifetime in the '90s or the worst economy we've seen in the 2000s. >> chris: congressman hoyer, we want to thank you. thank you for coming in. 37 days to the election, a rush to the finish. >> you bet. it is. than

mr. colbert more than the house. >> reporter: he was called by the chair. >> i think it was not appropriateyn: colbert appeared before the house judiciary committee last week discussing this one dave work on the farm as part of the united farm workers "take our jobs" program. the house speaker said she thought it was great. steny hoyer, the majority leader in the house not on the same page. right now the pentagon is in quite a bind over a book on afghanistan. the defense department buying 10,000 copies of this around veteran's memoir then destroying them, citing fashion a security concerns spending tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money. how did this book threaten our national security? >> reporter: the pentagon didn't say why it, such a threat, but they demanded the book "operation dark heart" be heavily redacted and the first public kissing destroyed. it was written by a lieutenant colonel in the army reserves. they gave the go-ahead to publish the book, then the intelligence agency demand changes. mohammad atta was identified as a danger to the u.s. before the attacks. schaeffer

mr. colbert more than the house. >> chris: he was called by the democratic chair of the subcommittee. >>sked whether the testimony was appropriate. i think it was not appropriate. >> reporter: on friday, nancy pelosi said "he is an american and can bring attention to an important issue. i think it is great. but the comedy central star's in character testimony confused some. >> turns out and i did not know this. most soil is at ground level. if we can put a man on the moon why can't we make the earth waist high? >> shannon: colbert was discussing his one dayas<ç<ç7 experience as a labor. >>> your cell phone could save you waiting time in the new jersey room. how technology is making -- in the emergency room.7 how technology is making the e.r. a little less frustrating. stay with us. activia is better than ever! hey, you guys. want to try activia's great new taste? isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. ooh, i think i'll pass. no, no, no! trust me. it is beyond tasty. mmm! wow! i can't believe it, i love it! mmm, this is really good! new best tasting

mr. colbert can ponder what you said. i think many are eager to hear his comments. >> that's fair enough. >> i'm here at the invitation of the chairwoman and if she wants me to remove myself from the hearing room i am happy to do so, i'm only here at her invitation. martha: okay. so we'll see what happens with this, so far we understand that steven colbert is still in the room, there and the hearing room and that was zoe lock krfgren, invited him and, they say, why would he talk of a serious issue of immigration and there is back and forth whether he'll go into character and as they comment it will end up on their show and clearly, that is part, if not all of the motivation for his being there today, to say, gee, if he can testify in front of congress, on these matters, in character, as steven colbert, it will be something about a mockery about the entire congressional hearing process. bill: a stand down, between colbert and congress and we'll see how it work out. martha: she's trying to get him to stay and finish -- >> a

mr. colbert, more than the house.lled a. >> reporter: he was called by the democratic chair of the subcommittee. martha: you asked me whether the testimony was appropriate i think it was not appropriate. bill: the controversy continues with martha now. martha: well, meanwhile the house minority leader congressman john boehner says the democrats have more time for comedy apparently than for facing the bush tax cut issue head on. that was set up perfectly for them to say that. bob a political analyst and a fox news contributor. you have to kind of shake your head in amazement. of course bob beckell it made a mockery of the hearing. that was the whole intention. >> everybody has to lighten up here. look, if there is anything this is a few laughs. i think colbert gave not only a few laughs but he raised an issue. how many of us have talked about migrant workers in the last five or ten years. virtually nobody. now everybody is talking about it. martha: they are talking about stephen colbert and how silly congress was not m

mr. colbert more than the house. >> of course, colbert is more embarrassed than the house of representativesd integrity left to lose! >> back to "morning joe." >> i can't believe they're all acting shocked steven colbert did a comedy bit when he testified. what did they think he was going to do? >> he worked in upstate new york. >> for a day on the show. >> joining us now, the governor of michigan, jennifer granholm on the set with us. nice to have you with us. >> thank you, mika and for the conversation this morning. >> it's exciting how things are going in michigan. you know, we're going to adopt the entire state. >> i know you said that. >> detroit, specifically. >> we need to more than ever because it's been a rough, rough year. >> the lions -- >> we need a little bit of "morning joe"'s balm for the cold. come to detroit. >> does carl levin ever watch football? >> we asked him the morning after the lions, the guy was clueless. i might as well have talk talked -- he represents michigan! we asked him about the game, he sat there, blank look. >> it's true. maybe he didn't hear us. >> i don'

mr. colbert. he was -- >> well, he was called by the democratic chair of the subcommittee. >> you ask me, chris, whether the testimony was appropriate. i think it was not appropriate. >> and he should not have been called. >> well, i don't know about whether he was called, but what he had to say was not the way it should have been said. >> and i think part of the confusion is he gave written testimony, as well, that he was explaining these were difficult jobs. these are jobs that many americans don't want to take, which is why there's so much migrant labor and there should possibly be a path way for at least working papers for the immigrants who do that. >> the whole thing was a little strange to say the least, but colbert's getting plenty of people supporting him, as well. congress says that he made a mockery of the hearing process. but other people who have stood up for colbert say congress has made a mockery of the hearing process. don't blame him. >> apparently when he tried to submit, i guess