white house. president obama is headed out west right now. the white house calls myths about the bill. the president and mrs. obama just took off from andrews air force base and land in a few hours. the president's town hall gets under way at 3:00 p.m. eastern time. with us to talk more about it is nbc white house correspondent savannah guthrie. good to see you. >> hi, carlos. >> savannah, how unfriendly could this crowd be? is there truly significant concern that the president might be greeted there in a less than friendly way? >> oh, i don't know that it's concern but i think there is the potential for the president to experience firsthand this new town hall dynamic we have seen in some town halls around the country. because this is a small locality they were able to distribute tickets on a first come, first served basis. you may get some more dissenting views. yesterday in new hampshire it seemed like the president was saying, skeptics raise your hands. he wants to engage. he wants to answer these questions. there is the possibility he may face a more unruly crowd. i just spoke to a

gop accusing obama white house of collecting personal data of its political opponents.r the irony award? biggest cheerleaders of the bush domestic spy program is suddenly >>> facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. gop accusing obama white house of collecting personal data of its political opponents. remember the irony award? biggest cheerleaders of the bush domestic spy program is suddenly worried about your privs pip in an effort to debunk the lies circulating about health care reform such as the obama plan will kill your elderly aunt mildred, an outreach program a call to action, a lot of disinformation about health care spanning from control of personal finances to end health care. if you get an e-mail or see something on the web fishy, send it to flag@white house.gov. and today's paranoia, jon cornyn's texas, compiling an enemy list, one e-mail address at a time. the truth squadding proposal, another example of obama spyware. he wrote to the president, you shue should not be surprised this raises the spect of a data collection program. justifies outra

. >>> and rising concerns that the obama white house may be threatening your right to privacy. the aclu is concern edconcerned. they've written the president. the obama administration considering plans to collect personal information on anyone using a federal government website. >>> we begin tonight with the president's own town hall meeting on health care. president obama immediately striking back at critics who oppose his health care agenda. the president accused opponents of spreading what he called wild misrepresentations. but the president didn't provide any new answers on his health care proposals. he also failed to explain how his administration will tackle the almost $60 trillion in unfunded liabilities already facing the nation. dan lothian, traveling with the president, reports now from portsmouth, new hampshire. >> reporter: responding to criticism that he's not answering tough questions in his town halls, president obama called for dissent. >> i don't want people thinking i just have a bunch of plants in here. >> reporter: even then, the questions were mostly friendl

you're in the obama white house. i know it's a mind meld, but try to consir it. go with me. what should they do now? >> listen, i disagree with you, juan, and i usually don't, but i -- >> yes, you do. >> but he is weakened as president because democrats oppose his policies. he's not, you know, falling in the polls because republicans have, you know, as bill said, got their groove back and are communicating. this really is a grassroots opposition to increased government control over health care, and it is democrats who are wary of what obama has proposed and it is also a cumulative impact of the stimulus which some democrats were uncomfortable with, cap and trade, some of these guys went home, democrats, not republicans, and got a lot of flack. i talked to a house member from south florida this week. he is cringing about having to go home and defend these policies. he is a die-hard hard core democrat and he is nervous about having to defend obama. >> let me ask you about one aspect, tad, about what you suggested. i think that's a reasonable argument. hey, look, there are a lo

want the white house to know about, i don't see why the white house -- >> would anybody send an opinion to the white house. >> us go further. politics to a new political website reported the obama white house has reversed a nine-year-old policy to not keep track of the people -- the cookies people put him on the go on the white house website. for the first time in nine years if you go to the white house website and click around there keeping that as well. the that's a violation of the bush era of privacy understanding. >> we're taking a break but we have a lot available to you on our website including spirited discussions and are about to break out in the studio. you can hear them after the show foxnews.com /fox "news watch." we will be back in two minutes with this package you to come in for two american journalists caught by north korea. is there more to this story. and has twitter become a national security threat? answers per next time his watch. (announcer) gillette fusion's indicator strip fades to white when it may be time to change. fresh blade. better shave. >> jon: on wednesday the news media fixated on two americans returning home. the pair arrived home to a huge wel

yesterday at the age of 86. >>> turning now to the healthcare battle, one political analyst says the obama white house squeezed by republicans and now democrats too that it's switching to night fighting mode. nancy cordes has the latest on that. >> obama! obama! >> reporter: worried the white house is caving under pressure from the right. >> all lies! >> reporter: some democrats are now pushing for a go it alone strategy on healthcare reform that does not include republicans at all. >> over and over again, the republicans have said no. i don't think that they want reform. >> reporter: the final straw may have been a comment by a top republican senator, jon kyl of arizona. "there is no way that republicans are going to support a trillion dollar bill," kyl told reporters, even if democrats drop the public insurance program the gop so strongly opposes. >> i actually don't think there's any peril in opposing the president's plan at the moment. i think that stopping something bad from happening is the right place to be right now. >> reporter: liberals were already angry that the president seemed to be back

the white house also released a statement this morning from president barack obama. president obama says that the united states has lost the greatest united states senator. he called kennedy a great leader and praised his work to advance the civil rights health and economic well being of all americans. the president thanked kennedy for his wise sound in the sowpt and as well as his support in the lastier's presidential race. as you will know, kennedy's support came at a key time for barak obama when was a candidate. without that endorsement, it would have been very likely that hillary clinton would have held on and gotten that democratic nomination. barak obama this morning owes in large part to the fact that he is president of the united states to senator ted kennedy's support that came here in washington last year. >> thank you so very much. we'll see tom again with more coverage of the death of senator ted kennedy later this morning. >>> we want it check some of our other top stories. >> he had y, the health care debate hit fever pitch in reston, virginia. congres

the obama white house appears to be in disarray tonight over its health care initiatives. the obama administration insisting the president still supports a public option, so-called. although top administration officials saying the idea could be abandoned over the weekend. also, americans losing patience with president obama as the showdown over health care is escalating. those americans expressing anger and frustration in town hall meetings across the country. but the white house and supporters are striking back. new controversy over second amendment rights. gun control advocates furious that a man with a rifle turned up outside president obama's event in phoenix today. that is the subject of one of our "face-off" debates tonight. but first, what could be a pivotal point in the showdown over the president's health care initiatives, the white house today declaring the president remains committed to a so-called public option for health care initiatives. but over the weekend, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius on cnn suggested president obama could drop the

the obama white house was able to watch over this until the end. >> we want to ensure the safety of the journalists. >> recent weapons test has been going on in north korea. perhaps clinton discussed that with them. >> he needs to solidify himself internationally and nationally by having the photograph and visit by former president clinton. >> the women were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor well they illegally entered north korea while reporting on some stories. >> the former president apologized for the reporters. constructive dialogue, the u.s. hopes to extend its nuclear talks as well. wbal tv 11 news. >> will banning texting while driving keep drivers and pedestrians safer? members of congress will take part in a summit next month led by the transportation secretary. the meeting will not focus on just texting but anything that would cause a distraction while driving such as using a gps system. >> laws are not always enough. often you need to combine education with enforcement to get results. we hope our summit will permit by the kind of recommendations that we can take to the ame

the biggest fairy tale i have ever seen. >> reporter: al gore told the white house the north koreans wanted clinton. president obama gave the go-ahead. >> the white house reached out as they said to my husband to ask him if he would be willing to do that. >> reporter: now a team of rivals one better, president obama and two clintons. the final step if bill clinton were to go would it be a done deal? the north koreans messaged yes. the wheels were in motion. and those wheels were pretty fancy. a private 737 owned by clinton friend and hollywood producer, and former clinton chief of staff, john podesta went along to file the paperwork of the pardon in a north korean court.

do people in the obama white house when any hear the stories of tom ridge and the allegations that somebody was playing games with terror alerts to score political points, to the extent it reminds the american public about the bush administration, do the people in the obama white house see that as a political good thing for them because it draws a contrast? >> that's not a question that i have asked them, but it wouldn't surprise me. i mean, it does remind the american people that the bush white house was unpopular, and their unpopularity didn't have a lot to do with an argument about health care. these were major issues and things have been exposed. i think you haven't heard the white house use this in part because it just gives tom ridge more publicity. but this is something people are taking seriously and i think voters are remembering it. you're hearing a lot of conversation on twitter and the blogs about how outrageous this is. >> christina, correspondent for "the guantanamo tim "the washington times" great to see you. >> thanks, david. >> president obama has dealt with difficult summe

>> are you concerned the obama white house is not aggressive enough? they want full disclosure. >> i am concerned we're not being aggressive enough. we criticized the bush administration for making prosecutorial decisions. it's up to the attorney general, not the white house and yes, they ought not to be limiting the investigation as they are limiting it as i said before. it ought to look at the higher ups too and look at everybody involved. >> what about the bushback from the right. almost instantly, dick cheney said this stopped massive attacked. but peter king said you wonder whose side they are on this is a war against the cia. >> i think that's ridiculous it shouldn't be a war against the cia, nor is it. ith a quest to vindicate american law. if he didn't do this, he would be breaking the law. >> are you concerned that cia director leon panetta will resign over this? he has nothing to do with this. >> we don't know if there will be prosecutions or there should be prosecutions this is a preliminary inquiry. second of all, if the facts say they shou

white house sees the reference to the girls as an invasion of privacy. despite the fact that they are sometimes seen in public as they were today, the obamas do try to keep them out of the spotlight. not so for damon weaver, a celebrity today at the white house. and not surprisingly for an 11-year-old, he has his own idea for the perfect school lunch. >> i suggest that we have french fries and mangos every day for lunch. >> i'm not sure we can get mangos in every school. >> reporter: so it's mangos for lunch, but as for the french fries, the president told damon not so much. as for the posters, the white house has taken no further action, but they are only scheduled to be up for the next couple of weeks. bill plant, cbs news, the white house. >> couric: french fries and mangos, yuck. next, woodstock was about peace and love, but it started a bitter feud that has lasted 40 years. once you've mastered the complexities of a headache... the rest of the body is a no brainer. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin back & body. excedrin. what ache? how about a swim? i'm a little irregular today. don't you eat activia? for my little i

that's what the obama white house should be worried about.ve delayed this process in order to make it a better bill. he simply said i put my finger in the dike. if that's all he's doing, doesn't the white house

white house is saying these are separate matters. what happened today is a humanitarian issue. suzanne? >> do we know if president clinton was asked to deliver a message from president obama they are saying that is not correct. they don't want to give any comment, any more information until he has left north korea. >> thank you, dan. >>> you may remember, the women were arrested in march along the chinese border. they work for current tv, al gore's media venture. lee is south korean born but a u.s. citizen. she is married and has a daughter. laura ling is also married and the younger sister of lisa ling. listen to what her sister told our cnn's anderson cooper. >> all we can say is they are journalists and they were doing their job. my sister has been a journalist for years. that's really all we can say. we weren't in the courtroom. we don't know any sort of specifics other than what was released. we just hope, given the nakt we know the girls have apologized profusely, that they will let the girls come home to us. it's been three months and that's been too long for us. >> in our talk, what might both sides of the negotiating table have given up? let's bring in jack pritc

the obama white house sent a message to the middle class of america. be facing a tax hike after all. despite all of the campaign promises, they can no longer rule out having to pay more. >> i guess we should try to figure out what the middle class is, first off u. right? >> well, that is true. if this is going to be a burden to the middle class, he doesn't want them to be burdened. much more broadly, he has said that the middle class has not seen a pay raise this is the language the property is that right now you can never absolutely rule things out no matter what. >> the critical thing is that when we have recovery established led by the private sector, we have to bring you down very dramatically. what the country needs to do is understand, we're going to have to do what it takes, what is necessary. >> >> it's going to mean either huge spending cuts or a very vigorous recovery and some sort of raise in taxes on a lot of different types of people to pay for all of this rescue. now, remember, we were spending more money than we made before the financial

you hear governor cuomo saying today while health care is a critical issue that the obama white house might have made more sense to wait on health care reform until they had gotten the economy back to health. what are your thoughts on that and on reports the recession has kind of bottomed out and we're beginning perhaps to see some growth? >> well, no surprise that i agree with governor cuomo 100%. i think right now we have a lot of important issues on the table. the economy certainly feels like things have bottomed and we have seen the worst, but you know what? we really don't know that for sure. i think that the stock market is reflecting momentum and positive euphoria but that is not necessarily in step with reality. unemployment will continue to rise. commercial real estate remains a question. and if, in fact, we were to see a big blowup there in 2010 that will have ripple effects. i also am very concerned with tax going higher in 2010 just at the same time that the economy recovery is supposed to be gaining traction. that may very well choke things off. obviously, health care is

the libyan leader, mow mqaddafi gave up hi nuclear weapons, the bush white house took libya off the list of terrorist nations. the obama white house is furious about the decision. talked with them about what a horror they experienced. and i just think it is absolutely wrong. >> reporter: tonight u.s. officials say there is absolutely nothing they can do to stop the convicted bomber from going free. lester. >> andrea, thank you. >> what promises to be a crucial election in afghanistan is hours away. violence leading up to the voting has left five u.s. troops dead. meanwhile, in the afghan capital, three heavily armed taliban gunmen seized control of a bank and triggered a shoot-out with police before being killed. the taliban has vowed it will do whatever it can to disrupt tomorrow's elections. >>> in this country, more rowdy town hall meetings with members of congress, sparring with constituents over health care reform. last night it was massachusetts where democrat barney frank decided he had enough and faced off against a woman holding a picture of president obama that was doctored to make him look like hitler. >> wh

john core nnen is accusing the white house of monitoring the speech and is asking president obama toease and desist. are these protests spontaneous or organized? does it really matter? >> let's kick it off. let's start with gloria borger. >> the answer is, yes, some of them are real and some of them are manufactured. look, you have conservative groups out there, suzanne, who are against health care reform. they have learned it is very easy to organize groups via the internet and they have told people to go to places and to disrupt meetings. however, you also have some folks who really want to have a serious discussion about health care reform because they are worried about it. they are worried that they may lose their health insurance or whatever their concerns are. i think the ones we are paying attention to are the ones where you have the hecklers and the people who are disrupting any kind of real and protuductive conversation. >> david? >> i think it is a completely real distinction. leaders invite people to come out to events. sometimes they come. sometimes they don't. they come

still, the obama white house said the program violated laws against torture and cannot be tolerated. brian? >> andrea mitchell. and back to pete williams. pete, there's a lot in here but at the same time there's a lot we don't yet know. >> right. among the things we do know is what holder wants to look at. some of these allegations of abuse and a few others that are still classified that are said to be even worse, about ten in al where interrogators appear to have gone well beyond the bounds of what the cia was authorized to do. we don't know what they are because 44 of the report's 109 pages are like this -- they're all or mostly blacked out. we don't know what those other cases are. it does seem clear that eric holder would not call for an investigation, though, in three other categories -- the cia operatives who did follow the rules, the bush administration officials who came up with this enhanced interrogation program, and then the justice department lawyers who approved it, brian. >> and, andrea, this is going to amount to another examination, more material out there representin

white house. whether president obama's health care plan must include a government-run insurance program known by theblic option. and federal prosecutors have charged a man in florida in the largest credit and debt card scam in history. a theft case really the feds say the suspect tried to steal 130 million account numbers. and on this day in 1969, hurricane camille slammed into the mississippi gulf coast as one of the most powerful hurricanes of the 20th sen trismt the fast-moving storm had become a hurricane just three days before. it had strengthened to a monstrous category 5 in fewer than 48 hours. for many, there was simply no time to board up or head to higher ground. camille hit with a 25-foot storm surge. winds estimated nearly 200 miles per hour. in the end, the storm killed more than 250 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. the most devastating storm to hit the gulf coast until katrina. camille was one of only three category five storms ever to make landfall in the last century. the devastation happened 40 years ago t

is the core of an explosive debate tonight between former vice president dick cheney and the obama white house. escalating the feud from a family vacation in alaska, dick cheney challenged president obama's ability to protect the homeland. cheney said the decision to prosecute interrogators was political. and shows "why so many americans have doubts about this administration's ability to be responsible for r nation's serity." fighting words >> and i think in many ways his statents in these day s are kind of pathetic. i think he should know that the obama administration is doing everything to keep america secure. >> reporter: so who right? the new documents reveal 30 of e detainees1/3 of those held in the cia secret prisons were subjected to the questionable practices. cheneyays the taics saved lives and prevented terrorist attacks. his proof --n part, thiso, describing how 9/11 masternd, khalid sheik mohammed who was water boarded 183 times, admitted to a series of plots one in late in 2001 to crash a hijacked airliner intthe tallest building on the u.s. west coast. another in early 2002 to se

run as chief to have chicago public school system he is in charge of public education for the obama white house. goals include the push for more charter schools in the us. also tonight, the founder of the enter dependence day, benjamin barber. his gathering takes place in turkey next month and emphasizes the need for global cooperation on a wide range of issues. arne duncan and political theorist benjamin barber coming up right now. >> there are so many things that wal-mart is looking forward to doing, like helping people live better but mostly we're looking forward to helping build stronger communities and relationships because with your help, the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance working to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: arne duncan serves as the u.s. secretary of education after serving time as the chicago c.e

the obama white house and powerful special interest groups joining forces. their plan to attack the president's government proposal. >>> large polls showing a large desserting president obama. >>> fighting back against the democratic's party assault. they are, in fact, demanding the right to be heard at town hall meetings and in a barrage of e-mails targeting members of congress. >>> in our face-off debate tonight, we exam the issue of whether the federal government has a moral obligation to provide health care as many liberals are asserting now. first, the white house has opened a new front in its campaign to sell the president's plan. why officials are calling on democrats to send out a barrage of e-mails to support the agenda. david axelrod says those e-mails should debunk what he calls myths and lies. it's an attempt by the white house to stop the president's health care plan from collapsing altogether. dan lothian has our report from the white house. dan? >> indeed. the white house, as you know, has been hosting these town hall meetings around the countr

white house and advocates for healthy school lunches. the source of their dispute, they mentioned president obama's two daughters. e white house wants the campaign stopped. the group says they are not going to stop it. it's a brewing controversy. straight ahead. when this hotel added aflac to compliment their benefits package aflac! it made a big splash with the employees yeaaaahhhh! find out more at aflac!... ...forbusiness.com (laughter) you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated? nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping is easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. come on. how about...a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. >>> an advocacy group using president obama's daughters. joining us now david frum and the white house for political malia henderson and our own joe johns. i want to get some background from debra. >> the

well reality struck this week when the obama white house and congressional budget office both announced the deficit over the next decade will balloon to more than $9000. $2 trillion more than predicted earlier this year. even those revised projections are public optimistic. mary, trillion dollars here trillion dollars there for most people it's a distraction. but what do these deficits mean economically? >> when you have a deficit you have to issue debt in order to get the money. and what the congressional budget office has said is that the amount of debt that the government is going to have to issue is unsustainable. you have to find somebody who will buy your debt and give you that money and you have to service the debt and you eventually have to repay it. so this isn't money for nothing. it has to come from somewhere and it's not sustainable. >> paul: obama's argument would beat we needed to run these deficits. i inherited hon of it. besides, we have a big recession we need attorneys deficits because they help to stimulate the economy, to the soundtrack and this is only temporary. >>

we can't afford it as a nation. >> dana, on the point about the obama white house, there has been a loticism that it can't even get its strategic message straight. if the white house can't get that message straightened out, isn't there a larger problem it's creating a vacuum and as a result, there is a vacuum for some media outlets to mislead people. >> the white house has allowed max baucus, who is insurer funded as a politician and to sart of take the lead in this process for far too long. now we know republicans don't support co-ops. i think it's time for the white house to move forward and pass health care reform. >> can i add something? he's done so many town hall meetings, i think that's part of the downfall of this. he's put himself out there too much, talking about how -- i think that reduces credibility on this and they need to come back in september with some really good messaging. >> i agree with you there. the president has been out there and if the message isn't getting across, the message hasn't been effective. thank you for coming on. monica, it is a complicated issue, bu

white house? is this 1984? is big brother watching? >> they're looking for tattletales. they're looking for snitches. they're looking for informants. >> john cornyn sent a letter to president obama saying "i'm not aware of any precedent for a president asking american citizens to report their fellow citizens to the white house for pure political speech that is deemed "fishy." and demanding what action do you intend to take for those engaging in fishy speech? dozens of citizens have been speaking out at town hall events on health healthcare, including this one in wisconsin. democratic congressman steve kagen got an earful. the white house and congressional democrats say this is an orchestrated, or, quote, manufactured effort by republicans and special interest groups. >> there are groups that are spreading people out across the country to go to these things, and to specifically generate videos that can be posted on internet sites. it did disrupts the message. the story becomes the disruption. not the message. >> in fact, the democratic party has put out a new web ad called, quote, enough of the mob. >> this mob be activity is straight from the playbook of high-level political ope

this is what put barack obama in the white house. >> absolutely. absolutely. >> now, i want to ask you. it wasn't the blue dogs. you see the blue dogs, you know what they did? they came along for the ride is what they did. >> that's right. >> they couldn't connect themselves to the republicans in the bush years anymore so they took the best available option to get to the white house. now that's where it was. okay. congresswoman, i don't mean to take your time. i'm fired up on this. where is the left of the left? do they still have confidence in president obama? >> well, i am so pleased that the president and the white house is taking this time now to clearly define where they stand and what they're going to work for. there was a little confusion there. and people were wondering, well, is this very important or is this a sliver? and i think what you got from the progressives is this. no, this is not a sliver. this is a big honk. the health care reform cannot be health care reform unless we have a public option. and so the white house has become very

that follows a look at today's white house effort to get democrats back on the same page. it happened over lunch. president obama called the entire senate democratic caucus to the white house today to try to smooth divisions over critical issues. all involving money. at the top of the agenda, the cost of keeping the president's promise to reform health care this year. polls and political action groups have highlighted growing discontent about legislation making its way through the house and the senate. often liberals have been targeting their own. >> saying health care may just be too difficult. senator, we don't expect you to lead just on the easy issues, senator feinstein, please, fight for california, fight for president obama's health care reform now. >> ifill: senate democrats emerging from the white house luncheon today insisted they are close to agreement. >> the very first thing we did, the thing we're working on now which is health care. there was absolute unity in the congress. different ideas were expressed, but every idea was, we understand that before year's end we're going to be confident of health

is president obama going to reappoint him? >> the white house -- obama white house is keeping quiet about all that. that's for sure. the fed chairman serves at the pleasure of the president. lots of speculation about top economic adviser larry summers as a possible replacement. right now ben bernanke's stock is high other wall street than on capitol hill. as we approach the one-year anniversary of the financial market collapse, we all know a whole lot can happen between now and january. >> but in general, it seems like in the last couple of weeks, the news about the economy just seems to be a little bit better. is that expected to have any kind of impact on people's sigh cole -- psychologically? >> absolutely. and psychology is the key. you know, consumer confidence translates into consumers reaching into their pockets to go spend money. and frankly, the better psychology about people not losing their jobs and we are seeing that, you know, play out in a big factor in really the pair now yeah about health care reform. and you know, the first thin

and there are some dangers that the obama administration and the white house perceived in the cia as oing to war with the cua. the obama administration and the white house did not want to do what justice eric holder wanted to do. he was off on his own. but i think there is a perception at the cia that they are being attack -- attacked. they are to the being defended when attacked by outsiders and there is friction between the cia and white house. >> how odd to have the white house in 1 place and the justice department over here. >> well, we didn't have it in the last eight years. there is no question that the political office and the white house, justice department were more than chumy. it was a wholly owned subsidiary. eric holder is an interesting case. he left as deputy attorney general tarnished in large part because he had been too subservient to the clinton white house on the pardon, the unforgivable pardon, let it be noted of mark rich by president bill clinton on the way out the door. and holder had raised no objections to it. and he obviously is going to make sure that that d

good news for the obama white house which can't seem to catch any break in the health care debate. >>nk the president is going to continue to be out front in september and october in trying to get something done. >>> playing politics with terror alerts. tom ridge says the bush team urged him to raise the threat level just before the 2004 election. a spokesman for donald rumsfeld calls it nonsense. who should we believe? >>> later, an international manhunt is under way for a reality tv star who stands accused in the gruesome murder of his ex-wife. >> ryan jenkins is an animal, what he has done to jasmine is unspeakable. >> looking for answers in the death of a swimsuit model. >>> new video of president obama getting revved up at the white house. and why you should never ride piggyback with a mascot. all that and more this hour on msnbc. >> i'm alex witt live here in new york. tamron has the day off. hi, david. >> goo h

president obama's push to speed healthcare reform through congress has hit plenty of speed bumps this summer. today, the white house was trying to regroup in some pretty fast company. senior white house correspondent major garrett reports one option on the table, going it alone. >> president obama celebrated all things nascar with last year's sprint cup champion, jimmie johnson, and even his aides say his healthcare package isn't stalled and can still be won. >> the discussion is not over. >> house minority whip eric cantor agrees the debate is not over but says the president is spinning his wheels. >> what i really see right now is a white house in chaos over healthcare. >> mr. obama's chief of staff, rahm emanuel, told "the new york times" today the republican leadership believes killing healthcare is, quote, more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that americans face every day. the president agrees republican leaders are trying to stloa sand in the gears but will for a while at least pursue a bipartisan compromise. >> he says we take seriously the fact that there are r

. >> the ousting of honduran president zelaya no longer grabs headlines but attacks on the obama white houseor failing to push hard forehis return warchgeled president obama during his post- mexican conference with president calderon and canadian prime minister steven harper. president obama called it a coo and wanted his return to power but call but called for less intervention. >> there is a call for american relations to come in but that won't guide my policies. >> zelaya has failed to enter honduras. the new president says it was constitutional and he will never regain power. president harper lent a hand to the president. >> if i were in america, i would be tired of this hypocrisy. >> they are tired of meddling in mexico's drug war, and all posed together while calderon defended arm army tactics against drug cartels, as the united states has withheld millions in aid over human rights concerns. >> we are fighting against organized crime. it is to preserve the human rights of the american people, rights to safety and security. >> all three nations pledged to cooperate and communicate, thou

white house. it's president obama's 48th birthday. >> and, david, we just got our hands on a photo from the white house of the president's birthday cake. that's very nice. take a look. >> a lot of blue. >> a lot of something. a lot of icing. it's complete with the presidential seal. it looks pretty tasty. that was rigged for me but i agree it was tasty. president obama shared the celebration today. he made a surprise appearance in the white house briefing room with a plate of cupcakes and candles and led the press corps in singing happy birthday to this lovely lady, legendary journalist helen thomas. she turned 89 years old today. still working. she's regarded as the dean of the washington press corps and is currently a columnist for the hurst. he sat with her for a birthday photo. >> helen wishes for world peace, but she and i also had a common birthday wish. she said she hopes for a real health care reform bill. >> after the brief celebration, president quickly departed ignoring reporter's questions at that little impromptu birthday for helen thomas. >>> tamron there is a small group of conserva

the white house says president obama still wants a public option. use office of health reform says nothing has changed despite what sebelius said. quote, the president has always said what is essential had that health insurance reform must lower costs, ensure that there are affordable options for all americans and it must increase choice and competition in the health insurance market. he believes the public option is the best way to achieve those. julian and brad are here. if the white house believes a public option is the best way and they have 60 votes in the senate, why not do this through reconciliation? >> well, it's very hard to do health care reform through reconciliation. i think the democrats are concerned about whether or not they actually do have the votes for a public option. i think most democrats think it's the best way of curing a health insurance system running us all off the financial cliff. the mere virtue of the fact that the white house is even signaling this may be up for a discussion, that a co-op may also be on the table right

white house is doing. people are scared that with obama care they're going to lose their doctor, lose their private insuranceou ask experts, it is true. getting back to the earlier point about -- >> alealex, which experts are y talking about? that one group that was funded by the insurance industry that republicans like to cite? who are you talking about? >> yes, amongst others. >> so we're talking about experts funded by the insurance industry. let's be clear. >> if there's a government plan, it will be tougher for private insurance companies to compete with a government plan that has the full faith and credit of the u.s. government supporting it. i think that's common sense. but getting back to the earlier point by bipartisanship, at that same event from new hampshire yesterday that you played the clip from, the president said that he was willing to go it along without republican support. that's not a very open end request for republicans to sit down at the table. republicans have been offering a lot of ideas about how to fix america's broken health care system, and the white house isn't listening. >> rich

. >> but the white house says president obama still wants a public option. when the douglas communications director for the health reform office says nothing has changed -- this weekend, president obama said the public option is just a sliver of the plan, but didn't bring up the topic during his speech just a short time ago. >> and since there's been so much misinformation out there about health insurance reform, let me say this. one thing that reform won't change is veterans health care. >> and once again, the president was greeted by protesters in phoenix, arizona today. some with guns strapped to their legs. police say there is no cause for serious concern. joining us now, politico. >> i think the house secretary, kathleen sebelius, kind of said out loud what folks inside the white house have been saying, that there's a lot of thinking that you can get 80% of what you want out of a health reform bill without having a public option. given that has drawn so much fire from the right especially, who use it to say this is a big government takeover of health ca