paul steinhauser could use a vacation ourselves. riend of our show on saturday and sunday morning. hello to you again, paul. health care reform. are we going to see anything take that away from the top stories and the headlines in the next coming days and weeks? >> probably not, at least when it comes to domestic news. remember there are three weeks left in the congressional recess. so they're gonlt to continue to hold the town halls. i've got five on our list that we're going to be covering torp. not just the ones with protests. we're covering the good, bad, the ugly. we're have our photo journalistists and others out to as many as we can. >> middle east peace, all right, in the middle of all this is going to get back on the front burner at some point this week. explain why. >> you've got it. the president will be here on tuesday. the two met back -- last met back in june when the president was in cairo, egypt, and he gave the speech to the muslim world. he's had the prime minister back at the white house back in may. yes, on tuesda

cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser is in washington with a preview. uls health care no doubt front and center this week. all right. we're having audio difficulties with paul steinhauser. rob, right now i'll hand it over to you. >> remember, we were talking about alabama's county in crisis, jefferson county to be specific. alabama governor has called for a special legislative session tomorrow to deal with the state's deestate financial deepening crisis. some lawmakers believe it's time to tap into unspent funds or risk sinking deeper into debt. i spoke a state representative about the crisis. >> they don't have to do this. they have $84 million in reserves. they are punishing the sheriff. >> so you got $84 million. >> in reserves. >> how do we get it out of there? >> they don't want to use the money. spend it on the sheriff's department. they are trying to punish folks and put pressure on us for us to do things. >> how are you, your colleagues, the governor and the sheriff going to work together? >> we're going reenact some taxes to bring in $70 million

paul steinhauser joins us now live. all right, paul. here's the question.g orchestrated or is this really democracy at work? >> you know, betty, i think it appears to be a little of both. first let's talk about are they organized, orchestrated. yeah, some of these conservative advocacy groups opposed to the president's health care proposals on their websites are posting list where and when the town halls are held by members of congress and posting instructions on what to say, what to do. that's the orchestrated part, but people opposed to the president's plan are more likely to go to these town halls than people that support his plan. seems there's nor energy among the opponents. >> if that's the case, how are the demming responding? >> first of all, arguing this is all organized by the right bep saw a web video they put out, a lot of e-mail out. they learned their lesson and are trying to organize and get their supporters out to these town hall as well because they're doing the same thing as well now. that the right is doing it, saying get out to the town

>> paul steinhauser, thank you. >>> a church pays it forward and inspires an entire community. the $9 icebreaker. walmart announces select eyeglass frames for just $9 -- and they have a 12-month guarantee. back to school costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart. >>> in case you're just now joining us. i want to give you a brief recap of our breaking story this morning. essentially 18 years in the making. this man, captain scott speicher missing in action. was he captured or was he alive? the department of defense officially coming out this morning identifying his remains. military in the anbar province of iraq were led to the desert by an iraqi citizen, information from an iraqi citizen and it was the armed forces institute of pathology that was able to match positively identify, thanks to his dental records, his remains now taken back to dover air force base showing the commitment of the u.s. military to bring him home. 18 years finally some closure this morning. the story of captain scott speicher. >>> a florida church is giving back by giving money away. you k

paul steinhauser is cnn's political deputy director. paul, let's get to those health care town hall meetings. are they creating clarity, or causing more confusion? >> maybe a little bit of both. we're only two weeks into a five-week summer recess for congress, so there are a lot more town halls planned and there could be protests at some of these. we're going to be covering at least five town halls tomorrow, cnn will be doing that, with our producers, with our correspondents and photojournalists. we'll be covering the good, the bad, and the ugly. >> okay. let's get to those mideast peace negotiations. they're getting back on the front burner this week. how so? >> the president of egypt will be right here at the white house on tuesday. this was rescheduled from earlier this summer. the president and president mubarak last met back in june when president obama was in cairo giving his speech to the muslim world. so tuesday when president mubarak is here at the white house, front is center will be the mideast peace process. >> and then the o

cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser has been checking the polls for us. found. >> did morning, betty and rob. the economy continues to be the top issue with measures by far so what do americans think about how the economy is doing right now? take a look at our poll, a national poll we released this week. you can see here only about one in five americans think that the economic conditions in the country are good today. another 44% say somewhat poor. look at the bottom there, 35% say the economic conditions are very ú one good thing, though, that 35% is the lowest number of people saying the conditions are very poor in about a year and a half. what do they think about how the president is doing, whether his policies are helping? take a look, 44% of the people that we asked said they think the president's economic policies are making the economy better as of right now. add in another 11%s to say that, you know what? in the future what the president is doing will help out. but still four in ten say what the president is doing is not helping the economy. final

deputy political director paul steinhauser has inside. >>> when it comes to the demonstrations, the biged or organic? i guess it's a little bit of both. let's start with the organized. some of these conservative advocacy groups that oppose the president's health care proposal on their websites, they are posting lists of where and when town halls are being held. they are posting ideas on what to say and how to protest. at the same time, the's organic as well. there are lot of people that do not like the president's health care proposals. they are showing up at these town halls on their own. our poll. we have a national poll we put out this week. it found people opposed to the president's health care plan are much more likely to attend these town halls than people that support the president's plan. we are seeing the democratic groups on the left now reacting to what's been happening in the past week. they may be taking a page from the right. they are now reaching out trying to mobilize their people to get out to these town you halls and speak out in favor of the plan. not all these town h

paul steinhauser, we're going to -- our graphic person was on break.aphics for you next time around. thanks so much. talk to you again soon. >> thanks, t.j. >> a little shortstaffed this morning. truth here. okay. things got pretty hot at a town hall meeting up north this week. really hot, actually. >> hot in a lot of places. this stands out in a lot of ways. barney frank firing back at the crowd at dartmouth. take a look. >> why do you continue to support a policy as obama has, expressly supported this policy, why are you supporting it? >> let me -- i will -- >> a real solution. >> when you ask me that question, i am going to revert to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question. on what planet do you spend most of your time? do you want to answer the question? yes, as you stand there with a picture of the president defaced to look like hitler, and compare the effort to increase health care to the nazis, my answer to you is, as i said before, it is a tribute to the first amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so fre

>> that is political director paul steinhauser, thanks, paul. more about the health care debate, the reform could affect you and your loved one as well, check out our special health care in america website, cnn.com. the latest from the town hall forums, fact check, ireports. >>> health care isn't the only item on the president's agenda when he gets back to washington was on tuesday. he will discuss a range of issues with hosni mubarak, including the middle east peace process. fast forward to wednesday, the president is honoring 2008 nascar champ jimmie johnson at the white house. >>> it happened in a flash, a wedding with reception tent full of women and children reduced to a little more than ashes, all in three minutes. >>> in iran, another mass trial of people detained in the aftermath of the country's disputed presidential election this is in fact, the third round of these mass trials, among the defendants today, an iranian-canadian reporter for "newsweek" magazine, employees of the british and french paeb embassies and iranian scholar. more

cnn's deputy political director, paul steinhauser, joins me now from washington. paul, what grade are americans giving the president when it comes to the economy? >> good stuff here, betty. you know, we did the online poll. we also did a scientific poll by cnn, the opinion research corporation. take a look at these results. very interesting stuff. overall grade for the president for everything, a "c" plus. but specifically on the economy, you can see it's a little bit lower there, a "c." and that "c" that the president got on the economy in our poll is the same he got at the 100-days mark. so, you can see americans think he's doing maybe a little less well on the economy than he is overall, betty. >> so, who do americans blame when it comes to the recession? >> i guess this is a bit of good news you would think for the white house. take a look at these numbers from the same cnn/opinion research national corporation poll. 44% of the people we questioned blamed republicans and most likely the previous administration. only 23% blaming democrats. you can see right ther

cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser has been going over the new poll numbers. he joins us now from washington. thank you, sir. always good to see you. what do americans think about how president obama is handling his job? >> well, that's the standard question, the number one question, don, we asked and other organizations ask as well. so, take a look. as you mentioned, they are brand new numbers from cnn and the opinion research corporation, a national survey. 56% of americans are gving barack obama a thumbs-up to how he's handling his duties in the white house. 4 in 10 disapprove. that 56% is a pretty good number overall and it's kind of in line with other surveys this month. but look at this. there has been a drop. five points from june. if you go all the way back to late april, a seven-point drop, don. >> so, do americans think that the president is trying to do too much at once? i've heard that criticism and i've heard it through the media. but what about in the polling? >> good question. we asked it. take a look at this, 6 in 10 -- i'm sorry, nearly 2 out

cnn's paul steinhauser has the latest polls. >> reporter: fred, this week barack obama, how is he doing. look at his approval ratings. this past week we had a slew of national polls asking just that. what we did here at cnn is we put together a cnn poll of polls, which is an average of those national surveys. look at this, the approval rating in our survey, in our average, 54% of americans are giving barack obama a thumbs up. they approve of how he's handling his duties in the white house. 37% disapprove. that 54% is a pretty good number. but check this out. it has dropped seven points from late last month. it was at 61% in our poll of polls in late june. what's the reason for this drop? well, two-fold. one, the economy, and also health care reform. remember, that has been the big thing this white house has been dealing with the last couple months. look at our cnn poll of polls on how specifically barack obama is dealing with health care. you can see americans are split 43% giving barack obama a thumbs up in how he's handling health care reform, 45% disapprove. so does this drop in appr

paul steinhauser joining us live from washington to talk about the increasingly boisterous let's justay loud, rowdy debate. hey, paul. >> you got it, richelle. that one you just showed today from claire mccaskill in missouri was pretty civil. they have not all been that way. and the big question is are these protesters organized by those on the right or are they more organic? are they coming from the ground up? it's true some conservative groups are sending out a list of where to go and what to say, but at the same time some people are just showing up on their own. i think if you ask democrats and republicans you will get a very different opinion. take a listen to a top senate democrat and top senate republican as well. >> i'll tell what's wrong with it, when there are a group of people sitting in the middle trying to ask the important questions and get the right answers and someone takes the microphone and screams and shouts to the point where the meeting comes to an end. that isn't dialogue that. isn't the democratic process. >> an awful lot of citizens are showing up at town meetin

paul steinhauser, a friend of us saturday and sunday and deputy political director has been going over the latest numbers. paul, let's start with the all-important approval rating numbers. where is he with that number? >> t.j., this is where we have at cnn, a poll of polls, a bunch, seven or eight, national polls this last week. we averaged them all. take a look at the number. you can see the president at 54%. 54% of americans in our average are giving barack obama a thumbs-up. 37% disapprove of how he's doing. now, that is interesting because that's still a good number, but take a look at this, t.j. you can see just last month, late june, the president's approval rating stood at 61%. it has dropped seven points in our average over the last month. that is of concern to the white house. the approval rating is important because it measures how much political clout and political capital a president has. >> still, 54% as you said not soed add bad. a lot of presidents would have been happy to have that. but down from where he was. what's behind the drop in his numbers? >> i think two things

>> thanks to our paul steinhauser.you think of the african-american experience you think of princess guitar. but also things like the he emancipation proclamation. i asked about the exhibit recently. that conversation now as cnn continues with a special look at "black in america." >> this is part of american history. we've been complaining for years that we don't teach, we don't see black history as a part of american history. it's a powerful story about how america has become the great nation that she is courtesy of the contributions of black people. i hope having said that that all races, colors, kreeds, would appreciate an exhibit like this. when you understand, appreciate and embrace your history, you can use it to inspire you. >> there is some black history taught in schools. nothing like what you see here. is this what we need more so as a part of our educational system, something a little more interactive, something more enlightening for african-american students and this very much an educational tool, does some

cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser looks at the impact of the health care reform battle. >> betty, t.j., we have seen a lot of coverage in the media the past three weeks of these protests at the town halls that lawmakers back from congress are holding in their home states and districts. there has been a lot of shouting and a lot of it is in opposition to the health care proposals backed by the president and congressional democrats. so the big question, of course, is, are these protests having an impact on most americans? an nbc news poll out this weekend say 6 in 10 say the protests haven't changed their mind, one in 6 say it makes them more favorable. another new poll by abc news and "the washington post" indicates that the country is split over whether the protests are appropriate. look at this, 51% say that the protests are appropriate, 45% say they are inappropriate. well, one thing is for sure. we have two weeks left of this congressional success. we'll probably see more protests. we'll probably see more polls as well. we'll monitor all of this as we gauge the public

deputy political director paul steinhauser is in washington with the latest.ck and forth and back and forth. where do they stand? do we know? >> kind of a controversy here. have they packed off the public option or not? it started on "state of the union" with john king. kathleen sebelius was a guest and she said that the public option was not the essential element in health care reform. this morning she had a very different opinion. take a listen. >> all i can tell you is that sunday must have been a very slow news day because here's the bottom line. absolutely nothing has changed. we continue to support the public option that will help lower costs, give american consumers more choice, and keep private insurers honest. if people have other ideas about how to accomplish these goals, we'll look at those, too, but the public option is a very good way to do this. >> the public option has really become the lightning rod in this big battle we have seen playing out at town halls across the country over health care reform. republicans, they're pretty much dead set aga

that's not usually a milestone anybody notices but then, again, paul steinhauser isn't anyone, our political deputy director and joins us from washington with brand-new sample numbers. how is he doing? >> that is the big question, chuck. take a look at this, our brand-new cnn national poll. we asked just that. do you approve or disapprove of how barack obama is handling his duties in the white house? chuck, 56% of americans are giving him a thumbs up. that's a pretty good number in line with other national polls. 4 in 10 say they don't like what he's doing. take a look at that 56 pr approval, though. down from june. 61% in late june and if you go all the way back, chuck, to april, late april when he was marking 100 days in april, he was at 56%. >> do americans think he's doing too much? >> you know, a lot of people are saying that, you're hearing that a lot in the media. well, is it true? we asked that question and we found that about two out of three americans say, yeah, they think he's juggling too many things right now. 3 in 10 said, no, they think he's doing just fine. >> i'm sorry we do

let's bring in our cnn deputy political director paul ste steinhauser. what are these showing?in's favorable rating is dipping. take a look. where is it coming from? check this out. we break it down just by republicans here, wolf. you can see almost two out of three republicans have a positive view of her. that's pretty good. but it's down from 8 in 10 back in may. what's happened since may? of course sarah palin quit, stepped down erl lir as governor of alaska with a year and a half left in her first term. that may be behind this drop. one thing that isn't, though, wolf, is her very controversial comments about the obama health care proposal. chose comments she made over the weekend were taken after our poll. >> an interesting comparison to the former republican vice president dan quayle. >> courtesy of our polling director. he points out sarah palin's 39% favorable rating is pretty much where dan quayle was in 1993 right after he stepped down from the vice presidency after the election in '92. dan quayle went on to run for the nomination, the republican presidential nominatio

what's interesting, paul steinhauser, who wrote up this story on our cnn political ticker, he pointst it hasn't gone down since all of this ruckus at these town hall meetings. the august recess has not damaged president obama. he's trying to take on the very hardest issue, except for race, the hardest issue on the domestic front in american history. >> frank, i want you to weigh in real quick. >> what has gone up is the hard disapproved, and now the public opposes the public option by several percent. that's a sea change. a tough problem for the president. >> we'll have to leave it there. thank you very much, frank donatelli and paul begala. >>> cnn i-reporters on the scene of deadly bomb blasts in baghdad. you'll see what they see as the iraqi capital is rocked. >>> also, we are standing by for a new forecast on hurricane bill. i think i'll go with the preferred package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. >>> jack joins us again with "the cafferty file." >>> indeed, i do. for our own comfort rath

deputy political director paul steinhauser is joining us now. paul, glad to see you. what are her numbers looking like? >> they are dropping. her favorable, a brand-new poll out this afternoon from cnn opinion research corporation. a national survey that we did, and you can see 39% of americans according to our poll give her the thumbs up. that's down. check that out down from 46%s in may. you can see her unfavorables are up at 48% right now up from 43% in may. where is this coming from? actually, it's coming from fellow republicans and look at this next poll right here. you can see that two-thirds of republicans give the former alaska governor and last year's republican vice presidential nominee a favorable opinion down from an overwhelming eight in ten back in may, christi. >> any hints to what may be behind this drop? maybe since she left her post as governor? >> that could be. one part of it definitely because we took that first poll in may and since then as you remember last month, she stepped down as alaska governor with a year and a half left in her first term

deputy political director paul steinhauser joins us now to break down what the president had to say. k, how are you? that was about an hour or two ago. right now the president is speaking to a very different crowd, same subject, though, chuck, health care reform. the president -- you can see live pictures here. he's here in washington at the democratic national committee's headquarters. these are people who are very committed to the president's health care reforms. these are the people that are doing the grassroots work. he's laying out the strategy and the message. as you mentioned, though, about an hour and a half ago he was on conservative talk radio with philadelphia-based michael smerconish who was over at the white house. the president talked about hoping -- still hoping for a bipartisan agreement, but he says it appears republicans may not be enthusiastic about bipartisan bill. take a listen. >> and i'm confident we're going to get it done, and as far as negotiations with republicans, my attitude has always been, let's see if we can get this done with some consensus. i would lo

paul steinhauser.t. >>> we've seen plenty of lawmakers manage these health care town halls. barney frank has his own style, pretty blunt. many showed up last night and wanted to talk about the costs of wars, federal budgets and income taxes. the tone was not always respectful. listen to this for yourself. >> why do you continue to support a nazi policy, as obama has expressly supported this policy? why are you supporting it? >> when you ask me that question, i am going to revert to my ethnic heritage and ask you your question with a question. on what planet do you spend most of your time? do you want me to answer the question. yes, you stand there with a picture of the president defaceded to look like hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the nazis. my answer to you is, as i said before, it is a tribute to the first amendment that this kind of vile, contempible nonsense so freely propagated. ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining roo

deputy political director paul steinhauser joins us with what reports to a report card, right?fically for americans to grade the president how he's doing overall and on the economy. you can see here, overall grade, c plus. but specifically on the economy, not as good. a c for the president, chuck. >> who do americans blame for tough economic times? >> they are now putting all this blame on this administration. take a look from this result. you can see right here 44% of americans are blaming the republicans for the current problems this country is facing when it comes to the economy. about one in four blaming the democrats and you can see about another one in four say both parties are to blame here, chuck. >> before you go, what are your thoughts on the resignation, basically the retirement of mel martinez, the republican florida senator? >> he will make it official in about an hour and a half from now. first selected to the senate in 2004 and he was in the bush cabinet before that and he was the only hispanic republican in the senate and very interesting, chuck. he announced he

deputy political director paul steinhauser has been covering this.s live now in washington. no big outbursts in new hampshire today. >> reporter: you're right, chuck. a mostly supportive crowd listening to the president talk about health care reform. and actually what's in the proposal. he's pushing. there were tough questions by people who weren't crazy about what the president is proposing, and the president answered and fielded a bunch of those. no outbursts like we've seen with other lawmakers. new hampshire has a high percentage of people who currently have health insurance compared to the national average. he talked about misconceptions out there, including medicaid. take a listen. >> another myth that we've been hearing about is this notion that somehow we're going to be cutting your medicare benefits. we are not. the aarp would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining medicare. i just want seniors to be clear about this. >> i understand he went on the defensive on other issues? >> reporter: he did other one issue getting a lot of play. t