someone really sharp, and every thursday richard wolffe. >> wham i going to do? >> author and "new york times" best-seller of "renegade." consumer of enormous amounts of sotomayor coverage. >> and starbucks. >> anything surprise you so far about the sotomayor hearings? i know you have been following them very closely. >> how little ammunition republicans had, how little she gave. obviously we as observers, journalists, commentators, wants to see the drama involved, but one thing i think is pretty clear here is our senate is going to judge her as a judge or are they going to test her on some political measure? is she speaking as a politician when she gives these speeches or is she going to be measured on her judicial opinions? those are two very different measures on how you're going to vote. i would be interested to know as we talk about this, should senators vote for a supreme court nominee based on politics or the law? the end result out of all of this is you're going to get a republican nominee voted down every time by democrats and what we're seeing is vice v

and bruce fine,onstitutional la expert, richard wolffe or of "renegad"renegade." this is really a moment of political ama for the nators aswell. >> and one of the mos interesting pieces of the ama is seeing republicans take on this first latina nominee and try not to seem like they're opposing all latino terests. they're going after these and it's a hard line for th to tread. 're seng peopleth siificant latina voting in their own states and havg to tread this line. is whole distinction about subjve and objective judgments, let's be clear. supreme court stices have to decide ings personally. ifny of these decisions re easy and could be decided objectivel then they would, decided at a lower court. sovery nominee is important. that's whye have these hearin. i like the whole id that there's some objective ideal out there, but the reason you go intohesonal stie their backgrounds, because we care about their opinions. because they will be influential on a personal and objecve s. >> bruce fe,ne of the story lines that her supports have be laying out is thathe's had all o

after this brief station break. r >>> we're back with our roundtable, paul gigot and richard wolffe, michele norris and john harwood. welcome to all of you. all right, tomorrow marks six months in office for president obama. john harwood, this is do or die time, as i've been saying on health care reform, and to me, the biggest issue, and you heard it addressed with secretary sebelius, is whether or not the number one goal of containing costs over time will be achieved. the cbo said this week, congressional budget office said not with the plans you've got in congress so far. how can the president stand behind these plans? >> well i think you'll sea adjustments in the plans. you've seen a ramped up effort to get the medpac idea, independent commission to say no, taking place in the system and i think you've got a live conversation ongoing within the administration, between the two parties on capitol hill about whether, in fact, you ultimately finance part of this package by taxing health care benefits which is one proposal that would raise revenue and could bend the cost curve. health

editorial page editor of the "wall street journal," john harwood of cnbc and the "new york times," richard wolffe, author of "renegade: the making of a president," and michele norris, host of npr's "all things considered." and finally n our "meet the press minute" we remember legendary newsman walter cronki cronkite. >> the emotional aspect of it hit me when i had to say "the president is dead." >>> but first secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius. welcome back to "meet the press." >> thank you, nice to be here. >> i thought we'd frame our discussion by going through what the president says, must be included in health care reform if he's going to accept it. now, this is what you said on that topic back in june, on pbs. "it really has to lower costs, cover americans, drive quality and be paid for." so let's go through that, and i want to start with that first principle of lowering costs. most people may not know how expensive health care really is. $2.5 trillion per year, 16% of our economy. here was the president on that score on thursday. >> even as we rescue this economy from

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. >> richard wolffe, your thoughts about this? i haven't sensed a lot of progress by the critics. >> what's interesting here, listening to arlen specter, he makes you realize that if he hasn't switched parties, the white house could be counting on votes here. on the flip side, switching parties, they lose the bipartisan support he could have represente e represented. are we see tg the sotomayor? the republicans want someone they can take into the next election about what obama represents. on the white house side, they just want to get through this in one piece. keep the character hidden, i think that's the message. >> this is not really an audition, is it? >> no. it's not even really delving into the 17 years worth of cases, where you could really pick a lot of holes and probe and she can then say well, it's all hypothetical. what was interesting was seeing her deal with the self-defense question from coburn before lunch where she had to go back to new york law and try to explain it that way. if republicans had been interested in

. >> senator, i want to bring in richard wolffe, a nbc contributor. we've been talking about this program and health care as well. >> i want to follow-up on the cash for refund. could you be a victim in the sense that if you are thinking about buying a car, you may say to yourself maybe congress is going to have a few more billion out that i can benefit from, so i'm going to delay and defer my purchase decision based on what might happen in congress and that, itself, kind of distorts the market, makes the press demand until you guys act again. saen there a danger of this kind of intervention? >> let me say this is based on what has been done in other countries like germany where their program was wildly successful and increased auto sales by 20% in one month and they went back and extended theirs as well. we're talking about a time when people are extremely tight, middle class families and very, very tight and maybe losing their jobs and trying to figure out how to keep the car going and can they afford that new car that they need. this is a way to he

time now to tu to our own politil analyst, richard wolffe.nks for yr time and good evening. >> good eveng, keith. >> president bush directly ordering, orchestrating the infamous expedition to the hospital bed of attoey general ashcroft lonsuspected, long reported, w official. for at might be the first time the answer to at kind of mystery was confirmed to be viceredent cheney. how significant is the official natu of this investigation? well, i've always thought it was conven for people to lay all e blame at dick cheney's door. it was convenient r the sh adminiration officials because they cou pnt president bush as being good cop to the bad cop of dick cheney, convenient for bush's critics as ll because th had someone easy to caricaturendortray as being unmitigatingly evil and then you've gotonvenient for dick cheney because he can seem scarier than reality. in actual fact, what you hav here ia real undermining not just of the bush/cheney dynamic but thself-image of president bush of someone who playedy the rules and haa common sense of decenc

let's call in msnbc political analyst and author of "renegade, the making of a president" richard wolffegreat to see you. just when the governor thought he was out of the spotlight his own records drag him back in. >> yes, the moment of maximum peril. just when you think you're in the clear and all the storm has blown over, what comes out? another story to confirm what people have already thought about you, that you're not quite what you seem. you're not telling the truth. this is a guy who came in under the banner of authenticity. different kind of politician, someone who would clean things up, as you said. he was campaigning against bad stuff by his predecessor. there really ought to be a blagojevich test on these people. you know? if you really can't live up to the standards of someone who gets indicted before you or falls into disarrreput you ougho pack up and go home or at least go to argentina. >> the truth is most people would not begrudge their governor traveling at least in business class unless he railed against that kind of thing as a candidate and unless he was so frugal with

i think they're on very thin ice and they expended all their ammunition in the first day. >> richard wolffe of msnbc and author of the best seller "renegade." many thanks, richard. >> thank you, keith. >>> light bulb, president's head, click. illumination. the efforts of mr. obama sustained bipartisanship on health care reform. well intentioned, admirable and today finally mercifully and when the other party is owned by lobbyists inevitably, apparently, at an end. where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience. ♪ so blessed with inspiration ♪ ♪ i don't know much ♪ but i know i love you ♪ and that may be ♪ all i need ♪ to know (announcer) customers love ge aircraft engines almost as much as we love making them. innovation today for america

>>> let's call in msnbc political analyst and author of "renegade the making of a president" richard wolffe. good evening. >> i'll try not to be scary keith. >> thank you very much. you pal of somebody you. assuming the ad has no direct connection to any republican senators in the hearing room particularly in the light of the fact of recent actual domestic terrorism, george tiller, other cases, don't those senators bear some responsibility for something that coarse when they fail to denounce it? >> let's put the so-called ad in context. as far as we know there was no ad by so this is a blatant attempt to jump up and down and get attention. secondly yes we don't know that republican senators are involved. no one senior in the party is involved. thirdly, it's pretty dumb and outdated politics. it didn't work in 2006. it certainly didn't work in 2008. having said all of that, they are following the script that senator sessions laid out at the top of these confirmation hearings. sotomayor hangs out with terrorists. well, he says that she ruled in favor of terrorists. she ruled in favor of forei

there ishis minimal supeision and for cil liberties people that really isn'enough. >> msnbc's richard wolffe as alys, great thanks. have a great weekend, richard. >> thayou. and u, keit >> forore on the significance ofhat we've learned let's turn to "the new york tis" vestigative reporter who in 06 was awarded the putzer prize for his seres of reports exposing the secret spng prram. thanks for your time tonight, sir. >> thanks for having me. >> the president cfirmed in an ofcial repor from these igs as the creator inhe ashcroft hospital ama, it sounds like the headli here. is it or is theresomething in here thatwas me illuminating to you? >> it's really an inteing reportecause it has a lot of detailils ouounot o onlhehe hohospalalcecene but a abo othe asaspes of the srveillance program.m. to me, the headline o of t t entire report is somometngng ttttleifferent and that is buburi deep in the rort itt says that theinterviews with intelligence c comninity offics throughout the -- b by all t inspectors generalal -- theyouou that no oneouould point t t a a counterterrorism successes that cod be c

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richard wolffe, wrere outf meme author o o "e"eng."." alalwa a pleasure. , threre victim inin the palinesesigtion -- tina fey. d the asaska legigisloror who ran the troopepergee investstigioion. and there'ss muchoo tohohose t.e.a. things,s,ike this one jacksonvililleflorida,ea. yeah, no n nutobobhere. worst persons aheaeaonon "countdown." right now, all over the country,, discover card custstomers are gettingg 5% c cashbacbonus at the pp. now morere than ev, it p pays to dcover. for me to keep bones strong but even with calclcm, vitamin d, and e exerce,e, still got osteoporosis. i ner thought i could do mo than stop my bone lososs. then my doctor to m mi could, with oe-monty boniva. bonivava wksks with your body elp stop and revebo loss. studies show, aftete one year on boniva, ninine outf ten women stopped anreversed their bone lolo.. i ow did. (announcer) don'take boniva if you ve low blood calcium, serere kidney disease or can't sit or r stad for at least one houou foowow dosing instructions c carefully. stop taking boboniva and tell your doctoror if yo

. >> richard wolffe, an msnbc political analyst and professor, start with you, republicans are convinced no inherent rights of privacy that liberals sort of see a right to abortion in the constitution. so when they get to this whole making the law versus interpreting the law, that seems to be reading between the lines. following up on what norah was reporting, not getting into abortion law, is that appropriate for a nominee? >> this is really what we see playing out in all hearings. there's a question as to whether or not the judge is going to be an activist and it's often seen through the lens of abortion. they look at roe versus wade as beyond the constitution to insert rights. generally speaking, the nominee will say look, i'm going to obey the precedent. i don't believe in judicial policymaking, but there is a right to privacy. >> richard, in terms of the political side and we may see the picture go dark here, so if you see the camera shut off, that's why. republicans are under tremendous pressure by their base not to confirm somebody who may be seen as possibly pro-abortion rights.

with our own political analyst richard wolffe also the author of "renegade" and, richard, president obama is on the campaign trail on the attack and offensive. does it feel like we haven't seen this obama in quite a while and why don't we see him more often? >> the short answer is because he does policy, unlike michael steele. he does all sorts of events. he gets out on the campaign trail but we don't care as much and i don't think he cares as much. because the stakes are so much higher now. as i explained in "renegade" he sees himself and his friends see him as a fourth quarter player. here it's not just health care on the tanl. it's his authority, the conventional wisdom in the beltway saying somehow things are slipping away from him. this is the time for him to step up the game and of course now he has opponents. he has people that he can beat up and this oppositional conflict, this dynamic is much more to his liking than him just being out there on his own. >> as far as being a fourth quarter player here is the president, here's the fourth quarter player's job approval number. it rema

i'm richard wolffe in for keith olbermann. have a good night, everybody. our coverage continues now with "the rachel maddow show." >> good evening, richard. thank you for that. appreciate it. >>> thank you at home for staying with us the next hour. besides the most famous four beers ever consumed at the white house, today featured dramatic action by liberals in the battle over health care reform. a democratic congressman calling republicans bluff on health care. huge mass resistance to the government in the streets of iran, and more news about the winning notary, that is the birther movement. professor trisha rose, congressman anthony weiner all along tonight to discuss those stories and more. all coming up. >>> we begin tonight with what was perhaps the most anticipated, the most hyped, the most speculated about, round of beers in recent american history. tonight at the white house, president obama welcomed the two men who found themselves at the center of a national debate about race this summer. harvard university professor henry louis gates and cambridg

i'm richard wolffe. keith olbermann has the night off. on hot summer evening the kind of night washington, d.c. is famts for this time of year, who doesn't enjoy winding down way beer or two? in our first story on the "countdown" calming off with a few cold ones in the white house rose garden. how president obama held a beer summit with harvard professor henry louis gates and the police officer who arrested him, is the james crowley. beer delivered on a tray, one of 78 good things about life in the white house. vice president biden, a surprise guest at tonight's proceedings. the white house described the interaction between gates and crowley friendly and warm, unlike the beer. more interest, not important, details the beer preference of each at the table. the president, bud light. sergeant crowley blue moon. professor gates, red and biden, and peanuts and pretzels also served. didn't they read the note from the last guy? late this afternoon during a meeting with the president of the philippines, the president tried to get away from the te

richard wolffe, appreciate having you here today. >>> coming up, president obama taking to the nationalirways to talk about major health care reform. i'll talk to dr. nancy now. >> thanks so much, carlos. we have our eyes on that prime time news conference tonight with president obama. we'll talk the health care reform bill, what he can expect on his desk. >>> also is child obesity child abuse? there's a woman in south carolina charged with the crime because of her son's weight. it is now approaching noon on the east coast. the doctor is in. this starts after a quick break. i never thought i would have a heart attack, but i did. you need to talk to your doctor about aspirin. you need to be your own advocate. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. you take care of your kids, now it's time to take care of yourself. [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we'v

that's what richard wolffe said earlier. i thinhe's got a b point. let's from twoetors from t judiciary committee, dick durbin from illinois, and orrin hatch of ah. >>> pus "the new york times the cia tokeep congress in the d dark for years about a secret counterterrorism pgram deveped inhe days after 9/11. did he or did he not break the law by whholding information from lawmakers? we'll have more on tat classified progm wch "the walleet journal" reported today involvedssassinating al qaa operatives the way gold meier just ordered the killing of the murderers a t munich olympics. >>> what put the soon tbe former alaska governorarah palin onhe road to resignation? "new york times" reporta top official from the publican governor's association staged an intervention they calledit and an attempt toaveher governorship and plitical future earlier this year, but his advice was largely ignored. for what it's worth, here is levi johnston's taken his once -- well, his one-time future mother-in-law. >> she's very smart but i just n't think she can handle stress

. >> nate is a professor at columbia law school and richard wolffe an nbc political analyst. earlier you said nobody can land a punch here. what are we getting? >> a lot of repetition and posturing based around a caricature. this is sotomayor not as the person sitting as a trial judge and an appellate judge for 17 years but sotomayor who gives a few speeches and uses phrases that people can take offense at. it's quite obvious what the offense is, and she's backtracked on those words although the apology is i'm sorry if you feel offended. i'm sorry if some people misunderstood. so it's a limited apology. but this is about posturing in terms of putting republicans at war with democrats on cultural grounds. it isn't really about a nomination of sonia sotomayor. >> nate, how does this measure to some of the past recent confirmations, for example, chief justice roberts? are we getting the information that the american public should be hearing when it comes to such an important position in our country? >> i see confirmation hearings as telling a story a little bit about where the c

and that's a sad t tng for eryone, esespeciallyor people like bill krist krkristol. >> msnbc's richard wolffe reporting outli the w wte house departmentnt of thlaw. many t thanks asalways.s. >>> three weeks afafr a mamum of 40 pepeople ghered outstside the ed sulvan theater calli fordave lettermrman to be fired inrotest of a jok hehe tol ababout pa pane's eder daughterer, a joke somall it caused h him to flee in a new yk city cab for fear o of b bng photraphed in an incredle resusu of oging, we know letttterman' tenure on"late nigh will long outlive palinin's tenure as governor. lettererman rerning from a long ekend just as palalin was heading into permanentnt vacati. >> there a surprising annoue the over the weekend that the governor alaska, sarah h palin leaving g the offi. she's ststping dn, governor -- [ applause ] sothing i said? >> papalin's attorney, thos van kline, ansring in the affirmatate, telng cnn that letterman's jojos contributed to the governor's dedecision to st down. quot when people don't accept normal b bounds decency making jos like that about chdren, ybe th is not good f

is this ally a surrogate fight we'rwatching over the president's philosophy that's what richard wolffe said earlier. i k he's got a big point. let's hear right off the bon nighby the way from two senators from the judiciary committee. dick durbin from illinois, and orrin hah of utah. >>> us "the new york times" repothat dick cheney ordered e cia to keep congress in the dark for years about a secret coterterrorism program developed in theays after 9/11. did he or did he not break the law by withholdi information from lawmakers? we'll have more that classified program whichthe walltreet journal" reported today invoedssassinating al qaeda operatives the way golda meier once ordered the killing of theurderers at the munich olympics. >>at put the soon to be former alaska governor sarah palin on the rd to resignation? "new york times" reports a top officialrom the republican governor's association staged interventi, theyalled it, in an attpt to save her future earlier this ye, t his adviceas largely ignored. for at it's worth, here is levi johnston's take on his once -- well, his o-time futu

i'm richard wolffe in for keith olbermann.ow time for "the rachel maddow show." >> you did a great job tonight. thank you. >> thank you. >> there is some good news for the country and maybe some bad news for texas today. the governor of the state with the worst health care problem in the country, governor rick perry of texas, wants to secede again, this time from any national effort to fix health care. also, c street is back in the news with weird easily disprovable denials by politicians who are trying to hide their association with c street. plus, at amazing scene of the president of honduras in exile, walking back into honduras wearing a big cowboy hat while talking on a cell phone. it is all coming up this hour. we begin tonight with the remarkable and unexpected moment at the white house press briefing this afternoon, concerning the arrest of henry louis gates, an eminent african-american harvard professor, and sergeant james crowley of the cambridge, massachusetts, police department who arrested gates a week ago. it was

richard wolffe. >> i guess i have to follow on that, mr. president.nt of condemnation from the g-8, you did not come up with any kind of extra sanctions having to do with their crackdown on protesters? >> i have to say i read, peter, your article, and maybe some others. this notion that we were trying to get sanctions or that this was forum in which we could get sanctions is not accurate. what we wanted was exactly what we got, which is a statement of unity and strong condemnation about the appalling treatment of peaceful protesters post election in iran as well as some behavior that just violates basic international norms, swarming of embassies, arresting embassy personnel, restrictions on journalists. and so i think the real story here was consensus in that statement including russia. which doesn't make statements like that lightly. now, there is -- the other story there was the agreement that we will reevaluate iran's posture towards negotiating the cessation of a nuclear weapons policy, we'll evaluate that at the g-20 meeting in september, and i t

richard wolffe wrote about the candidacy of barack obama based on interviews conducted during the '08 campaign, in "renegade." and magnificent des relation," buzz aldrin's story of the lunar landing, his 8th. michael and elizabeth norman write a history of the world war ii baton death march called "tears in the darkness." and, david faber looks at the economic crisis in "and then the roof caved in." for more best-sellers go to nytimes.com. >> 2009 books expo america book sellers convention in new york city and here with stacy lewis out of san francisco, what do you have coming out this fall. >> this fall we have a couple books coming out from angela davis. a clicks of essays, her first book that has been published in four years that covers themes she's particularly interested in, racism, sexism, and the prison industrial complex. and then, particularly, interesting, book we are publishing with angela is a new edition of the narrative of the life of frederick douglass, an american slave which contains douglas's narrative as well as essays by davis that were part of a course that she ta

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