with me now, white house correspondent, savannah guthrie. savannah, what is the mood in the white house? are they getting nervous about this, or do they think that they need to use their political capital and the biggest issue, of course, on their plate, health care, is not a popular one, never has been. >> well, it's two things, right? it's the health care and the economy. and i think they knew that there was really only one way to go when you start as high as approval ratings were at the beginning of the information, that naturally, there would be this decline. as for that quinnipiac poll in particular, some look at that as an outlier, but the bottom line is the trend is the same in all of the polls that we've seen recently. the president's approval rating has really taken a hit, his handling of the economy has taken a hit. they recognize the urge and i they feel like they've put themselves out there now. he's wrapped himself up in health care. the economy, while some things are getting better, the joblessness issue still persists. it's a r

we begin tonight with white house correspondent savannah guthrie. savannah, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. as you said, aides here are hoping the tide has turned from an angry debate about health care to just a debate about health care. in some spots today, emotions were still running high. from the cordial -- >> the thing that concerns me most as a physician -- >> reporter: to the combative -- >> your cohorts up there on capitol hill, how are you going to look at my children? >> reporter: the front lines of the health care debate, townhalls ran the gamut today. >> what are you going to do about it? >> reporter: after the president's relatively quiet event in new hampshire yesterday. >> thank you so, i love you back. >> reporter: today the white house suggested the media was playing the most dramatic g and moments from townhalls. perhaps even let down that the president's event lacked the same drama. >> i'm sensing your disappointment that he didn't get yelled at. i doubt we are seeing a representative sample of any series of townhal

willie geist, savannah guthrie and me. a lot of stuff going on. concerning me. can you read one. >> this is from brian in los angeles. he says, you tell joe to lay off savannah's outfit. she's so hot that if i had a better opinion of myself i would ask her to marry me, drug addiction and all. >> thank you so much. >> getting my brother to write. >> which explains why somebody is up at 4:00 in the morning. >> that's a drug addiction. >> we'll have something in common, so it's a good place to start. >> that is a good place to start. >> a lot to talk about today. let's begin with willie with the news. >> today's top stories, nbc news confirming president obama will nominate federal reserve chairman ben bernanke to a second terp as expected. in a prepared statement the president credits better than ann for his leadership during the recession. the president said, quote, ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, bold action and outside the box thinking that helped put the brakes on our economic free fall. mr. berna

>> savannah guthrie in guadalajara, mexico, to start us off tonight. savannah, thanks. >>> this was a deadly day in iraq. the kind of day iraqis had hoped was behind them. a series of bombings left as many as 50 people dead, including two early morning blasts in baghdad and an awful explosion outside mosul in the north. two flatbed trucks packed with explosives leveled a village, leaving 28 dead, almost 155 wounded and nearly 100 iraqis have been killed now just since friday alone. >>> here in new york, on the hudson river, search teams have now found the remains of that small private plane involved in the deadly midair collision with the helicopter giving a tour over the weekend. all nine people in both aircraft were killed. also tonight, we're hearing the first emergency calls now from onlookers who saw it all happen. nbc's tom costello is on the new jersey side of the hudson river in hoboken tonight. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. good evening to you. the nypd said its divers have found a body inside that plane, but they haven't been able

nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie is traveling with the president. she joins us now from guadalajara. savannah, good evening. >> good evening to you lester. the recession, trade, climate change, and the swine flu topped the agenda here in mexico, but back at home the big issue continues ob an increasingly passionate fight over health care. the president departed washington today for guadalajara, mexico, leaving behind an august health care debate getting hotter. >> i just ask everybody to be as courteous -- >> reporter: anger and frustration on display. this one hosted by iowa democrat senator tom harkin. >> this is not health reform. this is control. >> reporter: as members of congress returned home to answer questions about the health care overhaul in their districts, in washington former republican house speaker newt gingrich continued a controversial line of attack alleging that provisions in democratic health care bills could lead to euthanasia. >> you're asking us to trust turning power over to the government when there clearly are people in ame

savannah guthrie on the beat. they think is signals from the administration, that they are willing to live without the public option, and they thought there would be a government plan alongside a private plan, and they say that would keep insurance costs low, and critics say it will lead over to a government takeover of the health care system. pelosi reaffirmed her support for a public option. and senator feingold saying without a public option i don't see how you call it public reform. and once again today we are going to see a lot of town halls around the country, and one town hall in florida there was an overflow crowd. and there is a report that the aarp, the senior citizens group that supports reform generally but has not endorsed a bill, reports it has lost 60,000 members since july 1st, apparently because oe

nbc's savannah guthrie joins us live with today's big story. savannah? what's our favorite part of honey bunches of oats? the sparkly flakes. the honey-baked bunches! the magic's in the mix. my favorite part? eating it. honey bunches of oats. taste the joy we put in every spoonful. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time. are you all right? a ferocious white whale wrecked my boat. well, i'm sure we can help you, captain... ahab. well, it looks like you haven't had a claim in over four years, so you don't have to pay a deductible. that means you saved $500! $500? i could get an electronic fish-finder. that's the spirit. saving you money on boat insurance. now that's progressive. call or click today. ♪ take me home ♪ take me home ♪ to my family ♪ ♪ i need to be surrounded by ♪ the ones who care for me [ male announcer ] clean you can see. softness you can feel. tide with a to

this on savannah guthrie's last day. savannah, we hardly knew ye.a minute. she is not married zblet she's smart, successful and cute as can be. i can't believe she's not taken. any chance she'll be single when i finish school in a few years? >> that's fourth grader yonny in the ozarks. >> dresses up like luke skywalker. >> now you have me. now moderator of nbc's "meet the press," david gregory. you are a big va vanna fan. >> absolutely, absolutely. >> a lot to cover. let's talk first of all about the kennedy replacement. that obviously is a direction gnat story goes to in the coming days. >> and intrigue right now in massachusetts. the governor is trying to get the law changed as senator kennedy wanted an interim snoer to be named before the special election in late january, early february. there's pushback from republicans. the people i have been talking to say you have got democrats who have allegiances for whoever a successor might be in an election withhold be concerned about what a temporary replacement would do, how it would impact their, you

our ite house correspondent savannah guthrie here in new york with us tonight with mor on this. talk about news breaking out. >> it was. the news the finanal world was waiting for, brian. while not everamerican knows his name they have certainly felt ben bernanke's work. >> it's bee a particular privilege for me to serve. >> reporter: wall stet was watching today as president obama visiting martha's vineyard prsed pause on his vacation. >> i apologizeor interrupting the relaxing that i told all of you to do. >> reporter: to appoinben bernanke to another four-year term as fed chair crediting the former princeton professowith helping to prevent calamity. >> as an expert on the causes of the great depression, i am sure ben never imaginede would be part of a team responsib for preventing another. but because of his background, his temperament, his courage and creativity, that's exactly what he has helped to achieve. >>> on t broadcast tight meltdown -- >> reporter: nearly one year ago, last september, banks were failing, the dow was in free fall as crit dried up. the entire financia

. >> i want to bring in savannah guthrie live at the white house. in fact, president obama's hope of a bipartisan health care bill may have gone outside the window, the only republican still trying to reach across the aisle came pretty close yesterday to endorsing the death panel. take a listen to this. >> the house bill, there's counseling for life. from that standpoint, you have every right to fear. we should not have a government program that determines if you're going to pull the plug on grandma. >> pull the plug on grandma. savannah guthrie, white house correspondent, chuck grassley, finance committee, ranking member, key republicans president obama had lunch with, talked on the phone with a bit, in holly's hopes he would be critical to a bipartisan deal. hearing that kind of comment from grassley, has that shaken the white house on how much support they can expect? >> they still want to work with grassley. it is not helpful to the extent it fans the flames over this death panel euthenasia debate. i think grassley was just saying he didn't care

normally savannah guthrie in washington. i'll start with you. when we left, whether or not ted kennedy's passing, rush limbaugh and other conservatives worried out loud rather bluntly that they would use that to pass the health care others opposed. do you think the legacy, positive memory, fond feelings across the aisle will help president obama pass this health care bill? >> i think it might have an effect early on changing the tone, not necessarily substance. what happens is a line of taste that cannot be seen as exploiting the death of ted kennedy for political gain, even if it was the cause of his life. in terms of his legacy, with how it goes forward with the house debate, one thing he was good at was marshalling fellow democrats. not just reaching across the aisle as he did but also getting the caucus together. it seems that is what is called for at this moment more than anything other. the white house hopes there will ab bipartisan deal. the hopes for that dim by the day. ultimately about coraling democrats. the spirit of ted kennedy will

. >> nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie joins us now. good to see you. >> reporter: hey there, how you doing? >> good. savannah, i'm not surprised, i guess, to hear the white house kind of backing away from the public insurance option. i kind of feel like former governor howard dean who assumes that the senate will pass something without a public option. they'll go into conference between the house and senate. and miraculously could end up back in there. am i the only one thinking this way? what are you hearing up in d.c.? >> reporter: you know, in some ways the body language was here all along. so yeah, i'm with you, carlos. i'm not sure it was a total shocker to hear the administration seem to back away a little bit from the public option. at least saying, look, it's not a deal breaker if we don't have it. because over these last few months, especially since the co-op option came into favor and certainly seems to be what's going to come out of the senate finance committee, whenever asked, either the president or press secretary robert g

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 senior adviser at the white house. at one point, they make again and again, they feel like cable is overblowing, playing and replaying the worst of the town halls and think by and large what they are hearing from members of congress around the

savannah guthrie, as a white house correspondent, you're watching the president say, it's eric holder's decision, it's not my decision, i want to look forward, i don't want to look back, but i'm hearing a lot from cia former and current people saying, he's trying to have it both ways. >> well, it's very interesting. i think it's one of the more perplexing issues that comes up with this. on one hand, you do have him saying, let's look forward, let's not go back. and yet to be so deferential to eric holder, such that eric holder can essentially go against that and recommend that there be at least a preliminary inquiry, you wonder what's going on here. and it's another one of those occasion where is it seems the president has struck this middle ground. so maybe it's a solomon-like decision, but now he's got a two-front war. on the one hand, some progressives who thinks this does not go near far enough. that there should be a special investigation, they should look at bush officials, look at the lawyers with, so on and so forth. and people on the other side who say, wait a minute, you're ha

let's now bring in white house correspondent savannah guthrie. is this going to impact in any meaningful way the negotiations that continue on the health care front? >> well, you know, that's a very interesting question. of course, you don't have to be a political scientist to know that a president who has good approval ratings has more political muscle and so, frankly, to the extent that republicans or even moderate democrats would see vulnerability, that's a problem for this white house. on the other hand, this is what the president decided to do. he knew he had the large majorities in congress and began the administration with high approval ratings and decided to spend that political capital and it's costing him. this is the latest in a series of poll. you get different numbers, depending on the poll, but the trend are all similar, downward trend and approval rating generally and what is interesting about this abc united nations pole it talks about the right track and wrong track numbers. the approval rating number from the poet post is 57% ap

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let's bring in nbc news white house correspondent, savannah guthrie. vannah, have they figured out another way to get their message across? it hasn't worked so far, to their satisfaction, or anyone else's. >> reporter: well, look, they know they have a problem. the polls show it, clearly. numerous polls show that support for health care reform is dropping. so what they're trying to do is one thing they have always done, which is put the president out there. they've refined the message. today's town hall will focus on yet another insurance reform, focusing on what around here they call rescissions, which is the practice of insurance companies when they drop people when they become sick. so that will be the focus of the town hall. we've seen kind of some different stuff on the internet this week. they've got the reality check website, which they say corrects misinformation that's out there. we saw the chain e-mail from david axelrod yesterday, asking folks who received that e-mail to forward it on to other people, to try to get the word out. so there's a

nbc's savannah guthrie. savannah, thanks. we appreciate it. >>> and now to the bigger pictu picture. are republicans gaining ground because of the fight over health care reform? apparently republicans are feeling a little spring in their step. here's why. president obama poll numbers are dropping. and now there's a backlash against his health care plan. frank donatelli, the chairman ever go pac says it's helping invigorate his party. for the first time in six years the level of enthusiasm and intensity among our party members is higher than on the other side. independents are lining up with us and not democrats and that's a sea change. frank donatelli joins us on the phone live from milwaukee. frank, appreciate your time today. so, the base is fired up. the president's approval numbers are down, but today there's a political report pointing out that so far that hasn't translated into a jump in republican numbers. >> well, monica, i mean, i think you have to take one step at a time here. we have a newly elected president who i

. >>> we have a pop quiz waiting for savannah guthrie live from the white house. will she pass? is she sober? >>> also, willie's week in review. find out which stories made the cut this week. >>> also ahead, oh, it's all ahead on "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪ bicycle, what are we waiting for? the flowers are blooming. the air is sweet. and zyrtec® starts... relieving my allergies... 2 hours faster than claritin®. my worst symptoms feel better, indoors and outdoors. with zyrtec®, the fastest... 24-hour allergy medicine, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. zyrtec® works fast, so i can love the air™. >>> all right. there's a live picture of the sun coming up over new york city. >> beautiful shot. going to be a hot weekend, but that's okay. we're fine. willie, you staying in town? >> i'll be in the area. it is going to be muggy. >> it is going to be muggy. >> welcome back to "morning joe." >> what are you doing this weekend? >> i'm going to qumartha's vineyard. >> what are you doing? you're doing "meet the press." >> what are you doing this weekend? >> that's wh

nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie joins us now. savannah, we have been now briefed because when bill clinton was on the ground, they didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the mission. but that has been lifted. this has been going on quite some time, diplomatic overtures to the north, principally to the u.n. ambassador, ambassador in new york, but at some point, the key was north korea suggesting two of the young women who told their families, who told al gore that bill clinton would be the man to get them out. >> exactly, the back story fascinated and consistent with what you reported yesterday, a andrea. this was a thoroughly vetted mission and what you learned from the background we received, some of the reporters received, almost from the moment these two women were taken into custody, there was a direction from the president and the secretary of state to pursue whatever channel there is could be to try to get their release. as you mentioned, could you really only do this once and through a series of phone conversations. in fa

we have mike barnicle, chris matthews, savannah guthrie. ted kennedy passed away last night and we've been remembering him for an hour this morning. he is, as david axelrod said, mike barnicle, the greatest, i suppose most prolific senator when it comes to legislation in the history of this republic. >> i don't think there's any doubt about that. chris matthews mentioned earlier all of the things he has been responsible for big and small. as time goes on and as pieces are written and as people remember, there will be elements of nearly everyone's life in this country that you can point to and in some ways say legislation that he wrote in 1966 or 1992 impacted help your child's life, helped the school that your child attends, helped provide more nurses in the hospital where your grandmother went when she was ill. so the scope, the sweep of his legislative life has been enormous. i find at least myself in these few hours since his passing was announced that my mind wanders to the personal more than the political. and i can see him walking out

savannah guthrie now joins us. savannah, interesting to see the kind of white house dance, or just as reverend jesse jackson has done a number of these kind of individual missions said an hour earlier, so is that to be expected? the white house needs a little distance from this? >> i think it's to be expected, especially at this moment when the former president is still in north korea. this is very delicate, trying to secure the release of these two american journalists. the white house may want to say something but it's not going to say anything until those journalists are safe and that is the reason. interesting, though, that they did reach out to say this is a private mission and that may be in service of the former president's goals over there. i think we will hear more of the back story. it's hard to imagine the former president, so connected to the current administration by hillary clinton, his wife, the secretary of state, wouldn't have the overt approval from the white house to do this but you're not going t

we've got nbc's savannah guthrie at the white house, where certainly people are paying very close attention to the events of this morning and yesterday. savannah, what more can you add? >> well, look, yesterday we heard the white house saying this is solely a private mission. but once the release of the journalists was secured, we heard the back story. and we've been talking about it this morning. that, in fact, the white house and the state department, the u.s. government, was intimately involved in this mission. that they were in regular contact with the families. and that, in fact, once the north koreans indicated that bill clinton would be an acceptable envoy, the white house, the state department, did exhaustive vetting to make sure this was a legitimate offer. what they didn't want to do is send clinton over there, only to have it in some way rebuffed. you've been talking about some of these key issues. what this means going forward for relations with the north. the white house has really made efforts to decouple these two issues. mostly because obviously combining the issues would be

our thanks to bill karins and savannah guthrie for joining us. plus the aspiring story of a young woman, competitive swimmer paralyzes after a medical procedure. now back in the pool. wait until you see what she can do. we'll see you then. i'll see you back tonight for "nbc nightly news." until then, so long, everybody. thanks for watching, and i'm going to continue my tour. anyway, this is 49th street, and that's -- -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> coming up in about one minute on "news4 today," the weekend edition, federal investigators are turning back a section of track where june's deadly crash occurred over to metro. we'll tell you what's next for the investigation and red line travel. >>> capitol hill could breathe new life into the cash for clunkers program, of a an it almost runs out of money. i'm derrick ward with details. >>> and a new study looks at whether air pollutiur child's intelligence. we'll have results. steve? >> good morning, everyone. weatherwise, it looks like a wonderful day today, after yesterday's storms. all t

. >> my co-anchor savannah guthrie. >> i'm out of my depth already. >> let's do a little sports. the white sox. they actually paused before the game to pay trib fwut senator kennedy. -- pay tribute to senator kennedy. ♪ >> then here's the big tribute. bottom of the ninth. game tied at 2! home run wraps it around the pole and red sox beat the white sox, 3-2, dramatic win, big poppy comes around, mobbed at home plate and red sox beat the white sox. believe it or not, they got a little help from the new york yankees in the wildcard race. three-run home run, yankees win 9-2. yankees 2 1/2 games behind the red sox in the al wildcard race. >> what are they 6 1/2, 7 behind the yankees? >> yes. >> rin colorado, trying to increase their lead. 2-0, dodgers. but not done. top of the fourth. again, another shot! still available in colorado. dodgers go up 3-1, win 6-1, the lead in the nl west is three games over the rockies. >>> today is the day michael vick has been waiting for. he will play football in a game again after more than two years i way. playing for the eagles in the home preseaso

our thanks to bill karins and savannah guthrie for joining us.lus the aspiring story of a young woman, competitive swimmer paralyzes after a medical procedure. now back in the pool. wait until you see what she can do. we'll see you then. i'll see you back tonight for "nbc nightly news." until then, so long, everybody. thanks for watching, and i'm going to continue my tour. anyway, this is 49th street, and that's -- -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute, inc. ---www.ncicap.org--- >> good morning. welcome to "11 news saturday morning." i'm kate amara. >> and i'm lisa robinson. we'll check the forecast in just a minute, but first our top stories. residents have a lot of clean-up ahead of them after powerful storms hit parts of maryland. the national weather service corn firms a tornado -- confirms a tornado did touchdown. parts of baltimore, anne arundel, and carroll county were hit hard by the storm. >> a shooting in the 5,000 block of green moun

savannah guthrie -- in between, and every break, she is swearing and yelling and

nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie joins us now. good to see you. >> hey, carlos. >> where do we stand? we know on sunday, kathleen sebelius seemed to say it wasn't essential. we heard a lot of liberal -- anthony wiener and now the white house seems to be saying, you know what? maybe we misspoke. where do things stand? >> well, look. to hear the white house tell it, it all is because the reporters who heard those comments overwrote their stories and created this whole donniebrook and that caused members of congress to get upset. this is entirely a media creation. that's the white house position. robert gibbs said again this morning in our briefing off camera the white house has been boringly consistent on this, on this issue of the public option. in some ways, that really is true. any times we've asked him over the last few months, would the president sign a bill if it doesn't have a public option? he has always said the public option is the preference. they want choice and competition and that there are other ideas that will accomp

. >>> nbc's savannah guthrie is outside our lady of grace where president obama will eulogize senatorennedy. savannah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, amy. the president is here in boston. as you mentioned, he will deliver the eulogy for senator kennedy, his former colleague and also his friend. this will be a personal eulogy but it won't be a lot of anecdotes. i'm told it will reflect on kennedy the impact on country. of course, there is a personal connection between senator kennedy and the president. there was a key moment in the 2008 campaign when senator kennedy endorsed then senator obama and senior aides say that made all the difference. of course, there are a lot of former kennedy staffers now on the obama staff, including somebody on the speech writing team. this is a personal effort for many members of the president's staff, and i should mention also we'll have all but one of the former living ex-presidents here to pay their respects to senator kennedy. >> savannah guthrie, thanks so much. >>> now here's lester. >> amy thanks. >>> senator kennedy will be laid to rest

is savannah guthrie live from the white house. joe gibbs will be here.o an exclusive look at the stories politico is working on this morning. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. bicycle, i've missed you. gathering dust, as pollen floats through the air. but with the strength of zyrtec ® , the fastest, 24-hour allergy relief, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. with zyrtec ® i can love the air ™ . what do you say to a spin around the color wheel? - to paint with primer already mixed in? - ♪ yeah yeah yeah... - test samples instead of can commitments? - ♪ whoo! - what do you say we dip into our wallets less... - ♪ are you feeling it? - ...and grab ahold of the latest tools out there... - ♪ oh! ...so we can quit all that messing around with extra steps - and get busy turning our doing dials up a notch? - ♪ whoo! ♪ oh! more saving. more doing. - that's the power of the home depot. rrd d ou naing onon ud r. weotototatatininci on us cars for everybody anont cfidedence ininin o. caususususlendnds s ve a a a t tcks. ququq n . >>> tur

savannah guthrie joins me live. how concerned are the white house about these numbers or is this information they know and they've already got a plan that is gearing up in order to try to turn the tide? >> you know, i think it's a little of both. i think they are very concerned about it and they are well aware of not just our poll but most polls show this downward trend on the president's approval rating and his handling of health care reform. however, there's a little tiny bit of good news in this poll. if you actually describe in gentleman nairic generic and neutral terms what the president has proposed you see more people favoring it an he -- than opposing it. that is something for the white house to hang its hat on. then looking at the approval rating of the generic approval job rating is continuing to go down. all-time low for our poll. 51% approval and 41% disproving. health care is a problem because more people are disproving of the president's handling of health care but the plus side is if there is any silv

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savannah guthrie, let's go to health care.are getting ugly out there from florida to california, these town hall meetings. what's the white house plan? i know david axelrod went to the hill and dave democrats a pep talk before they left town. >> reporter: he did apparently with some visual aids. there was also an assurance that the white house stands behind this effort and so they were not going to lay down for this kind of thing as august goes on, as this will be the mother of all battles in terms of the message. the white house wants to assure congress they're behind the effort and will respond forcefully. this is a real issue for them, the anger you see at the town halls, something that will always grab attention. the media will show it over and over again. i think the perspective of the white house and certainly the dnc is to portray as much as they can these folks as somebody who is a far right wing extremist and not something that's reflecting the center of america and that's the best they can do. this is a real issue fo

here's aim. >>> savannah guthrie is outside the basilica. morning, savannah. >> reporter: good morning, amy. president obama arrived here in boston last night, and this morning has already had a private meeting with the widow of senator kennedy, vicki reggie kennedy. after that meeting, of course, they'll come here to the church where the president will deliver a eulogy. i'm told it will be a personal statement, but one that really focuses on the impact senator kennedy has had on the country. of course, there is a special bond between president obama and senator kennedy. at key moment in the campaign of january 2008, senator kennedy came out and put his weight behind president obama, endorsing him. he has told me that was a moment that had a tremendous momentum for the campai. it meant a l personally to the president, in many ways senator kennedy at that moment passed the torch to president obama and i'm told the president was humbled by that. there are a lot of former kennedy staffers who now work for the white house. a couple will be honor

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nbc's white house correspondent savannah guthrie now joins us. savannah, not much common ground there even among the democrats. >> you got it, natalie. in fact, the white house is trying to reassure liberal members of the democratic party today, after hinting over the weekend that it could perhaps live without the so-called public option in health insurance reform. the public option is the idea that you'd have a government-run insurance plan offered alongside private plans. supporters either say it would force insurers to keep the cost low but critics say it would lead to a government takeover of health care. over the weekend, at a town hall, the president suggested that that public option would not a quote essential element of health care reform. on monday, democrats, particularly on the left side of the party, really pushed that card. some saying they won't even vote for health care reform without the public option. meanwhile, foreign policy, the president also has a full plate. you mentioned the president's meeting with egypt's president hosni

and breaking news this morning next managing editor of nightly news, savannah guthrie.who doe? been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". >>> president clinton in north korea trying to free the journalists. >>> savannah, what's going on in north korea? when did you find out from lot ofy position that bill clinton would be going to north korea. >> about 4:00 in the morning ap started buzzing with that news out of north korea actually. of course the

nbc news white house kort savannah guthrie live with the latest. >> dylan, how are you doing? we're getting push-back this morning. i walked out of an on the record off the camera briefing with press secretary robert gibbs who says there has been no change in the administration's position about the public option. he says we've been boringly consistent on this. while the preference is for a public option what they want is more choice and more competition and think public option is the best way to go and deny they were in any way trying to send a signal over or otherwise to members of congress that perhaps the public option wasn't part of the final bill. they say their position has been clear all along. note, however, their position isn't that the public option itself a deal-breaker. they remain open to whatever increase choice in competition. you know many liberal members of congress have been upset about this. listen to congressman anthony wiener on your show a moment ago. >> a lot of people buy the argument that only by having true competition can

. >> savannah guthrie is at the white house for us today. any reaction to this story yet? >> the briefing is going on right now with robert gibbs and he was asked about this deal. the bottom line is the white house did make a deal with the pharmaceutical industry to get this $80 billion in savings. gibbs also says he expected the senate finance committee to reflect that deal, that 80 billion savings, part of which will go to relieve the donut hole, the space where recipients are getting prescription drugs. gibbs defended the notion of dealing with these industries. >> you're not going to get health care legislation without involving the hospitals, those that provide medications, without talking to groups that represent doctors or patients or -- seniors, nurses, what have you. >> meanwhile, the public relations offensive continues something a little different. david axelrod sending out on e-mail today asking people to forword it on. the e-mail he sent has a bunch of information about health care reform and reports to correct what they consider misinformation. he asked those

. >> savannah guthrie joins us live. savannah it seems the door was opened during those interviews, but perhaps closed today with press secretary robert gibbs. he was taking a lot of questions on this one today. >> reporter: he was. he's trying to close the door, latch it, lock it, put a dresser up against it and seal up this issue. it's a real political hot potato for them as you just showed, the president really campaigned on this issue saying he's not going to raise taxes on middle class families. yet as you just showed, the remarks of summers and probably more to the point geithner seemed to leave open the possibility that maybe to control deficits, pay for health care reform, you might have to look at middle class tax cuts. the white house today, in particular press secretary gibbs, really wanted to say that's not going to happen, we aren't going to raise middle class taxes. listen to one of his responses today in the briefing. >> i'm reiterating the president's clear commitment in the clearest terms possible that he

nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie joins us live with the latest. ly at the words of not only the president but also health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius over the weekend where it seems they moved a little further away from the public option. let's play what kathleen sebelius said on one of the sunday shows yesterday. >> they have been more focused on a co-op, not-for-profit co-op as a competitor as opposed to a straight government-run program, and i think what's important is choice and competition. and i'm convinced at the end of the day the plan will have both of those. but that is not the essential element. >> reporter: that seems to go a little bit further than the administration has gone before, although that frame of words, that choice in competition, that has been said over and over again by this white house saying, look, bottom line, whatever it done in health care reform, it has to increase choice and competition among insurers. so we'll leave it to the viewers to decide whether or not they are really inching further away fr

let's go to savannah guthrie. there is a lot of passion and yelling about the rumors and misinformation. is there any talk at the white house that maybe their message needs to be more passionate and more personal? >> that's one idea that has been floating out there. we did see the president talk in more personal terms than before about his own mother's struggle and frankly this weekend, talking about where are we getting this idea that i want to kill old people. i have my grandmother who raised me just pass away. that's not what i'm about. in some ways, the president has gotten more personal. i remember early on democrats and health care horror stories -- but no story that has emerged as emblematic. the message from the white house, the messaging has not been perfect and i think they can be anything but discouraged that some of these myths, things that happen independently fact-checked and debunked, close to a majority of americans. it's clear the white house has its work cut out for it. >> we just heard robert gi

. >>> now a check of the rest of the morning's headlines from savannah guthrie with the rest of the headlines at the news desk. good morning, savannah. >> good morning to all of you. three u.s. troops died today in afghanistan after a roadside bomb struck their vehicle and insurgents then open toed fire. it comes after a roadside bombing saturday killed three more u.s. soldiers. the month of july was the single deadliest month for american troops in afghanistan since the war began. >>> a new york judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a man accused of carrying a fake bomb into new york's laguardia airport saturday morning that scare forced the evacuation of thousands of passengers from the airport as well as flight delays and cancellations. the 32-year-old suspect is being held without bail. >>> an olympic-sized rematch saturday between michael phelps and his biggest rival, the swimmer who lost to him in beijing by .01 of a second. this time, there was no doubt about who the winner was. nbc's keith miller reports. >> reporter: it was a swimming showdown with the overtone of a prize fi

savannah guthrie is joining the conversation.it's not what the laws or policies are, but it was a way of making laws that ted kennedy represented and a way of conducting yourself in political dialogue which intended on its best days to be constructive, not deconstructive. >> also a way of conducting yourself in political life. at the end of the days we have these partisan battles. no question, he was a democrat of the best kind one that i aspire to be. but, yet, you still have to work with people and he understood that and knew how to do that. he never flinched on his principles and ideals but showed can you do that and still work with the other side. sometimes you're going to agree and sometimes you're not going to agree. >> i was reminded of a story that vice president biden tells about a lot in his early days in the senate where he had somebody he disagreed with and he made some remarks about him and senator mike mansfield said never question the guy's motive. we all have different views but never question his motives. i think