the afl-cio and other unions want a public option. they want the government to finance the plan or at least to organization a plan that would compete with the for-profit private health insurance companies. the argument and logic this would cause the cost containment, a lot of people feel that health costs have been rising too quickly under the rising for-profit insurance companies and this would be a way to inject competition and lower costs. senior white house adviser david axelrod says this is not one of the president's mandates, though, for congress. >> the public option would be a valuable tool within that group, that package of plans that we would be offered private and public. ebles the private option is a good tool. it shouldn't define the whole health care debate, however. >> jonathan allen is a reporter at politics.com. as we see marine one taxi over to air force one and the president will get out and board that aircraft, how much pressure is president obama looking at this week, a crucial week for him in terms of his effort t

the unions that remained in the cio and then merged with afl.pted the view that michael was describing. they adopted the sense that we had somehow come to peace in our time with capital. that we did have a place at the table. and that if we rocked the boat, outside of an occasional strike, that we will be excluded. we will be no longer relevant. and this purge, we are living with the legacy of that purge of the left. >> but see, this is a process that takes a long time to do. when this began in the 1940s and 1950s with this anti-communist witch hunt. and with this redirection of what labor should be about. there was the nice cop and the nasty cop in that. the nasty cop was the mccarthyite investigations. and the purging of the left. but the nice cop was the invitation to come in and sit at the table and be reasonable. >> moyers: lyndon johnson. come now, let us feast together. >> moyers: he'd say to the president of the national association of manufacturing. he would say that to the head of the afl-cio... >> over... >> moyers: under george meany

that commission would be slanted toward the conclusions that the afl-cio wants. we need a robust temporary worker program provided their mechanisms that the employer recruits from the domestic workforce first. the afl-cio, who is very powerful right now, wants a commission. we don't that is where our disagreement lies. we have talked to senator schumer about this and have encouraged him to sort these for with organized labor and see if we can come up with a bill that provides a better border security, a path for legalization, paying a civil penalty, tougher employment verification requirements, also encouragement of programs to help the undocumented and others learn english. that is one of the great concerns of many of us here who are in opposition to compensation. it comes through a visceral reaction. people should speak english in this country and if we help them -- there is a misconception that they don't want to learn english. learning english is the key to advancement. if we can provide some federal help, that would be good toward performance in general. >> i

it is not going to be dictated by a couple of policy people sitting at the afl-cio. we are going to meet with our affiliates, people on the ground, young people, with seniors to come up with a real program that meets their needs. and then we'll startage stating and educating and organizing around that. we'll put that out in an election. it is not about -- somebody said this earlier and i may not have answered this part of the question, what are you going to do about getting these things done on your agenda? we are going to organize around that. we are going to have a sharper edge around that. we are going to do a lot of education around that. we are going to use the central labor councils and local unions to do that. so when election time comes up they'll have an understanding of what kind of economy it takes and what the components are so they can begin to ask people that want their support, which one of these components do you support? then they'll be able to hold them accountable afterwards. the other thing we've done is we've sort of the day after election day we

at a roundtable with general motors workers in ohio, and in a speech to the afl-cio in pittsburgh, thesident will talk jobs, as tim geithner cold abc, on an interview that will air on "good morning america" today. >> people back to work. >> reporter: that message comes a day after the president told wall street to get ready for tighter oversight and better times ahead. >> the work of recovery continues. and though i will never be satisfied while people are out of work and our financial system is weakened, we can be confident that the storms of the past two years, are beginning to break. >> reporter: the president will talk directly to workers, including the nearly 6 million who have lost their jobs and aren't feeling that recovery. workers like rick hirst. he lost his job at microsoft. so did his wife. >> i did everything right. i got schooling. i stuck with my jobs. i did my best. i didn't lie, cheat or steal. why am i not among the ranks of the employed? >> reporter: last week, they turned over the condo to the bank. the president's promise to workers like the hirsts, help is on the

only make life better for steelworkers like steve india indiana, not only make life better for the afl-cioalso make real the promise of the united states of america for everybody. that's what we're fighting for. that's what this white house is committed to that's what the afl-cio is committed to. and arm in arm, we are going to get this done. i got a question for you, are you fired up? >> yes! >> are you ready to go? >> yes! >> are you fired up? >> yes! >> are you ready to go? >> yes! . >> a pretty packed agenda, who better than organized labor to help president obama push forward on health care reform, economic recovery, clean energy, education reform. he hit it all there, even talking about the war in iraq. and as you just heard live in the newsroom, the president talked about all of this to a very supportive crowd there, those labor folks love him, that's the aflcio folks in pittsburgh. cnn's ed henry is also there. some republican critics are saying that the president is overexposed. is he going to scale back at all or is he going to keep pushing forward? >> reporter: i see him really

that is the future of the afl- cio wants to build. t is the future the american people want to build. that is the future that i have been working to build from the moment i took office. [applause] now, we have been hearing all lot of stuff from folks who are not all the friendly to me -- [laughter] -- or the union movement. let's take a stroll down memory lane and remember where we were when i took office a little more than eight months ago. at the time, folks were fearing the complete collapse of our financial system. our economy was shedding about 500,000 jobs a month. credit markets were frozen. folks could not get a car loan, home loan, they could not get a student loan if they needed it. one was a deep recession threatened to become a great depression you remember that, right? ok. that is why we acted. boldly and swiftly, to pass an unprecedented economic recovery act. a plan that did not include any of the usual earmarks or pork barrel spending, but what it did include was a guarantee to of all a decent and prevailing wage. [appl

you just heard the president across the afl-cio at the labor day picnic in cincinnati. tomorrow he's going to speak to the nation's elementary and high school students. and then wednesday brings a primetime address to a joint session of congress. you heard the president mention it right there in his speech. he doesn't want the sound and fury to carry on to capitol hill. we've been covering those town hall, as you know, for weeks now. you've seen the fire in the belly of so many americans across this country. but we begin with the star-spangled blue collar picnic in ohio. following it for about 45 minutes now. but it's no picnic for the millions of american workers who'd love to get back into the labor forces but can't. the president says better days are coming, he promises. take a listen. >> so our recovery plan is working. bricklayers, too. the financial system has been saved from collapse. home sales are up. we're seeing signs of life in the auto industry. investment is starting to stabilize. for the first time in 18 months, we're seeing growth in manufacturing. when

a picnic organized by the afl-cio in ohio. a jones there on the white house lawn. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> let's get to the president's labor day remarks. is it a preview to the speech before congress on wednesday? >> they certainly might. people will pay close attention. president obama as candidate and president used lesser speeches to try out turns of phrase or new lines of argument. for a bigger speech that may be a few days later. people will be paying close attention. the speech will touch on the economy and health care. on the economy, he'll probably spend sometime trying to tout the things the economic stimulus has done that have worked. he might bring up the manufacturing numbers of last week that showed that that sector grew for the first time in a year and a half and he could even touch on friday's unemployment numbers, certainly those numbers showed that the unemployment grew over the last month but the number of jobs lost was the low nest a year. but of course, on health care will be the most interes

would say that to the head the afl-cio... >> over. >> moyers: under grge meany. r when george meany was proud at he never walked a picket line. and he said so. and then when lane kirkland died, who was the presidt of thafl-cio. then you the wl street journal had an obit for him. and under hilittle picture it said, ane kirkland, anti- communis" that's what the labor movent was known for. it because they were able push out a certa segment. but then to comen with another kind of leaderip. an affirtive statement that "we are ing to be cooperating now with the cporations and th the corporate elite. we are going to be lika junior paner at the table." >> moyers: buto you see any green spouts of confrontion, militancy, defiance gring on e left, among unions, that w see on theight? >> yes. >> moyers: where? >>ell, first of all, i think thathe election of richard trumka has a great deal potentl. cause... moyers: the new president o the afl-cio. >> t new president of the... >> moyers: why? >> because tmka comes out of a history of militcy. he you know, in terms of his vision

today, he will speak at the afl- cio picnic in cincinnati, ohio. row, he will speak to students, and then wednesday, he will be before a joint session of congress. with what president obama should say, the liberals want to issue a call to action. conservatives hope he will push back from his sweeping changes and provide health care legislation in smaller pieces. >>> delays will continue on the metro red line at least through the rest of this week. they are still working on the side of the deadly train collision in gene. they say it is more extensive than imagine. >>> kick ball is normally thought of as an elementary- school sports, but now, 3000 teams are playing kickball as part of a world adult kickball association. fans came up with this idea in 1998 as they were hanging out together at a d.c. bar. >> it was, "are you kidding?" and then, the memories were right in there. we sort of knew we were onto something. >> part of the kickball association's appeal is the post-game party. organizers say there are 45 minutes of kickball followed by three hou

[applause] >> we are thrilled t have you and very much look forward to wkrking with of the afl-cio. our vision of leadership will help american workers for the future. thank you. i want to thank the center because you've done a tremendous job. tremendous allies ani look forward to working with you a long time for a better and more progress of america. >> sounds good. [applause]

forget the afl-cio. we did this little brnt 1% tax, $100 billion a year and allocate it only for deficit reduction. >> that's a different discussion. i still wouldn't be in favor of it. i think once you put it on there, what it will be used for is hard to say once congress gets its hands on it. i'm not convinced they'd use it for deficit reduction. i don't see goldman sachs as paying this. investors would pay this. not necessarily this would just get passed on to the trades. i also think this could have the bad sentiments for the financial system. our financial crisis we recently had was not a problem of equity, it was a problem of too much debt. if you tax equity and don't tax dead correspondingly, you encourage people to take more debt which rids more leverage which actually makes the financial system more fragile. >> dean, do you agree and do you think we should tax neither or tax debt, too? >> you want to tax all trading. have a comprehensive tax, a scale tax. very modest taxes. we talk about ten bas

john sweeney, the head of the afl-cio, the union the president spoke to yesterday said, despite months of painful negotiations the senate finance committee proposal release today absolutely fails to meet the most basic health care needs of working families and fails to meet the expectations we have set for our nation. folks, i have to tell you, the next gentleman we have coming up is senator kent conrad, chairman of the budget committee and also a member of the gang of six, who i have taken issue with from time to time and he is a dear friend of mine, but in fairness to all of that, is there anything in this bill that should really be taken seriously by those who don't want the public option? senator, good to have you with us tonight, and i know one of your biggest concerns is, over the years, has been the budget and paying for this. why is this a good bill, senator conrad? why is this coming out of the gang of six something we should lock on to? >> let me put it in no particular order, number one, it has very significant insurance market reforms so we do away with the exclusion based

. >> he got a rock star welcome from the afl-cio. he had asked the people to stop laughing because they were making him much. all indications from this event are that the president's labor base is strongly behind him. he talked about health care at one point, talk about the public option for a government run health care. he got major applause for that. he felt right at home. shepard: he talked about strengthening the middle-class with his policies. what is the sell there? >> he is basically trying to tie together that a stronger middle- class would be better for the country, clearly something that the afl-cio like hearing. they got strong reception on that, happy to hear the president saying he is on board with building the labor movement, trying to pursue policies that help the middle class. shepard: the president is on his way to philadelphia, it kept a promise for the former republican. >> when he said he would become a democrat, the president said that he would campaign for arlen specter. there is still an open primary going on, b

the president will be speaking in cincinnati at an afl-cio picnic. veral unions. the president will be taking his message directly to union members on the holiday, celebrating their movement. >>> while millions of americans are out of work on this labor day, labor secretary hilda so

to his left is larry, associate general counsel for the afl-cio, and next to him is the president and ceo of "democracy 21." turning us leader will be bob bauer, the general counsel for the democratic national committee. all four of these gentlemen have been crucial players on campaign finance law for decades, literally. we will have each of them start with opening remarks, about seven minutes to play at where they stand on the case, and then we will have some questions and then go to the audience. we will talk a little bit about the history of the provision in the history of the case, which he started in his challenge to be able to sell -- to offer hillary the movie on video on demand. >> thank you. my job is to tell you how we got here from there. many of the things that i will discuss, i have been involved in. i was one of all lawyers challenging mccain find gold and mcconnell versus fcc, represented 26 clients in that. i was lead counsel for i took a big whack at the electioneering communication corporate provision the supreme court had upheld in mcconnell. that i was counsel for

from now, the president may give us a preview of his big speech on health care when he addresses the afl-ciohite house has not said whether president obama will tell congress the issue is a deal-breaker. >>> emily hile is a staff writer for roll call and writes the column heard on the hill. we know the president is speaking to the afl-cio at their big picnic today. what do you expect to hear from them? >> these are two different audiences walker talking about. today he is speaking to labor unions and they have been very vehement they want this public option. on wednesday night he will talk to both chambers of congress and it's a prime time uns broadcast so he is also going to be talking to the american people. and i think he is walking a fine line. people are looking for all sorts of things in this speech and, obviously, he is not able to deliver them all. but i think today you're going to hear him talking a little bit about, you know, maybe a little bit more specific about the public option, but he is clearly saying that mr. axelrod said it today, he doesn't want this whole debate to be ove

. >> speaking to the afl-cio labor union, president obama today emphasized the urgency.a call to action that howard university community is taking to heart. they're passing out fliers and encouraging students to contact their legislators. hundreds gathered today to form a rally. recent college graduates nationwide are struggling to find jobs. craig allen recently spent a week in a hospital and learn how expensive health care can be pureed but my bill was nearly $20,000 and i do not -- how expensive health care can be. >> my bill was nearly $20,000 and i do not have health care. >> on thursday, they will join with students from several other local colleges to hear the president speak at the university of maryland. >> tonight, the new swine flu vaccine is one step closer to reaching the public. the fda approvedç the new vacce earlier today. kathleen sebelius says the first limited supplies could be distributed by early next month. high-risk groups black children and pregnant women will have access to the vaccine -- like children and pregnant women will have access to the

. >> challenges facing organized labor with the president of the afl-cio theory of this event was hosted by the american center for progress activation fun. it is about 40 minutes. >> ♪ i won't back bell -- back down i know what is right i have not just one light ♪ >> thank you very much. i am truly humbled by today. before anything, there is someone that i need the bank. someone that all of us need to thank. he has renewed our commitment to organizing. he has restored our voice in government. in the process he has rekindled the hopes of millions of american workers. he did something else. he reminded us that organized labor is not an institution, we are a movement. john, you have walked us through some of the toughest times. now, before long, you'll be able to walk kennedy the school, which will be a good thing. john, this movement and this nation will forever be in your debt, forever. [applause] there are a lot of special people here today. but the most important are right over there. that is my family. all of you, stand up. [applause] you have always been the core of my life. my great

and this is the afl, cio conference. the president says his administration has stopped that freeway and determined to feel a recovery while revitalizing the american's middle class. it's been a busy day for them speaking out there earlier in ohio. right now, campaigning for pennsylvania senator. this thursday, they will hold a healthcare rally at the university of maryland in college park. >>> the head of the senate finance committee says the so-called gang of sick health care bills should be unvailed tomorrow. the bipartisan measure lowers it to $880 billion in over ten years, leaves out a government-run insurance option, trying to gain republican report, but they run the risk of upsetting democrats. >> we will again, approve quality, lower costs, and expand coverage. and to maintain choice. i believe that a public option is the best way to do that. >> the american people are saying stop. let's hit the reset button and let's start over. >> reporter: the compromise is expected to spapbd coverage by requiring all americans

he's heading to pittsburgh on tuesday to address the afl-cio convention. the president will talk about his health care plan at a rallying call in maryland. the white house is working behind the scenes to finalize a deal with or without republican support. the question is how to pay for the bill. here is howard dean said on "meet the press." >> every other democracy in the world has a health care steam that covers everybody and we don't. of course we can do this. how ridiculous. >> dr. dean, you said run forment people have to understand that you got to pay for it. if you want that coverage you've got to pay for it. >> two-thirdses of the money that president obama talks about taking $500 million out of medicare. it's not taking it away from seniors. that's taking the waste the republicans have been talking about for years, the abuse, that the republicans have talked about for years, the stuff that the insurance companies are getting for profit over and above what services are. two-thirds of this bill is paid mor with savings. . if you don't think the savin

. >> the afl-cio today sent a letter to finance committee members against your amendment. they're saying that it would encourage younger, healthier workers to -- to leave, leaving behind in the employer-based health plans older, sicker workers, and that would make those plans too expensive to maintain. what's your reaction to their criticism? >> they are just flat-out wrong, and in fact the congressional budget office put out an analysis today indicating that the afl-cio is wrong. they do not really understand what the proposal is. the congressional budget does. that our idea would not destabilize the employer system. i also think that the typical union member would be pretty shocked to know that their leadership here in washington, d.c. is lobbying for a public option that would deny more than 200 million americans the opportunity to get it. that's not in line with the public interest. i want everybody to have real choice. i think our free choice proposal worked very well with the public option. and, by the way, we got some very good news today, rachel, because the mayo cl

the afl-cio is here to talk about it with us. i'm here on this tiny little plane, and guess what... i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. anything before takeoff mr. kurtis? prime rib, medium rare. i'm bill kurtis, and i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t. to its employee storbenefits package at no direct cost to the company... it was a perfect fit. find out more at aflac!... ...forbusiness.com >>> congress is back in session. and high on the agenda, health kcare modification. chairman of the house financial services committee and democratic congressman from massachusetts, barney frank is with us. chairman frank, pleasure to have you with us. a wonderful day to do it so thank you. i could start anywhere. i guess i'll start with health care since the president will speak about

. >>> still ahead, we score the first interview with the head of the afl-cio. a moment of geek that features ronald reagan and a 1959 chevy bel air. best ever coming up. first time for a couple stories. those things usually referred to as enhanced interrogation techniques that people for centuries considered store chur like waterboarding and stress positions have long been considered illegal and long been considered by many to be immoral. now they've been proven in terms of biology to be counterproductive. in a new report in the scientific journal, scientists looked at the ways that bush era interrogators tortured people and looked at the effects on the brain. the physical effects, particularly on memory. the conclusion? not only doesn't torture coax useable intelligence out of people but physically inhibits memory and distorts it and mixes false memories with actual possibly useful information. torture is "biologically counterproductive to eliciting quality information." the mixing of memory with false memory is known as confabulation. which i will admit is a

someone le him would never are been part of the afl-cio in that area he started a thing that became wholetural component that the uaw identified with. that's why the movement was so successful and why it is so interesting to say look at all of these people andw3 all thencredible work they did.xd and if it hadn't been for the ufw maybe or they've been born 15 years later, we would have lost all of that great talent. the people shaping today's movements. i talk about the electoral work and you know we all read in october, "washington post" had a story about how the obama electoral campaign sort of reinvented electoral politic. people see those articles reinvent electoral politics and i read that and said gee, i guess you think that but if you read my book you see all the obama campaign they did have computers and all but all they really did is take what the ufw did in 1968, 72 and 76 and then with ufw alumni then brought with them throughout california and then other states. you know, you read about in 1968 the dominant book about the presidential election in america was called the selling

. >> reporter: but aides are warning allies, like the afl-cio that president obama will not insist on government insurance in his address to congre in part because of blue dog conservative democrats like mike ross. last month, ross said okay to government insurance. then caught hell at his town halls in arkansas. ross has changed his mind. he and other democrats will vote no if the public option is included. republicans say, start over. >> the american people don't want another speech on health care. they want another plan on health care. >> american people are asking us to start over. they want reforms but they want the right reforms. not some grand scheme. >> we're not starting over. >> reporter: the white house fired back. >> the president is going to pull the strands together and move this process forward and get something done this year. >> reporter: but wi it have a public option? i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, capitol hill. >>> from the halls of congress to the classrooms of the nation's public schools, tonight's address isn't the only presidential speech making waves across t

at a roundtable with general motors workers and to workers at the afl-cio, the president will talk jobser told abc in an interview that will air on abc today. the president will tell everyone to ready for better times ahead. " the work of recovery continues. i will never be satfied while people are out of work. we can be confident that these storms of the past two years are beginning to break. >> the president will talk directly to workers. workers like rippick, who lost s job at microsoft. >> i did everything right. i did my best. i did not lie, cheat, or stale. -- or steal. >> president's promise -- help is on the way. >> jobs tend to come up last. we're focused on how to create jobs in this informant without adding to the deficit. >> with unemployment at nearly 10%, the president says he is not inclined to ask for a second economic stimulus. john hendren, abc news. >>> now we turn to the fight over health care reform. there could be a draft bill as early as today. the cost has been trimmed down to $880 billion. right now there is no bipartisan agreement. consumer confidence continues

he targeted workers at the afl cio's national convention in pittsburgh and earlier at a gm plant in ohio. >> as long as you still have an ounce of fight left in you i have a ton of fight left in me. [cheers] i've said it before, i'm skinny but tough. >> reporter: a tough fight for the president turned out to be health care reform. as demonstrated by the summer's rowdy town halls. middle class americans worried about the cost of reform, mr. obama had a message, his plan to overhaul health care and other economic policies will benefit them but the mixed economic outlook feeds americans' anxieties. retail sales figures beat expectations today but the unemployment rate is at the heist level in 26 years and -- highest level in 26 years and expected to rise. >> it will feel weak for some time as many people find their job security and employment status is not what they wish it was. >> reporter: federal reserve chairman ben bernanke said economic catastrophe was averted because of the government's quick actions. he said more regulations of the financial system is needed to prevent a future melt

this labor day president obama tried to fire up organized labor for his cause with a speech to the afl-cio telling its members that the country has never been this close to health care reform. our cnn white house correspondent ed henry is joining us live, and, ed, obviously the president, he seemed very fired up actually really kind of pumped up in a way. did he give us any indication about what he's going to say on wednesday? >> reporter: you're right, suzanne. he was very fired up today, and it may very well be a taste of what we're going to see wednesday night, because some advisers have been talking to the advisers to the president say they expect him on wednesday to be much more assertive in this debate, getting more specific but also getting a bit more animated. you've seen in recent speeches some of them have been a little bit dry and gotten into the weeds on health care, but today he was really showing that he wants to stand up and fight. this is a very receptive crowd because it was an organized labor crowd. these are the hard core fans who want serious comprehensive health reform

he went to a general motors plant in ohio before speaking at a meeting of union heads from the afl-ciopennsylvania. analysts say he is looking for more support from them in the fight over health care. today's speeches were geared toward shoring up support among working men and women. take a listen. >> we're putting people to work across the country, rebuilding crumbling roads and bridges and waterways with the largest infrastructure investments since eisenhower created the interstate highway system and the 1950's. -- in the 1950's. shepard: republicans are calling for all federal funding to be cut off from acorn, as an undercover video shows an employee of that organization giving advice on how to cover up a child prostitution ring. a man calling himself an activist filmmakers shot the video in san bernardino, calif ornia. the young woman you if you're asking for advice is pretending -- the young woman that you will here asking for a vice is pretending to be a prostitute asking for advice in opening a brothel for underage girls. acorn has claimed that some of the videos were edited or

. >> the president will speak for a friendly audience at the annual afl-cio labor day picnic. he will announce to union members his selection for senior counselor for manufacturing. his appointee, ron bloom, has served as senior advisor to treasury secretary tim geithner on the auto industry task force since february. >>> president obama's highly anticipated speech on education just a day with a now. his message to school children across the nation, do well in school but some are concerned his speech could be politically motivated. sarah simmons joins us from wakefield high school in arlington where the president will make his remarks. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this upcoming speech from the president has caused quite a controversy. there are some parents out there who are urging teachers and schools to actually boycott the president's address to the nation's schools that will take place here tomorrow. some of his critics are even saying that he will use this platform to push a socialist agenda and his supporters are saying this is absolutely ridiculous. the natio

. >> later at the afl-cio convention in pittsburgh, the president talked economics generally but said nothing about his recent move to slap three years of tariffs on chinese tire imports, a move that could spark retaliation and some economists see as a gift to big labor. >> the only way to look at this decision by the obama administration is a payoff to labor unions for their political support during the campaign and their support in the ongoing effort to pass some version of nationalized healthcare. >> so what to make of this positive economic data? well, sometimes definitions are important. a recession, of course, two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. we have had that. a recovery is two consecutive quarters of economic growth. the fed chairman's reassuring words notwithstanding, we haven't even had one of those, at least not yet. bret: definitions are important. thank you. stocks are rup again today. the dow climbed 56. the s&p 500 rose 3. nasdaq gained about 11 points. in news around the world, four mortars were fired into baghdad's gene district during a surprise visit

there was is language when he went to pittsburgh for the afl- cio. he is taking the arguments of the concerns of his opponents and denigrating them. taking the concerns of ordinary americans. we saw it last week. , one of the most controversial ones, when he said he was not going to give health care or make it available for illegal aliens, and provoking the outburst by congressman wilson, and they responded to it not by saying it was not true but by saying they would close the loophole. you cannot have it if you are an illegal alien, but they refuse to have a verification procedure, so all you back to do is show up, and you get it. it would require proof of citizenship before they are able to participate in the program, and they voted it down on a near party-line vote. greta: what about getting democrats at this point? >> he keeps saying, "i will not sign a bill that adds to the deficit," and the congressional budget office says it adds to the deficit in the house bill, it has 10 years' worth of revenue in budget cuts, medicare budget cuts, and the pr

. >> richard of the afl cio as he is encouraged. >> everybody said that the public option was dead. it last night, it wasn't dead. he said, unless you have something better, this is the option. we will fight for it. >> after president obama was heckled by republican joe will set of south carolina, he called a staffer to say his outburst was inappropriate. >> we need to have a civil discussion about the issue. >> words right out of the president's mouth. >> we all make mistakes. he apologized quickly. >> he hopes the fever breaks a bit in the overheated the health-care debate. republican leaders are warning that americans remain frustrated. they still insist that the basic reform plan be changed. from capitol hill, wbal tv 11 news. >> using modern technology, we want to hear from year. -- from you. keep in mind, we're not asking if you agree with it. it just if you have a better understanding of the plan. you can text to this number. we want to remind you that standard message in rates apply. 78% say they do have a better understanding. 22% say they do not. we will update you tonight

. >> reporter: at a speech to the afl-cio in pittsburgh which felt like a rally for perform reform, the president said rising medical costs are pushing down the economy and workers' wages. >> it's the fault of a broken health care system that's sucking up all the money. when are we going to stop it and say enough is enough? how many more workers have to lose their coverage? how much longer are we going to have to wait? it can't wait. >> reporter: back in washington, republicans said we can't rush. >> the american people are concerned about the costly government takeover of our health care system. >> they do not want the federal government taking over their personal decisions about their health care. >> reporter: but president obama -- >> i've got a question for you. are you fired up? are you willing to go? >> is turning up the heat. reviving last ye's winning campaign style. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> democratic senator max baucus plans to unveil a health care bill wednesday. the price tag is under $880 billion. baucus is trying to craft a bipartisan deal. it's uncl

the president is talking to the afl-cio's meeting today. he president will be announcing to union members that he's named a senior counselor for manufacturing policy. >>> in two days, president barack obama will spell out his ideas for health insurance in a speech to congress. as you know, there's been much debate over whether or not there will be a government insurance plan to compete with the private ones known as the public option. cnn's john king discussed this with minnesota governor tim pawlenty and nebraska senator ben nelson on cnn's "state of the union" yesterday. >> if he were to do something like that, would you embrace a backup public option if they went to the trigger approach that we create a public option, but it only kicks in if in three years or five years, the insurance market isn't more competitive? >> there's lots of things we could agree to on a bipartisan baby, the public option is not one. the trigger option just kicks the can down the road. it just delays the inevitable. i think if the democrats embrace the public opt

. >>> up next, the afl-cio issuing a warning to wall street that's it's time for aggressive financialeform. >>> richard trumka will speak live outside the new york stock exchange in about 20 minutes, but first, he's going to join us live on "the call." you know why? because we're cnbc and we're first in business worldwide. this is humiliating. stand still so we can get an accurate reading. okay...um...eighteen pounds and a smidge. a smidge? y'know, there's really no need to weigh packages under 70 pounds. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. cool. you know this scale is off by a good 7, 8 pounds. maybe five. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. ok ! ok. whoooa, heyyy ! see, the terms require that you keep the bike within this pre-determined space. if you want to take the bike out, i'm going to have to charge you a penalty. i can't really ride in this little space. you can't ride very far. even kids know an offer shouldn't come ha, ha, ha... with ridicu

president obama will speak to members of the afl-cio in cincinnati. s the debate over health care continues, cspan's healthcare hub is a key resource. you can go on line c- span.org/healthcare. >> and about one hour, we'll have a discussion on congressional debate on health care. a couple of hours from now, amy dean will talk about her book

he will speak today at the afl-cio labor day picnic in ohio. s address to congress on health care reform. the president is also defending tomorrow's back-to-school speech to students which critics call indoctrination. >>> his environmental advisor resigned over the weekend, van jones was linked to a petition suggesting a government role in the 9/11 attacks. >>> a new show of defiance today from iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad. he vowed iran will not halt its nuclear development program or negotiate what he called its nuclear rights. the u.s. and its allies have threatened iran with economic sanctions if it does not agree to talks by the end of the month. >>> thousands attended a sunday parade in south lake tahoe, california to celebrate the return of jaycee lee dugard kidnapped from that town 18 years ago. marchers said jaycee's rescue also freed the town from two decades of fear and suspicions. >>> ten people were hospitalized sunday after a private company's inmate transfer van crashed in mississippi. the driver was killed. >>> another tr

in a speech to the afl-cio in pittsburgh and i felt like a rally for health care reform. he president said rising medical costs are pushing down the economy and workers' wages. >> it is the fault of a broken health care system that is sucking up all of the money. when are we going to stop it? when will we say enough is enough? how many have to lose their coverage? how much longer are we going to have to wait? it cannot wait. >> back in washington, republicans said we cannot rush. >> the american people are concerned about because the government takeover of our health-care system -- concerned about the costly government health-care takeover. >> are you fired up? are you ready to go? >> the president is turning up the heat. reviving last year's winning campaign style. >> just in time for senate democrats after months of wrangling to detail their proposed health-care reform bill. it is certain to escalate the partisan fight. ç>> and the president will also bring his push for health-care reform to college park this week. on thursday, the president will speak at a rally at the

that is the future the afl-cio wants to build. that is the future the american people want to build. that is the future i have been trying to build since the moment i took office. [cheers and applause] now, we have been hearing a lot of stuff from folks who are not that friendly to me. the [laughter] or the union movement. let's take a stroll down memory lane. let's just remember where we were when i took the oath of office a little over eight months ago. at the time, folks were fearing the complete collapse of our entire financial system. our economy was shot about 700,000 jobs in month. our credit markets were frozen. folks could not get loans if they needed them. what was a deep recession threatened to become a great depression. you remember that, right? ok. that is why we acted -- boldly and swiftly to pass an unprecedented economic recovery act, a plan that did not include any of the usual earmarks or pork barrel spending. it included a guarantee to uphold prevailing wage. [applause] because the recovery act, we are keeping a

he's traveling to cincinnati ohio to speak to union members at the afl/cio annual labor day picnic. he'll talk about health care reform and announce he has named ron bloom for manufacturing policy. he served on the auto industry task force. >>> after weeks of debate in congress and at town hall meeting, the white house issuing signs of compromise when it comes to the public option of government run health care. >> you said there must be an exchange where people can get insurance at a competitive price and begins in competition and choice. the public option is an important tool to help provoke that where there is no competition. he still believes that. >> i think if he had a set of proposals that talked about cost containment and then a realistic way to cover more people through tax breaks, tax exceptions, subsidies, i think republicans could support it. >> shrounded in controversy, the white house green czar is stepping down. the environmental advisor van jones is resigning after what he calls a vicious sneer campaign. he came under fire for suggesting a government role in the 9/11 t

. >>> making headlines at nine minutes after 5:00, the departing president of the afl- cio is urging union leaders to keep up the fight to reform health care and overhaul labor laws. john sweeney is stepping down after 14 years at the helm of the labor federation. his long-time deputy is expected to be named the new president on wednesday. >>> authorities are awaiting autopsy results for the man who raised money for ousted illinois governor rod blagojevich and they want to know how christopher kelly died on saturday. he was a key figure in the federal case that accuses blagojevich of trying to sell or trade president obama's former senate seat. he was under pressure from prosecutors to cooperate in the investigation. >> i don't know that he was the linchpin tohis case and cha is what is somewhat ironic about this. they have john harris signed up. theft wife taps. they potentially have mr. resco. i do want know that the government needed chris kelly to flip to bolster their case. >> investigators are trying to determine if drugs found in the aide's car played a factor in his death. >>>

i'm not sure, but i do know a few years ago president obama said this to the afl-cio. >> i happen toe a proponent of single-payer universal healthcare code, universal healthcare plan. that is what i would like to see. glenn: odd. transitioning right now may be -- see what i'm saying? it is the old game of what is the definition of is? well, i thought we all knew, you know, but apparently not. it sounds clear to me. if i may quote again "i happen to be a proponent of the single-payer healthcare plan." universal healthcare. i know. it's hard to understand unless you have done this. what? it's difficult to reconcile unless you listen. it makes it even harder when you hear what others around him and in the white house and congress and key advisors and special are interests are have also said about single-payer health. >> i think if we get a good public option, it could lead to single payer and that's the best way to to be single payer. >> and the guy from the insurance company then argued against the public health insurance option saying it wouldn't let private insurance compete. their p

us now is a man who was just named to be the head of the nation's largest federation of unions the afl-cio. thanks for joining us here tonight. congratulations. >> thank you. thanks for having me on. appreciate it very much. >> in washington right now it's not just republicans versus democrats but a battle of liberals versus conservatives within the democratic party on important policy issues. how does labor factor into that today? >> we're going to try to keep them honest and make them live up to their promises about health care, try to make them reregulate the financial economy and give us a consumer protection agency that isn't a hobby as it is right now to four other agencies but actually protects consumers. i talked to a woman in atlanta. she was making $1162 a month on a fixed salary and they gave her a $900 a month mortgage. that type of predatory lending should have been picked up by any of those agencies. it wasn't. what we're going to do is make sure they live by that. we'll educate our members, mobilize our members, and i think our members will hold them accountable on election