you spent some years in the white house. to the front of the white house, and we'll come around back here and show you where it was supposed to be taking place. there's a location right around back here where they've got -- you heard a lot about it or seen a lot about it. you move over this way. this is where the playset is that was set up for the girls over there. it's an area that's also featuring this little playground. a little picnic table. i want to stop my video for a second before we move on. this is originally where this was going to happen, over at this picnic table. for some reason that's not where it's happening now. we put all that aside, and then you move over this way toward the rose garden area. this is now where it's going to happen. i want to stop that again and show you the area we're talking about because this is that same table they're going to be seated at. rose garden here. a few more pictures of it right in this area. that's going to be happening in this area, but look at this. we talk about the buffe

the big kegger down in washington at the white house. having the beer party to celebrate the last day of finals. things really went nuts at the kegger. and -- at 8:00, everybody was a little tipsy. and they drunk-dialed ben bernanke. >> obama wants to make this a regular thing. he's invited ahmadinejad over for appletinis. thank you. >> the men met and talked at the white house. and each was served his own preferred brew. nothing says unity like three men sitting down together and insisting on three, differen brands of beer. >> i think he was brown-bagging while he was delivering that story. wonder if they considered beer-pong. >> quarters seems like it was fun enough. >> next time. >>> stay with us for "good morning america." could new help be on the way for 30 million americans who suffer migraines? we'll show you a simple forehead surgery showing some promise >>> just moments away, a suspect in one of the district's most infamous murder mysteries is due in one of the district's most infamous murder mysteries is due in cou

at what point does the white house say we can't keep trusting your word on this? >> there have been reports that the senate democratic leadership has asked senator baucus to stop trying to bring republicans on board. but clearly, the white house is doing what it can to bring republicans onboard. the president also met with senator snowe, corker -- they're trying to play every card. >> you're website has an article about obama getting feisty, about the president no longer reading his speeches. we saw that fiery species, governor corzine there, what is the tone here? how is this president obama different from the guy talking about health care a few weeks ago, not realizing that maybe the republicans were getting, their words were hitting more with the american public? >> most of his speeches are still calm and deliberate. we hear him from the white house and rose garden, but there are these moments like we heard this week where he veers off course and knocks his critics, calls him cynics and nay sayers why he has to solve problems. it sounds like he's a little bit fr

>> i can tell you the white house hopes the story is over. i mean, this was something they, obviously, knew was a mistake for the president to be weighing in and the president himself said he wished he had made different remarks about it at that news conference more than a week ago. then the president came out of that press briefing and let it slip that sergeant crowley asked to have a beer at the white house and that ensued all of this talk about having a beer summit. now, it's happened and behind them. the picture is out. and, look. i think they feel it went as well as it could have. sergeant crowley certainly had very warm words for the president and the vice president who got invited, i'm told, just kind of impromptu. having his afternoon meeting with the president and the president said if you want to come and have a beer with the guys. biden does bond with firefighters and police officers so he was a hit. >> too many jokes i could make at this point about a guy jumping into a keg party. that's it. savannah guthrie, good to see you and h

we worked in the white house, never let the president wade into an ongoing investigation. you can have these kinds of errors, in terms of capitalizing politically, i think it is an error to do that. >> doesn't listen to press secretaries, not told go out and say the police acted stupidly? >> pretty certain they are practiced that question. >> not that the police acted stupidly.. >> maybe realizing on that point, the fact is the white house decided to take the question, decided he should answer in kind of the way that he did maybe didn't choose the word stupidly that was a block and tackle mistake on the part of the white house which they quickly realized. >> steve a fundamental business mistake or what you would

. >> so, now, the white house is scrambling to come up with more money. and to reassure dealers and buyers that all deals will be honored. >> emily schmidt is in washington with the latest on this. >> reporter: good morning. cash for clunkers was funded until november, or until that $1 billion in government funding ran out. whichever came first. now, it seems they may be out of cash three months before expected. car lots across america tell the story. plenty of just traded in clunkers reflect a program that may have run out of cash. >> there's a feeding frenzy out there. >> reporter: the deal kicked off one week ago. trade in a gas guzzler from 1984 or later, buy something more fuel-efficient, get up to $4,500 from the government. >> we made a decision within -- really 12 hours. >> reporter: so did thousands of others. >> there's no doubt about it. there's an increase in floor traffic in itself, just translates into -- at least the 20% increase in sales. >> reporter: the government had hoped the financial incentive program would lure buyers to 16,000 deale

ok, so the guy leaves the white house. he leaves the white house. all right. he leaves the white house. nothing changes. "it was a great honor to go there." i have been to the white house many times. it is a great honor and experience to be a president, democrat or republican, and i have met them all since jimmy carter. so leave it at face value. >> again, let me go back to the campaign. where is the transparency? let me ask you this. why does this have to be done in the next two weeks? we have not had health care in this country and, when? is he worried that they will come back and they will not be as with them as they are today -- with him as they are today? neil: vincent, thank you. you can catch him again this weekend on my we can show. ssbn will be covering this at 8:00 p.m. -- on my we can show. -- on my weekend show. fbn will be covering bessette 8:00 pm coming up on -- -- will be covering this at 8:00 p.m. that went well. taxpayers have had it, and now, they are letting their senators know. we're going to hear what the specific governor haley barbour ha

the president speaks at 8:00 when he meets with the white house press. and live post-game analysis immediately following. watch it all here on msnbc, the place for politics. >>> and coming up next, republican senator judd gregg on why he says the white house is acting irresponsibly by putting health care on the fast track while putting a key budget review on hold. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. you must be looking for motorcycle insurance. you're good. thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy. cool. i'm not done -- for less than a dollar a month, you also get 24/7 roadside assistance. ght on. yeah, vroom-vroom! sounds like you ran a 500. more like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. well, you're excused. the right insurance for your ride. w, that's progressive. call or click today. >>> president obama delivered a clear message today to his opponents who are trying to derail and delay the health care overhaul. >> those in this town who openly declare their intention to block reform. it's a familia

because all of the executives both in the bush white house and the obama white house who have been leading up these recoveries have been from goldman sachs. and so in terms of a populist argument there, pieces there that someone could seize upon. but those are the little bright spots that are out there. let's face it. if we're going to recover, then those guys are going to start getting bonuses again. but i still think from what economists tell me, we are on a rollercoaster. and so some of those profits are based on the fact that previously, they had written down the value of their assets because they expected them and the recession to draw down those assets value pretty substantially. it wasn't as bad as they thought. so they revalued them. and so nothing really changed. but their numbers went up. so there will be little bright spots and maybe this is a sign of wall street coming back. but it may not be, too. it may be just one bright moment and what is likely to be a much longer recovery. >> and so what we're seeing now is all last fall, we heard about was the banks and the banks are goi

the white house beer summit? two weeks after the racially-charged arrest of a harvard professors, the president holds peace talks between two men in the middle of a culture war. >> this is three folks having a drink at the end of the day, and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. >> can he bury this distraction once and for all? not if the race-obsessed right wingers get their way. >> finally hearing me. an angry black guy. i do believe he's angry. >> why the it very vitriol from the right says more about them than it does about the president. >>> turning health care into health scare. >> won't pay for my surgery, but forced to pay for their abortions. >> fallen for a republican radios with their august time-out? and inside the gop. >> what i don't know is why the president can't produce a birth certificate. i don't know anybody else that can't produce one. >> when ann coulter and rudy giuliani are the voice of reason you know the republicans got hijacked. >>> and more than a month after

dan lothian has our report from the white house. >> cold beer, diplomacy at the white house. president obama, professor gates, and sergeant crowley trying to get rid of a nasty hangover from a controversial and racially charged arrest. >> this is three folks having a drink at the end of the day and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. and that's really all it is. >> reporter: while the president has called this controversy a teachable moment, aides say no formal agenda, no afteraction report is on tap. just a dialogue around a rose garden table, on issues like racial profiling. >> this is not a university seminar, it is not a summit, it's an attempt to have some personal interaction when an issue has become so hyped and so symbolic that you lose sight of just the fact that these are people involved, including myself, all of whom are imperfect. >> reporter: the white house says president obama chose to drink a bud lite. crowley, a blue moon, and gates, a red stripe. >> hey, can we get y'all to call the white house tonight? >> this man protesting alon

in the clinton white house there were several that took their role. let me come back to this issue about the press filter. marlin fitzwater remarked about the media and the white house relationship, a friend or an enemy. i am paraphrasing. did you, thinking back on the way the media treated you and your administration, was it an enemy or a friend? them to be in the meat -- honest, enemy. we have to go back to the cbs news and was dominic, rush limbaugh was minor. he had come on line by then. he supported bush in 1992. he was a very strong anti rush -- ross perot voice. it was understood that another word not use then, the mainstream media were not for bush. they liked him well enough, personally fond of him. maureen dowd wrote a piece for the new republic i think in 1989 about the ralph lauren organization of america and how reporters, all secretly wish there were prince charles living on an estate summer. they identified with bush 41 on that score a little bit. they admired him, but they did not vote for him and did not agree with him on policy. >> th

the white house p.r. push is the hard nuts and bolts work underway behind the scenes at the capital. harry reid admitted he would miss the president's first deadline to get a bill passed before the summer recess. but why did congress then seem to hit the brakes? it felt this week they could hear the rubber hitting the road, as everybody said, wait a minute. what happened? >> they did hit the brakes. but this is no surprise to many people. this is part of the natural political cycle of a big piece of legislation. people expected this would happen. until now or recently we've had many of the stakeholders coming at this very easy. they wanted to sit at the table and keep their seat at the table, whether we're talking about the republicans or moderates or conservatives or the insurance industry, they wanted a seat at the table. so we didn't hear a whole lot of complaining. now we're making the big decisions and it's bound to happen that once you start making the big decisions, that everyone is going to start d

which by the way that didn't go so well today on the house side. amy. >>> chuck todd from the whiteouse. thanks. >>> now to cambridge, massachusetts where all of this started when a neighbor called police about a possible break-in at the gates' home. and where sergeant james crowley is speaking out. nbc's ron allen is in cambridge. ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, amy, before the president spoke out all eyes were here on cambridge where the incident did happen. as you said, the arrest ing officer is now telling his side of the story, and his fellow cops are offering their support. >> we completely support sergeant crowley and the fine a men and women of the cambridge police department. >> reporter: the police union representing sergeant james crowley rallied in his defense today. crowley did not speak but has told tv about his arrest of dr. henry louis gates. >> i asked can he step outside and speak with me. he said, no, i will not. and again, words to the effect, what is this all about? i am sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. >> reporter: he insist

health care in the senate. >> what was agreed in the house does not necessarily spell over to the senate. there's been more talk since the president has been brought about folks and the white house wishing he were home right now. you have gone on the presence, and understand the value internationally. these are sensitive times here states side as we get ready for the confirmation hearings for sotomayor, who are set to get under way. the health care situation you bring up, we're still trying to figure out how to pay for it, and it looks like it will result in the combination of higher taxes somewhere or cuts to medicare or medicaid. the president will be a busy guy when he comes back. >> there was also the announcement with kathleen sibelius. there were multiple announcements about where to meet, a reminder. it almost seems like they were trying to make more interest in this. >> the white house strategy has been to make side deals. what has happened is that they have made these announcements, and we do not have to be abiding by these. it is at a point now where if the president is going to. they need to get rahm emanuel and there. they say this is what we want, this is what

this morning the white house is scrambling to keep the program funded. tara mergener is in washington with the latest. tara, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, michelle. this program was supposed to run through november 1st. however, there are too many clunkers and just not enough cash. americans are turning their clunkers into cash much quicker than anyone expected. the $1 billion program has been so popular there's concern it will run out of money less than a week after it began. >> kind of like renigging on the deal, i think. >> reporter: but in a white house statement, the white house tried to calm fears, saying its evaluating all options to keep the program covered and all transactions will be honored. consumers like michelle say the government needs to pump more cash into the program and keep it running until november as planned. >> in the long run, i think they should find the money somewhere and do it. they're already in debt. what's another $1 billion? >> reporter: congress approved the cash for clunkers program last month to boost sagging

the question is what comes out of this long-term? white house correspondent savannah guthrie is there covering for us tonight. savannah, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this might be the most highly anticipated highly publicized beer ever had at the white house. it just happened. we can now show you the picture. at least a few moments that white house press cameras were allowed in to capture this beer between vice president biden, the president, sergeant crowley and professor gates. for most of the time that the press was there, the talking seemed to be between sergeant crowley and professor gates. while the vice president and president just listened. they had their beers and snacks, pretzels, peanuts. their families are also here and got a tour of the white house. and i'm told that the interaction between the two men was actually quite warm. as you know the president has said this is not going to be something about an apology but an opportunity to listen, a teachable moment. and he said earlier today he is frankly fascinatedy th

does the white house believes that the president of honduras shares blame in his ouster, and what message does the white house have to other leaders in latin america? >> let me get guidance on that. i do not know except to say that we are working in order to prevent what happened from happening, and i think -- i do not want to stray too far from the notion that there is an interim government -- enter american charter -- inter- american charter that establishes rights and rules relating to democratic governments. that is obviously relating to the oas. >> did you ask president zelaya to not proceed? >> to clarify, a person said he is going to send representatives to washington to talk with the u.s. government. is the white house or the department planning to talk with them? >> not that i am aware of. >> zelaya, if he returns to honduras, is going to be put in jail. comments? >> i would reiterate that oas has laid down conditions in the timeline in order to support the democratic rule awful lot. -- rule of law. >> with regard to health care, this is going to be controlled more by congress th

he says "i have been asked by the white house to tweet this" wrote kutcher who provided a link to a white house blog post about the event. he has over 2.5 million followers. said a spokesperson as a technology impact how and wore people are communicating online we are constantly looking for new ways to engage with the public and with that most of america threw up threw their eye balls. >> was spence until available? >> apparently heidi and spencer couldn't way in on this one. i haven't been so moved to a celebrity commitment to disease since i saw the -- i can't say his name. wilder valderama weighed in on lupus. my understand is that president obama has mary kate and ashley olson taking a nut litchfield ition truck around to the schools. >> i met ashton kutcher a number of times, once, actually, in a bathroom. he was a delightful chap, he took my cigarettes. isn't the white house looking silly every time, a, it engages some kind of social networking tool and b, attaches it to an already overexposed celebrity. >> are you referring to kutcher as a social networking tool? >> perhaps i am. p

the white house claims they think the story is beneath them. they think it's an outrage. when robert gibbs was asked about his briefing today, which i attended, he answered it. i think the white house is sort of looking forward to the prospect that the republicans had to deal with this when they go home. >> i almost hate to indulge in a setting, this is all seriousness, the white house briefing room discussing the made-up fictional nonsense of whether or not the president was born in this country. if i had some dna, it won't aswaj those who were born here and he was born in the 50th state of the greatest country on the face of the earth. because for 15 dollars you can get an internet address and say whatever you want. >> and why did a dozen or so resolution with regard to this, we've got a new guy out there saying that he wants a resolution on something else but here's the one. we've got a democrat who wants to stay up there also throwing in the fact that the president of the united states was born in hawaii. clearly the battle has been joined here. is this real. >> i thou

jeff zellny joins us from the white house north lawn. here's the president. >> i need to help give that a little bit. >> are you the new press secretary? >> you've got to do a job, do it yourself. i wanted to address you guys directly because over the last day and a half, obviously, there's been all sorts of controversy around the incident that happened at cambridge with professor gates and the police department there. i just had a conversation with sergeant jim crowley and i have to tell you that as i said yesterday, my impression of him was that he is a outstanding police officer and good man and that was confirmed in the phone conversation and i told him that. and i -- because this has been ratcheting up and i obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up, i want to make clear that in my choice of words, i think i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically and i could have calibrated those words differently. i continue to believe based on what i have heard, t

>> the white house brought four ceos of the most powerful companies of the world to eat at the white e, and have lunch. and curiously, the white house collected credit card information from the ceos of atat, and coke kmochcoca-cola,t their credit card numbers. >> do other administrations charge guests? would you like to come to the house for the meal, and can you pay for it? >> yeah, we talked to jacqueline kennedy kennedy's representative, and she said, you know, you don't have for $5 for the sandwich if you invite somebody over to lunch. and the white house says they are going over and above in trying to be as ethical and above board as possible. it was a head-scratcher when i heard this, and i had to check with past white house officials, is this a common thing, and they said no, they have not done this. >> i love the false ethics of the white house, as they don't exact terms from the banking structure, and continue to support antitrust for the banks, and then charge for lunch. >> what you are concerned about is lobbyists buying lunch for the government. >> i don't care who is buyi

that's litigation that continues in the courts today. but our white house released the names of executives that the president has met with on health care reform to this point this afternoon. just to be clear, is the white house supporting vice president cheney's arguments about that, that visitor records of who visits the white house are in fact presidential records and therefore not subject to public disclosure unless you want to disclose them? >> lord knows, rachel, for any number of reasons i don't want to be the spokesperson for the former vice president of the united states. but suffice it to say that, and i've been in meetings on this myself, we are reviewing the policy of the previous administrations that prohibits the release of what's called wades records and that's the process of somebody getting into the white house in hopes of making those transparent in the near future. >> robert gibbs, white house press secretary, really appreciate you taking time to be with us tonight. >> thanks. >> even as some democrats fight amongst themselves about health

remember the surprising three shot at the white house back if may? if you were taken aback, you were not the only one. here's president obama last night out thing education reform at the naacp. >> let me say this, if al sharpton, mike bloomberg, and annuity gringrich can agree we need to solve the education problem, then that's something all of america can agree we can solve. the other guy came to my office, i was in the oval office and i kept on doing a double take. >> mr. president, we all did that double-take with you. next up, counting the days. it sounds like sarah palin's planned exit date july 26th couldn't come soon enough for her. check out what the soon-to-be exgovernor of alaska posted on her twitter page this morning about her newfound freedom. quote, alaska will progress, plus side benefit equals ten days to less politically correct twitters fly from my fingertips outside state site. sarah palin, that prin says of perfect political correctness, will finally be free to tell us what she really thinks. that's your cue, tina fey. >>> now, for

they did move this dennis ross from the state department to the white house. i interpreted there are many interpretations of that. i think that centralized the decision making process. this is a very white house centered white house, with the cabinet departments having less power. >> she doesn't want to be in the situation where colin powell was where everybody knew he and bush and cheney didn't agree, so overseas diplomats said, hey, who do you talk to? powell, ain't the go-to guy. it is hillary's interests for her to have a seamless relationship with the president. their disagreement has been over timing and iran and that statement of indignation but at the same time she came out forcefully and talked about how, don't think because we want to talk that we're going to be weak. that was the obama position during the debates you'll remember. she has signed on wholeheartedly. she's a worker. she's never a show horse compared to a workhorse, just unlike the speech making and -- chris: that's because -- kelly, this speech she gave this week a starter up of a higher

at the white house, fox news. et: congress seems to be running out of ways to pay for the president's healthcare reform. we'll find out what the the m fox all-stars think after the break. 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. a heart attack at 53. i had felt fine. but turns out... my cholesterol and other risk factors... increased my chance of a heart attack. i should've done something. now, i trust my heart to lipitor. when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor may help. unlike some other cholesterol lowering medications, lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk... of heart attack, stroke, and certain kinds of heart surgeries... in patients with several common risk factors... or heart disease. lipitor has been extensively studied... with over 16 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems... and w

he will travel to the white house early in the morning on saturday. white house will celebrate the fourth of july on saturday, obviously, and monitor -- and honor military heroes as they barbecue on the south lawn. the hero -- the evening will conclude with fireworks. the marine band will perform. white house staff and their families have also been invited to watch fireworks on the south lawn. he will deliver brief remarks, which will be pooled press. as you all know, on sunday night, the first family will department washington d.c. for moscow. they will arrive monday afternoon and remain in moscow until wednesday afternoon where the president will depart in -- will depart for rahm to participate in g8 activities until friday. the president will depart italy on friday night for ghana, and remain in ghana until saturday night when he returns to washington dc. just as an fyi, when the president leaves for camp david, they will go on marine one from a different location because they are setting up for activities here for the fourth of july. >> the preside

as any guests of the white house would, and the white house is making the point, they're not encouragingiscouraging it. totally up to these two men. >> i'm going to ask again because i think there is a small chance, particularly on the cop side, that maybe something doesn't come out right, i think everybody wants to get this thing over with and go home at this point. is that fair to say? >> reporter: well, i think that's certainly the goal from the president's perspective. i mean, as much as there is talk that this is a teachable moment and they hope to start a dialogue, this is not why the president ran for office. i mean, he has other items on his agenda that he wishes everyone would be focused on. so, you know, i think there's always a possibility that things won't go as planned or won't be as perfect as some might have hoped, but probably, and these kinds of things, they're in the white house, people are on their best behavior, i think the notion is to sit down, break bread, have a beer, get along, that kind of thing. >> all right, savannah. by the way, savannah, thank you again, we

it really is sort of a major throwing down of the gauntlet to the white house, isn't it? gold is essentially saying, you know, put up or shut up. >> right. >> and to that end, i mean, it's a huge amount of pressure on the cia and especially dennis blair's sort of lawyer, the counselor who suggested when you look at the national security act, it's fine that you didn't tell congress. we've looked at the national security act, greg, i know you have, it seems pretty clear there was a burden to tell congress, right? >> i mean, yes, although i think blair has a little bit of wiggle room because the original article that kicked this whole thing off actually just paraphrased what blair said. there's not a direct quote, and i think if there were a direct quote from blair where he was sort of stating very clearly that the cia had acted within its legal rights, then i think you'd see a little more pressure on them to either, you know, stand behind it or clarify it. >> greg, why is the obama administration seeming to bend over backwards to accommodate the intelligence community? i mea

first the white house has just issued a statement and it reads thusly. am thankful says the president to professor gates and sergeant crowley for joining me at the white house for this evening for a friendly, thoughtful conversation. even before we sat down for the beer, i learned that the two gentlemen spent some time together listening to one another, which is a testament to them. i have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart. i am confident, says president obama, that has happened here tonight and i am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesson from this episode. the president speaking earlier, the sergeant sergeant crowley speak soon. the international space station, the astronauts have been expecting the shuttle for damage and testing reentry systems making sure it's all good to go for landing. nasa reports it appears all systems are fine. of course, the shuttle columbia decent greated in mid-air during its flight back in 2003. that killed all seven astronauts on board. and, since then, nas

nbc news is live at the white house. ke, time for the white house to get worried or is the famously no drama obama team, saying, hey, come on, it's summer time? many is still possible. >> i think a drop in the polls, i think the white house would say this is pretty much to be expected they're very mindful of the fact that the first year of this presidency is the time to get things done. to really push forward your initiatives. perhaps that's part of the reason the president was so adamant up until last week, getting health care votes in both the house and senate. if you like, carlos, make hay when the sun shines. it's taken its toll in this new poll. 42% now say the president's plan is a bad idea. that's 10-point increase from last month. now, just 36% of americans say it's a good idea. last month, 33% said. now 42% say that is a bad idea. the next element on president obama's handling of the economy -- >> mike, i want to jump in here for a quick second, it's interesting to me, while i get that the white house says that t

got the white house, they've got the house, the senate. you've been talking about the idea is to push this through both chambers before the august break, then you come back in september, work out differences in the conference committee. that's the normal process. but i've been hearing, in private, white house aides floating the idea maybe we'll have the house pass one version, the senate pass one version, the senate, just make the house pass that version later instead of a conference committee where everything will get pulled apart. the problem is the house democrats on record supporting the surtax that could be unpopular and then voting for a second version that doesn't have the surtax and is more popular, and they're going to get blasted in the election year. so, the bottom line is that shows you, i've had other people say no, way, we're not going to do that, there will be a conference committee, because there's too much confusion what the process is going to be. the process often becomes policy. democrats are not sure which way out. and

and at the white house, the "new york times" jeff zell. a print guy telling us tv guys, what happened. can you give us some ticktock on what's been going on on the back lawn, jeff? >> chris, we know this meeting lasted about 40 minutes. advisories the press and cameras were only in there about 30 seconds. at this point we don't know exactly what the conversation was. nos surprisingly, a white house aide just e-mailed me and said it went well. of course, it did. here in another 30 minutes we'll hear from sergeant crowley himself, holding a news conference just a couple blocks away, but the body language initially was said to look sort of stiff between the two, but a few other aides said as they were watching it via windows of their west wing offices, that they were listening intently, that there were some smiles and jokes, but having vice president joe biden optically was one of the most interesting things, as you said, sort of a late addition to this, because the president brought along the guy to bring loon white voters, if you will. i th

force i flyover of ground zero that caused a panic in manhattan last april and cost the head of the white house military office his job. national security correspondent jennifer griffin shows us what all the fuss was about. >> three months, 40 freedom of information requests and countless legal hours and this is what the white house and the air force apparently didn't want the public to see, pictures of the president's plane on a purported training mission, to update file photos of air force i, circli

a new poll says most americans don't want her in the white house ever. almost half of republicans agree. maybe she has a future in poetry? cue the tweet. >> no threat down here ever, but instant rain reminds us no rain, no rainbow. >> all that and more now on "countdown." >>> good evening from new york. 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.

it's a run for the white house. what else could it be? the political maverick knows one thing and that is that alaska is too far from the gop mainland for her to really mount a serious charge in 2012. palin's favorability ratings, folks, it's early on in the game. she wants to write a book. always par for the course. she wants to build a right of center coalition? seems pretty reasonable. that's where she is. but first of all, she has to prove that she can go out and dot magical thing and that is, embrace the issue and raise some money. who is going to be the first congressional candidate to call and say, sarah, a lot of my constituents like you. do you think you can come for a fund-raiser? that's going to tell them everything. because if she knocks it out of the park with a few people running and a little name recognition and raises a bunch of money, that will catch on like wildfire. get your cell phones out. what do you think? is sarah palin gunning for the 2012 nomination? text a for yes and b for no to 622639. we'll bring you the resul

president obama inviting both men to the white house. but are all of the parties concerned here ready to move on now? >> several people hoping this will be a teachable moment, and cnn's elaine quijano has more now on how law enforcement officials believe we can all learn from what happened. >> reporter: it wasn't a full out presidential apology -- >> in my choice of words, i think i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically. and i could have calibrated those words differently. >> reporter: but for police officers in cambridge, massachusetts, united in their outrage, the president's expression of regret appears to be enough. >> we're happy. it was a guide thing, we said, yeah, we were given high fives were going up all over the place. >> reporter: sergeant leon lashley was on the scene the day his colleague arrested harvard professor henry gates on gates' own property. >> would it have been different had i shown up first? i think it probably would have been differ

on the house side, they picked up the support of the american medical association, something that pleases the white house, and democrats today won the support of the actors -- the actors, mind you, who played harry and louise in the famous mid 1990's in the 1990's ads for healthcare reform. whether the actors and the middle class americans they were portraying are onboard with healthcare reform is very much an open question. bret: major garrett on the north lawn. thanks. let's get more from carl cameron live on the hill. good evening, carl. let's first talk about this democratic in-fighting. how serious is this? >> it's very serious and it's prevalent. there are examples of it all over the capitol for weeks now. the latest comes from the democratic national committee. they have launched a new ad in select states around the country where there are democrats who have expressed some misgivings or a lack of willingness to get behind the government run insurance program and the costs. the d.n.c. is now run rk an ad urging passage in their states. listen to this. >> my insurance company wouldn't fully co

and the neck day the white house plentsed a tape to the iranian people and that got everybody talking it was very, very, very deft the way they handled it. but you are seeing in the sense of the white house press corps, when i asked him buy follow-up questions, i think he's very good on his feet, but i think he does need to get a little bit better in news conferences because he's getting a lot more challenges now from the white house. chris: i watch guys like him and i watch guys like sam donaldsonnd lesley stahl and they were tough all the time, tough, hard-nosed, hard news, get it out of these guys, no b.s. that's what i'm saying. >> i think president obama has definitely gotten a bit of an easier ride from the white house press corps. i think that will change. >> helene created one of those things like bennifer. i thought she said axel-rahm. you know, he really does change position as president from when he was in candidacy. he's definitely going to the right on things like military tribunals, things that you cover. >> as a matter of fact, i think what's striking is how few of the

let's get to the white house and mike emanuel. what is the latest at the white house between the cambridge police and professor gates? >> robert gives this morning told reporters that president obama has great respect for law enforcement officers, but he also said he thinks that the president has said what he has to say on this subject. the president was somewhat surprised and may have some regrets. "i think he would regret if you realize how much of an overall distraction and obsession it would be. i think he probably would regret distracting you guys with your obsessions. in other words, reporters are focusing on this story rather than some of the other topics such as health care reform. basically, this has taken the white house of message because they are fielding questions about racial issues and whether the president should apologize. trace: while we have you, we want to get your take on the other thing. what is the white house saying about the senate's plan not to vote on health care before the august recess? >> robert gibbs

but there's also an important substantive issue because while it's very important for the white housethe nominee and helping the nominee prepare, there is a limit to what the white house should be telling the nominee. you know, a very important moment in these confirmation hearings was when judge sotomayor said that nobody from the white house had asked her about her views on abortion or what she would say about them, and there is a very appropriate line beyond which the white house should not go in, quote, coaching a supreme court nominee. >> cliff, we got seconds left but i can't let you go without -- you've counted these votes before. give us your prediction on the sotomayor final vote on the senate floor. >> at least 80 for here. >> over -- 78 is the magic number. that was roberts number. you think they're going to get above that. ee, i do. >> thank you cliff sloan. >>> up next, what does the president have to do next. "the politics fix" is next. this is "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ (laughing through computer) good night, buddy. good morning, dad. (announcer) oreo. milk's favorite

office downtown to the white house. called for human rights in iran and an end to the violence following the june 12th presidential election. >>> in new york city crowds gathered around the building to investigate the fate of the detainees. they are also demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners and journalists. >>> in london protesters waved green flags and wore green wrist bands the color of the opposition party in iran. they also blindfolded, gagged and chained themselves together to protest the silence in iran after the election. >>> when the president said police acted stupidly in cambridge, massachusetts, its time for officers to call for backup. >> not only sergeant crowley, but the men and the women, the officers of the cambridge police department who were good outstanding officers did not deserve this, did not deserve this negative attention, didn't deserve it at all. >> the police, the professor and the president. the story you have been talking about. so what next? a frank and honest conversat

good step for the white house. policing and racial profiling. two important subjects in the country. the white house is hoping this started an important conversation. >> see if it did. school starts in a month's time. maybe some teachers will take it upon themselves to look back on this and say what did we learn over the course of the summer. >> that's right. it was a teachable moment. you're right. >> ed henry at the white house this morning. great to see you. thanks. >> good to see you. >>> so, we were wondering, if the president's meeting with the police officer and the professor wasn't a summit as the president insisted, exactly what was it? >> oh, yes, it could be called a number of things. >> it could. in the blog, the late-night comedy shows and members of the press have had a little fun coming up with some of the favorites. bartender in chief, audacity of hops, ale, to the chief, beer and loathing, and brew-ha-ha. >> mea gulpa. of malt and men. and brewing discontent and touch of glass and obama's beer bust

the white house staff is made clear that they're not operational. that means they do not direct operations out of the west wing of the white house. the idea was that would coordinate policy, and i would assess informants, but i was not directing operations inside and federal agencies. for those of you who have not worked and the white house, i should tell you that is a turn because when you report directly to the president and are in proximity to the president, the cabinet secretaries will understand that once policy is agreed upon and has been signed by the president and being implemented, you have a good deal of moral suasion to be able to say your plan is inadequate if order is insufficient in this way and you need to redirect resources. in addition, as you well know, the power of the person is a porn. you'll find in the directive the director of omb working with the person in my position or to assess on an annual basis budgeting, funded, and performance for this continuity programs. so while you cannot actually direct it, there was a good deal of

this summit at the white house, give me a break. greta: he was asked to the question, his egregious mistake in my mind was to say i don't have the information and any pick sides. he did not gegive the officer the benefit of the doubt. >> there's some black person in america right now who is being profiled racially. he is not going to have the opportunity to have a summit. greta: after the president consulted the police force and said they acted stupidly, don't you think that the president should apologize? >> yes. greta: he should have said that he was wrong, and i am sorry. >> why bring his people to washington for a show? they could have had this same summit, they could have done this. greta: president obama is the one who took sides. >> if you want to do that, fine. make the representation that you were wrong about what you did but you did not have to go this far. nothing came from the summit. greta: i say damned if you do, damned if you don't 4 president obama. if he had not done anything, we would have said something. >> he coul

. >>> and today's beer summit at the white house. the president meets with the harvard professor and the cambridge police sergeant. what does it all mean for race relations? we'll talk about that with mark w whitaker. >>> new details this hour on wall street bonuses. you'll be shocked. but we begin first with breaking news. a judge has now ordered the release of one of the youngest detainees being held at the guantanamo bay prison. pete williams joins us now from the newsroom. pete, why is this so significant? >> a couple of reasons, andrea. first, this is the first time that a federal judge has ordered the release of someone from guantanamo bay, who had been charged with an offense and actually brought before a military commission. this is mohammad juwad. his lawyers think he was 14 when he was first accused of throwing a grenade. he was brought to guantanamo bay in 2003, held there ever since. but everything started to go wrong this case for the government. military judges determined that the guts of the case against him was his own