> todd is a story all by himself. two decades and five children later he is still my guy. >> greta: coming up, how did governor sarah palin go from sports reporter to running for mayor in the rough and tumble world of smalltown politics? >> if all the basketball team got frantic this weekend. >> greta: 1988, sarah palin work ising as a sports caster for a local t.v. station in anchorage. when she wasn't reportion she helped out with husband todd's commercial fishing business. >> we do the rod and reel fishing but also commercial fish so we are out there on the water with our nets. a family event. >> fishing in the summer time so ask her who is -- >> he is the meanest most dominant boss you will ever, ever be privileged to work for when they are out on the. >> for the last twenty some years i got to call myself a commercial fisherman. we are raising our kids to be the next generation of fishermen. it is really cool because it really links you back to part of alaska's history. >> greta: by 1992, sarah had given birth to

todd harris, thank you, sir. what a good sport you are to hold the flag as the party goes down. >>> coming up, with the august recess upon us, what will members of congress face when they go home? well, angry mobs apparently are disrupting the town hall meetings all over the place. tough new ads running against everybody. i think they're going to go on vacation myself. hi, may i help you? yes, i hear progressive has lots of discounts on car insurance. can i get in on that? are you a safe driver? yes. discount! do you own a home? yes. discount! are you going to buy online? yes! discount! isn't getting discounts great? yes! there's no discount for agreeing with me. yeah, i got carried away. happens to me all the time. helping you save money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. >>> coming up, how big a role did karl rove play in the firing of those u.s. attorneys during the bush administration? a new report suggests larger than we thought. you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you nee

todd harris, thank you, sir. what a good sport you are to hold the flag as the party goes down. >>> coming un, with the august recess upon us, what will members of congress face when they go home? well, angry mobs apparently are disrupting the town hall meetings all over the place. tough new ads running against everybody. i think they're going to go on vacation myself. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. 100 potato chips... or 100 pringles. both cost the same, but only the new pringles super stack can makes everything pop. same cost, but a lot more fun. everything pops with the new pringles super stack can. >>> coming up, how big a role did karl rove play in the firing of those u.s. attorneys during the bush administration? a new report suggests larger than we thought. that's coming up here later when "hardball" returns. has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web

. >>> here's nbc meteorologist todd santos with the weather channel forecast.rning, todd. >> good morning, christina. i feel bad for the pig. that's all i can say. they will hose off all the kids and the pigs as well. showers out along the west. this area of showers and thunderstorms moving toward kansas city. if you're headed that direction as far as the airlines are concerned, may run into some issues. chicago, could see isolated showers and thunderstorms. boston, still an active part of the northeast. meanwhile, new york through d.c. should be fairly quiet. good news there as far as your travels are concerned. this will likely remain in place at least through just about the finish of the week before it fizzles out across the southeast. northern florida a chance of showers. your morning commute will be settled but a chance for thunderstorms especially out to providence and boston. there's a look at the region. let's check out your local forecast. burlington, vermont, also in line for showers. 68 degrees. mostly cloudy skies. hartford, connecticut could see th

good morning, todd. someone who absolutely loves scuba diving, that would be worth the trip. >> unlikely thing to find off the coast. if you plan on scuba driving across the southeast, relatively settled. continuing i should say across areas of the northern plains, extending toward the south. pretty strong storms outside kansas city this morning. yesterday we had real strong storms in north hampton, mass. i believe the national weather service made its way to survey that damage in north hampton. we're talking a microburst not a tornado. initially there was a tornado warning with some of those storms. outside yonkers tuesday we had damage due to straight line winds, 70 to # 0-mile-per-hour winds. today the northeast very settled. a few isolated showers this morningment likely to see a chance of showers in charleston, south carolina where we had pretty significant rainfall. columbia potentially this afternoon. florida, yesterday if you had seen the radar in the afternoon, we had showers across the northern

there is todd helton. got his flip-downs on.aybe nick will tell him leave them on the bag so i can use them. >> bob: and zimmerman identifies the breaking ball on the 0-2 pitch. ryan has always hit well against colorado. guys like hitting here not only because the ball carries. it doesn't matter if you can't see the ball. now i don't know if i would have season tickets on the first base side that's pretty rough over there. you better watch out for foul balls. but they feed the ball well here. it is a very good bat,'s eye. zimmerman ground ball. should be two. nationals continue to pound the ball into the ground with men on base. and the rockies who turned a big one last night put an end to the top of the 1st. ting got moved up. i need to change my southwest flight. woman over phone: no problem. you know, maybe other people are content to sit around and wait. wait for something to happen. for business to pick up. but for you, it's time to kick it in gear. time to get going. time to get tough. take control. you're not gonna run an

t todd sweat here.we've got now this lettefrom senator ensign's aorney that i haven't read yet that's just being put in front of us. senator ensi's attorney put out statement today that reads in part, in apl 2008 senator johnnsign's parents each made gifts to douhampton, cindy hampton and two of the chilen in the form of a check totally $96,000. each gift was limited $12,00 e payments were made as gis, accepted as gifts, and complied with tax rules governing gifts aftethe senator told his parents abouthe affair, his pants decided to make the gifts out of concern for the weeing of long-time family friends during a difficult time. the gifts are consistent with a pattern of gerosity by the ensiamily to the hamptons and others. oh, boy. todd, where do you guys go fro here d let me just point out for the audience$12,000 is the irs limion nontaxable gifts. if hgave,000, there would be a tax on the $1,000bove the $12,000. so $12,0 was a very carefully picked number. they're called gifts by e lawyer. there are

let todd sweat here. we've got now this letter from nator ensign's attorney tha haven're yet that's jt being put in frontf us. senator ensign's attorney put out a statement today that reads in part, april 2008 senator john ensign's parents each made gifts to doug hampton, cindy hampton an two of their children in the rm of a check totay $96,000. each gift waimited to $12,000. thpayments were made as gts, accepted as gifts, and complied th taxules governinggifts. after the senator told his rents about the affair, his parent decided to make the gifts out ofoncernfor the welleing of long-time family friends during a diffilt tim the gis are consistent with pattern of generosity b t ensign family to the hamptons and hers. oh, boy. todd, where do you ys go from here? d let me just point out for the audice, $12,000 is t irs limion nontaxablegifts. if he gave $13,000, there wou $12,000. on the $1,000 above the so$1200 was a ve cefully picked number. they're called gifts by the lawyer. ere are ways of looking at t

no, todd is just a great contact guy. puts the ball in play, has used this field, but also hits as well on the road as he does at home. >> bob: is he going to cooperstown? >> rob: if he keeps going the way he and so i think so. >> bob: this is this 13th year, so maybe a couple of more. great numbers, though, and hawpe will foul it off, 2-2. by the way, his is one place where the managerial change did work. the rockies are 13 games over .500 with the ultimate nice guy, jim tracy at the helm. 24 and 11. >> but he's meticulous. i've known jim for an awful long time, and he just -- everything has got to be just right, by the book. also a great people person. i'm not saying that clint hurdle wasn't doing it the right way, because he got his club all the way to the world series a few years ago, and they also set a record, the best fielding team in the history of this game. i think hay had 9 errors in the course of a year. >> bob: but you could make an argument that in clint hurdle's eight years here, the rockies never had a win

let todd sweat here.m senator sign's attorney that i haven't read yet tt's just being t front of us. senator ensign's attory put out a statement toy that reads in part, in apl 2008 senator john ensign's parents eachade gifts to doug hampton, cindy hampton and two of their childr in the form of a check totally $96,0. ch gift was limited to $12,000. the payments werma as gifts, accepted as gis, and complied with taxules governing gifts. after the senator told his parents about the affair, his parents decid to make the gifts out of concern for the well-beingf long-time family friends during a dficult time. the gifts are consistent with a patterof generosity by the ensign family the hamptons and others. oh, boy. toddwhere do you guys go fm here? and leme just point out for thaudience, $12,000 is the irs mit on nontaxable gifts. if he ve $13,000, there would be a tax on the $100 above the $12,000. so $12,000 was vy carefully picked number. they're called gifts by th lawyer. there are waysf looking at the world

she basically came from alaska with todd. one mccain advisor said she was given a staff of 20, but it was probably too big of a staff. to be honest with you, she could not figure out who to trust. also, with young children traveling with her." arkansas, a republican line. caller: i enjoy c-span and it is the most information that you can get about everything that is going on in the united states. sarah palin would have made a wonderful president. why have heard other people say, she did not really have a chance. if she had been president, she would have never considered what obama has considered in medicare. i heard them say yesterday that anybody that is 70 years old, that was going to be the cutoff line for dialysis. that is horrible. there's no telling what else is in there. i am 72. i do not need dialysis yet. it is painful. host: you can read the article at "vanity fair" website for our web site, c-span.org. it is called "it came from wasilla." . it is by todd purdum. there is some infighting among the gop on it. caller:

todd, don't make fun of my cheap joke. >> i'll hold that back. what do you think the deer was looking for? >> maybe a couple of does -- brought in a couple of dough. i'm trying to think of another line. >> you keep those going. on the east coast, as far as rain showers in new york, may see a few, even over the next couple of showers. isolated showers. this afternoon, better chns for thunderstorms especially extending north of the area. yesterday a lot of action was centered around the southeast and back toward the mountains. we're looking at potent chances for severe weather. even through the southeastern edge of the dakotas, down toward omaha, potentially des moines. headed toward the southeast, these are some areas, the front we were talking about yesterday, may get a little boost toward the south. at least, of course, before that we'll see quite a bit of activity. thunderstorms extending through the gulf coast. we could still push the front south of south carolina, better chance will be toward the south. yesterday wilmington, north carolina, p

chuck todd at the meeting of these two leaders in moscow tonight. thanks. >>> we'll have more on just who is in charge in russia these days a bit later on in this broadcast tonight. >>> now to domestic politics and the bombshell from alaska governor sarah palin's announcement. she's quitting her job, getting out of the game. but why, and then what? our own andrea mitchell is in wasilla, alaska, tonight with more on that story. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. after widespread criticism in political circumstances that surprising announcement, sarah palin is fighting back today through friends and advisers and tweets. with some of the palin family at the lake house in wasilla, sarah palin went on twitter to say she and husband todd had gone fishing. at a commercial fishing site in western alaska, on bristol pay. she wrote, "grateful todd left fishing grounds to join me this weekend, but now he's back slaying salmon and working the kids at the site. anxious to join him." as she has in the past, palin was picking fish. but the pol

todd purdum, thanks. appreciate your time. >> thank you so much, anderson. >>> sarah palin has been tweeting. about her time in office, as we mentioned. she opened an account in april. to check out what she has been talking about on twitter. go to our website for more on ac360.com. palin's abrupt resignation, one of the discussions in the live chat. you can join us at ac360.com. i'm not logged in tonight, my computer is not up here. >>> president obama's full foreign policy plate. we'll talk to david gergen about that. the star-studded farewell to michael jackson, saying goodbye tomorrow to the king of pop. >>> president obama's tricky mission to moscow. he arrived on air force one with his family. mr. obama is working to reset relations with russia. no easy task. ties have cooled in recent years. today, some progress. a handshake mr. obama and the russian president agreed to pursue a new arms ban treaty. one that significantly reduces the number of strategic warheads possessed by each country. listen. >>

we will talk with todd purdam who wrote a blockbuster article. the story ran days before she resigned. first the raw politics from our own shawn caleb. >> reporter: if friday was the shock the past few days are the awe or wonderment about why sarah palin abruptly stepped down as alaska's governor. >> i heard sarah palin had re-signed. i was, like, what? >> her reporters are bristling about the "q" word. >> she is not a quitter. she is changing the rules. >> reporter: the governor picked the july 4th weekend to announce resignation by design, her way to declare her independence from politics as usual. >> it had become apparent in the last few monte particularly after the campaign she was becoming a lightning rod for partisan attacks. >> reporter: the best way to help herself and the state, walk away from the job. palin prides herself on someone who breaks the mold. that is one of the reasons she was elected. in anchorage a lot of people said she is letting the state down. >> i think my personal opinion that there will be some consequences to pay f

todd tiahrt is not going to vote for the bill anyway. go back to look at what the ceo director said, not a decrease in cost and an addition in debt. i'll be honest, i'm sure they are unhappy that the tiahrt comments are getting that much attention. it questions whether barack obama is doing the best thing on growing government, whether it is the economic stimulus or the health care plan. that's where they can win this with the american people, arguments about abortions or hypertheft call abortions is not where you want to go. on a side note, tiahrt is running for senate in kansas, so you never know if that factors into his decision. conservative is out there in kansas. >> when we come back after the break, we'll answer the multiple choice question. is kelly o'connell my wife, sister, or none of the above? >>> also, mark sanford travels first-class on the taxpayers' dime all over the world, including trips to see his mistress in argentina. we'll dig into that next. you are watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ask the experts. [ male announc

all right. >> ththatasas a little bibit fr chuck todd's i intview w wi president obama.f white house correspondnden and nbc news political d dirtot ucuck dd live i ososw. chuck, inn ur i itetervw with prididt obama earlier today you askedd about vladimir puputi whatatidid y get from him in terms of the b banance of who is in harge, the balance of powere ere? >> well, he ctataly felt the need to walkk back s se e of hi heavier ccricism. i also askedim about that cocommt he made beforere he cam over to ruruss wheree said atat h thoughtuun had one foot in the cdd war.. i i sa, , you still beeliee he has one ot in theooldar past. he said, y younono he was raised as a cololddwarrior.. that's h soe's gotot bilt in s spicions of the united ststat. heheenen from t the go tohehe idea of cacallgg him a agmatist. the body language, ionon'tant toay cold t stiff, notikik the relatioiohihip the presidid developed wiwi medvedev. >>huhu, we wereaalkg about that before yoyoucaca on thatt seemed ryry clear frorom ee beginnininghahat e russiaia a a trtrng to send a msage tourur esident the

. >> reporter: todd palin did say the family's next move could be a moose hunting trip. sarah palin likes to do a lot of communicating via twitter. in her last official tweet, she said, thank you, alaska. i love you. god bless alaska. god bless the usa. diane? >> okay, thanks to you, neal. >>> coming up now, what has been a national rorschach test.

nbc's chuck todd reportrtin le omom scscow thanks very mucuch.huck, w we'e c cheining ck in with you and t talng more about sarah palin. les s t pat's take. >>>> whave to ask pat. what's your girirlfenend thinki? >>>> tll us,s, pat. >> i think chkk is ptty close to the mak. if sarah palin wa thinking ouout coming president of the united states, she'sakak a real stete backwardsds. joe and mia,a,henyou take a look a t the reasons s she gave, her k kid all said get o.. please get o o and hells, get t.t. at the same e ti she's got these hihi charges.. it sounds likshe has really hahad ough of the kd of abususe dd bting she's benen getting. anandif that't'shehe casese,ouo really wanan t t get ito that caldron ottresidential campaign? my guess is i d don know atat she's going to do, if shehe's going to pull backck, itite r book. i would doubt radio, tv spchchescampaigning in the year 2010 across the untry for threpublicans and raisinin money. anand enent the endf 2201 take lolo at itit. but t erere'no doubt if s tas s a ok at it a goes for the presiden

>> i want to bring chuck todd, who is live at the white house, in to talk about that. chuck, we talk so much about whether or not if the president doesn't get this through or if he gets something relative small through, will he be weakened politically. what about the flip side? what about all of the angst or worry if the president gets something for that is affordable and he brings down some costs? could he not come out of this stronger? is that an additional possibility we should be talking about? >> well, no. i think the challenge is not getting a health care bill through. that is a great challenge and it is tough and not easy but he is going to get something because they're too far down this road. he can't walk away now because that would be politically disastrous for him here in washington. i think, sometimes, we are -- when you look at the landscape here, it seems -- it seems dumb -- i'm sored of dumb founded by the prediction he will not get anything. that said, i think the trickier part is something we're not talking about that is it's going to take four or five

there is no down side to getting help. >> todd, you say you need to do risk assessment. if you have trouble paying credit card bills, fighting with your spouse or having trouble at home over concerns about bills, it's time to see a credit counselor. >> absolutely. we actually designed a risk assessment test with the dallas morning news last year and we were ahead of the curve before the federal reserve did a stress test for the banks we were doing it for consumer looking at are you behind on your mortgage or car, what's the level of credit card debt you have, and then going away from the financial risk, looking at are you fighting with your spouse, are you having trouble sleeping, are you having a rise in blood pressure. is your doctor telling you you need to settle down. that's when you know it's time to see a credit counselor. >> where can people find the information on that test, by the way? how do they get something? >> they can go to dallasmorningnews.com. and search for dollarwise. you'll see the risk assessment test. >> you also have a bit of a calculation where y

amy. >>> chuck todd from the white house. thanks. >>> now to cambridge, massachusetts where awful this starred when a neighbor called police about a possible break-in at the gates' home. and where sergeant james skrouly is speaking out. nbc's ron allen is in cambridge. ron, good eqól)j >> reporter: good evening, amy, before the president spoke out all eyes were here on cambridge where the incident did happen. as you said the arresting 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 men and women of the cambridge police department. >> reporter: the police uni unirepresenting james crowley rallied in his support. 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. no i will not. words to the effect, what is this all about. i am sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. >> reporter: he insists, gates provoked the confrontation when he expl

todd? >> well, i think, i would sume that he loved th thought at not oly weigh he famous but he was famous for doing something valuable. >> and worthwhile. >> absolutely. >> he was anold-fashioned n who believed that people deservedthe truth and he was glad to have part in it. >> good to se you both. >>thank you. >> tnk you >> lehrer: againn our web site at newshour.pbs.org you can watch robin's 1987 intervi wh cronkite. and there's a report abt cronkite's push to provide fe air time for politic candidates. and nally tonight, remembering author frank mccourt. he wasrofiled and interviewed on the newshour when hrose to fame ithe 1990s. rgaret warner has an appreciation. >> warner: "angela's ass," frank mccourt's moir of growing up poor inreland, bece a publishing phenomenon. it hit the best sell list in 1996, anremained there for 115 wees. t book sold more than five million coes worldwide, and made mccourt, a rired new york city schoolacher, a wealthy man. "angela's hes" chronicled with wit

. >> thank you, todd. appreciate it. >>> g.m. gets the okay.hrysler gets some new blood at the top. and why being a top spy and being on facebook doesn't exactly watch up. your early morning business headlines straight ahead. >>> plus, neck and neck down the stretch. and we're still not sure who to call box office champ. >>> federer at wimbledon. and the big three is now the big four. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning, everyone, and welcome back to "early today." i'm dan kloeffler. here are some of your top headlines this morning. >>> china state immediate wra reports at least 140 people have been killed in ethnic unrest in the western part of the country. hundreds of homes and vehicles were destroyed as police clashed with a muslim minority group upset over the government's handling of a recent deadly fight involving its followers. >>> in honduras, military vehicles prevented a plane carrying the ousted president of the country from landing yesterday. instead, manuel za lay ya headed for el salvador promised to return again. viol

. >> chuck todd, we're going to ask you to stick around. we want to talk about health care while we wait for the president. let's bring in richard engel. he's been covering the iraq war since before the invasion. richard, give us a sense as far as what the situation is like on the ground right now. this effort by u.s. troops to pull out of major cities and how the iraqi security forces step up. it is working? >> it does not appear to be working. iraqis are nervous. they're proud that they seem their own security force onz the streets. but violence is going up. and it's continuing to go up as u.s. troops are mostly confined to their bases. troubling comment by one senior iraqi security official. he, in a bit of a bragging way said that u.s. troops are now a bit under house arrest. and he was saying they only go out when we want them to go out. and that is not the type of arrangement that u.s. commanders had foreseen when they were entering into this agreement. >> richard, i don't want to paint with broad strokes, but when we were talking abo

todd colvin with us with the board of trade. one of the things we've seen here in the last week or so was money coming out of the fixed income market, bonds selling, interest rates moving higher, moving into the stock market. and in the week ahead, the government's kind of run a lot of those bond buyers to be back in the market, aren't they? >> it was a big surprise last week to see yields go up over 35 basis point in tent you're with no options on the calendar. typically we see the non-option weeks the yields go lower. you're right, a lot of money coming out of the bond market and not necessarily going into the stock market at this point. i think the early move last week in the stock market was more short covering relate when had gold man sachs earnings came through the week. later in the week we did see fresh buying. buyer beware. we get to the top of the levels and we may run into resistance. irrelevant let's talk about what the bond market could hold for the stock market in weeks ahead. odds are there could be a lot of activ

todd tiahrt was not voting for the health care bill anyway. this is something he's citing, but i don't think that's as persuasive. go back and look at what the cbo director said. cost, not a huge decrease in cost and an addition to the debt. that's what republicans want to be talking about. i'll be honest, i'm sure they're unhappy about the tiahrt comments are getting as much attention as they are frankly because it's distracting them from a much stronger issue, which is questions about whether barack obama is doing the right thing by growing government. whether it's the economic stimulus, the health care plan. that's a place they actually, polling suggests, they can win with the american people. arguments about abortions or hypothetical abortions is not where you want to go. interesting side note, tiahrt is running in a republican primary in kansas for the senate. you never know if that factors into his decision making. obviously, a very conservative electorate out there in kansas. >> we're going to leave it there for today. thank you kelly a

todd, what do you think? of dollars are going to go to the insurance companies who add no value to the equation. you don't provide any benefit, they're not a bedside nurse or a doctor, they're providing no health care. look, if barack obama does get this health care reform, it will make ronald reagan's '83 tax reform bill look like bill clinton's school uniforms. it is that big of an issue, and i think all of these democrats, anybody who calls himself a democrat, if they are not supporting health care reform, that's -- that's mind-blowing. health care -- universal health care is why people are democrats. it's in our -- the fiber of our being. it would be like a republican voting against tax cuts. >> a.b., got to ask you. sooner or later, the obama administration is going to have to come out with a definitive plan on how they're going to pay for it. when is that coming? >> you know, that's an interesting point, ed, because so far you hear so much about how the democrats like president obama, they'll meet with

thank you, todd. >>> now, here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.there's buzz and kocontroversy over the film bruno. we finally get to see what got everyone talking. the r-rated comedy certainly raised eyebrows for its publicity alone. it's expected to bring in $30 million for the top spot. also opening is the high school comedy i love you beth cooper. it's targeting young females. reviews haven't been anything amazing. experts think it will be lucky get double digit millions. harry potter fans can't wait until wednesday. harry potter and the half blood prince will cast a spell on theaters. based on j.k. rolling's popular book series. for one night david arquette is giving up the cushy hollywood life. he's trying to raise a quarter million dollars to to feed the homeless by sleeping in a box over new york city's madison square garden. i'm happy to see this. >> i am too. if he was hard-core he would take a bench as opposed to a plexiglass box. regardless, very good cause. >> it is true. it is better than some of those illusionists who i'll leave the

todd starns has the news edge on this one. >> reporter: with little fanfare the u.s. military shows plans to beef up forces. >> i'm announcing a decision to temporarily increase the active duty in strength of the army by up to 22,000. >> reporter: as gates says, this is a temporary move. a three-year plan to alleviate the strain on troops fighting on two fronts, iraq and afghanistan. the pentagon says progress is being made in iraq and expects that will lead to a reduced number of troops serving there. the chief concern now is afghanistan where the u.s. and it's ally are battling a enemy. >> if we -- walk away, the area will fall to taliban with devastating affects for the people there. >> reporter: -- despite agreeing newspaper of troops, they believe the troops are spread too thin. >> the troops will give us some breathing room but also give us room to run in what i believe is an even faster paced war against a more adaptive enemy. it's the right thing to do. >>eporter: the news comes as july is shaping up to be the deadliest month on record for troops in afghanista

chuck todd from the white house tonight. thanks. >>> another big priority for the president is that economic stimulus package, something everyone is not aware of is getting high-speed internet service to rural areas of america. but the question is why it's being handled by an agency with a reputation for waste and incompetence. our report on that tonight from our senior correspondent lisa myers. >> reporter: dave fucci, a frustrated farmer in rural north carolina has been calling his phone company for years, asking for better internet service. >> they go, oh, we're sorry. it's not available in your area yet. >> reporter: he is among the 62% of americans with no access to affordable hh-speed broadband internet service. when we were there, it took 20 minutes to dial up the internet on his phone line and service was excruciatingly slow. he says this hurts his business and his daughter's education. >> we've been left behind. and it's unfair and it puts her at a disadvantage at school. >> reporter: the good news is that the obama

chief white house kornlt chuck todd sets the scene for us from moscow tonight. >> reporter: president obama arrives in moscow tomorrow morning to begin his fourth major trip overseas, but inlike his previous european stops, there aren't going to be throngs of people in the streets to greet the president. there are no posters, banners or flag denoting this visit by the maerp president, and the local media has barely made mention of the president's pending arrival. since taging office, the obama administration has sent not so subtle signals it wants to reset america's relationship with its one time cold ar enemy russia. secretary of state hillary clinton with her russian counterpart in march. >> i wanted to present you with a little gift. we want to reset our relationship. we worked hard to get the right russian word. do you think we got it? >> you got it wrong. >> you got it wrong. >> reporter: america's once good relationship with russia has recently been lost in translation with the american public as well. half the country, 49%, view russia as an adversary. just 29% see the country

todd helton had dropped the ball. crazy things that happen when you don't play a whole lot. austin is hitting only .160 in his last 34 games. and that was, of course, with the pitcher last night without throwing one ball to this catcher. kearns will be aggressive here. he doesn't want to get to 0-2. and the nats have now hit into five double plays in this series, 6-4-3. four. it only seems like five. the bases empty, two outs. anderson hernandez, the hitter, and he has been struggling a bit. his playing time curtailed turnover last week or so.   disclosa has fallen behind several hitters early. and a bouncer. the nats are gone in the top of the second. the lead-off man aboard and nothing to show for it in colorado. ♪ who's watching... (announcer) it's right here. it's easy. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico. (tucci) count on the nation's fastest 3g network. at&t  >> we a back at coors field o a scorching wednesday afternoon as we move to the bott

>> be todd oh is here.do to stem the tide, and what is the smartest way to allocate our dollars -- the tidal wave this year. -- is here. neil: dr.. thank you very, very much. doctor, thank you very, very much. joining now is a man whose show debuts tonight on the fox network. very good to have you. >> thanks for having me. neil: you have become a big celebrity, no pun intended, and a lot of people relate to you, and a lot of the women you are talking to and who are schmoozing you, is this sort of a refuge for fatties? how would you define it? >> i would not put it in those terms, but the show is called "more to love." i am a bigger batchelor, and i am attracted to women with some meat on their bones. neil: the idea has to be that you are 70 pounds and must be a skeleton, so there is something in what you say. you will hear from the food police, saying this is sending a very bad message. what do you say? >> i cannot see why this will be taken as a bad message. people overcoming hangups about their body to en

brian. >> chuck todd, traveling with the president in moscow tonight.>>> when we continue along the way, from los angeles tonight, we'll go north to alaska. more on governor sarah palin. back in public now and telling nbc's andrea mitchell what she is thinking about the future. >>> later more on the michael jackson memorial. what today's events will say about his legacy. ♪ but how close are you to your goals? there may be more you can do. only caduet combines two proven medicines... in a single pill to significantly lower... high blood pressure and high cholesterol. in a clinical study of patients... with slightly elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, caduet helped 48% reach both goals in just 4 weeks. caduet is one of many treatment options, in addition to diet and exercise... that you can discuss with your doctor. caduet is not for everyone. it's not for people with liver problems... and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. to check for liver problems, you need simple blood tests. tell your doctor about any heart problems... and

nbc news politil director and chief white house corresndent chuck todd is in rome. chuck, the meeting in russia didn't go quite as well as the u.s. might have wanted, the body langua alone. you terviewed the presint, how diffilt was his meeting with vladimir putin? well, here is my favorite anecte. white house ofcials said -- tolde that --uring the private session, president oba goes t prime minister putin says, you know, how did weget here? that is his opening question. 50 mites later,5-0, vladimir putin finishes hisiatribe how ey get there said it wasn't lecture, wt a rant but it was very -- sll we say, sort of recalling the d soviet ways of reminng the west of maybe how that they don't --heir world view suspect necessary everyone's world view but it w apar appa apparently, at the end, the presidt came out of that and i asked him about tin, and he says, look, thguy seems like he is practical at the e of the day isn't going to be stubborn but his world view is shaped by the cold war, someing we have tounderstand going forward. i think we have to get a measure of ho

a all rit, and todd, what do you think? did thnetworks go overboard? >> isichael jackson, the king of pop 3 yo a beefef wit i. at leastt's not jonbenet msey. >> forll the neork, the rangs were through the roof. in o world that does mean anan awful lot. that's's "th ed sw." thananchts foreing here tonht. for momore infortion, go to ed.msn.com. our n

u saw in the previs segment, chuck todd was interviewing e prident. he verylearly displeased ab the way the economy is going and so much of the c conversaon is about governor palin. i think the mediwod would be better talking about whether the cose he set for the country is working. >> we're gng to that right now. is sarah palin the most talented potician in alaska? >> say that again. >> is sarah palin the mo talented and ablpolitician in alas? >> i think sheertainly one tm, obviously. >> so you think it's a gd idea for that most talented and able litician in alaska to walk away from governing alas, when it is in this ecic crisis along with the rest of the 4 states? you think that's a gd idea? >> what i sa was, a, she was one of the most talented, not the most tented. >> who is more talted than sarah palin in your ew in alaska? who would be a better vernor? >> i'm notoing to go down the list. >>hen shquits the job, soone else becomes governor. do you think the lieutent goor is going to be a better governor than her? do you thi that will be an upgrade?

our chief correspondent chuck todd traveling with the president with us from rome tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. news out of the summits, always a lot of declarations, commitments and pledges. there was one serious issue the president wanted to bring to the table this summit. that is iran. and the g-8 which is made up of america's six closest western allies plus a some times adversary, russia, collectively urged iran to respond to the diplomatic over chtures get to table to discuss the nuclear issue and is giving iran until september to do it. if they don't, the next time the g-8 meets which will be in september, they will possibly take these -- take this issue further with iran. maybe it will be sanctions. but it was a tougher statement than the u.s. expected to get. they feel like that means the president made progress in russia during the two-day stop. as you brought up, brian, this summit has taken place in aquila. today the president toured the earthquake-ravaged areas with the italian president, and what's interesting if there is a major afte

. >>> all of this brings us to our chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd. chuck, to distill this, did you get the sense there today that the white house would like any of this back today? >> well, privately you talk to some aides they do wish the word "stupidi "stupidity" could be taken back. the president today in an interview that will air later seemed to stand by his critique. take a listen. >> i think that it doesn't make sense with all the problems we have out there, to arrest a guy in his own home if he is not caing a serious disturbance. >> now, of course, the frustrating thing for the white house is all of this as you brought up at the ginning of the broadcast, brian, is stepping on their push for health care. today supposed to be the 11th straight day that the president used a public forum to push health care. in fact, he actually was dealt a setback. he was in cleveland at a townhall meeting and he admitted that senator reid, senate majority leader, was not going to get a bill out of the senate by the augt recess. that they were going to have to t

this country as a moment of poetic history in a c chief white house ritten in correspondent chuck todd is in accra, the capital of ghana, he begins our coverage. >> reporter: the president spent less than 24 hours on ghana soil but the trip was not short on emotion. the highlight was the first family's visit to the cape coast castle, one of the most infamous outposts the atlantic slave trade. >> it reminds us that as bad as history can be, it's also possible to overcome it. >> reporter: mr. obama's roots, the son of a kenyan goat herd are are well known but this is also an important visit for michelle obama whose oldest known relative jim robinson was a slave in south carolina. >> as americans, as and as african-american, obviously, there's a special sense that on the one hand this place was a place of profound sadness. on the other hand, it is here here where the journey of much of the african-american experience began. >> reporter: the obama's visit to the cape coast attracteded thousands, overflowing crowds filled rooftops, peered off window, hung off scaffolding, did anything to ca

our chief white house correspondent chuck todd traveling with him, with us tonight from rome. hey, chuck, good evening. >> good evening, you have heard the saying while rome is burning. for president obama it is his domestic agenda and his political poll numbers. while not burning up, seem to be wilting a little bit in the summer heat. overseas trips can generate picture-perfect moments for presidents like this one of mr. obama receiving a soccer jersey from the president of brazil. >> beautiful. >> reporter: these trips can carry risk and this one comes at a time when mr. obama's health care and economic policies are under increasing fire at hope. republicans are attacking his vice president for saying the administration had misread the severity of the recession. >> now this is the greatest fabrication i have seen since i have been in congress. >> reporter: mr. obama on important business in moscow had to stop and deal with himself in an interview with nbc. >> i would actually rather than say misread, we had incomplete information. >> reporter: biden today tried to calm the w