approved by the white house counsel's office and by the white house spokesman, robert gibbs. >> want to go back to one of the sentences in the quote of the spokesperson's statement here, if an individual received the e-mail because someone else or a group signed them up or forwarded the e-mail, we hope they were not too inconvenienced. what, at this point, responsibility is the white house taking if any at all to the fact that david axlerod is the person who allegedly sent these unsolicited e-mails out, that his name is on a lot of the e-mails that are sent to people without them signing up to anything? >> well, of course, this is not coming from david axlerod's personal e-mail account at the white house. david axlerod, for folks who may not be aware, is the senior advisor, spokesman for years. and the e-mail under david axlerod's name on thursday came under a messages link from the white house. one reason for this, julie if it came from david axlerod's actual address at the white house it would have been archived for all time under the presidential records act. the messages@whi

there is a white house web site, set up now, to keep track of disinformation as the white house is calling it. about the democrats' health care reform. and our next guest says the information going to the web site is permanent and very, very secret. byron york this is chief political correspondent for the washington examiner and a fox news contributor, byron, good morning. >> good morning. >> jamie: let's talk about the white house, looking for disinformation out there. and, as they are asking people to send these e-mails or any information, they see, to flag at whitehouse.gov are they collecting a database you are concerned will become permanent and secretive. >> they are required by law to keep records of the e-mails they receive, something called the presidential records act which requires the white house to keep this stuffal also if you as a citizen want to find out about something, if you want to find out something maybe the justice department did did or the -- some other cabinet department did, file a freedom of information act request and get the information and you can't do that wi

citizens will be the reported to the white house. only imagine the outage if your predecessor asked e-mails to be forwarded to the white house. i suspect you would have been leading the charge in condemning such a program and i would have been at your side denouncing such heavy-handed government action." what about this, michael? >> i think senator cornyn is getting a little overwrought about this, but this should not have come from the white house t might be legitimate coming from the democratic national committee or one of the democratic astroturf groups out. there i mean, david axelrod, the president's chief advisor was an astroturf special specialist in terms of organizing people that would come together. bret: as opposed to grassroots. >> yes, as opposed to grassroots. it is a weak attempt to intimidate people. what is fascinating when pro democratic healthcare groups sent out these mass e-mails that say show up, come here, show how much you're in favor of the president's position, they get a handful of people. these other group

the white house is just tone deaf. mr.ought to take lessons in courtesy. >> eric: i imagine novak's death is a teaching lesson. >> it's a terrible dig. this is a man whose column appeared in 300 papers. one of the most famous. hard charging old fashioned reporter who knew how to play hard ball. he knew how to seek access. then you have people like howard kurtz from the media critics of the "washington post" saying things like well, he tended to go easy on the sources he agreed with and then after, you know, beating up in a sort of subterranean way on novak he goes into this ecstasy about don hewitt of "60 minutes." well, you know, i would put my money on novak any day of the week against don hewitt. that's beside the point. let's not speak ill of the dead, no matter what your politics. >> eric: you can be critical of them, i think. i think you can be critical of his record and his work if you want to be. david broder, one of the most esteemed columnist, political columnist in the country, in the "washington post," called n

to know about, i don't see why the white house -- >> would anybody send an opinion to the white house. >> us go further. politics to a new political website reported the obama white house has reversed a nine-year-old policy to not keep track of the people -- the cookies people put him on the go on the white house website. for the first time in nine years if you go to the white house website and click around there keeping that as well. the that's a violation of the bush era of privacy understanding. >> we're taking a break but we have a lot available to you on our website including spirited discussions and are about to break out in the studio. you can hear them after the show foxnews.com /fox "news watch." we will be back in two minutes with this package you to come in for two american journalists caught by north korea. is there more to this story. and has twitter become a national security threat? answers per next time his watch. (announcer) gillette fusion's indicator strip fades to white when it may be time to change. fresh blade. better shave. >> jon: on wednesday the news me

the white house?i would have to look at what you have. i appreciate the fact that i have on them and clarity as to what you have received in your e-mail box today. >> you do not have to impute anything. i'm telling you what i have. >> i have a couple of questions. one is on the town halls. senator grassley said that the finance committee dropped petitions entirely. >> i would have to talk to him specifically. >> you talk a little bit about the town halls and how people sign up for them. i'm wondering if you could give us more information. i'm curious how many people do try to get in, how far in advance do you put a sign up list on the web site -- how does it work? >> obviously, the size is determined by the venue and the capacity with which the then you can be filled. i do not know how much is done by the local media outlets. >> is it that way always? >> it is a difference of four different populations, but yes. that is the way that it was done in new hampshire. >> is that the way it will be done this

former bush administration official had this to offer about the whole controversy. >> the obama white house developed their own web site. they are in charge of white house.gov. what people do on there, they are responsible for monitoring that they are responsible for making sure that people can't misuse white house.gov. and on that point, they failed. >> in this respect, shepard a very internet savvy campaign and white house making a few changes. shepard: changes indeed. major garrett at the white house. thank you, sir. important fox news weather alert now. and the first hurricane of the atlantic season is right now gaining strength across the open atlantic tonight. hurricane bill it's called and two tropical storms as well have formed just over the past couple of days. >> more on those events in just a moment. bill's path just hours after it formed early this morning. wind speeds topped 90 miles per hour. and now it's on track for bermuda and potentially, at least, the east coast. forecasters are predicting bill will become a major storm by wednesday. a category 3 at least. domenica davis

how is the white house reacting to that? >> we had a relevant poll out yesterday from fox news for you. 34% of the public favoring the health reform plan under consideration but 49% opposed. that is a 15-point spread. a few weeks ago it was just 11 points so you see the numbers softening. here is what the white house had to say. >> poll something a snapshot in time. the debate continues and we will see whether numbers move or change as a result of the continuing debate. >> and gibbs saying that there are so many misconceptions about the plan and that is what is contributing to the drop in poll numbers. bill: we will watch from here. megyn: a heated exchange yesterday fox's major garrett asking press secretary gibbs about e-mails sent out by the administration as part of its healthcare push. major said he has received reports of people getting e-mails even though they have never signed up for any white house e-mail list. those e-mails are from organizing america the president's political group. take a listen to the exchange.

it is a formulation the white house is trying to use to please send a democrat to or not as enamored say they've gone not vote for health care reform unless it includes the public option. trace: you go back to the e- mails. you said you had a lot of activity on your blog since thursday, and there were some changes made because of the back-and-forth. there were some changes made to the white house website. >> a couple of things were different. if you go to the comments section of the white house website and you leave any mail, there is a section where you could opt out of receiving future e-mails. there is also an area where you verify yourself that, telling them that you do not want to receive e-mails. that is two layers of security that is reason. we are hearing that security really wanted to provide access security for those who do and do not want it. they would have a double opt-in. they would get a simple e-mail telling them that they described. if they want to receive them, they will often end. the second thing is flag@whitehouse.gov where people could e-mail fishy things that th

white house briefing.ently signed up for moilgs from the white house were getting e-mails from david axelrod regarding the president's health carry initiative where he spelled out myths an truths. there was an exchange. we will show it to folks and get your reaction. >> good. >> violating the law and mixing political and -- >> never signed up for anything related to this white house senator obama as a candidate or anything and have received e-mails from david axelrod. how could that be? >> i would be interested to see how got that e-mail from and whether or not they are on the list. i want to be very -- >> you tell me i need to give you these e-mails so you can chem them? i'm asking. >> asking if they are on a list. >> you are checking without asking me to double-check a n e name. >> they never asked for an e-mail from the president. >> i would have to look at what you have, major. i appreciate the fact that i have omnipotent clarity as to what you have received in your e-mail box today. >> you don't have

is this white house policies in action? number two, if that's the case, how do you square that with the fact that you still expect unemployment to top 10%? >> well, savannah, we think that the report today is obviously the least bad report that we've had since this year started. and when you combine that with the gdp moving in the right direction from last week, we do think there are some encouraging signs in the economy. obviously, that's little comfort to the 250,000 americans that lost their jobs. but the president believes that the recovery plan has had an impact and has gotten people back to work, has kept some people in their jobs. and has moved economic growth in the right direction. but keep in mind, that we've only spent out about one-third of the money in the recovery plan and about two-thirds of that money is still left to be spent. so we do think that though it's encouraging, we think that there is some hard work ahead and we're going to continue to lay the new foundation that the president has talked about by i

correspondent. >> your gut of the white house.ave one of those tiny spaces where you tried to typewrite. >> yes, and down in the basement like something out of dickens. >> you know, everybody who goes over there for the first time and sees the press facilities, especially reporters from overseas, are appalled. >> shoulder-to-shoulder. >> other places that enormous rooms with adjustable seats and a place for a computer. you come back to the white house and it is much more insignificant. and there you are. they spend a lot of money we doing it, but all they have done is painted and closed up some of the rat holes we're real life white house rats years to come into the briefing room. >> considered the possibility when they close guantanamo down, simply transferring the detainees to the white house press area. although the may really be a violation. >> i was talking about the obama vacation before we went on the air. and bob franken said, why does he not go to guantanamo? >> it is beautiful, and talk about great security. if you want

>> the white house has emphasized that this is private citizen bill clinton involved in this. what does that mean? the stories that it may have been a north korean -- there have been rumors that former presidential gore, since it's his television network that these two journalists work for, it was said that he would go there. but in the past, governor bill richardson of new mexico have stayed high profile trips to north korea north to secure the release either of remains in the past or of actual live detainees, hostages, however you want to term it. it appears it may have come from that. we still don't have the back story because the white house is being very mum about this. and they want to wait, i think, until, as robert emphasized today in the briefing. when president clinton is no longer in north korea, they will have something to say, so it does seem they want to wait until they have the two journalists in the former president's custody or whatever you want to call it. >> does that seem very likely, though, chuck? >> reporter: the history, yes, i think there seems to be s

white house? could it have something to do with that snitch site? my mother made the best toffee in the world. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. robert shapiro: we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. neil: forget high gas prices. it is a sugar high that could get you. warnings that supplies are dwindling fast and prices are rising even faster. you are going to get hit pretty much everywhere. in fact, you already are. >> every day here on the fox business network, we talk about global commodity prices. oil trading inversely with the dollar. even corn close association with the ethanol blend of a, but sugar grows on trees. almost. my nephew consum

as all of you know, we may not get there immediately, because first we have to pay back the white housed the senators and everyone else. glenn: see, he wants a single payer, you know, universal healthcare, government run, but he's got conditions. first, you got to take back the house, and then the senate and then the white house. >> right, that's true, but it's also a lesson learned here from the white house. when you have a choice and you want to find out the real truth, you accept the pre-packaged response in a press conference over the hidden video in a group of like-minded individuals. >> sure. >> we also have jacob hacker, the man that the right wing sources n.p.r. said designed the original program of all these proposals that we're looking at now in the congress are braced on. here's what he had to say. glenn: ok. >> someone once said to me this is a trojan horse for single payer. i said it's not a single payer trojan horse. it's right there. i'm telling you, we will get there over time, slowly but we will remove away from reliance on employer based health insurance in a way that

chris: major garrett reporting for the from the white house. stay on that story, as i know you will. president obama was back on the healthcare offensive today holding a town hall meeting in montana. mike emanuel reports on how his message played in big sky country. >> it had the look of a campaign appearance but this was about president obama's full court press to reform healthcare. the state was where max baucus presides and the president started it in a relaxed fashion. >> here in mon tan na, you have bears, moose and elk and in washington, you just have mostly bull. awhile the event started off with fireworks, some people challenged the president and senator baucus. >> all we get is the bull. you can't tell us how you are going to pay for this. you're saving here. you're saving over there. you're going to take a little money here, a little money there. but you have no money. the only way you are going to get that money is to raise our taxes. you said you wouldn't. >> you are absolutely right that i can't cover another 46 million people for

now they are concentrating on that house in the center of your screen, the white one. hese homes and thrown in tear gas, going after their suspect. but their main concern right now appears to be this house in the center of the screen. neighbors being told, they are being called by the way from the police department to stay in their homes while police go door to door looking for the suspect. i will stay on the story. as i learn more, i will let you know. back to jon and jane. jon: harris, thank you. former arkansas governor mike huckabee is in israel now, part of a three-day trip to the middle east. look at some of the video. the former presidential candidate appearing in jerusalem. huckabee has been a critic of president obama's mideast policies. he says the u.n. has taken too harsh a stance against israel during the obama administration on the issue of settlements, and he says it's hurting peace negotiations. arkansas governor -- former arkansas governor, host of "huckabee" here on fox news, mike huckabee joins us now live from israel. you say the settlements are pursu

the we know the white house is considering that possibility. as rahm emanuel said, it seems like they might be heading in that direction. what robert gives is trying to say we're not there yet, it's not a fata compli. >> is the idea when the democrats do decide, they want the nation to know that the republicans were the ones who made it imupon possible for there to be any bipartisanship. >> exactly. it may seen some people in the white house may think the chief of staff's comments jumped the gun a little bit. if at the end of the day, they want this to be the republicans' fault, not the democrats and in particular, they don't want fissures within the democratic caucus to be blamed for it, they want this to be democrat versus republican. this wasn't supposed to come to the foreground till everyone was back from break. >> ann, thanks as always. we appreciate it. >> now, david the bigger picture. where is obama nation in all of this? when barack obama was running for president, of course, he mobilize add army of grassroots activists that raised a

i've never seen a white house respond the way obama white house is responding to this.e they get attacked the more olive branches they have and this is frustratinging a lot of liberals and progressives in this country because we want them to fight back. you can't get anything done legislatively in this country unless you fight. that is our culture. a feeling among progressers in this country that president obama is not fighting the way we want him to fight. they are saying too many olive branches saying, look, we want this and got to have this. a contentious crowd in montana today could help the president's cause. >> what does the white house have to gain in terms of making this a bipartisan effort? they went after bipartisanship on the stimulus. did they get anything? >> they got three republican votes but i don't think you're going to get much more on health care reform on that either. i'm with you on that. i really do believe they are going to go the road of reconciliation and go the 50 votes and impose the rules of the senate to get health care reform. i don't see i

tacit approval of the white house?> reporter: there's no doubt, especially when you have, don't forget, this isn't just an ex-president, and we know that when he was president, bill clinton was none too pleased when jimmy carter made his way north korea. this is a lot different, because he's not just any old ex-president, he happens to be the husband of the secretary of state. so i think because of that, there's no doubt that all the traps were run here. the question is, what else is going to come out of this, besides, we know north korea has a pattern of were they're a bit star crossed, right. they want to get the highest available u.s. official there to hand over their hostages. they've done this, frankly, before. the question is, is there anything else behind the scenes that's going to take place with president clinton on the nuclear issue, for instance? >> absolutely. and that's a question we'll all be wanting to ask. chuck todd, thank you so much. we'll keep in touch with you. >>> president clinton can now count h

major garrett, live from the white house. major, it almost sounds like a tried and true republican strategy, appeal to the morals and values. shepard: -- >> the white house has done this before with the president, and what is more interesting about this development, the folks that he is going to be talking to on this religious conference call, they are on the left side of the aisle, if you will. he has not been able to appeal to them before, but he will try again today from a political activism point of view. saying that it is immoral for americans to not have health insurance at all or lose it when it is critically needed. saying that what i need you to do is not just here my message, but act in a politically noticeable way to give me some help as i struggled through this process. shepard: it is possible for the white house to move forward with this without republicans. to go ahead with a public option or government administered program. is there still a sense this morning that that might be what they are going to do? >> it

judge: you have a microphone bigger than the white house. the white house does not.ill: they can audit me. clinton did that three years in a row. they can come after me. >> you said it right when you were speaking with lanny. the white house is the pinnacle of power in reality and in perception. the average joe thinking that the white house is going to record his name and his words. bill: i don't think so. i don't think the average joe sin tim dated by. this i hope not. bill: it sends the wrong message. i don't think there is one person watching me tonight, not one who is not going to give their opinion on health care because of that dopey web site. >> i think you are right. but it sends the wrong message and it's illegal message and the president took a an oath to uphold the law. >> my wrap up is to bring the three of together in agreement that this particular president barack obama is not a man who wants to suppress any speech and invites vigorous debate. if the wording were changed. bill: lanny, if i get audited, you are paying my costs because you just said that

john harwood, does the white house think they've turned a corner here? >> no. but they're having a party right now. the white house knows that first of all mission accomplished is the worst thing you can do in an economy like this. the unemployment rate even though it ticked down this month is likely to go up for a few months and not really come down in a serious way until next spring. consumer confidence is still low. it's true that the banking system is stabilized and that's good news. but they can't celebrate. barack obama came out today and attributed the better than it might have been news on employment to the effect of his policies on the stimulus plan but they're not celebrating too much. >> one thing on the campaign stump this week he sort of amped up the rhetoric a little bit. also -- let's listen to it. >> i don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. i want them to question the -- just get out of president way so we can clean up the mess. i clonet -- don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't have -- do a lot of talking. >> so

what is the white house stance on that?r undocumented immigrants with health reform legislation. the president clearly has said he understands our immigration system is broken but there is nothing in any of the bills that would provide health insurance or health coverage to undocumented immigrants. >> they would still be allowed to go to emergency rooms for health care. >> that session cysting law already. there is already laws on the books that say if somebody comes in for emergency treatment, you treat them, but there is nothing in health reform legislation that would extend any of these benefits to undocumented immigrants. >> a lot of republicans are saying if you really want competition, let the health care industry, if you will, the insurance companies, compete across state lines, not only operate within a state that would create competition. we heard this from dick armey, the former house majority leader, among other republicans. is the white house on board in letting health insurance companies go national full, and n

yet another change coming from the white house. be a human services secretary, kathleen sebelius says this morning on television that the president would be willing to accepted a bill that does not contain the so-called public option for government-provided health care, and this would be the public option, health care that would be run by the government, but would be in the words of the president, competition for the private health insurance agencies out there. and the president has been pushing for this liberal group, pushing for this over and over and over again and it will get a lot of attention if in fact the white house is willing to move away from quote-unquote public option in favor of what they are calling health insurance cooperatives and people would be able to buy into and we'll get more information about this throughout the morning and bring it. >> jamie: chris wallace way ahead of secretary sebelius's comments you'll hear, a couple of hours ago, our own chris walls loss put the public option question to senator conrad.

i think the white house has to be worried about.as on ronald reagan's white house staff for six years and there were a lot of protocols about what you could and couldn't do, what you can use for information for partisan purposes versus governmental purposes. and the general counsel of the white house is always careful to let us know what we could and couldn't do. here, you have a number of problems that may or may not be legal, but he also -- we don't know the answers yet. and we have a political problem, because even if they've got the information and are using it legally, the use of e mail and spasming e mail may be a bigger political problem than ethical problem they may or may not have. the first danger for any white house is to refuse to be forthcoming and now we are a couple of days into this and at least as of now, i believe, they haven't explained the details yet. so every day that they don't answer it, people have a right to be more concerned about why they're not answering it. sean: there are a lot of privacy issues. as i

the white house. the press wasn't being hysterical. that was the logical interpretation sfeal when president obama said the public option is only a sliver of his whole plan when it seemed to be a central part of it. i think what is going on is the white house has tipped its hand it is willing to give it up in a much more open manner. it is seening as a pre-emptory retreat by the left, by the liberals who have always seen the public option as being the holy grail of health care reform. for liberals, anderson who believe in a single-payer system, the government runs the whole system the public option was a way to build up a large government system and eventually open the door to single payer. so from a perspective of the left the white house seems to be giving away this essential element of the plan even before some of the tough negotiations start. >> nia, is the reality that town hall protests have rattled the white house? >> that seems to be the case in part. what you have seen the white house do in t

that was made clear today in a public clash between white house chief of staff rahm emanuel and whitet gibb. this morning readers to "the new york times" woke up that will bipartisanship was dead. progressives were thrilled by the strong suggestion that the white house was prepared to have democrats go alone on health care. but then came the white house president briefing this afternoon with obama spokesman robert gibbs. >> the president believes strongly in working with republicans and democrats, independents any that seek to reform health care. >> not only did gibbs dismiss emanual's suggestion that the white house was perhaps ready to go loan, he claimed nobody in the white house had strategized over how to do that. >> some of the comments that you're hearing from republicans, you mean to say no one in the administration was looking at strategically the possibility of. >> we are focused on a process that

bret: is the white house treading water here? are they concerned?if they're not concerned, they should be concerned. i think once you have the president having to try to convince you he is not going to kill your grandmother, you're in trouble. that's where he has gotten. i think that they underestimated what was going to happen from the conservative side. it's similar to immigration, frankly, immigration reform where there are real fears out there and people have tapped into them where they are not able to stop immigration reform. now they are doing it through town halls and going out and really making a lot of tubal for the white house. i don't think they were anticipating it. bret: was it a strategic error to talk about the town halls as they did from the podium and how they have handled this up until now? >> well, i think they tried to exploit the fact that there was rowdiness, and i shared the view that that would actually hurt the opponents of healthcare reform as presented by the democrats but the polling has shown the opposite. it has shown t

they can do it again. >> what was the white house is doing it isn't working. >> what the white houseg hold was to pass something through both chambers before the recess. once you get into the recess you lose control of it. gets out there. to the extent people are paying attention, they're paying attention to some of the sa lishs scare tactics that are being promoted successfully by some of the opponents to this plan and the white house is unable to counter it. they can't grab the news cycle back. >> because they're not saying the same thing. i tell you, what you're going to get a special invite to go one on one with me here, i think we've got some differences. that would be great. >> i appreciate you gentlemen being here tonight. >> i asked you about the liberal vote, will it save the public option? 85% yes, 15% no. we're back tomorrow night. "hardball with chris matthews" is next. have a great one. >>> anger management. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, the numbers behind the anger. okay. we've got a new nbc news poll. it

how is the white house defending itself? sean: americans around the country have been receiving unexpected e mails from the president's political operatives and it urges support for the president's health care plan, but how did the white house get a hold of these e mail addresses? major garrett put the question to robert gibbs and here's what he had to say. >> speaking of the e mail, how does the list on who would receive it determined? >> i believe it's from people who signed up to receive e mail updates from the white house. >> the reason i have asked, i have received e mails from people who did not seek communication tr the white house and not registered or on a website -- let me finish my question. >> would have never signed up for anything related to this white house, senator obama as a candidate, senator obama as anything and received e mails from david axelrod. >> i would be interested to see how got it from and whether or not they're on the list. >> i would like to know how they got an e mail from the white house whe

i think the white house has to be worried about. i was on ronald reagan's white house staff for six years and there were a lot of protocols about what you could and couldn't do, what you can use for information for partisan purposes versus governmental purposes. and the general counsel of the white house is always careful to let us know what we could and couldn't do. here, you have a number of problems that may or may not be legal, but he also -- we don't know the answers yet. and we have a political problem, because even if they've got the information and are using it legally, the use of e mail and spasming e mail may be a bigger political problem than ethical problem they may or may not have. the first danger for any white house is to refuse to be forthcoming and now we are a couple of days into this and at least as of now, i believe, they haven't explained the details yet. so every day that they don't answer it, people have a right to be more concerned about why they're not answering it. sean: there are a lot of privacy issues. a

now, the white house said these emails will never leave the white house and will never ever go to the democratic national committee. i thought they were going to solicit emails and collect those from those supportive of health care as part of this: " disinformation. apparently, that is not their goal either -- as part of this " 1 " disinformation. -- part of this quote, unquote "disinformation." neil: asking them to finish this information out. they are snitches. what do you make of that? >> well, i have covered washington, neil, since 1990, and, obviously, technology has changed, which means gathering information and distributing informational has become much more electronically based, but i've never seen a white house solicit information from americans about what they think is disinformation or wrong information proffered by other americans. i mean, i just cannot ever seen that. there is the level of on ease the white house has about where it is on the fact arguments -- the level of unease. in the polling data, and it is not just cherry picking, it shows increasing anxiety in the pu

>> id listed 8 priorities for white house caliph -- it listed 8 things that are of priority for the whitese in health care. other things they have said about the debate. there's nothing wrong with the e-mail. i'm just asking how people got it if they did not ask for it. greta: are you going to get to this list? >> we will see. greta: it took four months to get the pictures of the jets over manhattan. >> it might have to go to a freedom and liberation request. we had a discussion afterward. he said to provide a e-mail and i am one unhappy to do that. greta: i like the line that said "don't look funny." >> good luck getting that good luck. did sheila jackson lee insult a constituent? she was on the phone. i am so glad that this man is not my banker. he is the dumbest criminal in the history of the universe. revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. [ female announcer ] trying

that the white house saddled him with the worst recession in decades. >> i don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking. >> he leads mcdonald by eight points but mcdonald's lead is twice that among independents and republicans are giving him a national platform with this saturday's radio address. president obama's job approval rating has fallent o 56 p% in the latest gallup polls, and 49 in the rasmussen, not a good sign that the democrats will break the 32-year virginia governor's trend. >> we have learned that love matters a lot less than hate and disaing a -- and disagreement with a president resonates with the people in the opposite party. >> jon corzine is 14 points behind his republican challenger, former u.s. attorney chris christie. christie had a double digit lead even before the arrests last month of dozens of new jersey officials an and political operatives after an investigation christie himself initiated. >> corzine is enormously unpopular in new jersey. the republicans picked exactly the right candidate to carry the anti-corruption message in c

the white house cos out swinging. and we fac check what, if anything, the proposals say about abortion. >>> full speed ahead. all of a sudden, detroit is in demand. ford is ramping up production, plants and overtime. >>> candid cheney. former vice president dick cheney reportedly talking with asciates about his problems with president bush. >>> three days and 40 years. celebrating the woodstock anniversary. peace, love and lives that were changed forever. >>> and then, remembering a guitar legend who revolutionized >>> and then, remembering a guitar legend who revolutionized rock and roll. captions paid for by abc, inc. >>> good evening. after days of raucous, in your face town hall meetings about health care reform, the white house today said enough, and launched its own e-mail chain letter campaign to counter the critics. and try to get the upper hand in the intense national debate. supporters of reform say opponents are using misinformation, trying to kill reform for political purposes. jake tapper is at the white

the white house did due diligence.talked to the north koreans and determined that if the president went, he wouldn't be embarrassed, he would bring the two young journalists out with him. >> robert gibbs at the white house has been saying consistently, it's a private mission and no linkage to any other issues. this is a pure ly humanitarian mission. do you accept that? >> well, look. they were very clear about this and it made a lot of the sense to be clear. a former president, someone who's out of office doesn't have authority to negotiate with the north koreans on their nuclear program. to that extent, they're right. on the other hand, he's a former president with a long history in north korea. he's intimately aware of the issues. >> he almost went as president. >> his final weeks in office, he really wanted to go and didn't because a deal seemed out of reach at that time. so what he did do, he went. he took away with him his own insights of the health of kim jong-il, his psychology. and he'll now go to the white hou

the rest of the white house website is running. it appears as part of the service has been disabled. we are winning for official confirmation on this. -- waiting for official confirmation on this. trace: thank you. the president now speaking at the vfw. >> thank you. please be seated. commander gardner, thank you for your introduction and for your lifetime of service. i was proud to welcome your executive director to the oval office just before the fourth of july and i look forward to working with your next commander. i also want to acknowledge gene gardner and sharon tradewell and all the spouses and families. america honors your service as well. also, governor in denver of in it -- arizona is here. phil gordon, our host. i want to acknowledge dr. joe shirley jr., president of the navajo nation. this was not on my card, and you may have heard about her extraordinary story, but i want to acknowledge helen denton, the secretary who typed up the orders for the normandy invasion. what an extraordinary story that is. [applause] members

the white house is still pandering to him trood. robert gibbs insisted that there was no change in the language between the obvious changes of what they were saying a month ago and what they are saying now. no, no, there is no change. they are cognizant of the political ram fiks of trying to do what they are doing now.ll healthcare. >> the reason liberals are so devastated is because this was an opportunity to slip national healthcare through at a time when americans are anxious. if you have the incremental stuff, that's going to happen. when you have health insurance reform, when everyone holds on to their insurance and you can't be denied, if that is passed, it will eliminate all the anxiety and most of the disappointment with the current system, and that means they will never have national healthcare, so the left understands that it is now or never, and it's going to be never. bret: president obama talks about this week's crucial afghanistan election and taliban efforts to disrupt it. we'll find out what the panel expects, next.

the white house hasn't been able to persuade them. people have lost confidence in the president's handling of the economy. people have lost confidence in the president's handling of health care. those numbers are going the wrong way. and when people see that outrage, when people in the middle see that outrage, they say, hey, where there's smoke, there's fire. the white house's answer is we don't really have a plan yet, but we want you to hurry up and pass it. i don't think you are going to be able to persuade people. >> the absurdity of this he's only been president for six months, for crying out loud. how much confidence should there be? but the idea, you're talking about the congressional process. the idea that a man who has been president for six months can demand a program that will affect one-sixth of the economy, without, forgive me for saying so, engaged, active, transparent, open public hearings on a critical issue, how could it result in anything but frustration on all courts? >> i don't hear when you show the protests and yo

the white house spokesman for new media. he offered this explanation after the white house refused to answer questions on how, exactly, so many people receive those e-mails. bill: major garrett, asking the questions live from the white house. good morning. where are we on this? >> already the white house has implemented a couple of noticeable changes. when you go to the white house web site to lead a comment, their position is that outside and third party groups have gone to the comments section and left comments with embedded e-mails from people without their permission. if you go to the comments section there this morning you will find two things that were not there this weekend. one, something asking for e-mail updates. second, you must copy in these squiggly letters. if you have ever purchased tickets online, to verify your attempt to purchase and you must copy down the letters. those things have been added since last night to the white house comments section of the web site. these are some of the attempts they said that

i think the white house has to be worried about. i was on ronald reagan's white house staff for six years and there were a lot of protocols about what you could and couldn't do, what you can use for information for partisan purposes versus governmental purposes. and the general counsel of the white house is always careful to let us know what we could and couldn't do. here, you have a number of problems that may or may not be legal, but he also -- we don't know the answers yet. and we have a political problem, because even if they've got the information and are using it legally, the use of e mail and spasming e mail may be a bigger political problem than ethical problem they may or may not have. the first danger for any white house is to refuse to be forthcoming and now we are a couple of days into this and at least as of now, i believe, they haven't explained the details yet. so every day that they don't answer it, people have a right to be more concerned about why they're not answering it. sean: there are a lot of privacy issues. a

the white house says that if you do not want to receive anything from the white house, he will not getonsible for the spam, but that the third parties were responsible. more broadly, they were responsible for what happens on the larger level. megyn: going back to that first piece of news in this, first we had the white house e-mail asking for a suspicious e-mails. then we had all of the spam, which they said was attributable to a third party user is getting on the web site. what about these fishy e-mails? have they officially denied that any of these -- like if bill hemmer sends me that death panels are bad and the white house will have them, i say that that is fishy and i send it to the white house. then bill hemmer get an e-mail from the white house. has the white house clarified if they are sending e-mails to people like him? >> the white house has tried to clarify that, saying that the only way that bill hemmer could receive an e-mail address, it would have to be of some one put it in on his behalf, they always said that they were never using anything reported to move the data over

the white house is overseeing tough terror interrogations. thousands line the streets and wait to pay respects to the late senator ted kennedy, and an american military helicopter is targeted by somali pirates. we'll show you that video. all that plus the all-star panel, right here, right now. welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. the effort to make sure all americans are covered by health insurance could end up costing millions of workers their jobs. that's the finding of a new study on the current plans offered by congressional democrats and the president, but is it a fair conclusion? we report. you decide. here is correspondent shannon bream. >> healthcare reform is not going to be free. >> in a study commissioned by the heritage commission, a price tag is put on the legislative proposals as they exist now on chill. the news is not good for america's employers. under the pay or play mandate, which would require them to offer health insurance to their employees or pay a tax to the federal government, the study shows that it will cost emplo

a senior white house official told me this morning, we have the votes right now to pass the house leadershipast we did

it's not the role of the white house to play that role. we're miss represented if you go to the white house for answer. >> jonas was breaking a law but if i express my opinion i have the right to do that under the constitution. >> absolutely you do. look when they get back from vacation in about five weeks, these lays move rons are debating a built that is the biggest bill since social security. it is leveraging our entire country's future that they are correct. they'll pick it sometime in the fall. that is how important this bill is. here is the problem, you can't catch bernie madoff or catch mr. stanford down in texas, if you wanted to snitch on people on health care? you got to be kidding me. >> can you have a conversation with another country but that is an infringement on your rights. >> thank i jonas. we're going to take a quick break. they bashed them for using jets to fly around in. rett. now back to cashin in. >> i'm going to ask you to raises your hand if you are planning to settle your jet and fly back commercial. let the record

and so the white house has become very clear on it. not only is he talking with all of the organized groups and his group organized in america, he had all of the progressive ministers and the faith-based community on the line in a huge conference call and he said, we need your help. come on and step up to the plate. i'm willing to fight. i'm ready to go. let's get this done. >> now, congresswoman, do you think that the obama white house is just totally smarter than everybody else and this was nothing but a trial balloon to float this thing up to rile the base to really bring the people snout could th out? could this be just a great card play by the president himself? >> it could be. i've had this discussion with a number of my very close advisors and we have come to the conclusion that if it was a trial balloon that the pushback and the response was so great that they couldn't make any mistake, that the left was going to be organized around this issue and it was going to be big time. it would be the first time in the six months that th