good evening, americans an welcome to the "the ed show." tonight from new york, these stories on the table and hit my hot buttons at this hour. president obama went out and sold his landmark health care bill today and i think that he absolutely nailed it. hours from now, america will change, for the better, but of course the republicans they could care less p i'm got commentary on that and senate reaction in a moment. christine o'donnell can run from the media but she can't hide from these legal issues that continue to mount. the fec is investigating an allegation from the delaware republican party that o'donnell and the tea parent express broke the law. and all this talk of a wall streeter taking over for larry summers at the white house has got a lot of folks boiling, including me. founder adam green sounds off in "the playbook." and we've got breaking news moments ago, well, the republican they're calling it the "pledge to america" republican party's circulating this on capitol hill amongst gop lawmakers.

we will get senate reaction on that, and tell you exactly what this new contract with america is. that's coming up in a moment. but first, this is the story that has me fired up tonight. just hours from now, think of all of the dhab we've had, america is going to change for the better. and of course, the republicans. they want to stop it. it's parts of their pledge. tomorrow, the president's landmark health care reform starts to kick in. president obama highlighted some of the new benefits at a backyard event in falls church, virginia, today. >> number one, paul already mentioned, the issue of lifetime limits. that is not going to be the rule anymore after tomorrow. if you've got a policy, you get sick, the insurance company covers you. number two, pre-existing conditions for children, children who have pre-existing conditions are going to be covered. number three, we're going to make sure that if young people don't have health insurance

through their employer that they can stay on their parent's health insurance up to the age of 26. >> now, who the heck could be against all of that? well, there's an outfit called the republican party. now, this country was at war over health care for over a year. and now we're starting to see real-life results. >> i want to thank you, first of all. i have a son with entractable seizures and this bill will make a huge dmifrs our life personally. >> in march of this year i was diagnosed with high-grade stage 2 non-hodgkin's lymphoma. i'm feeling great. if it wasn't from this bill i probably wouldn't be feeling great because i would had been so stressed out and worrying about paying for my medical bills so i personally thank all of you and president obama so much. i mean, you do not know what --

how this has changed my life. >> voices we need to hear on "the ed show." americans, how can you be against that? republicans, well, i guess you could make the case that they just really don't give a damn about these people. they would rather let these people suffer so they can make a quick buck from the high-dollar donors in the insurance industry. i mean, that's what they've been fighting for. and at this very moment insurance companies are dropping coverage for sick kids. is it disgusting, you better believe it's disgusting. and fox news pastor, mike huckabee thinks covering sick kids -- well, it's a bad thing. >> it's such a warm message to say and we're not going to deny anyone from a pre-existing condition. okay, fine. then, let's do that with our property insurance. and you can call your insurance agent and say, i'd like to buy some insurance for my house. he'd say, tell me about your house. well, sir, it burned down yesterday, but i'd like to insure it today.

and he'll say, i'm sorry but we can't insure it after it's all right burnt. well, no pre-existing conditions. >> well i guess the republicans just think that we're all a piece of material. a man of the cloth, right there, is comparing kids to property. and he's one of the top republican candidates for president in 2012? now, i took heat last year for some of the things that i said about republicans during the health care debate. not taking them back tonight. sickos like the huckster get away with that kind of garbage every single day, another low-rent 2012 republican candidate, didn't like it when the obama administration kept an insurance company from jacking up the rates 39%. >> when secretary sebelius said the other day she would punish insurance companies that told the truth about the cost of obama care, she was behaving exactly in the spirit of the soviet tyranny. and if she is going to represent left-wing thought police about obama care, she should be forced

to resign by the new congress. >> wow. republicans, well, they warned us that the health care law would turn america socialists, communist, facist and we're still a democracy and a big vote coming up in november. nobody, keep in mind, no one is going to be pulling the plug on grandma tomorrow. and nobody is getting between you and your doctor. here's the president again on that issue. >> you're going to be able to choose your doctor and not have to go through some network in an emergency situation as a consequence of these rules. so it gives customers more choice and more options. >> now, that's the best package we can sell to the american people on this health care bill in just a short period of time here on tv tonight. now, i've been saying that the administration needs to go out and sell what this health care reform actually does for people. and i think the president nailed it today.

he hit it out of the park. now he needs to stay on offense. republicans and the tea party are the same thing. there is no difference, and there's no difference in the way that they think when it comes to health care. and they have been dead wrong about this health care reform bill from the very beginning and they have lied. if republicans win the house back or the senate, they'll choke off every dime to make this fail and repeal the bill. now, i know that this bill isn't perfect, i mean, universal health care single payor advocate and believer that some day will get there always have been, always will be. but this is a great first step for change that you can believe in. that lady that was just speaking in the backyard, you think it's change she can believe in? i think that she said, it saved her life. democrats should not be running from this bill when they go home to tell their constituents that the american people will see american lives saved because of this legislation. how in the world can that be a downer?

when you're telling the truth to the american people. they should be doing a victory lap. but of course, they're a little short when it comes to confidence in their tackle box as of late. democrats need to go home, look at their constituents right in the eye, and say, we're saving lives, because that's exactly what's happening. is that restoring honor? get your cell phones out, folks. i want to know what you think. tonight's text survey question is, do republicans care more about saving lives or saving money? text "a" for saving lives. text "b" for saving money. to 622639. we'll bring you the results later on in shot. joining me now is ohio senator, brown. >> good to be with you. you save lives and you also save money if you do health care right. i think that -- i probably lost on them, but anyway, go ahead. >> well, you're exactly right. because the cbo said that this would save how many billions of

dollars over the next ten years? >> yeah, and look, there is so much preventive health care, there's so many preventive health care measures in this bill, in this new law, so many things that will help people stay healthy, cutting costs. it keeps people home instead of in an expensive hospital. it means you get a mother with a child with an ear infection can go to a family doctor instead of waiting until the ear infection gets works going to an emergency room costing everybody more money. >> yeah. >> and perhaps costing the child her hearing. i mean, all of those kinds of things are the -- the whole thrust of this bill was in that direction. >> all right, senator, here's the uphill battle, the most recent polling that is out there shows that most americans, number one, don't understand this bill, they don't know what's in it, but they also think that they're -- will you be taxed more as a result of the health care reform? and 52% are of the american people according to aassociated press poll say, yes. this is simply false. can you -- >> it is false.

>> it is false. >> can you turn this around between now and the midterms >> well, it's hard. i think what the president's been doing -- i already -- since the president came to cleveland, milwaukee one day, cleveland the next a week or so ago, i already -- i see a perceive difference in people's views towards the health care view and towards the beginning growth in the economy. i mean, look a year and a half ago. we go back to that. you've said it, i've said it. 700,000-plus jobs losing a month and that number got smaller and smaller because of the stimulus package. we're seeing job growth every month in the private sector over the last many months. and you think things are starting to go in the right direction. people are still angry, of course. they feel betrayed by their government. >> but you think it's shifting? you think that attitudes are shifting? >> yeah i think it is. and i think that the number that i use repeatedly, eight years of bill clinton, 22 million jobs created, incomes went up, largest budget surplus in american history, eight years of george bush 1 million jobs,

incomes went down, largest budget deficit at that time ever in american history. so -- and they want to go back to those it's republicans want to go back -- back to that. >> the key here is, there seems to be an information disconnect. the folks across the street and the right-wing talkers of america have bad-mouthed the health care bill so bad you've got half of the country think that their taxes are going to be going up because we're saving lives when the cbo says it's going to save money over the next ten years. >> yeah. >> here's the -- yeah -- >> yeah go ahead. >> the next thing. this was just released a few moments ago from the associated press. they're calling it the "floej america." back in the '90s it was "the contract in america." this is the big republican story this week. they are vowing to and circulated along capitol hill among the lawmakers and the the gop the pledge of america is to cut taxes, cut federal spending, repeal health care, and ban federal funding for abortion.

nothing in there about job creation, nothing in there about saving social security, nothing in there about public education. those are the four main points in the "pledge to america." senator, you get the first shot at it. >> well, and then the next level down is the effort by a lot of the tea party groups, the club for growth and others to begin more privatization, senator -- the senate candidate running against the candidate in colorado last name is buck wants to privatize the va. candidates like 2 million pennsylvania, portman, ohio, kirk in illinois, telling their candidates to come out for prioritization of social security. and these guys clearly are out of touch. they really want to complete the bush agenda and you know what will happen, if they have a chance in enacting more of the bush agenda. we go right back to high unemployment, they want to deregulate wall street, again. i mean they were against the wall street consumer issues. all of the wall street reforms. they don't like the consumer protection agency. >> but that pledge with america --

>> it's the same stuff. >> yeah it's same stuff, okay. >> exactly it's the same stuff. it's dressed up a little and some stuff on abortion to appeal to that group and transparencey to appeal to oorpgt group but it's all about jenning up their base. raising hundreds millions of corporate dollars, flooding the airwaves and you know brow-beating the american public to get their way and it's not -- as the president gets out more, people are beginning to see that we don't want to go back to that. >> well, senator, based on what the president did today, you can't get him on the road enough. >> that's right. >> i thought that he was outstanding and this is going to be an interesting battle down the street. >> yes. >> convincing the american people that we're saving lives where they have got their pledge to repeal, it's official, they want to -- you know they want to repeal the health care bill. >> yeah, we were -- in ohio, we're thinking of printing up a bumper sticker, it says "bring back vote -- they want to repeal that they dpoept want to close the doughnut hole from senior citizens.

take tax breaks from the small business peps they want the 23-year-old who finds a job but no insurance to go with it, not able to go on her parents' plan, they don't want to do that. i don't think so. and already 400 people signed up in the plan in ohio for people and what's in the -- in the plan that -- that people who have pre-existing condition can get on the health care plan. 400 people have already signed up in ohio to do that. and you know those are people that didn't have insurance -- >> exactly. >> but they have it now. and tell me, republicans are going to take this -- pull that away from beam pre-existing condition and listen to the governor of arkansas, governor huckabee that's like a house fire. he compares that to somebody that's sick? >> well in the workplace the republicans have been known to treat people like machinery and now they have confirmed it. senator -- >> yep. >> -- good to have you with us tonight. coming up another day, another skeleton comes flying out of closet of christine o'donnell. her big plan, run from the

media. she can run but she can't hide. not from this broadcaster. and former bushy, john bolton, he's back. he tells fox, president obama doesn't care about americans dying. the man is a reckless psycho talker. i'm going to hammer him in a moment. plus, be not ready for primetime tea partier sharron angle uses fox and the drugster to get money. and rahm may be packing his bags sooner than you think. [ female announcer ] you use the healing power of touch every day. ♪ now the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving heat patch activates sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals for deep penetrating relief you can feel

precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. next on "the ed show," well the tea party doesn't care about honor or loyalty or anything but the god almighty dollar. rand paul, sharron angle, sarah palin, michele bachmann, christine o'donnell, they're all from the same fraternity. they want to privatize everything and now a nut job out of colorado wants the veterans health care to be privatized. paul ricovsounds off on that and

some g.i. bills next on "the ed show."

welcome back to "the ed show" and thanks for watching. veterans, pay attention to this one, my friends. it's no secret the tea party fanatics they want to privatize social security, privatize medicare, abolish the department of education, they've got a list of stuff they want to do. it's all part of their warped view that every entitlement is a socialist handout but now we've got a new one. tea party senate nominee ken buck, the psycho talker out of colorado, he's talking about privatizing veteran's hospitals.

now the people who put their uniform on and protect this country, do they not deserve a guarantee, a guarantee, not free market stuff, deserve our utmost loyalty and respect when they come home? do we want to turn it over to a corporation or a corporation in charge of their care would be loyal to only one thing, my friends, and that is the god almighty dollar in the insurance industry. joining me now is paul rykoff the founder and executive director of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. if this one doesn't boil veterans, paul, i don't know what will. to even think about this. what if we were to privatize veteran's health care, what could happen? she well, it's not going to happen so i think that it should stop right there. there's not a single veterans group from america from either sisted political spectrum that would support the privatization of va health care, it's just not going to happen. a real really fringe idea that's dead on arrival. there are problems with the va,

it gets banged up a lot, but the quality of care is generally very good. we've got improve access to care, especially if rural areas especially in places like colorado, but privatizing is a crazy idea that's going nowhere, no veterans organization is going to support. >> veteran organizations might not support it, but an unpredictable candidate, you know, they go out and they win and they turn republicans with them. i mean if they were to get the majority this could be a major issue in washington, and what would the response be? how would the veterans group handle this if it comes up these are the ways that the ideas end up in the mainstream. >> i think that every veterans group in washington would hit back pretty hard and resist against this. delivers a very high-quality of care. this idea's been floated in the past and anyone who tries it, goes down to washington and talks it a couple of veterans grourngs talks to people who are familiar with the veteran's issue, and realize that it's really a throwaway line for t sprp it's really gotten no policy or legislative oomph in it, it's not going anywhere.

>> so we'll slam bunk that he's a psycho talker before we get to "psycho" tonight. all right the g.i. bill, are there some things that are slow to be implemented, what are they and what are doing about it. >> we had a huge win on the g.i. bill a little over two years ago and a big boost for iraq and afghanistan vets but it's not complete. it doesn't vocational schools, on-the-job training, distance learning and thousands of iraq and afghanistan veterans are left out. so the g.i. bill needs an upgrade. we've made tremendous progress but what we need right now is senator reid to send it to the floor for a vote. in had economy our veterans need every thaej they could get. this should cross party lines. we need everybody watching to call senator reid, tell him to send it to a vote. something that they can get done and have to get done before they leave in a couple of weeks for election season. >> are you nervous that if the republicans get the majority, that they will leave veterans behind? because all they want to do with their new pledge to america is cut government spending and that would be across the board.

could the veteran's hospitals, could veteran's care take a cut that the point. >> i don't think so. i think it's a third rail. i don't think that either party would go anywhere near veteran's benefits right now. you've got over 2 million men and women who have gone through iraq and afghanistan, who are coming home, who need support, who need jobs, who need serious medical care, and anybody who wants to go near that i think really will have a challenge, not just with the veterans groups but the entire country. we have a moral obligation to take care of these men and women and now is not the time. >> paul rykoff director of ivae, great have you with us tonight, paul. >> my pleasure, ed, thank you, man. up next, john bolton, a guy who was all for invading a country that didn't attack us, says president obama doesn't care about people dying? he goes in "the zone" with that ugly mustache next on "the ed show." [ male announcer ] one look can turn the everyday into romantic.

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and in "psycho talk" tonight, bush's u.n. ambassador war-mongering john bolton. now he hasn't been allowed to bomb anything for a while so he's a little frustrated so taking out his frustration on president obama. bolton went on "fox & friends" and morning a kid was talking about a new book that bob board's got coming out called "obama's war president "washington post" reported that the president of the united states, barack obama told quote it's.

that quote has right wingers wrawled up all over america and of course steve deutschy asked bolton about. >> ambassador boulton we can absorb it. >> i think that may be the most outrageous thing that's about reported about this book. how can an american president say that as if he's a detached observer and doesn't care about americans dying? >> did you hear that. >> john bolton is accusing president obama of not caring about americans dying? bolton endorsed invading a country that didn't attack us at the expensive more than 4,400 american lives, and then he wanted to start another war with iran. for him to accuse the president of the united states of not caring about american lives is outrageous "psycho talk."

coming up, christine o'donnell better hide from the cameras because i've got some more dirt on her. well, everybody does. that's coming up in "the battle ground" story. and everyone is talking about the explosive comments in a book about the white house fighting over afghanistan. i say, good. i've got "rapid-fire" response coming up. and plus all of the republicans have been saying for months is, no. and i've got a copy of their "pledge to america," it's my turn to sound-off on that garbage. when i was seventeen, i was not good to my skin. long summer days, and not enough sleep. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. [ female announcer ] neutrogena® clinical skincare, exclusive ion2 complex combined with activating cream helps restore collagen depleted skin. neutrogena clinical skincare is clinically tested to undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just 4 weeks. do-overs do exist.

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welcome back to "the ed show." the battleground story tonight. you bet you, christine o'donnell is swallog the tea party playbook. she says she won't do anymore national media. she's shruggingach the very serious allegation that she embezzled money if her campaign, and o'donnell claims that it's just the big, bad media trying to portray her as extreme.

>> what they're trying to do is paint me as an extremist so that people won't pay attention to my message, because again, my opponent is all wrong to the issues that is important to the people of delaware. >> because your opponent is apparently claiming that he offered to debate you a number of times. how many debates are willing you to do with him or -- >> what i'm willing to do as many as i can fit into my schedule. >> what is that? isn't that the "hannity soft zone" or what? she is extreme, as in extremely dangerous if she gets elected. democrats and the news media cannot let o'donnell wink her way out of this one a bit. she needs to answer for the serious allegations. here's what the executive director of the citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington told us on this show last night. >> the fcc, the federal election commission, has to start an investigation because we've sent a complaint there.

so sooner or later people are going to be going through ms. o'donnell's campaign finances with a fine tooth comb and they will find out how much she's been stealing. >> you're an attorney. you've got her dead in the water. >> the we've got her dead in the water. >> earlier this month, the delaware state republican party, also filed a complaint with the federal election commission alleging o'donnell had taken money from the tea party express that was well over the legal limit and coordinated communications in advertising in violation of the federal election law. for more on this, let's go to dan abrams, nbc news chief legal analyst. dan, good to have you with us tonight. >> hi, ed. >> how big of a deal is this or is this one of those trivial complaints sort of thrown out there in a political season. >> well you know i would say it's somewhere in between. the bottom line is that the fcc complaint i think is going to, at least, be investigated. i think with regard to the u.s. attorney in delaware, in terms of a real criminal investigation, crew keeps referring to her as a criminal, which i don't think is useful to their cause here.

i don't think that's what's going to happen here. might she have to end up paying a fine, maybe. that's certainly possible. but i don't think that this investigation is even going to be completed before the election. so all we're going to have in terms of results are an allegation, questions about effectively, was she using her home as campaign headquarters, are you allowed do that, was she effectively having the taxpayers, the people who are donating to her campaigns pay her rent which would not be permissible. so those are the sort of things that the fcc's going to have to tackle here. but in the end, i think that the most severe remedy you would say in connection with all of this is a fine. >> does it matter that she's raising a heck of a lot more money now and claiming that she's innocent and will continue operations as is, and you know, $2 million is a heck of a lot more than what she's gotten in the past. does the amount of money change anything at all as far as speeding up any concern or investigation?

>> no, because the amount that is being -- the amount in question remains the same, right? i mean, unless they're saying, for every dollar that's coming in, she's taking "x" more for her campaign expenses, that's one thing but my understanding is that the amount is fixed. mean, she's basically saying she'sution her townhouse as campaign headquarters. the question is to whether that's permissible remains the same one. the amount remains the same. so i don't think the fact that she's raising a lot more money's going to change that. >> what do you make of herpstrategy? you're a media guy. you know, her strategy of not doing any national brews. is it to get this story out of the way and just keep it local and count on the right-wing talkers to save her as she's 16 points behind in the latest poll. >> well, it's incredibly smart, politically, right? i mean, why would she go on you know, on your show or go on the morning shows in why would she subject herself to that?

i mean, it's a political matter, there's no question that it's smart. meaning, she's got her base -- delaware's a small state. remember, we're talking about one of the smallest states in the nation with a candidate, as you point out, who's behind by 16 points in the latest polls who continues to get more media attention than just about any other race out there, which is kind of stunning. so i don't think she needs the attention. most of these candidates need to get out there. they need to get their message out. they need to be heard. everyone's listening to everything she says. she doesn't need to do it. that doesn't make it right. but it makes it a -- probably a political savvy move. >> dan, good to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> ed, good to see you. "rapid fire" response from our panel. the house republicans will invail their pledge to america. but we've got an advanced copy. and bob woodward's new book "obama's wars" says president obama and his white house are at odds over the war in

afghanistan. with us tonight, national syndicated radio talk show host bill press. and also john feari republican strategist. gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight. let's talk first about this pledge. you see in the '90s, you guys, john, you had the quarter america. now is this a cheaper cut now that you've reduced it to a pledge, or is this more serious? i have to give a hard time about that. here's the pledge it's preamble, regarding the policies of the current government, the govern dod not consent an arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates, and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many. and of course, what they want to do is they want to cut taxes, cut taxes, repeal the health care bill. the cat's out of the bag. john, is this a good strategy for the midterm, what do you think? >> i think it is and i think

that it was there in 1994 and i think that it was very helpful when republicans put out a game plan of what they were going to do. it's good for two reasons. a, it tells the vote, that you have a positive plan. and, b, it gives you a game plan once you take over and it gives you a chance to organize yourselves and have goals to pass when you're there. and i think that the unique thing about this pledge is that the republicans actually spent some time listening to what the american people wanted with their american speak out website. and they've got the input. so i think that they feel very comfortable with where they're going with their agenda and their agenda makes sense. people do want spending to be cut. they want -- they don't want their taxes to go up. >> sure. >> and they want us to take a serious look at this health care laul. >> what do you think, bill. >> i want to remind john newt's famous contract with america. ten planks in it, not one the ten were adopted. buyer beware. buyer beware anything that boehner puts out there. and look, ed, these guys had eight years, they didn't do any of this stuff. they didn't ban all federal funding for abortion. why do you think that they'll do it now? they didn't cut spenders.

the biggest spenders up unthey time of any other government nat we've ever had, so you know what i think that it's good to put something up, but it's totally meaningless, because they'll never be in power and they'll never be able to carry out those things anyway. >> bill, you said it wrong. it's actually -- the federal banning of funding of abortion is illegal right now and the fact of the matter they've balanced the budget and reformed welfare. most of their pledges in the contract in america. i think they'll do very well. >> john, no they didn't. ed, the other thing that i want to talk about. >> hold othey balanced the budget, was that with iraq and afghanistan in the budget or not? and also the medicare that they passed. >> the republicans in congress balanced the budget. >> no, no. off budget paying for right now and having to call for. go ahead bill. >> 1.3 trillion, john, that's hardly balancing the budget. this charge of obama being arrogant. i mean, mitch mcconnell, john boehner who said, up front, we're going to oppose anything president obama's for. that's hardly listening to the people and trying to get some things done. and, ed, quick story, when president obama went up to the hill to have lunch with the

republican caucus to talk about the stimulus, john boehner had a news conference and said they were against it before obama got in the car to go to the congress. talk about arrogance. >> because they knew it wasn't going to work and they were right, bill, it doesn't work. >> 3 million jobs, john. ask the cbo. >> it hasn't worked at all. >> john, would you admit that this pledge for america on its surface is exactly what the republicans had for eight years? where's the change? >> i think it's an updated version. i think they've -- one of the things that eye think one of the things that they've done is said that you know for three days, you've got a chance to read every bill and i think that's an important change and you think that the fact of the matter is each time that you have to update things and they're going to cut spending in a way that's very, very meaningful to the

american taxpayers. >> come on, john, you don't even believe that. we're not going to go backwards, john, we're not going to go back to the bush years the american people don't want to do it. >> gentlemen, ask you about in book that's coming up bob woodward has written "obama's wars" and i'm glad that there debate inside of the white house, i'm glad they're swearing at each other about policy, it seems to me like president obama's trying to do the right thing, get us out of that damn thing. he says, quote, i can't let this war eye can't let this be a war without end and i can't lose the whole democratic party. what do you make of this, bill press? >> first of all, if i were president obama, i would have paid woodward to write this book from what i read about it so far. look, this is a big deal. this is bush's war. obama inherits it, they've got to decide what do. and the way he describes it, it worked. the system worked. the president brought everybody in, the generals, everybody else in. they discussed all of the various possibilities. the generals wouldn't give him an exit strategy. obama says, i'm taking charge. i'll do a 30,000 temporary surge but we're going to have a plan to get out of there. i was impressed by that. he took charge. good for him.

>> bill, bill, i think this bill -- this book is very troubling. the fact of the matter is the pentagon and the white house are not on the same page. the fact that the president's worried mostly about politics and not about policy, he's worried about losing the whole democratic party. why doesn't he -- and also does not say at all -- >> well, hold on, john. >> john, john -- >> no sense of winning the war. >> wait. >> here's the bottom line here, gentlemen -- >> they are -- >> hold it, time-out. hold it, we have to bring in point in. john, this is a key point. the bushies always said that they listened to the generals on ground. despite of what president obama wants to do he's listening to the generals who are operating this war. he gave them another 30,000 troops. >> exactly. >> how can the conservatives turn on him for that? >> the implication of this book is the pentagon does not really think that the president wants to win this war, and matter of fact -- >> that is not true. >> that is true. that's one of implications of the book. >> wait a minute, wait a minute. >> he doesn't want to win in war. >> give me a chance here, hey, john, whoa, slow down. >> a real big floor john, let's get the facts on the table. >> right. >> secretary gates is with the

president. general petraeus is with the president. the pentagon is with the president. the president says we're not going to be in afghanistan forever, and by the way, may i remind you, barack obama's the commander in chief, okay? he was the one who ought to make decisions. >> we have to run. bill and john, always a pleasure. up next, i'm hearing all kinds of rumors about wall street replacing larry summers. that would be an absolute nightmare. co-founder adam green sounds off on this and the next best move for the president.

and it's not too late to let us know what you think. tonight's text survey question is, do republicans care more about saving lives or saving money? text "a" for saving lives. text "b" for saving money.

and in my "playbook" tonight, president obama has a big decision on make about who will replace larry summers as the head of the national economic council, the stakes are high. there are reports the president is looking to wall street, a corporate america executive for a successor but liberal groups are working to get a good progressive in there. joining me now is adam green, co-founder of the progressive change campaign committee. adam, summers' leaving is this good news for liberals? >> it's great news for america, not just liberals. basically, the role that larry summers had was supposed to essentially do two things. one, be an honest broker in the white house, making sure that the president is exposed to all economic views, and two, be a close economic adviser to the president. and larry summer his a consistent record of putting his finger on the scale for all the wall street views and sidelining the populists, those who want to fight for little guy, and he himself often waiting on behalf of wall street. he leaving is great and a great opportunity for president obama to appoint someone who will fight for everyday people. >> the third person to leave the

economic arena in the obama administration. where should the president go. >> well, again, this is a big moment for president obama and he should go to someone in the mold of elizabeth warren, not necessarily her, but someone like her who has credibility on these economic issues and is willing to hold wall street's feet to the fire and go to bat for everyday nimour economy, someone like robert reisch might be good, byron dorgan might be good but also an interesting republican candidate named sheila baer her background with bob dole. but reputation of willing to challenge wall street as the current head of the fdic, so there's some great candidates out there who are very credible and this is the defining moment for him and the future of his economic policy. will he fight for the little guy? >> adam green, good to have you with us tonight. summers was not a friend of manufacturer. his policy encouraged outsourcing and trade with china. we need someone to take his place whole stand up for american boerngs joining me now is scott paul, executive director of the alliance for american manufacturering.

mr. summer was a free trader and not a friend of manufacturing, is that i fair statement, scott. >> i looked at his record ed, and his approach to china during this administration as well as his approach to the imf and to nafta in the clinton administration left a lot to be desired and in fact a lot of these decisions have cost american jobs and we're still digging out of that hole. >> what would manufacturing, creating jobs, in this country like to see the president do with his top economic adviser. >> i tell you what, i think that there are a lot of people that are very close to the white house right now who could fill in and do a great kbripd would second the idea of elizabeth warren, she'd be terrific. bernstein. ron bloom the executive czar. they understand not only how wall street works but how main street and factories work and how you have to piece it all together but i think it's an opportunity for not only progressives but productive

economy to have a good voice in there who's fighting for american production, american manufacturing which i know from hearing the president speak is a top agenda item for him. >> what are -- are there any names being tossed out there that you don't favor, that you think would be not be good for manufacturing? >> well, i dong there's a temptation to look at well-established economists, guys like joe stiglitz, joe stiglitz is good to many issues. i don't think that he's particularly good on the issue china, the same goes for bob reisch. i think a little bit of a global realist on this. i also think that using the position as a bring back the multinational community would also be a big mistake. i don't think that having a former executive from xerox, for instance, or someone like that, is either going to increase business goodwill for the obama administration nor do i think he's going to get advice that he needs. >> scott paul, good to have you

with us tonight. it's all any china and the competition, no doubt. final pages in "the playbook" tonight, paladino who sent out something stinks in albany garbage mailers is dangerously close to catching andrew cuomo. a new poll shows paladino just six points behind, independent mayor, of course mayor bloomberg getting a little bit nervous here? he endorsed mr. cuomo earlier today. rahm might be packing his bags earlier than expected, speculation of emanuel's run for the mayor of campaign manager is heating up and sources tell nbc news that he may step down as soon as october, when asked about it today press secretary robert gibbs says he's not going to rule anything in or anything out. i think that sounds very encouraging that rahm would be leaving. and finally michael vick will get the starting call this weekend at quarterback for the philadelphia eagles.

no doubt the coaches in philadelphia are making the call on this one. not maybe a popular call with many fans but the fact is, the 18 months he spent in prison certainly didn't hurt his football skills at all. whether here's rehabilitated in the eyes of many americans is yet to be determined, but the fact is he's lived up to all of his obligations and now he gets a chance to start in the nfl, his response was, i'm very humbled. up next, last night i introduced you to a 99er so furious with government that she says that there asgroup forming that they won't vote. i'm against that. tonight, we'll meet 99er rondap taylor, she thinks it's absolutely nuts not to vote. it's more important now than it's more important now than [ female announcer ] something unexpected to the world of multigrain... taste. delicious pringles multigrain.

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and finally tonight this could be a very dangerous story for the democrats. and now i've been telling you about the 99ers, the no-vo agreement. i don't agree with it. are threatening to stay home on election day if congress doesn't act to help them asap. the hourglass has been turned on many of these americans, and of course the congress doesn't have much time to act on this. but not all 99ers are on board with this, include mignext guest.

let me bring in rhonda taylor. rhonda, good to have you with us tonight. the no-vo movement is now into the thousands. you tells that you this would be the worst thing to do? what's your reaction as a 99er about not being involved and not engaging in this political season? >> i think it would be very hypocriical to ask our government to work on our behalf, but not vote. vote is the number one thing that we have in america and that's one thing they can't take away from me. and that's what i will keep. i will vote. but i will be a very educated voter and i will pay attention. to who's doing right by us. >> has your situation changed your political thinking at all? this is what the no-voers are saying. they feel disenfranchised, left behind, they want somebody to pay for it, what do you say? >> i do feel left behind, however the republicans' side has offered me nothing but insults and the word, no.

i have made every attempt to contact the republicans' side and i've gotten silence. so what's my option? of course i'm going to separate -- i'm going to support the democratic party. i'm absolutely going to stand behind them, but i want them to stand behind the 99ers and step up to the plate and get the bill on the floor and show the republicans for who they are, the heartless people that will not help the people that are truly suffering out here. >> how do you know that your attitude won't change between now and november? because it doesn't look like the democrats will act on the stabenow bill in the sen night i've been waiting seven months for some sort of help. two months isn't going to change my attitude. >> okay. what happened to your job? what happened to you? >> my job was outsourced. >> overseas? >> in india. it was india. >> it went to india? >> yes. >> and you don't have to reveal the name of the company but do you know if the ceo got a bonus because many of your employees were let go on.

>> on my lunch breaks i used to hang out with one of the ceo secretaries and she discussed the bonus checks that came across your table and they were in the millions and so now the ceos were not hurting then and they're not hurting now. >> rhondatay lork good to have you tonight, all the best to you and thanks for speaking up. tonight in our text survey, i asked, do republicans care more about saving lives or saving money. 42% say, saving lives, 58% say saving money. that's the "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. stay with msnbc tonight for a "countdown" exclusive special report. republicans say they want to extend all the bush tax cuts to help out small businesses? keith olbermann will introduce you to some of the small businesses there they're really helping and you're going to want to see this folks. in fact, you'll meet the owners.