age of 78. a columnist moving -- losing his battle with brain cancer. i want to bring in bill sammon, our washington, d.c. auditor. -- editor. his column ran for four years. we could go on and on. this is truly an icon of journalism. >> he was one of the most influential journalists and america. he was one of the rare columnists that instead of remaining in his own office every week, he went out and used shoe leather in journalism, newspaper reporting skills, and got faxed to put in his column. he made a point of pride to never print a column that did not have at least one new previously unreported fact. he was a giant. he will be missed. trace: he was a contributor for us in recent years. you go back and you know he was raised jewish, converted to the ball as the sun. he was a conservative but a registered democrat. -- catholicism. he was a man of every flavor. >> he was always anti-communist, anti-taxation, but he wrote in his memoirs that these other issues he was forced to take hard positions on to the course of many decades on television shows. so he was perceived to be a right wing ideologue, but it was more complicated than that. you are right, he was a registered democrat. he was basically a curmudgeon. he did not like democrats or republicans, and he loved to stir up trouble. juliet: you say that he reveled in his nickname of "prince of darkness" but we would be remiss not to point out that he was brought into the news initially and during the and valerie -- valerie plame case. it did affect thehim later in hs career. >> he did identify that it would be the thing that he was remembered for. the elrich's husband -- valerie's husband was publishing an op-ed talking about the issue. the white house had to defend itself against an attack, but now it is perceived as novak preemptively and gratuitously exposing a cia operatives named. it was not the central point of the column, and it assumed too much importance in half a century of journalism. trace: thank you, bill. we appreciate it. juliet: it is shaping up to be the vital issue, government-run health insurance. some party members say government -- a bill without a government-run program is dead on arrival. now president obama is stuck in the middle on how to overhaul the system. shannon bream is reporting from washington. >> there are divisions within the democratic party when it comes to the public option. so many on the left have pushed hard for it. when they heard talk that maybe the administration was backing off, they made -- wasted no time responding. nancy pelosi jet never minded all -- gently reminded that all three bills should have this option. the bush pac was swift and strong. juliet: kathleen sebelius seemed to spark a discussion about this whole thing. we have been playing this video all day. she has been trying to downplay her statements. how does that being taken? >> there was quite a reaction to what she said on the sunday shows. there has been a lot of talk about what she meant by that, whether it was a slip of the tongue. here is how she addressed all the hype. >> all i can tell you this sunday must have been a very slow news day. here is the bottom line. absolutely nothing has changed. we continue to support the public option that will help lower costs, give american consumers more choice, and keep private insurers honest. >> you will notice that she said we continue to support a public option but did not settle the matter and whether or not it was an absolute essential portion to be concluded. trace: it is not exactly that the white house has made his crystal clear for us. the president has said time and time again that the public option, in some capacity will be there. then we had him backtrack this week. now we have robert gibbs same we have said the same thing over and over again, well, they haven't. >> we will hear from robert gibbs today at the white house press briefing. i can guarantee that major garrett and other reporters will want to probe that. to say that we have been boring in maintaining these same stances on the party lines does not explain all the different statements. we should know more today. trace: you can imagine there is great interest in the white house briefing today at 2:00. not just health care, we are talking about e-mails. we will have team coverage on the front side and the back side. co-ops have is an idea on the table on health care reform. what exactly are they? is this something that can record your family? -- can work for your family? and an awful accident, at a plant. we will tell you what happened. ..xn0]are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. - oh, come on. - enough! you get half and you get half. ( chirp ) team three, boathouse? ( chirp ) oh yeah-- his and hers. - ( crowd gasping ) - ( chirp ) van gogh? ( chirp ) even steven. - ( chirp ) mansion. - ( chirp ) good to go. ( grunts ) timber! ( chirp ) boss? what do we do with the shih-tzu? - ( crowd gasps ) - ( chirp ) joint custody. - phew! - announcer: get work done now. communicate in less than a second with nextel direct connect. only on the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. trace: in the top box, we are tracking hurricane bill. it is gaining strength and could turn into a major category 3 storm. we do not yet know where it is going. in the middle box, missing mother kristy cornwell. police are going door to door looking for her. in the bottom box, one of the libyan men charged in the bombing in scotland now one step closer of being transferred out of prison. he has terminal cancer and wants to die in his homeland. and juliet: an intensive search right now for at least 62 workers missing after a deadly plant explosion in russia. this is video from their largest hydroelectric plants. investigators say the blast killed 12 people and now many people are missing. russian police say there is probably little chance, if any, that the missing workers are alive. this shows you a partially collapsed wall. here is a picture of an oil slick that was created in may norton -- nearby river. trace: you have all heard about this public option. now the ids for a public co-op. what is a co-op? is it just a different way to have the government run your health care? with me now is the ceo of the american college of cardiology. when we look at these definitions, sometimes they are this long, sometimes there are this long. basically, a co-op -- we own our health insurance companies. >> a co-op is a public-private partnership that would take government money and manage in in a private sector way to provide a friendlier service, half the patients, half the doctors. trace: they could operate on a state, national, or regional level. >> we have a lot of different geographies in population and environment in which they would have to function. california is a good example. there medicaid program has contacted out with several county-wide agencies, and they have gotten very high remarks. there are co-ops today that our public-private that are doing some great things with private sector innovation. trace: if the government gets involved, the concern of everyone has it is, it is just fannie mae and freddie mac for health insurance. the government cannot let these things fail. they have failed in the past. how can you have true competition if they are not allowed to fail? >> first of all, because health care is so important to the congress, american people, physicians, and hospitals, we are just not going to allow that. we need reform. we need to improve quality. trace: but do we need the government running that reform? do we need them involved in these co-ops? that is the concern. they are just changing the name of this thing but it is really the same. >> remember, the government can do some interesting thing that would be the equivalent of the public option. the government can set insurance regulations in place, so that with insurance regulations you get competition inside the exchange. let's not let the public option block the needed help reform we need for the nation. that is the key issue. the public option issue should not be so big to block reform because of it. trace: thank you. meantime, it is the latest -- and largest packing case in history. meet albert gonzales, the alleged mastermind. he was busted for stealing 130 million credit and debit card numbers. he is a busy man. all of this while he is awaiting his trial for another hacking crimes that he was caught for. how do you stop these kinds of guys? with me now is a computer expert who is a former hacker himself. how can someone awaiting trial for stealing millions of credit card numbers do the same thing now? >> obviously, he did not have a computer in federal detention. likely, these crimes were committed before the t.j.maxx hack, and that officials found out about this other attack. trace: how much of this is really affecting us? i did the math. you take one for $10 -- each one for $10, and that can be quite a lot of money. how much money are they making? >> the front stairs can charge a small amount or they can try to match it out. to find the actual amount is difficult. -- max it out. trace: the question i have now is if i do not know, my company has not notified me, and a lot of people will be affected by this. until we get notified, how do we know if we have been ripped off? >> if you live in the state of california, there are laqwlaws require disclosure. you can set up alerts so that when your credit card is used, it can send you a text message or e-mail notifying you of that. so if there is any unauthorized activity, you would know about it right away. trace: it seems like there is no way to protect myself. is there a way to protect myself? >> not really. these companies on the internet are vulnerable. i had my personal information from at&t wireless exposed. hackers got it that information and posted it. that is a big company. there are hitting credit-card processors, heartland payment systems. they process about 1 million transactions a day. the systems are on the internet, they are vulnerable, hackers get in through the back end database, and they transfer this information. it is a big problem. trace: thank you. juliet: expert hackers, when they say it is impossible to protect yourself, he was the best of the best. just watch all your statements. the white house coming under fire for some of the ways it has used its e-mail. now some are wondering if they are too buddy buddy with google. should americans be concerned about their privacy? she is 16 and he is 53. he showed up on the scent of a miley syrus movie and said that he was engaged to her. now police are describing in as a stalking case. bicycle, i've missed you. gathering dust, as pollen floats through the air. but with the strength of zyrtec ® , the fastest, 24-hour allergy relief, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. with zyrtec ® i can love the air ™ . trace: in the top box, president obama wrapped up a meeting with his egyptian counterpart president mubarak, and said that he is encouraged by the progress. in the middle box, an evacuation orders lifted in california where crews are making progress by other wildfires in northern central california. in the bottom box, it looks like brett favre may be out of retirement again. the quarterback is in minnesota with a meeting. if you are a green bay packers fan, the dreaded vikings. juliet: the white house internet practice is raising some eyebrows. first it set up an e-mail address where americans could send e-mails about fishy messages, but that has been taken down and replaced with a new website about health insurance reform. then there was the mass e-mail issue. eric sean is looking into the issue. >> the administration is now pushing a plan that critics say could endanger privacy on the lead. they are ending using the ban on using cookies. the administration says that it would lead to greater ease and transparency when people use government websites, but critics fear the government or internet providers could collect data on citizens use. the white house has been down this road before. earlier this year, embedded cookies of videos of the president were discontinued. apparently, this rule would only apply to federal agencies, not to other web sites like google. critics say the administration is too cozy with the internet giant and several top executives have joined the administration. it is pointed out that eric schmidt is a member of the council of advisers. the company has worked with the white house to protect the privacy of users. as for the formal groomer and executives part of the administration, they say that they respect their decision to work in the public sector. we also asked about current executives forming in the administration. omb has told us that any change would be in full compliance with the privacy act, and they point out that no decision has been made. juliet: thank you. we will be watching the story. trace: want to see an allegedly creepy guy? this 53-year-old man charged with stalking teenage star miley cyrus. mark mccloud tried to sneak onto a site where she was shooting a movie twice and even told a security officer that he was secretly engaged to her. he is now facing charges of stalking and disorderly conduct. juliet: i saw him do an interview and he said he was there to see his fiancee. anyway, rental cars not the most reliable cars on the road, but one agency may have gone too far to say a few bucks. the standard safety feature that they ordered their fleet without. and one man relaxing on his front porch in southern california, when he sees something horrifying. that is what he is talking about. that burmese python reared its ugly head. we must be to the person that found it. ?7 ?7 so? mmmm ok. you were right. these healthy choice fresh mixer thingys, they taste fresh... say it again! what? say it like, "mmmm, these healthy choice fresh mixers taste freshh!!" they taste fresh... wait. what are you doing? got it. you're secretly taping me? you were good too! but you know, it wasn't a secret to us, we knew... yes, but it was a secret to me. of course, otherwise i would be sitting like this and completely block his shot. so that's why i was like... didn't you notice this was weird? no. they taste fresh because you make them fresh. healthy choice fresh mixers. in the soup or pasta aisle. trace: we have a brand new information on three stories. first, in georgia, and one missing one week. marianne silber is following that for us. >> it has been nearly one week since kristy cornwell was adopted while walking near her home. now state and local law enforcement are questioning local residents going door-to- door and doing random license checks hoping to find a clue. there are still not sure if this was targeted or random. trace: now to washington, d.c. james rosen, barack obama, hillary clinton. what a difference a year makes. >> poll numbers show hillary clinton rising in the estimation of registered voters, up 11%. in this time, she broke her elbow and was forced to dismiss the limbaugh's that she would be marginalized. since june, same category for president obama is declining. trace: thank you. jennifer griffin is at the pentagon following stress training. >> that is right, the u.s. army is starting a pilot program to inoculate soldiers from the stress of combat. the $117 billion program will soon be in part of basic training. the research was done at the university of pennsylvania. trace: thank you. juliet: we are going to talk about hurricane bill gathering strength as it turns across the atlantic. forecasters expected to turn into a major storm in the next few days. janice dean says that the new england coast need to be cautious. what is the latest? >> we are still five days away from knowing where the storm will know, the intensity, landfall pinpoint. one thing we are sure of it is the storm is strengthening. we have a well-defined eye now. there is the track. as we go further out in time, a bit more uncertainty. take a look at the new england coast line. kickoff is not included in this cone of uncertainty. we do not really have a good clue as to where the storm is going. we can only rely on our computer models. that is the latest. we will get a new advisory at 5:00, and to run the next couple of days, storm waters will be tracking its direction. we are talking about a ridge of high pressure in the atlantic that is still steering the storm. eventually low pressure will bring this northward, but the timing and intensity still yet to be determined. one other area i want to point out, ana. it was a depression yesterday, but we are still having some showers and storms over cuba and hispaniola. back to you. juliet: thank you. trace: because we are always looking for your safety, there is this -- enterprise rent-a- car admitting to selling 150 used cars without standard issue safety air bags. they ordered the vehicles for the manufacturer without the air bags so that they could save a few bucks, and then later save -- sold the cars claiming that they contain a safety feature. steve centanni is with us in washington. >> this resulted from an investigation in a kansas city newspaper. they advertised at them on the internet for sale without letting the buyers now that it did not have the standard impact -- side impact air bag. enterprise is the largest buyer of new cars and the largest seller of new -- used ones, too. they ordered a fleet of cars without this side impact air bag. they specified not to have the air bag installed. when they turn around and sold some of them on line, they feared -- failed to make clear that it was lacking and that safety item. enterprise says there are not the only ones who buys a fleet of cars without the safety feature. they also said that the website had a glitch in the system and said that they promised to buy back those specific cars at $750 above blue book value. the company responded with this message -- side impact air bags, by the way, are not yet required by federal law, but they will be by next year, but apparently are very effective. the side curtain air bags protect your head reduce highway deaths by 40% in accidents occurring on the driver's side. eight dozen people were killed in that kind of collision in 2007 alone. trace: thank you. juliet: it is 12 feet long, weighs 50 pounds, and decided to hang out in someone's backyard. animal control wrangling up a burmese python in one man said southern california home. he was sitting on his porch when he saw the snake. it did not take long for him to call 911. the riverside control animal control -- county animal control took care of it. there with me on the telephone. -- they are with me on the telephone. it is -- is it unusual to see a python in that area? >> yes, there are primarily paths. juliet: is there any indication that this was someone's pet that they could not handle any more? >> we posted it on the website, and and people can identify them, but nothing has happened yet. juliet: what was the man reaction? >> they were amazed. he was kind of mad that a snake this large was in the open. juliet: where is the snake right now? >> right now it is in our facility in a cage with a lock. juliet: you will be freeing it in a safe way, i am sure. thank you. trace: the reason the health- care debate is striking a nervous because it affects all of us. we all want to know, will government-run health insurance become a reality? for months, the president has said yes. now the commander in chief may be shifting his tone, and it is upsetting members of his own party. and we have brand new gallup poll numbers. they are not good for health care or the president. 100 potato chips or 100 pringles. both cost the same, but only the new pringles superstack can makes everything pop! ♪ same cost but a lot more fun. ♪ everything pops with the new pringles superstack can! a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthritis pain all day. how about beer-battered shrimp and chips... or one of our coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad combinations? eight dishes that fit into your lunch hour... starting at just $6.99. at red lobster. trace: the fate of government- run health insurance greeting in dust the between democrats. officials open-door for a version of the bill that does not include the government-run health insurance. we have two guests with us now. we have some breaking news i want to get to first. a brand new gallup poll. the president's approval rating. approval rating at 52%. this approval is at 42%, the highest yet. it jumped five points in the last three days. if you are the president, steve murphy, are you concerned? >> if i'm the president, i am always concerned about public opinion, but day to day pulling is not going to guide my decision making. the government sponsoring a health insurance company here to keep the insurance industry honest. that is the issue. the biggest problem we have today are runaway costs. most democrats believe in public option is the way to keep the public industry -- trace: let me jump in here. you say it is not challenging the debate. they are not reactive, they are proactive. yet, john fiery, you have the president saying this has to be in the bill that i signed. the public option has to be in the bill. you had kathleen sebelius say this weekend that it may or may not be off the table. then you have robert gibbs. he says this. i want to put it on the screen -- trace: but that is not true. the president has said that it must be in the bill, it should be, but now he is saying it is just a sliver of the bill, and if it makes it or not, that is not important. >> if you look at the ball, and then you will see independents sharply turning away from the president. the public option is dumb. i do not think people want that. what the president needs to do is fix the problem. you can do that without having a $1 trillion takeover of our health-care system. you can do in by banning pre- existing condition from the health insurance and giving individual mandate. this is why independents are changing, and why the president is changing his rhetoric. trace: you see that building behind john? there is a bit of a standoff there. the senate says there are not enough votes for it to go through. the house says that they will not even consider it without the public option. >> this is the way the legislative process works. in the house there are probably enough democrats to pass, although i doubt it will be in legislation. the president is not backing off of his belief that this would be the best thing to do. the reality is we almost certainly cannot get it passed in the senate without it in there. are we going to advance the cause of health care reform and take a few steps forward, even if it is not the optimal solution? are we going to have a all or nothing position? trace: well, the president keeps saying -- and we are going to hear from robert gibbs. they keep saying over and over again the reason is not selling is not because of the plan itself, but because there are so many misconceptions about the plan. it is a fine line to walk to say that the mosmost americans do nt understand this because they are misinformed. >> i think the president made a mistake saying that he believes frederick will save the day. the american people are pretty smart. they do not want government-run health care. if he has a plan without that, he can win, but you make an important point -- trace: i have to jump in here. dennis kucinich was on the air earlier and he said it was time to start over. steve, your thoughts? >> we all know we are not going to get a single payer plan. all of this argument about government-run health care -- 45% of health care is already run by the government. are we going to get rid of medicare and the v.a. system? if not, this argument is disingenuous. juliet: once again, we are awaiting that white house press conference. would you go to vote if someone said that they would cut off your finger? that is what the hell and then told to one town. -- taliban told one town. and you might not be able to get a swine flu vaccination, even if you want one. a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a trace: we are awaiting the white house briefing in the top box. you can imagine health care, the public option will be on the table. also, the aim of controversy. after the white house briefing, we will have full analysis, including karl rove. juliet: a boat and we will top of your finger. that was the real threat from the taliban in afghanistan as they make it deadly push to keep civilians away from the polls. scenes like this one on the outskirts of kabul killing more than a dozen people, including afghan soldiers. but what could be the most significant attack did not kill anyone, rockets landing on the presidential compound. this is a place considered to be the nation's most secure area. militants promising attacks on polling places and there is a good chance they will follow through. greg palkot is streaming from afghanistan. what does all of this mean for security and for those people trying to change things? >> it was a major blast on the eastern side of cobble. the taliban already claimed responsibility. we were out there earlier today. it is full of targets for the taliban. of course, we are less than two days away from the elections. that blast against the presidential convoy left one dead, injured a few civilians and more than 50 civilians injured. in fact, they were the ones to take the brunt of this. the taliban are here, and they mean business. juliet: it will probably escalate as the election gets closer, right? >> that is right. we were speaking to afghan soldiers. they are on the front lines with international forces and they all say there will be more attacks. we spoke to one interior ministry official and he said the a vote will go on, the people will have their say, and they will be able to stand up for the country. trace: the government is working to solve a major delay and the delivery of swine flu vaccine. it was predicted that they would have 120 million doses on hand but now they expect just 45 million. the problem appears to be more about packaging than the actual availability. now the government is searching for factories that can get more of the doses and syringes faster. in juliet: we have our must see fact of the day. ferrets are useful in flu studies because their respiratory tract is similar to ours. trace: the white house briefing expected to begin any moment. we are about three minutes away. robert gibbs will step to the podium any minute. we will bring that to you as it happens. and you are looking at pictures of kristy cornwell. she disappeared one week ago. why they are now interviewing sex offenders. ♪ and as you can see it kinda bites! ♪ ♪ so sing the lyrics with me: ♪ when your debt goes up your score goes down ♪ ♪ when you pay a little off it goes the other way 'round ♪ ♪ it's just the same for everybody, every boy and girl ♪ ♪ the credit roller coaster makes you wanna hurl ♪ ♪ so throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em around ♪ ♪ like a wanna-be frat boy trying to get down ♪ ♪ then bring 'em right back to where your laptop's at... ♪ ♪ log on to free credit report dot com - stat! ♪ vo: free credit score and report with enrollment in triple advantage. n diabetics on medicare. hello, i'm john fox---you may know that i'm a professional bass fisherman. but you may not know that i have diabetes. and it's never slowed me down thanks to the good folks at liberty medical. i've been a liberty medical patient for years and have relied on them for all my diabetic needs. and, if you call now you'll receive a free meter. it's easy to use with fast results. even the shipping is free and medicare may cover the cost of your other supplies. liberty medical keeps you on track by delivering diabetic supplies right to your door. they even take care of the paperwork, file your claims and send you a free meter. call right now and they'll also send you a free diabetic cookbook. diabetes doesn't have to slow you down. join me and over a million people who trust liberty medical. ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supporting bipartisan reform that congress can build on. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- juliet: welcome to "the live desk." trace: we begin with a fox news alert. the daily news briefing no moments away. it is the first time we will be hearing from robert gibbs since the in the controversy forced the white house to make some major changes to its web site. major garrett is moving the story forward from the get go. he is inside the briefing room, specifically in the second row. what do we expect? >> we have gotten a tremendous amount of activity since the last briefing here. this briefing will be more about health care that it will be about female questions. health care continues to be the driving topic. robert gibbs and kathleen sebelius trying to redirect the attention of democrats today away from comments over the weekend that many democrats interpreted as a signal that the white house could be moving away from its support of its so- called public option. the white house saying it has not and it is still the president's preference, but if there are better ideas out there, the white house is willing to listen to them. it is a formulation the white house is trying to use to please send a democrat to or not as enamored on the public option, and house democrats who 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 they were discovered about the health care plan. that part of the website has been removed. they said that there was a lot of rumors and innuendo about the website, and to separate fact from fiction, they were combining websites at. trace: we know you have work to do. we will get back to you. i want to bring in bill sammon. he has more on the controversy. you heard the last thing that major garrett was talking about. is it simple enough to deactivate this part of the website? is there more behind the story? >> it is simple enough to turn off the website, but not so simple to turn off the political problem, potentially that arises when you start to think about the fact they collected e-mails presumably well that when the dress was still functioning. it is telling. the white house, instead of coming clean on this and saying that they screwed up, instead of doing that, they had to politicize the response. they came out with a statement saying that there was fear mongering, conspiracy theorists by defenders of the status quo. in other words, and demonizing everyone who was of said that they were getting unsolicited e- mails. i think that tells us some information instead of queenly saying we screwed up. they had to go political with it. trace: is it your sense that there are some republicans now saying that they want the full truth? we want to find out exactly what was happening. it is not good enough that you just changed the website. now you can send your messages to realitycheck. does this story have legs? are they going to put it to rest and move on? >> i think the story is still growing. the ranking republican on the house republican oversight reform committee, his letter to the white house counsel's office, gregory craig -- he said here are some questions, invoking the presidential records act, invoking rules and records for preserving e-mails and record within the white house. he is asking a lot of specific, legal questions. this is where it goes from a political today potentially legal problem. by the way, they shut down the fighting at one house -- whitehouse.gov but they have opened up a similar one. trace: we are talking about lobbying and advertising here. >> the white house is not supposed to be lobbying. that is not their purview. the other possible legal error that you could look at is if they are purging these records. if so, is that a violation of the presidential records act? are they keeping records? if so, does that mean you have an enemies list? certainly, the people are disagreeing with the government. why would you keep the names of the people disagreeing with you? what purpose does that serve? i know they talked about conspiracy theories, but it does not take a big leap of imagination to imagine that they can put anybody else on this list, if they desired. trace: we know now from investigating that a lot of opponents of this administration did receive these e-mails. we talked about third parties and there was concern from republicans that a lot of opponents got these e-mails with no connection. they do not see it connecting with this argument. . >> that is why it will be interesting when we begin. major garrett had been alone on this for a few days. the rest of the media has started to pick this up, but i imagine the bush administration when they had this domestic spying issue. you were not allowed to listen in on a terrorist. now the obama administration is supposedly collecting the names of people who disagree with their domestic policy and sending out unsolicited e-mail from david axelrod. if karl rove were sending these messages, i think the press would pay more attention. trace: of course, after the white house briefing, karl rove will be on our program to give us his take on what happened. had bill sammon, thank you. juliet: janice dean is here to tell us more about hurricane bill now. >> it is expected to become a category three shortly. you can see that well defined eye and satellite imagery. this is the storm to watch. very well defined eye. this could be strengthening as we speak and is expected to become a category three. there is the track. yesterday, we were talking about a storm that came close to a bermuda. the east coast needs to be paying attention to this, especially kate caught. that cone of uncertainty is now brushing that area. we are still uncertain about what is going to go on. we have hurricane hunters flying through this to get more data, but the important thing is folks across the eastern coast need to be paying attention. 105 sustained winds right now, and it is expected to strengthen. it will be moving through some very warm, deep water, so we could have some rapid identification. we could be dealing with a category 3 or higher. also, we have a lot of variables left in the track of this storm. if the storm is weaker or stronger than we thought, it will take a different path. we will be keeping an eye on it. trace: it is all about the cone of uncertainty. the search for a missing georgia mother is now crossing state lines. the latest on efforts to find kristi cornwell. and remembering robert novak. we will play what we believe is one of his last television interviews. >> senator obama's military experience is less than mine. i spent two years as a lieutenant in the army. medicare. it doesn't cover everything. and what it doesn't cover can cost you some money. that's why you should consider... an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by united healthcare insurance company. it can help cover some of what medicare doesn't... so you could save up to thousands of dollars... in out-of-pocket expenses. call now for 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about the funeral plans for sullenberger chicago columnist front novak who died today after a bout with brain cancer. -- chicago columnist robert novak, who died today after a bout with brain cancer. here is some of the last many we have. >> i got a suggestion from a very senior mccain aide made yesterday afternoon that he would announce this week. they did not want it to come out the way that it is going to come out. juliet: the search for a missing woman extends down to tennessee. the police now speaking to 180 sex offenders on the georgia- tennessee border. that is around where kristi cornwell disappeared. her boyfriend said that he overheard some sort of struggle. they were speaking on the cellphone. he was in atlanta. marianne silber he, what is the latest? >> police are going door-to-door and they are doing random license checks. they want to speak to anyone moving in this direction on this road behind me. she disappeared not long from here, and it is a state road. they say it is possible who ever took her could have taken her north into another state. that is my friends and family members say, no matter where you live, please take a look at the pictures and if you see anything strange, report it. there were a couple of vehicles around the area that cannot belong to people in the area there in the event. one was a white s.u.v.. the other was a gold or tan color toyota compact. juliet: we were talking to her sister and she said that it was typical for her to go to a walk -- on what. did the family established any patterns? -- on a walk. >> she went walking all the time because it is a very pretty area. of course, she was on her cell phone talking to her boyfriend. of course, her family is worried. they do not know where she can be. because this is a state road, she could still be out there and is still on the moves. listen to what they had to say earlier. >> her law enforcement training, law enforcement and education, her physical strength, all of that is going to help her bring her through this. >> that was her brother talking about the fact that she was a former probation officer. they are hoping that those skills will help bring her home. juliet: we have a spokesperson with the georgia investigation. you believe she has been abducted. you cannot believe she ran off for any reason? >> yes, based on the conversation that she had with her and her boyfriend. juliet: one of the things that keep on coming up was the fact that she had worked as a parole officer. is that something that you are focusing on? >> yes, we are working with georgia department of corrections to see if we can identify anyone she worked with. that is several years back, but we are looking at that. juliet: are there any other similar cases that you're looking at? i understand there is when you are looking at in particular. >> the one that happened in this county has already been solved. right now he is in a florida prison, so there is no connection there. but we are interfering sex offenders in tennessee now which would bring our total to 180. juliet: anything else that you would like to get out to the public to help them find is missing woman? >> if the public knows or years anything regarding her whereabouts, or knows anything about a white s.u.v. that might be connected, or this compact car, please do not hesitate to communicate. juliet: we have the phone number on our screen as well. if anybody out there has any information, as you heard him say, please call that number. we will continue following this story. trace: in the meantime, a.i.g. received $182 million in the largest government bailout ever, and now they have a new ceo. after all the outrage over salaries, would you care to guess how much the new chief executive is being paid? when i was told i had diabetes, i felt amazingly boxed in. 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(announcer) now available in five vibrant colors. the cleaner you feel. olay deep cleansers go beyond what the eye can see. they remove 2 times more dirt and make-up than basic cleansing. for a deep clean feeling, deep cleansers from olay. juliet: welcome back to "the live desk." we are about one minute away from the white house briefing. in the middle box, an update on the missing ship that was located yesterday. the russian navy arrested eight men accused of hijacking the vessel. and in the bottom box, the dow is rebounding after yesterday's sell-off. trace: or did will come out, do some house cleaning, if you will, and as soon as he gets to the question and answer session, we will bring that to you. and uncle sam signing off on a pretty sweet pay package for the new chief executive of a.i.g. he will be getting $7 million a year. does that sound fair to you? it is your money. tracy burnes is watching this. >> look what happened to the last guy. ed liddy came in all philanthropic, work for $1, and it did not really do much. does he really deserve this money here? he came out of retirement after being the ceo of met life. technically, a.i.g. need to more than he needs the job. trace: i see, the first two people did not do much and they got a lot of money. now this guy gets the job. >> what they should have done, for prs-sake, give him the money later, or tie the money to stock awards. the idea of bonuses but not to dwell with people. this is a tough job. trace: getting pay for what you work for? that is silly. >> it is going to be a tough job. trace: there are some talented guys out there. if the taxpayers want their money back, you have to put the best guy in the top job. if you want your money back, you need him there. >> the problem is the pr angle. it is not sitting well with anyone. he has a big job ahead of him, so he needed something to get him to show up in the first place. he probably would have taken $3 million. trace: we are going to go to the briefing now. i am having trouble seeing him. thank you, tracy. we were told that he would be coming out here to give some menu items, and when he does that, we will bring that to you. remember, this is the first press briefing we have had since thursday major garrett asked the question about this e-mail sent from senior white house adviser david axelrod. it was talking points about the pros and cons, misinformation, as the white house described it, over the health-care debate. he was trying to set the record straight. in this e-mail, he asks for supporters to start a chain mail. if you are wondering, he is in the road two, seat 4, also coincidentally, the name of his blog. then there was this issue of people receiving e-mail us that they did ask for. we will speak to karl rove on his take. a lot of people have said that if he did this, if he had sent out a similar e-mail, there would have been held to pay. we are going to ask karl rove in his take on this is the same as people say his would have been. let's listen to robert gibbs. >> recent humanitarian mission to north korea. president clinton has debriefed with nsc staff twice and members of his team have discussed the events extensively nsc, state department, and other agencies. >> on the report to that israel has asked for new permissions for settlements in the west bank, progress is continuing, but does the u.s. see this as an answer to the president's demands that a settlement is stopped at all? >> i will simply echo what i think you heard the president say in the oval office. we have made good progress on this and other issues with the israelis. i think we are moving forward on a process that continued today with president mubarak being here to discuss long-term peace in the middle east. >> i am interpreting here, you say there has been progress, but it has not gone far enough? >> i simply the noted that we are pleased, the president is pleased that progress has been made. i will say this. it bears mentioning every time we talk about this, and i mentioned this this morning. these are not staffed for one side to take. the president had a discussion with president mubarak about the obligation that all have in this process. we have talked about steps that this administration believes the israelis should take. there are obviously steps that we believe palestinians should take. there are steps that neighboring arab governments need to take. we all have to take steps together in order to see comprehensive middle east peace. >> does the president agree with a statement that israelis must forget a temporary solution? >> i would have to talk to the president on that one. >> what is the response so far to the suggestion that health care reform may not include a public option? is it winning any converts, angering supporters? >> first part of the question? >> what is the response so far from the suggestion that a public option may not be part of health care reform. >> as i have said, the president, the administration's position is unchanged. we have a goal of fostering choice and competition in a private health insurance markets. the president prefers the public option as a way to do that. if others have ideas, we are open to them and are willing to listen to them that is what the president has said for months. when to the enemy, that is what the secretary of health and human services have said for months. i think the suggestion that somehow something was said over the weekend as the new administration policy is just not something that i would agree with. >> there seems to have been a lot of people who took it as a trial balloon -- >> may be in the media. >> actually, supporters in congress talk about the change. look at what the president said. he said the public option is not your enemy, it is your friend. he is not saying that anymore. forget about what he is leaving out. >> the president was clear in two questions he received at the town hall on saturday about the public option. the second question was about the public option. the second to last question was about the debate and then he talked about the same question. let me read this to you. secretary sebelius -- july 12, 2009. you will hear from senators and a little while about a variety of strategies to get to a public option. this is not one size fits all. the president said that we need to have the issue of competition and choice, and how to bring that into the private marketplace. there are a variety of strategies on the table. any guess of what that word that was on? >> cnn. on sunday she also said that the public option was not an essential part of health reform. she did not say that before. on june 15, the president repeatedly said the public option was the way to go. >> i just said it was the preferred option. >> why then did the secretary say on sunday that it is not the essential part? >> the president said that on saturday. >> he had not said -- >> the president has said repeatedly that he is open to ideas. his preferred option is the public plan. he said that on saturday. i said that on sunday. secretary sebelius on your network said that on sunday. this notion that something is markedly changed. let me step back one second. we throw around this notion of choice and competition. let's talk about why you need choice and competition. in an insurance market where 30, 40, 50 million new participants, consumers, could come into the marketplace, in a marketplace that is potentially dominated, in some regions and areas in the country, one insurer. in my home state of alabama, bluecross blueshield has 80% of the market. we understand in a monopoly, where one side dominates the entire market, it is going to be hard to keep down costs. if you have one place to eat lunch before the briefing, do you think it would be cheap? probably not. if you have two places, competing dishes may not be as expensive and if there was only one. the notion of adding that consumer choice through greater competition is the old president has always said has to be paramount. when he talks about the essentialness of healthcare reform, think about the principles. we have to cut costs. that is essential. we have to be deficit-neutral. what is essential is insuring we provide accessibility and health care reform to millions of those who do not currently have it. >> so when you say the public option is now the preferred choice -- >> i said that repeatedly. >> so is the public option an essential part of health care reform? >> what did the president say on saturday? what did the president said on saturday? >> he spoke positively about the public option and he said we could have it, we may not. is it essential? if he used the word "essential" on saturday, why did the secretary not use the same word on sunday? you cannot answer why she did not mention that. >> go back to the question and wonder why you are freezing your question -- freezing your question the way you are. with all due respect, it sounds like you are not remembering what the president said. >> understanding the president believes the public option is the best way to force private insurers to bring down their prices, the white house -- is the white house convinced that co-ops will not adwould be a vie alternative. >> in all honesty, i do not think anybody has seen a level of detail thus far that you would be able to be able to make a complete the educated assumption on what we have seen. >> kent conrad said had the votes are not in the senate for the public option. do you agree? >> that is simply what a lot of people have said. i have not spoken to them recently about the vote count. >> in a letter sent last week from the one house to u.s. postal supervisors, the union leader said that they had collected disappointment that the administration chose the postal service as a scapegoat and an example of inefficiency. has the president seen that letter? has he responded? >> i doubt he has seen the letter. i have no reason to believe that he regrets it since he repeated it. >> the aclu put in a freedom of information act request for information for detainee's detained in bagrham. pentagon officials refused to give up the information. that was one of the president's promises, transparency. >> i saw your blog post about this but i have not seen the letter and i do not have anymore information. >> about whether anything was said over the weekend at all, what your policy position has consistently said is that although it is the preferred method, it is not a deal breaker. >> that is what we said in june, that is what we said in july. >> working from that premise, that does not give much comfort comfort just read that. thank you. i am not sure we can go on. >> my question is assuming this has been the consistent position, this is a position that the other democratic members of congress. we are seeing it expressed more virulently than before, but what essentially the president is saying is the public option at the end of the day is optional. what do you say to members of congress who are threatening to walk out if there is no public option? >> i would say it is the preferred option. >> does that give democratic members comfort? >> i am not a member of the democratic party. i will tell you what the president said on saturday. he strongly believes -- and i walked through the notion of why competition is so fundamentally important to the debate. in a monopoly without consumer choice, without competition, providers -- you are certainly not going to see them cut costs. you are not going to see the competition on quality. those are the goals the president has. >> so the president could envision a scenario where he hadoes not have a public option but many in your party cannot -- >> he cannot live with anything that does not provide choice and competition in a private insurance market that would allow people to get the best possible on the price and quality if they enter a private health insurance market. that is what his bottom line is. do we have a system that provides that choice for consumers and that competition among insurers, of quality and cost? >> acceptable to the president, not members of the party, that would be ok with you? >> the president has many bowls, cutting costs, increasing the accessibility, making this deficit neutral, and injuring cost -- insuring costs and competition. >> have there been conversations between the administration and members of congress who are concerned about this? >> rahm emanuel is fishing out west. >> have you seen this chart from republicans on the hill asking, is he profiting? there is a firm involved in the advertising. >> that is ridiculous. david has left his firm. that agreement was made, i think, because he started and owned the firm. if i'm not mistaken, he was being paid for his creation. >> what message will the president be delivering to religious groups on health care tomorrow? >> you are not going to see a difference in message. you will see the boring consistency ensuring we cut costs. ensuring we take the steps that are necessary to relieve the burden on families and small businesses. obviously, the president will talk about the importance of providing access of affordable health insurance to the millions who currently do not have it. >> [inaudible] >> the president will continue to talk about what he thinks is important in health care, and it won't include all those topics. >> is the white house taken aback by the $700 million pace of the authorized new pay of the new ceo of a.i.g.? >> i believe we will be going through the process with ken feinberg to make sure it is consistent with his principles. obviously, the board wants to find a ceo that is knowledgeable about insurance companies, running an insurance company, and hopefully getting an ailing company back to health again. >> the company is about 80% owned by taxpayers, taxpayers that make $40,000 a year. why should they not feel like suckers if they see the ceo of a government-owned company getting $7 million a year? >> the board is going to make a decision. we have talked about the fact that we are not a migrant- managing these companies, the government is not making these decisions. the board wants an insurance company ceo that can take a company that was once successful but somebody had the bright idea to put a hedge fund on top of it, and now is a royal mess. the board wants to see some good, confident leadership that can mean the company back to profitability, and hopefully, in the recruitment -- recoupment to the taxpayer. >> does president obama ever speak with bill or hillary clinton about health care aspects? >> obviously, the secretary of state was in the oval office today as part of the larger mubarak delegation. i do not know the degree to which they have discussed health care. >> [inaudible] >> i have not asked. i will be honest with you, i am not entirely sure i am not going to keep private conversations between someone like the secretary of state and former president between the current former presidents. >> can you talk about reports that the administration [inaudible] >> i saw that right before i came here. i think the illusion is to head the meeting in the third week of september. it would be important to continue to make progress on comprehensive middle east peace. the players in the region and countries -- countries represented, we hope to make progress with them, but i do not have any specific plans that the u.s. will present. >> will it include a freeze on israeli settlements? >> it is hard for me -- again, you have heard the president on settlement. it is hard for me to comment on something that's i do not know about. >> [inaudible] what would be the consequence of that, in terms of security in iraq? >> that is a question largely for iraqis to debate and discuss. this is a proposal in the iraqi government that would be debated and discussed by the iraqis. that would be the appropriate place for it to happen. >> following up on sunday night, could you let us know today if the president agrees president presidentsmubarak's statement that israel needs to get over the idea of temporary borders? you said that you would check. could i ask that you try to get back to us on that today? >> yes. >> is the president aware of better means of retaining cost and getting rid of waste than the public option? you said there was not enough data. there is a gao report that is about nine years old -- >> i would not based anything on data that is 9 years old. >> i understand, but they're looking at the issue of co-ops. >> i hate to surmise how about a 9-year-old jay o. report on co- ops. -- gao report on co-ops. when there is enough information on this to evaluate, definitively, we will certainly come to that opinion. >> is it safe to assume that the president considers what is in the house committee, products that contain a public option, not only preferred that the best mechanism to achieve the goal he has stated? >> the president has said the public option is his preferred option to competition, but is open to other ideas. >> was the flag at whitehouse.gov a good idea? why was it removed? >> yes, it was. it was consolidated with realitycheck. if anyone hears a rumor or anything else that they are concerned about, it is their opportunity to speak the truth. we consolidated two platforms into one. >> one other item on internet privacy. omb announced a plan to remove cookies for visitors to government websites. you could be tracked in ways that you cannot be now. what is the status of that? have you learned anything from public comment on this? >> i have not talked about the comments. i know the policy of this government is not to allow web tracking technology. we are continually adding to our platforms to be able to provide greater transparency in government, and do so in a way that always, first and foremost, protect people's privacy. that will always be what we do first and foremost. >> this idea of allowing limited, persisting cookies -- i wonder if that might compromise some people's internet security if they repeated the visit government website? >> again, you should discuss the technicalities with omb. obviously, we are trying to develop tools and run in the amount of information and use that people get. if someone goes to your blog on foxnews.com, they are providing information, personal information to a website. we want to ensure we can continue to use the best tools possible to divide their greatest information with the most ease, while protecting people's privacy rights. that is what we will continue to do. >> you have said that the public option is the preferred choice. in the past he said that it must be concluded. when did that become his consistent position? >> i will pull of the document -- trace: that is the white house briefing. most of the questions were about the public option of health care, which we all know it is government-run health insurance. he has said the president has not changed his position and favors the public option, but is not the end all, be all. i want to bring in karl rove. i guess we can start with the e- mails. there seems to be a disconnect still. we know president obama has said at times he would not sign any bill without this public option in it. now robert gibbs says that it is his favorite method, but not the end all. >> this is a classic reason what house escapade. who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes and ears? the health and human services secretary says that it is not essential. the president has been saying that it is essential and he will not sign a bill without it. now they are sending signals that that is not the case. now we are beginning to believe that their position has not changed? it has changed. president has backed away from the public option. maybe he has reimbursed it today, but certainly on sunday he had his health and human secretary -- services secretary talking about it. trace: the website that people were asked to send fishy information about this health care debate, that part of the website was shut down. robert gibbs says that it was consolidated onto a different part of the website. it was not shut down for any nefarious reasons. are you buying that? >> there is a bigger issue here. people are getting any mail sent by white house observers to people who never signed up to get these materials. i have gotten a number of e- mails from people who are opposed to the president's health-care plan, and i got this without signing up at whitehouse.gov. i think they have a serious problem here. they may have violated federal laws. someone has been sending out these e-mails. we need to know who they are sending it to and how they have gotten the names and addresses of these people. i think somewhere in the new media section, someone with a background in google or something, knows how to do some dripnet mining and pass them onto the white house system to send them e-mail messages. that would be a violation of federal law. trace: you talk about violation of federal law when it comes to lobbying. there is also an issue with advertising. >> the white house is prohibited under federal law from lobbying. that means you cannot advertise. you cannot ask people to advertise on your behalf. someone is advertising on behalf of an administrative issue, you can know about it, but you cannot have any control over it. you cannot make any decisions about it. someone has clearly written and e-mail at the white house that has been proactive please send out over david axelrod's signature to a large number of people, and that is a problem. they also have advertising that is being done on behalf of the administrative initiatives and members of the administration are quoted to have said that they saw the peace and have made changes to it. if you were ever asked to opine over whether or not any particular advertisement should be shown, do not do it. do not change anything about it. i do not act as a judge. that would be a violation of the law. trace: many have said that if call rove had done this, there would be calls for his resignation, pillory and the public square. >> i would be in a cart being dragged down pennsylvania avenue, being taken to a giant mound of firewood or i would be tied to a post and nancy pelosi would throw a pitch and like everything on fire. it is amazing what they can get away with. if the bush administration had done this, you are right,