live town hall this hour in maryland, as he puts the pressure on congress to pass a deal on t deficit. and with an august deadline looming, reports that the president and house speaker john boehner may be close to compromise, but this possible plan, which boehner is denying, has democrats fuming. and breaking news now to pass along. an explosion rocking the government headquarters in oslo, norway. reportedly killing at least one. we're going to bring you more on that as we get it here. plus, the summer scorcher just got a whole lot worse as tens of millions of people on the east coast wake up to the hottest day yet. >> we feel snasty, which is sweaty and nasty. >> it's a real mess out there so can the nation's power grids withstand the stifling heat? >> and executive director of go proud is attacked at an anti-gay assault. he describes the ordeal live with me this hour and their opposition with go proud and hate crime laws. kind of an oxymoron there.

happy friday, everybody. we get straight to it because a lot to cover and now we're just moments away from president obama's town hall in maryland on the day the white house has repeatedly said a basic debt agreement must be reached. while reports indicate the president and speaker boehner are working toward this compromise, both camps are adamant there really is no deal looming. just 11 days to go until the august 2nd deadline and credit agencies are on the offensive warning house republicans of a debt spiral if the country does default. one plan that won't solve the problem is cut, cap and balance. this morning senate democrats voted down the tea party-backed measure. and here's house speaker john boehner just a short time ago. take a listen. >> with regard to yesterday, i'm going to say it one more time, there was no agreement, publicly, privately, never an agreement and, frankly, not close to an agreement. and so i would just suggest that it's going to be a hot weekend here in washington, d.c.

>> you can say that. kristen welker is live for us at the white house this morning. we do know, kristen, that technically the heat is on, coming from all directions there. where do we stand right now as the white house is speaking, has it done anything to calm the president's base when it comes to these negotiations? >> reporter: hi there, thomas. even though white house speaker boehner denying these reports that they are getting close to a deal, there certainly is a lot of chatter around here about a potential big deal, something that would reduce the deficit by $3 to $4 trillion over the next decade and under that plan you would see some cuts to discretionary spending right up front. then changes to entitlements, things like medicare and social security kick in a little later and also some changes to the tax code that would kick in later, things like rolling back tax breaks for wealthy americans and large corporations. now we're also hearing about the possibility of getting rid of that deduction for home mortgage interest. here's what's interesting, thomas. to your point earlier in the week, republicans were really

upset over the possibility of changing the tax code, potentially increasing taxes. well, yesterday it was democrats who were concerned about the possibility that the president was maybe giving in on entitlement reform and not insisting on enough changes to the tax code. white house officials insist that is not the case. they say the president is dedicated to making sure that there is new revenue from changes to the tax code. so that's where we stand right now. president obama, as you see, i guess just taking the podium there and going to talk about this deficit issue. thomas. >> kristen welker live for us at the white house. let's go straight to president obama who's speaking at the town hall at the university of maryland. >> thank you. i'll tell michelle you said so. it is wonderful to be back in maryland. i hope everybody is -- [ cheering ] i hope everybody is keeping cool, staying hydrated.

it is great to be back here in college park. i have a few acknowledgements that i want to make, some special guests that we have. first of all, one of the best governors in the country, martin o'malley, is in the house. he was here. there he is over there. by the way, for those of you who have not heard him, outstanding singer and rock and roller. so if you ever want to catch his band, it is top notch. also one of the best senators in the country, ben carden is in the house. [ applause ] we've got college park mayor, andrew fellows, is here. [ applause ] former congressman frank

kratovil is here. [ applause ] you wouldn't know it looking at him, but frank is an outstanding basketball player. the terps might be able to use him, even at this age. he is a point guard. got all kinds of moves. and i want to thank your still quasi-new president here at maryland, wallace lowe. [ applause ] so this is a town hall. i want to spend some time answering some of your questions, but i just want to say a few things at the top. first of all, i have to say it's nice to get out of washington. don't get me wrong, there's nothing i enjoy more than sitting hour after hour, day after day, debating the fine

points of the federal budget with members of congress. but after a while you do start feeling a little cooped up, so i'm happy to be spending my morning with you. i'm going to spend most of my time answering your questions, but let me do say a few words about the debate that's taking place right now in washington about debt and deficits. obviously it's dominating the news. even though it's taking place in washington, this is actually a debate about you and everybody else in america. and the choices that we face. and most people here, whether you're still a student or you're a graduate or you're a parent, your number one concern is the economy. that's my number one concern. it's the first thing i think

about when i wake up in the morning, it's the last thing i think about when i go to bed at night. and i won't be satisfied until every american who wants a job can find one and until workers are getting paychecks that actually pay the bills. until families don't have to choose between buying groceries and buying medicine, between sending their kids to college and being able to retire in some dignity and some respect. [ applause ] we have gone through a very difficult two and a half years. the worst financial crisis and the worst recession we've seen since the great depression. and although some progress has been made, there's no doubt that this economy has not recovered as fast as it needs to. and the truth is, it's going to take more time, because a lot of the problems that we're facing right now, slow job growth,

stagnant wages, those were there even before the recession hit. for a decade, the average wage, the average income of the american worker had flat lined. those at the very top saw their incomes going up 50%, 100%, but those in the middle, the vast majority of americans, they had been struggling to keep up before the recession hit. and so these challenges weren't caused overnight, they're not going to be solved overnight. but as john f. kennedy once said, our problems are man made. therefore, they can be solved by man. in the united states, we control our own destiny. the question we have to answer, though, is where do we want to go? what's our vision for the future, and how do we get there?

now, in the short term, i've been urging congress to pass some proposals that would give the economy an immediate boost. and these are proposals, by the way, that traditionally have had support in both parties. i want to extend the tax relief that we put in place back in december for middle class families so that you have more money in your paychecks next year. if you've got more money in your paychecks next year, you're more likely to spend it, and that means small businesses and medium-size businesses and large businesses will have more customers and they'll be in a position to hire. i want to give more opportunities to all those construction workers out there who lost their jobs when the housing bubble went bust. we could put them to work, giving loans to private companies that want to repair our roads and our bridges and our airports, rebuilding our infrastructure, putting americans to work, doing the work that needs to be done.

we have workers in need of a job and a country that's in need of rebuilding. if we put those two things together, we can make real progress. i want to cut red tape that stops too many inventors and entrepreneurs from turning new ideas into thriving businesses. i want congress to send me a set of trade deals that would allow our businesses to sell more products in countries in asia and south america that are stamped with the words "made in america." so these are some things that we could be doing right now. they're proposals in congress as we speak, and congress needs to act. now. but i also believe that over the long term, the strength of our economy is going to depend on how we deal with the accumulated debt and deficits that have built up over the last decade. and that's what the discussion in washington is about right

now. now, i know it's hard to keep up with the different plans and the press conferences and the back and forth between the parties, but here's what it all boils down to. it's not that complicated. for a decade, we have been spending more money than we take in. the last time the budget was balanced was under a democratic president. bill clinton. and -- [ applause ] and a series of decisions were made, whether it was cutting taxes or enkbgaging in two warsr a prescription drug benefit for seniors that weren't paid for and then a financial crisis on top of that, recovery act to try to pull us out of a great

depression, all those things contributed to this accumulated debt. regardless of what you feel about the particular policies, some of you may have supported the wars or opposed the wars, some of you may have agreed with the recovery act, some of you may be opposed to it, regardless of your views on these various actions that were taken, the fact is they all cost money. and the result is that there's simply too much debt on america's credit card. neither party is blameless for the decisions that led to this problem. but both parties have a responsibility to solve it. [ applause ] if we don't solve it, every american will suffer. businesses will be less likely to invest and hire in america.

interest rates will rise for people who need money to buy a home or a car or go to college. we won't have enough money to invest in things like education and clean energy or protect important programs like medicare, because we'll be paying more and more interest on this national debt. and that money just flows overseas instead of being spent here on the things that we need. now, the one thing we can't do, cannot do, is decide that we are not going to pay the bill the previous congresses have already racked up, so that's what this whole issue of raising the debt ceiling is all about. basically there's some people out there who argue we're not going to raise the debt ceiling anymore and the problem is effectively what that's saying is we're not going to pay some of our bills. well, the united states of

america doesn't run out without paying the tab. we pay our bills. we meet our obligations. [ applause ] we have never defaulted on our debt. we're not going to do it now. but even if we raise the debt ceiling, this debate shouldn't just be about avoiding some crisis, particularly a crisis manufactured in washington, this is a rare opportunity for both parties to come together and choose a path where we stop putting so much debt on our credit card. we start paying it down a little bit. and that's what we've been trying to do. so for my part, i've already said that i'm willing to cut a historic amount of government spending in order to reduce the deficit. i'm willing to cut spending on domestic programs, taking them

to the lowest level since dwight eisenhower. i'm willing to cut defense spending at the pentagon by hundreds of billions of dollars. i'm willing to take on -- [ applause ] i'm willing to take on the rising costs of health care programs, like medicare and medicaid, so that these programs will be there for the next generation. for folks -- for a population generally that's getting older and living longer, we've got to make sure that these programs, which are the crown jewels of our social safety net, sort of mixed metaphors there, that those are there for the future. and some of these cuts will just eliminate wasteful spending, weapons we don't need, fraud and abuse in our health care system. but i want to be honest, i've agreed to also target some programs that i actually think are worthwhile.

they're cuts that some people in my own party aren't too happy about. and frankly, i wouldn't make them if money wasn't so tight. but it's just like a family. if you've got to tighten your belts, you make some choices. now, here's the thing, though, and this is what the argument is about. we can't just close our deficit with spending cuts alone. because if we take that route, it means that seniors would have to pay a lot more for medicare. or students would have to pay a lot more for student loans. it means that laid-off workers might not be able to count on temporary assistance or training to help them get a new job. it means we'd have to make devastating cuts in education, and medical research, and clean energy research. just at a time when gas prices are killing people at the pump.

so if we only did it with cuts, if we did not get any revenue to help close this gap between how much money is coming in and how much money is going out, then a lot of ordinary people would be hurt and the country as a whole would be hurt. and that doesn't make any sense. it's not fair. and that's why i've said if we're going to reduce our deficit, then the wealthiest americans and the biggest corporations should do their part as well. [ applause ] before we stopped funding clean energy research, let's ask oil companies and corporate jet owners to give up the tax breaks that other companies don't get.

these are special tax breaks. [ applause ] before we ask college students to pay more for their education, let's ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes that are lower on their rates than their secretaries. [ applause ] before we ask seniors to pay more for medicare, let's ask people like me to give up tax breaks that we don't need and we weren't even asking for. [ applause ] i want everybody in america to do well. i want everybody to have a chance to become a millionaire. i think the free market system is the greatest wealth generator

we've ever known. this isn't about punishing wealth, it's about asking people who have benefitted the most over the last decade to share in the sacrifice. and i think -- [ applause ] and i think these patriotic americans are willing to pitch in if they're asked, because they know that middle class families shouldn't have to pick up the whole tab for closing the deficit. so this idea of balance, this idea of shared sacrifice, of a deficit plan that includes tough spending cuts but also includes tax reform that raises more revenue, this isn't just my position, this isn't just the democratic position, this isn't some wild-eyed socialist position, this is a position that's being taken by people of both parties and no party. it's a position taken by warren buffett, somebody who knows

about business and knows a little something about being wealthy. it's a position that's been taken by every democratic and republican president who have signed major deficit deals in the past, from ronald reagan to bill clinton. and i was pleased to see this week that it's a position taken by democrats and republicans in the senate. so we can pass a balanced plan like this. it's not going to make everybody happy. in fact it will make everybody somewhat unhappy. the easiest thing for a politician to do is to give you more stuff and ask less in return. it's a lot harder to say we've got to cut back on what you're getting and you've got to pay a little more. that's never fun. but we can do it in a balanced way that doesn't hurt anybody badly, that doesn't put the burden just on one group. so we can solve our deficit problem, and i'm willing to sign

a plan that includes tough choices i would not normally make, and there are a lot of democrats and republicans in congress who i believe are willing to do the same thing. the only people we have left to convince are some folks in the house of representatives. we're going to keep on working on that. because i still believe we can do what you sent us here to do. in 2010, americans chose a divided government. but they didn't choose a dysfunctional government. [ applause ] so there will be time for political campaigning, but right now this debate shouldn't be about scoring political points. it should be about doing what's right for the country, for everybody. you expect us to work together, you expect us to compromise,

you've all been working hard, you've been doing whatever you have to do in order to get by and raise your families. you're meeting your responsibilities. so it's time for those of us in washington to do the same thing, and i intend to make that happen in the coming days. so thank you, everybody. i'll take some questions. [ applause ] >> all right. so the way this works is you put up your hand and i call on you. but i am going to go girl, boy, girl, boy, to make sure that it's even and fair, all right? so i'm going to start with you right there. yes. hold on, we've got a mic here. and introduce yourself, if you don't mind. >> hello, mr. president. >> hi. >> my name is amanda. and i'm a big fan, i'm from iowa originally. >> nice.

>> yes. i'm an atheist and in zanesville, ohio, in 2008 you asserted that no organization receiving taxpayer funds would be able to discriminate in hiring or firing based on a person's religion. however, you have not rescinded the executive order that permits this type of discrimination. in a time of economic hardship when it's difficult for a person to get a job based on her skills, what would you say to a woman who has been denied employment because of her religion or lack of religious beliefs by a taxpayer-funded organization? >> well, this is a very difficult issue, but a more narrow one than i think might be implied. it's very straightforward that people shouldn't be discriminated against for race, gender, sexual orientation or

religious affiliation. what has happened is, is that there has been a carve out, dating back to president clinton's presidency, for religious organizations in their hiring for particular purposes. and this is always a tricky part of the first amendment. on the one hand, the first amendment ensures that there's freedom of religion. on the other hand, we want to make sure that religious bodies are abiding by general laws. and so where this issue has come up is in fairly narrow circumstances where, for example, you've got a faith-based organization that's providing certain services. they consider part of their mission to be promoting their religious views. but they may have a day care

center associated with the organization or they may be running a food pantry, and so then the question is does a jewish organization have to hire a non-jewish person as part of that organization. now, i think that the balance we've tried to strike is to say that if you are offering -- if you have set up a nonprofit that is disassociated from your core religious functions and is out there in the public doing all kinds of work, then you have to abide generally with the non-discrimination hiring practices. if, on the other hand, it is closer to your core functions as a synagogue or a mosque or a church, then there may be more leeway for you to hire somebody who is a believer of that

particular religious faith. it doesn't satisfy everybody. i will tell you that a lot of faith-based organizations think that we are too restrictive in how we define those issues. there are others, like you, obviously, who think that we're not restrictive enough. i think that we've struck the right balance so far, but this is something that we continue to be in dialogue with faith-based organizations about to try to make sure that their hiring practices are as open and as inclusive as possible. okay? thank you. yes, sir. back here. hold on a second, we've got a mic. >> yes. most of the american people on your side about a balanced approach. what we also know is most of the budget cuts are going to be in the out years. so the question is why push so hard for a big selgtment nttlem where if you push hard and let

the american public vote in 2012 and get rid of these hooligans in the house, maybe we could have a more reasonable settlement maybe like one to one settlement versus three to one or worse. >> the challenge i have in these negotiations is whether i like it or not, i've got to get the debt ceiling limit raised. [ inaudible question ] well, i'll answer that question later, but i just want to make sure everybody understands defaulting is not an option. there's some on either side that have suggested that somehow we could manage our way through, but i just want everybody to be clear, the united states government sends out about 70 million checks every month. we have to refinance bonds that we've issued.

essentially ious to investors. we do that every week. if suddenly investors -- and by the way, a lot of those investors are americans who have treasury bills, pension funds, et cetera. if suddenly they started thinking that we might not pay them back on time, at the bare minimum, they would hire -- charge a much higher interest rate to allow the united states to borrow money. and if interest rate costs go up for the united states, they're probably going to go up for everybody. so it would be an indirect tax on every single one of you. your credit card interest rates would go up, your mortgage interest would go up, your student loan interest would potentially go up. and ironically, the costs of servicing our deficit would go

up, which means it would actually potentially be worse for our deficit if we had default. it could also plunge us back into the kind of recession that we had back in 2008 and '09. so it is not an option for us to default. my challenge then is i've got to get something passed. i've got to get 218 votes in the house of representatives. now, the gentleman asked about the 14th amendment. there is -- there's a provision in our constitution that speaks to making sure that the united states meets its obligations, and there have been some suggestions that a president could use that language to basically ignore this debt ceiling rule, which is a statutory rule. it's not a constitutional rule. i have talked to my lawyers.

they don't -- they do not -- they are not persuaded that that is a winning argument. so the challenge for me is to make sure that we do not default, but to do so in a way that iis as balanced as possibl and gets us at least a down payment on solving this problem. now, we're not going to solve the entire debt and deficit in the next ten days. so there's still going to be more work to do after this. and what we're doing is to try to make sure that any deal that we strike protects our core commitments to medicare and medicaid recipients, to senior citizens, to veterans. we want to make sure that student loans remain affordable. we want to make sure that poor kids can still get a checkup, that food stamps are still

available for folks who are desperately in need. we want to make sure that unemployment insurance continues for those who are out there looking for work. so there are going to be a certain set of equitiys that we're not willing to sacrifice. and i've said we have to have revenue as part of the package. but i'm sympathetic to your view that this would be easier if i could do this entirely on my own. it would -- it would mean all these conversations i've had over the last three weeks i could have been spending time with malia and sasha instead. but that's not how our democracy works. as i said, americans made a decision about divided government. i'm going to be making the case as to why i think we've got a better provision for the country. in the meantime we've got a responsibility to do our job. but it was an excellent

question, thank you. young lady right here, right in the front. hold on, let's get you a mic so we can hear you. stand up. what's your name? >> my name is casa. i have two questions. one is, is there anything like obviously you've had a successful presidency, but is there anything -- >> well, that's not obvious to everyone. but i appreciate -- i appreciate you thinking that it is. >> that's all that matters. but is there anything that you regret or would have done differently? and my second question is can i shake your hand? >> yes, i'll come and shake your hand, i promise. >> okay. >> do i have any major regrets? you know, when i think -- and i think about this all the time. i mean i'm constantly rerunning in my head, you know, did we make the right move here, could we have done more there.

i think overall in an extremely difficult situation, we've made good choices. we've made good decisions. now -- [ applause ] but we've been constrained, even when we had a democratic congress, because the way the senate works these days is you've got to get essentially 60 votes in order to get anything through the senate. frank remembers this because we got a lot of good stuff out of the house that never survived in the senate. so because of the rules of the filibuster in the senate, it meant that, you know, on economic policy, i might have done some things more aggressively if i could have convinced more republicans in the senate to go along.

i do think that in the first year right after we found out that, you know, four million people had lost their jobs before i was sworn in, i think that i could have told the american people more clearly how tough this was going to be. how deep and long lasting this recession was going to be. that's always a balance for a president. on the one hand you want to project confidence and optimism. remember in that first year people weren't sure whether the banking system was going to melt down and whether, you know, we were going to go into a great depression. and so it was important for me to let the american people know we're going to be all right, we're going to be able to get through this. on the other hand, i think maybe people' expectations were that somehow we were going to be able to solve this in a year.

and we knew pretty soon after i took office that this was going to last for a while, because historically when you have recessions that arise out of financial crises, they last a lot longer than the usual business cycle recessions. you know, beyond that, i also think that, you know, over the first two years i was so focused on policy and getting the policy right that sometimes i forgot part of my job is explaining to the american people why we're doing this policy and where we're going. and so, you know, i think a lot of people started trying to figure out, well, how do all these pieces fit together? the auto industry has been saved and that was a good thing. well, that saved a million jobs, but people weren't sure how did that relate to our housing

strategy or how did that relate to health care. and so i think that was something that i could have done better. that's just two items on what i'm sure are a very long list of things that i could do better. but having said that, the basic thrust of my first two and a half years have been entirely consistent with what i said i was going to do during the campaign. because what i promised was that not only were we going to deal with the immediate crisis, i said we are going to start laying the foundation for us to solve some of these long-term problems. so when we changed, for example, the student loan program to take billions of dollars that were going to the banks as middle men in the student loan program and redirected them so that students, millions more students

would benefit from things like pell grants, you know, that was in pursuit of this larger goal that we have to once again be the nation that has the highest percentage of college graduates and that we have the best skilled workforce because that's what it's going to take to win the future. when we initiated health care reform, it was based on a long-term assessment that if we don't get control of our health care costs and stop sending people to the emergency room for very expensive care, but instead make sure they have got adequate coverage so they are getting regular checkups and avoiding preventible diseases like diabetes, that unless we do that, we're going to go break just on health care spending. when we made the biggest investment in clean energy in our history over the last two and a half years, it's because of my belief that we have to free ourselves from the lock grip that oil has on our

economic well-being and our security. and so i'm going to keep on pushing for those things that position us to be the most competitive, the most productive nation on earth in the 21st century. and i think on that front we have been very successful. [ applause ] all right. let me see. this gentleman right here in the blue shirt. >> mr. president, good to meet you. my name is steve. i'm a doctoral student here. >> what are you studying? >> political rhetoric. >> uh-oh. >> how am i doing so far? >> pretty good, pretty good. >> i feel like i'm getting graded up there. go ahead. >> all right. much sacrifice is being asked of

our generation, so when are our economic perspectives going to be addressed? for example, when is the war on drugs in society going to be abandoned and replaced by a more sophisticated and cost effective program of rehabilitation, such as the one in portugal? [ applause ] >> i have stated repeatedly, and it's actually reflected in our most recent statement by our office of drug policy, that we need to have an approach that emphasizes prevention, treatment, a public health model for reducing drug use in our country. we've got to put more resources into that. we can't simply focus on interdiction. because, frankly, no matter how

good of a job we're doing -- >> and we've been listening to the president coming to everyone live this morning from the university of maryland as he's holding a town hall meeting there. you can hear from the tone of the crowd some very serious questions being answered, but also in a light-hearted manner by the president hearing from the young man studying political rhetoric, asking him how's he doing. we're going to check in now with nbc's richard wolffe and christina bellatoni and richard is an msnbc political analyst. a great contributor here to the network. richard, i want to start with you. i was watching that and the president has the high ground when it comes to the polls that we've seen here at nbc news. the president's debt plan was heavily favored over the republicans plan but you can see the frustration as he's trying to tell the crowd how dire this is and the severity of what it means for the u.s. to default. the first time in history that we could potentially ever do this. >> right. look, a couple of days ago when he was having that heated

meeting with the house majority leader, eric cantor, he said don't push me, i'm going to take this to the american people if i need to. this is him taking it to the american people. remember one of those regrets that he just voiced was that he didn't explain his position enough here in the first couple of years. here he is saying everyone has a responsibility, both parties have a responsibility for increasing the deficit and the federal debt and now they both have a responsibility for solving it. so all the language he's using is about shared sacrifice, doing things in a balanced way. that's what the polls say people like. >> christina, we have the time is of the essence, as we've been hearing on all sides, but today being especially important because the white house is saying to really get a deal done and not to default as we are going to be on august the 2nd, something needs to be done today constructively. do you think there will be something done in the next 24 hours? >> no. in fact the senate just went home for the weekend after defeating this cut, cap and balance plan that the house passed.

so i do not think 24 hours is what's happening here. you're seeing the president very carefully tempering expectations too. he's specifically said i understand that this is a starting point. this is a place where we can sort of get going on this and then come back to this as we go along. so i think he's trying to tell the american people we're probably not going to get any sort of final deal. we'll be able to meet this current crisis and then figure the rest out. talk about political rhetoric, i thought it was so interesting what he said about you voted for divided government in 2010 but you didn't vote for dysfunctional government. i will expect to hear that again and again and again and again in 2012. >> i bring up a good point about the senate. over on the house side at the top of the hour when the president was coming out to the [ applause ] speaker boehner tweeted senate democrats have defied the will of the people by rejecting cut, cap and balance. not to be outdone making sure he's out there amongst the people as well. richard, christina, thanks for

joining us. we'll be back with much more right after this. one golden crown. come on frank how long have we known each other? go to e-trade. they got killer tools man. they'll help you nail a retirement plan that's fierce. two golden crowns. you realize the odds of winning are the same as being mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day? frank! oh wow, you didn't win? i wanna show you something... it's my shocked face. [ gasps ] ♪ [ male announcer ] get a retirement plan that works at e-trade.

welcome back, everybody. we are following that breaking news out of norway. news agencies are now reporting that a huge explosion rocked the downtown oslo area caused by a bomb, the blast shattering windows at the government headquarters in oslo, which includes the prime minister's office. a government spokesperson says that the prime minister is safe, but there are reports of at least one fatality and several injuries as well. we did also hear that the prime minister was not in the building at the time and is now working in an undisclosed location. back here at home, it's not just about discomfort, it's about survival. that's the widespread sentiment today as the sweltering heat dome that has claimed nearly two dozen lives, including a west point cadet, is posing some serious health concerns for millions across 29 different states. in several cities across the northeast, meteorologists are warning of poor air quality. nearly 60 areas have been wander. in baltimore and washington,

d.c., a code red now issued, which means danger for all people, young and old. the record demand for relief is putting a major strain on power companies across the eastern seaboard and today demand climbed to 158,000 mega watts per hour. that's approaching a new record. as air conditioning units are flying off the shelves. >> we feel snasty, which is sweaty and nasty. >> my aunt is 92 years old. and she had a little bit of a heart problem, and her air conditioner broke yesterday. so she needs one no matter what the cost, no matter what. >> humid, hot, muddy, nasty. >> thick like soup. >> all right, everybody is suffering. right now 29 states along with washington, d.c., are under these heat advisories. the scorching temps are expected to keep the mercury levels high throughout the weekend, so drink plenty of fluids. so the leader of a conservative gay republican group is speaking out today after he was attacked over his sexual orientation.

the head of the group go proud was riding his bike home from work earlier this week when a teen male called him a gay slur and punched him in the chest. now, his group, which has requested a meeting with michele bachmann and other republican candidates, despite some very poor public disapproval of gays, has been under fire for criticizing hate crime laws, even after being the victim of an attack himself. his stance is unchanged. he said, quote, recently my argument is i'm fine with that but it didn't do anything to deter him from doing it and that's my whole point about why did we spend so much political capital for the federal hate crimes law when, okay, it's retribution but still does nothing to prevent hate crimes. the executive director of go proud joins me now. jimmy, i want to ask you right off the bat, how does it feel to be personally attacked, to be someone that has now been through a hate crime, but it does not affect your political position and you can personally attest that this is a real

threat? >> well, thomas, i can tell you that it did affect me emotionally like only going through that could someone understand how it affects you. but in my case, what happened was when -- during the attack when i reached into my backpack, one of the friends of the attacker questioned did i have a gun. and i just let them think that and kept my hand in my backpack. and then they started to run off. and i think what we should do is focus our efforts on policies that actually help to prevent hate crimes. and second amendment rights are gay rights, and that's where i think we should focus our efforts. just this week we had a transgender woman in washington, d.c., shot. and our whole country saw the beating in the mcdonald's in baltimore when she was attacked

for being transgender. so i think that the lgt community needs to focus efforts on preventing hate crimes because there's clearly not been an end to them since we passed the federal hate crimes law. >> when you talk about preventing them, what do you want to put out there? this is almost like saying that someone that is the victim of any type of attack shouldn't face any legal repercussions because there's no way to prevent them to begin with. >> i'm not saying that at all. i absolutely hope that the person who attacked me is caught and convicted. what i'm saying is we need to help people to lawfully defend themselves to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place. you know, my outcome could have been completely different had they not thought that i had a gun. i could have been beaten to death. but the mere thought that i might have a weapon to defend myself deterred the crime. and i hope that we can help to

educate more gay americans about how they can lawfully defend themselves, particularly in places where concealed carry and other pro-second amendment policies are in place. >> well, that is something that affects everybody across this country. it doesn't have to be with the lgbt community, it talks about all americans. but i want to talk about what go proud is doing in reaching out an invitation with michele bachmann to take a meeting. where does that stand right now? has the bachman camp gotten back to you? will they meet with you? >> well, at this point we are having a dialogue with them. when there's something to report, i'll let you know. you know, we're reaching out to all of the presidential candidates because, frankly, gay americans are living in the obama economy too, and it's important that we beat him next november and replace this failed president. so we're reaching out -- >> but you're replacing the person that doesn't believe that you have a right in this country

to get married, that believes you don't even have a right to be gay because she co-owns a clinic that will convert you. >> well, i think all the presidential candidates should hear our perspective as gay americans who, like you, live our lives openly and honestly because we bring a unique perspective to our american experience. an i think it's important for anyone running for that office to hear that perspective. >> and still you don't have a meeting with her, right? >> i'll let you know when we do. >> jimmy, great to see you, thanks. >> thanks, thomas. we want to take you back to the breaking news that we're following out of norway for you this morning. news agencies there are now reporting about this huge explosion which rocked downtown oslo. it is confirmed now to be caused by a bomb. the norwegian government official there is saying people are trapped in the buildings. we did have confirmed reports of at least one person dead, but look at the mass destruction that has been caused by the bomb there. you can see all of the debris and the confusion on the streets. we did hear from a government

spokeswoman that the prime minister was not in the building at the time and is now working in an undisclosed location. of course we'll continue to get more details on this as bring them to you. we're back with much more on msnbc right after this. >> announcer: this past year alone there's been a 67% spike in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones, public, private, even hybrid. your data and apps must move easily and securely to reach many clouds, not just one. that's why the network that connects, protects, and lets your data move fearlessly through the clouds means more than ever. [ male announcer ] germs in your mouth build up and form a layer called biofilm so strong it survives brushing. thankfully, there's listerine® antiseptic. its triple-action formula penetrates biofilm, kills germs and protects your mouth for hours. fight biofilm with listerine®. is best absorbed in small continuous amounts.

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coming up, contessa brewer is going to pick things up next with a whole lot more on the break news story we have for you. the explosion in oslo, norway. reports from norway's government that many people may be trapped inside the buildings there hit by the bomb blast. back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications.

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are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. good friday, everybody. i'm contessa brewer. covering the news coast to coast. d-day for a deal. the white house says an agreement must be worked out today for congress to be able to beat that august 2nd