hi, everybody. good to have you with me today, i'm thomas roberts sitting in for tamron hall, and the "newsnation" following the intense debt divide is called a catastrophic default seven days away and right now democratic and republican leaders are bashing each other's dueling plans to solve the debt ceiling crisis. the gop's solution is to raise the debt limit now, and the dems have it last until 2013, after the presidential election. >> if the republicans continue to oppose a reasonable proposal that i e brought here to the floor last night and vote on in the senate soon, it is by political reasons driven by the ideological tea party. >> we have a bill that is a reasonable approach, and negotiated with the senate leadership that really is common sense. >> from the hill to the white house, and with we have team

coverage with all of the angles of this developing story with msnbc's kelly o'donnell, and kristen welker. i want to start with kelly. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell now saying he supports boehner's plan, and what does that mean for the reid plan? >> well, one of the things that we have been watching is what would mitch mcconnell say publicly, because he and majority leader reid had been working on the super duper fallback we were talking about a week or so ago, and for a while, he has allowed boehner to be the front man for this, and the comments that mcconnell made today are important, and what it suggests is that there are people in the senate who believe that the boehner plan must go first meaning that the house has to vote, and see where the votes actually end up, and that will determine what the senate can do. so, it was an important push today for the republican speaker john boehner to try to get his folks in line when mitch mcconnell said this. >> that is why we will continue to press for the legislation speaker boehner has proposed and

that is why we will fight against anything that pretends to solve the problem, but doesn't. the majority leader proposed a plan yesterday that is nothing more than another attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the american people. >> and thomas, what the minority leader is referring to is republicans are taking a look at some of the deficit savings that democrats are putting forward and saying that is not the kind of savings that they want to see. majority leader reid has put in his plan which would cut $2.7 trillion over ten years and the expected savings from the drawdown from the wars in iraq and afghanistan is how they are calculating what they can save and the republicans are not happy about that and that is where the divide is. the real fight right now is trying to see where the winds are blowing with what is called the boehner plan. we don't know exactly when that vote will be taken, because there is a lot of head counting going on and maybe some arm twisting, too, to figure out if they can get it through.

should it not pass, we are into another whole scenario of what to do next. >> kelly o'donnell on capitol hill. thanks. we want to bring in kristen welker at the white house. kristen, jay carney, the white house press secretary says that he does not believe that the default will happen. as we hear from the two sides both agreeing that the debt limit needs to be raised, it is inevitab inevitable. >> it is the one thing that all sides can agree on here, and you are right, the press secretary jay carney says he has complete faith that the debt ceiling will be raised by next week, but the big question that everybody is asking is how is this going to happen, because it seems that all sides are digging in the heels and the white house continuing to insist that the president would veto a short term plan which is that plan put forth by speaker boehner that is as kelly mentioned would increase the debt ceiling in increments for the first time for six months, and press secretary jay carney, again, today saying that the president would veto that if it made it to

his desk, and carney saying that bill would doubtfully pass the senate, but the president said in the remarks last night he does support the plan put forth by reid which would of course, decrease the deficit by $2.7 trillion and raise the deficit through 2012, and here is what press secretary jay carney had to say about the reid plan earlier today. >> it is a legitimate compromise measure. we believe it could pass the senate and the house if folks gave it a fair shake, and we appreciate senator reid putting it forward. the fact that there remains confidence in the world that washington will at the last hour get its act together and do the right thing is a good thing, because we always have, and we believe we will. >> and carney there talking about confidence. it is also in part a reference to the markets which as of right now have not really reacted to the situation, and of course, the white house and lawmakers on

capitol hill watching the markets closely to see if the they show any sign of responding to this uncertainty right now, but again, carney is calling for compromise saying that we have to get a bill that can pass the house and the senate and right now there is a lot of doubt about whether reid or boehner's plans will be able to make it through both chambers. thomas. >> kristen welker at the white house. thank you so much. joining me in studio is zachary carebell, and you wrote an article in the daily beast saying that it may have to come to wall street, a mini crash for lawmakers to act. i don't know if we can put the market board back up to see what we are seeing, because it is red arrows dominating and green from the nasdaq but only up plus-four. as we are watching what is taking place, does it have to be wall street's reaction to get the lawmakers to shape up? >> well, it is making me very nervous to make people say something is inevitable particularly in washington. while everyone agrees on need for this to be done, and the

markets right now are stable. they are falling because people are uncertain and gold has been spiking which is usually a sign that people are getting jittery around the edges, but the closer it gets and even with a short-term deal which at this point seems the most likely outcome that is unsatisfying to everyone, it extends the period of is the fiscal house in washington minded in anything resembling a rational way. >> it is hard for people who are not watching this day in, day out, and i want to say the casual observers in the country watching what is going on and the impact to them, the financial impact. so, explain why it is so important that we keep all of the grades where they are right now in terms of the financial grading so that it isn't going to impact the everyday american in their average purchases. >> well, it is less of an issue of whether or not the rating agencies take the u.s. credit rating down one notch which, you know, will be a huge psychological blow, but not a immediate financial one, and if the government shuts down and

people go, who cares, maybe if the national parks are not open next week because august second comes and goes without a deal and it is really things like vendors to the government that are not going to be paid and 2 million federal employees and it has absolutely immediate effects and the reactions are immediate and the 401(k) reaction and it is investors and calipers, and the ripple effect of how it affects the pocketbooks are extrird their and dee extraordina extraordinary. >> and when you hear the word dysfunction coming to mind? >> well, when you hear president obama use the word "dysfunctional" in the speech maybe it is like the alcoholic knowing it is a problem, but he or she does not know what to do about it, and it does not ingender the sensibility that washington knows what are partisan politics, but the markets are not interested in partisan politics, but something resembling cogent policy.

>> well, zachary karabell, thank you. and there is a fear that the u.s. credit downgrade would affect the markets, and what it would mean for the country. developing news, democratic congressman david wu says he will resign amid allegations behind an 18-year-old woman saying she had an unwanted sexual encounter with him. in the statement the seven-term congressman says he won't step down until the democratic crisis is resolved. and the house demand eed to hav an ethics investigation, but david wu said he refused to step down until that time. and a man who has confessed to massacring dozens of people in norway and according to the lawyer for anders behring breivik believes his client is

insane and fears a growing war. and as to why it took so long for the police to arrive to the island, today, they are defending their work saying that the police were fantastic that day. and in this house, president obama and president biden visited the norwegian embassy to sign a book and offer their condolences. and jay gray is in oslo, and what more are we learning about the suspect anders breivik. >> are well, interesting details, thomas, and good to talk to you. first we heard from the attorney that he took drugs before the attacks and would not say what drug, but he said he took it to keep him a waik awake and alert some type of anabolic steroid involved, but also that he was not thinking that he would make it to the island and make it back alive, and there are also allegations that he is involved

with two more people in the cell here in norway and how they may have helped to plan the events here, but still the police contend that he did all of the work on his own that day of the attacks, thomas. >> and jay, what is the mood like as it continues in oslo today? we can see the ever-growing memorial that is behind you. that is really an amazing part of the story and i will step out of the way so you can get a clear picture of it, but hundreds continue to pour into the area next to the cathedral bringing flowers, candles, poems, and that is something that goes on around the clock here. people still very emotional about what happened here. there are still tears here and a lot of people lingering for hours at times. a lot of people, thomas, bringing the families and as you know it was teenagers on the island there, and a lot of teenagers and people working through the grief, but realizing it is going to takem so time. >> nbc's jay gray in oslo for us. jay, thank you. >> thanks.

one of the most terrifying things that ever happened to me in my life. >> a group of teen hikers recovering after a grizzly bear pounces on them in a seven-minute horrifying attack, and the teens will say why the hours after were worse than the attack, itself. and first lady michelle obama praises mcdonald's for fighting childhood obesity and find out the changes of mickey d's. some employers have a message for the jobless, don't bother applying for work. we will explain. ♪ly li will be taking care of business ♪ ♪ everyday taking care of business ♪

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welcome back, everybody.

four alaska teens are recovering from a vicious grizzly attack that turned a back country survival course into a terrifying fight for their lives. the teens are shaken, but grateful to be alive suffered critical injuries and today, they are sharing their story. miguel almaguer has more from anchorage, alaska. >> reporter: thomas, good aft afternoon. two of the seventeen agers remain hospitalized in fair and good condition. they were on a month-long survival expedition and they would need all of the skills they learned. >> and everybody was in disarray and everybody seemed to have an injury. >> reporter: their story of survival is as fresh as the wounds. >> it was just one of the most terrifying things that ever happened in my life. >> reporter: seventeen agers hiking in remote and rugged alaskan terrain encountered a grizzly bear and her cub. >> i remember standing helplessly up there and watching as the bear chased everyone around and eventually ran up the hill. >> reporter: the boys were in a

single file line crossing a riverbed, and 17-year-old joshua berg was first in line and first to be mauled, and noah was next. >> the screaming i could hear from my friends and the growls from the bear which were loud and deep, and the screamings were heldless screaming and i can still hear it in my head. >> reporter: the grizzly pounced and clawed four of the teens before she retreated. >> just the chaos and the disbelief, and just, the confusion going on really was overwhelming to handle. >> reporter: the attack was roughly seven minutes long, but the rescue took over seven hours. the group was in the middle of nowhere. >> the aftermath and the way were scarier than the attack itself even though that seems like hard to fathom. >> reporter: with their emergency beacon calling for help, the teens used anything they could including garbage bags to slow the bleeding. working together as a team, they survived. >> the fact that we all made it out alive is a testament to the

bravery of my group. >> reporter: the injuries to the survivors were rather serious and one had a collapsed lung and the other broken ribs, but believe it or not, thomas, all will fully recover and should be home soon. back to you. >> it is miraculous. miguel, thank you. a sobering new report from "the new york times" shows the biggest obstacle for the 14 million unemployed americans still scrambling to find work out there is unemployment. a review of the "times" by hundreds of postings of monster.com or craigslist or career builder show an alarming trend which is that some employers are only considering people currently employed or recently laid off. legal experts say that the practice does not violate discrimination laws, because unemployment does not have the same barriers as employment. and joining me now is nationally syndicated radio talk show host

michael smerconish, and an msnbc contributor. everybody has said to me, michael, you don't quit your job until you have a new job, and so it is a catch 22, and if you are an employer and you are looking for the best hires available, isn't it a big deal to ignore such a large chunk of qualified and talented people out there and not working? >> you would think, thomas. i e mean, mean, to me, it is co intuitive and i'm an employer looking for the best out there and working in whatever the business may be that i would discount 10% of the population and those who are arguably the most hungry for the job. i think that the premise of this is that anyone who wants the work today is working today, and i don't think that premise is accurate. so i don't like this trend. on the other hand, i don't think i like government telling these businesses what they should do in terms of their hiring and their advertising. >> well, that gets to the legality of all of it, but what about the argument that some

workers wouldn't have lost their jobs if they had performed adequately in the first place? is there a place in the conservation for that? >> well, it is dependent upon the individual circumstance. i mean, what about a division, and what about a business that is downsized and they just can't control it. you might have 100 people suddenly laid off, but some real hard workers within that body, and are you going the say, well, none of you are competent to work in our firm, because afterall, today, you are unemployed? i don't think so. i was surprised by the way that governor christy signed this into law in new jersey making it illegal, because you know, you would think that with the tea party bonafides and the accolades he wins from conservatives that he would be someone who would say that government should stay out of it, but that was not his position. >> michael smerconish, good to see you today. >> thank you. >> and if you need it, there is an app for that and you will find out how the pentagon is turning to the smartphones to help vets suffering from

post-traumatic stress. and plus, scientists believe they may have caught the first glimpse of the elusive god particle that could explain the origins of the universe and derrick pits, an astronomer joins me next. time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. john and bill set out to streamline the bathroom remodeling business. they created bath simple, a bath in the box concept treating the whole bathroom as a single produchblgt it put the bathtub and toilet and tiles and the tiniest screws and nails all inside of one box. for more watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the cc. and every volkswagen includes scheduled carefree maintenance. that's the power of german engineering.

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so, the science world is bussing about what could be a major discovery. scientists in the u.s. and europe may have finally caught their first glimpse of what is known as the god particle. what is thought to be a basic subatomic particle and proof is provided by the big bang machine. these are massive 17 or 18-mile-long particle accelerators built in geneva, switzerland and illinois. and so what is the god particle and what is confirmation of the existence after decades of searching actually mean? joining me is eric pits from the franklin institute, chief astronomer, and derrick, this is going to grab a lot of people's attention and why is it called

the god particle, and what is it? >> well, the god particle is known as a higgs bosign and it is by the standard methods of physics not discovered yet. this is crucial, because it is the one particle that scientists will help us to understand basic things about the universe as you said, be one of the most basic ones is that we don't understand why particles have mass, so it is hoped that by discovering this particle we might be able to figure that out as well as figure out things about the early history of the universe, et cetera, et cetera. >> and derrick, tell us more ant the big bang machines, and these are the machines 17, 18 miles long in geneva switzerland and in illinois? >> well, the higgs bosign and this particle known as the god particle is a very, very heavy particle and in terms of heavy of what we know is light, but in terms of the atomic physics, it is heavier than a proton. so these machines accelerate

protons to the speed of light and smash them together and create exotic particles. in the exotic particles we expect to find the elusive ones like this one, and part of the reason it is called the god particle is because some physicists say that if we believe we can discover this particle and understand it, we can find out how god sort of thought of putting together the universe, but it comes from leon letterman who said how difficult it is to identify the particle and connected the word god with another word that i won't mention here. >> and when we talk about the, i don't know, the amazement of the scientists feeling that they are actually close to discovering this, and talk about a time frame though when they can actually say definitively that they have figured this out? >> well, so, here is the tricky part. the tricky part is that what scientists have seen is a bump in the data from two different experiments looking for the particle, and that bump could be an indication that there is actually something there indicating that this particle

exists and also a flaw in the data and flaw in the equipment, and so what has to happen now is that the physics community tens of thousands of physicists have to review this information and they all have tomp coto an agreement that this is what is going on. it could take several months or years and we could identify this as a flaw quickly. it is not the first time it has happened. it has happened a number of times before and we expect it to continue to happen until we get confirmation. >> derrick, great to see you today. thanks for your time. >> thank you, thomas. still ahead for you, what would ronald reagan do? i want to talk to one of president reagan's best known economic advisers about how the gipper might have tackled the debt crisis facing the country. and plus, the government is considering shutting down thousands of post offices across america. so is yours on the list? you will find out for yourself next. i love that my daughter's part fish.

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president obama warns america it will lose its aaa credit rating if if the government goes into default, so what kind of impact will a downgrade have on your everyday life? rush to help aid workers are working urgently to bring food to famine victims in remote areas of africa. and update, a gut check, a mom convicted in the death of her son even though he was hit by a drunk driver. and mcdonald's makeover and the fast food giant makes a change to the classic happy meal and it has the attention of guess who? first lady michelle obama. the international monetary fund is again urging congress to end the stalemate over the debt limit, and this morning in new york city the new imf leader said that a default is disastrous and time is quickly running out. take a listen. >> to have a default, or to have, you know, a significant downgrading of the united states' signature would be a

very, very, very serious event and not for the united states, alone, but for the global economy at large. >> well, major firms are also threatening to downgrade the nation's aaa rating, considered the gold standard if the debt ceiling is not raised. and the lowest rating is d which is junk bonds and payments in default. and standard & poor's say it may go into the aa category. so, steve, joining me, if a deal is reached, is a downgrading inevitable anyway? >> e yes, and that is something that is beginbing to dawn on wall street increasingly, because the standard & poor's has one of the most aggressive rating agencies in calling out the united states and pointing out the problems and threatening a downgrade, and they seemed to have said that it is unclear and i called them yesterday to try to clear it up and i'm no clearer, but they appear to have said that they need to see the

cuts totaling around $4 trillion in order to avoid a downgrade. they want the united states government deficit put on what they call a sustainable path. what is that? thomas, that is usually something that equals the rate of groowth of the economy an unless they make a certain amount of cuts, it is possible to get downgraded even with a deal. >> and steve liesman, when we talk about a deal going down, how fast would the everyday american soon feel it? >> well, a lot depends upon how the treasury market reacts. by way of example, we have japan, where japan was downgraded and the interest rates actually fell. if you have a situation where the people are selling the treasuries and dumping them out of certain accounts an foreign governments like china and certain money markets who s wh want to hold only to highest aaa ratings then interest rates rise and municipalities and the kr credit cards and mortgages, a lot of those could raise,

because they are based on the risk-free rate which we thought that the united states was at. >> thank you, steve liesman. and as the debate rages on, president obama called for in his address last night for the bipartisan compromise used to raise it so many times before. >> the first time a deal was passed, a predecessor of mine made the case for a balanced approach by saying this, would you rather reduce deficits and interest rates by raising revenue from those who are not now paying their fair share or would you rather accept larger budget deficits and higher interest rates and higher unemployment, and i think that i know your answer. those words were spoken by ronald reagan. but today, many republicans in the house refuse to consider this kind of balanced approach. >> joining me now is mary jo jacoby special assistant to president reagan and former commerce secretary for george

h.w. bush mary jo, it is great to have you on, because especially as we get through the speeches last night given to america where we stand as all of us try to figure it out and the president pointed out that president reagan raised the debt ceiling 17 times and george h.w. bush did it seven times and president reagan did it by a compromising philosophy with then house speaker tip o'neill, and some are looking to see if they can find that model in washington, and is there one that could exist there, mary jo, from what you know? >> i think that one of the problems with trying to get a compromise that includes revenue, tax increases is the fact that a number of times in the past, including with president reagan, there was this compromise that had a revenue component, and tax increase component as well as spending cuts, and the revenue component went through very, very quickly, and the spending cuts never materialized. it happened to ronald reagan and it happened to george h.w. bush and i think that the republicans

are skiddish particularly the republicans who were elected last november. >> mary jo, if we think of america as a business, they want to be making money to pay off the debts burk when we see what is going on in washington, d.c., why can't they come to a business consensus, because if any one of these people were working in a privatized business right now, and lagged and dragged andkreand screamed all of the way to getting something done, they'd be fired? >> well, businesses don't have the ability to go out the raise prices in an unlimited way any time they choose. and what is being asked, we have raised the debt limit last year and talked about raising it again, and possibly two stages that the house republicans want to do and one stage as the senate democrats want to do, and you know, you have to consider what you take in and how you spend it. and spend according to your means. and for the last very long time, ten years, the united states

government has within spending far beyond the means and that is not sustainable, and it is not a sustainable path that the rating agencies are looking for, and it is not a sustainable path that the american taxpayer is looking for and certainly not a sustainable path that the world's eyes are looking at. >> and mary jo, when people in washington currently evoke the name of ronald reagan in the work they are doing today, do you any that they understood the president he was and what he brought to the table in terms of coming to a compromise of people who sat across the aisle but he knew he had to get work done with. >>ell, a lot has been written and said about ronald reagan especially with the year of his centurion birthday this year. he understood that successful politics is the art of compromise, and he was willing to give but not without holding

other's feet to the fire first. so, he was not necessarily the first to cave. >> mary jo jacoby, thank you for your insight today. appreciate it. >> my pleasure. thank you, thomas. so the potential closure of 1 in 10 post offices in the country today tops the look at stories around the nation today, and the cash-strapped postal service said it will study more than 3600 locations for closing and many offices on the chopping block could be replaced by postal services in local stores or government offices, and you can visit msnbc.com to see if your local post office is up for that type of review. first lady michelle obama is praising fast food giant mcdonald's for revamping the happy meals. starting in september, one serving of fruit or vegetable will be added to the meals and the portion of french fries is going to shrink, and the first lady says these are positive steps toing the problem of childhood obesity. >> and the wealth gap between

whites and minorities have grown to the widest levels in a quarter century, and according to the analysis of the pugh research center, whites now have on average 20 times the network of blacks and 18 times the net worth of hispanics. new efforts to help people facing starvation as a result of the drought and the famine happening in east africa, and the united nations said it would air lift emergency rations this week to parts of somalia where the rebels have banned rationing for more than two years now, and meanwhile heavily armed somali troops helped to deliver food to an area across the border of kenya, and they are estimating 11 million people in east africa are affected by the drought with 3.7 million in somalia, the worst hit because of the civil war going on there, and among the organizations trying to help

is amarericares, and as we stee images, they are heartbreaking coming from somalia right now. this is something that the world community was warned about and also we can know from watching history what a drought does to that region. why do you think that the crisis has escalated to the level that it has now without getting the world's attention? >> so, it has been a forgotten problem, and many people have given up on somalia as a failed state, as a place with chronic drought and terrible humanitarian situations. what has happened in the last week is that the alarm wire in terms of what a famine is was tripped. there is a technical definition to that which means two people per 10,000 are dying on a daily basis. that means that the mortality rates have gone up to beyond the level of just humanitarian crisis into what has a potential to be a life-death struggle for millions of people. >> roughly 1,500 people per day?

>> that is right. >> that have to perish in order to get the world community's attention. >> well, it's a very sad thing that the world community needs to have an enormous amount of resources to meet the challenges in a place like this. it does take a call to action and unfortunately, you know, it has been a tough 20 years here in somalia. >> and christoph, explain what ame americare is doing and are you feeling resistance to try to get to the strategic places that need it? >> well, we are focusing on mogadishu and as you look at the map, you see that refugees are going out to kenya and surrounding countries. we feel like the best place for us to be is right there in the epicenter, and 50,000 people have shown up in mogadishu in the last couple of months in very bad condition, and we are focusing our medical aid on mogadishu, itself, and four things need to happen in a

famine. people need to be fed with basic food commodities and supplemental feeding for children and pregnant mothers and therapeutic feeding needs to happen in clinical settings for kids in bad shape, and general medical assistance needs to go out to the whole population. we are focusing on keeping the medical assistance in there so that we can keep the people alive. >> and when you talk about, that because the extent of this could wipe out an entire generation of people. and the people that you are talking about, the ones who are traveling and the refugees and some of them are traveling hundreds of miles on foot to get to the places where they can find aid. what is it that the average american can do to help out to really feel they are doing something good to help this situation over there? >> so, it is going to take a lot of resources to help out in somalia and the best thing that people can do is to work with an organization like ours, like americares or many organizations out there to help the situation. what we need most is a

contribution of cash to move those planes in there and get the medicines in there and get the trucking rolling. >> christoph gordon th, thank y for coming in and you can check it out on our website. after watching this, you will want to help out and go to msnbc.com and there it will have a whole list of charitable organizations accepting donations. christoph, thank you, again. amy winehouse's father played tribute to her in a eulogy, and we will bring you the details of a british singer's private funeral in london. there is a lot of things going on and here is what you should know. just unveiled a new series of apps to help troops and veterans battling post-traumatic stress disorder. a half dozen apps like pt2

tracker, and others. and house speaker newt gingrich says he regrets to make a commercial in 2008 with then-speaker nancy pelosi on the need to address climate change. >> we don't always see eye to eye, do, we newt? >> no. but we do agree that our country must take action to address climate change. >> all right. so the ad is causing some difficulties for gingrich as he seeks the gop nomination. his relationship with pelosi has harmed him with some of the republican voters. and after bombing at the box office, the documentary about sarah palin is headed for pay per view. it reportedly had earned more $63,000 this the first weekend. it is going to pay per view, and then the dvd will be released in october. those are the things we thought you should know. they're two of a kind.

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i'm martin bashir and coming up at the top of the line, phone lines jam and web sites crashed. members of congress inundated with calls and messages after the president's prime time address on the debt ceiling crisis. did speaker boehner and the colleagues hear america's calls for a balanced approach? what do you think? >> hundreds of people gathered at a north london cemetery for amy winehouse's funeral. there was kelly osbourne who showed up with amy's signature beehive hair do. and the only member of the family to speak was her dad mitch who ended the eulogy by saying good night, my angel, sleep tight. and it ended with carole king's rendition of "angel song."

and denise richards talks about her failed marriage to charlie sheen, and jesse james calls off the engagement, and we will get the scoop from the pop culture columnist courtney hazlett, and start with m.j. and the family with some kn census? >> well, there is some drama involved here with the jackson family. they announced they would do a tribute concert for michael jackson to be held in october in wales and they did it via press conferences, and they don't do anything quiet that family. and at the press conference was catherine, and martin and tito and la toya and janet, and two of the brothers are saying they can't support this concert because the details of which i might add are vague. they can support a press conference until the cows come home, but the details are vague and not clear and talk of a jackson 5 reunion of course without michael, but a talk of a reunion is not going happen

based on this statement from jermaine and randy. they say there is a time and place for an amazing and deserving tribute to michael, but the most important tribute to our brother at this time is to seek justice in his name, because the concert is planned to take place at the same time as the criminal trial against dr. murray, and that is what is happening in the world of jacksons. i will be shocked with their support or not, whether this concert goes off. this is not the first time we have heard of a tribute concert and we have been down the road and at the end of the day, troubles with tickets and profits and logistics and impossible to plan something like this. >> and now talk about denise richards in new york today. >> yes, denise richards was in new york, and during the whole charlie sheen saga, people were shifting focus to denise, because they were married for so long, and she has a new book out and she was talking about it on the "today" show and finally opened up about her relationship with charlie sheen. she says that the guy you have

been seeing so much lately is not the man i married. take a listen to what she said. >> the man i fell in love with is very compassionate, humble, has a wonderful heart, and the behavior that a lot of us saw in the last six months is not the person that i met and fell in love with. >> and she also said that she has had to talk to her id cans about addiction and shields them from the media as much as she can, but through friends and they live a life in los angeles and she does not keep them in the house, and through the normal life, they have found out some things, and explained to them as much as she can because of their ages. they are really, really young, and you want them to be shielded from this as much as they possibly can be, but at lo t lle ask me when charlie sheen was at the height of the meltdown, why didn't she say anything? and she says that she is respectful that charlie is her

daughter's father. >> and speaking of relationships this one did not maintain. jesse james and cat von d. >> well, team sandra got another check in the column if this is a win or not. well, jesse james and kat von d called the engagement office and she says i am sorry, because i love her, and the distance is too much. he lives in austin, texas, and she lives in los angeles where she does the reality show, and does not work. >> you have to give him credit, because if it is not working, he has to be honest. >> i was not about to give him credit for and i was not sure i could get behind it. >> and for the latest logon to scoop.today.com or become a fan on facebook. you want to know what i was thinking now? for the trouble spots. to know its wants... its needs...its dreams. ♪call 1-800-steemer.

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welcome back, everybody, it is time for today's "newsnation" gut check. earlier in the hour we told you about a new york times report

that shows some employers are considering only hiring those applicants that are currently employed or recently laid off. the report found hundreds of job postings on popular sites like monster.com, craigslist, career builder excluded applicants who have been out of work for an extended period of time, and legal experts says that practice does not violate discrimination laws because unemployment does not have the same protection as race or age, but with the country facing the most turbulent economic climate since the great depression and the unemployment duration approaching the 40-week mark, what does your gut tell you about this? you can check out "newsnation" and say whether or not you think it is fair for the employers to exclude applicants out of work for an extended period of time. the website you want to go to is newsnation.msnbc.com, and cast your vote there. we want to bring you an update on yesterday's "newsnation" gut check about a woman whose son was killed by a

drunk driver while she was jaywa jaywalking. raquel nelson was convicted of jaywalking, and one-year probation. she faced three years behind bars which is a longer sentence than the one given to the driver who killed her boy. yesterday we asked you if you thought that she deserved time behind bars and 7% of you said yes, and overwhelming 93% of you said no, she doesn't. well, that is going to do it for this tuesday edition of "newsnation," and thanks for your time. i'm thomas roberts and don't go anywhere because martin bashir is coming your way next. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it.

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[ female announcer ] ask the doctor about your loved one trying the exelon patch. visit exelonpatch.com to learn more. good afternoon, it is tuesday july the 26th, and here is what is happening. calling mr. boehner. the speaker and his congressional colleagues play a dangerous game. >> you see there is no stalemate here in congress. the house