good thursday, everybody. i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast. we begin with breaking news out of texas, where authorities have arrested an army private assigned to fort campbell, kentucky. officials found bomb-making materials in his hotel room. that arrest came after someone reportedly overheard the private threatening to stage an attack on the army post at fort hood. fort hood was the scene of a deadly shooting attack in november 2009. major nadal hassan is accused of killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others. pete williams has the latest from washington now. pete, what do you know about this arrest of the private? >> reporter: right. well, good afternoon. you saw killeen, texas on that map. that's where he was arrested. he's a private first class assigned to fort campbell, but arrested in texas yesterday and according to law enforcement officials, what happened is he went into a gun store in

killeen, texas and was asking questions that the gun store owner thought was suspicious. he was also buying smokeless powder which can be used for a variety of legal purposes, but it can also be used to make explosives. in any event, the store owner became concerned, called the police. they found out that the private had taken a cab to the gun store, found the cab, who directed them to a motel room where they questioned him. according to officials, he made statements then to the police in texas that he wanted to stage attacks on army soldiers outside fort hood, texas. they searched his room, found explosives in the room and in a backpack so he's now under arrest. now, he originally was assigned to fort campbell, kentucky, applied for conscientious objector status, citing his muslim religion. he was granted that in june but that was put on hold when child pornography, according to military officials, was found in his room and he had been put in to the military justice system, had an initial hearing in july, then went awol and showed up in

texas. now he faces probably federal charges this afternoon. >> i know you're staying on top of it. thank you. appreciate that. also breaking news here. new jersey governor chris christie has been taken to a hospital. he reportedly was having a little trouble breathing. a spokesperson says governor christie was having difficulty breathing this morning and out of an abundance of caution, he went to somerset medical center to be checked out in line with somebody dealing with asthma. he is being given routine tests as a precautionary measure. if we learn more about his health, and the status in the hospital, we will bring that to you. debt showdown. five days until the august 2nd deadline. house speaker john boehner goes toe-to-toe with those feisty freshmen. >> never let them see you sweat. >> reporter: outside, summer heat on capitol hill. inside, speaker boehner keeps his cool, facing his biggest test so far. after a few last-minute tweaks, he's putting his budget cutting

plan to a house vote today. the reworked plan's now projected to cut $917 billion over ten years. >> it is a test. this is a big step trying to get control of or deficit and our debt by the august 2nd deadline. it's a big test. >> reporter: some in his own party complain the speaker's bill doesn't go far enough, and they're planning to vote no. >> that is unacceptable and unsustainable. >> reporter: at a tea party rally yesterday, some called for a revival of cut, cap and balance, which includes a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. >> that plan is the only shot we've got to change the way this town does business. >> reporter: some tea party senators sent a letter to the house saying they oppose boehner's plan. it brought a sharp rebuke from senator john mccain. >> to hold out and say we won't agree to raising the debt limit until we pass a balanced budget

amendment to the constitution, it's unfair, it's bizarro. >> the boehner plan will be dead on arrival. >> reporter: democrats are also against boehner's plan. more than 50 sent their own letter of opposition to the speaker. >> it will not pass. every democratic senator will vote against it. >> it looks like the markets are on a wait and see mission right now. >> reporter: wall street is keeping a wary eye on the impasse. the treasury department is prioritizing which bills to pay. the white house is trying to keep the focus on the approaching deadline. >> midnight, august 2nd, you are running on fumes. >> this morning, all sides are keeping the pressure on their side of the fight. here are the democratic and republican senate leaders. >> the market is saying we need a deal here. default is starting to seep into the marketplace. >> democrats are playing with fire here and it's hard to conclude that they are doing it for any other reason than politics.

>> we're at the white house now. luke russert is on capitol hill. what's the latest from the white house? >> reporter: well, they're standing firm on this boehner bill. they say they will veto it. they are reiterating once again -- actually, they are not even entertaining the possibility it would reach the president's desk. they cite solidarity among senate democrats, refusing to take it up. this alternative, the reid plan the white house is pushing, the idea that republicans have is it will be the only bill standing come tuesday, midnight into wednesday. that of course is the deadline. that is what they're looking at here. republicans think the president will have no choice but to take or accept or sign what the house is poised to pass out of the house later on today. jay carney, the white house briefer just moments ago, called the tactic incredibly juvenile, reiterated quote, it ain't going anywhere with reference to the boehner bill, so the question

now becomes what is going somewhere and nobody in washington really has the answer at this point. >> do house republicans have the votes they need to pass it? >> reporter: as of right now, no, contessa. this morning, speaker john boehner said they were close but did not quite have the 217 votes they needed. it came in a very raucus meeting. one representative stood up and said let's knock the snot out of them, using another "s" word to which there was a loud round of thundering applause. i spoke to an aide to eric cantor earlier and they said they were quite confident that by 6:00 p.m. tonight when the vote is going to happen, they will get the 217 votes mainly because if they do not, republicans lose all leverage in this debate. that's why it's so important. that's why they need to get this out of the house. no one knows exactly what the vehicle will be.

that would take this thing all the way to the end, to the president's desk, to avoid a default. the idea here on capitol hill is that house republicans will pass this, it will die in the senate but they will stand firm and saying nothing is going to pass the house, go all the way to the very end. harry reid said yesterday it will be altered. it remains to be seen whether that altered version can get back through the house. house republicans feel if they pass this today, they have done their job, they don't have to do anything else and the president essentially will have their plan, take it or leave it, default will be on his shoulders. >> somebody just said to me this morning i'm not voting for anybody who stands in the way of getting a deal done but i guess that's in the eye of the beholder. who is threatening to veto, threatening to vote against it. are you willing to go to any extreme to get a deal done. we'll be watching it. gentlemen, thank you both. appreciate it. the secretary of transportation warned lawmakers not to hold hostage construction workers, faa employees. governors are warning lawmakers this impasse threatens their

state economies. moody's warned five states could face downgrades because of their dependence on federal money. tennessee, maryland, new mexico, south carolina, and virginia. in fact, virginia's governor, bob mcdonnell, has now switched his tune. he says a compromise must happen to avoid devastating the country. even the big banks are collectively begging congress to get a move on, to make an agreement happen, warning if they don't, the consequences will be grave. so my big question today, what kind of warning will it take to get lawmakers to move from these entrenched positions? congressman, good to see you today. >> thank you. good to be here. >> how are you going to vote on the boehner bill? >> i'm going to vote no. the boehner bill is ridiculous. it's an extreme bill, one-sided. they know it has no chance of passing the senate. this is political theater at its worst so they can go home, blame the president, blame the democrats, instead of working

with us, moving towards the center and trying to find common ground. john boehner is a captive of his own conference, where so many of them have signed this tea party pledge not to, under any circumstances, raise taxes. it's absolutely ridiculous. there is no reason why the american people should be held hostage and we should have medicare hostage and all the programs that are important when millionaires and billionaires are not paying their fair share, when large corporations have loopholes, they ship jobs overseas, when we want to make sure that people pay their fair share, they want to hurt the middle class and senior citizens by trying to destroy medicare. we're not going to buy it. they know what they need to do to get a deal. we are willing to give up a lot of things but the president has said very, very firmly that the extreme legislation that's passed in the house is not going anywhere. they tried this last week with their bill which they called a balanced budget amendment which was full of nonsense.

it wasn't a pure balanced budget amendment at all. they keep playing these political games and blaming everyone else but themselves. i feel sorry for john boehner. he's being held captive. but we are going to protect medicare and protect social security and medicaid -- >> you just said you were willing to give up a lot of things. what are you willing to give up? what would it take to get you to agree and are you concerned, i just mentioned people who say look, i'm not behind anybody who is standing in the way of a deal. are you concerned that you could bear the consequences of that if you're seen voting against the plan that's coming up for a vote? >> the most important thing for me is what's good for the country, not what's necessarily good for my re-election. it seems to me that if we are spending more than we're taking in, and we are, and we need to get our budget balanced, then you need to do three things. it's very simple. you need to cut spending, you need to close tax loopholes and let those corporations that are paying no tax whatsoever pay some tax, and you have to let people who can afford to pay a

little bit more, the billionaires and the multi-millionaires, pay a little bit more. it's got to be all three things. it can't just be what the republicans say, cut spending and forget about everything else. that's an extreme position. that doesn't work. you know, they are the majority in the house with about 53% or 54%, the majority of one house. they are the minority in the senate and they don't have the presidency. so with this small majority they have in the house, they think they can run roughshod over everybody. i think the american people can see this. we have to meet in the middle and it can't be -- there can be no absolutes. everything needs to be on the table. >> the most recent polling has shown that people on the left, progressives, want compromise but people on the far right, they want their representatives to stand firm, which it looks like they are doing at this point. let me ask you about another angle this could take. on this date in 1868, the 14th amendment was adopted into the constitution. james clyburn is raising the

prospect of the president using that amendment to raise the debt ceiling on his own without congressional approval. the amendment says in part the validity of public debt shall not be questioned. the white house has essentially said it's not applicable to this problem. is there a bigger role for the president in breaking this impasse? >> yes. i have been calling on the president to invoke the 14th amendment for several weeks now. in less than an hour i have a press conference at 14th street and constitution avenue, which is the 14th amendment to the constitution, with several of my colleagues. we are going to call on the president once again to invoke the 14th amendment. it's a last resort but it's better than default. i think the president should do it. >> congressman engel, good to talk to you. thank you, sir. let's see how wall street is reacting to the battle over the debt ceiling. we have seen sort of this trend of down days but today, a reversal of that trend. the dow is actually up 62 points. why?

not because of washington. this is because of jobs. it was an unexpected decrease in unemployment claims. the government said first time applications for unemployment benefits fell to roughly 400,000 last week and that was good news for investors, enough to move markets in the upward direction. in jeopardy. game show host alex trebek catches an intruder in his hotel room. wait until you hear what his reaction was. plus, a different voice on breaking the debt ceiling. [ barks ] ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪ [ whistles ] ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪ [ ting! ] [ male announcer ] travelers can help you protect the things you care about and save money with multi-policy discounts.

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♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. "jeopardy" host alex trebek is on crutches today after a night where the veteran game show host was not only robbed,

but hurt trying to capture a burglar in his hotel room. aditi roy has more from los angeles. >> reporter: it's a terrifying thought for anyone to wake up and find someone rummageing through your belongings. in this case, the victim was alex trebek, who was able to outsmart, if not outrun his opponent. >> what country entered into an agreement with bolivia? >> we think it's chile. >> i'm sorry. it's peru. >> reporter: as usual, alex trebek had all the answers wednesday as he hosted the national geographic bee. earlier, in the middle of the night in a san francisco hotel room, the game show host found himself in a bit of jeopardy. >> i woke up and saw a figure in our hotel bedroom, and i thought i was dreaming, and i realized immediately that someone had been in the room, and i put on my underwear and ran down the hall to see if i could find her.

>> reporter: trebek says he did find her and when he caught up to her, he, well, quizzed her. >> she came out of the little room where the ice machine is, and i said what were you doing in our room. i wasn't in your room. i said what are you doing up here. i was visiting friends. i said no, you weren't. >> reporter: he was quick-thinking but not as quick on his feet. trebek ended up on crutches after rupturing his achilles tendon while chasing the alleged culprit. >> i crashed to the ground but i managed to hobble back to the phone and informed security. >> reporter: police arrested 56-year-old lucinda moyers and charged her with burglary. trebek says he got most of his belongings back except for some cash and a piece of jewelry. trebek has hosted "jeopardy" since 1984. he just received an emmy award for lifetime achievement and now for game show host turned crime fighter, the correct response

is -- who is alex trebek? >> there will be eight rounds in this world championship. >> reporter: and true to his reputation, the unflappable host fought through the pain, using the podium to hide his injuries and his wit to warn the students. >> you are going to be tempted to blurt out responses. if you do, i will have to chase you out. >> reporter: lucinda moyers told a television station she was arrested based on her record and because trebek is a celebrity. she remains in jail. the 71-year-old game show host says he will have surgery tomorrow and is expected to be in a cast for six weeks. aditi roy, nbc news, los angeles. it's an ugly scene in eastern iowa. so far, more than 14 inches of rain have fallen and more rain is expected throughout today. city officials are asking residents to use caution. drivers, too. a few people had to be rescued from stranded vehicles, from their homes as well. so far, nobody has been hurt.

illinois authorities began examining the remains of a 7-year-old girl who was abducted and killed more than 50 years ago. police are trying to find clues that would help them put together a criminal case against a 71-year-old former neighbor. he was arrested and charged last week with the death of maria riddle, who was kidnapped outside her home in '57. authorities are hoping modern science can finally give them some answers into how and why she died. usually the irs wants your money. right now, the government agency is fighting to get you some money. we'll explain. plus, why a major league baseball player was just praying to be left alone. what was bugging him? emily's just starting out... and on a budget.

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say hello to my little friend. so this little guy sends a major league baseball player into a total freak-out and it's caught on camera. embarrassing for him. florida marlins' logan morrison lost it when a preying mantis jumped on his shoulder last night. he immediately jumped, tried to brush the bug off. the announcers are dying laughing. of course, the preying mantis might be good luck. the marlins won 11-2. in terms of logan, kind of embarrassing. embarrassing. look at this poor guy. a coyote in western washington, this is washington state, spent the week running around with his head stuck in a mayonnaise jar. someone managed to get close enough and pulled the jar off its head. the animal then ran back in the wild. remember the bear a week or two ago? what's with these massive food containers? leave them at home, people. we're following breaking news right now.

new jersey governor chris christie taken to the hospital after having breathing problems. more details ahead. plus, how you can be shelling out a lot more money if the u.s. defaults next tuesday. we're talking car payments, mortgages. hot on the web today. missing british child madeline mccann makes it to google's top searches. three people in india reported spotting her in a city market. a british woman saw her with a french woman and called the authorities. a young american spotted the girl and tried to take her away from the couple. police took the couple into custody. they insist they are the biological parents of this child. officials have taken dna samples. the child disappeared from a resort in portugal in may 2007, where she was on vacation with her parents. one of the top news videos on youtube today, a thief snips a lock securing a bicycle to a rack outside wcg, a communications company in san

francisco. employees inside spot the guy. they obviously get the bike away from him, save the bike from being stolen but let the thief get away. the kicker here, the thief reportedly left his own bike chained to a light, dropped the key to the lock in the scuffle over that stolen bike, so now his bike is in custody. in a story you can take with you to dinner tonight or the plastic surgeon's tomorrow, one in three people who want a nose job show signs of mental illness. researchers in belgium say 43% of those who pursued rhinoplasty showed signs of body dismorphic disorder. the bottom line here, if you think the bump on the end of your nose should be taken off, or maybe the bridge should be shaved down, you might be a little crazy. [ groans ] [ marge ] psst.

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welcome back to msnbc. i'm contessa brewer. we have breaking news from new jersey. governor chris christie was taken to the hospital, apparently having trouble breathing. we don't know if it's an asthma attack but nbc news has learned the governor has suffered from asthma for years and carries an inhaler with him. his office says the governor was having difficulty breathing this morning. out of an abundance of caution he went to somerset medical center to be checked out. in line with someone dealing with asthma, he is being given routine tests as a precautionary measure. mark murray is nbc news' deputy political director. as michele bachmann could tell chris christie, health issues do come up in the course of questioning one's political fitness, whether they are physically fit enough to do the job and now we're learning about problems breathing. politically, what might this mean for christie? >> well, first, when you're running for president, there is that extra threshold and scrutiny about one's health. chris christie is not yet in the

republican field for the presidency and he's actually said there is absolutely no way that he's going to run in 2012 but he has received a lot of attention. he was in iowa giving a high profile education speech on monday. as you just mentioned, the governor's office says that it's mostly or probably asthma-related, and he is in the hospital for precautionary reasons, taking tests. >> just by the way, a spokesperson says the governor is fine at this point. i just want to be clear here. it doesn't look like there's serious consequences for this little scare. >> absolutely. but one other piece of context, it was just a couple days ago that mitt romney had it floated out at a republican fund-raiser that he was attending that chris christie, along with virginia governor and florida senator rubio would be on any republican nominee's vice presidential short list. chris christie has been on the news for a lot of 2012 related things in the last few days. >> there is some speculation, that's why he's even doing the

things he's doing, fund-raisers and appearances and things like that. let's talk about another guy who has not said he's running but he is definitely toying with the idea more publicly than christie. texas governor rick perry is still not saying whether he is getting in the race now but a new gallop poll shows he could be a very strong contender. >> absolutely. that poll shows that him being in second place when he's added to the mix and actually running very closely with mitt romney, and if he does get in the race in a good time frame, if he decides to get in, would be around august, maybe early september, but if he does get in, he has the potential to be that anti-mitt romney alternative. as we've already seen michele bachmann is vying for that. you could end up having almost two tea party-like candidates running against mitt romney and michele bachmann and governor rick perry. >> more on that ahead but when

we are talking about fund-raising, this is already in full gear. rick perry is actively participating in these meet and greets, the glad-handing is happening already although he has formally announced he is going to run. >> fund-raising is that big obstacle left when the rick perry folks were thinking about making a run, the question was can we build an operation to be able to raise $40 million to $50 million in just a short amount of time to get ready for the iowa caucuses. so that is their biggest challenge. they got a bit of a boost when mitt romney ended up leading the republican field with some $18 million raised the second quarter. it was a good number but not an insurmountable number. so you are going to look to see the rick perry folks think they might be able to compete on that money front, but he first has to get into the race and then he's got to prove that he can raise that money. >> mark murray, thank you. the warnings are coming in to congress fast and furious. the nation's biggest banks sent a letter to congress begging for an agreement, warning of grave consequences for the global

economy if the deal isn't done. interest rates will go up, it makes it more expensive to borrow money for a car, a home or pay for a college education. the transportation secretary, ray la hood, joined the white house press secretary today, warned it would mean massive layoffs for construction workers because cities and states and even private companies would postpone big construction projects again because of rising interest. >> this is not the time to be laying off 70,000 construction workers. these are friends and neighbors to people who live in communities. these are people who work hard. >> if the dollar weakens, the cost of everything we buy overseas goes up, including foreign oil, foreign electronics and other foreign goods like for those who have a silver spoon, a gucci scarf or prada handbag. carmen is a personal finance expert, the author of "the real cost of living." there are real impacts here if

lawmakers can't get past this. what's the most -- the one that could devastate our economy the most? >> the devastation would come from a default. that's absolutely no confidence in this economy at all. here's what will probably happen. if we have a downgrade in terms of our credit rating, we are talking about you mentioned the interest rates for consumers that are going to go up. that money that consumers will have to spend to pay interest, that's billions of dollars that should be instead going into our economy, growing our economy, being spent at the cash register, being invested. so that's going to be a really big loss. also, corporations losing a lot of confidence in the u.s. and still very skittish and holding on to cash, they won't create jobs. then housing. what about interest rates, mortgage rates go up. then folks who have been sitting by the side waiting to go and buy, they're not going to want to buy. >> people may not even want to sell their homes, move into a different house, even upgrade, because it means getting a new mortgage at much higher interest rates. >> absolutely. a big thing for me, this is about interest rates and rising interest rates for consumers and the billions of dollars that

would go to pay interest instead of trying to chug the economy along. that's going to be very costly. >> earlier this hour, i showed the stock market, the dow jones doing pretty well on the day because we got some good news on the job front. even though there has been an impasse, looks like we're in the same territory. but already, you're starting to hear people question whether they should do something with their retirement funds. is it time to pull their money out of stocks and their 401(k)s out of bonds? >> be calm. carry on. that's the motto right now. think about it here. we're hearing a lot of drama coming from washington. look at wall street. what wall street is doing. they're kind of shrugging this off. the key thing to understand, do not do anything temporary and drastic to a long-term investment. we have been through this before. we were just through this even more dramatic way. don't do anything drastic. make sure you're well diversified. if you are, you're going to be okay. this is short-term. don't fall prey to short-term thinking in a long-term

investment. >> good to see you. thank you for the advice. the irs is demanding airlines refund tax money to passengers. you see, federal taxes on plane tickets expired last friday at midnight after congress could not agree on a plan to keep the faa running. instead of passing the savings on to passengers, some airlines raised ticket prices, you know, sort of covering that gap in lost tax revenue, and they just pocketed the money. so if you bought an airline ticket before last weekend and you're traveling now, you might get some of your money back if the airlines obey what the irs is telling them to do. if you can't get a refund from the airline, you can submit a claim to the irs. police in northern virginia say it's one of the most bizarre cases they have ever seen, a guy targeting these young women at shopping malls, stabbing them in the butts. nbc's pete williams has the latest from washington. >> reporter: the latest in a bizarre series of attacks came just this week. police say an 18-year-old woman was shopping at this mall in

northern virginia on monday when she felt a sharp pain. >> she realized as she put her hand back there and realized there was bleeding. someone had apparently slashed her through her outer clothing and inner clothing, and caused about an inch and a half wound in her rear end. >> reporter: investigators say they believe the man seen in these surveillance photos is responsible for monday's attack and at least four others in the same area of northern virginia since february. all at popular retail stores. he's described as a heavy-set latino man in his late 20s. >> the gentleman who has been trying to take advantage of them when he has an opportunity, it's certainly a very, very unique situation and it's unfortunate somebody is out there doing that. >> reporter: so far, the attacks have produced superficial wounds. the victims have all been in their late teens and early 20s, prompting this virginia mother to warn her two daughters to be more aware when they're shopping. >> we came up with a plan that we were going to be aware of each other, we weren't going to separate too far out.

>> reporter: one of those daughters says she's taking that advice. >> i have definitely been more careful today. >> we hope that young women and their friends do pay close attention, if something feels unusual, looks out of place or a bit suspicious, to pay attention to those gut feelings, report it to the folks who work in the store. >> police say the suspect strikes in the afternoon or evening when stores are more likely to be busy, making it easier to melt away into a crowded mall. some breaking news coming in to us now. despite all of the controversy and scandal that has plagued the murdochs, bskyb's board of directors has unanimously backed james murdoch to remain chairman of the company. there were a lot of questions about his testimony before parliament and whether there was some wiggle room in terms of telling the truth there, but it looks like the directors of his board have said yes, he's the guy to lead us into the future and have given him their unanimous support. instead of using $800,000 to

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1,000 kids took part in that study. rap artists rap about a lot of things, money, cars, success. and now, the debt ceiling. comedian turned rapper remi posted this music video online called "raise the debt ceiling." it was posted on reason tv, a libertarian monthly that promotes what it calls free minds and free markets. he joins me from washington. good to see you today. >> good to see you. >> it's an unusual way to make a point. why did you decide to rap about something that is so financially complicated, may not appeal to a lot of people who like rap, young kids may not really think much of the debt ceiling. what message are you trying to get across? >> i think you may have just touched upon it. my friend meredith bragg from reason tv and i have been collaborating last couple months, last month i rewrote the

hokey-pokey and made it about the tsa and called it the pokey-pokey and it put an entertaining spin on sort of a political topic. we thought maybe we would try the debt ceiling. i was at first hesitant because i was thinking they'll solve that tomorrow, it will be fine, but a day became two days, a week, two weeks. we said let's do it. >> what has been the reaction from especially younger people? >> i think hopefully folks are enjoying it. i have been getting a lot of positive feedback and some great e-mails and tweets. i have been getting some tweets. they have been positive. >> okay. let me just quote from it since we're not going to play the whole thing. if you're looking for some cash, it's about to get heavy, i got some big old piles of money and guess what, they shovel ready. you're talking about basically stimulus spending and all that. that's a big part of the argument here. what got us to the point where

we're in so much debt? >> well, yeah, we are in a lot of debt. the number i use is $14 trillion in the song but if you total up unfunded liabilities, it's staggering. it's in the tens and tens of trillions of dollars. hopefully the folks behind me -- i was surprised, this is not like a backdrop. that's for real. that's a window. i want to move here. that's cool. >> it's a nice view, isn't it? >> hopefully those folks are working on it today, not watching debt ceiling raps. >> our guy on the hill says it's a very tense atmosphere up there on capitol hill today. i got to think you're very committed here because i'm reading that you were shooting this in a polyester jumpsuit, 116 degree heat index. >> picked a great week to film it. it was just brilliant. it was really, really, really hot. >> i know you're getting a lot of attention for it. very creative.

as i said, it probably draws a lot of attention from people who might otherwise not stay on the sidelines, not get involved in the political discussion. thank you. >> thanks, contessa. sidebar now. today, facing facts. republican presidential candidate herman cain is apologizing to muslims. in a statement, he says he's truly sorry for comments that may have betrayed his commitment to the constitution and the religious freedom it guarantees. here's a look back at a few of those comments. >> would you be comfortable appointing a muslim either in your cabinet or as a federal judge? >> no. i will not. >> you're saying any community, if they want to ban a mosque -- >> yes. they have the right to do that. >> well, yesterday the candidate met four muslim leaders in sterling, virginia. afterwards, one said he thinks cain left that meeting with an entirely different view of what muslims and mosques are about. maybe. here's more of cain's written apology. i stand by my opposition to the interference of sharia law into

the american legal system. texas governor rick perry appears to have the strongest support among potential non-candidates for the republican presidential nomination. he even comes out on top among odds makers, giving him a 35% chance of winning the gop nod. romney gets 28%. bachmann is a distant third at 9%. the "new york times'" nate silver on his blog says betters may be getting ahead of themselves here, pointing out an average of the seven most recent polls still give romney the lead. in a recent gallop poll, a little better than half of voters even know who perry is. sarah palin fans may have to face the fact she's not getting into the presidential race. or not. palin set to headline an iowa tea party rally in september, fueling more speculation about her presidential aspirations. she has said she will make a decision in august or september.

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we have been talking online today about all the warnings coming to congress from big banks, governors of states, the list goes on and on. what will it take for congress to act, says a tweet, when the big contributors say the money spigot will be turned off if they don't. a 10% drop in the stock market should be a wake-up call to congress that it's time to stop fighting and start solving. dean posts all bets are off. when congress approves a budget that requires borrowing and then out of spite refuses to approve that borrowing, who knows what will happen next. on the floor right now, we have seen senator reid saying the senate is going to move to take up the boehner bill right away if it passes tonight. there's a vote tonight at 6:15 in the house. but senator reid says it will be defeated in the senate. so this allows him to take the boehner bill to deal with it quickly, because you know, he could have tried to table it but in this case, he says he will

deal with it, but he says it's not going to pass. it also gives him a little room to maneuver and try and get some votes on his version of the deal to get the debt ceiling raised. of course, if you want to weigh in on this, i know a lot of people are following all the developments here of the debt ceiling arguments very closely, you can reach out to me on facebook, on twitter. a one-time rodeo star has put her town on the market. not her house, her town. for less than $1 million, you can purchase the town of scenic south dakota. population, eight. couple catches. it's literally miles away from the nearest real town. it's right on the border of the badlands. still, can you imagine coming up with the ad for this listing? for sale, one town, 1.96 million square feet, secluded setting. mary thompson is live in scenic. how is it anybody can sell a

town? >> reporter: there are a couple reasons. a couple that you actually mentioned, contessa. first of all, scenic is close to the badlands. as a result, you see pretty heavy traffic for tourists coming to and from the badlands every day and there's an indian reservation down the road as well. if you want to buy scenic, there is a way to actually make money once you buy it. of course, what twyla merrill did, she moved here in 1963 and as other people left, she started buying up the businesses. unfortunately, she has been stricken with cancer and her efforts to battle that has prompted her to sell scenic which as you mentioned, goes less than a lot of new york city apartments right now at $799,000. >> when we're talking about buying the town, what is it that you actually get? do you get all the buildings and land underneath it, you own the town government? >> reporter: well, it's a township so the government is basically, or the different

areas, sewer, water, et cetera, are run by councils. what you get is 46 acres and a number of businesses and different buildings. right behind me right here is the longhorn saloon which the realtor, david olson, says is ready to open. all you need is an owner to get in there, clean it up, bring in the beer, wine, whatever you want to serve, it's ready to go. there's a gas station here that's ready to go as well. there are a couple of homes, whether or not you want to keep those up, that would be your choice, i suppose, as well but certainly, there is an opportunity to run a viable town here, but you need of course a very strong work ethic and love for the outdoors and isolation. it's about 50 miles from the nearest city. >> winning the election for mayor seems pretty easy. mary thompson. >> reporter: there is no mayor. >> we got that. little joke. thank you, mary. thank you for watching today. i'm contessa brewer. see you tomorrow noon eastern. well-being. we're all striving for it.

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports" boehner's big test. live this hour, the speaker holds a news conference just hours ahead of the vote on his debt ceiling plan. >> mr. speaker, is it fair to say you have a bit of a rebellion on your hands, or do you feel -- >> oh, i've got a little rebellion on my hands every day. it comes with the territory. >> you're not worried? >> never let them see you sweat. >> but there was a little bit of sweat and now after whipping rebellious freshmen into line yesterday, does he have the votes? either way it is dead on arrival in the senate. >> republicans cannot get the short-term band-aid they will vote on in the house today. they will not get one democratic vote in the senate. and your bankers calling the president and congress get a stif