together. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," president obama admits 117,000 new jobs is simply not enough to sustain growth. but what economic bullets does he still have to fire between now and the 2012 election? another roller coaster day on wall street. after thursday's big plunge, the dow opened higher on better than expected jobs report then it bounced up. it is back up right now. back to work for now. the senate votes a short-term fix to end that paar shl shut down of the faa. after labor day it's back to square one. too much gridlock, too little action. a new poll reveals how angry americans are with congress. even hill veterans agree. >> i resent the fact that a small group of people in the united states congress are painting the entire congress with this broad brush because of their unwillingness to do what many of us have prepared to do. we need adults.

thoughtful people who are willing to come to the table and negotiate. and the road back. nbc's tom brokaw with a special "dateline" report on the challenges the men and women of our military face when they return from the bat field. >> good day i'm andrea mitchell reporting live from washington. a silver lining perhaps but not a silver bullet. news that the economy added 11 7,000 new jobs in july helping to soften the market's worst sell off in three years. it's far short of what economists say is needed to bring down unemployment. with me now labor secretary hill da solis. better than expected not as good as hoped for. what do we do next? >> i think we continue on to make sure that when the congress comes back that we put forward a payroll tax that we pass bipartisan infrastructure bank that will help us create a million jobs for construction workers and also pass the free trade agreements and the taa

trade adjustment assistance. there's so many things and, tension of the unemployment benefit program. many people if they have found jobs will lose those jobs at the end of the year. we're talking millions. >> is there any agreement on the korea trade deal, any short-term compromise in sight? >> i would hope there could be since this was initially a bipartisan proposal by both sides. and i think that the president's ready to roll. that will help to create jobs and increase exports that we can help create jobs here at home. >> madam secretary, there is so much anger at congress. 82% disapproval rating in the poll that just came out. you served in congress. why is it so difficult because clearly the dysfunction over the debt ceiling debate has led to a lot of the economic concerns and could even produce a contingent slow down up ahead. >> from my perspective i can say that i do believe there are many people who don't fully

understand the role of government. many victims who just came into office have never served before. it is a challenge. i think that the american public needs help right now and our priority should be about creating jobs and not fightings and bickering over things that can be resolved quickly. thanks goodness that we saw the faa debacle come together now. we can put workers back. that is jobs. that's job creation. >> but in september this short-term fix evaporates and they're back to square one. again, over an issue that should have been resolved a long time ago. there seems to be a crisis of confidence. >> i think that the american public needs to make very clear while their members are home at recess and talk to them about what the priority should be. if they're not satisfied, they know very well what they can do. >> is there a real risk of a double dip recession? >> i don't think so. i'll tell you why. i've seen this uptick here with jobs. clearly we've seen many the last three months about 140,000 jobs

on the average being added. in the last 17 months 2.4 million private sector jobs. when you look at what happened under the bush administration, he only added 11,000 jobs per month in the eight-year span. 11,000. we've clearly done as much as possible. especially in a recession their time where we came out of that and are now on the road to recovery. we're doing everything we can. we need to have cooperation. we do need to have sound decision making in the congress in the senate. >> hilda solis secretary of labor, thank you very much for coming on the jobs report day. a big day in we shall and around the world. fears of that long-term economic problem here are combining with deepening worries that europe will not be able to contain its growing debt crises. worries about italy and spain interrupted august vacations today for angela merkel and nicolas sarkozy. the contagion from europe infecting what's happened here

and then going back across the pond. what do you see happening with this jobs report first? >> well i think you said it yourself. the real issue right now is a crisis of confidence. in the u.s. the facts are changed dramatically in the last few days. i mean the economy's kind of bumping along the bottom and the jobs report this morning really wasn't too bad. it wasn't that great, but it wasn't really that shockly surprising. what is halting the markets right now the fear. fear about the future of the euro zone and whether the euro zone lieders can get a grip on the crisis and the stock is spinning out of control. also fear about the u.s. and as the realization dawns that the economy's bumping along the bottom and going to really be slowing down, there's a realization that the government haven't got many tools left to actually fight any slow down with because monetary policy options are almost exhausted and the fiscal policy options are really difficult right now.

and as we just heard, people can sit here and joke about measures that the white house could propose to help the jobs market and get people back to work. if congress is basically gridlocked those measures aren't going to come through. >> that seems to be part of the realization this summer. and watching washington that you can talk about pivoting to a jobs agenda. but what can you do if there is going to be such gridlock and if this new committee for instance that's going to be appointed is going to deadlock and then we'll have the triggers at the worst time to be cutting deeply in both discretionary spending and defense spending. just seems as though everyone is feeling a lack of hope? >> it's almost as if america is sort of talking itself into a funk. into a state of terror. and one of the reasons i love america is that normally it's so optimistic, so can do. and yet there is a real sense that the mo jo is missing right now. it's quite instructive if you look at other parts of the world right now in terms of what's

happening in the jobless front. quite recently germany was regarded as the sick man of europe. it was seen as being very problematic in terms of the labor market. germany has an unemployment rate which is quite a bit lower than america's. the netherlands have an unemployment rate less than half of that than america's. canada is below america, too. i'm not suggesting that necessarily the type of measures they have taken would work in the u.s. it's a very different. the fact is that the u.s. has had its own way of dealing with job problems in the past which was all about labor market flex tbl i. getting people to move around the country and getting merings to hire and fire and that rests on the idea of confidence. that american way of creating jobs is clearly very troubled now. it's hard to see what the president can do to get that job market growing again. >> thanks very much for your

perspective. that becomes a political problem. the president insisting today that the economy is still moving forward even if too slowly. small comfort for nearly 14 million americans that can't find a job. john harwood is in washington. what about the political impact of this jobs report. sst clear he's not going to have the kind of unemployment number that you want to see if you're running for re-election? >> the jobs report today is pretty good news relatively speaking, but the jobs picture overall is very bleak. i was talking to mark sandy a few markets ago, the economist who advised john mccain. he talks to a lot of democrats. he's expecting unemployment many the fourth quarter of 2012 to be 8.5%. that's very high for an uncouple bent running for re-election and for his party. it is not an encouraging picture for anyone incumbent right now begin how people see the situation in washington the public disregard for congress.

certainly it's problematic for the president who's the chief incumbent of all. >> earlier on "the daily rundown" i had an exhibit interview with austin goolsby this is what he has to say about the jobs report which was as you point out better than expected. >> we still have a long way to go. so i guess i don't understand why we don't do these things that there's bipartisan support for which are not small thins. pass the free trade agreements, extend the payroll tax cut, pass the infrastructure bank, pass the patent reform bill, a a series of things that both parties have advocates and drafted even in the recent term. >> john, is the best political option right now for the president to run against congress? >> yes, i think that's substantially it. i do think some of the thins that he listed for you like the payroll tax extension, republicans like tax cuts will

get done. i expect the trade deals will get done. the only question is how much of an impact they're going to have. i think the answer is suggested by your earlier conversation with julian that can do american optimism that's been missing you can expect the president to run as a guy with a positive agenda against a negative congress that's talking about cutting and not acting on things that could spur growth. don't know if he can sell that argument. i think we're going to see that argument a lot during the 2012 election. >> thanks so much, john harwood. jobs, the economy and the battle scarred congress. up next, senator john kerry. and send me your thoughts on twitter. ♪

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the president isn't is only democratic trying to find a silver lining in the economic views. earlier today i talked to jen kerry who said at least there's some signs of improvement. >> we're growing jobs, we're not doing it at the rate we need to. the lesson from that is that we cannot just cut right now. we have to do what we know works. which is invest in certain kinds of things not spend, but invest in things that will produce jobs for the long-term. the infrastructure bank -- >> the gridlock -- i know you are proposing an infrastructure bank and the lot of other investments, but there's no hope in dock right now. what we've seen from congress is complete gridlock. one side says invest, stimulate, the other side says cut. and there's no agreement in the middle. >> well i disagree that there's no hope. i wouldn't get up in the morning if there weren't. i believe there is hope.

i believe there are reasonable people. i look at the work of the so-called gang of six. people came together. i think we can do that. i think what's most important to be honest with you, is that the media in america begin to help frame this debate properly for the american people. it is not just the question of oh, we have this enormous debt. the debt in the next one or two or three years is mangeable. it's the long-term debt, it's the structural problems with medicare, medicaid, social security, those we need to do. if we dealt with those then we can say what people have liked to see us do who have been most adamant about the deficit then we will send a message to the market tlas that will begin to excite investment and give greater confidence about the long-term. i also believe it is possible to talk to reasonable people in congress about how we can create

some jobs now. example, the infrastructure bank, you know, it's a horrible word, but it would provide an investment mechanism for very, very little, maybe $5 billion, $10 billion of federal dollars. you'll get $650 billion of investment in job creation in america. and it will be paid for not by taxpayer dollars, but by private investors, the chinese for instance are prepared to invest in these projects because they can get a return on investment from doing that. in the meantime, we rebuild america. that makes sense. and i think there are plenty of things like that that we can do to put people back to work. >> senator, the latest polling shows that 82% of americans have a terrible view. a negative view of congress. the performance over the last month has certainly been appalling. isn't that part of the problem that people are losing hope that their government can fix these issues? >> yes, it is.

no question about it. and i personally -- i resent the fact that a small group of people in the united states congress are painting the entire congress with this broad brush because of their unwillingness to do what many of us are prepared to do. we need adults, thoughtful people who are willing to come to the table and negotiate. i've done that for 26 years now. i've seen the congress when it could be at its best. i've seen bob dole and ted kennedy, i've seen orin hatch and russ fine gold and john mccain and people come to congress to do this. congress is the same constitution that tip o'neill and ronald regan made work. the problem is not the institution. it's the people. and it's a small group of people

who don't negotiate. if you're not willing to negotiate, nobody can make something happen. we had a group of people who actually argued for default. we had a group of people who were willing to hold the entire economy of our country hostage to the shooting of the hostage. and they were willing to shoot the hostage. if that's your situation, everybody winds up being hurt by it. and, and so i think people have to stop and say who's caused this? i am very sympathetic with the anger that the tea party feels and i respect the grassroots movement that says you guys have ogot to get serious about the debt and deficit, well i am. i'm prepared to put social security, medicare, medicaid on the table to talk about how we reform and fix them, improve it. we don't have to cut the benefits of them. but we certainly can structure them going into the future. but i also believe we have to create jobs. we have to grow our economy. we did this in the 1990s,

andrea, you remember it. and we did it without a constitutional amendment. we balanced the budget. we created 21 million new jobs. and all i ask is that these people sit at a table in a reasonable way and negotiate in a reasonable way. >> that was john kerry earlier today. coming up, praying with rick perry. the politico briefing is next right here on "andrea mitchell reports." [ coughing continues ] [ gasping ] [ elevator bell dings, coughing continues ] [ female announcer ] congress can't ignore the facts: more air pollution means more childhood asthma attacks. [ coughing continues ] log on to lungusa.org and tell washington: don't weaken the clean air act.

with the economy in trouble, communities in crisis, people are adrift, we need god's help. that's why i'm calling on americans to pray and fast like jesus did and as god called the israelites to do in the book of job. >> rick perry inching closer to a presidential run is convening his day of pray and fasting tomorrow.

in a football stadium the texas governor is getting scrutiny for who's coming. reliance stadium is holding thousands. 8,000 are registered. how is this going to work? first of all it's controversial because of people like john hagee and orministers who are controversial. john mccain had to disavow a last time around. they have said some terrible things about the catholic church and other religious groups. plus it is defined as a christian prayer group. >> there is a cost-benefit analysis here. clearly the perry folks have come down believing there's more to be doinged than they lose. which is to say in a primary, that he -- we think he's going to be in now, that he could really news this as a way to appeal to cultural conservatives. it's a way of introducing himself through the swath of the

conservative base that identifies as evangelicals. there's clearly a downside. he's going to be inviting a lot of scrutiny, a lot of press down there. obviously that can be used against him especially in a general election context. lastly, the optics. even if there's nothing controversial said, if he's getting all this buzz for a last month about the campaign and he draws a pretty small room and that big football stadium, that's going to raise questions, too. >> i talked earlier today on the daily rundown with senator cay bailey hutchison who lost to perry, but is a fellow republican that she lost in the primary to run for governor. she has no doubt that he's running, but is not committing as to whom she's going to support in the republican field. take a look. >> i do think he's running. i think that's very clear. he's putting all of the building

blocks in place. i don't know what i'm going to do. i'm looking for the candidate who can win. i want a candidate who can fix this economy. i'd like to see someone with the experience necessary to do that. >> but that said, rick perry and the likelihood that he's going to get into this race has frozen the field somewhat. especially as you've seen pawlenty lose some ground and bachmann lifting her profile in iowa. people seem to be waiting for perry to get in. >> absolutely. i think people are wanting to know if it's real. and if it is real, then he's going to be a serious threat to both bachmann and pawlenty. he's going to have to do a fast campaign. keep in mind many the iowa caucuses move up, these other states try to leapfrog iowa and new hampshire, we could have the iowa caucuses in calendar year 2011.

that's a three-month sprint for rick perry. that doesn't leave a lot of time for him to put together an organization. it's going to be a fast-paced campaign here after august is done. >> thanks so much. have a great weekend. >> thank you. >> and coming up, a crisis of confidence. what will it take to re-assure investors and get americans back to work. >> and on the home front, nbc's tom brokaw following three families will you the waer in iraq tom the new challenges they face at home. >> what our troops need when they come home is more than yellow ribbons, parades and open hearts. they need an open hand. one of the best ways to extend that hand to truly honor a my body needs. citracal.

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fatal shooting amounted to murder, they did find the officers guilty of a coverup. officers shot at unarmed people without warning or justification. the defense attorneys argued that the officers returned fire after being shot at first. it only took 55 seconds today for vacationing senate to end that partial shutdown of the faa but only until september. it cost the government $400 million in lost airline ticket tax receipts. money that can now never be recovered. to say nothing of course of the lost paychecks from those laidoff workers the faa and construction workers that could be one reason why congress has a whopping 82% disapproval rating in a new poll out today from "the new york times" and cbs news. nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us. that disapproval rating has a lot of warning signals for

congress. >> reporter: it's the kind of action that we saw or inaction is maybe a better way to describe it that contributed to such a fat number. 82% disapproving. they could be fixed the faa issue a couple of weeks ago. never allowing it to go to a point where workers were furloughed where those tax repeats were going to the% pockets of the airline. they were able to collect the taxes and collect them as profit. all of this mess could have been avoided. we can be pencilled in on september 16th to talk about this issue. it only goes to that point and then they have to solve it again. one of the issues has been to be fund the faa for all its operations and at the same time try to deal with some of the cost cutting that especially republicans in the house want to see done with some subsidies that go to rural airports. that's been a sticking point and that issue will come right back up in just a few weeks. >> kelly, i don't know object

you, i think we should just go on vacation. >> reporter: take me with you. >> that's my point. thank you. have a great weekend. and solving the faa standoff will help put 74,000 people back to work thankfully that's only temporary as kelly was just pointing out. today's job report shows nearly 14 million americans are still unemployed. cnbc contributor joins us right now. it's better than we had feared. not as good as they might have hoped for. what next? what about this crisis of confidence? i think it's a reaction to europe, reaction to everything that we've been witnessing in washington. >> indeed, it's washington, it's europe. even more acutely it has been europe. the washington problems have come and gone. what happened today and what got the market turned around the dow rallied 171 points in the early trading and then plunged 200 so we had a nearly 300-point turn around. just about an hour ago my colleagues on cnbc began

reporting that the european central bank along with the italian government and possibly the government of spain as well may have reached a deal in which is european central bank will buy aitalian and spanish bonds to help them avert a debt crisis if they agree to austerity programs and reform their budgets immediately. we don't know all the details of this. it prompted a massive turn around. from down 200 we are up across the board in stocks. a lot of this is hanging on europe right now. if indeed a deal is put together that has teeth, it could help stop the flow of red ink on wall street. >> that conversation between angela americale and nicolas sarkozy from their vacation perches the european central bank did something. >> we'll see how it goes from here. it's a step many the right

direction. any reduction and concernso europe will clearly help out here particularly with economic numbers at home start going our way. >> is there some concern what they did in greece so far is just a band-aid is much more structural reconstruction has to happen before they can get past this? >> i think that's absolutely right. i think whether it's greece or whether it's the way in which they've approached this crisis over the last year it's never been as comprehensive and as holistic as what happened here let's say in late 2008, 2009 when we had the tarp. we had the fed take rates down to zero. we had quantitative programs. it was an encompassing set of programs and more in addition to that that stemmed the crisis. europe doesn't have fiscal unity. it doesn't have political unity. a much more difficult time responding in full force the way the u.s. government did. however, one wants to characterize it and however one wants to suggest whether or not it's been perfectly successful

or partly successful, europe has more of a struggle these member states which are countries don't have unified policies. it makes a unified response that much more difficult. hopefully they'll pull something together that will be more like what we did to staunch the problem here. if we see that, good news for everybody all around. >> the very latest. thank you so much. the unemployment problem here many the u.s. has hit returning troops especially hard. 13.3% of post 9/11 vets are still looking for jobs. president obama today visited the navy yard here to propose some new ideas to get them back to work. >> today, we're saying to our veterans, you fought for us, and now we're fighting for you. i am proposing a new returning heroes tax credit for companies that hire unemploymented veterans. we're challenging the private sector to hire or train 100,000 unemployed post 9/11 veterans or their spouzs by the end of 2013.

>> nbc news special correspondent tom brokaw has been reporting on three families as they experience the iraq war since even before it began. an iraqi-american family returning to rebuild their homeland. an iraqi family who lived under the tyranny of saddam hussein. and an person soldier who found in the iraq war and is trying to get back on his feet. >> four mants before the war began i met george weaver. he was training his platoon with a growing sense of mission because a sense of conflict with iraq was in the air. do you ever allow yourself to think i might get hurt or i may not come back? >> of course. >> his wife, dawn, a special ed teacher shared those fears. >> what happens if i do lose him? what am i going to do? how am i going to mentally prepare myself and how am i going to explain that to my kids? >> march 19, 2003, the u.s.

attacked baghdad with massive force to shock and awe saddam hussein into submission. the fighting became intense as weaver and his unit waged the battle for baghdad. when it came time to pull the trigger, no hesitation? >> no hesitation. pulled the trigger. >> in august 2003, after almost a year in iraq, he returned home and was based in georgia. >> what's up? >> however, years after the invasion of iraq he was a changed man. wrestling with injury, sickness and just getting back into the rhythms of normal life. >> did you lose some friends? >> yeah, i did. so -- >> there were more battles ahead. the great recession cast its dark shadow over the weaver family. >> i've been retired for a year. i'm still looking for work. >> tom brokaw joins us now from big timber, montana, where people have given more than their all for the war effort.

tom, just watching that clip from your "dateline" special it's heartbreaking. >> those stories are being repeated all across the country, andrea, charles weaver of course is a fine young man, he's also emblematic of his generation of military people. in this town of big timber, montana, the county seat of sweet grass county about 3600 residents in the entire county, 48 young people are in military uniform. that's well above the 1% level. at the national level. 22 of them have served in iran and iraq. this is the kind of town that takes care of their own. you can see behind me a wooden yellow ribbon on the light pole. that's you will upened -- that's all up and down main street with the names of the military people serving. when they come home montana like every other state has got real difficulties with the job situation. admiral mike mullen says that reintegration is the next great battle for the american

military. finding a way to give them jobs. give them the skills that they need and to deal with their emotional issues. we can't let that get lost in the debate on the debt limit or what we're going to do about 2012, the flubs of the tea party, who's ahead or who's behind in the republican primaries. these are the people who represent all of us often at great price. >> and in fact, tom, it is so disappropriation. the fact that rural america, small town america sends so many more men and women into our military. and the big cities, the heats are benefitting from their sacrifice, their service disappropriationly. >> well, as i often say to my friends and even people who ask me about this, nothing is asked of the rest of us. if you're a parent or a young personnel jibl for military service, it's your call. you can decide not to go and there is no penalty for that under the voluntary military. but here there has been a long

tradition in rural and, withing class america from coast to coast of military service. and frankly for a lot of young people coming out of high school they're not prepared to go to college or not inclined to go to college or they can't afford to, the military's a very good option for them. they can get a skills set. they come back with a sense of pride of giving something to their community and their nation. and they've seen another world. so we cannot forget that 1% of our population doing all the heavy lifting. they're also our fellow citizens. >> one quick point, i was talking to the ceo of siemens and to other corporate leaders who say that the men and women coming back from military training are often way ahead of others coming out of colleges and high schools because they have a much better high tech background because of the technology that they're using in the modern military. so the military is a terrific career option just in terms of transitioning to the private

sector if those private sector jobs were there. >> that's true also of institutions of higher learning when they come back and go to college. almost all the university and state college presidents they lift our entire student body because they mature. they've got discipline. they have a sense of mission. they now know what's important in their life. one young man in minnesota lost both of his legs came back and ran fr the state legislature to which he's been elected. excuse me, he said to me before i went to war i was a knuckle head. i lost both my leks, i didn't lose my life, and i found a whole new direction. we can learn from them as well. >> it's such an important issue. i'm so glad you're doing it. of course, you tom have been the real spokesman for a lot of these men and women. thank you so much. and we look forward to the "dateline" special. thanks to tom brokaw the "dateline" special, the road back premiering this sunday at 7:00 eastern on your nbc

station. and the crisis is growing worse by the day in east africa. nbc's richard engel live in somalia next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.

i'm tamron hall coming up on "news nation" at 2:00 eastern, the military announces big changes in the amount of time troops will spend in the bar zone. deployments have shortened for men and women fighting for their country. the bride and groom will join us with an emotional update. this 10-year-old model is featured in a high end magazine decked out in makeup and heels. some people are upset with zuktive sexual poses. on some websites people have referred to this as kiddy porn. it is today's gut check.

opening fire on anti-government protoasters that are demanding presidents asad give up power even as he escalates the government's assault against the opposition. today john kerry acknowledged to me it is a dilemma for the u.s. >> there's very little that we can do beyond right now condemning it. which we do. the violence is horrendous. i think it has put presidents asad in a position not to govern in the future. we don't have a lot of options. we don't particularly know who the opposition or who might emerge as a leader there. this is one of those thins that is just going to have to play out regrettably. we could do sanctions and i think we ought to. >> meanwhile the famine that is gripping east africa continues to worsen, dr. jill biden will

be traveling to kenya this weekend leading a u.s. fact finding mission to determine what can be done to help refugees. nbc's richard engel is in somalia. richard, there are reports on the wires of a deadly clash today where government troops opened fire on aid workers trying to distribute some corn rations from the world food program. can you help me out on that. >> reporter: that happened about a mile from where we are right now. we are on an african peacekeepers base many the center of the town. one of the on places under the control of the very, very weak government in somalia. this government only controls about half the city. only half this country. today there was an attempt by the mayor to distribute some food. and some gunmen that may have been related to the mayor were stealing some of this food, another group of gunmen arrived.

a gunfight broke out between seven and ten people were killed. so it wasn't an attack by the shabaab militia as far as we can tell, it was a gunfight between rival armed factions. that is the kind of thing that happens a lot in this country with lawlessness. many people have guns and people are desperate, stealing food, fighting to protect that food and dying at that distribution center. >> the aid workers are caught in the middle. >> reporter: aid workers are not only caught in the middle. they are directly targeted. the worst areas of this famine are in the south. and those are areas that are controlled by alshabaab. it the linked to al qaeda. it dun want any aid workers at all to go into the areas. and has in the past killed aid workers when they tried to go into their areas. aid workers feel targeted. even in areas where it's relatively safe to operate,

they're still under fire. >> please be safe out there. thank you so much, richard engel. on the who had the worst week in washington? that's up next. and be sure to follow the show online.

ladies and gentlemen it's my honor to introduce our commander in chief, president barack obama. ♪ >> you can go ahead and cheer too. >> well, who had the worst week in washington. msnbc contributor and managing editor postpolitics.com joins us. when you have to tell the troops to cheer the commander in chief not a good sign. >> you ruined my big surprise but yes, not just for that, and not just because he's now eligible to be a member of the aarp, but because the economy

looks like it's still not recovering at the rate that certainly president obama's political advisers would like. obviously a little bit better on the jobs front, 117,000 created, but the unemployment rate dropping to only 9.1%. very unlikely it's going to get sub-8% before the next election and polling in swing states, ohio, florida, pennsylvania, that suggest all out in the last week or so that suggest that this, the economic drag, the struggles, anxiety people are holding is starting to impact president obama and his re-election prospect. so i just feel like this is a week where it crystallized that things aren't going to get better any time soon and that barack obama is going to probably by november 25th own this economy in a meaningful way. not a great week for him, though i would say not a great week for almost anyone who is a politician in washington. can't forget congress with a 14% job approval number.

i had a number of good or bad options depending on how you look at it to pick from. >> i'm trying to figure out who's in the 14% that likes the congress. they don't have enough family and friends could count. >> the famous tom coburn line, i can't believe anyone approves of the job we've been doing lately. i think quickly, it is possible that we are looking at a historically anomalous election in 2012 where both sides are punished equally or somewhat equally for what people view as being out of touch and intransigent and we wholechanges. who knows about at presidential level but at the senate and house level. there is a possibility republicans pick up the senate and democrats pick up the house which would be unheard of in political history. >> chris, you heard it first here, thank you very much. that does it for us, for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." thanks for joining us, on monday as part of msnbc's "making the grade" series, former education

secretary spellings will be joining us and on sunday a two-hour program a stronger america, making the grade from 12:00 to 2:00 eastern hosted by my colleague and good friend tamron hall and jeff johnson, live from detroit. and you can be part of the conversation now at facebook.com/strongeramerica and follow on twitte twitter @strongeramerica. tamron is here now. >> thanks for the mention. tackling that subject next week. we're following big breaking news this hour. the jury in new orleans reached a verdict in the post-katrina danziger bridge. five police officers convicted of civil violations of unarmed men. we're keeping an eye on the markets one day after the dow plunged more than 500 points. the new unemployment report shows hiring picked up slightly. we'll get this processed. president obama says things will

get better when? we'll talk about it. "news nation" is moments away. well-being. we're all striving for it. purina cat chow helps you nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life.

welcome to "news nation." we're following breaking news right now. a new orleans jury has just convicted five current and former police officers in connection with a deadly shooting after hurricane katrina. an nbc news camera crew captured the video of the incident on the danziger bridge. the shooting happened less than a week after the storm in 2005. six unarmed people were shot, two were killed, and of the five officers convicted today, four were convicted of civil rights violations, one was convicted of charges stemming from the cover-up of the shootings. the jury decided none were guilty of murder. defense attorneys for the officers say they were shot at before returning fire. sentencing is scheduled for december. some of those convibtsed face life in prison. we'll have more reaction on that. right now jus