downgraded. who's asphalt? the blame game begin over this downgrade and what will this mean for the 2012 elections coming up? no relief in sight. temperatures continue to soar. it could be weeks before the heat wave ends. good morning, everybody. i'm alex witt. welcome to "msnbc saturday." we begin with developing news we've been following ought morning long. afghanistan, 31 u.s. special operations forces and seven afghan soldiers have died an a nato helicopter crashed during an overnight operation. it happened in the tangi valley just west of kabul. the worst single loss of life since the war began. a report from kabul, afghanistan, just a few minutes from now. meantime, our other top story. the u.s. facing financial uncertainty now that the standard & poor's lowered the country's aaa credit rating pap completely unprecedented move. the u.s. has always had the

highest credit rating possible, going back to 1917. a standard & poor's statement you see, the big fight in washington over the debt ceiling shows the law making process is less stable, predictable than previously believed. the u.s. is viewed less credit worthy than canada, france and the uk among other country. the same status as belgium and new zealand. one step above bermuda, kuwait and the beleaguered country of spain. good morning to you at the white house. i say the word good, parenthetically. not only, john, did the s&p down grade the dow, what does this mean for the country? >> negative outmeans they're praising for a further downgrade if we don't get our act together to a greater degree over the next couple of year. they give outlooks to give an advance sort of flashing yellow

light, and then they say how a country or a company responds to that. that's what they're doing with this negative outlook and saying if we don't get a more thorough growing deficit reduction plan over the next few years we could go from aa plus to aa. >> let's talk the history since 1917. the economy that survived. aaa rating through every war since world war i. every financial crisis since the great depression. so now what do you make of s&p saying the u.s. lawmaking process is less stable, less effective and they're saying it's worse now than ever? >> reporter: look, i think it's a combination, alex, of changes in our political system that have made bipartisan compromise more difficult. more importantly, what's going on in our economy. not just in the united states but around the world. we've got baby boomers moving through towards retirement. that's going to create a tremendous burst of cost in social security and medicare.

we've known for a long time we needed to get our arms around that long-term insolvency of government. we haven't quite done it yet, and that is what, i think, as well as the near-term deficit arising from the financial crisis. remember, we had our first trillion dollar annual deficit in 2009 after we had the collapse of wall street and then the t.a.r.p. bailout. i think that factor combined with the baby boomer retirement is what made this rating happen. >> okay. what can washington do to help get this aaa credit rating back? >> reporter: this is one chapter in the story. we've got a long way to go. we've got a special committee appointed with the next two weeks to try to get another trillion and a half in deficit reduction and the continue can take more decisive action than they've taken so far, requiring a big deal. not just cuts in entitlements but tax increases republicans have been resisting. until they control the entire government they can't impose a long-term solution of that kind.

so it's possible this will increase pressure for a compromise this fall. otherwise, you have the trigger that's going to impose deep spending cuts that's not going to make anybody happy. >> john harwood, more of your thoughts a bit later this morning. joining me here in the studio, ron insana way good morning to tu, ron. >> good morning. >> as much as when i heard the news last night and i let out a no! you know, this really wasn't a surprise. >> well, it was and it wasn't. there were some speculation that the rating agencies could downgrade the u.s. debt even despite the agreement reached last week, but it wasn't really expected to happen this quickly. most people felt with the exception of one small ratings agency that had already downgraded the u.s., the s&p, moody's would all reaffirm the aaa and wait to see how the process john harwood just described would play out november 23rd, a report of suggestion, vogted on by

december 23rd to cut several trillion in government spending. it didn't meet the trillion cry keiria spet by s&p but moving in the right direction which makes this something of a surprise. >> are we bracing ourselves what the markets may do internationally here at home on monday or is there something, the perspective, after you get over the are you kidding me? here's what happened. can it make a difference? >> i don't know what can be done in the next 48 hours that can accelerate a $4 trillion deal in deficit reduction over a four-year period. i was talking to a strategist saying we're kind of in uncharted territory. you pointed out. we've never seen lower than a aaa credit rating since 1817. and owning like mutual funds. will they be exempted and aloud

to hold aa plus paper, which u.s. treasuries are now, or will they sell? will the chinese sell, the brits sell? others sell? because of the downgrade will they sell? probably not. we get at spike in interest rates a fall in the dollar, an explosion in the price of gold. those are the risks. not sure they're going to happen. people may look past this, or we could have a very rough day on monday. at this juncture we won't know until tomorrow night when foreign markets begin to respond what exactly the feeling will be about all this. >> how long might it take to earn back that aaa credit rating? >> a long time. japan's been downgraded since its economy has been mired in recession 50% of the time since about 1992. it hasn't earned back a aaa credit rating. so it takes time and work to earn it back. it would be -- i think it would be very bizarre for s&p to roll this back in short order.

it would suggest they did, in fact, make a calculation error or misunderstood the direction of this deficit reduction process, and they would lose credibility. let me say, also, most of the rating agencies, in my mind, anyway, have no credibility. they missed the subprime crisis, ignored things in europe that led to their crisis and downgraded entities after the fact. just like the horse has been out of the barn for quite some time on european debt, certainly on u.s. debt. the fact they're doing it now seems somewhat ill-timed and looking at the ramifications of it, somewhat ill-advised as well. >> ron insana, great to have you. coming up, eric dash joining me to talk more about the credit rating and what it means for the overall health of the u.s. economy. the developing news from afghanistan where 31 u.s. special operations service members were killed in a crash.

we go to kabul. since our last hour, any official confirmation or explanation how this happened? >> reporter: we are receiving a little bit more information. our colleagues in washington were able to find out that as many as the 31 killed, as many as 20 of the 31 killed may have been navy s.e.a.l.s. the afghan president did say 31 american, all special forces killed along with 7 afghan counterparts of the afghan command, the afghan special forces. in that statement president hamid karzai offered condolences of those killed in afghanistan. since then we heard from president barack obama in a statement he said that my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the americans who were lost earlier today in afghanistan. their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of the

military and their families including all who have served in afghanistan. in that statement he also offered condolences to the families of the seven afghans killed. he said those were the afghans fighting for a more peaceful afghanistan. alex? >> given where this happened, is this a malfunction? rather the taliban claims as result of their rocket propelled grenades? >> reporter: absolutely. we've seen many helicopter crashes, as you mentioned, in afghanistan throughout the years, but according to the area, the area of this valley, an area you find many insurgents. an insurgent safe haven, some would say that borders a province southwest of kabul, a province that's an area that has been a very dangerous place to operate for many decades. even before the war started in 2001.

this is an area the soviets had a problem with back in the 1980s as well. so this is an area that many afghans can operate, the taliban can operate, the conservancy blends right into the population. something the american forces cannot do. >> msnbc, thanks very much. the dangerous heat wave continues across much of this country today. msnbc meteorologist bill karins joins us with the latest on what to expect. good morning, bill. >> good saturday morning to you, alex. the heat's been a huge summer all summer long not stopping today. incredible temperatures continue with texas and oklahoma. yesterday, 107 in dallas. almost as hot as phoenix at 109. a little bit of a break in kansas city with showers and thunderstorms yesterday. i think that's going to happen again today. heat warnings are in orange. almost all of the state of oklahoma including tulsa and oklahoma city. dallas, heat advisory and heat warnings around the memphis area.

everywhere in the yellow, heat advisory. in other words, a good chunk of the southern half of the country today is still going to be very dangerously hot. the report streak continues in dallas. we've now had 35 days -- can you imagine? 35 days in a row each in the afternoon hit 100 degrees at least. the record is 42. we're now only a week way from that. check out the five-day forecast in dallas. no rain in sight. temperatures are easily going to be above 100 for the next five day fls a row. i would be talking next week, the longest heat streak in history in dallas. today's forecast, a lot of areas that are going to be dodging showers and thunderstorms out there from st. louis and chicago, indianapolis, even new york, philadelphia and d.c. especially late in the day today. pittsburgh, down to charlotte, raleigh, atlanta, many areas in the southeast dodging showers and storms. not just today, even into sunday. a humid atmosphere the eastern half of the country. during this time of year you get the late afternoon showers and storms.

unfortunately one area that's not seeing rain, right in the heart of texas. >> they're the ones that need it. thank you very much, bill karins. supposed to be high-end adventure trip to the north pole. one king dead, and others injured because of a polar bear. and the u.s. credit downgrade. how does this politically play for 2012? [ male announcer ] looking for a complete picture of your money? meet pnc virtual wallet. it comes with a calendar that shows you all your finances at once. it lets you know when your money's going out. and when it's coming in. it even tells you when you're running low. we call that danger days. it's built to help you see your money in a whole new light. experience everything virtual wallet has to offer at pncvirtualwallet.com. pnc bank. for the achiever in you. ♪

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president obama's facing a barrage of political attacks this morning following the first-ever downgrade of the u.s. credit rating. here's what gop candidates have to say. >> it's a real blow to the american economy, to our status

in the world and the president needs to be held accountable for it. he did not apply leadership. >> the lack of leadership from president obama. >> president obama is destroying the foundations of the united states' economy one being at a time. i call on the president to seek the immediate resignation of treasury secretary timothy geithner. >> here with me now, republican strategist and former white house aide for president george h.w. bush and peter from washington, esteemed democratic strategist and hello to both of you. you're both esteemed. good morning to both of you. peter, if you were working on a presidential campaign right now, how concerned are you? or is the fact we are all these many months as way, you can overlook the first credit downgrade for the u.s. government? >> these campaigns start earlier

and earlier, and i've come out earlier and earlier, but, of course, the president can weather this. a couple of points. first of all, nearly 70% of americans believe that this terrible economy is not his fault, that he inherited it. if you look at this debt problem, over $5 trillion of it was under george bush's watch, with two unpaid foreign wars, the tax cuts, $1.4 trillion under the president's watch. the fact is, he has to show improvement. he's got to move things. you know, he has to be a little less, keep it cool calvin coolidge and a little more of harry truman. you know, i think the sad part about this, and i read the whole report, s&p report this morning, is that if they had agreed, boehner and obama, on the $800 billion in revenues and the

entitlement cuts and tax cuts and came up with that $4 trillion plan that was on the table, we wouldn't be seeing this downgrade and we wouldn't be seeing this -- this thing as bad -- wouldn't have seen the crash last week with the stock market. >> clearly, the s&p, joe, has been following the goings-on and they write the statutory debt ceiling in the threat of default has become political bargains chips in the debate over fiscal policy. you've got to wonder, to whom are they directing their frustration and is it fair to assume it's the members of the tea party? >> no. you have to consider at the end of the day where the buck stops. the buck stops with the president of the united states. this is not to beat up the president unfairly except to say whoever occupies that seat in the oval office and i worked for a president, is the person who's in charge and the person who sets the tone and provides the leadership. you can't blame past presidencies because people are looking to the person in charge right now to provide the

guidance and leadership to get the deal done. and to give us the hard medicine we need to get it done. it's less important to be popular while you're president and more torrent important to d right for the american people and we win. we win when we get our fiscal house in order. you've not demonstrated the capacity to get your fiscal house in order and therefore are being downgraded. it's unfortunate but needs to be done. the president needs to do whatever he needs to do. whether it's popular or unpopular to get us back on track fiscally. that means cutting spending. that is not spending money we don't have. what average americans have to do anyway. why not lean the nation in that direction? >> joe's saying it's a down. grade of leadership as well. has the president not been effective in leading this country in terms of the economy? i mean, if you look at where we stand? >> sure. there's no question that no one like whether it's 9.1% unemployment, 9.22 perce%.

americans are furious about the gridlock in washington. to your previous question, alex, the important thing i think about this is that the tea party has been an extraordinarily destructive force. if i could just quote one line from the s&p piece. they said if we're going to van upside scenario, it should incorporate $950 billion of new revenues on the assumptions that the 2001, 2003 tax cuts lapse from the administration, that they're advocating. whether you do this or have a compromise, it's something the tea party will not balance it. i agree with joe. on some of the things the president should have gone on earlier, last year, with this, with the expiration of the tax cut so that the revenues came up. i think they should have hit

1346 the lo some of the loopholes earlier. anytime you have a situation where folks have a gun to everybody's head, as the tea party did, it's not a good negotiation. >> can i ask you about the gun to the head thing, joe. you have the tea party favorite jim demint saying the deal they did get just kicked the can down the road. if the tea party's serious about cutting the debt how can they oppose revenues that would drastically close the gap? >> remember, the tea party can't control what both chambers of the government do. the president who controls the white house and leads his party, the head of this party. and then you have the u.s. senate, controlled by democrats, and you still have a whole bunch of democrats in the house of representatives who have to deal with republicans for the time being are in the lead. so you can't say that the tea party, one wing of the party, is responsible for the fiscal health of the country. the tea party folks are saying basically let's do for the country what we ask americans to

do. balance their checkbooks and not spend money they don't have. calls for hard measures, unhappy medicine, if we don't do it we're in trouble. we're seeing the truck now. look at unemployment. 9.1%, it doesn't take into account over 8 million americans are working part time. not getting a full-time check and consider the 8 million americans working part time, and those not working at all. unep employment is about 13.1%. >> joe, i agree with your point. here's the key on this. if you're going to give confidence and stability to the markets, you have to have someone like john boehner who stands up to these tea party guys and says to them, look, you can't do this. you know, it's not going to happen -- we're not -- >> nobody went far enough. the problem is nobody went far enough. >> i agree. >> and to -- >> we should have done the $4 trillion. >> nobody wants to be unpopular. >> right. >> to get it done, you need hard

cuts and anger some people, sadly. >> i agree. the point being on this, which is your point exactly. if barack obama went true with the entitlement cuts and social security and medicare fixes he was going to make people very angry. he was very willing to do that, but i think the problem is that the tea party folks seemed to have a hold over truly fixing this problem. they're more interested in their ideological straight jackets than in fixing the problem. that's where i have a problem. >> that's the last for this time. you're both coming back. we'll talk to you then. meantime, throughout this morning we've been asking about your tweets on the credit downgrade. they've been great. more of what you've been saying from so many of you. plus missing for four months. police say they may have a new lead in the case of 20-year-old nursing student holly bobo.

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wall street analysts predict the first downgrade of america's sterling credit rating could be very costly. the government may pay extra $100 billion in interest payments annually. putting that in perspective, the war in afghanistan cost $120 billion every year. and a blog who writes what worries me every day congress is on vacation while real people are losing their livelihoods. the biggest worry for b.r. group online, the disconnect with the white house with reality. and nick says america's future worries me the most. higher borrowing costs for students could lead to a decline in education. all have good points there. keep talking to me. my handle is alex witt. we'll discuss this with our economic analysts later. and what this means for you. how much should re worry about? more ahead on "msnbc saturday."

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good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt. here are your top stories at 30 past the hour. a helicopter crash in afghanistan killed as many as 31 americans along with 7 afghan soldiers. the taliban claims it shot that helicopter down. president obama issued a statement offering his condolences. we all know the summer and it's hot. today at least 12 states across the south are seeing record temperatures well above the 100-degree mark. and standard & poor's downgrades the u.s. credit rating from aaa to aa plus. is the first downgrade in history. the s&p saying congress' new deficit reduction plan does not go far enough. joining me with anatural swhas this credit down grade means, "new york times" banking reporter eric dash. good morning to you. >> great to be here. >> i'm glad you're here, because what does this mean in terms of for our wallets, our pocketbooks and the big banks? >> it's really hard to say.

there's two things it could mean. one is that much of the reaction might have already been priced in. investors on wall street had already been thinking about this for a month or two. so we may not see a big move in interest rates, but longer term we may see a rise in borrowing costs, because many of the government's debt, many of the instruments we use is tied to government debt. credit card rates, mortgage rates and other things could go up as a result. >> do you think, we saw volatility on wall street this week, terrible plunge. do you think some investors are thinking, this could be coming down the pike and that's what could be factoring in? >> separate the near term from the long term. near term, borrowing rates could go up. mod testily. weren't of the things we saw, long-term rates on 30-year treasury bonds plummeted. suggesting americans or investors are thinking wall street, and when washington is really going to get its act together long term. >> what could happen? do you think investors could be

selling their u.s. treasury bonds? >> you know, i've talked to several analysts. they say they don't think it's likely. where else will they go? even though with this rating it seems the perception, the reality is, there aren't too many safe places in the world. just look at europe. >> absolutely true. when you have the u.s., though, now with the downgrading of credit, will that affect us in our ability to bounce back from the recession and from these turbulent times that we're in? i mean, if so, how? >> i think bigger than the economic impact is really sort of the blow it national pride and national -- >> oh, yeah. >> and sort of national embarrassment. i liken this to sort of the dream team losing at the 2004 olympics. when we were upset by argentina. we prided ourselves on financial management's and having a sterling aaa credit rating for more than 70 years. nows gone. it could rattle consumer confidence. that could actually have a real impact on the economy, because

consumers aren't confident, if businesses aren't confident they're not going to invest and spend and we need that to get the economy back rolling. >> absolutely go. from the "new york times," banking reporter eric dash. thanks for your perspective. all on the heels of friday's job reports. despite a slight drop in the unemployment rate. the jobless rate dipped from 9.2 to 9.1% adding 117,000 jobs last month, more than expected, but analysts say this latest report beat the picture of a jobs directi direction -- jobs report with no clear direction. many can't find work and for many it's frustrating and aggravating. >> you grow up thinking if you're a good person and you work hard and you're honest, that thingless just work out. >> i need a job today. >> joining me live, msnbc analyst vera gibbons. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> lots of bad news right now, but i'm always looking to you for silver lining.

do you see them? >> i'll try to find some. there's nothing good to be taken from this report. 117,000 jobs, a silver lining. better than expected. economists expected 75,000. others expected lower, 50,000. the unemployment rate did drop frp 9.2 positive 9.1% and gains in the private sector and manufacturing, in health care, but all in all, a pretty grim report and people have been out of work on average for 40 weeks. it's a really, really long time. >> give me a takeway for consumers on all this? >> the takeaway, you've got to be patient. it's taking a long time. the people finding work, having to totally re-invent themselves, pick up new skill, try new thing, move into other industries. go with companies expanding operations elsewhere. it really requires thinking out of the box. people getting jobs are going for the part time, the contract and free lance work, that's becoming the growing percentage of the jobs available out there. >> what's so interesting to me this "new york times" report

saying despite all of this economic malaise we're seeing, vera, the rich are back to spending. they're splurging on luxury goods. do you see evidence of that and what do you make it? >> they were in july and the market was up. stock market up, people feeling wealthy and went out and spent. look at july compared to the lows of march 2009, the market was up 80%. people went out, bought the luxury goods, the 2,500 pair of shoes, went to nordstrom's, bought fancy cars, bmws, good times for them. mercedes had one of best years of late and went out and spent. that was then. this is now. the stock market's been very questionable and i think as a result you'll see consumers retreat and pull back a bit. >> vera gibbons, thanks. new york city mayor michael bloomberg announced this week details about a program designed to help more than 300,000 young black and latino men. this initiative will help young

black and latino men find jobs raise families and hopefully stay out of trouble. >> blacks and latinos are not fully sharing in the promise of american freedom, and far too many are trapped in circumstances that are difficult to escape from. >> joining me now, talk radio host, who's come in from los angeles. glad you made the trip. thank you. >> nice to be here. >> tell me what you think about this program that's been launched by new york city mayor michael bloomberg? >> he has to be commended fully for this. this is an incredibly important initiative, him and also george soros pooled their personal money to address this extremely critical problem that's not -- it's here in new york but also we're facing it throughout the country in latino and african-american communities nap being said, we have to remember, this is only one component. i mean, they're going to do some intense job training with some of our most at-risk youths. after you train people for jobs they need jobs.

and this is like the problem that you've been talking about all morning. i mean, what we're having right now is a terrible economic downturn, and the best anti-gang program that there is, the best program that there is for latino and african-american communities and their youths is jobs. >> yeah. >> when the economy gets better, crime goes down, and that -- we've seen that over and over again. >> what is it that you want to gain most out of this program, which is targeted at youth between the ages of 16 and 24? they're very vulnerable. not necessarily in education programs and if they're not in school, they may not have the job given this economic malaise. so -- >> what we've seen in community-based programs like this throughout the country. much smaller than this. this is an outstanding initiative. we have seen pilot programs like this through the years, that it really doesn't take that much to intervene with youth. there is -- in our community jobs matter.

and what this program is set to be very -- very, very effective. they're going to go, work with youth that are at-risk, that have had some kind of run-in with the law enforcement community, and they're going to work with them so that they stay in school by paying them. a lot of these young people in the city and in other cities drop out of school not because they're lazy or because they don't want to be educated because because they're families needed income. >> yeah. >> so this program will directly provide income to youth giving them the incentive and the ability. more than just the incentive, but the ability to actually stay in school. >> you've brought up a point, mayor michael bloomberg, a billionaire, and also a billionaire, george soros. a $130 million program they're starting with here. what role in terms of helps the minority community? should there be specific programs directly approaching that target group? i mean, how much do we need

those kinds of programs that will help, then, generally overall? >> i think, once again, these type of programs have existed on much smaller scales throughout the country. this is going to be -- this program's going to have a lot of scrutiny. i believe it will have a huge impact, because you're bringing together some sf the nation's top experts in this field. once that happens, then we should duplicate. the federal government, state government, could work to duplicate this program throughout the country, and, you know, find ways that work. regionally it will be different from place to place. >> right. >> but that being said, you know, once you train people for jobs, there needs to be jobs. and this has been one of the most critical areas. we still don't -- we have not seen any job creation. the job creators have not come to the table, whoever they are. the tax credits that were supposed to create jobs hadn't worked. you know, we need jobs, and when we have jobs in our communities,

crime goes down. kids have the ability to stay in school, and overall, it's better for everybody. >> okay. well, talk radio host, thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. appreciate it. >> you're welcome. thousands of post offices are considered for closure around this country. the postmaster general released a list today. some don't sell enough stamps to keep employees. locations like general stores which would contract for post's services, this would be a major savings. one teenager dead, four others injured after, get this, a polar bear attack. these details in three minutes. plus an arguments on a city bus ends in gunfire. we're going to show you on "msnbc saturday."ttle inf mation. for broccoli, say one. for toys, say two. toys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 central standard time.

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a polar bear attacks a group of britain students camping in norway killing one teenager. four others injured before someone in that group shot and

killed the bear. martin fledge sir tcher is in l with the details on this tragic story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, alex. a school adventure meant to teach young people the excitement of the wild, until early friday morning when a hungry polar bear woke them up in their tents looking for food. it's one of the most hostile places on the planet. the arctic circle, and home to one of the most hostile animal, the polar bear. ten feet tall, weighs half a ton, it will hunt man for food. and that's what happened early friday morning. in this campsite, a party of british youngsters and their guide slept, awoken by roars. boys fought back. two guides badly injured. one boy hurt and 17-year-old horatio chapel killed. he had wanted to study medicine. >> by all accounts, he would have made an excellent doctor.

>> reporter: here with his father preparing for the trip of a lifetime is now in the hospital with head injuries. >> the polar bear got into the tent where patrick was and horatio and this other chap and he just went after horatio and just killed him. >> reporter: the rest fought for their lives. the tour leader shot the bear. the bear struck back severely wounding him, but he got off another shot and killed the bear. the boys phoned for help and the wounded were helicoptered to safety. a stunning experience with about 2,000 polar birs. believed with global warm, food is scare. >> the only food source there, then they'll come after you. before that, a natural process. and whether you can put them off is the key question. >> reporter: tragically in this case, the british youngsters could not. it's quite common to get close

to pop lar bears. this is the first time, though, they've killed a humen in 16 years and also friday in glacier national park, a grizzly bear mulled a 50-year-old hiker, bit him in the arm, leg and foot. he had bear spray but couldn't use it in time. he managed to get away and call for help. >> a horrible story. martin fletcher in london. a case of a missing nursing student holly bobo. weighing in on what this new information means to the investigation, next on "msnbc saturday." these are our neighbors putting their lives on the line. and when they rely on a battery, there are firefighters everywhere who trust duracell. and now you can join with duracell to help. just buy specially-marked packs & duracell will make a battery donation to local volunteers. these days don't we all need someone to trust...? duracell. trusted everywhere.

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breaking up a school shooting plot that was supposed to take place on monday. three 15-year-old boys are under arrest in covington, louisiana. a detailed plan to bring weapons to school and kill any police who tried to stop them. an alert school administrator notified officials about that plot. in philadelphia, video taken from inside a city bus of a

shooting following an argument between passengers. this incident happened two weeks ago but the video just played in court yesterday. witnesses say it started when a plan on the bus criticized her for spanking her son. at the next stop, several men were waiting with gun. they opened fire. no one was hit. the suspects are under arrest. no norman, oklahoma, you're about to see a three-story building completely engulfed in flames. several cars also destroyed, and it happened not too far from the university of oklahoma campus. because school isn't in session, many of those apartments were not occupied. the cause is under investigation. a convicted sex offender wanted for questions in the disappearance of a tennessee woman is wanted for questioning in minnesota. 43-year-old george wall at his girlfriend's home in duluth. he was living in perry county near the home of holly bobo.

she vanished after he brother said he saw her being led into the woods with a man wearing camouflage. >> now we're going door to door and asking for anyone that has any information. someone has to have seen something, someone knows something, so we are begging those people to please come forward with that information. we searched. we do something every day. >> joining me live now, former fbi profiler clint van zandt. april 13th was a long time ago. your heart goes out to this family. >> it really does, alex. >> with regard to investigators, they say they have no reason to believe this guy is connected to the bobo case. so why do they want to interview him about it? >> one of the things you always have to do notwithstanding eliminate family members and those living nearby, find all the registered sex offenders in the area who have a history of committing any similar type of

crime, and rule them in or rule them out based upon where were they at the time. in this case, holly bobo's disappearance. this guy, you indicated, alex, lived nearby. he disappeared from the area. the local authorities got a warrant for his arrest. marshals tracked him down and now want to know, where were you when she disappeared? they may not have anything to link him to the crime, but by background you want to know where he was the morning she disappeared? >> is it standard procedure to interview all sex offending suspects in case like this that live in the area is so this is kind of another step in the process? >> yeah, it really is. my experience as an fbi agent working these cases, alex, whenever you go into an area you have someone who's been kidnapped or disappeared you start turning over rocks and there are sex offenders under those rocks unfortunately. this is something law enforcement has to do. alex, there are so many challenges in this case. you indicate.

april 13th. there are at least 100 psychics that have come forward. psychics say the letter, a, m, j, w, the number 7, a body of water. a guy with a tattoo in his hand. wrong, wrong, wrong. i mean, there's just a finite number of resources law enforcement has. these psychics come out of the woodwork, never in my history as an fbi agent has one helped solve a case. they come forward and you have to track it down. that's a challenge for this case, also. >> dealing with psychics, i was going to ask, ever asked in your knowledge i was going to ask, you said no for you personally. what do you think? the track is cold? >> statistically, whoever took holly, a 6 foot tall man, dressed in camouflage, seen by her brother clint, walking her

out into the woods and she disappeared, some of holly's personal possessions in the woods, were found. the story seems assistant. the guy wa from the local area, knew holly, had a reason to be in the neighborhood. these are the leads to identify. four months is a long time for a woman to be missing. it's a statistic -- statistically it's a challenge. if you're a parent to deal with that. but there's stilt a lot of leads that the fbi and other authorities can run down. this is still a solvable case, what happened to holly, of course, is going to be something else. >> okay. clint van zandt we appreciate your insights. >> thank you. and wrangling for weeks over the deficit. now america is taking a hit. and not officially in the race. today texas governor rick perry is attending a major christian prayer event.

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tragedy in afghanistan. a u.s. special ops die in a helicopter crash. the latest in a report next on "msnbc saturday." also ahead, now and maybe later, the u.s. credit downgrade may only be the beginning and what affect may it have on our wallets? a line drive and a direct hit and a trip to the hospital. we love lucy. america celebrates one of the all-time leading ladies of laugh. good morning, everyone. welcome to "msnbc saturday." i'm alex witt. we are approaching 11:00 a.m. on the east. 8:00 a.m. out west. and the opening story, 31 u.s. special operations soldiers and 7 afghan soldiers died after a nato