tv MSNBC News Live MSNBC August 11, 2011 9:00am-10:00am PDT
9:00 am
raise taxes. >> give us a chance. i think we want to do something meaningful. >> on the democratic side -- >> i think it's important before we ever get into this that none of us draw lines in the sand. >> americans are quickly losing faith in congress. in a new poll, almost 80% said they're dissatisfied with the u.s. political system. >> at some point this country may very well get crushed under the weight of its own poverty. >> a question of urgency. people have urgency in their lives right now. they don't have jobs. they can't pay their bills. they want to know that congress is there. >> some lawmakers are demanding the president postpone his vacation and call congress back to washington. >> i'm ready to go tomorrow. i don't go on vacation. >> i don't think it's what the american people are looking for. they're looking for leadership. >> don't rule anything out if this volatility continues. >> back on wall street, let's take a look at the dow jones right now, up 254 points. good to see it in the green. s & p is up 30 points and the nasdaq has popped up on the day
9:01 am
69 1/3. we'll hope to see that trend continue. now joining me is mandy drury, cnbc's correspondent. what are we looking that's driving the markets on this day, midday through the trading day? >> you know what, contessa, you were saying it earlier. who can believe all the wild ups and downs we've seen this week. today, of course, it's up but you know what, i really do have to say this just shows how high emotions are right now. not necessarily being driven by fundamentals, but to your question about what is driving today's market to the upside, we have a couple things. we have, for example, a rare dose of encouraging data on the labor front and we also got cisco systems which is very much a bellwether for the weather space and it's currently the best performing blue chip stock, surging 17% at one point after posting better than expected revenues. the ceo, john chambers, also a regular on cnbc, says cisco is making solid progress on its turnaround effort. that's what people want to hear. also, europe, this is a very important driver for our market
9:02 am
as well. very big influence on our financials in particular. those markets ended sharply higher, at least a couple of them sharply higher at the end of their trade about half an hour ago. after the french president sarkozy said he will meet with german's chancellor angela merkel to discuss their issues. a crisis summit of sorts. >> good of you to keep tabs on this for us. appreciate that. let me go to a nationally syndicated talk show host and tony blankley, syndicated columnist, who used to be newt gingrich's spokesperson. good to see you both. we have all this volatility on wall street, the fighting over the debt ceiling. it's all put americans in a very grumpy mood. there's this new "washington post" poll showing nearly eight in ten dissatisfied with the way the political system works. bill, why in the world would the president ask lawmakers to come back from august recess to participate in the political system that's broken?
9:03 am
>> well, because i think a lot of americans feel that they have no right to be on the beach while america is burning and they ought to come back, not just come back and get in the same old partisan gridlock that they were before they left, but come back and get serious about getting the job done. look, i don't think anybody begrudges them a week or so but six weeks? this whole time while you were just showing this roller coaster of a market, and this need to really do something serious about jobs and about debt reduction. i mean, that's why we elected them. get to work. >> although i will say most lawmakers point out that when they go home it's not necessarily six weeks of beach time. >> that's what they say, contessa. >> town halls, meetings with -- okay. so tony, the partisan finger pointing is in fine form. the public, though, it shows blames republicans, democrats and the president equally, all about 30%. so how likely is it you've got lawmakers, the president, looking at those numbers and going you know what, we need to
9:04 am
change our ways. >> well, look, i think i would hope the congressmen would stay home at least through august and maybe through september and listen and talk to their electorate because right now neither party or the white house is prepared to come forward with a strategic solution. that's what the super committee is purportedly for. if they came back to town now, they would just bump into furniture and say stupid things. the real problem i believe is not washington. i think the public is deeply divided. the progressive base, the tea party base, both have very strong feelings and nobody can find a middle in the public and unfortunately, or fortunately, the house of representatives, particularly, reflects very well what the public is thinking and telling them. >> tony, here's the thing. you've got this new super committee that's supposed to be like well, maybe if we have just a few lawmakers trying to come to a deal, it will be easier. already there's fighting over this. all the republicans are anti-tax
9:05 am
republicans, mentioned that, they had signed this pledge not to raise taxes. then on the other hand, you have the gop complaining the rnc chairman said to me yesterday what's patty murray doing on this committee, she's the senate top campaign fund-raiser. >> this is a false lead. they are both selected by their leadership. they will probably do what their leaderships want. the question isn't whether 12 people in a room can't reach an agreement. the question is whether you can pass it on the floor of the house or the senate. they need to be spending more time listening to the back benches left and right to find out what is something that can politically be sold to the public. the committee itself is fine. they are experienced legislators on both sides. >> go ahead, bill. >> i just got to say, i totally disagree. first of all, i think there was one mistake in that legislation that created this committee. there should have been a rider that said anybody appointed to the committee should agree ahead of time that there's no preconceived agenda, no lines drawn in the sand -- >> you're not going to do that. >> they didn't do that.
9:06 am
the fact, contessa, as you pointed out that six of them have already signed this pledge -- by the way, not to their constituents, not to the american people, to some lobbyist in washington named grover norquist -- let me just finish, tony. then you can go. that they've signed this ahead of time for no tax increases means they're not serious about reaching an agreement. listen, i have as much chance of qualifying for the next olympic team as this committee of 12 does to reach an agreement. >> okay. last question here. i want to ask both of you. when we're looking at all of this volatility on the stock market, when we're looking at matters of national importance that could affect our nation's future for generations, should the president postpone his vacation like some people are demanding? you saw peter king this morning saying look, i don't go on vacations, why should the president. >> no, i don't think so. one, i never begrudge a president any break time he wants. but two, i don't know what he has to offer right at the moment. i don't think the republicans do, either. i think a cooling-off period of
9:07 am
a few weeks where people kind of sit back and think about where they are is probably more useful than just holding press conferences. >> bill, what's your thought? >> i will split it right down the middle. i think the president deserves a week in martha's vineyard or wherever he wants to go. i wouldn't take that away from him but now's the time he's got to step up and show some leadership. i think the right leadership move would be to call congress back, give them a specific agenda and put them to work creating jobs. do that and then take a week off and everybody will be happy. >> bill, tony, great to talk to you guys today. thank you so much. appreciate your time. a big debate tonight in iowa ahead of the straw poll this weekend for the republican candidates running for president. thing is, rick perry is grabbing most of the headlines this week and he hasn't even announced yet. sarah palin is heading to iowa on this bus tour and driving right into the spotlight. she hasn't said she's running. my big question today, how are the noncandidates getting more attention than the candidates? listen, i know, i already read it online, people are like because you're giving them all
9:08 am
the attention. it's not just me talking about it, okay? get me on twitter, on facebook, on e-mail. and listen, don't blame the messenger, okay? more on the debate, the straw poll and how that might influence the gop, ahead. three siblings who led authorities on a cross-country manhunt will appear in colorado in a courtroom in less than an hour. the three are accused of shooting a cop in florida, robbing a bank in georgia with an ak-47 and leading officers on a high speed chase and shootout in southern colorado. we are live in pueblo, colorado now. they are going into court, they have lawyers? >> reporter: at this point they don't have lawyers. this is all part of the very preliminary process. the trio will go in front of a judge, they will likely be read the charges they face and the judge will probably ask them whether they have an attorney or whether they would like a court-appointed attorney. this is a procedural move that is just the very beginning, not even a preliminary hearing where charges, where they will be
9:09 am
asked to enter a plea. we don't expect that to happen. we have learned the trio will not actually go into the courtroom. instead of making an actual physical court appearance, they will come live to the judge from a closed circuit television camera so the trio will stay, the dougherty gang will stay here at the jail behind me and the courthouse which is literally just across the street, they will not make an appearance. there is an underground tunnel we were told most suspects take that tunnel to go to court, but they haven't specified the reason why. now, they face today four counts of assault on a peace officer. those are some serious charges. they are charged for those counts because they actually shot several rounds at officers who were trailing them here on i-25. they will face similar charges in florida, where they shot some 20 times at a police officer out there. then of course, they face bank robbery charges in georgia, so that's a federal crime. certainly a laundry list of crimes that they face down the road. this, of course, just the very
9:10 am
early stages in what will be some lengthy legal processes for all of the three. >> miguel, thank you for keeping an eye on that. another deadly day for americans serving in afghanistan. five u.s. service members were killed in a roadside i.e.d. attack about 20 miles west of kandahar. 51 foreign service members have died in afghanistan this month alone. arizona's controversial immigration law could soon head to the u.s. supreme court. plus, a man plans to live at the airport for nearly three months. by choice. my big question to him is going to be why? wall street right now, you can see, it's a nice trend. good to see green arrows across the board. the dow up now 271 points, hovering around that 11,000 mark. have i got a surprise for you! [ barks ]
9:11 am
yeah, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. how'd you learn to do that? what'd you use? every project we finish comes with a story built-in. it's how our rough ideas become "you did that yourself?" so when we can save more on the projects that let us fix, make, and do more... that just makes the stories even better. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now get this vanity and matching mirror for just $99. but afraid you can't afford it? well, look how much insurance many people can get through selectquote for less than a dollar a day.
9:12 am
selectquote found, rich, 37, a $500,000 policy for under $18 a month. even though dave, 43, takes meds to control his blood pressure, selectquote got him a $500,000 policy for under $28 a month. ellen, 47, got a $250,000 policy for under $20 a month. all it takes is a phone call. your personal selectquote agent will answer all your questions ... and impartially shop the highly rated term life companies selectquote represents for your best rates. give your family the security it needs at a price you can afford. call this number or go to selectquote dot com. selectquote. we shop. you save.
9:14 am
well, arizona is looking to the u.s. supreme court to revive its controversial immigration law. governor jan brewer filed an appeal yesterday to overturn a lower court's injunction that blocked portions of that tough law from taking effect. it includes a requirement that police officers question people about their immigration status if they have reason to suspect they are in this country illegally. the flight 93 national memorial is coming up $10 million short, just a month before its dedication on september 11th. it's projected to cost $30 million. the memorial honors those heroic passengers who prevented hijackers from reaching their intended target. instead, crashing the plane in rural pennsylvania. president obama is expected to attend the memorial's opening on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. the connecticut woman mauled by a chimpanzee has a new face.
9:15 am
the picture showing her after her face transplant are pretty amazing. nash lost her eyes, nose, mouth and hands after that 2009 attack. she also had a double hand transplant but something went wrong there. doctors are hoping they can try again. restoring order. what police are doing to put an end to the days-long riots and hopefully catch more suspects. plus, oh, dear. in fact, a herd of deer causing lots of problems in an unsuspecting place. could switcho really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: do people use smartphones to do dumb things? man 1: send, that is the weekend. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party?
9:16 am
man 1: only if he's ready to rock! ♪ sfx: guitar and trumpet jam vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. and form a layer called biofilm
9:17 am
9:18 am
9:19 am
mark. the s & p is up 32 and the nasdaq is up 68. labor moving that a little bit. fewer people joining the unemployment line last week. that seemed to give investors a bit of a bump. it's no fun if you've ever been stranded at an airport overnight because of a flight cancellation or bad weather. how about 80 nights? 8-0? a 29-year-old canadian man plans to spend nearly three months living at the vancouver international airport. he joins me on the phone from vancouver. oh, why, why would you do this? >> i got to say, that was one of the best intros. i love the enthusiasm in your voice. >> i don't know if enthusiasm is the right thing. i'm mostly skeptical at this point about anybody who would voluntarily spend 80 nights at the airport. >> well, i think it all starts with kind of like my hobbies and my passions. i used to take my video camera and go downtown, vancouver or
9:20 am
any sort of crazy like kind of, you know, kind of cultural hub and i would just interview people. this would be on weekends, saturdays and sundays, and try to like get the interesting stories behind that person. when this opportunity came up, and they said we want a story teller to videotape and pull stories from some of the workers and some of the people who travel through the airport, i was right on it. i jumped right on that plane as soon as i possibly could. >> so the airport, yvr, actually runs this contest, right? they say you get a chance to go to the off-limit areas of the airport, they received 96 entries, i understand. i mean, but here's the thing. great, you get to go to the airport and live at the airport for 80 days. i understand you get a suite with floor-to-ceiling views of the runways -- hey, at the fairmont, that's not so bad. >> that's not so bad, actually. there are a lot of perks to this job. i get a beautiful hotel room
9:21 am
suite to sleep in, fairmont, which is a five-star hotel. we get $50 a day for food which isn't, you know, a lot but it's enough to cover the basics and to have some good food at least. >> as long as you're not hitting the bar too often. >> no, i don't have time to hit the bar that often. but actually, what i would like to do is going to some of the vip, the airline vip lounges where they supposedly, i don't know if this is a myth or not, but they have like free beer and open bar and tons and tons of just delicious appetizers. >> i went into one of those frequent flyer clubs once. >> what are they like? >> it was very posh. it was a lot better than sitting out with the riff-raff snacking on the bag of fritos you picked up at the bookstore. one last question. why would the airport want to let people do this? what do they get out of it? >> airport gets a tremendous amount of exposure. they also get to show the world the facilities that they manage,
9:22 am
that they run on a day-to-day basis. vancouver airport has been ranked number one in canada, a number of times. what they do, they get a chance to show the world this is what we're made of. what better way to do it than through social media, through a young guy like me that can really amp people's energy up and show the true stories and some of the fascinating stories that happen in that airport. >> maybe the next airport on the list might be, i don't know, newark. maybe you will get a job going behind the scenes of all the great airports of the world and showing them off. good to talk to you. good luck. >> thank you so much. i really appreciate it. call me back any time and i will give you updates. >> that sounds like quite the invitation. i appreciate that. >> we could have a skype date. this time our skype will work, though. >> yeah, right. we wanted to see jaeger on camera but the skype's not working. better we find that out ahead of time than in the middle of the segment which happens on a regular basis. good to talk to you. thanks. >> bye for now. a strange sight caught on camera. deer crossing downtown, on the
9:23 am
loose, an australian city, the deer ran through backyards, stopped traffic. he's trying to dodge animal control here. look at this poor baby. experts say the doe may have fled a nearby state forest to avoid overzealous men, males, because it's mating season. european satellites recorded huge icebergs breaking off the coast of antarctica. it may have been caused by the earthquake and tsunami in japan. images taken five days later showed massive chunks of ice floating out to sea. scientists thought big ocean waves could break up the ice shelf but this is the first time they have seen it happen. jimmy johnson may have been with the miami dolphins but it turns out he prefers fish. johnson tweeted this picture of a huge marlin he caught by himself on a solo fishing trip this week. i think there was a book i read
9:24 am
about that once. ernest hemingway. republican presidential candidates are in iowa but other noncandidates will be there, too, making their presence known. how college students could be the next face of the next financial bubble. hot on the web today, in the pga championship, topping google searches for a second straight day. the pressure is really on tiger woods here. back in the game after healing from a knee and achilles injury. he's off to a good start. he had two birdies early in the tournament today in atlanta and really needs to keep that up. right now he's ranked 30th in the world and has to finish at least in 14th place at the championship to qualify for the fed ex cup playoffs. 14th place? is that even reality? that seems crazy to even say that. all right. >> in case you didn't hear the news, tbs has decided not to renew "lopez tonight" but that's
9:25 am
all right. >> booing from the audience. virtual booing online. fans of george lopez are lighting up twitter today, complaining about the comedian and he's not getting a lot of time for a long farewell. tonight is the last episode of his late night talk show. lopez told his audience he's losing work because he's brown and getting work because he's blue. america's woman is getting a facelift or really, i guess it's more of an internal cleanse. the statue of liberty is closing for a year after its 125th dedication anniversary to upgrade the interior to meet fire safety codes, to make it more accessible as well. visitors have until october 28th to visit. otherwise, patience is a virtue. got to wait a year. what's up, smart?
9:26 am
9:28 am
[ kate ] can't believe i have high blood pressure. what's that thing? another medication. ♪ i really should have taken my shoes off before i got weighed. [ female announcer ] you've got a lot on your mind. that's why every walgreens prescription goes through a 10 point safeguard check that reviews your current walgreens health record for allergies and potentially harmful drug interactions. [ kate ] i can do this. [ female announcer ] the 10 point safeguard check from walgreens. there's a way to stay well. welcome back to msnbc.
9:29 am
i'm contessa brewer. the fbi says it has potential evidence in the case of missing 3-year-old breeann rodriguez. investigators in minnesota are searching for a white cargo van. the u.s. coast guard rescued the crew of a marine corps fighter jet that crashed off the california coast. the two marines are in stable condition. kolton harris moore, the barefoot bandit, just signed a $1 million plus movie deal. the money will go to pay the victims of his two year long crime spree. according to a new poll, casey anthony is the most hated person in america. beating out reality star spencer pratt, octomom and o.j. simpson. we just got in some political news now. nancy pelosi has just announced her super committee members, her choices to go in and try to tackle america's debt and spending. she announced that she's appointed here the assistant democratic leader, james clyburn, caucus chair xavier
9:30 am
bucera and chris van hollen. let me bring in nbc's deputy political director, mark murray. there are the choices now, adding on to the ones we already knew from harry reid on the senate side. how are the republicans likely to react to those choices? >> well, those choices aren't all that surprising. those are people that we've seen time and time again, chris van hollen is a familiar face to anyone who's been covering politics for a long time. he's a familiar face to msnbc viewers. clyburn, this is a very leadership-heavy decision. it's very similar to the list of names we ended up getting from john boehner recently. not a big surprise there. the house side will probably be more rooted into their ideological beliefs. i think if any type of agreement can occur, it will be with the senate picks we saw over the last couple days. >> we know those disagreements have begun. nancy pelosi says this committee has got to focus on economic growth and job creation and make decisions regarding investments,
9:31 am
cuts and revenue and really, the timing in terms of stimulating growth while reducing the deficit, she says it's got to increase demand by offering recommendations to ensure that wages grow along with productivity. i want to move to iowa, where you are, and things are getting hot there. mitt romney just got heckled. check this out. >> -- rise to 44%. we're not going to do that. >> what about social security? >> hold on just a moment. hold on just a moment. hold on just a moment. >> so here's mitt romney getting heckled there. are these candidates likely to get more of this kind of -- >> contessa, this is something all presidential candidates have to do. this was actually taking place at the des moines register soap box, where the candidates go, give their soap box speech and sometimes you end up having fans, sometimes you have some foes there. what i have been able to gather, this person was taking issue with trying to raise the social
9:32 am
security cap, the payroll cap tax. mitt romney didn't want to have anything to do with it. >> listen to the exchange here. >> strengthen social security, medicare and medicaid, without cutting benefits. >> okay. unbelievable. charlie cook joins me as well, editor of the "cook political report." at some point, mitt romney said if you don't like my answer, you can go vote for somebody else. that's pretty much what -- i mean, they've got some choices in iowa at this point. charlie? >> you know what i thought was interesting from that shot was you notice that everyone cleared out from away from the heckler, and if this was out of character, it wasn't sort of the midwestern nice that we're used to, and that's not the way it usually works out here in iowa. people are generally fairly polite and respectful and they'll ask a tough question, then back off and listen to the answer. the fact you saw the other spectators backing away and
9:33 am
creating distance away from that heckler, i think that says something. >> here's live pictures right now of mitt romney out at these events. this is an opportunity for a lot of these candidates, debate tonight, straw poll this weekend, to go out and do a lot of glad-handing, to meet people face-to-face and give iowa voters a chance to see who they are outside of the edited sound bites and things like that, but sarah palin's crashing the party a little bit. her bus tour's kicking off again, she's going to be -- in fact, she's in iowa now. mark, how is she, rick perry, who has not yet announced his presidential aspirations, whether he's running, it's expected this weekend, but how are they sort of overshadowing or at least informing what the announced candidates are doing in iowa? >> well, they are crashing the party a little bit. i think perry more so. it is pretty clear that he's going to be getting into this race, having some events in new hampshire and south carolina on saturday, coming to iowa on sunday.
9:34 am
palin, of course, surprised everyone by announcing that she was coming to iowa as well. one thing about sarah palin is that every time she ends up doing this, something kind of impromptu, the amount of scrutiny and attention that she gets is less and less each time, because it's not clear that she's running for president the same way that rick perry is. if she has an exploratory committee, says she's running for president, everyone is going to start covering her. it will be interesting to see the duration of the attention she gets here in iowa. >> charlie, what do you expect to see out of the debate? do you think anybody will hit back on romney hard? >> well, i think this is a make or break opportunity for tim pawlenty. to me, romney and pawlenty are sort of competing for the old style establishment wing of the republican party, and jon huntsman, and the question is, can romney solidify that position or can pawlenty kind of crash in and make this more of a contest for the duration. but tim pawlenty has to crash through both in the debate
9:35 am
tonight and in the straw poll so that he can stay competitive for the duration. that's what i'm sort of watching more than anything else. then bachmann's got to sort of reinforce her side, knowing that rick perry's about to parachute into this race and he's going to be coming right at her. i see it as two completely separate contests, one for sort of the more aggressive ideological wing of the party and one for the less so. >> gentlemen, thank you. appreciate it. stay with msnbc all day saturday for special coverage of the iowa straw poll. we have been talking online about why all these undeclared candidates are hogging the spotlight. joseph gabriel writes because in america, everything has been reduced to a sporting event. john says that means they are really candidates but want to keep it a secret so they won't have to get involved in debates until the last minute, then all they got to do is yell slogans, one-liners and put-downs at the other fools. roberto posts palin in iowa?
9:36 am
to quote the church lady, how convenient. you can write to me. my e-mail is contessa@msnbc.com. i want to see more of your tweets while you're watching this show and facebook posts as well. so the next economic crisis turns out could be on college campuses nationwide. that's the suggestion in a report from moody's analytics. it points at students who are on the verge of graduating but don't have a job lined up and don't have money to pay back their student loans. christian doritas is an economist at moody's. good to see you today. why does moody's think this is so particularly worrisome to have student loans and the people applying for them, student loans in greater demand right now, yet the jobs that will help them pay back those student loans are in short supply? >> right. well, just to clarify, i'm with moody's analytics, not the ratings agency, but the concern
9:37 am
is, we have seen a tremendous increase in student loan volumes, the number of student loans has doubled over the last six years. we haven't seen much of an increase in incomes for new college graduates. so the concern is as we go out three, four years, what's going to happen. are students going to be able to pay back these loans in a sustainable way. >> what changes that? if all of a sudden people say you know what, if i'm not going to be able to pay back my loan, i'm not going to apply for the loan and i'm not going to go to college unless i have the money to do so, what's then the long-term forecast for the way that affects our economic growth as a nation? >> well, the broader economic growth is in jeopardy then. our nation requires an educated work force. we have a lot of problems to deal with in this economy between fiscal problems, technology, energy, and we need an educated labor force. so we absolutely need more people to go to school. but i guess what we're really citing in the report is a need for students to think very carefully about the amount of
9:38 am
debt that they take on before they sign up for those student loans. >> christian, i'm going to ask my next guest this as well, but i serve on the board of directors for an alumni association, at my alma mater, syracuse university. i know that rising tuition prices are a great concern, not just for students but the administration of these universities are concerned about it as well. how is that affecting the long-term outlook of how valuable a degree is? >> you're right. tuitions have risen much faster over the last decade, much faster than even house prices. it's really a factor in determining how much debt students have to take on. so there needs to be some more pressure, downward pressure, on tuition rates. i think what's going to happen is you're going to see students looking at community colleges, junior colleges, alternative forms of education, and being much more price-sensitive than they were in the past in order to keep their student debt burdens manageable. >> thank you so much for joining me again.
9:39 am
i appreciate the clarification. donna is president of the university of miami former health and human services secretary under president clinton. great to see you today. >> thank you. i'm a syracuse graduate, too. >> i know. in fact, when i was a student at syracuse university, you came to the university to speak. i saw you there. i have been following your career for a long time. now that you're in the role that you're in, i know this is one of many steps you've taken overseeing higher education, i just want to know, we've got all these states, the federal government crunching the numbers and figuring out there's not a lot of money to go around, and they're slashing funding left and right. how does that affect higher education? >> well, it's particularly affecting middle class families. the slashing of student loans that has occurred makes it much more difficult for middle class families to send their children to higher education. there's no question the students are getting more price-sensitive
9:40 am
but so is higher education. we understand that we have to slow down these tuition increases, that we have to have price and quality in the private sector in particular to be able to attract students, and we are concerned about the loan burden that so many of our students have. but higher education in the united states is still the best in the world and there's no question that it's a powerful part of our economy. >> in florida, i know for instance, you talk about the need to slow the rising tuition rates, so just looking at your particular state, it looks like the third year in a row, students are paying a 15% hike in tuition rates. you're talking about 45% over the space of three years, and it's a problem that's not just plaguing universities in your state. it's happening nationwide. prices have more than doubled, tuition prices have more than doubled over, say, ten years. it's far outpacing inflation, far higher than housing, energy
9:41 am
prices. so how do you manage that better? >> well, what's happened in florida in the public sector in particular is florida for years kept their costs down which meant that families could afford to send their kids to college without borrowing for the most part, and florida has a prepaid tuition program. it also took care of students who had very good grades, who could practically go to college free here. florida, like many other states, can no longer afford that, and that's the reason for very high tuition increases and it's hit middle class families in particular very hard. we have been able to keep up the federal pell grants. this is also true of private universities. but our costs have gone up. we've passed those on. many of us have cut down our administrative costs
9:42 am
dramatically and are trying to keep our tuition down, and finding other ways, jobs and other things that we can do to help our students. of course, with the job market, there is a concern about ability to pay loans back. but there's no question that the higher education system in this country is still a very good deal. >> i know that it's a cycle, right, when there's fewer jobs, people say i'll go back to school and improve my skills in order to go back to school, you have to apply for the loans, to pay for higher tuition rates. it's the cycle. so when you're out and fund-raising, an important job for a chancellor or university president, and the university of miami, the first in florida to raise more than $1 million, how do you go about selling that to donors, saying i know you're in tough financial straits as well, do you put aside the endowed professorships and research symposia to focus on hey, help this kid finish their college education, let's put this money towards scholarships? is that a more successful way of fund-raising right now? >> well, you have to tell
9:43 am
stories. there's no question that most of us are trying to find more money for need-based scholarships, because we see our students in trouble. their families, a family member loses a job, they lose their home and all you can do is to appeal to those who are supporters of the university and make it very clear that this is the time to invest in the university. but there also is, we're in a funny situation because we have more applicants than we've ever had before. people go back to school to get more education during economic downturns, and it's our responsibility to make certain that we can help make that financially available to them, and there are alternatives in this country. there are two-year colleges, there are four-year public institutions, there are private institutions like mine that provide a lot of scholarship money and our students are shrewd about that.
9:44 am
it's not just in picking majors. they know they're going to have to be flexible in the jobs they take in the future so they're preparing themselves with double majors, triple majors. >> university of miami president donna shalala, also syracuse university alumna. good to talk to you today. thank you for your time. >> you're welcome. be sure to join msnbc this sunday noon for a special two-hour program, a stronger america making the grade live from detroit. coming up, how the london police are using new technology to find suspected rioters. plus, the greening of the auto industry and the new prospect of jobs. dow jones industrials right now up above the 300 mark at 11,024. the s & p up on the day 36 points so far. the nasdaq up 81 1/2. [ male announcer ] want a better way to track what you spend?
9:45 am
pnc virtual wallet now comes with spending zone. it organizes all your spending, including your pnc debit card, credit card, and your bills. so you can view them by category... or by month. you can set a budget... and it'll even alert you when you're getting close to the amount you've set -- and when you've gone over. spending zone is built to help you keep better track of your spending. experience everything virtual wallet has to offer at pncvirtualwallet.com. pnc bank. for the achiever in you. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers.
9:48 am
british prime minister david cameron says his government is acting aggressively to restore order following some deadly riots erupting across his country. he spoke today during an emergency session of parliament in london. >> mr. speaker, we will not put up with this in our country. we will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets, and we will do whatever it takes to restore law and order and to rebuild our communities. >> nbc's martin fletcher is live in london. what is that, doing whatever it takes? >> reporter: well, doing -- the rioting is pretty much over. what he means is now is a time of reckoning. today, police are operating all over the capital, arresting suspects identified as looting, stealing, setting fires, attacking police and other crimes. cameron said the police will find and punish the guilty.
9:49 am
he also said, by the way, he will ask america for help, that britain can benefit from america's experience fighting gangs. 1200 people have been arrested so far, half of them under 18. security camera pictures are being circulated with the public being asked to identify hooligans. that's old school technology these days. they are also going to be using facial recognition technology that was developed for the olympics next year. it feeds suspects' faces through an updated face-matching program. the prime minister also criticized the police. he said when the rioting broke out, there were too few police on the streets and the tactics were wrong. he said now they're facing a new unique challenge so they'll get new powers. for instance, they will be able to take masks off masked men who are trying to hide their identity and it could be a clamp-down on social media and the use of blackberrys because many movements were coordinated that way. in a moving moment today, the father of a boy killed yesterday by a hit and run driver again
9:50 am
appealed for calm. he called on parents saying if you value your children, keep them at home. >> so sad. martin, thank you very much for the update there. quick break here. we'll be right back. thing ever. one little smile, one little laugh. honey bunny. [ babbles ] [ laughs ] we would do anything for her. my name is kim bryant and my husband and i made a will on legalzoom. it was really easy to do. [ spits ] [ both laugh ] [ shapiro ] we created legal zoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. is now honey nut cheerios! yup, america's favorite. so we're celebrating the honey sweetness, crunchy oats and... hey! don't forget me!! honey nut cheerios. make it your favorite too!
9:51 am
9:53 am
president obama lands in michigan next hour to talk up green jobs. he'll tour a plant that makes batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. the president says these are the jobs of the future. but how are we doing when it comes to green jobs now? i'm joined by cnbc's phil lebeau, who has been looking into this. the auto industry are looking at higher miles per gallon averages across -- how are they doing when it comes to green jobs? >> they're slowly adding them, and we have seen the president at a number of these stops over the last year and a half where he has come out and said listen, our administration, whether through the department of energy or through the assistance we gave the auto makers last year, we have been pushing for more hybrids, more electric vehicles, development of those vehicles and when you take a look at the
9:54 am
numbers, about 151,000 green-oriented jobs in the auto industry, out of a total number of 1.73 million jobs in the auto industry. that's auto makers, suppliers, dealers, that's everybody involved, 1.73 million. so you can see it's only a small percentage at this point. but johnson controls, where the president is today, that plant is coming online, building electric batteries. we're seeing a real surge of employment for engineers, developing electric vehicles and electric components for those green cars. that's really where the surge in hiring is happening right now for the auto industry. we're really seeing it in michigan, indiana and ohio. those are the three states that are really benefiting the most. >> are they adding those green jobs too because it makes sense business-wise? it's going to contribute to their bottom line? >> absolutely. and they have to do this. listen, we're going to have to see the vehicles in this country get up to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. that's about, you know, anywhere
9:55 am
between 18 and 20 miles per gallon more than where we see the vehicles right now. the only way you will get there is by making more fuel-efficient vehicles. some of that work will happen with internal combustion engines but it will also happen with electrics and hybrids. that's really why there is so much concentration on the engineering side right now. >> phil, good to see you. thank you. just a little update, correction to a story we brought you about breeann rodriguez, the missing 3-year-old girl. she is from missouri, not minnesota, and the fbi believes it may have new evidence in this case, but are not saying what it is. so they're focusing that search on missouri, where she was last seen out riding her bicycle. as you imagine, her parents are desperate for information about where she is. that wraps up this hour for me. i'm contessa brewer. thank you for watching. see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. out west. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." [ male announcer ] this is coach parker... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day.
9:59 am
right now on "andrea mitchell reports" bottoms up. a better than expected weekly jobs report. and worries that leaders of europe's big economies will meet next week puts stocks back in positive territory. a majority of americans say they have little to no faith in the government finding a way out of this financial mess. iowa or bust. all the 2012 republican candidates are there gearing up for this weekend's straw poll. michele bachmann has the big momentum but look who's crashing the party. >> i believe in this country because i believe in americans. >> sarah palin, who released this video announcing the return of her bus tour to where else, iowa. >> they love their country in good times and bad, and they're always proud of america.
175 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC West Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on