bomb-making materials in his room that could have caused mass casualties. also they say they found a manifesto in which he had laid out minute by minute his plan to allegedly try to bomb freedom high school on the first day of school next tuesday. they say that manifesto, he also wrote, he hoped to cause more damage and casualties than columbine. cano was no stranger to authorities, as you mentioned. he had been expelled from freedom high school. he also had been arrested in the past for charges including burglary, carrying a concealed weapon and also drug possession. they say they found a marijuana grow operation in his room when they arrested him. they credited an unnamed person, an informant who turned him in. they say that person helped to avoid this mass catastrophe. cano has been charged with charges including threatening to discharge a destructive device, possession of bomb-making materials and cultivation of mayor wanna and drug possession. richard?

>> thank you very much, kristen dahlgren live in atlanta with us for the very latest. we want to bring in tampa, florida, police chief who joins me on the phone. you're leading this investigation now. chief, could you tell us how did you discover this plot? >> as kristen indicated we received a phone call yesterday that the individual provided information that jared cano hinn tended to carry out these threats on the first day of school, so obviously we got right on that information and investigated it through. >> any idea in terms of why, who he was after and what he was angry about? >> yes. he specifically indicated that he was after two of the administrators at freedom high school and then his intention, he didn't name any students specifically, just stating that he wanted to take the lives of more students than had died at columbine. >> do you know if the administrators were involved in his -- when he was expelled from that school? were they involved in that process? >> well, he felt that they

had -- that they basically had played a part in, you know, the undoing of his life, and he had indicate indicated -- >> how powerful was that? how big of a blast would he have created there? >> well, what he had was material that could have made a number of pipe bombs, including the pipe fuel source, shrapnel, plastic tiubing, timing devices and our bomb squad said that the materials he had the capacity to cause serious bodily individuals and take lives of individuals. >> were these common items you can buy any place, very easy to access? >> yes, yes. >> okay. thank you very much. appreciate your time. police chief jane castor from tampa, florida.

best of luck to you and your investigation. >> i want to bring in clint van sand. the president just mentioning yesterday the next terrorist attack could be taken on by a lone wolf, and it appears that this teenager was acting by himself and as we look towards the anniversary of september 11th, one was has to ask, you know what, will be next. >> what we know with young people, richard, is they usually want to have bragging rights. time and again you see a young person step up and put together some terrible plan like this, and, again, just like the serial killers who were trying to do more than jeffrey dahmer did, young people in school they want to beat the total in columbine. but we get, again, what we call psychological leakage from somebody like this where they tell us what's going on. now they will tell someone anyway. that's for a young person. the challenge comes when we get somebody older who realizes the only way to keep a secret is to

tell no one. those are the lone wolves i think that the president is fearful of, and he's got a right to be. >> yeah. that psychological leakage, if i can say, maybe some indication yesterday when he said on his facebook that he had done something wrong. moving forward though, as we look at these cases with cano and other possibilities of lone wolves, is law enforcement ready for these? are they ready for the unexpected? >> well, the challenge, law enforcement, whether the fbi or the tampa police or whoever, you need some type of fore warning. we'll have to look at the terrible shooting that took place in norway last month, an even though there was fore warning, there were communications that police knew this guy was out buying these tons of fertilizer. he had bought a farm to cover that, so they didn't go out and do any type of interview to find out who they were really dealing with. i think, you know, as we grow -- as we come closer to 9/11, that

anniversary. >> right. >> law enforcement will really have to be leaning forward on the saddle, and any tip, just like the tampa police respond, we'll have to go out and deal with it very quickly because behind some of these rocks there's going to be a bomber who is planning some terrible type of activity. >> clint van sand, great perspective on the story for us. we'll continue to follow all the latest developments in that. now some big news coming from the white house today with president obama now on the final day of his three-day bus tour. right now he's wrapping up town hall meetings in atkinson, illinois, the white house saying the president will deliver a major speech next month detailing an aggressive new plan to create jobs. made up basically of two proposals, one short term and the other aimed at super committee charged with cutting the nation's debt. now at a town hall in illinois less than an hour ago the president repeated his call to end the partisan bickering in washington. >> i want to send a message in washington, stop drawing the

lines in the stand. stop engaging in rhetoric instead of actually getting things done. it's time to put country ahead of party. it's time to worry more about the next generation than the next election. >> okay. we understand that has just wrapped up with the president as he's greeting some of the folks that is there v come to that greeting. joining me live from the white house, nbc's mike viqueira has been watching this with us. we've got this out here, two pronged. anything more on that. >> reporter: usually the president conducts town halls and gets these softball questions, can you help a sibling in jail or something. this was different, questions were very pointed and virtually all of them centered around the jobs and economy and really an indication what the concerns are among american people right now, particularly as the president continues this bus tour now beginning in minnesota and iowa and later today in illinois,

down the mississippi river and through the midwest. he'll have one more of those town halls later today in alpha, illinois. he represented illinois as a state senator. the real estate market, one woman stood up and said she was a real estate agent and talked about the fact that ever since the debt ceiling debate and debacle as some would have it here in washington where the country almost went into default over lack of agreement, the phones have stopped ringing in her real estate office and people were asking about the debt and the need to raise taxes and you mentioned the fact that the president is going to be making what is billed as a major speech after labor day codifying and packaging some of the very items he's talked about repeatedly over the next several months, the need to pass trade agreements, the need to extend a payroll tax cut and more spending on infrastructure, traditional projects, like roads, bridges and airports, but is president also saying that revenues are going to have to be part of any debt ceiling deal, that so-called super committee comes up with. they have that deadline of thanksgiving. >> right. >> a mandate of $1.1 trillion.

the president is talking now about exceeding that and getting a lot more specific, and today he said that revenues would definitely be part of whatever proposal that he puts forward so a very interesting session there in iowa outside of davenport, iowa, at a hybrid seed corn plant. you see the president now as he often does working the rope line before he heads on to the next event, richard. >> as the president conditions that for us, thanks so much, vic. some of the 2012 presidential candidates are saying jobs, number one the agenda for them. both mitt romney and rick per rein new hampshire today firing back at obama's record and his new plan on jobs. >> i hope he begins by recognizing that his plan three years ago hasn't worked, that his -- his responsibility of turning this economy around was not fulfilled. >> our nation cannot endure another four years of rising unemployment, rising taxes, rising debt. >> nbc's mark murray joins us

live right now. michele bachmann speaking a little while ago in south carolina and declaring that she was also a job creator. you know, as we look forward, you've heard it and been watching this entire process, is this new running theme here job creator in chief that they are all going to undertake? >> this is the theme we'll hear for the next 14, 15 months. republicans feel that president obama's achilles heel going into the november 2012 election is precisely the economy, and if president obama loses it will be because the american public has given up on him and on the economy, so you're seeing every republican from mitt romney, to michele bachmann make the economic critique against president obama, and there is a lot of tough rhetoric coming out for him. the question is whether they have the plans and if they have the ideas to be able to turn around the economy. >> well, speaking of which, so michele bachmann, her job creating bona fides, what's associated with that saying she's a job creator?

>> she's said she and her husband have owned a business before, a former tax attorney, actually worked for the irs. a lot of the arguments that people are making have to do with biography. probably the biggest biographical argument has been from mitt romney, as head of bain capital he knows what it's like to be a capitalist and knows what it is to be in the front lines of the economy and so it's time to give him a chance. interestingly enough, the one republican who had actually had a very detailed plan, although it didn't receive criticism, was tim pawlenty, and he's out of the race. a lot of these republican candidates don't have specific economic plans yet, but they have called for things like tax cuts, less regulation, et cetera. >> so mark, the last one we should probably talk about is rick perry saying 40% of the nation's jobs have been created in his state, texas. critics are saying that's a little overstated and actually in his state it has the largest number of low wage jobs. >> his economic record is a double-edged sword, so on the one and he is right that texas

has had a tremendous amount of job creation. a lot of it was fueled by the texas oil industry, a lot with just the amount of immigration that state has seen, but, on the other hand, texas ranks to the bottom of states in things like poverty, like people who have health insurance, and so it's something that democrats and also rick perry's republican opponents will seize on in the months ahead. >> as always, mark murray, thank you. >> thanks. >> coming up, outrage in britain offer two young men get four years in jail for posting facebook messages but does the punishment fit the crime. and a stunning new report, more than $300 million that the u.s. spent in the afghanistan ended up in the hands of the taliban. how could that happen? and a french lingerie designer creates a line for girls as young as 4. should toddlers be wearing adult-inspired lingerie like that? it's today's "newsnation" gut check. ncer ] water was meant to be perfect. crisp, clear, untouched.

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welcome back. students and teachers in joplin, missouri are back in class today nearly three months after the country's single deadliest tornado in six decades ravaged that small town. the deadly twister killed 160 people. in just minutes it destroyed ten buildings from the job lynn school building forcing some students to attend class at a vacant department store inside a shopping mall. and despite the makeshift setup, students and parents are just glad to hear school bells ringing again. >> i'm very happy because i never had a chance to say good-bye. >> because of my children, i want them to know we're going to stay and rebuild. >> when i saw the schoolishing was like is that the school? i can't -- that can't be the school, but, yeah.

i just -- >> still so resilient. the town is now relying on three supply fairs. the united arab emirates has donated $1 million to provide students with laptop computers, help from all over the world. authorities in london announcing today 1,000 people have now been charged in the rioting that rocked the capital last week and spread to other british cities. in all, about 2,000 people have been arrested. meanwhile, harsh sentencing is already being handed out to those convicted of being involved in riots that erupted august 6th and then raged for four straight nights in london. nbc's jay gray joins us live now from london. jay, we've heard that two people receiving four-year sentences, many must be saying this is quite extreme. absolutely, richard. good to talk to you. here's the rub. in the wake of the violence here, there seems to be a big discrepancy the way the sentences are being handed out and a growing frustration with what many are labeling random justice here. consider this.

while some of the initial rioters and looters have received probation or community service for their part in the chaos, a 23-year-old college student with no criminal record was sent to jail for six months for stealing a case of bottled water worth less than $6, but perhaps the best example of the disparity is the case of the two men you talked about, in their early 20s, who received the stiffest sentences yet for the riots, not for violence or loothing, didn't even leave their homes, but a judge has sent them to prison for four years for intentionally encouraging others by create facebook pages that urged rioting in their home towns, while a teenager who posted a similar message was simply told to take the posting offline and write a letter of apology. prime minister david cameron has pushed for harsh sentencing, and there's no questioning that overall judges are trying to send a strong message here. two-thirds of those charged in the riots have been remanded to custody. while in 2010 just one in ten people spent time in jail after being convicted of what the ministry of justice calls a

serious offense. and this is a situation that, as you mentioned, is likely to linger. the court system is dealing with as many as 3,000 suspects arrested during the riots. richard? >> quite a spread there in penalties. thanks so much. it could take a few weeks before a minnesota boy finds out whether he with k take home $50,000 in prize money after making an incredible shot from center ice at a charity hockey game. you've seen it right here. 11-year-old nate smith nailing the shot from 89 feet away sending that three-inch puck through a 3 1/2 hole but the company responsible for paying the prize may not cough up that dough because nate's twin brother was supposed to take the shot. nate stepped in for his brother who was outside at the time and lied about who he was, and now after coming clean, a stack of insurance papers stands between the boy and his prize money. >> how does something like that happen? >> i think they should get the

money, the kid deserves him. >> rewarding him for firing it through. >> joining me now nationally syndicated radio talk show host michael smerconish. we've been watching the story for a day or so. the insurance papers have it confirmed that nick, the person whose name was called, did in fact take that shot, we know that's not the case. the question is right now legally can the family do anything? >> it shouldn't be that complicated, richard, because the policy -- the insurance policy for this charitable organization, you know, they weren't going to pate 50 grand themselves. it's just like if you go to a golf tournament and i've done this, and sometimes on one of the holes they will have a shiny new car. if you get a hole in one hon that hole, then the car is yours, but they have laid that risk off on an insurance company, and the policy is a contract and it's the language of the policy that governs. if that policy says here's the way it's going to work, whomever has their name on the raffle ticket must take the shot, then that's the end of it. they don't have any obligation

to this family. the only thought that i have is that if they are going to take weeks, then maybe the whole social pressure that's being brought to bear might cause them to cough up some money. i can't see that they would have that responsibility if the rules precluded it. >> you know, on the flip side though, as you're intimating there, michael, if the insurance companies decide they will pay out either way, that could be a huge pr coup for them. >> it could be, but to the extent they need pr, you know. that's one of the considerations that i've been thinking about, that they are not exactly selling widgets to the public at large. we're going to have them mention the name, in all the wire reports, but i don't know that they would be incuring a benefit long term if they were to make that payout. >> what stands out in the story, is the father's honesty and family's honesty about what they decided to do. saying we did not represent my son -- >> i'm not so sure. >> why? >> i'll tell you why. in the immediate aftermath of the shot my understanding is that dad is presented with paperwork, and he signs off on

the fact that it went down the way they thought it had gone down. >> right. >> and 24 hours later he had pains of guilt. i guess what i'm saying i credit him for doing what he did 24 hours later but his initial reaction is not what it should have been. >> what are your viewers saying about this? >> oh, man. >> listeners rather. >> split down the middle. half of them say a deal is a deal and if that kid wasn't the one to have been taking the shot, then shut them out and the other half say give them the money. >> all i know is i'm always going to speak the truth to you. that's what i know. i'm not going to misrepresent anything, even if it's 24 hours later. >> thanks so much. >> have a good day. >> this, too. yesterday's gut chuck. should the boy be forced to give up his prize? it was almost an even split. 49% of you said yes. 51% said no. let's look at some of your responses. katie smith from chicago saying, quote, this was an honorable event that he dishonored by lying. games are supposed to be played

honorably. he lost when he lied. and still ahead, skin cancer breakthrough. the fda approving a first of its kind drug to treat the deadliest form of skin cancer. we've got the details. plus why many are buzzing over this picture of u.s. ambassador gary locke and generated tens of thousands of comments online. we'll tell you why straight ahead on "newsnation." excuse me? my grandfather was born in this village. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

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just ahead on "newsnation," safety tests on millions of pieces of body armor worn by our troops were performed incorrectly. we'll have the details on a trouble new report from the pentagon. plus, new details as well on an american woman missing in aruba. we're now learning an insurance policy was taken out on her life right before her trip to the island. and how much money is a handwritten letter from president obama worth? find out which letter sold for a record breaking price. sy dishes. we're facing some tough opposition today.

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welcome back to "newsnation." unsafe armor. . a new pentagon report finding safety tests were performed incorrectly on battlefield equipment for years what. it means for our troops. medical breakthrough. a new drug is approved to treat the deadliest form of skin cancer that can not be removed with surgery. and lingerie for kids? a french designer creates a line of so-called loungerie including bras and underwar for girls as young as 4 years old. critics call it creepy and inappropriate. and an unusual offer. abercrombie & fitch saying it's not a fan of the situation from "the jersey shore," so why does the company still want to pay this guy? all right. two big stories today involving u.s. troops overseas. a new pentagon report finds that some 5 million pieces of critical battlefield equipment may not provide proper protection for u.s. troops. the pentagon found the army improperly tested bullet

blocking body armor made by contractors between 2004 and 2006. two to the incomplete testing. the report says it is not sure if the $2.5 billion worth of armor is defective or not. meanwhile in afghanistan, the military now estimating $360 million in u.s. tax dollars has ended up in the hands of those -- the american-led coalition that has been battling for a decade. it's going to the taliban, criminals and power brokers with ties to both. that's the conclusion of a task force assembled last year by then u.s. afghan commander general david petraeus who is now cia director. joining me now, nbc news military analyst. as this money makes its way to the ones we don't want to have the money. what do you make of it? >> learned this a long time ago, the only way to get anything done in that part of the world is pay money.

>> right. >> and back when the taliban was battling -- were battling the soviets, we used money in order -- >> this is cash, just handing over cash? >> can't get anything done without handing over cash. having said all of that, we have incomplete controls over the handing out of cash, and as a result a lot of the money is going to the bad guys. >> is this just part of war in areas like this. it's disaggregated with all the feudal control systems that they have got. >> in local areas you've got to buy off the local commanders in many cases, but you also have to control it as well. by the way, we've been doing this a long time. remember, back in vietnam the cia was handing out bags of cash in order to get the bad guys on our side, and they were sometimes successful. >> right. >> but no controls, and that's where you get money going in the wrong hands. >> there's no top leader, no hegemon at the top of this, and the other big story we're talking about is body armor, 5 million units that could be defective. they are not sure if they are or not. what does this mean for our troops on the front line right now? >> with any luck this stuff has

not gone to the troops and has been pulled back and is okay. they will have to retest them. but i've got to tell you. it's not difficult to test this stuff, according to specification. what's got to happen is the project manager in the pentagon who is supposed to be supervising this project needs to not be in the office in the pentagon and needs to be out at the testing zone and at the post where it's being tested. >> your years in the military, your years as an analyst now, how common is this problem where there might or might not be defective material because it's not been inspected properly? >> much less common now than years ago. our principal weapon, the m-16, was defective when it got to the field. if it was not scrupulously cleaned, it jammed, and a lot of troops started using the issued m-16 and started picking inak-47s on the battlefield. >> communists made ak-47s. >> correct. plenty of them and lots of ammo. >> right. >> but this is the principal

weapon, if you can't test that right, you can't get anything right. i think the pentagon has learned a little bit of its lesson, but it's got to supervise better, and the rule is this. if you want it bad, that is right away, if you want it bad, that's how you're going to get it, it needs to go through rigid testing before you send it out to troops. >> this doesn't outrage you then? >> i am outraged. people charged with the responsibility of making sure that everything gets -- that everything that gets to the troops must be perfect. >> absolutely. colonel jack jacobs, thanks so much. >> you're very welcome. right now aruban prosecutors say missing american tourist b robyn guard anyone, the man traveling with her had taken out a life insurance policy. giordano is being held due to inconsistencies with his stories. police, fire fighters and even the military will now take part in a massive search for gardner.

nbc's janet shamlian has more for us. >> reporter: it appears to be a travel insurance policy, two of them, that were taken out, one in the name of gary giordano, the other in the name of his traveling xan join, robyn gardner, both by giordano, and it's very possible that he paid more for the accidental insurance portion, accidental death portion of that policy meaning he would get a higher payoff if something happened. now, that would seem like a red flag if something did in fact happen, but that's what investigators are looking at right now. in addition to his cell phone, his internet usage. the photos on his digital cameras, all of which have been sent off to a neighboring island for examination. meanwhile, giordano is here in an aruban prison. they have two more weeks to hold him before they have to go back before a judge, and at that point they need more evidence to be able to justify holding him for 60 days in an effort to prepare their case.

so that they can get more evidence they are launching a renewed search, a ground search next week, which will involve multiple agencies, and frankly they are looking for one thing, a body, because without, it they don't have much of a case. they have very little evidence linking gary giordano to any crime whatsoever. they don't know robyn gardner's whereabouts, and frankly even after a plea for witnesses, they haven't found many. there are little details coming out here about a rock with a hand print and blood on it near the site where robyn gardner was last seen, so there are a number of leads authorities are following but really looking very closely at this travel policy. richard, back to you. >> thanks so much for that. now to a major development in the case of a missing missouri girl topping our look at stories around the "newsnation" today. remains believed to be the body of a 3-year-old breeann rodriguez had a van found near a series of ditches. rodriguez's neighbors are accused of dumping her bod they

after suffocating her with a plastic bag. eight people have been wounded after a lightning strike at seaworld in florida. three guests and five employees were in a patio arabia in a nearby cabana when they were injured by the lightning. other guests were evacuated. >> we were actually outside, but they made us go under the bathroom, made us go in there. >> ail eight of those wound have had been released from the hospital. tobacco companies are filing suit against new federal warning labels that are now required on cigarette packs. four of the five largest companies in the country have sued the federal government saying the warnings violate the right to free speech. they say these graphic labels, including a sewn-up corpse of a smokers and pictures of diseased lungs keep adults away from their products. now to a medical breakthrough for those suffering from one of the deadliest forms of cancer. the u.s. food and drug administration administration -- the u.s. food and drug

administration saying today they are approving a new drug for an inoperable stage of melanoma. it's the second melanoma drug released this year and the first treatment for the disease. >> this is an enormous breakthrough. nothing anything like this. advanced melanoma when it was spread through the body was almost a death sentence and there were virtually no treatments. there was a treatment last march approved by the fda and with the targeted gene treatment approved today, two very, very effective treatments. now, unfortunately, neither works for everybody. >> mm-hmm. >> the one approved today works against the specific gene, and today they also approved a test to find out which people it will work against. the other works against about half of patients, but there's no way of knowing in advance which

ones work, although there is some overlap and, unfortunately, some people can benefit from neither. >> two arrows in their quiver. what about chemotherapy? better than chemotherapy? >> there really was no chemotherapy that really worked for advanced melanoma and it's really exciting. doctors are saying all of a sudden their waiting rooms are full because these things have been tried in trials already, so they were getting out to the patients. the waiting rooms that had been empty because patients were dying so quickly are now full of people who are surviving. it's a really fundamental shift in melanoma treatment. >> miraculous if it works out to be. it focuses on a specific gene mutation. for those folks who don't have the gene mutation, does that mean they won't be helped? >> same with the other drugs, for reasons we don't understand, the way that drug that drug

works, it stimulates the white blood cells. >> those two drugs, can they be doubled up? >> some people can double up and get double the benefits and, unfortunately, as i said, some get none of the benefits, but, still, there are treatments now where there were none before. >> got to go, but people always want to know this. when will it be available to patients and how much? >> both are available now. >> okay. >> these new biologics, drugs based on the science of understanding cancer, unfortunately, come in with very big price tags. i don't know -- the one that was approved today, the price hasn't been set, but they are in the order of up to $100,000 a year for some of these drugs. you know, what is a life worth? we have to make a decision as a society, but so far most insurances pay for this. >> we hope that they are all covered. nbc chief science correspondent, great conversation there. coming up, the fate of one of bravo's hit reality tv shows is up in the air after the sudden death of the husband of one of the stars of that show. but first, there's a lot

going on today, and here are some things we thought you should know. two wisconsin state senators have survived a recall challenge. the targeted senators were among the 14 democrats who fled the state in february, you might remember in, opposition at the time to republican governor scott walker's plans to restrict union rights for state workers. a seemingly innocuous photograph to u.s. ambassador to china john locke has gone viral. it shows him carrying his own backpack and ordering his own coffee and this charmed chinese students who are not used to this kind of frugality from their government officials and president obama might want to think about relying on e-mail. turns out his handwriting is worth thousands. a letter the president wrote to a florida man complete with a handwritten signature sold at auction for a record-breaking

8,260. that letter addressed the financial crisis, and those are the things we just thought you should know. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions? not a single cent. the united states postal service doesn't run on your tax dollars. it's funded solely by stamps and postage. brought to you by the men and women of the american postal workers union. ♪ woman: day care can be so to save some money, i found one that uses robots instead of real people. 'cuz robots work for free. robot 1:good morning... robot 1:...female child. sfx: modem dial-up noise

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i'm ezra klein sitting in for martin bashir. the president wraps up his job bus tour and the tea party and the texan are stealing the political spotlight, but is that good for them or bad for them? >> as president obama wraps up his three-day midwest jobs tour, the congressional black could you cause is still on the road taking its job tour to atlanta tomorrow. meanwhile, there's some signs that african-americans, a group critical to president obama's re-election, are starting to run out of patience with president obama's policies. msnbc contributor jeff johnson is live in atlanta, georgia, where the mayor is taking on some aggressive plans to take on jobs here. jeff, you know, qassim reed saying every business in that town should hire one person.

how does that look now? >> you know, coming from detroit into atlanta, it's almost like a paradise, but clearly the mayor here understands the need for the private sector to step up, to be able to do in many cases what government cannot, which is create opportunity. >> you know, you and tamron were in detroit talking about jobs. it was somewhat heated in that town hall meeting, as you and i were both experiencing it. the members of the congressional black caucus, for instance, got an earful from frustrated residents in the area that you were at. they just simply want to hear more. the issue of 16% unemployment to be tackled there, rate for the african-american communities across the country. let's show folks first what representative maxine waters said. >> are people are hurting. >> yes, ma'am. >> the unemployment is unconscionable. we don't know what the strategy is. we don't know why on this trip that he's in the united states now he's not in any black

communities. we don't know that. >> so the question might be asked here, you know, why didn't the president stop in michigan which is certainly the worst off right now as he went through the midwest? >> well, for one, am not going to attempt to say what the president's schedule should be, but the real question is when you have a city like detroit that's 21.6% unemployment and the real numbers are around 50%, i think people in detroit are saying why is there not more attention being placed on those urban communities and why hasn't the president come through there, and that's what we heard over and over again from frustrated people, as you can see in that video that are citizens and in many cases some of whom have not worked for over three years. >> jeff johnson, thank you so much. next week tamron hall will anchor a "newsnation" live from the cbc jobs fair in miami on august 22nd and 23rd right here on msnbc. don't myth miss that. the fate of "real housewives of beverly hills" up in the air, a clothing maker asking "the

jersey shore" simply to stop wearing its brand and j. lo inking a deal with idol. lots to talk about today. >> let's start with "the real housewives of beverly hills," we're talking about the death of russell armstrong, husband of taylor armstrong, found having committed suicide in his home just the other day. lots of questions now that will happen with the show which was supposed to have a season premiere in a couple of weeks. there's some rumors saying that bravo is taking 24 hours to kind of review the tapes, if you will, because they have already cut the premiere episode and sent it out to screeners to decide if they will re-edility it and see what to do with the tone of the season. there is no time frame, i can tell you that much. they are thinking about it, taking a step back, however long it takes to come to the right decision and fans of the show will just have to stay tuned. >> the situation in a situation? >> let's talk about this. abercrombie & fitch, very, very

popular clothing brand. they have decided that they would like to pay mike sorrentino not to wear their clothing. so much chatter on the internet. we're deeply concerned that mr. sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. we believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, didn't know it was aspirational clothing, and maybe distressing to our fans. is this a publicity stunt? that's what everybody wants to know. yes, it's a publicity stunt. on the cusp of the very, very important back-to-school shopping season. abercrombie & fitch just also happened to have an earnings call so investors are talking about the brand, thinking about the brand. do they want to invest in it? listen, it's genius. i give them props for this. how seriously they are taking and making sure that members of "the jersey shore" don't wear their closing, i don't know, and we're all talking about t.related news, if they would

like to pay me not to wear their clothe i'd be more than happy to oblige. >> both take a couple of bucks not to do that. j. lo signing that contract >> talking about this forever, it seems, would she go back to "idol," wouldn't she? of course she is going back to "american idol" and why wouldn't she and the she's producer let it slip as an afterthought on the radio show with ryan sea crest, to that end all the judges are coming back so if you're worrying about simon -- >> simon is gone. >> yeah. >> worried about ryan sea crest coming back, steven tyler is going to be there. >> she's coming back because of a healthy, healthy eight figures. good to be j. lo right now. >> i'm going away for the weekend after this. >> are you? >> how nice. >> want to leave you with this. anne hataway was on conan

o'brien, a rap in the spirit of lil wayne and about the paparazzi. take a quick look ♪ yo, i'm a paparazzi ♪ i don't play to yahtzee i could pop, pop, pop, can your cameras up the crotch ♪ and i sell the picks to perez ♪ ♪ hell, no, i'm not needy ♪ don't ask no hotsy totsie >> first, i'm sorry, i made you watch. just didn't work. my notes to the paparazzi would be if it means anne hathaway is never going to rap in gest or not ever again, please don't take any pictures of her. that a lot to handle. >> overtrying maybe? >> your words, not mine. >> okay. >> i know you wanted to do that before you go for the weekend, a long one. you deserve it. >> thank you. for the very latest entertainment news logon to

scoop.today.com. today's "newsnation" gut check is up for you. a french designer is targeting young customers. they are under criticism for creating a lingerie line for girls as young as 4 years old. what does your gut tell you about that? details next.

time for the "newsnation" gut check. now it's a french line of loungerie for young girls featuring ads with kid models. the collection is aimed at girls 4-12. the young girls who model the product wear makeup, peels and -- pearls and sunglasses and strike poses of models four and five times their age. the designer. collection says her goal is to borrow from adult lingerie trends to creed underwear from toddlers to adolescents. they say the pictures are inappropriate and it's part of a growing and disturbing trend of sexualizing girls at too young

an age. while americans may be shocked by these photos they wouldn't cause a ripple in europe. all of this comes days after an international outcry over "vogue" france's decision to feature a 10-year-old model in provocative photos. those are all the pictures right there for you. what do you think? tell us. what does your gut tell you? should the company have designed lingerie for girls as young as 4 years old? >> to newsnation.msnbc.com to tell us what you think. that does it for this ewednesday edition of "newsnation." tamron hall returns tomorrow. ezra klein is in for martin bashir. that's up next so stick around. . if you don't have that thing that fills your heart and your soul, you're missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. ♪ [ male announcer ] for us at humana,

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good afternoon. i'm ezra klein sitting in for martin bashir. it's wednesday, august 17th, and here's what's happening. first, what president obama could learn from fdr. we're joined which christina romer and one of the president's original economic advisers, and

then what rick perry could learn from barack obama. >> got to be more careful about what you say. i'll cut him some slack. only at it for a few days now. and a hard truth the american people need to know about the tea party. >> environmental radicals and not people like me. >> doesn't sound like you're interested in listening. pack in grade school we all learned a story about the great depression. usually the same story. it went something like this. in 1929 a bunch of old-timy looking stock brokers screwed up big time and herbert hoover dame along and made it worse, but then we got fdr and fdr, man, he wasn't afraid of anything. wasn't even afraid of fear, fear itself, so he hired a bunch of people to paint murals and build schools and we mobilized and beat hitler and saved the world and that really worked. so america for the win. that's not quite how it wefnlt a still simplified but not quite as wrong version would sound something like