day. the s & p and nasdaq also dropping sharply. with me now is cnbc's senior analyst, ron insana. good to see you. wish it was under better circumstances. >> the circumstances could be considerably better. most of this started overnight in europe where there were concerns that the debt crisis is not only deepening and spreading but threatening the solvency of some french banks, most likely and other european banks as well. these are all unconfirmed rumors, big bouts of speculation, but that led to a sell-off in european shares and the economic data that you mentioned also contributed to the losses we were seeing so far. >> we've got a bad housing number and we also have this consumer price index which shows prices are up. essentially, americans paying more for things like gas, food, clothing, at the same time unemployment is high. dare we say the "s" word, stagflation? >> i think that's premature. if you go back to the period in which we really suffered from stagflation, we had interest rates, unemployment and inflation all in double digits. right now, we're talking about

consumer prices that are still just above 2% or 3% and it's high relative to what we've become accustomed to, and i think the bigger worry honestly is deflation and the risk of another recession. that's what has the markets so upset. and the fact that like in washington to a certain extent, there are no adults in the room in europe right now. they are letting rome burn and fiddling quite happily as this crisis gets worse and worse and they have yet to come up with a credible solution. >> give us a perspective here on the dow. one day it's up hundreds, next day it's down hundreds. i mean, overall, what kind of drop are we talking about, if you took it from the perspective a month or two or even so far this year? >> well, so far this year, the losses are contained to single digits for all major market averages. we have seen the dow from its peak at the end of april to the low we saw recently fall about 20%, same for the s & p. that is either a correction or on the fringe of a bear market. people jump to use the word unprecedented when it comes to the type of volatility we've

seen. in point terms, that's true. as of last week, that was the first time we ever saw the dow move 400 points four straight days in a row. but in 2008, early 2009, in 1987, in other periods, we've seen even more extreme bouts of volatility. this is not good and the fact that interest rates, for instance, are plunging are sending signals about further weakening in the economy. i don't think we're going into another recession, but the risk is there, unless policy makers both here and abroad finally take some truly definitive steps to start straightening out the job market and the financial crisis overseas. >> yeah. and unfortunately, no real evidence of that so far. >> no. >> ron insana, cnbc senior analyst, always good to talk to you. thank you. as the economy teeters, the white house is set to roll out its latest jobs plan. the president will deliver what's billed as a major address after labor day. there's been a big development out of the white house today on foreign policy as well. we'll get to mike at the white

house. let's talk about the economy and the president now saying he will deliver what they're calling a major address, a jobs plan. i assume this is over and above some of the things we've heard the president talk about in the last few days. >> well, you know, it is and it isn't. that's the interesting part about this. essentially from what we can understand, we certainly don't know all the details, the president will be packaging a lot of the things he's been talking about over the past weeks and months into one big package, sort of an economic stimulus. another "s" word here. one that's not often spoken in washington anymore. but this, the white house points out, is filled with things that republicans should or ought to like and as a matter of fact, in the past, have voted for. payroll tax cut, for example. you know one is in effect this year. the president wants to extend it into next year. trade agreements that republicans have voted for. not only payroll tax cut for employees but for employers as well, to cut their payroll taxes, the contributions they

make to some entitlement programs for all our paychecks. infrastructure spending, very traditional kind of things. perhaps the more interesting part of this is the second half of it. the debt ceiling, that agreement, there was an agreement to form that super committee, they are supposed to come up with cuts up to $1.5 trillion. that's their mandate to come up with before thanksgiving. the president said yesterday he wants to go further than that and he's going to get specific. not only is he going to get specific, but he's going to have another bite at the apple as far as revenues are concerned and he says there's got to be taxes raised particularly on the wealthy and we've heard him talk about oil companies and the wealthiest americans and the like for quite some time now. he's not giving up on that. a lot of people suspect this is more rhetorical flourish since if it wasn't passed then, it won't be able to pass this fall, but there you have it. after labor day, the president comes back, he delivers that speech. >> before i let you go, mike, there's been another development. the president today for the first time explicitly in a statement called on the syrian president bashar al assad to

step down. here is secretary of state hillary clinton today on the same topic. >> the people of syria deserve a government that respects their dignity, protects their rights and lives up to their aspirations. assad is standing in their way. for the sake of the syrian people, the time has come for him to step aside and leave this transition to the syrians themselves. >> obviously this unrest has been going on for months. what's the white house hoping here? i don't know how much influence it thinks it has on the syrian leader. are they hoping for a domino effect with other countries? >> as you pointed out, this has been a coordinated response. the president put out a piece of paper, the secretary of state said what essentially she said on camera with the president saying in his piece of paper echoing his comments. you had the canadian leader, the united nations referring this to the international criminal court. you've got the leaders of

france, britain and germany all coming out calling for assad to step down. the white house says they have been reluctant to do so so far and as you know, they have walked right up to it over the course of the last several months saying things like assad need to reform or get out of the way, syria would be better off if he left. now they're coming out saying he's got to go in the face of this escalating brutality against his own people. but part of the concern all along was, you know, when the united states calls for someone to go, it sometimes can have a counterproductive effect because the u.s. is seen as meddling in that particular country. this is what the president has done today, a major step forward in that regard. >> all right, with all the headlines domestic and abroad from the white house north lawn, thanks. with the markets jittery and falling, another number is losing ground. the president's approval rating on the economy at an all-time law. the gallup poll found 26% of americans approve of the way the president is handling the financial situation while seven in ten disapprove.

with me now, governor howard dean and long-time speech writer for president george w. bush, now an op-ed columnist, michael gerson. welcome to both of you. >> good to be with you. >> thanks. >> howard, the president had his bus tour this week. he's of course announced he will come up with a jobs plan, roll it out after labor day. is this sufficient to convince americans he has a handle on this economic crisis and why wait until labor day to do it? >> well, first of all, i think he needs some time to get some plans together. this is tough stuff. is it sufficient, no, but is it a good step in the right direction, yes. he needs to get out of washington. people hate washington with a passion. there has been nothing but yelling and carrying on and not much positive coming out -- >> why do you say not sufficient? you think he should do more? >> he's going to have to be seen to do more. the problem is, the limited response to what you can do. we have a crisis of confidence. that's the biggest problem we have. it's bigger than any of the misdeeds of the banks or any of that kind of stuff.

people have got to believe the economy's going to get better and when they believe it's going to get better, it is going to get better. so he's got to show strong leadership and i think he's doing the right thing. he's out among the people and the next thing he's going to do is give a speech to the nation laying out presumably an employment booster piece of legislation. that's what presidents do at these times. but there's a lot of other things that have to be done that he has no control over. what happens in europe is a really big deal. >> of course. michael, let me turn to you. republicans are making the most of the dismal economy, placing it squarely on the shoulders of president obama, yet as he plans to put out a jobs plan and offer some ideas for the deficit super committee, can republicans in congress really afford to just kind of sit back and throw political bombs but not try to work together and accomplish something? the president's poll numbers are bad on the economy, we know that, but congress' are worse. >> well, i think the republicans are going to have to take advantage of the president's low numbers by offering some kind of

economic hope beyond austerity. it's not enough just to say cut government. i think they are going to have to have their own positive plan. the president's problem here, though, is that not that he's taking a vacation. it's that he's addressing the problem 28 months after unemployment passed the 9% mark. he made a terrible bet. he thought that this economy would return in a cyclical fashion. he spent all his capital on health care instead of on jobs programs and now he's very much behind in addressing this question. >> howard, let me ask you, i'm sure you saw some of the sound from an event that maxine waters hosted in detroit a couple days ago. let me play a little portion of it and ask you on the other side. >> i think what you see is growing frustration not only in this country but particularly in minority communities because the unemployment rates are so high in the african-american community, you're talking about

16%, but many who have been long-time unemployed, it's 35% and 40% in some of these areas. all of these factors are creating frustration and yes, some anger. >> congresswoman waters has been outspoken with her frustration with the president. the white house, howard, tends to argue that stories about a disaffected base are overblown but can the white house afford to shrug it off? you think he has a problem with his most ardent supporters? >> the president wants to get reelected he has to do something not in his nature. he has to fight. harry truman would win this election. in all due deference to the republican side, people don't trust republicans at all. they are terrified of the tea party. they don't agree with medicare and social security ought to be slashed, et cetera, et cetera. what they need from the president is strong leadership. he came in as a conciliator. the people who elected him wanted a conciliator. all the young people have a different model for how to change government, all those young people that elected barack

obama, but what he has to do now is fight. he has to be up every day, he's got to take on the banks, he's got to take on the republicans, he's got to take on the tea party, he's got to stand up for people. people are hurting. you're not going to turn the economy around before the election. it's too late. but he can win because at the end of the day, this is a choice and people like barack obama. >> i want to ask michael a question about the other side of the ledger. you've got the republican candidates and certainly texas governor rick perry has zoomed to the top of the polls, but he's already stirred some controversy from comments on everything from questioning the president's military service to accusing the fed chairman of near treason. let me show you what another presidential candidate, ron paul, had to say about all that. >> now we have a southern governor, i can't remember his name, who is coming into the campaign so he realizes talking about the fed is good, too. tell you what, he makes me look like a moderate. i have never once said bernanke

has committed treason. >> michael, it does kind of raise a serious point in a way. if republicans have such a strong attack on the president on the economic grounds, are these candidates distracting themselves, kind of diluting that economic message with these other kinds of issues? >> yeah. i do think that when ron paul looks like the moderate voice in the race, there is a difficulty here. this was a gaffe. it was a mistake. i think this week, rick perry proved that he's a very good retail politician. he went into michele bachmann's hometown, essentially cleaned her clock at an event, was very, very effective. he's not fred thompson but he also proved that when he makes a gaffe, he doesn't know how to back down. and backing down gracefully from a gaffe is, in fact, a very important political skill. so i think that you know, i think it's raised a lot of questions, caused discontent with the republican field. so you have a lot of republican leaders, people like jeb bush and mitch daniels who are trying to persuade other people to get

in the race because they look at romney and they look at rick perry as possible candidates and there's a lot of discontent. >> all right. michael gerson, got to leave it there. former governor howard dean, nice to see you. thank you very much. coming up, the unemployment crisis in the african-american community. congressman john lewis will join us live from the congressional black caucus jobs fair in atlanta. and a reminder, don't miss "meet the press" sunday. i'll be sitting in for david gregory. we will talk exclusively with former white house press secretary robert gibbs, actively advising the obama re-election campaign. and an exclusive interview with mitch daniels. this sunday on "meet the press." check your local listings. afla. aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! [ quack ] oh yeah? what about your family? ♪ we added aflac, so we get cash! it's like our safety net... ♪

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some of the president's most ardent supporters in congress are getting anxious to kick-start jobs growth. members of the congressional black caucus have been traveling the country this month on a for-the-people jobs initiative. look as these pictures. they are from atlanta, just in, showing a lot of people lining up to take part at that jobs fair today. joining me now from atlanta is democratic congressman from georgia, john lewis. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> what are you hearing from people at this jobs fair? certainly they are anxious to find some kind of job. are they frustrated with the president? i know we have seen that at an event that your colleague maxine waters had held earlier this week, where people were starting to get frustrated not with just the economy but specifically president obama. >> i don't think people i have been talking with today and several thousand individuals are here, are not frustrated with president obama.

they are frustrated with unemployment. they want all of us to work together to create jobs and put people back to work. if people who have been standing here since early this morning, some since 6:45 -- >> i'm sorry, i think we just lost congressman lewis. yeah. we just lost the audio. i hope we can return to him. in the meantime, i think we should take a break and hopefully get congressman lewis back up at the jobs fair in atlanta. we'll be back in just a moment. we should mention, if you want a list where job fares will be held throughout the month of august, check out thegrio.com. now i'm told we do have the congressman. are you there, sir? >> i'm here. >> good. i'm sorry. we had a little technical problem on our end. i was going to ask you about the jobs fair and what you and your colleagues are doing to try to get people employed. >> well, the jobs fair is going very, very well.

there are so many individuals here. there are young people, there are middle-aged, they all are looking for work. they want a job. there are some people here with graduate degrees, one young lady is working on her ph.d. there are professional people, there are people just graduated from college. i met four young men who said we have been looking for two years. they just want to work. >> sir, i'm sure you've heard the president plans to make a major address laying out a jobs plan with some things we've all heard about but some new initiatives after labor day. do you think it's too little, too late? what are you hoping he'll be able to say that will -- can actually get through this congress? >> what the president is proposing, i'm not going to suggest that it is too little, too late. we are going to wait and hear what the president is going to say, what he's going to propose,

and we are going to work together and get all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pull together. the black caucus and others have tried for the past two months to get the majority party to support a major jobs program. we tried to get a summer job program and we couldn't get it out of committee. couldn't get it considered on the floor. we are determined to put the american people back to work and it's not just african-americans but white america, latinos, asian america and native americans are out of work. it affects greatly the african-american community. >> congressman john lewis, thank you for joining us from atlanta today. apologies about our little technical difficulty there. everybody can check out where jobs fairs will be held throughout the country at thegrio.com. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. coming up next, unnecessary roughness on the campaign trail.

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and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. now to decision 2012. on the campaign trail today, michele bachmann on the southern swing. she's following up her win in the iowa straw poll with campaign stops and fund-raising in another early primary state, south carolina, which is where we find nbc news campaign imbed, traveling with the bachmann campaign. jamie, good to talk to you. we know rick perry has kind of entered the scene and almost stolen any bump bachmann might have had in the polls. are you seeing any signs she's ready to take perry on directly? >> reporter: if you're hearing the strains of johnny cash right now, that's a sure sign i am at a bachmann rally at the end and the bus is about to pull away. there is no sign that bachmann wants to take perry on directly,

savannah. you could call her attitude one of sort of casual indifference. she said before he got in, we welcome everyone and anyone into the race, and that continues to be her position. >> i also know she made quite a remarkable statement the other day at a campaign event, saying in a bachmann administration i think in a year's time, she said, there would be $2 a gallon gas. quite an extraordinary promise. did she explain how she would accomplish that? >> reporter: well, she likes to say during her campaign stops that she wants to reverse the strangle hold that opec has on the united states and put a strangle hold on opec and she proposes to do that during her speeches by exploring energy opportunities in the u.s. so in iowa she likes to talk about shale. >> all right, jamie, good to talk to you. thank you. at bachmann campaign events,

as jamie just mentioned, you can count on hearing music, specifically elvis' "promised land" her theme song, seeing the big blue bus, you can count on frequent mentions of waterloo, iowa, where she was born. now incidents of bachmann staffers allegedly roughing up reporters are also making news. take a look. >> don't ever do it again. do not put your hands on me. >> i asked her very respectful questions about her performance last night, where does she think she's going to end up on the straw poll. two of her staff members, two blond women you see in the video, the one in the white dress, one in the black dress, started elbowing me and pushing me through the crowd and her husband marcus did the same thing. he even pushed me, elbowed me into a golf cart where i hit my head. >> alex byrnes is a national political reporter for politico, who broke this story. good to see you. politico is saying this isn't just an isolated instance but that there's actually been multiple incidents where reporters are complaining of being manhandled by bachmann's security types?

>> yeah, that's right. there is even one foreign reporter who says that a member of bachmann's staff threatened to break his arm if he got too close to the candidate. what you have out there is an extraordinarily tightly controlled, some might say overly aggressively controlled sort of campaign event format, where you can't get that close to the candidate, she asks reporters -- lets reporters ask her questions by choosing their names from a list and if you get a little too close, it's a bit like approaching a celebrity. >> we should read a statement the bachmann campaign provided to nbc news. it states the number one priority for us every single day, we step out to the campaign trail, is the safety and security of michele bachmann. alex, i think i recall an article in politico earlier in the week that kind of compared the campaign styles of bachmann in iowa to rick perry, to make the point that bachmann did seem to be a little bit more isolated, kind of zooming in to a republican dinner at the last minute, not really staying to grease the hands of a lot of the folks there, whereas rick perry

was doing a lot of retail politics, sitting around, doing the grip and grin. is this part and parcel of the same phenomenon? >> i think it is. when you see rick perry at the iowa state fair, you see mitt romney anywhere, you don't have them surrounded by these sort of staffers/bodyguards. if there's a security risk presumably it would be one of those other very recognizable candidates we're dealing with as well and they don't have the kind of perimeter, the kind of bubble that michele bachmann has. >> alex, the article is in politico today. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. a political programming note. we invite you to wash the nbc news politico republican debate at the reagan library three weeks from now, wednesday, september 7th, right here on msnbc, 8:00 eastern time. nbc's brian williams will moderate right here on msnbc. coming up, rick perry unplugged in new hampshire, getting an earful from angry democrats. plus, america's greatest generation, the new greatest

generation. how young war veterans are using the skills learned on the battlefield to make a difference at home. every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. that's how we're helping set opportunity in motion.

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okay. i wear yoga pants because i am too lazy for real pants. that's my tide. what's yours? welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports." i'm savannah guthrie filling in for andrea today. in israel, officials say the gunman entered the country through egypt and the gaza strip. six people were killed in coordinated assaults on a passenger bus. martin, you covered this region for many, many years. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, savannah, it was an attack across the border from the sinai, egyptian sinai into israel. israeli security authorities have been expected this kind of attack for weeks now, ever since -- for months, actually, ever since the unrest in egypt, the sinai was not controlled by the egyptian army and police as it should have been for a long time.

israel expecting it. what happened was several squads of terrorists crossed the border, israelis say they were palestinian terrorists who came from gaza, crossed probably by tunnel into sinai and from sinai into israel. there, they attacked two buses, two vehicles, there was an i.e.d. on the road so when the israeli troops turned up on the scene, they were then hit by the i.e.d. a number of israelis were killed. israeli soldiers following the terrorists, finding them inside israel. also apparently there was shooting across the border into egypt which would of course extend the issue to an international issue. >> martin, to the extent you can, what do you think is likely to be the israeli response here? >> reporter: well, they have already attacked gaza, a target in southern gaza. the air force attacked a building, they killed five people in that building who they say, the palestinians also said were leaders of a terrorist group in gaza, with the israelis believe were responsible for

that attack. there has been a very quick response. the question is of course whether that is the only response israel will undertake or whether in fact this will continue in the next few days. >> nbc's martin fletcher, long-time correspondent in the middle east, good to have you. thank you. here at home, there is a remarkable story unfolding across the country featuring a new generation of american heroes. u.s. troops are returning from the battlefield with a distinct sense of ambition and optimism that's shaping everything from the economy and politics to public service worldwide. it's the cover story in this week's "time" magazine. joining us to talk about it is columnist joe kline and also one of the veterans featured in the story, retired army captain and best-selling author, wes moore. welcome to you both. so nice to read this article because so often what we hear about veterans returning from these wars is inability to find a job, some of the struggles to readjust even in the worst cases, suicide. you have found stories that show how remarkable our veterans are.

>> all the bad stuff is true, but you know, over the times when i imbedded over the last four or five years in iraq and afghanistan, i saw these kids doing remarkable things. this is a very new kind of soldier and very new kind of warfare. they actually had to provide governance in towns in iraq and afghanistan. obviously they provide security but they are also doing a lot of the public works and economic development programs. they use their funds, they deal with the local elders and the political skills and diplomatic skills and can-do skills that they developed over there, they are beginning to use back here. >> we will get to you, wes, in a minute. i will let joe brag on you a little for a moment. tell us what wes has done. >> well, wes did some very difficult time in a really tough part of afghanistan, and as an army captain, and he came back

and wrote this book called "the other wes moore" about someone with his exact same name who lived two blocks away from him. he showed me their two houses when we went to baltimore together. wes has started a mentoring program for first-time offenders between the ages of 8 and 12 in baltimore. it's really remarkable work that he does. he does a lot of motivational speaking as well and now he works for you guys. >> i knew wes wouldn't want to sit there and brag on himself so i thought i would let you do it. joe writes that veterans are coming back with qualities that seem all too rare, crisp decision-making, rigor, optimism, entrepreneurial creativity, a larger sense of purpose and real patriotism as opposed to self-righteous flag waving. do you agree? >> i totally agree. i'm so humbled that joe included me to represent the 23 million afghan and iraq veterans that are coming back that have fought in these wars but the fact is when you look at the skill set that these men and women have when they come back, there isn't a single corporation, not a single nonprofit, not a single

government entity that they cannot not only perform in, but perform extraordinarily well. that's one thing i'm so excited about this article, what joe is doing is he's really helping to change the conversation about veterans in this country. >> i was going to ask you, i read that even some veterans aren't even sure if they should put their military service down because it's so hard to explain. is that something you have encountered with your colleagues, folks you have served with? they're not sure how exactly to convey what it is that they did. >> absolutely. but you know, you look at a second lieutenant or captain who is now transferring out of military and moving on to the private sector or public sector or wherever. this is a person who has not only been a platoon leader or commander, this is a person who has probably been a company commander as well. they have had literally hundreds of people under their command. they are in charge of the health, welfare and everyday activities of this entire group. there is not a single operation that they are going to be intimidated by or scared by once they leave that type of -- >> it's not just them. the amazing thing is there are elite leaders like wes moore who

is a rhodes scholar among other things. there are also corporals and sergeants, noncommissioned officers coming back and doing amazing things. i tell a story in this piece about these two guys who were blown up together in a humvee in iraq, one of them lost his legs, the other had a traumatic brain injury. when they came back, they started building a house for one of them and they found that therapeutic, so now they are building houses for other veterans in north carolina. the organization's called purple heart homes. >> it's amazing to hear these stories and to get the word out about our extraordinary veterans who are being asked to do more than ever before in the battlefield. joe, wes, welcome and good to see you. thank you. we'll turn again to presidential politics and texas governor rick perry, who is campaigning in new hampshire today after several days of blasting the president, it was his turn to answer a question on evolution that may dominate the perry chatter today. take a listen. >> it's a theory that is out

there. it's got some gaps in it. in texas, we teach both creationism and evolution in our schools. >> ask him why he doesn't believe in science. >> you're smart enough to figure out which one. >> let's get to nbc news campaign imbed traveling with the perry campaign, who is on the phone with us. thanks for being with us. i guess that answer was in response to someone asking whether or not he believed in evolution. did he encounter hecklers on the trail? is that how you would describe it? >> reporter: yes, he actually had quite an appearance this morning in portsmouth. he was greeted by dozens of protesters who were protesting medicare, his stance on evolution, social security, and it was really the first time in his second appearance here in new hampshire where he was approached by the opposition. he did not answer any other follow-up question from science teachers and from other folks who were also asking about his stance on evolution and climate

change has also been an issue here. he says he questions whether climate change is man-made. today he's also stopped at a couple of other places. we're on our way to pembroke, where he will speak to more voters. he is expected to make a statement on syria. other than that, it's been a good introduction. he's driving all around the state of new hampshire and will continue to monitor to see what he says next. >> aside from the folks you mentioned who were asking him questions, what has been the overall reaction from your view to rick perry among those in new hampshire? >> reporter: well, it seems that people here in new hampshire are still getting to know the governor. there has been a lot of questions from potential voters and from audience members asking him about a wide variety of issues. so it does seem that he's very much still rolling out his campaign. there are a lot of supporters coming out to meet him, but they are still very much getting to know the issues. >> we know in new hampshire they like to meet their candidates

personally. thank you so much. coming up next, we will be live in martha's vineyard for a check on what awaits the president as he heads there later today for a vacation. have i got a surprise for you! [ barks ] 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. he needs some gellin'. yeahhhhhhh. gellin' is like having a teeny tiny foot masseuse in your shoe. you like ? nice ! dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles. outrageous comfort, all-day long.

coming up on "news nation" congressman alan west says the democrats are taking black voters for granted, even referring to congresswoman maxine waters as a plantation boss. congresswoman waters will join me live to respond to that comment, plus her recent comments suggesting it is time for african-american members of congress to push the president on his jobs plans for minorities. plus chilling new details about a missing american woman in aruba and the accidental death insurance policy the man traveling with her took out on her before their vacation. all of that and more 15 minutes away on "news nation." we're keeping a close eye on the rough day on wall street. these are the numbers at this

hour. the dow down about 464 points. the s & p also down 55. nasdaq down about 125 points in an afternoon of trading that has been mostly down. the president certainly will be watching, is watching from washington and then will head off to vacation with his family to martha's vineyard, massachusetts. that's where we find nbc's kristen welker awaiting the first family's arrival. the president is not leaving a situation that is particularly positive as far as the markets are concerned. let's talk about this jobs plan that the president says he will announce upon his return after labor day. he's been talking about various jobs initiatives over the last couple of weeks. the white house promising something over and above the things the president has been talking about? >> reporter: we're getting information in bits and pieces. they are basically saying this plan is going to be announced after labor day.

it will include some tax cuts for companies that are hiring, also will include investments in construction projects but they're not giving us a whole lot of information. we also know there will be a deficit reduction portion to this package. they're talking about the fact that this is really going to be something the president will be working on while he's vacationing here on martha's vineyard. this is a bit of a working vacation, if you will. as you know, the president has gotten some criticism for this vacation. a lot of folks saying the unemployment rate is above 9%, the president should cancel his vacation, should get back to work on the economy. the white house is saying look, the office of the presidency really follows mr. obama wherever he goes, he will be working on that jobs package which we expect to hear about after labor day. >> i'm sure the white house has heard the criticism, not only the vacation, the annual criticism every time he goes. i think this is his third visit to martha's vineyard since his administration, he goes every summer, but i'm sure they're also hearing why is he waiting until after labor day to make this jobs announcement, when you

do have an economy that's really teetering and the numbers on the dow just demonstrate that, put a fine point on it. >> reporter: that's right. you have a lot of particularly republican presidential candidate mitt romney came out and said why are we waiting. michele bachmann, who questioned the timing. white house officials saying look, he needs to work on this jobs plan and then present it to people. of course, congress is also on vacation right now. so there have been some questions about timing, you're absolutely right. and as you mentioned, presidents do get critiqued from time to time for going on vacation because often there are difficult things going on in the country, people want to know why are they taking a break. white house officials are saying he will be hard at work on this jobs plan while here on martha's vineyard. >> on the shallow side, do you have any idea what he and the first family plan to do while they are spending this time on martha's vineyard? i will venture a guess there will be golf and ice cream, if past vacations are any

indication. >> reporter: i think you're right about that. i think there is going to be golf, i think there's going to be ice cream. we passed some really good-looking cupcake shops as well. i bet there will be cupcakes and swimming time with his family. little bit of a fun fact, by the way, about presidential vacations. the president's gotten a lot of criticism. the unofficial white house historian who works with cbs news radio kind of took a look at all the presidential vacations. turns out president obama has actually taken fewer vacation days than some of his predecessors. he's taken 61 vacation days at this point in his presidency. george w. bush had taken 180 vacation days and ronald reagan had taken 112. clinton, fewer, he's down in the 20s. so a fun fact there from someone i know you know very well. >> indeed. as you know, the vacation is always a little bit, has air quotes around it but i'll just give you a warning, from one white house correspondent to another, some crisis always seems to happy and it ends up being a lot of work for all

concerned. kristen welker, awaiting the president's arrival later today. good to see you. thank you. coming up next, what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next. and be sure to follow the show online. find us at andrea.msnbc.com and at twitter. andrea tweets all the time. we'll be right back. i have copd. if you have it, you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms... by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate.

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? msnbc contributor managing editor of post politics.com chris cillizsill licillizza. >> we made it through one day. one more day than some people would have thought. i'm happy. >> everybody's got to watch

tomorrow. if they're not watching the "today" show. we're competing, you and i tomorrow. let's talk about the rick perry rollout. i can't believe it's only been a week. the announcement was last saturday. lots happened. >> it feels like he's always been with us. it's funny to think about. last saturday in south carolina he announced that he was running for president. now, we knew that. but he made it formal. he's basically been on the road this entire week, savannah. he was in south carolina. he went to new hampshire. he went to iowa. back to new hampshire now. going to spend tomorrow and saturday in south carolina. south carolina is where rick perry has got to get it done. he's going to make a run at michele bachmann in iowa. if he can't win new hampshire as a southern politician, they tend to favor -- they have a geographic bent there. if he can't win there, he's not going to be the nominee. he's going to be spending a lot of time there both the next two

days and as we go forward. >> by and large, these republican candidates haven't yet really turned the fire on each other. they're still on message, still hitting president obama very, very hard. when is that going to change? particularly michele bachmann. she's probably the most threatened by rick perry, right? >> savannah, i think it's going to change soon. we've got five debates including an nbc/politico debate coming up in the next 60 days. it seems to me we're going to see the gloves come off a little bit more. mitt romney has done everything he can to stay above the fray. i think he'll continue to do that. at some point he's going to have to engage rick perry. to a lesser extent engage michele bachmann. rick perry has to get past michele bachmann in iowa and get past mitt romney. here's what they represent. here's what i represent. here's why they're different and why you should vote for me.

i can't imagine it's that far off. i would guess post-labor day we'll see more of it. i'm savannah guthrie. that does it for this edition "andrea mitchell reports." andrea will be back tomorrow. she'll talk jobs, the economy and 2012 politics with mississippi governor ha eor hal boar. we're getting more details on the president's specific plan to push congress for another round of stimulus spending and tax credits. plus, congresswoman mac sexine waters will join us live. and the crackdown in syria. human rights groups say 2,000 people have been killed by government forces. now the white house gives its strongest condemnation yet of

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i'm tamron hall. the news nation is following president obama's promised major plan to create jobs and stimulate the economy. we'll have to wait until after labor day for the president to lay out his series of ideas. early word points to a new round of stimulus. talk of more stimulus spending comes with stocks plunging again today. right now the dow is down 473 points amid news today of a rise in jobless claims and consumer inflation. nbc's kristen welker joins us live from martha's vineyard where the president is expected to head in the nt hour for what the white house calls, as i mentioned, a working vacation. kristen, the white house certainly going out of its way to support the idea the president is not there for a family vacation. he's there to enjoy some time down. he is thinking about what's next and what he will tell the american public after labor day. >> reporter: that's exactly right. hi there, tamron.