trees. you name it. so let's not laugh at irene with mockery. let's not become the bust of ttr own joke. one thing the for certain. you cannot say that you were not warned. thank you very much indeed for watching. matt miller continues his excellent stint as dylan is away. what's on the agenda? >> the latest on hurricane irene's path, which is looking scary as you just said. a new way to get an independent presidential ticket on the ballied next year, which is kind of exciting. plus, ralph nader is here with a call for corporate patriotism. the show starts right fou. now. the big story today, "eye on irene." good afternoon. i'm matt miller in for dylan

ratigan. it's the calm before the storms here in new york, but it's always big trouble in paradise now. 115 mile-per-hour winds and torrential rains pound the bahamas and the system is expected to strengthen farther barreling towards the united states. some 55 million americans have been put on notice. irene means business. let's head straight to the weather channel's brian norcross who's tracked some of the biggest hurricanes of our time. walk us through this. >> as you said it is hitting the bahamas. take a look at the satellite picture here. there is great sbaco right there. the core is affecting that island right now and will be moving out of there later on this evening, and finally, they're going to get to see exactly what happened in the bahama, but we fear it is quite bad. then, perhaps strengthening a little bit in this area here, where it's over the open water.

lots and lots of fuel there. warm water, up to a category 3, maybe nearly a category 4 hurricane heading for north carolina, and arriving there overnight tomorrow night into early on saturday as the weather starts to go downhill. now, is it going to be a direct hit? almost worst case, eastern north carolina, or will it go a little offshore? impossible to say at this time, in either case it will be a hard hit on the eastern part of that state. and then points north, and the converge, of the computer projections unfortunately is one of the worst case scenarios we've talked about. how the textbooks, a very bad hurricane situation from norfolk on up the coast towards new york city. now, the other possibility assessed red cone indicates, inland, causing flooding and that's very bad in the big city or offshore, more of a direct hit on new england, but in any case, we do not see how the east

coast of the united states escapes a significant hit here. in terms of timetable, we're talking about a sunday effect into sunday night and early monday when you get to points north and when i say points north i mean all of vermont, all of new hampshire, into maine and actually even into canada. matt? >> now, is there -- obviously, lots of anxiety about this. people are making preparations. some people are wondering if they're in a big city like manhattan or other urban areas, are you better being in the suburbs hunkering down with family or a crab shoot and not clear where the impact will be worse? >> it is kind of a crap shoot. it you're in the suburbs in a home and let's home that the home survives, odds are, no water, no power, no communication. the family car in the driveway ma have been hit by a tree or blocked in and you'll be stuck there. in manhattan and end up with no power and end up with bad communications and you end up

with transportation systems that are to some degree incapacitated and you're stuck in man haddon, where a manhattan? you can make a case for both. i couldn't recommend. it's a bad scenario no matter what. bottom line is, every single family or person needs to be able to sustain themselves. we're saying for a week. because of the possibility of really being, kind of stuck where you are, and having to take care of yourself. >> a week. i mean, that's a really big deal. obviously. i mean, you've been around the hurricane business for a long time. has there been anything in the last couple of decades that compares to this facing the eastern seaboard? >> we've never seen a storm in anybody's lifetime that compares to this, if it happens as forecast. i mean, sort of the best case is the hurricane bob scenario, hurricane carol going back to the '50s, which was devastating to the east coast.

on up to new england. you really have to go all the way back to 1821 to find a direct hit like this on new york city, and we know that that flooded a good part of manhattan and we flow was devastation all the way from norfolk on up to long island, and then well inland through connecticut. so, you know, we know these things have happened before. we just, you know, we're hoping for the best, but the best doesn't even look like anything short of pretty calamitous. >> you updated your models daily. what will you be looking for in the next 24, 36 hours to see if thing, betting better or worse than you expect today? >> well, it's hard to imagine how they would get any worse, actually. what's happening is that the government is throwing all its resources, noaa has got every plane they've got. the air force reserve is out there throwing all the resources there is at getting the best

information on exactly what's going on in the atmosphere to make the best possible forecast. we get american generated forecasts generated every six hours. forecasts out of europe every 12 hours. unfortunately, the forecasts time after time have not gotten any better and they've been very similar. all bad. and that's why we have really unusual confidence of a very bad scenario here. not that they can't change. they have in the past changed, but the fact that all of these lee sources are being put into making the best possible forecast, the national hurricane center is concentrating on this as extreme level. that's what, unfortunately, makes us, maybe, more confident than normal in the forecast that's being distributed now. >> brian, this probably sounds crazy, but when there's a threat like this that we know is coming, days and days and days ahead, is there anyone working on the technological side with modes of trying to affect the weather or be able in some man-made way to break up storms that pose this threat to you

know, millions and millions of people? >> certainly it's been discussed, and it was tried. it was tried back in 1947. they tried to feed a hurricane. dumped a bunch of stuff in the hurricane and it turned a hard left and hit savannah, georgia. they thought we were doing it out to sea. the cause and effect has never been shown. can you see what would happen if you went after a hurricane offshore of virginia, because you wanted to keep it from hitting new york and it turned and hit washington. you would never be able it prove what would have happened if you hadn't done anything to. it a whole test in the '60s, it was demonstrated they couldn't tell if they affected it or the up and down variations in the strain just related to the natural variations in nature. so the experts that i know, they think that the money is much better spent building better city, building better communities and being better prepared for hurricanes. >> interesting, because as you say, there's a politics even to -- a politics of weather

interference. you don't want one state angry at another even if you could figure out how to do this. talk a little how you all do your work, trying to track these things? it's only at moments like this that we become aware of this huge infrastructure and the incredible efforts and skills of so many professionals trying to help alert folks to exactly what's going to happen. what's it like in terms of your own -- you know, nor shop. who's doing what? and how do you stay abreast of all of this? >> well, we've got 200 meteorologists here, and there's a tropical team. dr. rick knabb you see in the morning. me in the evening. you'll see carl park e, kim cunningham, all with tropical experience, and decades and decades and decades, when you add it all up, and then we have behind-the-scenes people that are tropical experts as well. so we analyze all available data, we work with our sister company at wsi, works out of andover, massachusetts.

they're a high-tech weather team up there. we throw everything we've got at this thing to try and understand how confident we are, to try and assess a confidence level so that when we go to, say, what we're going to say, that we either say it with extreme confidence, which we have very high confidence in this bad news forecast. >> brian norcross, we appreciate and are grateful for all your work, although it's a sad situation when we have to see you so much, but thanks for taking the time to lay out what's ahead and for explaining how this all works behind the scenes. >> all right. thanks, matt, and. >> luck to everybody. now let's head to a location directly in irene's path. the weather channel's eric fish sir in norfolk, virginia. eric, what's it like there right now? >> reporter: good afternoon, matt. actually pretty windy outside. a lot of folks saying, is this the outskirts of irene? no, it's not. a cold front dropping south. as it does, though, that's what's going to draw irene northward. they are connected but not the same thing.

however, preparations are underway here. a short while ago we spoke to a rear admiral for the u.s. navy 2nd fleet. how they sent their vessels out to sea, a few hundred miles out, to avoid the swells as irene works its way up the coastline. there are so many spots that are in the cross hairs for a significant storm. how do you name each one? north carolina is first, right after that, perhaps the eye could come as close as right over virginia beach and this is san area so prone of flooding. the city of norfolk is only a few feet above sea level. some parts of the city are actually below sea level. a lot of heavy rain, we're expecting maybe over a foot and the storm surge coming in, we could be talking very significant flooding here in the hampton roads area of virginia, continuing up towards delaware, maryland, they have evacuations going into effect this evening, the ocean city area, vacations cut short, into delaware and eventually have up towards new york city. so a lot of people in the cross hairs. people absolutely need to

prepare. irene could be a very dangerous storm. >> eric fisher. stay safe. we'll check back in as the next hours unfold, i'm sure. coming up, torrential wind and rain here. torrents of change in the arab world. gadhafi's regime all but toppled. could syria be the know, fall? we'll ask the former ambassador to syria that question. plus the memoir that will have heads exploding. that's dick cheney's opinion. not ours. and one-on-one with ralph nader. what the man blasted a presidential spoiler thinks is first-party movement now. boy, i'm glad we got aflac huh. 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... ♪ to help with the mortgage or whatever we need!

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we're back and following the latest developments this afternoon. intense gun battles raging in the capital city where more than 1,000 reshls surrounded buildings near gadhafi's captured compound. the loyalist the hunkered down inside. for his part, gadhafi released another statement trying to rally support. spokesmen insoutheast he's safely in hiding in tripoli leading battles. from libya to syria. amateur video showing funeral protests for some of the 2,200 killed in forces. and the crackdown could lead to eu sashgzs on the oil secretary are as early as next week. theodore, former u.s. ambassador to syria. and mark ginsburg, the former

u.s. ambassador positive moto m middle east adviser. welcomes, ambassador, both. like we're at the u.n. here already. mark ginsburg, let me start with you. as you watched the latest developments in libya on the ground, let's start there. wr where are we at this hour? >> the transitional national council, the government is still in benghazi, they have not apprehended gadhafi yet. hopefully the lawlessness around the compound will be quieted down. the most important thing at this point in time is how can you procure safety and security and ridded city of tripoli the neighborhoods ever the dead-enders still fighting on gadhafi's behalf? >> well, ambassador, how is that going to be handled? without more external forces? can the rebels themselves and whatever level of organization or disorganization they have now put an end to this or will we be looking at chaos for what could

be weeks and weeks? >> i think we're all surprised by the rapidly with which they are able to take over the compound. obviously they're getting a lot of good intelligence. they're having, getting good advice on the ground. but you know, at some point we could start to see rifts emerge among the various factions. >> now, mark ginsburg, the security council is slated to vote in what could be as soon as 15 minutes from now on a u.s. proposal to release up to $1.5 billion in assets available to this traditional council, expected to pass. that be effective at this time and what's the money going to be used for? >> the most important thing, matt, is for the money to be used to help the rebels achieve the civilian resources they need. not the military resources, but we're talking basic food stocks. we're taking gasoline supplies.

we're taking the infrastructure money needed to get tripoli and the other cities under siege back to more or less habitable opportunities for civilians to quiet down. think of how many hospitals are in desperate need of medicine? the most important thing, if the security council is able to release this money, it will be done so over the objections of south africa and other members of the organization, the oau, the organization of african unity that still hasn't recognized the transitional national council. society money is as essential as the security issue in order to, in effect, effectuate what is needed in tripoli. >> theodor, take us to syria now. assad has been watching this. his crackdown remained brutal. with developments that we're seeing in tripoli, is assad now the next to go? >> well, i don't know if he's the next to go. we also have a besieged president in yemen who's

actually in saudi arabia recovering from his wounds. certainly this is giving inspiration to the opposition in syria. that along with other recent developments, such as the obama administration calling for the ouster of assad and the european union on the verge of embargoing syrian oil sales to the eu countries are all going to give impetus to the opposition. >> now, to stay with you, theodor, there's some speculation assad's wife could end up being a player in whatever happens here now. she's a western educated woman. considered chic by some as she worked in investment banking in london where assad met her when doing his medical residency there. is she going to play some role in trying to ease what could be a further brutal crackdown? >> i'm afraid we may be looking at kay corleone here.

if she was going have any influence it would have been at the outset. things have gone much too far for that and i fear that this gentle lady is caught in a horrible situation that she never envisioned. >> well, thanks very much, babied theodor and ambassador ginsburg on this fast-moving situation. i'm sure we'll be back to both of you in the period ahead. >> sure. let's bring in our mega panel for mega insight. that's msnbc political analyst karen finney, republican strategist and msnbc contributor susan del percio and editor at large for thomson reuters. welcome, ladies. here and in washington. let me start with you, susan. i like the kay corleone analogy wlp what-of-what could you make of what you heard? chaos, promises situation on the ground in libya. what do you expect? >> have to expect decades of chaos. you're look at all of these

governments, whether syria falls in a month or six months, yemen falls eventually these are all going to be new government it's that have no leadership now to take them through the process, except for maybe egypt which has the military, but they're expecting elections this coming november, so that won't exist. a lot of turmoil for many years to come. >> you've been writing about dictatorships and the different categories. what do you see both libya and syria as we look at what's ahead? >> what season said, the thing that's important to remember is although i am cheering those revolutionaries, these are incredibly brave people, and imagine going out there against a regime that is using, you know, heavy military arms to shoot its own people? right? fabulous. however, when they win, which i think they will do in libya, they are going to inherit a hallowed out, devastated society and state. you know, they're really

building on razed foundations. it's really important we set our collective expect acations appropriately and not call these revolutions a failure if they haven't created switzerland five years from now. >> obviously, a very fair point. karen what do you make -- if we're doomed to what could be, whether not just weeks but decades of uncertainty and chaos what are the implications for u.s. policy? how does this president and the nebs several presidents really get traction and try to lead them in the right way on this? >> i think that's one of the reasons obama policy has been so smart and i don't say that to sound like a -- for the administration. all the twitter folks can calm down. >> we can hear the tweets lighting up since you said that. >> seriously. part of what i think has been smart is recognizing that there can't be a cookie cutter approach. how this happens in libya is very different from what happens

in yemen, in bahrain and in egypt. what are the strengths and weaknesses of the rebels that already didn't made. has it will take in terms of helping stand up a gft and their version of democracy will look different than what we want it to be. that's part of the lesson perhaps we learned from iraq and afghanistan and again, to the president's strategy, this movement had to come from the people. if we in any way, shape or form were toop aggressive, we become a reason for it not to happen. that's important. policy wise, going forward, we also have to remember, we are a young country and we like things quicker, faster. but we're talking hundreds and hundreds of years, older than us, right? so when they think about their future and building their future, if you talk to people in the middle east, they think of things in terms of hundreds of years, not ten years. not five years. so we're also going to have to

recognize it's going to happen on their pace, not necessarily on our pace, and we'll have to figure out how we can most helpfully -- through diplomatic means and through development means, support their efforts. >> well, speaking of someone who wanted to accelerate change in the middle east with his own unique brand of intervention, dick cheney is all across the news today because he's got a memoir coming out. nbc, our own nbc jamie gangel had an exclusive interview with dick cheney i want to play a little sound from and then get you all to react. >> in your view, we should still be using enhanced interrogations? >> yes. >> no regrets? >> no regrets. >> should we still be waterboarding terror suspects? >> i would strongly support using it again, if circumstances arose where we had a high value detainee and that was the only way we could get him to talk. >> even though so many people have condemned it, people call

it torture, you think it should still be a tool? >> yes. >> dick cheney, obviously standing his ground. i'm sure they'll be more, and more gets unfolded from the book. what do you make of what the former vice president -- >> to have this happen, have a vice president come out and reveal these tales, if you will, and these stories, and i think it will be interesting how it's perceived by the public and those who are going to probably be outed on some of these stories as well. >> i know one of the other revelations discussed in what nbc is going to talk about more as this, collusive footage comes out is that cheney had advised president bush to bomb a syrian nuclear facility in 2007. something that the president decided not to take his advise. overruleded by other advisers. the israelis ended up taking that facility some months later, apparently. any impression of cheney's, in

character for cheney? no surprises or interesteding that bush may have decided not go with the more aggressive military option at that point from dick cheneyed advice? >> sure in character, but interesting to know what happened. i don't think we should call it enhanced tear gatien technique. we should call tore fer torture and not give way to new speak. i couldn't agree with the vice president more strongly but i admires had candor and the fact he is sticking by his views. on syria, what i actually admire as well and interesting to read the book, we just heard the former ambassador talk about the gentle lady who was in this tragic kay corleone position with assad. i really object to that seriously. we had this "vogue" magazine piece earlier this year, rose in the desert. it talks about the democracy in the assad family. this is a regime champion is murdering its people and if you're married to the mob, it doesn't matter how beautiful your clothes are, we should call a spade a spade, and i do admire

the vice president for having done that while in office. >> your take on the vice president's revelation with more to come, obviously, in the days to come, karen? >> what's more likely to happen is that he will confirm more of the things that we suspected. so many of us who were considered conspiracy theorists at the time will find out, know what?actually happening. this is a great thing for democrats, if they choose to embrace it, because it reminds people the kind of change that we wanted. we wanted to move away from that kind of diplomacy that kind of governing to something differ. whether or not you believe barack obama is the right one, again it helps remind people, this was the change, the thing we were trying to move away from. >> you have to go back and blame the bush administration because they have nothing to go on on their own right now. >> i'm just saying -- >> we'll give you -- blaming the bush administration a long time. interesting to see how president

bush reacts, especially the revelation in the news today cheney was actually in charge on september 11th while the president was out of town. more time to chew owl thall tha. thanks to the mega panel, susan, karen and they'll be staying and we'll continue as we check out nbc's exclusive interview with former vice president in its entirety this coming monday on "dateline." coming up, changing wait we do things. true democracy, just a click away.my moth e the best toffee in the world. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today

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welcome back. if you're like me you look at republican field and ask yourself, why is a great nation pick president's candidates based how they pander to a few thousand voters in a handful of democratic states ask true for democrats as well.

in the 21st century wouldn't it be nice to have a better way. say a national online nominating convention in which 100 million of us could pick the issues our candidates have to address knowing that our choice, the one we picked, in a convention, would automatically be on the ballot in all 50 states? well, if that idea sounds appealing, your wait is over boss a new group called americans elect is doing just that. joining me now to explain what could be the most disruptive inoh strigs our two-party system in decades is elliott, chief operating officer of this. a decorated marine, we pointed out in your past. we laud yo service on this innovation as well. you don't look like a revolutionary, not sure you look like a marine. >> not sure what that looks like. >> i think this process has the ability to create a revolution in u.s. politics. where does it stand jp where you are in this process? >> made huge a's progress. both in ballot access, this

month submit 1.6 million signatures in the state of california. largest ballot initiative in the history of that state and the country for that matter. thing are going great there. online we've seen a lot of interest in the last 30 days. we've had 700,000 page views. nearly 100,000 signed up to be dell kits. a real appetite for this and people are getting envochled. >> we mentioned delegates signing up online. with a large senior population, influential in politics as well as those who can't afford to have access to computers, are you worried you'll have somewhat of a skewed convention in that regard and not have everyone represented? >> not at all. what's great about this story, folks can go down to their public local libraries, sign up that way. it's about americans helping americans. we want to see people coming together. someone in your community wants

to be involved and doesn't have a computer, help them. bring them to a library. this is going going to work if they get involved. >> you make the case younger americans are underrepresented because of -- that's their choice. >> they don't have the -- something interesting about the tea party, where you have older americans over-represented. older people are retired. they have more time to actively organize. i think actually we want to have more of the young people having a bigger voice. >> i mean i -- >> a question for elliott. i love the idea behind it. it's time for the government to embrace the principles, organizing principles all of us love that technology has brought. one thing worries me. isn't this notion going to be about electing charismatic individuals rather than a team? you were talking about libya and syria. i worry about with those

countries, they don't have established political parties with people working together for a long time. the point i think for america isn't to elect the best individual president. it's to elect a group of people who you believe in. can your process do that? >> absolutely. you'll see if you go to our website, it's all about the issues. this is about getting back to issues-based politics. not the far right or the far left, but, what are the crucial issues facing country? we're seeing this. people don't feel they're being served up stable, political solutions. so we're making a process that is completely framed around the issues. >> i'm talking about institutions and people who stand for something. because -- >> the problem is, you have a lot of two parties we know are dysfunctional and not serving up solutions. they're in hock with the litmus test on both sides. exciting to me about this, i want to get karen in, with the question, look, she's just assess excited down in -- down

in washington. i mean, this is a financial man power effort you have to solve. it's an organization like this can guarantee access in all 50 states, which it's going to be able to do, i think, this really could open up something entirely new. karen? >> that's just it. a real political innovation occurring. the first time 50-state ballot access will be achieved for a direct nominating process that every registered voter can participate it. intersection of technical and political innovation. >> no longer held hostage to the iowa caucus. that the media goes wild over. you can see i'm excited. >> it's a very exciting idea. in support of susan's point, i see this as a kirnt iteration. when was the last time you went to your public library? do you know where it is? you have to be realistic. numbers could be skewed, but in a second, that is the things

that can be worked on. the question i have with you, this is fantastic in terms of the idea of getting people engaged. i think it's good for politicians to recognize that there are other channels through which people can get engaged and have their voices heard. i've said many times on the show, nothing changes without political consequences, but what -- a lot of times with these kinds of movements what ends up happening is, people come together. a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. and it's sort of the, then what? some fragments of the tea party have felt this. felt that the original concept got you know, sort of taken away by the freedom works and sort of, big money people here in washington and the original concept was lost. so what are you guys doing and thinking about to make sure as this grows you stay true to the original concept but also to keep people engaged so this really continues as a movement not just kind of a one-time thing? >> sure. that's what it's all about. it's about engagement. and to your comments before,

bear with me. let's say that you're an individual who lives in chicago, and your dream of dreams in this world is to go out and vote for tim pawlenty in 2012, just to have your voice heard. 17,000 folks -- >> hard to mamp an dream like that. >> just a second. 17,000 folks in iowa just made sure you'll nerve are be able to do that. so this is about empowerment. that's the spirit of this. it's more competition, more voters involved. >> we have to leave it there for today, but i'm sure we're going to be coming back to this somehow, and interest in this, too, dylan will. the whole universe is underestimating the power of what this group might be able to dop thanks for sharing. opening shot, to shake up american politics. thank you all for your mega insights, as always. next, the man behind the i 30d, the ipad and the iphone says, i quit. emily's just starting out... and on a budget.

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your time is limited. so don't waste it living someone else's life. don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. don't let the noise of other people's opinions drown out your inner voice. >> steve jobs, the visionary who stepped down from apple as the company's ceo. founded in 1976. thanks to jobs, changed the way most of us looked at technology. in 1984, he launched the macintosh, the first successful home pc and a device that changed wait we listen to music and revolutionized the music industry itself with the ipod. and complications of pancreatic cancer, i have long admired this guy. a business leader. not one with a bigger impact how we live today. he may be stepping aside, his legacy is everywhere.

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what loyalties do they owe to their country? bailed out banks and refusing to lend, critics ask, why don't the companies show the loyalty to america that taxpayers and uncle sam show to them? my next guest says, if american-based corporations want us to treat them like people, maybe they should start acting more like patriots. we're breaking it down with the ralph nader. thank you, ralph for coming by. >> thank, matt. >> issued a call for corporate patriotism. what does that mean in a global age? >> i wrote an article a few weeks ago in the "chicago tribune" where i said these giant u.s. corporations are born in the u.s., chartered here. they rose to profit on the backs of american workers. they got in trouble and go to washington and be bailed out by american tax pessor and some of them when they get in trouble overseas get the help of the marines and the sixth fleet, and what is their response to the american people? is it one of gratitude? they get all kinds of tax breaks

and subsidies and law enforcement? no. their response, we're out of here with your jobs and industry, to calm mists addict taters abroad, china, ole la gogi in mexico. who know how to keep their jobs in place with modern equipment, and ship the products here with empty factories, unemployed workers and destroyed communities. so the question to raise here s is, where's the patriotism of these corporations jo do they owe any duty for what the country has done for them? are they abandoning america to overseas? block access to courts and let them pollute at will, not to mention more than a little bribery? and i think the political system, and especially next year, should have as a major issue the patriotism demands the

american people should make on these corporations. >> you make a lot of torreimpor points what about adueses by multi-nationals overseas, it's not in question apart from global companies lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty in places likes chain in a, ichina. this is putting tremendous strains on our middle class and on xrobs but from a progressive point of view globally, isn't there a plus sign to so many lifted out of poverty? what's the right way for an american progressive to think about that. >> first of all, it's not my idea of foreign aid. the best type of help we can make to the world is aid to become a humanitarian super power with our medical advances to deal with issues like tur berk loesz, aids, malaria, contaminated drinking water,

help them build agriculture, et cetera. the second way to help the world if our companies invest in these countries, let them invest in the domestic market, rather than an exporting market back here at expense, i repeat, at the expense, of millions of american workers who be losing their jobs and their livelihoods, and to &háhp &hc% well, who built that global system? who were the powers behind nafta and the world trade organization? and these pulled down trade agreements that pull american livelihoods down, because they can't compete with 80 cents and hour hard working chinese with modern equipment? all this should really become a major debate of the media. get all this trivial stuff about who's ahead here, who had a gaffe there with a candidate. absurdly trivial. matt, you're a serious man that believes in sligss. your book "the 2% solution."

came out in 2003 and it basically said -- >> i'm glad to know you carry it with you at all times. >> yeah. this is very important. you said, suppose someone told you that for just 2 cents on the national dollar we'd have a country where everyone had health insurance,fultime workers earned a living wage, poor children had great teachers that fixed up schools and politicians no longer had to grovel to win wealthy donors. that's what this book is about. we've got to start thinking of solutions. what about the deficit? you deal with the deficit. wall street speculation tax. get rid of the tax havens for u.s. companies. >> ralph, i'm -- >> explore the tax cuts. build a huge public works project to put people to work all over the country. repairing and upgrading america with jobs cannot be exported to china. >> ralph nader, last question. a quick up or down. >> yes. >> third-party politics still in the air for 2012.

polls showing people are not satisfied with the two choices. some would point to you and say, boy, that ends up giving a situation with an outcome we didn't like. only about 20 seconds. what's the right way to think about a potential third, fourth next time? >> every four years the polls come out saying 50%, 60% of americans want a viable third party. fact is, they don't vote for third parties. the only way for a three-way race, a rebate of the perot campaign. it's going to taky multibillionaire to get the attention of the country and get the media to pay attention. otherwise, i think we're stuck with a two-party tyranny, very, very narrow issues discussed, and a very tedious campaign. >> ralph nader, we have to leave it there are for now. thanks very much for joining me today with your passion and perspective, as always. >> thank you very much, matt. coming up on "hardball," the latest on hurricane irene. will it be a bipartisan storm? first, dream on.

highway martin luther king jr. can still inspire a whole new generation. the outside looks good... let's see the engine.

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hurricane irene is threatening this weekend's bic ceremony in washington for the big mf k memorial, but not on dr. kinkg's achievement. the floor is yours. as washington celebrates the debut of the martin luther king memorial i am hummabled knowing there is much work still to be

done to realize dr. king's dream. emerging from a stone of hope symbolizing hope emerging from a mountain of despair as mentioned in his "i have a dream" speech. prnlly, i see it as looking a bit unfinished, symbolizing his unfinished life. his unfinished work and our unfinished efforts to ensure our children have every opportunity to listen out the american dream. i see it as a call to fight for educational options for our children. for fewer barriers to innovation in the education system and inspire our young generation to serve this country, especially through teaching. i see it as a reminder that the path from poverty is paved with education and that as america's children deserve it grow up knowing they can create prosperous lives for themselves through hard work, education and determination. we cannot be complacent. we cannot sit back and tell ourselves that dr. king's work is finished. if he were alive today he would see schools named after him in

which children are graduating without the ability to read. he would see children stuck in schools that don't work because we're waiting for the system to fix itself rather than empowering parents to put their children into schools that work. he would see a country not doing the hard work and unselfish self-assessment it takes to continuously better itself and provide a brighter future for the next generation. i've read stories of people visiting the memorial, getting choked up and talking how dr. king's dream is realized. congressman john lewis, the last speak are from the march told the associated press dr. king's ideas his message of lurove and peace are still liberating people. i think people will come from all over the world to be inspired, to go ought and act, to do something. i hope they will and i hope they realize it must start with education. education is the great equalizer. it is education that will create

the path to prosperity they dr. king dreamed of for the poor and disenchan chized people of this country giving our children the tools they need to preserve dr. king's dream long after you and i are gone and dream new dreams for their future. that's it. >> michelle, that's a great call to remember what dr. king's unfinished agenda requires, and it's almost 50 years later, and if anything, we need a morally urgent voice like dr. luther king's now more than ever. thinking about ralph nader, even if we're lifted out of poverty, hundreds of millions around the globe, puts a bigger premium on education in the united states and if anything, more systemically dysfunction than ever. 30 seconds before we go. don't we need it now more than ever? >> now more than ever key. the key word you used was moral. we need a moral leader to step back and not are motivated