you note. what did you learn, wes? >> well, i learned as powell was alluding to that heads will be exploding all over washington and it's started to come to fruition and colin powell will probably not be the last one. what did you learn? >> who knew that dick cheney in addition to his other skills is a master of book publishing hype. >> it's working well for him. >> i don't blame colin powell for defending himself and i think he should've. >> anything else? >> no, that's it. >> all right. it's "morning joe," great to be back. with missed being here. stick around right here. it's time for chuck todd and "daily rundown." hurricane politics. irene leaves over 20 dead, millions without power, and epic flooding in her wake. but despite the damage, was the swift reaction and preparation by city, state, and federal officials all about the katrina effect? nobody wants to become a member of this infamous storm b team.

they're not questioning irene's impact, massive flooding there. and further south, power needs to be restored, roads need to be cleared, travel is snarled. if you're traveling at all this week, stay tuned, we'll have the latest. plus, cheap shots, that's what colin powell is saying about charges in dick cheney's new book. one of many bush officials speaking out about the former vice president's memoirs. it's monday, august 29th, 2011, i'm chuck todd. it's great to be back. also this morning, president obama losing traction with african-american voters, a lot of voters, but also african-american voters. we're going to talk to kasim reid about that. it's been a story of lessons learned. with the failures of the katrina response shadowing the response to irene. their leaders are already being judged on whether the

preparations were worth all of the effort. louisiana governor kathleen blanco never recovered from mistakes made during katrina. appearing in press conference after press conference, east coast governors were determined to learn from the kathleen blanco model and not to fumble the response by underreacting. >> yeah, i saw some of these i've been watching upstairs of people sitting on the beach. get off the beach and get out. you're done. it's 4:30, you've maximized your tan. get off the beach. >> president obama returned from his martha's vineyard vacation a day early and toured fema. shadowed by those images of president bush who remained at the crawford ranch after katrina hit. and the president was intent to be hands on. >> you need to know that america will be with you in your hour of need. i continue to meet regularly with secretary napolitano and

the administrator and the other members of my team to assess our response and ensure that we have what we need in place. as i've told governors and mayors from across the affected areas, if they need something, i want to know about it. >> you know, this mistrust in government, this questioning of government, one could argue began in 2005 first with that terry schaivo mess and then the katrina response or lack thereof. you saw questioning of democrats, republicans, independents, of government's ability to respond, respond in a crisis, respond the right way, are they focusing on the right problems? it all began there. and you're seeing -- we saw the effect of katrina and all of the lessons -- and some might say they were overlearned, but that's what the politicians were responding to. speaking of lessons learned. with the president back in washington, congress returning next week, will washington learn another set of lessons?

the lessons of the debt ceiling debate debacle? federal reserve chair ben bernanke issued a warning friday saying "the negotiations that took place over the summer disrupted financial markets and probably the economy, as well, and similar events in the future could over time seriously jeopardize the willingness of investors around the world to hold u.s. financial assets." that was the federal reserve chairman warning congress, washington, the president to get your act together. meanwhile, approval of the federal government is at an all-time low. the president's approval on the economy at 36% in a recent a.p.gfk poll. only 12%, by the way, approve of congress. this morning, gallup has more bad news, rated public approval of industries and the federal government came out on the bottom below oil and gas with only 17% approval. folks in washington, you have no idea the damage the debt ceiling

debate debacle did. it's been toxic. president obama, we're seeing his approval ratings plummet over the last couple of weeks. we're seeing congressional republicans not fairing well. some in their own districts. we're seeing a fed up aspect to all things washington. it's pervasive out there. not sure if washington realizes how bad it is out there. noticed a lot of them didn't do town halls. that may have been the best short-term, but they may not have learned lessons in the long-term. another busy weekend on the campaign trail. michele bauchmann campaigning in florida had her own take on hurricanes and earthquakes, oh my. >> i don't know how much that has to do to get the attention of politicians. we've got an earthquake, we've had a hurricane. are you going to start listening to me here? listen to the american people. >> so god has a disapproval -- a pretty high disapproval rating of washington, as well.

rick perry in iowa doubled down on his attack of popular entitlement programs. saying he's not backing away of his characterization of social security in his book "fed up" where he called it a ponzi scheme. >> i haven't backed off anything in my book. so read the book again, get it right. >> it is a ponzi scheme for these young people. it is -- i mean, the idea that they're working and paying into social security today the current program, it's going to be there for them is a lie. >> it is a ponzi scheme. that quote, that image. trust me, folks, that's going to be in tv ads in the state of florida, the florida primary whenever it is. and by the way, there's been plenty of primary chaos. looks like all of it's going to end up in january. whenever the primary is, it could be decisive between romney, perry, bauchmann, whoever is left in the top tier. he's going to be living with it.

it's going to be played in florida over and over again. more than 20 people were killed during hurricane irene's push up the east coast, and damage could cost $7 billion, maybe even more. in vermont, rising water has led to catastrophic flooding up there, swept away a covered bridge that had stood for well over a century. and the flooding could get worse in many places as rivers continue to rise above flood stage. in addition, millions of people are still without power. live in the shoreline community of east haven, connecticut, right on long island sound. all right, ann. these after effects, particularly the flooding -- all of the winds are gone, all the rains gone, but the flooding is still there. tell us more about it. >> oh, yeah. well, first of all, take a look. this is just a small portion of the damage that has been done in connecticut. we are here on cozy beach road in east haven, and you can see the debris that is now washington, the sea wall. i am standing on a sea wall that

actually broke into pieces when the storm surge from irene came ashore. it went through the sea wall and up over the street some 75 yards inland. and it destroyed about 40 homes along the coast here. 20 or -- excuse me, damaged 40 homes along the coast here. 25 of them are destroyed. and that's just here in east haven, connecticut. the big problem in this state is the lack of power. irene knocked out power to some 750,000, setting a new record that was established -- breaking a record established by hurricane gloria in 1985. that's the big problem this morning in connecticut is restoring that power. as you mentioned, there are also issues with flooding. there is coastal flooding to deal with and there's also flooding inland in connecticut because the streams and the rivers were filled and

overflowing by irene. downed power lines have caused house fires in different parts of the state. in fact, one of those house fires cost a woman her life. so this morning, here in connecticut, it's a matter of cleaning up and it's a matter of getting that power back on. neither one is going to be an easy chore, chuck. >> all right. anne thompson, thanks very much. and folks, with generators, if you have them and you leave your house, just trust me on this, turn your generator off if you're going to leave your house. those things can be very, very dangerous. all right. turning overseas to libya where fallen dictator moammar gadhafi isn't the only notorious name in the headlines. al megrahi is apparently in a coma this morning. his son tells nbc news his father's medicine has been looted. nbc's stephanie gosk is in

libya's capital. this is somebody, a lot of people particularly in the new york/new jersey area. is his son saying he would not be in a coma if he could still get access to his medicine? >> reporter: that's a little unclear. in fact, his son's story is a little unclear and maybe doesn't stand up to what we've seen on today. we were outside the house today, there were no signs of looters. generally looters don't open up doorknobs and sort of walk in cleanly and walk out. there were no signs of looters in this neighborhood at all, which this is an upscale, gated community. we didn't even see any graffiti on the walls there. so it had at least the perception of being well protected when we were there. you know, they released megrahi, scottish officials, from his life sentence for humanitarian reasons two years ago. and they said he was at death's door, dying of cancer. one month went by, he didn't

die, a year went by, two years, and he is still alive in this house here in tripoli. and a lot of people are upset about it because it's are fairly nice house, he was taken care of by the government, he was greeted here in tripoli by moammar gadhafi's son. he was given somewhat of a hero's welcome. and those people who think he should serve out his life sentence think that justice hasn't been served here. new york lawmakers have asked the national transitional council here to extradite megrahi, but they responded and said they're not going to do that. and by the way, the ntc hasn't even shown up here officially here in tripoli. they say they won't extradite h him. chuck? >> stephanie gosk in tripoli for us this morning. thanks very much. all right. up next, an old rivalry renewed. powell versus cheney. the vice president warned his book would have heads exploding all over washington. well, president bush's inner

circle speaking out about cheney's new memoir. former vice president's exclusive interview with nbc news is next. and still to come, touching base. is president obama losing support among african-american voters? what the white house is trying to do to get back in touch with this key constituency. but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. he's added an event this morning because he's naming a new head to the council of economic advisers. we'll tell you about that person after the break. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. uh... um... [ bling! ] four score... [ bling! ] ...and seven years ago... [ bling! ] ...i kissed emily costa. ew! [ male announcer ] unlimited talk and text, only $45 a month, add more lines only $25 each. low prices every day on everything for back to school. save money. live better. walmart.

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former vice president dick cheney's memoir hits store shelves tomorrow. it is already angering many of

washington's elite. former secretary of state colin powell is just one of the voices criticizing the book. >> he is also in some ways indicated he didn't always approve of what president bush was deciding. and there's nothing wrong with saying you disagree, but there's not -- it's not necessary to take these kind of barbs and then try to pump a book up by saying heads will be exploding. i think it's a bit too far. i think dick overshot the runway. >> nbc's jamie gangel sat down with an exclusive interview with vice president cheney. there it is, the first response, the first head exploding, secretary of state powell obviously not happy. this is not news in many cases. the two of them never got along. >> right. and if they're speaking now, they are barely speaking. you may remember when collin powell endorsed obama. vice president cheney said i didn't know he was still a republican.

that's just a tip of the iceberg between these two. >> all right. one of the things that colin powell criticized vice president cheney for was what he wrote about condoleezza rice. you asked him about his relationship with the secretary of state rice. here's what he said to you. >> she came into my office, sat down in the chair next to my desk, and tearfully admitted i'd been right. was she crying? >> she was tearful. that's what i wrote. if i wanted to say she was crying, i would have wrote she was crying. >> you know that tearfully is a loaded description. >> look -- >> for powerful women in high office. it's going to be seen by a lot of people as provocative. could you have left that word out? >> it is an accurate description of what happened and what i saw. >> dick cheney, case closed.

look, that's one of many stories that we're going to show toni t tonight. other words he used to describe her were naive, that the policy was a train wreck. you know, when dick cheney wants to tell you that you're not doing a good job, he says he was disappointed with how the state department served the president. but what you also see in the book is that in the second term, condi rice is winning battles and dick cheney is losing them. and he's very up front about it. >> it does seem as if the cheney/powell battles, cheney won them all, and rice picked up the same battles and having the same issues. but rice, when she got to the state departments did start to win. is that a fair description? were they the same battles? >> i think they're different battles that happened. but it's interesting. the former vice president won't say that he was marginalized in the second term. that said, he points out in the

book, he says there are meetings i wasn't -- that i found out about that i probably wouldn't have been invited to. and there's this striking story about what he wants the u.s. to strike a syrian nuclear plant and he makes a case for it. and the president has his top advisers in the oval office and says, anyone here agree with the vice president? and not a single hand gets raised. >> that's a way of dressing down the vice president. i guess that's what's striking me about the book. basically vice president cheney is criticizing everybody around president bush but not president bush, but isn't that by implication criticizing president bush? >> he says i think there are some criticisms of president bush. in the book he says at some points that he's bold, courageous, and decisive. on the other hand, he points out other places where he thinks the president made a mistake. is that criticism? or is that his opinion that he made a mistake? i think people have to look at

the book as a whole. but it's going to be very controversial. >> one reason vice president cheney was so effective using power is because he was a former white house chief of staff. i love this little nugget about a meeting he was invited to right after president obama's election. >> well, we had a meeting convened by josh bolton, our chief of staff. of all the people who had previously held that job. and the meeting went around the table and asked each person to give a crucial piece of advice to rahm who was about to take over as president obama's chief of staff. and when they got to me, i said, look, rahm, the first thing you've got to do is make sure you've got your vice president under control. which got a great laugh. >> he -- >> more so from josh bolton, right? >> he does have a sense of humor about it. and the book is filled with -- first of all, it's his four decades of public service.

you see him serving four different presidents. but you hear about everything from that to how his dog dave got banned up at camp david because he was chasing barney. >> and you did get a reaction from him about the capture and killing of osama bin laden. here's what he told you. >> i really thought it was a culmination of ten years of effort by a lot of very talented and capable and dedicated people. and i gave president obama credit for having sent the s.e.a.l. team in to capture and kill bin laden. >> were you bitter at all? was it bittersweet? or were you disappointed it hadn't happened on your watch? >> well, we would've liked to have succeeded. but i think we laid the groundwork for what ultimately happened. >> jamie, i was struck, though. it seems in some of the excerpts and i haven't read the full book and even in this interview, he's

more critical, it seems of the bush administration in many ways and doesn't go after the obama administration the way he did, for instance, the first year of the obama administration. >> this is his memoir, though. and i think we'll hear more. i think he will continue to be in the spotlight and speak out about politics today and the obama administration. and there is some criticism in the book. but this is his memoir. this is looking back. >> all right. jamie gangel. you can catch more of jamie's exclusive interview with vice president cheney tonight on a special edition of "dateline" 10:00 p.m. eastern on your local nbc station. and then tomorrow matt lauer will interview vice president cheney live on the "today" show. it'll be interesting to see what cheney thinks of colin powell's criticism. the opening bell will ring on time today. wall street escapes the worst of irene. we'll get a preview of the market. but first, today's trivia question. name the three most recent president who is played varsity sports in college.

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wow. with zegerid otc, you get 24-hour relief. so, this is goodbye heartburn ? gone. finito. zegerid otc. two ingredients... ...one mission. heartburn solved. hurricane irene could not stop the stock market today. we're moments away from the opening bell. it's time for a market preview. it's opening up, why? >> it looks good. we're going to open up over 100 points higher on the dow. in part because irene wasn't as bad as people were expecting. we also got some personal income and spending numbers earlier today. both of those were slightly above expectations. and so people are feeling a little bit better. and of course the exchanges are open for business and most of the big banks and most of the folks down in wall street are working. that's the good news. the big number to pay attention to, though, is not today, it's later this week.

it's the employment number at the end of this week. and that's what everybody's paying attention to going into today's trading. >> and any impact from what ben bernanke said on friday? it was right sort of at the end of the trading day. >> right. >> is that going to have any impact today? >> a little bit, but not so much. built in toward the end of the day, as you said. a lot of people will focus more on oil today because there was some sense going into the hurricane, perhaps, that things could get knocked off. obviously things were better. so maybe oil prices come down a little bit. that's really been the effect of all the -- some of the insurance companies, actually, doing better today because there was a sense that they might have massive payouts and clearly the payouts won't be nearly as bad. the number right now looking at about $4 billion in insurance payouts. >> all right, andrew ross sorkin, appreciate it. up next, has the white house spent too little time focusing on the growing economic challenges facing

african-americans? plus, planes, trains, and automobiles. a lot of people are going nowhere fast post irene. a travel update. and the nbc news politico republican debate at the reagan library is next week, wednesday, september 7th, at 8:00 eastern time right here on msnbc because we're the place for politics. a mouthwatering combination of ingredients... i know you're gonna love. [ barks ] yes, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. made with wholesome grains, real chicken, even accents of tomato and avocado. yeah! come on! [ barking ] 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. another healthful, flavorful beneful. requires more than wishful thinking. it requires determination and decisive action. i go to e-trade and get unbiased analyst ratings and 24/7 help from award-winning customer support

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aveeno tinted moisturizers. bottom of the hour now. let's take a quick look at what's driving the day. hurricane irene may be gone, but left a headache for new jersey residents. rivers there have yet to crest, and when they do, it'll only make an already devastating flood situation even worse. and in vermont, irene dumped torrential rains, flooded towns, took out bridges as hundreds were forced to flee their homes. it's the state's worst flooding in almost 40 years. the opening bell has just rung on wall street as investors hope irene's aftermath won't impact markets much this week.

tr typically slow trading week. few other stories making headlines. 29 iraqis are dead after a suicide attack at baghdad's largest sunni mosque. the attack hit during last night's evening prayers, similar to a 2006 attack on shiite shrine that sparked widespread sectarian violence that bordered on is civil war. and violence continues in syria as forces loyal to president al assad stormed the village. the loyalists killed at least one person and wounded many others. human rights groups say more than 2,000 people have been killed in president assad's crackdown on protests that started back in march. and the white house announced that president obama will name alan krueger as the chairman of the council of economic advisers. he'll succeed austan goolsbee who went back to chicago after holding the post for nearly a year.

of course we've got a new jobs report coming at the end of the week. airports around the northeast are reopening today, trying to get hundreds of thousands of people on their way after their flights were grounded over the weekend. cnbc's brian shactman has more. >> reporter: thanks, chuck. it is far from back to normal. i will tell you that washington, d.c., philly, and boston airports are up and running. and you have laguardia, which is now open to inbound and outbound flights. they are accepting flights, but flights won't be going out until afternoon. when it comes to getting out, we will tell you already flights for today have been canceled. and most airlines say they won't be on normalized schedules until tomorrow. that seems like better news than you might expect after a huge hurricane. but for people who are stuck at a place like newark international airport, there was no solace in that. >> you see it on tv. and you never think that it's going to happen to you. so now i know what to do when uh i come up -- once i finish with

my last appointment, i'll fly out, i'm not going to ever stay again. >> i'm tired. i'm english, this is frightening for me. i'm a lone, traveling female. it's a frightening experience. >> reporter: it's brutal to be stuck in an airport. the key here is don't call ahead. so many people not able to get through on the phone. it's 2011, break out that smartphone, that ipad, check out your status updates online. and if you have trouble there, then you can try to call. but you might want to avoid the phones today because everyone is trying to do it. back to you, todd. >> all right, brian shactman there at newark liberty airport. all i ask, airports, can we get rid of arm reirests on chairs? all right. president obama will be back on the road next week meeting with thousands of union workers in detroit. the trip illustrates a key challenge for the president entering into the 2012 campaign addressing frustrated supporters hit hard by the economy. among them, african-americans,

we have the mayor of atlanta joining me now. mayor, you probably don't need a lesson in numbers, but for our viewers, i want to put them out there. the african-american community has been disproportionally hit by this recession. the unemployment rate in july was nearly 16%, among whites, 8%. so two to one on that. the pew center's wealth gap study which shows white wealth sitting at $113,000 versus african-american wealth at $5,677 a household. white wealth 20 times that of african-americans, and african-american wealth has dropped 53% in four years. my question to you, mayor reid, this criticism coming at the president, and it's not harsh criticism, but frustrated criticism that he's lacked some focus on this problem. do you agree with that criticism? >> i do not.

i believe the criticism couldn't be more unfair. i believe the white house should spend more energy having conversations with leaders in the african-american community. but black people are going to be disproportionately impacted by this great recession at all times. and as you know, even when unemployment numbers are favorable, the african-american unemployment number is always higher. i believe the president has done a significant amount. i think when he helps in the pell grant space to remove banking fees so more kids can go to college, that impacts african-american people. i believe when you save the automobile industry, i happen the to know a lot of african-american people in detroit who were impacted by that result. when you improve financial services and reduce the amount of fees associated with credit, that helps the african-american people. we do need to acknowledge that it is more difficult for this president because of the historical nature of his presidency to have the kind of conversation that many in our community would like to have focus solely on african-american

people. but i hope that's a political trap that the president won't walk into. >> i was just going to say, mayor, you brought up the issue that you hear other supporters of the president saying he can't look like he somehow favors -- somehow he's afraid of looking like if he focuses on african-american issues, he's favoring african-americans over working class whites in the midwest and in the industrial midwest. and you say you don't want him falling into that trap. what do you mean? >> what i mean is, chuck, you know if the president were to start speaking directly to african-americans about what he's doing for them, what he has done for them, at the first african-american that during a general election campaign that that could have very adverse results. and i believe that black people understand that. i think they understand it well. but we are human, people do feel frustration. but to say that this president hasn't been focusing on helping all americans, but specifically

african-americans, i think is wholly false. and i'd also like to talk to my friends in my own community who are raising these issues to make the point that if you weaken president obama in the black community, you seriously hamper his chances of being reelected. a small depression among the african-american electoriate could be devastating to this president. and i'd also like folks on the other side of the conversation to tell me who the alternative is that's going to do such a better job for black people. will it be michele bauchmann? i mean, will it be mitt romney? rick perry? are those the individuals who are going to feel so much more deeply about how african-american people are impacted. it's time to start having a conversation when we compare the policies of president obama to the alternative. we've been comparing this president to the almighty for long enough. and just for a little while during this election, we're going to have an alternative.

>> you brought up this communication issue. you believe the white house just hasn't had the conversation -- have they not be, for instance, with the congressional black caucus what i hear is not having enough meetings with them, frankly, in the same way you would have meetings with other key leadership groups in congress. >> chuck, i think that's a fair criticism. and i do believe that the white house is going to have to have a number of tough conversations and really lay out in detail why the president made the decisions that he has made. but i do agree and believe that's a fair criticism. but on the facts, i would push back pretty hard for this president. >> all right. atlanta mayor kasim reed. i know you were supposed to be in washington for the unveiling -- >> i'm so disappointed. >> do we have a new date yet? or have they not said? >> we don't have a new date yet. i look forward to it.

>> well, we will have you onset then because i know we were supposed to have you onset today. thanks for coming on "the daily rundown." >> thank you. well, we're kicking off this week with a top-notch political panel. michele bauchmann blames washington for hurricane irene and that earthquake. and that's not even the worst thing she said about her congressional colleagues this weekend. plus, "happy days," it's not every day i get to combine my love of the fonz with my love for candidates. but first, the white house soup of the day. i'm floored. i think it's a brand new soup. spicy thai cod? really? this feels like they brought this back from the vineyard. [ male announcer ] this is coach parker... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice.

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she's not from these parts, and she's not from washington. but when you get to know her, you're going to be as impressed as i am. >> the daily flashback. that's right, it was three years ago today that senator john mccain introduced the world to sarah palin and the country as his running mate. that morning, people were still calling her palin for a few hours during that morning. of course, now nobody mispronounces her name. everyone is reading the polls and they're catching anti-washington fever. >> it is up to this generation of americans to stand for freedom. to send a message to washington, d.c. that we are taking our future back from the grips of this central planners who are controlling our health care, spending our treasure, downgrading in our future, and micromanaging our lives. >> i'm also privileged to sit on

the permanent select committee for the intelligence and the house of representatives. and i know that's odd and probably an oxy moron to say house of representatives and intelligence in the same sentence -- >> she said it. that's the running gag people like to do intelligence and the house anyway. michael steele is of course former chairman of the rnc and anita dunn, and the correspondent at the "washington post." anti-washington fever, everybody's reading the polls. let me throw up a couple more. here's obama's approval on the economy, congress's, 12%, gallup has a new poll out ranked 25 out of 25 sectors ranked. this is the toxic atmosphere that i get the sense that folks here in washington, they read the polls, but i don't think they believe how bad it is out

there, do they? >> i think it has been banned for quite a while. it's obviously very bad at this moment. but it's been bad for a long time. and i think people kind of look at it tier and say, okay, yeah, it's bad and then kind of forget about it. i think you're right that out in the country, there's a much different sense about what washington is or isn't doing and a much deeper anger and frustration than the politicians are prepared to accept. >> anita, the challenge for the president is going to be how to channel that anger. and yet, it feels as if washington's in worse shape than it was when he entered. >> well, washington has been in bad shape since roughly the early 1800s when -- >> all right. fair enough. >> well, i'm not going to go to the swamps, okay. i'll go to the fact that it's always convenient to have the federal government to blame for just about everything that goes wrong until you need it. and this week, a lot of people are going to discover that they think parts of the federal

government, in particular, fema do a fairly good job. i think the challenge for everybody in washington is to demonstrate to the american people that they're actually working on what the american people want them to work with. and the damage that was sustained through the debt ceiling fight is something i don't think politicians in washington really understand here. i don't think congress understands it at all. one of the striking stories from august in my opinion was the fact that members of congress weren't holding town meetings. were actually kind of scared of their constituents. listen, any time you've got politicians who are scared to go talk to their constituents in an open meeting, you know that the fore change elections are preceding a bigger change election. >> house republicans, we're all assuming -- president introduces a jobs bill, it's dead on arrival, they come up with whatever -- is that good politics, though, at this point? is it in everybody's interest oddly enough to say, whoa, this

debt ceiling thing was a disaster? >> right. >> and could up end all of us. maybe we ought to do something bigger. >> i think that's the point. they need to do something a little bigger. i think at this point in the game, anita's right and dan's right too. people in washington are disconnected from what's going on outside. you know, in the real world. and so when they get back here in september and start the old games, it's going to turn a lot of people off and it's going to -- >> very quickly. >> very quickly, and it's going to come back to bite everyone in the white house to capitol hill in such a way that 2012 will make 2010, 2008, and 2006 look like skirmishes. >> i was just going to say, our republican half of our nbc "wall street journal" polling team, they've been doing a lot of research over the last month, and it is stunning. he says really there's only been four other moments in the last 30 years that have sent this

kind of downgrade in optimism and all of it together ran hostage in that recession, katrina, 9/11 -- that the debt ceiling debate had more of an impact and voters aren't getting. and maybe an independent candidacy is going to -- i know people say the time is always ripe for it, but there's never an opportunity. but boy, both parties better watch out. >> well, you're absolutely right about that. and i think the question is, is there a third-party candidate out there who can step into that vacuum? we don't know that. but certainly the ingredients are there in awways we haven't seen in a long time. we went through this in the spring with a continuing resolution to get the government funded through the rest of this year. people didn't learn from the lesson of that of taking that up to the deadline -- within an hour of a government shutdown. the damage that was doing to washington and politicians. and then they repeated it

exponentially worse in the debt ceiling debate. i think every time they go through this, they're not learning the lesson of the mistakes they're making. >> you know, chuck, i think there's an easy place for both parties to come together in agreement, and it actually was surprising to me to see the republicans decide not to do it last week because the payroll tax cut is the easiest thing in the world for politicians in washington to extend. it's a small stimulus, it affects everybody in this it affects everybody in this country. it isn't picky but it helps working people a great deal. it is money in their pocket or in january, it will be a tax increase. the decision that the republican leadership made to not work with the president on this one shows they haven't gotten the message yet. the american people are looking for signs that their leader will work together for them. we have to talk about the arthur sity

sports in college. gerald ford, g.w. bush and ronald reagan, swam, ran track and played football at eureka college. you are watching "the daily rundown" oun on msnbc. of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

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let's bring back michael steele, anita dunn and dan balance. everybody is trying to figure out, where does rick perry fit in in this race. i am going to have to read it from here. here is what mark mckinnon said about perry.

>> fonzy carried that show, i'm i'm not mistaken. primary voters want fonzy. >> they want fonzy but i think they are going to give america richie cunningham. i think this is mitt romney's to lose. i think when it says, who can go up against against the president that can match him, that's romney's record. you are thinking about your head. dan balls, primary voters may vote with their heart. >> if they do, governor perry is going to be in very good shape. he fits the mood of the republican party base better than mitt romney.

we have seen as a fragile front-runner. >> anita? >> i am going to do dan's shameless plug. we both were impressed with perry's piece this morning in "the washington post." to be honest, taking the compassion out of conservatism from arthur fonzarelli himself. >> the same with terry bacon's piece about rick perry. >> mine is chris from "the washington post." he did a great job. the roof is leaking a bit but i won't blame that. follow at the fix on twitter. tomorrow on the show, former white house chief of staff, john pedesta.

coming up, chris jansing and at 1:00 p.m., angela mitchell reports. i'm nbc meteorologist, jeff ranieri with your business travelers forecast. we are seeing what was once hurricane irene. we will still be dealing with flooding concerns and heavier rainfall across the northern plains. meanwhile, hot weather for those of you in texas. look at this. 107 expected in dallas today. [ male announcer ] look down.

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