right now on "newsnation" -- >> our economy has to grow faster. we have to create more jobs, and we have to do it faster. >> ramping up a week before he lays out a new jobs plan, president obama today stressing the urgent need t address this jobs crisis in our country, and the liberals say that the president should offer bold solutions that would likely be rejected by the tea party and the other republicans and even the president's own economic team are divided on what the plan should include. still underwater, and the battle raging on as several states are fighting epic flooding caused by irene. thousands still without power and an entire wedding party cut off from civilization after a bridge in vermont is washed away. >> the wedding was absolutely beautiful. the clouds burst open and it started to dumb rain. and forget the $ million

man, quarterback michael vick is now the $100 million nfl star two years after vick was behind bars for taking part in a dog fighting ring. the eagles only care about the super bowl ring now. plus, banning republicans from a labor day parade and who is behind the idea and is that fair game? it is today's "newsnation" gut check. hello, everyone. i'm tamron hall and the "newsnation" is following dangerous flooding following hurricane irene in the northeast. today, the national guard is dropping food and water to those cut off from the flooding in vermont. among those cut off is an entire wedding party stranded after a bridge collapsed. more than 100 people from this wedding will be stuck for at least four days until they have a road out. and in vermont alone, nearly 300 roads are closed and 35 bridges are impassable. a few hours ago, president obama said today that the victims of

the storm have the supportf of the government. >> a lot of the fellow citizens are still reeling from hurricane irene and its aftermath. as a government, we are going to make sure that states and communities have the support they need so their folks can recover. >> nbc's rod allen is in brattleboro, vermont, which has seen some of of the worst flooding. ron, i saw the shot earlier today and it is unbelievable to see from a larger vantage point where you are standing right now. >> it is, tamron. this is about as bad as it gets. let me show everybody what i'm talking about. in in direction this water is a river now that has rushed through here and torn apart the corn over this three-story house. it was an artist colony where several artists used to work and live. the important thing is that this water was not here. this was dry land. the house was built on a street. on a roadway. the water was about 50 feet in

that direction that was a babbling brook, and now you see what mother nature has done here. earlier we talked the one of the artists who worked here naomi goldie and this is what she had to say about her experience with this. >> this was actually a beautiful sculpture park twoday days ago then i got a call from my child who is 15 who said, mom, the back half of your studio just ripped away. >> reporter: nobody in vermont expected anything like this to happen, a tropical storm hitting something landlocked this far north. again, you can see, this is a scene repeated in so many places across the state where roads have been washed out and so many communities in vermont are dependent on one road that connects them with the rest of the state or a bridge. it is a rural place, and as you can see, lots of beautiful mountains that are now posing great challenge to rescuers who want to get food and supplies up to people who are at the end of

the road that are now washed out. an incredible scene across the state. it is a situation that is still evolving. the death toll for example just rose today and doubled to 4 from 2, and that could increase again. but again, the challenge right now is to reach a dozen towns where people are virtually cut off and in need of a lot of help. tamron? >> thank you, ron. further south in new jersey there is ongoing water rescues and nine of the rivers in that state have reached or exceeded flood levels. look at the rescues taking place. this man is in wayne, new jersey, trudging through water in the middle of a flooded highway. nbc's michelle franzen is live 40 miles south of wayne and she is following the emergency efforts under way, and michelle, i was talking to someone who said that a two-mile trip took three hours because of a highway being basically flooded out at this point in time even right now. >> yeah. there are highways washed out

and carved out by specific river, and tamron, we are further north where they are dealing with the aftermath of epic flooding in danville and manville area. right now the water is receding, but behind me, you can see the downed tree which downed power lines in this area, and the perfect example of what irene's damage has done here. this whole area, one-third of the town was flooded in the heightf of the storm, and neighbors are cleaning up and puppi pumping out the water from the basements. we have photos of one home, the menninger home. this shows water from two rivers that overspilled the banks and went into their homes. they are lucky here, because they have power and water in the basements to pump out, but they are coming together in the neighborhood spirit certainly in other areas where it is a dangerous situation. we are hearing about the evacuations along the passaic rivers in paterson, and those

could increase as the afternoon goes on. tamron? >> thank you, michelle, very much. now to the president's much anticipated jobs plan. the president stressing today just how dire the situation as he prepares to unveil the plan next week to get folks back to work. speaking at the american national legion conference two hours ago, the president said it has taken longer than anyone has imagined to climb out of the economic crisis. he has announced a new way to help the economy by hiring american veterans. >> i have directed the dod to create a new boot camp to help civilians have their skills translated to industry. i have challenged companies across america to train 100,000 unemployed veterans or their spouses. and joining me is the

politico ground reporter joining me now. will obama go bold on the jobs plan? we understand there is a debate within his own cabinet of what to do. >> hey, there. certainly is. there are weeks of meetings and conference calls on how to go, and what to propose. it seems pretty certain that he'll call for an extension of the payroll tax cut for workers, for unemployment insurance, but there is a debate right now about how tbig to go beyond tha and he faces pressure from the progressives to get the e kcono moving again and in their minds, that means a big package, but there are political considerations to going that route, and there are economic, and the economic advisers and aides who are pushing for something big combined with smaller items, of course, but to really convey a vision for how to get the economy moving again. >> you have a quote from the afl-cio president richard

trumka, and he says that referring to the president falls into nibbling around the edges, history will judge him and working people will judge him. even with that strong pushback from liberals and progressives, you have the realities as you point out in your piece that the president has to be able to, i guess, entice, if you will, republicans to see things his way or to see his proposals as effective and the right direction. >> i mean, that is exactly how the white house and the president, himself, and the aides have been positioning this speech that these are ideas that historically, and that is the key word historically that republicans can support. and that is true, but this is a different reality in washington where the historical patterns generally don't apply, and where infrastructure programs that used to be popular cannot get republican support, because it requires government spending even with the disaster aid from the hurricanes is getting pushed back and changing the ways things are done in washington, and those are the reality he is facing in the white house and

how much can he do in a realistic way. >> and some say make them an offer they cannot refuse, and if the republicans do, then they pay the price when people go to vote. >> exactly. that is part of the calculation. there's a push or this feeling that the president so far has been, you know, conservative in terms of how he has described, you know, what it will take to get out of the, you know, get the economy moving and lower unemployment, and this is a real chance for him to convey a vision, be honest, as i quote one neperson in the story of wh it will really take to move the unemployment rate down, and in their view, it requires something more ambitious than the white house has been willing to embrace so far. >> thank you so much for your time, kerry brown. >> thank you, tamron. tonight, the congressional black caucus is hosting a town hall meeting tonight live on thegrio.com and you can catch that at 6:00 p.m. tonight.

and rebels are fighting for control of their country, and they are issuing an ultimatum saying that gadhafi forces have four days to surrender, and they are behind gadhafi's hometown of sirte, they say they will go on the offensive if they don't standdown. stephanie gosk joins us, because, what can you tell us about this offensive, because nobody knows where gadhafi is. >> no, they don't know. and in is the end of the ramadan period, and when this period is over, that these forces still loyal to gadhafi face an attack. two places. one is sirte, gadhafi's hometown, east of here, and then southeast of here, the city walo be shown the support that

gadhafi has here, and there were hundreds of people in a parking lot to shoot off the guns in support of him, and what gadhafi is banking on at this point is that those people remain so loyal they are not enticed by a reward or promises of am necessarity, and thamnesty, but until they get their hands on moammar gadhafi, the rebels have a shadow cast over them. >> and there is a report that gadhafi's wife and some of his children be returned to libya and saying that algeria had an act of aggression when it allowed to family to sneak into the country or go into the country. >> well, there's a bit of a mixed message coming out of the national transitional council on this issue, tamron. there was a spokesman who came out and said that they were demanding that the algeria return the family members, but then the head of the council jalil came out and said, we are not demanding them back right now, but if we ask for them

back, then they should return them and the algerian government should ensure they will not compromise their safety. it is gadhafi's wife and his two sons and his daughter aisha who actually gave birth on the trip into algeria. we visited her home here in tripoli and she was not there when the forces arrived. it was an incredibly lavish walled mansion and people in the neighborhood said they were angry that she was there, because it was a children's hospital that she knocked down to build her house. so there is a lot of resentment and not just moammar gadhafi, but his family in general. >> thank you, stephanie gosk, in tripoli. and the members of the super committee are meeting for the first time behind closed door. and plus, steve jobs' biological father says he regrets giving up his son for

adoption more than 50 years ago, but he says he will not contact him and we will tell you why. >> when you invite people to a party on facebook, what happens? well, several people were arrested at this out of control college party. charge of my financial future. [ bell dinging ] two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

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welcome back. developing news as the republican members of the so-called super committee is meeting behind closed doors. the group of representatives met at jeb hensarling's office. if that group can hit the number by november 23rd, automatic cuts will be made then. luke russert joins me. first read david camp a member of the committee was not in the meeting today said that the super committee and maybe this is the way of the future since

congress is so polarized maybe this is the only way deals can be reached moving forward. >> yeah, on a broad note, camerca tamron, that is a possibility going forward because it is a red and blue country and folks are literally fighting trench warfare on every issue that this is the go-tgo-to, and if we can agree go to the super committee. this is the first meeting august 30th of a set of series of them to likely go to christmas, tamron. they have two deadlines. first is thanksgiving and the other is christmas in order to get $1.4 trillion out of the deficit for the next ten years. today, the republicans are meeting for first time 5 of the 6 members in the office room just below me. and this is about some of the organizational dynamics of what they want to do. they will talk about the bipartisan proposals brought up in congress in the past and the gang of six and things that have gotten traction in the last few years.

and another big piece of news they announced the staff director for this super committee which is mark prater who is a republican working for the senate finance committee and i have called a few aides about him on both sides and one word i hear about him is that he is fair. i spoke to one aide before i came on and they said he was the choice of both of the committee heads, and with input of the majority leader and minority leader john boehner and harry reid. even though we have 12 exalted members of congress, you rest assured that john boehner and harry reid will not only have the policy directors in the meetings, but their fingerprint will be all over what organization comes out of them. >> and luke, are we expecting to hear from the members after this meeting? >> well, maybe just a few in the hallway and no set press event. this is organizational and they have been talking on the phone for all of the congressional recess. i am told they will meet next

week when congress comes back and they are required by law to have a meeting of the group by september 16th. >> thank you, luke russert on capitol hill with the developing news. and now the race of 2012 and the duel between rick perry and mitt romney. a new cnn poll shows that rick perry's popularity is surging because of raising eyebrows of what he said in texas. and meanwhile, mitt romney is taking shot at the president's foreign policy, and now let's bring in mark murray. let's talk about the poll, because it is reflects another poll that we discussed at the end of last week that perry is picking up steam here. >> well, he is, and it is more evident that he is the national republican front-runner, as you and i have discussed in the front that being the national front-runner the summer before the early nominating contests is not the best place to be, but there is a shake-up in the race, and as we get ready for the debate that nbc news and msnbc will be having next week, rick perry will be the front-runner and in the spotlight there,

tamron. >> but looking at the numbers, michele bachmann at 9%, and is she being iced out? i have been heard that michele bachmann is boring, and that is what the writer categorized it and she is being upstaged by rick perry at this point. >> well, she has been upstaged and it is ironic, because the day after she won the ames straw poll in iowa the conversation shifted to rick perry and to some degree to mitt romney where it became a two-person race even after she had won that contest that she got a lot of praise for winning and actually winning it when there were high stakes for her. she is still a player her. you could make the argument she is still at least the co-front-runner in iowa and of course being able to win in the early iowa caucus gets your ticket stampeded on to the next contests. >> and we are almost out of time, but since we teased it rick perry's comments in san antonio about the va, what did

he say? >> the treasury of the united states should not be spilled for blood when vital interests are not at stake. it is interesting, because rick perry is seen to be aligned to the neo conservative forces and republican foreign policy circles, but that comment would have some people who are critics of that iraq war that was started in 2003 saying, well the iraq war had very little to do with vital u.s. interests. so interesting comment from him, and of course, foreign policy is something that will be played out in the months ahead. hopefully, and perhaps in our debate and elsewhere, but certainly interesting comments from governor rick perry. >> nbc's political deputy director mark murray. thank you for your time and greatly appreciate it. and the nbc politico debate that mark referred to is going to be next wednesday at the reagan library and you can watch it live on msnbc, and that is september 7th at 8:00 p.m.

eastern. >> the fact is that it worked. we learned valuable, valuable information from that process. >> former vice president dick cheney is defiant in his use of waterboarding and what else we learned in the interview with matt lauer and who he is taking aim at next, john mccain. and a huge contract with michael vick and the eagles. it is a staggering amount of money. $100 million. we will break it down. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. welcome back to "newsnation." it is one of the most dramatic comebacks we have seen in professional sports. michael vick goes to one of the most disgraced and hated athletes to one of the most highest paid players in the nfl all in two years' time. the new eagles quarterback landed a $6 million deal with $40 million of it guaranteed. i'm joined by our sports writer. what is your take on this? >> wow, that is my take on this.

three years ago michael vick was making 11 cents an hour as a janitor in leavenworth and now he is the third highest paid quarterback in the nfl. and for a player who takes as much risks as michael vick does on the field n is a daring move by the philadelphia eagle's team who says this year it is super bowl or bust. >> yes, vick had over 3,000 yards and many people felt he should have been the league mvp here, but they are putting a lot at stake with michael vick. do you think that people have finally, i guess allowed him, if you will in their minds to go on to have his career? you can't make $100 million if you can't bring it. >> that is true. as we have learned in professional sports that the field is like if you can go there and play well, all sins are forgiven. that is like sports writers saying michael vick paid his

debt to society, and he should have a second chance, but only after he achieved on the field. the way i look at it is that the human society has said that they believe that michael vick is sincere and he has done a lot of work to try to prevent cruel ti -- cruelty to animals, and i have seen him speak to high school kids and he speaks without notes and with heart and it is a lot of times the people who have redeemed themselves to stop problems in the society. that makes michael vick valuable. >> you sound like a minister, dave. but it is true. >> thank you. >> and does this put an enormous amount of pressure on him, and we have said, can you compare this to any other comeback story in a short period of time? we have seen great comebacks in sports, but for this in just, you know, being out of jail for two years, that is a lot of pressure? >> well, there is no comparison, and the pressure is even higher than we are saying, because the philadelphia eagles are a stacked team except for their

offensive line. which is very weak. and michael vick who is incredibly elusive and sacked 49 times last year is a huge number. so, there is pressure on michael vick psychologically to lead the team forward and also pressure for him to stay healthy, because a lot of the teams will be taking shots at him. >> and straight and narrow and this guy cannot get pulled over for speeding. he has to keep it clean away from the game as well. >> absolutely. he has to st. francis ofs a sissy away from the nfl and on the field he has to play hard. that is something that the nfl players face, "officer and a gentleman" mentality. and we want you to be a gentleman off of the field and as lawrence taylor used to say, on the field a pack of dogs. >> and look at what happened to him. >> okay. that was a bad analogy. and now let's talk about the shake-up at the atf after a controversial gun operation

known as "fast and furious" went horribly wrong, and people are losing their jobs as a result. and -- now, that is how you make an entrance. russian president vladimire putin hops on a harley for the latest political stunt shall we say, dare we say. ♪ life in the fast lane [ male announcer ] germs in your mouth build up and form a layer called biofilm so strong it survives brushing. thankfully, there's listerine® antiseptic. its triple-action formula penetrates biofilm, kills germs and protects your mouth for hours. fight biofilm with listerine®.

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parade? republicans? and now the mayor is threatening to forbid funding for the parade. and now federal officials are worried that the storm may have contaminated the waters with sewer water. six rivers are being tested for pesticides and sewerage. one woman in pimlico beach says she lost everything. >> it is a beautiful place and i love it. there is no place like it on this earth, but when a hurricane comes, it is hurtful to see everything that you work for tear up. it is -- i'm getting older and it is harder for me to do the physical labor to put it back. >> and lilia lucciano is live there in north carolina and it is heartbreaking to hear that woman and the same story by many others and that woman and

thousands are still in a shelter today. >> that is right, tamron. right now as we speak the homeland security secretary janet napolitano is assessing damages to see what the counties and the towns need at this point. here in the outer banks private property and businesses are trying to do everything they can to clean as much as possible and welcome tourists who are actually driving in right now along this road right in front of us. the road opened up at 10:00 a.m. this morning when the authorities allowed the tourists after the residents came in yesterday, and it really is filling up. we have talked to several hotel owners, and they say that their rooms are filled. so people are coming back into this region, and into this area that relies mostly on tourism. however, folks, down this same road in hatteras and ocrecoke also rely on tourism, but they were caught off guard when the

storm breached four sections of the roads that leads into the regions. right now 2,500 people are stranded there without power. generators were being brought in and two emergency ferries were providing assistance to people in need, and also some supplies that the residents and the people who are stuck inside of those islands are needing at this point. now, there is some kind of controversy going on as people are wondering, because this is the second is time in the past three years that access to the city island has been breached. last time was 2003 when hurricane isabelle broke that road, but only in one particular area so that the damages now are much more grave. back then it cost $5 million, and it took two months to repair the road. now, of course, the cost might go over that, and the people are wondering, how many times are the taxpayers going to have to cover the cost of the hurricanes before the governor bev perdue has said as many times as

necessary as the residents of those islands require a highway into their homes. >> and lilia from duck, north carolina, thank you. and whether authorities can forcibly medicaid jared loughner tops the news. right now a court is weighing whether prison officials can give the man who carried out the tucson massacre medications against his will. he is held in a missouri prison after a judge was found that he is not mentally fit to stand trial. and mexican police have arrested five men who are believed to have torched a casino last month killing 52 people inside. the gang members confessed to their role, and one of the worst attacks in years, and police are looking for other suspects. and polygamist sect leader warren jeffs is in a medically

induced coma and critical condition after weeks of fasting. the 55-year-old is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting young girls and he has a history of refusing food, and officials say it is not clear how long he will remain hospitaliz hospitalized. and finally a pool party in colorado turns into a chaos party. the host advertised the party on facebook and up to 4,000 people showed up. by the time police got there, ten people were hospitalized, including a woman who was hit in the face with a bottle. four other people arrested, according to facebook, and another party is scheduleded down the street from this first one this friday. well, former vice president dick cheney's new memoir has been on the shelves for 24 hours and critics are calling it a rewrite of history that conflicts with public record. the former vice president appeared for an exclusive interview on "today" where he defended the controversial legacy the war in iraq and the reasons for supporting

waterboarding. >> we had good reason to believe they had information that we could only get from them, and that they knew more than anybody else. >> but if the government of iran were to capture someone and say, we have reason to believe that you are a spy or carrying out an operation that could be damaging to the country, would you object or say, they did what they had to do to get the information they needed at the time? >> well, i think that we would object because we would not expect an american citizen to be operating that way. when you are dealing with khalid sheikh mohammed for example, a man who was the self-admitted mastermind of 9/11 and killed 3,000 americans and at a time when we had very little knowledge and understanding about al qaeda and what they were doing, and after we had gone through a lot of of other procedures and interrogation efforts, then this the end of that process, he was subjected to the program. it is very carefully supervised and none of the techniques used were things that we hadn't already used on our own people.

>> and you know though that if you were to conduct a poll in the country to ask if waterboarding is torture the vast majority of people would say it is. >> and i would argue, matt, it is important for us not to get caught up in the notion that you can only have popular methods of interrogation if you run an effective counterterrorism program. the fact is that it worked and we learned valuable, valuable information from that process and kept the public safe for years. >> and you have heard the differences of opinion between cheney and former secretary of state powell. in the book, cheney criticizes john mccain for suspending the presidential campaign to go to washington to absolve the financial crisis, and said he added nothing to the conversation which made him worried about the republican ticket. and we have a new shake-up with the alcohol, tobacco and firearms after a gun trafficking

program known as "fast and furious" and we are joined by pete williams. before we talk about the shake-up, most people don't know what this program was about. >> right. it was an attempt to find out how guns were getting from the united states into the hands of mexican drug cartels and the atf knew that the mexican cartels were using buyers to illegally buy large numbers of guns and then smuggle them into mexico. this was an attempt to follow the chain of transactions, but what happened was that the atf agents were advised to watch the sales, but not stop them, not do anything to stop them, and it quickly got out of control, and many of the guns wound up in the hands of mexican drug cartels and what is most controversial is that two of the weapons wound up at the scene where a american border patrol officer was killed. and so the atf claims that the

program was out of control, and the acting director has been reassigned to a policy position in the justice department, and in arizona where this operation was based the attorney general dennis burke has stepped down after approving the program, and testifying to congress about it. some members of congress say they don't believe that anybody involved in the "fast and furious" operation should get a pass, and they want to continue their investigation to see who else was involved an approved the operation. it was shutdown by attorney general eric holder when he heard about it, but i'm sure we have not heard the end of it. it is a problem for atf which has not had a full-blown director since atf became a part of the justice department, because the decision was made to make the head of the atf, an administrator a senate confirmed presidentially appointed position, and politics have intervened and they have not been able to get anybody confirmed to be the full

director, so they have always had a sequence of acting directors. one point, tamron, the new director of atf will be the man who is the u.s. attorney in minnesota, todd jones who will do both. he will be the u.s. attorney and also running atf. >> wow, all right. thank you, pete, with the breaking news, there and we will see what happened, but this is earn sli one of the to be continued stories. >> right. coming up, we have the scoop. kim kardashian is now a singer, and her video has been leaked online and we have details next coming for you in the scoop. first, a lot going on today and here are some things that we thought that you should know. a federal judge has halted enforcement of alabama's new immigration law days before it is to take effect. she halted enforcement before reviewing the case. she will make a ruling next month. and a black tie with a western twist is the theme of the wedding between former george w. bush's niece lauren

with ralph lauren's son. it will be held on the colorado ranch and the grandparents h.w. bush, george h.w. bush and barbara bush will not be in attendance and lauren is going to go by lauren lauren, and that is what she says. take a look at the latest video of russian president vladimire putin. he joined a group of bikers riding along on his three-wheeled harley dressed in black and he led the riders into city square dressed in black. he knows how to make an entrance. those are the things that we thought you should know. ♪ start it up ♪ wait a minute ♪ ninja kawasaki our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice.

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i'm martin bashir and coming up at the top of the hour, the storm brewing in congress over paying for the cleanup. are republicans planning to hold up funding for their own

political gain? plus, would america see new $100 million quarterback michael vick differently if he were white? a controversy brews over one writer's suggestion on one athlete's career. now, back to tamron. interesting comments from steve jobs' father. how the new dancing with the stars cast compares to previous seasons and kim kardashian, did you know she is now a singer? and her video has been leaked to the internet. courtney hazlett has the day off so we will get the scoop from lola okinaki. and now steve jobs' buy lodgele ka father is speaking out about the adoption of steve jobs. >> well, his biological father is an 80-year-old syrian owner of a casino, and he had a baby with joanne simpson, then

girlfriend, and her father did not approve of the wedding, because he was syrian, and unknown to steve jobs' biological father, she gave the baby up for adoption. >> and then they ended up together, because her father died shortly thereafter, and if they had held on for a few months steve jobs' last name would be jindali right now. >> and this is interesting, because steve jobs said he has never met his son and his pride would not call him, because he does not want steve jobs to think he wants his money. >> well, he wants to reach out to him especially hearing about the health problems, but he does not want him to feel like he is taking advantage of him with the syrian pride, so he is hoping that steve jobs reaches out to him, and he would like to have coffee with him and meet him. >> that is an incredible story. and now something far lighter. "dancing with the stars" have announced the cast and i think that ron artest is going to win.

you hear it here. >> really? i am going to bet on nancy grace. she said she cannot dance, but you know that one is tenacious, and i can see her doing a mean casa doble. >> well, the people of the staff are debating whether these people are a-list. a couple of people are saying, who are they? >> yeah, these are not a-listers in my book. they are probably about "d" and some of of them "e" listers. david arquette, and robber ka dashian, and george clooney's ex-girlfriend elisabetta canalis, and ricki lake, and hope solo, the goalie for the women's soccer team -- >> you think that the list of people that ta don't com they c previous lists? >> no, i don't think so. maybe there are more fireworks, because these people are characters, but "a" wattage, you cannot compare kim kardashian to

her younger brother. she was on an earlier show. >> and chaz bono. >> yes sh, many people are wait to see if cher will be in the audience supporting her new son. >> and what about kim kardashian and a music video. >> she has decided to be a singer. >> well, let's listen. >> oh, let's not. press mute and watch. >> well, she is showing the goods. i mean, that is -- >> well, she is showing the assets and like i said, let's just watch and press mute. >> i have to admit that i was probably one of the people who downloaded that paris hilton had a song and it was a workout song. >> that is sweet. >> and the vmas they set a record? >> yes, 12 million people tuned in and two words beyonce pregnancy. that it is. >> and every year somebody has to announce they were pregnant. >> and before it was rolling

around or making out and now it is pregnant. >> thank you, lola. great job today. latest in the entertainment news, and logon to the scoop.com or be a fan of the scoop on facebook. coming up, republicans are banned from a labor day parade in wisconsin. it is the "newsnation" gut check.

you can join the "newsnation" by e-mailing us at newsnation@msnbc.com. you can tweet me or go to the facebook page and reach us and say all kinds of things to us. we will read them all. time for today's "newsnation" gut check. a wisconsin mayor is telling some people that they are not welcome at the labor day parade. members of the gop are not allowed to the parade, because they supported changes to collective bargaining rights for employee unions and the president's group says that she does not want the lawmakers to use the event for political

gain. they say that the politicians in the area don't side for us, but now they want to make it look like they are on our side. well, the decision to block lawmakers could mean that organizers would lose support. the mayor says that the group must foot the bill for the parade unless that ban is lifted. what does your gut tell you should a labor group ban politicians from the labor day parade because they say they don't support union s s in the collective bargaining deal? go to "newsnation."com to cast your vote. i am curious what you are going to say. here is what the "newsnation" said about yesterday's gut check. should a father face charges for killing a grizzly bear while the kids were in the backyard. 92% of you said no, and 8% said yes. april e-mailed me and said, of course, he should be prosecuted, not only should he break the law, but teaching his children that the best way to deal with

fear is violence. he was facing a grizzly bear, april. and anthony said, no, should he have waited for the bear to maul one of the kids? i don't think so. that is going to do it for this tuesday edition of "newsnation." i'm tamron hall, you can catch us everyday at 2:00 p.m. on msnbc. martin bashir is up next. that hurts. it's not like i really had a choice. snack on this. progressive's "name your price" tool showed me a range of coverages and i picked the one that worked for me. i saved hundreds. wow, that's dinner and a movie. [ dramatic soundtrack plays ] this picture stars you and savings. but mostly savings. out there with a better way. now, that's progressive. it's high time to make our floor look better and feel softer. ♪ how 'bout we start with the guaranteed low price on the carpet... the pad, and installation. let's get peace of mind for a lifetime. it all adds up to the lowest total price

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membership rewards points from american express. use them to get the things you love from amazon.com, ticketmaster.com, and more unexpected places. they're a social currency with endless possibilities. good afternoon, it is tuesday august 30th, and here is what is happening. big muddy. raging waters isolate entire towns in irene's wake as the death toll rises and millions still struggle in the dark. where are the critics to this storm's coverage now? plus eric cantor vows congress will help irene's victims, but he just needs to gut other programs to pay for it. little room for compassion in this brand of conservativism. and what is wrong with this picture? is better yet, what if