close eye on those numbers throughout the hour. very good day to you. we're covering the big news from coast to coast. the big story today is stall. today's monthly job reports puts more pressure on the president to find a way to fix the economy and fast. >> just to repeat no jobs at all were created in august. screeching halt. unemployment stuck at 9.1% for the second month in a row. >> that is not nearly the type of job growth this president feel we need to economy back. >> no new jobs ded in august. >> the data feels as though job growth is stalled. >> president obama is under intense pressure as he puts the first naming touches on his jobs plan. >> it's our political system. >> and republican presidential candidates are stepping up the rhetoric. this morning in florida, mitt romney called the jobs report unacceptable. the white house agrees. a statement calling the unemployment level unacceptably

high. so what will the president do? >> does he go big or does he go small? >> i think the president needs to go there and figure out what he can get passed through congress. he needs to build the case for what he wants passed through congress. >> john harwood is cnbc's if chief correspondent. he's also a writer for "the new york times." john, the white house released a statement calling these numbers unacceptably high. >> reporter: this is not what they wanted to hear, of course. they did have a marginal gain in private sector jobs but that was offset by the loss of government jobs which we've seen month after month. i think that fact will encourage the president to do what the previous sound bite that you played just indicated. he is going to go big, challenge the congress, get right in their face on thursday. challenge them to pass this program without much expectation if they're going to go very far

in this direction. but trying to set out a case heading into the 2012 elections of what he wants to do and why if the republicans won't do it, it might have a negative impact on the economy. >> the white house not happy with the jobs report. it is worse than many people prediktd. isn't there a silver lining here? >>. >> reporter: i wouldn't see any silver lining for anyone. i do believe it will strengthen the president's inclination to be more aggressive. to underscore the fact that as his mid session review by his budget yesterday say we're looking at unemployment, veronica, that's going to be 9% all the way through a presidential election year. that is not something that we've seen in a very, very long time. it's hazardous territory for a president. he needs to get something done. if republicans won't do it for him, he needs somebody to blame and that is the republican caucus in the congress is going to face that on their doorstep just as the administration and democrats have been blaming them for the slowing economy because of budget cuts we've seen earlier this year and the debt

ceiling showdown which turned out to be a fiasco. >> john harwood, john, we appreciate it. let's bring in our guests now. thanks so much for your time. >> thanks. >> karen, let's start with you. we were talking to john harwood there. he is saying this really does force the president to go big with his jobs plan. >> yep. i sure hope so. i think that's what, you know, there's been so many -- politically speaking so much build up if he doesn't go big i think it's going to be a huge let down. a couple other things i think are important in the context of this conversation. this shouldn't just be about the president. i think there should be a broader accountability here it's not just about what will the president do, but also what will congress do in order to try to work with the president and get those ideas done. i think the expectation is congress isn't going to do

anything so the president can suggest whatever he wants. you know, that may be the political reality, but that is not what people outside the beltway want to hear. >> it's a really, really good question. republicans are saying the president's policies have failed. let's talk about this gop plan. we know that boehner's going to be making a speech later on this month. what is that plan going to roll out? does it get beyond tax cuts. what are we going to hear from the other side? >> i think the speaker's going to roll out some ideas that he has. i think you are going to see some tax reform in there. going to see more restraint in fiscal spending. but i think they're going to try to change the tone of direction here in this notion that the republican congress does -- has no plans and no plans for job creation. i think they do. i think their view is that, you know, they have actually -- this congress has actually worked with the president. if you look over the past three years and ask yourself what are

the economic plans to the president proposed that didn't get through either the democratic-controlled or republican-controlled congress, yank of a proposal. he got dodd-frank, and tax reform in the lame duck session. >> i think we all heard the speech where the president talks about right now the things that are sitting in front of congress that could be done. there's another piece to this though that goes to this accountability. personally while these numbers are incredibly disappointing it is not surprising in all of the indicators that we have seen for the last several weeks and month haves shown that this is probably where we were going to be. the default crisis that the gop created we already saw the markets didn't like it. businesses didn't like it. consumers didn't like it. voters didn't like it. everybody's been saying you're creating a level of instability and insecurity. that does not create the conditions for investment and

hiring. >> how do you get that back? 14 million people who looked for work in august couldn't find it. what does the president do to get back the confidence of the american people? >> a couple things. on confidence that's not just about the president. that is congress has a responsibility to show that hey, we can work together. part of what horrified people was again that we came so close down to the wire on this default issue. that's one thing. the second thing, i would like to see the president bring in business leaders and really hold their feet to the fire. we know that a number of companies are sitting on profits they have the ability to begin to hire. i think using the bully pulpit to try to force that would be a good thing. >> let's go ahead and take a look at what house majority leader has to say about this. the president says he wants to put job creation first and politics aside. it's a two way street. if the president is willing to roll up his sleeves and join us in helping americans get back to work then we are ready to work

together. so, karen, you know given the political dust up that happened this week with everything that happened with scheduling, the kind of back and forth that happened between the white house and boehner, i want to get your reaction to that statement and then tony, of course, get your reaction as well. >> what we heard from cantor is all along not particularly helpful statements. the path had a number of ideas on the table during the discussions for the default crisis that cantor walked out on by the way, where they haven't been willing to work with the president. i have to tell you that the scheduling sna foos aside which i think that whole thing was rather stupid on both sides. hearing cantor, his priority after an earthquake, the damage in his district and a hurricane that did significant damage was how we're going to offset the spending rather than making sure that the people in his district are okay and taken care of,

that's the wrong starting point. that is the starting point of figure out what we kbt do before we figure out what we can do. >> tony, let's bring you into the conversation. what is the starting point. >> in the starting point is to get away from the rhetoric on this and focus on results. that's what the american people want to see. karen talked about the president going out and calling on congress to do the things that they can do right now one of the things that he repeatedly cites are the trade deals, the free trade deals. the irony is the republican congress has been calling for the president to actually send him the trade deals to consider it and pass them. the problem is the president hasn't been sending the trade deals to the congress. we need to get past this rhetoric. i'm afraid a speech isn't going to do it. the american people are so distressed about the state of the economy right now and they have seen now three and four years of economic plans that haven't resulted in the progress

that they would like to see. until they actually see results they're going to maintain that position. >> if you look at the austerity measures in this conservative recover this idea that somehow laying off people in the public sector that those people should be absorbed in the public sector, that's not working. >> we haven't actually seen at the federal level austerity yet. the cuts that are proposed. the cuts that were talked about in the debt deal come 2013 and later. that's not the economy that we have right now. what we have is, you know, really highly elevated spending from 2008 that money's there. >> obviously this is a conversation that we're going to be -- this that is ongoing for days and days to come. of course, preernt both of your time today. it's always great to see you. thanks so much. moving on now. not even a week since irene made landfall many the united states

and already another storm system is bearing down this time on the gulf coast with the potential to dump nearly two feet of rain. they're raising red flags along alabama gulf shores keeping beach goers out of the water. shell and common mobile took their crews off production platforms just in case. louisiana governor bobby jindahl has declared a state of emergency. the weather channel's mike sidle is live for us in new orleans. we're talking about a really heavy rainmaker here, right? >> reporter: this here and we're watching katia. let's go to the satellite loop. this has both systems. the one in the left is the gulf the tropical depression that may become a storm. on the right katia. reupgraded to hurricane status. 75 miles per hour winds. it's well east of the islands. now it's looking more and more likely that we will have some kind of issue with it on parts of the east coast. we don't know if it's going to be a direct hit. it's going to be sometime in the

middle or latter part of next week. that bears watching after labor day weekend more closely. in the meantime, let's get to the gulf of mexico. a lot of rain. it's heavily loaded on the east side of the circulation, the center is exposed. we've had a couple squalls come through in the french quarter. they last about five minutes. that's not too bad. we're expecting rainfall totals through the weekend of ten or more inches. some spots could get 20 inches of rain by tuesday. this is moving so slow compared to irene which whipped through the northeast. the other difference we have mountains and hills, gravity that leads to water flowing down while sides. here the ground is flat, the soil is sandy. it makes it a little easier to handle a lot of rain. with that said it's going to rain through labor day and likely tuesday. the big issue in new orleans a city that basically is below sea level is can they pump the water out fast enough and let's hope they can. they can pump an inch an hour

and the succeeding hour is a half an inch. and then we reset everything if it stops raining. there may be some flooding across the southern parishes in addition to the city of new orleans. the wind and surge issues may pick up too. the rip current's a big issue for holiday swimmers. not that we're going to see a lot of sunshine. unfortunately little of any of this rain gets into texas where they would beg for a stinking drop at this point. we'll keep you update from the mighty mississippi. >> we appreciate that. 44,000 homes and businesses still do not have power in new jersey. it won't be much of a holiday weekend in patterson where they have yet to dry out from irene's floodwaters. president obama will be visiting on sunday to get a firsthand look at the damage. michelle franzen has the latest. >> reporter: the passaic river continues to remain above flood stage. it will for the next few days. when president obama visits here

on sunday he will still see plenty of damage even though people are working very hard to clean up a privately maintained bridge here leading to a commercial business area. people here have been cleaning up that debris that you've seen over the last few days. they've got their work cut out for them. that water still not receded well enough to go under the bridge. on the other side of the river still low lying areas where neighborhoods are inundated with water. more than 1,000 people still out of their homes. they're either in shelters or staying with family and friends. those who are able to go back home what they're finding are flooded basements, water up to the first floor, that's slowly receding. that i thinks that have been destroyed or ruined. many of them telling us yesterday that their home had never flooded in previous floods here along the passaic river. they now are hoping to seek federal assistance. the fema disaster center is set to open here in patterson in the next few days they'll be wading through that red tape next.

>> nbc's michelle franzen. thank you. in oklahoma city firefighters continue to battle flare ups from a wildfire that has burned dozens of homes and about 4,000 acres this week. extreme drought, sering heat and gusty winds are hampering the efforts. another wildfire is threatening homes in the central part of the state. three firefighters got hurt trying to put it out. officials in texas say cool weather and calmer winds could help efforts to calm a wildfire that has destroyed more than three dozen homes and burned more than 600 acres. a raffle in congressman gabby giffords' district is causing a huge controversy. wait until you hear what's being raffled off. 120 school districts are shortening their week. four days instead of five. it's not only a cost cutting measure. what do you think? is it a good idea? what if you're a parent who has to figure out what to do with your kids on day five? end us a tweet. you can reach me

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want to get you live to louisiana. we have some pictures coming out of northerly. that is where governor bobby jindahl is holding a press conference talking about a storm that is set to dump about two feet of rain there in new orleans. we don't have those pictures just yet. as soon as we get them, we'll bring those to you. it is supposed to be a fundraiser for get out the vote effort it's being called a stunning lack of judgment and sensitivity. less than nine months after the tucson shooting which left six dead and two wounded, pima county republicans are raffling off a handgun. the gun used in the shooting was a similar model by the same maker. investigators ruled that the

girlfriend of a millionaire ceo found dead at his california mansion killed herself. her family isn't having it. their lawyer called the finding ridiculous now calling for an outside review. san diego officials will hold a press conference today at 2:00 a.m. eastern. she was found naked and bound from a balcony after the accidental death of her boyfriend's 6-year-old son. casey anthony is set to be deposed in the upcoming defamation case. the judge ordered that the deposition be videotaped although the tape could be sealed. one of the lawyers said that the plans to plead the fifth in the suit brought by gonzalez by telling police a fiction yal nanny with her fame had kidnapped her 2-year-old daughter. a new plan is sweeping the country. is idea of a four-day school week has been around for decades. it was first implemented in the 1930s and became more common

during the energy crisis of the '70s. now it's becoming a reality. >> reporter: change isn't a very frequent visitor to the oregon coast. it's about to roll through some school districts here just as thick as the fog. >> are you all ready for school? >> reporter: for the first time students will attend school four days a week, not five. it joans more than 120 other school districts across the country that have gone to the shorter week. many of those did it to cut costs. the superintendent said economics is not the reason here. >> this had to be motivated by a deep concern by student learning. >> reporter: the number of hours won't change. it's four longer days. kids may have fridays off, teachers still have to come in to plan. >> is it more about student development or teeper development? >> you can't have one without the other. >> reporter: the promise of a better education still lies in the shadow of a dark economy. the unemployment rate is well above the national average. the fax base continues to shrink

and some parents fear that the four-day school week is the price their kids will pay. >> it seems to me like it was a budgetary decision. >> reporter: howard's teenage son worries the longer days will be too crammed with information. >> we'll probably get some extra learning done, but it's going to be so much at one time. >> reporter: the biggest worry here was financial. it could mean an extra day of day care. for some that wasn't enough. >> this is a glorified baby sitting service if you ask me. >> you got questions? >> reporter: those were the very same concerns another nearby school district had to battle. don went to the four-day school week two years ago. >> less isn't less. it's taking it goo four days. >> reporter: the result test scores went up and so did attendance and morale. even he was shocked at first. >> it's pa paradox. less is more.

>> reporter: experts are split on the issue. saying there's not enough evidence to see if it helps or harms. for the pirates the shortened school week is unchartered waters. a place used to finding their way in the fog it's a direction worth exploring. >> as lee mentioned more than 120 school districts host four-day school week programs. they are in 21 states from arizona to wyoming. so far it has been difficult trying to gauge tim pact on student learning. no one has done any broad analysis of test scores for students in these four day programs. let's bring in the former principal of the american indian model schools. ben, we've been asking about this all morning on twitter. i have to say pretty controversial. the reaction so far has been negative. people are saying this really isn't a good idea. especially if we want to compete in a global economy. you think that there are pros to this. >> no, i don't.

i think these people are stupid. i think these people are cheating the tax payers. he said less is better. let's cut his paycheck and see if that's better. in china they're going to school 230 days. when we go to four-day week those students only have 144 days. they're dropping from 180 to 144 days. there's no way we can compete with the chinese. this is nonsense. we're cheating families. fax payers. >> ben, we were just watching that report there from lee and there was a fellow who said, he loves it. and test scores are up, what do you have to say to those people? look, there are pros here besides increased attendance, it reduces transportation costs, staff costs so on and so forth. what do you have to say to all of that? >> why don't we cut welfare? why do they cut out fridays. why don't they cut it out on monday. monday there's a load of

holidays, martin luther king, veteran's day. this is not good for kids. this is terrible for kids and they're ripping off tax payers. they're only going to have four days. are they going to cut their tax budget by 20%. they're cutting the school year by 20%. let's cut their funding by 20%. this is nonsense. >> you are -- you're a former principal of the american indian public charter school. what has your experience been? >> we make our kids go to school on martin luther king day. we increased the school year. we have 210 to 2020 days. we have the number one both our schools are tied for number one in the state of california out of 10,000 schools. every kid in our school goes to college. every kid in our school got a scholarship to go to college. they didn't have to pay. isn't that great? we have 210 to 220 days. we send the kids to school on saturday. >> i can't imagine that is all based solely on attendance.

>> let me tell you what the results have been. you can compare any of these jokers and they are jokers only going to school 144 days. my kids will whip every one of these districts in the country. let's look at s.a.t. scores. let's look at the academics facts not research. research can be geared anyway you want it in education. we're going to provide training for teachers. teachers have been to college for four or five years. i thought we were supposed to be training kids. >> did you have the s.a.t. scores? >> you can go online our juniors average s.a.t. score including special ed every kid in our school takes the s.a.t. in the ninth grade, average for juniors 1826. what are their averages? >> thanks so much for your time. we obviously see which side of this controversial you stand on. and we appreciate you sharing your experiences with us. like you just heard the move

toward a four-day school week stirs lots of controversy across the country. but asking you all day to go ahead and tweet us. you can send me a tweet @ve rhondadlcruz. elliot says what about the fact that they need to be another day of child care? this could be taxing for homes in which both parents work. and then another tweet who sides with ben, we already have low in class time in the usa. now we are racing to the bottom. again you can go ahead and share your tweets with us. tweet me. you can also send a tweet to msnbctv. the suspect in the disappearance of natalie holloway has been charged with murder. we're going to get details in

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vander sloot is now officially charged with murdering a young woman in peru. the crime took place five years after natalee holloway mysteriously disappeared in aruba. parading him before the cameras like a prize, police in peru locked up van der sloot last may many the brutal killing of stephanie flores. but no charges until now. prosecutors have officially charged him with murder seeking 30 years in prison. flores was a beautiful 21-year-old business student, daughter of a prominent local businessman. prosecutors say he was after her cash and credit cards targeting her in a casino. the most powerful evidence police say is this surveillance

tape from his hotel. you see them walk in, he later leaves, police say with stephanie's body inside. >> peruvian police believe in hotel 0 v 309 he savrchly attacked stephanie, tortured her in order to obtain her pin numbers. >> this kid stands out like a sore thumb. >> this man represented joran during the holloway case. >> the evidence in this case is strong. >> the kind of evidence police did not have in aruba when natalee disappeared in 2005. vand der sloot was arrested twice in that case, but never charged. ultimately set free. word of the new murder charge in peru spread fast here. >> we're all relieved. this has been very difficult for the island of aruba especially since he was released and never charged. >> late thursday natalee holloway's mother beth twitty

told nbc news, god bless the peru authorities. perhaps now justice will be served. >> that was jeff rosen reports. police and prosecutors aren't just asking for 30 years prison. they want him to pay $70,000 to flores' family in peru. the next hearing scheduled in two weeks. gas prices kwushlly drop around labor day, but not this year. the average for a gallon is $3.62. the highest ever, second highest ever. government is reporting to sue more than a dozen banks over bad mortgages. the suits are expected to be filed in the next few days. a junge could decide as early as today if roger clemmons will face another perjury trial. sales of lottery tickets are up in 28 states. 17 have set all time sales records. the likely reason the bad economy. at about 8,000 items belonging to rosea parks are going up for auction in new york.

they could be worth up to $10 million. sarah palin is still not a candidate, but she is reportedly planning to take on front runner rick perry and the so-called powers that be in washington at an iowa tea party rally. her speech includes phrases like-on-kri capitalism. it doesn't mention perry by name. a source tells the website the rhetoric is meant to draw attention as perry's long tenure as texas governor. the 30-minute speech is expected to mention an intractable political mentality in d.c. that is impervious to real reform. kelly o'donnell is more on capitol hill. it is a big weekend for the republican presidential field. it's the time of year when a lot of people will be taking a close look at this race essential spi in those early states, iowa, new hampshire, south carolina and they'll have plenty of chances to see a number of candidates.

this weekend mitt romney will make one of his first real attempts to the tea party groups. as you mentioned sarah palin will be getting a lot of attention for her planned remarks this weekend and all of the question markets about her future. if you heard about jon huntsman and his efforts to try to restart thins, he's been working hard in new hampshire troying to win over support there. stopping at a hair salon in concord. and restyling part of his campaign team, jon huntsman's top new hampshire aide is out. while he struggles to climb from the bottom of polls. >> i love this state. we're going to win this state. every time i come into this state i feel a connection with the people. >> reporter: in leisure holiday, labor day weekend is a political marathon. >> erg has the feel of a new chapter in the republican presidential race. i think the candidates feel that way. their campaigns feel that way. >> reporter: will that new chapter include sarah palin? not in the race, but headed back to iowa and new hampshire for

tea party events. palin's star power pushed out former candidate now author christine o'donnell who was invited to speak this weekend then disinvited, invited again and ultimately off the list to address an iowa tea party crowd giving palin the stage alone. >> i think we all know that sarah palin knows how to manipulate the media. >> reporter: tea party conservative michele bachmann spoke to the american legion convention and appeared to offer herself as a modern day margaret thatcher. >> both ronald reagan and margaret thatcher contributed greatly. we're in a similar time period and we need to have strong viable leadership to see that return again today. >> reporter: doing battle with poll topping rick perry. >> he's supposed to be the tea party guy? >> reporter: the campaign hit back hard through thursday. over a group's pro bachmann ad.

and establishment republican mitt romney makes his first direct pitch to the influential tea party express. at their new hampshire event weekend. one of the big highlights monday will be in south carolina. it will be the first time we'll see rick perry and mitt romney in the same venue. a number of candidates including those two but also bachmann and newt gingrich and cain and others will be at a forum in south carolina. it's hosted by jim demint, the tea party senator. it will be a key opportunity to see how these candidates look side by side. they won't be on stage together. they'll be answering a series of questions one at a time. >> definitely interesting to see how romney will be received there. kelly o'donnell in washington. thank you. a man sends his family emails about his worldwide travels. but it turns out he wasn't traveling, he was dead. the twisted email murder case that's ahead.

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the largest electric ewe till in vermont said it's restored to power to almost all of its customers. about 1200 homes and businesses are in the dark. crews have been working around the clock to get electricity back on. some areas in the state are unacceptable. in woodstock, people are trying to make the best of a bad situation gathering for a cookout. ron mot strks there. >> reporter: they had a little community dinner last night. they're going to have another one tonight. some people are getting a massage. they're trying to get back to normal as quickly as possible. the big issue there's no drinking water here. they're trying to get that repaired as quickly as possible because of the floodwaters and the damage it did to the aquestion ducts. we have sporadic power outages. most to have crews are getting power lines restored and power back to the people. but here in woodstock food and

water, clothes. it's going to be a tough go getting around this part of vermont so many roads were washed out sunday. repair crews are out there putting pavements back together and getting bridges back online as well. it's a long recovery ahead here in vermont. they're trying to get back to normal starting today. back up to you. >> ron, we have hot dogs, hamburgers. i see a chair massage in the background. did you get in line for that? >> reporter: not yet, but i am a little hungry. we're headed that way. >> all right, ron mott, thank you. moving on now, homicide investigators in southern california say they have never seen a case like it. a man confesses to murdering his business partner, but then hijacking his email account to send messages to the dead man's family. . >> reporter: chris smith loved the outdoors. the more high octane the experience the better. when they got an email about a

thrill seeking trip chris was about to take to africa, they didn't think anything about it. a few days later, i went sand boarding. it was epic. headed to cape town. then came this email the day after christmas. i'm headed back up to the congo, it read. i'll be offline for a couple of weeks. but a couple of weeks turned into a couple of months. his family never got another message and eventually filed a missing persons report. >> the missing persons investigation revealed some inconsistencies and the possible crime scene was found. >> reporter: inside the office of chris smith's advertising and marketing firm, investigators say they found blood. dna confirmed it was his. he didn't die in the congo. smith likely died right here and the last person to see him was his business partner. >> he was just a person of interest at the beginning. >> reporter: investigators soon learned shin was having financial trouble. they say he was convicted of embezzlement and ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of

restitution. he agreed to buy smith's half of the company for $1 million. it didn't happen. >> rather than pay the agreement it is believed that shin murdered smith in their office. >> reporter: after a six-hour interrogation police say shin confessed. although his attorney says he still plans to plead not guilty to murder. but what about all those emails? the one smith's family had been getting for months some of them personal in nature? police say shin confessed to writing those, too. >> he just went to extremely great lengths to cover up the crime scene and keep the family and friends believing that chris was alive. rochl p. >> reporter: police say he even masqueraded as smith to a reporter whom he emailed repeatedly. >> he felt his plan was working and he was just going by the seat of his pants and sending emails out. >> reporter: police still don't have a body. all they have is chris smith's range rover and some clothes found hundreds of miles away in

san jose. after posing as their son for so long, smith's parents now want shin to answer the one question he hasn't so they can bring their son home for good. shin isn't the only suspect. police also arrested shin's driver and personal assistant. his name's kenny craft. police are charging him with an accessory murder. they believe he helped hide shin's car and clothes. however, he has pled not guilty. >> lee cowan there, we appreciate that report. want to get you now to louisiana where govern bobby jindahl is holding a press conference. he's talking about the storm that's up ahead. let's listen. >> is the saturation of a slow moving storm bringing as much as 10 to 15 ichlgs of rain in some areas. maybe as much as 20 inches in some areas will lead and can lead to flash flooding. in addition to the rain, in addition to our primary concern with the wart event there is also going to be sustained

periods of strong winds. expect winds on land once they get on land to be 25 to 35 miles per hour. by tomorrow, saturday, as strong as 40 to 50 miles per hour winds. when you have that kind of sustained exposure to wind that can lead to power outannals in isolated areas suicide that impacts our infrastructure. our yulitity companies infrastructure. we do expect, we wouldn't be surprised for this tropical depression to become a tropical storm. we wouldn't be surprised for hurricane watches throughout the weekend. indeed there's one model they're not expecting this to become a hurricane, there is one model that shows it becoming a category one hurricane. they're not expecting that at this point. they wouldn't be surprised if it does develop into a tropical storm. they do see more lightning in this storm as it continues to develop. the system as you may know is parked right over the gulf with other elements spinning around it. is center is verier have broad. unlike gustaf in you remember in

2008 unlike previous hurricanes we have a narrow center, this is a very, very broad center. this is a hybrid system. you've got rain with bands of tropical storm force winds with squalls spinning out of the center. that means we could see tornados and other squalls in louisiana as well. this is going to be different from some of the hurricanes we've experienced in recent years and that it's going to be very, very slow moving. you're going to see extended periods of time with a lot of rain. that is why there is a flash flood watch in effect. the biggest element the weather center is watching this system is the rainfall and again 20 inches in certain areas. ten to 15 inches -- 20 inches would be very isolated. they are expecting ten to 15 inches in many areas with some tropical storm force winds and the potential for tornados. tides could be two to five feet higher than normal. obviously they're expecting flooding. the biggest danger of flooding is along the coastal areas especially outside of floodwalls

and levies and flood control structures. i want to remind folks as you get that much rain and tidal surges you have other water ways that empty out in the lake pontchartrain area because of the backlog and saturation you could see some spot flooding in areas in the florida parishes as well. there may be tributaries and other areas with backlogs you could have some issues on the north shores as well. we're expected to see rainfall tuesday maybe even through tuesday night. south and southeast louisiana are expected to get the most rainfall. we're also the weather center is expecting low lying areas that can experience back water flooding to also see rising water levels. it is very important. i know they've done a trajectory that shows the storm in making a right ward turn. a lot of that information is very, very preliminary. there's not a lot of certainty because it does not have a well defined center.

i can't emphasize enough how important it is for our people to stay updated this is a holiday weekend. i know there are football games. people will be paying attention to a lot of different things over this weekend. it's very important for folks to pay attention to their weather in the area. to pay attention to flash flood warnings from local officials. this is a great opportunity for everybody in south louisiana to prepare now. make sure you get an evacuation plan in place. make sure you have drinkable water, nonperishable food items, prescription medications you and your family may need. even if you don't need to use the supplies for this tropical depression or storm, i want to remind folks, it's been a quiet storm season to date for louisiana. one of the statistics that we were reminded again yesterday was that in recent history 47% of the tropical events that have occurred in louisiana have come during the month of september. this is still a very, very busy time for hurricanes, for tropical storms. now's the time to get a game

plan. some specific warnings and some specific updates. >> you're listening to louisiana governor bob ji jindahl with the latest on a storm that could become drop skal storm lee. it is expected to bring lots of rain to the region. we're going to monitor this all throughout the weekend. we're going to take a break break right here. [ grandma ] relationships are life... if you don't have that thing that fills your heart and your soul, you're missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. ♪ [ male announcer ] for us at humana, relationships matter too. the better we know you, the better we can help you choose the right medicare plan. that's why humana agents sit down with you to figure out your medicare options. and we have nurses you can call anytime, even at 3 a.m. because when you're on the right humana medicare plan and taking good care of yourself,

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mpl dick durbin said he will hold a hearing on the rash of new voting requirements. the law requires all voters to show a government issued photo i.d. before voting. groups like the naacp objected to the law says it would disinfranchise minority and elderly citizens. according to a report in the recent issue of "rolling stone" magazine at least a dozen states have approved laws that the

magazine is calling quote, obstacles to voting. canstand alabama now require proof of citizenships. florida and texas added strict requirements for groups that organize voter rj strags drives. and five states shortened early voting periods. we have a contributing writer to "rolling stone." his article "the gop war on voting" is many the latest issue. he's also the author of "herding donkeys." thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me. greetings from iowa. >> nice to see you. explain to us what you unearthed in your findings. you're talking about voting obstacles here. what were some of the worst ones? >> since the 2010 election 38 states mostly controlled by republicans have introduced legislation to make it more difficult for people to vote. a dozen states passed these laws. this includes make it more difficult to register to vote, cutting down, cutting back on early voting, requiring photo i.d., state issue photo i.d.s

that a large percentage of u.s. citizens don't have and preventing exfelons who is everybodied is their time from voting. those are the four main ways since the 2010 election that republican officials have made id more difficult to vote. >> many people say they're fighting widespread voter fraud. >> in person voter impersonator which is what these laws are designed to stop, doesn't really exist. that's the ridiculous thing. the brennan center for justice found a voter is more likely to be hit by lightning than they are to impersonate another voter at the poll. it's a fan menace. it's a draconian solution. namely the amount of people don't vote and these laws are

going to make that problem worse. >> they're more likely to be hit by lightning. the justice department is investigating south carolina's law. have there been other legal challenges? >> the justice department has to look at all the different states that are subject to is volting rights act which are most of the states down south and counties down south. a number of groups are filing lawsuits. there's lawsuits in florida, there's lawsuits in missouri, in wisconsin. there will be more lawsuits most lick lycoming down the pipe. this is a hot issue that is only going to get bigger as we get close to 2012 election. >> hot issue. big problem through the primaries leading up to the election. nice to see you. looking pretty good on skype. >> thank you. glad it worked out. that's going to do it for us. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you for watching. have a terrific holiday weekend. up next "andrea mitchell reports." that is where chris is sitting in the anchor chair. thanks. up next on "andrea mitchell

reports," the bleak jobs report. wiping out this week's gains on wall street with the president set to reveal his jobs plan next week, we'll talk with an economist about what more can be done. plus, "time" magazine's on what mystery tells us about bad economies and re-election campaigns. and we're live on the 2012 campaign trail in florida as mitt romney opens operations. "andrea mitchell reports" is one of jack's cereals. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities,

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