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formy weekend. a lightning strike forces the evacuation of a football stadium, while residents of new orleans are forced to evacuate after tropical storm lee hits the louisiana coast. economic storm clouds. president obama looking to answer the jobs puzzle and jump start the u.s. economy. what can we expect from this big speech this week? she's been missing three months. this morning, an open letter

from the mother of lauren spierer, to the person who knows what happened to her daughter. heart-breaking excerpts ahead. and back at home, the former head of the imf gets on a plane and returns home to paris, his legal problems may be far from over. good morning, everyone. alex witt, welcome to msnbc sunday. a weekend of wild weather. incredible pictures to show you. indiana, a massive bolt of lightning appeared to hit notre dame stadium. that storm unleashed brutal rains during the home opener. the stadium was evacuated twice, once during halftime and once during the fourth quarter. no one was hurt. tropical storm lee has come ashore. rain has triggered flooding in low-lying areas in new orleans and prompted evacuations in jefferson parrish. thousands have also lost power. more from the weather channel's alex wallace, alex, just gotten word of an apparent tornado touchdown in florida this morning?

what's going on? >> that's right. you know what, alex. it has to do with lee. when you get tropical cyclones, you can get in closer to the coast, you can get brief tornadoes storming up. lee pushes closer to the coast. we'll be waiting for confirmation on that. latest on lee right now. 50 miles west of morgan city, louisiana. sustained winds at 40 miles per hour, moving at a snail's pace at 3 miles per hour. the view on the radar showing you where we have all of the rain. the bands still coming on in here, right along the gulf coast, the panhandle of florida, again, these bands, they tend to rotate at times and you get brief tornadoes spinning up. a large area where we have tornado watch in place, all the way through 4:00 this afternoon. including the panhandle of florida and into southeastern louisiana, this is something that is typically what we find when we have a landfalling tropical cyclone. heads up for brief tornadoes

spinning up. tend to be on the weaker side of things, but still can be quite damaging. heed the warnings. where is lee heading? working its way on off toward the north and east. very slowly and picking up speed as we get to the middle portions of the week, end of the week as well. winds start to subside a bit. it will bring in rain. you can see the areas shaded in yellow. this goes all the way through the middle part of the week. yellow areas, 6 to 10 inches of rain possible out there. could be beneficial rains departing to the south if it comes too quickly that could lead to flooding. lastly, checking in on hurricane katia, it is north of leeward islands moving north 12 miles per hour. computer models are say being with katia. moving to the northwest and notice what they do? curve on off to the north and east, away from the east coast of the u.s. that's what they are saying now. still, a little too close for comfort at this point. we'll watch it very, very

closely toward the end of the week to see if it does re-curve out and miss the u.s. totally. alex. >> thank you so much, alex wallace. head to new orleans for a check of the situation unfolding there. winds picking up for our friend, charles hadlock, standing by. what's the latest? good morning? >> reporter: good morning, alex. as alex mentioned, tropical storm lee has crawl ahead shore on the louisiana coast, somewhere between morgan city and new iberia. that's about 100 miles or so west of new orleans. we're feeling the effects of the bands of rain that continue to wind out into the gulf of mexico and back up over the coast of louisiana. here in new orleans, we've gotten about 6 to 10 inches of rain so far. expecting another 2 to 6 inches of rain by the time this storm becomes a depression and moves off to the northeast. that may happen late tonight, possibly tomorrow. it's going to be a wet weekend ahead here.

people are hunkered down, taking it in stride, but taking it very seriously too. everyone remembers what happened six years ago with katrina canals and pumps that have been released since katrina are up and working and the mayor reports that everything is working fine. they should be able to sustain the systems through this storm. alex. >> okay. let's hope they can. we know people have not long forgotten katrina. thank you so much. >> reporter: no, they haven't. dominique strauss-khan is back -- well, are we going to go there or not? we'll go here. an alert this morning. fbi's warning about possible attacks by small airplanes. a week before the tenth anniversary of 9/11. a bulletin sent to law enforcement around the country. no credible or specific information about a plot. precautions have been increased before the anniversary. let's go to that dominique strauss-khan, back in native france this morning.

he arrived in paris. it's the first time he's been back to france since the new york hotel maid accused him of attempted rape. nbc's annabelle roberts live in london. what is the latest on dsk's return to france? from the pictures you have shown us thus far, he was mobbed by the press. >> yeah, as you say, alex, when he arrived back on french soil, he was besieged by journalists as he tried to reach his flat. his wife, anne sinclair, was at his side. both looking a bit more relaxed and cheerful. what the journalists waiting for him will know is if he will attempt to return to front-line politics. when he was arrested back in may, he was the favorite to be selected to represent the socialist party in next year's presidential elections and was believed to have a real chance of defeating the current president, nicolas sarkozy. he's ruined politically and has no future. and even he were to endorse one

of the socialist candidates, it would be an embarrassment for them and could backfire. in the past few weeks, france has learned a lot about his character and sexual behavior and many, frankly, have been shocked. but there are other voices that say this will blow over and he's too valuable and too experienced an individual to be left out. don't forget, france like the rest of you, ais facing big economic problems and dsk has a wealth of experience, contacts from his time at the imf and is a highly regarded economist. >> with regard to what's happening over there and you talk about a possible return to politics, isn't there a deadline that he would have to make if that has not already passed, where he decides to run for the president in france? >> that deadline is up really soon. in two weeks, the socialist party holds a preliminary round of elections to select their next candidate. it's really, really tight. the sum, very few people expect

that he will turn himself around and present himself as a candidate in that tight time frame. don't forget, he's facing charges in france in a different sex case. a young writer called christiane banault accused him of rape in 2004 she didn't bring charges, she thought would one would believe her. that will have a great impact on ambitions for mr. strauss-khan to stand as a candidate. he has threatened to sue this lady for defamation and he also faces the civil suit in the u.s. being brought by the chamber maid, nafti diallo, who made the rape allegations in the first case. one thing i am expecting, he will be key to explain as much as he can about what happened and this needs to happen so the

french people can make a judgment on him. amex. >> he will have more time with the media and more time in the courtroom. annabelle roberts, thank you so much. the mother of a missing college student sends a letter to the person who knows what happened to her daughter, we'll show you what she wrote. sarah palin launches new attacks aimed at the republican presidential field. how long can she sit on the sidelines without alienating supporters? and a little survivor born in the storm. here on "msnbc sunday." ♪ ♪ free access to chase atm's wherever you are. that's a step forward. chase customers can avoid atm fees with over 16,000 nationwide.

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a leading voice from the

congressional black caucus has a request for the president. maxine waters with more. >> the president must be bold. he must have a jobs program, create jobs. i'm talking about a program of $1 trillion or more. we have to put americans to work. that's the only way to revitalize the economy. when people work and make money, they spend money and that gets the economy up and going. i don't think you can shrink from the threats of the right. i don't think he can have a program that simple gives more tax breaks to the very people that got us into this trouble in the first place, so i'm hopeful. i'm very hopeful, that the president is going to put a big program out there, and that he's going to fight very hard for it. >> you can catch david greegy's full interview with maxine waters when "meet the press"

airs at 2:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. sarah palin launched attacks during a speech in iowa. she spoke in front of several thousand tea party members in i understand indianola. >> to be fair, some gop candidates raise mammoth amount of cash. what, if anything, do their donors expect in return for their investments. we need to know this, because our country can't afford more trillion-dollar thank you notes to campaign backers. >> jill wa . >> joe cwatkins and carolyn finney join us now. >> karen, whatever said about her, sarah palin is a force and doesn't look to be going away. >> that's for sure. >> what do you make of her

status. >> not going anywhere. every time you think maybe she's going away, she comes right back onto the screen and has something to say that we ends up talking about. and i think that's frankly part of her strategy. i don't think she knows what she wants to do. and interesting that yesterday, when she was talking, almost like she was introducing a new theme, going after people in her own party for their own ties, she called it cronyism and all of that, and this is kind of a new populous theme coming from sarah palin. who knows what to make of that? >> what do you make of the, joe? what do you think she wants to do? seriously. >> i think she's very, very smart. very thoughtful. she has made a lot of money. certainly as somebody who is not just a pundit, but a writer of books, a reality show. and is highly sought after around the country by different groups, not just by tea parties, but different groups, she will

continue to grow as a speaker, write more books. >> is that what she's doing? is she perpetuating sarah palin, the brand? sarah palin, the author, sarah palin the speaker? or trying to get out there because she's considering herself as a candidate and running for the presidency of the united states? >> i worked full time in a presidential campaign and i've been following this for a long, long time. she ought to be out there by now. it's almost too late at this point. if you want to be a candidate for the presidency, in a race with other candidates for delegates. primaries coming up in iowa and new hampshire, that's serious business. you have to have a full-time staff out. be on the campaign trail every single day and you have to do more than make speeches. >> karen, he makes that point. does that mean that sarah palin, unless she has this in place, she can't be running with the presidency? >> well, part it you have to have the infrastructure in

place, it's about physically an work, campaigning, phone banking. there is no evidence to suggest that's what she's doing. the more i think about it, in all seriousness. >> we're on the same page, isn't that great, karen? >> how about that? she is trying to keep her viability and her options open. part of this is about keeping her profile high enough whether it's books or television contracts or speaking fees, she still demands a large amount. in the republican party, she wants to not necessarily be a campaigner, but as a factor, someone to be dealt, with be relevant. >> to do that, she has to remain popular among constituents,

republicans in general? what if she keeps stringing herself a a long? a supporter says i know she's going to run, sarah would not string all these supporters this far along. if she does not get into the race, joe, does she risk alienating people saying, hey, what were you doing stringing us along the whole time? >> not at all. if you're doing your job and you're popular and you have constituencies that want you to run for the presidency, you are right where you want to be if you're sarah palin. people are so excited about her she want her to run for president. if she doesn't run, they will be disappointed, but won't stop following her or listening to her. they will say what do you think about this, sarah palin? why don't you run, sarah pal inch? she is smart about this. she is certainly a tea party favorite. others want her to run as well. >> just in the same way there is the tactic that people say, oh, i've been drafted to run, there

is also the tactic, she's the outsider, she can say the establishment stepped in and wouldn't let me. you never know what sarah palin has up her sleeve. i wouldn't put that past her. >> can i have a quick look at romney and perry, they will be on stage first time at the msnbc gop debate. romney has shied away from direct attacks. does he need to attack rick pier, newt front-runner? karen or joe? >> absolutely he does. i think there will be so much interest in what those dynamics are on the stage. huntsman, people are looking to see what he's going to do. this is his make or break moment. and specifically the dynamic between perry and romney. romney so far has tried to run in a sort of front-runner status, not having to engage the others. i don't think he can get away from it this time. perry will go after him. >> what you have to do is you have to show why you're better than the other candidate right

now. with rick perry coming on so strong in polling data, he has to show the difference and why he's the better person. >> who do you think is the better of the two candidates, joe? >> they are very different candidates. romney clearly has a financial background at a time when america is facing an economic crisis that makes him very attractive to a wide range of people. he is somebody who has fixed companies before. the governor of the state. he has a lot to say to americans about how he puts people back to work. rick perry will say i put people back to work. he doesn't have the hard core base that mitt romney has. >> who would be the better candidate to be president, joe? >> what rick perry has, he's an original. he says what he thinks and thinks what he says, and has been a very, very popular and powerful president of one of the largest states in the country. and as you can see by how quickly he's risen in the polls,

he is a -- a very, very strong contender already he rivals president obama in the polls. coming out of nowhere, just a few months ago. rick perry could be a -- a very powerful contender for president obama if he ends up being the republican nominee. >> karen is going to say that's who she would prefer to run against. >> i think rick perry is more of a threat than initially people realized this is a very savvy politician. a very good campaigner. i disagree with joe, though, in that if you look at his record, he actually in many ways goes with the political winds and says what he thinks people want him to hear. he's better at covering it up with some shine, polish and a little bit of smile. plenty of places where he talked about one thing, like job creation, but not talking about the fact that he took federal

stimulus dollars to achieve that. >> but he's not afraid to talk about his faith. this guy had a prayer rally. not popular at all among americans. it's not about popularity. i think it's the right thing to do a lot of candidates say let me see what the polling data is. >> you have to be able to do that in a way that says i can still be the president of all of the people in this country. >> i think he can. >> and when you're a guy that says i want to succeed from the union, i'm not sure you're the best guy to do this. >> i got to go. good to see you. thank you very much. pivotal hearing as an american appeals her murder conviction italy. right back on "msnbc sunday."

in libya this morning, people are ready to take another one of moammar gadhafi's strong

holds. talks have broken down and troops have surrounded bani walid, and they are ready to attack. in japan, heavy rains and mudslides from a powerful typhoon killed at least 15 people, 43 others are missing. the storm is moving slowly and officials are warning that heavy rains and more flooding are likely to continue. and into amsterdam, a man jumps on stage at a concert and grabbed the microphone to address queen beatrix. she was attending the concert and he said he was a servant of allah and invited her to believe. officials took him into custody. great deals to be had if you're ready for a vacation. we'll show you on msnbc sunday. [ female announcer ] think all bodywashes moisturize the same?

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new trouble for vermont this morning. heavy rains in the forecast. and they could cause new flooding, because it is ground is still saturated from hurricane irene. a new flash-flood watch in effect. it will be in effect for most of the state tonight. and craig is live in brattleboro. more floods is not what vermont needs right now. >> reporter: absolutely not, alex. that watch you just mentioned, in effect for brattleboro and points north as well. cloudy and gray all morning. a drizzle a short time ago, if it does rain, the question is, how much and how fast, because it is connecticut river, already swollen, people here in brattleboro and vermont have spent the past six days rebuilding. they have been blessed for the most part, with the exception of thursday, with pretty good weather.

two major concerns for vermont. in the short term, the rain. and fall foliage season begins in two weeks and tens of thousands descend on vermont to see leaves change color. there is concern right now about whether tourists will be able to get here and get through all of the roads. some of which are blocked, and whether hotels and restaurants that have been flooded, many of them, whether they are going to be able to open on time. the primary concern right now, bridges. >> the tourists, we can't even get in. we can't get out, they can't get in. it's horrible. we've got businesses that have made us sit in three or four days. this whole region, the way it's broken up, is tremendously impacted. >> reporter: dozens of bridges around vermont have been washed away. this bridge right now, this is the one you're looking at. this bridge built in 1920, it

has managed to with strand all of that flooding. you know, in vermont, they love their maple syrup, their ben & jerry's ice cream and their covered bridges. a number of covered bridges have been washed away some -- one 200 years old. >> that's part of history, let alone the infrastructure of the state. thank you for the heads up from brattleboro. rick santorum opened up a hash line of attack. speaking in bluffton, south carolina, santorum compared the president to a dictator. take a listen. >> this is the problem with the president who sees america as a country that needs to be ruled. under his campaign, almost a little erie, like he was this demi god or thesiomic figure

that would rule america. >> and governor rick perry took aim at some of his fellow contenders and tried to draw a distinctions between himself and the more moderate conservative candidates. >> in the coming months, you're going to hear a lot of appeals from my republican friends. we don't need a nominee that blurs the line between president obama. we need someone who will draw a distinct difference and a distinct line and i am that candidate. >> well, perry's launching attacks at fellow contenders there, is plenty of ammunition to fire back. the texas governor spelled out a litany of accusations in a book called "fed up." he calls social security a ponzi scheme and federal income taxes a grate milestone on the road to serfdom. jason, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> so what sections of this book do you think perry's rivals are

going to focus on first? >> i think the stuff about entitlement programs, he is particularly critical of entitlement programs, especially sort security, which he calls a failure. he writes at length about these programs and their creation and questions them, and he gives his opponents a lot of material there. but there is other stuff in there also. he talks about climate change. maybe that won't come into play until the general election, if he gets that far. critical in certain parts of the supreme court it may raise questions about whether he believes in the independent judiciary and he questions the direct election of the united states senators. instead of having them elected by state legislators. there is a lot to work with. >> social security is one that people will first sit up and take notice. specifically, here is what he says about that. this unsustainable fiscal insanity is the true leggy of social security and the new deal. deceptive accounting has hoodwinked the meamerican peopl

into believing that social security is a retirement system and financially sound, when clearly it is not. are these comments lethal to candidates? >> it's very important. we saw in a race earlier this year up in new york, when you start talking about changes to social security and medicare, that can have a big effect on voters, perry's language is particularly strident. what it will do that could hurt him and may come in the primary, may not come until the general election is that it helps fit into this narrative that a lot of people will try to write about perry, which is he is an extreme candidate whose views are outside the mainstream. >> how do peel in texas feel about him? how popular is he? what is the reaction been like where you are to this book? >> well, he didn't put out this book until right after the 2010 election, and i think there's a reason for that.

i think occasi-- and perry saide time i'm not running for president, and here is the proof. this book takes some pretty controversial views. that all changed. even if this book came out before the 2012 election, i think he would have won. been re-elected by the people of texas. this book is more specific in his views. people in texas know who rick perry is and continue to re-elect him. >> communications director takes a look at this book and says it's more of a look back, not a look forward. not meant to reflect perry's current views on social security, but rather be a framework for discussion. do you think he can successfully back away from some of these comments? or will they haunt him over the next year? >> it will be hard there will be a lot of opportunities to try to taunt him with them. what perry will try to do is say this is a look at my philosophy. i'm not proposing we do some of

these things that we stop electing united states senators directly by the people. you will still have many opportunities for his opponents to put this stuff up in ads and had on the campaign trail, perry saying i'm not backing away from my book. you throw up a couple of excerpts, him saying that, and have you your 30-second ad. it will be difficult for him to distance himself from this book he wrote less than a year ago. >> jason embry, thank you for weighing in on it from austin. >> thank you. >> see the full field of presidential republican contenders for the first time, this wednesday, september 7th, on msnbc. the appeal trial of amanda knox continues in italy tomorrow. knox is in perugia, serving a life sentence for the murder of her roommate. and her boyfriend is serving 25

years for the killing. it hinges on the dna found on the alleged murder weapon. two court-appointed attorneys say that evidence is invalid. a chilling letter from the missing indiana university student. this monday marks three months since lauren spierer. volunteers have organized massive searches for the 20-year-old and to date, police do not know what happened to her. lauren's mother, charlene, released the following letter through her twitter account. addressed to the person or persons who know what happened to lauren. here are some of the more poignant excerpts. to whom this may concern, let me begin by introducing myself. although i am sure you know who i am. i am charlene spierer, lauren's mother. perhaps we have met. you are responsible for lauren's disappearance, you know where she is. you are guilty of a heinous crime. that you know. now for what you don't know. you don't know what it's like to

call your wife, knowing you will deliver news which will crush her. i can't imagine what it's like for my husband. i can't tell you what it was like to make the call, only to receive it. initially you feel sick. your heart races, your breathing all but stops. you feel as you can cannot stand. the heat rises and your head pounds. are you speechless, you are incredulous. you want someone to call you to tell you lauren is okay. you miss an incoming blocked call. your heart sinks, you think you've missed the one call that can lead you to the discovery of your charlene talks about a recent family gathering. my young nephew asked if we could celebrate a lauren's birthday. i didn't know what to say. now i do. of course, we will celebrate lauren's birthday.

charlene talks about what it was like to pack up all of lauren's things in bloomington and speaks directly to the person who knows what happened. do you think this is a game? this is no game. she ends the letter saying, have you no idea what you have taken from us. we will never give up. what are you thinking? i would really like to know. i am waiting to hear from you. charlene spierer, we'll be right back. that can settle into your lines and wrinkles and make you look older. covergirl and olay floats above lines and makes you look younger. can your anti-aging makeup do that? simply ageless from olay and easy, breezy beautiful, covergirl.

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a hurricane-related arrival at the central park zoo made her big debut on tv today on "today" no less. they found this woolley little babe named irene hope after her

mom, truffle, gave birth hours before the storm arrived. >> on sunday morning, we needed to get into the children's zoo, we needed to get down by ladders because the flooding was so bad by the main entrance. so as soon as the sun came out and it was safe to be out, we checked on her first and really happy to see truffle was a good mom, nursed her through the night and irene hope looks really good today. >> yeah, you could also say she doesn't look too baaa-ad. barn yard humor. don't look so sheepish. i'll stop now. not your last chance to get away. you may be better off with a fall escape. fall escapes are usually not as pricey. and according to travelocity, air fares drop 20% after the summer. and we have an expert from travelocity with a look at how you can put some fun into your autumn. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> i think of the beautiful leaf activity. that has to be top of the list, right? >> absolutely.

people want to go on wine tasting trips, fall foliage trips. that's peak of season. you get better prices traveling mid week. this year because the damage done by hurricane irene, i would be on the lookout for deals in vermont and new hampshire. people are canceling trips, thinking they can't get there. b & bs and inns will have openings. >> and the $300 million tourism industry in the fall alone. they need this. >> what about trips that travelers are taking, city bound, beaches still? how does that break down? >> people will be visiting cities during the fall. but beach destinations are a great option. it's still warm, and you can get phenomenal deals. think about a place like bu bermuda. they have a destination wide promotion for a $400 instant credit. that's how they are luring people there.

it gets little chillier, it's a great golf destination. >> in terms of cities across the country, new york city tops the list, followed closely by las vegas, orlando, chicago, and san francisco. good fall destinations? and if so steals and deals to be had? >> las vegas has great room rates, some of the most competitive in the country. orlando right now is -- has one of their slower seasons. kids back in school. >> right. >> these this is a fantastic time to go. and if you want to go down, a great time to go places like new york city, san francisco, chicago, best rates to find on sunday nights when business travelers haven't arrived. look for things like opaque hotels, the booking process is complete. ge get up to 55%. >> what if you want to head over the ocean, are there deals for that in the fall? >> absolutely. europe, a great destination in the fall. take a mediterranean cruise for

$100 per person. >> what? >> very inexpensive as compared to summer months. air fare falls 30%, 40% in the fall, especially doing sightseeing. if the weather is agreeable. crowds fewer. a wonderful, wonderful time. >> have to get that done before the holidays, because then it really jacks up. >> except for thanks giving. don't want to have turkey in the u.s. thanksgiving one of the cheapest of the year to go to europe. >> thank you so much. >> thank you, alex. what the president needs to say to get companies to start hiring. what employers want to hear in thursday night's speech. in our next hour, a new fame flim about why america has never gone back to the moon. here on "msnbc sunday." ♪ okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours.

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the pressure on president obama to deliver a galvanizing speech this week, f following another set of terrible unemployment figures. unemployment holding steading, no jobs added last month. 14 million americans out of work right now. what does the president need to say to get things back on track? ron insana joins me to answer that question. >> good morning. >> what could the president say that could immediately spur job growth? >> judging from the newspapers, it doesn't appear the president is going down new road or going to offer a grand gesture. more infrastructure, talk about extending tax cuts. it doesn't look like there is a grand gesture coming that is going to so knock your socks off that business will hire immediately. >> but are there some variables that need to be in place before we can? let's start with confidence. >> the confidence comes from a

lack of -- a lack of confidence right now, comes from the lack of leadership in washington. the mess we saw over the debt ceiling debate. federal reserve chairman, ben bernan bernanke. entirely detrimental to economic outlook. nice to see adult leadership in washington, something we have not seen in quite some time. i personally think if the president wanted to go bold, rebuilding our power grid in the united states would cost about $1 trillion over let's say a ten-year period. 20% of the unemployed are in construction or construction-related industries. construction workers, electrical engineers, the type of thing that put people back to work. if they float a separate bond with an attractive interest rate, people would buy it and it would become a capital investment, particularly if the power companies were charged for right of use. given lowered expectations out of the white house, we don't expect to hear anything like that. >> why not? >> i don't know why not.

i'll be honest. he thinks it will be shot down by congress. >> so it's all political? >> at this point, without taking sides it appears that there is no advantage for the republicans to help the president get the economy going. there does not seem to be any thought leadership out of white house when it comes to economic ideas that would stipulate the economy, and i have been referring to ben bernanke as both atlas and sisyphys. he has both the world on his shoulder and rolling it up the hill at the same time. >> with 9.1% employment, that old goose egg of zero jobs. >> a very rare occurrence. we haven't seen a zero since 1945 sing 'em month. >> jobless rate will remain at 9% until 2012, and not dip below 7% for 2017? this is dismal beyond words. >> we'll have a japanese style

loss decade. the economy performs under its potential. well under its potential. >> it will be a decade. 2007, really mark it there? >> i would mark it the summer 262 26007. ten years of a difficult economic environment. the problems we're having now are entirely policy related. the debt ceiling issue that damaged confidence, the policy mistakes that are being made in europe, where they are not solving their debt crisis. helping the global economy, and this preoccupation, 1937 style, or hoover style preoccupation with lowering the budget deficit, if we cut spending now in the short run, you'll throw more government workers into a labor force where there are nearly five applicants for every job available. that will lot make the unemployment rate go down, i don't care what anybody says. >> could the president potentially deliver a hugely inspirational speech on thursday, big on inspiration,

short on content and detail and achieve what needs to be done? >> people will be watching the football game on thursday night if that happens. we're past the inspiration point. we need percent per ration. to paraphrase mark twain. we need ideas that work, programs that will help the economy move forward. the one thing floated in "the new york times" a week and a half ago was an acrosses the board refinancing of mortgages at 4%. that would be phenomenal. whether a mortgage homeowner is underwater or not. everybody refinances at 4%. i believe that frees up something like $760 billion in disposable income that would be a boom to the economy. if there is one thing the president could propose, they are telling us he will separate that from his jobs speech if that is something he could do by executive order, it would be an enorm house in push to the housing sector which is an

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