right now on msnbc -- super soaker. what's left of tropical depression lee as it heads east as residents from new orleans to mississippi take stock of the damage that is left in the storm's wake. labor pains. president obama heads to the motor city to rally labor unions, an audience increasingly frustrated with the president's jobs agenda. and terror warning. just days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the government issues a new alert about al qaeda targeting small airplanes. hi, everybody, good morning and thanks for joining us on this special labor day edition of msnbc live. i'm thomas roberts. let's get you updated and talk about lee. it has weakened as a storm but it is still packing some very powerful rains. more than a foot of rain fell in new orleans. as that storm pushes inland, it

could cause dangerous flash flooding. lee churned up surf along the gulf and a body border drowned in galveston, texas. the coast guard is searching for a missing teen off gulf shores, alabama. a lot to catch up on. the weather channel's jim cantore joins us now from biloxi, mississippi to fill us in. jim, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, thomas. when you usually think of the gulf of mexico it can be pretty does sil unless there are some strong winds. we've had those so we're just capped everywhere. we call them brown caps here because of the brackish water here behind me in biloxi. other than that, we've been rain-free, unlike what we've had at times. look at some of these pictures in and around bulksiloxibiloxi. when you drive along u.s. 90 and the rain comes down this hard, it piles up. people had to slow down. cars spray up the roads. we will have more of those types of rains today probably across mississippi they will be less frequent into alabama and florida as well and we will also

have a risk tornadoes. let's show you 1 of 17 reported tornadoes so far from this tropical storm. today's risk is still with us. we're in a tornado watch until 4:00 this afternoon. damage to homes and trees and power lines could certainly be with us once again today, maybe even a little bit farther inland into mississippi, alabama and southwest georgia. back into new orleans where there was so much focus, thomas, we thought the models are printing out two feet of rain for the city, there's no question it is going to flood -- but the dry air that snuck into this system cut that off. even with reports of 8 to 12 inches and the kind of wind we had to really push the water over the top of some of the levees did create flooding in several towns especially on the west bank. so as our continues begin to improve here in southern louisiana, in southern mississippi, in southern alabama, we now focus on the northern parts of alabama, georgia and in toward tennessee as well as we watch this heavy rain threat move on toward the north.

so the slow meth wodical moveme, unfortunately, leaves lee's remnants with us. >> lumbering along. jim cantore, thanks. miles an hour katia is still a cat 2 storm out in the atlantic as it is heading northwest. the weather channel's todd santos joins us with the latest on that one. >> at least one of the issues with katia is that if the system gets close enough to the coastline, some areas that are already saturated from the recent rains, could see issues floodwise. want to take you into the flash flood watches across portions of the mid-atlantic into the northeast. at least hanging on to some of these throughout the daytime, likely into tomorrow. flash flood warnings in red. that has more to do with lee's remnants as jim just mentioned. these areas in green, even through southern new england, katia not expected to be a land falling system at the moment. we're talking a category 2 storm, 100-mile-an-hour winds moving northwest at about 12 miles per hour. there's a look at the current position. here's the track as we work our

way through the middle of the week and thursday at 2:00 a.m., at that point you have a cat 3 pointing towards the outer banks of north carolina. today is actually the day that residents will be let in to hatteras island so some folks may be a little leery of this one considering the system at least comes close enough to the close line. that air track is for the center of the storm. if it hugged the west side, we could potentially be dealing with storm even in southern new england. president obama will spend this labor day talking about the number one issue for millions of americans -- that is job growth. the president will travel to detroit on the heels of an august labor report that showed zero net jobs added putting more pressure on the administration to come up with some bold solutions to the economic issues facing the nation. nbc's kristin welker is live at the white house with more. >> reporter: good morning, thomas. white house officials say when president obama speaks to

thousands of union members later this afternoon he's going to talk about the importance of a strong middle class to this economic recovery. he's also likely going to challenge democrats and republicans to get behind that jobs plan that you just mentioned that he's going to unveil on thursday. but of course, this speech comes against a difficult backdrop, particularly for union members. that's a key constituency for the president. they feel as though they've had a tough year, fighting difficult battles in places like wisconsin and ohio where they say gop lawmakers have been trying to strip their collecti ivive bargaining rights. they're also frustrated with this president, with his handling of the debt ceiling debate, the bush tax cuts, so a bit of frustration amongst union members. then you talk about those difficult job numbers. well if you look at michigan alone, the unemployment rate

there is 10.9%. then if you look at detroit, it's up to 15.7%. so some really staggering numbers there. white house officials have made the point that this administration has created about 2.4 million jobs, and so they also -- you might hear the president talk about his bailout of the auto industry when he talks today, thomas. but a lot of eyes on this speech to see if we might get a glimpse of what he will say on thursday, thomas. >> kristin welker at the white house for us this morning, thank you. texas officials are calling for any and all firefighters around austin to report for duty. wildfires threaten entire neighborhoods there as strong winds push the flames across thousands of acres. playses are burning throughout the state, including one further east that killed two people over the weekend. libyan rebels are waiting for word from their leaders to enter one of the few remaining towns held by gadhafi forces. a heavily armed group of gadhafi

loyalists are held up in bani walid. negotiations between both faqs broke down over the weekend after gadhafi's chief spokesman insisted rebels disarm before entering the fortified town. thousands of rebels, though, are currently at checkpoints near bani walid waiting for orders to go on. the appeal trial for amanda knox is under way and should continue every day until the next decision is reached. this was the scene earlier in the courtroom. knox and her family are holding out hope that her murder conviction is overturned, opening the door for amanda's safe return home. nbc's chapman bell is live for us in perugia, it laly with the latest. >> reporter: today in court it picked up more or less as it ended in the last set of sessions before a month-long summer recess, and that was an attack on this independent forensic report by -- appointed by the appeals judge. the attack came from the prosecution and from the

families, meredith kercher's family's lawyer, in the courtroom, attacking the statements made by these independent forensic experts who have pointed out more than 50 breaches of international forensic protocols made in the original trial. they've stated that there was sloppy evidence gathering techniques and that the dna used to convict amanda knox and her former boyfriend is so weak and unreliable and possibly contaminated. one of the independent appeals -- one of the independent experts stated that the dna on her boyfriend was so low they could attribute it to 90 different people, saying anyone in the court could have been at this crime scene the way the dna was used, really holding their ground today with their report. now court will continue all this week. we are expecting it will and forensic battle in the courtroom. judge really seems to want to get through this and focus on

everything that's being discussed and that has really been -- he said/she said. the prosecution versus the defense. so we'll have it this week, then there will be a break before closing arguments and hopefully a verdict in this appeal by the end of the month. >> chapman bell in pru italy, t you. we're live in columbia, south carolina with nbc's kelly o'donnell. plus, texas governor rick perry gears up for his debut on the national debate stage. what must he do to firm up his front-runner status. we'll explore that question and much more. this is msnbc, the place for politics. als. 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.

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welcome back, everybody. so labor day is the traditional

campaign kickoff and the big names running for the republican nomination for president will be in south carolina today. it's where we find our nbc's kelly o'donnell live. kelly, they all have something in common. it seems like they're going to be taking shots at the president and potentially his plans for the economy. >> reporter: that will certainly be a big topic today, thomas. here in south carolina, one of the main events of the day -- and a really kind of critical moment in the campaign -- is this candidate's forum that will happen this afternoon. it's not a debate where they can spar with each other but each of the six candidates participating will have 20 minutes to answer questions from a conservative panel, and it is the first time we'll see rick perry and mitt romney in the same place. for those people here in south carolina, a crucial early voting state, it is a chance to size up these two national front-runners in a way we have not been able to do before. also today they are making some stops in other places. mitt romney was flipping pancakes which is another requirement of being a

presidential candidate, did that this morning in new hampshire and says that he likes his pancakes chunky with bits of flavor in there. so that's a tidbit for those who love the obscure about politics. we just bumped into senator rick santorum who is not participating in today's forum but is trying to work the state on a very grassroots level and says he's got some things that he believes are signs of support going his way. so this forum today, thomas, is a chance to really measure some of the conservative credentials of these candidates. so you'll have perry, romney, bachmann as the main voices. when you think about some of the issues for mitt romney who is not as popular among the tea party movement, this is really going to be an important opportunity for him, and rick perry has not been put through the paces of answering questions in a big way yet. so that's a big part of what we'll be looking for today. >> kelly, are casual observers to assume michele bachmann has the leg you have here because

this is something that's supported by the tea party and she's pretty much preaching to the choir? >> reporter: well, she certainly has a base of support in south carolina. one of the interest things about this state is when you look at iowa where she was born and did so well in the straw poll, you look at new hampshire where mitt romney has always had strength because he actually owns property there and was governor of the neighboring state, massachusetts, you come to south carolina and it is really a crucial test because it appears to be a more open field and it is a very conservative state. if you're looking for who would be the ultimate nominee of the party, this will be a place to see that war fought in a very personal way. so bachmann has had a lot of debate experience lately, that will help her but it will be an interesting forum with a chance to see how these candidates do with some tough questions. >> how does romney like his pancakes again? chunky and what? >> reporter: let me double check because this is a great detail. this is a great detail. >> i've never heard them described like that. >> reporter: bear with me -- he

likes his pancakes with chunky peanut butter and maple syrup. >> i like that. >> chunky peanut butter and maple syrup. that's a great detail. he says he eats them often so we'll have to follow up on that. >> we will, we will. the intrepid kelly o'donnell, thanks so much. talk to you shortly. about that south carolina forum, the candidates will speak one by one and they're not going to be sparring, but on wednesday they will engage in a debate. the first time for the texas governor rick perry to be able to do that. i want to bring in journalist, publisher and msnbc contributor karen hunter around republican strategist j.p. frair. i know we're coming off the heels of the pancake issue, but we'll get straight to this and talk about rick perry. it is the first time he is going to be on the national stage. what do you think we'll see his strategy being especially when it comes to being outside of texas and trying to make the appeal to a larger audience? >> he's in the south still so that is a base of his that i think he can appeal to very

well. he's leading among the tea party party, 35% to michele bachmann's 14% and romney's 14%. i think all he has to do is establish himself as presidential. he needs to stay on message, talk about jobs, talk about the economy, talk about the successes he's had in texas and just be his ebullient self and i think he will emerge as what he already is -- the front-runner. >> j.p., it is starting to get a little bit ugly with the guys, the gop candidates, taking swipes at one another already. listen to this. >> we don't need a nominee who's going to blur the differences between themselves and barack obama. we're going to have a nominee who draws a clear contrast. >> of the people running for office, i don't know that there are many that have less years in politics than me. >> so is this just the beginnings of how ugly things are going to get, at least

giving us the -- i guess the trailer of what's to come. >> well, i think that perry's already getting to do a good job. he's basically paraphrasing bill buckley by saying that voters want a clear contrast. i think that what's happening is that romney's being called to answer on the issue of romney care in a way that tim pawlenty was never able to nail romney and perry is also trying to show how he himself, his record on jobs, his record on making small government, how these things are totally different than president obama, which is a very different thing for romney. so perry's just going to have to define himself. he shouldn't let his opposition especially of romney, define him. he should just go by his record. in many ways it is an introduction to the rest of the country because many people aren't as familiar with governor rick perry. >> does michele bachmann get a chance to re-assert herself here? >> only if someone's dumb enough to pick a fight with ler, as

pawlenty today. i'm hoping one of of these guys is dumb enough to pick a fight with her, then she will re-emerge as one of the candidates to look for. but right now i think her star's fading and she may have to drop out soon. we're hoping. >> we'll continue to watch and we'll see what goes on as this week unfolds right before our eyes. thanks so much and also just a programming note -- the nbc news political debate will be right here on nbc news on wednesday, september 7th, at 8:00 eastern, moderated by brian williams. the texas tradition of frying just about anything, then serving it up at the state fair may have officially gone too far. ladies and gentlemen, i give you -- that is fried bubble gum. made up of pink batter, marshmallow and gum extract. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose.

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democrats are putting more pressure on president obama to go big in his new jobs plan. the president outlines his proposals to both houses of congress thursday night. speaking on "meet the press" yesterday, congresswoman maxine waters says she hopes his plan is larger than the 2009 stimulus. >> the president must be bold. i agree that he must have a jobs program, must create jobs. i'm talking about a program of a trillion dollars or more. we've got to put americans to work. that's the only way to revitalize this economy. >> joining me now, msnbc political analyst richard wolffe. richard, one trillion dollars as we hear out of the congresswoman's mouth there. it sounds good but how in the world could obama pitch that and get it through this congress? >> well, what's the definition of going big here? trillion dollars is an arbitrary number and that was pretty much where the first stimulus came out. clearly this round is not going to look like the first round because the politics have changed but there is consensus

from conservative economists and liberal economists that in the short term, the united states government has to step in to kick-start, to get going, this economy, again in the short term, before dealing with these deficit issues. now a trillion dollars can be carved up in many different ways. whatever the ideas are can be configured in different ways. tax cuts are an obvious form of stimulus, not what maxine waters would think about but there is a nominal value to that which actually adds demand to the economy. that's in fact how the bush tax cuts were first sold in 2000. so tax cuts i expect to be a big part of this as well as the more traditional infrastructure projects that i suspect maxine waters was talking about. >> do you think that the white house has overhyped this? i mean will the president be able to deliver on these ramped-up expectations given the world that we live in today and how everything is chopped up and cut apart in terms of cable news? >> well, they have to deliver on

something. the economy is obviously in a bad way. the jobs mark needs it and the world is looking to american leadership on these economic issues. unfortunately, just as much as there's consensus among economists that there needs to be more -- another round of stimulus, however you want to configure it, there is also consensus that the american political system is just too broken to do much about it. that's why the markets are tanking today around the world, because they're closed here for the holiday. but the markets are reacting to the political stag nation and so is consumer confidence. that's the reality. it is not about actually cable news anymore. it is whether the politicians can get together and do what all the economists say needs to be done, that's to stimulate this economy, whether it is through taxes or spending, deal with the housing market and move the jobs market on. >> you make a great point about the system maybe being too broken to fix this. but unenemployed americans don't want this to be the answer. certainly americans lucky enough to be working in this country and paying taxes they don't want

that to be the answer because they don't want that to be the future of the u.s. for their kids. could the republicans take on more responsibility for the sputtering economy if they flatly reject obama's new plan? >> i suspect they'll all take responsibility for it. obviously people in work and out of work cannot stand the way washington is operating right now. that's why congress has approval ratings in the low double-digits. they're at historically low levels here. and there's an anti-incumbent move that could sweep lots of people out of office in a year especially if this drags on for a year. that's why it is going to be interesting see the white house test the proposition whether republicans are so anti-whatever this president does that they would also be against the kind of tax cuts that they've always been wedded to. that's the kind of stimulus question, whether it is tax cuts for employers, hiring unemployed people, or it's restructuring the housing market to help people out of debt an refinance their mortgages. those are the kinds of things republicans should traditionally accept. >> richard wolffe in washington

for us this morning, richard, great to see you. thanks. >> thank, thomas. so parts of mississippi are under a tornado watch this hour as what's left of tropical storm lee moves inland. we are tracking that storm. we bring you the damage from it up next. plus -- the federal government issues a new terror warning just days before the anniversary of 9/11. what they say americans should be looking out for. that's next on msnbc. ♪ [ country ] [ man ] ♪ gone, like my last paycheck ♪ gone, gone away ♪ gone, like my landlord's smile ♪ ♪ gone, gone away ♪ my baby's gone away with dedicated claims specialists... and around-the-clock service, travelers can help make things better quicker.

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potential for some showers. lee is actually causing some problems right now in the lower 48 especially the southeast. heavy rainfall, flash flood warnings up through portions of mississippi, northern alabama as well. the tornado watch goes until 4:00 central time. a substantial threat for tornadoes across a few states including portions of the panhandle of florida. flash flood warnings are in red. we all know a number of these areas are heavily saturated. i mention that, then you look at kat katia, as we go through the next couple of days we'll watch the system get fairly close to the coastline. still a lot to be determined with the track but it is one to keep a very close eye on. heavy rain hammering the south today as a weakened storm lee trudges inland. there are flash flood warnings in effect throughout mississippi and alabama. they are going to continue to see some heavy downpours. rupert lacey is the director of emergency management for harrison county, mississippi and joins us now by phone to talk

more about what they're seeing. sir, we've heard about water rescues in parts of mississippi. so how bad has the flooding been that you've seen? >> good morning, first. and thank you. of course we have had heavy rainfalls happening throughout the coastal area, in my particular county we've got three major rivers that are flooding. the public of course took warnings on that and they got prepared. in jackson county they had some flooding issues in the early hours yesterday morning and they did have to rescue some people out of the flooded area. of course shelter them. >> rupert, you are located right on the gulf so obviously you are concerned about any swollen waterways, concerned about storm surges. as you said, your people had to prepare. was it just strictly evacuation? >> of course, protect property, move items, get them out to

higher locations. because six years ago, you know, people built higher and on the rivers, if you like living there, you build high anyway. we still have a south-southeasterly wind. it is still pushing it into our two bays and that's keeping our rivers swollen. we thought we would see a little bit lower surge -- or at high tide this morning, but you look at our gulf of mexico, mississippi sound and it's still high and very choppy. >> we wish all of you along the gulf coast a happy labor day. i know you got a lot of concerns going on so we'll let you get back to work. rupert lacy, director of emergency management from harrison county, mississippi, thank you. a texas man is recovering today after surviving a wildfire that killed two other people. a young woman and her toddler died when flames destroyed their home not far from the louisiana border. it is one of just dozens of fires raging in the state. nbc's jay gray is live in texas.

jay, bring us up to speed. >> reporter: thomas, the latest is not good. i can update all of those numbers for you. let's start with the fact that the texas forestry service says on sunday alone, firefighters were dealing with 56 new wildfires across the state. that does not include the dozens they were already fighting. one of the worst is here in bastrop. understand that more than 300 homes reportedly have been destroyed in this fire. more than 16,000 acres now up from that 6,000 you talk about have been charred at this point and the fire is still raging out of control. you've been talking all morning about the results of lee and all of the rain. nowhere did they need that rain more than here in texas which has been under extreme drought conditions. unfortunately, all they are getting from lee here is strong winds. gusts up to 40 miles an hour pushing the flames across this state and making it impossible for crews to really contain or

get control of the fires. you talked about a young mom and her toddler. killed when they could not escape a wall of fire that swallowed their home in east texas. and the forestry service tells us that the resources to fight these fires are already pushed past their limits in this state, thomas. they have put out a public appeal for any and all firefighters who are able to come and help fight these fires to please come immediately to help out with the situation here that's going to continue, we're told, for several days, thomas. >> james, we can see the winds are moving the brush, the bushes behind you. is that the biggest concern, the winds, how fast they can push these wildfires? >> yeah. how fast they're pushing the fires, thomas, and that they are changing on occasion and whipping around. they're really unpredictable. the problem is these teams that get in and fight the fires can't really get in harm's way with the winds blowing as strong as they are at times here, again gusts up to 40 miles an hour. so basically what they've got to do is try and douse the areas where they believe this fire is

jumping around but also make sure that they're safe to fight this fire when the winds die down a bit. >> jay gray in bastrop, texas this morning, thanks so much. other stories making headlines this monday morning for you -- a training exercise in phoenix has triggered a very real situation. police were working with bomb sniffing dogs at the international airport when someone made off with a container full of real explosives. federal investigators have been notified. the u.s. postal service may be unable to make a $5 billion payment this month, meaning that the entire system could grind to a complete halt. officials warn that mail delivery could shut down for the winter unless congress helps balance the agency's finances. and a doctor and former french president jacques chirac says the 78-year-old is too frail to attend today's corruption hearing. chirac is facing allegations of embezzling money top help political allies when he was the

mayor of paris in the 1990s. a chilling new terror alert. a nationwide bulletin issued by the fbi says al qaeda may be plotting attacks using small airplanes. the warning comes a week before the tenth anniversary of the most infamous terror strike in american history. nbc's terrorism analyst michael sheen joins me now to talk about this. the feds say there is no specific credible evidence of this impending attack, but given the timing of the obvious date, this is certainly being taken seriously. do we have any idea of what sort of small aircraft would be targeted here? >> thomas, i think it is appropriate that they put out this warning. actually, it is a sign of the success the american government has had protecting the larger aircraft in civil aviation, as much as people complain about tsa, really al qaeda's been frustrated in capturing or bringing harm through one of those aircraft. these smaller aircraft from smaller airports, smaller civil aviation authorities are much easier to get their hands on. there is much less control and

security through those small airports. they're really warning -- really the warning is directed at those smaller airports and civil aviation companies that keep an eye out to see if there's anything strange or anomalous in their airports. >> when you discuss small airports, is it small airports that surround metropolitan larger cities? >> that's right. or even in new york city where i was in the nypd, we have many airports within striking distance of new york city. same thing washington, d.c. and other major metropolitan areas. there's many of these small airports out there that really don't have near the type of presence with we're used to seeing at the major international airports. also there are people with private planes that fly all over the place in the united states and those types of planes are really not very regulated nearly as well. >> should private aircraft owners be under more scrutiny? >> i think so. i think scivil aviation authorities have in the past years tried to bring a little bit nor scrutiny to them and

actually also small boat owners that slip under the radar. the good news is, thomas, that these type of aircraft traditionally can't do the type of damage a big international airliner can do. they just don't have the weight, the velocity or the fuel. of course you can pack explosives in it but even then you don't have the type of missile a 747 can deliver. we've seen generally a lot of small crashes over the last 10 or 15 years with these small aircraft and generally they just kill the pilot, they don't do structural damage to buildings. that's the good news. >> people would say we have a lot of advance warning to put this in our minds to keep an eye out. other people might say this isn't a lot of time at all, we're coming up on the anniversary this week. which way should we look at it? >> i think it is about right actually, thomas. because you don't want to put the warning out too early, people forget about it. i think it is appropriate around the 10th anniversary of 9/11. for all civil aviation authorities to be on the lookout. al qaeda's never lost its interest in civil aviation.

they like the type of psychological impact the big bang it has on the american public so i think it is appropriate right around 9/11 to step it up a little bit but clearly it is something that needs to be done all year round. >> terrorism analyst michael sheehan, thank you this morning. up next for you -- remembering the heroes of 9/11. we're going to introduce you to a first responder who was inside tower two when it started to collapse. my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. new citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal.

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welcome back, everybody. we are less than a week away from the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 and thousands are already paying tribute to the fallen especially those in the new york city fire department. on sunday, friends and loved ones joined in a walk of remembrance for father michael judge. he's the franciscan priest in the fdny chaplain who died when the first power collapsed. his life is just one of many being honored among the 343 bravest who died that day. tim brown is a refired new york

city firefighter and author of "the bravest." tim, nice to see you this morning. it was dozens like you firefighters who were on the scene watching as these buildings were collapsing and in some instances running inside still trying to save people. psychologically as this anniversary approaches, how has it changed year to year for you and especially now as we come up on the tenth anniversary? >> well, i guess the memories never go away. the hurt and the pain are always there in our hearts and in our minds. but other love and joy comes into our lives, thankfully, that helps i guess distract us a little bit and try to give us a little bit more happiness in our lives. >> so is there a way to -- i guess repair some of that pain or does it just become easier to cope with? >> easier to cope with i think. it's -- my friend tanya who lost her fiance sergio says it is

letting go without letting go. you know? so it's always there in our hearts, but periods through the day we find happiness in love and joy again. >> with the fdny losing 343 firefighters, paramedics lost that day, including some of the most senior officers, in your estimation has the department been able to recover from that? >> it's been a great struggle for the fire department. but with their great leadership under the commissioner and chief, they have fought to get back. you can never replace the experience that the new york city fire department lost that day but you can slowly build it back up and maybe in another ten years we'll have men that are that experienced. >> specifically when it cops to first responders@, in the months that followed 9/11, we learned of the physical and emotional toll that it took on so many people that day, of the fdny suffering everything from ptsd to lung disease to survivors

guilt. how do you think that the fdny and those first responders are doing today? do you think enough has been done to make them as whole as can be? >> as can be, yes, i agree with that. the new york city fire department has a medical monitoring program, is what i believe is the gold standard in treatment of health for first respond irs. i went through a health scare a couple weeks ago. luckily it turned out okay. there are a lot of firefighters who are sick with lung problems and now we've seen the new study that shows a 19% increase in all types of cancer in new york city firefighters. i think this is just the beginning of what's going to be a very difficult thing for us to face as the cancer increases in us. >> i want to make sure i get this right. one of my producers has family in the fdny and knew several firefighters who died that day.

he says one of the things he heard a firefighter say at a memorial service for ladder 35's jimmy geiberson ten years ago was, look at how many were evacuated from those towers. it was the greatest rescue operation in the history of the world and we did it in one day. is that the sentiment that people can carry and look back on this now as we all as a nation heal and move forward, but think about, okay, look at how many lives were saved that day. >> mayor giuliani says it was the worst day of his life and the best day of his life all in one. i agree with him on that. i mean obvious -- it's obvious what the worst part is for us. but the fact that we helped rescue so many people, captain patty brown from ladder 3, his last recorded words were this is ladder 3 and we're still going up. and that embodies the bravery and the courage of the new york city fire department. even when they knew they were going up the stairs to heaven, they still did it and they still

saved asp lives as they could. >> tim brown, we appreciate all that you've done during your service career and also appreciate you coming in and talking today. where are you going to be on 9/11? >> i'm going to spend it with my family. i do that every year. i go to connecticut and be with my mom and dad. that's what's most important, after all. >> very good point there. tim, again, great to meet you. thank you for your time today. appreciate it. so how crucial, when we talk about politics, is south carolina going to be to the perry strategy come 2012? we've live as the tough texan hits the campaign trail in the palmetto state today. and a new front-runner emerges in the race to host the oscars. we'll tell you who. one 50+ advantage has ginkgo for memory and concentration, plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announcer ] one a day women's. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d.

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all right. in just about ten minutes, rick perry will take center stage at the forum in conway, south carolina. it's sponsored by tim scott. nbc's kerry dan joins me now to

explain. kerry, south carolina obviously a very important state as we move forward watching where the gop hopefuls go. but he has made two trips there in three weeks. how crucial is it to make very firm end roads there? >> reporter: well, you can tell how hard rick perry is working his state. he's appearing with representative tim scott, who's an influential lawmaker. freshman, but very influential. michele bachmann and jim huntsman very already attended similar appearances with tim scott. the last time he was here was at the tail end of his announcement. the crowds there were far beyond what the campaign expected. packed town halls and big meet and greets. he's going to try to continue that momentum and work on some of those lawmakers. >> when we talk about perry

being there for this freedom forum, this is the first he's really going to be on the same stage as the other gop hopefuls. do you think any sparks are going to fly or it's beginning to be straightforward? all right. we lost carrie on the phone. we apologize for that. we'll have more as we continue to watch the gop hopefuls going to south carolina this morning. it has been a sluggish end of the summer at box office, but the theaters have been getting a helping hand from an appropriately named movie. i'm not going to give it away. but brian joins me. it was going off the tip of my tongue. >> that's okay. it would have been okay. >> so i can say it now? "the help." >> "the help" has made $14 million in this weekend alone. now it's up to $118 million at

the box office. when you consider that this movie costs $25 million to make, control over to number five. you see "rise of the planet of the apes" costing $93 million to make. it's only made about $160 million. >> so this is like the little engine that could. >> it is. i think oscar will come calling. >> and you didn't say whether to read the book or watch the movie. >> well, i'm the movie buff, but i can't tell someone not to read. >> that's not the message we want to send. >> see how they both compare. how about that? >> so number two, as you brought up, may be an oscar darling. but you have news about who may be hosting. >> well, we remember the last oscars where anne hathaway and james franco were hosting. it's kind of a debacle. now it's been reported that eddie murphy could be the host, kind of turning back to comedians. there's been talk about billy crystal. >> i like billy crystal.

>> yeah, i'd like to see him come back. there's been talk about jerry seinfeld too. but eddie murphy, the last buzz about him was with "dream girls" and he didn't win. he apparently stormed out of the theater. that's what was reported at the time. he lost to allen arkin for "little miss sunshine." however, it's a new day for eddie murphy. he has two films coming out, one in november and one in january. >> all right. and this is big news for kids that grew up loving star wars. george lucas is doing what? >> he's tinkering a lot with these films. the blue ray editions are coming out. he's made more than 100 changes, many of them subtle. some of them rather significant.

yoda was a puppet mostly is now cgi. that seems more logical. but die hard fans are a little upset. one of the biggest deals is that darth vader now has an extra line or two in "the return of the jedi." he says, no. i don't know if they have to call james earle jones in for this. people are very upset. you can see all the clips online though. >> brian, good to see you. appreciate it. all right. so more news coming your way at the top of the hour, including the remnants of tropical storm lee. tornado watches are up in the deep south as residents brace for heavy rains. we bring you the latest here on msnbc. stay tuned. well we tried the whole pink thing. nope.

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hi, everybody. happy labor day to you. i appreciate your time. i'm thomas roberts. tropical storm lee is no more. just remnant