republican presidential candidates are going to face off in the nbc news politico debathe. the showdown comes as president obama's approval rateling sinks to an all time low in a new nbc news "the wall street journal" poll. and the news is even worse for congress. most voters say they would toss out every single member of the congress if they could. wow. and all this as we keep watch on wall street. friday's dismal jobs report and the steep declines in europe sent stocks falling sharply. it's down 200 points today. a good day i suppose. i'm chris matthews in for andrea mitchell live in simi valley, california. new numbers from nbc news and "the wall street journal" and we're going to show you the public's distan for washington. and historic low levels. if for president catch this, his disapproval number is above 50%. it's 51% now. the worst of his presidency.

that's a three-year low for president obama at 51%. a majority disapproving his performance. for congress the disapproval number is historic. 82%. the first time that number has ever topped 80%. so four out of five americans. in fact, more than four out of five americans don't like the united states congress. joining me now is john harwood and nbc's capitol hill correspondent luke russert. i want to start with john with the president. i want luke to talk about the congress and this historic low and thousand herr feeling the impact of that. first you, john. the president crisis handling. let's start with the positive. 70% of the country say they like him. do you believe that number that they like him still in. >> reporter: i do. i think that's the biggest asset that he's got at this moment where all the other indications are very negative people are feeling so unhappy about the state of the economy and the outlook is not great. look at the numbers heading into

this thursday, jobs speech. the president's going to lay out maybe $300 billion worth of stimulus. you've got people in this poll saying a substantial majority saying keep the deficit down. don't act to boost the economy and increase the deficit. yost at a good picture for him messagewise as he prepares to make that speech. >> i just wonder why they would look him if he's not doing a good job. can you plain that? maybe it's too cosmic. why would you say you like somebody that's letting youp down. handling a crisis down 14, achieving a goal fundamental to a president down 14. strong leadership that's the job, leadership, down 12. good commander in chief that's also the job down 10. how can you like somebody you say has failed to? >> reporter: i've talked to pollsters and they say people believe that obama is earnest

and straight forward. they like the picture that he and michelle obama and their kids have presented of a family with their values. when you've got an economy this bad even if they like you as a person and believe that you're sincere and trying your best and that you're motivated by the right things, it's very tough. as you know, chris, politics results in business. >> does it concern you looking at the numbers that diz dishonesty number has risen to 51. right now it's ticked up with a majority don't think he's honest. >> reporter: well, i think he's lost some ground on that dimension. generally speaking when you ask people do you think that president obama is a likable person? somebody who's trying to do the right thing? more often than not, you're going to get them saying yes. i think he's taken a huge hit as the congress has as you're about to talk about with luke because

of what's happened this summer over the debt ceiling when he has a significant reservoir of public support. people want him to succeed. they're fearful that he isn't succeeding. >> i think that's well said. let me go to luke. luke, you've done a held of a job in introducing us to congress. it's amazing the personalities we've gotten to know. the faces that they've seen, they don't seem to like. i was surprised at the 82% kis approval number. these numbers are historic, who don't they like on the hill? pelosi, cantor, boehner? >> reporter: the last congress which many folks thought was the most productive congress in 30 years had historic disapproval numbers. that's carried into this new one. what you've seen is a continual

wave of changing, changing, we don't like the status quo. we want to get rid of them. i would argue the point if you were to poll any of those folks, pelosi, boehner, cantor they would have more of a disapproval than an approval. the last time around nancy pelosi had 80% approval amongst independents. if possible if speaker boehner could get there? certainly by this congress terrible if these numbers go forward. i think what people are upset about is this one specifically looks -- it appears to be doing nothing. what you're going to see from this congress right now its legacy will be a few budget fights and that's it. republicans will say we were able to curtail president bm's spending. president obama will say i had all these great ideas and things that people should want, but they ran into a brick wall with congress. it depends what americans think. do they think that republicans did a service by stopping the

spending or they appreciated president obama from putting forth ideas which they showed the last congress they didn't like so much. people always say they don't like congress, but they like their congressman. that's proven to be different now. the most startling number in all this is they would g vote to get every single elected member out. that's shocking. john dingle get out. it's amazing. it's amazing. john harwood. it's amazing the volatility of this race. and the amazing number is if you look -- i'll get to this with govern rendell later in the next section. look at this, 38% want rick perry as the nominee. but only 21% have a positive

view of him. explain that one. >> reporter: i think rick perry has got a very powerful appeal to the red-hot core of the republican base. he's completely surplanted michele bachmann who as we saw yesterday moved aside her campaign manager. we've been talking for months, chris, about how mitt romney was a relatively weak front runner. you really see it in rick perry jumping to the head of this pack. think about how that sets the table for our colleague brian williams and john harris in simi valley with you tomorrow at that debate this is the first time that other people have a chance to be on stage with perry. we'll see how effectively and aggressively they go after him. >> with us now is msnbc's political analyst pennsylvania governor ed rendell and david winston a republican consultant. i want to bring in governor rendell. have you ever seen a number like

this? here he is riding high at 38%, the highest number yet for the republican nomination. and 21% like him. that's pretty good politics when people -- >> i think governor perry filled a void. he looks good. he sounds okay. he appeals to the core and the base. they're for him because they're not for any of the other guys. i think you would have found a similar phenomena if someone else had jumped in the race. a new face. not a sarah palin, a new face. let's not get too excited about polls. governor perry has his first test tonight. his three tests in the upcoming debates. he could plummet like a stone. don't be so upset. if i were the romney people i wouldn't be panicking. this is a marathon not a sprint. we'll see what happens. >> david it looks like the republican voters want him to be successful though. it seems like they're rooting for a guy.

when you say you want him to be the nominee before you know him, that's a strong prejudice based on his record as governor of texas. it seems like he has this one to lose at this point. they really want him to do well this week. >> he'sal the advantage that every person in the race has. they come in. people focus on the positives. what's habit to happen tomorrow now is the betting of his policies against other candidates. we'll see how he does. it's going to be a very critical moment for him and see if he can sustain that lead. after some time maum has begun to fall off a bit. we'll see what happens with the governor in terms of this first real test in terms of standing up there with other folks and going back and forth with them. >> can you imagine a tea party dominated republican party dominating governor romney? david? >>. >> can you imagine it? then running a guy that's not a tea party guy in the year the tea party is calling the shots. >> he supports a lot of policies

as do all the candidates in terms of lower taxes, trying to get this economy going, growth, lower regulations, a variety of things that you see. absolutely. >> that's because they're popular. he's saying what he -- but david, he's saying what he knows he has to say. they know he's not one of them. >> i would disagree with that. >> who think he's a tea partier? do you think mitt romney is a tea partier? >> i'm not saying he's a tea partier. he has a lot of policies that are attractive to tea party folks. is he their first choice? we'll find out. the idea that he doesn't have attractive atrashts to the tea party folks is fundamentally incorrect. >> you think he's -- i don't agree with you if you think he can possibly win the hearts and minds of the tea partiers. >> if he got the nomination, absolutely he would and they would be 100% behind him. i don't think there's think question. >> if he got the nomination.

>> if he gets the nomination. >> you've seen him reach out to the tea party. he's going to get some of those votes. ehas policies that dove tail with what they think. are there other candidates with better policies. >> they want an a opponent that can win. governor, i know you like michael vick. is it true the republicans will go with anybody against this president? >> sure. the real answer to the question you asked is can mitt romney win the hearts and mind of the tea party? no. can we thin their votes? yes. if the polls show thoo he's the candidate that can baetz barack obama and pearry can't and bachmann can't, then he'll get a substantial number of the tea party votes because i think their mind set is to beat president obama. so i think mitt romney doesn't have to win their hearts and

minds. he's just got to win their votes. >> i think romney has sold a case that he's not a lifetime politician because he failed at trying to be one. he rab against ted kennedy got beaten going for a lifetime senate seat. he didn't run for re-election of governor of massachusetts because he couldn't get re-elected and now he's bragging northeast not a lifetime politician. thank you. up next, shake up in the bachmann camp as new poll numbers show her support has been cut in half. what happened to bachmann? the politico briefing next on "andrea mitchell reports." [ agent ] so your policy looks good, is there anything else? why did you buy my husband a falcon? thanks for the falcon. i didn't buy anyone a falcon. sure, you did. you saved us a lot of money on auto insurance. i used that money to buy a falcon. ergo, you bought me a falcon. i should've got a falcon. most people who switch to state farm save on average about $480. what they do with it, well, that's their business. oh, that explains a lot, actually. [ chuckles ]

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i'm thomas roberts at msnbc headquarters in new york. with breaking news out of carson

city, nevada, at this hour. the local newspaper says several people possibly has many as seven has been shot at an ihop restaurant. the sheriff's office says the building is secure and people are on their way to the hospital. we'll continue to monitor the situation and bring you the latest. seven people shot in carson city, nevada. we're going to send it back to chris matthews in california. it's never been a good thing when the guy who's supposed to be running your campaign tells the paper of record you're done. but michele bachmann's campaign manager ed rollins has stepped down after telling "the washington post" pretty much that. quote, the perry-romney race is now the story with us the third candidate. is the campaign shake up a symptom of larger problems for michele bachmann. politico broke the news just last night. john, we all love ed rollens because he speaks the truth. that's what gets him in trouble with his candidates.

>> she a very familiar figure to the national press core. you bring ed rollens in you get an experienced operative. you also get an element of unpredictable. we've seen this before with somewhat flamboyant departures from campaigns. this is a somewhat familiar story for congressman bachmann. her congressional office and there have been some stories in the press about this has been marked by historically high turnover. and anyway, it's not become a central issue in the campaign. wouldn't surprise me if now rollins' departure raises this issue about what her internal management of her political operation. that's one. i do think what -- she has to establish here's in the top

tier. tomorrow night is a big opportunity for her. the stakes couldn't be higher we talked a lot about perry, romney. for congresswoman bachmann it's a big night to prove ed rollins wrong. >> let's talk about what i think is fascinating tomorrow night. that's you and brian what kind of a debate it's going to be. are you going to get into the kind of questions from four years ago where you were asking questions about deep belief? i talked to reasonable republicans who said i couldn't vote for bachmann or palin. i'm trying to decide about ferry. the questions about perry are really important. is he a candidate that's so far right even if you're dismayed by the president's performance you couldn't vote for him. his deep believes about the role of the federal government, about succession from the union, about states rights, everything are you going to get into fundamental questions tomorrow night. perry? >> he's got a substantiative record as the longest serving governor in the united states in

his third term in it's. est he's got a rhetorical record. it's been on display a lot because of this book he wrote last year "fed up." it is our opportunity to ask him about that record. >> how do you run for president when you talk succession? >> he has to explain that. it's going to be an opportunity to the kind of person you said, i'm not so sure. he's got an opportunity to talk to those people. i think brian and i are aware we are not debating the candidates, they are debating each other. we will not have done our job if those questions that you asked and a whole bunch of other questions are not imlum nated. who are these guys? >> there's a lot of questions if the republicans got together and got to call it like having party chairs do debates, they won't let you talk about the crazy stuff they've been selling out there. they want to run on jobs and the economy.

deep down they want everybody out there to know their deep believes on the right that's how they sell it. they don't want the main street to know about that stuff. how do you bring that stuff in? the mainstream needs to know what the radical right believes? we are not here to view things as radical right or mainstream or moderate. that's not my job. we are here to talk to these guys -- >> is that on the table or off the table. >> you covered that one well. we are here to talk to them about their records. find out where there's a difference between the candidates and find out how they explain it. >> i believe in evolution, i believe in man's effect on climate change, call mow crazy. that to me is fum to this campaign. >> didn't he say that on twitter? >> the fact that people are talking within campaign. fundamental believes are

important. but you guys are in charge. don't miss the nbc news politico debate at the reagan library tomorrow at 8:00 right here on msnbc. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" right now live from the reagan. beautiful library out here in simi valley, california. [ groans ] you okay? i'm not looking forward to my flight. try this. bayer aspirin? i'm not having a heart attack. it's my back. no, this is new bayer advanced aspirin... clinically proven to relieve tough pain twice as fast as before. what, did you invent this or something? well, my team did. i'm dr. eric first, from bayer. wow. look. it has microparticles. it enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief right to the site of pain. better? great! thanks. [ male announcer ] new bayer advanced aspirin. extra strength pain relief. twice as fast. test our fast relief. look out for your coupon in this sunday's papers. test our fast relief. [ male announcer ] we went to germany's nurburgring to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with.

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[ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. do you have an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem? are you taking warfarin to reduce your risk of stroke caused by a clot? you should know about pradaxa. an important study showed that pradaxa 150mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa, there's no need for those regular blood tests. pradaxa is progress. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have kidney problems or a bleeding condition, like stomach ulcers. or if you take aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctors approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk.

other side effects include indigestion,stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if pradaxa can reduce your risk of a stroke. for more information or help paying for pradaxa, visit pradaxa.com. congress comes back into session this week and there's plenty of attention on the first meeting of the deficit supercommittee this thursday. pennsylvania democratic senator bob casey chairman of the joint economic committee joins us us right now. pat toomey is in the supercommittee. how hopeful are you that we're going to have a real statement of action by congress on this supercommittee on cutting debt over time? >> i'm reasonably confident. maybe if only because we have to do it.

we've got to continue to have a plan to cut spendsing and reduce deficit and debt. at the same time almost on a parallel track we've got to be focused on job creation. that's essential. we've got to have a bipartisan agreement on both. but i think we can get there. >> let's talk about what everybody's talking about the 9.1% unemployment rate. the drop in the stock market again today because of that and the president's speech on thursday. what would be to you a concrete proposal by the president? >> well i know he's got a couple that he'll likely propose. he's talked about them politicsly and maybe there's some -- publicly and maybe there's others as well. certainly a payroll tax cut. i would favor that. i would hope that he'd adopt some of my ideas that would have a positive impact on jobs. the life science incentive would invest in research and create

medical science. another idea i have is a quarterly cut if you increase your payroll you can get a 20% tax credit quarter by quarter. so ideas like that i think that have not only meet a two-part test. they will create jobs for sure, they have bipartisan support. i hope he would do that in addition to an infrastructure bill as well as others. i think there are a lot of good ideas, chris. the key thing is getting bipartisan consensus so we can vote. i would hope that we could vote on one or two ideas every week so over the next weeks and months you have a whole package of ideas that are moving and creating jobs. >> how does he get speaker boehner to schedule his bills? the republican party is hoping to defeat him next year. why would they schedule a vote on any of his measures? >> that's a good question. they made it clear that mitch mcconnell has said the same

thing. both sides no matter what kind of a state you represent. what kind of congressional district you represent, there are two messages people have been given all of us. one is do something to create jobs very quickly. and two, get along and work something out. if you're a legislator in the house of the senate and you're not working on both of those, you're going to be in trouble. i think you ignore the pleadings from the american people at your own political peril. we're all in the same boat. the frustration with washington is bipartisan. we've got to be creating jobs and along the way working stuff out and stop the finger pointing and the whining and the demonizing that goes on in washington. >> you just got back from the afghanistan, pakistan region, do you think the president was right in surging troops in afghanistan? >> i think we have, chris. we're seeing evidence of the success of our military. you can see it in the news reports. you don't have to be there to

see it. i saw it firsthand and got a lot of good briefings that indicate what i had already believed to be true. we still have tremendous challenges there. the afghan government still has a long way to go on corruption or anti-corruption measures. building a judiciary that's stronger and more reliable that people can depend upon for the rule of law. so it's a long why to go. i think we've seen good results at least on the military part of the surge, but we still have a long way to go. >> do we know where al qaeda is headquartered now? what country it's in? >> chris, i'm not sure that there's one place. but certainly in yemen, certainly the southern part of yemen there's a real presence there. even if the al qaeda numbers are way down, even if you could count the numbers and some people say that the numbers in a place like afghanistan are very small, they have inspired other movements and other terrorists organizations. is basic problem -- the basic

problem we have if we extinguish al qaeda, which i think ultimately we can, we still have so many terrorist elements out there, networks that a lot of them have their origin or get support from or get their strength from pakistan. that's why i spent a lot of time there particularly to urge the pakistani government to help us on ammonium nitrate, the fertilizer that comes in from pakistan to afghanistan is blowing up troops either killing them or wounding them. we pushed really hard on the pakistani government to help us with that. they got a plan. they're beginning to implement it. we'll see how they do. that's going to help one way or the other our relationship which i still think is on a precarious basis right now. >> senator bob casey. thanks for being a member of the senate foreign relation committee. up next, romney and perry spar over jobs as romney gets ready to roll out his jobs plan today.

you're watching andrea mitchell out at the reagan library in simi valley, california, only on msnbc.

i'm thomas roberts topping the helds on "andrea mitchell reports," we are following the breaking news out of carson city, nevada, where the fbi says seven people have been injured after being shot at a local ihop restaurant. the fbi said the alleged gunmen was wounded. he's been taken to a local hospital. we'll follow that and bring you more details when we get them. calm winds are helping firefighters battle the wildfires that are blazing across texas today. the blaze has destroyed nearly 500 homes and burned at least 25,000 acres. texas governor rick perry stepped off the campaign trail to address the catastrophic situation on today this morning. >> there's plenty of time to take care of that. people's lives and their possessions are in danger.

that's substantially more important. meanwhile a small plane crash on sunday ignited a southern california wildfire that has now destroyed a dozen homes and consumed close to 9,000 acres. on a different note heavy rain from tropical storm lee is causing flood watches across the northeast today. the storm drenched southeast states like alabama, georgia and tennessee this holiday weekend. spawning tornados and sweeping several people from their homes. more than 200,000 people lost power alone in alabama. and the news of the world phone hacking scandal continues. former executives of the now shut down tabloid were questioned by parliament this morning. rupert murdoch lied to parliament when he blamed outside law lawyers for improperly investigating that scandal. now we'll send it back to chris matthews in simi valley, california. the state is set for

competing visions for how to put the country back to work. while mitt romney lays out his ideas today. the former massachusetts governor is doubling down on what he considers the future of economic growth. >> too many people think that business is bad. corporations are made up of people, employees, shareholders, customers, they're people. we want people to succeed and the private sector is where that's going to happen. >> david corn washington bureau chief for mother joans magazine. and john than alder msnbc political analyst. thank you so much. let's talk about what i think is the biggest issue of the week is whether the president has something in his bag so to speak. something there inside that santa claus sack that's real and concrete and it excites people about the fact that there is something there we didn't know was there. that's my big question. first david, then john.

is he going to show us something that's startlingly new this week? . >> my guess is we're not going to see magic unicorns out of that bag. economists can tell you and they've been telling us for the last year and a half or longer there's a lot more that can be done to stimulate the economy to create jobs whether it's a major infrastructure program there are things that could be done that are not politically possible. to me it's not just what he unveils. the question is not the speech. it's what comes after the speech and how hard and how bold he's willing to be in going up against republicans to have this fight even though there's little chance anything big will pass through this republican congress. >> john, same question to you, will we get something new this thursday evening? >> it depends what the definition of is. i do think that he can use the

element of surprise to get some traction especially if it's for something like a youth jobs direct hiring program. where young people can go down to an office at ameri corp. or the department of labor and get put to work almost right away as franklin roosevelt did. that's not going to happen because the republicans will block it. but to say that he stands for it happening and he believes in doing whatever it takes to put jobs first even if that takes a franklin roosevelt idea that's out of fashion then he needs to do that. what's interesting about this, chris, is in the stimulus they already got authorization for 2r50,000 new ameri corp. jobs for young people. they just never funded it. he can now build on that. the infrastructure through ameri corp. is there.

they could put young people back to work immediately. if he comes out for that, i think that would have the element of surprise. it might get some attention. >> david corn, i guess john and i have both seen the movie "dave." that's exactly what kevin kline does in the movie as the pretend president. he comes out with the principle of finding a job for people who want a job. that principle, that effort we haven't seen that from this president. he's talked about construction, infrastructure, you know, whatever. but he's never talked about the principle of getting a job for people who need a job. >> well, i think if he can put himself out there as the employment chancellor of the nation but -- >> i mean, the hiring man. don't put it down. new york david, don't put that idea down. not job counselor, jobs. >> i mentioned earlier a wpa type deal which is close to what john than's talking about in

which is government could do some direct hiring and perhaps direct financing of hiring in the private sector. he could say, listen if the republicans pass this today we would have 250,000 jobs and a million jobs. half a million jobs. then the real issue is going to be credibility here whether he can make a strong enough case that he can get people especially independent voters who will be hearing republicans say spending, spending in response to whatever the president proposes. if he can get them to say wait a second, this sounds good, i want to see him fight for this, we may have an interesting political battle in the next year. >> it's the way he throws down the gauntlet. he's got to say my party and i are for rebuilding america. if you don't agree, you're against rebuilding america. you're against jobs. he needs it to be jobs first. you're either for more jobs or you're not. jobs immediately not through incentivizing the private sector although there will be plenty of that in the package as well.

he has to make a very clear distinction between one vision that directly creates jobs. >> that means getting out of this tar pit that the nation has fallen into about government reduction and deficit spending. getting away from the notion that what's wrong with the economy is the government's spending too much. >> would you recommend john that he say speaker boehner i want to vote on this package, you may not like it, but i want my vote. i'd like it byemr 1st or november 1st or some statement of -- in other words, lay down a marker for the republicans. you may not like my program, it creates jobs. i want a vote. should he do that? >> definitely should do that. he should make it clear that jobs come first. deficit reduction is extremely important in the long run. and he's going to plain on thursday that he will pay for

these jobs programs with more deficit reduction than has been called for and he will explain specifically how he will get the long-term deficit reduction in. the immediate term it has to be jobs first, jobs first. if we don't go with this package, you don't believe in jobs first. that's the implication. >> will he have the ka hoonys to say to the american people jobs first? i don't want to hear anymore from eric cantor about taxes and spending, jobs first. will he say that? >> i think he said already he's not going to fwauking about the deficit and debt in this speech. i think the idea of a deadline of just putting some sort of action down there by which he and the republicans can be judged is a good idea. the president it's been well written likes consensus and people believe that he likes to avoid fights. sometimes a fight brings attention to something and for a fight to have to happen you need dramatic mile posts and dramatic you know, schedules and so he

needs to -- he just can't say this is what i want to do this is my expectation. it suddenly sets up a continuation of the story so the speak is at the beginning and not just the thing in and of itself. >> also, chris, he needs to say to the american people if you want jobs first, contact your congressman. if you don't want jobs first, don't. >> i don't think the people want to see the umpire take the bat. they want a her hitter. up next, thank you both. up next the heroes of 9/11 a decade after the attacks. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. from the reagan library out here in simi valley, california. new citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. it's pro-cool technology releases armies of snowmen masseuse, who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy.

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see your lexus dealer. hi everyone. i'm tam rob hall. we're following breaking news out of nevada where seven people have been injured after a shooting spree inside an ihop restaurant. plus homeland security secretary

says very soon air travelers will no longer be forced to take off your shoes when going through airport security. and the question being asked by writer andrew sullivan. did osama bin laden win? we're going to talk about that coming up on "news nation." this sunday marks the tenth anniversary of september 11st, 2001. as the nation remembers the thousands who died in new york, washington and shanksville, pennsylvania, those who survived continue to suffer the effects of that day. kenny spect is a first responder at the world trade center ten years ago. he joins us now. you're a member of the new york fire department. >> that's correct, chris, yes. >> tell me what physically happened to you as a result of 9/11? >> i was diagnosed with cancer in may of 2007. operated on in november of 2007. and continued medical problems, chris. it's terrible and tragic what's going on within the membership of the new york city fire

department. the past ten years have been horrible. the past three years has been terrible. it's decimated the ranks of the new york city fire department. >> you know, physically rather visually we're look right now at the scenes after the horror of september 11th. we're look at the air quality. what was in the air? what caused the cancer? >> chris, i have to be honest with you, i'm a new york city firefighter not a biochemist. i'm still waiting for those in the know to come out and admit to us what exactly what is in air. ten years later we're still doing medical studies. we're still having a problem. we're pushing that rock uphill. chris, from a new york city firefighter to anybody out there who wants to come out and be clear and honest and truthful about us what occurred down there ten years ago, i'm ready, willing and open along with the members of the new york city fire department to hear after ten years what was down there. what caused the illnesses and

what do you have to look forward to from this point forward? >> it remind me of is vietnam and agent orange. >> you're 100% right. we saw how the chemicals that were made and you take the leaves off the trees and the soldiers underneath receiving these chemicals from the air how they got sick and how they fought for 40 and 50 years after the vietnam war and how they were told what terp exposed to didn't cause the cancers. it's the same thing in the new york city firefighters. you hit the nail on the head. we ask ourselves if this is our agent orange. we ask if we have to hear another 30 years until we hear the truth. i hope we don't. i hope the nation has changed. i hope the way of thinking has changed. i hope those that know what went on down there to let us know what it is we have to look forward to. we're all men. we just want to know where it is we're headed.

coming from where i'm coming from, chris and within the new york city fire department, i'm tell youg right now it's pretty dim days ahead. it's been dark behind us. it doesn't look good going forward. >> let me ask you about your senator, is it helping? >> i will tell you this, the bill's changed a lot since it was first passed. and i don't think that it's changed for the good. we're looking at an expansion of the toxic area. we continue to watch as we -- the special master says she has medical evidence that leads her to believe that she should expand the toxic area of lower manhattan. however, i'm still waiting for that medical evidence to expand the illnesses covered on the bill. we saw the new york city fire department this week release the report that they have evidence the cancer was caused by our time at the trade center. i have yet to see any positive feed back from anybody as it relates to the new york city

fire department medical report. we watched dr. john howard give his report last year, the cdc stated that their medical monitoring program, did not core late cancer to anybody's time at the trade center and everybody came out ahead of that report. everybody said they supported it. the special master said she supported it. with this new report by the new york city fire department all we hear is crickets. we're calling on somebody to come out and support the report of the new york city fire department and we're calling on them to put it together and submit it support the new york city fire department and calling on them to put it together and submit it into the as zdroga bill and hel these new york city firefighters. >> you keep speaking, because you are a great speaker for this cause and what a cause it s. this saturday, we will be at the flight 93 memorial out in

shanksville, memorial, because those people were up there and they knew what was happening and the first americans who knew what they were facing and they brought down that plane and saved washington. join us at 10:00 p.m. eastern to join us at the site of that crash and what a noble moment for this country. we will be right back. this is lara. her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels.

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the political stories making headlines in the next 24 hours, msnbc contributing editor and manager of postpolitics.com, chris cillizza joining us right now. i'm sitting here in front of air force one and back in 1980 on election eve or rather election eve, reagan beat us by ten poinpoint s i remember sitting on that plane next to jody powell. but the question to you is perry, looking at the msnbc poll, people want him to be okay. they are giving him 38% of support, even 21% of them have something good to say about him, so they want him to do well.

is it another question like reagan did in the debate like carter, if he is okay, it is good enough to beat this guy, because the public wants an option play right now? >> chris, clearly the republican party is rallying behind perry in a way nobody expected because he has gone from 11 to 33 in basically two weeks. the expectations are low for him and if he can walk and chew gum and not make a big flub, he ends up a winner, because the momentum is on his side and people want him to do well, and particularly in the republican party. >> yeah. yeah, you are with me, buddy. chris cillizza, he is something. they want you to do well, chris cillizza. i'm chris matthews, and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow, on the show, andrea interviews 2012 republican presidential candidate jon huntsman, and the one who said call me crazy, i believe in evolution, and that is hours before the debate tomorrow night. and don't miss a special edition of "hardball" tonight.

we have two shows for you in front of air force one. my colleague tamron hall has a look at what is up next on "newsnatio "newsnation." hi, tamron. >> thank you, chris. rick perry says he is substantially more concerned about the people of his state affected by the wildfires than tomorrow's republican debate. the question is this hour, will perry skip the first gop presidential debate? plus, this hour, the senate returns to work, but the approval numbers are at historical low. the majority of the people saying that they would, listen to, vote out every member of congress. "newsnation" is moments away. ♪ maybe time can mend us together again ♪ ♪ it's not what we've done but how far we've come ♪ ♪ i know that we will recover [ male announcer ] here when you need us most.

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>> developing news right now on "newsnation." the tremors of the staggering economy and wall street reacting to weak jobs numbers as a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows that president obama has the lowest job rating of his presidency. how can the president rebound? and the days of taking off your shoes to get on an airplane could soon be over, and what the homeland security said tod