security. the house is gone, and know la's house is gone. dave and heather's is about half gone. >> gone! unbelievable devastation that the wildfires in texas have now destroyed more than 1,000 homes as firefighters hope that calmer winds will help them to battle the flames. and how the fires could possibly affect tomorrow's republican debate. plus a man who was home sick when his co-workers bought a lottery ticket worth millions of dollars suing to get at least half of the jackpot. it is today's "newsnation" gut check. hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall and the "newsnation" is following developing news involving the weak economy. two hours before the closing bell, the dow is now down 163 points. it was down more than 300 points earlier today and today's continuing sell-off follows friday's unemployment report that showed zero job growth in august, and the worst numbers in almost a year. and there are also more worries about europe's debt crisis and

meantime president obama is preparing to unveil the new jobs plan before a joint session of congress thursday evening. a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll showing that americans are increasingly losing confidence in the president's ability to solve the nation's problems. look at the numbers. 44% approve of how he is handling the job, and the lowest rating ever in that poll. 51% disapprove and 37% approve of the president's handling of the economy and another all-time low. 59% disapprove. cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood joining us live, and one of the things that is interesting about the polling is that the people out there, john, still like this president, which then lends the question, or lends you the ask, can the president rebound or really just about the unemployment number and if you don't get people back to work, you may not work here? >> sure he can rebound. there is no guarantee that the president is going down as a result of the situation we are in right now, but as you indicated earlier, tamron, this

is one of the moments in the president's life where all of the news seems to be bad, and it is overwhelpingly bad for the president in the poll. the lowest approval rating ever in the washington journal/nbc poll saying that the country is headed in the wrong direction and higher approval rating for congress, but that is less significant because it is institutional rating and not personal rating. and most ominous before this speech that the president is about to give on thursday where he is to come out with a $300 billion stimulus plan and americans, when we asked them to boost the economy now even if it increases the deficits in the short term or hold down the d f deficit, a majority of the people say to hold down the deficit and that is the republican message and not the president's. >> i want to play what the president said in detroit talking to the union worker, and it is interesting before we play this sound i was watching nightly news, john, and they were getting reaction from people in detroit and quite

hone honestly like the poll shows most people don't believe anything will be done even if the president has ideas that they support. listen to what he had to say. >> we will see if we have some straight shooters in congress. we will see if the congressional republicans will put the country before party. the time for action is now. no more manufactured crises, no more games. >> no. >> and now is not the time for the people you sent to washington to worry about their jobs. now is the time for them to worry about your jobs. >> you hear a lot of people saying yeah, but a lot of the same people said but i don't believe they will get anything done. >> well, you heard a president in that clip, tamron, who is gearing foup ar fig ining up fo does not plan to win legislatively, but politically. it is from all indications that we have that the republicans will gaibe against everything t he lays out. but the democrats want him to be like harry truman to go campaign

against the do-nothing-congress. he has not communicated the message as effectively as the supporters would like, and this is a challenging moment, but maybe some compromise with republicans on capitol hill, but we are beginning the phase of the washington cycle and the 2012 election cycle where we have a big ideological fight, and we will see which side comes out on top. >> let's bring in zachary carebell who is from the rivers twice and contributor at dailybeast and t"the new york time times", and let's talk about what we heard from the president coming out and we heard strong words from hoffa at the rally. >> hoffa brought back the war on labor theme, and we haven't heard that in this country in 30 or 40 years in the way that we

heard it articulated. john harwood is absolutely correct in that president obama needs to be addressing the base and seem to be speaking it to and he knows and everyone else knows that the chance of this particular congress spending a lot of money to stimulate the economy and the dow is going down and no economic growth, there is not going to be that kind of actual spending. >> let me play what hoffa said, and this so-called war on words. let's listen, please. >> they have a war. they have a war with us, and there is only going to be one winner. it is going if be the workers. everybody has one vote and if we go back and keep the eye on the prize, let's go to these -- and twhin. >> is there any way for them to capitalize on the fire and not

use the language necessarily, but there is a war waged against the workers and we have heard congresswoman bachmann coming out against the union leadership. >> well, president obama could play the theme that in the past 20 or 30 years that labor in terms of people earning a wage has not grown whether it is the wall street has done very well. it is not a partisan comment but fact. and there was even much more extreme rhetoric than hoffa, and he went on to win. so there is a lot to play to the sentiment that this is not an evenly distributed economic system, and the winners are winning disproportionately to the losers. that is a theme that is potent regardless of what congress does. and then he can run against congress much like truman did as a way of saying, look, i'm out there defending that working class. congress is doing nothing.

the tea party is all about the deficits and where are the people on their benefits? >> and appreciate it. msnbc will be carrying the live coverage of the president's speech on jobs when he addresses a joint session of congress thursday night at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. we have breaking news out of carson, nevada, where a gunman has opened up firet and i hop. and witnesses say that a man pulled up outside of the ihop and a man shot a man on a motorcycle and then walked inside of the restaurant and just started shooting customers. the sheriff of carson city said he shot himself and taken to the hospital, but he is not expected to survive. msnbc news has learned three confirmed death and two other victims in critical condition, and currently in surgery. also, developing now, more than 1,000 homes in texas lie in ruin as nearly six dozen wildfires are raging out of control around the state and

more than 100,000 acres have been scorched and officials are saying that the flames are quote nowhere near contained. bastrop, texas, 25 miles outside of austin has been hit hard and already called the single worst wildfire in state history with 600 homes destroyed across 30,000 acres in bastrop alone where 5,000 people have been forced to evacuate and 400 people are right now in emergency shelters. severe drought is complicating the efforts to contain the flames, but firefighters say they may be helped by low winds today. >> we just found out that our house has been destroyed. right now, i'm sitting here and praying and hoping to god, because i don't know right now. >> nbc's jay gray has more from bastrop where one forest official says that the, quote, hills are glowing there. >> hi, tamron. conditions are take turn for the worse here in texas from the night and into the day. they have no control of to fire burning in bastrop today. the numbers you talked about

almost 600 homes burned and 30,000 acres. they are only expected to grow. they are working this fire on two fronts, on the ground and from the air. but really, not able to make any progress as far as getting a handle on things here. no containment at this point. it could be several days before crews have some type of foothold in their fight here. look, it is the wind that is really making things difficult here. gusting at times over 40 miles an hour. now it has died for the day today and should stay down for the next couple of days which is good news to allow the crews to get work done, but the forecast shows that it will pick up again by the weekend pushing the 234r5i78 flames in different directions and making it impossible for the firefighters on the ground to do what they need to do to establish a line against this fire. they will continue to work around the rock, tamron. they are going to use every resource available, but those resources, both the manpower and the equipment are spreading thin at this point. in fact, the texas forestry

service is issuing a call to all firefighters in the area saying that anyone who can respond to the fires at this point, asking them to do so immediately and telling those crews to expect to be here for quite some time. this is a fight, tamron, that is going to last. that's the latest from bastrop. i'm jay gray and back to you now. and thank you, gray. let's get the perspective from carl parker who is tracking the wildfires from atlanta, and carl, i flew into dallas over the weekend and i have never seen the state like this. the front yards looked like hay and i thought, this could be worse and what is the latest on the condition that the firefighters are dealing with? >> well, the winds are kaumg do -- calming down for a little bit and that will help out. but the reason it is so bad we had a tropical storm nearby that is not bringing the moisture up to texas, but we did get the

persistent north wind that kept it dry and windy for several days. that wind ly calming down a little bit, but we won't get rain here any time soon. there is a system developing in the gulf of mexico, and the models are keeping it in the gulf or taking it off to the north ore t the east and it doe not look like we will have rain any time. and the perpetualness of it keeps feeding the fires and does not look like any relief in the ebbt in we next week or so, and this has a signature of climate change, because in a warmer world, you will evaporate the ground and it dries out more. >> thank you, carl. coming up the provocative question asked by writer andrew sullivan "did osama bin laden win?" and why america took the bait after the aftermath of 9/11. and we will talk about it with michael smerconish. >> and the days many travelers are waiting to hear, the days of

taking off the shoes at the airport may soon be over. we will hear from the homeland security secretary had to say. and who knocked john kerry off of the top spot of the richest members of congress. [ drew ] give me volume. not clumps or gaps. the answer... it's all in the wrap. new covergirl lashperfection mascara perfectly wraps each lash for up to 3x more volume. new lashperfection. wrap it up. easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl.

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>> developing right now, defense secretary leon panetta has just left new york city after touring the new 9/11 memorial this morning. service members who joined the military since 9/11 accompanieded secretary panetta and also planning to visit the partially completed flight 93 memorial in shanksville, pennsylvania, but bad weather forced him to cancel that trip.

nbc's jim miklaszewski joining me from the pentagon and appears from the notes here, mick, that he is the first cabinet member to have seen the finished memorial at ground zero? >> that is what we understand, tamron. and defense secretary panetta was interested in paying his respects in advance of the observance on 9/11 next sunday, and in advance of what he thinks would be a crush of dignitaries of visitors to the sites both in shanksville, and of course at the world trade center. we are told that there was a private discussion between him and mayor bloomberg there in new york. but, at the same time, on that trip, reporters were accompanying the secretary, there was some actual -- a little bit off news that the white house has decided to reduce the number of iraqi troops in iraq, or u.s. troops

in iraq to 3,000 by the end of the year, and he insisted that no decisions have been made and talks continue with the iraqis, but i can tell you that after talking to some people here in the building, there may be a kernel of truth or at least an indication that the white house is going to drastically reduce the number of troops in iraq by the end of the year, and also, about reports that moammar gadhafi may have fled in a long military convoy that was said to have left libya and gone into i niger, and he says i wish i knew where he was, but he said, we doe no that gadhafi is on the run. >> and a lot of headlines to talk about there, certainly, mick. and a new york daily beast article takes a look back at how the u.s. responded to the tragedy of 9/11, and asks the question of did osama bin laden win? it claims that his goal in the attack was not only to kill

innocent americans, but to lure the nation into a war with the muslim world, and as author andrew sullivan says, we took the bait. and joining me the talk about it is msnbc contributor and talk show radio host michael smerconish. and he wrote, did osama bin laden succeed? not at all, and he spectacularly failed and down to the pathetic life, he did not ban american occupation in the middle east, but temporarily increased it. but he talks about the trust of government and like so many others he did not question the actions of the government in the early months and years of the war. >> i don't buy his premise, because the premise is that bin laden's goal was to bring about a war between the united states and islam or muslims, and then he addresses that principle. i don't think that is what bin laden was after. i think that there are a lot of misconceptions that we had

initially that they hated us for the lattes and the lap dances, and they didn't like us because of the gap and all of these other so-called excesses of capitalism, but if you listen to someone like michael shoir who wrote a biography of bin laden, what is clear is that bin laden's objective was to get us out of the middle east in a variety of locations, and what he most objected is what he perceived as intervention allist american foreign policy and if that is true, he got the exact opposite of what he wanted, because was we are now in more than 750 locations around the globe. >> and you know, to your point, andrew sullivan does point out in the article and points to the arab spring and the rejection of al qaeda by young arabs throughout north africa and throughout the arab nations who wanted democracy and not to be held back by religious extremists, but andrew sullivan writes, i cannot imagine any other circumstance in which i

would simply trust the government, period, but as fear dominated by being, trust i did as a majority of the americans who supported the war that handed bin laden exactly what he wanted. i have heard a lot of people ask this question ten years later, are we changed, more skeptical, and could this happen again? meaning the events that led to iraq, no weapons of mass destruction and some of the great privacy concerns that came into play and warrantless wiretaps and so on and so forth and the list goes on and even the debate over waterboarding and on and on and where do you think that we stand now? >> i think that skepticism is good for democracy. i don't agree with sullivan, when it seems that he believes that we have put ourselves in a war posture with islam, and with muslim people. i think that the president has worked very, very hard to make it clear that it could not be further from the case, but we are in pursuit of those who threaten the safety and the security of the united states. one other final thought if i might, it is healthy to have the

conversations to whether our response was exses scessive of it should have been. a small group of a highly trained navy s.e.a.l.s got bin laden and we went to war in two different countries and thousands of people died and i wonder if that is necessary. >> and andrew does bring this up, the cost of the war and especially the debt ceiling debails and the debates of where we stand in debt, and what if these wars had not taken place actually the one that people saw that was unjust and the war being in iraq. >> yep, yep. >> good to talk to you. >> thank you. and on the brink, the postmaster general warns that the post office is so low on cash, it may have to shut down entirely later this year if congress does not act. what does congress need to do here? plus, what is the worst part of being vice president? joe biden reveals the one thing that he hates not being able to do as vice president of the united states, and the answer is next on "newsnation." phillips' caplets use magnesium,

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welcome back to "newsnation," and the senate just got back into session this hour, and right now, we have live pictures of the senate floor as members are back to work after their break. but it is lawmakers' ability to work and get things done that has a lot of people ready to put them out of a job altogether. look at the new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll showing that a majority of americans would vote every member out of congress, and 54% said they would clean house. joining me is luke russert, and luke, i'm curious how -- i guess that the members of the senate are processing their work that really needs to be done. i mean, these numbers could not be more clear. >> they couldn't, tamron. and one thing that is popular up here on capitol hill is that members will say, well, that folks around the country, they hate congress, but they love the individual member of congress, and that last stat that you mentioned says that is not true, and this is going on with the

wave we are seeing in 2006 which is really much this get the bums out mentality. it does resonate here in both houses of capitol hill, and especially the folks in the swing districts and can go either way, and the lowest approval rating for congress taken in the poll history is 82% of the americans disapproved of the job that congress is doing. the main question to be answered in november, tamron, is the house gop approach of stopping the obama agenda entire ly and putting up a brick wall there means that the congress is the least productive in getting legislation through both bodies and it is that we will see a few budget fights and will the public see it as a positive or negative? that is the question that both sides are dying to figure out, and still a long time before november to see if the numbers improve, but it is not likely, tamron. there is a lot of displeasure towards congress right now. >> and they would have a really long road ahead to recover from those numbers, but luke, i have to transition you to what is

going on with the post office. you have the postmaster general testifying today, and what is the reality? i mean, could we see the end of saturday service and all of the layoffs that at least the post office seems to want? >> well, in is a wild story, tamron. the united states post office and something that has been around since our founding fathers, from benjamin franklin who was the first postmaster general. and the postmaster general is going to tell a senate committee today going on as we speak that the u.s. postal service is going to run out of money by the winter and not operate by the summer. the reason being? a lot of the money to operate is tied nup in labor costs, and deals relating to health care and benefits which are too expensive for the postal service to pay out. they will miss the ability to pay $5.5 million in benefits by september 30th, and what they will come to congress to ask is that they don't want any moneyk because they don't take any money from federal government now, but they want to have the ability to restructure and end

saturday delivery and you can see 3,700 post offices close, and they are asking for the ability. it is unclear if congress will give it to them, because the rural states don't want it changed that much, but you could see the end of the postal service within a calendar year from now and that is an amazing story. >> thank you, luke russert up there on capitol hill. and tomorrow, will rick perry skip tomorrow's republican debate? that is one of the questions this hour, but the texas governor says he is much more concerned about the victims of the wildfires in his state than at the ending the debate. and a monstrous 20-foot crocodile is captured. look at that. it is believed to be the biggest one ever caught, and another one that is even big ser on the loose. we are following breaking news from hollywood. eddie murphy has reportedly agreed to host the oscars. we have more info coming up in t the scoop.

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re we are back with breaking news, a shooting in carson city, nevada. nine people were shot with an automatic weapon and three confirmed dead. two of those killed were national guardsmen who were in uniform, and another victim died during surgery and the gunmen turned the weapon on himself and he is currently in the hospital, but he is not expected to live. the motive is still unknown at this point, and less than a half hour from now the police plan to hold a news conference to release details of what happened there. the carson city sheriff ken furlong is joining us now. what can you tell us at least what witnesses say happened out there? >> the witnesses called in prior to 9:00 this morning saying that a man was in the parking lot at an international house of pancakes house here in carson city with an automatic weapon and shooting people. early on, we were informed that at least five persons had been shot. that toll has gone up to nine, i

believe at this point in time. the suspect would be an additional person and appears as though a self-inflicted wound took him to the ground. when officers arrived, there were victims of the shooting across the parking lot and throughout the restaurant. >> do you know anymore about this individual's identity or motive or any details relating to that? >> we don't have any details on the positive identity of the shooter. we believe we know who it is, but it is currently still being investigated. >> all right. >> the i will note for you as you are very well aware that many of the victims were national guard persons at the restaurant at the time in uniform. >> do we know that he targeted them? since you bring up that part of the story, we know that two are confirmed dead at the scene, and do you know if he targeted the

national guardsmen? >> i believe most of the deceased are military persons, and that is still being processed. i have to note for you that six, i believe, are in surgery right now, and a seventh person that was in surgery has passed away. so, and your questions are begging an ongoing. >> thank you, sheriff, we know you are very busy and thank you for coming on to give us an update. and two of othose killed in the shooting spree were national guardsmen in uniform and we will have much more in the latest on that, but this shooting happening in carson city, nevada. and right now texas governor rick perry is not saying whether he will take partd part in the republican debate, because he says he may stay home to deal with the state's wildfire crisis. >> we will deal with that as it

happens, but i'm substantially more concerned with if texans are taken care of. the questions are with the emergency response and saving people's lives and hopefully as many homes and possessions as we can. >> nbc news deputy political director mark murray joining us from the sitef of tomorrow's debate the reagan presidential library, and mark, he must be under some pressure to make a decision or otherwise he would say he is in or out. >> well, it is a tough decision for him, because you see what is happening in texas with the home state and a sitting governor and that requires attention from him, but on the other hand, you see the presidents have to walk and chew gum at the same time, so it is an interesting decision for him. but, if he does at the end, he would be the spotlight here at this debate tomorrow night, tamron, as you saw, our brand new wall street/nbc news, he is

going to be the leader sharing the stage with mitt romney and ron paul and all of the rest of the republicans. >> and it is interesting to talk about the new nbc report about the super pac backing him and they plan to flood in $55 million, and if this is right, they want to wipe out the competition early and hard, and that seems to be the strategy for perry. >> oh, that was reported by my colleague nbc's mike isikoff, and it is one of the stories of the season, because you will see them whether it is rick perry, michele bachmann, and others spend millions of dollars in these super pacs that can raise unlimited eed amounts and spen unlimited amounts. we all thought that this was -- >> looks like we lost the

connection to mark murray, and we apologize for that technical problem there, and we hope to get him back later. in the meantime, watch the nbc news, and politico republican debate tomorrow night. and tomorrow, jon huntsman will appear on "andrea mitchell reports" and catch the interview tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. four former executives areal chaing james murdoch's claim that he did not know of the hacking scandal that it was widespread throughout the "world of the news" office. and a member told parliament today, he informed murdoch about an e-mail that implied that more than one reporter was hacking into phones and listening to e-mails. murdoch is denying that claim. and michele kosinski is joining me from london, so this is boiling down to one side saying one thing and the other saying another, and is there proof that james murdoch was not telling

the truth to parliament? >> no, there is no proof of that and it is he said/he said, and this is interesting and this is why, because when the murdochs testified before the house select committee in july, you heard a lot of i don't recollect that, and nobody told me about that, and even though that made some of the questioners credulous, because they were running the company, but they described their knowledge of the situation and only until rekr t recently until this blew up of thinking that it came from the actions of a single rogue reporter and a private investigator, both of whom served time in prison for hacking, and now you have two former employees a legal manager and former editor of "news of the world" saying, that is not true at all. we sat down for a meeting and maybe 10 or 15 minutes and not exactly what was said, but they said they did discuss and certainly discuss this e-mail that you mentioned that supposedly according to them

showed evidence that the hacking was well beyond one rogue reporter. the legal manager says that there is no ambiguity off what that e-mail conveyed and inconceivable that james murdoch did not understand what that meant. they sort of used it as their proof. they say that the reason he had to know about this was because he was approving a huge settlement in a lawsuit against the paper over hacking. the settlement was more than a half a million dollars. well, james murdoch did respond to this testimony today calling it unclear and contradictory and calling his own original testimony clear and consistent. he said that all he got in that meeting was a recommendation that they settle this lawsuit, and he says that any e-mail or any evidence beyond a single rogue reporter's actions was not discussed. well, it might sound confusing at this point, but again, it is a he said/he said situation and they are saying that james murdoch's testimony was wrong. and now that committee may call

james murdoch back again to testify soon, tamron. >> all right. nbc's michele kosinski is live for us in london. thank you. and getting through airport security could eventually become easier. homeland security secretary janet napolitano and the head of the tsa said they are more to a ri risk-free future, and that means that that you can keep your shoes on. >> you could walk through and security scanners which would pick up explosives or anything else that may be cause catastrophic failure to an aircraft. >> nbc's pete williams joining us now. and pete, what do they mean by the future? near future or something in the distant lens away? >> well, they weren't specific about that, and i hope you caught the wordy vest, becau di

that is the word you use to take stuff off, the belt and the shoes, but that is the change that the passengers will see next. pistole had some interesting historical data saying that since the shoe thing started after the richard reed attempted shoe bombing in 2001, the tsa has scanned 6 billion people, and not a single shoe bomb has been found and european countries have the same analysis and it is partly the analysis of the threat, and the improvement in security, but they say that the changes will come relatively soon, but that it is a long time before the restrictions are lifted on liquids. it is simply technologically very difficult to analyze liquids in any kind of a quick way to find out whether or not they are dangerous. so that's something that won't change, and both emphasized this increased reliance on what they called the trusted traveler program. frankly, that won't be for most travelers, but frequent fliers

who register with the government agree to pay a fee and pay an extensive background check will go through the fast lane like fewer items at the grocery store and they won't have to divest themselves of so many things. >> many people would be happy with the liquids, but keep on the shoes. even with flip-flops they make you take them off. and the cast of the "housewives of beverly hills" says that the show should not have gone on a month after the death of one of the house wive's husbands. and the new image of the letter "d" engulfed in a circle with the tag line democrats, change that matters. and vice president joe biden says that there is one big

downside to being the vice president. driving a car. the vice president talks about how he can't get behind the wheel of his 1967 corvette, and he says that the secret service won't let me drive it. i'm not allowed to drive anything. it is the one thing i hate about this job. i'm serious. >> and the 20 richest members of congress has been revealed and republican michael mccaccaul ha taken the lead, because he is worth $287 million. and speaking of numbers the wealthiest lawmakers combine to have worth of $1.6 billion of net worth, and those are the things that we thought you should know. to keep in balance after 50, i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 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.

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at chantix.com. crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. reduce lead and other impurities don't our dogs deserve to eat fresher less processed foods just like we do introducing freshpet healthy recipes of fresh meat and fresh veggies so fresh the only preservative we use is the fridge freshpet fresh food for fido i'm martin bashir and coming up at the top of the hour, the white house answering tough questions about some tough

comments at a rally that the president at the ends. is america ready to do something about this do-nothing-congress? polls show they are mad as hell and may not take it in 2012. and hack, the heat is very much on the murdoch media empire. all of that and much more ahead. back to tamron. >> thank you, martin. in the philippines and a one ton -- and look at this crock crocodi crocodile. it is one of the largest captured in the world. it was over 20 feet long and reported to be responsible for one death, and officials are on the hunt for a bigger beast that may be in the creeks of the remote southern area of the country. and the "real housewives of beverly hills" responding to critics who say that the show should not go on. >> and eddie murphy has agreed to host the oscars. and let's get the scoop from kim serafin, and what do you have, kim? take it a wway.

>> well, we know that the "real housewives of beverly hills" did address russell armstrong's suicide on the show. some say it was sensitively handled and others said it was creepy and some people say they should not have done the second season of the show. some of the cast members were on the "today" show and they addressed all of this. they said they can talk about suicide prevention and talked about defending bravo's decision to air this second season of the show. let's take a listen to that. >> i believe that actually the network and with us, we agreed to take the high road and do something positive which is to get the message out about suicide prevention. mental illness. depression. >> so, you know, again, they are saying that they are taking the high road and addressed it on the show, but it was four minutes and right back to the show. people are tuning in and they are going to air this show, and

we knew that they would do some editing, but i think that there are a lot of the ratings will tell the truth. do people want to see this and watch the show and will people be able to see past russell armstrong's suicide and watch the show for entertainment? i don't know. i think that the jury is still out on that. >> let's talk about eddie murphy, what a surprise, he is going to host the oscars? >> yes, deadline.com is reporting that eddie murphy has agreed to host the next academy awards. there were talks that he would host the oscars and brett rattner had just worked with eddie on the movie, and apparently he wanted him tom cop in to host the oscars and now, again, they are reporting that eddie murphy has agreed to do this, and for a lot of people, they are excited because they want to see eddie murphy, a veteran of hollywood host this. obvious, everybody thought with ann hathaway and james franco, you could bring in more inon the the mix with hot actors and that didn't turn out so well, so

having a veteran actor/comic could work. >> and billy crystal said he would like the host it again, and if they have picked eddie murphy, will we see a controversy here? >> i don't -- well, yeah, billy crystal had expressed interest and people were excited about that as well, so i would not be surprised if they incorporated billy crystal in there and when you had alec baldwin and steve martin hosting a couple of years ago. so it would be fun to see a bunch of the old, i shouldn't say old, but veteran hollywood hosts back. >> and seasoned. let's call them seasoned. madonna is working on a new album and that is good news for her fans. >> yes, madonna said she is back into the studio and experimenting a little bit and she is hoping to have a new album out by spring of 2012 and the first single would be out potentially of february or march of next year and start working on it in new york after she is

promoting the movie at the venice film festival. this is exciting, because she has not had an album since 2008 and a lot of people want to see what she can put out there, and she does really well every time there is a new album out, and a lot of people thought that is the last album, but she does not stop. so i am excited what she has to offer, and we can just wait until spring 2012 and get to hear that. >> okay. a long list of things there. kim, greatly appreciate it. for the latest in entertainment news, logon to scoop.today.com or be a fan on the scoop on facebook. and coming up, a man is suing his coworkers for what he says is his share of a $99 million jackpot, but the problem is that he was on medical leave when they bought the winning ticket. it is our "newsnation" gut check. , who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon.

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welcome back, and time now more the "newsnation" gut check. an ohio man is suing the coworkers for a share of $99

million jackpot claiming that they cut him out. edward harriston and his colleagues at crack maid cabinet makemaking company have been putting money into a pool for eight years everyday. this summer he missed payments because he was out on a back injury, and this summer his co-workers won a jackpot taking home $2 million each, and edward says when he called the group to ask for his share, they said he is not entitled because he was not contribute to the pool. and he says that they have covered other colleagues when they were out and even used smaller lotto earnings for when they were out for five months. but now they are saying that is not true, so the judge is ordering the ohio state lottery to puts a side $2 million until the case is solved. so what does your gut tell you? is he entitled to a share of the

jackpot? go to msnbc.com and cast your votes. that is a tough one. see what "newsnation" is saying about friday's gut check concerning an episode of "toddlers and tiaras" about a 4-year-old girl dressed up like dolly parton -- i'm embarrassed to say that i watched this -- and is it appropriate for her to wear enhancements to look like dolly parton? and her mother wore them, and so it was 92% who said no, and only 8% said yes. you have to see the whole show. martin bashir is up next. that is all for "newsnation" this today. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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the best-selling novel you never wrote. but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event, with exceptional values on the lexus es. but only until september 6th. see your lexus dealer. but your cloud of depression is still with you. maybe it's time to ask your doctor about adding seroquel xr to your antidepressant to treat your depression. seroquel xr is a once-daily, extended-release tablet, which means medication is released around the clock. for many, seroquel xr, when added to an antidepressant, was proven more effective than an antidepressant alone at helping people feel less depressed. call your doctor if you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients taking seroquel xr have an increased risk of death.

call your doctor if you have fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, as these may be signs of a life-threatening reaction or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these could become permanent. high blood sugar has been reported with seroquel xr and medicines like it and in extreme cases can lead to coma or death. your doctor should check for cataracts. other risks include increased cholesterol and weight gain as well as seizures, dizziness on standing, drowsiness, impaired judgment, trouble swallowing, and decreases in white blood cells, which can be fatal. use caution before driving or operating machinery. isn't it time to put more distance between you and your depression? talk to your doctor about seroquel xr. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. good afternoon, it is tuesday september 6th, and here is what is happening.