i got too excited talking about eddie murphy, so we have time for one e-mail. >> i finished by 3:00 a.m. work out and ten-mile run. gotta look good for the ladies at school. >> yes, you do. you have to look good.

your girl might like to party all the time. take us out of here, eddie murphy. ♪ >> hard jobs agenda for months was held up in congress. do something about the economy that was being held hostage. we have been working with democrats to create jobs, creating legislation. republicans insist on reckless cuts that hurt our economic recovery. >> we've tried president obama's approach. it's failed. it's time for something new. the new approach we are suggesting isn't aimed at pleasing -- washington had not been able to do on its own. >> all right. good morning. it is wednesday, september 7th.

first day of school for a lot of kids across the country. welcome to "morning joe." >> your kids start today? >> well, not clear. not clear. >> what's that? more flooding at your school? >> stop it. with us on set -- it's a long story. don't make fun of him. you are next. you are in line. >> did you not hear what happened? >> he's mocking the disabled. >> i broke my tailbone. >> i feel so bad for you. >> i thought you were pregnant. >> no. mike barnicle is here. we have the editor and chief of news week magazine, tina brown bringing elegance to the table. >> your kids may not start because your school is flooded out, again? >> would you please stop. i can't talk about it. i turn into a monster. >> mika is going to run for the mayor of her town. >> they built a school and who would have guessed this -- >> on a swamp.

>> on a drainage thing. >> well, it happens. what are you going to do. >> what are you going to do as mayor, stop the rain? >> put the kids in school. i have a choice for you guys. we are not going to talk about my school. we are going to talk about the presidential debate or hear a preview of the president's jobs speech. we have inside information as to what is going to be in that. your choice, "morning joe." >> it's a catch 22. what do you want to hear first? >> the president's jobs. >> there you go. >> mike chooses the speech that no one will hear. >> everyone will hear it. it's going to be bold and turn a pak for this country. >> really? >> yes. you are damn straight it will. quit being such nay sayers. you sit here and criticize. why don't you try it for a second. >> we are in stores now. did you know this?

i went to check. >> it's in all the starbucks in america. saturday morning, you know, they have been saying -- >> can't escape you anytime. >> can't escape. >> we are going official announce this next week. so you are supposed to be quiet. >> i drive up to stanford, connecticut just to check on it. mika says they have it in my store. >> no, in my store. >> it's big and the beans i go in to do a spot check. i'm always looking for trouble. i'm just a little upset about it right now. >> you're an idiot. >> so, i go. it's like 6:00 in the morning. i drive up to stanford, connecticut. >> why? >> i'm going to see if they have it. a random check. tina will tell you, whether it's tina brown or steve jobs or joe

scarborough, you have to do these checks. >> did you just compare yourself to steve jobs? >> no! no! >> stripping it in. >> only to the part everybody hates me. i have that part of his personality down. i go to the store, people are like i love your show, i love your show. i'm looking for the coffee. by the time i -- i am so angry. if they are not going to roll these out right, of course they roll it out next week. >> you should have called howard. >> i'm about to call howard schultz and i'm dialling. the lady says what would you like? i'm sitting there growling. i'm about to call howard and she interrupts me. i'm going to say this roll out isn't working. the girl leans over the desk and says excuse me, could you sign these bags, we put them out on

tuesday. >> god. >> there. >> was your neediness filled. >> can you see if news week -- i'll check your coffee, you check news week. >> we didn't have a display case out. >> they wanted a life-size picture of me. i understand. anyway. punch line. i'm an idiot. >> too bad she interrupted you. that would have been great if you called howard schultz. >> while i'm yelling, she's putting the bags on the table. all right. on to other things. willie, how is your ass? >> same as yesterday. >> does it hurt? >> it does. >> it's going to hurt for you to sit down if you don't be quiet. >> what about lying down? how do you lie down? what do you do? do you have to lion your

stomach? >> i have medicinal aids taken orally. >> joe is going to need that thing. this is not going to work for him. >> how long are you not going to be able to sit down? >> they said six weeks, something like that. >> wow! >> there's no known cure. go. >> how are your kids doing today? >> they are back in school in their respectful educational establishments today. >> how is harry? >> harry is back at his computer as he always is. >> okay. >> the whole thing is good. >> fantastic. >> tell harry, we are going to watch liverpool matches this year. i'm going to fly him over to panfield. >> that's what he would love. >> it's going to get ugly. speaking of ugly, let's go to the news. we don't always have to go to the news. i want to check on tina's

friends and siblings and mikes baseball team and willie's ass. check. check. check. now, let's talk. let's look at this. it's front of news week. we'll talk about this now. front of news week, tina, you know, as we approach 9/11, a lot of people trying to figure out a tasteful way to take this very delicate matter on. i can tell you, you get a lot of eye rolls every time these anniversaries come along. i tell you, on the tenth anniversary, for some reason, people want to talk about it. >> they do. we addressed that, whether there would be audience fatigue. it's too seismic an event to not become reined for the tenth anniversary. we went for the blue cover. we wanted to remember that moment of american innocence when we looked up into the sky and saw that plane. i think that's one of the things people remember the most, more than the image of the flaming

towers, that moment, that vibrant blue sky that was so innocent and perfect. it was all shattered and the whole decade became a traumatic response to this event. andrew sullivan did a brilliant piece that talks about how in the end we defeated osama. we lost the decade to fear. over response in a sense to the terrorist attacks, took us into iraq, neglected afghanistan. bankrupted the country and have feared and went to the cortex of american policy and life to the point that, in a sense, we gave osama what he wanted. in the end, he was defeated by his own brutality. what he did murdering people. >> mika, so many people, you were there, obviously. this is still very personal to you.

so many people, even like yourself, when you talk to them about being there, they talk about the bright blue vivid skies. you hear that. that morning was beautiful. >> it was perfect. it was one of those days where you look up at the sky and take a deep breath and say wow, what a gorgeous september day. you couldn't help but to notice it. you stop and look. i will never forget how beautiful and perfect that morning was. >> we have a brilliant piece, too, about a terrible mischance in the minnesota fbi office where because of stumbling and lack of action, his computer wasn't open. the information that he had to give wasn't, in fact, accessed and how, you know, if it had been they were much, much closer to ending that plot. a very good piece. >> mike, this is not -- this

moment perhaps is the end of american innocence. i know this, it definitely was the end of a short lived american inevidentibility. ten years ago, we ruled the world. we ruled the world stage like no country since cesar's rule of roa rome. >> well, you know -- >> at the turn of the century, america was at its apex. >> yes. the striking thing about the cover and that day is, of course, most people remember that vivid sky. it was the end of summer. it was the end of our metapho c metaphorical summer. it was the beginning of a shabby period where politics and fear drained us of a natural energy we have as americans. by that, i mean, there is no

way, no way on earth, in history that you can fight two wars without paying for them. we chose to do that as a nation. there's no getting around it. we allowed our politics governed by fear to take us to the point where we are today. >> yeah, now we are fighting three wars. >> now, we are fighting three wars. we are actually fighting approximaty wars and three or four other countries where we are dropping bombs indiscriminately. the united states of america is war inc. now. are we on a permanent war foot sng. >> well -- >> obama has done well. he's proving it's a shrewd way to deal with libya, i think. >> the fact we engaged in libya in the first place, in a country where our secretary of defense

said there wasn't a pressing of vital american interest, it's frightening enough. the fact that we are lobbying bombs into somalia, pakistan, a country we haven't declared war on, nigeria. it's hard to keep a score card of how many wars we have going. hot wars, willie. not espionage. hot wars. >> it's not just what we have been doing, it's what we haven't been doing. that morning, china was on the radar. we didn't have all this talk of china overtaking us. we haven't been investing in our schools and growing jobs. we have been bogged down with people with money in foreign wars over the last ten years. >> mika, we are blowing things up and have been for a decade and china has been building things. >> speaking of war inc. the

obama administration is thinking of leaving 3,000 troops in iraq. it scaled from original pentagon requests that would have deployed 10,000. jay carnie dismissed the reports. while no decision has been made on specific levels, it is headed in that direction. the officials went on to say the remaining 3,000 troops would be part of a training mission of iraqi military and the number represents the reality in the climax of iraq and the united states. there you go. it really is war inc. >> what is the president going to say tonight? >> that's tomorrow night. tonight is the republican debate. >> what are the republicans going to say tonight? >> we'll talk about the jobs. that's more important. all though, i can't wait to hear what the republican candidates

are going to say in return. we are getting details as to what problem is expected to propose before congress. reports say the president will ask to invest $300 billion in the economy in spending and tax cuts including a one-year extension of a payroll tax cut for workers plus expiring unemployment benefits. other proposals will be for infrastructure and direct aid to state and local governments. he's expected to call on congress to offset the cost of short term jobs measures raising the tax revenue. this comes as house republican leaders are suggesting areas of potential agreement ranging from changes in highway spending to helping the long-term unemployed. john boehner and eric cantor requested a meeting with the president to discuss ways to compromise. a spokesman for boehner says

there will not be an official republican response to the president's jobs address. minority leader, nancy pelosi responded to this saying the republicans refusal to respond to the proposal in jobs is not only disrespectful to him but the american people. in nearly 250 days -- >> wait, wait, wait. >> i'm confused. >> i think the republicans are being respectful. >> let him talk. i don't want somebody to respond to my speech if they don't want to. it's good. >> the meeting before, i'm hopeful. aren't you hopeful? >> i'm hopeful. yeah, i'm hopeful. i don't understand why this is disrespectful. >> it seems like a good given response. >> the responses are god awful anyway. >> they are embarrassing.

remember bobby jindal, that was his suicide. >> michele bachmann looking at the wrong camera. >> no. come on, now. >> i want to respond to the president's words. >> stop. >> america is a great place. my four children -- they are always terrible. terrible. don't do it. go home. >> i like nancy pelosi. she's a very nice person. >> it doesn't sound like you like her. >> i do like her. >> how about thank you. >> it's like let's dial up because it's what we do. where's my um bridge today. >> i bet nancy pelosi was reading the bible to her grand kids and a staff member sent that out and she didn't know about it. okay?

can we not think positively? she was born with a bible in her hand. >> want to hear about the hoffa fall out? >> it's great. alex, can i ask you a question? >> yeah, put him in the hot spot. >> on twitter, all these people said you guys just edited a clip that ran from fox news and hoffa didn't really say that. he was quoting songs or talking about monday night football or, you know, did we -- i hope we did not run tape from fox news. we ran what he said yesterday, right? >> yeah. it was an accurate thing before the president came on. >> no edits, right? >> not that i'm aware of. >> what? >> is there a lawyer in there? where did you get the feed of the hoffa speech? >> i'll have to go back where we

cut it from, but i think on all of our air. i believe so. >> it didn't look edited to me. so, anyway there are all these conspiracy theories. he said it. again, you like nancy pelosi, i like hoffa. i like him a lot. >> he was here while you were on vacation. >> we missed it. >> he was great. >> of course he's great. >> off the air he said on the air are we going to take them out? >> we like people saying off the air on the air -- >> he's consistent. bottom line is, let me say this to republican that is i like. republicans i agree with. when you say thing that is are reckless, you need to pull it back. we get a lot of really whacko people living on the edge and you don't want to say anything that encourages whacko people, whether it's bachmann, glenn

beck or sarah palin or people on the left. >> what do you want hoffa to say? we have to find a way to remove him from public office. he's speaking to his members. let's take him out! let's take him out! >> you are saying it now but not when we went after bachmann for saying minnesota people should be armed and dangerous. >> armed is a different word than saying take them out. >> take them out in some halls around, you know -- take them out has a very specific meaning. it's not a political meaning. or sarah palin with her targets. let's target these people. you always have targeted districts but we jumped on it saying it was reckless. >> armed is bad. i'm upset by that. i think taken out is what you say in business. we want to take that guy out. i think it's okay.

>> on this show, we have been very critical of people who amped up the rhetoric. we went after glenn beck when he said the president was racist. it wasn't violent rhetoric, i thought it would lead to violence to the president of the united states. >> i'm going to defend hoffa on this. he's rough and tough. >> that's it. you have to take the context of the moment. he's speaking to a labor crowd in detroit on labor day. >> if you use language that sounds violent, there's no excuse for it. >> you have to take the context of other comments. >> armless. >> thank you. let's look at the context. sarah palin's people put up little targets. these are targeted districts. on a pac website that nobody sees. nobody. right? that's the context. isolated. hoffa delivers a speech before

the president of the united states comes up and delivers a speech of the same. that context is actually far more serious than the context of a website somewhere out in the ether net that nobody sees. >> first off, sarah palin is going to get brutalized by the media, no matter what she does. you can't compare her targeting of districts with what hoffa says. we are going to pile on sarah palin. any sane person knows we are going to do that. >> you agree, there's an unfair standard? >> yes. >> i just want him to make a speech with color with juice to it. >> remember that the next time a republican says i'm loaded and ready to go. >> i'm fine with that. >> hypocrisy.

write an article about it in news week. when a republican says something colorful and what the media says, which is nothing, which is everything. and what happens when a democrat says something. i will tell you, if the president of the united states is going to deliver a speech in michigan saying civility is important and this is, bla, bla, bla. i know it's 80 after the hour, but we are going to say it. the president has the responsibility to treat both sides the same. listen to jay carney yesterday saying what? >> jay took it seriously. yes. this was the official -- >> nothing to say. >> i understand that there is a ritual in washington that you know, somebody says something and you link the associations and everyone with an association with him or her has to avow.

mr. hoffa speaks for himself. he speaks for the labor movement. the president speaks for himself. i speak for the president. >> interesting this is the same white house that rush limbaugh stands for what he saids. glenn beck for what he said. fox news for what they said. jim cramer and "mad money" for what they have said. they have used that pulpit to go after people when they say irresponsible things. >> his choice of words is bad. i don't know what's wrong with saying that. it makes more of an issue. hold on everybody. it makes more of an issue when they go like that to it and flick it off. it shows there's an unfairness and bias. the reason we spend the time we spend on it. it seems like a waste of time, it's a problem in the media as well. it really is.

we need to look in the mirror and be fair and criticize both sides. there are two sides in the media. there are many different points of view that express themselves in different ways. >> when left wingers say irresponsible things they say we have so much more important things to talk about. >> have to figure out a new way to be colorful. >> if someone says words matter, they matter across the board. coming up, tim pawlenty will be on the set and tom brokaw. we are going to talk with emmitt smith. the political playbook coming up. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. i'm good about washing my face. but sometimes i wonder... what's left behind? [ female announcer ] purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena® naturals. removes 99% of dirt and toxins

without dyes, parabens or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] from neutrogena® naturals. so syesterday doesn't win.lthy. big doesn't win. titles corner offices don't win. what wins? original wins. fresh wins. smart wins. the world's most dynamic companies know what wins in business today. maybe that's why so many choose to work with us. we're grant thornton. audit. tax. advisory. while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®.

[ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

28 past the hour. time to look at the morning papers. we stard with "the guardian." james murdock will answer new questions about the phone hacking scandal. it comes as they claim he knew of multiple incidents contradicting what he told parliament back in july. he'll be ordered back to the house of commons next month. >> carol bart is out of a job this morning. the move is abrupt and unexpected. she was fired over the phone. yahoo!'s stock jumped after news she was gone. >> now to this mornings paper.

republican candidates arrive in simi valley. the number of registered california republicans is declining. the members are older and more conservative than in reagans time. wide-eyed second graders had front seat. president bush was reading a book to them when his chief of staff informed him a plane struck the world trade center. they are now seniors in high school. the article tells how some of them remember that day. >> with us now from the reagan library, politico republican debate, chief white house correspondent from politico up awfully early for us. good morning, good night,

whatever it is there. good to see you. >> look at him. >> way too early as they say. >> indeed. >> i snuck down and went behind the podium where the candidates are going to be. you can reach out and touch that plane that carried all the presidents. >> looking presidential yourself in front of that plane. 8:00 tonight on msnbc, republicans will be standing on that stage. what should we be watching for? >> the republican presidential race is beating the nfl by one day to get into real season. the number one question for everyone, can rick perry take a punch? he's taking a lot of them. he knows he is going to be the target for everyone around the tables. he's doubled up as we have seen in the polls. they are all going after him. he's ready for that. mitt romney, we want to see if

he can throw a punch. he's been doing well with the under the radar slow strategy. with perry in the race, he can't do that any longer. he's going to show he can bring it. he will go after perry directly, by name. not going to flinch. he's going to show he wants this. >> does this become a two-person debate between romney and perry? last time it was bachmann who starred. what role does she play? >> that's a great point. bachmann needs to show she's still in it. we were laughing that her own strategy said this is a two-person race. she needs to prove him wrong and prove she's relevant to the race. jon huntsman has been doing great going on tv, being the truth teller, the more moderate republican going after the others saying the party is going too far to the right. how does he do that on stage? it's tough.

he doesn't want a tim pawlenty moment and pull his punches up on the stage. he's been talking civility. he needs to show he can be the honest broker candidate at the same time he's taking them on. he's thinking down the road four years from now. he can't be antirepublican. >> there was question about whether or not perry was going to come back. he's looking after the wildfire in texas. he will be there at 8:00. so will you. thanks so much. >> i's going to be good. >> happy debate kay. >> coming up with chuck todd. tonight, 8:00 eastern time the debate on msnbc. coming up, a year after he blew out his arm, the kid is back. stephen straussburg, a year after tommy johns surgery. sports is next. [ barks ]

[ cat meows ] [ woman ] ♪ i just want to be okay ♪ be okay, be okay ♪ i just want to be okay today - ♪ i just want to know today - [ whistles ] ♪ know today, know today - [ cat meows ] - ♪ know that maybe i will be okay ♪ [ chimes ] travelers can help you protect the things you care about... and save money with multi-policy discounts. are you getting the coverage you need... and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage... or visit travelers.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.

all right. break here for sports and the

return of stephen strausburg. the washington nationals pitching sensation. remember him from last year threw out his arm. he had tommy johns surgery. he was back last night facing the los angeles dodgers. a nasty change up in the dirt. dirty stuff. then he's got this, a 99-mile-an-hour fastball to strike out aaron miles. the 23-year-old allows two hits over five shut-out innings. the nats bull pen could not hold the three-point lead. i know you are shocked to hear that. a sprained right ankle. a night after being shut out, boy did they come alive up in toronto. two-run home run. makes it, 8-0. david ortiz shoots 400 feet off

the center. it was a double. boston three hits over seven innings. boston wins huge, 14-0 over the blue jays. the game didn't start until after 11:00 at night because of a four-hour rain delay. deep fly ball to the left. a fan tries to make the catch, continues to reach over the wall. 4-3 lead. next batter, the right field foul pole. back-to-back home runs. 500 loyal fans there when the game ended at 2:15 in the morning. yankees win 5-3. new york stays two and a half games up on boston. coming up, emmitt smith standing

by for us in the green room. to what do we owe the honor? >> we usually do this after the show. emmitt is going to leave. >> he's going to leave? >> yeah. >> up next, mika's must read opinion pages. when your eyes are smiling... you're smiling. and when they're laughing... you're laughing. be kind to your eyes... with transitions lenses.

transitions adapt to changing light so you see your whole day comfortably... and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk.

yesterday doesn't win. big doesn't win. titles corner offices don't win. what wins? original wins. fresh wins. smart wins. the world's most dynamic companies know what wins in business today. maybe that's why so many choose to work with us. we're grant thornton. audit. tax. advisory.

♪ president obama's strategy is a pay phone strategy and we are in a smartphone world. so, we are going to have to change what he's doing is taking quarters and stuffing them into the pay phone. can't figure out why it's not working. it's not connected anymore, mr. president. your strategy doesn't work in a smartphone world. >> welcome back to "morning joe." time for the must read opinion

pages. we have a few good ones this morning. one by thomas friedman and one by joe scarborough. the whole truth and nothing but. my fervent hope is on thursday, mr. obama will set an example and tell the cold, hard truth to parents and kids. i know, honesty, we are told is suicidal in politics. as long as every solution is off the table, the slow national decline will remain on the table. the public is ready for more than michele bachmann's promise to restore $2 a gallon gasoline. let's start a debate with the truth. tell us what you think will be required to get us out of the stagnation. what kind of collective action and shared sacrifice will be needed and why that can lead not just to muttling through, not just to being okay, but to restoring american greatness. please, don't tell us to go

shopping, right? >> i think one of the things, look at our political system today. it's in such a state of disarray, you procollude from telling the truth. stand-up there and say look, i'm president of the united states. i'm going to do a couple things probably deemed unconstitutional by the supreme court but i'm going to do them. i'm going to deliver an executive order so the capital gains tax is lowered perm natalie. hedge fund guys will no longer pay 15% of their income instead of the 35% you are paying. i'm going to do these things. we can't fight three wars without paying for them. we have done it for a decade. look where it's gotten us. >> we talk of reforming medicare, we get a tax from the left. raise taxes you get a tax from the right.

politicians bear their fangs for being completely dysfunctional. >> it's not what politics are always about. the problem is that he keeps losing that opportunity. here is a guy who did take out osama bin laden, who did save detroit and somehow he doesn't come out and grab that window and go through that window and put out his big ideas. seems like every time it's concession. the republicans will make a concession. the republicans say he made a concession, give me another concession. >> you keep hearing, to use an overworked phrase, there's a sameness to what people talk about when they talk about what's going on. the sameness is in the phrase. i want to see the president throw a punch. >> or cut through it somehow. >> also talk to us and galvanize

us. >> the problem is not a re-election bid. it's the whole thing of i'm going to hold off to make the jobs speech. >> let me read from his piece in politico, which is deeply personal, but this is his final point. america ten years after september 11th. when i left washington, america was running a $155 billion surplus. the economy was in overdrive and the united states of america enjoyed a primacy unrivaled on the world stage. a decade later, crippled by debt, a jobs crisis and an endless war. our president is ill prepared and our congress is incapable of grasping the great challenges that now confront us. this week, we will remember those who lost their lives on september 11th. it's also a time to reflect on what we once were and what we can be again. we look at the president's speech tomorrow night for some

bold action and maybe inspiration. >> the other thing, you know, the debt. we have this huge debt. who cares about the debt? let's pile it on. put another trillion dollars to put people to work. let's rebuild this country instead of afghanistan. >> you have to invest in infrastructure. you have to. >> yeah. >> tim pawlenty will be here. up next, emmitt smith on "morning joe." we'll be right back. state farm. this is jessica.

hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm.

me too. you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what? fret not ma'lady. i have the hotels.com app so we can get a great deal even at the last minute. ah, well played sir. download the free hotels.com app and get exclusive mobile deals. hotels.com. be smart. book smart. ( singing along ) ( singing high note ) that should do it. enjoy your new shower.

( door opens, closes )

♪ welcome back to "morning joe." very excited here. nfl hall of famer, emmitt smith, the author of "game on." >> pensacola in the house, baby. pensacola in the house. how tall are you? >> 5'9" i used to be six foot. >> really? >> yeah. >> there's a guy in pensacola that used to talk about high school players, ronnie joyce. >> i remember the name well. >> when emmitt went to florida, he was in the touchdown club,

how is emmitt going to do? he's going to get beat. two games into it, he says he's wrong. he owns college football and runs over alabama several times. the next question is asked. ronnie, you got it wrong before. how is emmitt going to do in the pros. he's too small. i was wrong the last time but i'm going to be right this time. still too small. how did that work out for you? >> thank you, thank you. >> amazing. >> as good as it gets. >> i have had a blessed career. coming from pensacola, florida, you understand the humble beginnings to where you are now is a nice journey. ronnie joyce motivated me by saying things like that. there was an impact on the way i

approached the game and played. >> who is your high school coach? >> dwight thomas. >> dwight thomas. i remember that name. >> he was the head coach. >> yeah. a lot of people don't realize how hot it is in the middle of august and how crazy florida people are and football. you grew up in a hot bed of high school football. >> really truly did. pensacola was really good. at a time was decent in the early '80s. standing was strong during the mid-80s. >> a lot of number one teams ranked during that time. >> yes. the whole panhandle area was strong in football. >> the aggies, they are corn fed. i played for a catholic high school and was quarterback. the one thing i remember, i

decided to go low and make a tackle as a safety. they ran over me. i don't think i woke up for a couple of months. talk about, though, an amazing rise to florida, amazing rise to dallas. things just kept getting better for you. >> as i mention in my book, people who made it happen. you learn a lot of the great values of american values, put it that way. take the american values and try to go with it as far as you can. football was my vehicle out of pensacola. i grew up thinking i had to go to the military to get out of pensacola, to get out and do something. football happened to be a vehicle i had been riding for a long time. it carried me from pensacola to gainesville and dallas and the hall of fame. now, i'm taking those things and people i encounter over the

years and extend those things into the business field and run my own real estate development company and construction company and do the things to try to extend the brand. >> he also won "dancing with the stars." >> come on. he's modest about that. >> would you dance with mika after? >> i can't dance. >> i'm sure you can dance. as a little girl, you did a little tapping and jazz. >> i danced, but i don't dance well. we have proved that on this show. >> the cowboy years for a lot of people are the most memorable times for a lot of us growing up in the nfl. there was off the field stuff that made it exciting for you guys. >> right. >> what was it like in that locker room? you had huge personalities.

>> the thing with that many personalities, everybody had a huge personality. when it came down to playing the game, everybody was on the same page. everybody worked hard. that's the unique thing about football. it's one of the best metaphors in life. when it comes down to winning and losing, everybody on that team wants to win. everybody is willing to make the right sacrifice for the team to win. michael irvin had one of the best work ethics to be around. i learned how to train and prepare my body watching them work out. so, he was a great leader. great inspirational guy, period. to me, being around guys like him, charles hailey who had a big personality, sanders, all those guys. >> dionne, too. i always loathed dionne sanders until i found out he was one of

the hardest workers. with the atlanta braves, the first one out there and last to leave practice. >> our team was full of guys like that. when you see michael troy and charles haggen working out, you don't want to be the guy to let them down. that's the great part of being on a team like that, when you have guys willing to go out and sacrifice and work. >> yeah. >> we haven't mentioned jerry jones. throw in an owner like that. >> that's a man who truly wants to win and at whatever cost. jerry has invested in me already. he's given me the opportunity to play for the cowboys. he played me a lot of money to do that. >> jerry doesn't give money away. >> he got a great return on his investment. >> it's not charity, is it? >> no. >> i love it. >> what teams are you looking at

this year? >> the scene for me, and people need to be cautioned because i'm discounting the whole season. mainly because of the lockout. when you lock a team or players out, they are forced to go and train in other places where they otherwise wouldn't train. it may be a 24 hour finance or l.a. fitness or something like that. you are concentrating on what you need to do. you have no one in there but yourself. >> not women -- >> or somebody walking around looking nice and you can't focus. >> stop that. >> or you concern yourself with who is watching you while you work out. >> that's my problem with gyms. >> guys hitting on you in gyms? >> i didn't say that. >> pensacola's emmitt smith.

>> tim pawlenty. it will be great talking to him here on "morning joe." [ horn honks ] hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

i never saw myself here. i didn't. but with weight watchers, i can't see myself anywhere else. ♪ i'm feeling good you can be here too. go on join for free. weight watchers pointsplus. because it works.

a dab of concealer here... a flurry of powder there. what if there was a makeup that didn't just hide your breakouts... but actually made them go away. neutrogena skin clearing makeup. it has our proven blemish fighting formula blended with silky gorgeous makeup. so it gives you a beautiful flawless look while undercover it works to clear breakouts.

does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. ♪ >> why did you drop out after ames? >> i was out of money. i came in third place behind michele bachmann and ron paul. that's enough for any one person to endure. >> the fact you are out of money makes you relatable to so many americans. >> i brought forward a record, a

serious approach. at that moment, the electorate is looking for something else. >> did you think about learning to juggle? >> i thought about shooting sparks out my butt. >> i would vote for that. >> did you have a jobs plan? >> i did. nobody cared. >> now you don't have a job. >> oh, my gosh. >> that is awesome. >> welcome back to "morning joe." mike barnicle is still with us. joining us, tim pawlenty. pretty funny. >> great to see ya. >> thank you. >> this is going to be a debrief here. >> all right. >> you just came back -- >> the colbert debrief. >> we debrief you on whoo yat y saw on the trail.

we notice this, there's a candidate in the beginning that makes sense on paper. for us, four years ago, it was biden who won every debate, completely in control, most foreign policy experience but in the end, the dynamics were simple. it was joe biden versus a woman and african-american. those were the stories that the media drove. biden never had a chance. same thing with chris dodd. in this race, you had everything on paper, a swing state, successful governorship, you checked off all the boxes, articulate, clean, for the most pa part, yet, you always seem to be going against the flavor of the month, whether it was sarah palin or donald trump or rick

perry or michele bachmann. what happened, specifically what happens more generally in these presidential campaign that is crowd out very qualified people. >> i saw a few observations. the process and the cycle doesn't repeat itself every four years. we know this. number one, the early decision makers in the early states are the most committed folks. on "morning joe" and more broadly across the country and in the group of republicans, the folk who is show up and make the decisions are perhaps the most passionate, committed, dedicated folks in the country in terms of the political process and the broader audience doesn't show up. they have a different slice of candidates. >> more intense --

>> the right and the left has a selection process, a gate keeping process that is largely controlled by the most committed of their activists. it doesn't necessarily reflect the broader party. there's something else going on, too. there's a fusion of news and politics and entertainment now in a way where just experience, knowledge and policy grasps and presentation isn't enough. there has to be entertainment or stick or novelty component to it. to lead them, it's part of leadership and part of the dynamic quality. it's the kardashian's world, we are just living in it. >> i made this comment many times and i'll make it on air so i can get killed. look at president obama's election campaign in 2008. it says nothing about the man, whether he was qualified or not,

but it was hope and change. in the end, he was branded like you brand a package of potato chips. you can say the same thing about sarah palin on the right. you can say the same thing about any national political figure. a presidential campaign more often than not is turning into a branding exercise and you brand them like you would brand coca-cola or potato chips. >> it works over time. if it plays out, the process is so long and the scrutiny so intense, accept whag you said, the american people, in the end, figure it out. to get it sorted out in the first three or four months, you are not well known, not a lot of money, get to the front of the polls before the press pronounces you dead is a tough exercise for somebody from a small state. >> you say it works out.

i usually come from that school the american people -- >> over time. >> over time, they know what they are doing. yet in 2008, we picked a guy whose campaign platform was hope and change and is, i think it's safe to say this three years in has proven not to have the experience to face the challenges we are faces now and is ill equipped to be president of the united states. >> the culture, the political culture we live in is drawn to the entertainment. >> i have to say, i'm not saying this as a republican. i'm saying democrats, a national process would have had the democratic party nominate hillary clinton. extraordinary experience. or a joe biden or a chris dodd. >> it proves my earlier point, joe. setting aside the name barack obama or the partisan lens through which we view him, if

you look at his background and life experience and say is this somebody ready to be the ceo of the country, commander in chief, the president of the united states. regardless of name and party label, most reasonable people look at that and say of course not. >> by the way, we were one of the biggest financial supporters of saying that now. >> of course. >> the country who voted for them was drown in to something else. >> hope and change. whatever you want to call it. >> i know most of the people that we really respect like you, as a candidate. i wonder, you talk about the scrutiny, the entertainment factors, the thing that is really played a role in having trouble, what do you regret or think you would have done differently. looking back and knowing the landscape and how difficult it is. >> a number of things for me. you have to stain this over time. i think we would have husbanded

our resources and deployed them rather than putting all your chips in one pocket. if i had to do over again, tactically, i think that's what i would have done. more broadly, looking back on the campaign, the country is legitimately upset not just about the economy and jobs but there's a sense of stuff doesn't work anymore. government suffocated us and beyond the economy and the jobs which is the most important issue, there is a need for a leader to step forward and say we have to make it work and we have to move forward. of course people want to hear you bash the other side. it's part of convincing obama needs to be fired. you have to show what do you bring to the table to get it to work. as a governor of a blue state, a conservative republican, i had my share of battles but we got

stuff duone. the country is stuck. >> as you look at the debate tonight, which of the remaining candidates do you think best fulfills the promise of your campaign, shares your ideas? that's one part of the question and the other is who is the best candidate to beat barack obama? who is the ideal and who can win? >> i know all the candidates. most of them are friends, true friends. mitt romney did well in the earlier debates focusing on obama and his strengths. i suspect he'll continue on that. if he attacks, comes out attacking because he's fallen behind in the polls, i suspect he will come out and do what he did in the last two debates. if he's attacked he thooz respond and he will. the race is coming down to he and governor perry. governor perry is going to come in and introduce himself. they haven't seen him in action. i think people are going to be

looking for what kind of introduction does he make to the country and number two, is this the point where he goes after his main competitor? >> which of the two, if you narrow it, has a better shot to beat barack obama? >> the polls indicate slightly that mitt romney runs better against barack obama. >> do you believe that? >> this is a long road. we are in labor day before the election. it's hard to project all this. the polls are indicating romney runs stronger nationally than rick perry at this moment. they are two different people in terms of backgrounds, life stories, experience, perspective and style. people are going to have a significant choice to make. >> you don't think rick perry is too extreme to win the general election? >> he's been a successful three or four term governor. economics have been pretty good. he's going to have to go through the process all the rest of us

did. the articles about your past, your record, whether or not you are too extreme. he is chapter one on the journey. this is a long road. anybody who sits here and tells you for sure rick perry is going to be the nominee a year from now, i'd say we'll see about that. there's going to be a lot of twists and turns in the race. >> i'm struck, not by the first time about how now that you are out of the race, you are in a sense a free man. did you feel any weight lifted from you when you got out? i mean you are much more casual, much more at ease than you were as a candidate. is the process -- i would say that of other candidates. >> i would say -- >> i think -- >> you know, just his answers are more free falling today than when you were in. >> as you do it, you get more experience. you get experience and more

comfortable throughout the process as well. for me, i enjoyed this. it was meaningful. i wanted to contribute to the debate. i wish i could have continued. literally, i ran out of money. we need to go back to the donor community to say it's worth continuing. we didn't get that. we are out of dough. i don't have an ultra pack. we had just me. >> so, the ames straw poll, is it relevant? >> well, it's not relevant ultimately, but as sorting out process for the early stage candidates. >> michele bachmann won it, then promptly disappeared. could you have skipped the ames straw poll? >> i think i could have. >> i love iowa and iowa republicans. they are hearty, to say the least. but ames straw poll is making

itself irrelevant every four years. >> because the press pays attention to it, it's relevant as a news event and a sorting out filter for candidates like me. take a step forward or a step out. is it ultimately going to determine the iowa caucuses? no. is it a step that gets you momentum, yes. >> i would be tough on rick perry. i like him personally, from the one time we met him and chew ee tobacco, shot a coyote. as bill clinton said, a good looking rascal. is this good looking rascal the type of guy that can win an election in minnesota? >> if you look at the state that is are going to decide the election, you jump all over the national polls, you know in the end, the election is going to be

decided in some combination that mccain lost, swing states, florida, north carolina, virginia, new hampshire, pennsylvania, wisconsin, maybe michigan, maybe iowa. it's going to come down to five or six states. mostly great lakes, mid western. >> that's part of my question. can a guy talking about succe succeeding from the union -- rick perry wrote a book last year. do the people of minnesota believe that they should elect their senators at the ballot boxes or have poll titicians appoint them? h how do you think that's going to go? >> they want to elect their senators. the government is out of

control. we need somebody strong to bring it back under control. rick appeals to that. but, we have to also win the election. >> yeah. >> in my view, it's not just about the republican base. we want to make sure we have it. they are excited and mobilized. in wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania and down the list, you have to have a candidate that can get his or her share of independen independents. mitt romney can do that. can rick perry? we'll see. >> did you get a sense when you were out campaigning speaking of the country, a huge percentage of people in this country would be willing and vote for an independent candidate? they would go for an independent candidate? >> the "morning joe" perspective would say yes. i have seen it before in minnesota. we had jesse ventura. it was a different time. it was late '90s.

it was a different time. it wauz different era. the only way it works, michael, you have to have somebody who has celebrity or a boat load of money. if you are not a celebrity or ga zillion air, it's not going work. it's too difficult for a true grass roots candidate. you have to write a big check. it's a sad statement about how it works, but it's how it works. >> was it frustrating to hear the central critique of you was never about policy? i don't know, seems like a nice guy, but boring. too dull. that was the narrative we kept hearing over and over again. you are out there making speeches about the economy and they come out and say he seems like a nice guy, but i don't think he's got it. >> we put a lot of time and

energy into foreign policy speech. we were the first out of the gate with a long extensive economic policy. agree or disagree, we tried to put policy out there. it's not what the press follows. if you talk to them, we are giving the people what they want. we don't want white papers or policy. they are in the polls. i don't believe that. i think people are in a serious mood. i think if i had more time to make the case over a longer period of time, i would have prevailed. >> you made a hell of a campaign, i tell you that. >> governor pawlenty, thank you so much. come back. we would love to have you back. coming up next, a preview of tonight's gop debate from the reagan presidential library. also tom brokaw joins us on set. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

we're centurylink...a new kind of broadband company committed to providing honest, personal service from real people... 5-year price-lock guarantees... consistently fast speeds... and more ways to customize your technology. new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™.

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 ] [ male announcer ] another reason people switch to state farm. aw, i could've gotten a falcon. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. [ falcon screeches ]

♪

it's a fluid race. they are going to get to know us well. i'm well known by a lot of folks. governor perry will be, other candidates as well. after they get a chance to hear us all, they will make a decision. if people want somebody who knows how to turn things around and get things headed on the right track, i'm the guy to do that. i did it in business and the olympics. i did it for the state of massachusetts. i want to use that experience to get america's economy going again. >> welcome back. 24 after the hour. joining us from the reagan library, political director and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd. good morning. how is it going to work tonight? >> reporter: good morning. you are looking at three story lines. the big one is the entrance of rick perry. his first debate.

there's going to be a lot of early attention as it should be to the new guy in the room. the second is, you can hear it in mitt romney's voice in the lead-in. it was a great lead-in to use because he's been sort of a sideline player the last couple debates. labor day is over. big boys are there. romney is going to engage. he has to, the next three debates in 15 days, he thooz create a contrast. now there's the now or never candidate. it's michele bachmann. throw in a rick santorum who is in danger of watching the rick perry train and mitt romney express at this point. he's riding more like a bus. they are passing the rest of the field by. they need to start throwing,

lobbing in -- lobbing in bombs here, rhetorical bombs if he can somehow catch fire on their own by not getting one of the two front-runners. >> michele bachmann seems to be the candidate that is in the position tim pawlenty was in before the ames straw poll. she won the poll. it was her opportunity to skyrocket. her numbers have collapsed since the victory. rick perry came in. she has ed rollins, her former campaign manager going on cnn saying she's not in the race anymore. it's between perry and romney. >> what does she have to do to break out? >> she had something tim pawlenty did not. she has a grass roots fund raising base. she can survive longer as a candidate than if tim pawlenty

was running more. two, there's an advantage to being the only woman in the race. we shouldn't forget that. it's helped her the first two debates. there have been moments by simply being the only woman on stage that has created opportunities for her to stand out. so, i do think you are going to see -- the question i have had is how tough -- she got tough on pawlenty in the last debate. how tough is she going to get on rick perry? he's unafraid of going after a woman opponent. ask kay bailey hutchinson. >> they have been bashing rick perry in 30 second spots. are we going to see rick perry and bachmann the way bachmann and pawlenty were?

if you are bachmann, you have to go after perry. he's made your candidacy irrelevant. >> you do. does rick perry punch down? i'm curious to see how rick perry handles this. you would expect his first debate, all the advisers telling him you have to be a statesman. you have been dealing with this wildfire situation in texas. don't take the bait. don't take the bait. on the other hand, he doesn't seem like a shy guy. he starts in at romney and bachmann are going to come in and hit perry. it's what i suspect, perry is the guy that's getting hit from a bunch of folks. >> is he a good debater? how does perry do in debates? >> reporter: we have seen a few of them. i watched the kay bailey hutchison debates closely. you wouldn't give him victories by points if you were at the

yale debating society, but on television -- no, i mean this in this way. i watched as kay bailey hutchison got caught in legislative ease. he's very disarming in using, taking advantage. i noticed he could turn the twang up a bit to disarm and brush off a criticism, be deflective and say maybe you just don't understand how we are here in texas. >> maybe you don't understand -- >> yeah. >> stop it. >> it's important, mika. >> no. no. >> you have to say i understand you have a problem with us that want to succeed from the union. crank it up. that guy was a good looking rascal. i did what i had to do. it works. whether you are in the panhandle of texas --

>> reporter: the southern candidates that have run for candidates have used the twang. it's always been amazing to me. bill clinton would dial up once in awhile. you want to sound folksy and less washington. turn up the accent. >> i would know nothing about that. i'm just a -- well, i'm a simple country lawyer. >> reporter: aren't you just a simple country lawyer? >> i am, but i know this, chuck todd, god i love this country and church and alabama football. i got a great mama. willie, do you have a question for chuck todd? >> i usually do. >> he's from miami. >> you don't want to hear my twang. long time front-runner now 15

points back in the poll. do they like being in the position where they are i don't know if you want to call them an underdog, but in second place, at least. >> i don't think they like being in that position. they have been acting a little bit in denial. they have to suddenly start engaging now and somehow they are changing tactics at this point. i tell you, look at mitt romney's rhetoric since rick perry rocketed into the race. it is no longer about barack obama. it is all about career politicians and washington. the vague references in washington. mostly, you feel as if he's changed his rhetoric to start taking aim at perry. then last night, with our friend over there, taking real shots at rick perry, then backs off. i will be curious to see.

romney did not come across well in the debate in '07. there was something -- something that didn't work. i'll be curious how he did. >> all right. chuck todd, thank you very much. look forward to watching the debate tonight at 8:00. >> you take good care of yourself, you hear? >> say hi to momma. >> you got a good momma. and that cousin, stay away from her. >> wow. >> tom brokaw and rick single are ahead. chuck, i'm sorry. we'll be right back.

♪ this season, you need a truck like the silverado to take on that list of yours. it's the chevy season of doing. and there isn't a better time for a truck, with check mark after check mark of pure doing power. ♪ get to your chevy dealer today. get the truck and get that list done. ♪

welcome back to "morning joe" on this wednesday. a lot of weather in the news lately with the fires in texas, the hurricanes off the coast. never rain in new england. the rain moved further to the north. the big cities, boston to hartford, new york to philly to d.c. you are wet this morning. the heaviest rains further in new england. the worst of the flooding in central pennsylvania off the rivers in northern new jersey aren't doing well. the forecast is not pretty. austin, i'm not going to promise rain for a long time.

the winds have died down. katia is going through us. the one behind it will become maria. in five days from now, it should be near the turks and caicos. five to seven days from now is when you are going to need to pay attention. hopefully, it will take the hook out to sea like katia. we'll update you. you're watching "morning joe." coming up next, tom brokaw. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. 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. it's schwab at your fingertips wherever, whenever you want. one log in lets you monitor all of your balances and transfer between accounts, so your money can move as fast as you do. check out your portfolio, track the market with live updates. and execute trades anywhere and anytime the inspiration hits you. even deposit checks right from your phone. just take a picture, hit deposit and you're done. open an account today and put schwab mobile to work for you. ♪ tom brokaw. >> along with rick stengel and

the new issue of "time." >> a very special "time" magazine. we are showing it now. showing the lights t towers of lights. >> right. the tributes of light from eight or nine years ago. we have a rendering of what they would look like from space. you have america lit up there. we wanted to take the universal things that happened since that terrible day ten years ago. it's a special issue. if tirs time or the third time we have changed the border to silver. no advertising in the issue. >> remarkable pictures. here is a shot of rudy giuliani, of course, who was a central figure during that time. >> all the photographs are by mark. he went over the last four or five months, 40 people affected by 9/11 and affected all of us

including tom brokaw. >> here's a shot of tom brokaw. of course you talked us through, obviously, the first horrendous hours and weeks that followed. talk about your memories of that morning. >> that story is what happened when we had an anthrax attack in my office. i was so busy, i didn't know my assistant developed a lesion soft some kind. there was a letter on my desk, you will all die. i pick id up at one point. we didn't know what was going on. they tested material that came out of another letter. that was all negative. this mass would not go away for her. some doctor put her on medication. nobody had seen anthrax. we had the attack in florida. ten days after the initial

attack, we sent her to a friend of mine in town who does international medicine. he said i can't rule this out. we got her to a dermatologist. he thought it was going to be anthrax. we sent information to an army testing facility. we think it's negative. on friday morning, i get a call from the police commissioner at the time and he said you have a secretary with something. it's anthrax. my world came apart saying nothing of aaron. she had a child at home. we went through a real nightmare. we had another young woman in the office who opened the original letter. she had spores. nobody could figure out what it came from. her doctor said it was a bacterial infection. we were unprepared for biological warfare.

we still are. it's what they wrote about in "time" magazine. >> what about the first hours of the attacks? >> everything happened in slow-mo. we were hearing from nick they hit the pentagon. when you cover big events as a journalist, you general have some small warning, the hurricane is approaching or war is going to be launched. this was the day in which we were out there without a net all day long, not knowing what may happen next and what the consequences would be. i said later, it took everything i knew as a journalist, as a father, as a husband, as a citizen and i was grateful that i was the age i was when we went through that. god forbid it should ever happen again, it took all the experience i had encountered in life to get through that day and the day that is followed. i think what's been lost, i wrote about it at the time and i

have done it again. this is time life's day, i have a book coming out. these are remarkable photographs about we didn't see the opportunity, all of us across the political spectrum to redefine who we are. we have been under assault. now we have to -- >> who are we and what are we made of. >> where do we go. >> tell us about these pictures. this is dick cheney. >> the photographs -- we decided to get 40 people who were so important to what happened that day and afterwards, including tom. we are the only place to have george bush, dick cheney and rumsfeld. we brought them together for a picture in dallas. these are all history. tom talking act the anthrax attack, we have them all talking act what happened that day. >> here is rumsfeld.

>> rumsfeld talks about each other. he talks about how unslapable rumsfeld was. he knew it was an attack on the pentagon. other people didn't know. first person stories are so powerful. in some ways, everything that's been said about 9/11 has been said, just not everyone has had a chance to say it except the people affected by it. >> where do we get the oral histories? >> they are on a sight time.com. we have an episode on 9/called beyond 9/11. you will see the videos of all these folks, including something so compelling and powerful. the four men who survived the impact above the 78th floor and they talk about how they helped each other that day, how they got down, how their lives have changed. it's compelling.

it's weaved torgt together in a documentary. >> nancy writes a moving column. >> our original 9/11 issue, a black bordered issue. the first time we have changed that border. she has a reprise of that. we have an essay at the end about how life in america has changed. we have five never before published pictures. the great and legendary war photographer. these are showing all the pictures. >> everybody from dick cheney to cindy sheehan. >> right. >> admiral mccraven, head of special forces and was ultimately responsible for the folks who got osama bin laden. >> we showed the front cover. let's talk about the back cover. >> jenny, the great contemporary artist using original pictures

of the twin towers and the line, we move forward but it stays with us. it's something howard said to us in his oral history. >> i saw the tower falling on me is another one. i would like to move to the life book that's been sitting there. it's been sitting on our coffee table now for a month. we knew we were going to be talking about it. this is life does extraordinary things and it's amazing and i think a lot of people think these emotions a month ago, we went through this book and my wife by the end was crying. called my 8-year-old daughter in and because she didn't know about 9/11 and walked her through this book to explain what happened before she died. very moving. i actually had to close the book

a couple times. it was hard for me to get through it. >> the power of the still photograph. that was my portrait of the world growing up. we looked forward to seeing life and the wonderful large format photographs. the violence of that day is captured perfectly because it's frozen. itis not a moving image. it comes and goes. you have no choice but to look at it and examine it. the rubble of the smoke and all that was going on and the amazing photographs of the people who went through that day that are in that book as well. so, i think these are more than just souvenirs at the time. in a lot of ways, because of my participation are not just iconic but useful reminders of what we went through and what we can learn from it. can i just go back to the

current "time" magazine. two of my favorite people from that day, brian clark, south tower making his way down. >> can we get a shot here? >> brian clark was a warden on his floor fighting down to the stairwell. meeting people on the other way so he can't get down. he hears a voice off to the side. he was on the floor. the plane hit. brian stops what he's doing, punches through the dry wall, gets his flashlight, they pull each other they embrace and become brothers on the spot and make their way down together. >> from the 78th floor. >> they had gone up first. >> you hear the two of them talking and the stories are weaved together because they didn't know what each other was doing and then actually brian said hey, can i help you and stanley went through the wall and there was brian. >> he pulled him out. >> they got out.

just as they got out the tower came down. see, those kinds of photographs are the reminders that we need to see. >> and i do think that these are, as tom said, iconic and they are artifacts of history that are issued that in some ways is what "life" magazine would have done today as well as a life book. this marx a real moment in time, and i think these things mark it for them, and that's what we're hoping and they're done with a reverence for what happened and looking forward. there was a resilience that we've all learned as a result of it and we've achieved the kind of equilibrium since those terrible days. >> look at this shot. this is a shot that was made by james mathwick, a remarkable photographer, and he actually had come down and was taking a

picture of the cross with the towers behind him right as one of the towers started collapsing. >> i think this is one of the unpublished pictures that when -- jim, who is the great war photographer, we called him about hey, do you have anything for this issue? i have 27 rolls of film that i've never looked at from that day. he came into the office and started looking at those negatives and it was incredibly powerful to see them and to see his reaction. the magazine begins with his history of that day and to start to look at the pictures that he hasn't looked at in ten years. >> there is a lot of film because we were so concerned with getting the witnesses to go back to see the stuff that didn't surface that day. >> the new issue of "time" is

beyond nec9/11. we'll be right back. ♪ [ 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. will your auto and home insurer... be there when you need them most? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage... or visit travelers.com.

[ tires screech ] [ crying ] [ applause ] [ laughs ] [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] your life will have to flash by even faster. autodrive brakes on the cadillac srx activate after rain is detected to help improve braking performance. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. to help improve braking performance. yesterday doesn't win.

big doesn't win. titles corner offices don't win. what wins? original wins. fresh wins. smart wins. the world's most dynamic companies know what wins in business today. maybe that's why so many choose to work with us. we're grant thornton. audit. tax. advisory.

we're looking ahead to tomorrow. we have former mccain campaign strategist steve schmitt will be here and former cia director, michael hayden and michael arad, the architect designing the new world trade center memorial. more "morning joe" when we come back.

[ thunder rumbles ] what is the sign of a good decision? in the world of personal finance, it's massmutual. find strength and stability in a company that's owned by its policyholders. ask your advisor, or visit massmutual.com. every day is a new day on weight watchers. i don't see why anyone would want to do anything else. pointsplus has got my back no matter what. it's a part of who i am now. ♪ yes it is i never saw myself here, i didn't, but with weight watchers, i can't see myself anywhere else. ♪ i'm feeling good you can be here too. go on join for free. [ female announcer ] and, if you join by september 17th you can get a month free. weight watchers pointsplus. because it works. weight watchers pointsplus. i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain.

then i tried salonpas. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. salonpas. everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. ♪ everything you need to stay balanced on long trips. residence inn. new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™.

♪ ♪ ♪ good morning, it is 8:00 on the east coast. take a live look at a rainy new york city. welcome back to "morning joe." back with us on set we have mike goning ael and tina brown. >> tina, as we approach 9/11, a lot of people are trying to figure out a tasteful way to take this very delicate matter on, and i can tell you you get a lot of eye rolls every time an

anniversary. on the tenth anniversary, people want to talk about it. >> we addressed that question and whether there would be audience fatigue, but it was too seismic an event to not become reinvolved in the tenth anniversary. we went with the blue cover with the airplane because we wanted to remember the last moment of american innocence, in a sense when we looked up in the sky and saw that plane and that's one of the things that people remember the most. even more than the image of the flaming towers, the moment of the vibrant blue sky that was innocent and so perfect and it was all shattered and the whole decade became this traumatic response to this event. andrew sullivan had a brilliant piece that talked although in the end we defeated osama, nevertheless, we lost the decade to fear. all in response to the terrorist

attacks and took us into iraq and made it into afghanistan, bankrupted the country and how fear just seeped into the cortex of american politics and life to the point that, in a sense, we gave osama what he wanted and in the end he was defeated by his own brutality. what he did, murdering muslims, in a sense is what defeated osama. >> so many people, you were there, obviously. this is still very personal to you, but so many people even like yourself when you talk to them about being there, they talk about the bright, blue vivid skies and you hear about it, that morning was beautiful. >> it was perfect. >> it was one of those days when you look up at the sky and you take a deep breath and you go, wow! what a gorgeous, september day, you couldn't help, but to notice it. i will never forget how beautiful and perfect that

morning was. we have a brilliant piece about a terrible missed chance in the minnesota fbi that they had moussaoui and how because of stumbling and bumbling and ball passing and back of action he wasn't, you know, his computer wasn't opened. the information that he had to give wasn't, in fact, accessed, and how, you know, if it had been they would have much, much closer to ending that plot. a very good piece. >> you know, mike, this is not -- this moment perhaps is the end of american innocence. i know this -- it definitely was the end of a short-lived american inevitability where ten years ago we ruled the world. we ruled the world stage like no country since caesar ruled rome. >> in the end of 2000, america

was ignorant. >> the striking thing about that cover and about that day is, of course, most people would remember that vivid sky. it was the end of summer. it was the end of our metaphorical summer as a country. it was the beginning of a rather shabby period when politics and fear conspired, i think, to drain us of a natural energy that we have as americans, and by that i mean there is no way, there is no way on earth in history that you can fight two wars without paying for them, and we chose to do that as a nation. there's no getting around it. we allowed our politics governed by fear to take us to the point where we are today, nearly -- >> now we're fighting three wars. >> and we're actually fighting proxy wars in three or four

other countries where we're dropping bombs indiscriminatind. the united states of america is war inc. now. are we on a permanent war footing? >> i think obama's done well. lead from behind for which he was so greatly criticized and it was a shrewd way to deal with libya, i think. the fact that we engaged in libya in the first place, in a country where our secretary of defense said there warrasn't a pressing american interest, a frightening american interest. a country where we're lobbing bombs at, a country we haven't declared war on, nigeria. it's hard to keep a scorecard, hot wars. not espionage. hot wars. >> it's not what we have been

doing. it's also what we haven't been doing. >> china was on the radar and we didn't have this talk about china overtaking us. we haven't been investing in our schools. we haven't been growing jobs and we haven't been revolutionizing our economy. we've been bogged down with people and money in foreign wars. >> mika, we're blowing things up and have been for a decade and china's been building things. >> speaking of war, inc., there are reports this morning that the obama administration is considering leaving approximately 3,000 troops in iraq beyond the much publicized end of the year deadline. the proposal is scaled down significantly from original pentagon requests which would have deployed 10,000 or more personnel. jay carney, spike speaking about this, dismissed the report that while, quote, no final decision has been made on specific levels, it is headed in that direction. those officials went on to say that the remaining 3,000 troops

would be part of the training mission with the iraqi military and that the number represents the, quote, reality of the climate in both iraq and in the united states. so there you go. it really is war inc.. >> so what's the president going to say tonight? well, that's tomorrow night. tonight we have the republican presidential debate. >> so what are the republicans going to say tonight? >> we'll talk about the jobs. that's probably more important although i can't wait to hear what the republican candidates will say in return. we're getting some details as to what president obama's expected to propose in his job speech tomorrow before congress. reports are that the president will ask to inject $p 3 billion into the economy including federal spending and tax cuts, including a one-year extension of payroll cuts for workers, plus unemployment benefits and other proposals by the president will likely be for infrastructure projects and direct aid to state and local

governments and he's expected to call on congress to offset the cost of short-term jobs measures by raising tax revenue in later years as part of a long-term deficit reduction package. this comes as house republican leaders are suggesting areas of potential agreement ranging from changes in highway spending to new ways of helping the long-term unemployed. speaker john baner and majority leader eric cantor requested a meeting to discuss ways to compromise. however a spokesman for boehner tells nbc news that there will not be an official republican response to the president's job address. minority leader nancy pelosi responded to this in a statement saying, quote, the republicans' refusal to respond to the president's proposal on jobs is not only disrespectful to him, but to the american people. in nearly 250 days of -- >> wait, i don't get this. i think the republicans are -- >> being respectful. >> let him talk and we'll go

watch the football game. >> i would -- i don't want someone to respond to my speech if they don't want to. that's good. >> they're meeting before? i'm hopeful. aren't you hopeful? can we be hopeful? >> i'm hopeful. i don't understand why this would be disrespectful. >> no, it seems to me like a great god-given -- >> those respondes are always so god awful anyway. >> usually they're unbearably embarrassing. remember bobby jindal? that was his suicide mission? >> he was kenneth the paige. >> and michele bachmann looking at the wrong camera. >> i want to respond to the president's words. america is a great place. my four -- they're always terrible. terrible! don't do it! go home! >> i like nancy pelosi. she's a very nice person.

>> i like her. >> there is a predictability to that statement. >> it doesn't sound like her. >> it's like -- >> i mean, seriously, how about thank you for -- >> this is what we do. where's my umbrage today? >> i would say nancy pelosi was reading her bible to the grandkids and a staff member sent it and she didn't know about it. >> you know too much. >> she said she was born with a bible in her hand. >> the hoffa fallout, was there tons of it. >> it was here when you were on vacation. >> it was great. >> of course, he's great and he said on the air -- you have to take them out. >> okay. he's consistent. so anyway, the bottom line is --

the republicans that i like and the republicans that i deal with ideologically, whether you say things that are reckless, you have to pull it back because we have a lot of wacko people out there that are living on the edge and you don't want to say anythingen that courages wacko people, whether it's michele bachmann or -- >> don't you think you want to -- >> he's speaking to his members. let's take him out. >> why are you saying that now and you didn't say that back when we went after michele bachmann and saying minnesota people should be armed and dangerous? >> to take them out -- take them out in some halls around, you know? take them out has a very specific meaning and it's not a political meaning or sarah palin with her targets.

let's target these people. we all jumped on that and said that was reckless and irresponsible. >> i didn't. >> i think armed is bad. not bad, but i think -- yeah. i was upset by that. i think take him out is just what you say in business. we want to take that guy out. i think it's okay. >> i will tell you on this show we've been very critical of people who have averaged up the rhetoric. we went after glen beck when he said the president was a racist. that wasn't even violent rhetoric. that was rhetoric that i was afraid would lead to violence against the president. >> racism is a serious charge. he was talking to his members. >> you have to take the context of the moment. he's speaking to a crowd on labor day in detroit. >> he's using language that sounds violent, there's no excuse for it. >> you have to take the context

of other comments. >> we cannot -- >> let me -- okay. so let's look at the context. sarah palin's people put up little targets. these are targeted districts on a packed website that nobody sees. nobody, right? that's the context, kind of isolated. hoffa delivers a speech before the president of the united states comes up and delivers a speech on the same spot. that context is more serious than the context of a website somewhere out in the ethernet that nobody sees. the context is more troubling in this case. >> sarah palin will be demeaned and brutalized by the media no matter what she does. i don't think you can compare sarah palin's targeting of districts. we're going to pile on sarah palin. any sane person knows we'll do

that. >> so you agree that it is an unfair standard. >> yes. >> i just want to -- any color anymore that has any -- let him have his juice on the camera. >> just remember that the next time that a republican says we're locked, loaded and ready to go. i think that would be very telling to hear what people say, when a republican says something, quote, colorful and what the media says which is nothing, which is everything and then what happens when a democrat says something. >> coming up next we'll talk to author and middle east expert robin wright about how the region is changing now a decade after 9/11 and the challenges that remain. also a check on market futures from the new york stock exchange, but first, let's go to bill with a look at the forecast. >> it doesn't look much

different than yesterday. low clouds like this and drizzle. one-hour delays in philly. amazingly, new york, d.c. and boston are doing okay even though there is wet weather. i'm sure those delays will build during the day. the rain is shifting further to the north. it's not so much in new york and new jersey today. the worst of that damage was done yesterday, but central pennsylvania, watch out. you'll get nailed with three to six inches of rain. here's a crazy stat for you, in the last 38 days, philadelphia has had 22 inches of rain. that's amazing. they usually average 42 in a year and that's why the flooding is as bad as it is in philly northward to new york city. today is a cloudy, cool, raw day. our hurricane katia out there, that one the swing and miss off the east coast. these are the storms we like, make big waves and rough surf, but it is pretty much ending and the next one after that, tropical depression 14 will be in the bahamas five days from now and the east coast, that

could be our next threat. finally, austin, texas, we saw the horrible pictures down there with the fires. today the winds are down, but the temperatures are still warm and no wet weather in sight for you. we wish the firefighters the best with the temperatures soaring into the 90s. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk.

let's design a vacation on a bumake it work.edia. see what anandra did? booking her flight and hotel at the same time a serious money-saving maneuver. book it! major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. ♪ sun in the sky ♪ you know how i feel ♪ freedom is mine ♪ and i know how i feel ♪ and this whole world is a new world ♪ ♪ and a bold world [ female announcer ] weight watchers, rated #1 best plan for weight loss by u.s. news and world report. join for free. [ female announcer ] and, if you join by september 17th you can get a month free. weight watchers. because it works.

welcome back. 19 past the hour.

joining us now, the woodry wilson international center robin wright. robin is author of the new book "rock the casbah," rage and rebellion across the islamic world. welcome back. >> thanks. we've been watching across the middle east, awakening, rebellion, massive, massive change and yet one of the things you look at is how this is just only the beginning really in some ways in terms of the future of the middle east. >> absolutely. the next decade is likely to be more volatile than the last one was. this is a historic turning point. arguably, the most epic convulsion of the early 21st century and it will affect not only 20 million people, but it will affect us, who are oil consumers and israel's future. this is the most volatile region in the world and it's going through what everyone else in the world has gone through with the demise of communism in the

soviet union and the collapse of military dictator ships, but this is going play out so much more with so many more difficult dimensions because they've been under autocratic rule for so long. >> let's start with the difficult dimension, name some of the challenges and dangers of what you call this epic convulsion which is just beginning. >> i think the biggest problem we actually face in the region is how do you split up the political and economic spoils in the aftermath of ousters of dictators like hosni mubarak in egypt and president bennaly in tunisia? it was during the iranian revolution that the cleric stepped in and said because there's such chaos we will impose ourselves and that's when iran became a theocracy. the danger is also on economic issues. how do you divide up limited res sources in a country like egypt with 85 million people and no oil. >> it was you, by the way, who

said how do we divide things up in each of these cases and how much involvement do we put ourselves in? it's very controversial in the different wars we're waging and how much energy and precious blood as well as our own resources that we are spending. it's -- it's definitely a difficult road in terms of the united states just making decisions. >> in the aftermath of iraq and afghanistan we don't have the resources with the economic crisis we're facing. there are very limited means to provide the kind of help that's really necessary in a place like egypt or tunisia, but we can provide technical expertise in getting libya's oil back online so that libya can begin to pay for itself and we can start reallocating our resources and aid so that we give less to egypt on military and more on the kind of development of the civil society and empowering women. the kinds of things that will help build a democracy. >> do you think there's a

danger, robin, in countries like the united states, great britain that we look at, whatever you want to call it, the arab spring, gadhafi being deposed, mubarak being deposed that we get so giddy with the appearance of change that we lose the sense of reality on the ground. that, you know, this might not work out that well for us. >> and it might be very messy. democracies as we none our own country how many centuries after we were created are messy, but creating democracies is even messier, and this is going to be really tough. the raw reality is what we're facing now in the aftermath of the euphoria of ousting of some of these -- a process that's likely to go on in itself in syria, yemen and elsewhere over the next few years. all 22 arab countries are at some point going to face significant change. none of them can survive as they are even in places where the

leadership remains the same, but getting through that period because there's so little experience is going to be harder than in many other parts of the wor world. >> what is the let level posed to israel from all of this change around israel? >> one of the most interesting things to happen is neither the united states nor israel were flash points over the past ten months as we've begun to see this change. that it was a domestic issue, the thing is that we debate over at the united nations that the process gets focused on arab-israeli. i think the israelis have fumbled and they haven't known what to do with the arab spring. it's a democracy. it wants democracies elsewhere, but it also means that it can't deal one-on-one with someone like president mubarak in egypt. it sued lean gets much more complicated. >> do you think we learn about the future of the american

foreign policy with the way president obama handled libya. he took heat in the beginning and he said it would be days and weeks, and it was ultimately weeks and months. gadhafi was deposed. do we learn about so-called leading from behind from being with the coalition of going with the french and with the british with the u.n. before jumping in head first ourselveses? >> it's a great question. libya will be a kind of model for what we do in the future and we will work whether through a regional group like the arab league or the united nations innen getting a resolution which made it a legitimate operation and working through nato, sharing the burden and allowing the french and british often to take the lead and other partners even outside nato to play a role. this is the kind of thing, because of our own limited resources and because of our military commitments elsewhere that we're going to increasingly going to be doing. libya is also a unique case that we can't replicate in a place

like syria. moammar gadhafi is unique in terms of his eccentricities and the outrageous behavior in the past that would mobilize the community. >> you mentioned syria and there are outrageous things going on there now and people have been shot in the streets and it's been going for months and years. what is the american approach to syria. how do you handle that? >> this is one question where we're seen as hypocrites in the region that we will get involved in libya that we'll talk a big game about egypt and tunisia and we don't do much with syria beyond sanctions when we will not bring down musharraf's side and the question is do we at some point intervene in i don't think we will, but syria is the most important country in the middle east right now in terms of what happens there, and if these people who have come out week after week after week for six months to face down one of the most brutal and well-armed governments in the region, that

tells you how deep the feeling is about the need for change, but also how difficult it is for us in the outside world to play much more of a role. >> how large a problem is that for us? i mean, we are the leading actor in the world stage and yet there's a part of us, psychologically that apparently thinks we can go to damascus or cairo or tripoli and as soon as we get there, there will be a chapter, the league of women voters and common cause. we want to sort of inflict our version of democracy on people totally unprepared for democracy. >> i don't necessarily believe they're totally unprepared for democracy. you have the first generation that is connected with the outside world. it has the tools of technology and that includes women. we kind of belittle them by saying they're not prepared for democracy. they have taken these actions on their own initiative and

continue to define what they're doing. the energy and dynamism is really quite extraordinary. yes, they have tough challenges ahead in terms of creating a different kind of state. syria scares me a lot because i think this is a country that -- that is such a turning point in terms of israel's future, in terms of -- it borders turkey and nato ally iraq, lebanon, jordan, but in contrast, iraq was not a model that worked. we are very good at winning wars, but we're not very good at building nations and so when we think we can help others we have to remember that we have not done so well in iraq and afghanistan. the highest death toll in afghanistan since our intervention in 2001 was last month, and -- >> it's complicated and somewhat depressing. >> robin, the book, really important for everyone to read.

"rock the casbah." thank you very much for coming back on the show. you did it again. up next, business report with robin hobbs. we'll talk to three women who run the legendary missoni design house next on "morning joe."

[ whistle blows ] oh! [ baby crying ] ben harper: ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned into a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes.

you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

joe." it's 32 past the hour and guess what? it's time to talk fashion. >> i'm ready. >> are you ready? are you red for fall? >> from the fashion perspective? >> i worry that i'm not. >> it's fall fashion week if you didn't know it in new york and joining us are three women behind the legendary fashion house missoni, is it angela? >> angela. >> and margherita missoni. >> wow! a three generations of missoni and i always think of missoni of the italian high fashion they can't afford, right? >> it is the most amazing way to start fall though is to really change the clothes and to feel different and to go to work and to go to school. what is changing specifically about missoni and the fashion that you bring to the table and making it perhaps a little bit more accessible to women?

>> we -- we made a partnership with target -- >> did you say target? >> yes, i say, we say target. i say target and i always thought that the way that we're working, they are very up-to-date and a very fresh brand. so when they came in to team up and i thought it was a great opportunity and really to how do you say, to give more awareness to the name of missoni because we are a luxury brand today because we are handcrafted and many, many different sides. it is a good opportunity. >> a much wider audience. >> you have to change the way you have to make the clothes to

reach a wider audience and does it change the quality of the clothes? >> of course, it's different because we produce in italy and much smaller numbers. it's completely different, but in this case we learned a lot from target and they learned a lot from us from a production point of view, but we learned a lot about the big numbers. >> rosita, was this a difficult decision for you to take your company -- >> not that part. i was just invited two weeks ago this summer. you should come, it will be fantastic. >> rosita is in charge of the home collection of missoni and she lent the collection to me 15 years ago since i became creative director. >> what do you think about your brand that's been built up over the years coming to target?

>> i feel proud, i must say because i think we built something that has an identity. i think ident these days is very, very important. >> margherita, a lot of people have done this over the last years. kmart has done this as well. we know isaac mizrahi, our friend, went into some stores like this. >> target. >> yeah. he went into target. >> our first collaboration. early on he kind of was a trail blazer and things like this. >> this was a difficult decision for you, if not for rosita? >> no, i think it was the right moment. it was the right moment, and i was seeing how target was working also with the other brands and after the work that they did i was very, very impressed also last year, and so i was very confident, and that

we really team up very well and we had a lot of exchange. the project was totally missoni. >> i hear a lot of positive and it makes a lot of sense, but i have to ask you how much of this decision had everything to do with the economy and with economic conditions and keeping companies alive during different difficult times? >> you know, for sure in the moment you are reducing your advertising to have this awareness about your name. it's very important. maybe the main line will have a little less advertising and exposure. >> through this it's huge. >> and were you worried that you would diminish your luxury brand by mainstreaming it? >> no. >> it's a one shot. it becomes a kind of collectible type thing. i have always bought target with gauthier or zack pozen, it's one

time. it doesn't go on for a long time. it becomes a collectible thing. even people that might be able to afford your brand might go for that. >> and then it's a special project. it's not what we're doing in the main collection. we went down to make -- to enhance the classic, the most iconic and classic design. so we designed a very special collection for target. >> we look forward to seeing it. >> and it's in stores next week, is that right? >> it will be in stores on the 13th, but there is a store in new york tomorrow. >> you're going to be there, are aren't you? >> i'm sold. >> more than 200 items. it's the biggest collaboration we've ever done. >> yes! >> absolutely! >> margherita, angela and rosita mismissoni, thank you so much for being on the show this morning. good luck! coming up, yahoo fires its ceo over the phone.

business before the bell. simon hobbs is next. i know you're worried about making your savings last and having enough income when you retire. that's why i'm here -- to help come up with a plan and get you on the right path. i have more than a thousand fidelity experts working with me so that i can work one-on-one with you. it's your green line. but i'll be there every step of the way. call or come in and talk with us today.

[ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno. i found a moisturizer for life. (telephone ring. pick up) usa prime credit. my name ...peggy. you got problem? ggy? third time i've called, 's time i speak with a supervisor. supervisor is genius...i transfer. transfer! transfer! transfer! transfer! transfer! hello...my name is... peggy? come on!!! hello? want better customer service? switch to discover. ranked #1 in customer loyalty. it pays to discover.

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.

welcome back. 42 past the hour. the headlines now. a fourth victim has now died in the shooting rampage at an ihop in carson city, nevada, bringing the death toll to five. a 32-year-old man whose family says had a history of mental illness opened fire at a restaurant hitting 11 people before turning the gun on himself. three of the victims were nevada national guardsmen who were in uniform eating breakfast. they were stationed just miles away. carson city sheriff ken furlong says police are still looking into whether the guardsmen were being targeted. >> we don't have a motive yet. we're working very diligently, including with some operational things that are going on right now to say that he was targeting before he came into the restaurant, those military persons, we have not been able

to establish. clearly, the fact that five of the 11 were military draws a concern for us. >> witnesses say the gunman pulled up in a blue minivan at about 9:00 a.m., shot a man on a motorcycle and then walked into the restaurant and opened fire with an ak-47. the obama administration yesterday announced it will seek to save the postal service from default. the initial proposal is to give the postal service a 09-day extension to finance retirees' future health coverage. it would force a bigger plan to stabilize the usps which faces a $10 billion deficit this year. testifying before a senate hearing yesterday postmaster general patrick donohoe said even with a three-month reprieve, the post office will likely run out of cash by next year without a long-term solution. >> raise the price of stamps, come on. >> it's really -- this is

ridiculous. >> but part of the solution is -- come on. >> they're going to close a lot of post offices and they'll stop delivering on saturday. >> they better not close the one in pennsylvania. i heard that was happening. >> they'll close it down and no more monday delivery. let's look at the cost. the post office, 83 cents of every dollar goes to labor cost. fedex, 32 cents of every dollar goes to labor cost. let's look at reality. they have to look at the contracts they're carrying and the costs that they've incurred. >> you're right about that. stopping shake-ups on wall street today affecting two of the most powerful women in american business. one of these firings happening on the phone. i have to say, i've been fired, but not on the phone. it's manly to do it in person if you have to do it. let's get a check on business before the bell. good morning, live from the new

york stock exchange. >> she was fired by phone because she sent an e-mail to staff saying i'm leaving and that's the reason why. she had faced a charge of criticism because although it's a great brand and still the business is worth 16 billion and the top internet site and they haven't been able to grow the revenue and that's what directors were concerned about and they haven't dominated content and they signed a deal with microsoft and it would appear they would get the lion share of the search revenue. what's interesting that they're not replacing her immediately which meant that the stock is rising on speculation that yahoo could actually be broken up. private equity firms, and we do think that are sources that are widely reported and they'll stop talking to investment bankers. the other high-profile name, mika, the head of global wealth at bank of america. brian moynihan there is kicking out two very high-profile people and partly the shot across the

bow to all of the other hires from ken lewis, the previous ceo to enact change more rapidly because bank of america is under a huge amount of pressure and more importantly perhaps because he may be about to sack 30,000 rank and file, so bank of america in contrast to yahoo is still under a huge amount of pressure because b of a is under different businesses. >> how are the markets doing today? >> we'll get it right. 110 points at the open. bear in mind we had a very bad start to september, we lost in three sessions because there was no job growth that we spoke about on friday and because of what is happening in europe, and today we don't have bad headlines and in that environment it looks like the stock market will give back some of those gains. simon, have you ever been fired on the phone? >> no, i haven't.

>> i've never been fired. i've come close, though. >> we don't have that in common. >> polito's john harris will be moderating tonight live at 8:00 on msnbc. more "morning joe" in just a moment. introducing the schwab mobile app. it's schwab at your fingertips wherever, whenever you want. one log in lets you monitor all of your balances and transfer between accounts, so your money can move as fast as you do. check out your portfolio, track the market with live updates. and execute trades anywhere and anytime the inspiration hits you. even deposit checks right from your phone.

just take a picture, hit deposit and you're done. open an account today and put schwab mobile to work for you. (announcer) everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. 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.

president obama refused to give specifics about his job plan yesterday because he wants people to tune in on thursday. that's not how you handle the economy. that's how you handle the "american idol" results show. you'll find out more after the break. do you believe that god does use the weather to send people messages here on earth? >> obviously, i was speaking metaphorically. that was clear to the audience. it was clear to me. >> okay. metaphor. in this metaphor god represents the american people. politicians represent themselves and the hurricane represents the

earthquake. okay? metaphor. and bachmann herself is assimily because she is like or as someone who makes sense. >> he has the memoir, the dick cheney memoir all about the fun and behind the scenes stuff and pranks and so forth at the white house for eight years. have you seen the announcement of the big book tour? take a look at this. >> dick cheney could be in your city soon. throughout september he'll be signing copies of his new memoir "in my time" at the following locations, eade arse sign a cardiac unit and the lone star gun show. watch for dick's "in my time" coming to your city. >> all right, dave. welcome back to "morning joe." we'll do sports here. stephen strasbourg, remember this name, pinching phenom of last season, blew out his arm

and he was back for the first time this season last night pitching for the nationals in d.c. dodgers, some nasty stuff here. and then the very next batter blows him away with a 99 mile an hour fast ball. he allowed two hits over his nine shutout innings and they got him on six counts and the national bull pen, you'll be surprised to learn did not hold the lead for him. they came back to win after he played. 7-3, dodgers, the final. red sox pitcher josh beckett will miss the next scheduled start against tampa bay. sprained right ankle. that after being shut out, the boston bat came to light in a big way. in toronto, saltalamacchia, 8-0 there and in the fourth inning, day of the ortiz, a 400-foot shot off the wall. it was an rbi double.

meanwhile, john lester getting it done on the mound. three hits over seven innings and boston wins huge, 14-0. they're chasing the yanks yanke had a late night. the rain started at 11:00 because of a four-hour game delay. >> francisco cervelli, the fan reaches over to make the catch and when he reaches over the wall and he said yeah, it was a home run. next batter, brett gardner and line drive off the foul pole, back-to-back home run and there were 500 people left when this game ended at 2:15 in the morning. mariano rivera came in to close it out at that hour. they stayed two and a half games ahead of boston in the al east. something that has nothing to do with all of the sports, big oscar news, eddie murphy? >> i might watch the oscars. >> i'm going to watch the oscars. eddie murphy will be the host

for the academy awards. remember last year they went with james franco and ann hathaway. they took a shot and it didn't quite work. very excited to see this man. some people say you're reaching back too far. really excited at the thought of eddie murphy hosting the academy awards. lots of people from 1982 to 1993. up next, what, if anything, did you learn today? ♪ ♪ [ woman ] jogging stroller. you've been stuck in the garage

while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®.

hey, look at this. tomorrow on "morning joe" look at the lineup, steve schmitt will be here and former cia director michael hayden and michael arad, the architect designing the new world trade center memorial. it should be a good show. >> it should be. what did you learn today? >> i learned that tim pawlenty thinks mitt romney might win the general election. he's going to wait and see on perry. >> mike? >> i learned from looking at "time" magazine, this week's "time" magazine the commemorative anniversary of september 11th that september 11th can