right now on "andrea mitchell reports," simi valley showdown. eight republican hopefuls and the first debate for rick perry. the new front runner can he take a punch? will romney go after him? >> i haven't spoken about govern perry. what i have said is that career politicians don't know what it takes to get this economy going again. and you know, evidence number one is what's going onin washington, d.c. and can michele bachmann stop her rapid slide? this hour candidate jon huntsman is with us from the debate site in california. plus, former 2012 candidate tim pawlenty finally gets the attention he's been wanting on "steven colbert." >> why did you drop autoafter ames? >> i was out of money. and i came in third place behind michele bachmann and ron paul. i think that's enough for any one person to endure. [ applause ]

that was tim pawlenty as we haven't seen him before. good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. tonight eight republicans will test ronald reagan's 1 19 commandment, thousand shall not speak ill about a fellow republican. in the run up to the debate the candidates are emphasizing their differences over the biggest issue, the economy. former utah governor jon huntsman is taking on mitt romney over his job creation record when he was governor of massachusetts. he the joining us now by telephone. governor, thanks for joining us. i know you're not feeling well. we wish you chicken soup and hot tea and all the rest and we want to ask you first of all about your jobs plan and how you disagree with mitt romney. what's your take on the former front runner? >> thanks andrea. my wife thought i sounded better as a baritone. here i have bronchitis to prove

it. my voice will be back in fighting condition in a few short hours. andrea, this is a critically important moment in our nation's history. and i believe that the person will be the next president will combine three very important elements. one is someone who have been this the private sector and understands the fragility and magic of the free enterprise system. we need ocreate jobs. two, sun who's been a governor with a track record to prove it. someone who's taken their state in terms of job creator in the united states. and number three is someone who knows something about this complex and confusing environment called the world. it's not going to become any less confusing. i've been an ambassador for my country three times. these are the elements that we need. that's the only way the republican party will be able to regain the big tent broach just as ronald reagan used to

advocate and the way we're going to go on to victory. >> mitt romney came promising 1 million jobs in his first term. an annual growth of 4%. unemployment down to 5.9%. those are pretty big promises. what's wrong with this plan? >> listen, all i can tell you is i've been there and i've done that. i've been through tax reform at the state level. i know how desperately important it is to infuse greater certainty and confidence into a marketplace that is stuck in neutral right now. without tax reform that allows us to lower the rate and broaden the base and to deal realistically with the loopholes, the deductions, the corporate welfare and subsidies all of which need to be faced out, we need the cobwebs cleared out of the tax code. with eneed to prepare for the new century. i've seen what other countries are doing to prepare.

we've got to be competitive. we need an environment that allows us to grow. i can't make anymore predictions specifically about where we're going to be in terms of the number of jobs. all i'm going to tell you is i'm going to do what i did in the state of utah. that's to create the most hospitable environment for the creation of capital and jobs. that's what's important. that's what can get this country back on its feet. that's exactly where we need to be in terms of our position in the 21st century. >> you're a two-term governor of utah. in utah home state for you and originally for mitt romney. you trail him by 58 points in that poll. so, the people who know you best are opting for mitt romney in this campaign instead of you. how do you explain that? >> mitt's a good man. he's run for president for a lot of years and specifically in the state of utah where he's raised

a lot of money. i served as governor. i'm the only elected official that every won every that state re-election with almost 80% of the vote. one of the key points here, andrea, is the one poll that really does matter one that was taken recently put governor romney head to head against governor obama. i won that poll. that i think in the final analysis is the only one that really does matter. but more to the point my re-election in 2008 we were able to get republicans, we got a whole lot of independents and i got more democratic votes than my democrat opponent. it was i think an exercise in being able to addressing the boundaries and barriers to bringing on more votes because you do what you tell the people you're going to do. they hold you responsible for it and they reward you if you're able to deliver, which i did as governor. i'd like to think that i'm probably the only politician who will be sitting on that stage

this afternoon who's able to cross traditional barriers in bringing together that big tent that we so grately need as a republican party if we're going to be victorious in 2012. >> interesting in the poll, rick perry seems to be the one who is drawing together traditional republicans and tea party conservatives and those new activists. he is the real front runner now and he's the one who seems to be the one best able to take on barack obama. has the republican party moved in such a different direction that it is going to be really impossible for you to catch up? >> well, i don't think so. as soon as we get our record out there, as soon as we're able to connect as we're doing in new hampshire which is a critically important when people see our record of job growth in utah that i am pro-life. that i am prosecond amendment, that i am progrowth. i served overseas three times as

an ambassador for my country. i've got the international experience as well as the service -- successful services governor. we're going to do just fine. what we need is a party someone who can win as someone who can lead. and i'm the one that can put those numbers together that we have not seen in a very long time as a republican party. i've also got what it takes to lead based upon where i was governor. we worked on the same this shalls that this country needs. that's getting our act together economically and that's getting in the future where we can prepare for the next generation that is going to come out not the way that we would intend for them to come out. they're getting the shaft because of the debt that is going their way and we can do better for the next generation. it's got to start this election cycle. >> before i let you go, governor, is it really do or die for your tonight? do you need a game changer to try to break out of the bottom of the ranks?

>> no. i want to be a rising star not a shooting star. shooting stars flame out. you've got to remember that the republican field has had about four front runners in as many months. we're going to be other front runners many the months to come this is a fluid situation. nobody as attention until the fall season. the fall season has just started. the race is just beginning. no votes have been cast at all. we shouldn't be too quick to draw any conclusions this in race because there's a lot of terrain to go. there's ideas to be put on the table. in all fairness to the american people they need to know who we are, what we stand for and what our vision is for the united states. hang on for the ride. it's going to be a very important fall season. i believe 2012 is the most important election cycle i've seen during my lifetime. probably since the great depression. >> well, thank you for being so game and being a good sport, keeping your commitment getting out of the sick bed to make the call. we appreciate it. as i say a lot of hot tea with honey and chicken soup doesn't hurt. we wish you the best.

>> andrea, you're terrific. go quakers. i appreciate being with you. >> you bet. speaking of quakers, we're joined by chris matthews host of "hardball" on msnbc live at the reagan library. thank you so much, chris. thanks yesterday for subbing for me. >> that was great. >> there you are in front of that great 707, 27,000 we both flew so many years on it at that great setting in simi valley. let's talk about this debate tonight and what you see as the game plan for the didn't candidates including the new front runner rick perry? >> i think it's so much about voice tonight. we just heard from huntsman who has an excellent presentation on the radio. tonight we're going to hear the voice really for the first time of rick perry. it reminds me of one of those old silent film stars who has to do his first talky. we're going to actually hear

him. what kind of a person he is. i think voice is so important in american politics. going back to franklin roosevelt. what do you sound like, looks matter of course in a television age, but not really. what really matters is the timber, the quality, the texture of your voice. tonight for the first time the american people conservatives as well as independents and democrats are going to hear rick perry. will he be in the same sense of i believe the strong credibility we just heard from jon huntsman, will he sound like a reasonable person. i think that's the key thing to look for tonight. will rick perry sound like a reasonable person. >> you know, when he started out during the weekend that we were all in iowa and he took off on ben bernanke and sounded in talking about nearly terrorist actions by the fed. he sounded as though someone who was so marginal that he could not appeal to a broad group of republican voters. yet, the big surprise to a lot of people is that he shot to the top. >> yeah, i think that's the

thing that's coming together tonight. the real hunger. the appetite, the american center as well as the right has for an option for president obama. i think our system of democracy, representative democracy requires a strong option play for the american voter come next november. everyone even liberals want to know is there going to be an option. a reasonable option for the american voter next november. they want to see it and perhaps in rick perry, because romney doesn't seem to be authentic in his views. his views seem so fluid. they're fluent, but very fluid. and people are looking for someone who deeply believes something as an option to ppt obama who pay parentally is a progressive. i think that's what we're looking for. we know it's a conservative. is he reasonable? i think we want to hear his voice tonight. does he seem like a grown up? i think that is so powerful tonight his opportunity maybe to speak for 1/7 of the time, 1/5 of the time. those words and that performance

i think is the key tonight. >> and mitt romney, what game plan do you expect from the romney camp? we're going to be talking to vin we shall an economic advisor to mitt romney. he lost his front runner status. they can't be happy about that. maybe it takes a little bit of pressure off of him in some ways. he really has to show that he can go the distance. >> look, i don't know. i noticed his strong tranquillity in the last couple of days in the performances specially yesterday. i think he's counting on something going wrong now with rick perry. something that doesn't fill out about him as he becomes a person to us not just a profile. and he's hoping he'll stumble or do something wrong or something won't come through that he needs to do to be the republican nominee. i don't think romney can win this anymore. i think he has to hope for perry to come apart somehow. he seems to be confident will happen. if i were him i'd have the

willies right now about the growing prominence growing inevitability at this point of rick perry. >> i know i was listening to you on "hardball" last nigh you were talking about taking your wonderful daughter and going to mount rushmore and looking up at the mountain. who among these candidates can fit that profile? >> probably none. probably none because the wonderful thing about rushmore is it's already filled. that club is closed. there's not going to be anymore faces up there. we can look to them at role models. certainly one thing i came away from was the feeling about those four people. i sat there, you know me pretty well. i sat there for two hours just in awe of those faces and the wonderful presentation they make about our country and washington with his absolute constancy and lincoln with his clarity of view and teddy roosevelt looking out for the wilderness he protected and jefferson still hopeful. there's a wonderful subtle expressions on their faces if

you look closely at them even on a postcard. i'm very hopeful about this country. i don't see any applicants for that position. by the way when they polled people just a year or two ago who the american people thought should be up there it was jack kennedy. of course, you know i've been working very hard on that topic, lately. tonight i tweet for the first time. i begin tweeting today for the first time. i will now sell hardball. i'm going to respond to the tweeties and say something about this big debate tonight. >> chris matthews, that's exciting news. mu only visit to mount rushmore was with karen carry grant. >> hitchcock those trees up there is all as accurate as heck. hitchcock had it right. i always think of eva marie especially going into the tunnel

in the last scene. that very evocative tunnel. >> that's why we love each other, chris. thank you. the debate kicks off tonight at 8:00 eastern right here on msnbc. and don't miss our post debate coverage led by our msnbc prime time team. send me your thoughts on twitter. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ♪ i've been waiting ♪ for a snack like you

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we know about the president's proposed plan to get americans back to work -- new york democratic senator jill brand is on the hill for us today. so great to see you.

>> thank you. >> the big speech is tomorrow night. what can we expect from the president? what can he do? >> i think he's going to give us a speech about his vision and his ideas for how to create jobs. i'm waiting to hear maybe tax policy for small businesses to help them grow. i'm really thinking he will lay out a plan for really the next steps we need to take as a nation to create some bipartisan support for good legislation. >> one of the things that's so striking, senator, is what he's up against. i don't mean politics of it, just the economics of it. if you look at the consumer confidence data that came out just now in the last month and looking at the analysis, this last month, this horrible six weeks, let's say of the debt ceiling debate was the second worst set back in consumer confidence. only second to katrina.

it was you know, worse than 9/11 economically. that is so stunning that a congressional debate can be worse than the worst strategy that faced this country in terms of setting back people's congress going forward. it tells you a lot about confidence and why people are 80% of people angry at congress. >> people want solutions. they want congress to come together, work on a bipartisan basis and get things down. but times are very tough. i can tell you across new york. small businesses are struggling. families are struggling. i really haven't had such difficult times in recent memory and add to that all the hurricane disaster throughout our state. it's pretty tough out there. what we need to see are bold plans from the president. what i'm really hoping to talk about are bigger ideas. these ideas that could have an impact. if you commit to an infrastructure bank creating public-private partnerships that can invest in fra additional

infrastructure, but also new infrastructure like high speed rail or rural broad band that can be transformational not just for a state, but for our nation. if we can make those investments we can get people back to work. we can create the landscape for that loerm economic growth in addition to creating the immediate jobs of that building and infrastructure. >> and speaking of communications and some of the i.t., you have legislation the 9/11 responders legislation and it's one of the key recommendations now post mechb from the commission as lee hamilton and tom kean have been saying. where can we stand in terms of going forward and getting the communication among local responds? >> we've got a great bipartisan bill. local law enforcement and federal law enforcement can communicate in times of natural disaster or god forbid another terrorist attack. what we need those men and women to do is communicate. a kid with an iphone can

communicate information in a far more sophisticated way than a firefighter right now. that is not acceptable. they need to have the same technologies available if you're going into a burning building or a natural disaster site you can have immediate downloaded to you on the ground to respond accordingly. this is one of the main recommends of the 9/11 report. we have a very good bill that can create this. it will be 10 megahertz called the d block for responders. >> well, we all know about that and we really wish you luck with your bill. it's a bipartisan bill. thank you so much. good to see you. thanks, senator. >> thanks, andrea. and rick perry the debate debut. coming up the politico briefing live from the site of tonight's politico debate from the reagan library in simi valley. [ agent ] so your policy looks good, is there anything else?

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that got to get up and say well i created jobs and that's true. there is one in particular that's created jobs all over the world. but while he was the governor of massachusetts he didn't create very many jobs. >> i'm not responding to governor perry right here. he's not here. i'll probably get the chance to do that at some point. >> that's the warm up. in fact, mitt romney will get his chance tonight when he faces off with the man who's bumped him off the pedestal as front runner in the race, rick perry. in addition to it being rick perry ice first debate, it could be the last chance for some of the other candidates to stop this from becoming a two-man race. mike ail len is chief coronet for politico. it's great to see you out there. your bullet points today from the political play book many, many miles, almost a million miles with ronald reagan and some other presidents as well. when we talk about what the play book is for tonight.

what do you see as the key attack lines and defense lines? >> andrea the biggest question for tonight is how hot does it get between rick perry and mitt romney? it's going to get hot. every indication are that the texas governor plans to come out swinging. we saw it in the clip just there. we've seen it in recent days from his own mouth and his campaign. both because of his nature and he knows he has a lot of time to make up in this race. he's going to come out today and perhaps literally but certainly figuratively he will have his boots on, his mitt kickers. you can expect governor romney to go back at him in. the past governor romney has done fine by laying back the sort of ignore strategy in some of those debates. we're told that's over that the starting gun has sounded. we're going to see governor romney who's fallen in national polls showing that he wants this. that he's hungry. that he's going to work for it and he's willing to go at rick

perry. >> what about michele bachmann? >> she needs to find a chance to show that he is relevant to this race. she has reason to be on this podium. you and i have talked about the fact that we long thought it would be a three-person race for much longer. her best day was when she won the iowa caucus. she's lost oxygen, altitude since then. she's going to come out and be tough, too. she has to show she's serious. the other person to watch is how does jon huntsman translate a very successful time he's had on national television making his points about being this sort of republican truth teller, the more moderate republican, the more sensible republican. how does he translate that on the stage? he recognizes that's not necessarily just teed up for him. he saw in the debate that his strongest issue on his view is the debt ceiling he was not for default. he turned another question around to that.

jon huntsman is going to say, coach, give me the ball. he is not a person to attack. he's not the person to throw hate makers. i don't expect a departure from that either. >> mike allen, we'll be here for all that. thank you so much. good to sew you my friend. stay right here for the msnbc politico debate moderated by nbc's brian williams and politico's john harris. starts tonight at 8:00 eastern on msnbc. up next, a decade after 9/11 the nefrl before seen photos from ground zero. next on "andrea mitchell next on "andrea mitchell reports." thankfully, there's. its triple-action formula penetrates biofilm, ground zero. next on "andrea mitchell reports." n before seen photos f ground zero. next on "andrea mitchell reports." e before seen photos f ground zero. next on "andrea mitchell reports." v before seen photos f ground zero. next on "andrea mitchell reports." er before seen photos from ground zero. next on "andrea mitchell reports." and some of the most powerful, yet easy to use trading tools on the planet. it's investing with intelligence and cold hard conviction. e-trade. investing unleashed.

her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. topping the headlines on andrea mitchell, dozens of wives are raging out of control in texas. according to this map, the national weather center says lighter winds are helping firefighters battle the largest of 180 fires burning statewide. fire crews have contained 30% of the blaze so far. four people can have been

killed. search tales are still look for other victims. moments ago the sheriff of carson city, nevada, spoke about the shooting massacre at an ihop yesterday morning. a third national guard member has died after the gunman opened fire on a group of five uniformed officers eating breakfast. police say the gunman a 32-year-old man killed four people and wounded seven others before turning the gun on himself. he died later. and with emotions still raw from 9/11, a push to build a muslim center near ground zero last year sparked furious protests. the rift between muslims and nonmuslims living in america. we have the imam who let the original project. he and his wife are planning a new interfaith center in lower manhattan. thank you both very much. how are we moving forward with this new plan and what is your

plan for it and how are you making sure that it doesn't meet the same opposition from community groups? >> thank you very having us on. we are committed to the important work of healing the impact of 9/11. this is the thing that many of the 9/11 committee members that we have spoken to and increased our outreach to have emphasized that we do do. we're continuing our work which we've committed to ever since 9/11 which is healing the relationship between america, the country that we love and part of and citizens of and the muslim community both domestically and internationally. this has defined my work, the programs that dazy and i have initiated and founded. programs that speak to issues of women's empowerment of an understanding of islam and the relationship is in our country

or the dwonlt of a proper what people call islamic governance which is very important given the light of the arab spring. as well as what it means to to be muslim in america. these and other programs interfaith activity all define the scope of growth that we're doing. and we have been doing this work in every arena in our own spaces in mosques in churches in synagogues and academic institutions and think tanks would continue to do this work. the dream of having a center, an actual physical space that will house and amplify and launch all these activities at a much higher level is a dream that we still have. the dream is very much alive and we're pursuing now with many other people discussions in how to achieve this dream whether it be in that location or another location of manhattan. >> what did you learn after

speaking to the 9/11 families and the first responders their reactions? did you gain any understanding of why there was so much opposition initially? >> i think the opposition is understandable. you know, almost 3,000 people died. what we had already been dialoguing with the 9/11 families for some time. after the story erupted last year we decided to have a serious dialogue, one-on-one dialogue with 9/11 families to find out if they truly were opposed to the vision or is it something that they just didn't understand the vision or the intent behind the center. of course, over a year things have changed dramatically for how they perceive us. on friday, september 9th at 6:00 in the evening we're going to be honoring five of those family members who have worked tirelessly within their own communities to build bridges between people and they will be

honored alongside with muslim families who have been grieving in isolation for the last ten years and we're bringing these two groups together as a way of bringing them together, but also as a way of continuing this deep wound that we have in this nation. for me personally, for me personally it's important because i used to work in the towers. it was very traumatic for me personally. i was committed to rebuilding the neighborhood, the buildings that i worked in and in some way creating the center is our way of also saying we muslims want to help the rebuilding of our city. of our neighborhood. so we're still committed to the vision and we hope god willing that we'll be able to realize it. >> briefly in the few seconds we have left. i want to ask you whether you think that the president has done enough to bring muslim americans and other americans together. the promise of the cairo speech. do you think that he has led

enough in this? >> i know he's collaged on many fronts. it's true that the muslim world both domestically and internationally is look for much better results. let me say that the arab spring has given our country and the western european countries opportunity to engage as we see in libya, in egypt and other parts of the arab world where the arab spring is indicative of a whole generation of people who want to have life, liberty and pursuit of happiness deliverables be given to them. which is why i think the important thing, andrea is to realize that the battle front or the war is really not between america or islam or muslims and christians, but really between all the right thinking people, the moderates against all of the extremists because it's a the extremists who have hijacked the agenda of all of us. the call to action right now is for all of us from the

president, think tanks, academic institutions, religious leaders, faith communities, civil society organizations, all of us to work together to amplify the voice of moderates against all of the extremists who really are the common enemy of us all. >> thank you so much. we thank you for joining us today. >> thank you for having us. and ten years later the impact of 9/11 still reverberates throughout america. this week "time" magazine is marking the anniversary with a special commemorative issue. never been seen pictures and dozens of personal accounts from people including daisy kahn whose lives were forever changed. richard engel is editor of "time" magazine. the pictures, of course, are extraordinary. the never before seen photos. >> yes. as you mentioned it's only the

third time we've ever changed the red bodder. we have a silver border in honor of this momentous anniversary. the photographer who loves in south street happened to be in town on the morning of 9/11. and being a war photographer he got his camera and went downtown and took these extraordinary pictures. ten years ago he walked into the office the next morning still covered in ash and dirt and showed us what he had. and basically we did a special issue back then ten years ago. and jim put his negative ace way. put them in a box and didn't look at them again until about three weeks ago. we said is there anything you had that we didn't use. he had 25 or 26 rolls of film that he had never looked at since that day. the issue begins with these five extraordinary double pictures from jim from that morning.

>> when i got my edition today the image of the cross with the tower collapsing behind it is just an extraordinary picture. the power of the still photo is just really nothing short of amazing. >> i do think it's one of the things that this issue does highlight is the power of still images both color and black and white. because the power of the events that day as you mentioned earlier is still so potent. one of the things we did with all of these portraits in the issue and the oral history of people it brings it back in such an elemental way that power hasn't diminished. >> when you see that flag silhouette against the ruins, the firemen, the first responders, the survivors, lessons learned, richard? these essays are also extraordinary? >> there's terrible beauty as you say in the pictures.

and again, the lessons learned is partially that the wound is still raw. it still hasn't healed for lots of people. the oral histories that we have including from the four gentlemen who survived above the 78th floor still has the power to grab you by the lapels it's about courage. it's about bravery and resilience. in some way that's the forward look message. this was a terrible thing, but we have recovered from it. we have moved on. and we haven't forgotten it. that seems to be the message of everybody in the issue including i see you have on the screen, we're the only folks who interviewed president bush, vice president cheney, donald rumsfeld, paul wolfwits. they talk about what they were doing that day and the ten-year arc since that day. >> richard stengel. it is an amazing issue.

thanks so much. the portraits, the photographs and the essays. stay with msnbc for special coverage of all this weekend's commemorative events. the tenth anniversary of 9/11. no, this is new bayer advanced aspirin... clinically proven to relieve tough pain twice as fast as before. what, did you invent this or something? well, my team did. i'm dr. eric first, from bayer. wow. look. it has microparticles. it enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief right to the site of pain. better? great! thanks. [ male announcer ] new bayer advanced aspirin. extra strength pain relief. twice as fast. test our fast relief. look out for your coupon in this sunday's papers.

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is the fridge freshpet fresh food for fido hi everyone. i'm tamron hall. coming up on "news nation", we are just hours away from tonight's republican presidential debate. it comes at a time in one poll that republicans say they're unsure if they'd consider voting for any of the gop candidates. plus, the latest on the wildfires in texas where cadaver dogs are now being used in the search for victims. and another developing story we are following. members of russia's hockey team are involved in a deadly crash and some of those athletes have tied to the nhl. and how much privacy are you willing to give up in the fight against terrorism? we'll talk about the surprising results of a a new poll.

it's all ahead on "news nation." rick perry is the new top gun in the republican race overtaking mitt romney in a new poll. will romney take perry on tonight? former congressman vin weber is a special advisor on economic policy to the romney campaign and joins me now. we heard mike allen say that rick perry was going to show up with his mitt kickers. is mitt romney going to hit back? >> first of all, i don't know for sure that either of those analysis are right. i'm not sure that either candidate is determined to punch the other one out. we lieblg to preview the debate that way and the viewers might think that's a lot of fun. i'm not sure that that's the right tone. governor romney outlined a 59-point economic program. he's going to walk want to talk about his economic program. he's going to want to talk about the economy. everything we see in this polling that shows that polling is volatile and the president's down and rick perry surges into the race, people are really reacting to extreme discomfort

about this economy. they're afraid of the direction of the economy. and it makes for a very volatile lek rat. i'm not -- electorate, i'm not sure that the punch out is going to re-assure voters. >> perhaps not. even "the wall street journal" which wouldn't be hostile to mitt romney talked about his plan as 160 pages and 59 proposals striking us as timid. >> they're looking for a plan that is real and that can be implemented. i was surprised at the journal. i'm a big fan of "the wall street journal" as most republicans are. i would prefer to look at the statement that came out from the club for growth which is no timid wall flower fl the republican world. they praised mitt romney's plan as being a serious plan to get the economy growing again. more importantly sst a plan that can be achieved. he outlines the bills that he wants introduced on the first day as president as well as five executive orders that he can

just do. it's a plan that can get somewhere. that's what the country's looking forward. they're looking that we have a paralysis of political leadership and nobody can get anything done. >> is it not bold enough in terms of taking on some of the sacred cows on the tax agenda, for instance, he's not going nearly as far as jon huntsman. >> he doesn't go in the same direction, he's got 59 specific proposals. except cap from capital gains, all taxation for people making less than $200,000 a year to try to reinstill some confidence among small nv v investors. he's talking about getting rid of the estate tax. he's talking about the simpson-bowles framework to start a simpler tax reform. it's a fairly strong program. substantial talk about slowing down what we think are anti-job regulations that this administration's promulgating. it's a good, comprehensive,

achievable plan. >> vin weber we'll all be watching tonight. thank you very much. what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next on "andrea mitchell reports." my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. new citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. 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®. so lily and i are back on the road again. like, keep one of these over your head. well, i wasn't "supposed" to need flood insurance, but i have it. fred over here chose not to have it. ♪ me, i've got a plan.

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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. and which political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com chris cillizza joins us. hi, chris. well, there's only one debate. it's tonight right here. >> well, andrea, that's right. i will as always be tuned to msnbc because-i this is a big night. i don't think we can overplay it. you know, debates matter. it's when the people who are going to vote are paying attention. we're post-labor day and in the

rick perry era. everyone wants to see what he's going to do. i think an underplayed story line and one to pay attention to is how does michele bachmann fare in this debate in the last debate in iowa, two days away from winning the straw poll. she was the buzz and talk of the town. everybody was excited. that buzz has very much wore off. rick perry is soaring and michele bachmann in new polls support cut in half, so can she re-energize her campaign and get herself into that conversation with mitt romney and rick perry tonight? >> all things to watch. chris cillizza, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> we'll all be watching. >> now, a personal note, or how i spent my summer vacation. i had planned to be hiking in wyoming last week, but instead discovered that i am now among the one in eight women in this country incredibly, one in eight, who have had breast cancer. -mile-per-hour was discovered during my annual screening just a short time ago. luckily for me i am one of the fortunate ones.

we discovered it in the earliest stage. it had not spread, and i'm already back at work with a terrific prognosis. supporting research for breast cancer, prevention and cures is a cause that has always been important to me. for years i've participated in the susan g. komen race for the cure and other events in solidarity with friends and other survivors. now, my connection to that community is personal and much deeper. i'm looking at this as another of life's lessons. for you women out there and for the men who love you, screening matters. do it. this disease can be completely curable, if you find it at the right time. as for me, i am incredibly grateful to my wonderful doctors and the nurses, to my husband and family, and to the loving members of my other family, my colleagues here at nbc and msnbc and, of course, to you, my loyal viewers. i'll see all of you tomorrow for complete of tonight's nbc news

politico presentationial debate and my colleague and good friend tamron hall is next with "newsnation." [ male announcer ] this is coach parker... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ i'm a dad, coach, and i was a longtime smoker. in my heart i knew for the longest time that did not want to be a smoker. and the fact that i failed before. i think i was discouraged for a very long time.

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i'm tamron hall. "newsnation" is following rick perry's first time at the big dance when he appears at the nbc politico gop debate. a live look at the stage of the ronald reagan presidential library where in just a little while the eight candidates will begin their walk-throughs. it's the first debate featuring perry, as said, and now the front-runner leading the pack, but even with a mystery of weather romney will take on perry or if bachmann's lure is fading, new polls show republicans run certain about their reference. the poll shows 53% say they are satisfied with the field of gop candidates with 47% of big numbers still unsure or unsatisfied. joining me now roger simon from politico. roger, thanks for