>> class warfare will divide this country more and attack job creators and divide people and it doesn't grow the economy. >> when you pick one area of the economy and say we're going to take those people because most people are not those people, that's class warfare. >> that's what they always say. >> former president bill clinton says republicans are always against higher taxes. >> republicans in washington say the same thing. any tax on any upper income person is bad because they're job creators. it's an insult to those people. >> president obama's plan calls for $580 billion in spending cuts. 1.1 trillion in war savings but part of the plan that some republicans are already calling dead in the water 1.5 trillion in tax increases based in part on the buffett rule named after billionaire investor warren buffett who complained his tax rate is lower than his secretary's. >> if he's feeling guilty about it, he should send in a check. >> i want to bring in john harwood live at the white house right now.

they are already being called class warfare. how does the white house plan to sell this one? >> reporter: they're not going to sell it legislatively. you mentioned a second ago this was dead in the water to republicans but it may not be dead in the water to american voters and that's a lot of the point of this plan. last week having failed to make a grand bargain, the president and john boehner have both retreated to their political corners. john boehner came out last week and said no tax increases in the deficit reduction plan and now the president is coming out and saying no medicare cuts unless we raise taxes on millionaires and the other thing i think that's important to point out is that if it is class warfare, most americans are in favor of it. if you look at our nbc/"wall street journal" polls, 81% have said in 2011 that they favor some sort of tax on millionaires and 60% say they favor ending the bush tax cuts on those families making more than

$250,000 a year. we'll see if the president is pressure republicans to go along with him on the hill or get independent voters to come with him in the election next year. >> gop had a chance to strike a deficit reduction bill with the president back in july which contained more substantial entitlement changes. did the gop blow it a couple months ago? >> some conservatives argue they did blow it because they refuse to accept any tax increases. people like david brooks, my colleague at the "the new york times" said it was a fantastic deal and they should have taken it. republicans leaders and rank and file in the congress thought they couldn't do it. they either couldn't pass it or didn't want to pass it. whatever the reason, they walked away from that deal and it's simple. if there's going to be a major long-term bipartisan deal on de deficit reduction, it's going to

take real entitlement reform and higher taxes. that's the simple reality with two parties sharing washington. >> interesting that the president did not raise the eligibility age. that was not part of this plan that was unveiled today. a lot of folks thought this might be an opportunity for him to raise it from 65 to 67. what do we make of that? >> it's the same thing that happened on social security. the president who had agreed privately with john boehner or floated the idea of changing the inflation index for benefits for social security, he walked back from that and walked back from eligibility age and the basic rule is i'll show you mine when you show me yours. when republicans say no tax increases, president saying, okay, no benefit cuts. let's fight about it. >> john harwood from the white house on this monday. john, thank you. let's bring in the panel now. msnbc political analyst karen finney former communication director for dnc and robert is

the d.c. bureau chief of comcast network and communication director for rick santorum. president obama unveiled the deficit plan that doesn't touch social security and doesn't raise the eligibility age for medicare. there are tax increases in it that republicans said they won't support under any circumstances. he's already threatened to veto anything that hits his desk without those tax increases. does the president think this thing can pass or is the goal to force republicans to defend politically unpopular positions? >> i think it's two-fold. number one, it should pass. i think the president's position was i'm not going to propose something in this round that people say this can pass or that can pass. i'm going to proposal what i think is good policy and a good idea and poll after poll after poll shows that a vast majority of the american people support all of the ideas that president obama put forward. they are ideas that republicans

previously supported and at 12% approval rating, i don't see how the republicans have a lot of margin to disagree on taking a balanced approach to our problems. >> robert, politically how does the gop defend that stance? how can republicans for the next 14 months go home and go to districts and continue to justify a tax code that does allow people like warren buffett to get away with paying very little comparatively in taxes than they were just 30 years ago. >> it's not republicans to my knowledge that have a 12% disapproval rating, it's congress as a whole. number two, i'm certainly not a spokesperson for the republican party but my understanding of their position is that they are for an overhaul of the tax code. not just about taxing the rich or taxing the rich a little bit more or changing the tax code just specifically for millionaires but it's also changing the tax code for small business owners. it's about changing the tax code for people living from paycheck

to paycheck. comprehensive overall reform. >> that is a part of what the president is proposing and it's those parts that impact the wealthiest americans. the .3% of americans that the republicans are saying is not okay. they are saying no tax increases for anyone but really what they mean is no tax increases for oil companies or the wealthiest at the expense of middle class americans and tax breaks by the way for small businesses. >> at what point does that come back to bite them politically? >> i think what we have to take a look at here is the political landscape. we know this is not going to pass congress. the reason it won't pass congress is because republicans and even some moderate democrats out there saying a tax increase regardless of what you make right now with 9.1 unemployment is not the recipe to get us out of this mess. the recipe to get us out of this

mess is to reduce overall government spending overall. now again, that's the republican's position on this. the question is whether or not what position is going to be the most sellable to the american people and whether it's the president's position who has record low disapproval ratings right now or whether it's the republicans position. we'll see. >> this of course is the conversation that's going to go on while this bill is out there. you got to wonder. politically, who does this conversation benefit the longer it goes on? >> i think in the context of the politics of the president, remember there are two parts. for right now he's having to deal with congress. i think that it's outrageous to me that we're saying he's proposing something that won't pass because republicans aren't even willing as they have been from the beginning unwilling to listen before they see the proposal. it should pass. it's what the american people want. frankly historically president reagan raised taxes and what do we have? we had job growth.

under president clinton, taxes had to be raised. we had job growth. under bush massive tax cuts. we lost jobs. >> hate to cut you off. i wanted to ask you about the book, karen. we'll have to get to that some other time. appreciate your time. quick reminder, we love to know what you think. should those earnings $1 million or more per year pay higher income tax than those earning less. it's a very simple question and do you think millionaires tax would help or hurt the economy. head to tv.msnbc.com. new evidence discovered at the reno crash site should help investigators piece together what happened. this is video of the aircraft evaporated when it hit the ground. nine people died. 70 others were injured on friday. george lewis is live in reno,

nevada, with the very latest. >> reporter: the very latest is that we have a new death toll. there are ten dead from this crash. one of the people that was in critical condition at st. mary's hospital died overnight. so we've got nine dead on the ground and the pilot. ntsb investigators say that they discovered that the plane had a video camera or a data recorder on board that put information on memory cards like these so they found a number of these cards in the wreckage and they hope to take them back to their lab in washington, d.c. to analyze them. they can't provide valuable clues provided by them. new video, a world war ii vintage plane and the moment of the crash.

it turns out the plane carried some modern technology. >> the investigators have found that the accident aircraft was equipped with a video camera facing outward and have found camera fragments at the wreckage site. >> reporter: it could yield clues about what happened as a piece of the plane's tail section appeared to come off in flight. sunday night the ntsb released a video of the part that detached. ntsb wrapped up their search of the crash site on sunday. pieces of the plane will be taken to a secure area for further analysis. this as more stories of heroics amid chaos of the crash scene begin to emerge. one of the spectators who died may have been trying to save his son and his son's two friends. they survived. >> i think that he probably

sheltered his son and that's the kind of guy he was. >> reporter: one thing that may come out of this, a set of recommendations from the ntsb about improving safety at air shows and preventing further tragedies like this one. ntsb says the investigation will take months to complete a preliminary report is due out this coming friday. craig? >> george lewis in reno, nevada. that video does not get easier to look at. appreciate that report. meanwhile, another deadly air show crash happened just 24 hours later in west virginia killing a pilot. the ntsb is investigating that one. they are looking into what caused a plane to go down during a demonstration. unlike the reno crash, no spectators were hurt. the pilot from north carolina was a decorated air force veteran. world leaders converge for a meeting of the u.n. general assembly. why that may mean high drama to the united states and european diplomats. no one is a winner when two

high school football rivals square off. a football brawl caught on camera. first, quick look at the markets now. the dow down 193 points. s&p, nasdaq also both down on this monday. 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.

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the stage is set for dramatic confrontation. word leaders gather for a meeting of the u.n. general assembly this week. the most contentious topics, palestinian statehood. a new report says that palestine is ready to take care of its own finances now. palestinian leaders may push the issue and demand that palestine

be declared a state. joining me now is martin fletcher live in tel aviv. good day to you. >> reporter: hi, craig. >> let's start with what the president said last year. president obama last year indicated that the united states of america might be open toll palestinian statehood. what has changed since then? >> reporter: well, more than open to it. president obama said that by september 2011 this month he hoped and expected there would be a palestinian state but what he meant was that negotiations between palestinians and the israelis would lead to a palestinian state. what he did not mean was there would be any unilateral move by either side and in this case the palestinians asking the u.n. to declare a palestinian state is not what president obama meant at all because they believes that would be counterproductive and not lead to a peaceful

palestinian state but an end of negotiations with israel. that's not what the americans want. >> part of the mystery here is that abbas may ask for statehood or go a different route. for membership, enhanced observer status. do we know at this point which may he may be leaning? >> it's all up in the air. at the moment all the palestinians want is recognition by the united nation of their right to exist as an independent state and they don't know how to go about it. abbas has said repeatedly that he'll go to the security council and ask for the security council to vote and recognize a palestinian independent state but there's so much opposition to that from the united states and from israel and from a few other countries that option b is to call for a palestinian state

not independent but the palestinians are under such pressure from americans they don't know what to do at this stage and anything could happen before the scheduled appearance by the palestinian president in front of the united nations general assembly on friday. >> martin fletcher in tel aviv. thank you. republicans have another showdown in florida. fresh off the california straw poll and it was not one of the front runners who came out on top. plus, can the postal service even be saved? i'll ask the post master general when he joins me in just a few minutes. she won't eat eggs without hot sauce. she has kind of funny looking toes. she's always touching my hair. and she does this dancing finger thing. [ male announcer ] with advanced technology from ge, now doctors can diagnose diseases like breast cancer on a cellular level. so that women, like kristy's mom, can get personalized treatment that's as unique as she is. [ kristy ] she's definitely not like other moms.

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and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage... or visit travelers.com. this is not how witness protection works! when we set you up with that little hardware store we didn't intend for your face to be everywhere. but fedex office makes it so easy. not only do they ship stuff, they print flyers, brochures -- everything i need to get my name out there. that's the problem. now we need to give you a third identity. you're paul matheson. and you're gonna run your business into the ground. erik gustafson would never do that! there is no erik gustafson. hey that's erik gustafson!!! there is no erik gustafson!!!!! [ male announcer ] small business solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. last chance hearing for the parole board to decide whether to stop the execution of davis. after several rounds of appeals, this represents his last chance at a reprieve. the same panel upheld davis'

sentencing in 2008 but three new members have joined the panel since then. high school players in pennsylvania are in big trouble after this. their game broke in an all out brawl after two rival players drove each other out of bounds with just ten minutes left in the game. 12 players now face league and school suspensions. texas governor rick perry continues to hold a commanding lead over his republican rivals according to the latest cbs news poll. perry leads the field with 23% among primary voters. mitt romney coming in second with 16%. newt gingrich at 7%. michele bachmann tied for third. and mark murray joins me now. ron paul came away with a decisive win over the weekend in

california. he received 45% of the vote. ron paul generally fares well in these straw polls. can we take anything away from this? >> he does very well in straw polls. it has to do with the intensity of his support. you heard that someone ends up having support that might be a mile wide but an inch deep. it's the reverse for ron paul. his support is sometimes a mile deep. people really want to go out to these straw polls and cast their vote for him. he did well in that ames straw poll finishing a close second to michele bachmann back in august. this is his specialty. he does very well. >> raised a boat load of money over the weekend. raised more than 1 million bucks off that victory. do we think at some point that ron paul picks up some traction or do we think this is what we continue to see fares well in a straw poll here and there but he's never really considered one of the big two or three. >> it's what he does. in 2007 and 2008 he raised a lot

of money. he was able to do well in straw polls. he finished fifth in the iowa caucuses and fifth in new hampshire primary. this time around his argument is, look, the republican party has come around more to my libertarian ideas and principles but it's going to be difficult for him at the end of the day to grab that republican establishment republican support give his views on foreign policy are so different than the average republicans. >> are we going to see more candidates drop out of this thing at some point soon? >> the biggest thing to keep an eye on is the money to keep one afloat. if you are a candidate and you need to have a bus tour and you need to go to a particular state to campaign, you have to continue to raise money. the fund-raising deadline for the third quarter is coming up on september 30th to give a good idea when we get official reports to see who has money left in the bank and who doesn't and that could be who decides to stay in the race and who

doesn't. >> thank you. appreciate it. voter identification laws a barrier for some people to cast their ballot and how it could affect voter turnout? we'll look at that next. the postal service is on life support. the postmaster general himself will join me with cuts being proposed to save it. your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! listen to this. three out of four americans don't get enough vegetables. so here's five bucks to help you buy v8 juice. five bucks. that's a lot of green. go to v8juice.com for coupons. you can count on us.

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regenerist, from olay. time to mix it up with new philly cooking creme. it'll make your chicken creamier, dreamier, with lots of flavor. spread the love in four fabulous flavors. spoon in a little new philly cooking creme. welcome back to msnbc. i'm craig melvin. the lawyer for two american hikers jailed in iran say they have to wait until at least tomorrow for a second judge to approve their million dollar bail deal. in his first interview, dominique strauss-kahn called the encounter a moral failing. trial is under way for the second man accused in a deadly home invasion in connecticut. he faces the death penalty if convicted. and today the military's

controversial don't ask, don't tell policy in the military is officially repealed. voting rights groups are sounding the alarm about new laws that could suppress turnout at the polls among minorities and the elderly. at the start of this year, these 20 states we highlighted here, these 20 states did not have laws requiring voter i.d.s at the laws. kansas and wisconsin enacted strict photo i.d. guidelines. voter i.d. laws were shot down in two states including california and new mexico. five states will take it up again next year. several states are trying to strengthen existing voter i.d. laws this year. alabama, tennessee, texas, south carolina, all enacted stricter retirements. bills failed in four other states. three states will try again next year.

14 states have photo i.d. requirements right now but these seven states, these seven that we highlighted have the strictest. you can't vote until you show a photo i.d. texas, kansas, georgia, south carolina, tennessee, indiana, and wisconsin as well. want to bring in michael. executive director for the brennan center for justice at new york center of law and fo former speech writer for president clinton. thank you for joining me. you have supporters of voter i.d. laws saying they are needed to prevent voter fraud at the polls but others say voter i.d. laws will suppress turnout since 12% of eligible voters don't have a photo i.d. how do you strike the right balance? >> that's the thing. as you say, everybody who is eligible to vote should be able to vote and only those people who are eligible to vote should be eligible to vote but we shouldn't erect barriers that keep people with the right to

vote from voting. unfortunately this really in many ways unprecedented new wave of laws in the states will likely do that to many, many people. as you said, about 11% of people simply even though they are eligible to vote do not have government issued i.d. >> let's talk about that. we found that number to be -- we found it usually high. what do we know about why they don't have government issue i.d.s, that percentage? >> well, of course to people like us who i.d.s and a driver's license, it seems high but there are people who don't have cars, for live in cities where they don't need cars, where they are elderly or whether the i.d. they have is no longer valid. i don't really have a problem with identification requirement. in federal law already people have to show i.d. to register to vote. what i have a problem is i.d. requirements for i.d.s that people just don't have and so

it's very dlil and seems very targeted to slice away at the electric, the kind of example that's the most telling in some ways is the new law in texas where you cannot use your university of texas i.d. as a photo i.d. even though that's the government but you can use a gun license. that's targeted to achieve a certain political result. >> where have the courts fallen? where do courts weigh in when this comes to photo i.d. laws? >> well, the supreme court broadly upheld the idea of requiring i.d. but we do think that a number of new laws are so strict and they really hit minorities and elderly people and hit students extra hard. we think a lot of those are likely to be open to challenge either constitutionally or under other laws. we ought to find ways to make it possible for everybody to vote to have everybody who is eligible to vote on the rolls

and we see things in other states like cutbacks in early voting with i is very convenient. people like that a lot. laws in florida to make it almost impossible for nonpartisan groups to register voters. a lot of people think and i think historically this is true that this is the biggest rollback in voting rights that we've seen at one time since the era a century ago. >> michael, thank you. appreciate your time this afternoon. >> my pleasure. >> like many other businesses in this troubled economy the u.s. postal service is considering major downsizing potentially eliminating 35,000 jobs as it struggles with a massive deficit. the postmaster general joins us now. good afternoon to you. everyone watching probably familiar with the woes of the postal service these days. the worry before your presentation last week on the hill was that the post office

would not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and that you will probably have to shut down entirely this winter unless congress took emergency action. you announced plans to shut down as many as 252 mail processing plants. what's the latest? is that enough to save the post office? >> here's the situation we face. two things are going on. number one, we have lost volume. people are paying bills online. that's been the major driver there. plus the economy is really dampened the volume of advertising mail. you got that plus that we are required by law to prepay retiree health benefits. we have plan to take $20 billion out of the organization from an expense standpoint. that will get us profitable. that will get us back on firm financial footing. >> many post offices all over the world are in trouble. great britain comes to mind especially. others have adapted. they have turned their old fashioned post offices into

places where people can go to bank, buy cell phones, insurance even. why is our post office in this country so seemingly slow to adapt. >> most of the postal operations in different parts of the world always had that in their business model. the italians for example 50% of the income comes from banking. for us to switch at this point, it doesn't make a lot of sense. there's a ton of value still in advertising mail and packages. >> is that value going to be enough to sustain the post office for the next -- not next two or three years but the next 15 or 20 years. is it time to seriously consider scrapping the model? >> no. it will be enough. there's no question we have to be a lot more flexible going forward and that's what some of these proposals are around. we have to shrink the network

down because we don't have volume in there. just like any other business you have to keep an eye on costs going out to the future. >> critics point to labor. they point to health benefits as well as two of the biggest problems that the post office faces. labor represents a significant portion of the cost. a lot more than percentage at u.p.s. and fedex as well. what kind of conversations have you been having with postal union leaders? >> here's the thing first. our people do a great job. they have continued to do a great job with all of this adversity we're facing. we've reduced head count in this organization by 250,000 people over the last ten years. our people are very productive. we've been talking with the unions about some potential changes going forward. the big difference to keep in mind between us and fedex, fedex and u.p.s. run an airline. airlines cost a lot of money. it doesn't go to the labor side of the equation. serving customers six days a week with 35,000 post offices,

you're going to be labor intensive. proposals of moving from six to five day will help with that. >> with e-mail and online bill pay and commercial outfits with u.p.s. and fedex, there are those out there that say perhaps it is time for the post office to go the way of dinosaur. if we lost the post office as we know it, would our daily lives be at all very different? >> i think so. the postal service still is very, very important for the american economy and society. listen, this year we're going to deliver 167 billion pieces of mail. we're not going away any time soon. the other thing is there are many people in the united states. 30% of americans don't have internet access. they depend on us. getting packages to residents, medicine into far reaching areas, we're the only ones that deliver out there. we think we're important. we need finances stabilized. we have plan that will happen and we'll be fine. >> my father has been a postal

clerk for 32 years. we hope you get things worked out. >> give my best to him and we appreciate the excellent service. >> thank you, sir. appreciate your time. >> television honored the best of the best at the prime time emmy awards but the surprise of the night may have come when charlie sheen walked up and everyone holding their breath waiting to see what crazy charlie might say. we'll tell you what he did say and what he did not say coming up. eathing ] [ coughing continues ] [ gasping ] [ elevator bell dings, coughing continues ] [ female announcer ] congress can't ignore the facts: more air pollution means more childhood asthma attacks. [ coughing continues ] log on to lungusa.org and tell washington: don't weaken the clean air act.

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[ ben harper's "amen omen" playing ] we believe doing the right thing never goes unnoticed. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? >> only half of republicans in a recent cnn poll identify with tea partiers. the other half either have no opinion or don't identify with them at all. want to bring in our next guest who says that the divide does not necessarily mean what it would like it to mean.

where are big divisions between those who identify with the tea party and your traditional republicans. i think they are actually subtle when you look at the poll you cited there, you see a lot of philosophical common ground between the two groups. both are opposed to abortion. both are skeptical of evolution and both -- there's a significant number of both who think that homosexuality is something you're not born with and it's something that's developed environmental. when you look for differences there they are subtler. you find it on the level of anger that they express and that tea party folks are angrier than nontea party folks. rick perry called social security a ponzi scream. i agree with that statement. the tea partiers are more likely to agree with it than nontea partiers about you they have a general feeling that social security is in crisis. >> what did you find about their at tuts toward each other.

how did those who identify with the tea party, how do they view traditional tea party? >> the question that this survey raises is one that's about pragmatism and roll it will play in 2012 republican race because this is defined as tea party versus non-tea party. there's a lot of overlap. these are two conservative candidates what romney in a non-tea party wing represents is pragmatism. we're conservative here. do we want the tea party to be the face of our party. i think what i saw in this poll was an indication that maybe the non-tea partiers understand from an image standpoint you don't want to be identified with the tea party. >> just because there are divisions inside the gop that does not necessarily mean the return of the moderate

republican. >> they're gone. that's the story of the last 40 or 50 years in american politics is that the republican party decided really when barry goldwater became nominee in 1964, we'll be the conservative party and tap into southern conservatism and that evolution has taken a long time to play out. they are basically gone right now. this is not a party with two distinct wings. >> all right. thank you so much. appreciate you. >> sure. earlier today as we mentioned, president unveiled his long-term plan to reduce the deficit by $3 trillion over the next ten years. it includes 1.5 trillion in increased tax revenue to come from the wealthiest americans. >> middle class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires. that's pretty straightforward. it's hard to argue against that. warren buffett's secretary shouldn't pay a higher tax rate

than warren buffett. >> congressman chris van hollen is a democrat from maryland and member of that so-called deficit supercommittee. congressman, let's start with your reaction to the president's rose garden speech this morning. >> i think the president has laid out the challenge very well. first of all, we got to put americans back to work as the fastest and most effective way to reduce the deficit and make sure that families are able to provide for their loved ones. we should also have a predictable steady, credible long-term deficit plan that should be balanced. the president said we'll have to make tough cuts but he also says we need to do it with some revenue and we need to ask for shared responsibility and ask the folks at the very top, folks making over $1 million every year simply to pay the same effective tax rate as the people who are working for them. i think most americans would agree that's common sense. >> the president has tried this sales pitch before.

in fact, he's tried it a number of times and it hasn't worked. what makes you guys think that it's going to work this time or do you even think it's going to work this time? >> well, i think the president is sharpening the message here. i think that warren buffett helped highlight the unfairness of the current system. and at a time when we all agree that over the next 10, 15 years, we've got to reduce our deficit even as we lift the economy. people have to ask themselves how we're going to do that. the president saying we have to make cuts and that's going to hurt but there's no reason that the folks at the very top and we're talking about the very, very, top should pay less as an effective rate than the people that work for them. i'm not sure the president has framed the issue just that way in the past but i think the american people will recognize that we're all in this together and therefore we should ask everybody to pitch in. >> senate minority leader mitch

mcconnell a short time ago put out a statement saying the president's speech this morning did not do anything to help the work of the supercommittee. you are on that committee. what impact do you think the president's proposal and the subsequently bickering that will ensue, what will be the task before the supercommittee? >> looking at all of the ideas out there and the president put forward a credible sound proposal for consideration of the committee. republicans can also put forward proposals and we need to discuss all of them. just last week speaker boehner, the speaker of the house said we shouldn't have bright lines and no one should draw lines in the sand and proceed to say the supercommittee had to address the deficit his way. the president is asking for a balanced approach. every bipartisan group, every one of them has looked at this and said we all need to be in this together.

it's going to require some cuts over the next ten years but all those bipartisan groups have also said we need some revenue through tax reform closing some of these loopholes that folks at the top exploit more than anybody. >> congressman chris van hollen from maryland. thank you appreciate you. >> thank you, craig. >> we've been asking you what you think of the president's plan. will it help the economy if millionaires pay a higher income tax? mike usa says i don't think it will. it will build resentment among millionaires. and dan writing, yes, income inequalities are a threat to america's social contract and we should also pay according to income. why should struggling americans pay more for the rich. check out results of online poll as well. you can vote online. you can tweet me. there are i am. my head is really not that big

in real life. i swear. we'll be right back. whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right.

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>> i want to take a moment to get something off my chest and say a few words to everyone here from "two and a half men." from the bottom of my heart, i wish you nothing but the best for this upcoming season. [ applause ] >> if you were waiting for crazy charlie disappointed you last time. charlie sheen with one of the more memorable moments from last night's emmy ceremony. he was there as a presenter offering the award for best lead actor in a comedy series. something he called his old category. it was a big night for "mad men" and for dysfunctional families. the advertising drama, "mad men" won outstanding drama for the fourth time.

we have author of "who's afraid of post-blackness and what it means to be black today." let's start with "modern family" and "mad men." are they that good? >> "mad men" is the best show on tv today in terms of an hour long drama. it is deep. it is historically involved. it is incredibly well acted. it's subtle. some viewers might go it seems slow. that's because they are taking their time but they do an incredible job guiding the show. there are so many secondary characters we love and we're talking about history and movement forward and gender in the workplace. it's a brilliant show. >> let's talk about -- >> does the sitcom thing in a funny way with "modern family." i love "30 rock."

"modern family" is a fantastic show. >> we were talking about this off camera. this was striking last night. the emmy awards a very, very white show. really white. >> it is. it is. the thing is that do we blame emmys or do we blame television. that part of the television industry. i was back with tamron hall. who should be nominated? television isn't giving enough jobs to young black actors. john does a fantastic job. loretta did great work. there are people on "friday night lights" and maybe washington will be up for this next year but there are not enough black actors getting jobs. >> surprise last night by

anything? highlight of the show? >> charlie sheen trying to be contrite but he's smug. i don't even believe that. too little too late. >> thank you so much. we'll have you back and i want to talk about an article you wrote over the last few days. thanks to you. thanks to you as well. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. we'll be back here tomorrow at noon eastern at 9:00 pacific. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." >> president obama unveiling his plan to reduce the nation's deficit by $2 trillion. we'll break it down with a budget director of white house budget. and ed rollins here. the political analyst gains the 2012 republican race. "andrea mitchell reports" up next on msnbc.

i'm ryan phillips. rain is returning across the great lakes and even into the deep south. highlighted cities here. watching a slow rebound in temperatures. boston, 63. sunny and 72 in new york. detroit, storms returning there but not in phoenix. lots of sunshine. highs at 103. dallas up to 88. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia.

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right now on report "andrea mitchell reports", president obama takes social security off the table and tries to encourage republicans by increasing the risk. >> this is not tax warfare. it's math. the money is going to have to come from some place. >> is it math or politics? republican leaders are calling the president's proposal dead on arrival. >> we're going to do tax warfare and get tax increases out of this, not much will come out of it. >> bill clinton tries to assure nervous democrats about the president's re-election chances. >> it's a little bit early to write his obituary and early to be worried about it. >> from battleground state to irrelevant. the republican power play that could take pennsylvania out of presidential politics. good day. i'm andrea mitchell in new york. for the white house it means