>> nice to see you this morning. >> mitt romney fared much better in michigan, emerging the clear winner in that state's straw poll. >> when you look around this republican field, apart from romney, who is there that you could put forward as a credible candidate that would have a chance of winning? >> let's bring in lenny curry, chairman of the republican party of florida. lenny, before saturday's straw poll, you said one of the most important things that voters in florida would consider was electability. how electable is herman cain? uh-oh. lenny, do we have you there? can you hear me okay? lenny? >> yeah, i got you now. >> let me just re-ask that question. before the straw poll on saturday, you said that one of the most important things that florida voters would be considering was electability. how electable is herman cain? >> florida is a representative sample of the gop electorate in florida is representative of

what you see across the country. so if a candidate can win florida in our primary, they are arguably ee -- will be electable and competitive in a general election. and herman cain made his case this weekend. >> so herman cain is electable in florida is what you're saying. >> well, we still have a long haul to go. this process is intentionally long and difficult so no one candidate, because of a single good day or a seingle bad day, that's not going to result in the rise or the fall. it's long. it's intentional. and it's about consistency. and that's good for the country and good for the electorate. >> lenny, is the bigger story here the herman cain win, or is the bigger story the rick perry loss? >> the story is that herman cain came to florida, and he performed well in the debate, as did many others.

he was there throughout the day, working with the delegates. the delegates told me they felt like he came and he worked hard to earn their vote. >> last question -- >> retail politics. all politics is local, politics 101. >> rick perry was there working it as well. >> he was there. that's correct. they both worked it. herman cain came to florida, performed well, earned the delegates' votes. but again, as i said, this is intentionally a long process which is good. no single good day or single bad day makes or breaks a candidate. >> there have been four straw polls since bachmann won in iowa. in each of those, there's been a different republican winner. why haven't republicans been able to fall in love just yet? >> there's a healthy debate going on within the republican party right now. there's, as you can see, differences with our candidates

amongst any range of issues from entitlements to immigration. that's healthy because whomever the gop elect ral picks out of this process will, again, be the most electable and competitive. >> lenny curry, florida gop, thank you, sir, appreciate your time this afternoon. if the verdict from the florida straw polls is none of the above, then apparently there's an opening for another republican to enter the race. and many eyes are on the governor from the garden state, calls for chris christie to run keep coming. and christie seems to be picking up the phone. >> funders who are watching the debate the other night thought, maybe there still is time. and these big donors did make another run at him. we're told the pressure from donors on chris christie is something that hasn't been seen in the republican party in 30 years. >> political analyst karen finney was communications director for the dnc republican strategist, doug high is former communications director for the

republican national committee. thanks for joining me this afternoon, folks. doug, i'll start with you. are the people recruiting chris christie a handful of wealthy donors, or is there this ground swell of grass-roots support? >> well, i think there's a bit of both. chris christie is somebody who's very popular within the republican party. and i'd agree, i think that was mike allen just speaking. >> it was. >> talking about the pressure on governor christie. but there was also something that was said earlier about this being like high school. and it is very much like high school. we're hearing a lot of gossip. we're not hearing from christie directly. he's not known for indirect talk or not being blunt. if he's going to run, we'll hear it from him. >> christie has said in the past he's not going to run. how many times does he have to say it, or does he have to be more forceful? what's it going to take for us to stop the christie chat? >> i think it's what you said, craig, he's got to stop answering the phone. you know, part of what happens in this part of the process is, people keep calling him, and no doubt they're saying hey, we're looking at polls. we see there could be a way for

you -- you know, there's a path here. it's flattering. it's intriguing. of course, you're going to entertain those conversations. so -- but every time that process happens, that's, as doug said, that's when the gossip gets out that oh, it may be christie because somebody placed a call. if he did get in, he would certainly have to explain -- you know, he's been so clear about, you know, you'd have to have my head examined. shoot me if i get in. so if he got in, he'd better be prepared to answer that question. >> doug, let's talk about rick perry here because there have been some lackluster debate performances. he seems to have lost some steam. are the lackluster debate performances the only problem for rick perry right now? what else is behind this skid? >> well, he has to continue to build out a structure and a campaign organization. that takes a lot of time. and that's something that's a challenge for anybody who is running or may look to run. as we talked about chris christie. but what they need to do is really go back to the texas model. we know that in texas governor

rick perry's been a tremendous candidate. he beat kay bailey hutchinson in the primary last time. he needs to demonstrate that. >> this isn't texas, and it seems to be part of the problem rick perry's having as he campaigns across the country. >> absolutely. he needs to come with strong debate performances, and also, while i think straw polls get overanalyzed and overrated, he needs to, at an event like that, demonstrate an ability to put points on the board. when he does that, i think you'll see a lot of this talk go away if that happens. >> karen, is that it? is that the only problem? >> no. i think there are several problems. number one, perry waited quite a while to get in. and with any candidate, we've seen this cycle after cycle, the longer you wait, it happened to fred thompson, it happened to wes clark, the expectations go up. and you have to then enter the race, and you have to be pitch perfect and ready to go. so part of what's happening is rick perry is sort of trying to catch up. at the same time, in the race, you have someone like mitt romney who has the benefit of having been through this before. so he knows how to pace himself

for a debate. he knows how to not get tired. i guess rick perry's excuse was that he was tired. it just makes rick perry look less ready for primetime. at the same time, as you said, it's not about texas because this is a much broader scale, and this is a much deeper level of scrutiny than he's probably used to. >> karen, really quickly, i want to talk to you about what the president said at the congressional black caucus over the weekend. i want to play a quick bite and talk about it on the other side. >> put on your bedroom slippers. put on your marching shoes. shake it off! stop complaining! stop grumbling! stop crying! we are going to press on! we've got work to do! >> is that the message that the cbc needed to hear from the president? >> i'll be honest, craig. i didn't love the take off your bedroom slippers because i think there are a lot of people who have been out there working pretty darn hard. and i think the feedback that the cbc got when they did their

bus tour, for example, that was from working african-americans who were expressing frustration. i think it was good for the president to go to the cbc and show that kind of fire and determination because i think that's what the cbc needed to see. that he's ready to fight. and he's ready to take the fight right to the republicans and draw the contrast. i personally would have liked to see him do it sooner. i'm glad he did it now because we've got a year to go, and it's time to get moving. >> karen and doug, thank you both. appreciate your time. >> thank you. president obama is out on the west coast right now. in a couple of hours he'll hold an online town hall meeting. as we just saw there, the president continues to show his more aggressive side this weekend. he did it in d.c. and also did it in washington state. >> i need you guys to shake off any doldrums. i need you to decide right here and right now. we're not finished yet. we've got more work to do.

we are going to build an america that we believe in. >> nbc's kristin welker is live in mountain view, california. the president seems to be saying in one breath that supporters' frustration is justified. then in the next breath he's making his case for re-election. more of that today? >> reporter: there likely will be, craig. you will likely hear him continue to make these stark contrasts between his policies and that of republicans. all of this really an indication that president obama is now firmly in campaign mode. and as a part of that, he knows he's got to really rally his base. we saw him do that this weekend at the cbc which you just talked about. we're seeing him do that here on the west coast. california is an interesting case. of course, they voted for him overwhelmingly in 2008. now for the first time in his presidency, the approval rating here is below 50%. his approval rating is actually

at 46%. so it's really emblematic of what we're seeing play out across the country, that people in his base are frustrated. they're frustrated with the economy. so he's acknowledging that. he knows he's got to do that. but at the same time trying to energize people. and what's interesting, craig, we're seeing him lash out publicly at republicans in congress. but privately in some of these fund-raisers that he's been holding while here on the westco, we're seeing him go after republican candidates. and we have a graphic of what he said at one of those fund-raising events last night. he said, you've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change. of course, that's a reference to rick perry. you've got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have health care. and booing a service member in iraq because they're gay. that's not reflective of who we are. now, of course, the end of that -- those comments in reference to recent gop debates and audience reactions at gop debates. but again, really trying to draw stark contrasts between

democrats and republicans in an effort to really get his base on board ahead of 2012. craig? >> kristen welker in mountain view, california, this afternoon, kristen, thank you. folks, we are keeping our eyes on wall street right now. the dow jones industrial average is trading in positive territory after sinking more than 6% last week, biggest loss in nearly three years. taking a look right now, the dow is up about 141. s&p and nasdaq also up just slightly. let's bring in cnbc's melissa francis. melis melissa, good afternoon to you. >> good to see you. >> let's start with stocks because investors have pulled more than $90 billion out of the u.s. stock market in the three months through august. what can we take away from such a pullback on stocks? >> you know, it's a real ratcheting down of expectations. there was a great article in "the wall street journal" this morning talking about it. it basically says that people are expecting a lot less from the stock market than they did in the past. the idea that you could buy and hold stocks for a long period of time.

and this was a way to build wealth. a lot of people are really doubting it right now. i mean, it's a similar thing to what we are seeing in the housing market where people used to think you bought a house when you got married and you watched the value go up. this was a way to leverage sort of the money that you made at work. you put it in the stock market or you put it in your house and that was a way to gain wealth. a lot of those expectations are being revalue waited. it's pretty depressing. it's one of the reasons we've seen a big run-up in the price of gold and silver. we all see the ads on late-night tv that this is the next way to make money. but then we've seen gold really sell off recently as well. i mean, last week it lost 10% of its value, down another 24 bucks today. so a lot of confusing signals out there right now. >> you mentioned housing. we've got new numbers a short time ago. those numbers not promising at all. >> no. i mean, they showed new home sales only modestly below the record levels. these are contracts that people put in place because they're going to go out and buy a new home. this is the data we're looking

at. homes sold in august was smaller, a low price variety. that's where we're seeing some of the pickup. in some ways that's good because you've got to clear out that inventory in order for housing to bounce back. but we're really a long way from a housing recovery at these points. and there's not a lot of positive signals out there for the average person. you know, if you're seeing your salary shrink or job go away, you're also watching your home value decline. and if you happen to have been lucky enough to have amassed a 401(k) or retirement savings, that is shrinking as well. not a lot of good signs out there right now, i'm sorry to report. >> we anxiously await the day we can come to you for positive news. >> the markets are up a little bit today. that's something to cling to. let's try for that. >> melissa, thank you. the american hikers jailed in iran finally back home on u.s. soil. and they are talking freely about their years in captivity. we'll hear from them. plus, maryland's governor says that his state desperately needs disaster relief funding and has some choice words for congress about it. isn't wastefu.

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new gots new developments in the appeal for amanda knox. she plans on addressing the court in her murder conviction appeal. nbc's keith miller has the very latest now from italy. keith, i understand there were some interesting moments in court when one of the lawyers for the civil complaint in the case called knox a she-devil. >> reporter: i think it got worse than that. you have basically three different lawyers representing three civil cases against knox. that particular lawyer went on to describe her as somebody devoted to lust, drugs and alcohol. so basically it was a character assassination against amanda knox. there was no evidence presented, of course. these are inclusions on the part of the civil attorneys.

but they were pretty harsh on amanda knox saying basically what you see is not what you get. that she is dirty on the inside, even if she looks clean on the outside. throughout all this, amanda knox rather sat stoically. her parents looked a little tense at some point. but a rough morning, a rough session for knox today. but this was, again, was civil attorneys. this was not the criminal complaint, and she'll obviously get her chance to talk to the judge and jury about the fact that she says she's innocent, craig. >> keith, what do we know about how amanda knox is coping in prison right now? >> reporter: i think she's having a very difficult time. we talked to some friends who have visited her. she's not sleeping well, not eating well. in fact, she's noticeably thinner. this morning she came in looking rather haggard, tired. also keep in mind, craig, the prosecution just a few days ago asked the judge and jury to increase her prison sentence to life along with six months of solitary confinement. so that came as a shock, too. so as this trial -- this appeal trial is wrapping up, it seems

that the prosecution is really going 100% against her, trying to make sure that that guilty verdict sticks and that amanda knox pays the ultimate price in terms of italian justice. >> keith miller in perugia italy, thank you. two american hikers held in an iranian prison for more than two years say they are thrilled to be back in the united states and say the only reason they were detained is because they were american. josh fattal and shane bauer finally returned home yesterday. they say they simply got lost while hiking with another american, sarah shourd. they recalled the worst moments of their ordeal. >> many times, too many times, we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten, and there was nothing we could do to help them. solitary confinement was the worst experience of all of our lives. sarah, josh and i can now finally leave prison behind us. we want more than anything to begin our lives anew.

and with a new appreciation for the sweet taste of freedom. >> the men also say that iran should not get undue credit for releasing them because they never should have been detained in the first place. next up, martin o'malley weighing in on the fema funding fight and lots more. and some new disturbing details about the arrest of steven powell, the father-in-law of missing mother, susan powell. i'm going to talk to the attorney for her parents in just a few moments. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com.

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nbc's education nation going on this week, the focus is on public education. today specifically about the reforms needed and the politics that sometimes gets in the way. a highlight today will be a panel discussion led by our own brian williams. and he's going to ask about a dozen governors what we have to do to improve the quality of

education. one of those governors joins me right now, democrat martin o'malley of maryland. governor, good afternoon to you. thanks for stopping by. >> good to be with you. >> i want to talk education in just a second, but i want to start with politics, of course. the government once again in shutdown mode. >> oh, my goodness. >> well, yeah. this is a familiar story line because fema has become the rope in a tug-of-war over budget cuts. you praised fema's response to hurricane irene. what do you think happens this time? do you think this is something that congress gets resolved by the end of the week? >> golly, i hope so. what have we been reduced to as a nation when we can't come up with the dollars necessary when citizens are wiped out by tornadoes or hurricanes? i think it's a real shame that fema's basic funding would be taken hostage by this ideology that says you've got to cut, cut, cut. this is a new congress. it seems to -- i mean, if this new congress were a new car, we would have returned it to the dealer months ago.

they break down every two months. >> here's the thing. we've been talking about that for weeks, if not months. their approval rating is at an all-time low. they know that people think they're a do-nothing congress. why do you think haven't decided to do something about that? >> i don't know. i think that our nation's going through a rough patch right now. the good news is that when we've gone through these patches in the past, we've always come out believing that if we do the hard work and invest today, we can make tomorrow better. so hopefully they'll wake up and smell the coffee. there's a lot of people out there who are unemployed, looking for work, and they need to do something. i don't think any of us think that one law or one initiative is going to solve our problems. but they've got to do something. this is a do-nothing obstructionist congress. >> you run the democratic governors association. let's talk a little bit about the president of the united states. his poll numbers, i'm sure you are familiar with how abysmal they are. the economy, you, of course, familiar with how abysmal it is right now. if the economy stays where it is

right now, if unemployment hovers around 9%, can the president get re-elected this year with the economy in its current state? >> i believe he can, and i believe he will. >> with unemployment at just over 9%? >> as long as he is fighting to do something about it and the other guys are offering no better alternative than go back to the failed economic plans of george w. bush that got us in this mess in the first place, i think once voters focus on this, and keep in mind, you know, right now the president doesn't have an opponent as such. but once the decision needs to be made between two candidates, president obama will be running against the alternative, not against the almighty. and what he will be able to say rightly is that he took tough actions necessary on recovery and reinvestment to save us from the second-rate depression. >> you think he'll make the argument next november, that argument that he hasn't really been able to make to this point? >> i think that once you have a candidate on the other side -- >> okay.

>> -- i think there will be an alternative and a contrast. none of the people we elect has a magic wand. but the president's plan to innovate, to rebuild, to create jobs is certainly far superior than the other guy's plans which is nothing but warmed-over jo h george w. bush. make the wealthy even wealthier and turn around and see if they create a job. >> let's talk about why you're here in new york today. education nation. there's been a great deal of attention in this country over the past few months, a great deal of attention paid to teachers unions. and i'm sure you saw "waiting for superman." rahm emanuel in chicago trying to get schools there to buck the unions to a certain extent. what role do you think the teachers unions should have in the great debate that's going on in this country in terms of reform? >> well, i think you'd be foolish to try to improve education without engaging the people that are teaching our children in the classrooms. in our state, we have been named the number one public schools

three years in a row by "education week" magazine. we have nea. we also have aft, the two major unions in our state. and we've made some very solid improvement over the years by having strong standards, measuring performance, and also critically important, investing in the talents and the skills not only of our children but of the people who teach our children. >> we've seen unions, wisconsin comes to mind. other parts of the country as well. some of these unions are coming under fire. do you think that teachers unions are being unfairly targeted right now? >> i think in many places they are. i think it's a lot easier to bash teachers unions and to try to do away with collective bargaining than it is to do the tough things of building a consensus to invest more in education. especially at times when we all have to take budgets. we've provided record levels of funding in maryland for education. it's not because we're immune from the recession. it's because we know that if we invest in the talents of our

people, the product will be innovation and greater opportunities and jobs. >> last question, yes or no. your only two options. are you running for president in 2016? >> i believe that we have a lot of work ahead of us. >> that's not yes or no. >> in the days and months ahead. >> that sounds like a possibility. >> hey, i work for great people in the state of maryland. >> oh, martin o'malley, thank you so much, maryland governor. always a pleasure. first, it was pizza with sarah palin, then rick perry went to eat with donald trump. where will he eat with mitt romney today? what the moderate candidates can learn from the political extremes. it's a fascinating conversation on the other side of this break. we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there,

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welcome back to msnbc. i'm craig melvin. an american who was killed and another injured at a cia compound in kabul, afghanistan.

the gunman was an afghan employed by the u.s. government. he was shot and killed. for the first time women in saudi arabia will have the right to vote as well as run for office in local elections, but they still can't legally drive there. a natural gas leak may be to blame for a huge explosion that destroyed a house in seattle. two people were injured. and the man who created doritos has died at the age of 97. arch west's daughter says family plans on tossing doritos in before they put dirt over the urn. democrats are pouncing on today's meeting between mitt romney and donald trump using it to paint romney as super rich and out of touch. >> well, they do have a lot in common. they've both done well for themselves. both support an economic plan that would help out the richest. what do the american people have to say to those who would return to the same failed policies that created our challenges? >> you're fired. you're fired. you're fired.

>> nbc news campaign. not always seeing eye to eye. why is he courting him all of a sudden? >> that's putting it mildly. for romney, this is all about the tea party. i mean, you've got to remember, trump polled as high as second place in our polls as recently as april. so he's got a constituency that romney doesn't really have with the tea party guys. if romney can get a little of that mojo with the tea party, he'd be proud. >> that trump mojo. let's talk about this new a.p. report. the role of romney's wife in the campaign and how that seems to be changing a bit. >> so the a.p. reported that ann romney will be out on the trail a lot more with romney. we're already seeing it a little bit. she's introduced him in orlando, indianapolis and michigan. the campaign is sort of going to use her to soften romney's edge. this narrative that he was an awkward campaigner, she has this great middle-class background she can talk about. she literally sofltens him up in the field with her. he's much more relaxed when

seize there with him that i've seen. >> good to see you in the studio. i always talk to you on the phone. >> my pleasure. >> appreciate your work. perry's campaign moving on from florida not too soon after a debate performance in the state, he's now scrambling to explain that disappointing second place finish in the straw poll. carrie joining me now from washington. carrie, are we learning anything more about why perry wasn't able to appeal to straw poll voters on saturday? >> well, i talked to a lot of the delegates who voted in that straw poll on saturday, espec l especially at of the delegates who supported herman cain. two things i heard over and over when speaking to voters. the first one that they were dissatisfied with the way that both romney and perry were sniping at each other. i heard that verb a lot. they were sniping, that they were complaining about who wrote what in their books during the debate. one delegate told me, i don't care who wrote what in the past. i want to hear what they have to do in the future. the other thing that i heard a lot from these delegates who

ended up supporting cain was that they liked rick perry going into the debate, but they didn't like not just the policy positions that he was backing, especially on the issue of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in texas. something that a lot of these people did not want to hear about. but they also didn't want to hear the tone that perry used to describe that. >> all right. carrie dann, campaign embed with rick perry, thank you so much, carrie. appreciate you. >> thanks. in politics, there's a far right, there's a far right, but there's no far middle. moderate politics may score well in polling, but rarely does it help a candidate's chances of winning. our next guest says if moderates want to put more centrist candidates in office, they need to employ some of the same tactics that partisan politicians use so very effectively. a national political reporter for "the washington post." perry, good day, sir. >> thank you for having me. >> enjoyed the piece. in it you identified three tactics that work for partisan politics that could also work for moderate politics. what are they? >> laying out a specific agenda.

i gather the fact, you know, you know what a democrat is for when you vote for them. you know what a conservative or republican is, too. people talk about centrism and the middle. i lay out a real sort of centrist agenda. then once you have that, you can support candidates who are centrists. in general in america right now, if you're a centrist candidate, it's hard to win the primary. and i was talking about the way to do that. the third thing, the centrists need their own rush limbaugh or keith olbermann or rachel maddow is a good way to put it, somebody who speaks for their causes and is very frank about it is. >> can you be a passionate centrist? i mean, can you be a passionate moderate and rally other people around you to your cause of moderation? >> i think you can. no one's really tried yet. someone really tried hard to do that. i think you're seeing jon huntsman right now, the republican primaries really struggling to do that.

but there are ideas that moderates have like the deficit reduction plan from the bowles-simpson, not radical in terms of left but radical in terms of far-reaching ideas. you can be far-reaching in terms of ideas that would cover the middle. then you have to figure out how to get those passed and enacted in congress. >> i want to pull up a quote from former clinton pollster stanley greenberg. this is what he said to "new york" magazine. he said, quote, this is the myth of independent voters. "people caricature them as better educated, more ideologically moderate voters. in truth, independent voters are less engaged and less informed." are the folks on the fringes more plugged in? >> that's true. the folks on the fringes, in general, are more plugged in. in part because there are groups that are plugging them in. right now you have a lot of wage. you can join online. they're very organized in that way. so no one's really tried to organize the center yet. so i think you would find it

would be different if someone tried to organize them in a precise way. that's what we don't have right now in politics. remember that jon stewart rally. those people were mostly liberals, but they were not organized around a candidate. they were organized around a different kind of politics they wanted. there were a lot of people on the mall here when jon stewart threw that rally. that's what i'm getting at. there are people not necessarily excited about left or right, they're excited about washington getting things done. i think there's a way to sort of build infrastructure of people who are more interested in washington doing things than necessarily left or right. >> last question, perry, really quickly here. and this is something i've always wondered. are people of a certain temperament, are people who are illogical, they end up in d.c. and it's the system that corrupts them? which is it? >> i think they can be logical, reasonable and highly partisan, too. so i guess the dispute the

question slightly. i think those are not -- i think most people i know when i've been on capitol hill are logical, pretty smart, but their views, if you tend on draw on people who are very opposed to something, you know, in life often like anger or negativity motivates people in a way sort of more centrist things don't. that's something you have to get through in politics, though, because a lot of solutions may be in the center that neither party is really embracing right now. >> perry bacon, "washington post," thank you for your time. >> thanks for having me. now to that case of the missing utah mom, susan powell, which took a bizarre turn thursday when her father-in-law, stooer steven, was arrested for voyeurism. police found a video taken of susan taken without her knowledge. the turn of events took susan's parents by surprise.

anne bremner is an attorney representing susan's parents. what does all this mean for the investigation into susan's disappearance? >> well, it sure complicates everything. i mean, my clients had no idea of the extent to which steve powell was involved in pornography, voyeurism including voyeurism of their daughter, susan. they did know early on, and they thought that he might be holding her captive or be involved in keeping her somewhere because he wanted to share her in the marriage that she had with josh. and she was creeped out by him, she said. so there was some hope early on in the case because he was so -- to use the word creepy and obsessed with susan, now we've come full circle to where we've seen more evidence of that. and thinking, again, maybe he could have some obsession, involvement or knowledge beyond josh being the person of interest. >> let's take a listen here. this is on the same day that his home was raided. steven powell told nbc news that susan used to flirt with him. take a listen.

>> susan and i, it just happened. i don't know, i think it was more her than me at the beginning. but as it progressed, it was both of us. >> what do susan's parents say when they hear comments like that? >> they are outraged. and those comments were false. and why was he saying these kinds of things as the investigation seemed to heat up into her disappearance? there were search warrants here in washington state, utah and nevada. and then he would go out on national television, steven powell, the faesther-in-law, saying false things like that, she was sexual, she was interested in me, et cetera. and then josh powell, his son, would say similar things. so it's very bizarre. and now it's come to where the police are saying they've only seen a fraction of the types of images they've already found. there may be thousands more and a lot more charges out here in tacoma, washington. >> police have removed susan's young sons. they're 6 and 4. there's a custody hearing on wednesday.

what are your hopes there? >> well, absolutely they want their grandkids to be with them, with full custody. you know, they weren't even allowed to see their grandchildren because of josh and steven. not at all. the tragedy is they lost their daughter, susan. she's disappeared. no one knows where she is. she's presumed dead. but they also lost their grandkids in this process. so the silver lining, i guess, in all of this is they may well have those grandkids with them and safe and out of that home. >> anne bremner, thank you. >> thanks. all eyes have been on the republican presidential candidates, especially on "saturday night live." stick around. stick around for some laughs. chan

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hi, i'm andrea mitchell. next on "andrea mitchell reports," we're live on education nation plaza with a tough look at the challenges facing our nation's schools. our special guests, general colin powell and alma powell.

plus, we'll talk with the director and the marine featured in a gritty new documentary on the war in afghanistan, "hell and back again." we'll see you in 15 minutes right here on "andrea mitchell reports." sidebar now, "saturday night live" pulling no punches. in its season premiere this weekend, the opening sketch was a parody of thursday's gop debate. every candidate took their lists including florida's straw poll. >> how does running a pizza chain equate to running a country? >> well, the one constant through all the years has been pizza. america has rolled by like an army of steamrollers, but pizza has marked the time. if you order it, pizza will come. there's no better model for the federal government than that of a pizza place. pizza doesn't come to your door unless you ask for it. but when you ask for it, pizza will be there in ten minutes. and if you vote for me, america, i promise you that i will do it.

>> cain on the "today" show to talk about that big win in florida. he also talked about the parody, and he seemed to agree that "snl" is the sincerest form of flattery. >> you may hear that last line in my next debate performance. i loved that "snl" speech. it didn't offend me at all because it basically was a good spoof about yes, vote for me, and i will deliver. i couldn't have come up with a better one myself. so i'm going to take that one and run with it. nd the brush with listerine® total care. its multi-action formula works to restore enamel, help prevent cavities, and kill bad breath germs for a whole mouth clean. whooo... [ male announcer ] listerine® total care. the most complete mouthwash. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy.

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more now from our week-long event, education nation, specifically the value of pre-k. according to the national institute for early education research, children who attend a quality preschool will have better reading and math skills than those who don't. but only 60% of kids in the country are currently enrolled

in pre-kindergarten classes. mark shriver is a senior vice president of the nonprofit save the children's u.s. programs. mark, good afternoon to you. >> thank you for having me. >> first of all, what is it that kids are learning so early in pre-k that's so important? is it the subject matter? or is it learning skills? >> it's actually a combination of both. it's the social and emotional growth that little kids are learning in those first five years of life, and it's the cognitive development. so they're learning to recognize the alphabet, how to hold a book. but they're also learning how to interact with their peers, how to share, basic things you take for granted but for poor kids, they're not taught that in the home. >> debunking what was a misconception all kids are doing is coloring. >> that's right. or watching tv and a snack. >> it seems to be universally agreed that pre-k is a good thing for everyone. >> yes. >> why is it that so many don't have access to it? is it purely cost many >> well, that's a big part of it. as a country, we've done so many

great things. we've defeated communism. we're debating so many important issues now. but we're not making the commitment to really helping poor kids, in particular, but all kids to get that head start in life. it costs money, there's no question about it, but for high-quality early education, the amount of money we can save in the long term, are in the billions of dollars. it's been estimated having children living in poverty is costing this country $500 billion a year. >> let's say that congress and the president, they come to you, they give you a blank check which would, of course, never happen, mark. they come to you and give you this blank check and they say, have at it. go to it. what's the first thing you'd do? >> i think make sure that we have high-quality early education programs. and we talk not just pre-k or kindergarten but really from birth on. we set up an array of services that feature -- >> from birth on? >> absolutely. absolutely. i mean, 90% of a kid's brain growth is in the first five years of life. as a country, we almost invest no dollars until a child enters kindergarten. so you have this huge loss

opportunity. and as a country, we haven't made the commitment of trying to eradicate childhood poverty. and the most important thing to ee rad kwating poverty is investing in early education. those first five years of life. >> same question, this time you're handcuffed by political reality. congress and the president, they come to you and say, lfall righ if you can do one thing and one thing only, what's the first thing you'd do? money is an object now. >> that's a great question, but the bottom line is so many politics in this country for years have talked about that kids are our future. so i don't think that we ought to have a blank check. but i think we ought not to be discussing about the scraps that are left on the table. we ought to be really investing in early childhood education. when you present this argument to businesspeople all across the country and you see that you can impact the first five years of life and we don't make that investment, they understand it's a lost opportunity. so i don't think we really should be talking about a couple hundred million dollars left over for early ed, but what we should be doing is investing in

strong amounts of dollars in that really crucial first five years of life. >> a financial priority. >> absolutely. >> mark shriver, thank you so much. thanks for being a part of education nation as well. >> thank you. >> i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here tomorrow. up next, "andrea mitchell reports" live from education new york. andrea? >> hi, craig. thanks so much. we are live on education nation plaza with general colin powell and alma powell, founders of the nation's largest partnership for america's children. and some surprising straw polls. how the republican race is changing. "andrea mitchell reports" next right here on msnbc. shopping for diapers, you might think all these cost about the same... protect about the same... but what if you have an accident? allstate accident forgiveness starts the day you sign up. these guys might make you wait a couple of years. we can't wait a couple years. [ babbles ] no you cannot. thanks. don't mention it. [ dennis ] shop less. get more.

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learn more about the different insulins available in flexpen at myflexpen.com. flexpen, insulin delivery that goes with you. right now on "an tree ya mitchell reports," education nation. live from new york with leading experts on how to fix our nation's broken school system. teachers and other educators tackling the issues from dropout rate to teacher accountability and pay and severe budget consultbacks.

>> it's our job as educators to make sure that we're keeping the same high standard for all students. >> we cannot continue to use poverty as an excuse for why we are not educating our youth. >> our special guests today, general colin powell and wife, mrs. alma powell. with america's promise alliance. also this hour, political disaster. can the senate prevent a government shutdown as fema runs out of money for disaster victims? while the house remains out on vacation? and president obama is out west today after preaching to the faithful at the congressional black caucus. >> take off your bedroom slippers. put on your march shoes. shake it off! >> but has his fiery message already backfired? and republicans panic over perry's debate performance. thanks to alec baldwin, an instant "snl" classic. >> which it was before he was before? >> uh-oh opinion. >> was it was