lead and decide. >> joins me now is political director chuck todd with "the daily rundown". even more than what chris christie said, talking about the length of the news conference, nearly an hour here. obviously he is wanting to hold for instance on a national stage. >> it's hard enough to look at the length of the press conference and say he did enjoy the 15 minutes. that was always what made this more of a coin flip from what i was told inside christie world. he does have national ambitions. it's just in his mind the national ambitions are not today. they are possibly four years from now or a little bit longer. the tug on this is on the fact that well, he had all these people telling him this was your time, don't miss your moment.

there is a rule in presidential politics that people will miss their moment and never get it back. you can help a fellow new jersey that might have had a moment in 92 or 88 and he missed it. again, another incidence with somebody close to him saying his personal history of taking a path in 2005 and run for governor and he was able to get it four years later was what convinced him that his gut is right on this and he stuck with his instincts. >> big picture here. you had major donors ready to support chris christie and what is the conversation in the room. do all eyes turn to mitt romney and are you getting glances the rick perhe? what's happening behind the scenes? >> you will see a little bit of a freeze of sorts. mitt romney has got work to do to convince the folks that yes, he is ready and going to get the nomination.

they will not rush to his side. does he get better? does he show signs that he is maturing as a candidate and knows how to go toe to toe with romney? romney hasn't had the focus on him and i would expect that you would see donors taking a second look at him, but you are also going to see a focus on the rest of the republican field to start taking shots at him. >> live fors, we are sticking around and greatly appreciate

it. michael is also a contributor and a fortune teller who has tarot cards who would be here where he was. he wasn't going to run and he's not. >> i also said the eagles would end up in the super bowl and they're 1-3 and the red sox would end up in the world series. rely on me for nothing. >> nearly an hour to explain to the national audience that he is not running. >> he seemed a little hesitant to see the lights go dim, but probably made the right call. i think had he gotten into this, senator mccain said water looks like it's a better temperature until you jump in and this would have been a meat grinder for him as well. it preserves the status quo and that's good for mitt romney. rick perry is perhaps on the slide right now and needs a very strong performance in the next two debates. otherwise very quickly it's going to be a romney factor.

>> let me play more clip about not having any regrets regarding the decision. >> i don't feel any sense of regret at all. i felt like it was my obligation as i said before given the seriousness and the amount of people who were coming to me and asking me to reconsider. i did. i don't want to leave this job. i made a commitment to the people of new jersey to fix the state and it never felt right to me. >> i don't want to question anyone's sincerity, but you have the report that meg whitman had the conversation with chris christie in california and one of the conditions of her putting up money for the event that was he said he would not run. were we being play and is it similar to what's happening with sar palin that she toys around and in reality perhaps already knows in the back of her mind 100% that she is not going to run. >> mine is only an opinion.

i found him to be far more genuine on this. if you remember the two questioners, first the guy and he was pretty dismissive in saying watch the politico video. i answered this and i'm not getting in. a woman spoke with far more emotion and he said i hear you and i feel what you are saying. he did give it more thought. >> who is the big winner here? >> it's got to be mitt romney. i look at the stage and i see a lot of individuals that i think have no shot of winning the gop nod and no shot in a general election if lightning struck and they did. you can widdle down the field and i don't see anybody else getting into it. palin will probably go through the exercise and not jump in. >> i'm sure your audience will be on fire with comments about this. thank you very much. right now president obama is fund-raising in the gop home

state of texas. he will be in dallas for a few hours before making a stop for fund-raiser in st. louis, missouri. look at this. a new abc news "washington post" poll shows the president may have an uphill battle in 2012 with a 55% of all voters believing a republican candidate will win. during an interview on abc, the president was asked about reelection chances for 2012. you the underdog? >> absolutely. given the economy, there is no doubt that whatever happens on your watch, you have -- >> you embraced that pretty quickly. >> i don't mind. i'm used to being an underdog. >> let's bring in mark murray. take us inside the numbers, mark. >> "the washington post" abc poll had approval rating at 42%. that's very consistent and similar to other national polls as well as state polls and key

battle ground states like ohio and pennsylvania. you see the culmination of what the debt ceiling detate and the poll it took on president obama. it took particular damage on president obama. >> the president in the same interview was asked about whether people are better off than they were before. let's play his answer. >> i don't think they are better off than they were four years ago and not better off than before lehman's collapse and before the financial crisis and the recession we are going through. >> speaking of extraordinary, that is an extraordinary answer. that is the very thing voters will ask themselves. am i in a better situation now? whether it was the fault of this administration or not. >> republicans seized on that quote yesterday. obama though gave what was a pretty honest answer. if you look back to four years ago, it was before lehman and it

was before the unemployment rate inched up above 6% or 7%. many more people had jobs. when president obama faces reelection, he is going to have to make the case that things have gotten better. the unemployment rate doesn't neat to be at 6%, it needs to get down closer to 8% so he can say he hasn't finished everything, but thirngs are moving in the right direction. >> the latest poll on the president's numbers. we are following breaking news where police issued an amber alert for a 10-month-old baby girl. the child is lisa irwin last seen sleeping in her crib at about 10:30. it appears that someone entered the family home and left the girl's bedroom through a window. i am joined by fbi profiler and analyst clint van zandt. the parents have been cleared by police.

they are not suspected of anything here. this could have been a case of someone walking in. how often does that happen? >> there is about 100 times a year in the united states we have children abducted where it's a non-family abduction. in the case like this, the baby is 10 months old, but police said this little girl is 2 1/2 foot tall and weighs 30 pounds. that's as big as a 2 or 3-year-old if the statistic is right. the victim might have been targeted as opposed to a random kidnap. it might be the classic someone looking for a child to replace one they lost or perhaps to provide some type of evidence when they claim they were pregnant and they are supposed to produce a child. this is not a newborn so that's going to be the challenge. everybody knows what this baby looks like. hospitals, police departments, the best thing someone could do if they took this child is to

take her by a fire station or police department or hospital and let them get her back to her parents. >> all right, thank you very much. she was last seen in her family's home monday around 10:30 p.m. they issued an amber alert and we hope lisa irwin is brought back safely to her family. >> amanda knox will land in seattle if a few hours where they are waiting for her. the brother of the victim in all of this said his family is stunned that knox is now a fry woman. . >> wall street movement gets bigger and picks up new support from unions. we will have more on what's happening down there. plus, call it iphone frenzy. i guess part five. apple reveals the newest version of iphone and it's already expected to break sales records and the lines will come.

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to today's money minute, ben bernanke is close to faltering. he made the second grim assessment in testimony today before the house and senate joint economic committee, but he said the fed is prepared to take further steps to support the economy, suggesting the central bank could adopt for the stimulus measures and was asked if greece defaults on the debt as some fear it might, that could trigger another recession in the united states. >> the direction exposures of the banks to greece are minimal. if they were disorderly which led to, for example, runs or defaults of other sovereigns or stresses on european bank, it would create a huge financial volatility with a substantial impact not only on the system, but the economy. >> wall street reacted to the

news in a positive way after being down more than 250 points and recovered and you see the dow is down 155 points. better than the opening belle. they are preparing for the largest march yet, scheduled to take place tomorrow. demonstrators have been all across the country speaking out in cities like los angeles, boston, and chicago. now the movement is getting major support from big labor groups. live for us in lower manhattan where the protest started more than two weeks ago. set the tone. i am curious for so many reasons as to what's going happen there tomorrow when you get maybe 1,000 more people from the unions there. >> you might be able to see behind me the people with green shirts the people from the union and a lot of union worker who is came out to join the crowd in solidarity with the official event. it's taking place tomorrow.

today is a slow day and activists and volunteers have told us it is a planning day for tomorrow. they are hoping for thousands of people who joined them in a march and one of the reasons they are expecting so many people is they have the support of big labor unions including transit workers and the united federation of teachers and there were several workers to march and stand with them today. yesterday city bus drivers sued the nypd for making them pick up detained protesters over the weekend. about 700 were arrested trying to cross the bridge and take the workers away. they support the protesters. we have seen the protests grow not just here in new york and is expected to be a big event here tomorrow, but we have seen them

grow from large cities like los angeles to chicago to small stes and now the word is spreading for japan to australia. it seemed that the movement is gaining visibility and steam. >> what are about security issues. 700 people arrested over the weekend and we know of the clash where protesters caught police on tape. they say using excessive force. what is that area going to look like tomorrow with 15,000 protesters and i don't know how many police on the scene. >> it's difficult to say because the police presence has been relatively minimal. a couple of officers are walking around and people are playing drums and dancing and eating. the vibe is very, very calm. yesterday the nypd confirms they arrested about five people. charged with loitering and that sort. they have not been concerned as of yet, but tomorrow with more people involved, there will be more of a focus. >> live for us in lower manhattan. tomorrow i will be anchoring

"news nation" live from the protest in new york city. ezra kline will join me from the scene and a number of other guests we have lined up. we will be live on the scene to see how it plays out. they will get involved with the protests. coming up, wendell pierce will join me live to talk about his new play on the and death of the youngest person ever to be executed. this child is 14 years old. his jail is george and why there is a new call to reopen the case from 1944. what is a shorter weight in the airport worth to you. they ask passengers to give up more personal information. what details you will need to share. yeah, maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number?

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a new play is bringing to the stage the tragic story of the youngest person executed in this country in the 20th century. he was only 14 years old when he was put to death for the murder of two white girls in south carolina. he was so small that dictionary had to be stacked for him to sit in the electric chair. new information reveals he may have been innocent and even coerced into confessing. they are calling to reopen the case and clear the child's name. the story is being told in the play breathing and hoping. i am joined by wendell pierce

and the playwright behind breathing and hoping. i will start with you and 90% of people you ask have never heard of the story. >> i would tell people i'm going to do a story of a 14-year-old who was execute and put into the electric chair. they said it's fiction, right? sadly the story is not fiction. there so many outrageous moments of the actual case from the arrest to the actual court to the actual execution. it's really like a horror novel, really. >> according to the information that has been uncovered, he was coerced into confessing and even offered ice cream. we are talking about a child here. >> yeah. it's really, really tragic. he was interrogated for two hours by the sheriff and nobody know what is he said because the sheriff -- >> no written record of anything. >> of anything.

not of the court case or the actual arrest. it's just incredibly sad. >> you can lend your name to so many projects y. this. >> it was so profoundly moving to know that a few short decades ago in this country, a child was put to death and coerced with as you said a child's delight. ice cream. so he would confess to the murder of two children. two girls. he had to be lifted up to his own death. it was so moving and the humanity of the story, when max million brought it to my attention, i was shock and couldn't believe the story had not been told and most people didn't know about it and it was not too long ago. when he showed the play, i realized this was a great opportunity as a producer. i wanted to make sure the story got out. that's the form in which we work

as an artist and a place where we come to reflect on where we have been and where we hope to go. i am joining with the theater of harlem and developing this play and decided to do a reading. at juilliard in october. i wanted to make sure we produced this play. >> when you look at this mug shot of george, what do you feel? you see his eyes glaring back at the camera and you know he perhaps didn't even understand at the time he was going to die. how does that make you feel when you look at that? >> that are is the image that really moved me. to see this child looking at us, really into our souls and showing the innocence that he is as a person and the innocent person he was in this particular incident. that is such a moving photograph to know that a child was killed,

coerced into confessing to murder and no one knows about it. it's almost as if he is looking to you personally and profoundly saying tell my story. make sure that me story is told. i felt moved when i saw the photograph and moved when i saw the play. i was moved to produce the play. >> what evidence did the prosecutors or police say they had on george stiny? >> they had none. they had a confession by the sheriff. they had no forensics or fingerprints or physical. all they had was a statement that the sheriff said well, this is what he said to me. that's all. the case itself was so outrageous. it was a-hour trial, but it was really 30 minutes of the prosecution and five minutes of his defense. his defense was a tax attorney. he never tried a criminal case before.

the tragedy compounds. >> there is a call to reopen the case. do you believe they will respond? >> a gray law firm is working on the case in december. they are going to bring forward the notion that this case should be open. i wouldn't be surprised if it were. >> thank you both very much for coming on. the play is breathing and hoping and i look forward to seeing your performance. thank you so much. >> for more information on the push to reopen the case and clear his name, go to the grio.com. >> i'm making a box right now. >> a man describes what it was like when a bear attacked him in his own home. it took 17 stitches to close his

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welcome back to "news nation." amanda knox is hours away from touching down in her hometown of seattle after four years behind bars in an italian jail. fast pass. if you are willing to give the government more personal information, you may be able to fly through airport security faster. faster and even more powerful. apple's new ceo. the name of rick perry's family

set off an incredible cohost of the view. the gut check is who was right in this one. we will bring you the facts. amanda knox is headed home to seattle and expected to arrive in a few hours. cameras captured amanda smiling as she prepared to leave italy a day after being clear of murdering her british roommate. she spent four years in an italian prison. live in seattle, what's going on there behind you. i know the anticipation is high. >> yes. it certainly is. people are starting to gather and just regular citizen may come out and welcome amanda knox. there is a lot of media. it's tough to imagine the whirl wind it must be for her. she wasn't sure if she would spend the rest of her live n jail. she is on a plane heading back

home after four years. the last time she was in this airport, they were getting her ready for school abroad. she comes back a different woman as she starts to figure out how to put her life back together. her family is dealing with challenges and $1 million in legal fees. a number of them are in debt including amanda's grandmother who put $250,000 into the legal fund. we know a little bit about what amanda is planning to do long-term. she wants to help other people that have been convicted unfairly. she also said she dreams of being a mother. >> we will see what happens as she is expected to arrive there very soon. you know you will have an update for us. day six of the michael jackson death trial is under way in l.a. we heard testimony from a series of women associated with dr. conrad murray.

she is changed with involuntary manslaughter. live from the courthouse, the women, who are they and what did they say? >> right now is tim lopez, a pharmacist and he will be key. the prosecution said he was ordering the propofol and setting up a clinic instead of just treating one single person here in california. the most dramatic testimony of the day came from those women. nicole alvarez who still lives with conrad murray and lived with him at the time of michael jackson's death, she talked about those days with dr. murray, going to michael jackson's house in the overnight hours and denied she knew that conrad murray was making $150,000 a month. that caused fireworks in the courtroom because the prosecution said do you remember

testifying that you had received a fax of that contract that said he was making $150,000 and she did say that. also the prosecution questioned her about shipments that came to her house in santa monica during that time believed to be the propofol that was being sent there. we heard from another self-described girlfriend of dr. conrad murray during that time. she testified that she was on the phone with dr. murray at 11:51 pacific time on the day michael jackson died. she was having a conversation telling him about her day and noticed that dr. murray was not listening anymore. she said it appeared that the phone had been put in somebody's pocket. she heard muffled voices and coughing, but she was never able to get him back on the phone. she listened for three or four minutes before hanging up. dramatic testimony from a series

of women claiming to be his girlfriends. >> live reports from there and tired of waiting in the long lines at the airport? a new program starting today allowed passengers who volunteer information about themselves to go through security faster. fewer requirements to take things off, put the carry ones in separate osama bin ladens. it's called precheck and tested at four airports. miami, dallas, detroit and atlanta. there is nothing similar to this in place right now? >> not exactly like this for domestic air travelers. at the start it will be for certain frequent flyers, delta and american. passengers in the elite programs and agreed to give the government further information about themselves. when they get to the airport, there will be a separate lane they may go through. not everybody will go through the lane every time. the government wants to have a certain unpredictability built

into the system. if they do go into the lane, they won't have to take their jackets or belts or shoes off. definitely it will be faster. the other people who can take part are roughly a million traveler who is mostly go overseas right now and are in a separate homeland security traveler program. if they are enrolled in that, they can take part as well and based on how well it works that the airports hope to expand it to other airlines. >> what do you have to give and what information are we talking about? >> further information about the background. the program that homeland security has and the customs and border protection program ask for a lot of information. you have to fill out a long form and get fingerprinted. not clear if they will use the same thing for this program. it's just additional information that the government can use to make sure you are who you say you are when you get to the airport. >> we seal how it works out.

they are moving further away from the one size fits all approach and the gel is to provide the most effective security and the most efficient way possible. thank you very much for the live report. >> coming up, espn as you heard by now pulled hank williams jr. classic intro song out of monday night football's lineup. there were controversial comments comparing president obama to hitler. is the song permanently gone or is this temporary? there is a lot going on today. things we thought you should know. six democrats running face uf tonight in the first debate. elizabeth warren is the current front-runner. she will face off against scott brown who want a special election after ted kennedy passed away. rod blagojevich is selling their family home in chicago. that's when where she was caught talking about profiting after naming someone to the

president's former senate seat. the asking price is over $1 million and a designer who created michelle obama's gown for the inaugural ball in 2009 is now partnering with target. jason wu is featuring handbags and scarves for women. others who partnered with target is zack posen. those are the things we thought you should know. my doctor told me calcium

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she's supporting breast cancer programs for her neighbour's tennis instructor's daughter's 1st grade teacher who's also her mom. help fund breast cancer programs in your community. redeem your lids today >> children who go to bed early and wake up early are healthier

than their piers. they weighed less and exercised more than those who went to bed late and woke up late even though they got the same amount of total sleep. mornings are more conducive to exercise versus night time. >> coming up at the top of the hour, chris christie said thanks but no thanks to a white house run. does this leave a two-man race between romney and perry? the president takes his jobs plan to texas and he's got a message for you. listen in. back to tamron. >> thanks and the latest slice of the apple is finally here. a short time ago, apple unveiled the latest version of the iphone's new device called the 4 s that runs softer and has software that can sink content wirelessly without pluging it into the computer itself. that's just one of the things. he is also a today show

contributor. great to see you. what impressed you most about the new phone. i think the antenna. the last problem was people were ready to sue and now they have to double antenna thing. >> i tell you what. the antenna is exciting and the idea of synching wirelessly without having to tether to your laptop is exciting. two things are happening. one general and one specific. i will be a contrarian here. apple is catching up with the phone market. believe it or not, the ios that is using the new phone, there half as many apple phones in the market place as android-powered phones. they lapped the field. what is apple doing to compete? a powerful camera and one of the most exciting things in addition to the wireless aspect is the fact that you can actually speak to it. it's speech recognition. >> i love it. you can get to your phone, do i

need a rain coat today or another command is wake me at 6:00 a.m. and the phone responds. >> i have a 2-month-old child so i don't need that, but i say wake me a 4:00 aim and it works. that's right. there is a competing technology in the android market place called nuance, but they are excited because you speak to the phone and they can make the appointment for you and it talks back to you. >> you can't miss out. you brought it up twice. doe you find it more impressive. you brought it up twice. >> i brought it up twice because i like competition and the truth in all of this. these two are really battling it out. i like android because you can customize and apple is curated and you have a seamless experience. the customization or freedom. >> you launch this on october

14th. the base price is $199 and goes up to $400. the shape is the same. no redesign. >> a little slimmer and lighter, but one of the other developments is a new apple iphone has a faster ship about twice as fast as the previous. that's a big development. >> we will see how many people are standing in line on the 14th. thank you. >> you bet. >> will hank williams jr. return to monday night football? we have a you tube clip of william shatner who has a lot of people buzzing or covering their ears. let's get the scoop from the global entertainment editor live in l.a. the big question is, hank williams jr., is he out permanently? >> espn has not said yet. they pulled the song from monday night football last night as a result of something he said on fox and friends. he was talking about president obama talking with john boehner and he likened it to hitler

meaning with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and it didn't go over well. they were not having it. >> in the statement they pulled it from the opening of the game last night. is there an indication if they have not said it was a long-term thing? >> that has been opening for monday night football since 1989. that is saying are you ready for football is synonymous with the pastime. on the flip side, they are saying we are not a political organization. football is america's sport. everyone's sport. that's to figure out what they will do. hank williams jr. didn't apologize, but he tried to clarify what he could have meant by the statement. we will see what happens. moving on to "dancing with the stars." j.r. martinez stole the show last night. >> he stole the show. this is a veteran who was badly burned while serving his country. this was all about doing songs

and dances that speak to a moment in your life. he a young lady who was burned when she was three and danced to a tim mcgraw song about soldiers not coming home and the audience gave him a standing ovation and it was teary and emotional. >> i think one of the judges said you can feel his emotion through the dance. it was fantastic. it is lacey swimmer? >> yes. she is paired up with chaz bono. lacy is coming under attack for her weight. there was a picture of her a little bit thick and she was big, but i have seen this girl in person and she is 5'3" and there is nothing big about her. >> she suffered from an eating disorder as a teenager and said i like having my curves. i'm proud of them. this is interesting. you might remember it better than i do. cheryl burke was criticized for her weight a couple of years

ago. >> exactly. she was in a bikini and said said she was big. these women are not big. they have curves and muscles. they look phenomenal. she had an eating disorder and said i'm fine. >> her partner is in last place? >> chaz is in last place again. poor chaz. the people's champs are not the judge's champs. her mother said keep him in more week so i can go to the show. >> william shatner covers black sabbath. why? >> exactly why. he has another one of his spoken words coming out and on it he covers iron man and it's about sci-fi. he is seeming up on it. it should be interesting. >> i think we have a clip of it. let's play it for the audience. >> i am iron man.

i am iron man! i am iron man! >> i don't know the original so i can't say if it's bad or good. >> it's bad -- coming from william shatner, it's funny. >> it's so bad it's good. i guess i will add it to my iphone lineup. we love him too. all right. thank you. greatly appreciate it. maybe we will get him live. for the very latest news, go to scoop.today.com and be a fan of the scoop on facebook. all you iron men out there reach out to us. tempers flair to say the least on "the view" over who can use the n word when the hosts were kpuszing the name of rick perry's hunting camp.

whoopie said it and barbara said it and it went for bad. bounty extra soft can help. in this lab test bounty extra soft leaves this surface three times cleaner than a dishcloth. super clean. super soft. bounty extra soft. in the pink pack. i was 18 years old before i had my first fresh bun. the invention that i came up with is the hot dog ez bun steamer. steam is the key to a great hot dog. i knew it was going to be a success. the invention was so simple that i knew i needed to protect it. my name is chris schutte and i got my patent, trademark and llc on legalzoom. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. 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.

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. "news nation" at msnbc.com you can tweet me or leave a message on facebook. time now for the "news nation" gut check. a lot of you are reaching out and telling us your thoughts on this one. sherry shepherd objected to barbara walters using the n word while discussing rick perry and the hunting camp he leased. the racial slur is painted on the rock. whoopie used the word and said she didn't mind walters using it, but sherry shepherd disagreed. >> if i were reporting on this, i can't use the word? >> you can do anything you want. you are barbara walters. >> that are has nothing to do with it. >> with the subject at hand,

this is an issue that will go on until we die. >> this is the subject at hand. >> when you say the word, i don't like it. it brings up feelings. when white people say it, it brings up feelings in me. >> barb are waara walters said quoting and not willie nilly using the word. is sherry shepherd right? is it okay for whoopie goldberg to use the n word, the whole word, and not barbara walters? go to "news nation" to cast your vote. i'm going to run out of here and read what you are writing on this one. that does it for this edition. tomorrow, special edition of "news nation." we are live from the liberty square at 2:00 p.m. eastern time here on msnbc. we have a lineup of guests tomorrow and in the meantime

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it's tuesday, october 4th. chris christie makes it official. >> now is not my time. >> it ain't him. >> new jersey, you are stuck with me. it ain't chris christie, it's this lot. the least inspiring field of republican candidates is set. in the race for 2012. many held up as the last great hope declaring he will not launch a presidential bid. >> in the endh