fight the disease in liberia. she's arriving in atlanta today just now. writebol and brantly both given apparently an experimental drug. never tested before on humans. doctors and associates say that so far she's showing improvement. and official with writebol's aid organizationization sim usa said that monday she was up and walking before leaving africa and felt well enough to order a favorite liberian dish, potato soup. we have no update on her condition today. again, she is arriving right now. there the two missionaries whose condition we're tracking closely. the first from samaritan's purse, dr. kent brantly. he is also said to be improving right now. i want to go right now to dr. david shiner, he looks at the issues and former president obama's physician. tell us what can we expect in

terms of the transmissability of the patients. >> i think the fear of getting transmission of the virus is really very overstated. if doctors know what they're doing, it should not be passed on that way. i mean, with e know exactly -- not from coughing. it's from bodily contact with fluids. they're in great precautions. i think there's a hysteria around this and totally unfounded. i have absolutely no fears about this whatsoever. on the other hand, i think there is a fear that ebola virus could spread. i mean, this is now a global community and i think we have made a mistake in allowing a virus that we knew was deadly almost 40 years ago, 1976, not much is done about it until now. >> doctor, what can you tell us about the experimental treatment they're reported to be receiving? >> i don't know about the treatment. they may be using a serum from

patients who have had and survived the ebola virus with antibodies and might be helpful. there have been some other things that have been -- they have come up with. there's an mono clomal antibody to the virus and prevents it from attaching to the cells. that's very experimental. there's been some pretty good research. the research done by the nih or sponsored by it, about $43 million and bookies when you think about real vaccine research and they thought it might be a bio terrorism virus. there's not been as much work as it should have been because the pharmaceutical companies obviously do not see that there's great possibility of making great amounts of money. this is poor countries, third world countries, and they'll never make a great deal of money

but on the other hand i think we have a moral obligation. i think what john dunn said is right. no man is an island entirely unto himself. i am a part of mankind and to ignore this is wrong. >> stay right there, doctor. we'll get the latest of national correspondent kate snow there in atlanta tracking the story. kate, what do we know about nancy writebol's condition right now? >> reporter: we don't know a lot. we know that she was stable yesterday in liberia. we know that she was improving. she had had her second dose of that drug you were just talking about, that experimental medicationen sunday. and i'm told she improved after that. got some appetite back. started to walk with assistance. she was even requesting the favorite potato soup, a liberia delicacy and encouraged. her husband very encouraged by the progress. at that point. we don't have an update yet here from journey and we don't know

how things went last night or what the journey did to her. she left at about 9:00 p.m. eastern time last night and just now arriving and been more than 12 hours on airplanes across the atlantic. so that's got to take a toll on anyone let alone if you're fighting the battle of your life against the deadly disease. >> what kind of recautions are you seeing the hospital take there? >> reporter: so many, ronan. you saw the caravan that came down the highway and that was no accident that there were cars all around the ambulance. they were very careful with transport making sure the cars around the ambulance were with the ambulance and no other traffic to get in the way. making sure they had an easy ride here. no accidents along the way. you saw that the two, paramedics in the ambulance wearing protective gear. that's the case with everyone in the isolation unit where she is now. that unit is equipped with two patient rooms and one will be dr. brantly who's already here

and one with nancy writebol and then outside is the anti-room and the unit itself is contained. the rare in that unit is cleaned. and sterilized and self contained. it doesn't go into the rest of the hospital. all of the material coming out of that unit, any waste, any bed sheets or that is being sterilized first and stripped of any infection and then incinerated in an incinerator and going to great lengths, ronan, to make sure that this is just one area of the hospital. >> clearly taking the precautions necessary. thank you so much. appreciate that update. turning to afghanistan, breaking nulls out of that country fast. one of the worst attacks on westerners in recent memory. a u.s. army general killed. one of dozens of person troops shot in apparent insider attack at a military academy outside of kabul. it's a british training

facility, opening fire at a meeting. the pentagon briefed the press just a few moments ago. >> right now, the investigation's just now getting started. we believe that the assailant was an afghan soldier and caveating it by saying we believe because the investigation just got started. i have seen no indications, we have no indications he wasn't anything other than a member of the afghan national security forces. >> the death toll is expected to rise due to the severity of the injuries among those wounded. any moment we could get more response from the white house when the press secretary briefs reporters. joining me from the white house is peter alexander. peter, any official reaction yet from the administration? >> reporter: yeah. that briefing here at the white house with press secretary josh earnest started while you were having conversations a matter of moments ago. we'll tell you what you have missed.

president obama has been briefed today about this latest shooting as they're referred to a green on blue shooting to take place in afghanistan. josh earnest at the top of his remarks noted the progress that's been made in that country but said, and i'll quote, this is, of course, a painful reminder of the sacrifice our men and women make every day. noting that the white house is and certainly the president's thoughts and prayers with the family of that general that lost his life today and those injured in the attack that took place there today. if we are to hear from president obama himself, that's likely to happen at 2:45 today. no word on public comment and that's when he will be speaking publicly and welcoming the leaders here for the u.s. african leaders summit taking place today. this afternoon just before 5:00, a prescheduled meeting with the secretary of defense chuck hagel and vice president joe biden and will be among the topics that those men discuss. >> the training operations have been so central to our plan to

withdraw from afghanistan. is there any sense those might be reconsidered at this point? >> reporter: obviously, right now, there's in three weeks from now specifically a new u.s. general john campbell to take over command of u.s. and nato forces there and asked about this topic and said he was convinced that the afghan forces there, who are now increasingly taking over security responsibility, were motivated and equipped to do just that. this obviously raises questions about their level of prepa preparedne preparedness. the number of american troops in the country by december is going to drop from roughly 22,000 to 9,800 american troops with the intent as all that president obama said combat forces will leave by 2016. the white house continues with its planned draw down and hearing anything new on that, that would be from the president himself and not expected. this is not expected to change that course of action. >> peter alexander, thank you for that. and we just heard in today's pentagon briefing that the death of this two-star u.s. general

marks the highest ranked military member killed since 9/11. joining me here in the stud owe is military analyst colonel jack jacobs. a pleasure to have you back even under the dark circumstances. you have history of green on blue attacks. you were a military adviser in vietnam. do you see similarities of there and the ones here in afghanistan? >> they seem to be a lot different. there were occasional 0 tacks like this in vietnam. i spent a couple of tours as an adviser. they were very, very rare. and they were always in my recollection always the result of some disgruntled soldier responding to a real or imagined slight, not getting paid, being owed money from another soldier and so on. and never the result of having a vietcong who was a plant in the unit. this is a little bit different in afghanistan where you have a free flow of people, you have

jihadis attempting to attack both -- coalition soldiers, afghan soldiers and so on. it's not entirely clear that this is what this is. it may be an afghan soldier responding to some real or imagine slight, and doing something really dastardly. the atmosphere is very much different in afghanistan than it was in vietnam in the similar circumstances. >> the other interesting thing to look at here is the trend. the green on blue attacks by afghan soldiers on westerner or isaf troops peaked in 2012 and only 2 this year. the numbers have been way down. do you think that this signals a reversal of that trend? obviously, whatrd to say at this point but certainly an ill omen preparing to draw down. >> we have been making progress in training the afghans and not just the soldiers but training their leadership to exert the kind of leadership that will preclude this from happening.

that will enable the afghans to defend themselves when we're gone and by the way, as we have heard, we're leaving. there's no doubt about the fact we're going and may have a few people there left until 2016 not very many and almost all of them advisory roles and not actual combat. so we have been making progress in the pentagon will point to the fact that the progress is reflected in the reduction and the number of incidents like this. still it gets our attention, highest ranking american soldier to be killed in action since 9/11 when general maude, deputy chief of staff for personnel, three-star general, killed in the attack on the pentagon and by the way, as near as i can tell, he was the first american general to be killed in action since vietnam. where we had about half a dozen generals killed in action. so, a rare occurrence and that's one of the reasons -- >> devastating in terms of that american history and devastating

in terms of prospects for afghanistan, obviously. we have seen in iraq just how central, strong, well trained troops are to maintaining stability. remains to be seen if we'll leave that behind in afghanistan. >> we have to work hard to leave behind an afghanistan army. >> appreciate that. >> you're welcome. and coming up today, more on the diplomatic implications behind this attack in afghanistan. >> the key thing here is that american involvement in that war is drawing to an end. >> former senior white house david plouffe joins us later in today's show. up first, much more on that second american with ebola who just arrived at a facility in atlanta. why is there still no cure to this virus? the answer may lie in simple economics. we have an explainer for you coming up. ] stall them. [ imitates monkey ]

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we are back with breaking news out of atlanta right now. second american patient in the united states just brought inside emery university hospital going to be treated. you see the footage of her entering the hospital there. joining me again for the latest is nbc's kate snow there in atlanta and we have dr. david scheiner back, he was president obama's former doctor. kate, what more do we know about the serum apparently used to treat the two americans? >> reporter: right. this is an experimental medicine. not fully fda approved and can be used on special cases where there's a request for something just like this. so what happened was the group that they were working for, samaritan's purse and dr. brantly works for and nancy

writebol was volunteering for them at the time in liberia, they were both working on ebola patients, when they got sick, the group reached out the the national institutes of health and said what do you have? they said there's a lab in san diego working on this very special med season that's a therapeutic medicine. i'm the sure can explain it more thoroughly. they got three vials of that and told that nancy writebol would get all three doses. you take them as a regimen after once and then another a little bit later and then later. but what happened was it turned out that dr. brantly got really sick last thursday and started to take a turn so drastically bad telling people that he was dying and gave him the second dose of the medicine. sorry. his first dose of the medicine last week and then a second dose here at emery and seems to be helping. he's doing much better after two doses of it. she's had two doses, as well,

now. we think it's helped improve her condition, as well. >> nbc's kate snow, thank you. so why is there no cure to eb a ebola? well, it's about the bottom line. this ebola outbreak spawned more than 1,300 cases, 887 deaths. but that's just a drop in the bucket compared to other epidemics. 20 million people get measles every year. 120,000 people die from it. 2 1/2 million a year are infected with hiv. 1.7 million of those die. and then there's the kind of people affected by ebolame. some of the poorest in the world. doctor, more money goes into fighting baldness and erectile dysfunction than fevers like denague. is there not enough financial incentive here? >> unfortunately, i think that's the case. botox injections for wrinkles

probably another major industry. the pharmaceutical companies that are working on it are apparently very small. the large ones to my knowledge are not working on it. now, as we talked about last week, i think weblgd even triple the amount of money the government spent so far if the ceos gave part of the salary away for a good cause. that is problem. this is a global community. you know, hiv initially was just in africa and was ignored, also. and you can't do that with these deadly viruses. first of all, just finding a vaccine for it has tremendous scientific implications, also. so there's a scientific reason for doing it, as well as a moral reason. you know, the united states always holding itself up to be a great christian nation, exceptional nation. i think this is a time to do something. the african foreign ministers i think are in the white house as we speak and i think this would be a time for the united states

to announce some kind of large program to eradicate this. >> but doctor, in what sense -- isn't it appropriate it's not a research priority because it strikes so sporadically compared to malaria killing 660,000 people a year. >> it's obviously a much bigger one and the gates foundation is working hard on that one but this is a deadly virus and the question is, as we are now seeing, this is spreading a little bit more than they had anticipated. and i think with it kind of travel we have, i think there's always a risk to come. but i don't think it's just that. this is even though the numbers are small, i don't think we should write the people off and the research should be done. this is immoral to let people die. i don't care 1,000 people or 500 people. i don't think we should turn our backs on them. one missile cruiser could probably pay for the research that's necessary. this fighter jet that we're

still building obsolete. that money could be used for something more important. >> and look. there are a variety of other arguments, too. used as potential tools of bio trysts. that's an argument of the pharmaceutical companies. we'll see if research heats up in the wake of this news story. appreciate it. and for this week's call to action, we are focusing on a different threat to africa, the threat of terrorism. we have been asking you to tweet #rememberourgirls to bring the attention to the threat of african terrorism that claimed them. donna tweeted out the we should never forget the young women and ron said it makes me sick that world events have made them just another piece in the 24 hours news cycle. donna quoted that the nigerian government has dropped the ball on this. they should be ashamed. they're at the white house right

now. #rememberourgirls. keep the responses coming. and just ahead on today's program, recognize this guy? he has -- >> looking for work. are you guys hiring? anyone around here hiring? >> no. at this time we're all filled up. >> he's got a pretty impressive resume. why is he on the streets now? former bush administration official making a point. find out the details up ahead. [ male announcer ] if you had a dollar for every dollar car insurance companies say they'll save you by switching, you'd have, like, a ton of dollars. but how are they saving you those dollars? a lot of companies might answer "um" or "no comment." then there's esurance. born online, raised by technology and majors in efficiency. so whatever they save, you save. hassle, time, paperwork, hair-tearing out, and, yes, especially dollars.

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#rfdunder. next, could this man -- not me -- this one, be president obama's next chief of staff? we'll talk with former white house senior adviser david plouffe. he hits on foreign policy, that afghanistan story today, and those rumors about him. it's all after the break. one day, machines will be sprayed to be made. and making something stronger... will mean making it lighter. one day, factories will work with the cloud. one day... is today.

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we are back with the stories making news this hour, striking video of nevada after a night of flash flooding. take a look at this. about 30 minutes outside of vegas, a wall of water nearly overtaking an elderly couple's car. unbelievable. listen to this play by play of local reporter reid cowan. >> watch this when an airman saves lives in realtime. >> get out! hurry! >> first a man pulled to safety and then his wife. the airman crossing in front of

the car almost swept away. wary, he lands on the shoulder of u.s. 95 and looks like a river bank. >> that rescue just in time. this is how that couple's car ended up. also, developing news today in the middle east. plans are under way for talks in egypt as a 72-hour cease-fire finally holds in gaza. overnight, troops completed the mission to demolish hamas tunnels. before the cease-fire began, israeli troops pulled out of gaza going to the other side of the border waiting to see if the pause in fighting will hold. >> we'll be watching very closely there. because as we have seen, just as recently as last friday, hamas has violated cease-fires it supposedly committed to. >> palestinians ventured out. hours after the cease-fire began using the lull to pick up desperately needed food and supplies. moments ago, the white house briefed the world on today's

deadly shooting rampage in afghanistan killing one of the highest ranking u.s. officials since 9/11. >> while we have made tremendous progress in disrupting, dismantling and defeating al qaeda, operations and leadership in afghanistan, and progress in winding down u.s. involvement in that conflict, this shooting is, of course, a painful reminder of the service and sacrifice that our men and women in uniform make every day. >> the attack which officials say killed three and wounded 15 is drawing attention to just how far off the rails u.s. policy in afghanistan seems to have gone. it is just one of this administration's foreign policy priorities that seem to be in free fall right now. as this news broke out of afghanistan, i spoke with former white house senior adviser david plouffe. i started by asking him if the tragic incident in afghanistan is a latest sign that u.s. policy in the country is unraveling. >> oh, i don't think so, ronan.

i think the president's commitment running in 2008 was to degrade the lakt leadership in the area, more troops in the front end and ultimately winding down the were and in the process of doing. obviously, taking a lot of work going forward to help on governance issues, economic issues, but i think the key thing is american involvement in that war is drawing to an end. after more than a decade of war, you know, we're finally ending that phase of the country's history. >> that does seem a rosy portrait ginn that john kerry securing the election monitoring deal and now falling apart. >> it is a complicated situation. i think secretary kerry's done remarkably good work. this is a country that in the coming years and decades is going to require the international community to be engaged in. the people of afghanistan, businesses of afghanistan, afghanistan security situation,

you know, they're going to need to stand up on their own with assistance of us, obviously. this is always going to be a moment of challenge in terms of transition but that moment is drawing clear and, you know, it is in america's best interest to have ended the involvement there in terms of combat troops, the war's drawing to an end. american involvement and investment will continue there. this is a demarcation point. >> another trouble spot bedevilling the u.s., israel. the latest cease-fire, the u.s. wasn't at the table for that negotiation. does that suggest a diminishing ability for the administration to wield influence in the region? >> of course not. the united states of america is deeply involved in the region, in these discussions. we'll remain to be so. secretary kerry and another place where he's done incredibly valuable and important work. the entire world is looking intensively toward this region.

to try to have the violence cease and, you know, it remains to be seen what happens here. but we just don't need just the violence to cease and hard to see how we get there but we need a peace agreement here because that's ultimately the pathway towards prosperity, and security gains that are desperately needed in the region. >> there were four democrats and four republicans who broke with their parties and uncharacteristically voted against additional iron dome funding for israel. does that suggest a shift in the way the hill looks at israel? >> i don't think so. the iron dome success has been remarkable. and obviously, american technology, american investment made that happen. no, i think the partnership and relationship with israel is rock solid. i would suggest that's a shift at all. i think that's remaining the case to be israel's ally on

security issues. iron dome i think was a great example of the countries working together and the results speak for themselves. i don't think that commitment has been shaken at all. >> the focus on africa that this forum you're at right now to embody is fraught for this administration with china pouring so much into the region. how can the states compete with that, particularly given that the only contributions being announced today are private ones, not support from the government? >> well, i think there's been enormous support of the continent from the united states government for decades, aid, development, on advice around issues of governance and rule of law and will continue. the private sector announcements today are huge, large dollar amount that is make a difference. my sense talking to leaders here, american business leaders and african leaders is they want the relationship to intensify, to increase. yes, china's been very engaged,

will remain engaged. it's important. i think what we have the ability to do is increase as partnership. when you have 6% growth on the continent every year projected, 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies, it is absolutely imperative to the american economy, for our workers, for our businesses that we do what is required in africa and what we bring is not just investment and that's key. can't just be lectures but investment and bring so much on governance, technology, education, rule of law and rules around trade and there's a whole package here that i think the partnership is strengthened and an unprecedented forum, summit. now, obviously, what matters is i think three great days. what matters is three weeks and months and years from now has the work built on? there's a huge interest here in having that happen but again it's so important strategically to the united states at the governmental level and the business level to have the

relationship intensify and increase. >> it's a huge strategic priority. as you say, too often overlooked. thank you so much, david plouffe. i have to ask you of rumors of becoming chief of staff of the white house. is that a job you'd want? >> silly season in washington so everyone's speculating about thing that is have no basis in fact. i walked out of the white house early part of '13 and i don't expect to go back there except as a tourist. >> silly season as you say but isn't that ifr season? thank you, david plouffe. >> in washington it seems to be, unfortunately. >> white house senior adviser david plouffe. you want to make a lawmaker instantly uncomfortable? >> a question. i'm actually a -- myself and i'm from mexico. but i have been raised here. graduated from the university actually. >> that will do it. how did rand paul react? find out after the break. tion tends to stay in motion.

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get excited. it is primary day. kansas, barack obama's tea party-er cousin milton wolf trying to unseat pat roberts and voters are headed to polls in michigan, missouri and washington. and rand paul? well, he's in iowa this week stumping for candidates and, you guessed it, meeting potential 2016 caucus goers. he was with congressman steve king at a fund-raiser yesterday and they got ambushed. take a look. >> i'm actually a dreamer myself. and i'm from mexico originally. i have been raised here and graduated from the university actually. and arizona state university. >> wait. senator paul? where are you going? joining us now, robert costas of "the washington post" and strategist rogan higley. he knows the battleground well.

thank you for being here. hogan, you spent sometime in iowa in the previous election cycle. was that a smart move to get the heck out of that immigration confrontation? >> i don't know. i don't think it helps me long term. i mean, you know, you used a term and will correct you. you said he was ambushed. that's not really being ambushed. that's just politics in iowa. >> right. >> you have an intimate relationship with every voter coming up to you. you get the chance to ask every candidate everything that affects you in your life. these people said i'm a dreamer. he turned around and made it a nightmare and rolled away from the table and not going to play good for him in the future trying to get to voters and explain why he's the best one to run for president turning the back on people that came up to him in iowa. >> especially since the swing takes him through the cities and he says are grand eer ambitions. >> if we want to be a bigger party, we want to win elections, i want to remind you, the last two presidential elections you

guys did not win. okay? so iowa's a purple state. once upon a time, you elected governor brandsted and now we have to elect republicans. >> robert cost, if we see an ascendant gop, is rand paul positioned well in the ranks? >> think so. he is trying to broaden the party's message but looking to 2016, he has to go to iowa and campaign with someone like steve king and steve king for all of the conservative views and controversy on immigration, he is a power in western iowa. this is the delicate balance paul has to strike ahead of the presidential run. cozy up to king and reach out to new stories? >> another big story out of mississippi losing chris mcdaniel and he's saying that democrats shouldn't be able to vote in the primary.

robert, how's that playing? >> it's very difficult right now for chris mcdaniel. so far after the primary. to really see any kind of path to victory. he is continuing the legal challenge but i think senator cochran feels pretty safe and mcdaniel for a future in mississippi politics will have to make a decision soon. >> hogan, the other significant thing about this particular moment in politics is this is one of the last moments where tea party challengers upset sitting republican senators in the cycle. that could happen in kansas today, tennessee on thursday. hogan, why haven't tea party candidates gained more momentum this psych snl. >> that's a good question. there's races out there that tea party candidates won. specifically mississippi an i went to ole miss and talk to people in that state all the time. mcdaniel says, basically, i don't want to have another race. i just want you guys to give me the election because democrats shouldn't be able to vote. that's not the law.

he didn't do that. this race is all but over and most of the people there in the state agree with me an think it is over, as well. from a larger standpoint, tea party folks aren't necessarily focused on wins and losses. one of the best -- they want to win, of course, but one of the best things to bring forth is changing the narrative, the conversation. everyone's talking about a lower taxes. everyone's talking about smaller government and established republicans and democrats completely dismissed that before and changed the conversation and could be the lasting legacy of the tea party. >> definitely introduced a new narrative. while you're here, i want your take on this afghanistan news. robert, do you think this murder of an american general is going to make america's withdrawal from afghanistan more of a talking point on the campaign trail? >> i think that's a good point. we'll see foreign policy broadly speaking, whether the murder of the general, whether it's the conflict in gaza, and in israel, we'll see this bubble up this

campaign season in a way it perhaps has not so far this year and put republicans especially on the -- have to have an answer on the question of where's the party to go on foreign policy? want to be involved in a hawkish way in afghanistan and iraq or rand paul side of things. >> hogan, where do you see the gop talking points headed on this? >> that's the thing. you can't see the world you wish it to be like barack obama and you have to see the world as it is and this is a major flaw with rand paul and having a tough time in iowa dealing with now. i talked to several people on the ground today saying most of the things he talks about today are completely falling flat. he's clinky, clumsy on the campaign trail and getting two people to turn on him in that state. that's a big problem for him but what this sad tragedy proves is al qaeda is still there. it's still hell bent on destruction and that destruction is still hell bent on focused on

americans. and that's something that every presidential candidate will have to square themselves with and prepare some type of significant foreign policy conversation other than just a rand paul ice lacist type. >> i agree with the conclusion. but, hogan, this is about afghan trainees in the security forces turning and we don't know if that's part of the organized crime or terrorism and we will have to wait and see about that. thank you both. and up next today, wall street insider's doing something that you might not expect. pretending to be homeless. so is it bad reality tv? or a brilliant campaign tactic? meet him and decide after the break. we never thought we'd be farming wind out here. it's not just building jobs here, it's helping our community. siemens location here has just received a major order of wind turbines. it puts a huge smile on my face.

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american poverty is stuck at record levels, according to a new report from the brookings institution. and it's spreading fastest in neighborhoods that are already devastated by impoverishment.

good timing for one california gubernatorial candidate's new announcement that he spent six days living on the streets of downtrodden fresno with nothing but a backpack and $40. the announcement has gone viral, trending on twitter. it's racked up 70,000 views on youtube for a ten-minute video about his experience. joining me now is that candidate. he's also an alumnus of the bush treasury department and of goldman sachs. neil, i'm fascinated by this idea. were you concerned going in that this would be read as exploitation, as poverty without really experiencing it? >> this is the closest i could come. i knew i was only there for seven days. i knew at the end of seven days i got to go home. at best, i was going to get a sliver, just a taste of what families who are struggling are really going through. i was shocked by what i found. i walked for seven days across fresno, slept on the streets for six nights, couldn't find a job, didn't see a single help wanted sign. yet, people haven't given up. they don't want welfare.

they don't want food stamps. they want jobs. and someone has to fight for them. the current leadership in california certainly isn't doing that. >> was this a moment that surprised you most? >> you know, honestly, it was full of so many moments. simple things of not being able to get a full night's sleep because five out of six nights, security or the police would wake me up and say, you got to move along. that made it tougher the next day. but meeting homeless people who said, hey, let us try to help you, let us try to help you look for jobs, or let us help you find food. once i ran out of money, they're the ones who pointed me to the shelter and said i can get food there. they were, you know, courageous and generous. i appreciated that. >> it seems like from your comments coming out of this experience, this was designed partly as a critique of california's economic policies and of raising taxes in particular. how do you square that with california adding over 400,000 new jobs after raising taxes? >> we're 44th out of 50 states for jobs.

we're number one for poverty and near the bottom in education. you're right, the economy has bounced back a little bit as the overall u.s. economy has recovered, but california should be at the top. instead, we're at the bottom. someone has to fight to turn that around. >> but in terms of job creation rate, it's one of the better rates in the country right now. governor jerry brown turned a deficit into a surplus. >> his slogan is california comeback. i just shattered that. if jerry brown thinks that 24% poverty is a comeback, we're all in a world of hurt. he doesn't even want to talk about poverty. he doesn't want to talk about unemployment. doesn't want to talk about our failing schools. i'm putting these issues on the forefront. not just a statewide discussion but a national discussion. that's what this election is about. >> and nationally speaking, you were in the bush administration. you helped with the mop-up effort on wall street. when people see poverty in this country and link it to the policies of that administration, do you think that's fair? >> i think it's a long-term issue. back in 1980, california was

very high for jobs, in the middle for poverty. it's been a 30-year decline across republican and democrat administrations. and we have to turn it around. >> but certainly the financial k crisis was an exacerbating moment in that. >> oh, it absolutely was, but that started decades ago. it started with promoting more and more housing. just take on bigger and bigger loans a giant bubble that encompassed the entire country. if we just think more food stamps or more welfare are the answer, we're never going to deal with this problem. we have to make sure kids are getting a good education, and we need to make sure there are good jobs to people can work hard. >> do you see that part of your history being a part of bush administration fiscal policy as a positive? >> yeah, bush and obama. i'm one of the only bush administration officials that president obama asked to stay. i ran the financial crisis response for both president bush and obama. we got republicans and democrats to work together. we made big changes to try to stabilize our economy. i'm proud of that work. we need to bring that kind of bipartisan spirit to tackle poverty. >> i got to say, it should be a

bipartisan issue. i've been so encouraged to see more and more republican candidates coming out and saying exactly that. regardless of where you fall on policy solutions, you're raising attention and putting a face on it. makes a big difference. appreciate you coming back. >> thank you. >> that wraps things up. thank you all for joining me. my colleague joy reid is all over the top stories at the top of this coming hour. joy, what have you got coming up? >> indeed. thank you so much. coming up next on "the reid report," we're following breaking news out of afghanistan, where a high-ranking u.s. military official was killed and as many as eight u.s. sols wounded in an apparent green-on-blue attack. also, white house senior adviser valerie jeret joins me to discuss the africa summit under way. president obama will deliver remarks at that conference, which we'll bring to you live. "the reid report" is next. (vo) friday night has always

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breaking news out of afghanistan, where sources confirmed to nbc news that a two-star general has been killed and as many as eight american soldiers have been injured in an apparent insider attack at an afghan military trading facility in kabul. the major general has not been identified. according to officials, u.s. and afghan military officials were meeting at the national defense university in kabul when a gunman wearing an afghan military uniform suddenly pulled out an automatic weapon and started shooting. nbc's jim miklaszewski joins me from the pentagon. do we know anything more about the general who was killed? >> well, we know he was a two-star major general who had just arrived in afghanistan in january. so he was only about seven months into his tour there. but this incident, as you said, occurred at the defense university, and we're told that there was some kind of gathering in which a large number of

americans, coalition forces, and afghan military were gathered when suddenly a lone gunman believed to be an afghan soldier opened fire with an automatic weapon, killing the major general, wounding at least eight other americans, and several other coalition forces and afghan forces in that crowd before he was shot and killed. not much more to go on at this point. don't know what the motive is. could have been a single, lone disgruntled gunman. no indication he had any ties to any kind of militant organization such as the taliban, but the experience has been in these lone wolf green-on-blue incidents over the years that many of these soldiers have been radicalized over time and they turn whatever pent-up vengeance and anger they may have at the nearest u.s. military within their eyesight. >> yeah, indeed. all right. well, thanks