next on "msnbc saturday"y"- office pollics. sarah h palin aving alka's top job, and america'seft guessing why. if her presintial asaspiratis -- alaska's top job, eveveryone. >>also it's firewos on the fourth, but it's's not what americans want.. north kokoa es missilile mania anan it's in dema, the precus ticket to michchael jackson'n's memorialhas fans

scmbling and l.a. pooce preparg. >> andnd it's th lady in thth crowown, amica's beaconn of hop retus to her old welcomingng ways. an a very goodod morning to l of yo i' letet. happy fourthth of july to republican. it's 1 11:00 a.m. eaststern, a 8:00ut st. > and people wting to see the liberty crown a making their way up the statue staiair as wespeak. the crown n opened tay for thh first time inn eight ars. and nbc's ron allen liveen baery park city, with a view of the statue behind him. i i undersnd, roron, the ticick are so hard to meby, there are even some scalpers o out there? >> r reporte i've heard repopor, but i haven't seseen any,ut imagine that inew york city, somebody trying to m make money off of mething? probablyikely tohappen. thproblem, though, withh tickets,hough, they come with h your name on it and the specicic date and me, so they m may not be ansferle if you b buy one, i woul't suggest nibl do t. but anyway,, the boottom line i yes, t tickekets ar hard to come by.

they are availabab online. and going up tohe crown o o the statues bobooked tough most off seember, so plan ahead if you wa to try to dthis. the crcrown whh is, of couourse the h hhest observatation de has beenen cled since the attacksksf septememr 11th. fofor secuty reasons if you look the w you get up there, two narrow staircases, onone up, on down, a winding doublele heli and ththe concern is that durin visiting hours,s, there were hundndreds opeople l literallon those stas back-to-back waiting for hours to get to the crcrn. so, now ty have a new system place. they will only take ten peele up at a time.e. limid groups, for a limited time too up there with supervision by p park rangers s pepele can enjoy the expernce a bitit more safely inase there's me kind of emergencyy and there's an need for an evacuation. a very special placeceto be. were u up there bririly yesterday to takake alook. u can sll of w york harboror. it's a aittle cramped and confined and a little hot. degrees hotterer than it normally is, and the staten island ferry louder thanusual.

d the crown is backpen for th firstime since sepepmber 11th,alex? >> what is it about the staten island fey, every time you anad i decid to talk, i ows its hornrn. anyway, ron, i i kw youade the trek u thehere. how haha was it? were there pces to rest alon the e way? did yoyou need ? was it hot? becae i remember as a kid being there e and i rember it being sort off muggy. i think iwas tre in the summer, , so, u know, it't'shot. >> reporter: yeaea it's -- it's degrees hotter inside t than it is outside. >> uh--huh. >> reportete so, o a norl mmer day it could 100 degrees inside t t atue. it's about 356 steps to comome . it's'sike c climbi a 23-s-sry building so, yes, it does take some efefrt. and, yes, y you can st along the way. baback befor september1th, 2020, peop used to go upp there and would get exhausted. there w we peoplele who would faint. the were all kinds o storie peoplhaving ifficulty. now theye gog to do it in a much more meaeasured d careful waso thateople can go up slowly. ten at time, andd me dowwn.

but itit does take some effort. but ce you get here, it's really an amazing thing g seee. the sight outut of the atue. it almost like looking rigig throh lady liberty's eyeye. there a also wonderful v vws on the groundd and around the island. if y go out there,e, you don't need a special ticke for that. so, you don't get a a ticketeto go to o e p, you ofourse stilill enjo t statatue fm manyy otr vantage points. >> yeah, but if you're ttall, real quick,k, you c can' even sd upupright,f i reremember, too,o rememember hing to duck,or my dad had to duck >> repter: you can s stand upright, but o only in certain places it's like e a curved roooof, buu can stand uprightt for the most pa. >> all r right, ronallen, t tha for bringing t sneak pipictures fm inside the lad liberty'crown. happy fourth,h, ron. >> reporter: andndo you. >> ank you.u. and here is bill karins too tell us how th fourthf july foreca is shaping up for both e lady liberty climbers and otrs out there. >> is good to know thee ferry on time. >> yeye. > you s sunshshine i new yorr

it lookssike very nice for the macycy's fireworks.s. we do have a t of hot weather out therand it's arting to bebecome a bigger story with th drout out in the west. we're r really warm today i i t vaey areas. phoenix is 106. that normal foryou, but sacramento, 94. ok at llas, sanntonio, houston, it's s been a brutall stretch for youu and it continus today. so, hoabout the fireworks as we go through thiss eveng in neneyork? well, wherere ron all s, it's a ninice vie the firireworks a not ove the east river this year, they are over the hudson river, that's a change. m mh bett view for fireworks on thejerseyshore. 72, momostly here, a breezy.y. chicago hadd thr big firewewks last night. dallasyou have yours tonit. and itill be steam even at night when the fireworks are ginning, it will still feel like it's 9090 drees outut. so, ingeneral, the oblem area today, the onlnl area i'm concned about, with e fireworks tonigig, indiaianapol, louisville, , maybe . louis, too. st. lolouis, wre hoping to g ge the rainut of here byy tonight. i know i is soggy right now and miseseble ou later on, think i it maybe wili

impre just a little bit. but far as if there's gog to be a any ccellations of thth firewos which we do n not want, ex, indnapolis, it's oneof those eas i've gotmy fiingers crossed. escially lightningng, they don' want peoeople tside and in that ar. >> that'ssnerve-racking. heads up. thank you, bill. happy forth. you, too. keep tck of the weather in your wararea at weather.coco and sarah palin'n'secision to stedown is being called everything frorom a maverick moe to politicical suicide and it a startetewith t nouncement that sheheouldn'run a again in 2012. >> i'veever believed that i i nor anne else neeeds a tle t do ths, to make a diffrence, to help people. so,, thatlaska may prress, i will not seeke-election as goveor. >> and no sooner was she alame duck tn she reveal she didn't want alaskanss to have suffer throughgh her lamamduck seion. >> wititthisnnouncement thatt

i'm not seeking re-election, i' determined it's bestt to traner the authority of governoro lieutenant governoror, parnrnl of alaska.a. >> now, palin says her situation can best be descbed using a basketetll analogy. a good point guard, here's what s does. she drives throuou fullourt press, protecting thehe ball,l, keeping her r ad up because s s needs to keeeeher eyon the basket. and shknows exxactl when to pass the ball soso that the t t n win. and that is wh i'm doing. keeping our eye on t t ball. it reprpresents snd priorities. remember thehey inude energy independence and smallerer government and natatnal serity and freeeedom. and i know whhen it's titime to pass the ball for victorory. >> i'm joined n n live f fror nation's capital by "waington titis" edirial page editor, richard menater. very good m morninto you, riard. >> gooood mornin >appy frth. i'm curiou is this alin's fawell to politics or is shehe a true mamarick, is shee kicking off a n national campaign ala

palilin style? sh is keepingng up a mccain/n/palin t tdition of bad timing. whwh would she rease the news on the e of the july 4th weekekend whe we haveve nothing else t t ta about? a more clev news would have been to releasase the in u.s., o make thee announcement abobo 20 minutes afteter miael jacksoso died, in which c case no o would ha notice now we'll ew it overr for ays. i d don'think this is t beginning of a a natnal run. she sn't built any relationonships the major fu-raising areas that are eded for republican candidates, new w yyk, texas, calilifornia. more resources at her dispos, least if she'd get more terest in the oil andd naturala gas instry if shewere still governor of alalaska and she wod also get thehemount of r respec thth that title would confer. so, it seems likikethis is an ex from national politicss algether. >> y yeah. >> if it's an attpt to runn f office, i think t that she's a victim of yetet mre bad aadvice. >> i tend toto have t agrgr wit yo because what does not mke sens to me iss that she ss the

reason she doesnsn't want to continue alo in her position as governor i becaususe she didn't wanant to be a a lalame- governor, onee of those who taks trips anan spds tax dollars that reall have little benefit for the constituts there and at being thehe people of alasas. couldndn't s have justt stuck around if she wante to pursue politicacaofficend said, look, i'm not going be that kin of lame-ducuck gogovernor foryou, memean, coul't she have dodo that?? >> she could have. in fac she could have taken the example of formemer colora setor hank brown,, whosaid he wasn't goi toto run for re-election,n, but he didn't't anyone. itas a deal and hisife hahad made and he, in fact,, annonounced a yearor so befefe hihis termas up. she coululhave s on her decision not to run for -election until aboututine mohs out before she'd have to rurun, soomeone else wouldld ha a fa chance to take over and that wouldldave given her anotother yearr soso governing. she's about haway through hehe

teterm. it doesook likeke e's abandoni her post. bu i sususpect tre's a family decision behind thi there ems to be constant attacks heher childr and on herself and on her husband t tat have not lt up the "vanititfair" story is mething that's ciulated a lot. and i think sheultimaly had toto make dececision, a manyny workinmothers have to ma a decision, between woworknd family.. and it's always a difffficult ad wrenching choice.e. and maybe that means that people of her neration, of herer age, who hahave scscol-age children, can't really m make it i iameric politics. ifou look at the succecessful women who o are in american politics, , hillary clinton, fo example, her chdren -- her child is in college. maybe, you know -- mayaybe our ciety is notot y readady for a working mom who is goingng to be gov goverernorr run for presididt. >> it's an intereresting thing. d it just h hse peonally, becae i quit the busiss for four years afafter i had mymy k d i was done. and lo where i ammnow, talalking with yoyo richar on a fourur of jululy morng. thank yoyou very mh. so, no to new developopnts in the investigagation surroundg michael jackson's sudden death. a poweul drug only used in

spitalhas reportedly been found in jackson's home. meantime, prpraratio going on righnow for tuesy's massssive memori service planned a at the staples ceceer in los angeles. for e latest on that, let's go live to l.a. and msnbc.com's, whoho is auor of the column ""e scoop." now e sun is up. reporter: that's righght, alex. >> courtneyy -- >>eporter: i kind o of don't know wt to d with myself. you'll talk with uss for a couple of minutes a a then you'll take off, it's a all goo. but, anywyway, th powerfulldrug, urtney dipiprivan,ound at thee jackson homm what ve you lened about ts? > reporr: what we've learned about it is that t there's prety much nooeason whatsoever r that michae jackson should h he ha it inis home. it's'somethi that administeredd at a hospita or a place ere you're having sosome st of rgery. it's not jusust a sleep a, ale, it literaray induces unconsciousnesess. so, for somebody t tbe taking this to get a good nht's sleep, it's etty difficultlt to wrapap yourrain around it. i think r really importanantly,

though, the tae-home lessonon here is thatat la enforcement hs confirirmed thatt's in the house. ththis is t rumor. this is not just a source ying. law enforcement hass confirmed it, and soso now you h haveo lo at everything ee that's coming out of that hoe, through a slightly different lens. >> all right. i also uerstand you've learned some n details about wat we might be seeing on tuesday at the memorial? >> rter: that's right. 's been so difficult to get any sor of details. there's no rundown y for this memorial. don'tnow exactly h long it's goi to take, what the celebrityroles are gng to be. buwe do hear, i hear, that madonna will be arriving in los angeles today. today, it' still saturday. losing track of my days here. onsaturday. and she's going to be performing at the memorial tuesday. now, ilso know from sources inside the tour that madonna was going be making a special appearance at those o2 concerts there scheduled in london, so itefinitely makes aot of sense that she'd be coming to the memorial. the next question is, maybe this

wille some sort of copy of the rformance that was scheduled for london, whichould be really special, becau we've been seeing parts of that video coming outfrom 48 hours before michael ckson died, identif think the ccert promoters ally do want to put out there exactly what michael's vision was for theconcert and the memorial is t perfect place to do it. >> i agree. let's see if it happens on esday. courtney hazlett,hanks so much. go get breat. >> reporter: thank you for more on howhe jackson family is coping since the sudden death, i lked to reverend al sharpton ts morning. >> yeah absolutely, heartbroke but strong. i visited with mr. and mrs. jackson again on yesterday. at the cpod in encino, talked to several of the brothers. and i think that they're determinto moverward to tuesdas memorial toeally ise the real historic contribution that miael made and to give h the kindf

dignitand the kind of respect that he deserves. epit right here forpecial live cerage of michael jackson's memorl service. it will be all day tueay on msnbc. it was a test of couge, and thensome, a tightrope walker g for a death-defying walk. but was it his last evening stroll? that is coming up. > and it's the freeway to holiday lebrations, butre americans keeping to the fourth of july traveling tradion? [ door clos s ] [ footsteps ] [ man sighs ] whew! lot goes through your mimind after an acciden but with liberty mua insurance ises w't. ma man! because we offer unlimited rental covere,e, new car replacement,t, and accident forgiveness

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two breaking ne.. a defiant norththororeaeportedly ring off seven ssiles todaday.

wewe'rheheing word of these alleged nunueaear tests frfrom h koa a anitos just two days after north korea fifirefofo heher sht-range missiles. nbc's mikee viqueira is joioini us f fro t the white hohoe.e. leles look at the day t th is all going down. it's july 4th.. any sosort o m msasage with tha? >> reporter: i i think it's bee inintereted as a defiancnce and ovocation byououthkorea. t the united states isot going to take theebait. in t theninid states there are reportslmost each hour of a ww misissilalaun by nororth korea o off its east coast, totaling sevev altogether. th a a scud-type missiles. ththey don'travel intercrconneneally. theyey oyy travel 300 mimiless e sea of japan. there were r repts acouple eks ago thatorth korea was intetendg g trying t or planned to unch somethining o ot to hawaii way y ouinin t pacific ococnn a steps wereeiei taken by thehe.s.s. government and a coingency that thatat uld actually happen. apparently thus fafar, not even

close to thaha and theu.u.s. governrnntnt inot taking the bait.. the white house herere i isot en issusug g aelease to ee action to the reported launches by y noh h korea. the e prididt just babackt t th whwhe e hoe for camp dad.d. lees for an international trip torrow, alex,whwhe hell vivisi russia and ilyly and go o africa as well. but onong the yy he's goingng t meet withh many of the countrie that are involved in the new sanctionsgigime notably ruruss, china,a, south korea, ad jajapa a and you can tt tt's going to b b on the jen da. alough publiclclum is the word here atat t w whi hohous alex. >> mike viqueieira thank you vee much for the ws, also for ending p pa of the fourth of juju working with us. go off and spependome time with e family. >> reporteter:llll rht. yoyocacan ep track o of lalate developments from n nrtr korea bylogging ontoto msmsnbcoco well,, the other big s sto dada it's amamera'a's big rthday, of course. ny across the country will cebrbratthis fourth of july with a trp,p, and i it very good time too dothat. gas icic are down nearly $1.50 fr this timelalast year. also down,airfare, andnd there

arsoso signififintnt savingsono hol rooms across thee country. so, whererererell the cationers t th year? travel e exrt valeriri delia jojoinme. happy to h haveeou he.. thanks for askskinme. >> if f u'u're gettingwawa righ w, it might b blalate for fourth of july. we're into it. >> it is. it i iprimarily, thouougha a drivinghoholiy andevevenhough gasrices are downwn 30%0%roro lastyear, wveve seen a .6% crease in the numberof peoplee who are drivivin t ts liday. so, a littlele b curious,ut a at the same timimirirres are up -- notot irfares, i'm sorrrr airfares are down. the number of peoplele w are flying is up by 5 so, that's a a mkekeincrease. >>yeah. now, that's ooood. maybe e ee pple who don'n'tavav jo a are trying too save, sae, veve. but, y y k kno there are things thth you can do. if you want t tet out and you're worrrrie aut money,y,ouo n still go shopp ooun greaeat hotete deals out there agn,n, iyou want toto drive somemeple,e, y're going to pay less for it on t the road. > you will papa l ls with th

gasices. ound where i travavel up to rhrhe island, this ara, abobo $2$2.8aa gallonon but it's aood time t fly this summer. bebecae demand is down. they're going to cucut caapatytn e e ll, whicheans they'y're gogointo create demand withth t rlines, and it's going to be more pepense. ,, we're seeing 17% decreaeasenn domemeicic a arfares this mmer. d we'reeeing 18 ininteatatiolly, so if you wanted to o floverseas and especially we're seeining a goo change rate w wi the british pound,d, is s good timetoto do at as well.. and tour operatorsrs are drdrpig their prices by 20%,o people arare getting a lot o v val whe you're bundldlin a package together.. which is your airfare, yourrcar, ur hotel.. >> give me a a place that y you think isis a great hotpot to go toto, someplace if you'ree thing about money and cocot.t. y. right nonow 'r're lking about mexicoco. we had the b big swine flu scar. and the airfares are 32% cheaper

ww tan they werr ahahthat's correrect.. goinin d dowtoto anancu for inststcece, was just there in ththlast couple ofdays, t ritz-carltonoown there, $269 a night. anyou get oneninit for free on a three-night t ay. ththat really unprecedented. >> the ritz-carltlton?? wow. >> for that level of luxury. you're looking g an t afrfrai of ntntraing the swinine u,u, ththersevev a flu-free guarantee e whee if you do g ge sickck a mexico a a many o othe resorts s d d yocan prove it, they willgive you thrhree vavacaons for free inhe nextxt three years >> wow. >>--ut youdodo have to document it andyou certainly don't want toatatch the swine u just to get the bargain. >hank you for ththa i'm llllin nick,'m'm taking o f my microphone and i'm goioing >> that's it. eny.y. it was a a lifeline, 0000 f the air withno safety netet for a famoustunt an. ckck wallenda o ofhe f fad flying wallendaa lklk owverer ttttsbgh's legheny rer. he took hisiswwee old time dd

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nowto the reopening ofhe statue of liberty's crown. the crn opened today fo the fit tin almost eight yes. joing me now on the phone secretary ken l czar, secretary of the interio and a very good morning you, m secretary. happy fourth of july >> happy fourth of july to you. happy birthdayamerica. >> all right. i derstand that you wer very instntal in gettinghe crown reopened. how significant is e reopening of the crown today? >> we opened the cn after we made the crown more secure to enhance thpublic safe. we think we have a good balance herebut more importantly, it's about a new beginning under president oba's adnistration, saying that we are now open to the world. and the freedom andhe hope and aspirations of the statue of lirty really now will continue

to be a beacon throuout the country and throughout the world. >> yeah. and youtalk about the safety measures that have been upgrad. could youjust outline those a little bit further for us? >> ye. therere now handrails on t staircases goingp and down to e crown of the statue of liberty. there are also other security measures thatave been put into ace. and so based on what the experts ve told us, th is the epro appropriatbalance and make re we're procting the public safety. >>t's good. i unrsnd there are places, little atforms, where people can res right? because this is a long rek. mr. sretary, this is 23 fors worth of stair >> it is a long ways up. i've been up and down it a few times. anlet me just say, think, you know, people taket sl but that why we oy have 30 people in the stue at any one time. and they have an opportunity to real understand wha the whole experience iall about. and it's incredie

experience. so, it's safe. and we areproud to be ening itptoday. >> we sure are. and i know that you talk about being there in the crown. weave some brand new video we nt to show everybody of several members of the u.s. military who were made u.s. citizens in a ceremony at the stat of liberty today. talk aut the mning of th >> theseven men who are mmbers of our military who became citizens today, i think are emblematic of r country. these e peoeho before becomi citizens, wre already fighting our warsn iraq and afghanistan, ming our world safer, defending r country, antoday they decidedhey waed to become american citizens, so we had a sweang-in ceremony celrating thatact welcoming them to be part othe american family. >> foye for those people who are visiting the statue today and those people who were across the bay there andhaps in bttery park cy, are those people looking at tse pictures, there's something abt lady liberty that touch your heart. wh is that? and why dyo think that is?

yeah, think tre are symbolthat are almost sacred, hallowed sbols of our country. and i think the statue of liberty has become on no it's 133 years ere people rlly lookt it as a symbolof the idea oamerica. and that symbol really is america is a place where people from throughout the world ve co to bring their hopes and their aspiratis aneir dreams and here is where their families have made thosereams a reality. >> yeah. all right,ell, mr. secretary, have a wonderful fourth of jy. and it's wondfuto talk wi you. thanks for taking the time here on "msnbc turday." >> thank you very much. happy birthda america. >> ah. wel we'regoing to get ck to ourtop story in just a moment. what is the motive behi sarah palin's dision to step down as alka's govern? we'll explore those possibities with p buchan and julian etein, next on "msnbc satday." imium multi-symptom relief coines two porfulicines for fast relief of your diarrhea symptoms, so you can get ck out there.

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politics. and alaska goverr sarah palin says since she's not runningor -electn in 2012,he hopes her resignation will spare citizensthe fruration of having a lame-duc goverr. >> and so a i thout about this announcemen that i wouldn't run for re-eleconnd what it means for alaska, i thought abou well, how much fusome goverrs have as lame ducks. they maybe travel around thei state, tral to other states, maybe take the overseas trade missions, so many policians at. i though that's what's wrong. many accept the lame-duck status and theyraw a paycheck and milk it and i not going to put alaska through at. >> i'm joined now live from washingt by pat buchanan and julian epsteinthe form council for the democratic house judicial committee. pat, coun't palin have served our term and pledged to

avoid the nd of lame-duck behavior tt she so despised? >> yeah, i thinkhat was more of an afterthoughan anything else and an add-on. i think th real reason ishat for her family it was becoming an ordea they were being cked. she's got these ethics charges that have cost her $500,000 and she said e and her staff are taking allheir time on that. got the burdens of fice. i think for her s and her family decided ts is a very liratingecision. they put allhat behind them. shs going to write th book. it gives her an opportunity to come down tohe lower 48 and campaign. in the 2009/2010 cle, which she cearly wants to do and she's good at. so, i think she' mde the right call. t i don't thk it wod be becae she would be fceto make tra missions abroad. >> okay. julian,hen you saw pal's speech, wh were your thoughts about the 2012 ace? your mind? of the running in >> yeah. the onlyrational explanation for what she is doing is that

she is stping out of politics. her poll numbers sho that 6 out of 10, 60% of the american public, think that she was not alified to be presiden even repubcan comentators, by droves, a saying that her explanation yesterday was largely incoherent. and i think for the most part, most -- people are only gointo be ableo concludene of two thin. either that she is -- she can't take theeat with the ethics charges, as patointed out, with her poll nbers dropping in alaska, wit all the difficulties that shs facing in the gislare, that's one option. wants to go and make money. neitheof those two options will redeem hern themimind of voters who, agagain largely believevedbyby 60%,%, that she't qualifieied for higher office. >> you knonow, and, pat, jlian adaddrsesewhat he just id, it was kind o of raambngng statement. etty much everyryons s on board with that. you'd think that iff y you were ususinthth to be smeaverick plform for futureoolical -- right. - -- aspiratitionou'd have a

veryry c ccrete speech organane. you'd get out tre. yod say itit,clear, succinctly. am i wrongngre? >> yeah, i thinkouou are. >> huh? >> look, you'd have sosome consultant writetet t fo you. let me say this, whatshshe' go is, i don't thkk s's made a decision a as whether she's gogointo run for president orr no goioingo o rufor president. th decision will come early in 11. and it wilill partly contingent on what she d do now. julian is right about alot of heher prprlelems bubutif she's dwn there a shss raising money andnd she dos a good jnd she ges these speeches and s s studies an lensns a has annonoous followinin s she gott tremendoususuphill climb,b, shet uphill climb for thee nomination for the presidency.. it is a mntain. erere'no doubt about it >> ah. but she's doingg t t right thing if she wants to arrive at that point in 201,1, liberatedd fromom a of this e eths garbage at they'retttaing her onupup in aalaa.a. >> okayay but t wi h h bberion, julian, what if everyolitician d didided

to do this? th g get electct r a rtrtn te a andthen they are nonot, eh nonot much, i'm oo. i'oing to bail out shy of th.. what kind of a fever would thah create in politics? wel, teibib. and i t thi tat youmake a omise when you ru for office that you're r really g goi t to serve ththerm, notumump out en the going gets tough. but, i eaean, i think yourr question i is ghght the oney, becacauslolo at thepoliticians ththatave decidededoo quitndnd thenrurun for president. gary hart in 1988, bill bradley in 2000, bobdodolehen he g the nmination in 1996,oohn ededwas when he dididn run for re-election. l l these guys w waed to run, all of these guys waed to run fopresident. they -- they d dpppped out of office and it didn'n'to them very well and ithink this w wil probably be the styor sarah lilin well. > a r rht. > b look richard nixon. >> thereou gorom '6 to '68. a long time ago, pat, and he hahad y you working withhim. >> that is tr, ulian. >oood to talk to you, have

greaeat urur of juy. ththk k yofor spending i it wit us. and f f m moron the politics susurrndnding papal's decisions and all the dispatches o of nb lilitil unit, you can logon to firstrtrd@d@msc.com. let't'so to the d devopments surrounding ththe atat ofmichael jackson, incnclungng powerful drug found at thepopop icon's home. miguel mama gu is there an, and whwhatre you hearing about t t drug that was founund at jacksos home? >> reporter: wee know three papara agencieiearare working to th the dea, state attorneyy general's s fifice an o of urse, ththapape know ee focucus o of the investigatioioisis i to diprivan, which isishehepowerfu sedativesed insideosostals foforeurgery usuauall we d dknknow that law enforceme sourcecesasay it w was foundini michael jackson's rented hoholm

estatateand other dgs were found inside t the ho.. anddhehe othergencies are taking a looooatat tat drugnn particular. that's what w we know asome of ththlalate on the investigatio. > l's get to the mororl servrvicwiwithyou, kim. le detailshh you've lened asas t what's scheduled too tak place on esesda >> reportete t theare holdingng everything c clo t to e vest here. eyeye not really leing a lot i infmationout. do know thhatken ehrhrchchho produces the grammys is going to be producing tthi andalalso kekenn ortega was a co-director of michahael jackcks cocoerts is going to b directctg g it. so, we expect a lot of big names.s. courtney hazlett wasas saying reportedlyly tttaadoa may be mimingn and usher and j jusn timmer lake and p. dididd big stars. th started p putngng it toogeerr thursdayayninigh i imagaginaa lot m mor pople wil signing by tuesdayay morning. wel l ar littleththin trickling g inororsure. but, yeaea we know the demand rtiticks is huge!

>> yeah. >> reportete i in e first 90 minutes that the wsisitepened, 50mimilln hits,,so, yeah, the chances of geinina ticct,t, prproblylyery slim for a lottof people getting the 17,500 tickets. >> i i w o o of them tining get oon, and itt was going slowy like molasses trying to getetin the e anthen itininal crashed. , , the you have itit. >>epeporr: they needanan era server.. >> they had to for th. miguelel, ththegard to the fafami compound, what is t t test in terms of mement and visitorsrs o f filyomomi in and out? arare e e owds hanging out ere, too? r repter: we've see a steaeady stamam o people e eve since rlrlthis momorng.g. at 4:30 thhis rning localal ti, we saw the first colele o pepelele cing out. and right abouout now,here's a hahalfozen folkshere. wewe aicicate that crowd to gow t the day goeson, as t ty y ha in previouous days. and they're not just coming to this location. eyeyre also going up to the neverland ranch, about 1 1 milis outside of w wrere ware. so, we knnow by the hdredsfans coininueo come out and show theieir spspt to michael jkson analal pay tribubu..

something ththate'e' mostikely ntntin to see all the way unl tuesday. inerms of the jaacknn family, we haven't'teeeen ch movement in anououof the mmpod. we've seen a colele people go in, nottamily meerer but we expect thehereo bee mre activity later on toy.y. >>tt's easas to forget is only 8: i ithe morning oututthere. >> reporter: exactly. >> all right, miguel, thank you rr that. d, kim, last question n y you with theapapz fearing what may be three-quartersrsff a million peleescending on los geles, they a u uing people stay home e unssssou have titicks s tone of the memorials. are they doingprprepations just sese >>eporter: ,, yeah. anyone trying t to c co near th stapleles ntnt, be prepared. ththeyre not going to get clcle to it. the streets wiillee closed of but thee ftt is peoplele ll show up. we know they've closed down neverland d unl l e memorial service so a a t the people tha are h hging out there, will be

coming down to l.a.. people will be crowdwdg g arnd the stapleles ntnt to get a glimpse of sometetngng, yying, soe prepared forig crowds. >> kim and mimiel, thank you ve much to both of yy.. anan happy 4th. and nbcee gives youan exclcluse e ok inside the neverland ranch. today y tttt ler takesyou behindnd t enen. dodon'mimiss "insididee nerlrldt comes up a at noon etete time and 9:00 pacific on "msnbc turday." >> i is day at the beach for millionsns o americans oday. ananinin a momome, a lookk a at foththf july holiday by the e numbers. you're watchchin "nbc saturday" this saturday, fourthth of ulul ♪ ameriricamemeri ♪ ma god refined i was always going

having to go in the ddle of traffic anand justtarting and stopping. having to go in the mile of a ballgame and then bng able to go o i g there. and going at night. i i thght i had a going g oboble my doctor said i h had a growing problem. it wasn't t b blaer. my prostate wawagrgrowg. i d an enlarging ososta that was causing m my urinary symptoms. my doctor escribed avodart. (announcer) ov time, avodart actually shshris s thprostate and improvoves urinary symptoms.. so i canan gmomoreasily when i n nd d too and go less often. (announcer) avodis for men on.. wowomen should not take or hdle avodart due to risk of a specific birth defect. do n donate blood until 6 montnt a aft stopping avodart. tell your doctor if u have liver diseasese rereexual side effffects, only your healthth cee provider canan tell symptoms are from enlarged prostate and d not a more seriousus conditiolike prostate cancer. so have regugular exams. cacallour doctor today. avodart.t. heltake care of your r grininproblem

>> day new york citity'ss ttttineaeadfor itsfourth of jujuly celebrationsns. alall e festivities w wilbebe broadcdct t onbc tonight, the fofour o of july's also t t numr one meymaker formama businesses.. and nbc financiaiaststnalyst vera gibbonsoioi me with that. soananher goodoorng this holiday. g gd morning. >> with ma folks manning the backyardarbecue this year, wewerehe sales of the rlalate items, h d ds and hahambgers, willll igogo u >erere' the thing, 1. milllln n pele plan to attend a baecue. grilling and whatsoever.. t dogs, of cocour,,-- t the perennial favoritete. national hototogog month is ts momont if you lookk a at e statistics fromemorial day to lbor day,

818 hot dogs consumed every second. 7 billion in t tatat timered. and 150 mlili consumed on july weekekendlolo. >> some e ofhehem at theotot d eaeang contestst. it makes y you sick to wawatc >> i've e se it. i'vesese i >> how a abtt the industryy tha reports on b bee sales and holidays, they say t thi is thr best holiday? > ts time of yeye. it's $19190ililon businesss annuallyly a i it eloys 2 milllliopepeop if you look at retailers and distriribursrs. a big monon for bebe. ju 4th ithe biggesest beer-selling h hliday of the yearar. 220 million c cas ofbebeer sold at supermarkets naononde on thth 4th. thatat's 2 2 billionon servings. so, 'sbibi bigbusiness,s, specifically on thth4t4th. >> we c connunu to get mixed nes on the onony. anuptick in consumemer coconfenence the unempmpymymenrateeeee on sing. might ththeact that t the 4th falllls a aeekend -- >> that wiwi help. >> thought, ybybe it willelp pelele snd more.e. >> ight.

thprprobm with thee 4th,, people e gathering a arod and celebratining e e whe weekend, brgigi in their faami d friends and having a odod time. they are not letting the fact that they areosing their js t t the way h havg fun. pepele are o obvususly traveling closer to hoomebut they a doing someththinwiwi the 4 4th b generalllly atat involves beini with family dd friends. wewe'vgot a newpppriation wiwi f famy and friends. >>you areoioingooour frndnd take off y you jacket and jt have t thedress. >>'ll do that ller. > a right, vera, we'lleeee yoyou xt weekend. happy 4th more on the t topstories, rah palin stepping down asas governor. many wondndergg why she wuld keke s suc a bold move. the are clulues online t thatt owows signs real inndede t palin cammp. nbnbc' marachiavompo joins me. >> g gd d morning. >> what do yousee? > f the most art, lilin the reaction is th same as everywhere ele.e. people h havbebeenhocked and confnfus.. their questionons s wh she is doing and whyy ihe doing it?

buthere may have beenn subtle gns onlinen. ththe huffingngto popot,t, her secretary, he's new w to the j b they are sayining erere may hav be subtle clues o his facebook p pe.e. two things hee posted thhis wee one, david murrw c cnsnsiding lili's ironies andnd wo, there' goinintoto bsome fireworksks ts weekend.d. they would have bebeen talking about the plitical reworks or maybe the realal fireworks. you know he was. what about sarahah pinin hersel twtwteteri, because she did do that about h herannouncementnt. what's she saying? >> that's right, s she turned t twitter rightftft the nonounment. this is s wh s s tweeted. will soon attatach info o on dedecion not to seekk rerelelectn. this iss i in alaskska'bebest interests. mymy fililis happy. is good. stayay teded at's what she posteded after the anununcent, but we should notete she didn't post any nenew fofo since thenen. eut notothi up noththin new. wewee waitingfofor her tomamake good on at.

>>erere'one of my favoritite things, the bigplplh on the internet, the movieie about the palins, and the srsrs that could play emem. >> is possible a movie is inn the wowork ththe dailil b bea is hahavi fu. if there w wee a movie, whwho wd ay the centrallcast? fofor pan, theyayay megan mulllly,ecause we know t th tina feyeyaiailethat part during thecampaign. i was thinking s she was shoo-in for that. they don't thinknk o. fofototodd palin, they have dr. mcdamy. d then foror john maiain, richard dreyfuss, ii t thi if yu see them sididebyside, he c cou pu i it off and for le joston, joshua jackson,hahas the e ctrtral castff characters if a movieie i mme.e. we hope can get tickets for it. we can hear thatat we heard it from you, first. ththanyou, mara schiavocampopo.

>> thank you. wel tell you more about the michael jackson investigation next.

a potal custody battle is brewing involving micel jason's three young children. debbie rowe's attney said she has not reached final decision on wheth to seek ody of thtwchildren she hadith jackson. th latest development contradicts an interview rowe gave to knbc earlier this week in which she sai she ha i fact, decided to seek custody of the children. let's bring had in our leg panel to weigh in on this. karen soto andonna spilbor. i'm gladou're both he. because the waffling back d forth, any judge who is looking at her as the potential for ing a fit mother, she's government the biology creds for the first twoones. >> no.his just fo her? i think it woul be an area for coern on because now she has to go do i go for physical

custody, do i goor full ial custy. do i give them aone-year period where we d visitation d i take them? for thatou have to talk to psychirists, have them evaluated, do aome study all of the things, you know, tt are going to require, gog to take a l of time. >> yeah, makesure these kds are okay. >> what about the ird child, the younge? the child eveone iscalling blanket. th is the child who was born of a surrogatemother. we do not know who this woman is and lily even if she came forwar her rights to the child have been done away with. so, what happensto this child d does the judge look at this and say, l's keep all these kids together? is that mandatory here? >> it's not mandatory. but it wi depend onll the other factors that are in the procs thataren describ. there's going to have to bsome sort of psychological evaluation, arings conducted the judge, who wants them and should take them. the thd child most liky it woulbe a rare day that a jue uld split up siblings like

that, especially at that age. i mean, they're not teenagers yet. they're young. so, chances, whoeverants t kehe two, whether it's the biological mom or the grandmother, the third one wl probably g along th. ven though the nay has been probably tang care of them a good part of e time and she will probably travel back and forth with them as well and, really, that is their prima caretake >> good point. jonna spilbor andkaren, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. up next, an exclusive inside look at michl jacks's neverlan estate. matt lauer takes you on a scinatg tour there. as we go one last look the statue of liberty, whose crown now open for t first time eight years. i'm let's. happy 4th everyone. wake up with m at 8: a.m. eastern time. see you. ♪ gracious skies

amber waves ofrain ♪ ♪ purple mountains where will you find e ability and resources to keep you aheaead of this rapidly evolvingng world?? these tough questions. that's wh bught together two o oe mo powerful nam the industry. intrtrucing morgan stanley smititrney. here to rethink wealth mement. here to answer... youruestions. morgan stanlnley smith barn. a w w wealth management firm with over 130 yearars ofxperience.