>> it took her 13 days to do it, but now a california teen is making history as the youngest african-american female pilot to fly solo coast to coast. we'll talk to her about her amazing journey coming up. plus, remembering the life and legacy of legendary newsman walter cronkite.

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reaction far and wide this morning to the passing of a legend. coming up we remember iconic newsman walter cronkite. plus a health care bill checkup. can it survive the war in washington? also ahead, weathering the storm. a look at one city's hope and optimism amid the throes of economic turmoil. and a boom at the box office. yes, harry potter does it again. good morning, everyone, i'm chris jansing in for alex witt. 11:00 on the east coast, 8:00 out west. here's what's happening right now on msnbc saturday. the battle over health care reform is growing more intense

by the hour. president obama making an appeal to lawmakers amid growing resistance to the plan. he's pushing his message this morning in his weekly internet address. >> i want to be very clear, i will not sign on to any health plan that adds to our deficits over the next decade. and by helping improve quality and efficiency the reforms will help bring our deficits under control in the long-term. >> nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house. what kind of resistance is the president facing from congress? >> the president's trying to emphasize the fact that his plan would emphasize preventive care and therefore, cut cost to the government. a lot of people use the emergency room, particularly lower income americans, use the emergency room as their doctor. whenever they don't feel well, whenever they feel as though they need to go see somebody, they go to the emergency room and that is a burden on the medicaid system in this country. they're also emphasizing the fact that this would end up having resulting in cheaper health care costs for all americans. but the president's talking

about the deficit, and its impact on the deficit, and he got some bad news last night. the congressional budget office looked at the legislation that's now making its way through the house of representatives and said over ten years, as a matter of fact, this would add $239 billion to the deficit. and then there's the larger and perhaps more difficult issue, and that is the long-term care of all health care in this country, whether it be insurance plans, hospital stays, pharmaceutical drugs. you name it. the point of this legislation as stated many times by the president and his allies in congress, is to send that curve bending downwards over the course of many years into the future. but the congressional budget office, again, throwing a wrench into the works says, in fact, it would curve it upwards. has has given a number of senators and representatives in congress pause late last week. negotiations at this point in the senate still going on behind closed doors. the votes simply not there in the house. the democrats and republicans are rebelling again both the pace and some of the techniques that they used to pay for this

legislation, as well as the fundamental aspect of this legislation that would create that so-called public option for people to go to the government to get their health care. chris? >> okay, thanks mike viqueira, appreciate it. and health care reform is a hot button issue on tomorrow's "meet the press." nbc's david gregory will talk to secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius. also a look at this week's supreme court nominee hearings, with the republican leader in the senate mitch mcconnell. he may also talk about health care. we will see. don't miss "meet the press," tomorrow on nbc. check your local listings for the time where you are. today more questions than answers for investigators in jakarta, indonesia. they're analyzing debris from friday's deadly bombings at two luxury hotels that could help them capture suspects responsible for planning the attack. let's go to nbc news ian williams who was in bangkok, thailand. and indonesia is praised by a lot of people around the world for successfully tackling terror groups. what's the approach to this now? >> well, i think they're pretty

puzzled. certainly this has been a big blow, because they have appeared to do so well over the last four years. they appeared to -- it has been a pretty big crackdown against jemaah islamiyah, which is the regional terror group affiliated to al qaeda, who are now suspected to be behind this latest bomb. and a great deal of urgency down there to get to grips to this, to try and find out who was responsible. and from the investigation, there are some intriguing bits of information already beginning to emerge. one of the key questions is how these suicide bombers got the components, the bomb components inside a hotel, inside two hotels, with security very, very tight. though that security is mainly aimed at preventing vehicle bombs. now, investigators today suggesting that bomb components may have been smuggled in inside a laptop computer through the metal detector and into the hotel. they're also investigating a man who checked in two days before

the bombing, paying $1,000 deposit, because he didn't have a credit card. now, it all points to a very sophisticated and well-planned operation. which is why investigators do believe that it may be the work of a splinter group from j.i. they do think that they badly damaged j.i. but this splinter group is led by a malaysian fugitive called noordin top. he was very much part of j.i. in the early days, the bali bombings 2002, that killed more than 200 people. he is an accomplished bombmaker. and the police, the investigators believe that this bombing has his hall mark, high profile, western targets, and at the moment, he is top of their suspect list, chris. >> all right, thanks very much, ian. now today new york city police are responding to the terror attacks in jakarta. more police patrols taking place outside many new york city hotels. authorities say the extra security is just a precaution. not in response to any specific

threat. the nation is mourning the death today of veteran cbs news anchor walter cronkite. no word yet on funeral or memorial plans. but tributes are pouring in from across the nation for the man affectionately known as uncle walter. and who was called the most trusted man in america. president obama says cronkite was more than just an anchor. he guided america through the most important issues of the day. >> he brought us all those stories large and small, which would come to define the 20th century. that's why we loved walter. because of an era before blogs and e-mail, cell phones and cable, he was the news. walter invited us to believe in him, and he never let us down. this country has lost an icon and a dear friend, and he will be truly missed. >> president obama's campaign rival, senator john mccain, says he'll never forget when he traveled with cronkite to hanoi on the tenth anniversary of the fall of saigon. and cronkite's colleagues at cbs

news have been honoring his memory today. 60 minutes correspondent mike wallace released a statement saying, we were proud to work with him, for him, we loved him. and 60 minutes correspondent morley safer, walter was truly the father of television news. the trust that he was placed in him was based on mission of his fairness, honesty and strict objectivity and of course his long insurance as a shoe leather reporter covering everything from local politics to world war ii, and its aftermath in the soviet union. for more on cronkite's lasting impact on american journalist, here's nbc's brian williams. >> here is a bulletin from cbs news. in dallas, texas, three shots were fired at president kennedy's motorcade in downtown dallas. >> reporter: he'll be forever linked to the assassination of our young president. and with american space flight. >> man on the moon. >> reporter: and the downfall of

a president. >> we should try tonight to pull together the threads of this amazing story, quite unlike any in our modern american history. >> reporter: for 20 years in this country, 25 million americans each night got their news from walter cronkite. >> and that's the way it is. >> reporter: and for all knows watching in living rooms across the country, it was the way it was. cronkite's audience was so big, he was so influential, at times it seemed more like he was addressing the nation on a nightly basis, than just anchoring the news. when a survey named him the most trusted man in america, that title stuck. walter cronkite came from humble roots to get there, beginning with his high school newspaper. then as a cub reporter for the houston post at age 19. he covered world war ii for united press. >> i'm just back from the biggest assignment that any american reporter could have so far in this war.

>> reporter: then, came the cold war. and again, cronkite was there. >> will be exploded at 5:20 our time. that's 2 minutes and 20 seconds from now. >> reporter: he was named anchor of the cbs evening news in 1962. he was 47 when his career-defining moment arrived a year later, in the form of a bulletin from dallas, texas. >> the flash apparently official, president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. >> reporter: an old promotional black and white film by cbs news, a day in the life of walter cronkite, shows us an anchorman at the height of his power. in a different era, when tv was still new, and back then there were just three networks to choose from. with that power, and his huge viewing audience, came influence. after a trip to vietnam in 1968, he concluded the war couldn't be won.

>> declare that we are mired in stalemate, seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory conclusion. >> reporter: just weeks later, president johnson announced he wouldn't seek another term. >> when he saw this on the air, he said, if i've lost cronkite, i've lost middle america. >> reporter: cronkite took part in an accidental diplomacy when sadat of egypt told him on live tv he was willing to visit israel. >> that could be, say, within a week? >> you could say that, yes. >> reporter: cronkite ruled the airwaves and the newsroom at cbs, always demanding the best, always demanding more, and he gave up the anchor chair with delayed but profound regret. >> old anchormen, you see, don't fade away, they just keep coming back for more. >> reporter: years ago he was asked to sum up his own legacy. >> he tried as a journalist.

he had a vision of what journalism should be. and in his own practice, he adhered to it. >> reporter: he was every inch a journalist, but he became an american icon. a true celebrity. >> it's an honor to meet you, mr. cronkite. >> call me walter. >> reporter: among the first to be known by a single word, he was simply cronkite. and there was no other. >> and this is walter cronkite, good night. >> walter cronkite's wife betsy died of cancer in 2005. they are survived by three children. ♪

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a big day for space exploration. and you're watching some of the final preparations being made live in space for the first of five scheduled spacewalks. it's coming up at 11:58 a.m. eastern time. so about 45 minutes from now. two members of the 13-astronaut crew now housed at the international space station will venture outside to help assemble a porch. that's going to be used for outdoor experiments. those 13 astronauts under one roof is the largest gathering of astronauts in space ever. so we're going to keep our eye on that with the help of nasa on those cool pictures. now the latest from washington, where the battle over health care reform is growing more intense by the hour. president obama is pushing his message this morning in his weekly internet address after making an unscheduled public appearance at the white house late yesterday. a message aimed at congress. >> the last few miles of any race are the hardest to run. but i have to say, now is not the time to slow down.

and now is certainly not the time to lose heart. >> here now to weigh in, democratic strategist peter fenn and msnbc political analyst and republican strategist joe watkins. joe, haven't seen you in awhile. let me ask you about health care reform. >> well, i'm troubled by it, chris. i think the president has the right idea and he wants to help americans. everybody wants to make sure that all americans have the opportunity to have health care. i think we all are on the same page as far as that is concerned. the big question is how to get there. and this bill does not get us there. it will only add to our problems, certainly economically. right now we're facing 10% unemployment. this bill could not that figure up to 12%. and clearly, the congressional budget office, which is a nonpartisan office, is saying that this bill is going to increase the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. that's not good news. >> that's got to hurt, peter. >> i tell you, i think joe's right, people want a plan. they want to get this done.

there are a lot of bills out there. i think joe's talking mainly right now about the house bill which is the one that's been scored. they're still working through the senate. i think the important thing here, chris, is that everybody knows that this is the fastest-growing part of our economy is health care costs. folks know that at $7200 plus per person per year on health care costs, twice the average of other developed countries. we've got to get these costs under control. but we also have to figure out a way to stop the flood to emergency rooms, from people without health care costs. >> but that's the question, how do you do this? how do you take care of this problem? there's no disputing the fact that you state the problem, the question is what's the answer? >> right, exactly, chris. and the answer is, look, is this going to cost money? of course it's going to cost money. how could it not cost money if you're going to insure 47 million americans. but the problem is, you know, it's -- it's don't tax you, don't tax me, tax the guy behind

the tree. and at some point you're going to have to have a situation where -- where some of it comes from cost savings, but somebody's going to have to come from some form of taxation which is not easy to pass. >> what kind of taxation do you think would be passable in this situation? >> i'll tell you, i'm not -- go ahead, joe, sorry. >> no, no, i hear you. the problem is that, of course, the bill he's talking about taxing the rich. and here's where you have a problem. you have a problem, double whammy for small business owners. they small into that category personally and then there are punitive measures in the legislation that punish small businesses if they don't meet certain criteria. the only option they end up having in order to survive with this legislation would be to lay people off or to go out of business. that's not good. of course when you fire people, the rate of unemployment goes up. but if you go out of business, nobody has a job, that's bad news. if small business is the engine that's growing the economy, you don't want to mess with small

business. that's what this legislation does. >> well, except, you know, i agree with you joe, except that the key here is that small business is costing, and you and i had small businesses, we have to pay more and more in terms of health insurance for our employees. so the effort is to get this under control. the other point i think about this is, that it has to be very clear that this can't be punitive. in other words, that what you've got is a situation where as we talked last hour, you know, i really don't have a real problem with the goldman sachs guys now who are making $900,000 a year going back up to what the tax was before bush gave them the big tax cut. so you know, i mean i think there's a way to do this which is fair, which is equitable, which does stimulate the economy. look ama is for it, the pharma folks want it, they see an effort to now get drugs into the hands of the people that need them, in those 47 million. you know, but the devil is in the details. if it was easy we would have

done it long ago. >> but you've got democrats as well as republicans who are very cautious and who are not on board yet. you have democrats in the house and certainly in the senate who are saying not ready yet. not ready to jump on board. and even republican senators who are trying to help saying mr. president, that august deadline date that you've got is much too ambitious. you know, this thing takes time. if you look at the bureaucracy that the bill calls for it's massive. you've got the labor department, the treasury department, the department of veterans affairs, hhs, and the list goes on of departments that are going to have their hands in this bill. that's a lot of departments, a lot of bureaucracy, and the republican mess that was shared with the public earlier this week shows this is going to be actually tough to make it work. >> an intense couple of weeks coming up. really quick, peter. >> okay, real quick. look, one of the things though, joe, about those costs, medicare cost versus private insurance companies. private insurance companies overhead costs of 30% more than medicare. the effort obviously is to bring

those costs down. >> thank you, peter. >> he always gets the last word in. >> thanks, gentlemen, i appreciate it. >> thanks, guys. >> good to be with you. >> we know the prescription for success at the box office. harry potter. and what the boy wizard is doing is nothing short of remarkable. we'll talk about that next on msnbc saturday. if you're like a lot of people, you have high blood pressure... and you have high cholesterol. you've taken steps to try and lower both your numbers. but how close are you to your goals? there may be more you can do. only caduet combines two proven medicines... in a single pill to significantly lower... high blood pressure and high cholesterol. in a clinical study of patients... with slightly elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, caduet helped 48% reach both goals in just 4 weeks. caduet is one of many treatment options, in addition to diet and exercise... that you can discuss with your doctor. caduet is not for everyone. it's not for people with liver problems... and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant.

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at the box office the new harry potter movie cost a $104 million spell worldwide during its first day in the theaters. "harry potter and the half-blood prince" setting a new record for the boy wizard. dawn yanek is editor in large for "life and style weekly." >> you liked this movie? >> i loved this movie. and of course the boy wizard harry potter. at life and style weekly we think this is the best movie so far in this entire series. and it's done exceedingly well.

broke all sort of box office records on opening night. going to come in fourth of all-time. they were thinking it could come close to transformers or even topple dark knight. looks like it's going to be around $160 million. >> only $160 million? >> this is one of the very exciting movies to make. >> it was. >> can you see it on the screen? >> it's fantastic. it's done really, really well. the cinematography is really great. we have the whole cast, we've grown up with them. and we have this whole who's who of british actors who are wonderful. it's a fantastic script. >> let's take a little look at the movie. we've got a clip for folks. >> i just thought we could go where we like to, we should go to the. >> why didn't i think of that? >> who are you going with? >> it's a surprise. anyway, if you've got to worry

about, you can't take anyone. see that guy at the back? working on a love potion. >> really? >> hey. she's only interested in you because she thinks you're the chosen one. >> but i am the chosen one. i'm sorry. kidding. >> i love that scene, and there's also sort of this two big things going on here. one you have this action film with all the specifics effects. but you also have these teenagers falling in love. >> they are still teenagers in this. and we have all this teen angst and the harry falling in love with ginny weasley, ron's sister and a love triangle between ron and hermione and lavender brown. and it's sweet. and you get pg-rated sexual innuendos in this version. still certainly pg. but it's definitely a more mature version. >> well, i'm guessing it's a

step down from equis when daniel radcliffe was in the me altogether. >> he's definitely wearing clothes. >> but it get's dannian ek seal of approval. we're going to talk to the high flying pioneer about her fantastic feat next on msnbc. my doctor told me something i never knew. as we get older, our bodies become... less able to absorb calcium. he recommended citracal. it's a different kind of calcium. calcium citrate. with vitamin d... for unsurpassed absorption, to nourish your bones.

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led the way for so long. an icon in the business. it's hard to find work to describe the strat your of this man here, in the business, around the world. and everywhere people are remembering him and remembering him, especially, as they saw him on tv. people around the world, everywhere, are having thoughts about the most trusted man in america. >> when i was a kid growing up, he was the newscaster that we always watched. for me he was the quintessential news anchor that started news television as i remember it growing up. >> president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. >> to me he was the old school, quintessential newsman. >> good evening, president reagan today opened his second white house news conference with >> so hard to pin it down to one thing. certainly as an american, he represented so much of what great journalism meant and continues to mean. and for us, here locally at arizona state obviously he was

our guiding light. >> at first it was called the watergate caper. >> he was our mentor and we continued to look to him to help build this journalism program at asu and to help teach and mentor our students and how he really was much more than just a name. how he was really integrally involved in how he shaped the journalism school here at asu over the past 25 years. >> a number of people here at cbs news have been issuing statements and making comments about walter cronkite. sean mcmanus, for example, the president of cbs news said it is impossible to imagine cbs news journalism or indeed america without walter cronkite. katie couric, who now sits in walter cronkite's anchor chair said he was the personification of excellence. and mike wallace put it very succinctly when he said, we loved him. chris, back to you. >> ron allen, thank you so much. you can logon to msnbc.com for

more on walter cronkite, including videos, tributes and a slide show of the most trusted man in america. here in new york, it is shaping up to be a beautiful saturday. in fact, pretty nice all up and down the eastern seaboard. but out west, things are starting to sizzle. let's get the latest on the weather forecast with nbc meteorologist bill karins. what's going on? >> it's so hot. but we haven't had a lot of fires this year, i should knock on wood this year. >> a few small ones but nothing thankfully that spread. >> for how hot and dry it's been it could be a lot worse. boise, idaho, for example, today, record heat, easily should break your record, 104 is your predicted high temperature. by the way, in case you didn't know, boise is a very hot place, the all-time record high is 111. it can get this hot and it's going to be very steamy the next couple of days. also going to be 115 in phoenix. sacramento today, around 103. notice texas is a little bit cooler, i say a little. san antonio 99 today. orlando, one of the stormy areas

out there. we're continuing to watch the showers and storms moving in off the gulf. you have a beach day on the east coast beaches there from daytona beach, volusia county. it looks like it comes to an end here shortly. the theme parks, universal studios and anywhere near the disney complex, you probably have another couple hours before the rain moves your way. the forecast looks good in most locations. atlanta, beautiful. northeast is beautiful. a quick peek at tomorrow, more of the same. doesn't really change. still hot out west and still dry in the east. >> and we're still working. >> oh, sorry. we usually leave that part out until the commercial break. >> forgot we were still on. thanks, bill karins, good to see you. follow your forecast. watch the weather channel on cable or head to weather.com. and that's, of course, online. hundreds of family and drends gathered at a pensacola cemetery on friday to pay their respects to a local couple murdered during a home invasion. byrd and melanie billings, who had adopted 13 special needs children were shot to death by robbers last week.

police have arrested eight suspects in connection with those murders. nbc's mark potter joins me now live from pensacola. he has the latest on the investigation for us. good morning, mark. >> reporter: good morning to you, chris. investigators believe that their case has pretty much wound down at least in terms of the investigation. they say all the primary suspects are in jail now. that includes seven men accused of murder. they say they believe the motive for all this was robbery, and, indeed, a safe was taken from the house earlier this week. that safe was recovered by authorities. they found the safe buried in the backyard with bricks piled on top. the back yard of a house owned by a woman who is now charged with being an accessory after the fact for murder. yesterday the sheriff here in es escambia county, david morgan, held a news conference to describe what was in that safe. >> the contents of the safe, which we will verify, are personal items. items such as passports, birth certificates, adoption papers.

some heirloom jewelry, and some prescription medication assigned to this family. >> reporter: now the sheriff says investigators are now trying forensically to determine whether the robbers themselves were actually able to get into that safe. they don't know that yet. they would also not say where they found the murder weapon or any details of that. they say they do believe they have that weapon but don't have those details. also, i mentioned a very big question, if this was a robbery why did the billings have to die. the details of that moment are known,s sheriff said, and will come out before trial. but right now, are being withheld for investigative reasons. chris? >> all right, mark, thank you. we're getting a look this morning at pope benedict's broken wrist. it's now in a cast. he had surgery on it after breaking it in a fall. the accident happened while the pope was very indicationing in northern italy yesterday. the 82-year-old pontiff will wear that cast for about a month. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick

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msnbc is the place for politics and the debate over health care reform intensifies. president obama pushing his plan again this morning in his internet address. but an article on huffington post says a group of bipartisan centrists and conservative senators have sent a letter to democratic and gop leaders urging them to delay considering health care reform. joining me live now, democratic congressman from new york. what do you think the status of this bill is right now? >> i think it's very complicated legislation. it affects a huge proportion of the economy, and i think a lot of people stand to make money or lose money. so it's very complicated. it's being worked on and i think we'll work it out. >> the cbo certainly didn't help president obama he they said it could be $239 billion addition to the deficit over the next ten years. do you think that that was

potentially a fatal blow? >> no, i don't think -- i don't think that was a fatal blow. i think first of all the cbo is constrained in its analysis. they can analyze expenditures. they cannot analyze future savings. so that $239 billion is net of future savings which they cannot analyze. number two, $239 billion, or $23 billion or $24 billion a year, which in the context of a $14 trillion economy is not that huge. if we could guarantee all americans a reliable health care coverage, if we could provide health care coverage to americans who don't have it, if we could tell all the americans who have health care coverage today, don't worry about losing health care coverage, if you lose your job, your husband loses his job, and you have a pre-existing condition you'll still have health care coverage, if we could provide everybody with good health care coverage and a cost of $24 billion a year, it would be well worth

doing. >> i just want to make sure that we're clear on this, because you said the cbo doesn't talk about sort of the net here. but they did talk about what they call the cost curve, which is a different thing. and it sort of -- >> but in analyzing -- >> factors all those things in. and they said in fact what he said was it was going to go up, and not down, which essentially goes against what president obama said he wanted to do with this. >> yes, because they are not within their mandate, they can't analyze certain kind of cost savings and therefore they cannot see the cost curve. given their mandate, within what they're allowed to do, that may be the result. >> let's talk about the prospects for this, though. a lot of people are questioning the time line. they're saying this is frying to be pushed too fast. it is, as you said, complicated legislation. and some critics have claimed that the reason that supporters want it pushed through is the more people know about it, the less they'll like it. what do you think the urgency is in terms of does it have to happen before the summer recess? >> it doesn't have to, but it would be nice if it did. the fact of the matter is that once you get it past the summer

recess, we're winding down the session. and history is that legislation doesn't pass in the first congressional -- in the first year of an administration of a major nature tends not to pass. remember medicare and medicaid were as large a change in health care system as this is were signed by the president in july in the first year of his term. this is not going faster, it's going slower in fact. >> if you were a betting guy would you say this is going to happen in the next two weeks in the house side? >> i think so. i'm not sure, but i think there's a good shot it will. >> was going to have to happen for it to work? >> some people are going to have to be assured. the biggest problems at this point are the establishment of use of medicare rates in the public option, which is objected to by some more moderate democrats, really not on moderate or conservative or liberal lines but on regional lines because they think the medicare rates in certain areas are too low. we have to make some geographical adjustments and fine-tune it somewhat. >> it's going to be a lot of

latenight sessions. >> good to be here. >> for the latest political developments be sure to tech out first read. logon to firstread.msnbc.com. she learned how to fly a helicopter at 12, she crosscrossed the united states in a single engine cessna at 15. kimberly's latest feat has her soaring to new heights, the record books. kimberly joins me now on the phone. good morning, how are you doing today? >> good morning. i'm great, how are you? >> i'm well. you successfully completed your cross-country mission this past weekend. how do you feel? >> it feels so amazing. like since the trip i've been bombarded with interviews. i got a call from arnold schwarzenegger's office and i was invited to sacramento to receive a proclamation. i've been invited to a talk show. i think all of this is just so awesome. i'm getting really cool people to interview little old me.

>> well, you were flying high, setting records. how did you get involved in the first place? what interested you about flight? >> well, i think i've always kind of been interested in flying, for as long as i can remember. when i was younger my brother and sister and i would go on top of the roof, and wave at the planes as they passed by our house. and we always wondered if they could see us. i doubt that they could. but when we found the program -- put into practical terms. like we were on it. >> let me ask you about the flight itself. was there any point at which you thought you were in trouble, or you might not be able to make it? i understand there were some pretty nasty thunderstorms at one point. >> yes, sometimes it got a little, or like really turbulent. and on the way back home, there was thunderstorms on either side of the plane. at lunch, i noticed that we

couldn't get through because god is with us so i always felt comfortable. >> and you got here safe and sound. you know, i can't help but think, because we're just about ten minutes away from a big space walk up at the space station and of course some of the great first astronauts were pilots, do you have any further ambitions in terms of either flying or maybe even getting into the space program? what's next for you, kimberly? >> you'll have to wait and see. >> you're not going to clue us in? you don't have any plans of your own? >> well, i plan on getting my private pilot's license when i turn 17. >> okay. >> and when i turn 16, on my 16th birthday i plan on breaking my sister's record by becoming the youngest african-american female to solo four planes, as well as two helicopters. >> oh, well a little bit of friendly family competition is

always a good thing. something tells me, kimberly, whatever you set your mind to you're going to be successful at. it's great talking to you. congratulations. >> thank you so much. >> i'm sure we'll see you again. >> thank you so much. >> thank you so much. it was great talking to you. >> kimberly anyadike. she is a charmer, is she not? in a moment we're going to talk about a town that was once devastated by disappearing jobs, but now, it's showing some signs of making a comeback. could this be a model for the nation? also ahead, paul rocking the big apple. reminiscent of an event more than 40 years ago. stick around and rock with us on msnbc saturday. [ female announcer ] swiffer wetjet cleans so completely you'll never go back to your old mop again. ♪ don't you want me baby? ♪ don't you want me ohhhh! [ female announcer ] why go part of the way clean? swiffer wetjet antibacterial cleaner kills 99.9 percent of bacteria mops can spread around.

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what's going on, michelle? do we have michelle? we're having some technical problems over at citi field. not as many problems as the mets, but we've been having some problems. we've got a lot of mets fans in here so i'm in big trouble with that little comment. one of the things ha happened last night is billy joel joined sir paul mccartney on stage. people went crazy. we now have michelle frandsen. michelle, i can imagine what that was like. >> reporter: it was actually very exciting. of course, there were rumors that maybe ring0 may join him on stage. billy joel was right up there, too. it's because paul mccartney had

joined billy joel an stage before they demolished shea stadium. paul mccartney returning the favor and running to the place where he and the beatles made history more than 40 years ago ushering in some of its new music and playing and offering the crowd some of those old rock 'n' roll moments that made them famous. >> michelle, thanks so much. two more concerts to go, but they are sold out. now to the economy and one of the area's hardest hit by the recession, elkhart, indiana. this is the first weekend of the annual county fair, also a place featured by our website, msnbc.com. the elkhart project looked at the people and how they're coping during these tough kmikt times. joining us is ka ris sa ray who has been covering the elkhart project and has taken a lot of photos of the area. what's going on there today? >> well, this is day two of the

county fair and it is already warm and sunny. there was rain predicted, but like most things many the midwest, wait five minutes and that will change. we've got a great crowd coming out. yesterday was senior day and today we've had beauty pageants and all kinds of food. it's a really great turnout. people are coming out in droves trying to tell us their stories. >> tell us a little bit about elkhart and why it was chosen for this project. >> well, after obama made his speech talking about the stimulus package he came to elkhart because it was one of the areas hardest hit by the recession because they're dependent on manufacturing, rvs, hummers. one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. it's coming back, though, and it it's interesting. people say, when you come here, is it depressing? and people ary sill yet. we're seeing this can-do attitude. they say, we're ready for change, for us to put our eggs

in a different basket and count on the the kufuture. >> with we have photographses of the fair, one with guy setting up and one with women wearing a t-shirt, elkhart, my choice for the future. that sort of personifies what seems to be the attitude there, doesn't it? >> absolutely. some of those women were at a charity event last week where unsolicited a local restaurant put on a wrestling event for charity and made over $10,000 for the local food bank which has been hit really, really hard because a lot of families who normally wouldn't need that kind of assistance are saying, i do need help, but we're going to move forward and get out of this. at the booth where we've set up we've had all kinds of interesting people come many and get their portraits made, which will be featured on our website and tell their stories. some of them are really moving and some are just inspiring. >> let me share one photo of an older couple, a photo you took. what was their story?

>> they had been married 64 years and their son who is in his 60s was laid off. so they're feeling that, too. i think their retirement is pretty secure now. she's 82, he's 87. they come out to the fair every year. it's something the economy can't people away from. people are just excited to be together even if it means cutting back a little bit on their good times. >> carissa ray, thank you so much, covering elkhart, indiana, for us. you can see more on msnbc.com, more photographs, more folks owe stories at the elkhart project. that is going to wrap up our live coverage for this saturday. stay with us for headline updates and also always breaking news as it happens. up next, the msnbc special "the untouchable." i'll see you right here tomorrow on msnbc. have a great day.