fire. he kept a web page and on it, wrote about years of rejection by women, a hatred for his own mother and brother, and a plan of violence at that gym. last december 24th, we wrote no girlfriend since 1984. he wrote last december 28th, he was planning a shooting for tuesday, january 26th, 2009, then wrote, quote, i chickened out. i brought the loaded gun, everything. but then this past monday wrote tomorrow is the day. ailson, it is difficult enough to read what this man wrote, so i cannot imagine what those people in that small town must be feeling. we've been able to get identities of those three women

killed in the aftermath of all this. >> reporter: it's interesting that the women, we're not sure whether they were targeted because he turned the lights out, but these were women in their 30s and 40s, not younger women in the class. women in his age group actually. here obviously, this is a very peaceful area, not a high crime area in pittsburgh and people going to the gym are just not prepared to face such tragedy. a few people who are not in the room were brave enough to go in and rescue those people. one did cpr, some carried people out of the building. it was just chaos inside, from the witness reports given from people who are in there

yesterday. >> i know you're in a different location than the press conference is taking place, but what's been the reaction? earlier, i heard something about people there getting counseling. as you pointed out, no one's prepared to be anywhere to have somebody come in and open fire. >> reporter: i spoke to several women inside the room yesterday and it was very important for them to be able to come together this morning. they came back to talk to us. two of them knew each other, one didn't. i was talking to one of the woman's mother and she was watching them and saying, i didn't understand how important this would be because there is no one else who can understand what they're feeling. >> thank you very much for the update there and of course we're learning more details about this cold-blooded killer. >> that's right. disturbing picture that's been

painted of him and as we hear about the effort to try to process everything that's happened, the bigger picture is still what was it like in that aerobics class when the gunman went on his rampage. among those wounds, the instructor, who was pregnant. she spoke briefly today from her hospital bed, but did not want to appear on camera. >> 30 hours ago -- >> okay, that was obviously one of the two american journalists. here's the right sound bite. she does not want to be identified. >> i remember thinking, i wanted to hold my breath because i was afraid if he saw i was breathing, he would shoot again. >> on the "today" show this morning, nbc's lester holt interviewed two women in the room when the shooting began and

managed to escape unharmed. watch. >> he walked in. he just seemed like he was working out, i mean, but we were going through our routine, he went back to where there's weights and i just thought he was going to get a weight or going to the punching bags for his workout. you're in an aerobics room, you wouldn't expect somebody to do that. >> reporter: then he turns the lights out. >> i saw him for a minute and then a minute later, the lights go out and seconds later, you just hear shooting and he's shooting all over the room. i just noticed the gunfire went off. they just started running toward the corner and i guess some ran out of the room. >> reporter: did you see people actually hit? >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: how did you get out?

>> he was shooting like this. a bunch of us girls were hovered around each other. everyone just spread out in the room and i was behind a few girls and i could see like him shooting like this and he started to shoot in the opposite direction, so i am thinking, do i stay and fake dead or do i -- the door, the door was open, the door that he entered and i just booked it. >> when i realized that it was in fact a gun that he had in his hand and wasn't a power outage, i just turned around and ran. i grabbed my friend and just ran as fast as i could. i fell right outside the door and hit the carpet and somehow picked myself back up and somehow made it to the parking lot. me and my friend found somebody getting in their car and just jumped in the car. we didn't know if he was coming inside. >> we're getting every indication of life and death.

one woman killed was found seven feet from the gunman's body, another about 12. we'll have much more on the shooting rampage coming up at the bottom of the hour. we'll take a closer look at the gunman and what psychologists are already learning about him based on his online diary. there's plenty of evidence that takes us into the mind of this killer. we'll talk to clint van zandt. so many lessons that i think a lot of mental health proflsales will be able to explain to us. >> just new details about this blog and what he wrote, even that he had gone in three times, it was the third time that he decided it was his choice to open fire. now to that other big story of the day, it started off the morning, david, that emotional

homecoming of two american journalists jailed in north korea. they touched down in burbank, california this morning, after bill clinton made a dramatic visit to pyonyang. there were tears all around. hannah had not seen her mother in five months. moments after the families were reunited, former president clinton walked down the steps of that plane. al gore was also there waiting at the end of the stairs to embrace his employees. they joined lee and ling's family. ling spoke about how she and euna lee first learned in a big way, that they would be coming home. >> 30 hours ago, euna lee and i

were prisoners in north korea. we feared that at any moment, we could be sent to a hard labor camp. we were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us president bill clinton. we were shocked. but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. and now, we stand here home and free. >> well, president obama called clinton a few minutes after he landed to thank the former president for doing a quote,

great job. he praised them for doing a great job in bringing the women home. >> we are obviously extraordinarily relieved. my hope is that the families that have been reunited can enjoy the next several days and weeks understanding that because of the efforts of president clinton and gore, they are able to be with each other once again. >> the former president did not speak at the homecoming, but his wife, secretary of state hillary clinton, said she was happy to see her husband go to north korea to negotiate the release of those journalists. >> when the word came that this would get that done, i was very much in favor of it because i wanted to see euna and laura returned. the fact that my husband was willing to do it and made it very clear it was a private, humanitarian mission, shouldn't

confuse anyone. our policy remains the same. we've made it clear as to what the options are to north korea and it's up to them after their consideration what they intend to do. >> george lewis joins us now from studio city, california, outside the ling home. let's talk about these families. you have a child back with her mother. a sister embracing her sister there. what's next for them? >> reporter: well, they're trying to sort things out now. they're going the take it one day at a time. they say it will take the two women a few days to decompress from all the experiences. lisa says they've got a lot of catching up to do. that lisa will probably have more to say, i'm sorry, laura will probably have more to say in the days to come, but they just need a few days to chill out and get used to life back here in america.

lisa ling, who is also a tv journalist had this to say outside the house. >> my sister is an incredible journalist and an incredibly smart woman, but to me, she's my little sister and so not being able to communicate to her, with her, not being able to see her or talk to her on the regular basis was devastating, so i want to be able to look into her eyes and her little face today was absolutely indescribable. >> reporter: lisa ling was asked if a book or movie deals might be in the future. he refused to speculate, but this being hollywood, i suspect that will be in the mix before long. >> you can bet on that. i'm sure a battle to get those first interviews. it was lisa ling who kind of gave us a glimpse of how hard it was for her sister, just the exhaustion. they were able to get meals

regularly unlike many others in north korea, but it was a very difficult time for these young women. >> reporter: they said they lost weight, the rice had stones in it. they still had a lot of deprivation. they had been sentenced in june to 12 years of hard labor and thought that any moment, they would be hauled off, then all of a sudden, president clinton shows up. >> george, thank you very much. and david, that is, when you listen to the press conference with laura ling, to imagine walking in the room, someone say you've got a visitor, and it's bill clinton, you imagine the emotions, the fear. >> and especially when you think about they had no idea what was going on. they were shut off from any

news. to not know if you're being moved, then you see the former president. also, hearing the sobs of that family when they're reunited, it's hard to sort of keep your own emotions together when you see the raw emotions pouring out this morning. >> and that beautiful little girl clutching on to her mother. still ahead, chuck todd's exclusive interview with president obama and what he's saying about the economy and possible claims of a tax hike. plus, democrats facing a month of town hall attacks orchestrated by republicans. why are the democrats spending time and energy attacking each other? and what's american idol without paula? who will simon fight with? what will be the balance of the criticism? this is the "big picture" on msnbc. you have to spend, shopping online can help save.

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season nine of "american idol" is going to look a lot different. >> paula abdul, she's leaving the show. she made the shocking announcement on twitter today saying quote, with sadness in my heart, i've decided not to return. i'll miss nur churing all the talent. the show has been a huge success. take a look at the show's final ratings the past eight season. 38 million people watching the season two finale.

the ratings have been flipping a little since. according to one report, show producers believe she was a big draw for the show especially because of the crazy things she said and did. like this. >> listen to the first song. just on the first song. >> oh, my god. i thought you sang twice. >> wow, see. >> so what will happen to the show without paula abdul? bradley jacobs, thanks so much for coming on. just to be clear, because i wouldn't put it past, that it was some sort of employ to get pr. we know for sure she's not coming back? >> oh, yeah. it was over. now, it's done. fox released a statement. paula abdul tweeted about it. you know it's official. >> what happens next? >> we will see next january if the american public likes the show as much with the formula

tweak. if the formula was for the first seven years, simon, randy and paula, and paula was that cooky, wild card. she was the punching bag. kara is very smart, but doesn't necessarily have that same kind of appeal that paula has, nor her friction with the other two fizz up in a way that people like. i think she's very similar to randy and simon and that may not work. >> this comes from a tweet. i know that we love twitter, but it's strange she would come out and make a big announcement there. she's got a new manager, but simon cowell pretty much assured the fans that she would be coming back. you say it's done, but might she prize -- really? i'm in denial, i guess. >> we're all in denial because we're going to miss paula, but

fox has said on the record, it's over. and you are right. simon had said in june that he thought paula would be back. i think everyone was a little surprised here. >> is this about money though? >> i think it's very much about money and ego. there are reports that she had been making about $2 million last season and they offered her a new, multiyear deal worth about 3 million, but paula wanted 20. ryan seacrest got 45 million the next three years. you can kind of see where she's coming from. >> wow. >> brad, thanks so much for coming on. must read on all of the details on this. thanks so much. tamron, you know, i know people are going to say, why are you covering this.

this is a pop culture phenome n phenomenon. for some people, this maybe as big as the break-up of the beatles. >> no. but i think it brought the show brought families back to the television together because there had been so many complaints about this. i would talk to people and they'd say they have the kids and you'd get involved in these upstarts and their battle for fame. it was television for families and probably won't be the same without her. up next, chuck todd interviews president obama about the economy and the possibility of raising taxes. also, you can lead a horse to water, but can you teach it to jump over a car? everyone involved is just fine. we'll tell you the details about this. this is unbelievable.

president obama said today he will not raise taxes during the recession and what's driving him to make that clear is something you need to know. >> over the weekend, the president's economic team left open the possibility of a tax hike to pay for health care reform and republicans jumped on all that, but the white house is trying to back away from those comments and just a short time ago, president obama told chuck todd in an exclusive interview that now is not the time for a tax increase. >> you don't raise taxes in a recession. we haven't raised taxes in a recessi recession. >> you might for the wealthiest. >> we have not proposed a tax hike for the wealthy that would take affect in the middle of the recession. even the proposals that have come out of congress, which were different than the proposals i put forward, still wouldn't kick in until after the recession.

it wouldn't be right because that would just suck up, take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole. >> a great interview that chuck did today and you can watch it on our website, msnbc.com. it's part of msnbc's award-winning elkhart project. these issues are so real to them. >> he obviously sees the importance of focussing on that town and that area as it probably reflects what's happening throughout this country, the midwest. up next, we have an inside, if you can get inside, the mind of a killer. we're getting more details from the website, the web diary kept by this man. police say he is responsible for that shooting spree inside a health club. plus, the latest on the emotional homecoming for euna

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and proctor and gamble is teaming up with the nfl in a new sponsorship deal. the deal also gives p and g marketing rights for the super bowl, nfl.com and the nfl network. now back to msnbc. welcome back. in our "big picture," we continue to follow breaking developments in the shooting rampage in pittsburgh last night. authorities just finished a news conference and say three women were shot and killed before the man killed himself. nine other women were wounded and two remain in critical condition at this hour. meanwhile, a troubling profile of the man has emerged. he blogged about his troubles with women and the attack for

months. the gunman was reportedly a member of the club which allowed him to go in three times. police say they found a note in his gym bag. >> he basically says that, he complains he's never spent a weekend with a girl. he's never -- with a girl. he never lived with woman. he's maybe had sex a few times in his life and goes on like this. according to the note, the second note that we discovered, he had practice runs at the la fitness center. he had been there before. the investigation showed that yesterday, he was there three times. >> authorities say they also recovered four guns that belonged to george sodini. >> and now, who is george sodini and what experts are learning about him from his own words. neighbors say he was a loner, kept to himself.

meantime, he's providing troubling details on his own from his website. among the things he wrote last december, no girlfriend since 1984. who knows why? i'm not ugly or too weird. authorities believe that was what he called the shooting. on may 18th, he wrote -- he also wrote about a domineering mother, about his older brother bullying him when they were children and a church pastor who told him quote, you can commit mass murder and still go to heavy. joining us now, clint van zandt.

clint, this from this blog, this man blames everything and everyone for the actions he chose to carry out. what does it tell you? >> it's like so many of these individuals when we look at the mass murder. it was always somebody else's fought. this guy kept making -- and it burst. >> we're used to people having suicide letters, but this guy having this dark, web blog, he knew people would find it, he wanted people to find it. what's the point of it for him? >> less than 40% of suicidal individuals actually leave a note, so for investigators, this is the treasure chest when you want to look inside the mind of

somebody like this. it looked like he planned to do this since last summer, so for 12 months -- >> he had a goal. he knew he would be dead when we were reading this. what was his goal, do you think? >> remember virginia tech, he sent the videos and tapes to nbc because he wanted that message to get out afterwards. >> clint, how much of a treasure-trove are these and secondly, there are a lot of people who like to fantasize. how many of them snap? >> there are a will the of people who write their thoughts. my times, just to write them, you feel better. in this particular guy, he was building and building. again, few people write about their suicide ideations or leave notes, but for psychologists trying to understand the mind of the individual, depressed,

isolated, he felt totally alone. it call comes down to women and sex. two things that he thought he wasn't getting and he blamed everybody for that. >> police in the news conference said he made a phone call shortly before he carried that out. how crucial will it be, the information he passed along? >> the issue is, did we have one last chance to help this guy or stop him. i'm not going to paint him poor guy, poor guy, but for 20 years, didn't have a date, didn't get along with people. he was mr. outside and the rest of us were inside and nobody reached out to pull him inside of the box. could we have helped him? could one person have reached out to this guy and said, hey pal, let's go have a beer, would that have helped? we don't know. >> clint, thanks so much.

tamron, clint hammers it home, the idea there is so much information we can learn here and hopefully, we'll learn something new about how to recognize signs of people who are in so much trouble. in today's close-up, the u.s. marines are banning the use of social networking sites like facebook. >> the pentagon is considering doing the same thing. their reason, they say is security. a written statement in a memo said -- a spokesman for facebook says they're disappointed with the decision, quote, no one would suggest cutting off postal service, but they're opposing a

15th century equivalance. thanks for joining us, patrick. we've got people that we know personally who keep in contact with their spouses overseas through facebook and twitter and such. this is not settling well or sitting well with some of these families. >> for a lot of people overseas, my co-workers is in afghanistan right now. he's been sending us messages just saying hey, i'm alive, don't worry about me, from facebook. a lot of the times, that's the only word we get for months at a time. >> we've got a colleague here, angie, she gets to communicate with her husband and it's online. you've got every branch of the military, they've promoted in recent months, memberships to these sites for people to communication with their loved

ones. so why now? did something happen that we don't know about? >> i don't think this is anything new. when i was in iraq, i kept a blog. it's every service members responsibility not to post operational information on the web and i think they were just trying to get ahead of the issue. this is a great opportunity for service members to come together. we ourselves have a great online site to talk about issues. just like the last segment you had, helping people reach out before they get to the end, people can talk about their problems. >> mike mullen, the chairman of the chief joints of staff, presumably, they had have to give those up. military members are instructed not to reveal information in any fashion. they could just as easily, do it over e-mail, do it over the

phone, right? >> i was just talking to my co-worker, they have personal cell phones over there. you can post the stuff, you just can't use the marine computers they provide. you can go to a welfare recreational tent and post it there. this isn't necessarily going to stem the flow of information. it's just not going to come from a dod computer. but it is going to make it harder for those marines and service members way out, not in these big bases. >> thank you very much for joining us. we've got people already saying how do they enforce it. >> just ahead, president obama wants the left to back off. >> will moveon.org listen and stop going after fellow democrats?

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welcome back. should democrats in the white house be attacking republicans and groups that disrupt the town hall meetings or should they unite behind one message? >> according to a story on politico today, the president said quote, he's like to see left wings back off. the democratic national committee released the new web ad attacking what they call republican mobs. >> they lost the election. they lost on recovery act, the budget and children's health care. they've lost the confidence of the american people. now, desperate republicans and their alleies are organizing mobs. they have no plan for moving our country forword -- >> joining us now, jane and

matt -- first of all, your reaction to that web ad? >> politics daily is not conservative, although i am. i think the web ad is absolutely horrible. you know, i would call that decent, that going to town hall meetings and having your voice heard, i agree with hillary clinton who said it's patriotic. >> i have a feeling that president obama, when he was urging the democrats to back off, was referring maybe to you because you've been quite effective in trying to target some of the sent ris democrats. what's your reaction to the president? >> first of all, i take issue with decent being an effigy. democratic members of congress

like frank pratt, david h. koch's group. also, they're intimidating democrats, jerry conley says one was assaulted at the meeting. so it's a little bit more than just expressing yourself. in terms of president obama and what he's asking, the comment he made pretty much made to move on and their actions, which we're in support of. move on is trying to push what president obama campaigned on. which is a public plan. if there are democrats in the party trying to oppose that, i think it's their duty to do what they're doing. >> i'm hearing that from a lot of people who say yeah, it's one thing to have decent and you want to challenge your government, but the tone and level of violence, or the undertone of violence that's been noted. >> i haven't heard any violence.

what i've seen are some angry americans who are very passionate about an issue. i think it's healthy and these are members of congress that represent them and they have a right to have their voice heard. i will agree with something different that jane said. if i were a liberal, i would be encouraging them to keep up the fight and i think that president obama actually hopes that they will. if you look at two weeks ago, he held a blogger conference call where he talked to liberal bloggers. he urged them to keep the heat on lawmakers. another noticed that organizers in president obama's sort of advocacy group was encouraging people to quote, deluge senators. i think president obama would like to have plausible deniability here, but he secretly hopes the liberals will keep the pressure on. >> jane, your reaction.

>> out of the white house and i think it's incumbent on president obama in august to push forward with the notion that a real public plan is not the fake co-op that the insurance industries and kent conrad has come up with. >> jane, are you confident that president obama is going to do that, or are you convinced or worried maybe he will take the middle of the road approach which will not be the public option will be these co-ops a lot of progressives can't stand? >> in the "washington post" it was reported that president obama wasn't being specific what he wanted so he could claim victory no matter what happened. i don't think that's what people voted for. i think he needs to come out and say this is a public plan, the co-ops are fake, it's what the insurance industry wants. it's a bailout of the insurance industry and we can't have that. >> jane hampshire and matt lewis, thank you so much. what's so intriguing as jane was pointing out earlier, the democrats have 60 seats in the senate. if they cannot push through a public option that most of the people want, there is no hope for the democratic party. >> because jane is not alone.

she's the expert on the topic. if you talk to anyone special especially those registered democrat they would say the same thing and have been saying the same thing. you don't have to be a writer to figure that one out. up next, crossing the line we couldn't pring you yesterday because we had breaking news but it is still on going and still may be crossing the line. >> when does a symbol of respect for our troops become a sign of disrespect for the flag? you're watching msnbc. (marco andretti) i race to win. i know when it's the perfect time to change my tires. when it comes to shaving i know when to change my blade. (announcer) gillette fusion's indicator strip fades to white when it may be time to change. fresh blade. better shave.

welcome back. in today's crossing the line, a flag flown in honor ever a son fighting in iraq sets off a hatfield, mccoy feud. lewis hair rose's son is on his third tour of duty in iraq. according to the fresno bee.com, he hung the flag in front of his parents' home 11 months ago.

there he is right there. lewis, the dad, vowed to keep that flag up at his california home until his son returned home safely from war. but the elements have gotten the best of that flag and it is now described as being worn and torn and that has neighbors some of whom rely vets, very angry. the paper quotes former naval signalman john southward as saying that flag needs to come down and be properly disposes of. i used to use and maintain flags in the navy and i know better than most when it's time to retire a flag. in this case, it's past time. another vet in the area confronted him and later dropped a new flag off on their front steps for the couple to put up. lewis harros even claims the guy wanted to fight him over the flag. as to when that flag will come down, harros says when you see a better flag up, you'll know paul is back. that being his son. paul haros is now back on the

u.s. soil. he's actually being checked out in wisconsin according to local reports before actually returning to his family's home in fresno. but use says the flag stays until his son is back on that front door. if you're wondering, federal law governs how flags should be flown. that law does not require worn flags to be replaced. the code has a general rule that no disrespect should be shown to the flag of the united states of america. haros does not believe he's disrespecting our flag or hurting the image of the flag. he says he's just keeping a promise to a brave son who went to fight our war. who's crossing the line? you tell me. let me know what you think, twitter.msnbc.com. tamron, it's almost 4:00 on the east coast, 1:00 p.m. in california where ra lick and unalee are finally home safe with families. still ahead, look at bill clinton's new role after all of this and how the incident may affect u.s. diplomacy.

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t your free information kit and medicare guide. aarp medicare supplement insurance plans. call now. ♪ this hour in the big picture, the emotional homecoming for two american journalists held in north korea. hugs, tears, and joy. we will have all the incredible video of this remarkable reunion, the role bill clinton played in the safe return and what his wife, the secretary of state, is saying about north korea's future relations with the united states. plus, three women murdered inside a local gym. several others injured. the gunman killing himself but leaving behind chilling words about his plot and hatred of women. >> it was so loud with the gunshots. i mean, all you hear are

gunshots. and girls initially screaming. >> reaction from witnesses and what's being said about the web diary fueled by revenge. >> later, the political hot potato of moving detainees out of gitmo. kansas doesn't want the jobs that would come with them? how about michigan? we'll ask the governor. >> talk about putting the horse before the cart, no way. all that and more this hour on msnbc. >> wow. good afternoon to you. i'm tamron hall live in new york. >> i'm david shuster live in washington. in "the big picture" the safe return of laura ling and euna lee who will be surrounded by loved ones. the two journalists stepped off the plane. their arrival was mark by ling as you saw raising her arms and audible