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care. plus, the swine flu fight. why are doctors more hopeful about giving a new vaccine a shot? and it's sex and the recession. you're going to see why the red light district is singing the blues. and a good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt. welcome to "msnbc saturday" at 11:00 a.m. eastern time, 8:00 a.m. out west. here's what's happening right now. we begin with a new strategy in the president's health care push. he's tailoring his new message to people with health coverage, reminding them that even if they think their situation is secure, they could be just one accident or job loss away from joining the ranks of the uninsured. >> over the last 12 months, nearly 6 million more americans lost their health coverage. that's 17,000 men and women every single day. we're not just talking about americans in poverty, either. we're talking about middle-class americans. in other words, it can happen to anyone. >> i'm joined now live by democratic strategist peter fenn, republican strategist and msnbc political analyst joe

watkins. and with a good morning to the both of you -- >> good morning. >> peter, what do you think about this new strategy, is it going to work, is it going to reach those people that have heretoforebe complacent about wanting to do something to change? >> i think so, alex. he did a very good job this week with his speech, going to folks with health insurance. look, nobody's terribly pleased with their insurance coverage. i mean, they may be pleased with their doctors, but you know, when they're like me and you have a psa test and somebody sends you a $300 bill and you think you've got the high coverage, you're not real happy, and i think everybody's got a story about their health insurance. >> the psa number? >> luckily, i'm okay, joe, thanks. i appreciate it. but you know, a lot of this is preventive, too. and i think this is where this is going. i mean, people now understand the necessity of good health care preventing serious cancer and trying to solve problems

before they become big problems. so, i think the president's right to go after folks out there with the insurance. >> you know, joe, i'm curious what you can hear from the president today in this speech in minnesota that is different than what we've heard before, other than this case that we're talking to the people, saying, you know, you're one job loss, you're one accident away from losing your health insurance. >> alex, you raise a very, very good point. the big question for americans becomes not the fact that something needs to be done about health care. we do have the best health care system in the world, by the way, but it does need to be reformed. and i think people are concerned about a huge, government-run operation that's going to cost $1.6 trillion and is going to offer them less in the way of choices. people are afraid of that. people are afraid of a government-run health care system, and i don't think the president, despite his well-meaning speech and his interest in getting something on the table, has told them anything new about how this system is not going to be a huge

government-run system that's going to deny them some of the choices they've had in the past. >> but peter, the fact that the president has to keep speaking about this, what does that tell you? is the message getting out there? i mean, he keeps on adding on more and more layers. why? >> well, i'll tell you why, alex. this is such a complicated issue. we've been talking about it seriously for 50 years, talking about it even for 100 years, since teddy roosevelt first proposed it. and it is very hard. i mean, everybody can agree on, look, we ought to be able to take your health insurance with you when you change jobs. you know, you ought to not be denied health coverage if you have a pre-existing condition. you shouldn't be thrown off the rolls. everybody understands the problems with emergency rooms, that if you're not covered, you get so sick, you go to an emergency room, we all pay for that. and as the president is now saying, it isn't even -- i mean, 46 million people without health insurance should grab people, but it really is 90 million. but joe's point -- let me go to

joe's point, because you raise a good point. look, i think the concern is fear, fear of change, fear of what they call a government-run health system, but i think what we'll have in this bill, gentlemen -- maybe you disagree with me -- i don't think you're going to have a government-run health system here. i think you're going to have, if there is a government option, a lot of choices. >> i think there is. >> changes. >> it's going to create something like over 50 new government agencies we have to deal with, that's government bureaucracy, and guess who else will have to pay? small businesses. 60% of small businesses nationally aren't able to offer health insurance. >> right. >> they will be hit by a payroll tax increase that's going to kill a lot of small businesses. they're not going to be able to stay in business. >> this is where you and i will agree. look, the small business angle on this is so important. 99% of businesses with 200 or more employees have health coverage. you know, i have a small business, you have a small business. you know, luckily, we probably can cover our employees, but most of them can't. half of them can't, so we have

to have a system which allows for small businesses to pool, to be part of an overall system so that they can cover their employees. and i think that's what -- you know, when we get to the end of this plan, i bet you and i could sit down and say thank the good lord we're now helping small businesses. >> peter, you're such a reasonable guy that if it was left up to the two of us, we could figure it out. it's unreasonable for -- >> and saying thank the good lord. of course, we have the reverend joe watkins. all right, you guys, joe watkins and peter fenn, great to see you both. thank you so much. >> thanks, alex. the president will speak at that rally in minneapolis at 2:00 p.m. eastern and our live coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. eastern with ed schultz of msnbc's "the ed show." ed's going to be joining us in a few minutes here on "msnbc saturday oith. we'll be happy to welcome him. this morning, officials in beijing are condemning president obama's imposing new tariffs on tires imported from china. the united steelworkers union says thousands of american jobs have been lost because of the

imported tires. china's calling the new u.s. measure protectionist. representative joe wilson's outburst during president obama's speech has gotten the cash flowing in south carolina's 2010 election. since shouting "you lie" during president obama's health care address on wednesday, he's raised more than $700,000 for his re-election campaign. but if you think that's impressive, wilson's opponent may be the one benefiting more from the outburst, as democrat rob miller's raised more than $1 million, again, just since wednesday. the health care debate continues tomorrow on "meet the press." dick durbin and john corn yirn, howa john cornyn, howard dean and newt gingrich will be guests. so check your local listings. a major development in the fight against swine flu. a study shows that the vaccine appears to work in just one injecti injection. they call the results very important. >> the data and information we released yesterday in

washington, d.c., indicates some really good news, that the vaccine can induce a response in the recipient that you would predict would be protected with a single dose of the standard amount that we do regularly for the seasonal flu, but it does it quickly, within eight to ten days after the vaccination. >> and the h1n1 vaccine is expected to be widely available by some time mid-october. the commander of space shuttle "discovery" says his crew's very happy to be back on land. "discovery" landed with its seven astronauts at edwards air force base in california late yesterday. mission control chose the backup landing site because bad weather prevented the crew from returning to its home base in florida. but it's going to cost nasa close to $1.8 million to ferry "discovery" back on top of a 747 to cape canaveral. it was a big mess in central arizona to talk about. across sedona, arizona, people are using shovels, even bulldozers to clean up all the mud. fast-moving floodwaters left

behind that muddy mess this week. so on the heels of that, we'll get to the national forecast and go live to meteorologist bill karins. good morning. things drying out for folks in arizona? >> a little bit in arizona, but this is probably one of the wettest saturdays we've seen around the country in a long time. i can go anywhere from the southern texas coast, up along the gulf town of florida and we're staying in the wet weather. let's look at the weather maps. the beautiful weather first. i'm so negative. let's talk about the positive. the northwest is waking up to a beautiful day. the northern rockies, it feels like a great summer. go to the lake, enjoy it. the problem area, all the way from new york up into boston, that's where you have some light rain. looks like one last little shower coming through new york. i know a lot of people are in town trying to go to the u.s. open. they were rained out yesterday. should get a lot of tennis in today. other areas we're watching, out here in texas, this area of low pressure just spinning here, dallas to fort worth, san antonio, austin, down to waco, southwards into the houston area. you have to deal with wet weather today.

there's a look at the radar of the dallas area. further south we're also dealing with the wet weather around corpus christi and probably some of the heaviest rains up there just north of new orleans, gulfport all the way back over into mobile. so, today's forecast down along the gulf, a lot of wet football fans out there in the stands today. in new england, just light showers for you. and our friends out west are looking at just more dry weather and more summer weather, too. ac's still on in many areas, alex. i know it's hard to believe. people in the east have already had the heater on in some cases. >> sure have. and sweaters getting out of the closet, all that. bill karins, thank you so much. today's search for missing yale graduate student annie le is intensifying. the fbi is joining forces with local and state police in connecticut to search for the 24-year-old graduate student. some 100 law enforcement officials out in force on this, the day before she was to be married. but it has been four days. still no trace of annie le. joining me live, clint van zandt, a former fbi profiler and author of "facing down evil." clint is also an msnbc analyst.

so, with a good morning to you, clint, you know, is it a good morning in terms of this investigation and making some forward movement? are we getting anything that's giving investigators any hope they're going to be closer to solving this case? >> well, i think investigators are checking the blocks, alex. they're going through, they're doing it again and again. you know, you start at ground zero on a case like this. you've got to search the building, make sure there is no way she could still be inside that building. then you've got to go through her cell phone, her computer, her, you know, any other devices, her checking account, her credit cards, to find out, you know, what type of activity. you interview her friends, her roommates, her parents. does she have a stalker? was the pressure just overwhelming on her? you know, law enforcement is locked into one of two theories. it's either she bailed out and it's a runaway bride or somebody did something to her. and so far, alex, they can't rule either one out. >> okay. what do the hours leading up to her disappearance, what do they

tell us about her state of mind, her actions? what are we getting from these surveillance cameras? >> well, the interesting thing is the different comments from women on campus at yale university. you know, some say, gee, it's really out of character for any woman to go across campus and only take her i.d. card, not to take a wallet, a purse, especially a cell phone. most of us know our whole lives are wrapped up in a blackberry or a cell phone. but again, she's a very studious person. she may not have wanted those interferences. she may have just come across for a couple hours and she was going to go back. we already see she's carrying a lot of stuff. maybe she didn't want to be burdened by those other items. >> clint, how do you see this playing out? what's going to be the most important thing to do in the next couple days? >> yeah, investigators have got to make sure she's not on that campus anymore, alex. and then they have to find out, is there any way, shape or form she could have been carried away? you and i know there's a garage connected to this 120,000-square-foot building

where you can park 1,000 cars. could she have been carried out, put in a car, anything like that by an unknown intruder? and alex, this whole case brings up one thing that's important -- it's crime on college campuses. since 1991, colleges have had to report the crimes on campus. anybody who's considering going to college or parents, if you're going to send your kids away to school, find out those statistics. know for yourself what the crimes are on campus. now, there was only ten murders notwithstanding virginia tech scenarios on campus in a recent year, but you know, the number of crimes, burglaries and rapes, and especially date rapes, that are so unreported, we need to know those, just like we need to know how qualified the professors are when we go away to school. >> all good points, as usual. clint van zandt, thank you so much. >> thanks, alex. the fbi set up a 24-hour tip line. if you have any information about this case, they ask you to call 1-877-503-1950.

president obama's neighbors in chicago say they want to move. we're going to hear why they want to pack up and leave. and she's off track. more gender questions about the south african track star who dropped out of a race today. and hunting osama. just where is it headed? you're watching "msnbc saturday." get a flat panel for my home theater. - ( cheering ) - ( laughs ) thank you. what should i get? uh, you. you should check out our new leds. the picture's better than life. okay, but i don't want to pay too much. don't worry about it. we'll match those other stores' prices. and we'll deliver and hook it up for free. okay. last question. if you guys are here, who's in the stores? the latest home theater technology and thousands of people eager to help. best buy. buyer be happy. the rest of the body is a no brainer. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin back & body.

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right now, a huge crowd in washington armed with protest gear, but it's not just health reform that's got them all riled up. the organizers of the first ever taxpayer march on d.c. say they have had enough of the tax-and-spend agenda on capitol hill. i'm joined now live from washington by wrc reporter derrick ward. so, derrick, let's talk about what you've seen so far this morning. and it seems to me by looking at

this aerial shot that this group is on the move? >> reporter: indeed, they are. they have left freedom plaza, where we are now. this is sort of their rallying port. some rallied over at the washington monument, and now they're moving on toward the capitol. certainly, more tri-colored hats here in d.c. perhaps since the war of 1812. this rally started at 9:00 and it's been a steady stream of people and still is since then. people from all over, united in their opposition to what they say are the tax-and-spend policies of the government. it's a largely conservative crowd, lots of demonization of democrats but not a lot of love for republicans, either. their unifying cause, of course, is the way they say the government collects and spends money. >> to participate with everybody else here, standing up for freedom and to help restore america to its founding virtues. >> you know, they called us mobsters. do you think they're mobsters? >> no.

>> they've called us nazis. do you think you're nazis? >> no. >> they called us unpatriotic. do you think you're unpatriotic? >> reporter: now, this group is largely being organized by a group called freedom works, but there are lots of local groups from states all over that are represented here. and again, they're on their way now to the west end of the capitol for a rally there, where they hope to be heard by lawmakers. we are live in washington. back to you. >> hey, real quick, did it get unruly, anything that would indicate arrests or that sort of thing, or did it stay relatively composed? boisterous, certainly, but composed in that crowd. >> reporter: yeah, they are composed, but they are spirited. now, there is a large police presence here, and that's always the craze here in washington, especially these days whenever there is a protest. and when there's a protest with a largely antigovernment theme, of course, you're going to see a lot of police. but so far, i haven't seen any arrests. there have been some police moving through the crowd.

they're spirited, but for the most part, peaceful. >> derrick ward wrc, thanks so much. well, president obama is heading to minneapolis to tout his health care reform plan. in fact, he's heading there right now. can we expect to hear anything new? we're talking to ed schultz of msnbc's "the ed show," coming up. so stick around. you must be looking for motorcycle insurance. you're good. thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy. cool. i'm not done -- for less than a dollar a month, you also get 24/7 roadside assistance. ght on. yeah, vroom-vroom! sounds like you ran a 500. more like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. well, you're excused. the right insurance for your ride. w, that's progressive. call or click today.

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and to receive your paper shredder, call now and mention "shredder." call now and mention "shredder." call now or visit lifelock.com. ♪ new this morning, u.s. military officials tell nbc news that defense secretary gates has signed orders for 3,000 u.s. military forces to go to afghanistan. this as part of a routine deployment. the group includes medical teams, stress relief counselors, demolition experts and mechanics. by the end of the year, a total of 68,000 troops are expected to be in afghanistan. joining me now, msnbc news terrorism analyst evan coleman. good morning to you. always good to see you. >> thank you. >> al qaeda, compare what it's like now to what it was in the wake of 9/11 eight years ago. >> kind of like an omelet that's

been diced up. unfortunately, even though we've managed to kind of break up the leadership, we've managed to take out or capture a number of very, very important al qaeda commanders, including the mastermind behind 9/11, khalid shaikh mohammed, there is still a viable organization there. osama bin laden is still out there, ayman al zawahiri is still out there, the top lieutenant, and they've managed to bring together a new generation of aides and supporters and lieutenants to staff the upper levels of al qaeda. now, it should be said, al qaeda has not managed to strike directly inside the united states since 9/11. that is somewhat of a victory, but we have to be careful, because al qaeda has made several attempts to strike at both the u.s. and the uk. of course, there was the bombings back in 2005, and they're continuing to make these efforts. so i think we have to be careful about letting down our guard. we've been lucky so far, but i don't know if that will necessarily hold in the future. >> what are the efforts under way? >> one of the biggest problems we're having is actually finding osama bin laden. the intelligence that we're getting in terms of leading up

to his position, there's a lot of intelligence. it's just not very good. but the fact is, is that he is almost certainly alive. i mean, anyone who doubts that he's alive i don't think is being reasonable. there is audio and video recordings that have been released within the last two years where bin laden's discussing subjects that are recent. i mean, it's quite clear, he's been around at least within the last year or so. >> can i ask you about the kidney dialysis. remember in the wake of 2001, we were all going, well, kidney dialysis, how much can you go from cave to cave? >> fantasy. he doesn't actually have a kidney dialysis problem. he does have low blood pressure, so sometimes they have to tut an iv in him to keep his blood pressure up, give him fluids, but he doesn't need a kidney dialysis machine. he's not in dire straits. he's not in great health, and i wouldn't imagine being in the mountains for seven or eight years improves that, but the idea that he's on his death bed i think is greatly exaggerated. >> the thwarted efforts, what kinds of efforts are you talking

about? and the fact that it's not one relatively cohesive group as it might have been eight years ago, is more broken up, is that more of a problem for us or less? i mean, do they have the power, or because it's so fractured, you have to watch a bunch of bouncy balls out there. >> i think you hit on it. we have al qaeda in afghanistan, we have a franchise in iraq, we have a would-be al qaeda franchise in somalia. and these groups all have their own leadership. so, even if we kill osama bin laden tomorrow, even if we capture dr. ayman al zawahiri, that's not going to shut down al qaeda in iraq, in somalia, in all these other places. and the problem is that these factions and these franchises, even though they're al qaeda light or smaller al qaeda, they still have the same aspirations as bin laden. they still have the same aspirations of striking not just at the local enemy, but at the global enemy, the united states. so you know, you look at a group like mujahadin in somalia, this is a relatively small group

that's somali and, yet, the leader of the group is saying we are part of a van guard of global jihad. we will send out cells from here in somalia and dispatch them towards the united states. so, it is a bit of a problem. we have a multileged or multiarmed octopus, and just cutting off one arm now is not sufficient. you really have to go after the entire global organization, and that requires, obviously, a lot of resources, a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of acumen on the part of u.s. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. >> and i think octopus's arms regrow. >> that's also very true, and we've seen that happen again and again. you kill one al qaeda leader and new ones pop up and replace them. >> terrorism analyst evan coleman, thank you. >> thank you very much. a prime piece of real estate is up for sale. a review of the president's chicago home. president obama's neighbors have just put their house on the market. they have lived in the home for 36 years, but now that the grimshaws are empty-nesters,

they just say it's too much house for them. >> children are gone, dogs are gone. you know, if i lived in a room a day, it'd take me two weeks to get all the way through the house, right? so, it is a little bit more than what we need right now. >> and the price tag, a cool $1. 8 million. keep in mind, if you're interested, you'll need to be screened by the secret service. s to block and relieve the pain. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin. what ache?

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oh, that's too full! those will never get clean. they got clean when i broke the record. a fork. really? never gonna happen! [ chuckles ] sorry, buddy. so close. [ female announcer ] cascade actionpacs are four times concentrated and packed with cleaning ingredients to get even the fullest loads clean the first time. cascade. consider it clean. msnbc is the place for politics, and new this morning, a treasury department study shows that half of all americans under the age of 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next ten years. >> if you're under the age of 21 today, chances are more than half that you'll find yourself uninsured at some point in that time. and more than one-third of americans will go without coverage for longer than one year. >> well, this new report, as the president moves his fight for health reform to the midwest, he'll be holding a health care

rally in minneapolis at 2:00 p.m. eastern, and we'll have live coverage leading up on that event. i'm joined now in studio by ed schultz, the host of "the ed show" at 6:00 p.m. weeknights. good to have you here on a weekend. classing up the joint. >> thank you very much, alex. >> is there a point of diminishing returns on all of these health care speeches, or does the president have no choice other than to keep pressing it and making his point and not let up? >> well, the president now is at a real turning point. he's armed with some new information. he's going to come out with some new facts and a new approach in minnesota today. we'll have to pay close attention to that. he is also signaturing this as his personal bill. he'll have a broadcast interview tomorrow night that will explain that this is his game, this is his presidency, and he's willing to put his name to it. and i think he's putting it out there. a lot of people who have supported him are going to

respect him for that. and i think that you're going to see a real ground swell of support for the president to get this done. this information that's just come out, this new government data showing just how serious it is -- the white house has been saying that this is a crisis. many liberals have been saying that we have to address this. it's a generational issue. and i thought the speech was tremendous on wednesday night because he told americans what we have to do. we have to get rid of pre-existing conditions and we have to put some regulation on the insurance industry that says you can't drop people when they get sick. >> to the point of making it illegal to do that. >> that's right. he said it would be against the law. now, you could call it public option, you can call it whatever you want to call it. if the president can get those two provisions done, it will be a major step forward in the generational fight to shift insurance in this country. >> i want to talk about public option with you, though. we did that a little bit on your radio show on thursday. >> sure. >> and we were talking about the interpretation. the president has not come out super clearly that he's going to

demand a public option. at the outset of this discussion, that was within his framework. he wanted that. nancy pelosi says got to have it. now, what do you think? do you think he's willing to drop that? >> well, it's a strategic, political move by the president. as soon as he stakes out that he won't move on something, he's now in the corner. this president has been remarkable the way he has taken in all the criticism, taken in all the information, left his door wide open. he's had olive branches all over the place. you can't pin him down on what he will or will not do. conceptually, we know what the president wants, but he's never toil told any of the republicans i won't do this, i won't do that he's really forcing the congress and the american people to come forward with the best and brightest ideas and let's get what's good for america. >> okay, but is that a good thing? because at a time when you need leadership, do you say this is how it is, i'm laying it out, let's go? >> and i think he did that wednesday night with those two big provisions.

and i think now you're going to see the senate finance committee, are they going to have in their bill, you know, you can't deny coverage, pre-existing condition? that, supposedly, is going to be coming out of max bachus' committee in the next few days, a little faster than anticipated, which tells me that the president's speech did have an impact, the president's speech did move the gang of six, the president's speech did hit that sense of urgency button. and so, with these new facts that are out, this is going to be a wake-up call to a lot of americans, you know. the time for jokes is over. we've got to get moving forward on this. the time for slogan-airing is over. this is some serious stuff for small businesses in america, and that's really -- you know, alex, that's another thing that i think a lot of folks have missed. there is such a differential between big business and small business in america when it comes to insurance premiums. small business can't be treated like this if it's going to be the backbone of our economy. and until we fix this, until we move forward and do something for small businesses and get the

monkey off the back of small businesses, which has turned into a gorilla in recent years -- >> right. >> we're not going to fix this economy. >> one more thorny issue, ed, and that was all the reasoning behind the "you lie" outburst. is there anything in the different health care bills out there, be it in the house or the senate, that says illegal immigrants will not be covered under this? >> well, this is rather interesting. it's ironic that back in the '80s, when ronald reagan was president, he signed into law that if illegal aliens -- illegal immigrants, undocumented workers, come into your emergency room, you have to give them services. >> mm-hmm. mm-hmm. >> so, exactly what do the conservatives want to do? they want to take the carotid artery when you walk into the emergency room? do you have to show some kind of a card? if you don't have the documentation? what the point the president was making is that no new money is going to be going to illegal

immigrants coming into the country to get medical care. now, it's dicey. they're going to have to work that out, but there's nothing in the language of what the bills are out there for the democratic side that guarantees that money is going to be going to that, and i thought the president was very clear on that. >> how about let's look at where this is all going down today in minnesota. it's a state that's looked at as being one of those that you examine, say hey, they've got great health care programs throughout that state. does that help or hurt the president, because there's success there, and it shows that it doesn't necessarily have to be done on a federal level if you take it state by state, you can meet with success. >> well, let's not overstate minnesota's success when it comes to health care coverage. there's still just as many minnesotans without coverage proportionally as there are any other state in the union. the fact is that minnesota has been a very progressive state over the years and also has been really a good state for barack obama. and just off a tremendous senate

fight between norm coleman and al franken. it is an area -- there's politics to this. there is an area, not only minnesota, but wisconsin, that were close calls, and the president is going to need the support from those states if he's going to get re-election. but it's also a state that has been very active. there's a lot of local participation in politics in minnesota. has a rich tradition of that. and i think the president going there, it's a good spot. >> okay. well, i'm going to be punching to you at 1:00 eastern time. >> i will be here from 1:00 to 3:00. this saturday gig now. how does this saturday gig work? do i get to ad-lib and sway it? >> oh, yeah, of course you do. that's what people love, especially with you doing that on your radio show so well. thank you so much, ed. >> good to be here, alex. >> we'll see you at 1:00. >> thank you. >> the president will be speaking at the rally in minnesota at 2:00 eastern. we'll be on top of that for you with live coverage. also, please watch ed's show weeknights on msnbc, 6:00 p.m. eastern time. there you see him, okay. let's go now to california,

where police say a collection of andy warhol portraits were stolen from the home of an l.a. businessman. a housekeeper at the house was the first to notice the missing masterpieces and now a $1 million reward is being offered. a south african runner who shot to stardom at the athletic championships in august is still facing a blizzard about questions about her gender. caster semenya dropped out after a claim she's hermaphrodite. meanwhile, they are threatening to wage a third world war if the 18-year-old is banned from competition. stephanie gosk is in london with this story. we know semenya had to undergo testing to determine her agenda. what's the latest on that? has there been a definitive conclusion? >> well, the results of the testing are in, but there's been no public announcement from the international athletic foundation on what those results actually say. however, there was that leak to

the sydney "daily telegraph" this week and they printed, published the results from that testing. they said, according to them, that caster semenya has both male and female characteristic, that she does not have an ovary or uterus and that she has three times the level of testosterone in her bloodstream than the average female. now, this has south african officials irate. they're threatening to sue the iaaf for both the leak that she was going to be tested and also now the leak of these results. the iaas says they have those results. they aren't going to public them until they've had a good chance to look them over. they're going to announce their findings in november, and the threat on the table right now is that depending on what they decide, caster semenya may not be able to race again. alex? >> okay. nbc's stephanie gosk. more to come on this story. thank you. and you've all heard the expression "sex sells," right? well, not as much as it did before the recession.

the woeful economy is taking a bite out of the sex business. from sex shops to online porn, legal brothels to the condom makers, business is down. industry experts say folks on a tight budget are looking to make ends meet by cutting back on what you might call blush-inducing products. stay with us. you're watching "msnbc saturday." okay. ♪ rogaine? i'm just a skeptic so i don't necessarily believe that anything is going to work but i was like, hey,

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good morning. >> thank you. >> this is super good news. people are having trouble. but how did people find out about this? >> well, in some cases, the banks are actually calling people up because they know that they've lost their jobs or they're having some of their financial problem, and they're actually offering to negotiate with them. but really, the banks haven't been publicizing this all that much because they don't want to have millions of people call them up who can actually pay their bills and say why are you doing this for everyone else? why can't you do it for us? >> but the gentleman you spoke with, who had the bank call them -- what was it, bank of america? >> bank of america. >> what do they gain by reaching out to this guy? >> well, you know, the banks are losing a lot of money right now. lots of people have lost their jobs, they're losing their homes, and they don't have the money to pay off their entire credit card debt. so, the banks think, well, let's reach out to these people and at least try to get a little something out of them, even if we can't get it all. >> what are they offering in terms of negotiating? what kind of deals will they make? >> well, there are several ways they're modifying loans.

sometimes they're lowering interest rates or minimum payments. sometimes they're waving fees, and in really extreme cases, they're actually forgiving some of the debts. >> really? >> yeah. >> and that comes under -- i mean, is there a threshold one must reach before they'll do something like that? that's pretty extreme, just to forgive debt. >> right. well, again, the banks are really big about what the requirements are for these programs, but they are actually looking at people's financial situations, and especially if someone's lost a job. those are the people who are probably going to be more willing to work with. >> so what happens? someone calls up the 800 number and talk to a customer service agent and say i need help? or do they need to speak to management? >> in some cases, the banks are approaching the customers. the one person i talked to who lives here in new york, he actually got a letter saying if you're in trouble, call this 1-800 number, but in another case, you can call the number yourself and speak to a customer service representative. they're actually authorized to

make these deals. >> they are? >> uh huh. increasingly, the banks are authorizing them to negotiate. but if that doesn't work, you can ask to speak to a supervisor. >> so, they'll say we'll lower monthly payments for you to make them within your reach? we'll lower the interest rates even? >> yes. >> is there an example of how far they're going or this is just so new we're not sure yet? >> i spoke with a few people who said we'll lower or give you a 0% interest rate for a year, then after that, we might lower it even, you know, to like a 10% range when it had been in the 20% range. >> wow. okay. this is certainly good news for consumers that are in trouble. nancy trejos with "the washington post," thank you. >> thank you. for people who use debit cards, overspending is a really costly mistake because of the fees from overdraft that build up for banks. banks alone with expected to collect about $27 billion in overdraft fees and penalties this year. a new article out today suggests the five toughest

possible crises to face president obama may have nothing to do with health care. former government official leslie gill writes in a blog that international hotspots, including north korea, iran and afghanistan, could give this president the most trouble. joining us now, retired army colonel and military analyst, msnbc's jack jacobs. and a good morning to you, again, colonel. >> hi, alex. >> i read about a few of these countries that i mentioned that could pose a major problem for president obama. what do you think of this list? >> well, they also included at arab/israeli dispute over palestine and iraq as well. but he didn't -- all of these are problem areas, but he did have a lot to say about pakistan, which most observers would say is really the most dangerous place at the moment. it's politically fragmented. it's got a weak central government. it's got lots of corruption, lots of bad guys, taliban, al qaeda sympathizers inside the intelligence apparatus, and it doesn't spend a lot of time up in the northwest trying to fight

the bad guys on the other side of the afghan border, which we'd like them to do. occasionally, they'll go in there and cooperate with us, but we need more support if we're going to get rid of these people, but pakistan is not doing it. so, he talked a little bit about that. and by the way, they've got nuclear weapons. so, clearly the most dangerous place in the world. >> yeah. let's talk about the nuclear threat from say north korea and iran at this point. the u.s. just announced these new efforts to engage directly with iran, also hold direct talks with north korea. how's this going to help? >> well, it can't be any worse than what we were doing before, which is nothing. we were trying to get the united nations security council to pass sanctions which have not been enforced. at the end of the day, both iran and north korea will come to toe the line only if we do two things, and that is talk secretly with them behind closed doors and don't tell anybody about it until we have some kind

of agreement. and enlist the support of russia, in the case of iran, and china in the case of north korea. with respect to north korea, china's not helping because it doesn't want to put the squeeze on north korea because china's worried about millions of refugees millions of refugees streaming across the river into china. wo gol to tash articlery r -- russia and china. a demon takes the big screen. it looked a lot like a spachlt a horror flick infused with comedy. we will be back with more on that. est thing you can do...

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thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> an emotional moment for nba great michael jordan. he has been inducted into the basketball hall of fame. he is considered to be the greatest nba player of all times. six titles, five trophies. well done. a slew of new films ready to hit the big screen for fall, including this one. >> you know what you are? why can't you be more like my son? >> sir? >> and joining me live, editor at large, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> cloudy with a chance of meat balls. >> we have food falling from the

sky. too much of a good thing. and it is one of the fun family films coming out. and another big one is where the wild things are. we will look for that in october. >> another one creating a lot of attention? jennifer's body. >> megan fox plays the title character. this one is about demonic possession. she starts literally eating the high school boys around her. it will be a fun horror romp. >> okay. speaking of jennifer. jennifer aniston? >> a quirky girl who can't find love tries to find true love. sounds a little bit true to life, right? >> not a big stretch for her. romantic comedy. >> it is what people love seeing her in. she will have a stretch next

year when she does other films like the gorry girls. we will be so talking about twilight new moon. november 20? >> i will be there for the midnight showing, you and i will be. >> between screaming tween girls. >> the series and books are gaining so much momentum. and everybody loves robert patent. >> do you think there is something legitimate between them? >> we know what happens behind the scenes when two come together. we heard there is a budding romance going on behind the scenes. we will be seeing edward leave bell lafor her own good and she falls into the arms of jacob. so we have this wonderful love triangle set up with lots of

good action as well. >> we will be there for that one in november. that is a wrap, everyone. up next you can watch choose to live, it is an american heart association special. i will be back with our kanch leading up to president obama's health care speech. we will see you in about 30 minutes. ♪ unbelievably soft. ♪ and has an amazing material... that's 4x more absorbent than you may need. making fluids seem to... poof... disappear. just like magic. ♪ always infinity. have a happy period.