leno show." man, hold on to your seats. now, it's thursday. comedy night all night long. "community." "parks and recreation," "the office" and the "jay leno show". >> it's friday, you work hard. you want to take it easy. not tonight. you have "law and order," "southland" and "the jay leno show." paint it on your car. don't forget "community" thursday night. wake up your cat. they want to know about this.

right now, on msnbc saturday, president obama's weekend blitz. details on what he's saying as he sweeps across the media landscape. the alleged yale killer, if he did it, did he act alone? the investigation could lead to other suspects. in business, is the economy really back on track and why should coca-cola be celebrating? >> one book set records. what's the appeal of dan brown's lost symbols?

good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt. conservatives are gathering to pick a front-runner for 2012. first, blanketing the air waves. president obama is going for complete saturation this weekend to up the popularity of his health care reform plan. john, good morning. >> good morning to you, alex. >> let's talk about the media blitz. do you think it's going to be a successful strategy? >> i don't know if it will be successful in turning around votes in the house or senate. the president is overexposed. the president is an extremely effective communique tor, perhaps the best the presidency has ever seen. you don't leave those talents on the table. he's making a full course pep. in maryland or last weekend in minnesota, the address to the

joint session of congress, now the blitz on morning television on sunday. when all is said and done, he doesn't want to have said to himself or the white house say to themselves, if we had only done this. i think the white house is doing an effective strategy. >> that overexposure thing, you don't worry that people's eyes are going to glaze over when it comes to health care hearing it again, and again and again and again? >> keep in mind, the interviews the president is doing on all five talk shows is done in the same format. they are not going to look any different on any station. they are not going to look any dimpblt. there's little likelihood you are going to hear anything different in the interviews. it's an effort the president is making when he sees polls and americans are divided on the issue. if he can convince some people

his approach is the right approach, he's done an effective job. the president will say it was a good idea to go on the morning shows. >> i think david gregory's will be the best. the president is looking ahead to next week's g-20 summit and says the economy is doing better than the last time the g-20 came together. let's take a listen. >> we can say we have stopped our economic free fall. stopping the bleeding isn't nearly enough. our work is far from over. we still have a lot to do here at home to build an economy producing good jobs for all those looking for work today. >> do you think the president can convince america without the job numbers to back him up? >> it's difficult. there have been positive signs, mainly the stock market, which has risen 3,000 points since march. that's a positive sign.

on top of that, we see good numbers as it relates to consumer spending and housing. the big number, of course, is jobs. we'll see a new number the first friday of october. americans are slowly losing their patience it seems. i believe the white house would like to see the numbers slowly improve and hopefully it will happen by early next year. >> john decker, thanks for joining us. it was fun to have you last weekend with all the tennis stuff. >> it was fun to be there. president obama will be with david gregory to talk about the push for reform. it airs on "meet the press" tomorrow morning on nbc. check your local listing for the time. joe wilson says even though he's raised nearly $2 million for his campaign shins shouting "you lie" at president obama, his outburst was not worth it.

>> absolutely not. it was speaking at the wrong place at the wrong time. now i'm the number one target. move on. number one target of a.c.o.r.n. i trust my constituents. i have never taken them for granted. i will work hard to justify their vote next year. that's my life, supporting the people of south carolina. >> he said he's thankful president obama accepted his apology. denver, expected to question a colorado man at the center of a high profile terror organization. he denies planning attacks on the u.s., but he admitted to attending a terror training camp in pakistan and he had contacts there with associates of al qaeda. his attorney says he is not involved in terrorism. police in connecticut say

they may never know the motive of the killing of annie le. the new haven police chief say the only person who knows the reason for the murder is the man charge wd the crime, raymond clark iii. police took dna samples from him to compare to crime scene evidence. police are working through the evidence. evidtill going to the lab. it could take us someplace else, with an additional suspect. or, it may not. i just don't know. there's no pending arrest. >> his bond is set at $3 million. he's not entered a plea. a deadly shoot iing in mexi city. he pulled out a pistol and opened fire. subway riders scrambled to get away. one person tried to subdue the

gunman, but he was shot. at least two people were killed and six others injured. >> wow. let's go to the weather at home. a new storm could dump significant amounts of rain across the south. in alabama, the heavy downpours forced authorities to close several streets. caused the basement of a house to collapse. we'll get the latest on the weather. here is bill karens. >> good saturday morning to you, alex. this is the last weekend of summer. some areas are picture perfect. the leaves are changing in northern new england. that's one of the places to be today. the problem area is in the southeast. we had a lot of heavy rain. it continues this morning. the northern half of alabama is getting a good soaking. some is moving into the atlanta

area. that's the trouble spot if you are driving or going in an airplane today. flash flood watches for the southeast from areas around nashville to memphis and into georgia. the forecast, in the southeast, that's the trouble spot. the north is beautiful. chicago, detroit is going to be perfect. anyone traveling in the middle of the country or out west, it looks like an ideal saturday. i hope everyone can enjoy it. >> that's great. there's renewed hope about the economy today. there's a new direction on wall street. caps up over 2%. retail sales posting their best gains in three and a half years. some say it doesn't signal consumers are ready to spend, again. we're going to talk to vera gibbons about it. >> the market is moving on a positive note. >> i think the market is moving

positive. retail sales are up. these analysts up grasd, manufacturing data. the dow had the best gain since july. definitely, it looks like it's how investors are taking it. >> retail sales were up. does it mean consumers are back? are we getting there? >> that's the question. sales were up nearly 3%. it's just one month of data. this is after 12 months of consecutive decline. you can't read too much into it. it wasn't just auto sales. cash for clunkers was a success. we are crossing a number of things. to some degree, they are coming out of the fox hole. i wouldn't read too much into it. >> then you have the unemployment issue. the latest reports double digit

unemployment numbers. >> there's a ton of states with double digit unemployment. michigan is the highest, over 15%. nevada. that's why many people are saying the consumer isn't back. the market has been positive. there's questions as to whether the rally is real. if the growth is too optimistic. the optimism is going to catch up. >> you know, there's something, a company, coca-cola. they took the championship, again. they are the brand that's most valuable. $70 billion. >> people like cokes. they like mcdonalds. have a coke and a smile. >> good one. thank you very much. talk to you, again. still ahead, an elderly walmart employee attacked on

camera. the former miss california heads to washington. why she and other conservatives are gathering there. the new best seller flying off the bookshelves. coming up on msnbc saturday. my new vibrating maybelline mascara makes my lashes look amazing! i'll have to use my powers wisely. with unbeatable prices on maybelline pulse perfection mascara, beauty costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart.

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call or click now. several former directors of the cia are urging president obama to stop a criminal investigation targeting cia interrogators. the former directors asked him to reverse attorney jenn-airic holders investigation. they say it could dangerous ly

damage the willingness of intelligence officers to take risks to protect the country. the signers are michael hayden, john deutsche, william webster and james slesing ger. in a new series of interviews, president obama denies racism is motivating people to speak out about health care reform. joe wurzelbachjoe scarborough. glad you made it back from the west coast. in your view, how is racial bias affecting the obama presidency? >> it's just a distraction. it's the last thing barack obama needs. he would need it no more than a margaret thatcher needed somebody in great britain saying she was picked on because she was a woman. that's why barack obama

constantly swats away the allegations. i know, it makes jimmy carter feel good saying it and makes the far left feel better because they are trying to explain why the president, this man they thought was going to be a transformational president, like no other before him, suddenly, he looks like every other politician. he's lost 20% points over the summer. but, the reason why was explained by the president to david gregory that's going to air tomorrow, when he said there's always been a debate between freedom and the federal government stepping in to protect americans. he's exactly right. that debate has gone on since george washington's cabinet. since you had alexander hamilton fighting jefferson. it wasn't racism then and it was

in 1993 and 1994. bill clinton and hillary clinton took far more abuse. ask the clinton's, they took far more abuse than barack obama is taking now. does that mean there's not racism in america? no, there's racism in america. but barack obama didn't go from 70% approval rating on january 20 to a 51% rating because of racism. he did it because he overreached and tried to grow the government too quickly. >> i want to get to the value voters under way in washington. is there a sense that recent pro test in washington and the town hall meetings meant momentum for the conservatives? >> it's hard to say. if you look at the rallies, there's a good number of people who showed up. as "the new york times" and washington post reports, a lot

of people were like me. they were skeptical about what's going on in washington, d.c. but also skeptical of the republican party because republicans had a chance to act conservative over the past eight years and failed. the big question is where does all this energy go? right now, there's not a republican candidate for conservatives to rally around that epitomizes the way reagan did in 1978 when you had tax protests. but, there's no doubt, while it may not have helped the republican party in the polls, it certainly brought the president down to -- down 20 points and the democratic party down 20 points and nancy pelosi. by that political fact alone, they are happy at the republican national committee. >> what about the presidential preferential straw that comes

out at 3:15 today. is it about a vision for the future? bragging points? who do you think is going to win? >> i don't think it matters. i hate to say that. >> come on. >> it's like the first preseason game. i don't know. if you want to just look at pure energy with the base, you have to expect sarah palin to probably win by a large margin. she is -- while she would never get above 43%, 44% in a general election, by the way you can save this tape. she will never get above 43% or 44% in a general election. when i say never, alex, i mean never. sorry sarah palin fans, i have given you another reason to hate me. it's reality. it's just reality. boy, i hope i'm right or i'm going to pay for that one. despite that fact, she's beloved by the base.

she's beloved by my mother and a lot of people that supported me in 1994. she was abused by the press in a way most conservatives believe was unfair. i talked to a top conservative in washington, d.c., a woman, they liked sarah palin when she came out. somebody said to me, you know, people just love her because the media hates her so much. right now, it's enough. might be enough for early straw polls, but not as we move forward. i think, in the end, it will be between mitt romney and his conservative challenger. he's not going to move as far to the right as he did in 2008. >> he still holds a point or two above sarah palin. it will be fun. >> it's always fun. it will give us something to talk about. of course, it's meaningless. on "morning joe" we'll spend time talking act the results.

>> we look forward to tuning into it. thanks for talking to it. >> weekday mornings starting at 6:00 a.m. on msnbc. still ahead, the new book that's breaking records. what's behind the phenomenon on nbc saturday. good girl. mollie's never looked better. i really was amazed to see the change in her coat. people stop us when we're walking, and they'll say, "did you shine up her spots?" [ woman announcing ] just another way purina one... unlocks the brilliance of nature... to transform the life of your dog. for us to see the difference in mollie-- we were really excited about it. it just makes you feel wonderful. [ announcer ] it's amazing what one can do. 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.

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(announcer) why not make this year's holiday one to remember? call 1-800-royal22 today. today, a new report that u.s. intelligence agencies is telling the white house iran has not restarted nuclear weapons development program. hillary clinton warns time is running out to come clean or face new penalties. >> we have seen the iranian government engage in a campaign of politically motivated arrests, show trials and suppression of free speech.

none the less, we remain to engage with i rain. >> assistant secretary of defense from 1981 to 1985. good to see you. >> nice to see you, alex. >> let's talk about the reports. the ap is saying there's an undisclosed report that reveals iran developed the technological ability to build a nuclear weapon. meanwhile, there's an article that says it opposite. what is your take? >> they have the ability to make it, but have not taken the steps to. they have enriched uranium. they could move very quickly, but haven't crossed the treasure hold yet. they haven't weaponized. they have the where with all to do it. >> do you think there's any corelation, larry, between what the intelligence community communicates to the white house and the fact we have a new

administration in power. any change up? >> i don't think so. under the bush administration when the national intelligence estimate came out in 1987, they said that iran, back in 1983 stopped weaponizing their nuclear capabilities. this under cut the desire on the part of the bush administration to take military action and undermines support in the international community as well. >> this week, we saw the obama administration take the step of downsizing a proposed missile defense, poland, the czech republic. is it a way -- what kind of diplomatic did they contain with this announcement? >> i think they got a lot more support in europe for taking a tough stance against iran.

the europeans were not happy with this system. it antagonized russia. it didn't really provide defenses against the short and medium range missiles that iran has. they don't have the long range capability, yet. it also, obviously cleared the way for us to have a better relationship with russia. it was not the purpose of it. certainly, the russians are happy because they saw the missiles and radars in poland and the czech republic as a direct front to them. the most important thing is it provides protection for israel because it will be in place in 2011 and the first missiles will be on ships in the mediterranean. the other system did not. it did not provide protection for israel. >> okay. iran is agreeing for the first time in 30 years to talk to the

u.s. will progress be made in the discussio discussions? >> i think there will. the fact president obama said he's willing to without preconditions. president obama said we won't talk unless you stop enriching your uranium. they said we are allowed to do that. we're not allowed to weaponize. there's going to be a lot of issues on the table. the iranian negotiator said we're willing to talk about everything. it's a good step in the right direction. >> thanks so much. >> my pleasure. still ahead, a live report as an american student accused of murder heads back to an atall yan courtroom. you know you're gonna need it. why not stock up now? get everything you need for fall cleaning and fall allergies at an unbeatable price. save money. live better. walmart.

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how many washes did it take cheer brightclean to get this from dingy to bright? one might be surprised. twelve. no. uh, excuse me! four? one... would think it would take that many washes. ten? man & woman: okay, we got it this time. yes? it's six. seven. why? why is... one-derfully bright, hmm? oh, one... yes, yes! hundred. cheer brightclean. tomorrow on "meet the press," david gregory goes one-on-one with president obama. talks on the economy, afghanistan and former president carter's assertion that race is a key motivator for those

opposed to health care reform. >> look, i said, there are some people who still think through the prism of race when it comes to evaluating me and my candidacy, absolutely. sometimes they vote for me for that reason, sometimes avote against me for that reason. it was true during the campaign and it's true now. you put your finger on what the argument is about. it's an argument that's gone on for the history of this republic. that is, what is the right role of government? how do we balance freedom with our need to look after one another? i talked about this in the joint session speech. this is not a new argument. it always invokes passions. >> you can watch the entire interview on "meet the press" tomorrow. check your local nbc listings. conservatives are gathering for the voters summit. several top gop figures are

speaking at the event. one of the topics, health care reform and individual rights. >> it is at times a country that's almost difficult to recognize. we have become the land of czars, clunker cars and hollywood stars. >> it's insulting when we rare republicans don't have positive solutions. we have all sorts of positive solutions. >> former miss california talked about the controversy surrounding her comment about marriage should be between a man and a woman. >> i am so proud of the stance i took and the answers i gave. god chose me for that moment. >> joining me live from washington d.c., athena jones. good morning to you. what does today's schedule look like there? >> good morning, alex. this is the second full day of the meeting here. it's the fourth annual voters

summit. i'm told more than 1800 have gathered here to discuss the conservative agenda. they are hearing from members, actors, activists. talking about issues on the mipds of this group. so, today, we are going to hear from house minority leader, john feigner. we expect him to address health care reform, the president's efforts. there's been a lot among republicans in general ha the president's plan would federally fund abortions. it's things they have disproven, but they are on people's minds. we are going to hear from former massachusetts governor, mitt romney who came up short in the primari primaries. later in the day, texas governor rick perry will speak and we'll get the results of a straw pull.

2012 is a few years away, but this is an early indication of who they prefer on the ballot. newt gingrich, mike huckabee, sarah palin, ron paul, tim pawlenty, mitt romney. we'll be looking for the results. >> we'll check in with you later on. thank you. >> thanks. police in california are looking for three people accused of attacking a walmart employee. he's 76 years old. it was caught on camera. you can see it on the left side of the screen. two suspects left the store with a flat screen tv in the cart. one threw him on the ground then fled off. police say the employee was sent to the hospital with injuries to his hands and arms. the american student trial

resumes in italy this morning. amanda knox is accused of sexually assaulting and killing her roommate. keith, good saturday to you. what is expected to happen in court today? >> we have had sessions already. the defense is trying to dismantle the prosecutions evidence. it was always going to come down to forensic science. what we have is he said she said. they are giving one gate. the defense is trouting their own defense efforts. they are saying the knife the prosecution says was used couldn't be because it's too long. a bloody footprint. we just heard an expert say it's impossible. the bloody footprint belongs to a third suspect who has been convicted of the crime and is

serving 30 years in prison. it's a forensic battle going on within the courtroom with both sides being able to find experts contradicting themselves. i talked to one yesterday, they said it's not unusual to have some contradictions. while the contradictory statements from the experts all battle from what is the truth. >> as we were coming to this segment, it's like the trial that never ends. he brings up a good point. it's been going on forever. how long will it continue? >> it's a very good question. we have nine months into the trial. they just finished a two month italian break leaving amanda knox cooling in prison. they are expected to call some sort of nonpartisan, somebody who can come in, a forensic

scientist, evaluate the evidence and produce a report distilling the defense evidence and the prosecution's evidence. that could take two months just to get that report. that would be inserted into the court proceedings. >> wow. it's a wonder how everyone keeps track of everything. that's a challenge in itself. we appreciate it. thank you. still ahead, a blockbuster between the covers. the author of the divinci code is a best seller. also, the senator in the middle. why is olympia snowe so pivotal in the health care reform? ever worn your clothes in the shower?

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senator snowe gave an extensive interview to john harwood. >> i think the time has come, but it's also critical to get the right policy because it affects every american. >> joining me live now is john harwood. john, good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> how crucial is olympia snowe to the democrats? >> very important for a couple reasons. as you know, the president and max baucus, who chairs the senate committee and others wanted to have a bipartisan bill. there are no republicans supporting the major house bills in either the house or senate. olympia snowe is the most likely to do that. aside from simply putting a

bipartisanship on, she could be critical to getting a filibuster. democrats would rather not have to use the special procedures we talked about on the air from time to time called reconciliation where they could jam it through with a majority, simple majority of the senate. if they have a vote to get past the filibuster and hold 59 democrats and add only olympia snowe, then they could do what they want to do in terms of the legislation. can they get her to do that? there were positive signals that suggest she might be willing to go along. >> yeah, i'm going to pick up a chunk of the interview and see your reaction to that. >> a whole bunch of democrats and one republican, olympia snowe. is that a bipartisan bill? >> obviously, i'm a republican, but i'd like to have more republicans -- >> you'd like to, but do you have to? >> i'm going to support the

right policy. that's what guides me and governs me. it always has. >> i'm curious how fine a line she's walking now. how much is in the baucus bill that she doesn't like? >> what's interesting, alex, is some of the changes olympia snowe wants are changes that democrats want. she wants more subsidies for low and moderate income people. there's 125,000 people without insurance in her home state of maine. there's a lot of people with modest incomes who can't afford premiums to buy health insurance now and may not be able to under this bill. some of the ways she wants to change the bill are to make it more generous. how do you offset that and pay for it? i thought wung thing that e's

fascinating is barack obama who wants to expand government and people use words like socialist, she said no, he's more liberal to me. she wants to make the legislation better rather than kill it. >> we talked about how the democrats are try iing to woo h. what about the republicans, how much pressure is she facing to not cross the line? >> a lot. it's pornlt important for republicans not to have him pass the bill. they know it's critical to his success. they have multiple reasons, as democrats know for political and substantive reasons. they want the bill to pass. everybody walks around with a partisan identity in washington. we know the identities have been polarized and split. olympia snowe is a rare bird. she's a republican who has been

somewhat out of step with her party. one of the things she told me is i haven't changed, but my party has changed. it's a clue she might stand aside from the republicans. it's not a given. she left the interview with me and went to a meeting with republican leaders. you can bet they are trying to persuade her to stick with us, stick with our principles, we'll come up with an alternative. that's the choice she has to make. >> okay. john harwood, great to see you. >> you bet. president obama sits down with david gregory to talk about the push for health care reform. it's tomorrow morning on "meet the press" on nbc. the new book by dan brown is breaking records. it sold 1 million copies in one day. the 600 page thriller brings

back robert langdon. brown explained why he chose the setting. >> washington, d.c. has everything rome, paris and london has in the way of great architecture, great power bases. washington has pyramids and underground tunnels and great art. a whole shadow world that we really don't see. >> joining me from washington is monica, star reporter of the "washington post." good morning. let's get a synopsis of the book. >> sure. the hero, robert langdon is back with a side kick named kathryn. they are paired together to rescue kathryn's brother who is a 33rd degree mason.

because it's dan brown, they have to solve a numerous number of codes before they can reach him. >> that was a good way to say it. >> it's definitely a page turning as "the divinci code" was. you feel you are getting smarter as you read it. you diskocover the symbolic cod you didn't know existed in your city. i was a little disappointed because the foreignness of paris didn't come through because it's set in washington. >> what is it about the series of these books that captured the readers? >> it has everything we are looking for. it's like brain candy. it has who done it chapters. it ends on the right note.

it has exclamation points and has villains. the villain in this novel is a giant tatooed bald wearing a blond wig that's a 33rd degree mason. it has everything you could want. >> do you think it could become the biggest selling book of the year? >> i think it has the potential. the "divinci code" sold 83 million copies. after it's block busting first day of sales, they ordered an extra 500,000 copies. for people not familiar with the book industry, it's enormous. 100,000 copies would have been huge. this is off the chart. >> you talk about it being adult pop culture candy here. how many more pages will we see robert langdon live in?

is it going to go book after book after book? >> it could go as long as brown wants it to go. he's poised to become a heroic figure of culture. some of robert langdon is poised to become a-or patricia cornwell's space. i think that robert langdon just because he's become such a fascinating character and has such a fascinating world, i think it could go on as long as dan brown wants it to go on. >> and speaking of books, there's a new book about president clinton out there? and why would it be worth checking out? because it offers some insights about his relationship with hillary and it's written by a clinton insider.

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this week in a vote of 345-75, the house of representatives voted to defund the community activist group a.c.o.r.n. this came after video surfaced of a.c.o.r.n. workers gave advise to two people posing as a pimp and a prostitute. so what now for a.c.o.r.n. and the two people who taped the workers? joining me now from washington, carol lenig of the "washington post" who recounts the whole a.c.o.r.n. episode. thank you for joining us. tell us exactly how this started as these two people posing as a pimp and a prostitute? >> these two individuals who are james o'keefe and hanna jiles. they're 25 and 24 years old. so it seems as if they would be

too young to pull off this kind of pretty amazing stunt to bring down a liberal political organization. but both of these have histories with the larger conservative movement that's been very concerned for a long time about a.c.o.r.n.'s operations and has claimed that the group's been engaged in voter registration fraud. long story short, two attractive and smart people had an idea, it really started with hanna, let's go undercover to a.c.o.r.n. offices where we have heard people are really undertrained and don't understand sort of what their mission is and what their organization is supposed to be doing in housing counseling. let's go and try to get them to help us in hiding our prostitution business that we allege we're going to have and see if they are willing to help us and stunningly, they were. >> yeah.

well, we're showing four locations that were dotted around the country, one of which was in san bernardino, california, where among the defenses used for that employee is that this one was just playing along, this was obviously a joke. how does that wash with what's on the tape? >> i think that particular employee has the strongest defense and her case is really unusual and unique. you sort of see a real difference between in baltimore, brooklyn and d.c., undereducated employees who seem to be willing to try to help in any way they can, because who knows why? but they seem to be willing. in the san bernardino case, the woman there has portions of her conversation that were not used in the tape where she says a.c.o.r.n. is never going to help you do this, you know that, right? and she says things as well along the lines of, are you guys pulling a stunt on me? are you pulling a trick?

so there are some interesting elements of this case. there's no question that what a.c.o.r.n. was in engaged in or some of them were engaged in were inappropriate. but there are exaggerations on both sides, the critics and the proponents. >> what do you think prompted, based on what's on the tape congress to pull funding from a.c.o.r.n. >> it was indefensible and the white house signal the other day that there is no they you could support what some of these very low level staff were saying on tape. what a.c.o.r.n., especially the a.c.o.r.n. housing corporation, which is the one that gets federal funding, what they are saying is, hey, how is this representative of our entire organization? and what conservatives who viewed a.c.o.r.n. as a target they wanted to go after, what they are saying is, if you're a low level staffer doing these kinds of things, then you can't assure federal taxpayers that you're using our money well. >> all right, well, carol lenig

of the "washington post," thank you for weighing in on that and clearing up something that a lot of people have been talking about. and a sobering look at the state of our children. 39% of the nation's children live in low income homes. bill cosby and a panel of distinguished leaders will come together right here on msnbc to help our children move from poverty to education and success. this special live event airs at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. bill cosby says this could spark real change in communities across the country. >> while this program is on, having people picking up the phone and saying to a relative, to a loved one, to a brother, sister or someone, turn it on, this is about so-and-so, this is about such and such. and tell them where we can