and deny opportunity to their own people. >> nbc's white house reporter mike viqueira is live there for us on the lawn. mike, another good saturday morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, alex. >> let's get more on iran's reaction to this. what do you know? >> reporter: the trouble is, iran's been confronted with these allegations before. just a few years ago, when it was discovered they had another nuclear enrichment facility in an area called natons in iran, but this time, says president obama and the allies he dramatically appeared with yesterday morning in pittsburgh to reveal the existence of this new nuclear reactor, this time they say it's going to be different because they have the backing of, they hope, russia and china, two members with seats on the security council that could really put some sanctions with teeth in it, as the president said yesterday in response to a question. so, a unified front as they head into these meetings that were previously scheduled between the permanent five, plus germany and iran. they're going to meet in geneva on october 1st next week to discuss iran's nuclear program.

obviously, this is going to be at the top of the agenda, but iran has made these promises before. there are already international inspectors in iran looking over some of these other facilities. obviously, this underground facility was kept a secret from everyone else, including the world community. the only people who apparently knew about it were american and western intelligence officials, but now they're going to be sitting down and talking. the question is, where do you go from here? what are the arrows in the quiver of the western allies in the united states if iran decides not to move forward with inspections of this facility or somehow drags its feet or it's somehow discovered that they're working on other nuclear facilities? the president left no question yesterday that this facility is designed for nuclear weapons material, not peaceful or civilian uses of nuclear power, alex. >> okay. speaking of facilities, mike, i want to get to gitmo and the new report this morning. >> reporter: yeah. >> any details on when or when it's not going to be closing as scheduled? >> reporter: well, of course, democrats in congress have been complaining for years about the image of guantanamo bay around

the world and what it has done to the standing of the united states, including inciting our enemies after abu ghraib and some of what they regard is the abuses and the torture that took place at guantanamo bay. president obama no differently, campaigning said he was going to close it. when he became president, one of the first things he did was promise to close it by the end of this year. problem -- they got the cart out little bit before the horse. they're having a difficult time wrestling with many policy and procedural questions. basically, it boils down to what do you do with some of these dangerous criminals housed in gitmo? where do you put them? do you build another prison in the united states? how do you try them? and what about the people whose evidence against them has been compromised to such a degree that you're not going to be able to put them on trial to begin with, and you certainly don't want to release them back into any population, certainly not domestically here in the united states. so, it appears at this point that the administration is not going to meet that deadline, or at least that deadline of closing guantanamo by the end of this year is certainly in danger and in question at this point, alex. >> yep, those questions you just posed are the reasons right

there, because they have yet to find the answers. okay, mike viqueira, thank you. >> reporter: certainly. new information this morning on the foiled al qaeda-linked bomb plot here in the u.s. najibullah zazi arrived in new york yesterday, the city where officials say he was planning a terror attack to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary. prosecutors say zazi was intent on making a bomb and being in new york on september 11th. zazi will remain in solitary confinement until his arraignment next week on terror charges. meanwhile, we're getting a look at surveillance video of zazi shopping inside a denver beauty warehouse shortly before his arrest. officials say he bought hydrogen peroxide and acetone. michael sheehan is joining me now, deputy commissioner of counterterrorism for the new york city police department as well as former state department ambassador at large for counterterrorism. a very good morning to you. >> good morning, alex. >> this is being called the most serious plot since 9/11. how close do you think zazi was to actually setting off bombs? >> it's hard to say, alex, but i

would say if things came together for him, he could have been within weeks or months of putting together a bomb. he had already gathered materials, he already had the training, and these are the key things. does this guy know how to do it? does he have the materials? the next step would have been to rent out a room or someplace that would have been isolated so he could build a lab and cook up the materials. that could be done in a matter of days. >> okay. when you mention the training, it goes back to what he said that he had done, which is visited pakistani terror training camps. >> that's right. >> to that end, does that mean that investigators are trying to get some sort of a link there and get names and get further in terms of suspects in pakistan to go after? >> absolutely, alex. there's two sides of the investigation now, one in the united states where domestic officials, fbi and other agencies are looking for his accomplice in the u.s. in pakistan, the cia working closely with pakistani intelligence are trying to find which camps was he in, who is he associated with, and were there others trained and launched like him with a similar type of experience and intent to do damage in the united states?

>> given your experience, particularly relative to new york city, put this all into perspective. had this come on your watch, on your radar, how concerned would you be? >> this, since the eight years after 9/11, i would put this as the number one threat that we have uncovered in the united states since 9/11. this is the guy with the capability, the training, the ideological commitment, the connections, and actually, going to acquire materials, not like an informant was feeding him stuff in some of these other cases that you know of, alex. this was a guy going out on his own, getting materials. he was steps away from going ahead and assembling the bomb. >> and yet, he didn't quite get there. why not? >> well, fortunately, we were on this guy. fortunately, the intelligence system worked in this case. this guy, when he came into the u.s., he had already been identified by u.s. intelligence sources. he was picked up in denver, tracked to new york city, and we were able to unravel his cell, and that's the difference. if he had been beneath the radar screen, might have been a very different outcome. >> there was a wall after 9/11

between the cia and the fbi. is that gone and is that in part why we're able to have this kind of success? >> absolutely. there's two things that happened after 9/11, alex, and one was a lot of those barriers had been broken down, both in washington where these agencies come together to work on this different material and out in the field where agencies work much harder and those barriers that prevented us from identifying those two terrorist, 9/11 terrorists that were in california, that has been tremendously fixed. the other thing is just the weight of the u.s. government. it's a much bigger set of resources being brought to bear on al qaeda now than prior to 9/11. the fbi, cia, law enforcement agency, a tremendous capacity out there. so, both just the weight of the u.s. government, fixing some of those pre-9/11 issues, we're much better at it, but we can't rest on our laurels, because the terrorists are also trying to get better. >> all right. how much do you have concern that there are other people just like najibullah zazi right here

on our soil? >> there's no question about they're here. there are those intent to do the damage. the question is, are there types like him who have been to the camps, trained in explosives in the united states? that we don't know, and those are the ones that we worry most about. >> michael sheehan, it's always good to talk with you. thank you. >> thank you, alex. now to the death of a census worker in kentucky. bill sparkman's body was discovered by a family visiting a rural kentucky cemetery. jerry weaver tells the "associated press" that sparkman was gagged and his hands and feet bound with duct tape. authorities say the word fed was written across sparkman's chest. officials say his preliminary cause of death is asphyxiation. the director of the census bureau says the agency is taking necessary precautions and not gathering any survey information in the area for the time being. officials say it is clear sparkman's death was not natural, but all other possibilities are being considered. well, today more rain's going to likely develop in the southeast. severe weather has left much of that region under water. fierce flooding destroyed dozens

of homes and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people. let's get the latest now from nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning to you, bill. is it a good morning for those folks down there? >> not at all, alex. rain it s on its way towards atlanta and the flooded area all week long. i don't think it will be quite as bad as monday morning into tuesday, but it's not pretty. let's take a look. first off, this map, everywhere in the red has portions of seven different states, shows you where we have flash flood warnings. that area in green, which covers much of tennessee, northern georgia, alabama, the appalachians, all through west virginia. that's where we could possibly see flash flooding. look at all the green on this map. that's the rain. the yellow is the heavy rain. where you see the white little lightning bolts, that's the active, live lightning. so, right now, heavy rain, especially moving through northern alabama, and that's going to move through northern georgia during the day today. that's why they're playing the golf out there at eastlake early. they're trying to get it in. that will be on nbc on tape later on today. nashville, heavy rain moving over the top of you currently and then shifting down to the south into atlanta. so far, so good.

one little thunderstorm cell off to your west that should miss you. so, i'd say atlanta, you probably have another two hours before the heavy rain moves in. also, the sunshine. don't get used to it up there from new york to boston. clouds will be moving in during the day today and it will remain very cool. as far as the rest of the forecast for today goes, it is great out west, everywhere from the mississippi river to california. it's pretty much dry and it is beautiful, alex, a lot like summer out there in many areas, except for the flood zones. >> one last stab at summer, i guess. okay, thank you very much, bill karins. if you're on the east coast, get ready for a wet weekend. you saw the maps from bill there. you can read all about it on our website, weather.com. a new development in the story of two couples united by a big mistake. a fertility clinic transferred frozen embryos into the wrong woman. carolyn savage carried another couple's baby, and we have learned this morning that she has given birth to a boy. she and her husband plan to give the baby to his biological parents. earlier this week, savage spoke about what would happen before they hand the baby over.

>> i remember communicating with the mother of this child as to what i was envisioning and hoping for. i said, we want a moment to say hello and good-bye. that will be hard. >> savage and the child are said to be in good health. savage gave birth on thursday. can sex appeal save a life? the makers of this racy ad sure hope so, but have they gone too far? we'll talk to the creators in just a bit. also ahead, elephants gone wild. a pachyderm throws its weight around and a few cars to boot. and double trouble, two cars in a sinkhole and the ending to this road woe ends with an odd twist. we'll share it with you. (announcer) sleep can help lighten your mood... ...and improve your concentratio tylenol pm quiets the pain and helps you sleep. because the better you sleep, the better you feel.

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new developments in the war in afghanistan. general stanley mcchrystal asking for more u.s. troops this week, saying without an increase, the mission there might fail. the war in afghanistan has intensified in recent months. august was the deadliest month of the year with the largest number of attacks since 2001. let's bring in my boys right now to weigh in. joining me live from washington, d.c., msnbc political analyst pat buchanan, democratic strategist peter fenn. so, pat, i know you have this latest column in which you write, "what happens in afghanistan could change the history of the world." that's pretty weighty. what do you mean by that? >> well, i think what general mcchrystal is saying to the president of the united states is, if i don't get upwards of 40,000 troops, we're going to lose this war in afghanistan. and if i do get the troops, i can't guarantee that we're going to win the war. and you've got the country here in the united states, alex, more than 50% are opposed to the war

and opposed to sending more troops. we're facing the potential, i think, of an american defeat in afghanistan and a taliban victory, which would give afghanistan to the taliban and the battle for afghanistan would be over, and the battle for pakistan, a country of 170 million, with nuclear weapons, that battle would be on. that's what i mean by this is a far more historical decision, in my judgment, than what we've been arguing about all summer about health care. >> what do you think, peter? do you agree with pat? >> i do, alex. i think this is potentially the most important decision that this president may have to make, and he's got a lot and has had a lot of important decisions to make. >> wow, yeah. >> but the difficulty here, alex, is that you are never sure what is going to work and what is not going to work. and, clearly, general mcchrystal has said, look, we cannot fight a traditional war in afghanistan. it can't be for control of

territory, it can't be fire battles. it clearly can't be sending these drones into villages when you think you've got somebody in a house you want to take out. this is not working. and you know, if anybody who has read "three cups of tea" by greg mort mortenson knows how important the hearts and minds are in that country. so, the question is, if you add what looks like it's going to be about 40,000 troops he recommends, how do you deploy them to get the civilian society back? >> see, now -- >> and this is hard. very hard. >> but peter, you say if. we've got the vice president saying, calling for a smaller presence in afghanistan, counter to that 40,000 the general is asking for. >> right, right. >> the president seems to have republican support to send more troops, but will democrats now abandon him on that? >> i think democrats are very nervous about this, alex, because as you just pointed out, more and more people are dying over there. you have a situation where the international community is not as strongly behind this as one

would hope. the british are getting very nervous because their young boys are being sent over to die, and the mission is still not clear. i do not think this president or this vice president or republicans or democrats are going to commit to this unless they are really clear what that mission is and whether there is a chance of success. >> okay, pat, i want you to put this in perspective, because you reference vietnam in your latest article. if you look back, the u.s. leaving vietnam may have turned out better than remaining bogged down there. do you see similarities in afghanistan or might afghanistan be a worse situation? >> well, take the -- look, if the president of the united states either dithers or does not send the 40,000 troops, mcchrystal is saying, mr. president, you are inviting an american defeat. but if he does send them, we have no guarantee of an american victory, just we will hold off defeat, stave it off for a couple of years and keep on going. in that sense, it's almost a worse situation than the

possibilities i think we had in vietnam as of 1968. but politically, take a look at this, alex -- if obama sends more troops, 40,000, say, he divides his party, risks his presidency, invites more casualties, more bleeding and no guarantee of victory three years down the road. if he takes biden's advice and pulls out troops, i think it falls, it collapses, and the taliban take over and the republican party will tear him to pieces as a liberal democrat who came in and lost the war in afghanistan that george bush had almost won. so, i think the president's got the most hellish, difficult decision of his presidency right now. >> and the hard part of this, alex, is really that we should have been involved and engaged in afghanistan and pakistan after 2001, and to be honest, not in iraq as pat has always said. and you know, if we had done that, things would be different, but you know, that's not the

debate going forward. the debate going forward is, you know, you're between a rock and a hard place. >> yeah. >> and the surge, people will think, oh, well the surge worked. this is not iraq. this is not the same terrain. this is not the same situation. and you cannot count on it. >> wow. i'll tell you guys, it's a very sobering discussion we just had. when i think about everything the president has on his plate, for you guys to put this as being the most important thing he's got there right now? woo! >> i think it's the most important decision of his presidency. a very fateful decision for him and for us, the country. >> okay, guys, thank you very much. i'll look forward to seeing you again soon. thanks. >> thanks, alex. >> okay. incredible video this morning coming from central mississippi. two cars on top of each other in a sinkhole created by a storm. the bottom car was driven by a woman on her way to work, the second one driven by her daughter. she was retracing her mother's route after her boss called to say that she didn't show up. the daughter called 911 to get help for her mother.

fortunately, neither suffered life-threatening injuries, but some picture there, huh? you're watching "msnbc saturday." [ queen ] want your longwear to give you more? well, get on out of that department store. and into covergirl outlast. no department store longwear gives you so many different ways to last through breakfast lunch and dinner. more choices, more shades, more outlast. ♪ covergirl

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and now to the latest on embattled new york governor david paterson. democratic officials are concerned that with paterson on the ballot, the party will see low turnout across the state, and there are reports that the white house would prefer he not run to hold his seat. but a poll finds 62% of voters say the obama administration is wrong to suggest paterson should not run for office. 27% think washington is well within its rights to get involved. now to new york politics, where democratic governor david paterson is struggling, we're live here in the studio with dominic carter, political anchor at new york one here in new york. good morning to you. >> good morning to you, alex. >> what are you hearing about how new yorkers feel about david paterson? >> well, obviously, any municipality, any state, any county, any government would not want any involvement from

another branch of government, but the fact of the matter is, alex, all the white house has done realistically here is, in terms of paterson, there's no other way around this. his approval numbers are at 17%. and so, all the white house has done is publicly expressed, or to him, the will of the people in terms of, even new yorkers feel that governor paterson cannot win at this point. >> okay. haven't thoenz numbers dipped further since prior to this firestorm? >> yes. >> this hasn't helped him. >> no, not at all. it has been wounds that have been self-inflicted by governor paterson. he's played the race card, he's brought up every other issue, but the fact of the matter is, alex, there's no way around the fact that the caroline kennedy senate situation did not play very well. this is the same governor that says today that he likes being governor, but about 48 hours ago said that, you know, that he never wanted any of this, that

it was his scenario that hillary clinton would be elected and that he would go to the u.s. senate. so, he has a history of issuing conflicting statements as recent as just this week alone. >> and his wife has weighed in. she said unequivocally, he's running. look, politics can change on a dime sometimes. something can happen, turn it right around. >> that's right. >> do you envision where he actually becomes very viable and he could pull it together and win a democratic primary and then go on to win the election? >> well, that remains to be seen, alex. it depends on who the competition would be. >> what if it's andrew cuomo? >> in all likelihood, no. polls indicate that cuomo, if he decides to run -- that's the question, if he decides to run, that andrew cuomo is the next governor of the state of new york. it's another thing to be attorney general where he gets to pick and choose his issues. it's another when you're running for governor. but polls indicate that cuomo's the next governor, should he decide to run. and so, to a degree, alex, the white house has given cuomo some

cover on the race issue, should he decide to challenge paterson versus cuomo. >> this popped in my mind, former state a.g. to the governor was eliot spitzer, right? >> before cuomo, yes. >> dominic carter, thank you very much. we'll talk to you more. >> fantastic. >> appreciate that. catch nbc's "meet the press" tomorrow morning. governor paterson will be joining david gregory live. check your local listings. two. the white cleanses. the gold moisturizes and has a touch of mineral shimmer to enhance skin's tone. olay tone enriching body wash. for skin that shimmers. now your card comes with a way to plan for what matters to you. introducing blueprint. blueprint is free and only for chase customers. it lets you choose what purchases you want to pay in full to avoid interest...with full pay.

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a sanctuary. a command center. ( both revving ) a sophisticated sedan. a sports car. together. nissan maxima, the four-door sports car. now get a new nissan maxima for 0% apr financing for 60 months. new this morning, we're hearing from former president bill clinton on the current controversy surrounding iran. he spoke to "meet the press" moderator david gregory. let's listen. >> i always think it's a good idea, if possible, to look somebody in the eye and have a chance to have a conversation before there's a total breach, but i think this has actually

helped that this has broken. the iranians must have known that the americans knew. somehow, they must have found out that or they wouldn't have voluntarily notified the iaea about this. >> and you can watch the entire interview with president clinton tomorrow morning on "meet the press" on nbc. just check your local listings for the time. with me now to talk more about this is our msnbc contributor and investigative reporter for "newsweek" along with jim walsh from the massachusetts institute of technology. good morning to the two of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> jim isikoff, i'll begin with you, reuters beginning just a short time ago -- it crossed my desk here that iran's elite revolutionary guards are going to stage missile defense exercises tomorrow. this is according to the semi-official news agency. is the timing coincidental or do you think iran may be trying to show the world that it means business? >> well, alex, they have consistently staged exercises,

military exercises, frequently, periodically over time. sometimes it's been timed for a specific event. people thought that they had one set of exercises in direct response to some israeli military exercises, but this is a pretty routine thing, so i would hesitate to read too much into it. >> okay. michael, how about this, because iran's nuclear chief said just a short while ago his country will allow the u.n. to inspect the newly revealed uranium enrichment facility. if iran has time to prep the facility, which isn't even finished, what kind of information would inspectors be able to even glean? >> well, it's hard to know, and that's always a problem with inspections, if a site is cleaned out or changed, although this one seems pretty clear. and in a sense, u.s. and western intelligence agencies have caught the iranians red-handed. they've identified a site that had been kept secret, that's on a revolutionary guard base that

clearly seems to be configured in its size for a weapons program. so, you put it all together, that's the reason you saw that very dramatic rhetoric coming out of pittsburgh yesterday. the question is if the iranians are not compliant, what steps -- what effective steps the u.s. and western countries can take, particularly unless the chinese and the russians are on board. >> okay. jim, further rhetoric here because iran's nuclear chief also saying today it stopped a conspiracy against iran by the u.s. and its allies by reporting the site voluntarily to the iaea. now, the u.s. has apparently known about this for about six years, but the iaea says it only got a cryptic letter from iran about the facility this week. the timing here, why is it all blowing up now and how much does it have to do with the meetings coming up thursday in geneva? >> well, according to the white house, the administration's

known about this for some time. there were suspicions about the facility in the early phases of construction going back to the bush administration. and president obama allegedly told his national security aides, we want this all out on the table before we enter into some serious negotiations. prepare a briefing. you never know when we might need it. and then the theory is that the iranians smelled it out. they want to be the first to release the news, not have others do it on them, so they sent that letter to iaea on monday, and then there were a flurry of meetings in new york with the president and his aides, and they decided to go ahead and go public with what they knew, rather than let it appear as if iran was simply following its obligations. i want to disagree a little bit with what michael said earlier. i'm not so -- i think the intention of this plant, whether it is made for nuclear weapons, remains to be determined. it's harder to do simply because it has 3,000 centrifuges, therefore, it must be for a military program.

i think the iaea will be able to get in there and get a lot of information. they're not going to find particles of enriched uranium, because they have not shed on the centrifuges yet, but what they will see is what kind of centrifuges are there, the way in which they are organized. they are going to come back with a lot of data, and then they're probably going to release that data in a report to the public and to the international atomic energy board of governors and i think we'll know a lot more at that point. >> michael, what about following thursday's meeting, do you think further sanctions would get iran's attention? and are there real prospects of military action, whether or not from the u.s. or elsewhere -- and i guess i'm noticeably saying israel. >> well, look, i don't think there's any immediate prospect of military action. in fact, secretary gates yesterday said, seemed to even cast doubt about the effectiveness of any military action, saying all it would do would be buy time. so, really, all that's being

talked about here is to try to pressure the iranians and threaten them with ratcheting up sanctions, but as i indicated before this, really serious questions about how effective sanctions can be. the one that's on the table -- and i've talked to members of congress yesterday -- is passage of legislation that would authorize gasoline and financial sanctions on the iranians. the iranians are heavily dependent on refined gasoline, even though they have all this oil. they don't refine their own oil. and so, the theory has been, if you impose sanctions on refined gasoline sales to iran, that could have the kind of crippling effect that secretary clinton had talked about. but there was also a really important report a few days ago in the "financial times" indicating the chinese are now selling refined gasoline to

iran. they have been the most reluctant to go along with any sanctions regime. so, if the united states and western countries and even the russians imposed sanctions along those lines, if the chinese weren't on board, how effective would they be? that is always the question when you talk about sanctions. >> yeah. well, your reporting backed up by my conversations this morning with two democratic members of the senate foreign relations committee, ben cardin, bob casey both saying those would be the optimum sanctions. thank you for talking, michael isikoff, jim walsh. as always, appreciate that. >> thank you. >> thank you. now to this week's potential breakthrough in the fight against aids. for the first time, researchers believe an experimental vaccine can cut the risk of becoming infected with hiv by more than 31%. the study was conducted in thailand and the results have surprised scientists, because recent failures have led many to think such a vaccine might never be possible. joining us now is dr. seth berkeley, chief executive and president of the international

aids vaccine initiative. tell us more about this study, how it was carried out and how you got to the 31% efficacy point. >> good morning, alex. this is an important study because it's the first time we've seen the protection in humans. we believe protection is possible because we can do it in animals and we also know that humans can naturally control infection. this study started six years ago and it combined two vaccines that had been previously tested, and this is the first time that that type of prime boost approach has been tried, and that's really what we're seeing here. it was a modest effect. 31% is modest. we hope to have a vaccine that's higher. but what this will allow us to do is really look at why did it work and validate our animal models, which is critical, also be able to figure out which tests best predict whether the vaccine's going to work. and right now, scientists are working on improving vaccines. there's a lot of incremental science that's occurred since the time this vaccine was tested, and hopefully, this will tell us how to really target that. >> so, now, assuming you're

going to agree with dr. anthony fauci, who said today, you know, 31% success rate vaccine is not one you're going to implement to humans at this point. so, how long will it take you to go from where you are now to a point at which you could give a vaccine like this to the masses? >> well, the interesting question, up until now, we've been working to improve vaccines. we've had hints in animal models, but we haven't known whether we were checking and changing and making more efficient the right things, and that was really the problem. so, with this, if this can tell us, gee, if you get more breadth of protection, more of a certain test, then we can go to all the existing vaccines that are out there, all the improvements that occur and really target those. if that happens, we can hopefully have a candidate that's improved in a few years. it still takes a long time, because it has to be tested in humans for safety. we have to make sure the product in toxicology tests are okay. once you do all of that, then you have to go into these larger-scale trials in people at risk, and that is time-consuming. >> do you envision a future without aids?

>> that should be the goal. one of the problems recently has been that we've thought of this disease as a chronic disease. we have fabulous treatments, but that doesn't solve the problem. and for every two people on medicines, there are five new infections. the goals should be ending this terrible epidemic, and the only way to end it is with a vaccine. >> but again, do you think it's going to happen? what are your biggest hurdles? is it money, is it time, is it supplies, is it attention focused from, you know, the medical community or congress to get you the financing you need? i mean, what is the biggest hurdle you've got? >> so, the biggest hurdle has been keeping this on the agenda and getting the best science in the world focused on it. so, that takes money, of course, but it isn't only money. it's making sure that we get biotech companies working on other areas focused on the problem, getting scientists around the world, getting partners in the developing world to work on testing. >> so you think that -- and i'm told i don't have anymore time, but do you think that those able

to live with hiv for so long in a relatively comfortable way, that is a problem? >> no, it's not a problem, of course. we want to save every life we can, but it's complacency in solving the problem. and of course, in the developing world, not everybody who needs treatment is on treatment. >> absolutely. dr. seth berkeley, thank you very much. >> thank you. it is a commercial aimed at raising breast cancer awareness, but is it too sexy for the masses? we'll talk to the creators of this ad next. new crest pro-health enamel shield protects against enamel loss by forming a micro-thin shield against acid attack. only crest pro-health toothpastes protect all these areas dentists check most. new crest pro-health enamel shield.

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♪ >> joining us now live in toronto is aaliyah jasmine savini, a tv and news host in canada, star of the ad. also joining us, the executive director of rethink breast cancer. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning to you. >> i'll begin with you, aaliyah jasmine. where did you get the idea for this? >> i was asked to co-chair an event called the boobie ball here in chicago with the proceeds going to breast cancer, and instead of just sending out e-mails, i came up with an idea to do a controversial kind of groundbreaking video, and you know, i wrote it and co-directed it, and i wasn't supposed to be

in it, but ended up in front of the camera. and the whole idea was just, you know, let's kind of do like a spoof, like a humorous spoof on like a beer commercial but integrate a really important message in there and get people talking. >> and aliya-jasmine, i understand part of it became passionate for you because you have a family member who you just found out was diagnosed with breast cancer? >> yeah, actually, i had written and directed this amazing video and gotten -- you know, we weren't hired to do this. it was very much like a bunch of volunteers in the industry who came together in their spare time and put together this $100,000 production for free, and we had casted someone to be in it, and the girls from the boobie ball had wanted me to lend my face, because i am an mtv news host here in canada, and i wasn't going to until two days before the shoot. i found out my cousin was actually going to be losing one of her breasts to cancer this month. so i called up the girls and told them i'd lend my face to the cause. >> okay. >> and it's a great shot. >> i was going to say, i'm sure that's good news for you. and tell me what you thought

about you first saw the ad. >> i thought oh, this is awesome. it's fun, it's great. i was just proud of the girls who put this together, and aliyah-jasmine as well. these are girls that created the boobie ball when their friend was diagnosed at age 23. it was a bunch of fun girls who came together to raise money for the cause. i've seen them over the years. they're now young professionals, super passionate, super connected. they understand, you know, what it takes to get people excited about coming out to an event, and they're so passionate about the cause. they're not just party girls raising money for a charity. >> right. >> they actually came to our charity and said what can we do with the funds that's really going to make a difference? they came up with the idea of a new, innovative grant called the boobie innovation grant, giving funds to help young women battling breast cancer. it's saying if you're a young woman who's had breast cancer, apply to this grant and you can get funds to bring your project, your idea to life. so it's actually empowering young survivors to help other young survivors. >> now, having heard all that will inspire a lot of people,

but aliyah-jasmine, prior to knowing what this is all about, people are going to be critical. some people have been of this, saying look, it's pretty racy. you didn't have to go there. you could have said this another way. >> absolutely. >> what do you say to them? >> absolutely. i say, you know what, keep talking about it, because that's the point. i mean, the point -- i truly believe that the power of dialogue is to create change, whether you love it or you hate it, just talk about it, because the more people that talk about it, if it becomes -- if more people talk about it, it will become mainstream. and this video is not there to cure cancer, it's there to create awareness. >> and to sell tickets for an event that's a charity helping raise money for breast cancer. >> and it's one of those things, if it can get people talking and one girl remembers it because it's in her head and she goes to get a prescription refilled at a walk-in clinic and asks for a breast exam and that girl finds a lump and that saves her life, then it was worth it. because it seems to be a really, really -- in the media and, you know, with men, guys my age and girls my age, there seems to be like this weird divide, where

there's the best very sexy medium that we even advertise in children, as you know. and breast cancer is kind of taboo. this video was kind of supposed to show that all breasts are breasts, you know. and it's time we take that seriously and that we save them. >> okay. well, it's a great ad, certainly eye-catching and well done. good luck with everything with the booby ball and breast cancer and all of it. i said it on tv. there you go. it's all cool. >> thank you very much. >> lea jasmine, savani, thank you. now to an elephant in india having a bad day. the peeved-off pachyderm going bizarre. it is on the tape here, the big beast -- i almost said something -- -- threw the trainer off his back and almost hurt him. this guy needs a chill pill but got a tranquilizer instead.

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now to the economy reports this week reveals mixed messages about the housing industry and a few people filing for unemployment. if you really want a sign the economy is making a comeback, it all starts with the jeans. we will get explaining on that with msnbc financial analyst vera gibbons. i'm wearing jeans. you have jean skirt and demnim shoes. >> when we bidenim, it shows us we're feeling more optimistic. we're feeling confident. the economy is on the rebound. one of the things we buy is a cheap indulgent. makes us feel good. denim sales are up 4% year over year. 8% industry. it's one of the few areas in fashion that's actually going well. >> that and bright ties. >> bright ties also making a comeback. we're used to seeing the dull, bland stuff, muted browns.

but ties are a leading indicator men are feeling a little more confident about things. economists down on wall street will tell you what, you know, we are seeing more pink ties, fuchsia ties and that's a good thing. it's cheap, inexpensive way to mix things up a bit. >> what's with fewer first dates, though, being a sign of the economy? >> come on, guys. this is a funny one. when the economy is down, dating sites do very well. when we're feeling good, dating sites don't do well. so it's an interest fashion nom none here. match.com for example, fourth quarter 2008 is busiest in seven years. when the economy was at its worst. >> and with when the dow hit a five-year low back in november, it's the second busiest weekend of the year. so basically what that tells you, i guess, misery loves company or we're pajamas online for love. >> i guess. >> i'm not.

advanced holiday book sales is another one. something else to look out for, having more babies. what's that? >> having more babies. in recessionary times, we have fewer babies. once we start seeing people having more babiebabies, once w people getting divorced more, a lot of people staying in marriage because it's expensive to get divorced. once we start eating -- >> you have more money, you can bail on the marriage. >> people are reluctant to get divorced because the housing values have taken such a big hit. they're still trying to recoup the losses from the stock market. so they're staying together often in different ends of the house. >> what about cosmetic surgery? >> that's down now. fewer liposuction procedures, fewer botox procedures. when that starts going up again, that will be a sign the recovery may be taking hold. we have been cutting out on that or spreading our sessions between going to the doctors and getting inspection jectijection else people do. >> fun things. interesting report on jeans. and that's a wrap to our

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get the picture. a young girl convinced she was born in the wrong body. >> i would never imagine growing up as a girl. i would imagine myself as a man. >> a desperate mother who needs help. >> i didn't have a clue what to do. >> a woman for half a century afraid to transition. >> always these tragic cases of people who had transitioned and lost everything. >> across genders and generations, these lives connect and change in ways that nobody could have imagined. >> i wasn't expecting that curveball. i just had to think for a minute, like, what is he telling me?

>> okay. ready? thank you almighty god for this delicious food. amen. >> i almost forgot the words. >> at first glance, this looks like the typical all-american family, a sunday dinner with everyone gathered and the table. but typical may not be the best way to describe them. gina, the 13-year-old daughter, is bipolar, and her 9-year-old brother has autism. but it was chris' problem that would throw anyone for a loop. chris was born a girl but from an early age has wanted to be a boy. >> fix your bed. >> karina maurie was a single mom who didn't know how to cope. >> i was very concerned about chris' future. when i met with the doctor in new york who did the evaluation