next on "msnbc saturday," the victim and the voyeur. a man secretly recording, now under arrest. also ahead, blackmail boomerang? unanswer pd questions about the accused letterman sex tortionor. and swine flu, why they may not all be concerned about the virus.

♪ and it's a doggone internet hit. a dog of a rapper and a collection of cute pups. good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt. all that plus how a cell phone can save a life and perhaps take a life. first, this developing story. an arrest in the case involving sports reporter erin andrews. the woman secretly videotaped nude while in her hotel room. police say they've arrested 48-year-old michael baron in chicago facing federal charges of interstate stalking for trying to sell videos to tmz and posting videos online. and his attorneys say they're "determined to press criminal charges against those responsible for the invasion of erin's privacy when alone in her hotel room. it is now clear she was the vick testimony of stalking and invasion of privacy at more than

one location." joining me live from boston, profiler clint van zandt. >> good to be with you. >> we're told the suspect, michael, allegedly filmed erin through a peephole in her hotel room. how can somebody do that and how sophisticated does this have to be? >> alex, if you and i think of the average width of an hotel door, say an inch wide. purposes of analysis, here's a ball-point pen i took apart. if this were the peephole device, one part in the inside, one in the outside and it screws together. what this guy did, unscrewed it, cut part of it off so only one of two threads would hold it and once erin got in the room, he would sneak up to the outside of the door, unscrew this, take it out, take his cell phone camera, put it up against the door and then film about 40 seconds of her in the room. crude, dumb, stupid, immature and criminal.

>> okay. but i'm wondering about the hotel's responsibility for not allowing this to happen, or for putting in the kinds of peepholes that this thing can't be unscrewed and, you know -- is the hotel liable for any of this? >> part of it is that they have a special tool that it takes to back this off. it's just like maybe one of the lug on the wheels of your car. it takes a special tool to take that lug off. same type of thing with the people on a door. you know, what it tells us, alex, is if there's a way to invade your privacy, people will do it, and it says, maybe when you and i and others travel, stay in a hotel room, take duct tape it put it over the top of that peephole in a room. it's a terrible thing to have to do, because this happens maybe once or twice on her, but perhaps there's other victims out there, too. >> i was shaking my head when you said that. like everything you got to pack for a trip anyway, get your duct tape to make sure you're not

secretly taped in your room. i'm curious how prevalent this is? people being recorded in places they believe to be secure? >> i think a lot of this goes on. every internet site and catalog you get, i get them in the mail because of my background in the fbi security catalogs and their clocks and video devices that you can conceal in your home, and it says you know, for a security purposes, but you don't have to go very far to think of somebody putting these in a hotel room or something else, and secretly recording. i mean, there used to be the time you heard about honeymoon lodges. people go back a year or two later and all of a sudden click on the tv and there would be a video of them on their honeymoon night. somebody can take these pictures anytime they want to, unfortunately. >> okay. next time we talk, we'll talk more about michael barret and what he's facing now. thanks very much. new details about the alleged extortion case of

late-night talk show host david letterman. cbs producer robert joe halderman is free today after posting $200,000 bail. if convicted he faces up to 15 years in prison for allegedly trying to blackmailerman. with more details, starting to emerge about david letterman and his affair, let's go right now, joining me here, rehema ellis and good morning to you. what's the latest on all this? >> as you point out, the 51-year-old robert halderman, he did post bail, $200,000, and then he left the courthouse without talking to reporters. he left it for his attorney to do the talking for him. >> this story is far more complicated than what you heard this afternoon. this story is far more complicated than that two-minute statement by the assistant district attorney, but, again, it's not time to discuss it. there is noir side to the story. i'm not telling it today. there is another side to the story. it's not the open and shut case that you just heard about. >> now, his client, halderman,

charged with a messy and bizarre effort to blackmail david letterman for $2 million. the case forced the late night host to make an awkward on-air confession that he had had sex with women on his staff and the "new york times" is reporting representatives of the show say that one of the women is letterman's longtime personal assistant stephanie burkett who also appeared on the air. it's also reported now that the connection here between halderman and letterman might be the woman burkett. she was until recently that is last month, she was living with halderman and the paper says according to executives with letterman's company worldwide pants, that letterman's relationship with burkett ended before he was married in march to the woman who he had dated for many years, and also worked for him, and they now have a young son together. >> okay. now, there's also details about dating interns? is that -- did i read correctly? >> you did. there talk there was an intern whom he dated, but it says that

none of the women that he dated reportedly were under age at the time. so that, at this point, does not seem to be an issue in this case. >> okay. so how much is cbs concerned that there may be some sort of a neb beauxous area here? he's the boss and these women that will be consensual, that's fine. certain age requirements that have been meta won't produce legal problems but the other line here? >> one of the things, number one, he doesn't work for cbs. he works for worldwide pants, his own company, of course, it airs on cbs. will is some sort of contractual agreement going on between them, and people are suggesting that cbs now has an obligation to conduct an investigation. to try to find out more precisely what are these connections? because people will start to wonder, if there was any force, any coercion, while there have been no reports, none whatsoever, that any kind of force or coercion happened in these relationships, there are

those who will wonder, was there a quid pro quo in terms of people getting favors for anything they might have done for him on a personal level? again, you want to point out, no allegations to that whatsoever. >> awkward time there, for worldwide pants, perhaps. thanks so much. a newborn baby boy snatched from his tennessee home by someone posing as an immigration agent found alive and well in alabama. the woman suspected of taking the baby is now in custody and questioned by police. authorities say surveillance video from a walmart parking lot helped track her down. the baby's mother says the suspect entered her natural home tuesday, posing as an agent. then stabbed her with a kitchen knife before taking the baby. the mother is now recovering from that stabbing attack. new this morning, three villages wiped out in indonesia by landslides foleyi infollowin massive earthquake. hundreds still buried. more from this disaster area in

indonesia. ian joined us the last couple of days. let's get up to date. what can you tell us is going on right now there? >> reporter: well, these were confirming the worst fears of many of those involved in this rescue effort. we had thought that many places, remote places closer to the epicenter would have been hit hardest, but information coming in has been very partial, been very scant and hard news from those areas. these reports carried by indonesian media suggest villages have been devastated by a landslide, and several hundred people have perished. now, the main concentration of the efforts of the rescue workers have been in the panang city itself. pictures of those who may be still alive under the rubble. rescuers arrives from 14

different countries bringing dogs, sophisticated equipment, generators. one, a hotel that collapsed here, where they have heard sounds which they think indicate people that are still alive under the rubble. even an s.o.s. message from somebody there. telling them, be careful with the moving equipment. efforts are concentrated in the city here, encouraged by the dramatic rescue yesterday of two young women at a college in the city, but most of thee efforts are in the city. what we're now discovering is in the outlying areas. areas that have been cut off. the damage, the devastation, the human suffering is perhaps far more than we feared, and clearly rescue efforts will now have to concentrate on trying to get to these remote areas about which we still know very little, alex. >> we'll speak with you again

for more. for all of you to get more what's happening in the indonesian recovery effort, check out msnbc.com. let's go to politics now and after five hours in koeppen hague's pushing for a chicago olympic games the president returns to the u.s. empty-handed and facing a growing krcriticis for taking the trip in the first place. good morning, mike. >> reporter: good morning. >> what do you think went wrong here? >> reporter: well, conservatives, you're right, are sort of crowing today and yesterday after the president and the united states, the bid from chicago was rejected by the international olympic committee. the eagle has landed, what -- ego has landed, one conservative website. world rejects obama. the president announced earlier in the week he would personally after all go to copenhagen, make this pitch. the first lady was already there. he came under attack from republican leader john boehner saying he's the president of the united states, not the mayor of chicago. this was the head of the trip, the white house wanted everybody to know this was going to be a

short trip. just going to be overseas overnight. less than 24 hours. no one would miss a thing. they went so far as to schedule a meeting with general mcchrystal on the tarmac in copenhagen aboard air force one. released a photo of that. so everyone could see the president could multitask. there for a relatively brief time and while he was on his way back, of course, announced chicago not only lost, they came in last. the president immediately went to the rose garden upon returning to andrews air force base here in washington and said, this is a parallel to sports. there are metaphors. you can pull your best game and still lose. that's the lesson. let's hear what else he had to say. >> i believe it's always a worthwhile endeavor to promote and boost the united states of america. and invite the world to come see what we're all about. we obviously would have been eager to host these games, but as i said, this nation and our athletes are still very much excited to compete in 2016.

>> reporter: so there's no question there's a little egg on the president's face, especially the way they were so soundly rejected coming in last. it remains to be seen whether this is just going to be a public relations blitz or whether this is going to give opponents even more ammunition to attack the president. as we head into a fall with an incredibly busy schedule, afghanistan, health care, climate change, iraq and the jobless numbers that just came out yesterday all on the president agenda, alex. >> okay. mike, as always, thank you so much. >> reporter: certainly. just ahead, the new fear factor. a new poll on fighting the vaccine. what do people think about giving it a shot? >> alarm is on. >> a weird sound. >> it's a scare factor at the movies. a little flick providing big chills. you'll see why this movie is being compared to one of the

greatest of its kind. you're watching "msnbc saturday." the swine flus va

set to be available in a few days. more than half of u.s. adults say they will get the vaccine for themselves. the survey by the harvard school of public health also shows 7a% of adults plan to guess their children vaccinated but the numbers conflict with a study from earlier in the week showing only 35% of americans would definitely have their children vaccinated. a look now at election day '0, fast approaching. two big governor races providing enough drama for the whole country. i'm joined by a staff writer for "roll call." >> thanks for having me.

>> republican chris christie's lead is narrowing lead be jon core vooin by 4%. jon corzine. a statistical tie according to reports. what's going on? >> a lot of disgruntled new jersey voters concerned about taxes and the economic situation in new jersey. heavily impacted by the wall street crash. these voters care where their money is going and you might take a lot of that anger out on jon corzine. a quick note about the polls. they show chris christie in the lead. polling in new jersey has been cyclical. we have something we joke about, the jersey discount. republicans are often overpolled. we can count the race certainly as a statistical tie right now. >> what about the debate? those candidates had their first one this week. who came out on top? >> i think it was a draw. alex, i really do. mostly what i've heard from reports about the debate, it was

quite civil considering the rest of the tone at the campaign. people are talking about the independent candidates who have been polling somewhere in between 7% and 12% after the debate. people are really talking about this guy. granted, he doesn't have a huge chance of winning. basically no chance of winning, but could make an impact on the race if he continues to gain momentum. >> how about the you impact president obama is having on the race somewhere out there for corzine. is this a referendum on him? >> i think corzine made it a refer ren dull on him, incidentally. you've seen him with billboards, sign, ads, trying to tie himself as much as he can to president obama. interesting contrast compared to virginia, which we'll talk about in a second. i don't think the democratic candidate has done that there as all. >> you brought up virginia. let's go there. seven points ahead of the democrats. that's 51% -- how is this?

>> we'll see the race to continue to narrow as voters get to another each candidate a little more. this is going to be a very tight race. i think it will come down to 3%, maybe 2% in the end. a very, very close race. >> okay. we've got mcdonald, launching tv ads to respond to reports about a thesis he wrote back in 189 saying that working women, 1989, were a detriment to the american family. take a look at this. >> half the deputy attorneys general mcdonnell awon'ted were women, putting women in positions of authority. trust women like me. professional women and working mothers. women bob mcdonnell trusts to protect virginia. >> so does that put the issue to rest? will people no more talk about that one from 1989? >> oh, it actually further the issue. that's a fabulous ad. a really strong ad. great pushback on the mcdonnell

campaign. this is focussing on the female vote now. they have to drive out independent voters and female vote frers across the commonwealth. and this is what they're going to continue to hammer as part of their campaign. very important to the campaign. >> how about the presidential influence in this campaign? how much does president obama have? >> surprisingly, not that much. i think we can look at the results of this election as kind of a referendum on president obama, but obama's not been that involved in this race at all. not like new jersey, where jon corzine is splattering billboards everywhere with his picture and president obama. because of the nature of the state, virginia traditionally more conservative than new jersey has not distanced himself, but a healthy amount of space between himself and president obama. >> thank you. >> thanks for having me. a fright fest of a flick at the movies. you probably heard little or nothing about it, but you will in a moment here on "msnbc saturday."on ? yeah.

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a new movie giving many audience members the creeps this weekend. paranormal activity. invaded by a strange and unwelcome guest. set out to find out what's going bump in the night. wrap they find is anything but a friendly ghost. let's check it out. >> alarm is on. >> mommy -- >> what is it? >> join me with sonny bunch. >> good morning. >> were you scared when you saw the movie? >> it is pretty terrifying. i meep, especially terrifying because it's set at night in bedrooms. you know, it's something that everybody can kind of identify with. >> it's all set in this one house. doesn't go outside the house? >> it is almost entirely set with this one house. they go out to the patio once, but, yes.

>> so tell me about the story here. what's it all about? some sort of a demon possessing the house or the people? or both? >> well, the back story is that it's a couple who is moving in together for the first time, and the girl has apparently been kind of haunted by this demon for her entire life. she you know, the back story, she mentioned seeing it when she was 8 and 13, now again. it's come back with a vengeance. now that she has a man in her life and they're living together. >> so is the style of the film, is it -- trying to look like a reality show? or those kind of documentaries that we see on, you know, about ghosts or channels -- does it look like a real movie? there's a difference? >> no. yes, it definitely looks like kind of a faux documentary style. people remember "the blair witch project," shot from real life. a disclaimer saying, paramount pictures wishes to thank the san diego police department for

gives us the footage. not real, real. it's fake real. >> you mentioned "blair witch project" became a classic a decade ago. does this have the same kind of potential? >> i don't know that it has the same box office potential. i mean, "blair witch project" made $140 million, shocking, pretty much to everybody. this definitely has potential, though. we're seeing it right now. it's playing on few screens but it's per showing average is through the roof. >> does that mean it will go to more screens? does it have potential to pick up speed and go nationwide? >> could easily go nationwide. they're running an interesting campaign on the website to get people to demand to have the movie come to their town and go to the website, click a button and say we want it to come to topeka, or wherever. it's expanded from 13 screens to 33 this week and my guess is from the audience i was with, which was entirely full at midnight on a thursday, this movie is going to you know, keep

expanding slowly and gradually and it could end up being a serious moneymaker for paramount. >> we'll see what happens. sonny brunch from "washington times "thanks so much. >> absolutely. we'll turn our attention to the battle over health care reform. the senate appears to be settling on a plan, but does it provide the choice, as promised? we're talking to to a member of the finance committee coming up here on "msnbc saturday." you and your tasty whole grain. this can only end one way. (crunch) wheat thins. toasted. whole grain. crunch. have at it. great looking skin... it's in the dna. [ female announcer ] new regenerist dna cream with spf 25 doesn't just correct. it helps protect your dna without a $200 department store price tag. olay regenerist.

s in. >> announcer: is the place for politics. and new this morning on the heels of a report showing 263,000 jobs lost in september, president obama says the key to create new jobs is het care reform. the president says new insurance rules would give people the confidence to strike out on their own and start new businesses. >> this is something i hear about from entrepreneurs i meet. people who have a good idea and expertise and determination to build it into a thriving

business, but many can't take that leap because they can't afford to lose the health insurance they had with their current job. >> for a reality check now on where health reform stands, it still could help you, joined live from washington by democrat ron widen from oregon. thanks for joining us. you want insurance exchanges through which people through their employers or elsewhere can look and find what works best for them. you say creating that kind of competition keeps prices down. how is that received? >> at this point, we've got a long way to go to get it done, and what i'm trying to do is in line with what the president of the united states says, at every rally on health care. you should get the same deal that members of congress gets. now, members of congress get access to more than a dozen good quality, affordable choices, where insurance companies can't discriminate against them. under this legislation, more

than 200 million americans would get no choice at all. if they're insurance company was abusing them, they'd be stuck and wouldn't get choice. >> senator wyden, seems simple. what you're saying makes sense. of course, it's not simple. where is the hangup? >> the hangup is essentially some of the people who control the money. i call them the status quo caucus. they're in big business, they're the insurance companies. certainly some in labor. they don't want to give up control. you've got them running these programs. they're on top of all of the money. if workers have more choices, the way i want, the way the president says they ought to have at all of these rally, that's threatening to them. so we're going to have to beat the special interests. i think we can do it, because i think once the american people find out that they're not going to get choice, even though they're members of congress -- their members of congress have lots of quality choices, they'll say that's a bad deal and insist

they get the same shake we do in congress. >> even your fellow democrats, the chairman here, senator max baucus. i mean, he, he's opposed to what you're saying. how much pushback is there from people with your own party? >> there is no question that the biggest lobbies in the country, they are going to fight relentlessly to keep more than 200 million americans from getting choice. i understand that. i understand that we're taking on some of the most powerful lobbies in the country, but i come from oregon. we're independent. we stand up for what's right. we want to make sure that everybody gets a fair shake, and when the president says at every rally in the country you ought to get the same deal as the members of congress gets, tha is the biggest applause line. we're going to make sure in the legislation that gets done. >> so without your proposal here, though, will that happen? >> without my legislation, alex, more than 200 million americans

are going to be stripped of the right of choice. more than 200 million americans will not get the same kind of opportunities their members of congress get, if they're insurance company is abusing them, ripping them off, denying them coverage for something that is obviously in their policy, they're going to be stuck. the only people who are going to get choice, it's only going to be about 12 million or 15 million people, are those that are unemployed, uninsured, maybe itty, bitty businesses. that's not good enough. it's not health reform. it's not real change unless the president gets everything the president is promises at those rally, good quality insurance so we can finally hold the companies accountable. >> any chance between now and the final bill we'll have that happen? >> i've been encouraged about some of the conversations i've had in the last 24 hours. i had a chance to talk with senator reid, for example yesterday. i won't put words in his mouth, but i think he knows that more

needs to be done to hold insurance companies accountable. right now in parts of the country, you've got one insurance company dominating much of the market. it's the final piece of health care legislation says to the american people if your insurance company is ripping you off, then you have no choice. no opportunity, to get these alternatives, the way members of congress have. the american people are going to say, that's not reform, and i think they'll come after congress with pitchforks. >> how watered down is this bill compared to the original proposal that hopes for it at the outset? >> there is a lot of heavy lifting to do for it to be the kind of real change that the president has promised. he and i have talked a number of times recently. i think he understands that. what he wants to do is get the bill out of the senate finance committee, and i think he'll have more capacity to influence the process after that. but we do have to do better.

it's clear, there's not enough being done to control cost. that's the biggest thing the american people are concerned about. you don't have enough competition. you don't have enough choice and, by the way, in relation to what the president is talking about today, with my proposal, you could take your coverage with you. if you lose your job, or you want other opportunities, your coverage ought to be portable. right now that's not the case with my proposal you could take your coverage with you. >> all right. oregon democratic senator ron wyden. thank you for making the time for "msnbc saturday." appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. for the latest details on where health "form stands now logon to msnbc.com. let's go now to the southeast and the fallout from the flooding there. mounds of debris and trash clogging many of the lakes and rivers. this junk traveled an estimated 70 miles from atlanta via the, oh, yeah, like i'm going to say this right. chattahoochee? i think i stead right. did that right, good? to the alabama border. the cleanup efforts are ongoing.

>> very good. >> thanks for that, meteorologist bill karins. chattahoochee. >> having trouble saying that word. >> i know. >> let's talk a little about what's going on out there this saturday. good morning to alex and to everyone out there. our weather, we have wet spots, but the big concern, weather concern, actually globally today. two typhoons out there, one in the philippines again. remember, the area that got devastated about a week, week and a half ago. they're getting hit by a typhoon as we speak. another typhoon, melar out there further out in the pacific. the position of these storms, weak end up in southern taiwan. looks like the other one to hit somewhere close to japan in a day or two. overall, i think we've seen the worst of it. bring you back hope, what's happening here. a wet morning, boston, the province, all of cape cod, much of outer long island drenched. that rains continues a while longer and should end. big football weekend in the state of michigan.

michigan/michigan state. big game. showers for that game. temperatures, cool, in the 50s. other areas of wet weather, arizona. southern new mexico. very unusual, connected a little bit to a weak system in the pacific. down around tucson, south and southern portions of new mexico, you have a little bit of rainfall. your saturday forecast goes like this -- new england, a little bit of rain in new york, but a lot of rain around boston, providence. san antonio, wet weather for you. alex, the beautiful spots, atlanta, denver and, alex, you've been in the rockies this time of year. the aspen leaves are at their peak there. incredible, if you haven't done it before. i know you have. >> yeah. >> fantastic. >> okay. bill karins, thank you very much, for the mental picture there. a wet northeast, snowy northwest. read all about it on our website, weather.com. what is next for afghanistan? will president obama's be wrestling with conflicting opinions from top advisers about the way forward in afghanistan. with violence there on the rise, the president is considering

shifting course in the eight-year old war. with me now, retired army analyst jack jacobs. good morning, colonel. >> good morning. >> general mcchrystal in london repeated his need for more troops. let's take a listen. >> the situation is serious, and i choose that word very, very carefully. we need to reverse the current trends and time does matter. waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome. >> very clear at saying this effort will not remain winnable indefinitely. that the situation is in some ways deteriorating. how unusual is that blatant of a criticism? >> very usual. especially given back and forth on the subject over the last couple of weeks to have officials of any kind, but particularly uniformed officials, to batter around options in public and affectively cast gate each other for being wrong.

don't forget also that i think general mcchrystal's criticism is not just of the president and his procrastination determining what to do and have to do, it's also a criticism of the previous administration. don't forget that the bush administration had the bad guys on the run, then diverted resources into iraq, and we spent five years not paying any attention to what was going on in afghanistan. that's at least one cause of the situation as it exists today. general mcchrystal's criticism of decision-makers generally. not just this one. >> talk about the timing of the president meeting with general mcchrystal, 25 minutes there on the ground in copenhagen. in coincidence to the timing? this speech may be demand for that meeting? >> i'm too old to believe in coincidences anymore. i think it's, my guess is that the request for mcchrystal's presence on air force one in copenhagen when the president came back to the united states

was caused by at least partially general mcchrystal's statement in london, and i think the two had a very clear talk about what was going to happen next. doesn't mean necessarily the president will decide any time soon. as a matter of fact, i think it's going to be unlikely we'll get a decision in the next couple of weeks. >> okay. colonel jack jacobs, more later this morning. >> you bet. still ahead a new twist in the madoff family saga. now it's about getting even. in the cross hairs, we'll explain on "msnbc saturday." [ female announcer ] if you're using the leading sensitivity toothpaste, you may be missing some of the protection you need. only crest pro-health protects against sensitivity and all these areas in a single, all-in-one toothpaste. ♪ crest pro-health.

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the ongoing recovery efforts in the samoan islands, a powerful tsunami slammed american and western samoa, leaving widespread destruction and responsible for hurn hurns of deaths. more aid is pouring in to help survivors. live to nbc's george lewis there in lay oney, american samoa. good morning to you. what's the latest from here? >> reporter: the latest from here, alex, this town of about

3,000 is one-third gone. you can see the destruction around me, and all up and down the southern coast's american samoa there are villages that have just been wiped out completely by the tsunami. the officials who are here, about 245 federal disaster relief workers, and the local government, are now saying that the search and rescue part of the effort is over. they think they have found the bodies of just about every victim killed here. the death toll here at american samoa standing at 32. remarkably low considering the widespread devastation. a lot of people, when 3e they felt the earth move, when they felt the initial earthquake headed for high ground. they knew to do that. the governor said they drilled for that and as a matter of fact on tuesday the day of the tsunami, there was another one of those drills scheduled a few hours after the tsunami hit. so they were well practiced and most people got to the higher ground. the big issue now is the

rebuilding effort, getting the infrastructure back in shape. it will be at least a month in some areas before the power is turned back on. there are bridges out along the roads. those have got to be rebuilt. communications re-established. there's a lot of work ahead. fema set up offices here in american samoa so people can start applying for disaster aid as soon as that is all in place. alex? >> okay. george lewis there live for us in leone. thank you very much. for more on what's happening in the samoan islands, check out msnbc.com. let's go to politics now. most economists say the recession is probably over but the latest jobs report reminds us that is not the reality many americans are living in. in his recent address to the nation this morning, president obama reacts to news that 263,000 more american jobs banished in september bringing the total loss during the recession to 7.2 million. >> yesterday's report on

september job losses was a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts, and that we will need to grind out this recovery step by step. >> i'm joined now live from the white house by nbc's athena jones. a good saturday morning to you. what is it the white house can say to convince americans that the economy is improving, that its policies are helping? >> reporter: good morning, alex. that's a very good question. when you see the unemployment rate in september reach 9.8%, that's the highest rate since june 1983. it makes it kind of hard to argue things are improving. of course, as you heard the president say, the real recovery comes in fits and starts. vice president biden said there will be peaks and vaems in this process, but we will recover. they want the american public to take the long view. the beginning of the year, the first quarter, the economy was losing an average of 700,000 job as month. that in the most recent quarter, that number is 250,000. there is improvement there in the long view. but if you look month to month

to month, between august and september, the economy cut 62,000 more jobs in september than in august. so on the month-to-month basis, it's lard to make that case. especially since we saw weakness across several sectors. construction, retail, the service sector. so as minority leader mitch mcconnell said, if things are improving on the economy front, the american people judge this by whether or not they have a job. so that's the argument that the white house needs to convince people, that the stimulus package is works and obama said yesterday and this morning he's working close with his economic team to explore any and all opposites to create jobs. the question, what will the opposites be? >> a good point. do they describe in detail at all the kinds of jobs they claim they have created? >> reporter: well, certainly when you look at the stimulus product, you have vice president biden having regular meetings, regular contact with governors and mayors. a lot of the stimulus projects

are infrastructure jobs, clean energy jobs giving states and localities money to invest in clean energy technology. so they say that the stimulus is created up to 1 million jobs, up to 1 million jobs but you can see what's on the other side. the problem there, businesses that thought things were going well are now going to salem think twice now about rehiring and wait and see how things go. >> athena from the white house, thanks. couple items in our list of number ones. we begin with the best golfer in the world, tiger woods, the legend on the links becoming the first athlete in the world to earn $1 billion, that is according to an estimate by "forbes" magazine and considering he's only 33, woods could reach $2 billion before he calls it a career. ♪ back in late 2008 the thing that was all the rage millions of you watched puppies ♪

>> puppies, rapper snoop dog and puppies have become an internet sensation and the top viral video the song is called "live on the internet" and the puppies are sheba -- i got the river right but not sure i did so well on that one. those are some of today's number ones. we'll be right back. , you'll send your old duster packing. ♪ love stinks! ♪ yeah! yeah! ♪ love stinks ♪ [ female announcer ] swiffer 360 dusters cleans deep into hard to reach places and removes allergens, feather dusters can leave behind. the thick all around fibers trap and lock on contact. swiffer gives cleaning a deep new meaning. exact change, buddy. ♪ love stinks! as the decades have past, the promise of medicare has always been there. and aarp has fought to guarantee

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chicago has the president, the first lady, it even had oprah, but in the end the 2016 olympics bid came up short and many were stunned by their city's exit in the first round of voting. >> for it to be over that quickly, that stunningly fast, it just -- it's heartbreaking. >> i am surprised and i'm very disappointed. >> going to bring a lot of work, lot of construction and a lot of jobs. >> i just don't feel good about it. >> chicagoan and chief barack

obama said he's glad he went to copenhagen because it's always a worth while endeavor to promote the u.s. did he take a hit. joining me live from washington, david hawkings managing editor of "cq weekly." good morning to you. >> good morning. >> is this an embarrassment for the president? >> well, i think embarrassment is a little bit of a strong word, but it certainly was a political miscalculation, it would seem. generally the president just two weeks ago said he was too busy to go to copenhagen, needed to focus on health care, valerie jarrett, his white house advisor, big booster of chicago, like the president, persuaded him to change his mind and go to copenhagen, somewhat at the last minute, and it appears as though they -- they obviously miscalculated and thought the united states and rio were going to be the top two among the four cities left and they were, obviously, wrong. >> of course, had chicago not won, the president had not gone, i mean then what the argument

would have been, he should have gone, right? >> that's clearly the president's argument, that presumably i think he's probably safe in saying that the united states, chicago, was not going to get the olympics, not as though he's a rival backfired. i don't think anyone is suggesting that. a little sense maybe it was too much of a flyby and five hours wasn't enough and should have spent more time glad handing. it didn't backfire. the white house' view is the president would have looked even worse had he not gone. then people could have monday morning quarterbacked if he only showed up they would have beaten rio. >> the leaders of the other countries were there too. just because our president has a lot on his plate, i'm sure the other presidents or leaders have a lot are on their plates as well. >> seems to have worked in the past, the assessment was that when tony blair showed up a few years ago, he, for england, for lunden, he made the difference

in london's bid, and vladimir putin, the president of russia showed up unexpectedly and pushed it over the line for a little town in russia which is getting the winter games in 2014. so now, being the head of state and going to bid for your olympic town, seems to be almost obligatory. but it he left the president open to a lot of criticism from the republican side. >> you know, dave, i would ask you quick, we're politics people and we talk about international politics, but is it possible we have overlooked the internal politics of the ioc as being what this is all about? >> probably so. i don't pretend to understand the politics of the ioc and the u.s., the united states olympic committee, but from what i've read it's not very good and there's a lot of resentment towards the united states olympic committee and maybe this has something to do with it too. >> david hawkings, thanks so much. sure. >> a toy story that could get ugly but probably not for people opening their wallets.

we'll explain that ahead on "msnbc saturday." it's not always easy living with copd, but i try not to let it hold me back... whether i'm at the batting cages... down by the lake or... fishing at the shore. i'm breathing better... with spiriva. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms.