the twitter sensation has written a book. pressure? get married when you want. your wedding is just another day i can't wear sweat pants. justin halpern joins us. all the news and commentary now on "countdown." good evening from new york. the man accused of trying to detonate a car bomb blocks from here in times square under arrest tonight formally charged with terrorism and tried to use a weapon of mass destruction. authorities in pakistan arrested seven or eight people. in our fifth story, if it looked like the american suspect faisal shahzad might have been able to leave the country undetected his own mistakes seem ultimately to blame for bringing him down. shahzad who lives in bridgeport, connecticut, on his way to jfk airport when he made a reservation to on an em rates

airliner. when he got to kennedy having boarded the flight, the doors having closed before they were abruptly opened and shahzad hauled off by customs and border patrol agent. the plane pulling away before this further control. >> i have a message for you to go back to the gate immediately. so make the left turn when able. uh, 22, 202. turning around. >> hi, emirates 202, making the left turn on to echo, alpha, back to the ramp. i don't know why. you can call your company for the reason. >> i'll do that. back to the gate. >> yes. whatever is convenient. >> after that mundane exchange, two more passengers taken off the plane questioned about their travel documents, a criminal search ended at midnight at

kennedy airport 53 1/2 hours later. many questioning how shahzad was able to board that flight in the first place having been placed on the no-fly list monday morning. a senior u.s. official saying the reservation and ticketing process should have been enough to keep shahzad off the airplane, if not then when he was issued a boarding past. when the final manifest was submitted to customs the agent caught the name. the ates knew from the wealth of clues he left behind. the vehicle registration on the car still there. because the poorly designed bomb never had a chance of going off and destroying that evidence. the accurate e-mail address shahzad gave to the college student who sold the vehicle to him. they found out what he looked like from a photo he posted on facebook. in the undamaged suv keys to his house and another car.

a prepaid phone card arranging the purchase of the car and call a fireworks dealer in pennsylvania. fireworks a key component of the bomb and fertilizer, but the kind that did not detonate. shahzad providing evidence before and after he received miranda rights. including he received training in pakistan. the fbi saying shahzad was questioned under the public safety exception to the miranda rule, read his miranda rights and he continued to cooperate after that reading. >> suffice to say he provided valuable information and as the attorney general noted he was mirandized later and continued to cooperate and provide valuable information. >> president obama saying if the aim of terrorism is to stoke fear this attempted attack failed in more ways than one. >> we know the aim of those who try to carry out these attacks

is to force us to live in fear and thereby amplifying the effects of their attacks. as americans and as a nation, we will not be terrorized. we will not cower in fear. we will not be intimidated. we will be vigilant and we will work together and we will protect and defend the country we love to ensure a safe and prosperous future for our people. >> let's turn to michael sheehan, former counterterror official for the city of new york. thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> what does this saga tell you about the quality of training being given at these so-called camps and the quality of the trainees? >> well, cleerm, the train yes was a good recruit, a naturalized citizen, a guy with a masters degree. he was able to travel. how he bungled this is a mystery. the training camps, some of them are very, very good. they are conducting sophisticated attacks in afghanistan and pakistan. suicide bombs all the time.

this guy, whatever training program he went to failed or he was asleep in class. >> do we assume he was working off verbal instructions and forgot key details or was it possible that the level of the instruction wherever he was was so poor they didn't know what they were doing either let alone he didn't know what he was doing? >> keith the design of the makeshift bomb wasn't good. using fire crackers isn't very sophisticated. this was clearly not the "a" team forces. they have capability. he didn't get his way into up with of those courses. he was new to the organization, self-recruited, self-identified and didn't get the training or forgot something in his panic. by the way, keith, that happens in some attacks. in my book i talk about how some killers can bungle their way and still have violent attacks. it is not that unusual a guy makes mistakes. >> the more mistakes you make,

the more likely you are not to accomplish your goal but to get caught doing it. >> exactly right. in many cases these terrorists make mistakes and get caught. hopefully this leads back to the groups that prepared him in pakistan. a few arrested in pakistan. it remains to see if they can roll up infrastructure. >> speaking of mistakes, was there a mistake being made with him getting as close as he did to getting out of the country? >> when the final manifest is prepared, it changes at the last minute, the final manifest is always checked against the no-fly. it worked. there were opportunities to check before that and that needs to be scrubbed. the final check worked and we were able to pull this guy off the plane. >> was anybody improved in that process from detroit where they know they missed keeping him off the flight to detroit by a matter of minutes. >> i have some concerns, keith, that this needs to be reviewed.

why wasn't this guy name was on the watch list, why hadn't he been picked up by tsa during the booking. it is not a catastrophic failure. they found him in the last check. getting civil aviation right you have to be really focused. needs to be reviewed and correct any errors that might have happened before. >> one assumes the idea of him getting away and free to dubai, just a matter of minutes, however there a long flight to dubai, that time plus the landing. the emirates would have turned him back over, would they not? >> absolutely. if his name had been identified from when the door closed to when he was in dubai, we have a good relationship with them. he would have been sent back. >> what do you infer of being proactive and reactive based on the elapsed time? >> the reaction was tremendous.

nypd and fbi guys were all over that car. they knew to go to the vin number. they knew that would lead to the owner of the car. that went to the sale, back to the internet, to the individual. like clockwork cops working around the clock. it worked pretty well, keith. >> i don't want to get too political, but as a function of tamping down fear, what did you think of this president saying -- congratulating the police in this city, the residents in this city and saying this is not a country who is going to be terrified or terrorized. >> i think he got it right on. if we overreact we amplify the attack of the terrorism. terrorism is an instrument of the weak and cowards. they are attacking our psyche. if we overreact to a terrorist attack we are playing into their hands, amplifying their power. i think he got that message right. by the way, keith, new yorkers get this. they know they live in a city of

risk. it is a city, life is full of risks. new yorkers get it. we shouldn't cower in fear. this city, the day after this attempt there were 10,000 bicycles riding through times square. i thought that was great. >> former counterterrorism official michael sheehan, thank you. authorities questioned shahzad before and after having read him his miranda rights using the public safety exception to the miranda rule as grounds to initial questions. republicans not letting the facts stand in the way of their rapid attempt to politicize how the arrest has been handled. senator cornyn says if someone acts like a terrorist and cooperates with intent against the united states they should be treated as terrorists and not as a common criminal and should not be read miranda. shahzad is a citizen of the united states. he was naturalized april 17, 2009. in an interview, senator john mccain said it would be a

serious mistake to remind shahzad of his right to remain silent until all the information is gathered. congressman peter king, the top republican on the homeland security committee telling politico.com he wants to know whether the justice department consulted with the intelligence committee before they decided to hold his trial in civilian court. shahzad an american citizen to which pete king said, i know he is an american citizen, but still. lots to talk about with general eaton, who was in charge of training the iraqi military 2003 and 2004 and a senior adviser at the national security network. general eaton, thank you for being here. >> keith, thanks for the invitation. i'm surprised we are here to defend our constitution against a republican senator and republican representative's attack on it. >> you heard those remarks. they were short of demanding the times square suspect should not have been read miranda. it makes them sound tough on

national security. what is the practical result of saying something like the? >> from a national security perspective it is damaging. right now the fbi and police forces are looking over their shoulder every time they hear a republican come off with a remark like that. we've got to reinforce our men in blue and our men in suits that they're doing a great job, they're doing the right thing, following procedures, they are following the law. we are a nation of laws. so we know what we're doing. >> do you have a sense of the motive for comments like these? obviously, my tendency is to attribute this to pure politics. do you see anything else behind it? >> it is a purely partisan approach. they are after trying to frustrate the president and his role as providing for the national security. in so doing they are attacking the viability of the national security of the united states. so rather than rallying around the flag, rather than avoiding a

divisive approach, they've chosen to go off the reservation and they are doing a bad job. >> attacking the national security violate of the united states. break that down for us. what do you mean exactly by that? >> one of the most important things we have going for us, before our own citizens and the citizens of the world is our judicial process is our state of law, our constitution. and the president is demonstrating strength and honor. he is demonstrating strength to get after these terrorists and he's demonstrating we do it in a context of honor, that we follow our laws, that we support and defend the constitution of the united states the way every legislator and every soldier, airman, seaman, marine out there swears on entry into service. >> general eaton, if the obama administration wanted to try this man in some sort of

military tribunal would there be justification? materially, legally, as an aspect of state of war, how might he be different from the euna bomber and faln or anybody else? how. >> spot on, keith. this is a civilian court venue. it is not a military venue. the military commission approach is absolutely inappropriate. this is an american citizen. he will be tried in civil court as the criminal that he is. >> if you are the fbi agents and the police officers who spent 53 hours straight on the manhunt that was successful and as mike sheehan pointed out, you throw in the time of the flight as a pad to dubai, they didn't catch him at the last second before he got out of the country. they got him a day before and after about two days and a few hours' work. what would it feel like to have

done this job and have lawmakers of any stripe criticizing you in the job you just did? >> not good is the answer. since january of 2009, we have seen a relentless attack on our fbi, on our armed services, on our policemen by the republican party. any opportunity that they can find to see a seam to get in there and lay in an attack they have pursued. frankly, as a retired soldier and as a guy who supports my police, who supports my fbi, i want them to cut it out. >> what -- what do you think -- is there anything psychologically behind this, this idea we have heard comments we haven't killed enough terrorists, we haven't made them fear us, we shouldn't be respected the way you just described, we should be feared. is there something else you and i don't understand viscerally

people are trying to achieve by positing the idea they should be handled with force and military effectiveness and torture and everything else we have seen rolled out since 9/11? >> keith there is a retired navy jag admiral named john hudson who said it about as well as i could find anywhere. he said, you know, the use of torture and these techniques is, that's the tool of the stupid, the lazy and the pseudo tough. that's, i'm afraid, what we've got going on in the republican party playbook to excite their base and it's an unfortunate attempt and it is counterproductive to the national security of the united states. >> you had it right. the stupid, the lazy and the pseudo tough. general paul eaton, u.s. army retired. once again, thanks. special comment on senator mccain's reports and senator mccain, next.

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as promised the briefest of special comments on the statements by the senior senator from arizona after the arrest of faisal shahzad. the suspected times square terrorist. don't give this guy his miranda rights until we find out what it is all about said john mccain. that would be a serious mistake at least until we find out as much information as we have. mr. mccain, following your advice could mean that because of you shahzad could walk free on technicalities. your utter lack of faith in the system of justice that has kept this country free and safe for 234 years the laws are not there to be switched on and off at your discretion, senator. they are not applicable to all except when you need to boost your poll numbers with the lunatic fringe in arizona. this man is an american citizen. and if you can decide that he shouldn't have the same rights we would give to the man that shot president reagan or to

serial killers or to4y bernie madoff, the precedent you set in doing so can someday end thusly, someday for some crap reason somebody will be able to arrest you mr. mccain and claim you are not entitled to your miranda rights and perhaps you should be tried by a military court. while you pander to a group that tries to dress up bitching as paying their fair share of taxes that the government is taking away freedom, you take away freedom. you shame yourself in the eyes of your fellow veterans and the honored dead who gave their lives to protect the freedoms and the laws. you have today suggested should be optional. freedom loving americans look back with horror at what could have happened on saturday night six blocks from here. and we also look back horror how a man who thinks america is some kind of brand name who does not respect the laws and honor of

this great nation could have come so perilously close to becoming its leader.

a public forum texas governor ric perry said the deep water horizon oil spill "should not cause a knee jerk reaction that says we are going to shut down drilling in the gulf of mexico." according to thinkprogress.org, governor perry rejected that deregulation should be blamed for the spill or the massey mine disaster. he said the spill might have been "an act of god." the forum was partly funded by bp to prodmoet regulation.

house republican leader john boehner not backing down for pushing for more drilling onshore and off. mary landrieu who represents thousands of louisiana fishermen whose fishing season came to an end tonight is unmoved by the implications of this spill, budging not at all for new drilling after jon stewart pointed out her position on the safety has budged from the days when she line up to defend it. >> it is safe to drill and we need to do more of that. >> we can do this in an environmentally sound way. >> our companies have done a wonderful job making sure we are environmentally sound and able to produce energy. >> they do drill today in an environmentally safe way. >> oil rigs generally don't cause spills. >> the environmentalists are wrong, actually. we can drill safely off the shores of america. >> spoken like true scientists.

from the first reel of a disaster movie. if only these prespill politicians like senator mary landrieu, louisiana, had listened to post spill realists, like senator mary landrieu of louisiana. >> no one has ever claimed including myself, unabashed proponent of the industry that drilling is risk free. >> no. you never claimed it. you emphatically stated it. >> "dallas morning news" reports monday at that conference funded by british petroleum governor perry defended the safety record bp compiled prior to the death of 121 people. bp historically had a good safety record. it would seem sarah palin never mentioned to governor perry in her brief tenure bp pleaded

guilty for criminal charges for what bp is still on probation after neglecting a pipeline for eight years including palin's entire term, allowing bacteria to erode it, spilling 200,000 gallons on the alaskan tundra. less clear is why governor perry did not include his own state. march 23, 2005, texas city, texas, just last year the occupational safety and health administration issued its largest fine, $87 million to bp, not only the massive explosion at killed 15, but 270 violations of its agreement afterward to clean up its act, plus 439 new violations. four people died at the texas city refipry after that blast. what about deep water offshore drilling. is there any evidence suggesting stricter regulation rather than

a less angry god might have prevented or mitigated this disaster? clean skies.com reports bp was cited for poor training in well control. fined $41 thoon, fined $75,000 for lacking at kwaut water pressure, fined only $80,000 for by passing safety alarms. regulators honored bp for an outstanding safety record, bp a new attempt to have government safety audits replace voluntary self-audits. lawsuits filed by the 11 missed and dead in the gulf, halliburton sealed the deep water horizon rig. improper seals responsible for more than a dozen previous blowouts in the gulf. "the wall street journal" saying the deep water horizon did not

have a deep water shut off valve that is used by other drilling companies. in 2000 the minerals management service began considering making that and other backup measures mandatory. the oil industry pushed back against the evice. andministration led by two oil men decided not to mandate any new backup systems. the shutoff valve being "not recommended because they tend to be very costly." they cost $500,000. less than mary landrieu has received from the oil industry. far less than the $5 million that bp's ceo tony hayward makes per year. his company reporting $5.6 billion for the first three months of this year, not revenue, profits. the kind of profits that can prof size a future free of regulation but full of acts of god.

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the twitter sensation spit my dad says joins us. he will count as the tweet of the day. we have a lot to do here. let's play "oddball." philadelphia, hello. phillies hosting the st. louis cardinals. teenage phillies fan calls dad, quoting, can i run on the field. dad responds, i don't think you should. spit my dad says this is the result. youth, 17-year-old, who name we chose not to reveal, tasered by

police officers. the boy explained the phone call to get permission. the mother apologizing. the city councilman's quote, people who come from the suburbs can act like idiots. don't tase me in the city of brotherly love. else where in the nl east, senate bipartisanship. with republican senator jim bunning of the 1968 pittsburgh pirates honoring bobby cox of the atlanta braves who is scheduled to retire after 29 years of his major league manager. we think he might have batted against bunning when cox played third base for the yankees. he produced the mo juiced. >> one thing i want to ask you gentlemen to do, speak at my

funeral. >> to wisconsin and the deer crashers. two deer blasted through the glass doors of the ale house. deer like beer. the bar/restaurant was not prepared for the unexpected guests, therefore, wrestled down to the floor for their own protection. since the regular patrons were watching a basketball game at the time. a milwaukee bucks game. that's sports. i'm vip burns, now back to lou zimmerman in atlanta. sorry, i had a flashback. the crisis continues in nashville. the death count in tennessee alone is now 19. we go there next. re/max agents know their markets, and they care enough to get to know you, too. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today.

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just in here and of great sadness to baseball fans. ernie harwell, a major league baseball announcer principally with the detroit tigers has died of kearcancer. he was one of the best people

let alone one of the best broadcasters in sports. as the gulf coast graples with the flood of oil, tennessee has been blind sided by a fatal natural disaster a flood. rescue, recovery and the emergency federal response continues. 29 people in tennessee, mississippi and kentucky. 19 in tennessee alone. after a weekend record-setting rainfall caused flash flooding of the cumberland river cresting 12 feet above flood level. that followed 14 inches of rain. rescuers expect more bodies to emerge from muddy flood water. the waters are receding. some were evacuated from a tent city of homeless people. they are bracing to find bodies there as the water ebbs. authorities fear finding fatalities in remote areas. the fire chief saying we hope it is not a large number. authorities and volunteering in fishing boats have been rescuing

residents and tourists. the flooding was not limited to the cumberland. lakes, rivers and drainage systems were deluged, bridges washed out, thousands of homes damaged, nashville businesses hit hard include the grand old opry house, hotel and convention center with 1,500 guests rushed to shelter. that prompted a wave of country stars appealing for help. the president offering federal disaster assistance. he sent fema to consider the damage firsthand. 52 counties were disaster areas. a reporter for "the tennessean" brad shraed. >> hi, keith. how are you doing. >> well, how are you doing? what is happening with the rescue and relief efforts? >> it has been quite a harrowing few days in middle tennessee.

today the effort moved from a rescue to more of a recovery effort. they're trying to restore power in the downtown district, but flood waters are still at some stations there so the power company is -- could be days before some of those areas downtown are restored to power and there is still some residents, 3,000 to 4,000 in the nashville area that do not have power. the army corps of engineers is focusing on trying to strategically bring down some of the reservoirs around nashville without creating more flood problems. the concern there is that if additional rains were to come, that you could have more flooding because they -- without the -- the dams are very full so they want to bring those waters down to be able to control the river if additional rains were to come. >> is -- i can't imagine any natural disaster like that is not a surprise no matter what

forecasts might have been made or not been made. but is there a particular history that should have suggested such a thing was possible in this day and age for nashville and the environs? >> in nashville we have a lot of rain this time of year. what is of bigger concern generally is we are in kind of a tornado alley here. so i think that was the big fear among residents over the weekend as the storms were coming in from the west. so really the flash floods and the flooding caught a lot of people off guard because we just haven't had this level of rains. i think a congressman here said it is 500-year event. so the rains, while we don't usually have this amount, this level of intensity and the way it just hung over and wouldn't pass through created major flooding problems. >> what is needed? i mean, people who are seeing this for the first time in this

unfortunate confluence of news stories that kept nashville off the radar for the last few days and what has happened here, not getting the publicity until today. what else needs to be done? we have thrown up the texting number for the red cross who set up 30 stations. are there things other people can do who are seeing this and appalled by the circumstances. >> one of the issues here is a lot of these homes that flooded are not in the flood plane so there are a lot of homeowners who just didn't have home insurance and they're afraid they're going to lose their homes or not be able to rebuild. the news out of the white house today was a good first step but i think the city and the region is really just trying to first get the waters to recede and then kind of come to grips with what our next step is. >> the situation in nashville as described for us by brad shraed,

reporter from "the tennessean." >> thanks, keith. >> from tweeting to a tv pilot to a book? like paper? the march of a bit my dad says. george wills cherry picking data about bird deaths to argue for drilling and nuclear -- against wind power. maybe it is can cherry pecking. when rachel joins you live from new orleans, new testing at the gulf suggests the oil might be thicker than originally thought and thus tougher to disperse. absolutely! i have a lot of stuffiness at night. it wakes me up. i have allergies. ♪ you're right. i'm getting more air. -oh, yeah. -oh, wow! [ female announcer ] for two free samples, go to breatheright.com. [ female announcer ] for two free samples, it's not always easy living with copd, but i try not to let it hold me back...

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that's my choice. because with national, i roll past the counter... and choose any car in the aisle. oh, buck chooses the blue one! [ male announcer ] go national. go like a pro. choosing your own car? now, that's a good call. did you know after 9/11 there were no terrorist attacks? he says so. gulf my dad says.

the twitter sensation takes a huge step backwards. a book? a book.

justin halpern is not well known. his dad and the spit he says and the way jussen dissim nates these priceless pearls are very well known. the man behind stuff my dad say. first "worst persons in the world." you can see who did not make the cut on twitter. keith olbermann, one word.

the lie to tworst people. the bronze to charles krauthamm krauthammer. the bush administration has seven years after 9/11, no successful attacks in the united states. there's already been one successful attack under the obama administration. the bush administration excoryatted for its tough, kept us safe. attack at north carolina, the counter in 2002, the d.c. sniper, anthrax. the last three were pronounced terrorist attacks by the bush administration. charles krauthammer is a stone coaled liar. runner up, james e. glassman senior economist at jp mor gan chase. wrote a letter to his clients insulting the senate. the financial reform debate is in the final innings. it is time for the grown-ups to accept in. what is and is not socially

valuable, reflect a confusion about our economy. showed a graph of job losses in carl levin's state. people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. which is the following statement is the closest to the truth, the u.s. government ran out of money, or wall street turned itself into a casino and in 2008 the senate and the rest of the government and u.s. taxpayers bailed out your sorry overpaid asses to save the national economy. in short mr. glassman, what jon stewart said. our winner, poor george will. operating in those dear, dead days when people could not easily check his facts and find he scrubbed them of so much context they were left laughably misleading. media matters reported mr. wills said wind farms kill a lot more birds daily than are probably going to be killed in this oil spill. in "newsweek" he wrote birds beware, the american bird

conservancy estimates that the existing 25,000 turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds a year. imagine the toll that 186,000 turbines would take. that is terribly disturbing. each wind turbine might kill three birds per year. if sacht mefety measures were n improved we could kill 2 million birds. if you look at the site will quoted here are its estimates for bird deaths in this country right now. communications towers, 4 to 50 million, power lines, 75 million birds, collisions with buildings, 100 million birds, cars, 200 million to 300 million. cats 365 million a year. you left out the cats. rarely also destroy all the

other flora and fawna in the area and become an excuse for nature to raise the price of wind. george "once again i was hoping you wouldn't go to the website i quoted" will, today's worst person in the world. a few years ago i got a wake up call. a heart attack at 57. that was a rough time. my doctor told me i should've been doing more for my high cholesterol. ♪ you should've listened. you're right. now i'm eating healthier and i trust my heart to lipitor. [ male announcer ] when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor may help. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 18 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone... including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems.

tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. my dad learned the hard way. but you may be able to do something. [ male announcer ] have a heart to heart with your doctor about your risk. and about lipitor. parents magazine and edmunds.com called it "one of the best family cars of 2009." the insurance institute for highway safety calls it a "2010 top safety pick." consumers digest has called it a "best buy" two years in a row. and with a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty... we call it peace of mind. chevy malibu. during the spring event, qualified lessees, now get a 27-month, low mileage lease on this malibu ls for around $199 a month. call for details. see your local chevy dealer. i buy plants, i bring them home, and then...i water too little... too much... or i just forget. but look. this is doing fine. why? it's planted in miracle-gro moisture control potting mix.

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just eight months ago writer justin halpern made lemons out of the proverbial lemonade after being dumped by his girlfriend. he started a twitter page called stuff my dad says. but stuff is a word that rimes with spit. the page's content is remarks made to halpern by his father.

a sample tweet, november 8, 2009. here's a strawberry, sorry for farthering near you. hey, either take the strawberry and stop bitching. junk my dad says is a runaway hit. a it is come, and a book. justin hall eapern. he went live last august. bio, i'm 29, i live with my 74-year-old dad. i just write down shift he says. he tweeted 118 times. i do that in an hour, he has 1.3 million followers waiting for a nugget from his dad on the left. february 22nd, a parent is only as good as their dumbest kid. one wins the nobel prize the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed. now joining me the tweeter and

author of sugar my dad says. welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> there was a period during which your dad did not know he was a sensation on the internet. can you explain that and how did he find out? >> yeah. i had started this page just to show friends and then it exploded without me having any control over it. i started getting calls from book agents and people like that. at that point i pretty much had to tell my dad. i called my brother first and he was like, no, destroy the page. don't tell dad. it is not worth it. pack all your stuff. get ready to leave. i thought, no, i have to try this out. i went and told my dad. i thought he was going to explode. he laughed for a couple of seconds and he goes, i can't find my cell phone. i need you to help you find my cell phone. i was like, are we good? he said, yeah, i need my cell

phone. i don't know if he gets the scope. >> the book would do it. wouldn't the book get the point across to him? >> you'd think. he gets the scope now, yeah, with the book coming out in stores. but, yeah, he is excited about that. >> another great -- they run the range from great is the low end to unbelievably spectacular, the one from september 7th, the worse thing you can be a liar. okay, fine, yes, the worst thing you can be a nazi, but then number two, liar, number one, nazi, number two, liar. do you provoke him or prompt him or is this organic? >> that was like an hour long argument that ended with statement. no. i don't provoke him. he says whatever he wants whenever he wants to say it. >> if that is the end of an hour, maybe you provoke him more than you know. >> i definitely provoke him quite often, never to get the

tweets. >> i know you are a writer by profession. it would seem having dabbled in this for three weeks, going from a limited space that is a tweet or a series of them to turn it into a book. how difficult was it to do that? >> it was actually a pretty interesting process. i had all these stories i always told my friends about my dad. when i got to write this book i got to sit down and think about the times in my life where probably if you had a normal parent it might be mill milk toast. >> how does the, we had to use euphimisms to describe your i'm in. how is that going to translate to a television pilot with william shatner. >> we are not going to use that

word or drop any "f" bombs. we try to keep the honesty of the page. try not to change the "s" word to poop. >> was shatner your first choice? is that a good match real listically? does it provide ver similitude? >> shatner is basically a refined version of my father. they're both sort of older gentlemen who don't really want to engage in any unnecessary conversations with people they don't know, but, yeah. mr. shatner was definitely our first choice. he is every bit as awesome as i hoped he would be. >> well, i think he also, if it hasn't occurred to you, he may provide you with the euphimism. shatner my dad says.

not that good an idea. justin halpern, things my dad says, it is not things. great thanks and good luck and thanks for making the twitter world that much more exciting for the rest of us. >> thanks for have me. >> that is "countdown" for the 2,560th day since the previous president declared mission accomplished in iraq. now from new orleans, ladies and gentlemen here is rachel maddow. good evening, rachel. good evening, keith. thank you for that. i am in new orleans on the banks of the mississippi river which flows from here to the gulf where the story remains the oil spill gushing uncontrolled into the gulf of mexico. there is a ton of reporting to do about that tonight including a firsthand, up close examination of the oil pouring into toegs and threatening the coast. the deep water horizon disaster in a moment.

we begin with news from new york, the arrest of the alleged times square bomber. at 4:00 eastern the u.s. attorney's office released the charges being brought against faisal shahzad, a 30-year-old american citizen living in connecticut. shahzad will be booked on five counts, attempting to explode a weapon of mass destrubs. shahzad's booking in federal court will follow last night's dramatic late night arrest as mr. shahzad attempted to leave the country. law enforcement officials were attempting to track him down mr. shahzad purchased a last-minute tick from jfk airport to dubai. he arrived at jfk, parked, got his boarding pass,