have we learned details about a motive here. >> no is the short answer. we don't know. he's talking, giving fbi and government prosecutors information they find valuable. at least that's their explanation. although sometimes when you hear that, that can sound self-serving. as i understand the law, there's no requirement a suspect appear immediately. it's supposed to happen without unnecessary delay. they are taking some time. ags you know, every aspect of this case, how he was arrested, when he was read his right, when he's going to appear in court is scrutinized very, very closely. the big thing is, of course, he's an american citizen. once he appears in court, he gets a lawyer and everything changes. >> ron, speaking of scrutiny there's a lot of that when it comes to the fact this man almost got out of the country. he was actually on this flight that was taxiing away. we now have reports that he was being tracked by fbi a little, and they lost him as well as there was an urgent e-mail to put him on the no-fly list but he made it on the plane.

what else can you tell us about that part of some of the questions out there? >> well, yes. the details of all that are a little bit sketchy. i've heard various versions of it. he was taken off the plane when he was still at the gate, then the plane taxied away and came back. that's when they removed two other people questioned and then let go who didn't have anything to do with this. the justice department insists there was no time when he was not under surveillance and when they were fearful of him getting away. yes, there are questions about how does a guy show up, who is under suspicion, pay $700 or so in cash for an airline ticket, get on a plane that's about to take off for dub issuing, leave the country, when he is under suspicion. so there's not been a total forthcoming of how that happened and whether, in fact, there was a risk of losing him. the justice department, homeland security insisted they have him. they knew where he was. they would have brought the plane back, they say, of course, all this would have made it much more complicated. yes, there's questions about how that sequence of events

unfolded. >> ron allen live for us. thank you, we greatly appreciate it. we've got more on faisal shahzad's activities in pakistan where he was born. he told a little he received terrorism training there. richard engel joins us from pakistan's capital of islamabad. richard is on the phone. richard, what do we know, what are pakistani officials saying about training he allegedly received? >> they are looking into it right now. pakistani officials are cooperating on this case. they have arrested about a dozen suspects including some of his family members. right now the attention is focusing on business trip to pakistan allegedly to attend a wedding last summer. he stayed about five months of a the wedding. now pakistani officials are trying to figure out what exactly he was doing in this country. pakistani police and intelligence sealed off the home

of faisal shahzad's prominent family in peshawar as reporters gathered outside. shahzad visited last summer apparently on a mission to receive military training. that mission, pack taken officials say, began here in the bustling port city of karachi. in karachi shahzad met a contact now in custody with ties to a militant group. with an introduction secured, shahzad said he then traveled alone into pakistan's biggest war zone, the lawless region of waziristan to learn to make bombs. in waziristan, there are many willing teachers. it's a base for both al qaeda and the taliban. shahzad is said to have stayed in waziristan for several weeks. the region is often attacked by u.s. drones and the pakistani government has led offensives here and considers the taliban in waziristan its biggest enemy.

>> we condemn this incident, and we will help and support u.s. to bring these culprits to justice. >> in pakistan's capital islamabad today, people seemed embarrassed by shahzad. another man said, just because he's pakistani doesn't mean he has to be a terrorist. tamron, officials here are also trying to figure out how high up his connections went within the militant movement. at this stage a pakistani military official told us he does not believe that shahzad was sent by the taliban or al qaeda but was more likely self-recruited, came to pakistan to receive some sort of military training, got it, and then went back to the united states to try and carry out the bombing. >> richard engel live for us in islamabad. thank you, richard. right now on capitol hill, the senate homeland security committee is holding a hearing on terrorism and gun control. the hearing is significant given the times square bombing

attempt. new york city mayor michael bloomberg and new york commissioner ray kelly are testifying. democratic senator frank lautenberg introduced legislation, what he calls, the terror gap. thank you for joining us today. >> pleased to be here. >> for people at home that don't know what the terror gap is, explain that to them? >> there is a way that someone who is on the terror watch history -- these are people we ought to be careful about, can get a gun. right now it's just an open thing. there is a check that goes on, routine. guns are given. we had over 1200 applications from people who were on the terror watch list. 90% of them were able to get a permit to buy a gun. that is not a satisfactory situation. >> senator, i think that bears

repeating so people truly understand. 1,228 times someone on the terror watch list -- they are on the list. they are suspected of perhaps having some kind of tie to terrorism, they tried to buy guns. and in 91% of those cases, they were given the okay. i think a lot of people at home, sir, would find that to be unbelievable. how could this loophole exist? you would think no matter if you're democrat or republican, you would want that gap closed. why isn't it? >> we're going to make sure it is. we're saying anybody on that watch list that applies for a permit is going to be reviewed by the attorney general. we want that review to be a secondary thing so we know absolutely this person is free of any connection with a terror mission. it's a terrible situation. it's an opening that shouldn't be there. we've been talking about this for a couple of years now. unable to crash it through. >> why? who is resisting?

>> why? >> who is resisting. >> right now the resistance has lowered substantially. the nra in a poll had over 80% of their people say we should close that terror watch gap. we're encouraged by that. that's why the mayor is here. we're working on it now. i believe we'll be able to get it done in the very near future. and i don't believe that there's going to be resistance within the senate certainly. we're onto this. >> all right. senator frank lautenberg, greatly appreciate you coming on, greatly enjoy talking to you. thank you, sir. more on the attempted car bombing suspect faisal shahzad, his possible motive, how he almost slipped out of the country and whether he really acted alone. some special insight from an investigative reporter from newsweek magazine and from one of our nbc news terrorism analysts coming up in the bottom of the hour. also, breaking news from greece, three people died

trapped in fires set by rioters. 100,000 people clashed with police during a march over spending cuts in the country. they fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. stephanie gosk reporting live from london. this has now turned deadly. three people were trapped in this bank. what happened there? >> tamron, they knew this was going to be a big demonstration, the largest since the crisis began in october when they didn't expect it to get this violent. basically what happened, demonstrators armed with molotov cocktails and rocks stormed riot police, stormed the parliament, even driving away a couple of honor guards standing guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. they then went to unknown businesses smashing windows, again throwing molotov cocktails. that's where this bank went ablaze trapping workers inside. three of those workers were killed. you know, greeks right now are

furious over the cuts. greece is in an impossible situation. greece teethers on bankruptcy. they are waiting for $146 billion bailout from the imf and other european countries that bailout won't come unless they pass these measures. people in the streets are upset. they blame the government for the position they are in. they say the weight of this burden should not fall on their shoulders, it should fall on the government. it's really a situation where they are between a rock and a hard place. tamron. >> stephanie gosk live with the latest. we'll have much more on that story. thanks, stephanie. we're now into a week to contain the desperate effort to cap the oil spill. it's gushing 200,000 gallons, still going into the water.

meanwhile it appears oil has been washing up on the shores of louisiana and mississippi. nbc's mike taibbi is live in biloxi with more for us. mike, understand bp finally may be able to put that dome in the water that they have been working on. how soon might we see that? >> that's right, tamron. they are going to start moving that containment dome at noon today from the place it was fabricated in louisiana out to the site about 30 miles offshore. that will take about 12 hours to get it to that location. several days, at least as much as four or five days, to lower it into position. think about it, looks like a nour sided cheese greater. reinforced cement. drop it down over the area of the breach so they can then pump up and withdraw all the oil there. let the natural gas burn off and collect and put it in a tanker on the surface. this has worked in the past, there's a theory it can work at this dep. they have never done it a full

mile below sea level. that's the hope. meantime, you pointed out before, there are reports of trace amounts of oil on beaches at barrier islands. i spoke with the sierra club and they said trace amounts in gulfport and ship islands where amounts found on the west part of that island. way out on chandelier island on louisiana coast. the oil slick held off by booms 50 or 100 miles offshore. it's getting close. no one doubts there's going to be an oil landfall sometime in the next several days perhaps because of the favorable weather patterns. not from two or three days but out there. already on the surface, going to hit somewhere. >> live in biloxi, mississippi, thank you for the latest. water level in nashville falls three feet. little relief to the flood battered city. up next tennessee governor joins me live with the latest on the tremendous cleanup effort ahead

for his state. plus new protests over arizona's controversial new immigration law. how the nba team, the phoenix suns, showing their unhappiness with the law, going to tell you what they are up to. and just one day after an unruly phillies fan was tasered on the field, another fan jumps onto the field during the game. but what happened this time around? did they use the taser or not? but only one can do it while driving on electricity. the gmc sierra hybrid. the most fuel-efficient full-size pickup on the road. may the best truck win. soak our yards in color. get our hands a little busier. our dollars a little stronger.

and our thinking a little greener. let's grab all the bags and all the plants and all the latest tools out there. so we can turn all these savings into more colorful shades of doing. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get mom the colors of spring with great hanging baskets and container plants at our everyday low prices. 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. the 5-year, 100,000 mile transferable powertrain warranty, from gmc. with roadside assistance and courtesy transportation, it's the best coverage in america.

welcome back. we're following some breaking news out of huntsville, alabama where several people were injured in an explosion on red stone arsenal. red stone home to army aviation and missile command, numerous program and executive offices and major components of the defense intelligence agency.

again, there's been an explosion in red stone arsenal. that's located in northern alabama. it's in the heart of tennessee valley in the state of alabama. we're working to get more details. we've had some conflicting reports on the severity of the injuries. so we're working to get more details on exactly what's happened out there. a, what caused the explosion and just how many people are injured and the degree of those injuries. we'll bring you the latest as soon as we get it on that breaking news story. there's continued fallout from arizona's controversial immigration law. tonight, in fact, civil rights activist al sharpton will join hispanic leaders and the mayor of phoenix at the march to the state capital. the three-mile candlelight procession will call attention to the law, which immigrants rights activists say is unconstitutional. the city council of tucson. flagstaff voted tuesday to sue the state over the new crackdown on illegal immigrants. they are siting concerns about enforcement costs and

anticipated negative effects arizona's industry might experience. tucson and flagstaff the first municipalities in the state to approve legal challenges of the law. also last night phoenix suns basketball team made a statement against the new immigration law with their choice of jerseys. look at that closely. in the game against san antonio, the team wore los suns jersey to mark cinco de mayo. one of the stars, steve nash, says he believes this is a flawed law. they are being vocal as well. some of the most famous people who live in that state. the national weather service office says the water has fallen to nine feet below flood stage. the cumbersome river receding. the damage plainfully visible. the damage from the torrential rains and tornadoes p stands at 29. it could be higher as people return to their homes and find

out who or what is left for them. >> i'm happy, because i have my family. >> i live in this house over there. this the worst thing i've ever seen. >> we moved in friday. sunday night the police drove up and down here saying you need to evacuate. >> joining us by phone tennessee governor phil bredesen. governor, thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. thank you for calling. >> absolutely. you see this video, hear these people. your heart just gets heavy to see what they are experiencing. what's the latest on the water receding and perhaps some of these people being able to get home and assess the damage? >> obviously the water is receding. the kummcoupl cumberland river to go down, starting to uncover things, a lot of iconic buildings in nashville were affected by that the most important thing, there's an awful lot of people who suddenly find themselves homeless. and even when they get back to

their homes they have to deal with all the problems of having floodwaters in your homes. it's very tough right now. i just finished a meeting with red cross talking about how we get out and outreach. the people i'm most concerned about are people like the elderly might not move around as easily or access make of the services we have. we're trying to reach out and get their life back to normal. a lot of heroism. >> i saw an interview with a guy who saw people trapped in a car. he went in and carried teenager girl to safety trapped in the car. what kind -- shelters open, what kind of immediate help is available. as you mentioned, elderly and people have nowhere to go. >> we have shelters open. across the state, nashville the hardest and most visibly hit. significant issues in west tennessee and around outside of memphis and so on as well. we have shelters across the

state. a few hundred people in shelters starting to return to their homes as it goes down. you have all these unexpected costs. you may have to stay in a shelter, get out there and put gas in your car. feeling a little bit helpless. >> absolutely. >> i have to say, though, this is -- the way in which neighbors have responded, it makes you feel good about america. i mean, it's just so many neighbors have done things like you just described, rescued people. i know -- a person i know in a county near here actually died in the process of trying to get to another person here. but the help has been great. >> governor, let me ask you quickly, we're almost out of time. have you seen flooding like this before? you see video of nashville, opry land, people evacuated. have you seen anything like this in recent memory? >> i certainly have not. this is an extraordinary event. this is probably in terms of

flooding more than a 100-year event here. we're surviving. we'll get back storm inial. nashville and tennessee are here. we thank everybody. the president was great. he called on the phone and talked to me. other members of the white house staff have call down here. we're getting a lot of help and people are getting their lives back. >> governor bredesen we appreciate it. we wish the best for you and your entire state. those people certainly need our thoughts and prayers. thank you. new details about the times square bomb suspect and alleged terrorist training in pakistan. terrorism analyst evan kohlmann joins me to talk about whether other terrorists could be linked to faisal shahzad. >> jeff rossen on the campus of the university of virginia in charlottesville. coming up a bombshell admission in the lacrosse murder case that involves kicking down a bedroom door and a violent attack. the details coming up. also we'd like to know what you think about any of the stories we've been covering today. let me know. go to twitter.msnbc.com. pfffffffff!

♪ let's szush up this one tone hair color! try nice 'n easy, with color-blend technology. in one step, get a blend of tones and highlights for dimension that takes you from drabulous to fabulous. nice 'n easy. your right color. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time. time for new zyrtec® liquid gels. they work fast. so i can get relief from the pollen that used to make me sneeze, my eyes water. with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel.

zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. it works on my worst symptoms so i'm ready by the time we get to the first hole. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®.

welcome back. we are learning disturbing details about how a university of virginia student was killed. police found 22-year-old yeardley love a player on the women's lacrosse team dead in her apartment, face down on a pillow in her blood. her face was bruised, her eye swollen shut. she was the victim of blunt force trauma. love's former boyfriend, men's lacrosse player george huguely charged with first degree murder. nbc's jeff rossen following developments for us at the uv campus in charlottesville. jeff, have authorities talked more about this couple and their relationship? were there ald signs of violence in the past? >> reporter: police are saying, look, within the first couple of hours after she was found murdered they went right after him and had him in custody. they have recovered her computer

which may contain angry e-mails, according to a friend. and in some cases threatening text messages, death threats, from george huguely, that men's lacrosse player from yeardley love. the two had been dating. friends say they had broken up last week. it got rather physical. it's a turbulent on and off relationship for years. this altercation led to her death. in fact, when they called george huguely into the examining room, the interrogation room that first night, he basically spewed to them according to police. they said, hold on, here are your miranda rights, you can have a lawyer. he kept going. that night he kicked in yeardley's door at 2:15 in the morning. shook her where her head repeatedly hit the wall over and over again. you mentioned those disturbing details mentioned in those court documents that she was face down on her pillow in a pool of blood. it was a roommate and friend that ended up finding her body

and calling police. all this is coming together about the culture of this relationship and what past warning signs may have been missed here, tamron. >> jeff, i understand also real quick that george huguely had been arrested in 2008. what do you know about that incident? >> yeah. he has a criminal history, 2008. friends say he would get aggressive when he drank. he drank as much as anybody else on campus. apparently there is a pretty big drinking culture, especially among the lacrosse players here. he drank, would get aggressive, liked getting his way. 2008 he was arrested for resisting arrest, accused of swearing, racial and sexual slurs at the police officer. also public intoxication and swearing. friends back in chevy chase, maryland, where he grew up, a wealthy d.c. suburb say that's not the george they knew. >> jeff rossen live on the campus of uva. thank you very much, jeff. authorities are trying to determine if a self-confessed times square bomber acted alone. the latest on the investigation

from newsweek magazine's reporter. a repeat performance in philadelphia as another philly's fan jurps out onto the baseball field during a game. monday night a fan got tasered for doing this. tell you what police did this time around. ♪ [ male announcer ] winning more awards for quality and customer service than any other luxury manufacturer the last 10 years says something. yet, the award we value most is the fact that lexus has had more repeat, loyal drivers, in more of the last 10 years,

than any other luxury automotive brand. to express our thanks, we're featuring our best values of the year. giving you unprecedented access to lexus. at your lexus dealer.

i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for bone and breast health. just what i need! one a day women's.

welcome back. attempted car bombing suspect faisal shahzad. prosecutors announced he will not make his first appearance in new york. officials said shahzad has been talking openly about his plan to detonate a car bomb in times square saturday night. they want to keep him talking. that's what we're being told. there are a lot of questions from shahzad, how he managed to slip away from authorities watching him at his connecticut home monday. he drove to jfk airport and managed to get on a flight to dubai, despite being put on the no-fly list. investigative correspondent from newsweek joining me here in the

studio. you've talked in britain about this no-fly list and the fact it's primitive in some ways. >> it is primitive. first of all, there's very few people on the no fly list. it's hard to get on. they put this guy on the no fly list noon yesterday, 12:30 yesterday because he was a main suspect. apparently it takes hours if not days for the no-fly list to get to the computers of the actual airline. >> how ridiculous is that? >> sounds stupid to me. i don't understand why it would be the case. it's supposed to be they are on there and they don't sell them a ticket. by the time he went to buy a ticket at 7:30, last night, night before last, his name still wasn't in the airlines' computers. so they gave him the ticket. he went to the gate, boarded the plane. they actually shut the door of the plane. it was only after they sent the passenger list of his flight to

an fbi center in washington and they saw his name on the list, look at this, they sent word back to kennedy airport and officers went on board the plane and got him. >> this guy bought his ticket in cash. have you a lot of people, i talked to several folks today who said, wait a minute, joan rivers was stopped on a flight once. this guy comes on, buys a ticket cash. forget the no-fly list. why wasn't there more scrutiny on that alone, a last minute ticket bought in cash. >> i went into that at the time of the underpants bombing at christmas time. for various reasons, buying tickets in cash, buying one-way tickets, buying at the last minute is not regarded as a significant indicator. they ruled that out. apparently a lot of people buy tickets in cash now. >> you pointed out that happened with the underwear bomber as well. he bought his ticket in cash. what changes might we see as a result of this. obviously nothing is perfect. but when you're talking about our nation's security you want it as perfect as possible.

>> again, i think the important thing is push that information about potential suspects, particularly people already on the no-fly list, airlines out to the security people out to the airports so they can question these people, stop these people before they get aboard the airplane. that didn't happen in the underpants bombing case or this case. they have to improve the efficiencies in the system. >> i have to ask you about the fal he was being tracked and somehow lost. >> he was surveilled apparently with several layers of surveillance by the fbi and yet he managed to slip that surveillance, get to the airport. he was hanging out at the airport for at least three or four hours, completely on his own, without being watched by anybody. it's not been explained. it's not been denied either. >> mark, investigative correspondent with newsweek with a laundry list of things we'll be talking about more as journalists push for more answers on this. thank you very much, mark. >> thank you. more on the suspect faisal shahzad's connections and activities in pakistan. he comes from a prominent

family. his father is a retired pakistani air force officer. his wife and children moved there last year after the bank for closed on their home in connecticut. officials say shahzad has claimed he received bomb-making training during a recent five-month visit to pakistan. joining me nbc news terrorism analyst evan kohlmann. you said this a lot and before, how we have to think past a stereotype of what the suspect looked like or could be. his father started the equivalent of blue angels in pakistan. prominent family, great job, some financial problems and now a terrorism suspect. >> the only analogy we can make, the most recent that was attributed to taliban, the attack in september. the perpetrator of that, once again, a 31-year-old doctor from a good family in jordan with two kids and a wife. does this sound familiar? this is the new model for terrorist recruitment. not the young, 21, 22-year-old

guy, with no connections to anyone, no experience, no life skills. they are looking for people who, at least from their face, should be more sophisticated than the 21 or 22-year-old. in this case, this person does not appear to be that sophisticated, but that is the goal anyway. >> evan, speaking of sophistication, he said he received terror training. you have people asking why wasn't this bomb more sophisticated, a better plan laid out, if he's gotten assistance day and night looking for ways to kill us. >> first of all, terrorist training camps in waziristan are running by different groups. they are not the most sophisticated plants. al qaeda runs the most sophisticated camps. pakistani taliban camps are basic. after 9/11, after we bomb mothst most of the training camps enpakistan, afghanistanish it's been much more difficult to set up these plants.

they are smaller. they are mobile. they are temporary. as a result, the level of training is just not the same as what you saw prior to 9/11 at al qaeda camps in afghanistan. >> evan, thank you very much for your insight. we greatly appreciate you being with us the last few days as the story unfolded. coming up, a few minutes from now, politicians, quite honestly both sides of the aisle are speaking out on what needs to be done to prevent another terrorist attack. another story we talked about yesterday, it happened again, tuesday night another fan ran out on the field interrupt ag phillies game, this time against the cardinals. this time the 34-year-old man surrendered without incident. that's a picture of him. it was a different story the night before when a high school student ran onto the outfield and was tasered by officials. on the phone now bill bender, with "philadelphia daily news." thanks for joining us. >> hi, how are you. >> i'm great. i lived in philly many years. many times i was told the

toughest fans in the world are people who live in philadelphia, may they be baseball or football. what's been the reaction to this guy being tasered? what the heck was the guy next day thinking? >> i think most people feel tastering wasn't necessarily out-of-bounds. this guy thomas betts ran out at the worst time, bottom of the ninth. the boos just came raining down on him along with plenty of obscenities. >> do we know the policy regarding what's the appropriate way to apprehend someone who in this case didn't seem to be a big threat? >> they are standing by the officer that used the taser.the talking with philadelphia police whether that should be appropriate policy in future instances. in the case last night, this guy didn't put up much of a fight. he was apprehended without

having to be tazed. although the fans wanted him to be. >> i heard they were yelling tase him. they were saying we don't know if this guy has a weapon or alcohol. they are trying to keep us safe. >> monday night he didn't have the intention to hurt anybody. there have been cases in the past where player or coach is attacked. so i think the team is basically standing by police. you don't know what someone is going to do when they run out on the field. >> greatly appreciate you coming on and talking to us. >> thank you. >> new video of teen idol miley cyrus criticized as being too sexy. miley under the microscope again. we'll show you the video. you decide. details in "the scoop." ♪

three decadent flavors. 60 calories. it's me o'clock. time for jell-o. 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.

choosing your own car? anncr vo: ...you can get help gwith a flat tire.... anncr vo: ...find a nearby tow truck or gas station... anncr vo: ...call emergency services... anncr vo: ...collect accident information. anncr vo: or just watch some fun videos. anncr vo: it's so easy, a caveman can do it. caveman: unbelievable... caveman: where's my coat? it was suede with the fringe. vo: download the glovebox app free at geico.com.

welcome back. 17-year-old pop star miley cyrus is revealing a sexy image in her new music video. guess what, people are slamming her for it. let's get the scoop from todayshow.com courtney hazlet. this isn't the first time miley was criticized, when she danced with the pole. >> nickelodeon teen choice awards. poor miley cyrus, between "vanity fair," the pole, now the video, "can't be tamed." take a look at see what you think. ♪ ♪ >> okay. i have a confession. >> she's inferring the opposite there. >> i thought she was saying don't tase me. that's when you know your old, you don't know what they are saying. >> miley says the video is

about, quote, explaining the song and living the lyrics. i choose to believe at this point people know the difference between miley cyrus and hannah montana. this isn't the first thing she's done that shows she's no longer the disney image. >> she has a lot of clothes on. >> do i want my daughter doing that at 17. probably not. i don't know. i don't have a 17-year-old daughter. that said, the issue with miley cyrus was this overlap between the disney image and new young adult image. enough time has passed now. we know this isn't hannah montana. this shouldn't confuse kids out there if they are watching the video. i think i'm going to actually side with miley cyrus on this one. everyone should take a powder on this one. miley is going to be fine. if she wants her career to move in that direction, so be it. sandra bullock came out on the cover of "people" magazine announcing she had a new baby boy. that magazine seems to be on pace to be one of "people's"

best selling magazines. sounds like it's going to be on pace with the issue that debuted brad and angelina pitt's newborn twins. that sold 2.8 million copies. i've been talking with folks at "people." they can't confirm the exact number for the sandra issue. it's only been on news stands for two weeks. they are saying it seems to be in the ballpark to at least match that if not outsell it as time goes by. obviously this is a story people were very, very interested in. also in television news, pamela anderson, we spent so much time talking about "dancing with the stars" as it pertains to kate gosselin, because she was just so not good at it. pamela anderson was also a huge fan favorite on the show. she got voted off but the judges gave her a standing ovation last night. pam said she called her participation in the show one of the best experiences in her life. i know she did take it really, really seriously. >> she needs good news because she's in financial mess, the reports are -- i watched "access

hollywood." it said she was dealing with a lot of financial issues. >> "dancing with the stars" is a good paycheck. finale is the week of may 25th. good news for gosselin fans, kate will make another appearance for the finale. >> awesome. i like her. go to scoop.todayshow.com. you can twitter us on stories. we talked about the phillies fan tasered. you lived in philly for a while. lol. they admit to being the toughest fans in the world. >> that means he's lucky he got tasted. >> someone commented on uva murder. his attorney said, oops, it was an accident. are you kidding? there's outrage with that story as well. democrats and republicans weighing in on their views how best to confront terrorism and

keep our country safe. up next, the politics of terror.

welcome back. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are responding to the times square bonding and say it is time to get tough on terrorism. house majority leader senny hoyer announced the democrats have been more successful than republicans on terrorism. joining me to talk about the back and forth of this political debate, jonathan capehart, editorial writer with the "washington post." is it appropriate that mr. hoyer would say that democrats are stronger or tougher on terrorism than republicans? is that appropriate at this time? >> i don't think it's appropriate. it's really unfortunate he had to go there, if you will. when it comes to fighting terrorism and keeping this country safe, it's not a democratic issue or a republican issue. it's an american issue. and i wish that politicians on both sides of the aisle would get away from using language or

even outright politicizing events like the times square bomb plot for political gain. this is something where no matter where you sit politically, it's about our safety and security. >> don, i'll bring you in. i want to read what senator john mccain said on tuesday regarding giving this guy his miranda rights. he's a naturalized citizen. we know that hp he says don't give this guy his miranda rights until we find out what it's all about. obviously that would be a serious mistake at least until we found out much more information. senator lieberman wanted to strip his citizenship. what do you make of that kind of talk especially knowing the authorities say he is giving them all the information they want, at least for now? >> well, senator mccain later clarified that he was saying that we should ask -- we should talk to him first, we should question shahzad just initially to figure out what he's up to. there is actually a public safety exception rule for 48 hours where you can question someone before reading them their miranda rights if you're concerned about an imminent attack. i think basically everyone

agrees that as a u.s. citizen apprehended on u.s. soil under current law, he does have the right not to incriminate himself. which mccain later said, he later clarified in a different article. i do think that perhaps we do need to look at stripping citizenship. we would have to change the law. it can't be applied retroactively here. we could look into that. people who are openly working -- we'd have to prove they're working -- they're aligning themselves with terrorist overseas, with the taliban. i mean, president obama has already authorized the assassination of an al qaeda cleric anwr alahi in yemen. >> i would have to agree with jon. i think senator lieberman is on to something here. it's already against the law for an american who fights with a foreign force could be stripped of his or her citizenship. so i think an american citizen who's involved in a terror plot

should also face the same consequenc consequences. >> jonathan and john, appreciate you coming on. we're out of time. it's a lot to think about. as you both make excellent examples and points, i know people will be talking about. we'll continue to follow the arrest of the times square bomber here on msnbc. andrea mitchell will interview former homeland security secretary michael chertoff. i'm tamron hall. see you back here at 2:00 eastern time. police are tracking what a lot of people call a real life jason bourne as in the movie. we'll talk to authorities about this very interesting investigation. coming up, contessa brewer. >> coming up at the top of the hour, share ra palin reacts to the oil spill crisis on the gulf in her twitter page. we're learning a lot more about the times square bomb suspect's ties to pakistan and gaping security lapses. athens explodes over riots and budget cuts aimed at bringing greece back from the brink of financial collapse.

a live report from inside athens, just ahead. [ male announcer ] when you plug in a febreze noticeables, it's all that people notice. i didn't even think that was possible. [ woman ] i know, but there it is. [ sniffing ] febreze you plug in to the wall. [ male announcer ] when you plug in a febreze noticeables, it's all that people notice. [ man ] wow. that is amazing. i know. imagine. [ sniffing ] febreze you plug in to the wall. [ chuckles ]

[ male announcer ] from febreze comes noticeables. freshness you'll notice or your money back. and you have a heart attack. that's what happened to me. they said the quick thinking of chewing an aspirin probably kept me alive while i was on the plane. i'm on an aspirin regimen now. my doctor told me it's the easiest preventative thing you can do. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone. so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. to take care of yourself, to take care of your heart,

see your doctor. simple. [ male announcer ] learn more about protecting your heart at iamproheart.com.

good wednesday, everyone. i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast here on msnbc. we begin with new developments and details in the botched terror attack on new york eegs times square. here's the latest. a little more than an hour ago court officials said 30-year-old suspect faisal shahzad will not make his first appearance in new york federal court today. perhaps the reason for the delay, authorities say shahzad has been cooperating and admits to the attempted terror attack. he claims he acted alone. but shahzad says he did receive training on how to make bombs during a recent visit to his native pakistan. right now the senate's homeland security committee is holding a hearing on ways to prevent terrorists from using guns to carry out attacks in the united states. investigators have been praised for their quick work in

apprehending terror suspect faisal shahzad. we're learning today he almost got away. take a look at the time line here. shahzad was identified by the fbi on monday and was placed under surveillance. but he managed to give investigators the slip. exactly when and for how long, still unclear. at 12:30 monday afternoon he was placed on the government's no-fly list. at 6:30 p.m. on his way to new york's jfk airport he booked a one way flight, paid cash for it. that flight to pakistan via dubai. at 7:35 p.m. shahzad arrived at the airport where he paid cash for his ticket. he gets on that plane despite being on the no-fly list. at 10:40 p.m. customs gets the no-fly list and it's learned that faisal shahzad is aboard the emirates airlines flight. just about 11:00 p.m. as the plane was about to leave the gate, shahzad is removed from the plane and arrested. joining me now from capitol hill is congressman adam smith, a democrat from washington. would you consider that a close

call? >> absolutely. it's a very close call. now, i think the investigators do deserve some credit for so quickly identifying the suspect. but we do need to look at how did he get on the plane and why did he get on the plane? should we not have seen that information? so i think there is quite a bit that went right in this investigation, but we need to get better every time. we look at what didn't go right, learn from that and try to make the improvements necessary. >> we're just learning now at nbc news that it appears more and more information is coming in that points to the taliban. congressman smith, what's your reaction to that? >> i think this is the big lesson here on two big issues. one, the increasing radicalization of a broader group of people out there who threaten us. we saw this with the christmas day bombing, with abdulmutallab, we've seen that in this case. the message al qaeda is sending out, the west is at war with islam, rallying all muslims to respond to that, is resonating far more than we would like. we need to step up efforts to