good friday morning, i'm chris jansing live from msnbc world headquarters in new york. we're keeping our eyes on breaking news out of detroit right now. six firefighters were injured in a building collapse. there was a large billowing cloud of dark smoke. numerous fire trucks and rescue vehicles were at the scene. those firefighters were taken to a local hospital for treatment and we're waiting for word on their conditions. we'll continue to watch this developing story and have new information for you as we get it. also developing right now, questions of bailouts, influence and ethics on capitol hill. representative maxine waters will talk to reporters any moment now to defend herself against charges she violated house rules. the ethics committee says the ten-term democrat helped steer government bailout funds to a bank where her husband had been on the board and owed hundreds of thousands of dollars of its stock. luke, the congresswoman's chief of staff is a part of this, as

well. he's also her grandson. what are we expecting today? >> well, we expect what sources have told us close to maxine waters is that she is going to take up to two hours to directly refute every single one of the allegations made against her by the house ethics committee. those are very serious allegations that said that she conspired to solicit a bailout of up to $12 million from the bank one united where her husband owed $150,000 worth of stock. obviously, present a conflict of interest. i justloved in my hand, chris, a printout of what maxine waters is going to say. she said this is not about a personal conflict of interest, but access. i was trying to provide access to receive the attention that they needed during the recession, especially from t.a.r.p. she goes on to say, in some no benefit, no improper action and no failure to disclose and no one influenced no case. maxine waters seems fairly confident that she is innocent of all these charges and her

colleagues on the house ethics committee. one thing i found in here that was quite interesting, she did not want to get involved with one united bank about anything about the new t.a.r.p. program because, "my husband had once served on the board and still held investments there. i felt they should seek assistance from chairman frank." the best person in congress to help this bank was barney frank. well, that conflicts who mr. frank said he tried to not get mrs. waters involved in this because of the conflict of interest. it is going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out and it will start shortly in the room behind me and it will be appointment tv and a very long q and a. >> i don't know that we'll make the two-hour appointment, but we'll definitely check in with that and we should also say that q and a, am i right about this? it's not going to be on camera. they'll close the doors after the original statement.

>> no, we at nbc and all the major networks if you do not allow the q and a on tape, then we will not broadcast your speech, your defense, essentially. if you're going to come out and say you're innocent, you have to come out and let the press ask you a few questions about why you are, in fact, innocent. you can't go away like that. >> fair enough. luke, i know you'll be there and we'll come back, as well. thank you. >> take care. another day of extreme weather expected across the country today from deadly heat and humidity in the midwest and south to violent storms like those that ripped through d.c. yesterday. and heavy rains bringing record floods to parts of iowa and wisconsin. bill karins is watching the forecast this morning and ron allen is in hard hit colfax, iowa. let's start with you, ron. how are things looking there? >> we have it all in terms of bad weather here. at the moment it is very sunny and bright and temperatures going up above 100 degrees and it's humid, as well. as you can see, this

neighborhood that i'm in is about as bad as it it gets. it's still under three feet of water for the most part. all these homes behind me evacuated for several days in this town of colfax a few dozen people evacuated and they're not going to be able to get back for some time and with the threat of rain, the future looks very uncertain. bigger city in iowa of 50,000 people and there the town water system was knocked out and no one has drinking water or water running into their homes. the weight of the ground saturated with water caused the underground water mains to crack and now they're bracing to try to repair them. they're out of water for several days. donations of ration water are coming in and people are making due. again, everybody is watching the forecast hoping it doesn't rain too much more as the forecast does suggest. >> all right, ron, thanks so much. as ron mentioned, those forecasters predicting another day of storms in parts of iowa. bill karins, exactly what they don't need. unfortunately, they're not alone

with all this nasty weather going on. the big storms in d.c. and iowa and especially the skunk river that has been way above its banks and record levels the last three or four days and under a slight risk of severe weather today. all the way up to where they're trying to get into a golf tournament in wisconsin back through iowa. in iowa we're watching the radar closely this afternoon. big storms racing through wisconsin and developing over illinois. but as far as the des moines to ames area goes, at least for now, a break. more rain expected later today. our computers are pinpointing the heaviest rainfall in the eastern sections of iowa and that would be good. we want to keep it out of the ames and des moines area because that's where the flooding has been the worst. the other huge story, the heat. every single day this month, dallas, texas, 100 degrees or hotter. today no exception around 104. even kansas city. the entire midwest has been baking in an incredible heat wave and that will change this weekend.

kansas city, saturday 93 and on sunday 86. but our friend in dallas, chris, they'll continue their streak well into next week of 100 degree heat. >> wow, okay, bill, thanks very much. we've been talking about ineconomy all week, so many numbers have come out and most of them not good and new numbers out today showing that most americans are still tightening their belts, a move that will dolittle to lift the slowing economy. the consumer sentiment index inched up slightly but the survey finds the consumer outlook remains bleak. in another snapshot of the consum consumer, retail sales climbed a modest 0.4% last month, but half of those gains from auto sales. as for inflation, it's holding steady with the consumer price index rising. these numbers coincide with youth, unemployment has hit a record high. 81 million people globally. and that's raising concerns about a so-called lost generation. cnbc trish regan joins me now.

you know, let me ask you about that last number because it's so astonishing. what's the impact of having so many young workers unemployed? >> well, i mean, just as the studied said. you can have a lost generation. just look at the u.s., if you compare where we are right now in terms of teen employment, i'm talking teens, around 3% or sos the 1970s we were upward of 8% of teens employed. this number you cited is looking at 18 to 24 year olds. when we start getting into those early 20s, it is really critical that you have a job that you find a job because that, every study shows has a significant impact on your future earning potential. one thing that we've noticed in this recession is that teens have certainly lost out and interestingly, they lost out to older workers. you know, always traditionally been that older workers have a hard time finding a job in a tough economy because employers tend to go with the younger people.

so, someone in their early 20s, perhaps, would be more advantages to an employer than someone in their 50s. that's not the case in this particular recession. we've seen employers time and time gend tend to go with the older, more experienced worker. from their standpoint, here's the way they see it. why not get that experienced worker as opposed to someone who is just coming into the workforce. the problem with it, chris, the consequences long term could be significant. >> trish regan, as always. good to see you and "the call" is on at 11:00 a.m. every week day. have a good weekend. >> you, too, chris. police say they finally got their man. a serial stabber wanted for killing five people and attacking at least 13 more. there's an extradition hearing in atlanta in just about an hour for elias abuelazam but police had him a week ago and they let him go. right now he is only charged with one knife attack although charges on the way for three separate states.

ron mott is in atlanta for us and what do we know about this? they had him a week ago and then they let him go? >> good morning, chris. they had him a week ago august 5th a week ago in arlington, virginia, just outside of d.c. and they stopped him and the officer who stopped him noticed there was an outstanding warrant from back in '08 and they took him to jail and the judge initially denied bond but then let him out on his own recognizance. they found a hammer and a knife in his car and, as you mentioned, he is suspected of being involved in at least 18 stabbings and five of those fatal. right now he is only charged with the one in flint, michigan, a 26-year-old man who was attacked on july 27th. that man did survive. so, if elias abuelazam does not fight extradition, he could be on his way back up to flint, michigan, as early as this afternoon. a lot of people who know him in

the michigan area say this is completely uncharacteristic of the person they knew. his ex-father-in-law had this to say. >> my whole family is shocked. this is something that you don't have happen to you every single day. that you knew somebody, like i said, i don't know if they found him guilty yet or what they have, so, that's why i say, i think that's what her point is, let's wait and see what happens in the investigation. >> and, chris, he was taken into custody here in atlanta wednesday night, 20 minutes from the scheduled departure flight to israel. he was an israeli citizen and traveling with an expired passport and interest figure those gate agents would have noticed that and allowed him on to that flight. back up to you. >> all right, ron, thanks so much. coming up, we'll talk to the chief prosecuting attorney in michigan on how they track this guy down and how virginia cops arrested him a week ago with no idea who he was. that is coming up in about 20 minutes. meantime, u.s. marshals

think a fugitive couple may be more desperate and dangerous to the public but they have not been spotted in more than a week. investigators are concerned that leads are drying up. john mccluskey acasslyn welch he been on the run. they're experienced semi-truck drivers that are known to go to truck stops and camp grounds. the search is focused in montana and western a arkansas. no deliberations today at the impeached trial of rod blagojevich. it left legal experts trying to read the tea leaves. so far the jury can only agree on 2 of 24 charges and hasn't even talked about 11 of them. those are the wire fraud charges, which mostly deal with allegations that blago tried to sell the u.s. senate seat, vacated by president obama. now, it's not clear which two counts jurors did settle.

they have the weekend off and will be back at it on monday. the fight over same-sex marriage in california hardly over yet, but can opponents even challenge the judge's ruling. the judge doesn't think so. steven slater became a working-class hero for a lot of folks for telling off passengers and then walking off the job and then, of course, taking the emergency slide. he claims he was provoked. was he? teachers are getting laid off by the hundreds, so then why is one state spending millions of dollars on gastric bypass surgery instead? also, why some people say this 10-year-old singing sensation cannot be for real.

♪ i could hang around till the leaves are brown and the summer's gone ♪ [ announcer ] when you're not worried about potential dangers, the world can be a far less threatening place. take the scary out of life with travelers insurance... and see the world in a different light.

developing story we have been following. maxine waters who has just come into the room in washington, d.c., she has a 25-point defense of the ethics charges against her. let's listen in. >> that is why i have requested that the standards committee schedule a hearing as soon as possible. unfortunately, the committee has not yet specified a date for a hearing on this matter and congressional schedule it is possible that no hearing will be held for months. even after the nov elections. such a delay is unacceptable. considering that the investigation has dragged out for almost one year. it does not provide due process. it prevents my constituents and the american public from getting answers and it delays me from being able to respond to the charges spelled out in the sav.

i am pleased that the committee release the sav and related documents earlier this week as i have insisted after waving my right to have the sav remain private until the adjudicatory hearing. i arranged this press conference to present my facts in the case and clear up ambig uties and misinformation. i recognize the transparency that i'm providing may not eliminate adjudicatory hearing to reiterate. i am, in fact, anxious to share she's facts with you and the public because i have not violated any house rules. i fully disclosed all of my financial information as requested by house rules and, in fact, went above and beyond what was required by repeatedly disclosing my and my husband's financial interest doing financial services committee hearings. neither my staff nor i engaged

in any improper behavior and we did not influence anyone and we did not gain any benefit. we're here today because i believe my actions and the allegations against me are not easily understood. today, i want to be absolutely clear about one thing. this case is not just about me, this case is about access. it's about access for those who are not heard by the decisionmakers. whether it's having their questions answered or their concerns addressed. for the past 14 years, i have served in elected office, both at the state and national level and i have made one of my top priorities opening doors and providing access for small, minority, and women-owned businesses. in fact, my advocacy and assi assistance in providing access for the national bankers

association is why we're here today. the national bankers association consists of 103 minority banks. and i have worked with this association and their concerns for many years. i have spoken at their conventions on many occasions. i have participated in hearings about their issues and i have worked with our federal agencies on their behalf, including the treasury department, fdic and fannie mae and freddie mac. my telephone call to then secretary of the treasury hank paulson during the worst economic crisis this nation has faced in 80 years was to provide access to the national bankers association, which was concerned about the fact that treasury had placed fannie mae and freddie mac into conservativeship.

it was represented to me that many minority banks have overleveraged their capital in freddie and fannie and the association wished to know whether their member's capital was lost or if the government was responsible for protecting the capital that hthey had invested in preferred stock. they had attempted yet a meeting with the treasury department, but had received no response. and, so, they sought me out to assist them in setting up a meeting. the question at this point should not be why i called secretary paulson, but why i had to. the question, at this point, should be why a trade association representing over 100 minority banks could not get a meeting at the height of the crisis.

when i contacted the treasury secretary, i did not suggest in a solution to the problem of the national bankers association. i did not ask for any favors from the national bankers association. i did not ask for a meeting for any individual bank, including one united bank. i did not suggest who would be participants in that meeting. i did not attend that meeting and there was no such thing as the troubled asset relief program known as t.a.r.p. at that time. there has been a great deal of confusion over a conversation i had with the financial services chairman barney frank. the conversation i had with chairman frank was a conversation several weeks after this meeting had taken place. and after t.a.r.p. program had been announced.

one united bank was now raising questions about assistance from t.a.r.p. because my office's assistance to the national banker's association was strictly to provide access for discussion about the impact of the financial crisis on small and minority banks broadly and because there was no t.a.r.p. program at the time of the meeting. i did not wish to get involved with one united bank about any individual assistance or about this new t.a.r.p. program 36. from the state where the bank was headquartered and someone with the record or compensation

for anyone or any institution or influence the t.a.r.p. process anyway. there has also been a question about whether or not i instructed my staff not to get involved with one united bank or in assessing t.a.r.p funds. my staff had only been involved in understanding the impact of the financial crisis on small and minority banks broadly and assisting in setting up the meeting with the treasury department for, again, again, the national bankers association. i told my chief of staff that i had informed chairman frank about one united bank's interest, that we were only concerned about small and minority banks broadly. that chairman frank would

evaluate one united issue and make a decision on how to proceed and given the e-mails that the committee has offered as their evidence, we communicated with each other clearly. so, it's not just about us. it's about those who like access. i was honored to serve on the conference committee of the wall street reform and consumer protection act. i'm happy to say that much of the legislation i authored access for women and minority rights and for shareholders more accountable consumer financial protection, bureau and assistance for struggling and unemployed homeowners were included in the final legislation that was signed by president obama. i am particularly proud of the offices of minority and women inclusion that will be set up at the federal government's financial institutions, such as the fdic, all of these agencies

continuing with my work about access will now have these offices of minority and women inclusion. hear me clearly. because of the need for access and the work that i have done over many years, i have now opened up new opportunities by creating the offices of minority and women assistance at the fdic, the treasury department, the federal reserve among others to deal with the historic lack of access that minority and women individuals and institutions have had in hiring, decision making, contracting and procurement opportunities. and over the past year, i and nine other congressional black caucasus members of the

financial services committee have been meeting with the national bankers association, the national newspaper publishers association, the national association of black on broadcasters, the national association of minority automobile dealers, the national association of securities professionals and the national bar association among others discussing the plight of minority businesses, their lack of access to capital and the lack of support from their government in banking, advertising and consulting contracts. access is key to understanding the scope of this case. this case is not just about them, this case is about fairness. in fact, the investigative subcommittee ignored or disregarded key pieces of excullpatory evidence crucial to my case extremely and that is extremely troubling. a truly robust investigatory

process would have taken all the available evidence into consideration. i believe that if this had been

trying to provide access to those who have been denied. these two things will provide context for my constituents and your judgment. my constituents demand that i stand up for the values they elected me to represent. for some no improper action and no failure to disclose and no one influence no case. i thank you again for coming today. now, i'm going to ask my chief

of staff, michale moore who will present to you some of the key facts in the case and also address some of our concerns with the sav to come forward. after the presentation, i will be happy to take your questions on the sav and answer them to the best of my ability. i will ask you to keep your questions to the sav and my experiences with the ethics investigation and process. i will not be entertaining questions about the supposed issue of race in this matter or recent media reports that have nothing to do with my case pending before the committee on standards of official conduct. let me just ask the camera guys on this side -- >> this is california congresswoman maxine watters and she's talking about the ethics committee report that came out on monday charging that she broke bailout friends for a bank in which her husband was a major

shareholder and also brings in her chief of staff who also happens to be her grandson who you see there. to say the least, this is an unusual press conference. she's mounting a point-by-point defense. neither she nor anyone on oher staff did anything wrong. it's really interesting. you heard her not wanting to talk about discussing questions of a racial issue in here. along with maxine waters, you probably know that charlie rangel is facing charges in the ethics committee and they both are making the same point. charges have been made against us and, yet, no date has been set for when we can go before this committee and make our case and clear our name. and, so, she said she wants a hearing as soon as possible. we've got luke russert there, he's going to continue to listen to some of the questions and answers and we'll have more on this throughout the day on msnbc. but, again, an unusual day at the house where she goes there to defend herself just a couple days ago, charlie rangel did the

same on the floor of the house after nancy pelosi, the house speaker said coming in years ago that the ethics committee was going to take its charge very seriously. now, it's no secret house minority leader john boehner is eyeing the chance to take over as house speaker this fall. first things first, he is facing a challenge for his seat back in ohio. let's bring in democrat justin, a former army captain who is running against congressman boehner in the state's eighth district. good to see you, thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me, chris. >> since we've been on this and since you want to be a member of congress, let me ask you, does maxine waters have a point? do you think that she and charlie rangel should be able to make their casus as soon as possible? >> yes, chris, i think that's a fair point. it is an election year and they want to clear their name as soon as they can and get this behind them. i think that's fair.

i can tell you from here in middle america, these cases, i think, are representative of what a lot of people are tired of out of washington. it's a lot about what this race is about. people see business as usual and a lot of focus on sort of the inside the beltway issues rather than what's important to them. so, you know, from here in ohio, i can tell you people just sort of tire of these stories and i think that's what we're seeing a lot of this year and in the election. >> i want to ask you a little bit about a campaign ad. paid for by democratic groups and some other people are suggesting that this is maybe also a little bit what's wrong with some of the campaigning this year. let me play a little clip of this ad and i'll ask you about it. >> rounds of golf, 100 plus. golf expenses, $83,000. membership at all male club, $7 a,000. special interest travel, including golf junkets, $1,259. raising the retirement age to 70 and voting to end unemployment

benefits -- priceless. there's john boehner. for everyone else, there's justin coussoule. >> is that an ad that represents how you would like to run the campaign? >> i think what that ad speaks to is that we lack a public servant here in the eighth district in ohio. if golf is a gateway for people to understand that our congressman spends much of his time and energy on a golf course raising money and hobnobbing with fat cat contributors, then i think that's relevant. it's not so much about how a person golfs or what they do on their time as opposed to what they do on taxpayer time and campaign contribution money and, so, i think it's a fair point. >> you're going up against, obviously, one of the most powerful, most well-connected members of congress. very well-funded. he's got a good campaign organization. are you getting any help from the dnc or democratic campaign

committees? are they taking your campaign seriously? >> well, chris, we have a real grassroots effort here. we're an all volunteer operation and certainly raising money and have a staff and have a volunteer network. you know, wherever there are five voters gathered, we are there and working very hard to get what john boehner has never seen in 20 years and that's a real challenge. give the voters a real choice. so, the short answer to your question is that the democratic national committee and the various democratic committees, you know, they're very logical and very focused on who they support and we're not on that short list. but if that's the conventional wisdom. for those of us who are here on the ground in southwest ohio, we know that there is a real fighting chance for this race. you know, 55% of this district is independent. and the other 45 is split evenly republican and democrat. so, it's a myth that john boehner represents an overwellmingly republican district. we just haven't competed here in

20 years and that's what we're doing for the first time this year. >> justin, thank you for being here. we really appreciate your time. >> thanks, chris, it was a pleasure. u.s. combat operations are winding down in iraq and today in an nbc exclusive, chief foreign correspondent richard engel got an update from the general in iraq. the general says it will take years to know whether the iraq war was a success. >> i think if we get this right, i think overall stability will ilprove in the region which means it will translate to the united states in my mind. >> but it's still an open question. >> it is. >> if we don't get it right, then it was not worth it. is that -- >> what i'm saying the result we'll know in three to five years is what i've always said. >> again, asked if the war was worth all the sacrifice, the general said my answer to that question is, it's still yet to be determined. now, nbc's david gregory, the moderator of "meet the press" got an exclusive with the

man turning around the war in afghanistan general david petraeus. >> are you in lock step with the president who will still stick to a july 2011 deadline to begin that transition? >> yeah, absolutely. he has been very clear on this, i think. there was greater clarity, even after the replacement and so forth. what the president very much wants from me and what we talked about in the oval office is the responsibility of a military commander on the ground to provide his best professional military advice. leave the politics to him. certainly, i'm aware of the context in which i offer that advice, but that just informs the advice, it doesn't drive it. the situation on the ground drives it. >> and you can catch david gregory's full interview with general petraeus, the first since he took over there this sunday on "meet the press." in less than 30 minutes, the alleged serial stabber suspected of attacking 18 victims across three states will face a judge. he has an extradition hearing in

atlanta where he was arrested. custom agents picked him up trying to get on a plane to israel. joining me on the phone for genacy county, michigan, david layton. thanks very much for joining us, sir. these crimes go back to may. how did you track him down? >> well, it took a lot of good old-fashioned police work over the last few weeks and it was successful. we used a combination of tip line that got set up that generated over 500 tips. one of those tips was a high-priority tip that led to investigators going to a party store near flint. we gleaned some good information there that connected this individual to virginia and the fbi came in and helped us with technology so we could electronically track this individual and just a lot of good men and women working really hard to put this guy down. >> we do understand, though, on august 5th he was pulled over in virginia for a traffic violation and cops arrested him on a 2008

misdemeanor assault charge from leesburg, virginia. they found a hammer and a knife in his car but they let him go because there was no national alert out for him at the time. was there a mistake there but not putting out the call earlier? >> i don't think so. i don't think we developed the fact that this was our guy by that point. we had not known because we had not gotten all that good information. that all came down so quickly over the last few days and that was after the time of the incident in alexandria, virginia. >> as often happens in these cases which are multi-state, multi-crime. he is only charged at this point with one crime, attempted murder. how is he tied with these other crimes and how soon do you suspect that some of these other charges will be filed? >> we have to wait on physical evidence that has been gathered over the last 48 hours. it's up that michigan state police crime lab in bridgeport, which is considerably backed up.

i asked the investigators to try to move that to the front of the line, but many prosecutors ask to move their cases to the front of the line. just don't know how long it will be until we get the physical evidence back. but we have the one charge, it's solid and i certainly didn't want him getting on that plane to tell achieve. >> do you believe, as has been suggested by some people that these crimes were racially motivated? >> certainly, there's evidence of that when 12 of the 14 of my victims are african-americans. i mean, that cries out for that. but on the other hand, when he administered the stabbings, he never said anything at all that was racist in nature. he never left behind any kind of racist message. so, short of any of that, all i have to go on is the 12 of the 14 victims were african-american and this is in a predominantly african-american city. >> chief prosecutor in genacy county, michigan. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you, chris. radio talk show host dr. laura schlessinger is apologi

apologizing for an on-air rant that she used the n-word again and again and again. the caller was hypersensitive to racism. she was talking with an african-american female caller who was complaining about comment by her white husband's friends. >> is it okay to say that word? is it ever okay to say that word? >> it depends on how it's said. black guys talking to each other seem to think it's okay. >> but they're not black. my husband is white. >> so, a word is restricted to race. got it. can't do much about that. >> i can't believe someone like you is on the radio spewing out the [ bleep ]. >> everybody heard it. >> yes, they did. >> i hope everybody heard it. >> and i'll say it again. [ bleep ] [ bleep ] is what you hear on hbo -- why don't you let

me finish a sentence? don't take things out of context. leave them in context. >> the next day dr. laura made this apology saying on air, "yesterday i did the wrong thing. i didn't intend to hurt people, but i did. i was attempting to make a philosophical point and i articulated the n-word all the way out, more than one time and that was wrong. i am very sorry and it just won't happen again." lindsay lohan's mom says her daughter will get out of rehab early and soon. the troubled actress has spent just 13 days in jail for violating her probation and now it looks like her stint in rehab could be cut short, too. on "today" show this morning her mom, dena, acted like her daughter was the victim in all of this. a young girl who made one mistake and being punished too harshly. >> she is still paying a price from 2007 to now. it's the same offense, so

nothi nothing's changed. she's great. she's been through a lot. it was the judge played hardball. lindsay was in with alleged murders and she became friends with a lot of them. >> dena is taking criticism of her own for not doing more to help her troubled daughter. she was the one who put lindsay in rehab the first time. sarah palin's favorite grandbaby daddy wants to follow in her footsteps as mayor of wasilla and his own reality show. on "jimmy kimmel" last night he said he'd do the best job he can as mayor. listen to how jimmy kimmel wants to promote him. >> we've come up with some merchandise for you. this is my gift to you, if you want to reproduce this, it's all yours. >> i'm a bit nervous on what you're going to show me. >> the thriller from wasilla. this is a good one.

elect me mayor or i'll date all your daughters. >> the would-be title of his would-be reality show "loving levi, the road to the mayor's office." the producers claim there is a lot of interest. ♪ [ male announcer ] you like who you are...

the man you've become. and you learned something along the way. about the world and yourself. ♪ this is the age of knowing what you're made of. and knowing how to get things done. so, why would you let something like erectile dysfunction get in your way? isn't it time you talked to your doctor about viagra? 20 million men already have. with every age comes responsibility. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects may include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. you didn't get to this age by having things handed to you. this is the age of taking action. viagra.

talk to your doctor. see if america's most prescribed e.d. treatment is right for you. the story about the fed up flight attendant is turning around faster than he could deploy the emergency chute. more passengers are coming forward saying he is the one who was acting strange. nbc correspondent jeff rossen has the latest twist. >> reporter: even as passengers poked holes in his story thursday, steven slater stayed home and stayed hummable. >> thank you all so much. it's been amazing the support and the love and everything that's been brought to me and given to me by my community and my friends. >> reporter: his story struck a

chord, hit with a bag from an overhead compartment, mistreated by a rude passenger, he snapped, deploying the plane's emergency chute at the gate. but, now some passengers are telling a different story. that slater himself was off beat and angry even before takeoff in pittsburgh. >> it was obvious that he was disgruntled and that he was taking it out on individuals. >> reporter: lauren was onboard in seat 2a. >> his behavior throughout the whole flight was a little bit erratic. he was walking up and down the aisles, slamming the overhead bins. he was slamming the refrigerator door and the ice and whatever they have up there. he was slamming that, as well. >> reporter: she says slater was complaining about passengers out in the open and refused to help her with a coffee spill. >> i pointed to him and showed him where the coffee was and he said, not right now, honey. >> reporter: and there's another problem. investigators say they still can't find anyone to corroborate slater's story about his

confrontation with a rude passenger over that carry-on luggage. even jetblue executives are stumped. in a memo the number two in charge wrote to his employees it's difficult to know with certainly what really happened. thursday slater's client defended his 23-year record in the air, including that final flight. >> steven did his job effectively, efficiently and appropriately. >> reporter: slater's boyfriend chimed in, too. >> do you believe the passengers who say that he was rude to them? >> i, you know, something i have no comment about that. the only thing i'm going to say is this, that steven absolutely adores flying. >> reporter: an active defiance that seems so clear has morphed into the mystery of jetblue 1052. >> that was jeff rossen reporting. if convicted, by the way, slater could face seven years in prison but he's pled not guilty. unbelievable. this 10-year-old singer

overnight sensation from "america's got talent. "but the voice with how little she is, so some people are saying, is this really her singing? we'll talk about that. there's oil out there we've got to capture. my job is to hunt it down. i'm fred lemond, and i'm in charge of bp's efforts to remove oil from these waters. you may have heard that oil is no longer flowing

into the gulf, but our spotter planes and helicopters will keep searching. we've still got thousands of vessels ready to clean up any oil we find. we've skimmed over 35 million gallons of oil/water mixture. i grew up on the gulf coast and i love these waters. we'll be here as long as it takes to clean up the gulf.

america definitely has talent but it turns out it also has a whole lot of skeptics, as well. a lot of folks questioning whether a little girl with a stunning voice is the real deal. ♪ 10-year-old jackie evancho exploded on youtube since her "america got talent" this week. her audition video has already gotten more than a million hits.

"america's got talent" producers insist she's not lip syncing and voters apparently agree because she's now moving on to the semi-finals. another week of dismal numbers when it comes to jobs and the economy. i'm joined by msnbc contributor and former dnc communication director karen finny and also with me, karen hanready, former communication director for the republican national committee. good morning to you, ladies. >> good morning. >> let's look at these numbers. unemployment 9.5% and weekless jobless claims are up and foreclosures are soaring and a lost generation, record number of young people who are unemployed. karen finny, if you're a democrat out there on the stump, what the heck do you say? >> well, you have to keep making the contrast between while we know that the recovery has been slower than we'd like, we have seen modest signs of progress and we have seen seven months of

private sector job growth. obviously, we want to see more and i think the president has been very honest and open about that. there's a real contrast to be made. the republicans are out there campaigning for a set of ideas and policies that they supported that actually got us into this mess and there's a big difference between what democrats are talking about, which are policies that are going to continue to get us out of this mess and i think there's just a different philosophy about what it's going to take to continue to strengthen our economy and create jobs. >> karen, does she have a point? did the democrats go out there and say it's the republicans that got us into this mess? >> i don't think that's the mood of the voters across america is based in part on the high expectations that have been set by this administration. and i think it's a warning sign to republicans. it ought to be, at least. there's been a lot of overpromising. we were told this is the summer of recovery from the beginning of the year to today, president obama, vice president joe biden have been out there saying it's going to get better, it's

getting better and we're turning a corner and i think that when karen refers to a modest recovery, that's right. it is going to be a very slow, very modest recovery. i think republicans have some ideas, in fact, that are going to -- >> if you look at our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll is that americans like them even less than they like the democrats. >> and, yet, if you look at the generic ballot, people are more likely to vote republican than they are democrat. and if you ask just about any nonpartisan political prognosticator, republicans are poised to take the house. so -- >> but i think there's another number in the poll which was important which shows the lack of ideas actually coming from the republicans is definitely starting to hurt them. so, i think the republicans zil to put more ideas on the table than simply, let's go back to the same policies that got us into this mess. >> always good to see you, have a good weekend. >> thanks a lot. that's going to do it for

me, i'm chris jansing. see you back here at 3:00 eastern time. tamron hall will pick things up next. what do you have coming up? >> up next in the hour, devastating floods you have been talking about in iowa that led to a crisis. listen to this, one town, people there may have no clean drinking water as a result and what's worse, they have more rain in the forecast. also, investigators looking to possible communication problems that may have delayed the search in that deadly alaska plane crash involving former senator ted stevens. and she's not a radio shock jock, but dr. laura let loose on her show with an n-word rant. it's never a good idea to do that. so, guess what, she is now apologizing for using the n-word several times because she says black men do it. it all starts in three minutes. ♪ passion burning ♪ love is so strong ♪

keller graduate school of management, you'll have a professor with you every step of the way. whether you take classes on campus, online, or both, you get the same attention, the same curriculum, and the same quality. 85 locations nationwide and online. discover how to grow the business of you... at keller.edu.

i'm tamron hall. right now on msnbc news live. defending her