table. a looi picture right here of the president speaking. the president is talking with them and some of their neighbors with the economic struggles of middle class families. >> if we think our kids are important and the next generation is important, then we have to act like it. we cannot pretend that, you know, there are short cuts or that we can cut our taxes completely have all the benefits that we want and balance the budget and not make any tough choices. >> last night the president worked hard to close the voter throu enthusiasm. students and supporters here at the university of wisconsin, madison. >> we cannot let the country fall backwards because the rest of us did not care enough to fight. the stakes are too high for our country and for your future, and

i will get out there and fight as hard as i can, and i know you will too to make sure we keep moving forward. >> but the president and the democrats have a lot of ground to make up. 34 days until election day. a majority says the country is headed in the wrong direction. republicans are making political hey out of that perception. the political house leader is insisting lawmakers should not leave d.c. until the vote is taken. >> i believe there is a bipartisan majority in the house and senate who want to extend all of the current tax rates. but if democrat leaders leave town without stopping the tax increases, they are turning their backs on the american people. >> joining me now, former san francisco mayor, willie brown, joins me today. >> thank you for having me. >> is the president giving democrats what they need, a common enemy, a leader on the front line urging the troops

forward? >> absolutely. as a smater of fact it's his responsibility to carry the message of the first two years of his administration in those areas where the republicans are trying to make this a referendum on his conduct. >> when we look, though, at the president's approval rating, and i mention we are looking at the president in the backyard here working hard to try and fire up the loyal democratic voters, the president's approval rating now stands at 46% who approve, and 49% who disapprove. you factor in the margin of error and it's about a tie. does it approval rating undermine the campaigning for democrats in danger? >> in some neighborhoods and districts, yes. these elections, however, will not be measured on whether or not you are committed to the national ticket or not committed to the national ticket, because the national ticket is not on the ballot. harry reid is running in nevada.

that's harry reid. and then colorado, bennett is running. that's the way it going to be. if obama is okay to go in there, he goes in and if he isn't, he stays out. >> let me ask you about california. you have senator boxer, a long-time popular center in one of the most progressive states here in the country facing one of her toughest challenges, she stands at 43% of the support being the opponent and boxer has 51% of the support. this is the year when incumbents get challenge? >> absolutely. incumbents are being challenged. anytime there is unemployment, and a war going on, and people are not happy about it. in fact, the economy has collapsed almost. all of those things send a bad message.

somebody has to be blamed. who is to blame? those persons holding public office. boxer is in that position, and there are a lot of other boxers throughout the country. on the democratic side of the aisle, there is less punishment. the republicans in the primary have punished their incumbents. so far the democrats have survived. >> let me ask you about the gubernatorial race there in california. they were jabs traded. they were talking about the unions, and i want to play a part of it. >> the fact that jerry brown is trying to distance himself from the labor unions is amazing to me because the labor unions and jerry brown have been joined at the hip for 40 years. my view is putting jerry brown in charge of negotiating with the labor unions about pensions and around how many people we

have in the state government is like putting count dracula in charge of the blood bank. >> if everybody in state service worked as long as i have the pension fund would be over by 50%. if you elect me governor, i will not collect until i am 76. if i get a second term, it will be 80. i am the best pension buy california has ever seen. >> speaking of the best buy, meg whitman poured a ton of her own money into it, and fur looking at the latest polls, brown has the 5-point lead over whitman. is that a good buy? >> no, it's miss spent. it's unfortunate for her, but her advisers did not give her a set pattern that could result in an effective use of campaign money. she is going to lose in spite of

the amount of money she has spent, and in spite of her tact and the demonizing of organized labor. she will lose. democrats out number republicans by 2 million people in the state of california, and those people will show up in jerry browns humor and wisdom and his clear experience will prevail. >> we will wait and see on election day if your predictions ring true. >> there is one more item in california. on the ballot is prop 19. legalization of marijuana. those young people between the ages of 18 and 25 or 27, would have no other reason to go to the polls. they have one now. they want pot legalized and they will show up. believe me, they are not going to vote for whitman. >> yes, mary jane, the great motivator. nice to see you, mayor. thank you.

>> all right. a report today the former housekeeper for meg whitman will hold a news conference to talk about the controversial explosion about whitman. gloria will file something against her. we will watch to see how this develops. class is resuming at the university of texas, austin, after an on campus shooting had the school on lockdown. the shooter was a 19-year-old math major. he fired shots in the air and then shot himself in the library killing himself. those that knew him described him as an intelligent and unemotional student. cell phone video shows s.w.a.t. teams entering the room yesterday. nobody else was hurt. so moving on now we have

some video, actually, of those sw.w.a.t. teams -- we're moving on to weather? okay. a powerful system, a tropical depression has just been upgraded to a tropical storm named nicole. emergency officials are urging residents to prepare for possible flooding. weather channel's eric fisher joins us from florida. what do you have? >> reporter: we have had in and out showers. we were in about five minutes ago, and now we are out of the showers. the bottom line, flood something a big concern. we are still in the rainy season, which is june through september. and then it became nicole at 11:00. what does that mean for residents in south florida? not much in terms of the forecast. the same thing we are expecting here, heavy downpours and not a lout of wind. out of the east right now, it's about 15 miles per hour.

in some of the squalls that roll through, we will see wind gusts 40 and 45 miles per hour, and that can cause minor damage. nicole will be a heavy rain maker. the heaviest falling down towards miami and the keys and everglades. when you get in the situation where you have a lot of industrialization, and you have paved roads, that's where you get the urban flooding, and that's what we will expect this afternoon. there were accidents on the morning commute and likely will be accidents on the evening commute, so we urge everybody to be careful out there. in the folks that live near the water, that's where we could see flooding. in terms of the forecast, it will not be worse here, but it will be the worst in north carolina. heavy rains in the carolinas, and all the way to the northeast, and wilmington is a place we will be keeping our eye on. >> thank you, eric. the woman that made up a story about a stranger throwing

acid in her face goes before the judge. americans love to talk about religion. you might be surprised at how much they actually know? which is not one of the ten commandments? do not commit adultery, do unto others as you would have them do unto you? d, keep the sabbath holy, or c, do not steal? the answer coming in minutes. did you know a problem in your heart can cause a stroke in your brain?

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welcome back, everybody. the washington woman that admitted lying about being the victim of an acid attack wrapped up her first court appearance. bethany plead not guilty to

three counts. she claimed a woman slashed her with acid in the face last month. she later admitted she put drain cleaner on her own face. the trial is scheduled to begin on september 20th. a man's life on death row is being spared for now. san francisco's judge blocked the execution because of the lethal injection pr procedures. and then a man has been charged with aggravated assault after throwing a brick through a window. friends and neighbor of the woman known as miss margaret came rushing to her defense. >> he's a bad boy. that's all i can say. >> she talked to me friday.

and friday she said she had enough. and they set fire garbage cans on fire, and they kept torturing her because of al and everything. she was trying to avoid him. it was back and forth. she called the police and nobody come. >> the day that i came home from work, there was stuff in the backyard burning. >> little boys follow him, but he is the leader and he is worse. >> the shooting put the boy in the hospital, and he is still there. in a rare moment, president obama got personal about his faith yesterday. he was talking about being a christian. at a backyard chat on the economy in albuquerque. >> i am a christian by choice. you know, my family did not -- frankly, they were not folks who went to church every week. so i came to my christian faith

later in life, and it was because the preseps of jesus christ spoke to me to a live that i would want to lead. >> the president's religion has long been a political issue. a poll showed 1 in 5 americans wrongly believe the president is a muslim. and not long after the poll was released, the president allowed himself to be photographed going to church with his family. atheists aknow religion. there was a survey test, and what it found is that americans really don't know all that much about religion. on average, people answered half the questions correctly. did you make your answer?

the correct answer is, b, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. that's the golden rule. there we go. which bible figure is closely associated with remaining owe beaden utah to god despite suffering? the correct answer there is jobe. jews and mormons came in second after atheists, and then catholics and proud stunts got the least correct. my big question today, should education about religion be part of the core curriculum for students? share your comments with me on facebook or e-mail. there is a group that quizzed more than 3,000 people about this. when you are looking at the vast

gaps of knowledge, about the bible and other world religions, what do you think? should a study of religion be part of what children learn growing up? >> well, i am not sure whether we can say that children should or should not be taught about religion, but what we can say that is that education is certainly the number one factor that helps to predict people's levels of religious knowledge. the more formal years of knowledge people have the higher they score on the survey. so there is certainly a strong link between educational attainment and religious knowledge. >> are you surprised about the number of people who proclaim that they are of a certain faith, they are catholics and they don't know the basic doctrines of their own faith? >> we were struck by that. there are important things that people know about religion that

people do know. 7 in 10 people know jesus was born in bethlehem, and the survey shows catholics are not aware of the church's teaching what happens to the president and wine during communion, they become the body of christ. >> we have had a really interesting discussion online about whether knowledge of the bible is important for kids moving on. so we are going to talk more about that later this hour. i appreciate your time today. thanks. >> thank you for having me. a second contestant on the ramsey show committed suicide. you will hear what the contestant's family has to say. look at what is hot on the web soed and some of the most viewed stories on msnbc.com. bishop long's accuser calls him a monster, but admits he loved

the pastor. he says to a tv station, i cannot take enough showers to wipe the smell of him off my body. for germany, world war i finally ends sunday. that's when the country pays its last $94 million debt installment, and it happens to be the 20th anniversary of german reunification. and india hires moneys to guard the venue. they are very effective in keeping other monkeys in check in public places. they go on duty starting today. i am not told what their salary is for all that work. replant a forest?

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celebrity chef gordon ramsey is mourning the death of a chef that appeared on his reality show "kitchen nightmares." he helped joe turn around his restaurant with a combination of tough love and good business advice, and this week he committed suicide by jumping off the george washington bridge. >> reporter: we are talking about the popular show on fox called "kitchen nightmares." on it the star comes into restaurant and uses pretty salty language and tough love to pick the restaurants up and whip them back into shape. that's what he did here in campania in new jersey. he grilled the chef on national tv, and last week that chef killed himself. celebrity chef gordon ramsey is known as a foul-mouthed foodie,

and it's part of the show on fox's "touchen nightmares." in 2007, he was all over joe, the head chef and owner of camp campania restaurant in new jersey. >> your business is about to [ bleep ] down the hudson. >> reporter: last week he jumped off the bridge and his body pulled and it was deemed a suicide. and it was called a kitchen nightmare, but joe's family does not blame ramsey. we spoke with his sister. >> gordon was tough on him? >> it was great. he liked gordon. >> joe and gordon remains friends. >> my brother absolutely enjoyed spending time with ramsey.

>> and on the show, he took it and his family said he welcomed it. >> i am financially in trouble. the deabt of the restaurant is overwhelming. >> her brother joe has bigger issues. >> he had sadness and it was seen as something that would never end and did not know how else to manage that. >> joe's friends agree saying ramsey helped save the restaurant. >> you could see a big difference after ramsey was there. >> he appreciated it? >> he absolutely appreciated him. >> he is not the first contestant to commit suicide. in 2006, rachel brown was on the box show "hell's kitchen," and she shot herself to death after the taping of the reality show,

a year after. why she did it is clear. >> a lot of the contestants know clearly what they are getting into. they have seen the show. >> reporter: as for joe, he was passionate about cooking and his wife, melissa, cherished him for it. >> you know, it's his dream and he is giving it his all to succeed. >> today she is left alone with the restaurant and their children. >> joe was one of the most beautiful people that i have ever known, so loved. just so so loved. >> reporter: the restaurant is doing quite well now, and much better than it was a few years ago than when ramsey was here. ramsey released a statement to nbc news saying joe was a brilliant death, and our thoughts go out to his family and friends and staff. lindsay lohan back in rehab. she checked herself into a program late monday. by some accounts it's her fifth trip to rehab. last week she was briefly sent

to jail for failing a drug test that was court ordered. let's go to hillary clinton, she and the treasury secretary, tim geithner are getting ready to make a statement. >> yesterday president obama signed an executive order targeting eight iranian officials responsible for serious and sustained human rights abuses since the disputed election of june 2009. on these officials' watch or under their command, iranian citizen have been aur bough trary arrested, beaten, tortured, raped, blackmailed and killed. the iranian government has ignored repeated calls from the international community tonight these abuses, to hold to account those responsible and respect the rights and fundamental freedoms of its citizens, and iran has failed to meet the obligation under the

international covenant of civil and political rights. the study deterioration in iran has ablanlged the united states to speak out time and time again. today we are announcing specific actions that correspond to our deep concern. the mounting evidence of refreshen against anyone that questions iranian government decisions or advocates for transparency, or even attempts to defend political prisoners is very troubling. this week, iranian authorities banned two reformists political parties and shut down two more newspapers. this follows a series of convictions and harsh sentenced for a number of political prisoners. two internationally recognized human rights defenders were sentenced to six-year prison terms. the student leader was given an

8 1/2-year-sentence for insul d insulting the president. many have been jailed and many have fallen ill due to mistreatment in prison. now -- >> there is secretary of state hillary clinton, and she is there with timothy geithner announcing the sanctions against the eight iranians, and the order from the president now blocks any assets in the united states from -- prohibits americans from doing business with the eight iranians, and so we are keeping our eye on this. when we hear more we will bring you up-to-date about it. they say that a list of eight iranians, not exhausted, and there could be more added to the list. a warning about a mumbai-style terror attack. we will ask an officer from the scotland yard about that threat. and then levi johnson opens

up about his ex-fiance, bristol palin, on "dancing with the stars." we will find out who got the last word in three minutes. sure i'd like to diversify my workforce, i just wish that all of the important information was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths,

the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com.

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during truck month, use your all-star edition discount for a total value of five thousand dollars on silverado. see your local chevrolet dealer. how any member can vote to adjourn and put it into a lame duck session i think is putting your election above the needs of your constituents. >> there is john boehner letting his colleagues in the house -- letting them have it for delaying a vote on the middle class tax cuts extending the bush era tax cuts. the republicans, as you know, want the tax cuts exsttended to all americans, and the democrats want to extend them to those

that make less than $250,000. we'll keep our eye on that. we are hearing about a mumbai-style attacked planned for europe. intelligence agents in europe and the u.s. found out about the plot, and terrorists targeted public places. now people in europe are on edge. police evacuated the eiffel tower in paris yesterday. that's the second time this month. and we will talk to the steve purl. >> there is a terrorists that was arrested on route from afghan to germany. there was a mosque in germany that was known to be used by al qaeda to plot the 9/11 attacks. i understand as a result of the information and the intelligence that was acted on by the united

states with approximately 20 drone attacks on suspected terrorists targets in northern pakistan. >> and nbc has learned the pakistanis arrested this month gave up information about the attacks, that there was never concern about the united states, but there were sort of these developing plans based on different targets in the united states. why mumbai-style attacks? why is that the plan of action terrorists would go to now? >> i think terrorists have learned now that rather than the big spectacular-style attack, it will create more attacks in a greater number. ten terrorists were able to tie the city up for days killing 166 people and seriously injuring over 300 more. >> and that was a soft target as we recall.

steve purl, nice to talk to you. thank you. >> and charter schools getting a big boost. today the charter school growth fund announced a fund-raising campaign, the largest ever aimed at nontraditional schools. they wanted to create 135,000 more opportunities for students to attend charters schools over the next decade. we are devoting special coverage to education nation. we are looking at how they are trying to change education. and rehema ellis is down at the education bus. there is an effort to get students to identify with a certain learning style. >> reporter: we are basically in nbc's front yard. let me show you what it looks like before we talk about that learning style. out here there are five different exhibits have that have been set up to get people

in touch with what is going on around the nation, and find out what educators are doing, and some of the exciting innovations going on in education right now, and what some top officials are doing. and i will be joined in this pr pavilion. the learner, what kind of learner -- excuse me. people can find out what kind of learner they are? >> yes, we help people understand what kind of learner you are. everybody has different kinds of learning stiles. people can be verbal learners, and more social learners, and sometimes they can be more visual learners. >> you found that out by asking people a series of questions, right? >> yes, you can find it on educationnation.com.

it's an assessment tool. it takes 21 questions. a variety of questions about whether you like to do things in social groups or whether you like to move when you are learning. can you do it in five minutes. it gives you a nice profile of what kind of learning style you have. >> reporter: both of us took the test and found out that i am a verbal learner, and no surprise, i talk for a living, and what kind of learner are you? >> a social learner, and physical learner, i like to use my hands. >> reporter: the thing about this, too, is once you learn what kind of a learner a child is, you can design certificaains to help that child learn best, right? >> yes, moms and dads can figure out if they are a visual learner or audible learner, they can help them. >> reporter: come on down before the rain starts or go to

educationnation.com. >> i need to find out what kind of learner i am. thank you. the hated man in alaska is talking politics, and levi johnston declares to run for mayor of wasilla. >> when it comes to establishing your world view, i am just curious, what newspapers and magazines do you read regularly? >> i read "frontiers man." i don't watch tv or watch the news that often. >> he claims he is not watching his ex-fiance on dancing with the stars. >> come on! only time? >> i saw it on youtube once. i have better things to do.

i have my son to worry about and my family and stuff to do around the house, and my friends and reading up on all this stuff and trying to become mayor. >> reading up on what stuff? he said he didn't read newspapers and stuff. you can check out "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell here on nbc. here is the announcement for the highly anticipated grand finale winner of the "next top model" contest. >> it's you, kelsey. no. no. i'm so sorry about this. oh, my god. i don't know what to say. this is not -- this was a complete accident. i am so sorry. it's amanda. i am so sorry. it was fed to me wrong.

>> how does that happen? the winner was a really good sport about it all. she gave a nod to the actual winner. >> of course it felt good to win for that 30 seconds. but, you know, amanda won fair and square with the votes. and i am here for the career. i want a modeling career, and you know, to be -- i feel like i have achieved that. >> don't you hate it when that happens, when it gets fed to you wrong? just hate that. the recession may be over, but there is interesting new information about the way it has affected everyday life and marriage. some days you cannot start the day without a cup of coffee. according to a new study by duncan donuts, nurses and

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after having a upset stomach yesterday. he is said to be in good spirits and getting back to his schedule. he is doing book appearances. many americans already know that the recession changed almost every aspect of daily life. and good to see you, my friend. >> great to see you, contessa. >> it's not that it's so surprising except when you say, okay, people are, for instance, fewer people are moving. why would that be? >> you know, i will try and find the bright side of your points, contessa. fewer people are moving and it's harder to find a place that you can afford or come up with a down payment, and maybe you don't want to take a risk of making a change right now. home prices are falling, and when the economy recovers, homes will be more affordable. when somebody is trying to buy their first home, they will inbound a better spot.

rents are getting more expensive as a result is a downside. renting prices are going up, so that's not good. it's half and half on that one, sorry. >> i liked it. about what couples delaying marriage because of the recession? >> who wants to pay for a huge wedding right now, and that's part of the problem. and fewer people are getting divorced as well, because that's also really expensive. they are staying exactly where they are, i guess it is. >> slower to the alter, and more likely to stay married if you get there. >> yeah, bright side unless you don't like the person you are married to. >> silver lining and good for the kids. more people are working from home? >> yeah, more technology, and people don't want to rent office space, and now it's the perfect excuse not to because office space is more expensive. but there is a lot of efficiencies that go along with that. more profitable in the long run when the economy is up and coming.

>> if you are not married there is no one there -- wait, unless you shack up. >> yeah, unless you are still married to the spouse you want to divorce and you are now both working in the same spot. i suggested online talking about religion, and i suggested classes on religion should be included in the core of education. you will find a lot of illusions to the bible in literature and art. if you don't know anything about the bible and its characters, you will miss the references. boy is this getting a lot of response. no way i am a devout atheist and i would be totally offended. >> and then even as a non-believer, i think it would be beneficial to offer a world religion class in u.s. schools. tolerance can begin with understanding.

i was not suggesting that you would indoctrinate students, but they should know about religion and have knowledge. you can e-mail me about the stories we cover. you can get me on facebook and twitter. this afternoon, health and human services, kathleen sebelius, testifies before a senate subcommittee about some of the greatest threats to public health including bioterror attacks. about an hour later, president obama continues his road tour with a discussion about the economy. that will happen in richmond, virginia. late this afternoon, california senator, barbara boxer faces off against her republican challenger in a radio debate. maybe you want school kids to have more exposure to the arts. maybe you want to provide meals for the needy. or maybe you want to help when the unexpected happens.

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in the last ten years the cost of college jumped 24%, and the higher cost of learning is $55,000 for elite schools and $28,000 for state schools, and tuition and lab fees and books add up. 28% more is earned with a two to four-year degree. the pay gap between people that go to college and dropouts, 96%. it's no longer reasonable for people to pay their own way through college. step number one is creative accounting? >> absolutely. people need to think before they apply to college two years before time. can you sell investments to make more cash. can you do things like defer a

bonus or get a bonus early so you reduce your household income that the colleges are going to look at and they are going to decide financial aid on. >> and target your applications. what does that mean? >> it's a mix of what you are talking about. elite institutions and local and public institutions and try to figure out where you can get the best deal. it's like shopping around. >> you say you want to look at grants and you want to look at scholarships and look at government loans. what is the step to pay for college is private loans. what is the concern there? >> well, the concern, really, is that the interest rates were higher than they would be for a federal loan or if you had a work study program. you don't want to take out $200,000 in private loans and not pay it back. >> the article is fascinating. thank you. barely scratching the surface on ways to pay for school. education nation continues tomorrow at noon with a look at

how private foundations are helping to improve schools in detroit. i am contessa brewer. that's a wrap for me. appreciate the time you spent here. up next, andrea mitchell reports. have a great day, everybody. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com. but the financial landscape is still full of uncertainty. in times like these, you need an experienced partner to look out for you.

heads up! and after 300 years we have gotten pretty good at that.

right now, president obama back in iowa where it all started, trying to avert a mid-term disaster. >> the other side, what it's really offering are the same policies from 2001 to 2009, put off hard problems, and didn't really speak honestly to the american people about how we're going to get this country on track over the long term. >> but is the answer really telling the party's base to stop whining? we will ask