>> you're his stalking horse. you're his bird dog. even by new york standards, quite a confrontation between a candidate for tea party and a reporter. congressman chris van holland,

head of the democratic campaign committee will talk about their efforts to battle the surging tea party. plus -- >> so draftee. they must catch a cold all the time. >> will you quit stalling? we're going to miss the train. >> really one of the great movies of all time and screen legend tony curtis has died at the age of 85. good thursday morning,ium consider chris jansing live from msnc world headquarters in new york. what a mess outside. rain, flooding high winds and that may actually be the light side of things. tornadoes are also in the forecast as massive storm blankets the east coast. the rain is being measured not just in inches, but in some cases, more than a foot of rain. we'll have team coverage in place and we begin with the weather channel mike seidel in myrtle beach area of south carolina, how are things looking where you are? >> the weather has turned around

very quickly this morning. the wind shut down and the rain vanished and so now we're just waiting for the sunshine to return. we had some breaks in the overcast. here in the home county to myrtle beach and north myrtle beach. six to ten inches of rain since sunday and a far cry from the 20 plus inches they had up the road. with that said, localized flooding and some water in the front yard and some roadways getting some ponding over the last couple days. these areas tend to drain off very, very nicely. once the rain ends, the water goes away. false alarms and the rain and wind setting off false fire alarms and beaches in great shape and surface still up. we have about four to five footers and they'll ease off and we've got some great weather coming in starting tomorrow with temperatures around 80, plenty of sunshine for saturday sunny skies and coolish with highs between 70 and 75. no worse for the wear here.

117 golf courses and there are lots of duffers here that can't wait after four days of rain to get back on the links. chris, back to you. >> mike seidel, thanks very much. let's go to wilmington, north carolina. jim cantore is there and a tremendous amount of rain there. what is going on? >> good morning, everybody. a wet morning here in north carolina, but the good news is the rain overnight let up and it let up enough to allow the water to recede. for example, here we are. this is new center road behind me. you can see the traffic moving and a few puddles here and there and that's what you can expect after 20 inches of rain in the last three days but here's where the debris is right here. the pocket of pine needles indicating where the debris line is. the water was up two and a half feet and this road was very much impassable. but that lighter rain we had last night allowed things to recede and that is just huge, huge news for this area. still, though, some problems on u.s. 17. it is closed down in brunswick

county north and south people trying to get to and from ard time doing so. power outages up now to 14,000 between north and south carolina and reports of an injury near the queens lake area as a large tree has fallen on a car. we're going to see another wave of rain this afternoon and some of it will be accompanied by winds that could gust to 50 miles per hour and that's the kind of wind, especially for the saturated soils that will take down these trees and have these power outages continuing to increase. by tomorrow we hope to have the sun back for you, something that you deserve after historic rain here in southern south carolina. back to you. >> let's go back to bill karins because he was following the track of this storm and the impact it was having. i woke up early and saw on the local news the traffic mrb prob

it is causing. >> now the problems from d.c. up to new york. that is the area of concern, especially around baltimore add this time. you can see the storm, the whole storm going from south to north and incompasses much of the eastern sea dwp board and they call it a tropical hose of rich moisture and all flowing in the exact same direction. look at the arrow i drew on the map. that area is getting a training effect. notice the areas in southern new england, you're not getting it for another six hours or so. from baltimore to d.c., all the problems. if you look at the bright yellow and red, heavy rain and thunderstorms right over the top of the baltimore area and much of maryland is almost getting to the point now where you don't want to be out on the roads. a lot of secondary roads closed and streams and rivers coming out of their banks. harrisburg northward. as far as the flood warnings go, areas in maroon are flash flood warnings and now river flood warnings in eastern p.a.

a tornado watch for eastern sections of jersey and a couple reported overnight in north carolina and these are our rainfall totals. these will add up quickly. already two inches in d.c., one inch in new york and one inch in philly. when we're all said and done, i think d.c. and baltimore could end up five to six inches. looks like new york just came off the board and more of a technic technical error and one-hour delays at laguardia and philly is at 30-minute delays. what amazes me is with that heavy rain in d.c., not many delays. chris, sometimes we learn during winter storms they cancel a lot of flights and no delays, obviously. i'd call ahead if you're in or out of reagan or dulles. >> those poor folks that capital had a hot summer and now getting all this rain. bill, we'll keep checking in with you, thank you. new york's race for governor is heating up and, in fact, i think you can say things got overheated last night. tea party backed republican

candidate paladino went after it after he was asked to prove his accusation that andrew cuomo had extra marital affairs. look at what happened. >> do you have any evidence? >> of course i do. at the appropriate time, you'll get it. >> what's the evidence? >> you're his bird dog. you send another goon to my daughter's house and i'll take you out. >> you're going to take me out? >> watch. >> i covered politics in new york for many, many years as a local reporter, a tenacious reporter but, wow, to say take you out is really something unlike i've heard. what happened here? >> i think there were two things sort of driving. you know, carl paladino, this is the guy who opened his victory speech on primary night saying

i'm mad as hell. he's used very blunt, emotional rhetoric. his calling card is anger and rage. i think the two things going on here is fred dicker from "the new york post" they sent a photographer and reporter to the home of paladino's 10-year-old daughter, the daughter he fathered out of wedlock. the second thing is, as you can see here, he's calling dicker cuomo's bird dog and sort of saying in the bag and that's one thing even sort of political observers in new york felt that the dicker coverage has been very favorable to cuomo because "the post" expected cuomo to be next governor. i think those two things were sort of happening and it bubbled over. of course, the other backdrop to this this came hours after paladino challenged reporters to ask cuomo on marriage infidelities on his part.

go ask this guy about adultly and don't talk to me about my ilegitimate daughter. >> only six points ahead of carl paladino. it got very interesting. steve, thanks for coming innkeep dry out there. with the clock ticking, vulnerable democrats are really ratcheting up the fights for their seats in congress. check out this montage of political ads. >> ken buck would ban common forms of birth control and ken buck wants to make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape and incest. that should be a woman's decision, not a politician's. as far as i'm concerned, ken buck is just too extreme for colorado. ken buck wants to make common forms of birth control illegal. >> it's just ridiculous. i just can't believe in 2010 ken buck wants to limit women's access to birth control. >> ken buck wants to make common fertility treatment illegal. >> this is reaching so far into

people's private lives. >> what do you call a candidate that says the way things are going the time may come for second amendment remedies and an armed response to our government? who says a teenage rape victim should be forced to have the baby but do call that candidate extreme. sharron angle, just too extreme. >> dole was recommended by illoy federation for right to life. and the tea party, dold called them great. >> good morning to you, thanks for being here. >> good morning, chris. >> so, is this sort of a strategy. go after the tea party candidates, show what they could do. is this going to work? >> well, chris, there are tens and tens of races around the country and each of them has their own sort of unique flavor, but there's no doubt that a component in many of these races is exposing just how extreme

some of these candidates that emerged from the republican primary really are because it gives voters in the centrist districts great pause when they find out just how out of the main stream these people are because it's not just their rhetoric, but if they were to be elected, they are actually going to be casting votes on these issues. it's important to take their statements seriously. >> i guess the question i have for you from a strategic point of view is given the economy, given what the poll numbers show us about what's on the mind of the american voters. i don't think that's particularly district specific. anywhere in america you go, people are worried about their jobs, they're worried about their families and worried about their mortgages. is this really going to have the kind of impact it might in another year? >> chris, i think you'll find over 90% of the ads focus on just what you said. they focus on jobs in the economy. one of the critical issues has been the fact that republicans

have voted against these efforts to eliminate these proverse tax loopholes that award multi-national corporations that ship american jobs overseas. in other words, they put the profits of big multi-national corporations over the interests of american workers. i think you'll find that the great majority of ads are on exactly those kind of things. on privatizing social security. many candidates, even after the meltdown on wall street, say that we should take some of the people's retirement security, social security and put it to wall street. a lot of them want to privatize medicare. so, i think what you're going to find, chris, the overwhelming majority of ads are on core issues like making sure we protect social security, protect medicare, that we stop the outsourcing american jobs. yesterday in the congress we passed legislation to stop china's manipulation. >> let me stop you right there. >> go ahead.

>> i think there is an overall feeling among republicans and it was summarized very well in the "washington post" in a column that george will rote wrote. look, the reason that these negative ads are being put out there and the negative statements being made by the candidates is they can't be positive about what they accomplished in a democratically controlled congress, not to mention the white house. if they talk about the stimulus, it's a stimulus that they said was going to create jobs and unemployment still well above the 8%. health care still one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation that has been passed because they don't have anything positive, they have to be negative. what would you say to those republican critics? >> well, actually, that's just not the case. i mean, there are a number of ads around the country where people are talking about jobs that they brought home to their communities. there are a number of ads around the country that talk about how we were successful at beginning to eliminate these proverse tax

loopholes that have the outsourcing of american jobs. again, republicans have voted against that. a whole lot of ads talking about how we traumatically boosted our health care and people out there making it very clear that it would be a mistake to undo the wall street reforms, which is what the republicans have called for in that document that they released. they say they want to get rid of those regulations and there are a lot of people that are making it clear it would be a big mistake to get rid of the new protections that make sure we don't discriminate against kids with pre-existing conditions, that insurance companies don't. so, you know, there are lots, again, chris, there are lots of ads right around the country. there are tens and tens of races. you can always pick out some ads on one particular issue or another but the fundamental core that runs through the great majority of them is focused on jobs and the economy, protecting social security, protecting medicare, what we've done for our veterans and talking about wall street reform and what a mistake it would be to go back

to the time when the wall street banks got to call all the shots at the expense of everyone else. >> thank you so much for being with us. good to see you. >> thank you, good to be with you. what a traumatic ending after a secret tape goes public. his roommate and fellow classmate are being blamed and the case raises questions about what happens when people go too far on the internet. plus, this is what the government says could have happened in the times square bombing plot had actually worked.

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the headline in "new york post" reads kiss of death and story deeply disturbing. a quiet freshman, a talented

violinist took his own life after being secretly recorded in a sexual encounter. it was posted on the internet and now for a case being widely watched for its ethical two students are being charged in this case. here's nbc mike taibbi. >> reporter: when tyler celebrated his high school graduation this past june he won a claim as a violinist and on sunday, september 19th his new college roommate dharun ravi announced via twitter that roommate asked for the room until midnight. i went to molly's room and turned on my webcam. i saw him making out with a dude. an untold number of viewers could watch and then ravi tried to do it again, yes, it's happening again. although this time it did not work, the next day a police

source tells nbc news two witnesses saw clementi jump off the george washington bridge to his death. the two have been criminally charged with violating new jersey's privacy laws. they could be in prison for two to five years. >> if they limit to violation in state law, they're not doing their job. >> reporter: clementi's suicide by be the latest teen death by humiliating by privacy. these two girls took their lives in separate incidents after nude photos they sexted to close friends were forwarded to their classmates. but in tyler's death, his accused tormentors face criminal charges. rutgers, like so many schools, continues to struggle with issues of privacy in the internet age. >> the basic element that we

have is the human nature that can exploit to do any number of bad things to other individuals. >> reporter: clementi's family issued a statement calling him a "a fine young man." the family is heartbroken beyond words and cooperating fully with the ongoing criminal investigation of two rutgers university students. >> outside of being an extremely talented musician, tyler was an amazing person who made you feel great and you couldn't help but smile when tyler smiled at you. >> that was nbc's mike taibbi reporting. obviously, what happened is horrible. but is it a crime? let's bring in attorney and former prosecutor paul callin. invasion of privacy, let's start with that. do they have a case? >> it would look like they have a very strong case here. new jersey has a very interesting statute and it says,

basically, if you broadcast over the internet sexually explicit pictures of somebody else without their consent, that's a crime. a crime for which you could be punished up to five years in prison. >> there's that and then you have someone who has been working on this issue for a long time and limiting it just to that would be wrong and then there's the chairman of the gay's right group called garden state equality. "we are sickened that anyone in our society, such as the students allegedly responsible for making this video might consider destroying others' lives as a sport." he argues this death should be prosecuted as hate crime. could it be? >> it may very well be prosecuted as as hate crime. two kind of hate crimes. they exist on a state level and also federal hate crimes and i'm sure prosecutors are out there now trying to develop evidence to see whether statements were made that would indicate that this is a hate crime. that would up the ante quite a bit. there's also federal prosecutors could also look at a variety of

federal statutes because the images were broadcast over state lines. there is even the possibility of federal jurisdiction in this. >> we're talking about pretty serious charges potentially. far beyond this invasion of privacy. >> we're talking about the possibility of very serious charges. but in the end, when all is said and done, i don't know whether the feds, for instance, would get involved in something like this. you know, a lot of cyberbullying going on around the nation and very little of it is ever prosecuted. this is a particularly tragic case for all concerned. i mean, even the two students who were arrested, their lives are destroyed, whatever happens in this case. the clementi family destroyed and what about the other person involved in the sexual encounter. that person was broadcast over the internet. that reputation has been destroyed. so, it's a horrible, horrible case. >> and what used to be a paper trail, which sometimes was destroyed, virtually nothing gets destroyed on computers any more. a lot of cyberinvestigation going on. >> this is really the perfect

storm of social media, it involves skype and facebook and twitter, ichat, use of webcams and all comes together in one situation where you see a horrible, horrible abuse of technology and the law doesn't seem to be able to keep up with it. the laws we have are old laws dealing with physical assault and new age of internet technology and the law has to find a way to deal with this and it hasn't yet. >> paul, nice to see you. brian of portland, oregon, is the founder of vocation vacations. he pairs individuals up with existing small businesses, giving the vacationers a two to three-day crash course to test drive a different career. it's an intensive learning experience for perspective entrepreneurs. ♪ [ man ] i thought our family business would always be boots.

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if you're a movie buff or of a certain age, there is an iconic scene from "some like it hot." gorgeous actor tony curtis dressed as a woman with marilyn monroe. it was one of many memorable roles for curtis who was nominated for an academy award. overnight at midnight tony curtis died at his home in las vegas. he had been married six times,

most famously to actress janet lay. the couple had two children, including jamie lee curtises. he made more than 100 movies and in 2000, the american film institute called "some like it hot" the best comedy of the 21st century. tony curtis was 85 years old. well, las vegas is certainly a hot spot, but a hotel there is apparently burning hot. it's actually searing people's hair. we have those details ahead. wn? introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever.

check out this explosion in a pennsylvania field. the government blowing opbaup ab the same size of the bomb in times square. shahzad pled guilty to planting a car bomb in times square. he could get life in prison. the government also submitted this video of shahzad with a machine gun announcing he met with members of the pakistani taliban.

the remnants of tropical storm nicole rewreaking havoc o the east coast today. some areas will get up to ten inches of rain today. former president jimmy carter could get released from an ohio hospital today. fisher price recalled more than 10 million tricycles, toys and high chairs because of safety concerns. ten children have been injured because of these products and six of them had to have medical attention. some pretty incendiary charges on capitol hill this morning while lawmakers investigate if johnson and junson executives should have acted sooner in a big recall of children's tylenol. you can see the company's ceo testifying. the fda says that johnson & johnson secretly bought defective medicine from the stores and later they did recall millions of bottles of those pain killers. mcdonald's is disputing this morning' story in "the wall street journal" that says the

new health care law might force them to drop health plans for nearly 30,000 hourly workers. so, we just got this statement from mcdonald's that says, "media reports that we plan to drop health care coverage for our employees are completely false. these reports are purely speculative and misleading. mcdonald's is committed to providing competitive pay and benefits and the strongest employment opportunities possible." carman joins us this morning. good morning. they were quick to issue this denial. >> they asked for a waiver or exemption from part of the new health care law that goes into effect next year that states the premiums we pay need to go directly towards our benefits. so, for those 30,000 employees, there are many medprograms, these are low-cost, low-coverage health care plans and they're saying these folks. it is too expensive to maintain

the current coverage or they want a waiver or exemption or find another way to insure these folks. >> mcdonald's isn't alone. a lot of trade groups that represent hour lay wage or minimum wage workers that are worried about this, right? >> a lot of big, big companies have been offering coverage in the past ten years to folks that are hourly employees, not full-time employees. 1.4 million americans qualify for these plans. now, if they don't have health care coverage until 2014, that's when they're eligible for extended medicare coverage. they wouldn't be without cover fj the companies decided they just can't afford it. >> i'm wondering if this is just the tip of the iceberg, this is, obviously, about a certain class of workers, a certain number of workers. awful lot of folks worried about health care in general. the impact of the economy as well as this new health care law. >> we'll see a lot of companies come forth in the next couple years especially before 2011 and november at the time when all of us sign up and re-sign up for our health care and we'll see a lot of this before the full law

takes into effect in 2014 because companies will have to scramble to fulfill the provisions of the law and ask for waivers and exemptions because they want to save money. >> carmine, always good to see you, thank you for coming in. >> always good to see you. live to capitol hill, this is the fed chairman ben bernanke about to testify before the senate banking committee. he'll talk about the new financial reform bill, but investors will also be listening, of course, because they always look for what he has to say on his assessment for the recovery. so far wall street has been encouraged by two new reports on the economy. the labor department says first-time claims for jobless benefits actually dropped last week, that's the third time in four weeks. as for the overall economy, the final numbers are in for the second quarter. the economy grew by a weak 1.7%, only up slightly from the previous estimate of 1.6%. also, a developing story, uncle sam and aig just hammered

out a plan. $182 billion. checking out the real estate market, a new report find nearly one out of every four homes sold in the second quarter were deeply discounted, foreclosed homes. great new physical yos if you'rd not so great if you're not. foreed homes are 20% cheaper than homes not in the foreclosure process. early trading on wall street and you can see the dow is up almost 6 o0 points there and the s&p and nasdaq are in positive territory, as well. if stocks continue to rise, this could be the best september for the dow. traditioninally not a good month since 1939. the iconic little red wagon is getting seriously charged up. en alaska man turned his old pickup into a radio flier. even has that giant red handle on the front. it took him 11 months to build it, but, heck, he's retired and, frankly, he didn't have anything else to do.

how about this for a project. a kevin bacon bus made of, yes, that's bacon. the winner is just one degree closer to the famous actor. but judge for yourself how much this crispy statue actually looks like kevin bacon. not so much. "jersey shore" star snooki, you cannot make this up. she's writing a book going to be called "a sure thing" and all about her search for love on the boardwalk. the 22-year-old claimed in a statement she had been working on the project for quite a while now. probably in between her trips to the bar or courtroom, maybe. good news, those 33 miners who have been trapped underground in chile for two months could be seeing the light of day soon, in fact, very soon. we'll update you on that. plus, itser the h er the's l in vegas.

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federal investigators are now trying to determine why a bus carrying children and parents plunged off a highway in maryland yesterday. the tour bus dropped 45 feet off of interstate 270 in bethesda after it crashed through a guard rail and hit a concrete barrier. the bus driver was killed and at least 12 passengers were hurt. it might take a year or more for the accident investigation to be completed. a lot of anticipation in chile after word that those 33 trapped miners could be above ground just two weeks from now. the rescue effort is moving along faster than expected, although today families of 27 of those miners are filing suit against the government there and mining company. nbc kerry sanders is live outside the mine in chile and at least some good news there. there has to be a lot of excitement and anticipation, kerry. >> there is and there's this general sense that the danger is

not ever present any more. that this is going to be they all come out alive. some of the representatives of the government here are a little more cautious about that. they say there is still no completion to this and until there is nobody can breathe a sigh of relief. as you point ow, a lawsuit today and an example of the two worlds taking place. the families above ground anxious, angry and waiting for some -- the lawyer filing his lawsuit, they would like to get down there. now 57 days from the government and from the mining company. the mining company, which is bankrupt. meantime, there is this whole other world, the one that really is the focus down below. let me take you down there because we just got some video from the government, as you know, they have been releasing information, as well as video from down below because they were able to get some cameras

down there and look at the work that is taking place down there. here is some of the 11 work and then 11 and then another 11. it is extremely hot down there, very humid. not what you think inside a mine. you may have been into one of those tourist mines and having to put on a coat, but here it's extremely mot. the most remarkable thing here as we see them with the big equipment pushing the dirt, which is causing some of that earth to collapse in there, look at how clean shaven they are. look how presentable they are and very focused. in fact, they turned the cameras and said that they are very happy, they're content. they know that they're working towards a goal here and they're getting towards that goal. so, their spirits remain high and they were sending messages to those above, their families telling them that they want them to remain relaxed and they are very confident things are moving forward. i don't know, chris, it's not the picture that you would expect after 57 days. one of the greatest medical

concerns they have had has actually been a dental concern. the doctor here was explaining to me that for those first 17 days when they were trapped and nobody knew they were there or getting anything to them, they didn't have their toothbrushes and stuff. so, they have some lingering dental problems as a result of that and it's mostly discomfort. but who wants to have a tooth ache when you're down 57 days in a mine. >> who wants to have a tooth ache, period. those are remarkable pictures and good to see them, as you say, looking well like they can work and clean shaven. kerry, thank you. and the battle is heating up between new jersey's governor chris christie and the teacher's union. >> your performance was awful. you didn't do what we asked you to do. replant a forest? maybe you want to rebuild homes for those in need?

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los angeles police are on the lookout for a man caught on

tape in a horrific purse snatching attempt. police release this security video from venice, california. you can see a man get out of a white van. police say then he approaches a woman from behind and tries to rip off her purse. she wouldn't give it up and then violently threw her to the ground. punched her repeatedly and she just kept holding on to that purse and the suspect gave up and ran into an alley, he got into a vehicle driven by his accomplice. they're looking for him. getting hot in vegases is usually a good thing, but this is ridiculous. the brand-new vdara hotel one of the brand-new attractions in las vegas but it has provided some unneeded heat. >> reporter: with its $8.5 billion price tag the new city center complex is the hottest spot on the las vegas strip, maybe a little too hot. >> i thought, oh, my god, we destroyed the ozone layer because i am being burned. >> reporter: bill was laying out by the pool by the vdara hotel

when he said the heat from the sun became unbearable. >> my head was steaming hot my hair was burning. i could smell my hair burning. >> reporter: he ran for cover to a nearby umbrella. he left his newspaper behind and he said the rays melted some of the plastic away. >> this was not a little uncomfortable, this was impossible to sit there. you were literally being burned. this is the swimming pool and this is where i was seated. >> reporter: he said the sun's rays were bouncing off the side of the vdara hotel and focusing right on him. a phenomenon known as solar convergence. the intense heat is created by the curved glass circle of the hotel. it bounces the rays from the sun and concentrates the rays in a hot zone moving across the pool area. >> i said to the staff, i said i don't know if you know what's going on out here, but i was being burned and they are like, yeah, we know, we call it the

death ray. >> reporter: in a statement to nbc news a spokesperson for mgm resorts international, the pool staff did receive occasional questions about the elevated temperatures that pool area as the convergence moved across the pool deck and would offer to relocate guests to the other seats on the deck. when a reporter for aol paid a visit to the vdara pool this week, he felt the intensity of the hot zone and talked to guests who felt it, too. >> this is vegases and people do drink and sleep at the pool, it is kind of our sport, that they might, in fact, fall asleep and not know they are in a very hot area and get very serious burns. >> reporter: bill has no interest in suing the hotel, he just wants to make sure that no one else gets burned. >> i want them to fix it so that nobody does get hurt and that everybody can enjoy the pool. >> finally somebody who is not going to sue, right? a spokesperson for the hotel says the company is rushing to fix the problem. >> your performance was awful,

you didn't do what we asked you to do, you didn't produce the product you wanted to produce, but we don't look at that. all we look at is is, are you still breathing? >> words from chris christie who lit into teachers union at a meeting where he unveiled his package of education reforms. the plan lets the school strip tenure from failing teachers. christie like a lot of state lawmakers across the country is in a battle of education reform involving tough choices for public schools. all this week as you may know, nbc and msnbc special series education nation has been reporting on schools. a recent study shows that u.s. college enrollment is the highest it has been in 40 years driven by a surge in minority enrollment. hispanic enrollment up 15% in 2008, african-american enrollment up 8% and among asian and pacific islanders up 6% and

among indians and alaskan natives 2% higher. college and universities are working harder to create a diverse student body. once school starts the hope for cross cultural interaction could fade away because students tend to gravitate to their own like groups. i am joined by "newsweek" jesse ellison. fascinating stuff that goes through a lot by how colleges are recruiting a diverse student body but then when they arrive things seem to fall apart. >> colleges find all these efforts of recruiting and making sure they meet certain numbers and percentages and then they leave it at that. they think it stops that admission's office. >> what happens? is there a way to get these of going to a diverse university because it is more reflective of the united states. >> exactly. there are ways that the university of michigan is doing interesting stuff and the key is that you have to be both very explicit about these efforts

facilitated conversations among cross cultural groups and also nuauns. making sure it is there on campus and also there in the curriculum and faculty and across the board. >> give us some examples like very concrete things that they're doing there in michigan. >> they have a group called intergroup relations that is, of course, a study where students come together to talk about gender issues, religion issues and there's also every undergraduate at the university of michigan is required to take a course and, basically, minority studies where they learn about bias and all that. because the studies do show that once students learn about bias, they're less likely or more likely to see bias in their own behavior. >> i'm curious if there is any research in terms of that experience in college and how important that is going into the workplace and going into what we keep talking about as the global economy. >> it's incredibly important.

working with different groups allows you to think more creatively and work more collaboratively and effectively. there are many studies that show diversity in the workplace counters group think. so when you have different voices and different ideas we're going to be stuck and you challenge your ideas more easily. so you come to a better conclusion. >> people can read all about it in "newsweek" magazine. news of an unprecedented pledge to make charter schools available for hundreds of thousands of students across the country. tamron will have that story coming up at 11:30 eastern time. watch for that. campaign bombshell or mudslinging at its worst. either way, it's a she said/she said story involving california governor for governor meg whitman. her former housekeeper and nanny claims she was exploited and mistreated and then she insists because she was in the country illegal she was fired because whitman decided to run for governor.

>> and she threw me away like a piece of garbage. >> nicky was terminated in a sudden, cruel and heartless way. >> i think this is a typical political stunt led by gloria allred who does this just about every election cycle. >> in fact, whitman's camp showed documentation showing a license, social security card and a job application where she claims she had legal status. that will do it for me, tomorrow at 10:00. tamarron hall picks up things next. >> coming up, a rutgers university student kills himself after what police call a tragic invasion of his privacy by other students. plus, tropical storm nicole has already dumped two feet of rain on north carolina and is created travel gridlock up and down the east coast. what a mess. singer seal and his super

model wife were in love. this is their new music video to share it with the world. we're talking about it.

i'm tamron hall, right now on msnbc, soaked. the remnants of tropical storm nicole drenching the northeast from the carolinas to new york and causing problems for travelers across the nation. driven to suicide. a student that killed himself. what could have been done, a disturbing fbi simulation of the impact of the times square bomb if it would have worked. and, this one's just right. we'll tell you about the newly discovered planet scientists say could one day prove we're not alone. right now we're on the east coast and it's getting pounded by the remnants of tropical storm nicole. tornado watches are in effect