well, good friday, everybody, i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast, and the big news out of the white house this hour is the changing of the guard. the chief of staff is stepping aside. rahm emanuel's leaving, returning to the windy city to try his hand at campaigning for mayor of chicago. and he's leaving at a crucial time for his boss and his party. democrats have only about a month until the midterm elections. president obama praised emanuel for his leadership. >> it's fair to say that we could not have accomplished what we've accomplished without rahm's leadership from preventing a second depression to passing historic health care and financial reform legislation to restoring america's leadership in the world. >> high praise from the boss. nbc's savannah guthrie is at the white house now, so, savannah, what happens next? >> reporter: well, pete rouse gets this job at least on an interim basis and will really be

kind of a caretaker chief of staff. he's somebody that knows the president very well. they go back to the president's early days in the u.s. senate. as you heard the president say, pete rouse is often known as the 101st senator, he's the consummate insider, knows the capitol inside and out, well known on the hill, so will be helpful there. he's also kind of a calming influence inside this place. a lot of people feel that he works hard but keeps a low profile. he's a problem solver. the other thing to note about this is we're going to see a lot of turnover, we already have, in fact, here in the west wing. it's very common particularly about two years in, people leave, they go on to other things, they get some fresh blood in. you know, folks that work here work incredibly long hours seven days a week, so there's this natural turnover. pete rouse has actually been the person in charge of coming up with a transition and figuring out, all right, who should we move where? so in many ways that job will continue and be some of the business he'll be doing as chief of staff and presumably also looking for a permanent

replacement to this position, although i wouldn't expect, you know, an announcement about a permanent chief of staff within days or weeks or perhaps even months. i mean, he's here for now to stay and will be treated like -- >> right. >> -- >> reporter: chief of staff, not any kind of acting chief of staff or lame-duck chief of staff. >> a lame-duck chief of staff, i haven't heard that term before, savannah. >> reporter: yeah. >> here's the thing, rahm emanuel had a chance to speak and he actually got rather choked up when he was talking about his grandfather and his father and the opportunities they've had in the united states. let me play it. >> my father -- and my grandfather came to this country for opportunity. they came here for a better life for their children, and i want to thank you for the opportunity to repay in a small portion of the blessings this country has given my family. >> so, he also took time to joke

around there, and for all the efforts he's made in the white house the gift they gave him for his last day, a dead fish? >> reporter: right.t( well, you know, the story, right, contessa? back in the day rahm was famous for sending a dead fish to a pollster who gave him some bad news that he didn't want to hear, so not to be outdone today in the senior staff meeting, austan goolsbee who is the head of the economic council and a chicagoan and he worked on rahm's first campaign for congress presented him a dead fish. i think it was an asian carp, and so rahm gave a farewell to that senior staff meeting. got teary then, too, so it's an emotional day for him, and, listen, those close to rahm say even though it's a lifelong dream and always wanted to run for mayor of chicago and made no secret of it, in many ways this came a lot earlier than he ever expected, and so as he said today, it's bittersweet. >> if he wins as mayor of chicago, he may have to deal with more of those dead fish. there's a big story in chicago about them deciding whether

they're going to shut down certain canals and things to stop the progress of these invasive fish species that now could threaten lake michigan. so, it may be -- it may be that he's not done with the dead carp there, savannah. thank you so much for joining us. >> reporter: i didn't know that, i thought you were talking about he would have to deal with litter and -- >> no, no, there's a big story about dead fish and whether they're going to take over lake michigan and whether chicago needs to do something about it. >> reporter: well, he'll have some experience. >> absolutely. i want to move on now and kind of talk about how this affects the white house and the agenda of the president. rice university presidential historian doug brinkley joins me now. good to talk to you. >> thanks for having me on. >> there's been a lot of shake-ups recently within the white house inner circle. you had larry summers and christina romer and peter orszag who were very instrumental in what the president had to say about the economy. now rahm emanuel. how do you compare, doug, the recent changes in the white house guard to what's happened in previous administrations?

>> it's really pretty normal. i mean, the average lifespan of a white house chief of staff is 2 1/2 years, so rahm emanuel comes up a little bit short. but the principal cabinet officers whether it's hillary clinton at state or gates at defense have stayed, and so i don't think that that's really the problem. i think rahm emanuel probably would have stayed on if he didn't have to register here in november and get moving on what's going to be a very tough mayoral election in chicago, so the opportunity arose and rahm took it, and i thought it was a good ceremony today. >> you know, he's -- he's known for having this real bulldog personality, that he's the guy that will go in and grit his teeth and get the president's work done. he was joking, he took the time -- opportunity to poke a little fun at his job and what's happening. let me play it. >> okay. >> i'm sure you've learned some words that you've never heard before, and in any -- and in an assortment of combination of words. what we learned together was

what a group of tireless, talented, committed people can achieve together. and as difficult as it is to leave, i do so with the great comfort of knowing that pete rouse will be there to lead the operation forward. >> rouse has the reputation of being a lot calmer, cooler, respected by people on both sides of the aisle. how might that influence the work of the chief of staff and the president's agenda? >> look, one of the president's closest friends is tom daschle, former senator of south dakota, that's where rouse comes from, was chief of staff there, and it's kind of the daschle approach. it's a little bit softer. he's a veteran really of warfare on capitol hill, rouse. and i think it will be good. rahm came in as mr. 60, you know, he wanted -- he saw that they had 60 votes and that they were going to be able to get legislation through. he had the success with health care. it also drug on for a long time and it took a toll on the obama administration. i don't think you're going to be

playing that legislative strategy anymore. i think that's going to go with rahm after this midterm election. you'll see a president obama trying to do -- you'll see executive pow area great deal more. >> douglas brinkley, good to talk to you today. thank you. >> thank you. there are airport delays all over the country due to weather, kind of feeling like a monsoon is passing over the east coast right now. major delays at new york's airports and new jersey and san francisco as well. people have abandoned their submerged cars in virginia. flooding closed roads -- roads and it left people struggling just to get around. we have video of a school bus stranded in virginia. there that is. tires as you can see submerged, and all the water is serious. at least five people have been killed in these storms, including a family and two children when their jeep hydroplaned, they ended up in a canal. we are just hearing that rescue teams in north carolina have pulled multiple people from flooded homes and vehicles. the weather channel's eric fisher is in new york city. how long do people have to deal with this stormy weather, eric?

>> reporter: well, in terms of the stormy weather, we're talking about just a wind-driven, showery type of midday feel right now. the heaviest rain has moved off to the east. good news for new york city, but some of the lingering effects will stick around here. a fellow who is next to me has been sweeping the water out of the streets so people can get by. the rain is still around. set a daily rainfall record here between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m., it caused the worst of them. it caused a problem with the subway system and had to shut down a couple of trains for a while. we're hearing delays up to three hours by air. i myself hope to be a traveler later on today, i'm delayed two hours at least for now, it's certainly a day you want to call ahead to the airports. binghamton is under a state of emergency and they actually had to evacuate a town in cortland county in the same area last night, based on nearly 5 inches

of rainfall. and it's a stiff type of storm now. last night a tropical feel in new york city. right now we've got 64 degrees and about a 15-mile-an-hour wind out of the northwest. bitter, raw october day has set in. that's going to stick around for the rest of the afternoon. contessa? >> we were just slhowing the radar showing the system moving into northern new england, we'll keep our eye on it, eric, thanks. rutgers university is launching a campaign to build tolerance and understanding on its campus, but too little, too late for tyler clementi. investigators are looking for clues in his suicide. they believe he visited a gay website looking for support after his roommate streamed a live video feed of tyler having a romantic encounter with a man. and prosecutors have charged these two in the crime. i heard from the mother of one of the kids at rutgers and they say the campus is just devastated. >> reporter: yeah, it really is,

contessa. the consequences of this event have swept across this campus. right behind me there's the impromptu daylong memorial set up for the fraternities on campus, where students can go by and express their solidarity, they can leave notes and buy flowers for the family of tyler clementi, and think a lot of students from what we're feeling feel ashamed it could happen on the campus of this university and also anger, adding a chorus to the chorus of injustices. this is cybergay bashing and as you referred before to the posts that tyler clementi apparently left on the gay website in the days before he left saying he was worried about what to do with his roommate who had been using his webcam to in his words spy on him and finally three days after the first event he did jump off the george washington bridge. the investigation continues with the possibility of adding bias charges to the charges announced of invasion of privacy against the two freshmen responsible --

allegedly responsible -- for this event. contessa, back to you. it looks as if it's an issue on other campuses. another college student's so-called thesis went viral online when she detailed all the student athletes she had slept with. she posted photos and ranked them by their physical attributes and their sexual prowess or lack thereof. up ahead we'll talk about why exposing a person's most private intimate details has become child's play. well, family and friends are mourning a gay teen who killed himself after being bullied his sexual orientation. youtube video shows seth walsh who died tuesday nine days after hanging himself from a tree. prosecutors have interviewed some of the teens who allegedly taunted seth for being gay. several broke down in tears. police say no charges will be filed. and in michigan an assistant attorney general is taking leave from his job. he's gotten a lot of criticism for targetingen openly gay

student at the university of michigan. andrew chervih ul used his blog criticize the student's radical homosexual agenda. he accuses chris armstrong of throwing parties to try and recruit liquored-up students into his lifestyle. officials say shirvil will face a disciplinary hearing after he returns to work. so, my big question today -- are we likely to see more instances of gay bashing because this issue of gay rights is now front and center? it's getting a lot of attention. i'd like to hear your thoughts. you can reach me on twitter. get me on facebook. or shoot me an e-mail contessa@msnbc.com. las vegas flips, the high lives of celebrities, but there's another side to vegas and it's criminal. nbc's chris hanson has an unprecedented view of what happens undercover. and "jersey shore" smack-down, mano a mano or is

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all right. when you think of las vegas, you probably have a picture of this glamorous casino street, you know, fancy hotels. there's another side, a darker side. you can check out a preview of our new series right here on msnbc "vegas undercover raw" with "dateline's" chris hanson. >> the storefront's now been operating for a couple of months, and in comes a woman named cheryl miller, nicknamed chevy, and here's another person who was referred to the operation by brad, and she's got cars missing. and she's got friends who have done it. >> do you know what they want

for it? this is offenders? >> it's whatever -- >> oh, so the person you got it from the person that owned it? >> they turned it in for insurance or whatever. >> the first time cheryl miller "chevy" came into the storefront operation she actually had a mustang that was given to her by a friend who had reported it stolen, apparently to try to get the insurance on it. >> you just want to it disappear. >> yeah. >> so they don't care -- oh. >> [ bleep ]. >> a friend of mine and 12:30 at night and started it and drove it out of the driveway. >> nice. >> i don't -- >> they don't even know you're coming. >> and "dateline's" chris hanson's here to talk about it. so, you spent a year with police officers there in las vegas. i mean, everybody knows las vegas is sin city. were you shocked by what you saw in person? >> well, what was surprising,

contessa, there is this entire community of people who get up every morning and look for crimes to commit, that's how they make a living. and to have this kind of access into that storefront operation which the police made it look like they had a fencing store going, where they would buy stolen cars, stolen guns, we even had a guy come in with a setup to counterfeit $100 bills, but to say that play out in real time and then to be able to confront these people once they had been arrested and almost all of them talked to me in graphic detail was just an amazing look at how this community works. >> and what's your sense of how much of a handle vegas cops have on these kinds of people, these storefront operations, these people who wake up every day intending to commit crimes? >> i think they have a pretty good handle on it. the vegas police, the metropolitan vegas police department, understands that they live in an area where tourists come in all the time, people come in to have fun, and if they are victimized by crime, that's going to end.

if people don't think they can walk down the strip and not be bothered by criminals or whatever, their business grounds to a halt. >> right. >> so they are very proactive out there, and that's why we have the ability to, you know, kind of watch and listen as they did their thing. >> all right, i'm sure this will be a fascinating series, and let viewers know they can see more of the premiere of "vegas undercover raw" 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. pacific on msnbc. a new tourist attraction in lebanon. but is it a theme park dedicated to terrorism? going to take you there, straight ahead. some of the most viewed stories on msnbc.com, the family of a pennsylvania man is suing because he died after paramedics ignored ten calls to 911 during a snowstorm this year. emts reportedly told the dispatcher the sick man would have to meet him down the street. the paramedic on tape said, quote, he ain't coming down, i ain't waiting all day for him, i

mean, what the -- this ain't no cancer vis. a white house staffer wouldn't let the 10-year-old grandson of a medal of honor recipient tour the white house because the kid wore shorts. now the white house is apologizing, the boy had been invited with his grandmother to tour of the west wing after his grandpa vernon baker died last week, baker was the last black medal of honor recipient from world war ii. high rollers, listen up, bmw is recalling cars, the 5, 6, and 7 series apparently have leaks in the brake system and apparently some rolls-royce phantoms are affected, too. if you're still cool -- i mean, are you still cool if your beamer is up on blocks in your driveway? be right back. host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? did the little piggy cry wee wee wee all the way home? piggy: weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeee weeeeeeee.

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a texas family turned something that could have broken them into an inspirational story of love and of giving.

13-year-old taylor storch died this past spring break in a skiing accident in colorado. her parents made the decision to donate her organs and they recently got a chance to meet the woman who received their daughter's heart, and they all join me now, todd and tara storch are taylor's parents and patricia winters is now alive thanks to taylor's heart. good to see you. >> thank you for letting us be here. >> tell us what -- what was the deciding factor here when your daughter was in that bad skiing accident? well, how did you go about deciding to give away her organs? >> well, we got asked -- fortunately we got asked the question in the hospital, and it was a very easy decision and a at a very horrible time, and thank goodness we were given the opportunity to make that decision, but we hadn't talked about it before, unfortunately, and we said yes. it was very easy. >> and do you think that that's something that families need to talk about? i mean, it's so -- i know it's such a difficult subject to even

think about your children being taken from you too soon. but is it -- is it a discussion you think families a y s ies a have? >> definitely. >> i definitely think so. it can be just as important, if you want to save lives afterwards, but it's a discussion that could be there with life insurance and wills and things of that nature, because it's a serious -- i mean, it's a serious thing that we can give back to help other people. >> patricia -- patricia, describe, if you will, what your life was like before you got the heart donation? >> prior to transplant, it was basically sleeping 18 hours a day, barely taking care of my 4 and 5-year-old boys. it was pretty bad. >> and describe the moment when you found out that there was a heart coming your way. >> we had had two dry runs prior to that, so this third run i just knew that this was going to be the one. so, it was excitement. we were excited and hopeful for sure.

>> and what have you been able to say to the storchs about getting taylor's heart and the unbelievable sacrifice that had to happen in order for you to get that? >> it's a gift of gratitude. they've given me a life back. i can be a parent to my boys. it's everything. truly. >> tara, tell me a little bit about the work that you're doing now, the documentary that you folks are trying to get under your belts here to tell a little bit about taylor's story and about the process you've been through. >> we are in the process of creating a documentary to really tell taylor's story and the importance of organ donation and to let people know that by signing up, it's a very small step, but it gives life in very big ways, and we saute lore save five lives, and it's truly impacted these people and it's becoming this big ripple effect, to let people know how important it is to have this discussion with your family, that our

sacrifice of losing taylor is giving life to others. >> and what do you remember most and best about your daughter? >> oh, you don't have enough time for that. >> right. >> but she was funny and outgoing and social and really had such a giving spirit, so when this was offered to us, like todd said, it was a very easy decision to continue her giving, because that's just who she was. i'm glad we said yes, and we're very thankful that we had the opportunity to even have the choice of organ donation for our daughter. >> absolutely. >> todd and tara, thank you very much for sharing your story. >> thank you. >> i'm sorry you lost your daughter. i'm glad there's a silver lining to this story. patricia, i'm glad that you're doing better now, and thank you, all, for joining me and telling me more about how organ donation has changed your lives. we'll be right back. i know who works differently than many other allergy medications.

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welcome back, everybody, i'm contessa brewer. and ecuador is under a stage of siege this morning after an ecuadoran troop had to rescue president rafael correa from a hospital. the president was surrounded by police who roughed him up, they tear gassed him. apparently they were rebelling against changes to their police benefits. the president called it an attempt attempted coup and right now this is nationwide unrest in ecuador. the chief of police resigned in the wake of the clashes. at least three people were killed. insurgents managed to shut down airports and block hawaiis. president correa said it was the saddest day of his life. unbelievable video of a car that plunged 300 feet off a mountain in peru. it landed in a raging river and all five people inside somehow survived. rescuers had to climb down the mountain, lower a rope to the victims and pull them to safety to bring them back up the mountain. a theme park that featured barbed wire, live-size statutes

of gure pril la fighters and destroyed israeli tanks and mortar rounds, hezbollah deemed as a terrorist organization has opened a park dedicated to the military victories against isra israel. so far half a million tourists have visit the $4 million complex. stephanie gosk has more from lebanon. >> reporter: lebanon is a beautiful country, you have the mediterranean sea, the mountains, a great climate, but we found an unexpected tourist attraction, it's called the landmark for the resistance, an open-air theme park dedicated to military victories against israel. three decades of destroyed israeli tanks, guns, and spent mortar rounds, carefully manicured and on permanent display for the first time. this family came for the day. his youngest son could barely contain his excitement. the $4 million complex complete with triumphant music and

life-size statutes of guerrilla fighters was designed and built by hezbollah, lebanon's most dominant military force and military party. according to the u.s. state department a terrorist organization largely funded and armed by iran. charges our tour guide rami hassan a self-described hezbollah supporter denies. >> it's not at all glorifying war. it's glorifying the sacrifices of the people. >> reporter: american journalist published a book on hezbollah. he said the park is a mix of both fact and propaganda. >> they work very hard to convince the visitors that what they do is right and the fight they have against israel is justified. >> reporter: since the park opened in may, 500,000 tourists have poured in. for the farouks, a photo on the tank, a quick turn on the machine gun and, of course, hats and t-shirts to take home. hezbollah says they will soon expand including a restaurant, hotel and a cable car. it's an unlikely success.

most other tourist attractions in the country have suffered because of the near constant threat of armed conflict. lebanon was home to the earliest civilizations and these ruins are thousands of years old, but the country is more defined by its modern wars than ancient history. rami told me five of his friends had been killed in recent conflicts. rami, how many wars have you lived through? >> i've lived through the three main wars. >> reporter: what years? >> 1993, the 1996, and the 2006. we know that there's going to be a war. which is going to be more severe than the last ones. >> reporter: a theme park built on hatred of israel and on decades of war. teaching children that the fighting goes on. this is the last war between lebanon and israel that ended in 2006. the united states has been aiding the lebanese military to try to curb hezbollah's influence in the south. people that we talked to at this

theme park said even if a war breaks out, they still believe that hezbollah will protect them. back to you. a stunning disclosure from the government about medical experiments the u.s. conducted on unknowing patients in the 1940s. today officials of the very highest levels of government will apologize. robert bazell with nbc's chief science and health correspondent. give me the story here. >> contessa, it's so horrible it's almost impossible to comprehend. but more than 60 years ago from 1946 to 1948 u.s. government doctors gave gonorrhea to people in guatemala, including mental patients, prisoners and prostitutes and encouraged them to infect others. the surgeon general at that time said this isn't something we could be doing in the united states. they knew it was wrong. today secretary of state clinton, health and human service secretary sebelius and many others have issued apologies. they set up commissions to say even though this is long in the

past, they want to make sure nothing like this happens again. it inevitably invites comparisons with the tuskegee experiment for african-american men that were denied treatment for syphilis but were denied treatment. it will go down as another awful chapter in the history of american medicine and people are saying they hope it won't happen again. >> thank you very much, bob. was picking sarah palin the biggest mistake john mccain ever made? lawrence o'donnell wanted to know. check out what the senator's daughter, meghan mccain, said "on the last word" here on msnbc. >> you knew it was the biggest mistake of his life? >> i don't think it was the biggest mistake of his life at all, i think she brought a lot of momentum to my father's campaign. history can judge it. my family doesn't like to look back. it's a pretty great trait. we don't sit around the table talking about the election, thank god, otherwise i probably

wouldn't go home. we're about to play something for you that you might never expect to hear from my esteemed " eed msnbc col league andrea mitchell. "30 rock" featured a brilliant cameo by "nbc nightly news" brian williams reporting on rumors that tina fey's character, liz lemon, is having an affair. and wait until you hear the jaw dropper! >> and we have this just in to us. richie and liz spotted in tree. eyewitnesss report k-i-s-s-i-n-g. for more let's go to nbc's andrea mitchell. >> thank you, brian. good luck. >> i didn't even know she knew that word. and this just in, last night was not the premiere of "30 rock." this fight makes the wwe look tame. the girls of the "jersey shore" sharpened their claws and just went at it. i've been corrected, my crew

tells me, yes, i can call it mano a mano, but it's not just hand-to-hand combat here, it's also hair pulling and, you know, like, wrestling on the ground! they're all tangled up, i don't know any of these people, but here it is. here's how it went down -- >> all of you that are in this house are [ bleep ]! and i want you all to know that i can't stand any of you! big [ bleep ] all of you. okay. >> oh, yeah, this is the tough. this is the tough. ♪ ♪ richie the gangster >> you know it's in trouble when she takes off her earrings! apparently one of the girls is not coming back for season three of mtv's "jersey shore." now, listen, please, read my lips. i know, i don't care either. if you don't care, don't write to me. it only took up 20 seconds of your time. parents, do you know what's actually in your child's school lunch? a new documentary exposing how some health problems are

escalating because of the unhealthy foods kids eat at school. and speak of unhealthy food, imagine a burger so big that it doesn't even fit in the takeout bag. okay, this is the newest creation from carl's jr. it's a foot-long burger sandwich, 850 calories which actually i think is fairly reasonable for a foot-long burger. you can make it a deluxe for 50 cents extra, i have no idea how many extra calories it will cost you, but here it is. ♪ at the drive-in picture show the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities. restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims

and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense. i know people are wondering-- now that the well is capped, is bp gonna meet its commitments? i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.

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oh, first lady michelle obama teaming up with disney stars to promote healthy eating and exercise as a key part of the first lady's push to combat childhood obesity, but it stalled in the house.

more than 100 democrats balked at the $4.5 billion healthy lunches bill because it's paid for in part with cuts to the federal food stamp program. and how to improve school lunches seems to be a challenge. the national school lunch program feeds 31 million children every day, and, in fact, many of those kids get the breakfast program, too. yet education experts and tv chefs and documentarians keep providing proof of how bad that food really is. >> it's horrible. i mean, they eat like their lunches come in this little square container with a film wrap over it, so they have to peel the wrap off. >> ironically even fast-food chains have to let their customers know what's in what they're serving, so why isn't that the case with our schools? >> some of the food could be filled with salt and sugar, and it's, like, that hypes them up even more throughout the afternoon, which, of course, is tied to academics, you can't get them to sit down and do their assignment and it's tied to behavior because they are

bouncing off the walls. >> "that's lunch" a short documentary illustrating that cafeterias and counters and what gets ladled on students' trays every day. and avis richards joins us now. why is it so bad? >> we examined a lot of school lunches traveling around the country and we found overprocessed food, too much salt and sugar. we found sodas in schools, and that's not what we're supposed to be feeding our children today. they should have whole food, whole muscle meats, not chicken nuggets with, you know, that much chicken in there. we really have to get back to the basics, eating in season, people cooking meals in the school cafeterias. we no longer have that. >> my mom teaches in a public school and she describes what she sees at breakfast and lunchtime as starch, starch, and more starch and that's in a place where apparently the cafeteria manager is applying for grants to bring in fresh produce, you know, star fruits on the table. there are these districts that

are doing their best to try and introduce unique, knew trirks food on the kids' plates. in fact, you found that in baltimore, maryland -- let me play a clip. >> greg stella is a local farmer in the baltimore city area and the general manager of great kids farms. he not only helps provide produce to baltimore city public schools, but also ensures that students who come to visit have an unforgettable experience at a farm he considers uniquely theirs. >> part of what we wanted to dosm frdo from the start is give the kids a chance to be in the physical place where they realize it doesn't look like this when you start. >> does your research in this film, does it make you optimistic that school lunches will change generally anytime soon? >> i think it's a big job to tackle. i think we have a lot to do. i think parents need to be educated. they have to ask the questions, what did you have for breakfast? what did you have for lunch today?

and then they need to get proactive. the reason we did this film, i have a foundation, and we raise awareness. so, by doing this, we're hoping that a lot of people will see this film and then start questioning, what are my children eating, and, you know, have a voice. how can we get involved? >> and are they concerned, the people that you met, that the bill is stalled in congress? >> you know, i don't want to get into the politics of this, because what we're really trying to do is, you know, push out a message of involvement and raising awareness and really just getting families involved in nutrition and schools involved in nutrition. >> yeah. >> because it's from the ground up. you know, politics is one thing. >> and it affects so many things, i mean, there are so many teachers who will mention that if kids don't get good nutrition, if they're not gettiget ing omega three fatty acids and the antioxidant their brains

aren't working at the best they possibly can. >> that's exactly right. if we don't feed our children a healthy meals, they will not be good learners. >> avis, thanks so much for joining us. i appreciate it. >> thank you. at the top of the hour there's a hearing in the rod blagojevich corruption case. the judge is expected to rule on a request by the ex-governor's lead attorney to leave his defense team po. in washington, d.c., the supreme court's newest justice, elena kagan. in florida, former massachusetts governor mitt romney lends his support to florida senate candidate marco rubio. 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. whatever you want to do, members project from american express

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karl paladino, the tea party candidate governor for new york is defending his angry confrontation with a "new york post" reporter.

paladino tells new york one "the post" crossed the line when it sent a reporter to track down his 10-year-old daughter he fathered out of wedlock. for "post" reporter fred dicker, telling him he would take him out, paladino says, oh, that was misinterpreted. >> i've been using that phrase since the beginning of the campaign. i said i'm going to take out the trash, i'm going to take out this government, i'm going to take out sheldon silver, and likewise mr. dicker and anybody else in the press who -- who seemed to think that they can come out and bird dog for mr. cuomo. >> in that interview paladino backed away from allegations that his democratic rival andrew cuomo had extramarital affairs in past which is what fred dicker was asking him about. paladino said he only wanted cuomo's personal life to be under the same level of scrutiny as his own. we've been reporting on the progress of the investigation in to the suicide of tyler clementi. he was a rutgers student who killed himself after his roommate used a web camera to

publicize tyler's private romantic moments with a man. well, the cruelty continues into college. a university student elsewhere, her so-called thesis is going viral today. it's not a thesis at all. it's more than 40 pages of a detailed recounting of her sexual encounters with high-profile college athletes. she names names, she posts their photos, some shirtless. she describes their encounters, their physiques and their prowess or the lack thereof, and then she ranks them. the athletes reportedly are furious as you might imagine, their parents outraged. we're not naming the university. nor are we sharing identifying details about the story because we don't want to expose further the men involved. but i'm not understating it when i call it shocking and in this case we've been talking a lot about why is it okay? why is it child's play now to take people's personal, intimate details and expose them as entertainment? and, of course, then, there are the issues about gay bashing. there's still questions about that in the death of tyler

clementi. i've asked whether we're going to see mr. instances of gay bashing because the issue of gay rights is now front and center. well, jessica soto writes to me the more religious leaders preach that gay is wrong and dirty, the more bullying there will be. they're almost making it okay to hate and hurt and to truly dehumanize people for whom they love. bill green says, i can't understand the bullying. a person's sexual orientation is no one's business but his own. life is so hard to live and let live. even religious kooks should understand that. this is beyond bullying. these cases represent hate crimes and should be prosecuted as such. you can reach me on facebook, on twitter, and, of course, my e-mail address is contessa@msnbc.com. a family from oakland, california's, upset after their

la bra d labrador retriever was shot and killed by police officers. the family thought the officers could have reacted with more restrain. >> anybody who ever knew her, knew that she wouldn't hurt anything or anyone. >> all right, and so there you can see the home video of the dog. officers left a note for the family apologizing for the mistake. they say the officer in the case has been -- or has not been placed on leave. i he's just continuing to work. a high school teacher in elpaso, texas, in jail accused of making pornographic tapes with kids some as young as elementary age. a judge denied a bond for marco elfaras, and authorities have identified between 65 and 70 children who may have been his victims. he taught at least three area schools. okay. here's an amazing story of survival. a missing hiker found alive after being lost for six days during a heat wave. it happened at joshua tree

national park. ed rosenthal was a prominent real estate broker and experienced hiker. he was dehydrated. he was listed in fair condition but alert and able to walk and talk after his long nightmare. in fact, his wife was writing letters to him while he was out there missing. needless to say, all's well that ends well. and if you're a loyal viewer, you may have noticed there's a certain baby who appears in this show on somewhat regular occasions. sidney hitchens is the daughter of one of my producers, we've shown her in a jibjab "star wars" video with her mom and dad and dog. and she's modeled baby skinny jeans for us, and look who came to visit us here today, the real life sidney, and i can think of no better reason to have her on, it's friday and we're heading for the weekend. and i love babies. that wraps up this hour for me. i'm contessa brewer. thank you for watching.

i'll see you monday, 9:00 a.m. eastern. client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach.

right now on "andrea mitchell reports," a changing of the guard at the white house. >> these two gentlemen have slightly different styles. rahm when he was a kid had lost part of his finger in an accident, and it was his middle finger, so it rendered him mute for a while. pete has never seen a microphone or a tv camera that he likes. as the president gave rahm emanuel an east room platform to launch his campaign for mayor, emanuel showed his softer, gentler side. >> both my parents raised me to give something back to the country, and the community that has given us so much. and i want to thank you