6:00 a.m. in the west. new battle lines being drawn this morning as both parties gear up for the upcoming midterm elections. it's a heated debate on new proposals over green energy and government spending. >> to go backwards and scrap these plans means handing the competitive edge to china and other nations. it means that we'll grow even more dependent on foreign oil. and at a time of economic hardship, it means for going jobs we desperately need. >> in fact more americans spoke out against government takeovers, government run health care, wasteful spending and debt, the more democratic lawmakers seem to dig in. >> let's bring in mike viquiera at the white house. so energy policies that's what's shaping up onto the next big issue? >> reporter: let me give you a little background of what the president was talking about there.

he was pointing to that pledge to america that republicans unveiled. he said that would lead to cutting back on a lot of green energy jobs, highly advanced batteries for electric cars and the like, part of the signature effort in that stimulus package, he says if republicans have their way, jobs and a lot of that initiative would go by the wayside. meantime, republicans in response, their bread and butter this election cycle is not only the stimulus package, which most people are against polls are showing as we head into the election, but also the tax cuts that the democratic congress failed to extend before they left to go back to campaigning and we are exactly, alex, one month away october 2, midterm elections november 2. a lot on the line, you're going to see a lot of december pral political rhetoric from both sides as we head into the final weeks of this campaign. republicans will continue to hit the democrats on the stimulus package, which they consider to be a failure, the administration

in turn points to nonpartisan studies that show it did create between a million and a half and 3.5 million jobs, save or create, that controversial phrase, added several points of the gdp and it's kept the unemploy rate down, at the end of the -- unemployment rate is 9.6 right now. that does not bode well for democrats, but it's going to be a desperate political struggle from here on out. >> by the way, you're such the political wonk. good grief. we have more politics in a new pullout "today," voter s ma appear to be angry. voters who consider themselves angry are no more likely to vote in the upcoming elections. 84% say they'll go to the ballot box, compared to 81% of calmer voters. when it comes to how the president factors in, his approval rating stands at 48%,

far better than where george bush stood back in 1996 and bill clinton in 1994. and voters are split about which party they want to control congress. 44% went to republicans, 46% for the democrats. civil rights groups and labor unions from across this country are hoping to fill the national mall for supporters "today" for the one nation working together rally. the naacp, afl-cio and more than 400 other groups have all signed up to attend. nbc's brian moore is on the mall at the nation's capitol for us. >> reporter: we're just starting to see people stream in here, probably just a few hundred people at this point, barely outnumbering the volunteers and police officers who are here "today today, but the organizers of this rally are hoping to have tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands for the one nation working together rally. and this is bringing together a

group of very wide, very eclectic members of the -- civil rights groups, labor, even some church groups who are all coming together with their different causes in sort of one supercause which is to get democrats elected and re-elected in the election that's just now a month away. and really you could break this rally down into a couple of subject groups. one of them, first and foremost is going to be jobs. getting america back to work this rally is being called the one nation working together rally after all. education, that's another hot button point that they're going to be hitting hard "today." and then equality, and equality for all groups. i have talked a very short time ago to reverend jesse jackson, he says that this is about jobs, this is about equality, but really this is about getting democrats elected in this upcoming election. and reverend jackson says that

this really today is going to be preaching to the faithful, and alex is going to be the group of get out the vote voters who are going to be critical in the midterm elections. >> we have it all coming up in about three hours, so we'll see you a couple of times before then. i'll be bringing you the special live coverage of the march and the rally here on nbc, it begins at noon eastern and will run until 3:00 p.m. for you. it may have rushed the process for thousands of homeowners, gmac and jpmorgan are also reviewing tens of thousands of foreclosure cases after it was revealed that some employees signed foreclosure documents without even reading what was in them. a record long 93-day stalemate, no details have been released on how california plans to overcome it's $19 billion

budget deficit. but republicans are indicating there will be no tax increase. the announcement comes after a five-hour meeting last night. details of the plan are expected to be announced on wednesday, followed by a vote in the state legislature as early as thursday. new developments this morning in those terror threats in big european cities. u.s. counter terrorism officials now say osama bin laden may have a direct hand in the planning. let's go now live to london and good morning, what else are the counter terrorism officials saying about osama bin laden's connection with all this. good morning, alex, they're saying that he was a key figure in the coordinated attacks in major european cities, which include the uk, germany and france and also in italy. it also involved shooting rampages which would be similar to the mumbai attacks two years ago. and if he was involved, it was the first time since the 9/11 attacks in which he played a direct role.

al qaeda is trying to prove its so strong that they still have power and ability when their support base and finances seem to have been weakened. but these officials won't reveal what evidence they have that bin laden was so heavily involved but the details of the plot are known to senior al qaeda leadership who are riding out in pakistan. they say this is known as al qaeda central and this is the term they use for the bin laden-led operations. and they said it was in its early stages and the timing and the targets were as yet unknown. >> another thing i want to talk about is this osama bin laden tape that's reportedly out there, an audiotape from him. what's that about? is it confirmed that it's osama bin laden? >> no, it has. been. it can't be verified this quickly if it is bin laden. but in terms of the content itself, he's directing his message to muslims around the world and calling on them to act to save the lives of people affected by the pakistan floods.

he said not enough is being done to deal with relief efforts, he says there's been a clear shortcoming in reporting the tragedy as well as the provision of aid and he also goes on to say that the world is witnessing huge climate changes and the victims of these are many, many times the number of more victims. the tapes were made over the past month or so. well, this morning, still assessing the damage from those historic storms, heavy rain pounded the northeast friday as much as ten inches of rain fell in parts of pennsylvania. in delaware county, pennsylvania, firefighters pulled residents from the upper floors of buildings, you see that happening right there. flash flooding submerged cars from the mid-atlantic to new england. >> 8:00 this morning, the truck was parked right here, half an hour later, the truck had disappeared and it had floated down the street. and it's lodged down by a telephone pole. >> the rains were the remnants

of tropical storm nicole. that storm is being blamed for five deaths in south carolina, one in north carolina as well. in new york, wind gusts reached 40 miles an hour, causing flight delays at both jfk and laguardia. and across the region 50,000 residents lost power. so for a look at the compete weekend forecast, let's go to nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> we're happy to be done with this storm. it really lasted all week long. it was a tropical connection, it had the moisture streaming up the eastern seaboard. cool canadian air is going to dominate the weather pattern this upcoming weekend. look at these rainfall totals, incredible, wilmington, north carolina over 16 inches of rain, norfolk, virginia and myrtle beach also got hit hard and in the last couple of days the heavy rains hit the baltimore, d.c. and new york areas, where there was three to six inches. the areas covered in green is

where we have river flood warnings, outside the areas of new york city, more like the b suburbs of northwest new jersey. as far as the forecast goes "today," a lot of those rivers will crest and then they'll start to reseed. i know there will be a lot of leaf peepers out there this weekend. right now the peak leaves are right along central new england. this weekend, it's going to feel chilly, a very cool, brisk morning from minneapolis to chicago. the coldest air of the season, the warm weather is still to the west into the intermountain west. it's 41 degrees in minneapolis, that's almost mitten and glove weather. 48 in chicago, this afternoon highs only in the 50s in the great lakes. the east coast is sunny and warm and also texas is looking good this weekend. not a lot of rain out there, and the tropics have quiet, two

months left until the end of the season, but the threat quickly goes down after you pass the month of september. >> i hate it when it takes all the beautiful fall foliage. because we wait so long for it. >> especially in new england and the great lakes, they lost a lot of those leaves. >> thank you very much bill karins. the flight of the jobless. a rally in washington today will sound a cry for help. but how many of the events organizers think it will help those on the unemployment line.

how are you getting to a happier place? running there? dancing there? how about eating soup to get there? campbell's soups fill you with good nutrition, farm-grown ingredients, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

a suspected bank robber near

boston was arrested after police found him hiding in a trunk. officers found the getaway car minutes after a bank job and had it towed to a city garage. that's when they realized he was actually in there. the dow kicked off object by posting modest gains on friday. the dow finished up 45 points for the day, but for the week it dropped 30. joining me now, nbc analyst very are vera gibbons. >> growth is still very sluggish, there's still the uncertainty out there, and another problem too is that the expectations for the economy have risen particularly over the past month. while we did get off to a good start on friday because most of the economic data was good. whether that ee's sustainable, will depend on whether we see significant improvement.

>> the job market situation, that just seems to be deteriora deteriorating, sentiment was up a little bit and consumer income. >> housing market and the prices there. >> there's your silver lining, because the index came out and said that prices actually rose in a number of cities, a dozen cities, san francisco up 11%, new york city up here, we would like to see that, obviously you want to see the value of your apartment go up. so that's a positive. other areas shows that prices are sort of barreling along at the bottom, it doesn't suggest at all that the housing market is recovering but there's some leveling off and some signs of stability. >> of course you're not going to buy a house unless you have a job, but we are seeing some holiday hires. >> the retailers go out and bring on tens of thousands of

workers, best buy, the limited, macy's, they're all hiring now, and look at all the numbers, 30,000 at jcpenney, 50,000 as the limited some of this stuff actually turns into full-time jobs, but for the most part, it is seasonal workers. >> what about the holiday season how where people are going to shop. >> these temporary stores, you have seen them at the strip malls, a lot of the stores are doing it, toys "r" us, fao schwartz, borders, it's a nice way to show off a new product, get the customers, and they're not assuming any ring, the space is temporary and they get a lot of traffic over the holidays. >> can you just look at the camera with me vera, we did not coordinate. >> i love the cool fall colors. >> he is topping the music

charts with a song from the heart, but now this morning, this music maker may be doing some soul searching. you're watching "msnbc saturday," we'll explain. [ female announcer ] we don't just want to say natural instincts looks healthy.

we want to prove it. take the natural instincts challenge. get healthier color in 10 minutes. guaranteed. or, we'll buy you 2 boxes of your old color. for details, go to naturalinstincts.com. you're one of the 50 million americans with frequent heartburn. did you know, with prilosec otc, you can stop frequent heartburn before it starts? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes, or backs up into the esophagus. this causes the burning sensation in your chest, known as heartburn. with just one pill a day, prilosec otc treats frequent heartburn for 24 hours, providing all-day and all-night protection. here's how it works -- prilosec otc's unique delayed-release system

protects the medicine as it passes through the stomach's tough acid. the medicine then gets absorbed into the body, turning off many acid-producing pumps at the source, so less acid is produced. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection all day and all night, satisfaction guaranteed. trust the number-one doctor-, gastroenterologist-, and pharmacist-recommended brand to treat your frequent heartburn. to request a free sample, visit prilosecotc.com. prilosec otc. heartburn gone. power on. you should get some custom fit orthotics. dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic center. it recommends the custom fit orthotic that's best for your feet. and footcare scientists are behind it. you'll get immediate comfort... ... and, you could save a couple hundred bucks. for locations see drscholls.com ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] at&t and blackberry have teamed up to keep your business moving. introducing the blackberry torch. at&t. rethink possible. it might become a gadget sensation, but you won't be able to put it under the christmas tree this year. nintendo 3-ds now slated to go on sale in march. facebook is going all hollywood, the social network takes a look at the man who created the most popular social

net working site along with the controversy surrounding its origin. >> who are you? >> i'm marilyn, i introduced myself. -- >> what do you do? >> i'm a second year associate of the firm, my boss wanted to sit in on the deposition phase. what are you doing? >> checking to see how it's going in bosnia. >> joining me live now editor of the associated press. >> at first you think a movie about facebook? what? but it's about greed, obsession, it's excellent, you got to check it out. critics are loving it too? >> our critic gave it two thumbs up, a big star, absolutely loved it. and not only do critics like it, they're saying early scar buzz. this is a major film, it's got hollywood backing, a couple of heavyweights behind it so it's something that you definitely have to see. >> what's up with bruno mars?

>> it's only been number one. >> so he's facing charges of cocaine and drug possession and this is major, he was performing at a concert in las vegas, allegedly was caught with cocaine, it's the guy whose career is just taking off and then this happens. >> there's a certain irony there, he was at the hard rock hotel casino. >> it's the wasted barroom, so he said he saw bruno in a bathroom stall, and police got him. >> now you're talking about spies? >> the world can rest -- i know you're excited about this, heidi has withdrawn her divorce petition, spidey is staying together. >> let's move on to something a bit more substantive and that would be harry potter. because it may not be the end? >> j.k. rowling does this interview with oprah winfrey,

but she said in her mind, she could bring more and more books. she's been with these characters for 17 years, even though she wrote the final book, it's still in her mind and maybe she'll write more one day. >> that's the maybe, she's not committed to it. >> oprah said are you done? and she said i'm done but never say never. she knows how the story ends in her mind. >> what an incredible mind this woman has. >> several publishing houses actually turned her down for harry potter saying it's not marketable and here she is the first billionaire author just off the books. >> laughing her way to the bank. >> absolutely love it. so good for her. >> thanks so much. there's encouraging news this morning about efforts to rescue those trapped miners in chile and that's ahead for you on "msnbc saturday."

♪ [ male announcer ] we touch a lot of things throughout the day. so it's nice that clorox disinfecting products help kill the germs that can live on surfaces for up to 48 hours. ♪ feels sweet when i can touch you ♪ on surfaces for up to 48 hours. discover customersl are getting five percent cashback bonus at restaurants. it pays to switch, it pays to discover.

[ male announcer ] throughout our lives, we encounter new opportunities. at the hartford we can help you pursue them with confidence. ♪ by helping you prepare for your financial future... and protecting your home and family. so go forward, with confidence. and with the hartford behind you... achieve what's ahead of you. ♪

vrngs here are your fast five headlines. two train crashes in indonesia "today" have killed 37 people. 36 of them died when their train crashed into another parked at the rail station. for a second straight day, there's a tape reportedly from osama bin laden. in today's audio release on the internet, the al qaeda leader called on muslims to do for more the people in flood ravaged pakistan areas. people in jamaica are cleaning up after tropical storm nicole's fury. that storm killed at least a dozen people there. and california governor arnold schwarzenegger and state legislators have agreed on a new budget deal, for details have been released. and the fdic has shut down two more banks. so that makes 129 bank failures so far this year. and those are your fast five headlines. organizers of the one nation working together rally and march are hoping to draw tens of thousands to the steps of the

lincoln memorial "today." president and ceo of the national urban league is also one of the sponsors of the rally. you're going to be taking those steps and speaking to the assembled crowd. >> reporter: good morning to everyone, it's a beautiful day in washington. >> what a great way to start this thing off. what are you going to say when you get up to the poedup, what is the message you want to send with "today's" rally? >> that we want people to reaffirm that this is a nation of all people and all people, black, wlit, latino, asian, men, women, north, south, east and west. and we want people to reaffirm that the future of this nation needs to be about creating jobs for all, promoting an environment and climate of justice and tolerance. and focusing on reforming education and educating our children for the future. and what i think this is about is clearly a demonstration that the nation is a nation that is a

changing, but it's also a nation that all of us have to work together, all of us have to reaffirm the basic principles for the future. so indeed, we're sending a strong message of unity and tolerance and unity of purpose. the second thing i think is important is that we're going to remind people how crucial it is to vote in november. voting is a responsibility in a democracy, it isn't something we should do when we're just in the mood, it's something we should do all the time. and we want to remind people that a lot will be at stake. so in rally is about unity, it is about jobs, it's about justice, it's about education, it is about voting, it is about what we think this nation needs to be about in 21st century america. >> i'm going to ask to have your website put up, and it says the march is going to demand the

changing we voted for. does that mean you're disappointed with what the current administration has done? i think what i'm disappointed about as president and ceo of the national urban league is the obstructionist tactics of son, when we sought to get a summer's jobs bill through congress that it was met with filibuster. that strong jobs legislation, that goes beyond what we have done already, have also been held up by the filibuster and by partisan bickering, politics has stood in the way of doing the things that are necessary because we have got so many people out of work, we have got the new face of poverty, it's not just those that have historically been in poverty, it's now those single women who are in their 50s, not eligible for retirement, not eligible for social security who find themselves challenged. >> here's the deal, i want to ask what specifically you want to have come out of the

organization tase because your website says you want to provide immediate relief for those who are unemployed. what can be immediate barring just adding a bunch of jobs which you know is not going to happen tomorrow morning or come monday morning. >> today about is betting a marker in the ground, we know that the immediate changes are not going to happen, but we do think it's important to recognize that we need a second jobs bill, we need a large jobs bill that's going to put people back to work, to lift the morale of the country and also it's better for the congress to spend and invest money to put people to work than it is to continue to invest money to pay people's unemployment or to support safety net programs. we have a tradeoff, either we put people to work or we're going to continue to try to just have a safety net that provides a way for them to survive. so this is not just about what we want immediately. there's a great, strong, jobs bill that's been pending in the congress all year, we certainly

would like to see congress pass that, if they're not going to do it in the short run, we think it ought to be the first order of business in january of 2011. there has got to be a new approach, we can't simply sit on the side. the best way to reduce the deficit in this nation is to put americans back to work. because when people work, they are taxpayers and the downturn in the economy has increased the deficit in this country, we have got to put people back to work. it's critical and the politics of washington notwithstanding, it is what i think the central theme of this gathering is "today today. so we want to demonstrate that there are large numbers of americans that think that we need to do a strong jobs bill. >> good luck, how many folks are you expecting, mark, real quick? >> i don't want to make any predictions, but i think you're going to have at least 100,000 people here. maybe more from all across the

nation. it's a beautiful day, the crowd is gathering and what you'll see is the face of america, people from states across the nation, people from all backgrounds. this is a positive expression of 21st century america and the national urban league will probably be a part of this. >> okay, well, we're glad to have you speak with us. you can all watch the one nation working together march right here on msnbc, we're going to cover it live for you beginning at noon eastern time. in texas, a little boy's mischief turns deadly. a 4-year-old boy snuck into his family's minivan that was parked outside and he started it. after hearing the engine, the mom took off and ran outside while holding her 3 week old son and she tried to stop the van. the little boy put the minivan in gear and ran over the mom pinning the mom and child. >> i saw her take a breath when we took the weight of the car off.

it was at that time just told another gentleman to drag her out. >> well, the baby died, and the mother's in the hospital in serious condition. police are calling this a tragic accident. and that it is. memorials are set throughout the weekend for tyler clementi, the 18-year-old who jumped to his death on new york's george washington bridge after a sexual encounter was streamed on to the internet. two classmate used the web to -- rutgers has planned a moment of silence today at its football game. meantime this case is raising some new legal questionses as the prosecutors pursue envegas of privacy charges against the two students there. defense attorney and former prosecutor and good morning to the two of you. >> good morning. >> okay, there's some, karen who

are calling for ravi and way to be charged with a hate crime. there's a face book page which is called-give me your sense of what's going on out there and what this is going to translate to in the courtroom. >> we have been covering these cases for a while now and alex, you covered the megan meiers case, that was the cyber bullying case, and out of that case we thought we were going to get some federal legislation and there is legislation, but it's been stalled, which is the cyber bullying prevention act. so out of that case, nothing happened and now here we are, with yet another case. so there are laws, there's state laws, there are no federal laws and it looks like they are going to be charged with invasion of privacy, maybe it will be upgraded to a hate crime, i'm not a fan of that statute because i think it's very hard to apply, it doubles the time, if you're going to do five years, you're going to do ten years, so it looks like a lot

has come out of those cases, but no federal legislation and this case is going to provoke some more outcry. >> if you're the prosecute never this case, what are the charges that you seek? >> right now it's clearly an invasion of privacy under new jersey law and that occurs when you publish sexual acts of other people without their permission on the internet. that's what they have been charged with, it's a serious crime, that carries a three to five-year maximum sentence, that could be upgraded to a bias crime which could increase the jail exposure to ten years which is a very substantial sentence for two very young college students, but getting back to the point that was just raised by karen, this is a very difficult area to fashion new laws in. i mean this is the poster child for cyber bullying. but how do you craft a law that doesn't put 20% of the american population behind bars, our kids, when they do cruel texting to each other? it's going on every day. >> and where, karen is the law based on technology right now?

i mean is it underdeveloped? >> it's underdeveloped and funny enough, when you take a look at the legislation that they're trying to fashion for cyber bullying, really what they're doing is they're taking the harassment laws and the defamation laws and they're really just applying it to the internet. so those are very difficult cases and a lot of the time they wind up being downgraded to misdemeanors, but people's lives are being destroyed, reputations, people are going for job interviews and they're googling them and all this disgusting stuff is coming up. >> you know what's changed and i was thinking about it from years ago. years ago you had a neighborhood bully and there was a discussion in the backyard, or you gossip about your friends or say bad things and it wouldn't get beyond that circle. now with young kids, when you want to gossip about somebody you can put it on the internet and then the whole world knows. and i think what kids don't understand is that this can

arise to the level of criminal conduct. >> then the new jersey state senator who wants to increase invasion of privacy, make it a second-degree crime, that will increase everything, financial penalties, time behind bars. >> let me tell you why i think it's an overreaction. the problem here is educating our younger people that these actions have consequences, criminal consequences. you ask the average college student if activating a webcam in his own room could be a crime, and i would submit to you most would say no. but this is going to be the poster child for this kind of conduct and they're going to learn there are consequences for this. >> if you're going to do something to damage somebody's reputation, to say hateful things about them, you should be held accountable. it just makes sense. >> does that get done in a courtroom? does that get done around a dinner table? is. >> you know, alex, i was thinking about it in the context of the movie review you just

had, social network. you know how the movie starts? and boy, i hate to mess with something that's worth $6 billion, the ceo of facebook, he posts a defamatory message about a girlfriend on the internet when he's at harvard. now if she had committed suicide, would he be in prison? and that would be the end of facebook? >> not then, maybe now. >> maybe now. maybe now. >> my only point is this, you have to be very, very careful about how you craft this kind of legislation because people say mean things about other people and do you want to throw them behind bars for life when they make that kind of mistake. >> and i'm going to thank mr. zuckerburg who says a lot of this stuff is trumped up for the sake of the movie. >> it's only a movie, but we're talking about the point that was made by the movie, not whether it actually happened, yes, of course. the rescue of those 33 traps miners in chile may come sooner than expected. officials now say they hope to

get the miners out later this month instead of november. they have designed a specially designed capsule to lift them out of the shaft. 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.

it is a frightening medical secret some 60 years old. the united states is coming clean about an underground government program that intentionally infected hundreds of people in guatemala with sexually transmitted diseases. newly revealed documents show american doctors infected prison inmates, mental patients and soldiers with syphilis and gonorrhea to test the effectiveness of penicillin. prostitutes were paid to sleep with unknowing subjects. the country is mounting an investigation. changing faces at the white house is one of the president's closest and loudest advisors head for the door.

rahm emanuel has stepped down to run for mayor of chicago. he's being replaced by a washington insider. the president's long time aid pie peter rouse. let's bring in ann cornbleau, always good to see you. thank you for joining us. what do you think, ann, is this going to help or hurt the white house as far as political strategy is concerned? >> well, they're saying that at least for now we're not going to see big changes, there has been a strategy that was put into effect that rahm emanuel in conjunction with pete rouse had actually put together heading into the midterms. and pete rouse has been around obama for a long time. so i wouldn't expect to see some really big sea changes between now and november. that said, after november when obama really thinks about who he wants to be his permanent chief of staff and pete rouse could be that person, they're going to look at the structure of the whole way the white house is organized. also because the white house kneels they have already accomplished some of their main

goals and so it's going to be a different season. i think there could be changes, i think it will probably come a little bit later than right now. >> what do you think is the reason why she's an interim white house chief of staff as opposed to permanent, is that because she's saying, no thanks, i'm not really going afr this job. >> he's not someone who's been lobbying for it but this opening came about unexpectedly, nobody was expecting the mayor of chicago not to run again, least of all rahm emanuel. when that happened he had to make a decision quickly about whether to go for it. he couldn't campaign for it certainly from the west wing, so he had to make his decision and leaf right before the midterms and rather than make a hasty decision who he wanted to be the long-term chief of staff, the president decided to wait and do it after midterms and see if that's the kind of person he needs. >> what do you know about the relationship between rahm emanuel and the president and how that differs if at all from

the relationship that the president has with pete rouse. >> he obviously joked about their personalities yesterday, rahm emanuel had been a principal by being a member of congress, and pete rouse has been the consummate staffer for a number of years. his nickname was 101st senator, because he was there for three decades but he is more of a staffer and more of a behind the scenes character. i don't know that the relationship is all that different. the president obviously trusted both of them. but it's interesting in all the public statements that white house initials made about pete rouse, the word trust kept coming back again and again, the president really trusts him and he's very loyal. so two qualities the president was looking for. >> christine romer, larry summers, peter orszag, rahm emanuel, is there any indication that the president is cleaning house because things haven't gone so well? >> we haven't gotten a sense that this is the president pushing people out. there's been a few firings over the course of his first couple

of years, but this is the natural attrition of people leaving the white house after a couple of hard years, they're all names that we have heard and i think there's going to be a few more after the midterms. that said, i do think that the white house views this as an opportunity by having these openings that they can restructure things, acknowledge that since have not been going exactly as they want them and make changes without it having to be the classic shake-up that they don't want to have to talk about. >> do you think this is going to -- >> it's hard to blame the relationship which i think has been pretty poisonous on any one person. if anything, he had worked with many of them during his him on the hill, certainly pete rouse has worked with them in his time on the hill. certainly this is bigger than any one or few people in the white house or even washington. it seems to be the national phenomen phenomenon. >> thank you for joining us. let's go to this hour's list

of number ones with a focus on video. this one is called the worst tattoo customer in history. i don't know about that, but it is the most popular on break.com. as you can see, there's going to be some screaming and it didn't really seem to phase the tattoo artist, but eventually she had had it with him. >> wait, just a minute, just a minute. if you're going to get per snippety with me. - >> you're messing up your tattoo, it's on your back, it ain't on my back, it's on your back, jumping around, acting all crazy, that's on you. >> she didn't really have much tolerance for pain or really for him. now check out this number one video on funny or die. this is mike tyson's performing to bobby brown's "every little step." let's skip ahead and show you bobby brown. ♪ my name's bobby and you heard

what i said ♪ >> it's almost 1988 all over again. wonder what his new edition pals are doing. [ female announcer ] black is always flattering. myth. flakes are the only sign of an unhealthy scalp. also a myth. there are several signs of an unhealthy scalp... and the fact is, head & shoulders works on those too. with 7 scalp and hair benefits including relieving dryness, itch, even oiliness. because beautiful looking hair, starts with a healthy scalp... and that's a fact. head & shoulders. respect the scalp. love the hair.

[ female announcer ] mousse temptations by jell-o. decadently delicious. 60 calories. it's finally me o'clock. time for jell-o. try new chocolate mint sensation.

a new section of the gulf of mexico is now reopened to fishing for the first time since the bp oil disaster. the more than 5500 square mile chunk of the gulf is more than 7500 miles from the formerly blown out well. other waters remain closed to fishing. now to a growing group of women who are mothers by day and gangsters by night. they're not exactly mobsters in the real world, but they're gangsters online thanks to mafia wars. that's a social media game that's spread like wildfire on facebook. the game was launched in 2008.

now there are more than 21 million unique players each month. every month they make more than a billion moves in this game. wow, they've got a lot of time on their hands. first of all, good morning. explain to us what this is. >> mafia war sass social game on facebook. it's link based. players just go on, click, they commit a series of crimes to expand their criminal empire. they get experience points and they make cash, from there and there they play and play. there's always more rewards to get, more guns to find, more drug dealers to squash. >> you find that 70% of the players are men. but how do you figure the average player of these games are 43-year-old women. >> it's a study that came out recently earlier this year. it was kind of a shocker in the blogosphere because you would think that the game is for that standard young teen or male dominated video game.

but for the most part, it is 43-year-old women who are at home, at the office, playing games like farmville, a lot of them book by zinga. >> passing time with this mafia wars, you found some women that check in as much as ten times a day. >> i did. i did. you know, they play before they take their kid to school, take the kid to school, play all day. >> does that strike you as being strange? >> a little bit, yeah. you'd think it would be -- people have busy days. they log on and do this ten times a day, 50 times a day. it's hard. >> an effort from some people you talk to that the mafia moms are getting the whole family involved in this. like a family group event thing. >> it is. what is about mafia wars, you have a family, capital "f," that's the mafia enterprise. they're bringing more family into the family, doing more crimes, making more money.

>> do you see this having an upwards trajectory. will it continue to grow or people making a billion moves, do you think it has hit its peak. >> i can't say when it hits its peak. but when you look at farmville that is more popular. >> farmville has more than a billion users a day? >> i would imagine so. >> this is a game about what, the antithesis about being in the mafia. >> running a farm, planting crops. >> that's what you might think most moms would be doing. a little more maternal. a stereotype, but that's just what i'm saying. thank you for joining us from the daily beast. >> thanks. the recession is finally over but it sure feels like a recession for many americans. how will they know when it's over in vera gibbons is ahead for you. the turn changes everyt. ♪ the turn will make you think. ♪ make you re-examine your approach. change your line. innovate.

and create one of the world's fastest-reacting suspensions, reading the road 1,000 times per second. it's the turn that leads you somewhere new. introducing the new 2011 cts-v coupe. from cadillac. the new standard of the world. from cadillac. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep 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. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right. ♪ i was young and i was stupid ♪ i had just turned 17 ♪ a harmonica and a box guitar ♪ ♪ in a canvas-covered wagon stuffed... ♪

[ male announcer ] while the world's been waiting on the electric car, maybe the whole time, the electric car has been waiting for this... the wattstation from ge. it's going to change the way we get to where we all want to go. ♪ i didn't think much of it till i took it apart ♪ you know, if we had let fedex office print our presentation, they could have shipped it too. saved ourselves the hassle. i'm not too sure about this. look at this. [ security agent ] right. you never kick off with sales figures. kicking off with sales figures!

i'm yawning. i'm yawning some more. aaaaaaaand... [ snores ] i see your point. yeah. [ snores ] [ male announcer ] we understand.® you need a partner who delivers convenience. next time use fedex office. right now on msnbc sat