talk? the supreme court looks at the issue. in the money, government workers with really, really big paychecks. which states pay really, really well? we're going to show you and in editorial in the rutgers student newspaper with their take on the suicide of tyler clemente. and it is not what you might expect. hi, everybody. great to have you with us this afternoon on msnbc. i'm thomas roberts. we start with the hottest political races around the country from california to west virginia. conventional wisdom has gone out the door and the old political maxims don't apply anymore. we're not even past the midterm election yet. there's already talk about hillary clinton for vice president. we'll get the round-up now with a.b. stoddard. great to have you with us. i want to go out west, to california. the sacramento bee is reporting that meg whitman has spent 140 million bucks on her race, but in the recent reuters poll, it's showing that whitman is trailing

brown, her opponent in this case, by seven points. it's 50% to 43% for whitman. so 140 million bucks. don't you think it should be better? >> oh, yeah. she was really hoping that that -- that pouring in all of her money would give her a win. until the story broke about the housekeeper, thomas, she was just neck-and-neck literally. having spent $119 million, now you look at the damage that's been done by this story about housekeeper and now more stories coming out about the nanny. this has so damaged her with latino voters. she was, i think, at 31% with the latino voters, now she's trying to answer question us bout that. she's seen her support drop. i think that though jerry brown is not a very strong candidate, this is looking very tough for her to win now. >> doesn't also the sciu ad that just came out, a second ad that

came out against whitman, taking her to task for what she had to say about undocumented citizens in this country taking advantage of education systems in california. >> well, this was in a very hard line for her to walk. during her primary, she was having to run to the right on immigration, being forced to try to please primary voters on that issue. and so she became, you know, a real sort of border-first republican. and then -- and then she had to appeal to the general electorate in california, a blue state. she's having a very tough time on this issue. it's very hard to do both. it was going to be very hard to her to straddle a very strong position on border security and enforcement and then try to move over to any kind of, you know, path to earn legalization. it's not believable. really without that support, again, that's just -- in that state, she just can't win. >> to remind everybody, $140 million of her own personal money that she has invested in this. i want to jump coasts now, come east to connecticut. for lack of a better term, a

cage match debated on monday night. there will be a debate again tomorrow night in norwalk. richard bloomingthol's lead, once very large lead over linda mcmahon, who you see there, has shrunk to 3%. so it's within this margin of error. mcmahon having a wealth war chest, hoas put so much money into this campage. what do you make of this? >> this is remarkable. connecticut, a very blue state. not one that democrats were ever supposed to worry about. now they're trying to spend money, sending barack obama up there. they're worried about richard blumenthal. he had a huge lead. now it's dwindled to a place where she really could take him. everywhere is the year of the outsider. richard blumenthal in a fifth turn as attorney general of connecticut. the voters there have watched him wait for an opening for something like a senate run. i think he's just, you know, in this year, longevity is really not appealing to voters.

and that's why someone like mcmahon with her own baggage has been able to talk about his misstatements about vietnam and his record there and really attack him personally and edge away at what was once well over a 20-point lead. >> well, he has gone through criticism about his military record. that's nothing new for him. linda mcmahon, not knowing how much minimum wage is in a time of recession in this country, when americans are hurting in the pocketbook. >> that is true. democrats will try to turn this issue on republicans in races all around the country for house and senate. we'll see -- it will work in some places, but like i said, the fact that she could pull herself up this close to richard blumenthal, who has been well respected in the state for a long time, shows this is really the year of the outsider and not the long-term incumbent politicians. >> the mcmahon family ran a very successful business. we can give that to them for sure. we go to west virginia now and talk about joe mansion versus

john rasee. the national republican senatorial committee said tuesday that it was launching a tv ad for the republican, john r rasee. when they invest their money, what does that mean to you? >> well, again, the -- we would not even have believed that connecticut or west virginia could be on the map. manchin had a nice lead back at the end of the summer. he's now behind rasee. he is -- because he said once this year, although he's poplar at home, he said i would have supported health care reform. this ads coming now from the republican party, painting him as obama's boy. they say when he comes to washington, he's, you know, he's just another, you know, obama yes man. and so this is very harmful for him politically back in west virginia. again, look at incumbent versus outsider. you know, rase re is a mine own.

that's a very big interest in west virginia. you see why he's been able to close the gap. >> what has been cable catnip today for all of us is the discussion from the obama administration about hillary clinton and joe biden switching jobs. let's listen to what hillary clinton had to say about that. >> we have a great relationship, and i -- i have absolutely no interest and no reason for doing anything other than just dismissing these stories and moving on. because there's just no -- we have no time. we have so much to do. and i think both of us are very happy doing what we're doing. >> is this as transparent as when she was senator saying i'm not running for president? >> i don't know who among us believe that hillary clinton has ever ruled out another run for the presidency. bob woodward has the best sources in washington. he's written another book to prove that. i think that also having known joe biden, when i covered him in the senate, he probably -- he real is the one person you can imagine saying, i think this is a great idea and i'd love to be

secretary of state and stepping aside. president obama right now is hurting in all of the -- of the key battleground states. indiana, florida, north carolina, ohio, pennsylvania, all states he would need to win in 2012. he's really -- his polling numbers are terrible there. if he wants to turn things around, you know, choosing hillary clinton as a running mate would obviously be a very smart thing to do. it would excite women. the jewish democrats who don't trust him, latinos, moderate voters, many, many people that he would need to get on board, those workers who just voted for him looking the other way in '08, but they really wanted hillary to win. they'd come home. it sounds like a shrewd plan. >> a.b. stoddard, thank you. >> thank you. the right to free speech is on trial at the supreme court today. this case centers on what happened at the funeral of a fallen marine in 2007. the westbero baptist church protesd pr protested at matthew snyder's

funeral. the case brought protests outside the court today. after the justices heard the arguments, snyder's father spoke to reporters. >> in my opinion, speaking as a father, the church's conduct was so extreme, it went beyond all possible bounds of basic human decency that it can be regarded as utterly intolerable in a civilized nation. >> pete williams is live frus in washington. this really comes down to the right of free speech versus the right to privacy. correct? >> that's right. albert snyder, the father of the marine, actually sued the reverend fred phelps and his family for damages, and they were awarded $5 million, but an appeals court overturned it and said it was protected by free speech. one of the issues here today is whether mr. snyder was a public figure or a prescriivate citize with the suggestion that it might be easier to win if people

think he's a public figure. that's the view of fred phelps. his lawyer is his daughter. she spoke today. >> note to all. when you have a private funeral, we will not be there. when you have a public funeral and you broadcast to the nation that that dead soldier is a hero and that god is blessing america, we will be there and tell you god is cursing america. it is a curse for your young men and women to be coming home in body bags. if you want that to stop, stop sinning. >> now, it's the phelps' contention that u.s. war deaths are caused by god because god is upset at the u.s. for tolerating gay rights. but the court did not seem to buy this public/private thing. what margy phelps today the supreme court today is that it's enough for a parent simply to say i'm proud of my son for serving his country for dying in

service to his country, but that makes it a public issue. the court didn't seem to buy that today. thomas, i think many first amendmentec experts thought thi would be a slam dunk for the proposition that even outrageous speech, even speech that is hurtful, even said at a funeral, is still protected by the first amendment. but many of the justices, in fact, i think you could say a majority of the justices seemed willing to try to draw the line. they seemed offended by the speech here, upsetting the dignity of a military funeral, and they're at least willing to see if the line can be drawn that would allow lawsuits like this. >> pete williams, thank you. appreciate it. >> you bet. uncovering some really outrageous salaries. ahead this hour, some government workers making five times the national average. so what's going on? you're not going to want to miss this. the numbers are eye-opening first, the woman who says her husband was killed by pirates on a texas like. why police across the border are

not so sure about her story. that is straight ahead on msnbc. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 are still talking about retirement tdd# 1-800-345-2550 like it's some kind of dream. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's either this magic number i'm supposed to reach, or... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's beach homes or it's starting a vineyard. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 come on! tdd# 1-800-345-2550 just help me figure it out in a practical, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's-make-this-happen kind of way. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a vineyard? give me a break. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ male announcer ] looking for real-life answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to your retirement questions? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 get real. get started. talk to chuck. tdd# 1-800-345-2550

welcome back, everybody. we are closely following the latest on that american couple in texas allegedly ambushed in a violent attack by mexican pirates. tiffany hartley says she and her husband, david, were jet skiing near the texas border when this all happened. tiffany told officials that david was shot and killed when they were suddenly surrounded and sprayed with bullets. his body has not been found. now a mexican authority is reportedly questioning her story. janet shanle joins us live now from mcallen, texas, with the latest on this. janet, where does the investigation stand right now? >> well, thomas, it's sort of turning into an international incident. tiffany hartley and her family,

desperately seeking help from mexican authorities. we're in front of the consulate. she had a meeting here for three hours yesterday, asking officials to search their waters. meanwhile, they have questioned the veracity of her story, saying -- telling a texas newspaper they don't think things happened exactly like she said they did. this morning on the "today" show, meredith asked her if she had anything to do with her husband's disappearance. let's listen. >> no. not at all. i loved him very much. and i went back for him to help him, and i did what i could. i have no proof. i have no cameras. i have nothing. i don't have the photos that we were taking. i don't have anything except for my word. >> the sheriff's department on the united states side handling the investigation says there's a credible witness to all of this. they trust in tiffany's story. as you heard, there have been these questions about the veracity of what she's saying.

u.s. officials can't go over to that side, won't go over to that side, for fear of violence. texas governor rick perry weighing in, saying he wanted a call from the president of mexico within 48 hours saying they had recovered david's body. if he didn't receive that call, that meant that mexican authorities weren't searching enough for this young man's body. so it kind of remains this side, that side sort of thing. there's no closure for this family. they did have a memorial service here last night. a lot of questions about what happened and what this means for the future of this lake. >> janet, i know for a lot of people that may not be familiar with this, the falcon dam was created in the '50s. the authorities, the mexico and u.s. authorities, share the maintenance of this. let's talk about how much of a territory here they would need to cover in terms of searching for the body and how they can work in coordination to do that. i would imagine that is the biggest key to the evidence in

all of this, the police recovery of david's body. >> well, the sheriff's department on the united states side said they gave two very specific gps coordinates to mexican officials. the u.s. officials won't go over on the mexican side, but they can see that side. they say they haven't seen any evidence of mexican authorities searching, of them looking. they wonder whether there's any attempt to find this man's body. but you're right, it's a large body of water. the border runs right down the middle of it. and authorities from the united states are just not going to go over there at this point. it seems like it's at a stalemate at this point. >> janet, as always, thanks very much. the alleged attack on the hartleys sparks new concerns about border safety. it would mark the fifth incident since april 30th in which u.s. residents ventured into mexico and encountered pirates in falcon lake. there are questions from mexican officials about the veracity of the hartley story.

msnbc crime analyst clint van zandt joins me now on the phone. investigators have been searching the u.s. side of the lake for hartley's body, but they have no authority to search the mexico border side. so as we're hearing from janet, how can this be handled in a way so that everyone can work in coordination? >> well, it was interesting, thomas, as you suggested on the "today" show this morning, the question was asked of the local sheriff, would he participate in the search for the victim's body and the jets ski? he said mexican authorities offered him that, but if he did, that his deputies would get in a gun battle and create an international incident. thomas, what's going on in our country when we can't get that level of cooperation with the mexican military and police, being out on their side of the lake, that we can't send sheriff's deputies over to help search for a missing american without fearing that we're going to get in a gun battle?

but, thomas, part of this, i think, all relates to, you know, should the story be true? we're going to take it as true until we find out otherwise. realize that the drug trafficking is a $25 billion industry with drugs coming into the united states. i would suggest that these aren't pirates but perhaps drug runners and if the story happened as we're told and they -- and the couple was over there taking pictures, it could have been something like drug dealers being afraid they were undercover officers taking pictures and decided that they were going to make sure no one shut down that drug route. >> from what i've been reading about, these are being referred to as los zetas pirates. two different sets of gps coordinates were supplied by tiffany hartley. but they found nothing, not even the jet ski. clint, how can they pull this case together with no evidence?

>> well, this is the challenge. just like in one movie, we heard the phrase "show me the money." in this case, it's show me the body. it takes a torpedo to sink a jet ski. if the victim was wearing a life preserver, he and the jet ski ought to be in the water someplace, unless these drug runners decided to come back and remove all the evidence. the story doesn't seem to make sense. i can understand the mexicans challenge the story itself. but, again, this is an american citizen. i think, thomas, we're somewhat jaded. we've heard the story of the runaway bride, with victim s thrown in their face. we want to make sure this is true. again, we want to back this victim, you know, this grieving widow right now. >> absolutely agreed. clint van zandt, thank you. >> thank you, thomas. marijuana and energy are not

typically mentioned in the same sentence, but it's election season and that means politicians looking for new ways to cultivate votes may put the two together. the "wall street journal" reports that strategists are studying an initiative to legalize pot. they want to energize young, progre progressive voters. democrats in california are benefiting from a boost in voter enthusiasm among those eager to legalize marijuana. on that note, we're going to be right back. [ male announcer ] there's a big idea happening in health care

called the humana walmart- preferred prescription plan. it's a medicare prescription drug plan that saves you an average of over $450 a year, with monthly plan premiums less than $15 and copays as low as $2. with savings like these, you have more time to remember what it's really all about. enroll starting november 15. ♪ go to walmart.com for details. ♪ got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok?

just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. i'm friend, secret-keeper and playmate. do you think i'd let osteoporosis slow me down? so i asked my doctor about reclast because i heard it's the only once-a-year iv osteoporosis treatment. he told me all about it and i said that's the one for nana. he said reclast can help restrengthen my bones to help make them resistant to fracture for twelve months. and reclast is approved to help protect from fracture in many places: hip, spine, even other bones. [ male announcer ] you should not take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium, kidney problems.

or you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant or nursing. take calcium and vitamin d daily. tell your doctor if you develop severe muscle, bone or joint pain, of if you have dental problems, as rarely jaw problems have been reported. the most common side effects include flu like symptoms, fever, muscle or joint pain and headache. share the world with the ones you love! and ask your doctor about reclast. or call 1-866-51-reclast. year-long protection for on-the-go women. welcome back to msnbc. i'm thomas roberts. in the news now, president obama just presented the parents of an army green beret with the medal of honor. the ceremony at the white house. robert miller was leading a patrol of american and afghan troops near the pakistan border two years ago when taliban militants ambushed his patrol. despite being hit in the chest twice, sergeant miller fought back, shooting and hurling grenades in order to protect his troops. president obama acknowledged his ultimate sacrifice in service of

a grateful nation. in arizona, the national weather service now confirms two tornadoes touched down early this morning. there's extensive damage to homes, and debris scattered in belmont, including 15 houses with torn-up roofs some smashed up windows. seven people were hurt. the red cross has set up shelters in the area. now to the eastern european area. this is hungary where toxic red sludge is wreaking havoc. the country's leaders say that it's going to cost tens of millions of dollars to clean it up. the damage is from a chemical factory's reservoir burst. three counties in that country are under a state of emergency as we speak. look at that. that's amazing. the rutgers university school paper writes a really provocative editorial with their thoughts on tyler clemente's suicide and who they think is to blame. up next, the reaction is coming in, and it's not good. ♪a young man with ambition

♪ met an old man at the top ♪ asked him if he d a secret ♪ ♪ and the old man stopped and thought and said: ♪ ♪ free 'cause that's how it ought to be my brother ♪ ♪ credit 'cause you'll need a loan for one thing or another ♪ ♪ score 'cause they break it down to one simple number ♪ ♪ that you can use ♪ dot to take a break because the name is kinda long♪ ♪ com in honor of the internet that it's on ♪ ♪ put it all together at the end of the song ♪ ♪ it gives you freecreditscore-dot-com, ♪ ♪ and i'm gone... >>offer applies with enrollment in triple advantage.®

♪ [ upbeat instrumental ] [ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote.

this is your cnbc market wrap. here's a look at how stocks are doing a half hour before the close of the trading day. it's kind of a mixed picture. we've got the dow up about 4 points. the s&p 500 and the nasdaq both lower today. unemployed workers who were counting on a seasonal retail job to get them through the holidays might be disappointed. after a weak back-to-school season, a number of retailers won't be beefing up staff as much for the holiday shopping season. the national retail federation says 2009 was the lowest year for retail hiring in the last 14 years. what will be up this holiday season is the new microsoft slate. microsoft's ceo announcing at the london school of economics today that a windows operating tablet pc will be ready by christmas. the slate is microsoft's attempt to answer apple's very popular

ipad. that's it for cnbc. we're first in business worldwide. thomas, back to you. >> everybody wants part of the ipod movement. >> oh, it's great. i covet one. >> i have one myself. thanks again. so 33 men trapped half a mile underground for two months could soon see the light of day once again. rescuers are inching closer to the trapped miners. it's possible they may be reunite would their worried loved ones as early as this weekend. kerry sanders joins me live now from the site of the mine in copiapo, chile. give us an update of when the miners are going to be rescued. how close are we to this timely rescue? >> well, here's the deal. they're drilling this hole that's going down and they have about 100 meters to go, slightly more than 300 feet. so they're very close. the equipment is continuing to arrive here that are the final pieces of equipment that are going to be needed. we have the doctor here who is working with them every day to

keep them fit, who is going to be monitoring them when they come up. the doctor is here with me right now. he's got some of his gear right here. his hands are full. let me just sort of help you balance -- what do you have here? what is this going to be used for as those miners are being brought up? >> this is a biometric belt that's basically able to measure heart frequency. >> so it would go -- >> just right under your clothes. >> somewhere like that? >> yeah. around your chest, yeah, like this. and basically it will give you a -- this type of information. >> we've seen this in hospitals before. explain why you think this is important. they're coming up in this darkened tube. they'll have artificial light. if they're in a capsule or not in a capital, why sulcapsule, wo know what the readings are versus what they'll tell you on the radio? >> because the readings show me

some things they won't be able to perceive themselves. >> so when they say -- when you go, how are you doing, and they say okay? >> probably they're not okay, but they just don't know what's wrong with them. so basically what we're going to do here is -- is monitor all of the -- all of their vital signs and we have two phases here. we sent already 11 dongles and -- >> in fact, let's just show, the reason they can send them down, because they're so thin. they it can get down the tubes down to them. >> yes, that's the idea. but they won't be able to transmit live due to minor complications with the fiberoptics, but, anyhow, we're recording all of their live data. they resend them to the surface. with three measurements per miner, i'm able to develop a predicted model of behavior

during the -- >> how are the men doing? they know that this is close now. >> yeah, they -- they're pretty sure this is a matter of days or at the most weeks. so basically, they're -- they're just very calm. they're preparing them selves for the rescue. >> what sort of preparations are they doing? for instance, we can put this down here for a moment. >> yeah. >> let me just hand this down. they have to get inside possibly into the capsule. when they get into the capsule, is there a special way they stand? how do they keep the blood flowing? what is the plan? >> probably they won't have space to keep their arms here. if they fit in, they'll have to choose either to have their arms here or their arms here. probably they won't be able to change easily on position. >> so they're in a capsule and coming up. is that five minutes or 15 minutes or you do not know yet? >> they've talked about a lapse between 20 minutes and 40

minutes. that all depends on the tolerance of the miner and the ascension speed. basically, they'll just say move on, slow a little bit, and we'll get like direct feedback from them from the interior of the capsule. >> all right. doctor, thank you so much for joining us here. demonstrating some of this. and i think the one thing that you take away from all of this here is the confidence that is growing here, that all 33 are going to be brought out without complications. they have a lot of safety procedures in place. they're doing double and triple redundancies to make sure there are no problems. and while there had been talk of some sort of political pressure from the president's office to try to get this done before he travels to europe, the president of chile had commented on that. the experts here say that there is no political pressure. they're going to do this only one way. that is the safest way to bring everybody up alive. >> for all of us that are following this, it is an exciting story to know these men

are going to be reunite would their families soon. i'm sure their families are excited about that. kerry sanders live from chile, thank you. state and local governments are in dire straits. last year, they faced a collective shortfall of more than $100 billion. that could jump to $140 billion this year. consider the case of police chief in phoenix who retired in 2007 and got a one-time payment of $562,000, plus an annual pension of 90 grand. two weeks later, he gets rehired with a different title and a base salary of 193,000 a year. how about the parks commissioner in highland park, illinois, who was making $164,000 a year before the commission added, get this, a $270,000 bonus because his pension is based on his final year's salary. he's going to get 166 grand a year in retirement. then there's miami. which is staring at a $118

million budget shortfall. the county manager told its employees to stop buying bottled water, but that same manager was making 425,000 bucks and included a $30,000 luxury car. george lewis has been following this story. he joins me now live from burbank to talk about this. george, i know we are a capitalist society, but you have found even more examples of this in the state of california. so explain what you've been finding and how state and local governments are justifying these big salaries when they can't actually balance their own budget sheets. >> yeah. the whole thing got kind of -- got kicked off when we looked at the case of bell, california, where the city manager was being paid $800,000 a year. that's twice what president obama makes. now he's in jail awaiting trial in a case that involves his assistant and four members of the city council. and then the l.a. times yesterday published a list of 199 los angeles county employees who are making over $250,000 a

year. msnbc.com has done an excellent job of rounding up these stories from around the country. the website asked people to send in examples of overpaid public officials. they got 1,000 responses. so people in these hard economic times, when cities and states are looking at big budget deficits are looking very closely at the exaggerated pay of many public officials. >> are any of these jobs -- can we discuss about the possibility that any of these jobs would need to be eliminated or at least see the salaries slashed? >> well, in las vegas, for instance, the mayor is having it out with the fire department. a lot of firefighters there have been collecting huge paychecks, up to $500,000 a year. a lot of that in overtime. the mayor is asking the union for give-backs. thus far, he hasn't been very successful in those negotiati negotiations. a lot of cities are laying off workers, are asking unions to

it -- to cut back on their benefits. and are thinking about re -- increasing retirement ages just because of all of these baked-in budgetary problems that are left over from fatter times. >> yeah. exactly. a lot of people out there, millions of americans, are thinking, hey, this is great work if you can get it and hold on to it. apparently these people are really taking advantage. george lewis, thanks for joining us. >> okay sgljts on t. tomorrow on msnbc, we'll wrap up a series on getting america back to work. that's tomorrow's focus. help boomers who are out of work and need money right now. that's at 9:00 a.m. eastern on msnbc. in new jersey, a town meeting will be held at rutgers university tonight to discuss tyler clementi's death. last week, clementi committed suicide. the school's newspaper published an editorial that some say

victimized the victim all over again. now, in part it reads, the focal point of clementi's death should have been a boy's inability to deal with the hardships of life and yet the news and certain organizations picked this up and carried it into the ranks of general causes for major social groups for their profit. that's just part of the editorial. dan savage, writes "the savage love column." he's an activist and joins us now via skype. i want to get your reaction to the editorial. this is the school newspaper there. this is the second oldest college newspaper in our country. it's run by the students. it's an unsigned editorial. you've had a chance to read it. what is your takeaway? >> well, i agree with some aspect of the editorial. we lead to learn more about tyler clementi's life. i don't think that his suicide was the direct result of just that live streaming of his private intimate encounter. i believe that it has to have been the last straw. i'm interested to know if tyler

was bullied in middle school and high school, if his family was welcome and accepting, and what faith tradition he was raised, what kind of religious bigotry he was exposed to. just that event wouldn't have driven a person to suicide. we should bear in mind that there was another boy in the room with tyler who was in that video who did thought commit suicide. it would be constructive to know what the differences in their experiences was. the editorial is deeply confused. we've had tyler clementi's suicide -- it didn't happen in a vacuum. it happened within a cultural context. it happened at the end of a whole -- suicides of gay and lesbian, bi, and trans teenagers all over the country who killed themselves because of -- as a result of bullying. that's relevant. i don't believe people are seizing on tyler clementi's suicide. i believe that people are trying to make sure that tyler clementi in taking his own life did not die in vein. >> dan, i want to go ahead and

put up the comments in the section after the editorial. most of the comments, they weren't very nice, writing about what they nthought about the editorial. i have two. i want to start with the one that was an anonymous comment saying, what an appalling, smug, and self-certifiyself-satisfied. demonstrators were only trying to advance their own selfish agenda. why can't they be satisfied with what they have? on the other side, i think many people see this is a well-written and smart argument that does not belittle the tragedy of tyler's death. in fact, i think it focuses on the tragedy rather than the politics. do you think what we're doing now is politicizing this death too much? >> no, i don't think we're politicizing his death. i think we're paying attention to what gay and lesbian teenagers all over the country are going through right now. that's not politicizing, that's dealing with reality and that's trying to learn the lessons of

tyler clementi's suicide and billy lucas' and azushasher bro so that we can prevent suicides in the fuper. one aspect i do agree with, students were saying they need safe spaces for gays and lesbians at rutgers. there are safe spaces for gay and lesbian students at rutgers. in a tragic turn of events, it turned out that tyler clementi's own room wasn't a safe space for tyler clementi. we need to address that and talk about that and make sure that nothing like this should happen again. that's not exploitative. when a plane crashes, we don't say, well, we could talk about why the plane crashed, but that would be exploiting the tragedy of those people's deaths on that plane. we talk about their deaths and the tragedy and we mourn the loss of life and then we look at what happened to that plane, why it crashed, try to learn the lessons and prevent that in the future. that's what people are doing here with tyler. people care deeply and they want

to make sure there aren't any tylers in the future. >> you know, as i mentioned in the lead-in to this piece tonight there will be a town hall meeting at rutgers university. what do you think can come of that? >> people obviously feel and feel very passionately and deeply. i think that getting together and talking about it and working on solutions and raising people's awareness and consciousnesses about what's going on and what young gay and lesbian and bi and trans people are being put through would be the best result of that meeting. >> i want to point out that everybody can check out your project on youtube. you have your own channel, calls the it gets better project. dan savage, thanks. i appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> i want to note that we did reach out to the newspaper and invited them on air. they declined our invitation. we're keeping an eye on that terror alert issues by the u.s. state department. new developments to talk about and we'll have that story coming up next. don't go anywhere. t may not be getting the nutrition they need to keep their bodies strong. carnation instant breakfast essentials supplies the nutrients of a balanced breakfast

to help build strong muscles and healthy bones. carnation instant breakfast essentials. good nutrition from the start. one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ 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.

[ male so i take ] one a day men's 50+ advantage. as a manager, my team counts on me to stay focused. it's the only complete multivitamin with ginkgo to support memory and concentration. plus vitamin d to help maintain healthy blood pressure. [ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's. rheumatoid arthritis going? they're discovering simponi®, the first self-injectable r.a. medicine

you take just once a month. taken with methotrexate, simponi® helps relieve the pain, stiffness and swelling of r.a. with one dose once a month. visit 4simponi.com to see if you qualify for a full year of cost support. simponi® can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious and sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, cancer in children and adults, heart failure, nervous system disorders, liver or blood problems, and allergic reactions. before starting simponi®, your doctor should test you for t.b. and assess your risk of infections, including fungal infections and hepatitis b. ask your doctor if you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, or develop symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough or sores. you should not start simponi® if you have an infection. [ woman ] ask your rheumatologist about simponi®. just one dose, once a month.

there is a new twist in the stepped-up warnings about terror against the west. police in karachi, pakistan, said that they have received a tip about possible attacks on the u.s. and other foreign consulates. in france, the foreign ministry is warning travelers of a high risk of terrorism in britain. their website posted a message claiming british authorities believe, quote, the risk of an attack is very likely. this comes on the heels of britain and the u.s. advising its citizens to be vigilant if traveling in europe. roger cressy is joining me now from washington, d.c. to talk about all of this. roger, let's start with karachi and the threats against the u.s. and other consulates. what are you hearing? >> well, thomas, karachi is a site where we've had prior attacks. the u.s. embassy -- consulate in karachi has been hit before. there's a constant and consistent threat tempo in pakistan for the embassy and the consulate. we shouldn't be surprised about that. >> let's go ahead and talk about how americans need to be reacting to this information if they're travelling in europe. how are we supposed to take this in and process it if we're about

to travel around the world? >> well, the most important thing is to pay close attention to what the state department's travel advisory said, that if you see something as we say in the united states, say something to local law enforcement, to the police, to avoid the type of public settings where in the past al qaeda and other terrorists have tried to attack. but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be going to -- to tourist hoicatilocations. do your trip and enjoy it, but use common sense and be smart in the process. >> how is our sensitivity different than that of our european cousins? >> in a word, it's 9/11. even though our european allies have suffered from terrorism for dozens of years, every major western european country has dealt with terrorism in some shape or form, but because we had 9/11, such a catastrophic event on our soil, we operate differently. and as a result of that, the terror advisory that was issued over the weekend, the western european nations said to us, look, this is something we live with all the time.

we know you're operating differently, but be careful in how you word it. there is that back and forth between us. the u.s. government is always going to be acting in abundance of caution. frankly y think that's what citizens want. >> roger, is it your view that al qaeda is behind the so-called increased chatter being picked up by authorities in europe? >> there are multiple streams of intelligence that are factoring into this threat picture right now. al qaeda central is clearly the threat that people are concerned about, but as we've seen with arrests in marseille, individuals associated with others in italy led to this one, and there's a strong threat from al qaeda in north africa, targeting france. you take all of these together and you've got a threat picture that is pretty serious with a lot of very credible threat reporting involved. >> roger, thank you. >> you bet, thomas. so it was a really grisly attack when a washington man was mauled by a black bear. today he is speaking out for the very first time and you'll hear from him next. ♪

[ e. clark ] i'm an engineer. i love my job. i can see what it's doing for the community on a day-to-day basis. natural gas is cleaner burning than most fossil fuels and it's vital to our energy needs. increasingly we're finding gas in hard to reach areas, but now we've developed new technology that enables us to access gas in hard rocks so we can bring more fuel to homes and help provide a reliable source of energy into the future. with the humana walmart- preferred prescription plan, you have more time to remember what it's really all about. enroll starting november 15. go to walmart.com for details.

welcome back, everybody. here's what's topping the news now. today, a joint investigation into a u.s. helicopter attack on a pakistani outpost last week determines it was "tragic event that could have been avoided." the team from the u.s., nato and pakistan found while in pursuit of taliban fighters, the american helicopters crossed into pakistan airspace, opening fire, killing two pakistani soldiers. the u.s. today apologized for that incident, saying american troops mistook the pakistani soldiers for the insurgents they had been chase. okay. so more wild weather today for los angeles. and you can see wind and rain walloping the city there. this is potentially record breaking rainfall, following a record heat wave they just had out west. right now about 3400 homes are without power. rain is expected to fall into the area until about midnight this evening. the houston channel, a very busy waterway for moving goods into the u.s. is again open for business after a three-day traffic jam where four dozen ships were stuck.

28 inbound ships and 20 outbound were literally stalled across a four-mile area since sunday when a tug boat pushing three barges hit a tower holding high-voltage cables above the anal that port leads the nation in foreign water-borne imports. big, big water jichl a man who survived a bear attack in washington state is telling his story now. city councilman lost his left eye when a bear mauled him last month, he was walking his dogs outside his family's vacation home went bear attacked. >> a split second, i saw the bear coming and she just launched right into me. we went flying down onto the road. most of what we did, i would call, was quite frankly wrestling. there were times when she was biting. i just vividly remember being bitten on the head and the sound that that makes as it was -- as her teeth were going into my head and running along the

skull. it was just a horrendous fight. >> wow. amazing story that man has to tell. his wife was the one that scared the bear away and called 911. officials say unprovoked attacks by black bears are very rare. all right, everybody that is our show for this wednesday, i thank you for joining me over the hour. i'm thomas roberts much the dylan ratigan show, coming up next. ♪ yes! ♪ look, they fit! oh my gosh, are those the jeans from last year? how'd you do it? eating right...whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who eat more whole grain tend to have healthier body weights. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 lightly sweetened calories. more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios. but the financial landscape is still full of uncertainty.

in times like these, you need an experienced partner to look out for you. heads up! and after 300 years we have gotten pretty good at that.

good afternoon to you, my name is dylan ratigan. today, maybe looking at a new name for afghanistan. new reports of truce talks and the afghan government and the taliban but can you really trust either side. and how would it really bring our troops home any sooner? plus -- >> i just know somebody is breaking -- somebody broke into my house. >> did they kick the door in? how did he get the door open, do you know? >> i don't know. >> a terrified woman calls 911 on a burglar, but it turns out to be one of our nation's largest banks.

it is just one story from the millions of homeowners getting a raw deal from our government who sponsors these giant lenders. we will talk to her live. also, imagine if our lawmakers were like nascar drivers, wearing the logos of their corporate sponsors on their suits. we will look at what congress would look like if it was set up based on what really matters who is supplying the cash? the show starts right now. peace talks with the taliban, something about that sounds a bit weird, right? but that is exact what i is said to be in the works right now according to new reports coming out of afghanistan. hamid karzai's afghan government, said to be intensifying its efforts to find middle ground with the militants. karzai spokesman, however, cautioning that conversations are early stages and there have been no formal siltdowns but if peace is on the horizon, you