tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. good thursday, everybody. i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast, and the big story we're watching is a class clash this campaign season. a tug-of-war over americans. what they earn, what they don't earn, and where they work. ex-house speaker newt gingrich is advising republicans, paint democrats as the party of food stamps, and the gop as the party of paychecks. those are fighting words for current house speaker, democrat nancy pelosi. she calls it class warfare. >> i think there's something, some subliminal message that is being sent out there about us and them. >> us versus them, the big theme in this republican senate campaign in west virginia. the actor's casting call asked for hickey, blue-collar types.

the democratic candidate not happy. joe manchin says it's offensive and it only proves that john raese has spent too much time living in the state of florida living in his palm beach mansion and doesn't know, understand or respect the great people of this state. polls show the republican party is attracting white, working-class voters. a poll shows they support republicans over democrats in this midterm election 58% to 36%. christine o'donnell's pushing to use that to her advantage. >> what do you want in a senator? someone who is being groomed to run for office, taught how to carefully craft every word, taught how to cut the back room deals and appease the party establishment? or someone who's going to represent you? >> president obama is pushing to show that he and the democrats are the party of the paycheck. he's on the campaign trail in maryland and illinois today. michael crowley is "time's" deputy washington bureau chief. and you know, michael, it's interesting. there's been a real push by this

administration to pass small business legislation, to help community colleges turn out skilled workers. will voters see how much the president, democrats, have tried to accomplish and promote job growth? >> you know, contessa, it's not at all clear that they are seeing that. in fact, a poll was released recently by a democratic polling firm saying that the current administration message is not really winning people over. it's less effective than the messages its competing against. i think the problem is that people just aren't really hearing that -- those points. and i think the president's agenda, getting bogged down in the senate the way it has been, things like the small business lending bill, were a real ordeal in the congress. i just don't think it's really packing the punch that democrats need to try to make up the ground that they've lost to republicans. >> okay. so i got to ask you, i mentioned there, the campaign ad in west virginia by john raese, against joe manchin, and the idea that they had taken these actors who

portrayed hickey, blue-collar workers. first read now mark murray's just writing now, privately republican officials tell first read the controversial tv ad hitting joe manchin and featuring hickey actors will be rotated out of the rotation. the republicans want to make sure, the national republican senatorial committee had nothing to do with the costing call for hickey actors. it's got to be somewhat embarrassing to be seen sort of, let's separate it out even more. the us versus them. the high class versus low class sort of strategy. >> right. well, you know, i'm of two minds on this. on the one hand if you watch these campaign ads you can tell that these people are actors, they're not real voters most of the time. sometimes they are. you can frequently tell that it's staged. the fact is there is something comical about a party that's calling for tax cuts that would proportionally benefit high-income earners who are sort of trying to recruit people who

look like real people to try to sell a message that is in many ways tailored, actually, toward a different segment of the population. and this is a common democratic critique of the modern republican party. that it's a party that is representing corporate and business interests, but presenting them and packaging them in a way to working-class, middle-income voters, and being misleading about what it is that they -- that their platform says. for democrats this is say great example to try to drive that home. >> michael crowley, it's good to talk to you. thank you. >> thank you, contessa. breaking news now from philadelphia. a us airways flight to bermuda has been grounded before taking off in the airport in philadelphia. there was a security issue. apparently there was somebody on the scene who didn't have a security badge, and was helping to load the plane. so this was like a non-i.d.'d worker. so the passengers were taken off of this us airways flight this

morning. the plane was towed to a remote location to be searched. us airways spokesman says it's being searched but won't comment on the specifics here. again this was a flight that was supposed to go for -- to bermuda. apparently there were three men with usair uniforms on. two of them did have identification but the third man did not have a security i.d. tag. so they're taking some cautions there, and searching the plane. and look, the top economist now for one of the nation's most prestigious wall street firms has a tough outlook for the future of the economy. he says, fairly bad, to very bad. let me go now to cnbc's melissa francis. melissa, good to see you. why is the goldman sachs guy saying this? >> yeah, he is one of the names that we really follow over the goldman sachs and he says he thinks the economy is grow somewhere between 1.5% to 2% moving forward. basically economists note that it's that -- the economy has to grow at about 3% in order to

create new jobs. so this is really bad news. it kind of means we're not going to make any headway on unemployment any time soon. it's pretty depressing. >> and then, former fed chairman alan greenspan said basically, it's a self-fulfilling prophesy that you have this vicious circle, where fear fuels economic pessimism, where employers don't risk bringing on new workers or making investments in their companies. that workers don't get hired. that unemployment remains high. more homes foreclose. you have fewer shoppers out there spending money. and then, after all that, the companies are worried about the economic outlook. how do you break that cycle? >> yeah. i mean, it's really terrible. because companies aren't going to go out there and hire people unless they feel like there's going to be consumers. if you want to point to a bright spot, you can look at retail sales which came in much better than expected. if people go out there and actually buy stuff, sure they go deeper into debt. but at least there's demand for products. and companies do have to hire people. we saw especially in the teen good space, the limited brands,

all selling a lot of goods as kids go back to school and parents have to buy things. the consumer gets out there and buys again that's a bright spot. but it's hard to do that if you don't have a job. still, we did see retail sales doing better than expected. i don't know, it's going to be tough. >> i suspect, though i don't have a teenager of my own, that they're not ones to really stay on that frugal train for very long. >> no. they can only beg so much. kids get bigger every year. are you going to send them back to school naked? not very practical. >> that would land on cable news, too, if you try to do it. melissa, thanks. >> see you later. >> on the stock market. dow jones industrials right now taking a look at how quality is doing today. and there we go. down day, it looks like, on the dow jones. the s&p is off 3.5. the nasdaq ee lengssy flat on the day. my big question today back to this whole idea of the economy and class warfare, does it help anybody politically? you can get me on twitter,

facebook, my e-mail address is contessa@msnbc.com. it's an all-out fight in florida for senate as the three distinct choices for the office face off. tea party kansas marco rub yo, independent began and democratic candidate all fought to portray their opponents as carbon copies of each other at a debate last night. >> i think it's always interesting to listen to the governor to attack me for positions he held six months ago when he was trying to be the biggest conservative in the world. >> you haven't been drinking the kool-aid my friend, you've been drinking too much tea. >> charlie crist stands on a wet paper box as it relates to the issues he stands for. because you don't know where he is. >> in nevada the latest polling shows the race for senate could not be closer. the numbers show incumbent democratic senator harry reid, at 40%. his republican rival, sharron angle, currently two points ahead at 42%. statistically that's a tie. mexican and americans are searching a lake on the border of texas, but they still haven't found the body of american david hartley.

tiffany hartley says she and her husband were jetskiing on falcon lake when mexican pirates ambushed the couple. she says she escaped. but david was shot in the head and killed. yesterday, tiffany and her family placed a wreath on the lake. she says shy want to honor david. >> i know he's out there. and we just want, you know, we just all want him back so we can give him the proper -- proper good-bye. closure? i don't think that's going to come for awhile until we have him back. >> nbc's janet shamlian is in mccowan, texas, now with the latest. janet? >> hey, contessa. as of yesterday afternoon the resources devoted to this search on the mexican side have been stepped up significantly. there are helicopters in the air, boats where david hartley was reportedly shot a week ago today. and this is confirmed by u.s. authorities, who are seeing this activity now happen. again, it is coming a week after the alleged incident.

meanwhile, yesterday there was a news conference. tiffany hartley spoke out. there are still questions about her story. and she responded to that. let's listen. >> i know what i saw. and i can just tell you what i know. unfortunately, he's not here to, you know, david's not here to verify, yeah, we were chased, and we were shot. >> you mentioned the laying the flowers yesterday on the reservoir. today we're going to be hearing from a number of congressmen who are going to be asking that the search continue, and that david hartley's body be returned to the united states. as you'll recall, contess to, yesterday the governor of texas, rick perry, called on mexican president felipe calderon to return this body within 48 hours, to give this family some closure that they have not had. contessa? >> janet shamlian, thank you very much. >> again the breaking news out of philadelphia where a us airways flight from philly to

bermuda has now been stopped and pulled to another remote location to be searched. apparently three guys loading the plane, two of them had their security badges on, their i.d.s, one guy did not. they took the passengers off the flight, towed the plane away and they're searching it as we speak. arizona twisters, powerful storms ripping through a state that rarely gets tornado. plus, attack, then apologize. it's doing little to assuage pakistan's anger at the united states. and what's in a name? he's not a teen heartthrob, but boy the girls sure think he is. we'll explain why, ahead on msnbc. ring ring ring ring progresso. hi. we love your weight watchers endorsed soups but my husband looks the way he did 20 years ago. well that's great. you haven't seen him... my other can is ringing. progresso. hey can you tell my wife to relax and enjoy the view? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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an unusual occurrence in arizona. tornadoes. at least four of them, ripping through that state, leaving a lon trail of damage. in belmont, just west of flagstaff, roofs were torn off homes, windows were smashed. at least 15 homes in the community were so badly damaged that nobody can live in them now. the weather channel's julie martin is in belmont now. julie, how is the cleanup going? well, it's just beginning, contessa. pretty unbelievable for arizona. look behind me. you can see the roof's ripped right off of this home. the one next to it, as well. all of this taking place yesterday morning about 5:15. just as people were sleeping. obviously not expecting anything like this in this part of the country. in fact, tornadoes here are relatively rare. this region only sees about four a year. well, yesterday, nasa weather service reported four in one day, and that number could go up. so here in this neighborhood, about 200 homes are damaged. some of them, such as this one, could be completely a loss. and emergency managers say in

the coming hours and days transportation is going to be a big issue around here. a lot of people's cars, their vehicles were damaged. as well. so, certainly have a lot on their plates here in terms of cleanup and moving on from this tragedy, contessa. >> yeah. what's really stunning is to see how much damage there is and then your cameraman pulled out and showed us how blue the sky is today. at least they have nice weather for the cleanup. julie, thanks. justin bieber is getting a lot of attention. the problem is he doesn't really want it. in fact, not any of it. 35-year-old justin bieber of jacksonville, florida, does not have a lot in common with the 16-year-old teen heartthrob, except the name. florida justin bieber is married and collects pinball machines. and yet in just a couple hours he can receive as many as 50 messages from the teenager's fans. >> it's just a little hard to sleep at night when the phones ring constantly. it's messages from hey, justin bieber, i love you, to you're

the worst singer ever. the artist saying i'm going to be working with you. and i'm saying no, no you're not. you don't want to work with me singing. the one good thing that's come out of this is now everybody can actually say my name. before everybody always said justin bieber. >> the other justin bieber, i mean, you know, the florida one, he's changed his number but the fans found it. they put it on a website. and he's also been pushed off facebook for having a fake name. and he's probably thinking, wait, it was mine first. until this 16-year-old comes along. in ocala, florida, some folks are complaining about a fence company's sign, complaining that it crosses the line. for the past 17 years the owner of hercules fence company has put up this new sign every weekend. this time it reads, breast inspection, 20 feet ahead, please have 'em out. gotta love them rednecks. i don't understand the last line at all. but one employee says the sign is just meant to provoke thought. and i did. i thought what's that all about?

by the way, october is breast cancer awareness month, so maybe you could link that in. that saying, the sign comes down tomorrow. in bisby, arizona, a cemetery owner denies he did anything wrong. the bones were used in medical research. tyler wing of nbc's tucson affiliate kvoa has details. >> it takes your breath away when you come here and see the amount of bones that are out here and the way that, you know, the lack of respect and dignity. >> it tends to get sensationalized. >> reporter: the owner says over the phone he's been putting remains here since buying the cemetery five years ago. >> this is the families' choice to denature the bodies and if they wanted the remains back, they certainly could have said so at any time. >> the criminal investigation is pretty much wrapped up. >> reporter: the police say there are no charges to file because there is no law on the books that says you can't do this. >> the rules state these have to be interred with respect and dignity which obviously, they

aren't. >> reporter: meantime place say the cemetery will be responsible for removing the bones. >> i would like to take care of this problem, and i expect to cover those things up and taken care of before the end of the month. >> a different way. >> probably the same way but i'll cover it up and not leave it exposed. >> well, police are checking to see if the cemetery owner violated real estate regulations. making history on the mound, a no-hitter in the city of brotherly love. oh, a lot of excited fans today. hot on the web and here are the stories on msnbc.com. she admits she's guilty. slaying the pregnant mom and stealing the unborn baby. in oregon 29-year-old karina roberts was sentenced to life in prison. she admitted she beat 21-year-old heather sniefly with a police baton last year and used a straight razor to cut her baby out of her abdomen. neither the mother, nor the baby lived. bees on a plane. a hive swarms a jet at fort

lauderdale airport. thousands of bees covered the left wing of a privately owned falcons jet. the sheriff's office brought out its fire truck to spray down the plane. the airport employees say it's the second time that's happened. california cops say cocaine and meth are being sold at medical pot clinics across the southern part of the state. investigators raided five sites, arrested eleven suspected drug dealers, and seized about $350,000 worth of mare fwhaun products. investigators say the mingle group of criminals were also making and selling cocaine and meth. we'll be right back. >> time for your business entrepreneur of the week. ron owns the 137-year-old stokes farm in new jersey. he's benefiting from the new customer emphasis on buying locally grown produce at farmer's markets. because of that demand. he now grows more than 74 items. for more, watch "your business" sunday morning at 7:30 on msnbc. [ female announcer ] kids who don't eat breakfast

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soldiers last week, and resulted with pakistan closing a key supply route in to afghanistan, closing it to nato forces. the u.s. missile strikes are continuing, though, today and the stress level is rising. nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon now. it seems that the united states, the troops there, kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. >> and these are about as many public squabbles between the u.s. and pakistan that we've ever seen since the start of the war there in afghanistan. first, in regard to that helicopter attack on a pakistani military post, killing two soldiers, after the pakistani actually fired in the direction of the helicopters, apparently warning shots, yesterday the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen, called the chief of the pakistani military, general quiana, to personally apologize, and then today actually sent a letter which was released by the pentagon, so there were dual apologies from the head military guy here in the pentagon

yesterday, and today. and in addition to that, you know, there's a report out of the white house to congress that, in which the white house found that the pakistanis are not doing enough to go after al qaeda. that is still embedded in those safe havens in pakistan, and still another report that members of the pakistani intelligence agency are actually encouraging the taliban in afghanistan not to reconcile, but to keep up the fight against the afghan government, and the americans there. now, all that said, american senior military and pentagon officials are saying, look, we understand all this. we knew this was going to be a very difficult relationship, and it has been for the past several years. but they still have confidence that much of the complaints and the restrictions being imposed on the u.s. military now by the paks are still for domestic consumption there in pakistan to

show the pakistani people that the government is not necessarily under control or behold beholden, at least to the americans. >> jim miklaszewski it does make you wonder how problematic this pakistani partnership could become. >> contessa, it could become even more complicated when the former leader of pakistan, general musharraf, has now announced that he's going to run for election in pakistan, has after he was ousted, and the american government, under the clinton administration, turned their back on him because essentially it was a dictatorship. >> we'll be watching for that. i know you're keeping tabs on it there from the pentagon. jim, thanks. >> you bet. >> sexual conquests in the internet age. a college student learns why it's no good to kiss and tell. nearly 15 million americans out of work. 6 million americans have been searching for a job for more than six months. how much trouble is it now to find a good job? plus, lady gaga, nancy pelosi,

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the world can be a far less threatening place. take the scary out of life with travelers insurance... and see the world in a different light. welcome back, everybody, i'm contessa brewer. european officials say they support the travel warnings issued by the u.s. state department. eu ministers said the americans have a lot of reasons for the alert. new york city mayor michael bloomberg is taking his anti-obesity campaign to a new level. he wants the fed to ban the use of food stamps to buy soda. and a draft report from a commission appointed by president obama criticizes the white house for consistently underestimating how much oil spilled out of the deepwater horizon oil well. president obama is pushing democrats to get up, get out and vote. he'll hit the campaign trail again in maryland, and in his hometown of chicago later today.

last night in new jersey the president warned voters against sulking and sitting back during the midterms. nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house. because those voters, mike, who choose to sulk and sit back and not participate in the election could mean the difference between democrats losing the majority in the house and the senate? >> and that's a consistent message we've heard from the president himself and the vice president. you know, stop whining, buck up, stop sulking. the beatings will continue until morale improves they almost seem to be telling the left, the base of the democratic party. we've seen the president embark now on a series of rallies begin last week in wisconsin, of course, in the liberal stronghold of madison at the university there. an adoring crowd. he's going to do something similar, and they hope will be in another adoring crowd on sunday in philadelphia. last night it was yet another fund-raiser for the democratic national committee. there's no question, contessa, that this enthusiasm gap is something that democrats are contending with. they are heartened by recent polls, including nbc news/"wall street journal" poll that shows the so-called generic ballot

test, when they ask folks would you be more likely to vote for a republican or a democrat, republicans have led by as much as nine points over the course of the summer. that's down to three points now on the nbc poll and other polls, as well. democrats point to the fact that the president is out there hammering away at republicans, presenting the alternative to go back. you're familiar now with the car in the ditch analogy that the president has used in terms of the republicans' handling of the economy. so the president plans to keep at it. the picture is still very bleak. the political landscape for democrats, they think they're going to hold onto the senate. the house still up for grabs. and that's the situation today, as the president heads to two more rallies. one for the maryland democratic governor's nominee martin o'malley. he's the current governor here. then he heads out to chicago for the democratic senate candidate there. he returns late tonight to the white house. >> all right, mike viqueira, thank you, sir. the duke university athletes call it harassment. a student's mock thesis that revealed graphic details and embarrassing information about

sexual trysts she had with some of the university's sports stars. the report ranks the athletes on their sexual performance and include names and pictures. nbc's jeff rossen has the shocking details from durham, north carolina, on a story we first mentioned here last week. >> reporter: hi, there. look, people gossip all the time with their friends about sex. but this is something entirely different. karen owen says she had sex with more than a dozen men, 13, to be exact, when she was here at duke. most of them duke lacrosse players. instead of sitting around and gossiping with friends, instead she sat down on her computer and wrote this 42-paint power point presentation about their sexual performance, pictures of the men, their names, everything. she sent it to a few friends and then it got leaked everywhere. that's her, karen owen. these days duke's most infamous author. and she's naming names. the men who were good. and bad in bed. karen even ranked their performance on a bar graph. we're hiding their identities, though karen didn't.

she wrote it like a thesis. the title, excelling in the realm of horizontal academics. she writes that her sexual exploits from her sophomore year all the way through her senior year at duke. she just graduated. karen calls each man a subject. and sex with them, data collection. she brags about having sex in the duke library during finals week, and in suvs. of subject number three karen wrote trying positions i never heard of. but karen also came off vicious. saying of subject number one, it was over too quickly. here on the duke campus, it's the hot topic. >> it's funny. >> we know the people on it. >> do you read any of it? >> i've seen parts of it. it was very detailed. >> reporter: karen says she often met the men at campus bars like shooters. the sex often fueled by alcohol. in my blackout state, she wrote, still managed to crawl into bed with a duke athlete. in fact she claims all of the men were athletes. most of them duke lacrosse

players. a sensitive issue around here, since the duke lacrosse scandal of 2006. a stripper accused three players of rape at a team party. in 2007 the charges were dropped, but the damage was done. some here say this new sex scandal won't help the school's reputation. >> this is the last thing this university needed was something like this. >> reporter: karen's thesis has gone viral, posted on several websites. you see karnt sent her sex-ranking presentation to a few friends. then they e-mailed it and so on. a growing problem. >> nothing is amongst friends. if it's shared online, it's shared with the entire world. young people, they need to realize every time they hit send it's like a bullet leaving a gun that you can never pull back. >> reporter: still, at the time, karen seemed proud of her work, writing, got some fantastic stories for the grandkids. but things have clearly changed. karen wouldn't speak with us on camera for this story. but the website jez abel.com is reporting they did interview karen since all of this was

released. she now says she regrets it and wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone on the list. by the way, we also reached out to duke university. they wouldn't go on camera either but told us the well-being of their students is a top priority and a top concern and they're reaching out to everyone involved. now back to you. >> jeff rossen reporting there. okay, so let's get to the legal ramifications of this case. i'm joined by attorney former child abuse prosecutor wendy murphy. good to see you today. >> good to be with you. >> who shares any kind of responsibility here for this mock thesis, other than the student herself? i mean, the university? the blogs that have posted it? what do you think? >> there's a lot of -- a lot to go around in response to that question. including, perhaps this woman's parents, who i don't think did a great job. you know, i feel bad for her and i hope she's getting some help. but it's just a sad commentary that she thinks this is something she should be boasting about publicly. it's sad commentary on what's going on with women and how they view themselves and where they find their value on campus. but let's get to the other

issues. number one, i think it's silly that these guys are calling it harassment. it's the ultimate irony, actually, isn't it. how many stories have we done on juicycampus.com, the website where men had a field day using sexual slurs and reporting on sexual innuendo and rumors and reputations about women on campus. where was the outrage then? and how come it wasn't sexual harassment then. >> you know what, what we've been talking about even in the rutgers case is invasion of privacy and the use of the internet to do that. >> right. >> these men slept with this woman. i don't know that they could have expected that she wouldn't share details with her friends. >> right. >> i mean that's kind of an age-old story, isn't it? >> yes. >> so what point does this become even, a legal issue? >> well, i'll say a couple things. number one, there could be an invasion of privacy claim somehow, somewhere. because people do have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the bedroom. even if they're one of twelve people in the bedroom, frankly. but, i think it's a tough case

to make. because you give up a lot when you agree to be with this person, and she's allowed to say things about her own private life, including that you're with her. now, here's where i think there could be a problem. if she's saying in her opinion, you know, johnny jones was bad in bed, that's really protected speech in the utmost. that's her opinion. if she says bobby smith has a really small weenie and that's a lie, she could get in trouble under slander and libel laws. you know, that's a problem. but i don't think there's a whole lot of value in an invasion of privacy tort lawsuit, which she might face. simply because, number one -- >> and what about civilly, do they have a case to make a civil case against her? >> that's what i'm saying, a civil invasion of privacy, tort claim. i think it's a very hard case unless she took pictures and sent those out, or you know, audiotaped something that was going on. those are specific kievds of privatesy violations that are super protected in law. but her own personal words, her own personal experiences, she's allowed to share them, because

as private as it was, she was there and it was her privacy, too, and i think they don't have a lot to complain about and won't go far with a lawsuit. >> wendy, thank you so much for weighing in. we appreciate that. let me get to some breaking news now out of philadelphia. the us airways flight here that was heading from philadelphia to bermuda has been taken away from its gate, the passengers taken off, because, and here's the story, there was a security concern. three guys loading the plane apparently two of them had their security badges on, their i.d.s. one guy did not. and so us airways confirms that the passengers were taken off the flight, and the plane, as you can see, towed away, away from the gate area, and right now they are searching this flight, trying to clear it securitywise because of this one person, uniform, apparently all three of these men had us airways uniforms on but one man did not have a security badge, an i.d. on him, and so the search continues. we'll keep you up to date, if we learn anything about what they're finding or not finding on this flight.

watching for big news on the job front tomorrow when bee find out how many workers were hired and fired in the month of september. and of course it's a personal matter. if the overall unemployment declines but you still don't have a job, enemployment for you is at 100%. mother jones has an in-depth look at those who have been out of work for more than six months. andy cole is the reporter for this story and rick realmbold is featured in the article. rick, what do you do for a living and how long have you been out of work? >> well, i've been out of work for about seven months now. eight months. i've done a number of things. i was in manufacturing for over 35 years of my life. i later took some jobs like sales and customer service positions, when the job market tanked in elkhart. it was about all there was to find, and a lot of those jobs aren't even available right now. >> and we've done a lot of stories about -- we've done a

lot of stories about the declining economy in and around elkhart, indiana, the implosion of the rv industry. have you had, rick, job offers? >> no, i have not idea. it's been the single most challenging thing i've ever gone through in my life. compares to no other challenge i've ever had. at least with the other challenges, if i didn't get the job done, it was my fault. this seems to be out of my hands. i have no control over it. >> andy, how typical is rick's story? who's most affected by long-term unemployment? >> it's pretty typical. you hear from, you know, a great many people in rick's position about that they want -- they want to have these jobs and they have the inclination and they feel that they have the tool, but in this economic downturn that they're having it's almost impossible for many of them, especially if they're older, to find a job and have someone give them that chance. so essentially they're stranded on the sidelines, unable to get a shot and get a foot in the door. they're just applying and

applying and all they're hearing is silence. >> and from your reporting do you see any hope for a turnaround? >> it's not going to be any time soon, contessa. especially if you're among the older class of americans, if you're 45 or 50 or older, you know, you plan on working for another ten years, but you can see retirement on the horizon. for that class of people, it's almost like that becoming something of a lost generation, because you know, older workers aren't getting those same job offers or interviews, as people who are, say, younger than 45. so you know, it's really going to take a long time for this extended period of unemployment, especially for older workers to decline. >> rick, i read in the story that you are a democrat. do you still feel confident that your party has your best interests in mind, that they're working for you to try and turn the economy around so that you can get work? >> absolutely, if they weren't getting all the instructions

they're getting from the other side. traditionally it looks as though democrats, we have the statistics in our favor. if you look at whap what happened to leading into the depression. we had three republicans back-to-back that led us into the depression. it wasn't until roosevelt took over that things turned around. we had a similar situation -- >> and the democrats are truly worried about the lack of enthusiasm by democratic voters. are you planning to vote in the midterm elections, rick? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> rick, it's good to talk to you. i'm truly hoping that you see a brighter future in the very near future. andy kroll thanks for the good story in mother jones. breaking news we're following now out of philadelphia, where a tsa -- the tsa folks have now put out a statement that they're aware of the ongoing incident at philadelphia international airport. it's us airways flight 1070 from philadelphia to bermuda, that all the passengers have been

deplaned safely. that the aircraft has been removed a remote location. what your seeing on the right-hand screen on the left the map of the philadelphia airport. law enforcement and the tsa are responding to sweep the aircraft. us airways say three uniformed guys loading the plane, two of them had their security i.d.s on, one did not, and because of that reason they evacuated the plane and the passengers, moved the plane away, and now have to search the aircraft to make sure it's clear securitywise. quick break here. we'll be right back.

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nbc news tom aspell is in kabul, afghanistan. give me a sense of the perspective on the ground there, as we enter this tenth year of the war there. >> well, ten years, i think, contessa, speaks of itself. people are tired of the fighting, they wondering when it's going to end. and they're also wary that next summer the united states has set what could be an exit strategy, what could be a drawdown of troops starting next summer. so how much longer will the war go on? will there be a peace reconciliation effort before then or will they keep fighting right until they start drawing troops down? right now there's a division in nato, the european countries would like to see talks about the taliban. the united states seems interested only in having the taliban surrender their weapons, renounce ties to al qaeda and pledge allegiance to the karzai government so really there's no bright horizon, as it were, as the war enters its tenth year. and ordinary afghans are saying, actually they were better off under the taliban ten years ago,

when the taliban put on end to the fighting in afghanistan before western troops arrived here. so we're really atten impasse. and people now looking towards rumors from the karzai government that they're trying to open talks with the taliban. indeed, today president karzai inaugurated the first session of what he calls his peace council. that's about 75 members, elderly afghans predominantly, who are to be entrusted with opening negotiations with the taliban. but so far no details of whether or not those talks have started. when they will take place, and the taliban still insisting on a withdrawal of all forewin forces before they talk peace with the karzai government. contessa? >> tom aspell, thank you very much. later today we'll be watching some of these stories on msnbc. the parents of kyron horman heading to court for a divorce hearing. kyron's stepmother was the last person to see that child. raucous republican candidate for governor new york governor carl paladino says he'll make a

major announcement later today. no word yet what that anountment might be. and bristol palin will headline a fund-raiser in fargo, north dakota. that event will support a home for unwed mothers which presents itself as an alternative to abortion. what it's really all about. enroll starting november 15. go to walmart.com for details. oh no, no! i just parked here aond ago!

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nancy pelosi may command the house of representatives, but lady gaga has a lot more power. at least according to "forbes." the many-costumed singer comes in seventh, two slots ahead of the speaker on "forbes'" list of the 100 most powerful women. first lady michelle obama, though, still comes out on top. these are hard times for state and local governments. after a year of belt tightening they still face huge budget shortfalls. but some government workers still raking in big salaries. nbc's george lewis is live in burbank with more details. in fact, you have some shocking numbers. >> reporter: yeah, some shocking

numbers indeed, contessa. there's a lot of attention being directed to this right now because of the situation in the l.a. suburb of bell, california, where you have the city manager and four members of the city council arrested in a corruption scandal. the city manager had been making $800,000 a year. four members of the city council raking in $100,000 apiece. so the city manager just this morning was released on bail. $2 million bail. but that focused attention nationwide on what are we paying our local officials? and are they worth it? a prime example is the police chief in phoenix, arizona. he retired three years ago. he got a one-time lump sum payment of $562,000. began to collect an annual pension of $90,000 a year and then almost immediately was rehired under a different heading at $193,000 a year. so people in phoenix are kind of raising their eyebrows. in las vegas, the city is grappling with the high pay for some of its firefighters,

ranging up to $500,000 a year. the mayor there, oscar goodman, is trying to get the union to give back -- there's a lot of overtime they've been paying the fire department. but thus far those negotiations haven't reached any kind of amicable solution. >> george, i want to mention, you have a lot more examples if people want to go to red tape chronicles on msnbc.com. thanks so much for the story. it's eye-opening. we've been talking a lot today about newt gingrich's attempt to paint the democrats as the party of food stamps and whether that kind of class warfare helps anyone politically. valerie says as far as food stamps are concerned there have been times in my life when i was so thankful for them. gingrich and his ilk are trying to appeal to the false sense of pride that keeps people from accepting emergency help when they desperately need it. dorothy carter e-mailed me the democrat party can't argue facts on issues so they use the race cashed or the class warfare card to shut down debate. and dorothy writes class warfare is a reality.

so why shouldn't it be discussed during the campaign? i always like hearing from you. you can reach me on facebook, twitter or via e-mail. ill see you back here tomorrow noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. out west. we're expecting the jobless numbers in for the month of september. andrea mitchell reports up next. in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. [ 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.

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learn more about the connection between atrial fibrillation and strokes, and get advice on how to live with afib. and with this valuable information in your hand, talk to your doctor. call 1-877-904-afib today. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," 26 days until the midterms. president obama and vice president biden are both on the campaign trail today, trying to rally democrats. >> and was it the bad acting? canceled. a controversial republican ad targeting west virginia's joe manchin. reaction this hour from the governor. and at a club in delaware christine o'donnell is surrounded by gun supporters. we assume they aren't acting. >> i won't have magical powers, but i will have