the wait in chile's almost over. will it be longer than we thought yesterday? like father, like son. kim jong-il shows off north korea's military might and the son likely to be his heir apparent. a smash hit. a house on the hill and destructive forces of mother earth. good morning, i'm alex witt. welcome to "msnbc sunday." 11:00 on the nose in the east coast, 8:00 a.m. out west. right out in out there rescue teams in chile say they will most likely begin pulling out those 33 trapped miners on wednesday. officials say they have first to reinforce a few hundred feet of the escape shaft before the rescue process can begin. nbc's kerry sanders in copiapo, chile. with a good day to you, kerry. first, reins forforcement proce going on, what's happening there? >> reporter: 40-foot long pieces of pipe, steel, a half inch

thick, and about 26 inches around. they're dropping them in to the shaft that's 28 inches wide for the first 315 feet. the fear is that the top area where the shaft goes down has some unstable ground, and that rocks could actually fall in down the hole as the capsule transits up and down. if they reinforce it with the steel pipe, they believe it will make things for a safer passage when they begin launching the capsule in the up and down direction. the capsule has room for one person. alex, actually it's kind of cold here today. usually the sun burns off the fog that we have here today but it's in the 50s, shrouded in fog. but i'm going it step back and take you up to the mine area and you can see the oil-looking rig to the right and then to the left is what they call plan b, and that's the one that made it through there yesterday.

incredible amount of excitement, of course, as they broke through because they now have a clear passage, though it's not a straight shaft from top to bottom it has some s-turns, ten-degree turns here and there. it goes down to the men. it broke through. they're thrilled. families up here thrills. as i take you out a little bit wider and you take a look at all of at sthe assembled people her, those are not family members, those are reporters from around the world, 180 nations have dispatched journalists to what will be likely the most-watched event maybe in history when you consider that china is here, russia is here. small nations like finland have journalists here. we saw about two hours ago the satellite truck with the cameras that will be up there to provide that picture to the world. so everybody's anxious and waiting for this moment. and as you said it could come by midweek. >> so exciting.

kerry, here comes the tough question. is anybody talking about potential problems, things that could go wrong, that absolutely derail this scenario playing out well? >> reporter: they are absolutely being honest about that, and saying that even though everybody is celebrating as if now it's a fait accompli, they have pointed out there are many dangers and they recognize that the capsule, when it goes down and comes up may run into a problem, may get stuck, may not transit as they hoped. so the other two drills here are still drilling. those are the redundancies, just in case something happens with plan b's shaft, they'll have plan a and plan c they could potentially use if they need to do that. and they've warned the family, i've got to tell you the families don't seem to be hearing it, this is still very dangerous. these men will be coming up in a position where the doctors fear that physically they could

experience deep vein thrombosis. they'll give them the pants they give a fighter pilot in an f-16 that pressurizes legs and keeps blood flowing because they're standing in a very secure position like this, potentially for only 15 minutes, but it could go for two hours. they don't really know how long it's going to take to come up and down. the men who come up first will be the most experienced, so if there's a problem they can radio. there will be a camera, they can turn the camera around. they're all wearing chest monitoring device that will give skin temperature, blood pressure, respiration rates, all sort of data to the folks on the top to make sure they're not saying i'm okay but running into perhaps, you know how the mind can go crazy in a very close space when you've been locked down there for 67 days and all of the other things. alex, there are still many hurdles. but, of course, everybody wants to be extremely confident this is going work out well. >> an incredibly detailed

operation. you just have given us a lot of food for thought, as you always do, kerry sanders. stay warm. i see you had to put on your parka. keep it here on msnbc. i'm talk with a psychologist from west point military academy about the short-term and long-term impact on the 33 miners in chile. >> new developments in the alleges murder of an american tourist and his family hopes it will help locate his body. state police told a mexican newspaper they have two suspects, brothers, who live close to falcon lake, where the attack took place. david's wife tiffany says they were jet skiing on the mexican side of the lake when pirates attacked them, and shot her husband dead. when i spoke with tiffany this morning, she describes trying to pull her husband david back to safety. >> i kept hearing you just have to go, you have to go and leave him, and i had to make that decision. it was the worst and hardest decision i ever had to make. >> police have not released the photos of the two suspects but say think live in the town.

a commuter bus in chicago smashed into a row of trees injuring dozens of passengers. 70 people on board when the bus veers off the road, 4 of the 37 passengers are in critical condition. witnesses describe a scary experience. >> she was pressing brakes, the bus driver, and the bus wouldn't stop. >> people were toppling over each other and that's the way we buffers each other. >> had the trees not been there, had we not been on the bus to distribute the weight it would have flipped. >> the city's investigating the crash and awaiting results from a test give to the drive. >> a close call in montana where a huge boulder broke loose from a mountain side and came crashing into a house. one person was home at the time but in a different room. as you can see, that home sustained severe damage there. officials blame heavy summer rains for loosening up the rocks. breaking down as the number one issue of the midterm elections, the issue of jobs. and who's going to create them is dominating the conversation nationwide. a new poll shows 63% of voters

say the economy's staying the same or getting better, which is down eight points from the year 2000. it is playing a big role in how voters view the direction of the nation. 59% say we are on the wrong track, that is a 12-point jump from one decade ago. nbc's brian mooar at the white house. adding up to tough marks for incumbents in washington, isn't it? >> reporter: yeah, alex, timing for a parent-teacher conference. the men and women in congress are getting really lack luster grades right now from the voters. their bosses, who are going to sound off in a couple of weeks, in this poll voters were asked to give a report card to congress. not good at all. democrats, well they got a c minus, republicans did a bit worse, with a d plus, the federal government overall got a d plus. president obama, the virtual valedictorian with a "c." when you look at the registered

voters, the people who could come out and vote, they -- 47% of them say they prefer democrats keep control of congress. 43% say republicans should take over. but if you factor in the margin of error in this poll, virtually dead even. more important, more telling number, is those who are very interested voters. 47% say democrats should have control. 52% would like to give republicans control. so it is clear that in this poll, at least, the republicans are as president obama would say, fired up and ready to go. that's what president obama's doing today as he travels to philadelphia, trying to get the democrats excited and trying to close that enthusiasm gap that right now is looking like a canyon. >> i'm wondering if we're going to hear fires up and ready to go from the president. thank you. as brian's mentioning, the president is expected to peek at the big rally in philadelphia at 5:30 eastern. we will bring you his remarks

live here on "msnbc sunday." north korea's heir apparent made his public debut today. kim jong-un the third son of kim jong-il. both broadcast on live tv as tens of thousands of soldiers towed missiles and weapons through the streets. angus walker from itv is in pyongyang, north korea, with more. >> reporter: we have been brought here to this massive parade ground notice middle of north korea's cap pcapital to se the show of the north korea's military might to celebrate 65 years of the founding of the party which remains in power here. the massive ranks of north korea's armed forces will soon be ruled by kim jong-un, the third leader in the world's only communist dynasty. that means a man in his 20s with little experience of global

negotiations will have his finger on the nuclear but. no wonder the west is worried. he only remains in power because of the support of the military, armed forces in this country where almost everyone is in uniform. so it remains to be seen whether this handover of power in north korea will change anything. but if history tells us one thing, when they hand over a power, the new leader will want to make his mark. back to you. >> angus walker from itn in pyong yank, thank you. warm and sunny fall day in new york city. outside our studios signs that the holiday season isn't too far off as the rockefeller ice skating rink is open for business. crowds are lacing up and making the first cuts of the season. more than a quarter million skaters take to the ice between october and april. let's go to the weather channel's jeff morrow. jeff? >> thanks, alex. as we look at the weather across the country today, a typical

october day for most part. tranquil, really. we have a bit of a storm spinning here notice central part of the country. new front coming into the pacific northwest. those are your potential rainy areas. the big story really has to be the clahange undergone notice weather in the southeast and parts of the midwest. highs a week ago, last sunday. 68 degrees around the memphis vis tin si, 68 in atlanta. chicago up to 56 degrees. look at what a difference a week can make. i mean, talking 93 today in memphis. summertime heat. 86 degrees in atlanta. and almost a 30-degree change since last sunday in chicago, getting all the way up to 84 degrees. now those aren't the only hot areas of the country. also parts of the desert southwest and down into southern california, places like los angeles, getting up to 90. rainy in seattle today but a beautiful day in the northeast. that's one spot that will be nice and cool. alex? >> thanks, jeff. for the latest weather

advisories and to track the weather where you are, head to weather.com. battling for president obama's old seat in the u.s. senate and it's getting heated. but who has the edge? and the web giant that brought you street view wants to do the driving for you, google working on a car you're not going to believe. you're watching "msnbc sunday." with capital one's venture card, we get double miles on every purchase. echo! so we earned a trip to the grand canyon twice as fast. uhoh. we get double miles every time we use our card. i'll take these. no matter what we're buying. plus the damages. and since double miles add up quick, we can bring the whole gang. it's hard to beat double miles. no, we ride them. [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? oh, that's the spot!

sold out online in 17 minutes. beauty editors are raving. the clinical results are astounding. olay professional pro-x. read all about it at olayprofessional.com.

new speculation about the 2012 presidential race. the virginia tea party wrapped up its two-day convention yesterday with a straw poll of potential candidates. new jersey governor chris christie took the top spot, barely edging out sarah palin. ron paul, newt gingrich and jim demint rounded out the top five. trading attacks in battle

for obama's former senate seat, kirk under fire for overstating his record, giannoulias is taking heat about loans his family bank made to convicted felons. both issues played out on "meet the press." i was notice private sector, i did work. i'll tell you the private sector experience i don't have. i don't have experience in loaning money to mob figures. >> more troubling the untruths about his military record and phantom teaching career, more troubling to me are his votes in the -- in washington, d.c. >> a.b. stoddard, good morning. recent polling shows the race is close, it's neck and neck. would the gop bounce on some symbolism should the republicans win? >> they really want the seat. they have a candidate who had early stumbles, as his opponent

pointed out arc excuses of lying working in a nursery school, not truthfully representing some commendation he got for military service, and he's a moderate republican. he voted with the democrats on the controversial cap and trade bill last july. he was lucky to win his primary. he wasn't in a strong position there for a while, but now it's neck and neck and republicans are hoping the anti-washington, anti-democratic, anti-obama sentiment will push him over the line. >> jerry brown up by seven points. you know the latest drama there, recent recording of a brown aide referring to whitman in a sexist slur. does this recording change the race? >> i think it's a subject changer, i don't know it's a game changer. meg witman needed a subject changer. she didn't want to continue to answer questions about nannies and housekeepers who are working for her illegally, did she or

did she not know. the concern for democrats and for the brown campaign is that profession women take a second look at meg whitman, after a slur like this, and that obviously would be a bast for her. i don't know she can make up with her loss among support for latinos and what the high tlo h threshold to take the governorship of california, i don't kn om the middle. prably won republican votes but she's not winning the middle and that's her challenge. >> let's head to florida, because there's a battle there on three fronts for that senate seat in the state. right now, marco rubio outpacing charlie crist and den trick meek. meek denying reports he may drop out. they are firmly denying that. short of the democrat bowing out, is marco rubio a lock in the race? >> we have three weeks to go and he's far ahead and he continues

to surge. at the time that charlie crist dropped out of the republican primary and became an independent he looked weak, and he had his own surge. he was ahead of rubio and meek, and doing well, and looked like he was going to take it. but there's a marked shift, rubio run positive campaign. a lot of biographical ads, sticking to a disciplines message hcrist and meek are the washington democrats and he is not. it's hard to see crist or meek reversing that. >> you had charlie crist get into the race, he gets in for the independent and he actually may be drawing more from the democratic candidate than he is from the republican. >> well, i think he made that decision. he has democratic consultants working for him, and very reputable ones from washington, and what you saw is instead of talking about republican message

one day and a democratic message the next, throwing people off and remaining the true independent he started sounding like a democrat and that didn't work. democrats came home to meek, meek had a strong night in the debate the other night though rubio probably won it. crist is not able to lock up all of the florida democrats and wipe meek out to get the strong percentage in a three-way race to knock out rubio. i see rubio with the lead probably holding the last three weeks. >> thank you so much, as always. see you next week. it is a new cell phone that is pushing the limits of wireless communication and it is one of self-so called breakthrough innovations. we'll show you next on "msnbc sunday." if you suffer from heartburn two or more days a week,

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. top secret transportation, new reports reveal google has been seek kretsly developing a robotic car. the technology uses art official intelligence soft ware that can sense objects near the car and mimic human decisions. apparently a human still sits in the driver's seat, in case anything goes wrong.

google has already tested the car on the streets of california, but don't expect to see cars on the road soon as experts say they're years away from mass production. so how would you like to know what will be hot in the tech world? popular mechanics spells it out with the breakthrough awards, gps devices that allow you to communicate with the outside world when you're in the country, a new smart phone that operates like a laptop. wow! senior science editor with "popular mechanics." you talk about electric cars. you have the nissan leaf, chevy volt. >> this is the year for electric vehicles, is the paris auto show showed. we'll pefeel electric vehicles aren't a one size fits all solution. a couple of different approaches and we picks the two the most innovative. the first is the chevy volt, and

that's for people who may be reluctant to switch from a regular gasoline engine to an electrification. so you can drive 40 miles on a charge but when the battery runs out you have a gasoline engine as backup, so you don't have tot toto to worry about running out of juice. >> the nissan leaf took a different approach. pure electric vehicle. no gasoline engine but the range is great, it's 100 miles. most people drive 35 miles in a day, it should be plenty for most people. a car that's comfortable and affordable, it seats five, only cost $26,000 after the federal rebate. >> i'm thinking about these, you plug them into your wall at home? >> you do. you can get -- there will be as more electric vehicles are rolled out there will be more charging spaces in public places like mall parking lots, perhaps office workplace. you can use a standard outlet in your garage, often you'll have

an electrician to come in if you want it to charge fast. >> the earth meet pm 60 watt a $700 device. talk to me about this, what it's able to do. >> a great tool for people who hike or bike or boat out of cell phone range. what it does, turns the gps device into an actual communications tool. instead of being able to send your cord nants to rescuers if something goes wrong you can send more detailed information about what happened. >> text or e-mail? >> it's one-way communication. you can say you've been trapped by a mudslide, out of water or broke your leg, or use it as a social networking tool, update facebook page to say the view is great, you can do that, too. >> we need to be doing that from the middle of the country. let's get to this 4-g cell phone, htco evo from sprint. wi-fi speed. >> it does. for people who looked at their

smartphones and watch google page try to load. the 4-g network is incredibly fast, as you mentioned. it's in more than 50 cities from sprint. it will soon be on a number of different handsets. but the htc evo the first to bring it to consumers. that can be used as a mobile hot spot, you can network in it's a other devices through your phone. >> now that's sprint that's doing this. when will all of the networks have 4-g? >> many are on their way. a few other companies have already said their own 4-g systems are coming using slightly different technology. we like to reward big, the game changers in the first ones to do innovations at popular mechanics, sprint is the first one at the network and htc with the phone to tack advantage. >> jennifer, thank you for bringing it all to us. interesting. a tea party candidate who might be regretsiting a photogrh

might be regretsiting a photogrh from his past. that would be awesome! [sarcastically] sure. like that will happen. don't just think about it. spend 10 minutes at lendingtree and save up to $272 a month. but my allergies put me in a fog. so now, i'm claritin clear! claritin works great on all my allergies like dust, mold, pollen, or pets without making me drowsy, cause i want to be alert around this big guy. live claritin clear. indoors and out.

it's "msnbc sunday." i'm alex witt. 30 past the hour, here are your fast five headlines. chile's mining minister says walls of the just completed shaft are safe enough and the trapped miners could begin coming out by wednesday. president obama hits the campaign trail today to speak at a rally in philadelphia. he'll be joined by vice president joe biden. north korean leader kim jong-un jim jong-il and his son presided over the country's workers party. the most conspig cue cuss party for kim jong-un. pakistan reopen onned the border crossing nato's using to ship supplies into afghanistan. it follows a series of attack on nato strikers. into the government is expected to announce social security

recipients will not be getting a cost of living increase. new article from wired.com says the fbi secretly place a gps on the car of a california student. a 20-year-old arab-american found the government issued tracking device hidden on his car, days later he says the fbi confronted him at his home and zee manned the gps back. fbi spokesman told wired, i can't tell you much about it because it's still an ongoing investigation. kim zetter wrote this article. what an article it is. thank you for joining us, kim. >> you're welcome. >> you spoke with yasser. how did he find the gps? describe what happened when the fbi showed up at his house. >> on sunday he took his car in to a mechanic to have a routine oil change done. when the mechanic put the car up on hydraulic lifts he noticed a wire sticking out from the

bottom of the car, it was connected to a battery pack and transmitter. the mechanic removed it and he posted pictures of it on a website and asked readers if they knew what it was and if it meant the fbi was tracking him. a lot of people -- people identified the device itself and then two days later the fbi showed up at his house asking for it back. >> what happened when they showed up? did he resist? did they explain anything to him? >> he didn't resist. two fbi agents, he walked out to the car, they were looking at car, they mentions his registration tags were expired. when he asked them if that was a problem he didn't know it was fbi. they didn't say anything. he got in his car and leaving and two suvs pulled up with flashing lights and four police officers in bull let's proof vests and asked him to get out of the car. essentially told him they were there to collect the device he found. he asked if they put it on the car and one of the agents

admitted that they had. >> they knew which restaurants he had gone to with his girlfriend, that he just gotten a new job. did they give an indication of how long they had been tracking him? >> they didn't. they didn't indicate how they knew this information, whether slowly on the gps tracker or other surveillance of computer activities. he suspects it might have been between three and six months. six months ago an old roommate got a visit by fbi agent whose let him know the fbi was trying to contact him. >> why? why would he be on the radar? >> he has no idea. six months ago he contacts them and they told them they receives an anonymous tip suggest he might be a national security risk, and that's all he's ever known. six months ago he willfully talked with them as long as his lawyer agreed, when his lawyer called the fbi, the fbi never responded after that. >> how about for you? you reached out to the fbi.

what did they say? >> they said that they couldn't discuss it and that it was an ongoing investigation. since then they have acknowledges that two agents did show up at afifi's house. >> do you know if the fbi had further contact with afifi? >> no, he has not. they had contact with the lawyer and the lawyer instructed them if they have questions go through the lawyer and not go to afifi. >> the aclu contacted yasser afif. is he take ig action or not? >> i don't know if he's taking any action. they filed what's called a freedom of information act request to fine out what the fbi was doing in terms of surveillance, and after that it will depend. >> you've got to wonder why the fbi was doing this. the world would lead them to doing this. his late father was an arab-american activist of sorts. is that true? >> i don't foe if you qualify it

as a an active pifts a leadist. a prominent leader who gave speeches and things like that. so there might have been interest in the father as well prior to this. >> kim zetter. police in washington state trying to figure out what went wrong at a house party after 12 people hospitalizes in a suspected mass drugging. police arrives at house, they find many party goes barely conscious. police suspect a drug may have been slipped into the victims' drinks and right now awaiting toxicology results. >> officers called in about every ambulance service that we have in the county. we have seen those type of drugs in our communities before, what makes this unique, we haven't seen it on a mass scale that we have. >> 11 victims have been released from the hospital, the 12 is said to be in good condition. the first of 33 trapped

miners may soon see the light of day in more than two months. the men will probably be pulled out of the mine wednesday after crews reinforce a few hundred feet of the escape shaft. >> during this process, we are going to have to treat the miners immediately, as they are getting out, and if their health condition allow it, they will be received by a couple of close family members, and then transported by helicopter to the hospital in copiapo. >> joining me live here in studio, a social psychologist at west point military academy. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's talk about what you expect these men to go through, as soon as they make it up to the light of joy, other than joy seeing the light of day, then what? >> they have to re-establish an equal lee brieium in their lives. we wobble back and forth and

eventually get straight. they're going to overxen sats, and then adjust. >> you've talk btds big effort thing that was a challenge was loss of control over their life. how does that manifest itself? do they try to control minutia detail? what can family and loved ones expect? >> the management of expectations is really important for recovery. what they should expect is that sometimes their loves one is going to be very sensitive to being the person in charge, making the decisions, getting back to what they did before. other times they may be frustrated because they don't want to make a decision. and it's going to be going back and for from these extremes that eventually moderates out and creates a person who is recovers from this experience. >> how concerned are you about the prospect of post traumatic stress syndrome? its nothing that need to be

monitored, measured, checked on. post traumatic stress disorderers are treatable. if you have the right kind of support, it's treatable. first, you have to detect it, and then you have to have treatment. some of these miners may feel a little stigmatized by seeking treatment. everyone's going to have to be on their toes and watching out for them. >> much like we hear about the close trusted camaraderie with soldiers in the battlefield, these guys have gotten so close, 67 days and counting they've lives through this terrible ordeal, relying on each other. do you expect they leave the mine and feel the need to stay together or put everything behind them? >> i think a little bit of both. it's healthy for them to put this behind them, to a degree, but i'm sure they're going to have reunions, gatherings where he discuss how they're doing, and that's good, too. >> what about loved ones?

only these 33 men have lived through this ordeal, only they can truly understand what it was like to pass all of this time together. you know, as family and loves ones try to get inside their head or help them and say, i understand, i mean, can anybody ever truly under stand what that's like? >> over time, perhaps, but much like soldiers who have been in traumatic battle, they may not want to share everything with their loved ones and maybe fellow miners are the best people that they can talk to about their experiences. so as they work through them it will be important for the families to understand that this is a process, it takes time, and to be accommodating to that. >> you know, as a parent, sometimes i will push my kids just a little bit to give me information if i sense they're in trouble or upset about something. it's a very fine line you have to walk between pushing too far and otherwise. is it the same kind of thing for people who just want to help and extract the pain that these men have been through and the

troubles? >> it is. the children here are some of the real heroes because dad's going to come back. he's going to be thin. he's going to be cranky, perhaps. there's going to be a lot of attention around the house and they're going to have to adapt as well, so managing their expectations is very important. >> very good point you make there. thank you so much for coming down from west point for this. a republican house candidate in ohio's unfire today over a picture showing him dressed up in a world war ii german s.s. uniform. he was taking part in a nazi re-enactment group to bond with his son. a fab ritz of the tea party say his meant no disrespect to the military and has been participating in historic re-enactments since college but democrats are claiming the gop is back extremist candidates. as president obama heads out to rally the democrats the former leader has advice. howard dean weighs in on midterms and predicts which party will win the house next, on "msnbc sunday."

being a leader means moving fast. across the country when the economy tumbled, jpmorgan chase set up new offices to work one-on-one with homeowners. since 2009, we've helped over 200,000 americans keep their homes. and we're reaching out to small businesses too, increasing our lending commitment this year to $10 billion... and giving businesses the opportunity to ask for a second review

if they feel their loan should have been approved. this is how recoveries happen. everyone doing their part. this is the way forward. [ male announcer ] the vanilla caramel latte from maxwell house international café. the 60 calorie way to stop your world.

tough words from a top democrat today. earlier this morning i spoke with former dnc chairman howard dean. i asked him what advice he would offer to president obama and his party with the midterms just over three weeks away. >> keep doing what you're doing. he needs to get out there. he is the leader of the party about he enner g eneenergizes p. what he's done so far, we started come back now, and i think it's mostly because of him, and that is to say, this is a choice, it's if the a referendum on the last two years. this is a choice of what you see on the republican side and what you see on the democratic side, that's a winner for us. >> okay. obviously the jobs picture, though, has not gone the way the white house hoped has this administration done anything specifically wrong to affect the way the unemployment situation played out? the republicans bear specific

responsibility for the jobs picture in the last -- in the last month. we gained private sector jobs. we lost public sector jobs. the reason we lost public sector jobs because of republicans have been unwilling to pass any kind of a new stimulus. teachers are getting laid off, police laid off. most of the jobs lost in the last month were public sector jobs at local level and that's directly put at the feet of republicans attacking the stimulus. every day that stimulus is what saves the jobs and now the stimulus is expiring. my own guess we hold on to the house by four or five, because i think things have been moving our way notice last couple of weeks. i think they'll continue to move our way, because we have better conditions than the republican dozen and we're not as extreme. people are taking a good look at republicans is who they're nominating. i don't think we want the rad ral rig radical right taking over. what i have to say to democrats this is the fourth quarter. we're going to fight like crazy

after the election but that will start november 3rd. our team has to be the winning team. the president's in charge of that. he's done a good job. we have to get out and vote. >> that was howard dean a short while ago. stay up to the minute on the latest political angles, click on to firstreadment msnbc.com. the economy might be shaky but a perfect time to take advantage of fall travel deals that would be advantage of. prices for both air fare and hotels significantly cheaper than they were during summer and cheaper than they're going to be during the upcoming holiday season. i'm joined by the senior travel editor for travelocity. good morning. >> good morning. >> so as we talk about this, let's talk about family fun. >> sure. >> where can you go? >> families love orlando, a great family destination. golf, spas, great restaurants, night life but of course you want to hit up universal, see harry potter while there. travelocity's offering $50 off orlando hotel stays when you use

the code smile 50. waldorf got $100 a night and $100 resort credit and a cabana lined pool, a redesigned golf course, several restaurants. >> what about this month, national cruise month? there's got to be deals. >> absolutely. royal caribbean having a one-week sale -- yes, offering up to $200 in on-board ship credit. a great deal on the norwegian epic, the cruise industry's latest megaship, deals from $599 per person on 7-night eastern caribbean sailings from miami going to st. martins, st. thomas, nassau, a room upgrade, on ship credit. >> an entire week, wow, that is a big one. how about if people want to get spooked out over the weekend. >> new orleans, a great place to go, especially around halloween. a rich, haunted history.

great place to check out the hotel, it's said to be hawned the 14th floor. my co-worker stayed there and says there was a ghost in the room. a lot of other guests have reported that, too. >> let's keep it in perspective. going to the beach, you don't want to spend too much, where why cow go? >> americans love mexico's riviera, easy to get to. a great ecoresort. it does not mean cheapo. a four-star resort, all inclusive. they are participating trofl lossty's fall in into fall sale, fourth night fee. $370 a night but it includes your meals, your accommodations, alcohol and nonalcoholic beverages, water sports, yoga, gratuities. it's a fair price and a great place to go.

it's the hacienda tres rios. >> sign me up. a rios. >> sign me up. a deserving honor goes to a woman who has dedicated her life to giving a home to children in need of a home. you'll meet her next. new double stuf oreo heads or tails. let's practice. stufy, can i get a refill? i wanted skim. come on, get your head in the game, stufy! thanks, stufy. man, i love that cookie. but my allergies put me in a fog. so now, i'm claritin clear!

claritin works great on all my allergies like dust, mold, pollen, or pets without making me drowsy, cause i want to be alert around this big guy. live claritin clear. indoors and out.

in washington, d.c., a special organization is being recognized for its work in adoption and for thor care. the founder of forever family, an organization devoted to improving the lives of children and teens in the foster care system. right now, there are more than 100,000 children in foster care waiting to be adopted. >> it's kind of like a new family. >> new adoption means when you get another family wants to take you under their wings and support you. >> we have experience where our own person or individual were unique. we've just been through some stuff. >> joining me now is the founder of forever family.

g gia, congratulations on this award. tell me why you and the organization got the award? >> thanks so much. thanks for having me back. we received award because forever family is a nonprofit organization that is really working hard in conjunction with tv stations to raise awareness of the plight of wonderful kids languishing in america's foster care system. >> you mentioned having you back because you were here a year ago. you have some wonderful news to share in the year since s what is it? >> it was amazing. we received so many -- almost 100 calls and e-mails from your viewers. one family in particular sticks out, a family that came to me via e-mail after the segment aired. they are now in the process of adopting a sibling group of five. they never thought about adopting before. saw me on your program. learned more, went through the process. in fact, they are meeting those children this weekend. it's so exciting. i hope to bring you the video of

the actual adoption finalization. these are five kids, a very large sibling group that never would have found a family of their own. so awardz in is crucial. >> it is. >> i want to listen to another one of these children in foster care. let's listen to this tape. >> kids in for thor care don't get the same privileges as normal and regular kids. >> how does that make you feel? >> sometimes it's okay. but most of the time, i feel left out. >> when you hear something like that, what kind of impact can forever family have on a child like that not to make them feel left out? >> right, well, the important thing is let's get these kids in homes. let's stop stereotyping these kids, let's let, you know, america is a country full of loving people. and i think that if they were aware of the problem, these kids wouldn't be treated differently. these kids want to be loved. they have love to give. they need families. so that they're not -- you can

imagine being taken from all of, from your family, your school mates, you're placed into a different and treated differently. we need to normalize life for these children. get them into homes and everybody, alex, can do something. i think we saw that from the last time it was on the air. you don't have to adopt or become a foster parent but you can volunteer, you can mentor, you can donate dollars, whatever is it. everybody can help. these are our children. you know, if they don't find homes and they age out of the foster care at 18, things aren't good. these ready kids who wind up homeless or in prisons not because they were bad kids but they never had the love and support. >> that is heart break. really quirks give meet website. how can people figure out what to do? >> people can logon to foreverfamily.org or please call us. doesn't matter where you are in the country.

>> all right. gia, thank you so much we have breaking news when it happens and whether the president speaks at a rally at 5:30 eastern, we're bringing that to you live. i'm alex witt. see yachlt se to meet new clients in china. for reals, player? [ woman speaks chinese ] they overheard a phone call. [ speaks chinese ] something about shipping with fedex to shanghai. and then you opened a bottle of champagne. that was for a science project. [ man and woman speaking chinese ] i'm late for...soccer... rehearsal. [ man speaks chinese ] you and i are cool? i'll be home by curfew. [ male announcer ] we understand.® you need a partner who can help you go global. fedex. i was 18 years old before i had my first fresh bun. the invention that i came up with

is the hot dog ez bun steamer. steam is the key to a great hot dog. i knew it was going to be a success. the invention was so simple that i knew i needed to protect it. my name is chris schutte and i got my patent, trademark and llc on legalzoom. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. go to legalzoom today and make your business dream a reality. everybody has somebody to go heart healthy for. who's your somebody? eating campbell's healthy request can help. 25 delicious soups with low cholesterol, zero grams trans fat, and a healthy level of sodium.

because heart healthy is good for your life... and the people in it. healthy request from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car... and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness... man: good job! where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer new car replacement. or, if you total your new car within the first year, we give you the money to buy a new one. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, switch today, and you could save on your auto insurance. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life. so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. looks really good. call us at...