is the gop just the lesser of two evils? new polls show voters don't necessarily like republicans, they just like democrats a little less. virginia congressional candidate krystal ball and now comparing herself to hillary clinton. she joins us live this hour. speaking of the clintons, bill is the one most democrats want out on the stump for them. why would republicans have a soft spot for him? you can forget days, we're just hours away from the capsule going down for those 33 chilean miners trapped underground and their families waiting above. everything is in place for the rescue to begin tonight. joining the discussion today former hillary clinton senior adviser howard wolfson, democratic strategist karen finny, matt lewis and the "washington post" jonathan capehart and terrorism analyst

evan kohlmann. good tuesday morning, i'm chris jansing. this is "jansing & company." a new poll finds democrats are narrowing the gap with republicans and, in fact, at least in favorability, have a slight lead. bloomberg national poll democrats have a two-point higher favorability rating that reverses an eight-point deficit over the summer. but, republicans are connecting with voters on issues, less spending, lower taxes and repeal of the health care overhaul. karen, matt and howard join me now. a lot of contradictions in this poll, which is really interesting. for example, they are for getting rid of health care, but when you ask them about the individual aspects of the health care reform, they are actually for them. i'm wondering, when you boil this down, what is this election about? is it just a referendum on barack obama, karen? >> i think not. i think that's certainly what the republicans are trying to make it about and i think democrats are trying to make it

about individual issues and individual races and given the level of anxiety that we're seeing, that is probably the right strategy. as you say, people are frustrated about the health care and the economy and also in this poll frustrated about the deficit. they don't want to cut anything. when asked about making cuts to infrastructure or medicare or social security, they said no. >> is the overall strategy looking for a bad guy. the republicans feel they have a bad guy in barack obama. it's not where he said it would be or america wants it to be right now. they tried going after karl rove, obviously now before this, i mean, there has been a whole string of republicans that they've attacked, john boehner. is that the right strategy, though, to find sort of somebody to go against? >> well, i think the challenge there for the democrats is that none of the republican bad guys that you mentioned have anywhere near the notoriety or the acclaim of a barack obama. i mean, people do not know, generally, who karl rove is, who

john boehner is. the chamber of commerce is sort of the latest in that string. barack obama is the president of the united states and off-year elections are generally a referendum. the republicans clearly made a bet that that's what this election is going it be about. as karen says, democrats are doing everything they can to make this about somebody else. to make this as david pluff has said a choice and not a referendum. that could still change, we have the lifetime left in politics, but that's where things are at the moment. >> are three weeks a lifetime? i'm wondering matt where you see this and is there any opening when you see this favorability rating where individual parts of the poll, for example, americans do definitely think that they should extend the bush tax cuts for the middle class only, which is the democratic position. is three weeks a lifetime in this election? >> three weeks is a lifetime, chris. but if you go back and look at

the past six months, things haven't changed. i mean, this template has been in place for many months now. clearly, a bad year for democrats. the question is just how bad will it be? look, i do think that this poll, though, actually could have positive ramifications going forward. republicans ought to know that even though they may get elected, they might win the house this year, it doesn't mean that the americans like them. i think that's a good message to send to republicans. it means they actually have to get down to business and it might actually mean that for the first time in a long time we have divided government where the democrats and republicans have to work together. >> sending a message and getting a message are two different things in washington. i'm still looking for the good news in there, matt. >> here's what i think the good news could be, chris. if republicans believe that the american public is 100% behind them, they might try to stonewall and actually hope for electing a republican in 2012 by making obama look bad.

but if republicans believe that they won the house but they could be ousted in two years, that gives them an incentive. look, when newt gingrich and bill clinton were in office together, gingrich is the speaker, clinton is the president, we had four consecutive balance budgets. four consecutive years. divided government can be a good thing if both sides think it's in their best interest to cooperate. >> but don't you think that the democrats came into office two years ago thinking that the american people were all behind it? do you think that was the problem? >> exactly, exactly. that's the problem that the democrats had. they misread the mandate. they believe they had a mandate. by the way, barack obama made the exact same mistake. the american people never said we want you to push through your liberal agenda. what they said, we're sick and tired of george w. bush. republicans need to learn that lesson. >> is this just, everything was bad and we were sick of george bush so let's go with the alternative, everything is bad. we're sick of barack obama. he's not on the ballot, let's

look for a an alternative. that simple and political of a strategy? >> a little oversimplified. >> a level of support for the american ideas. in 2006, we're sick of the iraq war and we're sick of george bush and we're sick of republican policies and we want to put a check on that. in 2008, i think people just wanted broader change and still just frustrated. again, we say it again, it will take a long time to get us out. no doubt unemployment numbers are going to stay high and that's going to keep people frustrated and the mortgage crisis isn't going anywhere and people are going to remain frustrated. i do agree if republicans, maybe they won't get the message, but hopefully obama and the democrats will get the message that that's their opportunity if there is a divided government that the republican policies arant so popular and that they're going to have to try to make the republicans work with them to hold them accountable. >> can we talk about george sorros jumping ship. >> sure. >> here's what he told "new york

times" i think they, meaning the republicans are pushing the wrog policies. how much is that view reflective of some of the movers and shakers in the democratic party and how much of a problem is that? >> you are seeing much more activity on the republican side than the democratic side in term of these third party groups. there was enormous effort in 2004 and 2006 and in 2008 on the part of the progressive wing of our party to fund these third party groups, these independent groups who have come in and run advertising or against republican candidates. a lot of that money is now on the sidelines and on the democratic side and it's pouring in on the republican side, which is why you see so much attention being focused in the white house on what the chamber of commerce is doing. because in a lot of these places, the republicans and their allies are outspending the democrats and their allies. the democrats are trying to cause a point of tension to that and say, hey, let's look at

where the sources of this money is coming from. some of it is foreign and it all needs to be disclosed, et cetera. >> let me ask you guys about that, two democrats here. they keep hitting on this. that's why they're hitting on rove about this foreign money. we had yesterday the vice president out there, again, really, do you think that is what the american people are listening to? >> i'm sorry that's our message three weeks out, i have to say. >> if this poll said, if i can go back to the poll, one thing it said is consistent message from the republicans. american people we're hearing it and it's a simple message. it's a simple message, lower taxes, repeal health care. >> here's the thing on that, the republicans had a much more effective echo chamber. barack obama has notoriety and so does nancy pelosi. they have created some sort of dark figures and they have a very powerful effective echo chamber to keep that going. i think for democrats, though,

it's an important point to try to ask the question, where is this money coming from? you have to connect it back, to why does it matter to you and this race? >> it doesn't sound like it's karen, let's put it that way. >> it's more important that we talk about the issues, but certainly i think it matters where the money is coming from. >> in a unique place here because having worked for hillary clinton i watched barack obama and his team take us apart over the course of 50 states. i have a lot of respect there these guys. my general default is, if they're doing something, it's probably right. this one is harder to explain, but at the end of the day, it is about the economy. the republicans do have a clear, consistent message. their message is barack obama has failed, we need to check on him. i think the democrats are still kind of struggling for another message. >> there has been a lot of, i would say weirdness in this campaign with individual candidates. i want to show you this picture of this ohio congressional candidate. i'm an ohio candidate, proud buckeye. rich said he did nothing wrong

wearing this uniform. he is part of a group that enaci reenacts all kind of battles and he called it a father/son bonding experience. i initially told the reporter from "atlantic magazine" from a military point of view, germany accomplished incredible things. jonathan capehart is an msnbc contributor and wrote an opinion piece about all this in "washington post." what do you think about this congressional knlt from my beloved state of ohio? >> i feel so sorry for you, chris, that someone like that is running for office in your home state. i don't have a problem people going to whatever camps and reenacting whatever battles on the weekend, but if you're going to run, if you're going to run for public office, i think, you know, these pictures pop up. i don't think you should automatically think that i think you have the judgment to actually sit in congress and have some sort of control over lots of people's lives and how they live.

this guy, in his explanations, are so, i'm speechless. i don't know what to say. >> let me read a little bit more on how impressed he was with the military tactics. he says "they took over most of europe and rusha and it really took the combined effort of the free world to defeat them. from a purely historical military point of view, you know, the wiping out of the race and the murder, that was the ultimate goal. so, he didn't quite go to that point. but what is does this mean in the overall picture when we see candidates who and, again, not really apologetic in any way about this. in fact, defending his right to do this as a father/son bonding experience. how does that sort of play into the psyche of the the american voter, i wonder. >> look, i think if the republicans fall below expectations, whatever you think the expectations are for this november. if the republicans fall below, it will be because of candidates like this. because of oo'donnell in

delaware who has to go on tv and say, i'm not a witch. it will be because in too many instances they nominated someone from the extreme wing of their party. they nominated the wrong person. >> can i tell you, jonathan, i was at broadway play last week and they had gotten a chris dti o'donnell joke into the play. it was a comedy, but people were howling. people were howling at that joke. that's how much that is in the public consciousness. >> yeah, you know what, look, this rich iott situation, the fact that he's trying to defend himself is really hilarious. sort of like if i tell you, chris, you know, on weekends i like to go do reenactments of the jim crow era and just for historical accuracy, i dress up like a clansman and there's a picture and then there's a picture and i'll ask people to vote for me and explain away that this was a maybe mother/sons and my father died a long time ago. a mother/son bonding experience.

>> it doesn't hurt him overall, it certainly hurts this candidate. i think without a doubt. look, i'll take him at his word. maybe he is very interested in military issues. it's not my cup of tea. i don't do reenactments on weekends. it's not my idea of a fun weekend. >> believe me, if you did, we'd have the pictures. >> he shouldn't be in the race. >> it's politically toxic. i think it's fair judgment. >> if a democrat did the same thing, you can bet republicans would use it against him. >> yeah. >> absolutely. if someone were to dress up like mu homudatta in a reenactment of the september 11 terror attacks, you better believe that person wouldn't only be criticized but that person would be hounded out of the race and, in my mind, rightly so. >> great conversation, thanks to all of you. i love this story. we're just hours away from the start of the rescue of 33

trapped chilean miners and the anticipation is building. our kerry sanders has a front row seat. a candidate is calling the release of racy photos taken six years ago sexist. democrat kristal bawl joll join live. [ male announcer ] there's a big idea happening in health care

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freedom could be just hours away for the trapped chilean miners. officials say the pieces are in place for a rescue operation starting as early as this evening. crews on the surface have given the green light after a string of these tests of the capsule, thatter the steel case that was lowered to within yards of the miners and then came back up in perfect condition. nbc kerry sanders is live in chile with the very latest for us. kerry, we heard this report that the rescue could be just hours away. what is the very latest? >> well, the mayor is now saying that the rescue will begin at

7:00 p.m. eastern standard time. as you know, they have to send down two paramedices and two engineering experts. there are some conflicting reports on that that they may already be down there or at 7:00 is when they will enter down into the mine. it will take about 15 minutes or longer for the capsule, the phoenix to get down before it then turns around and begins to come up. so, it's sort of a developing process in terms of the timetable. we do know everybothing is set r today. we do know that the president from chile will come in here around 6:00 eastern, maybe even 5:00 eastern and, of course, he wants to be on hand. so, i think that all the pieces are falling into place. one interesting last-minute development of what they were trying to figure out what to do, they would like to monitor the health of each of these minerser, the 33 as they come up one by one in the capsule.

they have a piece of technology from the united states and it hooks up to the men with a belt and that belt monitors respiration, skin temperature, heart rate. a variety of very important physical responses. but, they couldn't figure out how to get the signal to transmit live because it's going through the earth and it's very difficult, so somebody had the idea to put the read out over the shoulder of the men because there will be a camera right in front of them and still be able to monstitor that. we will not only see the men coming up, but we'll see that read out at some point telling us how they are doing. the fear is they're on a radio saying everything is fine, but, they're, quite frankly, very anxious. or perhaps having a heart problem. one miner has diabetes and another has a heart condition. they want to make sure after these men have survived 69 days that nothing goes wrong in the

final 15-minute ride to the surface. chris? >> most of the people i talked to and people are talking about this story compare it to being in an mri. they joke about the fact that they can't even stand to be in an mri and they can't imagine being in that capsule coming up. of course, we're not miners so we're not used to being underground or in confined spaces. how worried are they, really, that somebody might have a physical problem or freak out on the way up? >> well, they're doing certain things. for instance, they started a liquid diet. this is the same sort of diet that an astronaut takes, high in potassium. but the reason they're taking that liquid diet, you know, imagine that they're coming up and they have a stomach problem, that could cause some sort of choking issue and nobody wants that. they have a respirator that will allow them to breathe air. well, if they're breathing the air and then they have some sort of vomiting situation, that could become extremely dangerous and no where to go.

the medic here who has been working with them, who has been talking to them 40, 50 times a day for the last month and a half, he told me that he's actually had some of them practicing the breathing that you would do in yoga so that when they get in there, if there were any anxious moments they could employ some of those techniques to calm themselves back down. chris? >> we are waiting anxiously, as i know everyone there is. we'll keep coming back, kerry, and getting updates. the first trial of a gitmo detainee begins this morning. what are the government's chances for conviction? police just minutes away on the case of a missing disabled 10-year-old girl. the latest on that investigation just ahead. ♪ that's enough to stretch around the earth over 190 times. ♪ each brita filter can take up to 300 of those bottles

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and kenya which killed 224 people, including 12 americans. justice correspondent pete williams joins me now, i guess this trial is really about the guy that prosecutors think bought the truck that was load would the explosives, but that was 12 years ago. nine years now after the last trial in the case, how complicated is all this, pete? >> well, the government says it's very straight forward. they had a bit of a setback. they had a key witness they wanted to testify who would have said that he sold explosive components to ghailani and those were harsh interrogation methods and the judge says that can't be used. neither anything he said when he was interrogated or anything the government learned as a result of it. but the justice department insists it still has enough to go to trial. both sides had legal setbacks getting to this point but now we come to the trial and many people say this could be a test for how you could put 9/11

detainees on trial, but you know, chris, i think this trial will have a limited value in that. there are lots of evdenshiary problems but there probably will not be many with the khalid shaikh mohammed and others charged with the 9/11 attacks because there is so much evidence to go on from them. nonetheless, this is the first 9/11 detainees and it is a test to see how well this goes in civilian, as weopposed to mility courts. >> founder of global terror alert. so, even if this doesn't become precedence because of the differences in the legal aspects of it, what does it mean in terms of it being useds as a propaganda tool? >> the whole idea of shutting down gitmo was to move people on from this process, but it doesn't look like al qaeda, for instance, is looking to let all this go. just yesterday al qaeda released a new magazine from yemen where

it interviewed -- >> this is "inspire" english language magazine. >> directed at americans and those who would want to join al qaeda who speak english. there is an interview in there with a former guantanamo bay detainee and he's asked how the gitmo experience changed you and affected you? before i looked upon americans, they were the enemy, but we had things in common. afterwards, i felt america is the enemy of humanity and duty upon mankind to kill americans everywhere. so, i mean, this is a fairly dramatic statement. it's propaganda, it's al qaeda and gives you an idea that al qaeda is still trying to use this issue regardless of whether we transfer the detainees to civilian court. the idea that guantanamo happened happens to be a major recruiting tool for these folks. >> you sent me some notes on this article which that is particularly disturbing.

it says, do not attempt to travel overseas to join the -- >> they say even if you have an opportunity to go abroad and even if you have an easy way to get to a foreign country where there is a conflict going on, don't do that. we think the best strategy is to go after the head of the snake. cut the head of the snake. if you're already in the united states, you should go out and do something there. it's disturbing because this is the same group that fired off the underwear bomber and the same group that was allegedly in contact with nidal hasan the individual behind the ft. hood massacre. the same group, by the wi, that has connections to several other individuals. the guy who attacked the recruiting post down in arkansas. there is a history of this group. >> isn't this, in particular, and maybe even, we don't have a lot of time, whether he's convicted or not, it almost seems like it doesn't matter

what the decision is that is made wby the united states. they'll figure out how to use it as a recruiting tool. >> now they have americans who are creating this propaganda for them. the individual behind this magazine is actually a former blogger from north carolina who is well known for making crazy statements on the internet. he was on television. >> american citizen? >> an american citizen who disappeared, ran off and, sure enough, how he's working with al qaeda in yemen. they very finely tuned this message and there is a reason because they're using americans to finally tune the message and people who have experience blogging on the internet. >> evan, you will be back in our next hour, thank you so much. a virginia congressional candidate is firing back at racy photos that were leaked. krystal ball will join me next. bill clinton is pounding the pavement hard for democrats, just 21 day s before the election. >> there is nothing wrong with this country as i've said 1,000

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here are some of the stories we're following right now on msnbc. just minutes from now north carolina police will hold a news conference on the heartbreaking story of zahra clare baker. police don't buy the story that her mother and stepfather are telling. relatives say the little girl who has a prosthetic cancer from bone cancer and hearing aids in both ears was mostly confined to her bedroom. now, police say dogs have detected the smell of human remains in the cars belonging to the couple. afghan insurgents fired a

rocket-propelled grenade at a helicopter wou e helicopter. killing one and wounded eight. the hearing to decide whether alleged ft. hood shooter nidal hasan should stand trial began this morning. witnesses are sdriging the incident to a military officer. scientists ara s ars arant sure when it will happen, but the next rupture of the san andreas fault could be even more massive than previously thought. capable a magnitude above eight on the richter scale. a rupture could impact more than 300 miles of land in california. courteney cox and david arca arquette separated after 11 years of marriage. the couple has one young daughter. no apologies, no

explanation. virginia congressional candidate krystal ball is fighting mad after a series of risque photos of her emerged on the internet. it was last week when a conservative blog posted the photos taken six years ago including ms. ball with her ex-husband, who had a sex toy attached to his nose. she's not shying away from those photos. she is using them as an example of what she proceeds is a cruel double standard in politics. krystal ball joins me now, thanks for being here. >> good morning, chris. thank you for having me. >> you believe this is part of a larger tactic that is used against female politicians. what is this trend that you see? >> i do. well, this is interesting because certainly the tactic of painting female politicians is nothing knew and painting successful women in general in this way in order to delegitimize them and denigrate them is nothing knnew.

it is a new twist on it because as now i'm one of the first of my generation in the facebook age to step up and run for office, i'm sort of the first one to have this particular thing happen to me. but i certainly don't think i'll be the last. >> in your article in "huffington post" i'll quote you here. women of my generation have sexuals lives that will leak into the public spear. sooner than later this is a reality that has to be faced or many young women in my generation will not be able to run for office. i want to ask you, honestly, when these first came out did you just say to yourself, i'll go hide and politics isn't for me? >> i never, i never considered getting out of the race, but when they first came out there's no question i was tremendously embarrassed. i was humiliated. i did want to hide in a corner, but i look to my own mother and to hillary clinton as examples of women of strength and courage who really stood up for themselves. >> in fact, you mentioned

hillary clinton. where do you see the parallel? >> i am in no means comparing myself to hillary clinton. that's definitely not the case, but i think she has carried herself with such a strength and integrity throughout her career, even when things were very difficult, even when things came to light that were embarrassing for her family and that were very private and personal. she really came out and was strong and composed and i thought, you know what, we can't allow these kinds of tactics to scare good people from running for office. i think that we need more young people and more young women to stand up and run for office and i don't want them to be deterred by some silly party pictures or something that they did stupid in front of the camera years and years ago. so, i decided for, not just for myself but for young women to come out and address this head on because i don't want this to deter people who want to serve our country from stepping up and serving for office. >> krystal ball, thank you for

being with us. >> thank you, chris, for having me. our company is back. i want to start with you because you did work with hillary so closely as her communications direct director. do you see that parallel she draws? >> certainly, hillary clinton was a victim and people opposed her because she was a woman and that is a challenge that female candidates face whether they're running for congress or president. on the other hand, i don't really remember pictures like this of hillary clinton. i think she was more likely to be baking christmas cookies than posing in those sorts of christmas outfits. the candidate points out an interesting cunonedrum which is in the facebook era as more and more of our lives are digatized, are we going to see more and more of this. to me, it just points out that the importance of telling young people that any picture you take

at any time can show up online five or six years later and you need to be a little bit more careful. >> howard, she bring up an important point in terms of the narrative that is so much developed about the woman candidate, you know, you're cold or you're this or you're that. i remember working for hillary clinton in the white house a magazine wouldn't run beautiful pictures of her on the cover of the mag zeep because it didn't fit the narrative picture they wanted to tell of the lady macbeth. a women have to walk a fine line of being tough and smart and not being overly emotional. if these pictures were of a man, he would be the mac daddy. >> hang on, if you had a picture, comparable pictures of jim dement with a woman on a leash and a sex toy on his nose, i can guarantee you jonathan capehart will be talking about judgment. >> let me show you this -- i don't know if we're using these pictures.

but do you remember when scott brown, the picture, oh, there he is. cosmo center fold winner. he was 22 and surfaced when he was running for senate. he had said he thinks this helped, helped his campaign. >> but, it did -- >> i don't think, first of all, what krystal ball, the pictures of her were six years ago and the pictures of scott brown were 30 years ago or something and also i think it's not comparable. he was certainly posing for a magazine. >> he's naked! >> matt, there is a double standard here that something like that is more acceptable if it's men. again, he'd be the cool guy. >> he did get, scott brown did get some grief for this. >> if there were pictures of a republican, let's say jim dement holding a woman on a leash like krystal ball was pictured doing. >> they were both 22 years told when these pictures were taken. they were both college or just right after college. >> let me bring up another

point, though -- >> if he was 22 years old with his girlfriend doing it, and it was consensual. it's not like he has somebody on a leash -- >> everything can be casually dismissed as sexism. you can't say that christine o'donnell is not qualified because you're a sexist. >> no, she calls herself a witch, matt, she has other problems. >> i'm just saying. i think playing the victim card and this is legitimate issue and for her to dismiss it and to try to use sexisms as a shield. >> where does this bring us? even if we agree with your point, and i can't say that everybody does. but even if we agree with your point, where does that lead us going forward? what does that mean because to howard's point, matt, we have such a digital record now that we didn't have before. i defy anyone to say there's absolutely nothing in my past that they'd prefer to keep in my past that no one should ever know about and at what point, but i'm asking a serious

question. >> let me give you my answer, whether you dress up like a nazi and reenactment or pictures again with your ex-husband on a leash with a sex toy on your nose, you have to reflect that will act on your judgment. i think the public is going to make a judgment here. has enough time expired? was this just someone having fun? is this serious? does this reflect a lack of judgement and we'll see a lot more of this. but, look, i think it's fair game and i don't think you can dismiss it by saying it's sexism. >> matt, when david letterman said sarah palin was dressing like a stewardses which a lot of us thought was sexist, was that sexist or was that okay? >> i'm not saying that sexism does not exist. what i'm saying is -- >> who gets to decide when it is or when it isn't? you do? >> when karl rove was critical of christine o'donnell, that was not sexism. he was accused and i think you have a rith to be a legitimate political analyst and say that

somebody airerred in judgment. you cannot simply, if you're a female candidate, whether you're a republican or a democrat, by the way, say that any attack on you is ilegitimate because it's sexist. >> we have to let it stand at that. isn't it nice, matt, to get the last word? it's an important conversation and especially looking forward we have to figure out exactly how this all is going to impact things and is it going to make a difference in who represents us in congress and else where. so, thank you, karen, thank you, matt, thank you, howard. i think that was a great conversation. details on as massive investigation into the way banks handle foreclosures that could come today. is the housing market heading towards further crisis? we'll talk about that. and, how about this. are most of your tweets written in vain? 71% of tweets get no attention from the outside world. "wired" magazine reports that they did a study two months last

year. seven out of ten tweets got absolutely no response. howard is checking his right now. he went and checked it. of the remaining tweets, only 6% were retweeted. are you saying we're getting carpal tunnel for no reason whatsoever? >> i just recently had a couple retweeted. >> better get on the twitters. [ manager ] you know...

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housing market has not hit bottom, homeowners are facing another serious blow. just moments ago, the white house said it will report efforts to get to the bottom of a new foreclosure crisis. 40 states could announce a major investigation into the way big banks handle foreclosures. nbc peter alexander explains. >> reporter: in neighborhood after neighborhood the numbers are staggering. nearly one in seven borrowers nationwide is behind on their mortgage or in foreclosure. but now investigators are questioning the paperwork by big banks behind many of those foreclosures. already both jpmorgan chase and gmac has suspension of foreclosure evictions. bank of america halted foreclosures in all 50 states. for the moment, the move may give struggling homeowners like single mom, judy smith, in florida, a break. >> i have two daughters who are also in limbo.

>> reporter: but the foreclosure freeze has many home buyers left in the cold. >> was there any risk that the sale won't go through? >> reporter: michelle salem was supposed to close on a foreclosed condo in miami last week, but it's owned by bank of america. so, salem all set to buy, now has to wait. >> my greatest concern is after all is said and done, is a deal really a deal or will i be told in some letter or phone call that there is a glitch with the paperwork and the closing is not valid? >> reporter: in the foreclosure investigation, banks are accused of cutting corners, approving tens of thousands of foreclosure documents without fully reviewing them. what's called robo-signing. some are now calling for a moratorium on all foreclosures, but others warn that could make the housing market worse. >> delaying foreclosures is just delaying their entry into the resale market and delaying the america whole housing market to

recover and reset and delaying everyone's home prices from recovery. >> i'm now joined by cnbc diana olick who covers the real estate market and we're just hearing that they're against a broad moratorium. where does it look like this is going? >> the banks say it will take a couple weeks to a few months to sort it all out and i was just listening to an expert from georgetown univarsity who said this could set foreclosures that are in the process right now back at least a year. you're talking $5 million to $7 million loans right now that are delinquent or seriously delinquent and not to mention those in the foreclosure pipeline. it is great for those facing foreclosures, but when you talk about the greater housing market if the bottom line is the bulk of these foreclosures are valid and go through the system at some point, you're just extending out the pain in the market. you have got to get these homes processed and out on the market to borrowers who can't afford them. >> for people who own a house

now and a growing gut of prices available, what does it mean? >> without the foreclosures on sale right now that it would put some kind of temporary bottom on home prices because you don't have the competition from the lower-priced home. this scandal is just adding to that lack of confidence, keeping people on the sideline. especially those who want to buy foreclosed properties. remember, one-third of all sales in august were eeth arforeclosed properties or short sales, that is distressed homes. >> it is a mess. thank you, diana olick. he is the most popular democrat out there and now bill clinton is back on the campaign trail making the case for his party. just how strong is his political mojo. i do a lot of different kinds of exercise, but basically, i'm a runner. last year. (oof). i had a bum knee that needed surgery.

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this is the cowboy stadium shot. >> oh, man, they do everything big in texas. upper deck cowboy stadium and then nothing but net. the athlete with the power arm is from a group called dude perfect. they claim to have the longest basketball shot ever and who's going to dispute it. look one more time. this is unbelievable. that's awesome! maybe if you're a democrat, you'll think this is awesome. the comeback kid. bill clinton, once again, being used as a weapon in the campaign circuit and yesterday he was stumping for west virginia governor joe manchin who, of course, is running for the senate. one audience member was just a little overwhelmed. take a look.

>> and let's give this lady a hand. she's trying to walk off here. god bless you, ma'am. give her a hand. is she okay? the doctor says she's okay. and i'll save her reputation, it was the sun, not me that made her faint. >> such a good line. we only have time to talk to you, howard, as somebody so connected to the clintons. what's his role and what is likely to be his impact in this campaign? >> people forget that during hillary clinton's 2008 run, bill clinton was everywhere. he would go to places where the media would not follow, where there were no tv cameras and small towns in pennsylvania and west virginia and in a lot of other places around this country and it was a huge draw. huge asset for then senator clinton's campaign. so, he's doing the same thing now and he demand everywhere and in a place like west virginia

where barack obama is perhaps not as popular, he's a big draw for a democrat running for office and he's doing that over and over and over again. all around the country. >> as always, quick with the line. howard, i know you have to leave. karen and matt, you'll be back with us in a couple minutes. thank you, so much, howard, for coming in. if you have a teenager learning to drive, we all know it can be scary, but how much time do you actually spend teaching your kid? an eye opening new survey. michelle obama another secret weppen for the democrats. the first lady is heading off on a cross country campaign to help raise big bucks for her party. 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.

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