next on msnbc saturday, did the fbi get tipped off about the mumbai attacks and not even realize it? why is the pentagon on the lookout for wikileaks? plus, the campaign coffers of christine o'donnell. is all the controversy dogging ms. o'donnell doing a number on her fund-raising? you might be surprised. and some painful high jinx on the big screen and it's coming your way in 3-d. great to have you with us today. i'm thomas roberts. welcome to msnbc saturday. alex witt has the day off. it is 11:00 in the east, 8:00 in the west. new report says u.s. officials knew about plans for the attacks three years before they actually took place. federal agents were reportedly

tipped off by the wife of an american businessman, david coleman headley. his wife told authorities that her husband was a militant in a pakistani troop. former inspector general for the homeland security department. forgive me for botching your name there. we've talked many times. >> not at all. >> i'm out of coffee here on the news desk this morning. >> i understand. >> the fbi reportedly looked into the tip but federal officials declined to say exactly what, if any, action was ever taken. headley not arrested until 11 months after those attacks took place. are you surprised? >> this raises a number of perennial counterterrorism questions and the most important, the most obvious is the fbi and other elements of law enforcement intel community are deluged with scores of tips over the course of the year. how to separate the wheat from the chaff, the credible from the incredible. in this particular instance,

it's telling that the fbi interviewed this wife not once but three times. further, it's clear why they did so. she provided audio tapes and e-mail traffic and ideological materials and records of extensive calls from him to pakistan to extremists. it's clear to me ta this ought to have been taken seriously and as you said in the lead-in, the united states government did warn india three years later and apparently included the taj mahal as one of the likely targets. it was, in fact, attacked. what's unclear if the fbi did the next logical thing and that was to follow headley to see if he was traveling to pakistan and if that had been done, conceivably the plot could have been foiled. >> we look at hindsight being 20-20 always, what does this say about the progress of american forces as well as intelligence agencies that are improving their coordination and the possibility to connect the terror attacks to connect the dots. >> that's the largest question. one is we have all these

organizations post 9/11. department of homeland security, the terror screening center, the national counterterrorism center. as "the washington post" pointed out, scores, hundreds of additional ones. yet these kinds of things happen. at the end of the day, you can have all the organizations we want, you can have all the technological sophistication. but at the end of the day, it's individuals who is to connect the dots. and a question of human judgment. human beings are infallible. the other thing this also raises the issue that we can't prevent everything. it is probably inevitable that there will be another successful terror attack. so what's incumbent upon officials is to make sure that we recover from any such attack just as quickly and painlessly as possible. the danger with that notion is that it can easily slide from realism to fatalism and to defeatism. you know, that's not an excuse for not doing everything we can do to prevent these kinds of plots, but at the end of the day likely some of them will succeed. >> clark kent irvin, good to see you this morning. >> thank you, thomas.

the pentagon is bracing for the possibility of a new document dump of classified materials by wikileaks as early as tomorrow night. the site has indicated it may release a new batch of documents related to the war in iraq soon. and a pentagon task force is in the process of reviewing classified documents related to that conflict. president obama crisscrossing the country with the midterm vote just two weeks away. he's not the only member of the first family who is hitting the road. michelle obama will join her husband tomorrow. it's one of the events for first lady stretching from california to connecticut. savannah guthrie joins us now. so what's the reaction been to the first lady being out on the stump? >> reporter: she's going to democratic fund-raisers, a group of people very loyal to the democratic party. she's somebody who can stir up some excitement in the base and that's the name of the game

right now in the final stretch for democrats. they're trying to get people to the polls. people to turn out in so-called obama surge. those voters who were the first to vote in 2008, mostly young people and african-americans. michelle obama sometimes referred to as a secret weapon. back during the campaign in 2 8 2008, she was called the closer for her ability to close the sale on the campaign. a lot of democrats wish they'd seen her earlier and more often out on the campaign trail, bau they do think of her as a pretty potent weapon. we saw her in illinois and wisconsin this week. as you mentioned, we'll see her with president obama, the first time the two are together campaigning tomorrow in ohio. she's got a fund-raiser in new york. i thing hosted by sarah jessica parker, the actress. then later in the week, she's going to be in california. so in some ways she's following the footsteps of her husband or leading the way by those trips out west. those are very important states. some call it the democratic firewall, if the democrats can hang on to the senate races in california and washington,

they'll hold the senate, most analysts believe. >> how does fear of losing the house potentially play into all this travel and being out there in the rallies? would we have seen this big of a push if there wasn't that big of a fear? >> i think we would see but certainly a level of urgency for democrats because they know the stakes are so high. history will tell you in an off year election in a med term the party in power nearly always loses seats. no matter what, the democrats will be looking at much diminished majorities. the stakes couldn't be higher. the very control of congress, not just the house but potentially the senate, although most people think it's less likely that republicans will be able to take control of the senate. that's on the line. so you see the democrats and president obama really pushing hard, i mean, for all his troublesnd and the fact that his approval rating is in the 40s, he's still the most popular member of the democratic party currently holding office. and his approval rating is about 20 points higher than both republicans and democrats in congress. so he's really out there not only to generate enthusiasm

among faithful democrats but also to do some fund-raising. >> savannah guthrie at the white house for us this morning. great to see you. thanks. >> you too, take care. >> it is touted as the happiest place on earth but tempers were flying on a disney shuttle bus in or lando. this home video taken of a shoving match that broke out between the shuttle driver and a passenger. what's more alarming is the passenger was holding his baby when the fight broke out. the driver told the passenger the bus was throw. >> i was waiting here first, and he tried to block me and let everyone pass through before us. >> disney says the driver is on paid leave while it will review that case. two people are in the hospital with serious injuries today a the driver of this volvo station wagon took the phrase "drive-through window" literally, crashing it into a restaurant in portland oregon. the vehicle smashed through the window and wall after the driver mistook the gas pedal for the brake. the driver was not impaired.

just two of the 33 miners who were trapped underground in chile are out of the hospital this morning. the rest have all been released and are at home with their families. they're sticking together when it comes to selling their story. kerry sanders is in live in chile for us. how are the two miners that are doing still in the hospital? what are the concerns about their condition? >> reporter: well, they're just being monitored. one has a slight case of pneumonia. they're checking to make sure that he comes out of that. but both the miner, according to the doctors, they don't have anything life threatening. it sounds kind of weird to say pneumonia, not life threatening, but they believe it's a low grade form of pneumonia, so he should be released perhaps even from the hospital today. all the other miners, they're home, they're with their families, they're celebrating. and quite frankly, the entire country of chile has been having a huge festival of excitement here. a lot of that has to do with pride, but also now folks are

sort of returning to a little bit more of what a normal afternoon would be here. take a look here -- ♪ -- we're watching here just what the folks do on a saturday, gathering in the square here enjoying, az bru over in this direction, you can see some folks have gathered over here. they've got some flags up. and by and large, just people having a good time celebrating with a little bit of a show here that they were successful. chile proved to the world that they could do what they said they would do. and that was bring everybody ut of the mine alive. so we're going to get out, thom thomas. >> kerry, that is one multitasking chilean right there. >> that is what we call a one-man band. >> i used to do that back in the day in the smaller markets,

cameraman, editor, the whole thing. but i was never that good. that guy's good. got everybody moving around here in the studio, too. kerry, great to see you. thank you. >> sure. >> so autumn's not even a month old. already old man winter is -- that guy was great, wasn't he? old man winter is giving the country a cold snow shoulder. and there's a video that's becoming a big hit on the internet. a lasting reminder for a little girl who just wanted to say hi to the pretty lion.

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nearly five miles of unsafe walls, levees and gates lining the gulf intracoastal highway are set to be fixed by the army corps of engineers. that five-mile stretch does not meet minimum standards adopted after hurricane katrina. they have meetings over the next three months to discuss plans for repair. if republican candidates

suffer defeat at the ballot box next month, many won't be able to blame a lack of funds. christine o'donnell has raised $3.8 million in the last three months. in nevada sharron angle is spending nearly a million bucks every week. and meg whitman has pumped $140 million of her own personal fortune into her race for governor. we'll bring in now pat buchanan, also with us democratic strategist peter fenn. gentleman, i want to start with pat. where is all this money coming from? we're talking millions of dollars here. in christine o'donnell's case alone the fund-raising she's had is intense. >> the day after she won that primary she got a million dollars in. basically that's all small contribution, medium-sized contributions from individuals. meg whitman's got her own fortune, of course, which she's using. then you've got large amounts of money coming in for these karl

rove operations. and then the chamber of commerce has an enormous amount of money coming in after they attacked the chamber for funneling foreign money into the country. i think it's all kinds of money, thomas. it is large and small contributions. it reflects the real sense of fire and energy in this off-year election. >> pat, are you opposed to the foreign money? >> well, it's a crime if you take foreign money in an election in the united states! i think that's a smear. i don't think the chamber of commerce did that. and if they did do it, why does not axelrod and the others name where the phone money is coming from and who is getting it and spending it? because that's an indictable offense. they're putting this rumor out there ub substantiated which used to be called mccarthyism. >> peter, do you think that foreign money's been used? >> the problem here is that the law now has -- states that you don't have to list your donors.

republicans have been saying for years and years and years, hey, you know, we're not too hot on limits but at least you should make this transparent. at least we ought to list the donors. the trouble is on this thing, if you're keeping something secret, which these groups are, you usually have something to hide. and that's the real issue in this campaign now. and i think one of the problems is that these are big corporate special interests that are putting this money in. it's not just 10,000, 50,000, it's a million, it's 5 million. it's eight-figure contributions from folks -- some are documented or are out there like the coat brothers who are oil company guys, very republican. but why are they buying? a lot of these folks are exporting jobs overseas. they want to grow their companies but not here at home. they want to grow them in china.

all we're saying is make it public. lay it out. why keep it secret? >> when it comes to sharron angle out in nevada, she's only up by two points over harry reid. she he's one of the most vulnerable in the nation. why do you think that? >> sharron angle is a tea party darling. she was an upset candidate. nobody thought she'd have a chance after she won. but these tea party people love her. they're very loyal, they're energized, they're passionate. my guess is all that $14 million has come if individuals caught up in this election. he's the majority leader of the united states senate and he's never lost out there in daev about. if you can knock him off, what a tremendous thing it is. and this woman may well do it! >> but if she's spending a million bucks a week, shouldn't she be further ahead? a million bucks a week she's spending. >> look, harry reid started with $9 million she didn't have a nickel in her jeans, forehven's

sakes. >> right. >> so peter, on a national level, democrats recently have will the edge. are you concerned that the dynamic may be shifting? we're talking about sharron angle spending all this money? meg whitman dropping $140 million and that's a drop in the bucket. >> my problem with this is not so much the amounts because i think there's nothing we're going to do to stop this. people are going to spend their own money. folks go on the internet and contribute 50 buck, god bless them. but the problem right now is that this stuff is secret. why should the republicans and democrats not get together and say, look, this is all computerized, this says, we should be totally transparent. and these secret groups that say, i'm americans for truth, this group out of north carolina, yet they won't let you know who the heck is giving to their campaign. >> let me tell you why they're

keeping some of these things secret, a case years ago where wealthy white people were giving money to the naacp. an the naacp said don't make us reveal our contributors because these guys will face real problems if you do. the supreme court agreed with the naacp. if you're a wealthy guy giving money to defeat barack obama's party and you got a business, do you want all the people on the hill to know exactly who you are so they can come and do a they want to do to you? >> well, i don't think the naacp is giving any money to sharron angle. >> i don't think they are. but they're doing something to basically save their businesses, save what they're trying to doond not have hostile attacks on them just like the naacp in days of yore. >> do you think that the democrats would be complaining if they were getting any type of secret money or big donations in the coffers? >> well, look, it seems to me that you haven't had, on this score, nearly the level of money

that's come in, that's come in this year for the republicans secretly. but my point on this is i think it's important for democrats and republicans to say, look, there should be transparency. if you're buying influence, fine, voters can make a decision about that. but if they don't know about it, it's a little hard for them to make decisions. what works for the democrats should work for the republicans. >> you know, thomas, let me say this. look at 2008, barack obama raised three times as much as mccain, so he says, we're not going to abide by the law, we're going to go throw it aside because we're getting all this private money. we don't need the matching funds, we're going to crush him and he did. >> well then so did george bush before him. but the point is -- the point is that they have a choice. they can abide by the federal money, they can take federal money or not take it. obama was making so much money -- but the key on this is important. no party should be whining about

this. most races have enough money. the important thing to me, though, is, i'll repeat it again and again, is the transparency. don't make this se cress. >> thomas -- >> we've got a choice, though. >> who gets the money, though? we get it, in television. all the money goes for tv. we're getting it all! stop complaining. >> we rely on those tv ads. >> helping out msnbc out there. >> gentlemen, nice to talk with you today. a video all over the internet. a little girl at the zoo with the family. she's encouraged to keep singing as the lion comes up. puts a scare into the little girl. sh is okay. you can hear her crying. but she learned that lions can probably be a little bit mean. but pretty good video look, he's just coming up real nicy nice. he's a nice lion. who is going to eat your face.

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this is all flour for our friend bam. we're going to antique him when ghets here. >> what's up? >> not much. how you been? high five. >> oh, good stuff. the wild and crazy stunts have topped the box office two types before, but will "jackass 3-d" make it three for three. rob, you saw the movie. you've seen these clips. you're still getting tickled by it? >> it's funny. both of us were laughing about that. something so undearing about somebody get slapped in face with a giant hand. >> was that talcum powder. >> the movie is great. i saw it last night.

it was packed. and $14 million is what the estilts are for this movie which is much bigger than the last two jackass movies out there. >> it sounds so much more intelligent than when i say it. does the movie have competition. >> there's a movie called "red" helen mirren will will come in two and bruce willis. sort of like a movie about slightly older action stars going back to solve a crime. it's a very good movie. but that will probably come in at number two. that's probably the biggest competition of this weekend for "jack ass." >> red is an acronym for retired -- something like that. >> exactly. >> but it looks like a fun flick. >> it looks like a good movie, too. i chose to see, shamefully "jackass" instead. >> when you say it, it sounds so intelligent. actress joan collins is -- >> i know.

alexis is back. this is a cat fight. alexis carrington. you know your "dinesty ". she said that angelina is the most beautiful woman in the world. in fact, one of the only true beauties which led the reporter to ask her about jennifer, and she didn't think jennifer is quite as pretty. jennifer's camp has responded. camp aniston are usually very quiet. they did fight back and said that joan collins should basically mind her own business. >> another friend is in the news, courteney cox and david arquette. they've been together for 11 years. they have a little daughter together. it seemed like they were a hollywood couple that was actually making it. >> they did. everyone is surprised by this, except insiders say this marriage has been on the rocks for several months. yesterday there was a moving truck, a u-haul that was outside their house loading in david's

belongings. it looks like it really is over. >> there other people involved in this? because there's been some allegations that she's been hooking up with a guy that's on "cougar town" and he's hooked up with a waitress that looks a lot like her. >> the only thing that's been confirmed from david himself is he did hook up with this waitress, to quote him, once, maybe twice. i'm not sure if it was that remarkable if he's having that much trouble remembering how many times. but he said he did hook up. well, you know, he's claiming that they'd already separated. so it isn't technically cheating. >> and agreed that they could ceo people. >> what's upsetting her more than the hook-ups is this interview he did on howard stern that was pretty racy. >> and it was like 4:00 a.m. >> not good time. >> rob, always good to have you here. >> cheers. >> so a couple who rented a corvette have some explaining to do after it wound off in the ocean off san diego. they say they let a stranger who

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hi, everybody. it is msnbc saturday. these are your fast five headlines. there is yet another mine disaster. an explosion in central china has killed 20 miners and it is now believed that 16 remain trapped. in chile all but 2 of the 33 miners have been released from the hospital and gone home. early voting begins today in nevada where harry reid and tea party candidate sharron angle are in a statistical dead heat. president obama returns to the campaign trail today. he'll be stumping in massachusetts this afternoon for democratic governor deval patrick. a federal judge says the

co-founder of countryside and two other executives have agreed to pay to avoid a trial on civil fraud and insider trading charges. those are your fast five headlines. reports this morning that mexican state police have called off their search on a texas border lake for an american man. tiffany hartley says that mexican pirates shot and killed her husband on falcon lake last month. joining me is steve fagan, editor of "the monitor." on tuesday, the big development here was that mexican police commanders involved in the case -- or a mexican police commander involved in the case was found dead. shockingly enough, he had been decapitated. now there are reports that mexican authorities are stopping the search for hartley. does this mean -- should we read this that the mexican drug gangs have taken control, they're winning here and they've thwarted the investigation? >> i certainly think that that is something of an indication,

but i think also it may be an indication of a reality check on the part of mexican law enforcement authorities that is very unlikely no naert what they do that they're actually going to find a body. >> how do we keep this from escalating to an international incident if we don't feel that mexico is working in conjunction with american authorities that want to resolve this case for the hartley family? >> i think it already boils down to, obviously, an international incident. and again, i think that the mexican authorities will work as much as possible with the united states authorities. however, i think this everybody needs to start dealing with the reality that it's just not likely the body is going to be found. >> through the coverage of what the "monitor" does, what can you tell us about insights of falcon lake, the drug cartels, the situation that is going on there? >> there's pretty much open warfare among the cartels, particularly drug cartel -- i

mean, the gulf cartel and the zetas, in terms of battling it out for who is going to control the drug traffic coming across the border. then, of course, both seem to be battling it out with the federal police and mexican army units. so there's something of an all-out conflict going on. the interesting thing is that over the past several days, some of that has calmed down a little. we've not had as many overt incident os curing. >> what about the influence, though, of the drug traffickers and what some might perceive to be a coordination that they have with mexican law enforcement, that they may be working in some type of coordination where they're not coming down on them as hard as they should be? >> that's one of the reasons why president calderon of mexico has brought in the army and federal police to fight the traffickers. for us here in the valley,

perhaps even a greater concern is the influence that the money involved in the drug traffic has had on local law enforcement officials on this side of the border. >> that's even a bigger concern? >> from our standpoint, yes, it's a significant concern because certainly we've been doing a number of stories over the past several years and they seem to be increasing on local law enforcement officials from sheriff's deputies to local police to even federal agents from border patrol and customs who have been charged with various forms of abetting drug trafficking. >> steve, thanks for your insight on this. >> thank you very much. 10,000 empty plates set out in front of the eiffel tower today to commemorate world food day. it symbolizes the number of children who die every day from hunger. other events are being held in 2,000 cities and towns around france. a florida man is $650,000 richer

today after a kick to the face by a stripper. he was awarded the money after filing suit for a 2008 incident at the cheetah club in west palm beach. he claims he suffered double vision and broken bones after a dancer at the club kicked him in the face with her high heel. the dancer said she hit him by accident. it might only be october, but skiers in vermont are already making their first tracks of the year and getting excited for the ski season to come. the storm dumped over a foot in some places. the weather channel's jim cantore joins us live. i just saw skiers going by your snowman? >> how about that? they come by and say hello. >> skiing uphill. >> and it's perfect out here for skiing. a nice wet snow. kind of heavy. they got a chance to glide along it. as you can see, the snowman that's been hanging around with us all morning is still here. it hasn't melted yet unlike a

lot of the snow on the ground which will continue to melt. look ta water content of this snow. i mean, look at that. i don't even have to wring this one out. it's just soaked. that's how much water is in this. about an inch of rain, inch of liquid to four inches of snow. even though the chair isn't running now and people can't get up to do some skiing on the foot of snow this morning, people are excited to have the snow here. no question about it. i understand if you are coming to new england this weekend to enjoy the leaves, which we still have many buses doing that and now the storm's pulling out, that's great news, the tourism board is not going to charm for the snow. how is that? >> that's really nice of them. what's the temperature right now? >> about 39, 40 degrees. >> so not at freezing, right? >> yeah, 39 rng. >> you should know these things.

>> exactly. we've got a new precipitation type coming down. it's called snizzle. >> got ya. the leaves look great. for anybody out trying to catch the leaves before they're gone, you still got them up there. jim cantore for the weather channel, thank you. manners may be the last thing to come to mind when talking about taxi drivers. but virginia is holding a public hearing to consider a no ordinance to require cabbies to be polite and not just to passenger bus at all times to city officials and people on the street. residents, they're a bit divided. >> cab drivers sometimes don't give the necessary time to help people, especially those who are not from the d.c. area. >> i don't necessarily know that it's something that we should seriously look at or spend any time or money on. >> under the proposal, any driver who receives too many rude complaints could have their permit taken away. many cabbies say the rule unfairly regulates their personal behavior.

besides the family ties, there's a noorm erical birthday oddity that ties these young ones.

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just a few days ago they welcomed sierra born on 10-10-2010. earlier this morning chad and barbie sat down with amy this morning and amy asked them if those special birth dates were planned. >> once it came a realization, we were hoping. but obviously the well-being of mom and baby is first and foremost. >> chad, you have three kids at home all under the age of 3. you planning are thinking about a fourth child? because 11-11-2011 is just around the corner. >> no, no, you won't find us near any hospital delivery rooms on 11-11. >> i'll be ready, though. >> that's right. you never know what's coming up. how unique are those birth dates. statisticians say the chances are 1 in 2500. congratulations to them. msnbc is the place for

politics in this election. african-american republicans could make a comeback in the house. there's not been a black republican in the house of representatives since 2003. right now 14 african-american candidates are on the ballot for the gop in the november election. i'm joined by a republican candidate for u.s. congress from colorado. before we drill down into your district specifically, i want to ask you what is behind the seven-year absence between african-american republicans in the house? >> you know, thomas, i think that we just haven't seen enough minority republicans who have had the desire and the will to run for congress. and i think that's what's different about this year. we're seeing numbers the likes of which we haven't seen in a generation or more. and that's a good thing. i thing the republican party has a lot to offer. i'm excited to be amongst so many new voices that are running this year to offer the people an tun to have better representation. >> and ryan, you're often mentioned alongside with allen west of florida, maybe tim scott of south carolina, as the three

african-american republicans with the best chances to win congressional seats. what is it about the election cycle in your opinion that you think a going to really turn the tide? >> you know, thomas, from what i'm seeing and hearing on the ground here in colorado, people are really fundamentally concerned about the direction of the country, the economy is a big issue, job creation is what people want. they need to get back to work. they also want their government live within its means. this is not a novel concept. and they also want representatives are accountable to them, that will listen to them and ensure that they can take actions on their behalf back in washington. so that feeling is really prevalent throughout colorado and i imagine throughout america. and that's why i think you have so many new people who are running for congress this year, to represent the people and hopefully shape a better america, not just for ourselves but for future generations. >> what's your impression of the tea party? >> you know, i think the tea

party -- remember what it stands for, tax enough already. i've talked to a lot of people who are members of the tea party. the southern congressional district has a broad swath of different types of people with various backgrounds. a lot of these folks are concerned about what they believe to be too much spending, too much taxing and too much borrowing. when you talk about the issues, these are issues that it doesn't matter if you're a member of the tea party or a member of the coffee party or just a regular everyday american. we care about a fiscally responsible government. we don't want to be overtaxed and overregulated. when you talk about the issues, these are american issues, not just tea party issues is. >> what do you think about the fringe element and what that does to the reflection of the republican party? >> yeah, you know, there are fringe elements in any group. and the best thing we can do, again, is focus on the issues. if you go anywhere, whether it's to a more conservative group or more liberal group, you will have those on the fringes. they don't represent the whole.

they don't represent the great majority of commonsense individuals who fundamentally want to help shape a better country and want to have their voices heard. thomas, this election is about the direction of america. it's fundamentally a decision that the american people will make as to which direction they feel makes for a better country, a more fiscally responsible country, a country where you're able to get out there abind a good job and where you have a congress that literally reads the bills and actually understands them before they vote on them. and so, again, you know, have those fringes. you are going to have that in any type of movement or thing out there. but the reality is this -- it does not represent the whole. the great majority are focused on the issues that are important to them and their families. >> ryan, we've been talking a lot this morning about outside money sources that have come into different campaigns around the country. according to reports, there's a group called american action network that's poured over a million dollars into your campaign. what do you think about that, candidates that are getting all

of these huge donations to their coffers coming from outside sources? it has to make somebody wonder, just us regular voters, what's the purpose? what do they want from you if you do get elected? >> right. well, i think, thomas, first we have to qualify that. these outside groups have not poured any money into my campaign. i'm focused over -- on the folks who are raising money here in colorado. we have well over 85% of our contributions that have come from coloradans, from folks who care about their country. but i realize there are a number of outside groups both on the let and on the right that are playing. and i think this is something that the next congress will need to address, to make sure we look at ways to provide for disclosure so that we know where moneys are coming from into these outside organizations. that's what american people am people want and what we'll have to do in the next congress. but that said, you know, i want to make sure i'm very clear that we don't interrupt the opportunity for anyone to have freedom of speech. >> right. >> the ability to have their

resources help or hinder or, you know, advocate a message that they believe is the right one. as far as myself, i'm very proud of the grass roots support we have on the ground here in colorado. we have so many individuals who have never been involved ever before who are getting involved with our campaign because i think they're excited about having a new voice in congress. >> here we go. the 17 days away now. so ryan frazier, good to have you on today. look forward to talking to you possibly again. >> thanks. now to today's list of number ones. it was a long time in coming like 20 years but finally crews in switzerland have completed drilling on the world's longest tunnel stretching 35.4 miles beneath the alps and will allow high speed rail traffic passage when it opens in 2017. now to the best airline in north according to readers of conde nast. that would be virgin america winning the honor for the third straight year. finally the hottest song in america "just the way you are" tops the billboard top 100 for the fourth straight week.

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low inflation and high unemployment are keeping the economy slow to grow. that's according to fed chairman ben bernanke but he also said the federal reserve is ready to take action with more solutions when it meets next month. what can we expect? we'll find out. vera gibbons is msnbc's financial analysis. >> hello. >> let's talk about the consumer takeaway. >> more action. the recovery just isn't happening, right? consumer confidence is low. people aren't spending. the fed is going to jump in and take action was the message from the fed on friday. we just don't know how aggressive they're going to be but the idea is to pump money into the system, get consumers spending and work on the job situation. we've been at 9.5% for 14 consecutive months.

it's a problem. people don't have jobs. >> so as we look back over september retail sales were up, so that's a good sign. third monthly increase. >> that was good. people got out and spent because the stock market was up. they were feeling rich. went out, bought big ticket items, appliances. when you feel rich you spend more. >> right. burns a hole in my pocket, vera. >> so they were out doing that. that's just september. going ahead for the holiday season, you know, if you look at the estimates, flat to an up tick of 2.3%, the consumer is still cautious, not in the game a hundred percent. how can they be given the employment situation? 60% of consumers say their primary influence on where they shop this holiday season is going to be price. >> and corn prices have gone up, which is a good thing. >> it's unfortunate actually because it's showing up at the grocery store so that's going up. your salaries are going down. things at the grocery store, everything from corn flakes to sodas to meats, poultry, that's all going up because the grocery stores can't continue to absorb

the cost. at some point they've got to pass it on down to you. if it hasn't already been passed down to you, it will be, unfortunately, thomas. that's the way it goes. >> that is the way business is, huh? >> that's the way it goes. >> vera gibbons, thanks so much. that wraps up our live coverage here on msnbc saturday. stay with us for headline updates and breaking news as it happens. i'm thomas roberts. see you back here tomorrow. ♪ sd 40 copies, obviously collated ♪ what's going on? when we're crunched for time, brad combines office celebrations with official business. it's about efficiency. [ courier ] we can help. when you ship with fedex, you can work right up until the last minute. it gives you more time to get stuff done. that's a great idea. ♪ i need to speak with you privately ♪ ♪ i found your resume on the printer ♪ everyone! ♪ i found your resume on the printer ♪ [ male announcer ] we understand.® you need a partner who gives you more time. fedex. i'm gonna need my biggest player. a change in the lineup? [ female announcer ] one bottle of ultra dawn has the grease-cleaning power of two of this competing brand. [ sponge ] way to go, kid. [ female announcer ] dawn does more... [ sponge ] so it's not a chore.

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