but now i see the splash., ♪ i wanted love, i needed love ♪ ♪ most of all, most of all... ♪ right now on msnbc saturday, lifting the fog of war. classified military documents revealed showing a staggering number of casualties in the war in iraq. we're digging through the documents. how the west will be won with just ten days to go. president obama's out on the campaign trail trying to stave off a republican landslide. >> she quit working for us and

worked only for herself. >> turning senator boxer's head into a giant floating blimp. just one of the crazy ways that candidates are trying to get noticed this year. the best ads of the season for you. plus hay rides to haunted house, why americans are spending more than ever this year to get spooked. good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt, msnbc saturday. the group behind the release of nearly 400,000 classified war documents says it wants to expose the truth. wikileaks posted papers on line. jim miklaszewski. what do these documents reveal? >> you know, there's no other way to describe it but a monumental leak of u.s. military secrets. nearly 400,000 documents.

if stacked on top of each other, that would be the equivalent of about 800 telephone books. it's mostly raw battlefield reports from unit leaders sent up the chain of command. a detailed but grim picture of the war in iraq. some of the most damning documents involve the deaths of iraqis, many iraqi security forces but most civilians. they reveal the u.s. military knew iraqi security beat, tortured and murdered detainees, but american forces were under orders not to intervun, so they looked the other way. one document showed an american helicopter gunship shot and killed a group of iraqis trying to surrender. >> i need to see all your i.d.s. >> reporter: other documents reveal that hundreds of iraqi civ civilians were killed at u.s. military checkpoints. in one five-year period more than 66,000 iraqi civilians were killed even though the pentagon repeatedly claimed they didn't

keep such statistics. the names of more than 300 iraqi informants working with the americans appear in the documents. so today, the u.s. military, along with the iraqis, are attempting to track down each and every one to warn them their lives may be at risk. pentagon officials condemn wikileaks for releasing the documents. >> but our biggest concern here is that it could endanger our forces even more than they inherently are in these war zones by revealing how we work on the battlefield. >> reporter: perhaps more troubling over the long run, the secret documents provide hard evidence that iran had a bigger role in fomenting violence in iraq than first thought and is still interfering in iraq today. the big question is where could all of these documents have come from? the prime suspect is a 22-year-old army pfc by the name of bradley manning who worked as an intelligence analyst in iraq.

he's already in custody accused of leaking documents, some of it to wikileaks. if he's involved in this leak, he's just not saying. >> you got to wonder, too, how he got away with all of this. jim, it's like almost half a million documents that he's had access to when you add it all up. >> yes, and if he is in fact involved in the leak of all of those, according to military officials, what he did was took a disk into the skiff, that's a classified area, loaded them into the machine, but according to some reports, as he sat there at his computer, he would then sing or hum lady gaga songs to make everybody think that those disks were actually music disk, but allege idly it appeared he was downloading this material that he allegedly passed on to wikileaks. he's charged with some of those leaks and could face up to a lifetime incarceration if not the death penalty. nobody thinks it will go that

far, but it's possible. >> that's interesting there, the lady gaga cover-up. thanks so much. >> you bet. >> new word from washington this morning as the race for the midterm vote entering the final stretch. president obama and south dakota senator john thune clashed on the issue of reform. >> despite the terrible economic dislocation caused by the failures in our financial system under the old rules, top republicans in congress are now beating the drum to repeal all of these reforms and consumer protections. >> despite a dangerously high national debt that is closing in on $14 trillion, the president wants to spend even more money on these kinds of failed policies. new polling is setting the stage for november 2nd. although republicans claim momentum in the race, more registered voters say they're leaning toward democratic candidates. this from a "newsweek" survey which shows 48% democrats, 42% back the gop. as far as the president's

approval, 54% from 48% in late september according to "newsweek." the president will be back in campaign mode as he tries to tend off a republican challenge just ten days from the polls. mike viquiera is traveling with the president. >> reporter: he has another big rally on tap. this one for mark dayton, a gubernatorial candidate. he began in oregon, big rally there for the democratic candidate for governor, then on to washington, another big rally on the campus of the university of washington, for patty murray, another endangered democratic candidate, this time for the senate, then he headed to california, raising money, $2.5 million in the course of just 24 hours. another big rally, this one in favor of jerry brown, of course, running for governor there in california and barbara boxer,

yet another senate democrat who is in trouble. last night a rally at a middle school in las vegas for harry reid. the embattled senate democratic leader, of course, two points behind in the latest poll. a bruising battle here in nevada. if the president can hold those three states for the democrats in the united states senate, washington, california and nevada, then he can hold on to control of his party. the house of representatives, as you well know, in deep trouble now. many expect it to go republican. but if he holds on to the senate there, he has a toe hold in congress. there is more campaigning to go with just ten days left. he'll go to rhode island on monday, then next weekend, trips to connecticut, philadelphia, chicago and cleveland, trying to close the deal with voters. see if he can make a difference in some of these senate races and even just hold on in some of these marginal races where it's back and forth, a see saw battles where there's toss-ups, an appearance by the president can help. they selected these districts and states very carefully. they go there only when they

think they can help the candidate. they do not go when an appearance by the president could damage the candidacy in a lot of these swing districts. the president on the road. he's got more campaigning on tap. so far, things look very grim for democrats, but the president not giving up yet. alex. >> thank you. coming up sunday on "meet the press" an interview with rnc chairman michael steele. david gregory will speak with the man leading the "fire pel i pelosi" bus tour. a 19-year-old california surfer is dead after he was attacked by a shark. lucas ransom's leg was bitten off as he surfed with his friend. he was pronounced dead at the scene. experts say shark attacks are very rare. there have been 100 shark attacks in california only a dozen have been fatal. authorities are trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a historic chapel

virginia. all stained glass windows were lost as well. no injuries were reported. a report by the centers for disease control confirms what appears to be in nation's first known case of hiv infection through a blood transfusion in eight years. the report published on friday says a colorado man was infected with hiv after receiving a tainted blood transfusion in 2008. the cdc says the donor, a man in missouri, lied on a questionnaire about his sex life. experts say such a thing is very rare and they have several safeguards in place. storm chasers filmed a violent hailstorm in western texas. ice rockies the size of golf balls rained down in lubbock. it caused traffic delays, no injuries reported. bill karins is here with more explaining on what happened there. >> that's windshield-breaking hail right there. if you're storm chasing and one of the rule of thumb is don't get caught in what we call the hail shaft. you're chasing it in your vehicle and that's usually your

own car. you don't want to deal with that. storm chasers out there in texas, that's where we're watching a severe weather threat. don't see too many tornadoes but large hail and strong gusty winds. the dallas area right now just showers for you. the heaviest rains are ut o there by abilene, wichita falls got hit pretty hard earlier. a lot of lightning with those storms. further to the north, not so much severe weather but a three or four hour period straight in chicago. peoria is getting drenched. you are about to get thunderstorms moving through. in chicago, i give you about another half hour of dry weather, then the rain will move in. it will be with you probably till noon or 1:00. the wider view also shows some of the rain up there into wisconsin. we have the stormy weather in the middle of the country. those storms are lined up. three over there on the map. one over on the pacific northwest. another one far out in the pacific. it will be a stormy weekend.

we'll see some snow at the high elevations and seattle to portland. a little break around eugene. look at california, from san francisco northwards, there's rain all over the place. even sacramento. they're getting snow up in the high elevations in tahoe this weekend. our computers are estimating as much as five inches of rain. northern portions of the state. also two to three inches around oregon. high winds, you got it. this is just a messy weekend in the northwest. you want to talk about great weather this weekend, you have to go to the east coast. 80s from the gulf to florida. look at d.c. today. 71 beautiful degrees. i'm happy to say for everyone on the east coast, looks like your nice weather will remain while much of the west will be very stormy. the winter outlook was just issued by noaa, our government weather agency. they said that the worst of the winter should be the pacific northwest. but as far as heavy snow goes, the best chance of it, the great lakes. chicago, detroit, northwards could have a frosty winter. >> that means you'll have to

head west to ski. >> these are all just predictions. >> thanks for the heads up. countdown to midterms. could women be the key to democrats holding back a republican wave? plus forget detention. one school district wants to put parents in jail for skipping a parent/teacher conference. they are real life horror shows. many of us can't get enough of them. [ female announcer ] introducing splenda®

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they consistently come to the ballot box. no surprise both parties are working to win over women voters. but no polling suggests the democrats may have the biggest battle there. a pew research survey shows women favor republicans by a six-point margin and that represents a big swing from what president obama enjoyed the last

cycle. in 2008 barack obama won 56% of the female vote. i think you should tell our voters that we have republican strategist karen on the way. >> best buddies for special olympics. we worked on. needless to say, i'm not running in it. but i think she's caught up in it, unfortunately. but she'll be here next hour. >> we look forward to getting her here in time for that. peter, what do you make of all that candidates struggling for the female vote. >> traditionally there has been a gender gap. males have supported republicans, females have supported democrats more. the pocketbook issues hit them hard. social issues are important to them. and if these numbers are correct and there have been some other polls which show about an even split now, that could hurt

democrats' chances in november, there's no question. but i think one of the things that the president's trying to do and a lot of candidates is to show what he has done for women voters. he had a backyard event last week out west. and they're pushing it pretty hard as we approach november. >> so peter, we have a couple of specific races here, female senators locked in close once. barbara boxer, patty murray, blanche lincoln. if these races are lost, what effect might that have on the female vote two years from now? >> of course, barbara boxer would be replaced by a woman, too. >> carly fiorina. >> exactly. but one of the things that the republicans have tried to do is to recruit more women candidates for office lately. they were in pretty bad shape during the '90s on that. but one of the things that's awfully important here is not just obviously the sex of somebody but what they stand for and what they fight for.

do they fight for a woman's right to choose? are they open to gay and lesbian rights on the social side? are they fighting for middle class families? do they care about health care and solving that very ticklish problem? those kinds of things are front and center i think for women these days. look, the problem is that you look at the new york poll where you are. 69% of folks in new york were afraid that they would lose their job or someone in their family would lose their job. that weighs very, very heavily. often, you know, women are not only bread winners or partial bread winners, they're managing households, they're managing the finances, they're working two jobs in a sense. and they feel some stress with that, i think. >> yeah, pal, you are preaching to the congregation right now, i'll tell ya. but with regard to the youth vote. we have the president on college campuses right now. he's going to be on "the daily

show" with jon stewart next week. anything t traditional track record that the midterm elections don't really play well with young voters? >> well, i think you're going to have a drop-off all across the board, alex. you always do. but something interesting is going on out there. this is a high stakes election. there are a lot more races that are really in play than usual. over 100 house seats, you know, she's senate seats now, senate races are very close. they're within a couple of points. a lot of advertising, a lot of money being spent. my sense that some of the prognosticators may be wrong. that the turnout may actually be better than in an off year. the one thing about the obama folks, they got 15 million e-mail addresses. that's one of almost four people who voted for them out there. and they're going to be pushing, obviously, the youth vote and they're going to be pushing the women's vote. they're going the try to go to

their women base and get them to vote. the naysayers say this will be a terrible turnout election. they very well may be wrong. >> peter fenn, how did you like not having to argue with anybody? >> i argue with myself all the time. >> that's a little scary. i'll get you to explain another time. getting your pants scared off is now a $6 million business in this country. how halloween went to a month-long celebration. with all the equipment you use to stay fit, you might want to try lifting one of these. in recent years we've added a unique natural sea salt to over 40 campbell's condensed soups. it helps us reduce sodium, but not flavor. so if you're ready to eat a little better, grab your spoon and do a few lifts. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ princess of the powerpoint.

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♪ [ growls ] ♪ ♪ [ polar bear grunting ] [ growls ] [ male announcer ] introducing the 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all. new numbers show halo wean is turning into one booming business. just last week the national retail federation said americans are willing to spend about 17.7% more than last year's halloween. the international association of haunted attractions estimates that the haunted attraction industry is a $6 billion business and there are approximately 2500 haunted houses, hay rides and other attractions out there for you. entrepreneurs may have figured out just how to extend one day

of trick or treating into a month-long celebration. joining us is the president of the international association of haunted attractions. a lot of people want your job. that sounds pretty cool and fun. >> we get to be walt disney for one month of the year. it's a blast. >> let's talk about the economy and how in a downturn like this, americans seem to be spending so much more on halloween. why do you think this is? >> i don't remember a whole lot from college, but i remember even in a bad economy they're going to spend money on soda, pizza. we are the entertainment for the fall season. >> what do you think the catalyst was for that? it went from being this simple trick-or-treat night to literally you can go to events for weekends leading up to halloween. >> we started our haunt 19 years ago. we rode the ride and it's been amazing. people have come out, you know,

just in volumes, year after year more and more. as we've given them more product, they've come out in greater numbers. >> you haven't been looking at this video. but what we're showing our viewers is something from new hampshire. this is like a friday the 13th re-creation. it is nasty. it is scary. and look, i mean, people are literally running away. they probably have the wits scared out of them. what is it that makes people want to see this? >> well, it's entertainment. a unique style of entertainment. and any good entertainment there's emotion, you know. and we in the haunt industry pull out emotion, a unique emotion to scare the fear, the emotion of fear, that you generally don't experience throughout the year. so you know, it's the weekend, you want to live your life, you want to live in the now, you want to experience something new and different, you go to a haunted house, you go to a haunt. >> what makes a great haunted

house? what must it have? >> well, it has to have the great startles, the great scares. but really, you know, haunted houses are, for the most part, theater. we have actors, scripts, makeup, costumes, we have set design. our customers, our audience, they don't sit in a theater. they're actually intermingling with the actors. and in the sets. so what makes it great? it's all of the above. everything has to be on the top of the game. >> do you ever see hollywood helping you out in terms of your industry? if you got great theatrical industry -- which is the case around now -- paranormal activity, whatever they are. does that translate to people thinking, let's go toout to a haunted house. >> the season, the day has people thinking about it. we have the movies, all coming together. plus all of us, our individual haunts advertising saying go to

a haunted house this season. when everyone is saying the same thing it becomes part of our culture. that is extending out to the uk and china and germany. the people around the world are watching what we've been doing here in america, the past 20 years and emulating that and the whole experience is growing around the world. >> it is pretty cool. i don't know that i'd go to that one. that one in new hampshire. >> nightmare in new england. i was there columbus day, monday, a fantastic show. a great show. >> joanna in my ear in the booth, oh, i'm not going there. >> it's all fun. it's entertainment. live in the now. experience something unique. >> and scream and run out of there. >> that's right. >> where else can you scream without people looking at you funny, right? >> well taken. thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. up next it feels like cash flies out the window during the holidays. with present-buying season just around the corner, we've got ways to save. fiscal conservative in name

only? a wolf in sheep's clothing. >> the demon sheep. we love it. but not the best out of the 2010 season. we'll delve into the world of the wacky and see what tops the demon sheep -- we'll show you some of the runners-up. [ male announcer ] for fastidious librarian emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come.

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i'm alex witt and here are the top stories at the bottom of the hour for you. a brazen attack in western afghanistan today by suicide bombers dressed as women and policemen. three attackers managed to breach the compound walls after a fourth detonated a car bomb near the gates. there were no u.n. casualties in that attack. honduras is under a hurricane watch right now as tropical storm richard heads right towards central america. richard is dumping heavy rains in honduras prompting concerns of mud slides. britain's new advanced nuclear submarine is now free after being stuck on the rocks off scotland. it is due to be the first in a class of nuclear powered subs.

they'll probably keep on testing that sub. another big day of political headlines as both parties begin their final sprint to the midterm finish. president obama will be in minnesota today for his fifth rally in four days. he spoke to thousands of supporter last night in nevada. harry reid is locked in a tight race. >> harry's not the flashiest guy. let's face it. you know, harry kind of speaks in a very soft voice. he doesn't move real quick. but harry reid does the right thing. >> let's bring in mark murray, nbc news deputy political director. let's go to some of the places where the president is weighing in, on behalf of the gubernatorial candidate there mark dayton. he's facing a challenge from the republican tom emmer, an independent voter play. what is the takeaway here?

>> despite the overall political environment that's benefiting republicans right now, democrats feel pretty good about this gubernatorial contest. democrats will be taking a beating in the midwest, those big ten states but democrats have an even odds chance of winning that contest. you mentioned the democrat in the case former senator mark dayton, the republican is tom emmer, who some feel is a little too conservative to win this contest. this is the contest to replace tim pawlenty who is retiring. one piece of trivia, despite that minnesota's democratic-leaning nature, a democrat hasn't held this governor's mansion since 1991. democrats are trying to reverse that trend. >> can i just ask about tim pawlenty. you say he's retiring, bus hee a guy whose name gets bantered about for a presidential run. >> tim pawlenty is very likely to run for the presidency. that's why he is retiring as governor and really setting his

sights on 2012. never say never but he's one that we're definitely watching for 2012. >> let's go to the state of washington where the president has been there for patty murray. she's neck and neck in this race with dino rossi. how are we calling this one so far or is it too close? >> it is neck and neck. but democrats have a fingernail advantage. of course democrats end up losing in washington state if they lose in minnesota, you know that the republican wave is going to be incredibly big. and the thing that i'm watching on the washington state senatorial campaign is if republicans win, the republican candidate is dino rossi. if he ends up winning, we're looking at probably a republican-held senate. that's the keystone for republicans s ts to able to wi the senate. they have to win all these other, but that will keep us up late on election night. >> what about the president making the big appearance for

barbara boxer in california there? the poll shows that there is a narrowing of the race there. what does barbara boxer have to do to hang on to her seat and beat out carly fiorina? >> she has to make sure the people showing up just aren't your conservative republicans who have been showing up in a lot of these likely voter models and polls. right now boxer has, you know, a two or three-point edge over carly fiorina. the one thing that should worry some democrats is that boxer is below 50%. when you're an incumbent, you never want to be in that situation. democrats feel okay about this race. they feel better about the gubernatorial contests and they're hoping that jerry brown can carry barbara boxer across the finish line. >> many thanks for your insights. >> thanks. >> you can head on to firstread.msnbc.com. our world view this morning begins in haiti where aid agencies are scrambling to get

supplies to hospitals fighting a cholera epidemic. almost 200 people have died. more than 2,000 are infected with the disease. the outbreak has begun in central haiti. it has spread. they're worried it can make its way to camps of those who were left homeless in the quake. chronic violence in the border town has convinced many of the city's medical professionals to leave. doctors no longer provide home visits. dozens of clinics have been forced to close. in japan, sparks flew during a traditional torch bearing festival said to date back to the 10th century. they paraded around a shrine carrying torches. in cuba, sales of the havana club rum are expected to rise this year despite the u.s. trade embargo. the company markets the rum in europe and mexico. it is looking to china and indias a future markets.

some discouraging news on the job front. unemployment rate drops in 23 states. they rose in only 11. and that's the best showing since june. jobless claims fell by 23,000 last week. good news for department stores, though. after two years of tightening purse string, american consumers are expect to spend 2.3% more this holiday season in terms of the money they outlay there. but even if you do have a little more wiggle room in your budget, msnbc's ver ra gibbons is here to tell us how we can build up a nest egg. you save first and then go out to spend. >> so you don't pay rent, right? you need to come up with the money. adjust your tax with holding. the average refund was 2900, which tell us that we're having

too much with held from your paychecks. you need to get the money as you earn it rather than give the government an interest-free loan. make adjustments when necessary. just to give you a hypothetical, if you made 30,000, you're single, for example, if you take two extra allowances assuming your entitled to them, you're going to boost your monthly take-home pay. and it will be reflected in your next paycheck right there. >> that's good to know. >> what about the impulse shopping. >> curb it. there was a new survey that just came out, 80% of consumers admit to an impulse buy over the last year. i thought we were getting better at this, i guess not. at the department store, the grocery stores, those flash sales at the social buying websites such as groupon, for example, a lot of impulse buying goes on there. avoid the impulse buy because the average price is $108. >> you know where you spend a

lot of money between now and the end of the year, is the sup supermarket. thanksgiving, candy. >> it adds up. one easy thing you want to do here to save at the supermarket, limit the number of times you go because -- to once a week, because the more often you go, the more unplanned purchases you make. >> so true. >> most of us go three to four times a week. and you buy all kinds of stuff. 50% of the purchases at the grocery store are impulse buys. avoid that. plan your weekly meals. i know you do that, alex. >> you have to. >> maybe double, triple batches and freeze whatever you can. >> keep track of what you have in your wallet? >> so many people are losing track of where their money is going. there was a new survey out by visa showing quite a bit of mystery spending going on. we're losing $21 a week that we can't account for. >> a pack of gum. >> gum, candy, food, people don't know where it goes.

i'm saying be more accountable. take $2 out of warl lwallet eve and you have $60 a month. >> the markup is 1300%. wine at restaurant, 100 to 200% mark jum on the bottles, 400% on the glasses. coffee, 300% markup. brand name drugs marked up from 200 to 3,000 percent on average. avoid the precut foods and vegetables. if you add up all these different things we've got $509.30 saved for the holidays. >> nice, vera. we'll keep these here and mark them up. if you're one of those people who don't like to wear a helmet when you ride your bike, some help may be on the way. two swedish inventors have come up with what they call an

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ten days after the midterm

election, the campaign price tags continue to soar. the two candidates have spent a combined 87 million since july. that is a record. meg whitman is leaning on her personal fortune but polls show jerry brown ahead. latino voters are being targeted by a new push. telemundo and vote america are issuing campaigns to make sure hispanics get out to the polls. making a good political ad can often mean getting more than a little bit wacky. because in this day and age craze se what gets noticed. beltway, a fun new political website is giving out awards for the best political ads of the season. we've go the winner. drum roll, please. it's boxer the blimp created by one of the gop's most sought after ad men.

it costs her as a washington insider full of hot air. so watch. >> becoming more and more bitterly partisan while she became shockingly less and less effective. soon her elitest self-image grew so that it overwhelmed the capitol and drifted west. >> joining me now is heather murphy, editorial director for beltway.com. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> what do you think makes this one the overall winner, especially in this year of really wacky ads? >> we just loved this ad. when you look at it, if you were a child and went into a movie theater and watched this ad, you would just be terrified. it's very creative. we felt like it was an homage to "ghostbusters." >> it employed some pretty creative techniques. some of this stuff was used in avatar, right? >> exactly. director fred davis who is really well known for demon sheep, this is his true

masterpiece in some ways. he spent a long time on this ad. the face that's on that blimp there, used the same sort of techniques that we saw in avatar. >> we'll get to demon sheep. everybody hang on. the best shower scene ad. john hinkalooper, a democrat running in colorado. >> i guess i'm in the a very good politician. because i can't stand negative ads. every time i see one, i feel like i need to take a shower. >> yeah, he takes 14 showers in 32 seconds. we counted on this. the ads helped him become the mayor of denver in 2003. how do you see this one as playing out? >> this one is going really well for him. like you said, he took 14 showers in 32 seconds. goes through all these different clothing changes. he try to take a positive spin. this is his way of trying to have a positive ad. >> because last time he actually pledged not to run any negative ads. number three, best line in a political ad.

we have iowa republican chuck grassley's twitter ad. >> i heard chuck grassley has a twitter. >> oh. can it be cured? >> okay. what is that all about? they're kind of suggesting that twitter is a bad thing, right? >> you don't know quite what they're suggesting right there about twitter. we've never heard twitter taken in this direction. and the 77-year-old candidate taking it in that way definitely went viral for him on the web. >> appealing to the youth vote. because the ads suggest that he uses facebook as well. so it keeps him appealing to the youth. so let's get to the best or perhaps least most embarrassing old spice spoof. this is daniel freilich, candidate from vermont. >> hello vermonters, no back, to me, no, back to senator. no, back to me. sadly, he isn't me i'm daniel freilich and i approve of this

message. i'm on a cow. yee-haw. >> what is that about? that's the old spice ad, isn't it? >> three candidates used the old spice. we do love the way that he ended up on this man wearing a cow costume. and that stood out. although he may not have won the race, he will be remembered for that moment. >> yes, he will. >> there's a website that lets you actually cast a vote. i love the choices. you can go with lol, i like, omg, that's oh, my god, and veto. talk about that. who is that appealing to? >> anyone who wants to go on -- you'd be amazed how many things get the omg vote. but everything on our new site beltway you can vote on, on these campaign ads. there's been a lot of omgs, we don't know why, with these ads.

>> maybe they're saying, oh, my god, are you kidding me? we promised everyone there the demon sheep. best performance here. another really crazy ad for carly fear o reno. >> tom campbell. is he what he tell us or is he what he's become over the years. an fcino, fiscal conservative in name only. a wolf in sheep's clothing? >> explain this one to me. >> yes. this is fred davis' creation to try and take down tom campbell and make tom campbell seem -- show that he's not who he seems. and it almost seems like a sock puppet, but this was a very successful attack ad for -- for carly fiorina.

he said he can't go anywhere without being introduced as the demon sheep man from now on. >> isn't the demon sheep wearing shoes as well? >> he is. he's crawling. there's this moment when he crawls slowly in the grass. you see this man -- here we go. this is the key moment. yeah. there you go. >> it is all great entertaining, we thank you for bringing it to us. >> thank you so much. >> you can see more of the weak ads including the winner for best political food flick, that's all there for you at msnbc.com. skip a parent/teacher conference, go to jail? a different way to get parents involved. [ manager ] you know... i've been looking at the numbers, and i think our campus is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job.

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a prosecutor in michigan is

pushing for a new law which would send parents to jail for skipping their student's parent/teacher conferences. it was pitched to the city council. it would require parents to attend at least one conference a year or the parent would be put in jail. kids with good grades are exempt or parents with health issues. i'm glad you're here. i'm a parent. i've been to many a parent/teacher conference, what is your stance? >> well, on its face, we like it. we think it sends the right message that parents should be much more involved in their child's education than to be absent. to be absent is unacceptable. so that's what this ordinance would deal with. we -- you know, there's been criticism of our county prosecutor for even proposing such a thing. but we'll take a look at it and make sure that it doesn't just punish parents but also supports

them. because obviously there are issues if you've had no contact with your child's school. >> the status of the proposal, where is it and what happens next? >> we received the presentation from our county prosecutor. i assigned it to a committee. what we're now going to do is take a look at it. we'll look at whether the jail time should be there or -- but we believe that all incentives should be in this ordinance to get parents to the table. and i want to rede-emphasize the jail part. because that's just the extreme punishment. there's a range of things that can happen including parenting classes or probation, strict warning from the judge. but this is really about getting parents whose kids have whose kid's grades have slipped. you don't necessarily have to go to a pta meeting. you can skype, you can facebook, you can text, you can call or arrange a visit at other times.

so there are ample opportunities for parents to get involved. that's the message we want to send. >> what are parents saying about this in the community? how are they reacting? >> it's been a range of reaction. clearly when you say you miss a parent/teacher conference and you go to jail, that's what everybody wants to focus on. how dare you take people away from their kids? but we say how dare we as a community allow people not to be involved in their kids' education. we want o to send the message that is no longer okay to be absent from your child's school or education. because again this is only for parents whose kids' grades have slipped. if your kids are doing poorly in school, then the question is why aren't you at the child's school, calling the teacher? i had a friend who was e-mailing his daughter's teacher back and forth the other day during a homework session. he said it was a very helpful tool to help his daughter. these are the kinds of creative ways. there was one criticism that

said that this really goes after single parents and it unfairly hurts single parents who work. >> come on. >> i think that single parents who work really could use the help to say, look, what other ways can i get involved in my child's school? so attending at least one parent/teacher conference or having some contact with your child's school i think is not much to ask. >> yeah, i got to say, i have to agree with you. i don't like to weigh in on a lot of things. but i'm a parent and education to me is what it is all about. get involved with your kid's schooling. it has wonderful benefits from having done so. >> charles pugh, we'll follow this. thank you. still to come on this msnbc saturday, with just ten days to go till the crucial elections, democrats are wooing women. are ladies the key? ositive? we're gonna have a baby. ♪

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