senator jim demint, nbc's kelly o'donnell is live in colombia for us this morning. jim demint played debate moderator yesterday of sorts. >> this is a different kind of forum. here in south carolina, the people who attended said they liked it that way. that means there weren't journalists asking questions. it wasn't about bringing up a candidate's past and picking apart trying to bring in new information. it was talking about issues that mattered to conservatives, the meaning of the constitution, talking about social issues like abortion, gay marriage a little bit, also the health care law and what should be done with some of the things that are happening in the economy. it was not as much about the president as it was about the conservative values and issues that matter to these candidates. it had a really different feel. for mitt romney who is considered a bit of a longer shot in a state like south carolina, because he doesn't have a natural constituency here that perhaps rick perry would have because of his southern

nbc's kelly o'donnell has been watching all of this and is with us from capitol hill. kelly, on the congressional races, the party that loses the seats always says, well, this was just a local election. the party that gains them says, well, it was obviously a referendum on the president. >> reporter: that was exactly the script today, brian. and those two new republican house members will be sworn in. their parties say it is a bad omen for the president and democrats. when you consider the new york district has been in democratic hands for 88 years. democrats say they can't sugarcoat the losses, but they say that the president's low approval rating, especially in the new york district made winning insurmountable. they say don't read into it. they say the republican winner hammered the president on policy toward israel in a district with many conservative jews. something you won't see repeated around the country. when you get to the republican challenge in the massachusetts senate race, remember it was the tea party's first big win. that propelled scott brown into finish

nbc's kelly o'donnell with us tonight from capitol hill. kelly? >> reporter: hi there, brian. john boehner laid out what he said is a pattern of washington interfering, micromanaging the people in businesses who could be hiring. he says burdensome regulation and taxes. he said he can work with the president on some things but it sure didn't sound like that. in the political fight over jobs, today the counterpunch from the speaker of the house. >> now, the president's proposals are a poor substitute for the progrowth policies that are needed to remove barriers to job creation in america. >> reporter: speaker boehner's message -- no new taxes to pay for the president's jobs plan, and don't assume republicans will automatically back temporary cuts without a bigger overhaul of the tax code. >> making short-term fixes in exchange for long-term flawed policy is not tax reform. >> reporter: in an interview with cnbc's maria bartiromo, boehner said he still wants to work with the president but pulled no punches about their differences. >> it's almost as if we are two groups of people

kelly o'donnell who we swear is inside the house chamber tonight. >>> david gregory, moderator of "meet the press" and andrea mitchell. of course the economy is broken, but adding to that, our politics are broken right now, to it's against that backdrop that the president walks in the chamber. >> at some point, i spoke to money managers this week who are dealing with americans who are watching their savings and wondering about what's happening with the economy let alone jobs, and said this is a fund -- with regard to what's plaguing the economies around the world, notably in europe, that's where the president's trying to fill the void here, saying government can do some things, another big stimulus package. i spoke to another top republican aid. i don't see that getting through until that supercommittee does its work on cutting more out of the deficit. >> the options are fairly limited, putting people back to work, it's private sector, public sector, you could call it a public works program, using other words. >> that's what the president was betting on at least in part. but he doesn't

our report tonight from nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: senator edward kennedy had written his only daughter was given a name that meant little dear one, kara. what her father meant to her was easy to see when kara accepted the medal of freedom in his place in 2009. kara reached out to mourners and led a prayer at the senator's funeral. >> for he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. >> reporter: kara had been a nearly ten-year lung cancer survivor. she died suddenly friday after a workout. brother patrick said her heart gave out, weakened by the gruelling chemo. kara made films and tutored students but her drive centered around her children -- max, 14 and grace who turns 17 today. this weekend, former vice president walter mondale and his wife joan lost their only daughter eleanor. she talked about her long battle with brain cancer in 2009. >> you think, i'm not going to die. it's not going to get me. you know, i'm going to be all right. >> reporter: eleanor relished a public life of her own as a tv and radio host. unlike many

nbc's kelly o'donnell watching it all from capitol hill tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. one more stat from the poll for you that's very telling. more than half of the public says that they think every member of congress should be replaced. so congress is back tonight feeling some pressure to get some things done. the republicans are trying to jump ahead of the president. you've got house speaker, john boehner, saying he's reaching out on things like infrastructure spending and reducing regulations. but senate republicans are saying that they are opposed to many of the president's ideas, not because of politics, but because those ideas don't work. and then over on the campaign trail, today we had mitt romney unveiling his plan and he compared the president's government-based approach on the economy to an old pay phone in a smartphone world. >> what he's doing is taking quarters and stuffing them into the pay phone. and thinking, can't figure out why it's not working. it's not connected anymore, mr. president. your pay

nbc's kelly o'donnell joins me now from columbia. good evening, kelly. >> reporter: good evening, kate. rick perry was here in south carolina, but at last minute did not participate in that forum. that was a disappointment it to many here. but this holiday was all business for the busy republican field. labor day politics means flipping pancakes in new hampshire, where mitt romney started his day. and the unexpected in south carolina, where governor rick perry cut short his visit saying he had to get home to deal with wildfires in texas. >> i'm leaving here as soon as i get through. >> reporter: perry had time to criticize the president on jobs. >> you don't have to have a ph.d. in economics from harvard to really understand how to get america back working again. >> reporter: five republican contenders were here for a conservative forum. the questions did not come from journalists but from tea party favorite south carolina senator jim demint, iowa congressman steve king and princeton law professor robert george. to create jobs congres

the intrepid kelly o'donnell, thanks so much.alk to you shortly. >>> about that south carolina forum, the candidates will speak one by one and they're not going to be sparring, but on wednesday they will engage in a debate. the first time for the texas governor rick perry to be able to do that. i want to bring in journalist, publisher and msnbc contributor karen hunter around republican strategist j.p. frair. i know we're coming off the heels of the pancake issue, but we'll get straight to this and talk about rick perry. it is the first time he is going to be on the national stage. what do you think we'll see his strategy being especially when it comes to being outside of texas and trying to make the appeal to a larger audience? >> he's in the south still so that is a base of his that i think he can appeal to very well. he's leading among the tea party party, 35% to michele bachmann's 14% and romney's 14%. i think all he has to do is establish himself as presidential. he needs to stay on message, talk about jobs, talk about the e

they don't want to cooperate and they gave them quite a lot to think about. >> kelly o'donnell live with us. thanks a lot. new details from the ntsb on the deadly racing aircraft crash. in nevada, that tops our look around the nation. investigators say they are looking at evidence that a piece fell off an aircraft as it climbed in reno. they are checking the on board data box and camera equipment from the plane. a final report could take months. 11 were killed in the crash and 74 were injured. >>> the prosecution rested in the amanda knox case saying the murder conviction against knox should be upheld. they challenged the results of dna evidence that cast doubts on much of the genetic evidence used to convict knox. they told the jury to ignore the media focus on the rodings. some criminals in alabama are getting a choice. go to jail or do time at a local church. nonviolent offenders can work off their sentence a different way. going to church every sunday for an entire year. if offenders select church, they will be allowed to pick the place of worship, but must check in weekly with the p

. >> kelly o'donnell is nbc news capitol hill correspondent. you remember snail mail, send us a statement. they were going to send it to the congressional budget office but what are they saying behind the scenes? >> reporter: they have two tracks, the conciliatory tone for the larger political landscape they want to appear cooperative on the side of jobs but when you get to the nitty gritty is where it becomes difficult. once they get the nonpartisan but official numbers of the plan, the cbo score, that will say a lot. privately they're talking about real concern how would it be paid for. we heard from the white house budget director talking about the president's intent for how to pay for the new jobs and largely would go to some of the ingredients we've heard before, taking away some of the deductions that are popular for many americans, charitable, mortgage, at a certain thing at a certain income level of $200,000 a year or more and doing things different when it comes to corporate jets, been a punchline for the president, taking away one of

kelly o'donnell joins us and eric kantor said he won't support the president's plan to renovate schools. what else are you hearing? >> the glove and the hammer coming from the republicans on the hill. they want to work with the president and try to do what they believe they can do to stimulate jobs that can mean some of their own proposals. at the same time you hear from republicans like eric kantor that they don't like what they described as a second stimulus. speaker boehner said he will welcome getting the package over here and the language of an actual bill and sending it to the budget office to be scored. that's washington speak for the independent group of very high-powered number cruncher who is will tell us what it will cost and do to the deficit overtime. that is crucial for how to sell the bill with members here. what will happen is the president can sort of handoff his set of ideas and congress grabs it and begins to do some of the reshaping. what you may end up with are some of the areas where there is common ground when it deals with tax reductions in the part of the presid

. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us and you can go home.t of a government shut down. there is certainly another story line that speaker boehner might be worried about. >> house members, about 50 republicans voted against the measure he wanted to see passed that would fund the government through nearly the end of november and also provide money for daft disaster relief under fema. he said it was democrats who they thought would vote with republicans to get that passed who bailed, if you will. so he said he knew there was a risk when he put the measure forward. they knew that would be potentially a problem, but he wanted to see where the house was. where members are. now, he put up kind of an unusual caution to his more conservative members when he voted against this saying it was too much spending in the plan and left with having to regroup and come up with an alternative, it is likely there would be more government money and spending in any plan b effort and in effect they voted against their own principals by voting this down. it's not typ

the best person to check in with at this point, our friend, nbc's kelly o'donnell. so kelly, explain what happened last night in the house, and where things go next in the senate? >> well, chuck, it was a very late night in the house. they wrapped up a at ten minutes to 1:00 in the morning. and they were able to pass a measure that includes about $3.6 billion in fema funding for all those disasters. and it funds the government through the end of november. the trouble is, it also cuts some programs in the green energy area. and fuel efficiency. republicans say it's some programs where the money hasn't been spent, it's been sort of sitting dormant, so they liked those cuts. democrats did not. it did pass, and now it's expected that the house will do some business today, and may leave town for the following week, because of the jewish holidays and a scheduled recess. the senate this morning will take up that measure quickly, and we understand from senior aides they expect there are not the votes to pass it. so what the house was able to do, having the -- kind of the emb

nbc's kelly o'donnell is on capitol hill. to remind people, this is simply a continuing resolution for a couple of months that failed. >> reporter: just gets us through november 18th. >> yeah. help us out here. what's going on? >> reporter: you know, one of the things that made this a bit of a surprise is that typically house leadership does not bring a bill to the floor that they think will lose when they have urged their members to support it. nearly 50 house republicans bucked their own leadership and voted this down. now, that is giving senate democrats a bit of a spring in their step today because they think it gives them some new authority, new power, kind of a momentum shift. and much of this centers on what to do about fema. there are many members really on both sides of the aisle and both chambers who know that people back home have been dealing with disasters like hurricane irene, the flooding, the tornadoes in joplin, missouri, all of those issues that are still very real for them. and their constituents. so they'r

. >> our capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins me now. not just from the hill are we hearing this talked about, take a listen to what michele bachmann had to say at cpac. >> vice president joe biden said this about the loan guarantee program for solsolyndra. this is exactly what the stimulus program was all about. greed and corruption. >> kelly, this company was the poster child for the president's green jobs agenda. how much is fact finding and how much is political grandstanding? >> reporter: a combination of both, thomas. one of the reasons solyndra is in the cross hairs is because the president visited the company, the department of energy backed it and it got a lot of support from the administration at a time they thought it presumably was a company that could have an impact in the industry. some of these executives before them today had come and made personal visits here to capitol hill toll assure members the company was in good financial shape right before getting that $535 million loan guarantee from the government, and then it w

kelly o'donnell and capitol hill correspondent. >> it is sort of the way the game is being played upare they any closer to long-term solutions or is this the way -- the new norm as far as congress is concerned? >> this will seem like a minor little blip when we get to the long-term budget battle that will come in the weeks ahead. they were able to resolve this and it was done in the end in a very friendly way after days of grinding opposition over whether there should be some cuts in other programs in order to give fema more money to help out those victims of disasters across the country. there have been ten disasters that have been given that national recognition of a federal emergency and they've each cost more than $1 billion. there's an enormous need. both parties agreed that how to get there was where the real difference was. late last night they were able on the senate side to come up, in a way to keep this going forward and it was fema itself that sort of bailed out congress because fema looked at its books and was able to slow down spending on projects that were not considere

nbc's kelly o'donnell is live on capitol hill where there is a senate vote set for later this afternoon30, kelly. the house is out, so once the senate votes, then what happens? >> reporter: well, and we expect that will not pass. what that means is the senate trying to do its own version of providing funding for disaster victims and the states that have been so hard hit and keeping the government running for about six weeks. that will likely come to a halt based on all of what we're hearing from both parties. and then it's sort of a question of how did they negotiate some kind of an agreement? the house passed its version. it was sort of dead on arrival here in the senate. the senate's version is likely to not go to the next step. so they only have a matter of days to come up with an answer. so leaders are talking to each other. we're told not much progress yet. so it's, again, one of these decisions that will be made in the heat of deadline pressure with a lot of scrutiny facing members of congress when so many people are just fed up with this inability to get things done. so we talked

kelly o'donnell is nbc news capitol hill correspondent. in the previews we've seen of boehner's speech, there certainly no talk of putting any money into the economy from the government. >> definitely not. i think when you talk about how the initial reaction to the president's plan as presented to congress, there was that sort of warmer tone. well, now things have sort of shifted, in part because the president's plan for paying for the programs in his set prove posals is about taxes. and john boehner and republicans don't think that's the answer. so the economic club of washington today, the house speaker will unveil what they call the gop's plan for america's job creators. it folk uss on some pretty classic republican ideas. trying to reduce regulation and taxes to stimulate those job creators, as they like to call them. to have more confidence to hire new workers. now, he will talk about ideas which is closing the loopholes, which would be removing some of the ways people can deduct things from their taxes. but not increasing rates. so t

kelly o'donnell in washington. you. >>> a man sends his family emails about his worldwide travels. but it turns out he wasn't traveling, he was dead. the twisted email murder case that's ahead. we're centurylink...a new kind of broadband company committed to providing honest, personal service from real people... 5-year price-lock guarantees... consistently fast speeds... and more ways to customize your technology. >>> the largest electric ewe till in vermont said it's restored to power to almost all of its customers. about 1200 homes and businesses are in the dark. crews have been working around the clock to get electricity back on. some areas in the state are unacceptable. in woodstock, people are trying to make the best of a bad situation gathering for a cookout. ron mot strks there. >> reporter: they had a little community dinner last night. they're going to have another one tonight. some people are getting a massage. they're trying to get back to normal as quickly as possible. the big issue there's no drinking

. >>> chuck todd with this mornings developments from the house and kelly o'donnell from capitol hillkeep it here on "morning joe." >> big morning. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. living with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... could mean living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you with humira. for many adults with moderate to severe ra, humira's proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before starting humira, your doctor should

nbc news capital kelly o'donnell joins us with more on that in washington.ccain, what are they trying to accomplish on this trip? >> in some ways it's about showing support for the rebel who is have taken so much control to again show u.s. presence with a concern about where is muammar gadhafi and will he be brought to justice quickly. part is to just get an assessment on the ground and talking to aides. they went it a hospital and a prison in addition meeting with the officials. to give you a sense of what it means to the senators and why it's important, here's what john mccain had to say to cameras earlier today. >> they inspired the world. they turned cynics into supporters and paid an enormous price for freedom and sacrifice of the libyan people delivered the great nation to the shores of the new world full of new hope, a chance for all libyans to know lasting peace and dignity and justice. >> one of the great challenges for countries struggling with the spring and the movements of revolution that brought about a big change is what happens next when all

kelly o'donnell is our capitol hill correspondent. kelly, it does seem as if the obama white house basically intervened here and said, guys, relax, fema's fine till the end of the fiscal year, which is in now three days. just pass this thing and avert this crisis. >> reporter: well, it seemed that fema, which bails so many people out of their disasters, really turned to congress to try to help them out of this one. and it came down to the fact that last week, chuck, you remember leaders in both parties were saying that the disaster fund to help people all across the country who have had these terrible calamities and the states they live in was running out of money. might be empty by monday or today. then all of a sudden yesterday fema said that it had $114 million, enough to get it through to the end of the week, which is also the end of the fiscal year. so come october 1st, more money is already scheduled to fill these accounts so they'll be fine. that changed the whole dynamic, and then late in the evening, there was sort of an expec

kelly o'donnell joins me now. should the public with happy with how lawmakers avoided this shut down or did congress just get lucky on this one? >> reporter: i think it's a little of both. fema bailed out congress by look at its books, finding ways to slow down making payments for various projects in states that have been hit by disasters throughout this year. by doing that, they were able to pool enough money $114 million to last through friday. come saturday they get a new infusion of money that's already budgeted. so they helped out because the predictions had been pretty dire that fema would be out of money by mound or tuesday, today. so congress did find a way to come together. how much credit should they get? they will be up to voters to decide. in the end what they decided is to put aside the big fight over giving fema more money and also requiring spending cuts to offset that. that was the republican point of view. democrats were deds against that saying that these kinds of emergencies should not be immedi

. >>> kelly o'donnell, nbc news capitol hill correspondent and david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." kelly i heard you say there were 36 senators. it's a start. >> it's hard to realize how unusual that is for democrats and republicans to stand shoulder to shoulder. senator begich is flying back to anchorage every weekend so he has a long flight ahead of him. he's one of the voices trying to bridge the gap. lisa murkowski wound up the news conference, she's a republican, trying to get people to think about something that is not so cool these days in washington, that's compromise, as he mentioned it. >> david, the speaker's speech yesterday really set people back because it seemed to be saying to the president, who was trying for either, you know, for reasons of philosophy or politics or both to incorporate some republican tax proposals in his big speech, he was saying not so fast. >> republicans are saying the financing for it, the way he pays for it still goes back to an older play book for democrats which is to tax the rich. republicans don't want to do that. i think our head

nbc's kelly o'donnell is live from capitol hill. early word here on this super committee and these meetings today? >> reporter: well, this is kind of a get to know you phase for the committee on each side. by that i mean they want to compare notes before they go to the public meeting where the two parties will participate so it's sort of organizational. they want to get a severance how they are going to go forward because tomorrow we'll hear from each of them so brace yourself for some speeches to try and set out the goals of all of this. one of the interesting things, tamron, that we've been hearing today is kind of odd for the public to understand, but jeb hensarling, a republican on this panel appointed by speaker painer and senator patty murray appointed by senator harry reid, the co-chairs, have actually never met until this project. they spoke on the phone in august from their home stes, but hadn't met, and they have both been in congress for about nine years, so it gives you an idea for how different this sort of committee is.

. >> kelly o'donnell joins us live and interesting comments from the senator liberating here.e did he have to say? >> lamar alexander has a reputation for liking bipartisanship and it's not so easy to achieve. being the number three in leadership in the senate is a very big job within the party and for people who love politics. this was a surprise shake-up. he said he would like to be one of the voices who could try to work with the other side and bring about deals that might be on issues that are not the big political story of the day. he had once been secretary of education. that's an issue that is dear to him and not a lot in our day to day politics. i noted his use and you used it in the clip. the word liberating. when you are in the leadership, you have to fall in line with the main message, the main set of goals and this would be a way for him to get out of that. still work to do the things he cares about. he will run for reelection in tennessee and the governor of tennessee. this is somebody with a long time in public service and what it also does is shakes up who will

kelly o'donnell joins me now. you had a deep dive in briefing in exactly everything he's going to tick through here. what we just heard from him, it seemed to be a complete rebuke of the president's job plan in this one statement, kelly. he says, it strikes me as odd that at a time when it's clear the tax code needs to be fu fundamentally reformed the first ing stink is for them to come up with tax credits that make the tax code more complex. here you have the speaker basically say, we know you've got tax cutting ideas but it's with the current tax code and we're against them to a democratic president. republican speed to a democratic speaker on tax cuts. that tells you it's doa to me, doesn't it? >> of course the white house and president thought using the tax code and credits and things that would be typically welcome by republicans would be kind of a clear path to kind of get broad bipartisan support. what you're hearing here doesn't quite fit on a bumper sticker but you laid it out. the kind of opposition that

. >> kelly o'donnell live on that. and developing right now, we are waiting an announcement from the federal reserve on whether it will take new steps to stimulate the economy. this as republicans come under fire for putting political pressure on the fed. plus, tony bennett apologizes after making controversial comments about 9/11 in an interview. >>> and why is the justice department buying $16 muffins and an $8 cup of coffee? a new report reveals what's being called wasteful and extravagant spending. [ male announcer ] this is lara. her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice

nbc's kelly o'donnell is live in columbia, south carolina where they are all getting ready. r: good morning, thomas. what will make this so interesting is it is the first time we will see rick perry in the same event with mitt romney and that's certainly a key point in this sort of new phase of the campaign. now it is not a debate where they will all be interacting but they'll each be taking questions individually. we can still line up those answers and see how people respond here in this very important early voting state of south carolina. but one thing we know for sure, thomas, is that all of these republican candidates will be taking aim at the president's handling of the economy. >> we're here to help. >> reporter: with washington focused on his jobs speech later this week, the president made stops in new jersey sunday to see firsthand devastation and heartache left by hurricane irene. >> as president of the united states, i want to make it very clear that we are going to meet our federal obligations. >> reporter: mr. obama will unveil his much anticipated jobs plan in a

nbc's kelly o'donnell is in alexandria, virginia, with the details.od morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. there is obama has said she likes to do normal things that aren't a part of her white house life, but those trips have been pretty much a secret until now. it turns out the first lady's to do list included this virginia shopping center. check this out. behind those dark glasses, tucked under that nike cap, one of the world's most famous women. yes that is the first lady of the united states at target. >> when you have a photo of the first lady out of context there's a bit of a wow factor. >> reporter: like any mom except her aide was juggling not one but two blackberries. secret service agents were blended down in casual clothes. she spent 40 minutes in the store unnoticed by other shoppers. sources say she was recognized only by the cashier and a photographer from the associated press who worked sources to find out she was there and really the only way they can go out and shop is if it is in cognito, on the fly, with no one paying attent