chris warren, thank you for the latest there. the weekend looks to be free of the tropical trouble that had been brewing in the atlantic. katia, maria and nate headed in different directions. none of them appear to be threatening the united states and in puerto rico, the tropical storm watch has been downgraded to a tropical storm warning. one utility worker's error affects millions triggers a massive blackout. what happened to two nuclear reactors there? [ grandma ] why do relationships matter? [ grandpa ] relationships are the basis of everything. [ grandma ] relationships are life... if you don't have that thing that fills your heart and your soul, you're missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. ♪ [ male announcer ] for us at humana, relationships matter too. the better we know you, the better we can help you choose the right medicare plan. that's why humana agents sit down with you to figure out your medicare options. and we have nurses you can call anytime, even at 3 a.m. because when you're on the right humana

chris warren is live for us from binghamton, new york. look at that river behind you.. >> i want to show you, give you an idea of how far it's come down and how high it is. this is a fence right here that's up on a wall. not a flood wall but a wall. i'm told it goes down usually 12 feet to dry ground and normally the river is farther out. 12 feet. another clue of how high the water's come? this right here. this is debris that's been floating down. you know it was at least that high. you know the water was at least right here, to bring in this muddy, nasty stuff, whether it's oil, just dirt, that's what we're seeing here as we walk across the grass. we're in somebody's yard right now by the way. you can see as this growth, this muck. as we're looking here, we have the flood waters out into the front yard. you have all this mud, all under water. two days ago it was rushing by really fast with record flooding here in binghamton. one, two, three, four, five, six steps. okay? we've gone from down there and we're up here now six steps walking into the house, can show you thi

even worse, the flooding here, the record flooding of 2006. >> that's chris warren. thank you so much. we're going to continue to watch the storm system for you right here on msnbc. and in addition to the heavy rains, we're also closely watching the paths of tropical storms maria, nate, and hurricane katia. the three active weather systems are churning over water now and could be prove to be problematic. nate may strengthen into a hurricane within several days. we'll have more from the weather channel on all of this coming up in the next half hour. >>> several republicans plan to be no-shows at the president's address to congress tonight. how long will the gop play hardball? or will some republican leaders try a kinder, gentler approach? we're going to talk with republican congressman aaron shock of illinois. and inside the president's bunker on 9/11. we've heard from family members, survivors, and first responders, now hear from a man who saw the president's cabinet in action and up close the day america suffered its worst attack. just one phillips' colon health pro

the weather channel's chris warren is in binghamton right now. what's the scene right now? >> reporter: well, we're seeing one of those walls, one of those flood walls, craig, where it is getting very close to being overtopped. in fact, i may already be at this point. some spots on the wall are seeing some overtopping of the flood waters because the forecast is for it to be almost a foot above that, which they have never seen here. so we had record flooding in 2006 and this is going to top that for this town here. as we look, you look across the surface and it's hard to even make out where the wall is. keep in mind, there should be a wall that's about 15 feet tall going down to the river, but instead, you can't even see the wall. so we're slowly starting to see i think a few of the waves make it over. this part of binghamton, it's only going to get worse. so you have the wall that's keeping the water out. however, now that the water's rising, starting to get over the top of it, and we're also told by police that there are parts of the wall where at the base, some of the wat

the weather chan's chris warren has the latest. >> reporter: here in binghamton for many it could bebefore they could get back into their homes. just listen to their story. this door like a window. the water has come down rushing. the water looks like it's many the river instead of just floodwaters coming up. we are seeing the floodwaters come down. that's the good news. just a few hours ago this was water where i'm walking right now. that's showing you that it is going down. but much like the hundreds if not thousands of people that are away from their homes every story's different. one house right now may have the water slowly receding. they have damage in their basement. other houses like the blue house it could be days before they're allowed to get back in because the water's going to take much longer for it to get out and then you have all the damage from the leftover floodwaters. even though the flooding might be gone by early next week, the river might be closer to being at its normal banks it could be several days if not longer before people get their lives back to normal. th

and the weather channel's chris warren has more from binghamton, new york. >> here in binghamton, we are seeing the record flooding. we are seeing it right now. the last time we had flooding that come paired to this was 2006, five years ago. what makes this different is what we were expecting. the water levels to get above the floodwall which is something that we did not see in 2006, and what many long-term residents say they have never seen here in this town, and we are already seeing the floodwalls completely covered. we have heard the reports -- and it is hard to make out from this vantage point -- but there are reports that the water is spilling over into the city. it is happening where two rivers come together, and we have seen the flooding ourselves and something else from the police that could make things even worse, the walls are keeping the water out, but we are hearing reports that there's cracks in the base of the walls. so that puts into question of the integrity of the walls, themselves. so what is already record flooding could get even worse. tamron, back to you. >> tha

chris: they pay a ton of taxeses. >> guest: from a percentage standpoint they are paying less as warren buffet. >> chris: it is not true. there may be a certain number. you talk about being able to manipulate the numbers. people in the highest end pay the highest percentage than middle class people are. it is an effective tax rate. >> guest: you think the middle class should pay more. that's what the republican. >> chris: some say cut spending. >> guest: we agree with you. >> chris: get back to this rhetoric and reality. here's what the president said just before sworn in as president in 2009, making tough choices on the budget. here it is. >> what we intend to do this year and next year and all of the years i am in office is demonstrate our seriousness not by gimmicks or punting to future administrations the tough choice. >> chris: if the president believes that, why is the new plan filled with budget gimmicks? >> guest: they are not budget gimmicks. they are hard adjustments to make medicare can medicaid. we have cut a trillion dollars. and we have more to do. in ag programs and federal retirement programs. these are

few days of free music, a gift from the music lover, warren hellman, and chris isaac and big old time haggard, robert plant, many others. >> all right, sports is next, we'll be right back . >>> came down to the wire for four teams but now everything is set. >> yeah, and no giants, last season it was not until november one, this time, they're finished after 162 games, and a sellout, and carlos beltran in the fifth, preserving a 300 average, one of the questions is whether pat burrell will still be playing, giants go down 6-3 to finish the season, 86 and 76. the baseball constant is, new season, bring change. >> you know i knew it would be a tough one, it just was -- the uncertainty of what is going to happen next. but -- the thought that -- this may be the last day, you know -- kind of took over. >> next year will be a better ball club, having others healthy, sanchez, healthy, and it will be a good thing. but like i say right now i'm just going to take advantage of the off season and see how everything works. >> the a's played out the string tonight in seattle. miller knocking in all t

few days of free music, a gift from the music lover, warren hellman, and chris isaac and big old at bankre lending and investing in the people and communities who call the bay area home. from funding that helped a local entrepreneur start a business... to providing grants to a nonprofit which offers job training and placement... and supporting an organization working to help the environment. because the more we do in the bay area, the more we help make opportunity possible. who should get it? i really love jennifer. yeah, she's great. yeah. yeah. kyle's got that thick head of hair. and that should be rewarded. ok, moment of truth. on "three," say which kid you love the most. oh, fun, yeah. 1...2...3... jennifer. jennifer. whoa. wow. ha! she's so pretty. yeah. or, we give it to kyle. it's really all he's got. [ male announcer ] switch to at&t u-verse and record four shows all at the same time. just $29 a month for 6 months. at&t. . >>> came down to the wire for four teams but now everything is set. >> yeah, and no giants, last season it was not until november one, this time, they're finis

warren buffett. >> congressman chris van hollen is a democrat from maryland and member of that so-called deficit supercommittee's start with your reaction to the president's rose garden speech this morning. >> i think the president has laid out the challenge very well. first of all, we got to put americans back to work as the fastest and most effective way to reduce the deficit and make sure that families are able to provide for their loved ones. we should also have a predictable steady, credible long-term deficit plan that should be balanced. the president said we'll have to make tough cuts but he also says we need to do it with some revenue and we need to ask for shared responsibility and ask the folks at the very top, folks making over $1 million every year simply to pay the same effective tax rate as the people who are working for them. i think most americans would agree that's common sense. >> the president has tried this sales pitch before. in fact, he's tried it a number of times and it hasn't worked. what makes you guys think that it's going to work this time or do you even think it's going to work thi

chris. and yeah, i think you can tell it's a big deal from the way conservatives are going after warren buffett. warren buffett is the people's capitalist, really. he doesn't dress fancy, he doesn't remind you of that banker on the chance card in mo monopoly and he has given us the simplest way to understand the unfairness of the tax code. you only pay 15% on capital gains. very, very rich people, particularly investors, hedge fund guys, that's where they make most of their money. a plumber, a nurse, a cop, they make their money through their labor. so what this is saying is if you make your money through capital, it's fine to be rich, but shouldn't tax labor at a higher rate that you tax capital, and warren buffett crystalized it. >> what do you make of this, sam, in terms of conservative philosophy? is this protection of the very wealthy consistent with the history of the republican party, even its recent history? >> it's fascinating, chris. great to meet e.j. i've been reading his stuff for years, but i've never actually seen him up close. it's funny, if you look back at the first big republ

. >> chris matthews, when the president talked about having the rich pay more of their fair share, he actually talked as he's done before about warren buffett paying more in his higher income tax rate than warren buffett's secretary pays and republicans you could hear it, republicans in the house of representatives laughed when they heard him making the warren buffett comparison. it doesn't sound like they are ready to get in there and start changing what warren buffett has to do on his tax return. >> i don't think they take that seriously. let's look at the humor in this to some extent. people like buffett have a lot of money they'll never even look at let alone spend. they don't need it. when they talk about giving back money to the government rhetorically, it means nothing until practical sense. they're not giving back the money. a lot of these republican people would say, wait a minute, if you want to make a contribution to the u.s. treasury, go ahead, buddy. i'll make it 125 a year and i do have a couple kids in school so don't talk about me being rich. i think they are very skeptical. i don't think that's smart rhetoric using

. >> chris matthews, when the president talked about having the rich pay more of their fair share, he actually talked as he's done before about warren buffett paying more in his higher income tax rate than warren buffett's secretary pays and republicans you could hear it, republicans in the house of representatives laughed when they heard him making the warren buffett comparison. it doesn't sound like they are ready to get in there and start changing what warren buffett has to do on his tax return. >> i don't think they take that seriously. let's look at the humor in this to some extent. people like buffett have a lot of money they'll never even look at let alone spend. they don't need it. when they talk about giving back money to the government rhetorically, it means nothing until practical sense. they're not giving back the money. a lot of these republican people would say, wait a minute, if you want to make a contribution to the u.s. treasury, go ahead, buddy. i'll make it 125 a year and i do have a couple kids in school so don't talk about me being rich. i think they are very skeptical. i don't think that's smart rhetoric using

warren buffett, later today. >>> welcome back to the "early show." half past the hour. i'm erica hill along with jeff glor. chrise a little gaga for 3d. >> maybe too much at times. >> i'm with you on that one. >> yeah. >> "avatar" really seemed to kick off the trend, and now there's been this huge success at the box office for a rerelease version of "the lion king 3d" "the lion king 3d." studios, we're hearing, are going to turn to some other classics. we saw a little "star wars," how about "top gun"? "titanic." really, just an excuse for jeff to be able to say that because he likes to say -- >> iceberg right ahead. >> right. so, we'll take a look at this new trend, what could be coming down the line and also one rerelease that's not in 3d that i think you're going to be excited about, jeff. >> oh. i saw "the green hornet" in 3d. maybe didn't need to be in 3d. that said. more 3d coming. >>> also ahead here, likely the most challenging assignment of my career. last weekend i went home to buffalo to do a little research. >> research. >> on tailgating! a new study says up to half of all nfl tailgaters have now gone

warren beats scott brown in massachusetts, that could upset some of the arithmetic. megyn: all right, guys. thank you for the preview. it's interesting. >> you bet. megyn: chris christie insists that he is not running for president, but he's not giving the current president a pass on his performance. >> and still we continue to wait and hope that our president will finally stop being a bystander in the oval office. megyn: just ahead, the white house responding to that directly and what it means for the president's re-election effort. >>> plus, an american engineer arrested for an alleged plot to bomb washington, d.c. landmarks. new detail on his elaborate plan, three minutes awayment [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. when anybody in america calls quicken loans for a free home loan review, we'll offer them a free android smartphone. but how are you going to get these phones