now, let me bring back eugene o'donnell and former fbi profiler clint van zandt. gene, the investigation is now being turned over to the fbi. what are the agents focused on? >> again, trying to make sure this is the trail in the extent of where it is that there's one shooter. if there's a second shooter, they're going to try to identify that. you're seeing the law enforcement version of community policing. a crucial part of this is getting outreach to the community. folks know the individual will know what kind of motivations he has, what grievances they have. they're doing a national dragnet of information to try to get folk who is may know something about this. you can sort of read between the lines. it's unlikely there's a file somewhere on him that's of great length. this is a dragnet approach to get as much information as they can in addition to all the information they're going to have. obviously d.c. is one of the most dencamera-dense cities in america. >> clint, we were told in this latest briefing to the press that it is an active investigation and there i

get ready for that, all that plus eugene robinson, chuck todd, kelly o'donnell, much more straight aheadnicolle wallace. >> yes. >> of course. >> we're chatting. >> i know. still ahead on "way too early," vegas, they add a new ferris wheel, the biggest in the world, blah, blah, blah. come on. give me a ride that's more boring than a ferris wheel, oh, come on. "morning joe" just moments away. wisest kid in the whole world? we need a new recipe. hmmm. let us consult the scroll of infinite deliciousness. ♪ oh! perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbell's has the recipes kids love. like easy chicken and cheese enchiladas. so good! can i keep this? you already have it at campbellskitchen.com. nice. [ blows ] [ gong ] m'm! m'm! good! you raise her spirits. we tackled your shoulder pain. you make him rookie of the year. we took care of your cold symptoms. you take him on an adventure. tylenol® has been the number 1 doctor recommended brand of pain reliever for over 20 years. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. >>> what rides are more what ri then a ferris wheel? >> the ride f

i'm rachel maddow with reverend al sharpton, and eugene robinson and from washington lawrence o'donnellrom "the last word" and chris matthews of msnbc's "hardball." chris, we hear from washington the speech has been reworked, reworked, reworked up until the last moment. no advanced excerpts of the speech being distributed. we thought this would be the president trying to convince the u.s. public to support a call for u.s. military action in syria. now it seems like, we're expecting the president to try to convince the public to trust a diplomatic effort led in part by russia what do you think -- which is the harder sell? >> i will try to make the sell for russia right now. i think we are dog trained to look down our nose at russia. the right hates russia. face it they want to hate russia. that's the case with the neocoms who have never gotten over the cold war. russians have interests. we have interests. they worry look we worry. our worries coincide. that could be a good thing. some one predicted the end of the cold war would shift a world's conflicts and world's alliances. for half a

back with us on set, nicole wallace and in washington, eugene robinson and kelly o'donnell. will address the nation tonight from the white house. and according to brand-new polls out this morning, military intervention in syria could be one of toughest sells of his presidency. a new nbc/"wall street journal" poll shows that after a week of public lobbying more than half of americans don't think he's made a convincing case. and approval for the president's handling of the crisis is backsliding. 57% disapprove, just 28% approve. 58% of americans say congress should not back military action at all. the president's overall job approval is holding steady at 45%, up a point from a few weeks ago. however, according to a mcclatchy marist poll, the president's approval on foreign policy has take an hit with 54% now disapproving. this is a sharp increase from july. in a round of interviews on multiple networks the president admitted the case for military strikes in syria has been an uphill battle. >> the people aren't with you. >> yeah, well not yet, and as i said, i understand that.