the legislature won that battle, but as our own mike taibbi reports from madison, this war isn't over yet. >> reporter: at 1:00 in the morning it really was all over but the shouting. democrats in wisconsin state assembly shouting in anger at the republicans used an obscure rule allowing them to end all debate and vote yes on the bill that rolls back the benefits and bargaining power of the state's public unions. but that vote doesn't make governor scott walker's bill law. the state senate has to pass it, and walker kept the pressure on the 14 awol democrats, 11 of whom were on msnbc's "the ed show" last night to do their job. >> enough time has passed. it's time to come back and have a vote on this measure. >> reporter: senate republicans have tried other means of persuasion. suspending direct deposit of the democrats' paychecks, even sending state police to several of their local homes to try and collect them. >> until they take this backwards budget bill off the table, there's nothing to really go back to. >> reporter: inside the statehouse, meanwhile, the crowds of overnight campe

mike taibbi, nbc news, new york. >> good dogs there. >>> a program note, can you see the final round best in show live in color tonight on the usa network beginning at 8:00 eastern, 7:00 central. >>> that's our broadcast for this tuesday night, thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we sure hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> we owe the american people -- >> details remain sketchy but president obama is talking about his budget plan. he talks about uninvestigating in the future but does it mean jobs in thebaugh area?

nbc's mike taibbi has the latest. >> reporter: with the new $600 million stadium and a payroll northf $130 million a year, the new york mets may not have won enough to satisfy their fans, but baseball has been very good to their owners. owners who said they were among the biggest losers in convicted fraudster bernie madoff's ponzi scheme. >> you don't like to lose money that is just stolen from you. but the betrayal is something i'll never, ever forget. >> reporter: but now the trustee representing madoff victims is suing the mets owners, corporate name sterling equities, calling them one of the largest beneficiaries of madoff's fraud, reaping hundreds of millions in fictitious profits over a quarter century while they willfully turned a blind eye to every warning sign and red flag of fraud. in other words, that they did business with a crook and had to have known it. >> even if you don't know specifically, if there are signs that should have led you to know and you ignored them, then you are held liable. >> reporter: on day like today, the baseball season seems far away, but it is r

mike taibbi on it for us tonight. mike, thanks. >>> and when we come back this evening, can't you just see how the rest of this plays out? the violence we've been covering in the middle east and northern africa right to your gas pump here in the united states. >>> and later, is there a link between cell phones and brain cancer? tonight there is new research. >>> we have more on the chaos in libya, specifically, how it hits home. and threatens to have a direct effect on americans at the gas pump. drivers in california, alaska, hawaii are already paying more than $3.50 a gallon for regular unleaded. some other places too. and the danger is, the rest of the country could start seeing those prices steadily. that could have a big nasty ripple effect on the economy as a whole. our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: with 44 billion barrels of oil underground, libya has the largest oil reserves in africa. but it accounts for less than 2% of global oil exports, mostly to europe. still, with some of libya's oil produc

you know the republican governors in other beleaguered states are watching closely. >> mike taibbi up there in madison for us tonight. mike, thanks. >>> we have breaking news to tell you about. for that we're going to interrupt things and bring you a live report on the very latest details. >> reporter: i'm george lewis in los angeles. there's been a major 6.3 magnitude earthquake in christ church new zealand. there are collapsed structures, a number of people dead and seriously injured. the quake occurred just southeast of the city center at a fairly shallow level. one reporter for radio new siouxland described the scene as looking like a war zone as police cars and ambulances rushed in to take care of the victims. here's part of the broadcast. >> we have water mains burst, we have surface flooding. we've got buildings damaged inside and out. we have the hospital evacuated, people possibly trapped in buildings and reports of serious, we think, injuries. >> we just don't know if there are people under this rubble. >> rocks are falling down outside christchurch. this giant rock has just

there goes mike taibbi! mike taibbi, everybody! adies and gentlemen. we are looking better than we were several hours ago. a pretty good solid line of showers pushing into the central valley. see those lightning strikes? we could see some thunderstorms later on today. big news is our showers are thinning out and turning spotty. spotty activity through the rest of the day. daytime heat later on today. thunderstorms expected. take a little bit of this, little bit of snow expected for mt. hamilton. at's your latest weather. natalie? >> al, thank you. in the last week ann timson has gone from a humble grandmother to being worldwide known as super granny. the 71-year-old chased down a group of thieves attempting to rob a jewelry store with nothing more than a handbag. now four of them have been arrested and ann is being hailed a hero. she's back with us to answer your questions. here is ann timson. good morning. >> good morning. >> i tell you, our viewers are so into your story. people just can't get enough of the super granny. are you s

for today, mike taibbi, madison, wisconsin. >>> now new zealand where rescue efforts continue days after the earthquake. but there is some glimmer of hope and joy. george lewis joins us from christchurch with the latest. good morning, george. >> reporter: good morning, jenna. with the death toll at 145 and climbing higher, you might think it would be hard to keep hope alive. but there are a number of people here doing that. chief among them, the mayor of christchurch. mayor bob parker has been going nonstop in the four days since the quake hit. encouraging the rescue workers, updating the public, and granting endless press interviews. he's been called the earthquake mayor, former tv host bob parker has used his communications skills to rally his people the way rudy ghoulian any did this new york after 9/11. trying to keep hope alive here amid the ruins. a quarter of downtown christchurch may have to be demolished. >> what keeps you going is that this city is my home, this is where we live, this is everything to us. >> reporter: and to anyone who calls him a hero, he has this response. >>

nbc's mike taibbi is in madison with more. mike, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. this is a high stakes game of political chicken that the whole country is watching, and none of the players have flinched yet, certainly not the governor, not the unions, and not the 14 democratic senators who remain out of state in their attempt to keep the governor's bill from even coming to a vote. beyond the protests and posturing of the thousands of pro-union demonstrators, many still camping out on the capitol building, there has been little hint of any movement on any side of this standoff. with protesters kept away from his conference room, governor scott walker said 1500 state jobs could be lost by week's end if the absent democrats don't permit a vote on his so-called budget repair bill. >> i don't want to see anybody laid off. >> reporter: walker is telling the unions they'll have to pay more toward their pensions and health plans. about 8% of their take home pay on average. and must surrender their collective b

mike taibbi has the details on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. morley safer has been in our living room for decades. what she's talking about now is the flap over the e-mails he sent that are raising eyebrows and making news. there is no name on the building and on the century association website the single paragraph available to nonmembers says it is a club for sympathetic, stimulating and congenial companions in a society of authors and artists. its main activity, conversation. not so congenial are several e-mails written by the 79-year-old correspondent for cbs's venerable "60 minutes." he opposed ending the association between the investigatgarrett club which allows women inside only accompanied by men. what will be next, he wrote, disassociation with clubs that do not cater to vegans on the menus? kosher dining rooms? special facilities for nudists? >> any club excludes people and you have to accept that. if you don't, you can't have a club. >> reporter: but there was more. when club member and new york university professor catherine stimpso

mike taibbi is in madison for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: wisconsin is not the only state rattling the comfort zone of public unions but it is among the first. one party controls the state house, the governor's job and a new agenda everyone is watching. senate and assembly are back in session but couldn't force a vote on the budget relief bill because democrats remain awol. walker in a fireside chat tuesday night said he would not budge from his plan to make collective bargaining all but obsolete for 300,000 public employee union members. >> we are broke in this state because time and time again politicians of both political parties ran away from the tough decisions and punted it down the road for another day. >> reporter: governors in eight other states are pushing similar tough decisions for public employees triggering prounion protests in ohio, michigan and massachusetts. in indiana, democratic legislators left the state to avoid voting just like their wisconsin counterparts. chris christie, the first of the get