. >>> "the washington post" is revealing the price tag for its "newsweek" magazine, $1. the magazine that was once a prize asset was sold to audio equipment magnet sidney harman. "newsweek" lost almost $30 million last year, amid circulation and advertising declines. "the post" also agreed to cover up to $10 million of "newsweek"'s existing bills. >>> coming up, fears of a larger disaster after toxic sludge from hang gary is -- hungary is spilling into the danube river. plus, the governor of texas is trying to turn up the heat on mexico. following the murder of an american jet skier. that and more coming up. i'm bob ehrlich. i'm not the kind of guy who likes to hang on the sidelines. today maryland's in trouble. we're worse off than we were four years ago. dangerous debt, higher taxes, not enough jobs. we need real leadership to turn this state around. fix the budget honestly. grow small businesses, really. excellent schools everywhere. protect the bay, finally. it's why i'm running -- to make the state we love not just good, but great. now let's get down to work. >>> th

"newsweek" had the monica lewinsky's story, but it was a blogger, matt drudge, who broke it. gone are the days when the big boys who control newspapers control the political news. hi, i'm chris matthews. welcome to the show. today a look at how the new media universe has changed things in politics. let's look at some of the new rules politicians forget at their peril. for one, beware the cell phone camera politicians wept to school on this, from former virginia senator george allen, once a highly touted presidential candidate. et>> l's give a welcome to macaca here. welcome to america and the real world of virginia. >> boy, that killed his career. he said it was a nonsense word that came off as a racial slur. never again. >> well, this is the world he's in, we're all in now, where you have to be very careful. and i never quite knew what the word meant. he never explained what it meant. but it went viral, and once it went viral, he was done. >> katty, this was a volunteer campaign and what looked to be a cell phone. he was looking at what he thought was a kid, a young guy, and

senior reporter and "newsweek's" washington bureau.at is a great image to get people's attention. how do you see john boehner as an agent of hope and change? >> well, what the point we were making was, you know, two years ago, which was not that long ago, a lot of people were eager about hope and change, a new narrative, a new power structure in washington, and now if you look at the polls what we're seeing are voters might be ready for change again. and that agent of change is probably going to be john boehner, the presumed speaker of the house. what we did was take a look at what that would mean in terms of policies from energy to health care and certainly the deficit and congressional reform, what that would mean with a republican controlled house of representatives while the democrats are still in the senate and the white house. >> and what would it mean? let's take a look at energy, first of all, let's take it to the issues. what do you see happening on energy? is john boehner run house going to move forward on energy policy? >> w

. >> reporter: the president's time on the road appears to be paying off according to a new "newsweek" poll. while other polls show the gop gaining ground "newsweek" found 48% of voters were more likely to vote for democrats, while 42% support republicans. president obama's approval ratings have also jumped from 48% to 54%. but, republicans aren't taking anything for granted. they're hitting the road just as hard and making some big predictions. >> i think you're going to see a wave, an unprecedented wave on election day that's going to surprise a lot of people. >> reporter: most polls show republicans winning control of the house but not the senate. rnc chairman michael steele is confident the gop will take back both. >> if this wave continues the way it's going, it has been over the last few weeks especially, i think you could see the senate, as well. >> reporter: steele will also stump for his party in rhode island today, trying to rally critical last-minute support. and it appears both sides may still have time to change the outcome of the election. according to a new associated p

and the washington post revealed it sold newsweek magazine for 1 dollars. the posted to cost cover and liabilities newsweek lost almost $3 million last year and that's your money scope report. hi there. i'm ian wright and i'm investigating what makes aruba so happy. oh my word, that's fantastic. ♪ row your boat gently down the stream... ♪ i'll tell you what; it's not aloe vera the main export. it's happiness. i haven't even got bait on the end of mine. i don't care; it's just nice sitting here. you're getting it. you're getting it. more bold flavor!onds! more variety! more value! more of what you want... not what you don't. blue diamond almonds. (play-by-play announcer) it's up and it is... good! more than a snack. >>> when its comes to poison evey you have heard leaves of three let it be. >> i love that saying i think it's cute. in this morning's take 5 linda so has five tips on avoiding it altogether beside the little saying. >> reporter: two acan -- to avoid poison ivy, tough know what it looks like. >> it has characteristically three leaflets or a leaf

. >>> and "the washington post" has revealed that it sold "newsweek" magazine for just a buck.udio equipment tycoon sidney harmon bought it this summer for less than a single issue's cover price. there is cost and liabilities. "newsweek" last more than $30 million last year. >> that was $10 million in costs and bills. >> incredible deal. >>> coming up next on this thursday, why sarah palin says she's excited. >>> then, trapped. a woman gets the scare of her life, locked behind razor wire with angry guard dogs all around her. we'll show you the dramatic rescue. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so m

let's get to some new poll numbers here released by "newsweek." in terms of poll what party are you leaning toward, voting for, democrat 48, republicans, 42%. still got that pivotal 10% undecide there had. another poll i want to put up, president obama's job performance, 54% according to "newsweek," approving this, 40% disapproving, those numbers were different with the gallup poll when i talked to frank new port yesterday, overall a jump in what we are seeing. indication that the president's midterm message is resonating? >> i think so alex, i'm really pleased. i think the president has been struggling throughout and i think all of a sudden, he really feels sort of the emphasis, his surge, his message getting sharper and seems to be much more upbeat and i think that has helped him don't think e job rating is as strong as "newsweek" would have it, but i think democrats are picking up, without a doubt. i look latest polls in the senate, good news in california, colorado, even illinois, and definitely connecticut, the democrats seem to have had a go

jessica bennett with "newsweek."ou. >>> a duck with an odd accessory is giving officials a run around. he got a fishing bobble stuck in his bill. wildlife officers want to get that line out. the duck is just too quick for them at this point. we'll see. bold. daring. capable of moving your soul. ♪ and that's even before you drop your foot on the pedal. ♪ the new 2011 cts coupe from cadillac. the new standard of the world. ♪ [ male announcer ] we touch a lot of things throughout the day. so it's nice that clorox disinfecting products help kill the germs that can live on surfaces for up to 48 hours. ♪ feels sweet when i can touch you ♪ but my allergies put me in a fog. so now, i'm claritin clear! claritin works great on all my allergies like dust, mold, pollen, or pets without making me drowsy, cause i want to be alert around this big guy. live claritin clear. indoors and out. >>> an alarming new report details the hidden world of child trafficking in america. this month "essence" magazine reveals how police and prosecu

newsweek lost almost $30 million last year. that is your "money scope report." >>> time for traffic and weather. >> a gorgeous day shaping up in the nation's capital. >> a great stretch of water. it will be gusty today as we transition into the warmer temperatures. that is the headline. if that is where it's a line between now and monday, we will take it. it's 52 degrees at reagan national. still dark outside. sunrise is after 7:00. dew point of 47. comfortable, dry air in place. strasbourg, virginia, 54. along with frederick. that has been updated to the t3 in strasbourg virginia -- 53. you can keep the air conditioner off again today. it's going to be comfortable in the 70's this afternoon, not as humid as the past couple days. 63 was the high temperature yesterday at reagan national. five days in a row of temperature is below average. we have not had a stretch of five consecutive days below average since last february. pretty significant. 71 is the average high. the record is 95 today. there's upper level circulation, unsett

. >> this week newsweek has a take off off of that iconic obama poster featuring one person. >> i think he will see an unprecedented wave on election day the that will surprise a lot of people. >> even sarah palin is warning about getting too confident. >> it ain't over until it is over. we cannot be thinking that we have it in the bag. >> president obama is staying away from some things dealing with voter anger. he was at a fund raiser. nancy pelosi has become a polarizing figure. >> it is very difficult for her to go out in the same space and campaign for any candidate. >> earlier tonight, i spoke with one person about the key races. thanks so much for joining us, alex. it seems that we have been talking about this for some time. is getting closer and closer rather than further apart. what are you watching now? >> the senate looks to be more democratic. the house seems to be slipping away from their grasp. the republicans have a good chance of winning the house. >> what is your prediction? >> 39 seats to win control of the chambers is needed. it could be more on a bad night for democr

columnist for "newsweek" magazine. good evening. >> good evening, keith. >> you referred to the effect president obama referenced as the anti-stimulus. explain that to mr. boehner if he's watching what he's missing. >> in 2009 we passed $787 billion bill. contrary to what mr. boehner said, at that point you see job losses begin to reverse. we're at 800,000 losing every month then it slowly modulates until we go up to positive job numbers in the early and mid part of 2010. of course, the stimulus is ending now. we didn't do it for more than two years. state and local governments are cin essentially collapsing. revenues are collapse. they're contracting. they're firing people and just as when a business fires people it adds people to the unemployment rolls. when a government fires people it adds people. it's important, it's bad for business. the businesses will not invest until they think jobs are coming back and people can buy their stuff. if jobs are not coming back because state governments are firing everybody, busin

let's talk about your newsweek polling.s this suggest that the republican race may not be a run away? >> well, our own "wall street journal" poll showed a little bit of a dumb in the democrats and president obama's favor. but that newsweek poll is a little bit more favorable than í<$ oth showed. í<$ oth what it's striking to me is the advantage that democrats have among registered voters. our poll showed that, as well. but the key thing to watch is likely voters, not the wider universe of registered voters. and when you look at likely voters, there is a sense of who is going to turn out to vote? right now, almost everyone thinks it's going to be heavy on the republican side, a much wider, older electorate. we've seen president obama on the west coast, going to college campuses, trying to get their base out. i don't know what's going to happen on election night. things are pointing in the republicans' favor but that's how democrats will stave off losses is by getting their people to the polls. >> on obama's approval rating a

this from a "newsweek" survey which shows 48% democrats, 42% back the gop.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

we are going to talk to a "newsweek" writer in our next hour for more analysis. >>> new developments to tell you about this morning in the terror threats in big european cities. u.s. counter terrorism officials say osama bin ladin may have a direct hand in the planning. we'll go right to tazene with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, veronica. they are saying he was a key figure to coordinate attacks in the european cities and the u.k. france, germany, it would consider shooting rampages similar to the mumbai attacks a few years ago. if he was involved, this is the first time since the 9/11 attacks he played a direct role. counter terrorism officials say al qaeda is trying to prove they are still strong with the muscle power at a sometime when their support base and finances have been weakened. these officials said they won't reveal what evidence they have that bin ladin was so heavily involved, but the details of the plot are known to senior al qaeda leadership hiding out in northwest pakistan. and to describe bin ladin's operations to say that are very involved. officials say t

and "newsweek" saying that that is more than the rest of the world put together that has been spent onnce. now, part of what we get for that money, well, 50,000 reports a year. so a lot has been going into this. chris? >> all right. i'm going through, richard, some of this stuff, and i'm going to interrupt you for a second because we have just spoken, one of our producers, has spoken to a senior counterterrorism official. the headline out of a full page of notes that bob took is that he is again cautioning this is not a run of the mill concern, this warning about traveling in europe. he says, look, we get terror and threat information all the time, but this is an accumulation of information that they have been putting together, what they call, all source intelligence, interrogations, informants, electronic eavesdropping, all of that. there a u.s. link to this? how concerned should the u.s. be? let's go to msnbc terrorism analyst roger cressy, who joins me live. i know that we're just getting you hooked up. let me just go into, again, the counterterrorism official that was spoken to by

what's "newsweek" doing?lt that "newsweek" once and a while does something this provocative to be provocative. they want to get news coverage and, you know, i guess when the stars align just right and the moon is quite full, then you might be able to get a poll that says that americans aren't angry. but it doesn't track with any other poll that people are looking at. >> here was the poll actually that "newsweek" did that got us to this point where brit hume said that. which best describes how you feel about the federal government? basically content, 20%. frustrated? 54%. angry, 23%. don't know, 3%. >> so when they say, yeah, anger not the critical component, it's frustration. >> yeah. >> i think most people don't consider themselves as angry people. they don't walk around angry all the time but they are certainly frustrated and i think that's what the republicans have tapped into and what the democrats are worried about. >> you know, with all the change especially with rahm emanuel going to try to become mayo

. >> reporter: mccain told "newsweek" in april, i never considered myself a maverick it's like i can'telieve it's not butter saying, i never believed i was butter. >> i consider myself a person who stands up for what they believe in. when i was against president bush on a number of issues, i was called a maverick. when i was against president obama, then i'm call a partisan. i am -- what i was trying to say, i'm the same person. >> reporter: one thing has always remained consistent about mccain, he's a fighter. in san diego on saturday, we caught up with mccain, who's got a double digit lead in his own bid for fifth term arizona as senator, as he campaigned for former hb ceo carly fiorina, locked in a fierce fight with incumbent barbara boxer. inside, mccain broke with the old tradition of senatorial courtesy and just let loose on boxer. >> barbara boxer is the most bitterly partisan, most anti-defense senator in the united states senate today. i know that because i've had the unpleasant experience of having to serve with her. >> reporter: that was some red meat in there. >> yeah. >> r

. >> reporter: political analysts, even the cover of "newsweek" thinks it's unlikely to change. >> i think you're going to see a wave, an unprecedented wave on election day that's going to surprise a lot of people. >> reporter: over the weekend, michael steele appeared in a rally in florida with sarah palin. >> it ain't over 'til it's over, these last ten days. we can't be thinking that we got it in the bag. >> rhode island will host president obama today. michael steele will be there, as well as massachusetts republican senator scott brown, a sign of this competitive and now very crowded campaign trail. vinita and rob? >> emily, the latest numbers now put the senate, of course, in the grasp of the gop takeover. the president campaigned for senators last week but he's not the only obama on the campaign trail. >> rob, that's right. we know michelle obama is going to begin a three-day campaign swing out west. campaigning for patty murray, also senator barbara boxer. these are the same candidates that her husband was campaigning for last week. really showing that the democrats are pulli

a "newsweek" poll had better news for democrats. it found voters trust them more than republicans on nearly everything from the economy to afghanistan. >>> a spokesman for the o'malley campaign says president obama will campaign with the first-term democrat this thursday. the president is expected to rally supporters on the campus of bowie state university. mr. obama says o'malley made tough decisions to prioritize education, safety and job creation during some very difficult financial times. >>> your electric bill could soon be going up. new at 5:30 -- how much more you can pay and what is behind the latest price hike. a warning tonight about using your laptop on your lap. a new phenomenon called toasted skin syndrome. plus, it's a very itchy problem. we have five tips to help ease the pain of poison ivy. two governors, two different approaches. even in good times bob ehrlich didn't make education a priority. he increased college tuition by 40%, cut school construction by $200 million, and ehrlich voted to eliminate the department

. >> reporter: political analyst and the cover of newsweek suggest control of congress is very likely to change. the republican party chief predicts his party will take the house and potentially the senate. >> i think you will see a wave an unprecedented wave on election day that's going to surprise a lot of people. >> reporter: over the weekend, michael steele appeared with sarah palin at a gop fund raising rally in florida. palin cautioned republicans don't take momentum for granted. >> it ain't over until the it's over. last ten days we can't think we have got it in the bag. >> reporter: rhode island will host president obama and michael steele and massachusetts senator scott brown. a sign of this crowded and competitive campaign trail now just one week before the midterms. emily schmidt, abc news washington. >>> 6:32. he took gamble on stealing campaign signs and a man who is against slots at arundels mills mall was caught on tape and by police. linda so joins us now with more on this video and the investigation. linda. >> reporter: well, when voters in anne arundel connedy head t

. >> reporter: even "newsweek" used a takeoff of that iconic obama poster to suggest change is coming again. >> i think you're going to see a wave, an unprecedented wave on election day that's going to surprise a lot of people. >> reporter: but knowing they may have the momentum, even sarah palin is warning about getting too confident. >> it ain't over until its over these last ten days. we can't be thinking that we got it in the bag. >> reporter: how do democrats deal with voter anger? president obama is staying away from some races and apparently staying away from nancy pelosi in public. last night, the speaker was in minnesota, but did not appear with the president. only attending a $600,000 fund-raiser closed to cameras. our only glimpse us when pelosi boarded air force one for a ride back to washington. >> she's become a polarizing figure. and as such, it is very difficult for her to go out in the swing states and campaign for any candidates. >> reporter: tomorrow, the president will go to rhode island and campaign. he spends most of the week here at the white house, rolling out

even if you look at the national polls "newsweek" has one out today that has a tie with democrats maybeittle bit ahead. the same thing with gallup, politico, a bunch of them have the polls closing. why is that happening? because if you look at a state like ohio where governor strickland has been running behind as much as double digits in ohio for two months his opponent was airing ads by himself. now he's airing ads in ohio. he's down by four points. if you look at places like california with barbara boxer she's ahead of carly fiorina. if you look at washington with patty murray she's now pulling up ahead. if the candidate level are now starting to close these races as we get down to the final stretch. the democrats have a.... >> schieffer: here you have barbara box era long-time democrat. you say she's now closing. patty murray she's running for what her third term out there now closing? just saying that tells you a little bit about what the political atmosphere is out there. >> the atmosphere is tough. no one has denied that. democrats are probably going to lose seats in this election

less and some of these people are starting to leave and it's not only happening at a times it's at newsweek at washington oh yeah we have these huge columnists that are starting to say goodbye to a lot of the ken i think you have to plot and i think the sulzberger and janet robinson understand it but again it's hard it's easier to shoot the beam on because he's a good victim. they're still trying to work through that because they are young they are beefing up new york times online which is making a lot of money and getting a lot of hits the newspaper on the other hand is losing ad revenue at some point they're going to switch everything online i'm sure and maybe even you know i mean they'll probably be home delivery to you on whatever handheld device you have but there are also suing aggregators you know who are using their r.s.s. feed for commercial purposes so they're starting to position themselves but they still can't get away from this gray lady thing where they have to say look we're the new york times we're the pinnacle the rest to you or p.r. and that's what's going to do them in an

. >> the cover of newsweek magazine talks about change. >> i think you are going to see an unprecedentede on election day that will surprise a lot of people. >> michael steele spoke with sarah palin at a gop rally in florida. sarah palin says don't take republicans for granted. >> we cannot be thinking that we have it in the bag. it is not over until it's over. >> rhode island will be popular today. if president obama will be there as well as michael steele and republican senator scott brown. all of this adding up to a crowded and competitive campaign trail. emily schmidt reporting. back to you. >> thank you. >>> it is 6:17. more repercussions after the latest leak of documents by "wikileaks" website. allegations of prisoner abuse and civilian killings in iraq must be investigated, it says. it was published by "wikileaks ." >> the first casualty of war is the truth. >> up to a half-million classified documents could reveal how our forces operate in the field. >> the web site announced on saturday it will soon publish 15,000 additional sigri -- secret afghan war documents. this could impa

clarify the the irrational blogger that joe miller arrested on his own is in fact a journalist for newsweek and bloomberg but in the main you're right i think you know what we're seeing and this was a this is a far worse phenomenon two or three or four or five years ago but now we're starting to see blogs go mainstream people like howard fineman people like howard kurtz kurtz who would be the last people you would think who would become sort of digital journalists have entered into this fray and what you're seeing is these sort of the growing pains in the pains of an industry that's dying you know just say a rational blogger is like saying in a rational person who uses a telephone i mean it's a medium and this distinction is becoming less and less relevant people are being measured by the reporting they do whether they do it in a blog or. paper it doesn't matter and so yeah i think it's a combination of a jerk. industry that is afraid with the changes that are happening and i also think it's a certain amount or is it that these people are out hustling them in certain instances but do you th

"newsweek" magazine had democrats ahead by five on that question. both gallop and news week polled register voters. not likely voters. likely voters show they favoring republican by an ample of five points to today. equally important are the numbers among independents, the swing vote in the american election. the average of five current polls shows independent favoring republicans by a 12-point margin. even with a large number of independents not decided they would have to break massively for the democrats see as a land slide. gallup now finds 42% of voters describe themselves as conservative. that is up five in the past two years. the highest number of conservatives gallup has found in a poll. how many say they are liberals? only 20%. >> bret: just before we took air tonight, gallup came out with a new generic poll. what about that and your analysis of it? >> this is brand new stuff. the first use of the likely voter survey. they say for the poll they identified 1800 likely voters. with a higher turn-out model they predict the democrats would lose

. >> reporter: even "newsweek" used a tof o icocf1 & serg joo c of to & momentum, even sarah palin isarning abut getting too confident. >> it ain't over until it is over. these last ten days we can't be thinking we have got it in the bag. >> reporter: how do democrats deal with voter anger? president obama is staying away from some races and apparently staying away from house speaker, nancy pelosi, in public. the speaker was in minnesota but did not appear with the president. only attending a $600,000 fund-raiser closed to cameras. our only glimpse when pelosi boarded air force one for a ride back to washington. >> she has become a very polarizing figure. as such it is very difficult for her to go out in the swing states and campaign for any candidates. >> monday the president travels to rhode island to campaign. he spends most of the week at the white house, rolling out small business initiatives. next weekend, his final arguments in illinois, ohio, pennsylvania, states important not just for the mid terms but for the 2012 presidential race as well. david kerley, abc news, washington

. >> reporter: the president's time on the road appears to be paying off according to a "newsweek" pollough the gop gaining round, they found 48% of voters were likely to vote for democrats and 42% republicans. president obama's approval ' ratings have jumped up to 54%. republicans reason taking anything for granted. they are hitting the road just as hard and making big predictions. >> i think you will see an unprecedented wave on election day that's going to surprise a lot of people. >> reporter: most polls show republicans winning control of the house but not the senate. rnc chairman michael steel is confident the gop will take back both. >> if this wave continues the way it is going, it had been the last few weeks especially, i think you could see the senate as well. >> reporter: he will stump for his party in rhode island today. trying to rally critical last- minute support. cbs news, washington. >>> starting today, we have a new look at one of the world's most famous authors. jane austin wrote a half dozen famous novel in the the english language and while she was renowned for her

. >> reporter: even "newsweek" use aid takeoff off the iconic obama poster showing john boehner, likey republican speaker of the house to suggest change is coming again. >> you will see an unprecedented wave on election day. that is going to surprise hey lot of people. >> knowing they may have the momentum. even sarah palin is warning abut getting too confident. >> it ain't over until it is over. these last ten days we can't be thinking we have got it in the bag. >> reporter: how do democrats deal with voter anger. president obama is staying away from some races and apparent low staying away from house speaker, nancy pelosi in public. the speaker was in minnesota but did not appear with the president. only attending a $600,000 fund raiser closed to cameras. our only glimpse when pelosi boarded air force one for a ride back to washington. >> she has become a very polarizing figure. as such it is very difficult for her to go out in the swing states and campaign for any candidates. >> monday the president travels to rhode island to campaign. he spends most of the week act the white house

let's turn to "newsweek" columnist ezra klein. i thought we had the parameters understood about how broken the senate actually is. explain why this indicates we were narrow minded in our thinking. >> the rule about the senate is as broke as you think it is, wait a week. this is what we're doing. the deal is pretty much as you described it. there is going to be essentially fake sessions of congress in the senate for six weeks. there will be fake sessions of the senate because if these judicial nominees go 30 days without a vote, he can send them back. the committee hearings all over again. in order to do that, no recess appointments. the old director can't be put in, who is being held up by mary landrieu. and larry diamond can't be recess appointed. it's really giving up quite a lot for it. reid's people say they're very happy from the deal. from the outside, it looks like a strange bargain. >> did they make it because mcconnell was saying, if you think this confirmation progress is stalled, just wait? >> mcconnell and the republic

and so that "newsweek" poll could either be a harbenger of what's to come or an outlier. >> an be a ber rigs. john dickerson, as always, eight days to go i'm sure we'll talk a lot in the days to come. >> thanks, harry. >> time for the rest of the day's news with erica hill standing by at the news desk. >> go morning. the growing cholera outbreak in haiti now claimed at least 250 lives. it originated in rural areas but cases have now been reported in haiti's densely populated capital port-au-prince. our medical correspondent dr. john lapook has more from there. >> reporter: health officials in haiti now confirm more than 3,000 people are sick with cholera in the central plateau region of the country. this video shot by a missionary group distributing purified water shows locals desperately fighting for their share. local hospitals are overflowing. >> i walked around the sides of the building over here inside this emergency area and back around the left there. are people laid out all over the place in stretchers, cots, make-shift beds. it seems if you get treatment early and appropriately

newsweek just released a survey showing his rating is up 6 points just since the end of september. shows his average approval rating for this past quarter his lowest in office at a 44%. his approval has been in steady decline since his inauguration when 63% of americans approved of him. if you put this all in p perspective, it's almost hard and unfair to compare numbers to then. >> well, yes, most presidents have that. interesting, ronald reagan did not. he came in in 1991 with approval rates in the 50s. so you have falls of president obama who had international events and their numbers went up. and then, of course, 9/11 with george w. bush. >> right pup matched obama's seventh quarter approval to the other pets and in that, i believe that it was that he trailed both bush presidencies by over 20 points, but he just beats out where clinton, reagan and carter were. can you interpret these numbers as to where this president stands thus far? >> absolutely. i think he's about average. i certainly would say he's not as bad in terms of approval ratings as some might expect given the perce

. >> eleanor clift is a contributing editor for newsweek. good morning again. >> eleanor, there is this new clip of christine o'donnell, but then you have the new york gubernatorial candidate palladino's confrontation with the "post" reporter fred dicker. do you think the gop is damaging themselves with the prospect i was from the tea party candidates? >> christine o'donnell is really comic relief, and it's unlikely she's going to win and palladino got into a fight with a reporter, and i suspect many voters would -- would side with him. the press isn't that good favor these days, but i think o'donnell in particular is useful for the tea party movement and for the republicans because she has trouble paying her bills and she comes across as an ordinary person, and frank rich in his column today makes the point that she kind of conceals the fact that there's a lot of big money behind the tea party movement. some of their candidates, particularly rick scott running for governor in florida, is a former health care executive of a company that had

. >> here's jonathan alter, national columnist for "newsweek" and jonathan, let's talk about the president's talk about the american dream. i mean, this is somewhat a new move for the president, is it not? he's starting to talk in terms of think about what your future is going to be like. what do you think? >> he's getting wack into campaign mode which is good and long overdue. he overlearned mario cuomo's famous lesson. cuomo said you campaign in poetry and govern in pros. he took that too much to heart. he's been governing too much many pros. finally he's bringing some of the poetry back. the poetry that moves people and inspires people and it's about time. what we've been talking about so far, ed, is an effort by republicans to repeal the new deal. let's be clear about what we're talking about. the minimum wage goes back to 1938. now, after the new deal democrats and republican presidents, you know, dwight eisenhower, nixon, reagan, all of them, accepted that there are certain things we settled in this country in the 1930s about eight decent -- a decent floor. so that we didn't become the

certainly the conventional wisdom that anger drives the election, but i'm looking right now at a "newsweek where anger is unlikely to be the deciding factor and they're no more likely to go to the mid polls than the average voter. how do you interpret that? >> that is counterintuitive. the other emotion we see out there is disappointment, and i don't know that disappointment drives do you the polls. but the anger this year is a little different. think it's at both parties. it's of the system in general. and so some people may interpret that as license to stay home as opposed to run to the ball lot box with their pitchforks. think we'll all bought into it. this is the first poll i receive that suggests that maybe that's not the case, but everybody is trying to divine what's going to happen in the future. we live in such a fluid political environmental things could still flip. >> point taken. let's go with what the democrats ranked higher with, which was everything from afghanistan to energy to education. voters are also giving them higher marks on spending, taxes, and the economy. of course

when you look at polling msnbc recently put out, "newsweek" put out another, it shows that republicans' generic numbers are flat lining at about 46% support. democrats are just below that with 42% or 43% support. if they can just half of the differential between these numbers and what they saw in 2008 and 2006, they can win this election. they can win seats like florida 25, joe garcia's race and nebraska, too, that currently belong to republicans. they could k do all of it if it theses their base. i think the march did just that. >> what about the president in terms of what he can do in terms of the rally to give progressive voters a sign that he's listening? >> i'm not sure he needs to do something in response to the rally that he's not already doing. i think he has clarified this choice. you had the democratic senate pushing through both don't ask, don't tell and the d.r.e.a.m. act which would have allowed thousands of undocumented students to earn a path to citizenship, and you have him making a really clear distinction between the democratic philosophy on the economy and the republ

so much that this week's "newsweek" cover is titled "the bear truth: will the 'mama grizzlies' reallyct america's kids." the nation magazine has it's own cover story coming out this week about the rise of conservative women in the republican party. betsy reed is the executive editor of "the nation" and her article is called "sex and the gop: why women aren't buying what the party is selling." and joins us here in new york. we're joined from washington, dc by princella smith, former spokesperson for american solutions. she attempted to become the first black female republican in congress, but lost the republican primary in arkansas' first district. we welcome you both to "democracy now!" betsy reed, he edited the book "going rouge: sarah palin -- an american nightmare." it was a play on her own book "going rogue." i do not know people were confused, but it did very well. let's start with sarah palin and her effect in 2010. >> i think she has had sort of a distorting effect because people saw her in her emergence as a symbol of a sudden the republican party becoming really female-friend