and soon rachel's tally grew. it wasn't only the donations that offered comfort to her family, it was what people were saying about rachel too. >> it really touches us. we try and read every one if we can and each one, we usually have to take a moment because they can be so amazing. >> so far, nearly 30,000 people have written and donated. rachel's total now stands at well over $1 million and growing. >> it's just been incredible to watch people, in a way not know how to handle this and then respond, you know, with generosity. >> a little girl's legacy came with a terrible price. but a lesson too. >> no matter how old you are, no matter what the little steps you do, it only takes a little thing and you can just make a huge difference. >> for anyone who doesn't think birthday wishes come true, rachel is proof, they can. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> now as you might imagine, a lot of our viewers have shown their own generosity to rachel's charity. if you wish to do so, you can link to it via our website toni

, of course, parry with an a gate but first rachel, what is the latest on the st. edward elementary school closing in waterloo? >> well, as you know, stephen t was closed last week when officials saw mold spores. >> and that can be dangerous to our children who i believe are the future. >> well said. officials hope to reopen the school next week once they've removed the mold. >> stephen: great report, rachel. of course mold is a fungi so let's check in with one real fungi, two-time iowa sportscaster of the year and the voice of the iowa state cyclones john walters. john, i know you think the people have the right to know the full results of the straw poll. >> i've always said sunlight is the best disinfectant. >> kneeor spor in. but first what is the latest news from the gridiron. >> there's good news for football fans. the part owned by the iowa gop matthew strong got a new coach. >> mike honzy. >> isn't he the former coach the chicago rush where he took them to victory in arena bowl 20. >> the very same and he hopes to bring that championship attitude to the barn

instead of gifts, at 8, almost 9, rachel asked for donations instead. >> rachel wanted t thelp 15 peopleet clean water. >> reporter: it would cost $300. she almost got there, raising 220. not bad for a little girl. weeks after she turned 9, rachel was killed in a car accident. ♪ ♪ oh, how we loved her >> she was a very unique girl. her heart was bigger than this room. >> reporter: when everyone learned of that giant heart, they answered rachel's call. more than 22,000 people have given to charity water in her name. >> rachel's campaign has been the largest ever. >> reporter: donors written in from all over "she truly touched the world." >> she wanted to help all these people, and now she's helping a lot more than she could have ever imagined. i know she's just so excited looking down that so many people want to help her cause. i'm just really, really proud to be her mom. >> reporter: rachel wanted to raise $300. as of tonight, she has raised almost 1 million. aaron katersky abc news, new york. >>> one little girl's incredible gift. charity water plans to take rachel's mother to africa to

>> wut rachel's story did -- but rachel's story did not end there. had fallen short of her original $300 fundraising goal by $80. as word spread, thousands honored to her memory and giving to the cause charity water and so far nearly three quarters of a million dollars have been raised and strangers have been touched by herselflessness. >> rachel was a very special girl. she has the ability to reach from the grave, and still impact our lives on a daily basis. >> it is already the largest fundraising campaign in charity waters history. patty kaufman, cbs news, seattle. >> wow, what a legacy. >>> all right, well, most mothers to be, they can't wait to get that whole delivery part over with. waiting a fow more hours, well, it might -- a few more hours, well, it might be just a little worthwhile. 7:54 tonight, marks the exact nine-month anniversary of the giants winning the world series pennant. knowing many couples celebrated, that's in quote, the big event, comcast sports net bay area will crown the championship baby and the title comes with a gift car

our coverage continues with "the rachel maddow show" here on msnbc. i'm ed schultz reporting live from madison, wisconsin. >> ed schultz doing a stupendous job tonight from madison. ed, it's been so great to have this in your hands tonight. thank you so much. it is a nail-biting election night in wisconsin. what's going on here is six incumbent republican state senators are facing recall elections. this is part of a backlash in wisconsin against those republicans having supported republican governor scott walker's stripping of union rights in wisconsin this year. at this hour, midnight on the east coast, 11:00 p.m. in wisconsin, two democrats two democrats have beated two incumbent republican state senators in wisconsin. three incumbent republicans have kept their seats. and if you're doing the math, two plus three, but wait, there were six. right. the crucial sixth race. the one that would change the balance of power in the senate is at this moment too close to call. this is the crucial race. wisconsin state senate district 8, where democrat sandy pa

"the rachel maddow show" is up next. rachel, you look fabulous after spending the night on an airplane. >> i have learned i can tie my limbs into knots i didn't know i could tie them into. did you fly back on the red eye too? >> ocourse, no. i had the pleasure of a 6:00 a.m. -- not sure how i kept my eyes open. >> it's better to have a single 48-hour work day than flying at 6:00 a.m. i believe it. thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour which ought to be fun and punchy because of the lack of sleep. we do begin tonight with terrific news for some very specific people. even in this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad economy, there are some people in this great country of ours who are doing splendidly, terrifically, american corporations are setting new profit records right now. seriously, it's raining money for the microsofts and apples and good years and caterpillars and 3ms for the world. they all set a record for revenue in the last three months. second quarter reports are coming in and so far it'

joining me now, host of "rachel maddow show" rachel maddow, alan greenspan and austan goolsbee.airman greenspan, the markets tomorrow, how are they going to view this downgrade of america's credit rating? >> it's difficult to say. the only test we have at the moment is the israeli market, which is open today. it has tanked. the problem i have with that, however, there are real significant protests in israel at the moment. i can't tell what it is. considering the momentum the market went down over the last week, it's unlikely, if history is any guide, that this isn't going to take awhile to bottom out. the initial reaction is going to be negative. >> are u.s. treasury bonds safe to invest in? >> i think so. this is not an issue of credit rating. the yits can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. there is zero probability of default. what i think the s&p did was to hit a nerve that is something basically bad is going on. it's hit the self-esteem of the united states. it's having a much profounder effect that icon se conceived c happen. the economics is

rachel had one wish for her 9th birthday, instead of gifts, rachel asked her parents, her grandparentsations instead. >> she wanted to help 15 people get clean water. >> reporter: her simple wish to get clean drinking water to people who don't have it. she started out small, looking to help just 15 people. it would cost her $300. and she almost got there, raising $220. but weeks after she turned 9, rachel was killed in a car accident. ♪ he loves us >> her heart was bigger than this room. >> reporter: and when people learned of that heart, they all began answering her call. last weekend when we first brought you her story, more than 22,000 people had already given hundreds of thousands of dollars and so many of you added, too. celisa sai bold said on facebook -- i donated in her name. i couldn't help but cry. they donated too. jana allen reed -- i am donating and telling my friends. remember, rachel wanted to raise just $300. as of tonight, she has raised well more than a million. her mother amazed by the generosity. >> she would be so happy. and just so amazed that she helped people. s

to be no other than yourself. >> i rachel, take you chris, to be no other than yourself. >> rachel andhris were married july 22 and they just got back yesterday from their honeymoon in fiji. in may rachel was paralyzed when one of her bridesmaids pushed her into a pool one month before the wedding. since then rachel's positive attitude allowed her to make her dream of marrying her fella a reality. they are both with me now. thank you so much. i greatly appreciate you joining me. rachel, you look beautiful, first of all. >> thank you. >> i love your dress you got going on and you look rested. just got back from your honeymoon. >> i slept on the plane the whole way pretty much. >> you've been an inspiration to so many and when folks first saw the story and heard about this accident that happened, obviously their hearts went out to you. then to see you continue to fight back and then the day, what fuels you, what's inside i wish we all had during our hardest moments that we face? >> well, i mean, you never know what you're going to do until you're in that situation. i mean, i get my stren

the "the rachel maddow show" is up next. good evening, rachel. >> good evening, lawrence, thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour. i actually want to start off tonight with a shout out to the newmont mining corporation of denver colorado, exceptional work today, newmont mining corporation, a standout performance, literally, their performance today as an american company stands out. cnbc does this thing every day called a heat map, we talked about this last week, they take the 500 biggest, most actively traded companies on the stock market, the s&p 500, and they create a map of them showing basically how the overall day went for those 500 companies. if the company gets labeled as green, that means they had a good day, their stock price went up, if they are labeled as red, it means their stock price went down. you can see the heat map here, that's what the heat map on cnbc looks like on a typical stock market day. we haven't had a typical stock market day in awhile so we had a go awhile back in time to find

see ya, rachel. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. this is self-esteem boost day at "the rachel maddow show." now joining us, eugene robinson. gene, madison says hi. >> i say hi to madison. been there, it's a wonderful place, and it was awhile ago, there was no "the rachel maddow show" show then, but i'm sure they love you. >> i've been spending more time in washington than i usually do, mostly by accident, but i've been talking to national democrats who have been bringing up madison to me. seem i've been having conversations is washington watching what's going on in madison? it feels washington is, beltway democrats are paying attention to what's happening, is that your sense? >> certainly the democratic base part of washington, labor organizers, people who are deeply involved in democratic politics are definitely paying attention to madison, because as you said, it does give us a sense of where the pendulum is and it also, i think, if the recall efforts are successful, will -- it will convince us that this was a serious overreach by

rachel, there's been a lot of controversy over this so-called grassroots group. run ed run. progress for all. tell us about the controversy. who are they? who's funding them? >> right. the controversy is it's not really a grassroots movement here. >> astroturf. >> it is astroturf. it's a few key donors put in close to $50,000 to get this grassroots campaign. what they did is when out and collected about 50,000 signatures of people. we don't know if they're registered voters or not, who they were. they went out, spread across the neighborhood, said we'd like this mayor, ed lee, appointed to be interim mayor for the year to fill gavin newsom's term. we'd like him to reconsider and run. what we're finding out there were some donors who have close ties to chinatown power broker rose pack and to former mayor willie brown. both of them are big backers of ed lee. they say, look, we want you to back off on your promise when you said you we're going to run for full term. these are people who had city contracts in the past, people tied to some of the chinatown non-profit housing there

. >>> "the rachel maddow show" is up next. good evening, rachel. >> good evening, chris. and thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour. updates ahead on the storm track of hurricane irene on the east coast. the evacuation underway in the carolinas, and the preparations being made for the impending march of the storm up the eastern seaboard. >>> also, dick cheney's new book reveals the war he regrets not starting while he was vice president. >>> and also some election results that do not bode well for the celebrated tea party movement and their highly paid celebrity spokesmodels, glenn beck and sarah palin. that is all coming up this hour. >>> but we begin tonight with the front-runner once removed for the republican presidential nomination. mitt romney has been the front-runner for months now, right up until about five minutes ago when rick perry, the governor of texas, cannon balled into the race and swamped everybody else. mr. romney had been leading every national gallup poll for the republican nomination since they started polling for this year's fie

"the rachel maddow show" is up next, and tonight in rachel's is the ever versatile melissa harris-perry. good evening, melissa. >> good to see you back. >> hey, thanks for sitting in for me last week, that was great. >> absolutely. thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour. rachel does have the night off and i'm melissa harris-perry. so what did you do this weekend? if you live in the eastern u.s., chance is your weekend revolved around irene, it did cause enormous damage from north carolina all the way up to canada, at least 37 people were killed by the massive storm, and the high winds knocked down as many trees that around five million americans are without power, but it's what the storm did after it left the atlantic coast and went inland that took many by surprise. the land lock state of vermont home to all of those green mountains got walloped by irene, which was a tropical storm by the time it got there. high winds weren't the problem. rain was the problem. today, vermont is dealing with its worst flooding since 1927, flooding that has killed at least two people

rachel? >> thank you, richard. i talk to richard engel far too frequently when there's gunfire that near him. richard engel reporting from what used to be called green square but has been renamed martyr square by the anti-gadhafi forces that have taken over that country and that city. in terms of symbols of the gadhafi regime you'll see the color green referenced over and over again and things called green by the gadhafi regime are among the first things to go as richard just described and as you can see here, the aforementioned green square in the capital of tripoli has been renamed martyr square you can see on google maps, the white writing there behind the label. that happened hours after they took control of the capitol. this right here, this is the flag of libya under moammar gadhafi, do not adjust your screen, it's just a green flag. so in addition to renaming green's square in tripoli, they are also replacing that all-green flag with this, the pre-gadhafi flag that you have been seeing in the news footage ou

appreciate having you here. >> well, thank you, rachel.we know whose money this is? is there any way to find out? could it be foreign money? could it be romney's own money? is there any way to know? >> it certainly could be anything. it's a rather intriguing washington mystery. you know, you certainly laid out a -- one scenario that people have speculated about, the bain capital collection. ropes & gray, the law firm that cameron casey works for, has long represented bain capital, the firm that mitt romney once headed. bain capital does have an office in that 590 madison avenue skyscraper that w spann listed its address as. but bain capital's spokesman in a rather emphatic denial to me said nobody at the firm is part of this entity. now, that does raise the question, could it be clients of the firm or could it be somebody else in 590 madison avenue? there's ubs. there's bank of america. there's cemex. there's a lot of other blue chip firms that have this address. what we do know is i spoke to the management company at 590 madison avenue. t

the rachel maddow show is up next. good evening. >> good evening, chris. you going ride out the storm in new york? >> ride in and out. i'm getting my poncho, some bottles of wine, some crackers. it's going to be groovy. >> i remember wine from the must do list. >> i technicxted my wine to buy of wine. >> and water. but the wine. >> thanks for staying with us for the next hour. 65 million americans are sitting in the path of an unusually enormous hurricane that has been named irene. we'll report on irene's location, intensity, likely path, and likely implications this hour. we've also got a big update tonight on how text tx governor rick perry has funded his political rides. and how elizabeth warren is probably not funding hers. they're related. there is a florida governor rick scott update regarding msnbc's lock-up program, and for the first time anywhere tonight on this show we will have an exclusive first look, an exclusive first preview of my documentary with nbc's richard engel about america since 9/11. that's all ahead this hour. we begin tonight, of

. >> you're right, rachel. >> do you agree with them this seems to be connected? >> what we're seeing in ohio and wisconsin and other places around the country is a sound rejection of the union, the attacks on the middle class, the attacks on labor, the attacks on police, the attacks on fire, the attacks on teachers, attacks on nurses, attacks on the middle class, and a whole range of issues, and people are fed up and they are expressing that in wisconsin through the recalls and are going to express that in ohio on the referendum. >> the referendum would be a full repeal of s.b. 5, that bill would be totally repealed by the referendum. the law is on ice. do you think there's any chance that democrats and groups like we are ohio and the unions will agree to scrap the referendum and instead start negotiating with the governor and republicans now, now that it seems they have a new take on the negotiations? >> rachel, when governor kasich was first elected, he stated public because he was angry that the teachers in particular had not supported him as much as he'd like

scott, rachel wanted to meet lady ga ga and you. >> i would have been easier.e. i was trying to, thinking that through last night, how to convey that. it's madison square garden almost two times full capacity. having just gotten back from africa last week it's hard to convey the significance of that. i mean the lives being transformed through this little girl's unselfishness. >> what was it about the charity that inspired rachel? >> it's simple, for a child to understand that there are children around the world that don't have something so basic, clean water to drink, and that there are solutions something can be done about it. >> you two are meeting for the first time here today. >> yes. >> are two of you going to work together? do you make sure -- >> oh, yes. >> to make sure rachel's legacy does continue? >> i can't wait to bring samantha to africa to meet so many of the people that are going to be served and we've already got a trip planned village to village and just to let you hear in their own stories of the women and the children. i think it will be incr

chapman after their very special wedding and honeymoon. >> rachelle freed manned. >> i, rachelle, take> reporter: they exchanged self-written vows a little over a year after their original wedding date was postponed when the life-altering accident left rachelle in a wheelchair. >> as soon as i hit the water i felt my body was kind of stiffen up. and i just went numb. i kind of heard a crack in my neck. >> reporter: rachelle was celebrating with girlfriends at her bachelorette party when a friend playfully pushed her into the pool. he was paralized. >> it was an accident, a freak accident. it could have happened to anyone. >> reporter: there was never a doubt that the two would eventually marry. >> it was never what am i going to do next, it was what are we going to do next. >> i can't wait until the day when i can finally say i'm rachelle chapman and this is my husband. >> reporter: and rachelle can call chris her husband now. >> mr. and mrs. rachelle and chris chapman! >> hard to describe our happiness. we are so happy. i mean, i don't know how to describe it. i'm in shock. >> so much

thank you, rachel. i understand. >>> it's friday night, so we are especially grateful you're spending an hour watching this show, it's friday. as our friday viewers know, after the show is done, it's time for the show about the prison, right? but before we're done on the show, we have a new story for you about the show about the prison. also about me and the republican governor of florida. [ female announcer ] so you think your kids are getting enough vegetables? maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. [ male announcer ] get five dollars in money-saving coupons at v8juice.com. in money-saving coupons or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. t

"the rachel maddow show" is up next. good evening, rachel, welcome back. >> very, very good to be back. good to see you in l.a. thanks for you as well for staying with us. we are coming live from los angeles, i have to say, it's very, very good to be back from vacation and back at work. on september 29, 2008, the u.s. house of representatives took a vote on emergency action to stop the collapse of wall street. with lehman brothers gone, with bear sterns gone, with aig on the way to gone, with the largest economy teetering on the brink of financial collapse, the house of representatives voted on whether or not to take emergency action to prop it up temporarily, to stop catastrophe. remember this? the house took a vote on that that day, and what they voted was no. they voted against that emergency rescue plan, and as a result wall street looked like this. >> where do we go from here? >> they don't have enough. >> we're going to go down -- ton of uncertainty. >> this has gone down now? >> what happened, steve? >> find out i

the rachel maddow show is up next. good evening, rachel. >> looking forward to that live 11:00 p.m. eastern show tonight. glad you're doing that. >> thank you, rachel. >> thank you for staying with us for the next hour. rick perry, the governor of texas is running for president. rick perry started off the year by saying he definitely would not run for president. he then changed to thinking about running for president. he changed to not just thinking a about it, but he said he would talk about it for the first time in public this weekend. he wouldn't be announcing. today, the spokesperson confirming that rick perry will be talking about it in public and he'll be announcing that he's running for president on saturday night. now, the timing here is crucial. because saturday is exactly when every other candidate running for the republican presidential nomination is hoping to get their own good press about their really impressive campaign in all of their momentum and how excited everybody is that they're running and what a great shot they have. saturday is the big ames, iowa straw poll.

and police believe they have found a person responsible for killing rachel moncrief. >> i'm thrilled that we're able to find out who did this and hold him accountable. >> reporter: the deputy district attorney says dna evidence points to 61-year-old david dixon. >> what confirmed mr. dixon as being the killer was the blood and the marijuana cigarette dna. >> reporter: investigators say it was at this location on july 28, 1979, 50-year-old rachel moncrief's body was found. she had been stabbed 30 times. >> she was working a night shift and later she was found by another employee. >> reporter: back then, moncrief pa controlled this area as a security guard. dixon's blood was found on one of her pant legs. >> both their dna was found on a marijuana cigarette found in the area. >> reporter: investigators say they suggest they knew each other. this case remained unsolved for decades and was a top priority when the county reopened its old case this year. >> one of the most gratifying things about bringing the cold case back is when we're able to tell a family your loved one has not been fo

. >>> last night on "the rachel maddow show," racheled asked veteran journalist dan rather who has interviewed gadhafi three times, if he knows what to expect from the libyan leader at this point. >> based on what little i know about him, i have been eyeball to eyeball with him, he must be going through some version of on the one hand saying death before dishonor, i'll go down fighting, i'll go down in flames, i'll be a martyr. but say what you want about moammar gadhafi, very strange and dangerous man, but he cares about his family. he's got to be weird about his family. i would think on the one hand it's fight to the finish, never give in, whatever it takes. on the other hand, saying maybe, just maybe i can get away to, say, russia, and maybe negotiate some way that my family can be taken care of. he must have struckled with it in the last 24 hours. you said something earlier that i think is important. this situation has not been resolved. it's a great moment. the regime has fallen. but the question, and i think it's a question in the viewer's mind, what now, what next? answer, we don't know

>> that is the question, rachel. particularly when talking about taxing -- nobody wants to talk about raising taxes, but even warren buffett this week raised that and got a tremendous amount of publicity. >> belva: we're hearing at least from the local progressive democrats. >> right. right. >> belva: rachel gordon, this week hackers broke into confidential information from b.a.r.t. yet again. personal information about their officers. where is this whole problem going? >> this whole issue is really a debate between at this point between free speech and public safety. that's how b.a.r.t. is casting it. we have to look back a little bit of what happened. it was last week when b.a.r.t., which is the regional rail service, 350,000 boardings a day. 4 counties. b.a.r.t. decided because there was anticipated protest to shut off cell phone service, texting ability in the downtown stations? san francisco. they said this was the way organizers protest. i mean, protesters organize. i'm sorry. is to go and say, we're here, we'r