children have caught the eyes of investigators. but now breaking news that former president jimmy carter is now in the hospital. he had an upset stomach on a flight to cleveland and was taken to a hospital for observation. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is in the d.c. bureau. pete, what else do we know? >> well, this is a flight to take mr. carter on a book tour. he's going around talking about his brand new book "white house diary", writing about his years in the white house. today he was scheduled to meet with some 300 or 400 people who had been standing in line at a bookstore in the cleveland suburb of lindherst. but he will not be attending that today because during a commercial flight from atlanta to cleveland he became hill. he developed airsickness. we don't know why. we don't know if the flight was unusually turbulent or it was just something related to him. at any event, when the plane arrived he was taken by an

balance to the hospital. the carter center says he is resting comfortably and he's expected to continue his book tour this week, which suggests he'll be staying in the hospital for precaution for a while. he is 85 years old. he won't be getting to the bookstore in the cleveland suburb today, and we'll have to wait and see whether he's released this evening or tomorrow or precisely when. but when you have an 85-year-old former president you take every precaution. they're going to go ahead and keep him in the hospital for a while, make sure he's all right. then he can resume the book tour. >> pete williams in the d.c. bureau, thank you very much. we also have breaking news out of paris where the eiffel tower has been evacuated after a bomb threat. you're looking at live pictures for a webcam. this is the second time in two weeks this has happened. a spokesperson for the eiffel tower gave no specific details

on the latest threat. france is a on a high alert because of continuing kidnappings. and president obama is about to leave new mexico in rout to madison, wisconsin, in just a few minutes. the president is just finishing um another intimate backyard talks we've seen with local residents discussing the economy. he also, the president, linked the economy with education reform. with five weeks to go, the president also brought up the midterm elections. >> the republicans put out what they call their pledge to america. and it basically outlined what their priorities are. their number one economic priority is retaining $700 billion tax breaks to the wealthiest 2% of the country. millionaires and billionaires mostly. nbc's director chuck todd is

here. before we talk about this backyard strategy and the big event planned in wisconsin, let's talk about this "rolling stone" interview. it is inexcusable for any democrat or president to stand in the sidelines on this midterm election. people need to shake off this lethargy. people need to buck up. >> the entire white house. they look at the poll numbers and realize there's no persuading anymore. the persuasion is done. this election, the cake is baked. the difference between democrats losing control of the congress and not at least in the estimation of the democrats is getting this base of the party, particularly young voters, fired up. we have a new nbc "wall street journal" poll out later tonight. but the young vote that surged for the president and democrats in 2008 is not surging. it is sitting. they are sitting on the sidelines right now as far as the polling is concerned. >> they may respond to this call to buck up. we heard him say something

similar on "the lawrence o'donnell show." they may say give us something to believe in. >> that seems to be the disconnect here. you talk to democrats in washington privately they say a bunch of people sent us to washington to change the place, and maybe they don't see the change yet. they haven't seen these effects. so you see these examples all the time. but look at what the president is doing today. he's in madison. a little bit of a college town, so i've heard. >> that's the word on the street. >> joe biden is at penn state. they're having four or five surrogates all trying to do this. they are finally starting to engage african-americans. the third part of this coalition of surge voters the the youth. >> young people. >> now the question, i believe, posed in the first read as well, will the white house blame the base? if the midterms are a bust? >> no, i think each side has a built-in excuse.

the base will say, you didn't give us anything to believe in. the white house will say, you guys are holding us to a ridiculous standard. and this bickering back and forth. the problem is, it's the economy. at the end of the day, they can have these arguments back and forth. the base is frustrated with the bat because they don't feel he has fought hard enough. one democrat said to me, look, we're angry, too. he needs to channel some of that anger into another direction. the republicans are doing a good job of channelling this anger out there. why isn't the president? and even though the experts say the recession is over. you ask any neighbor of mine, people in texas, people around this country will say no, it's not. in the weather, there's feels like temperatures. this is one of those things. i don't care what the temperature says. it feels hot. i don't care what these experts say about the recession. it feels like a recession. nobody feels like if they lost their job today they would have

an easy time finding a job tomorrow. it's not just with the unem ploimed. it's with the folks thinking i could be laid off next. and if i do, boy, i have a friend or neighbor having a hard time. add all those people up. it's not just the unemployed. it's the folks who think, what if i'm next? well, officials at the university of texas in austin say the campus is safe after a gunman opened fire earlier today. the gunman shot himself with an automatic weapon after opening fire in a school library busy at the time. it prompted an emergency evacuation of parts of the campus. >> the guy just said, hey, walk this way. please don't come in this direction. i said, wow. what's going on? i turned on my phone and figured out what's going on. wow, it's scary. >> aside from the gunman, no one else was injured. at one point police received a tip there was another shooter on the campus. moments ago they announced that was not the case.

that the gunman was a student who acted alone and they had given the all clear. new developments in the case of the two american hiker ls held captive in iran. iran is indicating another country is playing a role in securing the american's release. shane bauer and josh fattal have been in iranian custody since july of 2009. imam was instrumental in the effort to get sarah shourd free. she was the third hiker just released on bail two weeks ago. ali, how influential is he in the process of possibly getting the other two free? >> well, tamron, as we've seen, they were very influential in getting sarah shourd freed. they made strong deals with the iranian government and paid the bail. they were key in her release. it's got to be said the

statements that have come out the last few days haven't come from the iranian government or spokesman. these are in a hard line newspaper that have close ties to the supreme leader. sko they're getting their information from somewhere. but it hasn't been funneled through official channels in iran. but having said that, this is the first positive step we've seen for the two men that are being left back in iran as sarah shourd says she felt one-third free. so the other two of them are still in captivity, but this is the most positive news that's come out of iran. the judiciary said recently they want these two guys to still strand trial, possibly over the next two months. i think iran is now under internal pressure and domestic pressure to make it clear what exactly is going to happen with the two boys left behind in prison. whether they're going to face a trial or be released. i think we'll know in the come ing days or weeks. >> thank you, ali. there are alarming new details about american soldiers

killing afghan civilians for sportd. video tape and written statements, one corporal from wasilla, alaska, describes how he and fellow soldiers randomly killed three afghanistan civilians earlier this year at the direction of their staff sergeant. details of his statements came at a pretrial hearing yesterday. his attorneys say morelock was questioned as he was being removed from afghanistan for traumatic brain injury, morelock, his sergeant and three other soldiers have been charged with murder. if convicted, they could face the death penalty. and joining us now is former u.s. marine staff sergeant todd bauers. thanks for joining us so much. we greatly appreciate it. >> thank you for having me, tamron. >> let me get first of all your reaction to the details that have come out about what allegedly happened. >> i have to start off saying

it's inexcusable. but also it highlights a large problem in the military. they're overstretched. they're exhausted. multiple deployments. being kept in when they have possible post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injury. thicks occurring that would pull people out of a combat situation is going overlooked. >> so do you believe if the allegations are true, this could be the result of stress and just being boots on the ground too long? >> i do. i've had four military deployments. we're tired. we're exhausted. to be in combat that long over multiple tours, it really weighs heavy on the individuals where leadership needs to step up and say are these individuals suited to be on the front lines? >> you have five charged with murder. seven charged with attempted murder. a staff sergeant allegedly help covering this up. perhaps there's an argument about the training or lack thereof happening with the men

and women who are in this situation. but of those people, no one had clear sight to know this was wrong and stop it? >> that's the tragedy of this situation. it is a failure in leadership. people should have had a good beat on the men and women on the front lines to identify they are not ready to be out there. and for blatant drug use to be doing on, for individuals to have prescription drugs for the military while still being allowed to go on patrols and things of this nature and that not raise a red flag in anybody is really a large failure in leadership on the ground and in overall policy. >> what are you worried about regarding ramifications of this? you have people in afghanistan who will soon hear some of these allegations? >> that's the tragedy of the situation. a systemic failure within the mill fair as a whole is ultimately going to be counterproductive for what we're trying to accomplish in afghanistan. as word gets out, the taliban insurgents are going to utilize this to their advantage. it's really just a tragedy for all the work that men and women have done on the the ground over there thus far.

>> todd bowers, thanks for joining me. >> thank you. we turn to our education nation initiative. we're looking at the education crisis in america and how to improve the schools. one issue, the shortage of male teacher ls. look at this. particularly african-american male teachers. on the about 25% of america's public schoolteachers are men. just 2% are african-american men. the shortage is most acute in elementary schools where about 260,000 male teachers versus 1.5 million female teachers. joining me now is youth advocate and author captain wes moore. also where he follows the similarities in his own life with another man, same name, wes moore, now serving a life sentence without parole. thank you for joining us. we've been waiting to talk to yo you. >> thank you. >> tom brokaw brought this up yesterday in our town hall. white male teacher ls would have

to wait in line to become principals. they were always the leaders of the school. now there's a desperate crowd to get men in this profession on this level. why aren't we seeing a response? or fast enough response? >> one thing is the historical reflection of the fact we haven't had men inside the procession. we had this bunk idea teaching were for women. you didn't find men looking to compete for teaching jobs. not only are they incredibly needed, particularly when you look at the amount of single-parent households, we need men to serve as not only role models for the boys, but also for the girls as well. >> what does a man offer that perhaps a female teacher cannot? >> particularly for young boys and young girls, if you have a situation like we do in the country where almost half of all students are growing up in a single-parent household, mostly single mothers. for the african-american community, 70%. having that male teacher inside

the classroom can mean a lot in helping that young boy determine who exactly they want to be and how they want to do it. >> but this alarm has been sounded a while ago. this i read an article probably five years ago where are the black male teachers? where are the male teachers? it doesn't seem this alarm is resonating. >> that will help this alarm to resonate now. three of the fastest growing jobs in the country are nurses, are home care physicians, and are teachers. men have got to do one of two things. we have to get around this historical nonsense about men not going into the teaching or nursing world and get more involved in the professions. they're going extraordinarily fast. men cannot only do a lot of good, but these jobs are growing and men can find a good solid education. >> do you believe we're seeing more action? yesterday arne duncan, secretary of education, says he's looking for diversity.

he acknowledges the problem with getting more men into the schools. >> there's a lot of action being done about it now. one thing we're seeing, you look at the military population, for example, and veterans. veterans have a 17% unemployment rate. that's a great area to start looking for men looking for the second profession to do real good and continue the sense of service. >> and men who know about being a role model. >> when i came back from afghanistan, teachers came to me and said thank you for their service. the only thing i could say to them was thank you for your service. they do an extraordinarily important role and arguably the most important job we have in the country are our teachers. >> you can find so much about the men and resources available to help improve your child's education by visiting educati educationnation.com. find great school apps with resources on how your child's school stacks up to other zools to local parent chat groups. new developments in an international custody battle involving an american dad

fighting for his two young son ls. we've got an update. plus, will he or won't he? new reports that the chief of staff rahm emanuel will resign as early as this week. and this is the funny one of the day, i think. michael smerconish. well, he got a taste of a new law requiring restaurants to post calories on the menu. they started this in february. why is michael riled up now? well, he's going to join me live. 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 ♪ let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. but with advair, i'm breathing better.

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welcome back. americans' view of the economy turned grimmer in september. consumer confidence dropped to the lowest point since february. also a survey of ceos indicates

business executives are not as optimistic about sales growth as they were back in june. that suggests some could put plans to hire more workers on hold. meanwhile, the housing market is still weak. some home prices inched up in july for the fourth straight month, but with the peak buying season over, many cities on the 20-city index are bracing for declines. and checking wall street about an hour 45 minutes before the close, the dow is up 44 points. we'll keep an eye on how things shake out. well, philly, the home of cheesesteaks, cheese fries and cream cheese if you count philly cream cheese. but a new item on the menu earlier this year, calories. this spring the city expanded to include sodium and carbohydrates on the menu. why is michael smerconish talking about this now? he has experienced firsthand while this is happening. i lived in philadelphia.

one of the greatest cities i've ever been in my life. i love cheese fries. i love cheese steaks. but i want to know the calorie count. what is your take on this? >> well, i was prepared not to like it. and i'm part a shut-in. which is why i haven't experienced it yet. it only applies to nose outlets with 15 restaurants nationwide. if a mom and pop kind of place, they're flying under the radar. i thought this was nanny state kind of stuff. i like michael bloomberg. i feel he wants to get involved in all aspects of my life. we went out for a family celebration at the palm the other night. so they handed to us these menus. and i'm telling you, man, this was an eye opener for me. now i have to decide what am i hungry for, am i prepared to pay for it, but also the calories. i'm not going for shrimp bruno with 780 calories.

you know the atlantic salmon filet you feel is healthy? it's 620 calories. i may as well get the new york strip 12-ounce because it's only 670 caloriecalories. i left the dinner table thinking i was empowered. i was still in charge. i was still exercising my individual liberty. but now i was doing it with the knowledge of what i'm putting into my body. >> well, knowledge is power. i can appreciate that, michael. women supposed to be around 2,000 calories a day. to your point on your list of things that you've pointed out. the three-cheese potatoes. that's 940 calories. i assume that's a side dish. so if you're supposed to have 2,000 calories a day, that's half of your intake. and so many people do, honestly, wonder. i'm eating okay. i'm not eating big meals. why am i not able to lose weight? because they don't know what's in the food regarding calories

and what the chefs are cooking with. that's why it tastes so great, right? >> yeah, instead of the three-cheese potatoes, i went for a baked potato with 2010 before i put sour cream and butter on it. i would like to know what's the content of my gin martini. if we're really putting on the weight from the so da and the booze, and i enjoy a cocktail, tell me that, too, maybe i should be having vodka. >> you've been converted. you no longer believe this is an example of nanny state. this is a good thing in your point. >> this is empowering me to make my own choice, giver me all the data, then i will decide. by the way, it was a great meal. i love it. >> you're going to be banned after this. >> i love it. >> that's a good point of view. thank you very much. >> see you, tamron. we have new information regarding former president jimmy carter. he was on a plane near cleveland

and rwas rushed to the hospital earlier. we were told he had an upset stomach. now we know the grandson of the former president says he is out of the cleveland hospital after being taken there with an upset stomach. good news there. former president jimmy carter out of the hospital. [ female announcer ] stay once... stay twice... earn a free night! two separate stays at comfort inn or any of these choice hotels can earn you a free night -- only when you book at choicehotels.com. you want to you a free night -- replant a forest? maybe you want to rebuild homes for those in need? or, maybe you want to help improve our schools? whatever you want to do, members project from american express can help you take the first step. vote, volunteer or donate for the causes you believe in at membersproject.com. take charge of making a difference.

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tonight the first debate in california's gubernatorial race. also the stars of a new reality tv program now under investigation. we'll be right back. ♪ yeah, we really do - ♪ and there's nothing wrong - [ bird squawks ] ♪ with what i feel for you ♪ i could hang around till the leaves are brown and the summer's gone ♪ [ announcer ] when you're not worried about potential dangers, the world can be a far less threatening place.

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wow, this is new home video showing the exact moment a massive mud slide came crashing down in northwestern colombia on

monday. up to 30 people may have been buried by the mud slide. officials say the rescue operation may take up to a week. and fbi agents cheating on exams? the justice department is out with the second report in two weeks showing misconduct. they'll say the test results be thrown out and the cheating agents disciplined. don clark joins us from houston, texas. thank you, mr. clark, for joining us. >> good to be with you, tamron. >> this test was the domestic investigations and operation guide. what do you know about this test in itself? how important is it? >> well, i think it's an important issue to have this test on domestic guidelines. we're so accustomed in the fbi, particularly about counter intelligence and spies and looking abroad for it. when citizens are involved, the question becomes how do the citizens get involved? what are they doing, and how are we to investigate our citizens

that have not committed a crime that we are aware of? that's why i think it is important for them to be educated on what's taking place. >> and right now the inquiry looked at four fbi field agents and the cheating could have been more widespread. we have a statement that says we cannot extrapolate the extent of cheating. we believe there was more cheating and improper conduct than we identified the through our limited interviews and investigation. the bottom line, it could be a bigger problem, right, mr. clark? >> it very well could be. that's very disturbing. i'm sure to all the honest investigators, the fbi employees, but particularly for us old guys who have been through and to hear about cheating within our own ranks. to what does that accomplish? and what the organization has to do that both the department of justice, which has already stepped in on this. i know one of the assistant

directors has already become involved in trying to clean this up and make sure it doesn't go further. >> former special agent for the fbi, don clark, thank you for joining us. tonight is the first debate in the california governor's race. with former ebay ceo spending a report $119 million of her own fun to finance the campaign. the current attorney general jerry brown. noel is at the debate site. chuck todd and others were talking about the national implications of the race. the republicans hoping this savvy businesswoman can help them send a message to the country. >> reporter: >> well, it's been done before. look at the current governor now. m meg whitman is a political n

newbie. she's running against an experienced politician. both of them have advantages and challenges tonight. jerry brown has been in politics since the late '60s, early '70s. he's done 40 debates in his career. he knows what too to do. his challenge will be, however, he tends to go off script. if there ever really is a script with jerry brown. he needs to hone his points and get his message across. meg whitman needs to show voters sthe can go off script with confidence and be able to govern. "the san francisco chronical" said this could be a debate on the issue. >> well, he said in the past that he wishes the death penalty didn't have to exist. he also said hooets not morally opposed to it. but we have an issue in california. now, this week there was one

scheduled for tonight that has sings been postponed for another two days until thursday evening. if that goes forward, it will be thursday evening. there's a chance that it won't because the drug used for leth harlethal injections is in short supply. understandably, the inmate's attorneys are making a case for that. jerry brown said after thursday if this goes forward, he will put a temporary ban on lethal injections and staidwide executions. like every place else in the country, the economy is key here, jobs are key here. unemployment is at 13% in california. a lot of things to talk about tonight. >> should be interesting. as early as this friday, rahm emanuel, white house chief of staff is expected to announce he'll be leaving to run for

chicago mayor. mark murray, nbc news deputy political director joins me. before we get to the potential replacements, mark, we're hearing this could come down friday, right? >> exactly, tamron. savannah guthrie reported it could come as early as friday, and that all signs are pointing that he would make this mayoral bid. it's not a done deal. due to family considerations, emanuel hasn't completely made up his mind yet. most are oermting und ioperatin asujs assumption that he will run for mayor of chicago. >> let's look at the outsiders first. >> this is people who are outsiders, but very well known to washington, d.c. you have tom daschle, the former senate leader who isn't certainly working the white house, but knows all the types of players.

there's also clinton's former chief of staff in the 1990s. another, john podesta and then leon panetta. he's a former clinton chief of staff. they may want to tap someone who certainly knows what the job is and also knows a thing or two about dealing with republicans in charge of congress if that turns out to be the case after november. >> how concerned is the white house from the things being said with needing someone who is not as divisive. it's more than that he's wearing sho many hathats. >> well, the republicans may dispute that. >> exactly. but a lot of democrats around town have talked about emanuel wearing a lot of hats. he was a former clinton

political director. often speaks to the press. the white house may be looking for someone who can make the trains run on time and be more focused on that. you raise an interesting point. the next chief of staff, if republicans do take back the house, that chief of staff will have to work with republicans and have a good working relationship with them. >> mark murray, nbc political director. thank you. good to see you. michael sneed is reporting rahm emanuel may not be table to live in his own house. the tenant living in emanuel's leased home won't move out. and has also axed the idea of rahm moving into the basement. rahm renewed the lease with the senate just six days before mayor daley announced he would not run for office again. how classic is that? well a new reality tv show sparks a police investigation, but the stars are vowing not to change a single thing. let's get the school from

courtney hazlett. this has to do with the new tlc show "sister wives" about the plural family. >> four wives and a combined 16 children. one man. this has launched a police investigation in utah. the browns have given me a statement saying what they think habit the investigation. they said we're disappointed in the announcement of an investigation, but when we decided to do the show we knew there would be risks. for the sake of the family and most importantly the kids we thought it was a risk worth taking. they said they had grown up in a real culture of fear. >> what are they being investigated for? he's only legally married to the first wife. >> technically in utah, that is not allowed. however, the utah attorney general said in the past, and i spoke with the attorney's general's office this morning, they said they stand behind their claim to go after them as

long as there's no evidence of child abuse. >> the allegation is possible felon bigamy. >> a lot of people are interested in this because 2.3 million people turned out for the premier of the show. quite a big number for tlc. another story in today's news. this is doesn't happen when mr. trump does a beauty pageant or anything like that. but in australia's top model the wrong winner was crowned. you have to see it to believe the awkwardness of the situation. >> i want to thank the runners up. they've been amazing and all the girls for keeping me on my toes. >> i'm so sorry. it's amanda. >> there you have the host there, saying, i'm sorry, it wasn't you, it was amanda who won. and talk about a horribly, horribly awkward moment to play out on live television. it went on for about two minutes. the incorrect winner was awarded $25,000 for the mistake.

for the embarrassment of having to stand up the there. the winner of the show gets $20,000, an eight-page spread in a magazine. then on "glee." everybody is talking about the britney spears episode of "gl e "glee." on heels of that, gweneth paltrow will be on. she'll be singing several solos. >> does she sing? >> she does sing a little bit. but enough with if guest stars on "glee." that's what i'm here to say. the cast is fantastic. when every week it's a revolving door of guest stars, it's no longer about the show and the cast, which is so great. it becomes who the latest big name is. i'm here to this say, let's just lay off the guest stars.

you don't have to put everybody on there. >> excellent thought for the latest news and commentary. but that is dpa good point, courtney. a father fighting for custody of his two sons in egypt is finally reunited with his boys. the emotional reunion next. and -- did you hear this? did sarah palin get booed last night on "dancing with the stars"? that's a big question being asked on the internet. we're going to show you as it is one of the things we thought you should know. putting our security at risk. my big brother went to iraq to keep us safe. he came home in a flag-draped coffin. america lost another hero. big oil wants to talk about costs? don't let big oil lie to you about what our dependence really costs. ♪

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new developments in an international child custody case. an american dad fighting to get his sons back after he says their mother smuggled them into egypt. it's reached the highest levels of government in both countries. nbc's jess rossen is here with the latest. what's new here? >> what's new is there was some kind of breakthrough.

he's gone for more than a year without seeing his children. he was finally able to see them. two little boys. first time in more than 13 months. he says they were abducted by his own mother and smuggle overseas by her with fake passports. egypt won't give the kids back. so u.s. officials at the highest levels now have set up this emotional visit. >> obviously i'm anxious. i don't know what to expect. >> reporter: it's reunion day for collin bou waward. he's about to see his two boys. he's nervous. it's been 13 months since he last saw them and hugged them and kissed them. >> the thought of actually seeing my children -- it's almost an incredible thing to me at this point. i've been promised it and looked forward to it for so long. it seems unreal. >> reporter: this american dad traveled to cairo several times

trying to bring his kids home to massachusetts. no luck. desperate to reach them, he makes facebook videos. >> daddy loves you. daddy will always love you. >> collin and his wi got divorced in boston in 2008. collin won sole custody. but last summer his ex-wife took the kids, forged their passports and snuck them into her native egypt. an international arrest warrant has been issued, her face plastered on the interpol website wanted for kidnapping. but egypt hasn't cooperated. earlier this month collin pled for help. >> i have no idea where they are. nobody is told where they are. i've been told the egyptian government knows where they are. >> but the egyptian government won't tell you? >> egyptian government certainly hasn't told me. >> just days after the story, secretary of state hillary clinton got personally involved and spoke with egypt's president

leading to this visit. finally collin could see his boys. our cameras weren't allowed in, but hours later when collin walked out, he was in tears. >> the boys came in a and they sat next to their two uncles and held their hands and stayed pretty much away from me. so it was very, very sad. very sad. >> reporter: collin believes the kids have been brainwashed to hate him and life in america. it hurt badly. >> i tried to explain to them that both their parents love them. and not sure i got through. but it was a start.

it was a first meeting. and, you know, they're my two beautiful boys. so that's what happened. >> tough to watch. so the question becomes, where does collin go from here? he just sent a letter to egypt's ambassador calling this a humanitarian matter, and the state department now tells nbc news they are doing everything they can to bring his kids back home to the u.s. it's tough with e jiptd because they're not part of the internal treaty that regulates custody. this is really a tricky situation diplomatically for the u.s. >> well, it's an interesting update. thank you, jeff. at least he's getting help. he has support here. >> yes, he does. well, impeached former governor rod blagojevich taking part in a forum on trust.

you heard me right. what's wrong with this picture? i'm just asking. and more couples opting to choose the sex of their child. the growing popularity of gender selection. is it crossing the line? replant a forest? maybe you want to rebuild homes for those in need? or, maybe you want to help improve our schools? whatever you want to do, members project from american express can help you take the first step. vote, volunteer or donate for the causes you believe in at membersproject.com. take charge of making a difference. guarantee me the best deal on my refinance loan, or pay me $1,000? that would be nice, not getting swindled. um...where are we? don't just think about it.

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there's a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. what do you suppose president obama listens to on his ipod? he recently told "rolling stone" magazine he has more than 2,000 songs includining stevie wonder bob dylan. mix it in with lil wayne. and convicted felon and impeached former governor rod blagojevich is speaks at a trust forum in new york city. many of the participants include

advertising firms that need to understand how to build trust in people or products. >> you don't want to see them eat the same chalk that ended david hasselhoff's dream. there's booing in the ballroom. we don't know why. >> there's booing in the ballroom. we don't know why. the blogosphere is buzzing on whether or not sarah palin was being booed on "dancing with the stars." abc says the audience was booing the judge's scores for jennifer gray's dance routine. if you go on twitter or the blogs, some people fight that. i don't know. those are the things we thought you should know. in today's crossing the line. when you ask someone if they want their child to be a boy or girl?

they usually say i want my child to be healthy. today more people are choosing the sex of their child. one texas doctor says 20% of in vitro fertilization opt to choose the gender of the new baby. here's what he has to say to people who disagree with the practice. >> number one, i don't make the babies. the miracle of life is the same. they are boys or girls on their own. the only thing we are doing is freezing the boys and transferring the girls or vice versa. >> he says he does not allow people to choose their child's sex for culture reason. if you have at least one child at home, he'll let you select the opposite sex. what about the ethical questions being raised here? >> i think the consensus is it's potentially problematic, that it does raise serious ethical

issues, but the balance so far favors autonomy on the part of the parents on making reproductive decisions that work for them. >> they say science is out ahead of ethics and law all the time and america's comfort with gender selection will increase over time. is it crossing the line to hay low people to choose the gender of the baby? and you can go to tamron.msnbc.com to vote or twitter me your a response. richard lui picks things up after the break. i didn't miss a premium payment for 10 years. and i'm worried if i lose my job, i won't be able to afford insurance. when i graduated from college, i lost my health insurance. the minute i got sick, i lost my insurance. not anymore. not anymore. not anymore. america's healthcare reforms change lives for the better. to find out how it can help you, visit us at americasfairhealthcare.org it's not just fair, it's the law.

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