mean lawrence o'donnell. the question is, did he know he was sitting down with a mad man? it's "way too early" for this. good morning, i'm willie geist, this show is "way too early," a show that could not come up with an word at this early hour. awkward, uncomfortable. doesn't go far enough. i'm glad you're up watching on msnbc. listening live on sirius xm radio. shoot me an e-mail. let me know why you're awake. do what levi does and text the word awake. next 30 minutes will be the cram session. a lot to tell you about today, including an elaborate alleged terror plot against european cities foiled by intelligence agencies. plus, more awkward television. a lot of them this morning.

as the well-known host of australia's top model makes it dramatic announcement of the winner. music played, tears of international fame dance in the winner's head. but, wait, there's a problem. a really big problem. we'll tell you about that in a moment. but first, let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shedding light on the way americans are feeling. 59% say the country is head in the wrong direction. 32% say the u.s. is on the right track. with that in mind, 46% of likely voters believe the republicans should control congress compared to 43% in favor of democrats. that's within the margin of error and represents a smaller gap than last month when republicans held a nine-point advantage over democrats.

this is what they want. 75% want a reduction in special interest influence. 70% want to elect outsiders. 54% want to bring more conservatism to the republican party and 54% want to see repeal of the health care reform. 42% of those say tea party is good for politics. when it comes to the president's job performance, 49% now disapprove of the work he's doing. 46% approve. that number has held fairly steady. more americans have positive feelings toward former president bill clinton than president obama. an amazing number. sarah palin has a favorability rating of 30%, higher than nancy pelosi who rated 22%. with polls showing that young

voters likely will not turn out this november, president obama is hoping to fire up the demographic that helped propel him to the white house in 2008. the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows 35% of voters aged 18 to 34 are enthusiastic about the upcoming election, compared to 65% of seniors. numbers like that brought president obama to the university of wisconsin in madison yesterday, one of the great places on the face of the earth. there, he urged a crowd of some 26,000 students to re-engage in politics. >> the biggest mistake we could make right now is to let disappointment or frustration lead to apathy and indifference. that's how the other side wins. and i want everybody to be clear -- make no mistake -- if the other side does win, they will spend the next two years fighting for the very same policies that led to this recession in the first place. the same policies that left the

middle class behind for more than a decade. the same policies that we fought so hard for to change in 2008. >> the strong speech that -- yeah, they're not going to vote -- the kids are not going to vote this fall. the president took part in a back yard discussion in new mexico. there the conversation turned from the economy to his religious beliefs. the president's respond to the question, "why are you a christi christian?" >> i'm a christian by choice. you know, my family didn't, you know, frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every -- every week. so i came to my christian faith later in life. and it was because the precepts of jesus christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life i would want to lead -- being my

brothe brothers' and sisters' keeper. treating others as i want them to treat me. >> 18% of people thought that the president was a muslim. he's been open talking abhis faith. being photographed going to church a couple of weeks ago. the tight race for governor of california, the two major party candidates met last night for the first of three debates. jerry brown and republican meg whitman clashed on several issues. though both acknowledged there were no simple fixes for a state with a $19 billion deficit in unemployment of more than 12%. still, neither kancandidate shy about attacking the other. fireworks started with brown bringing up the record $119 million of their own money. meg whitman has poured into their campaign. whitman portraying todd as special interest. >> i put my own money in this

campai campaign, i raised a lot of money. many people believe in my vision for a new california. but it gives me the independence to go to sacramento not beholden to the special interest. >> one of the targeted tax cuts targeted to billionaires like ms. whitman and millionaires. it's a $500 billion tax break that will go to the richest people in california, 82% goes to those making over 500,000. where will a lot of the money come from, our schools. that's not fair, that's not right. it reflects the difference in our values. >> the fact that he's tried to distance himself from the labor unions is amazing. they've been joined at the hip for 40 years. my view is putting jerry brown in charge of negotiating with the labor unions around pensions, around how many people we have in the state government is like putting count dracula in charge of the blood bank. >> >> if everyone in state service worked as long as i have, the pension system would

be overfunded by 50%, okay? if they want to stay around until 72. if you elect me governor, i won't collect until i'm 76. unless i take a second. then if i get a second term, i'll be 80. i'm best -- i'm the best pension buy california has ever seen okay? >> there's an argument. he won't have to worry about his pension payment. that race in california deadlocked right now pretty much a dead heat between those two. again, that's the first of three debates between them. 47 house democrats are breaking ranks with president obama and democratic leaders to call for extension of it was bush-era tax cuts for the nation's highest earners. in a letter to nancy pelosi yesterday, they echoed republicans saying the economy is too fragile to raise taxes. the letter written by new jersey congressman john adler also argues that raising dividend taxes for high income earners could hurt the middle class from discouraging companies from

paying dividend at all. president obama wants to get the 15% rate for middle income homes and decrease it to 20% for higherners. intelligence agencies disrupt add plot to carry out attacks in france, italy, and germany. terrorist groups in pakistan were planning to carry out what's called mumbai-style strikes. the plan was in the early stages. threat levels have not been rais raised. that development comes after france's eiffel tower was evacuated after officials received a bomb threat there. despite the call which police said came from a nearby phone booth, no suspicious object was found. former president jimmy carter expected to resume the book tour after spending the night in a cleveland hospital with an upset stomach. the decision to admit him was precautionary and carter who

received a call from president obama was fully alert and resting comfortable. they took him off of the plane there in cleveland. may have been a case of motion sickness. still ahead on way too early, the playoff battle tampa bay rays get in the war of words with their own fans. the star player says he's sick and tired of playing in an empty stadium. the rays were one of three teams to clench a postseason spot. and, yes, they did it in a half empty stadium. highlights ahead. the interview sealed and sent by armed courier and sent to washington for future generations to study. lawrence o'donnell examines levi johnston on everything from global warming to evolution to afghanistan. it's so painful, you may have to avert your eyes. that guy, he's mean. check on weather as well when "way too early" comes right back.

three, two, one -- go! and liftoff. liftoff -- americans return to space as discovery clears the tower. >> roger, discovery. >> houston now controlling. ♪

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[ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses bl have important vitamins and minerals that can really help protect you. and v8 juice gives you three of your five daily servings. powerful, right? v8. what's your number? 2:43 in the morning, in las vegas, nevada. 5:43 here. a check of your weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> good morning, tomorrow, ugly, today, not bad. that's it. back to you. let me show you the rest of this. tropical depression 16.

to the florida straits, heavy rain from miami. not going to be a tropical system heading up the east coast, more like a nor'easter. drenched up and down the east coast. it will be gusty winds at times. the forecast today from boston to dc, maybe a sprinkle on shower out there. in general, it's going to be dry and warm. it's humid out there. you can feel it as you walk out the door. but tomorrow, it's going to be a soaking rain, there's going to be flooding problems. in the big cities, there will be the urban flooding is going to be a big issue. our computers are projecting we could have flooding tall way from the northern portions of new england right down through the mid atlantic. the computer is pinpointing right now some of the heaviest rains that come up through philadelphia to new york city, as much as 6 to 7 inches of rain. that would cause some serious concerns out there for even the small streams and the rivers in the days ahead. the rest of the country looks gorgeous. this is mostly just a problem for us. >> all right. >> tomorrow -- tonight and tomorrow. >> sounds good. i could have taken that

five-second recap at the top. >> but let you do your thing. >> i wanted my face time so -- >> flex those muscles. all right. thanks. the tampa bay rays sitting at first place in the american league east are fed up with their own fans. on monday night, less than 13,000 fans showed up to the braves-orioles game in florida, a game in which the rays could have clinched the playoff spot had they won. a look at the fans that showed up. yesterday, in an interview with the st. petersburg times, evan longoria said it's embarrassing and disheartening fans are not showing up. we go out there and play hard for 162 games and for the fans to show the kind of support they're showing right now, you kind of wonder what else you have to do as a player. longoria wasn't the only one to speak out about the lousy attention, rays' star pitcher tweeted his disgust saying had a chance to clinch a postseason

spot tonight with 10,000 fans in the stands, embarrassing. he said he was trying to fire up his fans to come out. it didn't work. price on the mound, here he is, a strikeout, eight innings striking out eight in the fifth. karl crawford hit a solo home run to right field. the braves clinch the playoff berth in front of a crowd of nearly 18,000. that's better than the other night. about 5,000 more than the average season attendance. 13,000 a night on average coming out. not good. according to st. petersburg times, the rays' ownership will give out 20,000 free tickets to tonight's game, the last home game of the season. the yankees won to clinch a playoff spot of their own. they'll jockey back and forth to get first in the east and the wild card, that, of course, eliminates officially the red sox, who had a noble season. they had good players, put up a

good fight. in the national league, reds looking to clinch the nl central. what a season they had. they did it in dramatic fashion. bottom of the ninth inning, game tied. jay bruce -- they're not brewing. they're saying bruce! a walkoff home run against the astros with that swing of the bat. the cincinnati reds make it to the playoffs for the first time in 15 year else. good for them. they've done it the same way they did it all season. bruce's home run was the second time this season that the reds have won in their final attack. congratulations to cincinnati. how about a play last night. giants-d-backs in the sixth. jose guillen, a foul ball on the right field wall. may have made the catch. look who comes one the ball, the guy with the chicken hat. gillespie didn't get it. chicken hat guy did. look how proud he is. he shows the ump, look, i made the play. he runs at the umpire. that guy didn't catch it. i got it.

that's your man with the chicken hat. giants win the game. they're two games up on the padres and the nl west. padres are fading. they're a game and a half behind the braves to the n.l. wild card as well. coming up at the top of the hour, president obama barn storms across the country in an attempt to rally the democratic troops for the midterm elections and talks openly about his faith while doing so. it's part of the "hey i'm not a muslim" okay strategy. we'll discuss. and we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch our own lawrence o'donnell grill in a very unkind fashion levy johnson on everything from the stand on evolution to the stand on the war in afghanistan. levi on the hot seat. [ indistinct conversations ]

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been talking about education all this week as part of education nation and reform. not just about the length of the school year or where student goes to school, also about keeping those students in school. and for the united states, that issue has economic and as well as academic consequences. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that the dropouts from class of 2009

will cost the u.s. $335 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity. according to the alliance for excellent education which estimates that $1.3 million students drop out of the u.s. high schools every year. 1.3 million. enough with the real news. let's huddle around the water cooler. i hate to be self-serving or self-promotion self-promotional. in just 306 hours from now. less than two weeks, you'll be able to get your matey paws on the exciting new satirical masterpiece known as the "american freak show" or order it on amazon. get yourself on amazon and preorder it right now. one of the many characters in "american freak show," sarah palin. levy johnson is on there too. last night on "dancing with the stars" we lost a good one, michael bolton was eliminated. a low score a couple of weeks

ago. the real focus was boogate. we talked about the trumped up phony controversy where some people said sarah palin was booed two nights ago by the studio audience. they were booing the scores from the previous dancer. tommy bergeron and brooke burke and company on last night's "dancing with the stars results show" addressing boogate with new never before seen camera angles to prove it. >> 8. >> 8! >> 8! they're booing an 8? 8 is good. >> that is good thachl is good. >> 8! >> what's the matter with you? >> all right, thank you, brooke.

i'm here with the guests of the ballroom commentator sarah palin joins us from alaska. >> another camera angle they showed last night from the incident that happened two nights ago which shows that all of the boos were coming from the low scores the judges were giving. you happy now? let's talk about levi johnson. he was here in this studio somewhere a few hours ago live talking to lawrence o'donnell talking about the new hit show, "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." he's running for mayor of alaska. and, boy, lawrence put him through the paces wanting his position on all of the issues that matter to the good people. >> what's your position on global warming. do you believe it's man made or not? >> no, i don't. >> you don't believe it's man made? or you do believe it's man made? >> i don't believe it's man made. >> do you believe evolution should be taught as an accepted scientific principle or one of

several theorys? >> you're getting over my head on these things here. i don't know how to answer that question. >> in afghanistan, do you believe additional troops, u.s. troops will solve the problem there. >> i have no idea. >> okay, again, do you think that pakistani government is protecting al qaeda within its borders. >> like i said, i don't watch all of that -- >> lawrence -- lawrence -- lawrence went on to ask levi if he's been watching bristol on "dancing with the stars". >> what do you do? come on, dancing with the stars is on, what are you doing instead? >> better things to do. my son, i got family. got stuff to do around the house. my friends, i've got -- reading up on all of this stuff trying to become mayor. i've got a job. i have much better stuff to do than sit around watching tv. >> guy's running for mayor. he doesn't have time to watch tv. he's candidate for mayor. incredible story out of

australia. america's top model to show here. they have australia top model where pretty girls compete to become models. something like that. the host of the australian version is sarah murdock, the daughter-in-law of rupert murdoch. she made a dramatic announcement on the big show, the big finale, unfortunately, it was the incorrect announcement. >> so, the winner, and australia's next top model for 2010 is -- it's you, kelsey! this is not -- this is a complete accident. i'm so sorry. it's amanda. i'm so sorry. it was fed to me wrong. >> it's all right. it's okay. >> it's okay. >> this is what happens when you have live tv, folks. i'm so sorry. >> she announced the wrong winner. roller coaster ride. she went on to throw her producer under the bus -- i'm

given the wrong name. >> oh your texts and e-mails are next on "morning joe" moments away. was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com.

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