lives. their parents say it is because they were bullied for being gay. we'll take a look at what's being done. plus, a grandmother shoots a 12-year-old boy that she says has been terrorizing her in her home for months. she won't face charges, but should she? you tell me if it's crossing the line. but the rain and winds from tropical storm nicole that have been hammering south florida are expected to ease up soon. as the broad system makes its way up the east coast. this is what it looked like in south florida just this morning. strong rains made it actually tough for commuters. people trying to get to work or get anywhere. winds whipped up the surf in ft. lauderdale. the storm is expected to soak the east coast through the weekend. eric fisher joins us now from ft. lauderdale with the latest. what are you watching, eric? >> i'm watching a lot of rain, tamron, moving into south florida. it is not the type of day that the beach resorts hope for. we are going to see this rain continuing through the afternoon into the evening as well. although winds not going to be a

big part of this story. i've got a little personal weather station here. the water is off to my left. when i look at it, we're talking 5 to 15 miles an hour. that's certainly not an epic storm. this isn't going to go down in the history books. in terms of the wind, really not a big deal. it became a tropical storm by reaching wind speeds of 40 miles an hour. as it moves northward, we could see gusts. the 4 to 8 inches of rainfall in south florida, that can pose a problem, especially for the more urban areas. the water stacks up. we have a lot of paved roads. especially as we get into this evening commute, we could -- we always tell people turn around, don't drown. most of the flooding-related fatalities occur when people try to cross the flooded waters. it's mainly life as usual here in south florida, except for the lack of sunshine. we've been talking about city officials going to work. schools remaining open. however, a lot of the after-school programs and activities have been canceled. so if you are engaged in any of

those after-school programs, make sure they're happening or not. the emergency management officials are watching all of the flood pumps here in town, making -- heavier squalls do work in, they certainly can get that water out of the picture and clear the roads and hopefully won't be looking at a dangerous situation. this is a moisture machine. it's going to go up the east coast and perhaps the hardest hit could be in the willingham, north carolina, area. they've seen over 10 inches of rainfall. people there should keep a close eye on where nicole is heading. >> thank you, eric. on to politics. it's been a week of sharp contrasts for president obama. on one hand, the more intimate side of the president at those backyard discussions like the one in des moines just a few hours ago. on the other hand, the president rallying thousands of energetic supporters tuesday evening, reminiscent of the campaign-style rallies that we saw in 2008. savannah guthrie is in washington, d.c. for us. when you look at it, you see the stark contrast, but you know the president has to put everything

on the table to close that enthusiasm gap that we're talking so much about, that we're seeing between republican likely voters and democratic likely voters. >> no question about it. the white house hopes everyone looks at that rally that we saw at the university of wisconsin yesterday and says, what enthusiasm gap? he was still able to pack tens of thousands into an arena. the only issue is can he pack them into the polls? will they actually show up? these are folks who, of course, supported the president in 2008. they call them obama surge voters. the dnc is sending $50 million to try to get out this vote because in some of these key races, those young people, the ones that voted for the first time in 2008, could make the difference. and even today in des moines, iowa, as you said, the president hosting kind of a more intimate affair in somebody's backyard. he talked about that generation. let's listen. >> in some ways, this generation may be less fixed on immediate gratification than our generation was. partly because they've seen, you

know, how -- some hardship in their own families and in their own careers. >> so maybe it's flattery or rallies. whatever it takes, tamron, this youth vote is absolutely essential. and the white house is very fixed on it. they'll have a few more of these rallies before election day. >> and i want to talk more about that new nbc news poll. it looks as if when people are asked who should control congress, the republicans are losing a little steam there. tell me more about the numbers. >> yeah. what you see here is the trend. the republicans have the advantage. they have a three-point advantage, but a month ago they had a nine-point advantage. i guess it depends who is the beholder here. maybe democrats are making up some lost ground. this poll reflects that. our pollsters say there's just a natural tightening that happens no matter what when you get closer to election day. but certainly, a shred of good news for democrats in an otherwise pretty tough political

climate. as i said, for the democrats, it's all about turnout. that's what they'll be working for before election day. >> all right. savannah guthrie, thanks. conflicting reports today on a suspected al qaeda terror plot. officials tell nbc news there is significant concern that al qaeda linked terrorists in pakistan were plotting a mumbai-style attack targeting france or germany. some officials are downplaying the idea that the attack is imminent. right now france is on heightened alert after a threat forced the eiffel tower to be evacuated tuesday. that, by the way, being the second time in only two weeks. the u.s. has stepped up drone strikes in pakistan. this month alone, there have been at least 21. nbc's jenny weevil joins us now from the london bureau. what is being done there in response to the reports of this perhaps possible al qaeda terror threat? >> well, in britain we're also on a heightened state of alert. our threat level is currently

rated as severe. that means the threat of a terror attack here in britain is considered to be highly likely. it's actually been this way since january. we have no specific information about the plots. we have no date, no time and no location, but it is still considered to be a credible threat. nbc news has learned that the plot was uncovered after a number of british-born pakistanis were arrested in pakistan earlier this month. the plans to go on a shooting rampage across europe emerged during interrogations by american, british, and pakistani intelligence officers. those plans had actually, it's believed, moved beyond the level of being just aspirations. now, american officials are viewing the current threat warnings as here serious than they have in the past few years. they're not actually ruling out the fact that a threat could involve an attack inside the united states itself. now, some of this threat level is also reported to have come from a german jihadi arrested in

afghanistan as well. in response to all of this information, america stepped up its drone attacks in northern pakistan this month, attempting to target the plotters themselves. in september alone, there were 21 attacks in northern pakistan. that's at least double the usual number. in 2010, there was 76 in total and that's compared to 2009 when there were just 53 drone attacks in pakistan. now, although we have no specific intelligence, we do have indications that there may have been a mumbai-style attack rather than a suicide attack. >> all right. thank you very much for the latest out of our london bureau. former president jimmy carter will spend a second night in a cleveland hospital. he's canceling some scheduled events. a spokesperson said that the former president is feeling normal today, but doctors are recommending he undergo additional observations. joining us now is nbc's bob bizel. good to see you. haven't seen you in a while. president carter is 86. he's got a really tough schedule promoting this book.

why do you think the doctors have decided to keep him in for observation? >> tamron, we just don't know. they're not saying anything more than you just said. we have here an 86-year-old. he'll be 86 on friday. he has been keeping up this amazing schedule. he's going around the country promoting his book. so is he just exhausted? quite possibly. they just want to make sure he get as good rest. is there anything else going on? we don't know. but all indications from everybody in the carter center, in his family and everything else we've said -- we've heard from the hospital is that he's -- he's just fine but he's resting. >> he seems to -- he was being interviewed by matt lauer and brian williams. he seems to get around very, very well. obviously he's kept up the schedule going to north korea recently. >> yeah. those days with matt and brian before he ended up in cleveland in the hospital, he didn't -- he didn't seem at all sick. and there is a lot of bugs going around. there's a lot of people in this office who are a little bit sick from flu-like illnesses that are

just starting because it's september. it's that time of year. he could have a bug in addition to having been air sick or he could be tired or it could be something else. we have no reason to think there's anything wrong. >> the doctors are saying normal, but he's canceled two appearances. no decision made yet about the events on thursday and friday. as it stands, they feel like he's normal. >> you know, if you've ever written a book, you have a strong desire to get it sold. i think maybe he's just pushing himself too hard. >> thank you, bob. dramatic video out of barcelona, spain. students burned a police car and blocked streets with trash cans. protesters are demonstrated against government measures. there are reports of police firing rubber bullets. violence was reported in brussels, the headquarters of the european nation. we're following breaking news out of indonesia. a 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit off eastern indonesia. there is potential for a tsunami to develop.

the quake struck off papua province thursday. the quake was centered 15 miles beneath the ocean floor. a long-time housekeeper of megwhitman announces new allegations against the former ebay ceo. plus, our special education nation coverage continues. are american schools too far behind when it comes to technology? and speaking of technology, blackberry unveils the playbook this week. cnet.com's dan ackerman will put the new product up against the favorite, apple's ipad. s ] ♪ [ male announcer ] a bath becomes even more pleasurable when you know that your water is being heated in an environmentally conscious way, while saving you hundreds of dollars on your water heating energy bill. introducing the geospring water heater from ge

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all this week, we're taking an unprecedented look at the education crisis in america and possible solutions as part of our "education nation." the plaza right outside our studios at rockefeller center have been transformed into the learning plaza. there are several interactive displays that can help people access -- assess, i should say, learning capability and accomplishments. joining us now, rehema ellis. there's plenty of activity down there. i just love those petals. i was inside the nation where you could see where your school -- how it compares to other schools regarding testing across the country. >> it's some great stuff that's going on down here, tamron. in fact, as you see, i'm in front of the petal called "the educator." ronnie is going to turn inside and take a look. she's holding court or class, if

you will, teaching them on julius caesar. that's what folks are getting tuned into right here. it's really exciting. you might be afraid to go into a classroom, but you can come out here into nbc's front yard and step into a classroom. let's walk over here and show you another one of the petals we've got. this is called "called to action." they're encouraging people -- they're all looking at me. this is encouraging people to really get involved. we talk about what can you do. here's something you can do. you can go online to educationnation.com and if you're out here, take one of these cards. it's saying what would you pledge to do? donate supplies to a local school. host a foreign exchange student. tutor a struggling student. the more people who check on online and agree to do this, american express will pledge $1 million to donorschoose o.org. that will go to teachers around the country. good thing. good on over here with me. this one is about the school and

the community. what you can do to find out, as you were talking about, what's happening where you are? find out what your school is like. and it's a very interactive place where people can -- the pictures are just great. where people can see whaupts goi what's going on. we all think our schools are great. why not go online and see exactly where your school stands? and one more pavilion i want to show you about. this one is called "the nation." this is a petal where you can tune in to some of the best minds around the country. from lawmakers and educators, those who are trying to make a difference on the political spectrum and in the classroom, to try to get america's schools back up to where we want them to be and the place where we know they can be. because it's in the best interest of our children and certainly in the best interest of our country. this is going to be coming down after tonight, tamron. people can go online to

educationnation.com and continue to be involved. >> they can experience it all online. thank you very much. and one of the criticisms of our education system is that we're still relying on early 20th century methods to teach our kids today. the question is are schools embracing technology enough? joining me now from chicago is shane evans, director of the university of chicago charter schools and here in studio is shumel mehar. thanks both of you for joining us. appreciate it. shane, you participated in the ebony town hall with me. we talked about education in chicago. you really rocked the crowd when you talked about schools not embracing technology enough. what do you believe is happening? >> tamron, thank you again for inviting me to appear. i think that schools are too busy focusing on traditional methods, to try to reach our students and not realizing that technology is speaking their language. 60%, according to a recent "new

york times" article, 60% of applications bought for the iphone and ipad are educationally related to children's interests. so our young people learn this way. they're intrigued with technology. so schools today have to make sure to integrate those into the classroom. >> they may say having an ipad for all students is incredibly expensive. how do you deal with this? is it an issue of money? >> some schools -- yes. i think some schools talk about finances or a lack of resources to be able to afford this, but if we use technology differently, then we'd be able to actually afford more technology for each student. for instance, on each ipad, you can actually download a graphing calculator that costs typically $80 to $120 per student. the ipad itself only costs $400. there are open-source materials on the web right now where you can download ap physics books, mathematics books, reading

books. so all of these pieces can be incorporated to bring down the true cost of technology, just spend the resources that schools already have in a different manner. >> you've bun nodding the whole time. >> absolutely. >> he's speaking your language here. how were you able to find success? >> we took it a step forward. the step forward that we took, we created an a to z system for the classroom whereby every kid has his computer, but the system and the content allows the teacher to do the job from a to z. the teacher is the pillar of the class. and the teacher does not have tools. it's like doctors working without medicine or sending soldiers out to the field to fight with bows and arrows. >> this is the equipment they need. >> it's not just the equipment. it's the platform that allows them to manage the classroom, to manage the teaching, to get feedback of what the children are doing as they're doing it, to give each child work

according to each child's ability and to allow him to respond. it frees the teacher to do the job, walk around, mentor other people, which is the big thing that kids need from their teachers. >> are you optimistic that, you know, you and shane have sounded the alarm and others have said, listen, we need to up the game when it comes to technology. do you believe that arne duncan and other leaders are listening? >> they are listening, but i don't think they're sensing the urgency. we are disengaged with the children. as shane mentioned, the kids are speaking this language. we mentor the teachers. we have no professional development for the children. we give them the systemm and they know how to operate it. they work with us and they do the job. and they're learning. and the whole environment in the school changes. the cost is negligible. the cost that we're paying today by not doing it is a much higher cost. we just don't feel it on a

day-to-day basis. >> thank you both for bringing up this top itiic. this is at the forefront. people need to wake up when it comes to technology and our children. thank you both. greatly appreciate it. >> you are most welcome. >> visit educationnation.com and learn more. click on "learn more" and there you can find the great schools app with resources on everything from how your child's school stacks up to local parenting chat groups. find it all, educationnation.com. speaking of technology, blackberries, playbook versus the apple ipad. we'll size up the competition. and we'd like to know what you think of any of the stories we're covering. we're using technology to talk to you every day. go to twitter.msnbc.com. ♪

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and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fun i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right. welcome back. it is the latest clash of the high-tech titans. blackberry has unveiled its new

playbook to rival apple's ipad. so how does it stack up? my friend from cnet.com, dan ackerman, is somewhere behind me. hey, how are you? >> hi. >> just in time for, i guess, pre-holiday shopping. >> that's why they release these things right now. >> the techies out there want to know how it stacks up. we have a comparison. the playbook is seven-inch display. what do you think? we have them head-to-head here. what are you hearing? >> if anybody can make a tablet that can rive the ipad, i trust the blackberry guys to do it. maybe the ipad doesn't work with your corporate e-mail or something like that. of course, they're experts at making the software and the hardware together like apple is. >> so they could possibly find a market where -- >> they could find a niche in there where apple doesn't hit the corporate users because people can't get their corporate e-mail on their ipads and

iphones. >> another one, the playbook has a camera. ipad does not. there is some speculation that whenever apple releases ipad 2 that it will have a camera. right now, it doesn't. >> right now it doesn't. every other tablet, like the samsung galaxy, they all have cameras on them. the ipad is kind of book-like. >> playbook, around $300. ipad, $500 to $700. >> that's -- this is one of those announcements where they say, we have a great new product and you can get it sometime next year and we won't tell you how much it costs. it may cost more. i think they wanted to get the name out there so you're thinking about it and you don't go buy some other tablet instead. >> is this a threat to the ipad community? a lot of people are buying this up and saying, you've got to be kidding me. >> the same thing with the iphone. the first couple of generations with the iphone, it took the competitors a couple of years to get good. this may take a generation or

two the frem for them to be as >> and dell is coming out with this as well. >> yes. we just heard about an hp seven-inch version that will hit perhaps in the end of october that might run windows, which will be different. that's just speculation. >> thank you, dan. greatly appreciate it. a housekeeper for california gubernatorial candidate megwhiteman holds a news conference with what explosive allegations against the republican hopeful. and guess who landed the first tv interview with mel gibson's ex-girlfriend, oksana? we'll reveal that text in "the scoop!" wall street is getting back on its feet.

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bombings of two u.s. embassies in africa. more than 200 people were killed. and prosecutors described him as a bombmaker, document forger and a former aid to osama bin laden. pete williams joins us from washington, d.c. pete, do we have knany more insight into what's happened today? >> the big question is can he get a fair trial given that he spent that time in guantanamo bay? and some of that -- some of the issues have been dealt with by the judge. he's accused of helping to load some of the bomb components into the car in the tanzania attack, playing a role in the attack in kenya, and then fleeing to pakistan. he cause captured in 2004, interrogated by the cia for two years, sent to guantanamo bay in 2006, and then in june of 2009, he was brought to the u.s., right before congress stopped the ability of the government to bring anybody into guantanamo bay to the u.s. to face trial. he's going to be put on trial. there's jury selection now.

and one of the things his lawyer said is that all the time he was sitting there in guantanamo bay, violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial. well, the judge has already said, no, it didn't. that he was picked up on the battlefield fair and square, as an enemy combatant, independent of any of the legal proceedings against him. so the judge said he hasn't had an unconstitutional delay of trial, but there's a big issue hanging over this case, and that is whether the government can use anything it learned about him and about the plot and his involvement in the attack from the cia's interrogation. another question here is if this is a successful prosecution, will that help politically, if you will, the justice department make the argument that other detainees at guantanamo bay should be brought to the u.s. to face civilian trial and not necessarily in military commissions. so that's another question hanging over this trial. >> and, pete, i understand from some of the reports that osama bin laden will be brought up quite a bit during this trial.

>> well, in fact, osama bin laden is named in the 1998 indictment for the african embassy bombings. so there's a long legal connection between the two. >> all right. thank you, pete. the former housekeeper of meg whitman is ausing the republican candidate for governor of exploiting her emotionally and financy. the housekeeper, an undocumented worker, says that whitman knew she was in the country illegally. today her attorney, gloria alred, announced a claim for unpaid wages with the state of california. >> we are here today so that meg whitman's nanny and housekeeper can talk about what it was really like to be employed by meg whitman in her home for nine years. in short, it was a nightmare.

>> mark murray's nbc news deputy political director. was there any proof provided? what else was said? >> i haven't seen the proof. the campaign held a conference call just a few minutes ago before this press conference to prebut some of the charges. while the woman had been working for meg whitman for nine years, she had actually filed fraudulent and false documents that she was a legal resident of this country. and after she said that she had filed false documents, she wasn't a legal resident, that whitman fired her. the campaign says that it will produce documents showing that and showing the falsified documents. so we'll wait to see when the campaign puts that out. but right now, it's certainly a back-and-forth that's going on. >> and, mark, i guess we have a statement from meg whitman's camp. it says with the polls tied, it comes as no -- you know what, i

don't have that statement here. we'll get it in a second. in the meantime, can you tell me, mark, this is the second employee. we have the former ebay employee, there was an out-of-court settlement there, the details never released. this is the second person who has worked for meg whitman, making some kind of allegation. does this hurt her in any way, at least right now? >> well, tamron, it could produce the -- the image that meg whitman is a tough, combative person, although dealing with a really big state budget deficit that california has, maybe someone might think that's a very good quality to have in the deal with sacramento. but as you mentioned, the "new york times" reported earlier this year that meg whitman, when she was a top head at ebay, had shoved an employee. that employee received a settlement in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. that employee, though, it should be noted went back to work for ebay. so this is the second employee that we've received -- we now know that there was a complaint about whitman.

how this impacts the governor's race, we do not know. but certainly the campaign has been doing its best to deal with damage control and get their message out. >> all right, mark. whitman's campaign released this statement. they blasted gloria alred saying with the polls tied it comes as no surprise that the morning after a successful debate for meg that the sleaze machine of the political left is now focusing on the politics of personal destruction. very strongly worded statement there, mark. >> very strong words. and what the meg whitman campaign is pointing to is that gloria allred has given jerry brown $150 campaign contribution in 2006 when brown was running for attorney general of the state. trying to make the charge that this is a politically motivated lawsuit that's coming right after the election. of course, it will be interesting to see the allegations -- more allegations from alred and this house keeper. but certainly this isn't the type of terrain that meg whitman

wants to be talking about 34 days before the election, especially after a debate last night that both candidates, brown and whitman, thought that they did well in. >> mark murray, thank you very much, mark. right now, the house of representatives is making a new attempt to pass a health care bill for 9/11 first responders. the clerk is reading the bill following debate that's been going on all day. the $7.4 billion measure would guarantee medical treatment and economic compensation for those injured and sickened at ground zero. nbc's luke russert joins us live from capitol hill. luke, the republicans want to bring in the issue of people who were undocumented workers who could perhaps be compensated. that's the issue that they were holding on to for this, right? >> yes. let's take a little history lesson here, tamron. back in july, this vote went down under suspension. democrats tried to offer it without an amendment process. the reason why that vote failed was essentially because not enough republicans came over to the democratic side because they

were worried about legislation in there that would actually give these benefits to undocumented workers and first responders who appeared on the scene on that horrific day in our nation's history. what we're now seeing is the bill going forward through a normal rules process. republicans will have an opportunity to offer an amendment. it's called a motion to recommit. in this amendment, we are unclear what exactly republicans are going to offer. there's been talk that if it is an amendment that would bar illegal immigrants or undocumented workers who are amongst those first responders fr from getting these benefits, that the latino caucus would walk on this bill and speaker pelosi would be forced to pull it. right now we do not know what that motion to recommit is. what that amendment is. it could be having to do with the nation's newly passed health care law. it could have to do with taxes or anything that the republicans want to talk about. however, a lot of democrats are worried that it could be a poisoned pill. you've heard a lot of

impassioned pleas on the floor today from a lot of democrats and even peter king, a republican, saying, look, every state in the union is effected. every state had a 9/11 first responder. over 36,000 people have at least sought medical treatment for something related to the 9/11 first response. so it's a -- it's definitely a bill that's been playing on the emotional element more than we usually see in washington, d.c. the city of brotherly love is showing a lot of love to michael vick. fans are clamoring for number 7 eagles swag. tailors are placing big orders for his jersey. two weeks ago, vick became the team quarterback. he has pulled off back-to-back wins. vick's jerseys are expected to crack the top 15 in sales by december. if he continues his winning ways. interesting. well, three stars of a popular reality tv show just quit before filming an all-new season. and mel gibson's sex --

exsits down with us. >> the reality show, we're talking about "deadliest catch." three of their stars just quit. this is very problematic because it leaves them with basically zero captains. this is what they said. they issued a statement saying we've been through a lot over the past year and unfortunately given the current situation with discovery, we're unable to continue participating. they're referring to a lawsuit that discovery filed against them, saying that they're breaching their contract because they weren't willing to participate in a spin-off that their contract obligated them to participate in. so no comment yet from discovery. i reached out to them again just before going on here to see what the future of this show holds since they've basically lost most of their cast just before

filming. in other television news, we've been hearing so much about mel gibson and oksana grigorieva and what's going on with their legal battles and custody battles. we have yet to hear from themselves. well, reportedly, "us weekly" reported that ocsoksana will be appearing on the "oprah winfrey show." would be an interesting platform for her to go on. >> everybody goes there. >> it's a female-friendly audience and sympathetic. the people involved are going to have to speak out about this. it's been a really interesting pr strategy, especially on the part of mel gibson, to not say anything. just let the courts speak for themselves. >> the next one is my favorite topic. >> all right. so "star wars "in 3d, there you

have it. there six films will be in. e ed 3d. i think it's a terrible idea. i hate 3d. as we know, anyone who watches this segment knows i'm not a fan of 3d, but when "phantom menace" is released in 3d, i don't see how it will make it better. my position is films that are conceived of in 3d do well in 3d. and films that are retrofit don't do that well. that said, if anyone can retrofit a film to be likable in 3d, it's probably lucas. >> 99% of the time i'd go with you. in this case, i go with george lucas. may the force be with you. you can watch it with me. we'll go together. all right. for the latest entertainment knews and the force, log on to msnbc.com. we'll be right back.

words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities. restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense. i know people are wondering--

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♪ we need to finish those projections ♪ ♪ then output the final presentations ♪ ♪ sally, i'm gonna need 40 copies, obviously collated ♪ what's going on? when we're crunched for time, brad combines office celebrations with official business. it's about efficiency. [ courier ] we can help. when you ship with fedex, you can work right up until the last minute. it gives you more time to get stuff done. that's a great idea. ♪ i need to speak with you privately ♪ ♪ i found your resume on the printer ♪ everyone! ♪ i found your resume on the printer ♪ [ male announcer ] we understand.® you need a partner who gives you more time. fedex. [ female announcer ] mousse temptations by jell-o. decadently delicious. 60 calories. it's finally me o'clock. time for jell-o. try new chocolate mint sensation. welcome back to msnbc. since the school year started, there have been at least three instances of teenagers taking their own lives because according to authorities, the boys were bullied over their

perceived sexual orientation. 13-year-old seth walsh died last night. the california boy succumbed to injuries he suffered after trying to hang himself on september 19th. 15-year-old billy lucas hanged himself in his family's barn in greensburg, indiana. and 13-year-old asher brown shot himself in the head. he lived outside of houston. charles robins is executive director and ceo of the trevor project, an organization devoted to helping gay and lesbian teenagers who are considering suicide. charles, thank you so much for joining us. the school year is a couple of weeks in here. we know that so often in schools people pick their friends. you see the cliques and you start to already see maybe the bullies zero in on children. we don't know the exact circumstances. all of these are being investigated. what is your concern at this point? >> well, you know, youth have a difficult time anyway in high school. and to be perceived as lesbian,

gay, bisexual or transgender is another layer of oppression that exists. students need to learn the warning signs of suicide and how to help somebody who is suicidal so that they can be a lifeguard for other youth in their community. >> do you believe that school districts across the country are doing enough in acknowledging that, yes, we think of traditional bullying as maybe the jock picking on the kid who is seen as the nerd or the mean girls versus the other girls, but when it comes to sexual orientati orientation, do you believe the schools aredri addressing this enough at this point? >> there are only 12 states right now that have laws that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual youth. that's not enough. there needs to be federal legislation that's passed. the safe schools improvement act is certainly legislation that's worthy of passing. and school districts need to do more. it's criminal for them to turn their -- away and not recognize

this is a problem. >> i understand in the case of 13-year-old seth walsh who died last night, his school, jacobson middle school, has an anti-bullying program, but walsh was never offered any help. all of these are under investigation. but what do you think, charles, needs to be the immediate first step? a lot of people will hear this story today. what needs to be the next step so that we don't see an increase in number of children who are hurting themselves because of the hurt they're experiencing from others? >> well, you know, i always recommend that people learn the warning signs of suicide. the best thing you can do is be there for somebody. youth need to know that they're not alone, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth. that's why our organization, the trevor project, exists. there's information on our website. thetrevorproject.org. we have a 24-hour staffed lifeline. it's staffed by volunteer whose have been trained. we're accredited by the american association of suicide. and we've spoken to well over

30,000 youth across the country who call our line every year. >> well, you are doing great work, charles. your organization is doing great work. we really appreciate you coming on. thank you. >> thank you. up next, we'll tell you which democrat was voted most popular in the new poll. and a 68-year-old grandmother catches a 12-year-old boy vandalizing her property. she shoots him. maybe you want school kids to have more exposure to the arts. maybe you want to provide meals for the needy. or maybe you want to help when the unexpected happens. 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. ♪ [ upbeat instrumental ] [ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers.

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welcome back. there's a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. a state department official testified at a senate hearing today that there is no evidence bp played a part in the early release of convicted lockerby bomber. bp has been accused of

influencing his release to secure a deal with libya. he was released early from prin prison on compassionate grounds. authorities were under the impression that he was dying of cancer and had months to live. republicans are calling on democrats to schedule ethics trials for charley rangel before the november 2nd election. the ranking republican on the committee, congressman joe bonner, took it a step further yesterday accusing democratic chairwoman loft grn of stalling on the trials. and according to our latest nbc news poll, the most popular democrat right now is the person you're looking at, former president bill clinton with a 55% favorability rating. those are the things we thought you should know today. a 68-year-old chicago woman shoots a 12-year-old boy after catching him and a friend vandalizing her property. earlier today, authorities decided she would not face

charges. natalie martinez of wmaq filed a report last night just as the woman was taken into custody. >> reporter: police say the elderly woman who lives in this southeast side home shot a 12-year-old neighbor after he threw a brick in her window. >> he's a bad little boy. that's all i can say. >> they got what they had coming. >> reporter: friends of the woman say she's been terrorized by the boy and his gang of followers. tonight, she'd come to a breaking point. >> she talked to me friday and friday, she said, i've had enough. they set garbage cans on fire, her barbecue pit. >> they kept torturing her. they'd cuss her out and everything. she was trying to -- they kept coming back. back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. she called the police. nobody never come. >> reporter: other neighbors say they, too, have become victims. >> he vandalized the car when i came home from work. there was stuff in the backyard burning.

>> he's the leader. he's worse. >> reporter: 15-year-old jordan heard says his neighbor and friend didn't deserve to be shot in the arm tonight. >> she was aggravated and she shot him. but i think it was unnecessary for her to shoot pim just because he was in the backyard. it could have been settled with a talk or, you know, parents or something. but, no, he's in the hospital for this. >> these little kids, they're just coming around trying to have fun, getting out of school. that's reckless. >> so that was natalie martinez. the elderly woman known as miss margaret in the neighborhood won't face charges. the boy was taken to a local hospital and treated. he and his 13-year-old friend have been charged as juveniles with aggravated assault of a person over the age of 60. police say miss margaret was acting in self-defense. but did they cross the line there by not charging her? let me know what you think. you tell me. go to tamron.msnbc.com or twitter me your response at

twitter.msnbc.com. now to the results of tuesday's vote. is it crossing the line for parents to choose the sex of their baby? it was a close one. 53% of you say, yes, it's crossing the line. 47% say no. that wraps up this hour. chris jansing picks up things right after the break. you're watching msnbc. s off... their night-vision goggles keeping the rescue mission safe... and powering those goggles-- the only battery air life trusts: duracell. trusted everywhere.

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tropical storm nicole churning in the caribbean. it could soon be a threat to the united states. we'll have the latest track for you. president obama on the attack against republicans on the campaign trail. new numbers provide some hope for democrats. it sounds like james cameron's movie "avitar." getting precious natural resources, but this is real. and we're going to talk to the director about his latest crusade. i'm feeling a bit sick about this. >> oh, this is the mistake heard around the