governor christie, i give you credit. because at a time of life or death, you put left, right, blue, green, center, republican, democrat, you put it aside. and you admitted to the country that government has a function. government has a positive function. and those are government employees that you have attacked. those are first responders who you have gone after their health care, you've gone after their pension, you've gone after their wages, you've gone after their collective bargaining. but all of a sudden, when our hurricane is bearing down on the jersey shores, dammit, you stood up and you said they were important. you said that they were working together. in fact, you said that they're on your team. this is how it's supposed to work. governor christie, instead of vilifying workers all of the time at the negotiating table, i want you to think about hurricane irene every time you think about those workers who need to respond. and think about how important they are to saving the lives. and i give you credit, governor.

yes, chris christie made his youtube moment for yelling at people at town halls. >> romney, chris christie. we're going to go back, we have governor o'malley. thank you, as with us for your time. and always make sure you read first read every morning. states between north carolina and maine are all preparing for the worst from hurricane irene. in maryland up to 150,000 residents and visitors have been asked to leave the popular vacation destination of ocean city. we're now joined by the state's governor martin o'malley on the phone. governor o'malley thanks for joining us. tell us the latest in maryland and how your state is preparing for this oncoming hurricane? >> well, chris, as you mentioned, we are preparing for this category 2 to give us a real blow to the side there. in ocean city. and really, across our state as it passes by. it's a category 2. it's a killer storm. it is a very, very dangerous storm. and with the chesapeake bay, there is a tremendous amount of likelihood between the flooding, and the tidal surge, that a lot of the lower lying coastal areas, especially in the lower

chris christie. the talk about chris christie has not gone away no matter how much he says he won't do it. he actually threatened a while back to kill himself if they wouldn't stop it and they're not stopping it. >> they're not stopping it. e.j., if the republican primary does pull candidates to trigt, is that the president's best hope? as we talked about with robert gibbs, this bumper sticker slogan isn't there right now. >> no. i think this race is shaping up to be a fundamental choice. we have really had a long consensus in tis country about the government having certain responsibilities to e economy. that includes, by the way, right now to stimulate it. ani am hoping the president comes out very strong with a stimulus program. these republicans really want to bring us back to the guilded age. my favorite ronald reagan line is when he jed once in my administration the right hand doesn't know what the far right hand is doing. what you've got in the republican party right now is a conservative, mitt

statistic donor class especially still really wants chris christie to run. he's said repeatedly he will not do it, but that longing is still there. but if you have a two-person race eventually, you'll see some fracturing. romney will be stronger in a place like new hampshire, perry certainly in south carolina, so i think you're going to see that class, part it cultural between those two candidates, but at the end of the day, charlie gets to the central point here, ron, and that is the president running for reelection with the unemployment challenge being where it is is regardless of who the nominee is, it's going to be a competitive race, as long as they nominate something that is something of a viable candidate. swathing of this country are red -- >> who is that viable candidate? both of you, when you look at the individuals there, and let's call romney or perry, if you want, the kind of nominal front-runner here but perry's positions on a lot of issues are way, way out in right field. the general public isn't going to go for that. romney, you've got to say

>> christie was defending his choice. conservative bloggers were furious and accused christie of being in bed with the enemy and fear muhammad would make judicial decisions based on the caron or surreal law. >> surreal law has nothing to do with this at all. it's crazy. it's crazy. the guy is an american citizen! >> it has been almost ten years since 9/11. osama bin laden is dead and there has been muslim extremists within the united states and, yes, we do need to be vigilant about homeland security. but should all muslims be suspect? two dozen states have measures. when will our fears about muslim americans fade? talk to us on facebook and we will read your comments later. >>> still ahead, everybody's jobs report could be a rough one. everyone will feel the effects. this is important what is happening in the jobs market. so is any one career path in the bull's-eye like teachers? we are "minding your business." it's 24 minutes after the hour. price-line ne-go-ti-a-tor. so, you've been double crossed by other travel sites

>> christie does not want to do it, i agree on that. when it was reported he had focus groups being organized, his staff got in touch with us that no, no, no, he isn't doing that. paul ryan might like to. a lot of his supporters would like him to. there's more desire there but less ability. ability to tap into the money. when was the last time a house member successfully moupted a national campaign and was elected president. >> we have to mention the name sarah palin. is that dream over? >> i think the dream is over. i don't think it means she's not going to be on the national stage chasing everybody else's bus. up until halloween 2012, she's going to say i'm considering a run. it's been lucrative for her, but not resulting in a candidacy. we have michele bachmann and rick perry, what is she going to fill. >> tim pawlenty's i'll come make you dinner or mow your lawn. >> he suggests the schedule around labor day suggests he might run. i think there's room for her in this race. very popular in iowa. >> let's talk about the man they are ru

they have traced the epicenter of the earthquake to governor chris christie's aerobics class. cheap shot and comedian andy borowitz reports that billionaire televangelist pat robertson has said this on his seven hundred club today that it was only a mild earthquake because yesterday's mild east coast earthquake was god's revenge on people who act to kind of get robertson said all across the eastern seaboard there are men who get manicures where designer i wear and know about thread counts god made this somewhat gave a lighter finds the somewhat light gay like behavior confusing and he responded by getting mildly. or so this is a borowitz report but let's assume neither irritated god nor governor christie is to blame for the earthquake and who is a couple choices president obama all the nature smite and while he's on vacation he did leave town you know or eric here in the epicenter is right in the middle of his district is he responsible for cutting funding and he's responsible for cutting funding the u.s. geological service and disaster when we just reported on the daily calle

thank you very much, christie. 6:06 now. the man accused of drunk driving and a hit and sun crash spub in court today. 21-year-old andrew vargas hit a 9-year-old boy, a 58-year-old woman and several parked cars and took off. about an ested himcc1: hour later. the boy ryan white remains in critical condition at san hospital.c1: >> about one month before the first anniversary of the san set to plosion, pga allcc1: start testing its pipe hines. preparations should start as early as tomorrow. the project expected to last two months. city of palo alto warns that residents may smell some gas and road detours. the company announced it would use pressure water testing to ensure the safety of the pipes. >> b.a.r.t. is back up and running but a computer router issue shut down service for hours.cc1: ma b.a.r.t. says computers stopped working. they couldn't tell where any of the trains were. full service didn't get restored until about 10:00 at night. >> 6:08. that means it's time to check on weather and christina loren. >> good morning

that's where christie smith joins us live with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. you know, as soon as the driver took off from that scene, san francisco police put out a be on the lookout bulletin to law enforcement across the bay area to keep their eye out for this truck. one was so damaged that it was easy to spot hear at mission and industrial in hayward. the driver was arrested here and san francisco police route witnesses over from san francisco who believe that this was the truck that hit a 9-year-old boy, the arrest happening about 90 minutes afterwards here in the east bay. police say that the boy was walking ahead of his family, crossing mission street. it was around 10:30 last night when a driver hit him. didn't bother to stop and was going the wrong way. the boy is from philly and had just come from enjoying a giants game. we spoke with witnesses. >> that's very tough. especially being that they were coming from the game, trying to have a good evening. something that unfortunate to happen. >> the driver we

there's word today paul ryan and chris christie may yet reconsider running. we'll ask the "hardball" strategists tonight. >>> plus, maybe the best story of the day. tea tax. at least two congress mist, believe it or not including paul ryan decided if their constituents want to ask them questions, they should pay for the privilege. that's one way for a brave tea party type to avoid tough questions. let's see our "hardball" strategist take that one on. >>> and let me finish tonight with what we know. that the republican presidential candidate will run against government, and what we don't know. what president obama will campaign for. we start with president obama fighting back today. cynthia tucker is a pulitzer prize winning columnist >>> and shawn smith teaches international relations at yale. thank you both for joining us, cynthia and shawn. the interesting question. the president has three options. put up a big harry truman-type plan. big and democratic. lots of jobs, lots of spending, borrowing, but do it the democratic way. put people to work. dare the re

i quote chris christie, this is crap, and moreover he's tired of dealing with the crazies. who declared shutting down the federal aviation administration was maybe not the most responsible way to deal with political negotiations. she was reportedly the only congressional republican who was serious about working out a deal to fund the faa, to get furloughed employees back to work and allow the agency to start up again. she was not afraid to say why she disagreed with her republican colleagues who were willing to let the faa stay shut down. she said "i am a fiscal conservative and i'm trying to make the cuts that are necessary, trying to do the things that are right, but i have to question those who are saying we are going to not be in favor of essential air service. we are going to waste a billion dollars to not let a bill go through that keeps the aviation trust fund and faa going. that does not add up." kay bailey hutchison not afraid to do the math and say when her own party's fanatical decision on the faa doesn't make sense to her. she said i'm not going to play this, it

i agree. >> caller: now on to governor christie. you know he hasn't really addressed any of the root causes of what the tax problems mr. in new jersey. i also have to say i'm a conservative republic canned a teacher. and i can tell you that after 15 years of teaching, i'm making the grand total sum of $60,000. now, what he's done, is, he's basically demonized a group of people, who are very hard-working people and, had he done it and really affected lasting change i would say, well, maybe that is the price you pay. >> guest: i think, first of all, just as a general point on chris christie, i think he has definitely addressed the root cause of what's going on here. he is taken a chainsaw to new jersey's budget. and new jersey, illinois, and california were the states that were about, we were about to try to have to sell to mexico. they're utterly bankrupt. they're going under. they are the states that are the equivalent of greece right now. and chris christie came in and cut so much money, so much money in a state that's a very tough

chris: questions about the possibility of chris christy coming in or anyone else. you sound like now they're more likely to get behind mitt romney? >> they are hungry for another candidate. if they should get either paul ryan or chris christy into this race this ed do this. i think they both want to run more than at any other point but i think the hurdles are so high at this point they'll probably stay out. >> doesn't perry make it much harder for them to come in? >> i think so. >> it certainly makes it harder for sar hay palin to come in -- sarah palin to come in. chris: we asked the meter, 1 of our regulars, could perry actually fire up the right if her the nominee? could he fire up the right and statement appeal to the centrists? john, you said he could. >> i said he could and i think it's going to be the huge challenge for him and i think there's a chance he can't but he's going to have to deal with that. if you say that he can't then there's no chance he can win a general election and i think in the mood of the country with the economy as bad as it is he might

protect christy field as a vital resource. preserve the vitality of the education and volunteer program. identify financial resources for event preparation and management crowd and traffic control. san francisco bay and the surrounding parklands will make the america's cup memorable and historic. we simply call for measures to protect the national park that our community worked so hard to create and care for. we can assure positive legacy while protecting the bay area's beloved national parks. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> hello. i am a san francisco resident. i just want to thank you very much for this opportunity for comment. i am a big ocean conservation advocate. there are insufficient protection for the marine wildlife and maximum mals in and around the bay and this includes the two-legged mammals. i think there is a lack of specificity as to how the protections will be addressed. i want to give you a few suggestions and some things that you might want to consider. slowing the vessel traffic down in order to avoid

>> well, look, i think chris christie, there's a lot of things i disagree with him, but he's proving he's hitting the right tone in many ways that's resonating with a lot of americans. i think he would be formidable. but i tell you this, barack obama is a president-elected during the most difficult time in my lifetime. and he's helped to endure through difficult waters and move our country forward. we have challenges right now, but i have faith in our leader, and i'll tell you what. i hope that we have a presidential election where two great candidates are focused on the issues and have a good dialogue, not a petty partisan dialogue, but a good dialogue about what's going to make our country great. if that's going to be the kind of election we have, it's going told vat our nation. i think in that kind of contest, president obama will do well. >> mayor cory booker of newark, new jersey, mr. mayor, thanks for coming on and thanks for tweeting as much as you do. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> join msnbc this sunday, august 14th at noon for a special two-hour program, "a str

as far as chris christie and paul ryan go, in general, i've said with sarah palin, there is time to get in the race. if you're somebody who has electricity behind you, who people support, you have a gut connection to people, and i think all three of those people do, they could jump into iowa later than other people can, but we are sort of ticking down now, so it makes sense that paul ryan if he's making this decision does it now. martha: i remember saia palin saying a month or so ago, at some point you have to make your decision and she hinted at that point that i believe the end of the summer is the period where she felt she had to make a decision a decision and karl rove said the deadline is november 22nd. i wonder when you look at these things through this prism of 2011 and the internet and how fast everything those these days, you've got candidates dropping out, how quickly can that money kind of aggregate behind a new person, and you kind of pop on to some of the organization and the money later in the game? >> yeah, if you have a natural constituency, it's easier for you. i think

give access to raising money for the party. >> both of them, i think christie --. >> sean: how many of you like mark rubio? >> love you. >> marco rubio scares you? >> no, he didn't scare me. >> did he say what, gabrielle giffords is in the crock head group. he is an idiot. he can't keep his mouth shut. what he says in the seven eleven store. what is wrong with him. sn. >> that is what i'm going to focus

christy sm christy smith has the story. >> 60 seconds in and out. >> reporter: that's how long it took thieves to rip the cash machine right off the bolts and toss it into a truck. >> i was stunned. the security company said the front door ha been forced open and when i got here there was no front door. the whole front wall was gone. >> reporter: brett rios tries to keep a sense of humor. just glad that no one at the bingo hall was hurt. but $6,000 in the atm was gone. the hall raises money for youth programs like the walnut creek ak aqua net synchronized swim team. even with 14 cameras inside, the thieves didn't care. but by mid-morning, the truck, which was stolen, and the atm was recovered, and bingo hall set to reopen tonight with a few changes on the horizon. >> i think we're going to have to redesign the front so it's not so easy to get in. >> christy smith, nbc bay area news. >> concord police located the a machine but it was empty. >>> a suspect handed over a threatening note to a bank teller. these are pictures of the robbery at first bank and trust on willow pass road. the ma

we heard from governor chris christie, everyone is told to stay inside and hurricane irene heading right now for america's biggest city. breaking right now, the monster storm. wow! crushing its way up the east coast overnight. hurricane irene, howling wind, ferocious waves. several of america's bigigge cities hunkered down to face the furry. now the rapidly rising sea water with swamp the streets and subways. >> its path of destructionon fr north carolina to delaware. we have the dramatic rescue, terrifying tornado now will irene's epic rainfall rewrite the record books this morning? sam and our entire abc news team is in the eye of the storm. >>> ourontinuing life coverage of hurricane irene, you see montauk irene. look how huge the waves are. we have john berman out there. thankfully he come up a bit. he started on what was the beach. but it's no longer there. >> it should hit land in long island the next couple of hour, already hit land in new jersey about 5:30. here's what we know about the effects of hurricane irene. power has been knocked out to more than 3 million homes and busine

and the state of new jersey is readying for the storm and the governor, there, chris christie, is speaking right now. this is live news conference. listen. >> officials in atlantic, and ocean, and cape may counties have had phone calls to about them to communicate to us issues of concern where they did not get response from the county or from the state o.e.m. and get reports on conditions in the ground where we have ordered a number of mandatory evacuations. the good news is, people heeded my subtle advise yesterday and are off the beach and left the shore and the evacuation process is successful. over a million have left the jersey shore in the last 24 hours. and it has been done with very little traffic disturbance, very few reports of people having to sit in long lines of traffic. and that's a credit to the local officials who helped with the evacuation and a credit to the d.o.t. commissioner and the state police who put together the traffic plans to execute that and i thank all of them and all the people of new jersey, both folks who are residents of the jersey sure and those folks who

. >> a stern evacuation order from new jersey governor chris christie. this morning irene is bearing down on the east coast as a category one hurricane packing sustained winds on 90 miles per hour. and more than 60 million americans are bracing for the storm's worst. welcome to msnbc special coverage of hurricane irene. let's get to the headlines. more than two million people along the east coast have been ordered to move to safer areas as the national weather service issues a hurricane warning stretching from north carolina all the way to nantucket. irene is expected to make landfall between 8:00 and 10:00 eastern today in north carolina's outer banks. it could weak on the a tropical storm by the time it reaches new england, experts say irene could be destructive. president obama returned to the white house last night. but not before issuing a warning to residents in irene's path. >> i cannot stress this highly enough. if you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don't wait. don't delay. we all hope for the best,

new jersey governor chris christie took initial heat after appointing a sohail mohammed to the new jersey state bench. christie fired back as only he can when it was suggested by someone the new appointment means that sharia law could be coming to his state. >> i nominated sohail mohammed because he's a good lawyer and outstanding human being. sharia has nothing to do with this. this is crazy. this law business is crap. it's just crazy and i'm tired of dealing with the crazies. >> tired of dealing with the crazies. i love it. how's that for putting the issue to rest this guy's a jersey guy. >>> the big number. president obama announced plans for a bus tour throughout the midwest in an effort to refocus his initiatives on job creation. this pivot is not the first of its kind, however. how many times have obama announced a solicit to focus on job creation? seven times since the beginning of this presidency back in 2009. not an easy feat. >>> up next, what's barack obama's best argument for re-election? and what's the best republican argument against it? we'll be right back. the strategists

first of all, you may have palin and you may have christie in. and, secondly, you cannot entirely count out cain. >> bill: come on. stop with this stuff. >> you can't count out. >> bill: oh, come on. >> you can't count out cain or santorum. >> bill: i have got make some money. money where his mouth is. oh no, no, no. i will give you 10 to 1 odds on cain. 10 to 1. all right. ron paul, is he whining to megan. we invited him on and he won't show up. >> he won't face you because he doesn't want to face questioning. >> bill: he wants to give a speech. >> is he fine when he gives a speech. when you probe him are you saying that iran will not develop the bomb and if they do they are not going to use it against israel? and if they do it's okay with you? then you say the gold standard? are you literally saying that the united states of america's economy should only be allowed to grow as much as gold can be extracted from the earth and if there is no gold discovered our economy has to stay small? you ask him about drug lords? are you seriously saying that

i bet he would run and if he doesn't i think chris christie is going to run. i don't think it is likely to be the final field. >> bret: you agree. >> it is late in the day. if they don't act in a couple of weeks it is tough. paul is a serious person and admire the fact of him focusing on entitlements. but it doesn't help if you have serious publication and ending social security and medicare. they want to reform programs but get scare when you say we'll end manage that is part of the fabric of the american life. >> bret: doesn't that form in the demagogging the issue when some people say american public is ready for the adult conversation beyond what we have heard in the past about entitlements. >> people want reform don in a right sort of way. when they say end social security and medicare to most people that raises the spector of going too far. >> we have serious perhaps. wall street journal? >> they say it was going to end medicare as we know it. i i don't know. i think it changes medicare and the way it is funded. the house republican budget argues that it